“Because she is a bride,” whispered the grandmother. “She is betrothed to that young man. He will be your brother when they are married next autumn.”
All the afternoon there were games and merriment, and many people came to congratulate the young people and to drink tea. As the merriment grew louder the little boy grew tired of it, and he went to ask his grandmother for a story. She, too, was tired of the lively doings in the other room, and she very willingly told him about
THE DESERTER
Once upon a time there was a deserter who was three times faithless to his colors. Twice had he undergone the punishment due to desertion; the third time, he knew, he was face to face with death. So he resolved to flee by night and hide himself by day in some ditch or thicket, for he was afraid that in the daylight he might be recognized and arrested.
One night, as he was hastening onward, he saw a glimmer of light in the distance, and thought to himself, “I will go toward that light; perhaps it will somehow help me out of my trouble.”
When, however, he came up to that light all he saw was an opening just wide enough for him to creep into. The moment he was inside thick darkness fell upon him. He could find his way neither in nor out; but on groping around he at last came upon a staircase, up which he climbed and found himself in a passageway. Through this passageway he went for a long, long time, until at last he stumbled upon a door. He opened the door and stepped into a room, but it was pitch dark there too; so he groped all about until at last he stumbled upon another door and entered another room.
So on he went through eleven rooms, and finally reached the twelfth, where at last he found a lighted candle upon a table. The room was beautifully fitted up, and he thought within himself, “Come what come may, I shall make myself at home in this room.”
So he stretched himself upon a couch. He lay there for a while lost in thought, when, lo and behold! the table began to lay itself. When the cloth was spread, all sorts of good cheer began to appear upon it.
“Come what come may,” he thought to himself again, “I am hungry.” So he fell to and ate to his heart’s content. When he had eaten all that he could swallow he threw himself upon the couch again and began to consider.