CHAPTER V
HOW LIFE CONTINUES AND SUMMER COMES
When the faithful Trina returned to The Hill with the unopened basketupon her arm, a look of anxiety came over Mrs. Ritter's countenance.Trina explained that the mother was dead and that Wiseli had beentaken to the home of her uncle Gotti. The news shocked the entirehousehold, for none of them had realized that the sickness wouldterminate so suddenly.
"Here I have tried for several days to visit the poor, lonely woman,and now it is too late," said Mrs. Ritter. "If I had only gone Ishould feel more reconciled to the loss."
"It is a shame that Wiseli must go there," said Otto as he paced thefloor with his hands clenched. "I tell you if I catch him abusing her,he will need to count his ribs to see if any are left."
"Of whom are you speaking in that fashion?" asked Mrs. Ritter.
"Of Chappi. Think of the mean things that he can do to her now thatshe has to live in the same house with him. It is unjust and oughtnot to be allowed. I'll attend to him if I find out that--"
Just then Otto's voice was nearly drowned by a loud stamping behindthe stove, and he paused to say, "What are you making such anoutlandish noise for, you Miez behind the stove?"
Miezi came out in sight of the others, her cheeks flaming red from theheat of the stove combined with her exertions in trying to get herfeet into a pair of wet shoes which Trina had but a short time beforetaken off with the greatest difficulty.
She continued her efforts, but managed to say, "You can see that Ihave to do it; no one on earth could put on these things withoutstamping."
"Why must they be put on, when I have just taken the pains to get youout of them?" asked Trina.
"I am going to Beechgreen to get Wiseli; she can have my bed," repliedMiezi, with a finality that seemed to admit of no interference.
Her operations were nevertheless cut short by Trina, who picked her upin her arms and carried her to a chair.
"That is nice of you, Miezchen," she said, "but I had better do thaterrand for you. There is no reason why you should wear out your shoesgetting ready. You can let Wiseli have your bed and you can go to theattic to sleep. There is plenty of room up there."
This, however, was not in harmony with Miezi's plans; she had solvedthe sleeping problem to her own as well as to Wiseli's advantage, fornothing else would suit her so well as never to have to go to bed. Solong as she could remember, she had always been sent to bed when shewanted very much to be up.
It soon became evident to Miezi, not only that Trina was keeping herfrom going to Wiseli, but that she had no intention of going in herplace. When Trina frankly refused to go, Miezi cried so bitterly thatOtto put his hands over his ears, and the mother came to make terms ofpeace. She promised to talk the matter over with papa just as soon ashe and Uncle Max returned from a long-contemplated visit at a friend'shouse some distance away.
It was four days later when the colonel and Uncle Max returned. Thechildren brought the subject of Wiseli's coming to live with thembefore the father at once, and he promised to investigate theconditions the next morning.
At noon the following day the colonel came home with the informationthat he was too late to get Wiseli. "You know, children," he said,"her uncle Gotti really wants to help the girl. He is a highlyrespected man and he offered to take the child for very little money.Wiseli's mother left her scarcely anything, so somebody had to offerher a home, and it seemed natural that her uncle should do so.Everybody feels satisfied that she has been well placed. I believe itis the best arrangement that could be made, for she is much too youngto go out to work. We cannot take all the homeless children unless weput up an orphanage."
"I had only hoped," said Mrs. Ritter, "that we might help to find aplace more suited to the child. She has a sensitive nature as well asa frail body, and she ought to be somewhere else. She will hear agreat deal that is coarse and rude where she is, and will have to workmuch too hard for her delicate constitution. We shall have to acceptthe situation, but I am sorry that we cannot help her in some way."
Miezi cried, and Otto struck the table with his clenched fist toemphasize how he would deal with Chappi if he were unkind to Wiseli.It was only a few days, however, before the children grew accustomedto thinking of the little girl in her new surroundings, and the weekssped on as rapidly as ever.
In the meantime Wiseli was becoming reconciled to her new home. Herbed had been brought over as her uncle had planned, and it was put ina box-like apartment partitioned off from the aunt's sleeping room.This was barely large enough for the bed and the small trunk which hadbeen brought over with the remainder of the little girl's things.Wiseli had to stand either on the bed or on the trunk when shedressed, and she had to climb over the trunk to get into bed. She hadto go to the well out of doors to wash her hands and face. When it wasso cold that the water would freeze, the aunt told her to let it goaltogether. "I am sure," she said, "that you can wash yourself enoughwhen it gets warmer." Since this advice was not in accordance with hermother's teaching, Wiseli did not accept it.
The life in Wiseli's present surroundings was so different in everyway from that to which she had been accustomed, that the comparisonoften produced severe homesickness, although she was never again sounhappy as on the first evening at her uncle's house. She rememberedher beautiful dream and she did not doubt that a better place would befound for her, since she had prayed for it. "My mother will not letGod forget me," was the assurance that held up hope before her duringthose trying days, and the thought of the verses was constantly withher.
"For thee He'll surely save A place to work His will."
The winter had passed and a promising spring was at hand. The treesput forth their green leaves and the meadow was dotted with primrosesand anemones. In the woods the birds were merry, and the warmsunshine changed the barren waste of winter to a living beauty thatmade all hearts rejoice.
Probably no one enjoyed the balmy days more than Wiseli, and she feltquite happy as she walked to and from school. At other times there wasscarcely a moment to spare, not even to notice the pretty flowers, fornot only did she have to work every moment, but she had to work hard.She helped with the garden, and, since the aunt worked in the field onthe farm, she had to get the meals and wash dishes as well. She didthe patching for the whole family, made the gruel for the little pigs,and carried it to them besides; in short, she did everything about thehouse, so that she often had to stay away from school in order tofinish her duties.
Going to school was Wiseli's greatest pleasure. It rested her tiredbody and, best of all, she heard there kind and friendly words. Duringrecess and after school hours Otto was sure to speak to her in acordial way, and it did much to relieve the lonely feeling. Sometimesa message came from Mrs. Ritter inviting Wiseli to spend the followingSunday with her children. Wiseli was never allowed to accept theseinvitations to The Hill, for the aunt would say, "It is the only daythat you don't have to go to school, and I can't spare you every day."
Wiseli worked all day Sunday, but it was pleasant to know that theRitter family had invited her, and there was always the hope that someday she might be allowed to go.
There was another reason why Wiseli liked to go to school. The roadwent by the home of Joiner Andreas. She had not forgotten that she hadthe message from her mother to deliver to him. She was too timid to goto the house and ask for him, but she watched for the opportunity tosee him in his garden or near his home. She never passed his placewithout looking over the garden fence to see if he was there. She hadnot yet seen him, although the garden was in the best of trim andindicated that he spent many hours there.
May and June had passed, and now the long hot summer days had come,bringing increased work on the farm. Wiseli had to go to thehaymaking. She was expected either to rake the hay together or to usethe fork in spreading it in the sun, working all day long until herarms ached so wretchedly that she could not sleep. This, however, wasnot what made her unhappy, for it did not occur to her that she oughtnot to work as
she did. Her great trouble was that she had to missschool, except on rainy days, or occasionally when the aunt said thatshe might go. Chappi often said in the evening, when he was doing hisexamples, "Why don't you get your lessons, Wiseli? You never knowanything, and you seem to think that you can live without working."
It was this that hurt Wiseli, for she could rarely go to school twodays in succession, and so she was not able to keep up with the class.One day, when she failed to give a correct answer, the teacher said,"I did not expect that of you, Wiseli; you used to be a good scholar."How it shamed the child, and how she cried all the way home thatnight, no one but herself realized! It seemed to her that day that noone cared for her after all, and when she got into her little bed atnight, she felt too miserable even to pray. But she could not sleepuntil she had repeated her usual prayer, although it was said almosthopelessly.
This happened in July. The following morning Wiseli was standing atthe table when the boys went off to school, and she was wonderingwhether or not she should be allowed to go. The aunt said nothing, andthe uncle was not in the room.
The aunt had a large washing on hand for that day. Would she be askedto carry it to the trough and help?
Yes, she heard her aunt calling, and she was just about to answer whenher uncle came in, saying, "Hurry, Wiseli, the boys have gone already.The hay is safe in the barn, and you shall go to school now. You maytell the teacher that you will not be kept out any more for a while,and explain to him that it was because we had so much work on ourhands that you had to stay away."
Wiseli felt as free as a bird that morning. She knew that she might goto school every day that week, and it was something worth living for.How beautiful the morning was! The birds warbled their care-free notesin the tree tops, the sunlight sparkled on the dewy grass, and the airwas fragrant with the perfume of the wild flowers. Wiseli had no timeto stop, but she noticed all this beauty as she ran along.
That afternoon, just as the school children were about to rush out totheir freedom, the teacher asked, "Whose turn is it to care for theschoolroom this week?"
"It is Otto's; it is Otto's!" cried the children, and the next momentthey were gone.
"Otto," said the teacher sternly, "you didn't do your duty here lastnight. I will overlook it this time, but I want you to see that itdoes not happen again, or I shall be obliged to enforce the penaltyupon you."
Otto glanced around the room and saw the nutshells, apple parings, andbits of paper that he was supposed to clean up; then he looked at thechildren playing out of doors, and the first thing he knew he wasamong them. The teacher had already left the room.
Later, when the children were all gone, Otto stood for a momentwatching the golden glow of the evening sky and thought, "If I couldonly go home now! I would pick my cap full of cherries and take a rideout to the meadow with the hired man; now I have to go to that stuffyroom and sweep and dust it."
Otto's patience forsook him as he started for the schoolroom. "Ishouldn't care," he said, "if a cyclone came along and shattered theold house into a thousand pieces." There was no alternative, however;he must either take his turn at cleaning the schoolroom, or he muststay in at recess to-morrow. He had no sooner entered the room than henoticed, to his great surprise, that the work was done. Not a speck ofdust was to be seen, and the windows had been opened wide, letting theair enter freely, so that the room seemed as fresh as out of doors.
Just at this moment the teacher entered hastily and looked inastonishment at the staring Otto. Then he noticed the clean room andsaid kindly, "You may be satisfied with your work to-night. I did notexpect you to do so well, although you are always good at yourlessons. Good night."
Now that Otto was convinced that what he saw was real, he seized hiscap and, clearing the steps in two jumps, ran all the way up the hill.It did not occur to him to seek for an explanation of what hadhappened, until he told his mother about it when he reached home.
"You may be sure that no one did it for you by mistake," said hismother. "You must have some good friend who has willingly sacrificedhimself for you. Perhaps you can think of some one who may have doneit."
"I know who it was," said Miezi, who had been listening.
"Who?" asked Otto.
"Henry, because you gave him an apple about a year ago," said Miezi,emphatically.
"Yes, or William Tell, because I didn't take his away from him about ayear ago; that would be just as sensible, you little Miezi," saidOtto, as he playfully stroked her cheek. Just then he saw anopportunity to ride out to the hayfields, so the subject was dropped.
In the meantime Wiseli was tripping down the hill happier than she hadbeen for many a day. She passed Joiner Andreas's house, but retracedher steps in order to get a good view of the carnation bed.
"It is a little late," she thought, "but I shall get home before theboys, anyway, for they are probably playing somewhere."
Just as she was admiring the flowers, the joiner came out of the houseand walked directly toward her. "Wouldn't you like to have a fewcarnations, Wiseli?" he said.
"Yes, very much," she answered. "My mother wanted me to tell yousomething, too."
"Your mother!" he gasped, and the carnations he had just picked fellunheeded to the ground. Wiseli darted through the gate and picked themup. "When my mother was sick and didn't eat anything any more, shedrank that nice fruit juice you put in the kitchen, and it made herfeel better. She told me to thank you for bringing it, and for allthat you did for her. She said you were very kind."
Wiseli was surprised to see the tears in the good man's eyes. He triedto say something, but he could not. He took Wiseli's hand in both ofhis, patted it gently, and returned to the house without another word.
Wiseli was amazed. Nobody else had shed any tears for her mother, andshe had not allowed herself to do so when anybody could see her; yethere was a man so moved that he could not speak of her. How she lovedhim for it! She started homeward for fear of being later than theboys, and it was well she did so, for they had just turned in at thegate when she got there.
Wiseli felt so much better when she went to bed that night that shewondered how she could have been so discouraged the evening before.She resolved to keep herself cheerful in the future, if it werepossible. The good, kind face of Joiner Andreas was the last thing shethought of before going to sleep.
The following day (it was Wednesday) Otto had a repetition of hisstrange experience. It had not occurred to him that the good fairywould again appear, and, as usual, he was not able to keep fromrushing out with the others and frolicking until the children left theplayground. When he returned to do his work, the room was again in thebest of order.
He began to be really curious as to whom he had to thank for thisfavor. He decided to play the spy the next night and solve themystery. Accordingly, after the school had been dismissed thefollowing afternoon, Otto waited a moment at his seat, wondering howhe could get to a hiding place unseen, when the boys began to shout,"Come on, Otto, come on; we want to play robber and you must lead."
"I have to clean up this week, so I won't play to-night," he said.
"What difference will fifteen minutes make? Come on."
He gave up his scheme of playing spy and went with the boys. Insteadof the game's lasting fifteen minutes, it was half an hour before itwas over, and Otto felt anxious as to whether he must still do hiswork. He ran panting to the schoolroom and gave the door such avigorous kick that the teacher came in to see what had happened.
"What do you want, Otto?" he asked.
"Just to see if I did everything," stammered Otto.
"Very well done," commented the teacher, as he looked about. "Yourzeal is praiseworthy, Otto, but you needn't be so boisterous when youcome to the door again."
Otto went out more curious than ever. He determined to find out thenext night without fail, for, with the exception of Saturday morning,it would be his last opportunity.
"Otto," called the teacher as soon as he had dismissed school the nextday, "I
wish you would take this note to the pastor's for me and waitfor an answer; you can be back in five or ten minutes to do yourcleaning."
Otto was not in the least pleased to do the teacher's errand, but hedared not refuse, so he started off at a run, hoping to be back intime to capture the good fairy, if she appeared to do his work. Whenhe got to the parsonage, he was admitted at once, and told that thepastor would see him directly. Then the minister's wife called him tothe garden to chat a moment, and it seemed an age to him before hecould free himself courteously, for she asked not only about himselfand his health, but that of his mother, father, Uncle Max, Miezi, andapparently all the relatives in Germany.
Finally the opportunity came to present the note to the pastor, and itwas but a moment later when he was speeding back to the schoolhousewith the written answer in his hand. He fairly stumbled into theschoolroom in his eagerness to see if any one was there, but, asbefore, the room was in the best of order and not a soul to be seen.
"Not once this week have I had to do that disagreeable task," hethought. "Since there is some one who is doing such work withoutneeding to, I am at least going to find out who it is."
The school closed at eleven o'clock on Saturday. Otto let all thechildren pass out; when they had gone, he went outside, locked thedoor, and stood with his back against it waiting to see who would comeback to do the work. He stood there waiting until half past eleven,and still no one came.
Otto remembered that the family at home were to have lunch promptly attwelve, for an afternoon's outing had been planned and he had promisedto get home as early as possible. It became evident that he was goingto have to do the work himself, and he dared wait no longer. Greatlydisappointed, he unlocked the door and entered the room, but--Ottocould scarcely believe his eyes--the work was finished as usual.
How very strange it seemed! For a moment a superstitious fearpossessed him, and he tiptoed to the door and went out, taking painsto lock it securely behind him.
Just at that moment Wiseli came quietly out of the teacher's kitchendoor; she listened intently for a moment, but hearing no one, startedon her way home, which led her by the schoolhouse door. The nextmoment she and Otto were face to face. Each was startled at theother's presence, and Wiseli blushed deeply, as if she had been caughtdoing something very wrong. This partly betrayed her to Otto, whosaid: "Surely, Wiseli, _you_ have not been doing all that work for methis week? How _could_ any one who didn't have to?"
"It has given me a great deal of pleasure," said Wiseli.
"Oh, no, don't say that!" exclaimed Otto. "To do such work _couldn't_give anybody any pleasure."
"But it did, really, Otto. I was always glad when night came and Icould do it again. I was all the time thinking how glad and surprisedyou would be to find the task finished."
"What made you do it for me, Wiseli?"
"I knew that you didn't like to do it, and I have many a time wishedfor an opportunity to do something for you."
"I am sure you have done a great deal more for me than I did for you,and I shall not forget it, Wiseli." Otto had taken Wiseli's hand inhis and she was very happy.
"I waited to-day until everybody had gone, and even now I cannot seehow you got into that room," said Otto.
"I never went out," she replied. "I hid behind my seat, for I expectedyou to go out as usual."
"How have you always before managed to get away without my seeingyou?" asked Otto.
"You don't notice much when you are playing," said Wiseli. "Yesterdayand to-day, when I was not sure where you were, I went through theteacher's room and asked his wife if she had an errand she would liketo have me do on the way home. I have several times done things forher. I was behind the kitchen door yesterday when you stormed into theschoolroom."
Both children laughed heartily at the remembrance. Otto impulsivelypressed Wiseli's hand and said, "I am truly grateful to you. Good-by."After they had gone their separate ways, they both rejoiced that theyhad discovered each other.