"Oh, Hans, what am I going to do?" Greta was crying now as if her heart would break. "Do you think that Chouse has taken them away some place?"
"No, I don't think so, Greta. But maybe one of the Nisser has carried them off."
"Oh, Hans, why would a Nisse take my darling kittens?"
"Well, if you do something to make a Nisse angry at you, he is bound to punish you in some way."
The Nisser are the little fairy folk, or brownies, that live in every home in Denmark. If you are kind to them, they will do something nice for you; but if you hurt them or make them angry, they will punish you.
When Greta went to bed that night she pulled the warm feather cover tightly around her shoulders. She wasn't exactly afraid of the Nisser, but she felt much better when she was all covered up. It was late in June, but the nights were quite cool. Greta was glad that her mother had left the feather cover on her bed. It was a large, thick cover, but it was light and warm, for it was filled with duck feathers.
Soon Greta fell asleep, and all night long she dreamed that a little Nisse was sitting on the foot of her bed, saying, "Greta, do you really want your kittens back again?"