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 The rose child, 
 
 Cornell University Library 
 
 3 1924 031 216 355 
 olin.anx 
 
The original of tiiis book is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924031216355 
 
THE ROSE CHILD 
 
BOOKS BY JOHANNA 
 
 SPYRI 
 
 Heidi, Complete Edition . 
 MoNi, THE Goat-Boy . 
 The Rose Child . 
 
 . 11.25 
 .50 
 .50 
 
 Elustrated in Color 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAFTEK PAGE 
 
 I. The Time of Roses 7 
 
 II. A Little Helper and Great Help . .19 
 
 III. Rose-Resu's Trouble 35 
 
 IV. Sorrow-Mother No Longer .... 47 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 PACK 
 
 "See, see, have you ever seen such roses?" 
 
 Frontispiece 13 
 
 The kind old woman had the child sit down on 
 a stool, brought her needle and thread, and 
 began the work immediately 38 
 
 "You have given me the most beautiful one of 
 
 all." 61 
 
THE TIME OF ROSES 
 
CHAPTER FIRST 
 
 THE TIME OF KOSES 
 
 DIETRICH, the sheriff of Wildbach, 
 who had once owned considerable prop- 
 erty, had for several years been falling 
 into bad ways and by this means had lost his 
 position and his salary. His only occupation 
 was cutting a few tufts of grass from his uncul- 
 tivated fields, and carrying it home to feed his 
 poor little goat; for himself and his foster-child 
 there were only a few potatoes and a little milk. 
 
 After dinner Dietrich would vanish and not 
 appear again until toward night to milk the 
 goat. Then he was seen no more at home; but 
 everyone knew that he sat in the tavern until 
 late at night, and that soon house and land and 
 goat would be taken from him to pay his debts. 
 
 As long as his wife had lived things had gone 
 better. They had had more land and a cow, and 
 the wife had worked industriously early and late. 
 
10 THE ROSE CHILD 
 
 They had never had any children of their own, 
 but an orphan niece of Dietrich's had been living 
 with them for three years. He had lost his wife 
 the year before, and since then things had gone 
 so rapidly from bad to worse that everyone won- 
 dered at the child's fresh, blooming appearance. 
 She was now eight years old and was everywhere 
 called Rose-Resli, for she was never seen without 
 a rose in her hand or in her mouth. Resli — ^her 
 real name was Theresa — ^had such a love for roses, 
 that she gazed with her merry blue eyes so long- 
 ingly into every garden where roses grew, that 
 the owners inside would call out kindly: "Would 
 you like one?" And Rose-Resli, beaming with 
 delight, would stretch her httle hand through 
 the fence and receive her prize gratefully. 
 
 So the child was always seen surrounded with 
 roses as soon as they began to bloom, and every 
 one knew the blooming Rose-Resli and were fond 
 of her. 
 
 She did not see much of her uncle. In the 
 morning she went to school and at noon he usually 
 said: 
 
THE TIME OF ROSES 11 
 
 "I shall not be home to-night, but you will 
 find something to eat." 
 
 But the cupboard was always empty. It was 
 well that here and there a child at school gave 
 Rose-Resli apples or pears, or even a slice of 
 bread, and often when she had to go hungry, she 
 could run freely to the gardens round about 
 where the roses grew, and gather a few, and in 
 this pleasure she would forget everything else. 
 
 To-day again the child had found no supper, 
 but for all that she skipped happily across the 
 meadows. It was a bright Summer evening. 
 The butterflies were fluttering up and down in 
 the blue air and high above the swallows flew 
 round in a circle, twittering, summer-like, and all 
 about in the meadows the crickets were chirping 
 merrily, so that Rose-Resli became more and 
 more gladsome and jumped higher and higher 
 as if she would fly away with the butterflies. 
 Thus in a short time she came to a garden, which 
 lay at a distance, on a wooded hill, and always 
 had the most beautiful roses. The garden was 
 surrounded by a wooden fence, and Rose-Resli 
 
12 THE ROSE CHILD 
 
 quickly climbed up on the lower rail and looked 
 longingly into the garden. 
 
 "Come right in," called a voice from behind 
 the trees; "I know very well what you are 
 looking for; to-day you shall have some more 
 roses." 
 
 Rose-Resli didn't wait to be asked a second 
 time. She stepped quickly inside, went straight 
 to the fragrant rose-bed and looked in wonder- 
 ment at the multitude of red and white, light 
 and dark blossoms, glowing and giving forth 
 their perfume together. Then the President's 
 wife, the owner of the garden, came up to her. 
 She had many times before given roses to Resli, 
 and had just now called her to come in. 
 
 "You have come at just the right time to-day, 
 Resli," she said. "You shall have a big bunch, 
 but many of the roses are ready to fall, you see, 
 so you must be a little quiet and not jump so 
 high, as you usually do, or all the petals will 
 fall off the flowers before you reach home." 
 
 Then the President's wife carefully cut a rose 
 here and another there, and then two together. 
 
THE TIME OF ROSES 13 
 
 light and dark red and white ones, until she made 
 a big, large, wonderful bouquet. Rose-Resli's 
 eyes grew bigger and bigger, for she had never 
 held anything so wonderfully beautiful in her 
 hand before. But here and there the fragrant 
 petals were falling to the ground and the bare 
 stems looked so sad among the other flowers, that 
 Rose-Resli seemed quite alarmed. 
 
 "See! see!" said the lady warningly, "you will 
 have to walk very slowly to your house, or you 
 will not have three left with their petals on when 
 you get there." 
 
 Rose-Resli thanked her politely and started on 
 her way back. This led her past a miserable 
 little hut where lived the "Sorrow-mother," a 
 quiet woman with a sorrowful face. Rose-Resli 
 had never heard her called anything else, and 
 supposed that she had no other name. 
 
 "Sorrow-mother," called Resli, when she saw 
 the old woman at the window, "see! see! Have 
 you ever seen such roses?" 
 
 "No, Resli, not for a long time," replied the 
 woman, and the child went on her way, quite 
 
14 THE ROSE CHILD 
 
 absorbed in the sweetness and beauty of her 
 flowers. 
 
 As Resli was passing the last house on the 
 road, the woman of the house, called the Peas- 
 ant Woman of the Cross-way, because she lived 
 where two roads crossed, came out and, with 
 both of her strong arms on her hips, looked at 
 the child. 
 
 "WeU, well, you are really a Rose-Resli to- 
 day," she called to her; "come, show me your 
 treasures close to." 
 
 Rose-Resli turned quickly round, and jojrfully 
 held her bouquet out to her. But with her quick 
 movement the petals dropped from three or four 
 of the roses and fluttered to the groimd. Resli 
 looked at them sadly. 
 
 "Too bad," said the woman, "but they would 
 be just right for me. Child, give me your roses 
 and you shall have a good piece of bread for 
 them. You can't carry them any farther. By 
 the time you get home you will have nothing 
 but stems in your hand. Come, give them to 
 me." 
 
THE TIME OF ROSES 15 
 
 "All my roses, and not have any to keep?" 
 asked Resli, quite taken aback. 
 
 "You can keep one of them; see, this one, the 
 others will fall right away. Come lay them in 
 here, they mustn't be lost," and the peasant wom- 
 an held out her apron. Resli laid her roses in 
 it, all except one which she placed in the front 
 of her little dress, where she almost always wore 
 a rose-bud. Then the peasant woman went into 
 the house, and soon came back again with a big 
 slice of bread in her hand, at sight of which, 
 the child suddenly realized that she was very 
 himgry. 
 
 "Listen, Resli, I will give you some good ad- 
 vice," said the peasant woman, as she gave the 
 bread to the child; "take a little basket, go, 
 every evening, where there are roses growing, 
 and ask for the ones that are ready to fall. Then 
 put them right into the basket, so that you will 
 not lose the leaves; for I need them, and every 
 evening, if you will bring me a nice little pile of 
 petals, you shall have a good big piece of bread. 
 Will you do it?" 
 
16 THE ROSE CHILD 
 
 "Yes, surely," said Rose-Resli, and started on 
 her way home, eating her bread, with great sat- 
 isfaction. 
 
 When the child passed by the Sorrow-mother's 
 cottage again, she was coming along home, car- 
 rying on her back the bimdle of fagots she had 
 gathered. 
 
 "What has become of your beautiful roses?" 
 she asked, when the child came up to her. Resli 
 told her the whole story, and how she was going 
 to bring rose-leaves every day to the cross-road 
 woman. 
 
 The Sorrow-mother listened thoughtfully; 
 then she said timidly: 
 
 "Resli, won't you come to me to-morrow, be- 
 fore you take the roses to the peasant woman? 
 I should like to ask you something then." 
 
 "Yes, I will do that, so sleep well, Sorrow- 
 mother!" 
 
 Whereupon Resli went on her way. When 
 she reached her uncle's distant cottage, she 
 went into the silent, lonely room. She closed 
 no door, made no light. Like a little bird she 
 
THE TIME OF ROSES 17 
 
 sought her nest in the gloaming and soon was 
 sleeping peacefully. She dreamed of her rosesj 
 imtil the bright sun wakened her again. 
 
A ILITTLE HELPER AND 
 GREAT HELP 
 
CHAPTER SECOND 
 
 A LITTO: HELPER AND GEEAT HELP 
 
 THE woman whom the people had given 
 the name of Sorrow-mother was a very 
 poor widow. She had seen better days, 
 and was not accustomed to beg; she starved and 
 suflPered in silence, told her trouble only to the 
 dear Lord, and sought in Him alone to find the 
 consolation she needed. Her husband, who had 
 been a tailor, died young and left her only one 
 son. Like his father he was to be a tailor. This 
 the boy's guardian had resolved upon, and he 
 was the one to decide the matter. But Joseph 
 did not like this; when he ought to be working 
 at his trade, he ran away, and came home late 
 at night or not at all. So he fell into bad com- 
 pany, and his guardian, who was also overseer 
 of the parish, threatened, if he would not work 
 and do well, to send him on the next transport 
 to Australia. 
 
 21 
 
22 THE ROSE CHILD 
 
 Joseph was very much broken up by this and 
 said that he could work, if they would let him 
 do what he wanted, and if he could go away 
 from home without being sent. 
 
 Then he disappeared and never came back. 
 His mother mourned for him greatly, but she 
 gave her child up to the dear Lord, and when 
 the people in the village said scornfully: 
 
 "What good has it been for you to pray so 
 much? You are living in poverty with your sor- 
 row, and Joseph will die in poverty far away." 
 Then she would answer: 
 
 "If I have to remain a sorrowing mother to 
 the end and have to die in poverty, I will not 
 lose my faith that Joseph will return to the right 
 way, for I have from the beginning and always, 
 again and again, given him into the dear Lord's 
 keeping and have prayed for him so much, that 
 it cannot be in vain." 
 
 The next day, as soon as school was over, 
 Rose-Resli started off. The child did not own 
 a basket, but she could pUe the roses in her 
 apron. Skipping merrily along, she came to the 
 
A LITTLE HELPER 23 
 
 large garden, where the President's wife was 
 wandering about among her flowers. 
 
 "Would you like some more roses, Resli?" 
 she asked the child. "Come in, there are one 
 or two more left to give you." 
 
 "Only the ones that are ready to fall," said 
 Resli, holding out her little apron so that to- 
 day she might not let a single leaf fall to the 
 ground. 
 
 "Yes, if you like them so, you can have your 
 whole apron full! Come over here." 
 
 And the President's wife led the child to a 
 large bed full of roses which were wide open or 
 had already dropped half their leaves. Here she 
 Cut oflf so many that Rose-Resli had her apron 
 quite full. 
 
 "May I come again to-morrow?" asked Resli 
 expectantly. 
 
 "Certainly you may," replied the lady; "you 
 shall have all these that are wide open, if you 
 take pleasure in them." 
 
 Rose-Resli thanked her and ran along much 
 delighted. When she reached the tumble-down 
 
24 THE ROSE CHILD 
 
 cottage where the Sorrow-mother lived, the 
 child remembered her promise to stop there. 
 She stepped into the low, little room where the 
 Sorrow-mother sat at the spinning-wheel. She 
 greeted Resli with great friendliness. Then she 
 went to her window, cut oif two red roses from 
 the little rose-bush growing there, and held them 
 out to the child. 
 
 "See, Resli," she said hesitatingly, "I want to 
 ask you if you will take these two rosebuds also 
 with you; perhaps the peasant woman will give 
 you a little more bread for them, even if it is a 
 very small piece. Will you do this, Resli?" 
 
 "Yes, yes," replied the child quickly, "and 
 then I will bring the bread right to you. I wiU 
 be back again soon." 
 
 The Cross-way woman was standing in front 
 of her house, by the wall of her vegetable garden, 
 and looking first into one and then into another 
 of the baskets standing on the wall, and in which 
 the beautiful, fragrant rose-leaves were spread 
 out to dry in the sun. Every year the peasant 
 woman made a sweet-smelling rose-water and for 
 
A LITTLE HELPER 25 
 
 this she used a great many rose-leaves, which 
 were not very easy to get. 
 
 "That's right," she said with satisfaction as 
 Rose-Resli came and opened her apron, "to-day 
 you shall have a fine piece of bread." 
 
 "I have two more," said Resli, holding up high 
 the Sorrow-mother's rose-buds. 
 
 "Throw them on the others; they are very 
 small indeed, but perhaps they will have a couple 
 of leaves." 
 
 "But I should very much like to have a sep- 
 arate piece of bread for them," said Resli, stiH 
 holding them fast in her hand. 
 
 "I know very well," said the peasant woman, 
 stepping into the house, "we were all like that 
 once; now and then at school we swapped a 
 piece of bread for a pear or a couple of prunes; 
 it's so, I know, Resli. There, take the big piece 
 in exchange for the roses in your apron, and here 
 is a little one for the other two. Are you satis- 
 fied with this?" 
 
 "Yes, yes, really," Resli assured her, thanked 
 her many times, and started to return. She laid 
 
26 THE ROSE CHILD 
 
 the small piece of bread in her apron for the 
 Sorrow-mother, and immediately bit eagerly into 
 the larger piece, for she had had very little to 
 eat at noon, and at night there was nothing at 
 all. So the whole piece of bread had come to 
 an end before Resli reached the little old house. 
 Now she was there and stepped inside and 
 exclaimed: "Here, Sorrow-mother, here is your 
 bread!" 
 
 The woman took the child's hand, and pressed 
 it gratefully. 
 
 "You don't know how much good you are 
 doing me, Resli," she said. "You see, out in the 
 garden, I have potatoes, which are my only food. 
 But often my stomach can't bear them any 
 longer; bread is too dear for me, and then when 
 I eat almost nothing, I grow so weak, I am 
 no longer able to spin. So I am glad to have 
 your bread, Resli, and thank you heartily for 
 it." 
 
 Then Rose-Resli was sorry that she had 
 brought only the small piece of bread to the 
 Sorrow-mother, and had kept the large piece 
 
A LITTLE HELPER 27 
 
 for herself, and she kept thinking in her 
 heart: 
 
 "Oh, if I had only eaten the little piece in- 
 stead of the big one," and she looked quite cast 
 down. The Sorrow-mother thought she was still 
 hungry, and wanted to give back the little piece 
 of bread to her. But Resli said: 
 
 "No, no, I don't want it. I have already had 
 enough; to-morrow I will come again!" 
 
 And away she went. 
 
 On the following evening she came promptly 
 back again. Once more the President's wife had 
 filled her apron with roses, and again the Sorrow- 
 mother had broken off two rose-buds from the 
 bush and given them to Resli. When she reached 
 the Cross-way woman's, and took the roses out of 
 her apron, Resli said: 
 
 "Can I have one piece of bread to-day, but as 
 big as the two together?" 
 
 "You see, I guessed right!" replied the peas- 
 ant woman. "Now you have found out that it 
 is a shame to swap good bread for apples and 
 pears. That is right; only keep it, and to-day 
 
28 THE ROSE CHILD 
 
 it is quite fresh, so you shall have a fine piece; 
 come with me." 
 
 The peasant woman went into her kitchen, and 
 cut from the large loaf of bread the biggest piece 
 Resli had ever held in her hand, in all her life. 
 She ran quickly to the Sorrow-mother, and beam- 
 ing with delight laid the whole piece in her hand; 
 not a morsel had the child taken out of it to-day. 
 Like a weight it had lain on her heart, that she 
 had kept the large piece of bread and brought 
 the small one to the Sorrow-mother; Her eyes 
 shone with delight when the old woman looked 
 in amazement at her piece of bread. She held 
 it out to the child, saying: 
 
 "What is this, Resli? It is siu-ely your bread; 
 come take it, take it! If you will break off just 
 a little piece of it, I will thank youl" 
 
 "No, no, I will not take a single crumb of it," 
 said the child. "Good-night, and to-morrow I 
 will come again!" 
 
 "I have no more roses, Resli, but I thank you; 
 you don't know how much good you have done 
 me!" 
 
A LITTLE HELPER 29 
 
 There were tears in the woman's eyes as she 
 called after the child. Resli had noticed this, 
 and for a moment she became quite thoughtfxil. 
 Then something came to her mind, and Resli 
 was glad in her heart once more, sang and 
 jumped for joy and thought out what she would 
 do the next day. 
 
 Soon the President's wife had no more roses, 
 but Resli in her rambles had become acquainted 
 with so many other gardens, that she had no 
 trouble in finding other roses, and she was so 
 quick and light-footed that no place was too far 
 away for her. So every evening she brought her 
 apron full of roses to the peasant woman, and 
 received every time her piece of bread, which 
 was larger rather than smaller, for the peasant 
 woman was very much pleased with what Resli 
 did. 
 
 A neighbor who also prepared rose-water, 
 sometimes looked on with envy when she saw 
 Resli shake out her full apron, and said it was 
 no wonder if the Cross-way woman could make 
 better rosewater than she; if she knew how to 
 
30 THE ROSE CHILD 
 
 procure such beautiful rose-leaves, she would suc- 
 ceed as well. 
 
 Resli never ate any more of the bread. The 
 Sorrow-mother had to have it all, although she 
 objected and wanted to share it with the child. 
 From time to time Resli would ask: 
 
 "Sorrow-mother, is the bread domg you 
 good?" 
 
 Then the poor woman would tell her again and 
 again how much stronger she felt, since she had 
 bread to eat every day; how much more she 
 could spin and earn, so that she would not 
 have to suffer with the cold in the Winter, as 
 usual. I 
 
 Finally she always said: 
 
 "If only I could repay you for what you are 
 doing for me, Resli !" 
 
 But Resli's face beamed with such delight that 
 one could see that she already had received the 
 best reward. 
 
 Thus it went on until the time of roses was 
 over. One evening, when Resli had run far and 
 wide, and had looked into aU the gardens in vain. 
 
A LITTLE HELPER 31 
 
 and at last brought only three half -withered roses 
 to the peasant woman, she said: 
 
 "It is all over with the roses, but next year 
 you must bring me your lovely rose-leaves 
 again." 
 
 These words made an impression on Resli, 
 which the peasant woman had not expected. She 
 supposed that such a child would receive some- 
 thing here and there from kind people, and not 
 depend so much on her piece of bread. But 
 Resli was thinking of the Sorrow-mother, and 
 what would happen to her now if she had noth- 
 ing to eat but her few potatoes. Big tears came 
 into her eyes, as she saw that the roses were all 
 gone. 
 
 "No, no, you must not cry, Resli," said the 
 peasant woman sympathetically. "Promise me 
 that next Summer you will a;gain bring me many 
 beautiful roses, and you shall have your piece of 
 bread every day all through the Winter. Will 
 you do it?" 
 
 Then her tears were quickly dried, and Resli 
 beamed with delight. 
 
32 THE ROSE CHILD 
 
 "Yes, indeed, I will; and you shall have all, 
 all the roses, and forget-me-nots, too." 
 
 "I don't need them; but the roses — don't for- 
 get them ! There is your piece of bread, and now 
 it is time for apples, and you must have some of 
 those. There, Resli!" and the peasant- woman 
 reached for a big red-cheeked apple, and offered 
 it, together with the piece of bread, to the child. 
 
 In highest glee Resli ran off with her treas- 
 ures, and the peasant woman gazed after her with 
 gratification, for she was fond of Resli and de- 
 lighted that she was so happy. Besides, she was 
 pleased to have already assured the finest roses 
 for herself the coming Summer. She had partic- 
 ularly noticed how her neighbor was always look- 
 ing over at her rose-leaves, and she had been a 
 little anxious lest she might entice Resli away 
 for the following Summer, for she must have 
 surely found out that the child brought her fine 
 roses. 
 
 The Sorrow-mother, too, had a happy evening. 
 When Resli, who always brought simshine into 
 the old woman's lonely room, told her everything 
 
A LITTLE HELPER 33 
 
 she had arranged with the peasant woman, the 
 Sorrow-mother folded her hands and silently 
 thanked the dear Lord for having sent the child, 
 like a good angel, to her, and that now she could 
 look forward to the dreaded Winter with so much 
 less anxiety and concern. 
 
ROSE-RESLI'S TROUBLE 
 
CHAPTER THIRD 
 
 EOSE-EESLl's TROUBLE 
 
 SOME days later it appeared as if a won- 
 derful change had taken place; as if the 
 Sorrow-mother and Rose-Resli had ex- 
 changed natures. The woman was sitting with 
 a calm, happy face by her spinning wheel. Then 
 Resli stepped in, looking as troubled as if some- 
 thing had happened which would take away her 
 joyousness for all time. 
 
 "What is the matter, Resli; what is the mat- 
 ter?" asked the Sorrow-mother in alarm. 
 
 "I have a hole in my dress," she cried out in a 
 very fierce tone, "and at school the children all 
 laughed at me; they ran behind me and kept 
 singing louder and louder: 
 
 'Rose-Resli, rose-stalk, 
 Rose-Resli, hole in your frock!* 
 
 And at the recollection of the insult which 
 
 37 
 
ROSE-RESLI'S TROUBLE 39 
 
 and she wiped away her tears, "but I thought 
 every morning I should have another hole, and 
 so they would run after me every day and sing 
 behind me: 
 
 *Rose-Resli, rose-stalk' — 
 
 And so I thought I would never go to school 
 again." 
 
 "Yes, indeed, Resli, you must go; that is a 
 law, and a good one, or else you would never 
 learn anything. And you see nobody must run 
 away when trouble comes ; we must hold still and 
 bear it, because the dear Lord always has some- 
 thing to teach us in this way which we should not 
 learn otherwise. For when we are in the midst 
 of trouble and sorrow, we seek help and comfort 
 from Him, and learn to know Him, and then 
 ti'ust comes into our hearts, because we perceive 
 that we have a Father in heaven Who stands by 
 us and hears when we call. Do you pray to Him, 
 too, Resli?" 
 
 The child thought '3r a moment, then she said; 
 "Yes, in school." 
 
40 THE ROSE CHILD 
 
 "What do you pray in school?" 
 
 Resli began, and without taking breath, for 
 fear of losing the sound of the words and not 
 be able to go on, she said as fast as she could: 
 
 "How the morning-hour rejoices 
 
 Those that wake and praise the Lord: 
 Thankful hearts and happy voices 
 With His children well accord.' 
 
 "Now I don't know any more." 
 
 The sound of the words had escaped her, so 
 she knew no more. 
 
 "It is a beautiful little verse, but you said it 
 rather too fast, Resli; have you thought what it 
 means?" 
 
 "No, I have not," replied Resli. 
 
 "You see, it means that when you awake in 
 the morning you should think of the dear Lord 
 the first thing, and rejoice, and thank Him for 
 having protected you all through the night. That 
 is the way to pray in the morning. But do you 
 know a little prayer for the evening?" 
 
ROSE-RESLI'S TROUBLE 41 
 
 "No, I don't know any." 
 "Then you can only pray from your heart to 
 the dear Lord, and ask Him to forgive you if 
 you have done anything wrong during the day, 
 and ask Him to help you so that you will not do 
 it again. You see, Resli, when we can pray right 
 to the dear Lord, we become quite happy again; 
 if I did not do that always, I should have died 
 from trouble long ago." 
 
 "Why?" asked Resli, wondering. 
 
 "You see, I have had cause enough. I am so 
 very poor and have hardly enough to live on. 
 Besides, I have a child out in the world, a son, 
 and I know nothing about him; perhaps he is 
 dying in poverty, or is already dead ; and if I did 
 not entrust him to the dear Lord every evening, 
 as I did in the first hour of his life, and say, 'He 
 is Thine, help him!' I could never go to sleep on 
 account of my anxiety and grief; but when I 
 have prayed so, comfort and trust come into my 
 heart." 
 
 "I will help you to pray for him," said Resli. 
 
 "That delights me, child; that delights me; 
 
42 THE ROSE CHILD 
 
 and if you pray for Joseph, it will be good for 
 you, too, that I know, and you wUl need it if 
 you are able to pray aright." 
 
 "Why?" asked Resli again. 
 
 "See, my chUd," began the Sorrow-mother af- 
 fectionately, but a little anxiously, "your uncle 
 has done wrong, and they say that soon his house 
 and land will be taken away from him. Then 
 you will have to go to strangers, and that means 
 much work and few kind words. You know noth- 
 ing about that now, and so it will be well if you 
 know the way to the dear Lord, so that you can 
 tell Him all your troubles and find comfort in 
 Him." 
 
 "Then I will come and live with you," said 
 Resli, more pleased than troubled. 
 
 "Oh, you dear child, I couldn't take care of 
 you at all — something quite different will hap- 
 pen; but we will tell the dear Lord about it, and 
 He will provide for you. So, now, it is all mend- 
 ed," said the Sorrow-mother, who while she was 
 talking had looked over the child's little frock 
 carefully and mended it. 
 
ROSE-RESLI'S TROUBLE 48 
 
 "If you need anything again, come to me and 
 I will help you." 
 
 Resli thanked her politely and ran away with 
 a lightened heart. Now she would never be 
 laughed at in school again, and this assurance de- 
 lighted Resli so much that she quite forgot about 
 the Sorrow-mother's telling her how, perhaps, she 
 would have to go to strangers soon, and have to 
 do hard work. 
 
 Resli did not forget her promise, for when 
 she lay down to sleep she prayed quite loud 
 and from her heart: "Dear Lord, do help 
 Joseph !" 
 
 A long, hard Winter followed. The Sorrow- 
 mother had to suffer much from the cold, but not 
 from hunger, as in years before, and so she kept 
 what little health she had. 
 
 Rose-Resli was her support and her bread-win- 
 ner. In the late Autumn she had seen the Sor- 
 row-mother with the greatest effort dragging 
 home a little bimdle of fagots. Since then she 
 had gone every day into the forest and foimd so 
 much wood that the Sorrow-mother was able to 
 
44 THE ROSE CHILD 
 
 make a fire every day in her little room, and cook 
 her bread-soup on the little stove. Every evening 
 after school, in spite of cold, storm and snow, 
 Rose-Resli appeared at the Cross-way woman's, 
 many a time quite blue from the cold and shiver- 
 ing in every limb; although she had been given 
 another dress for the Winter, it was not very 
 warm, and she had only a thin shawl over her 
 neck and shoulders. 
 
 So when the peasant woman saw the child 
 shivering and with her teeth chattering so from 
 the cold, she thought she must be suffering from 
 hunger to come running through storm and tem- 
 pests for the sake of a piece of bread. This made 
 her sorry, and she cut deep into the loaf, so that 
 the piece was even larger than it had ever been 
 in the Summer. But the child carried it all 
 to the Sorrow-mother and firmly refused her 
 entreaties to eat half of it herself. If Resli often 
 went himgry to bed, she was glad that the 
 Sorrow-mother was not in need, and prayed: 
 "Dear Lord, help Joseph!" and went to sleep 
 happy. 
 
ROSE-RESLI'S TROUBLE 45 
 
 Under the Sorrow-mother's care her little 
 frock remained in good condition all Winter 
 long, and the school-chQdren no longer laughed 
 at her or ridiculed her. 
 
SORROW-MOTHER NO LONGER 
 
:CHAPTER FOURTH 
 
 SORROW-MOTHER NO LONGER 
 
 SUMMER had come again, and in all the 
 gardens the roses were blooming and giv- 
 ing forth their fragrance. They were in 
 full bloom in all the beds, the young plants bore 
 quite a burden of blossoms, and they nodded 
 down from the flower-pots in all the windows. 
 It was a great rose year. The Summer evening 
 lay brightly over Wildbach and all the meadows 
 and woods roimd about. The golden evening 
 sunlight shone on Dietrich's little house, and 
 its glittering windows could be seen from far 
 away. 
 
 But in front of it two men were standing, with 
 thoughtful faces. One was Uncle Dietrich. He 
 knew that on the morrow house, fields, and goat 
 would all be taken away from him, and in spite 
 of that he would still be deep in debt. 
 
 He thrust both hands in his pockets and said, 
 angrily: 
 
50 THE ROSE CHILD 
 
 "I will go away. I will know nothing more 
 about it." 
 
 "But you must not forget that you will be 
 found," said the other. "I will take the child 
 home with me. She really can't work, for you 
 have let her run wild, but I will soon teach her 
 how to use the hoe. After school there are many 
 hours. Then she shall help me." 
 
 "She is still yoimg," said the Uncle. 
 
 "All the easier to teach," replied the other, 
 and went on his way. 
 
 It was the road-mender of Wildbach and he 
 had to dig out the weeds from the roads and 
 clear them off. All the children were afraid of 
 him and kept out of his way, for he was very 
 cross and rough, and never spoke a friendly 
 word. 
 
 To this man Rose-Resli was to go early the 
 next morning. He had no children of his own, 
 and it seemed to him quite right to take home 
 such a child as this, to do all kinds of drudgery 
 for him. 
 
 The child herself had no idea of what the men 
 
" Tou have given me the most beautiful one of all.'''' 
 
SORROW-MOTHER NO LONGER 51 
 
 had decided. Even now she was wandering 
 cheerfully through the meadows, far beyond 
 Wildbach on her way to the mill. Here there 
 was a garden full of marvellous roses, and the 
 mUler's wife had promised Resli a large bunch 
 of them. 
 
 Soon after, the child was seen, with her roses 
 in her hand, going back happily by the same 
 road in the golden evening light. She had not 
 gone far when a young man, with quick foot- 
 steps, came up behind her. He was holding his 
 straw hat in his hand and let the fresh, cooling 
 air blow over his head. 
 
 "You have some beautiful roses," he ex- 
 claimed when he had caught up with Resli; "will 
 you give me one to put in my hat?" 
 
 Resli nodded in assent and took one out. 
 
 "That is kind of you. You have given me the 
 most beautiful one of all," said the stranger, as 
 he placed it with satisfaction in his hat. "How 
 far are you going?" 
 
 "I am going home to Wildbach," was the 
 reply. 
 
52 THE ROSE CHILD 
 
 "Then we are going the same way," said the 
 traveller and walked along with Resli. 
 
 "If you are from Wildbach, you must know 
 the people there well, and can tell me something. 
 Does good Frau Steinmann live there still, and 
 is she well?" 
 
 "I don't know her," replied Resli. "Nobody 
 there has that name." 
 
 "Oh, my God! my God!" groaned the stran- 
 ger, and was silent. Resli looked at him won- 
 deringly, for from time to time he wiped away a 
 tear and no longer looked happy as before. 
 
 After they had walked along together for some 
 time in silence, the stranger began again: 
 
 "Do you know the way to the Cross-way 
 woman?" 
 
 Resli nodded very emphatically and said: 
 
 "I go there every day." 
 
 "Then tell me who lives in the old, tumble- 
 down house there at the left on the road, where 
 the crooked willow-tree stands?" 
 
 "The Sorrow-mother lives there. I know her 
 well." 
 
SORROW-MOTHER NO LONGER 53 
 
 "What kind of a name is that? Hasn't she 
 any other?" 
 
 "I don't know any other." 
 
 "Is she called so because she has had a great 
 deal of sorrow? Do you know?" 
 
 "Yes, she has sorrow, because she doesn't know 
 whether Joseph is living in misery or not." 
 
 "Oh, my God! my God!" exclaimed the stran- 
 ger again, and suddenly strode away so that he 
 left Resli quite a distance behiad. But he turned 
 back again, took the child by the hand, and said 
 very kindly: 
 
 "Come, let us walk along together and talk a 
 little more." 
 
 And he looked so kind and friendly that Resli 
 felt quite trustful. 
 
 "Tell me," he continued, "is the Sorrow-mother 
 angry with Joseph?" 
 
 "Oh, no! Every night she prays for him, or 
 else she could not go to sleep; and I help her, 
 too." 
 
 "Is that so? And what do you pray for him?" 
 
 "I pray: 'Dear Lord, do help Joseph!' " 
 
54. THE ROSE CHILD 
 
 "Perhaps the dear Lord has heard you now, 
 and has helped him." 
 
 "Do you believe it?" asked Resli, looking 
 with the greatest interest at the stranger, whose 
 face suddenly lighted up with joy. He said 
 nothing more. 
 
 Now they came to the crooked willow-tree, a 
 few steps from the little old house. 
 
 "Well, good-bye," said Resli, as she held out 
 her hand to the stranger, evidently somewhat dis- 
 appointed at his silence. "I am going to see the 
 Sorrow-mother." 
 
 "I will go with you," he said quickly. But be- 
 fore they opened the door, it was burst open from 
 the inside and out rushed the Sorrow-mother, 
 embraced the stranger, and exclaimed, again and 
 again: 
 
 "Oh, Joseph 1 Joseph! Is it really you?" 
 
 And she wept aloud for joy, and Joseph had 
 to weep with her. And now, when Resli realized 
 that the stranger was Joseph, who had returned 
 to the Sorrow-mother and looked so well and not 
 so shabby as she had imagined him, she did not 
 
SORROW-MOTHER NO LONGER 55 
 
 know how to contain herself for j oy . She hugged 
 the weeping mother and cried exultingly: 
 
 "The dear Lord has helped him; the dear Lord 
 has helped him!" 
 
 Then all three went into the little house, and 
 the Sorrow-mother looked her son over from 
 head to foot, and her heart overflowed with 
 thankfulness and joy, for he did not look like one 
 who had heen sunk into the depths and gone to 
 ruin in poverty, as she had so often, in her cham- 
 ber at night, imagined him to be. She could 
 not look at him enough, he looked so good to 
 her. 
 
 "Come, Mother, come," said the yoimg man, 
 with a happy face, "now let us sit down together 
 and have something to eat, and be merry. Can 
 the child bring us something?" 
 
 "Oh, yes, she has done that already," aflSrmed 
 the mother. "How much good she has brought 
 me before, and now has brought even my son! 
 Where did you find him, Resli?" 
 
 "I will tell you all about that. Mother, but let 
 the child go and get some sausages, a bottle of 
 
56 THE ROSE CHILD 
 
 wine, and a big loaf of bread," requested Joseph, 
 laying a large piece of money on the table. 
 
 "A whole loaf?" asked Resli, with the greatest 
 astonishment; for she could hardly believe that 
 the Sorrow-mother was to have a whole loaf all 
 at once. But she flew away in such delight over 
 it that she was back again with all the provisions 
 in an incredibly short space of time. 
 
 Then all three sat down at the little table and 
 had a feast, such as was never seen in the room 
 before. But the mother could hardly eat for 
 joy, and kept asking, full of astonishment: "Is 
 this really true, Joseph?" And he quite gayly 
 assured her each time that it was, and gave Resli 
 one slice of bread after another, and sausages, 
 too; and if she said: 
 
 "'No, no, I really can't eat any more; it is for 
 the Sorrow-mother," then he would reply: 
 
 "Just eat and don't worry; Mother shall never 
 again suffer want. She shall have enough bread 
 every day." 
 
 "And now," said Joseph, when he had been 
 quite refreshed after his long journey, "now I 
 
SORROW-MOTHER NO LONGER 57 
 
 will tell you. Mother, how things have gone with 
 me. You know, I was to be sent to Australia. 
 But the disgrace of being sent away I would not 
 have, and I couldn't stay here any longer, so I 
 ran away. I went over to England and there 
 I stayed, because I had no money to go any 
 farther. I had hard times there, had to work 
 hard, to earn my living, and thought I should 
 go to destruction. I really believe your prayers 
 saved me. Mother, for every time when things 
 were at their worst, and I was tempted to do 
 wrong, I suddenly heard you as you used to 
 pray, in your room beside me, that the dear 
 Lord might bring all misery upon you, if only 
 He would at last lead me in the right way. Then 
 I saw you before me and couldn't do anything 
 wrong, to bring you to the grave, and I began 
 to work again. 
 
 "I had work in the machine-shops and little 
 by little I improved. In nine years one can learn 
 something, if one wants to, and I wanted to, and 
 now I am a skilled mechanic and shall always 
 find work. 
 
58 THE ROSE CHILD 
 
 "And now, Mother, you shall have something 
 else. No one shall dare call you 'Sorrow-mother' 
 again. See, Mother, I have brought you my 
 savings. Now tell me how you have fared." 
 
 Whereupon Joseph laid his beautiful hard- 
 earned dollars before his mother on the table, and 
 the joy in his heart shone out of his eyes, when 
 he saw his mother's increasing astonishment. 
 
 "Oh, that you should earn all that through 
 hard, honest work, Joseph! I don't know how 
 to thank the dear Lord; it is almost too much!" 
 And the good mother had to fold her hands and 
 give praise and thanks again and again. But 
 her son said: 
 
 "Tell me now, how it has been with you. 
 Mother." 
 
 "There is not much to tell, Joseph," she said; 
 "I have had hard times and much trouble, and 
 they did not call me the Sorrow-mother without 
 good cause. The dear Lord has always helped 
 me through. But in these last'years I have been 
 so very poor and lost my strength, so I thought 
 I should not live through another Winter. 
 
SORROW-MOTHER NO LONGER 59 
 
 "Then like an angel from Heaven came the 
 child Rose-Resli, and jshe gave me back my 
 strength. The whole Winter through and until 
 now she has supported me, and I know she has 
 often brought me her bread and gone hungry 
 herself. And now I have only one cause for 
 complaint, Joseph. Resli lives with her uncle 
 Dietrich, and to-morrow he loses his house and 
 home; the child has to go to strangers, and who 
 knows how it will be with her." 
 
 "What? The child who has taken care of 
 you. Mother?" interrupted Joseph, indignantly. 
 "We have enough for the child too, no one needs 
 to give us anything for her. I will go to Die- 
 trich. Rose-Resli shall not leave us again !" 
 
 And he shot out of the door and hurried away. 
 
 Then Resli jumped from her stool, fell on the 
 old woman's neck, and cried out in her delight, 
 again and again: 
 
 "Sorrow-mother! Sorrow-mother! Now I can 
 live with you! Now I shall not have to go away 
 again!" 
 
 And the mother held the child fast and said: 
 
60 THE ROSE CHILD 
 
 "Oh, Resli, how much we have to be thankful 
 for! If we thank the dear Lord as long as we 
 live it will not be enough. Never forget that 
 in all your life! Now the last trouble is taken 
 away from my heart, and you must not call me 
 Sorrow-mother any more, for I am not so any 
 longer, but I will be a mother to you." 
 
 When the uncle Dietrich learned from Joseph 
 what he desired, he was glad, for secretly he 
 was fond of Resli. He was unwilling to give 
 her to the cross road-mender, but he didn't know 
 at the time of any other way, for he had to leave 
 early the next morning. So he said to Joseph: 
 
 "Take the child right away. Don't send her 
 back to sleep, but take her little bed at once." 
 He thought the matter would be safer in this 
 way, for if the road-mender came early in the 
 morning he could not take Resli with him. 
 
 Joseph was much pleased and pressed another 
 piece of money into Dietrich's hand, for he had 
 heard that the uncle had never been unkind to 
 Resli. 
 
 So he took the little bed and its scanty con- 
 
SORROW-MOTHER NO LONGER 61 
 
 tents on his shoulder and came home quite happy 
 with it. 
 
 It was placed in the little chamber next the 
 mother's bed, and Resli was unspeakably happy 
 because now she could remain day and night 
 with her. 
 
 Joseph found his sleeping-place just as he 
 had left it nine years before. His mother had 
 thought every day during this time: 
 
 "Perhaps he will come back, and then he must 
 still find a home." 
 
 And Joseph was so happy to have found his 
 home again, that he would not have left it for any 
 money. He foimd the work that he wanted, for 
 he was a skilled, expert workman. 
 
 Every morning, when he went to work, Resli 
 placed a rose in his hat. This pleased Joseph 
 very much, and made him feel happy at his work. 
 He always had a rose, even when there were no 
 more to be seen anywhere about, for Resli knew 
 every place where a last rose could be blooming, 
 and she obtained the rose from the one to whom 
 it belonged. 
 
62 THE ROSE CHILD 
 
 As soon as the story became known, how 
 Resli had supported the Sorrow-mother for a 
 whole year long almost alone, everybody loved 
 her even much more than before, and wherever 
 she went she received roses from the gardens, 
 whether they were the first or the last. 
 
 So the three happy people lived togetKer in 
 the smallest house in Wildbach, and Rose-Resli 
 will be her name all her life long. 
 
I 1 » I* V J 
 
 "1 ' , : ^^ 
 
 
 ^^iiJti^h:^^^^ 
 
 -.•'■■.■"!"v-\?i'&.i>,fe-. 
 
 
 
 
 

 AND HER STORIES 
 
 'Published by 
 
 THOMAS Y. CROWELL COMPANY 
 
 393 Fourth Avenue New York, N. Y.