Then said Fred,
‘It was very wrong of you, Kate, to waste the butter, and
roll the cheeses down the hill.”
And Kate answered, “ Well then, you should have told me
so.”
As they were eating the dry bread together, Fred said,
‘“‘ Kate, did you lock up the house before leaving? ”
‘No, Fred; you ought to have told me that before.”
And her husband answered,
‘Well, you must go home at once and lock up the house
before we go any farther, and you might as well bring some¬
thing more to eat with you, and I will wait for you here.”
So Kate went, and she thought to herself.
‘““As Fred wants something more to eat, and he does not
care much about butter and cheese, I will bring some dried
apples and a jug of vinegar back with me.”
Then she bolted the front door, but the back door she
took off its hinges, and lifted it on her shoulders, thinking that
if she had the door all safe no harm could come to the house.
And she took her time on the way back, and thought to her¬
self, “ Fred will have so much the longer to rest.” So when
she got back to him, she called out,
‘‘ Fred, if the house-door is safe, no harm can come to the
house !”
“Oh dear!” cried he, "what a prudent wife have I! to
carry away the back-door, so that any one may get in, and to
bolt the front door! It is too late now to go home, but as
you have brought the door so far, you may carry it on farther.”
“ All right, I will carry the door, Fred,” said she, “ but the
dried apples and the vinegar will be too heavy for me; I will
hang them on the door and make it carry them.”
Now they went into the wood to look for the thieves, but
they could not find them. When it grew dark they got up
into a tree to pass the night there. No sooner had they
settled down when up came the pedlars, some of those fellows
who carry away what should not go with them, and who find
things before they are lost. They laid themselves down directly
under the tree where Fred and Kate were, and they made a
fire, and began to divide their spoil, ‘Then Fred got down on
the farther side of the tree and gathered together some stones,