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Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of tliis book is in 
 tlie Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924012618546 
 
HEIDI 
 
 A STORY FOR GIRLS 
 
 TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN OF 
 JOHANNA SPYRl 
 
 By H. A. MELCON 
 
 " Curb thou thy vnll, 
 Wait ! be thou still, 
 To His good pleasure leave it." 
 
 A. L. BURT COMPANY, PUBLISHERS 
 NEW YORK 
 
 URIS LIBRARY 
 
 AUG 1 1987 
 
HEIDI: A STORY FOR GIRLS. 
 Translated from tte German by H. A. Melcok. 
 
 Copyright, 1901, by A. L. Buet. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAET L 
 OHAPTSK rAoa 
 
 I. The Alm-TTnolb 1 
 
 II. At the Gbakdpaiheb's 18 
 
 III. The Pastfsb 39 
 
 IV. With the Geandmothee 47 
 
 v. A Visit, akd anothee, and theie Con- 
 
 seqxten'Ces 66 
 
 VI. A NEW Chapter and new Scenes 81 
 
 VII. Miss Eottenmeiek HAS A Tiresome Day. 93 
 
 VIII. Disturbances in the Sesemann House. 113 
 
 IX. Me. Sesemann receives Strange News. 137 
 
 X. A Geandmamma 136 
 
 XL In some Kespects Heidi Impboves and 
 
 in Othees SHE Geows Woese 150 
 
 XII. The Sesemann House is Haunted. .... 156 
 
 XIII. Up the Alm on a Summbe Etening. . . . 174 
 
 XIV. Sunday when the Ghubch Bells Bing. 198 
 
 iii 
 
tV OOMTKMTS. 
 
 PAET IL 
 
 CRAPTBB r*as 
 
 I. Pbepabatioks fob a Jocbket 218 
 
 IL AOUESTOITTHE Alm 228 
 
 III. Betbibtttioit ' 241 
 
 IV. ThB WlKIEB IK DOBBFLI 255 
 
 V. ThbWikteb Coktikubs 272 
 
 VI. The Distaitt Feibnds abb Subbing 280 
 
 VII. What Else Happeked on the Alps. 304 
 
 VIII. SoMBTHiiro Happens which no one 
 
 LOOEEI) FOB 31? 
 
 IX. BiDonro Fabewell TO Meet Again. 837 
 
HEIDI. 
 
 PAKT I. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE ALM-TINOLE. 
 
 Fkom the beautiful village of Meyenfeld there is 
 a path leading through green fields covered with 
 numberless trees to the foot of the heights which 
 rise, grave and majestic, overlooking the valley. A» 
 this path begins to ascend, the traveler is welcomed 
 by the fragrant perfume of the short grass and the 
 mountain plants, for it goes up steep and direct to 
 the Alps. 
 
 On a sunny June morning a strong and healthy- 
 looking girl was climbing up this narrow mountain 
 path leading by the hand a child whose cheeks were 
 ruddy and browned by the sun. And no wonder! 
 Notwithstanding the June sun the child was wrapped 
 up, as if to protect her against the bitterest frost. 
 The little girl was scarcely five years old, but no one 
 could guess her natural size, for the child apparently 
 had put on two, possibly three, dresses, one over the 
 
S HEIDL 
 
 other; and besides these a large red shawl was 
 wrapped around her, so that the little person pre- 
 sented an awkward appearance, as she made her 
 hot and toilsome way up the mountain with a pair 
 of heavy shoes much too large for her. 
 
 After climbing up for about an hour they came 
 to the hamlet, which lies halfway up the Aim and is 
 called Doerfli ( Small Tillage ). Here the wanderers 
 were greeted almost from every house by people in 
 the windows and in doorways, for the older of the 
 girls had reached her native place. She answered in 
 passing to all the greetings and questions without 
 making any pause, till she reached the last of the 
 scattered houses at the end of the hamlet. Here 
 some one called out to her from a door : 
 
 " Wait a moment, Dete, if you intend going up 
 further, Vl\ accompany you." 
 
 Dete stopped ; the child, freeing herself from her 
 hand, sat on the ground, 
 
 " Are you tired, Heidi ? " asked her companion. 
 
 " No, it is hot," answered the child. 
 
 " We shall soon reach the top," said the compan> 
 ion encouraging her. " You have to exert yourself 
 a little more and take longer steps, and we shall get 
 there in an hour." 
 
 Now a stout good-natured-looking woman came 
 out and joined them. The child rose and walked 
 behind the two old friends, who immediately entered 
 into a lively conversation about the inhabitants of 
 Doerfli and the neighboring cottages. 
 
 " But where are you going with the child, Dete ? " 
 
THE ALM-UNCLB. 3 
 
 teked the newcomer. " Is it not your dead sister's 
 little child?" 
 
 " Tes, it is," answered Dete. '* I am going with 
 her to the Uncle's, for she is going to stay there." 
 
 " "What ? is she really going to stay with the Alm- 
 TJncle. I think you must have lost your head, Dete. 
 How could you do such a thing ? The old man will 
 Bend you right back home again with such ideas as 
 that." 
 
 " He oould not do that, he is her grandfather ; he 
 must do something for her. I have taken care of 
 this child to this day ; and I teU you. Barbel, I am 
 not going to give up the place I have been offered, 
 for the sake of this child. Now the grandfather 
 should do his share." 
 
 "Yes, if he were like other people," answered 
 Barbel eagerly, " but you know him already. What 
 is he going to do with a child, especially with such 
 a little one? She cannot stand him ! But where 
 are you going ? " 
 
 " To Frankfort," replied Dete. " There I have 
 an excellent place. The family were at the Baths 
 last summer. I had the care of their rooms, they 
 were satisfied with me. They wanted to take me 
 with them, but I could not get away then ; and now 
 they are here and asked me to go with them. And 
 you may be sure that I will go." 
 
 "I would not like to be in the child's place! " ex- 
 claimed Barbel, with a displeasing gesture. " No- 
 body knows what the old man does up there. He 
 does not care to have anything to do with anybody. 
 
4 HEIDL 
 
 Year in and year out he never goes to church ; and 
 when he does happen to come down once a year, 
 with his thick stick, every one gets out of his way, 
 and is afraid of him. "With his heavy, gray eye- 
 brows and his hideous beard he looks like an old 
 heathen, and one is glad not to meet him alone." 
 
 "But, still," said Dete, defiantly, "he is her 
 grandfather, he must take care of the child ; he will 
 do her no harm ; if he does, he has to answer for it, 
 and not I." 
 
 " I would like to know," said Barbel, inquisitively, 
 " what the old man has on his conscience that he has 
 such a terrible look and stays up there on the Aim 
 all alone and keeps by himself. People talk all 
 sorts of things about him. No doubt, you must 
 have heard a good deal concerning him from your 
 sister* Is it not so, Dete ? " 
 
 " Certainly I do, but I know enough to keep it to 
 myself, for I fear the consequences." 
 
 But Barbel would have liked, long ago, to know 
 how it was that the Alra-tTncle was so unsociable 
 and lived up there all alone ; people talked of him 
 always with great caution, as if they were afraid to 
 oppose him ; at the same time unwilling to take his 
 part. Barbel never knew why the old man was 
 called Aim-Uncle by every one in the hamlet. He 
 could not be, of course, the real uncle of all the in- 
 habitants; but as the whole neighborhood called 
 him by this name, she, also, never called the old man 
 by any other name. Barbel had been married only 
 a short time and had come to live in this hamlet; 
 
THE ALM-UNCLE. 5 
 
 formerly she had lived in Praettigan, and, there- 
 fore, she was not well acquainted with all the past 
 events and the odd characters of the neighborhood. 
 Dete, her good friend, was, on the contrary, born in 
 the village and had lived there with her mother till 
 the last year, when the latter having died, she went 
 over to the Baths of Kagatz, where she earned good 
 wages as chambermaid in a big hotel. And this 
 morning she had come with the child from Eagatz, 
 riding as far as Mayenfeld on a hay-cart, which a 
 friend of hers was driving home, and had oilered to 
 take them with him. 
 
 Barbel did not wish this time to let this chance 
 slip by without learning something, so she, seizing 
 Dete's hand familiarly, said : 
 
 "One can learn through you, Dete, more than 
 from all the gossips j no doubt, you know the whole 
 story. Now teU me a little. What is the matter 
 with the old man, and whether he has been always 
 so dreaded and avoided as he is now." 
 
 " I could not say whether he has always been like 
 this or not. I am now twenty-six years old and he 
 is surely seventy, so it could not be possible for me 
 to have seen him when he was young; and you 
 cannot expect me to tell you how he was then. If 
 I were sure that he would not hear of it while he is 
 in Praettigan, I might tell you all sorts of things 
 about him. My mother and he both came from 
 Domleschg." 
 
 " Well, Dete, what do you mean 1 " said Barbel, 
 offended. " There is not so much gossip in Praet. 
 
Q HEIDI. 
 
 tigan ; besides, I assure you, it will not be repeated. 
 Tell me, and you will never regret it." 
 
 " Well, I will, and see that you keep your prom.- 
 ise," said Dete, looking around to see whether the 
 child was not within hearing distance, but she was 
 not to be seen anywhere ; she must have ceased fol- 
 lowing them for some time. Deep in their conver- 
 sation, they had not noticed it. Dete stood still, 
 and looked all around. There had been a few turns 
 in the road, but still one could see as far as the 
 hamlet, — no one was in sight. 
 
 " I see her now," said Barbel, " can't you see her 
 there ? " and she pointed with her finger to a place 
 very distant from the mountain path. " She is 
 climbing up the slope with Peter, the goatherd, and 
 his goats. Why is he so late to-day with his herd ? 
 It is all right now. He can take care of the child 
 and you can tell your story all the better." 
 
 " There is no need for Peter to look after her," 
 said Dete ; " she is bright for her age. She sees every- 
 thing that is going on ; I have already noticed this, 
 and it will be of use to her some day, for the old 
 man has nothing else left but the goats and the 
 Aim cottage." 
 
 " Did he ever have more ? " asked Barbel. 
 
 ■" He ! yes, I believe, once, he had more," replied 
 Dete eagerly. " He owned one of the best farms 
 in Domleschg. He was the eldest son and had only 
 one brother, who was quiet and orderly. As for 
 him, he would not like to do anything but play the 
 gentleman, and travel about in the country and keep 
 
THE ALM-CJNCLE. J 
 
 company with bad people whom nobody knew. He 
 lost the whole farm in gambling and extravagance; 
 and as this became known, his father and mother 
 died one after the other from grief ; and his brother, 
 who had been reduced to beggary, went away to 
 some distant part of the world out of vexation. And 
 the Uncle himself, having nothing left but a bad 
 name, also disappeared. At first no one knew his 
 whereabouts ; then they learned that, having joined 
 the army, he had gone to Naples. Nothing was 
 heard of him for twelve or fifteen years. One day 
 he appeared suddenly in Domleschg with a half- 
 grown boy, and tried to find a home for him among 
 his relatives. But he found every door shut against 
 him and no one wanted to know anything about 
 him." 
 
 " This exasperated him very much. He said he 
 would never set foot again in Domleschg ; then he 
 came to this hamlet and lived here with his boy. 
 He must have had some money, for he made the boy 
 Tobias learn the carpenter's trade. He was a good 
 man, and was liked by every one in Doerfli. But 
 they had no confidence in the old man. It was said, 
 besides, that he had deserted the army in Naples, 
 because he had killed somebody there ; of course, 
 not in a battle, you understand, but in a brawl. 
 We treated him as a relation, for his grandmother 
 was the sister of my mother's grandmother. We, 
 therefore, called him uncle, and as on my father's 
 side we are related with almost all the people in 
 Doerfli, they also called him Uncle ; and ever since 
 
8 HEIDI. 
 
 he moved up to the Aim he has been named by 
 every one the Aim-Uncle." 
 
 "But what became of Tobias?" asked Barbel 
 anxiously. 
 
 " Wait a little, and you will soon hear it. I can- 
 not tell all at once," rejoined Dete. " Tobias hav- 
 iag finished his apprenticeship in carpentry in 
 Mels, came home to Doerfli, and married my sister 
 Adelheid, for they were always attached to each 
 other, and after they were married, they lived to- 
 gether in peace and pleasure. But this did not last 
 very long. About two years later, while he was 
 helping to build a house, a beam fell on him and 
 killed him. When he was brought home disfigured, 
 Adelheid fell into a violent fever from terror and 
 grief, and never recovered, for she was already 
 rather weak before, and often fainted. Ko one could 
 tell whether she was sleeping or awake. Only a 
 few weeks after Tobias' death she also died and was 
 buried. Everybody in the neighborhood was talk, 
 irig for a long time about the sad fate of this couple, 
 and was telling openly that it was a punishment 
 which the Uncle well deserved for his impious life, 
 and it was said to him privately, and even by the 
 pastor himself, that he must now repent for what 
 he had done. But he grew worse and worse and 
 did not speak to any one, and everybody avoided 
 him. After a while it was heard that he had gone 
 up to the Aim and would not come down any more ; 
 and ever since he has been living in discord with 
 God and man. We took Adelheid's little child to 
 
THE ALM-UNCLK. 9 
 
 our house, my mother and I. She was then only a 
 year old. When my mother died last summer and I 
 wanted to earn something at the Baths, I took her 
 with me and gave her to old TJrsel up in Pfafferser- 
 dorf, to board in her house. I could stay at the 
 Baths in the winter, too, to do all sorts of things, 
 as I know how to sew and to mend. 
 
 " Early in the spring the same family in Frank- 
 fort, whom I served last year, having come back, of- 
 fered to take me with them. Day after to-morrow 
 we start. I tell you the place is a good one." 
 
 " And are you going now to leave the child to the 
 care of the old man up there ? I wonder what you 
 think, Dete," said Barbel reproachfully. 
 
 " What do you mean ? " replied Dete. " I have 
 done for the child whatever I could, and what more 
 could I do ? I don't think I can take a five-year- 
 old child with me to Frankfort. But now where 
 are you going. Barbel ? We are already half-way 
 up the Aim." 
 
 " I will soon be there," answered Barbel. " I have 
 something to tell to goatherd Peter's mother. She 
 spins all winter for me. Good-by, Dete, I wish you 
 every success." 
 
 Dete extended her hand to her companion and 
 stood still, while Barbel went toward the little dark 
 brown Aim hut, which stood a few steps from the 
 pathway in a little hoUow, somewhat protected from 
 the mountain winds. The cottage stood half way 
 between the Aim and Doerfli. It was lucky that it 
 stood in a hollow of the mountain, for, out of repair 
 
10 HEIDI. 
 
 and dilapidated as it was, it must have been danger- 
 ous to live in, when the wind blew strongly over 
 the mountains. Then everything in the cottage 
 would clatter, doors as well as windows, and the de- 
 cayed beams would tremble and crack. Had the 
 cottage been up on the Aim, on a day like this, it 
 would have immediately been blown over into the 
 hollow. 
 
 Here lived goatherd Peter, eleven years old, who 
 went dowK every morning to Doerfli to drive the 
 goats up the Aim that they might graze on the short 
 and nourishing plants until evening, when Peter, 
 in company with the nimble-footed animals, jumped 
 down the hill to the hamlet. There, by a shrill 
 whistle through his fingers, he notiiied his arrival to 
 the owners, so that they could take away their goats. 
 Mostly little boys and girls came after them, as the 
 goats being very quiet were not to be feared. 
 Through the whole summer this was the only time 
 in the day when Peter associated with children of 
 his age ; the rest of the time being spent with the 
 goats. 
 
 He had at home only his mother and a blind grand- 
 mother. As he was always obliged to start early in 
 the morning, and did not get back from Doerfli till 
 late in the evening, he wanted to play with the 
 children as long as he could ; so he spent at home 
 only as little time as it was necessary for him to 
 swallow down his milk and bread every morning 
 and evening ; and then he went to bed. 
 
 His father, who was also called Peter the goatherd. 
 
THE ALM-UNCLE. H 
 
 having been in the same business as his son, was 
 killed a few years ago while felling trees. His 
 mother, whose real name was Brigitte, was called by 
 every one, for consistency's sake, " goatherd Peter's 
 wife," and the blind grandmother was known in the 
 whole neighborhood by the name of " Grandmother." 
 
 Dete waited some ten minutes and looked abont 
 her in every direction to see if the children could be 
 seen around ; and as they were nowhere to be seen, 
 she climbed a little higher, where she could 
 have a better view of the Aim as far as the foot. 
 She looked here and there with gestures of great 
 impatience visible both on her face and her actions. 
 
 All this time the children were hurrying on in a 
 roundabout way. As Peter was well acquainted 
 with all the spots where all the good shrubs and 
 herbs could be found for his goats, he made many 
 turns on his way with his flock. 
 
 At first Heidi climbed with great difficulty, 
 wrapped as she was in thick and heavy clothes, pant, 
 ing with heat and discomfort, exerting all her energy. 
 She did not complain, but kept staring at Peter, 
 who, with his naked feet and light pants, now jumped 
 here and there without any difficulty ; and then at 
 the goats who, with their thin and slender legs, 
 climbed much more easily up amid the bushes of the 
 rocky and steep cliffs. AH at once the child seated 
 herself on the ground, pulled off her shoes and stock- 
 ings very quickly, and standing up again she took 
 off her thick red shawl, and unfastening her dress 
 threw it off, and had still one more left to take o£E> 
 
12 HEIDI. 
 
 For Aunt Dete had made her put on her Sunday 
 garments over her everyday dress, so that she would 
 not have to carry them. In a minute the other gar- 
 ment was also done away With, and now the child 
 was in her light petticoat, stretching her naked arms 
 out of the short sleeves of her shirt to the breeze 
 with great delight. Then putting all the pieces to- 
 gether in a neat package she began to jump and 
 climb up, chasing the goats alongside with Peter as 
 easily as any of the party. 
 
 Peter took no notice of what the child was doing 
 while she remained behind. Now as she came run- 
 ning in her new dress he had a broad grin on his 
 face, and looking back as he saw the bundle of 
 clothes lying on the ground, the grin on his face 
 became still broader, and his moutb extended al- 
 most from ear to ear ; but he said nothing. 
 
 Now the child feeling freer and lighter began to 
 converse with Peter, and he also in his turn began to 
 talk and had to answer various questions, for she 
 wanted to know how many goats he had and where he 
 went with them, and what he intended to do when 
 he reached there. Thus the children at last ar- 
 rived at the cottage with the goats and came in sight 
 of Aunt Dete. But scarcely had she seen the climbing 
 company when she shouted in a loud voice : 
 
 " Heidi, what have you done ? What do you look 
 like? What have you done with your other gar- 
 ments and the shawl ? I bought you a pair of new 
 shoes for mountain climbing and knitted you new 
 stockings and now they are all gone ! all lost 1 What 
 
the; alm-uncle. 13 
 
 are you doing, Heidi ? "What have you done with 
 them ? " 
 
 The child pointed down the mountain and said : 
 "There!" 
 
 The aunt followed with her eyes. There lay 
 something, and on the top of it there was a red spot, 
 which must have been the shawl. 
 
 '' Tou miserable thing ! " exclaimed the aunt in 
 great excitement. " What do you think ? What 
 does all this mean ? What made you take off every- 
 thing 'i 
 
 *' I don't want them," said the child, and did not 
 look at all as if she repented doing it. 
 
 " Oh, you miserable, thoughtless girl ; haven't you 
 got any sense ? " exclaimed, sooldingly, the aunt. 
 " Who would go now down there ? It is half an 
 hour's walk. Come, Peter, go back and get the 
 things for me ; make haste, and don't stand there 
 moping as if you were firmly nailed to the ground." 
 
 " I am already too late," said he, slowly, still re- 
 maining motionless on the same spot whpre he was 
 before, his hands in his pockets, hardly paying any 
 attention to the woman. 
 
 " You stand there staring at me, and you don't 
 seem inclined to move farther," said Dete. " Come, 
 now, I know what you are after," and she held to 
 him a new five-cent piece, which glittered before his 
 eyes. 
 
 All of a sudden he jumped up and ran down the 
 Aim, taking long steps, and in a short time came to 
 the heap of clothes, packing which, he reappeared 
 
14 HEIDL 
 
 with them so quickly that Dete praised him and 
 gave him the five cents, v?hich Peter slipped into his 
 pocket. His face beamed with joy, for a treasure 
 like this did not often fall to'his share. 
 
 " You can carry this thing for me to the Uncle's, 
 for you are already going in the same direction," 
 said Aunt Dete, getting ready to climb the steep 
 slope which towered behind goatherd Peter's house. 
 He most willingly undertook the commission and 
 followed her steps with the bundle under his left 
 arm, swinging his staff with his right hand. Heidi 
 and the goats jumped and frisked about by his 
 side. 
 
 In this way the expedition reached in three- 
 quarters of an hour to the top of the Aim, where the 
 old Uncle's cottage stood on the projection of the 
 mountain, open on all sides, and exposed to every 
 wind — receiving, also, all the rays of the sun, hav- 
 ing a full view of the surrounding country. Behind 
 the cottage there stood three old fir trees, with 
 long, stout, untrimmed branches. Further back the 
 mountain rose high up to the old gray rocks, first 
 over beautiful slopes covered with plants, then 
 through boulders, at last coming to bare, steep 
 cliffs. 
 
 The Uncle had made a bench for himself by the 
 side of his cottage, overlooking the valley. Here 
 he was sitting with his pipe in his mouth and his 
 hands resting on his knee. He was watching the 
 children, the goats and Dete climb up to him 
 together, for the aunt had been gradually over. 
 
THE ALM-UNCLE. 15 
 
 taken by the others. Heidi was the first to reach 
 the summit. She went directly to the old man, and, 
 stretching out her hands to him, said, " Good even- 
 ing, grandpa ! " 
 
 " Well, well ; what does this mean ? " asked the 
 old man roughly ; gave his hand to the child, and 
 looked at her with his keen, piercing eyes from 
 under his bushy eyebrows, Heidi returned the 
 gazing look as steadfastly, without winking once 
 her eyes, for the grandfather, with his long beard 
 and thick, gray eyebrows, which met at the fore- 
 head, had a strange appearance. 
 
 In the meantime the aunt also had reached the 
 place in company with Peter, who for a while 
 stood still to see what was going to happen. 
 
 " I wish you good day. Uncle," said Dete, going 
 near to him, " and I bring you here the child of To- 
 bias and Adelheid. You will not probably recognize 
 her, as you have not seen her since she was a year 
 old." 
 
 " And what is the child going to do with me ? " 
 asked the old man curtly. " You, there," he called 
 to Peter, 'i you can go ahead with your goats, you 
 are none too early. Take mine along with you." 
 
 Peter promptly obeyed and disappeared, for thf 
 Uncle watched him closely, and that was enough. 
 
 " She must stay with you, Uncle," said Dete as ?» 
 reply to his question. " I think I have done enough 
 for her the last three years ; it is now your turn to 
 do what you can." 
 
 •' Indeed ? " said the old man, casting a flashing 
 
16 HEIDL 
 
 glance at Dete, " and should she begin to whimper 
 and cry for you, as senseless little children do, what 
 shall I do with her then ? " 
 
 " That is your business," rejoined Dete. " No 
 one told me what to do with her when she was 
 given to my care, while she was only twelve months 
 old. I could hardly take care of myself and my 
 mother. I must do something for myself now ; and 
 besides, you are the nearest relation to the child. 
 If you cannot keep her, do whatever you like with 
 her. You have to answer for her, if anything 
 should happen to her." 
 
 Dete was not easy in her mind about this whole 
 affair ; being excited, she had said more than she 
 meant. At her last words the Uncle stood up and 
 looked at her in a manner that made her go back 
 several steps. Then he stretched out his arm and said 
 in a commanding tone : " Make haste and get down 
 to the place where you came from ; and don't show 
 yourself again around here ! " 
 
 Dete did not wait to have it repeated. 
 
 " "Well, then, good-by ; and to you also, Heidi," 
 saying which she hurried down the mountain till she 
 had reached Doerfli. For the internal excitement 
 drove her forward as if she were a steam en- 
 gine. In Doerfli she was addressed by the people 
 from all sides, for they wondered what had become 
 of the child. They knew Dete very well and also 
 to whom the child belonged, and all the details con- 
 nected with it. The more they shouted to her from 
 every door and window askmg where the child was, 
 
THE ALM-UNCLE. 17 
 
 or where she had left her, the more reluctant she 
 was to answer them. 
 
 " Up there with the Aim-Uncle I up there with 
 the Aim-Uncle! You have already heard it, 
 can't you understand ? " 
 
 But she felt very uncomfortable, for nearly all 
 of the women called from all sides, 
 
 " How could you have done such a thing ! the 
 poor little creature ! And to leave such a little child 
 up there ! " And then repeatedly, " The poor little 
 thing!" 
 
 Dete ran as fast as she could and was glad to 
 hear nothing more, for she could not feel happy 
 having treated her sister's child like that. Her 
 mother on her dying bed had left the child to her 
 care, and in order to quiet her conscience she said 
 to herself, she would soon be able to do something 
 for her, when she had earned a little money ; and 
 she was, therefore, very glad that she would soon 
 get away from these people who talked so much, 
 and begin to earn a goodly sum of money. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 Afteb Dete had disappeared, the Uncle had seated 
 himself again in the bench and whiffed large clouds 
 of smoke out of his pipe ; at the same time he gazed 
 on the ground uttering not a word. Meanwhile 
 Heidi looked about with great delight. She dis- 
 covered the goat-stall built close to the cottage and 
 peeped in, but she saw nothing there. Still continu- 
 ing her investigations she went behind the cottage 
 towards the old fir-trees. The wind blew through 
 the branches so violently thjit it whistled and roared 
 up in the tops. Heidi stood still and listened. As 
 it grew somewhat calmer, she continued her way to 
 the corner of the hut and came back in front where 
 her grandfather was. As she saw him stiU sitting in 
 the same place where she had left him, she went and 
 stood in front of him, and putting her hands behind 
 her gazed steadily at him. The grandfather raised 
 his eyes and seeing the child standing motionless 
 before him asked : " What will you do now ? " 
 
 " I want to see what there is in the cottage," said 
 Heidi. 
 
 "Come along." And the grandfather rose and 
 walked towards the cottage. 
 
 " Take your bundle with you," he ordered the child 
 as thev entered in. 
 '18 
 
AT THE GRANDFATHER'S. 19 
 
 " I don't want it any more," said Heidi. 
 
 The old man turned and looked with penetrating 
 eyes at the child whose black eyes were sparkling 
 in expectation of seeing what there might be in the 
 hut. 
 
 " She does not lack in intelligence," said he half 
 aloud. " Why don't you want it any more ? " added 
 he in a louder, voice. 
 
 " I want to go about like the goats, who have such 
 light legs." 
 
 " Well, you can do it, but bring the bundle in," 
 said the grandfather. " It can be put away in the 
 closet." Heidi obeyed him at once. 
 
 Now the old man opened the door and they en- 
 tered into a pretty large room of the size of the hut 
 itself. There was a table and a chair ; near by, in one 
 corner, stood the bed of the grandfather, in another 
 there was a large boiler on the fireplace, and on the 
 other side there was a large door in the wall which 
 the grandfather opened, — it was the cupboard. 
 There were hanging his clothes, and on a shelf lay a 
 pair of shirts, stockings and handkerchiefs ; on an- 
 other, plates, saucers and glasses ; and on the top 
 one a round loaf of bread, smoked meat and cheese, 
 for it contained all that the Aim-Uncle possessed and 
 needed for his living. When he opened the door, 
 Heidi hastened and put her bundle as far behind the 
 grandfather's clothes as she could, that it should not 
 be easily found. 
 
 Now she looked about the room and said : " Where 
 am I to sleep, grandfather ? " 
 
20 HEIDI. 
 
 " "Wherever you like," replied the old man. 
 
 This pleased Heidi. She went through every 
 corner of the room, and searched every spot to see 
 where she could sleep most comfortably. In the 
 corner opposite the grandfather's bed there was a 
 little ladder set up. Heidi climbed up and came to 
 the hayloft. She found there a pile of fresh, sweet- 
 smelling hay, and through a small window one could 
 have a far-stretching and splendid view over the 
 valley. 
 
 " Here I will sleep," cried the child. " It's such 
 a snug place. Come and see, grandpa, see how 
 beautiful it is up here ! " 
 
 " I know it already," came the answer from 
 below. 
 
 " I am making my bed now," was Heidi's rejoinder 
 —apparently made while busy with something, 
 " but you must come up and bring me a bed-sheetj 
 for one must have one to lie on." 
 
 " "Well, well," answered the grandfather from 
 below, and after a while he went to the cupboard 
 and looked for something. At last, he pulled out 
 from under his shirts a long coarse linen cloth which 
 must have been something like a sheet. Taking it 
 he went up the ladder, and found there in the hayloft 
 a very pretty little bed. Where the head was to lie, 
 the hay was raised higher, and she had arranged it 
 so that her face should lie close to the round window, 
 to have the advantage of looking over the valley, 
 
 " "Well done ! " said the old man ; " now the sheet 
 must be spread, but wait a while." Then he took a 
 
AT THE GEANDFATHEE'S. 
 
 bunch of hay from the heap, and made the bed 
 twice as thick, that she might not feel the hard 
 floor. 
 
 " Now bring me the sheet." And Heidi took it 
 in her hands, and as it was so heavy, she could 
 hardly lift it. But it was just the thing for her, 
 as the sharp points of the hay could not go through 
 the thick stuff. 
 
 Now they spread the sheet over the hay and 
 where it was too wide and too long Heidi tucked 
 the ends under the bed. It was now nice and clean, 
 and Heidi kept looking at it thoughtfully. 
 
 " We have forgotten one thing more," she re- 
 marked at last. 
 
 " And what is it ? " asked the old man. 
 
 " A coverlet, for when one goes to bed, one creeps 
 between the sheet and the coverlet." 
 
 " Do you think so ? But if I have none, what 
 then ? " said the old man. 
 
 " Oh, it is all the same, grandfather," said Heidi. 
 ** I could use hay as a covering." 
 
 And as she ran hastily to get some the grand- 
 father stopped her. 
 
 " Wait a minute," said he, and going down the 
 ladder he went to his bed and soon returned with a 
 heavy, large linen sack, which he laid on the floor. 
 
 " Isn't this better than hay ? " he asked. 
 
 Heidi pulled the sack with all her might on all 
 sides to make it lie flat ; but it was quite impossible 
 for her little hands to straighten the heavy stuff. 
 With her grandfather's aid she at last succeeded. 
 
22 HEIDI. 
 
 And when it lay spread on the bed it looked quite 
 nice and comfortable. Heidi stood before her new- 
 bed admiringly and said : " What a splendid cover- 
 let and a beautiful bed this is ! I wish it were night 
 that I could lie down to sleep." 
 
 " I think we had better eat something first," said 
 the grandfather. " What do you say ? " 
 
 Heidi had forgotten everything else, being en- 
 tirely taken up with her bed, but as she thought of 
 food she felt hungry, for she had had nothing but a 
 piece of bread and weak coffee early in the morn- 
 ing, and afterwards had started on their long jour- 
 ney. So Heidi assented to it, saying, " Tes, I think 
 so, too." 
 
 " Well, let us go down, since we agree upon this," 
 said the old man, and followed the child down the 
 ladder. He went to the fireplace, and removing 
 the large kettle, hung a smaller one instead. And 
 then, sitting on the wooden three-legged stool, he 
 kindled a bright fire. The water began to boil in 
 the kettle. Now the old man held a large piece of 
 cheese with a long iron fork over the fire, and 
 turned it round and round till it was on all sides of 
 a golden yellow. Heidi watched it with great at- 
 tention. Then a new thought must have come to 
 her mind, for she suddenly sprang and ran to the 
 cupboard, going and coming back and forth. The 
 grandfather came now with a pot and the cheese to 
 the table, where already lay a round loaf of bread and 
 two plates and knives, all neatly arranged, as Heidi 
 had noticed everything in the cupboard. AU being 
 
AT THE GRANDFATHER'S. 23 
 
 ready now, they could sit down at once at the table 
 to take their meal. 
 
 " Well, this is done well. I am glad to see that 
 you can do something by yourself," said the old 
 man, as he put the cheese on the bread. "But 
 something more we need on the table." 
 
 Heidi saw how invitingly it was steaming out of 
 the pot, and sprang again quickly to the cupboard. 
 But she found only one small mug there. Heidi 
 was not long in perplexity ; seeing two glasses on 
 one of the shelves, she took them and went back, 
 carrying with her the mug and the glasses, which 
 she put on the table. 
 
 " That is good ; you know how to help yourself." 
 
 The grandfather seated himself on the only chair, 
 and Heidi ran like an arrow to the fireplace, and 
 bringing back the little three-legged stool, sat 
 on it. 
 
 " It's true you have a seat now, but it's a trifle 
 too low for you," remarked the grandfather ; " even 
 my stool would not be high enough for you to reach 
 the table, but you must have something to eat," 
 saying which he rose from his seat, filled the 
 mug with milk, put it on the stool, and drew it 
 close to Heidi, and so it served for a table to her. 
 The grandfather gave her a large piece of bread 
 and also a piece of cheese, saying, " Now, go ahead 
 and eat." He himself sat on the corner of the table 
 and began to take his meal. Heidi seized her mug 
 and drank and drank without stopping, with the 
 thirst of her long journey. Then she drew a long 
 
24 HEIDI. 
 
 breath — for in her haste she had had no time to 
 take breath — and set her mug down. 
 
 " Do you like the milk ? " asked the grandfather. 
 
 " I never drank such good milk before," answered 
 Heidi. 
 
 " Then you must have more," and the grandfather 
 filled the mug to the brim and set it before the child 
 who was eating her bread with delight, after she 
 had spread it with the soft cheese ; for it was soft 
 as butter, roasted as it was, and it tasted excellently. 
 She now and again drank her milk and looked quite 
 happy. 
 
 When they finished eating, the grandfather went 
 to the goats' pen, where he had a good many things 
 to put in order. Heidi watched him attentively to 
 see how he first swept the place clean with a broom, 
 then spread fresh straw, so that the little animals 
 might lie down comfortably. And then she saw 
 how he went to the wood-pile and cut off round 
 sticks, and made a circular board, and bored holes 
 in it in order to fasten the board and the sticks to- 
 gether. A stool was made out of it which was just 
 like the one the grandpa had, only being much 
 higher. 
 
 Heidi gazed at the work speechless, filled with 
 great amazement. 
 
 " What is this, Heidi ? " asked the grandpa. 
 
 " This must be a stool for me, because it is so high. 
 And how quickly you made it ! " said the child, still 
 in wonder and amazement. 
 
 " She knows what she sees ; she has her eyes in 
 
AT THE GRANDFATHER'S. 25 
 
 the right place," remarked the grandfather to him- 
 self, as he moved about in the cottage, drove here 
 and there nails, fastened something on the door, and 
 walked around from one place to another vfith a 
 hammer, nails and pieces of wood mending thisj 
 and knocking that away — wherever anything was 
 needed. 
 
 Heidi followed him step by step, and watched 
 him continually with the greatest attention, and 
 whatever he did amused her exceedingly. 
 
 In this way it was soon evening. 
 
 The wind began to blow hard, shaking the ancient 
 fir-trees ; it whistled and roared through the thick 
 branches. This sound, coming to Heidi's ears filled 
 her heart with great delight; she was overjoyed 
 with it, sprang and jumped about under the large 
 trees as if she had just experienced an unheard-of 
 pleasure. 
 
 The grandfather stood at the door, and watched 
 the child. Now a sharp whistle was heard. Heidi 
 stopped jumping and the grandfather went out. 
 Soon the goats were seen bounding down the steep 
 mountain one after the other, and Peter himself 
 running after them. With a joyous shout she rushed 
 and mixed up with them with a hearty welcome 
 to all the friends she had made that same morn- 
 ing. 
 
 On reaching the cottage they all stopped. Two 
 beautiful slender goats, one a white and the other a 
 brown, left the rest of the herd, running straight to 
 the grandpa, and licked his hands ; for he held some 
 
26 HEIDL 
 
 salt in his hand, as he always did each evening when 
 they returned home. 
 
 Peter disappeared with his herd. 
 
 Heidi stroked each one of the goats gently and 
 turned around to stroke them on the other side, too. 
 She was full of joy and happiness over these little 
 creatures. 
 
 " Are they ours, grandpa ? Are they both ours ? 
 Win they go to the pen by themselves ? Will they 
 always stay with us ? " so asked Heidi in her great 
 delight question after question ; and the grandfather 
 had scai-cely had time enough to put in his continual 
 " Yes, yes," after each question. When the goats 
 finished licking their salt the old man said : " Go 
 fetch your mug and some bread." 
 
 Heidi obeyed and was soon back. Now after the 
 grandfather milked the white one, the mug was full 
 to the brim, then cutting a slice of the bread he 
 said : " Now you can eat it up and go to your bed. 
 Aunt Dete left another bundle for you in which 
 you will find your nightgowns and other things. 
 They are in , the cupboard, if you want them. I 
 must take the goats in now. I wish you a sound 
 sleep ; good night ! " 
 
 " Good night, grandfather, good night ! What 
 are their names, grandpa, what do you call them ? " 
 shouted the child, and ran after the old man, as he 
 went in with the goats. 
 
 "The white one is called Schwaenli (a little 
 swan) and the brown one Baerli (a little bear)," 
 rejoined the grandfather. 
 
AT THE GRANDFATHKR'S. 27 
 
 ♦' Good night, Schwaenli, good night, Baerli ? " 
 shouted the child in a loud voice to the goats, when 
 they were already in the pen. Now Heidi sitting 
 on the stool began to eat her bread and milk. But 
 the strong wind nearly blew her off her seat. She 
 soon finished her supper and went in and climbed 
 up to her bed, in which she immediately slept so 
 deep and sound, as though she had been in th© 
 most beautiful bed of a princess. Not long after, 
 before it was quite dark, the grandfather also lay on 
 his bed, for in the morning he was always up with 
 the rising sun, and in summer it must have been 
 very early, as they were oh top of a high mountain. 
 During the night the wind blew so terribly, that the 
 cottage shook and the beams cracked through the 
 chimney ; it roared and moaned like souls in an- 
 guish, and through the old fir-trees it raged with 
 such a fury, that here and there some branch would 
 split and fall down with a crash. About midnight 
 the grandfather rose murmuring to himself : " The 
 poor child will be frightened." He climbed up the 
 ladder and approached gently Heidi's bed. Outside 
 the moon shone in her glory in the sky for a short 
 time, after a while the fast-approaching clouds re- 
 appeared again, veiling up the face of the moon, and 
 everything was dipped in darkness. Now once 
 more the moonlight shone clearly through the round 
 hole and fell straight on Heidi's bed. Under her 
 heavy covering she slept with her rosy cheeks, lying, 
 her head on her round arm, calm and peaceful, surely 
 dreaming of something pleasant, for her face had a 
 
HEIDI. 
 
 cheerful look. The grandpa watched the child 
 sleeping in repose so long as the moon could be 
 seen ; and when the clouds hid it, he went back to 
 his bed. 
 
CHAPTER m. 
 
 THE PASTUBB. 
 
 Heidi was awakened early on the following mom. 
 ing by a loud whistle, and as she opened her eyes, 
 she saw golden rays streaming through the round 
 holes fall on her bed and the hay near by, imparting 
 to everything around an appearance of gold. Heidi 
 looked about her aU amazed, and could not tell where 
 she was. But as she heard outside the deep voice 
 of her grandfather, all came back to her — the place 
 she had left and her climb up the mountain to live 
 with her grandfather. And then she realized that 
 she was no more with old Ursel, who was nearly 
 deaf and usually very cold, so that she was always 
 near the kitchen fire, or the stove of the room, where 
 Heidi was obliged to keep in sight of her, as the old 
 woman could see better than she could hear. It was 
 sometimes too tiresome for Heidi to stay in the room, 
 and she would much prefer to go out. So when she 
 awoke in her new home, she was very much pleased 
 with the thought of all the new things she had seen 
 yesterday, and other things she might see to-day, 
 particularly Schwaenli and Baerli. 
 
 Heidi sprang out of her bed and put on in a few 
 
 minutes all the clothes she had on the day before, 
 
 which were not many. Then she went down the 
 
 39 
 
30 HEIDI. 
 
 ladder, and ran quickly oatdoors. There goatherd 
 Peter stood already with his herd, and the grand- 
 father led Schwaenli and Baerli out of the pen, so 
 that they might join the' flock. Heidi, running up 
 to him and the goats, bid them good day. " Would 
 you like to go with him to the pasture ? " asked the 
 old man. This pleased Heidi very much. She 
 jumped high for joy, so great was her delight. 
 
 " But you must wash and make yourself clean, or 
 else the sun will laugh at you, while he, shining up 
 there so brightly, finds you so black. See ! every- 
 thing is ready for you." The grandfather pointed 
 to a big tub full of water, which stood in the sun 
 before the door. Heidi, running to it, splashed and 
 rubbed her face, till it became bright and clean. 
 The grandfather, in the meantime, went to the cot- 
 tage and soon called to Peter, " Come here, you gen- 
 eral of goats, and take your knapsack with you." 
 Peter followed the call with surprise and took his 
 bag in which he carried his meager meal. 
 
 " Open ! " said the old man in a commanding tone, 
 putting in it a large piece of bread, and with it a 
 good-sized piece of cheese. 
 
 Peter showed his great surprise by opening his 
 round eyes wide as he could, for the two pieces were 
 nearly twice as layge as what he had taken for his 
 own dinner. 
 
 " Now, put the mug in," said the Uncle, " for the 
 child cannot drink like you from the goats, she has 
 not learned how to do it. Milk for her two mugs 
 full at noon, for the child is going with you and is 
 
THE Pasture. 31 
 
 to stay there till your return. Look out for her and 
 see that she does not fall over the rocks. Do you 
 understand ? " 
 
 Heidi came running. " Can the sun laugh at me 
 now, grandfather ? " she asked gently. She had 
 rubbed her face, neck and arms with a coarse towel 
 which hung there near the wash-tub, so that she 
 stood before her grandfather as red as a lobster. 
 
 The old man smiled. " No, he has nothing to 
 laugh at now," he assured her. "But you must know 
 something else besides. In the evening when you 
 return, you must plunge into the tub like a fish, for, 
 as you will go around like the goats, your feet will 
 be as black as theirs. Now you can go along." 
 
 So they went cheerfully up the Aim. In the*> 
 night the wind had blown away the last speck of 
 cloud. The sky on every side was deep blue, and 
 the sun shone brightly over the green Aim, and all 
 the blue and yellow flowers opened their cups and 
 looked up merrily. Heidi sprang to and fro exult- 
 ing with joy, for there were whole groups of fine 
 red primroses, some spots were all blue with the 
 charming gentians, and everywhere golden butter- 
 cups with tender leaves smiling and nodding in the 
 sunlight. Charmed by all the beckoning and glisten- 
 ing flowers, Heidi forgot the goats, and even Peter, 
 too. She ran forward to some considerable distance, 
 now on one side, now on another, for here they shone 
 red, and there yellow, and drew her attention and 
 lured her away. She plucked a great many flowers 
 and put them in her apron, for she wished to take 
 
32 HEIDL 
 
 them all home and place them in her bedroom thai 
 they might look as they do in the open air. 
 
 Peter was obliged to keep his eyes open and look 
 in every direction, and his round eyes, not having 
 been used to move very quickly, had much more to 
 do than he could manage, for the goats were much 
 like Heidi ; they also ran hither and thither, and he 
 was obliged to go everywhere, whistle, shout and 
 swing his staff to bring the herd together, and this 
 kept him busy. 
 
 " Where are you, Heidi ? " he called out with rather 
 an angry tone. 
 
 " Here," sounded the reply from somewhere, but 
 Peter could not see any one, for Heidi was sitting on 
 the ground behind a mound, which was full of sweet- 
 smelling flowers; the whole atmosphere being so 
 perfumed that Heidi had never breathed such deli- 
 cious air. She sat in the midst of the flowers inhal* 
 ing the fragrance in full breath. 
 
 "Come here," shouted Peter again, "you must 
 not fall down the cliffs. The Uncle has forbidden 
 you from going there." 
 
 " Where are the cliffs ? " asked Heidi without 
 moving from her seat, for the sweet perfume came 
 w^ith every breeze towards the child more deliciously. 
 
 " Up there, way up ; we have still a great distance 
 to go. So come along! And up there on the 
 highest top sits the bird of prey and screams." 
 
 This moved her. In a minute Heidi jumped up 
 and ran to Peter with her apron full of flowers. 
 
 "Now you have enough," said he, when they 
 
THE PASTURE. 33 
 
 urere once more climbing the heights together, " or 
 else you will stop all the way up ; and besides, if 
 you pick all of them you will not be able to get any 
 to-morrow." 
 
 The last reason was convincing for Heidi ; besides, 
 she had already filled her apron, so that there was 
 hardly any room left for more. And to-morrow 
 also she must pick some. She, therefore, proceeded 
 with Peter, and the goats also acted better and 
 went along in good order; for they scented the 
 sweet herbs of their pasture in the distance, and 
 went up there without delay. 
 
 The pasture where Peter usually stopped with his 
 goats, and where he stayed the whole day, making 
 it his resting-place, lay at the foot of the high cliffs, 
 the bottom of which is covered with bushes and fir- 
 trees, and which rise high up to the sky, all naked 
 and steep. On the one side of the Alps the ravines 
 stretch far down, and the grandfather was quite 
 right in warning against going there. When they 
 reached the top of the heights Peter took off his 
 bag and laid it down carefully in a little hollow in 
 the ground, for the wind often blew in sudden 
 gusts, and Peter, knowing this full well, did not care 
 to see his precious dinner roll down the cliffs. 
 
 Having finished his task, he stretched himself full 
 length on the sunny pasture, for he justly deserved 
 the rest after the fatigue of climbing the steep 
 mountain. 
 
 In the meanwhile Heidi had unfastened her apron, 
 and rolling up her flowers in it, put it in the same 
 2 
 
34 HEIDL 
 
 place with the lunch ; then following Peter's ex- 
 ample she stretched herself on the ground; and 
 began looking about her in every direction. The 
 valley lay far down below, resplendent with the 
 morning sun. Heidi saw before her a large wide 
 snow-field rising up the dark blue sky. On the 
 left there was an enormous mass of rooks, on either 
 side of which rose a tower of precipices, bare and 
 jagged, up to the heavens, and looked upon Heidi from 
 above quite grimly. The child was sitting there as 
 still as a mouse, and looked in every direction. 
 Deep silence prevailed everywhere to a great dis- 
 tance ; only a light soft breeze swept over the slender 
 bluebells and the shining golden buttercups which 
 stood everywhere on their slender stalks, nodding 
 softly and merrily to and fro. 
 
 Peter was overcome with sleep after the day's 
 exertion, and the goats had climbed up among the 
 bushes. Heidi was pleased with everything, as she 
 never had been before in her life. She drank in 
 the pure air in the golden sunlight, together with 
 the sweet perfume of the flowers, and cared for 
 nothing else but to remain always where she was. 
 In this way some little time elapsed, and Heidi 
 gazed and gazed at the lofty rocks, until they, at 
 last, seemed to have faces and were looking at her 
 with familiar and friendly glances. 
 
 Suddenly she heard above her in mid-air a shrill 
 screaming cry resound, and on looking up she saw 
 a large bird, the like of which she had never seen 
 before, flying with her wings outstretched wide, 
 
THE PASTURE, 35 
 
 r 
 
 turning repeatedly in large circles, screeching sharp 
 and loud over Heidi's head. 
 
 "Peter, Peter, wake upl" exclaimed Heidi, 
 " there is the bird of prey (meaning the eagle). Look ! 
 look!" 
 
 Peter, roused by her cry, joined Heidi to watch 
 the bird, which rose up higher and higher in the 
 blue sky, and at last disappeared over the gray cliffs. 
 
 " Where has it gone now ? " asked Heidi, who 
 had followed the bird with her eyes very closely. 
 
 " Home to its nest," was Peter's answer. 
 
 " Is its home way up there ? and does it live there ? 
 How beautiful it must be up there ! "Why does it 
 scream so loud ? " she asked again. 
 
 " Eecause it must," said Peter. 
 
 " Let us climb up there to see its home," suggested 
 Heidi. 
 
 " Oh ! oh ! oh ! " cried Peter, and each exclamation 
 was uttered louder than the one before, to show his 
 disapproval. " No goat can go up there ; besides, the 
 Uncle said you must.be careful not to fall over the 
 precipice." 
 
 AU at once Peter began whistling and calling 
 so powerfully that Heidi did not know what was to 
 happen, but the goats no doubt knew its meaning, 
 for one after the other they came running and jump- 
 ing down, and soon the whole flock gathered on the 
 meadow. Some nibbled at spicy grass, others ran 
 here and there, while some others passed the time 
 amusing themselves by butting each other with their 
 horns. 
 
36 HEIDI. 
 
 Heidi, springing to her feet, ran into the midst of 
 the goats as it was to her a novel and indescribably 
 pleasing sight, to see the little animals frisking about 
 and playing merrily together. Heidi mixed up 
 with them in order to get acquainted with each one 
 personally, for every one had an entirely peculiar 
 appearance of its own. In the meantime Peter had 
 brought the knapsack, and had arranged in a square 
 on the ground the four pieces of the bread and the 
 cheese, which were in it, laying the larger pieces for 
 Heidi and the smaller ones for himself, because 
 he knew which was which. Then taking the little 
 mug, milked Schwaenli till it was full to the brim, 
 and placed it on the improvised table. Then he 
 called Heidi to dinner. But he had to wait for 
 her longer than he did for the goats ; she was so 
 pleased and delighted with the various movements 
 and the pranks of her new playmates, that she 
 could see and hear nothing else. But Peter knew 
 how to make himself understood. He shouted so 
 loud that it resounded back from the rocks; and 
 thus Heidi appeared now, and the table seemed so 
 inviting that she hopped around it with great 
 
 joy- 
 
 "Stop your play, it is now time to eat," said 
 peter, " so sit down and help yourself." 
 
 Heidi seated herself on the bare ground. 
 
 " Is the milk for me 1 " she asked, looking once 
 more at the neat square of the table with a look of 
 satisfaction. 
 
 " Tes," replied Peter, " and the big pieces of bread 
 
THE PASTURE. 37 
 
 and cheese are also yours, and when you have drunk 
 all the milk, you may have another mugful from 
 Schwaenli. Then comes my turn." 
 
 "And from which are you going to get your 
 milkl " Heidi wished to learn. 
 
 " From my goat Schnecke. Go on with your 
 iunch now," said Peter. 
 
 Heidi started, at last, to drink her milk, and when 
 she had put her empty mug down Peter rose and 
 brought a second one to her. Heidi cut up some of 
 her bread into it, and offered the remainder to Peter. 
 The bread was larger than Peter's own, which was 
 already eaten. She also gave him a big lump of 
 cheese, saying : " You can have this ; I have had 
 enough." 
 
 Peter looked at Heidi dumfounded and speech, 
 less, for he had never in his life been able to do that 
 sort of thing to any one. He hesitated a moment 
 before he could fully realize that Heidi was in ear^ 
 nest. She at first held out her pieces to him, and as 
 Peter did not take them, she put them down on 
 his knee ; seeing, at last, that she really meant to 
 give it, he took the present, nodded his thanks, and 
 made an excellent meal, such as he never had enjoyed 
 in his life of shepherd. 
 
 Heidi, in the meantime, was delighted watching 
 the goats. 
 
 " What names do you give to the different ones ? " 
 asked she. 
 
 He knew them well and was able to keep them in 
 his mind without any trouble, as he had very little 
 
38 HEIDI. 
 
 else besides to take up his memory. So he began to 
 name one after the other mechanically, pointing each 
 time to the one he named ; Heidi listened to this 
 ■with great attention, and after a short time she 
 learned to distinguish the different ones, and gave 
 them all their correct names. As each had its own 
 peculiarities, one could easily remember them by 
 paying some attention, just as Heidi had done. 
 
 Among them there was the big Turk with its 
 strong horns, who was always ready to butt the 
 others, and most of them, seeing it move towards 
 them, would jump away out of sheer dislike for this 
 rough mate. Distelfink, the slender and nimble 
 goat, was the only one among them brave enough 
 not to avoid it, and would run after it successively 
 with so much tact and swiftness that the big Turk 
 often stood astonished, and did not move or attack 
 the other, for Distelfink also was ready to defend 
 itself with its sharp horns. 
 
 There was the little white Schneehoeppli, who was 
 always bleating so ardently and pitifully, that Heidi 
 had already gone to her more than once and had 
 taken her head between her arms to comfort it. 
 And now the child ran to her once more, for the 
 young wailing voice had just called again implor- 
 ingly. Heidi, putting her arm round the neck of the 
 little goat, asked in a caressing tone : " What is the 
 matter, Schneehoeppli? Why are you calling for 
 help?" 
 
 The little creature nestled confidently against 
 Heidi, and seemed to be more contented. 
 
THE PASTURE. 39 
 
 Peter called out from his place with frequent in- 
 terruptions between bits and swallows : 
 
 " She does that because the old one no longer 
 comes with her. She, having been sold in Mayen- 
 feld day before yesterday, will not go to the Aim 
 any more." 
 
 " Who is the old one? " asked Heidi. 
 
 " Why, her mother," was the reply. 
 
 " Where is her grandmother ? " asked Heidi again. 
 
 " She has none." 
 
 " O, you poor Schneehoeppli ! " said Heidi, press- 
 ing to her tenderly the little creature. " Don't cry 
 any more. I will come with you every day after 
 this, then you will no longer be alone ; and if you 
 should need anything, come to me." 
 
 Schneehoeppli was pleased, and rubbed her head 
 on Heidi's shoulder, and stopped bleating wof uUy. 
 
 By this time Peter had finished his meal, and had 
 returned to his herd with Heidi, who had already 
 made all sorts of investigations. By far the loveli- 
 est and cleanest of all the goats were Schwaenli 
 and Baerli, whose behavior was uncommonly gentle ; 
 they went most of the time by themselves away 
 from the others, and especially the forward Turk, 
 with scorn and contempt. 
 
 The animals had once more begun to climb up 
 towards the bushes, each going its own way, 
 some leaping carelessly over everything, and others 
 being in search of sweet herbs, while the Turk was 
 attacking every one that he met here and there. 
 Schwaenli and Baerli climbed prettily and lightly, 
 
40 HEIDI. 
 
 and found at once the best bushes, and placing them- 
 selves cleverly, ate the best they could find. Heidi 
 stood with her hands behind her back, and watched 
 everything with the greatesi attention. 
 
 "While Peter lay stretched on the ground Heidi 
 made the following remark : " Peter, the prettiest 
 of all are Schwaenli and Baerli." 
 
 " I know that," was his reply. " The Alm-TJnole 
 cleans and washes them and gives them salt, and has 
 for them the finest pen." 
 
 Peter, suddenly springing to his feet, pursued the 
 goats in long leaps ; and Heidi ran after him, for sh» 
 thought something must have happened, and then 
 she did not like to stay behind. Peter, making hif 
 way through the flock, went towards the Aim, where 
 the rooks grow steeper and more naked, and a care- 
 less goat going near there might fall down and break 
 all its bones. He had seen the reckless Distelfink 
 jump towards that direction, and he came just in 
 time as the little anima^ leaped towards the edge of 
 the precipice. Peter was about to get hold of her 
 when, his feet slipping, he fell on the ground, and 
 could only catch the leg of the poor creature, holding 
 to it fast. Distelfink bleated angrily, and rather 
 surprised that she was held and hindered from con- 
 tinning her jolly sport, and made a great effort to 
 press forward. Peter called aloud for Heidi to come 
 to his help, for he could not rise, and nearly pulled 
 Distelfink's leg off. Heidi had already at once rec- 
 ognized the dangerous position of Peter as well as 
 that of the goat. She quickly pulled some sweet- 
 
THE PASTURE, 4J 
 
 Ecented herbs from the ground and held them close 
 to Distelflnk's nose, and said affectionately : " Come, 
 come, Distelfink, you must be more sensible. See, 
 you might fall down and break your legs, and that 
 would give you terrible pain." 
 
 The goat returned quickly and began to eat the 
 herbs which Heidi had in her hand with much pleas- 
 ure. In the meanwhile Peter had risen to his feet, 
 and seized the cord which held the little bell on Dis- 
 telflnk's neck. Heidi taking hold of it from the other 
 side, together they led the runaway back to the 
 herd which was grazing peacefully. "When Peter 
 had led the goat in safety, he raised his staff and was 
 about to whip her as a punishment, when Distel- 
 fink, knowing what was to happen, drew back in fear, 
 but Heidi cried out loudly: "Ho, Peter, no, you 
 must not strike her ; see how frightened she looks." 
 
 " She deserves it," said Peter in anger, and was 
 about to strike, when Heidi fell on his arm and cried 
 out in great passion : 
 
 " Tou must do her no harm, it will hurt her. Let 
 her go." 
 
 Peter looked in great astonishment at Heidi's com- 
 manding manner, whose black eyes flashed at him 
 in such a way that he involuntarily dropped his staff. 
 
 " She may go if you promise to give me some of 
 your cheese to-morrow," said Peter yielding, for he 
 wanted some compensation for his fright. 
 
 " You can have the whole, the whole piece, to- 
 morrow and every day ; I don't want it at all," said 
 Heidi, consenting. " And I will also give you part of 
 
42 HEIDI. 
 
 my bread as I did to-day, but you must never strike 
 Distelfink nor Sohneehoeppli, nor any of the goats." 
 
 " It is all the same to me," said Peter, this being 
 as much as a promise. Now he let loose the guilty 
 one, and the merry Distelfink leaped high with joy, 
 and ran off to the herd. 
 
 The day had imperceptibly gone, and the sun was 
 about to disappear behind the mountains. Heidi 
 sat again on the ground and looked quietly on the 
 bluebells and the buttercups which shone in the 
 evening's glowing light. And all the grass took a 
 golden hue, and the rocks above began to shimmer 
 and to flash. 
 
 Suddenly Heidi sprang to her feet shouting : 
 " Peter, Peter, fire ! fire ! it is burning, all the 
 mountains are in flames. The great plain of snow is 
 on fire. The sky ! Oh, see ! see, the mountains of 
 rock ablaze ! Oh, the beautiful, sparkling snowj 
 Peter, look up there, look ! The fire has reached the 
 bird of prey. Look at the rocks ! Look at the fir 
 trees. Everything is on fire." 
 
 "It always looks like that," said Peter, good- 
 naturedly, still peeling the bark from his rod, " but 
 it is not fire." 
 
 "What is it, then? what is it?" asked Heidi 
 again. 
 
 " It comes of itself," explained Peter. 
 
 " Oh, look ! look I " called Heidi in great excite- 
 ment. They suddenly turn as red as rose. Look at 
 the snow and the high rocks. What do they call 
 them, Peter?" 
 
THE PASTURE. 43 
 
 " Mountains are not called by names," was the 
 answer. 
 
 " Oh, how beautiful it is I Look at the snow red 
 as rose. Oh, on the rooks above are a great many 
 roses. Oh, now they are changed to gray. Oh, 
 now everything is gone, all gone! Peter." And 
 Heidi sat on the ground and looked much troubled, 
 as if the world was coming to an end. 
 
 " It will be just the same to-morrow," said Peter. 
 " Get up, we must be going home now." 
 
 Peter whistled and called the goats together, and 
 they started oh their homeward journey. 
 
 " If we should go to the pasture every day, 
 will it be just the same ? " asked Heidi, to have a 
 decided assurance, as she was descending the Aim 
 by the side of Peter. 
 
 " It usually is," was the reply. 
 
 " But certainly to-morrow again," said she, wish, 
 ing to be sure. 
 
 " Yes, yes, of course,'' assured Peter. 
 
 Heidi seemed glad to hear it, she having received 
 so many impressions in one day, and so many things 
 were running through her head that she went down 
 in silence until she reached the Aim cottage and had 
 seen her grandfather sitting under the fir trees, 
 where he had placed a bench. 
 
 He usually sat there every evening waiting for 
 his goats, which came from that side. Heidi came 
 running towards him, and Schwaenli and Baerli 
 following her, for the goats knew their master and 
 their pen. Peter called to Heidi : " Come again to- 
 
44 HEIDI. 
 
 morrow ! Good night ! " For he was very anxiooa 
 that she should go again. 
 
 Heidi ran quickly back, and giving Peter her 
 hand, assured him that she would do so, and hurried 
 back to the flock as it was going down, seized 
 Schneehoeppli once more, put her arms around 
 her neck, and said affectionately : " Good-night, 
 Schneehoeppli 1 be sure I will come again to-morrow, 
 and you must never bleat so sadly as you did to- 
 day." 
 
 Schneehoeppli looked up to Heidi gratefully, and 
 then jumped gaily after her companions. 
 
 Heidi went back under the fir trees. 
 
 " Oh, grandfather, it was so nice," she called out 
 before she had reached him. " The fire and the roses 
 on the rocks, and the blue and yellow flowers. 
 Look what 1 have brought you." 
 
 Saying this, she poured out of her folded apron 
 her whole wealth of flowers before her grandfather. 
 But how had the flowers changed ! They were all 
 like hay, and not a single cup was open. 
 
 " Oh, grandfather, what has happened to the 
 flowers ? " she exclaimed, altogether frightened. 
 " They were not like that ? Why do they look so 
 now ? " 
 
 " They want to be out in the sun, and not in youf 
 apron," said the grandfather. 
 
 " Then I will not take any more with me. But, 
 grandfather, why did the bird of prey scream ? " 
 asked Heidi urgently. 
 
 " Now go and wash yourself while I go and fetch 
 
THE PASTURE. 45 
 
 the milk ; afterwards we will go to the hut and eat 
 our supper. Then we will talk about it." 
 
 This being done, and later, when Heidi sat on her 
 high stool with the mug full of milk before her and 
 the grandfather on her side, the child asked the 
 same question : 
 
 " What makes the bird of prey cry and scream so 
 all the time ? " 
 
 " He laughs at the people down below, that so 
 many living together in the villages fight and abuse 
 each other. He scolds them, saying, ' If you would 
 all separate and each go his own way and climb up 
 to some high cliff, as I do, you would be better off.' " 
 
 The grandfather said these words in a wild tone, 
 so that the screams of the bird of prey impressed 
 more her mind. 
 
 "Why don't the mountains have names, grand- 
 father ? " asked Heidi again. 
 
 " They have names," replied he, " and if you de- 
 scribe one to me so that I recognize it, I will tell 
 you what it is called." 
 
 E"ow Heidi described the mountain of rock, with 
 its two high pinnacles, exactly as she had seen it, 
 and the grandfather said in a pleasing manner : 
 
 " Exactly so ; it is called Falkniss. Did you see 
 any other ? " 
 
 Heidi began to describe the mountain with the 
 large snow field, on which the snow appeared to be 
 on fire, then changed to red rose, and at last it 
 turned suddenly quite pale and dark. 
 
 " I know that, too," said the grandfather. " That 
 
46 HEIDI. 
 
 is called Caesaplana. So you had a good time on 
 the pasture, then, didn't you ? " 
 
 Now Heidi told what had happened during the 
 day ; how beautiful it had been, especially about 
 the fire in the evening, and asked the grandfather 
 what the cause of it was, because Peter did not 
 know anything about it. 
 
 " The sun does that," said the grandfather, " when 
 he bids the mountains good night. He casts his 
 most beautiful rays on them, so that they may not 
 forget him until he comes back again in the morn- 
 ing." 
 
 This pleased Heidi so much that she could hardly 
 wait until the morrow, when she could go again 
 and see how the sun bid the mountains good night. 
 But she had first to go to bed, and she slept very 
 soundly in her hay bed and dreamed of the bright 
 mountains with red roses, in the midst of which 
 Sohneehoeppli leaped and ran cheerfully. 
 
CHAPTEK IV. 
 
 WITH THE GKANDMOTHEit. 
 
 On the following morning the sun rose shining 
 brightly. Then came Peter with the goats, and 
 they all climbed up together to the pasture. And 
 thus day succeeded day. Heidi with this life on the 
 pasture grew brown and as strong and healthy as 
 the gay birds that live in the woods. 
 
 When autumn came, and the wind began to blow 
 harder over the mountains, the grandfather said 
 one day : " You must stay at home to-day, Heidi ; a 
 little girl like you might be blown off by the wind 
 over the rocks into the valley." 
 
 Peter, hearing this on the next morning, looked 
 very unhappy, for he saw only misfortune awaiting 
 him. First of all, he was sure to feel lonesome and 
 would not know what to do without her ; and then, 
 if Heidi did not go with him, he would miss his 
 good dinner. Besides, the goats acted so savagely 
 on these days that they gave him twice as much 
 trouble as he usually had in taking care of them, for 
 they were so accustomed to Heidi's companionship 
 that when she was not there they would not go 
 straight on their way, but would run in every direc- 
 tion. Heidi never felt unhappy, as she always saw 
 
 47 
 
48 HEIDL 
 
 something joyful around her. Most of all, she liked 
 to go with the shepherd and the herd to the pasture 
 strewn over with flowers, where she could see so 
 many different things in connection with the goats 
 and their peculiarities. She took, also, great de- 
 light in the hammering, the sawing and the carpen- 
 tering of her grandfather. 
 
 It happened he was just making cheese from 
 the goats' milk. Now that she had to stay at home, 
 it was a peculiar pleasure for her to watch this 
 curious operation, in which the grandfather bared 
 both of his arms and stirred it in the big kettle. 
 And, moreover, in these windy days it pleased her 
 to see and hear the blowing and rustling of the 
 three old fir trees in the back of the hut. She 
 would run to them from time to time, leaving every 
 other object of less interest, for there was nothing 
 that seemed as beautiful and wonderful as this deep 
 mysterious roar in the lofty branches. She would 
 stand below and listen. She was never tired of 
 watching and hearing it as it roared and moaned in 
 the trees, shaking them with great power. 
 
 The sun was not hot as in summer, and Heidi 
 began to look for her stockings and shoes, and also 
 for her little frock, for every day it grew colder. 
 When Heidi stood under the fir trees the wind shook 
 her as if she were a little thin leaflet, but she was 
 all the time running there, and could not stay in 
 the hut whenever she heard the wind. 
 
 After a while, as it grew colder, Peter blew on 
 his fingers when he came early in the morning; 
 
WITH THE GRANDMOTHER. 49 
 
 but it did not last long, for suddenly one night there 
 was a heavy snowfall. In the morning the whole 
 Aim was white, and there was not a single green 
 leaflet to be seen anywhere. 
 
 Goatherd Peter came no more with his flock, 
 and Heidi looked through the little window in 
 great astonishment, for it began again to snow ; 
 and the thick flakes were falling continually until 
 the snow was so high that it even reached the 
 window ; and higher still, so that the windows could 
 not be opened, and they were completely shut up 
 in the hut. This seemed so funny to Heidi that 
 she was always running from one window to the 
 other to see what was to happen next, and whether 
 the snow would cover up the whole cottage, when 
 they would be obliged to have a light in the day- 
 time. But it did not come to that. On the following 
 day the grandfather went out, as it had stopped 
 snowing, and shoveled a path around the house. 
 He piled the snow in great heaps which had the 
 appearance of mountains, on all sides of the hut. 
 
 Now the windows and the door were free, and 
 this was good ; for as Heidi and her grandfather 
 sat by the fire on their three-legged stools — for 
 he had also made one for the child — suddenly a 
 loud knocking was heard at the door, and some 
 one kicked against the threshold ; at last the door 
 was opened. It was goatherd Peter. He did 
 not knock the door through rudeness, but he was 
 simply stamping the snow off from his shoes. In 
 fact, lie was completely covered with snow, as he 
 4 
 
50 EBIDI. 
 
 had been obliged to force his way through the 
 drifts ; so that great chunks clung to him and were 
 frozen by the severe cold. But he had persevered 
 because he was anxious to see Heidi, whom he had 
 not seen for eight days. 
 
 " Good evening," said he entering, and went as 
 near to the fire as possible, and said nothing else; 
 but his whole face beamed with smiles at being 
 there once more. Heidi stared at him surprised ; 
 as he stood close to the fire, the ice began to melt 
 from his clothes and gave him the appearance of a 
 little waterfall. 
 
 " Well, general, what are you doing ? " said the 
 old man ; " now you have no army, and must gnavr 
 your slate pencil." 
 
 " "Why must he gnaw his slate pencil, grandpa ? " 
 asked Heidi with curiosity. 
 
 " In the winter he must go to school," said the 
 grandfather. " There one learns to read and write, 
 and sometimes it's very hard and the gnawing 
 somewhat helps you to think. Isn't it so, general ? " 
 
 " Yes, it's very true," answered Peter. 
 
 Heidi's interest in the school was now aroused, and 
 she had to ask Peter a great many questions concern' 
 ing the school and everything that happened, and 
 whatever was seen and heard there. 
 
 So much time was spent in conversations in which 
 Peter took part, that he was able, in the meantime, 
 to get dry from head to foot. It always cost him 
 a great deal of effort to change his ideas into words 
 — that is, to express his thoughts ; but this time it 
 
WITH THE GRANDMOTHER. 51' 
 
 was unusually difficult for him, for scarcely had he 
 made an answer when Heidi had two or three un- 
 expected questions ready, and mostly such as re- 
 quired a whole sentence in reply. 
 
 The old man kept quiet during the whole con- 
 versation, but often the corners of his mouth would 
 twitch with a smile, which was a sign that he 
 listened. 
 
 " Well, general, you have been under fire and 
 certainly need something to strengthen you ; come 
 and dine with us," said the grandfather, and rising 
 brought from the cupboard whatever they had for 
 supper, while Heidi arranged the seats around the 
 table. Recently a new bench had been made by 
 the grandfather; and as he was now no longer 
 alone, he had prepared all sorts of seats for two 
 people ; for Heidi had acquired the habit of follow- 
 ing her grandfather wherever he went. So they 
 were all three conveniently seated, ^nd Peter opened 
 his round eyes wide as he saw the large piece of 
 delicious dried meat the Aim-Uncle put before him 
 on a thick slice of bread. Such a good time Peter 
 had not had for many months. When the pleasant 
 meal was over, it began to grow dark, and Peter 
 was getting ready to go home. But after he had 
 said " Good night " and " God bless you," and had 
 reached the doorway, he turned back once more and 
 said: 
 
 " Next Sunday I'll come again, — a week from to- 
 day ; you must also come to see my grandmother; 
 she said so." 
 
52 HEIDI. 
 
 It was altogether a new thing for Heidi that she 
 should go to see any one, and this idea took hold of 
 her mind, and the following morning the first thing 
 she said was : 
 
 " Grandpa, I must certainly go down to see the 
 grandmother ; she expects me," 
 
 " There is too much snow," said the grandfather, 
 refusing her request. 
 
 But the idea had taken a strong hold of her mind, 
 for the grandmother had sent word to her, and she 
 had decided to go. Not a day passed that the child 
 did not repeat five or six times : 
 
 " Grandfather, now I certainly must go ; the 
 grandmother is expecting me." 
 
 On the fourth day, when at every step it cracked 
 and creaked outdoors, and the snow was frozen hard 
 everywhere, and yet the beautiful sunshine fell 
 through the window, Heidi, sitting on her stool at 
 dinner, began again to express her desire to make 
 this visit. . 
 
 " To-day I must certainly go to the grandmother, 
 else she will be tired of waiting for me." 
 
 Th6 grandfather rose from dinner, climbed up 
 the ladder to the loft, brought down the thick 
 sack that served as coverlet for Heidi's bed, and 
 said : 
 
 " Well, come along ! " 
 
 The child, greatly delighted, jumped out after 
 him into the glistening snow-world. All was quiet 
 now in the old fir trees, and on all their branches 
 lay the white snow, and every object shone and 
 
WITH THE GRANDMOTHER. 53 
 
 sparkled in the sunlight in such a splendor that 
 Heidi leaped high into the air for joy, and called 
 out repeatedly : 
 
 " Come, come, grandfather, it is silver and gold 
 all over the fir trees I " 
 
 The grandfather had gone into the shed, and 
 come out with a big sled which had a bar in the 
 front, and from the flat seat one could hold down 
 his feet, and leaning with them against the snow 
 lead the sled in the right direction. The grandfather 
 had to look at the fir trees with Heidi, then seating 
 himself on the sled took the child in his lap and 
 wrapped her all around with the blanket to keep her 
 warm, holding her with his left arm tightly to his 
 side, for it was necessary in the journey. Then he 
 seized the pole with his right hand and gave it a 
 shove with both feet. And the sled started down 
 the Aim with such great speed that Heidi thought 
 she just flew in the air like a bird, and shouted aloud 
 joyously. 
 
 Suddenly the sled stopped Justin front of goatherd 
 Peter's home. The grandfather placed the child on 
 the ground and taking off her wraps, said : 
 
 " Now go in, and when it begins to grow dark, 
 then come out and start for home." 
 
 He, drawing the sled behind him, started up the 
 mountain. 
 
 Heidi opened the door and entered a small room 
 where it looked dark. There was a hearth, and 
 some plates on the shelves. This was the little 
 kitchen. Then she came to another door which she 
 
54 HKIDL 
 
 opened. This also led into a narrow room, as the 
 house was not a mountain cottage like the grand- 
 father's, in which there was one single large room 
 and a hayloft above ; but a very old little house 
 where everything was small and poor. 
 
 When Heidi entered the little room, she saw in 
 front of her a table, where a woman sat mending 
 Peter's jacket, as Heidi recognized it at once. In 
 the corner was sitting a bent little old woman 
 spinning. Heidi knew at once what to do, and 
 went directly to the spinning-wheel and said : 
 
 " Good day, grandmother. I have come to see 
 you at last. Did you think you would have to 
 wait for me forever ? " 
 
 The grandmother raised. her head and searched 
 for the hand, which was stretched out to her, and 
 when she found it, she felt it for a while thought- 
 fully, and then said : 
 
 " Are you the little child who lives up there with 
 the Aim-Uncle ? Are you Heidi ? " 
 
 " Yes, yes," affirmed the child, " I have just come 
 down with my grandfather in a sled." 
 
 " Is it possible that you have such a warm hand ? 
 Tell me, Brigitte, did the Alm-TJncle himself come 
 down with the child ? " 
 
 Brigitte, Peter's mother, who had been mending 
 at the table, stood up and looked at the child 
 curiously from head to foot, and then said : 
 
 " I don't know, mother, whether the Uncle himself 
 came down with her. It is possible the child may 
 not know exactly." 
 
WITH THE GRANDMOTHER. 55 
 
 But Heidi looked at the woman not as if she was 
 in any uncertainty about it, and said : 
 
 " I know it very well ; he who wrapped me up in 
 the coverlet and came down with me on the sled 
 was my grandfather." 
 
 " There must be some truth in what Peter has said 
 all along through the summer regarding the Aim- 
 Uncle, whom we thought that he did not know," 
 said the grandmother. " Who could have believed 
 such a thing was possible ? I thought the child 
 would hardly live three weeks up there. How does 
 she look, Brigitte?" 
 
 The latter had in the meantime examined the 
 child all over, so that she was now able to inform 
 how she looked. 
 
 " She is finely built, like Adelheid," answered she, 
 "but she has black eyes and curling hair, like 
 Tobias and the old man. I think she looks like 
 them both," 
 
 Heidi had not been idle all this time ; she had 
 looked about and examined everything that could 
 be seen. Then she said : 
 
 " XiOok, grandmother, the shutter is swinging, 
 and the grandfather would drive a nail immedi. 
 ately, to hold it fast. It will break a pane of 
 glass, some day. Look, look, how it slams I " 
 
 " You good child," said the grandmother. " I am 
 not able to see it, but I can hear it very well, not 
 only the shutter, but much more besides. When 
 the wind comes, everything creaks and cracks, and 
 it blows in from every side. Nothing holds to* 
 
56 HEIDI. 
 
 gether now ; and in the night when they are both 
 asleep, I am afraid that the house may cave in and 
 kill all three of us at the same time. Oh, and 
 there's no one who could'fix anything in the house. 
 Peter doesn't understand how to do it." 
 
 "But why can't you see what the shutter is 
 doing, grandmother ? Now look there, just there." 
 Heidi pointed right to the spot with her finger. 
 
 " Oh, my little child, I can see nothing, nothing 
 at all ; not only the shutter, but everything else," 
 said the grandmother, mournfully. 
 
 " But if I go out and open wide the shutter to 
 make quite light in the room, could you see then, 
 grandmother ? " 
 
 " No, no, not even then ! No one can give light 
 to my eyes." 
 
 " But if you go out in the white snow, then it 
 would surely be light for you. Come out with me, 
 grandmother, I'll show it to you." And Heidi took 
 the grandmother by the hand, and would take her 
 out, for she became quite uneasy that there was no 
 light for her anywhere. 
 
 " Let me sit here, my good child ; it will always 
 be dark for me, even in the snow and in the sun- 
 light. The light can never penetrate into my 
 eyes." 
 
 " But at least in summer, grandmother," said 
 Heidi, growing more and more uneasy, and seeking 
 some way out of the trouble. "You know, summer 
 time, when the sun sends forth its bright and daz- 
 zling beams, and bids the mountains ' good night,' 
 
WITH THE GRANDMOTHER, 55^ 
 
 and they glow in red colors, and the yellow fioweis 
 glisten, then it will be light to you, will it not ? " 
 
 " Oh, my child, I can see them no more, neither 
 the fiery mountains nor the golden flowers. I shall 
 never see the light on earth again — never I " 
 
 Now Heidi began to weep aloud. Feeling wretched, 
 she sobbed all the time, saying : " Who can restore 
 light to your eyes ? Isn't there anybody ? Nobody 
 atall?" 
 
 The grandmother tried to comfort the little child 
 now, but she could not succeed easily. Heidi hardly 
 ever cried, but when once she began, it was almost 
 impossible for her to be comforted. 
 
 The grandmother tried in every way to soothe 
 her, for it went to her heart that the child was sob- 
 bing so mournfully. At last she said : 
 
 " Come, you dear Heidi ; come to me ! I will 
 tell you something. You see, when one can see 
 nothing, then one can more easily hear a friendly 
 word ; it is a great pleasure for me to hear you 
 talk. So come, sit down by me, and tell me what 
 you do up there, and what the grandfather does. 
 I used to know him very well, but now, for several 
 years, I have heard nothing of him except what 
 Peter has said, and he does not say much." 
 
 Now, a new thought came into Heidi's mind. 
 She wiped away her tears quickly, and said com- 
 fortingly : 
 
 " Wait a little, grandmother ; I will tell all this to 
 my grandpa. He can make it light once more 
 for you, and in some way or other he can repair 
 
58 HEIDI. 
 
 the house so it will not tumble down. He can 
 put everything in good order." 
 
 The grandmother remained silent. Then Heidi 
 began to tell her with great animation of her life 
 with the grandfather, the days on the pasture, and 
 of their present winter life ; how her grandfather 
 made everything out of wood — benches, stools, and 
 a, pretty manger to put hay in for Schwaenli and 
 Baerli, and a new big water-trough for summer 
 bathing, and a new bowl and spoons. Heidi 
 grew livelier every time that she described all the 
 beautiful things that all at once came out of a piece 
 of wood, and how she would stay beside her grand- 
 father and watch him, and how she would do herself 
 all that in the future. 
 
 The grandmother listened with great attention, 
 and said now and then : 
 
 " Do you hear, Brigitte, do you hear what she 
 tells about the Uncle ? " 
 
 Suddenly the conversation was interrupted by a 
 noisy stamping at the door, and Peter burst into the 
 room, but stood still at once, opening his big round 
 eyes very wide, astonished to see Heidi there, and 
 his face was covered with friendly grimaces, as she 
 'cried out at once : " Good evening, Peter." 
 
 "Is it possible that he is already back from 
 school ? " said the grandmother in astonishment, " it's 
 many years since an afternoon has passed so quickly 
 for me. Good evening, my little Peter. How are 
 you getting on with your reading ? " 
 
 " Just the same," was the reply. 
 
WITH THE GRANDMOTHEB. 59 
 
 *• Is that so ? " said the grandmother, sighing a 
 Kttle, " I thought there might be some change by 
 this time, as you will be twelve years old in Feb- 
 ruary." 
 
 " Why should there be a change ? " asked Heidi 
 with great interest. 
 
 " I mean only that he might have learned some- 
 thing," said the grandmother, " to read, I mean. I 
 have up there on the shelf an old prayer-book in 
 which there are beautiful hymns. I have not heard 
 them for a long time, and cannot remember them 
 now. I hoped if Peterkin could have learned to 
 read, perhaps he would read to me some of the 
 hymns. But he cannot learn; it is too hard for 
 bim." 
 
 " I think I must light the lamp ; it is getting 
 quite dark," said Peter's mother, who was busy all 
 the time mending his jacket. "The afternoon 
 passed away without my noticing it." 
 
 At this Heidi sprang up from her little chair, and 
 stretched out her hand quickly and said : 
 
 " Good night, grandmother, I must go home at 
 once, for it is almost dark," and offered her hand to 
 Peter and his mother, and went towards the door. 
 But the grandmother cried anxiously : 
 
 " Wait, Heidi, wait, you must not go alone. Peter 
 must go with you. Do you hear ? Take care of the 
 child, Peterkin, that she may not fall, and do not be 
 slow on your way, that she may not be frost-bitten. 
 Do you understand ? Has she got a big shawl ? " 
 
 " I haveno shawl," said Heidi. " It is not so cold," 
 
60 . HEIDI, 
 
 saying which she went out of the door, and ran so 
 nimbly that Peter could hardly follow her. 
 
 But the grandmother called anxiously : *' Ran 
 after her, Brigitte, quick ! the child will freeze in 
 such a night. Take my shawl with yon.' 
 
 Brigitte obeyed. But the children had scarcely 
 gone a few steps up the mountain when they saw 
 the grandfather coming down ; and soon he was 
 standing before them. 
 
 " That's right, Heidi, you kept your promise,'' 
 said he, wrapping the child again in her shawl, and 
 taking her in his arms began to climb up the moun- 
 tain. 
 
 Brigitte had seen how the old man had wrapped 
 the child carefully before starting for home. She 
 went back into the house and told the grandmother 
 in great surprise what she had just seen. The old 
 woman was also surprised, and said repeatedly : 
 
 " God be praised, that he is so kind to the child ! 
 God be praised ! I wish he would let her come to 
 me again, the child has done me much good. What 
 a good heart she has! How amusingly she can 
 talk ! " And the grandmother rejoiced all the while 
 till she went to bed, and said over and over again : 
 
 " If she will only come again ! I have something 
 left in this world now that will make me happy ! " 
 
 Brigitte agreed with her every time, Peter also 
 nodded his head showing his assent, and grinned 
 from ear to ear with delight, and said : 
 
 " I knew it already.'' 
 
 All this time Heidi was talking to her grandfather ; 
 
WITH THE GRANDMOTHER. g| 
 
 bat as her voice could not pierce through the eight- 
 fold wrapper he did not catch a word, and so he 
 said : 
 
 " "Wait a little until we are at home, then you can 
 tell me all." 
 
 As soon as they reached home, he entered the hut 
 and freed Heidi from her heavy wrappings, and she 
 said: 
 
 " Grandpa, to-morrow we must take the big ham 
 mer and the large nails to fasten the shutters at thw 
 grandmother's, for everything creaks and shakes ia 
 the house." 
 
 " We must ? we must 1 "Who told you so ? '* 
 asked the grandfather. 
 
 " No one told me that, I knew it," replied Heidi, 
 " for nothing holds there together, and the grand- 
 mother is in constant fear, and unable to sleep. She 
 thinks : ' Now aU will fall down on our heads.' And 
 nobody can make it light for grandmother ! She 
 doesn't know how any one can. But you can, of 
 course, grandfather. Think how sad it is to be 
 always in the dark ; and, in addition to it, in fear 
 and anxiety ! No one can help her but you. To- 
 morrow we will go and help her ; shall we, grandpa ? " 
 
 Heidi clung to the grandfather, and looked at him 
 with indubitable confidence. 
 
 The old man, looking at the little child for a while, 
 said : 
 
 " Yes, Heidi, we will do that ; it shall no more 
 rattle at the grandmother's ; we can do that ; to- 
 morrow we will do it." 
 
62 HEIDI. 
 
 At this the child jumped for joy round the room, 
 and called out repeatedly : 
 
 " To-morrow we will do it ! To-morrow we will 
 doit!" 
 
 The grandfather was true to bis promise. On the 
 following afternoon he took the same sled-ride. As 
 on the preceding day, the old man placed the child 
 at goatherd Peter's door, and said : 
 
 " Now, go in, and when it is night come again." 
 
 Then he laid the sack on the sled, and went 
 round about the house. 
 
 Scarcely had Heidi opened the door and sprang 
 into the room, when the grandmother called out of 
 her corner : 
 
 " There comes the child ! It is the child ! " 
 
 She let the thread drop, and stopped the wheel 
 for joy, and stretched out both of her hands to the 
 child. 
 
 Heidi ran to her, pushing the low chair close to 
 her, seated herself and had to tell the grandmother 
 a great many things. 
 
 Suddenly, such a pounding and banging was 
 heard from outside that the grandmother started for 
 terror, almost overturning her wheel, and shaking 
 all over, cried out : 
 
 "Oh, heavens, now it has come, the cottage is 
 falling to pieces ! " 
 
 But Heidi held her fast by the arm, and said com- 
 fortingly : 
 
 "No, no, grandmother, do not be afraid; it is 
 only my grandfather with his hammer; he will 
 
WITH THE GRANDMOTHER. 63 
 
 make everything fast now, so that you won't have 
 anything to fear." 
 
 " Can it be possible ? Is such a thing possible ? 
 Then the good God has not forgotten usl" ex- 
 claimed the grandmother. " Did you hear, Brigitte, 
 what it is ? Do you hear ? Surely, it's a hammer ! 
 Go out, Brigitte, and if it is the Aim-Uncle, ask him 
 to come in for a minute so that I can thank him." 
 
 Brigitte went out. At that moment the Aim- 
 Uncle was fastening a bar on the wall, with great 
 force. She went up to him and said : 
 
 " I wish you good day. Uncle, and so does my 
 mother. We are much obliged to you for doing us 
 such good service ; and my mother wishes to thank 
 you for your trouble. Certainly no one would have 
 done this for us, and we appreciate it because — ■. — " 
 
 " That is enough," interrupted the old man. " I 
 know already what you think of the Aim-Uncle. 
 Go in again. Wherever there is anything to fix I 
 can find myself." 
 
 Brigitte obeyed at once, for the Uncle had a way 
 which nobody dared to oppose. He pounded and 
 hammered all around the house, climbed up the nar- 
 row steps to the roof, and hammered continually 
 until he had used the last nail he had brought over 
 with him. 
 
 In the meantime it had grown dark, and scarcely 
 had he gone down and fetched his sled from the 
 goat-shed when Heidi also came out of the hutt 
 Her grandfather, wrapping her as on the previous day, 
 took her in his arms and dragged the sled behind 
 
64 HEIDI. 
 
 him, for Heidi could not sit on it alone ; her wrapi 
 pers would have fallen off, and she would have 
 been almost frozen. The grandfather was well 
 aware of this, and held her quite warm in his 
 arras. 
 
 Thus passed the wmter. After many long years, 
 a time of joy had come into the cheerless life of 
 the blind grandmother ; her days were no more 
 long, dark and monotonous, for now she had some- 
 thing joyful to look forward to. From early morn- 
 ing she began to watch for the tripping footsteps, 
 and when the door really opened and the child 
 ran in, jumping, the old woman would call out 
 always happy: 
 " God be praised ! There she comes again." 
 And Heidi would sit by her side, chattering and 
 telling of what she knew in such a pleasant way 
 that it did good to the old woman ; and she did not 
 feel the time as it passed, and she no longer asked, 
 as she used to : 
 "Brigitte, is not the day nearly over?" 
 Every time when Heidi closed the door behind 
 her, she said : " How short the afternoon has been, 
 isn't it so, Brigitte?" And Brigitte would say: 
 " Certainly ; it seems to m6 as if we had just cleared 
 the dishes off the table." 
 
 And the grandmother would say again: "May 
 God keep the child in health, and preserve the 
 good-will of the Uncle ! Does she look healthy ? " 
 And every time Brigitte would reply : " As ruddy 
 as an apple." 
 
WITH THE GRANDMOTHER. 65 
 
 Heidi was greatly attached to the old grand- 
 mother, and whenever she thought that no one, 
 even the grandfather, could give back her lost sight, 
 her heart was filled with grief. But the grand- 
 mother told her more than once that she suffered 
 less when Heidi was with her, and Heidi went down 
 on the sled every beautiful afternoon. The grand- 
 father had continued in this way without any more 
 words, and each time he took his hammer and all 
 sorts of tools on the sled, and spent the after- 
 noon repairing goatherd Peter's little house. But 
 this had results, as no more cracking and rattling 
 was heard ; and the grandmother said she had not 
 been able to sleep so well for many a long winter, 
 and she could never forget the kindness of the 
 Alm-TJncle. 
 5 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 A VISIT, AND ANOTHEE, AND THEIE OONSEQBENOEa. 
 
 Quickly passed the winter, and still more quickly 
 the happy summer following, and a new winter 
 was coming to an end. Heidi felt as happy and 
 satisfied as the little birds of the air, and rejoiced 
 more and more every day for the coming spring days, 
 when the warm south wind would blow through 
 the fir-trees and melt away the snow; then the 
 bright sun would appear, and the blue and yellow 
 flowers, and the days for the pasture would come, 
 bringing with them the most beautiful things for 
 Heidi, as nothing else gave her as much happi- 
 ness. 
 
 Heidi was now in her eighth year ; she had learned 
 of sorts of useful things from her grandfather. She 
 could take care of the goats as well as any one, and 
 Schwaenli and Baerli ran after her like faithful dogs, 
 and they bleated aloud for joy when they only 
 heard her voice. 
 
 This winter Peter had twice brought word from 
 the teacher in Doerfli that the Aim-Uncle ought to 
 send the child who was with him to school ; she was 
 now more than old enough and should have gone 
 the preceding winter. The Uncle had each time 
 66 
 
TWO VISITS, AND THEIR CONSEQUENCES. 67 
 
 sent word to the teacher saying that if he had any- 
 thing to say to him he was always at home. But as 
 to the child, he did not intend to have her go to 
 school. Peter delivered this message faithfully. 
 
 When the March sun had melted away the snow 
 on the slopes, and snowdrops had come out in the 
 valley, and the fir trees on the Aim had shaken the 
 snow, and the branches waved gaily, Heidi began 
 to run joyously back and forth from the house to 
 the pen, then to the fir trees, and again back to the 
 grandfather to tell him how large the green grass 
 had grown under the trees ; and immediately she 
 ran back to see, for she could not wait for every- 
 thing to grow green, and the beautiful summer come 
 once more with its splendor of herbs and flowers on 
 the Aim. 
 
 On a sunny March morning as she was running 
 about, and had jumped over the threshold for the 
 tenth time perhaps, she almost fell backwards from 
 fright ; for she stood suddenly before an old gentle- 
 man clad in black who looked at her gravely. But 
 when he saw that the child was frightened, he said 
 kindly : 
 
 " You mustn't be afraid of me, for I love little 
 children. Give me your hand ! You must be Heidi. 
 Where is your grandfather ? " 
 
 " He is sitting at the table making round spoons 
 out of wood," said Heidi, and opened the door. 
 
 It was the old pastor from Doerfli who had known 
 the Uncle for many years when he still lived down 
 in the village, and was a neighbor of his. Entering 
 
68 HEIDI. 
 
 into the hut he approached the old man, who was 
 bending over his work of carving, and said : " Good 
 morning, neighbor." 
 
 The old man looked up to him surprised, and 
 rising up said : " Good morning, pastor ! " Then he 
 offered his stool to him, and continued saying : " If 
 the pastor does not mind a wooden chair, here is 
 one." 
 
 The pastor sitting down said : " I have not seen 
 you for a long time, neighbor." 
 
 " Yes, we have not met for years," was the 
 answer. 
 
 " I have come here to have a talk with you about 
 something," began the pastor. " I think you know 
 what I have come to see you about, and to have 
 some understanding with you, and hear what your 
 intention is in regard to the matter." 
 
 The pastor stopped and looked at Heidi, who stood 
 at the door watching sharply the newcomer. 
 
 " Heidi, go to the goats," said the grandfather, 
 ** and take a little salt with you, and stay there until 
 I come." 
 
 Heidi went right away. 
 
 " The child ought to have gone to school a year 
 VLgo, and by all means this winter," said the pastor. 
 ** The teacher sent you word, and you have made no 
 reply. What are you going to do with her, neigh- 
 bor?" 
 
 " I do not intend to send her to school," he an- 
 swered. 
 
 The pastor looked at the old man in surprise, as 
 
TWO VISITS, AND THEIR CONSEQUENCES. 69 
 
 he was sitting on his bench with his arms folded, 
 and did not seem to be yielding. 
 
 " What do you propose to make out of the child ? " 
 asked the pastor. 
 
 "Nothing. She grows and thrives with the goats 
 and the birds ; and she is happy with them ; and she 
 learns nothing bad from them." 
 
 " But the child is neither a goat nor a bird ; she 
 is a human being ; if she learns nothing bad from 
 these her companions, she does not learn anything 
 else either. But she ought to learn something, as it 
 is just the time for it. I have come to inform you 
 of it in good time, neighbor, so that you may think 
 about it, and make your arrangements during the 
 summer. This must be the last winter for the child 
 to spend without attending a school ; next winter 
 she must go to school, and every day, too." 
 
 " I will not do it, pastor," said the old man in a 
 firm tone. 
 
 *' Do you think that there is no way of bringing 
 you to your senses, if you continue stubbornly in 
 your unreasonable behavior ? " said the pastor, 
 somewhat excited. " You have traveled in tho 
 world a good deal, and must have seen much, and 
 could have learned many things. I believed you 
 to be a man of good judgment, neighbor." 
 
 " Well," said the old man, and his voice betrayed 
 that he did not feel calm in his mind, " and does 
 the pastor think for a moment that I would be 
 willing to send the child next winter every day on 
 icy-cold mornings throngb snow and storms, and 
 
70 HEIDI. 
 
 let her return in the evening in a raging blizzard, 
 when even men of our size would be choked in the 
 wind and the snow ? And , the pastor may recall 
 Adelheid, her mother ; she was a lunatic and had 
 fits. Shall the child also contract such a disease 
 through over-exertion ? Let any one dare try to 
 force me to do it ! I will go with him to every court, 
 and then we shall see who is able to compel me ! " 
 
 "You are ri^ht, neighbor," said the pastor in a 
 friendly tone, " it wouldn't be possible to send the 
 little child to school from here. But I see you are 
 fond of the child ; so do something for her which 
 you should have done long ago. Come down to the 
 village and live again among your former neighbors. 
 What is this j'our life up here, alone and embittered 
 toward God and man ! If anything should happen 
 to yon here, who will be able to come to your help ? 
 I can never understand how you can bear the terrible 
 cold through the whole winter in this hut ; and how 
 you and the tender child can live here without 
 freezing ? " 
 
 " I can assure the pastor that the child has young 
 blood and a thick coverlet ; and besides, I know 
 where to find wood and how to bring it. If the 
 pastor wishes to look in my shed, be will find plenty 
 of fuel there. In my cottage the fire never goes out 
 all winter. As to the pastor's suggestion about my 
 going down to live in the village, it is not for me. 
 The people down there despise me, and I despis4 
 tthem ; we live apart, and that's best for both parties." 
 
 " No, no, it isn't good for you ; I know just what 
 
TWO VISITS, AND THEIR CONSEQUENCES. 71 
 
 the trouble is with you," said the pastor in a decided 
 tone. "As to the contempt of the people down 
 there, it isn't as bad as you think. Believe me, 
 neighbor, try to make peace with God ; ask for his 
 forgiveness, if you need it ; and then come and see 
 how different the people wiU look at you and how 
 pleasant everything will be for you." 
 
 The good pastor now stood up, and holding out 
 his hand to the old man, said once more cordially : 
 
 " I hope, neighbor, you will be down there with 
 us again next winter, for we are the same good old 
 neighbors. I would be very sorry, if force is used 
 towards you. So give me your hand and promise 
 that you will come down and live among us again, 
 having peace with God and man." 
 
 The Alm-TJncle, giving the pastor his hand, said 
 firmly and decidedly : 
 
 " The pastor means good with me, but I will not 
 do what he expects me to. This I say plainly and 
 will not change my mind. I shall neither come down 
 there nor send the child to school." 
 
 " So let God help you," said the pastor sadly, and 
 went out of the door and down the mountain. 
 
 The old man was out of humor, and when Heidi 
 said in the afternoon : 
 
 " Now let us go to the grandmother," he replied : 
 " No, not to-day," and did not say anything all day. 
 And the following morning when Heidi asked: 
 "Shall we go to the grandmother to-day?" his 
 answer was likewise in a few words and in an indif. 
 ferent tone. He said simply : " We shall see." 
 
72 HEIDI. 
 
 But before the plates had been cleared from the 
 table after dinner, there entered another visitor. It 
 was Aunt Dete. She had a fine hat on her head, 
 with a feather, a dress which swept everything that 
 lay on the floor — and in the cottage lay all sorts of 
 things which did no good to the dress. 
 
 The Uncle examined her from head to foot and 
 said nothing. But Aunt Dete intended to have a 
 friendly conversation, for she began immediately to 
 flatter him by saying that Heidi looked so healthy 
 and well that she hardly recognized her, and one could 
 easily see that the grandfather had taken good care 
 of her. She said that she intended to take her back 
 again, for she had formerly imagined that the little 
 child would very much be in his way, but at that 
 time she could find no place for her ; and, ever since, 
 she had been thinking day and night where she 
 could find a shelter for her. That's why she had 
 come to-day, for she had learned something suddenly 
 which might prove fortunate for her. At first she 
 could hardly have believed it herself; she had at 
 once followed up the matter, and now she could say 
 without doubt that the matter is settled, and not 
 one in a hundred thousand persons could be as for- 
 tunate as Heidi. 
 
 " A very rich relative of my mistress, who lives 
 in almost the finest house in Frankfort, has an only 
 daughter, who, being lame on her one side and other- 
 wise not healthy, is obliged to stay in a rolling chair, 
 and is almost always alone, and has to study all her 
 lessons alone with her teacher, and this is very 
 
TWO VISITS, AND THEIR CONSEQUENCES. 73 
 
 wearisome for her; so she would like to have a 
 playmate with her." 
 
 This was talked about at her employer's home, as 
 the mistress was anxious to find such a companion 
 for her as the housekeeper described. 
 
 The housekeeper had said she would like to have 
 an unspoiled child, different from those seen every- 
 where. She had at once thought of Heidi, and had 
 run immediately to the lady, and described every- 
 thing about the child and her character ; and the 
 lady had consented to have her come. " Now no 
 one could know what luck and good fortune awaits 
 Heidi, for if she is once there, the people will like 
 her, and if something should happen to the only 
 child, — for nobody can tell, she is so weak, — and if 
 the people should not wish to be without a child, the 
 most unheard-of good luck might " 
 
 " Will you ever finish your story ? " interrupted 
 the Uncle, who thus far had not spoken a word. 
 
 " Pah," exclaimed Dete, and threw back her head. 
 " Tou act as if I had told you the most common 
 story ; and there isn't a single person in whole 
 Praettigan who would not thank God in heaven if I 
 had brought to him the news which I bring you." 
 
 " Take them wherever you like ; I do not want 
 any of them," said the Uncle drily. Now Dete 
 started up like a rocket, and cried out : 
 
 " "Well, if this be your opinion. Uncle, I will tell 
 you what mine is ; the child is eight years old and 
 has learned nothing and knows nothing, and you 
 do not intend to have her learn anything, you don't 
 
74 HEIDL 
 
 send her to school, nor to church ; this I have been 
 told in Doerfli, and she is my sister's only child ; I am 
 responsible for whatever happens to her. And if 
 ever one had any luck, that Heidi has novsr. There 
 can only be one person in the way who is indifferent 
 about the whole world, and who wishes no one good. 
 But I will not yield. This I will tell you ; and then 
 I have all the people on my side, and there is not a 
 single person down in Doerfli who would not be 
 willing to help me, and who is not against you ; and 
 if you should bring it before the court, you must 
 think of it carefully, before you do it. Uncle, there 
 are many things which can be said against you, 
 which you would not like to hear, for if any one 
 begins to go to court, much is raked up which has 
 been long forgotten." 
 
 " Hold your tongue," thundered the TJncle, and 
 his eyes flashed fire. " Take the child and riiiin her ! 
 Never bring her into my presence. I cannot bear 
 to see her with a hat and a feather on her head, 
 and words in her mouth as I have heard from you 
 to-day ! " 
 
 The Uncle left the house hurriedly. 
 
 " You have made my grandpa angry," said Heidi, 
 with fire in her sparkling black eyes, looking at her 
 aunt not at all in a friendly way. 
 
 " Oh, he will be all right again soon. Come, nov7, 
 where are your clothing ? " said Dete. 
 
 "I will not go," Heidi answered. 
 
 " What do you say ? " said Dete angrily, then 
 changing her tone a little she continued, half friendly. 
 
TWO VISITS, AND THEIR CONSEQUENCKS. 75 
 
 half in anger : " Come, come, you do not under- 
 stand it ; you will have pleasanter times there than 
 you could ever imagine." 
 
 Then she went to the closet, took out Heidi's 
 things, and packed .them together. 
 
 " Come now, get your hat ; it doesn't look very- 
 nice, but it is all right for the present ; put it on, 
 and let us go immediately." 
 
 " I will not go," repeated Heidi. 
 
 " Do not be stupid and obstinate like a goat ; you 
 have learned it from them. Tou have heard what 
 he said, that we must never come before his eyes. 
 He wants you to go with me now. You must not 
 make him more angry. Tou have no idea how 
 delightful it is in Frankfort, and there you will see 
 all sorts of things, and if you should not like it, you 
 can come back home ; by that time the grandfather 
 will be all right again." 
 
 " Can I come right back home again to-night ? " 
 asked Heidi. 
 
 " What ! Come along now. I told you, you can 
 go home again whenever you like. To-day we go 
 as far as Mayenfeld. And early to-morrow morn- 
 ing we take our seats in the railway-car, in which 
 you can come back home in a minute. It is like 
 flying." 
 
 Aunt Dete had the bundle of clothes on her arm, 
 and took Heidi by the hand. So they went down 
 the mountain. But as it was not yet time for pas- 
 ture, Peter still went to school down in Doerfli ; or 
 should have gone, but sometimes took a holiday, for 
 
76 HEIDI. 
 
 lie thought it useless to go there. One can get along 
 without learning to read ; it is better to go round 
 and seek for big sticks, as one can make use of these. 
 So he was seen just coming towards his cottage, 
 apparently successful in the day's exertions ; for he 
 carried on his shoulder a large bundle of long, thick 
 hazel-wood sticks. He stood still and stared at 
 the two travelers who were coming towards him 
 until they were close by, when he asked : 
 
 " Where are you going ? " 
 
 " I am going to Frankfort with my aunt," replied 
 Heidi, " but I will go and see the grandmother first, 
 a,s she is waiting for me." 
 
 " No, no, nothing of the kind ; it is already too 
 late," said the aunt hastily, and held Heidi fast by 
 the hand, as she was struggling to go. " Tou can go 
 to see her if you should come home again. Now come 
 along," and she drew Heidi away and did not let go 
 of her again ; for she was afraid that it might come 
 back into the child's mind not to go, and the grand- 
 mother might take sides with her. 
 
 Peter ran into the house, and flung his whole 
 bundle of sticks with such a force on the table, that 
 the whole house rattled, and the old woman started 
 up from her spinning-wheel in great fright, and cried 
 aloud. Peter had to give full vent to his feelings. 
 
 "What is the trouble? what is the trouble?" 
 asked the grandmother with anxiety, and the mother, 
 who was sitting at the table, and had almost jumped 
 in the air at the crack, said in her usual patiep*'- 
 tone: 
 
TWO VISITS, AND THEIR CONSEQUENCES. 77 
 
 "What is up now, Peterkins? Why do you act 
 so ? " 
 
 " Because she has taken Heidi away," exclaimed 
 Peter. 
 
 "Who, Peter, who? Where? where?" asked the 
 grandmother, now more anxiously. 
 
 But she must have soon guessed at what had hap- 
 pened, her daughter having told her a short time 
 before that she had seen Date going up to the Aim. 
 Uncle's. 
 
 Her whole body trembling, and in great haste, tho 
 grandmother opened the window, and called out im- 
 ploringly : 
 
 " Dete, Dete, do not take the child away ! Do 
 not take Heidi from us ! " 
 
 While going down both of them heard the voice, 
 and Dete must have understood what she said, for 
 she held the child faster and ran as speedily as she 
 could. Heidi, resisting, said : 
 
 "The grandmother calls me, I must go to 
 her." 
 
 But the aunt would not listen to it and tried to 
 persuade her to walk faster, so that they should not 
 be too late, and the following morning they could 
 travel farther ; she could see then for herself how 
 she would like Frankfort, that she would not want 
 to return. Even if she wished to come back, she 
 could do so at once, then she could bring something 
 to the grandmother which would please her. Heidi 
 was delighted with this plan. She began to run 
 without further resistance. 
 
78 HEIDL 
 
 " "What can I bring to the grandmother ? " asked 
 the child after a while. 
 
 " Something good," said the aunt, " some delicious 
 white bread will please her, for she can scarcely eat 
 the hard black bread." 
 
 " Yes, she always gives it to Peter and says : ' It 
 is too hard for me.' I have seen it myself," con- 
 firmed Heidi. " Let us hurry on. Aunt Dete ; we 
 may possibly reach Frankfort to-day, so that I can 
 soon be back with the white bread." 
 
 At this Heidi began to run so quickly that the 
 aunt could not keep up with her with the heavy 
 bundle under her arm. But she was very glad that 
 Heidi walked so fast, for they had nearly reached 
 the first houses of Doerfli, and there people would 
 ask all sorts of questions which might lead Heidi to 
 thinking again. 
 
 They hurried straight through the village, and the 
 child dragged her aunt by the hand with such force 
 that all the people could see that she had to hasten 
 to please the child. She had no time to answer the 
 many questions which were asked her from every 
 window and doorway, but said only : 
 
 " You see, I cannot possibly stop ; the child is in 
 such a hurry and we have to go a long distance." 
 
 " Do you take her with you ? " '• Has she run 
 away from the Aim-Uncle ? " " It is surely a 
 wonder that she is still living. And she is so rosy." 
 
 Thus came the remarks from all sides, and Dete 
 was so glad that she had passed through the village 
 without delay, and had not given any explanation ; 
 
TWO VISITS, AND THEIR CONSEQUENCES. 79 
 
 and that Heidi had said nothing, but had hurried 
 forward in great haste. 
 
 From that very day the Aim-Uncle was in bad 
 humor more than ever when he went through 
 Doerfli with an angry look on his face. He greeted 
 no one ; and with the cheese basket on his back and, 
 the huge stick in his hand, and his thick eyebrows 
 contracted, he looked so menacing that the women 
 used to saj" to the little children : 
 
 " Take care ! Get out of the Aim-Uncle's way ; 
 he may hurt you ! " 
 
 The old man associated with no one in Doerfli. 
 He passed through it, and went down into the valley, 
 where he sold his cheese and bought whatever bread 
 and meat he needed. When he walked through 
 Doerfli, people gathered together in groups behind 
 him, and every one knew of something strange about 
 him ; how more ugly he looked and no longer ex- 
 changed greetings with anybody; and all agreed 
 that the child was very fortunate to have escaped 
 from him. On that day she was evidently running 
 in great haste as if in fear of her grandfather's pur- 
 suing her to take her back. The blind grandmother 
 alone took the Aim-Uncle's part, and whoever 
 went up to have her spin or to take what she had 
 spun she told the same story every time and again ; 
 how kind and careful the old man had been to the 
 child and did everything to make her happy ; what 
 he had done for her and for her daughter ; how he 
 had spent many an afternoon repairing her house, 
 which surelv would have fallen down had he not fixed 
 
80 HEIDL 
 
 it. All these things reached Doerfli also ; but every, 
 body who heard these remarked that perhaps the 
 grandmother was getting too old to comprehend ; 
 she may not have understood it right, for she could 
 not hear very well, and the more as she could see 
 nothing at all. 
 
 The Aim-Uncle stopped going to goatherd Peter's 
 cottage. It was very fortunate for them that he had 
 repaired their house so well, for it held together a 
 long time without need of fixing. 
 
 The days now began to be days of sorrow and 
 sighing for the poor blind grandmother ; and not a 
 day passed when she would not say mournfully : 
 
 " Oh, with the child every good thing and every 
 joy has been taken from us, and the days are so 
 dreary ! If I could only hear Heidi's voice onee 
 more before I di* I " 
 
CHAPTER Yl. 
 
 A NEW CHAPTEE AND NEW SCENES. 
 
 In the house of Mr. Sesemann in Frankfort lay 
 his little sick daughter, Clara, in a comfortable roll- 
 ing-chair in which she was seated all day, and was 
 rolled from one room to another. She was now in 
 what they called the study, which was alongside of 
 the big dining-room. Here all sorts of things were 
 arranged in such a comfortable way that it looked 
 as if they generally used it as a living room. See- 
 ing the beautiful book-case with glass doors one 
 could easily know the reason why it was called by 
 that name ; and it was the place where the little 
 lame girl received her education. 
 
 Clara had a pale and small face out of which there 
 peeped two mild blue eyes, at this moment directed 
 toward the big wall-clock, which seemed to move 
 unusually slow to-day, for Clara, who was rarely im- 
 patient, now said with some uneasiness : 
 
 " Isn't it almost time. Miss Eottenmeier ? " 
 
 Miss Eottenmeier sat upright by a little work- 
 table embroidering. She had on a mysterious-look- 
 ing wrapper, a large cape or a kind of cloak which 
 gave her a sad and solemn appearance, that was 
 enhanced by some kind of high-built cupola on her 
 
 head. Miss Eottenmeier, ever since Clara's mother's 
 6 8i 
 
82 HEIDL 
 
 death, several years ago, had been Sesemann's house, 
 keeper and looked after the house and all the serv- 
 ants. As Mr. Sesemann traveled a good part of 
 the year, he left Miss Eottenmeier in charge of the 
 whole house on this one condition, that his little 
 daughter should have a voice in everything, and 
 that nothing should be done contrary to her wishes. 
 
 While Clara asked Miss^ Eottenmeier for the 
 second time, with some sign of impatience, if the 
 time had not arrived when those expected should 
 arrive, Dete, holding Heidi by the hand, stood below 
 at the door, and was asking Johann, the coachman, 
 who had just jumped down from the carriage, 
 whether she might be allowed to disturb Miss Hot. 
 tenmeier at such a late hour. 
 
 " It is no business of mine," mumbled the coach- 
 man. " Eing for Sebastian in the hall." 
 
 Dete did what she was told, and the servant of the 
 house, with big round buttons on his coat, and eyes 
 nearly as large in his head, came down the stairs. 
 
 " I would like to know if I may be allowed to dis. 
 turb Miss Eottenmeier at such a late hour," asked 
 Dete. 
 
 " That is not my business," returned the servant. 
 " Eing the other bell for the maid, Tinette," and 
 Sebastian disappeared without any further informa- 
 tion. 
 
 Dete rang again. Now the maid Tinette appeared 
 on the stairs with a dazzling little white cap on top 
 of her head, and a scornful expression on her face. 
 
 " What is it ? " she asked from the top of the stairs 
 
A NEW CHAPTER AND NEW SCENES. 83 
 
 without coming down. Dete repeated her request. 
 Tinette disappeared, but soon came back and called 
 down from the head of the stairs, " You are ex- 
 pected." 
 
 At this, Dete, holding Heidi by the hand, went up 
 the stairs and entered the study, following Tinette. 
 She stood politely near the door, still holding Heidi 
 fast by the hand, for she did not know how the 
 child would behave in an altogether strange place 
 like this. 
 
 Miss Eottenmeier, rising slowly from her seat, 
 came nearer in order to examine the newly-arrived 
 playmate for the daughter of the house. Her ap- 
 pearance did not seem to please her. Heidi was 
 dressed in her simple linen dress and her old broken 
 straw hat. The child looked around her in her inno- 
 cent way, and examined the turret on the head of 
 the lady with unconcealed astonishment. 
 
 " "What is your name ? " asked Miss Eottenmeier, 
 after looking for a few minutes with examining eyes 
 at the child, who gazed steadily at her. 
 
 " Heidi," answered she distinctly, and in a singing 
 tone. 
 
 " What ? what ? This certainly can't be your 
 Christian name. Of course you were not baptized 
 by that name. "What name was given you at your 
 baptism?" asked Miss Eottenmeier agaij 
 
 "I do not know it now," replied Heidi. 
 
 " Is this an answer, then ? " said the lady, shaking 
 her head. " Dete, is the child simple or pert ? " 
 
 ** If the lady will allow and give her consent, I 
 
84 HEIDL 
 
 will reply for the child, for she is very inexpert 
 enced," said Dete, after she had nudged Heidi 
 secretly for her unbecoming answer. " She is 
 neither simple nor pert ; as she knows nothing about 
 that, she means just what she says. To-day is the 
 first time she has been in a house like this, and has 
 had no knowledge of what good manners means. 
 She is very obedient and will learn if the lady would 
 only have a little forbearance. She was baptized 
 Adelheid, after her mother, my late sister." 
 
 " Grood ! that looks like a name which one can 
 pronounce," remarked Miss Eottenmeier. " But, 
 Dete, I must tell you that the child seems to be rather 
 strange for her age. I informed you that the play- 
 mate for Clara should be of the same age, to follow 
 the same instr'^'"tions and to share the same amuse- 
 ments in general. Clara has passed her twelfth 
 year. How old is this child ? " 
 
 " With your leave. Madam," began Dete again in 
 her eloquent way, " I cannot quite remember just 
 how old she is. I know that she is somewhat younger 
 than that ; she is perhaps in her tenth or somewhat 
 more than that, I presume." 
 
 " I am now eight years old, my grandfather told 
 me that," said Heidi. The aunt gave her a fresh 
 push, but Heidi did not know the reason and was 
 not at all confused. 
 
 " "What ! only eight years old ? " called out Miss 
 Eottenmeier somewhat angrily. " Four years too 
 young. "What does this mean ? And what have you 
 learned ? "What books have you studied ? " 
 
A NEW CHAPTER AND NEW SCENES. 85 
 
 " None," replied Heidi, 
 
 " What ! How did you learn to read then ? " 
 asked the lady. 
 
 " I have never learned to read, neither has Peter," 
 was Heidi's reply. 
 
 " Merciful God I you cannot read ! you cannot 
 really read ? " cried Miss Rottenmeier in great sur- 
 prise. " Is it possible that you cannot read ? But 
 what have you learned, then ? " 
 
 "Nothing," said Heidi, in conformity with the 
 truth. 
 
 " Dete," said Miss Eottenmeier, after a few min- 
 utes in which she tried to calm herself, " this is not at 
 all according to our agreement. How could you 
 bring me such a creature ? " 
 
 But Dete did not allow herself to be so soon 
 intimidated in this way. She replied with courage : 
 
 " If the lady will allow me, the child is just what 
 the lady asked for as near as I understood ; the lady 
 described that the child should be altogether different 
 and not like other children, and so I selected this little 
 one, for the larger children do not live separate, and 
 I thought this answered the description. But I 
 must go now, for my mistress is expecting me, and 
 if they allow me I will return soon and find out 
 how she is doing." 
 
 "With a courtesy Dete went out of the door and 
 down the stairs very quickly. Miss Rottenmeier 
 stood there a minute, then ran after Dete, for she re- 
 membered that she had a great many other things 
 to ask the aunt about^ if the child was really to stay 
 
86 HEIDI. 
 
 there ; the lady saw at once that Dete was de- 
 termined to leave the child with them. 
 
 Heidi still stood in the same place by the door, 
 where she had been when she first came. Until then 
 Clara had looked from her chair in silence at what 
 happened. Now she beckoned to Heidi. 
 
 " Come here to me." 
 
 Heidi approached her chair. 
 
 " Which do you prefer to be called, Heidi or 
 Adelheid ? " asked Clara. 
 
 " My name is Heidi and nothing else," said Heidi. 
 
 " Then I will always call you by that name," said 
 Clara. " The name pleases me for you ; I have 
 never heard it before and I have never seen a child 
 that looked like you. Have you always had such 
 short curly hair ? " 
 
 " Yes, I think so," said Heidi. 
 
 " Were you pleased to come to Frankfort I " 
 asked Clara. 
 
 " No, but to-morrow I am going home again to 
 carry some white rolls for the grandmother," said 
 Heidi. 
 
 " You are a strange child," replied Clara. " You 
 have been brought here expressly to stay here and 
 take lessons with me. Now it is very funny that 
 you cannot read. There will be something quite 
 new in the lessons. Sometimes it is very tiresome 
 and tedious, and the mornings seem to have no end. 
 Just think of it, at ten o'clock every morning the tutor 
 comes, and the lessons begin and continue until two 
 o'clock, and it is so long. Sometimes the tutor holds 
 
A NEW CHAPTER AND NEW SCENES. 87 
 
 the book close to his eyes, as if he had suddenly grown 
 near-sighted, but yawns awfully behind the book. 
 And Miss Eottenmeier also takes out her large hand, 
 kerchief and holds it over her whole face, as if she 
 were much affected by what we are reading ; but 
 I know perfectly well that she is only yawning. 
 Sometimes I feel inclined to yawn, but I must always 
 swallow it down, for if I should yawn one single time, 
 Miss Eottenmeier would bring the cod-liver oil at 
 once, saying that I was fainting. Cod-liver oil is the 
 most horrible thing. So I rather swallow my yawns 
 than that stuff. But now it will be much pleasanter 
 for me as I can listen while you learn to read ! " 
 
 Heidi shook her head doubtfully when Clara 
 spoke of learning to read. 
 
 " Yes, yes, Heidi, you must learn to read. Every 
 lady must, and the tutor is very good and never 
 gets angry. He will explain everything to you. 
 But only think, when he explains anything to you, 
 and you do not understand any of it, you must wait 
 and say nothing, or he will begin to explain much 
 more, and you will understand still less. But after- 
 wards, when you have learned something and know 
 it, then you will understand what he meant." 
 
 By this time Miss Eottenmeier had come back into 
 the room. She had not been able to call Dete back 
 and was seemingly excited, for she had not been 
 able to talk in detail and explain to her that the 
 child was not at all according to the agreement. And 
 she knew not what was to be done to retract her 
 step ; she became the more excited, for she had con- 
 
88 HEIDI. 
 
 trived the whole matter herself. So she went from 
 the study to the dining-room, and came ■nack again. 
 Then she immediately turned back again, and here 
 she made an attack on Sebastian, who just then was 
 thoughtfully examining the table he had laid to see 
 that no fault could be found with his work. 
 
 " You better think your great thoughts to-mor. 
 row, and get the things ready for us to come to 
 supper before night." 
 
 With these words Miss Eottenmeier passed by 
 Sebastian and called Tinette in such an unpleasant 
 tone that Tinette took much smaller steps than 
 usual, and stood before her with such a defiance 
 that even Miss Kottenmeier did not dare to make 
 an attack on her ; but for this same reason the ex- 
 citement grew more violent in her heart. 
 
 " The room which the little child who has 
 just arrived is to occupy must be put in order," 
 said the lady with pretended tranquillity. " Every- 
 thing is ready, only the furniture must be dusted." 
 
 In the meanwhile Sebastian had struck the 
 folding doors of the study with a pretty hard 
 knock, for he was very angry, but he did not 
 dare to give vent to his feelings before Miss 
 Kottenmeier. He then went into the study 
 calmly to push the rolling chair into the dining- 
 room. "While he was turning the handle of the 
 chair in the back, which had been displaced, 
 Heidi stood before him, and looked at him steadily, 
 which he noticed. Suddenly he started up. 
 
 " Well, is there anything strange there ? " said ho 
 
A NEW CHAPTER AND NEW SCENES. 89 
 
 to Heidi, in such a way, that he would not have 
 done had he seen Miss Kottenmeier, who stood 
 on the threshold and was just stepping in, when 
 Heidi answered : 
 
 "Thou lookst like goatherd Peter." 
 
 Shocked at this, the lady struck her hands 
 against each other. " Is it possible ? " she groaned 
 in an undertone. "She called the servant thou. 
 She lacks elementary ideas." 
 
 The chair was wheeled in, and Sebastian took 
 Clara out of it and placed her in her easy chair. 
 
 Miss Eottenmeier seated herself near her, and 
 made Heidi a sign to take the place opposite 
 her. No one else came to the table. The three 
 sat far apart, so that Sebastian had plenty of 
 room to serve his dishes. Near Heidi's plate 
 there was a nice, white little roll. The child 
 gazed at it with joyful looks. The likeness which 
 the child had discovered must have aroused her 
 whole confidence in Sebastian, for she sat there as 
 still as a mouse and did not stir until he approached 
 her with the large dish and held to her the fried 
 fish, after which she pointed to the roll and asked : 
 
 "May I have this?" 
 
 Sebastian nodded and threw a sidelong glance 
 to Miss Eottenmeier, for he wondered what im- 
 pression it would make on her. In a moment 
 Heidi seized her roll and put it into her pocket. 
 Sebastian tried to keep himself from laughing, as 
 he knew very well that he was not allowed to 
 do so. He was still standing before Heidi without 
 
90 HEIDI. 
 
 a word or a move, for he did not dare to talk, nor 
 go away until he was told. Heidi gazed at him for 
 a while in astonishment and then asked: 
 
 "Shall I, too, eat some of it?" 
 
 Sebastian nodded again. 
 
 "Give me some, then," said she, and looked 
 quietly at her plate. 
 
 Sebastian was in a very nervous position ; the dish 
 in his hands began to shake dangerously. 
 
 "Yon may put the dish on the table and come 
 back again," said now Miss Rottenmeier with a 
 severe look. 
 
 Sebastian at once disappeared. 
 
 "Adelheid, I must teach you the first ideas of 
 everything; that I see plainly," continued Miss 
 Eottenmeier with a deep sigh. "Before everything 
 else I must show you how to help yourself at the 
 table." Then she showed plainly and in detail how 
 to do everything Heidi had to do, "Then," she 
 continued, "I must particularly tell you that you 
 must not talk at the table to Sebastian, and other 
 times only when you have a message for him, or 
 something necessary to ask, but you must address 
 him in no other way but you. Do you understand? 
 I hope I shall never hear you address him other- 
 wise. You must also Call Tinette you. As for me, 
 you call me just the same as you hear the others 
 call me. What you have to call Clara, she will her- 
 self tell you." 
 
 "Clara, of course," said the little invalid. 
 
 Then followed a good many directions in re- 
 
A NEW CHAPTER AND NEW SCENES. 91 
 
 gard to getting up in the morning and going to 
 bed, of coming in and going out, of keeping the 
 things in order and shutting the doors. "While 
 she was giving her instructions, Heidi's eyes 
 closed, for she had been up since before five 
 o'clock and had been traveling ; so she leaned 
 back in her chair and fell asleep. After a while, 
 when Miss Eottenmeier brought her instructions 
 to an end, she said : 
 
 "Now, Adelheid, think of what I have told 
 you. Did you understand all?" 
 
 " Heidi has been asleep now for a long time," 
 said Clara, very much delighted, for the supper 
 time had not passed off so quickly for months. 
 
 " This is a very strange child, the like of 
 which I have never seen," exclaimed Miss Eotten- 
 meier in great anger, and rang the bell so violently 
 that Tinette and Sebastian rushed in together. 
 Notwithstanding all this noise Heidi did not wake, 
 and they had taken the greatest pains to arouse her, 
 BO much that they had to . take her to her bedroom 
 first through the study, then through Clara's bed- 
 room and then through Miss Eottenraeier's to the 
 chamber in the corner, which was prepared for 
 Heidi. 
 
CHAPTER VIL 
 
 SnSS BOTTENMEIEB HAS A TISESOHB DAT. 
 
 When Heidi opened her eyes on the first mom. 
 ing in Frankfort, she could not understand what 
 she saw. She rubbed her eyes very hard, looked 
 up agdin and saw only the same things. She was 
 sitting in a high white bed, and before her 
 was a large wide space, and where the light came 
 in hung long white curtains ; near there stood two 
 chairs with large flowers on them, beside them there 
 was a sofa by the wall with the same flowers and 
 having a round table in front. In the corner stood 
 the wash-stand with different things on it — things 
 which Heidi had never seen before. But she sud- 
 denly remembered that she was in Frankfort, and 
 everything came back to her mind and what had 
 happened the day before, and at last came to her 
 mind quite clearly the instructions given by the 
 lady as far as she had heard them. Heidi jumped 
 down from her bed and got ready. She went first 
 to one window and then to another, for she wanted 
 to see the sky and the earth outside, for she felt 
 as if she was in a cage behind the large curtains. 
 She could not push them aside, so she crawled be- 
 hind them to come near the window. But it was 
 so high that she could hardly reach up to look outj 
 9« 
 
MISS ROTTENMEIER HAS A TIRESOME DAY. 93 
 
 and did not know what she was looking for. She 
 ran from one window to the other and then came 
 back to the first, but there were always the same 
 things before her eyes — walls and windows — then 
 walls and windows again. She felt quite uneasy. 
 
 It was still early in the morning, for Heidi was 
 used to rising early on the Aim and to run out of 
 the door immediately and see how it looked outside : 
 if the sky was blue and the sun already up ; if the 
 fir trees were murmuring and the little flowers had 
 opened their eyes. As a little bird which for the 
 first time is placed in a handsome glittering cage 
 flies back and forth and tries every bar to see if it 
 cannot slip through and fly out and regain its free- 
 dom, so Heidi went from one window to the other 
 to try if she could open it, as she felt that there 
 must be a way to see something more than walls and 
 windows ; there must be open to view the ground 
 below, the green grass and the last melting snow ; 
 and she longed to see it. 
 
 But the windows remained still firmly closed, no 
 matter how hard the child turned sLnd pulled and 
 tried from below to drive her little fingers under the 
 sash, that she might get strength enough to open it 
 by pressure; but everything remained in its place. 
 After a long time, when she saw plainly that aE 
 her efforts were of no avail, she gave up her plan, 
 and reflected how it would be if she should go out 
 of the house and turning round the corner continue 
 her way to the back of it, until she should come to 
 some grass, for she remembered that the evening 
 
94 HEIDI. 
 
 before she had walked only over stones in front of 
 the house. Now some one knocked at the door, and 
 immediately Tinette thrust her head in and said 
 curtly : 
 
 " Breakfast is ready." 
 
 Heidi did not at all understand it to be an invita. 
 tion. On Tinette's scornful face was written a 
 warning for her not to go too near her, rather give 
 her a friendly invitation, and Heidi read it on her 
 face plainly enough to act accordingly. She took 
 the little footstool from under the table, placed it 
 in a corner, sat down on it, and waited in total 
 silence to see what would come next. After a while 
 a loud voice was heard, it was Miss Eottenmeier, who 
 was already in a state of excitement, and called 
 into Heidi's room : 
 
 " What is the matter with you, Adelheid ? Don't 
 you understand what breakfast is? Come over 
 here ! " 
 
 Heidi understood this and followed her imme- 
 diately. 
 
 In the dining-room Clara had been sitting for 
 some time in her place, and greeted Heidi with a 
 friendly nod, and showed a much pleasanter face 
 than usual, for she foresaw that all sorts of strange 
 things were to happen. 
 
 The breakfast passed without any disturbance. 
 Heidi ate her bread and butter in a proper manner ; 
 and when all was over, Clara was rolled to the 
 study, and Heidi was bidden by Miss Eottenmeier 
 to follow and stay with Clara, until the tutor came 
 
MISS R0TTENMEJD3R HAS A TIRESOME DAY. 95 
 
 to begin the lessons. When the two children were 
 alone, Heidi said at once : 
 
 " How can one look outdoors and down below to 
 the ground ? " 
 
 " People open a window and look out," answered 
 Clara amusedly. 
 
 '* The windows do not open," said Heidi sadly. 
 
 ' Yes, certainly," assured Clara, " only you cannot 
 open them, and I cannot help you either ; but when 
 you ask Sebastian, he will open one for you." 
 
 It was a great relief for Heidi to know that it was 
 possible to open the windows and to look out, for 
 she had felt so confined in her room. 
 
 Cla*"a now began to ask Heidi questions about her 
 home. And Heidi was telling her with delight 
 about the Aim, and the goats, and the pasture, and 
 all that she was fond of. 
 
 In the meantime the tutor had come, but Miss 
 Kottenmeier did not take him as usual to the study, 
 for she wished to speak with him first, and so con- 
 ducted him to the dining-room, where she sat down 
 and described to him her hard position in great ex- 
 citement, and how it had happened. 
 
 She had written some time ago to Mr. Sesemann 
 in Paris, where he was then staying, that his child 
 wished to have a playmate with her in the house, 
 and that she herself believed that such a one would 
 prove for Clara a great incentive in her studies, and 
 whose society would rouse her spirits. 
 
 In fact, this plan was very desirable to Miss Hot. 
 tenmeier, for she would like to have some one else 
 
96 HEIDI. 
 
 to help her to take care of, and entertain, the sick 
 girl, which was often too much for her. Mr. Sese- 
 mann had replied that he was willing to grant the 
 wish of his daughter, only on the condition that her 
 playmate should be treated the same as Clara ; he did 
 not like that any child should be troubled in his house 
 — "which was, of course, an unnecessary remark 
 on the gentleman's part," added Miss Eottenmeier, 
 " for who would trouble ? " 
 
 And she said further how terribly disappointed 
 she had been in the child, and related everything 
 she had done ever since she had been in the house 
 to show that the child lacked the most elementary 
 notions ; and she added that not only the instruc- 
 tion of the tutor must begin literally with the a be, 
 but that she herself had to commence from the very 
 beginning of human education. She saw only one 
 way out of this embarrassing situation. If the tutor 
 would only say that two so differently-formed 
 natures cannot be taught together without doing 
 great harm to the more advanced scholar, this 
 would be a sufficient reason for Mr. Sesemann to 
 put an end to the whole thing, and have the child 
 sent back immediately to where she had come from. 
 But without his consent she did not dare to under^ 
 take it ; as he had heard that the child had come. 
 The tutor was very cautious, and was never one- 
 sided in his judgment. He consoled Miss Eotten- 
 meier with many words. Moreover, he said if the 
 younger girl was backward in some things, she 
 might be more advanced in some other respects, so 
 
MISS EOTTENMEIER HAS A TIRESOME DAY. 97 
 
 that "with a well-directed instruction they would 
 soon harmonize with each other. 
 
 Miss Eottenmeier, seeing that the tutor did not 
 favor her plan, but would rather teach an a J c 
 lesson, opened the door into the study ; and 
 after he had entered in she quickly closed it behind 
 him and remained outside, for she had terror of 
 the ah c. 
 
 She strode up and down the room, for she had to 
 think over how the servants should address Adel- 
 heid. Mr. Sesemann had written that she must be 
 considered as if she were his own daughter. This 
 command had a particular reference to her relation 
 with the servants, thought Miss Eottenmeier. But 
 she did not meditate long undisturbed, for she sud- 
 denly heard a terrible crash of falling objects in the 
 study, and a cry for help addressed to Sebastian. 
 She rushed in herself and found everything lying in 
 a heap, all the materials for study — books, copy- 
 books, inkstand, and beside all these the tablecloth, 
 and under that a black stream of ink flowed along 
 the whole room. 
 
 Heidi had disappeared. 
 
 " There we have ! " exclaimed Miss Eottenmeier 
 swinging her hands. " Tablecloth, books, work- 
 basket, everything in the ink I Such a thing never 
 happened before ! It is that miserable creature ; 
 there is no doubt of it." 
 
 The tutor stood there, much terrified, and looked 
 at the devastation which had only one side, that of 
 confusion. Clara, on the contrary, followed the un^ 
 7 
 
98 HEIDI. 
 
 nsual occurrence and its effects and simply said, as 
 if highly amused by it, as an explanation : 
 
 "Yes, Heidi did it, but not intentionally. She 
 must not be punished. She was in such an awful 
 hurry to go away that she pulled the tablecloth 
 along with her, and so everything fell one after the 
 other down on the floor. Some carriages were 
 passing by and she rushed to see them ; perhaps she 
 had never seen a coach in her life." 
 
 " Do you not see yourself, Mr. Tutor, what I have 
 just said ? This creature has no knowledge of any- 
 thing ? She has no idea what a lesson hour is, when 
 she shall sit still and listen. But where has the 
 mischief-maker gone ? "What would Mr. Sesemann 
 say to me, if she has run away ? " 
 
 Miss Eottenmeier went out and hurried down the 
 stairs. Here in the open doorway stood Heidi, look- 
 ing up and down the street quite perplexed. 
 
 "What is the matter? "What are you thinking 
 of ? How can you run away so ? " asked Miss Eot- 
 tenmeier in anger. 
 
 " I heard the fir trees rustle, but I don't know 
 where they are, and I don't hear them any more," 
 answered Heidi, and looked, puzzled as she was, in 
 the direction where the rolling of the carriages had 
 died away, which sounded in Heidi's ears like the 
 roaring of the wind in the fir trees; that is why 
 she had run towards it in the highest joy. 
 
 "Fir trees? Are we in the woods? What a 
 whim I Come up-stairs, and see what you have 
 Aonel" 
 
MISS ROTTENMEIER HAS A TIRi;.80iViji; DAY, 99 
 
 Saying this she went up-stairs again. Heidi fol- 
 lowed her, and stood surprised at the sight of the 
 great mischief done by her, f:r in her delight and. 
 haste to hear the fir trees sing she had not noticed 
 what she had been pulling after her. 
 
 " You have done it this time ; you must not do 
 it again," said Miss Rottenmeier, pointing to the 
 floor. " You must sit still on your chair and be atten- 
 tive that you may be able to learn. If you cannot 
 do it, I shall be obliged to fasten you to your seat. 
 Do you understand ? " 
 
 " Yes," replied Heidi, " but I will sit quiet now," 
 for she understood that it was the rule to sit still 
 during the study hours. 
 
 Sebastian and Tinette had to come in, and put 
 everything in order. The tutor left the room, for 
 the lessons were to be given up for the day. Ifo 
 time was left for yawning. 
 
 In the afternoon Clara had to rest for a while, 
 and Heidi had to busy herself as she pleased, as Miss 
 Eottenmeier had explained to her in the morning. 
 "When Clara had lain down after dinner to rest in 
 her chair, Miss Eottenmeier went to her own room, 
 and Heidi saw that the time had come when she 
 could do as she wanted. This was just what Heidi 
 liked, for she had always in her head a plan which 
 she wanted to carry out, but she needed help. 
 Therefore she placed herself in front of the dining- 
 room door, in the middle of the hall, that the person 
 with whom she intended to consult should not be 
 able to escape her. Soon Sebastian came up the 
 
100 HEIDI. 
 
 stairs with the large tea-tray carrying up the silver 
 from the kitchen to put away in the cJoset. When 
 he had reached the step, Hei4i went up to him, and 
 said quite distinctly, " You." 
 
 Sebastian opened his eyes as wide as he could, and 
 said rudely : 
 
 " What do you mean, Miss ! " 
 
 " I simply wished to ask you something, but it is 
 nothing bad as it was this morning," added Heidi 
 soothingly, for she noticed that he was a little cross, 
 and thought it was because of the ink on the floor. 
 
 " Well, and why do you address me with ' you ? ' 
 I want to know that first," answered Sebastian in 
 the same rude tone. 
 
 "I must always address you like that," said 
 Heidi, " Miss Eottenmeier has bidden me to do so." 
 
 At this, Sebastian laughed so loud that Heidi 
 looked at him in astonishment, as she had noticed 
 nothing amusing in it ; but Sebastian guessed at 
 once what Miss Eottenmeier had bidden ; and said 
 mirthfully : 
 
 " All right ; go on. Miss." 
 
 "My name is not Miss," said Heidi, somewhat 
 offended. " My name is Heidi." 
 
 "Very well, the same lady has ordered me to 
 address you as Miss," said Sebastian. 
 
 " Has she ? Well, then I must be called so," an- 
 swered Heidi submissively, for she had noticed that 
 everything must be as Miss Eottenmeier ordered. 
 
 "Now I have three names," she added with a 
 «gh. 
 
MISS ROTTENMEIER HAS A TIRESOME DAY. 101 
 
 « What did the little Miss then wish to ask ? '' 
 asked Sebastian, as he entered the dining-room and 
 was putting the silver in the closet. 
 
 " How can I open a window ? " 
 
 " Just like this," he said, opening a large window. 
 
 Heidi walked towards it, but she was too short 
 to be able to see anything ; she only reached the 
 window-sill. 
 
 " There now, the little Miss can look out and see 
 what there is below," said Sebastian, bringing a high 
 wooden stool and placing it there. 
 
 Much delighted Heidi climbed up, and could at 
 last have the longed-for look through the window, 
 but with an expression of the greatest disappoint, 
 ment she drew back her head immediately. 
 
 "You can only see the stony street here, and 
 nothing else," said the child sadly, " but if you 
 should go round the house, what could you see 
 there then, Sebastian ? " 
 
 " Just the same," was the answer. 
 
 " But where do you have to go, then, to see far 
 down into the valley ? " 
 
 " You must climb up some high tower, or a church 
 tower such as you see there with the golden dome 
 above it. From there you can look around, and see 
 far, far away." 
 
 Heidi came down from the stool quickly, and ran 
 out of the door, and going down the stairs went out 
 into the street. But it did not prove to be what she 
 had imagined. When she saw the tower through 
 the window she thought she need only go across the 
 
102 HEIDI. 
 
 street, and it would stand just in front of her. Now 
 Heidi walked along the whole length of the street, 
 but she did not come to the tower, and could not 
 even see it anywhere ; then *she pame to another 
 street, and still another, and yet she could not see 
 the tower. Many persons passed by her, but they 
 all were in such a hurry that Heidi thought they 
 had no time to give her any information. 
 
 At last she saw a young man standing on the cor- 
 ner of the next street who was carrying a hand 
 organ on his back and a very strange-looking animal 
 in his arms. Heidi went to him and asked : 
 
 " "Where is the tower with the golden dome at the 
 cry top ? " 
 
 " I don't know," was the answer. 
 
 " Of whom can I ask to know where it is ? " asked 
 Heidi again. 
 
 " I don't know," he answered. 
 
 "Do you not know any other church with a 
 high tower?" 
 
 " Certainly, I know one." 
 
 " Come and show it to me ! " 
 
 " Show me first what you will give me if I do." 
 
 The young man held out his hand. Heidi searched 
 in her pocket. She took out a little picture on 
 which was painted a beautiful garland of red roses ; 
 she looked at it for a little while, for she did not 
 like to part with it and was sorry to have taken 
 it out of her pocket. It was only that very morn- 
 ing Clara had presented it to her ; but to look down 
 into the valley across the green slopes 1 
 
MISS ROTTENMEIEB HAS A TIRESOME DAY. IQS 
 
 ♦' There," said Heidi, and held out the picture to 
 him ; " will you take that ? " 
 
 The young man drew his hand back, shaking his 
 head. 
 
 " What do you want then ? " asked Heidi, and was 
 contented to put the picture again into her pocket. 
 
 " Money." 
 
 " I have none, but Clara has, and she will, of 
 course, give it. How much do you want ? " 
 
 " Twenty pfennigs." 
 
 " Well, come along ! " 
 
 The two accordingly wandered through a long 
 street, and on the way Heidi asked her companion 
 what he was carrying on his back, and he told her 
 that under the cloth there was a beautiful organ 
 which made a splendid music, if he turned the 
 handle. Suddenly they stood in front of an old 
 Church with a high tower. The young man stood 
 still and said : 
 
 « There 1 " 
 
 " But how can I get in ? " asked Heidi, seeing the 
 doors firmly closed. 
 
 " I do not know," was the answer again. 
 
 " Do you suppose I could ring here, as I do for 
 Sebastian ? " 
 
 " I don't know." 
 
 Heidi had discovered a bell in the wall and pulled 
 it with all her might. 
 
 "When I go up there, you must wait for me 
 down here. I don't know the way ba^k, and you 
 must show it to me." 
 
104 HEIDL 
 
 " "What will you give me ? " 
 
 " What shall I have to give you ? " 
 
 " Twenty pfennigs more." 
 
 Now the old lock was turned from the inside and 
 the creaking door opened. An old man came out 
 and looked at first surprised, and then, looking 
 angrily at the children, said : 
 
 " How did you dare to ring for me ? Can't you 
 read what is written under the lock ? ' For those 
 who wish to ascend the tower.' " 
 
 The young man pointed with his forefinger to 
 Heidi and uttered not a word. 
 
 Heidi replied, " I want to go up in the tower." 
 
 " "What do you want to do up there ? " asked the 
 tower-keeper. " Has any one sent you ? " 
 
 " No," answered Heidi, " I want to go up there to 
 be able to look down." 
 
 " Go home and do not try such tricks on me, for 
 next time you will not get off as easily ! " 
 
 Whereupon the tower-keeper turned round and 
 was going to shut the door, but Heidi held him a 
 little by the coat tail and said beseechingly : 
 
 " Only this one time." 
 
 He looked round and Heidi's eyes gazed at him 
 imploringly, so that he changed his mind. He took 
 the child by the hand and said kindly : 
 
 " If you are so anxious to go, come along with 
 me!" 
 
 The young man sat down on the stone steps in 
 front of the door and signified that he did not care 
 to go up. 
 
MISS ROTTENMEIER HAS A TIRESOME DAY. 105 
 
 Heidi, holding the tower-keeper's hand, climbed up 
 many, many steps which gradually grew smaller ; at 
 last she went up a very narrow staircase, and they 
 were now at the top. The tower-keeper lifted Heidi 
 up and held her to the open window. 
 
 " There, now look down," he said. 
 
 Heidi beheld a sea of roofs, towers and chimneys 
 before her. She soon drew back her head, and find- 
 ing herself disappointed, said : 
 
 " It is by no means what I thought it to be." 
 
 " Do you see properly ? What does such a little 
 child like you know anything about a view ? Now 
 come down and do not ring a tower bell again." 
 
 The tower-keeper placed Heidi on the floor and 
 went down the stairs in front of her. Where the 
 stairs grew wider on the left there was a door which 
 opened into the tower-keeper's room and near by 
 extended the floor out under the sloping roof. A 
 large basket stood there and in front of it a big gray 
 cat sat growling, for in the basket lived her family, 
 and she warned every passer-by not to meddle with 
 her household affairs. 
 
 Heidi stood still and looked in surprise at the huge 
 cat, for she had never seen one as large before, but 
 in the tower there also lived whole flocks of mice, so 
 that the cat caught half a dozen little ones every day 
 without any difficulty. 
 
 The tower-keeper, seeing Heidi's amazement, 
 said: 
 
 " Come, Ahe will not do you any harm when I am 
 here ; come, iook at the little kittens-" 
 
106 HEIDI. 
 
 Heidi approached the basket, and seeing the young 
 animals exclaimed with joy : 
 
 " Oh, what nice little creatures they are, the lovely 
 kittens ! " 
 
 She repeated the same over and over again and 
 ran back and forth around the basket in order to be 
 able to see all the funny gestures and plays of the 
 seven or eight kittens as they crawled and tumbled 
 and fell over each other. 
 
 " Would you like to have one ? " asked the tower- 
 keeper, who looked pleased at Heidi as she leaped 
 for joy. 
 
 " For myself ? To take with me ? " asked Heidi 
 anxiously, and could hardly believe in such great 
 luck. 
 
 " Yes, certainly ; you can have more, you can have 
 all of them, if you have room for them," said the 
 man, who liked very much to get rid of them with- 
 out doing them harm. 
 
 Heidi was now in high spirits. The kittens would 
 have plenty of room in the big house ; and how sur- 
 prised and rejoiced Clara would be when she saw 
 the pretty little things. 
 
 "But how can I take them with me?" asked 
 Heidi, and was about to catch some of them with 
 her hands ; but the big cat jumped on her arm and 
 growled so fiercely that she drew back much fright- 
 ened. 
 
 " I will bring them to you ; you must only tell me 
 where," said the tower-keeper, stroking the old cat 
 to make her good-humored again, for she was his 
 
MISS ROTTENMEIER HAS A TIRESOME DAY. 107 
 
 friend and companion, and had lived many years in 
 the tower with him. 
 
 " To Mr. Sesemann's big house. On the outside 
 door there is a golden head of a dog with a thick 
 ring in its mouth," said Heidi. 
 
 Such a long explanation was quite unnecessary for 
 the tower-keeper, who had been for many years in 
 the tower and knew every house; besides, Sebastian 
 was an old acquaintance of his. 
 
 " I know it very well," said he, " but to whom 
 shall I take the things ? "Whom shall I inquire after ? 
 You do not belong to Mr. Sesemann, of course." 
 
 " No, but Clara will be greatly rejoiced to see the 
 kittens." 
 
 The tower-keeper wished to go, but it was hard 
 for Heidi to separate from the amusing spectacle. 
 
 " If I could only take one or two with me ; one for 
 me and one for Clara, may I not ? " 
 
 " "Wait a little, then," said the tower-keeper ; and 
 he carried the old cat carefully into his room and 
 put something before her to eat and then shut 
 the door and came back. " Well, now, take two of 
 them." 
 
 Heidi's eyes flashed with joy. She selected a 
 white kitten and a striped yellow and white one, and 
 put one into her right pocket and the other into the 
 left, after which she went down the stairs. 
 
 The boy was still sitting on the steps outside. 
 "When the tower-keeper had closed the door after 
 Heidi, she said : 
 
 "Which is the way to Mr. Sesemann's house? " 
 
108 HEIDI. 
 
 " I don't know," was the answer. 
 
 Heidi began to describe the house, the door, the 
 windows and the stairs, but the boy shook his head, 
 he did not know anything about it. 
 
 " You see," continued Heidi, " through one window 
 you can see a big, big gray house, and the roof goes 
 BO " — Heidi described with her forefinger a pointed 
 gable roof in the air. 
 
 Now the boy jumped up, as all he needed was a 
 sign to find the way. So he began to run unceas- 
 ingly and Heidi after him. In a short time they 
 stood in front of the door with the big brass knocker 
 with the head of a dog. Heidi rang the bell ; Sebas- 
 tian soon appeared ; on seeing Heidi he called out 
 urgently : 
 
 "Quick! quick!" 
 
 Heidi hastened in, and Sebastian slammed the 
 door. He had not even noticed the boy who stood 
 outside, puzzled. 
 
 " Quick, Miss," Sebastian urged her again, " go 
 to the dining-room, they are already at the table. 
 Miss Kottenmeier looks like a loaded cannon ; but 
 why was the little Miss gone away so long ? " 
 
 Heidi had entered the dining-room. Miss Eotten- 
 meier did not look up ; Clara also said nothing. 
 There was a somewhat uncomfortable silence. 
 Sebastian placed the chair for Heidi. Now, when 
 she was seated at the table. Miss Kottenmeier be- 
 gan with a stern look and in a solemn and serious 
 tone: 
 
 " Adelheid, I will speak with you^fter dinner. I 
 
MISS ROTTENMEIER HAS A TIEESOME DAY, 109 
 
 have only this to say now ; you have behaved very 
 naughtily, indeed, and really deserve to be punished, 
 for you left the house without permission, with no 
 one's knowledge, and wandered about so late in the 
 evening. I have never heard of such conduct." 
 
 " Meow ! " sounded the answer. 
 
 At this the lady grew more angry. 
 
 "How, Adelheid," she cried in a louder voice, 
 " you still venture to impertinently make fun of this I 
 Tou had better be careful, I assure you I " 
 
 " I didn't !" began Heidi. 
 
 " Meow ! meow ! " 
 
 Sebastian almost threw the tray on the table and 
 rushed out. 
 
 " It's enough," Miss Kottenmeier wanted to ex- 
 claim, but her voice did not sound on account of her 
 excitement. 
 
 " Get up and leave the room ! " 
 
 Heidi, much frightened, rose from her chair, and 
 was about to explain once more: "I didn't cer- 
 tainly " 
 
 " Meow ! meow ! meow ! " 
 
 " But, Heidi," now said Clara, " when you see that 
 you make Miss Kottenmeier angry, why do you con- 
 tinually say ' meow ' ? " 
 
 " I am not doing it ; it's the kittens," at last Heidi 
 was able to say without being interrupted. 
 
 " "What ! what ! cats ! kittens ! " cried aloud Miss 
 Eottenmeier. " Sebastian, Tinette, find the horrible 
 creatures and take them out." 
 
 "Whereupon the lady rushed into the study and 
 
110 HEIDI. 
 
 fastened the door to be safer, for to her kittens were 
 the most dreadful creatures in the whole world. 
 
 Sebastian was standing outside the door and had 
 to stop laughing before he could enter the room. 
 "While he was serving Heidi, he had seen a little cat's 
 head peeping out of her pocket, and expected the 
 scene. And when it broke out, he could not hold 
 himself, and hardly could he place the tray on the 
 table. 
 
 At last he entered the room composed, long after 
 the lady's call for help. Everything now in the 
 room had a quiet and peaceful appearance. Clara 
 was holding the kittens in her lap. Heidi was kneel- 
 ing by her side, and both were playing with the two 
 tiny lovely creatures. 
 
 " Sebastian," said Clara, when he entered, " you 
 must help us ; you must find a room for the kittens 
 where Miss Eottenmeier will not see them, for she 
 is afraid of them and will surely have them taken 
 away ; but we will keep the lovely creatures, and 
 bring them out whenever we are alone. Where can 
 we put them ? " 
 
 " I will see to it. Miss Clara," replied Sebastian 
 readily. " I will make a nice bed in a basket, and 
 put it in a place where the timid lady will not go, 
 you can depend on it." 
 
 Sebastian immediately went to work, chuckling 
 to himself all the while, as he thought : " This will 
 create still more trouble." And he enjoyed seeing 
 Miss Eottenmeier a little excited. 
 
 After a while, when it was almost time to go to 
 
MISS EOTTENMEIER HAS A TIRESOME DAY. HI 
 
 bed, Miss Rottenmeier opened the door a little and 
 called out through the crack : 
 
 " Have the terrible creatures been taken away ? " 
 
 " Yes, yes," answered Sebastian who pretended 
 
 to be busy in the room, but in fact was waiting for 
 
 this question. Quickly and silently he seized the 
 
 two kittens from Clara's lap and disappeared. 
 
 The special reprimand which Miss Rottenmeier 
 intended to give Heidi was deferred until the follow- 
 ing day, for she felt too exhausted to-day, after all 
 the excitement she had gone through. She retired 
 silently ; Clara and Heidi followed her example with 
 pleasure, for they were sure that their kittens were 
 well taken care of. 
 
CHAPTER VUL 
 
 distiteba;jices in the sesemann house. 
 
 On the following day, when Sebastian had opened 
 the door for the tutor and led him to the study, 
 some one rang the bell, but with such a force that 
 Sebastian ran down the stairs as quickly as he could, 
 for he thought : 
 
 "Only Mr. Sesemann rings like that; he must 
 have come home unexpectedly." 
 
 He opened the door — a ragged boy with a hand- 
 organ on his back stood before him. 
 
 " What does this mean ? " broke out Sebastian in 
 anger, "I will teach you how to pull door-bells. 
 What have you got here ? " 
 
 " I want to see Clara," was the answer. 
 
 " Ton dirty street urchin ! Can't you say Miss 
 Clara, as we do? What have you to do with Miss 
 Clara ? " asked Sebastian rudely. 
 
 "She owes me forty pfennigs," remarked the 
 boy. 
 
 " Tou certainly are not in your senses. How did 
 you know that there is a Miss Clara here ? " 
 
 " I showed her the way yesterday, that makes 
 twenty pfennigs, and then I showed her the way 
 back, and that makes forty " 
 112 '" ' 
 
DISTURBANCES IN THE SESEMANN HOUSE. 113 
 
 " You see what a fib you are telling ; Miss Clara 
 never goes out ; she is not able to walk. Go where 
 you belong to, before I throw you out of the door." 
 
 But the boy was not to be intimidated, he stood 
 there calmly, and said coolly : 
 
 " 1 have seen her in the street. I can describe 
 her ; she has short, black, curly hair, and her eyes 
 are black, and her dress is brown and she cannot 
 speak as we do." 
 
 " Oho ! " thought Sebastian, and tittered to him- 
 self : " that is the little Miss. She must have 
 done some mischief." 
 
 Then he said, pulling the boy in : 
 
 " It is all right ; follow me, and wait before the 
 door until I come out. If I let you in you must 
 play something ; the Miss enjoys hearing it." 
 
 He knocked at the study door and was admitted, 
 
 " There is a boy here who wants to see Miss Clara," 
 said Sebastian. 
 
 Clara was highly rejoiced at the unusual occur- 
 rence. 
 
 " Let him come in at once," said she, " don't yon 
 think so, Mr. Tutor ? if he wishes to speak to me." 
 
 The boy had entered the room, and according to 
 his instructions he began at once to turn his hand- 
 organ. 
 
 Miss Eottenmeier was busying herself in the 
 dining-room in order to avoid the a h c lesson. 
 Suddenly she listened. Did the sound come from 
 the street ? How could the sound of a hand-organ 
 come from the study 3 But yes, it was true. She 
 8 
 
2.14: HEIDI. 
 
 rushed through the long dining-room and flung open 
 the door. 
 
 There — it is incredible — there stood in the mid- 
 dle of the study a ragged organ-grinder turning his 
 instrument most diligently. 
 
 The tutor seemed ready to say something, but no 
 one would pay attention. Clara and Heidi were 
 listening with great delight to the music. 
 
 " Stop I stop immediately ! " called out Miss Eot. 
 tenmeier into the room. Her voice was drowned 
 by the music ; she then went to the boy, but sud- 
 denly she felt something between her feet. She 
 looked down to the floor, and a horrible black crea- 
 ture was crawling between her feet — a turtle ! 
 
 Miss Eottenmeier jumped up in the air, as she had 
 never done for many years. And she screamed with 
 all her might : 
 
 " Sebastian ! Sebastian ! " 
 
 Suddenly the organ-grinder stopped, for this timfr 
 her voice sounded louder than the music. 
 
 Sebastian stood at the half-open door and was 
 doubled up with laughter, for he had seen how she 
 had jumped ; when he came in Miss Kottenmeier lay 
 in a chair prostrated. 
 
 " Away with them both, the boy and the animal ! 
 Take them away immediately," she cried to him; 
 Sebastian obeyed willingly and drew the boy out of 
 the room, who quickly seized his turtle, pressed some- 
 thing into his hand and said : 
 
 " Forty for Miss Clara, and forty for playing ; 
 you did very well." After which he closed the door. 
 
DISTURBANCES IN THE SESEMANN HOUSE. 115 
 
 In the study all was quiet once more, and the 
 studies were continued, and Miss Eottenmeier sat in 
 the room, that by her presence similar occurrences 
 might be prevented. She intended to investigate the 
 matter and punish the guilty party so that he would 
 not soon forget it. 
 
 There was knocking at the door again, and Sebas- 
 tian entered in once more with the information that 
 a large basket had been brought for Miss Clara, and 
 was to be given to her immediately. 
 
 " To me ? " asked Clara in great surprise, and ex- 
 tremely curious to know what it could be. " Show 
 it to me at once that we might see what it looks like." 
 
 Sebastian brought in a covered basket and then 
 withdrew in haste. 
 
 " 1 think you had better first finish the lesson, 
 and then open the basket," remarked Miss Eotten- 
 meier. 
 
 Clara could not imagine what could be brought 
 her ; she looked longingly at the basket. 
 
 " Mr. Tutor," said she, interrupting herself in her 
 declination, " would you not permit me to look in 
 just once, to know what there is in the basket, and 
 then continue my study again ? " 
 
 " In one respect I would have no objection what- 
 ever," replied the tutor; " in another, I would object 
 to it. In favor of it is the reason that if your atten- 
 tion is directed wholly to this subject " he could 
 
 not finish what he was going to say. The corner of 
 the basket was not very firm, and suddenly jumped 
 out of it one, two, three, and two more and then some 
 
X16 HEIDI, 
 
 more kittens, and were running and springing round 
 about the room with such great rapidity that one 
 would believe that the whole room was full of the 
 little creatures. They jumped over the tutor's boots 
 and bit his trousers, leaped up into Clara's rolling 
 chair, climbed up Miss Eottenmeier's dress, crawled 
 around her feet, scratched and mewed, and every- 
 thing was in terrible confusion. Clara, charmed by 
 the scene, kept exclaiming : 
 
 "Oh, the lovely creatures! the merry leaps I 
 Look ! look I Heidi, here, there ! Look at this 
 one ! " 
 
 Heidi rushed into every corner after them in great 
 delight. 
 
 The tutor stood at the table very perplexed, and 
 lifting first one foot and then the other to avoid 
 being scratched by the kittens. 
 
 Miss Kottenmeier at first sat in her chair in total 
 silence, filled with terror ; then began to scream at 
 the top of her voice : 
 
 "Tinette! Tinette! Sebastian! Sebastian!" 
 
 It was impossible for her to venture to rise from 
 her seat, the little horrible creatures might jump at 
 her all at once. 
 
 At last Sebastian and Tinette came in answer to her 
 many cries for help, and they put the tiny creatures 
 one after the other into the basket and carried it 
 into the garret to the bed that Sebastian had pre- 
 pared for the two cats which Heidi had brought the 
 day before. 
 
 There had been no time again for yawning dur^ 
 
DISTORBANCES IN THE SESEMANN HOUSE. II7 
 
 ing the lesson hour as on the other days. Miss 
 Eottenmeier had partially recovered from the ex- 
 citement of the morning. She called Sebastian and 
 Tinette tip to the study in order to make a thorough 
 investigation of the disgraceful occurrences. It was 
 evident that Heidi had been the cause of all the 
 trouble that had taken place; it was brought about 
 by her expedition of the day before. 
 
 Miss Rottentoeier sat pale with anger and could 
 not find words to express her feelings. She made a 
 sign with her hands to Sebastian and Tinette to leave 
 the room. 
 
 She now turned to Heidi, who was standing by 
 Clara's shair and could not understand what wrong 
 ehe had done. 
 
 "Adelheid," she began in a severe voice, "I know 
 only one punishment which will teach you to do 
 better, for you are a barbarian; but we will see 
 whether you will not become civilized in the dark 
 cellar in company with lizards and rats, so that you 
 will not have such naughty things happen again." 
 
 Heidi heard her sentence in silence and astonish- 
 ment, for she had never been in a horrible cellar. 
 The adjoining room of the Aim cottage which the 
 grandfather used to call cellar, where the cheese and 
 the milk were kept, was rather a pleasant and in- 
 viting place; in that she had never seen rats and 
 lizards. 
 
 But Clara raised a great objection to this, 
 
 "No, no, Miss Rottenmeier, you must wait until 
 papa comes; he has written that he will come soon; 
 
118 HEIDI. 
 
 theu I will tell Mm everything, and he will say 
 what is best to do with Heidi." 
 
 To this Miss Kbttenmeier, the chief justice, did not 
 dare to make an}'' objection : still less, as he was 
 really expected. She rose from her seat, and said 
 somewhat bitterly : 
 
 " "Well, Clara, very well. I shall also haye a word 
 to say to Mr. Sesemann." 
 
 "Whereupon she left the room. 
 
 After this there were a few quiet days, but Miss 
 Eottenraeier did not get over her trouble ; the dis- 
 appointment she experienced in respect to Heidi 
 came before her eyes every hour of the day. She 
 felt that ever since Heidi had joined the Sesemann 
 family nothing had gone right, and it seemed as if 
 things would never straighten out. 
 
 Clara was very well pleased. She never felt dull ; 
 for during the lessons Heidi made all sorts of fun, 
 and the time passed pleasantly. She was confused 
 and could not distinguish the letters one from the 
 other. "When the tutor was explaining and describ- 
 ing the different forms to make them clear, and 
 when he would compare the one or the other with 
 a little horn or a beak, she would suddenly cry 
 out with joy : " It is a goat," or, " It is the eagle." 
 For the description awakened all sorts of imagi- 
 nations in her brain, anytHing but the idea of the 
 letters. 
 
 In the late afternoon hours Heidi would sit by 
 Clara and tell her again and again of the Aim 
 and the life there, and the longing for it became 
 
DISTURBANCES IN THE SESEMANN HOUSE. 119 
 
 SO intense in her, that she would exclaim at the 
 end: 
 
 " Now I certainly must go home 1 To-morrow I 
 must surely go ! " 
 
 But Clara always quieted these attacks, and tried 
 to make it clear to Heidi that she must stay there 
 until her papa came, when they would know what 
 was best to do. Then Heidi would yield and becomQ 
 contented again. One joyous thought she had in. 
 her mind, that with every day spent there her heap 
 of white rolls was increased by two, for every noon 
 and every evening there was put a lovely white roll 
 by the side of her plate. She would put it into her 
 pocket, as she could not eat for the thought that the 
 grandmother had none, and that she could hardly 
 eat the dry black bread any longer. 
 
 Each day after dinner Heidi sat for a few hours 
 quite alone in her room and did not stir, for she 
 was not allowed to go out doors in Frankfort, as 
 she did on the Aim. She understood this now and 
 did not do so any more. She was not permitted to 
 talk with Sebastian in the dining-room. Miss Bp*- 
 tenmeier had forbidden it. 
 
 As for trying to have a conversation withTinette, 
 she never thought of it. Heidi avoided her, for she 
 always spoke to her in a scornful tone and laughed 
 at her all the time, and the child understood per- 
 fectly well the treatment she received at her hands. 
 So Heidi had the whole day to herself to think 
 how the green grass and the yellow flowers glistened 
 on the Aim and that everything shone in the sun. 
 
120 HEIDI. 
 
 light : the snow, the mountains and the whole wide 
 valley. Sometimes she could hardly bear it any 
 longer, go great was her longing to be again there. 
 Besides, her aunt had told her she could go home 
 again whenever she liked. 
 
 It happened that, one day Heidi could not stand 
 it any longer. She packed up the rolls, in great 
 haste, in her big shawl ; put on her straw hat and 
 started. But at the very door she met the great 
 obstacle of her journey : it was Miss Eottenmeier 
 herself, just returning from a walk. She stood still 
 and gazed at Heidi, in unmingled amazement, from 
 head to foot, and her look rested particularly on 
 the full red shawl. Then she burst forth : 
 
 " What kind of expedition do you call this ? What 
 do you mean by it ? Have I not strictly forbidden 
 you to wander about? Now you are doing the 
 same thing again, and you look just like a vagrant." 
 
 " I did not intend to wander about, I was only 
 going home," replied Heidi, frightened. 
 
 "What? what? go home? you want to go 
 home?" 
 
 Miss Eottenmeier wrung her hands in her agita- 
 tion. " Kun away ! if Mr. Sesemann knew it ! run 
 away from his house ! Do your best that he should 
 not hear of it ! What is there that does not suit 
 you in his house? Are you not treated better 
 than you deserve ? Are you in need of anything ? 
 Have you ever bad, in all your life, a home, or a 
 table, or the service which you have here? Tell 
 
DISTUEBANCES IN TH£ 8ESEMANN HOUSE. 121 
 
 " No," answered Heidi. 
 
 " I know it very well," continued the lady, get- 
 ting into a passion, " you lack nothing, and you have 
 need of nothing ; you are the most ungrateful child 
 I have ever seen. Having everything so nice and 
 comfortable, you don't seem to appreciate it, but 
 behave very badly." 
 
 Heidi, unable to hear such talk longer, broke 
 forth : 
 
 " I want only to go home, as I have been away 
 so long that Schneehoeppli must be crying for me all 
 the time. Besides, the grandmother expects me, 
 and the Distelfink will be beaten if goatherd Peter 
 has no cheese ; and here you can never see how the 
 sun bids the mountain good night, and if the bird 
 of prey should fly over Frankfort, he would scream 
 still louder that so many people live together and 
 make each other wretched instead of going to live 
 on the cliflfs where it is better for them." 
 
 " Mercy ! the child has become crazy ! " cried out 
 Miss Kottenmeier, and darted up the stairs in terror, 
 when she ran hard against Sebastian, who was just 
 coming down. 
 
 " Bring up the wretched child at once," she cried 
 to him, rubbing her head, for she had received a 
 hard blow. 
 
 "Yes, yes, all right, I thank you," answered 
 Sebastian, and rubbed his head, which had received 
 a harder blow. 
 
 Heidi stood on the spot with flaming eyes, and 
 trembled from the excitement. 
 
122 HEIDI. 
 
 " "Well, what have you done now ? " asked Seba* 
 tian gaily ; but when coming near her he saw that 
 she did not stir, he patted her kindly on the shoulder 
 and said consolingly : 
 
 " Pshaw ! pshav? I the little Miss must not take it 
 so to heart ; be merry, that is the main thing ! She 
 has just made almost a hole in my head. Let no 
 one frighten you ! Well ? you are still on the same 
 spot. We must go up-stairs ; she said so." 
 
 Heidi went up the stairs slowly and quietly, not 
 the way she used to. Sebastian was sorry to see her 
 thus ; he went behind her, and spoke to her encour- 
 aging words. 
 
 " Only do not give way ! you must not be sad. 
 Be always^ bravo ! We have a very intelligent little 
 Miss, she has never cried since she has been with us. 
 Children of that age cry twelve times a day ; every 
 one knows it. The kittens too are gay up-stairs. 
 They run and jump in the garret, and play all sorts 
 of pranks. After a while we will go upstairs to- 
 gether and look at them when the' lady in there is 
 away." 
 
 Heidi nodded her head a little, but so sadly that 
 ^it went to Sebastian's heart, and he looked at Heidi 
 quite compassionately, as she stole away to her 
 room. 
 
 At supper- time that day Miss Eottenmeier said 
 not a word, but looked at Heidi with strange and 
 sharp glances as if she expected the child would do 
 some unheard-of thing. But Heidi sat as still as a 
 mouse at the table and didinot stir. She neither aim 
 
DISTURBANCES IN THE 8ESEMANN HOUSE. 123 
 
 flor drank, only she had put her roll quickly into her 
 pocket. 
 
 On the following morning when the tutor climbed 
 up the stairs, Miss Kottenmeier made him a sign 
 secretly to go into the dining-room. Here she ex- 
 pressed her fear to him in great excitement, that 
 the change of air, the new way of living and the 
 unwonted impressions might have affected the child's 
 mind, and told him how Heidi had tried to run away ; 
 she repeated to him what she still remembered of 
 her strange words. But the tutor soothed and 
 quieted Miss Bottenmeier, assuring her that he had 
 observed that, though Adelheid was somewhat ec 
 centric in some ways, yet in others she was in her 
 right senses, so that by a thorough systematic treat- 
 ment it would be possible to attain the end he had 
 in view. He found the fact that he had not been 
 able to make her master the alphabet more impor- 
 tant, as she didn't seem to be able to grasp the letters. 
 Miss Eottenmeier felt calmer and let the tutor go 
 to his work. At a later hour in the afternoon she re- 
 membered how Heidi's dress looked on her intended 
 journey, and she determined to give the child some 
 of Clara's clothing, before Mr. Sesemann had made 
 his appearance. She consulted with Clara, and as 
 the latter agreed with all she said and was willing 
 to give a good many of her dresses and hats, the 
 lady went to Heidi's room to look over her closet 
 and examine what she already had, and decide what 
 to leave there and what to remove. But in a few 
 minutes she came back with a gesture of disgust 
 
134 HEIDl. 
 
 " "What do you think I have discovered, Adelheid," 
 she exclaimed. " I have never seen anything like it. 
 In your closet— a closet for clothing, Adelheid — in 
 the bottom of this closet, what did I find ? A heap 
 of little rolls 1 Bread, I say, Clara, in a closet for 
 clothes ! And such a heap stored up ! — Tinette," she 
 aow called into the dining-room, " take away the 
 stale bread out of Adelheid's closet and the crushed 
 straw hat on the table." 
 
 "No, no," screamed Heidi. "I must have the 
 hat, and the rolls are for the grandmother." 
 
 And Heidi was about to rush after Tinette, but 
 was held fast by Miss Kottenmeier. 
 
 " Stay here, and the rubbish will be taken to 
 where it belongs," she said decidedly, and held the 
 child back. 
 
 But Heidi threw herself down by Clara's chair 
 and began to cry desperately, louder and louder and 
 more painfully, and kept sobbing in her distress. 
 
 " Now the grandmother can't have any rolls I 
 They were for the grandmother ; now they are all 
 gone and the grandmother can't get any." 
 
 And Heidi cried bitterly, as if her heart would 
 break. 
 
 S^ Miss Eottenmeier went out. Clara felt uneasy 
 and alarmed by her distress. 
 
 " Heidi, Heidi, do not cry so," she said imploringly, 
 " Only listen to me ! Do not lament so 1 See, I 
 promise you, I will give you just as many rolls for 
 the grandmother, or even more when you go home, 
 and then thej will all be fresh and soft, while thooa 
 
DISTURBANCES IN THE SESEMANN HoUSK i25 
 
 you had would have become very hard. Come^ 
 Heidi, don't cry so." 
 
 Heidi could not cease sobbing for a long while, 
 but she understood the comforting words of Clara, 
 and took courage from them ; or else she could never 
 have stopped crying. But she had to be reassured 
 in her hope for a number of times and asked Clara 
 between her sobs : 
 
 " Will you surely give me for the grandmother 
 just as many as I had ? " 
 
 And Clara answered her repeatedly : 
 
 " Certainly, be sure, and even more. So be happy 
 again." 
 
 Heidi came in to supper, her eyes still red from 
 weeping. "When she saw her roU, she began once 
 more to sob. But now she controlled herself not to 
 have any outbreak, for she understood that she must 
 behave properly at the table. 
 
 Sebastian was to-day making the most curious 
 gestures, as soon as he came near Heidi. He pointed 
 now to his head and now to Heidi's, then he nodded 
 and winked as if he would say : 
 
 " I have noted everything and provided for." 
 
 When later Heidi went to her room and was about 
 to get into her bed, she felt her crushed straw hat 
 tinder the coverlet. With a real delight she took 
 her old hat, crumpled it a little more in her joy, and 
 wrapping it up in a handkerchief hid it in a secret 
 corner of her closet. Sebastian had hidden the little 
 hat under the coverlet ; he had been in the dining- 
 room the same time with Tinette, when she was 
 
226 HEIDI. 
 
 called and had heard Heidi scream. Then he had 
 followed Tinette and when she came out of Heidi's 
 room with her burden of rolls and the little hat on 
 the top of it all, he had taken the hat quickly away, 
 calling out to her : 
 
 " This I will throw away." 
 
 "While in reality he had saved it in great delight 
 for Heidi, and that is what he had been signifying 
 at supper for diversion. 
 
CHAPTEK IX 
 
 ICE. SESEUANN BECEIVES STBANGE NEWS. 
 
 A FEW days after these things had occurred there 
 was great activity in the Seseraann house and a 
 continual running up and down all the while, for the 
 master of the house had just returned from his 
 journey. 
 
 Sebastian and Tinette were carrying up-stairs pack- 
 age after package from the carriage, for Mr. Sese- 
 mann always brought home a great many beautiful 
 things. 
 
 He had first of all entered his daughter's room 
 to greet her. Heidi was sitting beside her, for it was 
 late in the afternoon — the time when the two were 
 always together. Clara greeted her father with 
 great tenderness, for she loved him intensely, and 
 her good papa greeted his little Clara by no means 
 less affectionately. Then he stretched out his hand 
 to Heidi, who had calmly withdrawn to a corner, 
 and said in a friendly tone : 
 
 " And is this our little Swiss girl ? Come here and 
 give me your hand. That is right ! Now tell me, 
 are you good friends, Clara and you ? I hope you 
 do not quarrel, and get cross, and then cry, and 
 make up, and then begin the same thing again." 
 
 127 
 
128 HEIDI. 
 
 "No, Clara is always kind to me," answered 
 Heidi. 
 
 " And Heidi has never tried to quarrel, papa," said 
 Clara quickly. 
 
 " That is good ; I hear it with great pleasure," 
 said the papa, as he rose. "But now you must 
 allow me, little Clara, to get something to eat. I 
 have had nothing to-day. I will return to you 
 again ; you shall see what I have brought home with 
 me." 
 
 Mr. Sesemann went into the dining-room, where 
 Miss Eottenmeier was overseeing the table, which 
 was prepared for his midday meal. After Mr. 
 Sesemann had sat down, and the lady had taken her 
 seat opposite him, looking like a living misfortune, 
 the master of the house said to her : 
 
 " But, Miss Eottenmeier, what shall I think ? You 
 have truly put on a terrible face for my reception. 
 What is the matter? Clara is very lively." 
 
 "Mr. Sesemann," began the lady with weighty 
 earnestness, " Clara is also concerned ; we have been 
 awfully deceived." 
 
 " How so ? " asked Mr. Sesemann, calmly drinking 
 his tea. 
 
 " We had decided, as you know, Mr. Sesemann, 
 to have a playmate for Clara in the house, and as I 
 knew how particular you were to have your daughter 
 associate only with a good and noble companion, 1 
 had my mind on a young Swiss girl in the hopes of 
 seeing one of those persons whom I had so often 
 read about — one who had sprung in the mountain air. 
 
MR. SESEMAN RECEIVES STRANGE NEWS. 129 
 
 SO to speak, and goes through life without touching 
 the earth." 
 
 " I believe," remarked Mr. Sesemann, " that the 
 Swiss children touch the earth, if they intend to 
 move along, else they would have wings instead of 
 feet." 
 
 "Oh, Mr. Sesemann, you understand what 1 
 mean," added the Miss ; " I meant one of those well, 
 known figures living in the clear high mountain 
 regions, and which pass by us like an ideal breath." 
 
 " But what would my Clara do with an ideal 
 breath. Miss Eottenmeier ? " 
 
 ^' No, Mr. Sesemann, I am not joking ; the matter 
 is more serious to me than you think. I have been 
 deceived frightfully ! really quite dreadfully de- 
 ceived ! " 
 
 " But where is the dreadfulness ? The child does 
 not look so very frightful," remarked Mr. Sese- 
 mann calmly. 
 
 " You should know just one thing, Mr. Sesemann, 
 only this one thing ; what sort of men and animals 
 this creature has filled your house with in your ab- 
 sence, the tutor can tell you." 
 
 " With animals ! What am I to understand by 
 that. Miss Eottenmeier ? " 
 
 " It is not to be understood ; the whole conduct of 
 this creature cannot be understood except from the 
 one single point of view that she had attacks of in- 
 sanity." 
 
 Fp to this time Mr. Sesemann had not considered 
 the matter of anv importance, but " insanity ! " that 
 9 
 
130 HEIDI. 
 
 might have serious consequences for his daughter. 
 Mr. Sesemann looked at Miss Eottenmeier very 
 closely, as if he wanted, at first, to be assured whether 
 a similar disturbance was not to be seen in her. At 
 this moment the door was opened, and the tutor 
 was ushered in. 
 
 " Oh, there comes our tutor, he will give us some 
 explanation!" said Mr. Sesemann. "Come, come, 
 sit down by me," and he held out his hand to hinij 
 as he entered the room. 
 
 " Mr. Tutor will drink a cup of tea with me. Miss 
 Bottenmeier. Sit down, sit down, don't be formal ! 
 And now tell me, Mr. Tutor, what is the matter with 
 the child who has come into my house as a playmate 
 of my daughter, and to whom you give instruction. 
 What is the real story of her bringing animals into 
 the house, and what Is the trouble with her mind ? " 
 
 Mr. Tutor had first to express his pleasure at Mr. 
 Sesemann's safe return and bid him welcome home, 
 for which he had come in, but Mr. Sesemann urged 
 him to give his opinion on the matter in question. 
 So the tutor began : 
 
 " If I were to express my opinion about the char- 
 acter of this young girl, Mr. Sesemann, I wish, 
 first of all, to invite your attention to the fact that 
 if, on the one hand, there is a lack of development 
 which is occasioned by a more or less neglected edu- 
 cation, or, to express it better, by a somewhat tardy 
 instruction ; on the other hand, through more or less 
 seclusion of a long abode in the Alps, which is in no 
 ■wise to be condemned, but which, on the contrary. 
 
MR. SESEMANN RECEIVES STRANGE NEWS. 131 
 
 demonstrates her good qualities indisputably — this 
 abode in the Alps, which, if it does not exceed a cer. 
 tain length of time, without doubt her good 
 qualities " 
 
 " My dear Mr. Tutor," interrupted Mr. Sesemann, 
 " you give yourself really too much trouble ; tell me, 
 has the child frightened you by bringing in animals, 
 and what is your opinion in general of her society 
 for my little daughter ? " 
 
 " I do not wish to offend the girl in any way," 
 began the tutor again, " for if she, on the one hand, 
 shows a sort of social inexperience due to the un- 
 cultivated life in which the young girl had moved 
 up to the time of her coming to Frankfort, and this 
 removal, indeed, in the development of this partly 
 undeveloped though on the other hand endowed 
 "with talents not to be despised " 
 
 " Excuse me, Mr. Tutor, pray, do not trouble 
 yourself. I will — I must hasten to look after my 
 daughter." 
 
 Whereupon Mr. Sesemann went out of the room 
 and did not return. He went to the study, and sat 
 by the side of his little daughter. Heidi had risen 
 from her seat. Mr. Sesemann turned to the child and 
 said: 
 
 " Look here, little child, bring me quickly — wait 
 a little — bring me — (Mr. Sesemann did not know 
 exactly what he wanted, but he wished to send 
 Heidi out of the room for a few minutes) — bring ma 
 a glass of water." 
 
 " Fresh water ? " asked Heidi. 
 
132 HEIDI. 
 
 " Yes, yes, quite fresh," answered Mr. Sesemanru 
 
 Heidi disappeared. 
 
 "Now, my dear Clara," said her papa drawing 
 near his daughter and taking her hand in his, " tell me 
 clearly and intelligibly what sorts of animals has 
 this your companion brought into the house, and 
 why should Miss Eottenmeier think she was not right 
 in her mind sometimes, Can you tell me that ? " 
 
 Clara could do that, for the frightened lady had 
 spoken to her also of Heidi's confusing words, every 
 one of which had its meaning for Clara. She first 
 told her father about the turtle and the kittens, and 
 then explained to him Heidi's words which had 
 frightened the lady so much. 
 
 Mr. Sesemann laughed heartily. 
 
 " So you don't want me to send the child home, 
 Clara, you are not tired of her i " asked the 
 father. 
 
 "No, no, papa, don't do that, please," she ex- 
 claimed urgently. " Since Heidi has been here some- 
 thing always happens every day and the time 
 passes quickly and pleasantly, altogether different 
 from what it used to be when nothing ever hap- 
 pened ! And Heidi tells me a great many things." 
 
 " Very good, very good, Clara. There comes your 
 little friend back again. Well, you have brought 
 me cool fresh water ? " asked Mr. Sesemann, when 
 Heidi brought him a glass of water. 
 
 " Yes, fresh from the fountain," answered HeidL 
 
 " You went to the fountain yourself, of course ? * 
 said Clara. 
 
MR. SESEMAN RECEIVES STRANGE NEWS. 133 
 
 "Yes, certainly, it is perfectly fresh ; but I had 
 to go a long distance, for there were many people 
 at the first fountain. Then I went down the street, 
 but there were just as many people at the second, 
 then I went into the other street, and there I got 
 the water, and the gentleman with white hair sent 
 Ms kind regards to Mr. Sesemann." 
 
 " Well, the expedition is good," laughed Mr. Sese- 
 mann, " and who is this gentleman ? " 
 
 " He was passing by the fountain and then stop, 
 ping said : ' As you have a glass, give me some water 
 to drink. To whom are you going to take the 
 water?' And I said: 'To Mr. Sesemann.' Then 
 he laughed very loud and told me to give you his 
 greetings, and also said, ' May Mr. Sesemann enjoy 
 it.' " 
 
 " "Well, and who is the gentleman, who expressed 
 his good wishes for me ? How did he look ? " asked 
 Mr. Sesemann. 
 
 He laughed pleasantly and had a thick gold chain 
 and some gold thing with a large ■ red stone hang- 
 ing from it, and there was a horse's head on the top 
 of his cane." 
 
 " That is the doctor."—" That is my old doctor," 
 said Clara and her father at the same time as if 
 from the same mouth ; and Mr. Sesemann laughed 
 a little longer to himself at the thought of his friend 
 and how the little child managed to bring him fresh 
 water. 
 
 That same evening Mr. Sesemann and Miss Eot- 
 tenmeier were in the dining-room and were talking 
 
134 HEIDL 
 
 over all sorts of household affairs. He told her 
 that the playmate of his daughter was to remain ia 
 the house ; he found out that the child was in her 
 normal condition and that her being there was more 
 pleasant and agreeable to his daughter than ever 
 before. 
 
 " I wish, therefore," added Mr. Sesemann decid- 
 edly, " that this child should be treated kindly and 
 her peculiarities should not be considered as faults. 
 If you should not be able to look after her alone, 
 Miss Eottenmeier, it is more than likely you will 
 have a good help, for my mother is coming to my 
 Blouse for a long visit, and she can manage every 
 ij)ne, no matter how strange they may be. You 
 already know that very well. Miss Eottenmeier." 
 
 " Tes, indeed, I know that, Mr. Sesemann," re- 
 plied the lady, but not with an expression of relief 
 In view of the announced help. 
 
 Mr. Sesemann had only a short time for rest at 
 home; after a fortnight business called him back 
 to Paris. His daughter would not consent to his 
 going back so soon. He consoled her with the pros* 
 pect of the early arrival of her grandmamma who 
 might come in a few days. 
 
 Mr. Sesemann had hardly started on his journey 
 when a letter came from Holstein, where Mrs. Sese- 
 mann lived in an old country-house, announcing 
 her departure and appointed the following day as the 
 time of her arrival, so that the carriage was to be 
 gent to the railway station for her. 
 
 Clara was very much delighted to receive the 
 
MB. SESEMAN RECEIVES STRANGE NEWS. 135 
 
 news. She told Heidi the same evening so much 
 and so long about her grandmamma, that Heidi, toe, 
 began to talk of the " grandmamma," for which Miss 
 Rottenmeier looked at her with disapproval, which 
 the child did not consider at all strange, for she 
 felt herself to be under the disapproval of the lady 
 all the time. 
 
 "When she left the study to go to her bedroom, 
 Miss Eottenmeier called her to her own room and 
 told her, she must never use the name "grand- 
 mamma " but she must address her always gracious 
 lady. 
 
 "Do you understand this?" asked the lady, as 
 Heidi looked at her doubtfully ; but she gave her 
 such a forbidding look in return that Heidi asked 
 for no more explanation, although she had not under- 
 stood the title. 
 
CHAPTEK X. 
 
 A GBAITDMAADIA. 
 
 On the following evening there were great expect 
 ations and active preparations in Mr. Sesemann's 
 bouse, and it was evident that the lady expected was 
 of great importance, and that every one in the house 
 had great respect for her, Tinette had put a new 
 cap on her head and Sebastian had collected a great 
 many footstools and put them at convenient places, 
 so that the lady might find one under her feet 
 wherever she might sit down. Miss Kottenmeier 
 went through all the rooms with an imposing manner 
 to inspect everything, and to signify that though a 
 higher power would soon begin to rule in the house, 
 her own had not come to an end. 
 
 The carriage came rolling up to the door, and 
 
 Sebastian and Tinette rushed down the stairs. Miss 
 
 Eottenmeier followed slowly and dignified, for she 
 
 knew that she had to appear to welcome Mrs. 
 
 Sesemann. Heidi had been bidden to retire to her 
 
 room and wait there, until she was called, for the 
 
 grandmother would first go to see Clara and would 
 
 like to see her alone. 
 
 Heidi sat in a corner and repeated what she was 
 136 
 
A GRANDMAMMA. 137 
 
 to address to Mrs. Sesemann. She did not have 
 long to wait before Tinette thrust her head into 
 Heidi's room and said bluntly as usual : 
 " Go into the study." 
 
 Heidi had not dared to ask Miss Kottenmeier for 
 an explanation about the manner of addressing the 
 grandmamma ; but she thought the lady had made 
 a mistake, for she had up to this day heard a person 
 first called by the title and then the name ; she 
 thought she must do the same now. "When she 
 opened the door of the study, the grandmamma 
 called to her in a friendly voice : 
 
 " Ah, there the child is coming ! Come to me and 
 let me look at you." 
 
 Heidi went to her and said in her clear voice, very 
 distinctly : 
 " Good day, Lady Gracious 1 " 
 " And why not ? " said the grandmamma laugh, 
 ing. " Is that what they say at your home ? Have 
 you heard that on the Alps ? " 
 
 " No, no one there is called by that name," said 
 Heidi earnestly. 
 
 " "Well, it is not the case here either," said grand- 
 mamma laughingly and patted Heidi lovingly on 
 the cheek. " It's no matter I In the nursery I am 
 grandmamma, and you must call me so. Tou can 
 keep it in your mind. Can't you ? " 
 
 " Yes, I can," said Heidi. " I always called you 
 so before." 
 
 " "Well, well, you understand it already," said the 
 grandmamma and nodded pleasantly with her head. 
 
188 HEIDI. 
 
 Then she looked closely at Heidi and nodded to her 
 from time to time. 
 
 Heidi gazed very earnestly into her eyes, for they 
 had the look of love and kindness, that made her 
 feel at home, and could not take her eyes away from 
 her. She had such beautiful white hair, and a fine 
 frill around her head and two broad ribbons fluttered 
 from her cap and moved continually as if a light 
 breeze blew around the grandmamma ; all this seemed 
 very funny to Heidi. 
 
 "And what is your name, child?" asked the 
 grandmamma. 
 
 " My name is only Heidi, but if any one wishes to 
 call me Adelheid, I pay attention." She hesitated, 
 for she felt a little guilty, because she still did not 
 answer, when Miss Eottenmeier called unexpectedly : 
 *' Adelheid," as she still did not think that that was 
 her name. And Miss Eottenmeier had just entered 
 the room. 
 
 " Mrs. Sesemann will certainly approve," inter- 
 rupted Miss Eottenmeier, " and I had to choose a 
 name which could be pronounced without any 
 trouble for the sake of the servants." 
 
 " Dear Eottenmeier," replied Mrs. Sesemann, " if 
 any one is named Heidi, and she is accustomed to 
 that name, I will call her so, and let it stay so ? " 
 
 Miss Eottenmeier felt rather bad, because the old 
 lady always called her by her name alone without 
 any title ; but nothing could be done, for the grand- 
 mamma always had her own way, and there was 
 no help for it. And besides all her senses were keen 
 
A GRANDMAMMA. 139 
 
 and sound and she knew everything that was going 
 on in the bouse as soon as she came. 
 
 The day after her arrival Clara lay down after 
 dinner at the usual time. The grandmamma sat in 
 an arm-chair by her side, and closed her eyes for a 
 few moraonts, then she rose again and went out into 
 the dining-room where there was no one. " She is 
 sleeping," said she to herself and went to Miss 
 Rotten meier's room and knocked loudly at the door. 
 After a while that lady appeared, and started back 
 a little frightened by the unexpected visit. 
 
 " Where is the child now at this time, and what 
 does she do? I want to know it," said Mrs. 
 Sesemann. 
 
 " She sits in her room, where she might pass the 
 time in some profitable way, if she had the least in- 
 clination to do something useful. But Mrs. Sese- 
 mann ought to know what unheard-of things this 
 creature plans and often executes them — things that 
 I could hardly speak of before cultured society." 
 
 " I should do just the same, if I had to sit in there, 
 as this child does, I assure you, and you would see 
 how you would speak of my foolishness in a cultured 
 society. Now bring the child to my room, and I 
 will give her some pretty books which I have 
 brought with me." 
 
 " That is the trouble ; it is just that," exclaimed 
 Miss Eottenmeier wringing her hands. " What can 
 she do with the books ? In all this time she has not 
 even learned her alphabet. It is simply impossible 
 for any one to put a single idea into her head ; the 
 
140 HEIDI. 
 
 tutor can tell you all about that. If this excelleni 
 gentleman, did not have the patience of a heavenly 
 angel, he would have given up teaching her long 
 ago." 
 
 "Well, it is really very curious, for this child 
 does not look like one who is not able to learn the 
 alphabet," said Mrs. Sesemann. " Now bring her 
 in to me ; she can at least look over the pictures in 
 the books." 
 
 Miss Bottenmeier was anxious to make a few 
 more remarks, but Mrs. Sesemann had already 
 turned around and was going quickly to her own 
 room. She was very much surprised, when she was 
 told of Heidi's stupidity and thought she would in- 
 vestigate the matter but not with the tutor whom 
 she esteemed highly on account of his good char- 
 acter. She always greeted him in a very friendly 
 manner whenever she met him, but then hurried 
 away, so as not to be drawn into conversation with 
 him, for his manner of expressing himself was some- 
 what annoying to her. 
 
 Heidi came into the grandmamma's room and 
 opened her eyes wide, when she saw the beautiful 
 pictures in the large book, which the lady had 
 brought with her. Suddenly Heidi cried aloud, 
 when the grandmamma had turned a new leaf. She 
 looked at the figures with gleaming eyes ; then all 
 of a sudden tears rushed from her eyes and she be- 
 gan to sob and cry. The grandmamma looked at 
 the picture. It was a beautiful green pasture, 
 where all sorts of animals were feeding and nibbling 
 
A GRANDMAMMA. 141 
 
 at the green bushes. The shepherd stood in the 
 middle leaning on a long staff and looking at the 
 merry creatures. Everything was painted with a 
 golden glitter, for the sun was just going down 
 behind the horizon. 
 
 The grandmamma took Heidi by the hand. 
 
 " Come, come, my child," said she in a kindly 
 tone, " don't cry ! It has reminded you of something, 
 but, see there is a charming story about it which I, 
 am going to tell this evening. And there are many 
 more lovely stories in the book which one can read 
 and repeat. Come, let us talk a little together. 
 Dry your tears and stand here before me that I may 
 see you plainly. That's right ; now we are happy 
 again." 
 
 At last when she saw that the child had quieted a 
 little, she said : 
 
 "Now you must tell me something, my child. 
 How do you like the study hours with the tutor? 
 Can you learn anything ? And have you already 
 learned something ? " 
 
 " Oh, no," answered the child sobbing, " but I 
 know that it was impossible to learn." 
 
 ""What is impossible to learn, Heidi? What do 
 you mean ? " 
 
 " It's impossible to learn to read, it's too hard." 
 
 " What ! Whom did you hear that from ? " 
 
 " Peter told me so, and he knows it. He has tried 
 to read over and over again, but he can never learn ; 
 it's too hard." 
 
 " WeU, Peter must be very singular I But see, 
 
142 HEIDI. 
 
 Heidi, you must not believe all Peter tells you, you 
 must try it for yourself. You surely have not given 
 your best attention to the tutor and looked at the 
 letters." 
 
 " It's of no use," asserted Heidi with a tone of 
 perfect submission to the inevitable. 
 
 " Heidi," said now the grandmamma, " I will tell 
 you something : you have never learned to read, be- 
 cause you have believed what your Peter has told 
 you, but now you must believe me, and I tell you 
 really and truly that you will be able to read in a 
 short time like a great many children who are good 
 like you and not like Peter. And now you must 
 know what will follow, when you care to read. 
 You have seen the shepherd on the lovely green 
 pasture ; — as soon as you are able to read, you can 
 get the book, then you will learn his whole story 
 just as if some one had told you what he does with 
 his sheep and goats and all the strange things which 
 happen to him. You would like to know it, 
 wouldn't you, Heidi ? " 
 
 Heidi had listened with great attention, and now 
 she said, with beaming eyes and a deep sigh. 
 ' " Oh, if I could only read now ? " 
 
 " It will come, it will not take long ; I can see it 
 already, Heidi. We must go and see Clara ; come, 
 we wiU take these nice books with us." 
 
 Whereupon the grandmamma took Heidi by the 
 hand and went with her into the study. 
 
 Since the day when Heidi had wanted to go home. 
 
A GRANDMAMMA. I43 
 
 and Miss Eottenmeier had scolded her on the stair- 
 case and told her how disobedient and ungrateful 
 she had been by wishing to leave such a home and 
 go away, and that it would be fortunate if Mr. Sese- 
 mann knew nothing about it, some change bad 
 taken place in the child's mind. She had under- 
 stood that she could not go home any time she 
 wished, as her aunt had told her, that she must stay 
 in Frankfort a long time, perhaps forever. She had 
 also understood that Mr. Sesemann M'hen he came 
 home would consider it very ungrateful on her part, 
 and she thought that Clara and her grandmamma 
 would also think so. Therefore she dared to tell no 
 one that she wanted to go home, for she did not like 
 to give grandmamma, who had been so kind to her, 
 any reason to be angry like Miss Eottenmeier. But 
 the burden which she had in her heart grew heavier 
 and heavier. She could no longer eat ; each day 
 she grew paler. She often lay awake in the night 
 for a long, long time unable to sleep, for as soon as 
 she was alone and all was still around her, every- 
 thing stood before her eyes — the aim and the sun- 
 light on it and the flowers ! And when at last she 
 fell asleep, she would see in her dream the red cliffs 
 of Falkniss and the fiery snowfield of Caesaplana, 
 and in the morning she would awake and run out 
 of the cottage full of joy ; suddenly she would find 
 herself in her big bed in Frankfort, so far away, and 
 could not go home ! Then she would bury her head 
 in her pillow and weep in silence for a long time, so 
 that nobody might hear her. Heidi's unhappy stats 
 
144 HEIDI. 
 
 did not escape the grandmamma's attention. She 
 let a few days pass by to see if there would be any 
 change in the child — ^if the gloominess around her 
 would pass away. But as no change took place and 
 the grandmamma could often see early in the morn- 
 ing, that Heidi had been weeping, she took the child 
 one day into her room, holding her hand most ten- 
 derly and said : 
 
 "^ow tell me, Heidi, what is the matter with 
 you ? Have you any grief ? " 
 
 But Heidi did not like to appear ungrateful to the 
 kind grandmamma, for she might not be as kind to 
 her afterwards, so she said sadly, 
 
 " I cannot tell you." 
 
 " No ? You can perhaps tell Clara," said the 
 grandmamma. 
 
 " Oh, no, to no one ! " said Heidi decidedly, looking 
 at the same time so unhappy that the grandmamma 
 pitied her. 
 
 " Come, my child," said she, " I will tell you 
 something. If we have any grief which we cannot 
 tell any one, then we take it to the dear Lord in 
 heaven and ask Him to help us, for He is able to take 
 away everything that troubles us. You understand 
 that, don't you ? You pray every night to the dear 
 God in heaven and thank Him for everything and 
 ask Him that He may keep you from all harm, don't 
 you?" 
 
 " Oh, no, I never do that," answered the child. 
 
 " Have you never prayed, Heidi ? Don't you know 
 what it is ? " 
 
A GRANDMAMMA. 145 
 
 *• I prayed with the first grandmother, but that is 
 so long ago, that I have forgotten it." 
 
 " You see, Heidi, the reason for your sadness is, be 
 cause you know no one who can help you. Just think, 
 how good it is for any one who may have some 
 trouble in his heart to be able to go every minute to 
 the dear Lord and tell Him everything and ask 
 His help, where no one else can help I And He can 
 help every one of us, and give us what we need to 
 make us happy again." 
 
 A beam of joy went through Heidi's eyes. 
 
 " Can I tell Him everything ? " 
 
 " Everything Heidi, everything." 
 
 The child drew her hand out of grandmamma'? 
 and said hastily, 
 
 " Can I go now ? " 
 
 " Certainly ! certainly," was her answer, and 
 Heidi ran out, and, going into her own room, sat down 
 on her footstool, folded her hands, and told the 
 dear God all that was in her heart, and whatever 
 made her sad, and asked Him, urgently and sin- 
 cerely, to help her, and let her go to the grand- 
 father. 
 
 It might have been a little more than a week 
 since that day, when the tutor expressed his desire 
 to see Mrs. Sesemann and wished to have a con 
 versation with the lady on a matter of great im- 
 portance. 
 
 He was called into her room, and as he entered 
 Mrs. Sesemann offered him her hand in a friendly 
 way, saying : 
 
146 HEIDI. 
 
 " My dear Mr. Tutor, you are welcome. Sit down 
 here by me." She pushed a chair to him. " Now tdl 
 me, what brings you here. 1 hope nothing unpleas* 
 ant, or no complaints ! " 
 
 " On the contrary, gracious lady," began the tutor, 
 " something has happened that I never looked for, 
 and any one else who could have glanced on all 
 that has gone before. For after all suppositions it 
 must be admitted that what was considered as 
 a total impossibility has really happened now, and 
 taken place in the most marvelous way, as if in op- 
 position to all consistent " 
 
 " The child Heidi has possibly learned to read, Mr. 
 Tutor," interrupted Mrs. Sesemann. 
 
 The surprised gentleman looked at the lady in 
 speechless astonishment. 
 
 "Really, it is exceedingly marvelous," said he 
 at last ; " not only this young girl had not learned the 
 alphabet after my thorough explanations and unusual 
 pains, but especially that now in the shortest pos- 
 sible time — so to speak,during the night — has grasped 
 it, after I had decided to give up the unattainable, 
 and when without any further explanation I brought 
 the bare letters, so to speak, before her eyes she 
 began to read the words at once with such an ex- 
 actness as I have seldom experienced with be- 
 ginners. It is almost as marvelous as the observation 
 that the gracious lady had surmised this improbable 
 fact as a possibility." 
 
 " A great many marvelous things occur in a man's 
 life," affirmed Mrs. Sesemann smiling cheerfully. 
 
A GRANDMAMMA. 147 
 
 ** Once in a while two things may fortunately coin- 
 cide, as a new zeal to learn with a new method to 
 teach. And the two being together cannot do any 
 harm, Mr. Tutor. Now let us be glad that the child 
 has come so far, and let us hope for a good prog- 
 ress." 
 
 "Whereupon she accompanied the tutor out of the 
 room, and hastened to the study to assure herself 
 that the delightful news was true. 
 
 And really, Heidi, sitting by Clara, was reading to 
 her a story which apparently filled her with the 
 highest astonishment. With a growing zeal she 
 was penetrating into the new world which was 
 opened to her. Men and objects suddenly came out 
 of the black letters, taking life and becoming 
 realities — to make lovely and interesting stories. 
 
 The same evening while they were at table 
 Heidi found the big book with the beautiful pictures 
 lying on her plate, and when she looked at the 
 grandmamma with an inquiring air, the latter said, 
 kindly nodding, 
 
 " Yes, yes, now it belongs to you." 
 
 " For always ? Even if I should go home ? " asked 
 Heidi, blushing with joy. 
 
 "Certainly, it is to be yours for always," said 
 the grandmamma, giving her assurance. "To- 
 morrow we will begin to read it." 
 
 " But you will not go home, not for many years. 
 Heidi," broke in Clara here. "When the grand- 
 mamma goes away, you must surely stay with me." 
 
 Before going to bed Heidi had to look once more 
 
148 HEIDI, 
 
 at her beautiful book in her room, and from that day- 
 it was the most pleasant thing for her to sit with 
 her book and read the stories over and over again, 
 which were illustrated with beautifully colored 
 pictures. 
 
 In the evening the grandmamma would say: 
 
 "Now Heidi will read to us." 
 
 The child felt always very happy now that it was 
 easy for her to read. When she read the stories 
 aloud, they became more beautiful and intelligible. 
 The grandmamma explained so many things, and 
 told her a good many more. 
 
 Most of all she liked to look at, was the green 
 pasture with the shepherd in the midst of the herd, 
 as he stood there happily leaning on his long staff, 
 for he was still with his father's pretty herd, and 
 went after the merry lambs and goats. But the 
 other picture represented the time when he had run 
 away from his father's house, and was living in a 
 strange land where he was obliged to tend the 
 swine. There he had grown very thin as he had 
 nothing but husks to eat. The sun no longer shone 
 in golden beams in this last picture, and the land 
 was gray and misty. Then followed another pic- 
 ture in which the old father with outstretched arms 
 is coming out of the house, and going to meet the 
 penitent son returning home, who had grown thin 
 and weak and was all in tatters. 
 
 This was Heidi's favorite story, which she read 
 over and over again, aloud and! to herself. She 
 never got tired of hearing the explanations which 
 
A GRANDMAMMA. 149 
 
 the graadmamma gave the children. But there were 
 still many more lovely stories in the book; and with 
 reading and looking at the pictures the days passed 
 off quickly, and the time drew near when the grand- 
 mamma had decided to start for her home. 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 DT SOHX BESFECTS HEIDI IMFBOTES AITD IN OTHERS 
 SHE QBOWS W0K8E. 
 
 Evert afternoon when Clara was lying down, and 
 Miss Eottenmeier, probably in need of rest, mys- 
 teriously disappeared, the grandmamma sat down by 
 Clara for a few minutes ; but after a short interval 
 she was on her feet again and called Heidi to her 
 room, and talked with her, and kept her busy, and 
 amused her in different ways. She had pretty little 
 dolls, and showed Heidi how to make dresses and 
 aprons for them ; so the child learned to sew. She 
 made pretty dresses and cloaks for them, for the 
 grandmamma always had splendid pieces of dress 
 goods in different colors. 
 
 As Heidi now could read, she would read the 
 stories to the grandma over and over again, and this 
 delighted her exceedingly, for the more she read 
 them, the more attached she became to them. She 
 studied the different characters in them, so much so 
 that she became closely related to them, and was 
 always glad to be in their company. 
 
 But she never looked exactly happy, and her eyes 
 were no longer as bright and beaming. 
 
 It was the last week that the grandma was to 
 150 
 
IN SOME RESPECTS HEIDI IMPROVES. 151 
 
 spend in Frankfort. She had just called Heidi into 
 her room. This was the time, when Clara was tak- 
 ing her usual nap. When Heidi entered the room 
 with the big book under her arm, the grandmamma 
 beckoned to her to come near her, and laid the 
 book aside and said : 
 
 " Now, come, my child, and tell me, why are you 
 not happy ? Have you still the same trouble in your 
 heart?" 
 
 " Yes," said Heidi nodding. 
 
 " Have you told the dear Lord about it ? " 
 
 «Yes." 
 
 " And do you pray each day that everything may 
 be well and that He will make you happy ? " 
 
 " Oh, no, I don't pray any more now." 
 
 " What do you say, Heidi ? What do I hear 1 
 Why don't you pray any more ? " 
 
 " It is of no use ; the dear God has not listened, 
 and I don't believe it to be true," continued Heidi, 
 a little excited, " when so many, many people in 
 Frankfort are praying every night at the same time, 
 the dear Lord cannot give His attention to all of 
 them ; and He has certainly not heard me." 
 
 " And how do you know this to be so, Heidi ? " 
 
 " I prayed the same prayer every day for many 
 weeks, and the dear God has not done what I prayed 
 for." 
 
 " It is not so, Heidi ; you must not think that way ! 
 
 You see the dear God is a good Father to us all. He 
 
 • always knows what is best for us, when we ourselves 
 
 don't know it. But if we want something from 
 
152 HEIDI. 
 
 Him that is not good for us, He does not give it to 
 us, but something much better, if we continue to 
 pray to Him urgently, and nob run away and give 
 up all coniidence in Him. You see, what you wished 
 to ask of Him was not good for you at present. 
 The dear Lord has heard you ; He can see and hear 
 all at the same time, for He is the dear God and not 
 a human being like you and me. And as He well 
 knew what is good for you, He thought to Himself : 
 ■ — ' Yes, Heidi shall have what she asks for, but only 
 when it is good for her, and then she can be happy 
 about it. For if I should do what she wants now, 
 and afterwards on seeing that it would have been 
 better had I not done what she had asked for, she 
 would then cry and say : " If only the dear God had 
 not given what I prayed for ! it is by no means as 
 good as I thought it would be ! " ' And while the 
 dear God was looking down on you to see if you 
 trusted Him and went to Him every day, and prayed 
 and looked up to Him, when you needed anything, 
 you have gone away, losing all confidence in Him, 
 and have ceased praying, and altogether forgotten 
 Him. 
 
 " But, you see, if any one would do so, and the 
 dear God no longer hears his voice among other 
 praying people, He forgets him, too, and lets him 
 go whenever he will. But when he afterwards gets 
 into trouble and cries out, ' Oh, there is no one to 
 help me,' then no one will have pity on him, but 
 will say, ' You have yourself run away from the dear 
 Lord, who could have helped you.' "Well, will you 
 
IN SOME RESPECTS HEIDI IMPROVES. 153 
 
 have it so, Heidi, or will you at once go again to 
 the dear Lord and ask His forgiveness for having 
 wandered away from Him, and then pray to Him 
 every day and trust Him that He will do whatevei; 
 is best for you, so that yoa may once more have a 
 happy heart ? " 
 
 Heidi had listened with great attention ; every 
 word of the grandmamma went into her heart, for 
 the child had absolute confidence in her. 
 
 "I will go at once to ask the dear Lord for His, 
 forgiveness, and I will forget Him no more," said 
 Heidi penitently. 
 
 *' That is good, my child. He will help you at the 
 right time ; only have courage ! " said the grand- 
 mamma, encouraging her, and Heidi ran right away 
 to her room, and prayed earnestly and penitently 
 to the dear Lord, and asked Him not to forget her,i 
 but to look down and bless her again. 
 
 The day for the departure of the grandmamma 
 had come, and it was a gloomy day for Clara and 
 Heidi, but the grandmamma had planned it in such 
 a way that they did not realize that it was a sad day, 
 but rather a holiday, until she had driven away. 
 Then the house became dull and empty, as if all was 
 over ; and Clara and Heidi sat the rest of the day 
 lost in thought and did not know what would happen 
 next. 
 
 The following day, when they had finished their 
 lessons and it was time for the children to sit 
 together as usual, Heidi came in with her book 
 under her arm and said : 
 
154 HEIDI. 
 
 " I will always, always read to you ; would you 
 like me to, Clara ? " 
 
 This offer was very gratifying to Clara, and Heidi 
 began earnestly about her task. But it was not 
 long before all came to an end, for Heidi had scarcely 
 begun to read a story, which was about a dying 
 grandmother, when she suddenly cried out aloud : 
 
 " Oh, now the grandmother is dead ! " and she 
 burst in a pitiable weeping, for everything Heidi 
 read was to her a reality, and she believed nothing 
 •Ise than that the grandmother on the Aim was 
 dead ; and she kept crying louder and louder. 
 
 " Now the grandmother is dead, and I can never 
 go to her, and she has never had a single roll ! " 
 
 Clara tried over and over again to explain to 
 Heidi that it was not the grandmother on the Aim, 
 but altogether a different one, about whom the story 
 was written ; but even when she succeeded in mak- 
 ing this mistake clear to the excited Heidi, she would 
 not be quieted, but kept crying inconsolably ; for the 
 idea had been awakened in her mind that the grand- 
 mother might die, and the grandfather, too, while 
 she was so far away ; and then if she should go 
 home after a long time, it would be all still and 
 dead on the Aim, and she would stay there all alone 
 and never be able to see those again who were dear 
 to her. 
 
 In the meanwhile Miss Eottenmeier had come 
 into the room and had heard the attempts of Clara 
 to explain Heidi's mistake. But when the child could 
 not stop sobbing, she went with apparent signs oj 
 
IN SOME RESPECTS HEIDI IMPROVES. 155 
 
 impatience to the children and said in a decided 
 voice. 
 
 " Adelheid, enough of your unnecessary scream- 
 ing 1 I will tell yon this one thing, if you ever again 
 give vent to such outbreaks while reading your storie» 
 I will take the book away from you altogether." 
 
 It made the intended impression. Heidi turned 
 pale with terror. This book was her best treasure. 
 She dried her tears in great haste, and with all her 
 might she swallowed and choked her sobs so that 
 no further sound was heard from her. By this 
 means the object was attained. Heidi never cried 
 again, no matter what she read ; but often she had 
 to make such great efforts to overcome herself, that 
 Clara often said in surprise : 
 
 " Heidi, you make terrible grimaces, the like of 
 which I have never seen." 
 
 But grimaces made no sound, and did not annoy 
 Dame Rottenmeier, and Heidi had overcome her 
 attack of desperate sadness ; everything returned 
 once more into its old track for a while and the time 
 passed quietly. But Heidi lost her appetite and 
 became so lean and pale that Sebastian could hardly 
 bear to look on her and see how she let the nicest 
 dishes at the table pass by without touching them. 
 He often whispered encouraging words to her, when 
 he was serving her : 
 
 " Take some of it, Miss, it's nice, Not so little 1 
 A good spoonful and another I " 
 
 And he gave her many more fatherly advices, 
 bat all was of no avail. Heidi ate almost nothing, 
 
156 HEIDL 
 
 and at nig&t wBen sbe lay on her pillow, all the 
 scenes about her old home came at once before her 
 mind; she wept bitterly in her little bed out of 
 homesickness, so softly that no one might hear 
 her. 
 
 A long time passed in this way. Heidi never 
 knew whether it was summer or winter, for the 
 walls and windows, which were all that she cotild 
 see from the Sesemann house, always looked the 
 same. She only went out when Clara felt partic- 
 ularly well and she could be taken out for a drive, 
 which was always very short, for Clara could not 
 stand a long ride. So they seldom went beyond 
 the walls and the stony streets, but usually turned 
 round and drove through large and beautiful streets 
 where there were a great many houses and people 
 to be seen, but no grass and flowers, no fir trees and 
 mountains ; and Heidi's desire to see the beautiful 
 things of her home increased every day. She had 
 only to read the names of these suggestive words 
 which was sufficient for her to have an outbreak 
 of pain, and she had to fight with all her might 
 against it. 
 
 The autumn and winter passed in this way, the 
 sun had already become so dazzling on the white 
 walls of the opposite house that Heidi thought that 
 the time had arrived when Peter would go up the 
 Aim with his goats, when the golden rock-roses 
 would glisten in the sunshine, and every evening 
 all the mountains around would be on fire. Heidi 
 would sit down in a corner of her lonely room, hold* 
 
IN SOME RESPECTS HEIDI IMPROVES. 157 
 
 ing her both hands over her eyes so as to avoid 
 seeing the sunshine on the opposite walls. Thus 
 she sat down without stirring, to overcome silently 
 her burning homesickness, until Clara called toe 
 her again. 
 
CHAPTER Xn. 
 
 THE BESEMAKH HOUSE IS HAUinED. 
 
 Foe several days Miss Rottenmeier was walking 
 about the house, most of the time in silence and 
 deep thought. "Whenever at nightfall she went 
 from one room to another or through the long 
 corridor, she often looked here and there in the 
 corners, and now and then glanced quickly behind 
 her in such a way as if she was afraid that somebody 
 might come slowly behind her and pull her dress. But 
 she went alone only to the living rooms. If she had 
 anything to do on the upper floor, where the 
 lavishly-furnished guest rooms were, or in the lower 
 parts of the house, where the large mysterious hall 
 was situated, in which every step gave a resounding 
 echo, and the old senators, with their large white 
 collars, looked down so sternly and steadily, she 
 would always call Tinette, asking her to go with her, 
 as there might be something to carry up or down. 
 Tinette, on her part, did exactly the same : if she 
 had anything to do up-stairs or down-stairs, she 
 would call Sebastian and tell him he had better go 
 with her, for there might be something to carry 
 she could not manage alone. Strange to say, Sebas- 
 tian did just the same ; if he was sent to a remote 
 part of the house, he called np John and directed 
 158 
 
THE SESEMANN HOUSE IS HAUNTED. 159 
 
 him to go with him in case he was not able to bring 
 what was needed. And every one of them followed 
 the call always quite willingly, though there was in 
 reality nothing to be carried, and each might have 
 as well gone alone ; but it looked as if each one al- 
 ways thought he might need later on the other for 
 lihe same service. While this was going on up-stairs, 
 the old family cook stood below among her pots, 
 wrapt in deep thought, and shook her head and 
 sighed. 
 
 " That I should live to see this 1 " 
 
 For some time in the Sesemann house something 
 strange and mysterious had been going on. When 
 the servants came down each morning, the house 
 door stood wide open, but no one was to be seen 
 there who could be suspected of having any con- 
 nection with the trouble. The first few days when 
 this happened, all the rooms and chambers of the 
 house were carefully searched to see what had been 
 stolen, for they thought that a thief had been able 
 to hide himself in the house in the night, and hav- 
 ing stolen valuables had escaped, but nothing was 
 missing ; in the whole house there was not a single 
 article gone. 
 
 At night the door was not only double locked but 
 the wooden bar was also put across, — it was of no 
 avail ; in the morning the door stood wide open, and no 
 matter how early all the servants came down in their 
 excitement, the door stood open, even if all round 
 about lay in deep sleep, and the windows and doors 
 sot all other houses were still firmly fastened. 
 
160 HEIDI, I 
 
 At last John and Sebastian took courage and 
 prepared, at the urgent request of Dame Kotten- 
 meier, to spend the night in the room adjoining the 
 great hall, to see what would happen. Miss Kotten- 
 meier brought out several weapons of Mr. Sesemann's 
 and gave them to Sebastian in order to defend them- 
 selves if there need be. 
 
 On the appointed night the two men sat down, 
 and at first they were very talkative, but in a short 
 time they felt rather sleepy. "Whereupon they 
 leaned back in their chairs and were silent. When 
 the clock on the old tower struck twelve, Sebastian 
 took heart and called to his companion, but it was 
 not easy to wake him up ; as often as Sebastian 
 called to him, he would turn his head from one side 
 of the chair to the other, and he would go asleep 
 again. Sebastian listened anxiously, for by this 
 time he was quite awake again. All was as still as 
 a mouse ; even in the street there was no sound to be 
 heard. Sebastian did not sleep again. For there 
 was something uncanny in the deep stillness, and 
 he called to John in a subdued voice and shook him 
 a little from to time. 
 
 At last, when the clock had struck one, John 
 woke up and again realized the reason why he was 
 sitting on the chair and not lying in his bed. Sud- 
 denly he took some courage and called out : 
 
 " Now we must go out and see how the things are ; 
 you need not be afraid, only follow me." 
 
 John opened wide the door of the room, and went 
 out. At the same moment a strong wind blew in 
 
THE 8ESEMANN HOUSE IS HAUNTED. 161 
 
 from the open house-door and put out the light which 
 John held in his hand. He rushed back, almost 
 threw Sebastian, who was standing behind him, 
 backwards into the room, pulled him in, closed the 
 door, and in a feverish haste turned the key as far 
 as it could go. Then he took out a match and lighted 
 the light again. 
 
 Sebastian did not know what had taken place, for 
 he was standing behind the broad-shouldered John j 
 he had not felt the draught as distinctly. But when 
 Sebastian saw his companion by the light, he cried 
 out from terror, for John had turned as white as 
 chalk and trembled like an aspen leaf. 
 
 " What is the matter ? "What was outside there ? " 
 asked Sebastian compassionately. 
 
 " The door was wide open," gasped John, " and 
 there was a white figure on the steps ; you see, Sebas- 
 tian, it went up the stairs and disappeared." 
 
 Sebastian's whole body shuddered. Now they sat 
 down close together and did not stir again until 
 morning, and when people began to move about the 
 street. Then they went out together, closed the wide- 
 open door and went np-stairs to tell Miss Kotten- 
 meier about what had happened. The lady was quite 
 anxious to talk, for the expectation of what might 
 have happened had kept her from sleeping. When 
 she had learned what had happened, she sat down 
 and wrote a letter to Mr. Sesemann, such as he had 
 never received before. She wrote to him that he 
 must come immediately, for the most unheard-of 
 things had happened there. Then she stated, in 
 II 
 
162 HEIDI. 
 
 detail, to him what had taken place ; that the door 
 was found open every morning, that no one in the 
 house felt sure of his life if the house door should be 
 opened every night, and that no one could tell what 
 terrible results might come out of this mysterious 
 thing. 
 
 Mr. Sesemann answered by return mail that it was 
 impossible for him to leave his business so suddenly 
 and come home. The ghost story was very strange ; 
 he hoped that it was only something that would 
 pass away soon. In the meantime, should some 
 trouble happen. Miss Rottenmeier might write to 
 Mrs. Sesemann and ask her if she would not be will- 
 ing to come to Frankfort to their help ; his mother 
 would without doubt be able to straighten out 
 the whole matter in a very short time, after which 
 the ghost would not dare to create disturbances in 
 his house. 
 
 Miss Rottenmeier was not satisfied with the tone 
 of this letter, Mr. Sesemann had not given the 
 matter the importance she had wanted him to. She 
 at once wrote to Mrs. Sesemann, but she did not get 
 any more satisfaction from her ; her letter contained 
 some very displeasing remarks. Mrs. Sesemann 
 wrote that she did not intend to take the trouble to 
 travel from Holstein to Frankfort just because 
 Miss Rottfnmeier saw ghosts. And besides, ghosts 
 had never been seen in the Sesemann house, and 
 should there be seen any ghosts about the house, it 
 could be nothing else but a living being with whom 
 Miss Rottenmeier could come to an understanding; 
 
THE SESEMANIN HOUSE IS HAUNTED. 163 
 
 if not, she might call the night watchman to her 
 assistance. 
 
 But Miss Eottenmeier was determined not to 
 spend her days any longer in terror, and she knew 
 how to help herself ; up to this time she had said 
 nothing to the children about the appearance of a 
 ghost, as she was afraid that they would not stay 
 alone for a moment day and night, which might 
 have unpleasant consequences for her. She went 
 straight to the study, where the two were sitting 
 together, and spoke to them in a suppressed voice 
 about the nightly appearances of an Unknown being. 
 At once Clara screamed out that she would not 
 stay alone for a single moment, that her father 
 must come home, and Miss Eottenmeier must come 
 and sleep in her room, and Heidi ought not to be 
 alone, or the ghost might go and do her some harm. 
 They must all sleep in the same room and leave the 
 light burning all night, and Tinette must sleep near, 
 and Sebastian and John must also come and sleep 
 down in the corridor, that they might immediately 
 scream and frighten the ghost, if it should come 
 up the stairs. Clara was much excited and Miss Eot- 
 tenmeier had the greatest difficulty in calming her 
 in some way. She promised to write to her father 
 at once and put her bed in Clara's room and never 
 to leave her alone. They all could not sleep in the 
 same room, but if Adelheid was also afraid Tinette 
 must put a couch and sleep in her room. But Heidi 
 was more afraid of Tinette than of ghosts, for the 
 child had never heard of such things, and she said 
 
164 HEIDI. 
 
 most decidedly that she ^as not afraid of ghosta 
 and would rather remain alone in her room. 
 
 Whereupon Miss Eottenmeier hastened to her 
 writing-desk and wrote to Mr. Sesemann, how the 
 mysterious happenings in his house, which were 
 repeated every night, had so affected the delicate 
 constitution of his daughter that the most serious 
 consequences were to be a,pprehended. There were 
 not a few examples of sudden epileptic attacks or 
 of St. Yitus dance in such circumstances ; and his 
 daughter would be exposed to such an awful mis- 
 fortune if this state of things should continue much 
 longer. 
 
 This had the desired effect. Two days later Mr. 
 Sesemann stood at the door of his bouse and rang 
 the bell so that every one in the house hastened 
 down together and stared at each other, for they 
 firmly believed that the ghost had become so im- 
 pudent as to play its malicious tricks even before 
 the night had come. 
 
 Sebastian quite cautiously peeped out through a 
 half-opened shutter from above ; at the same moment 
 the bell rang once more so vehemently that every 
 one was convinced that only a human hand could 
 ring that way. 
 
 Sebastian had recognized the hand, so he rushed 
 through the room, ran head first down the stairs, 
 but landed on his feet at the bottom and flung the 
 door open. 
 
 Mr. Sesemann, greeting curtly and without stop- 
 ping to talk, went directly up-stairs to his daughter's 
 
THE SESEMANN HOUSE IS HAUNTED, 165 
 
 room. Clara received her father with an exclama- 
 tion of joy, and when he saw her cheerful and 
 totaEy unchanged, his stern looks softened, more so, 
 when he heard from his daughter's own lips that 
 she was as well as she had ever been, and was so 
 glad that her father had come home, and it was 
 good that the ghost had come to the house, which 
 had caused her papa to come. 
 
 "And what other pranks has the ghost been play- 
 ing. Miss Eottenmeier ? " asked Mr. Sesemann with 
 a peculiar expression in the corners of his mouth. 
 
 " No, Mr, Sesemann," replied the lady gravely, 
 " it is no joke. I have no doubt but that to-morrow 
 Mr. Sesemann will feel different and wiU not laugh; 
 for what is now going on in the house shows that 
 in the past some awful things have taken place 
 which have been kept secret." 
 
 " Indeed ! I know nothing about it," remarked 
 Mr. Sesemann, " but I must ask of you not to cast 
 any reflections on my honorable ancestors. Call 
 Sebastian into the dining-room ; I would like to 
 talk with him alone." 
 
 Mr, Sesemann went into the , dining-room and 
 Sebastian made his appearance. Mr. Sesemann was 
 aware that Sebastian and Miss Eottenmeier were not 
 on the best of terms. So he had bis suspicions. 
 
 "Come here, Sebastian," said he, beckoning to 
 the servant as he was entering the room. " Now teU 
 me frankly, have you not your own self been playing 
 the part of a ghost in order to frighten Miss Eot- 
 tenmeier a little ? " 
 
16« HEIDI. 
 
 " No, on my word of honor ; my gracious master 
 must not think any such thing. I myself did not 
 feel easy in the matter," replied Sebastian with un. 
 mistakable sincerity. 
 
 " Now as this is the case, I will show you and the 
 brave John what the ghosts look like in daylight. 
 You ought to feel ashamed, Sebastian I a strong 
 young fellow like you to run away from ghosts I 
 Now go, without delay, to my old friend, Dr.Classen ; 
 give him my kind regards and ask him if he would 
 be so kind as to come here to night at nine o'clock. 
 I have come Lome from Paris to consult him. It 
 is such a serious matter that he will have to spend 
 the whole night here with me, so that he must 
 arrange his plans accordingly. Did you understand, 
 Sebastian i " 
 
 "Yes, certainly. My gracious master may be 
 sure that I shall do as he says." 
 
 Whereupon Sebastian disappeared and Mr. Sese 
 mann turned his attention to his daughter to quiet 
 her fears about the apparition, which he was going 
 to try and put in its true light. 
 
 Exactly at nine o'clock, when the children had 
 gone to bed, and Miss Bottenmeier had retired, the 
 doctor put in his appearance, showing under his gray 
 hairs a very fresh face and two bright, kind, twin- 
 kling eyes. He looked somewhat anxious, but at the 
 usual hearty greeting he broke out into a loud laugh 
 and clapping his friend on the shoulder, said : 
 
 " Well, well, you look tolerably well for one I am 
 to watch with, old friend." 
 
THE SESEMANN HOUSE IS HAUNTED. 167 
 
 ** Only patience, doctor," answered Mr. Sesemann, 
 * the one with whom you have to watch will look 
 worse when we have caught him." 
 
 " What ! a sick person in the house, and one that 
 must be caught ? " 
 
 " Much worse, doctor, much worse. A ghost in 
 the house. The house is haunted I " 
 
 The doctor laughed aloud. 
 
 " A funny condition of things, doctor ! " continued 
 Mr. Sesemann. " It is too bad that my friend 
 Eottenmeier cannot enjoy it with me. She is con- 
 vinced that an old Sesemann is wandering about 
 here, and expiating some dreadful deeds." 
 
 " How did she come to know him ? " asked the 
 doctor, still very much amused. 
 
 Mr. Sesemann now told his friend about the 
 whole affair and that still the house door is found 
 open every morning according to the testimony of 
 the whole household, and added that in order to be 
 prepared for whatever might occur, he had left two 
 well-loaded revolvers down in the room where they 
 were to watch, for it was either a very undesirable 
 joke which perhaps an acquaintance of the servants 
 was playing in order to frighten the people in the 
 house in the absence of the master — if so a little scare, 
 such as a good shot in the air, could not be unwhole- 
 some to him — or it may be a case of thieves who 
 had taken this means to direct the thoughts to 
 ghosts in order to be safer, that no one would ven- 
 ture to go out of his room ; in which case a good 
 weapon would do no harm. 
 
168 HEIDI. 
 
 During these explanations the gentlemen had come 
 down-stairs and entered the same room where John 
 and Sebastian had watched. On the table were 
 some refreshments which from time to time could 
 be enjoyed, as the night was to be spent there, and 
 near by lay the two revolvers. Besides, there were 
 two brightly -lighted candelabra in the center, for 
 Mr. Sesemann did not intend to await the coming 
 of the ghost in a half -dark room. 
 
 The door was now closed just enough in order 
 not to let too much light go into the corridor by 
 which the ghost might be frightened away. Then 
 the gentlemen sat down in their armchairs and 
 began to talk about all sorts of things, and now and 
 then took a little refreshment, and so the clock 
 struck twelve before they were aware of it. 
 
 " The ghost scented us and is not coming to- 
 night at all," said the doctor. 
 
 " Have patience, he may come at one o'clock," 
 replied his friend. 
 
 The conversation was resumed. It struck one. 
 It was total silence round about ; on the streets, too, 
 every sound had died away. Suddenly the doctor 
 lifted up his finger. 
 
 " S-h, Sesemann ! don't you hear ? " 
 
 They both listened. They heard the bar softly 
 but distinctly pushed back, then the key was 
 turned twice in the lock, and the door was opened, 
 Mr. Sesemann stretched out his hand to his re- 
 volver. 
 
 " Tou are not afraid ? " said the doctor, rising. 
 
THE SESEMANN HOUSE IS HAUNTED, 169 
 
 " Better to be cautious," whispered Mr. Sesemann, 
 seizing one of the lights in his left hand, and the 
 revolver in his right, and followed the doctor, who, 
 likewise provided with lights and revolver, went be- 
 fore him. They went out into the corridor. 
 
 Through the wide-open door the pale moonshine 
 came in and lighted up a white ■''orm which stood 
 still on the threshold. 
 
 " Who is there ? " the doctor roared so that it 
 echoed through the entire corridor, and both gentle- 
 men with lights and weapons went towards the 
 form. It turned around and gave a little cry. 
 
 It was Heidi who stood there with bare feet and 
 in her white night-clothes looking at the bright 
 lights and weapons with a confused glance, shivering 
 and trembling from head to foot like a little leaf in the 
 wind. The gentliemen looked at each other in great 
 astonishment. 
 
 " I truly believe, Sesemann, that this is your little 
 water-carrier," said the doctor. 
 
 "Child, what does this mean?" now asked Mr. 
 Sesemann. " What were you going to do? Why 
 have you come down-stairs ? " 
 
 White as snow from terror Heidi stood before 
 him and said, in a scarcely audible voice : 
 
 « I don't know." 
 
 Now the doctor stepped forward : 
 
 " Sesemann, the case belongs to my line; go and 
 sit down in your armchair for a while ; first of all 
 I will take the child where she belongs." 
 
 Whereupon he put his revolver on the floor, took 
 
170 HEIDL 
 
 the trembling child by the hand as a father and 
 went up-stairs with her. 
 
 " Don't be afraid, don't be afraid," said he kindly, 
 as they were going up, " onlyT)e very quiet I There 
 is nothing at all, only be of good cheer ! " 
 
 After they had entered Heidi's room, the doctor 
 put the candelabrum on the table, took Heidi in his 
 arms, laid her in her bed and covered her up care- 
 fully. Then he sat down in the chair by the bed 
 and waited for a while, until Heidi had quieted 
 down a little and stopped trembling in every limb. 
 Then taking the little child by the hand said sooth> 
 ingly : 
 
 " Well, everything is all right ; now tell me 
 where did you want to go ? " 
 
 " I didn't want to go anywhere," said Heidi, " I 
 did not go down myself ; I was there all of a sud- 
 den." 
 
 " Well, well, and did you have a dream in the 
 night ; do you know if you saw or heard something 
 distinctly." 
 
 " Yes, every night I dream, and always the same. 
 Then I think I am with my grandfather and I hear 
 the fir-trees roar outside, and I think, now the stars 
 are sparkling so brightly in the sky, and run quickly 
 and open the door of the cottage, and there it is so 
 beautiful. But when I wake up, I am always in 
 Frankfort still." 
 
 Heidi began to struggle and to swallow the lump 
 that rose in her throat. 
 
 " H'm ! Do you ever have pains anywhere ! la 
 your head or in your back ? " 
 
THE SESEMANN HOUSE IS HAUNTED. 171 
 
 " Oh, no, only it presses here as if a big stone waa 
 there all the time." 
 
 " H'm 1 Perhaps so, as if you had eaten something 
 and afterwards you wished to give it back again ? " 
 
 " No, not so, but so heavy, as if I must cry hard." 
 
 " Well, well, do you then cry right out loud ! " 
 
 " Oh, no, I didn't dare to do that. Miss Eotten- 
 meier has forbidden that." 
 
 " Then you swallow it down, don't you ? Eeally 
 you like Uving in Frankfort, do you not ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes," she replied in a soft voice, but it 
 sounded as if she meant rather the contrary. 
 
 " Hum 1 and where did you live with your grand- 
 father?" 
 
 " Always on the Aim." 
 
 •' Well, it is not a specially pleasant place to live 
 in ; it is somewhat gloomy, is it not ? " 
 
 " Oh, no ; it is so beautiful there, so lovely." 
 
 Heidi could say no more, for the thought of her 
 former home came to her mind, and the excitement 
 she had just gone through, and the continual weep- 
 ing overpowered the child ; tears rushed from her 
 eyes in streams and she broke in a loud and pitiable 
 sobbing. 
 
 The doctor rose ; he gently laid Heidi's head on 
 the pillow and said : 
 
 " Cry a little more, it can do no harm, and then go 
 to sleep, rest in peace, to-morrow everything will be 
 all right." 
 
 Then he left her. 
 
 Entering the room where they had been watch* 
 
172 HEIDI. 
 
 ing, he took his seat iu the armchair opposite his 
 friend's, who had been waiting, and exclaimed to 
 him : 
 
 " Sesemann, in the first place your little protfegfee 
 has nightmare and is totally unconscious she has 
 opened the door every night like a ghost, and has 
 terrified the whole household. Secondly, the child is 
 wasting away from homesickness so that she already 
 has grown thin and looks almost Mke a skeleton, and 
 in a little while she will be entirely so, therefore 
 something must be done to help her at once. For 
 the first trouble and for the nervous excitemen* 
 which existed in a high degree there is but 
 one remedy, namely, to send the child at once to her 
 mountain home, for the second there is but one 
 medicine, namely, the very same thing. Therefore 
 she must be must be sent home to-morrow, that is 
 my prescription." 
 
 At this Mr. Sesemann rose from his chair. He 
 walked up and down the room in great excitement, 
 then he exclaimed : 
 
 " Lunatic ! sick ! homesick ! grown this in my 
 house ! all this in my house ! And you, doctor, do 
 yoa think that the child who has come to my house 
 fresh and healthy, I shall send to her grandfather 
 wretched and wasted away ? No, doctor, you can- 
 not expect that ; I will not do that ; that I can never 
 do. Now take the child in hand, treat her with great 
 care, do whatever you like, but make her sound and 
 healthy and then I will send her home, if she wanta 
 to go, but you must help her 1 " 
 
THE SESEMANN HOUSE IS HAUNTED. 178 
 
 *• Sesemann," answered the doctor earnestly, " think 
 what yon are doing ! Her condition is not sickness 
 which one could cure with powders and pills. The 
 child has no delicate constitution ; if you send her at 
 once into the strong mouutain air, to which she is 
 accustomed, she will soon be as healthy as ever; if 
 not — ^you would not wish to send the child to her 
 grandfather when it would be too late, or that she 
 should never return to him, would you ? " 
 
 Mr. Sesemann stood there in terror. 
 
 " Well, if that is your advice, then there is only 
 one way, that we must act at once." 
 
 With these words Mr. Sesemann took his friend 
 by the arm and walked about with him to talk over 
 the matter further. 
 
 Then the doctor set out to go home, for already 
 much time had passed, and through the house door 
 which the master of the house opened this time the 
 morning light came in. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 OP THB ALU OH A SUMMBB SYSUVStQ, 
 
 Mb. Sesemaxn climbed the stairs in great excite, 
 ment and went with firm steps to Dame Eottenmeier's 
 room. Here he knocked at the door with such an 
 unusual vehemence that the lady woke from sleep 
 and cried out in terror. She heard the master's voice 
 outside. 
 
 ** Pray make haste and come into the dining- 
 room, we must at once make preparations for a 
 journey ! " 
 
 Miss Eottenmeier looked at her watch; it was 
 half -past four in the morning. She had never before 
 risen at such an early hour in her life ! What could 
 have taken place ? Curiosity and anxious expectation 
 made everything she took in her hand go wrong, 
 and delayed her a great deal in dressing herself, for 
 she kept searching for the things she had already 
 put on. 
 
 In the meantime Mr. Sesemann went the whole 
 length of the corridor and pulled all the bells with 
 all his might to summon the servants, so that each 
 one in the different rooms jumped out of his bed ter- 
 rified and hurried to dress in whatever way he could, 
 for every one thought that the ghosts had seized the 
 174 * " 
 
UP THE ALM ON A SUMMER EVENING. 175 
 
 master of the house in some way or other and he was 
 calling for help. So they came down one after the 
 other, each looking more frightened than the last, 
 and stood in surprise before the master of the house, 
 who walked up and down in the dining-room, 
 looking fresh and happy, and appearing in no way as 
 if he had been terrified by a ghost. 
 
 John was at once sent to have the horse and the 
 carriage ready to be brought before the house later 
 on. Tinette was ordered to waken Heidi immediately 
 and to prepare her for a journey. Sebastian had to 
 hurry to bring over Heidi's aunt from the house 
 where she was serving. In the meanwhile Miss Eot- 
 tenmeier had been able to get dressed, except her 
 cap, which was put on the wrong way, and it looked 
 from a distance as if her face were on her back 
 side. Mr. Sesemann ascribed her embarrassed ap- 
 pearance to the fact that she was interrupted in her 
 sleep. He went without delay to business, direct- 
 ing her to bring at once a trunk and to pack up all 
 things belonging to the Swiss child (Mr. Sesemann 
 generally used this expression when talking of 
 Heidi, as her name was rather unfamiliar to him), 
 and with them some of Clara's clothes, so that she 
 might have something to take with her ; but every- 
 thing must be done quickly and without spending 
 much time. 
 
 Miss Eottenmeier stood in surprise, as if rooted to 
 the floor, and stared at Mr. Sesemann. She had ex- 
 pected that he would confidentially tell her some 
 laorrible ghost adventure which he had experienced 
 
176 HEIDI. 
 
 in the night, and about which she would not be ub« 
 willing to hear now in the bright morning light ; 
 but instead of that he gave these prosaic and very 
 inconvenient commands. She could not quickly 
 comprehend what was to her so unexpected. She 
 still stood there speechless and waited to see what 
 was coming next. 
 
 But Mr. Sesemann did not intend to give any 
 explanation ; he let the lady stand where she was 
 and went to his daughter's room. 
 
 As he supposed, the latter had been awakened 
 by the unusual stir in the house and was listening 
 to what was going on. 
 
 The father sat down by her bed and told her 
 the real story of the apparition, and that, in the 
 doctor's opinion, Heidi's health was very much 
 affected, and that she might gradually extend her 
 nightly wanderings, possibly climb up the roof, 
 which would be very dangerous. So he had de- 
 cided to send the child home at once, for he could 
 not take such responsibility on himself, and Clara 
 must be reconciled with this parting, for she could 
 see that it was impossible to do otherwise. 
 
 On hearing this painful news Clara was much 
 surprised, and wanted at first to find some means 
 out of this difficulty, but it was of no use ; her father's 
 decision was made once for all ; but he promised to 
 go with Clara next year to Switzerland, if she would 
 be reasonable and not make any complaints. Finally 
 Clara yielded to the inevitable, but desired as a 
 compensation that Heidi's trunk should be brought 
 
UP THE ALM ON A SUMMER EVENING, 177 
 
 into her room and be packed there, that she might 
 put in things that would please the little child. 
 Her father willingly granted this request ; he even 
 encouraged her to prepare a fine outfit for the child. 
 
 In the meantime Aunt Dete had arrived and stood 
 with great expectation in the ante-room, for some- 
 thing extraordinary musi have happened that she 
 was called at such an unusual hour. Mr. Sesemann 
 went out to her and told her how it was with Heidi 
 and that he wished her to take the child home im- 
 mediately that same day. The aunt looked very 
 much disappointed, as she had not expected such 
 news. She still remembered very well the words 
 which the Uncle had spoken to her at her parting, 
 that she must never appear before his eyes again. 
 Having given the child to the old man and having 
 taking her away from him It did not seem advisable 
 to her to take her back again. She did not think 
 long, but said quickly that unfortunately it was 
 impossible for her to undertake the journey that 
 day, and she could still less think of it the next 
 day, and it would be utterly impossible to do so 
 the following days, because she had so much work 
 to do ; and after that she would not be able to go 
 at all. 
 
 Mr. Sesemann understood what she meant and 
 dismissed her without any further talk. Now he 
 summoned Sebastian and told him that he must 
 prepare himself without delay for the journey ; he 
 must go that very day to Basle, and take her 
 home the next day. He could then immediately 
 
 12 
 
178 HEIDL 
 
 return ; he would have nothing to state, for a letter 
 to the grandfather would explain everything to him. 
 
 " But now, Sebastian, there is still this one im- 
 portant thing," said Mr. Sesemann, " which you must 
 execute punctually. You have here my card, on 
 which I have written the name of the hotel in Basle, 
 where they know me. Show it to them and a good 
 room will be given you for the child. You have to 
 look after yourself. You must first go into the 
 child's room, and fasten all the windows so firmly, 
 that they can be opened only by great force. 
 When the child is in her bed, go and lock the door 
 from outside, for she wanders about in the night 
 and might run into danger in a strange house if she 
 should go out, and try to open the house door ; do 
 you understand ? " 
 
 "Aha! aha! That was it! That was it!" ex- 
 claimed Sebastian in the greatest surprise, for h^- 
 had received a great light on the ghostly appari- 
 tions. 
 
 " Yes, so it was, that was it, and you are a coward, 
 and you can tell John that he is another, and all of 
 you are ridiculous people." 
 
 Whereupon Mr. Sesemann went to his room, sat 
 down and wrote a letter to the Alm-Unole. 
 
 Sebastian stood puzzled in the middle of the room 
 and repeated several times to himself : 
 
 " If I had not let that coward John pull me into 
 the room, but had gone after the white figure, 
 which I doubtless would have done ! " for the bright 
 sun now lighted every corner of the blue room. 
 
UP THE ALM ON A SUMMER EVENING. 179 
 
 Meanwhile Heidi stood in her Sunday frock, 
 quite ignorant of what was to take place, for Tinette 
 had awakened her from her sleep, taken her clothes 
 out of the closet and put them on without saying a 
 word. She never talked with the uncultivated 
 Heidi, for she considered her too little to be taken 
 any notice of. 
 
 Mr. Sesemann went with his letter into the dining- 
 room, where the breakfast was already served, and 
 asked : 
 
 "Where is the child?" 
 
 Heidi was called. When she approached Mr. 
 Sesemann to say " Good morning," to him, he 
 looked into her face asking her : 
 
 " Well, what do you say, little one ?** 
 
 Heidi looked up to him astonished. 
 
 " You still don't know anything about it,** said 
 Mr. Sesemann, laughing. "Now you are going 
 home directly." 
 
 " Home ? " repeated Heidi unable to speak and 
 turned white as snow. For a little while she could 
 not catch her breath, her heart being so vehemently 
 affected by the impression. 
 
 "Well, don't you like to go?" asked Mr. Sese- 
 mann laughing. 
 
 " Oh, yes, I do," she spoke now out of her heart, 
 turning deep red. 
 
 " Very well, very well," said Mr. Sesemann, en- 
 couraging her, and sat down and beckoned her to 
 do the same. " Xow eat your breakfast, and then 
 into the carriage and away." 
 
180 HLUI. 
 
 But Heidi could not swallow even a morsel, 
 though she forced herself from obedience. She was 
 in such a state of excitement that she did not know 
 at all whether she was awake or dreammg ; whether 
 she would suddenly wake up again and find herself 
 ' standing at the house door in her little nightgown. 
 
 " Sebastian must take plenty of provisions with 
 him," said Mr. Sesemann to Miss Kottenmeier who 
 just entered; "the child cannot eat, naturally. Go 
 in to Clara, until the carriage comes," he added in 
 a kind voice, turning to Heidi. 
 
 This was just what Heidi desired. She ran over 
 to see Clara, in the middle of whose room was a 
 huge trunk with the cover still wide open. 
 
 " Come, Heidi, come ! " cried Clara to her ; " see 
 what I have had packed up for you ; come, are you 
 glad of it?" 
 
 And she mentioned quite a number of things, 
 clothes, aprons, underwear and sewing materials. 
 " Look here, Heidi," and Clara lifted a basket 
 triumphantly into the air. Heidi peeped in and 
 jumped up for joy, for there were twelve lovely 
 round white rolls in there, all for the grandmother. 
 The children in their delight had entirely forgotten 
 that the moment had come when they must part, 
 and all of a sudden the call was heard. " The car- 
 riage was ready," there was no time left to be sad. 
 
 Heidi ran into her room ; the beautiful book, 
 presented to her by the grandmamma, must be 
 Btill there, nobody could have packed it, as it was 
 under her pillow, because Heidi could not part with 
 
UP THE ALM ON A SUMMER EVENING. 181 
 
 it day and night. That was laid in the basket, on 
 the top of the rolls. Then she opened her closet ; 
 she looked for something which might not have been 
 packed. Indeed, the old red shawl still lay there,, 
 which Miss Rottenmeier had not considered im- 
 portant enough to be packed. Heidi wrapped some- 
 thing else around and laid it on the top of the basket 
 so that the red package could be easily seen. Then 
 she put on her nice little hat and left her room. 
 
 The two children had speedily to bid farewell, for: 
 Mr. Sesemann was already there to take Heidi to 
 the carriage. Miss Rottenmeier stood at the head 
 of the stairs to take leave of Heidi- "When she saw 
 the strange red parcel, she took it quickly out of 
 the basket, and threw it on the floor. 
 
 " No, Adelheid," said she, blaming her, " you can- 
 not go out of this house like this ; you do not need to 
 take such a thing as this with you." 
 
 After this Heidi did not dare to take the bundle 
 again, but she looked with imploring eyes up to the 
 master of the house, as if she had been robbed of 
 her greatest treasure. 
 
 " No, no," said Mr. Sesemann in a very decided 
 tone, " let the child take home whatever makes her 
 happy, and if she even wishes to carry kittens or 
 turtles, let us not be angry, Miss Rottenmeier." 
 
 Heidi took her bundle up from the floor again, 
 and gratitude and pleasure shone in her eyes. 
 
 "When they had come near the carriage, Mr. Sese- 
 mann held out his hand to her and said, with kind 
 words, that they would always think of her, he and 
 
182 HEIDI. 
 
 his daughter, Clara. He wished her a safe and 
 happy journey ; and Heidi thanked him heartily for 
 every kindness which was shown her and at last she 
 said: 
 
 "I leave a thousand good-bys for the doctor and 
 thank him many, many times," for she had noticed 
 how he had said the preceding night, "And to- 
 morrow everything will be all right. Now every- 
 thing had turned as he had said, and Heidi thought 
 that it must have been he who brought it about. 
 
 Now the child was placed in the carriage and 
 Sebastian also entered with the basket and the pro- 
 vision satchel. Mr. Sesemann called out once more 
 in a friendly voice, " A happy journey," and the 
 carriage roUed away. 
 
 Soon afterwards Heidi was sitting in the train and 
 holding her basket firmly in her lap. She would 
 not let it go out of her hands for a moment ; the 
 precious rolls for the grandmother were in there. 
 She had to look after them carefully and gazed at 
 them from time to time with great delight. For 
 many hours Heidi was sitting as still as a mouse, as 
 she now realized for the first time, that she was on her 
 way to her grandfather on the Aim, to the grand- 
 mother and goatherd Peter. Everything came be- 
 fore her eyes, one after the other, which she would 
 soon see again — how everything would look at 
 home, and the same time new thoughts were rising 
 in her mind, and she suddenly said anxiously : 
 
 " Sebastian, are you sure that the grandmother on 
 the Aim is not dead 2 " 
 
UP THE ALM ON A SUMMER EVENING. 183 
 
 •* No, no," said Sebastian, " we may hope she is 
 still alive." 
 
 Then Heidi was once more deep in thought, except 
 now and then, when she would look into her basket 
 for her great desire was to lay all the grandmother's 
 rolls on the table. After a long time she said 
 again : 
 
 " If I could only be sure, Sebastian, that the grand* 
 mother is still alive." 
 
 " Yes, indeed 1 yes, indeed ! " replied her com- 
 panion half asleep, " she is still alive ; I don't see 
 why she shouldn't be." 
 
 After awhile Heidi's eyes also closed ; and after 
 the preceding troublesome night and early start she 
 was so in need of sleep that she could awake only 
 when Sebastian, shaking her by the arm, cried out to 
 her : 
 
 •' Wake up ! wake up ! we must get out : we are 
 already in Basle." 
 
 On the following morning they continued their 
 journey for several hours. Heidi was sitting again 
 with her basket on her lap, which she would by no 
 means give to Sebastian ; but to-day she had nothing 
 to say, for with each hour her expectations grew 
 more intense. Then suddenly, when Heidi was not 
 thinking about it, the call sounded aloud : " May- 
 enfeld ! " She jumped up from her seat, and Sebas- 
 tian did the same, for he was also surprised. Now 
 they stood outside with the trunk, and the train 
 was whistling farther on up the valley. Sebastian 
 looked sadly after it, for he much preferred to 
 
184 HEIDI, 
 
 travel further in this safe way than the difficulty 
 of undertaking a tour on foot, which would end in 
 climbing a mountain that might be very hard and 
 dangerous in this country, as Sebastian thought 
 that everything was half wild. For that reason 
 he looked carefully about him to see with whom 
 he could consult in regard to the safest way 
 to Doerfli. 
 
 Not far from the railway station stood a •wagon 
 drawn by a thin horse, and a broad-shouldered man 
 was leading it with some large bags, which had been 
 brought by the train. Sebastian going to him 
 questioned him as to the safest way to Doerfli. 
 
 " All ways are safe here," was the curt reply. 
 
 Now Sebastian asked him the best road they 
 could take without falling over the precipices, and 
 how a trunk could be taken there. The man 
 looked at the trunk and measured it a little with 
 his eyes and said if it was not too heavy, he would 
 take it in his wagon, as he was going to Doerfli. So 
 after a few words were exchanged, it was agreed that 
 the man should take the child and the trunk into his 
 wagon and then in the evening the child could be 
 sent with some one from Doerfli up the Aim. 
 
 " I can go alone, I know the way from Doerfli up 
 the Aim," said Heidi, who had been listening atten- 
 tively to the transactions. A heavy load fell from 
 Sebastian's mind, when he found himself released 
 from the prospect of climbing the mountain. He 
 secretly beckoned Heidi to one side and gave her a 
 heavy roll and a letter for the grandfather, and told 
 
UP THE ALM ON A SUMMER EVENING. 185 
 
 her that the roll was a present from Mr. Sesemann, 
 which must be laid in the very bottom of the basket, 
 under the bread, and that she must take the greatest 
 care of it, so that it may not be lost, for Mr. Sese- 
 mann would be frightfully angry about it, and would 
 never get over it in his whole life. The little 
 ma'mselle must keep this in her mind. 
 
 "I will not lose it," said Heidi assuredly, and 
 placed the roll with the letter in the bottom of the 
 basket. Now the trunk was put on the wagon, then 
 Sebastian lifted Heidi and her basket up to the high 
 seat, stretched out his hand to bid her good-by and 
 admonished her with all sorts of signs to keep her eyes 
 on the contents of her basket, for the driver was still 
 near and Sebastian was cautious, especially now,as he 
 knew he ought to take the child as far as her home. 
 The driver swung himself up to the seat beside Heidi, 
 and the wagon rolled away toward the mountain, 
 whUe Sebastian was glad to have got rid of the dread- 
 ful mountain journey, and sat down in the railway 
 station to wait for the returning train. 
 
 The man on the wagon was the baker of Doerfli, 
 who was carrying his bags of flour to the store. He 
 had never seen Heidi, but like everybody in Doerfli 
 he knew of the child that had been brought to the 
 Aim-Uncle. And then he had known Heidi's 
 parents, and he immediately thought that he had 
 now to do with the much-talked-of child. He 
 wondered somewhat why the child was coming 
 back home ; and while they were riding began to 
 talk with Heidi. 
 
186 HEIDL 
 
 "You are the child, who was up with the Alnii 
 Uncle, your grandfather ? " 
 
 " Yes," 
 
 " "Were you not treated well that you have already 
 come back from so far ? " 
 
 " Yes, I was ; no one could have been treated as 
 well as I was in Frankfort." 
 
 " Why are you coming back home then ? " 
 
 " Only because Mr. Sesemann allowed me, or else 
 I should not have returned." 
 
 "Bah, why did you not prefer to stay there if 
 he only allowed you to come home ? " 
 
 " Because I would a thousand times prefer to be 
 with my grandfather on the Aim to anything else 
 in the world." 
 
 "You will perhaps think otherwise when you 
 get up there," growled the baker, " but I wonder," 
 he said to himself, " if she can know how it is." 
 
 Now he began to whistle and said nothing more, 
 and Heidi looked around her and her heart began 
 to tremble from excitement, for she recognized the 
 trees on the way. Over in the distanpe stood the 
 lofty peaks of the Falkness Mountains, and looking 
 down at her as if they were greeting her like good 
 friends of old. And Heidi greeted them in return, 
 and with every step forward Heidi's expectations 
 grew more intense, and she thought she must jump 
 down from the wagon and run with all her might 
 until she was up there. But she remained still and 
 did not stir; her whole body trembled. As they 
 entered Doerfli, the clock was striking five. In a 
 
UP THE ALM ON A SUMMER EVENING. 187 
 
 moment a crowd of children and women gathered 
 around the wagon, for the trunk and the child on 
 the baker's wagon, attracted the attention of the 
 whole neighborhood, and every one wanted to know 
 where they had come from, where they were going 
 and to whom they belonged. 
 
 When the baker had taken Heidi down from the 
 wagon, she said quickly : 
 I " My grandfather will come after my trunk." 
 
 She wanted to run away, but she was held fast 
 on every side, and a great many voices were heard 
 at the same time, each one asking a different question. 
 Heidi pressed through the crowd with such anxiety 
 on her face, that they involuntarily made a way 
 for her and let her pass, and one said to the other : 
 " You see how frightened she is ; she has every 
 reason to be." 
 
 Then they began to tell one another how the 
 Aim-Uncle for the last year or so had grown worse 
 than ever before, and would not speak a word to 
 any one, and would make a face as if he would like 
 to kill anybody who would come in his way. If 
 the child only knew anything in the world about 
 where she was going, she would not go to the old 
 dragon's nest. But the baker interrupted the 
 conversation and said he knew more than all of 
 them, and then told them in a mysterious way how 
 a gentleman h<id brought the child as far as Mayen- 
 f eld and parted from her in the most friendly way, 
 and had at once without bargaining paid the fare 
 he asked and a present besides ; and in a general 
 
188 HEIDI. 
 
 way he could surely say that the child must have 
 been well treated, and she had herself wished to go 
 back to her grandfather. This news produced 
 great astonishment, and was immediately spread in 
 all Doerfli, so that there was no house in the village 
 that evening in which the people did not talk 
 over that Heidi had desired to come back to her 
 grandfather from a life of comfort. 
 
 Heidi ran up the mountain from Doerfli as fast 
 as she could ; from time to time she would suddenly 
 stand still, for she lost her breath, the basket on 
 her arm being quite heavy, and besides it grew 
 steeper and steeper the higher she went. Heidi 
 had but one thought now, " Will the grandmother 
 be still sitting in her little place in the corner at 
 her spinning-wheel ? Has she not died in the mean- 
 time ? " 
 
 Now Heidi saw the little hut in the hollow on 
 the Aim ; her heart began to beat, she ran faster, 
 and her heart kept beating louder and louder.-^Now 
 she was up there — she could hardly open the door, 
 she was trembling so^but now ! — she sprang into 
 the middle of the little room, and stood there almost 
 out of breath, and was unable to utter a word. 
 
 " Oh, my God ! " sounded from the corner, " our 
 Heidi used to run in in that way ! Ah, if I could only 
 have her once more by my side, while I live ! Who 
 has come in ? " 
 
 " Here I am, grandmother, here I am," exclaimed 
 Heidi, and rushed into the corner, and immediately 
 approaching the grandmother on her knees, seized 
 
UP THE ALM ON A SUMMER EVENING, 189 
 
 her arm and hands and snuggled to her and could 
 say nothing from her great delight. 
 
 At first the old woman was so surprised that she 
 was unable to utter a word, then she stroked Heidi's 
 curly hair and said repeatedly : 
 
 " Yes, yes, it's her hair and it's her voice ! Oh, my 
 dear God, that thou hast let me see this ! " 
 
 And a pair of large tears of joy fell on Heidi's 
 hand from her blind eyes. 
 
 "Are you really Heidi? Are you really here 
 again?" 
 
 " Yes, yes, really, grandmother," exclaimed Heidj 
 with all assurance, " do not cry, I am really here 
 again and will come to you every day, and will never 
 go away again ; and you have not to eat hard bread 
 for many days, do you see, grandmother ? do you 
 see?" 
 
 Heidi now took one roll after the other out of 
 her basket, until she piled up all twelve in the grand- 
 mother's lap. 
 
 " Oh, child ! oh, child ! what a blessing you have 
 brought with you!" exclaimed the grandmother, 
 when there was no end to the rolls she filled into 
 her lap as they came one after the other, "But 
 you yourself are the greatest blessing for me, my 
 child ! " 
 
 Then she took hold of Heidi's curly hair again, 
 anTd stroking her hot cheeks said : 
 
 "Say a word more, my child; say something 
 more, that I can hear you." 
 
 Heidi began to tell the grandmother how anxious 
 
iJ90 HEIDI. 
 
 8he had been about her and how she had feared that 
 she might die in the meantime and could not have 
 the white rolls which she was going to bring to her, 
 and that she could never, never go to her again. 
 
 Now Peter's mother entered the room and stood 
 still for a moment in great astonishment. Then 
 she exclaimed : 
 
 " Really, it is Heidi ! How is it possible ? " 
 
 Heidi rose and gave her her hand, and Brigitte 
 could not wonder enough how pretty Heidi ap- 
 peared, and walking around the child said : 
 
 " Grandmother, if you could only see what a 
 beautiful dress Heidi has on, and how nice she 
 looks 1 1 hardly recognized her. And this hat on 
 the table, trimmed with feathers, does it belong to 
 you ? Put it on for a moment, so that I can see 
 how you look." 
 
 " No, I will not," said Heidi, " you can have it, 
 I don't want it any longer ; I still have my own." 
 
 " Whereupon Heidi opened her bundle and took 
 out her old hat, which had been crushed in a few 
 more places during her journey. But that did not 
 worry Heidi ; she had not forgotten that when she 
 was taking leave of her grandfather he called to 
 her that he never cared to see her again with a hat 
 trimmed with feathers, and that was the reason why 
 Heidi had kept her hat so carefully, for she always 
 thought that she would go back home to her grand- 
 father. 
 
 But Brigitte said she must not be so silly ; it was 
 a splendid little hat, she would not take it herself; 
 
UP THE ALM ON A SUMMER EVENING. 191 
 
 Heidi might sell it to the teacher's little daughter 
 in Doerfli and get a good deal of money, if she did 
 not like to put it on. But Heidi was not to b« 
 moved from her decision, and put the hat behind 
 the grandmother in the corner, where it lay hidden. 
 Then Heidi took oflf her handsome dress at once and 
 bound the red shawl over the underwaist in which 
 she stood now with her bare arms, and seized the 
 grandmother's hand and said : 
 
 " Now I must go to my grandfather ; to-morrow 
 I will come to see you again. Good night, grand- 
 mother I " 
 
 " Yes, come again, Heidi, come again to-morrow," 
 said the grandmother, and pressed Heidi's hand be- 
 tween her own and could hardly let her go away. 
 
 " Why have you taken off your lovely dress ? " 
 asked Brigitte. 
 
 " Because I much rather go before my grand- 
 father just the same as I used to be before I went 
 away, or he might not recognize me : you yourself 
 hardly recognized me." 
 
 Brigitte went outside of the door with Heidi and 
 here she said to her somewhat secretly : 
 
 " You ought to have kept your dress on ; he would 
 have known you ; but you must take care of your- 
 self, for Peter says the Aim-Uncle is very cross now 
 and has nothing to say to any one." 
 
 Heidi bade her " good night," and with the basket 
 on her arm went up the Aim. 
 
 The evening sun shone all around on the green 
 .Aim, and now the snow-field on the Csesaplana came 
 
192 HEIDI. 
 
 into sight and gleamed from afar. Heidi at every 
 few footsteps would stand still and turn round to 
 look at the high mountains , that were behind her 
 as she climbed. Now a red glow fell on the grass 
 before her feet. She turned round, there — she had 
 never had the splendor in her remembrance, and 
 never in her dream seen the like of this — the rock- 
 peaks on Falkness flamed up to the sky, the wide 
 snow-field was aglow, and red clouds were drifting 
 high above. The grass all around the Aim was in 
 a golden hue; from every rook it glimmered and 
 shone down and the whole valley swam in fragrance 
 and gold. 
 
 Heidi stood in the midst of this splendor and 
 bright tears of joy and rapture ran down her cheeks, 
 and folding her hands looked up to heaven and 
 thanked the dear Lord that He had once more 
 brought her back home and that everything was 
 still so beautiful and even more beautiful than she 
 had imagined, and that all was hers. She was so 
 happy and so rich in the great splendor that she 
 could hardly find words to make known her thank- 
 fulness to the dear Lord. 
 
 Heidi could not move from the scene until the 
 light began to fade all around her ; and when she 
 started she ran so fast up the mountain that it was 
 not long before she saw the tops of the fir trees, then 
 the roof and then the whole hut, — and there the 
 grandfather was sitting on the bench at the door, 
 smoking his pipe, and above the hut the old fir trees 
 were rocking their tops and roaring in the evening 
 
UP THE ALM ON A SUMMER EVENING. 193 
 
 wind. Then Heidi ran faster, and before the Aim- 
 Uncle could really see what was coming, the child 
 rushed up to him, threw her basket on the ground 
 and hugged the old man, and so excited she was on 
 seeing him that she could say nothing except ex. 
 claiming all the while : " Grandfather ! Grand- 
 father ! Grandfather ! " 
 
 The grandfather also said nothing. Tor the first 
 time in many a long year his eyes grew moist, and 
 he had to wipe them away with his hands. Then 
 he loosened Heidi's arms from his neck, took the 
 child on his knees and gazed at her for a moment. 
 
 " So, you have come home again, Heidi ! " said he. 
 " How did it happen ? you do not look particularly 
 proud. Did they send you away ? " 
 
 " Oh, no, grandfather," began Heidi ardently, 
 " you must not believe, they were all so kind— Clara 
 and the grandmamma and Mr. Sesemann. But you 
 see, grandfather, I could not wait any longer, for I 
 wanted to come to you again, and I have always 
 thought, and sometimes I was almost choked, I 
 felt so bad and troubled ; but I never said anything 
 about it, for it would have been ingratitude on my 
 part. One morning Mr. Sesemann all at once called 
 me very early — but I believe it was the doctor's 
 fault — but it is perhaps written all in the letter " — 
 whereupon Heidi jumped down from her grand- 
 father's lap and took the letter and her roll out 
 of the basket and put them in her grandfather's hand. 
 
 "This belongs to you," said the old man and 
 laid the roll on the bench beside him. Then he 
 13 
 
194 HEIDI. 
 
 took the letter and read it through, and without 
 saying a word he put it in his pocket. 
 
 " You think you could still drink milk with me, 
 Heidi ? " asked he, and taking the child by the hand 
 went into the cottage. " But take your money with 
 you ; you can buy a bed with it and clothes for some 
 years." 
 
 " I really do not need it, grandfather," said Heidi 
 assuredly. " A bed I have already, and Clara packed 
 enough clothes for me, so that I shall not need any 
 more for a long time." 
 
 " Take it, take it, and put it into the chest ; you 
 will need it some day." 
 
 Heidi obeyed and jumped after the grandfather 
 into the hut, full of joy at seeing everything again. 
 She ran into every corner and up the ladder — but 
 here she suddenly stood motionless and called down 
 in her perplexity. 
 
 " Oh, grandfather, I have no longer any bed." 
 
 "Tou will have it again soon," sounded from 
 below. " I did not know whether you would come 
 home again. Now come and get your milk." 
 
 Heidi came down and sat on her high stool in the 
 old place, took her mug and drank with such an 
 appetite as if she had never had such a precious 
 thing before in her life; and when she put he* 
 mug on the table with a deep breath, she said : 
 
 " There is nothing in the whole world so good 
 as our milk, grandfather." 
 
 A sharp whistle was heard outside the hut. Heidi 
 ruslied out of the door quick as lightning. There 
 
UP THE ALM ON A SUMMER EVENING. 195 
 
 came down the whole flock of goats, jumping, spring- 
 ing and leaping down the heights above and Peter 
 in the midst of them. When he caught sight of 
 Heidi, he stood on the spot motionless, as if rooted 
 to the ground, and stared at her speechless. Heidi 
 caUed out, "Good evening, Peter!" and rushed to 
 the midst of the goats. ' ' Schwaenli ! Baerli ! do you 
 know me still?" 
 
 The goats must have immediately recognized her 
 voice, for they rubbed their heads against Heidi 
 and began to bleat passionately for joy, and she 
 called one after the other by their names, and they 
 ran in confusion like wild animals and pressed 
 around her. The impatient Distelfink leaped up 
 high and over two goats in order to be able to come 
 near her, and even the timid Schneehoepli pushed 
 the big Turk to one side with a hard knock, who 
 stood there in total amazement at the impudence, 
 and lifted his beard in the air to show that it was 
 he. 
 
 Heidi was beside herself with joy at being with 
 her companions once more. She hugged the little 
 delicate Schneehoepli over and over again, and 
 stroked the impetuous Distelfink, and was pushed 
 and jolted hither and thither with great affection 
 and intimacy by the trusting goats, until she came 
 quite near to Peter, who was still standing in the 
 same place. 
 
 "Come down, Peter, and say good evening to me!" 
 Heidi called now to him. 
 
 "Are you here again?" he broke out at last in 
 
193 HEIDL 
 
 his astonishment ; and approached and took Heidi's 
 hand, which she held out to him for some time. 
 And he asked, as he always did in returning home 
 at evening : 
 
 " Will you come with me again to-morrow ? " 
 
 " No, not to-morrow, but the day after perhaps ; 
 for to-morrow I must go to the grandmother's," 
 
 " It is good that you are here once more," said 
 Peter, making curious faces from great delight ; then 
 he prepared to go home ; but on that day he had 
 a great deal of trouble with his goats, such as he 
 never had before, for when at last with coaxing 
 and threatening he succeeded in collecting them 
 about him, and Heidi had gone away, laying one 
 arm on Schwaenli's head and the other on Baerli's, 
 they all turned around at once and ran after the 
 three. Heidi had to go to the stall with her two 
 goats and shut the door, or Peter could have never 
 got away with his flock. 
 
 When the child went back to the hut, she found 
 her bed prepared, high and fragrant, for the hay had 
 only been taken in a short time before, and the 
 grandfather had spread the clean linen cloths over 
 it with gieat care. Heidi lay down on it with de- 
 light and had a very comfortable sleep, such as she 
 had not enjoyed for a whole year. 
 
 During the night the grandfather left his bed 
 nearly ten times, and climbed the ladder and listened 
 carefully to see if Heidi was sleeping and was not 
 restless, and looked at the hole through which the 
 moon used to shine on Heidi's bed, to be sure that 
 
UP THE ALM ON A SUMMER EVENING. 197 
 
 the hay was still in the place where he had stuffed 
 it, for the moon must shine in hereafter. But Heidi 
 slept very soundly and did not wander about any 
 longer, for her great desire was at last satisfied ; she 
 had seen all the mountains and cli£fs in evening 
 glow again ; she had heard the fir trees roar ; she 
 was at home once more on the Aim. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 gUNDAT WHEir THE CHUBOH BELLS BINO. 
 
 Heidi stood under the swaying fir trees and 
 ♦'aited for her grandfather, who was going to Doerfli 
 after the trunk, while she stayed with the grand- 
 mother. The child could hardly wait to see the 
 grandmother, and to hear how the rolls had tasted, 
 and still the time did not seem long to her, for she 
 could not listen enough to the sounds of her native 
 fir trees above her and smell the fragrance and see 
 the splendor of the green pastures and their golden 
 flowers. 
 
 Now the grandfather came out of the hut and 
 looked about once more and said, with a tone of 
 satisfaction : 
 
 " So, we can go now." 
 
 For it was Saturday night, and that day the Alm- 
 TTncle usually cleaned and put everything in order 
 in the hut, in the shed, and everywhere else ; this 
 was his custom. On this day he had taken the 
 morning hours for it in order to be able to go out 
 in the afternoon with Heidi ; and everything round 
 about looked neat and satisfactory to him. 
 
 They parted at the hut of goatherd Peter. Heidi 
 ran in. The grandmother had already heard her 
 steps and called to her lovingly : 
 198 
 
SUNDAY WHEN THE CHURCH BELLS RING. 199 
 
 "Have you come, my child? Have you coma 
 again ? " 
 
 Then she seized Heidi's hand and held it very fast, 
 for she was still afraid the child might be taken 
 from her again. And now the grandmother had 
 to tell how the rolls had tasted, and she said she had 
 been so refreshed by them that she thought she 
 felt that day much stronger than for some time past, 
 and Peter's mother added, that the grandmother 
 had eaten only one roll that day and the day before, 
 fearing she would soon eat them up and have no 
 more left. If she would only eat one roll a day for 
 eight days in succession, she would regain her lost 
 strength. Heidi listened to Brigitte with great 
 attention and remained for a while sunk in deep 
 thought. Now she had lighted upon a new idea. 
 
 " I know what I will do, grandmother," said she 
 with a delightful eagerness ; " I will write a letter 
 to Clara, and she will send me again as many rolls 
 as there are here, or twice as many, for I had a 
 great heap of them in my closet, and when they 
 were taken from me, Clara said she would give me 
 just as many again ; and she will do so." 
 
 " Dear me ! " said Brigitte, " that's a good idea, 
 but you must remember that they grow hard, too. 
 If we had a spare penny now and then, the baker 
 down in Doerfli makes them ; but I can hardly pay 
 for the black bread." 
 
 A joyful brightness spread over Heidi's face. 
 
 " Oh, I have an immense sum of money, grand- 
 mother," exclaimed she in delight and jumped up 
 
200 HEIDI. 
 
 for joy. "I know now what I will do with iK 
 You must have a fresh roll every day and two on 
 Sundays, and Peter can bring them from Doerfli." 
 
 " No, no, my child," said the grandmother, dis- 
 approving, " that can't be ; you haven't received the 
 money for that purpose ; you must give it to your 
 grandfather, and he will tell you what to do with 
 it." 
 
 But Heidi did not let her joy be disturbed ; she 
 shouted and leaped around the room and exclaimed 
 over and over again : 
 
 " Now the grandmother can eat a roll every day, 
 and will grow quite strong again, and — oh, grand- 
 mother ! " She shouted with new delight : " if you 
 will be so healthy, it will certainly be light for 
 yon again ; it is perhaps only because you are so 
 weak." 
 
 The grandmother was silent, she would not like 
 to disturb the child's happiness. When she was 
 dancing around in this way, she suddenly saw the 
 grandmother's old hymn-book, and she had a new 
 delightful thought. 
 
 " Grandmother, now I can read very well, shall I 
 read a hymn to you out of your old book ? " 
 
 "Oh, yes," said the grandmother, greatly sur- 
 prised. " Can you really do it ? can you do it ? " 
 
 Heidi climbed up on a chair and took down the 
 book, thickly covered with dust, for it had been 
 there a long time untouched. She wiped it clean 
 and sat down with it on her stool beside the grand* 
 mother, and asked what she should read. 
 
SUNDAY WHEN THE CHUECH BELLS RING. 201 
 
 ""Whatever you like, child, whatever you like," 
 and the grandmother sat with eager expectation 
 and pushed her spinning-wheel a little from her. 
 
 Heidi turned the leaves and read to herself a lin9 
 here and there. 
 
 Here comes something about the sun which I will 
 read to you, grandmother," and Heidi began and 
 grew more eager and interested while she read -• 
 
 " The golden sunbeams 
 
 With their joyous gleams, 
 
 Are kindling o'er earth. 
 
 Her life and mirth. 
 Shedding forth lovely and heart-oheering light ; 
 
 Through the dark hour's chill 
 
 I lay silent and still. 
 
 But risen at length 
 
 To gladness and strength, 
 I gaze on the heavens all glowing and bright. 
 
 Mine eyes now behold 
 
 Thy works, that of old 
 
 And ever are telling, 
 
 To all men here dwelling. 
 How great is Thy glory, how wondrous Thy power; 
 
 They tell of the home 
 
 Where the faithful shall come, 
 
 Who depart to the peace 
 
 That can change not nor cease 
 From earth where all passeth as passes the hour. 
 
 All passeth away. 
 But God liveth, aye. 
 And changeth in nought ; 
 Eternal His thought, 
 EUs word and His will are steadfast and sure; . 
 
202 HEIDI. 
 
 Never His grace 
 Nor His mercy decays, 
 It heals the sad heart 
 From its deadliest smart, 
 Giving it life that shall ever endure. 
 
 Crosses and sorro-w 
 
 May end with the morrow. 
 
 Stormiest seas 
 
 Shall sink into peace ; 
 'rhe wild winds are hushed, and the sunshine returns ; 
 
 So fulness of rest, 
 
 And the calm of the blest, 
 
 Are waiting me there 
 
 In that garden most fair. 
 That home for which daily my spirit here yearns." 
 
 The grandmother sat there silent, with folded 
 hands, and on. her face shone an expression of inde- 
 scribable joy such as Heidi had never seen there 
 before, although the tears were running down her 
 cheeks. When Heidi stopped reading, she asked 
 beseechingly : 
 
 " Oh, only once more, Heidi, let me hear it only 
 once more." 
 
 " Crosses and sorrow 
 May end with the morrow." 
 
 And the child began again and read with partis 
 ular joy and longing : 
 
 " Crosses and sorrow 
 May end with the morrow, 
 Stormiest seas 
 Shall sink into peace ; 
 The wild winds are hushed and the sunshine returns ; 
 
SUNDAY WHEN THE CHURCH BELLS RING. 208 
 
 So fulness of rest, 
 And the calm of the blest, 
 Are waiting me there 
 In that garden most fair, 
 That home for which daily my spirit here yearns." 
 
 "Oh, Heidi, it gives me light I It brings light 
 into my heart 1 Oh, what good it has done me 1 " 
 
 The grandmother repeated the delightful words 
 over and over again ; and Heidi beamed with hap- 
 piness, and had to look at her constantly, for she 
 had never seen the grandmother so before. She no 
 longer had the sad face, but looked full of joy and 
 happiness, as if she could see " that garden most 
 fair " with new, bright eyes. 
 
 Then some one knocked on the window, and 
 Heidi saw her grandfather outside beckoning to her 
 to go home with him. She followed quickly, but 
 not without assuring the grandmother that she 
 would come again the following day. And even 
 should she go to the pasture with Peter, she would 
 come and spend half the day with her, for the idea 
 that she could make it light again for the grand- 
 mother, and make her happy, was the greatest pleas- 
 ure for Heidi, even much greater than to be in the 
 Bunny pasture and with the flowers and the goats. 
 
 Brigitte ran out of the door after Heidi with her 
 dress and hat, that she might take them with her. 
 She took the dress on her arm, for the grandfather 
 knew her now, she thought ; but the hat she stub- 
 bornly refused. Brigitte must keep it, she would 
 never put it on her head again. Heidi was so full 
 of her experiences that she had immediately to tell 
 
S04 HEIDI. 
 
 everything to the grandfather, which would delight 
 his heart ; that they would get white rolls down in 
 Doerfli for the grandmother, if only the money for 
 it was there ; and that suddenly it had become so 
 light and well to the grandmother ; and when Heidi 
 had described everything to the end, she went back 
 to the beginning and said quite confidently : 
 
 " Of course, grandfather, if the grandmother is 
 not willing, you will give me all the money in the 
 roll, so that I can give Peter a piece for a roll every 
 day and two on Sunday ? " 
 
 "But the bed, Heidi?" said the grandfather, "a 
 proper bed would be a good thing for you, and then 
 there would still be much money for many rolls." 
 
 But Heidi did not let her grandfather have peace, 
 and told him that she would sleep more comfortably 
 in her hay-bed than she had slept in her feather-bed 
 in Frankfort, and begged him so urgently and con- 
 stantly that finally the grandfather said : 
 
 "The money is yours, do whatever makes you 
 happy ; you can buy rolls for the grandmother with 
 it for many years." 
 
 Heidi shouted for joy. 
 
 " Oh, hurrah ! Hereafter the grandmother will 
 not have to eat hard black bread, and oh, grand- 
 father, now everything is more beautiful than ever 
 before in our lives ! " 
 
 And Heidi holding her grandfather's hand jumped 
 up into the air and shouted as cheerfully as the birds 
 of the sky. But suddenly she grew quite serious 
 and said : 
 
SUNDAY, WHEN THE CHURCH BELLS RING. 205 
 
 " If the dear Lord had done at once what I prayed 
 for so earnestly, then everything would not be as we 
 see it now ; I would have immediately come home 
 again,and have brought only a few rolls for the grand- 
 mother and could not have read to her what does so 
 much good to her. But the dear Lord had already 
 thought it all out much better than I knew ; the 
 grandmamma told me so, and now everything has 
 come out just as she said. Oh, how glad I am that 
 the dear Lord did not grant what I prayed and en- 
 treated for ! But I will hereafter pray just the same 
 as the grandmamma told me, and thank the dear 
 Lord, and if He does not do what I pray for, I will 
 surely think that it will be just as it was in Frank- 
 fort; the dear Lord will certainly do something 
 much better. But we will pray every day, don't 
 you think so, grandfather?" And we will never 
 forget, that the dear Lord may not forget us." 
 
 "And if one should do so," murmured the grand- 
 father. 
 
 " Oh, it will not be well for him, for the dear 
 Lord will forget him, and will let him go his own way, 
 and if he should be unhappy and begin to complain, 
 nobody would pity him, but every one would say, 
 ' He first ran away from the dear Lord ; now the 
 dear Lord, who could have helped him, has forsaken 
 him.' " 
 
 " It is true, Heidi ; where did you get to know 
 this?" 
 
 "From the grandmamma, she explained all to 
 
206 HEIDI, 
 
 The grandfather was silent a little while. Then 
 he said to himself, following his thoughts : 
 
 " And if it is so, then it is so, no one can go back; 
 and whomever God has forgotten, He has forgotten." 
 
 " Oh, no, grandfather, one can go back. That I 
 know, too, from the grandmamma, and then the 
 case will be just as it was in the beautiful story in 
 my book ; but you don't know what that is. "We 
 are, however, almost at home, and you will see how 
 beautiful the story is." 
 
 Heidi, in her eagerness to reach home, climbed 
 faster and faster the last part of the way, and scarcely 
 had they reached the top when she let her grand- 
 father's hand go and ran into the hut. The grand- 
 father took down the basket from his back, and he 
 had taken half of the things out of the trunk, and 
 put in it, for the trunk was too heavy to bring alto" 
 gether. Then he sat down on the bench, sunk in 
 deep thought. Heidi came running out again with 
 her book under her arm. 
 
 " Oh, it is good, grandfather, that yon are already 
 sitting down there ! " And with one bound Heidi was 
 by his side and had opened the story, for she had 
 read it so often over and over again that it opened 
 of itself. Now Heidi began to read with great in- 
 terest about the son who had every comfort in his 
 native place, where the beautiful cows and sheep 
 were grazing in his father's fields, and he in his 
 pretty jacket, leaning on his shepherd-rod, stayed 
 with them in the pasture and was looking at the 
 setting sun as one could see in the picture. But sud- 
 
SUNDAY, WHEN THE CHURCH BELLS RING. 207 
 
 denly one day he wanted his property and wished 
 to be his own master, and demanded it from his 
 father and ran away, and wasted away everything. 
 And when he had nothing more left, he had to go 
 to a farmer and become a servant ; but this man did 
 not have such handsome animals as they had on his 
 father's fields, but only pigs. He had to look after 
 those, and ate some few husks such as the pigs ate, 
 and wore ragged clothes. 
 
 Then he thought of the good things he had at 
 home with his father, how kind his father had been 
 to him and how ungrateful he had been to his 
 father, and he cried with repentance and homesick- 
 ness. And he thought to himself, " 1 will go back 
 to my father and ask his pardon and tell him ' I am 
 no longer worthy to be called thy son, make me as 
 one of thy hired servants.' And when he was a 
 great way off, his father saw him and had compas- 
 sion." " What do you think now, grandfather ? " 
 Heidi interrupted herself in her reading ; " do you 
 think that the father was still cross and would say 
 to him, * I have told you ? ' Now hear what fol- 
 lows: 
 
 " And his father saw him, and, taking compassion 
 on him, ran and fell on his neck and kissed him ; 
 and the son said to him : ' Father, I have sinned 
 against heaven and in thy sight and am no more 
 worthy to be called thy son.' 
 
 " But the father said to his servants : ' Bring forth 
 the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on 
 Ms hand and shoes on his feet and bring hither the 
 
208 HEIDI. 
 
 fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and be merry, 
 for this, my son, was dead and is alive again ; he 
 was lost and is found,' and then all began to be 
 merry." 
 
 " Isn't this a beautiful story, grandfather ? " asked 
 Heidi ; but his face was so serious that Heidi was 
 entirely silent and looked at her pictures. She 
 slowly pushed the book towards the grandfather 
 once more and said : " See, how happy he is," and 
 pointed with her finger to the picture of the son 
 who had returned home to see how he stood in new 
 garments beside his father and was once more his 
 son. 
 
 A few hours later, when Heidi was fast asleep, 
 her grandfather climbed up the little ladder and put 
 his little lamp beside Heidi's bed so that the light 
 fell on the sleeping child. She lay there with folded 
 hands, for Heidi had not forgotten to pray. On her 
 rosy little face was an expression of peace and 
 happy confidence, which must have had an effect on 
 the grandfather, for he stood there a long, long time 
 motionless and without taking his eyes away from 
 the sleeping child. He now folded his hands and 
 said half aloud, with bowed head : 
 
 " Father, I have sinned against Heaven and before 
 Thee and am no more worthy to be called Thy son." 
 And a pair of large tears rolled down the old man's 
 cheeks. 
 
 Early in the morning the Alm-TJncle stood in 
 front of his hut, looking around with bright eyes. 
 The Sunday morning sun glistened and shone over 
 
SUNDAY, WHEN THE CHURCH BELLS RING. 209 
 
 mountain and valley. The sound of early bells came 
 from the valleys, and the birds in the fir trees began 
 their morning songs. 
 
 The grandfather went back into the hut. " Come, 
 Heidi 1 " he called from below, " the sun is up ! 
 Put on a good dress, and we will go to church to- 
 gether ! " 
 
 Heidi did not take long in getting ready ; this 
 was altogether a new call from her grandfather. 
 She had to follow him quickly. In a short time she 
 ran down in her fine Frankfort dress, but she re- 
 mained standing before her grandfather and looked 
 at him surprised. 
 
 " Oh, grandfather, I have never seen you look so 
 before ! " she exclaimed finally, " and you have never 
 put on the coat with silver buttons. Oh, you look 
 so fine in your handsome Sunday coat." 
 
 The old man looked at the child contented, and, 
 smiling, said: 
 
 " And you in yours ; now come ! " 
 
 He took Heidi's hand in his, and in this way they 
 wandered together down the mountain. The bells 
 were now ringing on every side to welcome them, 
 and the sounds grew fuller and richer the nearer 
 they came, and Heidi listened with rapture and 
 said : 
 
 " Do you hear them, grandfather ? It is like a 
 great, great festival." 
 
 All the people down in Doerfli were already in 
 the church and had just begun to sing, when the 
 grandfather and Heidi entered and sat down in one 
 14 
 
910 HEIDI. 
 
 of the back seats. Eut in the midst of the singing 
 the person sitting next to him nudged his neighbor 
 with his elbow and said : 
 
 " Have you seen ? The Alm-Unole is in the 
 church ! " 
 
 And the person nudged did the same to the next 
 one, and so on, and in a short time it was whispered 
 in every corner, " The Aim-Uncle ! The Aim- 
 Uncle ! " and almost all the women had to turn their 
 Heads for a moment, and many of them did not 
 keep time in singing, so that the leader had great 
 difficulty to continue the hymn. But when the 
 pastor began to preach, the absent-mindedness was 
 entirely over, and they became attentive, for there 
 was such a warm praise and thanksgiving in his 
 words that the whole attendance was affected, and 
 it was as if a great joy had come over every one. 
 
 "When the service was over, the Aim-Uncle, hold- 
 ing the child by the hand, walked to the parsonage, 
 and all who went out with him, and those who al- 
 ready stood outside, looked after him and many of 
 them followed him to see whether he really entered 
 the parsonage, which he did. Then they gathered 
 together in groups and were talking in great excite- 
 ment at this unusual occurrence, that the Alra- 
 Uncle had made his appearance in the church, and 
 every one looked eagerly towards the parsonage to 
 see how he would come out of it, whether in anger 
 and quarrel, or in peace with the pastor, for nobody 
 knew what had brought the old man down and what 
 it really meant. But there was already a change of 
 
SUNDAY, WHEN THE CHURCH BELLS RING. 211 
 
 opinion among many of them, and one said to an- 
 other : 
 
 " It is possible that the Aim-Uncle is not as bad 
 as people say ; one can see how carefully he held 
 the little one by the hand." And the other said : 
 " I have always said that he would never have gone to 
 the pastor, if he had been altogether bad, or he 
 would be afraid ; people exaggerate a good deal." 
 And the baker said : " Haven't I told you that 
 from the beginning ? Could you believe that a little 
 child who had whatever she wanted to eat and drink, 
 and every other comfort besides, would have run 
 away from it all and go home to a grandfather, if 
 he was cross and bad and she was afraid of him ? " 
 
 And an entirely kind feeling rose towards the 
 Aim-Uncle. The woman also drew near who had 
 heard from Peter the goatherd and his grandmother 
 so many things which showed the Aim-Uncle in 
 an altogether different light from the general opin- 
 ion, and which all now seemed plausible, that it was 
 really time, and they all appeared as if they were 
 waiting to welcome an old friend who had long been 
 absent. 
 
 In the meantime the Aim-Uncle had approached 
 the pastor's study door and knocked. The pastor 
 opened it and met the guest, not in any way sur- 
 prised, as he might have been, but just as if he were 
 expecting him. His unusual appearance in the 
 church could not have escaped him. He grasped 
 the old man's band, shook it repeatedly with the 
 greatest intimacy, and the Aim-Uncle stood there 
 
212 HEIDI. 
 
 in silence, and could not utter a word, for he was 
 not prepared for such a hearty reception. Then he 
 composed himself and said : 
 
 " I have come to ask the "pastor to forget the 
 words which I said to him on the Aim, and he so 
 kind as not to bear me ill-will for my having obsti- 
 nately refused his well-meant advice. The pastor 
 was right in everything and I was wrong, but 1 will 
 now follow his advice, and next winter move into a 
 house in Doerfli again, for the cold season is not 
 good for the child up there ; she is too delicate. 
 And even if the people down here should look at me 
 askance as one who is not to be trusted, I deserve 
 nothing better. The pastor of course will not do so." 
 
 The pastor's friendly eyes shone for joy. He took 
 the old man's hand once more and pressed it in his 
 own and said with emotion : 
 
 " l^eighbor, you have been in the right church 
 before you came down to mine, I am glad of it. 
 That you are going to come and live with us again ; 
 you will never regret it. Tou are always welcome 
 in my home as an old good friend and neighbor ; 
 and I expect to spend many pleasant hours in winter 
 evenings with you, for your company will be agree- 
 able and valuable to me, and we shall also find some 
 good companions for this little one." 
 
 And the pastor laid his hand very kindly on Heidi's 
 curly head, and took her by the hand and led her 
 out, as he accompanied the grandfather; and when 
 they were outside the door, he bade them " good, 
 by." 
 
SUNDAY, WHEN THK CHURCH BELLS RING. 213 
 
 All the people standing around saw how the pas- 
 tor shook hands with the Uncle once more, just as if 
 he were his best friend, from whom he could hardly 
 bear to part. 
 
 Scarcely had the pastor shut the door behind him, 
 when the whole crowd pressed towards the Aim- 
 Uncle, and every one was anxious to be the first, 
 and so many hands were held out to him at the same 
 time, that he did not know which to grasp first. 
 One said to him : 
 
 " I am glad, I am glad, Uncle, that you have come 
 back to us again ! " and another, " I have wanted 
 long ago to say a word to you once more. Uncle ! " 
 And many such remarks were heard from every 
 side. And when the Uncle had replied to all the 
 friendly greetings, said that he intended once more 
 to take up his old quarters in Doerfli, and was to 
 spend the winter with his old acquaintances, there 
 was a great joy among the people, and it looked as 
 if the Aim-Uncle were the most beloved person in 
 Doerfli, whom every one had missed and could not 
 get along without. Most of them accompanied the 
 grandfather and the child far up the Aim, and when 
 they were bidding them farewell, each one wished 
 the Uncle to assure him that he would call on him 
 when he came down again. And while the people 
 were coming down the mountain, the old man stood 
 for a time and looked after them, and a warm light 
 was all over his face as if the sun shone out from 
 within him. Heidi gazed incessantly at him and 
 said with great joy : 
 
214 HEIDI. 
 
 "Grandfather, you are very handsome to-day. 
 I have never seen you look so well before ! " 
 
 "You think so?" said the grandfather smiling, 
 " Yes, and you see, Heidi, I feel happier to-day than 
 I deserve and understand. To be at peace with God 
 and man, — ^that does one good ! The dear Lord was 
 good to me when He sent you up on the Aim." 
 
 When they reached Peter's hut, the grandfather 
 opened the door and went in. 
 
 " Good day, grandmother," he called out. " I 
 think we must begin to do some more repairing be- 
 fore the autumn winds come." 
 
 " Oh, dear me, that is the Uncle ! " exclaimed the 
 old woman, full of delight and surprise. " That I 
 should live to see this ! that I can express my thanks 
 for all you have done for us ! May God reward you 
 for it ! May God reward you for it ! " 
 
 Trembling with joy the old grandmother held out 
 her hand, and when the old man shook it heartily, 
 she continued, still holding it fast : 
 
 " And one request I still have in my heart to ask of 
 you. Uncle ; if I have done you any harm, do not 
 punish me by letting Heidi go away again, before I 
 lie down in the churchyard. Oh, you don't know 
 what the child is to me ! " and she drew Heidi fast 
 to herself, for she was already at her side. 
 
 " Do not be afraid, grandmother," said the Uncle, 
 quieting her, " I will neither punish you, nor myself 
 by doing it. Now we are all of us going to stay to- 
 gether, God willing, for a long time." 
 
 Then Brigitte drew the Uncle secretly into a cor- 
 
SUNDAY, WHEN THE CHURCH BELLS RING. 215 
 
 ner and showed him the beautiful little hat trynmed 
 with feathers and told him how the matter stood, 
 and that she naturally could not take such a thing 
 from a child. 
 
 But the grandfather looked at Heidi with pleas- 
 ure and said : 
 
 " The hat belongs to her, and if she does not wish 
 to wear it any longer, she is right, and if she gave it 
 to you, you had better take it." 
 
 Brigitte was highly delighted at this unexpected 
 decision. 
 
 " It is worth more than ten francs ; " and in her 
 joy she lifted the hat high up in the air. " "What a 
 blessing this Heidi has brought home with her from 
 Frankfort ! I sometimes think whether I would not 
 send Peterkin to Frankfort for a while, "What do 
 you think, Uncle 1 " 
 
 The "Uncle's eyes beamed from delight. He 
 thought it could not do Peter any harm, but he had 
 better wait for a good opportunity. 
 
 At that moment Peter himself carae in after he 
 had first run his head against the door so hard that 
 it rattled everything ; he must have been in a hurry. 
 Panting and breathless he stood in the middle of 
 the room in silence, holding out a letter. This had 
 never happened before — a letter addressed to Heidi, 
 which had been given to him in the post-office of 
 Doerfli. They all sat down, full of expectation, 
 around the table, and Heidi opened her letter and 
 read it aloud and without stumbling. The letter 
 was written by Clara Sesemann. She told Heidi 
 
216 HEIDI. I 
 
 that since her departure from their house it had been 
 so dreary and lonesome that she could no longer 
 bear it; and that she had begged her father so 
 often that he had decided to take a journey to the 
 Baths in Eagatz, and that the grandmamma would 
 come with them, for she also wanted to visit Heidi 
 and her grandfather on the Aim. Beside this the 
 grandmamma sent word to Heidi that she did right 
 in wishing to take the roUs to the grandmother, and 
 in order that she might not have to eat them dry, 
 she had also sent some coffee which was already on 
 the way ; and when she came to the Aim, Heidi 
 must take her to see the grandmother. 
 
 There was such a joy and wondering at this news, 
 and so much to talk and to ask, for the great expec- 
 tation concerned every one of them, that even the 
 grandfather himself did not notice how late it was 
 already getting, and they all were so contented and 
 delighted at the prospect of the coming days and 
 almost even more in the joy of being together on 
 the present day, that the grandmother iinally said : 
 
 " The best thing of all is, that such an old friend 
 comes and gives us his hand once more, just as he 
 used to do long ago ; it gives one such a comforting 
 feeling in the heart to find everything that was 
 dear to us once more. You will come again soon, 
 Uncle, and the child to-morrow ? " 
 
 This was promised to the grandmother at once, 
 but it was now time to go, and the grandfather 
 walked up the Aim with Heidi. And as in the 
 morning the clear bells from near and far had called 
 
SUNDAY, WHEN THE CHURCH BELLS RING. 217 
 
 them down, so the peaceful sounds of the evening 
 bells accompanied them to the sunny Aim hut, 
 which shone in the Sunday evening light, greeting 
 them from afar. 
 
 But when the grandmamma comes in the autumn, 
 then there certainly will be some new joy and sur- 
 prise for Heidi and for the grandmother ; besides, a 
 good bed in the hay-loft, for wherever grandmamma 
 goes, there comes everything in the desired order 
 and accuracy in the outside as well as in the inside. 
 
PART II. 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 PESPABA.TIONS FOB A JOUENET. 
 
 The kind doctor, who had decided that Heidi 
 should be taken to her native place, was going 
 through the broad street to the Sesemann house. 
 It was a sunny September morning, so bright and 
 lovely, that one would have thought that every one 
 must be glad of it. But the doctor looked at the 
 white stones at his feet, and did not notice the blue 
 sky above him. There was a sadness on his face, 
 which had never been seen there before, and his 
 hair had become much grayer since the spring. 
 
 The doctor had only a single daughter, with whom 
 he had lived ever since the death of his wife and 
 who had been the joy of his life. A few months 
 ago this blooming maiden had been taken from him 
 by death. Ever since then the doctor was not so 
 happy as before. 
 
 He rang the bell, and Sebastian opened the house- 
 door with great politeness and made all the gestures 
 of a devoted servant; for the doctor was not only 
 218 
 
PREPARATIONS FOR A JOURNEY. 21d 
 
 the best friend of the master and his daughter, but 
 by his kindness he had gained the hearts of the 
 entire household, here as everywhere. 
 
 "Is everything in the old state, Sebastian?" 
 asked the doctor in his usual friendly voice, and 
 went up the stairs followed by Sebastian, who did 
 not cease making all sorts of signs of devotedness, 
 although the doctor could not see them, as his back 
 was turned. 
 
 " It is good that you have come, doctor," Mr. 
 Sesemann called out, as the doctor was entering the 
 room. " We must talk over once more in regard to 
 the journey to Switzerland. I must hear from you 
 whether you will stay by your promise, by all means, 
 now that Clara's health is decidedly better." 
 
 " My dear Sesemann, yoa seem quite strange to 
 me 1 " answered the doctor, seating himself beside 
 his friend. " I really wish your mother was here ; 
 with her everything would be plain and simple and 
 would go on smoothly. But it is impossible to bring 
 you round. For this is the third time to-day you 
 have sent for me to tell you the same thing over 
 and over again." 
 
 " Yes, you are right ; I know it must make you 
 Impatient, but you must understand, my dear 
 friend "—and Mr. Sesemann laid his hand on his 
 friend's shoulder as if entreating him—" it is very 
 difficult for me to deny the child what I have posi- 
 tively promised her, to which she has looked forward 
 ■with so much pleasure day and night for months. 
 And she has borne aU these last troubles so very 
 
220 HEIDI. 
 
 patiently in expectation of her journey to Switzer- 
 land, and that she would be able to visit her friend 
 Heidi in the Alps, and now shall I with one blow 
 spoil the long-cherished hope of the good child, who 
 has to be denied so many things ; besides, it is impos- 
 sible for me to do so." 
 
 " Sesemann, it must be," said the doctor decid- 
 edly, and as his friend was sitting there silently 
 and downcast, he continued after awhile, " Con- 
 sider the matter as it is. Clara has not had such 
 a bad summer as this for many years. There 
 can be no doubt about it, it would be impossible for 
 her to take such a long journey without fearing 
 the worst consequences. Besides, it is now Sep- 
 tember, when it stiU may be very beautiful up on 
 the Alps, but it already must be very cool there. 
 The days are not as long now, and it would be 
 impossible for Clara to spend the nights there, so 
 she would only have a few hours to spend there. 
 The journey from the Baths of Eagatz would take 
 several hours, for she must positively be carried up 
 the Alps in a chair. To cut it short, Sesemann, it 
 cannot be ! But I will go in with you and have a 
 talk with Clara about it. She is an intelligent 
 girl, and I will lay my whole plan before her. 
 Next May she shall first go to Eagatz where she 
 shall stay at the baths for a long time, until it is 
 warm and nice on the Alps. Then she can be 
 carried up there from time to time, and when she 
 is refreshed and strengthened, she will then enjoy 
 these mountain excursions much more than she 
 
PREPARATIONS FOR A JOURNEY. 221 
 
 would now. You, of course, understand, Sesemann, 
 that if we wish to maintain a slight hope for your 
 child's recovery, we must observe the greatest care 
 and the most cautious treatment." 
 
 Mr. Sesemann, who listened silently and with an 
 expression of sad submission, started now. 
 
 " Doctor," he called out, " tell me honestly, have 
 you really any hope of a change in her condition ? " 
 
 The doctor shrugged his shoulders. " Only a 
 little," said he in a low voice. " But come and think 
 for a moment of me, my dear friend. Have you not 
 a dear child who longs for you in your absence and 
 is delighted when you come home ? You never have 
 to come back into a desolate house, and sit alone at 
 your table, when your child is comfortable at home. 
 Even if she has to be deprived of many things which 
 others might still enjoy, she is in many respects 
 much better oflf than others. No, Sesemann, you 
 are not so much to be pitied ; you must be happy to 
 be together. Think of my lonely house ! " 
 
 Mr. Sesemann, rising from his seat, began to stride 
 up and down the room, as he usually did when his 
 mind was occupied. Suddenly he stood still in front 
 of his friend and clapped him on the shoulder. 
 
 " Doctor, I have an idea. I cannot bear to see you 
 this way ; you are not the same as you used to be. 
 You must get out of yourself a little, and do you 
 know how ? You must undergo a journey and visit 
 this child Heidi at her home in the Alps in our 
 place." 
 
 The doctor was very much surprised at this pro 
 
222 HEIDI. 
 
 posal and would have objected to it, but Mr. Sese- 
 mann gave him no time. He was so delighted with 
 his new idea that he seized his friend by the arm 
 and led him to his daughter's room. The good 
 doctor was Always a pleasant sight to the sick Clara> 
 for he had from the beginning treated her with great 
 kindness, and every time he came he would always 
 tell her something funny. She knew the reason 
 why he didn't do so any longer, and she was anxious 
 to see him happy once more. 
 
 She at once held out her hand to him, and he sat 
 down beside her. Mr. Sesemann also moved his 
 chair towards her, and as he took Clara by the hand, 
 he began to talk about the journey to Switzerland, 
 and how glad he was to look forward to it. But he 
 quickly passed over the delicate subject, telling that 
 it was now impossible, for he was a little afraid of 
 the tears which would surely follow. Then he be- 
 gan to talk over the new plan, and explained to Clara 
 how much good this journey would do to her dear 
 friend. 
 
 The tears really came and swam in her blue eyes, 
 though she tried very hard to keep them back, for 
 she knew how her papa disliked to see her cry. But 
 it was hard for her to see all her expectations thus 
 end, when the prospect of a journey to Heidi had 
 been her single joy and comfort through the whole 
 summer, during the long and lonely hours which 
 she had endured. But Clara was not in the habit of 
 making objections, for she knew very well that her 
 papa denied her only the things which were not good 
 
PREPARATIONS FOR A JOURNEY. 223 
 
 for her and therefore ought not to be done. She 
 checked her tears and turned now to the only hope 
 left to her. She took her good friend's hand, stroked 
 it and entreated him urgently. 
 
 " Oh, pray, doctor, you will go to Heidi, won't 
 yon ? and then come and tell me everything you see 
 up there, and what Heidi is doing, and the grand- 
 father, and Peter, and the goats. I know all of 
 them so well I And then take with you what I wish 
 to send to Heidi. I have already thought it all out, 
 and something for the grandmother. Pray, doctor, 
 please do go ; and in the meantime I will take cod- 
 liver oil as often as you prescribe." 
 
 Whether this promise decided the matter, no one 
 could say. We must consider it so, for the doctor 
 smiled and said : 
 
 " Then I must go, little Clara, and you will grow 
 plump and strong as papa and I wish to have you. 
 And when shall I start? Have you decided the 
 time too ? " 
 
 " To-morrow morning will be the best time, to- 
 morrow, doctor," replied Clara. 
 
 " Yes, she is right," interrupted her father, " the 
 sun is shining, the sky is blue, and there is no time 
 to be lost. It's a pity not to enjoy such a day as 
 this on the Alps." 
 
 The doctor had to laugh a little. 
 
 The very next thing you will do will be to re- 
 proach me for not being there now, Sesemann, so 
 I must make haste to get away." 
 
 But Clara held him fast, as he started to go. She 
 
224 HEIDI. 
 
 must first gxve him all sorts of messages for Heidi, 
 and tell him many other things which she intended 
 to send Heidi, would be sent afterwards, for Miss 
 Kottenmeier would have to help pack the things, but 
 she had just then gone out on her usual walk rounrf- 
 the city, and would not return very soon. 
 
 The doctor promised to carry out everything just 
 as she had said, to start on the journey the following 
 day if possible, but not later than the second day, 
 and report to her everything that he might see and 
 hear. 
 
 Servants often have a remarkable faculty of find- 
 ii.^ out long before they have been told what is 
 going on in their master's house. Sebastian and 
 Tinette must have possessed this faculty in a high 
 degree, for just as the doctor, followed by Sebastian, 
 was going down the stairs, Tinette, having been sent 
 for, entered Clara's room. 
 
 " Have this box filled with nice fresh cakes, such 
 as we have with our coffee, Tinette," said Clara, 
 pointing to the box which had been there for some 
 time. Tinette seized it by one corner, and swung it 
 Boornfully, and as she shut the door, she said pertly : 
 
 " It's well worth while." 
 
 When Sebastian had opened the door with his 
 usual politeness, he said with a bow : 
 
 " If the doctor would be so kind as to give the 
 little Miss Sebastian's regards." 
 
 " Oh, I see, Sebastian," said the doctor in a 
 friendly way, " that you already know that I am 
 going away I '*. 
 
PREPARATIONS FOR A JOURNEY. 225 
 
 Sebastian was obliged to cough a little. 
 
 "I am — I have — I do not know well — oh, yes, 
 now I remember ; while I was going through the 
 dining-room just now and accidentally, I heard the 
 name of the little one mentioned, and occasionally 
 it happens that we bring different thoughts to- 
 gether and so — and in that way " 
 
 " Yes, indeed 1 yes, indeed ! '' said the doctoi 
 laughing, " and the more thoughts one has, the more 
 one knows. Good-by, Sebastian, I will deliver your 
 greetings." 
 
 The doctor was just about to hasten away through 
 the door, when something hindered him. The strong 
 wind having prevented Miss Eottenmeier from 
 continuing her walk, she returned and was about to 
 enter the house. The wind puffed her big shawl, 
 in which she had been wrapped, in such a way that 
 she had the appearance of a ship under full sail. 
 The doctor drew back instantly. Miss Eottenmeier 
 had shown this man a special deference and polite- 
 ness from the beginning of their acquaintance. She, 
 too, started back with extraordinary civility, and 
 for a time both stood there with a respectful bow 
 making room for each other. Then came such a 
 strong gust of wind that Miss Eottenmeier was 
 suddenly blown with full sail against the doctor. 
 He was just able to avoid, but the lady was driven 
 a good deal beyond him, so that she was obliged to 
 turn around in order to be able to greet the friend 
 of the family with politeness. This unusual oc- 
 currence had put her somewhat out of humor ; but 
 15 
 
226 HEIDI. 
 
 the doctor had a way which soon smoothed her 
 ruffled temper, so that she felt easier. He told her 
 about his coming journey and begged her, in the 
 most charming way, to pack the things for Heidi 
 as good as it was possible. Then the doctor took 
 his leave. 
 
 Clara expected to have trouble with Miss Kotten- 
 meier before she would consent to send all the things 
 which Clara had in her mind. But this time she 
 had not calculated right. Miss Kottenmeier was, 
 strange to say, in good humor. She immediately 
 took away everything that was on the large table 
 in order to spread on it all the things that Clara had 
 brought together, and to do them up before her 
 eyes. This wasn't at all easy ; for the things which 
 were to be packed together were of different shapes. 
 First there was the thick cloak with the hood, which 
 Clara had selected for Heidi, that she might be able 
 to visit the grandmother the coming winter, when- 
 ever she would like, and not to be obliged to wait 
 for her grandfather, to be wrapped up in the sack 
 to keep from freezing. Then came a thick warm 
 shawl for the old grandmother to protect her, when 
 the strong wind shook the hut. Next came the 
 big box with the cakes, also intended for the grand- 
 mother, that she might have with her coffee some- 
 thing different from rolls. Now followed a huge 
 sausage. At first Clara had intended this for Peter, 
 as he never had anything but cheese and bread. 
 She afterwards changed her mind, for she was afraid 
 that Peter in his delight might eat up the whole 
 
PREPARATIONS FOR A JOURNEY. 227 
 
 sausage. So his mother Brigitte was to have it and 
 take a good share for herself and the grandmother, 
 and give Peter his portion at different times. Now 
 came a little bag of tobacco for the grandfather, 
 who took pleasure in a pipe, while sitting in front 
 of his hut in the evening. Last of all came a 
 number of mysterious little bags, packages and little 
 boxes, which Clara had collected with special delight. 
 And Heidi would find among them all sorts of sur- 
 prises which would give her great pleasure. At 
 last the work was finished, and an imposing bundle 
 lay on the floor ready for the journey. Miss Kot- 
 tenmeier looked down on it absorbed in thoughtful 
 contemplation of the art of packing. As to Clara, 
 she watched it with happy looks of expectation, 
 for she saw Heidi before her, as she would jump 
 and shout when the huge package reached her. 
 
 Sebastian now came in and with a swing lifted 
 the package to his shoulders, in order to take it to 
 the house of the doctor at once. 
 
CHAPTER n. 
 
 A GUEST ON THE ALU. 
 
 The early dawn was glowing over the mountains 
 and a fresh morning wind, blowing through the fir 
 trees, rocked the old branches to and fro powerfully. 
 Heidi opened her eyes; the sound had awakened 
 her. The rushing sound always affected her deeply 
 and attracted her out to the fir trees. She jumped 
 from her bed and hardly took time to dress herself 
 properly; but it had to be done, for Heidi knew 
 that she should always look clean and orderly. 
 
 She then came down the ladder ; her grandfather's 
 bed was already empty. She ran outdoors, and 
 saw her grandfather gazing up at the sky in every 
 direction, as was his habit every morning to see 
 what the day was going to be. 
 
 Little rosy clouds drifted above and the sky grew 
 bluer and bluer, and over the heights and pastures 
 it appeared as if flooded with pure gold, for the sun 
 was just rising up above the lofty cliffs. 
 
 " Oh, how beautiful I oh, how beautiful ! Good 
 morning, grandfather," Heidi called out, jumping 
 along. 
 
 " Well, are your eyes also already opened ? " re- 
 plied the grandfather, holding his hand out to Heidi 
 for a morning greeting. 
 
 Heidi now ran under the fir trees and danced 
 228 
 
A GUEST ON THE ALM. 
 
 with delight over the roaring and whistling of the 
 swaying branches, and with every new gust of wind 
 and loud blustering in the tops she shouted for joy 
 and jumped a little higher. 
 
 In the meantime her grandfather had gone to the 
 shed, and had milked Schwaenli and Baerli, and 
 then he had cleaned and washed them for their jour- 
 ney up the mountain, and brought them outside. 
 When Heidi saw her friends, she came jumping along 
 and embraced them both by the neck, greeted them 
 tenderly, and they bleated gladly and intimately, 
 and each of the goats wanted to show Heidi their 
 affection, and they both pressed nearer and nearer 
 to her shoulders, so that between them she was 
 almost crushed. But Heidi had no fear, and when 
 the lively Baerli butted and pushed too hard with 
 her head, Heidi said : 
 
 " No, Baerli, you push like the big Turk," and in 
 a moment Baerli drew her head and stood back 
 a little; and then Schwaenli stretched her head 
 high up and took a commanding appearance, so 
 that one could see, she thought to herself : " No 
 one shall accuse me of looking like the Turk." For 
 snow-white Schwaenli was somewhat more dignified 
 than the brown Baerli. 
 
 Peter's whistle was now heard from below, and 
 soon aU. the lively goats came leaping up the moun- 
 tain ; the nimble Distelfink hurried ahead of the 
 others. Heidi was in the midst of the flock, which 
 jostled hither and thither with loud and stormy 
 greetings. She pushed them aside a little, for she 
 
230 HEIDL 
 
 wished to go near the timid Schneehoepli, which 
 was always pushed away by larger ones, whenever 
 she struggled to go to Heidi. 
 
 Then Peter came up and gave one last powerful 
 whistle to frighten the goats and drive them to 
 the pasture, for he wanted to have room to say 
 something to Heidi. The goats ran away a little 
 at this whistle, and Peter was able to come forward 
 and stand before her. 
 
 " You can come with me again to-day," said he 
 Bomewhat peevishly. 
 
 "Ko, I cannot do that, Peter," replied Heidi. 
 ** They may come from Frankfort at any time now, 
 and I must be at home." 
 
 " Tou have said that same thing several times," 
 growled Peter. 
 
 " But it is still true, and it will be true until they 
 come," replied Heidi. " Do you think I better not 
 be at home when they come from Frankfort ? Do 
 you really think such a thing possible ? " 
 
 " They can come to the Uncle," answered Peter 
 with a snarl. 
 
 The grandfather's powerful voice sounded now 
 from the hut. 
 
 " Why doesn't the army go forward ? Does the 
 fault lie with the general or the troops ? " 
 
 In a moment Peter turned round and swung his 
 rod in the air so that it whistled, and all the goats, 
 knowing the sound well, started up, and all of them 
 ran up the mountain together with Peter behind 
 them. 
 
A GUEST ON THE ALM. 231 
 
 Since Heidi had returned home to her grandfather^ 
 now and then she recollected something of which 
 ehe had not thought before. So every morning she 
 worked hard to make her bed, smoothing it long 
 enough until it looked quite even. She then ran 
 about the hut, put every stool in its place and what- 
 ever that was lying or hanging about, she put in the 
 closet. Then she brought a piece of cloth and 
 climbed up on a stool and rubbed the table so long 
 that it was quite clean. When the grandfather came 
 in again, he looked around with pleasure and said : 
 
 " It is always like Sunday with us now. Heidi's 
 going away was not altogether fruitless." 
 
 After Peter had gone away, Heidi had breakfasted 
 with her grandfather. She went to-day about her 
 work, but she could hardly finish it. For it was such 
 a pleasant morning out of doors and every moment 
 something happened which interrupted Heidi in her 
 work. Now the sunbeam came in through the open 
 window so gaily, as if calling to Heidi : " Come out, 
 Heidi, come out ! " So she could no longer stay in 
 the house, and she ran outdoors. The sparkling 
 sunshine lay all round about the hut, and glistened 
 on all the mountains and far in the valley below, 
 and the ground on the slope looked so golden and 
 dry that she had to sit down a little while and look 
 around. She suddenly remembered that the three- 
 legged stool was still in the middle of the hut, and 
 the breakfast table had not been cleaned up. So 
 she at once Jumped up and ran into the hut again. 
 But it was not long before it roared so powerful]/ 
 
232 HEIDL 
 
 through the fir trees, that it went right through Heidi 
 She had to go out again and dance a little with the 
 branches, when they were rocking and swinging to 
 and fro. Her grandfather, in the meantime, had to 
 do all sorts of work behind the hut in the shed ; and 
 from time to time he came out and looked laughingly 
 at Heidi as she danced about. He had just gone 
 back again, when Heidi suddenly screamed with all 
 her might : 
 
 " Grandfather, grandfather ! Come ! come 1 " 
 
 He stepped out quickly and almost frightened that 
 something had happened to the child. He saw Heidi 
 running down the slope exclaiming : " They have 
 come ! They have come ! And first of all the 
 doctor ! " 
 
 Heidi rushed towards her old friend, who held out 
 his hand, greeting her. When the child reached him, 
 she grasped the doctor's arm and called out in great 
 delight : 
 
 " Good morning, doctor, I thank you a thousand 
 times ! " 
 
 " Good morning, Heidi ! And what do you thank 
 me for ? " asked the doctor with a friendly smile. 
 
 " That I was allowed to come home to my grand* 
 father again," said Heidi. 
 
 The doctor's face shone as by a sunbeam. He 
 had not expected this reception on the Alps. In his 
 loneliness he had climbed up the mountain absorbed 
 in deep thoughts, so that he had not even noticed 
 how beautiful it was all around him and how it grew 
 more and more beautiful. He had thought that the 
 
A GUEST ON THE ALM. 233 
 
 child Heidi would scarcely recognize him, so little 
 she had seen him, and as he had come to give the 
 people disappointing news, he did not expect such a 
 warm reception, and they would not care to see him 
 because he had not brought the expected friends 
 with him. Instead of this Heidi's face was bright 
 with joy and delight and full of gratitude and love. 
 She still held fast her good friend's arm. 
 
 With fatherly affection the doctor took the child 
 by the hand. " Come, Heidi," said he in the most 
 kindly way, " take me to your grandfather now and 
 show me where your home is." 
 
 But Heidi still remained looking down the moun« 
 tain in wonder. 
 
 " Where are Clara and the grandmamma ? " she 
 now asked. 
 
 " Well, I must tell you what will make you sorry, 
 as it does me," replied the doctor. " You see, Heidi, 
 I have come alone. Clara was very sick, and could 
 not travel, and so grandmamma did not come. But 
 in the spring, when the days will be warm and long 
 again, they will come ; you may be sure of it." 
 
 Heidi stood there much perplexed ; she couldn't 
 understand at all how it was possible that she should 
 not be able to see what she had looked forward 
 to so long with certainty. For a time she stood mo- 
 tionless as if confused by the unexpected occurrences. 
 The doctor, standing in front of her, gazed at her 
 silently, and everything around was quiet except the 
 wind was blowing high up through the fir trees. 
 Then it suddenly came to Heidi's mind why she had 
 
234 HEIDL 
 
 run down and that the doctor was there. She looked 
 up at him. 
 
 There was something sad in the eyes looking down 
 to her, such as she had never seen before ; it had 
 never been so in Frankfort. Heidi was very much 
 affected by it, for she could not bear to see anyone 
 looking sad, especially the good doctor. The reason 
 must certainly be that Clara and the grandmamma 
 had been unable to come with him. She tried to 
 think of some way to console him, and found it. 
 
 " Oh, it really will not be long before it will be 
 spring again. Then they will surely come," said Heidi 
 consolingly. " With us it does not seem such a long 
 time, and besides they will be able to stay here much 
 longer. . Clara will be pleased a great deal more. 
 Now let us go up to my grandfather." 
 
 Hand in hand with her good friend she climbed 
 up to the cottage. Heidi had such a great desire to 
 make the doctor cheerful that she began to convince 
 him once more that it took such a short time on the 
 Aim for the long warm summer days to come again, 
 that they hardly noticed it, and Heidi herself was 
 so much assured by this consolation, that she called 
 np to her grandfather quite joyfully : 
 
 " They have not come yet, but it will not be a 
 great while before they will be here, too." 
 
 The doctor was no stranger to the grandfather ; 
 the child had spoken of him so much. The old man 
 held out his hand to his guest and welcomed him 
 heartily. Then the two men took seats on the 
 bench beside the hut, and they made a little room 
 
A GUEST ON THE ALM. 23S 
 
 for Heidi to sit down, and the doctor beckoned to 
 her in a friendly manner to sit beside him. He then 
 began to tell them how Mr. Sesemann had encour- 
 aged him to take the journey, and how he himself 
 had thought it would do him good to take the trip, 
 as he had not felt strong and vigorous for a long 
 time. He then whispered in Heidi's ear that some- 
 thing would soon come up the mountain, which had 
 come from Frankfort with him, and which would 
 give her much more pleasure than the old doctor 
 could. Heidi was very anxious to know what it 
 might be. 
 
 The grandfather urged the doctor earnestly to 
 spend the beautiful autumn days on the Aim, or at 
 least to come up every pleasant day, for the Alm- 
 TTncle could not possibly invite him to remain over 
 night up there, as he knew he had not the night 
 comforts necessary for a gentleman such as the 
 doctor was. But he advised his guest not to go 
 back to Eagatz, but to take a room down in Doerfli 
 in a simple but good orderly village inn, which he 
 would find there. So the doctor will be able to come 
 up the Aim every morning, which wiU do him 
 good, thought the Uncle. Besides he would gladly 
 take him further up the mountains to the various 
 points of interest whenever he wished to go. The 
 doctor was pleased with the whole plan, and he 
 decided to carry it out. 
 
 Meanwhile the sun showed that it was midday ; 
 the wind had long ceased and the fir trees had be- 
 come perfectly silent. The air was still mild aad 
 
236 HEIDI. 
 
 2ovely for such a height and brought refreshing 
 breezes around the sunny beach. 
 
 Now the Aim-Uncle rose from his seat and went 
 into the hut, but immediately came out again bring- 
 ing out a table which he placed in front of the 
 bench. 
 
 "Now, Heidi, bring hither what we need to 
 eat," said the old man. " The gentleman will not 
 object to partake of the plain food ; if our cook- 
 ing is simple, the dining-room is all that could be 
 asked for." 
 
 "I think so, too," replied the doctor, looking 
 down into the sunlit valley, " and I accept the in- 
 vitation, for it must taste well up here." 
 
 Heidi ran back and forth like a weasel, and 
 brought out everything that she could find in the 
 cupboard, for it was an immense delight to en- 
 tertain the doctor. In the meantime the grand- 
 father prepared the meal and came out with the 
 steaming jug of milk and the shining golden toasted 
 cheese. Then he cut delicious transparent slices of 
 rosy meat, which he had dried up there in the pure 
 air. The doctor had not enjoyed such a good din- 
 ner the whole year through. 
 
 "Yes, yes, our Clara must come here," said 
 he now, " she would gain new strength here, and if 
 she should eat the way I have to-day for a while, 
 she will grow ruddy and robust as she never has 
 been before in her life." 
 
 Then some one was seen coming up the hill with 
 a big package on his back. When he came up in 
 
A GUEST ON THE ALM. 23? 
 
 front of the hut, he threw his burden down on the 
 ground and drew in in long breaths the fresh air of, 
 the Aim. 
 
 " Ah, here is the package which came all the 
 away with me from Frankfort," said the doctor 
 rising from his seat, and, drawing Heidi after him, 
 went to the package and began to untie it. When 
 the first heavy wrapping was taken of he said : 
 
 " Well, child, go ahead and take out your treasures 
 yourself." 
 
 Heidi did as she was told, and everything rolled 
 out in a heap. She gazed with astonished eyes on 
 the things before her. When the doctor stepped 
 forward again and lifted up the cover of the 
 big box saying to Heidi : " See what the grand- 
 mother has for her coffee 1 " then she shouted 
 joyfully : 
 
 " Oh, oh, now at last the grandmother can have 
 some nice cakes to eat ! " 
 
 She danced around the box and was anxious to 
 pack everything together and hasten down to the 
 grandmother. But the grandfather said that it 
 would be better to wait till evening and accompany 
 the doctor down, and take the things at the same 
 time. Now Heidi found the little bag of tobacco 
 and brought it quickly to the grandfather. It 
 pleased him exceedingly. He immediately filled his 
 pipe with it and the two men, sitting on the bench 
 and blowing out large clouds of smoke, were talking 
 about all sorts of things, while Heidi ran back and 
 forth from one of her treasures to the other. 
 
238 HEIDI. 
 
 Suddenly she came back to the bench and stood 
 in front of the guest, and as soon as there was a 
 pause in the conversation, she said decidedly : 
 
 " No, I didn't find anything that gave me as much 
 pleasure as the doctor has." 
 
 The two men had to laugh a little, and the doctor 
 said that he would not have thought it. 
 
 When the sun was about to set, the guest rose to 
 go back to Doerfli and find lodgings there. The 
 grandfather put the cake box, the big sausage and 
 the shawl under his arm, and the doctor taking Heidi 
 by the hand all three went down the mountain as 
 far as the house of goatherd Peter. Here Heidi 
 had to bid them good-by ; she was to stay with 
 the grandmother until she was called for by her 
 grandfather, who accompanied his guest down to 
 Doerfli. 
 
 When the doctor held out his hand to Heidi to 
 say good-by, she asked : 
 
 " Would you be willing to go to the pasture with 
 the goats to-morrow ? " that being the best thing^ 
 she could think of. 
 
 " Certainly, Heidi," replied the doctor, " we go 
 together." 
 
 The two continued their way, and Heidi went 
 into the grandmother's. She dragged in the cake 
 box with diffioulty ; she then went out again to 
 bring in the sausage — for the grandfather had left 
 everything in front of the door — afterwards she 
 had to go after the large shawl. She brought every, 
 thing as near to the grandmother as she could, that 
 
A GUEST ON THE AIM. 23?, 
 
 she might touch them and know what they were. 
 She laid the shawl on her knee. 
 
 "They have all been sent from Frankfort by 
 Clara and her grandmamma," she exclaimed to the 
 surprised grandmother and the amazed Brigitte, 
 who was so taken back that she stood there motion, 
 less and gazed at Heidi, while she with the greatest 
 difficulty was dragging the heavy articles and spread- 
 ing out everything before them. 
 
 " You are greatly delighted with the cakes, aren't 
 you ? See how soft they are ! " said Heidi over and 
 over again, and the grandmother assured her by 
 replying : 
 
 " Yes, yes, indeed, Heidi ; what good people they 
 must be ! " Then she, stroking the warm soft shawl 
 Again with her hand said, " But this is something 
 splendid for the cold winter ! It is something so 
 magnificent that I had never believed I could have 
 it in my life." 
 
 But Heidi was very much astonished that the 
 grandmother could be more pleased at the gray 
 shawl than at the cakes. Brigitte kept standing 
 before the sausage, which lay on the table, and gazed 
 at it almost with veneration. In her whole life she 
 had never seen such a giant sausage, and this she 
 was about to possess now, and even eat it. It 
 seemed so incredible ! She shook her head and said 
 timidly : 
 
 " We must first ask the Uncle what this means." 
 
 But Heidi said without the least doubt, 
 
 " It is meant to eat, and nothing else." 
 
S40 HEIDL 
 
 Now Peter came in stumbling. 
 
 "The Alm-Unole is coming behind me, and 
 
 Heidi must " He could not continue ; his eyes 
 
 had fallen on the table, where the sausage lay, and 
 the sight of it had so dazed him that he could find 
 no more words. But Heidi had already noticed 
 what was coming. She gave her hand quickly to 
 the grandmother. The Aim-Uncle never passed 
 by the hut without entering in and greeting the 
 grandmother, and she was always glad when she 
 heard his steps, for he had encouraging words for 
 her every time ; but to-day it was late for Heidi, 
 who was up every morning with the sun. Her 
 grandfather said : " The child must have her sleep," 
 and insisted on it. So this time he only called out 
 " good night " through the open door to the grand- 
 mother, and took Heidi by the hand, who was run- 
 ning to him, and the two went back beneath the sky, 
 full of the twinkling stars, to their peaceful hut. 
 
CHAPTER HL 
 
 BETBIBUTION. 
 
 Eaelt the next morning the doctor climbed up 
 the mountain from Doerfli in company with Peter 
 and his goats. The kind doctor tried a number of 
 times to enter into a conversation with the goatherd, 
 but he did not succeed ; he could hardly get out of 
 him some vague and brief words in answer to his 
 leading questions. Peter did not easily enter into 
 a conversation. So the whole company went in 
 silence as far as the Aim hut, where Heidi already 
 stood waiting with her two goats, all three as lively 
 and cheerful as the early sunshine on the heights. 
 
 " Will you come with us ? " asked Peter, for he 
 expressed this one thought every morning, as a 
 question or as summons. 
 
 "Certainly, of course, if the doctor will come 
 with us," replied Heidi. 
 
 Peter looked at the gentleman a little askance. 
 
 Now the grandfather came with the little lunch 
 bag in his hand. He first greeted the gentleman 
 with respect; then went to Peter and hung the 
 little bag over his shoulder. 
 
 It was heavier than usual, for the Uncle had put 
 
 in a large piece of the red meat ; he thought, pei^ 
 i6 241 
 
242 HEIDI. 
 
 haps, the gentleman would like to be with the 
 children in the pasture and take dinner with them. 
 Peter's mouth spread almost from one ear to the 
 other as he smiled with great satisfaction, suspecting 
 that there was something unusual in it. 
 
 They started now on their mountain journey. 
 Heidi was completely surrounded by her goats, 
 each one was anxious to be next to her, and they 
 all pushed each other a little one side. In this way 
 she was, for a time, pushed along in the midst of 
 the flock. She stood still and said in a mild tone, 
 
 " Now you must all go nicely on, and don't come 
 back and push and jostle ; now I want to go with 
 the doctor a little while." 
 
 Then she patted Schneehoepli tenderly on the 
 back, as she was still next to her, and told her espe- 
 cially to be obedient. She worked her way out of 
 the flock and went along by the doctor's side, who 
 seized her hand and held it fast. He had no diffi- 
 culty in entering into conversation with Heidi. She 
 immediately began to talk, and had so many things 
 to relate about the goats and their strange doings, 
 about the flowers up there and the rooks and the 
 birds, that time passed off so quickly that, before 
 they thought of it, they reached the pasture. 
 
 Peter, while going up the mountain, cast side- 
 long glances at the doctor, who perhaps would have 
 been terrified, but fortunately he did not see them. 
 
 Reaching the end of their journey, Heidi took 
 her good friend to the most beautiful spot, where 
 she always used to go, and sat down on the ground 
 
RETRIBUTION. 248 
 
 and looked around. The doctor sat down beside 
 her on the sunny pasture ground. The golden 
 autumn sunlight shone over peaks and the broad 
 green valley. Everywhere from the lower Alps 
 there was heard the bells of the flocks sounding 
 lovely and agreeabla, as if they announced peace far 
 and wide. Yonder over the great snowfields there 
 flashed and sparkled here and there the golden sun- 
 beams, and the Falkniss lifted her jagged cliffs in 
 majesty, towering far up the dark blue sky. The 
 morning wind blew silently, delightfully, over the 
 Alps, and softly stirred the last bluebells, which 
 stiU remained from the multitude of the summer 
 and rocked their heads in the warm sunshine. The 
 majestic eagle flew around in wide circles above, 
 but on this day he did not scream. With out- 
 stretched wings he floated leisurely through the blue 
 sky. 
 
 Heidi looked hither and thither. The merry nod- 
 ding flowers, the blue sky, the delightful sunshine, 
 the contented bird in the air — all were so beautiful, 
 so beautiful ! Heidi's eyes sparkled with joy. She 
 turned them to her friend to see whether he took 
 pleasure in the things that were so beautiful. The 
 doctor had up to this time been looking around in 
 silence, sunk in deep thoughts. When his eyes met 
 the cheerful and sparkling eyes of the child he said, 
 
 " Yes, Heidi, there is no doubt but it's beautiful 
 up here ; but what do you think ? If one has come 
 here with a sad heart, how can he enjoy these beau- 
 tiful surroundings ? " 
 
244 HEIDI. 
 
 "Oh, oh!" exclaimed Heidi, full of joy, "here 
 one never can have a sad heart, — only in Frank- 
 fort." 
 
 The doctor smiled a little, but it soon faded away. 
 Then he said again : 
 
 "And if one coming from Frankfort should 
 happen to bring a sad heart with him, Heidi, do you 
 know of anything that will do him good ? " 
 
 " One must always go to the dear Lord, if he does 
 not know what to do," said Heidi with perfect con- 
 fidence. 
 
 " Yes, it is a good idea, child," remarked the 
 doctor, " but if the thing that makes you sad and 
 miserable comes from Him, what could you say then 
 to Him?" 
 
 Heidi had to think what was to be done in such 
 a case, but she was perfectly convinced that one 
 could always get help from the dear God for every 
 sorrow. She tried to think of an answer from her 
 own experiences. 
 
 "Then one must wait," said she after a while 
 with assurance, " and always think t ' The dear 
 Lord already knows that something of joy will later 
 come out of it.' So one must be quiet for a little while 
 and not run away from Him. At last all will come 
 so suddenly when we shall be able to clearly see 
 that the dear Lord had all the time intended some- 
 thing good. But as one cannot see beforehand 
 everything as it i^ill happen, keeping only the ter- 
 rible sorrow before his eyes oLe is liable to think 
 that will always remain so." 
 
RETRIBUTION. 245 
 
 " This is a beautiful faith, to which you must hold 
 fast, Heidi," said the doctor. For a while he gazed 
 in silence at the mighty mountains of rock and 
 down into the sunlit green valley, then he added : 
 
 " You see, Heidi, you might sit here with a great 
 shade over your eyes, and unable to take in the 
 beauty by which you are surrounded. Then your 
 heart will be sad, doubly sad, when you see so many 
 beautiful things. Can you understand this ? " 
 
 Now something painful went into her joyous 
 heart. The great shade over the eyes reminded 
 her of the grandmother, who could never see again 
 the bright sun and all the beautiful things up there. 
 And every time tha^ she recalled this fact she was 
 filled with sadness. For a long time, she stood 
 perfectly still because the pain had struck her heart 
 in the midst of her joy, after which she said in a 
 serious tone, 
 
 " Yes, I can understand it, but I know something. 
 Thou must say the grandmother's hymns, which will 
 bring a little light into your heart, and sometimes 
 it will make it so bright that you can be quite 
 cheerful. The grandmother told me so." 
 
 " Which hymns, Heidi ? " asked the doctor. 
 
 " I know only about the sun and the beautiful 
 garden and verses of the long one, which the grand- 
 mother likes, for I must always read them three 
 times," replied Heidi. 
 
 " Do tell me these verses. I would like to hear 
 them," and the doctor sat in a position to be able 
 to listen attentively. 
 
246 HEIDI. 
 
 Heidi folded her hands and collected her thoughts 
 and said : 
 
 " Shall I begin where the grandmother says that 
 confidence comes back to one's heart ? " 
 
 The doctor nodded affirmatively. 
 
 Then Heidi began : 
 
 " Let Him alone and tarry, 
 
 He is a prince all wise, 
 He shall himself so carry, 
 
 'Twill strange seem in thine eyes. 
 When He as Him beseemeth. 
 
 In wonderful decree, 
 Shall as Himself good deemeth 
 
 0'errul« what grieveth thee. 
 
 •' He may a while still staying 
 
 His comforts keep from thee. 
 And on His part delaying, 
 
 Seem to have utterly 
 Forgotten and forsaken 
 
 And put thee out of mind, 
 Though thou'rt by grief o'ertaken, 
 
 No time for thee to find. 
 
 " But if thou never shrinkest. 
 
 And true dost still remain, 
 He'll come when least thou thinksst^ 
 
 And set thee free again. 
 Thee from the load deliver. 
 
 That burdeneth thy heart. 
 That thou hast carried never 
 
 For any evil part. 
 
 " Hail t child of faith, who against 
 The victory alway. 
 Who honor's crown obtaineat. 
 That never fades away. 
 
RETRIBUTION. 247 
 
 Ctod in thy hand will give thee, 
 
 One day the glorious palm ; 
 Who ne'er in grief did leave thee. 
 
 To Him thou'lt sing thy psalm." 
 
 Heidi stopped all at once, for she was not sure 
 that the doctor was still listening. He had put his 
 hand over hisi eyes and sat there motionless. She 
 thought, at first, he had possibly fallen asleep ; when 
 he should wake up again and should wish to hear 
 more verses, he would, of course, tell her. Now 
 all was silent. The doctor said nothing, but he was 
 not asleep ; he had been taken back to days long 
 gone by, whel he stood as a little boy beside his 
 mother's chair, who, placing her arm around his 
 neck was repeating the same hymn, which he had just 
 heard from Heidi and which he had not heard before 
 for many long years. Now he heard his mother's 
 voice once more, and saw kind eyes resting on 
 him so lovingly, and ivhen the words of the hymn 
 had ceased, he still heard the kind voice speak- 
 ing other words to him. He must have liked to 
 hear them and follow them in his thoughts, for he 
 sat there a long time silent and motionless, having 
 put his hands on his face. When he at last raised 
 his head, he saw that Heidi looked at him in amaze- 
 ment. He took the child's hand into his own. 
 
 " Heidi, your hymn was beautiful," said he, and 
 his voice sounded more cheerful than before ; " we 
 will come here again, and you shall recite it to me 
 once more." 
 
 During this whole time Peter had enough to do 
 
248 HEIDI. 
 
 to give vent to his vexation. Heidi had not been 
 to the pasture for many days, and now, as she had 
 returned once more, this old gentleman sat beside 
 her the whole time and Peter was not able to go 
 near her. This annoyed him greatly. He stood 
 some distance behind the unsuspecting gentleman 
 so that the latter was not able to see him, and here 
 he first doubled up one fist and shook it in the 
 air threateningly and after awhile he doubled up 
 both fists, and the longer Heidi remained sitting 
 beside the gentleman, the more terrible Peter 
 clenched his fists, and higher and more threateningly 
 he lifted them in the air behind the doctor's back. 
 
 Meanwhile the sun had reached the point when 
 people eat their midday meal ; Peter knew this very 
 well. Suddenly he shouted with all his might to 
 the others over there : 
 
 " It is time to eat our meal ! " 
 
 Heidi rose and was going to bring the bag that 
 the doctor might have his midday meal just where 
 he was sitting. But he said he was not hungry,- 
 he only wanted a glass of milk to drink, and then 
 he wished to go round a little more on the Alps and 
 climb up a little further. Heidi also found out that 
 she was not hungry, and she wanted only a glass of 
 milk ; and then she would take the doctor high up 
 to the big moss-covered rocks, where Distelfink 
 came near jumping down some time ago, and where 
 all the spicy herbs grew. She ran over to Peter 
 and explained everything to him, and that he had 
 first to get a glass of milk from Schwaenli for the 
 
RETRIBUTION. 249 
 
 doctor and one more for herself. At first Peter 
 looked at Heidi for a wiiUe in surprise, then he 
 asked : 
 
 " Who is going to have what is in the bag? " 
 " Ton can have it, but you must first get the 
 milk, and do it quick," was Heidi's answer. 
 
 Peter had never done anything in his life so 
 qnickly as he did this, for he saw the bag before 
 him, and did not know what was in it and yet it 
 belonged to him. As soon as the two had drunk 
 their milk, Peter opened the bag and peeped into 
 it. When he saw the wonderful piece of meat, 
 his whole body trembled with joy and he looked 
 into it once more to be sure that it was really true. 
 Then he put his hand into the bag to take out the 
 desired gift and enjoy it. But suddenly he drew 
 back his hand as if he did not dare to take it. 
 Peter remembered how he had stood behind the 
 doctor and shook his fists at him, and now the 
 same gentleman had given him all his fine dinner. 
 Peter felt sorry for what he had done, for he felt 
 as if it prevented him from taking his fine gift and 
 enjoying it. He suddenly jumped up and ran to 
 the place where he had been standing. There he 
 stretched his hands wide open in the air to make it 
 appear that his clenched fists meant nothing, and so 
 remained standing there for a time, until he felt that 
 everything was forgiven. Then, taking great leaps, 
 he came to the bag ; and now as his conscience was 
 clear, he could eat his unusually dainty meal with 
 perfect delight. 
 
250 HEIDI. 
 
 The doctor and Heidi had wandered about t<y 
 gather and conversed in a very pleasant way. But 
 the gentleman found that it was time for him to re- 
 turn and thought that perhaps the child might like 
 to stay a little while with her goats. Heidi never 
 thought of such a thing, for then the doctor would 
 have to go alone down the whole length of the Alps, 
 At any rate she wanted to accompany him as far 
 as her grandfather's hut and even a little further 
 down. She went hand in hand with her good 
 friend, and had a great deal to tell him all the way 
 down and show him all the spots where the goats 
 would like best to graze, and where the greatest 
 amount of bright yellow wild roses and the red 
 centouries and other flowers can be found in the 
 summer. She knew them all, for the grandfather 
 had taught her all the names in the summer. 
 
 But finally the doctor told her that it was time 
 for her to go back. They bade each other good 
 night, and the doctor went down the mountain, but 
 he turned around now and then to look back ; he 
 saw Heidi still standing in the same spot and looking 
 after him, waving her hand to him. Just so had 
 his lovely little daughter done when he went away 
 from his house. 
 
 It was a clear sunny autumn month. Every 
 morning they came up on the Alps and went on 
 pleasant excursions further up. Often he went with 
 the Alm-TJncle high up on the mountain, where 
 the old weather-beaten fir trees nodded down. The 
 great bird must have had his home near by, for 
 
EETKIBUnON. 251 
 
 sometimes he was heard shrilling and croaking 
 quite near the heads of the two men. The doctor 
 took great pleasure in his companion's conversation. 
 He was more and more astonished to find that the 
 Uncle knew so well all the herbs around on the 
 Alps and what they were good for; and that he 
 could find out as many valuable and good things 
 everywhere up there in the pitchy fir trees; in the 
 dark pines with their fragrant needles ; in the pearly 
 moss, which shot up between the roots of the old 
 trees ; and in all the delicate little plants and flowers 
 which still grow quite high in the nourishing soil of 
 the Alps. 
 
 The old man was equally familiar with the ways 
 and doings of all the animals, great as well as small. 
 He had very amusing facts to tell to the doctor 
 about the habits of these animals living in the rocks, 
 caves and even on the high branches of the fir trees. 
 The doctor did not know how the time passed on 
 these excursions. Often in the evening when he 
 shook the old man's hand heartily at parting he 
 would say to him, over and over again: 
 
 "Good friend, I never go away from you without 
 having learned something." 
 
 But on many days, and usually on the most beauti- 
 ful, the doctor wished to go with Heidi, when they 
 would often sit down together on the charming cliffs, 
 where they had been on the first day. Heidi had 
 to repeat the verses and tell the doctor whatever 
 she knew. Peter, too, often sat behind them in his 
 
S52 HEIDI. 
 
 place, but he was now quite gentle and never shook 
 his fists. 
 
 Thus passed the beautiful month of September. 
 One morning the doctor came, looking less cheerful 
 than usual. He said it was his last day and he 
 must go back to Frankfort. This gave him great 
 pain, for he had learned to like the Alps as if it 
 were his own home. The news grieved the Aim- 
 Uncle also, for he enjoyed exceedingly the doctor's 
 company, and Heidi had become so accustomed to 
 seeing her loving friend every day that she could not 
 understand how it was possible to end so suddenly. 
 She looked up to him inquiringly and perfectly as- 
 tonished. But it was really so. The doctor took 
 leave of her grandfather and then asked whether 
 Heidi would be willing to accompany him for a 
 little time. Holding his hand, she went down the 
 mountain, but she still could not realize that he was 
 going way. 
 
 After a while the doctor stood still and said that 
 she had come far enough ; she must turn back. He 
 tenderly stroked her curly hair with his hand several 
 times and said : 
 
 "I must now go, Heidi, If T only could take 
 ; you to Frankfort and keep you with me ! " 
 
 All Frankfort suddenly stood before Heidi's eyes, 
 — ^it's many, many houses and the stony streets. 
 Miss Botteumeier and Tinette, and she answered a 
 little timorously. 
 
 "I would prefer that you would come to us 
 afirain." 
 
EETRIBUTION. 253 
 
 "Well, yes, that will be better, so good-by, 
 Heidi," said the doctor heartily and held out his 
 hand to her. The child laid her hand in it and 
 looked up at him. The kind eyes which looked 
 down at her filled with tears. Then the doctor 
 turned quickly and hastened down the mountain. 
 
 Heidi remained standing and did not stir. The 
 eyes full of love and the tears which she had seen 
 in them affected her greatly. Suddenly she burst 
 into a loud weeping and rushed with all her might 
 after her departed friend, calling between her sobs, 
 as loud as she could, " Doctor ! doctor ! " 
 
 He turned around and stood still. 
 
 Now the child had reached him. The tears 
 streamed down her cheeks, while she sobbed out : 
 
 " I will immediately go with you to Frankfort and 
 stay with you as long as you like, only I must go 
 and tell the grandfather." 
 
 The doctor comfortingly stroked the excited child. 
 
 " No, my dear Heidi," said he in a most kindly 
 tone, " not at present ; you must still stay under the 
 fir trees, you might be sick again. But come, let 
 me ask you something: If I am sick and alone, 
 will you come then and stay with me ? " 
 
 " Yes, yes, then I will certainly come, the very 
 same day ; and I love you almost as dearly as my 
 grandfather," said Heidi assuringly, continuing to 
 sob. 
 
 Then the doctor pressed her hand once more and 
 quickly went on his way. But Heidi remained 
 standing in the same place and waved her hand 
 
S54 HEIDI. 
 
 'continually as long as she could see any sign of th« 
 departed friend, who, as he turned around for the 
 last time and looked back at Heidi, waving her hand, 
 and at the sunny Alps, he said softly to himself : " It 
 is good to be up there ; body and soul recover there, 
 and one feels happy again." 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE WINTEB IN DOEErU. 
 
 Aeotjito the Aim hut the snow lay so deep that it 
 looked as if the windows stood level with. the ground, 
 for nothing of the hut was to be seen below them, 
 even the house door had completely disappeared. 
 If the Aim Uncle had been iip there, he would have 
 had to do the same as Peter did day after day, for 
 usually it snowed again during the night. Every 
 morning he had to jump out of the window, and if 
 it had not been very cold during the night, so that 
 everything had frozen, he plunged deep in the soft 
 snow, which he was obliged to push and throw and 
 kick in every direction with his hands and feet and 
 head, until he had struggled out of it again. Then 
 his mother would pass the big broom out of the 
 window, and with this Peter would push and shove 
 the snow away, until he had reached the door. Here 
 he had to work hard, for he was obliged to dig away 
 all the snow, and if it was still soft, when the door 
 opened the whole great mass would fall into the 
 kitchen, or if it had frozen up, then they would be 
 completely walled in, as they were not able to work 
 their way through these rocks of ice, and Peter only 
 could slip through the little window. 
 
 355 
 
256 HEIDI. 
 
 The freezing weather brought many conveniences 
 to Peter. "When he had to go down to Doerfli, all he 
 had to do was to open the window, crawl through 
 and go out on the smooth surface of the frozen 
 snow-field. Then his mother would push the little 
 sled through the window after him ; and. Peter had 
 only to seat himself on it and slide wherever he 
 liked ; any way he went down the whole Aim, as all 
 was one large mass of unbroken hill. 
 
 The Alm-TJncle was not on the Aim that winter ; 
 he had kept to his word. As soon as the first snow 
 fell, he had shut up the hut and shed and had gone 
 down to Doerfli with Heidi and the goats. Near 
 the church and the parsonage stood a large building, 
 which in old times must have been a magnificent 
 house, which could be seen from many places, al- 
 though the building was on every side wholly or 
 partially in ruins. A brave warrior lived in it ; he 
 had entered the Spanish service, and had performed 
 many brave deeds, and had brought great riches 
 home to Doerfli, where he erected this beautiful 
 house, in which he intended to live. But after a 
 while he found it was too tedious to live in such a 
 quiet village as Doerfli, for he had always been 
 used to a great deal of excitement. He went out one 
 day and never came back. "When, after many, many 
 years, it was really known that he was dead, a dis- 
 tant relative down in the valley took the house, but 
 it had already begun to fall to pieces, and the 
 possessor did not care to repair it. So poor people, 
 ■who had to pay little for it, came into the house, 
 
THE WINTER IN DOEEFLI. 257 
 
 and if a part of the building fell, thej let it 
 alone. 
 
 Since that time many years had passed away. At 
 the time when the Uncle had come with his young 
 boy Tobias, he had gone into that decayed house 
 and lived there, and the greater part of the time 
 since it had stood empty, for no one could live there 
 who did not have the skill to stop the decaying, and 
 with a little work fill up and mend the holes and 
 gaps in some way or other. The winter in Doerfli 
 was long and cold. The wind blew from every 
 direction through the rooms so that the lights were 
 blown out, and the' poor people shook with cold. 
 But the Uncle knew how to manage. As soon as 
 he had decided to spend the winter in Doerfli, he 
 took the old house, and often during the autumn he 
 came down to repair things, as he wanted. About 
 the middle of October he had come down with 
 Heidi. 
 
 Entering the house from the rear one came at 
 once to an open space, where the entire wall on one 
 side and the half on the other had fallen in. An 
 arched window was still to be seen above this, but 
 the glass had fallen off long ago and a thick ivy 
 crept around it and high up to the roof, half of 
 ■which was still in its place. It was splendidly 
 arched, and it could readily be seen that it had been 
 the chapel. There being no door, one came directly 
 to a large hall, and there still could be seen some 
 beautiful tiles on the floor, between which the grass 
 had grown up thickly. Half of the walls had fallen 
 17 
 
258 HEIDI. 
 
 in and pieces of the ceiling had dropped down, and 
 had it not been for the few pillars the whole roof 
 would have caved in ; as it was, one would have 
 thought that it would fall on the heads of those who 
 stood underneath. 
 
 Here the Uncle had put up a partition of boards 
 all around and had the floor thickly spread with 
 hay, for the goats were to stay in this old hall. 
 
 Then there were all sorts of passageways, all 
 half open, so that the sky could be seen through, 
 and from some places the meadow and the road out- 
 side. But above all the heavy oaken door still 
 hung firmly on its hinges, and one came to a large 
 spacious room which was stiU in good order. The 
 four solid walls were still standing, and the wains- 
 coting did not show any break. In one corner 
 stood a huge stove which almost reached the 
 ceiling. On the white tiles were painted big blue 
 pictures. There were old towers on them with 
 tall trees round about, under which a huntsman 
 passed with dogs. There was also a tranquil sea 
 under big shady oaks and a fisherman standing 
 by it was holding his rod far out over the water. 
 There was a bench around the stove so that one 
 could sit down and study the pictures. Heidi 
 was at once pleased with this. As soon as she 
 entered the room with her grandfather she ran 
 straight to the stove, sat down on the bench and 
 began to look at the pictures. But as she moved 
 further on the bench and came behind the stove, 
 a new sight occupied her whole attention ; in the 
 
THE WINTER IN DOERFU. 259 
 
 quite large space between the stove and the wall 
 four boards were placed as if it were an apple-bin. 
 But there were no apples in it; it was doubtless 
 Heidi's bed, just as it was on the Aim, with the 
 linen sheet and a bag for a coverlet. Heidi 
 shouted : , 
 
 " Oh, grandfather, that is my chamber. Oh 
 how beautiful 1 But where are you going to sleep 1 " 
 
 " Tour chamber must be near the stove, so that 
 you won't freeze," said the grandfather ; " you may 
 also see mine." 
 
 Dancing through the spacious room, Heidi fol- 
 lowed her grandfather, who opened a door on the 
 opposite side, which led into a little room, where 
 the old man had put his bed. Then there was 
 another door. Heidi opened it quickly and stood 
 still in astonishment ; it was a spacious room which 
 looked like a kitchen, the like of which she had 
 never seen in her life. The grandfather had a great 
 deal to do on it, and there was still much to be 
 done, for there were large holes and wide cracks 
 in the walls on every side, through which the 
 wind blew in, although so many of them were 
 nailed with boards that looked like little cup- 
 boards all around in the wall. The grandfather 
 had also succeeded in repairing the great old door 
 with a great many wires and nails so that it could 
 be shut ; and it was a good thing, as it led to an- 
 other part of the building which was entirely in 
 ruins, where weeds and briers had grown up and 
 multitudes of beetles and lizards had their homes. 
 
260 HEIDI. 
 
 Heidi felt happy in the new house, and the very 
 next day when Peter came to see how it looked, she 
 had already examined every nook and corner so 
 thoroughly that she was familiar with everything 
 and could lead Peter everywhere. She absolutely 
 gave him no rest tUl he had seen all the wonder- 
 ful things from one end of the house to the other. 
 
 Heidi slept excellently in her corner by the stove, 
 but in the morning she always thought she had 
 awakened on the Alps and she must immediately 
 open the door of the hut to see if the reason the fir 
 trees were not roaring was because they were in 
 the deep heavy snow, and their branches were bent 
 down by its weight. So every morning she had 
 first to look this way and that for a long time, until 
 she could recall where she really was, and every 
 time she felt something on her heart, which stifled 
 and pressed her, when she realized that she was not 
 at home on the Aim. But when she heard her grand- 
 father talking outside with Schwaenli and Baerii, 
 the goats bleated so loudly and gaily as if to call to 
 her, " Get ready and come out, Heidi," then she 
 realized she was at home, and she jumped cheerfully 
 out of her, bed and went out as quickly as possible 
 to the big goat barn. But on the fourth day Heidi 
 said anxiously : ' 
 
 " To-day I must go up to the grandmother, she 
 cannot stay alone so long." 
 
 But the grandfather did not agree to it. Not to- 
 day, even not to-morrow," said he. " The snow is 
 several feet deep on the Aim and it still keeps snow- 
 
THE WINTER IN DOERFLI. 261 
 
 ing; strong Peter can hardly come through it. A 
 little creature like you would be snowed in and 
 covered over and never would be found again. Wait 
 a little while longer, when it will freeze over, then 
 you can easily walk over the crust." 
 
 Heidi felt very much grieved at first at being 
 obliged to wait. But there was so much work to be 
 done nowadays that the time passed away very 
 quickly. 
 
 Every morning and every afternoon now Heidi 
 went to school in Doerfli, and learned very readily 
 what was to be learned. But she hardly ever saw 
 Peter in school, for he rarely came. The teacher 
 was a quiet man, who would now and then say : 
 
 " Peter does not seem to be here again ; school 
 would do him good ; but there is, no doubt, a great 
 deal of snow up there, and he possibly cannot get 
 through." 
 
 But toward evening, when the school was over, 
 Peter usually got through and paid a visit to Heidi. 
 
 After a few days the sun came out again and 
 threw its rays over the white surface of the earth, 
 but it soon went down again behind the mountains, 
 as if it felt no pleasure to look down as in summer, 
 when everything is green and in bloom. But in the 
 evening the moon rose very bright and large, and 
 during the whole night shone over the vast snow- 
 fields, and the next morning the whole of the Alps 
 glistened and glittered from top to bottom like a 
 crystal. When Peter wanted to jump out of his 
 window into the deep snow, as he had done on the 
 
262 HEIDL 
 
 preceding days, something happened to him which 
 he had not expected. He took a leap out of the 
 window, but instead of coming down into the soft 
 snow, he struck on an extremely hard place and un- 
 wittingly rolled quite a distance down the mountain 
 like an empty sled. Very much surprised he stood 
 once more on his feet and began to stamp with all his 
 might on the snow to ascertain whether what had 
 happened to him was really possible. It was surely 
 so ; though he stamped and beat ever so hard with 
 his heels, he could scarcely break off a little bit of ice ; 
 the whole Aim was frozen as hard as a rook. Peter 
 liked it, for he knew that this state of things was 
 necessary in order to make it possible for Heidi to 
 come up there again. He quickly turned back, 
 swallowed down his milk, which his mother had 
 just put on the table, tucked his piece of bread into 
 his pocket and said in haste : 
 
 " I must go to school." 
 
 " Yes, go, and study well," said his mother con» 
 sentingly. 
 
 Peter crawled out of the window, for they were 
 now completely walled in on account of the ice 
 mountain in front of the door, and palling his little 
 sled after him, sat down on it, and shot down the 
 mountain. 
 
 It went just like lightning. When he came to 
 the place near Doerfli, where it goes down towards 
 Mayenfeld, Peter went on, for it occurred to him 
 that he might hurt himself and his sled, if he should 
 stop at once. So he kept going till he reached a 
 
THE WINTER IN DOERFLL 263 
 
 level place where the sled ceased of itself going 
 further. Then he got out of it and looked around. 
 The force of the descent had taken him pretty far 
 beyond Mayenf eld. Now he thought, in any case, he 
 would reach the school too late, as it had begun long 
 ago, and he could hardly climb up there in less than 
 an hour. So he had plenty of time for his return. 
 This he did, and reached Doerfli when Heidi had 
 just come back from the school and was sitting 
 down to dinner with her grandfather. Peter went 
 in, and at this time he had a particular thought to 
 communicate, for it had made strong impression on 
 his mind and he felt as if he must get rid of it as soon 
 as he entered the room. 
 
 " "We've got it at last," said Peter, standing still 
 in the middle of the room. 
 
 ""What, what, general? It sounds pretty war- 
 like," said the Uncle. 
 
 "The snow," replied Peter, 
 
 " Oh I oh 1 Now I can go to the grandniother," 
 shouted Heidi who had at once understood what 
 Peter meant. " But why didn't you come to school ? 
 you could slide down without any diflfioulty," she 
 added reproachfully, for it occurred to Heidi that 
 it was not right to stay away from school, if one 
 could go as well as not. 
 
 " I went too far on my sled ; then it was too late," 
 replied Peter. 
 
 " That's what we call desertion," said the tTncle^ 
 "and those who do that are taken by the ears I 
 Do you understand i " 
 
264: HEIDI. 
 
 Being frightened Peter palled his cap this way 
 and that Way, for there was no one in the world for 
 whom he had so great a respect as for the Alm-Unole. 
 
 " And besides, a leader such as you are ought to 
 feel doubly ashamed to run away," continued the 
 Uncle. " What would you think if your goats should 
 run in different directions and no longer follow you 
 and do what is not good for them. "What would 
 you do then ? " 
 
 " I would beat them," answered Peter, being 
 skilled in it. 
 
 "Supposing a boy should do the same as an 
 unmanageable goat and should be whipped, what 
 would you say then ? " 
 
 " He well deserved itj" was the answer. 
 
 " So you understand now, goat-colonel. If you 
 should go by the school on your sled at any time 
 when you ought to go in, then come to me and get 
 what you deserve." 
 
 Now Peter understood what it all meant, that he 
 Iregarded a boy who runs away like an unruly goat. 
 He was much impressed by the resemblance and 
 looked into the corner somewhat anxiously to see 
 whether he could discover such a thing as he would 
 Use in such cases for the goats. 
 
 But the Uncle said encouragingly : 
 
 " Come to the table now and keep us company, 
 then Heidi may go with you. Bring her back home 
 again in the evening and you will find your supper 
 here." 
 
 This unexpected turn of affairs was exceedingly 
 
THE WINTER IN DOEEFLI. 265 
 
 delightful to Peter; he twisted his face into every 
 direction with delight. He at once obeyed and sat 
 down beside Heidi. But the child had already had 
 enough, and she could swallow no more. She felt so 
 happy at being allowed to go and see the grand- 
 mother. She pushed the big potato and the toasted 
 cheese which was left on her plate towards Peter, 
 whose plate was already filled from the other side 
 by the Uncle, so that it was stacked up in front of 
 him; but he did not lack the courage to attack it. 
 Heidi ran to the cupboard and took out the little 
 cloak Clara had sent her. Now she could start on 
 her journey, wrapped' up warmly with the hood 
 over her head. She placed herself close by Peter, 
 and as soon as the latter shoved in the last mouthful 
 in his mouth, she said : 
 
 " Now come ! " 
 
 Then they started to go. Heidi had a great many 
 things to tell Peter about Schwaenli and Baerli; 
 how they both had not eaten hardly anything the 
 first few days in their new barn ; how they had 
 hung their heads all the day long and not madea 
 sound. She had asked the grandfather why they 
 did so, and he had said they did the same as she 
 herself had done in Frankfort, for they had never 
 been down from the Aim in their whole lives. 
 And Heidi added : 
 
 " You ought to have that experience yourself to 
 know what it's like, Peter." 
 
 They had almost reached the end of their journey 
 before Peter had uttered a simple word, and it ap- 
 
266 HEIDI. 
 
 peared as if he was occupied with a deep thought, 
 so that he could not even listen properly. 
 
 "When they had reached the hut, Peter stood still 
 and said somewhat crossly : 
 
 "I would much rather go to school than take 
 from the Uncle what he said." 
 
 Heidi was of the same opinion and encouraged 
 him in his decision. 
 
 Peter's mother was sitting alone in the room, busy 
 with her mending ; she said the grandmother had to 
 stay in bed all day, as it was too cold for her, and 
 that her general health was not very good. It was 
 something new for Heidi, for the grandmother al- 
 ways sat in her place in the corner. She immedi- 
 iately ran into the bedroom to see her. She was en- 
 tirely wrapped up in the gray cloth and lay in her 
 narrow bed with the thin coverlet. 
 
 *' God be praised ! " said the grandmother as soon 
 as she heard Heidi running in. During the whole 
 autumn she had experienced a secret anxiety with- 
 in her which she still felt especially when Heidi did 
 not come to see her for a long time. 
 
 Peter had informed her how a gentleman from 
 Frankfort had been there and always came to the 
 pasture and spent all his time talking with Heidi ; 
 and the grandmother could not help thinking that 
 the gentleman had come to take Heidi away with 
 him. Later, when he had even departed alone, she 
 felt some anxiety in her heart every now and then, 
 that some one might be sent to take the child back 
 to Frankfort. 
 
THE WINTER IN DOERFLI. 267 
 
 Heidi immediately ran to the sick-bed and asked 
 with concern : 
 
 " Are yon very sick, grandmother ? " 
 
 " No, no, my child," said the old lady, soothingly 
 stroking Heidi affectionately ; " the frost has gone 
 into my limbs a little." 
 
 " "Will you recover as soon as it is warm again ? '* 
 asked Heidi urgently. 
 
 " Yes, yes, if it be God's will before then, that I 
 may go to my spinning-wheel. I thought I might 
 try it even to-day ; I will start to-morrow anyway," 
 said the grandmother confidently, for she had 
 noticed that the child was frightened. 
 
 Her words calmed Heidi, who was greatly alarmed, 
 for she had never seen the grandmother sick in bed 
 before. She looked at her in astonishment and then 
 said: 
 
 " In Frankfort people put on a shawl when they 
 take a walk. Tou may have possibly thought that 
 you must put it on when you go to bed, grand- 
 mother." 
 
 "Tou know, Heidi," she replied, "I take the 
 shawl over me when I am in my bed so as not to 
 catch cold. I am so glad to haVe it, as the coverlet 
 is a little too thin." 
 
 " But, grandmother," began Heidi again, " your 
 head goes downwards while it ought to go up ; a bed 
 must not be like that." 
 
 " I know it very well, my child, I realize it per- 
 fectly well," and the grandmother tried to find a 
 better place for her head on the piUow, which lay 
 
268 HEIDL 
 
 like a thin board, " you see, the pillow was never 
 particularly thick, and I have slept on it for so many 
 years now that I have flattened it down pretty well." 
 
 "If I had only asked Clara in Frankfort whether 
 I couldn't take my bed with me," said Heidi ; " there 
 they had three big thick pillows one on top of the 
 other, that I could not sleep, and always slipped 
 down where it was flat, and then I had to move]; up 
 again, because I should not sleep so. Could you 
 sleep like that, grandmother ? " 
 
 "Yes, indeed, it would make me warm, and I 
 could breathe so easily, if I could lie with my head 
 high," said the grandmother, raising her head a 
 little with difficulty as if to find a higher place for 
 it. But let us not talk about it. I must thank the 
 dear Lord for so many things, which many other 
 sick old people do not have, — the nice roUs, which 
 I always get, and this beautiful warm cloth and your 
 coming to see me, Heidi. Will you read something 
 to me again to-day ? " 
 
 Heidi ran out and brought the old hymn book. 
 She now found one beautiful hymn after another, 
 for she knew them well and delighted to hear them 
 again, for she had not heard all the verses she was 
 so fond of for many days. 
 
 The grandmother lay there with folded hands and 
 a cheerful smile spread now on her face, which at 
 first looked so grieved, as if a great luck had just 
 come to her. 
 
 Suddenly Heidi stopped. 
 
 " Have you already recovered, grandmother? '* 
 
THE WINTER IN DOERFLI. 269 
 
 *• I am feeling well, Heidi, it has done me good ; 
 read it to the end, will you ? " 
 
 The child continued, and when she came to the last 
 words, the grandmother repeated them over and 
 over and a great joyful expectation rested on her 
 face. Heidi felt very happy over it. The whole 
 sunny day of her journey home came before her 
 eyes and she exclaimed with joy. 
 
 " I know how one feels when he is on his way 
 home." 
 
 She did not answer, but she had understood the 
 words perfectly well, and the expression which 
 pleased Heidi so well was still on her face. 
 
 After a while the child said again : 
 
 " It's getting dark now, grandmother, I must go 
 home ; but I am very glad that now you feel so well 
 again." 
 
 The grandmother took the child's hand in hers 
 and held it fast ; then she said : 
 
 " Yes, I am so glad again, even if I must lie down 
 here, I feel satisfied. You see nobody, who has not 
 had experience, knows what it is to lie down all 
 alone for many, many days and not to hear a word 
 from any one and not to be able to see — not to see 
 even a single sunbeam. And then such gloomy 
 thoughts come to one that it sometimes seems that 
 it would never become bright again ; and one can- 
 not stand it any longer. But if one hears the words 
 which you have just read to me, it is as if a light 
 ^ould shine in one's heart, which would make one 
 happy again." 
 
270 HEEDL 
 
 Now the grandmother let go the child's hand and 
 after she had bidden her good night she ran into 
 the back room and quickly drew Peter out, for it 
 had already grown dark. But outside stood the 
 moon in the sky and shone bright on the white 
 snow as if the day had just begun again. 
 
 Peter prepared his sled and sat down on it in 
 .front, and Heidi behind. They shot down the 
 Aim just as if they were two birds flying through 
 the air. 
 
 Later Heidi was lying on her comfortable high 
 bed of hay behind the stove. She remembered the 
 grandmother again, and how uncomfortable her 
 head lay. Then she thought of all that the old lady 
 had said, and the light which the words had kindled 
 in her heart. Besides, she thought, if the grand- 
 mother could only hear the words every day, then 
 it would do her good and she would be well again. 
 But she knew a whole week, and perhaps two, might 
 pass by, before she could go up to her. This seemed 
 so sad to Heidi — so that she had to think more over 
 the matter to be able to find out some way that the 
 grandtftother might hear the words every day. 
 Suddenly she thought of some help for her, and she 
 was so glad of it, and it seemed to her as if she 
 could not wait for the morning to come to be able 
 to carry out her plan. So all of a sudden she sat 
 straight up in her bed again, for she had not sent up 
 her evening prayer to the dear Lord, as she had 
 been in deep thoughts ; and she must try never to 
 forget that again. 
 
THE WINTER IN DOERFLL 271 
 
 When she had prayed earnestly from her heart 
 for herself, for her grandfather and for the grand- 
 mother, she at once fell back into her soft hay bed 
 and slept very soundly and peacefully until the 
 bright morning. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 THS WINTEB OOKTIN1TES. 
 
 Thb next day Peter came down to school on his 
 sled just on time. He had brought his midday meal 
 with him in his bag, for this was the custom. When 
 all the children of Doerfli had gone home at noon, 
 then all the boys, who came from a distance, sat 
 down on the class tables, put their feet firmly against 
 the seats and spread out the food they had brought 
 on their knees to eat their midday meal. They 
 could have a good time of it until one o'clock, 
 when the school began again. After Peter had 
 spent the day at school he would go over to the 
 IJncle's, and pay Heidi a visit. 
 
 When the school was over to-day, Heidi went into 
 the Uncle's big room. She rushed toward Peter, 
 for she had been waiting for him. 
 
 " Peter, I know something," she called to him. 
 
 « Tell me," he replied. 
 
 " Tou must learn to read now," was the news. 
 
 " I have already done it," was the reply. 
 
 " Well, well, Peter, I don't mean so," said Heidi 
 BTgently, " I mean so that one can understand you." 
 
 " That I can't," remarked Peter. 
 
 "No one would believe that any longer, and I 
 273 
 
THE WINTER CONTINUES. 273 
 
 don't either;" said Heidi very decidedly. "The 
 grandmamma in Frankfort knew that it was not true 
 and she told me then not to believe it." 
 
 Peter was astonished at this news. 
 
 "I will teach you to read; I know very well 
 how to do it," continued Heidi ; " you must learn it 
 and then read one or two hymns to the grandmother 
 every day." 
 
 " Nonsense," grumbled Peter. 
 
 This obstinate resistence to what was good and 
 right and which Heidi had set her hopes on made 
 her angry. With flashing eye she placed herself in 
 front of the boy and said threateningly : 
 
 " Then I will tell you what will come to you next, 
 if you will never learn anything. Tour mother has 
 already said twice you must also go to Frankfort to 
 learn all sorts of things, and I know very well 
 where the boys go to school there. Clara showed 
 me the frightful big house when we were out driving. 
 But they go there not only when they are mere boys 
 but even when they get to be big men ; I have seen 
 that myself, and then you must not think that there 
 is only one teacher, as the one you have now, and 
 such a kind one. They go in big rows, many of them 
 together, into the house, and every one dressed in 
 black exactly as if they were going to church, and 
 have such high black hats on their heads," — and 
 Heidi showed the size of the hats measuring from 
 the floor up. 
 
 A shudder ran through the whole length of Peter's 
 back. 
 i8 
 
274r HEIDL 
 
 "And then you will have to go in among all the 
 gentlemen," continued Heidi eagerly, "and when 
 your turn comes and you are not able to read, and 
 make mistakes in spelling, then you will see how 
 the gentlemen will laugh at you. That is worse than 
 what Tinette used to do, and you ought to know 
 how it is, when she laughs at you." 
 
 "Then I will," said Peter half wofully, half 
 peevishly. 
 
 In a moment Heidi was soothed. 
 
 " Well, that is right ; then we will begin at once," 
 she said delightfully, and in her active way she drew 
 Peter close to the table and brought out the necessary 
 articles 
 
 In Clara's big package there was a little book 
 which pleased Heidij and she had thought last night, 
 that it could be used with advantage in teaching 
 Peter, for it was an A B C book. 
 
 Now both of them sat down at the table, bending 
 their heads over the little book, and the lesson 
 began. 
 
 " Peter, learn the first three letters now." 
 
 He repeated them constantly so long that Heidi 
 said: 
 
 " You know these three now." 
 
 As she noticed that Peter's interest was aroused 
 a little by the means used for that purpose, she 
 wanted to prepare for the following lesson and said : 
 
 " Wait, I will name a few more letters, and you 
 will see what will come next." 
 
 After giving the names of a few letters, Heidi 
 
THE WINTER CONTINUES. 275 
 
 Stopped. Peter was a» still as a mouse, so that she 
 had to see what he was doing. All the threatenings 
 and the secret terrors pressed him so hard that he 
 could not stir a muscle and was staring at Heidi, 
 filled with fright. 
 
 This immediately touched Heidi's soft heart, and 
 she said consolingly : 
 
 " You must not be afraid, Peter. Come to me every 
 day, and if you learn as well as you have to-day, 
 after a while you will know all the letters and then 
 nothing will be done to you. But you must come 
 every day the same as you go to school ; even if it 
 should snow, it won't do you any harm." 
 
 Peter promised to do so, for the terrifying im- 
 pression had made him entirely civil and gentle. 
 Then he started for home. 
 
 Peter followed Heidi's orders exactly, and every 
 afternoon studied the other letters zealously. 
 
 Even the grandfather often sat in the room and 
 listened to the exercise, smoking his pipe with 
 pleasure ; and now and then the corners of his mouth 
 twitched as if a great hilarity would from time to 
 time take possession of him. 
 
 After the great struggle Peter was often invited 
 to remain there and partake of their supper, which 
 richly rewarded him for the anxiety he had en- 
 dured. 
 
 The winter days passed in this way. Peter came 
 regularly and made very good progress in the al- 
 phabet, so that in a few days he could recite all the 
 letters successively. 
 
276 HEIDI. 
 
 The snow had become soft again, and it snowed 
 day after day, so that Heidi was not able to go to 
 see the grandmother for three long weeks. But for 
 that reason she was more eager in her work with 
 Peter so that he might take her place and read hymits 
 to the grandmother. One evening Peter came home 
 from Heidi's and ran into the room a,nd said : 
 
 " I can do it now." 
 
 " What can you do, Peterkin ? " asked his mother^ 
 full of expectations. 
 
 " Keading," he answered. 
 
 " Is it possible ? Have you heard, grandmother ? " 
 exclaimed Brigitte. 
 
 The grandmother had heard it and had to wonder 
 how it had happened. 
 
 " Now I must read you a hymn, for Heidi said 
 so," he continued. His mother took down the book 
 quickly, and the grandmother was glad, as she had 
 not heard the good words for a long timCi Peter 
 sat down at the table and began to read. His mother 
 sat down beside him to listen ; after each verse she 
 said in astonishment : 
 
 " Who could have thought it ? " 
 
 The grandmother, too, followed one verse after 
 the other, but said nothing about it. 
 
 The day after this occurrence it happened that 
 Peter's class in the school had a reading exercise. 
 When it was Peter's turn, the teacher said : 
 
 "Peter,'shall I pass by you as usual, or will you 
 this time — well, I will not say read, but I will say 
 try to stammer through a line ? " 
 
THE WINTER CONTINUES. 277 
 
 Peter began and read successively without stop- 
 ping. 
 
 The teacher laid his book on one side in dumb as- 
 tonishment. He looked at Peter as if he had never 
 before seen anything like it. Finally he said : 
 
 " Peter, a miracle must have taken place ! As long 
 as I worked over you with indescribable patience, 
 you were not even able to grasp the spelling cor- 
 rectly. And now that I have, although unwillingly, 
 given up the work with you as useless, it happens 
 that you come out and show yourself not only able 
 to spell, but to read regularly and even distinctly. 
 "Where could such a miracle have come from in our 
 time, Peter?" 
 
 " From Heidi," answered Peter. 
 
 Greatly surprised the teacher looked towards 
 Heidi, who was sitting on her bench quite inno- 
 cently, so that nothing unusual was to be seen on her 
 face. He went on to say : 
 
 " I have noticed a change in you, Peter ; while 
 previously you used to be absent many weeks at a 
 time, lately you have not stayed away even a day. 
 How could such a change have come over you for 
 better ? " 
 
 " From the Uncle," was his answer. 
 
 "With greater astonishment the teacher looked 
 from Peter to Heidi, and from the latter back again 
 to the former. 
 
 " We will try it once more," said he cautiously, 
 and Peter had to try his knowledge with three lines 
 more. It was a fact, he had learned to read. 
 
278 HEIDI. 
 
 As soon as the school had finished, the teacher 
 hastened over to the pastor to inform him of what 
 had happened, and in what a gratifying way the 
 Uncle and Heidi were working for the congrega- 
 tion. 
 
 Now every evening Peter read a hymn ; so far he 
 obeyed Heidi, but no farther, for he never under- 
 took a second one, and the grandmother never re- 
 quested him to do so. 
 
 His mother Brigitte still wondered every day 
 that Peter could have accomplished so much, and 
 many evenings, when the reading was over and the 
 reader lay in his bed, she would say to the grand- 
 mother, again and again : 
 
 " "We can't be too happy, Peterkin having learned 
 to read so beautifully ; and no one can tell what he 
 may yet become." 
 
 The grandmother would then answer : 
 
 " Yes, it is such a good thing for him that he has 
 learned something; but I shall be heartUy glad if 
 the dear Lord sends the spring soon, so that Heidi 
 can come up again. It is as if she read entirely 
 difiFerent the hymns. Peter leaves out many things 
 from the verses when he reads them, so that I have 
 hard work to follow out the thoughts ; and the 
 impression does not-reach my heart as it does when 
 Heidi reads the words." 
 
 The reason for it was, that when Peter read 
 it, he often arranged the words to suit himself, so 
 that it would not be too difficult for him. If a 
 word came that was *vo long or looked difficult, h« 
 
THE WINTER CONTINUES. 279 
 
 preferred to leave it entirely out, for he thought 
 the grandmother would not know the difference if 
 he left out three or four words in a verse, and many 
 others came afterwards. So it came about that 
 there were almost no nouns in the hymns Peter 
 read. 
 
CHAPTER VL 
 
 THE DISTANT FEIENDS AEK STIEEDK}. 
 
 Mat had come. From every height the over- 
 flowing spring brooks were rushing down into the 
 valley. A warm bright sunshine lay on the Alp. 
 It had grown green again ; the last snow had melted 
 away and the first little flowers, awakened by the al- 
 luring sunbeams, were already peeping up with their 
 bright eyes out of the fresh grass. The gay spring 
 wind over there was blowing through the fir trees 
 and shaking off the old dark needles, so that the 
 young, bright, grean ones could come out and adorn 
 the trees with splendor. High above the old bird of 
 prey was swinging his wings in the blue air, and 
 around the Aim hut the golden sunshine lay warm 
 on the ground, drying up the last damp places, so 
 that one could sit down wherever one liked. 
 
 Heidi was on the Alps again. She ran here and 
 there, and could not make out which was the most 
 beautiful place. She now listened to the wind as it 
 blew down from the rocks above, deep and myste- 
 rious, always coming nearer and growing mightier 
 and rushing into the fir trees, tossing and shaking 
 them. It seemed as if it were shouting for joy ; 
 and Heidi had to shout, too, and was blown hither 
 280 
 
THE DISTANT FRIENDS ABE STIRRING. 281 
 
 and thither like a little leaf. Then she ran to the 
 sunny spot in front of the hut again and sat down 
 on the ground and gazed at the short grass to dis« 
 cover how many little flower-cups were going to 
 open or had already opened. There were so many 
 gay gnats and little beetles hopping, crawling, and 
 dancing in the sun in great delight, and Heidi en- 
 joyed herself with them, and drew in long breaths 
 of the spring fragrance, which rose out of the earth 
 just burst open, and thought that it had never 
 looked so beautiful on the Alps before. The thou- 
 sand little creatures must have been happy as she 
 was, for it seemed exactly as if they were humming 
 and singing in perfect delight : 
 
 " On the Alps ! on the Alps ! on the Alps I " 
 From the workshop behind the hut every now and 
 then came the sound of hammering and sawing, and 
 Heidi listened to it, as it was the old familiar sound 
 which she knew so weU, and which she had heard ever 
 since she had come to the Alps. She wanted now 
 to jump up and run there at once, for she was de- 
 sirous to know what her grandfather was doing. 
 There stood at the workshop door a brand new 
 stool all ready for use, and the grandfather was work- 
 ing skilfully on a second one. 
 
 " Oh, I know what it is going to be ! " called out 
 Heidi in her delight. " "We shall need it if they 
 come from Frankfort. That is for the grand- 
 mamma, and the one you are working on now is 
 for Clara, and then — there must be one more," con- 
 tinued Heidi hesitating, "or don't you believe^ 
 
282 HEIDI. 
 
 grandfather, that Miss Kottenmeier will come with 
 them ? " 
 
 " That I cannot tell," remarked the grandfather, 
 " but it is safer to have one ready, so that we caji 
 invite her to sit down if she comes." 
 
 Heidi looked thoughtfully at the little wooden 
 stool without a back, and silently considered how 
 such a little thing would suit Miss Kottenmeier ; 
 after a while she said, shaking her head doubt- 
 fully: 
 
 " Grandfather, I don't believe that she would sit 
 on it." 
 
 " Then we will invite her to sit on the sofa with 
 the beautiful green grass covering," answered the 
 grandfather calmly. 
 
 When Heidi was still thinking where the beauti- 
 ful sofa with the green grass covering was, suddenly 
 there sounded from above a whistling and calling 
 through the air, and Heidi knew right away what it 
 meant. She ran out and was surrounded, in a twin- 
 kling, by the goats, which were jumping down. They 
 must have been as happy as Heidi, to be on the Alps 
 again, for they jumped higher and bleated as never 
 before, and Heidi was pushed hither and thither, for 
 every one wished to come near her and express its 
 joy. But Peter drove them all away, some to the 
 right and others to the left, for he had a message for 
 Heidi. When he had pressed forward to her, he 
 held out a letter to her. 
 
 " There ! " he said, leaving Heidi to find out further 
 explanation for herself. She was greatly surprised. 
 
THE DISTANT FRIENDS ARE STIRRING. 283 
 
 " Did you find a letter for me on the pasture ? " 
 she asked in astonishment. 
 
 " No," was the reply. 
 
 " Where did you get it then, Peter? " 
 
 " Out of my bread bag." 
 
 It was true. The previous evening the postman 
 in Doerfli had given him the letter for Heidi. Peter 
 had put it in the empty bag. In the morning he 
 had put his cheese and his piece of bread on it and 
 had started for the pasture. Though he had seen 
 the Uncle and Heidi, when he went for their goats, 
 he never thought about it, but when he had finished 
 his bread and cheese at noon and was shaking the 
 crumbs out of the bag, the letter fell out of it. 
 
 Heidi read her address attentively, then she ran to 
 her grandfather in the shop and held out the letter 
 to him in great joy, shouting : 
 
 " From Frankfort 1 From Frankfort ! From 
 Clara! Will you hear it right away, grand- 
 father i " 
 
 The old man was ready to hear it, as was Peter, 
 who had followed Heidi. He leaned his back against 
 the door-post to have a firm support while she was 
 reading her letter, as it was easier to follow Heidi so : 
 
 " Deab Heidi : 
 
 "We have already packed up everything and 
 in two or three days we shall start on our journey, 
 as soon as papa can get ready ; but he is not 
 going to come with us ; he must go to Paris first. 
 The doctor comes every day and caUs out in front 
 
284 HEIDI. 
 
 of the door: *Away,! Away! To the Alps!* 
 He is V 3ry impatient for us to start. If you could 
 only know how much he liked to be on the Alps ! 
 He has come to see us nearly every day the whole 
 winter, i*nd would come to me and say that he must 
 tell me about it again. Then he would sit down by 
 me and tell me about all the days he had spent with 
 you and the grandfather on the Alps, and about the 
 mountains and the flowers and the stillness so high 
 up above ; all the villages, and the streets and about 
 the splendid fresh air. He often said : ' Everybody 
 must get well up there.' He himself had become 
 quite different now from what he had been for a 
 long time, and looks quite young and cheerful again. 
 Oh, how happy I feel to think that I shall be able 
 to See aU and be with you on the Alps, and I get 
 to know Peter and the goats I At first I must stay 
 in Eagatz for about six weeks to get cured; the 
 doctor has ordered it, and afterwards we are going 
 to stay in Doerfli, and then on fine days I shall be 
 carried up the Aim in my chair to spend the day 
 with you. 
 
 " The grandmamma will come and stay with me. 
 She will also be glad to come up and see you. But 
 think of it, Miss Eottenmeier is not coming with us. 
 Almost every day the grandmamma says to her : 
 
 " ' What do you think of the journey to Switzer- 
 land, worthy Eottenmeier ? Do not feel troubled ; 
 if you like to come with us, you are at liberty to do 
 so.' 
 
 "But she expresses her thanks to her very politely 
 
THE DISTANT FRIENDS ARE STIRRING. 285 
 
 and says she would not be arrogant. But I know 
 what she is thinking about. Sebastian had given a 
 very frightful description of the Alps, when he came 
 back after he had accompanied you, — how the ter- 
 rible cliffs stared down, and the danger of falling 
 into ravines and precipices everywhere, and that it 
 was so steep climbing up, that one is in great danger, 
 at every step, of falling down backwards ; though 
 goats could climb up, but no human being could do 
 it without peril to his life — she has shuddered at 
 this description, and since then she had not been so 
 enthusiastic about the journey to Switzerland as she 
 was before. Tinette was also seized with the fright. 
 She will not come with us either. So we are com- 
 ing alone, grandmamma and I. Only Sebastian will 
 accompany us as far as Eagatz, then he can go back 
 home. 
 
 " I can hardly wait for the time to come when I 
 can see you. 
 
 " Good-by, dear Heidi, the grandmamma sends a 
 thousand greetings. 
 
 " Your true friend, 
 
 "Claea" 
 
 "When Peter had heard these words, he ran away 
 from the door-post and struck out right and left in 
 the air so recklessly and furiously with his rod that 
 all the goats took flight in the greatest terror, and 
 ran down the mountain in such heedless leaps as they 
 had seldom done. Peter rushed after them and 
 struck the air with his rod, as if to give vent to his 
 
286 HEIDI. 
 
 terrible spite on some invisible enemy. This enemy 
 was the prospect of the arrival of the guests from 
 Frankfort, and this was the trouble that made him 
 enraged. 
 
 Heidi was so full of happiness and joy that she 
 wanted to go and pay a visit to the grandmother the 
 very next day, and tell her all about it — who were 
 coming from Frankfort, and especially who were not 
 coming. This was, of course, of the greatest im- 
 portance to the grandmother, for she knew aU the 
 persons so well, and always had the greatest inter- 
 est in everything that belonged to Heidi's life. 
 
 She started early in the following afternoon ; for 
 now she could go alone once more and make her 
 visits. The sun shone very brightly again, and re- 
 mained longer in the sky. She ran rapidly down 
 the dry mountain, while the joyous May wind blew 
 behind her and pushed her along faster and faster. 
 
 The grandmother was no longer in bed ; she was 
 sitting in her corner and spinning. But there was 
 an expression on her face as if she had something in 
 her mind that troubled her. This being the case 
 since the evening before and the whole night long, 
 these thoughts had followed her and did not let her 
 sleep. Peter had come home in his great rage, and 
 she understood from his broken outcries that a crowd 
 of people from Frankfort was coming up to the Aim 
 hut. What would happen next, he did not know ; 
 but the grandmother thought still further and made 
 her conclusions, and it was just this which troubled 
 her and kept her from sleeping. 
 
THE DISTANT FRIENDS ARE STIRRING. 287 
 
 Heidi ran in and wWt straight to the grand- 
 mother, sat down on her little stool, which stood 
 there all the time, and told her all she knew with 
 such an eagerness that she herself began to compre- 
 hend it even more. But suddenly she stopped in 
 the middle of her sentence and asked anxiously : 
 
 " What is the matter, grandmother ? Doesn't all 
 this make you happy a little bit ? " 
 
 " Yes, yes, Heidi, I am glad for you, because you 
 can have such a good time with them," she answered, 
 and tried to look a little happier. 
 
 " But, grandmother, I know very well that you 
 feel troubled. Do you think Miss Kottenmeier is 
 going to come with them ? " asked Heidi, being 
 somewhat troubled herself. 
 
 " No, no ! it is nothing, it is nothing ! " said the 
 grandmother soothingly. " Give me your hand, 
 Heidi, that I may feel that you are still here. It will 
 be the best thing for you, even if I should live to 
 see it." 
 
 " I don't care to know what is best for me, if you 
 are not going to live to see it, grandmother," said 
 Heidi so decidedly that all at once a new fear arose 
 in the old lady's mind. She presumed that the 
 people from Frankfort were coming to take Heidi 
 away again, for now that she was well, it could 
 be nothing else but to take her with them. This 
 was the great anxiety of the grandmother. But 
 she felt that it was better not to let Heidi know 
 it for the present, for she was so attached to her, and 
 might possibly refuse to go with them and that 
 
288 HEIDI, 
 
 must not b«. She looked for some help, but not 
 long, for she knew only one. 
 
 " I know something, Heidi," she said, " that will 
 do good to me and bring me the good thought? back 
 again. Bead me the verse, which begins with, In 
 truth, He who created thee." 
 
 Heidi was now so well acquainted with the old 
 hymn-book that she at once found the hymn the 
 grandmother desired, and read with a clear tone .' 
 
 " In truth, He who created thee, 
 His glory in thee showing, 
 Hath long ago in This decree 
 Determin'd — all foreknowing^ 
 What good for thee 
 And thine will be. 
 In faithfulness he'll give it. 
 Curb thou thy will, 
 "Wait I be thou still, 
 To His good pleasure leave it." 
 
 "Yes, yes, that is just what I want to hear," 
 said the grandmother, feeling some relief, and the 
 expression of sorrow disappeared from her face. 
 Heidi looked at her thoughtfully and then said : 
 
 "Grandmother, does 'good' bere mean, when 
 everything is cured, that one is aU well again, isn't 
 it?" 
 
 " Yes, yes, so it is," said the grandmother, nod- 
 ding affirmingly ; " and as the dear God will make 
 it so, one can be sure how it may come out. Bead 
 it once more so that we can keep it in our mind, and 
 not forget it again." 
 
 Heidi read her verse once more and then a few 
 
THE DISTANT FRIENDS ARE STIRRING. 289 
 
 times more, for the thought of safety pleased her so 
 well. 
 
 "When the evening had come, and Heidi was 
 climbing up the mountain again, one little star after 
 another came out over her and sparkled and shone 
 down at her as if each one wanted to send a great 
 delight into her heart with its bright beams. Heidi 
 had to stand still every moment and look up. And 
 they in every part of the sky looked down with 
 still greater joy. She had to cry quite loudly to 
 them. 
 
 " Tes, I know, because the dear God knows so 
 well what is wholesome and how one can have such 
 a delight and be perfectly safe." 
 
 And all the little stars sparkled and twinkled and 
 winked at Heidi continuallj'^ until she reached the 
 hut, where the grandfather was standing and also 
 looking at the stars, as they had not shone down so 
 beautifully for a long time. 
 
 But not only the nights, but also the days of this 
 month of May were brighter and clearer than they 
 had been for many years, and the grandfather often 
 looked out in the morning in surprise to see the sun 
 rising in the cloudless sky with the same splendor 
 again with which it had gone down ; he would say 
 repeatedly : 
 
 " This is an unusually sunny year ; this will have 
 a special nourishing power on the herbs. Look out, 
 leader, that your leapers don't get too arrogant from 
 the good feed." 
 
 Then Peter would swing his rod very boldly in 
 19 
 
290 EEIDL 
 
 the air and the answer was distinctly written on his 
 face. 
 
 " I'll be a match for them." 
 
 So the verdant May went by and June came with 
 its warmer sun and long, long bright days, allowing 
 all the little flowers on the whole Alp to come out 
 so that they shone and glowed all around and filled 
 the air with their sweet fragrance. This month, 
 too, was now nearing an end, when one morning 
 Heidi came running out of the hut after she had 
 finished her usual work. She wanted to go out 
 under the fir trees and a little further up to see 
 whether the big centaury bush had bloomed, for 
 the little flowers were charmingly beautiful with 
 the sun shining through them. But when Heidi 
 was about to run around the hut, she suddenly 
 shouted with all her might so loud that the Uncle 
 came out of his workshop, for it was something 
 unusual. 
 
 " Grandfather I grandfather ! " cried the child as 
 if beside herself. " Come here ! come here I See I 
 «ee I " 
 
 The grandfather appeared at the call, and his 
 eyes followed the excited child's outstretched arm. 
 
 A strange procession, such as never had been seen 
 there before, was winding up the Aim. First of all 
 two men were coming with a sedan chair in which 
 was sitting a young girl wrapped up in many 
 shawls ; then came a horse with a stately lady on his 
 back who was looking in every direction in a lively 
 manner and talking eagerly with the guide walking 
 
THE DISTANT FRIENDS ARE STIRRING. 291 
 
 by her side. Then came an empty wheel-chair, 
 pushed by another young lad, for the sick person 
 who was to sit in it was being carried more se- 
 curely up the steep mountain in the sedan chair. The 
 last one who came was a porter, who had so many 
 wrappers, shawls and furs piled up in a basket on his 
 back that they towered high above his head. 
 
 " There they are ! there they are ! " shouted Heidi, 
 jumping up and down with great joy. And they 
 were in fact coming. They came nearer and nearer, 
 and, at last, they were there. The carriers placed 
 the sedan on the ground ; Heidi ran to it. The two 
 children greeted each other with immense delight. 
 Kow the qrandmamma also came and dismounted 
 from her horse. Heidi ran to her and was greeted 
 with great tenderness. Then the grandmamma 
 turned to the Alm-TJncle, who had come there to 
 welcome her. There was no formality in their 
 greetings, for she knew him and he knew her, as if 
 they had known each other for a long time. 
 
 Immediately after exchanging the first words of 
 greeting the grandmamma said with great anima- 
 tion: 
 
 "My dear Uncle, what a fine place you have, 
 worthy of a nobleman ! Who would have thought ? 
 Many a king might envy you for that ! and how 
 healthy my Heidi looks ! — Like a little May rose," 
 she continued drawing the child to her and strok- 
 ing her fresh cheeks. "How splendid it is all 
 around ! What do you say, little Clara ? " 
 
 Clara was looking around her in total rapture. 
 
292 HEIDI. 
 
 She had never seen or imagined the like of this itt 
 her whole life, 
 
 " Oh, how beautiful it is here ! Oh, how beau, 
 tiful it is here ! " she exclaimed over and over again. 
 " I never thought it so. Oh, grandmamma I should 
 like to stay here I " 
 
 The Uncle had, in the meantime, pushed the 
 wheel-chair nearer and taken down some of the 
 shawls from the basket and arranged them in the 
 chair for a bed. Now he approached the sedan 
 chair. 
 
 " If we put the little daughter in her accustomed 
 chair, she wiU feel more comfortable ; the traveling 
 chair is a little hard for her," said he, but did not 
 wait for any one to assist him. He at once lifted 
 the sick Clara with his strong arms out of the straw 
 chair gently and placed her with the greatest care 
 in the soft seat. Then he laid the shawls over her 
 knees and wrapped her feet on the cushion as com- 
 fortably as if he had done nothing else all his life 
 but taken care of persons with weak limbs. The 
 grandmamma looked with great surprise at his way 
 of doing things. 
 
 "My dear Uncle," she exclaimed, "if I could know 
 where you have learned to care for the sick, I 
 would, this very day, send all the nurses I know 
 there to be instructed. How can such a thing be 
 possible ? " 
 
 The Uncle smiled a little. 
 
 " It comes more from experience than from study- 
 ing," he replied, but in spite of the smile, a trace of 
 
THE DISTANT FRIENDS ARE STIRRING. 293 
 
 eadness could be seen on his face. Now came before 
 his eyes the suffering face of a man who always sat 
 like this in a chair, being mutilated and unable to 
 use his limbs. It was his captain, whom he had 
 found lying on the ground in this state after a hot 
 battle in Sicily, and had carried from the field, and 
 who afterwards would only have him as his nurse 
 and would not let him go, until his bitter suffering 
 came to an end. The TJncle saw his sick captain 
 before him again. He could not help thinking that 
 it was his duty to take care of sick Clara and to 
 show her all the tender attentions which he under- 
 stood so well. 
 
 The sky stretched dark blue and cloudless over 
 the hut, the fir trees, and wide over the lofty cliffs 
 which towered high up, sparkling in gray hue. 
 Clara could not look around her enough. She was 
 in perfect rapture with all she saw. 
 
 " Oh, Heidi, if I could only go about with you, 
 all around the hut and under the fir trees ! " she ex- 
 claimed yearningly. " If I could only go with you 
 and see everything that I have known so long and 
 have never seen 1 " 
 
 Now Heidi made a great effort ; and really she 
 succeeded in rolling the chair over the dry grassy 
 ground as far as under the fir trees. Here she 
 halted. Clara had never before in her life seen such 
 tall old fir trees, the long wide branches of which 
 grew down to the ground and became gradually 
 larger and thicker. The grandmamma, too, who had 
 followed the children, stood in high admiration 
 
294 HEIDI. 
 
 there. She could not tell which was more beauti 
 ful on the old trees, the full roaring tops high in 
 the blue, or the straight strong trunks which with 
 their mighty branches could tell of so many, many 
 years during which time they had been standing 
 up there and looking down into the valley, where 
 men were coming and going, and everything was 
 always changing, but they themselves always re- 
 maining the same. 
 
 In the meantime Heidi had pushed the wheel- 
 chair in front of the goat-shed and opened the little 
 door, that Clara might see well everything in there. 
 There was, indeed, not very much to be seen now, 
 as the inmates were away. Clara called back very 
 distressfully : 
 
 " Oh, grandmamma, if I could only wait for 
 Schwaenli and Baerli and all the other goats and 
 Peter ! I cannot see them at all if we always have 
 to go back as early as you said. It's a great pity." 
 
 " My dear child, we rejoice at every beautiful thing 
 which we find here and mast not think of them that 
 are not here," said the grandmother, while she 
 followed the chair which was pushed further on. 
 
 " Oh, the flowers ! " exclaimed Clara, " whole 
 bushes of fine red little flowers and the nodding 
 bluebells I Oh, if I could only go and pick them ! " 
 
 Heidi ran at once and brought to her a big bunch 
 of them. 
 
 " But this is nothing at all, Clara," she said, laying 
 the flowers in her lap. " If you would only come 
 ap to the pasture with us, then you will see some- 
 
THE DISTANT FRIENDS ARE STIRRING. 295 
 
 thing ! In a single place there are so many, many 
 bushes of red centauries and so many more bluebells 
 than here, and so many thousand of the bright 
 yellow wild roses, that it looks exactly like pure 
 gold shining on the ground. Besides, there are still 
 some with large leaves which my grandfather says 
 are called heliopsis ; and, then, there are still the 
 brown ones, you know, with bitter round heads, 
 which smell so good and look so beautiful ! " 
 
 Heidi's eyes sparkled with longing to see again 
 what she had just described, and Clara was as if 
 she caught fire, and out of her gentle blue eyes there 
 shone a complete reflection of Heidi's fiery desire. 
 
 "Oh, grandmamma, can I go there? Do you 
 believe I can go so high up ? " she asked with great 
 eagerness. " Oh, if 1 could only walk, Heidi, and 
 so climb everywhere on the Alps with you ! " 
 
 " I win push you," said Heidi quieting her ; and 
 to show how easy it was, she took such a run round 
 the corner of the hut, that the chair had almost got 
 away from her down the mountain. But the grand- 
 father was standing near by and stopped it just in 
 time. 
 
 While they had been visiting the fir trees, the 
 grandfather had not been idle. By the bench, in 
 front of the hut, was now standing thb table and 
 the necessary chairs, and everything was ready that 
 they could partake of the fine midday meal which 
 was still steaming in the kettle and was broiling on 
 the large fork over the fire in the hut. It did not 
 take long before the grandfather had placed every- 
 
296 HEIDL 
 
 thing on the table ; and the whole company soon 
 sat down cheerfully to eat. 
 
 The grandmamma was greatly charmed with this 
 dlning-roomj from which one could look way down 
 into the valley and above all the mountains into 
 the blue sky. A mild breeze fanned the faces of 
 the company with an agreeable coolness; and the 
 rustling of the fir trees was so lovely that one would 
 think that it was music especially ordered for the 
 feast. 
 
 " Never before such a thing happened to me. It 
 is really charming!" exclaimed the grandmamma 
 over and over again. " But what do I see ? " she 
 added in highest amazement, " you took a second 
 piece of toasted cheese, my little Clara." 
 
 And really a second golden shining piece of cheese 
 was lying on Clara's slice of bread. 
 
 " Oh, it tasted so nice, grandmamma, better than 
 the whole table full of everything in Kagatz," said 
 Clara assuringly, biting the spicy food with great 
 appetite. 
 
 " Help yourself ! help yourself ! " said the Alm- 
 tJncle complacently. " It's the mountain air, which 
 helps when the kitchen fails." 
 
 So the pleasant meal went on. The grandmamma 
 and the Aim-Uncle were excellently in harmony 
 with each other, and their conversation grew 
 livelier. They agreed in their opinions about 
 people and the course of the world so well, that it 
 looked as if they had been intimate with each other 
 for many years. In this way a long time passed, 
 
THE DISTANT FRIENDS ARE STIRRING. 297 
 
 and suddenly tile grandmamma looked to the rest 
 and said: 
 
 " "We must soon get ready, little Clara, the sun is 
 going down, the people ought to be back with the 
 horse and the chair." 
 
 Immediately an expression of sadness came over 
 Clara's cheerful face, and she asked urgently : 
 
 " Oh, only an hour or two more, grandmamma ! 
 "We haven't seen the hut yet, and Heidi's bed, and 
 all the other arrangements. Oh, if we only had ten 
 hours more." 
 
 " That is not possible," thought the grandmamma, 
 but she also wanted to see the hut. 
 
 They at once rose from the table, and the Uncle 
 with a firm hand directed the chair to the door. 
 But here it would go no farther ; the chair was 
 much too wide to go through the opening. The 
 "Uncle did not stop to think long. He took Clara 
 out, and carried her in his sturdy arms into the hut. 
 
 The grandmamma went back and forth, taking 
 a careful view of the whole arrangemer^, and was 
 greatly pleased and amused with the unique way 
 the different things were arranged and everything 
 in its place. 
 
 " That's surely your bed up there, Heidi, isn't 
 it ? " she asked and immediately without fear she 
 climbed up the little ladder to the hayloft. 
 
 " Oh, what a sweet smell, this must be a healthy 
 bedroom 1" and the grandmamma went to the win- 
 dow hole and peeped through, and the grandfather 
 followed with Clara in his arms, and Heidi flew up 
 
298 HEIDI. 
 
 behind them. Now they all stood around Heidi's 
 neatly made hay bed, and the grandmamma looked 
 at it very thoughtfully, and from time to time she 
 drew in with delight long breaths of the spicy 
 fragrance of the fresh hay. Clara was exceedingly 
 charmed with Heidi's sleeping-place. 
 
 " Oh, Heidi, in what a jolly place you have 
 your bed! From your bed you can look straight 
 to the sky and have such a sweet smell around you 
 and hear the fir trees roar outside. Oh, I have never 
 seen such a jolly and pleasant bedroom before ! " 
 
 The Uncle now looked over to the grandmamma. 
 
 " I have just been thinking of something in my 
 mind," said he, "if the lady would listen to me 
 and make no objection to it. I think if we-could 
 keep this little girl up here for a short time, she 
 might gain new strength. Tou have brought so 
 many shawls and blankets, out of which we could 
 prepare a separate soft bed for her, and the lady 
 grandmamma need not be at all anxious about the 
 care of the little daughter; that I will look after 
 myself." 
 
 Clara and Heidi both shouted aloud for joy 
 like two escaped birds, and bright sunshine came 
 over the grandmamma's face. 
 
 " My dear Uncle, you are a splendid man ! " she 
 exclaimed. " How did you come to know what I 
 have just been thinking about ? I was saying to my- 
 self : Wouldn't a stay up here bring the child espe- 
 cial new strength ? But the nursing ! the care ! the 
 trouble to the host ! And you speak of it, as if it 
 
THE DISTANT FRIENDS ARE STIRRING. 299 
 
 would be nothing. I must thank you, my dear Uncle 
 I must thank you with all my heart ! " And the 
 grandmamma shook the Uncle's hand repeatedly, 
 and the Uncle also shook hers with great delight. 
 
 The Uncle at once went to work. He carried Clara 
 back to her chair in front of the hut, followed by 
 Heidi, who did not know how high to jump in her 
 joy. Then he immediately took all the shawls and 
 fur garments in his arms and smiling pleasantly 
 said: 
 
 " It is good that the lady grandmamma has come 
 prepared as if for a winter campaign ; we can use 
 them all." 
 
 " My dear Uncle," she answered with animation 
 as she approached him, " foresight is an excellent 
 virtue and a protection against many an adversity. 
 If one can travel over your mountains and get back 
 without being overtaken by storm and wind and 
 violent showers, one may feel thankful ; and we will 
 do it. And my wrappers will still be useful ; we 
 agree upon it." 
 
 During this little conversation they both climbed 
 up to the hayloft and began to spread the shawls 
 one after the other over the bed. There were so 
 many of them, that the bed finally looked like a 
 little fortress. 
 
 " Not a single wisp of hay can possibly stick 
 through it," said the grandmamma, pressing her hand 
 once more on every side ; but the soft wool was so 
 Impenetrable that not even a wisp could stick 
 through. She came down the ladder quite satisfied 
 
800 HEIDI. 
 
 and went out to the children who were sitting to- 
 gether with beaming faces talking over what they 
 should do from morning till night, as long as Clara 
 stayed on the Alps, But how long would that be ? 
 That was the great question which was immediately 
 laid before the grandmamma, who said that the 
 grandfather was the one who knew best ; they bet- 
 ter ask him. And on approaching he was asked in 
 regard to it. He said, he thought, four weeks would 
 be just about enough for them, they would be able 
 to judge whether the Alpine air would do its duty 
 by the little daughter or not. Now the children 
 shouted aloud, for the prospect of living together so 
 long surpassed all their expectations. 
 
 They now saw the porters and the guide with the 
 horse coming up again. The first turned around 
 again immediately. 
 
 When the grandmamma was preparing to mount 
 the horse, Clara called out cheerfully : 
 
 " Oh, grandmamma, this is not bidding farewell. 
 "When you go away now, you will from time to time 
 come to visit us on the Alps and see what we are 
 doing, and then it will be so delightful, won't it, 
 Heidi ? " 
 
 Heidi, who had experienced pleasure after pleasure 
 that day, could only express her affirmative answer 
 by jumping high up joyously. 
 
 Now the grandmamma mounted the strong horse 
 and the Uncle seized the bridle and led it safely 
 down the steep mountain. The grandmamma tried 
 hard not to have him go with her so far ; it was of 
 
THE DISTANT FRIENDS ARE STIRRING. 301 
 
 no use. The Uncle explained that he wished to ac- 
 company her down as far as Doerfli, for the Alps 
 were so steep and the ride not free from danger. 
 
 The grandmamma thought that as long as she 
 was all alone, she would not stay in Doerfli. She pre- 
 ferred to return to Eagatz and occasionally go up 
 the mountain from there. 
 
 Before the Uncle returned, Peter came running 
 down with his goats. When they noticed Heidi, 
 they all rushed to her. In a moment Clara, in hep 
 chair, with Heidi by her side, found herself sur- 
 rounded by the flock, and every one of the goats 
 crowding and pushing tried to see over the others, 
 and every one was immediately called and pre- 
 sented by Heidi to Clara. 
 
 So it happened, that in a very short time the long- 
 desired acquaintance with the little Scheenhoepli, 
 the jolly Distelfink, the grandfather's clean goats, 
 with all of them, up to the big Turk. But Peter 
 meanwhile stood aside and threw strange threaten- 
 ing looks on cheerful Clara. 
 
 When the two children called out in a friendly 
 way to him, " Good night, Peter ! " he made no re- 
 ply at all, but struck his rod angrily in the air, as if 
 to break it into two. Then he ran away with his 
 flock after him. 
 
 In addition to all the beautiful things which 
 Clara had seen on the Alps to-day, now there came 
 the last one. 
 
 When she was lying on the large soft bed in the 
 hayloft, where Heidi had also climbed up, she 
 
302 HEIDI. 
 
 looked through the round open window straight at 
 the twinkling stars and in full rapture she ex- 
 claimed : 
 
 " Oh, Heidi, see, it is just as if we were riding to 
 the sky in a high carriage." 
 
 " Yes, and do you know why the stars are so 
 full of joy and are winking at us with their eyes ? " 
 asked HeidL 
 
 " No, I don't know that. What do you think 
 about it ? " asked Clara. 
 
 "Because they see up in heaven how the deal 
 Lord arranges everything for people so well, that 
 they need have no anxiety and can be quite safe, 
 for everything happens in a salutary manner. 
 They are delighted in it. See how they wink so that 
 we may be happy also. But do you know, Clara, 
 we must not forget to pray ; we must ask the dear 
 God urgently to think of us also, when He ar- 
 ranges everything so beautifully, that we may al- 
 ways be safe and fear nothing." 
 
 Now the children sat up once more and each 
 said her evening prayer. Then Heidi lay on her 
 round arm and immediately fell asleep. But Clara 
 remained awake for a long time, for she had never 
 in her life seen anything so wonderful as this sleep- 
 ing-place in the starlight. She had hardly ever 
 seen the stars, for she had never been out of the 
 house at night, and the thick curtains were drawn 
 down long before the stars came out. "When she 
 closed her eyes, she had to open them again to see 
 i£ the two big bright stars were still shining in and 
 
THE DISTANT FRIENDS ARE STIRRING. 303 
 
 "WinMng as remarkably as Heidi had said. And it 
 was always so, and Clara could not feel satisfied to 
 look at their sparkling and shining until her eyes 
 closed of themselves ; and she still saw in her 
 dream two big glittering stars. 
 
CHAPTEE Vn. 
 
 WHAT ELSE HAPPENED ON THE ALPS. 
 
 The sun had just come up behind the rooks, throw- 
 ing its golden beams over the hut and down the 
 valley. The Aim-Uncle had silently and devoutly 
 been looking, as he did every morning, to see how, 
 all around on the heights, and in the valley, the 
 light mists were lifting and the land appeared out 
 of the dim shadow awaking to the new day. 
 
 The dusky morning clouds up there grew brighter 
 and brighter, until the sun came out in all its glory, 
 and the cliffs and the woods, and the mountains 
 were flooded with the golden light. 
 
 Now the Uncle went into his hut, and climbed 
 softly up the little ladder, Clara had just opened 
 her eyes and was looking in the greatest amazement 
 at the bright sunbeams, which came in through the 
 round hole, and danced and sparkled on her bed. 
 She did not know what she was looking at, and 
 where she was. But she noticed the sleeping Heidi 
 by her side, and the grandfather's kind words 
 sounded : 
 
 " Did you sleep well ? Aren't you tired ? " 
 
 Clara answered him that she was not tired, and 
 alter she was once asleep she did not wake up 
 304 
 
WHAT ELSE HAPPENED ON THE ALPS. 305 
 
 again the whole night. This pleased the grand- 
 father, and he immediately went to work and began 
 to take care of Clara as well and intelligently, as if 
 he had always taken care of sick children, making 
 them comfortable. 
 
 Heidi had opened her eyes and looked surprised 
 at the grandfather, who, having dressed Clara, had 
 taken her on his arm and was carrying her down 
 the ladder. She thought she must be with them. 
 She got ready very quickly and climbed down the 
 ladder and went out of the door and stood outside, 
 looking in great astonishment at what her grand- 
 father was doing. The evening before, when the 
 children had gone to their beds, he had been think- 
 ing where he had better take the wide rolling chair. 
 The door of the hut was narrow, so that it was im- 
 possible to go by there. Then a new idea came to 
 his mind. He pulled two large boards off the shop- 
 waU which stood in the rear of the hut so that there 
 was a wide opening. The chair was pushed in, and 
 the boards were put back in their places, though 
 they were not fastened. Heidi came there just after 
 the grandfather had put Clara in her chair, and 
 having taken away the boards was about to come 
 out of the shop with her into the morning sunlight. 
 He left the chair in the middle of the open space 
 and went into the goats' pen. Heidi ran to Clara's 
 side. 
 
 The cool morning breeze kissed the children's 
 cheeks and with every gust of wind the spicy fra- 
 grance of tiie flr trees was brought over, filling the 
 
 . ao 
 
306 HEIDL 
 
 sunny morning air. Clara drew in deep draughts 
 and leaned back in her chair with a feeling of health 
 which she had never experienped before. 
 
 Never before had she breathed in fresh morning 
 breeze out in the open air, and now the atmosphere 
 pervaded by the sweet fragrance of the flowers of 
 the Alps cooled and refreshed her, giving her fresh 
 enjoyment with every breath. Moreover, the bright, 
 sweet sunshine which never was hot up here, shone 
 so gaily, warming her hands, and the dry grassy 
 ground at her feet; Clara could have never im- 
 agined that it could be so on the Alps. 
 
 " Oh, Heidi, if I could only stay always up here 
 with you," she said, turning in her chair now this 
 and then the other way with pleasure, in order to 
 be able to draw in the air and sunshine from every 
 side. 
 
 "Now you see that it is just as I have said," 
 answered Heidi delighted, " that the most beautiful 
 place in the world is at my grandfather's on the 
 Aim." The latter was just coming out of the shed 
 to attend the children. He brought out with him 
 two mugs full of foaming snow-white milk, offering 
 one to Clara and the other to Heidi, 
 
 " This will do the little daughter good," said he 
 nodding to Clara; it is from Schwaenli and is 
 strengthening. To your good health ! Go on ! " 
 
 Clara had never drunk goat's milk, so she first 
 had to smell it to satisfy herself. But when she saw 
 with what an appetite Heidi drank down her milk 
 "vrithoat stopping even once — ^it tasted so wonder* 
 
WHAT ELSE HAPPENED ON THE ALPS. 307 
 
 fully good to her — then she also began and drank 
 and drank, and in truth it was as sweet and strength* 
 ening as if there were sugar and cinnamon in it j 
 and she drank to the very last drop of the milk. 
 
 " To-morrow we wiU take two," said the grand- 
 father, who looked with satisfaction how Clara fol- 
 lowed Heidi's example. 
 
 Now Peter appeared with his flock. All the while 
 Heidi was on all sides pushed in the midst of the 
 flock as if greeted by them. The Uncle took Peter 
 aside, that he might the better understand what he 
 had to say to him, for the goats were bleating, and 
 each tried to outdo the other and show its great 
 joy and love, as soon as Heidi was among them. 
 
 "Now listen and be obedient," said the Uncle. 
 " From to-day on let Schwaenli do what she likes. 
 She knows where the good herbs can be found ; so 
 when she wants to go up, follow her ; it is also good 
 for the rest ; and if she wishes to go higher than 
 you usually go, you must go along too, and do not 
 hold her back ; do you hear ? If you have to climb 
 a little more, it won't hurt you ; go wherever she 
 likes, for in this respect she is more sensible than 
 you. And she must have the very best to eat that 
 she will give splendid milk. Why do you look over 
 there as if you wanted to swallow some one ? No 
 one is in your way. So go along and keep in your 
 mind what I have just told you ! " 
 
 Peter was accustomed to obey the Uncle, He 
 immediately started on his march, but it could easily 
 be seen that he had still something on his min^ 
 
308 HEIDI. 
 
 for he went along turning his head and rolling his 
 eyes. The goats followed and pressed Heidi along 
 with them for a little distance. This pleased 
 Peter. 
 
 " You must come along with us," cried he threat- 
 eningly; "you must come along if you have to 
 foUow Schwaenli." 
 
 " No, I cannot," return Heidi ; " and I cannot 
 come with you for a long, long time ; as long as 
 Clara is with us. But the grandfather has promised 
 that he will let us go together some day." 
 
 Saying these words Heidi succeeded in getting 
 herself away from the goats, and ran back to Clara. 
 Then Peter stood in a threatening attitude and 
 shook his fists toward the rolling chair, that the 
 goats ran to one side, but he at once sprang after 
 them and ran a long distance without stopping un- 
 til he was out of sight, for he thought that the 
 Uncle might have seen him, and he preferred not 
 to know what kind of impression his act had made 
 on the TJnole. 
 
 Clara and Heidi had made such an elaborate plan 
 for to-day, that they did not know where to begin. 
 Heidi first proposed to write to the grandmamma 
 a letter, as they had positively promised to write 
 one for every day. The old lady did not know 
 whether Clara would like staying up there very 
 long, and whether it would agree with her health. 
 So the children had to promise to write every day, 
 and give daily report of everything. And in this 
 way the grandmamma would immediately know, 
 
WHAT ELSE HAPPENED ON THE ALPS. 30» 
 
 ^nrhen she was needed up there, and until then she 
 could stay quietly down below. 
 
 " Are we going into the hut to write ? " asked 
 Clara, who preferred to write to the grandmamma 
 before everything else ; but it was so good to be out 
 of doors that she did not like to gc away. 
 
 Heidi knew how to arrange it. In a moment she 
 ran into the hut and came back again with all her 
 school materials and a three-legged stool. Then 
 she laid her reader and writing-book in Clara's lap, 
 so that she might be able to write on them and she 
 herself sat down on her little stool by the bench. 
 They both began to tell the grandmamma of their 
 daUy experiences. But after every sentence which 
 she wrote Clara would lay down her pencil and look 
 around her. It was so beautiful. The wind was 
 no longer so cool as it was early in the morning ; 
 it blew round her face and gently fanned her and 
 whispered softly up in the fir trees. Gay little in- 
 sects danced and hummed in the clear bright air, 
 and a deep silence lay over all the sunny neighbor- 
 hood round about. The high mountains of rock 
 looked down so sublime and silent and everything 
 in the wide valley below lay in perfect peace. Only, 
 now and then, the joyful shout of some shepherd 
 boy could be heard through the air of which the 
 rocks gave the resounding echo. 
 
 The morning hours passed by ; the children did 
 not know how the grandfather came with the steam> 
 ing dish, for he thought they had better stay out- 
 doors with the little daughter as long as there was 
 
810 HEIDI. 
 
 a ray of light in the sky. So the dinner was placed, 
 as the day before, in front of the hut, and taken 
 with pleasure. Then Heidi rolled Clara in her chair 
 under the fir trees, for the children had decided to 
 spend the afternoon in the lovely shade, talking about 
 what had taken place since Heidi's departure from 
 Frankfort. Although everything continued in the 
 usual way, still there were all sorts of things to tell 
 about the people who lived in the Sesemann house, 
 and whom Heidi knew so well. 
 
 Thus sat the children together under the old fir 
 trees, and the more eager they grew in talking, the 
 louder whistled the birds up in the branches, for 
 the chatting below delighted them and they rushed 
 to take part in it. Thus the time flew away and 
 the evening came before they were aware of it ; the 
 army of goats came rushing down with their leader 
 behind with wrinkled brow and an angry expression 
 on his face. 
 
 "Good night, Peter," Heidi called out to him 
 when she saw that he was not going to stop. 
 
 " Good night, Peter," called out Clara in a 
 friendly tone. 
 
 He did not ifeturn the greeting, but kept driving 
 the goats. 
 
 When Clara saw the grandfather lead the clean 
 Schwaenli to the shed to be milked, all at once a 
 great desire rose in her for the spicy milk so that 
 she could hardly wait for the grandfather to come 
 out with it. She was surprised at it herself. 
 
 " But this is very strange, Heidi," she said, " as 
 
WHAT ELSE HAPPENED ON THE ALPS. 311 
 
 long as I can remember, I have eaten only because 
 I had to, and whatever I ate tasted just like cod- 
 liver oil ; and I had thought a thousand times : if 
 I only never had to eat ! And now I can hardly 
 wait until the grandfather comes out with the 
 milk." 
 
 " Yes, I know what that is," replied Heidi quite 
 intelligently, for she thought of the days in Frank- 
 fort, when everything stuck in her throat and would 
 not go down. But Clara did not understand it. 
 She had never before in her whole life eaten in the 
 open air, as she had done to-day, and never in this 
 strengthening mountain air. 
 
 When the grandfather came with his mugs, Clara 
 seized hers quickly, and, thanking him, drank the 
 whole without stopping, and this time finished it 
 before Heidi. 
 
 " May I have some more ? " she asked, holding out 
 the little mug to the grandfather. 
 
 He nodded pleasantly and taking Heidi's mug 
 also went back into the hut. "When he came out 
 again, he brought with each mug a high cover, only 
 made of different material from those usually used 
 in making them. 
 
 In the afternoon the grandfather had taken a walk 
 to the green Maicnsaess, to the cheese-dairy, where 
 they made sweet and bright yellow butter. He had 
 brought back from there a beautiful round ball. He 
 had taken two thick slices of bread and spread them 
 with plenty of the sweet butter. The chUdren were 
 going to have these for their supper. They both 
 
312 HEIDI. 
 
 took such large bites of the delicious bread that the 
 grandfather remained standing and looked to see 
 how they would go on, for it pleased him. 
 
 After a while when Clara was gazing at the 
 sparkling stars from her bed, she did the same as 
 Heidi : her eyes closed immediately and such a sound 
 and beautiful sleep came over her as she had never 
 known before. 
 
 The next day passed in tbjs delightful way, and 
 also another, the day after, and then came a great 
 surprise for the children. Two strong porters were 
 climbing up the mountains, each one carrying a high 
 bed on his back already in the bedstead, and both 
 had exactly the same kind of coverlet, clean and 
 brand new. The men also brought a letter from 
 the grandmamma, in which she said that these beds 
 were for Clara and Heidi, that the hay beds were to 
 be taken away ; and beginning from this day Heidi 
 must sleep in a regular bed, and in winter one of the 
 beds must be taken down into Doerfli, but the other 
 must be kept up there, so that it would always be 
 ready for Clara, if she should ever come again. 
 Moreover, 'the grandmother praised the children for 
 their long letters and encouraged them to continue 
 to write every day in order to keep her posted on 
 everything that occurred up there, as if she were 
 with them. 
 
 The grandfather hald gone in, and had throwH the 
 contents of Heidi's bed on the big heap of hay and 
 laid the coverlet aside. Then he came back to help 
 the men carry the two beds up into the loft. He 
 
WHAT ELSE HAPPENED ON THE ALPS. 813 
 
 then pushed them close together so that the view 
 through the window might be the same from both 
 pillows, for he was well aware what great delight 
 the children had in the morning and evening light 
 shining in there. 
 
 In the meantime the grandmamma was down be- 
 low in Kagatz and was highly pleased at the ex- 
 cellent reports which came every day from the Alps. 
 
 Clara's rapture for her new life increased day by 
 day, and she could not say enough about the kind 
 and anxious care of the grandfather, and how Heidi 
 was so funny and cheerful, much more than she was 
 while in Frankfort, and that the first thought that 
 *he had when she awoke every morning was : 
 
 " Oh, God be praised, I am stUl on the Alps." 
 
 The grandmamma was very much delighted at the 
 extraordinary reports she received every day. As 
 she also found everything so favorable she thought 
 she could delay her visit to the Alps a little longer, 
 which would agree with her plans, for the ride up 
 the steep mountain and down again was rather tire- 
 some for her. 
 
 The grandfather must have felt quite a special in- 
 terest in the little daughter in his charge, for every 
 day he found something new to invigorate her. 
 Every afternoon he took a long walk up among the 
 rocks, and each time he brought back a little bundle, 
 which filled the air round about with sweet fragrance 
 like spicy pinks and thyme, and when the goats 
 came back in the evening, they began to bleat and 
 to leap and would push into the shed where the 
 
314 HEIDI. 
 
 bundle lay, for they knew the odor weU. But the 
 Uncle had made the door fast, for he had not climbed 
 high up among the rocks to get the rare plants, that 
 the whole flock might enjoy a good meal. These 
 plants were all intended for Schwaenli, that she 
 might give more nutritious milk. It could easily 
 be seen how this extraordinary care had succeeded, 
 for she tossed her head more vigorously in the air, 
 and her eyes grew more fiery. 
 
 The third week had come since Clara's arrival on 
 the Alps. For several days when the grandfather 
 carried her down every morning to put her in her 
 chair, each time he said : 
 
 ""Will the little daughter not try just once to 
 stand on the ground for a little while ? " 
 
 Clara had tried to do as he wished, but always 
 immediately said : " It gives me great pain," and had 
 clung fast to him, but each day he let her try a little 
 longer. 
 
 Such a lovely summer had not been seen on the 
 Alps for years. Every day the beaming sun shone 
 through the cloudless sky and all the little flowers 
 opened their cups wide and gleamed and sent their 
 fragrance up to it, and in the evening it threw its 
 purple and rosy light on the tops of the rocks and 
 over the snow-fields, and then plunged down into a 
 blazing sea of gold. 
 
 Heidi told her friend about it over and over again, 
 for the only way to see it was to go up the pasture ; 
 and with a special enthusiasm she told her about the 
 place on the slope, what immense quantities of gli» 
 
WHAT ELSE HAPPENED ON THE ALPS. 315 
 
 tening golden wild roses there were, and so many 
 bluebells that it would lead one to think that the 
 grass there had turned blue ; and there are near by so 
 many bushes of little brown flowers which smell so 
 lovely that one has to sit down on the ground among 
 them and never leave the place. 
 
 Sitting under the fir trees, Heidi had just then 
 told Clara once more about the flowers up there, 
 the evening sun and the shining rocks, by which 
 such a longing arose in her heart to go up there 
 again, that she at once jumped up and ran forth to 
 her grandfather, who was working on his carving. 
 
 "Oh, grandfather," she called out from some 
 distance, " will you come with us up to the pasture 
 to-morrow ? Oh it is so lovely up there ! " 
 
 •' I'll do so," said the grandfather consenting, " but 
 the little daughter must also do me a favor. She 
 must try again this evening to stand." 
 
 In high exultation Heidi came back to Clara with 
 her good news, and the latter promised to try to 
 stand on her feet as many times as the grandfather 
 wished, for she was immensely delighted to take this 
 journey up to the beautiful goat pasture. Heidi 
 was full of joy, so that she immediately called out 
 to Peter as soon as she saw him come down in the 
 evening. 
 
 " Peter I Peter ! we are coming to-morrow with 
 you and will stay there all day." 
 
 Peter in answer growled like an enraged bear and 
 struck furiously at the innocent Distelfink that wa« 
 trotting along beside him. But the alert Distelfink 
 
816 HEEDI. 
 
 had noticed the movement at the right time. With 
 a high bound he leaped over the Schneehoepli and 
 the blow whizzed in the air. . 
 
 Clara and Heidi went up to their two beautiful beds 
 full of glorious expectations, and they were so filled 
 with their plans for the morrow, that they decided 
 to stay awake the whole night and to talk about 
 them all the time, until they were to get up again. 
 But scarcely had they lain on their soft pillows, 
 when they suddenly stopped talking, and Clara saw 
 before her in her dream a big, big field as blue as 
 the sky ; it was thickly sowed with bluebells, and 
 Heidi heard the bird of prey np in the air soreamiEg 
 down: 
 
 "Come! cornel cornel* 
 
CHAPTER yni. 
 
 SOMETHIlfG HAPPENS WHICH NO ONE LOOKED FOB. 
 
 Eaelt in the morning the Uncle went out of the 
 hut and looked around to see how the day was going 
 to be. 
 
 A reddish golden light lay on the high mountain 
 peaks, and a cool breeze began to rook the branches 
 of the fir trees to and fro, and it was time for the 
 sun to come up. 
 
 StiU the old man stood for a while watching at- 
 tentively how after the high tops of the mountains 
 the green hills began to shine in gold ; and then the 
 dark shadows gave gently away to the rosy light, 
 which flowed into the valley ; and how heights and 
 depths shone in the morning gold. The sun had 
 come. 
 
 The Uncle brought the rolling chair out of the 
 shop, and having prepared it for the journey, placed 
 it in front of the hut, then went in to tell the chil-' 
 dren how beautiful the morning was, and to bring 
 them out. 
 
 Peter just then came climbing up the mountain. 
 His goats did not come as confidently as usual by 
 his side and near, in front of him, and behind up the 
 mountain ; they sprang timidly in every direction^ 
 
 317 
 
318 HETDI. 
 
 for Peter struck every moment about him like a mad- 
 man without any real cause for it, and wherever he 
 hit he hurt. Peter had reached the highest point of 
 anger and bitterness. For many weeks he had never 
 had Heidi to himself, as he was accustomed. Every 
 morning when he came up, the strange child was 
 always brought out in her chair, and Heidi was 
 occupied with her. In the evening when he came 
 down, the wheel chair still stood with its occupant 
 in it under the fir trees, and Heidi was busy doing 
 something for her. The whole summer she had not 
 come up to the pasture, and to-day for the first time 
 she was coming, but with the chair and the guest in 
 it, and was to busy herself with her the whole 
 time. Peter saw beforehand that that would be 
 the case, and it had brought his anger to the highest 
 point. He saw the chair again standing proudly on 
 its wheels and looked at it as if it were an enemy, 
 which had done him all sorts of harm and was 
 about to do more to-day. Peter looked around him- 
 self — everything was still, no one was to be seen. 
 Then like a madman he rushed at the chair, seized it 
 and pushed it with such force in his bitter anger 
 towards the slope of the mountain that the chair 
 literally flew and in a moment disappeared. 
 
 Then Peter rushed up the Aim, as if he had 
 wings, and never stopped until he had reached a 
 great blackberry bush, behind which he could disap- 
 pear, for he did not wish to be seen by the Uncle. 
 But he wanted to find out what had become of the 
 chair, and the bush was in a favorable position on 
 
SOMETHING HAPPENS. 319 
 
 a projection of the mountain. Partly concealed, 
 Peter could look down the Aim and if the Uncle 
 appeared, he could quickly hide himself. So he did, 
 and what did his eyes see 1 His enemy rushed far 
 down below, driven by a continually increasing force. 
 It turned over and over several times, then making 
 a high leap in the air fell down on the ground agaiii, 
 and turned and rolled to its destruction. The pieces 
 were flying from it in every direction — feet, back, 
 cushions, all thrown high in the air. Peter felt 
 such an unbounded joy at the sight, that he had to 
 jump in the air with both feet at the same time ; he 
 laughed aloud, he stamped with joy, he leaped in 
 bounds, around in circles, he came again to the 
 same spot and looked down the mountain. A fresh 
 laughter sounded through the air and new leaps in 
 the air were repeated. Peter was wholly beside 
 himself at the destruction of his enemy, for he saw 
 nothing but good things in prospect for him. Now 
 the strange child must go back, for she had no other 
 means to move about. Heidi would be once more 
 alone and would come up to the pasture with him ; 
 and every morning and every evening she would 
 be there when he came, and everything would be 
 the same as before. But Peter did not comprehend 
 what it meant to have committed a bad deed, or 
 what the consequences would be. 
 
 Heidi came out of the hut jumping, and ran to 
 the shop. The grandfather came behind her with 
 Clara in his arms. The shop door stood wide open, 
 the two boards had been put aside ; it was as light 
 
320 HEIDI. 
 
 as day in the farthest corner. Heidi looked this 
 way and that way, ran around the corner, came 
 back again with the greatest amazement on her 
 face. Just then her grandfather came there. 
 
 " What is this ? Have you rolled the chair away, 
 Heidi ? " asked the grandfather. 
 
 " I am looking for it everywhere, grandfather, 
 and you told me that it stood by the shop door," 
 said the child still looking for it in every di- 
 rection. 
 
 The wind had in the meantime grown stronger, 
 and just then it rattled around the shop door and 
 suddenly threw itself with a crash against the door. 
 
 " Grandfather, the wind has done it I " called out 
 Heidi, and her eyes sparkled at the discovery. " Oh^ 
 if it has blown the chair down as far as Doerfli, 
 then it will be too late to get back and so we cannot 
 go at all." 
 
 " If it has rolled down there, it will never come 
 back again, for it is now smashed into a hundred 
 pieces," said the Uncle, going around the corner and 
 looking down the mountain. " But it must have 
 happened in a strange way," he added, looking back 
 to the crooked path, for the chair had to go round 
 the corner of the hut first. 
 
 " Oh what a pity ! we can't go now and perhaps 
 never," said Clara lamentingly. " Now I must go 
 home, as I haven't any chair. Oh, what a pity! 
 what a pity ! " 
 
 But Heidi looked trustfully up at her grandfather 
 and said: 
 
SOMETHING HAPPENS. 321 
 
 *' Grandfather, you can surely find some way, 
 that what Clara thinks will not take place, and that 
 she won't have to go home at once." 
 
 " "We will go this time up to the pasture, as we 
 planned, then we will see what will come next," said 
 the grandfather. 
 
 The children were highly delighted. He went 
 back into the room again and brought out part of 
 the shawls, laid them on the sunniest spot near the 
 hut, and placed Clara on them. Then he brought 
 the children their morning milk. 
 
 " Why doesn't he come up ? " said the Uncle to 
 himself, for Peter's morning whistle had not been 
 heard. 
 
 The grandfather now took Clara on one arm and 
 the shawls on the other. 
 
 " Now then, come along ! " said he, going in front 
 of them, " the goats are coming with us." 
 
 This pleased Heidi, and laying one of her arms 
 around Schwaenli's neck and the other around the 
 Baerli's she walked behind the grandfather, and the 
 goats were so delighted to go out with Heidi again 
 that they nearly squeezed her between them with 
 pure tenderness. 
 
 Having reached the pasture, where they saw the 
 peacefully grazing goats standing in groups here 
 and there on the slopes, and Peter lying at full 
 length in the midst of them, 
 
 "Another time I will cure you of passing us by, 
 you sleepy head i What does this mean ? " the Uncle 
 called out to hluk 
 
 21 
 
822 HEIDI. 
 
 Peter starteu tip at the sound of the well-known 
 voice. 
 
 " No one was awake," was his reply. 
 
 " Did you see anything of the chair ? " aslted the 
 • Uncle again. 
 
 " Of which one ? " said Peter crossly. 
 
 The Uncle said nothing more. He spread the 
 shawls on the sunny slope, placed Clara on them and 
 asked if it was comfortable for her. 
 
 " As comfortable as in the chair," said she, thank- 
 ing him, •' and this is the most beautiful place in the 
 world I It is so beautiful here, Heidi, so beautiful ! " 
 she exclaimed, looking around her. 
 
 The grandfather wanted to go back. He said 
 tliey ought to have a good time together, and when 
 it was time Heidi must bring the meal which was 
 packed in the bag and laid in a shady place. And 
 Peter must give them as much milk as they wanted 
 to drink, and Heidi must see that it came from 
 Schwaenli. Towards evening the grandfather would 
 come back to take them home. First of all he 
 wanted to go and see what had become of the 
 chair. 
 
 The sky was dark blue, and there was not a single 
 cloud to be seen anywhere. On the great snow- 
 field in the distance glistened just like thousands 
 and thousands of gold and silver stars. The gray 
 rocky peaks stood high and firm in their places, as 
 they had for centuries, and looked down gravely 
 into the valley. The great bird rocked himself up 
 in the blue sky, and above the heights the mountain 
 
SOMETHING HAPPENS. 323 
 
 wind rushed and blew cool around the sunny Alp. 
 The children felt indescribably happy. From time 
 to time a little goat would come and lie down near 
 them for a while. The delicate Sohneehoepli would 
 often come and lay her little head against Heidi, 
 and would never have gone away at all if another 
 goat of the flock had not driven her away. So 
 Clara began now to know the goats one after the 
 other so well, that she never mistook one for 
 another, for each had a peculiar face and its own 
 manner. 
 
 They became quite familiar with Clara ; so much 
 so that they came quite near her and rubbed their 
 heads against her shoulder ; this was always a sign 
 of close friendship and attachment. 
 
 Thus some hours had passed, when it came into 
 Heidi's mind to go to the place where there were 
 so many flowers, and see if they were all open and 
 as beautiful as they were the year before. And in 
 the evening when the grandfather came back, they 
 might go there with Clara, but perhaps the flowers 
 might have closed their eyes by that time. 
 
 Heidi's desire grew more intense, and she could 
 not resist it any longer. She asked a little timidly : 
 
 " "Will you be angry if I should run away quickly 
 and leave you alone for a little while ? I would like 
 to see how the flowers are ; but wait " — a thought 
 had come into Heidi's mind. She ran aside and 
 pulled a few beautiful bunches of green herbs ; 
 Sohneehoepli came running toward Heidi, and she, 
 putting her arm around her neck, led her to Clara. 
 
324 HEIDI. 
 
 The goat understood this well and lay down. Then 
 Heidi threw the leaves in Clara's lap, when the latter 
 said, in her delight, that Heidi must go now and take 
 pleasure in looking at the flowers, she was quite 
 willing to stay alone with the goats ; she had never 
 done anything like this before. 
 
 Heidi ran away, and Clara began to hold out one 
 leaf after another to Sohneehoepli, who grew so 
 familiar with her that she clung to her new friend 
 and ate the leaves slowly out of her fingers. It 
 could be easily seen how contented and happy she 
 was, as she lay there quietly and peacefully in her 
 friend's protecting care, for out among the herd she 
 always had to bear many persecutions from the big 
 strong goats. It was very delightful for Clara to 
 sit all alone on a mountain with a trustful little goat, 
 who looked up at her so helplessly. A great desire 
 seized her to become her own master and to be able 
 to help others and not to be always obliged to get 
 help from them. And Clara had so many thoughts 
 now, which she had never had before, and a peculiar 
 desire to live on in the beautiful sunshine and to do 
 something by which she could make some one happy, 
 as she was now doing to Schneehoepli. A quite 
 new delight came into her heart, and it seemed as if 
 all she knew could be much more beautiful and 
 different from what she had seen before ; and she 
 felt so satisfied and happy that she put her arm 
 around the goat's neck and exclaimed : 
 
 *' Oh, Schneehpqpli, how beautiful it is up here ; 
 if I could only stay up here with you all the while." 
 
SOMETHING HAPPENS. 335 
 
 Meanwhile Heidi had reached the place where the 
 flowers were. She shouted with delight. The whole 
 slope lay covered with shining gold. They were the 
 rock roses. Thick deep blue bunches of bluebells 
 rocked over them, and a strong spicy fragrance 
 spread all over the sunny spot, as if cups of the 
 most precious balsam were poured out up there. 
 The whole fragrance came from the little brown 
 flowers which stretched out their little round headJ 
 modestly here and there between the gold cups. 
 Heidi stood and looked and drew in long breaths of , 
 the sweet odor. Suddenly she returned and cama 
 panting with excitement to Clara. 
 
 " Oh, you must surely come," she called out to 
 her from a distance, " they are so beautiful, and 
 everything is so beautiful, and in the evening per- 
 haps it may not be so handsome. Possibly I can 
 carry you. Don't you think so ? " 
 
 Clara looked at the excited Heidi in astonishment 
 and shook her head. 
 
 " No, no, what do you think, Heidi, you are much 
 smaller than I. Oh, if I could only walk ! " 
 
 Heidi looked in every direction for something ; 
 she must have had some new idea in her mind. Up 
 there where Peter had been lying on the ground, he 
 still sat and was gazing down at the children. He 
 had been sitting down this way for hours, and all the 
 while staring at the children as if he could not realize 
 what he saw before him. He had destroyed the 
 hated chair that everything should come td an end 
 and that the stranger might not be able to move ; but a 
 
326 HEIDL 
 
 short time later she appeared up there and was sit> 
 ting before his eyes on the ground close to Heidi. 
 This could not be possible, nevertheless it was a fact, 
 and whenever he liked, he could see for himself 
 that it was so. 
 
 Heidi now raised her eyes up to him. 
 
 " Come down, Peter I " she called to him very de- 
 cidedly. 
 
 " Shan't come," he sounded back. 
 
 "Yes, you must come, I can't do it alone, you 
 must help me : come quick," urged Heidi. 
 
 " Shan't come," it sounded back again. 
 
 Heidi ran a short distance up the mountain to- 
 ward Peter. 
 
 She stood there with flashing eyes and called out 
 to him: 
 
 " Peter, if you don't come immediately, I will do 
 something to you that you would not like at all ; 
 you can depend on it ! " 
 
 These words took effect on Peter, and he was seized 
 with a great fear. He had done some wicked deed 
 which no one must know. Until now it had re- 
 joiced him, but Heidi spoke as if she knew every, 
 thing and she would tell all to the grandfather, and 
 Peter was more afraid of him than of any one else. 
 If he should hear what had happened to the chair ! 
 Peter's anxiety grew worse and worse. He rose and 
 came toward Heidi, who was waiting for him. 
 
 " I am coming, but you must not do what you in- 
 tended," said he, so overcome with fright thai Heidi 
 was quite affected. 
 
SOMETHING HAPPENS. 327 
 
 ** No, no, I will not do it," she said assuringly ; 
 " come now with me ; there is nothing to be afraid of 
 in what yoa have to do." 
 
 Having reached Clara, Heidi began to make ar- 
 rangements : Peter was to hold Clara firmly under 
 one arm and she under the other and lift her up. 
 This was done somewhat easily, but now came the 
 more difficult task. Clara could not understand 
 how they could hold her fast and move her along ? 
 Heidi was too small to support her with her arm. 
 
 " Ton must now put your arm around my neck 
 very firmly — so. And you must hold Peter's arm 
 and press on it firmly ; then we can carry you." 
 
 But Peter had never given his arm to any one. 
 Clara took hold of it fast, but Peter held it stiffly 
 down on his side like a long stick. 
 
 " You must not do it in that way, Peter," said 
 Heidi very decidedly : " you must make a ring with 
 your arm, and then Clara must pass hers through 
 it, and then she must press on it very firmly, and 
 you must not let it go at any price ; then we can 
 move along." 
 
 This plan was carried out, but they were unable 
 to go along well ; Clara was not so light and the 
 others were of dififerent heights, so one side went up 
 and the other went down — making the support pretty 
 uneven. 
 
 Clara tried it a little with her own feet alter- 
 nately ; but soon drew one after the other back again. 
 
 "Stamp right down," suggested Heidi, "then it 
 will pain you les«." 
 
328 HEIDI. 
 
 ** Do you think so ? " said Clara timidly. 
 
 But she obeyed and ventured to take a firm step 
 on the ground and then anqther with the second 
 foot, but she gave out a little shriek. Then she 
 lifted one foot again and put it down with more 
 care. 
 
 " Oh, this hurt me much less," said she, full of 
 delight. 
 
 " Do it again ! " urged Heidi ardently. 
 
 Clara did so, and then again and again, and all at 
 once she exclaimed : 
 
 " I can, Heidi ! Oh, I can ! See, see ! I can take 
 steps, one after another." 
 
 Then Heidi shouted still louder : 
 
 " Oh ! oh ! Can you really take steps ? Can you 
 go now ? Can you really walk yourself ? If only 
 the grandfather would come I Now you can walk 
 yourself, Clara, now you can go ! " she exclaimed 
 over and over again in triumphant delight. 
 
 Clara was held firmly on both sides, but at every 
 step she felt surer, as they all three could notice. 
 Heidi was entirely beside herself with delight. 
 
 " Oh, after this, we can come to the pasture to- 
 gether every day, and wander about the Alps when- 
 ever we like," she exclaimed again. " And you 
 will be able to walk about as 1 do all the rest of 
 your life, and will not be pushed about in a chair, 
 and be well. Oh, this is the greatest joy we could 
 have ! " 
 
 Clara agreed with all her heart. Surely, she 
 could not imagine a greater happiness in the world 
 
SOMETHING HAPPENS. 329 
 
 than to be well and be able to walk about, like other 
 people, and no longer be miserable and be obliged 
 to lie down all day in an invalid's chair. 
 
 They were not far from the slope, where Heidi 
 went to see the flowers. One could see the little 
 golden roses shine in the sun. They had reached 
 the bushes of bluebells, through which the sunny 
 ground beckoned so invitingly. 
 
 " Can't we sit down here ? " asked Clara. 
 
 This was just what Heidi wished to do ; and the 
 children sat down in the midst of the flowers, and 
 Clara for the first time in her life sat on the dry 
 warm Alpine ground. This pleased her immensely 
 weU. All around her were the nodding bluebells, 
 the sparkling golden roses, the red centauries, and 
 everywhere the sweet fragrance of the brown little 
 flowers and spicy wild blossoms. Everything was 
 so beautiful ! so lovely 1 
 
 Heidi, too, sat by her side and thought it had 
 never been so beautiful up there before, and she 
 could not tell why she had such a great delight in 
 her heart, that she would constantly shout aloud. 
 But suddenly she remembered again that Clara had 
 become well ; this was a greater joy to her than all 
 the beautiful things around them. Clara was per- 
 fectly silent with delight and rapture for everything 
 she saw and for the prospect, which her last experi- 
 ences gave her a right to have for the future. There 
 was hardly any room in her heart large enough for 
 this great fortune, and the sunshine and the fra- 
 grance oi the flowers, besides, overpowered her witH 
 
330 HEIDI. 
 
 a joyous feeling which made her utterly speeds 
 
 Peter lay also silent and motionless in the midst 
 of this flower field, for he had fallen fast asleep. 
 The wind blew here softly and lovely behind the 
 protecting rocks, and whispered up in the bushes. 
 From time to time Heidi had to rise and run back 
 and forth, for there was some place still lovelier 
 where flowers were thicker and fragrance stronger, 
 because the wind blew over them here and there ; 
 she had to sit down everywhere. 
 
 Thus the hours had passed away. 
 
 The sun had long passed midday, when a little 
 group of goats came walking gravely up to the 
 flower slope. 
 
 This was not their pasture ; they never were led 
 there, for they did not like to graze among the 
 flowers. They looked like an embassy with the 
 Distelfink in front. The goats had apparently come 
 out to look for their companions, who had left them 
 so long in the lurch, and had stayed away against 
 all rules, for the goats knew the time well. When 
 Distelfink detected the three missing ones in the 
 flower field, he bleated very loudly, and at once the 
 whole chorus joined him and came running along 
 and continually making a great noise. Peter woke 
 up. But he had to rub his eyes hard, for he had 
 noticed that the wheel-chair was standing again up- 
 holstered beautifully in red and unharmed, in 
 front of the hut ; and after having awaked, he had 
 •een the golden nails in the upholstery shine in th« 
 
SOMETHING HAPPENS. 331 
 
 sun. But now he found out that they were only 
 the little yellow flowers glistening on the ground. 
 Now Peter's fear came back which he had disposed 
 of when he had seen the uninjured chair. Although 
 Heidi had promised not to do anything, still Peter 
 was always in fear that they would discover his 
 wicked deed. He was very willing to be their guide 
 and do exactly what Heidi wished. 
 
 "When they all three had come back to the pasture, 
 Heidi quickly brought her dinner bag and began to 
 act according to her promise, for her threats had 
 reference to the contents of the bag. She had 
 noticed in the morning how many good things the 
 grandfather had packed, and had foreseen with de- 
 light that the greater part of it would fall to 
 Peter's share. But when he was so cross, she made 
 him know that he would go without anything ; but 
 Peter had understood something else. Heidi took 
 piece after piece out of the bag and made three 
 little heaps of them, which were so high that she 
 said to herself with satisfaction ; " Then he will 
 get whatever we leave." 
 
 Then she gave a little heap to each one, and tak- 
 ing her own sat down beside Clara, and the three 
 greatly enjoyed their meal after their great exertion. 
 
 But it happened just as Heidi expected; when 
 they both had all they could eat, there was so much 
 left that a pile as large as the first one could be given 
 to Peter. He ate it all up silently without stopping, 
 even the crumbs, but he finished his work without 
 the usual satisfaction. Peter had something in his 
 
333 HEIDL 
 
 stomach, which gnawed and choked and squeezed 
 him at every morsel he took. 
 
 The children had come so late to their meal that 
 immediately after, the grandfather was seen climb- 
 ing up the Aim to take them back. Heidi rushed 
 toward him. She had to tell him first of all what 
 had happened. But she was so excited by the fortu- 
 nate news that she could hardly find words to inform 
 her grandfather ; but he understood at once what the 
 child meant, and great joy came over his face. He 
 hastened his steps and when he came near Clara, he 
 said, smiling with joy : 
 
 "So have we ventured! Now we have really 
 succeeded ! " 
 
 Then he lifted Clara from the ground, put his left 
 arm around her, and held out his right hand to her 
 as a strong support for her hand, and Clara walked, 
 iaving the grandfather behind her back as a massive 
 wall, more surely, more fearlessly than before. 
 
 Heidi jumped triumphantly by her side, and the 
 grandfather looked as if a great fortune had fallen 
 to him. He at once took Clara on his arm and said : 
 
 " We will not overdo it, it is time now to go 
 home." 
 
 And he immediately started, for he knew that 
 Clara had had enough exertion for that day, and 
 that she needed rest. 
 
 When Peter was going down with his goats late 
 in the evening to Doerfli, a great many people were 
 standing in a group and each pushing the other away 
 in order to have a better view of what lay on the 
 
SOMETHING HAPPENS. 333 
 
 ground. Peter also wished to see it ; he pressed and 
 pushed right and left, and worked his way through. 
 
 Then he saw it. 
 
 On the grass lay the middle part of the wheel- 
 chair with a part of the back hanging to it. The 
 red upholstery and the shining nails still showing 
 how splendid the chair had been formerly. 
 
 " I was there when it was carried up the moun- 
 tain," said the baker, who was standing by Peter. 
 " It was worth at least five hundred francs, I will 
 bet anybody. I wonder how it happened." 
 
 " The wind might have blown it down, the Uncle 
 said so himself," remarked Barbel, who could not 
 admire the beautiful red staff enough. 
 
 " It's fortunate that no one else did it," said the 
 baker again, " he would get what he deserved. If 
 the gentleman in Frankfort should hear, he will 
 make investigations as to how it happened. As for 
 me, I am glad that I have not been on the Aim for 
 two years. Suspicion may fall on any one who has 
 been seen there at that time." 
 
 Many other opinions were expressed, but Peter 
 had heard enough. He crept quite gently and 
 quietly out of the crowd and ran with all his might 
 up the mountain, as if some one were behind him to 
 catch him. The baker's words had frightened him 
 terribly. He now felt perfectly sure that a police- 
 man from Frankfort might come at any moment to 
 make inquiries in regard to the matter ; then it might 
 be found out that he had done it and he would be 
 seized and taken to the prison in Frankfort. Peter 
 
834 HEIDI. 
 
 saw this before him and his hair stood on end from 
 terror. 
 
 He reached home quite troubled. He would not 
 answer any questions, and would not eat his potatoes ; 
 he quickly crept into his bed and groaned. 
 
 " Peterkin must have eaten sorrel again ; he has 
 still some in his stomach, that is why he groans so," 
 said his mother Brigitte. 
 
 " You must give him a little more bread ; give him 
 a piece of mine to-morrow," said the grandmother 
 compassionately. 
 
 "When the children looked «p out of their beds at 
 the twinkling stars, Heidi said : 
 
 " Have you not been thinking this whole day how 
 fortunate it is that the dear Lord does not hear our 
 prayers even if we offer them very urgently, when 
 He knows of something much better for us ? " 
 
 " "Why do you say this so suddenly, Heidi ? " asked 
 Clara. 
 
 " You know that I prayed so urgently in Frank, 
 fort that I might go home at once, and as I could 
 not go, I thought the dear God did not hear it. But 
 you know, if I had gone so soon, you would not hav« 
 come here, and would not have been here on the 
 Alps." 
 
 Clara had become quite thoughtful. 
 
 " But Heidi," she began again, " then we ought 
 not to pray for anything, because the dear Lord has 
 always something better in mind than we know and 
 pray for." 
 
 "Yes, yes, Clara, do you think it is such an easy 
 
SOMETHING HAPPENS. 335 
 
 matter," said Heidi eagerly. " "We must pray to the 
 dear Lord every day and for everything, and in that 
 way we acknowledge that we have not forgotten the 
 kindness we have received from His hands. And 
 even if we should forget Him, He will not forget us ; 
 the grandmamma said so. But you know, if we do 
 not get what we ask for, then we must not think 
 that the dear God has not heard, and cease to pray 
 but we must pray like this: 'Now I know, dear 
 Lord, that thou hast something better in mind for 
 me and I will be glad that thou wilt do everything 
 good for me.' " 
 
 " How did all this come to your mind, Heidi," 
 asked Clara. 
 
 " The grandmamma first taught me this, and then 
 it happened just as she said, and then I knew it. 
 But I think, Clara," Heidi continued sitting up, " to- 
 <lay we must thank the dear Lord earnestly that 
 He has sent us this good fortune that you are able 
 to walk now." 
 
 " Yes, really, Heidi ; you are right, and I am glad 
 that you reminded me of it ; having been so highly 
 delighted, I had almost forgotten it." 
 
 The children prayed and thanked the dear Lord 
 each in her own way for the glorious good that He 
 had done for Clara, who had been sick so long. 
 
 The next morning the grandfather thought they 
 could write the grandmamma now to ask her to 
 come up on the Alps, as there was something new 
 to see. But the children had devised another plan. 
 They wanted to prepare ^ great surprise for th« 
 
336 HEIDL 
 
 grandmamma. First, Clara must learn to walk 
 better, so that she could be able to go a little way 
 with only Heidi's support, but the grandmamma 
 must not have the least knowledge of it. Now the 
 grandfather was consulted as to how long it might 
 take, and as he thought it would hardly take eight 
 days, in the next letter they invited her urgently to 
 come up on the Alps at that time, but not a word 
 was said about anything new. 
 
 The days which followed were the most beauti- 
 ful that Clara spent on the Alps. Every morning 
 she awoke with the joyful thought in her mind : " I 
 am well! I am well! lam not obliged to sit in a 
 wheel-chair any longer. I can walk about like other 
 people." 
 
 Then followed the wialking, and every day she 
 walked more easily and better, and could take longer 
 walks day by day. The exercise gave her such an 
 appetite that the grandfather had to make the thick 
 slices of bread and butter larger, and was always 
 pleased to see how they disappeared. He always 
 brought with them a large pot of foamiug milk, and 
 filled mug after mug. In this way the end of the 
 week came and with it the day which would bring 
 the grandmamma.' 
 
CHAPTEE IX. 
 
 BIDDIHG FAKEWELL TO MEET AGAIN. 
 
 I'hb day before her arrival the grandmamma had 
 written a letter to the Aim to assure them of her 
 coming. iPeter brought this letter with him early 
 the next morning when he went to the pasture.' 
 The grandfather had already come out of the hut 
 with the children, and Schwaenli and Baerli stood 
 outside and shook their heads gaily in the cool m orning 
 air, while the children stroked them and wished them 
 a happy journey up the mountains. The Uncle 
 stood by and looked first at the fresh faces of the 
 children, then at the clean and glossy goats. Both 
 must have pleased him, for he smiled with satisfac- 
 tion. 
 
 Then Peter came up. When he perceived the group, 
 he approached slowly, held out the letter to the 
 Uncle, and as soon as he had taken it, he ran timidly 
 back, as if something had frightened him, and then 
 he looked quickly behind him, as 'if something else 
 was about to frighten him, then he made a leap and 
 ran away up the mountain. 
 
 " Grandfather," said Heidi, who had looked at 
 the occurrence in surprise, " why does Peter act 
 like the big Turk, when he feels the rod behind 
 him, then he moves his head in fright and shakes it 
 
 337 
 
388 HEIDL 
 
 in every direction and makes sadden leaps in the 
 air." 
 
 " Perhaps Peter thinks there is a rod behind him, 
 which he deserves," answered the grandfather. 
 
 It was only the first slope that Peter ran up like 
 this without stopping ; as soon as he could not be 
 seen from below, he acted differently. Then he 
 stood stiU there and turned his head timidly in 
 every direction ; suddenly he made another leap, 
 and looked behind him as terrified as if some one 
 had seized him by the nape of the neck. Peter 
 thought he saw a policeman from Frankfort i ushing 
 after him from every bush and out of every hedge. 
 The longer this anxious expectation lasted, the 
 more frightened Peter was ; he had no peace, not 
 even for a moment. 
 
 Heidi had now to set everything in order, for the 
 grandmamma must see the whole hut clean and 
 neat on her arrival there. 
 
 Clara found this busy cleaning of Heidi in every 
 corner of the hut so interesting that she watched 
 the whole proceeding with much pleasure. 
 
 So the children passed the early morning hours 
 without knowing it, and could expect grandmamma's 
 arrival at any moment. 
 
 Then the children came out all prepared and ready 
 to welcome her, and sat down side by side on the 
 bench in front of the cottage in great expectatioc 
 of what was to happen. 
 
 The grandfather also joined them ; he had taken 
 a walk and brought a large bunch of dark blue gen. 
 
BIDDING FAREWELL TO MEET AGAIN. 339 
 
 tians, which shone in the bright morning sun so 
 beautifully that the children shouted for joy at the 
 sight of it. The grandfather took them into the 
 hut. Every now and then Heidi jumped up from 
 the bench to see whether she could perceive a trace 
 of grandmamma's party. 
 
 After a while Heidi saw what she had been ex- 
 pecting coming up the mountain. In front was 
 the guide, then came the white horse with grand- 
 mamma on it, and at last the porter with the 
 large basket on his back, for the grandmamma 
 would never come up on the Alps without plenty 
 of wraps. 
 
 The party came nearer and nearer, then the height 
 was reached ; the grandmamma caught sight of the 
 children from her horse. 
 
 " What is that ? What do I see, my little Clara ? 
 you are not sitting in your chair ! How is it pos- 
 sible!" she exclaimed in fright, and dismounted 
 hastily. But before she had reached the children, 
 she clapped her hands and exclaimed in the greatest 
 excitement : 
 
 " My little Clara, is it you, or not ? You have 
 red cheeks as round as an apple ! Child ! I don't 
 recognize you any longer ! " 
 
 The grandmamma was going to rush at Clara. 
 But Heidi slipped down from the bench without 
 being noticed, and Clara had quickly leaned on her 
 shoulder and the children were calmly stepping 
 along to take a little walk. The grandmamma had 
 suddenly stood still, first from fear, for she did not 
 
34:0 HEIDI. : 
 
 think anything but that Heidi was doing something 
 reckless. 
 
 But what did she really see before her ! 
 
 Clara was walking upright and steady beside 
 Heidi; then they came back, both with cheerful 
 faces, both with rosy cheeks. 
 
 The grandmamma now rushed toward them, 
 laughing and crying at the same time. She em- 
 braced her little Clara, then Heidi, then Clara again. 
 In her great joy she could find no words. 
 
 Suddenly her eyes met the Uncle who was stand- 
 ing by the bench looking with a calm smile at the 
 three over there. Then the grandmamma took 
 Clara's arm within her own and was walking with 
 her in continual exclamations of delight, that it was 
 really so, that she could walk with the child toward 
 the bench. Here she let Clara go and took both 
 hands of the old man : 
 
 "My dear Uncle! niy dear Uncle! What have 
 we to thank you for ! It is your work ! It is your 
 care and nursing " 
 
 " And our God's sunshine and the Alpine air," 
 interrupted the Uncle sniiling. 
 
 " Yes, and Schwaenli's good and lovely milk, too," 
 added Clara on her part. " Grandmamma, if you 
 could only know howl can drink the goat's milk, 
 and how good it is." 
 
 " Yes, I can see it on your cheeks, my little Clara," 
 said the grandmamma laughing. "No, no one 
 would know you ; you have grown plump and broad 
 as I never imagined that you ever could, and you 
 
BIDDING FAREWELL TO MEET AGAIN. 341 
 
 have grown taller, Clara ! No! Is it really true ? I 
 cannot look at you enough ! And a telegram must 
 at once be sent to my son in Paris ; he must come 
 immediately. I will not tell him why ; this is the 
 greatest joy of his life ; my dear Uncle, how can we 
 do that ? you have, of course, sent the men away by 
 this time." 
 
 - " They have gone," he answered, " but if the lady 
 grandmother is in a hurry we can call Peter the 
 goatherd, who has time," 
 
 The grandmother insisted upon sending a despatch 
 to her son, for this good fortune must not be with- 
 held from him a single day. 
 
 The Uncle went a little aside and gave such a 
 penetrating whistle through his fingers, that it 
 whistled back from the rocks above, it had made 
 such a distant echo. It did not take long to bring 
 Peter, who came running down, for the whistle was 
 not unknown to him. Peter was as white as chalk, 
 for he thought that the Uncle was calling him to 
 judgment. But only a paper was given him, 
 which the grandmamma had written in the mean- 
 time, and the Uncle explained to him that he must 
 immediately take it down to Doerfli and give it to 
 the postmaster ; the Uncle would pay for it after- 
 wards, for so many things could not be committed 
 to Peter at the same time. 
 
 He went with the paper in his hand, much re- 
 lieved for this time, for the Uncle had not called 
 him to judgment ; no policeman had come. 
 
 Finally all sat down closely and calmly around 
 
842 HEIDL 
 
 the table in front of the hut ; it was now time to tell 
 the grandmamma how everything had taken place 
 from the beginning. How at first the grandfather 
 tried to have Clara stand a little every day, and then . 
 take a little step with Heidi ; and how they had taken 
 the journey up to the pasture, and how the wind had 
 blown the chair down to the valley ; how Clara, 
 longing for flowers, was the means of the first walk, 
 and so one thing caused another. But it took a long 
 time for the children to bring their story to an end, 
 for the grandmamma had to interrupt them, every 
 now and then expressing her amazement, praise and 
 thankfulness, and exclaimed again and again : 
 
 " But is it then possible ? Is it really no dream ? 
 Are we really all awake and sitting in front of the 
 Aim hut ? And is this little girl before me with the 
 round and fresh face my old pale, weak, little Clara ? " 
 
 And Clara and Heidi had an unlimited delight that 
 they succeeded in planning and executing such 
 a beautiful surprise for the grandmamma, the effect 
 of which is still continued. 
 
 Meanwhile Mr. Sesemann had finished his business 
 in Paris ; he, too, intended to prepare a surprise. 
 Without writing a word to his mother, on a sunny 
 summer morning he sat in the train and went directly 
 to Basle. The next day, early in the morning, he 
 started again, for he was seized by a great longing 
 to see his little daughter once more, from whom he 
 had been separated the whole summer. He reached 
 the Baths of Eagatz a few hours after his mother's 
 departure from there. 
 
BIDDING FAREWELL TO MEET AGAIN. 343 
 
 He was glad to hear that his mother had undeiv 
 taken the journey up the Aim on the same day. 
 Bo he at once took a carriage and drove to Mayen- 
 feld. When he heard there that he could drive as 
 far as Doerfli he did so, for he thought it would still 
 be a long walk up the mountain. 
 
 Mr. Sesemann was not mistaken ; the continual 
 climbing up the Aim seemed very long and tiresome 
 for him. There was no hut to be seen, and he knew 
 well that he ought to come to goatherd Peter's house 
 half way up, for this journey had often been de- 
 scribed to him. 
 
 There could be seen traces of foot-passengers 
 everywhere ; the narrow paths sometimes went in 
 every direction. Mr. Sesemann was not sure whether 
 he was in the right path, or whether the hut lay on 
 the other side of the Aim. He looked around him 
 to see if he could discover any human being of whom 
 he could inquire about the way. But it was silent 
 all around ; far and wide there was nothing to be 
 seen or heard. Only the mountain wind blew now 
 and then through the air, and the little flies hummed 
 in the sunny blue, and a gay little bird whistled 
 here and there on a lovely larch tree. Mr. Sesemann 
 stood still for a while, and exposed his heated brow 
 to the Alpine wind to be cooled. 
 
 Now some one came from above, running down ; 
 it was Peter with the despatch in his hand. He 
 came running straight down without looking this 
 way or that, not even over the footpath, on which 
 Mr, Sesemann was standing. As soon as he cam* 
 
344: HEIDI. 
 
 near enough, Mr. Sesemann beckoned to him to 
 come. Peter came, hesitating and timidly, sideways 
 and not straight forward, as if he could only walk 
 properly with one foot and had to drag the other 
 behind him, 
 
 " Here, lad, come here," said Mr. Sesemann encour- 
 agingly. " Now tell me if this path leads to the 
 hut up there, where the old man lives with the child 
 Heidi, where the people from Frankfort are ? " 
 
 A dull tone of the most frightful terror was the 
 answer ; and Peter darted away so vehemently that 
 he rushed headforemost down the steep slope and 
 rolled away, turning somersaults further and further 
 down, very much as the wheel-chair had done, only 
 with the exception that Peter fortunately did not 
 go to pieces like the wheel-chair. 
 
 Only the despatch was torn to shreds and was 
 blown away. 
 
 " A remarkably bashful mountaineer," said Mr. 
 Sesemann to himself. " The only reason he could 
 think of was that the appearance of a stranger had 
 produced this strong impression on the simple son 
 of the Alps. 
 
 After he had watched Peter's violent descent a 
 little longer he continued his way. 
 
 In spite of all his efforts Peter could not gain a 
 firm footing ; he rolled on, and from time to time he 
 turned somersaults in a strange way. 
 
 But this was not the worst side of his misfortune 
 at this moment; much more frightful were the 
 anxiety and the terror which filled him; he felt 
 
BIDDING FAREWELL TO MEET AGAIN. 345, 
 
 perfectly sure now that the policeman from Frank- 
 fort had really come. For he did not have any 
 doubt but that it was the stranger who had just 
 asked him for the Frankfort people at the Aim- 
 Uncle's. Now on the last high slope above Doerfli 
 Peter was thrown against a bush, to which he could, 
 finally cling fast. He remained lying down there 
 for a moment in order to see what his conditio;a 
 was. 
 
 " Yery good, here is another one," said a voipe 
 close by Peter. " "Who is going to get the blow to- 
 morrow for rolling you down like a badly sewed 
 potato sack ? " 
 
 It was the baker who laughed at him. He had 
 come up to get the cool air after his hot day's work, 
 and had calmly watched how Peter had come down 
 from above like the rolling of the wheel-chair. 
 
 Peter sprang to his feet. He had a new terror. 
 The baker also knew that the chair had been pushed. 
 Without looking back even once Peter ran up the 
 mountain again. "What he would like best was to 
 go home and creep into his bed that no one could 
 find him, for there he felt the safest. But he had 
 still the goats up there, and the Uncle had impressed 
 on him to come back soon that the herd might not 
 be alone too long. But he was afraid of the Uncle 
 more than of any one, and had such a great respect 
 for him that he had never ventured to be disobedient 
 to him. Peter groaned aloud and limped on, for 
 it had to be ; he had to go back again. He could 
 no longer run ; the anxiety and the various knocks 
 
S46 HEIDI. 
 
 which he had just suffered could not be without 
 their effects. So he kept up a continued limping 
 and groaning all the way up the Aim. 
 
 Mr. Sesemann had reached the first hut a short 
 time after meeting Peter, and was sure that he was 
 on the right way. He climbed on with fresh courage, 
 and, at last, after a long and tiresome wandering, 
 he saw his goal before him. There stood the Aim 
 hut and the dark tops of the old fir trees waving 
 above it. 
 
 Mr. Sesemann climbed the last ascent with delight ; 
 now he would soon be able to surprise his child. 
 But he was already noticed and recognized by the 
 company in front of the hut, and what the father 
 could never nave imagined was being prepared for 
 him. 
 
 When he had taken the last step toward the 
 heights, two forms were coming from the hut to 
 meet him. One of them was a tall girl with light 
 blonde hair and a small rosy face, supported by 
 little Heidi, out of whose dark eyes sparkled flashes 
 of delight. Mr. Sesemann was startled ; he stood 
 still and gazed at those approaching him. Suddenly 
 big tears rushed out of his eyes. What remem- 
 brances arose in his heart ! Clara's mother had 
 looked exactly so, the blonde maiden with light 
 rosy cheeks. Mr. Sesemann did not know whether 
 he was awake or dreaming. 
 
 " Papa, don't you know me any longer ? " called 
 out Clara to him with a joyful face. " Am I so 
 changed J " 
 
BIDDING FAREWELL TO MEET AGAIN. 347 
 
 Hr. Sesemann rushed toward his little daughter 
 and clasped her in his arms. 
 
 " Yes, you are changed 1 Is it possible ? Is it a 
 reality?" 
 
 The overjoyed father went back a step and looked 
 at her once more to see whether the picture would 
 not disappear before his eyes. 
 
 " Is it you, my little Clara, is it really you t " he 
 had to exclaim over and over again. Then he em- 
 iH-aced his child again, and looked once more to see 
 if it was really Clara who was standing erect before 
 him. 
 
 Meanwhile the grandmamma had approached, 
 for she could not wait any longer to see her son's 
 happy countenance. 
 
 " Now, my dear son, what do you say ? " she 
 called out to him. " The surprise which you have 
 given us is a very good one ; but the one which had 
 been prepared for you is still better. Is it not? 
 And the rejoiced mother greeted her dear son very 
 heartily. " But now, my dear," she said then, 
 " come over there with me to greet our Uncle, who 
 is our greatest benefactor." 
 
 " Certainly, and the former member of our house> 
 hold, the little Heidi, I must greet also," said Mr. 
 Sesemann, shaking Heidi's hand. " Well ? but there 
 is no need of asking ; no Alpine rose could look 
 more blooming. It is a delight to me, my child, it 
 is a great delight to me." 
 
 Heidi looked with beaming joy at the kind Mr. 
 Sesemann. How kind he had always been to her I 
 
348 HEIDI. 
 
 And that he should now find such a happiness here 
 on the Alps, made Heidi's heart beat loud with 
 great 307. ■ 
 
 The grandmamma took her son to the Aim-Uncle 
 over there, and while the two men were shaking 
 hands very heartily, and Mr. Sesemann began to 
 express his deep-felt thanks, and his immense aston- 
 ishment that such a miracle could have taken place, 
 the grandmamma turned and went a short distance 
 iii another direction, for she had already talked the 
 matter over with the old man. She wanted to go 
 and see the old fir trees. 
 
 There was a surprise awaiting her. In the midst 
 of the trees where the long branches had left a 
 free space stood a big bush of the most wonderful 
 deep-blue gentians, fresh and shining as if they 
 had just grown there. The grandmamma clapped 
 her hands with great joy. 
 
 " How precious ! How splendid ! What a sight ? " 
 she exclaimed again and again. " Heidi, my dear 
 child, come here ? Have you prepared this to re- 
 joice me ? It is perfectly wonderful ! " 
 
 The children were already there. 
 
 " No, no, I really did not," said Heidi, " but I 
 know who did it." 
 
 " It is just like that on the pasture, grandmamma, 
 and even much more beautiful," interrupted Clara. 
 "But can you guess who brought those flowers 
 down from the pasture for you early this morning 1 " 
 And Clara smiled so contentedly at her own words 
 that the grandmamma thought for a moment that 
 
BIDDING FAREWELL TO MEET AGAIN. 349 
 
 the child had gone up there that day. But that 
 was almost impossible. 
 
 A gentle rustling was heard behind the fir trees ; 
 it came from Peter, who had reached up there in 
 the meanwhile. But as he had seen who was 
 standing with the Uncle in front of the hut, he 
 made a great roundabout way, and slipped up 
 stealthily behind the fir trees. But the grands 
 mamma had recognized him and a new thought 
 arose in her. Possibly Peter had brought down the 
 flowers and was now stealthily creeping along from 
 sheer timidity and modesty. No, that must not 
 be, he ought to have a little reward. 
 
 " Gome, my lad, come here, be quick ! don't be 
 afraid ! " called the grandmamma loudly, and 
 stretched her head a little towards the trees. 
 
 Terrified Peter stood there like a statue. He had 
 no power of resistance after what he had gone 
 through. He only felt this one thiag. *'Now it is 
 all up 1 " His hair stood on end : pale and disfigured 
 from the highest anxiety he came out from behind 
 the fir trees. 
 
 " Come here ! be quick I " said the grandmamma 
 encouragingly. " "Well, now tell me, my lad, did 
 you do this ? " 
 
 Peter did not lift up his eyes and did not see 
 where the grandmamma's forefinger was pointing. 
 He had seen that the TJncle had stood at the corner 
 of the hut, and that his gray eyes had been fastened 
 on him penetratingly, and by the Uncle's side stood 
 the most terrible one Peter had ever known, the 
 
350 HKIDL 
 
 policeman from Frankfort. Trembling and shiver, 
 ing in his limbs, Peter uttered one single sound and 
 it was a " Yes." , 
 
 " Well, now," said the grandmother, " what is 
 there that frightened you so much ? " 
 
 "That it — that it — ^that it had broken all to 
 pieces, and that it can never be fixed again." Peter 
 uttered these words with difficulty, and his knees 
 were shaking so that he could not stand up any 
 longer. The grandmamma went over to the corner 
 of the hut. 
 
 " My dear Uncle, has this poor boy really gone 
 crazy ? " she asked compassionately. 
 
 "Not at all, not at all," said the Uncle assur- 
 ingly, " the boy is the wind which blew the wheel* 
 chair, and he is now expecting the punishment he 
 well deserves." 
 
 The grandmamma could never believe that, for 
 she thought that Peter by no means looked wicked ; 
 besides, he had no reason to destroy the rolling 
 chair which was so necessary. Bat for the Uncle 
 this confession was a confirmation of the suspicion 
 which he had had immediately after it had happened. 
 
 The angry looks which Peter had cast at Clara 
 from the very beginning, and other signs of bitter- 
 ness against the new appearances on the Alps had 
 not escaped the Uncle. He had connected one 
 thought with another, and so he had exactly known 
 the whole course of things, and now told the grand- 
 mamma very clearly. When he finished it, the 
 lady exclaimed in great vivacity. 
 
BIDDING FAREWELL TO MEET AGAIN. 351 
 
 *• No, no, my dear Uncle, no, we will not punish 
 the poor boy any further. We must be fair. 
 Strange people came from Frankfort and for many 
 long weeks they took Heidi, his only good friend, 
 and really a very good one. And he sits alone day 
 after day and has only to look to her. No, no, we 
 must be fair ; anger overpowered him, and drove 
 him to revenge, which was a little foolish, but in 
 anger we are all foolish." 
 
 "Whereupon the grandmamma went Back to Peter, 
 who was still trembling and shaking. 
 
 She sat down on the bench under the fir tree and 
 said kindly : 
 
 " Well ! come here, my boy, come to me, I will 
 tell you something. Stop trembling and shaking, 
 and listen to me. I wish you to do this. Tou have 
 rolled the wheel-chair down the mountain to smash 
 it to pieces. That was a wicked deed ; you knew it 
 very well, and that you deserve a punishment ; you 
 also know it, and in order not to get it, you tried 
 very hard that no one should know what you had 
 done. But you see, whoever does a wicked thing, 
 and thinks no one knows it, is always mistaken. 
 The dear Lord sees and hears everything, and as 
 soon as he perceives that one tries to conceal his 
 wicked deed, He wakes up the little watchman 
 whom He has placed in him at his birth and who 
 sleeps in him until he has done something wrong. 
 And this little watchman has a little stick in his 
 hand, with which he constantly pricks the person, 
 so that he does not let him have the least bit of 
 
852 HEIDI. 
 
 rest. And he alarms the poor ofiFender with his 
 voice, for he calls to him in a torturing voice all the 
 time: 'Everything will come out! Now you will 
 be taken to be judged and punished.' Thus he 
 must always live in fear and anxiety, and is no 
 longer happy, never. Hasn't this been your expe- 
 rience, Peter, even now ? " 
 
 Peter nodded, feeling contrite like one who had 
 experienced it, for it had happened to him exactly 
 so. 
 
 " And in another way yon were mistaken," con- 
 tinued the grandmamma. " See how the wrong that 
 you did turned out for the best for the person whom 
 you wished to injure I Because Clara no longer had 
 a chair to be carried about and wanted to see the 
 beautiful flowers, she made extraordinary efforts to 
 walk, and so she learned how to walk, improving 
 every day. And if she should stay here, she will at 
 last be able to go up to the pasture every day, much 
 oftener than if she were taken in her chair. Do you 
 see, Peter ? When one wishes to do a wicked thing 
 to another, the dear Lord can take it into His hands, 
 and, in turn, does good to the one that was to be 
 harmed, and in this way the wrongdoer is the loser 
 and feels ashamed and sorry. Have you understood 
 it all, Peter ? Then think of it. Every time you 
 feel inclined to do some wicked thing, think of the 
 little watchman in you with the goad in his hand 
 and with the disagreeable voice. Will you do it ? " 
 
 "Yes, I will," answered Peter still much oast 
 down, for he did not yet know how everything 
 
BIDDING FAREWELL TO MEET AGAIN. 353 
 
 Tfould end, as long as the policeman was still stand, 
 ing over there by the Uncle. 
 
 " "Well, now it is good, everything is settled," said 
 the grandmamma. " And now you must have some- 
 thing you like to remind you of the people from 
 Frankfort. Tell me now, my boy, have you ever 
 wished for anything that you would like to have ? 
 "What was it then ? What would you like to have 
 best?" 
 
 Peter then lifted his head and stared at the 
 grandmamma with his round astonished eyes. He 
 was still expecting something frightful, and now he 
 was suddenly to get what he liked best. Peter was 
 much puzzled in his thought. 
 
 "Yes, yes, I am in earnest about it," said the 
 grandmamma; "you must have something which 
 will give you pleasure as a remembrance of the peo- 
 ple from Frankfort, and as a token that they do not 
 think any more of the wrong you did them. Do 
 you understand now, my boy ? " 
 
 It began to dawn on Peter now, that he did not 
 have to be afraid of any punishment, and that the 
 good lady who was sitting before him had saved him 
 from the hands of the policeman. So he felt as re- 
 lieved as if a mountain that was almost crushing him 
 fell from his shomJers. But he had also learned that 
 it was better to confess one's fault and he at once 
 said: 
 
 " And I have lost the paper." 
 
 The grandmamma had to think a little, but the con- 
 nection soon came to her mind and she said kindly : 
 23 
 
854 HEIDL 
 
 " Very well, that is right, you tell me about it. 
 It is always better to confess every time one does a 
 wrong thing, and then it will be settled again, and 
 be out of one's mind. And now what is the best 
 thing you would like to have ? " 
 
 Now Peter could have anything he wished for in 
 the world. He became almost dizzy. The whole 
 fair of Mayenfeld with all the beautiful things shone 
 before his eyes, which he had gazed at for hours, 
 and had thought he could never own it, for Peter's 
 possessions had never been more than five centimes, 
 and all the alluring objects were always double that 
 sum. There were the beautiful red little whistles 
 which he could so well use for his goats. There 
 were the tempting knives with their round handles, 
 called toad-stickers, with which he could do a fine 
 business in all the hazelwood hedges. 
 
 Peter stood there deep in thought, for he was re. 
 fleeting as to which of the two was the most desirable, 
 and he could not come to a decision. But a bright 
 idea came to him by this way ; he could consider 
 the matter until the next fair. 
 
 " A ten-centime piece," replied Peter decidedly. 
 
 The grandmamma laughed a little. 
 
 " That is not asking too much ! So come here I " 
 
 Then opening her purse she took out a big round 
 five-franc piece and laid two ten-centime pieces 
 on it. 
 
 " So then we will count it out correctly," said she, 
 *' which I will explain to you. Here you have as 
 many ten-centime pieces as there are weeks in the 
 
BIDDING FAREWELL TO MEET AGAIN. 355 
 
 year ! So you can take out one piece every Sunday 
 and use it the whole year through." 
 
 " All my life ? " asked Peter innocently. 
 
 Then the grandmamma had to laugh heartily, so 
 that the gentlemen over there had to stop their con- 
 versation to hear what was going on there. 
 
 The grandmother was still laughing. 
 
 " You shall have it, my boy. I will put it in my 
 will that way — Do you hear, my son ? — and then it 
 will pass over to you like this : To Peter, the goat- 
 herd, a ten- centime piece weekly as long as he 
 lives." 
 
 Mr. Sesemann nodded in assent, and laughed, too. 
 
 Peter looked once more at the present in his hand, 
 to see if it was really true. Then he said : 
 
 "Thank God." 
 
 And he ran away, making unusual long leaps ; but 
 this time he stayed on his feet, for he was not 
 driven by terror, but by a delight such as he had 
 never known before in his life. All his anxiety and 
 fright had passed away and he could expect a ten- 
 centime piece every week all his life. 
 
 Later when the company had finished their cheer- 
 ful midday meal in front of the hut and were sitting 
 together and talking on all sorts of things, then 
 Clara took her father's hand, whose face beamed 
 with joy, and every time he looked at her he felt 
 still happier, and said with an enthusiasm which 
 had never been noticed in feeble Clara : 
 
 " Oh, papa, if you could only know all that grand- 
 father has done for me ! So much every day that 
 
356 HEIDI. 
 
 no one can tell, but I shall never forget it in all my 
 life. And I am always thinking, if I could only do 
 something for the dear grandfather, or give him a 
 present which would make him as happy, or even 
 half as happy, as he has made me." 
 
 " That is my greatest desire, also, my dear child," 
 said the father. " I am all the while thinking about 
 the matter, how we could show our gratitude, in 
 some measure, to our benefactor." 
 
 Mr. Sesemann rose from his seat and went to the 
 Uncle over there, who was sitting by grandmamma, 
 having an unusually pleasant conversation with her. 
 He also rose. Mr. Sesemann took his hand and said 
 in the most friendly way : 
 
 "My dear friend, let us have a talk together! 
 You will understand me, when I tell you that I 
 have never been really happy for many long years. 
 Of what use was all my money and wealth, when I 
 looked at my poor child, whom I could not make 
 well and happy with all my riches ? Next to our 
 God in heaven, you have made my child well and 
 have given me a new life as well. Now tell me how 
 I can show my gratitude to you. I can never repay 
 you for what you have done for us, but whatever is 
 in my power, I place at your disposal. Tell me, 
 my friend, what can I do ? " 
 
 The Uncle had listened in silence and looked at 
 the happy father with a smile of satisfaction. 
 
 " Mr. Sesemann will believe me, that I also have 
 my share in the great joy at the recovery on our 
 Aim. I have been repaid for all my trouble," said 
 
BIDDING FAREWELL TO MEET AGAIN. 357 
 
 the Uncle in his firm way. " I thank Mr. Sesemann 
 for his offer. I have no need of anything ; as long 
 as I live I have enough for the child and myself. 
 I have only one wish ; if that could be satisfied, I 
 would not have any more anxiety for this life." 
 
 " Tell me, tell me, my dear friend ! " urged Mr. 
 Sesemann. 
 
 " I am old," continued the TTncle, " and cannot 
 stay here very long. When I go, I cannot leave 
 the child anything, and she has no relations except 
 one single person, who would take advantage of her, 
 if she could. If Mr. Sesemann would be willing to 
 give me the assurance that Heidi should never in 
 her life be obliged to go out to seek her bread among 
 strangers, then he would have richly repaid me for 
 what I had been able to do for him and his child." 
 
 " But, my friend, there's no need to talk about 
 it," said Mr. Sesemann ; " the child belongs to us. 
 A.sk my mother and my daughter, they will never 
 leave the child Heidi to other people. If it can be 
 any comfort to you, my friend, here is my haijd, I 
 promise you ; this child will never in her life have 
 to go out among strangers to earn her bread. She 
 will be taken care of as long as I live and also after 
 my death. I will tell you something more. This 
 child is not made for a life in a strange land, what- 
 ever the circumstances may be. We have found 
 that out. But she has made friends. I know one 
 who is still in Frankfort ; he is settling his business 
 there, so that he may go wherever he likes and take 
 a rest. That is my friend, the doctor, who will 
 
SS8 HEIDL 
 
 come op here this autumn and after asking for yonr 
 advice he will settle in this region ; for he found 
 more pleasure in your company and this child's than 
 of any one else's. You see, then, that the child 
 Heidi will have two protectors near her. May they 
 both be preserved to her for a long time." 
 
 " May the dear Lord grant it," the grandmamma 
 interrupted here ; and confirming her son's wish she 
 shook the Uncle's hand very warmly for some time. 
 Then she suddenly threw her arms around Heidi's 
 neck, who was standing close to her, and drew her 
 to herself. 
 
 " And you, my dear child, we must also ask you. 
 Come, tell me, have you any wish which you would 
 like to have satisfied?" 
 
 " Tes, of course, I have one," answered Heidi, and 
 looked delightfully up to the grandmamma. 
 
 " Well, that is right, tell me in a straightforward 
 way," said the grandmamma encouragingly. " What 
 would you like to have, my child ? " 
 
 " I would like to have my bed from Frankfort 
 with the high pillows and the thick coverlet, then 
 the grandmother will no longer have to lie with her 
 head down low, so that she can hardly breathe, and 
 she will feel warmer under the coverlet, and not have 
 to go to bed with the shawl on, because she would 
 feel frightfully cold." 
 
 Heidi had said all this in one breath for she was 
 so anxious to get what she so much desired. 
 
 " Oh, my dear Heidi, what are you telling me?" 
 exclaimed the grandmamma in excitement. " It is 
 
BIDDING FAREWELL TO MEET AGAIN. 359 
 
 well that you remind me of it. When one is full 
 of joy, he sometimes forgets what he had to think 
 of first. "When the dear God sends us a new bless- 
 ing, we must at once think of those who are in need 
 of so much. I will telegraph to Frankfort at 
 once for it! Bottenmeier must pack up the bed 
 this very day, and in two days it will reach here. 
 God willing, the grandmother shall sleep well in it ! " 
 
 Heidi jumped and danced with joy around the 
 grandmamma ; but suddenly she stood still and said 
 hastily : 
 
 " I must now go down to the grandmother. She 
 must be very unhappy, for I have not been there 
 for so long." 
 
 For Heidi could not wait any longer to carry this 
 good news to the grandmother ; and then she re. 
 membered how anxious the grandmother had been 
 when she was there the last time. 
 
 " No, no, Heidi, what do you think," said the 
 grandfather ; " when one has visitors, one does not 
 ran away so suddenly." 
 
 But the grandmamma expressed her consent for 
 Heidi's desire. 
 
 " My dear Uncle, the child is not at all wrong," 
 said she ; "the poor grandmother has not had her 
 full share on my account for a long time. Let us 
 all go down to see her, and I think I will wait down 
 there for my horse and then continue our journey, 
 and when in Doerfli, the message will immediately 
 be sent to Frankfort. My son, what is your opinion 
 regarding it 1 " 
 
860 HEIDL 
 
 Mr. Sesemann had not had time before to talk 
 about his plans for the journey. He had to ask his 
 mother not to carry out her |)lans at once, but to 
 remain sitting until he had expressed what he 
 wanted to. 
 
 Mr. Sesemann had intended to take a little journey 
 through Switzerland with his mother, and first to 
 see whether his little Clara would be able to go a 
 little distance with them. Now it had happened 
 that he could make the most agreeable journey in 
 company with his daughter, and he wanted to make 
 use of the beautiful late summer days for this pleas- 
 ant purpose. He had in mind to spend the night 
 in Doerfli and early the next morning bring Clara 
 down from the Aim, in order to go and meet the 
 grandmamma at the Baths of Bagatzand from there 
 to travel on further. 
 
 Clara felt a little uneasy at the news of a sudden 
 departure from the Alps; but she had so many 
 other things to delight her besides. And there was 
 no time to feel bad over anything. 
 
 The grandmamma had already risen and had 
 taken Heidi's hand to go on ahead of the company, 
 but suddenly she turned around. 
 
 " But what in the world are you going to do with 
 the little Clara?" she exclaimed in fright, for it 
 had come into her mind that the walk would be 
 too long for her. 
 
 But the Uncle had already taken Clara, in his 
 usual way, in his arms, and was following the grand- 
 mamma with firm steps, who nodded back to him 
 
BIDDING FAREWELL TO MEET AGAIN. 361 
 
 ■with much pleasure. Last of all came Mr. Sese. 
 mann, and the -whole party went on doTvn the mouiu 
 tain. 
 
 Heidi jumped up and down with joy by the side 
 of the grandmamma, who wished to know about 
 everything pertaining to the grandmother, how she 
 had to live, and how they were getting along, es- 
 pecially in winter, during the terrible cold season 
 up there. 
 
 Heidi told her about everything in detail, for she 
 knew all about them, and how they lived, how the 
 grandmother sat in her corner and trembled with 
 the cold. She also knew well what she had to eat 
 and what she did not have. 
 
 The grandmamma listened to what Heidi had to 
 say, with the liveliest interest, until they reached 
 the hut. 
 
 Brigitte was just about to hang Peter's second 
 shirt in the sun, so that when the other one had 
 been worn long enough, he could change it. She 
 noticed the company coming down and rushed into 
 the room. 
 
 •' The whole party is just going away, mother," 
 she said ; " it is a long procession ; the Uncle is ac 
 companying them ; he is carrying the sick child." 
 
 " Oh, must it really be ? " sighed the grandmother. 
 •* Have you noticed whether they are taking Heidi 
 with them? Oh, if she would only give me her 
 hand once more I If I could only hear her voice 
 once more ! " 
 
 All of a sudden the door flung open, and Heidi 
 
862 HSIDI. 
 
 came into the comer in a few leaps and threw her 
 arms around the grandmother's neek. 
 
 " Grandmother ! grandmother ! my bed is coming 
 from Frankfort with all the three pillows and the 
 thick quUt, too, and in two days it will be here ; 
 the grandmamma told me so." 
 
 Heidi could not tell the message quick enough, 
 for she could not wait to see the great joy of the 
 grandmother. She smiled, but said a little sadly : 
 
 " Oh, what a good lady she must be ! I must only 
 "be too glad that they are going to take you with 
 them, but I cannot survive it long." 
 
 ♦'What? what? who says such a thing to the 
 good old grandmother ? " asked a friendly voice 
 here, and the old lady's hand was grasped and 
 heartily pressed, for the grandmamma had come in 
 and heard everything. " No, no, there is nothing 
 of the kind ! Heidi will stay with the grandmother 
 and make her happy. "We always want to see the 
 child, but we will come to her, we will take a trip 
 to the Aim every year, for we have good reason to 
 offer the Lord our special thanks each year in this 
 place where He has performed such a great miracle 
 to our child." 
 
 Then the real light of joy came into the grand- 
 mother's face, and with speechless thanks she pressed 
 good Mrs. Sesemann!s hand repeatedly ; while a 
 pair of great tears glided down her aged cheeks 
 from her great joy. Heidi immediately noticed the 
 great delight that came over the grandmother's 
 face, and felt quite happy. 
 
BIDDING FAREWELL TO MEET AGAIN. 363 
 
 •• Isn't it true, grandmother ? " said she clinging 
 to her, "now it has happened just as I read to you 
 the last time ! Has it not 1 The bed from Frank- 
 fort is wholesome, isn't it ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes, Heidi, and so many more things ; so 
 many good things, the dear Lord is doing for me," 
 said the grandmother with deep affection. " How 
 is it possible that there are such good people, who 
 trouble themselves for a poor old woman, and do 
 so much for her ? There's nothing which strength- 
 ens one's faith in a good Father in heaven who 
 does not forget the least of His creatures as to find 
 out that there are such people full of kindness and 
 mercy for a poor worthless woman such as I 
 am." 
 
 " My good grandmother," broke in Mrs. Sesemann 
 here, " before our Father in heaven we are all equally 
 poor and equally in need of His help and protection. 
 And now we must bid you farewell, but will see you 
 again, for as soon as we come up the Aim next year, 
 we will also look for the grandmother ; she will 
 never be forgotten." Whereupon Mrs. Sesemann 
 pressed the old lady's hand once more and shook it 
 heartily. 
 
 But she could not get away as quickly as she 
 thought, for the grandmother could not thank her 
 enough, and wished the dear Lord to give all the 
 blessings He could bestow on her whole household. 
 Then Mr. Sesemann went down towards the valley 
 with his mother, while the Uncle took Clara home 
 again; and Heidi jumped up and down without 
 
364 HEIDL 
 
 stopping as she went along by her side, because she 
 felt so happy for the grandmother's prospect. 
 
 The next morning Clara shed hot tears as she was 
 going to leave the beautiful Aim, where she had be- 
 come so well and felt better than she had ever done 
 before in her whole life. But Heidi comforted her 
 and said : 
 
 " It will soon be summer again, and then you will 
 come again, when it will be much more beautifuL 
 Then you can walk from the very first day, and we 
 can go up to the pasture with the goats every day 
 and see the flowers, and everything will be fine from 
 the very first." 
 
 Mr. Sesemann returned, as he had promised, to 
 take his little daughter with him. He was standing 
 with the grandfather and talking together on all 
 sorts of things. Clara was wiping away her tears, 
 for Heidi's words had comforted her a Little. 
 
 " Give my greetings to Peter," she said, " and to 
 all the goats, especially to Schwaenli. Oh, if I 
 could only make a present to Schwaenli ; she ha» 
 helped me so much to become well." 
 
 " You can do it," Heidi said assuringly. " Send 
 her a little salt, you know how fond she is of licking 
 salt from the grandfather's hands every evening." 
 
 This idea pleased Clara very much. 
 
 " Oh, then I will send her a hundred pounds of 
 salt from Frankfort," she called out joyfully. 
 " She must also have a remembrance from me." 
 
 Mrs. Sesemann beckoned to the children, for she 
 wished to start. This time the grandmamma's <vhite 
 
BIDDING FAREWELL TO MEET AGAIN. 365 
 
 horse was brought to take Clara down, for she was 
 now able to ride down, and she no longer needed 
 a sedan chau*. 
 
 Heidi stood at the very extreme edge of the slope 
 and waved her hand to Clara, until the last trace of 
 the horse and rider had disappeared. 
 
 The bed came, and the grandmother now sleeps 
 so well every night that she is fast gaining strength. 
 
 The kind grandmamma did not forget the severe 
 winter on the Alps. She sent a big bale of goods to 
 goatherd Peter's house ; there were packed up so 
 many warm things in it that the grandmother could 
 wrap herself all up with them, and was not obliged 
 to sit in her corner shivering from cold. 
 
 Now there is a large building being built in 
 Doerfli. The doctor has come and has taken up his 
 old quarters. By his friend's advice the doctor pur- 
 chased the old building where the Uncle lived with 
 Heidi in the winter, and which had formerly been 
 the great mansion of a gentleman, as is still to be 
 seen from the lofty room with the beautiful stove 
 and from the skilful wainscoting. This part of the 
 house the doctor is rebuilding for his own dwelling. 
 The other part is being repaired as winter quarters 
 for the Uncle and Heidi, for the doctor knew him to 
 be an independent man who would want to have his 
 own house. In the back part was a firmly built 
 warm goats' shed, where Schwaenli and Baerli could 
 spend their winter days very comfortably. 
 
 The doctor and the Aim-Uncle are growing 
 better friends every day, and when they go side by 
 
366 HEIDL 
 
 side over the building to see the progress of the work, 
 their thoughts turn most of the time to Heidi, for to 
 both the chief delight in the house is that they will 
 live there with their happy child. 
 
 " My dear friend," said the doctor one day as he 
 was standing up on one of the walls with the Uncle, 
 '• you must look at the matter as I do. I share all 
 joys in the child with you; next to you I am the one 
 to whom the child belongs ; but I will share all the 
 obligations and care for the child according to the 
 best of my ability. So I have also my share in our 
 Heidi, and can hope that she will take care of me 
 in my old age and stay with me, which is my great- 
 est desire. Heidi shall have all the rights of a child 
 of mine, so we can leave her without anxiety when 
 we shall be obliged to go away — ^you and I." 
 
 The Uncle pressed the doctor's hand for a long 
 time ; he uttered not a word, but his good friend 
 could read in the old man's eyes the emotion and 
 the high delight which his words had aroused. 
 
 Meanwhile, Heidi and Peter were sitting by the 
 grandmother, and the former had so much to tell 
 and the latter so much to listen to, that both could 
 hardly get their breath, and in their eagerness drew 
 nearer and nearer to the happy grandmother. 
 
 And how much they had to say about all that had 
 taken place in the past summer, for during that 
 time they had been so little together. 
 
 And each of the three looked happier than the 
 other, for they wore together again, and because so 
 many wonderful things had taken place. Mother 
 
BIDDING FAREWELL TO MEET AGAIN. 367 
 
 Brigitte's face looked the happiest, for with Heidi's 
 help she now, for the first time, could understand 
 the story of the ten-centime piece. 
 
 At last the grandmother said : 
 
 " Heidi, read me a hymn of praise and thanksgiv- 
 ing ! I feel that I can only praise and glorify our 
 God in heaven and offer Him thanks for all that He 
 has done tot us." 
 
 THE ENOb 
 
Cornell University Library 
 PZ 7.S77H4 1901 
 
 Heidi :a story for girls.Translated from 
 
 3 1924 012 618 546 
 

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