CHAPTER VI
A NEW FEATURE
The summer had passed, and now the late autumn was at hand. The nightswere getting cold and damp. The cows were eating the last bits ofgrass in the chilly pastures, while the boys herding them built firesto warm themselves and to roast potatoes.
One such unpleasant evening Otto came home from school to tell hismother that he was going over to see what Wiseli was doing, for shehad not been at school for a whole week. He took an apple and hurriedaway. As he went up the path to Beechgreen he noticed Rudi sitting onthe ground in front of the door with a pile of pears beside him; hewas busily engaged biting into first one and then another.
"Where is Wiseli?" asked Otto.
"Outdoors," answered Rudi.
"Where outdoors?"
"In the pasture."
"In what pasture?"
"I don't know."
"You will not suffer from overpoliteness at least," remarked Otto. Hestarted for the large pasture near the woods. Just then he noticedsome people under a pear tree near at hand, and soon he saw Wiseligathering pears into a basket. Hans had thrown himself face upwardacross a filled basket and was rocking himself in a way whichthreatened the overturn of the pears. Chappi was perched up in thetree laughing at his brother's antics. When Wiseli saw Otto coming,her face broke into happy smiles.
"I have come to see how you are, Wiseli," said Otto, as he took herhand. "Why have you been out of school so long?"
"There was so much to be done that I couldn't go, Otto. See what a lotof pears there are! I have to pick pears from morning until night."
"Your shoes and stockings are soaked," remarked Otto. "Ugh, it is coldhere. Doesn't it make you sick to get so wet?"
"Yes, sometimes; but the work usually keeps me warm."
Just then Hans gave such a violent lurch that the basket went over andthe pears scattered in every direction.
"Oh," cried Wiseli, "that is too bad! Now we must gather them all overagain."
"And that one too," cried Chappi, and he laughed as the pear that hethrew hit Wiseli on the forehead hard enough to bring tears to hereyes.
It had scarcely happened, however, before Otto had pulled Chappi fromthe tree and had taken a firm grip on his throat.
"Stop, you're choking me," gurgled Chappi. He was not laughing anymore.
"I will teach you that you are responsible to me when you treat Wiseliin that way," said Otto, his voice strained in his anger. He tightenedhis grip as he added, "Is this enough to make you remember what I toldyou?"
"Yes," gasped Chappi, whose face was turning purple.
"I will let you go," said Otto, "but I want you to keep in mind that Iwill give you such a choking as you will remember to your dying day ifyou ever hurt Wiseli again. Good-by, Wiseli." Then Otto was gone.
He went straight to his mother and indignantly protested against thenecessity of Wiseli's having to live with those boys at her uncle'shome. He declared his intention of going over to ask the pastor ifcomplaint might be entered against the whole family, so that Wiselimight be taken from them.
"My dear son," said Mrs. Ritter; "there is no lawful way of takingWiseli from them, and a complaint of that character would only leadthe whole family to treat her more unkindly than they do now. So longas the uncle means well by her there is nothing we can do. I realizefully what a hard time Wiseli is having, and I don't want you to thinkthat I have not taken the matter to heart, Otto. I am lookingearnestly for an opening to do something for her, and I hope that inthe meantime you will protect her as much as possible, without beingrude and rough yourself."
Otto tried to help his mother think of a way to free Wiseli, but eachplan proposed proved impracticable, if not impossible. The childrenhad a custom of writing their Christmas wishes upon a slate, and Ottowrote, "I wish Santa Claus would set Wiseli free."
January had come and again brought to the children the great pleasureof the year by providing them with snow for the coasting. Onebeautiful moonlight night the idea came to Otto that it would be greatsport to coast by moonlight, and the next day he accordingly suggestedto the children that they assemble at seven o'clock for a moonlightride. The suggestion was enthusiastically received. When they broke upthat evening, there were cries of "All hands back at seven!" "Hurrahfor moonlight!" "Good-by till seven!"
The Ritter children did not tell their mother of this plan until theycame home from school toward evening. Much to their surprise she wasnot at all enthusiastic over what they considered such a capitalidea. She spoke of the intense cold of the evening, the danger,especially to Miezi, in the uncertain light, and the likelihood of theyounger ones being frightened in the shadows. In spite of theseobjections they wished to carry out their plan, and Otto promised notto let Miezi out of his sight if she might go with him. Their requestwas finally granted, and they started off as happy as birds on thewing.
It was great sport. The track had been worn as smooth as ice, and thefear of the timid ones in the dark places gave zest to theundertaking. Nearly all the children from the neighborhood were there,and the best of humor prevailed. Otto let them all precede him withtheir sleds, permitting only Miezi to follow him, so that there wouldbe no danger of any one's running into her from behind, and he lookedback every moment to see that she was coming safely.
After several rides in this fashion some one proposed that they ride"tandem fashion," that is, with all the sleds tied together. The ideawas immediately accepted, and they began tying their sleds together injoyful anticipation. Otto, however, considered the sport too dangerousfor Miezi, as the sleds sometimes became tangled and the whole companywas piled up in a mass. He tied his sled last, letting his sisterfollow with hers untied. In this way it was expected that they wouldgo as usual, except that Otto would not be free to stop in case Miezidid not keep up with them. Soon the children were off and went downthe slippery hill with the speed of the wind.
They had gone but halfway down, when Otto heard a scream behind him inwhich he recognized his sister's voice, but he was powerless to stop,and he was going too fast to dare to roll himself from his sled untiltheir speed diminished near the foot of the hill. He found Miezihalfway down the hill crying with all her might. Almost breathless,Otto gathered her in his arms, saying, "What happened, Miezchen? Tellme, what is the matter?"
"He wanted to--he wanted to--he was going to--" sobbed Miezi.
"What did he want to do? Who? Where?" asked Otto.
"The big man over there, he wanted to--he was going to kill me--and hesaid things."
"Never mind, Miezchen; be quiet now; he didn't kill you. Did he evenhit you?" asked Otto, somewhat puzzled by the occurrence, for he knewMiezi to be a rather fearless child.
"No," sobbed Miezi, "but he had a big stick and he raised it like thisand was going to strike and he said, 'You look out!' and he called medreadful names."
"So he really didn't hurt you at all," said Otto, much relieved tofind it true, although Miezi was of a different opinion.
"Yes, he did--he was going to--and you were all gone ahead and I wasall alone," and from sheer self-pity came a fresh burst of tears.
"Hush now, Miezchen," coaxed Otto. "I shall never leave you like thatagain, so the man shall never get you. If you will be a happy littlegirl now, just as soon as we get home I will give you the red candyrooster I had on the Christmas tree."
This promise restored Miezi to her normal self in a moment. She wipedthe tears away, but did not let go of Otto's hand for the rest of theevening. The other children had joined them and as they climbed thehill they discussed what had happened. Several of the children hadnoticed a large man turn out of the road to let them pass, and it wasOtto's opinion that it must have made the man angry to have to stepinto the snow, and he had threatened Miezi because she was the onlyone within reach. This seemed a likely explanation to the children,and the subject was dropped. The party broke up after the next ride,as most of them had promised to be at home by eight o'clock.
"Now, Miezchen," said Otto on t
he way home, "if you tell mamma aboutyour being so frightened, you may be sure that she will never let yougo with me again. No harm was done, and I think we had better not sayanything about it."
Miezi promised to say nothing. All traces of tears had been removed bythe expectation of receiving the candy rooster, which Otto did notfail to give to her as soon as they reached home, and the childrenwent happily to bed.
They had been in bed and asleep for some time when a loud rapping atthe door startled the parents, who were sitting at the table in theliving room, talking about their children. Trina had gone upstairs,but she leaned out of her window and called, "What is it you want?"
"Something dreadful has happened," came the answer from the man below."Joiner Andreas has been killed, and we want the colonel to come overat once."
The messenger departed without waiting. Through the open windowColonel and Mrs. Ritter had heard what he said. The colonel threw hiscloak over his shoulder and hurried to Andreas's home. A number ofpeople had assembled there when he arrived. The police and the pastorhad been summoned, and others, hearing of the misfortune, had come tosee what could be done. Colonel Ritter worked his way into the crowdto where the joiner lay.
"Where is the doctor?" was his first question.
"What is the use of getting a doctor when the man is dead?" some oneanswered.
"He may not be dead," said the colonel, impatiently. "Some one must gofor a doctor immediately; tell him I said that he must hurry. Thiscall should be answered before all others."
Some one reluctantly started, then, with the help of others, thecolonel lifted the apparently lifeless body and carried it to the bed.
The miller's son explained to the colonel that he had passed the houseabout half an hour earlier, that he had noticed a light and the opendoor and had decided to stop a moment to see the joiner, when, to hishorror, he saw that he was dead; that Meadow Joggi was standing in theroom, holding a gold piece in his hand; and that Joggi had laughed ashe looked at the gold.
Meadow Joggi, so called because he lived in the meadow, was a man whohad lost his reason, but whom people had always regarded as perfectlyharmless. The neighborhood supported him, and he often helped themwith simple work, which he managed to do fairly well. The miller's sonhad told him to stay where he was until some one came, and he hadobeyed, still clutching his gold piece and smiling, not in the leastconcerned about himself.
The physician came at last and hastened to examine the body.
"He was struck on the back of his head; it is a bad wound," said thedoctor.
"Do you think that he is dead, doctor?" asked Colonel Ritter.
"No; he is not dead, but he is very near it. Bring me sponges,bandages, and some water." The men searched the house in vain for thethings that were needed.
"I wish there were a woman here to find things!" exclaimed theexasperated physician. "A woman knows intuitively what a sick personneeds and where to find it."
"Trina can come," said the colonel. "Will some one please run over tomy house and tell Mrs. Ritter to send her at once."
"I am afraid your wife will not thank you, Colonel," said the doctor,"for whoever comes must stay at least three days, and perhaps longer."
"You need not worry about that," replied the colonel. "Mrs. Ritterwill gladly do more than give Trina's time if it will save thejoiner."
Trina appeared sooner than they had thought it possible for her to getthere, and she brought with her a basket of necessary supplies whichshe and Mrs. Ritter had in readiness for an emergency.
The doctor was much pleased. "Now, Colonel," he said, "please dismissevery one, and lock up the house for the night."
The policemen decided to put Joggi in jail until they couldinvestigate matters. He walked along with them willingly, opening hishand occasionally and laughing at his gold piece.
Early the following morning Mrs. Ritter went to the home of the joinerto inquire after him. Trina met her at the door and said that towardmorning the patient had recovered partial consciousness. The doctorhad just left, she said, and had expressed his opinion that the manwas doing better than he had dared to hope. "I have had to promisehim," she added, "that I would let no one come into the room, not evenmy dear mistress."
"I am sure he is right about it," said Mrs. Ritter smiling. "I am gladto know that Andreas is in safe hands, and I will hurry home, so thatmy husband may know that he is doing well."
So eight days passed. Mrs. Ritter never failed to come every morningto inquire. She supplied Trina with whatever she needed. No one hadyet been allowed in the sick room, and Trina was kept at her post.
Several days later the doctor gave his permission to have the colonelquestion Andreas in regard to the accident, as the police wereanxious to know if he could give them any information.
The joiner received the colonel warmly; he realized how much he wasindebted to him. The sick man could tell nothing about his injuryexcept that some one had entered his room as he sat counting hismoney. "I was evidently struck senseless before I had time to lookaround to see who it was," he added.
This proved to the officers that Andreas had been injured for the sakeof his gold. They wondered what had become of the rest of the money,if Joggi had committed the deed. This was the first that Andreas hadheard about Joggi's being suspected.
"I want you to release Joggi immediately," he said. "I am positivethat he did not do it. Why, Joggi wouldn't kill a fly if he could helpit."
"A stranger might have done it," suggested the doctor; "the windowsare low, and seeing them open and the pile of money at hand, he mighthave felt a sudden desire to possess it."
"That is very likely," replied the joiner. "I have never thought aboutbeing careful, and my house has always been unlocked."
"Well," said the colonel, "it is a good thing that you have enoughsaved for a rainy day, so you will not suffer from the loss of themoney. The best of it all is that you yourself were saved."
"Yes, colonel," said the joiner, as he gave his hand in farewell, "Ihave enough to be thankful for. I shall never use all I have, anyway."
"I am sure you are more at peace with yourself than the man that robbedyou," remarked the doctor.
A sad story was being told about the neighborhood concerning Joggi. Hehad been so reluctant to give up his gold piece, that the police hadtaken it from him by force after conducting him to the prison. Thepoliceman's son was supposed to have said to him: "You just wait,Joggi; you will get your pay for this night's work. You'll see whatyou will get after a while."
This had so thoroughly frightened Joggi that he had moaned constantlyever since; he would not eat or sleep, but sat crouched in a corner,fearing that they would come to kill him.
The police came to see him a few days after his imprisonment, andpromised him their protection if he would confess the truth to them.He said that he had looked in at the window and had seen the joinerlying on the floor. He went in, he said, and touched him with his footand saw that he was dead. Then he saw the gold piece on the floor andpicked it up a moment before the miller's son came in; other peoplesoon came after that. This was his simple story, and every one wasinclined to believe it, but Joggi did not get over his fright.