Heidi
by Johanna Spyri · English · Gutenberg #46409 · 377,802 chars · public domain (US)
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Title: Heidi
Author: Johanna Spyri
Illustrator: Alice Carsey
Translator: Mabel Abbott
Release date: July 25, 2014 [eBook #46409]
Most recently updated: November 28, 2024
Language: English
Other information and formats: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/46409
Credits: Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Chris Whitehead and the
Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HEIDI ***
Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Chris Whitehead and the
Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
[Illustration: UP THE MOUNTAIN TO GRANDFATHER]
HEIDI
_by_
JOHANNA SPYRI
ILLUSTRATED BY
ALICE CARSEY
WHITMAN PUBLISHING CO.
RACINE · · CHICAGO
COPYRIGHT 1916 BY
WHITMAN PUBLISHING CO.
RACINE · · CHICAGO
INTRODUCTION
There is here presented to the reader a careful translation of "Heidi,"
one of the most popular works of the great Swiss authoress, Madam
Johanna Spyri. As particulars of her career are not easily gathered, we
may here state that Johanna Heusser was born at Zurich, June 12, 1827.
She wrote nothing in her youth. She was happily married to the Advocate
Spyri. Later, the Franco-Prussian war evoked from her a book devised
for a charitable purpose, and the success of this volume revealed her
future. She died at her home in Zurich in 1891. Her fame has spread to
all countries, and her many books have delighted not only the children
for whom they were so artfully written, but they have become favorites
with lovers of children as well.
As to "Heidi," itself, wherever mountains are seen or read about, the
simple account of the early life of the Swiss child, amid the beauties
of her passionately-loved home, will be a favorite book for younger
readers and those who seek their good.
Johanna Spyri lived amidst the scenes she so gracefully described. In
all her stories she shows an underlying desire to preserve her young
readers alike from misunderstanding and the mistaken kindness that
frequently hinders the happiness and natural development of their lives
and characters.
Among her many works are the following: "Arthur and His Squirrel,"
"On Sunday," "From the Swiss Mountains," "A Scion of the House of
Lesa," "The Great and the Small All May Aid," "From Near and Far,"
"Cornelius," "Lost but Not Forgotten," "Gritli's Children," 2 volumes,
"Without a Country," "What Shall Then Become of Her?," "Sina," "From
Our Own Country," "Ten Stories," 2 volumes, "In Leuchtensa," "Uncle
Titus," "A Golden Saying," "The Castle Wildenstein," "What Really
Happened to Her," "In the Valley of the Tilonne," "The Hauffer Mill."
M. H. M.
CONTENTS
I. Heidi's First Mountain Climb 13
II. A New Home with Grandfather 22
III. Little Bear and Little Swan 29
IV. Shooting Down the Mountain Side 40
V. A Railroad Journey 52
VI. Clara, the Patient Little Invalid 60
VII. The Unfriendly Housekeeper 67
VIII. Surprises for the Children 79
IX. Mr. Sesemann Takes Heidi's Part 87
X. Clara's Lovable Grandmother 91
XI. Home-Sickness 98
XII. "My House Is Haunted" 102
XIII. At Home Again on the Mountain 112
XIV. The Coat with the Silver Buttons 126
XV. A Great Disappointment 135
XVI. The Doctor Comes with Presents 140
XVII. Excursions Over the Mountains 149
XVIII. A New Home for the Winter 157
XIX. Heidi Teaches Obstinate Peter 167
XX. A Strange Looking Procession 176
XXI. Happy Days for the Little Visitor 191
XXII. Wicked Peter and the Unlucky Chair 199
XXIII. Good-Bye to the Beautiful Mountain 217
ILLUSTRATIONS
Up the Mountain to Grandfather (_color_) FRONTISPIECE
Heidi Tenderly Stroked the Two Goats in Turn 27
Heidi Drank in the Golden Sunlight, the Fresh
Air and the Sweet Smell of the Flowers (_color_) 33
Heidi Now Began to Give a Lively Description
of Her Life with the Grandfather (_color_) 48
"Why, There Is Nothing Outside but
the Stony Streets" 72
Miss Rottermeyer Jumped Higher Than She
Had for Many Long Years (_color_) 80
Grandmother's Kind Advice Brings Comfort
to Heidi (_color_) 96
Heidi Learns to Make Doll Clothes 99
The Doctor Discovers Heidi's Home-Sickness 109
"Our Milk Tastes Nicer Than Anything Else
in the World, Grandfather" 123
It Was Not Long Before the Fir Trees Began
Their Old Song (_color_) 144
A Strange-Looking Procession Was Making
Its Way Up the Mountain (_color_) 192
The Little Invalid Finds That She Is
Able to Walk 208
"We Must Not Overdo It," He Said, Taking
Clara Up in His Arms 212
Peter Went Rolling and Bumping Down
the Slope 222
"Are You Really My Little Clara?" (_color_) 232
[Illustration: HEIDI]
CHAPTER I
HEIDI'S FIRST MOUNTAIN CLIMB
On a bright June morning two figures--one a tall girl and the other
a child--could be seen climbing a narrow mountain path that winds up
from the pretty village of Mayenfeld, to the lofty heights of the Alm
mountain. In spite of the hot June sun the child was clothed as if to
keep off the bitterest frost. She did not look more than five years
old, but what her natural figure was like would be hard to say, for
she had on apparently two dresses, one above the other, and over these
a thick red woolen shawl. Her small feet were shod in thick, nailed
mountain-shoes.
When the wayfarers came to the hamlet known as Doerfli, which is
situated half-way up the mountain, they met with greetings from all
sides, for the elder girl was now in her old home. As they were
leaving the village, a voice called out: "Wait a moment, Dete; if you
are going on up the mountain, I will come along with you."
The girl thus addressed stood still, and the child immediately let go
her hand and seated herself on the ground.
"Are you tired, Heidi?" asked her companion.
"No, I am hot," answered the child.
"We shall soon get to the top now. You must walk bravely on a little
longer, and take good, long steps, and in another hour we shall be
there," said Dete.
They were now joined by a stout, good-natured looking woman, who walked
on ahead with her old acquaintance.
"And where are you going with the child?" asked the one who had just
joined the party. "I suppose it is the child your sister left?"
"Yes," answered Dete. "I am taking her up to Uncle, where she must
stay."
"This child stay up there with Alm-Uncle! You must be out of your
senses, Dete! How can you think of such a thing! The old man, however,
will soon send you both packing off home again!"
"He cannot very well do that, seeing that he is her grandfather. He
must do something for her. I have had the charge of the child till now,
and I can tell you, Barbel, I am not going to give up the chance which
has just fallen to me of getting a good place, for her sake."
"That would be all very well if he were like other people," said
Barbel, "but you know what he is. And what can he do with a child,
especially with one so young! The child cannot possibly live with him.
But where are you thinking of going yourself?"
"To Frankfurt, where an extra good place awaits me," answered Dete.
"I am glad I am not the child," exclaimed Barbel. "Not a creature knows
anything about the old man up there. He will have nothing to do with
anybody, and never sets his foot inside a church from one year's end
to another. When he does come down once in a while, everybody clears
out of his way. The mere sight of him, with his bushy, grey eyebrows
and immense beard, is alarming enough. All kinds of things are said
about him. You, Dete, however, must certainly have learnt a good deal
concerning him from your sister."
"Yes, but I am not going to repeat what I heard. Suppose it should come
to his ears. I should get into no end of trouble about it."
Barbel put her arm through Dete's in a confidential sort of way, and
said: "Now do just tell me what is wrong with the old man. Was he
always shunned as he is now, and was he always so cross? I assure you I
will hold my tongue if you will tell me."
"Very well then, I will tell you--but just wait a moment," said Dete,
looking around for Heidi who had slipped away unnoticed.
"I see where she is," exclaimed Barbel, "look over there!" and she
pointed to a spot far away from the footpath. "She is climbing up the
slope yonder with Peter and his goats. But tell me about the old man.
Did he ever have anything more than his two goats and his hut?"
"I should think so indeed," replied Dete with animation; "he was at
one time the owner of one of the largest farms in Domleschg, where my
mother used to live. But he drank and gambled away the whole of his
property, and when this became known to his mother and father they died
of sorrow, one shortly after the other. Uncle, having nothing left to
him but his bad name, disappeared and it was heard that he had gone
to Naples as a soldier. After twelve or fifteen years he reappeared
in Domleschg, bringing with him a young son whom he tried to place
with some of his kinspeople. Every door, however, was shut in his
face, for no one wished to have any more to do with him. Embittered
by this treatment, he vowed never to set foot in Domleschg again, and
he then came to Doerfli where he lived with his little boy. His wife,
it seemed, had died shortly after the child's birth. He must have
accumulated some money during his absence, for he apprenticed his son
Tobias to a carpenter. He was a steady lad, and kindly received by
every one in Doerfli. His father, however, was still looked upon with
suspicion, and it was even rumored that he had killed a man in some
brawl at Naples."
"But why does everyone call him Uncle? Surely he can't be uncle to
everyone living in Doerfli," asked Barbel.
"Our grandmothers were related, so we used to call him Uncle, and as
my father had family connections with so many people in Doerfli, soon
everyone fell into the habit of calling him Uncle," explained Dete.
"And what happened to Tobias," further questioned Barbel, who was
listening with deep interest.
"Tobias was taught his trade in Mels, and when he had served his
apprenticeship he came back to Doerfli and married my sister Adelaide.
But their happiness did not last long. Two years after their marriage
Tobias was killed in an accident. His wife was so overcome with grief
that she fell into a fever from which she never recovered. She had
always been rather delicate and subject to curious attacks, during
which no one knew whether she was awake or sleeping. And so two months
after Tobias had been carried to the grave, his wife followed him.
Their sad fate was the talk of everybody far and near, and the general
opinion was expressed that it was a punishment which Uncle deserved
for the godless life he had led. Our minister endeavored to awaken
his conscience, but the old man grew only more wrathful and stubborn
and would not speak to a soul. All at once we heard that he had gone
to live up on the Alm mountain and that he did not intend to come down
again. Since then he has led his solitary life up there, and everyone
knows him now by the name of Alm-Uncle. Mother and I took Adelaide's
little one, then only a year old, into our care. When mother died last
year, and I went down to the Baths to earn some money, I paid old Ursel
to take care of her. So you see I have done my duty, now it's Uncle's
turn. But where are you going to yourself, Barbel? We are now half way
up the Alm."
"We have just reached the place I wanted," answered Barbel. "I must see
Peter's mother who is doing some spinning for me. So, good-bye, Dete,
and good luck to you."
She went toward a small, dark brown hut, which stood a few steps away
from the path in a hollow that afforded it some protection from the
mountain wind.
Here lived Peter, the eleven-year-old boy, with his mother Brigitta and
his blind grandmother who was known to all the old and young in the
neighborhood as just "Grandmother."
Every morning Peter went down to Doerfli to bring up a flock of goats
to browse on the mountain. At sundown he went skipping down the
mountain again with his light-footed animals. When he reached Doerfli
he would give a shrill whistle, whereupon all the owners of the goats
would come out to take home the animals that belonged to them.
Dete had been standing for a good ten minutes looking about her in
every direction for some sign of the children and the goats. Meanwhile
Heidi and the goatherd were climbing up by a far and roundabout way,
for Peter knew many spots where all kinds of good food, in the shape
of shrubs and plants, grew for his goats. The child, exhausted with
the heat and weight of her thick clothes, panted and struggled after
him, at first with some difficulty. She said nothing, but her little
eyes kept watching first Peter, as he sprang nimbly hither and thither
on his bare feet, clad only in his short, light breeches, and then
the slim-legged goats that went leaping over rocks and shrubs. All at
once she sat down on the ground, and began pulling off her shoes and
stockings. Then she unwound the hot red shawl and took off her frock.
But there was still another to unfasten, for Dete had put the Sunday
dress on over the everyday one, to save the trouble of carrying it.
Quick as lightning the everyday frock followed the other, and now the
child stood up, clad only in her light short-sleeved under garment. She
stretched out her little bare arms with glee. Leaving all her clothes
together in a tidy little heap, she went jumping and climbing up after
Peter and the goats as nimbly as any of the party.
Now that Heidi was able to move at her ease, she began to enter into
conversation with Peter. She asked him how many goats he had, where he
was going to with them, and what he had to do when he arrived there.
At last, after some time, they came within view of Dete. Hardly had
the latter caught sight of the little company climbing up towards her
when she shrieked out: "Heidi, what have you been doing! What a sight
you have made of yourself! And where are your two frocks and the red
wrapper? And the new shoes I bought, and the new stockings I knitted
for you--everything gone! not a thing left! What can you have been
thinking of, Heidi; where are all your clothes?"
The child quietly pointed to a spot below on the mountain side and
answered, "Down there."
"You good-for-nothing little thing!" exclaimed Dete angrily, "what
could have put it into your head to do that? What made you undress
yourself? What do you mean by it?"
"I don't want any clothes," said Heidi.
[Illustration]
"You wretched, thoughtless child! have you no sense in you at all?"
continued Dete, scolding and lamenting. "Peter, you go down and fetch
them for me as quickly as you can, and you shall have something nice,"
and she held out a bright new piece of money to him that sparkled in
the sun. Peter was immediately off down the steep mountain side, taking
the shortest cut, and was back again so quickly with the clothes that
even Dete was obliged to give him a word of praise as she handed him
the promised money. Peter promptly thrust it into his pocket and his
face beamed with delight, for it was not often that he was the happy
possessor of such riches.
"You can carry the things up for me as far as Uncle's, as you are going
the same way," went on Dete, who was preparing to continue her climb
up the mountain side, which rose in a steep ascent immediately behind
the goatherd's hut. Peter willingly undertook to do this, and followed
after her. After a climb of more than three-quarters of an hour they
reached the top of the Alm mountain. Uncle's hut stood on a projection
of the rock, exposed indeed to the winds, but where every ray of sun
could rest upon it, and a full view could be had of the valley beneath.
Behind the hut stood three old fir trees, with long, thick, unlopped
branches. Beyond these rose a further wall of mountain, the lower
heights still overgrown with beautiful grass and plants.
Against the hut, on the side looking towards the valley, Uncle had put
up a seat. Here he was sitting, his pipe in his mouth and his hands
on his knees, quietly looking out, when the children, the goats, and
Dete suddenly clambered into view. Heidi was at the top first. She went
straight up to the old man, put out her hand, and said, "Good-evening,
Grandfather."
"So, so, what is the meaning of this?" he asked gruffly, as he gave
the child an abrupt shake of the hand, and gazed at her from under
his bushy eyebrows. Heidi stared steadily back at him in return with
unflinching gaze. Meanwhile Dete had come up, with Peter after her.
"I wish you good-day, Uncle," said Dete, as she walked towards him,
"and I have brought you Tobias and Adelaide's child. You will hardly
recognize her, as you have never seen her since she was a year old."
"And what has the child to do with me up here?" asked the old man
curtly. "You there," he then called out to Peter, "be off with your
goats, you are none too early as it is, and take mine with you."
Peter obeyed on the instant and quickly disappeared.
"The child is here to remain with you," Dete made answer. "I have done
my duty by her for these four years, and now it is time for you to do
yours."
"That's it, is it?" said the old man, as he looked at her with a flash
in his eye. "And when the child begins to fret and whine after you,
what am I to do with her then?"
"That's your affair," retorted Dete. "If you cannot arrange to keep
her, do with her as you like. You will be answerable for the result if
harm happens to her, though you have hardly need to add to the burden
already on your conscience."
Now Dete was not quite easy in her own conscience about what she was
doing, and consequently was feeling hot and irritable, and said more
than she had intended. As she uttered her last words, Uncle rose from
his seat. He looked at her in a way that made her draw back a step or
two, then flinging out his arm, he said to her in a commanding voice:
"Be off with you this instant, and get back as quickly as you can to
the place whence you came, and do not let me see your face again in a
hurry."
Dete did not wait to be told twice. "Good-bye to you then, and to you
too, Heidi," she called, as she turned quickly away and started to
descend the mountain at a running pace, which she did not slacken till
she found herself safely again at Doerfli.
CHAPTER II
A NEW HOME WITH GRANDFATHER
As soon as Dete had disappeared the old man went back to his bench,
and there he remained seated, staring at the ground without uttering a
sound, while thick curls of smoke floated upward from his pipe. Heidi,
meanwhile, was enjoying herself in her new surroundings; she looked
about till she found a shed, built against the hut, where the goats
were kept; she peeped in, and saw it was empty. She continued her
search but presently came back to where her grandfather was sitting.
Seeing that he was in exactly the same position as when she left him,
she went and placed herself in front of the old man and said:
"I want to see what you have inside the house."
"Come then!" and the grandfather rose and went before her towards the
hut.
"Bring your bundle of clothes in with you," he bid her as she was
following.
"I shan't want them any more," was her prompt answer.
The old man turned and looked searchingly at the child, whose dark eyes
were sparkling in delighted anticipation of what she was going to see
inside. "She is certainly not wanting in intelligence," he murmured to
himself. "And why shall you not want them any more?" he asked aloud.
"Because I want to go about like the goats with their thin light legs."
"Well, you can do so if you like," said her grandfather, "but bring the
things in, we must put them in the cupboard."
Heidi did as she was told. The old man now opened the door and Heidi
stepped inside after him; she found herself in a good-sized room,
which covered the whole ground floor of the hut. A table and a chair
were the only furniture; in one corner stood the grandfather's bed, in
another was the hearth with a large kettle hanging above it; and on the
further side was a large door in the wall--this was the cupboard. The
grandfather opened it; inside were his clothes. On a second shelf were
some plates and cups and glasses, and on a higher one still, a round
loaf, smoked meat, and cheese, for everything that Alm-Uncle needed
for his food and clothing was kept in this cupboard. Heidi thrust in
her bundle of clothes, as far back behind her grandfather's things as
possible, so that they might not easily be found again. She then looked
carefully round the room, and asked, "Where am I to sleep, Grandfather?"
"Wherever you like," he answered.
Heidi was delighted, and began at once to examine all the nooks and
corners to find out where it would be pleasantest to sleep. In the
corner near her grandfather's bed she saw a short ladder against the
wall; up she climbed and found herself in the hay-loft. There lay a
large heap of fresh, sweet-smelling hay, while through a round window
in the wall she could see right down the valley.
"I shall sleep up here, Grandfather," she called down to him, "it's
lovely, up here. Come up and see how lovely it is!"
"Oh, I know all about it," he called up in answer.
"I am getting the bed ready now," she called down again, as she went
busily to and fro at her work, "but I shall want you to bring me up a
sheet; you can't have a bed without a sheet; you want it to lie upon."
"All right," said the grandfather, and presently he went to the
cupboard, and after rummaging about inside for a few minutes he drew
out a long, coarse piece of stuff, which was all he had to do duty for
a sheet. He carried it up to the loft, where he found Heidi had already
made quite a nice bed. She had put an extra heap of hay at one end for
a pillow, and had so arranged it that, when in bed, she would be able
to see comfortably out through the round window.
"That is capital," said her grandfather; "now we must put on the sheet."
They spread it over the bed, and where it was too long or too broad,
Heidi quickly tucked it in under the hay. It looked as tidy and
comfortable a bed as you could wish for, and Heidi stood gazing
thoughtfully at her handiwork.
"We have forgotten something now, Grandfather," she said after a short
silence.
"What's that?" he asked.
"A coverlid; when you get into bed, you have to creep in between the
sheet and the coverlid."
"Oh, that's the way, is it? But suppose I have not got a coverlid?"
said the old man.
"Well, never mind, Grandfather," said Heidi in a consoling tone of
voice, "I can take some more hay to put over me," and she was turning
quickly to fetch another armful from the heap, when her grandfather
stopped her. "Wait a moment," he said, and he climbed down the ladder
again and went towards his bed. He returned to the loft with a large,
thick sack, made of flax, which he laid tidily over the bed.
"That is a splendid coverlid," said Heidi, "and the bed looks lovely
altogether! I wish it was night, so that I might get inside it at once."
"I think we had better go down and have something to eat first," said
the grandfather.
While the kettle was boiling the old man held a large piece of cheese
on a long iron fork over the fire, turning it round and round till it
was toasted a nice golden yellow color on each side. Heidi watched all
that was going on with eager curiosity. Suddenly some new idea seemed
to come into her head, for she turned and ran to the cupboard, and then
began going busily backwards and forwards. Presently the grandfather
got up and came to the table with a jug and the cheese, and there he
saw it already tidily laid with the round loaf and two plates and two
knives each in its right place.
"Ah, that's right," said the grandfather, "I am glad to see that you
have some ideas of your own," and as he spoke he laid the toasted
cheese on a layer of bread, "but there is still something missing."
Heidi looked at the jug that was steaming away invitingly, and ran
quickly back to the cupboard. At first she could only see a small bowl
left on the shelf, but she was not long in perplexity, for a moment
later she caught sight of two glasses further back, and without an
instant's loss of time she returned with these and the bowl and put
them down on the table.
"Good, I see you know how to set about things; but what will you do for
a seat?" The grandfather himself was sitting on the only chair in the
room. Heidi flew to the hearth, and dragging the three-legged stool up
to the table, sat herself down upon it.
The grandfather filled the bowl with milk, and pushed it in front
of Heidi. Then he brought her a large slice of bread and a piece of
the golden cheese, and told her to eat. Heidi lifted the bowl with
both hands and drank without pause till it was empty, for the thirst
of all her long, hot journey had returned upon her. Then she drew a
deep breath--in the eagerness of her thirst she had not stopped to
breathe--and put down the bowl.
"Was the milk nice?" he asked.
"I never drank any so good before," answered Heidi.
"Then you must have some more," and the old man filled her bowl again
to the brim and set it before the child, who was now hungrily beginning
her bread, having first spread it with the cheese, which after being
toasted was soft as butter. The meal being over, the grandfather went
outside to put the goat-shed in order, and Heidi watched with interest
while he first swept it out, and then put fresh straw for the goats to
sleep upon. Then he went to the little well-shed, and there he cut some
long, round sticks, and a small, round board; in this he bored some
holes and stuck the sticks into them, and there, as if made by magic,
was a three-legged stool just like her grandfather's, only higher.
Heidi stood and looked at it, speechless with astonishment.
"What do you think that is?" asked her grandfather.
"It's my stool, I know, because it is such a high one; and it was made
all of a minute," said the child, still lost in wonder and admiration.
"She understands what she sees, her eyes are in the right place,"
remarked the grandfather to himself.
And so the time passed happily on till evening. Then the wind began to
roar louder than ever through the old fir trees; Heidi listened with
delight to the sound, and it filled her heart so full of gladness that
she skipped and danced round the old trees, as if some unheard of joy
had come to her. The grandfather stood and watched her from the shed.
[Illustration: HEIDI TENDERLY STROKED THE TWO GOATS IN TURN]
Suddenly a shrill whistle was heard. Down from the heights above, the
goats came springing one after another, with Peter in their midst.
Heidi sprang forward with a cry of joy and rushed among the flock,
greeting first one and then another of her old friends of the morning.
As they neared the hut the goats stood still, and then two of their
number, two beautiful, slender animals, one white and one brown, ran
forward to where the grandfather was standing and began licking his
hands, for he was holding a little salt which he always had ready for
his goats on their return home. Peter went on down the mountain with
the remainder of his flock. Heidi tenderly stroked the two goats in
turn, jumping about in her glee at the pretty little animals. "Are they
ours, Grandfather? Are they both ours? Are you going to put them in the
shed? Will they always stay with us?"
Heidi's questions came tumbling out one after the other, so that her
grandfather had only time to answer each of them with "Yes, yes." When
the goats had finished licking up the salt her grandfather told her to
go and fetch her bowl and the bread.
Heidi obeyed and was soon back again. The grandfather milked the white
goat and filled her basin, and then breaking off a piece of bread, "Now
eat your supper," he said, "and then go up to bed. Dete left another
little bundle for you with a nightgown and other small things in it,
which you will find at the bottom of the cupboard if you want them. I
must go and shut up the goats, so be off and sleep well."
"Good-night, Grandfather! good-night. What are their names,
Grandfather, what are their names?" she called out as she ran after his
retreating figure and the goats.
"The white one is named Little Swan, and the brown one Little Bear," he
answered.
"Good-night, Little Swan, good-night, Little Bear!" she called again
at the top of her voice. Then she ate her supper and went indoors and
climbed up to her bed, where she was soon lying as sweetly and soundly
asleep as any young princess on her couch of silk.
CHAPTER III
LITTLE BEAR AND LITTLE SWAN
Heidi felt very happy next morning as she woke up in her new home and
remembered all the many things that she had seen the day before and
which she would see again that day, and above all she thought with
delight of the dear goats. She jumped quickly out of bed and a very few
minutes sufficed her to put on the clothes which she had taken off the
night before, for there were not many of them. Then she climbed down
the ladder and ran outside the hut. There stood Peter already with his
flock of goats, and the grandfather was just bringing his two out of
the shed to join the others. Heidi ran forward to wish good-morning to
him and the goats.
"Do you want to go with them on to the mountain?" asked her
grandfather. Nothing could have pleased Heidi better, and she jumped
for joy in answer.
The grandfather went inside the hut, calling to Peter to follow him and
bring in his wallet. Peter obeyed with astonishment, and laid down the
little bag which held 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, which made Peter open his eyes, for
each was twice the size of the two portions which he had for his own
dinner.
"There, now there is only the little bowl to add," continued the
grandfather, "for the child cannot drink her milk as you do from the
goat; she is not accustomed to that. You must milk two bowlfuls for her
when she has her dinner, for she is going with you and will remain
with you till you return this evening; but take care she does not fall
over any of the rocks, do you hear?"
They started joyfully for the mountain. Heidi went running hither
and thither and shouting with delight, for here were whole patches
of delicate red primroses, and there the blue gleam of the lovely
gentian, while above them all laughed and nodded the tender-leaved
golden cistus. Enchanted with all this waving field of brightly-colored
flowers, Heidi forgot even Peter and the goats. She ran on in front
and then off to the side, tempted first one way and then the other, as
she caught sight of some bright spot of glowing red or yellow. And all
the while she was plucking whole handfuls of the flowers which she put
into her little apron, for she wanted to take them all home and stick
them in the hay, so that she might make her bedroom look just like the
meadows outside. Peter had therefore to be on the alert, and his round
eyes, which did not move very quickly, had more work than they could
well manage, for the goats were as lively as Heidi; they ran in all
directions, and Peter had to follow whistling and calling and swinging
his stick to get all the runaways together again.
Finally they arrived at the spot where Peter generally halted for his
goats to pasture and where he took up his quarters for the day. It lay
at the foot of the high rocks, which were covered for some distance
up by bushes and fir trees, beyond which rose their bare and rugged
summits. On one side of the mountain the rock was split into deep
clefts, and the grandfather had reason to warn Peter of danger. Having
climbed as far as the halting-place, Peter unslung his wallet and put
it carefully in a little hollow of the ground, for he knew what the
wind was like up there and did not want to see his precious belonging
sent rolling down the mountain by a sudden gust. Then he threw himself
at full length on the warm ground, and soon fell asleep.
Heidi meanwhile had unfastened her apron and rolling it carefully round
the flowers laid it beside Peter's wallet inside the hollow; she then
sat down beside his outstretched figure and looked about her.
The goats were climbing about among the bushes overhead. She had never
felt so happy in her life before. She drank in the golden sunlight,
the fresh air, the sweet smell of the flowers, and wished for nothing
better than to remain there forever. Suddenly she heard a loud, harsh
cry overhead and lifting her eyes she saw a bird, larger than any she
had ever seen before, with great, spreading wings, wheeling round in
wide circles, and uttering a piercing, croaking kind of sound above her.
"Peter, Peter, wake up!" called out Heidi. "See, the great bird is
there--look, look!"
Peter got up on hearing her call, and together they sat and watched the
bird, which rose higher and higher in the blue air till it disappeared
behind the grey mountain-tops.
"Where has it gone to?" asked Heidi, who had followed the bird's
movements with intense interest.
"Home to its nest," said Peter.
"Is his home right up there? Oh, how nice to be up so high! why does he
make that noise?"
"Because he can't help it," explained Peter.
"Let us climb up there and see where his nest is," proposed Heidi.
"Oh! oh! oh!" exclaimed Peter, his disapproval of Heidi's suggestion
becoming more marked with each ejaculation, "why, even the goats cannot
climb as high as that, besides didn't Uncle say that you were not to
fall over the rocks."
Peter now began suddenly whistling and calling in such a loud manner
that Heidi could not think what was happening; but the goats evidently
understood his voice, for one after the other they came springing down
the rocks until they were all assembled on the green plateau.
[Illustration]
Heidi jumped up and ran in and out among them, for it was new to her to
see the goats playing together like this. Meanwhile Peter had taken the
wallet out of the hollow and placed the pieces of bread and cheese on
the ground in the shape of a square, the larger two on Heidi's side and
the smaller on his own, for he knew exactly which were hers and which
his. Then he took the little bowl and milked some delicious, fresh milk
into it from the white goat, and afterwards set the bowl in the middle
of the square.
"Leave off jumping about, it is time for dinner," said Peter; "sit down
now and begin."
Heidi sat down. "Is the milk for me?" she asked.
[Illustration: HEIDI DRANK IN THE GOLDEN SUNLIGHT, THE FRESH AIR
AND THE SWEET SMELL OF THE FLOWERS]
"Yes," replied Peter, "and the two large pieces of bread and cheese
are yours also, and when you have drunk up that milk, you are to have
another bowlful from the white goat, and then it will be my turn."
"And which do you get your milk from," inquired Heidi.
"From my own goat, the piebald one. But go on now with your dinner,"
said Peter, again reminding her it was time to eat. Heidi took up the
bowl and drank her milk, and as soon as she had put it down empty
Peter rose and filled it again for her. Then she broke off a piece
of her bread and held out the remainder, which was still larger than
Peter's own piece, together with the whole big slice of cheese to her
companion, saying, "You can have that, I have plenty."
Peter looked at Heidi, unable to speak for astonishment. He hesitated
a moment, for he could not believe that Heidi was in earnest; but the
latter kept on holding out the bread and cheese, and as Peter still did
not take it, she laid it down on his knees. He saw then that she really
meant it; he seized the food, nodded his thanks and acceptance of her
present, and then made a more splendid meal than he had known ever
since he was a goat-herd. Heidi the while still continued to watch the
goats. "Tell me all their names," she said.
Peter knew these by heart, so he began, telling Heidi the name of each
goat in turn as he pointed it out to her. She listened with great
attention, and it was not long before she could herself distinguish
the goats from one another and could call each by name, for every goat
had its own peculiarities which could not easily be mistaken. There
was the great Turk with his big horns, who was always wanting to butt
the others, so that most of them ran away when they saw him coming and
would have nothing to do with their rough companion. Only Greenfinch,
the slender, nimble, little goat, was brave enough to face him, and
would make a rush at him, three or four times in succession. Then
there was little White Snowflake, who bleated in such a plaintive
and beseeching manner that Heidi already had several times run to it
and taken its head in her hands to comfort it. Just at this moment
the pleading young cry was heard again, and Heidi jumped up running
and, putting her arms around the little creature's neck, asked in a
sympathetic voice, "What is it, little Snowflake? Why do you call
like that as if in trouble?" The goat pressed closer to Heidi in a
confiding way and left off bleating. Peter called out from where
he was sitting--for he had not yet got to the end of his bread and
cheese--"she cries like that because the old goat is not with her; she
was sold at Mayenfeld the day before yesterday, and so will not come up
the mountain any more."
"Who is the old goat?" called Heidi back.
"Why, her mother, of course," was the answer.
"Where is the grandmother?" called Heidi again.
"She has none."
"And the grandfather?"
"She has none."
"Oh, you poor little Snowflake!" exclaimed Heidi, clasping the animal
gently to her, "but do not cry like that any more; see now, I shall
come up here with you every day, so that you will not be alone any
more, and if you want anything you have only to come to me."
The goats were now beginning to climb the rocks again, each seeking for
the plants it liked in its own fashion, some jumping over everything
they met till they found what they wanted, others going more carefully
and cropping all the nice leaves by the way, the Turk still now and
then giving the others a poke with his horns. Little Swan and Little
Bear clambered lightly up and never failed to find the best bushes,
and then they would stand gracefully poised on their pretty legs,
delicately nibbling at the leaves. Heidi stood with her hands behind
her back, carefully noting all they did.
"Peter," she said to the boy who had again thrown himself down on the
ground, "the prettiest of all the goats are Little Swan and Little
Bear."
"Yes, I know they are," was the answer. "Alm-Uncle brushes them down
and washes them and gives them salt, and he has the nicest shed for
them."
All of a sudden Peter leaped to his feet and ran hastily after the
goats. Heidi followed him as fast as she could, for she was too eager
to know what had happened to stay behind. Peter dashed through the
middle of the flock towards that side of the mountain where the rocks
fell perpendicularly to a great depth below, and where any thoughtless
goat, if it went too near, might fall over and break all its legs. He
had caught sight of the inquisitive Greenfinch taking leaps in that
direction, and he was only just in time, for the animal had already
sprung to the edge of the abyss. All Peter could do was to throw
himself down and seize one of her hind legs. Greenfinch, thus taken by
surprise, began bleating furiously, angry at being held so fast and
prevented from continuing her voyage of discovery. She struggled to get
loose, and endeavored so obstinately to leap forward that Peter shouted
to Heidi to come and help him, for he could not get up and was afraid
of pulling out the goat's leg altogether.
Heidi had already run up and she saw at once the danger both Peter and
the animal were in. She quickly gathered a bunch of sweet-smelling
leaves, and then, holding them under Greenfinch's nose, said coaxingly,
"Come, come, Greenfinch, you must not be naughty! Look, you might fall
down there and break your leg, and that would give you dreadful pain!"
The young animal turned quickly and began contentedly eating the leaves
out of Heidi's hand. Meanwhile Peter got on to his feet again and took
hold of Greenfinch by the band round her neck from which her bell was
hung, and Heidi taking hold of her in the same way on the other side,
they led the wanderer back to the rest of the flock that had remained
peacefully feeding. Peter, now he had his goat in safety, lifted his
stick in order to give her a good beating as punishment, and Greenfinch
seeing what was coming shrank back in fear. But Heidi cried out, "No,
no, Peter, you must not strike her; see how frightened she is!"
"She deserves it," growled Peter, and again lifted his stick. Then
Heidi flung herself against him and cried indignantly, "You have no
right to touch her, it will hurt her, let her alone!"
Peter looked with surprise at the commanding little figure, whose dark
eyes were flashing, and reluctantly he let his stick drop. "Well,
I will let her off if you will give me some more of your cheese
tomorrow," he said, for he was determined to have something to make up
to him for his fright.
"You shall have it all, tomorrow and every day, I do not want it,"
replied Heidi, giving ready consent to his demand. "And I will give
you bread as well, a large piece like you had today; but then you must
promise never to beat Greenfinch, or Snowflake, or any of the goats."
"All right," said Peter, "I don't care," which meant that he would
agree to the bargain, and let go of Greenfinch, who joyfully sprang to
join her companions.
And thus imperceptibly the day had crept on to its close, and now the
sun was on the point of sinking out of sight behind the high mountains.
Heidi was again sitting on the ground, when all at once she sprang
to her feet, "Peter! Peter! everything is on fire! All the rocks are
burning, and the great snow mountain and the sky! O look, look! the
high rock up there is red with flame! O the beautiful, fiery snow!
Stand up, Peter! See, the fire has reached the great bird's nest! look
at the rocks! look at the fir trees! Everything, everything is on fire!"
"It is always like that," said Peter composedly, continuing to peel his
stick; "but it is not really fire."
"What is it then?" cried Heidi.
"It gets like that of itself," explained Peter.
"Look, look!" cried Heidi in fresh excitement, "now they have turned
all rose color! Look at that one covered with snow, and that with the
high, pointed rocks! What do you call them?"
"Mountains have not any names," he answered.
"O how beautiful, look at the crimson snow! And up there on the rocks
there are ever so many roses! Oh! now they are turning grey! Oh! oh!
now all the color has died away! it's all gone, Peter." And Heidi sat
down on the ground looking as full of distress as if everything had
really come to an end.
"It will come again tomorrow," said Peter. "Get up, we must go home
now." He whistled to his goats and together they all started on their
homeward way.
"Is it like that every day, shall we see it every day when we bring
the goats up here?" asked Heidi, as she clambered down the mountain at
Peter's side; she waited eagerly for his answer, hoping that he would
tell her it was so.
"It is like that most days," he replied.
"But will it be like that tomorrow for certain?" Heidi persisted.
"Yes, yes, tomorrow for certain," Peter assured her in answer.
Heidi now felt quite happy again, and her little brain was so full of
new impressions and new thoughts that she did not speak any more until
they had reached the hut. The grandfather was sitting under the fir
trees, where he had put up a new seat.
Heidi ran up to him, followed by the white and brown goats, for they
knew their own master and stall. Peter called out after her, "Come with
me again tomorrow! Good-night!" For he was anxious for more than one
reason that Heidi should go with him the next day.
"O, Grandfather," cried Heidi, "it was so beautiful. The fire, and the
roses on the rocks, and the blue and yellow flowers, and look what I
have brought you!" And opening the apron that held her flowers she
shook them all out at her grandfather's feet. But the poor flowers,
how changed they were! Heidi hardly knew them again. They looked like
dried bits of hay, not a single little flower cup stood open. "O,
Grandfather, what is the matter with them?" exclaimed Heidi in shocked
surprise, "they were not like that this morning, why do they look so
now?"
"They like to stand out there in the sun and not to be shut up in an
apron," said her grandfather.
"Then I will never gather any more. But, Grandfather, why did the great
bird go on croaking so?" she continued in an eager tone of inquiry.
"Go along now and get into your bath while I go and get some milk; when
we are together at supper I will tell you all about it."
Heidi obeyed, and when later she was sitting on her high stool before
her milk bowl with her grandfather beside her, she repeated her
question, "Why does the great bird go on croaking and screaming down at
us, Grandfather?"
"He is mocking at the people who live down below in the villages,
because they all go huddling and gossipping together, and encourage one
another in evil talking and deeds. He calls out, 'If you would separate
and each go your own way and come up here and live on a height as I
do, it would be better for you!'" there was almost a wildness in the
old man's voice as he spoke, so that Heidi seemed to hear the croaking
of the bird again even more distinctly.
"Why haven't the mountains any names?" Heidi went on.
"They have names," answered her grandfather, "and if you can describe
one of them to me that I know I will tell you what it is called."
Heidi then described to him the rocky mountain with the two high peaks
so exactly that the grandfather was delighted. "Just so, I know it,"
and he told her its name.
Then Heidi told him of the mountain with the great snowfield, and how
it had been on fire.
The grandfather explained to her it was the sun that did it. "When he
says good-night to the mountains he throws his most beautiful colors
over them, so that they may not forget him before he comes again the
next day."
Heidi was delighted with this explanation, and could hardly bear to
wait for another day to come that she might once more climb up with the
goats and see how the sun bid good-night to the mountains. But she had
to go to bed first, and all night she slept soundly on her bed of hay,
dreaming of nothing but of shining mountains with red roses all over
them, among which happy little Snowflake went leaping in and out.
CHAPTER IV
SHOOTING DOWN THE MOUNTAIN SIDE
The next morning the sun came out early as bright as ever, and then
Peter appeared with the goats, and again the two children climbed up
together to the high meadows, and so it went on day after day till
Heidi, passing her life thus among the grass and flowers, was burnt
brown with the sun, and grew so strong and healthy that nothing ever
ailed her. She was happy too, and lived from day to day as free and
lighthearted as the little birds that make their home among the green
forest trees. Then the autumn came, and the wind blew louder and
stronger, and the grandfather would say sometimes, "Today you must stay
at home, Heidi; a sudden gust of the wind would blow a little thing
like you over the rocks into the valley below in a moment."
Whenever Peter heard that he must go alone he looked very unhappy, for
he saw nothing but mishaps of all kinds ahead, and did not know how
he should bear the long, dull day without Heidi. Then, too, there was
the good meal he would miss, and besides that the goats on these days
were so naughty and obstinate that he had twice the usual trouble with
them, for they had grown so accustomed to Heidi's presence that they
would run in every direction and refuse to go on unless she was with
them. Heidi was never unhappy, for wherever she was she found something
to interest or amuse her. She liked best, it is true, to go out with
Peter up to the flowers and the great bird, but she also found her
grandfather's hammering and sawing and carpentering very entertaining,
and if it should chance to be the day when the large, round goats'-milk
cheese was made she enjoyed beyond measure watching her grandfather
stir the great cauldron. The thing which attracted her most, however,
was the waving and roaring of the three old fir trees on these windy
days. She would stand underneath them and look up, unable to tear
herself away, looking and listening while they bowed and swayed and
roared as the mighty wind rushed through them. There was no longer now
the warm, bright sun that had shone all through the summer, so Heidi
went to the cupboard and got out her shoes and stockings and dress.
Then it grew very cold, and Peter would come up early in the morning
blowing on his fingers to keep them warm. But he soon left off coming,
for one night there was a heavy fall of snow and the next morning the
whole mountain was covered with it, and not a single little green leaf
even was to be seen anywhere upon it. There was no Peter that day, and
Heidi stood at the little window looking out in wonderment, for the
snow was beginning again, and the thick flakes kept falling till the
snow was up to the window, and still they continued to fall, and the
snow grew higher, so that at last the window could not be opened, and
she and her grandfather were shut up fast within the hut. Heidi thought
this was great fun and ran from one window to the other. The next day,
the snow having ceased, the grandfather went out and shoveled it away
from the house, and threw it into such great heaps that they looked
like mountains.
Heidi and her grandfather were sitting one afternoon on their
three-legged stools before the fire when there came a great thump at
the door. It was Peter all white with snow for he had had to fight his
way through deep snowdrifts. He had been determined, however, to climb
up to the hut, for it was a week now since he had seen Heidi.
"Good-evening," he said as he came in; then he went and placed himself
as near the fire as he could, his whole face beaming with pleasure
at finding himself there. Heidi looked on in astonishment, for Peter
was beginning to thaw all over with the warmth, so that he had the
appearance of a trickling waterfall.
"Well, General, how goes it with you?" said the grandfather, "now that
you have lost your army you will have to turn to your pen and pencil."
"Why must he turn to his pen and pencil," asked Heidi immediately, full
of curiosity.
"During the winter he must go to school," explained her grandfather,
"and learn how to read and write; it's a bit hard, although useful
sometimes afterwards. Am I not right, General?"
"Yes, indeed," assented Peter.
Heidi's interest was now thoroughly awakened, and she had so many
questions to ask Peter about school, and the conversation took so long
that he had time to get thoroughly dry.
"Well, now, General, you have been under fire for some time and must
want some refreshment. Come and join us," said the grandfather as he
brought the supper out of the cupboard, and Heidi pushed the stools to
the table. There was also now a bench fastened against the wall, for
as he was no longer alone the grandfather had put up seats of various
kinds here and there, long enough to hold two persons, for Heidi had a
way of always keeping close to her grandfather whether he was walking,
sitting, or standing. Peter opened his round eyes very wide when he
saw what a large piece of meat Alm-Uncle gave him on his thick slice
of bread. It was a long time since Peter had had anything so nice to
eat. As soon as the pleasant meal was over he began to get ready for
returning home, for it was already growing dark. He had said his
"good-night" and his thanks, and was just going out, when he turned
and said, "I shall come again next Sunday, this day week, and my
grandmother sent word that she would like you to come and see her some
day."
It was quite a new idea to Heidi that she should go and pay anybody a
visit, and she could not get it out of her head; so the first thing she
said to her grandfather the next day was, "I must go down to see the
grandmother today, she will be expecting me."
"The snow is too deep," answered the grandfather, trying to put her
off. Not a day passed but what she said five or six times to her
grandfather, "I must certainly go today, the grandmother will be
waiting for me."
On the fourth day, when Heidi was sitting on her high stool at dinner
with the bright sun shining in upon her through the window, she again
repeated her little speech, "I must certainly go down to see the
grandmother today, or else I shall keep her waiting too long."
The grandfather rose from the table, climbed up to the hayloft and
brought down the thick sack that was Heidi's coverlid, and said,
"Come along then!" The child skipped out gleefully after him into the
glittering world of snow.
The old fir trees were standing now quite silent, their branches
covered with the white snow, and they looked so lovely as they
glittered and sparkled in the sunlight that Heidi jumped for joy at the
sight and kept on calling out, "Come here, come here, Grandfather! The
fir trees are all silver and gold!" The grandfather had gone into the
shed and he now came out, dragging a large hand-sleigh; inside there
was a low seat, and the sleigh could be pushed forward and guided by
the feet of the one who sat upon it with the help of a pole that was
fastened to the side. The old man got in and lifted the child on to his
lap; then he wrapped her up in the sack, that she might keep nice and
warm, and put his left arm closely round her, for it was necessary to
hold her tight during the coming journey. He now grasped the pole with
his right hand and gave the sleigh a push forward with his two feet.
It shot down the mountain side with such rapidity that Heidi thought
they were flying through the air like a bird, and shouted aloud with
delight. Suddenly they came to a standstill, and there they were at
Peter's hut. Her grandfather lifted her out and unwrapped her. "There
you are, now go in, and when it begins to grow dark you must start
on your way home again." Then he left her and went up the mountain,
pulling his sleigh after him.
Heidi opened the door of the hut and stepped into a tiny room that
looked very dark, with a fireplace and a few dishes on a wooden shelf;
this was the little kitchen. She opened another door, and found herself
in another small room, for the place was not a herdsman's hut like her
grandfather's, with one large room on the ground floor and a hay-loft
above, but a very old cottage, where everything was narrow and poor
and shabby. A table was close to the door, and as Heidi stepped in she
saw a woman sitting at it, putting a patch on a waistcoat which Heidi
recognized at once as Peter's. In the corner sat an old woman, bent
with age, spinning. Heidi was quite sure this was the grandmother, so
she went up to the spinning-wheel and said, "Good-day, Grandmother, I
have come at last; did you think I was a long time coming?"
The old woman raised her head and felt for the hand that the child
held out to her, and when she had found it, she passed her own over it
thoughtfully for a few seconds, and then said, "Are you the child who
lives up with Alm-Uncle, are you Heidi?"
"Yes, yes," answered Heidi, "I have just come down in the sleigh with
grandfather."
"Is it possible! Why, your hands are quite warm! Brigitta, did
Alm-Uncle come himself with the child?"
Peter's mother had left her work and risen from the table and now stood
looking at Heidi with curiosity, scanning her from head to foot. "I do
not know, mother, whether Uncle came himself; it is hardly likely, the
child probably makes a mistake."
But Heidi looked steadily at the woman, and said, "I know quite well
who wrapped me up in my bedcover and brought me down in the sleigh: it
was grandfather."
"There was some truth then perhaps in what Peter used to tell us of
Alm-Uncle during the summer, when we thought he must be wrong," said
grandmother; "but who would ever have believed that such a thing was
possible; I did not think the child would live three weeks up there.
What is she like, Brigitta?"
The latter had so thoroughly examined Heidi on all sides that she was
well able to describe her to her mother.
Heidi meanwhile had not been idle; she had made the round of the room
and looked carefully at everything there was to be seen. All of a
sudden she exclaimed, "Grandmother, one of your shutters is flapping
backwards and forwards: grandfather would put a nail in and make it all
right in a minute. It will break one of the panes some day; look, how
it keeps on banging!"
"Ah, dear child," said the old woman, "I am not able to see it, but I
can hear that and many other things besides the shutter. Everything
about the place rattles and creaks when the wind is blowing, and it
gets inside through all the cracks and holes. The house is going to
pieces, and in the night, when the two others are asleep, I often lie
awake in fear and trembling, thinking that the whole place will give
way and fall and kill us. And there is not a creature to mend anything
for us, for Peter does not understand such work."
"But why cannot you see, Grandmother, that the shutter is loose. Look,
there it goes again, see, that one there!" And Heidi pointed to the
particular shutter.
"Alas, child, I can see nothing, nothing," said the grandmother in a
voice of lamentation.
"But if I were to go outside and put back the shutter so that you had
more light, then you could see, Grandmother?"
"No, no, not even then, no one can make it light for me again."
"But if you were to go outside among all the white snow, then surely
you would find it light; just come with me, Grandmother, and I will
show you." Heidi took hold of the old woman's hand to lead her along,
for she was beginning to feel quite distressed at the thought of her
being without light.
"Let me be, dear child; it is always dark for me now; whether in snow
or sun. It will never be light for me again on earth, never."
At these words Heidi broke into loud crying. In her distress she kept
on sobbing out, "Who can make it light for you again? Can no one do it?
Isn't there any one who can do it?"
The grandmother now tried to comfort the child, but it was not easy to
quiet her. Heidi did not often weep, but when she did she could not get
over her trouble for a long while. At last the old woman said, "Dear
Heidi, you cannot think how glad I am to hear a kind word when I can no
longer see, and it is such a pleasure to me to listen to you while you
talk. So come and sit beside me and tell me what you do up there, and
how grandfather occupies himself. I knew him very well in the old days;
but for many years now I have heard nothing of him, except through
Peter, who never says much."
This was a new and happy idea to Heidi; she quickly dried her tears
and said in a comforting voice, "Wait, Grandmother, till I have told
grandfather everything, he will make it light for you again, I am sure,
and will do something so that the house will not fall; he will put
everything right for you."
Heidi now began to give a lively description of her life with the
grandfather, and of the days she spent on the mountain with the goats,
and then went on to tell what she did during the winter, and how her
grandfather was able to make all sorts of things, seats and stools, and
mangers where the hay was put for Little Swan and Little Bear, besides
a new large water-tub for her to bathe in when the summer came, and a
new milk-bowl and spoon.
The grandmother listened with the greatest attention, only from time to
time addressing her daughter, "Do you hear that, Brigitta? Do you hear
what she is saying about Uncle?"
The conversation was suddenly interrupted by a heavy thump on the door,
and in marched Peter, who stood stock-still, opening his eyes with
astonishment, when he caught sight of Heidi; then his face beamed with
smiles as she called out, "Good-evening, Peter."
"What, is the boy back from school already," exclaimed the grandmother
in surprise. "I have not known an afternoon to pass so quickly as this
one for years. How is the reading getting on, Peter?"
"As usual," was Peter's answer.
The old woman gave a little sigh, "Ah, well," she said, "I hoped you
would have something different to tell me by this time, as you are
going to be twelve years old this February."
"What was it you hoped he would have to tell you?" asked Heidi,
interested in all the grandmother said.
"I mean that he ought to have learnt to read a bit by now," continued
the grandmother. "Up there on the shelf is an old prayer-book, with
beautiful songs in it which I have not heard for a long time and
cannot now remember to repeat to myself, and I hoped that Peter would
soon learn enough to be able to read one of them to me sometimes; but
he finds it too difficult."
Heidi now jumped up from her low chair, and holding out her hand
hastily to the grandmother said, "Good-night, Grandmother, it is
getting dark; I must go home at once," and bidding good-bye to Peter
and his mother she went towards the door. But the grandmother called
out in an anxious voice, "Wait, wait, Heidi, you must not go alone like
that, Peter must go with you. Have you got something warm to put round
your throat?"
"I have not anything to put on," called back Heidi, "but I am sure I
shall not be cold," and with that she ran outside and went off at such
a pace that Peter had difficulty in overtaking her.
The children had taken but a few steps before they saw the grandfather
coming down to meet them, and in another minute his long strides had
brought him to their side.
"That's right, Heidi; you have kept your word," said the grandfather,
and then wrapping the sack firmly round her he lifted her in his arms
and strode off with her up the mountain.
They had no sooner got inside the hut than Heidi at once began:
"Grandfather, tomorrow we must take the hammer and the long nails and
fasten grandmother's shutter, and drive in a lot more nails in other
places, for her house shakes and rattles all over."
[Illustration: HEIDI NOW BEGAN TO GIVE A LIVELY DESCRIPTION OF HER LIFE
WITH THE GRANDFATHER]
"We must, must we? who told you that?" asked her grandfather.
"Nobody told me, but I know it for all that," replied Heidi, "for
everything is giving way, and when the grandmother cannot sleep, she
lies trembling, for she thinks that every minute the house will fall
down on their heads; and everything now is dark for grandmother, and
she does not think any one can make it light for her again, but you
will be able to, I am sure, Grandfather. Tomorrow we must go and help
her; we will, won't we, Grandfather?"
The child was clinging to the old man and looking up at him in trustful
confidence. The grandfather looked down at Heidi for a while without
speaking, and then said, "Yes, Heidi, we will do something to stop the
rattling, at least we can do that; we will go down about it tomorrow."
The child went skipping round the room for joy, crying out, "We shall
go tomorrow! we shall go tomorrow!"
The grandfather kept his promise. On the following afternoon he brought
the sleigh out again, and as on the previous day, he set Heidi down at
the door of the grandmother's hut and said, "Go in now, and when it
grows dark, come out again." Then he put the sack in the sleigh and
went round the house.
Heidi had hardly opened the door and sprung into the room when the
grandmother called out from her corner, "It's the child again! here she
comes!" Heidi ran to her, and then quickly drew the little stool close
up to the old woman, and seating herself upon it, began to tell and
ask her all kinds of things. All at once came the sound of heavy blows
against the wall of the hut and grandmother gave such a start of alarm
that she nearly upset the spinning-wheel, and cried in a trembling
voice, "Ah, my God, now it is coming, the house is going to fall upon
us!" But Heidi caught her by the arm, and said soothingly, "No, no,
Grandmother, do not be frightened, it is only grandfather with his
hammer; he is mending up everything, so that you shan't have such fear
and trouble."
"Is it possible! is it really possible! so the dear God has not
forgotten us!" exclaimed the grandmother. "Do you hear, Brigitta, what
that noise is? Did you hear what the child says? Go outside, Brigitta,
and if it is Alm-Uncle, tell him he must come inside a moment that I
may thank him."
Brigitta went outside and found Alm-Uncle in the act of fastening some
heavy pieces of new wood along the wall. She stepped up to him and
said, "Good-evening, Uncle, mother and I thank you for doing us such
a kind service, and she would like to tell you herself how grateful
she is; I do not know who else would have done it for us; we shall not
forget your kindness, for I am sure--"
"That will do," said the old man, interrupting her. "I know what you
think of Alm-Uncle without your telling me. Go indoors again, I can
find out for myself where the mending is wanted."
Brigitta obeyed on the spot, for Uncle had a way with him that made few
people care to oppose his will. He went on knocking with his hammer all
round the house, and then mounted the narrow steps to the roof, and
hammered away there, until he had used up all the nails he had brought
with him. Meanwhile it had been growing dark, and he had hardly come
down from the roof and dragged the sleigh out from behind the goat-shed
when Heidi appeared outside. The grandfather wrapped her up and took
her in his arms as he had done the day before, for although he had to
drag the sleigh up the mountain after him, he feared that if the child
sat in it alone her wrappings would fall off and that she would be
nearly if not quite frozen, so he carried her warm and safe in his arms.
So the winter went by. After many years of joyless life, the blind
grandmother had at last found something to make her happy. She listened
for the little tripping footstep as soon as day had come, and when she
heard the door open and knew the child was really there, she would call
out, "God be thanked, she has come again!"
And Heidi had also grown very fond of the old grandmother, and when
at last she knew for certain that no one could make it light for her
again, she was overcome with sorrow; but the grandmother told her
again that she felt the darkness much less when Heidi was with her,
and so every fine winter's day the child came traveling down in her
sleigh. The grandfather always took her, never raising any objection,
indeed he always carried the hammer and sundry other things down in the
sleigh with him, and many an afternoon was spent by him in making the
goatherd's cottage sound and tight. It no longer groaned and rattled
the whole night through, and the grandmother, who for many winters had
not been able to sleep in peace as she did now, said she should never
forget what the Uncle had done for her.
CHAPTER V
A RAILROAD JOURNEY
Heidi was now in her eighth year; she had learnt all kinds of useful
things from her grandfather; she knew how to look after the goats as
well as any one, and Little Swan and Little Bear would follow her
like two faithful dogs, and give a loud bleat of pleasure when they
heard her voice. Twice during the course of this last winter Peter had
brought up a message from the schoolmaster at Doerfli, who sent word to
Alm-Uncle that he ought to send Heidi to school, as she was over the
usual age, and ought indeed to have gone the winter before. Uncle had
sent word back each time that the schoolmaster would find him at home
if he had anything he wished to say to him, but that he did not intend
to send Heidi to school.
As Heidi was running about one sunny March morning, and had just
jumped over the water-trough for the tenth time at least, she nearly
fell backwards into it with fright, for there in front of her stood an
old gentleman dressed in black. When he saw how startled she was, he
said in a kind voice, "Don't be afraid of me, for I am very fond of
children. Shake hands! You must be the Heidi I have heard of; where is
your grandfather?"
"He is sitting by the table, making round wooden spoons," Heidi
informed him, as she opened the door.
It was the old village pastor from Doerfli who had been a neighbor of
Uncle's when he lived down there. He stepped inside the hut, and going
up to the old man, who was bending over his work, said, "Good-morning,
neighbor."
The grandfather looked up in surprise, and then rising said,
"Good-morning" in return. He pushed his chair towards the visitor as he
continued, "If you do not mind a wooden seat there is one for you."
The pastor sat down. "It is a long time since I have seen you,
neighbor," he said. "I think you know already what it is that has
brought me here," and as he spoke he looked towards the child who was
standing at the door.
"Heidi, go off to the goats," said her grandfather. "You can take them
a little salt and stay with them till I come."
Heidi vanished on the spot.
"The child ought to have been at school a year ago, and most certainly
this last winter," said the pastor. "The schoolmaster sent you word
about it, but you gave him no answer. What are you thinking of doing
with the child, neighbor?"
"I am thinking of not sending her to school," was the answer.
"How are you going to let her grow up then?"
"I am going to let her grow up and be happy among the goats and birds;
with them she is safe, and will learn nothing evil."
"But the child is not a goat or a bird, she is a human being. It is
time she began her lessons. This is the last winter she must be allowed
to run wild; next winter she must come regularly to school every day."
"She will do no such thing," said the old man with calm determination.
"Do you mean that you intend to stick obstinately to your decision?"
said the pastor, growing somewhat angry. "You have been about the
world, and I should have given you credit for more sense, neighbor."
"Indeed," replied the old man, "could you expect me to send a young
child down the mountain on ice-cold mornings through storm and
snow, and let her return at night when the wind is raging? Have you
forgotten the child's mother, Adelaide? She was a sleep-walker, and
had fits. Might not the child be attacked in the same way if obliged
to over-exert herself? And you think you can come and force me to send
her? I will go before all the courts of justice in the country, and
then we shall see who will force me to do it!"
"Perhaps you are right, neighbor," said the pastor in a friendly tone
of voice. "If it is impossible to send the child to school from here,
come down into Doerfli and live again among your fellow-men. What sort
of a life is this you lead, alone, and with bitter thoughts towards God
and man."
"No, pastor, as to going down to Doerfli to live, that is far from my
thoughts; the people despise me and I them; it is therefore best for
all of us that we live apart."
The visitor had risen and stood holding out his hand to the old man
as he added with renewed earnestness, "I will wager, that next winter
you will be down among us again, and we shall be good neighbors as of
old. Promise me that you will come and live with us again and become
reconciled to God and man."
Alm-Uncle gave the pastor his hand and answered him calmly and firmly,
"You mean well by me, I know, but I will not send the child to school
nor come and live among you."
"Then God help you!" said the pastor, as he left the hut and went down
the mountain.
Alm-Uncle was out of humor. When Heidi said as usual that afternoon,
"Can we go down to grandmother now?" he answered, "Not today." He did
not speak again the whole day, and the following morning when Heidi
again asked the same question, he replied, "We will see." But before
the dinner bowls bad been cleared away another visitor arrived,
and this time it was Dete. She wore a fine feathered hat and a long
trailing dress which swept the floor.
The grandfather looked her up and down without uttering a word. But
Dete was prepared with an exceedingly amiable speech and began at once
to praise the looks of the child. She should hardly have known her
again, and it was evident that Heidi had been happy and well-cared-for
with her grandfather. But she had just heard of something that would
be a lucky chance for her. Some wealthy people in Frankfurt wanted a
companion for their only daughter who was an invalid. Heidi was just
the sort of child they were looking for, simple-minded and unspoiled,
and after Dete had given them a description of Heidi, they had agreed
to take her. And no one could tell what good fortune there might not
be in store for her, for if these rich people should take a fancy to
Heidi--
"Have you nearly finished what you had to say?" broke in Alm-Uncle, who
had allowed her to talk on uninterruptedly so far.
"Ugh!" exclaimed Dete, throwing up her head in disgust, "one would
think I had been talking to you about the most ordinary matter; why,
there is not one person in all Praettigau who would not thank God if I
were to bring them such a piece of news as I am bringing you."
"You may take your news to anybody you like, I will have nothing to do
with it."
Dete leaped up from her seat like a rocket and cried, "If that is all
you have to say about it, why, then I will give you a bit of my mind.
The child is now eight years old and knows nothing, and you will not
let her learn. You will not send her to church or school, as I was told
down in Doerfli, and she is my own sister's child. I am responsible
for what happens to her, and this is a good opening for her. I have
everybody in Doerfli on my side; there is not one person there who will
not take my part against you; and I advise you to think well before
bringing it into court, if that is your intention; there are certain
things which might be brought up against you that you would not care to
hear, for when one has to do with lawcourts there is a great deal raked
up that had been forgotten."
"Be silent!" thundered the Uncle, and his eyes flashed with anger. "Go
and be done with you! and never let me see you again with your hat and
feather." And with that he strode out of the hut.
"You have made grandfather angry," said Heidi, and her dark eyes had
anything but a friendly expression in them as she looked at Dete.
"He will soon be all right again; come now," said Dete hurriedly, "and
show me where your clothes are."
"I am not coming," said Heidi.
"Come, come, you will have all sorts of good things that you never
dreamed of." Then she went to the cupboard and taking out Heidi's
things rolled them up in a bundle. "Come along now, there's your hat;
it is very shabby but will do for the present; put it on and let us
make haste off."
"I am not coming," repeated Heidi.
"Don't be stupid and obstinate, like a goat; I suppose it's from the
goats you have learnt to be so. Listen to me: you saw your grandfather
was angry and heard what he said, that he did not wish to ever see
us again; he wants you to go away with me and you must not make him
angrier still. You can't think how nice it is at Frankfurt, and if you
do not like it you can come back again; your grandfather will be in a
good humor by that time."
"Can I return at once and be back home again here this evening?" asked
Heidi.
"What are you talking about, come along now! I tell you that you can
come back here when you like. Today we shall go as far as Mayenfeld,
and early tomorrow we shall start in the train; it will bring you home
again in no time when you wish it, for it goes as fast as the wind."
They started down the mountain and as they neared the grandmother's hut
they met Peter coming round the corner carrying an immense bundle of
long, thick hazel sticks on his shoulders. He stood still and stared
at the two approaching figures; as they came up to him, he exclaimed,
"Where are you going, Heidi?"
"I am only just going over to Frankfurt for a little visit with Dete,"
she replied; "but I must first run in to grandmother, she will be
expecting me."
"No, no, you must not stop to talk; it is already too late," said Dete,
holding Heidi, who was struggling to get away. "You can go in when you
come back," and she pulled the child on with her. Peter ran into the
hut and banged against the table with his bundle of sticks with such
violence that everything in the room shook, and his grandmother leaped
up with a cry of alarm from her spinning-wheel.
"What is the matter? what is the matter?" cried the frightened old
woman.
"She is taking Heidi away," explained Peter.
"Who? who? where to, Peter, where to?" asked the grandmother, growing
still more agitated; but even as she spoke she guessed what had
happened, for Brigitta had told her shortly before that she had seen
Dete going up to Alm-Uncle. The old woman opened the window and called
out beseechingly, "Dete, Dete, do not take the child away from us! do
not take her away!"
The two who were hastening down the mountain heard her voice, and Dete
evidently caught the words, for she grasped Heidi's hand more firmly.
Heidi struggled to get free, crying, "Grandmother is calling, I must go
to her."
But Dete had no intention of letting the child go, and quieted her as
best she could by promising that she could take something nice back to
grandmother. This was a new idea to Heidi, and it pleased her so much
that Dete had no longer any difficulty in getting her along.
"What could I take back to her?" Heidi asked.
"A soft roll of white bread; she would enjoy that, for now she is old
she can hardly eat the hard, black bread," answered Dete.
"Yes, she always gives it back to Peter, telling him it is too hard,"
affirmed Heidi. "Do let us make haste, for then perhaps we can get back
soon from Frankfurt, and I shall be able to give her the white bread
today." And Heidi started off running so fast that Dete with the bundle
under her arm could scarcely keep up with her.
* * * * *
From that day forward Alm-Uncle looked fiercer and more forbidding
than ever when he came down and passed through Doerfli. He spoke to no
one, and looked such an ogre as he came along with his pack of cheeses
on his back, his immense stick in his hand, and his thick, frowning
eyebrows, that the women would call to their little ones, "Take care!
get out of Alm-Uncle's way or he may hurt you!"
The old man took no notice of anybody as he strode through the village
on his way to the valley below, where he sold his cheeses and bought
what bread and meat he wanted for himself. After he had passed, the
villagers all crowded together looking after him. They agreed that
it was a great mercy the child had got away from him. Only the blind
grandmother would have nothing to say against him, and told those who
came to bring her work, how kind and thoughtful he had been with the
child, how good to her and her daughter, and how many afternoons he had
spent mending the house. All this was repeated down in Doerfli; but
most of the people who heard it said that grandmother was too old to
understand, and very likely had not heard rightly what was said; as she
was blind, probably she was also deaf.
[Illustration]
CHAPTER VI
CLARA, THE PATIENT LITTLE INVALID
In her home at Frankfurt, Clara, the little daughter of Mr. Sesemann,
was lying on the invalid couch on which she spent her whole day, being
wheeled in it from room to room.
Her little face was thin and pale, and at this moment her two soft blue
eyes were fixed on the clock, which seemed to her to go very slowly
this day, and with a slight accent of impatience, which was very rare
with her, she asked, "Isn't it time yet, Miss Rottermeyer?"
This lady was sitting very upright at a small work-table, busy with
her embroidery. She wore a dome-shaped head piece which made her look
very solemn and dignified. For many years past, since Clara's mother
had died, the housekeeping and the superintendence of the servants had
been entrusted to Miss Rottermeyer. The father who was often away from
home, left her in sole charge, with the condition only that his little
daughter should have a voice in all matters, and that nothing should be
done against her wish.
As Clara was putting her impatient question for the second time, Dete
and Heidi arrived at the front door.
Tinette, the maid in dainty cap and apron, ushered them upstairs into
the library. Dete remained standing politely near the door, still
holding Heidi tightly by the hand, for she did not know what the child
might take it into her head to do amid these new surroundings.
Miss Rottermeyer rose slowly and went up to the little new companion
for the daughter of the house, to see what she was like. She did not
seem very pleased with her appearance. Heidi was dressed in her plain
little woolen frock, and her hat was an old straw one bent out of
shape. The child looked innocently out from beneath it, gazing with
unconcealed astonishment at the lady's towering head dress.
[Illustration]
"What is your name?" asked Miss Rottermeyer, after examining the child
for some minutes, while Heidi in return kept her eyes steadily fixed
upon the lady.
"Heidi," she answered in a clear, ringing voice.
"What? what? that's no Christian name for a child; you were not
christened that. What name did they give you when you were baptized?"
continued Miss Rottermeyer.
"I do not remember," replied Heidi.
"What a way to answer!" said the lady, shaking her head. "Dete, is the
child a simpleton or only saucy?"
"If the lady will allow me, I will speak for the child, for she is
very unaccustomed to strangers," said Dete, who had given Heidi a
silent poke for making such an unsuitable answer. "She is certainly not
stupid nor yet saucy, she speaks exactly as she thinks. This is the
first time she has ever been in a gentleman's house and she does not
know good manners; but she is very willing to learn. She was christened
Adelaide, after her mother, my sister, who is now dead."
"Well, that's a name that one can pronounce," remarked Miss
Rottermeyer. "But I must tell you, Dete, that I am astonished to see so
young a child. I told you that I wanted a companion of the same age as
the young lady of the house, one who could share her lessons, and all
her other occupations. Miss Clara is now over twelve; what age is this
child?"
"If the lady will allow me," began Dete again, in her usual fluent
manner, "I myself had lost count of her exact age; she is certainly a
little younger, but not much; I cannot say precisely, but I think she
is ten, or thereabouts."
"Grandfather told me I was eight," put in Heidi. Dete gave her another
poke, but as the child had not the least idea why she did so she was
not at all confused.
"What--only eight!" cried Miss Rottermeyer angrily. "Four years too
young! Of what use is such a child! And what have you learnt? What
books did you have to learn from?"
"None," said Heidi.
"How? what? How then did you learn to read?" continued the lady.
"I have never learnt to read, or Peter either," Heidi informed her.
"Mercy upon us! you do not know how to read! is it really so?"
exclaimed Miss Rottermeyer, greatly horrified. "Is it possible--not
able to read? What have you learnt then?"
"Nothing," said Heidi with unflinching truthfulness.
"Young woman," said the lady to Dete, "this is not at all the sort of
companion we want. How could you think of bringing me a child like
this?"
But Dete was not to be put down so easily, and answered warmly, "If
you will allow me, the child is exactly what I thought you required;
she is unlike all other children, and I thought this child seemed as
if made for the place. But I must go now, for my mistress will be
waiting for me; if you will permit I will come again soon and see how
she is getting on." And with a bow Dete quickly left the room and ran
downstairs. Miss Rottermeyer stood for a moment taken aback and then
ran after Dete. But she had disappeared out the front door.
Heidi remained where she had been standing since she first came in.
Clara had looked on during the interview without speaking; now she
beckoned to Heidi and said, "Come here!"
Heidi went up to her.
"Would you rather be called Heidi or Adelaide?" asked Clara.
"I am never called anything but Heidi," was the child's prompt answer.
"Then I shall always call you by that name," said Clara, "it suits you.
I have never heard it before, but neither have I ever seen a child like
you before. Have you always had that short curly hair?"
"Yes, I think so," said Heidi.
"Are you pleased to come to Frankfurt?" went on Clara.
"No, but I shall go home again tomorrow and take grandmother a white
loaf," explained Heidi.
"Well, you are a funny child!" exclaimed Clara. "Don't you know you
were sent for to come here and stay with me and share my lessons? They
are dreadfully dull, and I think the morning will never pass away.
My tutor comes every morning at about ten o'clock, and then we go on
with lessons till two, and it does seem such a long time. Sometimes
he takes up the book and holds it close up to his face, as if he were
very short-sighted, but I know it's only because he wants to gape, and
Miss Rottermeyer takes her large handkerchief out also now and then
and covers her face with it, as if she was moved by what we had been
reading, but that is only because she is longing to gape too. And I
myself often want to gape, but I dare not, for if Miss Rottermeyer sees
me gaping she runs off at once and fetches the cod-liver oil and says I
must have a dose, as I am getting weak again, and the cod-liver oil is
horrible. But now it will be much more amusing, for I shall be able to
lie back and listen while you learn to read."
Heidi shook her head doubtfully when she heard of learning to read.
"Oh, nonsense, Heidi, of course you must learn to read, everybody
must, and my tutor is very kind, and never cross, and he will explain
everything to you. But mind, when he explains anything to you, you
won't be able to understand; but don't ask any questions, or else he
will go on explaining and you will understand less than ever. Later,
when you have learnt more and know about things yourself, then you will
begin to understand what he meant."
Miss Rottermeyer now came back into the room; she had not been able
to overtake Dete, and was evidently very much put out. She walked
backwards and forwards in a state of agitation between the study and
the dining-room, and began scolding the butler. "Make haste, Sebastian,
or we shall get no dinner today at all," she said.
Then hurrying out, she called to Tinette to see that the bed-room was
prepared for the little girl who had just arrived.
Meanwhile Sebastian had flung open the folding doors leading into the
dining-room with rather more noise than he need, for he was feeling
cross, although he did not dare answer back when Miss Rottermeyer spoke
to him; he went up to Clara's chair to wheel her into the next room.
Heidi stood staring at him. Seeing her eyes fixed upon him, he suddenly
growled out, "Well, what is there in me to stare at like that?" which
he would certainly not have done if he had been aware that Miss
Rottermeyer was just then entering the room. "You look so like Peter,"
answered Heidi. The housekeeper clasped her hands in horror. "Is it
possible!" she stammered half-aloud, "she is now addressing the servant
as if he were a friend! I never could have imagined such a child!"
Sebastian wheeled the couch into the dining-room and helped Clara on to
her chair. Miss Rottermeyer took the seat beside her and made a sign
to Heidi to take the one opposite. Beside Heidi's plate lay a nice
white roll, and her eyes lighted up with pleasure as she saw it. When
Sebastian came up to her side and handed her the dish of fish, she
looked at the roll and asked, "Can I have it?" Sebastian nodded, and
Heidi immediately seized the roll and put it in her pocket. Sebastian
still remained standing beside Heidi; it was not his duty to speak, nor
to move away until she had helped herself. Heidi looked wonderingly at
him for a minute or two, and then said, "Am I to eat some of that too?"
Sebastian nodded again. "Give me some then," she said, looking calmly
at her plate.
"I see I shall have to teach you the first rules of behavior," said the
housekeeper with a sigh. "You must not speak to Sebastian at table, or
at any other time, unless you have an order to give him, and then you
are not to address him as if he was some one belonging to you. Never
let me hear you speak to him in that way again! It is the same with
Tinette, and for myself you are to address me as you hear others doing.
Clara must herself decide what you are to call her."
"Why, Clara, of course," put in the latter. Then followed a long list
of rules as to general behavior, during the course of which Heidi's
eyes gradually closed, for she had been up before five o'clock that
morning and had had a long journey. She leaned back in her chair and
fell fast asleep. Miss Rottermeyer having at last come to the end of
her lecture said, "Now remember what I have said, Adelaide! Have you
understood it all?"
"Heidi has been asleep for ever so long," said Clara, her face rippling
all over with amusement, for she had not had such an entertaining
dinner for a long time.
"It is really insupportable what one has to go through with this
child," exclaimed Miss Rottermeyer, in great indignation, and she rang
the bell so violently that Tinette and Sebastian both came running in;
but no noise was sufficient to wake Heidi, and it was with difficulty
that they roused her sufficiently to get her to her bed-room.
CHAPTER VII
THE UNFRIENDLY HOUSEKEEPER
When Heidi opened her eyes on her first morning in Frankfurt she could
not think where she was. Then she rubbed them and looked about her. She
was sitting up in a high white bed, in a large, wide room with very
long white curtains; near the window stood two chairs covered with
large flowered material and then came a sofa with the same flowers,
in front of which was a round table; in the corner was a washstand,
with things upon it that Heidi had never seen in her life before. But
now all at once she remembered that she was in Frankfurt. She jumped
out of bed and dressed herself; then she ran first to one window and
then another; she wanted to see the sky and country outside; she felt
like a bird in a cage behind those great curtains. But they were too
heavy for her to put aside, so she crept underneath them to get to
the window. But she could see nothing but walls and windows. She felt
quite frightened and ran backwards and forwards, trying to open first
one and then the other of the windows, for she felt that somewhere
outside there must be the green grass, and the last unmelted snows
on the mountain slopes. But the windows remained immovable, try what
Heidi would to open them. Suddenly there was a knock on the door, and
immediately after Tinette put her head inside and said, "Breakfast
is ready." Heidi had no idea what an invitation so worded meant, and
Tinette's face did not encourage any questioning on Heidi's part. Heidi
was sharp enough to read its expression and acted accordingly. So she
drew a little stool out from under the table, put it in the corner and
sat down upon it, and there silently awaited what would happen next.
Shortly after, Miss Rottermeyer appeared. She seemed very much put out,
and called to Heidi, "What is the matter with you, Adelaide? Don't you
understand what breakfast is? Come along at once!"
Heidi had no difficulty in understanding now and followed at once.
Clara gave her a kindly greeting, her face looking considerably more
cheerful than usual, for she looked forward to all kinds of new things
happening again that day. Breakfast passed off quietly; Heidi ate her
bread and butter in a perfectly correct manner, and when the meal was
over and Clara wheeled back into the study, Miss Rottermeyer told her
to follow and remain with Clara until the tutor should arrive and
lessons begin.
As soon as the children were alone again, Heidi asked, "How can one see
out from here, and look right down on to the ground?"
"You must open the window and look out," replied Clara amused.
"But the windows won't open," responded Heidi sadly.
"Yes, they will," Clara assured her. "You cannot open them, nor I
either, but when you see Sebastian you can ask him to open one."
It was a great relief to Heidi to know that the windows could be opened
and that one could look out. Clara now began to ask her questions about
her home, and Heidi was delighted to tell her all about the mountain
and the goats, and the flowery meadows.
Meanwhile her tutor had arrived; Miss Rottermeyer, however, did not
bring him straight into the study but drew him first aside into the
dining-room, where she poured forth her troubles. It appeared that
she had written some time back to Mr. Sesemann to tell him that his
daughter very much desired to have a companion. Miss Rottermeyer had
wished for this arrangement on her own behalf, as it would relieve her
from having always to entertain the sick girl. The father had answered
that he was quite willing to let his daughter have a companion,
provided she was treated in every way like his own child. But now she
went on to explain how dreadfully she had been taken in about the
child, and related all the unimaginable things of which she had already
been guilty, so that not only would he have to begin with teaching
her the A B C, but would have to start with the most rudimentary
instruction as regarded everything to do with daily life. She could
see only one way out of this disastrous state of affairs, and that was
for the tutor to declare that it was impossible for the two to learn
together without detriment to Clara, who was so far ahead of the other;
that would be a good excuse for getting rid of the child. But she dared
not send her home without Mr. Sesemann's order, since he was aware
that by this time the companion had arrived. The tutor was a cautious
man and said that if the little girl was backward in some things she
was probably advanced in others, and a little regular teaching would
soon set the balance right. When Miss Rottermeyer saw that he was not
ready to support her, and evidently quite ready to undertake teaching
the alphabet, she opened the study door, which she quickly shut again
as soon as he had gone through remaining on the other side herself,
for she had a perfect horror of the A B C. She walked up and down the
dining-room, thinking over in her own mind how the servants were to
be told to address Adelaide. The father had written that she was to
be treated exactly like his own daughter, and this would especially
refer, she imagined, to the servants. She was not allowed, however, a
very long interval of time for consideration, for suddenly the sound of
a frightful crash was heard in the study, followed by frantic cries
for Sebastian. She rushed into the room. There on the floor lay in a
confused heap, books, exercise-books and inkstand, with the table-cloth
on the top, while from beneath them a dark stream of ink was flowing
all across the floor. Heidi had disappeared.
"Here's a state of things!" exclaimed Miss Rottermeyer. "Table-cloth,
books, work-basket, everything lying in the ink! It was that
unfortunate child, I suppose!"
"Yes, Heidi did it," explained Clara, "but quite by accident; she must
on no account be punished; she jumped up in such violent haste to get
away that she dragged the table-cloth along with her, and so everything
went over. There were a number of vehicles passing, that is why she
rushed off like that; perhaps she has never seen a carriage."
"Is it not as I said? She has not the smallest notion about anything!
But where is the child who has caused all this trouble? Surely she has
not run away! What would Mr. Sesemann say to me?" She ran out of the
room and down the stairs. There, at the bottom, standing in the open
doorway, was Heidi, looking in amazement up and down the street.
"What are you doing? What are you thinking of to run away like that?"
called Miss Rottermeyer.
"I heard the sound of the fir trees, but I cannot see where they
are, and now I cannot hear them any more," answered Heidi, looking
disappointedly in the direction whence the noise of the passing
carriages had reached her, and which to Heidi had seemed like the
blowing of the south wind in the trees, so that in great joy of heart
she had rushed out to look at them.
"Fir trees! do you suppose we are in the woods? What ridiculous ideas
are these? Come upstairs and see the mischief you have done!"
Heidi followed Miss Rottermeyer upstairs; she was quite astonished to
see the disaster she had caused, for in her joy and haste to get to the
fir trees she had been unaware of having dragged everything after her.
"I excuse you doing this as it is the first time, but do not let me
hear of you doing it a second time," said Miss Rottermeyer pointing to
the floor. "During your lesson time you are to sit still and attend.
If you cannot do this I shall have to tie you to your chair. Do you
understand?"
"Yes," replied Heidi, "but I will certainly not move again," for now
she understood that it was a rule to sit still while she was being
taught.
When Clara had been placed on her couch after dinner, and the
housekeeper had retired to her room, Heidi waited for Sebastian who
was coming up from the kitchen with a tray of silver tea-things, which
he had to put away in the dining-room cupboard. As he reached the top
stair Heidi went up to him and addressed him in the formal manner she
had been ordered to use by Miss Rottermeyer.
Sebastian looked surprised and said somewhat curtly, "What is it you
want, miss?"
"How can a window be opened?"
"Why, like that!" and Sebastian flung up one of the large windows.
Heidi ran to it, but she was not tall enough to see out, for her head
only reached the sill.
"There, now miss can look out and see what is going on below," said
Sebastian as he brought her a high wooden stool to stand on.
Heidi climbed up, and at last, as she thought, was going to see what
she had been longing for. But she drew back her head with a look of
great disappointment on her face.
[Illustration: "WHY, THERE IS NOTHING OUTSIDE BUT THE STONY STREETS"]
"Why, there is nothing outside but the stony streets," she said
mournfully; "but if I went right round to the other side of the house
what should I see there, Sebastian?"
"Nothing but what you see here," he told her.
"Then where can I go to see right away over the whole valley?"
"You would have to climb to the top of a high tower, a church tower,
like that one over there with the gold ball above it."
Heidi got down quickly from her stool, ran to the door, down the steps
and out into the street. She passed a great many people, but they all
seemed in such a hurry that Heidi thought they had not time to tell her
which way to go. Then suddenly at one of the street corners she saw a
boy carrying a hand-organ on his back and a funny-looking animal on his
arm. Heidi ran up to him and said, "Where is the tower with the gold
ball on the top?"
"I don't know," was the answer.
"Do you know any other church with a high tower?"
"Yes, I know one."
"Come then and show it me."
"Show me first what you will give me," and the boy held out his hand as
he spoke. Heidi searched about in her pocket and presently drew out a
card on which was painted a garland of beautiful red roses; she looked
at it first for a moment or two, for she felt rather sorry to part with
it; Clara had only that morning made her a present of it--but then, to
look down into the valley and see all the lovely green slopes! "There,"
said Heidi holding out the card, "would you like to have that?"
The boy drew back his hand and shook his head.
"What would you like then?" asked Heidi, not sorry to put the card back
in her pocket.
"Money."
"I have none, but Clara has; I am sure she will give me some; how much
do you want?"
"Five cents."
"Come along then."
They started off together along the street, and on the way Heidi asked
her companion what he was carrying on his back; it was a hand-organ,
he told her, which played beautiful music when he turned the handle.
All at once they found themselves in front of an old church with a high
tower; the boy said, "There it is."
Heidi caught sight of a bell in the wall which she now pulled with all
her might. "If I go up to the tower you must wait here, for I do not
know the way back, and you will have to show me."
"What will you give me then for that?"
"Another five cents."
They heard the key turning inside, and then some one pulled open the
heavy, creaking door; an old man came out and at first looked with
surprise and then in anger at the children, as he began scolding them:
"What do you mean by ringing me down like this? Can't you read what is
written over the bell, 'For those who wish to go up the tower'?"
"But I do want to go up the tower," said Heidi.
"What do you want up there?" said the old man. "Has somebody sent you?"
"No," replied Heidi, "I only wanted to go up and look down on the
valley."
"Get along home with you and don't try this trick again, or you may
not come off so easily a second time," and with that he turned and
was about to shut the door. But Heidi took hold of his coat and said
beseechingly, "Let me go up, just once."
He looked round, and his mood changed as he saw her pleading eyes; he
took hold of her hand and said kindly, "Well, if you really wish it so
much, I will take you."
The boy sat down on the church steps to show that he was content to
wait where he was.
When they had climbed to the top of the tower, the old man lifted Heidi
up that she might look out of the open window.
She saw beneath her a sea of roofs, towers, and chimney-pots; she
quickly drew back her head and said in a sad, disappointed voice, "It
is not at all what I thought."
"You see now, a child like you does not understand anything about a
view! Come along down and don't go ringing at my bell again!"
On the way down they passed the tower-keeper's room. At the far end of
this was a large basket, in front of which sat a big grey cat.
Heidi went up to the basket and broke out into expressions of delight.
"Oh, the sweet little things! the darling kittens," she kept on saying,
as she jumped from side to side of the basket so as not to lose any
of the droll gambols of the seven or eight little kittens that were
scrambling and rolling and falling over one another.
"Would you like to have one?" said the old man, who enjoyed watching
the child's pleasure.
"For myself, to keep?" said Heidi excitedly, who could hardly believe
such happiness was to be hers.
"Yes, of course, more than one if you like--in short, you can take away
the whole lot if you have room for them," for the old man was only too
glad to think he could get rid of his kittens without more trouble.
"But how can I take them with me?" asked Heidi, and was going quickly
to see how many she could carry away in her hands, when the old cat
sprang at her so fiercely that she shrank back in fear.
"I will take them for you, if you tell me where," said the old man,
stroking the cat to quiet her.
"To Mr. Sesemann's, the big house where there is a gold dog's head on
the door, with a ring in its mouth," explained Heidi.
The old man had had charge of the tower for many a long year and knew
every house far and near.
"I know the house," he said, "but when shall I bring them, and who
shall I ask for--you are not one of the family, I am sure."
"No, but Clara will be so delighted when I take her the kittens."
"If I could just take one or two away with me! one for myself and one
for Clara, may I?"
"Well, wait a moment," said the man, and he drew the cat cautiously
away into his room, and leaving her by a bowl of milk came out again
and shut the door. "Now take two of them."
Heidi's eyes shone with delight. She picked up a white kitten and
another striped white and yellow, and put one in the right, the other
in the left pocket. Then she went downstairs. The boy was still sitting
outside on the steps.
In a very short time they had reached the door with the large dog's
head for a knocker. Heidi rang the bell. Sebastian opened it quickly,
and when he saw it was Heidi, "Make haste! make haste," he cried in a
hurried voice.
Heidi sprang hastily in and Sebastian shut the door after her, leaving
the boy, whom he had not noticed, standing in wonder on the steps.
"Make haste, little miss," said Sebastian again; "go straight into the
dining-room, they are already at table; Miss Rottermeyer looks like a
loaded cannon. What could make the little miss run off like that?"
Heidi walked into the room. The housekeeper did not look up, Clara
did not speak; there was an uncomfortable silence. Sebastian pushed
her chair up for her, and when she was seated Miss Rottermeyer said
sternly: "Adelaide, you have behaved in a most unmannerly way by
running out of the house as you did, without asking permission, without
any one knowing a word about it; and then to go wandering about till
this hour; I never heard of such behavior before."
"Miau!" came the answer back.
This was too much for the lady's temper; with raised voice she
exclaimed, "You dare, Adelaide, after your bad behavior, to answer me
as if it were a joke?"
"I did not--" began Heidi--"Miau! miau!"
"That will do," Miss Rottermeyer tried to say, but her voice was almost
stifled with anger. "Get up and leave the room."
Heidi stood up frightened, and again made an attempt to explain. "I
really did not--" "Miau! miau! miau!"
"But, Heidi," now put in Clara, "when you see that it makes Miss
Rottermeyer angry, why do you keep on saying miau?"
"It isn't I, it's the kittens," Heidi was at last given time to say.
"How! what! kittens!" shrieked Miss Rottermeyer. "Sebastian! Tinette!
Find the horrid little things! take them away!" And she rose and fled
into the study and locked the door.
When Sebastian entered the dining-room, Clara had the kittens on her
lap, and Heidi was kneeling beside her, both laughing and playing with
the tiny, graceful little animals.
"Sebastian," exclaimed Clara as he came in, "you must help us; you
must find a bed for the kittens where Miss Rottermeyer will not spy
them out, for she is so afraid of them that she will send them away
at once; but we want to keep them, and have them out whenever we are
alone. Where can you put them?"
"I will see to that," answered Sebastian willingly. "I will make a bed
in a basket and put it in some place where the lady is not likely to
go; you leave it to me." He set about the work at once, sniggling to
himself the while, for he guessed there would be a further rumpus about
this some day, and Sebastian was not without a certain pleasure in the
thought of Miss Rottermeyer being a little disturbed.
After some time had elapsed, Miss Rottermeyer opened the door a crack
and called through, "Have you taken those dreadful little animals away,
Sebastian?"
He assured her twice that he had done so; and quickly and quietly
catching up the kittens from Clara's lap, disappeared with them.
Miss Rottermeyer retired without speaking, Clara and Heidi following,
happy in their minds at knowing that the kittens were lying in a
comfortable bed.
CHAPTER VIII
SURPRISES FOR THE CHILDREN
The tutor had just been shown into the study on the following morning
when there came a very loud ring at the bell. Sebastian opened the door
and there stood a ragged little boy carrying a hand-organ on his back.
"What's the meaning of this?" said Sebastian angrily. "I'll teach you
to ring bells like that! What do you want here?"
"I want to see Clara," the boy answered.
"You good-for-nothing little rascal, can't you be polite enough to say
'Miss Clara.' What do you want with her?" continued Sebastian roughly.
"She owes me ten cents," explained the boy.
"You must be out of your mind! And how do you know that any young lady
of that name lives here?"
"She owes me five for showing her the way there, and five for showing
her the way back."
"The young lady never goes out, cannot even walk; be off and get back
to where you came from, before I have to help you along."
But the boy was not to be frightened away, and said in a determined
voice, "But I saw her in the street, and can describe her to you; she
has short, curly black hair, and black eyes, and wears a brown dress,
and does not talk quite like we do."
"Oho!" thought Sebastian, laughing to himself, "the little miss has
evidently been up to more mischief." Then, drawing the boy inside he
said aloud, "I understand now, come with me and wait outside the door
till I tell you to go in. Be sure you begin playing your organ the
instant you get inside the room; the lady is very fond of music."
Sebastian knocked at the study door, and a voice said, "Come in."
"There is a boy outside who says he must speak to Miss Clara herself,"
Sebastian announced.
Clara was delighted at such an extraordinary and unexpected message.
"Let him come in at once," replied Clara.
The boy was already inside the room, and according to Sebastian's
directions immediately began to play his organ. Miss Rottermeyer
hearing the music rushed into the room and saw the ragged boy turning
away at his organ in the most energetic manner.
"Leave off! leave off at once!" she screamed. But her voice was drowned
by the music. She was making a dash for the boy, when she saw something
on the ground crawling towards her feet--a dreadful dark object--a
tortoise. At this sight she jumped higher than she had for many long
years before, shrieking with all her might, "Sebastian! Sebastian!"
"Take them all out, boy and animal! Get them away at once!" she
commanded him.
Sebastian pulled the boy away, the latter having quickly caught up his
tortoise, and when he had got him outside he put something into his
hand. "There is the ten cents from Miss Clara, and another ten cents
for the music. You did it all quite right!" and with that he shut the
front door upon him.
Quietness reigned again in the study, and lessons began once more; Miss
Rottermeyer now stayed in the study in order to prevent any further
dreadful goings-on.
[Illustration: MISS ROTTERMEYER JUMPED HIGHER THAN SHE HAD FOR
MANY LONG YEARS]
But soon another knock came to the door, and Sebastian again stepped
in, this time to say that someone had brought a large basket with
orders that it was to be given at once to Miss Clara.
"For me?" said Clara in astonishment, her curiosity very much excited,
"bring it in at once that I may see what it is like."
Sebastian carried in a large covered basket and retired.
"I think the lessons had better be finished first before the basket is
unpacked," said Miss Rottermeyer.
Clara could not conceive what was in it, and cast longing glances
towards it. In the middle of one of her declensions she suddenly broke
off and said to the tutor, "Mayn't I just give one peep inside to see
what is in it before I go on?"
"On some considerations I am for it, on others against it," he began
in answer; "for it, on the ground that if your whole attention is
directed to the basket--" but the speech remained unfinished. The cover
of the basket was loose, and at this moment one, two, three, and then
two more kittens came suddenly tumbling on to the floor and racing
about the room in every direction. They jumped over the tutor's boots,
climbed up Miss Rottermeyer's dress, rolled about her feet, sprang up
on to Clara's couch, scratching, scrambling, and mewing. Clara kept on
exclaiming, "Oh, the dear little things! how pretty they are! Look,
Heidi, at this one; look, look, at that one over there!" And Heidi in
her delight kept running after them first into one corner and then into
the other. The tutor stood up by the table not knowing what to do. Miss
Rottermeyer was unable at first to speak at all, so overcome was she
with horror, and she did not dare rise from her chair for fear that all
the dreadful little animals should jump upon her at once. At last she
found voice to call loudly, "Tinette! Tinette! Sebastian! Sebastian!"
They came in answer to her summons and gathered up the kittens; by
degrees they got them all inside the basket again and then carried them
off to put with the other two.
When Miss Rottermeyer learned that Heidi was to blame for having the
kittens brought into the house she was very angry and said:
"Adelaide, you little barbarian, you shall be put in a dark cellar with
the rats and black beetles."
Heidi listened in silence and surprise to her sentence, for she had
never seen a cellar such as was now described; the place known at her
grandfather's as the cellar, where the fresh cheeses and the new milk
were kept, was a pleasant and inviting place; neither did she know at
all what rats and black beetles were like.
But now Clara interrupted in great distress. "No, no, Miss Rottermeyer,
you must wait till papa comes; he has written to say that he will soon
be home, and then I will tell him everything, and he will say what is
to be done with Heidi."
Miss Rottermeyer could not do anything against this superior authority,
especially as the father was really expected very shortly. She rose and
said with some displeasure, "As you will, Clara, but I too shall have
something to say to Mr. Sesemann." And with that she left the room.
Two days now went by without further disturbance. Miss Rottermeyer,
however, could not recover her equanimity; she was perpetually reminded
by Heidi's presence of the deception that had been played upon her,
and it seemed to her that ever since the child had come into the
house everything had been topsy-turvy, and she could not bring things
into proper order again. Clara had grown much more cheerful; she no
longer found time hang heavy during the lesson hours, for Heidi was
continually making a diversion of some kind or other. She jumbled all
her letters up together and seemed quite unable to learn them, and
when the tutor tried to draw her attention to their different shapes,
and to help her by showing her that this was like a little horn,
or that like a bird's bill, she would suddenly exclaim in a joyful
voice, "That is a goat!" "That is a bird of prey!". For the tutor's
descriptions suggested all kinds of pictures to her mind, but left her
still incapable of the alphabet. In the later afternoons Heidi always
sat with Clara, and told her of the mountain and of her life upon it,
and the longing to return would become so overpowering that she always
finished with the words, "Now I must go home! tomorrow I must really
go!" But Clara would try to quiet her and tell Heidi that she must
wait till her father returned, and then they would see what was to be
done. After dinner Heidi had to sit alone in her room for a couple of
hours, for she understood now that she might not run about outside at
Frankfurt as she did on the mountain, and so she did not attempt it.
At times she could hardly contain herself for the longing to be back
home again. She remembered that Dete had told her that she could go
home whenever she liked. So it came about one day that Heidi felt she
could not bear it any longer. She tied all the rolls up in her red
shawl, put on her straw hat, and went downstairs. But just as she
reached the hall-door she met Miss Rottermeyer, just returning from a
walk, which put a stop to Heidi's journey.
"What have you dressed yourself like that for?" exclaimed Miss
Rottermeyer. "What do you mean by this? Have I not strictly forbidden
you to go running about in the streets? And here you are ready to start
off again, and going out looking like a beggar."
"I was not going to run about, I was going home," said Heidi frightened.
"What are you talking about! Going home! What would Mr. Sesemann say
if he knew! And what is the matter with his house, I should like to
know! Have you ever in your life before had such a house to live in,
such a table, or so many to wait upon you? Have you?"
"No," replied Heidi.
"I should think not, indeed!" continued the exasperated lady. "You are
an ungrateful little thing to be always thinking of what naughty thing
you can do next!"
Then Heidi's feelings got the better of her, and she poured forth her
trouble. "Indeed I only want to go home, for if I stay so long away
Snowflake will begin crying again, and grandmother is waiting for me,
and Greenfinch will get beaten, because I am not there to give Peter
any cheese, and I can never see here how the sun says good-night to the
mountains; and if the great bird were to fly over Frankfurt he would
croak louder than ever about people huddling all together and teaching
each other bad things, and not going to live up on the rocks, where it
is so much better."
"Heaven have mercy on us, the child is out of her mind!" cried Miss
Rottermeyer, and she turned and went quickly up the steps. "Go and
bring that unhappy little creature in at once," she ordered Sebastian.
"What, are you in trouble again?" said Sebastian in a pleasant voice,
as he led Heidi back up the stairs. He tried to cheer her up by telling
her he was taking good care of all the kittens. But she was too sad to
care and silently crept away to her room.
At supper that evening she sat without moving or eating; all she did
was to hastily hide her roll in her pocket.
Next day Miss Rottermeyer made up her mind that she would supplement
Heidi's clothing with various garments from Clara's wardrobe, so as to
give her a decent appearance when Mr. Sesemann returned. She confided
her intention to Clara, who was quite willing to give up any number
of dresses and hats to Heidi; so the lady went upstairs to overhaul
the child's belongings and see what was to be kept and what thrown
away. She returned, however, in the course of a few minutes with an
expression of horror upon her face.
"What is this, Adelaide, that I find in your wardrobe!" she exclaimed.
"I never heard of any one doing such a thing before! In a cupboard
meant for clothes, Adelaide, what do I see at the bottom but a heap of
rolls! Will you believe it, Clara, bread in a wardrobe! a whole pile of
bread!"
"Tinette," she called, "go upstairs and take away all those rolls out
of Adelaide's cupboard and the old straw hat on the table."
"No! no!" screamed Heidi. "I must keep the hat, and the rolls are for
grandmother," and she was rushing to stop Tinette when Miss Rottermeyer
caught hold of her: "You will stop here, and all that bread and rubbish
shall be taken to the place they belong to," she said in a determined
tone as she kept her hand on the child to prevent her running forward.
Heidi flung herself down on Clara's couch and broke into a wild fit
of weeping, sobbing out at intervals, "Now grandmother's bread is all
gone! They were all for grandmother, and now they are taken away, and
grandmother won't have one," and she wept as if her heart would break.
She could not get over her sobs for a long time; she would never have
been able to leave off crying at all if it had not been for Clara's
promise that she should have fresh, new rolls to take to grandmother
when the time came for her to go home.
When Heidi got into bed that night she found her old straw hat lying
under the counterpane. She snatched it up with delight, made it more
out of shape still in her joy, and then, after wrapping a handkerchief
round it, she stuck it in a corner of the cupboard as far back as she
could.
It was Sebastian who had hidden it there for her; he had been in the
dining-room when Tinette was called, and had heard all that went on
with the child and the latter's loud weeping. So he followed Tinette,
and when she came out of Heidi's room carrying the rolls and the hat,
he caught up the hat and said, "I will see to this old thing."
CHAPTER IX
MR. SESEMANN TAKES HEIDI'S PART
A few days after these events there was great commotion and much
running up and down stairs in Mr. Sesemann's house. The master had just
returned, and Sebastian and Tinette were busy carrying up one package
after another from the carriage, for Mr. Sesemann always brought back
a lot of pretty things for his home. He himself had not waited to do
anything before going in to see his daughter. Heidi was sitting beside
her, for it was late afternoon, when the two were always together.
Father and daughter greeted each other with warm affection, for they
were deeply attached to one another. Then he held out his hand to
Heidi, who had stolen away into the corner, and said kindly to her,
"And this is our little Swiss girl; come and shake hands with me!
That's right! Now, tell me, are Clara and you good friends with one
another, or do you get angry and quarrel, and then cry and make it up,
and then start quarrelling again on the next occasion?"
"No, Clara is always kind to me," answered Heidi.
"And Heidi," put in Clara quickly, "has not once tried to quarrel."
"That's all right, I am glad to hear it," said her father, as he rose
from his chair. "But you must excuse me, Clara, for I have had nothing
to eat all day. Afterwards I will show you all the things I have
brought home with me."
He found Miss Rottermeyer in the dining-room and when he had taken his
place she sat down opposite to him, looking so gloomy that he turned to
her and said, "What is the matter?"
"Mr. Sesemann," began the lady in a solemn voice, "we have been
frightfully imposed upon."
"Indeed, in what way?" asked Mr. Sesemann as he went on calmly drinking
his wine.
"Well, I supposed I was getting a well-behaved and nicely brought up
little Swiss girl for Clara's companion but I have been shockingly,
disgracefully imposed upon."
"But how? what is there shocking and disgraceful? I see nothing
shocking in the child," remarked Mr. Sesemann quietly.
"If you only knew the kind of people and animals she has brought into
the house during your absence! The tutor can tell you more about that."
"Animals? what am I to understand by animals, Miss Rottermeyer?"
"It is past understanding; the whole behavior of the child would be
past understanding, if it were not that at times she is evidently not
in her right mind."
At that moment the door opened and the tutor was announced. "Ah! here
is some one," exclaimed Mr. Sesemann, "who will help to clear up
matters for me. Take a seat," he continued, as he held out his hand to
the tutor. "And now tell me, what is the matter with this child that
has come to be a companion to my daughter?"
The tutor started in his usual style. "If I must give my opinion about
this little girl, I should like first to state that, if on one side,
there is a lack of development which has been caused by the more or
less careless way in which she has been brought up--"
"My good friend," interrupted Mr. Sesemann, "you are giving yourself
more trouble than you need. I only want to know what your opinion is as
to her being a fit companion or not for my daughter?"
"I should not like in any way to prejudice you against her," began
the tutor once more; "for if on the one hand there is a certain
inexperience of the ways of society, owing to the uncivilized life she
led up to the time of her removal to Frankfurt, on the other hand she
is endowed with certain good qualities, and, taken on the whole--"
"Excuse me, my dear sir, do not disturb yourself, but I must--I think
my daughter will be wanting me," and with that Mr. Sesemann quickly
left the room and went into the study to talk to Clara.
"And now, my dear," he said, drawing his chair nearer and laying her
hand in his, "what kind of animals has your little companion brought
into the house, and why does Miss Rottermeyer think that she is not
always in her right mind?"
Clara had no difficulty in answering. She told her father everything
about the tortoise and the kittens, and explained to him what Heidi
had said the day Miss Rottermeyer had been put in such a fright. Mr.
Sesemann laughed heartily at her recital. "So you do not want me to
send the child home again," he asked, "you are not tired of having her
here?"
"Oh, no, no," Clara exclaimed, "please do not send her away. Time has
passed much more quickly since Heidi has been here, for something fresh
happens every day, and it used to be so dull, and she has always so
much to tell me."
That evening when Mr. Sesemann and Miss Rottermeyer were alone,
settling the household affairs, he informed her that he intended to
keep Heidi, for his daughter liked her as a companion. "I desire," he
continued, "that the child shall be in every way kindly treated, and
that her peculiarities shall not be looked upon as crimes. If you find
her too much for you alone, I can hold out a prospect of help for I am
expecting my mother here on a long visit, and she, as you know, can get
along with anybody, whatever they may be like."
"O yes, I know," replied Miss Rottermeyer, but there was no tone of
relief in her voice as she thought of the coming help.
Mr. Sesemann was only home for a short time; he left for Paris again
before the fortnight was over, comforting Clara with the prospect of
her grandmother's arrival, which was to take place in a few days'
time. Clara talked so much about her grandmother that Heidi began also
to call her "grandmamma," which brought forth a look of displeasure
from Miss Rottermeyer. As she was going to her room that night, Miss
Rottermeyer waylaid her, and gave her strict orders not to call Mrs.
Sesemann "grandmamma," but always to say "madam."
CHAPTER X
CLARA'S LOVABLE GRANDMOTHER
There was much expectation and preparation about the house on the
following evening, for Grandmother Sesemann was coming. Tinette had a
new white cap on her head, and Sebastian collected all the footstools
he could find and placed them in convenient spots, so that the lady
might find one ready to her feet whenever she chose to sit.
At last the carriage came driving up to the door, and Tinette and
Sebastian ran down the steps, followed by the housekeeper, who advanced
to greet the guest. Heidi had been sent up to her room and ordered to
remain there until called down, as the grandmother would certainly
like to see Clara alone first. Heidi sat herself down in a corner and
repeated her instructions over to herself. She had not to wait long
before Tinette put her head in and said abruptly, "Go downstairs into
the study."
Heidi had not dared to ask Miss Rottermeyer again how she was to
address the grandmother: she thought the lady had perhaps made a
mistake, for she had never heard any one called by other than their
right name. As she opened the study door she heard a kind voice say,
"Ah, here comes the child! Come along and let me have a good look at
you."
Heidi walked up to her and said very distinctly in her clear voice,
"Good-evening, Mrs. Madam."
"Well!" said the grandmother laughing, "is that how they address people
in your home on the mountain?"
"No," replied Heidi gravely, "I never knew any one with that name
before."
"Nor I either," laughed the grandmother again as she patted Heidi's
cheek. "Never mind! when I am with the children I am always grandmamma;
you won't forget that name, will you?"
"No, no," Heidi assured her, "I often used to say it at home."
"I understand," said the grandmother, with a cheerful little nod of
the head. Then she looked more closely at Heidi, and the child looked
back at her with steady, serious eyes, for there was something kind
and warm-hearted about this newcomer that pleased Heidi, and indeed
everything about the grandmother attracted her. She had such beautiful
white hair, and two long lace ends hung down from the cap on her head
and waved gently about her face every time she moved, as if a soft
breeze were blowing round her, which gave Heidi a peculiar feeling of
pleasure.
"And what is your name, child?" the grandmother now asked.
"I am always called Heidi; but as I am now to be called Adelaide, I
will try and take care--" Heidi stopped short, for Miss Rottermeyer was
at this moment entering the room.
"Mrs. Sesemann will no doubt agree with me," she interrupted, "that it
was necessary to choose a name that could be pronounced easily, if only
for the sake of the servants."
"My worthy Rottermeyer," replied Mrs. Sesemann, "if a person is called
'Heidi' and has grown accustomed to that name, I call her by the same,
and so let it be."
Miss Rottermeyer was always very much annoyed that the old lady
continually addressed her by her surname only; but it was no use
minding, for the grandmother always went her own way, and so there
was no help for it. Moreover, the grandmother was a keen old lady, and
had all her five wits about her, and she knew what was going on in the
house as soon as she entered it.
When on the following day Clara lay down as usual on her couch after
dinner, the grandmother sat down beside her for a few minutes and
closed her eyes, then she got up again as lively as ever, and trotted
off into the dining-room. No one was there. "Heidi is asleep, I
suppose," she said to herself, and then going up to Miss Rottermeyer's
room she gave a loud knock at the door. She waited a few minutes and
then Miss Rottermeyer opened the door and drew back in surprise at this
unexpected visit.
"Where is the child, and what is she doing all this time?" said Mrs.
Sesemann.
"She is sitting in her room, where she could well employ herself if she
had the least idea of making herself useful; but you have no idea, Mrs.
Sesemann, of the out-of-the-way things this child imagines and does."
"I should do the same if I had to sit in there like that child, I can
tell you; go bring her to my room; I have some pretty books with me
that I should like to give her."
"That is just the misfortune," said Miss Rottermeyer with a despairing
gesture, "what use are books to her? She has not been able to learn
her A B C's even, all the long time she has been here; it is quite
impossible to get the least idea of them into her head, and that the
tutor himself will tell you; if he had not the patience of an angel he
would have given up teaching her long ago."
"That is very strange," said Mrs. Sesemann, "she does not look to me
like a child who would be unable to learn her alphabet."
Heidi now appeared and gazed with open-eyed delight and wonder at the
beautiful colored pictures in the books which the grandmother gave
her to look at. All of a sudden the child gave a start and burst into
sobs, for she had turned to a picture of a green pasture, full of young
animals, some grazing and others nibbling at the shrubs. In the middle
was a shepherd leaning upon his staff and looking on at his happy flock.
The grandmother laid her hand kindly on Heidi's. "Don't cry, dear
child, don't cry," she said, "the picture has reminded you perhaps of
something. But see, there is a beautiful tale to the picture which I
will tell you this evening. And there are other nice tales of all kinds
to read and to tell again. But now we must have a little talk together,
so dry your tears and come and stand in front of me and tell me how you
are getting on in your school-time; do you like your lessons, and have
you learnt a great deal?"
"O no!" replied Heidi sighing, "but I knew beforehand that it was not
possible to learn."
"What is it you think impossible to learn?"
"Why, to read, it is too difficult."
"You don't say so! and who told you that?"
"Peter told me, and he knew all about it, for he had tried and tried
and could not learn it."
"Peter must be a very odd boy then! But listen, Heidi, you must not
always go by what Peter says. You must believe what I tell you--and I
tell you that you can learn to read in a very little while, as many
other children do, who are made like you and not like Peter. As soon as
you are able to read you shall have that book for your own."
Heidi had listened with eager attention to the grandmother's words and
now with a sigh exclaimed, "Oh, if only I could read now!"
"It won't take you long now to learn, that I can see; and now we must
go down to Clara; bring the books with you." And hand in hand the two
returned to the study.
* * * * *
Since the day when Heidi had so longed to go home, and Miss Rottermeyer
had met her and scolded her on the steps, and told her how wicked
and ungrateful she was to try and run away, a change had come over
the child. She at last understood that she could not go home when
she wished as Dete had told her, but that she would have to stay on
in Frankfurt for a long, long time, perhaps for ever. The weight
of trouble on the little heart grew heavier and heavier; she could
no longer eat her food, and every day she grew a little paler. She
lay awake for long hours at night, for as soon as she was alone and
everything was still around her, the picture of the mountain with its
sunshine and flowers rose vividly before her eyes; and when at last she
fell asleep it was to dream of the rocks and the snow-field turning
crimson in the evening light, and waking in the morning she would
think herself back at the hut and prepare to run joyfully out into the
sun--and then--there was her large bed, and here she was in Frankfurt
far, far away from home. And Heidi would often lay her face down on the
pillow and weep long and quietly so that no one might hear her.
Her unhappiness did not escape the grandmother's notice. One day she
called her into her room, and said, "Now tell me, Heidi, what is the
matter; are you in trouble?"
But Heidi, afraid if she told the truth that the grandmother would
think her ungrateful, and would then leave off being so kind to her,
answered, "I can't tell you."
"Well, could you tell Clara about it?"
"Oh no, I cannot tell any one," said Heidi in so positive a tone, and
with a look of such trouble on her face, that the grandmother felt full
of pity for the child.
"Then, dear child, let me tell you what to do: you know that when we
are in great trouble, and cannot speak about it to anybody, we must
turn to God and pray Him to help. You say your prayers every evening do
you not?"
"No, I never say any prayers," answered Heidi.
"Have you never been taught to pray, Heidi; do you not know even what
it means?"
"I used to say prayers with the first grandmother, but that is a long
time ago, and I have forgotten them."
"That is the reason, Heidi, that you are so unhappy, because you know
no one who can help you. Think what a comfort it is to be able to tell
everything to God, and pray Him for the help that no one else can give
us. And He can aid us and give us everything that will make us happy
again."
A sudden gleam of joy came into Heidi's eyes. "May I tell Him
everything, everything?"
"Yes, everything, Heidi, everything."
Heidi drew her hand away, which the grandmother was holding
affectionately between her own, and said quickly, "May I go?"
"Yes, of course," was the answer, and Heidi ran out of the room into
her own, and sitting herself on a stool, folded her hands together
and told God about everything that was making her so sad and unhappy,
and begged Him earnestly to help her and to let her go home to her
grandfather.
It was about a week after this that the tutor informed Mrs. Sesemann
that Heidi had really learnt to read at last.
[Illustration: GRANDMOTHER'S KIND ADVICE BRINGS COMFORT TO HEIDI]
"It is indeed truly marvelous," he said, "because she never seemed able
to even learn her A B C's before. I had made up my mind to make no
further attempts at the impossible, but to put the letters as they were
before her without any dissertation on their origin and meaning. Now
she has learnt her letters and started at once to read correctly, quite
unlike most beginners."
That same evening Heidi found the large book with the pictures, lying
on her plate when she took her place at table, and when she looked
questioningly at the grandmother, the latter nodded kindly to her and
said, "Yes, it's yours now."
"Mine, to keep always? even when I go home?" said Heidi, blushing with
pleasure.
"Yes, of course, yours for ever," the grandmother assured her.
"Tomorrow we will begin to read it."
"But you are not going home yet, Heidi, not for years," put in Clara.
"When grandmother goes away, I shall want you to stay on with me."
When Heidi went to her room that night she had another look at her book
before going to bed, and from that day forth her chief pleasure was to
read over and over again, the tales which belonged to the beautiful
pictures.
CHAPTER XI
HOME-SICKNESS
Every afternoon when Clara was resting after dinner, the grandmother
would take Heidi to her own room where she had a lot of pretty dolls,
and she showed her how to make dresses and aprons for them, so that the
child learned how to sew and to make all sorts of beautiful clothes for
the little people. And then grandmother liked to hear her read aloud,
and the oftener Heidi read her tales the fonder she grew of them. But
still she never looked really happy, and her eyes were no longer bright.
It was the last week of the grandmother's visit. She called Heidi into
her room as usual one day after dinner, and the child came with her
book under her arm. The old lady laid the book aside, and said, "Now,
my dear, tell me why you are not happy? Have you still the same trouble
at heart?"
Heidi nodded in reply.
"Have you told God about it?"
"Yes."
"And do you pray every day that He will make things right and that you
may be happy again?"
"No, I have left off praying."
"Do not tell me that, Heidi! Why have you left off praying?"
[Illustration: HEIDI LEARNS TO MAKE DOLL CLOTHES]
"It is of no use, God does not listen," Heidi went on in an agitated
voice, "and I can understand that when there are so many, many people
in Frankfurt praying to Him every evening that He cannot attend to
them all, and He certainly has not heard what I said to Him."
"And why are you so sure of that, Heidi?"
"Because I have prayed for the same thing every day for weeks, and yet
God has not done what I asked."
"You are wrong, Heidi; you must not think of Him like that. God is a
good father to us all, and knows better than we do what is good for us.
He did not think what you have been praying for was good for you just
now; but be sure He heard you, for He can hear and see every one at the
same time, because He is a God and not a human being like you and me.
While God is watching over you, and looking to see if you will trust
Him and go on praying to Him every day, you run away and leave off
saying your prayers, and forget all about Him. You would not like to
grieve God, would you, Heidi, when He only wants to be kind to you? So
will you not go and ask Him to forgive you, and continue to pray and to
trust Him, for you may be sure that He will make everything right and
happy for you, and then you will be glad and lighthearted again."
Heidi had perfect confidence in the grandmother, and every word she
said sank into her heart.
"I will go at once and ask God to forgive me, and I will never forget
Him again," she replied repentantly.
And she ran away and prayed that she might always remember God, and
that He would go on thinking about her.
The day came for grandmother's departure--a sad one for Clara and
Heidi. But the grandmother was determined to make it as much like a
holiday as possible and not to let them mope, and she kept them so
lively and amused that they had no time to think about their sorrow
at her going until she really drove away. Then the house seemed so
silent and empty that Heidi and Clara did not know what to do with
themselves, and sat during the remainder of the day like two lost
children.
Many weeks passed away. Heidi did not know if it was winter or summer,
for the walls and windows she looked out upon showed no change, and she
never went beyond the house except on rare occasions when Clara was
well enough to drive out, and then they only went a very little way,
as Clara could not bear the movement for long. On these occasions they
generally only saw more fine streets and large houses and crowds of
people; they seldom got anywhere beyond them, and grass and flowers,
fir trees and mountains, were still far away. Heidi's longing for the
old familiar and beautiful things grew daily stronger, so that now only
to read a word that recalled them to her remembrance brought her to the
verge of tears, which she suppressed with difficulty. So the autumn and
winter passed, and again the sun came shining down on the white walls
of the opposite houses, and Heidi would think to herself that now the
time had come for Peter to go out again with the goats, to where the
golden flowers of the cistus were glowing in the sunlight, and all the
rocks around turned to fire at sunset. She would go and sit in a corner
of her lonely room and put her hands up to her eyes that she might not
see the sun shining on the opposite wall; and then she would remain
without moving, battling silently with her terrible home-sickness until
Clara sent for her again.
CHAPTER XII
"MY HOUSE IS HAUNTED"
For some days past Miss Rottermeyer had gone about rather silently
and as if lost in thought. As twilight fell, and she passed from room
to room, or along the long corridors, she was seen to look cautiously
behind her, and into the dark corners, as if she thought some one was
coming up silently behind her and might unexpectedly give her dress a
pull. Nor would she now go alone into some parts of the house. If she
visited the upper floor where the grand guest-chambers were, or had to
go down into the large drawing room, where every footstep echoed, she
called Tinette to accompany her.
For something very strange and mysterious was going on in Mr.
Sesemann's house. Every morning, when the servants went downstairs,
they found the front door wide open, although nobody could be seen far
or near to account for it. During the first few days that this happened
every room and corner was searched in great alarm, to see if anything
had been stolen, for the general idea was that a thief had been hiding
in the house and had gone off in the night with the stolen goods; but
not a thing in the house had been touched, everything was safe in its
place. The door was doubly locked at night, and for further security
the wooden bar was fastened across it; but it was no good--next morning
the door again stood open. At last, after a great deal of persuasion
from Miss Rottermeyer, Sebastian and John plucked up courage and
agreed to sit up one night to watch and see what would happen. Miss
Rottermeyer hunted up several weapons belonging to the master, and
gave these and a bottle of brandy to them so that their courage might
not faint if it came to a fight.
On the appointed night the two sat down and began at once to take some
of the strengthening cordial, which at first made them very talkative
and then very sleepy, so that they leant back in their seats and became
silent. As midnight struck, Sebastian roused himself and called to his
companion, who, however, was not easy to wake, and kept rolling his
head first to one side and then the other and continuing to sleep.
Sebastian began to listen more attentively, for he was wide awake now.
He did not feel inclined to go to sleep again, for the stillness was
ghostly to him, and he was afraid now to raise his voice to rouse John,
so he shook him gently to make him stir. At last, as one struck, John
woke up, and came back to the consciousness of why he was sitting in
a chair instead of lying in his bed. He got up with a great show of
courage and said, "Come, Sebastian, we must go out in the hall and see
what is going on; you need not be afraid, just follow me."
Whereupon he opened the door wide and stepped into the hall. Just as
he did so a sudden gust of air blew through the open front door and
put out the light which John held in his hand. He started back, almost
overturning Sebastian, whom he clutched and pulled back into the room,
and then shutting the door quickly he turned the key as far as he could
make it go. Then he pulled out his matches and lighted his candle
again. Sebastian, in the suddenness of the affair, did not know exactly
what had happened, for he had not seen the open front door or felt the
breeze behind John's broad figure. But now, as he saw the latter in the
light, he gave a cry of alarm, for John was trembling all over and was
as white as a ghost. "What's the matter? What did you see outside?"
asked Sebastian sympathetically.
"The door partly open," gasped John, "and a white figure standing at
the top of the steps--there it stood, and then all in a minute it
disappeared."
Sebastian felt his blood run cold. The two sat down close to one
another and did not dare move again till the morning broke and the
streets began to be alive again. Then they left the room together,
shut the front door, and went upstairs to tell Miss Rottermeyer of
their experience. They had no sooner given her details of the night's
experience than she sat down and wrote to Mr. Sesemann, who had never
received such a letter before in his life. She could hardly write, she
told him, for her fingers were stiff with fear, and Mr. Sesemann must
please arrange to come back at once, for dreadful and unaccountable
things were taking place at home. Then she entered into particulars of
all that had happened, of how the door was found standing open every
morning.
Mr. Sesemann answered that it was quite impossible for him to arrange
to leave his business and return home at once.
Miss Rottermeyer, however, was determined not to pass any more days
in a state of fear, and she knew the right course to pursue. She had
as yet said nothing to the children of the ghostly apparitions, for
she knew if she did that the children would not remain alone for a
single moment, and that might entail discomfort for herself. But now
she walked straight off into the study, and there in a low, mysterious
voice told the two children everything that had taken place. Clara
immediately screamed out that she could not remain another minute
alone, her father must come home.
So Miss Rottermeyer wrote another letter to Mr. Sesemann, stating
that these unaccountable things that were going on in the house had
so affected his daughter's delicate constitution that the worst
consequences might be expected. Epileptic fits and St. Vitus's dance
often came on suddenly in cases like this, and Clara was liable to be
attacked by either if the cause of the general alarm was not removed.
The letter was successful, and two days later Mr. Sesemann arrived home.
Clara greeted him with a cry of joy, and seeing her so lively and
apparently as well as ever, his face cleared, and the frown of anxiety
passed gradually away from it as he heard from his daughter's own lips
that she had nothing the matter with her, and moreover was so delighted
to see him that she was quite glad about the ghost, as it was the cause
of bringing him home again.
"And how is the ghost getting on?" he asked, turning to Miss
Rottermeyer, with a twinkle of amusement in his eye.
"It is no joke, I assure you," replied that lady. "You will not laugh
yourself tomorrow morning, Mr. Sesemann; what is going on in the house
points to some terrible thing that has taken place in the past and been
concealed."
"Well, I know nothing about that," said the master of the house, "but
I must beg you not to bring suspicion on my worthy ancestors. And now
will you kindly call Sebastian into the dining-room, as I wish to speak
to him alone."
Mr. Sesemann had been quite aware that Sebastian and Miss Rottermeyer
were not on the best of terms, and he had his ideas about this scare.
"Come here, lad," he said as Sebastian appeared, "and tell me
frankly--have you been playing at ghosts to amuse yourself at Miss
Rottermeyer's expense?"
"No, on my honor, sir; pray, do not think it; I am very uncomfortable
about the matter myself," answered Sebastian with unmistakable
truthfulness.
"Well, if that is so, I will show you and John tomorrow morning how
ghosts look in the daylight. You ought to be ashamed of yourself,
Sebastian, a great strong lad like you, to run away from a ghost! But
now go and take a message to my old friend the doctor: give him my kind
regards, and ask if he will come to me tonight at nine o'clock without
fail; I have come by express from Paris to consult him. I shall want
him to spend the night here, so bad a case is it; so will he arrange
accordingly. You understand?"
"Yes, sir," replied Sebastian, "I will see to the matter as you wish."
Punctually at nine o'clock, after the children and Miss Rottermeyer
had retired, the doctor arrived. He was a grey-haired man with a fresh
face, and two bright, kindly eyes. He looked anxious as he walked in,
but, on catching sight of his patient, burst out laughing and clapped
him on the shoulder. "Well," he said, "you look pretty bad for a person
that I am to sit up with all night."
"Patience, friend," answered Mr. Sesemann, "the one you have to sit up
for will look a good deal worse when we have once caught him, for there
is a ghost in the house!"
The doctor laughed again.
"That's a nice way of showing sympathy, doctor!" continued Mr.
Sesemann. "It's a pity my friend Rottermeyer cannot hear you. She is
firmly convinced that some old member of the family is wandering about
the house doing penance for some awful crime he committed."
"How did she become acquainted with him?" asked the doctor, still very
much amused.
So Mr. Sesemann recounted to him how the front door was nightly opened
by somebody, according to the testimony of the combined household. The
whole thing was either a joke gotten up by some friend of the servants,
just to alarm the household while he was away or else it was a thief,
who, by leading everybody at first to think there was a ghost, made it
safe for himself when he came later to steal, as no one would venture
to run out if they heard him.
The two took up their quarters for the night in the same room in which
Sebastian and John had kept watch. The door was shut close to prevent
the light being seen in the hall outside, which might frighten away the
ghost. The gentlemen sat comfortably back in the arm-chairs and began
talking of all sorts of things, now and then pausing to take a good
draught of wine, and so twelve o'clock struck before they were aware.
"The ghost has got scent of us and is keeping away tonight," said the
doctor.
"Wait a bit, it does not generally appear before one o'clock," answered
his friend.
They started talking again. One o'clock struck. There was not a sound
about the house, nor in the street outside. Suddenly the doctor lifted
his finger.
"Hush! Sesemann, don't you hear something?"
They both listened, and they distinctly heard the bar softly pushed
aside and then the key turned in the lock and the door opened. Mr.
Sesemann put out his hand for his revolver.
"You are not afraid, are you?" said the doctor as he stood up.
"It is better to take precautions," whispered Mr. Sesemann, and seizing
one of the lights in his other hand, he followed the doctor, who, armed
in like manner with a light and a revolver, went softly on in front.
They stepped into the hall. The moonlight was shining in through the
open door and fell on a white figure standing motionless in the doorway.
"Who is there?" thundered the doctor in a voice that echoed through
the hall, as the two men advanced with lights and weapons towards the
figure.
It turned and gave a low cry. There in her little white nightgown stood
Heidi, with bare feet, staring with wild eyes at the lights and the
revolvers, and trembling from head to foot like a leaf in the wind. The
two men looked at one another in surprise.
"Why, I believe it is Heidi," said the doctor.
"Child, what does this mean?" said Mr. Sesemann. "What did you want?
why did you come down here?"
White with terror, and hardly able to make her voice heard, Heidi
answered, "I don't know."
But now the doctor stepped forward. "This is a matter for me to see to,
Sesemann; go back to your chair. I must take the child upstairs to her
bed."
And with that he put down his revolver and gently taking the child by
the hand led her upstairs. "Don't be frightened," he said as they went
up side by side, "it's nothing to be frightened about; it's all right,
only just go quietly."
On reaching Heidi's room the doctor put the candle down on the table,
and taking Heidi up in his arms laid her on the bed and carefully
covered her over. Then he sat down beside her and waited until she had
grown quieter and no longer trembled so violently. He then took her
hand and said in a kind, soothing voice, "There, now you feel better,
and now tell me where you were wanting to go to?"
"I did not want to go anywhere," said Heidi. "I did not know I went
downstairs, but all at once I was there."
"I see, and had you been dreaming, so that you seemed to see and hear
something very distinctly?"
[Illustration: THE DOCTOR DISCOVERS HEIDI'S HOME-SICKNESS]
"Yes, I dream every night, and always about the same things. I think
I am back with grandfather, and I hear the sound in the fir trees
outside, and I see the stars shining so brightly, and then I open the
door quickly and run out, and it is all so beautiful! But when I wake I
am still in Frankfurt." And Heidi struggled as she spoke to keep back
the sobs which seemed to choke her.
"And have you no pain anywhere? no pain in your head or back?"
"No, only a feeling as if there were a great stone weighing on me here."
"As if you had eaten something that would not go down."
"No, not like that; something heavy as if I wanted to cry very much."
"I see, and then do you have a good cry?"
"Oh, no, I mustn't; Miss Rottermeyer forbade me to cry."
"So you swallow it all down, I suppose? Are you happy here in
Frankfurt?"
"Yes," was the low answer; but it sounded more like "No."
"And where did you live with your grandfather?"
"Up on the mountain."
"That wasn't very amusing; rather dull at times, eh?"
"No, no, it was beautiful, beautiful!" Heidi could go no further; the
remembrance of the past, the excitement she had just gone through, the
long suppressed weeping, were too much for the child's strength; the
tears began to fall fast, and she broke into violent weeping.
The doctor patted her head kindly. "There, there, go on crying, it will
do you good, and then go to sleep: it will be all right tomorrow."
Then he left the room and went downstairs to Mr. Sesemann; when he was
once more sitting in the arm-chair opposite his friend, "Sesemann," he
said, "let me first tell you that your little charge is a sleep-walker;
she is the ghost who has nightly opened the front door and put your
household into this fever of alarm. Secondly, the child is consumed
with home-sickness to such an extent that she is nearly a skeleton
already, and soon will be quite one; something must be done at once.
There is but one remedy and that is to send her back to her native
mountain air. So tomorrow the child must start for home; there you have
my prescription."
Mr. Sesemann had risen and now paced up and down the room in the
greatest state of concern.
"What!" he exclaimed, "the child a sleep-walker and ill! All this has
taken place in my house and no one noticed it! And you mean, doctor,
that the child who came here happy and healthy, I am to send back to
her grandfather a miserable little skeleton? I can't do it; you cannot
dream of my doing such a thing! Take the child in hand, do with her
what you will, and make her whole and sound, and then she shall go
home; but you must cure her first."
"Sesemann," replied the doctor, "this illness of the child's is not
one to be cured with pills and powders. The child has not a strong
constitution, but if you send her back at once she may recover in the
mountain air, if not--you would rather she went back ill than not at
all?"
Mr. Sesemann stood still; the doctor's words were a shock to him.
"If you put it so, doctor, there is assuredly only one way--and that is
to send her home at once."
CHAPTER XIII
AT HOME AGAIN ON THE MOUNTAIN
At daylight Mr. Sesemann went quickly upstairs and along the passage to
Miss Rottermeyer's room, and there gave such an unusually loud knock at
the door that the lady awoke from sleep with a cry of alarm. She heard
the master of the house calling to her from the other side of the door,
"Please make haste and come down to the dining-room; we must make ready
for a journey at once."
When Miss Rottermeyer came down, with everything well adjusted about
her except her cap, which was put on hind side before, Mr. Sesemann
began without delay to give her directions. She was to get out a
trunk and pack up all the things belonging to Heidi, and a good part
of Clara's clothes as well, so that the child might take home proper
apparel.
Miss Rottermeyer stood as if rooted to the spot and stared in
astonishment at Mr. Sesemann. She had quite expected a long private
account of some terrible ghostly experience of his during the night.
But Mr. Sesemann had no thought or time for explanations and left her
standing there while he went to speak to Clara. He told her everything
that had occurred during the past night, and explained how Heidi's
nightly wanderings might gradually lead her farther and farther,
perhaps even on to the roof, which of course would be very dangerous
for her. And so they had decided to send her home at once, as he did
not like to take the responsibility of her remaining, and Clara would
see for herself that it was the only thing to do. Clara was very much
distressed, and at first made all kinds of suggestions for keeping
Heidi with her; but her father was firm, and promised her, if she would
be reasonable and make no further fuss, that he would take her to
Switzerland next summer.
Next he sent for Sebastian and told him to make ready to start: he was
to travel with Heidi as far as Basle that day, and the next day take
her home. He would give him a letter to carry to the grandfather, which
would explain everything, and he could then return to Frankfurt.
"But there is one thing in particular which I wish you to look after,"
said Mr. Sesemann in conclusion. "When you reach the hotel, go at once
into the child's room and see that the windows are all firmly fastened
so that they cannot be easily opened. After Heidi is in bed, lock the
door of her room on the outside, for the child walks in her sleep
and might run into danger in a strange house if she went wandering
downstairs and tried to open the front door; so you understand?"
"Oh! then that was it?" exclaimed Sebastian, for now a light was thrown
on the ghostly visitations.
"Yes, that was it! and you are a coward, and you may tell John he is
the same, and the whole household a pack of idiots." And with this Mr.
Sesemann went off to his study to write a letter to Alm-Uncle.
Meanwhile Heidi was standing expectantly dressed in her Sunday frock
waiting to see what would happen next, for Tinette had awakened her
with a shake and put on her clothes without a word of explanation. The
little uneducated child was far too much beneath her for Tinette to
speak to.
When she appeared at the breakfast table, Mr. Sesemann said: "You are
going home today, little one."
"Home?" murmured Heidi in a low voice, turning pale; she was so
overcome that for a moment or two she could hardly breathe.
"Don't you want to hear more about it?"
"Oh, yes, yes!" exclaimed Heidi, her face now rosy with delight.
"All right, then," said Mr. Sesemann as he sat down and made her a sign
to do the same, "but now eat a good breakfast, and then off you go in
the carriage."
But Heidi could not swallow a morsel though she tried to do what she
was told; she was in such a state of excitement that she hardly knew if
she was awake or dreaming, or if she would again open her eyes to find
herself in her nightgown at the front door.
"Tell Sebastian to take plenty of provisions with him," Mr. Sesemann
called out to Miss Rottermeyer, who just then came into the room;
"the child can't eat anything now, which is quite natural. Now run up
to Clara and stay with her till the carriage comes round," he added
kindly, turning to Heidi.
Heidi had been longing for this, and ran quickly upstairs. An immense
trunk was standing open in the middle of the room.
"Oh Heidi," cried Clara, as she entered; "see all the things I have had
put in for you--aren't you pleased?"
And she ran over a list of things, dresses and aprons and
handkerchiefs, and all kinds of working materials. "And look here," she
added, as she triumphantly held up a basket. Heidi peeped in and jumped
for joy, for inside it were twelve beautiful round white rolls, all for
grandmother. In their delight the children forgot that the time had
come for them to separate, and when some one called out, "The carriage
is here," there was no time for grieving.
Heidi ran to her room to fetch her darling book; she knew no one could
have packed that, as it lay under her pillow, for she had kept it by
her night and day. This was put in the basket with the rolls. Then she
opened her wardrobe to look for another treasure--the old red shawl
which had been left behind. Heidi wrapped it round her old hat and
laid it on the top of the basket, so that the red package was quite
conspicuous. Then she put on her pretty hat and left the room. Miss
Rottermeyer was waiting at the top of the stairs to say good-bye to
her. When she caught sight of the strange little red bundle, she took
it out of the basket and threw it on the ground. "No, no, Adelaide,"
she exclaimed, "you cannot leave the house with that thing. What can
you possibly want with it!" Heidi did not dare take up her little
bundle, but she gave the master of the house an imploring look, as if
her greatest treasure had been taken from her.
"No, no," said Mr. Sesemann in a very decided voice, "the child
shall take home with her whatever she likes, kittens and tortoises,
if it pleases her; we need not put ourselves out about that, Miss
Rottermeyer."
Heidi quickly picked up her bundle, with a look of joy and gratitude.
As she stood by the carriage door, Mr. Sesemann gave her his hand
and said he hoped she would remember him and Clara. He wished her a
happy journey, and Heidi thanked him for all his kindness, and added,
"And please say good-bye to the doctor for me and give him many, many
thanks." For she had not forgotten that he had said to her the night
before, 'It will be all right tomorrow,' and she rightly divined that
he had helped to make it so for her. Heidi was now lifted into the
carriage, and then the basket and the provisions were put in, and
finally Sebastian took his place. Then Mr. Sesemann called out once
more, "A pleasant journey to you," and the carriage rolled away.
Heidi was soon sitting in the railway carriage, holding her basket
tightly on her lap; she would not let it out of her hands for a
moment, for it contained the delicious rolls for grandmother; so she
must keep it carefully, and even peep inside it from time to time to
enjoy the sight of them. For many hours she sat as still as a mouse;
only now was she beginning to realize that she was going home to the
grandfather, the mountain, the grandmother, and Peter. All of a sudden
she said anxiously, "Sebastian, are you sure that grandmother on the
mountain is not dead?"
"No, no," said Sebastian, wishing to soothe her, "we will hope not; she
is sure to be alive still."
Then Heidi fell back on her own thoughts again. Now and then she looked
inside the basket, for the thing she looked forward to most was laying
all the rolls out on grandmother's table. After a long silence she
spoke again, "If only we could know for certain that grandmother is
alive!"
"Yes, yes," said Sebastian half asleep, "she is sure to be alive, there
is no reason why she should be dead."
After a while sleep came to Heidi too, and after her disturbed night
and early rising she slept so soundly that she did not wake till
Sebastian shook her by the arm and called to her, "Wake up, wake up! we
shall have to get out directly; we are just in Basle!"
There was a further railway journey of many hours the next day. Heidi
again sat with her basket on her knee, for she would not have given
it up to Sebastian on any consideration; today she never even opened
her mouth, for her excitement, which increased with every mile of the
journey, kept her speechless. All of a sudden, before Heidi expected
it, a voice called out, "Mayenfeld." She and Sebastian both jumped
up, the latter also taken by surprise. In another minute they were
both standing on the platform with Heidi's trunk, and the train was
steaming away down the valley. Sebastian looked after it regretfully,
for he preferred the easier mode of travelling to a wearisome climb on
foot, especially as there was danger no doubt as well as fatigue in a
country like this, where, according to Sebastian's idea, everything and
everybody were half savage. He therefore looked cautiously to either
side to see who was a likely person to ask the safest way to Doerfli.
Just outside the station he saw a shabby-looking little cart and horse
which a broad-shouldered man was loading with heavy sacks that had been
brought by the train, so he went up to him and asked which was the
safest way to get to Doerfli.
"All the roads about here are safe," was the curt reply.
So Sebastian altered his question and asked which was the best way
to avoid falling over the precipice, and also how a trunk could be
conveyed to Doerfli. The man looked at it, weighing it with his eye,
and then volunteered if it was not too heavy to take it on his own
cart, as he was driving to Doerfli. After some little interchange of
words it was finally agreed that the man should take both the child and
the trunk to Doerfli, and there find some one who could be sent on with
Heidi up the mountain.
"I can go by myself, I know the way well from Doerfli," put in Heidi,
who had been listening attentively to the conversation. Sebastian was
greatly relieved at not having to do any mountain climbing. He drew
Heidi aside and gave her a thick rolled parcel, and a letter for her
grandfather; the parcel, he told her, was a present from Mr. Sesemann,
and she must put it at the bottom of her basket under the rolls and be
very careful not to lose it, as Mr. Sesemann would be very vexed if she
did.
"I shall be sure not to lose it," said Heidi confidently, and she at
once put the roll and the letter at the bottom of her basket. The trunk
meanwhile had been hoisted into the cart, and now Sebastian lifted
Heidi and her basket on to the high seat and shook hands with her. The
driver swung himself up beside Heidi, and the cart rolled away in the
direction, of the mountains, while Sebastian, glad of having no tiring
and dangerous journey on foot before him, sat down in the station and
awaited the return train.
The driver of the cart was the miller at Doerfli and was taking home
his sacks of flour. He had never seen Heidi, but like everybody in
Doerfli knew all about her. He had known her parents, and felt sure at
once that this was the child of whom he had heard so much. He began
to wonder why she had come back, and as they drove along he entered
into conversation with her. "You are the child who lived with your
grandfather, Alm-Uncle, are you not?"
"Yes."
"Didn't they treat you well down there that you have come back so soon?"
"Yes, it was not that; everything in Frankfurt is as nice as it could
be."
"Then why are you running home again?"
"Only because Mr. Sesemann gave me leave, or else I should not have
come."
"If they were willing to let you stay, why did you not remain where you
were better off than at home?"
"Because I would a thousand times rather be with grandfather on the
mountain than anywhere else in the world."
"You will think differently perhaps when you get back there," grumbled
the miller; and then to himself, "It's strange of her, for she must
know what it's like."
He began whistling and said no more, while Heidi looked around her and
began to tremble with excitement, for she knew every tree along the
way, and there overhead were the high jagged peaks of the mountain
looking down on her like old friends. She nodded back to them, and
grew every moment more wild with her joy and longing, feeling as if
she must jump down from the cart and run with all her might till
she reached the top. The clock was striking five as they drove into
Doerfli. As the miller lifted Heidi down, she said hastily, "Thank you,
grandfather will send for the trunk."
She climbed up the steep path from Doerfli as quickly as she could; she
was obliged, however, to pause now and again to take breath, for the
basket she carried was rather heavy, and the way got steeper as she
drew nearer the top. One thought alone filled Heidi's mind, "Would she
find the grandmother sitting in her usual corner by the spinning-wheel,
was she still alive?" At last Heidi caught sight of the grandmother's
house in the hollow of the mountain and her heart began to beat; she
ran faster and faster and her heart beat louder and louder--and now she
had reached the house, but she trembled so she could hardly open the
door--and then she was standing inside, unable in her breathlessness to
utter a sound.
"Ah, my God!" cried a voice from the corner, "that was how Heidi used
to run in; if only I could have her with me once again! Who is there?"
"It's I, I, Grandmother," cried Heidi as she ran and flung herself on
her knees beside the old woman, and seizing her hands, clung to her,
unable to speak for joy. And the grandmother herself could not say
a word for some time, so unexpected was this happiness; but at last
she put out her hand and stroked Heidi's curly hair, and said, "Yes,
yes, that is her hair, and her voice; thank God that He has granted my
prayer!" And tears of joy fell from the blind eyes on to Heidi's hand.
"Is it really you, Heidi; have you really come back to me?"
"Yes, Grandmother, I am really here," answered Heidi in a reassuring
voice. "Do not cry, for I have really come back and I am never going
away again, and I shall come every day to see you, and you won't have
any more hard bread to eat for some days, for look, look!"
And Heidi took the rolls from the basket, and piled the whole twelve up
on grandmother's lap.
"Ah, child! child! what a blessing you bring with you!" the old woman
exclaimed, as she felt and seemed never to come to the end of the
rolls. "But you yourself are the greatest blessing."
Then Heidi told her how unhappy she had been, thinking that the
grandmother might die while she was away and would never have her white
rolls, and that then she would never, never see her again.
Peter's mother came in and stood for a moment overcome with
astonishment. "Why, it's Heidi," she exclaimed.
Heidi stood up, and Brigitta could not say enough in her admiration
of the child's dress and appearance; she walked round her, exclaiming
all the while, "Grandmother, if you could only see her, and see what a
pretty frock she has on; you would hardly know her again. And the hat
with the feather in it is yours too, I suppose? Put it on that I may
see how you look in it?"
"No, I would rather not," replied Heidi firmly. "You can have it if
you like; I do not want it; I have my own still." And Heidi so saying
undid her red bundle and took out her own hat, which had become a
little more battered still during the journey. She had not forgotten
how her grandfather had called out to Dete that he never wished to see
her and her hat and feathers again, and this was the reason she had
so anxiously preserved her old hat, for she had never ceased to think
about going home to her grandfather. Next she took off her pretty dress
and put her red shawl on over her underpetticoat, which left her arms
bare. "I must go home to grandfather now," she said, "but tomorrow I
shall come again. Good-night, Grandmother."
"Yes, come again, be sure you come again tomorrow," begged the
grandmother, as she pressed Heidi's hands in hers, unwilling to let her
go.
"Why have you taken off that pretty dress," asked Brigitta.
"Because I would rather go home to grandfather as I am, or else perhaps
he would not know me; you hardly did at first."
Brigitta went with her to the door, and there said in rather a
mysterious voice, "You must be careful, for Peter tells me that
Alm-Uncle is always now in a bad temper and never speaks."
Heidi bid her good-night and continued her way up the mountain, her
basket on her arm.
Soon she caught sight of the tops of the fir trees above the hut
roof, then the roof itself, and at last the whole hut, and there was
grandfather sitting as in old days smoking his pipe, and she could see
the fir trees waving in the wind. Quicker and quicker went her little
feet, and before Alm-Uncle had time to see who was coming, Heidi had
rushed up to him, thrown down her basket and flung her arms round his
neck, unable in the excitement of seeing him again to say more than
"Grandfather! Grandfather! Grandfather!" over and over again.
And the old man himself said nothing. For the first time for many years
his eyes were wet, and he had to pass his hand across them. Then he
unloosed Heidi's arms, put her on his knee, and after looking at her
for a moment, "So you have come back to me, Heidi," he said, "how is
that? You don't look much of a grand lady. Did they send you away?"
"Oh, no, Grandfather," said Heidi eagerly, "you must not think that;
they were all so kind--Clara, and grandmamma, and Mr. Sesemann. But
you see, Grandfather, I used to think I should die, for I felt as if I
could not breathe; but I never said anything because it would have been
ungrateful. And then suddenly one morning quite early Mr. Sesemann said
to me--but I think it was partly the doctor's doing--but perhaps it's
all in the letter--" and Heidi jumped down and fetched the roll and the
letter and handed them both to her grandfather.
"That belongs to you," he said, laying the roll of money down on the
bench beside him. Then he opened the letter, read it through, and
without a word put it in his pocket.
"Do you think you can still drink milk with me, Heidi?" he asked,
taking the child by the hand to go into the hut. "But bring your money
with you; you can buy a bed and bedclothes and dresses for a couple of
years with it."
"I am sure I do not want it," replied Heidi. "I have got a bed already,
and Clara has put such a lot of clothes in my trunk that I shall never
want any more."
"Take it and put it in the cupboard; you will want it some day I have
no doubt."
Heidi obeyed and skipped happily after her grandfather into the house;
she ran into all the corners, delighted to see everything again, and
then went up the ladder--but there she came to a pause and called down
in a tone of surprise and distress, "Oh, Grandfather, my bed's gone."
"We can soon make it up again," he answered her from below. "I did not
know that you were coming back; come along now and have your milk."
[Illustration: "OUR MILK TASTES NICER THAN ANYTHING ELSE IN THE
WORLD, GRANDFATHER"]
Heidi came down, sat herself on her high stool in the old place, and
then taking up her bowl drank her milk eagerly, as if she had never
come across anything so delicious, and as she put down her bowl, she
exclaimed, "Our milk tastes nicer than anything else in the world,
Grandfather."
A shrill whistle was heard outside. Heidi darted out like a flash of
lightning. There were the goats leaping and springing down the rocks,
with Peter in their midst. When he caught sight of Heidi he stood
still with astonishment and gazed speechlessly at her. Heidi called
out, "Good-evening, Peter," and then ran in among the goats. "Little
Swan! Little Bear! do you know me again?" And the animals evidently
recognized her voice at once, for they began rubbing their heads
against her and bleating loudly as if for joy, and as she called the
other goats by name one after the other, they all came scampering
towards her helter-skelter and crowding round her. The impatient
Greenfinch sprang into the air and over two of her companions in order
to get nearer, and even the shy little Snowflake butted the Great Turk
out of her way in quite a determined manner, which left him standing
taken aback by her boldness, and lifting his beard in the air as much
as to say, You see who I am.
"So you are back again?" said Peter, at last, taking Heidi's hand which
she was holding out to him in greeting. "I am glad you are back," he
said, while his whole face beamed with pleasure, and then he prepared
to go on with his goats; but he never had so much trouble with them
before, for when at last, by coaxing and threats, he had got them all
together, and Heidi had gone off with an arm over either head of her
grandfather's two goats the whole flock suddenly turned and ran after
her. Heidi had to go inside the stall with her two and shut the door,
or Peter would never have got home that night. When she went indoors
after this she found her bed already made up for her. The grandfather
had carefully spread and tucked in the clean sheets over the fragrant
new mown hay. It was with a happy heart that Heidi lay down in it that
night, and her sleep was sounder than it had been for a whole year
past. The grandfather got up at least ten times during the night and
mounted the ladder to see if Heidi was all right and showing no signs
of restlessness, and to feel that the hay he had stuffed into the round
window was keeping the moon from shining too brightly upon her. But
Heidi did not stir; she had no need now to wander about, for the great
burning longing of her heart was satisfied; she was at home again on
the mountain.
CHAPTER XIV
THE COAT WITH THE SILVER BUTTONS
The next afternoon Heidi was standing under the waving trees waiting
for her grandfather, who was going down with her to grandmother's, and
then on to Doerfli to fetch her trunk. She was longing to know how
grandmother had enjoyed her white bread and impatient to see and hear
her again. The grandfather came out, gave a look round, and then called
to her in a cheerful voice, "Well, now we can be off."
It was Saturday, a day when Alm-Uncle made everything clean and tidy
inside and outside the house; he had devoted the morning to this work
so as to be able to accompany Heidi in the afternoon, and the whole
place was now as spick and span as he liked to see it. They parted at
the grandmother's cottage and Heidi ran in. The grandmother had heard
her steps approaching and greeted her as she crossed the threshold, "Is
it you, child? have you come again?"
Then she took hold of Heidi's hand and held it fast in her own, for
she still seemed to fear that the child might be torn from her again.
She told Heidi how much she had enjoyed the white bread, and how much
stronger she felt already for having been able to eat it, and then
Peter's mother went on and said she was sure that if her mother could
eat like that for a week she would get back some of her strength.
"I know, Grandmother, what I will do," said Heidi eagerly, "I will
write to Clara, and she will send me as many rolls again, if not twice
as many as you have already, for I had ever such a large heap in the
wardrobe, and when they were all taken away she promised to give me as
many back, and she would do so I am sure."
"That is a good idea," said Brigitta; "but then, they would get hard
and stale. The baker in Doerfli makes the white rolls, and if we could
get some of those--but I can only just manage to pay for the black
bread."
A further bright thought came to Heidi, and with a look of joy, "Oh, I
have lots of money, Grandmother," she cried gleefully, skipping about
the room in her delight, "and I know now what I will do with it. You
must have a fresh white roll every day, and two on Sunday, and Peter
can bring them up from Doerfli."
"No, no, child!" answered the grandmother, "I cannot let you do that;
the money was not given to you for that purpose; you must give it to
your grandfather, and he will tell you how you are to spend it."
But Heidi was not to be hindered in her kind intentions, and she
continued to jump about, saying over and over again in a tone of
exultation, "Now, grandmother can have a roll every day and will grow
quite strong again--and, Oh, Grandmother," she suddenly exclaimed,
"if you get strong everything will grow light again for you; perhaps
it's only because you are weak that it is dark." The grandmother said
nothing, she did not wish to spoil the child's pleasure. As she went
jumping about Heidi suddenly caught sight of the grandmother's song
book, and another happy idea struck her, "Grandmother, I can also read
now, would you like me to read you one of your hymns from your old
book?"
"Oh, yes," said the grandmother, surprised and delighted; "but can you
really read, child, really?"
Heidi climbed on a chair and lifted down the book, bringing a cloud of
dust with it, for it had lain untouched on the shelf for a long time.
She wiped it off and sat herself down on a stool beside the old woman,
and asked her which hymn she should read.
"What you like, child, what you like," and the grandmother pushed her
spinning-wheel aside and sat in eager expectation waiting for Heidi to
begin. "Here is one about the sun, Grandmother, I will read you that."
And Heidi began, reading with more and more warmth of expression as she
went on,--
The morning breaks,
And warm and bright
The earth lies still
In the golden light--
For Dawn has scattered the clouds of night.
God's handiwork
Is seen around,
Things great and small
To His praise abound--
Where are the signs of His love not found?
Joy shall be ours
In that garden blest
Where after storm
We find our rest--
I wait in peace--God's time is best.
The grandmother sat with folded hands and a look of indescribable joy
on her face, such as Heidi had never seen there before, although at the
same time the tears were running down her cheeks.
"Ah, Heidi, that brings light to the heart! What comfort you have
brought me!" And the old woman kept on repeating the glad words, while
Heidi beamed with happiness.
Some one now knocked at the window and Heidi looked up and saw her
grandfather beckoning her to come home with him. She promised the
grandmother before leaving her that she would be with her the next day,
and even if she went out with Peter she would only spend half the day
with him, for the thought that she might make it light and happy again
for the grandmother gave her the greatest pleasure, greater even than
being out on the sunny mountain with the flowers and goats. Heidi was
so full of her morning's doings that she began at once to tell her
grandfather all about them: how the white bread could be brought every
day from Doerfli if there was money for it, and how the grandmother had
all at once grown stronger and happier, and light had come to her. "If
the grandmother won't take the money, Grandfather, will you give it all
to me, and I can then give Peter enough every day to buy a roll and two
on Sunday?"
"But how about the bed?" said her grandfather. "It would be nice for
you to have a proper bed, and there would then be plenty for the bread."
But Heidi gave her grandfather no peace till he consented to do what
she wanted; she slept a great deal better, she said, on her bed of
hay than on her fine pillowed bed in Frankfurt. So at last he said,
"The money is yours, do what you like with it; you can buy bread for
grandmother for years to come with it."
Heidi shouted for joy at the thought that grandmother would never need
to eat hard black bread any more, and "Oh, Grandfather!" she said,
"everything is happier now than it has ever been in our lives before!"
and she sang and skipped along, holding her grandfather's hand as
light-hearted as a bird. But all at once she grew quiet and said, "If
God had let me come at once, as I prayed, then everything would have
been different, I should only have had a little bread to bring to
grandmother, and I should not have been able to read, which is such a
comfort to her. So we will pray every day, won't we, Grandfather, and
never forgot Him again, or else He may forget us."
"And supposing one does forget Him?" said the grandfather in a low
voice.
"Then everything goes wrong, for God lets us then go where we like, and
when we get poor and miserable and begin to cry about it no one pities
us, but they say, You ran away from God, and so God, who could have
helped you, left you to yourself."
"That is true, Heidi; where did you learn that?"
"From Grandmamma Sesemann; she explained it all to me."
The grandfather walked on for a little while without speaking, then he
said, as if following his own train of thought: "And if it once is so,
it is so always; no one can go back, and he whom God has forgotten, is
forgotten for ever."
"Oh, no Grandfather, we can go back, for grandmamma told me so, and so
it was in the beautiful tale in my book--but you have not heard that
yet; but we shall be home directly now and then I will read it you, and
you will see how beautiful it is." And in her eagerness Heidi struggled
faster and faster up the steep ascent, and they were no sooner at the
top than she let go her grandfather's hand and ran into the hut. The
grandfather slung the basket off his shoulders in which he had brought
up a part of the contents of the trunk, which was too heavy to carry up
as it was. Then he sat down on his seat and began thinking.
Heidi soon came running out with her book under her arm and in a
sympathetic voice began to read the story of the Prodigal Son.
"Isn't that a beautiful tale, Grandfather," said Heidi, as the latter
continued to sit without speaking, for she had expected him to express
pleasure and astonishment.
"You are right, Heidi; it is a beautiful tale," he replied, but he
looked so grave as he said it that Heidi grew silent herself and sat
looking quietly at her pictures.
A few hours later, as she lay fast asleep in her bed, the grandfather
went up the ladder and put his lamp down near her bed so that the
light fell on the sleeping child. Her hands were still folded as if
she had fallen asleep saying her prayers, an expression of peace and
trust lay on the little face, and something in it seemed to appeal to
the grandfather, for he stood a long time gazing down at her without
speaking. At last he too folded his hands, and with bowed head said in
a low voice, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before Thee and
am not worthy to be called Thy son." And two large tears rolled down
the old man's cheeks.
Next morning while the sound of a few early bells was ringing up from
the valley the grandfather called to Heidi to put on her best frock for
they were going to church together.
She was not long getting ready for it was an unusual summons from her
grandfather. She put on her smart Frankfurt dress and soon went down,
but when she saw her grandfather she stood still, gazing at him in
astonishment. "Why, Grandfather!" she exclaimed, "I never saw you look
like that before! and the coat, with the silver buttons! Oh, you do
look nice in your Sunday coat!"
The old man smiled and replied, "And you too; now come along!" He took
Heidi's hand and together they walked down the mountain side. The bells
were ringing in every direction now, sounding louder and fuller as they
neared the valley, and Heidi listened to them with delight. "Hark,
Grandfather! it's like a great festival!"
The congregation had already assembled and the singing had begun when
Heidi and her grandfather entered the church at Doerfli and sat down
at the back. But before the hymn was over every one was nudging his
neighbor and whispering, "Do you see? Alm-Uncle is in church!"
Soon everybody in the church knew of Alm-Uncle's presence, and the
women kept on turning round to look and quite lost their place in
the singing. At the close of the service Alm-Uncle took Heidi by the
hand, and on leaving the church made his way towards the pastor's
house; the rest of the congregation looked curiously after him, some
even following to see whether he went inside the pastor's house, which
he did. Then they collected in groups and talked over this strange
event, keeping their eyes on the pastor's door, watching to see
whether Alm-Uncle came out looking angry and quarrelsome, or as if the
interview had been a peaceful one, for they could not imagine what had
brought the old man down, and what it all meant. Some, however, adopted
a new tone and expressed their opinion that Alm-Uncle was not so bad
after all as they thought, "for see how carefully he took the little
one by the hand." And others responded and said they had always thought
people had exaggerated about him, that if he was so downright bad he
would be afraid to go inside the pastor's house.
Meanwhile Alm-Uncle had gone into the pastor's house and knocked at the
study door. The pastor came out and shook hands warmly with him, and
Alm-Uncle was unable at first to speak, for he had not expected such
a friendly reception. At last he collected himself and said, "I have
come to ask you, pastor, to forget the words I spoke to you when you
called on me, and to beg you not to owe me ill-will for having been so
obstinately set against your well-meant advice. You were right, and I
was wrong, but I have now made up my mind to follow your advice and to
find a place for myself at Doerfli for the winter, for the child is not
strong enough to stand the bitter cold up on the mountain. And if the
people down here look askance at me, as at a person not to be trusted,
I know it is my own fault."
The pastor's kindly eyes shone with pleasure. He pressed the old
man's hand in his, and said with emotion, "Neighbor, I am greatly
rejoiced. You will not repent coming to live with us again; as for
myself you will always be welcome as a dear friend and neighbor, and I
look forward to our spending many a pleasant winter evening together
and we will find some nice friends too for the little one." And the
pastor laid his hand kindly on the child's curly head and took her by
the hand as he walked to the door with the old man. He did not say
good-bye to him till they were standing outside, so that all the people
loitering about saw him shake hands as if parting reluctantly from
his best friend. The door had hardly shut behind him before the whole
congregation now came forward to greet Alm-Uncle, every one striving to
be the first to shake hands with him. Most of his friends accompanied
him and Heidi some way up the mountain, and each as they bid him
good-bye made him promise that when he next came down he would without
fail come and call. As the old man at last stood alone with the child,
watching their retreating figures, there was a light upon his face as
if reflected from some inner sunshine of heart. Heidi looking up at him
with her clear, steady eyes, said, "Grandfather, you look nicer and
nicer today, I never saw you quite like that before."
"Do you think so," he answered with a smile. "Well, yes, Heidi, I am
happier today than I deserve, happier than I had thought possible; it
is good to be at peace with God and man! God was good to me when he
sent you to my hut."
When they reached Peter's home the grandfather opened the door and
walked straight in. "Good-morning, Grandmother," he said, "I think we
shall have to do some more patching up before the autumn winds come."
"Well, if it is not Uncle!" cried the grandmother in pleased surprise.
"That I should live to see such a thing! and now I can thank you for
all that you have done for me. May God reward you! may God reward you!"
She stretched out a trembling hand to him, and the grandfather shook
it warmly.
At this moment Peter rushed in, evidently in a great hurry, knocking
his head violently against the door in his haste, so that everything in
the room rattled. Gasping and breathless he stood still after this and
held out a letter. This was another great event, for such a thing had
never happened before; the letter was addressed to Heidi and had been
delivered at the post-office in Doerfli. They all sat down round the
table to hear what was in it, for Heidi opened it at once and read it
without hesitation. The letter was from Clara, who wrote that the house
had been so dull since Heidi left that she did not know what to do, and
she had at last persuaded her father to take her to the baths at Ragatz
in the coming autumn; grandmamma had arranged to join them there, and
they both were looking forward to paying her and her grandfather a
visit. And grandmamma sent a further message to Heidi which was that
the latter had done quite right to take the rolls to the grandmother,
and so that she might not have to eat them dry, she was sending some
coffee, which was already on its way, and grandmamma hoped when she
came to the Alm in the autumn that Heidi would take her to see her old
friend.
There were exclamations of pleasure and astonishment on hearing this
news and the afternoon soon passed in discussing plans for the coming
visit.
Then the old man and Heidi started back up the mountain, promising
the grandmother that they would come again next day. As they had
been greeted with the bells when they made their journey down in the
morning, so now they were accompanied by the peaceful evening chimes as
they climbed to the hut, which had quite a Sunday-like appearance as it
stood bathed in the light of the low evening sun.
CHAPTER XV
A GREAT DISAPPOINTMENT
When Autumn came Clara was not so well and the doctor advised Mr.
Sesemann to postpone the visit to Heidi till the following spring.
"I know how you hate to deny your child anything and especially this
trip that she has so set her heart upon," said the kind-hearted old
doctor, "but you must make up your mind to it, Sesemann. Clara has
not had such a bad summer as this last one, for years. Only the worst
results would follow from the fatigue of such a journey, and it is
out of the question for her. If we want to give the child a chance of
recovery we must use the utmost care and watchfulness."
Mr. Sesemann, who had listened to the doctor in sad and submissive
silence, now suddenly jumped up. "Doctor," he said, "tell me truly:
have you really any hope for her final recovery?"
The doctor shrugged his shoulders. "Very little," he replied quietly.
"But, friend, think of my trouble. You still have a beloved child to
look for you and greet you on your return home. You do not come back to
an empty house and sit down to a solitary meal."
The once bright and cheery doctor was now a broken-hearted man. He
could not get over the loss of his daughter who had died some months
before, and who had been his sole and constant companion for many years.
Mr. Sesemann, who had been striding up and down the room, suddenly
paused beside his friend and laying his hand on his shoulder said:
"Doctor, I have an idea. How would it be for you to go, and pay Heidi a
visit in our name? You need a change of scene. I cannot bear to see you
so sad; you are no longer the same man."
The doctor was taken aback at this sudden proposal and wanted to make
objections, but his friend gave him no time to say anything. He was
so delighted with his idea, that he seized the doctor by the arm and
drew him into Clara's room. She held out her hand to him as he came
up to her; he took a seat beside her, and her father also drew up his
chair, and taking Clara's hand in his began to talk to her of the
Swiss journey and how he himself had looked forward to it. He passed
as quickly as he could over the main point that it was now impossible
for her to undertake it, for he dreaded the tears that would follow;
but he went on without pause to tell her of his new plan, and dwelt on
the great benefit it would be to his friend if he could be persuaded to
take this holiday.
The tears were indeed swimming in the blue eyes, although Clara
struggled to keep them down for her father's sake, but it was a
bitter disappointment to give up the journey, the thought of which
had been her only joy and solace during the lonely hours of her long
illness. She knew, however, that her father would never refuse her a
thing unless he was certain that it would be harmful for her. So she
swallowed her tears as well as she could and turned her thoughts to the
one hope still left her. Taking the doctor's hand and stroking it, she
said pleadingly,--
"Dear doctor, you will go and see Heidi, won't you? and then you can
come and tell me all about it, what it is like up there, and what Heidi
and the grandfather, and Peter and the goats do all day. I know them
all so well! And then you can take what I want to send to Heidi; I have
thought about it all, and also something for the grandmother. Do pray
go, dear doctor, and I will take as much cod liver oil as you like."
Whether this promise finally decided the doctor it is impossible to
say, but it is certain that he smiled and said,--
"Then I must certainly go, Clara, for you will then get as plump and
strong as your father and I wish to see you. And have you decided when
I am to start?"
"Tomorrow morning--early if possible," replied Clara.
"Yes, she is right," put in Mr. Sesemann, "the sun is shining and the
sky is blue, and there is no time to be lost; it is a pity to miss a
single one of these days on the mountain."
The doctor could not help laughing. "You will be reproaching me next
for not being there already; well I must go and make arrangements for
getting off."
But Clara would not let him go until she had given him endless messages
for Heidi, and had explained all he was to look at so as to give her an
exact description on his return. She would pack the presents she had
already bought, and send them to his house later.
The doctor promised to obey Clara's directions in every particular;
he would start some time during the following day if not the first
thing in the morning, and would bring back a faithful account of his
experiences and of all he saw and heard.
He was hastening off when he met Miss Rottermeyer just returning from a
walk. He informed her of his intended journey, begging her in his most
conciliatory voice to pack up the parcels for He
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