Pine Needles

e branches and dead leaves, and Meredith built a nice place for

," cried Maggie. "Now, I'll

d put over. Maggie sat by to keep up the flame, which being fed with light material needed constant suppl

ie asked at length. She kept as goo

stand if I told you.

ery inte

es

n you pull your brows together in that way, I

" said Mered

it inte

perhaps,

nt to try? Read us some

Mission M

uldn't like it," said Esther.

stories," Mer

f stories? a

s about heathe

a certain Pastor Harms used to tell to his

rite the

es

s Pasto

loved God with all his heart, and

many people, Ditto, who

a little of their strength for some

German?" M

Hanover; and the minister and the people together were so full of th

t book tell w

did, and what other

ar some of it," was

ter dinner. Flora and Esther ma

ra, "I suppose I would rather hear that than

oman, everybody knows," remarked her br

and put them over the fire; watched till the cookery was accomplished and the omelet was turned out hot and brown and savoury. The girls declared it was the best thing they had ever tasted, and Flora thought the tea was the best tea, and Meredith that the bread and butter was the best bread and butter. Maggie privately thought it was the best dinne

ou will you yet must stop eating some time-the plates and remnants were quickly put back in the baskets and set agai

aimed Meredith, stretching

, you are going

m

or you

keeps his promises," said

k again. Maggie sat by and silently s

cy, the sky is blue, I see it through a lace-work of pine needles; the air is

e the sky, and smell the moss, to

o many persuaders that I cannot with

ow, no further, and laid his bo

n!" cried Maggie, l

it to you in English-I

he first s

is speaking, only he was a famous hand at story-telling, and to hear him would

rmannsburg, and partly in some old Lüneburg chronicles. I say I am very fond of it; for after the fact that I am a Christian, comes the fa

ried Maggie, "what is a 'hea

but in the midst of this level country you come suddenly here and there to a lovely little valley with houses and grain-fields and fruit and running water; or to a piece of woods; or to a hill with a farmhouse perched up on its side, and as much land cultivated as

man writer Tacitus about old Germany, I knew no greater pleasure than with my Tacitus in my pocket to wander through the heaths and moors and woodlands, and then in the still solitude to sit down under a pine tree or an oak and read the account of the manners and customs of our old heathen forefathers. And then I read how our old forefathers were so brave and strong that merely their tall forms and their fiery blue eyes struck terror into the Romans; and that they were so unshakably true to t

e men ran about in the forests almost naked, at the most, clothed with the skin of a beast, like wild animals themselves; and got their living only by the chase, or from wild roots, with acorns and beechmast; then, even as a boy, I marvelled at the wonderful workings of Christianity. Only one thing I could not understand; how there should be nowadays in Christian Germany so much lying, unfaithfulness, and marriage-breaking, while our heathenish ancestors were such true, honest, chaste, an

terrupting him, "do you

not have lied to s

think people in Ameri

miled and

id Flora; "you k

rs, for knowledge of their business and ability to do it. But there are some cowards in every nation, I reckon; and as there, so here. But among those old Saxons, it

us of exclamatio

all an uncommon thing here for people to separate from th

o that, Ditto?

not true, and do n

e heathen are better than t

has but comparatively a few Christians in it, you must please to remember. But I do think

imed Maggie in the

ou remember that the Saxons went over and conquered England, and Engl

of surprise and intelligence. "But I di

sts me very much. Shall I

ed Romans were bent upon subjugating all Germany, and sent their most powerful armies into the country, clad in iron mail, armed with helmets, bucklers, lances, and swords, and led by their bravest generals. But Herman, with his almost naked Germans, fell upon them, fighting whole days at a stretch, and beat them out of the land. See now, thought I to myself, there were Lüneburg people along with him, for they live between th

our forefathers to their idols. After them others carried on the work, especially Willehad and Liudgar, and the good emperor Charles the Great helped them, until at last all Germany was Christianised, and became through the Gospel what it is now. And I have often thought, how stupid are the unbelievers who follow the new fashion of despising Christianity. We have to thank Christianity for everything we are or have. Science, art, agriculture, handicrafts, cities, villages, houses, all have come to us in the first place through Christiani

nd Romans had cities and villages, and sci

but the Sax

s, they

gyptians; but though they had arts, and built cities, they had very little science. And science

dust and mice, about which nobody had troubled himself for who knows how many years? But also I found many a one that repaid the trouble of the search. From the sound MSS. I made extracts diligently. But I had a good many vexations, too. For example, I have come to cities and villages, in which last there were baronial manors. There I s

, which dwelt mostly at the east, as far as the Elbe and further, was called the Eastphalians. Between the two lived the third tribe, called the Enger or the Angles; for Enger and Angle are all one. We here in Lüneburg belong to the Eastphalians. The name is said to have come from the bright or pale yellow hair of our forefathers. For clear yellow or pale yellow was called "fal." Our ancestors wore this bright yellow hair long and hanging down, something like a lion's mane; what so many young people nowadays would esteem a splendid adornment. These forefathers of ours in the time of Charlemagne were yet mere heathen and held to their heathen idol worship with extraordinary tenacity and devotion. They w

e set up in a square, upon which a great granite block lies like a cover. The men to be sacrificed were slain upon these blocks of granite. Quite near our village too, there stood formerly some such sacrificial altars. How fearful and bloody these sacrifices were, appears from what an old writer relates; that it was the custom of the Saxons, when they returned h

imed Maggie; while Flora looked

y?" repea

day," sai

nesday? But how come we

our fat

e. I don't think we ough

nd those old stone altars; they say Mittwoche, or Mid-wee

e altars standi

eems they call them stone houses; and don't you recollect Ja

go on please

was carried on with great bitterness. The Saxons had, in especial, two valiant, heroic-hearted leaders, called "dukes" because they led the armies. The word "duke," therefore, means the same as army-leader. The one of them in Westphalia was named Wittekind; the other in Eastphalia was named Albion, also called Alboin. Charlemagne was in a difficult position. If he beat the Saxons, and thought, now they would surely keep the peace, and he went off then to some more distant part of his great empire, immediately the Saxons broke loose again, and the war began anew. Charlemagne was made so bitter by this, that once when he had beaten the Saxons at Verden on the Aller, and surrounded their army, he ordered 4500 captive Saxons to be cut to pieces, hoping so to give a disheartening example. But just the contrary befell. Wittekind and Albion now gathered together an imposing army to

athenism, and accepted Christianity. So hard did it go with our forefathers before they could become Christians; but once Christians, they became so zealous for the Christian faith that their land afterwards was called "Good Saxony" as before it had been known as "Wild Saxony." Charlemagne, however, was not merely at the pains to subdue the Saxons, and to compel them into the Christian faith, but as a truly pious emperor, he

wn parts hereabouts proceeded from the mission establishment in Minden. Liudgar had lived there a long while, and his piety and his ardour had infected the young monks assembled there with a live zeal for missions. One of these monks, who the chronicle tells came from Eastphalia, and had been converted to Christianity through Liudgar's means, was called Landolf. Now when Wittekind and A

edith pausing, "t

hree heads around

imed Maggie, but th

eredith, "I f

said his sis

particular, Everybody who

at home!" said Flora w

gravely; and Flora was si

id Maggie, with a mixture

see that Meredith's downcast eyes were swimming. "Think-th

place to go preaching,"

ove it? I t

instance, a

r place to tell what you do not know. But the Bible says, 'Let him that heareth say, Come!' and I think we, who have heard, ought to say it. And I think

ant to do, Ditto?"

fit for that. But I want to tell all I can. People seem

again, "you can give mon

dy else to

ll people h

a long breath, "let us see