Just try to think a little; can you hear a cracker sizzling as its cooks, and will it make you hungry to hear it ?" "If I throw a cracker into the fire, won't it burn ?" said the child, planting himself before Rolf and holding his nutcracker saucily before his eyes.
"Oh, there is no use talking to you," said Rolf, and was just about leaving the room, but this was not so easily done, for now Hunne was bitten with the mania for riddle-making himself.
"Stop, Rolf," he cried and grasped his brother by the jacket to hold him.
"My first is not good to drink but to eat--" "Oh dear, well, that must be 'nutcracker' again," and Rolf ran off, wrenching himself from his tormentor's hands.

But the boy followed him, crying, "Wrong, wrong! you are wrong.

Try again, try again!" Moreover, Wili and Lili came scampering in from the other side, crying out, "Rolf, Rolf, a riddle! guess! try!" and Lili held up a strip of paper and rattled it before Rolfs eyes, repeating, "Guess, guess, Rolf." So the riddle-maker was now caught in his own meshes.
"Well, at least leave me room to guess in," cried he, striking about him with his arms to make room.
"You can't guess anything," cried little Hunne contemptuously, "I am going to Jule--he knows." Rolf took the little slip of yellowish paper that Lili was waving back and forth, and looked at it in surprise.

In a childish hand-writing that he had never seen before, were written the following words, "Come lay your hand Joined thus we Each the other That our union But behold the That our future We will cut our Half for you and But we still will That our halves And with us Our friendship." "It is probably a rebus," said Rolf thoughtfully.

"I shall guess it after a little while.