"Oh, father," exclaimed Ferdinand, "what queer looking men!"
Herr Müller looked about, but saw no one.
"Where?" he asked.
"Why, there, by the sides of the church door."
Both men laughed.
"They are queer looking, aren't they?" said Uncle Hofer. "But you would think it a lot queerer did you know how they came to be here."
"Oh, tell us," the boy exclaimed.
"Well, once upon a time, way back in the Middle Ages, there were two giants who lived in different parts of the earth. Each of them was twelve feet or more tall; one was called Haymo and the other Tirsus. Now, in those times, giants did not remain quietly in their strongholds; they set out on adventures; so it chanced that, in the course of their travels, these two mighty giants encountered each other, right on this spot where this abbey stands. But of course, there was no abbey here then; the ancient Roman town of Veldidena was hereabouts.