Heidi

HEIDI

OH ANN

NY PUBL C L BRARY THE BRANCH LIBRARIES

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HEIDI

BY

JOHANNA SPYRI

TRANSLATED BY

HELEN B. DOLE

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY

NATHAN HASKELL DOLE

ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOR
AND IN PEN AND INK

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LEROY PHILLIPS

PUBLISHER : BOSTON

PUBLIC L

ITILUEN FOUNDATIONS,
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COPYRIGHT, 1899
GINN AND COMPANY

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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GINN AND COMPANY - PRO-
PRIETORS • BOSTON • V.S.A.

INTRODUCTION

HEIDI, the Swiss dialect diminutive of Adelheid, is
in itself an attractive name for a book ; but each of
the two parts into which the German story is divided
bears a rather long and cumbrous explanatory title
besides the subtitle.1

Judged from a critical standpoint, the literary style
of the original is far from perfect ; the sentences are
frequently prolix, carelessly constructed, and full of
repetitions. Nevertheless, in spite of technical flaws,
it is a classic for children. It is true to life, sprightly
and at the same time serious, sincere and yet overflow-
ing with healthful. inoocei't mirth, o^lC'i tempered with
a tender pathos which is akin to poetic sentiment, and
yet perfectly free from'sriy trace of sentimentality. It
is permeated with the deepest love for nature, but the
descriptions are ne^er wearisorr-o, and it breathes a
beautiful religious spirit, but it is the simple religion
of childhood unwitting of denominational differences.

1 i. " Heidis Lehr- und Wanderjahre : eine Geschichte fur Kinder
und auch fiir Sole he -welche die Kinder lieb haben " ; 2. " Heidi kann
brauchen was es gelernt fiaf." " Heidi's Years of Learning and Travel ";
" Heidi makes Use of what she has learned." Both have the same
subtitle : "A Story for Children and for such as love Children."

iii

iv INTRODUCTION

The conversations are vivacious and natural, and the
primitive life on the Alpine pastures is happily con-
trasted with the more conventional existence of the
wealthy city home, into which the little unsophisticated
mountain maiden comes like a breath of upper air.
Her experiences are charmingly portrayed, and one
entirely forgets that one is not reading a transcript
from real life, so vivid is the characterization, so per-
fect the realism, so consistent the narration. The
cultured German merchant, his serene and patient lit-
tle invalid daughter, his wise and energetic mother,
the precise and formal governess, the pert chamber-
maid, the kind-hearted serving man, the noble and
generous doctor, Heidi and her much misunderstood
but picturesque old grandfather, the Aim-Uncle, the
village pastor, the blind old woman in her shaky hovel,
and her dull and devoted grandson, Peterli, and, last
but not least, the carefully individualized goats are all
drawn with an unerring hand.

The author began 'her literary rctsvity rather late in
life and was led to Wi-'iting stories for children through
the solicitations of a '•frie ul. H.sr first book was pub-
lished in 1870, during the time ot the Franco-Prussian
War, and the proceeds of i>; were given in aid of the
wounded. All her earlier works were anonymous.
" Heidi's Years of Learning and Travel " was the third
in the series of Stories for Children and those that
love Children, which began in 1879 and has contin-
ued till the present time. It finally became known
that the author of these charming tales was the wife of

INTRODUCTION V

the town clerk of Zurich. She came of literary ante-
cedents. Her father was a well-known and very active
physician of the little mountain village of Hirzel in
Canton Zurich ; her mother was the popular poet Meta
Heusser. Her home was an unusually brilliant social
centre, where the young girl met many of the celebri-
ties of the time ; it was also overflowing with brothers
and sisters, so that she had abundant opportunities to
know child life at first hand.

Johanna Heusser was born on the twelfth of June,
1829, and in 1852 she married her former schoolmate,
the Rechtskonsulent, or legal adviser, Bernhard Spyri.
On his death in December, 1884, she published a tribute
to his memory. Since her first book was written there
have been few years when some new work from her
pen has not appeared, and she has been long recognized
as one of the world's favorite writers for children. Her
stories have been translated into various languages, and
some of them are printed in raised letters for the blind.
The Swiss Schuldirector, J. V. Widemann, president of
the Commission for Children's Literature, wrote in the
Universal Szviss Teachers' Journal an article declar-
ing Frau Spyri to be the best of contemporary women
writers for the young, and added that he knew of no
man to be compared with her.

The general title of her stories indicates the scope of
her work. There are children's books which only chil-
dren like, and such books are undesirable for children.
It may be safely said that not one of the few great
books — the so-called classics for the young --appeals

vi INTRODUCTION

more strongly to those for whom they were written
than to their elders. This is certainly the case with
" Heidi," which a healthy appetite will not find cloying
even after many readings. The story has touched the
popular heart, and many impressions and several edi-
tions, the later ones with charming illustrations, have
been published.

The present translation has been carefully made with
the idea of preserving as far as possible the homely
simplicity and vivacity of the original, the charm of its
absolute sincerity and wholesome humor. It cannot
fail to appeal to every reader, and every reader will be
sure to recommend it to an increasing circle of friends.
It is thus that great books become firmly established
in the affections of a people.

NATHAN HASKELL DOLE

"HEDGECOTE," GLEN ROAD, JAMAICA PLAIN

BOSTON, MASS., Oct. 3, 1899

CONTENTS

PART I. — HEIDI'S YEARS OF LEARNING
AND TRAVEL

CHAPTER PAGE

I. THE ALM-UNCLE i

II. AT THE GRANDFATHER'S 18

III. IN THE PASTURE 29

IV. AT THE GRANDMOTHER'S 47

V. TWO VISITS AND THEIR CONSEQUENCES 65

VI. A NEW CHAPTER AND ENTIRELY NEW SCENES ... 80
VII. FRAULEIN ROTTENMEIER HAS AN UNCOMFORTABLE

DAY 92

VIII. DISTURBANCES IN THE SESEMANN HOUSE in

IX. THE MASTER OF THE HOUSE HEARS OF STRANGE

DOINGS 126

X. A GRANDMAMMA 135

XI. HEIDI IMPROVES IN SOME RESPECTS, AND IN OTHERS

GROWS WORSE 149

XII. THE SESEMANN HOUSE is HAUNTED 156

XIII. UP THE ALM ON A SUMMER EVENING 172

XIV. SUNDAY WHEN THE CHURCH BELLS RING 195

vii

viii CONTENTS

PART II. — HEIDI MAKES USE OF WHAT SHE
HAS LEARNED

CHAPTER PAGE

I. PREPARATIONS FOR A JOURNEY 215

II. A GUEST ON THE ALM 225

III. CONSOLATION 238

IV. THE WINTER IN DORFLI 252

V. THE WINTER STILL CONTINUES 268

VI. DISTANT FRIENDS ARE HEARD FROM 279

VII. WHAT FURTHER HAPPENED ON THE MOUNTAIN . . 301

VIII. SOMETHING UNEXPECTED HAPPENS 3H

IX. PARTING TO MEET AGAIN 334

PART I

HEIDI'S YEARS OF LEARNING AND TRAVEL

HEIDI

CHAPTER I

THE ALM-UNCLE

FROM the pleasantly situated old town of Mayenfeld
a footpath leads up through shady green meadows to
the foot of the mountains, which, as they gaze down on
the valley, present a solemn and majestic aspect. Any
one who follows it will soon catch the pungent fragrance
of grassy pasture lands, for the footpath goes up straight
and steep to the Alps.

One bright, sunny June morning, a tall, sturdy look-
ing girl, evidently a native of the mountains, might
have been seen climbing this narrow path. She led
by the hand a little maiden, whose cheeks glowed as if
a ruddy flame were under her dark brown skin. And
what wonder ? In spite of the hot June sun, the child
was bundled up as if for protection against the keenest
cold. She could not have been five years old, but it
was impossible to tell anything about her natural fig-
ure, for she wore two or three dresses, one over the
other, and a big red cotton handkerchief around her
neck ; her feet were lost in heavy hobnailed shoes, and

HEIDI

the little thing was quite formless as she made her hot
and laborious way up the mountain.

At the end of an hour of steady climbing the two
girls came to the hamlet that lies halfway up the Aim,
and is called Im Dorfli> or the Little Village. Here
they were greeted from almost every cottage, and by

every one in the
street, for the older
of the two girls had
reached her home.
Nevertheless, she
made no pause but
hurried on, answer-
ing all questions
and greetings as
she went. At the
very end of the
hamlet, as she was
passing the last of
the scattered cot-
tages, a voice from
the doorway cried :

" Wait a moment, Dete, I '11 go with you, if you are
bound up the mountain."

The girl addressed stopped ; immediately the child
withdrew her hand and sat down on the ground.
"Are you tired, Heidi?" asked her companion.
"No, I am hot," replied the little girl.
"We are almost there," said her companion, en-
couragingly. " You must put out all the strength

THE ALM-UNCLE 3

you have for a little while longer ; it won't take us
more than an hour."

Just then a large, pleasant-looking woman came
out of the cottage and joined them. The little girl
jumped to her feet and followed the two women, who
had instantly fallen into a lively conversation regarding
all the inhabitants of the hamlet and of the neighbor-
hood.

" But really, Dete, where are you taking the child ? "
asked the newcomer. " It is your sister's little girl,
is n't it, - - the orphan ? "

" Yes, it is," replied the other, " I am taking her up
to her grandfather ; she will have to stay there."

" What ! the little girl is going to live with the Aim-
Uncle ? You must have lost your senses, Dete ! How
can you think of doing such a thing ? The old man
will send you back with such a scheme as that."

" He can't do it ; he 's her grandfather, and it is time
for him to look out for her; I have had her till now,
and I must tell you, Barbel, that I could not think of
letting her hinder me from taking such a place as I
have just had offered me. Her grandfather must do
his part now."

" That 's very well, if he were like other men," urged
the portly Barbel with some indignation. " But you
know what he is. What will he do with a child -
especially with such a young one ? He won't hear
of such a thing- But where are you going?"

"To Frankfurt," said Dete. "I have an extra good
place there. The family was down at the Baths last

4 HEIDI

summer ; I had charge of their rooms, and they wanted
then to take me back with them. I could n't manage
it ; but they are here again this year, and still want me
to go with them, and I am going ; you may be sure of
that."

" I 'm glad I 'm not in the child's place ! " cried Barbel
with a gesture of repulsion. " Nobody knows what ails
the old man up there. He will have nothing to do with
a living soul ; from one end of the year to the other he
never sets foot in a church ; and if once in a twelve-
month he comes down with his thick staff, every one
keeps out of his way and is afraid of him. With his
heavy gray eyebrows and his tremendous beard he
looks like a heathen and a savage, and people are
glad enough not to meet him alone."

"Nevertheless," said Dete stubbornly, "he's her
grandfather, and it 's his business to look after the
child ; he won't do her any harm ; if he does, he will
have to answer for it, not I."

" I should like to know," said Barbel insinuatingly,
" I should really like to know what the old man has on
his conscience that makes him look so fierce and live
all alone up there on the Aim and keep almost hidden
from sight. People tell all sorts of stories about him ;
of course you must know something about it, Dete ;
your sister must have told you; hasn't she?"

" Of course she has, but I hold my tongue ; if he
should hear of it, I should surfer ! "

But Barbel had long desired to know the real cause
of the Aim-Uncle's peculiarities, and why it was that

THE ALM-UNCLE 5

he looked so gloomy and lived alone by himself on the
mountain, and why people always spoke of him with
bated breath, as if they were afraid to be against him
and yet would not say anything in his favor.

Barbel also was ignorant of the reason that all the
people in the village called him the Aim-Uncle, for
of course he could not be the actual uncle of all the
inhabitants ; but as every one called him so, she did
the same and never spoke of the old man as anything
else than " Ohi," which in the dialect of that region
means uncle.

Barbel had only recently married into the village ;
before that her home had been down in the valley at
Prattigau, and she was not familiar with all the happen-
ings and all the curious characters of the village and
the surrounding region through a long series of years.

Her good friend Dete, on the contrary, was a native
of the village and had lived there till within a year.
Then her mother had died and she had gone down to
Ragatz, where the Baths are, and had found a fine posi-
tion as chambermaid in a great hotel. She had come
from Ragatz that very morning with the little girl, hav-
ing had the chance to ride as far as Mayenfeld on a hay
wagon which an acquaintance of hers was driving home.

Barbel thought that this was a good chance to find
out something, and she was bound not to let it slip.
She seized Dete's arm confidentially and said :-

"But one can learn the real truth from you instead
of the gossip which is talked; I am sure you know
the whole story. Come now, just tell me what is

6 HEIDI

the matter with the old man ; has he always been so
feared : Has he a - been such a hermi: :

I : : : . - .:her he has a. - ? been so or not;

I am twen: -six now, and he is certain/ . nty, and of
course I never saw him when he was young ; you might
know that. If I were certain that he would never again
be seen in all Prattigau, I might tell you all sorts of
things about him ; : . . . ..other was from Domleschg,
and so was he."

•• There new. De:e, what do you mean? " exclaimed
:-el, a little offended. •• You need not be so severe on
our goss in Prattigau ; and, : ; . I can keep a secret

: r : : if need be. Now tell me ; you shan't regret it."

.* then, I will ; but mind you hold your tongue,"

said E - Before she began she glanced

round t : see ::' :he little girl were not too close at their

heels to hear every word that was said. The child was

not to be seen ; she must have ceased following them

some distance back, but in their lively conversation

had not noticed it. De:t stood = till and gazed

all around. 7 . were several turns in the footpath;

athekss mid see almost all the way down to

the village. Xot a sc _ht.

••I see her T.;;laimed Barbel. "There she is!
Don't you -re her ? " and she pointed with her finger
to a pkir int from the path. " She is climb-

ing up the c: r.e goatherd Peter and his goats.

. late to-day with his animals ? But

stas ell, for he can look after the child, and
.11 be all the better able to talk with me."

TH2 ALM-UNCLB.

"Peter needn't trouble himself to look after he-
remarked De: she is not dull for a child of E
years ; she keeps her eyes open and sees what is going
c r. . I ; : . - : : ; . : • r ;

for her that she does. The :hi man his nothing :;
leave her but his two sroats and his mountain h ~
And did he once have more : : E arbeL

••He? We". I shiu^i =1; : : .-. ;- hive

more," replied Dete warmly ; " he used to have the finest
farm in Domleschg. He was the eldest son and bad
only one brother, who was quiet and well behaved
the elder would do nothing but play the fine gentleman
and travel about the country, mixing with bad people
that nobody knew about. He drank and gambled away
the whole property ; and so it happened that his father
and mother died, one first and then the other, from sh
grief ; and his brother, who was also reduced to begj.
went aw; ut of mortification, nobody kne ere;

and the uncle hims - iie had nothing left but a bad

name, also disappeared — i: f.rst no one knew whither,
then it was reported that he had gone with the sol;
to Naples, and after that nothing mere was heard of
him for twelve or fifteen yean Then he suddenly
appeared again in Domleschg with a half-grown boy
and tried to find a home for him among his relations.
I at e e door was closed to him, and no one wanted
to know anything more about him. This made him
bitter: he said he uld never ;e: foot hi Domleschg
again, and he came here to Dorfli and lived with
boy. His wife W.LS probably 3. Grison woman whom

8 HEIDI

he had come across down below and soon after lost.
He must have had some money still, for he let the boy
Tobias learn the carpenter's trade ; and he was a steady
fellow and well thought of by all the people in Dorfli.
But nobody had confidence in the old man, and it was
said that he had deserted from Naples, that he had got
into trouble, that he had killed somebody, not in war
of course, but in some quarrel. But we recognize the
relationship, for my mother's grandmother was his
grandmother's first cousin. So we called him Uncle,
and as we are related to almost all the people in Dorfli,
on father's side, they all call him Uncle, and since he
went up on the Aim he has been known as the Aim-
Uncle."

" But what became of Tobias ?" asked Barbel eagerly.

" Wait and I '11 tell you. I can't tell all things in one
breath ! " exclaimed Dete. " Tobias was serving his time
in Mels, and as soon as he finished he came home to
Dorfli and married my sister Adelheid, for they had
always been fond of each other, and after their mar-
riage they lived very happily together. But it did n't
last long. Two years after, while Tobias was working
on a new house, a beam fell on him and killed him.
Adelheid's fright and grief when her husband was
brought home so disfigured threw her into a violent
fever, from which she did not recover. She never was
very strong, and was often in such a condition that it
was almost impossible to tell whether she was asleep or
awake. Only two weeks after Tobias's death Adelheid
too was buried. Then the sad fate of the two was in

THE ALM-UNCLE 9

everybody's mouth far and wide, and it was hinted and
openly declared that it was a judgment the uncle
deserved for his godless life. It was said so to his
face ; even the priest admonished him seriously to
do penance, but he only grew more and more surly
and obdurate and no longer spoke to any one, and
every one avoided him.

" Suddenly it was reported that the uncle had gone
up on the Aim and no longer came down at all ; since
then he has staid there and lives at enmity with God
and man.

" Mother and I took Adelheid's little child ; she was
a year old. Last summer mother died, and as I wanted
to work down at the Baths, I took her to board with
old Ursel up in Pfafferserdorf. I was able to stay at
the Baths all winter. I found plenty of work, because I
could sew and mend ; and early in the spring the lady
I served last year came back from Frankfurt, and she
is going to take me home with her. Day after to-mor-
row morning we start. It is a good place, I can tell
you."

" And now are you going to give the child to the old
man up there ? I 'm surprised that you should think of
such a thing, Dete," said Barbel reproachfully.

"What do you mean?" retorted Dete. "I have
done my duty by the child. What else could I do
with her now? I don't think I could take a child
scarcely five years old to Frankfurt. But where are
you going, anyway, Barbel ? We are halfway up the
Aim now."

10 HEIDI

" I have already reached the place where I was
going. I want to speak to old goatherd Peter's wife.
She does spinning for me in winter. So good-bye,
Dete ; good luck to you!"

Dete shook her companion's hand and stood still
while Barbel went into the little, dark brown mountain
hut standing a few steps from the path in a hollow,
where it was somewhat sheltered from the winds. It
was a good thing that it was in a little hollow, for it
looked so dilapidated and decayed that it would have
been a dangerous dwelling when the mighty south
wind swept across the mountain, making everything in
the hut, doors and windows, rattle, and all the worm-
eaten rafters tremble and creak. On such days, if the
hut had been up on the Aim, it would certainly have
been blown down into the valley.

Here dwelt the goatherd Peter, the eleven-year-old
boy who every morning went down to Dorfli to get the
goats and drive them up on the Aim, to feed till even-
ing on the short, nourishing herbs. Then Peter would
hurry down again with the light-footed animals, give a
shrill whistle through his fingers as soon as he reached
Dorfli, and all the owners would immediately come
and get their goats. Little boys and girls came for the
most part, for the creatures were peaceful and harm-
less. All through the summer it was the only time in
the day when Peter associated with his fellow-beings ;
the rest of the time he lived alone with his goats.

To be sure, he had his mother and blind grandmother
at home ; but he had to go away very early in the morn-

THE ALM-UNCLE \\

ing, and come back from Dorfli late in the evening ; so
in order to play with the children as long as possible,
he spent only enough time at home to swallow his
bread and milk.

His father, who was also called Peter the goatherd,
because he had followed the same calling in his earlier
days, had met with an accident some years before while
felling trees. His mother, whose real name was Bri-
gitta, was called by every one, for consistency's sake,
"goatherd Peter's wife," and the blind grandmother
was known by old and young, far and wide, simply by
the name of Grandmother.

Dete waited full ten minutes, looking around in every
direction for a glimpse of the children with the goats ;
but as they were nowhere in sight, she climbed a little
higher, where she could have a better view of the Aim
down to the foot. Here she peered first this way and
then that, showing signs of increasing impatience both
in her face and in her movements.

Meanwhile the children were coming along by a
roundabout way. Peter knew many spots where there
were all sorts of good shrubs and bushes for his goats
to nibble ; so he frequently wandered from the path
with his flock. At first the child in her heavy garb
climbed after them with great difficulty, panting with
heat and discomfort and straining every nerve. She said
not a word, but gazed first at Peter, who jumped about
without any difficulty in his bare feet and light trousers,
then at the goats with their small, slender legs climbing
still more easily over bushes and stones and steep crags.

12 HEIDI

Suddenly the child sat down on the ground and in
great haste pulled off her shoes and stockings; then
she stood up again, took off her thick, red neckerchief,
unfastened her Sunday frock, quickly took that off, and
began to unhook her everyday dress. This she wore
under the other, to save her Aunt Dete the trouble of
carrying it. Quick as lightning came off also the every-
day frock, and there the child stood in her light under-
clothes with delight, stretching her bare arms out of
her short chemise sleeves. Then she laid them all in
a neat little pile, and jumped and climbed after the
goats by Peter's side, as easily as any in the whole
company.

Peter had not noticed what the child was doing
while she remained behind. But when she came run-
ning after him in this new costume a grin began to
spread over his face, and when he looked back and
saw the little pile of clothes lying on the ground the
grin grew still broader and his mouth reached almost
from ear to ear ; but he said nothing.

The child, feeling so free and light, began to talk
with Peter, and he had all sorts of questions to answer,
for she wanted to know how many goats he had, where
he was going with them, and what he would do when
he reached there.

Finally the children with the goats approached the
hut and came in sight of Aunt Dete. She had hardly
caught a glimpse of the group climbing up the moun-
tain side when she screamed out :-

"Heidi, what have you been doing? What is the

THE ALM-UNCLE 13

matter with you ? Where is your dress and the other
one and your neckerchief ? I bought you brand-new
shoes on the mountain, and I made you new stockings,
and they are all gone ! all gone ! Heidi, what have you
done with them ? Where have you put them all? "

The child calmly pointed down the mountain and
said: "There!"

The aunt followed the direction of her finger. To
be sure, there lay something, and on the top of it was
a red speck ; that was surely the neckerchief.

"You careless girl ! " cried the aunt in great excite-
ment. " What were you thinking about ? Why did
you take everything off ? What did you mean ? "

" I did n't need them," said the child, without looking
in the least sorry for what she had done.

'• Oh, you careless, senseless Heidi ! don't you know
anything ? " the aunt went on, lamenting and scolding.
" It will take half an hour for any one to go down there
again ! Come, Peter, run back for me and get the
things ! Come, be quick, and don't stand there star-
ing at me as if you were nailed to the ground."

" I am late already," said Peter slowly, and with
both hands in his pockets stood still just where he
was when he heard the aunt's angry reproaches.

" If you stand there staring like that, you will not
get far, I 'm thinking," called out Aunt Dete. " Come
here ! you must have something nice. Do you see
this?"

She held up a new five-centime piece, which glis-
tened in his eyes. Suddenly he started, and with tre-

14

HEIDI

mendous leaps went the shortest way down the Aim,
and soon reached the little pile of clothes. He picked
them up and brought them back so quickly that the aunt
could not help praising him, and gave him his money

without delay.
Peter put it deep
down in his pocket,
and his face lighted
up with a broad
grin, for such a
treasure did not
very often fall to
his share.

"You may carry
the things on up
to the uncle's, as
long as you 're go-
ing that way," con-
tinued Aunt Dete,
while she set about
climbing the steep
cliff, which rpse
high behind Peter's

hut. The boy willingly undertook the task and followed
the others with his bundle in his left hand, and swinging
his stick in his right. Heidi and the goats skipped and
jumped along merrily by his side. Thus in about three-
quarters of an hour the procession reached the height
where on a jutting cliff stood the old uncle's hut,
exposed to every wind, but also accessible to every

THE ALM-UNCLE 15

ray of sunlight and with a wide view of the valley
below. Behind the hut stood three ancient fir trees
with long, thick, untrimmed branches. Farther back
the mountain with its old gray crags rose higher still,
now displaying lovely, fertile pastures, now a tangle of
boulders and bushes, and finally surmounted with bare,
steep cliffs.

The uncle had made himself a seat by the side of
the hut looking down into the valley. Here he sat
with his pipe in his mouth, his hands resting on his
knees, calmly watching the children, Aunt Dete, and
the goats as they came climbing up the mountain.
Aunt Dete had been gradually left behind, and Heidi
was the first to reach the hut. She went straight to the
old man, held out her hand to him, and said : —

" How do you do, grandfather ? "

"Well, well, what does this mean?" asked the old
man roughly, barely touching the child's hand and
giving her a long, penetrating look from under his
bushy eyebrows. Heidi gazed back at him in return
without once winking her eyes, for she had never seen
any one like her grandfather, with his long beard and
heavy gray eyebrows meeting in the middle of his fore-
head like a thicket. In the meanwhile Aunt Dete
arrived with Peter, who stood still for a time looking
on to see what would happen.

" I wish you good morning, uncle," said Dete, step-
ping up to him. " I have brought Tobias and Adelheid's
child to you. You will hardly know her, for you have n't
seen her since she was a year old."

16 HEIDI

"Well, what can the child do here with me?" asked
the old man curtly ; " and you there," he called out to
Peter, "you can go along with your goats. You are
none too early. Take mine too ! "

Peter obeyed without delay and disappeared, for the
uncle had made it plain that he was not wanted.

" She must stay with you, uncle," said Dete in reply
to his question. " I am sure I have done my duty
by her these four years, and now it is your turn to
do what you can for her."

"Indeed?" said the old man; and his eyes flashed
at Dete. " Suppose the child begins to fret and whine
for you, as is usually the case with the unreasonable
little things, what shall I do with her ? "

"That is your business," retorted Dete ; " I am sure
no one told me what to do with the little one when it
was given into my hands, only a year old, and I already
had enough to do to take care of myself and mother.
Now I must look out for myself, and you are next
of kin to the child. If you can't have her, do what
you please with her ; you will have to answer for her,
if she comes to any harm. You don't want to have
anything more laid to your charge."

Dete's conscience was not quite easy; she became
excited and said more than she had intended. The
uncle rose at her last words ; he gave her such a
look that she took several steps backward ; then he
stretched out his arm and said imperatively :-

" Get you gone down where you came from, and
don't show yourself here again very soon ! "

" How do you do,
grandfather ? "

THE A LM- UNCLE 17

Dete did not need to be told twice.

" Good-bye, then ; and good-bye to you too, Heidi,"
she said quickly and hurried down the mountain to
Dorfli, as fast as she could go, for her anxiety im-
pelled her onward, as if she were a powerful steam
engine. In Dorfli many more asked her about Heidi ;
they all knew Dete well and whose child she was, and
all that had taken place. When from every door and
window came the question, " Where is the child ?
Dete, where have you left the child ? " she called back
with more and more irritation :-

" Up with the Aim-Uncle ! Up with the Aim-Uncle,
I tell you ! "

She was disgusted because the women everywhere
exclaimed : " How could you do so ! " and " The poor
little soul ! " and " Such a little helpless thing left up
there!" and then again and again: "The poor little
soul!"

Dete pushed on as fast as she could, and was glad
when she was out of their hearing; she did not feel
quite easy about the matter, for the dying mother had
given the child to her. But she quieted her misgivings
by saying to herself that it would not be long before
she could do something again for her, since she would
be earning a good deal of money ; so she felt very glad
that she would soon be in a fine situation, and far away
from all the people who would speak to her about the
matter.

CHAPTER II

AT THE GRANDFATHER'S

AFTER Dete had disappeared, the uncle sat down
again on the bench and blew great clouds of smoke
from his pipe, while he kept his eyes fixed on the
ground without saying a word. Meanwhile Heidi was
content to look about her. She discovered the goats'
shed built near the hut and peeped into it. It was
empty.

The child continued her investigations and came to
the fir trees behind the hut. The wind was blowing
hard, and it whistled and roared through the branches,
high up in the tops. Heidi stood still and listened.
When it subsided somewhat she went around to the
other side of the hut and came back to her grandfather.
When she found him in the same place where she had
left him, she placed herself in front of him, put her
hands behind her, and gazed at him. Her grandfather
looked up.

"What do you want to do?" he asked as the child
continued standing in front of him without moving.

" I want to see what you have in the hut," s-aid
Heidi.

" Come along, then ! " and the grandfather rose and
started to go into the hut.

18

AT THE GRANDFATHER'S 19

"Bring your bundle of clothes," he said as he
entered.

" I shan't want them any more," replied Heidi.

The old man turned around and looked sharply at
the child, whose black eyes shone in expectation of
what might be inside.

" She 's not lacking in intelligence," he said half to
himself. " Why won't you need them any more ? " he
asked aloud.

" I 'd rather go like the goats, with their swift
little legs."

" So you shall, but bring the things along," commanded
the grandfather; "they can be put in the cupboard."

Heidi obeyed. The old man opened the door, and
Heidi followed him into a good-sized room, which
embraced the whole hut. In it were a table and a
chair ; in one corner was the grandfather's bed, in
another the fireplace where hung the large kettle ; on
the other side, in the wall, was a large door, which the
grandfather opened ; it was the cupboard. There hung
his clothes, and on one shelf lay his shirts, stockings,
and linen ; on another were plates, cups, and glasses,
and on the topmost a loaf of bread, smoked meat, and
cheese. Everything the Aim-Uncle owned and needed
for his subsistence was kept in this closet. As soon
as he had opened the door, Heidi came running with
her bundle and pushed it in, as far back of her grand-
father's clothes as possible, that it might not be easy
to find it again. Then she looked carefully around
the room and said : —

20 HEIDI

" Where shall I sleep, grandfather ? "

" Wherever you like," he replied.

This was quite to Heidi's mind. She looked into
every nook and corner to see where would be the best
place for her to sleep. In the corner by her grand-
father's bed stood a little ladder, which led to the
hayloft. Heidi climbed this. There lay a fresh, fra-
grant heap of hay, and through a round window one
could look far down into the valley below.

" I will sleep here," Heidi called down ; " it is lovely !
Just come and see how lovely it is here, grandfather ! "

"I know all about it," sounded from below.

" I am going to make a bed," called out the child
again as she ran busily to and fro in the loft ; " but
you must come up here and bring a sheet, for the bed
must have a sheet for me to sleep on."

"Well, well," said the grandfather below; and after
a few moments he went to the cupboard and rummaged
about ; then he drew out from under his shirts a long,
coarse piece of cloth, which might serve for a sheet.
He came up the ladder and found that a very neat
little bed had been made in the hayloft ; the hay was
piled up higher at one end to form the head, and it was
placed in such a way that one could look from it straight
out through the round open window.

"That is made very nicely," said the grandfather;
"next comes the sheet; but wait a moment," -and
he took up a good armful of hay and made the bed
as thick again, in order that the hard floor might not
be felt through it ; " there, now put it on."

AT THE GRANDFATHER'S 21

Heidi quickly took hold of the, sheet, but was
unable to lift it, it was so heavy ; however, this made
it all the better because the sharp wisps of hay could
not penetrate the firm cloth. Then the two together
spread the sheet over the hay, and where it was too
broad or too long Heidi quickly tucked it under.
Now it appeared quite trim and neat, and Heidi stood
looking at it thoughtfully.

"We have forgotten one thing, grandfather," she
said.

" What is that ? " he asked.

" The coverlet ; when we go to bed we creep in
between the sheet and the coverlet."

" Is that so ? But supposing I have n't any ? " asked
the old man.

"Oh, then it's no matter," said Heidi soothingly;
"we can take more hay for a coverlet " ; and she was
about to run to the hay mow again, but her grand-
father prevented her.

" Wait a moment," he said, and went down the
ladder to his own bed. Then he came back and laid
a large, heavy linen bag on the floor.

" Is n't that better than hay ? " he asked. Heidi
pulled at the bag with all her might and main, trying
to unfold it, but her little hands could not manage the
heavy thing. Her grandfather helped, and when it was
finally spread out on the bed, it all looked very neat
and comfortable, and Heidi, looking at her new resting-
place admiringly, said : -

" That is a splendid coverlet, and the whole bed is

22 HEIDI

lovely ! How I wish it were night so that I could lie
down in it ! "

" I think we might have something to eat first," said
the grandfather. " What do you say ? "

In her eagerness over the bed, Heidi had forgotten
everything else; but now that eating was suggested
to her, a great feeling of hunger rose within her, for
she had taken nothing all day, except a piece of bread
and a cup of weak coffee early in the morning, and
afterwards she had made the long journey. So Heidi
heartily assented with :-

"Yes, I think so too."

"Well, let us go down, since we are agreed," said
the old man and followed close upon the child's steps.
He went to the fireplace, pushed the large kettle aside
and drew forward the little one that hung on the chain,
sat down on the three-legged wooden stool with the
round seat in front of him and kindled a bright fire.
The kettle began to boil, and the old man held over the
fire a large piece of cheese on the end of a long iron
fork. He moved it this way and that, until it was
golden yellow on all sides. Heidi looked on with eager
attention. Suddenly a new idea came to her mind ;
she jumped up and ran to the cupboard, and kept going
back and forth. When the grandfather brought the
toasted cheese to the table, it was already nicely laid
with the round loaf of bread, two plates and two knives,
for Heidi had noticed everything in the cupboard, and
knew that all would be needed for the meal.

"That is right, to think of doing something your-

AT THE GRANDFATHER'S 23

self," said the grandfather, laying the cheese on the
bread and putting the teapot on the table ; " but there
is something still lacking."

Heidi saw how invitingly the steam came out of the
pot and ran quickly back to the cupboard. But there
was only one little bowl there. Heidi was not long
perplexed ; behind it stood two glasses ; the child im-
mediately came back with the bowl and glasses and
placed them on the table.

"Very good. You know how to help yourself; but
where are you going to sit ? "

The grandfather himself was sitting in the only chair.
Heidi shot like an arrow to the fireplace, brought back
the little three-legged stool and sat down on it.

" Well, you have a seat, sure enough, only it is rather
low," said the grandfather; "but in my chair also you
would be too short to reach the table ; but now you
must have something anyway, so come ! "

Saying which he rose, filled the little bowl with milk,
placed it on the chair, and pushed it close to the three-
legged stool, so that Heidi had a table in front of her.
The grandfather laid a large slice of bread and a piece
of the golden cheese on the chair and said :-

" Now eat ! "

He seated himself on the corner of the table and
began his dinner. Heidi grasped her bowl and drank
and drank without stopping, for all the thirst of her
long journey came back to her. Then she drew a long
breath and set down the bowl.

" Do you like the milk ? " asked her grandfather.

24

HEIDI

" I never tasted such good milk before," answered
Heidi.

" Then you must have some more " ; and the grand-
father filled the bowl again to the brim and placed it
before the child, who looked quite content as she began

to eat her bread, after it had been spread with the
toasted cheese soft as butter. The combination tasted
very good, with frequent drinks of milk.

When the meal was over, the grandfather went out
to the goat-shed to put it in order, and Heidi watched
him closely as he first swept it clean with a broom and

AT THE GRANDFATHER'S 25

then laid down fresh straw for the animals to sleep on.
Then he went to his little shop, cut some round sticks,
shaped a board, made some holes in it, put the round
sticks into them, and suddenly it was a stool like his
own, only much higher. Heidi was speechless with
amazement as she saw his work.

"What is this, Heidi? " asked the grandfather.

" It is a stool for me, because it is so high ; you made
it all at once," said the child, still deeply astonished.

" She knows what she sees ; her eyes are in the right
place," remarked the grandfather to himself as he went
around the hut driving a nail here and there ; then he
repaired something about the door and went from place
to place with hammer, nails, and pieces of wood, mend-
ing and clearing away wherever it was needed. Heidi
followed him step by step and watched him with the
closest attention, and everything he did amused her
very much.

Evening was coming on. It was beginning to blow
harder in the old fir trees, for a mighty wind had sprung
up and was whistling and moaning through their thick
tops. It sounded so beautiful in Heidi's ears and heart
that she was quite delighted, and skipped and jumped
under the firs as if she were experiencing the greatest
pleasure of her life. The grandfather stood in the door-
way and watched the child.

A shrill whistle sounded. Heidi stopped her jump-
ing, and the grandfather stepped outside. Down from
above came goat after goat, leaping like a hunting train,
and Peter in the midst of them. With a shout of joy

26 HEIDI

Heidi rushed in among the flock and greeted her old
friends of the morning one after the other.

When they reached the hut, they all stood still, and
two lovely slender goats --one white, the other brown
-came out from the others to the grandfather and
licked his hands, in which he held some salt to welcome
them. This he did each evening. Peter disappeared
with his flock. Heidi gently stroked first one goat and
then the other and ran around them to stroke them on
the other side; she was perfectly delighted with the
little creatures.

"Are they ours, grandfather? Are they both ours?
Will they go into the shed ? Will they stay with us
always ? " asked Heidi, one question following the other
in her delight. When the goats had finished licking
their salt, the old man said : -

" Go and bring out your little bowl and the
bread."

Heidi obeyed and came back at once. The grand-
father milked the goat and filled the bowl and cut off a
piece of bread, saying : —

" Now eat your supper and then go up to bed ! Your
Aunt Dete left a bundle for you; your nightgowns and
other things are in it. You will find it downstairs in
the closet if you need it. I must attend to the goats
now; so sleep well !"

" Good-night, grandfather ! Good-night - - what are
their names, grandfather ? what are their names ? "
cried the child, running after the old man and the
goats as they disappeared in the shed.

AT THE GRANDFATHER'S 27

"The white one is named Schwanli1 and the brown
one Barli,"2 answered the grandfather.

" Good-night, Schwanli ! good-night, Barli ! "' called
Heidi at the top of her voice. Then Heidi sat down
on the bench and ate her bread and drank her milk ;
but the strong wind almost blew her off from her seat ;
so she finished hastily, then went in and climbed up to
her bed, in which she immediately fell asleep and slept
as soundly and well as if she had been in the loveliest
bed of some royal princess.

Not long after, even before it was wholly dark, the
grandfather also went to bed ; for he was always up
with the sun, and it came climbing over the mountain
very early in the summer time. In the night the wind
blew with such force that its blasts made the whole
hut tremble, and every rafter creaked. It howled and
groaned down the chimney like voices in distress, and
outside in the fir trees it raged with such fury that now
and then a bough was broken off.

In the middle of the night the grandfather rose and
said half aloud to himself: —

" She may be afraid."

He climbed the ladder and went to Heidi's bedside.
The moon outside shone brightly in the sky for a mo-
ment and then disappeared behind the driving clouds,
and everything grew dark. Then the moonlight came
again brightly through the round opening and fell
directly on Heidi's couch. Her cheeks were fiery red

1 Schwanli = little swan.

2 Barli = little bear.

28 HEIDI

as she slept under the heavy coverlet, and she lay per-
fectly calm and peaceful on her little round arm. She
must have been dreaming happy dreams, for a look of
contentment was on her face. The grandfather gazed
long at the sweetly sleeping child until the moon went
behind a cloud again and it was dark. Then he went
back to his own bed.

CHAPTER III

IN THE PASTURE

HEIDI was awakened early in the morning by a loud
whistle ; and when she opened her eyes, a flood of sun-
shine was pouring through the round window on her bed
and the hay close by, so that everything about shone
like gold. Heidi looked around her in amazement and
did not know where she was.

Then she heard her grandfather's deep voice outside,
and everything came back to her mind - - where she had
come from, and that now she was up on the Aim with
her grandfather and no longer with old Ursel. Ursel
was always cold, so that she liked to sit by the kitchen
fire or the stove in her chamber. Heidi had been obliged
to stay very near, so that the old woman could see where
she was, because she was deaf and could not hear her.
This had often been very irksome to Heidi, who longed
to run outside.

So she was very glad when she awoke in her new
home and remembered how many strange things she
had seen the day before and what she would see again
that day, especially Schwanli and Barli.

Heidi jumped quickly out of bed and in a few minutes
had put on all that she wore the day before ; it was very
little. Then she climbed down the ladder and ran out

29

30 HEIDI

in front of the hut. There already stood the goatherd
Peter with his flock, and the grandfather was bringing
Schwanli and Barli out of the shed to join the other
goats. Heidi ran up to him to say good-morning to him
and the goats.

"Would you like to go to the pasture, too ? " asked
the grandfather. Heidi was pleased with the idea and
jumped for joy.

" But first wash and be clean, or else the sun will
laugh at you when it is shining so brightly up there
and sees that you are dirty ; see, everything is ready
for you."

The grandfather pointed to a large tub full of water
standing before the door in the sunshine. Heidi ran
to it and splashed and rubbed until she was all shining.
Meanwhile the grandfather went into the hut and called
to Peter : —

" Come here, general of the goats, and bring your
haversack with you."

Peter, surprised, obeyed the call and brought along
the little bag in which he carried his meagre dinner.

" Open it," said the old man ; and he put in a large
piece of bread and an equally large piece of cheese.
Peter opened his round eyes as wide as possible in his
amazement, for both pieces were half as large again as
what he had brought for his own dinner.

"Now in goes the little bowl," continued the uncle,
" for the child cannot drink the way you do, right from
the goat ; she does n't know how. Milk two bowlsful
at noon for her, as she is to go with you and stay until

IN THE PASTURE 31

you come down again ; take care that she does n't fall
over the rocks ; do you hear? "

Heidi came running up.

"Can the sun laugh at me now, grandfather?" she
asked eagerly. In her fear of the sun she had rubbed
her face, neck, and arms so vigorously with the coarse
towel her grandfather had hung by the water tub
that she looked as red as a lobster. Her grandfather
smiled.

" No ; now he has nothing to laugh at," he admitted ;
" but do you know to-night, when you come home, you
must go in all over, like a fish ; for after running about
like the goats you will have black feet. Now you can
march along."

So she went merrily up the Aim. The wind in the
night had blown away the last clouds ; the sky was
everywhere a deep blue, and in the midst stood the
sun, shining on the green mountain ; all the blue and
yellow flowers opened their calyxes and looked up with
gladness. Heidi jumped here and there and shouted
for joy; for there were whole troops of delicate prim-
roses together, and yonder it was blue with gentians,
and everywhere in the sunshine smiled and nodded the
tender-leaved golden rock-roses. Heidi was so charmed
by all these glistening, nodding flowers that she entirely
forgot the goats and even Peter. She ran far ahead
and then off on one side, for it shone red here and yel-
low there and enticed her in every direction. Wherever
she went she plucked quantities of the flowers and put
them into her apron, for she wanted to carry them all

32 HEIDI

home and put them into the hay in her sleeping room,
that it might look there as it did here.

So Peter had to look everywhere ; and his round eyes,
which did not move quickly from one place to another,
had more work than they could well manage, for the
goats were as bad as Heidi. They ran hither and thither,
and he was obliged to whistle and shout and swing
his rod continually in order to drive all the stragglers
together.

"Where have you gone now, Heidi?" he called
almost angrily.

" Here," sounded from some indefinite place. Peter
could see no one, for Heidi was sitting on the ground
behind a knoll, which was thickly covered with fragrant
wild flowers. The whole air around was filled with the
sweet odor, and Heidi had never breathed anything so
exquisite before. She sat down among the flowers and
drew in long breaths of the perfume.

"Come along!" called Peter again. "You must not
fall down over the cliffs ; the uncle charged me not to
let you."

"Where are the cliffs ? " asked Heidi without stirring
from the place, for every breath of wind brought the
sweet odor to the child with increasing charm.

" Up there, 'way up ; we have still a long way to go ;
so come along now ! And up at the very top sits the
old robber-bird croaking."

That availed. Heidi immediately jumped upland ran
to Peter with her apron full of flowers.

"You have enough now," he said, when they were

IN THE PASTURE 33

once more climbing together ; " besides, you '11 stay here
forever, and if you pick them all you won't have any
to-morrow."

The last reason convinced Heidi ; besides, her apron
was already so full that there was hardly room for more,
and there must be some left for to-morrow. So she
went along with Peter ; and the goats behaved better
and hurried along without delay, for they smelt the good
herbage in the distance on the high pasture land.

The pasture where Peter usually went with his goats
for the day lay at the foot of the high cliff. The lower
part of this was covered with bushes and fir trees, but
it rose toward heaven quite bald and steep. On one
side of the mountain there were deep chasms. The
grandfather was quite right in warning Peter about
them.

When Peter reached this spot on the heights, he
took off his bag and laid it carefully in a little hollow
in the ground. He knew that the wind often rushed
across in strong gusts, and he did not wish to see his
precious possessions roll down the mountain. Then he
stretched himself out on the ground in the sunny pas-
ture to rest from the exertion of climbing.

In the mean time Heidi had taken off her apron,
rolled it up tightly with the flowers inside, and laid it
close to the lunch bag. Then she sat down beside
Peter and looked around her. The valley lay far below
in the full morning sunshine. In front of her Heidi
saw a great wide field of snow, stretching high up into
the deep blue sky ; on the left stood an enormous mass

34

HEIDI

of rock, on each side of which a higher tower of bald,
jagged crags rose into the azure and looked very sternly
down on Heidi. The child sat as still as a mouse ; every-
where there was a great, deep stillness ; only the wind
passed very softly and gently over the tender bluebells

and the radiant golden rock-roses, which were every-
where gaily nodding to and fro on their slender stems.
Peter had gone to sleep after his exertion, and the goats
were climbing among the bushes.

She drank in the golden sunlight, the fresh air, the
delicate fragrance of the flowers, and desired nothing
more than to remain there forever. A good while passed

IN THE PASTURE 35

in this way, and Heidi had gazed so often and so long
at the lofty mountain tops that it seemed as if they all
had faces and were gazing down quite familiarly at her,
like good friends.

Then she heard above her a loud, shrill screaming
and croaking, and as she looked up into the air the
largest bird she had ever seen in her life was flying
around on wide, outstretched wings and coming back
in wider circles and screaming loud and piercingly over
her head.

" Peter ! Peter ! Wake up ! " cried Heidi at the top
of her voice. " See, there is the robber-bird ! See !
see!"

Peter jumped up at the call and looked with Heidi at
the bird, which was flying higher and higher in the blue
sky. Finally it disappeared over the gray cliffs.

"Where has he gone now?" asked Heidi, who had"
watched the bird with eager scrutiny.

" Home to his nest," was Peter's answer.

" Is his home 'way up there ? Oh, how lovely to be so
high up ! Why does he scream so ? " asked Heidi again.

"Because he can't help it," explained Peter.

" Let us climb up there and see where his home is,"
proposed Heidi.

" Oh ! oh ! oh ! " burst out Peter, uttering each excla-
mation with more vehement disapproval ; " no goat can
get there, and the uncle said you must not fall over
the cliff."

Then Peter suddenly began such a whistling and call-
ing that Heidi did not know what was going to happen ;

36 HEIDI

but the goats must have understood the sound, for one
after another they came jumping down until the whole
flock was assembled on the green slope, some nibbling
the spicy stalks, others running to and fro, and still
others amusing themselves by butting one another with
their horns.

Heidi jumped up and ran around among the goats.
It was new and indescribably amusing to her to see how
the little creatures leaped about and played together,
and Heidi made the personal acquaintance of each, for
every one had a quite distinct individuality and its own
peculiar ways.

Meanwhile Peter had brought out the bag and nicely
arranged all four of the pieces of bread and cheese on
the ground in a square, the larger pieces on Heidi's
side, the smaller ones on his side; he knew just how
many he had. Then he took the little bowland milked
sweet, fresh milk from Schwanli into it and placed it
in the middle of the square. Then he called Heidi,
but he had to call longer for her than for the goats,
because she was so interested and pleased with the
varied gamboling and frolicking of her new playmates
that she saw and heard nothing else.

But Peter knew how to make himself understood.
He called till it made the rocks above echo ; and Heidi
appeared, and the table he had laid looked so inviting
that she danced around it for joy.

" Stop jumping; it is time to eat," said Peter; "sit
down and begin."

Heidi sat down.

IN THE PASTURE 37

"Is the milk mine? " she asked, contemplating with
satisfaction the neat square and the bowl in the
middle.

"Yes," answered Peter, "and the two large pieces of
bread and cheese are yours, too; and when you have
drunk all the milk, you can have another bowlful from
Schwanli, and then it is my turn."

"And where will you get your milk? " Heidi wanted
to know.

" From my goat — from Schnecke. Go to eating! "
commanded Peter once more.

Heidi began with her milk, and as soon as she set
down her empty bowl Peter rose and filled it again.
Heidi broke some of her bread into it ; the rest, a piece
still larger than all Peter's bread, she handed over to
him, with all her large portion of cheese, and said : -

" You may have that. I have enough."

Peter looked at Heidi in speechless amazement, for
never in his life had he been able to say such a thing
or give anything away. He hesitated a little, for he
could not really believe that Heidi was in earnest.
She persisted in offering the bread and cheese, and
when he did not take it, she laid it down on his knee.
Then he saw that she meant it for him, seized the
prize, nodded his thanks, and then made the most
satisfactory dinner of his goatherd life. Meantime
Heidi watched the goats.

" What are their names, Peter ? " she asked.

He knew them all well enough and could keep them
in his head all the better because he had little else to

38 HEIDI

store away there. So he began and without hesitation
named one after the other, pointing to each one as he
did so. Heidi listened with the closest attention to his
explanation, and before long she could distinguish them
from one another and call each by name ; for they all
had their peculiarities, which any one might remember,
but it was necessary to look at them closely, and she
did this.

There was the big Turk with his powerful horns.
He was always trying to butt all the others, and if he
came near, most of them ran away and would have
nothing to do with their rough comrade. The brave
Distelfinck, a slender, nimble little goat, was the only
one that did not avoid him, but often ran at him three
or four times in succession so swiftly and skilfully that
the big Turk would stand still in astonishment and
make no further attack ; for the Distelfinck looked very
warlike1 and had sharp horns.

There was the little white Schneehopli, always bleat-
ing so touchingly, so beseechingly, that Heidi ran to
her again and again and put her arms around her head
to comfort her. But now the child hurried to her
once more, for her mournful young voice was again
raised in appeal. Heidi threw her arm around the little
creature's neck and asked quite sympathetically : —

" What is the matter, Schneehopli ? Why do you
cry so ? "

The goat trustingly pressed close to Heidi's side and
became perfectly quiet.

Peter called out from where he was sitting, with

IN THE PASTURE 39

frequent interruptions while he took a bite and a
swallow : —

" She does so because the old one does n't come with
her any more. They sold her and sent her to Mayen-
feld day before yesterday ; so she does n't come up on
the Aim any longer."

" Who is the old one ? " asked Heidi.

'-Why, the mother, of course," was the reply.

" Where is the grandmother ? " asked Heidi again.

"Hasn't any."

" And the grandfather ? "

"Hasn't any."

"You poor Schneehopli," said Heidi, drawing the
little creature tenderly towards her. " Don't cry so
any more, for, you see, I will come with you every day,
end then you won't be alone ; and if you want anything,
you can come to me."

Schneehopli rubbed her head contentedly against
Heidi's shoulder and bleated no more.

By far the prettiest and cleanest of the goats were
Schwanli and Barli, who were decidedly superior in
their behavior, and usually went their own way ; they
especially avoided the obtrusive Turk and treated him
with contempt.

The animals had begun to climb up to the bushes
again, each one after his own fashion : some leaping
carelessly over everything, others cautiously seeking
out the good herbs as they went along, while the Turk
tried his horns here and there — first in one place and
then in another.

40 HEIDI

Schwanli and Barli climbed prettily and gracefully,
and whenever they found fine bushes, there they sta-
tioned themselves and browsed on them. Heidi stood
with her hands behind her back, watching them all with
the closest attention.

" Peter," she said to the boy, who had thrown him-
self down again on the ground, "the prettiest of them
all are Schwanli and Barli."

"Of course they are," was the reply. "The Aim-
Uncle brushes and washes them and gives them salt and
has the best shed."

Suddenly Peter jumped up and fairly leaped after the
goats. Heidi ran after him ; she felt that something
must have happened, and she could not remain behind.
Peter ran through the midst of the goats to the side of
the mountain, where the rocks descended steep and bare
far below, and where a careless goat, going near, might
easily fall over and break all its bones. He had seen
the venturesome Distelfinck jumping along in that direc-
tion ; he reached there just in time, for at that instant
the little goat came to the very edge of the precipice.
Just as it was falling, Peter flung himself down on the
ground and managed to seize one of its legs and hold
it fast. Distelfinck bleated with anger and surprise, to
be held so by his leg and hindered from continuing his
merry course, and struggled obstinately onward. Peter
screamed: "Heidi, help me!" for he couldn't get up
and was almost pulling off Distelfinck's leg. Heidi was
already there and instantly understood their sorry plight.
She quickly pulled up from the ground some fragrant

IN THE PASTURE 41

herbs and held them under Distelfinck's nose and said
soothingly : -

"Come, come, Distelfinck, you must be sensible!
See, you might fall off and break your bones, and that
would give you frightful pain."

The goat quickly turned around and eagerly nibbled
the herbs from Heidi's hand. Meanwhile Peter had
succeeded in getting on his feet and had seized the
cord which held the bell around Distelfinck's neck.
Heidi seized it on the opposite side, and the two
together led the runaway back to the peacefully feed-
ing flock.

When Peter had the goat in safety once more, he
raised his rod to beat him soundly as a punishment, and
Distelfinck timidly drew back, for he saw what was
going to happen. But Heidi cried : —

" No, Peter ! no, you must not beat him ! See how
frightened he is ! "

"He deserves it," snarled Peter and was going to
strike the goat. But Heidi seized his arm and cried
indignantly : -

" You shall not do it ; it will hurt him ! Let him
alone ! "

Peter looked in astonishment at the commanding
Heidi, whose black eyes snapped at him. He reluc-
tantly dropped his rod.

'•'He can go if you will give me some of your cheese
again to-morrow," said Peter, yielding; for he wanted
some compensation for his fright.

"You may have it all — the whole piece — to-morrow

42 HEIDI

and every day ; I do not want it," said Heidi with
ready assent ; " and I will give you a good part of my
bread, too, as I did to-day. But then you must never,
never beat Distelfmck, nor Schneehopli, nor any of the
goats."

" It 's all the same to me," remarked Peter ; and
this was as good as a promise with him. Then he let
the offender go, and the happy Distelfmck leaped high
in the air and then bounded back into the flock.

Thus the day had imperceptibly passed away, and the
sun was just ready to go down behind the mountains.
Heidi sat down on the ground again and silently gazed
at the bluebells and the rock-roses glowing in the even-
ing light ; and all the grass seemed tinted with gold,
and the cliffs above began to gleam and sparkle. Sud-
denly Heidi jumped up and exclaimed :-

" Peter ! Peter ! it 's on fire ! It 's on fire ! All the
mountains are burning, and the big snow field over
there is on fire and the sky ! Oh, see ! see ! The
high cliff is all burning ! Oh, the beautiful fiery snow !
Peter, get up ! See ! the fire reaches up to the robber-
bird ! Look at the rocks ! See the fir trees ! Every-
thing, everything is on fire ! "

"It's always so," said Peter good-naturedly, peeling
the bark from his rod ; " but it is no fire."

"What is it, then?" asked Heidi, running back and
forth in order to look on every side ; for she could not
see enough, it was so beautiful everywhere.

" What is it, Peter ? what is it ? " cried Heidi again.

" It comes so of itself," explained Peter.

Peter! Peter! it 's
on fire ! "

IN THE PASTURE 43

" Oh, see ! see ! " cried Heidi in great excitement ;
" suddenly it grows rosy red ! Look at the snow and the
high, pointed rocks ! What are their names, Peter? "

" Mountains don't have names," he replied.

" Oh, how lovely ! See the snow all rosy red ! And
oh, on the rocks above there are ever and ever so many
roses ! Oh, now they are turning gray ! Oh ! Oh !
Now it is all gone ! It is all gone, Peter ! " And Heidi
sat down on the ground and looked as distressed as if
everything was really coming to an end.

" It will be just the same again to-morrow," explained
Peter. " Get up ! We must go home now."

Peter whistled and called the goats together, and
they started on the homeward journey.

" Will it be like that every day --every day when we
go to the pasture ? " asked Heidi, listening eagerly for
some decided assurance as she walked down the moun-
tain by Peter's side.

" Usually," was the reply.

" But really to-morrow again ? " she wanted to
know.

"Yes; yes, to-morrow, certainly!" assured Peter.

Then Heidi was happy once more, but she had re-
ceived so many impressions, and so many things were
going around in her mind, that she was perfectly silent
until they reached the hut and saw her grandfather.
He was sitting under the fir trees, where he had also
made a seat and was in the habit of waiting in the even-
ing for his goats, which came down in this direction.

Heidi ran straight up to him, followed by Schwanli

44 HEIDI

and Barli ; for the goats knew their master and their
shed. Peter called out to Heidi :-

" Come again to-morrow ! Good-night ! " He was
pleased to have Heidi go with him.

Heidi darted back, gave Peter her hand, and assured
him that she would accompany him again ; then she
sprang into the midst of the departing flock, threw her
arms once more around Schneehopli's neck, and said
confidingly : -

" Sleep well, Schneehopli, and remember that I will
go with you again to-morrow and that you must never
bleat so mournfully again."

Schneehopli seemed pleased and looked thankfully
into Heidi's face and then leaped gaily after the other
goats.

Heidi came back under the fir trees.

" Oh, grandfather, it was so beautiful!" she exclaimed
even before she had reached him- -"the fire and the
roses on the cliffs and. the blue and yellow flowers ; and
see what I have brought you ! "

Whereupon Heidi shook all her wealth of flowers out
of her folded apron in front of her grandfather. But
what a sight the poor little flowers made ! Heidi no
longer recognized them. They were all like hay, and
not a single cup was open.

" Oh, grandfather, what is the matter with them ? "
cried Heidi, quite shocked. " They were not like that ;
why do they look so now ? "

"They like to stand out in the sunshine and not shut
up in your apron," said the grandfather.

IN THE PASTURE 45

"Then I will never bring any more home. But,
grandfather, what made the robber-bird scream so ? "
asked Heidi urgently.

"You must jump into the water now, while I go to
the shed and fetch the milk ; afterwards we will go into
the house together and have supper. Then I will tell
you about it."

So it was ; and later, when Heidi sat on her high
stool before her little bowl of milk, next her grandfather,
she again asked the question : —

" Why did the robber-bird keep croaking and scream-
ing so, grandfather ? "

" He is mocking at the people down below, because so
many sit together in the villages and make one another
wicked. So he mocks at them : ' It would be much bet-
ter for you to leave one another and let each go his own
way and climb up to some mountain-top, as I do ! '

The grandfather spoke these words so wildly that the
robber-bird's screaming came back to Heidi's mind still
more impressively.

" Why have the mountains no names, grandfather ? "
asked Heidi again.

"They have names," he replied; "and if you can
describe one to me so that I can recognize it, I will tell
you what it is called."

Then Heidi described the rocky mountain, with its
two high towers, just as she had seen it, and the grand-
father, well pleased, said : -

" Very good ! I know it ; it is called Falkniss.1 Did
you see any more ? "

1 Falcon's nest.

46 HEIDI

Then Heidi described the mountain with the big snow
field, which had been on fire, then turned rose color,
and then suddenly grew pale and wan.

"I know that, too," said the grandfather; "that is
the Casaplana. So it pleased you up in the pasture,
did it ? "

Then Heidi told him about everything that had hap-
pened throughout the day - - how lovely it had been ;
and she asked her grandfather to tell her where the fire
at evening had come from, for Peter had not known any-
thing about it.

" You see," the grandfather explained, " the sun does
it. When he says good-night to the mountains, he sends
to them his most beautiful rays so that they may not
forget him until he comes back again in the morning."
This pleased Heidi, and she could hardly wait for
another day to come so that she could go up to the
pasture and see once more how the sun said good-night
to the mountains. But first she had to go to sleep, and
she slept soundly the whole night long on her bed of
hay and dreamed of bright, shining mountains and their
red roses, in the midst of which Schneehopli merrily
ran and jumped.

CHAPTER IV

AT THE GRANDMOTHER'S

ON the following morning the bright sun appeared
again, and Peter came with his goats, and they all went
together up to the pasture ; and so it happened day after
day. Heidi grew very brown and strong and healthy
from this outdoor life, and she was as happy as the
merry little birds in all the trees in the green woods.

It was now autumn, and the wind was beginning to
blow louder over the mountains ; so the grandfather
said one day : —

" You must stay here to-day, Heidi ; the wind with
one puff could blow a little thing like you over all the
rocks down into the valley."

But when Peter heard this in the morning, he looked
very unhappy, for he saw real misfortune before him.
He did not know how to pass the time, it was so tedi-
ous when Heidi was not with him. He missed his
hearty dinner. Moreover, the goats were so contrary
these days that he had twice as much trouble with
them ; they were so accustomed to Heidi's company
that they would not go along, but ran off in every
direction, because she was not with them.

Heidi was never unhappy, for she always found some-
thing about her to enjoy. She would have preferred

47

48 HEIDI

to go with Peter and the goats to the pasture, to the
flowers, and up to the robber-bird, where there were so
many things to do, with all the different goats ; but
still her grandfather's hammering and sawing and car-
pentering were very interesting to Heidi. It pleased
her that he was just preparing the pretty round goat
cheeses. Since she had to stay at home, it was particu-
larly delightful to watch the remarkable operations of
her grandfather as he bared both arms and stirred the
cheese in the big kettle.

But more attractive than all else to Heidi on such
windy days was the roaring and rushing in the three
old fir trees behind the hut. Wherever she happened
to be, she had to run to them every little while, for
nothing was so fascinating and wonderful as this deep,
mysterious sound up in the tree-tops. Heidi would
stand under them and listen ; she was never tired of
seeing and hearing how the wind roared and rocked
the trees with such might.

The sun was no longer hot, as in summer, and Heidi
brought out her shoes and stockings and also her little
coat ; for it grew cooler and cooler. When she stood
under the fir trees the wind blew through her as if she
were a thin leaf, but she kept running back again and
could not stay in the house when she heard the wind.

Then it grew cold, and Peter breathed on his hands
when he came early in the morning, but not for long,
for suddenly one night a deep snow fell. When the
sun rose, the whole Aim was white, and not a single
green leaf was to be seen anywhere about.

AT THE GRANDMOTHER'S 49

After this goatherd Peter came no more with his
flock ; and Heidi looked with amazement out of the
little window, for it was beginning to snow again ; and
big flakes fell thick and fast, until the snow came up
to the window, and then still higher, until they could not
open the window, and they were completely buried in
the little house. This made Heidi so merry that she
kept running from one window to the other to see how
it was increasing and whether the snow would cover the
entire hut, so that they would need to have a light in
the middle of the day. It was not so bad as that ; and
the following day the grandfather went out with his
shovel, for the storm was ended. He piled up great
heaps of snow, so that there seemed to be mountains
of it all around the hut.

Now the windows and the door were free, and it was
fortunate ; for as Heidi and her grandfather were sitting
in the afternoon on their three-legged stools, suddenly
there was a great knocking and stamping against the
threshold, and finally the door opened. It was Peter
the goatherd; he had not kicked against the door
through rudeness, but in order to beat off the snow
from his shoes. Indeed, Peter was covered with snow,
for he had been obliged to struggle through the high
drifts ; so that great lumps remained clinging to him,
frozen fast by the sharp cold. But he had not given
up, for he was anxious to reach Heidi, whom he had
not seen for a whole long week.

"Good-afternoon," said he as he entered, then
placed himself as near as possible to the fire and

50 HEIDI

made no further remark ; but his whole face beamed
with pleasure at being there. Heidi looked at him
wonderingly ; for now that he was so near the fire, he
began to thaw all over, so that he looked like a little
waterfall.

"Well, general, how are you?" asked the grand-
father. " Now you are without an army and must
bite your slate pencil."

"Why must he bite his slate pencil, grandfather?"
asked Heidi at once with curiosity.

" In winter he has to go to school," explained the
grandfather. "There you learn to read and write, and
often it is hard work ; so it helps a little if you bite
your slate pencil. Isn't it so, general?"

" Yes, it is so," said Peter.

Heidi's interest in the matter was now aroused, and
she had to ask Peter a great many questions about the
school and everything that happened and was to be
seen and heard there. As much time was always spent
in any conversation in which Peter was obliged to take
part, the result was that meanwhile he was able to get
well dried from top to toe. It was always a great effort
for him to put his thoughts into words - - to express his
meaning ; but this time it was unusually difficult, for
he had scarcely succeeded in giving one answer before
Heidi put two or three more unexpected questions and
mostly such as required a whole sentence in reply.

The grandfather had kept quite still during this con-
versation, but the corners of his mouth had twitched with
amusement, and this was a sign that he was listening.

AT THE GRANDMOTHER'S 51

"Well, general, now you have been under fire and
need strengthening. Come, stay to supper with us ! "

Whereupon the grandfather rose and brought the
evening meal from the cupboard, and Heidi pushed
the stools to the table. Next the wall there was still
another seat, which the grandfather had made and fas-
tened there. Now that he was no longer alone, he had
fashioned here and there all sorts of seats for two ; for
Heidi had a way of always keeping near him wher-
ever he went. So they all three had good seats ; and
Peter opened his round eyes very wide when he saw
what a big piece of the fine dried meat the Aim-Uncle
laid on his thick slice of bread. Peter had not had
anything so good for a long time. When the pleasant
meal was over, it began to grow dark, and Peter started
for home. When he had said " good-night " and " God
bless you" and was already in the doorway, he turned
round once more and said : —

" Next Sunday I will come again — a week from
to-day ; and you must come to my grandmother's some-
time ; she said so."

It was a new idea to Heidi that she should go to
visit some one, but it took root on the spot, and on the
following morning Heidi's first words were : -

" Grandfather, now I must really go down to the
grandmother's ; she expects me."

"There is too much snow," replied the grandfather,
putting her off. But the purpose was deeply seated in
Heidi's mind. After that not a day passed when Heidi
did not say five or six times : —

52 HEIDI

" Grandfather, now I must really go ; the grand-
mother is expecting me."

On the fourth day, when the cold was so bitter that
it cracked and creaked with every footstep outdoors,
and the whole covering of snow was frozen hard all
about, and yet the beautiful sun looked in at the window,
Heidi, as she sat on her high stool eating her dinner,
began her little speech again : -

" To-day I must really go to the grandmother's ; she
will be tired of waiting for me."

Then the grandfather rose from the dinner table,
went up to the hayloft, brought down the thick bag
that served as Heidi's bed covering, and said : —

" Well, come along ! "

The child was greatly delighted and skipped after
him out into the glistening world of snow. In the old
fir trees it was now quite still ; the white snow lay on
every bough, and the trees sparkled and shone all over
in the sunshine so gloriously that Heidi jumped up and
down with delight and kept exclaiming :-

" Come out, grandfather ! come out ! The fir trees
are all covered with real silver and gold !"

The grandfather had gone into the shop and now
came out with a wide sled. It had a handle fastened
to the side, and from the low seat one could hold the
feet out in front against the snowy ground and steer
with one or the other in the required direction.

After the grandfather had first looked all around the
fir trees with Heidi, he seated himself on the sled, took
the child in his lap, wrapped her up in the bag, so that

AT THE GRANDMOTHER'S 53

she might be warm and comfortable, and held her tight
with his left arm, as this was very necessary for the
coming journey. Then with his right hand he seized
the handle and gave a push with both feet. The sled
shot away down the mountain with such swiftness that
Heidi thought she was flying through the air like a bird
and shouted with joy.

Suddenly the sled stood still in front of Peter the
goatherd's hut. The grandfather put the child on the
ground, unwrapped her covering, and said : -

" Now go in, and when it begins to grow dark, come
out again and start along on the way home."

Then he turned round with his sled and drew it up
the mountain.

Heidi opened the door and went into a little room
which looked black. There was a fireplace in it and
some bowls on a stand. This was the kitchen. Then
came another door, which Heidi also opened. This led
into a small sitting-room ; for this was not a Swiss cot-
tage, like her grandfather's, with one single, large room
and a loft above it, but a very old little house, where
everything was small, narrow, and old-fashioned.

When Heidi stepped into the little sitting-room, she
stood right in front of a table by which sat a woman
mending Peter's jacket. Heidi immediately recognized
it. In the corner sat an old, bent grandmother spin-
ning. Heidi knew at once who she was. She went
straight to the spinning wheel and said: —

" How do you do, grandmother ? I have come to see
you. Did you think it was a long time before I came ? "

54 HEIDI

The grandmother raised her head and sought for the
hand held out to her. When she found it, she felt of
it for some time thoughtfully ; then she said : —

" Are you the child staying up with the Aim-Uncle ?
Are you Heidi ? "

"Yes, yes," replied the child; "I have just come
down with my grandfather on the sled."

" Is that possible ! Your hand is so warm ! Say,
Brigitte, did the Aim-Uncle himself come down with
the child?"

Peter's mother, Brigitte, who was mending by the
table, had risen and was now examining the child with
curiosity from head to foot ; then she said : —

" I don't know, mother, whether the uncle himself
came with her or not ; it is not likely ; the child may
be mistaken."

But Heidi looked straight at the woman and said
sturdily : -

" I know very well who wrapped me up in the cov-
erlet and brought me down on the sled. It was my
grandfather."

" Then there must be something in what Peter said
last summer about the Aim-Uncle, although we thought
he was not right," said the grandmother. "Who could
really have believed that such a thing was possible ? I
thought the child would n't live three weeks up there !
How does she look, Brigitte ? "

Brigitte had studied her so thoroughly in the mean
time that she could well describe her appearance.

" She has a delicate form like Adelheid," she replied ;

AT THE GRANDMOTHER'S 55

" but she has black eyes and curly hair, like Tobias and
also like the old man up there. I believe she looks like
them both."

Meanwhile Heidi was not idle ; she had looked around
and noticed everything. Now she said : —

" See, grandmother ! there is a shutter that keeps
swinging back and forth. My grandfather would drive
in a nail at once to hold it fast. It will break a pane
of glass. See, see ! "

"Oh, you good child!" said the grandmother; "I
cannot see it, but I can hear it and much more be-
sides the shutter. Everything creaks and rattles when
the wind blows, and it comes in everywhere. Every-
thing is loose ; and often in the night when both the
others are asleep, I am so anxious and afraid lest the
whole house should tumble down over our heads and
kill us all three ; and there is no man to mend any-
thing about the hut, for Peter does n't know how."

" But why can't you see how the shutter swings,
grandmother? See! there it goes again — there, there,
there ! " and Heidi pointed with her finger directly
toward the place.

"Ah, child ! I can see nothing at all, nothing at all;
the shutter or anything else," said the grandmother
mournfully.

" But if I go out and open the shutter wide so that
it will be quite light ; can you see then, grandmother ? '

" No, no, not even then ! No one can make it light
for me again ! "

" But if you go out in the white snow, then it will

56 HEIDI

surely be light for you. Just come with me, grand-
mother ; I will show you."

Heidi took the grandmother by the hand to lead her
out, for she was beginning to be distressed because it
did not seem light anywhere to the old dame.

"Let me sit still, you good child! It would be dark
to me even in the snow and in the light. My eyes
cannot see ! "

"But then in the. summer time, grandmother," said
Heidi, still anxiously seeking some way out of the dif-
ficulty; "you know when the sun comes down quite
hot and then says ' good-night ' to the mountains, and
they shine fiery red, and all the yellow flowers glisten ;
then it will be light to you, won't it ? "

" Ah, child ! I can never see them any more. The
fiery mountains and the golden flowers above us will
never more be bright to me on earth --nevermore."

Then Heidi burst into loud weeping. Full of dis-
tress, she kept sobbing : —

" Who can make it light again for you ? Can no
one ? Can no one at all ? "

The grandmother tried to comfort the child, but
she did not soon succeed. Heidi hardly ever cried ;
but when she once began, it was almost impossible
for her to recover from her grief.

The grandmother had tried every means to soothe
the child, for it went to her heart to have her sob so
pitifully. Finally she said : -

" Come, dear Heidi, come here ! I want to tell you
something. When a person cannot see, it is so pleas-

AT THE GRANDMOTHER'S 57

ant to hear a friendly word, and I like to hear you talk.
Come, sit down near me and tell me what you do up
there and what your grandfather does. I used to know
him well, but for many years I have heard nothing
about him, except through Peter ; but Peter does n't
say much."

Then a new idea came to Heidi's mind. She quickly
wiped away her tears and said comfortingly : -

"Just wait, grandmother; I will tell my grandfather
all about it. He will make it light for you again, and
he will fix the hut so that it won't tumble down. He
can make everything all right."

The grandmother remained silent. Then Heidi be-
gan with great liveliness to tell about her life with her
grandfather and the days she spent in the pasture ;
about her present life in the winter, and what her
grandfather made out of wood -- benches and stools
and lovely cribs to put hay in for Schwanli and Barli,
and a large new water tub for bathing in summer, and
a new milk bowl and spoon. Heidi grew still more
eager in describing the beautiful things which were
made out of a piece of wood, and how she staid near
her grandfather and watched him, and how quickly he
did everything. The grandmother listened with great
interest and from time to time interrupted her with : -

" Do you hear that, Brigitte ? Do you hear what she
says of the uncle ? "

Suddenly the story was interrupted by a great thump-
ing at the door, and in stamped Peter. The boy im-
mediately stood still and opened his round eyes wide

58 HEIDI

in astonishment at the sight of Heidi, and then a good-
natured grin spread over his face as she said : " Good-
afternoon, Peter ! "

" Is it possible that he has already come home
from school ! " exclaimed the grandmother in surprise.
" No afternoon for many a year has passed so quickly !
Good-afternoon, Peterli ! How did you get on with
the reading ? "

"Just the same," answered Peter.

"Dear, dear!" said the grandmother with a little
sigh; "I thought there might be a change! Think!
You will be twelve years old next February ! "

" Why should there be a change, grandmother ? "
asked Heidi at once with interest.

" I only thought he might be able to learn some-
thing," said the grandmother ; " learn to read, I mean.
Up there on the shelf I have an old prayer-book with
beautiful hymns in it which I have not heard for so
long that I cannot remember them ; so I thought if
Peterli could only learn, he would perhaps be able to
read some of the verses to me. But he cannot learn ;
it is too hard for him."

" I think I must get a light, it is already quite dark,"
said Peter's mother, who had been busy mending the
jacket all the while. " The afternoon has gone before
I was aware of it, either."

Then Heidi jumped up from her chair, quickly
reached out her hand and said : -

" Good-night, grandmother ! I must go home right
away, if it is growing dark " ; and Peter and his mother

AT THE GRANDMOTHER'S 59

shook hands with her, one after the other, and accom-
panied her to the door. But the grandmother called
out anxiously : -

" Wait, wait, Heidi ! You must not go alone. Peter
must go with you ; do you hear ? And take care of the
child, Peterli. Don't let her fall down or stand still
with her, for she might freeze. Do you hear ? And
has she a good thick scarf round her neck ? "

"I haven't any scarf at all; but I shall not freeze,"
Heidi called back. Then she went out at the door
and slipped away so quickly that Peter could hardly
follow her.

But the grandmother called anxiously :-

" Run after her, Brigitte, run ! The child will be
frozen --out so in the night. Take my neckerchief.
Run quickly ! "

Brigitte obeyed. But the children had gone only a
few steps up the mountain when they saw the grand-
father coming down, and in a moment he was with
them.

"Very good, Heidi," said he; "you have kept your
word ! " He wrapped the coverlet round the child
once more, took her in his arms and climbed up the
mountain. Brigitte saw this and went back into the
hut with Peter and told the grandmother in great
surprise all about it. The grandmother was also sur-
prised and kept saying : -

" God be praised and thanked that he is so good to
her ! God be praised and thanked ! If he will only
let her come to see me again ; for the child did me so

60 HEIDI

much good ! What a kind heart she has ! How amus-
ingly she talks ! " And until she went to bed she kept
repeating : -

" If she will only come again ! Now there is some-
thing still left in the .world to give me pleasure ! "

Brigitte agreed with her every time, and Peter nodded
his head approvingly and stretched his mouth wide with
delight, saying : —

" I knew it ! "

Meanwhile Heidi, wrapped in her bag, had much to
say to her grandfather ; but as her voice did not pene-
trate the eight-fold wrap, and he could not understand
a word, he said : —

"Wait a little, until we get home; then tell me
about it."

As soon as he reached the hut and had taken off
Heidi's wrap, she said: —

" Grandfather, to-morrow we must take the hammer
and the big nails and fasten the shutter at the grand-
mother's house, and drive a good many more nails ; for
everything creaks and rattles there."

" We must ? We must do so ? Who told you that ? "
asked the grandfather.

" Nobody told me so ; I knew it without," replied
Heidi; "for everything is loose and it makes the
grandmother anxious and afraid when the wind blows;
and she can't sleep. She thinks : ' Now everything will
fall down on our heads.' And nobody can make it
light any more for the grandmother ! She does n't
know how any one can. But you can surely, grand-

AT THE GRANDMOTHER'S 61

father ! Only think how sad it is for her to be
always in the dark ! and nobody can help her but
you ! To-morrow we will go ; won't we, grandfather ? "

Heidi clung to her grandfather and looked up at
him with undoubting confidence. The old man gazed
at the child for a little while, then said : -

" Yes, Heidi ; we will make everything fast at the
grandmother's hut, so that there will be no more rat-
tling. To-morrow we will do so."

Then the child jumped for joy all around the room
and cried : —

" To-morrow we will do it ! To-morrow we will
do it ! "

The grandfather kept his word. The following after-
noon they took the same ride on the sled. The old
man set the child down before the door and said :
" Now go in, and when it is night come back." Then
he laid the bag on the sled and went around the house.

Scarcely had Heidi opened the door and run into
the room, when the grandmother called out from her
corner :-

" Here comes the child ! It is the child ! "

She dropped her thread and stopped the wheel for
joy, and held out both hands.

Heidi immediately pushed the little low chair quite
near, sat down in it, and had a great many more things
to tell her and to ask her. But suddenly there was a
heavy pounding on the house. It startled the grand-
mother so that she nearly upset the spinning wheel
and, trembling, cried out:-

62 HEIDI

" Oh, dear me ! it has come at last ; the hut is all
tumbling to pieces."

But Heidi held her fast by the arm and said consol-
ingly : -

" No, no, grandmother ; don't be afraid, it is grand-
father with his hammer ; he is going to mend every-
thing so that you won't be worried and afraid any
longer."

" Oh ! is it possible ? Is such a thing possible ? So
the dear Lord has not entirely forgotten us ! " exclaimed
the grandmother. " Did you hear that, Brigitte, did
you hear what it is ? It is really a hammer ! Go out,
Brigitte, and if it is the Aim-Uncle tell him he must
come in a moment and let me thank him."

Brigitte went out. The Aim-Uncle was just driving
new fastenings into the wall ; Brigitte went toward him
and said : -

" I wish you good-afternoon, uncle, and so does my
mother ; and I want to thank you for doing us such a
service, and so does my mother indoors. Surely no one
else would do such a thing for us, and we want to thank
you, for surely"

"That will do," interrupted the old man; "what you
think of the Aim-Uncle I already know. Just go back
into the house ; I can find out myself what needs to be
done."

Brigitte at once obeyed, for the uncle had a way
which people did not usually oppose. He pounded and
hammered all around the hut ; then he climbed the nar-
row little staircase up under the roof and kept on ham-

AT THE GRANDMOTHER'S 63

mering until he had driven the last nail he had brought
with him. Meanwhile it had begun to grow dark ;
he had hardly come down and drawn his sled from
behind the goat-shed when Heidi stepped out from the
door. The grandfather wrapped her up in his arms
and carried her as on the previous day, drawing the sled
after him.

Thus the winter passed. After many long years a
joy had come into the blind grandmother's dreary life,
and her days were no more long and dark ; for now she
always had something pleasant to anticipate. From
early morning she listened for the tripping footstep,
and when the door opened and the child actually came
dancing in, then she always exclaimed joyfully :-

" God be praised ! She has come again ! "

Heidi would sit down by her side and prattle and talk
merrily .about everything she knew; it made the time
pass so quickly that the grandmother did not notice it,
and not once did she ask as formerly : -

" Brigitte, is the day nearly over ? "

Every time that Heidi closed the door behind her
she would say : -

" How short the afternoon has been, has n't it, Bri-
gitte ? " and Brigitte would reply : " To be sure, it seems
to me we have hardly put away the dinner plates.':

And the grandmother would say again : -

" If only the good Lord will preserve the child for
me and keep the Aim-Uncle kind. Does she look well,
Brigitte ? " and every time Brigitte would answer : " She
looks like a rosy apple."

64 HEIDI

Heidi had also a great fondness for the old grand-
mother, and whenever it came to her mind that no
one, not even her grandfather, could make it light for
her again, a great feeling of sorrow came over her ; but
the grandmother assured her that she suffered least
when she was with her, so Heidi came down on the
sled every fine winter's day. The grandfather, without
making any objection, had brought her, always carrying
his hammer and other things ; and he spent many an
afternoon working about Peter's hut. It had a good
result ; there was no more creaking and rattling, and
the grandmother said she should never forget the uncle,
for she had not been able to sleep well for many a long
winter.

CHAPTER V

TWO VISITS AND THEIR CONSEQUENCES

QUICKLY passed the winter, and still more quickly
the merry summer following ; and a new winter was
already drawing to an end. Heidi was as happy and
contented as the birds of the air, and rejoiced more and
more every day in the approaching spring, when the
warm south wind would blow through the fir trees and
drive away the snow ; then the bright sunshine would
call forth the blue and yellow flowers, and the days in
the pasture would come again --days which to Heidi
brought the greatest pleasure that earth could give.

Heidi was now in her eighth year ; she had learned
all sorts of handiwork from her grandfather. She could
go around with the goats as if she were one of them,
and Schwanli and Barli followed her like trusty dogs,
bleating loudly for joy if they merely heard her
voice.

This winter Peter had already brought word twice
from the school-teacher in Dorfli that the Aim-Uncle
ought to send the child living with him to school, for
she was more than old enough and should have gone
the winter before. The uncle had sent word back to
the school-teacher both times that if he wanted anything
of him he would find him at home, but that he should

66

HEIDI

not send the child to school. This message Peter had
faithfully delivered.

When the March sun had melted the snow on the
slopes, and the snowdrops were in bloom everywhere

in the valley, when the fir trees on the Aim had shaken
off their burden of snow, and their branches again
waved merrily — then Heidi in her delight kept running
back and forth from the house to the goat-shed, and
from the goat-shed to the fir trees, and then into the
hut to her grandfather to tell him how much larger the

TWO VISITS AND THEIR CONSEQUENCES 67

piece of green ground had grown under the trees. Then
she would immediately run back to look again, for she
could not wait until everything should be green once
more, and the lovely summer with its verdure and bloom
return to the mountain.

One sunny March morning, when Heidi was running
back and forth in this way, and was jumping over the
threshold for about the tenth time, she nearly fell back-
wards into the house from fright ; for suddenly there
appeared before her an old man all in black, who looked
at her very earnestly. But when he saw how startled
she was, he said kindly : —

" You must not be afraid of me ; I love children.
Give me your hand ! You must be Heidi ; where is
your grandfather ? '

" He is sitting at the table, carving round spoons out
of wood," replied Heidi, opening the door.

It was the old pastor from Dorfli, who had known the
uncle well years before, when he still lived in the valley
and was one of his neighbors. He stepped into the hut,
went up to the old man, who was bending over his wood-
carving, and said : —

" Good-morning, neighbor ! "

The grandfather looked up in surprise; the next
instant he rose and replied: —

" Good-morning, pastor." Then he offered him his
stool, saying : " If the pastor does not object to a
wooden seat, here is one."

The pastor sat down. After a moment he said : —
" I have not seen you for a long time, neighbor."

68 HEIDI

" Nor have I seen you, pastor," was the answer.

" I come to-day to talk with you about something,"
continued the pastor. " I think you already know what
the matter is which I am going to speak about, and I
want to hear what your intention is."

The pastor remained silent and looked at the child,
standing in the doorway and attentively watching the
new apparition.

"Heidi, go out to the goats," said the grandfather.
" You may take a little salt along and stay with them
until I come."

Heidi immediately disappeared.

" The child should have been sent to school a year
ago, and she certainly ought to have gone this winter,"
said the pastor ; " the teacher has sent you word about
it, but you have made no reply. What do you intend
to do with her, neighbor ? "

" I do not intend to send her to school," was the
answer.

The pastor looked in surprise at the old man as he
sat with folded arms on his bench and looked very
determined.

"What are you going to make of the child?" then
asked the pastor.

" Nothing ; she grows and thrives with the goats and
the birds ; she is well enough with them, and she learns
no harm from them."

" But the child is neither a goat nor a bird ; she is a
human being. If she learns no harm from such com-
panions, neither does she learn anything else ; she ought

TWO VISITS AND THEIR CONSEQUENCES 69

to learn something, and the time for it has arrived. I
have come to tell you now, neighbor, so that you may
be able to think it over and make your arrangements
during the summer. This is the last winter that the
child can spend without any instruction ; next winter
she must go to school, and every day."

"I shall not do it, pastor," said the old man de-
cidedly.

" Do you really suppose, then, that there is no means
of bringing you to terms if you will persist so obsti-
nately in your unreasonable behavior?" said the pastor
somewhat warmly. " You have been about the world
a great deal and have had an opportunity to see and
learn much, and I should give you credit for better
sense, neighbor."

" Indeed ! " said the old man ; and his voice showed
that he was no longer so perfectly calm in his mind;
"and does the pastor suppose that I would really send
a delicate child next winter on icy mornings through
storm and snow down the mountain, a two hours'
journey, and let her come back again at night, when
it often blusters and rages so that any one of us would
be lost in the wind and snow, and she only a little
child ? Possibly the pastor can recall her mother,
Adelheid ; she used to walk in her sleep and have ill
turns. Shall the child, too, be made to suffer from
such a struggle? Just let any one come and try to
compel me ! I will go into every court with her, and
then we shall see who is going to compel me ! "

" You are quite right, neighbor," said the pastor with

70 HEIDI

friendliness ; " it would not be possible to send the child
from here to school. But I can see that she is dear to
you ; for her sake do what you ought to have done long
ago ; come down into Dorfli and live once more with
human beings. What kind of a life is this up here,
alone and embittered toward God and man ? If any-
thing should happen to you up here, who would help
you ? I cannot understand in the least why you are
not half frozen all winter long in your hut, and how can
the delicate child endure it ? ''

" The child has young blood and good shelter ; that I
can assure you, pastor. Moreover, I know where there
is wood, and also when it is a good time to get it ; the
pastor ought to look into my shed ; there is enough
there so that the fire in my hut never goes out all win-
ter long. It is not for me to go down into the valley
as the pastor suggests ; the people down there despise
me and I despise them, so it is better for both that we
remain apart."

" No, no ; it is not good for you ; I know what the
trouble is," said the pastor earnestly. " As to the peo-
ple scorning you down in the valley, it is not so bad.
Believe me, neighbor, seek to make peace with your
God ; ask for his pardon if you have done any wrong,
and then come and see how differently the people re-
gard you, and how well it can still be with you."

The pastor rose, held out his hand to the old man,
and said again with heartiness : —

" I count upon it, neighbor, that next winter you
are to come down with us, for we are good old friends.

TWO VISITS AND THEIR CONSEQUENCES 71

I should feel very sorry if you had to be forced ; give
me your hand on it that you will come down and live
among us again, reconciled to God and man."

The Aim-Uncle gave his hand to the pastor, but
said firmly and decidedly : -

" The pastor means well toward me, but I cannot do
what he expects ; that I tell him surely and finally. I
shall not send the child, neither shall I come down
myself."

"Then God help you!" said the pastor, and went
sadly out of the hut and down the mountain.

The Aim-Uncle was out of sorts. In the afternoon
when Heidi said, " Now let us go to the grandmother's,"
he replied curtly : " Not to-day."

He did not speak again all day, and on the following
morning when Heidi asked, "Are we going to the
grandmother's to-day ? " he still answered shortly and
merely said: "We shall see."

Before the bowls had been put away after dinner
another visitor came to the door. It was Aunt Dete.
She had on her head a fine hat with a feather in it, and
a dress which swept up everything on the floor, and in
the hut lay all sorts of things which would not improve
a dress.

The uncle looked at her from top to toe and said not
a word. But Aunt Dete had a very friendly speech in
her mind, for she immediately began to flatter him by
saying that Heidi was looking so well that she hardly
recognized her, and that it was plain to be seen that
she had not fared ill with her grandfather. She had

72 HEIDI

really always intended to take her away again, for she
understood very well that the little one must be a
trouble to him, but never at any time before had she
been able to find a place for her. But day and night
she had wondered how she could provide for the child,
and to-day she had come because she had suddenly
heard of something which would be such good luck to
Heidi that she could hardly believe it. She had gone
at once to see about the matter, and now she could say
it was as good as settled, and not one in a hundred
thousand was so fortunate as Heidi.

" Some very wealthy relatives of my mistress, who
live in almost the finest house in all Frankfurt, have an
only daughter who is obliged to sit all the time in a
wheel chair, because she is lame and not well in other
ways. So she is almost always alone and obliged to study
alone with a teacher, which is very dull for her ; and,
besides, she would like to have a playmate in the house."

This had been spoken about at her employer's house,
and her mistress, who felt great sympathy for the little
invalid, was anxious to find such a companion as the
housekeeper described.

The housekeeper had said she wanted an unspoiled
child, not like those seen every day. Then Aunt Dete
had at once thought of Heidi and hastened immediately
to tell her all about the child and her character; and
the lady engaged to have her come. " It was impossible
to tell what good fortune was before Heidi, for when
she was once there, if she pleased the people, and some-
thing might possibly happen to the only daughter —

TWO VISITS AND THEIR CONSEQUENCES 73

there was no knowing, she was so sickly --and if the
people should not care to be left without any child, the
most unheard-of good luck might "

"Will you ever finish?" interrupted the uncle, who
had not said a word all this time.

" Bah," retorted Dete, tossing her head. " You act
exactly as if I had told you the most ordinary thing in
the world, and there is n't a single person throughout
all Prattigau who would n't thank God in Heaven if I
brought such news to them as I have brought to you."

" Take it to any one you like ; I will have none of
it," said the uncle bluntly.

Dete went off like a rocket and said : —

"Well, if that is what you think about it, uncle, I
will tell you what I think ; the child is now eight years
old and can do nothing and knows nothing, and you
will not let her learn anything. You will not send her
to school nor to church ; that they told me down in
Dorfli ; and she is my own sister's child. I have to
answer for what happens to her ; and when a child can
have such good fortune as Heidi, there can only be one
person to prevent, and that one who cares for nobody
and wishes nobody any good. But I won't give in ; that
I can tell you ; and the people are all in my favor ; there
is n't a single person down in Dorfli who will not help me,
and is not against you ; so take heed if you don't care
to be brought before the court, uncle ; there are things
that might be brought up which you would not like to
hear, for when a man once gets into court many things
are hunted up that he has forgotten all about."

74 HEIDI

" Silence ! " roared the uncle ; and his eyes blazed
like fire. " Take her and be gone ! Never bring her
into my sight again. I never want to see her with
feathers in her hat and words in her mouth such as
you have spoken to-day ! "

The uncle strode out of the house.

" You have made my grandfather angry," said Heidi ;
and her black eyes snapped at her aunt in no friendly
way.

"He will soon be all right again. Now come,"
urged the aunt; "where are your clothes?"

" I will not come," said Heidi.

" What do you say ? " continued the aunt ; then she
somewhat changed her tone of voice and went on in a
half friendly, half annoyed way : —

" Come, come along, you don't know any better ; you
can't imagine what a good time you will have." She
went to the cupboard, took out Heidi's things and put
them together.

" Now come, take your little hat, it does n't look very
well, but it will do for once ; put it on and make haste
to come along."

" I shall not come," answered Heidi.

" Don't be so foolish and stubborn, like the goats ;
you must have learned it from them. Listen to me ;
your grandfather is angry ; you have just heard him
say that we must never come into his sight again ; he
wants you to go with me now, and you must not make
him more angry. You have n't the least idea how lovely
it is in Frankfurt, and how many things you will see

TWO VISITS AND THEIR CONSEQUENCES 75

there ; and if you don't like it you can come back here ;
then the grandfather will be good-natured again."

" Can I turn right round and come back again to-
night?"

" Oh, come along ! I tell you, you can come home if
you want to. To-day we will go as far as Mayenfeld,
and to-morrow morning early we will get into the train,
and in that you can get home again in no time ; it 's like
flying."

Aunt Dete took the bundle of clothes on her arm, and
Heidi by the hand, and they started down the mountain.

As it was not yet time to go to the pasture, Peter
still went to school down in Dorfli, or was supposed to
go there ; but he took a holiday now and then, for he
thought it was of no use to go to school ; reading was
not necessary, but a little wandering about and looking
for large rods was profitable because he could make use
of them. So he was just coming toward his hut from
the farther side with a visible result of that day's efforts
in a huge long bundle of thick hazel rods which he car-
ried on his shoulder. He stood still and stared at the
two approaching figures until they reached him.

" Where are you going ? " he asked.

" I am hurrying to Frankfurt with my aunt," replied
Heidi ; " but I will first go in to see the grandmother,
for she is expecting me."

" No, no ; no talking, it is already too late," said the
aunt hastily, and holding the struggling Heidi fast by
the hand ; " you can see her when you come back ;
so come along! "

76 HEIDI

Whereupon the aunt dragged Heidi off with her and
did not let go, for she was afraid if she went in the
child might refuse to go away, and that the grandmother
might take her part. Peter ran into the hut and beat
on the table with his whole bundle of rods, making such
a frightful noise that the whole house trembled ; the
grandmother sprang up from her spinning wheel in
alarm and cried out aloud. Peter had to give vent to
his feelings.

" What is the matter ? What is the matter ? " cried
the grandmother with great concern ; and the mother,
who had been sitting by the table and was almost
startled out of her wits by the noise, said in her natu-
rally patient way : -

" What is the matter, Peterli ? What makes you so
wild ? "

" Because she has taken Heidi away with her," ex-
plained Peter.

"Who? who? Where, Peterli, where?" asked the
grandmother with new concern ; she quickly guessed
what had happened, for her daughter had told her a short
time before that she had seen Dete go up to the Aim-
Uncle's. All trembling in her haste, the grandmother
opened the window and called out beseechingly : -

" Dete, Dete, don't take the child away from us !
Don't take Heidi away from us ! "

The two travelers heard the voice, and Dete must
have surmised what she said, for she took hold of the
child more firmly than ever and ran as fast as she
could. Heidi resisted and said: —

TWO VISITS AND THEIR CONSEQUENCES 77

"The grandmother is calling; I want to go to
her."

But the aunt would not allow it and pacified the
child by telling her that they must hurry in order not
to be too late, and that the next morning they could
travel farther and she could then see whether it pleased
her well enough in Frankfurt to be willing to stay there.
If she wanted to come back home again, she could do
so at once ; and then she could bring something to the
grandmother which would delight her. This prospect
pleased Heidi. She began to hurry without further
objection

"What can I bring home to the grandmother ? " she
asked after a while.

" Something good," said the aunt ; " some lovely, soft
white rolls that will please her; for she can hardly eat
the hard black bread any longer."

" Yes ; she always gives it back to Peter and says :
'It is too hard for me.' I have seen that myself," stated
Heidi. " So let us go fast, Aunt Dete ; then, perhaps,
we shall reach Frankfurt to-day, so that I can soon be
back again with the rolls."

Heidi then began to run so fast that Dete, with her
bundle in her arms, could hardly keep up with her. But
she was very glad that she went so swiftly ; for they
were coming to the first houses in Dorfli, and there
everybody would make remarks and ask questions,
which might set Heidi to thinking again. So she
hurried straight through, and the child pulled so hard
at her hand that all the people could see that she was

78 HEIDI

obliged to hasten to please the child. So she merely
replied to those who questioned and called to her from
every door and window : —

"You see I can't stop now, for the child is in a
hurry, and we have still far to go."

"Are you taking her away? Is she running away
from the Aim-Uncle ? It 's only a wonder that she is
still alive ! And yet what rosy cheeks she has ! "

Such remarks as these came from every side ; and
Dete was glad that she came through the place without
delay and without being obliged to make any explana-
tion, and also that Heidi said never a word, but only
pushed on in the greatest haste.

From that day on the Aim-Uncle looked more ill-
natured than ever when he came down and passed
through Dorfli. He spoke to no one; and with his
cheese basket on his back, his enormous staff in his
hand, and his thick, contracted brows, he looked so
menacing that the women said to the little children :-

" Take care ! Get out of the Aim-Uncle's way or he
may hurt you ! "

The old man had nothing to do with any one in
Dorfli, but went through there far down into the valley,
where he sold his cheeses and procured his supply of
bread and meat. When he passed along through Dorfli
the people all stood in groups behind him, and every
one knew some strange thing about the Aim-Uncle ;
how he grew more wild-looking, and no longer even so
much as greeted any one. All were agreed that it was
fortunate that the child was able to escape ; for they

TWO VISITS AND THEIR CONSEQUENCES 79

had seen how she hurried away as if she were afraid
the old man was coming after her to bring her back.

The blind grandmother was the only one who stood
by the Aim-Uncle ; and she always told every one who
came up to her house, to bring spinning or to get yarn,
how good and care-taking he had been to the child, and
what he had done for her and her daughter ; how many
afternoons he had worked about their little house, which
would surely have tumbled to pieces without his help.
So this information also reached Dorfli; but most
people who heard it said that perhaps the grand-
mother was too old to understand rightly about it ;
for she could no longer hear well, while she could not
see at all.

The Aim-Uncle showed himself no longer at Peter's
hut ; it was a good thing that it had been so well
repaired, for it remained for a long time untouched.

The blind grandmother now began the day with
sighs, and not one passed that she did not say sor-
rowfully : —

"Ah! with the child all joy and good have been
taken away from us, and the days are so empty ! If
I could only hear Heidi's voice once more before I
die ! "

CHAPTER VI

A NEW CHAPTER AND ENTIRELY NEW SCENES

IN the house of Herr Sesemann, in Frankfurt, reclined
the little sick daughter, Klara, in her comfortable wheel
chair. She spent the whole day in it and was pushed
from one room to another. She was now in the so-called
library, next the large dining-room, and here all sorts of
articles were scattered about for comfort, showing that
it was used as the living-room. From the beautiful,
large bookcase one could see how it had been named,
and that it was the place where the little lame girl
received her daily instruction.

Klara had a pale, thin face, out of which looked two
gentle blue eyes, at this moment directed toward the
large wall clock, which seemed to go unusually slow ;
for Klara, who was hardly ever impatient, now said with
some uneasiness : —

"Isn't it time yet, Fraulein Rottenmeier ? "

Fraulein Rottenmeier sat very upright in a little sew-
ing-chair and was embroidering. She wore a mysterious
wrap, a large cape, or sort of cloak, which gave her a
solemn appearance, and was accentuated by a kind of
high dome, which she had on her head. Fraulein
Rottenmeier, since the death of Klara's mother many
years before, had been in charge of everything in the

80

A NEW CHAPTER AND NEW SCENES 81

Sesemann household. Herr Sesemann was away most
of the time and left the whole house in Fraulein Rot-
tenmeier's care, but with the condition that his little
daughter should have a voice in everything, and that
nothing should be done contrary to her wishes.

While Klara, with signs of impatience, was for the
second time asking Fraulein Rottenmeier whether it
was not time for the expected guests to arrive, Dete,
holding Heidi by the hand, was standing at the entrance
door below, asking the coachman Johann, who had just
jumped down from the carriage, whether she might ven-
ture to disturb Fraulein Rottenmeier at so late an hour.

"That is not my business," growled the coachman;
"ring for Sebastian, inside there in the corridor."

Dete did as he told her ; and the butler, with big
buttons on his coat and round eyes almost as big in his
head, came down the stairs.

" I would like to ask whether I may venture to dis-
turb Fraulein Rottenmeier at this hour."

"That is not my business," answered the butler;
" ring the other bell for the maid Tinette " ; and without
further information Sebastian disappeared.

Dete rang again. This time the maid Tinette ap-
peared on the stairs, with a little cap, dazzlingly white,
on the middle of her head and a scornful expression on
her face.

" What is it ? " she asked from the stairs, without
coming down. Dete repeated her request. Tinette
disappeared, but soon came back again and called down
the stairs : —

82 HEIDI

"You are expected."

Dete, with Heidi, then went up the stairs and, follow-
ing Tinette, entered the library. Here Dete remained
politely standing by the door ; she still held Heidi fast
by the hand, for she was not quite sure what the child
might take it into her head to do in this strange place.

Fraulein Rottenmeier slowly rose from her seat and
came nearer, in order to scrutinize the newly arrived
companion for the daughter of the house. Her appear-
ance did not seem to please her. Heidi had on her
plain cotton dress and her old crushed straw hat. Her
eyes peered forth very innocently from under it and
looked with unconcealed amazement at the construction
on the lady's head.

"What is your name ? " asked Fraulein Rottenmeier,
after having looked searchingly for some minutes at the
child, who never took her eyes away from her.

" Heidi," she replied distinctly, in a ringing voice.

" What ? what ? That can surely be no Christian
name. Then you can't have been baptized. What
name was given you in baptism ? " asked Fraulein
Rottenmeier further.

"That I do not know," replied Heidi.

"What an answer! " exclaimed the lady, shaking her
head. " Dete, is the child foolish or pert ? "

"If the lady will allow me, I will speak for the child,
for she is very inexperienced," said Dete, after she had
given Heidi a little nudge on the sly for her unbecoming
answer. " She is neither foolish nor pert, for she knows
nothing about it; she means just what she says. But

A NEW CHAPTER AND NEW SCENES 83

this is the first time she lias ever been in a gentleman's
house, and she knows nothing about good manners ;
she is willing and quick to learn if the lady will have
forbearance. She was baptized Adelheid, like her
mother, my late sister."

"Well ! that is a name that can be pronounced,"
observed Fraulein Rottenmeier. " But, Dete, I must
tell you that she is a remarkable-looking child for her
age. I informed you that Fraulein Klara's companion
must be of her age, in order to pursue the same studies
•with her and, especially, to share her occupations. Frau-
lein Klara is more than twelve years old ; how old is
this child ? "

"With the lady's permission," Dete began again, "I
can't quite recollect just how old she is ; to be sure, she
must be somewhat younger, but not very much. I can't
say exactly ; but she may be about the tenth year, or
nearly that, I should think."

" I am eight now ; grandfather said so," explained
Heidi. The aunt nudged her again ; but Heidi had not
the least suspicion why and was not at all embarrassed.

"What ? Only eight years old ! " exclaimed Fraulein
Rottenmeier with some indignation. " Four years too
little ! What does it mean ? What have you learned ?
And what books have you studied ? "

"None," said Heidi.

" What ? what ? How did you learn to read then ? "
asked the lady again.

" I have never learned to read ; neither has Peter,"
-Stated Heidi.

84 HEIDI

" Good gracious ! you cannot read ! You really can-
not read ! " exclaimed Fraulein Rottenmeier with the
greatest horror. " Is it possible that you are unable to
read? What have you learned, then ? "

"Nothing," said Heidi in strict accordance with the
truth.

" Dete," said Fraulein Rottenmeier, after some min-
utes, in which she tried to compose herself ; " this is
not according to the agreement. How could you bring
me this creature ? "

But Dete was not so easily abashed ; she answered
eagerly : —

" If the lady will allow me, the child is exactly what
I thought the lady wanted ; the lady explained to me
that she must be quite different and not at all like other
children, and so I brought this little one ; for the larger
ones among us are not so different, and I thought this
one answered the description perfectly. But I must be
going. My mistress is expecting me ; if she will allow
me, I will come again soon and see how she gets
along."

With a courtesy Dete went out of the door and down
the stairs as fast as she could go. Fraulein Rottenmeier
stood still for a moment, then ran after Dete. It sud-
denly occurred to her that she wished to talk with the
aunt about a number of things if the child was really
going to remain ; and here she was, and, as she saw,
the aunt was determined to leave her.

Heidi remained on the spot by the door where
she had stood from the first. Until then Klara had

" My name is Heidi and
nothing else "

A NEW CHAPTER AND NEW SCENES 85

watched everything in silence from her chair. Now
she beckoned to Heidi :-

" Come here! "

Heidi went to the wheel chair.

" Would you rather be called Heidi or Adelheid ? "
asked Klara.

" My name is Heidi and nothing else," was Heidi's
reply.

" Then I will always call you so," said Klara. " I
like the name for you ; I have never heard it before,
but I have never seen a child before that looks like you.
Have you always had such short, curly hair ? "

"Yes, I think so," answered Heidi.

" Did you want to come to Frankfurt ? " asked Klara
again.

" No ; but to-morrow I am going back home again
to carry the grandmother some white rolls," explained
Heidi.

"You are a strange child!" said Klara. "They
have brought you to Frankfurt expressly to stay with
me and study with me, and you see now it will be very
funny, because you don't know how to read at all, and
there will be something entirely new in the study hours.
It has often been so frightfully cedious, and it seems as
if the morning would never end. You see, the Herr
Kandidat comes every morning at ten o'clock, and
then the lessons begin and last until two, and it is so
long ! The Herr Kandidat often puts his book close to
his face, as if he had suddenly grown nearsighted, but
he is only yawning frightfully behind it, and Fraulein

86 HEIDI

Rottenmeier, too, takes out her big handkerchief every
now and then and buries her whole face in it as if she
were very much affected by what we are reading ; but
I know perfectly well that she is only yawning terribly.
Then I want to yawn so badly, but I have to swallow it
down, for if I yawn only one single time Fraulein Rot-
tenmeier brings the cod-liver oil and says I am getting
faint. Cod-liver oil is the very worst thing to take, so
I prefer to smother the yawns. But now it will be
less wearisome, for I can listen while you learn to
read."

Heidi shook her head quite thoughtfully when she
heard about learning to read.

" But, Heidi, you must learn to read, of course ; every
one has to, and the Herr Kandidat is very good — he is
never cross, and he will explain everything to you.
But you see, when he explains anything, if you don't
understand at all about it you must just wait and say
nothing, or else he will explain a great deal more and
you will understand still less. But afterwards, when
you have learned something and know it, then you will
understand what he meant."

Just then Fraulein Rottenmeier came into the room ;
she had not succeeded in calling Dete back and was
evidently disturbed by it, for she had not been able
to tell her exactly in what respect the child was not
according to the agreement, and since she did not
know what to do to retrace her steps she was all the
more agitated, as she herself had proposed the whole
thing.

A NEW CHAPTER AND NEW SCENES 87

She went from the library to the dining-room, and
from there back again, and then immediately turned
round and went to Sebastian, who passed his round
eyes thoughtfully over the table, which was already laid,
to see if there was any fault to be found with his work.

" Think your great thoughts to-morrow, and to-day
get ready for us to come to the table."

With these words Fraulein Rottenmeier passed by
Sebastian and called Tinette in such an ungracious
tone that she came mincing along with even shorter
steps than usual, and stood before her with such a
mocking face that Fraulein Rottenmeier herself did
not dare to speak angrily to her; so her irritation
increased within her.

"The little visitor's room is to be put in order,
Tinette," said the lady with forced calmness; "every-
thing is ready, but the furniture needs to be dusted."

" It is well worth while," said Tinette, sneeringly,
and went out.

Meanwhile Sebastian had opened the double doors
of the library with considerable noise, for he was very
angry, but did not dare to give vent to his feelings in
words before Fraulein Rottenmeier; he then went
quite calmly into the library to push out the wheel
chair. While he was arranging the handle at the back
of the chair Heidi placed herself in front of him and
fixed her eyes upon him. He noticed it and suddenly
burst forth :-

" Now what is there so extraordinary to look at ? "
he growled at Heidi, in a way he would not have spoken

HEIDI

if he had seen Fraulein Rottenmeier. She was just com-
ing into the room when Heidi replied : —
" You look just like Peter, the goatherd."
The lady clasped her hands in horror. " Is it possi-

ble ! " she groaned half aloud. " She is saying tJiou to
the servants ! The creature lacks the most primitive
ideas!"

The chair came rolling along, and Klara was placed
by Sebastian at the table.

Fraulein Rottenmeier sat next her and beckoned to

A NEW CHAPTER AND NEW SCENES 89

Heidi to take the place opposite. No one else came
to the table, and as the three sat far apart, there was
plenty of room for Sebastian to serve his dishes. Next
Heidi's plate lay a lovely white roll ; the child cast
longing looks at it. The resemblance which Heidi
had discovered must have aroused her entire confidence
in Sebastian, for she sat as still as a mouse and did not
move until he held out the large tray and offered her
the fried fish ; then she pointed to the roll and said :-

" Can I have that ? "

Sebastian nodded and glanced at Fraulein Rotten-
meier, for he wondered what impression the question
would make on her. In a twinkling Heidi seized her
roll and put it into her pocket. Sebastian made up a
face to keep from laughing, for he knew very well that
it was not allowable. He remained standing silently
by Heidi, for he did not dare to speak, and neither did
he dare to move away until he was bidden. Heidi
looked at him for some time in amazement, and then
asked : —

" Shall I eat some of that ? "

Sebastian nodded again.

"Then give me some," she said, looking calmly at
her plate.

Sebastian's face grew very thoughtful, and the tray
in his hand began to tremble dangerously.

" You can put the tray on the table and come back
again later," said Fraulein Rottenmeier, looking severely
at him.

Sebastian at once disappeared.

90 HEIDI

"As for you, Adelheid, I must positively give you
some ideas ; I see that," continued Fraulein Rotten-
meier with a deep sigh. " In the first place, I will
tell you how to behave at the table"; and the lady ex-
plained clearly and minutely everything that Heidi had
to do. "Then," she went on, " I must impress it upon
you particularly that you are not to speak to Sebastian
at the table, unless you have some order to give, or
some necessary question to ask."

She then told her how she was to address the differ-
ent members of the household, ending with: " Klara will
tell you how she wishes you to call her."

" Klara, of course," said the little invalid.

Then followed a multitude of instructions about ris-
ing in the morning and going to bed, about coming in
and going out, about shutting doors, and about orderli-
ness in general. Meantime Heidi's eyes closed, for she
had been up since five o'clock and had taken a long
journey. She leaned back in her chair and fell asleep.
When Fraulein Rottenmeier finally came to the end of
her instructions, she said :-

" Now think this all over ! Have you understood
everything ? "

" Heidi has been asleep for a long time," said Klara,
looking much amused ; the supper hour had not passed
so quickly in a long time.

"I never in all my life saw the like- of this child !"
exclaimed Fraulein Rottenmeier in great vexation ; and
she rang the bell so violently that Tinette and Sebastian
both came rushing in together. In spite of all the con-

A NEW CHAPTER AND NEW SCENES 91

fusion Heidi did not wake, and they had the greatest
difficulty in arousing her sufficiently to get her to her
sleeping-room, first through the library, then through
Klara's bedroom and Fraulein Rottenmeier's, to the
corner chamber, which was now ready for the little
girl

CHAPTER VII

FRAULEIN ROTTENMEIER HAS AN UNCOMFORT-
ABLE DAY

WHEN Heidi awoke, on her first morning in Frank-
furt, she could not understand what she saw. She
rubbed her eyes hard, then looked up again ; everything
was the same. She was sitting in a high white bed
in a large room ; where the light came in, hung long,
long white curtains ; near by stood two chairs with large
flowers on them ; then there was a sofa with the same
flowers, and a round table in front of it, and in the cor-
ner was a wash-stand on which were things that Heidi
had never seen before.

Suddenly she remembered that she was in Frankfurt,
and everything that had happened the day before came
back to her mind ; and finally she recalled quite clearly
the lady's instructions, as far as she had heard them.

Heidi jumped from the bed and dressed herself.
She went first to one window and then to the other, for
she wanted to see the sky and earth outside ; she felt
as if she were in a cage behind the long curtains. She
could not push them aside, so she crawled in behind
them in order to reach the window. But this was so
high that her head hardly came up far enough to let
her see out. Heidi did not find what she was looking

92

AN UNCOMFORTABLE DAY 93

for. She ran from one window to the other and then
back again ; but there was always the same thing be-
fore her eyes, --walls and windows, and then walls and
then windows again.

This puzzled her. It was still early in the morning,
for she was accustomed to rise betimes on the Aim,
and then to run outdoors immediately to see if the
sky was blue and the sun already up; if the fir trees
were murmuring, and the blue flowers had opened their
eyes. As a little bird, placed for the first time in a
handsome, glittering cage, flies back and forth and
tries every bar to see if it cannot slip between and fly
out and regain its freedom, so Heidi kept running
from one window to the other, trying to open them,
for she felt that there must be something to be seen
besides walls and windows ; she felt sure that the
ground underneath, with the green grass and the last
melting snow on the cliffs, must come into sight, and
she longed to see it.

But the windows remained firmly closed, no matter
how hard the child tugged and pulled and tried to get
her little fingers under the sash. After some time,
when she found that her exertions were of no avail, she
gave up the plan and wondered how it would be if she
were to go outdoors and around behind the house until
she should come to some grass, for she remembered
that the evening before she had walked over nothing
but stones in front of the house. There was a knock
at the door, and Tinette immediately thrust her head
in and said curtly: —

94 HEIDI

"Breakfast 's ready! "

Heidi did not in the least understand that these
words meant .an invitation; Tinette's scornful face
seemed to warn her not to come too near her rather
than to give a friendly summons, and Heidi understood
this and acted accordingly. She took the little foot-
stool out from under the table, placed it in a corner,
sat down on it, and waited to see what would happen.
After some time she heard a bustling, and Fraulein
Rottenmeier, again in a state of irritation, came and
called into Heidi's room : -

" What is the matter with you, Adelheid ? Don't
you understand what breakfast means ? Come down ! "

Heidi understood this, and at once followed her.

Klara had been sitting some time in her place in the
dining-room and gave Heidi a friendly greeting. She
looked much more contented than usual, for she expected
all sorts of strange things to happen that day. The
breakfast passed without any disturbance ; Heidi ate
her bread and butter properly enough, and after the
meal was over Klara was rolled back into the library.
Heidi was bidden by Fraulein Rottenmeier to follow
and remain with Klara until the Herr Kandidat came
to begin the lessons. When the two children were
alone Heidi said at once : -

" How do you see outdoors and 'way down to the
ground here ? "

"We open the window and look out," replied Klara,
amused at the question.

" But the windows don't open," said Heidi sadly.

AN UNCOMFORTABLE DAY 95

"Well! well!" exclaimed Klara, "you can't open
them, and I can't help you ; but when you see Sebastian,
he will open one for you."

It was a great relief to Heidi to know that the
windows could open and that she could look out, for
her room had seemed to her like a prison.

Klara then began to ask Heidi about her home ; and
Heidi was delighted to tell her about the Aim, the
goats, and the pasture, and everything she was so
fond of.

In the mean time the Herr Kandidat arrived ; but
Fraulein Rottenmeier did not take him as usual into
the library, for she wished to talk with him first, and
so asked him into the dining-room, where she sat down
in front of him, and in great excitement described her
embarrassing situation, and how it had come about.

She had written some time before to Herr Sesemann
in Paris, where he was staying, that his daughter had
for a long time desired to have a companion in the
house, and that she herself believed that it would be an
incentive to Klara in the study hours, and give her
stimulating society the rest of the time. In reality the
plan was a very desirable one for Fraulein Rottenmeier
herself, as she was anxious to have some one there to
relieve her from entertaining the sick girl --a task which
was often too much for her. Herr Sesemann had re-
plied that he would willingly grant his daughter's wish,
but with the condition that her playmate should be in
every way as Klara's equal ; for he would have no chil-
dren tormented in his house - - « a really very unneces-

96 HEIDI

sary remark from Herr Sesemann, for who wants to
torment children ? "

She then went on to tell the Herr Kandidat how
terribly disappointed she had been in the child, and
related all the strange things she had done since she
had been in the house, proving not only that he would
have literally to begin his instruction with the alphabet,
but that she, too, had to commence at the very begin-
ning in every kind of training. She saw only one way
out of these unfortunate circumstances, and that was
for the Herr Kandidat to declare that two children so
different could not be taught together without great
harm to the advanced pupil ; this would be a sufficient
reason to Herr Sesemann for putting an end to the
matter and allowing the child to be immediately sent
back where she came from ; she would not dare to
undertake this without his consent, because the master
of the house knew that the child had come.

But the Herr Kandidat was very discreet and never
one-sided in his judgment.

He spoke many consoling words to Fraulein Rotten-
meier and gave the opinion that if the young girl was
backward in one way she might be so advanced in other
ways that with well-regulated instruction they would be
brought into harmony. When Fraulein Rottenmeier
saw that the Herr Kandidat did not favor her, but
would undertake to teach A-B-C's, she opened the door
into the library for him, and after he had gone in closed
it quickly behind him and remained on the other side,
for she had a horror of A-B-C's.

AN UNCOMFORTABLE DAY 97

She strode up and down the room, considering how
the servants should address Adelheid. Herr Sesemann
had written that she must be treated as his daughter ;
and this command had to be carried out, especially in
regard to the servants, thought Fraulein Rottenmeier.
But she was not able to meditate long without inter-
ruption, for suddenly from the library came a fright-
ful crash as of something falling, and then a call to
Sebastian for help. She rushed into the room. There
on the floor everything lay in a heap --books, copy-
books, inkstand, and on top of all the rest the table-
cover, from underneath which a stream of ink flowed
across the whole length of the room.

Heidi had disappeared.

"Just look at that !" exclaimed Fraulein Rottenmeier,
wringing her hands. "Table-cover, books, and work-
basket, all in the ink ! Such a thing never happened
before ! There 's no doubt about it, it is that wretched
creature ! "

The Herr Kandidat stood in perfect dismay gazing at
the destruction which could be regarded only in one light,
as very disturbing. Klara, on the other hand, watched
the unusual occurrence and its result with a look of per-
fect delight and simply said by way of explanation : -

" Yes, Heidi did it, but not on purpose ; she really
must not be blamed ; she was only in such a fearful
hurry to get away, and pulled the cover with her, and
so everything fell with it to the floor. Several carriages
went by, one after the other, so she rushed out ; perhaps
she had never seen a coach before."

98 HEIDI

"There, isn't it just as I told you, Herr Kandidat ?
The creature has n't an idea about anything ! not a
suspicion what a lesson hour is, that she ought to sit
still and listen. But where is the unlucky child ? If
she has run away, what would Herr Sesemann say
to me?"

Fraulein Rottenmeier darted out and down the stairs.
There in the open doorway stood Heidi, looking, quite
perplexed, up and down the street.

"What is it ? What is the matter with you ? Why
have you run away ? " demanded Fraulein Rottenmeier
of the little girl.

" I heard the fir trees roar, but I don't know where
they are, and I don't hear them any longer," answered
Heidi, looking blankly in the direction where the
rolling of the carriages had died away, a noise which
in Heidi's ears seemed like the raging of the wind in
the firs, so that she had followed the sound in the
highest glee.

" Firs ! Are we in the woods ? What a notion !
Come up and see what you have done ! "

Whereupon Fraulein Rottenmeier went upstairs again ;
Heidi followed her and was very much astonished to see
the great damage done, for in her delight and haste to
hear the fir trees she had not noticed what she was
dragging after her.

" You have done that once ; you must not do it
again," said Fraulein Rottenmeier, pointing to the floor;
" when you are having lessons you must sit still in your
chair and pay attention. If you cannot do it by your-

AN UNCOMFORTABLE DAY 99

self, I shall have to fasten you to your seat. Do you
understand ? "

" Yes," replied Heidi, "and I will sit still now"; for
she began to comprehend what she was expected to do.

Tinette and Sebastian by this time had to come to
put the room in order, and the Herr Kandidat went
away, for all further teaching had to be given up.
There had been no excuse for yawning that morning.

In the afternoon Klara always had to rest a long
time, and Heidi could then busy herself as she pleased;
so Fraulein Rottenmeier had explained to her in the
morning. When Klara had lain down to rest in her
chair after dinner, Fraulein Rottenmeier went to her
room. Heidi was glad to have the time to herself, for
she had in her mind a plan which she was anxious to
undertake, but she would be obliged to have help about
it. Therefore she placed herself in the middle of the
hall, in front of the dining-room, in order that the
person she wished to see might not escape her. Sure
enough, in a little while Sebastian came up the stairs
with the large tea tray, bringing the silver up from
the kitchen to put away in the china closet. When
he reached the last stair Heidi stepped up to him,
saying :-

" I would like to ask you something," and added, as
if to pacify him, " but it is really not wrong, as it was
this morning"; for she noticed that he looked a little
cross, and she thought it was on account of the ink on
the carpet.

Sebastian then laughed so loud that Heidi looked

100 HEIDI

at him in amazement, for she had n't noticed anything
amusing.

"All right, go ahead, Mamsell."

" My name is n't Mamsell," said Heidi, a little vexed
in her turn ; " my name is Heidi."

" That 's all right ; Fraulein Rottenmeier told me to
call you so," explained Sebastian.

"Did she? Well, then, I must be called so," said
Heidi resignedly ; for she had noticed that everything
had to be as Fraulein Rottenmeier said.

"Now I have three names," she added with a sigh.

"What did the little Mamsell want to ask?" said
Sebastian as he went into the dining-room and was
putting away the silver in the closet.

"How do you open the windows, Sebastian?"

" This way," he replied, swinging out one of the large
windows.

Heidi went to it, but she was too small to be able to
see anything ; she reached only to the window sill.

" There ; now the little girl can look out and see
what there is below," said Sebastian, bringing a high
wooden stool and setting it down. Heidi climbed up
with great delight, and was able at last to take the
longed-for look out the window. But she immediately
drew her head in, evidently much disappointed.

" There is nothing to see at all but the stony
street," said the child mournfully ; " if you go clear
round the house, what do you see on the other side,
Sebastian? "

"Just the same," was the answer.

AN UNCOMFORTABLE DAY 101

" But where do you go to see way down across the
whole valley? "

" You have to climb up into some high church tower,
like the one over there with the golden dome above it.
From up there you can see away off ever so far."

Then Heidi quickly climbed down from the stool,
ran out of the door, down the stairs, and went out into
the street. But she did not find it as she imagined it
would be. When she saw the tower through the win-
dow, she fancied she would only have to go across the
street and it would be just in front of her. She went
down the entire length of the street, but without com-
ing to the tower, and she could no longer see it any-
where ; and she came to another street and then another,
and so on, but still she did not see the tower. A great
many persons passed her, but they were all in such a
hurry that Heidi thought they had no time to tell her
anything about it. Finally she saw a boy standing on
the corner of the next street ; he was carrying a small
hand organ on his back and a very strange animal in
his arms. Heidi ran up to him and asked :-

" Where is the tower with the golden dome at the
very top? "

"Don't know," was the answer.

"Who can tell me then where it is?" asked Heidi
again.

"Don't know."

"Don't you know any other church with a high tower? "

" Certainly I know one,"

" Come and show me where it is."

102 HEIDI

" Show me first what you will give me if I do."

The boy held out his hand. Heidi searched in her
pocket. She drew out a little picture, on which was
painted a garland of red roses ; she looked at it for a
little while, for she disliked to part with it. That very
morning Klara had given it to her ; but to look down
into the valley, across the green slopes !

"There," said Heidi, holding out the picture to him ;
"will you take that? "

The boy drew his hand back and shook his head.

"What do you want, then? " asked Heidi, delighted
to put her picture back into her pocket.

"Money."

" I have n't any, but Klara has, and she will give me
some ; how much do you want? "

" Twenty pfennigs."

" Well, then, come along."

The two accordingly went through a long street, and
on the way Heidi asked her companion what he was
carrying on his back, and he explained that under the
cloth he had an organ which made wonderful music
when he turned the handle. Suddenly they came to
an old church with a high tower ; the boy stood still
and said : —

"There!"

" But how can I get in ? " asked Heidi when she
found that the doors were closed.

"Don't know," was the answer.

" Do you think I could ring here as I do for Sebas-
tian?"

AN UNCOMFORTABLE DAY 103

"Don't know."

Heidi had noticed a bell in the wall and now pulled
it with all her might.

" If I go up there you must wait down here, for I
don't know the way back, and you must show me."

" What will you give me if I do? "

" What shall I have to give you, then? "

" Twenty pfennigs more."

A key was turned in the old lock on the inside, and
the creaking door opened ; an old man stepped out and
looked at first surprised and then rather angrily at the
children and said : —

" How did you dare to ring for me to come down ?
Can't you read what it says under the bell? 'For
those who wish to ascend the tower.' '

The boy pointed to Heidi and said not a word.

Heidi replied : " I want to go up into the tower."

"What do you want to do up there?" asked the
tower-keeper. "Did some one send you here?"

" No," answered Heidi. " I only want to go up so
that I can look down."

" Go home, and don't play any more tricks on me,
or you won't get off so easily another time ! " Where-
upon the tower-keeper turned round and was about to
shut the door, but Heidi held him by the coat-tail and
said pleadingly: -

" Only just this once ! "

He looked around, and Heidi's eyes gazed up at him
so beseechingly that he quite changed his mind ; he
took hold of the child's hand and said in a kindly tone : —

104 HEIDI

" If you are so anxious to go, come with me."

The boy sat down on the stone step in front of the
door and signified that he did not care to go with
them.

Heidi, holding the tower-keeper's hand, climbed many,
many steps, which grew smaller and smaller ; finally she
went up an extremely narrow staircase, and then she
was at the top. The keeper lifted Heidi up and held
her to the open window.

"There, now look down," he said.

Heidi saw below her a sea of roofs, towers, and
chimneys. She drew her head back quickly and said
in a tone of disappointment :-

" It is not at all what I thought it would be."

" Is that so ? What does a little girl like you know
about a view ? Well, now come down, and don't ring
at a church door again ! "

The keeper put Heidi on the floor and started down
the narrow stairs in front of her. On the left, where
they began to grow wider, there was a door which opened
into the keeper's room ; close by, where the floor ex-
tended out under the sloping roof, stood a large basket,
and in front of it sat a big gray cat, growling, for in the
basket lived her family, and she wished to warn every
passer-by not to disturb her domestic arrangements.
Heidi stood still and looked amazed, for she had never
seen such a huge cat before ; in the old tower there
lived whole flocks of mice, so the cat had no difficulty
in catching half a dozen little ones every day.

The tower-keeper noticed Heidi's surprise and said : —

AN UNCOMFORTABLE DAY 105

"Come, you may look at the kittens; she won't
hurt you while I am here."

Heidi went -toward the basket and screamed with
delight.

" Oh, the cunning little creatures ! the lovely kit-
tens ! " she exclaimed again and again, running back
and forth around the basket, in order to watch the
amusing frolic and play of seven or eight little kittens
as they crawled and jumped and tumbled over one
another.

"Would you like one?" asked the tower-keeper,
pleased to see Heidi dance with delight.

" For my own? To keep always? " asked Heidi, ex-
cited and hardly able to believe in such good luck.

" Yes, to be sure ; you can have more than one — you
can have them all, if you have room for them," said the
man, glad of a chance to dispose of the kittens without
having to harm them.

Heidi was highly delighted. The kittens would have
so much room in the big house, and how surprised and
pleased Klara would be when the pretty creatures
arrived !

" But how can I carry them? " asked Heidi, and was
going to take some of them up in her hands at once,
but the big cat jumped up on her arm and growled so
fiercely that she drew back greatly frightened.

" I will bring them to you, only tell me where," said
the keeper, stroking the old cat to make her good-
natured again, for she was his friend and had lived in
the tower with him for a good many years.

106

HEIDI

" I know where it is,'

" To Herr Sesemann's big house. There is a golden
head of a dog with a big ring in his mouth on the front
door," explained Heidi.

This detail was superfluous, for the tower-keeper had
sat in the tower for many long years and knew every
house far and wide ; besides, Sebastian was an old
acquaintance of his.

he remarked ; "but whom shall
I bring the things to, and
whom shall I ask for? You
don't belong to Herr Sese-
mann, do you? "

" No ; but Klara will be so
delighted to have the kit-
tens!"

The tower-keeper was
ready to go on down the
stairs, but Heidi could hardly
tear herself away from the
entertaining spectacle.
"If I could only carry one or two with me — one
for myself and one for Klara ! Why can't I? "

"Well, wait a little," said the keeper; and he carried
the old cat carefully into his little room, put her into
the cupboard, shut the door, and came back : " There,
now take two ! "

Heidi's eyes shone with delight. She chose a white
kitten and a striped yellow and white one, and put one
in her right pocket and the other in the left. Then
she went down the stairs.

AN UNCOMFORTABLE DAY 107

The boy was still sitting on the steps outside, and
when the keeper had closed the door after Heidi she
said : —

"Which is the way to Herr Sesemann's house? "

"Don't know," was the answer.

Heidi then began to describe, as well as she knew
how, about the front door, the windows, and the steps ;
but the boy shook his head ; he knew nothing about it.

"You see," Heidi went on, "out of one window
you look at a big, big gray house, and the roof goes
so"; and with her forefinger she described a sharp
point in the air.

Then the boy jumped up; all he needed was some
such sign in order to find the way. He started off on
the run and Heidi after him, and in a short time they
stood directly in front of the door with the .big brass
knocker. Heidi rang the bell. Sebastian soon ap-
peared, and when he saw Heidi he exclaimed urg-
ently : —

" Quick ! quick ! "

Heidi ran in in great haste, and Sebastian closed the
door ; he had not noticed the boy standing disappointed
outside.

"Quick, Mamsell ! " urged Sebastian again; "go
right into the dining-room ; they are already at the
table. Fraulein Rottenmeier looks like a loaded can-
non ; but what made the little Mamsell run away so? "

Heidi went into the dining-room. Fraulein Rotten-
meier did not look up, and Klara said nothing ; there
was an uncomfortable silence. Sebastian pushed up

108 HEIDI

Heidi's chair. When she was once seated in her
place, Fraulein Rottenmeier began with a stern face
and a very solemn voice :-

" Adelheid, I will talk with you later ; now I have
only this to say : you have behaved very badly, and
really deserve to be punished for leaving the house
without asking permission, without any one knowing
a thing about it, and wandering about until so late in
the day ; I never heard of such conduct."

" Meow," sounded as the apparent answer.

Then the lady grew angry : -

" What, Adelheid," she exclaimed, raising her voice,
" after such behavior, do you dare to play a naughty
trick? You had better be very careful, I assure you ! "

" I did n't," began Heidi.

" Meow ! meow ! "

Sebastian put his tray down on the table and rushed
out of the room.

" That is enough," Fraulein Rottenmeier tried to say ;
but she was so excited that her voice no longer sounded.

" Get up and leave the room ! "

Heidi, much frightened, rose from her chair and tried
once more to explain.

« I really did n't " -

"Meow! meow! meow!"

" But, Heidi," said Klara, " when you see how angry
you are making Fraulein Rottenmeier, why do you keep
saying 'meow '? "

" I am not doing it ; it is the kittens," Heidi at last
was able to say without interruption.

AN UNCOMFORTABLE DAY 109

"What? what? cats? kittens?" screamed Fraulein
Rottenmeier. " Sebastian ! Tinette ! Find the horri-
ble creatures and take them away ! "

Whereupon the lady rushed into the library and fas-
tened the door in order to be safe, for to Fraulein Rot-
tenmeier kittens were the most dreadful things in the
world. Sebastian was standing outside the door and
had to stop laughing before he could enter the room
again. While he was serving Heidi, he had noticed a
little cat's head peeping out of her pocket, and when it
began to meow he could hardly contain himself long
enough to set his tray on the table. At last he was
able to go back calmly into the room, some time after
the distressed lady had called for help. Everything
was then perfectly quiet and peaceful ; Klara was hold-
ing the kittens in her lap, Heidi was kneeling by her
side, and both were playing to their great delight with
the two tiny, graceful creatures.

"Sebastian," said Klara as he entered, "you must
help us ; you must find a bed for the kittens where
Fraulein Rottenmeier will not see them, for she is
afraid of them, and will have them taken away ; we
want to keep the cunning things and bring them out
whenever we are alone. Where can you put them ? "

" I will take care of them, Fraulein Klara," replied
Sebastian willingly ; " I will make a fine bed for them
in a basket, and put it where the timid lady will never
come ; just leave it all to me."

Sebastian went on with his work, chuckling to him-
self all the while, for he thought : " This is n't the last

HO HEIDI

of it ! " and he did not at all dislike to see Fraulein Rot-
tenmeier a little distressed.

Some time after, when it was almost time to go to
bed, Fraulein Rottenmeier opened the door a very little
way and called through the crack : —

" Have the horrible creatures been taken away ? "
" Yes, indeed ! Yes, indeed ! " answered Sebastian,
who had kept busy in the room, expecting this question.
Quickly and quietly he took the two kittens out of
Klara's lap and disappeared with them.

Fraulein Rottenmeier deferred until the following
day the especial scolding which she had intended to
give Heidi ; for she felt too exhausted that night, after
all the preceding emotions of vexation, anger, and fright,
which in turn Heidi had unconsciously provoked in her.
She drew back in silence, and Klara and Heidi followed
quite content, for they knew their kittens were in a
good bed.

CHAPTER VIII

DISTURBANCES IN THE SESEMANN HOUSE

ON the following morning Sebastian had no sooner
opened the front door for the Herr Kandidat and
ushered him into the library than some one else rang
the bell, but with such force that Sebastian rushed
down the stairs with all his might, for he thought :-

" No one rings like that except Herr Sesemann him-
self ; he must have come home unexpectedly."

He pulled open the door; a ragged boy with a hand
organ on his back stood before him.

"What do you mean? " said Sebastian to him. "I
will teach you how to pull doorbells ! What do you
want here ? "

" I want to see Klara," was the reply.

" You dirty street urchin, you ! can't you say ' Frau-
lein Klara,' as the rest of us do ? What have you to do
with Fraulein Klara?" asked Sebastian savagely.

" She owes me forty centimes," explained the boy.

" You are certainly not right in your mind ! How
do you know, anyway, that there is such a person as
Fraulein Klara here ? '

" I showed her the way yesterday; that makes twenty
centimes ; and then I showed her the way back again ;

that makes twenty more ! "

in

112 HEIDI

" You see what a fib you are telling ; Fraulein Klara
never goes out ; she is not able to go out. Get you
gone where you belong before I start you ! "

But the boy was not at all frightened ; he remained
calmly standing still and said coolly :-

" But I saw her on the street. I can describe her ;
she had short, curly black hair, and her eyes are black,
and her dress brown, and she does n't talk as we do."

" Oho !" thought Sebastian, chuckling to himself;
" that is the little Mamsell, who has been in more
mischief." Then he said, pulling the boy in:-

" You 're quite right ; follor/ me and wait at the door
until I come out again. If I let you come in, you must
play something ; it will please Fraulein Klara."

He went upstairs, knocked at the library door, and
was called in.

" There is a boy here who wishes to see Fraulein
Klara herself," announced Sebastian.

Klara was very much delighted at this unusual
occurrence.

"He may come right in," she said; "may he not,
Herr Kandidat, if he wants to speak to me ? "

The boy soon entered the room, and, according to his
instructions, he immediately began to play his organ.
In order to avoid the A-B-C's, Fraulein Rottenmeier
was busying herself with all sorts of things in the
dining-room. Suddenly she stopped to listen. Did
the sound come from the street ? and so near ? How
could the sound of a hand organ come from the library ?
And yet — really ! She rushed through the long dining-

DISTURBANCES IN THE SESEMANN HOUSE 113

room and threw open the door. There, - - she could
hardly believe it, - - there in the middle of the library
stood a ragged organ-grinder, playing his instrument
most diligently. The Herr Kandidat seemed trying
to say something, but the words failed to come. Klara
and Heidi were listening with beaming faces to the
music.

" Stop ! stop immediately ! " exclaimed Fraulein Rot-
tenmeier, coming into the room. Her voice was drowned
by the music. Then she ran toward the boy, but sud-
denly she felt something between her feet ; she looked
on the floor ; a horrible black creature was crawling
under her skirts - - a turtle. Fraulein Rottenmeier
jumped in the air as she had not done before for many
years, then screamed at the top of her voice :-

" Sebastian ! Sebastian ! "

Suddenly the organ-grinder stopped, for this time her
voice was heard above the music. Sebastian, doubled
up with laughter, stood outside the half-open door, for
he had seen the jump Fraulein Rottenmeier made.
Finally he entered. Fraulein Rottenmeier had thrown
herself into a chair.

" Away with them both, the boy and that creature !
Send them away immediately, Sebastian ! " she cried to
him. Sebastian readily obeyed. He led out the boy,
who had quickly seized his turtle, then pressing some-
thing into his hand he said:-

" Forty for Fraulein Klara, and forty for playing.
You did well " ; whereupon he closed the door.

Quiet was once more restored in the library ; the

114 HEIDI

studies were resumed, and Fraulein Rottenmeier had
settled herself in the room, in order that her presence
might prevent a similar dreadful occurrence. After the
study hours she intended to investigate the case and
punish the guilty one, so that it would not be forgotten.

Soon there came another knock at the door, and
Sebastian again came in with the information that a
large basket had been brought, which was to be given
immediately to Fraulein Klara herself.

"To me?" asked Klara in surprise and curious to
know what it might be ; " let me see at once what it
looks like."

Sebastian brought in a covered basket and then
hastened away.

" I think you had better finish your studies first and
then open the basket," remarked Frauiein Rottenmeier.

Klara could not imagine what had been sent to her;
she gazed with longing eyes at the basket.

" Herr Kandidat," she said, stopping short while she
was declining a word, "may I not take just one little
peep to see what is in the basket and then go right on
with my lessons ? "

" From one point of view I might be in favor of it,
from another against it," replied the Herr Kandidat ;
" the reason for it would be that if your whole attention
is directed toward this object "

His remark could not be finished. The cover of the
basket was not fastened, and suddenly, one, two, three,
and then two, and then even more little kittens jumped
out into the room and began to scamper around so

DISTURBANCES IN THE SESEMANN HOUSE 115

unaccountably fast that it seemed as if the whole room
were full of the tiny creatures. They jumped over the
Herr Kandidat's boots, bit his trousers, climbed up

Fraulein Rottenmeier's dress, crawled around her feet,
leaped up into Klara's chair; scratched, groped about,
and mewed ; it was utter confusion.

Klara was perfectly enraptured and kept exclaim-
ing:—

" Oh, what cunning little creatures ! How gayly they

116 HEIDI

jump about ! See ! Look, Heidi, here, there ! Look
at that one ! "

Heidi with delight ran after them into every corner.
The Herr Kandidat, hindered from going on with his
teaching, stood by the table, lifting first one foot and
then the other to avoid the annoyance. Fraulein Rot-
tenmeier at first sat speechless with horror; then she
began to scream at the top of her voice : -

"Tinette! Tinette ! Sebastian! Sebastian!" She
did not even dare to rise from her chair, lest all the
dreadful little creatures might jump at her at once.

Finally Sebastian and Tinette answered her repeated
calls for help and put the kittens, one after another,
back into the basket and carried them to the bed made
for the two kittens that had arrived the night before.

This day again there had been no opportunity for
yawning during the study hours. Late in the evening,
when Fraulein Rottenmeier had recovered sufficiently
from the excitement of the morning, she called Sebas-
tian and Tinette up into the library to make a thorough
investigation of the disgraceful proceedings. Then it
came out that Heidi, in her expedition of the previous
day, had been the cause of all that had happened.
Fraulein Rottenmeier sat there pale with anger, and
at first could find no words to express her feelings.
She madv" a sign for Sebastian and Tinette to leave the
room. She then turned to Heidi, who was standing by
Klara's chair and had no idea what wrong she had
done.

"Adelheid," she began in a severe voice, "I know

DISTURBANCES IN THE SESEMANN HOUSE 117

only one punishment which could have any effect on you,
for you are a barbarian ; but we shall see whether you
will not become civilized down in the dark cellar with
lizards and rats, so that you will never let such things
happen again."

Heidi listened calmly and wonderingly to her sen-
tence, for she had never been in a frightful cellar ; the
room adjoining the Aim hut, which her grandfather
called the cellar, and where the cheese and fresh milk
were kept, was a pleasant, inviting place, and she had
never seen any rats and lizards.

But Klara raised great objections to this : —

" No, no, Fraulein Rottenmeier, you must wait until
papa is here ; he has already written that he is coming
soon, and I will tell him everything ; then he will say
what is to be done with Heidi."

Fraulein Rottenmeier dared make no objection to
this decision. She rose, saying somewhat bitterly : —

"Very well, Klara, very well, but I too shall have
a word to say to Herr Sesemann."

Whereupon she left the room.

Then followed two or three peaceful days, but Frau-
lein Rottenmeier did not get over her distress ; the dis-
appointment she had felt in Heidi kept coming before
her eyes, and it seemed to her that since the little girl
made her appearance in the Sesemann house every-
thing had gone wrong and could never again be set
right.

Klara was well contented ; the days no longer seemed
dull. It was Heidi who made the study hours pass

118 HEIDI

quickly. The alphabet always confused her and she
could never learn it. When the Herr Kandidat was in
the midst of explaining and writing the forms of the
letters, and in order to make them clearer, compared
one to a little horn and another to a beak, she would
exclaim with delight : " It is a goat ! " or " It is the
robber-bird ! " The description awakened all sorts of
thoughts in her brain, but no idea of the alphabet.

In the late afternoon hours Heidi would again sit
beside Klara and tell her all about the Aim and her
life there, until her longing for it became so intense
that she would cry out : -

" I really must go home now ! To-morrow I really
must go ! "

But Klara always quieted these attacks and showed
Heidi that she must surely remain until her papa came
home ; then they would see what would happen.

One happy prospect Heidi secretly enjoyed caused
her to yield and become contented once more. This
was, that every day she remained she would be able to
add two more rolls for the grandmother. Every noon
and night beside her plate lay a lovely white roll,
which she immediately put into her pocket, for she
could not eat the bread when she thought how the
grandmother had none at all and was hardly able any
longer to eat the hard black bread.

Every day after dinner Heidi sat for two long hours
quiet and alone in her room, for she was not allowed to
run outdoors in Frankfurt as she did on the Aim ; she
understood this now and never did it any more. Neither

DISTURBANCES IN THE SESEMANN HOUSE 119

did she dare to talk to Sebastian in the dining-room, for
Fraulein Rottenmeier had forbidden that also, and she
never dreamed of speaking to Tinette, whom she always
avoided, for Tinette spoke to her in a scornful tone
and was continually laughing at her, and Heidi under-
stood her perfectly. So Heidi sat thinking to herself
how the Aim was growing green again, how the yellow
flowers were glistening in the sunshine, and how bright
everything was --the snow and the mountains and the
whole wide valley. She often felt as if she could not
bear it any longer, so great was her yearning to be
there. Her aunt had told her, moreover, that she
might go home whenever she liked.

So it happened that one day she packed up her rolls
in great haste in the big red neckerchief, put on her
straw hat and started. But at the very door she en-
countered Fraulein Rottenmeier just returning from a
walk. She stood still and in blank amazement gazed
at Heidi from top to toe, and her eyes rested especially
on the full red handkerchief. Then she broke forth :-

"What kind of an expedition is this ? What does it
mean ? Have I not strictly forbidden you to go wan-
dering about again ? Now you are trying to start out
another time, and looking for all the world like a
tramp."

" I am not going to wander about ; I only want to go
home," replied Heidi, frightened.

" What ? what ? go home ? You want to go home ? "
Fraulein Rottenmeier wrung her hands in her agita-
tion. " Run away ! If Herr Sesemann knew that !

120 HEIDI

Run away from his house ! Don't let him ever hear
of it ! And what is it that does n't suit you in his
house ? Are you not better treated than you deserve ?
Is there anything you need ? Have you ever in your
whole life had a home, or a table or the service that
\ you have here ? Tell me ! "

" No," replied Heidi.

" I know that perfectly well," continued the lady in
great excitement. " You lack nothing, nothing at all ;
you are the most ungrateful child I ever heard of, and
you don't know how well off you are."

Then all Heidi's pent-up feelings broke forth : —

" Indeed I am going home, for I have been away so
long that Schneehopli must be crying for me all the
time, and the grandmother is expecting me, and Distel-
finck will be beaten if Peter has no cheese, and here
you never see how the sun says good-night to the moun-
tains ; and if the robber-bird should fly over Frankfurt
he would scream still louder, because so many people
live together and make each other wicked, and do not
go up on the cliffs where it would be good for them."

" Mercy, the child is crazy ! " exclaimed Fraulein
Rottenmeier ; and as she darted in alarm up the stairs
she ran hard against Sebastian, who was coming
down.

" Bring up that miserable creature at once ! " she
called to him as she rubbed her head, for she had
received no gentle bump.

" Yes, yes, I'm all right, thank you," answered Sebas-
tian, for he had been hit still harder.

DISTURBANCES IN THE SESEMANN HOUSE 121

Heidi still stood, with flaming eyes, on the same spot,
and her whole body trembled with excitement.

"Well, what have you been doing now?" asked
Sebastian gayly ; but when he really saw that Heidi did
not move he patted her kindly on the shoulder and
said comfortingly :-

" Pshaw ! pshaw ! the little Mamsell must not take
it so to heart ; just be merry, that is the best way ! She
almost broke my head just now, but don't be frightened !
Well ? still on the same spot ? We must go upstairs ;
she said so."

Heidi then went up the stairs, but very slowly and
quietly, and not at all as she was wont to go. That
made Sebastian feel sorry. He went behind her and
spoke encouraging words to her:-

" You must n't give way ! You must n't be so sad !
Only be brave about it ! We have had a very sensible
little Mamsell, who has never cried since she has been
with us ; other little girls cry a dozen times a day ; that
is well known. The kittens are gay, too, upstairs ; they
jump all around the floor and act like mad. By and by
shall we go up there together and look at them, when
the lady in there is away?"

Heidi nodded her head slightly, but so sadly that it
went to Sebastian's heart, and he looked at Heidi quite
feelingly as she stole away to her room.

At supper time that day Fraulein Rottenmeier said
not a word, but kept casting strangely sharp glances at
Heidi, as if she expected she would suddenly do some
unheard-of thing ; but Heidi sat as still as a mouse at

122 HEIDI

the table and did not stir ; she neither ate nor drank ;
but she had put her bread quickly into her pocket.

On the following morning, when the Herr Kandidat
came upstairs, Fraulein Rottenmeier motioned to him
secretly to come into the dining-room, and here she
confided to him her anxiety, lest the change of air, the
unwonted manner of life, and the new impressions had
driven the child out of her senses ; and she told him
how Heidi had tried to run away, and repeated to
him as much as she could remember of her strange
words.

But the Herr Kandidat calmed Fraulein Rottenmeier
and assured her he knew that, on the one hand, Adel-
heid was certainly somewhat eccentric, but, on the other
hand, she was in her right mind, so that gradually, with
the right kind of treatment, he would be able to accom-
plish what he had in view. He found the case more
serious because he had not yet succeeded in mastering
the alphabet with her, for she could n't seem to grasp
the letters.

Fraulein Rottenmeier felt calmer and let the Herr
Kandidat go to his work. Late in the afternoon she re-
membered Heidi's appearance on her intended journey,
and she determined to replenish the child's wardrobe
with some of Klara's clothing before Herr Sesemann
should appear. She consulted with Klara about it, and
as she agreed with her, and wished to give her a quan-
tity of dresses and linen and hats, the lady went to
Heidi's room to look into her closet and to examine
the things she already had, and decide what should be

DISTURBANCES IN THE SESEMANN HOUSE 123

kept and what disposed of. But in a few moments
she came back again, looking very much disgusted.

"What a discovery I have made, Adelheid ! " she
exclaimed. " I never heard of such a thing ! In your
closet, a clothes closet, Adelheid, in the bottom of this
closet, what do I find ? A pile of little rolls ! Bread,
I say, Klara, in a clothes closet ! And such a pile
stowed away ! "

" Tinette ! " she then called into the dining-room,
" take away the old bread in Adelheid's closet and the
crushed straw hat on the table."

" No ! no ! " screamed Heidi ; " I must have the hat,
and the rolls are for the grandmother " ; and Heidi was
about to rush after Tinette, but was held fast by Frau-
lein Rottenmeier.

" Stay here and the rubbish will be taken away and
put where it belongs," she said decidedly, holding Heidi
back. But Heidi threw herself down by Klara's chair
and began to cry in such despair, louder and louder,
and more bitterly, and sobbed again and again in her
distress : —

" Now the grandmother won't have any rolls. They
were for the grandmother ; now they are all gone and
she won't have any ! "

It seemed as if her heart would break. Fraulein
Rottenmeier ran out. Klara was alarmed and per-
plexed by her distress.

" Heidi, Heidi, don't cry so ! " she said imploringly,
" only listen to me ! Don't be so troubled ; see, I
promise you I will give you just as many rolls for the

124 HEIDI

grandmother, or even more, when you go home, and
then they will be fresh and soft, and those would be-
come very hard, and were so already. Come, Heidi,
don't cry so any more ! "

It was long before Heidi could control her sobs ;
but she understood Klara's comforting words and took
them to heart, else would she never have been able to
stop crying. But she had to be reassured of her hope
again and again, and so she kept asking Klara, while
her sobs still interrupted her speech : -

"Will you really give me, for the grandmother, just
as many as I had ? "

And Klara kept saying : " Yes, indeed I will, and
more, too ; so be happy again."

Heidi came to supper with her eyes all red from
weeping, and when she saw her piece of bread she had
a fresh outbreak of sobbing ; but this time she quickly
controlled herself, for she realized that she had to
behave at meal times.

Sebastian this time kept making the most significant
gestures whenever he came near Heidi ; he would point
to his own head, then to Heidi's, then he would nod
and wink as if to make her understand :-

" Be comforted ! I have looked out for everything
and made it all right."

When Heidi a little later went to her room, and was
about to get into bed, she found her little crumpled
straw hat hidden under the coverlet. With perfect
delight she snatched the old hat out ; in her joy she
crumpled it still more, and then, tying it up in a hand-

DISTURBANCES IN THE SESEMANN HOUSE 125

kerchief, she thrust it down into the deepest corner of
her closet. Sebastian had hidden it under the coverlet ;
he had been in the dining-room at the same time with
Tinette when she was called, and he had heard Heidi's
cry of distress. Then he had followed Tinette, and
when she came out of Heidi's room with an armful of
bread, and the hat on top of it all, he had snatched the
hat, exclaiming: —

" I will take care of that ! "

So in great delight he had rescued it for Heidi, and
that was what he meant at table by his gestures of
consolation.

CHAPTER IX

THE MASTER OF THE HOUSE HEARS OF STRANGE

DOINGS

A FEW days after this occurrence there was a great
bustle in the Sesemann house, and hurried running up
and down stairs, for the master of the house had just
returned from his journey. Sebastian and Tinette were
bringing in one package after another from the well-
laden carriage, for Herr Sesemann always brought home
many beautiful things.

He went first of all to his daughter's room to greet
her. Heidi was sitting beside her, for it was late in
the afternoon, when the two were always together.
Klara greeted her father with great tenderness, for she
loved him dearly, and the good papa showed no less
affection toward his little Klara. Then he reached out
his hand to Heidi, who had quietly withdrawn into a
corner, and said kindly : -

"And this is our little Swiss girl, I suppose; come
here and give me your hand ! That 's right ! Now tell
me, are you and Klara good friends ? You do not quar-
rel and get cross, and then cry and make up, and then
begin all over again ? "

" No, Klara is always good to me," replied Heidi.

126

STRANGE DOINGS 127

"And Heidi has never tried to quarrel, papa," quickly
added Klara.

"That's good; I am glad to hear that," said her
papa as he rose. " But now you must allow me, Klar-
chen, to get some luncheon, for I have had nothing to
eat to-day. Later I will come back to you, and you
shall see what I have brought home."

Herr Sesemann went into the dining-room, where
Fraulein Rottenmeier was overseeing the table laid for
his midday meal. After Herr Sesemann had sat down,
and the lady, looking like a living picture of gloom, had
taken a seat opposite him, the master of the house said
to her : —

"Fraulein Rottenmeier, what am I to think? You
have put on a truly alarming face at my return. What
is the matter ? Klara is very lively."

" Herr Sesemann," began the lady with impressive
earnestness, " Klara is also concerned ; we have been
frightfully deceived."

"How so?" asked Herr Sesemann, calmly sipping
his coffee.

" We had decided, as you know, Herr Sesemann, to
have a companion for Klara in the house, and as I knew
very well how particular you were to have only good
and noble associates for your daughter, I fixed my mind
on a young Swiss girl, expecting to see such a person
appear as I had often read about --one who sprung up
in the pure mountain air, so to speak ; goes through life
without touching the earth."

"I think," remarked Herr Sesemann, "that Swiss

128 HEIDI

children touch the earth, if they move along, otherwise
they would have wings instead of feet."

"Ah, Herr Sesemann, you know what I mean," con-
tinued the Fraulein. " I mean one of those well-known
forms living in the pure mountain regions, and which
pass by us like an ideal breath."

" But what would my Klara do with an ideal breath,
Fraulein Rottenmeier ? "

"No, Herr Sesemann, I am not joking; the matter
is more serious to me than you think ; I have been
frightfully, really quite frightfully deceived."

" But how so frightfully ? The child does n't seem to
me so very frightful," remarked Herr Sesemann calmly.

" You should know just one thing, Herr Sesemann,
only one-- what sort of people and animals this creature
has filled your house with in your absence ; the Herr
Kandidat can tell you about that."

" With animals ? What am I to understand by that,
Fraulein Rottenmeier ? "

" It is not to be understood ; this creature's whole
conduct is past understanding, except from one point of
view, that she has attacks of being out of her mind."

Up to this time Herr Sesemann had not taken the
matter seriously ; but "out of her mind"? This might
have serious consequences for his daughter. Herr
Sesemann looked at Fraulein Rottenmeier very closely,
as if he wished first to assure himself that she herself
was not troubled in that way. Just at this moment
the door opened and the Herr Kandidat was ushered in.

"Ah, here comes our Herr Kandidat, who will

STRANGE DOINGS 129

give us an explanation ! " exclaimed Herr Sesemann to
him. " Come, come and sit down by me ! " and he
held out his hand to him.

" The Herr Kandidat will drink a cup of black coffee
with me, Fraulein Rottenmeier ! Sit down, sit down ;
don't be formal ! And now tell me, my dear sir, what
is the matter with the child who has come into my
house to be a companion for my daughter, and whom
you are teaching. What is the story about her bring-
ing animals into the house, and what is the matter with
her mind ? "

The Herr Kandidat had first to express his pleasure
at Herr Sesemann's safe return and bid him welcome
home; but Herr Sesemann urged him to give his opin-
ion about the matter in question. So the Herr Kan-
didat began :-

" If I were to speak my mind about the character of
this little girl, I should first of all make especial men-
tion of the fact that if, on the one hand, she shows a
lack of development, which through a more or less neg-
lected education, or, to express it better, occasioned by
a somewhat tardy instruction, on the contrary, her good
qualities unquestionably showing the seclusion of a long
abode in the Alps, which, if it does n't exceed a certain
length of time, without doubt has its good side"

" My dear Herr Kandidat," interrupted Herr Sese-
mann, " you are really giving yourself too much trouble ;
tell me, has the child alarmed you by bringing in ani-
mals, and what do you think of her society for my little
daughter ? "

130 HEIDI

" I don't wish in any way to offend the young girl,"
the Herr Kandidat began again, " for if she, on the one
hand, shows a certain kind of social inexperience, due
to the more or less uncultivated life in which she moved
up to the time of her coming to Frankfurt, which
coming " —

" Pray excuse me, Herr Kandidat, don't trouble your-
self, I will- -I must hasten to look after my daughter."

Whereupon Herr Sesemann hurried out of the room
and did not return. He went into the library and sat
down beside his little daughter; Heidi rose from her
seat. Herr Sesemann turned toward the child, saying :
" Look here, little girl, bring me --wait a moment —
bring me " — Herr Sesemann did not exactly know
what he wanted, but he wished to send Heidi away for
a little while ; " bring me a glass of water."

" Fresh water ? " asked Heidi.

"Yes, indeed! yes, indeed ! quite fresh !" answered
Herr Sesemann.

Heidi disappeared.

" Now, my dear little Klara," said her papa, while
he drew near to his daughter and took her hand
in his, "tell me clearly and distinctly what sort of
animals your companion brought into the house, and
why Fraulein Rottenmeier should think that she is
sometimes not quite right in her head ; can you tell
me that ? "

Klara was able to do so, for the worthy lady in her
horror had spoken to her also about Heidi's perplexing
words, the meaning of which was clear to Klara. She

STRANGE DOINGS

131

first told her father about the turtle and the kittens,
and then explained to him Heidi's remark which had so
shocked Fraulein Rottenmeier. Herr Sesemann burst
into a hearty laugh.

" So you don't care to have me send the child home,
Klarchen ; you are not tired of her ? " asked her father.

"No, no, papa; don't do that!" exclaimed Klara
imploringly. " Since Heidi has been here something
always happens every day, and the time goes so quickly ;
not at all as it did before she came, when nothing ever
happened ! Heidi tells me so many things."

" Very good, very good, Klarchen ; and here comes
your little friend back again. Have you brought cool,

132 HEIDI

fresh water ? " asked Herr Sesemann as Heidi offered
him a glass of water.

" Yes, fresh from the well," replied Heidi.

" Did you run to the well yourself, Heidi ? " asked
Klara.

" Yes, indeed ; it is perfectly fresh, but I had to go
a long way, for there were so many people at the first
well. So I went through the whole street, but there
were just as many people at the second well; then I
went to another street, and there I got the water ; and
the gentleman with the white hair sent his regards to
/ Herr Sesemann."

" So your expedition was very successful ? " said Herr
Sesemann, laughing; "and who is this gentleman ?"

" He was passing by the well, and then stood still
and said : 'As you have a glass, you might give me a
drink ; to whom are you going to take the water ? ' And
I said: 'To Herr Sesemann.' Then he laughed very
loud and told me to give you his regards, and also said :
'Herr Sesemann ought to enjoy it.' "

" Who could it have been ? How did the gentleman
look ? " asked Herr Sesemann.

" He laughed pleasantly and had a big gold chain
and a gold thing with a large red stone hanging from
it, and there was a horse's head on his cane."

"That is the doctor"- "That is my old doctor,"
said Klara and her father at the same time; and Herr
Sesemann laughed again to himself at the thought of
his friend and how he would regard this new way of
having his supply of water brought to him.

STRANGE DOIXGS 133

That same evening, while Herr Sesemann and Frau-
lein Rottenmeier were sitting alone in the dining-room
and talking over all sorts of household matters, he told
her that his daughter's companion was to remain in the
house ; he thought that the child was in a normal con-
dition, and his daughter found her society very pleas-
ant and more enjoyable than any other.

"I wish, therefore," he added very positively, "to
have this child always treated kindly, and that her
peculiarities shall not be considered as sins. If you
should not be able to deal with the child alone, you
have the prospect of valuable assistance, for my mother
is coming very soon to my house to make a long visit,
and she manages every one, no matter how singu-
lar they are. You are well aware of that, Fraulein
Rottenmeier ? "

" Yes, indeed, I know that, Herr Sesemann," replied
the lady, but not with an expression of relief at the
assured prospect of help.

Herr Sesemann had only a short time to remain at
home now, and after two weeks business called him
back to Paris, and as his little daughter would not con-
sent to his going away so soon, he consoled her with
the promise of a visit from her grandmamma, who
might be expected in a few days.

Herr Sesemann had hardly left home when a letter
came announcing that" Frau Sesemann had started from
Holstein, where she lived on an old estate. She would
arrive at a Certain hour on the following day, and the
carriage was to be sent to the railway station for her.

134 HEIDI

t

Klara was greatly delighted by the news, and told
Heidi that evening so much about her grandmamma that
Heidi, too, began to talk about the "grandmamma";
and Fraulein Rottenmeier looked at her disapprovingly,
but the child did not think this anything strange, as
she felt perpetually under her disapproval. When she
started later to go to her room, Fraulein Rottenmeier
called her first into hers, and explained then and there
that she must never use the name "grandmamma," but
must address her as "gnadige Frau." 1

" Do you understand this ? " asked the lady as Heidi
looked at her somewhat doubtfully ; but she gave her
such a forbidding look in return that Heidi asked for
no more explanation, although she did not understand
the title.

1 Gracious lady.

CHAPTER X

A GRANDMAMMA

ON the following evening there were great expecta-
tions and lively preparations in the Sesemann house,
and it was plain to be seen that the expected lady was
of great importance there, and that every one felt deep
respect for her. Tinette had put a brand-new white cap
on her head, and Sebastian had collected a great num-
ber of footstools, so that the lady might find one under
her feet wherever she might sit down. Fraulein Rot-
tenmeier, very erect, went through the rooms inspect-
ing everything, as if to signify that even though a
second ruling power was near at hand, her own, for
all that, had not come to an end.

The carriage rolled up to the door, and Sebastian
and Tinette rushed down the stairs ; Fraulein Rotten-
meier in a dignified way followed slowly after, for she
knew that she had to appear to welcome Frau Sese-
mann. Heidi had been told to go to her room and to
wait there until she was called, for the grandmamma
would first go to see Klara and would wish to see her
alone. Heidi sat down in a corner and repeated what
she was to say to Frau Sesemann. She did not have
long to wait before Tinette thrust her head a very little
way in at the door and said brusquely, as usual : -

'35

136 HEIDI

" Go into the library."

Heidi had not dared to ask Fraulein Rottenmeier for
an explanation about the manner of addressing the
grandmamma, but she thought the lady must have
made a mistake, for until now she had always heard a
person called Frau or Herr, with the name following ;
so she settled the matter thus in her own mind. As
she opened the door into the library, the grandmamma
called out to her in a friendly voice : —

" Ah, here is the child ! Come here to me and let
me look at you."

Heidi went to her and in her clear voice said dis-
tinctly : -

" How do you do, Frau Gnadige ? "

" And why not ! " said the grandmamma, laughing.
" Is that what you say at home ? Did you hear that in
the Alps?"

" No ; no one among us has that name," answered
Heidi earnestly.

" Neither has any one here," said the grandmamma,
again laughing, and patted Heidi affectionately on the
cheek. "It 's no matter ! In the nursery I am grand-
mamma, and you shall call me so. You can remember
that, can't you ? "

"Yes, I can," said Heidi confidently; "I always
called you so before."

" Well, you understand now ! " said the grandmamma,
nodding her head quite merrily. Then she took a good
look at Heidi, nodding her head again from time to
time, and Heidi looked very earnestly into her eyes,

A GRANDMAMMA 137

for they had such an expression of kindness that they
made her feel quite at her ease, so that she could not
look away. She had such beautiful white hair, and
around her head a lovely lace frill, and two broad
strings fluttered from her cap, and moved continually
as if a light breeze hovered around the grandmamma ;
and this seemed to Heidi very peculiar.

" And what is your name, child ? " then asked the
grandmamma.

" My name is only Heidi ; but if any one wants to
call me Adelheid, I pay attention." Heidi hesitated,
for she felt a little guilty since she still made no reply
if Fraulein Rottenmeier called unexpectedly, "Adel-
heid ! " for it did not really seem to her that this was
her name, and Fraulein Rottenmeier was just coming
into the room.

"Frau Sesemann will doubtless admit," broke in
Fraulein Rottenmeier, " that I had to choose a name
which could be pronounced without so much difficulty,
for the sake of the servants."

"My dear Rottenmeier," replied Frau Sesemann, "if
a person is named Heidi, and she is accustomed to the
name, I call her so and let it remain so ! "

Fraulein Rottenmeier was very much troubled be-
cause the old lady continually addressed her by her
name alone, without any prefix ; but there was nothing
to be done about it ; the grandmamma always had her
own way, and there was no help for it. Besides, her
five senses were keen and sound, and she always knew
what was going on in the house.

138 HEIDI

On the day after her arrival, when Klara lay down
at the usual time after dinner, the grandmamma took a
seat in an easy-chair by her side, and closed her eyes
for a few moments ; then she jumped up, for she was
immediately awake again, and went out into the dining-
room ; there was no one there. " She is asleep," she
said to herself ; then went to Fraulein Rottenmeier's
room and knocked loudly on the door. After some
time she appeared, and started back somewhat alarmed
by the unexpected visit.

" Where does the child stay at this time, and what
does she do ? I should like to know about it," said
Frau Sesemann.

" She sits in her room, where she might busy her-
self with something useful, if she had the slightest
inclination to do anything ; but Frau Sesemann ought
to know what absurd things this creature often plans,
and really carries into effect --things which I could
hardly speak about in refined society."

" I should do the same if I had to sit there alone as
this child does, I assure you, and you would see how you
would speak of my nonsense in refined society. Now
bring the child out and fetch her to my room ; I want
to give her some pretty books I have brought with me."

"That is just the trouble ; it is indeed!" exclaimed
Fraulein Rottenmeier, wringing her hands. " What can
the child do with books ? In all this time she has not
even learned her A-B-C's ; it is really impossible to
get a single idea into this creature's head ; the Herr
Kandidat can tell you about that ! If this excellent

A GRANDMAMMA 139

man did n't possess the patience of an angel from
heaven, he would long ago have given up trying to
teach her."

" This is very strange ; she does n't look like a child
who cannot learn the alphabet," said Frau Sesemann.
" Now bring her to me ; she can first look at the pic-
tures in the books."

Fraulein Rottenmeier was desirous of making further
remarks, but Frau Sesemann had already turned around
and was hurrying back to her own room. She was
very much surprised to hear of Heidi's stupidity, and
thought she would make an investigation, but not with
the Herr Kandidat, though she really valued him on
account of his good character; she always spoke to
him in a particularly friendly way, whenever she met
him, but then hurried away, in order not to be drawn
into conversation with him, for his manner of express-
ing himself was rather annoying to her.

Heidi came into the grandmamma's room and opened
her eyes wide when she saw the gay pictures in the
large books which the lady had brought with her. Sud-
denly Heidi screamed aloud when the grandmamma
turned a new leaf ; she looked at the figures with gleam-
ing eyes, then all at once bright tears rushed to them,
and she began to sob as if her heart would break. The
grandmamma examined the picture. It was a lovely
green pasture, where all sorts of animals were feeding
and nibbling the green shrubs. In the middle stood
the shepherd, leaning on a long staff and gazing at the
happy creatures. It seemed as if there was a golden

140 HEIDI

light over it all, for the sun was just going down beyond
the horizon.

The grandmamma took Heidi by the hand.

"Come, come, child," she said in a friendly way,
"don't cry, don't cry. The picture made you remem-
ber something ; but see, there is a lovely story about
it, which I will tell you this evening, and there are a
great many more beautiful stories in the book, which
can be read and repeated. Come, we must have a little
talk together. Dry your tears, and now stand right
here in front of me, so that I can look straight at you ;
there, that 's right ; now we are happy again."

But it was still some time before Heidi could stop
sobbing. The grandmamma gave her a good while to
recover, merely saying encouragingly now and then : -

" There, that 's good ; now we are happy again to-
gether."

When she finally saw that the child was quieted she
said : -

" Now you must tell me something, my child. How
do you get along in the study hours with the Herr Kan-
didat ? Are you studying well, and have you learned
something ?"

" Oh, no ! " answered Heidi, sighing; "but I knew
that it could n't be learned."

" What could not be learned, Heidi ? what do you
mean ? "

" People can't learn to read ; it is too hard."

"What an ideal And where did you hear this
news?"

A GRANDMAMMA 141

" Peter told me so, and he knows about it. He has
to keep trying, but he can never learn ; it is too
hard."

" Well, Peter is a strange fellow ! But, see here,
Heidi, you must not always take for granted what Peter
tells you ; you must try for yourself. Surely you have
not listened with all your mind to the Herr Kandidat,
and looked at the letters."

" It 's of no use," asserted Heidi with a tone of
entire submission to the inevitable.

"Heidi," said the grandmamma, "now I am going
to tell you something : you have not learned to read
yet because you believed your Peter ; but now you
must believe me, and I tell you, really and truly, that
you can learn to read in a short time, like a great many
children, who are like you and not like Peter. And
now you must know what will happen when you can
read. You have seen the shepherd in the beautiful
green pasture. As soon as you can read you shall
have the book for your own, so that you can learn his
whole story, just as if some one told it to you; all
that he is doing with his sheep and goats, and all the
remarkable things that happened to him. You would
like to know this, would n't you, Heidi ? "

Heidi had listened with the eagerest attention, and
now she said, with beaming eyes, and drawing a deep
breath: —

" Oh, if I could only read now ! "

" It will come, and it won't take long; that I can see
already, Heidi. And now we must look after Klara :

142 HEIDI

come, we will bring the lovely books with us." And
the grandmamma took Heidi by the hand and went
with her into the library.

Since the day when Heidi had wanted to go home,
and Fraulein Rottenmeier had scolded her on the steps
and told her how naughty and ungrateful she had shown
herself by wishing to run away, and that it would be a
good thing if Herr Sesemann never knew about it, a
change had taken place in the child. She had the idea
that she could not go home if she wished, as her aunt
had told her, but that she must stay in Frankfurt for a
long, long time, perhaps forever. She had also under-
stood that Herr Sesemann, when he came home, would
think her very ungrateful, and she imagined that Klara
and her grandmamma would think so too. So Heidi
dared tell no one that she wanted to go home, for she
did not wish to cause the grandmamma to be cross,
like Fraulein Rottenmeier. But in her heart the bur-
den grew heavier and heavier ; she could no longer eat ;
every day she grew a little paler. At night she often
lay awake for a long, long time ; for as soon as she was
alone, and all was still around her, everything came so
lifelike before her eyes --the Aim and the sunshine
on it and the flowers ! And when finally she fell asleep,
she would see in her dreams the red pointed cliffs of
Falkniss, and the fiery snow field of Casaplana, and in
the morning she would awake and, full of joy, be ready
to run out of the hut ; suddenly she was in her big
bed in Frankfurt, so far, far away, and could not go
home ! Then Heidi would bury her head in her pillow

A GRANDMAMMA 143

and weep very softly so that no one might hear her.
Heidi's unhappiness did not escape the grandmamma's
notice. She let some days pass by to see if there would
be any change in her --if her down-heartedness would
pass away. But as Heidi remained the same, and the
grandmamma could often see early in the morning that
she had been crying, she called the child one day into
her room and said with the greatest kindness : —

" Now tell me, Heidi, what is the matter ? Is some-
thing grieving you ? "

But Heidi would not seem ungrateful to the kind
grandmamma, for fear she might no longer be so
friendly toward her; so she said sadly :-
" I cannot tell you."

"No? Can you not tell Klara?" asked the grand-
mamma.

" Oh, no, I can't tell anybody ! " said Heidi decidedly,
and looking so unhappy that the grandmamma pitied
her.

" Come, my child," she said, " I want to tell you
something. When we have a sorrow we cannot speak
to anybody about, then we tell the dear God in heaven,
and ask "him to help us, for he can take away every sor-
row that troubles us. You understand that, don't you ?
You pray every night to the dear God in heaven, and
thank him for everything good, and ask him to keep
you from all harm, don't you ? "

" Oh, no, I never do that ! " answered the child.
" Have you never prayed, then, Heidi? Do you not
know what it is ? "

144 HEIDI

" I used to pray with the first grandmother, but it is
so long ago that I have forgotten about it."

" You see, Heidi, the reason you are so sad is be-
cause you know no one that can help you. Just think
what a good thing it is, when something troubles and
distresses you in your heart, that you can go any moment
to the dear Lord and tell him everything, and ask him
to help you, when no one else can help you ! And he
can always help you and make you happy again."

A glad light came into Heidi's eyes :-

" Can I tell him everything, everything ? "

" Everything, Heidi, everything."

The child drew her hand out of the grandmamma's
and said quickly : -

"Can I go?"

"Certainly! certainly!" was the reply; and Heidi
ran away to her own room and sat down on a footstool,
folded her hands and told the dear Lord everything
that was in her heart, everything that made her sad,
and asked him, urgently and sincerely, to help her and
let her go home to her grandfather.

A little more than a week had passed since this day,
when the Herr Kandidat asked to see Frau Sesemann,
as he wished to talk with her about an important mat-
ter. He was called into her room. Frau Sesemann
politely offered him her hand : -

" My dear Herr Kandidat, I am glad to see you ! Sit
down here by me " ; she pushed a chair toward him.
" There, now tell me what brings you here ; nothing
unpleasant, no complaint ? "

A GRANDMAMMA 145

"On the contrary, gracious madam," began the Herr
Kandidat, "something has happened which I no longer
expected, and any one who could have glanced at what
went before, after all suppositions, would have decided
that what has actually happened and taken place in the
most wonderful way was utterly impossible, as if in
opposition to all consistent to the "

" Has the child Heidi possibly learned to read, Herr
Kandidat ? " broke in Frau Sesemann.

The Herr Kandidat, taken aback, looked at the lady
in speechless amazement.

"It is really quite wonderful," he said at last, "not
only that the little girl, after all my thorough explana-
tion and unusual pains, did not learn her A-B-C's, but
also, and especially, that in the shortest time after I had
decided to give up the unattainable, and without further
explanation, to bring the bare letters, so to speak, before
the little girl's eyes, she took hold of the reading over-
night as it were, and then at once read the words with
such correctness as I have seldom found with beginners.
Almost equally wonderful to me is the gracious lady's
perception in straightway suspecting that this improb-
able fact was possible."

"A great many wonderful things happen in the
course of one's life," affirmed Frau Sesemann, laughing
with satisfaction. "Two things might happen fortu-
nately ; for instance, new zeal in learning and a new
method in teaching ; and neither can do any harm, Herr
Kandidat. Let us rejoice that the child has done so
well, and let us hope for good progress."

146 HEIDI

Whereupon she accompanied the teacher out of the
room and went quickly to the library, to assure herself
that the delightful news was true. It was ! There sat
Heidi, reading a story to Klara, and with growing eager-
ness pushing into the new world opened to her ; men
and things suddenly became alive and stepped out of
the black letters and took part in affecting stories.

That same evening, as they were sitting down to the
table, Heidi found the large book with the beautiful
pictures lying on her plate, and when she looked
inquiringly at the grandmamma, Frau Sesemann said,
nodding in a friendly way : -

"Yes, yes, now it belongs to you."

" For always ? Even when I go home ? " asked Heidi,
blushing with delight.

" Certainly, for always ! " said the grandmamma
assuringly ; "to-morrow we will begin to read it."

' But you are not going home, not for a good many
years, Heidi," broke in Klara; "if grandmamma goes
away, you must surely stay with me."

Before she went to sleep Heidi had to look at her
beautiful book in her own room, and from that day
forth she liked nothing better than to sit with it, read-
ing over and over again the stories belonging to the
lovely pictures. In the evening the grandmamma
would say : " Now Heidi will read to us " ; and this de-
lighted the child, for now she could read easily ; and as
she read the stories aloud they became much more beau-
tiful, and she understood them better, and the grand-
mamma explained so much to her, and always told her

A GRANDMAMMA

147

still more about them. Heidi liked to look again and
again at the green pasture and the shepherd in the
midst of his flock, standing so contentedly, leaning on
his long staff, for there he was still with his father's
flock, following the merry lambs and goats, for this was
his delight.

Then came the picture where he had run away from
his father's house, and was in a strange land, obliged to
tend the swine, and had grown very thin because he

had nothing but husks to eat. The sun no longer
shone so golden in this picture, and the land .looked
gray and gloomy. But there was still another picture
to the story, in which the old father, with outstretched
arms, is coming out of the house and running to wel-

148 HEIDI

come the penitent son, who, in a ragged jacket, is
returning home faint-hearted and wasted away. This
was Heidi's favorite story, and she read it over and over
again, both aloud and to herself; and she was never
tired of hearing the explanation which the grandmamma
gave. There were a great many other beautiful stories
in the book, and with reading these and looking at the
pictures the days passed away quickly, and the time
soon drew near when the grandmamma had decided to
go home.

• CHAPTER XI

HEIDI IMPROVES IN SOME RESPECTS, AND IN OTHERS

GROWS WORSE

EVERY afternoon when Klara was lying down, and
Fraulein Rottenmeier, apparently in need of rest, mys-
teriously disappeared, the grandmamma sat down by
Klara for a while, but after five minutes she was on her
feet again, and always called Heidi to her room to
talk with her, keep her busy, and amuse her in various
ways. The grandmamma had pretty little dolls and
pieces of the most marvelous bright-colored materials,
which she showed Heidi how to make into dresses and
aprons and cloaks for them ; so the little girl uncon-
sciously learned to sew. Now that Heidi could read,
she always read some of her stories aloud to the grand-
mamma ; and this gave her the greatest pleasure, for
the more she read them the dearer they became to her.
Heidi entered so vividly into the characters and their
experiences that she felt closely related to them and
took more and more pleasure in their company. But
she never looked quite happy, and there was no longer
any merriment in her eyes.

It was the last week that the grandmamma was to
spend in Frankfurt. She had called for Heidi to come
into her room ; Klara was taking her nap. When Heidi

149

150 HEIDI

entered with her big book under her arm, the grand-
mamma motioned to her to come close to her, laid the

•

book aside, and said : -

" Now come, my child, and tell me why you are not
happy. Have you still the same trouble in your heart ? "

" Yes," said Heidi, nodding.

" Have you told the dear Lord about it ? "

"Yes."

" And do you pray every day that all may be well,
and that he will make you happy ? "

" Oh, no, I don't pray any more now."

" What do you tell me, Heidi ? what do I hear ? Why
don't you pray any longer ? "

" It 's of no use ; the dear Lord did not listen ; and
I really believe," continued Heidi, somewhat excited,
" when so many, many people in Frankfurt are pray-
ing together at night, the dear Lord cannot pay atten-
tion to them all, and so he has certainly not heard me."

"Why, how do you know that this is so, Heidi ? "

" I prayed the same prayer every day for many long
weeks, and the dear Lord never answered me."

"That is not so, Heidi ! You must n't have such an
idea ! You see, the dear Lord is a good Father to us
all ! He always knows what is good for us, if we do
not know it. But if we want something from him
that is not good for us, he does not give it to us, but
something much better, if we continue to pray to him
sincerely, and do not run away and lose all confidence
in him. You see, what you wished to ask of him was
not good for you just now; the dear Lord heard you;

HEIDI IMPROVES IN SOME RESPECTS 151

he can hear and see every one at the same time, be-
cause he is God, and not a human being like you and
me, and because he knew what was good for you, he
thought to himself :-

" ' Yes, Heidi shall have what she asks for, but not
until it is good for her, and when she will be quite happy
about it. For if I should do now what she wants, and
she finds afterwards that it would have been better if
I had not done what she wished, then she would cry
and say : " If only the dear Lord had not given me
what I asked for ! It is not so good as I thought it
would be ! " And while the dear Lord was looking
down to see whether you really trusted him and came
to him every day and prayed when you needed any-
thing, you have run away, no longer prayed, and quite
forgotten him.

" But, you see, when one does so, and the dear Lord
no longer hears his voice in prayer, he forgets him, too,
and lets him go whither he will. But when one is in
trouble and complains, 'There is no one to help me!'
we feel no pity for him, but say : ' You yourself ran
away from the dear Lord, who could have helped you ! '
Do you want it to be so, Heidi, or will you go right
away to the dear Lord and ask his forgiveness for hav-
ing turned away from him, and then pray every day,
and trust him so that everything will be made right
for you, and you may have a happy heart again ? "

Heidi had listened very attentively ; every word of
the grandmamma had gone to her heart, for the child
had perfect confidence in her.

152 HEIDI

" I will go now, right away, and ask God to forgive
me, and I will never forget him again," said Heidi
penitently.

" That is right, my child ; he will help you at the
right time, only be trustful ! " said the grandmamma
encouragingly ; and Heidi ran away to her room at once
and prayed earnestly and penitently to the dear Lord,
and asked him not to forget her, but to look down upon
her again.

The day for the grandmamma's departure had come,
and it was a sad day for Klara and Heidi ; but the
grandmamma managed it so that they were not aware
that it was a sad day, but rather a festival, until she
went away in the carriage. Then the house seemed as
empty and still as if everything had come to an end,
and throughout the rest of the day Klara and Heidi
sat as if lost, and did not know what would happen
next.

The next day when the lessons were over, and it was
time for the children to sit together as usual, Heidi
came in with her book under her arm and said : -

" I am always, always going to read aloud to you ;
would you like to have me, Klara ? "

Klara agreed to this proposal, and Heidi made haste
to begin her task. But it was not long before it all
came to an end, for Heidi had scarcely begun to read a
story, which told about a dying grandmother, when she
suddenly screamed aloud : -

" Oh, now the grandmother is dead ! " She burst
into pitiful weeping, for everything that Heidi read

HEIDI IMPROVES IN SOME RESPECTS 153

was to her actually taking place, and she believed
nothing else than that the grandmother on the Aim
was dead; so she cried louder and louder :-

" Now the grandmother is dead and I can never go
to her, and she has never had a single roll ! "

Klara tried to explain to Heidi that it was not the
grandmother on the Aim, but an entirely different one,
whom the story was telling about ; but even when this
mistake was finally made clear to the excited Heidi, she
could not calm herself, and went on crying inconsol-
ably, for the thought had been awakened in her mind
that the grandmother really might die, and her grand-
father too, while she was so far away, and then if she
should go home after a long time, it would be so still
and lifeless on the Aim, and she would be all alone,
and could never again see those who were dear to her.

In the mean time Fraulein Rottenmeier had come
into the room and heard Klara's attempt to explain
Heidi's mistake. But when the child still could not
stop sobbing, she went with evident signs of impatience
toward the children and said in a decided voice : —

" Adelheid, we have had enough of your useless
screaming ! I want to tell you something ; if you ever
again, while you are reading your stories, give vent to
such an outbreak, I will take the book away from you
and not return it."

This made an impression. Heidi turned pale with
fright. The book was her dearest treasure. She has-
tily dried her tears and swallowed and choked down
her sobs with all her might, so that no further sound

154 HEIDI

was heard from her. This means took effect. Heidi
did not cry again, no matter what she read ; but many
a time she had to make such an effort to control her-
self and not scream out, that Klara often said, quite
surprised :-

" Heidi, you are making the most frightful faces I
ever saw ! "

But the faces made no sound and did not offend
Dame Rottenmeier, and when Heidi had overcome
her attack of desperate sadness everything went on in
the old way and passed along quietly. But Heidi lost
her appetite and was so thin and pale that Sebastian
could hardly bear to look on and see how the child let
the nicest dishes pass by untouched. He often whis-
pered to her encouragingly when he passed her some-
thing :-

" Take some of it, Mamsell, it is fine. Not such a
little! A good spoonful, and another!" But his
fatherly advice did no good. Heidi ate almost nothing
at all, and at night when she lay down on her pillow
everything at home instantly came before her eyes,
and then, out of homesickness, she wept in her pillow
very softly, so that no one might hear her.

A long time passed in this way. Heidi scarcely
knew whether it was summer or winter, for the walls
and windows, which were the only things to be seen
from the Sesemann house, always looked the same,
and she went out only when Klara was particularly
well, and could be taken for a drive in the carriage;
and this was always very short, for Klara could not

HEIDI IMPROVES IN SOME RESPECTS

155

bear to go far. So they seldom went beyond walls
and pavements, but usually turned round before they
reached the suburbs ; so that all they saw was beauti-
ful wide streets, where plenty of houses and people
were to be seen, but no grass and flowers, no fir trees,
and no mountains ; and Heidi's longing for a glimpse
of the beautiful things she had been accustomed to
increased every day. Now the mere name of one of
these suggestive words was enough to
cause an outbreak of pain, and Heidi
had to struggle against it with all her
might.

Thus passed the autumn and win-
ter ; and the sun had already become
so dazzling on the white walls of the
houses opposite that Heidi surmised
the time was drawing near for Peter
to drive the goats up on the Aim
again, and the golden rock-roses would be glistening
in the sunshine, and every evening all the moun-
tains round would be on fire. Heidi would sit down in
a corner of her lonely room and put both hands over
her eyes, so that she might not see the sunlight on the
walls opposite ; and thus she would sit without stir-
ring, silently fighting against her burning homesick-
ness, until Klara called for her again.

CHAPTER XII

THE SESEMANN HOUSE IS HAUNTED

FOR several days Fraulein Rottenmeier had been
going about the house, for the most part, in silence
and wrapt in thought. If at dusk she went from one
room to another, or through the long corridor, she
often looked around her and into the corners, giving a
quick glance behind now and then, as if she thought
some one might be coming softly after her and, un-
noticed, pull her dress. She went alone into the living-
rooms only. If she had something to do on the upper
floor where the handsomely furnished guest-rooms were
situated, or downstairs in the great mysterious hall, in
which every step gave a resounding echo, and the old
senators, with their big white collars, looked down from
the walls so sternly and steadily with their big eyes,
she would pretend there was something to carry up or
down, and she would summon Tinette and tell her she
must come with her. Tinette did exactly the same ; if
she had any work to do upstairs or down, she would
call Sebastian and tell him he was to go with her, for
she might have something to carry which she could not
manage alone. Strange to say, Sebastian did precisely
the same ; if he was sent to the remote part of the
house, he called up Johann and directed him to accom-

156

THE SESEMANN HOUSE IS HAUNTED 157

pany him, for fear he could not bring what was needed.
Each one followed the other quite willingly, although
there was really nothing to be carried, and each might
have gone alone; but it seemed as if the companion
always thought he might soon need the other for the
same service. While this was going on upstairs, the
cook, who had been in the house for many years, stood
below, deep in thought among her pots, and shook her
head and sighed : -

" That I should live to see this ! "

For some time there had been something strange
and uncanny going on in the Sesemann house. Every
morning when the servants came down the house door
stood wide open, but no one was to be seen anywhere
about who could give any account of the matter. The
first few times when this happened all the chambers
and rooms of the house were anxiously searched to see
what had been stolen, for they thought a thief had
broken into the house in the night and had escaped
with his booty ; but such was not the case ; not a single
thing in the whole house was missing.

At night the door was not only double locked, but
also a wooden bar was put across ; it made no differ-
ence, in the morning the door stood wide open; and no
matter how early the servants in their excitement came
down, there stood the door open ; yet everything round
about was wrapt in deep sleep, and the doors and win-
dows in all the other houses were still firmly fastened.

At last Johann and Sebastian took courage, and at
Dame Rottenmeier's urgent request, prepared to spend

158 HEIDI

the night below in the room adjoining the great hall, to
see what would happen.

Fraulein Rottenmeier got out some of Herr Sese-
mann's weapons and gave them to Sebastian.

The two men sat down on the appointed evening, and
after being at first very talkative they became rather
sleepy ; whereupon they both leaned back in their chairs
and were silent. When the old tower clock struck
twelve, Sebastian grew bold and called to his compan-
ion ; but he was not easy to waken ; as often as Sebas-
tian called to him he would turn his head from one side
of the chair back to the other and go to sleep again.
Sebastian now listened eagerly, for he was wide awake
again. It was as still as a mouse everywhere ; even in
the street there was no sound to be heard. Sebastian
did not go to sleep again, for it seemed to him uncanny
in the deep stillness, and he called Johann in a subdued
voice and shook him a little from time to time. Finally,
when it had struck one o'clock, Johann woke up and
realized why he was sitting in a chair and not lying in
his bed. Suddenly he began to be very brave and
called out : —

"Now, Sebastian, we must go out and see how
things are; you needn't be afraid. Come after me."

Johann opened wide the room door, which had been
left ajar, and stepped outside. At the same moment
a sharp gust of air blew in from the open house door
and put out the light which Johann held in his hand.
He rushed back, almost threw Sebastian, who was
standing behind him, backwards into the room, then

THE SESEMANN HOUSE IS HAUNTED 159

dragged him along, closed the door, and in feverish
haste turned the key as far as it would go. Then he
pulled out his match-box and made a light again.
Sebastian did not know just what had happened, for,
standing behind the broad-shouldered Johann, he had
not so plainly felt the draft of air. But when they
could see each other by the light, Sebastian cried out
from fright, for Johann was deadly pale and trembled
like an aspen leaf.

"What is the matter? What was outside there?"
asked Sebastian anxiously.

"The door was as wide open as it could be," gasped
Johann, " and there was a white form on the steps ; you
see, Sebastian, it came up the steps, disappeared, and
was gone."

Cold shivers ran down Sebastian's back. Then they
sat down very close together and did not stir again
until it was morning and people began to be moving
in the street. Then they went out together, closed the
open door, and went upstairs to tell Fraulein Rotten-
meier about their experience. The lady was quite ready
to talk, for the expectation of what might happen had
kept her from sleeping. As soon as she learned what
had occurred she sat down and wrote such a letter to
Herr Sesemann as he had never received before. In
it she said that her fingers were paralyzed with fright.
Herr Sesemann must immediately come home, for the
most unheard-of things had happened there. Then she
told him what had taken place ; how the door was found
wide open every morning, and in consequence no one

160 HEIDI

in the house was any longer sure of his life, and that
no one could tell what horrible results might follow
this mysterious occurrence. Herr Sesemann replied
by return of mail that it was impossible for him to
leave his business so suddenly to come home. The
ghost story was very strange, and he hoped it was all
past. Meanwhile, if there should be any further
trouble, Fraulein Rottenmeier might write to Frau
Sesemann and ask her to come to Frankfurt to their
assistance; his mother would surely dispel the ghosts
in a very short space of time, and after that they would
never again venture to disturb his house.

Fraulein Rottenmeier was not pleased with the tone
of this letter ; the matter had made too little impres-
sion on him. She wrote immediately to Frau Sese-
mann, but she did not get any more satisfaction from
this direction, and the reply contained some very sar-
castic remarks. Frau Sesemann wrote that she did not
think it worth while for her to travel from Holstein to
Frankfurt because Rottenmeier saw ghosts. Moreover,
a ghost had never been seen in the Sesemann house,
and if there was one wandering around there now, it
could be nothing but a living being, and Rottenmeier
ought to be able to come to an understanding with it ;
if not, she should call the night watchman to her aid.

But Fraulein Rottenmeier was determined not to
spend her clays any longer in terror, and she knew how
to help herself. Until then she had told the children
nothing about the appearance of a ghost, lest they
should be afraid to stay alone a single moment day or

THE SESEMANN HOUSE /£ HAUNTED. 161

night, and that might have very uncomfortable conse-
quences for her. Now she went straight to the library,
where the two were sitting together, and in a sup-
pressed voice told them how a strange being appeared
every night. Immediately Klara screamed out that she
would not stay alone another moment, that her papa
must come home, and Fraulein Rottenmeier must sleep
in her room, and Heidi ought not to be alone either, or
the ghost might come to her and do her some harm.
She wanted them all to stay in the same room and to
have a light burning all night, and Tinette must sleep
near, and Sebastian and Johann must come down and
spend the night in the hall, in order to scream and
frighten away the ghost if it should come up on the
stairs.

Klara was very much excited, and Fraulein Rotten-
meier had the greatest difficulty to quiet her. She
promised to write to her papa immediately, and to put
her bed in Klara's room, and never to leave her alone
again. They could not all sleep in the same room, but
if Adelheid was afraid, Tinette must put up a couch in
her room. But Heidi was more afraid of Tinette than
of ghosts, for she had never even heard of such things,
and she insisted that she was not afraid and preferred
to remain alone in her room.

Hereupon Fraulein Rottenmeier flew to her writing
table and wrote to Herr Sesemann how the mysterious
proceedings which were repeated every night in his
house had so affected his daughter's delicate constitu-
tion that the most serious consequences were to be

162 HEIDI

anticipated. Examples were known of sudden epileptic
seizures, or attacks of St. Vitus's dance, in similar cases,
and his daughter was liable to any such misfortune if
the house were not relieved from this state of terror.

This had some effect. Two days later Herr Sese-
mann was standing at his door and rang so violently that
every one in the house came hurrying down, and each
gazed at the other, for they believed nothing less than
that the ghost was most impudently playing his evil
tricks even in the daytime. Sebastian, on the floor
above, cautiously peered out through a half-opened
shutter; and just at that instant there was another
ring at the bell, and this time so imperatively that no
doubt was left in any one's mind that it was a human
hand behind the summons.

Sebastian had recognized the hand, dashed through
the room, flew headfirst downstairs, but landed on his
feet at the bottom and flung the front door open.
Herr Sesemann did not stop to talk with him, but went
immediately up to his daughter's room. Klara received
her papa with a cry of joy, and when he saw her look-
ing so cheerful and unaltered, his face, which had looked
very stern, softened, and his expression grew more and
more pleasant, as he heard from his daughter's own
lips that she was as well as usual, and that she was
perfectly delighted to have him at home again, and that
she was most grateful to the ghost that was haunting
the house, because it had caused her papa to come
home.

" And what further pranks has the ghost been up

THE SESEMANN HOUSE IS HAUNTED. 163

to, Fraulein Rottenmeier ? " asked Herr Sesemann with
a comical expression in the corners of his mouth.

"Indeed, Herr Sesemann," replied that lady with
solemnity, "it is no laughing matter. I have no doubt
at all that by to-morrow Herr Sesemann will find it
serious enough ; for what is going on in this house
signifies that something terrible must have happened
here in days gone by and have been kept secret."

"Well, I know nothing about it," observed Herr
Sesemann, " but I must beg of you not to harbor any
suspicions of my most honorable ancestors. And now
call Sebastian into the dining-room ; I wish to talk with
him alone."

Herr Sesemann went into the dining-room, and Sebas-
tian made his appearance. Herr Sesemann had not
failed to observe that Sebastian and Fraulein Rotten-
meier were not the best of friends ; so he had his sus-
picions.

" Come here, Sebastian," said he, beckoning the ser-
vant to enter. " Now tell me honestly, have you not
your own self been playing the part of a ghost in order
to plague Fraulein Rottenmeier a little ? Tell me ! "

" No, on my word ; you must not think any such
thing ; I myself have not felt at all comfortable about
the matter," replied Sebastian with unmistakable frank-
ness.

" Well, if that is the case, I will show you and the
brave Johann to-morrow how ghosts look by daylight.
Shame upon you, Sebastian ! a strong young fellow
like you running away from ghosts ! Now go at once

164 HEIDI

to my old friend, Dr. Classen ; give him my compli-
ments, and tell him he must come here without fail
to-night at nine o'clock. I have come home from Paris
on purpose to consult him. It is such a serious matter
that he must spend the night with me ; he must make
his arrangements accordingly. Do you understand,
Sebastian ? "

" Yes, indeed ; yes, indeed ! Herr Sesemann may be
sure that I shall do as he says."

Sebastian left the room, and Herr Sesemann turned
to his little daughter to quiet her fears about the appa-
rition, which he was going that very day to put in its
true light.

Punctually at nine o'clock, when the children had
gone to sleep and Fraulein Rottenmeier had retired,
the doctor appeared, showing still under his gray hair
a very fresh face and two bright, kind twinkling eyes.
He looked somewhat anxious, but as his friend greeted
him, broke out into a hearty laugh and said, clapping
him on the shoulder :-

" Well, well, for one who needs to be watched with,
you look tolerably hearty, old friend."

" Have patience, my dear doctor," replied Herr Sese-
mann ; " the one you have to watch with will look worse
when we have caught him."

" What ! a sick person in the house and one that
must be caught ? "

" Far worse, doctor, far worse. A ghost in the
house; the house is haunted!"

The doctor laughed aloud.

THE SESEMANN HOUSE IS HAUNTED 165

" A fine state of affairs, doctor ! " continued Herr
Sesemann. " It 's a shame that my friend Rotten-
meier cannot enjoy it. She is convinced that a former
Sesemann is wandering about here and expiating some
dreadful deed."

"How did she find out about it ?" asked the doctor,
still very much amused.

Herr Sesemann now told his friend about the whole
proceeding, and added that, in order to be prepared for
whatever might happen, he had left two well-loaded
revolvers where they were to watch ; for either the
affair was a very undesirable joke, which possibly some
of the servants' acquaintances were playing, in order
to frighten the people in the house during the master's
absence --in that case a little scare, such as a good
shot into the air, could not be unwholesome --or else
it was a case of thieves, who had taken this means to
make them think they were ghosts, in order to be safer
later on, as no one would dare to venture forth ; if this
were so, a good weapon might not come amiss.

During this explanation the gentlemen had gone
downstairs and entered the same room where Johann
and Sebastian had watched. On the table lay the two
revolvers, and two brightly lighted candelabra stood in
the centre, for Herr Sesemann did not care to await
the ghost in a dim light.

The door was now partly shut, so that too much
light need not shine out into the hall to frighten away
the ghost. Then the gentlemen seated themselves com-
fortably in their easy-chairs and began to talk about all

166 HEIDI

sorts of things, now and then taking a little refresh-
ment, and so the clock struck twelve before they were
aware of it.

" The ghost has spied us out and is not coming
to-night at all," said the doctor.

" Have patience, it may come at one o'clock," replied
his friend.

They went on with their talking. It struck one. It
was perfectly still all about ; even on the street there
was no sound to be heard. Suddenly the doctor lifted
his finger : —

" Sh, Sesemann ! don't you hear something ? "

They both listened. They heard the bar softly but
quite distinctly pushed back, the key turned twice in
the lock, and the door was opened. Herr Sesemann
reached after the revolver.

" You are not afraid ? " said the doctor, rising.

" It is better to be cautious," whispered Herr Sese-
mann, seizing the candelabrum with three candles in
his left hand, and the revolver in his right, and followed
the doctor, who proceeded likewise provided with lights
and a revolver. They stepped out into the corridor.

Through the wide-open door the pale moonlight
came in and lighted up a white form, which stood
motionless on the threshold.

"Who is there ? " the doctor thundered forth, so that
it echoed through the entire length of the corridor, and
both gentlemen, with lights and weapons, went toward
the figure. It turned around and gave a little scream.
There stood Heidi, with bare feet, in her white night-

The pale moonlight
a white form

. lighted up

THE SESEMANN HOUSE IS HAUNTED

167

clothes, looking bewildered at the bright lights and
the firearms, and shivering and trembling from head
to foot like a little leaf in the wind. The gentle-
men looked at each other in the greatest astonish-
ment.

" I really believe, Sesemann, that it is your little
water-carrier," said the doctor.

" Child, what does this mean ? " asked Herr Sese-
mann. "What are you going to do? Why have you
come down here ? '

White as snow, from fright, Heidi stood there
and said, scarcely
able to make a
sound :-

" I don't know."

Then the doc-
tor stepped for-
ward : -

" Sesemann, the
case belongs to my
domain ; go and sit
down in your easy-
chair in there for a
while. I will first
of all take the child
back where she be-
longs."

Whereupon he laid his revolver on the floor, took the
trembling child by the hand, as a father would, and
went upstairs with her.

168 HEIDI

" Don't be afraid, don't be afraid," he said kindly, as
they went up; "only be very quiet; there is no harm
done, so never mind."

When they were in Heidi's room the doctor placed
his light on the table, took Heidi in his arms, laid her
in her bed and covered her up carefully. He sat down
in a chair by the bed and waited until she was some-
what calmer and did not tremble in every limb. Then
he took Heidi's hand and said soothingly : —

" There, now everything is all right ; now tell me
where you wanted to go."

" I did n't want to go anywhere," asserted Heidi ;
" I did not go down there myself ; I was only there all
at once."

" Indeed ! and did you dream anything in the night,
do you know, so that you saw and heard something
very clearly ?"

" Yes, every night I dream, and always the same
thing. I think I am with my grandfather, and I hear
the fir trees roaring outdoors, and I think, ' Now the
stars are sparkling so brightly in the sky,' and I run
swiftly and open the door of the hut, and it is so beau-
tiful there ! But when I wake up I am always in Frank-
furt still." Heidi began to struggle and to swallow
down the lump that rose in her throat.

" Hm ! and do you ever have any pain anywhere ?
In your head or in your back ? "

" Oh, no ; only something presses here all the time,
like a great stone."

" Hm ! somewhat as if you had eaten something

THE SESEMANN HOUSE IS HAUNTED 169

and then afterwards wished you could give it back
again ? "

" No, not like that ; but so heavy, as if I must cry
hard."

" Indeed ! and then do you cry right out loud ? "

" Oh, no, I don't dare to do that ; Fraulein Rotten-
meier has forbidden that."

" Then you swallow it down till another time, don't
you ? Really ! Well, you like to stay in Frankfurt,
do you not ? "

" Oh, yes," she replied faintly ; but it sounded as if
she meant the opposite.

" Hm ! and where did you live with your grand-
father ? "

" Always on the Aim."

" It is not particularly pleasant there, but rather
dreary, is it not ? "

" Oh, no ; it is so lovely there, so lovely ! '

Heidi could say no more ; the recollection of it all,
the excitement she had just passed through, and the
long-restrained weeping overpowered the child ; the
tears rushed from her eyes in streams, and she broke
into loud, passionate sobbing.

The doctor rose ; he laid Heidi's head gently on the
pillow and said : -

" There, now cry a little-- it can do no harm --and
then go to sleep, and be happy in your sleep ; to-
morrow everything will be all right."

Then he went downstairs.

When he was once more in the room where they had

170 HEIDI

been watching, he drew the easy-chair opposite his
waiting friend and explained to him, as he listened with
eager expectation :-

" Sesemann, in the first place, your little protegee
walks in her sleep ; all unconsciously she has opened
the door every night like a ghost and put all your ser-
vants into a fever of fright. In the second place, the
child is wasting away from homesickness, so that she
is almost reduced to a little skeleton and will soon be
entirely so ; something must be done for her at once !
For the first evil and for the nervous excitement exist-
ing in a high degree there is but one remedy, namely,
to send the child immediately back to her native moun-
tain air ; for the second there is but one medicine, and
that the very same thing. So send the child home
to-morrow; that is my prescription."

Herr Sesemann rose from his chair. Pie walked up
and down the room in the greatest excitement ; then
he exclaimed : -

" A sleep-walker ! Sick ! Homesick ! wasted away
in my house ! All this in my house ! And no one
noticed it or knew anything about it ! And do you
think, doctor, that I will send the child, who came
fresh and healthy into my house, back to her grand-
father miserable and wasted away ? No, doctor, you
cannot expect that ; I can't do that ; that I will never
do. Take the child in hand, put her under treatment,
do what you like, but make her sound and healthy, and
then I will send her home if she wants to go ; but first
give her your aid ! "

THE SESEMANN HOUSE IS HAUNTED 171

"Sesemann," replied the doctor earnestly, "think
what you are doing ! Her condition is no illness that
can be cured with powders and pills. The child has no
delicate constitution ; if you send her back now to the
bracing mountain air, to which she is accustomed, she
will be perfectly well again ; if not - - you would not
like to send her back beyond all help to her grand-
father, or never send her back at all, would you ? "

Herr Sesemann stood still in astonishment : —

" Well, if this is your advice, doctor, there is only one
way ; it must be followed immediately."

With these words Herr Sesemann took his friend's
arm and walked about with him to talk the matter over
still further. Then the doctor started to go home, for
much time had passed during their conversation, and
the bright morning light was coming through the house
door, which was opened this time by the master of the
house.

CHAPTER XIII

UP THE ALM ON A SUMMER EVENING

HERR SESEMANN climbed the stairs in the greatest
agitation and went with a firm step to Dame Rotten-
meier's sleeping room. Here he rapped so unusually
loud on the door that the good lady woke from sleep
with a cry of terror. She heard Herr Sesemann's
voice outside : —

" Pray hasten to come into the dining-room ; prepa-
rations must be immediately made for a journey."

Fraulein Rottenmeier looked at her clock ; it was
half-past four in the morning ; she had never risen at
such an hour in her life before. What could have hap-
pened ? Curiosity and anxious expectation made every-
thing she touched go wrong, and she made slow
progress in dressing, for she kept hunting about
uneasily in her room for the things she had already
put on.

Meanwhile Herr Sesemann went the entire length of
the hall and furiously rang every one of the bells used
to summon the different servants, so that in each
respective room a terrified form jumped out of bed and
hurried to dress, for one and all thought the same thing,
that the ghost had seized the master of the house, and

this was his call for help.

172

UP THE ALM ON A SUMMER EVENING 173

So they came down one after another, each looking
more terrified than the last, and stood in surprise before
the master of the house, for he was walking up and
down the room, looking fresh and cheerful, and not at
all as if a ghost had frightened him.

Johann was immediately despatched to put the
horses and carriage in order, to be brought round later
on. Tinette was ordered to waken Heidi at once, and
to make her ready to take a journey. Sebastian was
ordered to hasten to the house where Heidi's aunt was
at service and to bring her back. Fraulein Rotten-
meier had meanwhile succeeded in getting dressed, and
everything was all right except her headdress, which
was on crooked, so that from a distance she looked as
if her face was on backwards. Herr Sesemann ascribed
her perplexing appearance to the fact that she had been
awakened so early, and proceeded at once to business.
He explained to the lady that she was to procure a
trunk without delay, and to pack up all the things be-
longing to the Swiss child - - Herr Sesemann usually
spoke of Heidi in this way, as her name was somewhat
unfamiliar to him --and also a good part of Klara's
clothes, that the child might have everything that was
necessary to take with her ; but all must be done
quickly and without stopping to deliberate.

Fraulein Rottenmeier stood as if rooted to the floor
and stared at Herr Sesemann in amazement. She had
expected that he was going to tell her in confidence
some horrible story of his ghostly experience the night
before, and she would not have been displeased to hear

174 HEIDI

it now in the clear morning light ; instead of that came
these very prosaic and particularly inconvenient com-
mands. She could not at once overcome her surprise.
She still stood speechless, expecting something further.

But Herr Sesemann had no intention of making fur-
ther explanations ; he let the lady stand where she was
and went to his daughter's room. As he supposed, the
unusual stir in the house had awakened her, and she
was listening to everything and wondering what was
going on.

Her father sat down by her bed and told her what
the ghost really was, and that in the doctor's opinion
Heidi was in a very bad condition, and that her nightly
wanderings would become more extensive, and perhaps
she might climb up to the roof, and that would be very
dangerous. So he had decided to send the child home
at once, for he could not be responsible for her ; and
Klara must be reconciled, for she could see that it
could not be otherwise.

Klara was very painfully surprised by this news, and
at first wanted to find some way out of the difficulty,
but it was of no use ; her father remained firm in his
decision ; but he promised to take Klara the following
year to Switzerland, if she would be reasonable now
and not grieve. So Klara yielded to what could not be
helped ; she asked that Heidi's trunk should be brought
into her room and packed there, so that she might put
in some things Heidi would enjoy; and this her papa
willingly granted ; indeed, he even encouraged Klara
to give the child a fine outfit.

UP THE ALM ON A SUMMER EVENING 175

Meanwhile Aunt Dete arrived and stood with great
expectation in the vestibule; for to be summoned at
this unusual time must mean something extraordinary.
Herr Sesemann went out to her and told her how it
was with Heidi, and that he wished she would take the
child home at once, that very day. The aunt looked
very much disappointed. She had not expected such
news. She still remembered very distinctly the part-
ing words the uncle had spoken to her : never to come
before his eyes again ; and having taken the child to
him, and then brought her away, it did not seem advis-
able to take her back again. So she did not consider
the matter long, but said, with great earnestness, that
unfortunately it would be quite impossible for her to
take the journey that day, and the next day she could
think of it still less, and the day after that it would be
utterly impossible on account of the work to be done
then, and after that she would be no better able to go.

Herr Sesemann understood the aunt's excuses and
dismissed her without saying anything further. He
then summoned Sebastian and told him that he was to
prepare immediately to take a journey ; he was to go
that very day with the child as far as Basle, and the
next day to take her home. Then he could at once
return ; he would have no statement to make, for a
letter to the grandfather would explain everything to
him.

"There is one thing more of great importance,
Sebastian," said Herr Sesemann in conclusion, " and I
want you to look out for it carefully. I am acquainted

176 HEIDI

at the hotel in Basle, the name of which I have written
down here on my card for you. Show my card there
and a good room will be given you for the child ; you
must provide for yourself. Go first into the child's
room and fasten all the windows so securely that they
can be opened only with great force. When the child
is in bed go and fasten the door outside, for the child
wanders around in the night and might run into danger
in a strange house if she went out and tried to open the
house door ; do you understand ? "

"Aha! That was it, was it? That was it!" ex-
claimed Sebastian in the greatest surprise, for a great
light had just been thrown on the ghosts.

" Yes, that was it ! That was it ! and you are a cow-
ard, and you can tell Johann that he is another, and all
of you together a ridiculous set of men."

Having said this, Herr Sesemann went to his room
and sat down to write a letter to the Aim-Uncle.

Sebastian stood confounded in the middle of the
room and repeated over and over again to himself : -

" If only I had n't let that coward of a Johann pull
me back into the room, but had gone after the little
white figure, as I undoubtedly should have done ! " for
now the bright sunshine distinctly lighted up every
corner of the sombre room.

Meanwhile Heidi, entirely unsuspicious of what was
going to happen, stood waiting in her Sunday frock,
for Tinette had merely roused her from sleep, taker
her clothes out of the closet and put them on hurriedly
without saying a word. She never talked with the

UP THE ALM ON A SUMMER EVENING 177

uncultivated Heidi, for she considered her beneath her
notice.

Herr Sesemann walked with his letter into the
dining-room, where the breakfast was already served,
and asked : -^-

" Where is the child?"

Heidi was called. When she approached Herr Sese-
mann to say "good-morning" to him, he looked into
her face inquiringly : —

"Well, what do you say to it, little one ?"

Heidi looked up at him in amazement.

"You don't know anything about it even now," said
Herr Sesemann, laughing. " Well, you are going home
to-day, right away."

"Home?" repeated Heidi, unable to speak aloud,
and turned white as snow. For a little while she could
hardly get her breath, her heart was so violently affected
by the impression.

" Don't you want to know something about it ? "
asked Herr Sesemann, laughing.

" Oh, yes, I do," she now was able to gasp ; and she
turned deep red.

" Good, good ! " said Herr Sesemann, encouragingly,
while he seated himself and motioned to Heidi to do
the same. " And now eat a hearty breakfast and then
into the carriage and away."

But Heidi could not swallow a mouthful, although
through obedience she tried to force herself to eat ;
she was in such a state of excitement that she did not
know whether she was awake or dreaming, or whether

178 HEIDI

she would not suddenly awaken and be standing at the
door in her nightgown.

" Sebastian must take plenty of luncheon," said
Herr Sesemann to Fraulein Rottenmeier, who was just
entering the room ; " the child cannot eat, of course
not. Go in to Klara until the carriage comes," he
added kindly, turning to Heidi.

This was what Heidi wished, and she ran out of the
room. In the middle of Klara's room stood a huge
trunk, with the cover still wide open.

" Come, Heidi, come ! " Klara called out to her ; "see
what I have had packed for you ! come, do you like it ? "

And she showed her a quantity of things, dresses
and aprons, underwear and sewing materials ; " and see
here, Heidi," and Klara held up a basket triumphantly.
Heidi peeped in and jumped high in her delight, for
inside lay twelve lovely, round white rolls, all for the
grandmother. The children in their glee entirely for-
got that the moment had come for them to part, and
when suddenly the call was heard - - " The carriage is
ready!" -there was no time left to be sad.

Heidi ran to her room ; her beautiful book from the
grandmamma must still be there ; no one could have
packed it ; it lay under her pillow, for Heidi could not
be parted from it day or night. That was laid in the
basket on the bread. Then she opened her closet to
see if there was anything left that had not been packed.
To be sure — the old red neckerchief still lay there, for
Fraulein Rottenmeier had not thought it worth packing.
Heidi wrapped it around something else and laid it

UP THE ALM ON A SUMMER EVENING 179

on top of the basket, so that the red parcel was very
conspicuous. Then she put on her fine hat and left
her room.

The two children had to say a speedy farewell, for
Herr Sesemann was already there to take Heidi down
to the carriage. Fraulein Rottenmeier stood at the
head of the stairs to bid Heidi good-bye. When she
noticed the strange red bundle, she took it quickly out
of the basket and threw it on the floor.

"No, Adelheid," she said, still finding fault, "you
cannot leave this house so ; you do not need to carry
off such a thing as that. Now good-bye."

After this Heidi did not dare to pick up her bundle
again, but she looked beseechingly at the master of the
house, as if she were having her greatest treasure taken
from her.

" No, no," said Herr Sesemann in a very decided
voice, " the child shall carry home whatever gives her
pleasure, and if she takes away kittens or turtles we
will not get excited about it, Fraulein Rottenmeier."

Heidi quickly picked up her bundle from the floor,
and her eyes beamed with gratitude and pleasure.

When Heidi reached the carriage Herr Sesemann
held out his hand to the child and said to her with
friendly words that she must think of him and his
daughter Klara. He wished her a happy journey, and
Heidi thanked him very prettily for all the kindness
he had shown her and finally said : —

" And I leave a thousand good-byes for the doctor,
and thank him many times," for she had noticed how

180 HEIDI

he had said to her the night before : " And to-morrow
everything will be all right." Now it had all come
true, and Heidi thought he was the cause of it.

Then the child was lifted into the carriage, and the
basket and the lunch box and Sebastian followed.
Herr Sesemann called out once more in a friendly
voice : " A pleasant journey ! " and the carriage rolled
away.

Soon after, Heidi was sitting in the train and hold-
ing her basket firmly in her lap, for she would not let it
out of her hands for a moment ; the precious rolls for
the grandmother were inside, and she had to watch
them carefully and delight her eyes with a look at
them every now and then. Heidi sat as still as a
mouse for several hours, for now she began to realize
that she was on the way home to her grandfather on
the Aim, to the grandmother, and Peter, the goatherd ;
one thing after another came before her eyes --all
that she was going to see again, and she imagined how
everything would look at home, and new thoughts kept
arising in her mind ; suddenly she said anxiously : -

" Sebastian, are you sure that the grandmother on
the Aim is not dead ? "

"No, no," said he soothingly; "we hope she's not
dead. She must be still alive."

Then Heidi became absorbed again in her own
thoughts ; only now and then she peeped into her
basket, for her greatest desire was to lay all the rolls
on the grandmother's table. After some time she
said again : —

UP THE ALM ON A SU AIMER EVENING 181

" Sebastian, if we could only be perfectly sure that
the grandmother is still alive."

" Yes, indeed ! Yes, indeed ! " replied her com-
panion, half asleep ; " she 's still alive ; I don't see
any reason why not."

After a while Heidi's eyes also closed ; after the dis-
turbance of the previous night and the early start she
was so heavy with sleep that she did not awaken until
Sebastian shook her by the arm and called out to her :

" Wake up ! Wake up ! We must get out now, we
are in Basle ! "

On the following morning they journeyed for several
hours more. Heidi again sat with the basket in her
lap, for on no account would she give it up to Sebas-
tian ; but to-day she did not speak, for with each hour
her eagerness became more intense. Then suddenly,
when Heidi was not thinking about it, came the loud
call--" May en f eld !" She jumped up from her seat,
and Sebastian did the same, for he too had been sur-
prised. Now they stood outside with the trunk, and
the train was whistling farther on up the valley. Se-
bastian looked longingly after it, for he much preferred
traveling on in that safe and easy way to undertaking
a journey on foot, which had to end in climbing a
mountain, and might be hard and dangerous besides,
in this country where everything was still half wild, as
he supposed. He therefore looked carefully about
him for some advice concerning the safest way to
" Dorfli." Not far from the railway station stood a
little wagon, drawn by a lean horse ; into this a broad-

182 HEIDI

shouldered man was loading several large bags, which
had been brought by the train. Sebastian stepped up
to him and questioned him about the way.

"All ways are safe here," was the curt reply.

Then Sebastian asked him about the best way one
could go without falling over the precipices, and also
how a trunk could be taken to Dorfli. The man looked
at the trunk and measured it with his eyes; then he
stated that, if it was not too heavy, he would take it
in his wagon, since he himself was going to Dorfli.
So some words were exchanged and finally the two
arranged that the man would take both the child and
the trunk with him, and that the child could be
sent from Dorfli up the Aim with some one that
evening.

" I can go alone ; I know the way from Dorfli up the
Aim," said Heidi, for she had been listening attentively
while they were making the bargain. A heavy load
was taken from Sebastian's mind when he found him-
self so suddenly released from the prospect of climb-
ing the mountain. He now secretly beckoned Heidi
to one side and handed her a heavy roll and a letter to
her grandfather, and explained to her that the roll was
a present from Herr Sesemann, which must be put in
the bottom of her basket, under the bread, and that
she must take care of it, so that it should not be lost,
or Herr Sesemann would be frightfully cross about it,
and would never get over it all his life long ; the little
Mamselle must surely remember this.

" I will not lose it," said Heidi assuringly, and placed

UP THE ALM ON A SUMMER EVENING 183

the roll and the letter in the bottom of the basket.
The trunk was put into the wagon and then Sebastian
lifted Heidi with her basket up to the high seat, held
out his hand to bid her good-bye, and once more urged
her, with all sorts of signs, to keep her eyes on the
contents of her basket ; for the driver was near, and
Sebastian was all the more cautious because he knew
that he ought to go with the child himself to the end
of her journey. The driver swung himself up on the
seat beside Heidi, and the wagon rolled off toward the
mountain, while Sebastian, glad to escape the dreaded
mountain journey, sat down in the station to wait for
the returning train.

The man on the wagon was the baker of Dorfli, and
he was carrying home his bags of meal. He had never
seen Heidi, but like every one else in Dorfli he knew
about the child that had been brought to the Aim-
Uncle. Besides, he had known Heidi's parents and at
once surmised that she was the much-talked-of little
girl. He wondered somewhat why the child was so
soon coming home again, and during the journey began
to talk with Heidi :-

" You are the child who was up with the Aim-Uncle,
your grandfather, aren't you ? "

"Yes."

" Did you fare badly that you have already come
home from so far ? "

" No, I did not ; no one can fare better than I did in
Frankfurt."

"Why are you running home then?"

184 HEIDI

" Only because Herr Sesemann allowed me, or I
should not be coming home."

" Bah ! why did n't you prefer to stay there, if you
were only allowed to come home ? "

" Because I would a thousand times rather be at
home with my grandfather on the Aim than do any-
thing else in the world."

" Perhaps you '11 think differently when you get up
there," growled the baker; "but I wonder," he said to
himself, " if she can know how it is."

Then he began to whistle and said nothing more,
and Heidi looked around her and began to tremble
inwardly from excitement, for she recognized the trees
by the' way, and over yonder stood the lofty peaks of
the Falkniss mountain looking down at her, as if they
were greeting her like good old friends. And Heidi
greeted them in return, and with every step forward
Heidi's expectation grew more eager, and she felt as if
she would have to jump down from the wagon and run
with all her might until she was up there. However,
she remained still and did not move, but trembled all
over. As they came into Dorfli the clock was just
striking five. In a moment a crowd of women and
children gathered around the wagon, and two neighbors
came out to it, for the child and trunk on the baker's
cart had attracted the attention of all the inhabitants,
and each one wanted to know where they had come
from and where they were going.

When the baker had lifted Heidi down, she said
quickly : -

UP THE ALM ON A SUMMER EVENING 185

" Thank you, my grandfather will come for my
trunk " ; and she would have run away, but she was held
fast on every side, and there was a tumult of voices,
each asking something different. Heidi pressed
through the crowd with such anxiety on her face
that they reluctantly made room for her and let her
pass, and one said to another : " You see how fright-
ened she is; she has every reason to be."

Then they began to tell one another how the Aim-
Uncle for a year past had been worse than ever, and
would not speak a word to any one, and when any one
came in his way he made up a face, as if he would like
to kill him ; and if the child knew anything in the
world about it, she would not run to the old dragon's
nest. But here the baker interrupted their remarks by
saying he knew more about it than all the rest, and
then told them, with an air of mystery, how a gentle-
man had brought the child as far as Mayenfeld, parted
from her in a very friendly way, and had at once, with-
out any bargaining, paid the fare he asked, besides add-
ing a fee ; and, more than all, he could say surely that
the child had been well off where she was, and that she
was anxious to come back to her grandfather. This
news caused great surprise and was immediately spread
through all Dorfli, so that there was not a house that
evening where it was not repeated that Heidi had been
anxious to come back from a life of luxury to her
grandfather.

Heidi ran up the mountain from Dorfli as fast as she
could ; but now and then she would suddenly stand

186 HEIDI

still, for she quite lost her breath ; the basket on her
arm was heavy for her, and besides it grew steeper and
steeper the higher she went. Heidi had only one
thought : —

" Will the grandmother still be sitting in the corner at
her spinning wheel ; has she not died in all this time ? "

Now Heidi saw the hut up in the hollow on the
Aim, and her heart began to throb ; she ran still
faster ; her heart kept beating louder and louder. -
Now she was up there --she could hardly open the
door, she trembled so - - but now ! - She ran into the
middle of the little room and stood there, completely
out of breath and unable to speak.

"Oh, Heavens!" sounded from the corner, "our
Heidi used to run in like that ! Ah, if only I could
have her with me once more while I live ! Who has
come in ? "

" Here I am, grandmother ; here I am, really ! "
exclaimed Heidi.

Rushing into the corner and getting on her knees
into the old dame's lap, she seized her arm and her
hands and snuggled up to her, and was unable to say
anything more from delight. At first the grandmother
was so overcome that she could not speak a word ;
then she began to stroke Heidi's curly hair with her
hand and kept saying again and again : —

" Yes, yes, it is her hair ; and it is her voice ; ah, dear
Lord, that thou shouldest have permitted me this ! "

And two great tears of joy dropped from her blind
eyes on Heidi's hand.

UP THE ALM ON A SUMMER EVENING

187

" Are you here, Heidi ? are you really here ? "
"Yes, yes, really, grandmother," said Heidi with all
assurance ; " but do not cry ; I am very surely here
again and will come to you every day and never go

away again ; and you won't have to eat hard bread for
many days, for see, grandmother, do you see ? "

And Heidi now took one roll after another out of her
basket, until she had piled up all twelve in the grand-
mother's lap.

" Oh, child ! Oh, child ! what a blessing you have
brought me ! " exclaimed the grandmother, when the
rolls did not come to an end, but one kept following
another. " But the greatest blessing is you yourself,
child ! " Then she seized hold of Heidi's curly hair
and stroked her hot cheeks and said again : —

188 HEIDI

"Say just a word more, child; say something more,
so that I can hear you."

Heidi then told the grandmother how she had suf-
fered, fearing she might perhaps die while she was
away and not have the white rolls, and she would
never, never be able to go to her.

Then Peter's mother came in, and for a moment
stood still in astonishment. Then she exclaimed :—

" Surely, it is Heidi ! how can it be possible ! "

Heidi rose and shook hands with her, and Brigitte
could not wonder enough at Heidi's appearance, and
she walked around the child, saying : —

" Grandmother, if you only could see what a beauti-
ful dress the child Jaas on and how she looks ; I hardly
know her. And does the little hat trimmed with
feathers, on the table, belong to you also ? Just put it
on, so I can see how you look in it."

" No, I will not," said Heidi decidedly ; " you can
have it ; I don't need it any longer, I still have my

own.'

Whereupon Heidi opened her little red bundle and
took out her old hat, which had become still more bent
during the journey than it was before. But that
troubled Heidi little; she had never forgotten how,
when she was leaving her grandfather, he had called
after her that he never wanted to see her in a hat
trimmed with feathers, and that was why Heidi had
kept her hat so carefully, for she always thought of
the time when she should go home to him.

But Brigitte said she must not be so foolish ; it was

UP THE ALM ON A SUMMER EVENING 189

a splendid hat, and she might sell it to the teacher's
little daughter in Dorfli, and get a good deal of money
for it, if she did not care to wear it. But Heidi was
firm in her decision and laid the hat gently in the cor-
ner behind the grandmother, where it was entirely
hidden. Then Heidi- took off her lovely dress, and
she folded the red neckerchief over her underwaist, in
which she now stood with bare arms, and then seized
the grandmother's hand, saying : -

" Now I must go home to my grandfather, but to-
morrow I will come to you again ; good-night, grand-
mother."

" Yes, come again, Heidi ; come again to-morrow
morning," said the grandmother ; and she pressed
Heidi's hand between her own and could hardly let
her go.

" Why have you taken off your beautiful dress ? "
asked Brigitte.

" Because I would rather go to my grandfather with-
out it, or he might not know me ; you hardly knew me
in it."

Brigitte went out of the door with Heidi, and said a
few words secretly to her : -

" You can keep on the dress, he will know you ; but
you must take care of yourself, for Peterli says the
Aim-Uncle is always very cross now and never says a
word."

Heidi said "good-night" and went on up the moun-
tain with her basket on her arm. The evening sun
shone all around on the green Aim, and now the snow

190 HEIDI

field on Casaplana came into sight and gleamed in the
distance.

Every few steps Heidi had to stand still and look
around, for the high mountains were behind her as she
climbed. Now a red glow fell over the grass at her
feet; she turned around; there --she had forgotten
the splendor, and never had seen it in her dreams like
this --the rocky peaks on Falkniss flamed up to the
sky, the broad snow field was all aglow, and rosy clouds
were drifting high above. The grass all around on the
Aim was golden ; from all the crags it glimmered and
gleamed down, and below, the far-reaching valley swam
in a golden vapor.

Heidi stood in the midst of all this glory, and bright
tears of joy and rapture ran down her cheeks, and she
had to fold her hands, and, looking up to Heaven, thank
the dear Lord aloud that he had brought her back home
again, and that everything, everything was still so beau-
tiful, and even more beautiful than she had thought, and
that it all was hers once more. And Heidi felt so happy
and so rich in the great glory that she could not find
words to express her thankfulness to the dear Lord.

Not until the light all about began to fade could
Heidi move away from the place. But then she ran so
fast up the mountain that it was not long before she
saw the boughs of the fir trees above the roof, and then
the roof itself, and then the whole hut, and on the
seat beside it sat her grandfather, smoking his pipe,
and over the hut the old fir trees were rocking their
branches and roaring in the evening wind. Then Heidi

UP THE ALM ON A SUMMER EVENING 191

ran all the faster, and before the Aim-Uncle could really
see what was coming the child rushed up to him, threw
her basket on the ground, and hugged the old man.
In her excitement at seeing him again she was unable
to say anything, except to keep exclaiming : " Grand-
father! grandfather! grandfather!"

Neither did the grandfather say anything. For the
first time in many years his eyes grew moist, and he
had to pass his hand over them. Then he loosened
Heidi's arms from his neck, took her on his knee, and
looked at her for a moment.

" So you have come home again, Heidi," he said
then; "how is it? You don't look particularly fine.
Did they send you away ? "

" Oh, no, grandfather," Heidi now began fervently to
say ; " you must not think that ; they were all so good —
Klara and the grandmamma and Herr Sesemann. But
you see, grandfather, I could hardly bear to wait any
longer to come home again to you, and I often thought
I should stifle, it choked me so ; but I really never said
anything about it, because it would be ungrateful.
And then suddenly one morning Herr Sesemann called
me very early ; but I believe the doctor was the cause
of it; but perhaps it tells all about it in the letter"
whereupon Heidi jumped down on the ground, took her
letter and her roll out of the basket and laid them both
in her grandfather's hand.

"That belongs to you," he said, laying the roll beside
him on the seat. Then he took the letter and read it
through ; without saying a word he put it into his pocket.

192 HEIDI

"Do you think you can drink milk with me still,
Heidi ? " he then asked, while he took the child by the
hand to lead her into the hut. " But take your money
with you ; you can buy a bed with it, and clothes enough
to last you for two or three years."

" I really don't need it, grandfather," asserted Heidi ;
" I have a bed already ; and Klara packed up so many
clothes for me that I shall really never need any more."

" Take it, take it, and put it in the cupboard ; you
will be able to use it sometime."

Heidi obeyed and skipped after her grandfather into
the hut, where, delighted to see everything again, she
ran into every corner and up the ladder; but there
she suddenly stood still and called down somewhat con-
cerned : —

" Oh, grandfather, I no longer have any bed ! "

"You will soon have another," sounded from below.
"I didn't know that you would return ; now come and
get your milk ! "

Heidi came down and took her seat on her high stool
in the old place, and then grasped her little bowl and
drank as eagerly as if she had never had anything so
precious within her reach before, and when she put
down her bowl, with a deep breath, she said : -

" There is nothing in all the world so good as our
milk, grandfather."

A shrill whistle sounded outside. Heidi shot out of
the door like lightning. There was the whole flock of
goats, skipping, jumping, and leaping down from the
heights above, and Peter in their midst. When he saw

UP THE ALM ON A SUMMER EVENING 193

Heidi he stood perfectly still, as if rooted to the spot,
and stared at her speechless. Heidi called out : " Good-
evening, Peter ! " and rushed in among the goats.
" Schwanli ! Barli ! Do you know me still ? "

The goats must have recognized her voice, for they
rubbed their heads against her and began to bleat pas-
sionately for joy, and Heidi called them all by name,
one after the other, and they all ran like wild creatures
in confusion and crowded around her. The impatient
Distelfinck jumped high into the air and over two other
goats, in order to get near her at once, and the timid
Schneehopli gave the big Turk a very determined thrust
and pushed him aside, so that he stood looking much
amazed at the impudence, and raised his beard in the
air to show that it was he.

Heidi was beside herself with joy to see all her old
companions once more ; she threw her arms around the
little affectionate Schneehopli again and again, stroked
the violent Distelfinck, and was pushed and jolted hither
and thither by the fond, trusting goats until she came
quite near to Peter, who remained standing in the same
place.

" Come down, Peter, and say good-evening to me ! "
Heidi called to him.

"Are you back again?" he finally managed to say
in his astonishment ; and then he came forward and
took Heidi's hand, which she had been offering him
for some time, and asked, as he always did when he was
returning home at evening : -

"Will you come with me again to-morrow?"

194 HEIDI

"No, not to-morrow, but the day after, perhaps; for
to-morrow I must go to the grandmother's."

" It is good to have you back again," said Peter,
making all sorts of wry faces from huge delight ; then
he started homeward ; but he had never before had
such difficulty with his goats, for when he had at last,
with coaxing and threatening, succeeded in collecting
them about him, and Heidi had walked away with one
arm around Schwanli's and the other about Barli's neck,
they all with one accord turned around again and ran
after the three. Heidi had to go into the shed with
her two goats and shut the door, or Peter would never
have succeeded in getting away with his flock.

When the child came back into the hut she found
her bed already made up again, wonderfully high and
fragrant, for the hay had not been in long, and the
grandfather had very carefully spread the clean linen
sheet over it. Heidi lay down on it with great delight
and had a refreshing sleep, such as she had not enjoyed
for a whole long year. During the night her grandfather
left his couch at least ten times, climbed the ladder and
listened carefully to see if Heidi was still asleep and
was not restless, and looked at the window where the
moon used to shine in on Heidi's bed, to see if the hay
he had stuffed into it was still there, for the moon
should be kept out henceforth. But Heidi slept right
on and wandered about no longer, for her great, hungry
longing was satisfied ; she had seen all the mountains
and cliffs in the evening glow again, she had heard the
fir trees roaring, she was at home again on the Aim.

CHAPTER XIV

SUNDAY WHEN THE CHURCH BELLS RING

HEIDI stood under the swaying branches of the fir
trees, waiting for her grandfather, who was going to
fetch the trunk from Dorfli, while she stayed with
the grandmother. The child could hardly wait to
see the grandmother again and to hear how the rolls
had tasted ; yet the time did not seem long to her, for
she could not listen enough to the tones of her native
sighing fir trees above her, and drink in all the fra-
grance and brightness of the green pastures and their
golden blossoms.

The grandfather came out of the hut, took a look
around him, and then said in a satisfied tone : —

" Well, now we can go."

It was Saturday night, and on that day it was the
Aim-Uncle's custom to clean and put everything in
order in the hut, in the shed, and all about ; to-day he
had taken the morning for this, in order to go with
Heidi in the afternoon, and so everything all around
looked neat and to his satisfaction. At Peter's hut
they parted and Heidi ran in. The grandmother had
already heard her step, and called out to her affection-
ately : -

"Have you come, child ? Have you come again?"

196 HEIDI

Then she grasped Heidi's hand and held it very
tightly, for she still feared that the child might be taken
away from her again. And now the grandmother had
to tell how the rolls had tasted, and she said she had
been so refreshed by them that she thought she was
much stronger that day than she had been for a long
time, and Peter's mother added that the grandmother
was much worried lest the rolls should soon be gone,
and she had eaten only one roll the day before and
that day together, and she really could not gain much
strength ; they would last only a week if she should eat
one a day. Heidi listened attentively to Brigitte and
remained for some time thinking. Then she found a
way out of the difficulty.

" I know now what I will do, grandmother," she said
with eager delight.

" I will write a letter to Klara, and she will surely
send me as many more rolls and twice as many as there
are, for I had a great pile just like them in my closet,
and when they were taken away from me Klara said she
would give me just as many more, and she will do so."

" Dear me ! " said Brigitte, " that is a good idea ; but
think, they would grow hard, too. If we only had a
spare penny now and then ; the baker clown in Dorfli
makes them, but I am hardly able to pay for the black
bread."

Then a bright, joyful light spread over Heidi's face.

" Oh, I have a tremendous lot of money, grand-
mother ! " she exclaimed triumphantly, and danced up
and down with delight ; " now I know what I can do

SUNDA Y WHEN THE CHURCH BELLS RING 197

with it. Every single day you must have a new roll, and
two on Sunday, and Peter can bring them up from Dorfli."

" No, no, child ! " said the grandmother in disap-
proval, " that cannot be ; the money was not given you
for that ; you must give it to your grandfather, and he
will tell you what you are to do with it."

But Heidi would not be disturbed in her delight ; she
shouted and danced around the room and exclaimed
again and again : -

" Now the grandmother can eat a roll every day and
will grow quite strong again, and --oh, grandmother!"
she cried with new delight, "if you should grow so
well, it would really become light to you again ; it is
perhaps only because you are so weak."

The grandmother was silent ; she did not wish to dis-
turb the child's pleasure. In her dancing around, Heidi
suddenly spied the grandmother's old hymn book, and
a new and delightful thought came to her.

" Grandmother, I can read quite well now ; shall I
read a song out of your old book?"

"Oh, yes!" said the grandmother, overcome with
delight ; " can you really do that, can you do that ? "

Heidi climbed up in a chair and took down the book,
covered thick with dust, for it had long lain there un-
disturbed. She then wiped it clean, sat down with it
on her stool beside the grandmother, and asked what
she should read.

"Whatever you like, child, whatever you like"; and
the grandmother sat with eager expectancy, and pushed
the spinning wheel a little way from her.

198 HEIDI

Heidi turned the leaves and read a line here and
there.

" Here is something about the sun ; I will read you
that, grandmother"; and Heidi began, and became more
and more eager and interested as she read : —

"The sun overflowing
With splendor glowing,
From golden fountains
Pours o'er our mountains
A spirit-quickening glory of light.

Below I wandered

And, mournful, pondered,

But now arising

With change surprising

I turn to the sky my enraptured sight.

Mine eye beholdeth

What God unfoldeth

To tell the story

Of boundless glory —

How vast the sum of his infinite might!

Behind those portals

Henceforth immortals,

Our friends arisen

From fleshly prison

Have entered the realms of boundless delight

While all things falter,

God doth not alter :

No shade of turning

In his discerning : —

His word and will are eternal right /

SUNDA Y WHEN THE CHURCH BELLS RING 199

His grace unbounded

In love is founded ;

The humblest creature

May share His nature —

The lowest depth and the highest height.

To-day we languish

In grief and anguish,

But earthly sorrow

Shall fade to-morrow : —

After the storm the sun shines bright.

Sweet peace and pleasure

In boundless measure

We know is given

In the gardens of heaven j

And thither my hopes yearn day and night /"

The grandmother sat still with folded hands and an
expression of indescribable joy on her face, such as
Heidi had never seen there before, although the tears
were running down her cheeks. When Heidi stopped
reading she said entreatingly : -

" Oh, just once more, Heidi, let me hear it just once
more : —

'•To-day we languish

In grief and anguish."1 "

And the child began again and read with eager

delight : —

" To-day we languish
In grief and anguish,
But earthly sorrow
Shall fade to-morrow : —
After the storm the sun shines bright.

200 HEIDI

Sweet peace and pleasure

In boundless measure

We know is given

In the gardens of heaven ;

And thitJier my hopes yearn day and night f"

" Oh, Heidi, that gives me light ! it gives me light
in my heart. Oh, how much good you have done me,
Heidi!"

The grandmother repeated the joyful words again
and again ; and Heidi beamed with pleasure, and had
to keep looking at the grandmother, for she had never
seen her so before. She no longer had the old expres-
sion on her face, but appeared so happy and thankful,
as if she 'already looked with new bright eyes into the
beautiful heavenly garden.

Then some one knocked on the window, and Heidi
saw her grandfather outside, beckoning to her to go
home with him. She followed quickly, but not with-
out assuring the grandmother that she would come
again the next day, and that even if she went up to the
pasture with Peter she would only stay there half the
day, for to be able to make it light again for the grand-
mother was to her the very greatest pleasure she could
enjoy, even much greater than to be in the sunny pas-
ture among the flowers and goats.

Brigitte ran out at the door after Heidi with her dress
and hat, that she might take them with her. She took
the dress on her £rm, for her grandfather knew her
now, she thought ; but the hat she obstinately refused.
Brigitte must keep it for her, for she would never, never

SUNDAY WHEN THE CHURCH BELLS RING 201

put it on her head again. Heidi was so full of her
experiences that she had to tell her grandfather at once
all that had delighted her heart : that they could get
white bread for the grandmother down in Dorfli if they
only had the money, and that it had suddenly become
so light to the grandmother, and she looked so well ;
and when Heidi had described it all to the end she went
back to the beginning and said very confidently : —

"Surely, grandfather, if the grandmother is not
willing, you will give me all my money, so that I can
give Peter a piece for a roll every day and two on
Sunday ? "

" But the bed, Heidi ? " said the grandfather ; " a real
bed would be a good thing for you, and then there
would be enough left for many rolls."

But Heidi gave her grandfather no peace, and assured
him that she slept much better on her bed of hay than
she had ever done in her pillowed bed in Frankfurt,
and begged so urgently and incessantly that her grand-
father finally said : -

" The money is yours, do whatever pleases you ; you
can get bread for the grandmother with it for many a
long year."

Heidi shouted for joy : —

" Oh, hurrah ! now the grandmother will never have
to eat hard black bread any more, and oh, grandfather,
now everything is lovelier than it ever was before in
our lives ! "

Heidi took hold of her grandfather's hand and
jumped into the air and shouted as merrily as the

202 HEIDI

birds in the sky. But all of a sudden she grew quite
serious and said : —

" Oh, if the dear Lord had done right away what I
prayed for so hard, then everything would not be as it
is now. I should only have come home again and
brought the grandmother just a few rolls, and shouldn't
have been able to read to her, which does her good ;
but the dear Lord had already thought it all out so
much better than I knew; the grandmamma told me
so, and now it has all come true. Oh, how glad I am
that the dear Lord did not grant what I asked and
longed for ! Now I will always pray as the grand-
mamma told me, and always thank the dear Lord, and
if he does not do what I ask, then I will surely think all
the same, it will just be as it was in Frankfurt ; the dear
Lord is planning something much better. But we will
pray every day, won't we, grandfather? And we will
never forget Him, so that the dear Lord may never
forget us."

" And if one should do so ? " murmured the grand-
father.

" Oh, it would not be well for him, for then the dear
Lord would forget him, too, and let him go away, and if
he should get into trouble and complain, nobody would
pity him, but everybody would say : ' He first ran away
from the dear Lord ; now the dear Lord, who might
have helped him, lets him go.' '

"That is true, Heidi ; how did you know it ? "

"From the grandmamma; she told me all about
it."

SUNDAY WHEN THE CHURCH BELLS RING 203

The grandfather was silent for a while. Then he
said to himself, following his own thoughts : —

"And if it is so, then it is so; no one can go back,
and whomever God has forgotten, He has forgotten."

" Oh, no, grandfather ; one can go back ; that I know,
too, from the grandmamma ; and then it says so in the
beautiful story in my book ; but you don't know about
that ; we are almost home, and you shall see how beau-
tiful the story is."

Heidi, in her eagerness to get home, hurried faster
and faster the last part of the way, and they had scarcely
reached the top when she let go her grandfather's hand
and ran into the hut. Her grandfather had put half of
the things from the trunk into a basket, for the entire
trunk was too heavy for him to carry. He now took
the basket from his back and then sat down on the
bench and became absorbed in thought. Heidi came
running out again, with her big book under her arm.

" Oh, this is good, grandfather, that you are already
sitting down here " ; and with one bound Heidi was by
his side and had found her story, for she had read it so
often over and over again, that the book opened of
itself at the place. Heidi then read with great feeling
about the Prodigal Son.

"Isn't that a beautiful story, grandfather?" asked
Heidi, when he sat in silence and she had expected him
to be delighted and surprised.

"Yes, Heidi, the story is beautiful," said her grand-
father ; but his face was so serious that Heidi became
quite still and looked at her pictures. She quietly

204 HEIDI

pushed her book in front of her grandfather and said :
" See, how happy he is," and pointed with her finger
to the picture of his return home, where he stands in
fresh garments beside his father, and once more belongs
to him as his son.

A few hours later, when Heidi had long been wrapt
in deep sleep, her grandfather climbed the little ladder ;
he put his lamp beside Heidi's bed so that the light fell
on the sleeping child. She lay there with folded hands,
for Heidi had not forgotten to pray. On her rosy face
was an expression of peace and blessed trust that must
have appealed to her grandfather, for he stood there a
long, long time without moving or taking his eyes from
the sleeping child. Then he, too, folded his hands and
half aloud, with bowed head, said : -

" Father, I have sinned against Heaven and before
Thee and am no more worthy to be called Thy son ! "
and great tears rolled down his cheeks.

In the early daylight the Aim-Uncle stood in front
of his hut, looking around with beaming eyes. The
Sunday morning glistened and shone over mountain
and valley. The sound of early bells came up from
below, and the birds in the fir trees were beginning
their morning songs.

The grandfather stepped back into the hut.

"Come, Heidi!" he called from below. "The sun
is up ! Put on a good dress, and we will go to church
together ! "

It did not take Heidi long ; this was an entirely new
call from her grandfather, and she felt that she must

SUNDAY WHEN THE CHURCH BELLS RIXG 205

follow quickly. In a short time she came running
down in her fine Frankfurt dress, but she remained
standing in front of her grandfather and looked at
him in great surprise.

" Oh, grandfather, I have never seen you look so
before ! " she exclaimed at last, " and you have never

worn the coat with the silver buttons. Oh, you are so
splendid in your beautiful Sunday coat ! "

The old man looked at the child with a contented
smile and said : —

" And you in yours ; now come ! "

He took Heidi's hand in his, and thus they went
together down the mountain.

The clear-toned bells were now sounding in every

206 HEIDI

direction, and fuller and richer as they came nearer,
and Heidi listened with delight and said : -

" Do you hear them, grandfather ? it is like a great,
great festival."

Down in Dorfli the people were already in the church
and just beginning to sing when the grandfather and
Heidi entered and seated themselves far back in the
last seat. But in the midst of the singing the person
sitting next them nudged his neighbor with his elbow
and said : -

" Have you noticed ? The Aim-Uncle is in church ! "

And the person nudged touched the next one and so
on, and in a short time it was whispered in every corner :
"The Aim-Uncle! The Aim-Uncle !" and almost all
the women had to turn their heads for a moment, and
most of them lagged in the singing, so that the leader
had the greatest difficulty in keeping the time.

But when the pastor began to preach they became
attentive, for there was such warm praise and thanks-
giving in his words that all the listeners were affected
by it, and it was as if a great joy had happened to them
all. When the service was over, the Aim-Uncle went
out with the child by the hand and walked to the par-
sonage. All those who went out with him, and those
who were standing outside, gazed after him, and most
followed to see whether he really went into the parson-
age ; he did so. Then they gathered in groups and
discussed in great excitement this unheard-of thing that
the Aim-Uncle had been in church, and they all looked
eagerly toward the parsonage to see how he would

SUNDAY WHEN THE CHURCH BELLS RING 207

come out, whether in scorn and strife or in peace with
the pastor, for they had no idea what had brought the
old man down and what it really meant. But there
was already a change of feeling experienced by many of
them, and one said to another : -

" It may be that the Aim-Uncle is not so bad as
they say ; you can see how carefully he held the little
one by the hand" ; and another one said : " That is what
I have always said ; and he would not go to the pastor's
house if he were so thoroughly bad, for he would be
afraid ; people exaggerate a great many things." And
the baker said : —

" Didn't I tell you that the first of all? Do you sup-
pose a little child that has all it wants to eat and drink,
and everything else good besides, would run away from
it all and go home to a grandfather if he was wicked
and wild, and she was afraid of him ? "

And a very friendly feeling for the Aim-Uncle arose
and increased ; the women also drew near. They had
heard from Peter the goatherd and the grandmother
so many things that represented the Aim-Uncle as quite
different from the popular opinion, and now all at once
it seemed as if they were waiting to welcome an old
friend who had long been absent.

Meanwhile the Aim-Uncle had gone to the study
door and knocked. The pastor opened it and met the
visitor, not with surprise, as he might have done, but as
if he were expecting him. His unusual appearance in
the church could not have escaped him. He grasped
the old man's hand and shook it heartily, and the Aim-

208 HEIDI

Uncle stood in silence, and at first could not say a
word, for he was not prepared for such a warm greet-
ing. Then he collected himself and said :-

" I have come to ask the pastor to forget the words
I said to him on the Aim, and that he will not bear me
ill will for being obstinate toward his well-meant advice.
The pastor was right in all that he said, and I was
wrong ; but I will now follow his advice, and next win-
ter take up quarters in Dorfli, for the severe weather
up yonder is not good for the child ; she is too delicate.
And even if the people down here look at me askance,
as one who is not to be trusted, I deserve nothing
better, and certainly the pastor will not do so."

The pastor's friendly eyes beamed with delight. He
took the old man's hand once more and pressed it in
his, and said with emotion : -

" Neighbor, you went to the right church before you
came down to mine ; this delights me ! You shall not
regret your willingness to come down and live among
us again ; you will always be welcome in my house as a
dear friend and neighbor, and I expect to spend many
a pleasant hour of a winter evening with you, for I find
your company agreeable and profitable, and we shall
find good friends also for the little girl."

And the pastor laid his hand very kindly on Heidi's
curly head, and took her by the hand and led her out,
as he accompanied the grandfather, and when they
were outside the door he bade them farewell.

All the people standing round could see how the
pastor shook hands with the Aim-Uncle, as if he were

SUNDAY WHEN THE CHURCH BELLS RING 209

his best friend and he could hardly bear to part with
him. . Scarcely had the door closed behind the pastor,
when the whole assembly pressed toward the Aim-
Uncle, and each was eager to be the first, and so many
hands were held out together to him that he did not
know which he ought to grasp first.

One said to him :-

" I am glad ! I am glad, uncle, that you are coming
back to us again ! " And another said : " I have long
wanted to speak with you again, uncle ! " Similar
remarks were heard on every side, and when the uncle
replied to all their friendly greetings that he intended
to take up his quarters in Dorfli again and spend the
winter with his old acquaintances, there was great
rejoicing, and it seemed exactly as if the Aim-Uncle
were the best-beloved person in all Dorfli, whom they
had had great difficulty to get along without. Most of
them accompanied the grandfather and the child far up
the Aim, and when they left them each one wished
the Aim-Uncle to promise to call on him when he came
down again. And when the people turned to go down
the mountain the old man stood for a long time gazing
after them, and a warm light was spread over his face,
as if the sun shone out from within him. Heidi looked
steadily at him and said with delight : -

" Grandfather, you never looked so handsome before
as you have to-day ! ':

"Do you think so?" said her grandfather, smiling.
"Well, you see, Heidi, I feel happy because I am on
good terms with people and at peace with God and

210 HEIDI

man ; that does one good ! The dear Lord was good to
me when he sent you up on the Aim."

When they reached Peter the goatherd's hut the
grandfather straightway opened the door and went in.

" Good-day, grandmother," he called out ; " I think
we must do a little more mending, before the autumn
wind comes."

" Dear me, that is the uncle ! " exclaimed the grand-
mother, full of surprise and delight. "That I should
live to see this ! I can thank you for all you have done
for us, uncle ! May God reward you for it ! May God
reward you for it ! "

Trembling with delight, the old grandmother held
out her hand, and when the uncle shook it heartily she
continued, still holding him fast : -

" I have one thing more at heart to ask of you,
uncle : if I have ever done you any harm, do not punish
me by letting Heidi go away again before I lie at rest
in the churchyard. Oh, you do not know what the
child is to me ! " and she hugged Heidi fast, for she
had already drawn close to the grandmother's side.

" Never fear, grandmother," said the uncle soothingly,
"that I should punish either you or myself in that way.
We shall all stay together, and, God willing, for a long
time."

Then Brigitte drew the uncle somewhat mysteriously
into a corner and showed him the lovely hat trimmed
with feathers, and told him how the matter stood, and
that she naturally did not like to take such a thing from
a child.

SUNDAY WHEN THE CHURCH BELLS RING 211

But the grandfather looked well pleased at Heidi and
said : -

" The hat is hers, and if she does n't care to wear it
any more it is all right, and if she gave it to you, why,
take it."

Brigitte was highly delighted at this unexpected
decision.

" It is really worth more than ten francs ; only see ! "
and in her delight she held the hat high in the air.
" What a blessing this Heidi has brought home with
her from Frankfurt ! I have often thought whether I
would not send Peterli to Frankfurt for a little while ;
what do you think about it, uncle?"

The uncle's eyes twinkled merrily. He thought it
could not do Peterli any harm, but he would wait for a
good opportunity.

Just then the person in question came in at the door,
after he had first run against it and hit his head so
hard that it made everything rattle ; he must have
been in haste. Panting and out of breath, he now
stood in the middle of the room, holding out a letter.
This was something that had never happened before —
a letter addressed to Heidi, which had been given to
him at the post-office in Dorfli. They all sat down, full
of expectation, around the table, and Heidi opened her
letter and read it aloud without stumbling. The letter
was from Klara Sesemann. She told Heidi that since
she went away it had been so dreary in her house that
she could no longer bear it, and she had begged her
father so often that he had at last consented to take

212 HEIDI

the journey to Ragatz the coming autumn ; and the
grandmamma would come with them, for she, too, would
like to visit Heidi and her grandfather on the Aim.
Moreover, the grandmamma sent word to Heidi that
she had done right in wishing to buy the old grand-
mother some rolls, and in order that she might not have
to eat them dry she had sent some coffee, which was
already on the way, and if she should come to the Aim,
Heidi must take her to see the grandmother.

Then there was such joy and wondering at this news,
and so much to tell and ask about, for the great expec-
tation concerned all alike, that even the grandfather had
not noticed how late it was already getting ; and they
were all so happily content at the prospect of the days
to come, and almost even more in the joy of being
together at the present time, that the grandmother
finally said : -

" The best of all is for an old friend to come and give
us his hand again, as he used to do long ago ; it gives
one such a comforting feeling in the heart, to find
everything that is dear to us once more. You will
come again soon, uncle, and the child to-morrow ? "

This was promised to the grandmother at once ; now
it was time to go, and the grandfather started up the
Aim with Heidi ; and as the clear bells from near and
far in the morning had called them down, so now the
peaceful sound of the evening bells rising from the
valley accompanied them to the sunny Aim hut, which
shone in the Sunday evening light.

PART II

HEIDI MAKES USE OF WHAT SHE HAS

LEARNED

CHAPTER I

PREPARATIONS FOR A JOURNEY

THE kind doctor, who had decided that the child
Heidi must be taken back to her mountain home, was
just passing along the broad street toward the Sese-
mann house. It was a sunny September morning, so
bright and lovely that it might be supposed that every
one must delight in it. But the doctor was gazing at
the white stones at his feet, and did not notice the blue
sky above him. In his face there was a sadness which
had never appeared there before, and his hair had grown
much grayer since the spring.

The doctor's only daughter, after his wife's death, had
been very near to him and the joy of his life. Some
months before, the blooming maiden had been taken
away from him by death. Since then the doctor had
never seemed so jovial as before.

In answer to the bell Sebastian opened the door with
great civility, and, when he saw who it was, gave every
sign of being a most devoted servant ; for not only was
the doctor the best friend of his master and his little
daughter, but by his kindness, here as everywhere, he
had also won the good will of the entire household.

"Is everything as usual, Sebastian?' asked the
doctor in his customary friendly voice, and went up

215

216 HEIDI

the stairs followed by Sebastian, who kept on making
all sorts of signs of devotion, although the doctor could
not see them.

" I am glad you have come, doctor," Herr Sesemann
called out. "We must once more seriously consider
the journey to Switzerland ; I must hear from you
whether you still abide by your decision even now that
Klara seems to be better."

" My dear Sesemann, what is the matter with you ? "
replied the doctor, taking a seat beside his friend. " I
really wish your mother was here ; with her everything
would be plain and simple. But there 's no bringing
you to reason. This is the third time you have sent
for me to-day, although I keep telling you the same
thing."

" Yes, you are right ; the matter must make you
impatient, but I want you to understand, my dear friend,"
and Herr Sesemann laid his hand entreatingly on the
doctor's shoulder, " that it will be far too hard for me
to deny the child what I promised her so faithfully, and
what has made her so happy day and night for the past
months. Besides, the child has borne all these last bad
days so patiently, always hoping that the Swiss journey
was near at hand, and that she would be able to visit
her friend Heidi in the Alps ; and now, after the child
has had so much to bear, shall I with one blow crush the
long-cherished hope ?v It is almost impossible for me
to do so." .

" Sesemann, it must be," said the doctor very decid-
edly ; and as his friend was silent and sat looking very

PREPARATIONS FOR A JOURNEY 217

downcast, he went on after a time to say: "Think
how the matter stands. Klara has not for years had
so bad a summer as this last has been ; there is no
question about it ; she could not take such a long
journey without danger of the worst consequences.
It is now September ; it may still be fine up on the
Alps, but it must be already very cool there. The days
are growing short, and as Klara could not stay over-
night on the mountain she would have hardly two
hours there. The journey from Ragatz would take
several hours, for she would most decidedly have
to be carried up the mountain in a chair. In short,
Sesemann, it cannot be ! But I will go in with you and
talk with Klara about it ; she is a sensible girl, and I
will tell her my plan. Next May she shall first go to
Ragatz ; there she shall take the baths for a long time,
until it is warm and pleasant up on the mountains.
Then she can be taken up there from time to time,
and when she is refreshed and strengthened she will
enjoy these mountain excursions far more than she
would now. You understand also, Sesemann, that if
we wish to cherish a slight hope for your child's recov-
ery, we must use the greatest care and the most cautious
treatment."

Herr Sesemann, who had listened silently and with
an expression of sad submission, now sprang to his feet.

"Doctor, tell me honestly," he exclaimed; "have
you really any hope for an improvement in her condi-
tion ? "

The doctor shrugged his shoulders.

218 HEIDI

" Little," he said in a low voice. " But come, think
for a moment of me, friend ! Have you not a dear
child who longs for you when you are away, and is
delighted when you come home ? You never have to
return to a desolate house and sit down to a solitary
table, and your child is well off at home. Although
she has to be deprived of much that others might
enjoy, still she is, in some respects, more highly favored
than a great many. No, Sesemann, you are not so much
to be pitied ; you are fortunate to be together ; think
of my lonely house ! "

Herr Sesemann began to stride up and down the
room, as he was in the habit of doing whenever he was
deeply absorbed in any matter. Suddenly he stood still
in front of his friend and clapped him on the shoulders.

" Doctor, I have an idea ; I cannot see you like this ;
you are no longer the same. You must get out of
yourself a little ; and do you know how ? You shall
undertake the journey and visit the child Heidi in our
place." .

The doctor was very much surprised at this proposal
and would have objected to it, but Herr Sesemann gave
him no time. He was so delighted and filled with his
new idea, that he seized his friend by the arm and led
him to his daughter's room. The doctor was always a
delightful sight to sick Klara, for he treated her with
great friendliness, and every time he came he had
something lively and entertaining to tell her. She
knew well why he could do so no longer, and she
wished she could make him happy again.

PREPARATIONS FOR A JOURNEY

219

She held out her hand to him ; and he sat down
beside her. Herr Sesemann also moved up his chair,
and, taking Klara's hand, began to talk about the jour-
ney to Switzerland, and how much pleasure he himself
had taken in looking forward to it. He glided quickly
over the most important fact, that it was now out of
the question, for he was somewhat afraid of the tears

that would be sure to come. He then passed on to
the new plan and impressed Klara with the fact that
her dear friend would derive great benefit by taking
this journey.

The tears indeed came and swam in Klara's blue
eyes, although she tried her best to keep them back,
for she knew how her papa disliked to see her cry.
But it was hard to have it ended when all summer the
prospect of this visit to Heidi had been her only joy

220 HEIDI

and comfort during the long, lonely hours which she
had endured. Klara was not in the habit of arguing,
and she knew very well that her papa was denying her
only what would lead to ill, and therefore ought not to
be. She choked down her sobs and took refuge in the
only hope remaining. She seized her good friend's
hand, stroked it, and said entreatingly : -

" Oh, please, doctor, you will go to Heidi, won't you ?
and then come and tell me about everything up there,
and what Heidi is doing, and her grandfather and Peter
and the goats; I know them all so well. And then
you must take what I want to send to Heidi ; I have
thought it all out ; and something for the grandmother,
too. Please, doctor, do go ; and while you are gone I
will truly take all the cod-liver oil you prescribe."

Whether this promise decided the matter or not we
do not know, but suppose it must be so, for the doctor
smiled and said :-

"Then I must .certainly go, Klarchen, for you will
grow round and strong as papa and I would like to
have you. When must I start ? Have you decided
that, too ? "

"Certainly; to-morrow early, doctor," replied Klara.

"Yes, she is right," said her father; "the sun is
shining, the sky is blue, and no time is to be lost, for it
is a shame not to be enjoying such a day in the Alps."

The doctor had to laugh.

" Next thing you will be reproaching me for not
being there already, Sesemann, so I shall do well to get
away."

PREPARATIONS FOR A JOURNEY 221

But Klara held the doctor fast ; she had first to give
him all sorts of messages for Heidi and to remind him
of so many things which he must notice and then tell
her about. The things she wished to send to Heidi
would be taken to him later, for Fraulein Rottenmeier
would have to help pack them ; she had just gone on
one of her walks about the city, and was not likely to
return very soon.

The doctor promised to carry out all her directions,
to start on the journey as soon as possible, and to give
her a faithful account of everything he should see and do.

Servants often have a wonderful faculty of finding
out, long before they have been told, what is going on
in their master's house. Sebastian and Tinette must
have possessed this faculty in a high degree, for just as
the doctor, followed by Sebastian, was going down the
stairs Tinette entered Klara's room.

" Bring me this box full of perfectly fresh, nice cakes,
such as we have with our coffee, Tinette," said Klara,
pointing to a box which had been standing ready for
some time. Tinette seized it by one corner and swung
it disdainfully in her hand; after she had closed the
door she said pertly : -

" It 's well worth while."

When Sebastian had opened the front door with his
usual politeness, he said with a bow: —

" If the doctor would be so kind as to give the little
Mamsell Sebastian's regards."

"Oh, Sebastian," said the doctor pleasantly, "do
you know so soon that I am going away ? "

222 HEIDI

Sebastian was obliged to cough.

" I am - - 1 have - - 1 don't know certainly — oh, yes,
I remember, as I happened to be passing through the
dining-room just now I heard the little Mamsell's name
mentioned ; it often happens that we put one thought
and another together, and so --and in that way"

" Yes, indeed ! yes, indeed ! " said the doctor, laugh-
ing, "and the more thoughts one has, the more one
knows. Good-bye, Sebastian, I will deliver your mes-
sage."

The doctor was just about to pass through the open
door when he met a hindrance ; the strong wind had
prevented Fraulein Rottenmeier from continuing her
walk ; she had returned and was just entering the door.
The wind puffed out the big shawl in which she had
wrapped herself ; she looked exactly as if she was under
full sail. The doctor started back instantly. Fraulein
Rottenmeier had always shown a strange deference and
politeness toward this man. She, too, started back with
marked affability, and for a time they both stood there,
bowing and making room for each other. Then came
such a strong gust of wind that Fraulein Rottenmeier
was suddenly blown with full sail against the doctor.
He was still able to turn aside, but the lady was driven
a good piece beyond him, so that she had to turn
around again in order to speak with propriety to the
friend of the house. The absurd occurrence had put
her somewhat out of sorts, but the doctor had a way
which soon smoothed her ruffled temper and put her
into good humor. He told her about his intended

PREPARATIONS FOR A JOURNEY 223

journey and begged her, in the most taking way, to
pack the things for Heidi, as only she knew how to
pack them. Then he took his departure.

Klara expected to have a struggle with Fraulein
Rottenmeier before she would give her consent to send
away all the things that Klara had intended for Heidi.
But this time she was happily disappointed ; Fraulein
Rottenmeier was unusually good-natured. She imme-
diately removed everything on the large table, in order
to spread out on it all the articles that Klara had put
together, and to pack them before her eyes. This was
no easy task, the things to be done up together being
of such different shapes. First came the thick cloak
with the hood, which Klara meant for Heidi, that she
might be able to visit the grandmother the coming
winter whenever she liked, and not have to wait for
her grandfather and be wrapped in the sack to keep
from freezing. Next came a thick, warm shawl for the
old grandmother, to wrap around her when the cold
wind shook the hut. Then came the big box of cakes,
also intended for the grandmother, that she might have
something different from rolls to eat with her coffee.
A huge sausage followed ; Klara had first intended this
for Peter, because he never had anything but bread and
cheese. But she changed her mind, fearing lest Peter
in his delight should eat the whole sausage at once. So
his mother Brigitte was to have it and first take a good
share of it for herself and for the grandmother, and
then give Peter his portion at different times. Then
there was a little bag of tobacco ; this was for the

224 HEIDI

grandfather, who liked so well to smoke his pipe when
he sat in front of the hut in the evening. Last came a
number of mysterious little bags, packages, and boxes,
which Klara had taken special delight in collecting,
for Heidi was to find in them all sorts of surprises
which would give her great pleasure. At last the work
was finished, and an imposing package lay on the floor
ready for the journey. Fraulein Rottenmeier, looking
down on it, became absorbed in thoughtful contempla-
tion of the art of packing. Klara, for her part, cast
looks of glad anticipation toward it, for she saw Heidi
before her as she would jump and shout with surprise
when the huge bundle reached her.

Sebastian then came in, and swung the bundle up on
his shoulder, in order to take it at once to the doctor's
house.

CHAPTER II

A GUEST ON THE ALM

THE mountains were glowing in the early dawn, and
a fresh morning wind was blowing through the fir trees
and rocking their old branches vigorously to and fro.
Heidi opened her eyes ; the sound had awakened her.
This rushing sound always moved Heidi to the very
depths of her soul and attracted her strongly to go out
under the fir trees. She jumped from her bed and
could hardly wait to dress herself properly ; but it had
to be done, for Heidi knew very well that one should
always be clean and tidy.

She then came down the ladder ; her grandfather's
couch was already empty. She ran outdoors ; there in
front of the hut stood her grandfather, gazing up at the
sky and all about, as he did every morning to see what
the day was going to be.

Rosy clouds floated above, and the sky grew bluer
and bluer, and the heights and the pasture land seemed
flooded with bright gold, for the sun was just rising
above the lofty cliffs.

" Oh, how beautiful ! Oh, how beautiful ! Good-
morning, grandfather," Heidi called out as she came
skipping along.

225

226 HEIDI

"Well, are your eyes already opened?" said the
grandfather in reply, offering his hand to Heidi to
give her a morning greeting.

Then Heidi ran under the fir trees and danced with
delight under the swaying boughs, as she heard the
rushing and roaring above, and with every new gust of
wind and loud blustering in the tree-tops she shouted
for joy and jumped a little higher.

Meanwhile the grandfather had gone to the shed
and had milked Schwanli and Barli ; then he brushed
and washed them for their journey up the mountain, and
brought them outside. When Heidi saw her friends,
she ran to them and threw her arms about the necks of
both of them, greeting them affectionately, and they
bleated gladly and trustfully. Each of the goats was
anxious to give proof of affection, and pressed closer
and closer to her shoulders, so that between them she
was almost crushed. But Heidi was not afraid, and
when the lively Barli butted and pushed too hard with
her head Heidi said : -

" No, Barli, you push like the big Turk," and immedi-
ately Barli drew back her head and retreated to a proper
distance, and then Schwanli stretched up her head and
bleated in a superior way, so that it was plain to be
seen that she thought to herself, " No one shall say
of me that I behave like Turk." For the snow-white
Schwanli was rather more dignified than Barli.

Peter's whistle from below was now heard, and soon
all the lively goats came leaping up the mountain, the
nimble Distelfinck bounding ahead of the others. Heidi

A GUEST ON THE ALM 227

was at once in the midst of the flock, which jostled
her hither and thither with loud, stormy greetings ; she
pushed them aside a little, for she wished to make her
way to the timid Schneehopli, which was always pushed
away by the larger goats, when struggling to reach
Heidi. '

Peter now came along and gave one last, startling
whistle to frighten the goats and drive them on to the
pasture, for he wished to have room to say something
to Heidi. The goats sprang ahead a little at this
whistle, so Peter was able to come forward and stand
in front of Heidi.

"You can come with me again to-day," he said,
somewhat peevishly.

"No, I cannot, Peter," replied Heidi. "They may
come from Frankfurt at any moment now, and I must
be at home."

" You have said that a good many times already,"
growled Peter.

"But it is still true, and it will be true until they
come," replied Heidi. " Don't you know that I must
be at home, when they are coming from Frankfurt to
see me ? Don't you know that, Peter ? "

"They can come to the uncle," answered Peter with
a snarl.

The grandfather's deep voice then sounded from the
hut : —

" Why does n't the army move forward ? Is it the
fault of the field marshal or the troops ? "

In a twinkling Peter wheeled around, swung his rod

228 HEIDI

in the air, making it whistle, and all the goats, knowing
the sound well, started off, and, with Peter behind
them, ran at full speed up the mountain.

Since Heidi had returned home to her grandfather,
every now and then she would remember something
which she had not thought of before. So every morning
she tried hard to make her bed, smoothing it until it
looked quite even. Then she ran about the hut, placing
every chair in its place, and if anything was lying or
hanging about, she put it tidily into the closet. Then
she brought a cloth, climbed up on a stool, and rubbed
the table until it was perfectly clean. When her grand-
father came in again, he would look around him with
satisfaction and say : -

" Now, it is always like Sunday here ; Heidi did not
go away for nothing."

To-day also, after Peter had gone, and Heidi had
breakfasted with her grandfather, she set about her
work ; but it seemed as if she would never finish. It
was such a lovely morning outdoors, and every moment
something happened to interrupt her in her tasks.
Now a sunbeam came in so gayly through the window,
and it seemed exactly as if it said : " Come out, Heidi,
come out ! " So she could no longer stay in the house,
and she ran out. The sparkling sunshine lay all around
the hut and glistened on the mountains and far, far
down in the valley, and the ground there on the cliff
looked so golden and dry that she had to sit down and
look around her for a little while. Then suddenly she
remembered that the three-legged stool was still stand-

A GUEST ON THE ALM 229

ing in the middle of the floor, and the table had not
been cleared since breakfast.

Then she jumped up quickly and ran back into the
hut. But it was not long before it roared so mightily
through the fir trees that Heidi felt it in every limb,
and she had to go out again and dance a little with
them, when all the branches above her were rocking
and swaying to and fro. Her grandfather, meanwhile,
had all sorts of work to do in the shop ; he came out
to the door from time to time and looked smilingly at
Heidi as she jumped about. He was just stepping
back again when Heidi suddenly screamed at the top
of her voice :-

" Grandfather, grandfather ! Come, come ! "

He hastened out again, almost afraid that something
had happened to the child. Then he saw her running
toward the cliff screaming : -

"They are coming, they are coming ! and the doctor
first of all ! "

Heidi rushed to meet her old friend. He held out
his hand to greet her. When the child reached him
she grasped his outstretched arm affectionately and
exclaimed with the greatest joy :-

" How do you do, doctor ? I thank you many thou-
sand times ! "

" Good-morning, Heidi ! But what are you thanking
me for? " asked the doctor with a pleasant smile.

" Because I could come home again to my grand-
father," explained the child.

The doctor's face lighted up as with sunshine. He

230 HEIDI

had not expected such a reception in the Alps. In his
sense of loneliness, all the while he was climbing the
mountain, he had been wrapt in thought and had not
once noticed how beautiful it was around him, and that
it was growing more and more beautiful. He had sup-
posed that the child Heidi would hardly remember
him, he had seen so little of her ; and as he was coming
to give them a disappointment he felt that he would be
unwelcome because he had not brought the expected
friends with him.

Instead of this, Heidi's eyes gleamed with pure joy,
and, full of gratitude and love, she continued to cling to
her good friend's arm.

The doctor took the child by the hand with fatherly
tenderness. " Come, Heidi," he said in a most friendly
way, " now take me to your grandfather and show me
where your home is."

But Heidi remained standing where she was and
looked wonderingly down the mountain.

" But where are Klara and the grandmamma ? " she
then asked.

" Well, I shall have to tell you something that will
pain you as well as myself," replied the doctor. " You
see, Heidi, I have come alone. Klara has been very
ill and was not able to take the journey, and so the
grandmamma did not come either. But in the spring;
when the days are warm and long again, then they will
surely come."

Heidi was very much distressed ; she could hardly
realize that what she had been looking forward to as so

A GUEST ON THE ALM 231

certain suddenly became impossible. She stood motion-
less for a time, as if bewildered by the disappointment.
The doctor stood silently in front of her, and every-
thing around was still, except the wind blowing through
the fir trees high above them. Then it suddenly oc-
curred to Heidi why she had run down the mountain,
and that the doctor was there. She looked up at him.

There was something sad in the eyes looking down
at her, such as she had never seen before ; he had never
looked at her so in Frankfurt. It went to Heidi's
heart ; she could not bear to see any one look sad, and
now least of all the good doctor. It certainly must be
because Klara and the grandmamma could not come
with him. She quickly sought some way to console
him and found it.

" Oh, it really won't be long before spring will be
here again, and then they will surely come," said Heidi
comfortingly. " With us it never is a great while ; and
then they can stay much longer ; Klara will like that
much better. Now we will go up to my grandfather."

Hand in hand with her good friend she climbed up
to the hut. Heidi was so very anxious to make the
doctor happy that she began to assure him again that
on the Aim it was such a little while before the long
summer days would come again, that it was hardly
noticeable ; and in this way she became comforted
herself and called up to her grandfather quite cheer-
fully :-

" They did not come, but it won't be long before they
will be here, too."

232 HEIDI

The doctor was no stranger to the grandfather, the
child had told him so much about her friend. The old
man held out his hand to his guest and gave him a
hearty welcome. Then they both sat down on the
bench beside the hut, made a little place for Heidi, and
the doctor motioned to her kindly to sit beside him.
Then he began to relate how Herr Sesemann had urged
him to take the journey, and how he himself had felt
that it would be good for him, since he had not been
quite strong and well for some time. He then whis-
pered in Heidi's ear that something which had come
from Frankfurt with him would soon come up the
mountain, and that it would give her much greater
pleasure than the old doctor could. Heidi was very
eager to know what it might be.

The grandfather urged the doctor to spend the beau-
tiful autumn days on the Aim, or at least to come up
every fine day, for he could not invite him to remain
up there, because he had no way of making him com-
fortable at night. But he advised his guest not to go
back as far as Ragatz, but to take a room down in Dorfli,
in a simple but well-kept inn which he would find
there. In that way the doctor would be able to come
up the Aim every morning, which the uncle thought
would do him good. Moreover, he would be glad to
take the gentleman farther up the mountain, whenever
he liked. This plan very much pleased the doctor,
and he decided to carry it out.

Meanwhile the sun announced that it was midday ;
the wind had long since ceased, and the fir trees were

• A GUEST ON THE ALM 233

perfectly still. The air was still mild and delicious for
such a height, and felt refreshingly cool around the
sunny bench.

The Aim-Uncle rose and went into the hut, but
immediately came out again, bringing a table, which
he placed in front of the bench.

"There, Heidi, now bring out what we need to eat,"
he said. " The gentleman will have to make the best
of it, for if our cooking is plain our dining-room is all
that could be desired."

"I think so, too," replied the doctor as he gazed
down into the valley bathed in sunlight ; " and I accept
your invitation, for everything must taste good up
here."

Heidi ran back and forth like a weasel and brought
out everything she could find in the cupboard, for she
found it an immense pleasure to be able to entertain
the doctor. Meanwhile the grandfather prepared the
meal and came out with the steaming jug of milk and
the shining golden toasted cheese. Then he cut deli-
cious, transparent slices of rosy meat, which he had
dried up there in the pure air. The whole year through
the doctor had not eaten a single meal which tasted so
good as this dinner did.

"Yes, indeed, our Klara must come here," he said ;
" she would gain new strength, and if she should have
such an appetite as I have to-day, she would become
plump and robust as she never has been in all her life."

Then some one came climbing up from below with a
big package on his back. When he reached the hut,

234 HEIDI

he threw his burden down on the ground and drew in
long breaths of the fresh mountain air.

"Ah, here is what came with me from Frankfurt,"
said the doctor, rising ; and drawing Heidi after him, he
went to the package and began to undo it. After the
first heavy wrapping was removed, he said : —

" There, child, now open it yourself and take out
your treasures."

Heidi did so, and when everything rolled out together
her eyes grew big with astonishment as she gazed at
the things. When the doctor stepped back again and
lifted the cover of the big box, saying to Heidi, " See
what the grandmother has for her coffee," then she
screamed with delight : —

" Oh ! oh ! Now at last the grandmother can have
some nice cakes to eat ! "

She danced around the box, and was anxious to put
everything together immediately, and hasten down to
the grandmother's. But her grandfather promised her
that toward evening they would go down with the doc-
tor and take the things with them. Then Heidi found
the nice bag of tobacco and brought it quickly to her
grandfather. It pleased him very much ; he immedi-
ately filled his pipe with it, and the two men then sat
on the bench, talking about all sorts of things, and puff-
ing out great clouds of smoke, while Heidi ran back and
forth from one of her treasures to another.

Suddenly she came back to the bench, stood in front
of her guest, and as soon as there was a pause in the
conversation she said very decidedly : -

A GUEST ON THE ALM 235

"No, nothing has given me any more pleasure than
the old doctor has."

The two men had to laugh a little, and the doctor
said he would n't have thought it.

When the sun went down behind the mountains
the guest rose to take his way back to Dorfli and to
find lodgings there. The grandfather put the box of
cakes, the big sausage, and the shawl under his arm ;
the doctor took Heidi by the hand, and they went down
the mountain to goatherd Peter's hut. Here Heidi
had to leave them ; she was to wait inside with the
grandmother until her grandfather should come for
her, after accompanying his guest down to Dorfli.

When the doctor, as he said good-night, offered his
hand to Heidi, she asked : -

"Would you like to go up to the pasture with the
goats to-morrow? "

That was the loveliest spot she knew.

"To be sure, Heidi," he replied, "we will go to-
gether."

Then the men continued their way, and Heidi went
into the grandmother's hut. First she dragged in the
box of cakes with difficulty ; then she had to go out
again to bring in the sausage, for her grandfather had
laid everything down in front of the door ; then she
had to go out once more to get the big shawl. She
brought them all as close to the grandmother as possi-
ble, so that she might touch them and know what they
were. She laid the shawl in her lap.

"They are all from Frankfurt, from Klara and her

236 HEIDI

grandmamma ! " she exclaimed. The amazed Brigitte
was so affected by her surprise that she stood motion-
less, watching Heidi as she, with the greatest difficulty,
dragged in the heavy articles and spread out everything
before her and the highly astonished grandmother.

" Surely, grandmother, you are terribly pleased with
the cakes, aren't you? Just see how soft they are!"
Heidi exclaimed again and again, and the grandmother
replied assuringly : -

"'Ves, yes, indeed, Heidi; what good people they
are ! " Then she would stroke the soft, warm shawl
with her hand and say : -

" But this is something splendid for the cold winter !
I never dreamed I should ever have anything so mag-
nificent in my life."

Heidi was very much surprised that the grandmother
should be more delighted with the gray shawl than
with the cakes. Brigitte continued standing before the
sausage as it lay on the table, and gazed at it almost
with veneration. In all her life she had never seen
such a giant sausage, and she was going to possess it,
and even cut it ; she could not believe it possible. She
shook her head and said timidly : —

"We must first ask the uncle what it is meant for."

But Heidi said very decidedly : —

" It is meant to eat, and for nothing else."

Then Peter came stumbling in.

" The Aim-Uncle is coming just behind me; Heidi
must " - He could go no further. His eyes fell on
the table where the sausage lay, and the sight of it so

A GUEST ON THE ALM 237

overpowered him that he could not speak another word.
But Heidi had already noticed who was coming, and
hastened to give her hand to the grandmother. The
Aim-Uncle never went by the hut now without step-
ping in to speak to the grandmother, and she was
always delighted to hear his step, for he was sure to
have an encouraging word for her ; but to-day it was
late for Heidi, who was out every morning with the
sun. Her grandfather said, " The child must have
her sleep," and was firm. So he merely called out a
good-night through the open door to the grandmother,
took Heidi's hand as she ran to meet him, and the two
made their way beneath the twinkling stars back to
their peaceful hut.

CHAPTER III

CONSOLATION

EARLY the next morning the doctor climbed the
mountain from Dorfli in company with Peter and his
goats. In a friendly spirit he tried several times to
enter into conversation with the goat boy, but he did
not succeed in getting more than the briefest answers
to his leading questions. Peter was not so easily led
into conversation. So the whole company traveled in
silence up to the Aim hut, where Heidi already stood
waiting with her two goats, all three as lively and glad
as the early sunshine on the heights.

" Coming too ? " asked Peter, for he said this every
morning either as a question or a summons.

"To be sure, of course, if the doctor will come with
us," replied Heidi.

Peter looked a little askance at the gentleman.

Then the grandfather came out, bringing the dinner
bag in his hand. He first greeted the doctor with great
respect, then went to Peter and hung the bag over his
shoulder.

It was heavier than usual, for the uncle had put in a
good piece of the dried meat ; he thought possibly the
doctor might like it up in the pasture, and he would
enjoy his dinner there at the same time with the chil-

238

CONSOLA TION 239

dren. Peter's mouth spread almost from one ear to
the other with a grin of satisfaction, for he suspected
that there was something unusual inside.

The journey up the mountain was now begun. Heidi
was completely surrounded by the goats; each one
wanted to be next her, and they kept pushing one
another to one side. So she remained for some time
in the midst of the flock, struggling with them. Then
she stood still and said :-

" Now please run away and don't keep coming back
and pushing and jostling me; I must go with the doc-
tor a little while now."

Then she patted Schneehopli gently on the back,
for she still kept close to her side, and bade her
especially to be very obedient. Then she made her
way out of the flock and ran to the side of the doctor,
who seized her hand at once and held it fast. He had
no difficulty in getting Heidi to talk ; she immediately
began and had so much to tell him about the goats and
their remarkable doings, and about the flowers up there
and the rocks and the birds, that before they knew it
they had reached the pasture.

As they climbed the mountain, Peter had frequently
cast at the doctor sidelong glances, which might really
have terrified him, but fortunately he did not see
them.

When they reached the end of their journey, Heidi
took her kind friend to the loveliest spot of all, where
she always went, sat down on the ground, and looked
around ; this was her favorite place.

240 HEIDI

The doctor dropped down beside her on the sunny
pasture ground. Round about the golden autumn sun
shone over the peaks and the distant green valley.
Everywhere from the pastures below came the sound
of the herd bells, so lovely and delightful, as if announc-
ing sweet peace far and wide. The golden sunbeams
flashed sparkling and glistening here and there on the
great snow fields above, and the gray Falkniss lifted its
towers of rock in lofty majesty far up into the deep
blue sky. The morning breeze blew gently and cleli-
ciously over the mountain and softly stirred the last
bluebells, still remaining from the great multitude of
the summer, and cheerfully nodding their little heads
in the warm sunshine. The great robber-bird flew
around in wide circles above, but to-day he did not
scream ; with outspread wings he floated peacefully
through the blue and took his ease.

Heidi gazed first one way and then another. The
gay nodding flowers, the blue sky, the merry sunshine,
the contented bird in the air, all were so beautiful, so
beautiful ! Heidi's eyes sparkled with delight. She
looked at her friend to see whether he, too, understood
how beautiful it was. Until now the doctor had been
looking around him silently and wrapt in thought. As
he met the child's beaming eyes he said :-

" Yes, Heidi, it is beautiful here ; but what do you
think ? If you brought a sad heart, how could you
make it well, so that you could enjoy all this beauty?"

"Oh, oh!" exclaimed Heidi quite gayly ; "nobody
ever has a sad heart here, — only in Frankfurt."

CONSOLA TION 241

A smile passed over the doctor's face, but it quickly
vanished. Then he added :-

"And supposing some one should come and bring
all his sorrow with him up here from Frankfurt, Heidi ;
do you know of anything that could help him then ? "

" He must tell everything to the dear Lord, if he
does not know what to do," said Heidi with perfect
assurance.

"Yes, that is really a good thought, child," observed
the doctor. " But if what makes you so very sad and
miserable comes from Him, what can you say to the
dear Lord ? "

Heidi had to think what ought to be done in such a
case ; but she was very certain that one could obtain
help from the dear Lord for every sorrow. She sought
a reply from her own experience.

"Then you must wait," she said after a while with
assurance, "and keep thinking: ' Surely now the dear
Lord knows some joy which is to come out of this by
and by, so I must be still for a little and not run away
from Him.' Then all at once it will happen so that you
will see quite clearly that the dear Lord had nothing but
good in His mind all the time ; but because you could
not see it so at first, and only had the terrible sorrow
all the time before you, you thought it would always

remain so.':

" That is a beautiful faith, and you must hold it fast,
Heidi," said the doctor. For some time he gazed
silently at the mighty mountains of rock and down into
the green sunlit valley ; then he continued: —

242 HEIDI

"You see, Heidi, you might sit here with a great
shade over your eyes, so that you could not take in
the beauty all about. Then indeed would your heart
be sad, doubly sad, where it is so beautiful. Can you
understand that ? "

A pain shot through Heidi's happy heart. The great
shade over the eyes reminded her of the grandmother,
who could never again see the bright sun and all the
beauty up there. To Heidi it was a grief that was
always revived as often as the fact occurred to her.
She remained perfectly silent for some time, for the
pain had so broken into the midst of her joy. Then she
said earnestly : —

"Yes, indeed, I can understand that. But I know
something; then you must say the grandmother's
hymns, and they will give you a little light, and per-
haps so much light that you will become quite happy.
The grandmother said so."

" What hymns, Heidi ? " asked the doctor.

" I know only the one about the sun and the beauti-
ful garden, and the verses the grandmother likes from
the other long one, for I always have to read it three
times," replied Heidi.

"Just tell me these verses, I should like to hear
them." And the doctor sat up straight at once to
listen attentively.

Heidi folded her hands and collected her thoughts

o

for a little.

" Shall I begin where the grandmother says that trust
returns to one's heart ? "

CONSOLA TION 243

The doctor nodded assent.
Then Heidi began : -

" Oh, trust His love to guide thee,
He is a Prince so wise
That what His hands provide thee
Is wondrous in thine eyes.
And He, if He be willing,
May bring the work abotit
And thus thy hopes fulfilling
Dispel thy fear and doubt.

It may be for a season
He will no comfort show,
And for some hidden reason
His light will not bestow.
As if no more He heeded
IV hat sorrow was thy share,
Or what relief thou needed
In all thy deep despair.

But if thy sure faith stays thee
When thou art most perplext,
He will appear and raise thee
What time thou least expect 'j/.
He will remove the burden
That presses thy heart down,
And thou shalt have the guerdon
And thou shalt wear the crown.'1'1*

Heidi stopped suddenly, for she was not sure that
the doctor was still listening. He had laid his hand
over his eyes and was sitting motionless. She thought
perhaps he had fallen asleep ; so if he should wake up
and care to hear more verses she would repeat them to

* Tr. by N. H. D.

244

HEIDI

him. Everything was still. The doctor said nothing,
but he was not asleep. He had been carried back to
days of long ago. He stood as a little boy beside his
dear mother's chair; she had placed her arm around
his neck and was repeating the hymn which Heidi had

•

just repeated, and which he had not "heard for so long.
Now he heard his mother's voice again and saw her
gentle eyes resting on him so lovingly, and when the
words of the hymn had ceased, the kind voice seemed
to be speaking still other words to him ; he must have
enjoyed listening to them and have gone far back in
his thoughts, for he sat there for a long while, silent

CONSOLA TION 245

and motionless, with his face buried in his hands.
When he finally rose he noticed that Heidi was looking
at him in amazement. He took the child's hand in
his.

"Heidi, your hymn was beautiful," he said; and his
voice sounded more cheerful than it had been before.
"We will come up here another day, and you shall
repeat it to me once more."

During all this time Peter was having enough to do
in giving vent to his vexation. Heidi had not been with
him up to the pasture for several days, and now that
she had finally come this old gentleman sat beside her
the whole time, and Peter could not come near her at
all. This greatly annoyed him. He took his place at
a distance higher up, where the unsuspecting gentleman
could not see him, and here he first doubled up one fist
and shook it, and after a while he doubled up both fists,
and the longer Heidi remained sitting beside the doc-
tor, the more frantically Peter doubled up his fists and
the higher and more threateningly he raised them in
the air behind the gentleman's back.

Meanwhile the sun had reached the point where it
stands when it is time for the midday meal ; this Peter
knew well enough. Suddenly he screamed down with
all his might to the others :-

"We must have something to eat ! "

Heidi rose and was going to get the bag, so that the
doctor could have his dinner just where he was sitting.
But he said he was not hungry ; he wanted nothing
but a glass of milk to drink, and then he would like to

246 HEIDI

go about a little more on the mountain and climb some-
what higher. Then Heidi discovered that she was not
hungry either, and that she cared for only a glass of
milk, after which she would like to take the doctor to
the big moss-covered rock, high up, where Distelfinck
had almost jumped over, and where all the spicy herbs
grew. She ran to Peter and explained it all to him,
how he must first take a bowl of milk from Schwanli
for the doctor and another for herself. At first Peter
looked at Heidi for some time in amazement, then he
asked : —

" Who is to have what is in the bag ? "

" You may have it, but you must get the milk first
and be quick about it," was Heidi's reply.

Peter had never done anything in his life so quickly
as he accomplished this task, for he saw the bag con-
stantly before him, and he did not know how its con-
tents looked, and yet it belonged to him. As soon as
the two others had drunk their milk, Peter opened the
bag and took a look into it. When he saw the wonder-
ful piece of meat his whole body trembled with delight,
and he looked into the bag again to make sure that it
was really true. Then he put his hand in to take out
the welcome gift and enjoy it. But suddenly he put
his hand back, as if he dared not take it. He recalled
how he had stood there behind the doctor and shaken
his fists at him, and now the same gentleman had given
him all his splendid dinner. Then Peter was sorry for
what he had done, for it seemed as if it hindered him
from taking his fine present and enjoying it. Suddenly

CONSOLA TION 247

he jumped up and ran back to the place where he had
been standing, stretched both his hands wide open up
in the air, as a sign that his clinched fists meant
nothing, and so remained standing there for some time
until he felt that his deed was atoned for. Then he
took great leaps back to the bag ; for now that his con-
science was clear he could eat his unusually nice dinner
with perfect enjoyment.

The doctor and Heidi wandered about together for a
long while and enjoyed each other's company. Then
the doctor found that it was time for him to go back,
and thought that the child would like to stay a little
longer with her goats. But Heidi had no such idea,
for then the doctor would have to go alone down
the whole length of the mountain. She would walk
with him as far as her grandfather's hut, and even far-
ther. She went hand in hand with her good friend,
and had all the way a great deal to tell him and show
him ; she wanted him to see all the places where the
goats liked best to feed, and where grew the greatest
number of bright yellow wild roses and red centauries
and other flowers to be found in the summer time.
She knew them all, for her grandfather had taught her
their names.

But at last the doctor said he must go. They bade
each other good-night, and as he went down the moun-
tain he turned every little while to look back, and saw
Heidi still standing in the same place, gazing after him
and waving her hand to him. Just so had his own dear
little daughter done when he went away from his house.

248 HEIDI

It was a clear sunny autumn month. Every morning
the doctor came up on the mountain, and then there
was a delightful excursion farther up. Often he went
off with the Aim-Uncle far up into the craggy moun-
tains, where the old weather-beaten fir trees were;
the great robber-bird must have had his nest near by,
for he often whizzed past, whirring and croaking, close
to the heads of the two men.

The doctor took great pleasure in his companion's
society, and was more and more amazed to see how
familiar the uncle was with all the plants around on
his mountain, and how well he knew what they were
good for, and how many valuable and good things he
discovered everywhere up there, in the pitchy fir trees
and the sombre pines with their fragrant needles, in
the crinkled moss, sprouting out between the roots of
the old trees, and in all the delicate little plants and
modest flowers, still growing quite high up in the nour-
ishing mountain soil.

The old man was equally familiar with the life and
habits of all the animals up there, both great and small,
and he had very amusing things to tell the doctor about
the ways of these little creatures living in holes in the
rocks, caves, and even the branches of the lofty fir
trees.

The doctor did not know where the time went on
these excursions, and often at evening when he shook
the uncle's hand heartily at parting, he would say : —

" My good friend, I never go away from you without
learning something new."

CONSOLA TION 249

But on many days, and usually on the finest, the
doctor chose to* go with Heidi. Then the two would
often sit together on the lovely cliff where they sat the
first day, and Heidi had to repeat her hymns and tell
the doctor what she knew. And Peter would often sit
behind them in his place, but he was now quite peace-
able and no longer shook his fists at them.

Thus the lovely month of September came to an
end. Then one morning the doctor came, looking less
happy than usual. He said it was his last day, and he
must go back to Frankfurt; this grieved him very
much, for he had become as fond of the mountain as if
it were his own home. This news pained the Aim-Uncle
also, for he had particularly enjoyed the doctor's com-
pany, and Heidi had become so accustomed to see her
beloved friend every day that she could not understand
that the pleasure was now suddenly coming to an end.
She looked up at him inquiringly and quite amazed.
But it was really so. The doctor bade her grandfather
farewell and then asked if Heidi would go with him a
little way. With her hand in his she went down the
mountain, but she could not fully realize that he was
really going away.

After a while the doctor stood still and said that Heidi
had come far enough, and she must turn back. He
pressed his hand tenderly over the child's curly hair two
or three times and said :-

" Now I must go, Heidi ! If only I could take you
to Frankfurt and could keep you with me ! "

All Frankfurt suddenly rose before Heidi's eyes, its

250 HEIDI

many, many houses and stony streets, as well as Fraulein
Rottenmeier and Tinette, and she answered somewhat
timidly : —

" I would rather have you come back to us
again."

" Well, yes, perhaps it would be better, so good-bye,
Heidi," said the doctor kindly, holding out his hand to
her. Heidi laid hers in it and looked up at her depart-
ing friend. The kind eyes which looked down at her
filled with tears. Then the doctor turned quickly and
hastened down the mountain.

Heidi remained standing and did not stir. The
beloved eyes and the tears which she saw in them went
straight to her heart. Suddenly she burst into loud
weeping and rushed with all her might after the fast
disappearing doctor and called between her sobs as
loudly as she could : —

"Doctor! Doctor!"

He turned around and stood still.

The child had now reached him. The tears streamed
down her cheeks while she sobbed out : -

" I will truly go with you to Frankfurt now, and I
will stay with you as long as you like, but I must hurry
back to tell my grandfather."

The doctor soothingly caressed the excited child.

" No, my dear Heidi," he said in the kindest tone,
"not now; you must stay longer under the fir trees,
for you might be sick again if you went with me. But
come, I want to ask you something : if I am ever sick
and alone, will you come to me then and stay with me ?

CONSOLA TION 251

Can I think that then some one will care for me and
love me? "

" Yes, yes ; then I will surely come to you, the very
same day ; and I love you almost as well as my grand-
father," said Heidi decidedly, still sobbing.

Then the doctor pressed her hand once more and
hurried on his way. But Heidi remained standing in
the same spot, waving her hand again and again, until
the form of her friend, as he hastened away, was a mere
speck in the distance. When he turned round for the
last time and looked back at Heidi, waving her hand,
and the sunny mountain, he said softly to himself : -

"It is good to be on the mountain ; body and soul get
well there, and life becomes happy again."

CHAPTER IV

THE WINTER IN DORFLI

AROUND the Aim hut the snow lay so deep that it
looked as if the windows were on a level with the
ground, for not a bit of the wall was to be seen below
them ; moreover, the house door had completely disap-
peared. If the Aim-Uncle had been up there he would
have had to do the same thing that Peter did every
day. Every morning he had to jump out of the win-
dow, and if everything was not frozen he sank so deep
in the soft snow that had fallen during the night that
he had to push and struggle and kick in every direction
with his hands and feet and head, until he had worked
his way out. Then his mother would hand him the
big broom from the window, and with this Peter would
push and shove the snow before him until he reached
the door. Then he had great trouble, for there all the
snow had to be dug away, or if it was still soft when
the door opened, the whole great mass would fall into
the kitchen, or else it froze up, and then they were
completely walled in, for they could not make their way
through these rock-like heaps of ice, and Peter was the
only one who could slip through the little window.

Freezing weather brought many conveniences to
Peter. If he was going down to Dorfli, all he had to

252

THE WINTER IN DORFLI 253

do was to open the window, crawl through and get out
on the smooth surface of the firm snow field. Then his
mother would push his little sled through the window
after him, and Peter had only to seat himself on it and
slide wherever he liked ; in any case he went down, for
the whole Aim all about was one great unbroken
slope.

The uncle was not on the Aim that winter ; he had
kept his word. As soon as the first snow fell he had
shut up the hut and shed and had gone down to Dorfli
with Heidi and the goats. Near the church and the
parsonage stood a spacious building, which in old times
had been a great mansion. This could still be seen in
many places, although now the building was more or
less in ruins. A brave warrior had once lived in it ; he
had gone to the Spanish wars and had performed many
brave deeds and gained great wealth. Then he had
come home to Dorfli, and with his gains built a splendid
house in which he intended to live. But he did not stay
long, it was so tedious to him, for he had lived too
much in the noisy world to be able to endure the quiet
Dorfli. He went away again and never came back.
After many, many years when it was known that he
was really dead, a distant relative down in the valley
took the house, but it was already tumbling to pieces,
and the new owner did not care to build it up again.
So poor people who had to pay little for it came into
the house, and if a part of the building fell, they let
it lie.

Since that time many years had passed by. When the

254 HEIDI

uncle came back with the young boy Tobias he took
the ruined house and lived in it. Since then it had
stood empty most of the time, for no one without skill
to stop the work of destruction to some extent and to
fill up and mend the holes and gaps could stay there.
The winter in Dorfli was long and cold. The wind
blew in from every side through the rooms, so that the
lights were blown out and the poor people shook with
the cold. But the uncle knew how to manage. As
soon as he had made up his mind to spend the winter
in Dorfli, he took the old house again, and often during
the autumn came down to mend and repair it as he
liked. About the middle of October he brought Heidi
down.

Entering the house from the rear, one came at once
into an open room, the entire wall on one side of which,
and half on the other, had fallen in. Above this an
arched window was still to be seen, but the glass had
long been out of it, and thick ivy crept around it and
high up on the roof, which was, for the most part, still
solid. It was beautifully arched, and one could easily
see that it had been a chapel. There being no door,
one came directly into a large hall, and here in places
in the floor were still some handsome tiles between
which the grass grew thick. The walls were half gone,
and great pieces of the roof had given way ; had it
not been for two heavy pillars, the whole roof would
have been gone ; as it was, it looked as if it might at
any moment fall on the heads of those standing under-
neath.

THE WINTER IN DORFLI 255

Here the uncle had put up a partition of boards and
had covered the floor thickly with hay, for in this old
hall the goats were to be housed.

Then there were all sorts of passageways, all half
uncovered, so that the sky could be seen through, and
sometimes the meadows and the road outside. But in
the front where the heavy oaken door still hung firmly
on its hinges, one came to a large spacious room which
was still in good condition. The four walls were all
standing, the dark wood wainscotings showed not a
break, and in one corner stood a huge stove, reaching
almost to the ceiling, and on the white tiles were big
blue pictures. There were old castles on them, with tall
trees all around, and underneath a huntsman passing
with his dogs. There was also a peaceful lake, under
wide-spreading oaks, with a fisherman standing by it
and holding his rod far out over the water. There was
a seat all around the stove so that one could sit down
and study the pictures. This at once took Heidi's
fancy. As soon as she came into the room with her
grandfather, she ran to the stove, sat down on the
bench, and began to look at the pictures. But as she
moved along on the seat and came behind the stove,
something new occupied her whole attention ; in the
quite large space between the stove and the wall four
boards were placed, like a bin for apples. But there
were no apples in it ; there actually lay Heidi's bed
exactly as it had been upon the Aim ; a thick bed of
hay, with the linen sheet and the bag for a coverlet.
Heidi shouted : —

256 HEIDI

" Oh, grandfather, here is my bedroom ! Oh, how
lovely ! But where will you sleep ? "

" Your bedroom must be near the stove, so that you
won't freeze," said her grandfather. " You may see
mine too."

Heidi skipped across the big room after her grand-
father, who opened a door on the other side; and this
led into a little room where he had arranged his bed.
Then came another door. Heidi quickly opened it and
stood still in amazement, for it looked into a sort of
kitchen more enormous than any she had ever seen in
her life. It had given her grandfather a great deal of
work, and there was still much to do; for there were
holes and wide cracks in the walls on all sides, where
the wind blew in, although so many had been nailed
up with boards that it looked as if little cupboards had
been made all around in the wall. The grandfather
had also succeeded in repairing the big ancient door
with wires and nails, so that it could be shut; and this
was a good thing, for it opened into the most ruined
part of the building, overgrown with thick briars, where
multitudes of lizards and beetles had their abode.

The new dwelling-place pleased Heidi well, and on the
very next day, when Peter came to see how they were
getting along there, she had spied out every nook and
corner so thoroughly that she was quite at home and
could take Peter everywhere. She gave him no rest,
until he had thoroughly seen all the wonderful things
which their new house contained.

Heidi slept excellently in her chimney corner, but

THE WINTER IN DORFLI 257

in the morning she thought she had wakened on
the mountain, and that she must open the door of
the hut at once to see if the reason the fir trees
were not roaring was because the deep, heavy snow was
lying on them and bending down their branches. So
every morning at first she had to look around her for
a long while until she remembered where she was, and
every time she felt something stifling and pressing her
heart, when she saw that she was not at home on the
mountain. But when she heard her grandfather talk-
ing outside with Schwanli and Barli, and the goats
bleated so loud and merrily, as if they were calling to
her, " Hurry and come out, Heidi," then she felt that
she was at home after all, and jumped gaily out of bed
and hurried to the big goat barn. On the fourth day
Heidi said :-

" To-day I must really go up to see the grandmother ;
she can't be alone so long."

But her grandfather did not agree to it. " Not to-
day, nor to-morrow either," he said. "The Aim is six
feet deep with snow, and it keeps on snowing ; stout
Peter can hardly get through it. A little thing like
you, Heidi, would be snowed in and covered up the first
thing, and you never could be found again. Wait a
little, until it freezes, then you can easily walk over the
crust."

It was a grief to Heidi at first to have to wait. But
the days were now so full of work that one passed
away and another came unawares.

Every morning and every afternoon now Heidi went

258 HEIDI

to school and was quick in learning all her lessons.
She hardly ever saw Peter in school, for he seldom
came. The teacher was a meek man and only now
and then said : —

" It seems to me Peter is absent again ; school would
do him good ; but there is a great deal of snow up there,
perhaps he can't get through."

But toward evening, when school was out, Peter
usually got through and paid a visit to Heidi.

After a few days the sun came out again and threw its
rays over the white earth ; but it went down behind the
mountains again very early, as if it was not so well
pleased to look down as in summer, when everything
was green and in bloom. In the evening the moon
rose very bright and big, and all night long shone over
the vast snow fields, and the next morning the whole
mountain from top to bottom glistened and glittered
like a crystal. When Peter jumped out of the window
into the deep snow, as he had done the day before,
something happened which he had not expected. In-
stead of coming down into the soft snow, he struck on
a surprisingly hard surface, and before he knew it, had
slipped a good piece down the mountain, like an empty
sled. In great surprise he finally succeeded in getting
on his feet again, and then stamped with all his might
on the crust, to assure himself that what had just hap-
pened was really possible. It was actually so ; as he
stamped and beat with his heels, he could scarcely
break off the least bit of ice ; the whole Aim was frozen
as hard as a rock. Peter liked this ; for he knew that

THE WINTER IN DORFLI 259

this state of things was necessary for Heidi to be able
to come up there again. He promptly turned back,
swallowed the milk which his mother had just put on
the table, tucked his piece of bread into his pocket, and
said hastily : —

" I must go to school."

" Yes, do go and study hard," said his mother en-
couragingly.

Peter crawled through the window, for now they
were shut in again on account of the heaps of ice before
the door, pulled his little sled after him, sat down on
it, and shot down the mountain.

It went like lightning, and when he came near to
Dorfli, where it goes farther down toward Mayenfeld,
Peter kept on, for it occurred to him that he might
injure himself and his sled if he should stop suddenly.
So he went on until he was down on level ground and
the sled stopped of itself. Then he got up and looked
around. The force of the descent had carried him
somewhat beyond Mayenfeld. Then he considered
that he should be too late for school, as it had begun
some time before, and it would take him almost an
hour to climb back there again. So he had plenty of
time to go back. This he did, and reached Dorfli just
as Heidi had returned from school and was sitting down
to dinner with her grandfather. Peter went in, and as
this time he had a definite idea to propound, it was upper-
most in his mind, and he had to speak it out at once.

"We've got it," said Peter, standing still in the
middle of the room.

260 HEIDI

" Got what, general ? That sounds well," said the
uncle.

"The crust," replied Peter.

" Oh ! oh ! Now I can go up to see the grand-
mother!" shouted Heidi joyfully, for she had at once
understood Peter's manner of expressing himself. " But
why didn't you come to school, then ? You could slide
down well enough," she suddenly added in reproach ;
for it occurred to Heidi that it was not right to remain
away from school if one could go as well as not.

" Went too far on my sled ; 't was too late," replied
Peter.

"That is called desertion," said the uncle; "and
people who do that are taken by the ears ! Do you
hear?"

Peter pulled his cap in alarm, for there was nobody
in the world for whom he had so great respect as for
the Aim-Uncle.

"And, besides, a leader such as you are ought to be
doubly ashamed of running away so," continued the
uncle.

" What would you think if your goats should run
one this way and another that, and refuse to follow you,
and do what was good for them ? What would you
do then ? "

" Beat them," replied Peter knowingly.

" And if a boy behaves like an unruly goat and is
beaten a little, what wrould you say to that ? "

" Served him right," was the answer.

" Well, now understand, goat-colonel, if you go past

THE WINTER IN DORFLI

261

the school on your sled a single time when you ought
to be in it, come here to me and get what you deserve."

Then Peter understood what the Aim-Uncle meant :
that he considered the boy that played truant like an
unruly goat. He was quite impressed by this likeness
and looked a little anxiously into the corner to see
whether he could discover what he used at such times
for the goats.

The uncle then said cheerfully : -

" Come to the table now and sit down with us, then
Heidi may go with you. If you bring her back home
at evening, you will find your supper here."

This unexpected turn of affairs was highly delight-
ful to Peter ; his face was twisted in every way with

delight. He obeyed instantly and sat down beside
Heidi. But the child had already had enough and could
swallow no more, she was so delighted that she could
go to see the grandmother. She pushed the big potato

262 HEIDI

and the toasted cheese, still left on her plate, toward
Peter, who had already had his plate filled from the other
side by the uncle, so that he had a regular wall before
him ; but courage to attack it was not lacking. Heidi
ran to the cupboard and brought out the little cloak
Klara had given her ; now she could take the journey,
warmly wrapped up, with the hood over her head. She
placed herself beside Peter, and as soon as he had
shoved in his last mouthful she said : -

" Now come ! "

Then they started along. Heidi had a great deal
to tell Peter about Schwanli and Barli : that neither of
them would eat anything the first day in their new
barn, and that they had hung their heads the whole day
and not made a sound. She had asked her grandfather
why they did so, and he had said that they felt just as
she did in Frankfurt, for they had never been down
from the Aim in all their lives. And Heidi added : —

" You just ought to know once what that is, Peter."

The two had almost reached the end of their journey
before Peter said a word, and it seemed as if he was
so deeply absorbed in thought that he could not hear
right, as usual. When they reached the hut, Peter
stood still and said somewhat crossly : -

"There ! I would rather go to school than take from
the uncle what he said."

Heidi was of the same opinion and encouraged him
eagerly in his decision.

In the room inside, Peter's mother was sitting alone
with her mending ; she said the grandmother had to

THE WINTER IN DORFLI 263

spend the day in bed, as it was too cold for her, and
besides she was not quite well. This was something
new to Heidi ; the grandmother had always before been
sitting in her place in the corner. She ran straight to
her in her room. She was lying entirely wrapped up in
the gray shawl in her narrow bed with the thin covering.

" God be praised and thanked ! " said the grandmother
as soon as she heard Heidi running in. All the autumn
long she had had a secret anxiety in her heart, and it
still pursued her, especially if Heidi did not come to see
her for a long time. Peter had reported how a strange
gentleman from Frankfurt had been there and always
went up to the pasture with them and talked with
Heidi, and the grandmother believed nothing else than
that the gentleman had come to take Heidi away again.
After he finally went off alone, her anxiety returned
lest some person should be sent from Frankfurt to take
the child back. Heidi ran to her bedside and asked
with concern : -

" Are you very ill, grandmother ? "

"No, no, child," said the old dame soothingly, while
she stroked the child's face affectionately ; " the cold
weather has got into my limbs a little."

" Will you be well right away, as soon as it is warm
again ? " asked Heidi eagerly.

" Yes, yes, God willing, even before that, so that I
can get to my spinning-wheel. I even thought to-day
that I would try it ; to-morrow it will surely be going
again," said the grandmother, for she had already
noticed that the child was alarmed.

264 HEIDI

Her words soothed Heidi, who was very much trou-
bled, for she had never found the grandmother sick in
bed before. She looked at her a little while in surprise,
and then said : -

" In Frankfurt they put on a shawl to go outdoors in.
Did you think you ought to put it on when you go to
bed, grandmother ? "

" Do you know, Heidi," she replied, " I wrap the
shawl around me so in bed in order not to freeze. I
am so glad to have it, for the bed covering is rather
thin."

" But, grandmother," Heidi began again, " your head
goes down hill, where it ought to go up ; a bed ought
not to be like that."

" I know it, child, I realize it well enough"; and the
grandmother tried to find a better place for the pillow,
that lay like a thin board under her head. " You see the
pillow was never thick, and now I have slept so many
years on it that I have made it rather flat."

" Oh, if only I had asked Klara when I was in Frank-
furt to let me take my bed home with me ! " exclaimed
Heidi ; " it had three big, thick pillows, one on top of
another, so that I could n't sleep, and always slipped
down where it was flat, and then I had to move up
again because I ought n't to sleep so. Could you sleep
so, grandmother ? "

"Yes, indeed; it would make me warm, and I could
breathe so easily if I could lie with my head high,"
said the grandmother, lifting her head rather wearily,
as if to find a higher place for it. " But we won't talk

THE WINTER IN DORFLI 265

about that, for I have to thank the dear Lord for so
much that other sick old people do not have : the nice
rolls that I have all the time, and the nice warm shawl
here, and your coming to see me, Heidi. Will you
read something to me again to-day, Heidi ? "

Heidi ran out and brought back the old hymn book.
Then she found one beautiful song after another, for
she knew them well now, and enjoyed them herself,
and it was many days since she had heard all the verses
she was so fond of.

The grandmother lay with folded hands, and on her
face, which at first had looked so troubled, now rested a
happy smile, as if a great good fortune had come to her.

Suddenly Heidi stopped.

" Grandmother, are you well again already ? "

" I 'm feeling much better, Heidi. What you have
read to me has done me good. Finish it, will you ? "

The child read the hymn to the end, and when she
came to the last words, -

" When mine eyes grow dimmer, sadder^

Pour thy light into my heart,
That I may pass over gladder

Than men to their homes depart" —

the grandmother repeated them over and over, and an
expression of very joyful expectation came over her
face. Heidi felt so happy to see it. All the sunny
day of her journey home rose before her, and she
exclaimed with delight : —

" Grandmother, I know already how it seems to be
on the way home."

266 HEIDI

The grandmother did not answer, but she had heard
the words perfectly, and the expression which had
pleased Heidi remained on her face.

After a while the child said : —

" It is growing dark now, grandmother ; I must go
back ; but I am so glad that you are happy again."

The grandmother took the child's hand in hers and
held it fast ; then she said : -

" Yes, I am so happy again ; if I must stay lying
here, I am content. You see, nobody who has not been
through it knows what it is to have to lie for days and
days all alone, and not hear a word from another human
being, and not be able to see-- not see even a single sun-
beam. Then such gloomy thoughts come to one that
it often seems as if it never could be bright again and
one could not bear it any longer. But when I hear the
words which you have read to me, it is as if a light
arose in my heart, and that makes me happy again."

Then the grandmother let go Heidi's hand, and after
she had said good-night, Heidi ran back into the other
room and hurriedly drew Peter out, for it had already
grown late. However, outside the moon was in the
sky and shone as brightly on the white snow as if the
daylight had come back. Peter arranged his sled, sat
down on it in front, with Heidi behind, and away they
shot down the Aim, exactly as if they were two birds
rushing through the air.

Later, when Heidi was lying in her lovely, deep bed
of hay, she began to think about the grandmother again,
and how uncomfortably her head lay; and then she

THE WINTER IN DORFLI 267

remembered all that she had said, and the light the
words kindled in her heart. And she thought if the
grandmother only could hear the words every day, then
she would feel well all the time. But she knew that
now a whole week, or perhaps even two, must pass before
she could go up to her again. This seemed so sad to
Heidi that she kept thinking harder and harder what
she could do to have the grandmother hear the words
every day. Suddenly help came to her, and she was
so glad about it that it seemed to her she could hardly
wait for the morning to come so that she might carry
out her plan. All at once Heidi sat straight up in bed,
for she had been so deep in thought that she had not
sent up her evening prayer to the dear Lord, and she
would never forget that again.

When she had prayed straight from her heart for
herself and her grandfather and the grandmother, she
fell back at once into her soft hay and slept very
soundly and peacefully until the bright morning.

CHAPTER V

THE WINTER STILL CONTINUES

AFTER this, Peter came down to school at exactly the
right time. He brought his dinner with him in his
bag, for this was the custom there. When all the chil-
dren in Dorfli had gone home at noon, the other scholars,
who lived at a distance, sat down on the long desks,
braced their feet firmly against the seats, and spread
the luncheon they had brought in their laps, to take
their midday meal. They could enjoy themselves until
one o'clock, then school began again. When Peter
had spent the day in school, he went after it was over
to the uncle's, to pay a visit to Heidi.

When he entered the big room, Heidi ran to meet
him, for she had been expecting him.

"Peter, I know something," she called to him.

"Say it," he replied.

" You must learn to read," was the news she had for
him.

" It 's no use," was the reply.

" Oh, Peter ! I don't agree with you," said Heidi
eagerly ; " I think that you can after a little."

"Cannot," remarked Peter.

" Nobody believes such a thing as that, and I don't
either," said Heidi very decidedly. " The grandmamma

268

THE, WINTER STILL CONTINUES 269

in Frankfurt knew that it was n't true, and she told me
that I ought not to believe it either."

Peter was dumfounded at this news.

" I will teach you to read ; I know how very well,"
Heidi continued. " You must learn now once for all,
and then you must read one or two hymns every day to
your grandmother."

" Don't want to," grumbled Peter.

This obstinacy toward something which was good
and right and which Heidi had set her heart on made
her angry. With flashing eyes she placed herself in
front of the boy and said threateningly : -

" Then I will tell you what will happen, if you will
never learn anything ; your mother has already said
twice that you would have to go to Frankfurt to learn
something, and I know very well where the boys go
to school there; Klara showed me the frightfully big
house when we were out driving. There they don't
go merely when they are boys, but just the same when
they get to be great, big men ; I saw that myself ; and
then you must n't suppose that there is only one teacher
there, as we have here, and such a kind one. Whole
rows, ever so many together, are always going into the
house, and all of them are dressed in black, as if they
were going to church, and have such high black hats on
their heads"; and Heidi measured the size of the hats
from the floor up.

The shivers ran down Peter's back.
" And then you would have to go in among all the
masters," continued Heidi eagerly ; "and if it came your

270 HEIDI

turn, you couldn't read at all and would make mistakes
even in the alphabet. Then you would see how the
masters would laugh at you, and that is much worse
than Tinette, and you ought to know how it is when
she laughs at you."

"Then I will," said Peter half petulantly, half whin-
ingly.

In a moment Heidi was pacified.

" Well, that is right, and we will begin at once," she
cried in her delight ; and pulling Peter in a business-
like way to the table, she brought out the articles
needed for work.

In Klara's big package there was a little book which
had pleased Heidi very much, and it had occurred to
her the night before that it would be a good thing to use
for teaching Peter. It was an A-B-C book in rhyme.

They both sat down at the table, their heads bent
over the little book, and the lesson began.

Peter had to spell the first sentence over and over
again, for Heidi insisted on having it done nicely and
without hesitation.

Finally she said : —

" You don't know it yet, but I will read it over and
over to you ; if you know what it means, you can spell
it out better"; and Heidi read : —

" If 'A, S, C,you do not know,
Before the school board you will go"

" I will not go," said Peter angrily.
"Where?" asked Heidi.

THE WINTER STILL CONTINUES 271

"Before the school board," was the reply.

" Then try to learn the three letters, and you won't
have to go," explained Heidi.

Then Peter began again and repeated the three let-
ters perseveringly until Heidi said :-

" Now you know these three."

But as she noticed what an effect the words had
made on Peter, she wanted to prepare a little for the
following lessons.

" Wait, — I will read you the other sentences," she
continued ; "then you will see all that is coming."

And she began to read very clearly and distinctly : —

"Z>, E, F, G, must smoothly fly,
Or else misfortune -will be nigh.

If H, J, J, K, are forgot,
Misfortune is upoti the spot.

Whoe'er on L, M, still will stumble
Must pay a fine and then feel humble.

There 'j something bad, and if you knew
You W quickly learn N, O, P, Q.

If still on R, S, T, you halt,

The harm that comes will be your fault."

Here Heidi stopped, for Peter was as still as a mouse,
and she had to see what he was doing. All these threats
and mysterious horrors had so overcome him that he
could not move a muscle, and was staring at Heidi
in terror.

This immediately touched Heidi's tender heart, and
she said comfortingly : —

272 HEIDI

"You mustn't be frightened, Peter; just come to
me every afternoon, and if you learn as well as you
have to-day, you will know all the letters after a while,
and then nothing will happen to you. But you must
come every day, and not the way you go to school. If
it snows it won't do you any harm."

Peter promised to do so, for fear had made him quite
docile and obedient. Then he started home.

Peter followed Heidi's orders strictly, and every
afternoon studied the other letters eagerly and learned
the rhymes by heart.

The grandfather often sat in the room and listened
to the exercise, while he smoked his pipe contentedly,
and every little while the corners of his mouth twitched,
as if he could hardly keep from laughing.

After the great struggle Peter was usually invited to
remain and take supper with them ; and this at once
richly rewarded him for the anguish that day's verse
had caused him to endure.

Thus the winter days passed away. Peter was regu-
lar and really made progress with his letters.

But he had to wrestle every day with the verses.

They had gone as far as U. When Heidi read the
couplet, —

" If ever you mix U and V,
You '// go where you '// not like to be" —

Peter growled : —

" Yes, see if I will ! "

But he learned them thoroughly, as if he was under
the impression that some one might take him secretly

THE WINTER STILL CONTINUES 273

by the throat and carry him where he would not care
to go.

On the following afternoon Heidi read : -

" If now you fail to know the W,
There hangs a stick and it will trouble you."

Then Peter looked around and said scornfully : -

"There is n't any."

" Yes, there is ; don't you know what grandfather has
in the chest? " asked Heidi. "A stick as big around
as my arm, and when he takes it out he can say : -

" ' Behold the stick, and it will trouble you.' '

Peter knew the big hazel stick. He bent over his
W at once and tried to grasp it.

The next day it read : -

" If you the letter X forget,
For you no supper will be set."

Then Peter looked inquiringly toward the cupboard
where the bread and cheese were kept, and said snap-
pishly :-

" I have never said that I should forget X."

" That is right, if you don't forget it ; then we can
learn one letter more," suggested Heidi; "and to-mor-
row you will have only one left."

Peter was not agreed, but Heidi read : ^-

" If you on Y to-day delay,
With scorn and shame you V/ go away."

Then there rose before Peter's eyes all the masters in
Frankfurt with their tall, black hats on their heads and

274

HEIDI

scorn and ridicule in their faces. He immediately
attacked the letter Y, and did not let it go again until
he knew it so well that he could close his eyes and still
see how it looked.

On the next day Peter was feeling rather proud when
he came to Heidi, for there was only one letter left for

him to study, and when
Heidi read the verse to
him,

" Who hesitates upon the Z,
With the Hottentots shall be,"

he said sneeringly : —

"Yes, when nobody
knows where they are ! "

"Indeed, Peter, my
grandfather knows," as-
serted Heidi; "just wait
and I will ask him right
away where they are; he
is over at the pastor's
house"; and Heidi jumped
up and was going out at the door.

"Wait!" screamed Peter in great alarm, for he
already saw in his imagination the Aim-Uncle coming
in with the pastor, and the two seizing him at once and
sending him off to the Hottentots, for he really did not
know the name of Z. His troubled cry made Heidi
stand still.

" What is the matter with you ? " she asked in surprise.

THE WINTER STILL CONTINUES 275

" Nothing! Come back! I will learn it," stammered
Peter. But Heidi wanted to know where the Hotten-
tots were, and she was going to ask her grandfather any
way. But Peter screamed so desperately after her that
she gave it up and came back. He had to do some-
thing to make up for it, however. Not only did Heidi
make him repeat the letter Z so many times that it
remained fast in his memory forever, but she went on
at once to syllables, and Peter learned so much that
afternoon that he made a great advance.

Thus it went on day after day.

The crust had become soft again, and every day
there was a fresh fall of snow, so that for three long
weeks together Heidi could not go up to see the grand-
mother. All the more eager was she, in her work with
Peter, to have him able to read the hymns. One
evening Peter came home from Heidi's and ran into
the room, saying : -

" I can do it ! "

"What can you do, Peterli ? "' asked his mother, full
of hope.

" Reading," he answered.

" Is it possible ! Did you hear, grandmother ? "
exclaimed Brigitte.

The grandmother had heard it and also wondered
how it had happened.

" Now I must read a hymn, for Heidi said so," Peter
went on to say. His mother at once took down the
book, and the grandmother was delighted, it was so
long since she had heard any good words. Peter sat

276 HEIDI

down at the table and began to read. His mother sat
down beside him to listen ; after each verse she said in
amazement :-

" Who could have thought it ? "

His grandmother followed one verse after another
attentively, but said nothing to it.

The day after this occurrence it happened that Peter's
class had a reading lesson. When Peter's turn came
the teacher said :-

" Peter, must I pass by you again, as usual, or will
you once more - - 1 will not say read, I will say try to
stammer through a line ? ''

Peter began and read three lines one after another
without stopping.

The teacher laid his book aside. He looked at Peter
in dumb astonishment, as if he had never seen anything
like it before. At last he said : —

" Peter, a miracle has happened to you ! Long
as I have worked over you with inexpressible patience
you have never been able to grasp even the alphabet.
Now that I have, although unwillingly, given up work-
ing over you as a useless task, it happens that you
come out and have learned, not only the alphabet, but
also to read properly, as well as quite clearly. Who has
been able to work such a miracle in our time, Peter?"

" Heidi," was the reply.

In the greatest surprise the teacher looked toward
Heidi, who was sitting quite innocently in her seat, so
that there was nothing extraordinary in her appearance
He continued : —

THE WINTER STILL CONTINUES 277

" I have noticed a change in you in many ways, Peter.
While you used to be often absent from school the
whole week, - - yes, several weeks together, - - lately you
have not stayed away a day. Who can have caused
such a change for the better in you ? "

"The uncle," was the reply.

With increasing astonishment the teacher looked from
Peter to Heidi, and from her b.ack again to Peter.

"We will try it once more," he then said cautiously;
and Peter had to prove his knowledge with three lines
more. It was a fact, he had learned to read.

As soon as school was over, the teacher hastened to
the pastor's house to tell him what had happened, and
what a good influence the uncle and Heidi were having
in the parish.

Every evening now Peter read a hymn at home. So
far he obeyed Heidi, but no farther, for he never under-
took a second one ; nor did the grandmother ever ask
him to do so.

His mother Brigitte wondered every day that Peter
had succeeded in learning to read, and many an eve-
ning when the reading was over and the reader lay in
his bed, she would say again to the grandmother : -

" We can't be pleased enough that Peterli has learned
to read so beautifully ; now there 's no knowing what
he may become."

Then the grandmother would answer : -

•' Yes, it is a good thing for him that he has learned
something ; but I shall be heartily glad if the dear Lord
sends the spring soon, so that Heidi can come up

278 HEIDI

again. It is as if she read entirely different hymns.
Something is so often left out in the verses when Peter
reads them, and I have to try to remember it, and
then I can't follow the thought, and it does n't impress
my heart as it does when Heidi reads the words. "

This happened because Peter arranged the reading
a little so that it would not be too difficult for him. If
a word came that was too long or looked hard, he pre-
ferred to leave it out, for he thought it would be all
the same to the grandmother whether there were three
or four words in a line.

So it came about that there were hardly any nouns
left in the hymns Peter read.

CHAPTER VI

DISTANT FRIENDS ARE HEARD FROM

MAY had come. From every height the overflowing
brooks were rushing down into the valley. Warm,
bright sunshine lay on the mountain. It had grown
green again ; the last traces of snow had melted away
and the first little flowers, awakened by the alluring
sunbeams, were peeping up with their bright eyes out
of the fresh grass. The joyous spring wind blew
through the fir trees and shook off the old, dark
needles, so that the young, bright green ones could
come out and dress the trees in splendor. High above
the old robber-bird was swinging his wings in the blue
air, and around the Aim hut the golden sunshine lay
warm on the ground, drying up the last damp places so
that one could sit down wherever one liked.

Heidi was on the mountain again. She ran here
and there and could not tell which spot was the loveliest.
Now she had to listen to the wind as it blew down deep
and mysterious from the cliffs above, coming nearer
and growing mightier, and then leaping into the fir
trees, bending and shaking them until it seemed as if
it were shouting with delight ; and Heidi had to shout
too, while she was blown hither and thither like a little
leaf. Then she would run back to the sunny spot in

279

280 HEIDI

front of the house, sit down on the ground and peep
into the short grass to see how many flower-cups were
going to open or were open already. So many gay
gnats and little beetles were hopping and crawling and
dancing about in the sun and enjoying themselves, and
Heidi was happy with them, and drew in long breaths
of the spring fragrance, which came up out of the fresh
earth. It seemed even more beautiful on the moun-
tain than ever before. The thousand little creatures
must have liked it as well as she did, for it seemed
exactly as if they were all humming and singing for
sheer delight : " On the Aim ! On the Aim ! On the
Aim ! "

From the workshop behind the house, every now
and then, came the sound of busy hammering and saw-
ing, and Heidi listened, for it was the old familiar
sound she knew so well, and which she had heard ever
since she came to live on the Aim. She had to jump
up and run at once to the shop, for she wished to know
what her grandfather was doing. In front of the work-
shop door there was standing a fine new stool already
finished, and her grandfather was working skilfully on
another.

" Oh, I know what that is for !" exclaimed Heidi with
delight. " That will be needed when they come from
Frankfurt. It is for the grandmamma, and the one
you are making now is for Klara, and then — then there
will have to be one more," continued Heidi hesitatingly ;
"or do you think, grandfather, that Fraulein Rotten-
meier will not come with them ? "

DISTANT FRIENDS HEARD FROM 281

"That I can't say now," said her grandfather, "but
it will be safer to have one ready, so that we can invite
her to sit down if she comes."

Heidi looked critically at the little wooden stool and
quietly considered how it would suit Fraulein Rotten-
meier. After a while she said doubtfully, shaking her
head : —

" Grandfather, I don't believe she would sit on it."

" Then we will invite her to the sofa with the beau-
tiful green grass covering," replied the grandfather
quietly.

As Heidi was thinking where the beautiful sofa with
the green grass covering could be, suddenly there
sounded from above a whistling and calling and rod
swinging through the air, so that Heidi knew at once
what it was. She ran out and was surrounded in a
twinkling by the leaping goats. They must have been
as glad as Heidi to be up on the mountain again, for
they jumped higher and bleated more merrily than they
had ever done before, and Heidi was pushed back and
forth by them, for each one was anxious to get next to
her and express its delight. But Peter pushed them
all away, some to the right and others to the left, for
he had a message to give to Heidi. When he had
made his way to her, he held out a letter toward her.

" There ! " he said, leaving Heidi to find out the rest
for herself. She was very much surprised.

" Did you find a letter for me up in the pasture ? M
she asked in great astonishment.

"No," was the answer.

282 HEIDI

"Well, where did you get it, then, Peter?"

" Out of the lunch bag."

That was so. The evening before the postmaster
in Dorfli had given him the letter for Heidi. Peter
had put it in the empty bag. In the morning he had
put his cheese and his piece of bread on top of it and
had started off. He had seen the uncle and Heidi
when he went to get their goats ; at noon, when he had
finished his bread and cheese and was going to shake
the crumbs out of the bag, the letter fell into his hand.

Heidi read the address carefully ; then she ran back
to her grandfather in the shop and held out the letter
to him in high glee.

" From Frankfurt ! From Klara ! Will you hear it
now, grandfather ? '

He was very ready to hear it, and so was Peter, who
had followed Heidi. He leaned his back against the
doorpost in order to have a firm support while she
read her letter, as it was easier to follow Heidi so.

" DEAR HEIDI, — Everything is already packed, and in two or
three days we shall start on our journey as soon as papa is ready,
but he cannot go with us, for he has to go to Paris first. The
doctor comes every day and calls out at the door : ' Away !
Away ! To the mountains ! ' He is impatient for us to get off.
You ought to know how much he liked it himself on the Aim !
He has come to see us almost every day all winter long ; when-
ever he came to see me he always said he must tell me all about
it again ! Then he would sit down by me and tell me about all
the days he spent with you and your grandfather on the Aim,
about the mountains and the flowers, and the stillness so high up
above all the villages and roads, and about the fine fresh air ; and

DISTANT FRIENDS HEARD FROM 283

he often said : < Everybody ought to get well up there.' He him-
self is so different from what he had been for a long time, and
looks quite young and happy again. Oh, how glad I shall be to
see it all and be with you on the mountain, and learn to know
Peter and the goats ! But first I have to take the cure in Ragatz
for about six weeks ; the doctor has ordered it. Afterwards we
shall stay in Dorfli, and I shall be carried up on the mountain in
my chair, in fine weather, to spend the day with you.

" Grandmamma is coming too and will stay with me ; she also
will enjoy going up to see you. But think of it, Fraulein Rotten-
meier will not come with us. Almost every day grandmamma
says to her : —

" ' How is it about the journey to Switzerland, worthy Rotten-
meier? If you would like to come with us, you can do so.'

" But she always thanks her very politely and says she would n't
be so presuming. But I know what she is thinking about :
Sebastian gave such a frightful description of the mountains, when
he came back from going with you, — what terrible overhanging
crags there were, and what danger there was everywhere of falling
down into the chasms and ravines, that it was so steep climbing
up that there was risk at every step of falling down backwards,
and that goats might be able to climb up there, but no human
being could do so without peril to his life, — that she shuddered
at it, and since then has not been enthusiastic about traveling in
Switzerland, as she was before. Tinette too has become frightened
and will not come with us. So we are coming alone, grandmamma
and I ; Sebastian will come with us as far as Ragatz, then he can
go back home.

" I can hardly wait to come to you.

" Good-bye, dear Heidi. Grandmamma sends you a thousand

greetings. „ Your trug friend

" KLARA."

When Peter heard these words he ran away from
the door post and struck out right and left so recklessly

284 HEIDI

and furiously with his rod that the goats, in the greatest
terror, all took to flight and ran down the mountain,
making such enormous leaps as they had seldom done
before. Peter rushed after them beating the air with
his rod, as if he had to vent his great spite on some
invisible enemy. This enemy was the prospect of
guests coming from Frankfurt, and this was what
had so enraged him.

Heidi was so full of happiness and joy that she
really had to go to visit the grandmother the next day
and tell her all about it — who were coming from Frank-
furt, and also who were not coming. This was of the
greatest importance to the grandmother, for she knew
all the people so well and always felt the greatest
interest in everything that concerned Heidi's life. So
early on the following afternoon Heidi started ; for now
she could go alone once more to make her visits, for
the sun was shining brightly again and remained longer
in the sky, and there was a fine mountain path over the
dry ground ; while the joyous May wind blew behind
her and pushed her along faster and faster.

The grandmother was no longer in bed. She was
sitting once more in the corner spinning. But there
was an expression on her face as if she had troublesome
thoughts. It had been there since the evening before ;
and the whole night long these thoughts had followed
her and kept her from sleeping. Peter had come home
in the midst of his great anger, and she had understood
from his broken outcries that a crowd of people from
Frankfurt was coming up to the Aim hut. What would

DISTANT FRIENDS HEARD FROM 285

happen afterwards he did not know ; but the grand-
mother could not help thinking about it, and it was just
these thoughts that had troubled her and kept her
from sleeping.

Heidi ran in, went straight to the grandmother, sat
down on the little footstool which always stood there,
and told her all that she knew with such eagerness
that she herself began to realize it even more. But
all of a sudden she stopped in the middle of a sentence
and asked with concern : -

"What is the matter, grandmother? don't you like
all this a single bit ? "

" Yes, yes, Heidi, I am glad for you, because it will
give you so much pleasure," she answered, trying to
look a little happier.

" But, grandmother, I can see very well that it
troubles you. Do you think Fraulein Rottenmeier will
come with them ? " asked Heidi, feeling somewhat
anxious herself.

" No, no ! it is nothing, it is nothing ! " said the
grandmother soothingly. " Let me take your hand for
a little, Heidi, so that I can feel that you are still here.
It will be a good thing for you, even if I don't live to
see that day."

" I don't care for what is best for me, if you are not
going to live to see it, grandmother," said Heidi, so
decidedly that suddenly a new fear arose in the old
dame's mind ; she must take it for granted that the
people from Frankfurt were coming to take Heidi
away ; for now that she was well once more they would

286 HEIDI

surely want to take her back with them. This was a
great grief to the grandmother. But she felt that she
ought not to say anything about it before Heidi ; she
would be so sorry for her that she would perhaps object
to going, and that must not be. She sought for some
remedy, but not long, for she knew but one.

" I know something, Heidi," she then said, "that will
make me feel better and bring me good thoughts
again. Read me the hymn where it begins, ' God will
bring.' "

Heidi had now become so familiar with the old hymn
book that she at once found the place the grandmother
desired and read in a clear voice : —

" God will bring

Everything
Into order as is wholesome for thy soul;

Thou shalt be

Safe at sea,
Though the foaming billows wildly round thee roll."

"Yes, yes, that is exactly what I want to hear,"
said the grandmother, relieved, and the expression of
distress disappeared from her face. Heidi looked at
her thoughtfully and then said : —

" Grandmother, does wholesome mean when every-
thing is cured so that one is entirely well again ? >:

"Yes, yes, that is what it will be," said the grand-
mother, nodding in assent ; " and because the dear Lord
will make it so ; we can be sure how it will come out.
Read it once more, Heidi, so that we can fix it in our
minds and not forget it."

DISTANT FRIENDS HEARD FROM 287

Heidi read the lines over again, and then twice
more, for the thought of safety pleased her so much.

When evening came and Heidi was climbing up the
mountain again, one little star after another came out
and sparkled and twinkled down at her, and it seemed
exactly as if each one wanted to send a new beam of
great delight into her heart, and Heidi had to stand
still every moment and look up, and when they all in
every part of the sky looked down with still greater
delight, she had to exclaim quite loudly : — •

" I know now, because the dear Lord knows so well
what is best, we can have such joy and be perfectly
safe ! "

And the little stars all twinkled and sparkled and
winked at Heidi, until she reached the hut, where her
grandfather was standing, and also gazing up at the stars,
for they had not shone so beautifully for a long time.

Not only the nights but also the days in this month
of May were brighter and clearer than they had been
for many years, and the grandfather often looked out
in the morning in surprise to see how the sun was
coming up again in a cloudless sky, that the sunrise
was as glorious as the sunset, and he would repeat : —

" It is a remarkably sunny year ; it will make the
pasturage very rich. Take care, leader, that your
leapers don't get too wild from the good feed ! "

Then Peter would swing his rod boldly in the air,
and the answer was plainly written on his face : -

" I '11 be a match for them."

So the verdant May soon passed and June came with

288 HEIDI

its still warmer sun and long, long, light days, alluring
all the flowers on the whole mountain to come out, so
that they shone and glowed everywhere, and filled the
air all about with their sweet fragrance. This month
too was drawing to an end when one morning Heidi,
having already finished her morning tasks, came run-
ning out of the hut. She hurried out under the fir
trees and then a little higher up to see if the big cen-
taury bush was in bloom, for the little flowers were
enchantingly lovely with the sun shining through them.
But as Heidi was running around the hut she suddenly
screamed with all her might so loud that the uncle came
out of his shop, for it was something unusual.

"Grandfather! grandfather!" cried the child as if
beside herself. " Come here ! come here ! See ! see ! "

The grandfather came at her call, and his eyes fol-
lowed the excited child's outstretched arm.

A strange procession, such as had never been seen
there before, was winding up the Aim. First came two
men with a sedan chair in which sat a young girl
wrapped up in ever so many shawls. Then came a
horse on which sat a stately lady, who was looking with
great interest in every direction and talking eagerly
with the young guide walking by her side. Then came
an empty wheel chair, pushed by another young fellow,
for the invalid to whom it belonged could be carried
more' securely up the steep mountain in the sedan chair.
Last of all walked a porter, who had so many wraps,
shawls, and furs piled up in the basket on his back that
they reached high above his head.

DISTANT FRIENDS HEARD FROM

289

" There they are ! There they are ! " screamed Heidi,
jumping up in the air with delight. They really were
coming. They came nearer and nearer and at last they
were there. The porter put the chair down on the
ground. Heidi ran to it and the two children greeted

each other with immense delight. Then the grand-
mamma arrived and dismounted from the horse. Heidi
ran to her and was embraced with great tenderness.
Then the grandmamma turned toward the Aim-Uncle,
who had come to welcome her. There was no formality
in their greeting, for she knew him and he knew her
as well as if they had been acquainted for a long time.

290 HEIDI

As soon as the first words of greeting had been said,
the grandmamma exclaimed with great enthusiasm : —

" My dear uncle, what a splendid situation you have !
Who would have believed it ! Many a king might envy
you ! How well my Heidi looks ! Like a little June
rose ! " she continued, drawing the child to her and
stroking her fresh cheeks. " How glorious it is every-
where all about ! What do you say, Klarchen, my
child ; what do you say ? "

Klara was looking around her perfectly enchanted ;
she had never seen anything, never imagined anything
like it in all her life.

" Oh, how beautiful it is here ! Oh, how beautiful
it is here ! " she exclaimed again and again. " I never
imagined it. Oh, grandmamma, I should like to stay
here ! "

Meanwhile the uncle had pushed along the wheel
chair, taken some shawls out of the basket, and arranged
them in it. Then he stepped up to the sedan chair.

" If we should put the little daughter in her accus-
tomed chair now, it would be better for her ; the travel-
ing chair is a little hard," he said ; and without waiting
for any one to assist him, at once lifted the little invalid
gently in his strong arms out of the straw chair and
placed her with the greatest care in the soft seat.
Then he laid the shawls over her knees and wrapped her
feet as comfortably on the cushion as if he had done
nothing else all his life but care for invalids who could
not use their limbs. The grandmamma looked at him
in the greatest astonishment.

DISTANT FRIENDS HEARD FROM 291

Then she exclaimed : -

" My dear uncle, if I knew where you learned to care
for the sick, I would send all the nurses I know there
to take lessons. How is it possible ? "

The uncle smiled a little. " It comes more from
experience than from study," he replied ; but in spite
of the smile a look of sadness came over his face. Out
of the remote past before his eyes rose the suffering
face of a man who used to sit wrapped up in a chair
just like this, and was so crippled that he could hardly
use a limb. It was his captain, whom he had found
lying on the ground after a fierce battle in Sicily,
and had carried off the field ; and from that time the
captain would allow no other nurse around him, and
would never let him out of his sight, until his great
sufferings came to an end. The uncle saw his sick
friend before him again ; his only thought now was
that it would be his duty to care for sick Klara and
show her all those comforting attentions he under-
stood so well.

The sky spread deep blue and cloudless above the
hut and the fir trees and high above the lofty cliffs which
towered up so gray and sparkling. Klara could not look
around enough ; she was perfectly fascinated with all
that she saw.

" Oh, Heidi, if I could only go around with you, about
the hut and under the fir trees ! " she exclaimed long-
ingly. " If I could go with you to look at all the things
I have heard so much about and have n't as yet seen ! "

Then Heidi made a great effort and succeeded in

292 HEIDI

rolling the chair smoothly over the dry, grassy ground
under the fir trees. Here she paused. Klara had
never seen anything in her life like the tall old fir trees
whose long, wide-spreading branches grew down to the
ground and became larger and thicker there. The
grandmamma, who had followed the children, also stood
still in great admiration. She could not tell which was
the more beautiful, the full roaring tops of the ancient
trees, high up in the blue sky, or their straight, strong
trunks, which with their mighty branches could tell of
so many, many years while they had been standing
there and looking down into the valley where men came
and went and everything else was constantly changing,
but they always remained the same.

Meanwhile, Heidi pushed the wheel chair in front of
the goat-shed and opened the little door wide, so that
Klara could see everything inside. There was really
not much to see now, for the goats were not at home.
Klara called back quite regretfully : -

" Oh, grandmamma, if I could just wait for Schwanli
and Barli and all the other goats, and Peter ! I can
never see them all if we always have to go away as
early as you said ; it is such a shame ! "

"Dear child, we will enjoy all the beautiful things
that are here, and not think about those that are want-
ing," was the grandmamma's advice, as she followed
the chair, which Heidi was now pushing back.

" Oh, the flowers ! " exclaimed Klara ; "whole bushes
of fine red flowers, and all the nodding bluebells ! Oh,
if I could only go and get some ! "

DISTANT FRIENDS HEARD FROM 293

Heidi immediately ran and brought back to her a
great bunch of them.

" But this is nothing, Klara," she said, laying the
flowers in her lap. " If you could come up to the pas-
ture with us once, then you would see something ! In
one place there are so many, many bushes of red cen-
tauries and ever so many more bluebells than here, and
so many thousand bright yellow wild roses that it
looks as if the ground was shining with pure gold.
And then there are some with large leaves, which my
grandfather says are called heliopsis, and, besides, the
brown ones, you know, with little round heads, which
smell so good, — and it is so beautiful! If you once
sit down there, you can never get up again, it is so
lovely ! "

Heidi's eyes sparkled with longing to see what she
described, and Klara was so excited by it that out of
her gentle blue eyes there shone a complete reflection
of Heidi's fiery enthusiasm.

" Oh, grandmamma, can I go up there ? Do you think
I could go so high ? " she asked eagerly. " Oh, if I
could only go, Heidi, and climb around everywhere on
the mountain with you ! "

" I will push you," said Heidi soothingly; and to show
how easily it went she took such a run around the cor-
ner that the chair almost ran away from her down the
mountain. But her grandfather was standing near and
stopped its course just in time.

During their visit to the fir trees the grandfather had
not been idle. The table and necessary chairs were

294 HEIDI

standing by the bench in front of the hut and every-
thing was ready ; the good dinner was still steaming
in the kettle and roasting on the big fork over the
fire inside the hut. It was not long before the grand-
father had everything on the table and the whole com-
pany sat down gladly to the meal.

The grandmamma was perfectly enchanted at this
dining-room, from which one could see far, far down into
the valley and above all the mountains into the blue
sky. A cool, mild breeze gently fanned the faces of the
guests and rustled as pleasantly in the fir trees as if it
had been especially ordered music for the feast.

" Nothing like this has ever happened to me. It is
really glorious ! " exclaimed the grandmamma again
and again. " But what do I see ? " she added in the
greatest surprise. " I believe you are taking a second
piece of toasted cheese, Klarchen ! "

Sure enough, a second golden shining piece of cheese
lay on Klara's slice of bread.

" Oh, it tasted so good, grandmamma, — better than
everything on the table at Ragatz," asserted Klara,
taking the appetizing dish with great relish.

" Eat away ! Eat away ! " said the Aim-Uncle, well
pleased. " It is our mountain air, which succeeds when
the cook fails."

So the happy meal went on. The grandmamma and
the Aim-Uncle took a great liking to each other, and
their conversation became more and more lively. They
agreed in all their opinions about men and things and
the progress of the world as well as if they had been

DISTANT FRIENDS HEARD FROM 295

friends for years. Thus the time passed until the
grandmamma suddenly looked toward the west and
said : -

" We must soon be getting ready, Klarchen ; the sun
is already going down ; the people will be back with
the horse and the chair."

Immediately an expression of sadness came over
Klara's happy face and she asked urgently : —

" Oh, grandmamma, just one hour more, or two ! We
have n't seen the hut yet, or Heidi's bed and all their
other arrangements. Oh, if the day were only ten hours
longer ! "

"That is not possible," said the grandmamma; but
she too wanted to see the hut. So they rose at once
from the table, and the uncle directed the chair with
steady hand to the door. But here it would go no
farther ; the chair was much too wide to go through the
opening. The uncle did not stop long to consider. He
lifted Klara out and carried her in his strong arms into
the hut.

The grandmamma went back and forth looking care-
fully at all the furnishings, and was greatly amused
at the domestic contrivances which were so prettily
arranged and well ordered.

" That is surely your bed up above there, Heidi, is
it not ? " she then asked, and straightway, without any
timidity, climbed the little ladder leading to the hayloft.

"Oh, how sweet it smells! It must be a healthful
sleeping room ! ' and the grandmamma went to the
window and peeped through.

296 HEIDI

The grandfather followed with Klara in his arms, and
Heidi came on behind.

They then all stood around Heidi's beautifully made
hay bed, and the grandmamma looked at it quite crit-
ically, every now and then drawing in with delight
deep breaths of the spicy fragrance of the new hay.
Klara was perfectly charmed with Heidi's sleeping
place.

" Oh, Heidi, what a jolly place you have here ! From
your bed you can see straight out into the sky, and
you have such a lovely odor around you, and you can
hear the fir trees roar outside. Oh," I have never seen
such a jolly, pleasant sleeping room before ! "

The uncle then looked over at the grandmamma.

" I have an idea," he said, " if the grandmamma
will listen to me and not be opposed to the plan. I
think if we could keep the daughter up here a little
while she would gain new strength. You have brought
so many shawls and wraps out of which we could
arrange an entirely separate soft bed, and your grand-
mamma need have no anxiety about the care of the
little daughter ; that I will undertake myself."

Klara and Heidi both shouted with joy like two
escaped birds, and the grandmamma's face lighted up
with sunshine.

" My dear uncle, you are a wonderful man ! " she
exclaimed. " How did you know what I was just
thinking about ? I was saying to myself: 'Wouldn't a
stay up here give the child especial strength ? But the
nursing ! the care ! the inconvenience to the host ! '

DISTANT FRIENDS HEARD FROM 297

And here you speak of it as if it would be nothing at
all. I must thank you, my dear uncle, I must thank you
with my whole heart ! " and the grandmamma shook
the uncle's hand again and again, and the uncle also
shook hers with great delight.

The uncle immediately began to carry out his plan.
He carried Klara back to her chair in front of the hut ;
Heidi followed, not knowing how high she wanted to
jump in her delight. Then he piled up all the shawls
and fur robes in his arms and said, smiling with satis-
faction : —

" It is a good thing that grandmamma brought enough
things for a winter campaign ; we can use them."

" My dear uncle," she replied, approaching briskly,
" foresight is an excellent virtue, and protection from
many an evil. If one escapes storm and wind and vio-
lent rains in traveling over your mountains, one may be
thankful ; and so we are, and my wraps may be useful
yet ; about that we are agreed."

During this little conversation the two climbed up
to the hayloft and began to spread the shawls, one
after another, over the bed. There were so many that
the bed finally looked like a little fortress.

" Now let a single wisp of hay stick through if it
can," said the grandmamma, while she pressed her hand
on all sides ; but the soft wall was so impenetrable that
nothing really could stick through. Then she climbed
down the ladder quite satisfied and went out to the
children, who were sitting close together with beaming
faces, and planning what they would do from morning

298 HEIDI

till night, as long as Klara stayed on the mountain.
But how long would that be ? That was now the great
question, which was at once laid before the grand-
mamma. She said the grandfather knew best about
that ; they must ask him. As he happened along just
then the question was put to him, and he said he
thought that in about four weeks it would be safe to
judge whether the mountain air would do its duty by
the little daughter or not. Then the children shouted
aloud, for the prospect of being together so long sur-
passed all their expectations.

The porters with the chair and the guide with the
horse were now seen coming up the mountain. The
first were allowed to turn around again immediately.

When the grandmamma was preparing to mount the
horse, Klara exclaimed cheerfully : -

" Oh, grandmamma, we won't say farewell, if you are
going away, for you will come back every little while to
visit us on the mountain, to see what we are doing ; and
that will be so delightful, won't it, Heidi ? "

Heidi, who had had one pleasure after another that
day, could only express her assent by jumping high with
delight.

Then the grandmamma mounted the steady beast,
and the uncle took the bridle and led the horse safely
down the steep mountain. Although the grandmamma
tried not to have him go so far, it was of no use ; the
uncle explained that he was anxious to accompany her
as far as Dorfli, for the mountain was so steep and the
ride not free from danger.

DISTANT FRIENDS HEARD FROM 299

The grandmamma thought that now she was by her-
self she would not stay in Dorfli, where it was lonely.
She would return to Ragatz and take the journey up
the mountain occasionally from there.

Before the uncle returned, Peter came along with
his goats. When they noticed Heidi they all rushed
toward her ; in a moment Klara in her chair, together
with Heidi, was in the midst of the flock, and some
one goat was always crowding and pushing to see over
another, and each was immediately called and presented
by Heidi to Klara.

So it happened that in a very short time Klara had
made the long-wished-for acquaintance with Schnee-
hopli, the jolly Distelfinck, the grandfather's clean goats,
and all the rest, up to the big Turk. But Peter mean-
while stood aside and threw occasional threatening
glances at happy Klara.

When the children both called out pleasantly to him:
" Good-night, Peter ! ' he made no reply, but raised
his rod angrily in the air, as if he would like to beat
them to pieces. Then he ran away, with his followers
after him.

Now came an end to all the lovely things Klara had
seen that day on the mountain.

When she lay on her great soft bed in the hayloft,
to which Heidi had also climbed, she looked through
the round, open window, out at the twinkling stars, and,
completely charmed, exclaimed :-

" Oh, Heidi, see, it is just as if we were riding in the
sky in a high carriage ! "

300 HEIDI

" Yes, and do you know why the stars are so full of
joy, and wink at us so with their eyes? " asked Heidi.

"No, I don't know; what do you think about it? "
asked Klara.

" Because they see up in heaven how well the dear
Lord directs everything for people, so that they need
have no anxiety and can be safe, because everything
will happen for the best. That delights them so ; see
how they wink, that we may be happy too ! But do
you know, Klara, we must not forget our prayers ; we
must ask the dear Lord to think of us, when he is
directing everything so well, that we may always be
safe and never be afraid of anything."

So the children sat up in bed and said their evening
prayer. Then Heidi laid her head on her round arm
and was asleep in a moment. But Klara stayed awake
for a long time, for she had never seen anything so
wonderful in her life as this sleeping room in the star-
light.

Moreover she had hardly ever seen the stars, for she
never went outside the house at night, and indoors the
thick curtains were drawn long before the stars came
out. Now whenever she closed her eyes she had to
open them again once more to see if the two big bright
stars were still shining in and winking as remarkably
as Heidi had said. And it was always so, and Klara
could not look enough at their twinkling and sparkling,
until at last her eyes closed of themselves, and in her
dreams she still saw the two big shining stars.

CHAPTER VII

WHAT FURTHER HAPPENED ON THE MOUNTAIN

THE sun was just coming up behind the crags and
casting its golden beams over the hut and down across
the valley. The Aim-Uncle had been silently and at-
tentively watching, as he did every morning, how all
around on the heights and in the valley the light mists
were lifting, and the landscape appeared out of the twi-
light shadows and awoke to the new day.

Brighter and brighter grew the light morning clouds
until the sun came out in all its glory, and rocks and
woods and hilltops were bathed in the golden light.

Then the uncle went back into his hut and climbed
softly up the little ladder. Klara had just awakened,
and was gazing in the greatest amazement at the bright
sunbeams, which came in through the round window
and glanced and danced on her bed. She did not know
what she was looking at or where she was. Then she
looked at Heidi, sleeping beside her, and the grand-
father's friendly voice sounded, asking : —

"Did you sleep well? Are you tired?"

Klara assured him that she was not tired, and that
after she was once asleep she did not wake up again all
night. This pleased the grandfather, and he immedi-
ately set to work and cared for Klara as well and under-

301

302 HEIDI

standingly as if it had always been his profession to
care for sick children and make them comfortable.

By this time Heidi had opened her eyes and was
surprised to see that her grandfather had already fin-
ished Klara's toilet and was carrying her away in his
arms. She felt that she must be with them. She
dressed as quick as lightning ; then went down the lad-
der and was out at the door and stood looking in the
greatest surprise at what her grandfather had been
doing further. The evening before, when the children
had gone to bed in the loft, he had planned how to
bring the wide rolling chair under cover. The door of
the hut was much too small to allow it to enter. Then
a thought came to him. Behind the shop he loosened
two large boards and thus formed a wide opening.
The chair was pushed in, and then the planks were put
back in their places, though they were not fastened.

Heidi came along just as her grandfather was putting
Klara in her chair, for he had taken away the boards and
was coming out of the shop with her into the morning
sunshine. He left the chair standing in a safe place
and went to the goat-shed. Heidi ran to Klara's side.

The cool morning breeze blew around the children's
faces, and the spicy fragrance from the fir trees came
down with every new gust of wind. Klara drew in
deep breaths and leaned back in her chair with a feel-
ing of health such as she had never known before.

Never in her life had she breathed in the fresh morn-
ing air outdoors under the open sky, and now the pure
mountain breeze blew around her so cool and refresh-

WHAT HAPPENED ON THE MOUNTAIN 303

ing that every breath was a pleasure. And then there
was the bright, sweet sunshine, which was not at all
hot up there, and lay so lovely and warm on her hands and
on the dry, grassy earth at her feet. Klara had never
imagined that it could be like this on the mountain.

" Oh, Heidi, if only I could always, always stay up
here with you ! " she said, turning with delight first one
way and then another in her chair, to take in the air
and sunshine from every side.

" Now you see it is just as I told you," replied
Heidi, much pleased: "that here at my grandfather's
on the Aim is the loveliest spot in the whole world."

Just then the grandfather came out of the shed to
the children. He brought two bowls full of foaming,
snow-white milk, and handed one to Klara and the
other to Heidi.

"This will do the little daughter good," he said,
nodding to Klara ; " it is from Schwanli and will make
you strong. To your good health ! Drink away ! "

Klara had never tasted goat's milk, so she had to
smell of it a little first, to see what it was like. But
when she saw how eagerly Heidi drank down her milk
without stopping once, - - it tasted so wonderfully good
to her, — then Klara began and drank and drank, and
really it was as sweet and nourishing as if there were
sugar and cinnamon in it, and Klara drank until there
was nothing left in the bowl.

" To-morrow we will take two," said the grandfather,
who was well satisfied to see how Klara followed
Heidi's example.

304

HEIDI

Peter now appeared with his flock, and while Heidi
was surrounded by the goats, giving their morning
greeting on every hand, the uncle took Peter aside

that he might hear what he had to say to him, for the
goats kept up a great bleating, each one trying to outdo
the other in expressing its delight and affection, as
soon as Heidi was with them.

WHAT HAPPENED ON THE MOUNTAIN 305

"Now listen and mind," said the uncle. "From
to-day on let Schwanli do as she likes. She knows
where the best feed is ; so if she wants to go up, follow
her. It will be good for the others too ; and if she wants
to go higher than you usually go with her, follow on
and don't keep her back - - do you hear ? If you have to
climb a little, it won't do any harm ; go wherever she
likes, for in this respect she has more sense than you,
and she must have the very best feed, so that she will
give splendid milk. Why are you looking over there
as if you would like to swallow somebody ? No one is
in your way. There, now, go on, and remember what
I have told you ! "

Peter was accustomed to follow the uncle's orders.
He immediately started along ; but it was plain to be
seen that something disturbed him, for he kept turning
his head and rolling his eyes. The goats followed and
pushed Heidi along with them for a little distance.
Peter approved of this.

"You must come too," he called out threateningly;
"you must comg too, if I have to go after Schwanli."

"No, I cannot," Heidi called back; "and I cannot

•

come with you for a long, long time, as long as Klara
is with us. But grandfather has promised that some
day we may come up together."

With these words Heidi had torn herself away from
the goats and now ran back to Klara. Then Peter
shook both fists so threateningly toward the wheel
chair that the goats sprang to one side ; but he at once
sprang after them and, without stopping, went on up a

306 HEIDI

long distance until he was out of sight, for he thought
the uncle might have seen him, and he preferred not to
know what sort of an impression his gestures made on
the uncle.

Klara and Heidi had planned so much for that day
that they did not know where to begin. Heidi proposed
to write a letter to the grandmamma, for the good lady
for her part was not perfectly sure that it would please
Klara up there for any length of time, or indeed be
good for her health ; so she had made the children
promise to write her a letter every day, and to tell her
everything that happened. In this way the grand-
mamma would know when she was needed on the Aim,
and until then could stay quietly where she was.

" Must we go into the house to write ? " asked Klara,
who was willing to send a report to her grandmamma,
but it was so pleasant outdoors that she did not want to
go in.

Heidi knew how to manage. In a twinkling she ran
into the hut and came back laden with all her school
materials and a three-legged stool. She laid her reader
and writing book in Klara's lap, so that she could write
on them, and seated herself on the little stool by the
bench, and then they began to tell the grandmamma
what had happened. But after every sentence she
wrote Klara had to lay her pencil down and look around
her. It was quite too lovely ! The wind was no longer
so cool as it had been ; it hovered around their faces,
gently fanning them, and whispered softly up in the fir
trees. Merry little insects danced and hummed in the

WHAT HAPPENED ON THE MOUNTAIN 307

clear air, and a great stillness lay over all the sunny
landscape. The lofty, rocky peaks looked down so big
and still, and the whole wide valley below lay wrapt in
quiet peacefulness. Only now and then the merry
shouts of some shepherd boy sounded through the air,
and the echo gave back the tones softly from the crags.

The morning passed, the children knew not how,
and the grandfather came with the steaming bowls, for
he said they must stay outdoors with the little daughter
as long as there was a ray of light in the sky. So the
dinner, as on the previous day, was placed before
the hut and taken with enjoyment. Then Heidi rolled
Klara in her chair out under the fir trees, for the chil-
dren had decided that they would spend the afternoon
sitting in the lovely shade and tell each other what
had happened since Heidi left Frankfurt. Although
everything had gone on in the usual way, still Klara
had all sorts of things to tell about the people whom
Heidi knew so well, living in the Sesemann house.

So the children sat together under the old fir trees,
and the more eagerly they talked the louder whistled
the birds up in the branches, for the chatting below
pleased them and they were anxious to take part in it.
Thus the time passed and before they knew it evening
had come, and the army of goats came rushing down,
their leader behind them, with wrinkled brow and anger
in his manner.

" Good-night, Peter ! " Heidi called out to him, when
she saw that he had no idea of stopping.

" Good-night, Peter ! " called out Klara pleasantly.

308 HEIDI

He gave no reply and, angrily snorting, drove on the
goats.

When Klara saw the grandfather lead pretty Schwanli
to the stall to be milked, she was all at once seized with
such a longing for the spicy milk that she could hardly
wait until he came out with it. She was surprised at
herself.

" It is very strange, Heidi," she said; "as long as I
can remember, I have eaten only because I had to, and
everything I took tasted like cod-liver oil, and I have
thought a thousand times : ' If only I never had to eat !'
and now I can hardly wait until your grandfather comes
with the milk."

"Yes, I know what that is," replied Heidi quite
understandingly, for she thought of the day in Frank-
furt when everything stuck in her throat and would not
go down. But Klara could not see how it was. In all
her life long she had never eaten outdoors in the fresh
air, as she had done to-day, and never in this high,
invigorating mountain air.

When the grandfather came with his little bowls,
Klara seized hers quickly, thanking him for it, drank
it eagerly, and this time finished before Heidi.

" May I have a little more ? " she asked, holding out
her bowl to the grandfather.

He nodded, much pleased, took Heidi's bowl also, and
went back to the hut. When he came out again, he
brought with each bowl a thick cover, made of different
material from what covers are usually made.

In the afternoon the grandfather had taken a walk

WHAT HAPPENED ON THE MOUNTAIN 309

to the green Maiensass to the cow-keeper's hut where
they made sweet, bright, yellow butter. He had
brought home from there a lovely round ball. Now he
had taken two nice slices of bread and spread them
thick with the sweet butter. These the children were
going to have for their supper. Both immediately took
such deep bites of the appetizing slices that the grand-
father stood still to see them continue, for it pleased
him.

Later, when Klara was again gazing at the sparkling
stars from her bed, she followed Heidi's example ; her
eyes closed immediately, and such a sound, healthful
sleep came over her as she had never known before.

The following day passed in the same delightful way,
and also the next, and then came a great surprise for
the children. Two strong porters came climbing up
the mountain, each one carrying on his back a high
bed, all arranged in the bedstead, both covered exactly
alike with a white coverlet, clean and brand-new. The
men also brought a letter from the grandmamma. It
said that these beds were for Klara and Heidi, that the
hay beds were to be taken away, and that from this
time on Heidi must sleep in a regular bed. In the
winter one of them must be sent down to Dorfli, but
the other was to remain up there, so that Klara would
always find it, if she came back. Then the grand-
mamma praised the children on account of their long
letters and urged them to continue writing every day,
so that she might always know everything about them
as if, well — as if she were with them.

310 HEIDI

The grandfather went into the hut, threw the con-
tents of Heidi's bed on the big heap of hay, and laid
away the covers. Then he came back to help the men
carry the two beds up into the loft. He pushed them
close together so that the view through the window
might be the same from both pillows, for he knew what
delight the children took in the morning and evening
light as it came in there.

Meanwhile the grandmamma stayed down in Ragatz
and was highly delighted with the excellent reports
which reached her every day from the Aim.

Klara became more and more charmed with her new
life, and she could not say enough about the grand-
father's kindness and thoughtful care of her, and how
merry and amusing Heidi was, - - much more so than in
Frankfurt, — and how every morning her first thought
when she awoke was : —

" Oh, praise the Lord ; I am still on the Aim ! "

This remarkably delightful news was a fresh joy to
the grandmamma every day. She found also that under
the circumstances she could defer her visit to the Aim
a little longer, which she was not sorry for, since the
ride up the steep mountain and down again was rather
difficult for her.

The grandfather must have felt a remarkable interest
in his little charge, for not a day passed when he did
not think of something new to strengthen her. Every
afternoon now he took a walk up among the rocks,
higher and higher, and every time he brought back a
little bundle, which scented the air for a long distance

WHAT HAPPENED ON THE MOUNTAIN 311

like spicy pinks and thyme, and attracted the goats at
evening, so that they all began to bleat and leap and
tried to push all together into the shed where the plants
lay, for they knew the odor well. But the uncle had
made the door fast, because he had not climbed high up
on the rocks after the rare plants, that the whole crowd
of goats might get a good meal without any trouble.
The herbs were all intended for Schwanli, that she
might give still richer milk. It was plain to see how
this extraordinary care affected her, for she tossed her
head in the air more and more vigorously, and, besides,
her eyes flashed fire.

It was now the third week since Klara had come up
on the mountain. For several days when the grand-
father had brought her down in the morning to place
her in her chair, he had said : —

" Will the little daughter not try just once to stand
on the ground a moment ? "

Klara had tried to do as he wished, but had always
said immediately : " Oh, it hurts me so ! " and had
clung fast to him ; but each day he had let her try a
little longer.

Such a beautiful summer had not been seen on the
Aim for many years. Every day the beaming sun
shone in a cloudless sky and all the little flowers opened
their chalices wide and gleamed and sent their fragrance
up to it, and at evening it threw its purple and rosy
light over the rocky peaks and across the snow fields
and then disappeared in a blazing sea of gold.

Heidi told her friend Klara about it all again and

312 HEIDI

again, for it could only be seen properly up in the pas-
ture, and she was especially enthusiastic about the place
up on the slope where there were great quantities of
shining, golden wild roses and so many bluebells that
one would think the grass was blue, and near by great
bushes full of little brown flowers which smell so lovely
that one has to sit down on the ground among them
and never wants to leave them. Sitting under the fir
trees, Heidi had just been telling again about the flowers
up there and the sunset and the fiery rocks, and then
such a longing seized her to go up there again that
she suddenly jumped up and ran to her grandfather,
who was sitting in his shop carving.

" Oh, grandfather," she called out before she was
at all near him, " will you come with us up to the pas-
ture to-morrow ? It is so lovely up there now ! "

" I will agree to it," said the grandfather in assent ;
" but the little daughter must also do me a favor : she
must try again hard this evening to stand."

Heidi came back, shouting for joy, with her news to
Klara ; and Klara promised to try to stand on her feet
as many times as the grandfather wished, for she was
immensely delighted to take this journey up to the
beautiful goat pasture. Heidi was so full of joy that
she called out to Peter as soon as she saw him coming
down that evening : —

" Peter ! Peter ! we are coming up with you to-mor-
row, to stay all day."

In reply Peter growled like an angry bear and struck
out furiously at the innocent Distelfinck, trotting along

WHAT HAPPENED ON THE MOUNTAIN 313

beside him. But the alert Distelfinck had noticed the
movement at the right time. He made a leap high over
Schneehopli and the blow whizzed in the air.

Klara and Heidi went up to their two beautiful beds
with great expectations, and they were so full of their
plans for the next day that they decided to stay awake
all night and to talk about them until they could get up
again. But scarcely had they lain down on their soft
pillows when their talk suddenly ceased and Klara saw
before her in a dream a great big field, which looked
as blue as the sky, it was so thickly studded with bright
bluebells ; and Heidi heard the robber-bird up in the
air screaming down : " Come ! come ! come ! "

CHAPTER VIII

SOMETHING UNEXPECTED HAPPENS

VERY early the next morning the uncle came out of
the hut and looked around to see what the day was
going to be.

On the lofty mountain peaks lay a reddish-golden
light ; a cool breeze was beginning to rock the branches
of the fir trees to and fro ; the sun was coming up.

For a while the old man stood earnestly watching
how, after the high mountain tops, the green hills began
to shine golden, and then the dark shadows gently
faded away from the valley and a rosy light flowed in,
and both heights and depths gleamed in the morning
gold. The sun was up.

Then the uncle brought the wheel chair out of the
shop, placed it ready for the journey in front of the hut,
and afterwards went in to tell the children how beauti-
ful the morning had dawned, and to bring them out.

Just then Peter came climbing up the mountain.
His goats did not come so trustfully as usual by his
side, and close in front of him and behind, up the moun-
tain, they sprang timidly around here and there, for
Peter kept striking about him without any occasion, like
a madman ; and wherever he hit he hurt. Peter had
reached the highest point of anger and bitterness.

3M

SOMETHING UNEXPECTED HAPPENS 315

For weeks he had not had Heidi to himself, as usual.
When he came up in the morning, the strange child had
always been brought out in her chair, and Heidi was
occupied with her. When he came down at evening,
the wheel chair with its occupant was still standing
under the fir trees, and Heidi was busy doing some-
thing for her. She had not been up to the pasture all
summer long, and now to-day she was coming, but with
the chair and the stranger in it, and would devote her-
self to her the whole time. Peter saw how it would be,
and it had brought his secret anger to a climax. He
noticed the chair standing there so proudly on its
wheels, and looked at it as if it were an enemy which
had done him all sorts of harm, and to-day was going
to do still more.

Peter looked around him ; everything was still, not
a person was to be seen. Then, as if he were crazy, he
rushed at the chair, seized it and pushed it with such
force, in his anger, toward the slope of the mountain
that it actually started away and in a moment had dis-
appeared.

Then Peter rushed up the Aim as if he had wings,
and did not once stop until he had reached a great
blackberry bush, behind which he could hide, for he
was not anxious to have the uncle catch sight of him.
But he wanted to see what became of the chair, and
the bush was favorably situated on a projection of the
mountain. Partly concealed, Peter could look down
the Aim, and if the uncle appeared he could quickly
hide himself. This he did, and what a sight met his

316 HEIDI

eyes ! His enemy had already gone rushing far below,
driven on faster and faster ; then it turned over again
and again ; then it bounded up in the air and fell down
on the ground again, and went rolling over and over to
its destruction.

Pieces were flying away from it in every direction -
feet, cushions, back, all thrown high in the air. Peter
took such furious delight in the sight that he jumped
high with both feet together; he laughed aloud, he
stamped with joy, he leaped around in circles, he kept
coming back to the same spot and looking down the
mountain. He burst out into fresh laughter and danced
anew for joy. He was completely beside himself with
delight at the ruin of his enemy, for he saw good things
in prospect for him. Now the strange child would
have to go away, for she had no means of moving about.
Heidi would be alone again and come up to the pasture
with him, and in the morning and at evening she would
be there when he came, and everything would be as it
was before. But Peter did not consider what it meant
when one has begun to do a wicked deed, or what the
consequences may be.

Heidi came jumping out of the hut and ran to the
shop. Her grandfather followed her with Klara in his
arms. The shop door stood wide open; both boards
had been taken away, so that it was as light as day
in the farthest corner. Heidi looked all about, ran
around the corner, and came back again with the great-
est amazement in her face. Just then her grandfather
came along.

SOMETHING UNEXPECTED HAPPENS 317

" What is it ? Have you rolled the chair away,
Heidi ? " he asked.

" I have looked for it everywhere, grandfather, and
you said it was standing by the shop door," said the
child, still looking in every direction.

Meanwhile the wind had grown stronger ; it rattled
around the shop door and suddenly threw it with a
crash back against the wall.

"Grandfather, the wind has done it!" exclaimed
Heidi ; and her eyes flashed at the suggestion. " Oh,
if it has blown the chair down to Dorfli, it will be too
late before we can get it back, and we can't go at all."

" If it has rolled down there, it will never come back,
for it is in a hundred pieces," said her grandfather,
stepping around the corner and looking down the
mountain. " It is singular how it happened," he added
as he looked back at the distance, for the chair had to
go around the corner of the hut first.

" Oh, what a shame ! we can't go now, and perhaps
never," bewailed Klara; "now I shall really have to
go home, for I haven't any chair. Oh, what a shame !
What a shame ! "

But Heidi looked quite trustfully up at her grand-
father and said : —

" Surely, grandfather, you can find a way, so that it
won't be as Klara thinks, and that she won't have to
go home right off ? "

"We will go up to the pasture this time as we
intended ; then we will see what will happen next,"
said the grandfather.

318 HEIDI

The children shouted for joy.

He went back into the hut, brought out a good num-
ber of wraps, laid them in the sunniest place near the
hut, and set Klara down on them. Then he brought
the children their morning milk and led Schwanli and
Barli out of the shed.

"Why is he so long coming up this morning?" said
the uncle to himself, for Peter's whistle had not yet
sounded.

The grandfather then took Klara up with one arm
and the wraps with the other.

"There, now, forward ! " he said, starting along ; "the
goats may come with us."

This pleased Heidi. With one arm around Schwanli's
neck and the other around Barli's, Heidi followed after
her grandfather ; and the goats were so delighted to go
again with Heidi that out of pure affection they almost
squeezed her to death between them.

When they reached the pasture, all at once they saw
the goats standing in groups, peacefully grazing here
and there on the slopes, and Peter lying at full length
in the midst of them.

" Another time I will cure you of passing us by,
sleepy-head ; what did you mean ? " the uncle called out
to him.

Peter jumped up at the sound of the well-known
voice.

" Nobody was up," he replied.

" Did you see anything of the chair ? " asked the
uncle again.

SOMETHING UNEXPECTED HAPPENS 319

" Of what ? " said Peter crossly, in reply.

The uncle said nothing more. He spread the shawls
out on the sunny slope, placed Klara on them, and
asked if she was comfortable.

" As comfortable as in my chair," she said, thanking
him ; " and I am in the most beautiful place. It is so
beautiful here, Heidi, so beautiful ! " she exclaimed,
looking all about her.

The grandfather started to go back. He said they
ought to enjoy themselves together now, and when it
was time Heidi must bring out the dinner, which he
had left packed in the bag, over in the shade. Then
Peter would give them as much milk as they wanted to
drink, but Heidi must take good care that it came from
Schwanli. Toward evening the grandfather would re-
turn; now he wanted above all to go after the chair
and see what had become of it.

The sky was deep blue, and not a single cloud was
to be seen anywhere. The great snow field beyond
them sparkled like thousands and thousands of gold
and silver stars. The gray rocky peaks stood high and
steadfast in their places, as they had done for ages,
looking down solemnly into the valley below. The
great bird rocked himself up in the blue, and the moun-
tain wind passed over the heights and blew cool around
the sunny Aim. The children were indescribably happy.
Now and then a little goat would come and lie down
by them for a while ; the affectionate Schneehopli
. came most frequently and laid her little head against
' Heidi, and would not have gone away at all if another

320 HEIDI

one of the flock had not driven her off. Thus Klara
learned to know the goats so well that she never mis-
took one for another, for each had a quite different
face and peculiar manner.

They now felt so familiar with Klara that they came
quite near and rubbed their heads against her shoulder ;
this was always a sign of friendship and affection.

Several hours had passed in this way, when it occurred
to Heidi that she would like to go over to the place
where there were so many flowers, and see if they
were all open and as beautiful as they were the year
before.

When her grandfather came back at evening they
might go there with Klara, but perhaps the flowers
would already have their eyes closed then. Heidi's long-
ing kept increasing until she could resist it no longer.
So she asked a little timidly : —

" Would you be angry, Klara, if I should run away
very fast and leave you alone ? I should so much like
to see how the flowers are ; but wait " - a thought
came to Heidi. She jumped aside and pulled up some
beautiful bunches of green plants ; Schneehopli im-
mediately came running toward her, and she took her
around the neck and led her to Klara.

" There, you must not be left alone," said Heidi,
pushing Schneehopli to a place a little nearer Klara.
This the goat understood very well and lay down.
Then Heidi threw the leaves into Klara's lap, and she
said, much delighted, that Heidi must go now and take
a good look at the flowers ; she was perfectly willing

SOMETHING UNEXPECTED HAPPENS 321

to stay alone with the goat ; it was something she had
never done before.

Heidi ran away and Klara began to hold out one leaf
after another for Schneehopli ; and the goat was so tame
that she nestled up to her new friend and ate the
leaves slowly out of her fingers. One could easily see
how contented she was, that she dared to lie so quietly
and peacefully in this place of refuge, for outside with
the flock she always had to endure a great deal of per-
secution from the big, strong goats. How delightful
it seemed to Klara to sit in this way, all alone on a
mountain, with only a little trusting goat looking up
at her so helplessly. A great desire arose in her to
become her own master and be able to help some one
else and not always be obliged to take help from others.
And so many thoughts which she had never had before
came to Klara, and a strange desire to live on in the
beautiful sunshine and do something to give pleasure
to some one as she was now pleasing Schneehopli.
An entirely new joy came into her heart, and it seemed
as if everything she knew might be much more beauti-
ful and different from what she had ever seen before ;
and she felt so contented and happy that she had to
throw her arms around the goat's neck and exclaim :-

" Oh, Schneehopli, how beautiful it is up here ; if I
only could stay here always with you ! "

Meanwhile Heidi had reached the place where the
flowers were. She screamed with delight. The whole
slope lay covered with shining gold. They were the
bright rock roses. Thick, deep clusters of bluebells

322 HEIDI

nodded above them, and a strong spicy odor filled the air
about the sunny spot, as if cups of the most precious
balsam were poured out up there. All the fragrance,
however, came from the little brown blossoms which
stretched up their round heads modestly here and there
between the golden flower-cups. Heidi stood and
looked and drew in long breaths of the sweet air.
Suddenly she turned around and came panting with
excitement back to Klara.

" Oh, you really must come," she called out before
she had reached her; "they are so beautiful, and
everything is so beautiful, and perhaps by evening it
won't be so any longer. Perhaps I can carry you ;
don't you think I could ? "

Klara looked at the excited Heidi in surprise ; she
shook her head.

" No, no ; what are you thinking about, Heidi ? you
are ever so much smaller than I. Oh, if I only could
walk ! "

Then Heidi looked all around her trying to think of
some new plan. Up where he had been lying on the
ground Peter still sat staring down at the children.
He had been sitting thus for hours, always gazing down,
as if he could not realize what he saw. He had
destroyed the hated chair that he might make an end
of it all, and so that the stranger might not be able to
move ; and a short time after she appeared up there and
was sitting before him on the ground next to Heidi.
It could not be possible, and yet it was true, and when-
ever he chose he could see that it was so.

SOMETHING UNEXPECTED HAPPENS 323

Heidi looked up at him.

" Come down here, Peter ! " she called very decid-
edly.

" Shan't come," he called back.

" But you must ! Come, I can't do it alone, and
you must help me ; come quick ! " urged Heidi.

" Shan't come," he replied again.

Then Heidi ran a little way up the mountain toward
him.

She stood there with flashing- eyes and called out : —

" Peter, if you don't come here at once, I will do
something to you that you won't like at all ; you can
believe what I say ! "

These words stabbed Peter, and he was seized with
great fear. He had done something wicked which no
one must know. Until now it had delighted him; but
Heidi spoke as if she knew all about it, and would tell
her grandfather everything she knew, and Peter was
more afraid of him than any one else. If he should
hear what had become of the chair! Peter's distress
choked him worse and worse. He rose and came
toward Heidi, who was waiting for him.

" I am coming, but then you must n't do it," he said,
so subdued with fright that Heidi was quite touched.

"No, no, I will not do it now," she said assuringly ;
" only come with me ; there is nothing to be afraid of
in what I want you to do."

When they reached Klara, Heidi began to give orders.
Peter was to take Klara firmly under one arm and Heidi
take her under the other, and then they would lift her

324 HEIDI

up. This went quite well, but then came the difficulty.
Klara could not stand; how could they hold her and
get her along ? Heidi was too small to support her with
her arm.

" You must put your arm around my neck now very
firmly --so. And you must take Peter's arm and lean
on it hard ; then we can carry you."

But Peter had never given any one his arm before.
Klara took it all right, but he held it stiffly down by
his side like a long stick.

"That is not the way to do, Peter," said Heidi very
decidedly. " You must make a ring with your arm,
and then Klara must put hers through it, and she must
lean on it very hard, and you mustn't let go at any
price ; then we can move along."

This was done, but they did not make much progress.
Klara was not so light, and the others were too unlike
in size ; one side went up and the other down, making
the support uncertain.

Klara tried to bear weight on her feet a little, but
she could not move them forward.

"Just stamp right down," suggested Heidi, "then it
will hurt you less afterwards."

" Do you think so ? " said Klara timidly.

But she obeyed and ventured to take one firm step
on the ground and then another ; but it made her give
a little scream. Then she lifted one foot again and
put it down more carefully.

" Oh, that didn't hurt nearly so much," she said, full
of delight.

SOMETHING UNEXPECTED HAPPENS

325

" Do it once more," urged Heidi eagerly.

Klara did so, and then again and again, and suddenly
she cried out : -

" I can, Heidi ! Oh, I can ! See ! see ! I can take
steps, one after another."

Then Heidi shouted still louder.

" Oh, oh ! Can you really step yourself ? Can you
walk now ? Can you really walk yourself ? Oh, if

only grandfather would come ! Now you can walk,
now you can walk ! " she exclaimed again and again in
triumphant delight.

Klara leaned on both of them, but with each step
she gained a little more confidence, as all three could
see. Heidi was quite beside herself with delight.

" Oh, now, we can come up to the pasture together

326 HEIDI

every day and go wherever we please on the mountain ! "
she exclaimed again ; " and you can go about as I do all
the rest of your life, and never be pushed in a chair, and
be well. Oh, this is the greatest joy we could have ! "

Klara agreed with all her heart. Surely she could
have no greater fortune in the world than to be well
and be able to go about like other people, and not be
miserably condemned to sit all day long in an invalid
chair.

It was not far to the slope where the flowers grew.
They could already see the gleam of the golden roses
in the sun. Then they came to the clusters of blue-
bells where the sunny ground showed through so invit-
ingly.

" Can't we sit down here ? " asked Klara.

It was just what Heidi wished to do, and the children
sat down in the midst of the flowers, Klara for the first
time on the dry mountain ground ; this pleased her more
than she could tell. All around them the nodding
bluebells, the shining golden roses, the red centauries,
and everywhere the sweet fragrance of the brown blos-
soms and the spicy wild plum. Everything was so
lovely - - so lovely !

Heidi, too, as she sat next her, thought it had never
been so beautiful up there before, and she did not know
why she felt such joy in her heart, so that she had to
keep shouting aloud. But suddenly it occurred to her
that Klara had been made well ; this was a far greater
joy than all the beauty around them. Klara was per-
fectly silent ; she was so delighted and fascinated with

SOMETHING UNEXPECTED HAPPENS 327

everything she saw, and with the prospect the experi-
ence she had just had presented to her. There was
hardly any room in her heart for the great fortune;
and the sunshine and fragrance of the flowers, besides,
overpowered her with a feeling of joy which made her
quite speechless.

Peter lay silent also and motionless in the midst of
this field of flowers, for he was almost asleep. The
wind blew down softly and caressingly behind the pro-
tecting rocks and whispered up in the bushes. Now
and then Heidi had to get up and run about, for there
was always some place still more beautiful, where the
flowers were thicker, the fragrance stronger, because
the wind blew it here and there ; she had to sit down
everywhere.

Thus the hours fled away.

The sun was long past midday when a troop of goats
came walking quite gravely up to the flower field. It
was not their pasturage ; they had never been brought
there before ; they did not like to graze among the
flowers. They looked like an embassy with Distelfinck
ahead. The goats had evidently come to look for their
companions who had left them so long in the lurch and
stayed away beyond all rules, for the goats knew the
time well. When Distelfinck spied the three missing
ones in the flower field he began to bleat loudly,
and immediately all the others joined in a chorus and
came along making a great noise. Then Peter woke
up. But he had to rub his eyes hard, for he had been
dreaming that the wheel chair was standing again, all

328 HEIDI

upholstered in red and unharmed, in front of the hut,
and now that he was awake he still saw the gold nails
in the upholstery shine in the sun ; but quickly he dis-
covered that they were only the yellow, glistening
flowers on the ground. Then Peter's distress, which
had entirely disappeared at sight of the uninjured chair,
came back to him. Although Heidi had promised not
to do anything, yet Peter grew very much afraid that
what he had done might be found out. He was very
meek and willing to be the guide and do everything
exactly as Heidi wished.

When they had all three come back to the pasture,
Heidi quickly brought out her well-filled dinner bag
and set about keeping her promise, for her threat had
reference to the contents of the bag. She had espe-
cially noticed in the morning what good things her
grandfather put in, and had been pleased to think that
a good part of it would fall to Peter's share. But when
Peter was so disagreeable, she wanted to make him
understand that he would not have what otherwise had
been intended for him. Heidi took piece after piece
out of the bag and made three little heaps of them,
which were so high that she said to herself with satis-
faction : " Then he will have all that we leave."

Then she gave a little pile to each one and sat down
beside Klara with her own, and the children thoroughly
enjoyed their dinner after their great exertion.

It happened just as Heidi expected; when they both
were satisfied, there was still so much left that they
gave Peter another pile as large as the first. He ate

SOMETHING UNEXPECTED HAPPENS 329

it all silently without stopping, even to the crumbs,
but he accomplished his work without the usual sat-
isfaction. Something lay in Peter's stomach which
gnawed and choked him and squeezed him at every
mouthful.

The children had returned so late to their dinner
that immediately after the grandfather was seen coming
up the Aim to get them. Heidi rushed to meet him ;
she had to tell him first of all what had happened.
She was so excited over her good news that she could
hardly find words to tell her grandfather; but he
understood at once what the child meant, and his face
lighted up with joy. He hastened his steps, and when
he reached Klara, said, smiling gladly : -

" So you ventured and you have really succeeded ! "

Then he lifted Klara from the ground, put his left
arm around her, and held out his right as a strong sup-
port for her hand, and Klara walked, in this way, even
more surely and less timidly than before.

Heidi shouted and danced around, and her grand-
father looked as if some great good fortune had come
to him. But he suddenly took Klara in his arms and
said : —

" We will not overdo it ; it is time now to go home."
And he started on the way at once, for he knew that
Klara had made enough exertion for that day and that
she needed rest.

When Peter with his goats came down late that
evening to Dorfli, a crowd of people were standing
together, pushing each other this way and that to get

330 HEIDI

a better view of what lay in their midst. Peter had to
see too; he pushed and squeezed right and left and
made his way through.

Then he saw what it was.

On the grass lay the middle part of the wheel chair
with a portion of the back still hanging to it. The red
upholstery and the bright nails still showed how splen-
did it had looked when it was perfect.

" I was here when it came down," said the baker,
who was standing next to Peter ; " it was worth at least
five hundred francs. I '11 wager that with any one.
But it 's a wonder to me how it happened."

" The wind must have brought it down ; the uncle
said so himself," remarked Barbel, who could not ad-
mire the handsome red material enough.

" It is a good thing that it was n't any one else who
did it," said the baker again ; " he would be in a fine
fix. If the gentleman in Frankfurt hears of it, he will
try to find out how it happened. As for me, I am glad
that I have n't been upon the Aim for two years ; sus-
picion may fall on any one who was seen up there at
that time."

A good many other opinions were expressed, but
Peter had heard enough. He crept quite meekly and
softly out of the crowd and ran with all his might up
the mountain, as if some one were after him to catch
him. The baker's words had given him a terrible
scare. He felt sure that at any moment an officer from
Frankfurt might come to look into the matter, and
then he might find out that he had done it, and he

SOMETHING UNEXPECTED HAPPENS 331

would seize him and take him to the house of correc-
tion in Frankfurt. Peter saw this before him and his
hair stood on end from fear.

He came home very much distressed. He would
make no reply to any remark and would not eat his
potatoes ; he crept hurriedly into bed and groaned.

" Peterli has been eating sorrel again ; he has some
in his stomach, and that makes him groan so," said his
mother, Brigitte.

" You must give him a little more bread to take with
him ; give him a piece of mine to-morrow," said the
grandmother compassionately.

When the children that night looked up from their
beds at the starlight, Heidi said : -

" Have n't you been thinking all clay long to-day how
good it is that the clear Lord does n't give us what we
pray so terribly hard for, when He knows of something
much better ? "

" Why do you say that now, Heidi ? " asked Klara.

" Don't you know, because I prayed so hard in
Frankfurt that I might go home right away, and
because I could n't go, I thought the dear Lord had
not heard me. But, do you know, if I had gone right
away, you would never have come up on the mountain,
and you would n't have got well."

Klara became quite thoughtful.

"But, Heidi," she began again, "then we ought not
to pray for anything, because the dear Lord certainly

332 HEIDI

has always something better in mind than we know
and ask him for."

" Oh, Klara, do you really think so ? " Heidi hastened
to say. " We ought to pray to the dear Lord every day,
and about every single thing ; for then He will know
that we do not forget that we receive everything from
Him. And if we forget the dear Lord, He will forget
us too ; your grandmamma told me that. But, you
know, if we do not receive what we would like, we
must not think the dear Lord has not listened, and
stop praying, but we must pray like this : ' Now I know,
dear Lord, that you have something better in store,
and I will be glad that you will be so good to me.' '

"How did you find out all this, Heidi?" asked
Klara.

"Your grandmamma explained it to me first, and
then it happened exactly so, and then I knew it. But
I think, Klara," Heidi continued, sitting up, " that to-
night we ought really to thank the dear Lord heartily,
because He has sent us the great good fortune that you
are able to walk now."

" Yes, indeed, Heidi ; you are right, and I am glad
that you reminded me. I was so delighted I almost
forgot it."

Then the children prayed, and each thanked the dear
Lord in her own way for sending such a wonderful
blessing to Klara, who had been ill so long.

The next morning the grandfather thought they
could write the grandmamma that if she would come
up on the Aim there would be something new for her

SOMETHING UNEXPECTED HAPPENS 333

to see. But the children had another plan. They
wanted to give the grandmamma a great surprise.
First, Klara was to learn to walk better, so that she
could go a little way with only Heidi's support ; but
the grandmamma must not have the least supicion of
it. The grandfather must decide how long it would
take, and as he thought that it would not take more
than a week, in the next letter they would give her an
urgent invitation to come up on the mountain at the
end of that time ; but not a word must be said to her
about anything new.

The days which followed were by far the most beau-
tiful which Klara had passed on the Aim. Every
morning she awoke with these delightful words in
her mind : —

" I am well ! I am well ! I do not need to sit in a
wheel chair any longer ; I can go about by myself like
other people ! "

Then followed the walking ; and every day she went
more easily and better, and was able to take longer walks.
The exercise caused such an appetite that the grand-
father made her thick slices of bread and butter larger
and was well pleased to see them disappear. He always
brought with them a large pot of foaming milk and
filled bowl after bowl with it. The end of the week
came and with it the day that was to bring the
grandmamma !

CHAPTER IX

PARTING TO MEET AGAIN

A DAY before her arrival the grandmamma had
written a letter and sent it up to the Aim, that they
might know there exactly when she was coming. Peter
brought this letter with him early the next day, as he
was going up to the pasture. The grandfather had
already come out of the hut with the children, and
Schwanli and Barli were both standing outside, gayly
shaking their heads in the cool morning air, while the
children stroked them and wished them a pleasant
journey up the mountain. The uncle stood by and
looked first at the children's fresh faces, and then at
his clean, sleek goats. Both must have pleased him,
for he smiled with satisfaction.

Then Peter came along. When he saw the group
he approached slowly, handed the letter to the uncle,
and as soon as he had taken it from him he ran tim-
idly back as if something had frightened him ; then he
looked quickly behind him, exactly as if something else
was going to frighten him ; then he gave a leap and
ran up the mountain.

"Grandfather," said Heidi, who had been watching
Peter in surprise, "why does Peter act like the big
Turk when he feels the rod behind him ; he ducks his

334

PARTING TO MEET AGAIN 335

head and shakes himself all over and makes sudden
leaps in the air."

" Perhaps Peter feels that there is a rod behind him
too, and knows he deserves it," answered her grand-
father.

It was only the first slope that Peter ran up without
stopping ; as soon as he could no longer be seen from
below, it was different. Then he stood still and turned
his head timidly in every direction ; suddenly he leaped
into the air and looked behind him, as frightened as if
some one had just seized him by the nape of the neck.
From behind every bush and out of every thicket Peter
thought he saw a policeman from Frankfurt rushing
out at him. The longer this anxious expectation lasted,
the more terrible it became to Peter, so that now he
had not a moment's peace.

Heidi had the hut to put in order, for the grand-
mamma must find everything tidy when she came.

Klara always found this busy cleaning in every cor-
ner of the hut so interesting that she was very glad to
watch Heidi at work.

So the early morning hours passed before the chil-
dren were aware of it, and the grandmamma might be
expected to arrive at any moment.

Then the children came out again, all ready to wel-
come her, and sat down together on the bench in front
of the hut, full of expectation.

The grandfather also joined them ; he had taken a
walk and had brought home a great bunch of deep-blue
gentians, which looked so lovely in the bright morning

336 HEIDI

sun that the children shouted for joy when they saw
them. The grandfather took them into the hut. Every
little while Heidi jumped up from the bench to look
and see whether she could catch sight of the grand-
mamma's party.

At last Heidi saw exactly what she had been expect-
ing coming up from below. First came the guide,
then the white horse with the grandmamma on it, and
last the porter with the deep basket on his back, for
the grandmamma would never think of coming up on
the mountain without plenty of wraps.

Nearer and nearer they came. Then the top was
reached ; the grandmamma looked down at the children
from her horse.

" What is that ? What do I see, Klarchen ? You
are not sitting in your chair ! How is that possible ? "
she exclaimed in alarm and dismounted hastily. But
before she had reached the children she clapped her
hands and exclaimed in the greatest excitement :-

" Klarchen, is it you or is it not ? You really have
red cheeks, as round as an apple ! Child ! I don't
know you any longer ! "

Then the grandmamma was going to rush at Klara ;
but Heidi had slipped unnoticed from the bench, and
Klara quickly leaned on her shoulders, and the children
started away quite calmly to take a little walk. The
grandmamma suddenly stood still, first from fear, for
her only thought was that Heidi was trying to do
something rash.

But what did she see before her !

PARTING TO MEET AGAIN 337

Klara was walking upright and safely beside Heidi ;
then they came back again, both with beaming faces,
both with rosy cheeks.

Then the grandmamma rushed toward them. Laugh-
ing and crying, she embraced Klara, then Heidi and then
Klara again. In her delight she could find no words.

Suddenly she caught sight of the uncle, who was
standing by the bench and smiling with satisfaction as
he watched the three. Then she seized Klara's arm
and with continual exclamations of delight that it was
really true that she could walk around with the child,
went to the bench. Here she let Klara go and grasped
both of the old man's hands.

" My dear uncle ! My dear uncle ! What have we
to thank you for ! It is your work ! It is your care
and nursing "

"And our Lord's sunshine and mountain air," inter-
rupted the uncle, smiling.

"Yes, and Schwanli's lovely, good milk, too," added
Klara. " Grandmamma, you ought to know how I can
drink the goat's milk, and how good it is ! "

" I can see that by your cheeks, Klarchen," said her
grandmamma, laughing. " No, no one would ever
know you ; you have grown round and broad, as I
never dreamed you could be, and you are tall, Klarchen !
Is it really true ? I cannot look at you enough ! I
must send a telegram at once to my son in Paris; he
must come immediately. I will not tell him why ; it
will be the greatest joy of his life. My dear uncle, how
can it be done ? Have you sent the men away already? "

338 HEIDI

"They have gone," he replied; "but if the grand-
mamma is in haste, we can send down the goatherd,
who has time."

The grandmamma insisted upon sending a despatch
at once to her son, for this good fortune must not be
kept from him a single day.

So the uncle went a little way aside and gave such a
penetrating whistle through his fingers that it whistled
back from the rocks above, it had wakened the echo so
far away. It was not long before Peter came running
down, for he knew the whistle well. Peter was white
as chalk, for he thought the Aim-Uncle was calling him
to judgment. A paper which the grandmamma had
written meanwhile was then given to him, and the
uncle explained that he was to carry it immediately
down into Dorfli and to give it to the postmaster; the
uncle would pay for it later himself, for Peter could not
be intrusted with so many things at once.

He went along with the paper in his hand, much
relieved for this time, as the uncle had not whistled to
call him to account, and no policeman had come.

At last they were able to sit down quietly together
around the table in front of the hut, and then the
grandmamma had to be told how it had all happened
from the beginning ; how at first the grandfather had
tried to have Klara stand and then take steps, then
how they had taken the journey up to the pasture and
the wind had rolled away the chair ; how Klara's
eagerness to see the flowers had brought about her first
walk, and so one thing grew out of another. But it

PARTING TO MEET AGAIN 339

was a long time before the children finished their story,
for every little while the grandmamma had to break
forth in amazement and in praise and thankfulness, and
exclaimed again and again : —

" Is it really possible ? Is it then really no dream ?
Are we all awake and sitting here in front of the Aim
hut, and is the little girl before me, with the round,
fresh face, my old, pale, weak Klarchen ? "

Klara and Heidi were in a constant state of delight
because their beautifully planned surprise had suc-
ceeded so well with the grandmamma.

Meanwhile Herr Sesemann had finished his business
in Paris and had also been preparing a surprise. With-
out writing a word to his mother, he took the train one
sunny summer morning and went directly through to
Basle, leaving there early the following day, for he was
seized with a great longing to see his little daughter
again, having been separated from her the whole sum-
mer long. He reached Ragatz a few hours after his
mother had left there.

He found that she had that very day started to go
up the mountain. So he immediately took a carriage
and drove to Mayenfeld. When he learned there that
he could drive on to Dorfli he did so, for he thought it
would be far enough to have to walk up the mountain.

Herr Sesemann was not mistaken ; the uninterrupted
climbing up the mountain was very tiresome and hard
for him. No hut appeared in sight, and he knew that
he ought to come to goatherd Peter's dwelling halfway
up, for he had often heard about this journey.

340 HEIDI

There were footpaths leading in all directions. Herr
Sesemann was not sure that he was on the right
path or whether the hut might not perhaps lie on the
other side of the mountain. He looked around him,
to see if he could discover any human being whom he
could ask about the way. But it was silent all around ;
far and wide there was nothing to be seen, nothing to
be heard. Only the mountain wind blew now and then
through the air, and the little flies buzzed in the sun-
shine, and a merry bird piped here and there on a
lonely larch tree. Herr Sesemann stood still for a
while and let the mountain breeze cool his heated
brow.

Just then some one came running down from above;
it was Peter with the despatch in his hand. He was
running straight ahead, down the steep places, paying
no attention to the footpath where Herr Sesemann
stood. As soon as the boy came near enough, Herr
Sesemann beckoned for him to come to him. Peter
came trembling and frightened, sideways, not straight
forward, and as if he could only advance properly with
one foot and had to drag the other after him.

" Here, youngster, brace up ! " said Herr Sesemann
encouragingly.

" Now tell me if this path will bring me up to the
hut, where the old man lives with the child Heidi,
where the people from Frankfurt are."

A dull sound of the greatest terror was the answer,
and Peter darted away with such bounds that he rushed
heels over head down the steep mountain-side, and

PARTING TO MEET AGAIN 341

|

rolled away, turning somersaults farther and farther,
very nearly as the wheel chair had done, except that
fortunately Peter did not go to pieces, like the chair.

Only the despatch was badly treated and torn to
shreds.

"A remarkably bashful mountaineer," said Herr
Sesemann to himself, for he supposed that the appear-
ance of a stranger had produced this strong impression
on the simple son of the Alps.

After watching Peter's violent descent for a little,
Herr Sesemann continued his way.

In spite of all his efforts Peter could not reach a
place of safety; he kept rolling on, and from time to
time turned somersaults in the strangest fashion.

But this was not the most frightful side of his mis-
fortune at this moment ; far more frightful were the
anxiety and the terror that filled him, for he was sure
now that the policeman from Frankfurt had really
come. He had no doubt that the stranger who had
asked for the people from Frankfurt at the Aim-Uncle's
was the very one. Finally, on the last high slope above
Dorfli, Peter rolled against a bush to which he could
cling fast. He lay still there for a moment, for he had
to first think what had happened to him.

"Very good, here's another one," said a voice hard
by Peter. " And who is going to catch it to-morrow
for sending you down like a badly sewed potato
sack ? "

It was the baker, who was making fun of him. To
amuse himself a little up there after his hot day's work,

342 HEIDI

he had been quietly watching Peter as he came down
the mountain very much as the wheel chair had done.

Peter jumped to his feet. New fear seized him.
Now the baker must know that the chair had been
pushed. Without looking back once, Peter ran up the
mountain again.

He would have preferred to go home now and creep
into his bed, so that no one could find him, for he felt
safest there. But he had left the goats up in the pas-
ture, and the uncle had impressed it upon him to come
back soon, that the flock might not be alone too long.
He feared the uncle more than any one else, and had
such respect for him that he had never dared to disobey
him. Peter groaned aloud and limped on, for it had to
be; he was obliged to go back up the mountain again.
But he could not run any longer ; his anxiety and the
many knocks that he had received could not fail to
affect him. So he went on limping and groaning up
the Aim.

Herr Sesemann had reached the first hut shortly after
meeting Peter, and knew then that he was on the right
path. He climbed on with renewed zeal and at last,
after long, tiresome exertion, he saw his goal before
him. There stood the Aim hut and the dark branches
of the old fir trees swaying above it.

Herr Sesemann climbed the last part of the way with
delight, for he was soon to surprise his child. But the
father had already been seen and recognized by the
company in front of the hut, and something was in
store for him which he had never suspected.

PARTING TO MEET AGAIN

343

When he had taken the last step up the mountain, two
forms came toward him from the hut. A tall young
girl with light yellow hair and rosy face, leaning on
little Heidi, whose dark eyes sparkled with the keenest

delight. Herr Sesemann stopped short ; he stood still
and gazed at the approaching children. Suddenly big
tears rushed from his eyes. What memories arose in
his heart ! Exactly so had Klara's mother looked, a
blonde maiden with cheeks slightly tinged with red.

344 HEIDI

Herr Sesemann did not know whether he was awake
or dreaming.

" Papa, don't you know me any longer ? " called out
Klara to him, while her face beamed with delight.
" Am I so changed ? "

Herr Sesemann rushed toward his little daughter and
folded her in his arms.

" Yes, you are changed ! Is it possible ? Is it really
so ? "

And the overjoyed father stepped back again to see
whether the picture would not disappear before his
eyes.

"Is it you, Klarchen, is it really you?" he had to
exclaim again and again. He folded his child in his
arms once more, and then he had to look again to
see whether it really was Klara standing erect before
him.

Then the grandmamma came out, for she could not
wait any longer to see her son's happy face.

" Well, my dear son, what do you say now ? " she
called out to him. " The surprise which you have given
us is very lovely, but the one prepared for you is still
lovelier, is it not ? " And the delighted mother greeted
her dear son with great affection.

"But now, my dear," she then said, "come with me
over there to see the uncle, who is our greatest bene-
factor."

" Certainly, and our little companion, our little Heidi,
I must greet also," said Herr Sesemann as he shook
Heidi's hand. " Well ? Always fresh and well on the

PARTING TO MEET AGAIN 345

mountain ? But I don't need to ask ; no Alpine rose
could be more blooming. This is a joy to me, child;
this is a great joy to me ! "

Heidi looked with beaming eyes at the kind Herr
Sesemann. How good he had always been to her !
And that now he should find such a joy here on the
mountain made Heidi's heart beat loud with delight.

Then the grandmamma took her son to the Aim-
Uncle, and while the two men were shaking hands
very heartily, and Herr Sesemann was beginning to
express his deep-felt thanks and his boundless astonish-
ment that such a wonderful thing could happen, the
grandmamma turned and went a little way in the other
direction, for she had already talked the matter over.
She wanted to look at the old fir trees again.

Here there was another surprise awaiting her. Under
the fir trees, where the long branches had left a free
space, stood a great bunch of wonderful deep-blue gen-
tians, as fresh and shining as if they had grown there.
The grandmamma clapped her hands with delight.

" How exquisite ! How wonderful ! What a sight !"
she exclaimed again and again. " Heidi, my dear child,
come here ! Did you bring these here to please me ?
They are perfectly wonderful ! "

The children were already there.

" No, no, I really did not," said Heidi ; " but I know
who did."

" It is like that up in the pasture, grandmamma, and
even more beautiful," said Klara. "But just guess
who brought the flowers down from the pasture for you

346 HEIDI

early this morning ! " and Klara smiled with so much
satisfaction at what she had said that for a moment it
occurred to her grandmamma that the child had really
been up there herself that day. But that was almost
impossible.

A gentle rustling was then heard behind the fir trees ;
it came from Peter, who had come back in the mean
time. When he saw who was standing in front of the
hut with the uncle, he went a long way round and was
going to slip very stealthily behind the fir trees. But
the grandmamma caught sight of him, and a new
thought suddenly came to her. Had Peter brought
down the flowers, and was he creeping away now so
stealthily from sheer timidity and modesty ? No, that
must not be ; he should have a little reward.

" Come, my lad, come here quickly, and don't be
afraid ! " the grandmamma called loudly, putting her
head a little way between the trees.

Petrified with fear, Peter stood still. He had not the
strength to resist anything more that might happen.
This was what he felt : " Now it is all up ! ' His hair
stood on end, and with a pale face, distorted by the
greatest anguish, Peter stepped out from behind the
fir trees.

" Come right straight here," said the grandmamma
encouragingly. " There, now tell me, my boy, if you
did this."

Peter did not lift his eyes, and did not see where the
grandmamma's finger was pointing. He had noticed
that the uncle was standing by the corner of the hut,

PARTING TO MEET AGAIN 347

and that his penetrating gray eyes were fastened on
him, and that next the uncle stood the most terrible
person Peter knew, the policeman from Frankfurt.
Trembling in every limb, Peter stammered forth one
single sound ; it was a " Yes."

" There now," said the grandmamma, " what is there
to be frightened about ? "

" Because — because — because it is broken to pieces
and can never be made whole again." Peter brought
these words out with difficulty ; and his knees shook so
that he could hardly stand. The grandmamma went
along to the corner of the hut.

" My dear uncle, is the poor boy really out of his
mind?" she asked sympathetically.

" Not in the least, not in the least," asserted the
uncle; "the boy is the wind that blew away the wheel
chair, and now he is expecting the punishment, which
he well deserves."

The grandmamma could not believe this, for she did
not think Peter looked in the very least wicked, and
besides he had no reason to destroy the wheel chair,
which was so much needed. But this confession only
confirmed the uncle in a suspicion which had been
aroused in him immediately after the occurrence.

The angry looks which Peter had cast at Klara from
the very first, and other signs of a bitter feeling toward
the newcomer on the mountain had not escaped the
uncle. He had put one thought with another, and so
he had felt sure enough of the way things had gone and
explained it all very clearly now to the grandmamma.

348 HEIDI

When he had finished, the lady bttrst out in great
excitement : —

" No, no, my dear uncle ; no, no, we will not punish
the poor fellow any further. One must be just. Strange
people came here from Frankfurt and for long weeks
together took away Heidi, his only good, and really a
great good for him, and he sits alone there day after
day, looking for her. No, one must be just; anger
overpowered him and drove him to revenge, which was
rather foolish ; but in our anger we are all foolish."

Whereupon the grandmamma went back to Peter,
who was still trembling and shaking.

She sat down on the bench under the fir tree and
said kindly : —

" There, now come here, my boy, to me ; I have
something to say to you. Stop trembling and shaking
and listen to me ; this you must do. You sent the
wheel chair down the mountain, in order to smash it.
That was a wicked deed, and you knew it very well,
and you also knew that you deserved a punishment,
and in order not to receive one, you have had to try
very hard not to let any one know what you have done.
But you see, whoever does a wicked thing and thinks
no one knows about it is always mistaken. The dear
Lord sees and hears everything, and as soon as he
notices that a person wants to conceal his wicked deed
he quickly awakens a little watchman, that was placed
in him at his birth, and that sleeps in him until the
person does something wrong. And the little watch-
man has a little goad in his hand with which he contin-

PARTING TO MEET AGAIN 349

ually pricks the person so that he has no rest for a
moment. And with his voice he also torments him
further, by constantly calling to him in a torturing
way : 'It will all come out ! You are going to be pun-
ished ! ' So he lives in continual fear and trembling,
and is no longer happy, not a bit. Have you not had
such an experience as this just now, Peter ? "

Peter nodded penitently, and as one who knew, for
it had happened to him exactly so.

"And in one way you were disappointed," continued
the grandmamma. "See how the wrong that you did
turned out for the best, for the one you wished to
harm ! Because Klara no longer had a chair to be
carried in, and yet wanted to see the beautiful flowers,
she made a very great effort to walk, and so learned
how and now keeps improving ; and if she stays here
she will at last be able to go up to the pasture every
day, much oftener than if she were taken in her chair.
Do you understand, Peter ? So when one wishes to do
a wicked thing, the dear Lord can take it quickly into
his own hands and turn it into good for the one who
was to be harmed ; and the scoundrel has his trouble
for nothing and injures himself.

" Have you understood everything well, Peter ?
Then think of it ; and every time you desire to do
something wicked, think of the little watchman within
you, with his goad and his disagreeable voice. Will
you do that?"

" Yes, I will," answered Peter, very much impressed,
for he did not yet know how everything would end,

350 HEIDI

since the policeman was still standing over there by
the uncle.

"That is good, the matter is settled," said the grand-
mamma in conclusion. " But now you ought to have
something you like to remember the people from
Frankfurt by. Tell me, my boy, is there something
you have wished to have ? What was it ? What would
you like to have best ? "

Peter then lifted his head and stared at the grand-
mamma with his round, astonished eyes. He was
still expecting something frightful, and now he was
suddenly to have whatever he liked best. Peter's
thoughts were all in confusion.

"Yes, yes, I am in earnest," said the grandmamma.
"You shall have something which you will like as
a remembrance of the people from Frankfurt, and
as a token that they will think no more about the
wrong that you did. Do you understand now,
boy ? "

It began to dawn on Peter that he had no punishment
to fear now, and that the good lady sitting before him
had rescued him from the power of the policeman.
Then he felt as relieved as if a mountain which was
almost crushing him had been taken away from him.
He also understood now that it is better to confess
one's faults, and he at once said : -

"And I lost the paper, too."

The grandmamma had to reflect a little, but she soon
remembered and said kindly : -

" There, that -is right to tell me about it ! Always

PARTING TO MEET AGAIN 351

confess what is wrong, then it will be settled. Now
what would you like to have?"

Now Peter could choose anything in the world that
he would like to have. It almost made him dizzy.
The whole fair at Mayenfeld came before his eyes,
with all the beautiful things which he had often looked
at for hours and had thought he could never have, for
Peter's possessions had never gone beyond five pfen-
nigs, and such alluring objects always cost double that
amount. There were the lovely red whistles, which
he could use so well for his goats. There were the
fascinating round-handled knives called toad-stickers,
with which he could do a thriving business in all the
hazel-rod hedges.

Peter stood deep in thought, for he was considering
which of the two were the more desirable, and he could
not decide. Then a bright idea came to him ; by this
means he could think it over until the next fair.

"Ten centimes," replied Peter decidedly.

The grandmamma laughed a little.

"That is not extravagant. So come here!" She
then opened her purse and took out a great, round
thaler ; on it she laid two ten-centime pieces.

"There, we will count it out exactly," she continued ;
" I will explain it to you. Here you have just as many
ten-centime pieces as there are weeks in the year ! So
you can take one out to use every Sunday the whole
year through."

"All my life long ? " asked Peter quite innocently.

Then the grandmamma had such a ' fit of laughter

352 HEIDI

that the gentlemen yonder had to stop talking to hear
what was going on there.

The grandmamma kept on laughing.

" You shall have it, my boy ; I will put it in my
will --do you hear, my son? And then it will be
handed over to you ; thus : To goatherd Peter a ten-
centime piece weekly, as long as he lives."

Herr Sesemann nodded in assent and laughed too at
the idea.

Peter looked again at the present in his hand, to see
if it was really true. Then he said : " Thank God ! "

And he ran away, making extraordinary leaps ; but
this time he stayed on his feet, for now he was not
driven by fear but by a delight such as he had never
known before in all his life. All his anguish and fear
had disappeared, and he could expect ten centimes
every week all his life long.

Later when the company in front of the Aim hut
had ended their happy midday meal and were still
sitting together talking about all sorts of things, Klara
took her father's hand, and while his face beamed with
delight, said with an enthusiasm which had never been
known in the old-time feeble Klara : -

" Oh, papa, if you only knew all that the grandfather
has done for me ! So much every day that I can't tell
you about it, but I shall never forget it in my life. I
am always thinking, if I could only do something for
the dear grandfather or give him something to make
him as happy or even half as happy as he has made

me."

PARTING TO MEET AGAIN 353

" That is my greatest desire also, my dear child,"
said her father; "I am continually thinking how we
can prove our gratitude in some measure to our
benefactor."

Herr Sesemann then rose and went to the uncle,
who was sitting beside the grandmamma, and was hav-
ing an unusually pleasant talk with her. He also rose.
Herr Sesemann grasped his hand and said in the most
friendly way : -

" My dear friend, let us have a word together ! You
will understand me when I tell you that for many long
years I have had no real happiness. What was all my
money and wealth to me when I looked at my poor
child whom I could not make well and happy with all
my riches ? Next to our God in heaven, you have
made the child well for me and given new life to me
also. Now tell me how I can show my gratitude to
you. I can never repay you for what you have done
for us, but whatever is in my power I place at your
disposal. Tell me, my friend, what I can do."

The uncle had listened in silence, and watched the
happy father with a smile of contentment.

" Herr Sesemann, believe me, that I also have my
share in the great joy at the recovery on our Aim ; my
pains have been well rewarded," said the uncle in his
decided way. " I thank you, Herr Sesemann, for your
kind offer, but there is nothing that I need ; as long as
I live I have enough for the child and myself. But I
have one wish ; if I could have that granted, I should
have no more anxiety for life."

354 HEIDI

" Name it, name it, my dear friend ! " urged Herr
Sesemann.

"I am old," continued the uncle, "and cannot live
here much longer. When I go, I cannot leave the
child anything, and she has no relatives, only one single
person, and she would take advantage of her. If Herr
Sesemann would give me the assurance that Heidi
would never in her life have to go out among strangers
to seek her bread, then he would have richly rewarded
me for what I have done for him and his child."

" But, my dear friend, that goes without saying,"
Herr Sesemann burst forth ; " the child belongs to us.
Ask my mother, my daughter, the child Heidi will
never be left to other people ! But if it will be any
comfort to you, my friend, here is my hand on it. I
promise you ; never in her life shall this child go out
to earn her bread among strangers ; I will see to that as
long as I live. I will say even more. This child is
not made for a life in a strange land, whatever might
happen ; we have seen that. But she has made friends.
I know one who is in Frankfurt ; he is settling up his
business there, in order to go later on wherever he likes
and take a rest. It is my friend the doctor, and he
is coming up here again this autumn, and, taking your
advice, will settle in this region ; for he found more
pleasure in your company and the child's than any-
where else. So you see the child Heidi will have two
protectors near her. May they both be preserved to
her for a long, long time ! "

"The dear Lord grant it may be so!" the grand-

PARTING TO MEET AGAIN 355

mamma added ; and, confirming her son's wish, she
shook the uncle's hand heartily for a long while. Then
she suddenly threw her arms around Heidi's neck, as
she was standing beside her, and drew her toward her.

" And you, my dear Heidi, we must also ask you a
question. Come, tell me if you have a wish which
you would like to have granted."

" Yes, indeed, I have," answered Heidi, looking very
much delighted at the grandmamma.

" Well, that is right, speak it out," she said encour-
agingly. " What would you like to have, my child ? "

" I should like to have my bed in Frankfurt, with the
three thick pillows and the thick quilt, for then the
grandmother would not have to lie with her head down-
hill so that she can hardly breathe, and she would be
warm enough under the quilt, and would n't always
have to go to bed with a shawl on, because she is
terribly cold."

Heidi said this all in one breath in her eagerness
to obtain what she so much desired.

"Oh, my dear Heidi, what are you telling me? " ex-
claimed the grandmamma in excitement. "It is a good
thing that you remind me. In our joy we easily forget
what we ought to think of most. When the dear Lord
sends us something good, we ought at once to think of
those who are in need ! We will telegraph immedi-
ately to Frankfurt ! Rottenmeier shall have the bed
packed up this very day ; in two days more it will be
here. God willing, the grandmother shall sleep well
in it ! "

356 HEIDI

Heidi danced merrily around the grandmamma. But
all at once she stood still and said hurriedly : -

" I must really go as fast as I can down to the grand-
mother's ; she will be troubled because I have n't been
there for so long."

For Heidi could not wait any longer to carry the
joyful message to the grandmother, and it also came
to her mind again how troubled she had been when
she was there last.

" No, no, Heidi ; what are you thinking about ? " said
her grandfather reprovingly. " When one has visitors,
one does n't run away from them all of a sudden."

But the grandmamma took Heidi's part.

"My dear uncle, the child is not wrong," she said;
" the poor grandmother has been a loser for a long time
in my opinion. Now we will all go together to see
her, and I think I will wait for my horse there, and
then we will continue our way, and we can send the
telegram at once to Frankfurt from Dorfli. My son,
what do you think of it ? "

Herr Sesemann had not had time before to speak
about his plans. So he had to ask his mother not to
start away at once, but to sit still a moment longer
until he had told her what he intended to do.

Herr Sesemann proposed to take a little journey
through Switzerland with his mother, and first to see
whether his little Klara was in a condition to travel a
short distance with them. Now it had so happened
that he saw he could take the enjoyable journey in
company with his little daughter, and he was anxious

PARTING TO MEET AGAIN 357

to take advantage at once of these lovely late summer
days. He had in mind to spend the night in Dorfli and
on the following morning to take Klara away from the
Aim, to go with her to meet her grandmamma down in
Ragatz, and from there to travel on farther.

Klara was a little disturbed to hear of this sudden
departure from the Aim ; but there were so many other
things to be happy about, and besides there was no
time to give way to grief.

The grandmamma had already risen and had grasped
Heidi's hand to lead the way. Then all of a sudden
she turned around.

" But what in the world will you do with Klarchen ?"
she exclaimed in alarm, for it occurred to her that the
walk would be much too long for her.

But the uncle had already taken his little charge in
his usual way in his arms, and was following the grand-
mamma with firm steps, and she nodded back to him
with satisfaction. Last came Herr Sesemann, and so
the procession went on down the mountain.

Heidi could not help dancing with delight as she
went along by the side of the grandmamma, who wanted
to know everything about the grandmother, how she
lived, and how they got along, especially .in winter,
during the severely cold weather up there.

Heidi told her about everything, for she knew how
they managed, and how the grandmother sat bowed over
in her corner and trembled with the cold. She also
knew very well what they had to eat and what they did
not have.

358 HEIDI

The grandmamma listened with the liveliest interest
to all that Heidi had to tell her until they reached the
hut.

Brigitte was just hanging out Peter's second shirt in
the sun, so that when his other one had been worn long
enough he could change it. She noticed the people
and rushed into the house.

" They are all going away now, mother," she said ;
" there is a whole procession of them ; the uncle is
with them ; he is carrying the sick child."

" Oh, must it really be ? " sighed the grandmother.
" Did you see whether they were taking Heidi with
them ? Oh, if she would only give me her hand once
more ! If I could only hear her voice once again ! "

Now the door was suddenly flung open as if by a
whirlwind, and Heidi came springing into the corner
where the grandmother was, and threw her arms around
her neck.

"Grandmother! grandmother! My bed is coming
from Frankfurt, and all three pillows, and the thick
quilt, too ; in two days it will be here, the grandmamma
said so."

Heidi could hardly bring out her message fast enough,
for she could scarcely wait to see the grandmother's
great delight. She smiled, but there was sadness in
her voice as she said : —

" Oh, what a good lady she is ! I ought to be glad
that she is going to take you with her, Heidi; but I
shall not survive it long."

" What ? what ? Who says such a thing to the good

PARTING TO MEET AGAIN 359

old grandmother?" asked a friendly voice here; and
the old dame's hand was grasped and heartily pressed,
for the grandmamma had come in and heard everything.
" No, no, it is no such thing ! Heidi will stay with
the grandmother and make her happy. We shall want
lto see the child again, but we will come to her. We
shall come up to the Aim every year, for we have rea-
son to offer our especial thanks to the dear Lord
annually in this place where such a miracle has been
clone to our child."

Then the true light of joy came into the grand-
mother's face, and with speechless thanks she pressed
the good Frau Sesemann's hand again and again, while
a couple of great tears from sheer joy glided down her
aged cheeks. Heidi at once noticed the joyful light in
the grandmother's face and was quite happy.

"Truly, grandmother," she said, pressing close to
her, "it has come just as I read to you the last time!
Really, the bed from Frankfurt is wholesome, is n't
it ? "

" Oh, yes, Heidi, and so much more, so much good
the dear Lord has done for me ! " said the grand-
mother, deeply moved. " How is it possible that there
are such good people who trouble themselves about a
poor old woman and do so much for her? There is
nothing that can so strengthen one's belief in a good
Father in heaven who will not forget even the lowliest,
as to learn that there are such people, full of goodness
and compassion for a poor, worthless woman such as
I am."

360 HEIDI

" My good grandmother," broke in Frau Sesemann,
"before our Father in heaven we all are equally
poor, and it is equally necessary to all of us that He
should not forget us. And now we must leave you,
but we hope to see you again, for as soon as we come
back again next year to the Aim, we shall try to find
the grandmother once more ; she will never be for-
gotten ! "

Whereupon Frau Sesemann grasped the old dame's
hand again and shook it.

But she did not get away as quickly as she thought,
for the grandmother could not stop thanking her and
wishing all the good that the dear Lord had it in His
power to give, for her benefactress and all her house-
hold.

Then Herr Sesemann went down toward the valley
with his mother, while the uncle carried Klara back
home once more ; and Heidi, without pausing, jumped
high as she went beside her, for she was so pleased
with the grandmother's prospects that she had to jump
at every step.

But the following morning Klara shed hot tears because
she had to go away from the beautiful Aim, where she
had been better than she had ever been before in all her
life. But Heidi comforted her and said : -

" It will be summer again in no time, and then you
will come back, and then it will be more beautiful than
ever. Then you can walk all the time, and we can go
up to the pasture with the goats every day and see the
flowers, and everything will be jolly from the very first."

PARTING TO MEET AGAIN 361

Herr Sesemann came according to agreement to get
his little daughter. He was standing with the grand-
father, for the men had all sorts of things to talk over.
Klara was wiping away her tears. Heidi's words had
comforted her a little.

"I will leave a greeting for Peter," she said, "and
for all the goats, especially Schwanli. Oh, if only I
could make Schwanli a present; she has helped so
much to make me well."

"You can do that very easily," asserted Heidi.
" Only send her a little salt. You know how gladly she
licks the salt from grandfather's hand at night."

This advice pleased Klara very much.

" Oh, then, I will certainly send her a hundred pounds
of salt from Frankfurt ! " she exclaimed with delight.
"She, too, must have a remembrance from me."

Herr Sesemann then beckoned to the children, for
he wished to start. This time the grandmamma's white
horse came for Klara, and she was now able to ride
down ; she no longer needed a sedan chair.

Heidi stationed herself at the extreme edge of the
slope and waved her hand to Klara until the last speck
of horse and rider had disappeared.

The bed came, and the grandmother still sleeps so
well in it that she is really gaining new strength.

The kind grandmamma did not forget the hard win-
ter on the mountain. She had a great case sent to
goatherd Peter's house ; there were many warm things

362 HEIDI

packed in it in which the grandmother could wrap
herself up, and now she never has to sit any more
shivering with the cold in the corner.

There is a large building in progress in Dorfli. The
doctor has come and has taken up his old quarters.
Through the advice of his friend he purchased the old
building where the uncle lived with Heidi in the winter,
and which had been once a great mansion, as could still
be seen from the lofty room with the handsome stove
and the artistic wainscoting. This part of the house
the doctor is having rebuilt for his own dwelling. The
other side is being restored as winter quarters for the
uncle and Heidi, for the doctor knew the old man was
independent and would want to have his own house.
Back of it is a firmly built, warm goatshed where
Schwanli and Barli can spend their winter days most
comfortably.

The doctor and the Aim-Uncle are becoming better
friends every day, and when they climb together about
the building to look after the progress of the work,
their thoughts turn mostly to Heidi, for to both of
them the chief joy in the house is that they will be
together with their happy child.

" My dear uncle," said the doctor the other day, as he
was standing up on the wall with the old man, " you
must look at the matter as I do. I share all joy in the
child with you, as if next to you I were the one to
whom the child belongs ; I will share all obligations and
care for the child as well as I know how. So I have
also my right in our Heidi, and can hope that she will

" Heidi, read me a song of praise
and thanksgiving! "

PARTING TO MEET AGAIN 363

care for me in my old age and stay with me ; this is
my greatest desire. Heidi shall share in my property
as my own child ; so we can leave her without any
anxiety when we have to go away from her — you and I."

The uncle pressed the doctor's hand for a long time ;
he spoke not a word, but his good friend could read in
the old man's eyes the emotion and keen delight which
his words had aroused.

Meanwhile Heidi and Peter were sitting with the
grandmother, and the first had so much to relate, and
the other so much to listen to, that they could hardly
get their breath, and in their eagerness kept getting
nearer and nearer to the happy grandmother.

There was so much to talk about regarding the events
of the summer, for they had been together so little all
this time.

And each of the three looked happier than the others
at being together again, and because of the wonder-
ful things that had taken place. But the face of
mother Brigitte looked almost the happiest, for with
Heidi's help she now for the first time heard clearly
and understandingly about the story of the perpetual
ten-centime piece. Finally the grandmother said : -

" Heidi, read me a song of praise and thanksgiving !
I feel like praising and glorifying our Lord in heaven
and giving Him thanks for all that He has done
for us."

CENTRAL- QBCULAT10W,