40 FRITZ IN GERMANY

"It is time for our sewing," suggested Frieda,
and led the way to the sewing-room where her
mother was waiting to set each little girl to work.
For an hour the needles flew fast and the tongues
faster as the four little maids stitched on the coarse
garments and chattered about their work and play,
their homes, their gardens, their friends, — any-
thing and everything that came into their heads.
" I wonder what Fritz did to my reading-book,"
Frieda said at last. Just then her brother, dressed
in clean, dry clothes, came into the room, laughing
at the little maid whom he had met in the hall, and
who had stopped him to say, " My name is Maria
Ria. I came this morning and I hope I serve you
well."

" Now I will tell you the story of the reading-
lesson," he said. " Listen! This morning when I
went into the garden I looked for Max and Maurice'
because I thought they would be the hardest to
find. But they were quite easy to find at first."

" At first! " repeated Frieda. " How many times
did you find them?"

" Many times," said Fritz grimly, " because,
as fast as I left them in the garden-house while I
went to look for the other children, they ran away
and hid."

" Where did you find them at first ? " asked
Hilda, trying not to laugh.
THE CIRCLE-SISTERS 41

" In their mother's kitchen," he replied. " She
had put them on the tall stove in the corner because
they had changed her molasses and vinegar jugs
and made her spoil her gingerbread."

" Ach! " shrieked all the circle-sisters together.
