1.
[Illustration: A magnificent tree was found before the house of Michael.]
On May morning a magnificent tree was found before the house of Michael
the wagoner. It was a tall fir; the branches had been cut off, and only
the crown was left. It towered far over all the houses, and, if the
church were not on a hill, it would have looked down on the steeple.
There was not another May-pole in all the village; and all the girls
envied Eva, the wagoner's oldest daughter, the distinction of having
this one set for her.
The children came up the village, a green hut moving along in their
midst. A conical roof of twisted withes, covered with leaves, was put
on a boy's head, and in this curious disguise he went from house to
house, stopping at every door. Two boys walked beside him, carrying a
basket filled with eggs and chaff, followed by a crowd with green
boughs in their hands. They sang at every house,--
"Bim, bam, bum!
The May-man he has come;
Give us all the eggs you've got.
Or the marten will come to your cot;
Give us all the eggs we will,
Or we'll strew our chaff on your sill.
Bim, bam, bum," &c.
Where they received no eggs they fulfilled their threat, and cast a
handful of chaff on the sill, with cheers and laughter. This happened
but very rarely, however, though they left not a single house unvisited
except the manor-house farmer's. But the "May-man" failed on this
occasion to attract the general interest, for all the world had flocked
to Michael the wagoner's house to see the May-pole. It could not have
been brought there without the aid of at least six men and two horses.
How it could have been done so "unbeknown" was the wonder of all, for
setting May-poles was rigorously forbidden and punished with three
months' confinement in the Ludwigsburg penitentiary. The fear of this
punishment had deterred all the boys from putting this monster nosegay
before their sweethearts' windows,--all but Wendel's Mat, who went to
see Eva. Who had helped him was not to be discovered: some supposed
that they were boys from Dettensee, which is only a mile off and
belongs to the dominions of his high mightiness the Duke of
Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen.
Many of the farmers, on their way to the field with their ploughs and
harrows, stopped to look at the May-pole. Others, with hoes on their
shoulders, did the same. Wendel's Mat was there also, and he chuckled
in his sleeve continually, tipping the wink to Eva, who sat gayly at
the window with her eyes shut. Those closed eyes were very significant.
At every arch repetition of the question, "Who could have set the
May-pole!" she answered with a roguish shrug of the shoulders.
Just as the May-man and his followers had reached Michael the wagoner's
house and began their song, the beadle and the ranger made their
appearance, and a solemn "Hush your noise, you----!" from the former,
stopped the proceedings. Amid the sudden silence the officer of the law
walked up to Mat, took him by the arm, and said, "Come along to the
squire."