From away down the road, Greta could see the sign of the bakery. Shaped like a large pretzel, it hung 'way out in front of the store. Every bakery had a sign like this, and many of the other shops had their own special signs. Each barber shop had a large metal plate hanging out in front. The plate was cut in a deep curve on one side, where it was supposed to fit around a man's neck when he had his hair cut. Of course barbers didn't use plates like this any more, but these signs were still used to mark a barber shop.
When Greta got home, Hans was just getting ready to start out in his new boat.
"Want to come along, Greta?"
"Sure I do. Where are you going?"
"Oh, just down the river." The little river which ran in front of the house and wound around through the fields seemed like the nicest part of the farm to Hans and Greta. They fished in the river in the summer and skated on it in the winter. Hans was proud of his new boat, which was a birthday present from his father. Although he never let Greta go out in it alone, he often asked her to go with him.
"Wait just a minute, Hans. I must take this bread in the house and then I'll go with you."
Chouse was already in the boat when Greta came out. The minute that Hans started toward the boat, Chouse always jumped in ahead of him. He never sat still in it long. He would dash back and forth from the front to the back, and every now and then he tried to jump out, when he saw a rabbit running across the field.
