And then Theodore thought a very wicked thought. "I will get into one of the trunks and hide," he said, "and if I can find the German village where Mother Munster lives I will not come back to be the father of a family, but I will stay with good Mother Munster and be her little boy."
Of course that was deserting his family, but Theodore did not know anything about how wrong that was, and so one day when he was left alone in the room with the trunks he climbed over the side of one of them and hid himself between the folds of a dress, without saying good-by to his wife or children.
Theodore did not feel safe until the men came for the trunks, and then his heart leaped for joy. After a long time the trunks were opened in a hotel, and Theodore wondered what they would say when they found him.
"Here is Theodore," said the mother to her little girl, when she found him inside her dresses. "I wonder how he got in my trunk."
The little girl had not brought any of her dolls and she was so pleased to see Theodore that she hugged him.
Theodore felt guilty when he thought of what he intended to do, but his love for Mother Munster was deeper than that for his family.
After many weeks of visiting different places, Theodore had almost given up hope of seeing Mother Munster again, when one day he heard them say, "We will go to Berlin to-morrow."
"Berlin, Berlin," repeated Theodore. "Where have I heard that name before?" Then all at once it came to him that it was in Germany and that not far from there was the village where Mother Munster lived.
He could hardly keep from jumping for joy.
One morning after they had been in Berlin for a week the father of the little girl said, "We are to visit a little village to-day where they make dolls."