"Then the little boy took courage and told the story of his meeting the hunter and what he had done.
"'It is well you did it in the name of the Lord,' cried his master. 'If you had not, our village would have been destroyed, and every one of us would have been drowned.'"
"See! the children are going into the schoolhouse, Gretchen. We must not be late. Let's run," said Bertha.
The two little girls stopped talking, and hurried so fast that they entered the schoolhouse and were sitting in their seats in good order before the schoolmaster struck his bell.
CHAPTER III.
THE WICKED BISHOP
"The Rhine is the loveliest river in the world. I know it must be," said Bertha.
"Of course it is," answered her brother. "I've seen it, and I ought to know. And father thinks so, too. He says it is not only beautiful, but it is also bound into the whole history of our country. Think of the battles that have been fought on its shores, and the great generals who have crossed it!"