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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/14627-0.txt b/14627-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4e5770d --- /dev/null +++ b/14627-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3322 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14627 *** + +VERONICA +And Other Friends + +TWO STORIES FOR CHILDREN + +_BY THE AUTHOR OF_ +"HEIDI" + +_TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN OF +JOHANNA SPYRI, BY_ +LOUISE BROOKS + +BOSTON +DE WOLFE, FISKE & CO. +361 AND 365 WASHINGTON STREET + +[Illustration] + +Copyright 1886, +BY LOUISE BROOKS. +All Rights Reserved. + + + + +CONTENTS. + +CHAPTER + + I. A VISIT TO THE DOCTOR + + II. WITH FRESH COURAGE + + III. NINE YEARS LATER + + IV. ALL AT HOME + + V. UPON UNSAFE PATHS + + VI. LAME SABINA GIVES GOOD ADVICE + + VII. A THUNDER-CLAP + +VIII. EACH ONE ACCORDING TO HIS KIND + + IX. MOTHER GERTRUDE GIVES GOOD ADVICE + + X. MAN PROPOSES, BUT GOD DISPOSES + + XI. THE MOTTO PROVES TRUE + + + + + +VERONICA. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +A VISIT TO THE DOCTOR. + + +It was early in the month of March. The dark blue vault of heaven lay over +mountain and valley, swept free from clouds by the keen northern blast as +it blew across the hills, swaying the big trees hither and thither as if +they were bulrushes, and now and then tearing off huge branches which fell +crashing to the ground. Other and sadder victims were sacrificed to this +fierce north wind. Human beings as well as inanimate objects fell before +him. He struck down with his mighty arm, not only the old and feeble, but +the young and strong; just as he swept away the clouds, hurrying them +across the skies, beyond the horizon line, away out of sight. Sometimes in +one day, a cruel malady would seize one occupant out of each one of the +three or four little villages clustered on the hillside. A sharp pain +attacked the lungs, and after a brief illness the resistless disease bore +away the sufferer to the silent grave. + +At the very moment of which we write, a group of black-clad mourners were +standing near one of the pleasantest houses in the isolated village of +Tannenegg, waiting for the sound of the church bell, as the signal to lift +the covered bier on which was stretched the body of a young woman, the +last victim to the north wind's cruel stroke, and to bear her to her +final resting place. In the quiet room within, two children were seated on +a bench, which ran along the wall. They formed a striking contrast to each +other. The girl, a little black-eyed frowning thing, dressed in some +mourning stuff, followed with fierce looks the rapid movements of a woman +who, standing before an open cup-board, was moving its contents over and +about, as if in search of something that did not come to hand. The boy was +also watching her, but his dancing blue eyes had in them a merry look of +pleased expectation. + +"I want to go out, Cousin Judith," said the girl, and her tones were half +angry, half anxious, "Where can my mother be?" + +"Be still, be still," said the woman, still tumbling the contents of the +cup-board about nervously. "I shall find something pretty for you +presently; then you must sit down quietly and play with it, and not go +outside, not one step, do you hear? Pshaw! there is nothing but rubbish +here!" + +"Well, then give us the rose," said the little girl, still scowling. + +The woman looked about the room. + +"There are no roses here," she said. "How should there be, in March?" she +added, half vexed at having looked for them. "There," said the child, +pointing towards a book that the woman had but a moment before replaced in +the cup-board. + +"Ah! now I know what you mean. So your mother always kept the rose, the +"Fortune rose?" I often envied her when she used to show it to us in her +hymn-book;" and as she spoke, she turned the leaves of the old hymnal, +until she found the rose and handed it to the child. + +"Take it," she said, "be quiet, and do not get up from your seats till I +come back;" and she hurried from the room. + +The little girl took the prettily-painted rose, in her hand; it was an old +acquaintance, her favorite Sunday plaything. + +When her mother wanted to secure a quiet hour for herself on Sundays, she +used to give her "Fortune rose" to her little Veronica, and it was sure to +occupy the child for a long time in perfect contentment. + +"Look, this is the way you must do," said the child, as she pulled with +her fingers a small strip of paper that stood out from the side of the +picture; suddenly before the astonished eyes of the boy the red full calix +of the rose flew open, disclosing a glittering golden verse that lay in +the centre of the flower. Then Veronica pushed the paper-strip back, and +the rose folded its leaves and was a perfect flower again. + +Quite dazzled by this wonderful magic the little boy stared with amazement +at the rose, and then seized it to try for himself. + +While the children were playing, Veronica's mother was being laid in her +grave. After awhile Cousin Judith came back into the room. She was +"cousin" to all Tannenegg, though related to no one. She came back to take +the rose, and put it into the hook, which she replaced in the cup-board. +"Sit still awhile longer, children;" she said, "and presently your mother +will come for you. Be good and do not trouble her, for she has enough to +bear already." + +It was the little boy's mother she meant, and the children knew it. They +knew also very well, that they must be good and not trouble her, for they +had seen her for two days going about the house with eyes red with +weeping. Presently she entered the room, and took the children one by each +hand, and went to the door with them. She seemed to be struggling with sad +and heavy thoughts. She usually spoke cheerily to the children, but now +she was silent, and every now and then she furtively wiped away a tear. + +"Where are we going, mother?" asked the boy. + +"We must go to the doctor's, Dietrich," she answered, "your father is very +ill." And she led them along the foot path toward the little town, where +the white houses shone in the sunlight. Fohrensee was a new place, that +had sprung up as if in one night from the soil, and now stood there a +great white spot against the dark hillside. Not long before, it had been +only a little cluster of houses standing in a protected spot on the side +of the hill, not very far below Tannenegg. It was so situated that the +biting north wind, which blew so sharply over the exposed houses of +Tannenegg, did not reach the nook where little Fohrensee lay bathed in the +full light of the sun. But the little place was high enough to be visited +by all the cooling breezes, and was healthy, pure and fresh, to a +remarkable degree. When, not long before this time, an enterprising +inn-keeper discovered its health-giving qualities, and built an inn there, +guests filled it so rapidly that he soon put up another. Soon, one after +another, little inns sprang up, as from the ground, and then a crowd of +trades-people came up from the valley, and settled around, for the number +of guests constantly increased, and the strangers found the spot so +favorable to health, that it became a favorite winter resort. And thus the +obscure little Fohrensee became, in a few years, a large and flourishing +town, stretching out in every direction. + +Gertrude, however, walking sturdily along with the children, was not +going as far as Fohrensee, with its shining white houses. She turned off +into a foot path that led to several scattered dwellings up on the +hillside, and soon reached an open space, on which stood a handsome house, +with large stables near by. Out from the stable, a hostler had just led a +spirited horse, which he began to harness into a light wagon. Instantly +the little boy freed his hand from his mother's, planted himself before +the horse, and could not be induced to move. + +"Stay there then, if you want to," said his mother, "we will go on to the +house; but you must take care not to go too near the horse." + +The doctor was just hurrying out from his office; he must have had a long +distance to go, for he was starting off before the usual time for office +hours was over. Gertrude apologized, and begged the doctor to excuse her +for not having come earlier to see him; she had been very busy with her +invalid, and could not get away before. "Never mind; as you have come, I +will wait a few minutes," said the physician, briefly; "Come in; how is +your husband?" + +Gertrude went into the room, and told the doctor about her sick husband. +It was Steffan, a strong, young man, on whom the mountain sickness had +seized with unusual violence. The doctor silently shook his head. He took +a small mortar that stood on the office table, and shook into it some +stuff which he ground with the marble pestle. His eyes fell on the child +who stood by Gertrude's side, gazing earnestly at the doctors's +occupation. The little creature had something unusual about her, and +attracted attention at once. Under her thick black hair and heavy brows, +her big eyes looked forth with a solemn gaze, as if everything she saw +gave her food for thought. + +"He had no one but himself to blame for it, I fancy," said the doctor, as +he filled some small square papers with his powders. + +"No, no! he was not the least of a brawler; he was a quiet industrious +fellow. They had rented some of our rooms, and lived there peaceably and +happily for three whole years, and never was an unkind word exchanged +between them. But he was a stranger in these parts; he was never called +anything but the Bergamasker, and the other fellows could never forgive +him for having won the prettiest and most courted girl in the whole +village. They never ceased to tease and irritate him, and on this especial +evening at the Rehbock they must have been unusually offensive. Apparently +they were all somewhat excited, for they could afterwards give no clear +account of the affair, but the end was that the Bergamasker came home +fatally wounded, and died the next day. Everything has been different +among us since the Rehbock was built. Our village used to be quiet and +orderly; every one was contented to work all the week and rest on Sunday. +Nobody ever heard of such a thing as noisy drinking and rowdyism. But I +have another errand with you now, doctor. Lene charged me on her death +bed to attend to it. She did not leave any money, but she had an excellent +outfit. She bade me sell her bedstead and her bureau, and bring you the +proceeds, to settle what she owed you. She was very anxious that I should +see to it, for she felt that you had done a great deal for her; and she +spoke of how often you had climbed the hill both by day and night, to +visit her. So, please give me the bill, doctor, so that I may settle it at +once, as I promised her." + +"What relatives has the child?" asked the doctor shortly. + +"She has none at all in these parts," replied Gertrude. "She has been with +me all through her mother's illness, and now she is mine. Her mother's +family are all gone. She might perhaps be sent to her father's parish in +Bergamaskische, but I shall not do that; she belongs now to us." + +"I would not go there," said the child firmly in a low tone, clinging to +Gertrude's dress with both hands. + +The doctor opened a big book, tore out a leaf, and drew his pen twice +across the closely written page. + +"There," he said, handing the cancelled sheet to Gertrude, "that is all +the bill I shall give you." + +"Oh, doctor, may God reward you," said Gertrude. "Go, child, and thank the +doctor, for you owe him a great deal." + +The child obeyed after her own fashion. She planted herself before the big +man, looked steadily at him with her great black eyes and said somewhat +hoarsely, + +"Thank you." It sounded more like a command than anything else. + +The doctor laughed. + +"She is rather alarming," he said, "she is evidently not accustomed to say +anything she does not really mean. I like that. But come, I must be off," +and handing the medicine to Gertrude he left the room quickly so as to +avoid her repeated thanks. + +The little boy was standing where his mother had left him, still staring +at the restless horse. The doctor looked kindly at the little fellow. + +"Would you like to take care of a horse?" he asked, as he got into his +wagon. + +"No, I should like to drive one of my own," replied the child without +hesitation. + +"Well, you are quite right there: stick to that, my boy," said the +doctor, and drove away. + +As Gertrude, holding a child by each hand, climbed the hillside, the boy +said gaily, + +"Say, mother, I can have one, can't I?" + +"Do you mean to be a gentleman like the doctor, and own a horse, +Dietrich?" asked the mother. + +The boy nodded. + +"So you can, if you will work hard for it, and stick to your work well. +You see the doctor had to do that for a long time, and has to do it still, +and if you stick to your work as he has, and never stop nor get tired till +it is done, and well done, then you will be a gentleman, even if you are +not a doctor. It doesn't matter what you do; you may be a gentleman if +you persevere and work hard and faithfully." + +"Yes, with a horse," said Dietrich. + +The little girl had been listening intently to every word of this +conversation. Her black eyes blazed out suddenly as she looked up to +Gertrude and said decidedly, + +"I'll be one too." + +"Yes, Yes, Mr. Veronica! Mr. Veronica! that sounds well," cried Dietrich, +and he laughed aloud at the idea. + +Veronica thought it no laughing matter, however. She pressed Gertrude's +hand firmly and looked up with glowing eyes, as she said, "I can be one +too, can't I mother; say?" + +"You should not laugh, Dietrich," said his mother kindly. "Veronica can be +exactly what you can be. If she works steadily, and does not grow tired +and careless, but keeps on till her work is finished and well finished, +she will be a lady as you will be a gentleman." + +Veronica trotted along contentedly after this explanation. She did not +speak again. The frowning brows were smoothed and the fiery eyes now shone +with the light of childish joy as she caught sight of the first flowers +that began to peep above the ground. The child's face looked fairly +charming now; her well-formed features framed by the dark locks, made a +beautiful picture. + +Dietrich was also silent: but he was pursuing the same train of thought, +for he broke out presently, + +"Will she have a horse too?" + +"Why not, as well as you. It all depends on how steadily and how +faithfully you both work," replied Gertrude. + +"Well, then, we shall have two horses," cried the boy, joyfully. "Where +shall we put the stable, mother?" + +"We can see to that bye and bye, there is plenty of time for that. It +won't do for you to be thinking about the horse all the time, you know, +you must keep your mind on your work if you mean to do it well." + +Dieterli said no more. He was busy trying to decide on which side of the +house it would be best to put the stable. + +That night, Gertrude again hurried down the hill to the doctor's houses +and this time she brought him back with her. + +Her husband's illness had taken a turn for the worse, and the next day he +died. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +WITH FRESH COURAGE. + + +A few days later a numerous company of mourners followed another black +bier to the sunny church-yard. + +Steffan, the saddler, had been universally respected. He had begun life +modestly; there had been no large industries in Tannenegg in his early +days. He married the quiet and orderly Gertrude, who worked with him at +his trade, and helped support the frugal household. Soon the flood of +prosperity invaded Fohrensee, and naturally the only saddler in the +vicinity had his hands full of work. + +Now Gertrude's help was needed in earnest, and she did not fail. They were +soon in possession of a nice little house of their own, with a garden +about it, and no matter how much work she might have to do in the shop, +everything in her own province of housekeeping was as well and carefully +ordered as if Gertrude had no other business to occupy her time and +thoughts. And Steffan, Gertrude and their little Dieterli lived simple, +useful and contented lives and were a good example to all the +neighborhood. + +Now, to-day, Gertrude stood weeping by the window and looked across to the +church-yard, where that very morning they had laid her good man. Now she +must make her way alone; she had no one to help her, no one belonging to +her except her two children, and for them she must work, for she never +admitted for a moment that the orphaned Veronica was not hers to care for +as well as her own little Dietrich. + +She did not lose courage. As soon as the first benumbing effect of her +sorrow had passed a little, she gazed up at the shining heavens and said +to herself, "He who has sent this trouble will send me strength to bear +it;" and in full trust in this strength she went to work, and seemed able +to do more than ever. + +Her property, outside of the little capital which her husband had laid by, +consisted of her house, which was free from debt, and of which she could +let a good part. The question was, whether she could carry on the +remunerative business that her husband had been engaged in, until little +Dietrich should be old enough to assume the direction of it, and pursue it +as his father had done before him. Gertrude retained the services of a +workman who had been employed by Steffan, and she herself did not relax +her labors early and late, to oversee the work and keep all in running +order. + +For the first few weeks after her mother's death little Veronica sat every +evening weeping silently by herself in a dark corner of the room. When +Gertrude found her thus grieving, she asked kindly what ailed her, and +again and again, she received only this sorrowful answer, + +"I want my mother." + +Gertrude drew the child tenderly towards her, caressing her, and +promising her that they would all go together some day to join her mother, +who had only gone on before, that she might get strong and well again. And +gradually this second mother grew to take the place of her own, and no +game, no amusement could draw the loving child away from Gertrude's side. +Only Dietrich could succeed in enticing her to go with him now and then. + +The lad's love for his mother showed itself in a louder and more +demonstrative manner. He often threw his arms about her neck, crying +passionately, + +"My mother belongs to me and to nobody else." + +Then Veronica's brows would knit over her flashing eyes, until they formed +a long straight line across her face. But she did not speak. And Gertrude +would put one arm about the boy's neck and the other about the little +girl's, and say, + +"You must not speak so, Dietrich. I belong to you both, and you both +belong to me." + +In general, the two children were excellent friends, and completely +inseparable. They were not happy unless they shared everything together +and wherever one went, the other must go too. They went regularly to +school every morning, and were always joined by two of the neighbors' +children, who went with them. + +These were, the son of the shoemaker, long, bony Jost, with his little, +cunning eyes,--and the sexton's boy, who was as broad as he was long, and +from whose round face two pale eyes peered forth upon the world, in +innocently stupid surprise. His name was Blasius, nicknamed Blasi. + +Often, on the way to school, quarrels arose between Dieterli and the two +other boys. It would occur to one of them to try what Veronica would do if +he were to give her a blow with his fist. Scarcely had he opened his +attack when he found himself lying on his nose, while Dieterli played a +vigorous tattoo on his back with no gentle fists. Or the sport would be to +plant a good hard snow-ball between Veronica's shoulders, with the +mortifying result to the aggressive boy, of being pelted in the face with +handfuls of wet snow, until he was almost stifled, and cried out for +mercy. Dieterli was not afraid of either of them; for though smaller and +thinner than either, he was also much more lithe, and could glide about +like a lizard before, behind and all around his adversaries, and slip +through their fingers while they were trying to catch him. Veronica was +well avenged, and went on the rest of her way without fear of molestation. +If one of the other lads felt in a friendly mood, and wished to act as +escort to the little girl, Dieterli soon gave him to understand that that +was his own place, and he would give it up to no one. + +Every evening "Cousin Judith" came for a little visit, to give Gertrude +some friendly advice about the children, or the household economy. She +used to say that the gentle widow needed some one now and then to show +claws in her behalf, and Judith knew herself to be in full possession of +claws, and of the power to use them, an accomplishment of which she was +somewhat proud. One evening she crossed over between daylight and dark, +and entered the room where Veronica was, with her favorite plaything in +her hand, moving it back and forth as she sat in the window in the waning +light. She could read very nicely now for two years had passed since she +had lost her own mother, and had become Gertrude's child. Many a time had +she read over the motto which shone out so mysteriously from the breast of +the opened rose. To-day she was poring over it again, and her absorption +in "that same old rose," as Dieterli called it, had so annoyed the lively +lad that he left her, and had gone out into the kitchen to find his +mother. When Judith saw the girl sitting thus alone, buried in thought, +she asked her what she was thinking about in the twilight all by herself. + +Dieterli, whom no sound ever escaped, had heard Cousin Judith come in, and +came running in from the kitchen to see what was going on. Veronica looked +up at the visitor and asked earnestly, + +"Cousin Judith, what is fortune?" + +"Ah, you are always asking some strange question that no one else ever +thought of asking;" said Cousin Judith, "where on earth did you ever hear +of fortune?" + +"Here," said Veronica, holding up the rose with the golden verse in the +centre. "Shall I read it to you?" + +"Yes, do, child." + +Veronica read-- + + "Fortune stands ready, full in sight; + He wins who knows to grasp it right." + +"Well, it means this--I should say--fortune is whatever anyone wants the +most." + +"Fortune is a horse, then," said Dietrich quickly. + +Veronica sat thinking. "But, Cousin Judith," she said presently, "how can +any one 'grasp fortune'?" + +"With your hands," replied Cousin Judith unhesitatingly, "You see, our +hands are given us to work with, and if we use them diligently and do our +work well, as it ought to be done, then fortune comes to us; so don't you +see we 'grasp it' with our hands?" + +The verse had now become endued with life, and meant something real and +attractive to Veronica. She did not lay her rose out of her hand for a +long time, that evening, notwithstanding that Dietrich cast threatening +glances upon it, and finally broke out in vexation, + +"I will tear off the spring some time, and spoil the thing altogether." + +The rose was not put into the book and the book into the cup-board, until +the time came for the children to say their evening prayers. This was the +closing act of every day; and it was so fixed and regular a habit, that +the children never needed to be bidden to fold their hands, and kneel to +ask God's blessing before they slept. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +NINE YEARS LATER. + + +A sunshiny Easter morning shone over hill and valley. A crowd of +holiday-making people poured out of the little church at Tannenegg, and +scattered in every direction. A long row of blooming lads and lassies came +in close ranks, moving slowly towards the parsonage. They were the +newly-confirmed young people of the parish, who had that day partaken of +the Communion for the first time. They were going to the house of their +pastor, to express their gratitude for his careful and tender teaching and +guidance, before they went out into the world. Among these were Dietrich +and Veronica. Gertrude stood at a little distance from the church, and +watched the procession as it passed by. Her eyes were filled with tears of +pleasurable emotion, as she noticed that her dark-eyed Veronica was +conspicuous among all the maidens for the tasteful neatness of her +costume, and for the sweetness and grace of her bearing. The glance which +Veronica cast upon the mother in passing was full of love and gratitude; +and seemed to repeat the words that the faithful girl had spoken in the +morning, as she left her to go to the church. "I cannot thank you enough, +as long as I live, for what you have done for me, mother." A yet brighter +expression of happiness crossed Gertrude's countenance when the young men +came in procession after the girls, as her eyes fell on the well-formed +lad, a head taller than his companions, who nodded at her, and greeted her +with merry laughing looks, kissing his hand again and again, and yet once +again. That was her tall handsome Dietrich. His mother's heart leaped in +her breast at the sight of his fresh young life, so full of hope and +promise. Gertrude waited till the visit to the pastor was over, and the +young people had separated on their various paths. Then she in her turn +entered the parsonage. She wished herself to speak her thanks to this true +and long tried adviser and friend, for all that he had done for her +children. + +"You are a fortunate mother," said the aged pastor, after he had listened +to Gertrude's expressions of gratitude. "Those are two uncommon children +that the good God has confided to your care, and I feel the greatest +interest in them. The lad has a clear head, and a winning grace that draws +everyone to him. Veronica is serious and conscientious; she has a calm +steady nature and can be depended upon for fidelity to duty, such as it is +rare to find. The children will be your stay and comfort in your old age. +May you keep them in the paths of virtue." + +"With God's help;" said Gertrude, and she left the parsonage with tears of +happiness in her eyes. As she passed the garden of her neighbor Judith, +the latter called out over the low hedge, + +"They have just gone by, all four of them. It always seems to me strange +that while all babies in the cradle look just alike, so that you can't +tell them apart, they grow up to be such very different men and women." + +"No, no, these four were never alike," replied Gertrude, "but I agree that +they grow more and more unlike every day." + +"Yes, that they do. And of you three near neighbors, you certainly have +drawn the best lot in children," said Judith with enthusiasm, "two like +your two are not to be found in a long day's journey. Veronica will fully +repay you for what you have done for her." + +"I have been repaid long ago by the child's attachment to me. She has +never given me anything but satisfaction ever since her mother died. If I +have any anxiety about Veronica it is lest she over-work herself. There is +something feverish in her love of work; she can never do enough. No matter +how late I go into her room at night, she is always finishing off some +piece of work; and no matter how early I get up in the morning, she has +already begun something new. If I had not positively forbidden it, she +would keep at it even on a Sunday. It is a real source of anxiety to me, +lest she should over-work and break down." + +"Oh, I don't think you need be afraid of that, Gertrude; work never yet +hurt any one, least of all the young folks. Let her work away. But I don't +see the need of her scowling so all the time. She looks for all the world +as if she were fighting and struggling against enemies and difficulties +of all sorts. I like better Dietrich's laughing eyes; they are so full of +fun. When he goes down the street singing-- + + 'Gladly and merrily + Live to-day cheerily, + Black care and sorrow + Leave till to-morrow,' + +it goes right to my heart, and I could sing too for very joy. No one can +help loving him." + +Gertrude listened with sunshine in her face to these words of praise, but +a little cloud of anxiety shadowed her eyes as she said, + +"Yes, God be praised, he is a good boy and means well, but I do wish that +he had a little of Veronica's firmness of purpose. It is very pleasant to +have every one like him, but too great popularity is not always a good +thing. And those two companions that are always hanging about him, are not +such as I myself would choose for his friends." + +"If they could all be put to some steady work it would be the best thing +for them," said Judith. "Idleness is the mother of mischief. Blasi is not +an ill-meaning fellow, but he is lazy, greatly to his own injury. Long +Jost is the worst of the two; a sly-boots, and a rare one too. It is to be +hoped that he will break his own leg, when he's trying to trip some one +else up with it." + +"No, no, Judith, on this holy Easter day, we will not have such unkind +hopes as that. I hope and believe that the good God holds the children in +his protecting hand. We have given them to him; that is my comfort and +support Good-bye, Judith; come often to see us; we are always glad of your +company." + +On the evening of this sunny Easter day, while rosy clouds moved slowly +across the clear sky, and the golden glow faded in the far west behind the +wooded heights, Gertrude came back from a long walk in the fields and +woods. On one side of her strode Dietrich, talking rapidly and earnestly: +the fresh joy of youth was written in every movement of his little figure, +and laughed from the depths of his clear eyes. On the other side Veronica +walked, listening in silence. Her noble features, above which her black +hair fell in shining waves, had a serious, thoughtful expression, but +every now and then, when Dietrich let fall some particularly apt +expression, a look would cross her face that irradiated it like a sunbeam +crossing a shadowed plain. Mother Gertrude looked now proudly at her +radiant son, now approvingly at her stately daughter, and again she lifted +grateful glances towards the glowing heavens where she saw promise of +another brilliant day to come. Far and wide, in all Tannenegg, was not to +be found that day, such another happy mother as Gertrude. + +When they reached the crossways where the footpath led up by the tavern of +the Rehbock, Dietrich turned into it, and his mother was about to follow +him, but Veronica drew her back, saying anxiously, + +"Don't go that way, mother dear; it is not much farther by the other +road." + +Dietrich laughed aloud. + +"Now there it is again. Do you know, mother, that I can never get Veronica +to go past the Rehbock. She would rather go ten minutes farther round, and +she will not say why either. To-day, Veronica, I am determined that you +shall go this way or tell us why not." + +"No; to-day we will not quarrel, Dietrich, please;" said the girl +entreatingly, but with a tone that showed no signs of yielding her point, +"let us sing a song as we go; mother loves to hear us sing." + +As she spoke, she walked steadily along the road, and the others followed, + +"Well then," said the lad, "let's sing 'Gladly and merrily'"--and he began +to sing the familiar tune. + +"To-night I should rather sing the Fisher-boat," said Veronica, and +without demur the good-natured boy dropped his song, and joined his clear +tones with Veronica's steady voice, the two harmonizing perfectly as they +sang: + + "A tiny boat, a fisher-boat, + Tossed lightly on the silver sea; + Around the rocks, in air, afloat + The white gulls circle lazily. + A tiny boat, a fisher-boat-- + The fisher draws his slender line; + He half in dream-land seems to float. + Saying, 'to-morrow will be fine.'" + +Softly singing, in the soft falling shadows of evening, the happy trio +drew towards their home, and disappeared within the cottage door. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +ALL AT HOME. + + +Dietrich had already worked for some time in his father's business. It was +all in the best possible condition; the work shop, the tools and materials +had been carefully kept up, and everything was fresh and in good working +order. The old customers had not withdrawn their custom, for the former +workman who had served under Steffan for many years had continued his +deceased master's methods, so that the reputation of the work was +sustained, and as Fohrensee grew, so also the saddler's orders grew, and +the business flourished. So Dietrich found his trade ready made to his +hand, and as good a prospect lay before him as heart could wish. He took +hold with a good will, and being his own master did not make him the less +diligent. He was determined first to work faithfully till he had +thoroughly learned the business, and then to travel for a while. When he +had seen the world a bit he would come back, go on with the business +farther and farther, and become a gentleman; and then--then--where could a +happier man be found than he should be, living with his mother and +Veronica in peace and plenty. His mother should pass her days in happy +idleness if she wished, without care, without sorrow, in wealth and +comfort, and Veronica! Yes, he would give Veronica a life far happier and +more beautiful than she had ever dreamed of for herself! While his brain +teemed with these pleasant thoughts, Dietrich sang and whistled at his +work all day long, and did good work, too. He had a skilful hand and a +clear head, and his work went successfully on. + +Veronica had persuaded her mother to let her stay longer in the Industrial +School than was usual with the young girls of the neighborhood. Even up to +the day of her confirmation, she had taken sewing lessons twice from a +most accomplished teacher. A short time before Easter, the teacher had +assured Gertrude that Veronica had made such extraordinary progress, that +she was already prepared to teach, and that she had completed the course +taught at that school, and could learn no more there. Veronica certainly +deserved farther training and the teacher suggested that it would be well +worth while for her to take lessons in embroidery of lame Sabina in +Fohrensee. She would then be sure of a position as a teacher, as high as +her utmost ambition could desire. + +It had always been Gertrude's plan to have Veronica learn to work at the +saddler's business, as there is a good deal of the fine work which is +suitable for women, and which it needs a woman's hand to carry out. She +hoped that in this way her children could always remain together and with +her. The fine embroidery for which lame Sabina was noted, it did not seem +to her at all necessary for Veronica to learn, but she was willing to +leave the decision to her. As soon as Veronica heard of this new work to +be learned, she was eager to begin upon it, and she left her mother no +peace until she extracted from her the promise that directly after the +confirmation, this new undertaking should be entered upon. + +A few days after Easter Sunday, Veronica went to take her first lesson. It +was very early in the morning when she started to go down to Fohrensee; so +early that people were just beginning to open their windows, and only here +and there a sleepy face was to be seen at the door of a house. She had to +go early in order to get in a good day's work, for she was to come home at +night, and it was an hour's walk each way. She knew well the old cottage +with the beautiful carnations illuminating its windows, which was the home +of lame Sabina. The windows were already open, and the door also. She +entered and her new life began. + +Up in Tannenegg, Dietrich sat at his work, singing and whistling merrily. +His mother, busy with her household affairs went hither and thither about +the house, from sitting room to kitchen, and then with the feeding-bucket, +out on the grass plat before the house, where a flock of handsome fowl +were pecking about. All was still quiet in the neighboring houses, but +over by the well stood the never-idle Judith, beating and turning her +clothes as she washed them. Along the road with uncertain steps came the +old sexton, swinging the big church-keys in his hand; he had been ringing +the early morning peal. As he lifted his cap a little to salute Judith at +the well, she called out, + +"Good day, neighbor, I was just thinking it would be a good exchange if +the old folks were to lie abed at this hour and let the young ones pull +the bell rope." + +"Well, some one must be doing it," said the other, and passed on his way. + +Judith had been busy at her washing full two hours longer, when in the +doorway of the sexton's house appeared a young fellow, whose figure, +almost as broad as it was long, filled the opening, with scarce anything +to spare. He tried to yawn, but there was not room enough to stretch his +arms, so he stepped outside for the purpose, and there he gaped so +heartily that all the inside of his big mouth and throat was distinctly +visible. + +"There's nothing in it, Blasi! I've had a good look at it," cried Judith. +"If you had been here two hours ago, you might have seen a sight. A girl +with a whole mouthful of gold! What do you say to that?" + +Blasi caught at this, and brought his jaws together with a snap. + +"What! full of gold?" he exclaimed, and opened his sleepy eyes to their +utmost extent. "Why doesn't the foolish thing carry it in her pocket? +Where does she come from?" + +"That's no concern of yours. You will never come up with her," replied +Judith. + +"Tell me, for all that," urged Blasi, coming toward Judith, "I can go +after her, and I've no doubt I shall come up with her, and then there's no +telling what may happen. Come, where did she go, now? Do you know her +name?" + +"Her name is Early Morn, Blasi," said Judith pleasantly. "Did you never +hear the saying, 'There's gold in the mouth of the early morn.'" + +Blasi made a wry face and began in an angry tone, + +"There's nothing very clever in that"--but just then he remembered that +when he came out of the house he had intended to come over and say +something quite different to Judith; so he changed his tone quickly, and +said, + +"Can you lend me a franc or two; I have just time to do a little business +before eleven o'clock, and then I must be back to ring the noon bell; I +must try to help father, a little." + +"No, no, Blasi, I have no francs for you," said Judith decidedly. "It +wants three hours yet of being eleven o'clock. Use those big arms of +yours, and they'll bring you francs enough." And so saying, she lifted her +clothes-basket on her head, and walked away. + +Blasi stood looking after her, a moment, then he sauntered off, with both +hands in his pockets, up the road towards, the shoemaker's old house. +There sat Jost before the door, hammering away at something as if for dear +life. Blasi drew near, and stood watching the busy hands of his friend, +who presently cried out angrily, + +"So it is holiday with you, is it, you lazy-bones? It is maddening to see +one fellow go wandering about with his hands in his pockets, while another +has to sit on his three-legged stool, hammering away at the soles of +these--these--these Tanneneggers' boots. To-morrow is Cherry-festival in +Fohrensee, and every one is going; and I, I must get their boots ready! I +wish a thunder-storm would come and wash this away, and that, and the +whole lot of 'em!" As he spoke he tossed away first the mended boots, then +the hammer, and last of all the three-legged stool, away, as far as he +could throw them, down into the meadow. He was white with rage. + +"What stuff!" said Blasi, dryly. "You are paid for your cobbling; you are +better off than I am. I haven't a rap, and am in debt besides. I was going +to ask you if you couldn't lend me a franc. You have money, I know." + +"Oh yes, you sleepy-head! It's very likely I have money for you, when I'm +in such need of it myself! Go ask Dietrich; he has his pockets full, and a +big heap besides. But don't be such a fool as to ask him for just one mean +little franc; ask for five. I'll use two or three of them; tell him you'll +pay him again in a week." + +Blasi seemed rather undecided. + +"I should have gone to him long ago," he said, "but his mother is always +about, and she looks at a fellow as a bird does when somebody is trying to +rob her nest. I'm afraid of her." + +"Poh! it's all right enough to borrow a little money if you're going to +pay it back again. Don't be a fool! Go along!" and Jost enforced his +advise with an emphatic shove that sent Blasi rolling along much faster +than he wished to go. He grumbled a little at this unpleasant style of +progression, and muttered between his teeth, + +"He's no right to treat me so; I'm as good as he is, any day." + +When he reached Gertrude's garden, he stood still and looked over the +hedge. Dietrich's mother was there, planting her vegetable bed. He +sauntered back and forth for awhile, and when he saw her go to the other +corner of the garden, he thought he could now get without being seen, into +the room where he heard Dietrich whistling at his work. He went round the +garden, and was just going in at the back gate, when he came plump against +Gertrude. He went by quickly as if he had had no idea of going in; and +then hung about watching his chance, but as time did not stand still +while he waited, it was bye-and-bye eleven o'clock, and he had to go off +to ring the noon bell. + +In the afternoon, neighbor Judith was hoeing in her little garden. Blasi +stood hesitating in his door-way, and then came out and stood watching her +at her work. + +"I am always surprised, Blasi," said Judith, looking up from her work, "to +see you in company with a fellow, who steals your money from your pockets, +before you know it is there. I would not have anything to do with such a +one." + +"What? who?" asked Blasi, fumbling in his empty pockets. "Who picks my +pockets? Who are you talking about? I know I did have some; I wish you +would tell me the thief." + +"I'll tell no tales," said Judith, working away. + +"Bah! tell me, won't you? A fellow can't defend himself unless he knows +who is attacking him," growled Blasi. "You might say who you mean." + +"Well, I will. Go and take him by the ear. His name is Idleness!" As +Judith spoke, she raised her head, and looked Blasi full in the face; then +she bent to her work again. + +The lad was angry. He had hoped that he was going to get something back of +which he had been robbed, and that Judith would help him as she had been a +witness of the theft. + +"Oh, what a fuss you make over a few minutes," he said crossly; "I have to +go at four o'clock to ring the bell. I think I ought to take a little from +the old man." + +"I should say you took more from him than he had. It has just struck half +past two; do you know how many minutes there are in an hour and a half?" + +"There's no getting along with you," said Blasi, turning away. + +"Well, you get along finely without me, so go on and prosper," said Judith +quickly as the lad disappeared. + +Blasi had by no means given up his project. He did not see anyone in +Gertrude's garden as he passed along. He clambered up on the lattice by +the hedge and peeped through the open window into the room. Dietrich's +mother was seated near her son; both were working steadily, the young +fellow was chattering and laughing gaily, and his mother answered and +laughed too, but they did not stop working all the while. Blasi saw +plainly that this was not the time to make his request. He would wait +until the mother had gone to the kitchen, as she was sure to do +bye-and-bye. Four o'clock came and the great business of his day was at +hand; it was time to ring the bell, and he had to go. At last when evening +came Blasi found his opportunity. He stood watching outside the door, when +suddenly Dietrich threw it open, and started off with rapid strides. + +Blasi called out, "Wait, wait a minute, can't you? What's your hurry?" + +Dietrich turned about. + +"What do you want? Tell me quickly. I'm going to meet Veronica; she can't +come home alone through the woods after dusk." + +"Well, look here," said Blasi, breathing hard with his haste, and holding +Dietrich by the arm. "You see, I'm in trouble for want of a few francs or +so. Can't you lend them to me? I'll give them back again very soon." + +"I haven't that much about me now. Stop a minute--yes, here are two francs +and here's a half; will that be enough?" and throwing the money to Blasi, +the young man hastened away. + +As evening drew on, Gertrude stood at the end of the garden and looked +down the road. She listened to every sound that came from below. She was +waiting for her children's voices, for the sound of their footsteps; her +children, who made her life, her happiness, her hope! Ah! there they are! +that is Dietrich's voice talking eagerly, while Veronica's bell-like +laugh sounds clear through the still evening air. With a heart filled to +overflowing with happiness, Gertrude went forth to meet them. + +As they sat together round the table in their usual cheerful mood, the +mother asked for an account of this, Veronica's first day among strangers, +and how she liked her new work. + +"Very much indeed, mother," was the answer, and the young girl's face +beamed with a smile that swept away all trace of the clouds that sometimes +marred its beauty. + +"I can't tell you how delightful it is to be able to earn so much. But +after all, mother dear, the best part is that I can come home to you at +night." + +"That's what I think too," said Dietrich quickly, and you had but to look +in his eyes to see that he spoke the truth. + +"And I am as glad as either of you," said Gertrude smiling. "It has been a +long day for me. It seems a great while since you started off this +morning, Veronica." + +"What! when your only son was sitting by you all day long?" asked Dietrich +playfully. + +"Oh, you know what I mean. I need you both to make me perfectly happy, and +cannot spare either of you;" and she looked from one to the other with +caressing glances. + +Veronica told them all about the new teacher and the new work, and it was +late in the evening before the three separated for the night. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +UPON UNSAFE PATHS. + + +After this evening, Dietrich was scarcely ever able to go on his walk +alone. Blasi had always some pretext for joining him, and when Jost found +out that regularly every evening his friend took the same walk at the same +hour, he too discovered that he had a great deal to tell him, and to +consult him about. The two accompanied him through the wood, and when they +emerged from it on the other side, they usually saw a graceful figure +coming along the white road that led up the hill from Fohrensee. Then +without a word on the subject, as by tacit agreement, they stopped, shook +hands, and separated; the other two turned back toward the village, and +Dietrich went on. They felt instinctively that this was the best thing to +do. Dietrich, certainly, found out that his companions were not to +Veronica's mind, when one evening, the three being so engaged in talk that +they had not noticed that they were later than usual, Veronica came into +the wood before they left it, and she recognized Blasi and Jost, although +they turned quickly back. + +"They can't have the best of consciences," said Veronica, as Dietrich +joined her; "if they had only straight-forward business on hand, why did +they take themselves off so hastily, as soon as I came in sight?" + +"Can't you understand that we may have something to talk about, that we +do not wish you to hear?" asked Dietrich. + +The girl was silent a few moments, and then she said, rather seriously, + +"It would suit me far better, if you were not so much in company with +those two fellows. Blasi is absolutely idle, and cannot be nice, and Jost +is really bad; you can see that in his face. He never dares to look me +full in the eye; he always avoids a direct glance, as if he feared that +his eyes would betray him. I believe he is thoroughly false." + +"No, no, you should not judge him so harshly," said Dietrich, +good-humoredly. "He is not what you think him; he is a good friend to me, +and has already taught me a great deal that I should never have got at +without his help. He is a very clever fellow." + +Veronica let the matter drop, but it was plain that she had not changed +her opinion. + +The days grew longer and brighter. The wood was filled with sweeter +perfumes evening after evening, as the two friends sauntered along their +homeward path, and in each young heart the feeling grew and ripened, that +still sweeter and more beautiful days were to come. + +One afternoon in May, Veronica paced leisurely along the white hill-road, +her eyes fixed on the tall oak on the borders of the wood, which marked +the place where the foot-path came out upon the high road. Everything was +quiet; not a human being in sight. She reached the spot and looked +anxiously into the wood. She listened; she peered between the trees; all +was solitude. The tree-tops, softly murmuring, rocked gently to and fro, +and through the branches she saw the sunset glow. For the first time, the +young girl entered the wood alone. It was quite dark, in there. She passed +along with rapid step, among the solemn pines, hastening faster and +faster, as the trees seemed to draw together about her. When she came out +upon the open pathway, she saw Dietrich coming across the field in hot +haste. He was breathless when he reached her. + +"I don't like to have you come alone through the wood, Veronica," he said, +"I thought I should be in time, but I could not get rid of those two +fellows. I tried to get away two or three times, but they always had +something more to say, and kept me." + +"Where were you, Dietrich?" + +"They had some business with me; that is, Jost had something to tell me, +and Blasi was there too. Jost did not care to speak of it on the open +street, and so we went into the Rehbock; and that is what made me so late. +Why, what's the matter, Veronica? Are you ill?" + +She was as pale as a ghost. + +"What! You've been to the Rehbock, Dietrich!" she exclaimed in evident +distress. "Oh, don't go there! Please don't go to that place again!" + +"Oh, now we are to have the old story over again, are we?" said the young +man, laughing, "you have taken some foolish whim into your head; you +really don't know why yourself. What's your prejudice against that house +in particular?" + +"I do know why; and it is no whim," said Veronica, earnestly. "I will tell +you all about it. That house has been a terror to me ever since I can +remember anything. We were both so young that you probably do not +recollect it at all. We both went with mother to the doctor's, but you +didn't go into the house, I remember now. Mother told the doctor that my +father was killed at the Rehbock. I have never forgotten it since. I am +constantly seeing him lying dead before my eyes; lying there struck down +dead. I often dream about it, and in my dreams I am there--and--and +sometimes when I look at his dead form in my dreams, it is not my father +any more, but it is you--you, Dietrich, whom they have struck down dead at +the Rehbock." + +Dietrich was going to laugh at these words, but he glanced into Veronica's +face and was silent. She was more in earnest than he had thought. He tried +to quiet and reassure her, by saying that it was only a dream, and nothing +to be afraid of. The dream came naturally enough, because she was always +dwelling upon the tragedy of her father's death, and in dreams every one +knows that faces are always changing. His explanation, however, did not +make much impression upon Veronica. She said no more about it; but not all +Dietrich's efforts were sufficient to chase the shadows from her face that +evening, although he exerted himself to be even more amusing than usual. +Gertrude observed her silence, as they sat about the table, and looked +anxiously at her. When they had separated for the night, Dietrich went +into his mother's room to have a talk with her. He told her what Veronica +had said, and begged her to reason with the young girl and urge her to lay +aside these groundless fears which had taken possession of her. He +represented to his mother, that of course he sometimes had things to talk +over with his companions, and that there surely was no harm in their going +to the Rehbock together for their conversations, and he begged her to make +Veronica see the whole affair in a reasonable light. Gertrude was shocked +to find that the child had heard and understood what she had said to the +doctor, and distressed that she had taken it so much to heart. She +promised to speak to Veronica, but she also cautioned her son against +forming an intimacy with Jost and Blasi. Dietrich cheerfully gave his +word; declaring that he was not particularly fond of their company. The +mother, however, on further consideration, decided to say nothing on the +subject to Veronica, for she thought the whole thing would be the sooner +forgotten if not spoken of, and she believed it unwise to stir up the +terrors of the past. + +The next afternoon, Dietrich left home much earlier than usual, determined +not to be belated again, and hoping to escape altogether his too insistent +companions. But scarcely had he reached the garden gate when he came upon +Blasi, who was lying in wait for him. Dietrich tried to pass him quickly, +and to show him that his company was not desired, but in vain Blasi had +not been waiting round half an hour to be turned off like that. He +explained that he was in worse trouble than ever to-day, and wished to +borrow more money than ever before; promising, of course, to pay it back +very soon; "that is, as soon as possible," he added. + +"Oh yes, well, when will it be possible, I wonder. How much have you paid +me back, as yet, since you began to borrow of me?" said Dietrich angrily. +"Let me go, Blasi, I've no time to spare." + +But Blasi went along by his side, and before he had done talking, Jost +joined them and held Dietrich fast by the other arm. + +"Come, come," he cried, "I have something to tell you that will make you +open your eyes, I guess. I came in a hurry on purpose not to miss you. +I've just come from the Rehbock, and I told them to keep the little back +room for us, so that we can talk quietly, without danger of being +interrupted. Come along, I say." + +"I will not," said Dietrich, freeing his arm from the other's detaining +grasp. "I haven't time, and I don't believe you have anything special to +tell me, either. I must go." And Dietrich strode away; but Jost followed +him. + +"Don't be such a fool," he called out angrily, "can't you listen when I +tell you that I know something decidedly to your advantage. Something that +you'll be glad to know. You are running away because of her, and it is +something that will be good for her as well as for you. So do stand still, +and don't go scampering off as if the gamekeepers were after you!" But +Dietrich did not stop. + +"What do you know about her, or her good?" he asked furiously. "Mind your +own business and let us alone." + +As Jost had his own interest in winning the young fellow over, he +controlled himself, and said in most soothing tones, + +"Dietrich, I am your friend. Some day you will be very grateful to me. As +you are in such a hurry, I will not stop you now; only promise me to come +over bye-and-bye for a few minutes to the Rehbock; there's a good fellow, +and you will not be sorry. Will you come?" + +"Well, I've no particular objection to that," said Dietrich, and ran off +as fast as he could. + +Blasi, who had kept pace with the other two, seeing that there was no +chance for him now, turned back with Jost, and the two went into the +Rehbock together. + +Dietrich met Veronica quite the other side of the wood. He did his best to +rouse her from her silent mood, and to restore her to better spirits; but +he found it impossible to efface the impression she had received the +evening before. The painful memory had been too deeply stamped upon her +mind, to be easily wiped out. + +When the little family had bade each other good-night, after their usual +affectionate conversation, Dietrich hesitated about keeping his half-made +promise. He did not want to go; yet Jost's words, that the affair touched +her as nearly as it did him, had made their intended impression, and +though it went sadly against his grain to know that Jost dared even to +think about Veronica and her interests at all, still he could not help +wondering what it was all about. Suddenly his resolution was taken; he +turned about, went down stairs and softly left the house. + +Jost was standing in the doorway of the Rehbock, looking out into the +night to see if Dietrich was coming. They went at once into the little +back room. Blasi was there, sitting behind a big empty bowl; indeed he +never sat long behind a full one, for as the bowl was there to be emptied +he thought the quicker it was done the better. + +"I'm glad you have come," he cried out, "for we've run quite dry here." + +Dietrich perceived that he was expected to counteract the dryness; so he +ordered some beer, and when this was supplied Jost began in a cautious +tone, + +"I have something to say to you, Dietrich, that I don't care for those +outside to hear. Blasi can stay, because he is our comrade." + +"And because he can be made useful," said Dietrich readily, for he knew of +old that Jost was in the habit of rushing Blasi forward, where he did not +dare to go himself. + +"I don't know about that," said Jost, "but now listen to me. Do you know +how a fellow who hasn't so much as a penny in his purse, can in one night +get enough to build a big stone house, like the one the landlord of the +lion has in Fohrensee, and make himself a gentleman all at once? I know +how; I know somebody who has explained it all to me, and I tell you, +Dietrich, you have only to say the word, and you can do the same, and give +up the whole saddler's business. You can afford to risk something; you're +not stupid; and with you it will all go right in a twinkling." + +"Do you mean by card-playing?" asked Dietrich rather contemptuously, for +he had made up his mind about that long ago. + +"No indeed, something very different. It is done on paper. You have +nothing to do but put some money down, and you can win two or three times +as much in no time." + +"And lose _four_ times, I suppose?" + +"There's no losing about it;" said Jost confidently, "You're sure to win +in the end, if you keep on long enough. It doesn't signify if you do lose +a little at first--you can afford to wait." + +"I think my trade is surer of winning;" said Dietrich. + +"Oh yes, sure enough!" said Jost scornfully. "It is a pretty sight to see +a fellow like you, sitting there year after year on the saddler's bench, +scraping all the skin off his hands; and with all the income you have, +too! why in ten years you won't have as much as will build you a house +such as you want, and it would take ten years more to become a gentleman; +and she'd like it a great deal better to have something nice now, and not +wait till she is fifty years old." + +Dietrich was red with anger. + +"What business is it of yours to be forever thinking and talking about +her?" he blazed out. "You have no concern with her whatever; just keep +yourself to what you're fit for." + +"Why do go on as you do?" asked Jost with a knowing wink. "Do you suppose +it never enters anybody's head to ask why you keep on working and delving +as if you liked it? Can't we guess who you're doing it all for?" + +"And it's not at all out of the way to be thinking about her, either," +interposed Blasi, "there's another ready enough to do that if there were +any chance for him," and he winked significantly at Jost. Jost took no +notice of the insinuation, but went on, addressing himself to Dietrich. + +"There's no danger for you in this plan. We will share losses and gains +alike, and if we do not like it we can leave off when ever we choose. But +I don't see why we shouldn't like it, when we can earn so much with so +little trouble, and without working from morning till night. There goes +somebody now, who has all he wants, I should like to be in his place!" + +A wagon was rattling by as he spoke, and its occupant was urging the +galloping horse faster and faster along the road. + +"That's the doctor," said Dietrich, looking out; "he has had to work hard +enough and is still at it. He must be going to visit a very sick patient; +he would not be driving at that rate for anything else. It is late for the +old gentleman to be out." + +"Work!" said Jost, "well, I speak for that kind of work; sitting in a +chaise behind a horse. It's another part of speech to have to work with +one's hands, as we do." + +"The doctor has to work with his hands too, I'm sure of that. And besides, +we have our evenings to ourselves, while he may be kept at it till eleven +o'clock at night, as he is this evening, and later." + +"Oh drop all this stupid talk and give us an answer; yes or no. Will you +be a fool and go on pricking your fingers over your work, or will you join +me and have things comfortable without working at all? Anybody but you +would be grateful to me for the chance I offer you. I came to you with it +because of our old friendship. I know plenty of fellows who would jump at +the chance. You can think it over till tomorrow, and then I'm sure you'll +be glad to accept. I'll meet you here to-morrow evening, and bring some +one with me who will explain it all clearly." + +Dietrich agreed to think about it till to-morrow, and now, in high +good-humor and increasing confidence in the coming good-fortune, he helped +Blasi and Jost to empty the bowl, in a toast to the success of their new +projects. + +It was Veronica's habit to work on her embroidery for some time after +going up to her bedroom, and this evening she was so much interested in +her work, that she did not observe the flight of time, until she heard the +clock strike one. She put by her sewing, and hastened to prepare for bed, +as she must be up and stirring again by five o'clock. Presently she heard +the outer door opened softly, and then closed from the inside. She blew +out her light and gently opened her bed-room door. The moon lighted up the +passageway with a faint beam. Some one came stealing up the staircase with +noiseless steps. She saw that it was Dietrich. He went cautiously into his +room and closed his door. + +Veronica shut her door, and sat down upon her bed. All the blood seemed to +rush to her heart and she could not stir. She knew in a moment that +Dietrich, whom she had believed to be asleep long ago, had been visiting +in secret the hated Rehbock. She sat some minutes motionless on her bed, +in a kind of dull pain. Then she arose slowly, lighted her lamp again, +took out her work and with nervous fingers drove on her needle, which flew +faster and faster through the white cloth. She did not sleep at all that +night. + +Nor did Dietrich fall asleep easily. His thoughts were busy and he could +not come to any decision. What should he do? + +If he could become rich at once, without working any more, why shouldn't +he do it? Would it be best to consult his mother? No, that would upset +everything. He was sure that his mother was too firmly wedded to the old +ideas about ways of getting a living, to listen to any new-fangled methods +of making money without work. + +And Veronica? + +Certainly not Veronica, who valued work above everything, and who indeed +loved it so well, that she could not imagine that any one should ever wish +to escape it. + +But if he were successful, both his mother and Veronica would profit by +his good fortune as much as himself. Why couldn't he go on with his own +plans in his own way? Why need he ask leave of Veronica? + +Before he slept, Dietrich had decided to meet Jost the next evening, and +close with his offer. + +When Gertrude came down stairs early in the morning, she found the +breakfast ready, and Veronica dressed to go out. + +"Wait just a moment," said the mother, "Dietrich will be down directly; I +hear him coming." + +"I must be off," replied Veronica. She went towards the door, but turned +before going out. Her cheeks were flaming. + +"Mother," she said, and her voice trembled, "in God's name, forbid him to +go to that dreadful place. He did not come home till one o'clock last +night." And she vanished. Gertrude gazed after her in surprise. + +When Dietrich came down, he asked in his usual bright fashion, after +Veronica, and when his mother with some anxiety told him what the girl had +said, he made his explanation with such a frank, unembarrassed manner, +that her fears were quieted; for it was plain that he had nothing upon his +conscience. He said that he knew his mother would approve of his helping a +friend in need, and not the less if in so doing he should also help +himself. It was a scheme of this kind that he had been talking over, the +night before. Jost had to work very hard to make both ends meet, and +Dietrich thought that if by putting some money into his scheme, he could +help his old acquaintance to more profit with less labor, and at the same +time gain by it himself, his mother would be the last to blame him. + +Gertrude was a soft-hearted woman. She answered her son that if there was +nothing wrong about this business, it was certainly a good thing to help +Jost, who had received nothing from his father, not even tools for his +trade, and who had seemed to have everything against him. + +"With you it was very different, my boy," she said in conclusion. "Your +father left you an excellent business, and if you continue to work as you +have done, you will be very well off in a few years. How kindly the good +God has dealt with us, my son! We may hope for many happy days together!" + +He agreed with her cordially, but he thought it as well not to unfold his +plans to her any farther. He said to himself that he was not going to do +anything wrong, certainly not; but his mother's ideas were a little +old-fashioned, and she wouldn't understand his schemes. He would surprise +her with his success. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +LAME SABINA GIVES GOOD ADVICE. + + +Veronica's teacher, Sabina, had been a hunchback from her birth, and had +become lame when still young; she had used crutches since she was twenty +years old. Like many persons who suffer under physical disabilities, she +had clever penetrating eyes, and on this day, she often raised them from +the work which she was pursuing with indefatigable industry, to glance at +her pupil, who sat opposite. Veronica was at work on the same piece which +she had had at home on the previous night, that night which she had +passed in such sad forbodings. + +After many inquiring glances, Sabina at last said thoughtfully: + +"I'm puzzled about you, Veronica. That piece of work you are upon, is +wonderfully well done; every stitch is perfectly even, the cloth and the +silk are as white as snow; yet you must have done most of it at night, for +yesterday afternoon you were not nearly so far along. Whatever you put +your hand to, succeeds. Yet your eyebrows grow more and more scowling +every day, and your eyes blaze out as if there were a thunder-storm about. +What ails you, child? You are the handsomest girl in all the country round +when you have a pleasant expression; and you are as tall and straight as +a young fir-tree. Don't you know that?" + +"What good does it do me?" asked Veronica, and scowled worse than ever. + +"What good? if you did not have it you would know what it is worth," +replied Sabina, quickly. "I can tell you that. Now smooth your forehead, +Veronica, and listen to me. I will tell you something that will make you +feel better and happier. An Industrial School has been established in +Fohrensee and it is proposed to connect with it a work-room for women. +They want a teacher and superintendent, and have offered me the place, but +I am not strong enough for it. I have told them that you are fully equal +to me in skill and knowledge of the work, and a hundred times my superior +in freshness and strength and executive ability. There is no doubt that +the place is at your disposal. You can lead the life of a lady, Veronica. +Your fortune is made." + +For the first time since Sabina began to speak, Veronica raised her eyes +from her work. She shook her head sadly and said, + +"Not my fortune." + +"'Not my fortune!'" repeated Sabina angrily, "when I tell you this place +is yours! Your fortune is made." + +"I cannot grasp the fortune that is offered me," said the girl, and bent +over her work again. + +Sabina's searching glance seemed to try to penetrate her inmost thought. + +"What sort of an expression is that you are using, Veronica? Where did you +learn that? I never expected to hear such words from your lips. It is not +like you. What put that into your head, child?" + +"I will tell you something of my experience, and then you will understand +why I use this expression," said Veronica quietly. "When I was only a +little girl I learned a motto which ran thus: + + 'Fortune stands ready, full in sight; + He wins, who knows to grasp it right.' + +I saw that 'fortune' was something good to have, and I wanted to find out +how it could be grasped. I asked Cousin Judith, and she told me it must be +grasped like everything else with our hands, that is to say, through work. +From that time forward I was eager for work as other children are for +play, and the older I grow, the more I strive for the good fortune that +can be grasped by work. Even on Sundays I often go to my room to sew, and +I shut my door, for my mother does not like to see me sew then. I work on +and on, just as long as I can sit at it, even into the night; sometimes +till one and two o'clock in the morning; yet I do not find the fortune I +want. When my hands are busy, my thoughts wander where they will, and I +must follow them. But they do not lead to 'fortune,' but only farther away +from it. This offer may bring me a fortune in money and position, but that +is not the fortune I want. 'Fortune' for me, means happiness." + +Sabina had not lost a word of this sad story. + +"Yes, yes, I understand you, Veronica," she said sympathizingly. "I know +something of this too. Judith told you the truth, but only one half the +truth. Fortune is grasped by the hands, it is true; but the Fortune which +you long for, that is, Happiness, is to be gained in other ways besides. I +will tell you an instructive little story, and if you will take the +trouble to grasp it, not with your hands, but with your thoughts and +understanding, you will be able to work it out for yourself and get some +profit from it. It is part of the story of my own life. I have had so much +the same experience as yours that I cannot help hoping that what I found +good for myself, may prove good for you." + +"When I was about your age, Veronica, I was so unhappy that I cried myself +to sleep every night. Can you guess why? No, for one understands only the +sufferings that he has himself experienced, and cannot imagine those of +others. Well, it was because I was a hunchback! I remember as if it were +yesterday, when I first came to a perception of my misfortune; when I +first learned that I was different from other children, and must remain as +one apart, all my life. We were all coming out of school one day, and a +little quarrel arose between us children, and one of them said to me in a +scornful tone, 'Hold your tongue, Sabina, you're only a hunchback.' From +that day I never knew a happy moment, and I grew timid and avoided every +one; if I saw any one looking at me, I thought he was scoffing at me +because I was a hunchback. I kept away from other children, for if one of +them laughed, I fancied she was laughing at my deformed shoulders. If any +stranger was kind to me, I thought that it was because my hunch had not +yet been seen, and that as soon as it was, kindness would be changed for +contempt. I looked at the figure of every one I met; all were straight +except myself. I felt that I was the most miserable creature in the world, +and I saw no hope of ever being otherwise all my life long. Once one of +the school children died, and all her schoolmates walked in the funeral +procession to the church. I would not walk with them, but hid myself among +the grown people; for every one was looking at the children and I wanted +to escape observation. I heard one woman say to another: 'It is lucky the +child's mother has so much to do; she will have no time to think about her +sorrow, and she will get over it the sooner,' Then it came to me like a +ray of hope, that if I had work to do, I might forget my sorrow too. I +must have work. That very day I begged my mother to let me learn to work. +She was pleased, and sent me to take lessons in sewing, and I followed it +up till I could do all sorts of fine work, and had as much employment as I +could wish. I often heard people say, 'How finely Sabina is getting on!' +But how do you think it was with my spirits? Just as it is with yours now, +Veronica. Oh yes, you needn't look at me so with your great eyes. I know +exactly what you are thinking. You think that my trouble never can have +been equal to yours. People always think that their own sorrows are the +worst. I sat and sewed just as you do--early and late; my work was +perfect; I had no rival. I knew that it was good, and I rejoiced over it +in a half-hearted way; but what good did it do me after all? The thought +that I was a hunchback, was always in my mind. It was like a stream of +troubled water flowing through my heart; it spoiled everything. 'Always +deformed, never like other girls,' I never forgot it for a moment. So it +went on till I was about twenty years old, and then came on the trouble in +my foot, and I was confined to my bed for many months. Oh! how bitterly I +suffered! Was every misfortune to fall on me alone?' I thought. How could +I foresee that this very trouble would turn out to be good fortune for +me?" + +"The doctor came to see me constantly; he took as much interest in my case +as if I could have paid him handsomely. + +He noticed that I was industrious, that I did not lie idle even when I was +in great pain. It pleased him to find me always with work in my hand. When +at last the acute attack was over, and the doctor told me that this would +be his last visit, he told me also that I was lame for life. At first I +could not walk at all; but bye and bye I learned to use my crutches. When +I offered the doctor the money that was due him for his attendance, he +said we would not speak of that; that we both had to work, but with this +difference, that he was sound and whole, while I was not. He took my hand +kindly, saying that it was hard for me not to be able to take any +amusement after working hard all the week; not to go out with the others +on Sunday; and that if I cared for reading, his wife had a great many nice +books which she would be glad to lend me, and they would make the Sundays +less tedious. I did not really care for reading; I preferred sewing as you +do, but I accepted the doctor's offer and went to his house. His wife was +very kind and gave me a book at once, bidding me come as soon as I had +finished it and get another. I began to read the very next Sunday, and I +became so deeply interested that I scarcely laid the book down all day, +and even during the week I took it up as often as I could find a spare +moment. It was an account of foreign countries and nations; how they +lived, and their manners and customs. I was particularly interested to +read about how the women were treated in different places; how in some +countries they are sold and bartered for cattle or wool or cloth, and how +they belong to their husbands just as if they were furniture, and their +husbands can treat them just as they please, as we do cats or dogs. And in +some places, it said, a wife has to be burned when her husband dies, +because she is only a part of him and has no value of her own after his +death. Oh! how many strange things there are in the world, to be sure! I +became hungry and thirsty for knowledge. The doctor's wife lent me one +book after another, and in each there was something new and wonderful. I +learned how terrible the condition of women had been everywhere until our +own Lord Jesus Christ came into the world, and taught that one soul was +as much worth as another, all equal, man and woman, lord and servant; that +every individual must be free, one as well as another; and that two people +should be joined together only by love, and not as a matter of ownership. +But even now-a-days there are still countries and islands where men make +nothing of killing and eating each other, and the women are bought and +sold like goods. It is only where the influence of Christianity has +penetrated, that there is true equality of womanhood. You can imagine the +flood of new ideas that crowded in upon me as I read, and I assure you +that I was able to forget sometimes for many days that I was a hunchback, +and when I did remember it, the thought had lost its sting. I dwelt upon +the many privations and sufferings of others, till they seemed to outweigh +my own trouble so that it dwindled in my estimation; and gradually I began +to see the good side of my lot. How independently I could live supporting +myself; what a wealth of interest was opened to me through my reading, and +in fact how fortunate I was, and blessed beyond many another! Yes, +Veronica, I can assure you that I am now a happy woman, with a heart +filled with gratitude to the good God for the blessings he has sent me. +And so I say to you, my child, from the fulness of my own experience, that +you have no right to go about looking like a thunder-cloud; you with all +the freshness and beauty of your young life! + +Tell me do you owe our Lord God something or is He in debt to you? Have +you nothing to thank him for? Others can see how much you have to look +forward to. Get yourself together, girl, and try to give your thoughts +another direction." + +"I should be only too glad to do so," said Veronica, who had listened +intently to every word that Sabina had said. "Have you any such book as +you describe, that you can lend me to read?" + +Sabina was well pleased at this request. She had a book close at hand, +which she had just finished reading, and from which she expected great +things for the young girl. Veronica was moved by Sabina's glowing words, +to believe that her future might be happier, and that the clouds of +despondency which had overshadowed her, were about to be dispersed. + +She lost no time, for she was in earnest. She opened the book that very +evening, and began to read. But her sanguine expectations were not +fulfilled. She read the words, she understood their meaning; but it was as +if she heard them at a distance and through them all, louder than all +else, sounded something in her ears and in her heart that drowned them. It +was the flow of the troubled waters, as Sabina had said. The waves rose +higher; their noise increased, until Veronica lost all hearing and +understanding of what she was reading. Still she persevered; perhaps +bye-and-bye it would come right. Alas! was not that the house door opening +and shutting again so softly late in the night? She flung the book aside; +walked rapidly back and forth in her chamber for awhile, then unfolded her +sewing, and worked steadily on and on, until the morning broke and a new +day called her to its duties. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +A THUNDER CLAP. + + +Blasi, the lounger, stood in his doorway in the clear sunshine of this +lovely summer morning, both hands plunged deep into his pockets as was his +wont, and looked about him as if to see whether everything in the outer +world was the same as yesterday. + +Judith came out to the well, carrying her water-jug on her head. + +"Look out, Blasi, you are losing something," she cried. Blasi looked on +the ground, turned about, and searched behind and before. + +"I don't see anything," he said, and stuffed his hands deeper into his +pockets. + +"It's always so with me," said Judith, "when I've lost anything, I can't +see it." + +"Oh ho, you're making a fool of me again!" + +"That's all the thanks I get for telling you that you are losing +something, and I was just going to make you a present that is worth more +than five francs to a fellow like you." + +"What is it? Show it to me," said Blasi, with more animation. + +"First I will tell you something, and then you shall have it," replied +Judith. "Look here, Blasi, my sainted father used to say, "If you keep +your hands out of your pockets they will get full, but if you keep them +in, your pockets will be empty." Now, both your hands are in your +pockets, so all that ought to go in is running to waste. Isn't that so?" + +"Well, suppose it is," said Blasi, angrily. "Now give me what you promised +me." + +"I gave it to you this very minute. I said you'd better take your hands +out of your pockets, and then your earnings would run in. That's good +advice and worth more than five francs. + +"What stuff! No one ever knows how to take you," grumbled Blasi. + +"It wouldn't help you to take me, if you did not take your hands out too," +said Judith, "but never mind, I have really something good for you," and +Judith motioned to him to come nearer. "Would you like to have a nice +well-washed shirt for Sunday? I will do one up for you if you will tell me +something." + +That was an offer worth listening to. Sunday was a wretched day for Blasi, +for when he had turned his two shirts and worn them both on both sides, he +had never a clean one for Sunday. He had no one to wash for him. His +mother was dead, and his father had enough else to spend for, without the +washing for a grown-up son. Blasi's money went for other things than +washing, and he was not fond of doing it for himself. + +The proposition was therefore very apropos. "Come a little nearer to the +well; no one knows who may be behind those trees. Now listen; Can you tell +me what is going wrong with Dietrich? He never whistles now, he never +laughs, and his mother looks so sad, and she rarely speaks even to answer +when spoken to. Something has happened to Dietrich." + +"Yes, and keeps on happening; all sorts of things, too. But Jost can tell +you more than I can. They sit together in the Rehbock half the night and +more, too; long after everybody else has gone, there they sit in the +little back room. At first they do just as other people do, they drink a +little and then a little more, and Dietrich pays. But that's nothing to +what it costs him afterwards. They do something with paper, he and Jost. +Sometimes it is a lottery and then again something that they call +speculating. I don't understand anything about it. Somebody comes over +from Fohrensee and explains it to them. He does not belong there; but I +guess you have seen him; he has fiery red hair, and red beard and red +face. He has business in Fohrensee once a week, and lives the rest of the +time down in the city; and he arranges everything down there, and then +brings the account of gains and losses up to them; but it's a good deal +more loss than gain. Dietrich puts in more money every time. Jost has +nothing to put in but promises. He tells Dietrich all the time that +presently the winnings will begin to flow in, and says that at first a +fellow must expect to lose, so as to win all the more in the end, and that +bye-and-bye it will all come back; with interest, of course. The +red-haired man says yes to it all. Whenever I want to put something in, +and ask Dietrich to lend me a little to try with, Jost acts as if he were +the lord and master of the whole concern, and 'donkey' is the mildest name +he calls me. I am just waiting though, till I can trip him up, and I'll +do it with a vengeance too, so that he won't forget it all his life long." + +"Now that is a good idea," said Judith. "You'd better tell him then, that +you do it to pay your debts, and that it would be well for him to follow +your example. Now you have told me enough. Bring me your shirt on +Saturday, and I'll wash it for you." + +Judith lifted her water-jug and was turning away, but Blasi detained her. + +"Just wait one moment, I want to ask you a question. Do you think she will +have him?" + +The question seemed to interest Judith, for she stood stock still. + +"Who? whom? what do you mean?" + +"I mean Veronica and Jost. Do you think she will take him?" As Blasi +spoke he came slowly nearer to Judith. "He has been saying some things +lately, that made me think so." + +"If you know anything more stupid than that, I should like to hear it," +cried Judith very angry indeed; but she did not move away, for she wanted +to hear all that Blasi had to say. + +"I know what you mean," he went on, "but I am not so very stupid as you +think. It certainly means something, when she is so changed. Jost says +that she knows all that Dietrich has been about, and she is hot with anger +against him because he has not told her about it himself. Jost says that +if he only mentions Dietrich's name before her she looks like a wild-cat +in a moment, and he says too that he has noticed for some time, that she +has no objection to letting Dietrich see that she can get along very well +without his help, and you know that she is capable of anything when she's +angry." + +"Well, this was the one drop wanting!" said Judith, and shouldering her +jug she went off, snorting with anger, in such a rage that Blasi stood +looking after her in stupid amazement, and muttered, + +"I wonder if she wants to get him, too!" + +Judith walked along, talking aloud to herself, + +"Yes, she is! she is! she is capable of anything when she is angry!" + +Now Judith had looked upon her neighbor's boy from his childhood up, as if +he belonged to her. He was her prime, favorite and she meant to do well by +him. She liked Veronica because she was such a steady girl at her needle, +and because she would have nothing to say to any one but Dietrich. This +very reserve however, was rather distasteful to Judith as regarded +herself, but she liked it towards others. She had planned it all out that +Dietrich should marry Veronica soon after the confirmation, that they +should set up a pretty little establishment, and be her beloved neighbors. +She meant to be their intimate friend and helper, to go freely in and out +of their house, and to stand god-mother now and then. She would leave her +property to the little ones. Now all this fine air-castle was overthrown +and all her plans spoiled. Judith bounced violently into the kitchen and +set her jug down with such a bang that the water spurted up into the air. + +"And no one can get a word out of her, either; it is exactly as if all the +oil had been burned out." This last remark referred to Gertrude, who had +greatly altered during the last few months. She had no longer the cheerful +expression that she had always been noted for. She had grown very quiet +and silent. She even avoided her old and well-tried friend Judith, and if +the latter showed a disposition to talk about her household matters or her +children's future, Gertrude would give her to understand that she had no +time to stop to talk. + +Gertrude knew where Dietrich spent his evenings. She had expostulated with +him about it more than once. He had answered that he must keep on there +for awhile, till a certain undertaking which he had started with Jost was +fairly under way. He assured her that this affair was certain to turn out +all right, and that she herself would be surprised and satisfied at the +result. He knew from some one who understood it, that it could not fail. +He had to draw large sums several times for himself and also for Jost, but +he was sanguine that in a short time it would all be paid back, with +interest. Gertrude did not pretend to understand the business, but she saw +that Dietrich believed it to be safe and profitable, and she knew that her +son would not deceive her. Still she was haunted daily by a growing +uneasiness, which was not diminished when she perceived that Veronica was +gradually drawing away from her. + +This state of things had all come about since that morning when the +girl's beseeching words had fallen unheeded on the mother's ears; or at +least Veronica believed them to have been unheeded, since they had worked +no change in Dietrich's behavior. + +Why it was that every day as evening came on, she felt so miserably +anxious, Gertrude herself could scarcely understand. Poor Gertrude! + +One night after she had gone to her room she heard her son leave the house +with hasty steps. It had become a regular thing now. She had often said to +herself, "Ah! how much longer will this go on?" but she tried hard to +believe that it would soon come to an end, and her son would resume his +former orderly and happy mode of life. But this evening she was so +anxious that she could not stay in her bedroom. She went down into the +garden. + +The moon peeped out from between the flying clouds, and shone peacefully +down upon the trees and the neat flower-beds. Gertrude seated herself upon +a small bench under the apple tree, and gazed about the garden, all +illuminated by the moonbeams. She had planted it all and cared for it with +her own hands. She had done this as she did everything, carefully and with +great painstaking, and it was all for her son's sake. His should be the +pleasure and the profit of all. Why could he not be happy in it now? Why +was she so worried about him? Dietrich was walking in steep and dangerous +paths; that she was sure of, but he knew the straight road and would not +his steps turn back to it again? Her thoughts went back to the days when +her little Dieterli loved good and orderly conduct; it could not be that +he had lost his love for it, that he did not still feel that in the right +conduct of life lies inward and outward blessing. She recalled the evening +of the day when her husband was borne from the house to his burial. She +had taken the children by the hand and, stupefied with pain, was about to +put them to bed, but Dieterli objected, saying, + +"No, mother, no; it is not good to go to bed before you say your prayers." + +Did her boy ever pray now? "Oh, Dieterli, my son, you are wandering away, +but you know the way home," she said to herself, and she folded her hands +in prayer, for her habit was to lay all her troubles before God, her +Supporter and Comforter. + +At this moment, she heard through the stillness loud shouts and cries, +first at a distance, then nearer and nearer, until they grew into a wild +tumult. Then many of the voices seemed to scatter in different directions +while some sounded as if approaching the garden. A vague fear seized +Gertrude. Three fellows shouting and calling, passed on the other side of +the hedge; she recognized one of the voices. + +"Jost," she cried feebly, "Jost, what is it? where is Dietrich?" + +There was no answer; Jost did not or would not, hear. He ran faster than +before, and the second fellow ran too. The last one paused a little; it +was Blasi. He said hastily: + +"He isn't coming yet awhile. You can go to bed;" and was making off. + +"Oh do tell me what has happened," said Gertrude, white with terror. +"Don't leave me so, but tell me, Blasi, why Dietrich hasn't come home with +the rest of you?" + +Blasi had too much respect for Dietrich's mother to run away from her when +she put a direct question to him, although he would fain have escaped. He +came close to the hedge, and replied, + +"There has been a row at the Rehbock. Two men were killed. Some one stole +the cattle dealer's money bag--" + +"Is Dietrich killed? Speak out!" broke in Gertrude, trembling. + +"No; he struck about him bravely, till one of the fellows got enough of +it, and lay dead on the ground; and then he made off." + +With this Blasi ran on. + +Gertrude mounted wearily to her room as if her last day was come. She sat +down upon her bed, and when the morning light filled the room, still she +sat there listening in trembling anxiety, as she had listened through all +the long night; in vain. Dietrich had not come home in the night; he did +not come in the morning. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +EACH ONE ACCORDING TO HIS KIND. + + +In all Tannenegg and Fohrensee, nothing was talked of but the affair of +the night before. Never was such excitement known. In every house, at +every corner, in all the roads, groups of people stood talking it over; +each telling what he knew. + +Everyone asked questions, and no one listened to the answers. Such a fight +at the Rehbock! It began over the card-table. The cattle-dealer from +Fohrensee was on his way home with his bag full of money, when he stopped +in at the Rehbock, and joined the game. When the dispute broke out, his +big fists took their share in the fray. Not until two of the party lay for +dead on the ground, did the brawling cease and the combatants begin to +cool. Then the cattle-dealer discovered that his bag full of gold was +gone, and raised a fearful alarm. + +Then the red-haired man from Fohrensee shouted into the midst of the +excited crowd, + +"Don't let any one get away. Run after them! That's the only way to find +out the thief!" + +This man had not taken part in the fight, but had mixed with the crowd, +trying to pacify them, and to restore quiet. + +His advice was useless. A good many had already gone. First of all, +Dietrich had disappeared; then several fellows ran after him, and then +all the rest went together. + +On the way home, Jost had told his companions that Dietrich had made off +with himself, and that he, Jost, had told him when he saw him going that +there was doubtless good reason for his wishing to be out of the way. But +in truth Jost had not said any such thing to Dietrich! + +One of the men had run at once for the doctor, and the doctor had come in +the night to the Rehbock, and had found that the two men were not dead +after all. So he had given orders that they should be let alone till they +had slept off the effect of their carouse. + +In the morning, all those who had been at the Rehbock the night before, +were called together; and every one denied stoutly having any knowledge +of the cattle-dealer's money, and all were ready to be searched in proof +of their innocence. Dietrich alone was not there; he had vanished, no one +knew whither. Some one whispered, and then it was softly repeated, then +louder and louder, that Dietrich would not have taken himself off if he +had had a clear conscience; and although nobody seriously believed +Dietrich capable of a disgraceful act, yet after awhile it seemed to grow +more likely, especially when it became known that he had lost a great deal +of money in betting and gambling, and was unable to pay back what he had +lost. And many shook their heads and said, "How easy it is for a man to be +drawn into evil ways if he once begins to go down hill!" + +Where Dietrich had gone, was now the important question. No trace of him +had been discovered from the moment of his disappearance. The +cattle-dealer left no stone unturned to find him, but he could get no clue +to his whereabouts. He had entered complaints against Dietrich, and hoped +that the hands of the law would succeed in getting track of him. But it +was all in vain. Gradually, no one knew how, a report got about that +Dietrich had fled to Australia, and would never come back. Little by +little every one came to believe it. + +Except one. One single person in all Tannenegg was bold enough to swim +against this stream of suspicion. This was Judith. Not timidly and in +secret, but aloud, at all times and in all places, she declared decidedly, + +"There's not one word of truth in what you all say. It's a lie from +beginning to end. Dietrich has no more stolen than I have, and I needn't +say more than that. I'll ferret this thing out, till I find the true +culprit, or my name's not Judith." + +The first thing to do was to get a clear account of the whole affair; for +although she had already heard it told a dozen times, it had always been +among other people, who were continually interrupting and asking +questions, and were too anxious to hear the end, to wait for the full +account of the beginning. So she decided to apply to Blasi, who, as he had +been on the spot, must know all about it. But she had to hunt him up; for +since that unlucky evening he had kept himself out of sight. She placed +her bucket under the spout at the well, and then took a turn about the +kitchen garden behind the sexton's cottage. Blasi stood in the back +doorway, just as he was in the habit of standing in the front doorway, +only instead of holding his face up as if to catch any agreeable odors +that might be floating about, he stood to-day with drooping head, gazing +sadly at the uncared-for garden. + +"What's amiss, Blasi?" asked Judith, sharply, coming upon him before he +was aware of her approach. + +"Nothing; if you know of anything we will share it," said Blasi sullenly. + +"Well, perhaps I know something that it would not be a bad thing for you +to share with me. Perhaps it's worth while for some one who has learned it +by the sweat of her brow, to tell you that vegetables can be made to grow +in a garden, instead of nettles, which you seem to cultivate." + +"I don't care what grows anywhere; one thing is as good as another to me, +now that Dietrich has gone. There's nothing to do in the evening now. I've +half a mind to go after him." + +"Go where? do you know where he is?" + +"I don't, myself, but Jost does, and I know that Jost is expecting to hear +from him. Though he does call me stupid, I have my eye on him," said +Blasi, with angry emphasis. "And I know it was Jost who advised Dietrich +to run away and hide, though he didn't mean to let me know. Oh, I'm no +fool!" + +Judith nodded assentingly, as if Blasi's information confirmed her own +suspicions. + +"Here, Blasi, here's a little something for you. Now I want you to tell me +exactly how this thing happened, from the very beginning; and don't leave +out a single thing. I want to hear the whole story, connectedly." + +"You may be sure I will," said Blasi, weighing the silver piece which +Judith had given him affectionately in his hand. "You see they were all +together in the little back room at first; the red-haired man and Jost and +Dietrich, and when I went in I noticed at once that something had happened +that our two didn't like; for Dietrich sat with his elbows on the table +and his head in his hands, and Jost was swearing roundly. Presently Jost +said, 'We will double our bets, Dietrich, and perhaps the luck will turn.' +Dietrich, only groaned. Then the red-haired fellow said, 'Come, let's go +down and play cards with the cattle-dealer, and take a glass of something +that will raise your spirits.'" + +"Dietrich never used to gamble; nor to drink when he was not thirsty;" +cried Judith angrily. + +"Pooh! When every one is playing cards, a fellow can't hold off and say he +won't join, and as for the drink, Dietrich has washed down a good deal of +vexation with it lately, and he took it powerfully too, I can tell you. +Well, the play began, and it went on fast. I noticed that the red man +looked mightily pleased, and urged them all on, and the louder the +cattle-dealer scolded, the more the red man filled up his glass. When the +quarrel came to blows, I heard the red-head call out to the +cattle-dealer, 'Come over here, you'll soon silence them,' So he kept +exciting him, and he struck out well with his great fists. The red-head +mixed in the crowd, and stuck close to the cattle-dealer, but he never +struck a blow himself; of course not, such a gentleman as he is! I did not +see Dietrich knock the Fohrensee fellow down, but just when the storm was +most furious, I saw Dietrich run out, and Jost after him, and I thought I +saw Jost give Dietrich something. I ran out after them, and I heard Jost +advising Dietrich to make off as fast as he could, and send him word where +he hid himself. When I came up to them, Jost pushed me back; I couldn't +get a word with Dietrich, who ran right off, and Jost pulled me into the +house. There the noise was increasing every minute, for the cattle-dealer +had discovered that his money-bag was gone, and red-head screamed out like +a mad-man, that nobody must get away, and everybody must be searched. When +they found that Dietrich had gone, the cattle-man started off after him, +and some others too, and then they all broke up. Now you know all that I +know. Nothing else happened; except that I went for the doctor, who said +the two men were not dead. When Jost tells Dietrich that, why, there's +nothing to prevent his coming back. That is, unless there's something +else." + +"What do you mean by 'something else'?" said Judith sharply. "But +there--you're all alike. One repeats what another has said, till you all +get to saying the same thing and then of course you believe it. A nice +set of friends you are--the whole of you. I mean to stir up the ground +under you all until I find out where the truth is. Then you can begin to +stare with the others, you blind mole!" and Judith suddenly walked off as +if the earth were burning beneath her angry feet. + +Blasi understood neither her words nor her anger. He looked after her, +shook his head rather sadly, and said to himself, + + "Women folk are a very foolish folk." + +Home sped the "foolish" Judith; put on her Sunday garments and started on +her journey. If ever she had a project in her head, she did not wait till +to-morrow to put it into execution. And to-day she was bent on giving the +cattle dealer a piece of her mind. She paused a moment when she came to +Gertrude's house, then went on her way, saying half aloud, + +"No, I'll say nothing to her, since she says nothing to me. If 'mum's' the +word I can use it as well as she." + +Judith was pained that Gertrude had not from the beginning talked with her +of her troubles, for Judith was one who liked to give and receive +sympathy. Veronica too was much too reticent to please her kind-hearted +neighbor who could never get a word with her about what was going on. +Veronica and Gertrude were both very silent by nature, about anything that +touched them deeply, especially in sorrow. On the first day after the +terrible blow that had befallen them, they talked it all over, and wept +together, to ease their hearts of the first misery. Then Gertrude said, + +"Dietrich has sinned and he must make atonement, but he has not stolen; I +am sure that my son is not a thief." And Veronica had responded promptly, + +"If every one in the whole world said that he had stolen that money, I +should not listen; for I know he is no thief." + +As soon as it became known that Dietrich was gone, letters and bills came +pouring in upon the poor widow. Her son had borrowed large sums of money +and had lost even more at play. She soon found that not only all her +husband's savings, but also the house and the business were deeply +encumbered. She talked things over with the workman who had been so many +years in her employ and asked if he would help her carry on the business +as he had done after her husband's death while Dietrich was still a child. +The man was very angry with Dietrich for having thrown away the result of +all those years of labor, and at first refused to have anything more to do +with the business. He yielded at last, however, to Gertrude's urgent +request, and consented to remain with her at least till the future +prospects of the business could be decided upon; and Gertrude agreed that +if it should prosper she would hand it over to him, in case Dietrich +should not return within a certain time. + +And so the mother set herself again to her task. She worked early and +late; she seemed to have gained new strength and courage instead of being +crushed down by this new burden. + +It was curious to see how differently the two women nearest to Dietrich +were affected by this trouble. Gertrude's countenance gradually resumed +its customary look of cheerfulness and peace, while on Veronica's handsome +features rested a heavy scowl which now seldom left her clouded brow. Yet +she was almost an object of envy to all the young girls of the +neighborhood, and no wonder; for she was an attractive sight to all eyes, +with her neat, well-fitting clothes, that always looked new and fresh, and +her air of strength and activity. Not a few of the strangers who came to +Fohrensee, made inquiries about her, wondering where she could have come +from; for they noticed the marked difference between her and the other +women of the place. The work which passed through her hands, even if it +were most elaborately embroidered, was never crumpled nor soiled, but +looked as fresh as if it had not been handled at all. She could obtain any +price she chose to set upon her work, and everything she did found ready +sale. Moreover, she had been appointed to the place of which Sabina had +spoken to her. She was at the head of the great Industrial School for +women, where she received so handsome a salary, that she was in a fair way +to the accumulation of a nice little fortune. It was common to hear it +said of her, "She is really a lady! she can have whatever she pleases," +and it was often added, "If I were in her shoes, I wouldn't go about with +a face like a thirty days' storm, as she does, when she can be a +gentleman's wife whenever she chooses!" It had been proposed that +Veronica should go to live in the school-buildings at Fohrensee. But she +did not accept the offer; she could not leave her mother alone in this +time of trouble. Every evening after her work she returned to Gertrude's +cottage. + +During the long summer days it was easy for Veronica to get home before +the twilight was over. But when the days grew shorter, dusk came on even +before she could reach the wood. One bright Saturday afternoon, late in +August, Veronica had delayed longer than usual in the work-room, to clear +all away and leave things in perfect order for Sunday. + +She hurried up the hill road, not so much from fear of going through the +wood alone, as from desire to spare Gertrude the anxiety of watching for +her. Just before she reached the wood, she met Jost coming towards her. He +held out his hand with a friendly smile, saying, + +"I came to meet you; I thought it would be getting too dark for you to go +alone through the forest; I can't let you go unprotected." + +"You may spare yourself the pains," said Veronica shortly and crossed over +to the other side of the road. Jost crossed too. + +"Veronica," he began after a little while, "it is not nice of you to treat +me as you have done since Dietrich went off. I know as well as you do, +that he did wrong in running away from you without letting you know where +he went to; but he may write yet, and meantime--" + +"Don't say another word," interrupted Veronica; so decidedly that Jost was +silent for awhile. She crossed the road again, and presently Jost did the +same, and as he came up to her, he began again in a soft insinuating tone, + +"Don't you see Veronica, that it isn't my fault that things have taken +this turn? I often thought of you when Dietrich was risking so much money, +and I used to say to him "think of her," for I knew how you would feel +about it." + +"Oh, you Judas!" cried Veronica, swelling with rage, and she sprang +forward and ran on with all her might. Jost followed close at her heels. +When she had passed through the wood, and had come out on the Tannenegg +side, he said, in a flattering voice, + +"Veronica, do you see how precious you are to me? I will protect you and +take care of you even if you do not speak one kind word to me. I shall +come to meet you every day, for I will not allow you to go through the +wood alone. You may meet all sorts of people there and may sometimes be +glad of my company. Bye-and-bye you will be convinced how much I care for +you." + +Veronica was now near the house. She hurried on and without once looking +back, she sprang through the door and shut it fast behind her. + +"You shall be tame enough before I have done with you," muttered Jost, and +he bit his lips until the blood came. + +Veronica stood still on the other side of the door until she heard his +retreating footsteps; then she opened it and went out again. She went +over to the sexton's house. Blasi stood in the doorway, in a despondent +attitude, with his hands in his pockets. He was brooding over the +melancholy reflection that he had paid away the last penny of the coin +that Judith had given him, for last evening's glass at the Rehbock, and +that he had no credit. He saw no glimmer of hope in the prospect before +him, and looked disconsolately at the ground. Suddenly Veronica stood +before him. He stared at her with surprise. + +"Blasi, will you do me a favor?" she asked in a friendly tone, "I will +return it sometime when you need help." + +Here was an unexpected chance. He opened his eyes yet wider with delight. + +"Tell me what it is, Veronica," he said; "I will go through fire and +water for you." + +"It is only to go through the wood for me, to-morrow evening, and every +evening till the days grow longer again. Will you? You can have your +evening glass afterwards at my expense." + +Blasi stood speechless; staring at Veronica, who waited for his answer. + +"Why; do you want two of us?" he said presently, "I don't see why. Jost is +going too, for you told him to go and meet you every evening." + +Veronica's dark eyes flashed forth a fire that dazzled poor Blasi. + +"So! I told him to go, did I? Who told you such a thing as that?" + +"Jost said so himself at the Rehbock last evening, before a room full of +people; and some of them said that you were going to prove that you could +get along very well without the fellow that ran away." + +Veronica flushed burning red. + +"Tell Jost," she said, scornfully, "that if he is clever in nothing else +he is a master liar. I would tell him myself, but I will never speak to +him again. Will you come for me tomorrow or not, Blasi?" she had turned to +leave him. + +"Why of course, if that's the way it is about Jost, I'll come. You may +count on me," he replied gleefully. She held out her hand to him, and was +gone. + +The next evening, as Blasi was walking at his ease, towards the wood, he +met Jost hurrying along from another direction. + +"Where may you be going?" asked Jost peremptorily. + +"I am going to meet Veronica; she engaged me to," answered Blasi, not at +all unwilling to make known his errand. + +"Well, you are a dunderhead to take a joke like that for sober earnest," +said Jost, bursting into a loud laugh. "Hadn't you sense enough to see +that she was making a fool of you? We had a good laugh together about it +last night, she and I, and she said she had a mind to make you go all +winter long to Fohrensee, to fetch her; and that you would never find out +that she was making sport of you. She seems to have made a good +beginning." + +Jost laughed again immoderately, and Blasi began to waver. + +"If I only knew which of you was telling a lie;" he said, and stood still +to think it over. Suddenly he started forward on the full run, for it +occured to him that he could decide by Veronica's air when he met her, +whether she had cheated him or not. Jost saw that Blasi was determined not +to give up his enterprise so he turned about, and disappeared among the +bushes; for he had no desire to have Blasi see how Veronica treated him. + +When Blasi met Veronica, her face had so pleasant and bright a look, that +the lad was struck with her beauty. It was not the look of one who was +making a fool of him. Veronica was sincere. She talked kindly with him all +the way home, more kindly than he had ever thought she could talk, and +when they parted, she said persuasively, + +"You'll come tomorrow, and every day, won't you Blasi?" + +Then she pressed a piece of money into his hand, and thanked him for his +kindness so gratefully, that it seemed as if he had conferred a great +favor on her, instead of having received payment for service rendered. + +As the young man turned away, a new set of ideas took possession of his +mind. For the first time in his life, he felt a desire to use the money +that he held in his hand, for something better than drink. He recollected +that he had no necktie on, and he was conscious of looking slovenly and +dirty. That was not the way for a fellow to look who was going to be seen +walking with the pretty Veronica along the high-road. He would buy a +neck-tie in the morning; he had money enough for that. Then his thoughts +ran on still farther. Veronica had not spoken to him in this friendly way +for many a long year. It was not to make fun of him, Jost was a liar as +she had said; else why did he run away instead of going with him to meet +her? No, he wouldn't be taken in by that fellow, any longer. As they +walked along she had asked him all sorts of questions about himself; what +his business was, and how he succeeded in it and so on. He had not been +able to answer very satisfactorily about his business, for since +Confirmation, three years before, he had only been waiting for something +to turn up. He had had nothing to do except to ring the bell at eleven +o'clock, and then stand in the door-way of his house until it was time to +ring it again at four. Then towards evening he always went to the Rehbock +to hear the news. All this appeared in a new light before his eyes, now +that Veronica had inquired about his occupation. Then she had encouraged +him so sympathetically to try to get something to do, and promised to be +of service to him if she could. It was exactly as if she had an especial +interest in his welfare. Why did she concern herself about him? Suddenly a +light broke through his darkness. + +"Dietrich is gone, and is not likely to come back," he said to himself, +"she detests Jost; and women always do the very thing you least expect +them to; I've heard that a hundred times. She is after me! Good heavens!" +he called out in his surprise as this idea seized him. "A fellow must +spruce up! I will take the first step this very day." + +The idea which had seized Blasi's mind that he was to take Dietrich's +place with Veronica, suggested a farther plan. He decided immediately to +become a saddler too, and before he went into his own house, he turned +back and sought Gertrude's garden. + +Gertrude's workman was walking up and down, for recreation; for he never +went to the tavern. Blasi went to him and opened his mind; he wanted to be +a saddler, and to learn the trade from him. + +The man was quite willing; he bethought himself that it would be rather an +agreeable change to have a young fellow to talk to, instead of merely +sitting all day by the side of the silent widow. He said he would speak to +his employer, and Blasi could come on the morrow. He was sure she would +agree, for she generally took his opinion about the business. + +"You see, Blasi," said he pompously, "if I were not there to look after +things, they would all go to ruin. In fact there are only two ways to save +this business; either Dietrich must come back and quickly too, and take +hold of the business better than he ever did before, or else it must fall +into my hands entirely, and I will take all the risks and all the +profits." + +"There may be yet a third way; who knows?" said Blasi, significantly, and +he winked so mysteriously first with one eye and then with the other, that +the saddler said to himself, "I guess he's been at the Rehbock." + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +MOTHER GERTRUDE ALSO GIVES GOOD ADVICE. + + +The cold, dismal December days had come. It was always long after dark +now, before Veronica got home; but she never had to hurry, for fear of +going through the wood alone, for there stood Blasi always ready at the +turf hut on the edge of Fohrensee, just where the houses ceased and it +began to be lonely. If it was fine, he was walking up and down before the +hut; if it stormed, he was standing under the shelter of the roof. He was +never absent and he never came too late. Yet he was busy all day long, +and had to run half the way to get to the hut in time. His master did not +let him off one moment before the appointed day's work was over, Blasi's +application to learn the saddler's trade had been favorably received by +Gertrude and he had set to work at once. Now that he worked from morning +till night he never had time to put his hands in his pockets, and the +saddler kept him up to the mark, proud of showing how well he himself +understood the business. Blasi was contented, and more than contented with +his life; he had a new and very happy consciousness of being of use, and +he had risen in his own estimation. He felt like a man of property, almost +like a gentleman. By the time he had finished his day's work, and hurried +down to Fohrensee and walked back again, he was so tired that he was +ready to go to bed directly; he had no time nor desire to loaf. And so it +came about that when Veronica wished to give him his piece of money every +evening he objected; for he said he did not want to be paid; he preferred +to have his services accepted on the ground of friendship. Veronica +consented to accept them on that ground, but from time to time she would +say, "Blasi, this is your birthday," or "To-day is the cherry-festival, I +should like to make you a little present," or "I have had extra work +to-day, and I should like to give you part of the extra pay, for if you +had not been coming for me, I could not have waited to do it, so it is +fairly yours;" and each time she pressed into his hand such a large piece +of money that he soon had a considerable sum laid away. Then one day she +gave him a silk handkerchief; and another day half-a-dozen new shirts, +white as snow; and then again a package of handkerchiefs hemmed and ready +for use; and all this increase of property raised his standard of living, +and excited his ambition. + +The night before Christmas, Veronica was late in coming home. It was dark +and stormy. She had been delayed at the school, making preparations for +leaving everything in order for the holiday. + +When she came into the sitting-room she found her mother at work by +lamp-light, mending a ragged old mail-bag. Advancing years had told upon +Gertrude; and although industrious as ever, she could not work as easily +as she once did. + +"Oh mother, I cannot let you do that heavy piece of work," said Veronica, +as soon as she saw what her mother was about. "Didn't I tell you that I +would come home in time to dress the house for Christmas, and now you have +not only done all that, but you are at work on that old mail-bag. I can't +bear to have you do so. Why won't you let me do something for you, and +take a little rest yourself. You look so tired." + +"You need the evening to rest in too, dear child, after working steadily +all day," said Gertrude affectionately. "And I am very glad when there is +a piece of work like this that I can do. I want him to find everything as +it used to be, when he comes home. I think that with care and industry I +can manage so that I shall not be obliged to give up this house while he +is away. I am sure it will be a great comfort to him to find that he still +has his home. And besides I feel that it will help him to begin life anew, +and bring him back to his old right-minded way of thinking. Oh, if he +would only come home!" + +"Mother, mother, that is no reason why you should work beyond your +strength. You have taken care of me all these long years, and now it is +fairly my turn to take care of you. Do not worry about the house, dear; I +have made an arrangement with the cattle-dealer. When you told me that he +threatened to take it, I went to him and got him to let me settle with him +instead. He was very glad that I wanted it, for he said that he didn't +see what good it would be to him, and he gave me my time about paying for +it." + +"Is that true, Veronica?" said Gertrude, and a happy smile stole over her +face. "You do not know what a load you have taken from my heart! Oh, you +are good and brave! If I could only see you look happy, how glad I should +be! If I could find out how to make you happy! I would do anything in the +world for you, if I only knew how!" + +"There is no use in thinking about it, mother dear. Happiness is not for +me. It may be for others, but not for me." Veronica spoke with strong +emotion. "I have worked and struggled for it ever since I can remember +anything, but all in vain. Cousin Judith told me that work was the way to +fortune, and that 'fortune' meant whatever one wanted most; and so I +worked, always, even when I did not know what it was that I wanted most. +Afterwards when I learned that for me happiness was the best fortune, I +worked on, for I wanted to be happy, but I was not. I always brooded over +my work, thinking of all the unpleasant and troublesome things that had +happened. Then Sabina told me how, when she was terribly unhappy about her +deformity, she had found relief in books, in reading," and Veronica went +on to tell how Sabina had sent her delightful books and how she had tried +to drive away her own sorrow by the new interests which she found in them. +"But you see," she added with a sigh, "it did not help me; nothing helps +me. When I read, I was still unhappy. What difference did it make to me, +all that was written in the books; it did not make my troubles less. The +old thoughts came right in and left me no peace. Even while I was reading +I could not fix my mind on the book, and when I laid the book down, I had +gained nothing, but was as sad and hopeless as ever. Happiness is not for +me, and the little motto upon my rose may be true for others; it is not +true for me. I cannot 'grasp' the only 'fortune' I care for." + +Veronica spoke passionately; with a vehemence that Gertrude had never +before heard from her. Her strong, self-controlled nature had never before +given way and found expression in words. Now the flood-gates were opened, +the stream broke through. Gertrude was distressed at her unwonted +emotion. "Veronica," she said, sadly and lovingly, "this pains me. I had +no idea of your feeling; no conception of your having suffered so. You are +always so quiet and reserved that I thought you had peace within, though +your face is so often clouded with apparent discontent. Now I see that +your heart is heavy. If I could only show you the way to peace--that is +the way to happiness. + +The girl said nothing; she only shook her head as if to say: "Peace is not +for me," and her eyes shone like fire with her inward excitement. + +"Veronica," said Gertrude presently, "to-morrow is Christmas day. Do you +remember how when you were little children we always prayed together at +night, and how happy you always were at Christmas, and how gladly you +said your little prayer? Will you not pray with me now, my child, as we +did in those dear old days?" + +The girl turned her face aside and wiped away her tears. "I will, mother," +she said, making an effort to control herself, "it will bring back those +happy days in memory, and give you a little pleasure." + +She folded her hands and began to repeat the Lord's prayer. Gertrude +followed reverently. When she reached the words, "Forgive us our +trespasses," Veronica hid her face in her hands, and broke into violent +sobs. + +"No, mother, I must not say it. I cannot forgive him. I cannot forgive +Dietrich for having treated you so, and then run away and hidden himself +without writing a single word, to tell you where he is. He must know how +you are suffering, and I too. And that Judas! I can never, never forgive +him. He led Dietrich astray and deceived him. He has destroyed all our +happiness. How can I forgive him? Doesn't he deserve our hatred? Can I +help wishing him the worst punishment that ever befell a human being?" + +Veronica sobbed as if the long-pent-up agony of her heart would never +again submit to be restrained. Silently Gertrude sat with folded hands, +waiting till the storm was spent. At last she said softly, + +"If I felt as you do, my child, I could not bear it at all. It would kill +me. But I do not feel so. When my Dieterli was a little child and I had to +do everything for him, before he was old enough to take care of himself, +there was much in his character and conduct that made me anxious. He +always wanted to be first in everything, and whatever he wished for, that +he must have, without delay and without effort on his part. And as he grew +older and these qualities strengthened, I often felt that with his +headstrong disposition he could never become great and good, without the +discipline of a severe school. From the earliest hours of his life, I gave +him into God's hands, and prayed for God's care and guidance. And through +all these years my constant prayer for my boy has been, 'Lead him where +Thou wilt, Oh God, only let him not fall out of Thy hands; When this heavy +trial came, which was almost beyond my strength to bear, I did not lose +my faith that the God to whom I had given him, would not let my Dieterich +be lost. If the hard lessons of life have begun for Dietrich, he must +learn them thoroughly; and if his sins are to be purged away, he must +suffer in the process. And though I suffer too, it is God's will; I have +had much schooling in my life, and have learned much and gained much from +it. Do not feel so hardly against Dietrich because he has not written to +us. Perhaps he has written, and the letter has gone astray. I look for a +letter every day, but if he does not write, we may be sure that he is in +great trouble, poor boy! He knows how we feel toward him, and if he has +gone into evil ways we must pity him the more and pray God to bring him +back into the right path again. As to Jost, I think as you do, that he is +to blame for our poor boy's troubles. He led him astray and then played +him false. Jost is a poor lost sheep who has wandered far from the fold. +He has no one to care for him, no one to lead him back again. He is alone +in the world. Should not we pray that he may be shown the wickedness of +his ways, that his conscience may be awakened and that he may repent and +his soul be saved?" + +Veronica had listened attentively to all that Gertrude had said. After a +silence she said thoughtfully, + +"Mother, are you made happy by this faith in God?" + +And without a moment's hesitation came the answer; + +"I know of nothing that can make us so happy as this faith--the strong +confidence in our hearts that our Father in Heaven orders and watches over +our lives, and that everything which happens to us is for our good, if we +obey him and hold fast to him. I do not know much, Veronica; I have not +read nearly as much as lame Sabina, or as you have, and you understand +things far better than I do; but it seems to me that you would have gained +more from your reading, if you had tried to find something in the books, +which you could use to help you in your trouble, and not merely to find +out something new about what other people do and how they live." + +"If you learned from these books that our Lord Jesus Christ first taught +the lesson that all men are equal in the sight of God, and that one soul +is of as much worth as another before Him, then it must have been told +there too, how our Savior brought us the glad tidings that we have a +Father in Heaven, who loves His children and who will bless them if they +put their trust in Him. Our Savior shows us the way to our Heavenly +Father, and will help us to overcome all the difficulties that stand in +our path. He speaks to us with a tenderness beyond that of any other +friend, and bids us lay our burdens upon Him and He will help us to bear +them." + +"But mother," said Veronica, looking with a wonder that was almost awe +upon the peaceful countenance of the mother, "can you truly say that you +have found peace and happiness, while you have no news from him, and do +not know what dreadful tidings any minute may bring you?" + +"Yes, Veronica, I can and I do say so," answered Gertrude, and her face +even without words would have borne witness to the truth of what she said. +"I know that what ever comes to us, comes from God, and is for our good. +But Veronica, we must put away all hatred and bitterness from our hearts; +these feelings are all evil, and we must ask to be forgiven for them. +Shall I go on with the prayer, where you left off, my child? Try to join +with me; it will help you, dear." + +And Gertrude finished the Lord's prayer. + +Veronica sat silent for a time, and then rose and went to her own room. +She could not sleep, but she had no inclination to seek relief for trouble +in her sewing, as she had been accustomed to do. Gertrude's words were +working in her heart. How often had she said lately in the proud +bitterness of her heart, "A fine truth indeed! + + 'Fortune stands ready, full in sight, + He wins, who knows to grasp it right!'" + +And now Gertrude had shown her that the words were true after all, and +that she had herself grasped Happiness, the truest Fortune, even in the +midst of a deep sorrow, greater even than Veronica's own. + +Sleeplessly for Veronica the hours of the night went by; but over and over +again the mother's words sounded in her ears, and she strove to quiet with +them the trouble and unrest of her heart. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +MAN PROPOSES, BUT GOD DISPOSES. + + +Still no news came from Dietrich. Jost made many attempts to show Veronica +how much he wished to win her favor. He often went to meet her, and he +gave himself endless trouble to convince her of his attachment. He could +not boast that he made himself of any use by going to meet her; for she +was always accompanied by Blasi, who marched by her side with a triumphant +air as if to say, "Jost can judge for himself who holds the place of honor +here!" When Jost joined them, Veronica took care that Blasi should walk +between herself and the intruder, and she neither said a word herself, +nor seemed to hear what the others were saying. Jost grew pale with +suppressed rage. Whenever at other times he met Blasi anywhere, he threw +contemptuous words at him. If occasionally Blasi stepped into the Rehbock +for a glass of beer, Jost would cry out, + +"Oh ho, she allows it to-night, does she, you donkey of a servant? How +will you look when she doesn't want your services any longer, and gives +you your dismissal? She is already beginning to soften towards me, but +until she comes to me and begs me to hear her, I won't listen to a word, +nor pay the slightest attention to her." + +Such remarks as these, thrown out before all the company at the Rehbock +were very exasperating to Blasi and several times he seized the big bowl +to throw it at the insolent fellow's head. He did not throw it however, +for Veronica had charged him to have as little as possible to do with +Jost, and especially never to quarrel with him, and Veronica's influence +over Blasi grew stronger every day. So he did not throw the bowl, but +instead, drained it to the bottom and then left the room. + +About this time Blasi began to meet Judith very often on his evening walk. +Judith seemed to have some business that took her frequently to Fohrensee. +Strange surmises were aroused, among the Fohrensee people; for it was +known that she went to visit the cattle-dealer. The two were often seen +standing before his house in the open street, gesticulating vehemently +with hands and arms. The people about said, + +"Something's in the wind. They're going to be married. To be sure she is +cleverer than he, but then he is twenty-five years younger, and that +counts for something." + +One evening in January, Judith met Blasi as he was coming round the corner +of Gertrude's house, where he was always at work till it was time to go +for Veronica. + +"What makes you go about laughing all the time, and looking as if you had +been winning a game?" asked Judith. + +"That's exactly what I was going to ask you," retorted Blasi, "What have +you got to laugh about?" + +"Answer me, and I'll answer you, my lad." + +"All right; it's nothing to be ashamed of. She'll have me." + +"Good heavens!" exclaimed Judith "Who? Which one?" + +Blasi did not turn round, but pointed with his thumb over his shoulder at +the house he had just left. "That one," he said. + +Judith shouted with laughter. + +"Will she have you all three?" she said; "first Dietrich, then Jost, and +now you." + +"I don't see the joke," said Blasi crossly. "Dietrich has run away; she +avoids Jost as if he were a nettle, and who else is there? Who is there +for her to call upon if she wants help, hey?" + +Judith was still snickering over the news. + +"Now it's your turn," said Blasi, "tell me what it is that you're so +pleased about." + +"It is very much like yours, Blasi; come a little nearer," and she +whispered in his ear, "I have him." + +"Mercy on us!" cried Blasi. "You will be as rich as a Jew, for the +cattle-dealer is worth more than half the people in Fohrensee, all put +together." + +"I'm not talking about the cattle-dealer." + +"Pshaw! whom are you talking about then?" + +"Somebody else, and I have him in such a fashion that he will not forget +it in a hurry, I tell you!" + +As she spoke, Judith made a gesture with her hands as if she were choking +some one, who certainly would not escape alive from her clutches. + +Blasi shook his head and walked on in silence. But in his inmost mind he +thought, "I can't make anything out of her; her head is all in a buzz. But +she's only a woman." + +Soon after, they reached the turf-hut, and there they separated. Veronica +was not far off; and as she came up Blasi joined her, and they walked +quickly along over the crisp, frozen ground. She was more silent than +usual, and seemed sunk in thought. In the middle of the wood she stopped +suddenly and said, + +"Blasi will you do me a great favor?" + +"I will do anything in the world for you, Veronica," was the prompt reply, +"I will jump into the big pond over there, and never come out again, if +you want me to." + +"You couldn't get in now; it is frozen hard," said the girl, laughing. "I +don't want you to do that, but something very different. Do you think you +could find out what Jost knows about Dietrich? Perhaps he has told Jost +where he is, and where a letter would reach him." + +"Yes, but look here, Veronica, are you still thinking about him, all this +time?" asked poor Blasi, quite taken aback. + +"We will not talk about that," she answered curtly. "To tell the truth, I +am very anxious about our mother. She has been very far from well lately, +and she says every now and then, 'If I could only see him once more!' as +if she felt that she was not going to live much longer. Oh, help me get +word to Dietrich if you can, Blasi! do help me!" Veronica's eyes were full +of tears, as she raised them beseechingly to Blasi's face. He was much +touched at the sight of her tears; but then a great fear arose in his +mind, for he thought, "She is beginning to soften, and it will all turn +out just as Jost said." And he determined to prevent it at any cost. + +"Don't lose your courage, and I'll try my best! I'll see what I can do!" +he said in a very decided tone, and with a most courageous air. + +"You are my only friend now," said Veronica; and the words spurred Blasi +on to immediate action. He left her in the doorway, and hastened away. He +would find out all that Jost could or would tell about Dietrich. He ran +across to the Rehbock, where he found Jost sitting with his glass. For if +Jost, as he complained, had to sit and work all the morning, while others +did as they pleased, yet he made enough money by his work to allow him to +spend all his afternoons at the Rehbock, and remain, drinking one glass +after another, all through the evening, and late into the night. + +Blasi seated himself by his side, and opened his case very skilfully. He +wanted to know about their old friend; where he was now, and whether there +was any chance of getting a line sent to him. He did not mind paying for a +drink to-night, he said, if Jost would tell him exactly what he knew about +Dietrich; they ought to hang together, they three, who had known each +other ever since they were children. While Blasi was discoursing in this +clever manner, Jost looked squintingly at him, and when he stopped, he +answered scoffingly, + +"Oh, so she has come to it at last, has she? I have been expecting it. You +go back and tell her that I can give her all the information she wants; +but she must come to me for it, herself, and speak pleasantly to me, as I +do to her. Tell her that she will never see him again, as long as she +lives; he is too far off. But if she wants to send him a message, she has +but to come to me and ask, and I will do her that favor, and she can do me +one in return. Go now, Blasi, and tell her this from me. I'll pay for the +beer myself." + +Blasi felt stunned. Jost had seen through his little game at a glance, and +treated it with contempt. How could he carry such a message to Veronica? +It might bring the tears into her eyes again, and that was altogether too +painful to see. There was no use in remonstrating with Jost, who sat there +smiling scornfully without farther words. For the first time in his life, +Blasi left his glass unfinished. He pulled his cap down over his eyes and +left the inn. When he entered the widow's cottage, Veronica sat by the +table, stitching away at the old mail-bag. She put it down as he came in, +and looked up anxiously into his face. + +"It's no use; he is just splitting with rage and fury;" and Blasi threw +his cap across into the farthest corner of the room. He related the whole +conversation and it was plain enough that it was useless for him to try to +get anything out of Jost. + +She was silent for a time; thinking over Jost's words. "He wants to humble +me! I am to go and beseech him to tell me; and I must be friendly and do +him a favor. What favor? No, I will have nothing to do with him." + +She took up the bag again, stitched up the last hole, and folded the work. +Then she said, + +"May I ask one thing more of you, Blasi? I hope I shall be able to repay +you some day for all your kindness." + +"Only speak, Veronica," said Blasi, "I will do anything you ask. If you +want me to, I will go to find Dietrich, even if I have to go on foot all +the way to Australia." + +"Oh, it is no such long journey as that. I am sorry to ask you to do a +disagreeable errand, but you see Mother is much disturbed because this +mail-bag has not been sent back. She seems to be in a hurry to have +everything finished and settled up--as if she had no time to lose." +Veronica paused, and the tears that it so troubled Blasi to see, filled +her eyes to overflowing. "I promised mother that the bag should be sent +home early tomorrow morning, and you see I have no one but you to ask. You +can't leave your work in the daytime and at evening you have to go to meet +me; so there is no time but the very early morning before work hours." + +"I will take it if it snows cats and dogs; but where is it to go?" + +"It is not a pleasant walk, unless you go a long way round by the +high-road. The bag belongs at the post-office at the Valley bridge. Do +you think you could get down the steep foot-path in this deep snow? I +should feel dreadfully if anything were to happen to you, Blasi." + +Blasi was not afraid. He was proud to show Veronica that she might count +on his courage, where he had only the forces of nature to contend against, +and not the treacherous tricks of Jost. + +Veronica had a hard battle with herself that night. "Must I do it?" she +asked herself again and again, and each time her heart revolted and she +groaned aloud, "I cannot, oh, I cannot!" + +Then the image of Gertrude rose before her, pale and suffering, and she +heard her heart-rending words, "If I could only see him once more!" +Veronica could not sleep, nor could she come to any decision. + +Next morning it seemed that Blasi was to be taken at his word, and his +boast of being ready for service, no matter what the weather might be, was +to be put to the proof; for it stormed furiously and the wind blew so +fiercely when he left the house, that he could scarcely make way against +it. The half-frozen snow stung and blinded him, but it did not deter him. +He forced his way onwards, and though it was still dark and he could not +see one step before him, he went on as confidently and unhesitatingly as +if there were no chance of his losing his way. And he did not lose it. +When day dawned he found himself close to the Valley-bridge, in spite of +deep snows and stinging sleet. + +"You are early," said the post master, who was busy sorting his letters by +lamplight. Blasi answered that he had to be at work by sunrise, and +having delivered the bag and received the pay for it, he started for home +again. He had scarcely gone twenty steps when the post-master called after +him, + +"Hulloa! Blasi, you can do a neighborly kindness if you will, and it won't +cost you anything;" and he handed Blasi a letter. + +"It is for the old Miller's widow, over there. Jost fetches her letters +himself, usually; it is marked "To be called for," but he'll be glad to be +spared the walk such a day as this. You can tell him he needn't come +to-day, you know." + +Blasi took the letter. The Miller's widow was an old deaf woman, who lived +quite alone, in a little, tumble-down cottage, just off the road, on a +lonely hillside. The foot-path that Blasi took, led near her dwelling. The +woman was an aunt of Jost's, and had known better days when her husband +was alive; but now she had fallen into poverty, and had grown sour and +bitter, and would have nothing to do with the rest of the world. Blasi +worked his way to her hut, through the deep, pathless snow. As he +approached the door, he took the letter from his pocket, and looked at the +address. + +"Heavens and earth and all the rest of it! It is from Dietrich!" he cried +out. "I didn't copy all his work at school for nothing. I know his +hand-writing as well as I know anything!" + +He talked aloud in his excitement, as he stood hammering away at the door, +which the old woman was not very prompt in opening. At last he opened it +himself, and came stamping into the room. The widow was sitting on a bench +by the stove, picking wool. She had not heard his knocks, and she stared +at him with amazement. He explained how he came by the letter, but she was +too deaf to understand him. Then he held the letter close under her eyes, +and shouted in her ear, + +"Read it! I want to know what's in it. It's from Dietrich." + +She pushed the letter away and said sharply, + +"It don't belong to me. I never get any letters. Take it away." + +Blasi was fairly out of patience. + +"That's your name, any way," he said. "I'll read it to you; I want to know +what he says." He tore the letter open and began to read: + + "HAMBURG, 14th Jan., 18-- + + "My Dear Jost:" + +Blasi started, but he read on. It was a short letter, and he read it +through twice. + +"Will you get out?" said the old woman crossly, for Blasi stood as if +rooted to the floor. He stuffed the letter back into the torn cover, and +went out, but stopped again outside. What should he do? The letter was +Jost's. He was afraid of Jost, and he had opened Jost's letter! Presently +an idea struck him, and he instantly acted on it. He stuck the envelope +together as well as he could, ran through the storm back to the +post-office, tossed in the letter quickly, saying, "The old woman says +it's not for her, and she won't take it," and was off again on his +homeward way. + +As for Veronica, she had but one thought in her mind all that day. +Gertrude was so ill when she went to her bed-side in the morning, that +Veronica's heart at once cried out, "It must be done!" and all day long +she kept repeating to herself, "It shall be done to-night." + +When Blasi went to meet her that evening, he was so full of his news that +he could scarcely wait to greet her, before beginning to tell it; but he +was so startled by her looks that instead, he stopped short, and +exclaimed, + +"What is the matter? Are you ill? Sit down and rest, in the hut, here." + +Veronica shook her head; she could not lose a moment, she said, for she +was in a hurry to get home, and was not in the least ill. Then Blasi +blurted out his story; he was so eager, that he could scarcely get the +words out straight. Veronica listened with breathless attention. Suddenly, +such a happy radiance spread over her face, that Blasi stood still and +gazed at her. + +"Hamburg! did you say Hamburg, Blasi? Was that where the letter came +from?" Her eyes danced with joy; Blasi had never seen her look like that +before. + +"Certainly it was; I am sure of it; I can read Dietrich's writing fast +enough," answered Blasi, and he added to himself, "The women-folk are +queer creatures. No fellow can understand them. A moment ago she looked +all broken-down, and as if she could be blown out with a puff of wind, +and now she looks bright and strong as the sun at noon-day." + +"Repeat word for word what you read in the letter, please, Blasi," and he +told her all that he could remember. It did not take long. Dietrich said +that he had not much to say, but wrote because Jost was the only person in +the world who cared anything for him. Perhaps some day his mother would +come to feel differently; but since he had brought so much trouble upon +her, he could not expect her to forgive him yet. If Veronica was going to +marry some one else, he did not want to hear about it. He could not make +up his mind to go to Australia as Jost advised; it was too far away; he +was almost dead of homesickness even in Hamburg. If they were after him +for the man-slaughter, he thought he could hide well enough there, and +perhaps in a few years when the whole thing was forgotten, he could come +home again. + +If worst came to worst, and he were taken, he should at least get home, if +only to be put into the House of Correction. He felt the worst on his +mother's account. He wanted Jost to write and tell him about things at +home, and it was safest to send to the same address, as he always called +for the letters himself. + +Veronica hung upon every word that fell from Blasi's lips, and when he had +finished, she walked silently by his side, deep in thought. Presently he +asked her what he should do if Jost found out that he had opened his +letter and hauled him up before a Justice of the Peace for it. Veronica +said she believed that Jost would scarcely care to say anything about the +letter. She advised Blasi to keep his own counsel, and to behave as usual, +in a perfectly unconcerned manner, whenever he met Jost. She would take +the rest in hand herself. Blasi was more than willing to leave it all to +her; he had entire confidence in her ability to manage the affair. The +letters of all the country round were collected at the central office in +Fohrensee, to be forwarded together from there to the nearest city, where +they were sorted and distributed. Veronica thought of this, and laid her +plans accordingly. The next day as soon as she reached Fohrensee, she went +to the post-office, and asked to see the address of a letter which had +just been sent in, on its way to Hamburg. The post-master, who knew her +well, did not think the request at all singular, supposing that it had +something to do with the school business. + +"A letter for Hamburg came in last evening;" said his daughter who was his +assistant, "there it lies with the others that came with it." + +The postmaster went to the table and found the letter, which he handed to +Veronica. "The address is not very nicely written," he said. + +The handwriting was either that of a person unused to the pen, or it was +purposely disguised. The letter was addressed to a woman of the same name +as that of the miller's widow. The name of the street was illegible, but +the words "To be called for," were plainly written. + +Veronica was convinced that the letter she was in search of lay before +her. So Jost had written as she had expected he would do, the day before. +He had undoubtedly seen that Dietrich's letter had been opened. Did he +write so promptly in order to frighten Dietrich into going farther away? +Had he suggested to him a new address now that the old one had been +discovered? She felt sure that Jost was trying to prevent anyone but +himself from having any communication with Dietrich. There was not a +moment to lose. What would she not have given to be able to withhold the +letter! But she did not dare. She returned it to the postmaster and asked +for a piece of paper. Her hand trembled with excitement and her heart beat +so loud, that she thought the post-master must hear it. + +She wrote the following words: + +"Dear Dietrich; your mother is very weak. Come home directly. You have +nothing to fear. Veronica." + +She enveloped it, and addressed it as Jost had done his, and handed it to +the post-master. + +"I thank you very much indeed," she said, "will you kindly see that this +letter goes by this morning's mail?" + +"Yes, yes, I understand; it's a thread-and-needle business," he said +laughing, as he threw the letters down on the same pile. "They will travel +side by side and reach Hamburg together." + +All day Veronica's hand trembled at her work. Outwardly she was tranquil +and composed; but within was a storm of conjectures, fears and hopes. What +had Jost written to Dietrich about his mother; what about her? Jost had +evidently let him believe that he had killed a man. What reason had Jost +for deceiving him and keeping him at a distance? These questions brought +the color to Veronica's cheeks as she suspected what the answers might be. +Did Jost think that she would marry him if Dietrich did not come back? or +were there other reasons why he did not dare to let him come? All sorts of +possible solutions flew through Veronica's head, and the conclusion she +arrived at frightened her. She did not wish to suspect any one of being a +rogue without good reason; yet the evidence seemed in this case to be +irresistible. If Dietrich came home, everything would be cleared up. But +if he did not come, what then? Would everything have to be allowed to go +on as it was? She would talk it all over with Gertrude this very evening. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +THE MOTTO PROVES TRUE. + + +Veronica for once did not carry out her plans. When she reached home she +found Gertrude in a high fever. She spoke to Veronica as if she were still +a child, and had just come in from school. Veronica sat quietly down by +the bedside, and did what she could to soothe and refresh her, and when by +degrees her mother's mind became more clear, she proposed to her to send +for the doctor. But Gertrude did not want the doctor. She had no pain, she +said; she was only weak. Veronica sat by her side all night, but of course +it was no time to speak of the letter, and of the excitements of the day. +It would not do to arouse hopes that might never be fulfilled, and if +Dietrich came, that was enough. All through the long hours of the night, +the girl sat thinking over all the hopes and fears and perplexities of her +life, while Gertrude lay still and seemed to doze. Only now and then she +spoke some kindly words to the children, and Veronica knew that she +thought they were both there sitting by her bed-side; again her little +ones. + +In the morning Gertrude was quite herself again. She would not hear of the +doctor's being called, declaring that she needed nothing but a few days' +rest. Veronica would not leave her; but sent word to Sabina, to ask her to +take her place for a few days, which she knew she could rely upon her to +do gladly, for Sabina was extremely friendly, and very proud of her former +pupil, who had been a great credit to her in the position for which she +had recommended her. + +That day and the next night Mother Gertrude remained quiet, and seemed to +sleep most of the time. On the third day, it was evident that she was +looking for something, whenever she opened her eyes, although she was not +at all delirious; and she frequently exclaimed, + +"Oh! if I could only see him once more!" + +When the sunset light streamed through the window and illuminated the +room, a happy smile lighted up her face. She murmured: + + "He half in dreamland seemed to float + Saying 'to-morrow will be fine.'" + +After a while she turned towards Veronica and said, + +"Veronica, sing it again, with him please; it is beautiful, and I like to +hear you sing together: 'To-morrow will be fine.'" + +"You have been dreaming, mother; we have not been singing," said the poor +girl, wiping away her fast-flowing tears. + +It was dark now and all was still. The little night-lamp threw a pale +light upon the bed, where the mother lay in a half-sleep. Veronica sat by +with big wide-open eyes. Her restless thoughts were busy with many +questions. Had he received her letter? Would he come? How? When? and how +would the mother be? Suddenly Gertrude rose up in bed with greater +strength than she had shown for many days. "Go! go! Veronica," she said +beseechingly, "Open the door for him! He ought not to stand there knocking +like a stranger. Show him how glad we are to see him again!" + +"No one is knocking, mother; you are only dreaming," said Veronica sadly +shaking her head; but the longing in Gertrude's eyes was more than she +could resist, and she rose and left the room, thinking to please her by +compliance. She heard a step; but then the road ran in front of the house, +and it might be any passer-by. She opened the outside door--Dietrich stood +before her! + +"You summoned me, or I should not have come;" said the young man, half in +excuse, and half reassuringly, for Veronica stood dumb and motionless +before him. "Will you not shake hands, Veronica?" + +She gave him her hand, saying only, + +"Come to your mother; she heard your step, and doesn't need to be prepared +for you. But you must control yourself; you will find her very much +altered." + +Dietrich entered the room. His mother was still sitting up in bed, +watching the door, in a strained, expectant attitude. She was indeed +changed. She looked so small and thin and wasted. Dietrich was completely +unmanned at the sight. He sprang to the bedside, threw his arms about her, +and between his sobs he cried again and again, + +"Forgive me, mother, forgive me! I will never act so again! I will lead a +different life! Everything shall be right! You must live to be happy, +mother!" + +"Thank God that you have come, Dietrich," said his mother, trembling with +weakness and excitement. "I forgave you long ago. How could I have +anything against you? But, my dear boy, why did you not write one word, +one little word to tell me how you were and where? Didn't you know how +unhappy you were making me?" + +"What, mother! what do you mean? I wrote three times to you and twice to +Veronica; and you sent me back word through Jost that you did not want to +hear from me; that the disgrace was too much, and that no one dared to +mention my name before Veronica, she was so angry with me. I had to send +my letters through Jost, and he gave me the address of his old aunt to +make all safe. It was better for you not to know where I was, because +they were hunting for me on account of the man I killed. And you have +never got one of my letters; not one?" + +His mother could only shake her head in reply. She tried to speak, but she +had already gone beyond her strength, and she sank back upon her pillows. +Veronica, who had been standing by in silence, started forward. + +"I will run for the doctor," she said, "stay with her, Dietrich;" and she +darted from the room. He hurried after her. "Let me go," he said, "it is +too late for you to be out, and you can take better care of her than I +can." He was off; and Veronica returned to the bed-side. He took the +shortest road; the one that passed the Rehbock. Loud shouts and cries were +sounding from the inn. He hurried by. Presently he heard his own name +called; some one came running after him, shouting: + +"Wait, Dietrich, wait!" He turned round and saw Blasi, who had recognized +him as he passed the door, and rushed out after him. "Don't run away, +Dietrich! Welcome home! Where did you come from? Have you seen her? Don't +run away! Listen to me!" Dietrich stopped and shook hands with Blasi, and +again started forward. Blasi detained him. + +"There's been something going on that you ought to know about," he +continued. "Don't think that I go to the Rehbock every evening, by any +means! I heard there was some strange news, and so I went there to-night +to hear it, and it was well worth while, I can tell you. The red fellow +is found out! The cattle-dealer accused him of having stolen his money +bag. The man denied it; there was a long investigation, and at last they +found out that and a great many other things against him. He turns out to +be a regular rascal. And when all this had been proved against him, he +turned round and accused another man, who, he said, was really at the +bottom of everything; but no one knows yet who it is. Don't run so fast; I +can't keep up with you. Now you're out of it all right, Dietrich; but I +suppose you know that they tried to make out that you took the money, and +that was why you ran away. But I never believed it; I never did, on my +honor. Do stand still; it's all right now, and you needn't run away any +more." + +"I'm not going to run away, Blasi, and I thank you for bringing me this +good news. But it's not all right you know, on account of Marx." + +"Marx!" cried Blasi, "what of Marx! it doesn't hurt a man to get a good +beating. Marx is as lively as you or I, and still drinks more than enough +to quench his thirst, when he can get it." + +Dietrich stood still now, and drew a long breath. "Is that true, Blasi, +really true? You wouldn't say it if it were not true? She wrote me that +there was nothing to fear; but I didn't understand it. And I can't quite +understand now, Jost wrote me that Marx was dead, and that I had better go +away as far as I possibly could, because they were searching for me, high +and low. I can't make it out. But I must go now for the doctor. Come and +see me to-morrow, Blasi; and we will have a good talk. Now good-night." + +Dietrich shook his old comrade by the hand and ran off. But Blasi could +not so easily smother all the wonderful things he had to tell, and he +called out at the top of his lungs, + +"You don't know much of anything yet! I spend the whole day at your house; +it's you that will have to come to me. I am working at your trade; you +ought to see! there's many a fellow that would be glad to do as well as I +do!" + +But Dietrich had disappeared. It was past midnight, before he reached the +doctor's house, and he knocked a good many times in vain. At last a maid +came down and opened the door, saying as she did so, + +"What a plague it is, that everything always comes at once! He has been +called out once to-night, and has hardly got to bed again. It never rains +but it pours!" + +"I hope he will be so good as to come now;" said Dietrich, "it is very +important or I would not ask him." + +The maid knocked at the chamber door. It was some time before the doctor's +voice answered from within, "Who's there?" + +"Dietrich from Tannenegg," said the servant. + +"He back again? No, I'm too old and too tired for that. They ought to give +him a good beating if they can catch him; it would serve him right." + +Dietrich stepped up to the door himself. + +"It is not for me, doctor," said he humbly, "it is for my mother; she is +very ill indeed. For God's sake, doctor, come and help her!" + +"That's another thing altogether; she is a brave woman, who has been doing +your work for you," said the voice from within the room. Pretty soon the +doctor came out, and when Dietrich described his mother's condition, he +took some medicines with him and started out. + +"I have no horse to use to-night; mine has done a hard day's work and must +have his rest. We shall have to go up the hill afoot." + +As they crossed the open space in front of the house, he continued, + +"I remember once how on this very spot once a little boy stood up in front +of me, and when I asked him if he would like some day to take care of a +horse, answered, 'No, I want a horse of my own.' I thought he had a good +purpose in view if he would only pursue it the right way. But it does not +do to want to begin by being a gentleman. First come work, and service for +us all, then mastership may follow. Whoever tries to begin at the end, +will end at the beginning; which is not a good nor an agreeable method. Am +I right or wrong, Dietrich?" + +"You are right, doctor. If one could only look ahead!" answered Dietrich. + +"Yes, that would help; but as we cannot, we must trust those who are our +friends, and who have gone before us in the right way, and can show us the +road; like that noble woman to whom we are now going." + + +When they entered Gertrude's room they found her asleep. The doctor sat +down by the bedside, watched her awhile, and felt her pulse from time to +time. Then he arose and turning to Veronica, he said, + +"I can do no good here; take care of her; she deserves all you can do, but +the lamp of life burns low, and will soon go out altogether. She has had a +hard lot; trouble wears faster than years." + +With these words the doctor went to the door. He did not even glance +towards Dietrich, who threw himself on his knees by the bedside of his +dying mother, sobbing out: + +"O God in Heaven, do not let her die! Let her come back! Let her have a +little comfort in this world! Punish me as I deserve, but oh! let my +mother live!" + +Gertrude opened her eyes. She grasped the hand of her sobbing son, which +lay upon hers, and held it tightly clasped; while she whispered softly: + +"Yes, my Dieterli, pray, pray; if you can pray, all will come right +again." + +She closed her eyes and never spoke again. The hand that held Dietrich's +grew cold. Veronica, who had been standing behind Dietrich weeping +silently approached the bedside, took Gertrude's other hand in hers, and +said between her sobs: + +"Sleep well, dear, good mother! Yes, for you 'tomorrow will be fine';" and +she left the room. + +Two days later Dietrich followed his mother to her last resting place. +There was no need to avoid meeting people now, for every one knew that +the true thief had been discovered. But no hope was left to him in his +home. When he returned from the funeral, and went into the house, he knew +that he had no right there, for it no longer belonged to him. He went to +his room, strapped on his heavy knap-sack, and came down stairs. Veronica +was alone in the sitting-room. She stood leaning against the window, her +eyes fixed on the church-yard beyond, where the mother lay sleeping. + +He entered the room. "Veronica, give me your hand once more. I am going," +he said, coming towards her. + +"Where are you going, Dietrich?" she asked in a voice that was wholly +without feeling; and the cold tone seemed to stab the young man's heart as +with a knife. "It is all one to her;" he thought. + +"I am going out into the world. I am going to work to pay my debts. I have +no home; and as there is no one on earth who cares for me, I can bear my +burden better anywhere than here." + +"Then go, in God's name," said Veronica, and she held out her hand to him. +This was too much for Dietrich. He made one struggle for self-control and +then broke down completely. + +"Can you let me go so coolly, Veronica? not one kindly word for me? If I +might stay here with you, I would work day and night like the meanest +servant; I would do anything and everything for you. But no! I must go! I +could not bear it! How could I stay and see you give yourself to some one +else--I who have lost you,--lost you forever!" + +The young man threw himself into a chair, buried his face in his hands, +and cried like a child. + +Veronica was as white as snow. She went to his side, and laid her hand +upon his shoulder. + +"Dietrich," she said softly, "if you feel in this way, why don't you ask +me how I feel, when I think of living on here alone when you have gone; +when you have left me perhaps forever?" + +Dietrich raised his eyes to hers. A look lay there, a look such as he had +dreamed of in his banishment. He sprang to his feet, and seized her hand. + +"Veronica, can you love me? can you trust me?" + +She did not withdraw her hand, and looked him full in the eyes. + +"I have always loved you, Dietrich," she said, "and if I know that you can +pray again to God, and promise to live a life acceptable to Him, I can +trust you too." + +The young man pressed her to his heart. "Is it true, is it possible?" he +cried. "Oh Veronica, can it be true?" + +But suddenly he started back, and said in a frightened tone, + +"No, I dare not. I cannot. Who am I? I am nothing; I have nothing, less +than nothing; and I know what you are and how far above me. Jost wrote me +that there was no hope for me. I wanted to make you so happy--I meant to +get money and provide all sorts of beautiful things for you and to make +you the happiest woman in the world. And now! now I am a beggar, and a +miserable creature into the bargain." + +Veronica shook her head. + +"You do not understand what happiness really is, Dietrich. I have been +searching for it longer than you have, and you may believe me that it is +not what you think. It is not something at a distance, far beyond our +reach; we may find it while we are at work. We are not beggars; this house +is ours, and we can still live in it. But, Dietrich, we will try to find +the way that our mother went; that is the true way to happiness and peace +in life and death." + +"We will," cried Dietrich, with solemn joy; and as he clasped Veronica +again to his heart, there was that in his face and in his voice which +assured her that he would never leave her again, and that they would walk +in that true way of happiness and peace together. + +At this moment Judith burst into the room. When she saw the faces of the +two who stood before her, she stood stock still with surprise! She +immediately took in the situation. + +"So! So! this is something that delights one's very heart!" she cried, and +her face beamed with satisfaction. "But look out of the window! I came to +tell you! You can say good-bye to that rascal forever." + +They stepped together to the window which looked out upon the road. Jost +was just going by. His hands were bound together, and he was followed by +the Constable, who hurried him along. Jost looked up at the window and +shrank back at what he saw; but the man drove him on. + +"What does it mean?" asked Dietrich and Veronica in the same breath, +turning to Judith. + +"It is what was bound to come," she explained. "Everything is found out. +They seized the red fellow first, after I succeeded in getting it through +the cattle-dealer's thick head that he was the man to get hold of. When +they had driven the red man into a corner, so that he couldn't lie himself +out of it, he turned against Jost, and declared that Jost had planned the +whole thing and that he himself had only played second-fiddle. Which can +lie the worst, no one can tell, but that they are both reaping what they +have sown, is certain enough. And now we're to have a wedding, are we? and +our Dietrich is going to settle down into regular home life again. +Welcome, neighbors; we will live in friendship together all our days." And +Judith shook hands cordially with them both, and hastened away to spread +through the neighborhood the good news of the coming marriage. + +It is now ten years since Dietrich and Veronica left the church of +Tannenegg where they had been made one, and the blessing had been +pronounced upon their united lives. They went first to the little church +yard and knelt by the new made grave covered with flowers. With tearful +eyes, and with sad regrets in their happy hearts, they said, + +"If she could only have lived to see us now!" + +Today there is no more beautiful flower-garden in all Tannenegg, than that +about Dietrich's pretty white house. Within the house all is so fresh and +charming from top to bottom, that one who enters it finds it difficult to +get away again from its hospitable shelter. + +Dietrich has built a fine large work-room; and there he sits and works, +industrious and happy, or he goes about his outside affairs in a steady +business-like manner. Often he has to go to Fohrensee and even farther; +for his trade is prosperous beyond competition and his work is recognized +far and wide as of unrivalled excellence. + +On Veronica's face lies such a sunshine of constant happiness as is good +to look upon. She has given up her position in the school at Fohrensee; +her place is with her husband and children; but she does not for all that +sit with her hands in her lap; her orderly well-kept house, and her +blooming well-behaved children bear witness to her faultless management +as well as to her care and industry, and at the great annual Fair in the +city, if any one inquires about some wonderfully fine and beautiful +embroidery on exhibition, the answer invariably is, "that is the work of +Veronica of Tannenegg." + +Blasi is Dietrich's permanent assistant. He is constantly about the house, +and is known in the family as Uncle Blasi. As soon as the day's work is +over, and the evening sets in, his first question is, "Where are our +children?" He never speaks of them in any other way; they are his, his joy +and pride. He has also a special claim upon them, for he and Cousin Judith +are the god-father and god-mother of both. + +Blasi's favorite time is Sunday, when Dietrich goes to walk with his +wife, and gives over the house and the children to him. Then he sets upon +one knee the chubby little Dieterli and on the other the black eyed +Veronica, and they ride there as long as they please, no matter how high +the horse has to curvet and prance. And whatever else they want him to do +for them, he is ready to do, whatever it may be. + +There is only one Sunday pleasure that outweighs the knee-riding with +Uncle Blasi, and that is when Veronica takes her little girl in her lap +and lets Dieterli press close to her side, as he does only when he is very +much excited. Then the mother takes a little picture in her hand, the +picture of a red rose. Suddenly the flower opens, and a little verse in +golden letters appears. Every time this opens, it elicits a cry of joy +from the children, and they are never tired of seeing the wonder repeated. +And Veronica is never tired of repeating it; for the rose and the verse +are so interwoven with her life that they recall many memories of joy and +sorrow; and she often says to the children, "Some time when you are old +enough, I will explain this golden motto to you, and you shall learn it by +heart." + +When Blasi and Judith are alone together, he likes to talk over old times, +and he often reminds her that he had fully made up his mind to marry +Veronica himself; and he always winds up with, + +"I want you to understand that I would never have given her up to any one +else; but an old friend like Dietrich, you know;--of course it's a very +different thing with Dietrich." + +And Judith, laughing, answers, + +"Yes, yes, Blasi, you're quite right; it's a very different thing with +Dietrich." + + + +THE END. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Veronica And Other Friends +by Johanna (Heusser) Spyri + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14627 *** diff --git a/14627-h/14627-h.htm b/14627-h/14627-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1751aa0 --- /dev/null +++ b/14627-h/14627-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,3444 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of Veronica and Other Friends, by Johanna Spyri. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + p { margin-top: .75em; 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text-align: center;} + + .figleft {float: left; clear: left; margin-left: 0; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: + 1em; margin-right: 1em; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .figright {float: right; clear: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; + margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .footnotes {border: dashed 1px;} + .footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + .footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + .fnanchor {vertical-align: super; font-size: .8em; text-decoration: none;} + + .poem {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; text-align: left;} + .poem br {display: none;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem span {display: block; margin: 0; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 2em;} + .poem span.i4 {display: block; margin-left: 4em;} + img {border=0;} + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> + </head> +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14627 ***</div> + +<h1>VERONICA</h1> +<h2>And Other Friends</h2> + +<p class="center">TWO STORIES FOR CHILDREN</p> + +<p class="center"><i>BY THE AUTHOR OF</i></p> + +<p class="center">"HEIDI"</p> + +<p class="center"><i>TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN OF +JOHANNA SPYRI, BY</i></p> + +<p class="center">LOUISE BROOKS</p> + +<p class="center">BOSTON +DE WOLFE, FISKE & CO.</p> + +<p class="center">361 AND 365 WASHINGTON STREET</p> + +<p class="figcenter"><a href="./images/2.jpg"><img src="./images/2-tb.jpg" alt="Frontispiece" title="Frontispiece" /></a></p> + +<p class="center">Copyright 1886,</p> + +<h2>BY LOUISE BROOKS.</h2> + +<p class="center">All Rights Reserved. +</p> + + + +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Contents"> + +<tr><td align='left'>CHAPTER</td><td align='left'></td> +<td align='left'>PAGE</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_I"><b>I.</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>A VISIT TO THE DOCTOR</td> +<td align='left'>9</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_II"><b>II.</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>WITH FRESH COURAGE</td> +<td align='left'>29</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_III"><b>III.</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>NINE YEARS LATER</td> +<td align='left'>41</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_IV"><b>IV.</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>ALL AT HOME</td> +<td align='left'>53</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_V"><b>V.</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>UPON UNSAFE PATHS</td> +<td align='left'>73</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_VI"><b>VI.</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>LAME SABINA GIVES GOOD ADVICE</td> +<td align='left'>101</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_VII"><b>VII.</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>A THUNDER-CLAP</td> +<td align='left'>120</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII"><b>VIII.</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>EACH ONE ACCORDING TO HIS KIND</td> +<td align='left'>138</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_IX"><b>IX.</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>MOTHER GERTRUDE GIVES GOOD ADVICE</td> +<td align='left'>170</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_X"><b>X.</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>MAN PROPOSES, BUT GOD DISPOSES</td> +<td align='left'>189</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_XI"><b>XI.</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>THE MOTTO PROVES TRUE</td> +<td align='left'>219</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="VERONICA" id="VERONICA" />VERONICA.</h2> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I" />CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<h3>A VISIT TO THE DOCTOR.</h3> + + +<p>It was early in the month of March. The dark blue vault of heaven lay over +mountain and valley, swept free from clouds by the keen northern blast as +it blew across the hills, swaying the big trees hither and thither as if +they were bulrushes, and now and then tearing off huge branches which fell +crashing to the ground. Other and sadder victims were sacrificed to this +fierce north wind. Human beings as well as inanimate objects fell before +him. He struck down with his mighty arm, not only the old and feeble, but +the young and strong; just as he swept away the clouds, hurrying them +across the skies, beyond the horizon line, away out of sight. Sometimes in +one day, a cruel malady would seize one occupant out of each one of the +three or four little villages clustered on the hillside. A sharp pain +attacked the lungs, and after a brief illness the resistless disease bore +away the sufferer to the silent grave.</p> + +<p>At the very moment of which we write, a group of black-clad mourners were +standing near one of the pleasantest houses in the isolated village of +Tannenegg, waiting for the sound of the church bell, as the signal to lift +the covered bier on which was stretched the body of a young woman, the +last victim to the north wind's cruel stroke, and to bear her to her +final resting place. In the quiet room within, two children were seated on +a bench, which ran along the wall. They formed a striking contrast to each +other. The girl, a little black-eyed frowning thing, dressed in some +mourning stuff, followed with fierce looks the rapid movements of a woman +who, standing before an open cup-board, was moving its contents over and +about, as if in search of something that did not come to hand. The boy was +also watching her, but his dancing blue eyes had in them a merry look of +pleased expectation.</p> + +<p>"I want to go out, Cousin Judith," said the girl, and her tones were half +angry, half anxious, "Where can my mother be?"</p> + +<p>"Be still, be still," said the woman, still tumbling the contents of the +cup-board about nervously. "I shall find something pretty for you +presently; then you must sit down quietly and play with it, and not go +outside, not one step, do you hear? Pshaw! there is nothing but rubbish +here!"</p> + +<p>"Well, then give us the rose," said the little girl, still scowling.</p> + +<p>The woman looked about the room.</p> + +<p>"There are no roses here," she said. "How should there be, in March?" she +added, half vexed at having looked for them. "There," said the child, +pointing towards a book that the woman had but a moment before replaced in +the cup-board.</p> + +<p>"Ah! now I know what you mean. So your mother always kept the rose, the +"Fortune rose?" I often envied her when she used to show it to us in her +hymn-book;" and as she spoke, she turned the leaves of the old hymnal, +until she found the rose and handed it to the child.</p> + +<p>"Take it," she said, "be quiet, and do not get up from your seats till I +come back;" and she hurried from the room.</p> + +<p>The little girl took the prettily-painted rose, in her hand; it was an old +acquaintance, her favorite Sunday plaything.</p> + +<p>When her mother wanted to secure a quiet hour for herself on Sundays, she +used to give her "Fortune rose" to her little Veronica, and it was sure to +occupy the child for a long time in perfect contentment.</p> + +<p>"Look, this is the way you must do," said the child, as she pulled with +her fingers a small strip of paper that stood out from the side of the +picture; suddenly before the astonished eyes of the boy the red full calix +of the rose flew open, disclosing a glittering golden verse that lay in +the centre of the flower. Then Veronica pushed the paper-strip back, and +the rose folded its leaves and was a perfect flower again.</p> + +<p>Quite dazzled by this wonderful magic the little boy stared with amazement +at the rose, and then seized it to try for himself.</p> + +<p>While the children were playing, Veronica's mother was being laid in her +grave. After awhile Cousin Judith came back into the room. She was +"cousin" to all Tannenegg, though related to no one. She came back to take +the rose, and put it into the hook, which she replaced in the cup-board. +"Sit still awhile longer, children;" she said, "and presently your mother +will come for you. Be good and do not trouble her, for she has enough to +bear already."</p> + +<p>It was the little boy's mother she meant, and the children knew it. They +knew also very well, that they must be good and not trouble her, for they +had seen her for two days going about the house with eyes red with +weeping. Presently she entered the room, and took the children one by each +hand, and went to the door with them. She seemed to be struggling with sad +and heavy thoughts. She usually spoke cheerily to the children, but now +she was silent, and every now and then she furtively wiped away a tear.</p> + +<p>"Where are we going, mother?" asked the boy.</p> + +<p>"We must go to the doctor's, Dietrich," she answered, "your father is very +ill." And she led them along the foot path toward the little town, where +the white houses shone in the sunlight. Fohrensee was a new place, that +had sprung up as if in one night from the soil, and now stood there a +great white spot against the dark hillside. Not long before, it had been +only a little cluster of houses standing in a protected spot on the side +of the hill, not very far below Tannenegg. It was so situated that the +biting north wind, which blew so sharply over the exposed houses of +Tannenegg, did not reach the nook where little Fohrensee lay bathed in the +full light of the sun. But the little place was high enough to be visited +by all the cooling breezes, and was healthy, pure and fresh, to a +remarkable degree. When, not long before this time, an enterprising +inn-keeper discovered its health-giving qualities, and built an inn there, +guests filled it so rapidly that he soon put up another. Soon, one after +another, little inns sprang up, as from the ground, and then a crowd of +trades-people came up from the valley, and settled around, for the number +of guests constantly increased, and the strangers found the spot so +favorable to health, that it became a favorite winter resort. And thus the +obscure little Fohrensee became, in a few years, a large and flourishing +town, stretching out in every direction.</p> + +<p>Gertrude, however, walking sturdily along with the children, was not +going as far as Fohrensee, with its shining white houses. She turned off +into a foot path that led to several scattered dwellings up on the +hillside, and soon reached an open space, on which stood a handsome house, +with large stables near by. Out from the stable, a hostler had just led a +spirited horse, which he began to harness into a light wagon. Instantly +the little boy freed his hand from his mother's, planted himself before +the horse, and could not be induced to move.</p> + +<p>"Stay there then, if you want to," said his mother, "we will go on to the +house; but you must take care not to go too near the horse."</p> + +<p>The doctor was just hurrying out from his office; he must have had a long +distance to go, for he was starting off before the usual time for office +hours was over. Gertrude apologized, and begged the doctor to excuse her +for not having come earlier to see him; she had been very busy with her +invalid, and could not get away before. "Never mind; as you have come, I +will wait a few minutes," said the physician, briefly; "Come in; how is +your husband?"</p> + +<p>Gertrude went into the room, and told the doctor about her sick husband. +It was Steffan, a strong, young man, on whom the mountain sickness had +seized with unusual violence. The doctor silently shook his head. He took +a small mortar that stood on the office table, and shook into it some +stuff which he ground with the marble pestle. His eyes fell on the child +who stood by Gertrude's side, gazing earnestly at the doctors's +occupation. The little creature had something unusual about her, and +attracted attention at once. Under her thick black hair and heavy brows, +her big eyes looked forth with a solemn gaze, as if everything she saw +gave her food for thought.</p> + +<p>"He had no one but himself to blame for it, I fancy," said the doctor, as +he filled some small square papers with his powders.</p> + +<p>"No, no! he was not the least of a brawler; he was a quiet industrious +fellow. They had rented some of our rooms, and lived there peaceably and +happily for three whole years, and never was an unkind word exchanged +between them. But he was a stranger in these parts; he was never called +anything but the Bergamasker, and the other fellows could never forgive +him for having won the prettiest and most courted girl in the whole +village. They never ceased to tease and irritate him, and on this especial +evening at the Rehbock they must have been unusually offensive. Apparently +they were all somewhat excited, for they could afterwards give no clear +account of the affair, but the end was that the Bergamasker came home +fatally wounded, and died the next day. Everything has been different +among us since the Rehbock was built. Our village used to be quiet and +orderly; every one was contented to work all the week and rest on Sunday. +Nobody ever heard of such a thing as noisy drinking and rowdyism. But I +have another errand with you now, doctor. Lene charged me on her death +bed to attend to it. She did not leave any money, but she had an excellent +outfit. She bade me sell her bedstead and her bureau, and bring you the +proceeds, to settle what she owed you. She was very anxious that I should +see to it, for she felt that you had done a great deal for her; and she +spoke of how often you had climbed the hill both by day and night, to +visit her. So, please give me the bill, doctor, so that I may settle it at +once, as I promised her."</p> + +<p>"What relatives has the child?" asked the doctor shortly.</p> + +<p>"She has none at all in these parts," replied Gertrude. "She has been with +me all through her mother's illness, and now she is mine. Her mother's +family are all gone. She might perhaps be sent to her father's parish in +Bergamaskische, but I shall not do that; she belongs now to us."</p> + +<p>"I would not go there," said the child firmly in a low tone, clinging to +Gertrude's dress with both hands.</p> + +<p>The doctor opened a big book, tore out a leaf, and drew his pen twice +across the closely written page.</p> + +<p>"There," he said, handing the cancelled sheet to Gertrude, "that is all +the bill I shall give you."</p> + +<p>"Oh, doctor, may God reward you," said Gertrude. "Go, child, and thank the +doctor, for you owe him a great deal."</p> + +<p>The child obeyed after her own fashion. She planted herself before the +big man, looked steadily at him with her great black eyes and said +somewhat hoarsely,</p> + +<p>"Thank you." It sounded more like a command than anything else.</p> + +<p>The doctor laughed.</p> + +<p>"She is rather alarming," he said, "she is evidently not accustomed to say +anything she does not really mean. I like that. But come, I must be off," +and handing the medicine to Gertrude he left the room quickly so as to +avoid her repeated thanks.</p> + +<p>The little boy was standing where his mother had left him, still staring +at the restless horse. The doctor looked kindly at the little fellow.</p> + +<p>"Would you like to take care of a horse?" he asked, as he got into his +wagon.</p> + +<p>"No, I should like to drive one of my own," replied the child without +hesitation.</p> + +<p>"Well, you are quite right there: stick to that, my boy," said the +doctor, and drove away.</p> + +<p>As Gertrude, holding a child by each hand, climbed the hillside, the boy +said gaily,</p> + +<p>"Say, mother, I can have one, can't I?"</p> + +<p>"Do you mean to be a gentleman like the doctor, and own a horse, +Dietrich?" asked the mother.</p> + +<p>The boy nodded.</p> + +<p>"So you can, if you will work hard for it, and stick to your work well. +You see the doctor had to do that for a long time, and has to do it still, +and if you stick to your work as he has, and never stop nor get tired till +it is done, and well done, then you will be a gentleman, even if you are +not a doctor. It doesn't matter what you do; you may be a gentleman if +you persevere and work hard and faithfully."</p> + +<p>"Yes, with a horse," said Dietrich.</p> + +<p>The little girl had been listening intently to every word of this +conversation. Her black eyes blazed out suddenly as she looked up to +Gertrude and said decidedly,</p> + +<p>"I'll be one too."</p> + +<p>"Yes, Yes, Mr. Veronica! Mr. Veronica! that sounds well," cried Dietrich, +and he laughed aloud at the idea.</p> + +<p>Veronica thought it no laughing matter, however. She pressed Gertrude's +hand firmly and looked up with glowing eyes, as she said, "I can be one +too, can't I mother; say?"</p> + +<p>"You should not laugh, Dietrich," said his mother kindly. "Veronica can be +exactly what you can be. If she works steadily, and does not grow tired +and careless, but keeps on till her work is finished and well finished, +she will be a lady as you will be a gentleman."</p> + +<p>Veronica trotted along contentedly after this explanation. She did not +speak again. The frowning brows were smoothed and the fiery eyes now shone +with the light of childish joy as she caught sight of the first flowers +that began to peep above the ground. The child's face looked fairly +charming now; her well-formed features framed by the dark locks, made a +beautiful picture.</p> + +<p>Dietrich was also silent: but he was pursuing the same train of thought, +for he broke out presently,</p> + +<p>"Will she have a horse too?"</p> + +<p>"Why not, as well as you. It all depends on how steadily and how +faithfully you both work," replied Gertrude.</p> + +<p>"Well, then, we shall have two horses," cried the boy, joyfully. "Where +shall we put the stable, mother?"</p> + +<p>"We can see to that bye and bye, there is plenty of time for that. It +won't do for you to be thinking about the horse all the time, you know, +you must keep your mind on your work if you mean to do it well."</p> + +<p>Dieterli said no more. He was busy trying to decide on which side of the +house it would be best to put the stable.</p> + +<p>That night, Gertrude again hurried down the hill to the doctor's houses +and this time she brought him back with her.</p> + +<p>Her husband's illness had taken a turn for the worse, and the next day he +died.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II" />CHAPTER II.</h2> + +<h3>WITH FRESH COURAGE.</h3> + + +<p>A few days later a numerous company of mourners followed another black +bier to the sunny church-yard.</p> + +<p>Steffan, the saddler, had been universally respected. He had begun life +modestly; there had been no large industries in Tannenegg in his early +days. He married the quiet and orderly Gertrude, who worked with him at +his trade, and helped support the frugal household. Soon the flood of +prosperity invaded Fohrensee, and naturally the only saddler in the +vicinity had his hands full of work.</p> + +<p>Now Gertrude's help was needed in earnest, and she did not fail. They were +soon in possession of a nice little house of their own, with a garden +about it, and no matter how much work she might have to do in the shop, +everything in her own province of housekeeping was as well and carefully +ordered as if Gertrude had no other business to occupy her time and +thoughts. And Steffan, Gertrude and their little Dieterli lived simple, +useful and contented lives and were a good example to all the +neighborhood.</p> + +<p>Now, to-day, Gertrude stood weeping by the window and looked across to the +church-yard, where that very morning they had laid her good man. Now she +must make her way alone; she had no one to help her, no one belonging to +her except her two children, and for them she must work, for she never +admitted for a moment that the orphaned Veronica was not hers to care for +as well as her own little Dietrich.</p> + +<p>She did not lose courage. As soon as the first benumbing effect of her +sorrow had passed a little, she gazed up at the shining heavens and said +to herself, "He who has sent this trouble will send me strength to bear +it;" and in full trust in this strength she went to work, and seemed able +to do more than ever.</p> + +<p>Her property, outside of the little capital which her husband had laid by, +consisted of her house, which was free from debt, and of which she could +let a good part. The question was, whether she could carry on the +remunerative business that her husband had been engaged in, until little +Dietrich should be old enough to assume the direction of it, and pursue it +as his father had done before him. Gertrude retained the services of a +workman who had been employed by Steffan, and she herself did not relax +her labors early and late, to oversee the work and keep all in running +order.</p> + +<p>For the first few weeks after her mother's death little Veronica sat every +evening weeping silently by herself in a dark corner of the room. When +Gertrude found her thus grieving, she asked kindly what ailed her, and +again and again, she received only this sorrowful answer,</p> + +<p>"I want my mother."</p> + +<p>Gertrude drew the child tenderly towards her, caressing her, and +promising her that they would all go together some day to join her mother, +who had only gone on before, that she might get strong and well again. And +gradually this second mother grew to take the place of her own, and no +game, no amusement could draw the loving child away from Gertrude's side. +Only Dietrich could succeed in enticing her to go with him now and then.</p> + +<p>The lad's love for his mother showed itself in a louder and more +demonstrative manner. He often threw his arms about her neck, crying +passionately,</p> + +<p>"My mother belongs to me and to nobody else."</p> + +<p>Then Veronica's brows would knit over her flashing eyes, until they formed +a long straight line across her face. But she did not speak. And Gertrude +would put one arm about the boy's neck and the other about the little +girl's, and say,</p> + +<p>"You must not speak so, Dietrich. I belong to you both, and you both +belong to me."</p> + +<p>In general, the two children were excellent friends, and completely +inseparable. They were not happy unless they shared everything together +and wherever one went, the other must go too. They went regularly to +school every morning, and were always joined by two of the neighbors' +children, who went with them.</p> + +<p>These were, the son of the shoemaker, long, bony Jost, with his little, +cunning eyes,—and the sexton's boy, who was as broad as he was long, and +from whose round face two pale eyes peered forth upon the world, in +innocently stupid surprise. His name was Blasius, nicknamed Blasi.</p> + +<p>Often, on the way to school, quarrels arose between Dieterli and the two +other boys. It would occur to one of them to try what Veronica would do if +he were to give her a blow with his fist. Scarcely had he opened his +attack when he found himself lying on his nose, while Dieterli played a +vigorous tattoo on his back with no gentle fists. Or the sport would be to +plant a good hard snow-ball between Veronica's shoulders, with the +mortifying result to the aggressive boy, of being pelted in the face with +handfuls of wet snow, until he was almost stifled, and cried out for +mercy. Dieterli was not afraid of either of them; for though smaller and +thinner than either, he was also much more lithe, and could glide about +like a lizard before, behind and all around his adversaries, and slip +through their fingers while they were trying to catch him. Veronica was +well avenged, and went on the rest of her way without fear of molestation. +If one of the other lads felt in a friendly mood, and wished to act as +escort to the little girl, Dieterli soon gave him to understand that that +was his own place, and he would give it up to no one.</p> + +<p>Every evening "Cousin Judith" came for a little visit, to give Gertrude +some friendly advice about the children, or the household economy. She +used to say that the gentle widow needed some one now and then to show +claws in her behalf, and Judith knew herself to be in full possession of +claws, and of the power to use them, an accomplishment of which she was +somewhat proud. One evening she crossed over between daylight and dark, +and entered the room where Veronica was, with her favorite plaything in +her hand, moving it back and forth as she sat in the window in the waning +light. She could read very nicely now for two years had passed since she +had lost her own mother, and had become Gertrude's child. Many a time had +she read over the motto which shone out so mysteriously from the breast of +the opened rose. To-day she was poring over it again, and her absorption +in "that same old rose," as Dieterli called it, had so annoyed the lively +lad that he left her, and had gone out into the kitchen to find his +mother. When Judith saw the girl sitting thus alone, buried in thought, +she asked her what she was thinking about in the twilight all by herself.</p> + +<p>Dieterli, whom no sound ever escaped, had heard Cousin Judith come in, and +came running in from the kitchen to see what was going on. Veronica looked +up at the visitor and asked earnestly,</p> + +<p>"Cousin Judith, what is fortune?"</p> + +<p>"Ah, you are always asking some strange question that no one else ever +thought of asking;" said Cousin Judith, "where on earth did you ever hear +of fortune?"</p> + +<p>"Here," said Veronica, holding up the rose with the golden verse in the +centre. "Shall I read it to you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, do, child."</p> + +<p>Veronica read—</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Fortune stands ready, full in sight;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">He wins who knows to grasp it right."</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>"Well, it means this—I should say—fortune is whatever anyone wants the +most."</p> + +<p>"Fortune is a horse, then," said Dietrich quickly.</p> + +<p>Veronica sat thinking. "But, Cousin Judith," she said presently, "how can +any one 'grasp fortune'?"</p> + +<p>"With your hands," replied Cousin Judith unhesitatingly, "You see, our +hands are given us to work with, and if we use them diligently and do our +work well, as it ought to be done, then fortune comes to us; so don't you +see we 'grasp it' with our hands?"</p> + +<p>The verse had now become endued with life, and meant something real and +attractive to Veronica. She did not lay her rose out of her hand for a +long time, that evening, notwithstanding that Dietrich cast threatening +glances upon it, and finally broke out in vexation,</p> + +<p>"I will tear off the spring some time, and spoil the thing altogether."</p> + +<p>The rose was not put into the book and the book into the cup-board, until +the time came for the children to say their evening prayers. This was the +closing act of every day; and it was so fixed and regular a habit, that +the children never needed to be bidden to fold their hands, and kneel to +ask God's blessing before they slept.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III" />CHAPTER III.</h2> + +<h3>NINE YEARS LATER.</h3> + + +<p>A sunshiny Easter morning shone over hill and valley. A crowd of +holiday-making people poured out of the little church at Tannenegg, and +scattered in every direction. A long row of blooming lads and lassies came +in close ranks, moving slowly towards the parsonage. They were the +newly-confirmed young people of the parish, who had that day partaken of +the Communion for the first time. They were going to the house of their +pastor, to express their gratitude for his careful and tender teaching and +guidance, before they went out into the world. Among these were Dietrich +and Veronica. Gertrude stood at a little distance from the church, and +watched the procession as it passed by. Her eyes were filled with tears of +pleasurable emotion, as she noticed that her dark-eyed Veronica was +conspicuous among all the maidens for the tasteful neatness of her +costume, and for the sweetness and grace of her bearing. The glance which +Veronica cast upon the mother in passing was full of love and gratitude; +and seemed to repeat the words that the faithful girl had spoken in the +morning, as she left her to go to the church. "I cannot thank you enough, +as long as I live, for what you have done for me, mother." A yet brighter +expression of happiness crossed Gertrude's countenance when the young men +came in procession after the girls, as her eyes fell on the well-formed +lad, a head taller than his companions, who nodded at her, and greeted her +with merry laughing looks, kissing his hand again and again, and yet once +again. That was her tall handsome Dietrich. His mother's heart leaped in +her breast at the sight of his fresh young life, so full of hope and +promise. Gertrude waited till the visit to the pastor was over, and the +young people had separated on their various paths. Then she in her turn +entered the parsonage. She wished herself to speak her thanks to this true +and long tried adviser and friend, for all that he had done for her +children.</p> + +<p>"You are a fortunate mother," said the aged pastor, after he had listened +to Gertrude's expressions of gratitude. "Those are two uncommon children +that the good God has confided to your care, and I feel the greatest +interest in them. The lad has a clear head, and a winning grace that draws +everyone to him. Veronica is serious and conscientious; she has a calm +steady nature and can be depended upon for fidelity to duty, such as it is +rare to find. The children will be your stay and comfort in your old age. +May you keep them in the paths of virtue."</p> + +<p>"With God's help;" said Gertrude, and she left the parsonage with tears of +happiness in her eyes. As she passed the garden of her neighbor Judith, +the latter called out over the low hedge,</p> + +<p>"They have just gone by, all four of them. It always seems to me strange +that while all babies in the cradle look just alike, so that you can't +tell them apart, they grow up to be such very different men and women."</p> + +<p>"No, no, these four were never alike," replied Gertrude, "but I agree that +they grow more and more unlike every day."</p> + +<p>"Yes, that they do. And of you three near neighbors, you certainly have +drawn the best lot in children," said Judith with enthusiasm, "two like +your two are not to be found in a long day's journey. Veronica will fully +repay you for what you have done for her."</p> + +<p>"I have been repaid long ago by the child's attachment to me. She has +never given me anything but satisfaction ever since her mother died. If I +have any anxiety about Veronica it is lest she over-work herself. There is +something feverish in her love of work; she can never do enough. No matter +how late I go into her room at night, she is always finishing off some +piece of work; and no matter how early I get up in the morning, she has +already begun something new. If I had not positively forbidden it, she +would keep at it even on a Sunday. It is a real source of anxiety to me, +lest she should over-work and break down."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I don't think you need be afraid of that, Gertrude; work never yet +hurt any one, least of all the young folks. Let her work away. But I don't +see the need of her scowling so all the time. She looks for all the world +as if she were fighting and struggling against enemies and difficulties +of all sorts. I like better Dietrich's laughing eyes; they are so full of +fun. When he goes down the street singing—</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">'Gladly and merrily</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Live to-day cheerily,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Black care and sorrow</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Leave till to-morrow,'</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>it goes right to my heart, and I could sing too for very joy. No one can +help loving him."</p> + +<p>Gertrude listened with sunshine in her face to these words of praise, but +a little cloud of anxiety shadowed her eyes as she said,</p> + +<p>"Yes, God be praised, he is a good boy and means well, but I do wish that +he had a little of Veronica's firmness of purpose. It is very pleasant to +have every one like him, but too great popularity is not always a good +thing. And those two companions that are always hanging about him, are not +such as I myself would choose for his friends."</p> + +<p>"If they could all be put to some steady work it would be the best thing +for them," said Judith. "Idleness is the mother of mischief. Blasi is not +an ill-meaning fellow, but he is lazy, greatly to his own injury. Long +Jost is the worst of the two; a sly-boots, and a rare one too. It is to be +hoped that he will break his own leg, when he's trying to trip some one +else up with it."</p> + +<p>"No, no, Judith, on this holy Easter day, we will not have such unkind +hopes as that. I hope and believe that the good God holds the children in +his protecting hand. We have given them to him; that is my comfort and +support Good-bye, Judith; come often to see us; we are always glad of your +company."</p> + +<p>On the evening of this sunny Easter day, while rosy clouds moved slowly +across the clear sky, and the golden glow faded in the far west behind the +wooded heights, Gertrude came back from a long walk in the fields and +woods. On one side of her strode Dietrich, talking rapidly and earnestly: +the fresh joy of youth was written in every movement of his little figure, +and laughed from the depths of his clear eyes. On the other side Veronica +walked, listening in silence. Her noble features, above which her black +hair fell in shining waves, had a serious, thoughtful expression, but +every now and then, when Dietrich let fall some particularly apt +expression, a look would cross her face that irradiated it like a sunbeam +crossing a shadowed plain. Mother Gertrude looked now proudly at her +radiant son, now approvingly at her stately daughter, and again she lifted +grateful glances towards the glowing heavens where she saw promise of +another brilliant day to come. Far and wide, in all Tannenegg, was not to +be found that day, such another happy mother as Gertrude.</p> + +<p>When they reached the crossways where the footpath led up by the tavern of +the Rehbock, Dietrich turned into it, and his mother was about to follow +him, but Veronica drew her back, saying anxiously,</p> + +<p>"Don't go that way, mother dear; it is not much farther by the other +road."</p> + +<p>Dietrich laughed aloud.</p> + +<p>"Now there it is again. Do you know, mother, that I can never get Veronica +to go past the Rehbock. She would rather go ten minutes farther round, and +she will not say why either. To-day, Veronica, I am determined that you +shall go this way or tell us why not."</p> + +<p>"No; to-day we will not quarrel, Dietrich, please;" said the girl +entreatingly, but with a tone that showed no signs of yielding her point, +"let us sing a song as we go; mother loves to hear us sing."</p> + +<p>As she spoke, she walked steadily along the road, and the others followed,</p> + +<p>"Well then," said the lad, "let's sing 'Gladly and merrily'"—and he began +to sing the familiar tune.</p> + +<p>"To-night I should rather sing the Fisher-boat," said Veronica, and +without demur the good-natured boy dropped his song, and joined his clear +tones with Veronica's steady voice, the two harmonizing perfectly as they +sang:</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"A tiny boat, a fisher-boat,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Tossed lightly on the silver sea;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Around the rocks, in air, afloat</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">The white gulls circle lazily.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">A tiny boat, a fisher-boat—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">The fisher draws his slender line;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">He half in dream-land seems to float.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Saying, 'to-morrow will be fine.'"</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>Softly singing, in the soft falling shadows of evening, the happy trio +drew towards their home, and disappeared within the cottage door.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV" />CHAPTER IV.</h2> + +<h3>ALL AT HOME.</h3> + + +<p>Dietrich had already worked for some time in his father's business. It was +all in the best possible condition; the work shop, the tools and materials +had been carefully kept up, and everything was fresh and in good working +order. The old customers had not withdrawn their custom, for the former +workman who had served under Steffan for many years had continued his +deceased master's methods, so that the reputation of the work was +sustained, and as Fohrensee grew, so also the saddler's orders grew, and +the business flourished. So Dietrich found his trade ready made to his +hand, and as good a prospect lay before him as heart could wish. He took +hold with a good will, and being his own master did not make him the less +diligent. He was determined first to work faithfully till he had +thoroughly learned the business, and then to travel for a while. When he +had seen the world a bit he would come back, go on with the business +farther and farther, and become a gentleman; and then—then—where could a +happier man be found than he should be, living with his mother and +Veronica in peace and plenty. His mother should pass her days in happy +idleness if she wished, without care, without sorrow, in wealth and +comfort, and Veronica! Yes, he would give Veronica a life far happier and +more beautiful than she had ever dreamed of for herself! While his brain +teemed with these pleasant thoughts, Dietrich sang and whistled at his +work all day long, and did good work, too. He had a skilful hand and a +clear head, and his work went successfully on.</p> + +<p>Veronica had persuaded her mother to let her stay longer in the Industrial +School than was usual with the young girls of the neighborhood. Even up to +the day of her confirmation, she had taken sewing lessons twice from a +most accomplished teacher. A short time before Easter, the teacher had +assured Gertrude that Veronica had made such extraordinary progress, that +she was already prepared to teach, and that she had completed the course +taught at that school, and could learn no more there. Veronica certainly +deserved farther training and the teacher suggested that it would be well +worth while for her to take lessons in embroidery of lame Sabina in +Fohrensee. She would then be sure of a position as a teacher, as high as +her utmost ambition could desire.</p> + +<p>It had always been Gertrude's plan to have Veronica learn to work at the +saddler's business, as there is a good deal of the fine work which is +suitable for women, and which it needs a woman's hand to carry out. She +hoped that in this way her children could always remain together and with +her. The fine embroidery for which lame Sabina was noted, it did not seem +to her at all necessary for Veronica to learn, but she was willing to +leave the decision to her. As soon as Veronica heard of this new work to +be learned, she was eager to begin upon it, and she left her mother no +peace until she extracted from her the promise that directly after the +confirmation, this new undertaking should be entered upon.</p> + +<p>A few days after Easter Sunday, Veronica went to take her first lesson. It +was very early in the morning when she started to go down to Fohrensee; so +early that people were just beginning to open their windows, and only here +and there a sleepy face was to be seen at the door of a house. She had to +go early in order to get in a good day's work, for she was to come home at +night, and it was an hour's walk each way. She knew well the old cottage +with the beautiful carnations illuminating its windows, which was the home +of lame Sabina. The windows were already open, and the door also. She +entered and her new life began.</p> + +<p>Up in Tannenegg, Dietrich sat at his work, singing and whistling merrily. +His mother, busy with her household affairs went hither and thither about +the house, from sitting room to kitchen, and then with the feeding-bucket, +out on the grass plat before the house, where a flock of handsome fowl +were pecking about. All was still quiet in the neighboring houses, but +over by the well stood the never-idle Judith, beating and turning her +clothes as she washed them. Along the road with uncertain steps came the +old sexton, swinging the big church-keys in his hand; he had been ringing +the early morning peal. As he lifted his cap a little to salute Judith at +the well, she called out,</p> + +<p>"Good day, neighbor, I was just thinking it would be a good exchange if +the old folks were to lie abed at this hour and let the young ones pull +the bell rope."</p> + +<p>"Well, some one must be doing it," said the other, and passed on his way.</p> + +<p>Judith had been busy at her washing full two hours longer, when in the +doorway of the sexton's house appeared a young fellow, whose figure, +almost as broad as it was long, filled the opening, with scarce anything +to spare. He tried to yawn, but there was not room enough to stretch his +arms, so he stepped outside for the purpose, and there he gaped so +heartily that all the inside of his big mouth and throat was distinctly +visible.</p> + +<p>"There's nothing in it, Blasi! I've had a good look at it," cried Judith. +"If you had been here two hours ago, you might have seen a sight. A girl +with a whole mouthful of gold! What do you say to that?"</p> + +<p>Blasi caught at this, and brought his jaws together with a snap.</p> + +<p>"What! full of gold?" he exclaimed, and opened his sleepy eyes to their +utmost extent. "Why doesn't the foolish thing carry it in her pocket? +Where does she come from?"</p> + +<p>"That's no concern of yours. You will never come up with her," replied +Judith.</p> + +<p>"Tell me, for all that," urged Blasi, coming toward Judith, "I can go +after her, and I've no doubt I shall come up with her, and then there's no +telling what may happen. Come, where did she go, now? Do you know her +name?"</p> + +<p>"Her name is Early Morn, Blasi," said Judith pleasantly. "Did you never +hear the saying, 'There's gold in the mouth of the early morn.'"</p> + +<p>Blasi made a wry face and began in an angry tone,</p> + +<p>"There's nothing very clever in that"—but just then he remembered that +when he came out of the house he had intended to come over and say +something quite different to Judith; so he changed his tone quickly, and +said,</p> + +<p>"Can you lend me a franc or two; I have just time to do a little business +before eleven o'clock, and then I must be back to ring the noon bell; I +must try to help father, a little."</p> + +<p>"No, no, Blasi, I have no francs for you," said Judith decidedly. "It +wants three hours yet of being eleven o'clock. Use those big arms of +yours, and they'll bring you francs enough." And so saying, she lifted her +clothes-basket on her head, and walked away.</p> + +<p>Blasi stood looking after her, a moment, then he sauntered off, with both +hands in his pockets, up the road towards, the shoemaker's old house. +There sat Jost before the door, hammering away at something as if for dear +life. Blasi drew near, and stood watching the busy hands of his friend, +who presently cried out angrily,</p> + +<p>"So it is holiday with you, is it, you lazy-bones? It is maddening to see +one fellow go wandering about with his hands in his pockets, while another +has to sit on his three-legged stool, hammering away at the soles of +these—these—these Tanneneggers' boots. To-morrow is Cherry-festival in +Fohrensee, and every one is going; and I, I must get their boots ready! I +wish a thunder-storm would come and wash this away, and that, and the +whole lot of 'em!" As he spoke he tossed away first the mended boots, then +the hammer, and last of all the three-legged stool, away, as far as he +could throw them, down into the meadow. He was white with rage.</p> + +<p>"What stuff!" said Blasi, dryly. "You are paid for your cobbling; you are +better off than I am. I haven't a rap, and am in debt besides. I was going +to ask you if you couldn't lend me a franc. You have money, I know."</p> + +<p>"Oh yes, you sleepy-head! It's very likely I have money for you, when I'm +in such need of it myself! Go ask Dietrich; he has his pockets full, and a +big heap besides. But don't be such a fool as to ask him for just one mean +little franc; ask for five. I'll use two or three of them; tell him you'll +pay him again in a week."</p> + +<p>Blasi seemed rather undecided.</p> + +<p>"I should have gone to him long ago," he said, "but his mother is always +about, and she looks at a fellow as a bird does when somebody is trying to +rob her nest. I'm afraid of her."</p> + +<p>"Poh! it's all right enough to borrow a little money if you're going to +pay it back again. Don't be a fool! Go along!" and Jost enforced his +advise with an emphatic shove that sent Blasi rolling along much faster +than he wished to go. He grumbled a little at this unpleasant style of +progression, and muttered between his teeth,</p> + +<p>"He's no right to treat me so; I'm as good as he is, any day."</p> + +<p>When he reached Gertrude's garden, he stood still and looked over the +hedge. Dietrich's mother was there, planting her vegetable bed. He +sauntered back and forth for awhile, and when he saw her go to the other +corner of the garden, he thought he could now get without being seen, into +the room where he heard Dietrich whistling at his work. He went round the +garden, and was just going in at the back gate, when he came plump against +Gertrude. He went by quickly as if he had had no idea of going in; and +then hung about watching his chance, but as time did not stand still +while he waited, it was bye-and-bye eleven o'clock, and he had to go off +to ring the noon bell.</p> + +<p>In the afternoon, neighbor Judith was hoeing in her little garden. Blasi +stood hesitating in his door-way, and then came out and stood watching her +at her work.</p> + +<p>"I am always surprised, Blasi," said Judith, looking up from her work, "to +see you in company with a fellow, who steals your money from your pockets, +before you know it is there. I would not have anything to do with such a +one."</p> + +<p>"What? who?" asked Blasi, fumbling in his empty pockets. "Who picks my +pockets? Who are you talking about? I know I did have some; I wish you +would tell me the thief."</p> + +<p>"I'll tell no tales," said Judith, working away.</p> + +<p>"Bah! tell me, won't you? A fellow can't defend himself unless he knows +who is attacking him," growled Blasi. "You might say who you mean."</p> + +<p>"Well, I will. Go and take him by the ear. His name is Idleness!" As +Judith spoke, she raised her head, and looked Blasi full in the face; then +she bent to her work again.</p> + +<p>The lad was angry. He had hoped that he was going to get something back of +which he had been robbed, and that Judith would help him as she had been a +witness of the theft.</p> + +<p>"Oh, what a fuss you make over a few minutes," he said crossly; "I have to +go at four o'clock to ring the bell. I think I ought to take a little from +the old man."</p> + +<p>"I should say you took more from him than he had. It has just struck half +past two; do you know how many minutes there are in an hour and a half?"</p> + +<p>"There's no getting along with you," said Blasi, turning away.</p> + +<p>"Well, you get along finely without me, so go on and prosper," said Judith +quickly as the lad disappeared.</p> + +<p>Blasi had by no means given up his project. He did not see anyone in +Gertrude's garden as he passed along. He clambered up on the lattice by +the hedge and peeped through the open window into the room. Dietrich's +mother was seated near her son; both were working steadily, the young +fellow was chattering and laughing gaily, and his mother answered and +laughed too, but they did not stop working all the while. Blasi saw +plainly that this was not the time to make his request. He would wait +until the mother had gone to the kitchen, as she was sure to do +bye-and-bye. Four o'clock came and the great business of his day was at +hand; it was time to ring the bell, and he had to go. At last when evening +came Blasi found his opportunity. He stood watching outside the door, when +suddenly Dietrich threw it open, and started off with rapid strides.</p> + +<p>Blasi called out, "Wait, wait a minute, can't you? What's your hurry?"</p> + +<p>Dietrich turned about.</p> + +<p>"What do you want? Tell me quickly. I'm going to meet Veronica; she can't +come home alone through the woods after dusk."</p> + +<p>"Well, look here," said Blasi, breathing hard with his haste, and holding +Dietrich by the arm. "You see, I'm in trouble for want of a few francs or +so. Can't you lend them to me? I'll give them back again very soon."</p> + +<p>"I haven't that much about me now. Stop a minute—yes, here are two francs +and here's a half; will that be enough?" and throwing the money to Blasi, +the young man hastened away.</p> + +<p>As evening drew on, Gertrude stood at the end of the garden and looked +down the road. She listened to every sound that came from below. She was +waiting for her children's voices, for the sound of their footsteps; her +children, who made her life, her happiness, her hope! Ah! there they are! +that is Dietrich's voice talking eagerly, while Veronica's bell-like +laugh sounds clear through the still evening air. With a heart filled to +overflowing with happiness, Gertrude went forth to meet them.</p> + +<p>As they sat together round the table in their usual cheerful mood, the +mother asked for an account of this, Veronica's first day among strangers, +and how she liked her new work.</p> + +<p>"Very much indeed, mother," was the answer, and the young girl's face +beamed with a smile that swept away all trace of the clouds that sometimes +marred its beauty.</p> + +<p>"I can't tell you how delightful it is to be able to earn so much. But +after all, mother dear, the best part is that I can come home to you at +night."</p> + +<p>"That's what I think too," said Dietrich quickly, and you had but to look +in his eyes to see that he spoke the truth.</p> + +<p>"And I am as glad as either of you," said Gertrude smiling. "It has been a +long day for me. It seems a great while since you started off this +morning, Veronica."</p> + +<p>"What! when your only son was sitting by you all day long?" asked Dietrich +playfully.</p> + +<p>"Oh, you know what I mean. I need you both to make me perfectly happy, and +cannot spare either of you;" and she looked from one to the other with +caressing glances.</p> + +<p>Veronica told them all about the new teacher and the new work, and it was +late in the evening before the three separated for the night.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V" />CHAPTER V.</h2> + +<h3>UPON UNSAFE PATHS.</h3> + + +<p>After this evening, Dietrich was scarcely ever able to go on his walk +alone. Blasi had always some pretext for joining him, and when Jost found +out that regularly every evening his friend took the same walk at the same +hour, he too discovered that he had a great deal to tell him, and to +consult him about. The two accompanied him through the wood, and when they +emerged from it on the other side, they usually saw a graceful figure +coming along the white road that led up the hill from Fohrensee. Then +without a word on the subject, as by tacit agreement, they stopped, shook +hands, and separated; the other two turned back toward the village, and +Dietrich went on. They felt instinctively that this was the best thing to +do. Dietrich, certainly, found out that his companions were not to +Veronica's mind, when one evening, the three being so engaged in talk that +they had not noticed that they were later than usual, Veronica came into +the wood before they left it, and she recognized Blasi and Jost, although +they turned quickly back.</p> + +<p>"They can't have the best of consciences," said Veronica, as Dietrich +joined her; "if they had only straight-forward business on hand, why did +they take themselves off so hastily, as soon as I came in sight?"</p> + +<p>"Can't you understand that we may have something to talk about, that we +do not wish you to hear?" asked Dietrich.</p> + +<p>The girl was silent a few moments, and then she said, rather seriously,</p> + +<p>"It would suit me far better, if you were not so much in company with +those two fellows. Blasi is absolutely idle, and cannot be nice, and Jost +is really bad; you can see that in his face. He never dares to look me +full in the eye; he always avoids a direct glance, as if he feared that +his eyes would betray him. I believe he is thoroughly false."</p> + +<p>"No, no, you should not judge him so harshly," said Dietrich, +good-humoredly. "He is not what you think him; he is a good friend to me, +and has already taught me a great deal that I should never have got at +without his help. He is a very clever fellow."</p> + +<p>Veronica let the matter drop, but it was plain that she had not changed +her opinion.</p> + +<p>The days grew longer and brighter. The wood was filled with sweeter +perfumes evening after evening, as the two friends sauntered along their +homeward path, and in each young heart the feeling grew and ripened, that +still sweeter and more beautiful days were to come.</p> + +<p>One afternoon in May, Veronica paced leisurely along the white hill-road, +her eyes fixed on the tall oak on the borders of the wood, which marked +the place where the foot-path came out upon the high road. Everything was +quiet; not a human being in sight. She reached the spot and looked +anxiously into the wood. She listened; she peered between the trees; all +was solitude. The tree-tops, softly murmuring, rocked gently to and fro, +and through the branches she saw the sunset glow. For the first time, the +young girl entered the wood alone. It was quite dark, in there. She passed +along with rapid step, among the solemn pines, hastening faster and +faster, as the trees seemed to draw together about her. When she came out +upon the open pathway, she saw Dietrich coming across the field in hot +haste. He was breathless when he reached her.</p> + +<p>"I don't like to have you come alone through the wood, Veronica," he said, +"I thought I should be in time, but I could not get rid of those two +fellows. I tried to get away two or three times, but they always had +something more to say, and kept me."</p> + +<p>"Where were you, Dietrich?"</p> + +<p>"They had some business with me; that is, Jost had something to tell me, +and Blasi was there too. Jost did not care to speak of it on the open +street, and so we went into the Rehbock; and that is what made me so late. +Why, what's the matter, Veronica? Are you ill?"</p> + +<p>She was as pale as a ghost.</p> + +<p>"What! You've been to the Rehbock, Dietrich!" she exclaimed in evident +distress. "Oh, don't go there! Please don't go to that place again!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, now we are to have the old story over again, are we?" said the young +man, laughing, "you have taken some foolish whim into your head; you +really don't know why yourself. What's your prejudice against that house +in particular?"</p> + +<p>"I do know why; and it is no whim," said Veronica, earnestly. "I will tell +you all about it. That house has been a terror to me ever since I can +remember anything. We were both so young that you probably do not +recollect it at all. We both went with mother to the doctor's, but you +didn't go into the house, I remember now. Mother told the doctor that my +father was killed at the Rehbock. I have never forgotten it since. I am +constantly seeing him lying dead before my eyes; lying there struck down +dead. I often dream about it, and in my dreams I am there—and—and +sometimes when I look at his dead form in my dreams, it is not my father +any more, but it is you—you, Dietrich, whom they have struck down dead at +the Rehbock."</p> + +<p>Dietrich was going to laugh at these words, but he glanced into Veronica's +face and was silent. She was more in earnest than he had thought. He tried +to quiet and reassure her, by saying that it was only a dream, and nothing +to be afraid of. The dream came naturally enough, because she was always +dwelling upon the tragedy of her father's death, and in dreams every one +knows that faces are always changing. His explanation, however, did not +make much impression upon Veronica. She said no more about it; but not all +Dietrich's efforts were sufficient to chase the shadows from her face that +evening, although he exerted himself to be even more amusing than usual. +Gertrude observed her silence, as they sat about the table, and looked +anxiously at her. When they had separated for the night, Dietrich went +into his mother's room to have a talk with her. He told her what Veronica +had said, and begged her to reason with the young girl and urge her to lay +aside these groundless fears which had taken possession of her. He +represented to his mother, that of course he sometimes had things to talk +over with his companions, and that there surely was no harm in their going +to the Rehbock together for their conversations, and he begged her to make +Veronica see the whole affair in a reasonable light. Gertrude was shocked +to find that the child had heard and understood what she had said to the +doctor, and distressed that she had taken it so much to heart. She +promised to speak to Veronica, but she also cautioned her son against +forming an intimacy with Jost and Blasi. Dietrich cheerfully gave his +word; declaring that he was not particularly fond of their company. The +mother, however, on further consideration, decided to say nothing on the +subject to Veronica, for she thought the whole thing would be the sooner +forgotten if not spoken of, and she believed it unwise to stir up the +terrors of the past.</p> + +<p>The next afternoon, Dietrich left home much earlier than usual, determined +not to be belated again, and hoping to escape altogether his too insistent +companions. But scarcely had he reached the garden gate when he came upon +Blasi, who was lying in wait for him. Dietrich tried to pass him quickly, +and to show him that his company was not desired, but in vain Blasi had +not been waiting round half an hour to be turned off like that. He +explained that he was in worse trouble than ever to-day, and wished to +borrow more money than ever before; promising, of course, to pay it back +very soon; "that is, as soon as possible," he added.</p> + +<p>"Oh yes, well, when will it be possible, I wonder. How much have you paid +me back, as yet, since you began to borrow of me?" said Dietrich angrily. +"Let me go, Blasi, I've no time to spare."</p> + +<p>But Blasi went along by his side, and before he had done talking, Jost +joined them and held Dietrich fast by the other arm.</p> + +<p>"Come, come," he cried, "I have something to tell you that will make you +open your eyes, I guess. I came in a hurry on purpose not to miss you. +I've just come from the Rehbock, and I told them to keep the little back +room for us, so that we can talk quietly, without danger of being +interrupted. Come along, I say."</p> + +<p>"I will not," said Dietrich, freeing his arm from the other's detaining +grasp. "I haven't time, and I don't believe you have anything special to +tell me, either. I must go." And Dietrich strode away; but Jost followed +him.</p> + +<p>"Don't be such a fool," he called out angrily, "can't you listen when I +tell you that I know something decidedly to your advantage. Something that +you'll be glad to know. You are running away because of her, and it is +something that will be good for her as well as for you. So do stand still, +and don't go scampering off as if the gamekeepers were after you!" But +Dietrich did not stop.</p> + +<p>"What do you know about her, or her good?" he asked furiously. "Mind your +own business and let us alone."</p> + +<p>As Jost had his own interest in winning the young fellow over, he +controlled himself, and said in most soothing tones,</p> + +<p>"Dietrich, I am your friend. Some day you will be very grateful to me. As +you are in such a hurry, I will not stop you now; only promise me to come +over bye-and-bye for a few minutes to the Rehbock; there's a good fellow, +and you will not be sorry. Will you come?"</p> + +<p>"Well, I've no particular objection to that," said Dietrich, and ran off +as fast as he could.</p> + +<p>Blasi, who had kept pace with the other two, seeing that there was no +chance for him now, turned back with Jost, and the two went into the +Rehbock together.</p> + +<p>Dietrich met Veronica quite the other side of the wood. He did his best to +rouse her from her silent mood, and to restore her to better spirits; but +he found it impossible to efface the impression she had received the +evening before. The painful memory had been too deeply stamped upon her +mind, to be easily wiped out.</p> + +<p>When the little family had bade each other good-night, after their usual +affectionate conversation, Dietrich hesitated about keeping his half-made +promise. He did not want to go; yet Jost's words, that the affair touched +her as nearly as it did him, had made their intended impression, and +though it went sadly against his grain to know that Jost dared even to +think about Veronica and her interests at all, still he could not help +wondering what it was all about. Suddenly his resolution was taken; he +turned about, went down stairs and softly left the house.</p> + +<p>Jost was standing in the doorway of the Rehbock, looking out into the +night to see if Dietrich was coming. They went at once into the little +back room. Blasi was there, sitting behind a big empty bowl; indeed he +never sat long behind a full one, for as the bowl was there to be emptied +he thought the quicker it was done the better.</p> + +<p>"I'm glad you have come," he cried out, "for we've run quite dry here."</p> + +<p>Dietrich perceived that he was expected to counteract the dryness; so he +ordered some beer, and when this was supplied Jost began in a cautious +tone,</p> + +<p>"I have something to say to you, Dietrich, that I don't care for those +outside to hear. Blasi can stay, because he is our comrade."</p> + +<p>"And because he can be made useful," said Dietrich readily, for he knew of +old that Jost was in the habit of rushing Blasi forward, where he did not +dare to go himself.</p> + +<p>"I don't know about that," said Jost, "but now listen to me. Do you know +how a fellow who hasn't so much as a penny in his purse, can in one night +get enough to build a big stone house, like the one the landlord of the +lion has in Fohrensee, and make himself a gentleman all at once? I know +how; I know somebody who has explained it all to me, and I tell you, +Dietrich, you have only to say the word, and you can do the same, and give +up the whole saddler's business. You can afford to risk something; you're +not stupid; and with you it will all go right in a twinkling."</p> + +<p>"Do you mean by card-playing?" asked Dietrich rather contemptuously, for +he had made up his mind about that long ago.</p> + +<p>"No indeed, something very different. It is done on paper. You have +nothing to do but put some money down, and you can win two or three times +as much in no time."</p> + +<p>"And lose <i>four</i> times, I suppose?"</p> + +<p>"There's no losing about it;" said Jost confidently, "You're sure to win +in the end, if you keep on long enough. It doesn't signify if you do lose +a little at first—you can afford to wait."</p> + +<p>"I think my trade is surer of winning;" said Dietrich.</p> + +<p>"Oh yes, sure enough!" said Jost scornfully. "It is a pretty sight to see +a fellow like you, sitting there year after year on the saddler's bench, +scraping all the skin off his hands; and with all the income you have, +too! why in ten years you won't have as much as will build you a house +such as you want, and it would take ten years more to become a gentleman; +and she'd like it a great deal better to have something nice now, and not +wait till she is fifty years old."</p> + +<p>Dietrich was red with anger.</p> + +<p>"What business is it of yours to be forever thinking and talking about +her?" he blazed out. "You have no concern with her whatever; just keep +yourself to what you're fit for."</p> + +<p>"Why do go on as you do?" asked Jost with a knowing wink. "Do you suppose +it never enters anybody's head to ask why you keep on working and delving +as if you liked it? Can't we guess who you're doing it all for?"</p> + +<p>"And it's not at all out of the way to be thinking about her, either," +interposed Blasi, "there's another ready enough to do that if there were +any chance for him," and he winked significantly at Jost. Jost took no +notice of the insinuation, but went on, addressing himself to Dietrich.</p> + +<p>"There's no danger for you in this plan. We will share losses and gains +alike, and if we do not like it we can leave off when ever we choose. But +I don't see why we shouldn't like it, when we can earn so much with so +little trouble, and without working from morning till night. There goes +somebody now, who has all he wants, I should like to be in his place!"</p> + +<p>A wagon was rattling by as he spoke, and its occupant was urging the +galloping horse faster and faster along the road.</p> + +<p>"That's the doctor," said Dietrich, looking out; "he has had to work hard +enough and is still at it. He must be going to visit a very sick patient; +he would not be driving at that rate for anything else. It is late for the +old gentleman to be out."</p> + +<p>"Work!" said Jost, "well, I speak for that kind of work; sitting in a +chaise behind a horse. It's another part of speech to have to work with +one's hands, as we do."</p> + +<p>"The doctor has to work with his hands too, I'm sure of that. And besides, +we have our evenings to ourselves, while he may be kept at it till eleven +o'clock at night, as he is this evening, and later."</p> + +<p>"Oh drop all this stupid talk and give us an answer; yes or no. Will you +be a fool and go on pricking your fingers over your work, or will you join +me and have things comfortable without working at all? Anybody but you +would be grateful to me for the chance I offer you. I came to you with it +because of our old friendship. I know plenty of fellows who would jump at +the chance. You can think it over till tomorrow, and then I'm sure you'll +be glad to accept. I'll meet you here to-morrow evening, and bring some +one with me who will explain it all clearly."</p> + +<p>Dietrich agreed to think about it till to-morrow, and now, in high +good-humor and increasing confidence in the coming good-fortune, he helped +Blasi and Jost to empty the bowl, in a toast to the success of their new +projects.</p> + +<p>It was Veronica's habit to work on her embroidery for some time after +going up to her bedroom, and this evening she was so much interested in +her work, that she did not observe the flight of time, until she heard the +clock strike one. She put by her sewing, and hastened to prepare for bed, +as she must be up and stirring again by five o'clock. Presently she heard +the outer door opened softly, and then closed from the inside. She blew +out her light and gently opened her bed-room door. The moon lighted up the +passageway with a faint beam. Some one came stealing up the staircase with +noiseless steps. She saw that it was Dietrich. He went cautiously into his +room and closed his door.</p> + +<p>Veronica shut her door, and sat down upon her bed. All the blood seemed to +rush to her heart and she could not stir. She knew in a moment that +Dietrich, whom she had believed to be asleep long ago, had been visiting +in secret the hated Rehbock. She sat some minutes motionless on her bed, +in a kind of dull pain. Then she arose slowly, lighted her lamp again, +took out her work and with nervous fingers drove on her needle, which flew +faster and faster through the white cloth. She did not sleep at all that +night.</p> + +<p>Nor did Dietrich fall asleep easily. His thoughts were busy and he could +not come to any decision. What should he do?</p> + +<p>If he could become rich at once, without working any more, why shouldn't +he do it? Would it be best to consult his mother? No, that would upset +everything. He was sure that his mother was too firmly wedded to the old +ideas about ways of getting a living, to listen to any new-fangled methods +of making money without work.</p> + +<p>And Veronica?</p> + +<p>Certainly not Veronica, who valued work above everything, and who indeed +loved it so well, that she could not imagine that any one should ever wish +to escape it.</p> + +<p>But if he were successful, both his mother and Veronica would profit by +his good fortune as much as himself. Why couldn't he go on with his own +plans in his own way? Why need he ask leave of Veronica?</p> + +<p>Before he slept, Dietrich had decided to meet Jost the next evening, and +close with his offer.</p> + +<p>When Gertrude came down stairs early in the morning, she found the +breakfast ready, and Veronica dressed to go out.</p> + +<p>"Wait just a moment," said the mother, "Dietrich will be down directly; I +hear him coming."</p> + +<p>"I must be off," replied Veronica. She went towards the door, but turned +before going out. Her cheeks were flaming.</p> + +<p>"Mother," she said, and her voice trembled, "in God's name, forbid him to +go to that dreadful place. He did not come home till one o'clock last +night." And she vanished. Gertrude gazed after her in surprise.</p> + +<p>When Dietrich came down, he asked in his usual bright fashion, after +Veronica, and when his mother with some anxiety told him what the girl had +said, he made his explanation with such a frank, unembarrassed manner, +that her fears were quieted; for it was plain that he had nothing upon his +conscience. He said that he knew his mother would approve of his helping a +friend in need, and not the less if in so doing he should also help +himself. It was a scheme of this kind that he had been talking over, the +night before. Jost had to work very hard to make both ends meet, and +Dietrich thought that if by putting some money into his scheme, he could +help his old acquaintance to more profit with less labor, and at the same +time gain by it himself, his mother would be the last to blame him.</p> + +<p>Gertrude was a soft-hearted woman. She answered her son that if there was +nothing wrong about this business, it was certainly a good thing to help +Jost, who had received nothing from his father, not even tools for his +trade, and who had seemed to have everything against him.</p> + +<p>"With you it was very different, my boy," she said in conclusion. "Your +father left you an excellent business, and if you continue to work as you +have done, you will be very well off in a few years. How kindly the good +God has dealt with us, my son! We may hope for many happy days together!"</p> + +<p>He agreed with her cordially, but he thought it as well not to unfold his +plans to her any farther. He said to himself that he was not going to do +anything wrong, certainly not; but his mother's ideas were a little +old-fashioned, and she wouldn't understand his schemes. He would surprise +her with his success.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI" />CHAPTER VI.</h2> + +<h3>LAME SABINA GIVES GOOD ADVICE.</h3> + + +<p>Veronica's teacher, Sabina, had been a hunchback from her birth, and had +become lame when still young; she had used crutches since she was twenty +years old. Like many persons who suffer under physical disabilities, she +had clever penetrating eyes, and on this day, she often raised them from +the work which she was pursuing with indefatigable industry, to glance at +her pupil, who sat opposite. Veronica was at work on the same piece which +she had had at home on the previous night, that night which she had +passed in such sad forbodings.</p> + +<p>After many inquiring glances, Sabina at last said thoughtfully:</p> + +<p>"I'm puzzled about you, Veronica. That piece of work you are upon, is +wonderfully well done; every stitch is perfectly even, the cloth and the +silk are as white as snow; yet you must have done most of it at night, for +yesterday afternoon you were not nearly so far along. Whatever you put +your hand to, succeeds. Yet your eyebrows grow more and more scowling +every day, and your eyes blaze out as if there were a thunder-storm about. +What ails you, child? You are the handsomest girl in all the country round +when you have a pleasant expression; and you are as tall and straight as +a young fir-tree. Don't you know that?"</p> + +<p>"What good does it do me?" asked Veronica, and scowled worse than ever.</p> + +<p>"What good? if you did not have it you would know what it is worth," +replied Sabina, quickly. "I can tell you that. Now smooth your forehead, +Veronica, and listen to me. I will tell you something that will make you +feel better and happier. An Industrial School has been established in +Fohrensee and it is proposed to connect with it a work-room for women. +They want a teacher and superintendent, and have offered me the place, but +I am not strong enough for it. I have told them that you are fully equal +to me in skill and knowledge of the work, and a hundred times my superior +in freshness and strength and executive ability. There is no doubt that +the place is at your disposal. You can lead the life of a lady, Veronica. +Your fortune is made."</p> + +<p>For the first time since Sabina began to speak, Veronica raised her eyes +from her work. She shook her head sadly and said,</p> + +<p>"Not my fortune."</p> + +<p>"'Not my fortune!'" repeated Sabina angrily, "when I tell you this place +is yours! Your fortune is made."</p> + +<p>"I cannot grasp the fortune that is offered me," said the girl, and bent +over her work again.</p> + +<p>Sabina's searching glance seemed to try to penetrate her inmost thought.</p> + +<p>"What sort of an expression is that you are using, Veronica? Where did you +learn that? I never expected to hear such words from your lips. It is not +like you. What put that into your head, child?"</p> + +<p>"I will tell you something of my experience, and then you will understand +why I use this expression," said Veronica quietly. "When I was only a +little girl I learned a motto which ran thus:</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">'Fortune stands ready, full in sight;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">He wins, who knows to grasp it right.'</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>I saw that 'fortune' was something good to have, and I wanted to find out +how it could be grasped. I asked Cousin Judith, and she told me it must be +grasped like everything else with our hands, that is to say, through work. +From that time forward I was eager for work as other children are for +play, and the older I grow, the more I strive for the good fortune that +can be grasped by work. Even on Sundays I often go to my room to sew, and +I shut my door, for my mother does not like to see me sew then. I work on +and on, just as long as I can sit at it, even into the night; sometimes +till one and two o'clock in the morning; yet I do not find the fortune I +want. When my hands are busy, my thoughts wander where they will, and I +must follow them. But they do not lead to 'fortune,' but only farther away +from it. This offer may bring me a fortune in money and position, but that +is not the fortune I want. 'Fortune' for me, means happiness."</p> + +<p>Sabina had not lost a word of this sad story.</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes, I understand you, Veronica," she said sympathizingly. "I know +something of this too. Judith told you the truth, but only one half the +truth. Fortune is grasped by the hands, it is true; but the Fortune which +you long for, that is, Happiness, is to be gained in other ways besides. I +will tell you an instructive little story, and if you will take the +trouble to grasp it, not with your hands, but with your thoughts and +understanding, you will be able to work it out for yourself and get some +profit from it. It is part of the story of my own life. I have had so much +the same experience as yours that I cannot help hoping that what I found +good for myself, may prove good for you."</p> + +<p>"When I was about your age, Veronica, I was so unhappy that I cried myself +to sleep every night. Can you guess why? No, for one understands only the +sufferings that he has himself experienced, and cannot imagine those of +others. Well, it was because I was a hunchback! I remember as if it were +yesterday, when I first came to a perception of my misfortune; when I +first learned that I was different from other children, and must remain as +one apart, all my life. We were all coming out of school one day, and a +little quarrel arose between us children, and one of them said to me in a +scornful tone, 'Hold your tongue, Sabina, you're only a hunchback.' From +that day I never knew a happy moment, and I grew timid and avoided every +one; if I saw any one looking at me, I thought he was scoffing at me +because I was a hunchback. I kept away from other children, for if one of +them laughed, I fancied she was laughing at my deformed shoulders. If any +stranger was kind to me, I thought that it was because my hunch had not +yet been seen, and that as soon as it was, kindness would be changed for +contempt. I looked at the figure of every one I met; all were straight +except myself. I felt that I was the most miserable creature in the world, +and I saw no hope of ever being otherwise all my life long. Once one of +the school children died, and all her schoolmates walked in the funeral +procession to the church. I would not walk with them, but hid myself among +the grown people; for every one was looking at the children and I wanted +to escape observation. I heard one woman say to another: 'It is lucky the +child's mother has so much to do; she will have no time to think about her +sorrow, and she will get over it the sooner,' Then it came to me like a +ray of hope, that if I had work to do, I might forget my sorrow too. I +must have work. That very day I begged my mother to let me learn to work. +She was pleased, and sent me to take lessons in sewing, and I followed it +up till I could do all sorts of fine work, and had as much employment as I +could wish. I often heard people say, 'How finely Sabina is getting on!' +But how do you think it was with my spirits? Just as it is with yours now, +Veronica. Oh yes, you needn't look at me so with your great eyes. I know +exactly what you are thinking. You think that my trouble never can have +been equal to yours. People always think that their own sorrows are the +worst. I sat and sewed just as you do—early and late; my work was +perfect; I had no rival. I knew that it was good, and I rejoiced over it +in a half-hearted way; but what good did it do me after all? The thought +that I was a hunchback, was always in my mind. It was like a stream of +troubled water flowing through my heart; it spoiled everything. 'Always +deformed, never like other girls,' I never forgot it for a moment. So it +went on till I was about twenty years old, and then came on the trouble in +my foot, and I was confined to my bed for many months. Oh! how bitterly I +suffered! Was every misfortune to fall on me alone?' I thought. How could +I foresee that this very trouble would turn out to be good fortune for +me?"</p> + +<p>"The doctor came to see me constantly; he took as much interest in my case +as if I could have paid him handsomely.</p> + +<p>He noticed that I was industrious, that I did not lie idle even when I was +in great pain. It pleased him to find me always with work in my hand. When +at last the acute attack was over, and the doctor told me that this would +be his last visit, he told me also that I was lame for life. At first I +could not walk at all; but bye and bye I learned to use my crutches. When +I offered the doctor the money that was due him for his attendance, he +said we would not speak of that; that we both had to work, but with this +difference, that he was sound and whole, while I was not. He took my hand +kindly, saying that it was hard for me not to be able to take any +amusement after working hard all the week; not to go out with the others +on Sunday; and that if I cared for reading, his wife had a great many nice +books which she would be glad to lend me, and they would make the Sundays +less tedious. I did not really care for reading; I preferred sewing as you +do, but I accepted the doctor's offer and went to his house. His wife was +very kind and gave me a book at once, bidding me come as soon as I had +finished it and get another. I began to read the very next Sunday, and I +became so deeply interested that I scarcely laid the book down all day, +and even during the week I took it up as often as I could find a spare +moment. It was an account of foreign countries and nations; how they +lived, and their manners and customs. I was particularly interested to +read about how the women were treated in different places; how in some +countries they are sold and bartered for cattle or wool or cloth, and how +they belong to their husbands just as if they were furniture, and their +husbands can treat them just as they please, as we do cats or dogs. And in +some places, it said, a wife has to be burned when her husband dies, +because she is only a part of him and has no value of her own after his +death. Oh! how many strange things there are in the world, to be sure! I +became hungry and thirsty for knowledge. The doctor's wife lent me one +book after another, and in each there was something new and wonderful. I +learned how terrible the condition of women had been everywhere until our +own Lord Jesus Christ came into the world, and taught that one soul was +as much worth as another, all equal, man and woman, lord and servant; that +every individual must be free, one as well as another; and that two people +should be joined together only by love, and not as a matter of ownership. +But even now-a-days there are still countries and islands where men make +nothing of killing and eating each other, and the women are bought and +sold like goods. It is only where the influence of Christianity has +penetrated, that there is true equality of womanhood. You can imagine the +flood of new ideas that crowded in upon me as I read, and I assure you +that I was able to forget sometimes for many days that I was a hunchback, +and when I did remember it, the thought had lost its sting. I dwelt upon +the many privations and sufferings of others, till they seemed to outweigh +my own trouble so that it dwindled in my estimation; and gradually I began +to see the good side of my lot. How independently I could live supporting +myself; what a wealth of interest was opened to me through my reading, and +in fact how fortunate I was, and blessed beyond many another! Yes, +Veronica, I can assure you that I am now a happy woman, with a heart +filled with gratitude to the good God for the blessings he has sent me. +And so I say to you, my child, from the fulness of my own experience, that +you have no right to go about looking like a thunder-cloud; you with all +the freshness and beauty of your young life!</p> + +<p>Tell me do you owe our Lord God something or is He in debt to you? Have +you nothing to thank him for? Others can see how much you have to look +forward to. Get yourself together, girl, and try to give your thoughts +another direction."</p> + +<p>"I should be only too glad to do so," said Veronica, who had listened +intently to every word that Sabina had said. "Have you any such book as +you describe, that you can lend me to read?"</p> + +<p>Sabina was well pleased at this request. She had a book close at hand, +which she had just finished reading, and from which she expected great +things for the young girl. Veronica was moved by Sabina's glowing words, +to believe that her future might be happier, and that the clouds of +despondency which had overshadowed her, were about to be dispersed.</p> + +<p>She lost no time, for she was in earnest. She opened the book that very +evening, and began to read. But her sanguine expectations were not +fulfilled. She read the words, she understood their meaning; but it was as +if she heard them at a distance and through them all, louder than all +else, sounded something in her ears and in her heart that drowned them. It +was the flow of the troubled waters, as Sabina had said. The waves rose +higher; their noise increased, until Veronica lost all hearing and +understanding of what she was reading. Still she persevered; perhaps +bye-and-bye it would come right. Alas! was not that the house door opening +and shutting again so softly late in the night? She flung the book aside; +walked rapidly back and forth in her chamber for awhile, then unfolded her +sewing, and worked steadily on and on, until the morning broke and a new +day called her to its duties.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII" />CHAPTER VII.</h2> + +<h3>A THUNDER CLAP.</h3> + + +<p>Blasi, the lounger, stood in his doorway in the clear sunshine of this +lovely summer morning, both hands plunged deep into his pockets as was his +wont, and looked about him as if to see whether everything in the outer +world was the same as yesterday.</p> + +<p>Judith came out to the well, carrying her water-jug on her head.</p> + +<p>"Look out, Blasi, you are losing something," she cried. Blasi looked on +the ground, turned about, and searched behind and before.</p> + +<p>"I don't see anything," he said, and stuffed his hands deeper into his +pockets.</p> + +<p>"It's always so with me," said Judith, "when I've lost anything, I can't +see it."</p> + +<p>"Oh ho, you're making a fool of me again!"</p> + +<p>"That's all the thanks I get for telling you that you are losing +something, and I was just going to make you a present that is worth more +than five francs to a fellow like you."</p> + +<p>"What is it? Show it to me," said Blasi, with more animation.</p> + +<p>"First I will tell you something, and then you shall have it," replied +Judith. "Look here, Blasi, my sainted father used to say, "If you keep +your hands out of your pockets they will get full, but if you keep them +in, your pockets will be empty." Now, both your hands are in your +pockets, so all that ought to go in is running to waste. Isn't that so?"</p> + +<p>"Well, suppose it is," said Blasi, angrily. "Now give me what you promised +me."</p> + +<p>"I gave it to you this very minute. I said you'd better take your hands +out of your pockets, and then your earnings would run in. That's good +advice and worth more than five francs.</p> + +<p>"What stuff! No one ever knows how to take you," grumbled Blasi.</p> + +<p>"It wouldn't help you to take me, if you did not take your hands out too," +said Judith, "but never mind, I have really something good for you," and +Judith motioned to him to come nearer. "Would you like to have a nice +well-washed shirt for Sunday? I will do one up for you if you will tell me +something."</p> + +<p>That was an offer worth listening to. Sunday was a wretched day for Blasi, +for when he had turned his two shirts and worn them both on both sides, he +had never a clean one for Sunday. He had no one to wash for him. His +mother was dead, and his father had enough else to spend for, without the +washing for a grown-up son. Blasi's money went for other things than +washing, and he was not fond of doing it for himself.</p> + +<p>The proposition was therefore very apropos. "Come a little nearer to the +well; no one knows who may be behind those trees. Now listen; Can you tell +me what is going wrong with Dietrich? He never whistles now, he never +laughs, and his mother looks so sad, and she rarely speaks even to answer +when spoken to. Something has happened to Dietrich."</p> + +<p>"Yes, and keeps on happening; all sorts of things, too. But Jost can tell +you more than I can. They sit together in the Rehbock half the night and +more, too; long after everybody else has gone, there they sit in the +little back room. At first they do just as other people do, they drink a +little and then a little more, and Dietrich pays. But that's nothing to +what it costs him afterwards. They do something with paper, he and Jost. +Sometimes it is a lottery and then again something that they call +speculating. I don't understand anything about it. Somebody comes over +from Fohrensee and explains it to them. He does not belong there; but I +guess you have seen him; he has fiery red hair, and red beard and red +face. He has business in Fohrensee once a week, and lives the rest of the +time down in the city; and he arranges everything down there, and then +brings the account of gains and losses up to them; but it's a good deal +more loss than gain. Dietrich puts in more money every time. Jost has +nothing to put in but promises. He tells Dietrich all the time that +presently the winnings will begin to flow in, and says that at first a +fellow must expect to lose, so as to win all the more in the end, and that +bye-and-bye it will all come back; with interest, of course. The +red-haired man says yes to it all. Whenever I want to put something in, +and ask Dietrich to lend me a little to try with, Jost acts as if he were +the lord and master of the whole concern, and 'donkey' is the mildest name +he calls me. I am just waiting though, till I can trip him up, and I'll +do it with a vengeance too, so that he won't forget it all his life long."</p> + +<p>"Now that is a good idea," said Judith. "You'd better tell him then, that +you do it to pay your debts, and that it would be well for him to follow +your example. Now you have told me enough. Bring me your shirt on +Saturday, and I'll wash it for you."</p> + +<p>Judith lifted her water-jug and was turning away, but Blasi detained her.</p> + +<p>"Just wait one moment, I want to ask you a question. Do you think she will +have him?"</p> + +<p>The question seemed to interest Judith, for she stood stock still.</p> + +<p>"Who? whom? what do you mean?"</p> + +<p>"I mean Veronica and Jost. Do you think she will take him?" As Blasi +spoke he came slowly nearer to Judith. "He has been saying some things +lately, that made me think so."</p> + +<p>"If you know anything more stupid than that, I should like to hear it," +cried Judith very angry indeed; but she did not move away, for she wanted +to hear all that Blasi had to say.</p> + +<p>"I know what you mean," he went on, "but I am not so very stupid as you +think. It certainly means something, when she is so changed. Jost says +that she knows all that Dietrich has been about, and she is hot with anger +against him because he has not told her about it himself. Jost says that +if he only mentions Dietrich's name before her she looks like a wild-cat +in a moment, and he says too that he has noticed for some time, that she +has no objection to letting Dietrich see that she can get along very well +without his help, and you know that she is capable of anything when she's +angry."</p> + +<p>"Well, this was the one drop wanting!" said Judith, and shouldering her +jug she went off, snorting with anger, in such a rage that Blasi stood +looking after her in stupid amazement, and muttered,</p> + +<p>"I wonder if she wants to get him, too!"</p> + +<p>Judith walked along, talking aloud to herself,</p> + +<p>"Yes, she is! she is! she is capable of anything when she is angry!"</p> + +<p>Now Judith had looked upon her neighbor's boy from his childhood up, as if +he belonged to her. He was her prime, favorite and she meant to do well by +him. She liked Veronica because she was such a steady girl at her needle, +and because she would have nothing to say to any one but Dietrich. This +very reserve however, was rather distasteful to Judith as regarded +herself, but she liked it towards others. She had planned it all out that +Dietrich should marry Veronica soon after the confirmation, that they +should set up a pretty little establishment, and be her beloved neighbors. +She meant to be their intimate friend and helper, to go freely in and out +of their house, and to stand god-mother now and then. She would leave her +property to the little ones. Now all this fine air-castle was overthrown +and all her plans spoiled. Judith bounced violently into the kitchen and +set her jug down with such a bang that the water spurted up into the air.</p> + +<p>"And no one can get a word out of her, either; it is exactly as if all the +oil had been burned out." This last remark referred to Gertrude, who had +greatly altered during the last few months. She had no longer the cheerful +expression that she had always been noted for. She had grown very quiet +and silent. She even avoided her old and well-tried friend Judith, and if +the latter showed a disposition to talk about her household matters or her +children's future, Gertrude would give her to understand that she had no +time to stop to talk.</p> + +<p>Gertrude knew where Dietrich spent his evenings. She had expostulated with +him about it more than once. He had answered that he must keep on there +for awhile, till a certain undertaking which he had started with Jost was +fairly under way. He assured her that this affair was certain to turn out +all right, and that she herself would be surprised and satisfied at the +result. He knew from some one who understood it, that it could not fail. +He had to draw large sums several times for himself and also for Jost, but +he was sanguine that in a short time it would all be paid back, with +interest. Gertrude did not pretend to understand the business, but she saw +that Dietrich believed it to be safe and profitable, and she knew that her +son would not deceive her. Still she was haunted daily by a growing +uneasiness, which was not diminished when she perceived that Veronica was +gradually drawing away from her.</p> + +<p>This state of things had all come about since that morning when the +girl's beseeching words had fallen unheeded on the mother's ears; or at +least Veronica believed them to have been unheeded, since they had worked +no change in Dietrich's behavior.</p> + +<p>Why it was that every day as evening came on, she felt so miserably +anxious, Gertrude herself could scarcely understand. Poor Gertrude!</p> + +<p>One night after she had gone to her room she heard her son leave the house +with hasty steps. It had become a regular thing now. She had often said to +herself, "Ah! how much longer will this go on?" but she tried hard to +believe that it would soon come to an end, and her son would resume his +former orderly and happy mode of life. But this evening she was so +anxious that she could not stay in her bedroom. She went down into the +garden.</p> + +<p>The moon peeped out from between the flying clouds, and shone peacefully +down upon the trees and the neat flower-beds. Gertrude seated herself upon +a small bench under the apple tree, and gazed about the garden, all +illuminated by the moonbeams. She had planted it all and cared for it with +her own hands. She had done this as she did everything, carefully and with +great painstaking, and it was all for her son's sake. His should be the +pleasure and the profit of all. Why could he not be happy in it now? Why +was she so worried about him? Dietrich was walking in steep and dangerous +paths; that she was sure of, but he knew the straight road and would not +his steps turn back to it again? Her thoughts went back to the days when +her little Dieterli loved good and orderly conduct; it could not be that +he had lost his love for it, that he did not still feel that in the right +conduct of life lies inward and outward blessing. She recalled the evening +of the day when her husband was borne from the house to his burial. She +had taken the children by the hand and, stupefied with pain, was about to +put them to bed, but Dieterli objected, saying,</p> + +<p>"No, mother, no; it is not good to go to bed before you say your prayers."</p> + +<p>Did her boy ever pray now? "Oh, Dieterli, my son, you are wandering away, +but you know the way home," she said to herself, and she folded her hands +in prayer, for her habit was to lay all her troubles before God, her +Supporter and Comforter.</p> + +<p>At this moment, she heard through the stillness loud shouts and cries, +first at a distance, then nearer and nearer, until they grew into a wild +tumult. Then many of the voices seemed to scatter in different directions +while some sounded as if approaching the garden. A vague fear seized +Gertrude. Three fellows shouting and calling, passed on the other side of +the hedge; she recognized one of the voices.</p> + +<p>"Jost," she cried feebly, "Jost, what is it? where is Dietrich?"</p> + +<p>There was no answer; Jost did not or would not, hear. He ran faster than +before, and the second fellow ran too. The last one paused a little; it +was Blasi. He said hastily:</p> + +<p>"He isn't coming yet awhile. You can go to bed;" and was making off.</p> + +<p>"Oh do tell me what has happened," said Gertrude, white with terror. +"Don't leave me so, but tell me, Blasi, why Dietrich hasn't come home with +the rest of you?"</p> + +<p>Blasi had too much respect for Dietrich's mother to run away from her when +she put a direct question to him, although he would fain have escaped. He +came close to the hedge, and replied,</p> + +<p>"There has been a row at the Rehbock. Two men were killed. Some one stole +the cattle dealer's money bag—"</p> + +<p>"Is Dietrich killed? Speak out!" broke in Gertrude, trembling.</p> + +<p>"No; he struck about him bravely, till one of the fellows got enough of +it, and lay dead on the ground; and then he made off."</p> + +<p>With this Blasi ran on.</p> + +<p>Gertrude mounted wearily to her room as if her last day was come. She sat +down upon her bed, and when the morning light filled the room, still she +sat there listening in trembling anxiety, as she had listened through all +the long night; in vain. Dietrich had not come home in the night; he did +not come in the morning.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII" />CHAPTER VIII.</h2> + +<h3>EACH ONE ACCORDING TO HIS KIND.</h3> + + +<p>In all Tannenegg and Fohrensee, nothing was talked of but the affair of +the night before. Never was such excitement known. In every house, at +every corner, in all the roads, groups of people stood talking it over; +each telling what he knew.</p> + +<p>Everyone asked questions, and no one listened to the answers. Such a fight +at the Rehbock! It began over the card-table. The cattle-dealer from +Fohrensee was on his way home with his bag full of money, when he stopped +in at the Rehbock, and joined the game. When the dispute broke out, his +big fists took their share in the fray. Not until two of the party lay for +dead on the ground, did the brawling cease and the combatants begin to +cool. Then the cattle-dealer discovered that his bag full of gold was +gone, and raised a fearful alarm.</p> + +<p>Then the red-haired man from Fohrensee shouted into the midst of the +excited crowd,</p> + +<p>"Don't let any one get away. Run after them! That's the only way to find +out the thief!"</p> + +<p>This man had not taken part in the fight, but had mixed with the crowd, +trying to pacify them, and to restore quiet.</p> + +<p>His advice was useless. A good many had already gone. First of all, +Dietrich had disappeared; then several fellows ran after him, and then +all the rest went together.</p> + +<p>On the way home, Jost had told his companions that Dietrich had made off +with himself, and that he, Jost, had told him when he saw him going that +there was doubtless good reason for his wishing to be out of the way. But +in truth Jost had not said any such thing to Dietrich!</p> + +<p>One of the men had run at once for the doctor, and the doctor had come in +the night to the Rehbock, and had found that the two men were not dead +after all. So he had given orders that they should be let alone till they +had slept off the effect of their carouse.</p> + +<p>In the morning, all those who had been at the Rehbock the night before, +were called together; and every one denied stoutly having any knowledge +of the cattle-dealer's money, and all were ready to be searched in proof +of their innocence. Dietrich alone was not there; he had vanished, no one +knew whither. Some one whispered, and then it was softly repeated, then +louder and louder, that Dietrich would not have taken himself off if he +had had a clear conscience; and although nobody seriously believed +Dietrich capable of a disgraceful act, yet after awhile it seemed to grow +more likely, especially when it became known that he had lost a great deal +of money in betting and gambling, and was unable to pay back what he had +lost. And many shook their heads and said, "How easy it is for a man to be +drawn into evil ways if he once begins to go down hill!"</p> + +<p>Where Dietrich had gone, was now the important question. No trace of him +had been discovered from the moment of his disappearance. The +cattle-dealer left no stone unturned to find him, but he could get no clue +to his whereabouts. He had entered complaints against Dietrich, and hoped +that the hands of the law would succeed in getting track of him. But it +was all in vain. Gradually, no one knew how, a report got about that +Dietrich had fled to Australia, and would never come back. Little by +little every one came to believe it.</p> + +<p>Except one. One single person in all Tannenegg was bold enough to swim +against this stream of suspicion. This was Judith. Not timidly and in +secret, but aloud, at all times and in all places, she declared decidedly,</p> + +<p>"There's not one word of truth in what you all say. It's a lie from +beginning to end. Dietrich has no more stolen than I have, and I needn't +say more than that. I'll ferret this thing out, till I find the true +culprit, or my name's not Judith."</p> + +<p>The first thing to do was to get a clear account of the whole affair; for +although she had already heard it told a dozen times, it had always been +among other people, who were continually interrupting and asking +questions, and were too anxious to hear the end, to wait for the full +account of the beginning. So she decided to apply to Blasi, who, as he had +been on the spot, must know all about it. But she had to hunt him up; for +since that unlucky evening he had kept himself out of sight. She placed +her bucket under the spout at the well, and then took a turn about the +kitchen garden behind the sexton's cottage. Blasi stood in the back +doorway, just as he was in the habit of standing in the front doorway, +only instead of holding his face up as if to catch any agreeable odors +that might be floating about, he stood to-day with drooping head, gazing +sadly at the uncared-for garden.</p> + +<p>"What's amiss, Blasi?" asked Judith, sharply, coming upon him before he +was aware of her approach.</p> + +<p>"Nothing; if you know of anything we will share it," said Blasi sullenly.</p> + +<p>"Well, perhaps I know something that it would not be a bad thing for you +to share with me. Perhaps it's worth while for some one who has learned it +by the sweat of her brow, to tell you that vegetables can be made to grow +in a garden, instead of nettles, which you seem to cultivate."</p> + +<p>"I don't care what grows anywhere; one thing is as good as another to me, +now that Dietrich has gone. There's nothing to do in the evening now. I've +half a mind to go after him."</p> + +<p>"Go where? do you know where he is?"</p> + +<p>"I don't, myself, but Jost does, and I know that Jost is expecting to hear +from him. Though he does call me stupid, I have my eye on him," said +Blasi, with angry emphasis. "And I know it was Jost who advised Dietrich +to run away and hide, though he didn't mean to let me know. Oh, I'm no +fool!"</p> + +<p>Judith nodded assentingly, as if Blasi's information confirmed her own +suspicions.</p> + +<p>"Here, Blasi, here's a little something for you. Now I want you to tell me +exactly how this thing happened, from the very beginning; and don't leave +out a single thing. I want to hear the whole story, connectedly."</p> + +<p>"You may be sure I will," said Blasi, weighing the silver piece which +Judith had given him affectionately in his hand. "You see they were all +together in the little back room at first; the red-haired man and Jost and +Dietrich, and when I went in I noticed at once that something had happened +that our two didn't like; for Dietrich sat with his elbows on the table +and his head in his hands, and Jost was swearing roundly. Presently Jost +said, 'We will double our bets, Dietrich, and perhaps the luck will turn.' +Dietrich, only groaned. Then the red-haired fellow said, 'Come, let's go +down and play cards with the cattle-dealer, and take a glass of something +that will raise your spirits.'"</p> + +<p>"Dietrich never used to gamble; nor to drink when he was not thirsty;" +cried Judith angrily.</p> + +<p>"Pooh! When every one is playing cards, a fellow can't hold off and say he +won't join, and as for the drink, Dietrich has washed down a good deal of +vexation with it lately, and he took it powerfully too, I can tell you. +Well, the play began, and it went on fast. I noticed that the red man +looked mightily pleased, and urged them all on, and the louder the +cattle-dealer scolded, the more the red man filled up his glass. When the +quarrel came to blows, I heard the red-head call out to the +cattle-dealer, 'Come over here, you'll soon silence them,' So he kept +exciting him, and he struck out well with his great fists. The red-head +mixed in the crowd, and stuck close to the cattle-dealer, but he never +struck a blow himself; of course not, such a gentleman as he is! I did not +see Dietrich knock the Fohrensee fellow down, but just when the storm was +most furious, I saw Dietrich run out, and Jost after him, and I thought I +saw Jost give Dietrich something. I ran out after them, and I heard Jost +advising Dietrich to make off as fast as he could, and send him word where +he hid himself. When I came up to them, Jost pushed me back; I couldn't +get a word with Dietrich, who ran right off, and Jost pulled me into the +house. There the noise was increasing every minute, for the cattle-dealer +had discovered that his money-bag was gone, and red-head screamed out like +a mad-man, that nobody must get away, and everybody must be searched. When +they found that Dietrich had gone, the cattle-man started off after him, +and some others too, and then they all broke up. Now you know all that I +know. Nothing else happened; except that I went for the doctor, who said +the two men were not dead. When Jost tells Dietrich that, why, there's +nothing to prevent his coming back. That is, unless there's something +else."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean by 'something else'?" said Judith sharply. "But +there—you're all alike. One repeats what another has said, till you all +get to saying the same thing and then of course you believe it. A nice +set of friends you are—the whole of you. I mean to stir up the ground +under you all until I find out where the truth is. Then you can begin to +stare with the others, you blind mole!" and Judith suddenly walked off as +if the earth were burning beneath her angry feet.</p> + +<p>Blasi understood neither her words nor her anger. He looked after her, +shook his head rather sadly, and said to himself,</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Women folk are a very foolish folk."</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>Home sped the "foolish" Judith; put on her Sunday garments and started on +her journey. If ever she had a project in her head, she did not wait till +to-morrow to put it into execution. And to-day she was bent on giving the +cattle dealer a piece of her mind. She paused a moment when she came to +Gertrude's house, then went on her way, saying half aloud,</p> + +<p>"No, I'll say nothing to her, since she says nothing to me. If 'mum's' the +word I can use it as well as she."</p> + +<p>Judith was pained that Gertrude had not from the beginning talked with her +of her troubles, for Judith was one who liked to give and receive +sympathy. Veronica too was much too reticent to please her kind-hearted +neighbor who could never get a word with her about what was going on. +Veronica and Gertrude were both very silent by nature, about anything that +touched them deeply, especially in sorrow. On the first day after the +terrible blow that had befallen them, they talked it all over, and wept +together, to ease their hearts of the first misery. Then Gertrude said,</p> + +<p>"Dietrich has sinned and he must make atonement, but he has not stolen; I +am sure that my son is not a thief." And Veronica had responded promptly,</p> + +<p>"If every one in the whole world said that he had stolen that money, I +should not listen; for I know he is no thief."</p> + +<p>As soon as it became known that Dietrich was gone, letters and bills came +pouring in upon the poor widow. Her son had borrowed large sums of money +and had lost even more at play. She soon found that not only all her +husband's savings, but also the house and the business were deeply +encumbered. She talked things over with the workman who had been so many +years in her employ and asked if he would help her carry on the business +as he had done after her husband's death while Dietrich was still a child. +The man was very angry with Dietrich for having thrown away the result of +all those years of labor, and at first refused to have anything more to do +with the business. He yielded at last, however, to Gertrude's urgent +request, and consented to remain with her at least till the future +prospects of the business could be decided upon; and Gertrude agreed that +if it should prosper she would hand it over to him, in case Dietrich +should not return within a certain time.</p> + +<p>And so the mother set herself again to her task. She worked early and +late; she seemed to have gained new strength and courage instead of being +crushed down by this new burden.</p> + +<p>It was curious to see how differently the two women nearest to Dietrich +were affected by this trouble. Gertrude's countenance gradually resumed +its customary look of cheerfulness and peace, while on Veronica's handsome +features rested a heavy scowl which now seldom left her clouded brow. Yet +she was almost an object of envy to all the young girls of the +neighborhood, and no wonder; for she was an attractive sight to all eyes, +with her neat, well-fitting clothes, that always looked new and fresh, and +her air of strength and activity. Not a few of the strangers who came to +Fohrensee, made inquiries about her, wondering where she could have come +from; for they noticed the marked difference between her and the other +women of the place. The work which passed through her hands, even if it +were most elaborately embroidered, was never crumpled nor soiled, but +looked as fresh as if it had not been handled at all. She could obtain any +price she chose to set upon her work, and everything she did found ready +sale. Moreover, she had been appointed to the place of which Sabina had +spoken to her. She was at the head of the great Industrial School for +women, where she received so handsome a salary, that she was in a fair way +to the accumulation of a nice little fortune. It was common to hear it +said of her, "She is really a lady! she can have whatever she pleases," +and it was often added, "If I were in her shoes, I wouldn't go about with +a face like a thirty days' storm, as she does, when she can be a +gentleman's wife whenever she chooses!" It had been proposed that +Veronica should go to live in the school-buildings at Fohrensee. But she +did not accept the offer; she could not leave her mother alone in this +time of trouble. Every evening after her work she returned to Gertrude's +cottage.</p> + +<p>During the long summer days it was easy for Veronica to get home before +the twilight was over. But when the days grew shorter, dusk came on even +before she could reach the wood. One bright Saturday afternoon, late in +August, Veronica had delayed longer than usual in the work-room, to clear +all away and leave things in perfect order for Sunday.</p> + +<p>She hurried up the hill road, not so much from fear of going through the +wood alone, as from desire to spare Gertrude the anxiety of watching for +her. Just before she reached the wood, she met Jost coming towards her. He +held out his hand with a friendly smile, saying,</p> + +<p>"I came to meet you; I thought it would be getting too dark for you to go +alone through the forest; I can't let you go unprotected."</p> + +<p>"You may spare yourself the pains," said Veronica shortly and crossed over +to the other side of the road. Jost crossed too.</p> + +<p>"Veronica," he began after a little while, "it is not nice of you to treat +me as you have done since Dietrich went off. I know as well as you do, +that he did wrong in running away from you without letting you know where +he went to; but he may write yet, and meantime—"</p> + +<p>"Don't say another word," interrupted Veronica; so decidedly that Jost was +silent for awhile. She crossed the road again, and presently Jost did the +same, and as he came up to her, he began again in a soft insinuating tone,</p> + +<p>"Don't you see Veronica, that it isn't my fault that things have taken +this turn? I often thought of you when Dietrich was risking so much money, +and I used to say to him "think of her," for I knew how you would feel +about it."</p> + +<p>"Oh, you Judas!" cried Veronica, swelling with rage, and she sprang +forward and ran on with all her might. Jost followed close at her heels. +When she had passed through the wood, and had come out on the Tannenegg +side, he said, in a flattering voice,</p> + +<p>"Veronica, do you see how precious you are to me? I will protect you and +take care of you even if you do not speak one kind word to me. I shall +come to meet you every day, for I will not allow you to go through the +wood alone. You may meet all sorts of people there and may sometimes be +glad of my company. Bye-and-bye you will be convinced how much I care for +you."</p> + +<p>Veronica was now near the house. She hurried on and without once looking +back, she sprang through the door and shut it fast behind her.</p> + +<p>"You shall be tame enough before I have done with you," muttered Jost, and +he bit his lips until the blood came.</p> + +<p>Veronica stood still on the other side of the door until she heard his +retreating footsteps; then she opened it and went out again. She went +over to the sexton's house. Blasi stood in the doorway, in a despondent +attitude, with his hands in his pockets. He was brooding over the +melancholy reflection that he had paid away the last penny of the coin +that Judith had given him, for last evening's glass at the Rehbock, and +that he had no credit. He saw no glimmer of hope in the prospect before +him, and looked disconsolately at the ground. Suddenly Veronica stood +before him. He stared at her with surprise.</p> + +<p>"Blasi, will you do me a favor?" she asked in a friendly tone, "I will +return it sometime when you need help."</p> + +<p>Here was an unexpected chance. He opened his eyes yet wider with delight.</p> + +<p>"Tell me what it is, Veronica," he said; "I will go through fire and +water for you."</p> + +<p>"It is only to go through the wood for me, to-morrow evening, and every +evening till the days grow longer again. Will you? You can have your +evening glass afterwards at my expense."</p> + +<p>Blasi stood speechless; staring at Veronica, who waited for his answer.</p> + +<p>"Why; do you want two of us?" he said presently, "I don't see why. Jost is +going too, for you told him to go and meet you every evening."</p> + +<p>Veronica's dark eyes flashed forth a fire that dazzled poor Blasi.</p> + +<p>"So! I told him to go, did I? Who told you such a thing as that?"</p> + +<p>"Jost said so himself at the Rehbock last evening, before a room full of +people; and some of them said that you were going to prove that you could +get along very well without the fellow that ran away."</p> + +<p>Veronica flushed burning red.</p> + +<p>"Tell Jost," she said, scornfully, "that if he is clever in nothing else +he is a master liar. I would tell him myself, but I will never speak to +him again. Will you come for me tomorrow or not, Blasi?" she had turned to +leave him.</p> + +<p>"Why of course, if that's the way it is about Jost, I'll come. You may +count on me," he replied gleefully. She held out her hand to him, and was +gone.</p> + +<p>The next evening, as Blasi was walking at his ease, towards the wood, he +met Jost hurrying along from another direction.</p> + +<p>"Where may you be going?" asked Jost peremptorily.</p> + +<p>"I am going to meet Veronica; she engaged me to," answered Blasi, not at +all unwilling to make known his errand.</p> + +<p>"Well, you are a dunderhead to take a joke like that for sober earnest," +said Jost, bursting into a loud laugh. "Hadn't you sense enough to see +that she was making a fool of you? We had a good laugh together about it +last night, she and I, and she said she had a mind to make you go all +winter long to Fohrensee, to fetch her; and that you would never find out +that she was making sport of you. She seems to have made a good +beginning."</p> + +<p>Jost laughed again immoderately, and Blasi began to waver.</p> + +<p>"If I only knew which of you was telling a lie;" he said, and stood still +to think it over. Suddenly he started forward on the full run, for it +occured to him that he could decide by Veronica's air when he met her, +whether she had cheated him or not. Jost saw that Blasi was determined not +to give up his enterprise so he turned about, and disappeared among the +bushes; for he had no desire to have Blasi see how Veronica treated him.</p> + +<p>When Blasi met Veronica, her face had so pleasant and bright a look, that +the lad was struck with her beauty. It was not the look of one who was +making a fool of him. Veronica was sincere. She talked kindly with him all +the way home, more kindly than he had ever thought she could talk, and +when they parted, she said persuasively,</p> + +<p>"You'll come tomorrow, and every day, won't you Blasi?"</p> + +<p>Then she pressed a piece of money into his hand, and thanked him for his +kindness so gratefully, that it seemed as if he had conferred a great +favor on her, instead of having received payment for service rendered.</p> + +<p>As the young man turned away, a new set of ideas took possession of his +mind. For the first time in his life, he felt a desire to use the money +that he held in his hand, for something better than drink. He recollected +that he had no necktie on, and he was conscious of looking slovenly and +dirty. That was not the way for a fellow to look who was going to be seen +walking with the pretty Veronica along the high-road. He would buy a +neck-tie in the morning; he had money enough for that. Then his thoughts +ran on still farther. Veronica had not spoken to him in this friendly way +for many a long year. It was not to make fun of him, Jost was a liar as +she had said; else why did he run away instead of going with him to meet +her? No, he wouldn't be taken in by that fellow, any longer. As they +walked along she had asked him all sorts of questions about himself; what +his business was, and how he succeeded in it and so on. He had not been +able to answer very satisfactorily about his business, for since +Confirmation, three years before, he had only been waiting for something +to turn up. He had had nothing to do except to ring the bell at eleven +o'clock, and then stand in the door-way of his house until it was time to +ring it again at four. Then towards evening he always went to the Rehbock +to hear the news. All this appeared in a new light before his eyes, now +that Veronica had inquired about his occupation. Then she had encouraged +him so sympathetically to try to get something to do, and promised to be +of service to him if she could. It was exactly as if she had an especial +interest in his welfare. Why did she concern herself about him? Suddenly a +light broke through his darkness.</p> + +<p>"Dietrich is gone, and is not likely to come back," he said to himself, +"she detests Jost; and women always do the very thing you least expect +them to; I've heard that a hundred times. She is after me! Good heavens!" +he called out in his surprise as this idea seized him. "A fellow must +spruce up! I will take the first step this very day."</p> + +<p>The idea which had seized Blasi's mind that he was to take Dietrich's +place with Veronica, suggested a farther plan. He decided immediately to +become a saddler too, and before he went into his own house, he turned +back and sought Gertrude's garden.</p> + +<p>Gertrude's workman was walking up and down, for recreation; for he never +went to the tavern. Blasi went to him and opened his mind; he wanted to be +a saddler, and to learn the trade from him.</p> + +<p>The man was quite willing; he bethought himself that it would be rather an +agreeable change to have a young fellow to talk to, instead of merely +sitting all day by the side of the silent widow. He said he would speak to +his employer, and Blasi could come on the morrow. He was sure she would +agree, for she generally took his opinion about the business.</p> + +<p>"You see, Blasi," said he pompously, "if I were not there to look after +things, they would all go to ruin. In fact there are only two ways to save +this business; either Dietrich must come back and quickly too, and take +hold of the business better than he ever did before, or else it must fall +into my hands entirely, and I will take all the risks and all the +profits."</p> + +<p>"There may be yet a third way; who knows?" said Blasi, significantly, and +he winked so mysteriously first with one eye and then with the other, that +the saddler said to himself, "I guess he's been at the Rehbock."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX" />CHAPTER IX.</h2> + +<h3>MOTHER GERTRUDE ALSO GIVES GOOD ADVICE.</h3> + + +<p>The cold, dismal December days had come. It was always long after dark +now, before Veronica got home; but she never had to hurry, for fear of +going through the wood alone, for there stood Blasi always ready at the +turf hut on the edge of Fohrensee, just where the houses ceased and it +began to be lonely. If it was fine, he was walking up and down before the +hut; if it stormed, he was standing under the shelter of the roof. He was +never absent and he never came too late. Yet he was busy all day long, +and had to run half the way to get to the hut in time. His master did not +let him off one moment before the appointed day's work was over, Blasi's +application to learn the saddler's trade had been favorably received by +Gertrude and he had set to work at once. Now that he worked from morning +till night he never had time to put his hands in his pockets, and the +saddler kept him up to the mark, proud of showing how well he himself +understood the business. Blasi was contented, and more than contented with +his life; he had a new and very happy consciousness of being of use, and +he had risen in his own estimation. He felt like a man of property, almost +like a gentleman. By the time he had finished his day's work, and hurried +down to Fohrensee and walked back again, he was so tired that he was +ready to go to bed directly; he had no time nor desire to loaf. And so it +came about that when Veronica wished to give him his piece of money every +evening he objected; for he said he did not want to be paid; he preferred +to have his services accepted on the ground of friendship. Veronica +consented to accept them on that ground, but from time to time she would +say, "Blasi, this is your birthday," or "To-day is the cherry-festival, I +should like to make you a little present," or "I have had extra work +to-day, and I should like to give you part of the extra pay, for if you +had not been coming for me, I could not have waited to do it, so it is +fairly yours;" and each time she pressed into his hand such a large piece +of money that he soon had a considerable sum laid away. Then one day she +gave him a silk handkerchief; and another day half-a-dozen new shirts, +white as snow; and then again a package of handkerchiefs hemmed and ready +for use; and all this increase of property raised his standard of living, +and excited his ambition.</p> + +<p>The night before Christmas, Veronica was late in coming home. It was dark +and stormy. She had been delayed at the school, making preparations for +leaving everything in order for the holiday.</p> + +<p>When she came into the sitting-room she found her mother at work by +lamp-light, mending a ragged old mail-bag. Advancing years had told upon +Gertrude; and although industrious as ever, she could not work as easily +as she once did.</p> + +<p>"Oh mother, I cannot let you do that heavy piece of work," said Veronica, +as soon as she saw what her mother was about. "Didn't I tell you that I +would come home in time to dress the house for Christmas, and now you have +not only done all that, but you are at work on that old mail-bag. I can't +bear to have you do so. Why won't you let me do something for you, and +take a little rest yourself. You look so tired."</p> + +<p>"You need the evening to rest in too, dear child, after working steadily +all day," said Gertrude affectionately. "And I am very glad when there is +a piece of work like this that I can do. I want him to find everything as +it used to be, when he comes home. I think that with care and industry I +can manage so that I shall not be obliged to give up this house while he +is away. I am sure it will be a great comfort to him to find that he still +has his home. And besides I feel that it will help him to begin life anew, +and bring him back to his old right-minded way of thinking. Oh, if he +would only come home!"</p> + +<p>"Mother, mother, that is no reason why you should work beyond your +strength. You have taken care of me all these long years, and now it is +fairly my turn to take care of you. Do not worry about the house, dear; I +have made an arrangement with the cattle-dealer. When you told me that he +threatened to take it, I went to him and got him to let me settle with him +instead. He was very glad that I wanted it, for he said that he didn't +see what good it would be to him, and he gave me my time about paying for +it."</p> + +<p>"Is that true, Veronica?" said Gertrude, and a happy smile stole over her +face. "You do not know what a load you have taken from my heart! Oh, you +are good and brave! If I could only see you look happy, how glad I should +be! If I could find out how to make you happy! I would do anything in the +world for you, if I only knew how!"</p> + +<p>"There is no use in thinking about it, mother dear. Happiness is not for +me. It may be for others, but not for me." Veronica spoke with strong +emotion. "I have worked and struggled for it ever since I can remember +anything, but all in vain. Cousin Judith told me that work was the way to +fortune, and that 'fortune' meant whatever one wanted most; and so I +worked, always, even when I did not know what it was that I wanted most. +Afterwards when I learned that for me happiness was the best fortune, I +worked on, for I wanted to be happy, but I was not. I always brooded over +my work, thinking of all the unpleasant and troublesome things that had +happened. Then Sabina told me how, when she was terribly unhappy about her +deformity, she had found relief in books, in reading," and Veronica went +on to tell how Sabina had sent her delightful books and how she had tried +to drive away her own sorrow by the new interests which she found in them. +"But you see," she added with a sigh, "it did not help me; nothing helps +me. When I read, I was still unhappy. What difference did it make to me, +all that was written in the books; it did not make my troubles less. The +old thoughts came right in and left me no peace. Even while I was reading +I could not fix my mind on the book, and when I laid the book down, I had +gained nothing, but was as sad and hopeless as ever. Happiness is not for +me, and the little motto upon my rose may be true for others; it is not +true for me. I cannot 'grasp' the only 'fortune' I care for."</p> + +<p>Veronica spoke passionately; with a vehemence that Gertrude had never +before heard from her. Her strong, self-controlled nature had never before +given way and found expression in words. Now the flood-gates were opened, +the stream broke through. Gertrude was distressed at her unwonted +emotion. "Veronica," she said, sadly and lovingly, "this pains me. I had +no idea of your feeling; no conception of your having suffered so. You are +always so quiet and reserved that I thought you had peace within, though +your face is so often clouded with apparent discontent. Now I see that +your heart is heavy. If I could only show you the way to peace—that is +the way to happiness.</p> + +<p>The girl said nothing; she only shook her head as if to say: "Peace is not +for me," and her eyes shone like fire with her inward excitement.</p> + +<p>"Veronica," said Gertrude presently, "to-morrow is Christmas day. Do you +remember how when you were little children we always prayed together at +night, and how happy you always were at Christmas, and how gladly you +said your little prayer? Will you not pray with me now, my child, as we +did in those dear old days?"</p> + +<p>The girl turned her face aside and wiped away her tears. "I will, mother," +she said, making an effort to control herself, "it will bring back those +happy days in memory, and give you a little pleasure."</p> + +<p>She folded her hands and began to repeat the Lord's prayer. Gertrude +followed reverently. When she reached the words, "Forgive us our +trespasses," Veronica hid her face in her hands, and broke into violent +sobs.</p> + +<p>"No, mother, I must not say it. I cannot forgive him. I cannot forgive +Dietrich for having treated you so, and then run away and hidden himself +without writing a single word, to tell you where he is. He must know how +you are suffering, and I too. And that Judas! I can never, never forgive +him. He led Dietrich astray and deceived him. He has destroyed all our +happiness. How can I forgive him? Doesn't he deserve our hatred? Can I +help wishing him the worst punishment that ever befell a human being?"</p> + +<p>Veronica sobbed as if the long-pent-up agony of her heart would never +again submit to be restrained. Silently Gertrude sat with folded hands, +waiting till the storm was spent. At last she said softly,</p> + +<p>"If I felt as you do, my child, I could not bear it at all. It would kill +me. But I do not feel so. When my Dieterli was a little child and I had to +do everything for him, before he was old enough to take care of himself, +there was much in his character and conduct that made me anxious. He +always wanted to be first in everything, and whatever he wished for, that +he must have, without delay and without effort on his part. And as he grew +older and these qualities strengthened, I often felt that with his +headstrong disposition he could never become great and good, without the +discipline of a severe school. From the earliest hours of his life, I gave +him into God's hands, and prayed for God's care and guidance. And through +all these years my constant prayer for my boy has been, 'Lead him where +Thou wilt, Oh God, only let him not fall out of Thy hands; When this heavy +trial came, which was almost beyond my strength to bear, I did not lose +my faith that the God to whom I had given him, would not let my Dieterich +be lost. If the hard lessons of life have begun for Dietrich, he must +learn them thoroughly; and if his sins are to be purged away, he must +suffer in the process. And though I suffer too, it is God's will; I have +had much schooling in my life, and have learned much and gained much from +it. Do not feel so hardly against Dietrich because he has not written to +us. Perhaps he has written, and the letter has gone astray. I look for a +letter every day, but if he does not write, we may be sure that he is in +great trouble, poor boy! He knows how we feel toward him, and if he has +gone into evil ways we must pity him the more and pray God to bring him +back into the right path again. As to Jost, I think as you do, that he is +to blame for our poor boy's troubles. He led him astray and then played +him false. Jost is a poor lost sheep who has wandered far from the fold. +He has no one to care for him, no one to lead him back again. He is alone +in the world. Should not we pray that he may be shown the wickedness of +his ways, that his conscience may be awakened and that he may repent and +his soul be saved?"</p> + +<p>Veronica had listened attentively to all that Gertrude had said. After a +silence she said thoughtfully,</p> + +<p>"Mother, are you made happy by this faith in God?"</p> + +<p>And without a moment's hesitation came the answer;</p> + +<p>"I know of nothing that can make us so happy as this faith—the strong +confidence in our hearts that our Father in Heaven orders and watches over +our lives, and that everything which happens to us is for our good, if we +obey him and hold fast to him. I do not know much, Veronica; I have not +read nearly as much as lame Sabina, or as you have, and you understand +things far better than I do; but it seems to me that you would have gained +more from your reading, if you had tried to find something in the books, +which you could use to help you in your trouble, and not merely to find +out something new about what other people do and how they live."</p> + +<p>"If you learned from these books that our Lord Jesus Christ first taught +the lesson that all men are equal in the sight of God, and that one soul +is of as much worth as another before Him, then it must have been told +there too, how our Savior brought us the glad tidings that we have a +Father in Heaven, who loves His children and who will bless them if they +put their trust in Him. Our Savior shows us the way to our Heavenly +Father, and will help us to overcome all the difficulties that stand in +our path. He speaks to us with a tenderness beyond that of any other +friend, and bids us lay our burdens upon Him and He will help us to bear +them."</p> + +<p>"But mother," said Veronica, looking with a wonder that was almost awe +upon the peaceful countenance of the mother, "can you truly say that you +have found peace and happiness, while you have no news from him, and do +not know what dreadful tidings any minute may bring you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Veronica, I can and I do say so," answered Gertrude, and her face +even without words would have borne witness to the truth of what she said. +"I know that what ever comes to us, comes from God, and is for our good. +But Veronica, we must put away all hatred and bitterness from our hearts; +these feelings are all evil, and we must ask to be forgiven for them. +Shall I go on with the prayer, where you left off, my child? Try to join +with me; it will help you, dear."</p> + +<p>And Gertrude finished the Lord's prayer.</p> + +<p>Veronica sat silent for a time, and then rose and went to her own room. +She could not sleep, but she had no inclination to seek relief for trouble +in her sewing, as she had been accustomed to do. Gertrude's words were +working in her heart. How often had she said lately in the proud +bitterness of her heart, "A fine truth indeed!</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">'Fortune stands ready, full in sight,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">He wins, who knows to grasp it right!'"</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>And now Gertrude had shown her that the words were true after all, and +that she had herself grasped Happiness, the truest Fortune, even in the +midst of a deep sorrow, greater even than Veronica's own.</p> + +<p>Sleeplessly for Veronica the hours of the night went by; but over and over +again the mother's words sounded in her ears, and she strove to quiet with +them the trouble and unrest of her heart.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X" />CHAPTER X.</h2> + +<h3>MAN PROPOSES, BUT GOD DISPOSES.</h3> + + +<p>Still no news came from Dietrich. Jost made many attempts to show Veronica +how much he wished to win her favor. He often went to meet her, and he +gave himself endless trouble to convince her of his attachment. He could +not boast that he made himself of any use by going to meet her; for she +was always accompanied by Blasi, who marched by her side with a triumphant +air as if to say, "Jost can judge for himself who holds the place of honor +here!" When Jost joined them, Veronica took care that Blasi should walk +between herself and the intruder, and she neither said a word herself, +nor seemed to hear what the others were saying. Jost grew pale with +suppressed rage. Whenever at other times he met Blasi anywhere, he threw +contemptuous words at him. If occasionally Blasi stepped into the Rehbock +for a glass of beer, Jost would cry out,</p> + +<p>"Oh ho, she allows it to-night, does she, you donkey of a servant? How +will you look when she doesn't want your services any longer, and gives +you your dismissal? She is already beginning to soften towards me, but +until she comes to me and begs me to hear her, I won't listen to a word, +nor pay the slightest attention to her."</p> + +<p>Such remarks as these, thrown out before all the company at the Rehbock +were very exasperating to Blasi and several times he seized the big bowl +to throw it at the insolent fellow's head. He did not throw it however, +for Veronica had charged him to have as little as possible to do with +Jost, and especially never to quarrel with him, and Veronica's influence +over Blasi grew stronger every day. So he did not throw the bowl, but +instead, drained it to the bottom and then left the room.</p> + +<p>About this time Blasi began to meet Judith very often on his evening walk. +Judith seemed to have some business that took her frequently to Fohrensee. +Strange surmises were aroused, among the Fohrensee people; for it was +known that she went to visit the cattle-dealer. The two were often seen +standing before his house in the open street, gesticulating vehemently +with hands and arms. The people about said,</p> + +<p>"Something's in the wind. They're going to be married. To be sure she is +cleverer than he, but then he is twenty-five years younger, and that +counts for something."</p> + +<p>One evening in January, Judith met Blasi as he was coming round the corner +of Gertrude's house, where he was always at work till it was time to go +for Veronica.</p> + +<p>"What makes you go about laughing all the time, and looking as if you had +been winning a game?" asked Judith.</p> + +<p>"That's exactly what I was going to ask you," retorted Blasi, "What have +you got to laugh about?"</p> + +<p>"Answer me, and I'll answer you, my lad."</p> + +<p>"All right; it's nothing to be ashamed of. She'll have me."</p> + +<p>"Good heavens!" exclaimed Judith "Who? Which one?"</p> + +<p>Blasi did not turn round, but pointed with his thumb over his shoulder at +the house he had just left. "That one," he said.</p> + +<p>Judith shouted with laughter.</p> + +<p>"Will she have you all three?" she said; "first Dietrich, then Jost, and +now you."</p> + +<p>"I don't see the joke," said Blasi crossly. "Dietrich has run away; she +avoids Jost as if he were a nettle, and who else is there? Who is there +for her to call upon if she wants help, hey?"</p> + +<p>Judith was still snickering over the news.</p> + +<p>"Now it's your turn," said Blasi, "tell me what it is that you're so +pleased about."</p> + +<p>"It is very much like yours, Blasi; come a little nearer," and she +whispered in his ear, "I have him."</p> + +<p>"Mercy on us!" cried Blasi. "You will be as rich as a Jew, for the +cattle-dealer is worth more than half the people in Fohrensee, all put +together."</p> + +<p>"I'm not talking about the cattle-dealer."</p> + +<p>"Pshaw! whom are you talking about then?"</p> + +<p>"Somebody else, and I have him in such a fashion that he will not forget +it in a hurry, I tell you!"</p> + +<p>As she spoke, Judith made a gesture with her hands as if she were choking +some one, who certainly would not escape alive from her clutches.</p> + +<p>Blasi shook his head and walked on in silence. But in his inmost mind he +thought, "I can't make anything out of her; her head is all in a buzz. But +she's only a woman."</p> + +<p>Soon after, they reached the turf-hut, and there they separated. Veronica +was not far off; and as she came up Blasi joined her, and they walked +quickly along over the crisp, frozen ground. She was more silent than +usual, and seemed sunk in thought. In the middle of the wood she stopped +suddenly and said,</p> + +<p>"Blasi will you do me a great favor?"</p> + +<p>"I will do anything in the world for you, Veronica," was the prompt reply, +"I will jump into the big pond over there, and never come out again, if +you want me to."</p> + +<p>"You couldn't get in now; it is frozen hard," said the girl, laughing. "I +don't want you to do that, but something very different. Do you think you +could find out what Jost knows about Dietrich? Perhaps he has told Jost +where he is, and where a letter would reach him."</p> + +<p>"Yes, but look here, Veronica, are you still thinking about him, all this +time?" asked poor Blasi, quite taken aback.</p> + +<p>"We will not talk about that," she answered curtly. "To tell the truth, I +am very anxious about our mother. She has been very far from well lately, +and she says every now and then, 'If I could only see him once more!' as +if she felt that she was not going to live much longer. Oh, help me get +word to Dietrich if you can, Blasi! do help me!" Veronica's eyes were full +of tears, as she raised them beseechingly to Blasi's face. He was much +touched at the sight of her tears; but then a great fear arose in his +mind, for he thought, "She is beginning to soften, and it will all turn +out just as Jost said." And he determined to prevent it at any cost.</p> + +<p>"Don't lose your courage, and I'll try my best! I'll see what I can do!" +he said in a very decided tone, and with a most courageous air.</p> + +<p>"You are my only friend now," said Veronica; and the words spurred Blasi +on to immediate action. He left her in the doorway, and hastened away. He +would find out all that Jost could or would tell about Dietrich. He ran +across to the Rehbock, where he found Jost sitting with his glass. For if +Jost, as he complained, had to sit and work all the morning, while others +did as they pleased, yet he made enough money by his work to allow him to +spend all his afternoons at the Rehbock, and remain, drinking one glass +after another, all through the evening, and late into the night.</p> + +<p>Blasi seated himself by his side, and opened his case very skilfully. He +wanted to know about their old friend; where he was now, and whether there +was any chance of getting a line sent to him. He did not mind paying for a +drink to-night, he said, if Jost would tell him exactly what he knew about +Dietrich; they ought to hang together, they three, who had known each +other ever since they were children. While Blasi was discoursing in this +clever manner, Jost looked squintingly at him, and when he stopped, he +answered scoffingly,</p> + +<p>"Oh, so she has come to it at last, has she? I have been expecting it. You +go back and tell her that I can give her all the information she wants; +but she must come to me for it, herself, and speak pleasantly to me, as I +do to her. Tell her that she will never see him again, as long as she +lives; he is too far off. But if she wants to send him a message, she has +but to come to me and ask, and I will do her that favor, and she can do me +one in return. Go now, Blasi, and tell her this from me. I'll pay for the +beer myself."</p> + +<p>Blasi felt stunned. Jost had seen through his little game at a glance, and +treated it with contempt. How could he carry such a message to Veronica? +It might bring the tears into her eyes again, and that was altogether too +painful to see. There was no use in remonstrating with Jost, who sat there +smiling scornfully without farther words. For the first time in his life, +Blasi left his glass unfinished. He pulled his cap down over his eyes and +left the inn. When he entered the widow's cottage, Veronica sat by the +table, stitching away at the old mail-bag. She put it down as he came in, +and looked up anxiously into his face.</p> + +<p>"It's no use; he is just splitting with rage and fury;" and Blasi threw +his cap across into the farthest corner of the room. He related the whole +conversation and it was plain enough that it was useless for him to try to +get anything out of Jost.</p> + +<p>She was silent for a time; thinking over Jost's words. "He wants to humble +me! I am to go and beseech him to tell me; and I must be friendly and do +him a favor. What favor? No, I will have nothing to do with him."</p> + +<p>She took up the bag again, stitched up the last hole, and folded the work. +Then she said,</p> + +<p>"May I ask one thing more of you, Blasi? I hope I shall be able to repay +you some day for all your kindness."</p> + +<p>"Only speak, Veronica," said Blasi, "I will do anything you ask. If you +want me to, I will go to find Dietrich, even if I have to go on foot all +the way to Australia."</p> + +<p>"Oh, it is no such long journey as that. I am sorry to ask you to do a +disagreeable errand, but you see Mother is much disturbed because this +mail-bag has not been sent back. She seems to be in a hurry to have +everything finished and settled up—as if she had no time to lose." +Veronica paused, and the tears that it so troubled Blasi to see, filled +her eyes to overflowing. "I promised mother that the bag should be sent +home early tomorrow morning, and you see I have no one but you to ask. You +can't leave your work in the daytime and at evening you have to go to meet +me; so there is no time but the very early morning before work hours."</p> + +<p>"I will take it if it snows cats and dogs; but where is it to go?"</p> + +<p>"It is not a pleasant walk, unless you go a long way round by the +high-road. The bag belongs at the post-office at the Valley bridge. Do +you think you could get down the steep foot-path in this deep snow? I +should feel dreadfully if anything were to happen to you, Blasi."</p> + +<p>Blasi was not afraid. He was proud to show Veronica that she might count +on his courage, where he had only the forces of nature to contend against, +and not the treacherous tricks of Jost.</p> + +<p>Veronica had a hard battle with herself that night. "Must I do it?" she +asked herself again and again, and each time her heart revolted and she +groaned aloud, "I cannot, oh, I cannot!"</p> + +<p>Then the image of Gertrude rose before her, pale and suffering, and she +heard her heart-rending words, "If I could only see him once more!" +Veronica could not sleep, nor could she come to any decision.</p> + +<p>Next morning it seemed that Blasi was to be taken at his word, and his +boast of being ready for service, no matter what the weather might be, was +to be put to the proof; for it stormed furiously and the wind blew so +fiercely when he left the house, that he could scarcely make way against +it. The half-frozen snow stung and blinded him, but it did not deter him. +He forced his way onwards, and though it was still dark and he could not +see one step before him, he went on as confidently and unhesitatingly as +if there were no chance of his losing his way. And he did not lose it. +When day dawned he found himself close to the Valley-bridge, in spite of +deep snows and stinging sleet.</p> + +<p>"You are early," said the post master, who was busy sorting his letters by +lamplight. Blasi answered that he had to be at work by sunrise, and +having delivered the bag and received the pay for it, he started for home +again. He had scarcely gone twenty steps when the post-master called after +him,</p> + +<p>"Hulloa! Blasi, you can do a neighborly kindness if you will, and it won't +cost you anything;" and he handed Blasi a letter.</p> + +<p>"It is for the old Miller's widow, over there. Jost fetches her letters +himself, usually; it is marked "To be called for," but he'll be glad to be +spared the walk such a day as this. You can tell him he needn't come +to-day, you know."</p> + +<p>Blasi took the letter. The Miller's widow was an old deaf woman, who lived +quite alone, in a little, tumble-down cottage, just off the road, on a +lonely hillside. The foot-path that Blasi took, led near her dwelling. The +woman was an aunt of Jost's, and had known better days when her husband +was alive; but now she had fallen into poverty, and had grown sour and +bitter, and would have nothing to do with the rest of the world. Blasi +worked his way to her hut, through the deep, pathless snow. As he +approached the door, he took the letter from his pocket, and looked at the +address.</p> + +<p>"Heavens and earth and all the rest of it! It is from Dietrich!" he cried +out. "I didn't copy all his work at school for nothing. I know his +hand-writing as well as I know anything!"</p> + +<p>He talked aloud in his excitement, as he stood hammering away at the door, +which the old woman was not very prompt in opening. At last he opened it +himself, and came stamping into the room. The widow was sitting on a bench +by the stove, picking wool. She had not heard his knocks, and she stared +at him with amazement. He explained how he came by the letter, but she was +too deaf to understand him. Then he held the letter close under her eyes, +and shouted in her ear,</p> + +<p>"Read it! I want to know what's in it. It's from Dietrich."</p> + +<p>She pushed the letter away and said sharply,</p> + +<p>"It don't belong to me. I never get any letters. Take it away."</p> + +<p>Blasi was fairly out of patience.</p> + +<p>"That's your name, any way," he said. "I'll read it to you; I want to know +what he says." He tore the letter open and began to read:</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 12em;">"HAMBURG, 14th Jan., 18—</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"My Dear Jost:"</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>Blasi started, but he read on. It was a short letter, and he read it +through twice.</p> + +<p>"Will you get out?" said the old woman crossly, for Blasi stood as if +rooted to the floor. He stuffed the letter back into the torn cover, and +went out, but stopped again outside. What should he do? The letter was +Jost's. He was afraid of Jost, and he had opened Jost's letter! Presently +an idea struck him, and he instantly acted on it. He stuck the envelope +together as well as he could, ran through the storm back to the +post-office, tossed in the letter quickly, saying, "The old woman says +it's not for her, and she won't take it," and was off again on his +homeward way.</p> + +<p>As for Veronica, she had but one thought in her mind all that day. +Gertrude was so ill when she went to her bed-side in the morning, that +Veronica's heart at once cried out, "It must be done!" and all day long +she kept repeating to herself, "It shall be done to-night."</p> + +<p>When Blasi went to meet her that evening, he was so full of his news that +he could scarcely wait to greet her, before beginning to tell it; but he +was so startled by her looks that instead, he stopped short, and +exclaimed,</p> + +<p>"What is the matter? Are you ill? Sit down and rest, in the hut, here."</p> + +<p>Veronica shook her head; she could not lose a moment, she said, for she +was in a hurry to get home, and was not in the least ill. Then Blasi +blurted out his story; he was so eager, that he could scarcely get the +words out straight. Veronica listened with breathless attention. Suddenly, +such a happy radiance spread over her face, that Blasi stood still and +gazed at her.</p> + +<p>"Hamburg! did you say Hamburg, Blasi? Was that where the letter came +from?" Her eyes danced with joy; Blasi had never seen her look like that +before.</p> + +<p>"Certainly it was; I am sure of it; I can read Dietrich's writing fast +enough," answered Blasi, and he added to himself, "The women-folk are +queer creatures. No fellow can understand them. A moment ago she looked +all broken-down, and as if she could be blown out with a puff of wind, +and now she looks bright and strong as the sun at noon-day."</p> + +<p>"Repeat word for word what you read in the letter, please, Blasi," and he +told her all that he could remember. It did not take long. Dietrich said +that he had not much to say, but wrote because Jost was the only person in +the world who cared anything for him. Perhaps some day his mother would +come to feel differently; but since he had brought so much trouble upon +her, he could not expect her to forgive him yet. If Veronica was going to +marry some one else, he did not want to hear about it. He could not make +up his mind to go to Australia as Jost advised; it was too far away; he +was almost dead of homesickness even in Hamburg. If they were after him +for the man-slaughter, he thought he could hide well enough there, and +perhaps in a few years when the whole thing was forgotten, he could come +home again.</p> + +<p>If worst came to worst, and he were taken, he should at least get home, if +only to be put into the House of Correction. He felt the worst on his +mother's account. He wanted Jost to write and tell him about things at +home, and it was safest to send to the same address, as he always called +for the letters himself.</p> + +<p>Veronica hung upon every word that fell from Blasi's lips, and when he had +finished, she walked silently by his side, deep in thought. Presently he +asked her what he should do if Jost found out that he had opened his +letter and hauled him up before a Justice of the Peace for it. Veronica +said she believed that Jost would scarcely care to say anything about the +letter. She advised Blasi to keep his own counsel, and to behave as usual, +in a perfectly unconcerned manner, whenever he met Jost. She would take +the rest in hand herself. Blasi was more than willing to leave it all to +her; he had entire confidence in her ability to manage the affair. The +letters of all the country round were collected at the central office in +Fohrensee, to be forwarded together from there to the nearest city, where +they were sorted and distributed. Veronica thought of this, and laid her +plans accordingly. The next day as soon as she reached Fohrensee, she went +to the post-office, and asked to see the address of a letter which had +just been sent in, on its way to Hamburg. The post-master, who knew her +well, did not think the request at all singular, supposing that it had +something to do with the school business.</p> + +<p>"A letter for Hamburg came in last evening;" said his daughter who was his +assistant, "there it lies with the others that came with it."</p> + +<p>The postmaster went to the table and found the letter, which he handed to +Veronica. "The address is not very nicely written," he said.</p> + +<p>The handwriting was either that of a person unused to the pen, or it was +purposely disguised. The letter was addressed to a woman of the same name +as that of the miller's widow. The name of the street was illegible, but +the words "To be called for," were plainly written.</p> + +<p>Veronica was convinced that the letter she was in search of lay before +her. So Jost had written as she had expected he would do, the day before. +He had undoubtedly seen that Dietrich's letter had been opened. Did he +write so promptly in order to frighten Dietrich into going farther away? +Had he suggested to him a new address now that the old one had been +discovered? She felt sure that Jost was trying to prevent anyone but +himself from having any communication with Dietrich. There was not a +moment to lose. What would she not have given to be able to withhold the +letter! But she did not dare. She returned it to the postmaster and asked +for a piece of paper. Her hand trembled with excitement and her heart beat +so loud, that she thought the post-master must hear it.</p> + +<p>She wrote the following words:</p> + +<p>"Dear Dietrich; your mother is very weak. Come home directly. You have +nothing to fear. Veronica."</p> + +<p>She enveloped it, and addressed it as Jost had done his, and handed it to +the post-master.</p> + +<p>"I thank you very much indeed," she said, "will you kindly see that this +letter goes by this morning's mail?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes, I understand; it's a thread-and-needle business," he said +laughing, as he threw the letters down on the same pile. "They will travel +side by side and reach Hamburg together."</p> + +<p>All day Veronica's hand trembled at her work. Outwardly she was tranquil +and composed; but within was a storm of conjectures, fears and hopes. What +had Jost written to Dietrich about his mother; what about her? Jost had +evidently let him believe that he had killed a man. What reason had Jost +for deceiving him and keeping him at a distance? These questions brought +the color to Veronica's cheeks as she suspected what the answers might be. +Did Jost think that she would marry him if Dietrich did not come back? or +were there other reasons why he did not dare to let him come? All sorts of +possible solutions flew through Veronica's head, and the conclusion she +arrived at frightened her. She did not wish to suspect any one of being a +rogue without good reason; yet the evidence seemed in this case to be +irresistible. If Dietrich came home, everything would be cleared up. But +if he did not come, what then? Would everything have to be allowed to go +on as it was? She would talk it all over with Gertrude this very evening.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI" />CHAPTER XI.</h2> + +<h3>THE MOTTO PROVES TRUE.</h3> + + +<p>Veronica for once did not carry out her plans. When she reached home she +found Gertrude in a high fever. She spoke to Veronica as if she were still +a child, and had just come in from school. Veronica sat quietly down by +the bedside, and did what she could to soothe and refresh her, and when by +degrees her mother's mind became more clear, she proposed to her to send +for the doctor. But Gertrude did not want the doctor. She had no pain, she +said; she was only weak. Veronica sat by her side all night, but of course +it was no time to speak of the letter, and of the excitements of the day. +It would not do to arouse hopes that might never be fulfilled, and if +Dietrich came, that was enough. All through the long hours of the night, +the girl sat thinking over all the hopes and fears and perplexities of her +life, while Gertrude lay still and seemed to doze. Only now and then she +spoke some kindly words to the children, and Veronica knew that she +thought they were both there sitting by her bed-side; again her little +ones.</p> + +<p>In the morning Gertrude was quite herself again. She would not hear of the +doctor's being called, declaring that she needed nothing but a few days' +rest. Veronica would not leave her; but sent word to Sabina, to ask her to +take her place for a few days, which she knew she could rely upon her to +do gladly, for Sabina was extremely friendly, and very proud of her former +pupil, who had been a great credit to her in the position for which she +had recommended her.</p> + +<p>That day and the next night Mother Gertrude remained quiet, and seemed to +sleep most of the time. On the third day, it was evident that she was +looking for something, whenever she opened her eyes, although she was not +at all delirious; and she frequently exclaimed,</p> + +<p>"Oh! if I could only see him once more!"</p> + +<p>When the sunset light streamed through the window and illuminated the +room, a happy smile lighted up her face. She murmured:</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"He half in dreamland seemed to float</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Saying 'to-morrow will be fine.'"</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>After a while she turned towards Veronica and said,</p> + +<p>"Veronica, sing it again, with him please; it is beautiful, and I like to +hear you sing together: 'To-morrow will be fine.'"</p> + +<p>"You have been dreaming, mother; we have not been singing," said the poor +girl, wiping away her fast-flowing tears.</p> + +<p>It was dark now and all was still. The little night-lamp threw a pale +light upon the bed, where the mother lay in a half-sleep. Veronica sat by +with big wide-open eyes. Her restless thoughts were busy with many +questions. Had he received her letter? Would he come? How? When? and how +would the mother be? Suddenly Gertrude rose up in bed with greater +strength than she had shown for many days. "Go! go! Veronica," she said +beseechingly, "Open the door for him! He ought not to stand there knocking +like a stranger. Show him how glad we are to see him again!"</p> + +<p>"No one is knocking, mother; you are only dreaming," said Veronica sadly +shaking her head; but the longing in Gertrude's eyes was more than she +could resist, and she rose and left the room, thinking to please her by +compliance. She heard a step; but then the road ran in front of the house, +and it might be any passer-by. She opened the outside door—Dietrich stood +before her!</p> + +<p>"You summoned me, or I should not have come;" said the young man, half in +excuse, and half reassuringly, for Veronica stood dumb and motionless +before him. "Will you not shake hands, Veronica?"</p> + +<p>She gave him her hand, saying only,</p> + +<p>"Come to your mother; she heard your step, and doesn't need to be prepared +for you. But you must control yourself; you will find her very much +altered."</p> + +<p>Dietrich entered the room. His mother was still sitting up in bed, +watching the door, in a strained, expectant attitude. She was indeed +changed. She looked so small and thin and wasted. Dietrich was completely +unmanned at the sight. He sprang to the bedside, threw his arms about her, +and between his sobs he cried again and again,</p> + +<p>"Forgive me, mother, forgive me! I will never act so again! I will lead a +different life! Everything shall be right! You must live to be happy, +mother!"</p> + +<p>"Thank God that you have come, Dietrich," said his mother, trembling with +weakness and excitement. "I forgave you long ago. How could I have +anything against you? But, my dear boy, why did you not write one word, +one little word to tell me how you were and where? Didn't you know how +unhappy you were making me?"</p> + +<p>"What, mother! what do you mean? I wrote three times to you and twice to +Veronica; and you sent me back word through Jost that you did not want to +hear from me; that the disgrace was too much, and that no one dared to +mention my name before Veronica, she was so angry with me. I had to send +my letters through Jost, and he gave me the address of his old aunt to +make all safe. It was better for you not to know where I was, because +they were hunting for me on account of the man I killed. And you have +never got one of my letters; not one?"</p> + +<p>His mother could only shake her head in reply. She tried to speak, but she +had already gone beyond her strength, and she sank back upon her pillows. +Veronica, who had been standing by in silence, started forward.</p> + +<p>"I will run for the doctor," she said, "stay with her, Dietrich;" and she +darted from the room. He hurried after her. "Let me go," he said, "it is +too late for you to be out, and you can take better care of her than I +can." He was off; and Veronica returned to the bed-side. He took the +shortest road; the one that passed the Rehbock. Loud shouts and cries were +sounding from the inn. He hurried by. Presently he heard his own name +called; some one came running after him, shouting:</p> + +<p>"Wait, Dietrich, wait!" He turned round and saw Blasi, who had recognized +him as he passed the door, and rushed out after him. "Don't run away, +Dietrich! Welcome home! Where did you come from? Have you seen her? Don't +run away! Listen to me!" Dietrich stopped and shook hands with Blasi, and +again started forward. Blasi detained him.</p> + +<p>"There's been something going on that you ought to know about," he +continued. "Don't think that I go to the Rehbock every evening, by any +means! I heard there was some strange news, and so I went there to-night +to hear it, and it was well worth while, I can tell you. The red fellow +is found out! The cattle-dealer accused him of having stolen his money +bag. The man denied it; there was a long investigation, and at last they +found out that and a great many other things against him. He turns out to +be a regular rascal. And when all this had been proved against him, he +turned round and accused another man, who, he said, was really at the +bottom of everything; but no one knows yet who it is. Don't run so fast; I +can't keep up with you. Now you're out of it all right, Dietrich; but I +suppose you know that they tried to make out that you took the money, and +that was why you ran away. But I never believed it; I never did, on my +honor. Do stand still; it's all right now, and you needn't run away any +more."</p> + +<p>"I'm not going to run away, Blasi, and I thank you for bringing me this +good news. But it's not all right you know, on account of Marx."</p> + +<p>"Marx!" cried Blasi, "what of Marx! it doesn't hurt a man to get a good +beating. Marx is as lively as you or I, and still drinks more than enough +to quench his thirst, when he can get it."</p> + +<p>Dietrich stood still now, and drew a long breath. "Is that true, Blasi, +really true? You wouldn't say it if it were not true? She wrote me that +there was nothing to fear; but I didn't understand it. And I can't quite +understand now, Jost wrote me that Marx was dead, and that I had better go +away as far as I possibly could, because they were searching for me, high +and low. I can't make it out. But I must go now for the doctor. Come and +see me to-morrow, Blasi; and we will have a good talk. Now good-night."</p> + +<p>Dietrich shook his old comrade by the hand and ran off. But Blasi could +not so easily smother all the wonderful things he had to tell, and he +called out at the top of his lungs,</p> + +<p>"You don't know much of anything yet! I spend the whole day at your house; +it's you that will have to come to me. I am working at your trade; you +ought to see! there's many a fellow that would be glad to do as well as I +do!"</p> + +<p>But Dietrich had disappeared. It was past midnight, before he reached the +doctor's house, and he knocked a good many times in vain. At last a maid +came down and opened the door, saying as she did so,</p> + +<p>"What a plague it is, that everything always comes at once! He has been +called out once to-night, and has hardly got to bed again. It never rains +but it pours!"</p> + +<p>"I hope he will be so good as to come now;" said Dietrich, "it is very +important or I would not ask him."</p> + +<p>The maid knocked at the chamber door. It was some time before the doctor's +voice answered from within, "Who's there?"</p> + +<p>"Dietrich from Tannenegg," said the servant.</p> + +<p>"He back again? No, I'm too old and too tired for that. They ought to give +him a good beating if they can catch him; it would serve him right."</p> + +<p>Dietrich stepped up to the door himself.</p> + +<p>"It is not for me, doctor," said he humbly, "it is for my mother; she is +very ill indeed. For God's sake, doctor, come and help her!"</p> + +<p>"That's another thing altogether; she is a brave woman, who has been doing +your work for you," said the voice from within the room. Pretty soon the +doctor came out, and when Dietrich described his mother's condition, he +took some medicines with him and started out.</p> + +<p>"I have no horse to use to-night; mine has done a hard day's work and must +have his rest. We shall have to go up the hill afoot."</p> + +<p>As they crossed the open space in front of the house, he continued,</p> + +<p>"I remember once how on this very spot once a little boy stood up in front +of me, and when I asked him if he would like some day to take care of a +horse, answered, 'No, I want a horse of my own.' I thought he had a good +purpose in view if he would only pursue it the right way. But it does not +do to want to begin by being a gentleman. First come work, and service for +us all, then mastership may follow. Whoever tries to begin at the end, +will end at the beginning; which is not a good nor an agreeable method. Am +I right or wrong, Dietrich?"</p> + +<p>"You are right, doctor. If one could only look ahead!" answered Dietrich.</p> + +<p>"Yes, that would help; but as we cannot, we must trust those who are our +friends, and who have gone before us in the right way, and can show us the +road; like that noble woman to whom we are now going."</p> + + +<p>When they entered Gertrude's room they found her asleep. The doctor sat +down by the bedside, watched her awhile, and felt her pulse from time to +time. Then he arose and turning to Veronica, he said,</p> + +<p>"I can do no good here; take care of her; she deserves all you can do, but +the lamp of life burns low, and will soon go out altogether. She has had a +hard lot; trouble wears faster than years."</p> + +<p>With these words the doctor went to the door. He did not even glance +towards Dietrich, who threw himself on his knees by the bedside of his +dying mother, sobbing out:</p> + +<p>"O God in Heaven, do not let her die! Let her come back! Let her have a +little comfort in this world! Punish me as I deserve, but oh! let my +mother live!"</p> + +<p>Gertrude opened her eyes. She grasped the hand of her sobbing son, which +lay upon hers, and held it tightly clasped; while she whispered softly:</p> + +<p>"Yes, my Dieterli, pray, pray; if you can pray, all will come right +again."</p> + +<p>She closed her eyes and never spoke again. The hand that held Dietrich's +grew cold. Veronica, who had been standing behind Dietrich weeping +silently approached the bedside, took Gertrude's other hand in hers, and +said between her sobs:</p> + +<p>"Sleep well, dear, good mother! Yes, for you 'tomorrow will be fine';" and +she left the room.</p> + +<p>Two days later Dietrich followed his mother to her last resting place. +There was no need to avoid meeting people now, for every one knew that +the true thief had been discovered. But no hope was left to him in his +home. When he returned from the funeral, and went into the house, he knew +that he had no right there, for it no longer belonged to him. He went to +his room, strapped on his heavy knap-sack, and came down stairs. Veronica +was alone in the sitting-room. She stood leaning against the window, her +eyes fixed on the church-yard beyond, where the mother lay sleeping.</p> + +<p>He entered the room. "Veronica, give me your hand once more. I am going," +he said, coming towards her.</p> + +<p>"Where are you going, Dietrich?" she asked in a voice that was wholly +without feeling; and the cold tone seemed to stab the young man's heart as +with a knife. "It is all one to her;" he thought.</p> + +<p>"I am going out into the world. I am going to work to pay my debts. I have +no home; and as there is no one on earth who cares for me, I can bear my +burden better anywhere than here."</p> + +<p>"Then go, in God's name," said Veronica, and she held out her hand to him. +This was too much for Dietrich. He made one struggle for self-control and +then broke down completely.</p> + +<p>"Can you let me go so coolly, Veronica? not one kindly word for me? If I +might stay here with you, I would work day and night like the meanest +servant; I would do anything and everything for you. But no! I must go! I +could not bear it! How could I stay and see you give yourself to some one +else—I who have lost you,—lost you forever!"</p> + +<p>The young man threw himself into a chair, buried his face in his hands, +and cried like a child.</p> + +<p>Veronica was as white as snow. She went to his side, and laid her hand +upon his shoulder.</p> + +<p>"Dietrich," she said softly, "if you feel in this way, why don't you ask +me how I feel, when I think of living on here alone when you have gone; +when you have left me perhaps forever?"</p> + +<p>Dietrich raised his eyes to hers. A look lay there, a look such as he had +dreamed of in his banishment. He sprang to his feet, and seized her hand.</p> + +<p>"Veronica, can you love me? can you trust me?"</p> + +<p>She did not withdraw her hand, and looked him full in the eyes.</p> + +<p>"I have always loved you, Dietrich," she said, "and if I know that you can +pray again to God, and promise to live a life acceptable to Him, I can +trust you too."</p> + +<p>The young man pressed her to his heart. "Is it true, is it possible?" he +cried. "Oh Veronica, can it be true?"</p> + +<p>But suddenly he started back, and said in a frightened tone,</p> + +<p>"No, I dare not. I cannot. Who am I? I am nothing; I have nothing, less +than nothing; and I know what you are and how far above me. Jost wrote me +that there was no hope for me. I wanted to make you so happy—I meant to +get money and provide all sorts of beautiful things for you and to make +you the happiest woman in the world. And now! now I am a beggar, and a +miserable creature into the bargain."</p> + +<p>Veronica shook her head.</p> + +<p>"You do not understand what happiness really is, Dietrich. I have been +searching for it longer than you have, and you may believe me that it is +not what you think. It is not something at a distance, far beyond our +reach; we may find it while we are at work. We are not beggars; this house +is ours, and we can still live in it. But, Dietrich, we will try to find +the way that our mother went; that is the true way to happiness and peace +in life and death."</p> + +<p>"We will," cried Dietrich, with solemn joy; and as he clasped Veronica +again to his heart, there was that in his face and in his voice which +assured her that he would never leave her again, and that they would walk +in that true way of happiness and peace together.</p> + +<p>At this moment Judith burst into the room. When she saw the faces of the +two who stood before her, she stood stock still with surprise! She +immediately took in the situation.</p> + +<p>"So! So! this is something that delights one's very heart!" she cried, and +her face beamed with satisfaction. "But look out of the window! I came to +tell you! You can say good-bye to that rascal forever."</p> + +<p>They stepped together to the window which looked out upon the road. Jost +was just going by. His hands were bound together, and he was followed by +the Constable, who hurried him along. Jost looked up at the window and +shrank back at what he saw; but the man drove him on.</p> + +<p>"What does it mean?" asked Dietrich and Veronica in the same breath, +turning to Judith.</p> + +<p>"It is what was bound to come," she explained. "Everything is found out. +They seized the red fellow first, after I succeeded in getting it through +the cattle-dealer's thick head that he was the man to get hold of. When +they had driven the red man into a corner, so that he couldn't lie himself +out of it, he turned against Jost, and declared that Jost had planned the +whole thing and that he himself had only played second-fiddle. Which can +lie the worst, no one can tell, but that they are both reaping what they +have sown, is certain enough. And now we're to have a wedding, are we? and +our Dietrich is going to settle down into regular home life again. +Welcome, neighbors; we will live in friendship together all our days." And +Judith shook hands cordially with them both, and hastened away to spread +through the neighborhood the good news of the coming marriage.</p> + +<p>It is now ten years since Dietrich and Veronica left the church of +Tannenegg where they had been made one, and the blessing had been +pronounced upon their united lives. They went first to the little church +yard and knelt by the new made grave covered with flowers. With tearful +eyes, and with sad regrets in their happy hearts, they said,</p> + +<p>"If she could only have lived to see us now!"</p> + +<p>Today there is no more beautiful flower-garden in all Tannenegg, than that +about Dietrich's pretty white house. Within the house all is so fresh and +charming from top to bottom, that one who enters it finds it difficult to +get away again from its hospitable shelter.</p> + +<p>Dietrich has built a fine large work-room; and there he sits and works, +industrious and happy, or he goes about his outside affairs in a steady +business-like manner. Often he has to go to Fohrensee and even farther; +for his trade is prosperous beyond competition and his work is recognized +far and wide as of unrivalled excellence.</p> + +<p>On Veronica's face lies such a sunshine of constant happiness as is good +to look upon. She has given up her position in the school at Fohrensee; +her place is with her husband and children; but she does not for all that +sit with her hands in her lap; her orderly well-kept house, and her +blooming well-behaved children bear witness to her faultless management +as well as to her care and industry, and at the great annual Fair in the +city, if any one inquires about some wonderfully fine and beautiful +embroidery on exhibition, the answer invariably is, "that is the work of +Veronica of Tannenegg."</p> + +<p>Blasi is Dietrich's permanent assistant. He is constantly about the house, +and is known in the family as Uncle Blasi. As soon as the day's work is +over, and the evening sets in, his first question is, "Where are our +children?" He never speaks of them in any other way; they are his, his joy +and pride. He has also a special claim upon them, for he and Cousin Judith +are the god-father and god-mother of both.</p> + +<p>Blasi's favorite time is Sunday, when Dietrich goes to walk with his +wife, and gives over the house and the children to him. Then he sets upon +one knee the chubby little Dieterli and on the other the black eyed +Veronica, and they ride there as long as they please, no matter how high +the horse has to curvet and prance. And whatever else they want him to do +for them, he is ready to do, whatever it may be.</p> + +<p>There is only one Sunday pleasure that outweighs the knee-riding with +Uncle Blasi, and that is when Veronica takes her little girl in her lap +and lets Dieterli press close to her side, as he does only when he is very +much excited. Then the mother takes a little picture in her hand, the +picture of a red rose. Suddenly the flower opens, and a little verse in +golden letters appears. Every time this opens, it elicits a cry of joy +from the children, and they are never tired of seeing the wonder repeated. +And Veronica is never tired of repeating it; for the rose and the verse +are so interwoven with her life that they recall many memories of joy and +sorrow; and she often says to the children, "Some time when you are old +enough, I will explain this golden motto to you, and you shall learn it by +heart."</p> + +<p>When Blasi and Judith are alone together, he likes to talk over old times, +and he often reminds her that he had fully made up his mind to marry +Veronica himself; and he always winds up with,</p> + +<p>"I want you to understand that I would never have given her up to any one +else; but an old friend like Dietrich, you know;—of course it's a very +different thing with Dietrich."</p> + +<p>And Judith, laughing, answers,</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes, Blasi, you're quite right; it's a very different thing with +Dietrich."</p> + + + +<h3>THE END.</h3> + +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14627 ***</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/14627-h/images/2-tb.jpg b/14627-h/images/2-tb.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a5736b5 --- /dev/null +++ b/14627-h/images/2-tb.jpg diff --git a/14627-h/images/2.jpg b/14627-h/images/2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..584ef5c --- /dev/null +++ b/14627-h/images/2.jpg diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Veronica And Other Friends + Two Stories For Children + +Author: Johanna (Heusser) Spyri + +Release Date: January 7, 2005 [EBook #14627] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK VERONICA AND OTHER FRIENDS *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Emmy and the PG Online Distributed +Proofreading Team + + + + + + +</pre> + + + + +<h1>VERONICA</h1> +<h2>And Other Friends</h2> + +<p class="center">TWO STORIES FOR CHILDREN</p> + +<p class="center"><i>BY THE AUTHOR OF</i></p> + +<p class="center">"HEIDI"</p> + +<p class="center"><i>TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN OF +JOHANNA SPYRI, BY</i></p> + +<p class="center">LOUISE BROOKS</p> + +<p class="center">BOSTON +DE WOLFE, FISKE & CO.</p> + +<p class="center">361 AND 365 WASHINGTON STREET</p> + +<p class="figcenter"><a href="./images/2.jpg"><img src="./images/2-tb.jpg" alt="Frontispiece" title="Frontispiece" /></a></p> + +<p class="center">Copyright 1886,</p> + +<h2>BY LOUISE BROOKS.</h2> + +<p class="center">All Rights Reserved. +</p> + + + +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Contents"> + +<tr><td align='left'>CHAPTER</td><td align='left'></td> +<td align='left'>PAGE</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_I"><b>I.</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>A VISIT TO THE DOCTOR</td> +<td align='left'>9</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_II"><b>II.</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>WITH FRESH COURAGE</td> +<td align='left'>29</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_III"><b>III.</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>NINE YEARS LATER</td> +<td align='left'>41</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_IV"><b>IV.</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>ALL AT HOME</td> +<td align='left'>53</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_V"><b>V.</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>UPON UNSAFE PATHS</td> +<td align='left'>73</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_VI"><b>VI.</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>LAME SABINA GIVES GOOD ADVICE</td> +<td align='left'>101</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_VII"><b>VII.</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>A THUNDER-CLAP</td> +<td align='left'>120</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII"><b>VIII.</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>EACH ONE ACCORDING TO HIS KIND</td> +<td align='left'>138</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_IX"><b>IX.</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>MOTHER GERTRUDE GIVES GOOD ADVICE</td> +<td align='left'>170</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_X"><b>X.</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>MAN PROPOSES, BUT GOD DISPOSES</td> +<td align='left'>189</td></tr> + +<tr><td align='right'><a href="#CHAPTER_XI"><b>XI.</b></a></td> +<td align='left'>THE MOTTO PROVES TRUE</td> +<td align='left'>219</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="VERONICA" id="VERONICA" />VERONICA.</h2> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I" />CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<h3>A VISIT TO THE DOCTOR.</h3> + + +<p>It was early in the month of March. The dark blue vault of heaven lay over +mountain and valley, swept free from clouds by the keen northern blast as +it blew across the hills, swaying the big trees hither and thither as if +they were bulrushes, and now and then tearing off huge branches which fell +crashing to the ground. Other and sadder victims were sacrificed to this +fierce north wind. Human beings as well as inanimate objects fell before +him. He struck down with his mighty arm, not only the old and feeble, but +the young and strong; just as he swept away the clouds, hurrying them +across the skies, beyond the horizon line, away out of sight. Sometimes in +one day, a cruel malady would seize one occupant out of each one of the +three or four little villages clustered on the hillside. A sharp pain +attacked the lungs, and after a brief illness the resistless disease bore +away the sufferer to the silent grave.</p> + +<p>At the very moment of which we write, a group of black-clad mourners were +standing near one of the pleasantest houses in the isolated village of +Tannenegg, waiting for the sound of the church bell, as the signal to lift +the covered bier on which was stretched the body of a young woman, the +last victim to the north wind's cruel stroke, and to bear her to her +final resting place. In the quiet room within, two children were seated on +a bench, which ran along the wall. They formed a striking contrast to each +other. The girl, a little black-eyed frowning thing, dressed in some +mourning stuff, followed with fierce looks the rapid movements of a woman +who, standing before an open cup-board, was moving its contents over and +about, as if in search of something that did not come to hand. The boy was +also watching her, but his dancing blue eyes had in them a merry look of +pleased expectation.</p> + +<p>"I want to go out, Cousin Judith," said the girl, and her tones were half +angry, half anxious, "Where can my mother be?"</p> + +<p>"Be still, be still," said the woman, still tumbling the contents of the +cup-board about nervously. "I shall find something pretty for you +presently; then you must sit down quietly and play with it, and not go +outside, not one step, do you hear? Pshaw! there is nothing but rubbish +here!"</p> + +<p>"Well, then give us the rose," said the little girl, still scowling.</p> + +<p>The woman looked about the room.</p> + +<p>"There are no roses here," she said. "How should there be, in March?" she +added, half vexed at having looked for them. "There," said the child, +pointing towards a book that the woman had but a moment before replaced in +the cup-board.</p> + +<p>"Ah! now I know what you mean. So your mother always kept the rose, the +"Fortune rose?" I often envied her when she used to show it to us in her +hymn-book;" and as she spoke, she turned the leaves of the old hymnal, +until she found the rose and handed it to the child.</p> + +<p>"Take it," she said, "be quiet, and do not get up from your seats till I +come back;" and she hurried from the room.</p> + +<p>The little girl took the prettily-painted rose, in her hand; it was an old +acquaintance, her favorite Sunday plaything.</p> + +<p>When her mother wanted to secure a quiet hour for herself on Sundays, she +used to give her "Fortune rose" to her little Veronica, and it was sure to +occupy the child for a long time in perfect contentment.</p> + +<p>"Look, this is the way you must do," said the child, as she pulled with +her fingers a small strip of paper that stood out from the side of the +picture; suddenly before the astonished eyes of the boy the red full calix +of the rose flew open, disclosing a glittering golden verse that lay in +the centre of the flower. Then Veronica pushed the paper-strip back, and +the rose folded its leaves and was a perfect flower again.</p> + +<p>Quite dazzled by this wonderful magic the little boy stared with amazement +at the rose, and then seized it to try for himself.</p> + +<p>While the children were playing, Veronica's mother was being laid in her +grave. After awhile Cousin Judith came back into the room. She was +"cousin" to all Tannenegg, though related to no one. She came back to take +the rose, and put it into the hook, which she replaced in the cup-board. +"Sit still awhile longer, children;" she said, "and presently your mother +will come for you. Be good and do not trouble her, for she has enough to +bear already."</p> + +<p>It was the little boy's mother she meant, and the children knew it. They +knew also very well, that they must be good and not trouble her, for they +had seen her for two days going about the house with eyes red with +weeping. Presently she entered the room, and took the children one by each +hand, and went to the door with them. She seemed to be struggling with sad +and heavy thoughts. She usually spoke cheerily to the children, but now +she was silent, and every now and then she furtively wiped away a tear.</p> + +<p>"Where are we going, mother?" asked the boy.</p> + +<p>"We must go to the doctor's, Dietrich," she answered, "your father is very +ill." And she led them along the foot path toward the little town, where +the white houses shone in the sunlight. Fohrensee was a new place, that +had sprung up as if in one night from the soil, and now stood there a +great white spot against the dark hillside. Not long before, it had been +only a little cluster of houses standing in a protected spot on the side +of the hill, not very far below Tannenegg. It was so situated that the +biting north wind, which blew so sharply over the exposed houses of +Tannenegg, did not reach the nook where little Fohrensee lay bathed in the +full light of the sun. But the little place was high enough to be visited +by all the cooling breezes, and was healthy, pure and fresh, to a +remarkable degree. When, not long before this time, an enterprising +inn-keeper discovered its health-giving qualities, and built an inn there, +guests filled it so rapidly that he soon put up another. Soon, one after +another, little inns sprang up, as from the ground, and then a crowd of +trades-people came up from the valley, and settled around, for the number +of guests constantly increased, and the strangers found the spot so +favorable to health, that it became a favorite winter resort. And thus the +obscure little Fohrensee became, in a few years, a large and flourishing +town, stretching out in every direction.</p> + +<p>Gertrude, however, walking sturdily along with the children, was not +going as far as Fohrensee, with its shining white houses. She turned off +into a foot path that led to several scattered dwellings up on the +hillside, and soon reached an open space, on which stood a handsome house, +with large stables near by. Out from the stable, a hostler had just led a +spirited horse, which he began to harness into a light wagon. Instantly +the little boy freed his hand from his mother's, planted himself before +the horse, and could not be induced to move.</p> + +<p>"Stay there then, if you want to," said his mother, "we will go on to the +house; but you must take care not to go too near the horse."</p> + +<p>The doctor was just hurrying out from his office; he must have had a long +distance to go, for he was starting off before the usual time for office +hours was over. Gertrude apologized, and begged the doctor to excuse her +for not having come earlier to see him; she had been very busy with her +invalid, and could not get away before. "Never mind; as you have come, I +will wait a few minutes," said the physician, briefly; "Come in; how is +your husband?"</p> + +<p>Gertrude went into the room, and told the doctor about her sick husband. +It was Steffan, a strong, young man, on whom the mountain sickness had +seized with unusual violence. The doctor silently shook his head. He took +a small mortar that stood on the office table, and shook into it some +stuff which he ground with the marble pestle. His eyes fell on the child +who stood by Gertrude's side, gazing earnestly at the doctors's +occupation. The little creature had something unusual about her, and +attracted attention at once. Under her thick black hair and heavy brows, +her big eyes looked forth with a solemn gaze, as if everything she saw +gave her food for thought.</p> + +<p>"He had no one but himself to blame for it, I fancy," said the doctor, as +he filled some small square papers with his powders.</p> + +<p>"No, no! he was not the least of a brawler; he was a quiet industrious +fellow. They had rented some of our rooms, and lived there peaceably and +happily for three whole years, and never was an unkind word exchanged +between them. But he was a stranger in these parts; he was never called +anything but the Bergamasker, and the other fellows could never forgive +him for having won the prettiest and most courted girl in the whole +village. They never ceased to tease and irritate him, and on this especial +evening at the Rehbock they must have been unusually offensive. Apparently +they were all somewhat excited, for they could afterwards give no clear +account of the affair, but the end was that the Bergamasker came home +fatally wounded, and died the next day. Everything has been different +among us since the Rehbock was built. Our village used to be quiet and +orderly; every one was contented to work all the week and rest on Sunday. +Nobody ever heard of such a thing as noisy drinking and rowdyism. But I +have another errand with you now, doctor. Lene charged me on her death +bed to attend to it. She did not leave any money, but she had an excellent +outfit. She bade me sell her bedstead and her bureau, and bring you the +proceeds, to settle what she owed you. She was very anxious that I should +see to it, for she felt that you had done a great deal for her; and she +spoke of how often you had climbed the hill both by day and night, to +visit her. So, please give me the bill, doctor, so that I may settle it at +once, as I promised her."</p> + +<p>"What relatives has the child?" asked the doctor shortly.</p> + +<p>"She has none at all in these parts," replied Gertrude. "She has been with +me all through her mother's illness, and now she is mine. Her mother's +family are all gone. She might perhaps be sent to her father's parish in +Bergamaskische, but I shall not do that; she belongs now to us."</p> + +<p>"I would not go there," said the child firmly in a low tone, clinging to +Gertrude's dress with both hands.</p> + +<p>The doctor opened a big book, tore out a leaf, and drew his pen twice +across the closely written page.</p> + +<p>"There," he said, handing the cancelled sheet to Gertrude, "that is all +the bill I shall give you."</p> + +<p>"Oh, doctor, may God reward you," said Gertrude. "Go, child, and thank the +doctor, for you owe him a great deal."</p> + +<p>The child obeyed after her own fashion. She planted herself before the +big man, looked steadily at him with her great black eyes and said +somewhat hoarsely,</p> + +<p>"Thank you." It sounded more like a command than anything else.</p> + +<p>The doctor laughed.</p> + +<p>"She is rather alarming," he said, "she is evidently not accustomed to say +anything she does not really mean. I like that. But come, I must be off," +and handing the medicine to Gertrude he left the room quickly so as to +avoid her repeated thanks.</p> + +<p>The little boy was standing where his mother had left him, still staring +at the restless horse. The doctor looked kindly at the little fellow.</p> + +<p>"Would you like to take care of a horse?" he asked, as he got into his +wagon.</p> + +<p>"No, I should like to drive one of my own," replied the child without +hesitation.</p> + +<p>"Well, you are quite right there: stick to that, my boy," said the +doctor, and drove away.</p> + +<p>As Gertrude, holding a child by each hand, climbed the hillside, the boy +said gaily,</p> + +<p>"Say, mother, I can have one, can't I?"</p> + +<p>"Do you mean to be a gentleman like the doctor, and own a horse, +Dietrich?" asked the mother.</p> + +<p>The boy nodded.</p> + +<p>"So you can, if you will work hard for it, and stick to your work well. +You see the doctor had to do that for a long time, and has to do it still, +and if you stick to your work as he has, and never stop nor get tired till +it is done, and well done, then you will be a gentleman, even if you are +not a doctor. It doesn't matter what you do; you may be a gentleman if +you persevere and work hard and faithfully."</p> + +<p>"Yes, with a horse," said Dietrich.</p> + +<p>The little girl had been listening intently to every word of this +conversation. Her black eyes blazed out suddenly as she looked up to +Gertrude and said decidedly,</p> + +<p>"I'll be one too."</p> + +<p>"Yes, Yes, Mr. Veronica! Mr. Veronica! that sounds well," cried Dietrich, +and he laughed aloud at the idea.</p> + +<p>Veronica thought it no laughing matter, however. She pressed Gertrude's +hand firmly and looked up with glowing eyes, as she said, "I can be one +too, can't I mother; say?"</p> + +<p>"You should not laugh, Dietrich," said his mother kindly. "Veronica can be +exactly what you can be. If she works steadily, and does not grow tired +and careless, but keeps on till her work is finished and well finished, +she will be a lady as you will be a gentleman."</p> + +<p>Veronica trotted along contentedly after this explanation. She did not +speak again. The frowning brows were smoothed and the fiery eyes now shone +with the light of childish joy as she caught sight of the first flowers +that began to peep above the ground. The child's face looked fairly +charming now; her well-formed features framed by the dark locks, made a +beautiful picture.</p> + +<p>Dietrich was also silent: but he was pursuing the same train of thought, +for he broke out presently,</p> + +<p>"Will she have a horse too?"</p> + +<p>"Why not, as well as you. It all depends on how steadily and how +faithfully you both work," replied Gertrude.</p> + +<p>"Well, then, we shall have two horses," cried the boy, joyfully. "Where +shall we put the stable, mother?"</p> + +<p>"We can see to that bye and bye, there is plenty of time for that. It +won't do for you to be thinking about the horse all the time, you know, +you must keep your mind on your work if you mean to do it well."</p> + +<p>Dieterli said no more. He was busy trying to decide on which side of the +house it would be best to put the stable.</p> + +<p>That night, Gertrude again hurried down the hill to the doctor's houses +and this time she brought him back with her.</p> + +<p>Her husband's illness had taken a turn for the worse, and the next day he +died.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II" />CHAPTER II.</h2> + +<h3>WITH FRESH COURAGE.</h3> + + +<p>A few days later a numerous company of mourners followed another black +bier to the sunny church-yard.</p> + +<p>Steffan, the saddler, had been universally respected. He had begun life +modestly; there had been no large industries in Tannenegg in his early +days. He married the quiet and orderly Gertrude, who worked with him at +his trade, and helped support the frugal household. Soon the flood of +prosperity invaded Fohrensee, and naturally the only saddler in the +vicinity had his hands full of work.</p> + +<p>Now Gertrude's help was needed in earnest, and she did not fail. They were +soon in possession of a nice little house of their own, with a garden +about it, and no matter how much work she might have to do in the shop, +everything in her own province of housekeeping was as well and carefully +ordered as if Gertrude had no other business to occupy her time and +thoughts. And Steffan, Gertrude and their little Dieterli lived simple, +useful and contented lives and were a good example to all the +neighborhood.</p> + +<p>Now, to-day, Gertrude stood weeping by the window and looked across to the +church-yard, where that very morning they had laid her good man. Now she +must make her way alone; she had no one to help her, no one belonging to +her except her two children, and for them she must work, for she never +admitted for a moment that the orphaned Veronica was not hers to care for +as well as her own little Dietrich.</p> + +<p>She did not lose courage. As soon as the first benumbing effect of her +sorrow had passed a little, she gazed up at the shining heavens and said +to herself, "He who has sent this trouble will send me strength to bear +it;" and in full trust in this strength she went to work, and seemed able +to do more than ever.</p> + +<p>Her property, outside of the little capital which her husband had laid by, +consisted of her house, which was free from debt, and of which she could +let a good part. The question was, whether she could carry on the +remunerative business that her husband had been engaged in, until little +Dietrich should be old enough to assume the direction of it, and pursue it +as his father had done before him. Gertrude retained the services of a +workman who had been employed by Steffan, and she herself did not relax +her labors early and late, to oversee the work and keep all in running +order.</p> + +<p>For the first few weeks after her mother's death little Veronica sat every +evening weeping silently by herself in a dark corner of the room. When +Gertrude found her thus grieving, she asked kindly what ailed her, and +again and again, she received only this sorrowful answer,</p> + +<p>"I want my mother."</p> + +<p>Gertrude drew the child tenderly towards her, caressing her, and +promising her that they would all go together some day to join her mother, +who had only gone on before, that she might get strong and well again. And +gradually this second mother grew to take the place of her own, and no +game, no amusement could draw the loving child away from Gertrude's side. +Only Dietrich could succeed in enticing her to go with him now and then.</p> + +<p>The lad's love for his mother showed itself in a louder and more +demonstrative manner. He often threw his arms about her neck, crying +passionately,</p> + +<p>"My mother belongs to me and to nobody else."</p> + +<p>Then Veronica's brows would knit over her flashing eyes, until they formed +a long straight line across her face. But she did not speak. And Gertrude +would put one arm about the boy's neck and the other about the little +girl's, and say,</p> + +<p>"You must not speak so, Dietrich. I belong to you both, and you both +belong to me."</p> + +<p>In general, the two children were excellent friends, and completely +inseparable. They were not happy unless they shared everything together +and wherever one went, the other must go too. They went regularly to +school every morning, and were always joined by two of the neighbors' +children, who went with them.</p> + +<p>These were, the son of the shoemaker, long, bony Jost, with his little, +cunning eyes,—and the sexton's boy, who was as broad as he was long, and +from whose round face two pale eyes peered forth upon the world, in +innocently stupid surprise. His name was Blasius, nicknamed Blasi.</p> + +<p>Often, on the way to school, quarrels arose between Dieterli and the two +other boys. It would occur to one of them to try what Veronica would do if +he were to give her a blow with his fist. Scarcely had he opened his +attack when he found himself lying on his nose, while Dieterli played a +vigorous tattoo on his back with no gentle fists. Or the sport would be to +plant a good hard snow-ball between Veronica's shoulders, with the +mortifying result to the aggressive boy, of being pelted in the face with +handfuls of wet snow, until he was almost stifled, and cried out for +mercy. Dieterli was not afraid of either of them; for though smaller and +thinner than either, he was also much more lithe, and could glide about +like a lizard before, behind and all around his adversaries, and slip +through their fingers while they were trying to catch him. Veronica was +well avenged, and went on the rest of her way without fear of molestation. +If one of the other lads felt in a friendly mood, and wished to act as +escort to the little girl, Dieterli soon gave him to understand that that +was his own place, and he would give it up to no one.</p> + +<p>Every evening "Cousin Judith" came for a little visit, to give Gertrude +some friendly advice about the children, or the household economy. She +used to say that the gentle widow needed some one now and then to show +claws in her behalf, and Judith knew herself to be in full possession of +claws, and of the power to use them, an accomplishment of which she was +somewhat proud. One evening she crossed over between daylight and dark, +and entered the room where Veronica was, with her favorite plaything in +her hand, moving it back and forth as she sat in the window in the waning +light. She could read very nicely now for two years had passed since she +had lost her own mother, and had become Gertrude's child. Many a time had +she read over the motto which shone out so mysteriously from the breast of +the opened rose. To-day she was poring over it again, and her absorption +in "that same old rose," as Dieterli called it, had so annoyed the lively +lad that he left her, and had gone out into the kitchen to find his +mother. When Judith saw the girl sitting thus alone, buried in thought, +she asked her what she was thinking about in the twilight all by herself.</p> + +<p>Dieterli, whom no sound ever escaped, had heard Cousin Judith come in, and +came running in from the kitchen to see what was going on. Veronica looked +up at the visitor and asked earnestly,</p> + +<p>"Cousin Judith, what is fortune?"</p> + +<p>"Ah, you are always asking some strange question that no one else ever +thought of asking;" said Cousin Judith, "where on earth did you ever hear +of fortune?"</p> + +<p>"Here," said Veronica, holding up the rose with the golden verse in the +centre. "Shall I read it to you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, do, child."</p> + +<p>Veronica read—</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Fortune stands ready, full in sight;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">He wins who knows to grasp it right."</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>"Well, it means this—I should say—fortune is whatever anyone wants the +most."</p> + +<p>"Fortune is a horse, then," said Dietrich quickly.</p> + +<p>Veronica sat thinking. "But, Cousin Judith," she said presently, "how can +any one 'grasp fortune'?"</p> + +<p>"With your hands," replied Cousin Judith unhesitatingly, "You see, our +hands are given us to work with, and if we use them diligently and do our +work well, as it ought to be done, then fortune comes to us; so don't you +see we 'grasp it' with our hands?"</p> + +<p>The verse had now become endued with life, and meant something real and +attractive to Veronica. She did not lay her rose out of her hand for a +long time, that evening, notwithstanding that Dietrich cast threatening +glances upon it, and finally broke out in vexation,</p> + +<p>"I will tear off the spring some time, and spoil the thing altogether."</p> + +<p>The rose was not put into the book and the book into the cup-board, until +the time came for the children to say their evening prayers. This was the +closing act of every day; and it was so fixed and regular a habit, that +the children never needed to be bidden to fold their hands, and kneel to +ask God's blessing before they slept.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III" />CHAPTER III.</h2> + +<h3>NINE YEARS LATER.</h3> + + +<p>A sunshiny Easter morning shone over hill and valley. A crowd of +holiday-making people poured out of the little church at Tannenegg, and +scattered in every direction. A long row of blooming lads and lassies came +in close ranks, moving slowly towards the parsonage. They were the +newly-confirmed young people of the parish, who had that day partaken of +the Communion for the first time. They were going to the house of their +pastor, to express their gratitude for his careful and tender teaching and +guidance, before they went out into the world. Among these were Dietrich +and Veronica. Gertrude stood at a little distance from the church, and +watched the procession as it passed by. Her eyes were filled with tears of +pleasurable emotion, as she noticed that her dark-eyed Veronica was +conspicuous among all the maidens for the tasteful neatness of her +costume, and for the sweetness and grace of her bearing. The glance which +Veronica cast upon the mother in passing was full of love and gratitude; +and seemed to repeat the words that the faithful girl had spoken in the +morning, as she left her to go to the church. "I cannot thank you enough, +as long as I live, for what you have done for me, mother." A yet brighter +expression of happiness crossed Gertrude's countenance when the young men +came in procession after the girls, as her eyes fell on the well-formed +lad, a head taller than his companions, who nodded at her, and greeted her +with merry laughing looks, kissing his hand again and again, and yet once +again. That was her tall handsome Dietrich. His mother's heart leaped in +her breast at the sight of his fresh young life, so full of hope and +promise. Gertrude waited till the visit to the pastor was over, and the +young people had separated on their various paths. Then she in her turn +entered the parsonage. She wished herself to speak her thanks to this true +and long tried adviser and friend, for all that he had done for her +children.</p> + +<p>"You are a fortunate mother," said the aged pastor, after he had listened +to Gertrude's expressions of gratitude. "Those are two uncommon children +that the good God has confided to your care, and I feel the greatest +interest in them. The lad has a clear head, and a winning grace that draws +everyone to him. Veronica is serious and conscientious; she has a calm +steady nature and can be depended upon for fidelity to duty, such as it is +rare to find. The children will be your stay and comfort in your old age. +May you keep them in the paths of virtue."</p> + +<p>"With God's help;" said Gertrude, and she left the parsonage with tears of +happiness in her eyes. As she passed the garden of her neighbor Judith, +the latter called out over the low hedge,</p> + +<p>"They have just gone by, all four of them. It always seems to me strange +that while all babies in the cradle look just alike, so that you can't +tell them apart, they grow up to be such very different men and women."</p> + +<p>"No, no, these four were never alike," replied Gertrude, "but I agree that +they grow more and more unlike every day."</p> + +<p>"Yes, that they do. And of you three near neighbors, you certainly have +drawn the best lot in children," said Judith with enthusiasm, "two like +your two are not to be found in a long day's journey. Veronica will fully +repay you for what you have done for her."</p> + +<p>"I have been repaid long ago by the child's attachment to me. She has +never given me anything but satisfaction ever since her mother died. If I +have any anxiety about Veronica it is lest she over-work herself. There is +something feverish in her love of work; she can never do enough. No matter +how late I go into her room at night, she is always finishing off some +piece of work; and no matter how early I get up in the morning, she has +already begun something new. If I had not positively forbidden it, she +would keep at it even on a Sunday. It is a real source of anxiety to me, +lest she should over-work and break down."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I don't think you need be afraid of that, Gertrude; work never yet +hurt any one, least of all the young folks. Let her work away. But I don't +see the need of her scowling so all the time. She looks for all the world +as if she were fighting and struggling against enemies and difficulties +of all sorts. I like better Dietrich's laughing eyes; they are so full of +fun. When he goes down the street singing—</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">'Gladly and merrily</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Live to-day cheerily,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Black care and sorrow</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Leave till to-morrow,'</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>it goes right to my heart, and I could sing too for very joy. No one can +help loving him."</p> + +<p>Gertrude listened with sunshine in her face to these words of praise, but +a little cloud of anxiety shadowed her eyes as she said,</p> + +<p>"Yes, God be praised, he is a good boy and means well, but I do wish that +he had a little of Veronica's firmness of purpose. It is very pleasant to +have every one like him, but too great popularity is not always a good +thing. And those two companions that are always hanging about him, are not +such as I myself would choose for his friends."</p> + +<p>"If they could all be put to some steady work it would be the best thing +for them," said Judith. "Idleness is the mother of mischief. Blasi is not +an ill-meaning fellow, but he is lazy, greatly to his own injury. Long +Jost is the worst of the two; a sly-boots, and a rare one too. It is to be +hoped that he will break his own leg, when he's trying to trip some one +else up with it."</p> + +<p>"No, no, Judith, on this holy Easter day, we will not have such unkind +hopes as that. I hope and believe that the good God holds the children in +his protecting hand. We have given them to him; that is my comfort and +support Good-bye, Judith; come often to see us; we are always glad of your +company."</p> + +<p>On the evening of this sunny Easter day, while rosy clouds moved slowly +across the clear sky, and the golden glow faded in the far west behind the +wooded heights, Gertrude came back from a long walk in the fields and +woods. On one side of her strode Dietrich, talking rapidly and earnestly: +the fresh joy of youth was written in every movement of his little figure, +and laughed from the depths of his clear eyes. On the other side Veronica +walked, listening in silence. Her noble features, above which her black +hair fell in shining waves, had a serious, thoughtful expression, but +every now and then, when Dietrich let fall some particularly apt +expression, a look would cross her face that irradiated it like a sunbeam +crossing a shadowed plain. Mother Gertrude looked now proudly at her +radiant son, now approvingly at her stately daughter, and again she lifted +grateful glances towards the glowing heavens where she saw promise of +another brilliant day to come. Far and wide, in all Tannenegg, was not to +be found that day, such another happy mother as Gertrude.</p> + +<p>When they reached the crossways where the footpath led up by the tavern of +the Rehbock, Dietrich turned into it, and his mother was about to follow +him, but Veronica drew her back, saying anxiously,</p> + +<p>"Don't go that way, mother dear; it is not much farther by the other +road."</p> + +<p>Dietrich laughed aloud.</p> + +<p>"Now there it is again. Do you know, mother, that I can never get Veronica +to go past the Rehbock. She would rather go ten minutes farther round, and +she will not say why either. To-day, Veronica, I am determined that you +shall go this way or tell us why not."</p> + +<p>"No; to-day we will not quarrel, Dietrich, please;" said the girl +entreatingly, but with a tone that showed no signs of yielding her point, +"let us sing a song as we go; mother loves to hear us sing."</p> + +<p>As she spoke, she walked steadily along the road, and the others followed,</p> + +<p>"Well then," said the lad, "let's sing 'Gladly and merrily'"—and he began +to sing the familiar tune.</p> + +<p>"To-night I should rather sing the Fisher-boat," said Veronica, and +without demur the good-natured boy dropped his song, and joined his clear +tones with Veronica's steady voice, the two harmonizing perfectly as they +sang:</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"A tiny boat, a fisher-boat,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Tossed lightly on the silver sea;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Around the rocks, in air, afloat</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">The white gulls circle lazily.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">A tiny boat, a fisher-boat—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">The fisher draws his slender line;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">He half in dream-land seems to float.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Saying, 'to-morrow will be fine.'"</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>Softly singing, in the soft falling shadows of evening, the happy trio +drew towards their home, and disappeared within the cottage door.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV" />CHAPTER IV.</h2> + +<h3>ALL AT HOME.</h3> + + +<p>Dietrich had already worked for some time in his father's business. It was +all in the best possible condition; the work shop, the tools and materials +had been carefully kept up, and everything was fresh and in good working +order. The old customers had not withdrawn their custom, for the former +workman who had served under Steffan for many years had continued his +deceased master's methods, so that the reputation of the work was +sustained, and as Fohrensee grew, so also the saddler's orders grew, and +the business flourished. So Dietrich found his trade ready made to his +hand, and as good a prospect lay before him as heart could wish. He took +hold with a good will, and being his own master did not make him the less +diligent. He was determined first to work faithfully till he had +thoroughly learned the business, and then to travel for a while. When he +had seen the world a bit he would come back, go on with the business +farther and farther, and become a gentleman; and then—then—where could a +happier man be found than he should be, living with his mother and +Veronica in peace and plenty. His mother should pass her days in happy +idleness if she wished, without care, without sorrow, in wealth and +comfort, and Veronica! Yes, he would give Veronica a life far happier and +more beautiful than she had ever dreamed of for herself! While his brain +teemed with these pleasant thoughts, Dietrich sang and whistled at his +work all day long, and did good work, too. He had a skilful hand and a +clear head, and his work went successfully on.</p> + +<p>Veronica had persuaded her mother to let her stay longer in the Industrial +School than was usual with the young girls of the neighborhood. Even up to +the day of her confirmation, she had taken sewing lessons twice from a +most accomplished teacher. A short time before Easter, the teacher had +assured Gertrude that Veronica had made such extraordinary progress, that +she was already prepared to teach, and that she had completed the course +taught at that school, and could learn no more there. Veronica certainly +deserved farther training and the teacher suggested that it would be well +worth while for her to take lessons in embroidery of lame Sabina in +Fohrensee. She would then be sure of a position as a teacher, as high as +her utmost ambition could desire.</p> + +<p>It had always been Gertrude's plan to have Veronica learn to work at the +saddler's business, as there is a good deal of the fine work which is +suitable for women, and which it needs a woman's hand to carry out. She +hoped that in this way her children could always remain together and with +her. The fine embroidery for which lame Sabina was noted, it did not seem +to her at all necessary for Veronica to learn, but she was willing to +leave the decision to her. As soon as Veronica heard of this new work to +be learned, she was eager to begin upon it, and she left her mother no +peace until she extracted from her the promise that directly after the +confirmation, this new undertaking should be entered upon.</p> + +<p>A few days after Easter Sunday, Veronica went to take her first lesson. It +was very early in the morning when she started to go down to Fohrensee; so +early that people were just beginning to open their windows, and only here +and there a sleepy face was to be seen at the door of a house. She had to +go early in order to get in a good day's work, for she was to come home at +night, and it was an hour's walk each way. She knew well the old cottage +with the beautiful carnations illuminating its windows, which was the home +of lame Sabina. The windows were already open, and the door also. She +entered and her new life began.</p> + +<p>Up in Tannenegg, Dietrich sat at his work, singing and whistling merrily. +His mother, busy with her household affairs went hither and thither about +the house, from sitting room to kitchen, and then with the feeding-bucket, +out on the grass plat before the house, where a flock of handsome fowl +were pecking about. All was still quiet in the neighboring houses, but +over by the well stood the never-idle Judith, beating and turning her +clothes as she washed them. Along the road with uncertain steps came the +old sexton, swinging the big church-keys in his hand; he had been ringing +the early morning peal. As he lifted his cap a little to salute Judith at +the well, she called out,</p> + +<p>"Good day, neighbor, I was just thinking it would be a good exchange if +the old folks were to lie abed at this hour and let the young ones pull +the bell rope."</p> + +<p>"Well, some one must be doing it," said the other, and passed on his way.</p> + +<p>Judith had been busy at her washing full two hours longer, when in the +doorway of the sexton's house appeared a young fellow, whose figure, +almost as broad as it was long, filled the opening, with scarce anything +to spare. He tried to yawn, but there was not room enough to stretch his +arms, so he stepped outside for the purpose, and there he gaped so +heartily that all the inside of his big mouth and throat was distinctly +visible.</p> + +<p>"There's nothing in it, Blasi! I've had a good look at it," cried Judith. +"If you had been here two hours ago, you might have seen a sight. A girl +with a whole mouthful of gold! What do you say to that?"</p> + +<p>Blasi caught at this, and brought his jaws together with a snap.</p> + +<p>"What! full of gold?" he exclaimed, and opened his sleepy eyes to their +utmost extent. "Why doesn't the foolish thing carry it in her pocket? +Where does she come from?"</p> + +<p>"That's no concern of yours. You will never come up with her," replied +Judith.</p> + +<p>"Tell me, for all that," urged Blasi, coming toward Judith, "I can go +after her, and I've no doubt I shall come up with her, and then there's no +telling what may happen. Come, where did she go, now? Do you know her +name?"</p> + +<p>"Her name is Early Morn, Blasi," said Judith pleasantly. "Did you never +hear the saying, 'There's gold in the mouth of the early morn.'"</p> + +<p>Blasi made a wry face and began in an angry tone,</p> + +<p>"There's nothing very clever in that"—but just then he remembered that +when he came out of the house he had intended to come over and say +something quite different to Judith; so he changed his tone quickly, and +said,</p> + +<p>"Can you lend me a franc or two; I have just time to do a little business +before eleven o'clock, and then I must be back to ring the noon bell; I +must try to help father, a little."</p> + +<p>"No, no, Blasi, I have no francs for you," said Judith decidedly. "It +wants three hours yet of being eleven o'clock. Use those big arms of +yours, and they'll bring you francs enough." And so saying, she lifted her +clothes-basket on her head, and walked away.</p> + +<p>Blasi stood looking after her, a moment, then he sauntered off, with both +hands in his pockets, up the road towards, the shoemaker's old house. +There sat Jost before the door, hammering away at something as if for dear +life. Blasi drew near, and stood watching the busy hands of his friend, +who presently cried out angrily,</p> + +<p>"So it is holiday with you, is it, you lazy-bones? It is maddening to see +one fellow go wandering about with his hands in his pockets, while another +has to sit on his three-legged stool, hammering away at the soles of +these—these—these Tanneneggers' boots. To-morrow is Cherry-festival in +Fohrensee, and every one is going; and I, I must get their boots ready! I +wish a thunder-storm would come and wash this away, and that, and the +whole lot of 'em!" As he spoke he tossed away first the mended boots, then +the hammer, and last of all the three-legged stool, away, as far as he +could throw them, down into the meadow. He was white with rage.</p> + +<p>"What stuff!" said Blasi, dryly. "You are paid for your cobbling; you are +better off than I am. I haven't a rap, and am in debt besides. I was going +to ask you if you couldn't lend me a franc. You have money, I know."</p> + +<p>"Oh yes, you sleepy-head! It's very likely I have money for you, when I'm +in such need of it myself! Go ask Dietrich; he has his pockets full, and a +big heap besides. But don't be such a fool as to ask him for just one mean +little franc; ask for five. I'll use two or three of them; tell him you'll +pay him again in a week."</p> + +<p>Blasi seemed rather undecided.</p> + +<p>"I should have gone to him long ago," he said, "but his mother is always +about, and she looks at a fellow as a bird does when somebody is trying to +rob her nest. I'm afraid of her."</p> + +<p>"Poh! it's all right enough to borrow a little money if you're going to +pay it back again. Don't be a fool! Go along!" and Jost enforced his +advise with an emphatic shove that sent Blasi rolling along much faster +than he wished to go. He grumbled a little at this unpleasant style of +progression, and muttered between his teeth,</p> + +<p>"He's no right to treat me so; I'm as good as he is, any day."</p> + +<p>When he reached Gertrude's garden, he stood still and looked over the +hedge. Dietrich's mother was there, planting her vegetable bed. He +sauntered back and forth for awhile, and when he saw her go to the other +corner of the garden, he thought he could now get without being seen, into +the room where he heard Dietrich whistling at his work. He went round the +garden, and was just going in at the back gate, when he came plump against +Gertrude. He went by quickly as if he had had no idea of going in; and +then hung about watching his chance, but as time did not stand still +while he waited, it was bye-and-bye eleven o'clock, and he had to go off +to ring the noon bell.</p> + +<p>In the afternoon, neighbor Judith was hoeing in her little garden. Blasi +stood hesitating in his door-way, and then came out and stood watching her +at her work.</p> + +<p>"I am always surprised, Blasi," said Judith, looking up from her work, "to +see you in company with a fellow, who steals your money from your pockets, +before you know it is there. I would not have anything to do with such a +one."</p> + +<p>"What? who?" asked Blasi, fumbling in his empty pockets. "Who picks my +pockets? Who are you talking about? I know I did have some; I wish you +would tell me the thief."</p> + +<p>"I'll tell no tales," said Judith, working away.</p> + +<p>"Bah! tell me, won't you? A fellow can't defend himself unless he knows +who is attacking him," growled Blasi. "You might say who you mean."</p> + +<p>"Well, I will. Go and take him by the ear. His name is Idleness!" As +Judith spoke, she raised her head, and looked Blasi full in the face; then +she bent to her work again.</p> + +<p>The lad was angry. He had hoped that he was going to get something back of +which he had been robbed, and that Judith would help him as she had been a +witness of the theft.</p> + +<p>"Oh, what a fuss you make over a few minutes," he said crossly; "I have to +go at four o'clock to ring the bell. I think I ought to take a little from +the old man."</p> + +<p>"I should say you took more from him than he had. It has just struck half +past two; do you know how many minutes there are in an hour and a half?"</p> + +<p>"There's no getting along with you," said Blasi, turning away.</p> + +<p>"Well, you get along finely without me, so go on and prosper," said Judith +quickly as the lad disappeared.</p> + +<p>Blasi had by no means given up his project. He did not see anyone in +Gertrude's garden as he passed along. He clambered up on the lattice by +the hedge and peeped through the open window into the room. Dietrich's +mother was seated near her son; both were working steadily, the young +fellow was chattering and laughing gaily, and his mother answered and +laughed too, but they did not stop working all the while. Blasi saw +plainly that this was not the time to make his request. He would wait +until the mother had gone to the kitchen, as she was sure to do +bye-and-bye. Four o'clock came and the great business of his day was at +hand; it was time to ring the bell, and he had to go. At last when evening +came Blasi found his opportunity. He stood watching outside the door, when +suddenly Dietrich threw it open, and started off with rapid strides.</p> + +<p>Blasi called out, "Wait, wait a minute, can't you? What's your hurry?"</p> + +<p>Dietrich turned about.</p> + +<p>"What do you want? Tell me quickly. I'm going to meet Veronica; she can't +come home alone through the woods after dusk."</p> + +<p>"Well, look here," said Blasi, breathing hard with his haste, and holding +Dietrich by the arm. "You see, I'm in trouble for want of a few francs or +so. Can't you lend them to me? I'll give them back again very soon."</p> + +<p>"I haven't that much about me now. Stop a minute—yes, here are two francs +and here's a half; will that be enough?" and throwing the money to Blasi, +the young man hastened away.</p> + +<p>As evening drew on, Gertrude stood at the end of the garden and looked +down the road. She listened to every sound that came from below. She was +waiting for her children's voices, for the sound of their footsteps; her +children, who made her life, her happiness, her hope! Ah! there they are! +that is Dietrich's voice talking eagerly, while Veronica's bell-like +laugh sounds clear through the still evening air. With a heart filled to +overflowing with happiness, Gertrude went forth to meet them.</p> + +<p>As they sat together round the table in their usual cheerful mood, the +mother asked for an account of this, Veronica's first day among strangers, +and how she liked her new work.</p> + +<p>"Very much indeed, mother," was the answer, and the young girl's face +beamed with a smile that swept away all trace of the clouds that sometimes +marred its beauty.</p> + +<p>"I can't tell you how delightful it is to be able to earn so much. But +after all, mother dear, the best part is that I can come home to you at +night."</p> + +<p>"That's what I think too," said Dietrich quickly, and you had but to look +in his eyes to see that he spoke the truth.</p> + +<p>"And I am as glad as either of you," said Gertrude smiling. "It has been a +long day for me. It seems a great while since you started off this +morning, Veronica."</p> + +<p>"What! when your only son was sitting by you all day long?" asked Dietrich +playfully.</p> + +<p>"Oh, you know what I mean. I need you both to make me perfectly happy, and +cannot spare either of you;" and she looked from one to the other with +caressing glances.</p> + +<p>Veronica told them all about the new teacher and the new work, and it was +late in the evening before the three separated for the night.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V" />CHAPTER V.</h2> + +<h3>UPON UNSAFE PATHS.</h3> + + +<p>After this evening, Dietrich was scarcely ever able to go on his walk +alone. Blasi had always some pretext for joining him, and when Jost found +out that regularly every evening his friend took the same walk at the same +hour, he too discovered that he had a great deal to tell him, and to +consult him about. The two accompanied him through the wood, and when they +emerged from it on the other side, they usually saw a graceful figure +coming along the white road that led up the hill from Fohrensee. Then +without a word on the subject, as by tacit agreement, they stopped, shook +hands, and separated; the other two turned back toward the village, and +Dietrich went on. They felt instinctively that this was the best thing to +do. Dietrich, certainly, found out that his companions were not to +Veronica's mind, when one evening, the three being so engaged in talk that +they had not noticed that they were later than usual, Veronica came into +the wood before they left it, and she recognized Blasi and Jost, although +they turned quickly back.</p> + +<p>"They can't have the best of consciences," said Veronica, as Dietrich +joined her; "if they had only straight-forward business on hand, why did +they take themselves off so hastily, as soon as I came in sight?"</p> + +<p>"Can't you understand that we may have something to talk about, that we +do not wish you to hear?" asked Dietrich.</p> + +<p>The girl was silent a few moments, and then she said, rather seriously,</p> + +<p>"It would suit me far better, if you were not so much in company with +those two fellows. Blasi is absolutely idle, and cannot be nice, and Jost +is really bad; you can see that in his face. He never dares to look me +full in the eye; he always avoids a direct glance, as if he feared that +his eyes would betray him. I believe he is thoroughly false."</p> + +<p>"No, no, you should not judge him so harshly," said Dietrich, +good-humoredly. "He is not what you think him; he is a good friend to me, +and has already taught me a great deal that I should never have got at +without his help. He is a very clever fellow."</p> + +<p>Veronica let the matter drop, but it was plain that she had not changed +her opinion.</p> + +<p>The days grew longer and brighter. The wood was filled with sweeter +perfumes evening after evening, as the two friends sauntered along their +homeward path, and in each young heart the feeling grew and ripened, that +still sweeter and more beautiful days were to come.</p> + +<p>One afternoon in May, Veronica paced leisurely along the white hill-road, +her eyes fixed on the tall oak on the borders of the wood, which marked +the place where the foot-path came out upon the high road. Everything was +quiet; not a human being in sight. She reached the spot and looked +anxiously into the wood. She listened; she peered between the trees; all +was solitude. The tree-tops, softly murmuring, rocked gently to and fro, +and through the branches she saw the sunset glow. For the first time, the +young girl entered the wood alone. It was quite dark, in there. She passed +along with rapid step, among the solemn pines, hastening faster and +faster, as the trees seemed to draw together about her. When she came out +upon the open pathway, she saw Dietrich coming across the field in hot +haste. He was breathless when he reached her.</p> + +<p>"I don't like to have you come alone through the wood, Veronica," he said, +"I thought I should be in time, but I could not get rid of those two +fellows. I tried to get away two or three times, but they always had +something more to say, and kept me."</p> + +<p>"Where were you, Dietrich?"</p> + +<p>"They had some business with me; that is, Jost had something to tell me, +and Blasi was there too. Jost did not care to speak of it on the open +street, and so we went into the Rehbock; and that is what made me so late. +Why, what's the matter, Veronica? Are you ill?"</p> + +<p>She was as pale as a ghost.</p> + +<p>"What! You've been to the Rehbock, Dietrich!" she exclaimed in evident +distress. "Oh, don't go there! Please don't go to that place again!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, now we are to have the old story over again, are we?" said the young +man, laughing, "you have taken some foolish whim into your head; you +really don't know why yourself. What's your prejudice against that house +in particular?"</p> + +<p>"I do know why; and it is no whim," said Veronica, earnestly. "I will tell +you all about it. That house has been a terror to me ever since I can +remember anything. We were both so young that you probably do not +recollect it at all. We both went with mother to the doctor's, but you +didn't go into the house, I remember now. Mother told the doctor that my +father was killed at the Rehbock. I have never forgotten it since. I am +constantly seeing him lying dead before my eyes; lying there struck down +dead. I often dream about it, and in my dreams I am there—and—and +sometimes when I look at his dead form in my dreams, it is not my father +any more, but it is you—you, Dietrich, whom they have struck down dead at +the Rehbock."</p> + +<p>Dietrich was going to laugh at these words, but he glanced into Veronica's +face and was silent. She was more in earnest than he had thought. He tried +to quiet and reassure her, by saying that it was only a dream, and nothing +to be afraid of. The dream came naturally enough, because she was always +dwelling upon the tragedy of her father's death, and in dreams every one +knows that faces are always changing. His explanation, however, did not +make much impression upon Veronica. She said no more about it; but not all +Dietrich's efforts were sufficient to chase the shadows from her face that +evening, although he exerted himself to be even more amusing than usual. +Gertrude observed her silence, as they sat about the table, and looked +anxiously at her. When they had separated for the night, Dietrich went +into his mother's room to have a talk with her. He told her what Veronica +had said, and begged her to reason with the young girl and urge her to lay +aside these groundless fears which had taken possession of her. He +represented to his mother, that of course he sometimes had things to talk +over with his companions, and that there surely was no harm in their going +to the Rehbock together for their conversations, and he begged her to make +Veronica see the whole affair in a reasonable light. Gertrude was shocked +to find that the child had heard and understood what she had said to the +doctor, and distressed that she had taken it so much to heart. She +promised to speak to Veronica, but she also cautioned her son against +forming an intimacy with Jost and Blasi. Dietrich cheerfully gave his +word; declaring that he was not particularly fond of their company. The +mother, however, on further consideration, decided to say nothing on the +subject to Veronica, for she thought the whole thing would be the sooner +forgotten if not spoken of, and she believed it unwise to stir up the +terrors of the past.</p> + +<p>The next afternoon, Dietrich left home much earlier than usual, determined +not to be belated again, and hoping to escape altogether his too insistent +companions. But scarcely had he reached the garden gate when he came upon +Blasi, who was lying in wait for him. Dietrich tried to pass him quickly, +and to show him that his company was not desired, but in vain Blasi had +not been waiting round half an hour to be turned off like that. He +explained that he was in worse trouble than ever to-day, and wished to +borrow more money than ever before; promising, of course, to pay it back +very soon; "that is, as soon as possible," he added.</p> + +<p>"Oh yes, well, when will it be possible, I wonder. How much have you paid +me back, as yet, since you began to borrow of me?" said Dietrich angrily. +"Let me go, Blasi, I've no time to spare."</p> + +<p>But Blasi went along by his side, and before he had done talking, Jost +joined them and held Dietrich fast by the other arm.</p> + +<p>"Come, come," he cried, "I have something to tell you that will make you +open your eyes, I guess. I came in a hurry on purpose not to miss you. +I've just come from the Rehbock, and I told them to keep the little back +room for us, so that we can talk quietly, without danger of being +interrupted. Come along, I say."</p> + +<p>"I will not," said Dietrich, freeing his arm from the other's detaining +grasp. "I haven't time, and I don't believe you have anything special to +tell me, either. I must go." And Dietrich strode away; but Jost followed +him.</p> + +<p>"Don't be such a fool," he called out angrily, "can't you listen when I +tell you that I know something decidedly to your advantage. Something that +you'll be glad to know. You are running away because of her, and it is +something that will be good for her as well as for you. So do stand still, +and don't go scampering off as if the gamekeepers were after you!" But +Dietrich did not stop.</p> + +<p>"What do you know about her, or her good?" he asked furiously. "Mind your +own business and let us alone."</p> + +<p>As Jost had his own interest in winning the young fellow over, he +controlled himself, and said in most soothing tones,</p> + +<p>"Dietrich, I am your friend. Some day you will be very grateful to me. As +you are in such a hurry, I will not stop you now; only promise me to come +over bye-and-bye for a few minutes to the Rehbock; there's a good fellow, +and you will not be sorry. Will you come?"</p> + +<p>"Well, I've no particular objection to that," said Dietrich, and ran off +as fast as he could.</p> + +<p>Blasi, who had kept pace with the other two, seeing that there was no +chance for him now, turned back with Jost, and the two went into the +Rehbock together.</p> + +<p>Dietrich met Veronica quite the other side of the wood. He did his best to +rouse her from her silent mood, and to restore her to better spirits; but +he found it impossible to efface the impression she had received the +evening before. The painful memory had been too deeply stamped upon her +mind, to be easily wiped out.</p> + +<p>When the little family had bade each other good-night, after their usual +affectionate conversation, Dietrich hesitated about keeping his half-made +promise. He did not want to go; yet Jost's words, that the affair touched +her as nearly as it did him, had made their intended impression, and +though it went sadly against his grain to know that Jost dared even to +think about Veronica and her interests at all, still he could not help +wondering what it was all about. Suddenly his resolution was taken; he +turned about, went down stairs and softly left the house.</p> + +<p>Jost was standing in the doorway of the Rehbock, looking out into the +night to see if Dietrich was coming. They went at once into the little +back room. Blasi was there, sitting behind a big empty bowl; indeed he +never sat long behind a full one, for as the bowl was there to be emptied +he thought the quicker it was done the better.</p> + +<p>"I'm glad you have come," he cried out, "for we've run quite dry here."</p> + +<p>Dietrich perceived that he was expected to counteract the dryness; so he +ordered some beer, and when this was supplied Jost began in a cautious +tone,</p> + +<p>"I have something to say to you, Dietrich, that I don't care for those +outside to hear. Blasi can stay, because he is our comrade."</p> + +<p>"And because he can be made useful," said Dietrich readily, for he knew of +old that Jost was in the habit of rushing Blasi forward, where he did not +dare to go himself.</p> + +<p>"I don't know about that," said Jost, "but now listen to me. Do you know +how a fellow who hasn't so much as a penny in his purse, can in one night +get enough to build a big stone house, like the one the landlord of the +lion has in Fohrensee, and make himself a gentleman all at once? I know +how; I know somebody who has explained it all to me, and I tell you, +Dietrich, you have only to say the word, and you can do the same, and give +up the whole saddler's business. You can afford to risk something; you're +not stupid; and with you it will all go right in a twinkling."</p> + +<p>"Do you mean by card-playing?" asked Dietrich rather contemptuously, for +he had made up his mind about that long ago.</p> + +<p>"No indeed, something very different. It is done on paper. You have +nothing to do but put some money down, and you can win two or three times +as much in no time."</p> + +<p>"And lose <i>four</i> times, I suppose?"</p> + +<p>"There's no losing about it;" said Jost confidently, "You're sure to win +in the end, if you keep on long enough. It doesn't signify if you do lose +a little at first—you can afford to wait."</p> + +<p>"I think my trade is surer of winning;" said Dietrich.</p> + +<p>"Oh yes, sure enough!" said Jost scornfully. "It is a pretty sight to see +a fellow like you, sitting there year after year on the saddler's bench, +scraping all the skin off his hands; and with all the income you have, +too! why in ten years you won't have as much as will build you a house +such as you want, and it would take ten years more to become a gentleman; +and she'd like it a great deal better to have something nice now, and not +wait till she is fifty years old."</p> + +<p>Dietrich was red with anger.</p> + +<p>"What business is it of yours to be forever thinking and talking about +her?" he blazed out. "You have no concern with her whatever; just keep +yourself to what you're fit for."</p> + +<p>"Why do go on as you do?" asked Jost with a knowing wink. "Do you suppose +it never enters anybody's head to ask why you keep on working and delving +as if you liked it? Can't we guess who you're doing it all for?"</p> + +<p>"And it's not at all out of the way to be thinking about her, either," +interposed Blasi, "there's another ready enough to do that if there were +any chance for him," and he winked significantly at Jost. Jost took no +notice of the insinuation, but went on, addressing himself to Dietrich.</p> + +<p>"There's no danger for you in this plan. We will share losses and gains +alike, and if we do not like it we can leave off when ever we choose. But +I don't see why we shouldn't like it, when we can earn so much with so +little trouble, and without working from morning till night. There goes +somebody now, who has all he wants, I should like to be in his place!"</p> + +<p>A wagon was rattling by as he spoke, and its occupant was urging the +galloping horse faster and faster along the road.</p> + +<p>"That's the doctor," said Dietrich, looking out; "he has had to work hard +enough and is still at it. He must be going to visit a very sick patient; +he would not be driving at that rate for anything else. It is late for the +old gentleman to be out."</p> + +<p>"Work!" said Jost, "well, I speak for that kind of work; sitting in a +chaise behind a horse. It's another part of speech to have to work with +one's hands, as we do."</p> + +<p>"The doctor has to work with his hands too, I'm sure of that. And besides, +we have our evenings to ourselves, while he may be kept at it till eleven +o'clock at night, as he is this evening, and later."</p> + +<p>"Oh drop all this stupid talk and give us an answer; yes or no. Will you +be a fool and go on pricking your fingers over your work, or will you join +me and have things comfortable without working at all? Anybody but you +would be grateful to me for the chance I offer you. I came to you with it +because of our old friendship. I know plenty of fellows who would jump at +the chance. You can think it over till tomorrow, and then I'm sure you'll +be glad to accept. I'll meet you here to-morrow evening, and bring some +one with me who will explain it all clearly."</p> + +<p>Dietrich agreed to think about it till to-morrow, and now, in high +good-humor and increasing confidence in the coming good-fortune, he helped +Blasi and Jost to empty the bowl, in a toast to the success of their new +projects.</p> + +<p>It was Veronica's habit to work on her embroidery for some time after +going up to her bedroom, and this evening she was so much interested in +her work, that she did not observe the flight of time, until she heard the +clock strike one. She put by her sewing, and hastened to prepare for bed, +as she must be up and stirring again by five o'clock. Presently she heard +the outer door opened softly, and then closed from the inside. She blew +out her light and gently opened her bed-room door. The moon lighted up the +passageway with a faint beam. Some one came stealing up the staircase with +noiseless steps. She saw that it was Dietrich. He went cautiously into his +room and closed his door.</p> + +<p>Veronica shut her door, and sat down upon her bed. All the blood seemed to +rush to her heart and she could not stir. She knew in a moment that +Dietrich, whom she had believed to be asleep long ago, had been visiting +in secret the hated Rehbock. She sat some minutes motionless on her bed, +in a kind of dull pain. Then she arose slowly, lighted her lamp again, +took out her work and with nervous fingers drove on her needle, which flew +faster and faster through the white cloth. She did not sleep at all that +night.</p> + +<p>Nor did Dietrich fall asleep easily. His thoughts were busy and he could +not come to any decision. What should he do?</p> + +<p>If he could become rich at once, without working any more, why shouldn't +he do it? Would it be best to consult his mother? No, that would upset +everything. He was sure that his mother was too firmly wedded to the old +ideas about ways of getting a living, to listen to any new-fangled methods +of making money without work.</p> + +<p>And Veronica?</p> + +<p>Certainly not Veronica, who valued work above everything, and who indeed +loved it so well, that she could not imagine that any one should ever wish +to escape it.</p> + +<p>But if he were successful, both his mother and Veronica would profit by +his good fortune as much as himself. Why couldn't he go on with his own +plans in his own way? Why need he ask leave of Veronica?</p> + +<p>Before he slept, Dietrich had decided to meet Jost the next evening, and +close with his offer.</p> + +<p>When Gertrude came down stairs early in the morning, she found the +breakfast ready, and Veronica dressed to go out.</p> + +<p>"Wait just a moment," said the mother, "Dietrich will be down directly; I +hear him coming."</p> + +<p>"I must be off," replied Veronica. She went towards the door, but turned +before going out. Her cheeks were flaming.</p> + +<p>"Mother," she said, and her voice trembled, "in God's name, forbid him to +go to that dreadful place. He did not come home till one o'clock last +night." And she vanished. Gertrude gazed after her in surprise.</p> + +<p>When Dietrich came down, he asked in his usual bright fashion, after +Veronica, and when his mother with some anxiety told him what the girl had +said, he made his explanation with such a frank, unembarrassed manner, +that her fears were quieted; for it was plain that he had nothing upon his +conscience. He said that he knew his mother would approve of his helping a +friend in need, and not the less if in so doing he should also help +himself. It was a scheme of this kind that he had been talking over, the +night before. Jost had to work very hard to make both ends meet, and +Dietrich thought that if by putting some money into his scheme, he could +help his old acquaintance to more profit with less labor, and at the same +time gain by it himself, his mother would be the last to blame him.</p> + +<p>Gertrude was a soft-hearted woman. She answered her son that if there was +nothing wrong about this business, it was certainly a good thing to help +Jost, who had received nothing from his father, not even tools for his +trade, and who had seemed to have everything against him.</p> + +<p>"With you it was very different, my boy," she said in conclusion. "Your +father left you an excellent business, and if you continue to work as you +have done, you will be very well off in a few years. How kindly the good +God has dealt with us, my son! We may hope for many happy days together!"</p> + +<p>He agreed with her cordially, but he thought it as well not to unfold his +plans to her any farther. He said to himself that he was not going to do +anything wrong, certainly not; but his mother's ideas were a little +old-fashioned, and she wouldn't understand his schemes. He would surprise +her with his success.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI" />CHAPTER VI.</h2> + +<h3>LAME SABINA GIVES GOOD ADVICE.</h3> + + +<p>Veronica's teacher, Sabina, had been a hunchback from her birth, and had +become lame when still young; she had used crutches since she was twenty +years old. Like many persons who suffer under physical disabilities, she +had clever penetrating eyes, and on this day, she often raised them from +the work which she was pursuing with indefatigable industry, to glance at +her pupil, who sat opposite. Veronica was at work on the same piece which +she had had at home on the previous night, that night which she had +passed in such sad forbodings.</p> + +<p>After many inquiring glances, Sabina at last said thoughtfully:</p> + +<p>"I'm puzzled about you, Veronica. That piece of work you are upon, is +wonderfully well done; every stitch is perfectly even, the cloth and the +silk are as white as snow; yet you must have done most of it at night, for +yesterday afternoon you were not nearly so far along. Whatever you put +your hand to, succeeds. Yet your eyebrows grow more and more scowling +every day, and your eyes blaze out as if there were a thunder-storm about. +What ails you, child? You are the handsomest girl in all the country round +when you have a pleasant expression; and you are as tall and straight as +a young fir-tree. Don't you know that?"</p> + +<p>"What good does it do me?" asked Veronica, and scowled worse than ever.</p> + +<p>"What good? if you did not have it you would know what it is worth," +replied Sabina, quickly. "I can tell you that. Now smooth your forehead, +Veronica, and listen to me. I will tell you something that will make you +feel better and happier. An Industrial School has been established in +Fohrensee and it is proposed to connect with it a work-room for women. +They want a teacher and superintendent, and have offered me the place, but +I am not strong enough for it. I have told them that you are fully equal +to me in skill and knowledge of the work, and a hundred times my superior +in freshness and strength and executive ability. There is no doubt that +the place is at your disposal. You can lead the life of a lady, Veronica. +Your fortune is made."</p> + +<p>For the first time since Sabina began to speak, Veronica raised her eyes +from her work. She shook her head sadly and said,</p> + +<p>"Not my fortune."</p> + +<p>"'Not my fortune!'" repeated Sabina angrily, "when I tell you this place +is yours! Your fortune is made."</p> + +<p>"I cannot grasp the fortune that is offered me," said the girl, and bent +over her work again.</p> + +<p>Sabina's searching glance seemed to try to penetrate her inmost thought.</p> + +<p>"What sort of an expression is that you are using, Veronica? Where did you +learn that? I never expected to hear such words from your lips. It is not +like you. What put that into your head, child?"</p> + +<p>"I will tell you something of my experience, and then you will understand +why I use this expression," said Veronica quietly. "When I was only a +little girl I learned a motto which ran thus:</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">'Fortune stands ready, full in sight;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">He wins, who knows to grasp it right.'</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>I saw that 'fortune' was something good to have, and I wanted to find out +how it could be grasped. I asked Cousin Judith, and she told me it must be +grasped like everything else with our hands, that is to say, through work. +From that time forward I was eager for work as other children are for +play, and the older I grow, the more I strive for the good fortune that +can be grasped by work. Even on Sundays I often go to my room to sew, and +I shut my door, for my mother does not like to see me sew then. I work on +and on, just as long as I can sit at it, even into the night; sometimes +till one and two o'clock in the morning; yet I do not find the fortune I +want. When my hands are busy, my thoughts wander where they will, and I +must follow them. But they do not lead to 'fortune,' but only farther away +from it. This offer may bring me a fortune in money and position, but that +is not the fortune I want. 'Fortune' for me, means happiness."</p> + +<p>Sabina had not lost a word of this sad story.</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes, I understand you, Veronica," she said sympathizingly. "I know +something of this too. Judith told you the truth, but only one half the +truth. Fortune is grasped by the hands, it is true; but the Fortune which +you long for, that is, Happiness, is to be gained in other ways besides. I +will tell you an instructive little story, and if you will take the +trouble to grasp it, not with your hands, but with your thoughts and +understanding, you will be able to work it out for yourself and get some +profit from it. It is part of the story of my own life. I have had so much +the same experience as yours that I cannot help hoping that what I found +good for myself, may prove good for you."</p> + +<p>"When I was about your age, Veronica, I was so unhappy that I cried myself +to sleep every night. Can you guess why? No, for one understands only the +sufferings that he has himself experienced, and cannot imagine those of +others. Well, it was because I was a hunchback! I remember as if it were +yesterday, when I first came to a perception of my misfortune; when I +first learned that I was different from other children, and must remain as +one apart, all my life. We were all coming out of school one day, and a +little quarrel arose between us children, and one of them said to me in a +scornful tone, 'Hold your tongue, Sabina, you're only a hunchback.' From +that day I never knew a happy moment, and I grew timid and avoided every +one; if I saw any one looking at me, I thought he was scoffing at me +because I was a hunchback. I kept away from other children, for if one of +them laughed, I fancied she was laughing at my deformed shoulders. If any +stranger was kind to me, I thought that it was because my hunch had not +yet been seen, and that as soon as it was, kindness would be changed for +contempt. I looked at the figure of every one I met; all were straight +except myself. I felt that I was the most miserable creature in the world, +and I saw no hope of ever being otherwise all my life long. Once one of +the school children died, and all her schoolmates walked in the funeral +procession to the church. I would not walk with them, but hid myself among +the grown people; for every one was looking at the children and I wanted +to escape observation. I heard one woman say to another: 'It is lucky the +child's mother has so much to do; she will have no time to think about her +sorrow, and she will get over it the sooner,' Then it came to me like a +ray of hope, that if I had work to do, I might forget my sorrow too. I +must have work. That very day I begged my mother to let me learn to work. +She was pleased, and sent me to take lessons in sewing, and I followed it +up till I could do all sorts of fine work, and had as much employment as I +could wish. I often heard people say, 'How finely Sabina is getting on!' +But how do you think it was with my spirits? Just as it is with yours now, +Veronica. Oh yes, you needn't look at me so with your great eyes. I know +exactly what you are thinking. You think that my trouble never can have +been equal to yours. People always think that their own sorrows are the +worst. I sat and sewed just as you do—early and late; my work was +perfect; I had no rival. I knew that it was good, and I rejoiced over it +in a half-hearted way; but what good did it do me after all? The thought +that I was a hunchback, was always in my mind. It was like a stream of +troubled water flowing through my heart; it spoiled everything. 'Always +deformed, never like other girls,' I never forgot it for a moment. So it +went on till I was about twenty years old, and then came on the trouble in +my foot, and I was confined to my bed for many months. Oh! how bitterly I +suffered! Was every misfortune to fall on me alone?' I thought. How could +I foresee that this very trouble would turn out to be good fortune for +me?"</p> + +<p>"The doctor came to see me constantly; he took as much interest in my case +as if I could have paid him handsomely.</p> + +<p>He noticed that I was industrious, that I did not lie idle even when I was +in great pain. It pleased him to find me always with work in my hand. When +at last the acute attack was over, and the doctor told me that this would +be his last visit, he told me also that I was lame for life. At first I +could not walk at all; but bye and bye I learned to use my crutches. When +I offered the doctor the money that was due him for his attendance, he +said we would not speak of that; that we both had to work, but with this +difference, that he was sound and whole, while I was not. He took my hand +kindly, saying that it was hard for me not to be able to take any +amusement after working hard all the week; not to go out with the others +on Sunday; and that if I cared for reading, his wife had a great many nice +books which she would be glad to lend me, and they would make the Sundays +less tedious. I did not really care for reading; I preferred sewing as you +do, but I accepted the doctor's offer and went to his house. His wife was +very kind and gave me a book at once, bidding me come as soon as I had +finished it and get another. I began to read the very next Sunday, and I +became so deeply interested that I scarcely laid the book down all day, +and even during the week I took it up as often as I could find a spare +moment. It was an account of foreign countries and nations; how they +lived, and their manners and customs. I was particularly interested to +read about how the women were treated in different places; how in some +countries they are sold and bartered for cattle or wool or cloth, and how +they belong to their husbands just as if they were furniture, and their +husbands can treat them just as they please, as we do cats or dogs. And in +some places, it said, a wife has to be burned when her husband dies, +because she is only a part of him and has no value of her own after his +death. Oh! how many strange things there are in the world, to be sure! I +became hungry and thirsty for knowledge. The doctor's wife lent me one +book after another, and in each there was something new and wonderful. I +learned how terrible the condition of women had been everywhere until our +own Lord Jesus Christ came into the world, and taught that one soul was +as much worth as another, all equal, man and woman, lord and servant; that +every individual must be free, one as well as another; and that two people +should be joined together only by love, and not as a matter of ownership. +But even now-a-days there are still countries and islands where men make +nothing of killing and eating each other, and the women are bought and +sold like goods. It is only where the influence of Christianity has +penetrated, that there is true equality of womanhood. You can imagine the +flood of new ideas that crowded in upon me as I read, and I assure you +that I was able to forget sometimes for many days that I was a hunchback, +and when I did remember it, the thought had lost its sting. I dwelt upon +the many privations and sufferings of others, till they seemed to outweigh +my own trouble so that it dwindled in my estimation; and gradually I began +to see the good side of my lot. How independently I could live supporting +myself; what a wealth of interest was opened to me through my reading, and +in fact how fortunate I was, and blessed beyond many another! Yes, +Veronica, I can assure you that I am now a happy woman, with a heart +filled with gratitude to the good God for the blessings he has sent me. +And so I say to you, my child, from the fulness of my own experience, that +you have no right to go about looking like a thunder-cloud; you with all +the freshness and beauty of your young life!</p> + +<p>Tell me do you owe our Lord God something or is He in debt to you? Have +you nothing to thank him for? Others can see how much you have to look +forward to. Get yourself together, girl, and try to give your thoughts +another direction."</p> + +<p>"I should be only too glad to do so," said Veronica, who had listened +intently to every word that Sabina had said. "Have you any such book as +you describe, that you can lend me to read?"</p> + +<p>Sabina was well pleased at this request. She had a book close at hand, +which she had just finished reading, and from which she expected great +things for the young girl. Veronica was moved by Sabina's glowing words, +to believe that her future might be happier, and that the clouds of +despondency which had overshadowed her, were about to be dispersed.</p> + +<p>She lost no time, for she was in earnest. She opened the book that very +evening, and began to read. But her sanguine expectations were not +fulfilled. She read the words, she understood their meaning; but it was as +if she heard them at a distance and through them all, louder than all +else, sounded something in her ears and in her heart that drowned them. It +was the flow of the troubled waters, as Sabina had said. The waves rose +higher; their noise increased, until Veronica lost all hearing and +understanding of what she was reading. Still she persevered; perhaps +bye-and-bye it would come right. Alas! was not that the house door opening +and shutting again so softly late in the night? She flung the book aside; +walked rapidly back and forth in her chamber for awhile, then unfolded her +sewing, and worked steadily on and on, until the morning broke and a new +day called her to its duties.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII" />CHAPTER VII.</h2> + +<h3>A THUNDER CLAP.</h3> + + +<p>Blasi, the lounger, stood in his doorway in the clear sunshine of this +lovely summer morning, both hands plunged deep into his pockets as was his +wont, and looked about him as if to see whether everything in the outer +world was the same as yesterday.</p> + +<p>Judith came out to the well, carrying her water-jug on her head.</p> + +<p>"Look out, Blasi, you are losing something," she cried. Blasi looked on +the ground, turned about, and searched behind and before.</p> + +<p>"I don't see anything," he said, and stuffed his hands deeper into his +pockets.</p> + +<p>"It's always so with me," said Judith, "when I've lost anything, I can't +see it."</p> + +<p>"Oh ho, you're making a fool of me again!"</p> + +<p>"That's all the thanks I get for telling you that you are losing +something, and I was just going to make you a present that is worth more +than five francs to a fellow like you."</p> + +<p>"What is it? Show it to me," said Blasi, with more animation.</p> + +<p>"First I will tell you something, and then you shall have it," replied +Judith. "Look here, Blasi, my sainted father used to say, "If you keep +your hands out of your pockets they will get full, but if you keep them +in, your pockets will be empty." Now, both your hands are in your +pockets, so all that ought to go in is running to waste. Isn't that so?"</p> + +<p>"Well, suppose it is," said Blasi, angrily. "Now give me what you promised +me."</p> + +<p>"I gave it to you this very minute. I said you'd better take your hands +out of your pockets, and then your earnings would run in. That's good +advice and worth more than five francs.</p> + +<p>"What stuff! No one ever knows how to take you," grumbled Blasi.</p> + +<p>"It wouldn't help you to take me, if you did not take your hands out too," +said Judith, "but never mind, I have really something good for you," and +Judith motioned to him to come nearer. "Would you like to have a nice +well-washed shirt for Sunday? I will do one up for you if you will tell me +something."</p> + +<p>That was an offer worth listening to. Sunday was a wretched day for Blasi, +for when he had turned his two shirts and worn them both on both sides, he +had never a clean one for Sunday. He had no one to wash for him. His +mother was dead, and his father had enough else to spend for, without the +washing for a grown-up son. Blasi's money went for other things than +washing, and he was not fond of doing it for himself.</p> + +<p>The proposition was therefore very apropos. "Come a little nearer to the +well; no one knows who may be behind those trees. Now listen; Can you tell +me what is going wrong with Dietrich? He never whistles now, he never +laughs, and his mother looks so sad, and she rarely speaks even to answer +when spoken to. Something has happened to Dietrich."</p> + +<p>"Yes, and keeps on happening; all sorts of things, too. But Jost can tell +you more than I can. They sit together in the Rehbock half the night and +more, too; long after everybody else has gone, there they sit in the +little back room. At first they do just as other people do, they drink a +little and then a little more, and Dietrich pays. But that's nothing to +what it costs him afterwards. They do something with paper, he and Jost. +Sometimes it is a lottery and then again something that they call +speculating. I don't understand anything about it. Somebody comes over +from Fohrensee and explains it to them. He does not belong there; but I +guess you have seen him; he has fiery red hair, and red beard and red +face. He has business in Fohrensee once a week, and lives the rest of the +time down in the city; and he arranges everything down there, and then +brings the account of gains and losses up to them; but it's a good deal +more loss than gain. Dietrich puts in more money every time. Jost has +nothing to put in but promises. He tells Dietrich all the time that +presently the winnings will begin to flow in, and says that at first a +fellow must expect to lose, so as to win all the more in the end, and that +bye-and-bye it will all come back; with interest, of course. The +red-haired man says yes to it all. Whenever I want to put something in, +and ask Dietrich to lend me a little to try with, Jost acts as if he were +the lord and master of the whole concern, and 'donkey' is the mildest name +he calls me. I am just waiting though, till I can trip him up, and I'll +do it with a vengeance too, so that he won't forget it all his life long."</p> + +<p>"Now that is a good idea," said Judith. "You'd better tell him then, that +you do it to pay your debts, and that it would be well for him to follow +your example. Now you have told me enough. Bring me your shirt on +Saturday, and I'll wash it for you."</p> + +<p>Judith lifted her water-jug and was turning away, but Blasi detained her.</p> + +<p>"Just wait one moment, I want to ask you a question. Do you think she will +have him?"</p> + +<p>The question seemed to interest Judith, for she stood stock still.</p> + +<p>"Who? whom? what do you mean?"</p> + +<p>"I mean Veronica and Jost. Do you think she will take him?" As Blasi +spoke he came slowly nearer to Judith. "He has been saying some things +lately, that made me think so."</p> + +<p>"If you know anything more stupid than that, I should like to hear it," +cried Judith very angry indeed; but she did not move away, for she wanted +to hear all that Blasi had to say.</p> + +<p>"I know what you mean," he went on, "but I am not so very stupid as you +think. It certainly means something, when she is so changed. Jost says +that she knows all that Dietrich has been about, and she is hot with anger +against him because he has not told her about it himself. Jost says that +if he only mentions Dietrich's name before her she looks like a wild-cat +in a moment, and he says too that he has noticed for some time, that she +has no objection to letting Dietrich see that she can get along very well +without his help, and you know that she is capable of anything when she's +angry."</p> + +<p>"Well, this was the one drop wanting!" said Judith, and shouldering her +jug she went off, snorting with anger, in such a rage that Blasi stood +looking after her in stupid amazement, and muttered,</p> + +<p>"I wonder if she wants to get him, too!"</p> + +<p>Judith walked along, talking aloud to herself,</p> + +<p>"Yes, she is! she is! she is capable of anything when she is angry!"</p> + +<p>Now Judith had looked upon her neighbor's boy from his childhood up, as if +he belonged to her. He was her prime, favorite and she meant to do well by +him. She liked Veronica because she was such a steady girl at her needle, +and because she would have nothing to say to any one but Dietrich. This +very reserve however, was rather distasteful to Judith as regarded +herself, but she liked it towards others. She had planned it all out that +Dietrich should marry Veronica soon after the confirmation, that they +should set up a pretty little establishment, and be her beloved neighbors. +She meant to be their intimate friend and helper, to go freely in and out +of their house, and to stand god-mother now and then. She would leave her +property to the little ones. Now all this fine air-castle was overthrown +and all her plans spoiled. Judith bounced violently into the kitchen and +set her jug down with such a bang that the water spurted up into the air.</p> + +<p>"And no one can get a word out of her, either; it is exactly as if all the +oil had been burned out." This last remark referred to Gertrude, who had +greatly altered during the last few months. She had no longer the cheerful +expression that she had always been noted for. She had grown very quiet +and silent. She even avoided her old and well-tried friend Judith, and if +the latter showed a disposition to talk about her household matters or her +children's future, Gertrude would give her to understand that she had no +time to stop to talk.</p> + +<p>Gertrude knew where Dietrich spent his evenings. She had expostulated with +him about it more than once. He had answered that he must keep on there +for awhile, till a certain undertaking which he had started with Jost was +fairly under way. He assured her that this affair was certain to turn out +all right, and that she herself would be surprised and satisfied at the +result. He knew from some one who understood it, that it could not fail. +He had to draw large sums several times for himself and also for Jost, but +he was sanguine that in a short time it would all be paid back, with +interest. Gertrude did not pretend to understand the business, but she saw +that Dietrich believed it to be safe and profitable, and she knew that her +son would not deceive her. Still she was haunted daily by a growing +uneasiness, which was not diminished when she perceived that Veronica was +gradually drawing away from her.</p> + +<p>This state of things had all come about since that morning when the +girl's beseeching words had fallen unheeded on the mother's ears; or at +least Veronica believed them to have been unheeded, since they had worked +no change in Dietrich's behavior.</p> + +<p>Why it was that every day as evening came on, she felt so miserably +anxious, Gertrude herself could scarcely understand. Poor Gertrude!</p> + +<p>One night after she had gone to her room she heard her son leave the house +with hasty steps. It had become a regular thing now. She had often said to +herself, "Ah! how much longer will this go on?" but she tried hard to +believe that it would soon come to an end, and her son would resume his +former orderly and happy mode of life. But this evening she was so +anxious that she could not stay in her bedroom. She went down into the +garden.</p> + +<p>The moon peeped out from between the flying clouds, and shone peacefully +down upon the trees and the neat flower-beds. Gertrude seated herself upon +a small bench under the apple tree, and gazed about the garden, all +illuminated by the moonbeams. She had planted it all and cared for it with +her own hands. She had done this as she did everything, carefully and with +great painstaking, and it was all for her son's sake. His should be the +pleasure and the profit of all. Why could he not be happy in it now? Why +was she so worried about him? Dietrich was walking in steep and dangerous +paths; that she was sure of, but he knew the straight road and would not +his steps turn back to it again? Her thoughts went back to the days when +her little Dieterli loved good and orderly conduct; it could not be that +he had lost his love for it, that he did not still feel that in the right +conduct of life lies inward and outward blessing. She recalled the evening +of the day when her husband was borne from the house to his burial. She +had taken the children by the hand and, stupefied with pain, was about to +put them to bed, but Dieterli objected, saying,</p> + +<p>"No, mother, no; it is not good to go to bed before you say your prayers."</p> + +<p>Did her boy ever pray now? "Oh, Dieterli, my son, you are wandering away, +but you know the way home," she said to herself, and she folded her hands +in prayer, for her habit was to lay all her troubles before God, her +Supporter and Comforter.</p> + +<p>At this moment, she heard through the stillness loud shouts and cries, +first at a distance, then nearer and nearer, until they grew into a wild +tumult. Then many of the voices seemed to scatter in different directions +while some sounded as if approaching the garden. A vague fear seized +Gertrude. Three fellows shouting and calling, passed on the other side of +the hedge; she recognized one of the voices.</p> + +<p>"Jost," she cried feebly, "Jost, what is it? where is Dietrich?"</p> + +<p>There was no answer; Jost did not or would not, hear. He ran faster than +before, and the second fellow ran too. The last one paused a little; it +was Blasi. He said hastily:</p> + +<p>"He isn't coming yet awhile. You can go to bed;" and was making off.</p> + +<p>"Oh do tell me what has happened," said Gertrude, white with terror. +"Don't leave me so, but tell me, Blasi, why Dietrich hasn't come home with +the rest of you?"</p> + +<p>Blasi had too much respect for Dietrich's mother to run away from her when +she put a direct question to him, although he would fain have escaped. He +came close to the hedge, and replied,</p> + +<p>"There has been a row at the Rehbock. Two men were killed. Some one stole +the cattle dealer's money bag—"</p> + +<p>"Is Dietrich killed? Speak out!" broke in Gertrude, trembling.</p> + +<p>"No; he struck about him bravely, till one of the fellows got enough of +it, and lay dead on the ground; and then he made off."</p> + +<p>With this Blasi ran on.</p> + +<p>Gertrude mounted wearily to her room as if her last day was come. She sat +down upon her bed, and when the morning light filled the room, still she +sat there listening in trembling anxiety, as she had listened through all +the long night; in vain. Dietrich had not come home in the night; he did +not come in the morning.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII" />CHAPTER VIII.</h2> + +<h3>EACH ONE ACCORDING TO HIS KIND.</h3> + + +<p>In all Tannenegg and Fohrensee, nothing was talked of but the affair of +the night before. Never was such excitement known. In every house, at +every corner, in all the roads, groups of people stood talking it over; +each telling what he knew.</p> + +<p>Everyone asked questions, and no one listened to the answers. Such a fight +at the Rehbock! It began over the card-table. The cattle-dealer from +Fohrensee was on his way home with his bag full of money, when he stopped +in at the Rehbock, and joined the game. When the dispute broke out, his +big fists took their share in the fray. Not until two of the party lay for +dead on the ground, did the brawling cease and the combatants begin to +cool. Then the cattle-dealer discovered that his bag full of gold was +gone, and raised a fearful alarm.</p> + +<p>Then the red-haired man from Fohrensee shouted into the midst of the +excited crowd,</p> + +<p>"Don't let any one get away. Run after them! That's the only way to find +out the thief!"</p> + +<p>This man had not taken part in the fight, but had mixed with the crowd, +trying to pacify them, and to restore quiet.</p> + +<p>His advice was useless. A good many had already gone. First of all, +Dietrich had disappeared; then several fellows ran after him, and then +all the rest went together.</p> + +<p>On the way home, Jost had told his companions that Dietrich had made off +with himself, and that he, Jost, had told him when he saw him going that +there was doubtless good reason for his wishing to be out of the way. But +in truth Jost had not said any such thing to Dietrich!</p> + +<p>One of the men had run at once for the doctor, and the doctor had come in +the night to the Rehbock, and had found that the two men were not dead +after all. So he had given orders that they should be let alone till they +had slept off the effect of their carouse.</p> + +<p>In the morning, all those who had been at the Rehbock the night before, +were called together; and every one denied stoutly having any knowledge +of the cattle-dealer's money, and all were ready to be searched in proof +of their innocence. Dietrich alone was not there; he had vanished, no one +knew whither. Some one whispered, and then it was softly repeated, then +louder and louder, that Dietrich would not have taken himself off if he +had had a clear conscience; and although nobody seriously believed +Dietrich capable of a disgraceful act, yet after awhile it seemed to grow +more likely, especially when it became known that he had lost a great deal +of money in betting and gambling, and was unable to pay back what he had +lost. And many shook their heads and said, "How easy it is for a man to be +drawn into evil ways if he once begins to go down hill!"</p> + +<p>Where Dietrich had gone, was now the important question. No trace of him +had been discovered from the moment of his disappearance. The +cattle-dealer left no stone unturned to find him, but he could get no clue +to his whereabouts. He had entered complaints against Dietrich, and hoped +that the hands of the law would succeed in getting track of him. But it +was all in vain. Gradually, no one knew how, a report got about that +Dietrich had fled to Australia, and would never come back. Little by +little every one came to believe it.</p> + +<p>Except one. One single person in all Tannenegg was bold enough to swim +against this stream of suspicion. This was Judith. Not timidly and in +secret, but aloud, at all times and in all places, she declared decidedly,</p> + +<p>"There's not one word of truth in what you all say. It's a lie from +beginning to end. Dietrich has no more stolen than I have, and I needn't +say more than that. I'll ferret this thing out, till I find the true +culprit, or my name's not Judith."</p> + +<p>The first thing to do was to get a clear account of the whole affair; for +although she had already heard it told a dozen times, it had always been +among other people, who were continually interrupting and asking +questions, and were too anxious to hear the end, to wait for the full +account of the beginning. So she decided to apply to Blasi, who, as he had +been on the spot, must know all about it. But she had to hunt him up; for +since that unlucky evening he had kept himself out of sight. She placed +her bucket under the spout at the well, and then took a turn about the +kitchen garden behind the sexton's cottage. Blasi stood in the back +doorway, just as he was in the habit of standing in the front doorway, +only instead of holding his face up as if to catch any agreeable odors +that might be floating about, he stood to-day with drooping head, gazing +sadly at the uncared-for garden.</p> + +<p>"What's amiss, Blasi?" asked Judith, sharply, coming upon him before he +was aware of her approach.</p> + +<p>"Nothing; if you know of anything we will share it," said Blasi sullenly.</p> + +<p>"Well, perhaps I know something that it would not be a bad thing for you +to share with me. Perhaps it's worth while for some one who has learned it +by the sweat of her brow, to tell you that vegetables can be made to grow +in a garden, instead of nettles, which you seem to cultivate."</p> + +<p>"I don't care what grows anywhere; one thing is as good as another to me, +now that Dietrich has gone. There's nothing to do in the evening now. I've +half a mind to go after him."</p> + +<p>"Go where? do you know where he is?"</p> + +<p>"I don't, myself, but Jost does, and I know that Jost is expecting to hear +from him. Though he does call me stupid, I have my eye on him," said +Blasi, with angry emphasis. "And I know it was Jost who advised Dietrich +to run away and hide, though he didn't mean to let me know. Oh, I'm no +fool!"</p> + +<p>Judith nodded assentingly, as if Blasi's information confirmed her own +suspicions.</p> + +<p>"Here, Blasi, here's a little something for you. Now I want you to tell me +exactly how this thing happened, from the very beginning; and don't leave +out a single thing. I want to hear the whole story, connectedly."</p> + +<p>"You may be sure I will," said Blasi, weighing the silver piece which +Judith had given him affectionately in his hand. "You see they were all +together in the little back room at first; the red-haired man and Jost and +Dietrich, and when I went in I noticed at once that something had happened +that our two didn't like; for Dietrich sat with his elbows on the table +and his head in his hands, and Jost was swearing roundly. Presently Jost +said, 'We will double our bets, Dietrich, and perhaps the luck will turn.' +Dietrich, only groaned. Then the red-haired fellow said, 'Come, let's go +down and play cards with the cattle-dealer, and take a glass of something +that will raise your spirits.'"</p> + +<p>"Dietrich never used to gamble; nor to drink when he was not thirsty;" +cried Judith angrily.</p> + +<p>"Pooh! When every one is playing cards, a fellow can't hold off and say he +won't join, and as for the drink, Dietrich has washed down a good deal of +vexation with it lately, and he took it powerfully too, I can tell you. +Well, the play began, and it went on fast. I noticed that the red man +looked mightily pleased, and urged them all on, and the louder the +cattle-dealer scolded, the more the red man filled up his glass. When the +quarrel came to blows, I heard the red-head call out to the +cattle-dealer, 'Come over here, you'll soon silence them,' So he kept +exciting him, and he struck out well with his great fists. The red-head +mixed in the crowd, and stuck close to the cattle-dealer, but he never +struck a blow himself; of course not, such a gentleman as he is! I did not +see Dietrich knock the Fohrensee fellow down, but just when the storm was +most furious, I saw Dietrich run out, and Jost after him, and I thought I +saw Jost give Dietrich something. I ran out after them, and I heard Jost +advising Dietrich to make off as fast as he could, and send him word where +he hid himself. When I came up to them, Jost pushed me back; I couldn't +get a word with Dietrich, who ran right off, and Jost pulled me into the +house. There the noise was increasing every minute, for the cattle-dealer +had discovered that his money-bag was gone, and red-head screamed out like +a mad-man, that nobody must get away, and everybody must be searched. When +they found that Dietrich had gone, the cattle-man started off after him, +and some others too, and then they all broke up. Now you know all that I +know. Nothing else happened; except that I went for the doctor, who said +the two men were not dead. When Jost tells Dietrich that, why, there's +nothing to prevent his coming back. That is, unless there's something +else."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean by 'something else'?" said Judith sharply. "But +there—you're all alike. One repeats what another has said, till you all +get to saying the same thing and then of course you believe it. A nice +set of friends you are—the whole of you. I mean to stir up the ground +under you all until I find out where the truth is. Then you can begin to +stare with the others, you blind mole!" and Judith suddenly walked off as +if the earth were burning beneath her angry feet.</p> + +<p>Blasi understood neither her words nor her anger. He looked after her, +shook his head rather sadly, and said to himself,</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Women folk are a very foolish folk."</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>Home sped the "foolish" Judith; put on her Sunday garments and started on +her journey. If ever she had a project in her head, she did not wait till +to-morrow to put it into execution. And to-day she was bent on giving the +cattle dealer a piece of her mind. She paused a moment when she came to +Gertrude's house, then went on her way, saying half aloud,</p> + +<p>"No, I'll say nothing to her, since she says nothing to me. If 'mum's' the +word I can use it as well as she."</p> + +<p>Judith was pained that Gertrude had not from the beginning talked with her +of her troubles, for Judith was one who liked to give and receive +sympathy. Veronica too was much too reticent to please her kind-hearted +neighbor who could never get a word with her about what was going on. +Veronica and Gertrude were both very silent by nature, about anything that +touched them deeply, especially in sorrow. On the first day after the +terrible blow that had befallen them, they talked it all over, and wept +together, to ease their hearts of the first misery. Then Gertrude said,</p> + +<p>"Dietrich has sinned and he must make atonement, but he has not stolen; I +am sure that my son is not a thief." And Veronica had responded promptly,</p> + +<p>"If every one in the whole world said that he had stolen that money, I +should not listen; for I know he is no thief."</p> + +<p>As soon as it became known that Dietrich was gone, letters and bills came +pouring in upon the poor widow. Her son had borrowed large sums of money +and had lost even more at play. She soon found that not only all her +husband's savings, but also the house and the business were deeply +encumbered. She talked things over with the workman who had been so many +years in her employ and asked if he would help her carry on the business +as he had done after her husband's death while Dietrich was still a child. +The man was very angry with Dietrich for having thrown away the result of +all those years of labor, and at first refused to have anything more to do +with the business. He yielded at last, however, to Gertrude's urgent +request, and consented to remain with her at least till the future +prospects of the business could be decided upon; and Gertrude agreed that +if it should prosper she would hand it over to him, in case Dietrich +should not return within a certain time.</p> + +<p>And so the mother set herself again to her task. She worked early and +late; she seemed to have gained new strength and courage instead of being +crushed down by this new burden.</p> + +<p>It was curious to see how differently the two women nearest to Dietrich +were affected by this trouble. Gertrude's countenance gradually resumed +its customary look of cheerfulness and peace, while on Veronica's handsome +features rested a heavy scowl which now seldom left her clouded brow. Yet +she was almost an object of envy to all the young girls of the +neighborhood, and no wonder; for she was an attractive sight to all eyes, +with her neat, well-fitting clothes, that always looked new and fresh, and +her air of strength and activity. Not a few of the strangers who came to +Fohrensee, made inquiries about her, wondering where she could have come +from; for they noticed the marked difference between her and the other +women of the place. The work which passed through her hands, even if it +were most elaborately embroidered, was never crumpled nor soiled, but +looked as fresh as if it had not been handled at all. She could obtain any +price she chose to set upon her work, and everything she did found ready +sale. Moreover, she had been appointed to the place of which Sabina had +spoken to her. She was at the head of the great Industrial School for +women, where she received so handsome a salary, that she was in a fair way +to the accumulation of a nice little fortune. It was common to hear it +said of her, "She is really a lady! she can have whatever she pleases," +and it was often added, "If I were in her shoes, I wouldn't go about with +a face like a thirty days' storm, as she does, when she can be a +gentleman's wife whenever she chooses!" It had been proposed that +Veronica should go to live in the school-buildings at Fohrensee. But she +did not accept the offer; she could not leave her mother alone in this +time of trouble. Every evening after her work she returned to Gertrude's +cottage.</p> + +<p>During the long summer days it was easy for Veronica to get home before +the twilight was over. But when the days grew shorter, dusk came on even +before she could reach the wood. One bright Saturday afternoon, late in +August, Veronica had delayed longer than usual in the work-room, to clear +all away and leave things in perfect order for Sunday.</p> + +<p>She hurried up the hill road, not so much from fear of going through the +wood alone, as from desire to spare Gertrude the anxiety of watching for +her. Just before she reached the wood, she met Jost coming towards her. He +held out his hand with a friendly smile, saying,</p> + +<p>"I came to meet you; I thought it would be getting too dark for you to go +alone through the forest; I can't let you go unprotected."</p> + +<p>"You may spare yourself the pains," said Veronica shortly and crossed over +to the other side of the road. Jost crossed too.</p> + +<p>"Veronica," he began after a little while, "it is not nice of you to treat +me as you have done since Dietrich went off. I know as well as you do, +that he did wrong in running away from you without letting you know where +he went to; but he may write yet, and meantime—"</p> + +<p>"Don't say another word," interrupted Veronica; so decidedly that Jost was +silent for awhile. She crossed the road again, and presently Jost did the +same, and as he came up to her, he began again in a soft insinuating tone,</p> + +<p>"Don't you see Veronica, that it isn't my fault that things have taken +this turn? I often thought of you when Dietrich was risking so much money, +and I used to say to him "think of her," for I knew how you would feel +about it."</p> + +<p>"Oh, you Judas!" cried Veronica, swelling with rage, and she sprang +forward and ran on with all her might. Jost followed close at her heels. +When she had passed through the wood, and had come out on the Tannenegg +side, he said, in a flattering voice,</p> + +<p>"Veronica, do you see how precious you are to me? I will protect you and +take care of you even if you do not speak one kind word to me. I shall +come to meet you every day, for I will not allow you to go through the +wood alone. You may meet all sorts of people there and may sometimes be +glad of my company. Bye-and-bye you will be convinced how much I care for +you."</p> + +<p>Veronica was now near the house. She hurried on and without once looking +back, she sprang through the door and shut it fast behind her.</p> + +<p>"You shall be tame enough before I have done with you," muttered Jost, and +he bit his lips until the blood came.</p> + +<p>Veronica stood still on the other side of the door until she heard his +retreating footsteps; then she opened it and went out again. She went +over to the sexton's house. Blasi stood in the doorway, in a despondent +attitude, with his hands in his pockets. He was brooding over the +melancholy reflection that he had paid away the last penny of the coin +that Judith had given him, for last evening's glass at the Rehbock, and +that he had no credit. He saw no glimmer of hope in the prospect before +him, and looked disconsolately at the ground. Suddenly Veronica stood +before him. He stared at her with surprise.</p> + +<p>"Blasi, will you do me a favor?" she asked in a friendly tone, "I will +return it sometime when you need help."</p> + +<p>Here was an unexpected chance. He opened his eyes yet wider with delight.</p> + +<p>"Tell me what it is, Veronica," he said; "I will go through fire and +water for you."</p> + +<p>"It is only to go through the wood for me, to-morrow evening, and every +evening till the days grow longer again. Will you? You can have your +evening glass afterwards at my expense."</p> + +<p>Blasi stood speechless; staring at Veronica, who waited for his answer.</p> + +<p>"Why; do you want two of us?" he said presently, "I don't see why. Jost is +going too, for you told him to go and meet you every evening."</p> + +<p>Veronica's dark eyes flashed forth a fire that dazzled poor Blasi.</p> + +<p>"So! I told him to go, did I? Who told you such a thing as that?"</p> + +<p>"Jost said so himself at the Rehbock last evening, before a room full of +people; and some of them said that you were going to prove that you could +get along very well without the fellow that ran away."</p> + +<p>Veronica flushed burning red.</p> + +<p>"Tell Jost," she said, scornfully, "that if he is clever in nothing else +he is a master liar. I would tell him myself, but I will never speak to +him again. Will you come for me tomorrow or not, Blasi?" she had turned to +leave him.</p> + +<p>"Why of course, if that's the way it is about Jost, I'll come. You may +count on me," he replied gleefully. She held out her hand to him, and was +gone.</p> + +<p>The next evening, as Blasi was walking at his ease, towards the wood, he +met Jost hurrying along from another direction.</p> + +<p>"Where may you be going?" asked Jost peremptorily.</p> + +<p>"I am going to meet Veronica; she engaged me to," answered Blasi, not at +all unwilling to make known his errand.</p> + +<p>"Well, you are a dunderhead to take a joke like that for sober earnest," +said Jost, bursting into a loud laugh. "Hadn't you sense enough to see +that she was making a fool of you? We had a good laugh together about it +last night, she and I, and she said she had a mind to make you go all +winter long to Fohrensee, to fetch her; and that you would never find out +that she was making sport of you. She seems to have made a good +beginning."</p> + +<p>Jost laughed again immoderately, and Blasi began to waver.</p> + +<p>"If I only knew which of you was telling a lie;" he said, and stood still +to think it over. Suddenly he started forward on the full run, for it +occured to him that he could decide by Veronica's air when he met her, +whether she had cheated him or not. Jost saw that Blasi was determined not +to give up his enterprise so he turned about, and disappeared among the +bushes; for he had no desire to have Blasi see how Veronica treated him.</p> + +<p>When Blasi met Veronica, her face had so pleasant and bright a look, that +the lad was struck with her beauty. It was not the look of one who was +making a fool of him. Veronica was sincere. She talked kindly with him all +the way home, more kindly than he had ever thought she could talk, and +when they parted, she said persuasively,</p> + +<p>"You'll come tomorrow, and every day, won't you Blasi?"</p> + +<p>Then she pressed a piece of money into his hand, and thanked him for his +kindness so gratefully, that it seemed as if he had conferred a great +favor on her, instead of having received payment for service rendered.</p> + +<p>As the young man turned away, a new set of ideas took possession of his +mind. For the first time in his life, he felt a desire to use the money +that he held in his hand, for something better than drink. He recollected +that he had no necktie on, and he was conscious of looking slovenly and +dirty. That was not the way for a fellow to look who was going to be seen +walking with the pretty Veronica along the high-road. He would buy a +neck-tie in the morning; he had money enough for that. Then his thoughts +ran on still farther. Veronica had not spoken to him in this friendly way +for many a long year. It was not to make fun of him, Jost was a liar as +she had said; else why did he run away instead of going with him to meet +her? No, he wouldn't be taken in by that fellow, any longer. As they +walked along she had asked him all sorts of questions about himself; what +his business was, and how he succeeded in it and so on. He had not been +able to answer very satisfactorily about his business, for since +Confirmation, three years before, he had only been waiting for something +to turn up. He had had nothing to do except to ring the bell at eleven +o'clock, and then stand in the door-way of his house until it was time to +ring it again at four. Then towards evening he always went to the Rehbock +to hear the news. All this appeared in a new light before his eyes, now +that Veronica had inquired about his occupation. Then she had encouraged +him so sympathetically to try to get something to do, and promised to be +of service to him if she could. It was exactly as if she had an especial +interest in his welfare. Why did she concern herself about him? Suddenly a +light broke through his darkness.</p> + +<p>"Dietrich is gone, and is not likely to come back," he said to himself, +"she detests Jost; and women always do the very thing you least expect +them to; I've heard that a hundred times. She is after me! Good heavens!" +he called out in his surprise as this idea seized him. "A fellow must +spruce up! I will take the first step this very day."</p> + +<p>The idea which had seized Blasi's mind that he was to take Dietrich's +place with Veronica, suggested a farther plan. He decided immediately to +become a saddler too, and before he went into his own house, he turned +back and sought Gertrude's garden.</p> + +<p>Gertrude's workman was walking up and down, for recreation; for he never +went to the tavern. Blasi went to him and opened his mind; he wanted to be +a saddler, and to learn the trade from him.</p> + +<p>The man was quite willing; he bethought himself that it would be rather an +agreeable change to have a young fellow to talk to, instead of merely +sitting all day by the side of the silent widow. He said he would speak to +his employer, and Blasi could come on the morrow. He was sure she would +agree, for she generally took his opinion about the business.</p> + +<p>"You see, Blasi," said he pompously, "if I were not there to look after +things, they would all go to ruin. In fact there are only two ways to save +this business; either Dietrich must come back and quickly too, and take +hold of the business better than he ever did before, or else it must fall +into my hands entirely, and I will take all the risks and all the +profits."</p> + +<p>"There may be yet a third way; who knows?" said Blasi, significantly, and +he winked so mysteriously first with one eye and then with the other, that +the saddler said to himself, "I guess he's been at the Rehbock."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX" />CHAPTER IX.</h2> + +<h3>MOTHER GERTRUDE ALSO GIVES GOOD ADVICE.</h3> + + +<p>The cold, dismal December days had come. It was always long after dark +now, before Veronica got home; but she never had to hurry, for fear of +going through the wood alone, for there stood Blasi always ready at the +turf hut on the edge of Fohrensee, just where the houses ceased and it +began to be lonely. If it was fine, he was walking up and down before the +hut; if it stormed, he was standing under the shelter of the roof. He was +never absent and he never came too late. Yet he was busy all day long, +and had to run half the way to get to the hut in time. His master did not +let him off one moment before the appointed day's work was over, Blasi's +application to learn the saddler's trade had been favorably received by +Gertrude and he had set to work at once. Now that he worked from morning +till night he never had time to put his hands in his pockets, and the +saddler kept him up to the mark, proud of showing how well he himself +understood the business. Blasi was contented, and more than contented with +his life; he had a new and very happy consciousness of being of use, and +he had risen in his own estimation. He felt like a man of property, almost +like a gentleman. By the time he had finished his day's work, and hurried +down to Fohrensee and walked back again, he was so tired that he was +ready to go to bed directly; he had no time nor desire to loaf. And so it +came about that when Veronica wished to give him his piece of money every +evening he objected; for he said he did not want to be paid; he preferred +to have his services accepted on the ground of friendship. Veronica +consented to accept them on that ground, but from time to time she would +say, "Blasi, this is your birthday," or "To-day is the cherry-festival, I +should like to make you a little present," or "I have had extra work +to-day, and I should like to give you part of the extra pay, for if you +had not been coming for me, I could not have waited to do it, so it is +fairly yours;" and each time she pressed into his hand such a large piece +of money that he soon had a considerable sum laid away. Then one day she +gave him a silk handkerchief; and another day half-a-dozen new shirts, +white as snow; and then again a package of handkerchiefs hemmed and ready +for use; and all this increase of property raised his standard of living, +and excited his ambition.</p> + +<p>The night before Christmas, Veronica was late in coming home. It was dark +and stormy. She had been delayed at the school, making preparations for +leaving everything in order for the holiday.</p> + +<p>When she came into the sitting-room she found her mother at work by +lamp-light, mending a ragged old mail-bag. Advancing years had told upon +Gertrude; and although industrious as ever, she could not work as easily +as she once did.</p> + +<p>"Oh mother, I cannot let you do that heavy piece of work," said Veronica, +as soon as she saw what her mother was about. "Didn't I tell you that I +would come home in time to dress the house for Christmas, and now you have +not only done all that, but you are at work on that old mail-bag. I can't +bear to have you do so. Why won't you let me do something for you, and +take a little rest yourself. You look so tired."</p> + +<p>"You need the evening to rest in too, dear child, after working steadily +all day," said Gertrude affectionately. "And I am very glad when there is +a piece of work like this that I can do. I want him to find everything as +it used to be, when he comes home. I think that with care and industry I +can manage so that I shall not be obliged to give up this house while he +is away. I am sure it will be a great comfort to him to find that he still +has his home. And besides I feel that it will help him to begin life anew, +and bring him back to his old right-minded way of thinking. Oh, if he +would only come home!"</p> + +<p>"Mother, mother, that is no reason why you should work beyond your +strength. You have taken care of me all these long years, and now it is +fairly my turn to take care of you. Do not worry about the house, dear; I +have made an arrangement with the cattle-dealer. When you told me that he +threatened to take it, I went to him and got him to let me settle with him +instead. He was very glad that I wanted it, for he said that he didn't +see what good it would be to him, and he gave me my time about paying for +it."</p> + +<p>"Is that true, Veronica?" said Gertrude, and a happy smile stole over her +face. "You do not know what a load you have taken from my heart! Oh, you +are good and brave! If I could only see you look happy, how glad I should +be! If I could find out how to make you happy! I would do anything in the +world for you, if I only knew how!"</p> + +<p>"There is no use in thinking about it, mother dear. Happiness is not for +me. It may be for others, but not for me." Veronica spoke with strong +emotion. "I have worked and struggled for it ever since I can remember +anything, but all in vain. Cousin Judith told me that work was the way to +fortune, and that 'fortune' meant whatever one wanted most; and so I +worked, always, even when I did not know what it was that I wanted most. +Afterwards when I learned that for me happiness was the best fortune, I +worked on, for I wanted to be happy, but I was not. I always brooded over +my work, thinking of all the unpleasant and troublesome things that had +happened. Then Sabina told me how, when she was terribly unhappy about her +deformity, she had found relief in books, in reading," and Veronica went +on to tell how Sabina had sent her delightful books and how she had tried +to drive away her own sorrow by the new interests which she found in them. +"But you see," she added with a sigh, "it did not help me; nothing helps +me. When I read, I was still unhappy. What difference did it make to me, +all that was written in the books; it did not make my troubles less. The +old thoughts came right in and left me no peace. Even while I was reading +I could not fix my mind on the book, and when I laid the book down, I had +gained nothing, but was as sad and hopeless as ever. Happiness is not for +me, and the little motto upon my rose may be true for others; it is not +true for me. I cannot 'grasp' the only 'fortune' I care for."</p> + +<p>Veronica spoke passionately; with a vehemence that Gertrude had never +before heard from her. Her strong, self-controlled nature had never before +given way and found expression in words. Now the flood-gates were opened, +the stream broke through. Gertrude was distressed at her unwonted +emotion. "Veronica," she said, sadly and lovingly, "this pains me. I had +no idea of your feeling; no conception of your having suffered so. You are +always so quiet and reserved that I thought you had peace within, though +your face is so often clouded with apparent discontent. Now I see that +your heart is heavy. If I could only show you the way to peace—that is +the way to happiness.</p> + +<p>The girl said nothing; she only shook her head as if to say: "Peace is not +for me," and her eyes shone like fire with her inward excitement.</p> + +<p>"Veronica," said Gertrude presently, "to-morrow is Christmas day. Do you +remember how when you were little children we always prayed together at +night, and how happy you always were at Christmas, and how gladly you +said your little prayer? Will you not pray with me now, my child, as we +did in those dear old days?"</p> + +<p>The girl turned her face aside and wiped away her tears. "I will, mother," +she said, making an effort to control herself, "it will bring back those +happy days in memory, and give you a little pleasure."</p> + +<p>She folded her hands and began to repeat the Lord's prayer. Gertrude +followed reverently. When she reached the words, "Forgive us our +trespasses," Veronica hid her face in her hands, and broke into violent +sobs.</p> + +<p>"No, mother, I must not say it. I cannot forgive him. I cannot forgive +Dietrich for having treated you so, and then run away and hidden himself +without writing a single word, to tell you where he is. He must know how +you are suffering, and I too. And that Judas! I can never, never forgive +him. He led Dietrich astray and deceived him. He has destroyed all our +happiness. How can I forgive him? Doesn't he deserve our hatred? Can I +help wishing him the worst punishment that ever befell a human being?"</p> + +<p>Veronica sobbed as if the long-pent-up agony of her heart would never +again submit to be restrained. Silently Gertrude sat with folded hands, +waiting till the storm was spent. At last she said softly,</p> + +<p>"If I felt as you do, my child, I could not bear it at all. It would kill +me. But I do not feel so. When my Dieterli was a little child and I had to +do everything for him, before he was old enough to take care of himself, +there was much in his character and conduct that made me anxious. He +always wanted to be first in everything, and whatever he wished for, that +he must have, without delay and without effort on his part. And as he grew +older and these qualities strengthened, I often felt that with his +headstrong disposition he could never become great and good, without the +discipline of a severe school. From the earliest hours of his life, I gave +him into God's hands, and prayed for God's care and guidance. And through +all these years my constant prayer for my boy has been, 'Lead him where +Thou wilt, Oh God, only let him not fall out of Thy hands; When this heavy +trial came, which was almost beyond my strength to bear, I did not lose +my faith that the God to whom I had given him, would not let my Dieterich +be lost. If the hard lessons of life have begun for Dietrich, he must +learn them thoroughly; and if his sins are to be purged away, he must +suffer in the process. And though I suffer too, it is God's will; I have +had much schooling in my life, and have learned much and gained much from +it. Do not feel so hardly against Dietrich because he has not written to +us. Perhaps he has written, and the letter has gone astray. I look for a +letter every day, but if he does not write, we may be sure that he is in +great trouble, poor boy! He knows how we feel toward him, and if he has +gone into evil ways we must pity him the more and pray God to bring him +back into the right path again. As to Jost, I think as you do, that he is +to blame for our poor boy's troubles. He led him astray and then played +him false. Jost is a poor lost sheep who has wandered far from the fold. +He has no one to care for him, no one to lead him back again. He is alone +in the world. Should not we pray that he may be shown the wickedness of +his ways, that his conscience may be awakened and that he may repent and +his soul be saved?"</p> + +<p>Veronica had listened attentively to all that Gertrude had said. After a +silence she said thoughtfully,</p> + +<p>"Mother, are you made happy by this faith in God?"</p> + +<p>And without a moment's hesitation came the answer;</p> + +<p>"I know of nothing that can make us so happy as this faith—the strong +confidence in our hearts that our Father in Heaven orders and watches over +our lives, and that everything which happens to us is for our good, if we +obey him and hold fast to him. I do not know much, Veronica; I have not +read nearly as much as lame Sabina, or as you have, and you understand +things far better than I do; but it seems to me that you would have gained +more from your reading, if you had tried to find something in the books, +which you could use to help you in your trouble, and not merely to find +out something new about what other people do and how they live."</p> + +<p>"If you learned from these books that our Lord Jesus Christ first taught +the lesson that all men are equal in the sight of God, and that one soul +is of as much worth as another before Him, then it must have been told +there too, how our Savior brought us the glad tidings that we have a +Father in Heaven, who loves His children and who will bless them if they +put their trust in Him. Our Savior shows us the way to our Heavenly +Father, and will help us to overcome all the difficulties that stand in +our path. He speaks to us with a tenderness beyond that of any other +friend, and bids us lay our burdens upon Him and He will help us to bear +them."</p> + +<p>"But mother," said Veronica, looking with a wonder that was almost awe +upon the peaceful countenance of the mother, "can you truly say that you +have found peace and happiness, while you have no news from him, and do +not know what dreadful tidings any minute may bring you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Veronica, I can and I do say so," answered Gertrude, and her face +even without words would have borne witness to the truth of what she said. +"I know that what ever comes to us, comes from God, and is for our good. +But Veronica, we must put away all hatred and bitterness from our hearts; +these feelings are all evil, and we must ask to be forgiven for them. +Shall I go on with the prayer, where you left off, my child? Try to join +with me; it will help you, dear."</p> + +<p>And Gertrude finished the Lord's prayer.</p> + +<p>Veronica sat silent for a time, and then rose and went to her own room. +She could not sleep, but she had no inclination to seek relief for trouble +in her sewing, as she had been accustomed to do. Gertrude's words were +working in her heart. How often had she said lately in the proud +bitterness of her heart, "A fine truth indeed!</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">'Fortune stands ready, full in sight,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">He wins, who knows to grasp it right!'"</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>And now Gertrude had shown her that the words were true after all, and +that she had herself grasped Happiness, the truest Fortune, even in the +midst of a deep sorrow, greater even than Veronica's own.</p> + +<p>Sleeplessly for Veronica the hours of the night went by; but over and over +again the mother's words sounded in her ears, and she strove to quiet with +them the trouble and unrest of her heart.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X" />CHAPTER X.</h2> + +<h3>MAN PROPOSES, BUT GOD DISPOSES.</h3> + + +<p>Still no news came from Dietrich. Jost made many attempts to show Veronica +how much he wished to win her favor. He often went to meet her, and he +gave himself endless trouble to convince her of his attachment. He could +not boast that he made himself of any use by going to meet her; for she +was always accompanied by Blasi, who marched by her side with a triumphant +air as if to say, "Jost can judge for himself who holds the place of honor +here!" When Jost joined them, Veronica took care that Blasi should walk +between herself and the intruder, and she neither said a word herself, +nor seemed to hear what the others were saying. Jost grew pale with +suppressed rage. Whenever at other times he met Blasi anywhere, he threw +contemptuous words at him. If occasionally Blasi stepped into the Rehbock +for a glass of beer, Jost would cry out,</p> + +<p>"Oh ho, she allows it to-night, does she, you donkey of a servant? How +will you look when she doesn't want your services any longer, and gives +you your dismissal? She is already beginning to soften towards me, but +until she comes to me and begs me to hear her, I won't listen to a word, +nor pay the slightest attention to her."</p> + +<p>Such remarks as these, thrown out before all the company at the Rehbock +were very exasperating to Blasi and several times he seized the big bowl +to throw it at the insolent fellow's head. He did not throw it however, +for Veronica had charged him to have as little as possible to do with +Jost, and especially never to quarrel with him, and Veronica's influence +over Blasi grew stronger every day. So he did not throw the bowl, but +instead, drained it to the bottom and then left the room.</p> + +<p>About this time Blasi began to meet Judith very often on his evening walk. +Judith seemed to have some business that took her frequently to Fohrensee. +Strange surmises were aroused, among the Fohrensee people; for it was +known that she went to visit the cattle-dealer. The two were often seen +standing before his house in the open street, gesticulating vehemently +with hands and arms. The people about said,</p> + +<p>"Something's in the wind. They're going to be married. To be sure she is +cleverer than he, but then he is twenty-five years younger, and that +counts for something."</p> + +<p>One evening in January, Judith met Blasi as he was coming round the corner +of Gertrude's house, where he was always at work till it was time to go +for Veronica.</p> + +<p>"What makes you go about laughing all the time, and looking as if you had +been winning a game?" asked Judith.</p> + +<p>"That's exactly what I was going to ask you," retorted Blasi, "What have +you got to laugh about?"</p> + +<p>"Answer me, and I'll answer you, my lad."</p> + +<p>"All right; it's nothing to be ashamed of. She'll have me."</p> + +<p>"Good heavens!" exclaimed Judith "Who? Which one?"</p> + +<p>Blasi did not turn round, but pointed with his thumb over his shoulder at +the house he had just left. "That one," he said.</p> + +<p>Judith shouted with laughter.</p> + +<p>"Will she have you all three?" she said; "first Dietrich, then Jost, and +now you."</p> + +<p>"I don't see the joke," said Blasi crossly. "Dietrich has run away; she +avoids Jost as if he were a nettle, and who else is there? Who is there +for her to call upon if she wants help, hey?"</p> + +<p>Judith was still snickering over the news.</p> + +<p>"Now it's your turn," said Blasi, "tell me what it is that you're so +pleased about."</p> + +<p>"It is very much like yours, Blasi; come a little nearer," and she +whispered in his ear, "I have him."</p> + +<p>"Mercy on us!" cried Blasi. "You will be as rich as a Jew, for the +cattle-dealer is worth more than half the people in Fohrensee, all put +together."</p> + +<p>"I'm not talking about the cattle-dealer."</p> + +<p>"Pshaw! whom are you talking about then?"</p> + +<p>"Somebody else, and I have him in such a fashion that he will not forget +it in a hurry, I tell you!"</p> + +<p>As she spoke, Judith made a gesture with her hands as if she were choking +some one, who certainly would not escape alive from her clutches.</p> + +<p>Blasi shook his head and walked on in silence. But in his inmost mind he +thought, "I can't make anything out of her; her head is all in a buzz. But +she's only a woman."</p> + +<p>Soon after, they reached the turf-hut, and there they separated. Veronica +was not far off; and as she came up Blasi joined her, and they walked +quickly along over the crisp, frozen ground. She was more silent than +usual, and seemed sunk in thought. In the middle of the wood she stopped +suddenly and said,</p> + +<p>"Blasi will you do me a great favor?"</p> + +<p>"I will do anything in the world for you, Veronica," was the prompt reply, +"I will jump into the big pond over there, and never come out again, if +you want me to."</p> + +<p>"You couldn't get in now; it is frozen hard," said the girl, laughing. "I +don't want you to do that, but something very different. Do you think you +could find out what Jost knows about Dietrich? Perhaps he has told Jost +where he is, and where a letter would reach him."</p> + +<p>"Yes, but look here, Veronica, are you still thinking about him, all this +time?" asked poor Blasi, quite taken aback.</p> + +<p>"We will not talk about that," she answered curtly. "To tell the truth, I +am very anxious about our mother. She has been very far from well lately, +and she says every now and then, 'If I could only see him once more!' as +if she felt that she was not going to live much longer. Oh, help me get +word to Dietrich if you can, Blasi! do help me!" Veronica's eyes were full +of tears, as she raised them beseechingly to Blasi's face. He was much +touched at the sight of her tears; but then a great fear arose in his +mind, for he thought, "She is beginning to soften, and it will all turn +out just as Jost said." And he determined to prevent it at any cost.</p> + +<p>"Don't lose your courage, and I'll try my best! I'll see what I can do!" +he said in a very decided tone, and with a most courageous air.</p> + +<p>"You are my only friend now," said Veronica; and the words spurred Blasi +on to immediate action. He left her in the doorway, and hastened away. He +would find out all that Jost could or would tell about Dietrich. He ran +across to the Rehbock, where he found Jost sitting with his glass. For if +Jost, as he complained, had to sit and work all the morning, while others +did as they pleased, yet he made enough money by his work to allow him to +spend all his afternoons at the Rehbock, and remain, drinking one glass +after another, all through the evening, and late into the night.</p> + +<p>Blasi seated himself by his side, and opened his case very skilfully. He +wanted to know about their old friend; where he was now, and whether there +was any chance of getting a line sent to him. He did not mind paying for a +drink to-night, he said, if Jost would tell him exactly what he knew about +Dietrich; they ought to hang together, they three, who had known each +other ever since they were children. While Blasi was discoursing in this +clever manner, Jost looked squintingly at him, and when he stopped, he +answered scoffingly,</p> + +<p>"Oh, so she has come to it at last, has she? I have been expecting it. You +go back and tell her that I can give her all the information she wants; +but she must come to me for it, herself, and speak pleasantly to me, as I +do to her. Tell her that she will never see him again, as long as she +lives; he is too far off. But if she wants to send him a message, she has +but to come to me and ask, and I will do her that favor, and she can do me +one in return. Go now, Blasi, and tell her this from me. I'll pay for the +beer myself."</p> + +<p>Blasi felt stunned. Jost had seen through his little game at a glance, and +treated it with contempt. How could he carry such a message to Veronica? +It might bring the tears into her eyes again, and that was altogether too +painful to see. There was no use in remonstrating with Jost, who sat there +smiling scornfully without farther words. For the first time in his life, +Blasi left his glass unfinished. He pulled his cap down over his eyes and +left the inn. When he entered the widow's cottage, Veronica sat by the +table, stitching away at the old mail-bag. She put it down as he came in, +and looked up anxiously into his face.</p> + +<p>"It's no use; he is just splitting with rage and fury;" and Blasi threw +his cap across into the farthest corner of the room. He related the whole +conversation and it was plain enough that it was useless for him to try to +get anything out of Jost.</p> + +<p>She was silent for a time; thinking over Jost's words. "He wants to humble +me! I am to go and beseech him to tell me; and I must be friendly and do +him a favor. What favor? No, I will have nothing to do with him."</p> + +<p>She took up the bag again, stitched up the last hole, and folded the work. +Then she said,</p> + +<p>"May I ask one thing more of you, Blasi? I hope I shall be able to repay +you some day for all your kindness."</p> + +<p>"Only speak, Veronica," said Blasi, "I will do anything you ask. If you +want me to, I will go to find Dietrich, even if I have to go on foot all +the way to Australia."</p> + +<p>"Oh, it is no such long journey as that. I am sorry to ask you to do a +disagreeable errand, but you see Mother is much disturbed because this +mail-bag has not been sent back. She seems to be in a hurry to have +everything finished and settled up—as if she had no time to lose." +Veronica paused, and the tears that it so troubled Blasi to see, filled +her eyes to overflowing. "I promised mother that the bag should be sent +home early tomorrow morning, and you see I have no one but you to ask. You +can't leave your work in the daytime and at evening you have to go to meet +me; so there is no time but the very early morning before work hours."</p> + +<p>"I will take it if it snows cats and dogs; but where is it to go?"</p> + +<p>"It is not a pleasant walk, unless you go a long way round by the +high-road. The bag belongs at the post-office at the Valley bridge. Do +you think you could get down the steep foot-path in this deep snow? I +should feel dreadfully if anything were to happen to you, Blasi."</p> + +<p>Blasi was not afraid. He was proud to show Veronica that she might count +on his courage, where he had only the forces of nature to contend against, +and not the treacherous tricks of Jost.</p> + +<p>Veronica had a hard battle with herself that night. "Must I do it?" she +asked herself again and again, and each time her heart revolted and she +groaned aloud, "I cannot, oh, I cannot!"</p> + +<p>Then the image of Gertrude rose before her, pale and suffering, and she +heard her heart-rending words, "If I could only see him once more!" +Veronica could not sleep, nor could she come to any decision.</p> + +<p>Next morning it seemed that Blasi was to be taken at his word, and his +boast of being ready for service, no matter what the weather might be, was +to be put to the proof; for it stormed furiously and the wind blew so +fiercely when he left the house, that he could scarcely make way against +it. The half-frozen snow stung and blinded him, but it did not deter him. +He forced his way onwards, and though it was still dark and he could not +see one step before him, he went on as confidently and unhesitatingly as +if there were no chance of his losing his way. And he did not lose it. +When day dawned he found himself close to the Valley-bridge, in spite of +deep snows and stinging sleet.</p> + +<p>"You are early," said the post master, who was busy sorting his letters by +lamplight. Blasi answered that he had to be at work by sunrise, and +having delivered the bag and received the pay for it, he started for home +again. He had scarcely gone twenty steps when the post-master called after +him,</p> + +<p>"Hulloa! Blasi, you can do a neighborly kindness if you will, and it won't +cost you anything;" and he handed Blasi a letter.</p> + +<p>"It is for the old Miller's widow, over there. Jost fetches her letters +himself, usually; it is marked "To be called for," but he'll be glad to be +spared the walk such a day as this. You can tell him he needn't come +to-day, you know."</p> + +<p>Blasi took the letter. The Miller's widow was an old deaf woman, who lived +quite alone, in a little, tumble-down cottage, just off the road, on a +lonely hillside. The foot-path that Blasi took, led near her dwelling. The +woman was an aunt of Jost's, and had known better days when her husband +was alive; but now she had fallen into poverty, and had grown sour and +bitter, and would have nothing to do with the rest of the world. Blasi +worked his way to her hut, through the deep, pathless snow. As he +approached the door, he took the letter from his pocket, and looked at the +address.</p> + +<p>"Heavens and earth and all the rest of it! It is from Dietrich!" he cried +out. "I didn't copy all his work at school for nothing. I know his +hand-writing as well as I know anything!"</p> + +<p>He talked aloud in his excitement, as he stood hammering away at the door, +which the old woman was not very prompt in opening. At last he opened it +himself, and came stamping into the room. The widow was sitting on a bench +by the stove, picking wool. She had not heard his knocks, and she stared +at him with amazement. He explained how he came by the letter, but she was +too deaf to understand him. Then he held the letter close under her eyes, +and shouted in her ear,</p> + +<p>"Read it! I want to know what's in it. It's from Dietrich."</p> + +<p>She pushed the letter away and said sharply,</p> + +<p>"It don't belong to me. I never get any letters. Take it away."</p> + +<p>Blasi was fairly out of patience.</p> + +<p>"That's your name, any way," he said. "I'll read it to you; I want to know +what he says." He tore the letter open and began to read:</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 12em;">"HAMBURG, 14th Jan., 18—</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"My Dear Jost:"</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>Blasi started, but he read on. It was a short letter, and he read it +through twice.</p> + +<p>"Will you get out?" said the old woman crossly, for Blasi stood as if +rooted to the floor. He stuffed the letter back into the torn cover, and +went out, but stopped again outside. What should he do? The letter was +Jost's. He was afraid of Jost, and he had opened Jost's letter! Presently +an idea struck him, and he instantly acted on it. He stuck the envelope +together as well as he could, ran through the storm back to the +post-office, tossed in the letter quickly, saying, "The old woman says +it's not for her, and she won't take it," and was off again on his +homeward way.</p> + +<p>As for Veronica, she had but one thought in her mind all that day. +Gertrude was so ill when she went to her bed-side in the morning, that +Veronica's heart at once cried out, "It must be done!" and all day long +she kept repeating to herself, "It shall be done to-night."</p> + +<p>When Blasi went to meet her that evening, he was so full of his news that +he could scarcely wait to greet her, before beginning to tell it; but he +was so startled by her looks that instead, he stopped short, and +exclaimed,</p> + +<p>"What is the matter? Are you ill? Sit down and rest, in the hut, here."</p> + +<p>Veronica shook her head; she could not lose a moment, she said, for she +was in a hurry to get home, and was not in the least ill. Then Blasi +blurted out his story; he was so eager, that he could scarcely get the +words out straight. Veronica listened with breathless attention. Suddenly, +such a happy radiance spread over her face, that Blasi stood still and +gazed at her.</p> + +<p>"Hamburg! did you say Hamburg, Blasi? Was that where the letter came +from?" Her eyes danced with joy; Blasi had never seen her look like that +before.</p> + +<p>"Certainly it was; I am sure of it; I can read Dietrich's writing fast +enough," answered Blasi, and he added to himself, "The women-folk are +queer creatures. No fellow can understand them. A moment ago she looked +all broken-down, and as if she could be blown out with a puff of wind, +and now she looks bright and strong as the sun at noon-day."</p> + +<p>"Repeat word for word what you read in the letter, please, Blasi," and he +told her all that he could remember. It did not take long. Dietrich said +that he had not much to say, but wrote because Jost was the only person in +the world who cared anything for him. Perhaps some day his mother would +come to feel differently; but since he had brought so much trouble upon +her, he could not expect her to forgive him yet. If Veronica was going to +marry some one else, he did not want to hear about it. He could not make +up his mind to go to Australia as Jost advised; it was too far away; he +was almost dead of homesickness even in Hamburg. If they were after him +for the man-slaughter, he thought he could hide well enough there, and +perhaps in a few years when the whole thing was forgotten, he could come +home again.</p> + +<p>If worst came to worst, and he were taken, he should at least get home, if +only to be put into the House of Correction. He felt the worst on his +mother's account. He wanted Jost to write and tell him about things at +home, and it was safest to send to the same address, as he always called +for the letters himself.</p> + +<p>Veronica hung upon every word that fell from Blasi's lips, and when he had +finished, she walked silently by his side, deep in thought. Presently he +asked her what he should do if Jost found out that he had opened his +letter and hauled him up before a Justice of the Peace for it. Veronica +said she believed that Jost would scarcely care to say anything about the +letter. She advised Blasi to keep his own counsel, and to behave as usual, +in a perfectly unconcerned manner, whenever he met Jost. She would take +the rest in hand herself. Blasi was more than willing to leave it all to +her; he had entire confidence in her ability to manage the affair. The +letters of all the country round were collected at the central office in +Fohrensee, to be forwarded together from there to the nearest city, where +they were sorted and distributed. Veronica thought of this, and laid her +plans accordingly. The next day as soon as she reached Fohrensee, she went +to the post-office, and asked to see the address of a letter which had +just been sent in, on its way to Hamburg. The post-master, who knew her +well, did not think the request at all singular, supposing that it had +something to do with the school business.</p> + +<p>"A letter for Hamburg came in last evening;" said his daughter who was his +assistant, "there it lies with the others that came with it."</p> + +<p>The postmaster went to the table and found the letter, which he handed to +Veronica. "The address is not very nicely written," he said.</p> + +<p>The handwriting was either that of a person unused to the pen, or it was +purposely disguised. The letter was addressed to a woman of the same name +as that of the miller's widow. The name of the street was illegible, but +the words "To be called for," were plainly written.</p> + +<p>Veronica was convinced that the letter she was in search of lay before +her. So Jost had written as she had expected he would do, the day before. +He had undoubtedly seen that Dietrich's letter had been opened. Did he +write so promptly in order to frighten Dietrich into going farther away? +Had he suggested to him a new address now that the old one had been +discovered? She felt sure that Jost was trying to prevent anyone but +himself from having any communication with Dietrich. There was not a +moment to lose. What would she not have given to be able to withhold the +letter! But she did not dare. She returned it to the postmaster and asked +for a piece of paper. Her hand trembled with excitement and her heart beat +so loud, that she thought the post-master must hear it.</p> + +<p>She wrote the following words:</p> + +<p>"Dear Dietrich; your mother is very weak. Come home directly. You have +nothing to fear. Veronica."</p> + +<p>She enveloped it, and addressed it as Jost had done his, and handed it to +the post-master.</p> + +<p>"I thank you very much indeed," she said, "will you kindly see that this +letter goes by this morning's mail?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes, I understand; it's a thread-and-needle business," he said +laughing, as he threw the letters down on the same pile. "They will travel +side by side and reach Hamburg together."</p> + +<p>All day Veronica's hand trembled at her work. Outwardly she was tranquil +and composed; but within was a storm of conjectures, fears and hopes. What +had Jost written to Dietrich about his mother; what about her? Jost had +evidently let him believe that he had killed a man. What reason had Jost +for deceiving him and keeping him at a distance? These questions brought +the color to Veronica's cheeks as she suspected what the answers might be. +Did Jost think that she would marry him if Dietrich did not come back? or +were there other reasons why he did not dare to let him come? All sorts of +possible solutions flew through Veronica's head, and the conclusion she +arrived at frightened her. She did not wish to suspect any one of being a +rogue without good reason; yet the evidence seemed in this case to be +irresistible. If Dietrich came home, everything would be cleared up. But +if he did not come, what then? Would everything have to be allowed to go +on as it was? She would talk it all over with Gertrude this very evening.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI" />CHAPTER XI.</h2> + +<h3>THE MOTTO PROVES TRUE.</h3> + + +<p>Veronica for once did not carry out her plans. When she reached home she +found Gertrude in a high fever. She spoke to Veronica as if she were still +a child, and had just come in from school. Veronica sat quietly down by +the bedside, and did what she could to soothe and refresh her, and when by +degrees her mother's mind became more clear, she proposed to her to send +for the doctor. But Gertrude did not want the doctor. She had no pain, she +said; she was only weak. Veronica sat by her side all night, but of course +it was no time to speak of the letter, and of the excitements of the day. +It would not do to arouse hopes that might never be fulfilled, and if +Dietrich came, that was enough. All through the long hours of the night, +the girl sat thinking over all the hopes and fears and perplexities of her +life, while Gertrude lay still and seemed to doze. Only now and then she +spoke some kindly words to the children, and Veronica knew that she +thought they were both there sitting by her bed-side; again her little +ones.</p> + +<p>In the morning Gertrude was quite herself again. She would not hear of the +doctor's being called, declaring that she needed nothing but a few days' +rest. Veronica would not leave her; but sent word to Sabina, to ask her to +take her place for a few days, which she knew she could rely upon her to +do gladly, for Sabina was extremely friendly, and very proud of her former +pupil, who had been a great credit to her in the position for which she +had recommended her.</p> + +<p>That day and the next night Mother Gertrude remained quiet, and seemed to +sleep most of the time. On the third day, it was evident that she was +looking for something, whenever she opened her eyes, although she was not +at all delirious; and she frequently exclaimed,</p> + +<p>"Oh! if I could only see him once more!"</p> + +<p>When the sunset light streamed through the window and illuminated the +room, a happy smile lighted up her face. She murmured:</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"He half in dreamland seemed to float</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">Saying 'to-morrow will be fine.'"</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>After a while she turned towards Veronica and said,</p> + +<p>"Veronica, sing it again, with him please; it is beautiful, and I like to +hear you sing together: 'To-morrow will be fine.'"</p> + +<p>"You have been dreaming, mother; we have not been singing," said the poor +girl, wiping away her fast-flowing tears.</p> + +<p>It was dark now and all was still. The little night-lamp threw a pale +light upon the bed, where the mother lay in a half-sleep. Veronica sat by +with big wide-open eyes. Her restless thoughts were busy with many +questions. Had he received her letter? Would he come? How? When? and how +would the mother be? Suddenly Gertrude rose up in bed with greater +strength than she had shown for many days. "Go! go! Veronica," she said +beseechingly, "Open the door for him! He ought not to stand there knocking +like a stranger. Show him how glad we are to see him again!"</p> + +<p>"No one is knocking, mother; you are only dreaming," said Veronica sadly +shaking her head; but the longing in Gertrude's eyes was more than she +could resist, and she rose and left the room, thinking to please her by +compliance. She heard a step; but then the road ran in front of the house, +and it might be any passer-by. She opened the outside door—Dietrich stood +before her!</p> + +<p>"You summoned me, or I should not have come;" said the young man, half in +excuse, and half reassuringly, for Veronica stood dumb and motionless +before him. "Will you not shake hands, Veronica?"</p> + +<p>She gave him her hand, saying only,</p> + +<p>"Come to your mother; she heard your step, and doesn't need to be prepared +for you. But you must control yourself; you will find her very much +altered."</p> + +<p>Dietrich entered the room. His mother was still sitting up in bed, +watching the door, in a strained, expectant attitude. She was indeed +changed. She looked so small and thin and wasted. Dietrich was completely +unmanned at the sight. He sprang to the bedside, threw his arms about her, +and between his sobs he cried again and again,</p> + +<p>"Forgive me, mother, forgive me! I will never act so again! I will lead a +different life! Everything shall be right! You must live to be happy, +mother!"</p> + +<p>"Thank God that you have come, Dietrich," said his mother, trembling with +weakness and excitement. "I forgave you long ago. How could I have +anything against you? But, my dear boy, why did you not write one word, +one little word to tell me how you were and where? Didn't you know how +unhappy you were making me?"</p> + +<p>"What, mother! what do you mean? I wrote three times to you and twice to +Veronica; and you sent me back word through Jost that you did not want to +hear from me; that the disgrace was too much, and that no one dared to +mention my name before Veronica, she was so angry with me. I had to send +my letters through Jost, and he gave me the address of his old aunt to +make all safe. It was better for you not to know where I was, because +they were hunting for me on account of the man I killed. And you have +never got one of my letters; not one?"</p> + +<p>His mother could only shake her head in reply. She tried to speak, but she +had already gone beyond her strength, and she sank back upon her pillows. +Veronica, who had been standing by in silence, started forward.</p> + +<p>"I will run for the doctor," she said, "stay with her, Dietrich;" and she +darted from the room. He hurried after her. "Let me go," he said, "it is +too late for you to be out, and you can take better care of her than I +can." He was off; and Veronica returned to the bed-side. He took the +shortest road; the one that passed the Rehbock. Loud shouts and cries were +sounding from the inn. He hurried by. Presently he heard his own name +called; some one came running after him, shouting:</p> + +<p>"Wait, Dietrich, wait!" He turned round and saw Blasi, who had recognized +him as he passed the door, and rushed out after him. "Don't run away, +Dietrich! Welcome home! Where did you come from? Have you seen her? Don't +run away! Listen to me!" Dietrich stopped and shook hands with Blasi, and +again started forward. Blasi detained him.</p> + +<p>"There's been something going on that you ought to know about," he +continued. "Don't think that I go to the Rehbock every evening, by any +means! I heard there was some strange news, and so I went there to-night +to hear it, and it was well worth while, I can tell you. The red fellow +is found out! The cattle-dealer accused him of having stolen his money +bag. The man denied it; there was a long investigation, and at last they +found out that and a great many other things against him. He turns out to +be a regular rascal. And when all this had been proved against him, he +turned round and accused another man, who, he said, was really at the +bottom of everything; but no one knows yet who it is. Don't run so fast; I +can't keep up with you. Now you're out of it all right, Dietrich; but I +suppose you know that they tried to make out that you took the money, and +that was why you ran away. But I never believed it; I never did, on my +honor. Do stand still; it's all right now, and you needn't run away any +more."</p> + +<p>"I'm not going to run away, Blasi, and I thank you for bringing me this +good news. But it's not all right you know, on account of Marx."</p> + +<p>"Marx!" cried Blasi, "what of Marx! it doesn't hurt a man to get a good +beating. Marx is as lively as you or I, and still drinks more than enough +to quench his thirst, when he can get it."</p> + +<p>Dietrich stood still now, and drew a long breath. "Is that true, Blasi, +really true? You wouldn't say it if it were not true? She wrote me that +there was nothing to fear; but I didn't understand it. And I can't quite +understand now, Jost wrote me that Marx was dead, and that I had better go +away as far as I possibly could, because they were searching for me, high +and low. I can't make it out. But I must go now for the doctor. Come and +see me to-morrow, Blasi; and we will have a good talk. Now good-night."</p> + +<p>Dietrich shook his old comrade by the hand and ran off. But Blasi could +not so easily smother all the wonderful things he had to tell, and he +called out at the top of his lungs,</p> + +<p>"You don't know much of anything yet! I spend the whole day at your house; +it's you that will have to come to me. I am working at your trade; you +ought to see! there's many a fellow that would be glad to do as well as I +do!"</p> + +<p>But Dietrich had disappeared. It was past midnight, before he reached the +doctor's house, and he knocked a good many times in vain. At last a maid +came down and opened the door, saying as she did so,</p> + +<p>"What a plague it is, that everything always comes at once! He has been +called out once to-night, and has hardly got to bed again. It never rains +but it pours!"</p> + +<p>"I hope he will be so good as to come now;" said Dietrich, "it is very +important or I would not ask him."</p> + +<p>The maid knocked at the chamber door. It was some time before the doctor's +voice answered from within, "Who's there?"</p> + +<p>"Dietrich from Tannenegg," said the servant.</p> + +<p>"He back again? No, I'm too old and too tired for that. They ought to give +him a good beating if they can catch him; it would serve him right."</p> + +<p>Dietrich stepped up to the door himself.</p> + +<p>"It is not for me, doctor," said he humbly, "it is for my mother; she is +very ill indeed. For God's sake, doctor, come and help her!"</p> + +<p>"That's another thing altogether; she is a brave woman, who has been doing +your work for you," said the voice from within the room. Pretty soon the +doctor came out, and when Dietrich described his mother's condition, he +took some medicines with him and started out.</p> + +<p>"I have no horse to use to-night; mine has done a hard day's work and must +have his rest. We shall have to go up the hill afoot."</p> + +<p>As they crossed the open space in front of the house, he continued,</p> + +<p>"I remember once how on this very spot once a little boy stood up in front +of me, and when I asked him if he would like some day to take care of a +horse, answered, 'No, I want a horse of my own.' I thought he had a good +purpose in view if he would only pursue it the right way. But it does not +do to want to begin by being a gentleman. First come work, and service for +us all, then mastership may follow. Whoever tries to begin at the end, +will end at the beginning; which is not a good nor an agreeable method. Am +I right or wrong, Dietrich?"</p> + +<p>"You are right, doctor. If one could only look ahead!" answered Dietrich.</p> + +<p>"Yes, that would help; but as we cannot, we must trust those who are our +friends, and who have gone before us in the right way, and can show us the +road; like that noble woman to whom we are now going."</p> + + +<p>When they entered Gertrude's room they found her asleep. The doctor sat +down by the bedside, watched her awhile, and felt her pulse from time to +time. Then he arose and turning to Veronica, he said,</p> + +<p>"I can do no good here; take care of her; she deserves all you can do, but +the lamp of life burns low, and will soon go out altogether. She has had a +hard lot; trouble wears faster than years."</p> + +<p>With these words the doctor went to the door. He did not even glance +towards Dietrich, who threw himself on his knees by the bedside of his +dying mother, sobbing out:</p> + +<p>"O God in Heaven, do not let her die! Let her come back! Let her have a +little comfort in this world! Punish me as I deserve, but oh! let my +mother live!"</p> + +<p>Gertrude opened her eyes. She grasped the hand of her sobbing son, which +lay upon hers, and held it tightly clasped; while she whispered softly:</p> + +<p>"Yes, my Dieterli, pray, pray; if you can pray, all will come right +again."</p> + +<p>She closed her eyes and never spoke again. The hand that held Dietrich's +grew cold. Veronica, who had been standing behind Dietrich weeping +silently approached the bedside, took Gertrude's other hand in hers, and +said between her sobs:</p> + +<p>"Sleep well, dear, good mother! Yes, for you 'tomorrow will be fine';" and +she left the room.</p> + +<p>Two days later Dietrich followed his mother to her last resting place. +There was no need to avoid meeting people now, for every one knew that +the true thief had been discovered. But no hope was left to him in his +home. When he returned from the funeral, and went into the house, he knew +that he had no right there, for it no longer belonged to him. He went to +his room, strapped on his heavy knap-sack, and came down stairs. Veronica +was alone in the sitting-room. She stood leaning against the window, her +eyes fixed on the church-yard beyond, where the mother lay sleeping.</p> + +<p>He entered the room. "Veronica, give me your hand once more. I am going," +he said, coming towards her.</p> + +<p>"Where are you going, Dietrich?" she asked in a voice that was wholly +without feeling; and the cold tone seemed to stab the young man's heart as +with a knife. "It is all one to her;" he thought.</p> + +<p>"I am going out into the world. I am going to work to pay my debts. I have +no home; and as there is no one on earth who cares for me, I can bear my +burden better anywhere than here."</p> + +<p>"Then go, in God's name," said Veronica, and she held out her hand to him. +This was too much for Dietrich. He made one struggle for self-control and +then broke down completely.</p> + +<p>"Can you let me go so coolly, Veronica? not one kindly word for me? If I +might stay here with you, I would work day and night like the meanest +servant; I would do anything and everything for you. But no! I must go! I +could not bear it! How could I stay and see you give yourself to some one +else—I who have lost you,—lost you forever!"</p> + +<p>The young man threw himself into a chair, buried his face in his hands, +and cried like a child.</p> + +<p>Veronica was as white as snow. She went to his side, and laid her hand +upon his shoulder.</p> + +<p>"Dietrich," she said softly, "if you feel in this way, why don't you ask +me how I feel, when I think of living on here alone when you have gone; +when you have left me perhaps forever?"</p> + +<p>Dietrich raised his eyes to hers. A look lay there, a look such as he had +dreamed of in his banishment. He sprang to his feet, and seized her hand.</p> + +<p>"Veronica, can you love me? can you trust me?"</p> + +<p>She did not withdraw her hand, and looked him full in the eyes.</p> + +<p>"I have always loved you, Dietrich," she said, "and if I know that you can +pray again to God, and promise to live a life acceptable to Him, I can +trust you too."</p> + +<p>The young man pressed her to his heart. "Is it true, is it possible?" he +cried. "Oh Veronica, can it be true?"</p> + +<p>But suddenly he started back, and said in a frightened tone,</p> + +<p>"No, I dare not. I cannot. Who am I? I am nothing; I have nothing, less +than nothing; and I know what you are and how far above me. Jost wrote me +that there was no hope for me. I wanted to make you so happy—I meant to +get money and provide all sorts of beautiful things for you and to make +you the happiest woman in the world. And now! now I am a beggar, and a +miserable creature into the bargain."</p> + +<p>Veronica shook her head.</p> + +<p>"You do not understand what happiness really is, Dietrich. I have been +searching for it longer than you have, and you may believe me that it is +not what you think. It is not something at a distance, far beyond our +reach; we may find it while we are at work. We are not beggars; this house +is ours, and we can still live in it. But, Dietrich, we will try to find +the way that our mother went; that is the true way to happiness and peace +in life and death."</p> + +<p>"We will," cried Dietrich, with solemn joy; and as he clasped Veronica +again to his heart, there was that in his face and in his voice which +assured her that he would never leave her again, and that they would walk +in that true way of happiness and peace together.</p> + +<p>At this moment Judith burst into the room. When she saw the faces of the +two who stood before her, she stood stock still with surprise! She +immediately took in the situation.</p> + +<p>"So! So! this is something that delights one's very heart!" she cried, and +her face beamed with satisfaction. "But look out of the window! I came to +tell you! You can say good-bye to that rascal forever."</p> + +<p>They stepped together to the window which looked out upon the road. Jost +was just going by. His hands were bound together, and he was followed by +the Constable, who hurried him along. Jost looked up at the window and +shrank back at what he saw; but the man drove him on.</p> + +<p>"What does it mean?" asked Dietrich and Veronica in the same breath, +turning to Judith.</p> + +<p>"It is what was bound to come," she explained. "Everything is found out. +They seized the red fellow first, after I succeeded in getting it through +the cattle-dealer's thick head that he was the man to get hold of. When +they had driven the red man into a corner, so that he couldn't lie himself +out of it, he turned against Jost, and declared that Jost had planned the +whole thing and that he himself had only played second-fiddle. Which can +lie the worst, no one can tell, but that they are both reaping what they +have sown, is certain enough. And now we're to have a wedding, are we? and +our Dietrich is going to settle down into regular home life again. +Welcome, neighbors; we will live in friendship together all our days." And +Judith shook hands cordially with them both, and hastened away to spread +through the neighborhood the good news of the coming marriage.</p> + +<p>It is now ten years since Dietrich and Veronica left the church of +Tannenegg where they had been made one, and the blessing had been +pronounced upon their united lives. They went first to the little church +yard and knelt by the new made grave covered with flowers. With tearful +eyes, and with sad regrets in their happy hearts, they said,</p> + +<p>"If she could only have lived to see us now!"</p> + +<p>Today there is no more beautiful flower-garden in all Tannenegg, than that +about Dietrich's pretty white house. Within the house all is so fresh and +charming from top to bottom, that one who enters it finds it difficult to +get away again from its hospitable shelter.</p> + +<p>Dietrich has built a fine large work-room; and there he sits and works, +industrious and happy, or he goes about his outside affairs in a steady +business-like manner. Often he has to go to Fohrensee and even farther; +for his trade is prosperous beyond competition and his work is recognized +far and wide as of unrivalled excellence.</p> + +<p>On Veronica's face lies such a sunshine of constant happiness as is good +to look upon. She has given up her position in the school at Fohrensee; +her place is with her husband and children; but she does not for all that +sit with her hands in her lap; her orderly well-kept house, and her +blooming well-behaved children bear witness to her faultless management +as well as to her care and industry, and at the great annual Fair in the +city, if any one inquires about some wonderfully fine and beautiful +embroidery on exhibition, the answer invariably is, "that is the work of +Veronica of Tannenegg."</p> + +<p>Blasi is Dietrich's permanent assistant. He is constantly about the house, +and is known in the family as Uncle Blasi. As soon as the day's work is +over, and the evening sets in, his first question is, "Where are our +children?" He never speaks of them in any other way; they are his, his joy +and pride. He has also a special claim upon them, for he and Cousin Judith +are the god-father and god-mother of both.</p> + +<p>Blasi's favorite time is Sunday, when Dietrich goes to walk with his +wife, and gives over the house and the children to him. Then he sets upon +one knee the chubby little Dieterli and on the other the black eyed +Veronica, and they ride there as long as they please, no matter how high +the horse has to curvet and prance. And whatever else they want him to do +for them, he is ready to do, whatever it may be.</p> + +<p>There is only one Sunday pleasure that outweighs the knee-riding with +Uncle Blasi, and that is when Veronica takes her little girl in her lap +and lets Dieterli press close to her side, as he does only when he is very +much excited. Then the mother takes a little picture in her hand, the +picture of a red rose. Suddenly the flower opens, and a little verse in +golden letters appears. Every time this opens, it elicits a cry of joy +from the children, and they are never tired of seeing the wonder repeated. +And Veronica is never tired of repeating it; for the rose and the verse +are so interwoven with her life that they recall many memories of joy and +sorrow; and she often says to the children, "Some time when you are old +enough, I will explain this golden motto to you, and you shall learn it by +heart."</p> + +<p>When Blasi and Judith are alone together, he likes to talk over old times, +and he often reminds her that he had fully made up his mind to marry +Veronica himself; and he always winds up with,</p> + +<p>"I want you to understand that I would never have given her up to any one +else; but an old friend like Dietrich, you know;—of course it's a very +different thing with Dietrich."</p> + +<p>And Judith, laughing, answers,</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes, Blasi, you're quite right; it's a very different thing with +Dietrich."</p> + + + +<h3>THE END.</h3> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Veronica And Other Friends +by Johanna (Heusser) Spyri + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK VERONICA AND OTHER FRIENDS *** + +***** This file should be named 14627-h.htm or 14627-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/4/6/2/14627/ + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Emmy and the PG Online Distributed +Proofreading Team + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Veronica And Other Friends + Two Stories For Children + +Author: Johanna (Heusser) Spyri + +Release Date: January 7, 2005 [EBook #14627] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK VERONICA AND OTHER FRIENDS *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Emmy and the PG Online Distributed +Proofreading Team + + + + + + +VERONICA +And Other Friends + +TWO STORIES FOR CHILDREN + +_BY THE AUTHOR OF_ +"HEIDI" + +_TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN OF +JOHANNA SPYRI, BY_ +LOUISE BROOKS + +BOSTON +DE WOLFE, FISKE & CO. +361 AND 365 WASHINGTON STREET + +[Illustration] + +Copyright 1886, +BY LOUISE BROOKS. +All Rights Reserved. + + + + +CONTENTS. + +CHAPTER + + I. A VISIT TO THE DOCTOR + + II. WITH FRESH COURAGE + + III. NINE YEARS LATER + + IV. ALL AT HOME + + V. UPON UNSAFE PATHS + + VI. LAME SABINA GIVES GOOD ADVICE + + VII. A THUNDER-CLAP + +VIII. EACH ONE ACCORDING TO HIS KIND + + IX. MOTHER GERTRUDE GIVES GOOD ADVICE + + X. MAN PROPOSES, BUT GOD DISPOSES + + XI. THE MOTTO PROVES TRUE + + + + + +VERONICA. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +A VISIT TO THE DOCTOR. + + +It was early in the month of March. The dark blue vault of heaven lay over +mountain and valley, swept free from clouds by the keen northern blast as +it blew across the hills, swaying the big trees hither and thither as if +they were bulrushes, and now and then tearing off huge branches which fell +crashing to the ground. Other and sadder victims were sacrificed to this +fierce north wind. Human beings as well as inanimate objects fell before +him. He struck down with his mighty arm, not only the old and feeble, but +the young and strong; just as he swept away the clouds, hurrying them +across the skies, beyond the horizon line, away out of sight. Sometimes in +one day, a cruel malady would seize one occupant out of each one of the +three or four little villages clustered on the hillside. A sharp pain +attacked the lungs, and after a brief illness the resistless disease bore +away the sufferer to the silent grave. + +At the very moment of which we write, a group of black-clad mourners were +standing near one of the pleasantest houses in the isolated village of +Tannenegg, waiting for the sound of the church bell, as the signal to lift +the covered bier on which was stretched the body of a young woman, the +last victim to the north wind's cruel stroke, and to bear her to her +final resting place. In the quiet room within, two children were seated on +a bench, which ran along the wall. They formed a striking contrast to each +other. The girl, a little black-eyed frowning thing, dressed in some +mourning stuff, followed with fierce looks the rapid movements of a woman +who, standing before an open cup-board, was moving its contents over and +about, as if in search of something that did not come to hand. The boy was +also watching her, but his dancing blue eyes had in them a merry look of +pleased expectation. + +"I want to go out, Cousin Judith," said the girl, and her tones were half +angry, half anxious, "Where can my mother be?" + +"Be still, be still," said the woman, still tumbling the contents of the +cup-board about nervously. "I shall find something pretty for you +presently; then you must sit down quietly and play with it, and not go +outside, not one step, do you hear? Pshaw! there is nothing but rubbish +here!" + +"Well, then give us the rose," said the little girl, still scowling. + +The woman looked about the room. + +"There are no roses here," she said. "How should there be, in March?" she +added, half vexed at having looked for them. "There," said the child, +pointing towards a book that the woman had but a moment before replaced in +the cup-board. + +"Ah! now I know what you mean. So your mother always kept the rose, the +"Fortune rose?" I often envied her when she used to show it to us in her +hymn-book;" and as she spoke, she turned the leaves of the old hymnal, +until she found the rose and handed it to the child. + +"Take it," she said, "be quiet, and do not get up from your seats till I +come back;" and she hurried from the room. + +The little girl took the prettily-painted rose, in her hand; it was an old +acquaintance, her favorite Sunday plaything. + +When her mother wanted to secure a quiet hour for herself on Sundays, she +used to give her "Fortune rose" to her little Veronica, and it was sure to +occupy the child for a long time in perfect contentment. + +"Look, this is the way you must do," said the child, as she pulled with +her fingers a small strip of paper that stood out from the side of the +picture; suddenly before the astonished eyes of the boy the red full calix +of the rose flew open, disclosing a glittering golden verse that lay in +the centre of the flower. Then Veronica pushed the paper-strip back, and +the rose folded its leaves and was a perfect flower again. + +Quite dazzled by this wonderful magic the little boy stared with amazement +at the rose, and then seized it to try for himself. + +While the children were playing, Veronica's mother was being laid in her +grave. After awhile Cousin Judith came back into the room. She was +"cousin" to all Tannenegg, though related to no one. She came back to take +the rose, and put it into the hook, which she replaced in the cup-board. +"Sit still awhile longer, children;" she said, "and presently your mother +will come for you. Be good and do not trouble her, for she has enough to +bear already." + +It was the little boy's mother she meant, and the children knew it. They +knew also very well, that they must be good and not trouble her, for they +had seen her for two days going about the house with eyes red with +weeping. Presently she entered the room, and took the children one by each +hand, and went to the door with them. She seemed to be struggling with sad +and heavy thoughts. She usually spoke cheerily to the children, but now +she was silent, and every now and then she furtively wiped away a tear. + +"Where are we going, mother?" asked the boy. + +"We must go to the doctor's, Dietrich," she answered, "your father is very +ill." And she led them along the foot path toward the little town, where +the white houses shone in the sunlight. Fohrensee was a new place, that +had sprung up as if in one night from the soil, and now stood there a +great white spot against the dark hillside. Not long before, it had been +only a little cluster of houses standing in a protected spot on the side +of the hill, not very far below Tannenegg. It was so situated that the +biting north wind, which blew so sharply over the exposed houses of +Tannenegg, did not reach the nook where little Fohrensee lay bathed in the +full light of the sun. But the little place was high enough to be visited +by all the cooling breezes, and was healthy, pure and fresh, to a +remarkable degree. When, not long before this time, an enterprising +inn-keeper discovered its health-giving qualities, and built an inn there, +guests filled it so rapidly that he soon put up another. Soon, one after +another, little inns sprang up, as from the ground, and then a crowd of +trades-people came up from the valley, and settled around, for the number +of guests constantly increased, and the strangers found the spot so +favorable to health, that it became a favorite winter resort. And thus the +obscure little Fohrensee became, in a few years, a large and flourishing +town, stretching out in every direction. + +Gertrude, however, walking sturdily along with the children, was not +going as far as Fohrensee, with its shining white houses. She turned off +into a foot path that led to several scattered dwellings up on the +hillside, and soon reached an open space, on which stood a handsome house, +with large stables near by. Out from the stable, a hostler had just led a +spirited horse, which he began to harness into a light wagon. Instantly +the little boy freed his hand from his mother's, planted himself before +the horse, and could not be induced to move. + +"Stay there then, if you want to," said his mother, "we will go on to the +house; but you must take care not to go too near the horse." + +The doctor was just hurrying out from his office; he must have had a long +distance to go, for he was starting off before the usual time for office +hours was over. Gertrude apologized, and begged the doctor to excuse her +for not having come earlier to see him; she had been very busy with her +invalid, and could not get away before. "Never mind; as you have come, I +will wait a few minutes," said the physician, briefly; "Come in; how is +your husband?" + +Gertrude went into the room, and told the doctor about her sick husband. +It was Steffan, a strong, young man, on whom the mountain sickness had +seized with unusual violence. The doctor silently shook his head. He took +a small mortar that stood on the office table, and shook into it some +stuff which he ground with the marble pestle. His eyes fell on the child +who stood by Gertrude's side, gazing earnestly at the doctors's +occupation. The little creature had something unusual about her, and +attracted attention at once. Under her thick black hair and heavy brows, +her big eyes looked forth with a solemn gaze, as if everything she saw +gave her food for thought. + +"He had no one but himself to blame for it, I fancy," said the doctor, as +he filled some small square papers with his powders. + +"No, no! he was not the least of a brawler; he was a quiet industrious +fellow. They had rented some of our rooms, and lived there peaceably and +happily for three whole years, and never was an unkind word exchanged +between them. But he was a stranger in these parts; he was never called +anything but the Bergamasker, and the other fellows could never forgive +him for having won the prettiest and most courted girl in the whole +village. They never ceased to tease and irritate him, and on this especial +evening at the Rehbock they must have been unusually offensive. Apparently +they were all somewhat excited, for they could afterwards give no clear +account of the affair, but the end was that the Bergamasker came home +fatally wounded, and died the next day. Everything has been different +among us since the Rehbock was built. Our village used to be quiet and +orderly; every one was contented to work all the week and rest on Sunday. +Nobody ever heard of such a thing as noisy drinking and rowdyism. But I +have another errand with you now, doctor. Lene charged me on her death +bed to attend to it. She did not leave any money, but she had an excellent +outfit. She bade me sell her bedstead and her bureau, and bring you the +proceeds, to settle what she owed you. She was very anxious that I should +see to it, for she felt that you had done a great deal for her; and she +spoke of how often you had climbed the hill both by day and night, to +visit her. So, please give me the bill, doctor, so that I may settle it at +once, as I promised her." + +"What relatives has the child?" asked the doctor shortly. + +"She has none at all in these parts," replied Gertrude. "She has been with +me all through her mother's illness, and now she is mine. Her mother's +family are all gone. She might perhaps be sent to her father's parish in +Bergamaskische, but I shall not do that; she belongs now to us." + +"I would not go there," said the child firmly in a low tone, clinging to +Gertrude's dress with both hands. + +The doctor opened a big book, tore out a leaf, and drew his pen twice +across the closely written page. + +"There," he said, handing the cancelled sheet to Gertrude, "that is all +the bill I shall give you." + +"Oh, doctor, may God reward you," said Gertrude. "Go, child, and thank the +doctor, for you owe him a great deal." + +The child obeyed after her own fashion. She planted herself before the big +man, looked steadily at him with her great black eyes and said somewhat +hoarsely, + +"Thank you." It sounded more like a command than anything else. + +The doctor laughed. + +"She is rather alarming," he said, "she is evidently not accustomed to say +anything she does not really mean. I like that. But come, I must be off," +and handing the medicine to Gertrude he left the room quickly so as to +avoid her repeated thanks. + +The little boy was standing where his mother had left him, still staring +at the restless horse. The doctor looked kindly at the little fellow. + +"Would you like to take care of a horse?" he asked, as he got into his +wagon. + +"No, I should like to drive one of my own," replied the child without +hesitation. + +"Well, you are quite right there: stick to that, my boy," said the +doctor, and drove away. + +As Gertrude, holding a child by each hand, climbed the hillside, the boy +said gaily, + +"Say, mother, I can have one, can't I?" + +"Do you mean to be a gentleman like the doctor, and own a horse, +Dietrich?" asked the mother. + +The boy nodded. + +"So you can, if you will work hard for it, and stick to your work well. +You see the doctor had to do that for a long time, and has to do it still, +and if you stick to your work as he has, and never stop nor get tired till +it is done, and well done, then you will be a gentleman, even if you are +not a doctor. It doesn't matter what you do; you may be a gentleman if +you persevere and work hard and faithfully." + +"Yes, with a horse," said Dietrich. + +The little girl had been listening intently to every word of this +conversation. Her black eyes blazed out suddenly as she looked up to +Gertrude and said decidedly, + +"I'll be one too." + +"Yes, Yes, Mr. Veronica! Mr. Veronica! that sounds well," cried Dietrich, +and he laughed aloud at the idea. + +Veronica thought it no laughing matter, however. She pressed Gertrude's +hand firmly and looked up with glowing eyes, as she said, "I can be one +too, can't I mother; say?" + +"You should not laugh, Dietrich," said his mother kindly. "Veronica can be +exactly what you can be. If she works steadily, and does not grow tired +and careless, but keeps on till her work is finished and well finished, +she will be a lady as you will be a gentleman." + +Veronica trotted along contentedly after this explanation. She did not +speak again. The frowning brows were smoothed and the fiery eyes now shone +with the light of childish joy as she caught sight of the first flowers +that began to peep above the ground. The child's face looked fairly +charming now; her well-formed features framed by the dark locks, made a +beautiful picture. + +Dietrich was also silent: but he was pursuing the same train of thought, +for he broke out presently, + +"Will she have a horse too?" + +"Why not, as well as you. It all depends on how steadily and how +faithfully you both work," replied Gertrude. + +"Well, then, we shall have two horses," cried the boy, joyfully. "Where +shall we put the stable, mother?" + +"We can see to that bye and bye, there is plenty of time for that. It +won't do for you to be thinking about the horse all the time, you know, +you must keep your mind on your work if you mean to do it well." + +Dieterli said no more. He was busy trying to decide on which side of the +house it would be best to put the stable. + +That night, Gertrude again hurried down the hill to the doctor's houses +and this time she brought him back with her. + +Her husband's illness had taken a turn for the worse, and the next day he +died. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +WITH FRESH COURAGE. + + +A few days later a numerous company of mourners followed another black +bier to the sunny church-yard. + +Steffan, the saddler, had been universally respected. He had begun life +modestly; there had been no large industries in Tannenegg in his early +days. He married the quiet and orderly Gertrude, who worked with him at +his trade, and helped support the frugal household. Soon the flood of +prosperity invaded Fohrensee, and naturally the only saddler in the +vicinity had his hands full of work. + +Now Gertrude's help was needed in earnest, and she did not fail. They were +soon in possession of a nice little house of their own, with a garden +about it, and no matter how much work she might have to do in the shop, +everything in her own province of housekeeping was as well and carefully +ordered as if Gertrude had no other business to occupy her time and +thoughts. And Steffan, Gertrude and their little Dieterli lived simple, +useful and contented lives and were a good example to all the +neighborhood. + +Now, to-day, Gertrude stood weeping by the window and looked across to the +church-yard, where that very morning they had laid her good man. Now she +must make her way alone; she had no one to help her, no one belonging to +her except her two children, and for them she must work, for she never +admitted for a moment that the orphaned Veronica was not hers to care for +as well as her own little Dietrich. + +She did not lose courage. As soon as the first benumbing effect of her +sorrow had passed a little, she gazed up at the shining heavens and said +to herself, "He who has sent this trouble will send me strength to bear +it;" and in full trust in this strength she went to work, and seemed able +to do more than ever. + +Her property, outside of the little capital which her husband had laid by, +consisted of her house, which was free from debt, and of which she could +let a good part. The question was, whether she could carry on the +remunerative business that her husband had been engaged in, until little +Dietrich should be old enough to assume the direction of it, and pursue it +as his father had done before him. Gertrude retained the services of a +workman who had been employed by Steffan, and she herself did not relax +her labors early and late, to oversee the work and keep all in running +order. + +For the first few weeks after her mother's death little Veronica sat every +evening weeping silently by herself in a dark corner of the room. When +Gertrude found her thus grieving, she asked kindly what ailed her, and +again and again, she received only this sorrowful answer, + +"I want my mother." + +Gertrude drew the child tenderly towards her, caressing her, and +promising her that they would all go together some day to join her mother, +who had only gone on before, that she might get strong and well again. And +gradually this second mother grew to take the place of her own, and no +game, no amusement could draw the loving child away from Gertrude's side. +Only Dietrich could succeed in enticing her to go with him now and then. + +The lad's love for his mother showed itself in a louder and more +demonstrative manner. He often threw his arms about her neck, crying +passionately, + +"My mother belongs to me and to nobody else." + +Then Veronica's brows would knit over her flashing eyes, until they formed +a long straight line across her face. But she did not speak. And Gertrude +would put one arm about the boy's neck and the other about the little +girl's, and say, + +"You must not speak so, Dietrich. I belong to you both, and you both +belong to me." + +In general, the two children were excellent friends, and completely +inseparable. They were not happy unless they shared everything together +and wherever one went, the other must go too. They went regularly to +school every morning, and were always joined by two of the neighbors' +children, who went with them. + +These were, the son of the shoemaker, long, bony Jost, with his little, +cunning eyes,--and the sexton's boy, who was as broad as he was long, and +from whose round face two pale eyes peered forth upon the world, in +innocently stupid surprise. His name was Blasius, nicknamed Blasi. + +Often, on the way to school, quarrels arose between Dieterli and the two +other boys. It would occur to one of them to try what Veronica would do if +he were to give her a blow with his fist. Scarcely had he opened his +attack when he found himself lying on his nose, while Dieterli played a +vigorous tattoo on his back with no gentle fists. Or the sport would be to +plant a good hard snow-ball between Veronica's shoulders, with the +mortifying result to the aggressive boy, of being pelted in the face with +handfuls of wet snow, until he was almost stifled, and cried out for +mercy. Dieterli was not afraid of either of them; for though smaller and +thinner than either, he was also much more lithe, and could glide about +like a lizard before, behind and all around his adversaries, and slip +through their fingers while they were trying to catch him. Veronica was +well avenged, and went on the rest of her way without fear of molestation. +If one of the other lads felt in a friendly mood, and wished to act as +escort to the little girl, Dieterli soon gave him to understand that that +was his own place, and he would give it up to no one. + +Every evening "Cousin Judith" came for a little visit, to give Gertrude +some friendly advice about the children, or the household economy. She +used to say that the gentle widow needed some one now and then to show +claws in her behalf, and Judith knew herself to be in full possession of +claws, and of the power to use them, an accomplishment of which she was +somewhat proud. One evening she crossed over between daylight and dark, +and entered the room where Veronica was, with her favorite plaything in +her hand, moving it back and forth as she sat in the window in the waning +light. She could read very nicely now for two years had passed since she +had lost her own mother, and had become Gertrude's child. Many a time had +she read over the motto which shone out so mysteriously from the breast of +the opened rose. To-day she was poring over it again, and her absorption +in "that same old rose," as Dieterli called it, had so annoyed the lively +lad that he left her, and had gone out into the kitchen to find his +mother. When Judith saw the girl sitting thus alone, buried in thought, +she asked her what she was thinking about in the twilight all by herself. + +Dieterli, whom no sound ever escaped, had heard Cousin Judith come in, and +came running in from the kitchen to see what was going on. Veronica looked +up at the visitor and asked earnestly, + +"Cousin Judith, what is fortune?" + +"Ah, you are always asking some strange question that no one else ever +thought of asking;" said Cousin Judith, "where on earth did you ever hear +of fortune?" + +"Here," said Veronica, holding up the rose with the golden verse in the +centre. "Shall I read it to you?" + +"Yes, do, child." + +Veronica read-- + + "Fortune stands ready, full in sight; + He wins who knows to grasp it right." + +"Well, it means this--I should say--fortune is whatever anyone wants the +most." + +"Fortune is a horse, then," said Dietrich quickly. + +Veronica sat thinking. "But, Cousin Judith," she said presently, "how can +any one 'grasp fortune'?" + +"With your hands," replied Cousin Judith unhesitatingly, "You see, our +hands are given us to work with, and if we use them diligently and do our +work well, as it ought to be done, then fortune comes to us; so don't you +see we 'grasp it' with our hands?" + +The verse had now become endued with life, and meant something real and +attractive to Veronica. She did not lay her rose out of her hand for a +long time, that evening, notwithstanding that Dietrich cast threatening +glances upon it, and finally broke out in vexation, + +"I will tear off the spring some time, and spoil the thing altogether." + +The rose was not put into the book and the book into the cup-board, until +the time came for the children to say their evening prayers. This was the +closing act of every day; and it was so fixed and regular a habit, that +the children never needed to be bidden to fold their hands, and kneel to +ask God's blessing before they slept. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +NINE YEARS LATER. + + +A sunshiny Easter morning shone over hill and valley. A crowd of +holiday-making people poured out of the little church at Tannenegg, and +scattered in every direction. A long row of blooming lads and lassies came +in close ranks, moving slowly towards the parsonage. They were the +newly-confirmed young people of the parish, who had that day partaken of +the Communion for the first time. They were going to the house of their +pastor, to express their gratitude for his careful and tender teaching and +guidance, before they went out into the world. Among these were Dietrich +and Veronica. Gertrude stood at a little distance from the church, and +watched the procession as it passed by. Her eyes were filled with tears of +pleasurable emotion, as she noticed that her dark-eyed Veronica was +conspicuous among all the maidens for the tasteful neatness of her +costume, and for the sweetness and grace of her bearing. The glance which +Veronica cast upon the mother in passing was full of love and gratitude; +and seemed to repeat the words that the faithful girl had spoken in the +morning, as she left her to go to the church. "I cannot thank you enough, +as long as I live, for what you have done for me, mother." A yet brighter +expression of happiness crossed Gertrude's countenance when the young men +came in procession after the girls, as her eyes fell on the well-formed +lad, a head taller than his companions, who nodded at her, and greeted her +with merry laughing looks, kissing his hand again and again, and yet once +again. That was her tall handsome Dietrich. His mother's heart leaped in +her breast at the sight of his fresh young life, so full of hope and +promise. Gertrude waited till the visit to the pastor was over, and the +young people had separated on their various paths. Then she in her turn +entered the parsonage. She wished herself to speak her thanks to this true +and long tried adviser and friend, for all that he had done for her +children. + +"You are a fortunate mother," said the aged pastor, after he had listened +to Gertrude's expressions of gratitude. "Those are two uncommon children +that the good God has confided to your care, and I feel the greatest +interest in them. The lad has a clear head, and a winning grace that draws +everyone to him. Veronica is serious and conscientious; she has a calm +steady nature and can be depended upon for fidelity to duty, such as it is +rare to find. The children will be your stay and comfort in your old age. +May you keep them in the paths of virtue." + +"With God's help;" said Gertrude, and she left the parsonage with tears of +happiness in her eyes. As she passed the garden of her neighbor Judith, +the latter called out over the low hedge, + +"They have just gone by, all four of them. It always seems to me strange +that while all babies in the cradle look just alike, so that you can't +tell them apart, they grow up to be such very different men and women." + +"No, no, these four were never alike," replied Gertrude, "but I agree that +they grow more and more unlike every day." + +"Yes, that they do. And of you three near neighbors, you certainly have +drawn the best lot in children," said Judith with enthusiasm, "two like +your two are not to be found in a long day's journey. Veronica will fully +repay you for what you have done for her." + +"I have been repaid long ago by the child's attachment to me. She has +never given me anything but satisfaction ever since her mother died. If I +have any anxiety about Veronica it is lest she over-work herself. There is +something feverish in her love of work; she can never do enough. No matter +how late I go into her room at night, she is always finishing off some +piece of work; and no matter how early I get up in the morning, she has +already begun something new. If I had not positively forbidden it, she +would keep at it even on a Sunday. It is a real source of anxiety to me, +lest she should over-work and break down." + +"Oh, I don't think you need be afraid of that, Gertrude; work never yet +hurt any one, least of all the young folks. Let her work away. But I don't +see the need of her scowling so all the time. She looks for all the world +as if she were fighting and struggling against enemies and difficulties +of all sorts. I like better Dietrich's laughing eyes; they are so full of +fun. When he goes down the street singing-- + + 'Gladly and merrily + Live to-day cheerily, + Black care and sorrow + Leave till to-morrow,' + +it goes right to my heart, and I could sing too for very joy. No one can +help loving him." + +Gertrude listened with sunshine in her face to these words of praise, but +a little cloud of anxiety shadowed her eyes as she said, + +"Yes, God be praised, he is a good boy and means well, but I do wish that +he had a little of Veronica's firmness of purpose. It is very pleasant to +have every one like him, but too great popularity is not always a good +thing. And those two companions that are always hanging about him, are not +such as I myself would choose for his friends." + +"If they could all be put to some steady work it would be the best thing +for them," said Judith. "Idleness is the mother of mischief. Blasi is not +an ill-meaning fellow, but he is lazy, greatly to his own injury. Long +Jost is the worst of the two; a sly-boots, and a rare one too. It is to be +hoped that he will break his own leg, when he's trying to trip some one +else up with it." + +"No, no, Judith, on this holy Easter day, we will not have such unkind +hopes as that. I hope and believe that the good God holds the children in +his protecting hand. We have given them to him; that is my comfort and +support Good-bye, Judith; come often to see us; we are always glad of your +company." + +On the evening of this sunny Easter day, while rosy clouds moved slowly +across the clear sky, and the golden glow faded in the far west behind the +wooded heights, Gertrude came back from a long walk in the fields and +woods. On one side of her strode Dietrich, talking rapidly and earnestly: +the fresh joy of youth was written in every movement of his little figure, +and laughed from the depths of his clear eyes. On the other side Veronica +walked, listening in silence. Her noble features, above which her black +hair fell in shining waves, had a serious, thoughtful expression, but +every now and then, when Dietrich let fall some particularly apt +expression, a look would cross her face that irradiated it like a sunbeam +crossing a shadowed plain. Mother Gertrude looked now proudly at her +radiant son, now approvingly at her stately daughter, and again she lifted +grateful glances towards the glowing heavens where she saw promise of +another brilliant day to come. Far and wide, in all Tannenegg, was not to +be found that day, such another happy mother as Gertrude. + +When they reached the crossways where the footpath led up by the tavern of +the Rehbock, Dietrich turned into it, and his mother was about to follow +him, but Veronica drew her back, saying anxiously, + +"Don't go that way, mother dear; it is not much farther by the other +road." + +Dietrich laughed aloud. + +"Now there it is again. Do you know, mother, that I can never get Veronica +to go past the Rehbock. She would rather go ten minutes farther round, and +she will not say why either. To-day, Veronica, I am determined that you +shall go this way or tell us why not." + +"No; to-day we will not quarrel, Dietrich, please;" said the girl +entreatingly, but with a tone that showed no signs of yielding her point, +"let us sing a song as we go; mother loves to hear us sing." + +As she spoke, she walked steadily along the road, and the others followed, + +"Well then," said the lad, "let's sing 'Gladly and merrily'"--and he began +to sing the familiar tune. + +"To-night I should rather sing the Fisher-boat," said Veronica, and +without demur the good-natured boy dropped his song, and joined his clear +tones with Veronica's steady voice, the two harmonizing perfectly as they +sang: + + "A tiny boat, a fisher-boat, + Tossed lightly on the silver sea; + Around the rocks, in air, afloat + The white gulls circle lazily. + A tiny boat, a fisher-boat-- + The fisher draws his slender line; + He half in dream-land seems to float. + Saying, 'to-morrow will be fine.'" + +Softly singing, in the soft falling shadows of evening, the happy trio +drew towards their home, and disappeared within the cottage door. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +ALL AT HOME. + + +Dietrich had already worked for some time in his father's business. It was +all in the best possible condition; the work shop, the tools and materials +had been carefully kept up, and everything was fresh and in good working +order. The old customers had not withdrawn their custom, for the former +workman who had served under Steffan for many years had continued his +deceased master's methods, so that the reputation of the work was +sustained, and as Fohrensee grew, so also the saddler's orders grew, and +the business flourished. So Dietrich found his trade ready made to his +hand, and as good a prospect lay before him as heart could wish. He took +hold with a good will, and being his own master did not make him the less +diligent. He was determined first to work faithfully till he had +thoroughly learned the business, and then to travel for a while. When he +had seen the world a bit he would come back, go on with the business +farther and farther, and become a gentleman; and then--then--where could a +happier man be found than he should be, living with his mother and +Veronica in peace and plenty. His mother should pass her days in happy +idleness if she wished, without care, without sorrow, in wealth and +comfort, and Veronica! Yes, he would give Veronica a life far happier and +more beautiful than she had ever dreamed of for herself! While his brain +teemed with these pleasant thoughts, Dietrich sang and whistled at his +work all day long, and did good work, too. He had a skilful hand and a +clear head, and his work went successfully on. + +Veronica had persuaded her mother to let her stay longer in the Industrial +School than was usual with the young girls of the neighborhood. Even up to +the day of her confirmation, she had taken sewing lessons twice from a +most accomplished teacher. A short time before Easter, the teacher had +assured Gertrude that Veronica had made such extraordinary progress, that +she was already prepared to teach, and that she had completed the course +taught at that school, and could learn no more there. Veronica certainly +deserved farther training and the teacher suggested that it would be well +worth while for her to take lessons in embroidery of lame Sabina in +Fohrensee. She would then be sure of a position as a teacher, as high as +her utmost ambition could desire. + +It had always been Gertrude's plan to have Veronica learn to work at the +saddler's business, as there is a good deal of the fine work which is +suitable for women, and which it needs a woman's hand to carry out. She +hoped that in this way her children could always remain together and with +her. The fine embroidery for which lame Sabina was noted, it did not seem +to her at all necessary for Veronica to learn, but she was willing to +leave the decision to her. As soon as Veronica heard of this new work to +be learned, she was eager to begin upon it, and she left her mother no +peace until she extracted from her the promise that directly after the +confirmation, this new undertaking should be entered upon. + +A few days after Easter Sunday, Veronica went to take her first lesson. It +was very early in the morning when she started to go down to Fohrensee; so +early that people were just beginning to open their windows, and only here +and there a sleepy face was to be seen at the door of a house. She had to +go early in order to get in a good day's work, for she was to come home at +night, and it was an hour's walk each way. She knew well the old cottage +with the beautiful carnations illuminating its windows, which was the home +of lame Sabina. The windows were already open, and the door also. She +entered and her new life began. + +Up in Tannenegg, Dietrich sat at his work, singing and whistling merrily. +His mother, busy with her household affairs went hither and thither about +the house, from sitting room to kitchen, and then with the feeding-bucket, +out on the grass plat before the house, where a flock of handsome fowl +were pecking about. All was still quiet in the neighboring houses, but +over by the well stood the never-idle Judith, beating and turning her +clothes as she washed them. Along the road with uncertain steps came the +old sexton, swinging the big church-keys in his hand; he had been ringing +the early morning peal. As he lifted his cap a little to salute Judith at +the well, she called out, + +"Good day, neighbor, I was just thinking it would be a good exchange if +the old folks were to lie abed at this hour and let the young ones pull +the bell rope." + +"Well, some one must be doing it," said the other, and passed on his way. + +Judith had been busy at her washing full two hours longer, when in the +doorway of the sexton's house appeared a young fellow, whose figure, +almost as broad as it was long, filled the opening, with scarce anything +to spare. He tried to yawn, but there was not room enough to stretch his +arms, so he stepped outside for the purpose, and there he gaped so +heartily that all the inside of his big mouth and throat was distinctly +visible. + +"There's nothing in it, Blasi! I've had a good look at it," cried Judith. +"If you had been here two hours ago, you might have seen a sight. A girl +with a whole mouthful of gold! What do you say to that?" + +Blasi caught at this, and brought his jaws together with a snap. + +"What! full of gold?" he exclaimed, and opened his sleepy eyes to their +utmost extent. "Why doesn't the foolish thing carry it in her pocket? +Where does she come from?" + +"That's no concern of yours. You will never come up with her," replied +Judith. + +"Tell me, for all that," urged Blasi, coming toward Judith, "I can go +after her, and I've no doubt I shall come up with her, and then there's no +telling what may happen. Come, where did she go, now? Do you know her +name?" + +"Her name is Early Morn, Blasi," said Judith pleasantly. "Did you never +hear the saying, 'There's gold in the mouth of the early morn.'" + +Blasi made a wry face and began in an angry tone, + +"There's nothing very clever in that"--but just then he remembered that +when he came out of the house he had intended to come over and say +something quite different to Judith; so he changed his tone quickly, and +said, + +"Can you lend me a franc or two; I have just time to do a little business +before eleven o'clock, and then I must be back to ring the noon bell; I +must try to help father, a little." + +"No, no, Blasi, I have no francs for you," said Judith decidedly. "It +wants three hours yet of being eleven o'clock. Use those big arms of +yours, and they'll bring you francs enough." And so saying, she lifted her +clothes-basket on her head, and walked away. + +Blasi stood looking after her, a moment, then he sauntered off, with both +hands in his pockets, up the road towards, the shoemaker's old house. +There sat Jost before the door, hammering away at something as if for dear +life. Blasi drew near, and stood watching the busy hands of his friend, +who presently cried out angrily, + +"So it is holiday with you, is it, you lazy-bones? It is maddening to see +one fellow go wandering about with his hands in his pockets, while another +has to sit on his three-legged stool, hammering away at the soles of +these--these--these Tanneneggers' boots. To-morrow is Cherry-festival in +Fohrensee, and every one is going; and I, I must get their boots ready! I +wish a thunder-storm would come and wash this away, and that, and the +whole lot of 'em!" As he spoke he tossed away first the mended boots, then +the hammer, and last of all the three-legged stool, away, as far as he +could throw them, down into the meadow. He was white with rage. + +"What stuff!" said Blasi, dryly. "You are paid for your cobbling; you are +better off than I am. I haven't a rap, and am in debt besides. I was going +to ask you if you couldn't lend me a franc. You have money, I know." + +"Oh yes, you sleepy-head! It's very likely I have money for you, when I'm +in such need of it myself! Go ask Dietrich; he has his pockets full, and a +big heap besides. But don't be such a fool as to ask him for just one mean +little franc; ask for five. I'll use two or three of them; tell him you'll +pay him again in a week." + +Blasi seemed rather undecided. + +"I should have gone to him long ago," he said, "but his mother is always +about, and she looks at a fellow as a bird does when somebody is trying to +rob her nest. I'm afraid of her." + +"Poh! it's all right enough to borrow a little money if you're going to +pay it back again. Don't be a fool! Go along!" and Jost enforced his +advise with an emphatic shove that sent Blasi rolling along much faster +than he wished to go. He grumbled a little at this unpleasant style of +progression, and muttered between his teeth, + +"He's no right to treat me so; I'm as good as he is, any day." + +When he reached Gertrude's garden, he stood still and looked over the +hedge. Dietrich's mother was there, planting her vegetable bed. He +sauntered back and forth for awhile, and when he saw her go to the other +corner of the garden, he thought he could now get without being seen, into +the room where he heard Dietrich whistling at his work. He went round the +garden, and was just going in at the back gate, when he came plump against +Gertrude. He went by quickly as if he had had no idea of going in; and +then hung about watching his chance, but as time did not stand still +while he waited, it was bye-and-bye eleven o'clock, and he had to go off +to ring the noon bell. + +In the afternoon, neighbor Judith was hoeing in her little garden. Blasi +stood hesitating in his door-way, and then came out and stood watching her +at her work. + +"I am always surprised, Blasi," said Judith, looking up from her work, "to +see you in company with a fellow, who steals your money from your pockets, +before you know it is there. I would not have anything to do with such a +one." + +"What? who?" asked Blasi, fumbling in his empty pockets. "Who picks my +pockets? Who are you talking about? I know I did have some; I wish you +would tell me the thief." + +"I'll tell no tales," said Judith, working away. + +"Bah! tell me, won't you? A fellow can't defend himself unless he knows +who is attacking him," growled Blasi. "You might say who you mean." + +"Well, I will. Go and take him by the ear. His name is Idleness!" As +Judith spoke, she raised her head, and looked Blasi full in the face; then +she bent to her work again. + +The lad was angry. He had hoped that he was going to get something back of +which he had been robbed, and that Judith would help him as she had been a +witness of the theft. + +"Oh, what a fuss you make over a few minutes," he said crossly; "I have to +go at four o'clock to ring the bell. I think I ought to take a little from +the old man." + +"I should say you took more from him than he had. It has just struck half +past two; do you know how many minutes there are in an hour and a half?" + +"There's no getting along with you," said Blasi, turning away. + +"Well, you get along finely without me, so go on and prosper," said Judith +quickly as the lad disappeared. + +Blasi had by no means given up his project. He did not see anyone in +Gertrude's garden as he passed along. He clambered up on the lattice by +the hedge and peeped through the open window into the room. Dietrich's +mother was seated near her son; both were working steadily, the young +fellow was chattering and laughing gaily, and his mother answered and +laughed too, but they did not stop working all the while. Blasi saw +plainly that this was not the time to make his request. He would wait +until the mother had gone to the kitchen, as she was sure to do +bye-and-bye. Four o'clock came and the great business of his day was at +hand; it was time to ring the bell, and he had to go. At last when evening +came Blasi found his opportunity. He stood watching outside the door, when +suddenly Dietrich threw it open, and started off with rapid strides. + +Blasi called out, "Wait, wait a minute, can't you? What's your hurry?" + +Dietrich turned about. + +"What do you want? Tell me quickly. I'm going to meet Veronica; she can't +come home alone through the woods after dusk." + +"Well, look here," said Blasi, breathing hard with his haste, and holding +Dietrich by the arm. "You see, I'm in trouble for want of a few francs or +so. Can't you lend them to me? I'll give them back again very soon." + +"I haven't that much about me now. Stop a minute--yes, here are two francs +and here's a half; will that be enough?" and throwing the money to Blasi, +the young man hastened away. + +As evening drew on, Gertrude stood at the end of the garden and looked +down the road. She listened to every sound that came from below. She was +waiting for her children's voices, for the sound of their footsteps; her +children, who made her life, her happiness, her hope! Ah! there they are! +that is Dietrich's voice talking eagerly, while Veronica's bell-like +laugh sounds clear through the still evening air. With a heart filled to +overflowing with happiness, Gertrude went forth to meet them. + +As they sat together round the table in their usual cheerful mood, the +mother asked for an account of this, Veronica's first day among strangers, +and how she liked her new work. + +"Very much indeed, mother," was the answer, and the young girl's face +beamed with a smile that swept away all trace of the clouds that sometimes +marred its beauty. + +"I can't tell you how delightful it is to be able to earn so much. But +after all, mother dear, the best part is that I can come home to you at +night." + +"That's what I think too," said Dietrich quickly, and you had but to look +in his eyes to see that he spoke the truth. + +"And I am as glad as either of you," said Gertrude smiling. "It has been a +long day for me. It seems a great while since you started off this +morning, Veronica." + +"What! when your only son was sitting by you all day long?" asked Dietrich +playfully. + +"Oh, you know what I mean. I need you both to make me perfectly happy, and +cannot spare either of you;" and she looked from one to the other with +caressing glances. + +Veronica told them all about the new teacher and the new work, and it was +late in the evening before the three separated for the night. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +UPON UNSAFE PATHS. + + +After this evening, Dietrich was scarcely ever able to go on his walk +alone. Blasi had always some pretext for joining him, and when Jost found +out that regularly every evening his friend took the same walk at the same +hour, he too discovered that he had a great deal to tell him, and to +consult him about. The two accompanied him through the wood, and when they +emerged from it on the other side, they usually saw a graceful figure +coming along the white road that led up the hill from Fohrensee. Then +without a word on the subject, as by tacit agreement, they stopped, shook +hands, and separated; the other two turned back toward the village, and +Dietrich went on. They felt instinctively that this was the best thing to +do. Dietrich, certainly, found out that his companions were not to +Veronica's mind, when one evening, the three being so engaged in talk that +they had not noticed that they were later than usual, Veronica came into +the wood before they left it, and she recognized Blasi and Jost, although +they turned quickly back. + +"They can't have the best of consciences," said Veronica, as Dietrich +joined her; "if they had only straight-forward business on hand, why did +they take themselves off so hastily, as soon as I came in sight?" + +"Can't you understand that we may have something to talk about, that we +do not wish you to hear?" asked Dietrich. + +The girl was silent a few moments, and then she said, rather seriously, + +"It would suit me far better, if you were not so much in company with +those two fellows. Blasi is absolutely idle, and cannot be nice, and Jost +is really bad; you can see that in his face. He never dares to look me +full in the eye; he always avoids a direct glance, as if he feared that +his eyes would betray him. I believe he is thoroughly false." + +"No, no, you should not judge him so harshly," said Dietrich, +good-humoredly. "He is not what you think him; he is a good friend to me, +and has already taught me a great deal that I should never have got at +without his help. He is a very clever fellow." + +Veronica let the matter drop, but it was plain that she had not changed +her opinion. + +The days grew longer and brighter. The wood was filled with sweeter +perfumes evening after evening, as the two friends sauntered along their +homeward path, and in each young heart the feeling grew and ripened, that +still sweeter and more beautiful days were to come. + +One afternoon in May, Veronica paced leisurely along the white hill-road, +her eyes fixed on the tall oak on the borders of the wood, which marked +the place where the foot-path came out upon the high road. Everything was +quiet; not a human being in sight. She reached the spot and looked +anxiously into the wood. She listened; she peered between the trees; all +was solitude. The tree-tops, softly murmuring, rocked gently to and fro, +and through the branches she saw the sunset glow. For the first time, the +young girl entered the wood alone. It was quite dark, in there. She passed +along with rapid step, among the solemn pines, hastening faster and +faster, as the trees seemed to draw together about her. When she came out +upon the open pathway, she saw Dietrich coming across the field in hot +haste. He was breathless when he reached her. + +"I don't like to have you come alone through the wood, Veronica," he said, +"I thought I should be in time, but I could not get rid of those two +fellows. I tried to get away two or three times, but they always had +something more to say, and kept me." + +"Where were you, Dietrich?" + +"They had some business with me; that is, Jost had something to tell me, +and Blasi was there too. Jost did not care to speak of it on the open +street, and so we went into the Rehbock; and that is what made me so late. +Why, what's the matter, Veronica? Are you ill?" + +She was as pale as a ghost. + +"What! You've been to the Rehbock, Dietrich!" she exclaimed in evident +distress. "Oh, don't go there! Please don't go to that place again!" + +"Oh, now we are to have the old story over again, are we?" said the young +man, laughing, "you have taken some foolish whim into your head; you +really don't know why yourself. What's your prejudice against that house +in particular?" + +"I do know why; and it is no whim," said Veronica, earnestly. "I will tell +you all about it. That house has been a terror to me ever since I can +remember anything. We were both so young that you probably do not +recollect it at all. We both went with mother to the doctor's, but you +didn't go into the house, I remember now. Mother told the doctor that my +father was killed at the Rehbock. I have never forgotten it since. I am +constantly seeing him lying dead before my eyes; lying there struck down +dead. I often dream about it, and in my dreams I am there--and--and +sometimes when I look at his dead form in my dreams, it is not my father +any more, but it is you--you, Dietrich, whom they have struck down dead at +the Rehbock." + +Dietrich was going to laugh at these words, but he glanced into Veronica's +face and was silent. She was more in earnest than he had thought. He tried +to quiet and reassure her, by saying that it was only a dream, and nothing +to be afraid of. The dream came naturally enough, because she was always +dwelling upon the tragedy of her father's death, and in dreams every one +knows that faces are always changing. His explanation, however, did not +make much impression upon Veronica. She said no more about it; but not all +Dietrich's efforts were sufficient to chase the shadows from her face that +evening, although he exerted himself to be even more amusing than usual. +Gertrude observed her silence, as they sat about the table, and looked +anxiously at her. When they had separated for the night, Dietrich went +into his mother's room to have a talk with her. He told her what Veronica +had said, and begged her to reason with the young girl and urge her to lay +aside these groundless fears which had taken possession of her. He +represented to his mother, that of course he sometimes had things to talk +over with his companions, and that there surely was no harm in their going +to the Rehbock together for their conversations, and he begged her to make +Veronica see the whole affair in a reasonable light. Gertrude was shocked +to find that the child had heard and understood what she had said to the +doctor, and distressed that she had taken it so much to heart. She +promised to speak to Veronica, but she also cautioned her son against +forming an intimacy with Jost and Blasi. Dietrich cheerfully gave his +word; declaring that he was not particularly fond of their company. The +mother, however, on further consideration, decided to say nothing on the +subject to Veronica, for she thought the whole thing would be the sooner +forgotten if not spoken of, and she believed it unwise to stir up the +terrors of the past. + +The next afternoon, Dietrich left home much earlier than usual, determined +not to be belated again, and hoping to escape altogether his too insistent +companions. But scarcely had he reached the garden gate when he came upon +Blasi, who was lying in wait for him. Dietrich tried to pass him quickly, +and to show him that his company was not desired, but in vain Blasi had +not been waiting round half an hour to be turned off like that. He +explained that he was in worse trouble than ever to-day, and wished to +borrow more money than ever before; promising, of course, to pay it back +very soon; "that is, as soon as possible," he added. + +"Oh yes, well, when will it be possible, I wonder. How much have you paid +me back, as yet, since you began to borrow of me?" said Dietrich angrily. +"Let me go, Blasi, I've no time to spare." + +But Blasi went along by his side, and before he had done talking, Jost +joined them and held Dietrich fast by the other arm. + +"Come, come," he cried, "I have something to tell you that will make you +open your eyes, I guess. I came in a hurry on purpose not to miss you. +I've just come from the Rehbock, and I told them to keep the little back +room for us, so that we can talk quietly, without danger of being +interrupted. Come along, I say." + +"I will not," said Dietrich, freeing his arm from the other's detaining +grasp. "I haven't time, and I don't believe you have anything special to +tell me, either. I must go." And Dietrich strode away; but Jost followed +him. + +"Don't be such a fool," he called out angrily, "can't you listen when I +tell you that I know something decidedly to your advantage. Something that +you'll be glad to know. You are running away because of her, and it is +something that will be good for her as well as for you. So do stand still, +and don't go scampering off as if the gamekeepers were after you!" But +Dietrich did not stop. + +"What do you know about her, or her good?" he asked furiously. "Mind your +own business and let us alone." + +As Jost had his own interest in winning the young fellow over, he +controlled himself, and said in most soothing tones, + +"Dietrich, I am your friend. Some day you will be very grateful to me. As +you are in such a hurry, I will not stop you now; only promise me to come +over bye-and-bye for a few minutes to the Rehbock; there's a good fellow, +and you will not be sorry. Will you come?" + +"Well, I've no particular objection to that," said Dietrich, and ran off +as fast as he could. + +Blasi, who had kept pace with the other two, seeing that there was no +chance for him now, turned back with Jost, and the two went into the +Rehbock together. + +Dietrich met Veronica quite the other side of the wood. He did his best to +rouse her from her silent mood, and to restore her to better spirits; but +he found it impossible to efface the impression she had received the +evening before. The painful memory had been too deeply stamped upon her +mind, to be easily wiped out. + +When the little family had bade each other good-night, after their usual +affectionate conversation, Dietrich hesitated about keeping his half-made +promise. He did not want to go; yet Jost's words, that the affair touched +her as nearly as it did him, had made their intended impression, and +though it went sadly against his grain to know that Jost dared even to +think about Veronica and her interests at all, still he could not help +wondering what it was all about. Suddenly his resolution was taken; he +turned about, went down stairs and softly left the house. + +Jost was standing in the doorway of the Rehbock, looking out into the +night to see if Dietrich was coming. They went at once into the little +back room. Blasi was there, sitting behind a big empty bowl; indeed he +never sat long behind a full one, for as the bowl was there to be emptied +he thought the quicker it was done the better. + +"I'm glad you have come," he cried out, "for we've run quite dry here." + +Dietrich perceived that he was expected to counteract the dryness; so he +ordered some beer, and when this was supplied Jost began in a cautious +tone, + +"I have something to say to you, Dietrich, that I don't care for those +outside to hear. Blasi can stay, because he is our comrade." + +"And because he can be made useful," said Dietrich readily, for he knew of +old that Jost was in the habit of rushing Blasi forward, where he did not +dare to go himself. + +"I don't know about that," said Jost, "but now listen to me. Do you know +how a fellow who hasn't so much as a penny in his purse, can in one night +get enough to build a big stone house, like the one the landlord of the +lion has in Fohrensee, and make himself a gentleman all at once? I know +how; I know somebody who has explained it all to me, and I tell you, +Dietrich, you have only to say the word, and you can do the same, and give +up the whole saddler's business. You can afford to risk something; you're +not stupid; and with you it will all go right in a twinkling." + +"Do you mean by card-playing?" asked Dietrich rather contemptuously, for +he had made up his mind about that long ago. + +"No indeed, something very different. It is done on paper. You have +nothing to do but put some money down, and you can win two or three times +as much in no time." + +"And lose _four_ times, I suppose?" + +"There's no losing about it;" said Jost confidently, "You're sure to win +in the end, if you keep on long enough. It doesn't signify if you do lose +a little at first--you can afford to wait." + +"I think my trade is surer of winning;" said Dietrich. + +"Oh yes, sure enough!" said Jost scornfully. "It is a pretty sight to see +a fellow like you, sitting there year after year on the saddler's bench, +scraping all the skin off his hands; and with all the income you have, +too! why in ten years you won't have as much as will build you a house +such as you want, and it would take ten years more to become a gentleman; +and she'd like it a great deal better to have something nice now, and not +wait till she is fifty years old." + +Dietrich was red with anger. + +"What business is it of yours to be forever thinking and talking about +her?" he blazed out. "You have no concern with her whatever; just keep +yourself to what you're fit for." + +"Why do go on as you do?" asked Jost with a knowing wink. "Do you suppose +it never enters anybody's head to ask why you keep on working and delving +as if you liked it? Can't we guess who you're doing it all for?" + +"And it's not at all out of the way to be thinking about her, either," +interposed Blasi, "there's another ready enough to do that if there were +any chance for him," and he winked significantly at Jost. Jost took no +notice of the insinuation, but went on, addressing himself to Dietrich. + +"There's no danger for you in this plan. We will share losses and gains +alike, and if we do not like it we can leave off when ever we choose. But +I don't see why we shouldn't like it, when we can earn so much with so +little trouble, and without working from morning till night. There goes +somebody now, who has all he wants, I should like to be in his place!" + +A wagon was rattling by as he spoke, and its occupant was urging the +galloping horse faster and faster along the road. + +"That's the doctor," said Dietrich, looking out; "he has had to work hard +enough and is still at it. He must be going to visit a very sick patient; +he would not be driving at that rate for anything else. It is late for the +old gentleman to be out." + +"Work!" said Jost, "well, I speak for that kind of work; sitting in a +chaise behind a horse. It's another part of speech to have to work with +one's hands, as we do." + +"The doctor has to work with his hands too, I'm sure of that. And besides, +we have our evenings to ourselves, while he may be kept at it till eleven +o'clock at night, as he is this evening, and later." + +"Oh drop all this stupid talk and give us an answer; yes or no. Will you +be a fool and go on pricking your fingers over your work, or will you join +me and have things comfortable without working at all? Anybody but you +would be grateful to me for the chance I offer you. I came to you with it +because of our old friendship. I know plenty of fellows who would jump at +the chance. You can think it over till tomorrow, and then I'm sure you'll +be glad to accept. I'll meet you here to-morrow evening, and bring some +one with me who will explain it all clearly." + +Dietrich agreed to think about it till to-morrow, and now, in high +good-humor and increasing confidence in the coming good-fortune, he helped +Blasi and Jost to empty the bowl, in a toast to the success of their new +projects. + +It was Veronica's habit to work on her embroidery for some time after +going up to her bedroom, and this evening she was so much interested in +her work, that she did not observe the flight of time, until she heard the +clock strike one. She put by her sewing, and hastened to prepare for bed, +as she must be up and stirring again by five o'clock. Presently she heard +the outer door opened softly, and then closed from the inside. She blew +out her light and gently opened her bed-room door. The moon lighted up the +passageway with a faint beam. Some one came stealing up the staircase with +noiseless steps. She saw that it was Dietrich. He went cautiously into his +room and closed his door. + +Veronica shut her door, and sat down upon her bed. All the blood seemed to +rush to her heart and she could not stir. She knew in a moment that +Dietrich, whom she had believed to be asleep long ago, had been visiting +in secret the hated Rehbock. She sat some minutes motionless on her bed, +in a kind of dull pain. Then she arose slowly, lighted her lamp again, +took out her work and with nervous fingers drove on her needle, which flew +faster and faster through the white cloth. She did not sleep at all that +night. + +Nor did Dietrich fall asleep easily. His thoughts were busy and he could +not come to any decision. What should he do? + +If he could become rich at once, without working any more, why shouldn't +he do it? Would it be best to consult his mother? No, that would upset +everything. He was sure that his mother was too firmly wedded to the old +ideas about ways of getting a living, to listen to any new-fangled methods +of making money without work. + +And Veronica? + +Certainly not Veronica, who valued work above everything, and who indeed +loved it so well, that she could not imagine that any one should ever wish +to escape it. + +But if he were successful, both his mother and Veronica would profit by +his good fortune as much as himself. Why couldn't he go on with his own +plans in his own way? Why need he ask leave of Veronica? + +Before he slept, Dietrich had decided to meet Jost the next evening, and +close with his offer. + +When Gertrude came down stairs early in the morning, she found the +breakfast ready, and Veronica dressed to go out. + +"Wait just a moment," said the mother, "Dietrich will be down directly; I +hear him coming." + +"I must be off," replied Veronica. She went towards the door, but turned +before going out. Her cheeks were flaming. + +"Mother," she said, and her voice trembled, "in God's name, forbid him to +go to that dreadful place. He did not come home till one o'clock last +night." And she vanished. Gertrude gazed after her in surprise. + +When Dietrich came down, he asked in his usual bright fashion, after +Veronica, and when his mother with some anxiety told him what the girl had +said, he made his explanation with such a frank, unembarrassed manner, +that her fears were quieted; for it was plain that he had nothing upon his +conscience. He said that he knew his mother would approve of his helping a +friend in need, and not the less if in so doing he should also help +himself. It was a scheme of this kind that he had been talking over, the +night before. Jost had to work very hard to make both ends meet, and +Dietrich thought that if by putting some money into his scheme, he could +help his old acquaintance to more profit with less labor, and at the same +time gain by it himself, his mother would be the last to blame him. + +Gertrude was a soft-hearted woman. She answered her son that if there was +nothing wrong about this business, it was certainly a good thing to help +Jost, who had received nothing from his father, not even tools for his +trade, and who had seemed to have everything against him. + +"With you it was very different, my boy," she said in conclusion. "Your +father left you an excellent business, and if you continue to work as you +have done, you will be very well off in a few years. How kindly the good +God has dealt with us, my son! We may hope for many happy days together!" + +He agreed with her cordially, but he thought it as well not to unfold his +plans to her any farther. He said to himself that he was not going to do +anything wrong, certainly not; but his mother's ideas were a little +old-fashioned, and she wouldn't understand his schemes. He would surprise +her with his success. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +LAME SABINA GIVES GOOD ADVICE. + + +Veronica's teacher, Sabina, had been a hunchback from her birth, and had +become lame when still young; she had used crutches since she was twenty +years old. Like many persons who suffer under physical disabilities, she +had clever penetrating eyes, and on this day, she often raised them from +the work which she was pursuing with indefatigable industry, to glance at +her pupil, who sat opposite. Veronica was at work on the same piece which +she had had at home on the previous night, that night which she had +passed in such sad forbodings. + +After many inquiring glances, Sabina at last said thoughtfully: + +"I'm puzzled about you, Veronica. That piece of work you are upon, is +wonderfully well done; every stitch is perfectly even, the cloth and the +silk are as white as snow; yet you must have done most of it at night, for +yesterday afternoon you were not nearly so far along. Whatever you put +your hand to, succeeds. Yet your eyebrows grow more and more scowling +every day, and your eyes blaze out as if there were a thunder-storm about. +What ails you, child? You are the handsomest girl in all the country round +when you have a pleasant expression; and you are as tall and straight as +a young fir-tree. Don't you know that?" + +"What good does it do me?" asked Veronica, and scowled worse than ever. + +"What good? if you did not have it you would know what it is worth," +replied Sabina, quickly. "I can tell you that. Now smooth your forehead, +Veronica, and listen to me. I will tell you something that will make you +feel better and happier. An Industrial School has been established in +Fohrensee and it is proposed to connect with it a work-room for women. +They want a teacher and superintendent, and have offered me the place, but +I am not strong enough for it. I have told them that you are fully equal +to me in skill and knowledge of the work, and a hundred times my superior +in freshness and strength and executive ability. There is no doubt that +the place is at your disposal. You can lead the life of a lady, Veronica. +Your fortune is made." + +For the first time since Sabina began to speak, Veronica raised her eyes +from her work. She shook her head sadly and said, + +"Not my fortune." + +"'Not my fortune!'" repeated Sabina angrily, "when I tell you this place +is yours! Your fortune is made." + +"I cannot grasp the fortune that is offered me," said the girl, and bent +over her work again. + +Sabina's searching glance seemed to try to penetrate her inmost thought. + +"What sort of an expression is that you are using, Veronica? Where did you +learn that? I never expected to hear such words from your lips. It is not +like you. What put that into your head, child?" + +"I will tell you something of my experience, and then you will understand +why I use this expression," said Veronica quietly. "When I was only a +little girl I learned a motto which ran thus: + + 'Fortune stands ready, full in sight; + He wins, who knows to grasp it right.' + +I saw that 'fortune' was something good to have, and I wanted to find out +how it could be grasped. I asked Cousin Judith, and she told me it must be +grasped like everything else with our hands, that is to say, through work. +From that time forward I was eager for work as other children are for +play, and the older I grow, the more I strive for the good fortune that +can be grasped by work. Even on Sundays I often go to my room to sew, and +I shut my door, for my mother does not like to see me sew then. I work on +and on, just as long as I can sit at it, even into the night; sometimes +till one and two o'clock in the morning; yet I do not find the fortune I +want. When my hands are busy, my thoughts wander where they will, and I +must follow them. But they do not lead to 'fortune,' but only farther away +from it. This offer may bring me a fortune in money and position, but that +is not the fortune I want. 'Fortune' for me, means happiness." + +Sabina had not lost a word of this sad story. + +"Yes, yes, I understand you, Veronica," she said sympathizingly. "I know +something of this too. Judith told you the truth, but only one half the +truth. Fortune is grasped by the hands, it is true; but the Fortune which +you long for, that is, Happiness, is to be gained in other ways besides. I +will tell you an instructive little story, and if you will take the +trouble to grasp it, not with your hands, but with your thoughts and +understanding, you will be able to work it out for yourself and get some +profit from it. It is part of the story of my own life. I have had so much +the same experience as yours that I cannot help hoping that what I found +good for myself, may prove good for you." + +"When I was about your age, Veronica, I was so unhappy that I cried myself +to sleep every night. Can you guess why? No, for one understands only the +sufferings that he has himself experienced, and cannot imagine those of +others. Well, it was because I was a hunchback! I remember as if it were +yesterday, when I first came to a perception of my misfortune; when I +first learned that I was different from other children, and must remain as +one apart, all my life. We were all coming out of school one day, and a +little quarrel arose between us children, and one of them said to me in a +scornful tone, 'Hold your tongue, Sabina, you're only a hunchback.' From +that day I never knew a happy moment, and I grew timid and avoided every +one; if I saw any one looking at me, I thought he was scoffing at me +because I was a hunchback. I kept away from other children, for if one of +them laughed, I fancied she was laughing at my deformed shoulders. If any +stranger was kind to me, I thought that it was because my hunch had not +yet been seen, and that as soon as it was, kindness would be changed for +contempt. I looked at the figure of every one I met; all were straight +except myself. I felt that I was the most miserable creature in the world, +and I saw no hope of ever being otherwise all my life long. Once one of +the school children died, and all her schoolmates walked in the funeral +procession to the church. I would not walk with them, but hid myself among +the grown people; for every one was looking at the children and I wanted +to escape observation. I heard one woman say to another: 'It is lucky the +child's mother has so much to do; she will have no time to think about her +sorrow, and she will get over it the sooner,' Then it came to me like a +ray of hope, that if I had work to do, I might forget my sorrow too. I +must have work. That very day I begged my mother to let me learn to work. +She was pleased, and sent me to take lessons in sewing, and I followed it +up till I could do all sorts of fine work, and had as much employment as I +could wish. I often heard people say, 'How finely Sabina is getting on!' +But how do you think it was with my spirits? Just as it is with yours now, +Veronica. Oh yes, you needn't look at me so with your great eyes. I know +exactly what you are thinking. You think that my trouble never can have +been equal to yours. People always think that their own sorrows are the +worst. I sat and sewed just as you do--early and late; my work was +perfect; I had no rival. I knew that it was good, and I rejoiced over it +in a half-hearted way; but what good did it do me after all? The thought +that I was a hunchback, was always in my mind. It was like a stream of +troubled water flowing through my heart; it spoiled everything. 'Always +deformed, never like other girls,' I never forgot it for a moment. So it +went on till I was about twenty years old, and then came on the trouble in +my foot, and I was confined to my bed for many months. Oh! how bitterly I +suffered! Was every misfortune to fall on me alone?' I thought. How could +I foresee that this very trouble would turn out to be good fortune for +me?" + +"The doctor came to see me constantly; he took as much interest in my case +as if I could have paid him handsomely. + +He noticed that I was industrious, that I did not lie idle even when I was +in great pain. It pleased him to find me always with work in my hand. When +at last the acute attack was over, and the doctor told me that this would +be his last visit, he told me also that I was lame for life. At first I +could not walk at all; but bye and bye I learned to use my crutches. When +I offered the doctor the money that was due him for his attendance, he +said we would not speak of that; that we both had to work, but with this +difference, that he was sound and whole, while I was not. He took my hand +kindly, saying that it was hard for me not to be able to take any +amusement after working hard all the week; not to go out with the others +on Sunday; and that if I cared for reading, his wife had a great many nice +books which she would be glad to lend me, and they would make the Sundays +less tedious. I did not really care for reading; I preferred sewing as you +do, but I accepted the doctor's offer and went to his house. His wife was +very kind and gave me a book at once, bidding me come as soon as I had +finished it and get another. I began to read the very next Sunday, and I +became so deeply interested that I scarcely laid the book down all day, +and even during the week I took it up as often as I could find a spare +moment. It was an account of foreign countries and nations; how they +lived, and their manners and customs. I was particularly interested to +read about how the women were treated in different places; how in some +countries they are sold and bartered for cattle or wool or cloth, and how +they belong to their husbands just as if they were furniture, and their +husbands can treat them just as they please, as we do cats or dogs. And in +some places, it said, a wife has to be burned when her husband dies, +because she is only a part of him and has no value of her own after his +death. Oh! how many strange things there are in the world, to be sure! I +became hungry and thirsty for knowledge. The doctor's wife lent me one +book after another, and in each there was something new and wonderful. I +learned how terrible the condition of women had been everywhere until our +own Lord Jesus Christ came into the world, and taught that one soul was +as much worth as another, all equal, man and woman, lord and servant; that +every individual must be free, one as well as another; and that two people +should be joined together only by love, and not as a matter of ownership. +But even now-a-days there are still countries and islands where men make +nothing of killing and eating each other, and the women are bought and +sold like goods. It is only where the influence of Christianity has +penetrated, that there is true equality of womanhood. You can imagine the +flood of new ideas that crowded in upon me as I read, and I assure you +that I was able to forget sometimes for many days that I was a hunchback, +and when I did remember it, the thought had lost its sting. I dwelt upon +the many privations and sufferings of others, till they seemed to outweigh +my own trouble so that it dwindled in my estimation; and gradually I began +to see the good side of my lot. How independently I could live supporting +myself; what a wealth of interest was opened to me through my reading, and +in fact how fortunate I was, and blessed beyond many another! Yes, +Veronica, I can assure you that I am now a happy woman, with a heart +filled with gratitude to the good God for the blessings he has sent me. +And so I say to you, my child, from the fulness of my own experience, that +you have no right to go about looking like a thunder-cloud; you with all +the freshness and beauty of your young life! + +Tell me do you owe our Lord God something or is He in debt to you? Have +you nothing to thank him for? Others can see how much you have to look +forward to. Get yourself together, girl, and try to give your thoughts +another direction." + +"I should be only too glad to do so," said Veronica, who had listened +intently to every word that Sabina had said. "Have you any such book as +you describe, that you can lend me to read?" + +Sabina was well pleased at this request. She had a book close at hand, +which she had just finished reading, and from which she expected great +things for the young girl. Veronica was moved by Sabina's glowing words, +to believe that her future might be happier, and that the clouds of +despondency which had overshadowed her, were about to be dispersed. + +She lost no time, for she was in earnest. She opened the book that very +evening, and began to read. But her sanguine expectations were not +fulfilled. She read the words, she understood their meaning; but it was as +if she heard them at a distance and through them all, louder than all +else, sounded something in her ears and in her heart that drowned them. It +was the flow of the troubled waters, as Sabina had said. The waves rose +higher; their noise increased, until Veronica lost all hearing and +understanding of what she was reading. Still she persevered; perhaps +bye-and-bye it would come right. Alas! was not that the house door opening +and shutting again so softly late in the night? She flung the book aside; +walked rapidly back and forth in her chamber for awhile, then unfolded her +sewing, and worked steadily on and on, until the morning broke and a new +day called her to its duties. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +A THUNDER CLAP. + + +Blasi, the lounger, stood in his doorway in the clear sunshine of this +lovely summer morning, both hands plunged deep into his pockets as was his +wont, and looked about him as if to see whether everything in the outer +world was the same as yesterday. + +Judith came out to the well, carrying her water-jug on her head. + +"Look out, Blasi, you are losing something," she cried. Blasi looked on +the ground, turned about, and searched behind and before. + +"I don't see anything," he said, and stuffed his hands deeper into his +pockets. + +"It's always so with me," said Judith, "when I've lost anything, I can't +see it." + +"Oh ho, you're making a fool of me again!" + +"That's all the thanks I get for telling you that you are losing +something, and I was just going to make you a present that is worth more +than five francs to a fellow like you." + +"What is it? Show it to me," said Blasi, with more animation. + +"First I will tell you something, and then you shall have it," replied +Judith. "Look here, Blasi, my sainted father used to say, "If you keep +your hands out of your pockets they will get full, but if you keep them +in, your pockets will be empty." Now, both your hands are in your +pockets, so all that ought to go in is running to waste. Isn't that so?" + +"Well, suppose it is," said Blasi, angrily. "Now give me what you promised +me." + +"I gave it to you this very minute. I said you'd better take your hands +out of your pockets, and then your earnings would run in. That's good +advice and worth more than five francs. + +"What stuff! No one ever knows how to take you," grumbled Blasi. + +"It wouldn't help you to take me, if you did not take your hands out too," +said Judith, "but never mind, I have really something good for you," and +Judith motioned to him to come nearer. "Would you like to have a nice +well-washed shirt for Sunday? I will do one up for you if you will tell me +something." + +That was an offer worth listening to. Sunday was a wretched day for Blasi, +for when he had turned his two shirts and worn them both on both sides, he +had never a clean one for Sunday. He had no one to wash for him. His +mother was dead, and his father had enough else to spend for, without the +washing for a grown-up son. Blasi's money went for other things than +washing, and he was not fond of doing it for himself. + +The proposition was therefore very apropos. "Come a little nearer to the +well; no one knows who may be behind those trees. Now listen; Can you tell +me what is going wrong with Dietrich? He never whistles now, he never +laughs, and his mother looks so sad, and she rarely speaks even to answer +when spoken to. Something has happened to Dietrich." + +"Yes, and keeps on happening; all sorts of things, too. But Jost can tell +you more than I can. They sit together in the Rehbock half the night and +more, too; long after everybody else has gone, there they sit in the +little back room. At first they do just as other people do, they drink a +little and then a little more, and Dietrich pays. But that's nothing to +what it costs him afterwards. They do something with paper, he and Jost. +Sometimes it is a lottery and then again something that they call +speculating. I don't understand anything about it. Somebody comes over +from Fohrensee and explains it to them. He does not belong there; but I +guess you have seen him; he has fiery red hair, and red beard and red +face. He has business in Fohrensee once a week, and lives the rest of the +time down in the city; and he arranges everything down there, and then +brings the account of gains and losses up to them; but it's a good deal +more loss than gain. Dietrich puts in more money every time. Jost has +nothing to put in but promises. He tells Dietrich all the time that +presently the winnings will begin to flow in, and says that at first a +fellow must expect to lose, so as to win all the more in the end, and that +bye-and-bye it will all come back; with interest, of course. The +red-haired man says yes to it all. Whenever I want to put something in, +and ask Dietrich to lend me a little to try with, Jost acts as if he were +the lord and master of the whole concern, and 'donkey' is the mildest name +he calls me. I am just waiting though, till I can trip him up, and I'll +do it with a vengeance too, so that he won't forget it all his life long." + +"Now that is a good idea," said Judith. "You'd better tell him then, that +you do it to pay your debts, and that it would be well for him to follow +your example. Now you have told me enough. Bring me your shirt on +Saturday, and I'll wash it for you." + +Judith lifted her water-jug and was turning away, but Blasi detained her. + +"Just wait one moment, I want to ask you a question. Do you think she will +have him?" + +The question seemed to interest Judith, for she stood stock still. + +"Who? whom? what do you mean?" + +"I mean Veronica and Jost. Do you think she will take him?" As Blasi +spoke he came slowly nearer to Judith. "He has been saying some things +lately, that made me think so." + +"If you know anything more stupid than that, I should like to hear it," +cried Judith very angry indeed; but she did not move away, for she wanted +to hear all that Blasi had to say. + +"I know what you mean," he went on, "but I am not so very stupid as you +think. It certainly means something, when she is so changed. Jost says +that she knows all that Dietrich has been about, and she is hot with anger +against him because he has not told her about it himself. Jost says that +if he only mentions Dietrich's name before her she looks like a wild-cat +in a moment, and he says too that he has noticed for some time, that she +has no objection to letting Dietrich see that she can get along very well +without his help, and you know that she is capable of anything when she's +angry." + +"Well, this was the one drop wanting!" said Judith, and shouldering her +jug she went off, snorting with anger, in such a rage that Blasi stood +looking after her in stupid amazement, and muttered, + +"I wonder if she wants to get him, too!" + +Judith walked along, talking aloud to herself, + +"Yes, she is! she is! she is capable of anything when she is angry!" + +Now Judith had looked upon her neighbor's boy from his childhood up, as if +he belonged to her. He was her prime, favorite and she meant to do well by +him. She liked Veronica because she was such a steady girl at her needle, +and because she would have nothing to say to any one but Dietrich. This +very reserve however, was rather distasteful to Judith as regarded +herself, but she liked it towards others. She had planned it all out that +Dietrich should marry Veronica soon after the confirmation, that they +should set up a pretty little establishment, and be her beloved neighbors. +She meant to be their intimate friend and helper, to go freely in and out +of their house, and to stand god-mother now and then. She would leave her +property to the little ones. Now all this fine air-castle was overthrown +and all her plans spoiled. Judith bounced violently into the kitchen and +set her jug down with such a bang that the water spurted up into the air. + +"And no one can get a word out of her, either; it is exactly as if all the +oil had been burned out." This last remark referred to Gertrude, who had +greatly altered during the last few months. She had no longer the cheerful +expression that she had always been noted for. She had grown very quiet +and silent. She even avoided her old and well-tried friend Judith, and if +the latter showed a disposition to talk about her household matters or her +children's future, Gertrude would give her to understand that she had no +time to stop to talk. + +Gertrude knew where Dietrich spent his evenings. She had expostulated with +him about it more than once. He had answered that he must keep on there +for awhile, till a certain undertaking which he had started with Jost was +fairly under way. He assured her that this affair was certain to turn out +all right, and that she herself would be surprised and satisfied at the +result. He knew from some one who understood it, that it could not fail. +He had to draw large sums several times for himself and also for Jost, but +he was sanguine that in a short time it would all be paid back, with +interest. Gertrude did not pretend to understand the business, but she saw +that Dietrich believed it to be safe and profitable, and she knew that her +son would not deceive her. Still she was haunted daily by a growing +uneasiness, which was not diminished when she perceived that Veronica was +gradually drawing away from her. + +This state of things had all come about since that morning when the +girl's beseeching words had fallen unheeded on the mother's ears; or at +least Veronica believed them to have been unheeded, since they had worked +no change in Dietrich's behavior. + +Why it was that every day as evening came on, she felt so miserably +anxious, Gertrude herself could scarcely understand. Poor Gertrude! + +One night after she had gone to her room she heard her son leave the house +with hasty steps. It had become a regular thing now. She had often said to +herself, "Ah! how much longer will this go on?" but she tried hard to +believe that it would soon come to an end, and her son would resume his +former orderly and happy mode of life. But this evening she was so +anxious that she could not stay in her bedroom. She went down into the +garden. + +The moon peeped out from between the flying clouds, and shone peacefully +down upon the trees and the neat flower-beds. Gertrude seated herself upon +a small bench under the apple tree, and gazed about the garden, all +illuminated by the moonbeams. She had planted it all and cared for it with +her own hands. She had done this as she did everything, carefully and with +great painstaking, and it was all for her son's sake. His should be the +pleasure and the profit of all. Why could he not be happy in it now? Why +was she so worried about him? Dietrich was walking in steep and dangerous +paths; that she was sure of, but he knew the straight road and would not +his steps turn back to it again? Her thoughts went back to the days when +her little Dieterli loved good and orderly conduct; it could not be that +he had lost his love for it, that he did not still feel that in the right +conduct of life lies inward and outward blessing. She recalled the evening +of the day when her husband was borne from the house to his burial. She +had taken the children by the hand and, stupefied with pain, was about to +put them to bed, but Dieterli objected, saying, + +"No, mother, no; it is not good to go to bed before you say your prayers." + +Did her boy ever pray now? "Oh, Dieterli, my son, you are wandering away, +but you know the way home," she said to herself, and she folded her hands +in prayer, for her habit was to lay all her troubles before God, her +Supporter and Comforter. + +At this moment, she heard through the stillness loud shouts and cries, +first at a distance, then nearer and nearer, until they grew into a wild +tumult. Then many of the voices seemed to scatter in different directions +while some sounded as if approaching the garden. A vague fear seized +Gertrude. Three fellows shouting and calling, passed on the other side of +the hedge; she recognized one of the voices. + +"Jost," she cried feebly, "Jost, what is it? where is Dietrich?" + +There was no answer; Jost did not or would not, hear. He ran faster than +before, and the second fellow ran too. The last one paused a little; it +was Blasi. He said hastily: + +"He isn't coming yet awhile. You can go to bed;" and was making off. + +"Oh do tell me what has happened," said Gertrude, white with terror. +"Don't leave me so, but tell me, Blasi, why Dietrich hasn't come home with +the rest of you?" + +Blasi had too much respect for Dietrich's mother to run away from her when +she put a direct question to him, although he would fain have escaped. He +came close to the hedge, and replied, + +"There has been a row at the Rehbock. Two men were killed. Some one stole +the cattle dealer's money bag--" + +"Is Dietrich killed? Speak out!" broke in Gertrude, trembling. + +"No; he struck about him bravely, till one of the fellows got enough of +it, and lay dead on the ground; and then he made off." + +With this Blasi ran on. + +Gertrude mounted wearily to her room as if her last day was come. She sat +down upon her bed, and when the morning light filled the room, still she +sat there listening in trembling anxiety, as she had listened through all +the long night; in vain. Dietrich had not come home in the night; he did +not come in the morning. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +EACH ONE ACCORDING TO HIS KIND. + + +In all Tannenegg and Fohrensee, nothing was talked of but the affair of +the night before. Never was such excitement known. In every house, at +every corner, in all the roads, groups of people stood talking it over; +each telling what he knew. + +Everyone asked questions, and no one listened to the answers. Such a fight +at the Rehbock! It began over the card-table. The cattle-dealer from +Fohrensee was on his way home with his bag full of money, when he stopped +in at the Rehbock, and joined the game. When the dispute broke out, his +big fists took their share in the fray. Not until two of the party lay for +dead on the ground, did the brawling cease and the combatants begin to +cool. Then the cattle-dealer discovered that his bag full of gold was +gone, and raised a fearful alarm. + +Then the red-haired man from Fohrensee shouted into the midst of the +excited crowd, + +"Don't let any one get away. Run after them! That's the only way to find +out the thief!" + +This man had not taken part in the fight, but had mixed with the crowd, +trying to pacify them, and to restore quiet. + +His advice was useless. A good many had already gone. First of all, +Dietrich had disappeared; then several fellows ran after him, and then +all the rest went together. + +On the way home, Jost had told his companions that Dietrich had made off +with himself, and that he, Jost, had told him when he saw him going that +there was doubtless good reason for his wishing to be out of the way. But +in truth Jost had not said any such thing to Dietrich! + +One of the men had run at once for the doctor, and the doctor had come in +the night to the Rehbock, and had found that the two men were not dead +after all. So he had given orders that they should be let alone till they +had slept off the effect of their carouse. + +In the morning, all those who had been at the Rehbock the night before, +were called together; and every one denied stoutly having any knowledge +of the cattle-dealer's money, and all were ready to be searched in proof +of their innocence. Dietrich alone was not there; he had vanished, no one +knew whither. Some one whispered, and then it was softly repeated, then +louder and louder, that Dietrich would not have taken himself off if he +had had a clear conscience; and although nobody seriously believed +Dietrich capable of a disgraceful act, yet after awhile it seemed to grow +more likely, especially when it became known that he had lost a great deal +of money in betting and gambling, and was unable to pay back what he had +lost. And many shook their heads and said, "How easy it is for a man to be +drawn into evil ways if he once begins to go down hill!" + +Where Dietrich had gone, was now the important question. No trace of him +had been discovered from the moment of his disappearance. The +cattle-dealer left no stone unturned to find him, but he could get no clue +to his whereabouts. He had entered complaints against Dietrich, and hoped +that the hands of the law would succeed in getting track of him. But it +was all in vain. Gradually, no one knew how, a report got about that +Dietrich had fled to Australia, and would never come back. Little by +little every one came to believe it. + +Except one. One single person in all Tannenegg was bold enough to swim +against this stream of suspicion. This was Judith. Not timidly and in +secret, but aloud, at all times and in all places, she declared decidedly, + +"There's not one word of truth in what you all say. It's a lie from +beginning to end. Dietrich has no more stolen than I have, and I needn't +say more than that. I'll ferret this thing out, till I find the true +culprit, or my name's not Judith." + +The first thing to do was to get a clear account of the whole affair; for +although she had already heard it told a dozen times, it had always been +among other people, who were continually interrupting and asking +questions, and were too anxious to hear the end, to wait for the full +account of the beginning. So she decided to apply to Blasi, who, as he had +been on the spot, must know all about it. But she had to hunt him up; for +since that unlucky evening he had kept himself out of sight. She placed +her bucket under the spout at the well, and then took a turn about the +kitchen garden behind the sexton's cottage. Blasi stood in the back +doorway, just as he was in the habit of standing in the front doorway, +only instead of holding his face up as if to catch any agreeable odors +that might be floating about, he stood to-day with drooping head, gazing +sadly at the uncared-for garden. + +"What's amiss, Blasi?" asked Judith, sharply, coming upon him before he +was aware of her approach. + +"Nothing; if you know of anything we will share it," said Blasi sullenly. + +"Well, perhaps I know something that it would not be a bad thing for you +to share with me. Perhaps it's worth while for some one who has learned it +by the sweat of her brow, to tell you that vegetables can be made to grow +in a garden, instead of nettles, which you seem to cultivate." + +"I don't care what grows anywhere; one thing is as good as another to me, +now that Dietrich has gone. There's nothing to do in the evening now. I've +half a mind to go after him." + +"Go where? do you know where he is?" + +"I don't, myself, but Jost does, and I know that Jost is expecting to hear +from him. Though he does call me stupid, I have my eye on him," said +Blasi, with angry emphasis. "And I know it was Jost who advised Dietrich +to run away and hide, though he didn't mean to let me know. Oh, I'm no +fool!" + +Judith nodded assentingly, as if Blasi's information confirmed her own +suspicions. + +"Here, Blasi, here's a little something for you. Now I want you to tell me +exactly how this thing happened, from the very beginning; and don't leave +out a single thing. I want to hear the whole story, connectedly." + +"You may be sure I will," said Blasi, weighing the silver piece which +Judith had given him affectionately in his hand. "You see they were all +together in the little back room at first; the red-haired man and Jost and +Dietrich, and when I went in I noticed at once that something had happened +that our two didn't like; for Dietrich sat with his elbows on the table +and his head in his hands, and Jost was swearing roundly. Presently Jost +said, 'We will double our bets, Dietrich, and perhaps the luck will turn.' +Dietrich, only groaned. Then the red-haired fellow said, 'Come, let's go +down and play cards with the cattle-dealer, and take a glass of something +that will raise your spirits.'" + +"Dietrich never used to gamble; nor to drink when he was not thirsty;" +cried Judith angrily. + +"Pooh! When every one is playing cards, a fellow can't hold off and say he +won't join, and as for the drink, Dietrich has washed down a good deal of +vexation with it lately, and he took it powerfully too, I can tell you. +Well, the play began, and it went on fast. I noticed that the red man +looked mightily pleased, and urged them all on, and the louder the +cattle-dealer scolded, the more the red man filled up his glass. When the +quarrel came to blows, I heard the red-head call out to the +cattle-dealer, 'Come over here, you'll soon silence them,' So he kept +exciting him, and he struck out well with his great fists. The red-head +mixed in the crowd, and stuck close to the cattle-dealer, but he never +struck a blow himself; of course not, such a gentleman as he is! I did not +see Dietrich knock the Fohrensee fellow down, but just when the storm was +most furious, I saw Dietrich run out, and Jost after him, and I thought I +saw Jost give Dietrich something. I ran out after them, and I heard Jost +advising Dietrich to make off as fast as he could, and send him word where +he hid himself. When I came up to them, Jost pushed me back; I couldn't +get a word with Dietrich, who ran right off, and Jost pulled me into the +house. There the noise was increasing every minute, for the cattle-dealer +had discovered that his money-bag was gone, and red-head screamed out like +a mad-man, that nobody must get away, and everybody must be searched. When +they found that Dietrich had gone, the cattle-man started off after him, +and some others too, and then they all broke up. Now you know all that I +know. Nothing else happened; except that I went for the doctor, who said +the two men were not dead. When Jost tells Dietrich that, why, there's +nothing to prevent his coming back. That is, unless there's something +else." + +"What do you mean by 'something else'?" said Judith sharply. "But +there--you're all alike. One repeats what another has said, till you all +get to saying the same thing and then of course you believe it. A nice +set of friends you are--the whole of you. I mean to stir up the ground +under you all until I find out where the truth is. Then you can begin to +stare with the others, you blind mole!" and Judith suddenly walked off as +if the earth were burning beneath her angry feet. + +Blasi understood neither her words nor her anger. He looked after her, +shook his head rather sadly, and said to himself, + + "Women folk are a very foolish folk." + +Home sped the "foolish" Judith; put on her Sunday garments and started on +her journey. If ever she had a project in her head, she did not wait till +to-morrow to put it into execution. And to-day she was bent on giving the +cattle dealer a piece of her mind. She paused a moment when she came to +Gertrude's house, then went on her way, saying half aloud, + +"No, I'll say nothing to her, since she says nothing to me. If 'mum's' the +word I can use it as well as she." + +Judith was pained that Gertrude had not from the beginning talked with her +of her troubles, for Judith was one who liked to give and receive +sympathy. Veronica too was much too reticent to please her kind-hearted +neighbor who could never get a word with her about what was going on. +Veronica and Gertrude were both very silent by nature, about anything that +touched them deeply, especially in sorrow. On the first day after the +terrible blow that had befallen them, they talked it all over, and wept +together, to ease their hearts of the first misery. Then Gertrude said, + +"Dietrich has sinned and he must make atonement, but he has not stolen; I +am sure that my son is not a thief." And Veronica had responded promptly, + +"If every one in the whole world said that he had stolen that money, I +should not listen; for I know he is no thief." + +As soon as it became known that Dietrich was gone, letters and bills came +pouring in upon the poor widow. Her son had borrowed large sums of money +and had lost even more at play. She soon found that not only all her +husband's savings, but also the house and the business were deeply +encumbered. She talked things over with the workman who had been so many +years in her employ and asked if he would help her carry on the business +as he had done after her husband's death while Dietrich was still a child. +The man was very angry with Dietrich for having thrown away the result of +all those years of labor, and at first refused to have anything more to do +with the business. He yielded at last, however, to Gertrude's urgent +request, and consented to remain with her at least till the future +prospects of the business could be decided upon; and Gertrude agreed that +if it should prosper she would hand it over to him, in case Dietrich +should not return within a certain time. + +And so the mother set herself again to her task. She worked early and +late; she seemed to have gained new strength and courage instead of being +crushed down by this new burden. + +It was curious to see how differently the two women nearest to Dietrich +were affected by this trouble. Gertrude's countenance gradually resumed +its customary look of cheerfulness and peace, while on Veronica's handsome +features rested a heavy scowl which now seldom left her clouded brow. Yet +she was almost an object of envy to all the young girls of the +neighborhood, and no wonder; for she was an attractive sight to all eyes, +with her neat, well-fitting clothes, that always looked new and fresh, and +her air of strength and activity. Not a few of the strangers who came to +Fohrensee, made inquiries about her, wondering where she could have come +from; for they noticed the marked difference between her and the other +women of the place. The work which passed through her hands, even if it +were most elaborately embroidered, was never crumpled nor soiled, but +looked as fresh as if it had not been handled at all. She could obtain any +price she chose to set upon her work, and everything she did found ready +sale. Moreover, she had been appointed to the place of which Sabina had +spoken to her. She was at the head of the great Industrial School for +women, where she received so handsome a salary, that she was in a fair way +to the accumulation of a nice little fortune. It was common to hear it +said of her, "She is really a lady! she can have whatever she pleases," +and it was often added, "If I were in her shoes, I wouldn't go about with +a face like a thirty days' storm, as she does, when she can be a +gentleman's wife whenever she chooses!" It had been proposed that +Veronica should go to live in the school-buildings at Fohrensee. But she +did not accept the offer; she could not leave her mother alone in this +time of trouble. Every evening after her work she returned to Gertrude's +cottage. + +During the long summer days it was easy for Veronica to get home before +the twilight was over. But when the days grew shorter, dusk came on even +before she could reach the wood. One bright Saturday afternoon, late in +August, Veronica had delayed longer than usual in the work-room, to clear +all away and leave things in perfect order for Sunday. + +She hurried up the hill road, not so much from fear of going through the +wood alone, as from desire to spare Gertrude the anxiety of watching for +her. Just before she reached the wood, she met Jost coming towards her. He +held out his hand with a friendly smile, saying, + +"I came to meet you; I thought it would be getting too dark for you to go +alone through the forest; I can't let you go unprotected." + +"You may spare yourself the pains," said Veronica shortly and crossed over +to the other side of the road. Jost crossed too. + +"Veronica," he began after a little while, "it is not nice of you to treat +me as you have done since Dietrich went off. I know as well as you do, +that he did wrong in running away from you without letting you know where +he went to; but he may write yet, and meantime--" + +"Don't say another word," interrupted Veronica; so decidedly that Jost was +silent for awhile. She crossed the road again, and presently Jost did the +same, and as he came up to her, he began again in a soft insinuating tone, + +"Don't you see Veronica, that it isn't my fault that things have taken +this turn? I often thought of you when Dietrich was risking so much money, +and I used to say to him "think of her," for I knew how you would feel +about it." + +"Oh, you Judas!" cried Veronica, swelling with rage, and she sprang +forward and ran on with all her might. Jost followed close at her heels. +When she had passed through the wood, and had come out on the Tannenegg +side, he said, in a flattering voice, + +"Veronica, do you see how precious you are to me? I will protect you and +take care of you even if you do not speak one kind word to me. I shall +come to meet you every day, for I will not allow you to go through the +wood alone. You may meet all sorts of people there and may sometimes be +glad of my company. Bye-and-bye you will be convinced how much I care for +you." + +Veronica was now near the house. She hurried on and without once looking +back, she sprang through the door and shut it fast behind her. + +"You shall be tame enough before I have done with you," muttered Jost, and +he bit his lips until the blood came. + +Veronica stood still on the other side of the door until she heard his +retreating footsteps; then she opened it and went out again. She went +over to the sexton's house. Blasi stood in the doorway, in a despondent +attitude, with his hands in his pockets. He was brooding over the +melancholy reflection that he had paid away the last penny of the coin +that Judith had given him, for last evening's glass at the Rehbock, and +that he had no credit. He saw no glimmer of hope in the prospect before +him, and looked disconsolately at the ground. Suddenly Veronica stood +before him. He stared at her with surprise. + +"Blasi, will you do me a favor?" she asked in a friendly tone, "I will +return it sometime when you need help." + +Here was an unexpected chance. He opened his eyes yet wider with delight. + +"Tell me what it is, Veronica," he said; "I will go through fire and +water for you." + +"It is only to go through the wood for me, to-morrow evening, and every +evening till the days grow longer again. Will you? You can have your +evening glass afterwards at my expense." + +Blasi stood speechless; staring at Veronica, who waited for his answer. + +"Why; do you want two of us?" he said presently, "I don't see why. Jost is +going too, for you told him to go and meet you every evening." + +Veronica's dark eyes flashed forth a fire that dazzled poor Blasi. + +"So! I told him to go, did I? Who told you such a thing as that?" + +"Jost said so himself at the Rehbock last evening, before a room full of +people; and some of them said that you were going to prove that you could +get along very well without the fellow that ran away." + +Veronica flushed burning red. + +"Tell Jost," she said, scornfully, "that if he is clever in nothing else +he is a master liar. I would tell him myself, but I will never speak to +him again. Will you come for me tomorrow or not, Blasi?" she had turned to +leave him. + +"Why of course, if that's the way it is about Jost, I'll come. You may +count on me," he replied gleefully. She held out her hand to him, and was +gone. + +The next evening, as Blasi was walking at his ease, towards the wood, he +met Jost hurrying along from another direction. + +"Where may you be going?" asked Jost peremptorily. + +"I am going to meet Veronica; she engaged me to," answered Blasi, not at +all unwilling to make known his errand. + +"Well, you are a dunderhead to take a joke like that for sober earnest," +said Jost, bursting into a loud laugh. "Hadn't you sense enough to see +that she was making a fool of you? We had a good laugh together about it +last night, she and I, and she said she had a mind to make you go all +winter long to Fohrensee, to fetch her; and that you would never find out +that she was making sport of you. She seems to have made a good +beginning." + +Jost laughed again immoderately, and Blasi began to waver. + +"If I only knew which of you was telling a lie;" he said, and stood still +to think it over. Suddenly he started forward on the full run, for it +occured to him that he could decide by Veronica's air when he met her, +whether she had cheated him or not. Jost saw that Blasi was determined not +to give up his enterprise so he turned about, and disappeared among the +bushes; for he had no desire to have Blasi see how Veronica treated him. + +When Blasi met Veronica, her face had so pleasant and bright a look, that +the lad was struck with her beauty. It was not the look of one who was +making a fool of him. Veronica was sincere. She talked kindly with him all +the way home, more kindly than he had ever thought she could talk, and +when they parted, she said persuasively, + +"You'll come tomorrow, and every day, won't you Blasi?" + +Then she pressed a piece of money into his hand, and thanked him for his +kindness so gratefully, that it seemed as if he had conferred a great +favor on her, instead of having received payment for service rendered. + +As the young man turned away, a new set of ideas took possession of his +mind. For the first time in his life, he felt a desire to use the money +that he held in his hand, for something better than drink. He recollected +that he had no necktie on, and he was conscious of looking slovenly and +dirty. That was not the way for a fellow to look who was going to be seen +walking with the pretty Veronica along the high-road. He would buy a +neck-tie in the morning; he had money enough for that. Then his thoughts +ran on still farther. Veronica had not spoken to him in this friendly way +for many a long year. It was not to make fun of him, Jost was a liar as +she had said; else why did he run away instead of going with him to meet +her? No, he wouldn't be taken in by that fellow, any longer. As they +walked along she had asked him all sorts of questions about himself; what +his business was, and how he succeeded in it and so on. He had not been +able to answer very satisfactorily about his business, for since +Confirmation, three years before, he had only been waiting for something +to turn up. He had had nothing to do except to ring the bell at eleven +o'clock, and then stand in the door-way of his house until it was time to +ring it again at four. Then towards evening he always went to the Rehbock +to hear the news. All this appeared in a new light before his eyes, now +that Veronica had inquired about his occupation. Then she had encouraged +him so sympathetically to try to get something to do, and promised to be +of service to him if she could. It was exactly as if she had an especial +interest in his welfare. Why did she concern herself about him? Suddenly a +light broke through his darkness. + +"Dietrich is gone, and is not likely to come back," he said to himself, +"she detests Jost; and women always do the very thing you least expect +them to; I've heard that a hundred times. She is after me! Good heavens!" +he called out in his surprise as this idea seized him. "A fellow must +spruce up! I will take the first step this very day." + +The idea which had seized Blasi's mind that he was to take Dietrich's +place with Veronica, suggested a farther plan. He decided immediately to +become a saddler too, and before he went into his own house, he turned +back and sought Gertrude's garden. + +Gertrude's workman was walking up and down, for recreation; for he never +went to the tavern. Blasi went to him and opened his mind; he wanted to be +a saddler, and to learn the trade from him. + +The man was quite willing; he bethought himself that it would be rather an +agreeable change to have a young fellow to talk to, instead of merely +sitting all day by the side of the silent widow. He said he would speak to +his employer, and Blasi could come on the morrow. He was sure she would +agree, for she generally took his opinion about the business. + +"You see, Blasi," said he pompously, "if I were not there to look after +things, they would all go to ruin. In fact there are only two ways to save +this business; either Dietrich must come back and quickly too, and take +hold of the business better than he ever did before, or else it must fall +into my hands entirely, and I will take all the risks and all the +profits." + +"There may be yet a third way; who knows?" said Blasi, significantly, and +he winked so mysteriously first with one eye and then with the other, that +the saddler said to himself, "I guess he's been at the Rehbock." + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +MOTHER GERTRUDE ALSO GIVES GOOD ADVICE. + + +The cold, dismal December days had come. It was always long after dark +now, before Veronica got home; but she never had to hurry, for fear of +going through the wood alone, for there stood Blasi always ready at the +turf hut on the edge of Fohrensee, just where the houses ceased and it +began to be lonely. If it was fine, he was walking up and down before the +hut; if it stormed, he was standing under the shelter of the roof. He was +never absent and he never came too late. Yet he was busy all day long, +and had to run half the way to get to the hut in time. His master did not +let him off one moment before the appointed day's work was over, Blasi's +application to learn the saddler's trade had been favorably received by +Gertrude and he had set to work at once. Now that he worked from morning +till night he never had time to put his hands in his pockets, and the +saddler kept him up to the mark, proud of showing how well he himself +understood the business. Blasi was contented, and more than contented with +his life; he had a new and very happy consciousness of being of use, and +he had risen in his own estimation. He felt like a man of property, almost +like a gentleman. By the time he had finished his day's work, and hurried +down to Fohrensee and walked back again, he was so tired that he was +ready to go to bed directly; he had no time nor desire to loaf. And so it +came about that when Veronica wished to give him his piece of money every +evening he objected; for he said he did not want to be paid; he preferred +to have his services accepted on the ground of friendship. Veronica +consented to accept them on that ground, but from time to time she would +say, "Blasi, this is your birthday," or "To-day is the cherry-festival, I +should like to make you a little present," or "I have had extra work +to-day, and I should like to give you part of the extra pay, for if you +had not been coming for me, I could not have waited to do it, so it is +fairly yours;" and each time she pressed into his hand such a large piece +of money that he soon had a considerable sum laid away. Then one day she +gave him a silk handkerchief; and another day half-a-dozen new shirts, +white as snow; and then again a package of handkerchiefs hemmed and ready +for use; and all this increase of property raised his standard of living, +and excited his ambition. + +The night before Christmas, Veronica was late in coming home. It was dark +and stormy. She had been delayed at the school, making preparations for +leaving everything in order for the holiday. + +When she came into the sitting-room she found her mother at work by +lamp-light, mending a ragged old mail-bag. Advancing years had told upon +Gertrude; and although industrious as ever, she could not work as easily +as she once did. + +"Oh mother, I cannot let you do that heavy piece of work," said Veronica, +as soon as she saw what her mother was about. "Didn't I tell you that I +would come home in time to dress the house for Christmas, and now you have +not only done all that, but you are at work on that old mail-bag. I can't +bear to have you do so. Why won't you let me do something for you, and +take a little rest yourself. You look so tired." + +"You need the evening to rest in too, dear child, after working steadily +all day," said Gertrude affectionately. "And I am very glad when there is +a piece of work like this that I can do. I want him to find everything as +it used to be, when he comes home. I think that with care and industry I +can manage so that I shall not be obliged to give up this house while he +is away. I am sure it will be a great comfort to him to find that he still +has his home. And besides I feel that it will help him to begin life anew, +and bring him back to his old right-minded way of thinking. Oh, if he +would only come home!" + +"Mother, mother, that is no reason why you should work beyond your +strength. You have taken care of me all these long years, and now it is +fairly my turn to take care of you. Do not worry about the house, dear; I +have made an arrangement with the cattle-dealer. When you told me that he +threatened to take it, I went to him and got him to let me settle with him +instead. He was very glad that I wanted it, for he said that he didn't +see what good it would be to him, and he gave me my time about paying for +it." + +"Is that true, Veronica?" said Gertrude, and a happy smile stole over her +face. "You do not know what a load you have taken from my heart! Oh, you +are good and brave! If I could only see you look happy, how glad I should +be! If I could find out how to make you happy! I would do anything in the +world for you, if I only knew how!" + +"There is no use in thinking about it, mother dear. Happiness is not for +me. It may be for others, but not for me." Veronica spoke with strong +emotion. "I have worked and struggled for it ever since I can remember +anything, but all in vain. Cousin Judith told me that work was the way to +fortune, and that 'fortune' meant whatever one wanted most; and so I +worked, always, even when I did not know what it was that I wanted most. +Afterwards when I learned that for me happiness was the best fortune, I +worked on, for I wanted to be happy, but I was not. I always brooded over +my work, thinking of all the unpleasant and troublesome things that had +happened. Then Sabina told me how, when she was terribly unhappy about her +deformity, she had found relief in books, in reading," and Veronica went +on to tell how Sabina had sent her delightful books and how she had tried +to drive away her own sorrow by the new interests which she found in them. +"But you see," she added with a sigh, "it did not help me; nothing helps +me. When I read, I was still unhappy. What difference did it make to me, +all that was written in the books; it did not make my troubles less. The +old thoughts came right in and left me no peace. Even while I was reading +I could not fix my mind on the book, and when I laid the book down, I had +gained nothing, but was as sad and hopeless as ever. Happiness is not for +me, and the little motto upon my rose may be true for others; it is not +true for me. I cannot 'grasp' the only 'fortune' I care for." + +Veronica spoke passionately; with a vehemence that Gertrude had never +before heard from her. Her strong, self-controlled nature had never before +given way and found expression in words. Now the flood-gates were opened, +the stream broke through. Gertrude was distressed at her unwonted +emotion. "Veronica," she said, sadly and lovingly, "this pains me. I had +no idea of your feeling; no conception of your having suffered so. You are +always so quiet and reserved that I thought you had peace within, though +your face is so often clouded with apparent discontent. Now I see that +your heart is heavy. If I could only show you the way to peace--that is +the way to happiness. + +The girl said nothing; she only shook her head as if to say: "Peace is not +for me," and her eyes shone like fire with her inward excitement. + +"Veronica," said Gertrude presently, "to-morrow is Christmas day. Do you +remember how when you were little children we always prayed together at +night, and how happy you always were at Christmas, and how gladly you +said your little prayer? Will you not pray with me now, my child, as we +did in those dear old days?" + +The girl turned her face aside and wiped away her tears. "I will, mother," +she said, making an effort to control herself, "it will bring back those +happy days in memory, and give you a little pleasure." + +She folded her hands and began to repeat the Lord's prayer. Gertrude +followed reverently. When she reached the words, "Forgive us our +trespasses," Veronica hid her face in her hands, and broke into violent +sobs. + +"No, mother, I must not say it. I cannot forgive him. I cannot forgive +Dietrich for having treated you so, and then run away and hidden himself +without writing a single word, to tell you where he is. He must know how +you are suffering, and I too. And that Judas! I can never, never forgive +him. He led Dietrich astray and deceived him. He has destroyed all our +happiness. How can I forgive him? Doesn't he deserve our hatred? Can I +help wishing him the worst punishment that ever befell a human being?" + +Veronica sobbed as if the long-pent-up agony of her heart would never +again submit to be restrained. Silently Gertrude sat with folded hands, +waiting till the storm was spent. At last she said softly, + +"If I felt as you do, my child, I could not bear it at all. It would kill +me. But I do not feel so. When my Dieterli was a little child and I had to +do everything for him, before he was old enough to take care of himself, +there was much in his character and conduct that made me anxious. He +always wanted to be first in everything, and whatever he wished for, that +he must have, without delay and without effort on his part. And as he grew +older and these qualities strengthened, I often felt that with his +headstrong disposition he could never become great and good, without the +discipline of a severe school. From the earliest hours of his life, I gave +him into God's hands, and prayed for God's care and guidance. And through +all these years my constant prayer for my boy has been, 'Lead him where +Thou wilt, Oh God, only let him not fall out of Thy hands; When this heavy +trial came, which was almost beyond my strength to bear, I did not lose +my faith that the God to whom I had given him, would not let my Dieterich +be lost. If the hard lessons of life have begun for Dietrich, he must +learn them thoroughly; and if his sins are to be purged away, he must +suffer in the process. And though I suffer too, it is God's will; I have +had much schooling in my life, and have learned much and gained much from +it. Do not feel so hardly against Dietrich because he has not written to +us. Perhaps he has written, and the letter has gone astray. I look for a +letter every day, but if he does not write, we may be sure that he is in +great trouble, poor boy! He knows how we feel toward him, and if he has +gone into evil ways we must pity him the more and pray God to bring him +back into the right path again. As to Jost, I think as you do, that he is +to blame for our poor boy's troubles. He led him astray and then played +him false. Jost is a poor lost sheep who has wandered far from the fold. +He has no one to care for him, no one to lead him back again. He is alone +in the world. Should not we pray that he may be shown the wickedness of +his ways, that his conscience may be awakened and that he may repent and +his soul be saved?" + +Veronica had listened attentively to all that Gertrude had said. After a +silence she said thoughtfully, + +"Mother, are you made happy by this faith in God?" + +And without a moment's hesitation came the answer; + +"I know of nothing that can make us so happy as this faith--the strong +confidence in our hearts that our Father in Heaven orders and watches over +our lives, and that everything which happens to us is for our good, if we +obey him and hold fast to him. I do not know much, Veronica; I have not +read nearly as much as lame Sabina, or as you have, and you understand +things far better than I do; but it seems to me that you would have gained +more from your reading, if you had tried to find something in the books, +which you could use to help you in your trouble, and not merely to find +out something new about what other people do and how they live." + +"If you learned from these books that our Lord Jesus Christ first taught +the lesson that all men are equal in the sight of God, and that one soul +is of as much worth as another before Him, then it must have been told +there too, how our Savior brought us the glad tidings that we have a +Father in Heaven, who loves His children and who will bless them if they +put their trust in Him. Our Savior shows us the way to our Heavenly +Father, and will help us to overcome all the difficulties that stand in +our path. He speaks to us with a tenderness beyond that of any other +friend, and bids us lay our burdens upon Him and He will help us to bear +them." + +"But mother," said Veronica, looking with a wonder that was almost awe +upon the peaceful countenance of the mother, "can you truly say that you +have found peace and happiness, while you have no news from him, and do +not know what dreadful tidings any minute may bring you?" + +"Yes, Veronica, I can and I do say so," answered Gertrude, and her face +even without words would have borne witness to the truth of what she said. +"I know that what ever comes to us, comes from God, and is for our good. +But Veronica, we must put away all hatred and bitterness from our hearts; +these feelings are all evil, and we must ask to be forgiven for them. +Shall I go on with the prayer, where you left off, my child? Try to join +with me; it will help you, dear." + +And Gertrude finished the Lord's prayer. + +Veronica sat silent for a time, and then rose and went to her own room. +She could not sleep, but she had no inclination to seek relief for trouble +in her sewing, as she had been accustomed to do. Gertrude's words were +working in her heart. How often had she said lately in the proud +bitterness of her heart, "A fine truth indeed! + + 'Fortune stands ready, full in sight, + He wins, who knows to grasp it right!'" + +And now Gertrude had shown her that the words were true after all, and +that she had herself grasped Happiness, the truest Fortune, even in the +midst of a deep sorrow, greater even than Veronica's own. + +Sleeplessly for Veronica the hours of the night went by; but over and over +again the mother's words sounded in her ears, and she strove to quiet with +them the trouble and unrest of her heart. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +MAN PROPOSES, BUT GOD DISPOSES. + + +Still no news came from Dietrich. Jost made many attempts to show Veronica +how much he wished to win her favor. He often went to meet her, and he +gave himself endless trouble to convince her of his attachment. He could +not boast that he made himself of any use by going to meet her; for she +was always accompanied by Blasi, who marched by her side with a triumphant +air as if to say, "Jost can judge for himself who holds the place of honor +here!" When Jost joined them, Veronica took care that Blasi should walk +between herself and the intruder, and she neither said a word herself, +nor seemed to hear what the others were saying. Jost grew pale with +suppressed rage. Whenever at other times he met Blasi anywhere, he threw +contemptuous words at him. If occasionally Blasi stepped into the Rehbock +for a glass of beer, Jost would cry out, + +"Oh ho, she allows it to-night, does she, you donkey of a servant? How +will you look when she doesn't want your services any longer, and gives +you your dismissal? She is already beginning to soften towards me, but +until she comes to me and begs me to hear her, I won't listen to a word, +nor pay the slightest attention to her." + +Such remarks as these, thrown out before all the company at the Rehbock +were very exasperating to Blasi and several times he seized the big bowl +to throw it at the insolent fellow's head. He did not throw it however, +for Veronica had charged him to have as little as possible to do with +Jost, and especially never to quarrel with him, and Veronica's influence +over Blasi grew stronger every day. So he did not throw the bowl, but +instead, drained it to the bottom and then left the room. + +About this time Blasi began to meet Judith very often on his evening walk. +Judith seemed to have some business that took her frequently to Fohrensee. +Strange surmises were aroused, among the Fohrensee people; for it was +known that she went to visit the cattle-dealer. The two were often seen +standing before his house in the open street, gesticulating vehemently +with hands and arms. The people about said, + +"Something's in the wind. They're going to be married. To be sure she is +cleverer than he, but then he is twenty-five years younger, and that +counts for something." + +One evening in January, Judith met Blasi as he was coming round the corner +of Gertrude's house, where he was always at work till it was time to go +for Veronica. + +"What makes you go about laughing all the time, and looking as if you had +been winning a game?" asked Judith. + +"That's exactly what I was going to ask you," retorted Blasi, "What have +you got to laugh about?" + +"Answer me, and I'll answer you, my lad." + +"All right; it's nothing to be ashamed of. She'll have me." + +"Good heavens!" exclaimed Judith "Who? Which one?" + +Blasi did not turn round, but pointed with his thumb over his shoulder at +the house he had just left. "That one," he said. + +Judith shouted with laughter. + +"Will she have you all three?" she said; "first Dietrich, then Jost, and +now you." + +"I don't see the joke," said Blasi crossly. "Dietrich has run away; she +avoids Jost as if he were a nettle, and who else is there? Who is there +for her to call upon if she wants help, hey?" + +Judith was still snickering over the news. + +"Now it's your turn," said Blasi, "tell me what it is that you're so +pleased about." + +"It is very much like yours, Blasi; come a little nearer," and she +whispered in his ear, "I have him." + +"Mercy on us!" cried Blasi. "You will be as rich as a Jew, for the +cattle-dealer is worth more than half the people in Fohrensee, all put +together." + +"I'm not talking about the cattle-dealer." + +"Pshaw! whom are you talking about then?" + +"Somebody else, and I have him in such a fashion that he will not forget +it in a hurry, I tell you!" + +As she spoke, Judith made a gesture with her hands as if she were choking +some one, who certainly would not escape alive from her clutches. + +Blasi shook his head and walked on in silence. But in his inmost mind he +thought, "I can't make anything out of her; her head is all in a buzz. But +she's only a woman." + +Soon after, they reached the turf-hut, and there they separated. Veronica +was not far off; and as she came up Blasi joined her, and they walked +quickly along over the crisp, frozen ground. She was more silent than +usual, and seemed sunk in thought. In the middle of the wood she stopped +suddenly and said, + +"Blasi will you do me a great favor?" + +"I will do anything in the world for you, Veronica," was the prompt reply, +"I will jump into the big pond over there, and never come out again, if +you want me to." + +"You couldn't get in now; it is frozen hard," said the girl, laughing. "I +don't want you to do that, but something very different. Do you think you +could find out what Jost knows about Dietrich? Perhaps he has told Jost +where he is, and where a letter would reach him." + +"Yes, but look here, Veronica, are you still thinking about him, all this +time?" asked poor Blasi, quite taken aback. + +"We will not talk about that," she answered curtly. "To tell the truth, I +am very anxious about our mother. She has been very far from well lately, +and she says every now and then, 'If I could only see him once more!' as +if she felt that she was not going to live much longer. Oh, help me get +word to Dietrich if you can, Blasi! do help me!" Veronica's eyes were full +of tears, as she raised them beseechingly to Blasi's face. He was much +touched at the sight of her tears; but then a great fear arose in his +mind, for he thought, "She is beginning to soften, and it will all turn +out just as Jost said." And he determined to prevent it at any cost. + +"Don't lose your courage, and I'll try my best! I'll see what I can do!" +he said in a very decided tone, and with a most courageous air. + +"You are my only friend now," said Veronica; and the words spurred Blasi +on to immediate action. He left her in the doorway, and hastened away. He +would find out all that Jost could or would tell about Dietrich. He ran +across to the Rehbock, where he found Jost sitting with his glass. For if +Jost, as he complained, had to sit and work all the morning, while others +did as they pleased, yet he made enough money by his work to allow him to +spend all his afternoons at the Rehbock, and remain, drinking one glass +after another, all through the evening, and late into the night. + +Blasi seated himself by his side, and opened his case very skilfully. He +wanted to know about their old friend; where he was now, and whether there +was any chance of getting a line sent to him. He did not mind paying for a +drink to-night, he said, if Jost would tell him exactly what he knew about +Dietrich; they ought to hang together, they three, who had known each +other ever since they were children. While Blasi was discoursing in this +clever manner, Jost looked squintingly at him, and when he stopped, he +answered scoffingly, + +"Oh, so she has come to it at last, has she? I have been expecting it. You +go back and tell her that I can give her all the information she wants; +but she must come to me for it, herself, and speak pleasantly to me, as I +do to her. Tell her that she will never see him again, as long as she +lives; he is too far off. But if she wants to send him a message, she has +but to come to me and ask, and I will do her that favor, and she can do me +one in return. Go now, Blasi, and tell her this from me. I'll pay for the +beer myself." + +Blasi felt stunned. Jost had seen through his little game at a glance, and +treated it with contempt. How could he carry such a message to Veronica? +It might bring the tears into her eyes again, and that was altogether too +painful to see. There was no use in remonstrating with Jost, who sat there +smiling scornfully without farther words. For the first time in his life, +Blasi left his glass unfinished. He pulled his cap down over his eyes and +left the inn. When he entered the widow's cottage, Veronica sat by the +table, stitching away at the old mail-bag. She put it down as he came in, +and looked up anxiously into his face. + +"It's no use; he is just splitting with rage and fury;" and Blasi threw +his cap across into the farthest corner of the room. He related the whole +conversation and it was plain enough that it was useless for him to try to +get anything out of Jost. + +She was silent for a time; thinking over Jost's words. "He wants to humble +me! I am to go and beseech him to tell me; and I must be friendly and do +him a favor. What favor? No, I will have nothing to do with him." + +She took up the bag again, stitched up the last hole, and folded the work. +Then she said, + +"May I ask one thing more of you, Blasi? I hope I shall be able to repay +you some day for all your kindness." + +"Only speak, Veronica," said Blasi, "I will do anything you ask. If you +want me to, I will go to find Dietrich, even if I have to go on foot all +the way to Australia." + +"Oh, it is no such long journey as that. I am sorry to ask you to do a +disagreeable errand, but you see Mother is much disturbed because this +mail-bag has not been sent back. She seems to be in a hurry to have +everything finished and settled up--as if she had no time to lose." +Veronica paused, and the tears that it so troubled Blasi to see, filled +her eyes to overflowing. "I promised mother that the bag should be sent +home early tomorrow morning, and you see I have no one but you to ask. You +can't leave your work in the daytime and at evening you have to go to meet +me; so there is no time but the very early morning before work hours." + +"I will take it if it snows cats and dogs; but where is it to go?" + +"It is not a pleasant walk, unless you go a long way round by the +high-road. The bag belongs at the post-office at the Valley bridge. Do +you think you could get down the steep foot-path in this deep snow? I +should feel dreadfully if anything were to happen to you, Blasi." + +Blasi was not afraid. He was proud to show Veronica that she might count +on his courage, where he had only the forces of nature to contend against, +and not the treacherous tricks of Jost. + +Veronica had a hard battle with herself that night. "Must I do it?" she +asked herself again and again, and each time her heart revolted and she +groaned aloud, "I cannot, oh, I cannot!" + +Then the image of Gertrude rose before her, pale and suffering, and she +heard her heart-rending words, "If I could only see him once more!" +Veronica could not sleep, nor could she come to any decision. + +Next morning it seemed that Blasi was to be taken at his word, and his +boast of being ready for service, no matter what the weather might be, was +to be put to the proof; for it stormed furiously and the wind blew so +fiercely when he left the house, that he could scarcely make way against +it. The half-frozen snow stung and blinded him, but it did not deter him. +He forced his way onwards, and though it was still dark and he could not +see one step before him, he went on as confidently and unhesitatingly as +if there were no chance of his losing his way. And he did not lose it. +When day dawned he found himself close to the Valley-bridge, in spite of +deep snows and stinging sleet. + +"You are early," said the post master, who was busy sorting his letters by +lamplight. Blasi answered that he had to be at work by sunrise, and +having delivered the bag and received the pay for it, he started for home +again. He had scarcely gone twenty steps when the post-master called after +him, + +"Hulloa! Blasi, you can do a neighborly kindness if you will, and it won't +cost you anything;" and he handed Blasi a letter. + +"It is for the old Miller's widow, over there. Jost fetches her letters +himself, usually; it is marked "To be called for," but he'll be glad to be +spared the walk such a day as this. You can tell him he needn't come +to-day, you know." + +Blasi took the letter. The Miller's widow was an old deaf woman, who lived +quite alone, in a little, tumble-down cottage, just off the road, on a +lonely hillside. The foot-path that Blasi took, led near her dwelling. The +woman was an aunt of Jost's, and had known better days when her husband +was alive; but now she had fallen into poverty, and had grown sour and +bitter, and would have nothing to do with the rest of the world. Blasi +worked his way to her hut, through the deep, pathless snow. As he +approached the door, he took the letter from his pocket, and looked at the +address. + +"Heavens and earth and all the rest of it! It is from Dietrich!" he cried +out. "I didn't copy all his work at school for nothing. I know his +hand-writing as well as I know anything!" + +He talked aloud in his excitement, as he stood hammering away at the door, +which the old woman was not very prompt in opening. At last he opened it +himself, and came stamping into the room. The widow was sitting on a bench +by the stove, picking wool. She had not heard his knocks, and she stared +at him with amazement. He explained how he came by the letter, but she was +too deaf to understand him. Then he held the letter close under her eyes, +and shouted in her ear, + +"Read it! I want to know what's in it. It's from Dietrich." + +She pushed the letter away and said sharply, + +"It don't belong to me. I never get any letters. Take it away." + +Blasi was fairly out of patience. + +"That's your name, any way," he said. "I'll read it to you; I want to know +what he says." He tore the letter open and began to read: + + "HAMBURG, 14th Jan., 18-- + + "My Dear Jost:" + +Blasi started, but he read on. It was a short letter, and he read it +through twice. + +"Will you get out?" said the old woman crossly, for Blasi stood as if +rooted to the floor. He stuffed the letter back into the torn cover, and +went out, but stopped again outside. What should he do? The letter was +Jost's. He was afraid of Jost, and he had opened Jost's letter! Presently +an idea struck him, and he instantly acted on it. He stuck the envelope +together as well as he could, ran through the storm back to the +post-office, tossed in the letter quickly, saying, "The old woman says +it's not for her, and she won't take it," and was off again on his +homeward way. + +As for Veronica, she had but one thought in her mind all that day. +Gertrude was so ill when she went to her bed-side in the morning, that +Veronica's heart at once cried out, "It must be done!" and all day long +she kept repeating to herself, "It shall be done to-night." + +When Blasi went to meet her that evening, he was so full of his news that +he could scarcely wait to greet her, before beginning to tell it; but he +was so startled by her looks that instead, he stopped short, and +exclaimed, + +"What is the matter? Are you ill? Sit down and rest, in the hut, here." + +Veronica shook her head; she could not lose a moment, she said, for she +was in a hurry to get home, and was not in the least ill. Then Blasi +blurted out his story; he was so eager, that he could scarcely get the +words out straight. Veronica listened with breathless attention. Suddenly, +such a happy radiance spread over her face, that Blasi stood still and +gazed at her. + +"Hamburg! did you say Hamburg, Blasi? Was that where the letter came +from?" Her eyes danced with joy; Blasi had never seen her look like that +before. + +"Certainly it was; I am sure of it; I can read Dietrich's writing fast +enough," answered Blasi, and he added to himself, "The women-folk are +queer creatures. No fellow can understand them. A moment ago she looked +all broken-down, and as if she could be blown out with a puff of wind, +and now she looks bright and strong as the sun at noon-day." + +"Repeat word for word what you read in the letter, please, Blasi," and he +told her all that he could remember. It did not take long. Dietrich said +that he had not much to say, but wrote because Jost was the only person in +the world who cared anything for him. Perhaps some day his mother would +come to feel differently; but since he had brought so much trouble upon +her, he could not expect her to forgive him yet. If Veronica was going to +marry some one else, he did not want to hear about it. He could not make +up his mind to go to Australia as Jost advised; it was too far away; he +was almost dead of homesickness even in Hamburg. If they were after him +for the man-slaughter, he thought he could hide well enough there, and +perhaps in a few years when the whole thing was forgotten, he could come +home again. + +If worst came to worst, and he were taken, he should at least get home, if +only to be put into the House of Correction. He felt the worst on his +mother's account. He wanted Jost to write and tell him about things at +home, and it was safest to send to the same address, as he always called +for the letters himself. + +Veronica hung upon every word that fell from Blasi's lips, and when he had +finished, she walked silently by his side, deep in thought. Presently he +asked her what he should do if Jost found out that he had opened his +letter and hauled him up before a Justice of the Peace for it. Veronica +said she believed that Jost would scarcely care to say anything about the +letter. She advised Blasi to keep his own counsel, and to behave as usual, +in a perfectly unconcerned manner, whenever he met Jost. She would take +the rest in hand herself. Blasi was more than willing to leave it all to +her; he had entire confidence in her ability to manage the affair. The +letters of all the country round were collected at the central office in +Fohrensee, to be forwarded together from there to the nearest city, where +they were sorted and distributed. Veronica thought of this, and laid her +plans accordingly. The next day as soon as she reached Fohrensee, she went +to the post-office, and asked to see the address of a letter which had +just been sent in, on its way to Hamburg. The post-master, who knew her +well, did not think the request at all singular, supposing that it had +something to do with the school business. + +"A letter for Hamburg came in last evening;" said his daughter who was his +assistant, "there it lies with the others that came with it." + +The postmaster went to the table and found the letter, which he handed to +Veronica. "The address is not very nicely written," he said. + +The handwriting was either that of a person unused to the pen, or it was +purposely disguised. The letter was addressed to a woman of the same name +as that of the miller's widow. The name of the street was illegible, but +the words "To be called for," were plainly written. + +Veronica was convinced that the letter she was in search of lay before +her. So Jost had written as she had expected he would do, the day before. +He had undoubtedly seen that Dietrich's letter had been opened. Did he +write so promptly in order to frighten Dietrich into going farther away? +Had he suggested to him a new address now that the old one had been +discovered? She felt sure that Jost was trying to prevent anyone but +himself from having any communication with Dietrich. There was not a +moment to lose. What would she not have given to be able to withhold the +letter! But she did not dare. She returned it to the postmaster and asked +for a piece of paper. Her hand trembled with excitement and her heart beat +so loud, that she thought the post-master must hear it. + +She wrote the following words: + +"Dear Dietrich; your mother is very weak. Come home directly. You have +nothing to fear. Veronica." + +She enveloped it, and addressed it as Jost had done his, and handed it to +the post-master. + +"I thank you very much indeed," she said, "will you kindly see that this +letter goes by this morning's mail?" + +"Yes, yes, I understand; it's a thread-and-needle business," he said +laughing, as he threw the letters down on the same pile. "They will travel +side by side and reach Hamburg together." + +All day Veronica's hand trembled at her work. Outwardly she was tranquil +and composed; but within was a storm of conjectures, fears and hopes. What +had Jost written to Dietrich about his mother; what about her? Jost had +evidently let him believe that he had killed a man. What reason had Jost +for deceiving him and keeping him at a distance? These questions brought +the color to Veronica's cheeks as she suspected what the answers might be. +Did Jost think that she would marry him if Dietrich did not come back? or +were there other reasons why he did not dare to let him come? All sorts of +possible solutions flew through Veronica's head, and the conclusion she +arrived at frightened her. She did not wish to suspect any one of being a +rogue without good reason; yet the evidence seemed in this case to be +irresistible. If Dietrich came home, everything would be cleared up. But +if he did not come, what then? Would everything have to be allowed to go +on as it was? She would talk it all over with Gertrude this very evening. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +THE MOTTO PROVES TRUE. + + +Veronica for once did not carry out her plans. When she reached home she +found Gertrude in a high fever. She spoke to Veronica as if she were still +a child, and had just come in from school. Veronica sat quietly down by +the bedside, and did what she could to soothe and refresh her, and when by +degrees her mother's mind became more clear, she proposed to her to send +for the doctor. But Gertrude did not want the doctor. She had no pain, she +said; she was only weak. Veronica sat by her side all night, but of course +it was no time to speak of the letter, and of the excitements of the day. +It would not do to arouse hopes that might never be fulfilled, and if +Dietrich came, that was enough. All through the long hours of the night, +the girl sat thinking over all the hopes and fears and perplexities of her +life, while Gertrude lay still and seemed to doze. Only now and then she +spoke some kindly words to the children, and Veronica knew that she +thought they were both there sitting by her bed-side; again her little +ones. + +In the morning Gertrude was quite herself again. She would not hear of the +doctor's being called, declaring that she needed nothing but a few days' +rest. Veronica would not leave her; but sent word to Sabina, to ask her to +take her place for a few days, which she knew she could rely upon her to +do gladly, for Sabina was extremely friendly, and very proud of her former +pupil, who had been a great credit to her in the position for which she +had recommended her. + +That day and the next night Mother Gertrude remained quiet, and seemed to +sleep most of the time. On the third day, it was evident that she was +looking for something, whenever she opened her eyes, although she was not +at all delirious; and she frequently exclaimed, + +"Oh! if I could only see him once more!" + +When the sunset light streamed through the window and illuminated the +room, a happy smile lighted up her face. She murmured: + + "He half in dreamland seemed to float + Saying 'to-morrow will be fine.'" + +After a while she turned towards Veronica and said, + +"Veronica, sing it again, with him please; it is beautiful, and I like to +hear you sing together: 'To-morrow will be fine.'" + +"You have been dreaming, mother; we have not been singing," said the poor +girl, wiping away her fast-flowing tears. + +It was dark now and all was still. The little night-lamp threw a pale +light upon the bed, where the mother lay in a half-sleep. Veronica sat by +with big wide-open eyes. Her restless thoughts were busy with many +questions. Had he received her letter? Would he come? How? When? and how +would the mother be? Suddenly Gertrude rose up in bed with greater +strength than she had shown for many days. "Go! go! Veronica," she said +beseechingly, "Open the door for him! He ought not to stand there knocking +like a stranger. Show him how glad we are to see him again!" + +"No one is knocking, mother; you are only dreaming," said Veronica sadly +shaking her head; but the longing in Gertrude's eyes was more than she +could resist, and she rose and left the room, thinking to please her by +compliance. She heard a step; but then the road ran in front of the house, +and it might be any passer-by. She opened the outside door--Dietrich stood +before her! + +"You summoned me, or I should not have come;" said the young man, half in +excuse, and half reassuringly, for Veronica stood dumb and motionless +before him. "Will you not shake hands, Veronica?" + +She gave him her hand, saying only, + +"Come to your mother; she heard your step, and doesn't need to be prepared +for you. But you must control yourself; you will find her very much +altered." + +Dietrich entered the room. His mother was still sitting up in bed, +watching the door, in a strained, expectant attitude. She was indeed +changed. She looked so small and thin and wasted. Dietrich was completely +unmanned at the sight. He sprang to the bedside, threw his arms about her, +and between his sobs he cried again and again, + +"Forgive me, mother, forgive me! I will never act so again! I will lead a +different life! Everything shall be right! You must live to be happy, +mother!" + +"Thank God that you have come, Dietrich," said his mother, trembling with +weakness and excitement. "I forgave you long ago. How could I have +anything against you? But, my dear boy, why did you not write one word, +one little word to tell me how you were and where? Didn't you know how +unhappy you were making me?" + +"What, mother! what do you mean? I wrote three times to you and twice to +Veronica; and you sent me back word through Jost that you did not want to +hear from me; that the disgrace was too much, and that no one dared to +mention my name before Veronica, she was so angry with me. I had to send +my letters through Jost, and he gave me the address of his old aunt to +make all safe. It was better for you not to know where I was, because +they were hunting for me on account of the man I killed. And you have +never got one of my letters; not one?" + +His mother could only shake her head in reply. She tried to speak, but she +had already gone beyond her strength, and she sank back upon her pillows. +Veronica, who had been standing by in silence, started forward. + +"I will run for the doctor," she said, "stay with her, Dietrich;" and she +darted from the room. He hurried after her. "Let me go," he said, "it is +too late for you to be out, and you can take better care of her than I +can." He was off; and Veronica returned to the bed-side. He took the +shortest road; the one that passed the Rehbock. Loud shouts and cries were +sounding from the inn. He hurried by. Presently he heard his own name +called; some one came running after him, shouting: + +"Wait, Dietrich, wait!" He turned round and saw Blasi, who had recognized +him as he passed the door, and rushed out after him. "Don't run away, +Dietrich! Welcome home! Where did you come from? Have you seen her? Don't +run away! Listen to me!" Dietrich stopped and shook hands with Blasi, and +again started forward. Blasi detained him. + +"There's been something going on that you ought to know about," he +continued. "Don't think that I go to the Rehbock every evening, by any +means! I heard there was some strange news, and so I went there to-night +to hear it, and it was well worth while, I can tell you. The red fellow +is found out! The cattle-dealer accused him of having stolen his money +bag. The man denied it; there was a long investigation, and at last they +found out that and a great many other things against him. He turns out to +be a regular rascal. And when all this had been proved against him, he +turned round and accused another man, who, he said, was really at the +bottom of everything; but no one knows yet who it is. Don't run so fast; I +can't keep up with you. Now you're out of it all right, Dietrich; but I +suppose you know that they tried to make out that you took the money, and +that was why you ran away. But I never believed it; I never did, on my +honor. Do stand still; it's all right now, and you needn't run away any +more." + +"I'm not going to run away, Blasi, and I thank you for bringing me this +good news. But it's not all right you know, on account of Marx." + +"Marx!" cried Blasi, "what of Marx! it doesn't hurt a man to get a good +beating. Marx is as lively as you or I, and still drinks more than enough +to quench his thirst, when he can get it." + +Dietrich stood still now, and drew a long breath. "Is that true, Blasi, +really true? You wouldn't say it if it were not true? She wrote me that +there was nothing to fear; but I didn't understand it. And I can't quite +understand now, Jost wrote me that Marx was dead, and that I had better go +away as far as I possibly could, because they were searching for me, high +and low. I can't make it out. But I must go now for the doctor. Come and +see me to-morrow, Blasi; and we will have a good talk. Now good-night." + +Dietrich shook his old comrade by the hand and ran off. But Blasi could +not so easily smother all the wonderful things he had to tell, and he +called out at the top of his lungs, + +"You don't know much of anything yet! I spend the whole day at your house; +it's you that will have to come to me. I am working at your trade; you +ought to see! there's many a fellow that would be glad to do as well as I +do!" + +But Dietrich had disappeared. It was past midnight, before he reached the +doctor's house, and he knocked a good many times in vain. At last a maid +came down and opened the door, saying as she did so, + +"What a plague it is, that everything always comes at once! He has been +called out once to-night, and has hardly got to bed again. It never rains +but it pours!" + +"I hope he will be so good as to come now;" said Dietrich, "it is very +important or I would not ask him." + +The maid knocked at the chamber door. It was some time before the doctor's +voice answered from within, "Who's there?" + +"Dietrich from Tannenegg," said the servant. + +"He back again? No, I'm too old and too tired for that. They ought to give +him a good beating if they can catch him; it would serve him right." + +Dietrich stepped up to the door himself. + +"It is not for me, doctor," said he humbly, "it is for my mother; she is +very ill indeed. For God's sake, doctor, come and help her!" + +"That's another thing altogether; she is a brave woman, who has been doing +your work for you," said the voice from within the room. Pretty soon the +doctor came out, and when Dietrich described his mother's condition, he +took some medicines with him and started out. + +"I have no horse to use to-night; mine has done a hard day's work and must +have his rest. We shall have to go up the hill afoot." + +As they crossed the open space in front of the house, he continued, + +"I remember once how on this very spot once a little boy stood up in front +of me, and when I asked him if he would like some day to take care of a +horse, answered, 'No, I want a horse of my own.' I thought he had a good +purpose in view if he would only pursue it the right way. But it does not +do to want to begin by being a gentleman. First come work, and service for +us all, then mastership may follow. Whoever tries to begin at the end, +will end at the beginning; which is not a good nor an agreeable method. Am +I right or wrong, Dietrich?" + +"You are right, doctor. If one could only look ahead!" answered Dietrich. + +"Yes, that would help; but as we cannot, we must trust those who are our +friends, and who have gone before us in the right way, and can show us the +road; like that noble woman to whom we are now going." + + +When they entered Gertrude's room they found her asleep. The doctor sat +down by the bedside, watched her awhile, and felt her pulse from time to +time. Then he arose and turning to Veronica, he said, + +"I can do no good here; take care of her; she deserves all you can do, but +the lamp of life burns low, and will soon go out altogether. She has had a +hard lot; trouble wears faster than years." + +With these words the doctor went to the door. He did not even glance +towards Dietrich, who threw himself on his knees by the bedside of his +dying mother, sobbing out: + +"O God in Heaven, do not let her die! Let her come back! Let her have a +little comfort in this world! Punish me as I deserve, but oh! let my +mother live!" + +Gertrude opened her eyes. She grasped the hand of her sobbing son, which +lay upon hers, and held it tightly clasped; while she whispered softly: + +"Yes, my Dieterli, pray, pray; if you can pray, all will come right +again." + +She closed her eyes and never spoke again. The hand that held Dietrich's +grew cold. Veronica, who had been standing behind Dietrich weeping +silently approached the bedside, took Gertrude's other hand in hers, and +said between her sobs: + +"Sleep well, dear, good mother! Yes, for you 'tomorrow will be fine';" and +she left the room. + +Two days later Dietrich followed his mother to her last resting place. +There was no need to avoid meeting people now, for every one knew that +the true thief had been discovered. But no hope was left to him in his +home. When he returned from the funeral, and went into the house, he knew +that he had no right there, for it no longer belonged to him. He went to +his room, strapped on his heavy knap-sack, and came down stairs. Veronica +was alone in the sitting-room. She stood leaning against the window, her +eyes fixed on the church-yard beyond, where the mother lay sleeping. + +He entered the room. "Veronica, give me your hand once more. I am going," +he said, coming towards her. + +"Where are you going, Dietrich?" she asked in a voice that was wholly +without feeling; and the cold tone seemed to stab the young man's heart as +with a knife. "It is all one to her;" he thought. + +"I am going out into the world. I am going to work to pay my debts. I have +no home; and as there is no one on earth who cares for me, I can bear my +burden better anywhere than here." + +"Then go, in God's name," said Veronica, and she held out her hand to him. +This was too much for Dietrich. He made one struggle for self-control and +then broke down completely. + +"Can you let me go so coolly, Veronica? not one kindly word for me? If I +might stay here with you, I would work day and night like the meanest +servant; I would do anything and everything for you. But no! I must go! I +could not bear it! How could I stay and see you give yourself to some one +else--I who have lost you,--lost you forever!" + +The young man threw himself into a chair, buried his face in his hands, +and cried like a child. + +Veronica was as white as snow. She went to his side, and laid her hand +upon his shoulder. + +"Dietrich," she said softly, "if you feel in this way, why don't you ask +me how I feel, when I think of living on here alone when you have gone; +when you have left me perhaps forever?" + +Dietrich raised his eyes to hers. A look lay there, a look such as he had +dreamed of in his banishment. He sprang to his feet, and seized her hand. + +"Veronica, can you love me? can you trust me?" + +She did not withdraw her hand, and looked him full in the eyes. + +"I have always loved you, Dietrich," she said, "and if I know that you can +pray again to God, and promise to live a life acceptable to Him, I can +trust you too." + +The young man pressed her to his heart. "Is it true, is it possible?" he +cried. "Oh Veronica, can it be true?" + +But suddenly he started back, and said in a frightened tone, + +"No, I dare not. I cannot. Who am I? I am nothing; I have nothing, less +than nothing; and I know what you are and how far above me. Jost wrote me +that there was no hope for me. I wanted to make you so happy--I meant to +get money and provide all sorts of beautiful things for you and to make +you the happiest woman in the world. And now! now I am a beggar, and a +miserable creature into the bargain." + +Veronica shook her head. + +"You do not understand what happiness really is, Dietrich. I have been +searching for it longer than you have, and you may believe me that it is +not what you think. It is not something at a distance, far beyond our +reach; we may find it while we are at work. We are not beggars; this house +is ours, and we can still live in it. But, Dietrich, we will try to find +the way that our mother went; that is the true way to happiness and peace +in life and death." + +"We will," cried Dietrich, with solemn joy; and as he clasped Veronica +again to his heart, there was that in his face and in his voice which +assured her that he would never leave her again, and that they would walk +in that true way of happiness and peace together. + +At this moment Judith burst into the room. When she saw the faces of the +two who stood before her, she stood stock still with surprise! She +immediately took in the situation. + +"So! So! this is something that delights one's very heart!" she cried, and +her face beamed with satisfaction. "But look out of the window! I came to +tell you! You can say good-bye to that rascal forever." + +They stepped together to the window which looked out upon the road. Jost +was just going by. His hands were bound together, and he was followed by +the Constable, who hurried him along. Jost looked up at the window and +shrank back at what he saw; but the man drove him on. + +"What does it mean?" asked Dietrich and Veronica in the same breath, +turning to Judith. + +"It is what was bound to come," she explained. "Everything is found out. +They seized the red fellow first, after I succeeded in getting it through +the cattle-dealer's thick head that he was the man to get hold of. When +they had driven the red man into a corner, so that he couldn't lie himself +out of it, he turned against Jost, and declared that Jost had planned the +whole thing and that he himself had only played second-fiddle. Which can +lie the worst, no one can tell, but that they are both reaping what they +have sown, is certain enough. And now we're to have a wedding, are we? and +our Dietrich is going to settle down into regular home life again. +Welcome, neighbors; we will live in friendship together all our days." And +Judith shook hands cordially with them both, and hastened away to spread +through the neighborhood the good news of the coming marriage. + +It is now ten years since Dietrich and Veronica left the church of +Tannenegg where they had been made one, and the blessing had been +pronounced upon their united lives. They went first to the little church +yard and knelt by the new made grave covered with flowers. With tearful +eyes, and with sad regrets in their happy hearts, they said, + +"If she could only have lived to see us now!" + +Today there is no more beautiful flower-garden in all Tannenegg, than that +about Dietrich's pretty white house. Within the house all is so fresh and +charming from top to bottom, that one who enters it finds it difficult to +get away again from its hospitable shelter. + +Dietrich has built a fine large work-room; and there he sits and works, +industrious and happy, or he goes about his outside affairs in a steady +business-like manner. Often he has to go to Fohrensee and even farther; +for his trade is prosperous beyond competition and his work is recognized +far and wide as of unrivalled excellence. + +On Veronica's face lies such a sunshine of constant happiness as is good +to look upon. She has given up her position in the school at Fohrensee; +her place is with her husband and children; but she does not for all that +sit with her hands in her lap; her orderly well-kept house, and her +blooming well-behaved children bear witness to her faultless management +as well as to her care and industry, and at the great annual Fair in the +city, if any one inquires about some wonderfully fine and beautiful +embroidery on exhibition, the answer invariably is, "that is the work of +Veronica of Tannenegg." + +Blasi is Dietrich's permanent assistant. He is constantly about the house, +and is known in the family as Uncle Blasi. As soon as the day's work is +over, and the evening sets in, his first question is, "Where are our +children?" He never speaks of them in any other way; they are his, his joy +and pride. He has also a special claim upon them, for he and Cousin Judith +are the god-father and god-mother of both. + +Blasi's favorite time is Sunday, when Dietrich goes to walk with his +wife, and gives over the house and the children to him. Then he sets upon +one knee the chubby little Dieterli and on the other the black eyed +Veronica, and they ride there as long as they please, no matter how high +the horse has to curvet and prance. And whatever else they want him to do +for them, he is ready to do, whatever it may be. + +There is only one Sunday pleasure that outweighs the knee-riding with +Uncle Blasi, and that is when Veronica takes her little girl in her lap +and lets Dieterli press close to her side, as he does only when he is very +much excited. Then the mother takes a little picture in her hand, the +picture of a red rose. Suddenly the flower opens, and a little verse in +golden letters appears. Every time this opens, it elicits a cry of joy +from the children, and they are never tired of seeing the wonder repeated. +And Veronica is never tired of repeating it; for the rose and the verse +are so interwoven with her life that they recall many memories of joy and +sorrow; and she often says to the children, "Some time when you are old +enough, I will explain this golden motto to you, and you shall learn it by +heart." + +When Blasi and Judith are alone together, he likes to talk over old times, +and he often reminds her that he had fully made up his mind to marry +Veronica himself; and he always winds up with, + +"I want you to understand that I would never have given her up to any one +else; but an old friend like Dietrich, you know;--of course it's a very +different thing with Dietrich." + +And Judith, laughing, answers, + +"Yes, yes, Blasi, you're quite right; it's a very different thing with +Dietrich." + + + +THE END. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Veronica And Other Friends +by Johanna (Heusser) Spyri + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK VERONICA AND OTHER FRIENDS *** + +***** This file should be named 14627.txt or 14627.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/4/6/2/14627/ + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Emmy and the PG Online Distributed +Proofreading Team + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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