Willi and Lili were so scared and white that they had to recover a little before being examined about their exploit. Taking each by the hand, their mother led them to the bench under the apple tree and gave them a chance to revive a little.
Jul, leading the small Hun by the hand, followed and said, "Oh, you terrible twins, some day you will both come to a terrible end."
With trousers turned up, old Battist had stepped into the deluge, and had opened all the vents for draining to let the floods disperse. To Trine, who stood beside him, he said pityingly, "It only happened because you have no more sense than the seven-year-olds!"
He knew quite well who had fetched the funnel. Trine, realizing that she had been duped, could give no answer, but like Philomele, got ready to scratch her adversary.
When everybody sat safe and sound again under the apple tree, Philomele came up to Lili, tenderly meowing and rubbing against the girl's legs. But the child pushed her away, and instead she and Willi tenderly stroked the wet Schnurri, who lay at their feet on the ground. The twins secretly resolved to give Schnurri their whole supper that night, for in their great extremity, they had found out the true character of their pets.
After thoughtfully gazing at the rescued twins for a while, the small Hun joined Jul, who was wandering to and fro on the gravel path.
"Jul," said the little one solemnly, "tell me in what way the terrible twins could come to a fearful end?"
"They might do it in different ways, Hun," replied Jul, standing still. "You see they have already tried fire and water. In some excited mood, they may next pull down the house over our heads. Then we'll all be lying underneath, and everything will be over."
"Can't we quickly jump away?" asked little Hun, concerned.
"We can, if they don't do it in the middle of the night."