"I am so much obliged to you for the great favor of bringing her. My son has looked forward so much to this visit. We all know and love Cornelli already from what he has told us about her. She has been so kind to him and has entertained him so well when he was alone in Iller-Stream that she has earned his and my sincere thanks. Could I not beg of you to leave Cornelli here for a few days, or at least for all of to-day?"

"You are very kind, Mrs. Halm," he replied, quite astonished to hear that his shy, unfriendly child should have furnished the boy any entertainment. "Those are just polite words," he said to himself, but aloud he added: "I am afraid that it won't be possible, for my child would not stay. She is very shy and has all kinds of peculiar habits, as you probably have noticed from her looks. Your daughter certainly looks different."

"I shall not keep Cornelli here against her will, of course, but may I hope to have your permission if the child should want to stay?"

The rector's widow had such a pleasing manner that it was hard to refuse her anything. The Director therefore gladly assented, for it was his wish as well as hers.

"Certainly, Mrs. Halm, I shall joyfully give it," he assured her. "What could please me more than to have my daughter in surroundings like these? But I am perfectly certain that Cornelli will desire to go back with me. Just the same, I want to thank you sincerely for your great kindness; it will help her to spend even a single day in your charming household."

The Director said farewell and departed. At the entrance door down stairs a school girl, carrying her schoolbag and books, ran towards him so violently that a collision could not be avoided, so the Director opened his arms wide and caught Agnes in them. Agnes always approached everything like a wind storm. She could not behave otherwise. The Director laughed heartily and so did Agnes.

"I am sure you belong to Mrs. Halm, too," he said, looking with pleasure at the lively face with the wide-open, bright eyes. How nice and trim everything was about her!

"Yes, indeed," she replied quickly, and ran away.

"What a happy mother, what a happy woman!" said the Director to himself. "And to compare my child to such children. I cannot bear it! Such children, and mine beside them!"

Dino had told his mother about his experiences in Iller-Stream and especially of his acquaintance with Cornelli. He had also related to her the child's strange trouble, but she had had to give her promise to keep it to herself. It did not seem wrong to Dino to tell his mother, because she always knew everything he knew. When the invitation had been sent to Cornelli, Mrs. Halm had seriously told the children not to make any remarks about Cornelli's hair in case she should come. She had told them not to show any surprise if Cornelli wore her hair in a rather strange fashion and not to notice it further; that was the way the mother wished it to be.

Little Mux was very much pleased at having a new companion. He looked upon her as an old acquaintance, for Dino had talked so much about her. First he took her to see the kitchen.

"But I am sure Dino does not sleep here," said Cornelli, surprised.

"No, this is the kitchen; there are no beds here," Mux asserted. "But I shall show you first why Agnes cried one whole hour to-day, or perhaps it was two." And Mux led his new friend to a whole pile of apple peels which lay in a bucket. "Isn't Agnes stupid to cry when we get good apple tarts afterwards."

"But why did she cry?" asked Cornelli, full of sympathy. She knew exactly what it was like when one simply had to cry.

"We don't know," retorted Mux.

"But why does the maid not peel the apples?" asked Cornelli again.

"There is no maid, except block-headed Trina," Mux informed her.

"Who is block-headed Trina?" Cornelli wanted to know.

"She has to help; she is small and fat," Mux described her. "Mama has to show her how to cook, and she has to fetch what we need and always brings the wrong thing. So Dino says: 'We really must send block-headed Trina away.' And then Mama says: 'Trina has to live, too.' And then she is not sent away after all."

Cornelli had great sympathy for Agnes, who apparently had a secret trouble like her own; she did not have to be afraid of her, as she was of the proud sister who had received her.

"I am sure, Mux, that your other sister never cries. Are you not afraid of her?" asked Cornelli.

"Not the least little bit," replied the little boy. "She often makes a face, though, as if she wanted to cry and a thousand, thousand times she begins to when nobody knows why. I don't know why, either, for she doesn't tell me."

Immediately Cornelli's great shyness of Nika changed into great pity. If Nika could not even talk about her sorrow, she might have the deepest sorrow of all.

"Now we shall go to Dino," she said, hurrying to the door which the little boy had pointed out to her.

"But wait! I shall first show you our big picture book. You'll love it," Mux assured her. "There is something in it that looks just like you; it is an owl that has rags over its eyes like you. But you must not talk about it, because Mama has forbidden it."

"No, no, I don't want to see the book. Please take me to Dino now," Cornelli urged.

Mux pulled Cornelli away from the kitchen at last and, not far from there, opened a door.

"Are you coming at last, Cornelli?" Dino cried to her. He was sitting up in bed. He glanced happily at his approaching friend, and Cornelli, too, felt deep joy at seeing him again. The hours she had spent with him had been the only happy ones she had had all summer. Quickly sitting down by his bed, she began to relate to him everything that had happened in Iller-Stream since his departure. Dino asked many questions that Cornelli had to answer, and the time went by they knew not how.

Mux had disappeared. As long as he could not have his new friend's whole attention, he preferred to find out what was being prepared for dinner in the kitchen.

Now the mother entered the room.

"I have hardly seen you yet, dear child," she said, taking Cornelli's hand, "but I thought I would leave you and Dino undisturbed for a little while. You must have many things to talk over about your experiences and friends in Iller-Stream. Dino has looked forward so much to your visit. Please come to lunch now. Dino has to sleep a little while afterwards, and then you can go back to him again, if you wish."

A difficult moment had now come for Cornelli. She had secretly hoped that she would be able to spend all day alone with Dino, and that nobody else would notice her. Now she had to sit at table with Dino's mother and sisters. Mux, however, was her consolation; he seemed so confiding and so friendly. She had felt immediately to her great discomfort how different and how horrible she looked in comparison with these charming children. When she had stood in front of Nika, who was so very pretty, she felt sure that the elder girl must be filled with disgust at the sight of her, even if she did not show it. Mux had seen her peculiarity immediately and had remarked upon it. And now Agnes would be there, too.

That Agnes, as well as the proud-looking Nika, had a secret sorrow made Cornelli feel as if there were a bond between them. This gave her a little courage to follow Dino's mother, who was waiting in the doorway. When Cornelli entered Agnes was standing, full of expectation, in the middle of the room. Going up to the visitor, she shook her hand.

"I am so glad you came, Cornelli," she said with animation. "Dino has talked so much about you that we, too, wanted to meet you."

"I want to sit beside you," said Mux, dragging his chair to Cornelli's side.

"Just stay where you are! That is my seat," Agnes cut him short. She could not be misunderstood, for she pushed back the chair and Mux quite vigorously.

The mother had again gone out to the kitchen, so he could not get her help, which made him very angry.

"Yes, yes, you always want to order everybody around all the time," he cried out furiously, "and you even broke somebody on the wheel, once."

Now the mother entered.

"Oh, Mama, Mux is saying such frightful things. Shouldn't he go to bed?" Agnes called to her.

Mux was just gathering up his strength to fight against this proposed punishment, when the mother cut short their quarrel.

"No, no," she said kindly. "To-day Cornelli is here for the first time and it is a feast day for us. Mux shall not go to bed, but he must sit down quietly in his chair and say grace; then all will be well."

Mux was soon calmed by the soothing words and the good soup's delicious odor which penetrated his nostrils. So he said grace in quite a tolerable manner. Cornelli had been very much touched by his desire to sit beside her. She was anxious to do him a favor, too, and she tried to think of something that might please him.

Directly after lunch Nika and Agnes had to hurry off to school again and the mother had to supervise Trina's work, so Mux was entrusted with the task of entertaining Cornelli for a little while. That suited him exactly.

"Now, I'll show you that Agnes has really broken a man on the wheel," he said triumphantly.

"But I don't believe it, Mux. And why should the man have held still?" asked Cornelli.

"You can read it here. See, it is written there!" said Mux, placing his picture book on Cornelli's lap and pointing to a splendid colored picture. "Read what is written here," he directed. "Dino once read it aloud to me and then I knew it."

Cornelli read aloud: "Agnes orders Rudolph von Warth to be bound to the wheel."

"Now you see it," Mux said complacently.

Cornelli did not quite know what the picture was supposed to mean, so she began to read the story that explained it. She read more eagerly each instant, for it was described so vividly that she had to consume one page after another.

"Now you know it," said Mux a little impatiently. "Now look at the goat wagon."

"But Mux," Cornelli said eagerly, "it is quite a different Agnes, it is a queen. You must never think any more that your sister has done such a dreadful thing."

"Oh, but look at the goat wagon, now," begged Mux, a little disappointed.

"Why is the child here crying on the road? Just look how he is pressing his hands up to his eyes! Oh, he is so unhappy! Do you know why?"

Mux shook his head.

"Then I have to read it quickly," said Cornelli. She became so absorbed in the story that she did not notice how Mux was pulling her and urging her to stop reading; he even shook the book.

The mother came into the room now and said: "Dino has shortened his rest a little, for he is longing to see you again, Cornelli. Will you come?"

Cornelli immediately shut the book, for she was extremely glad to go to her friend. She felt some regret, however, at having to leave the story unfinished; she would have loved to know what happened further.

"So you like the book? It was the joy of all my children from the oldest to the youngest," said the mother. Cornelli's regretful glance at it had not escaped her. "You can look at it again later on, for we still have lots of time."

But Cornelli had to talk over so many things with Dino that the time had passed before they had thought it possible, and it was not long before Mux came running with the message that supper was ready. The meal had to be early because Cornelli had to leave immediately after it.

"Oh, what a shame!" said Cornelli, jumping up because she knew her father did not like to wait.

"Bring mother here, Mux," said Dino, and the little one departed. "Wouldn't you like to stay with us a few days, Cornelli? It would be so nice. Wouldn't you like to? Oh, I think you would!" said Dino eagerly.

Cornelli had quite a strange sensation. She hardly dared to say yes; it seemed so incredible to her that everybody in the house should be so friendly to her and really want her to stay. But that probably would not last if she remained and they got to know her better. Soon the mother came in with Mux. The little boy had heard Dino's last words to Cornelli and had already announced to his mother that Cornelli was sure to stay, because Dino would not let her go.

"Oh, I am so glad that you have settled it all between you! I am so pleased that you are going to stay, Cornelli," she said, full of joy. "I was just going to propose it to you, and I am so glad that Dino has persuaded you. Your father has already given me his permission and all I have to do is to let him know right away. Now you can stay quietly together, for there is no hurry about supper."

The mother immediately wrote to Mr. Hellmut, and soon after that, fat little Trina was running over to the hotel.

Cornelli had again settled down beside Dino with a mixed feeling of wonderful delight and fear. He noticed her timidity.

"Oh, yes, Dino, I love to stay with you and Mux," she assured him. "Your mother is so good to me, too, but I am afraid of your two sisters. I have to think of poor little block-headed Trina all the time, when she does everything wrong and does not know how to do otherwise; you all despise her for it and she can't help it. I know what it is like to be so block-headed."

Dino had to laugh a little.

"Why do you suddenly think of our Trina?" he asked. "Do not worry about her, for mother is very good to her. Just be happy, Cornelli, and do not imagine all kinds of things about block-headed Trina."

Cornelli did not say another word, but Dino noticed that she kept on thinking just the same. After a while the mother came to announce that it was time for Dino's rest. The prospect of seeing each other again on the following day was a great consolation to them both.

Then Cornelli and the mother went back to the room where the sisters were sitting at their school work. Mux was bending over his picture book, hatching out new ideas, no doubt. Just then the half grown Trina entered with a basket on her arm. While she was passing Nika's chair, her basket got caught on it. Pulling violently to free it, she turned the chair around quite suddenly.

"You are getting more awkward every day, Trina," Nika said crossly.

Cornelli blushed. She felt as if these words were meant for her as well. She must be just as awkward in Nika's eyes as Trina was. The latter failed to excuse herself and from embarrassment became more clumsy in her movements. Cornelli understood this perfectly; that was what she always did, she knew it quite well.

"Now we shall have supper," said the mother, "and when the children's work is done we shall all sing together. Don't you sing, too, Cornelli?"

"I probably do not know the songs, and so I can't sing," she replied shyly.

After supper Mux fled back to Cornelli with his book. He wanted to renew his conversation with her, but his mother had a different plan.

"Give your book to Cornelli, for it is time for you to retire," she said. "You can join us again to-morrow."

Mux departed reluctantly.

When his mother was firmly leading him away, he was still able to call to Cornelli: "Be sure not to go till I come back!"

Cornelli felt quite frightened when her confiding little friend had gone. Now for the first time she was left alone with the two sisters. She wondered what would happen. But nothing happened. They were both so deeply occupied with their work that they did not even raise their heads. Cornelli now remembered the lovely story book. She had already begun a story and she simply had to know how it would end. So she began to read. As soon as she finished one story, a new wonderful picture would lead her to another story.

Suddenly some splendid music sounded close beside her, and Cornelli started. Agnes was sitting at the piano close to her side and playing. Cornelli could not read any more, for Agnes played one lovely tune after another as quickly and easily as if it did not cause her any trouble. She knew from Dino that Agnes was not much more than a year older than she was. She listened with admiration to the beautiful melodies that were pouring forth from the instrument. Finally the mother returned. She had made her nightly visit to Dino and had had several things to say to him.

"Mama," Agnes called to her eagerly, "I am playing all the merry pieces I know to-night, for I have just finished my long composition."

"You are right, Agnes. And how are you getting along with your painting, Nika?" asked the mother.

Nika replied quite sadly that she had hoped to finish it that day, but the days were very short now and she could not paint by lamp light. Her mother should see how little her work still lacked.

"If I had one hour more of daylight, I could finish it," she sighed.

Nika placed a large painting under the bright lamp. It somewhat resembled the beautiful pictures which decorated the walls of the room. The colors in it were perfectly wonderful, and Cornelli had never before seen such a lovely picture. Sparkling crimson roses were hanging down an old wall and dense ivy was creeping up between them with shiny green leaves. An old oak tree was stretching large gnarled branches over the decayed wall, and below, a clear stream was peacefully flowing out to a meadow, where glowing red and blue flowers seemed to greet it joyfully.

Cornelli stared at the lovely picture; she had never seen anything like this glittering stream, the painted trees and flowers; one seemed to hear the murmuring of the brook, far, far away through the meadow. It was all so full of life! And to think that Nika had painted it! Cornelli felt as if a deep, deep gulf lay between her and the two sisters, a chasm that separated her from them forever.

The two sisters seemed to stand before her like two splendid creatures, full of beauty and fine gifts, while she stood there a stupid, awkward, block-headed Trina, whom nobody on earth ever could possibly love. Mrs. Halm gave Nika great encouragement by praising her work and urging her to begin promptly next day.

Then she sat down at the piano, for they always concluded their evening with a song.

Cornelli remained still. The rector's wife urged her to join them, but Cornelli had had too many impressions that day to be able to sing. She knew quite well the old evening song that they were singing, for Martha had taught it to her long ago, but she felt as if she could not utter a note.

At the end of the song Agnes suddenly exploded: "Oh, mother, that is nothing at all. When you are hoarse and Dino is in bed, our singing is frightful. Nika only squeaks like a little chicken with a sore throat."

"Well, then one has to stop singing," said Nika, shaking her shoulders a little proudly.

"No, the whole household has to sing, otherwise it is not worth anything," Agnes declared. "It is a shame that the most beautiful thing in the world should be so little practiced."

After the song was ended the mother took Cornelli kindly by the hand and said: "I am sure that you are tired, dear child. I am going to take you to a tiny bedroom, for I have no larger one. Your door leads into Agnes' and Nika's room," she continued, when she was standing with Cornelli in the little chamber.

"You can open the door and then you are practically all three in a single room."

Then she said good-night cordially and wished Cornelli a good rest.

Nika and Agnes quickly said good-night, too, and then Cornelli was alone in her room.

She had no desire to open the door, for her shyness had only increased since her arrival. How high the two stood above her! Cornelli was not a bit sleepy and kept on thinking of all the things that had happened to her that day.

What did Agnes mean when she spoke about the most beautiful thing in the world? Did she mean singing? That was not the most beautiful thing by any means. The most wonderful of all was a painting like Nika's, with lovely roses and trees and the meadow with clear water. At last Cornelli's eyes closed, but she kept on seeing the flowers and seemed to be looking up admiringly at Nika, who stood beside her, tall and beautiful. Cornelli thought: If she would only say one pleasant word to me. Then Nika turned around to her and said: "You are an awkward, block-headed Cornelli!" All this Cornelli saw and heard in her dream.

Agnes said to her sister in the other room: "If only Cornelli would say something! One cannot tell what she is thinking about. How could Dino find her so amusing, and become her friend? She sits there all the time and never says a word."

"That is her least fault," Nika returned. "But it is horrid that she insists on looking like a wild islander. I do not understand why Mama did not push the frightful locks out of her eyes."



CHAPTER IX

A GREAT CHANGE



Next morning Mux had hardly opened his eyes when he desired to go again straightway to Cornelli, for this had been promised him the night before. Before he succeeded, however, he had to submit to his usual fate in the morning. He ran into the room at last, neatly washed and combed and with cheeks shining like two red apples. Cornelli was already sitting in a corner of the room, listening attentively to Agnes' playing. He flew towards her and saw his beloved book already in her hands.

"Oh, now we shall read and tell stories all day long," he called out happily. "All the others have to go to school."

But Mux had forgotten that breakfast came first of all. After the meal the two sisters departed, but Dino knocked and clamored for Cornelli to come to him. Mux loudly protested against this and only calmed down when Cornelli promised to keep him company during Dino's rest hour. He kept on objecting and murmuring to himself even after she had gone.

Cornelli was quite thrilled and overcome by the thought that anybody should love her so, and it did her more good than anything else. As soon as she came to Dino's room he asked her if she would read to him, too, for he had found out how much she enjoyed reading to Mux out of his picture book.

"Have you entertaining books, too?" asked Cornelli with hesitation. In her mind she saw her own beautiful books at home, that she had left alone because so many things in them had been unintelligible.

"I should say so! You just ought to see them," said Dino. "Please take down the book called 'Funny Journeys.' There are pictures in it, too. They are not as big as in the other book and are not colored, but they are so comical that they make one laugh all the time."

Cornelli got the book down, and in a little while merry peals of laughter filled the room. The mother, who heard, was happily smiling and saying to herself: "No, no, all is not yet lost."

So the week passed by. Cornelli spent most of her time reading aloud to Dino and to Mux. She grew more eager all the time in this occupation, and if Mux would suddenly want to play with soldiers, Cornelli would say: "You can easily play that alone. Let me read this and later I'll tell you all about it." So she had soon finished reading the whole big book.

Cornelli had so far scarcely become acquainted with the two girls, and Nika had rarely spoken to her. On Saturday morning the mother entered Dino's room just after Cornelli had finished reading such a funny tale that both children still laughed aloud at the remembrance.

"Children, to-morrow Cornelli's father is expecting to hear from me. He will want to know if he is to come to fetch her home, or if he is to leave her here another week. Cornelli herself shall decide, but we all want her to stay."

"Don't go, don't go! Tell him not to come for a long while," Mux implored her. The little boy had slipped in behind his mother and was keeping a tight hold on Cornelli, as if her papa might come at once to pull her away.

"No, no, Cornelli, you won't go away yet," Dino now said. "To-morrow I am allowed to get up for the first time and you must be there to see if I can still walk. After that you must stay here till I go to school; won't you, Cornelli? You don't want to go, do you?"

"You must not urge her too much," said the mother. "Maybe Cornelli would rather go home, and by your talking you might keep her from saying so." But being urged by the two children was such a joy to Cornelli that she never even hesitated.

"I should love to stay," she said.

"Oh, how splendid!" Dino exclaimed. "Please ask for at least two or three weeks, Mama. It is so nice to have Cornelli with us."

"I shall ask Cornelli's father to let us have his daughter a while longer," said the mother, "I cannot possibly settle the time, her father will do that."

"Oh, yes, a while longer is just right. Then it is so easy to ask for a little more time, for we can say that we meant that by a little longer," said Dino.

The same day, later on, while Dino was resting, Cornelli was sitting with Mux. They were both so happy over the prospect of remaining together that Mux opened the piano and asked Cornelli to sing with him. Cornelli could not play, so promised that she would try to sing. She asked Mux to choose a song, but he knew none.

"You sing one," he proposed, "and I might know it, too."

Cornelli was just in the mood to sing once more. She began a song with her bright, full voice and Mux listened admiringly.

The snow's on the meadow, The snow's all around, The snow lies in heaps All over the ground. Hurrah, oh hurrah! All over the ground.

Oh cuckoo from the woods, Oh flowers so bright, Oh, kindliest sun, Come and bring us delight! Hurrah, oh hurrah! Come and bring us delight!

When the swallow comes back And the finches all sing, I sing and I dance For joy of the Spring. Hurrah, oh hurrah! For joy of the Spring.

Suddenly the door flew open and Agnes burst into the room.

"But why didn't you ever say anything?" she cried out. "To think of it! Why did you never say a word, Cornelli?"

"But what should I have said?" Cornelli asked, very much frightened.

"You must not be afraid," Mux now calmed her, "I'll help you, if she should want to hurt you."

"Don't be so unnaturally stupid, Mux!" his sister ejaculated as she ran to the next room. Here her mother was already standing in the open door. "Have you heard it, Mother? Come out and let Cornelli sing her song again!"

"Yes, indeed! I have heard it with pleasure and great wonder," said the mother, approaching Cornelli. "You have a voice, dear child, that we all should love to hear again. Have you often sung before?"

"Oh yes," said Cornelli. "Martha has taught me many songs, but—"

"What do you mean by but?" Agnes quickly interrupted her. "I know now what a voice you have. I have to go quickly to my music lesson, but you must sing a lot with me to-night. No buts will be allowed then."

"Oh, Cornelli, won't you sing with us tonight?" asked the mother kindly. "We know now how well it sounds, and I do not see why you should still hesitate." "I can't sing properly when I am afraid, for then it does not sound well," Cornelli replied.

"Why should you be afraid?" asked the mother. "You know us all so well now."

"Oh, because I am not like Agnes and Nika. I can't do anything they do and I don't look the way they do," said Cornelli. With these words she frowned again in the old way, so that one could see it through the thick fringes of hair that covered her forehead.

The mother said no more and went out.

"Just stay with me, Cornelli; then you don't have to be afraid of anything," Mux said protectingly. "I am afraid of nothing in the whole world—except of the dark," he added quickly, for he had seen Cornelli's penetrating eyes looking at him through her hair, and felt that he had to tell the truth, for she was sure to find him out. "No," he continued, "I won't be even afraid of that if you stay with me all the time."

Agnes had finished her school work sooner than ever that day. She ran to the piano and called to Cornelli: "Come here! Mux can play alone, for we must sing now."

So Cornelli went up to the piano.

"I shall sing the first stanza of this song and then you can sing it with me the second time," Agnes said and began: "The beauteous moon is risen."

"Oh, I have known that song a long time. Shall I sing the second voice?" asked Cornelli.

"What? Can you really sing second voice? Can you really do it? Oh, that would be wonderful! Go ahead and do it!" said Agnes excitedly.

So the two girls sang alone together, for Nika had not finished her work, and the regular time for the evening songs had not yet come. Agnes was radiantly happy while she was making experiments with a new voice.

Nika was still absorbed in her work, the mother only entered the room now and then, and as Agnes was singing with her, Cornelli did not have the feeling that anybody was listening. So she sang quite freely and let her whole, full voice flow out. Agnes became more eager all the time, and it really sounded as if a whole chorus were singing in the room.

At last the mother stood still, and Nika, lifting her head from her work, listened, too.

When the song was done, Agnes clapped her hands and said: "Oh, Cornelli, your voice is as clear as a bell! Oh, if I only had a voice like that! What wonderful things I could sing then! Do you know many songs, Cornelli? Just tell me all you know."

Cornelli looked over the song book before her. She knew quite a number of the songs in it, for Martha had taught her many.

Agnes was in raptures: "Oh, now our evening songs won't be like a feeble chirping any more; now everything, everything will be different!" she cried out. Suddenly struck with a new idea, she ran over to her other music books.

She got a book of songs for two voices, which she had only been able to use at her music lessons and never at home, for Nika could not join her. "Come, Cornelli, try to sing after me now. This is your part, and when you know it, I'll sing mine. Here are your notes," she instructed Cornelli, and with that she began to sing.

Cornelli did not know the notes very well, because Mr. Maelinger had not instructed her very deeply in that subject. Her ear, however, was correct, and she could immediately repeat a melody. Agnes began with the easiest songs, and it did not take Cornelli any time to learn them. She soon knew where to pause and where to take up her part again. So a second piece was started and soon a third. Then they repeated them all again and before long they could sing three songs quite well.

"Once more, once more," Agnes urged her. It went better every time, and in the end they sang together perfectly. Agnes jumped up from her seat and exclaimed: "Oh, you are a wonderful Cornelli! Who would have thought it? Please do not go home yet. Stay here, and then we can sing together every day. Have you heard it, Mama?"

The mother affirmed it and told them that she and Dino had both enjoyed the singing. Dino had asked to have his door kept open, for he had wanted to hear it all.

"Do you know what we'll do, Cornelli?" said Agnes. "To-morrow morning we'll study a festive duet. We shall greet Dino with it when he comes back to this room again for the first time."

Cornelli gladly agreed.

It was time now for their accustomed evening song, which had been put off longer than usual that day. Agnes was of the decided opinion that it was not suitable to end this day with a mild evening song. She suggested a loud hymn of praise and thanks. She started it with enthusiasm, and all the others soon joined.

The unexpected joy and great friendliness Agnes had shown had made Cornelli so happy and astonished that she sat a long time on her bed in the little room. She was wondering to herself why she could never be quite happy in spite of everybody's goodness, but she knew soon enough why this was so. Her old fear had not left her. She fully realized that she looked different from other children and that her horns would get worse, till they could not be hidden any more. Then everybody would think what Mux had thought, even if they did not say it.

Next morning, when Cornelli had just gotten up, Mrs. Halm entered her room. "Cornelli," she said, taking the child's hand, "you have made us all so happy! You have done much for Dino by helping him to pass many pleasant hours, and you have entertained my little restless Mux so wonderfully that he can hardly live without you any more. I should like to do something for you now; I should love to make you look festive to-day and get rid forever of everything that disfigures you."

The mother had already begun to smooth out the child's thick hair.

"Oh no, oh no, please don't do it!" Cornelli cried out, "then everything will be lost. I want to go home, oh, I must go home! Oh, they will all laugh at me and they won't like me any more. Oh, you don't know how it is."

"I know everything, dear child," the mother said quietly. "Dino has told me everything. Don't you know, child, that I love you? You know, Cornelli, that I would not do anything that might hurt you the least bit, or that would not help you. I want to free you from an error, Cornelli."

"No, no, it is not an error, surely not," Cornelli called out in her great anxiety. "My cousin said it and Miss Grideelen said it, too. They saw it, and I know it. Oh, please don't brush my hair away."

"Cornelli," the mother went on calmly, "the ladies told you they saw little horns on your forehead, that got bigger every time you wrinkled up your brow. You are afraid that this is really so and that it is getting worse. You understood it in a way they did not mean. They only wanted to tell you that when you frowned you looked as if you had horns on your forehead, and they said it to keep you from frowning. They meant well by you, but you misunderstood them. But you can understand me. Just let me help you to be happy again.

"Have you any confidence in me, Cornelli? Tell me, do you think that I would do anything that would make you repulsive in the eyes of everyone? Do you believe that? I know you don't, child!" Cornelli only groaned a little.

With nimble hands the mother had in the meantime kept on smoothing and combing the child's heavy hair. It already lay beautifully parted on both sides of her face. The brown, wavy hair framed a snow-white brow, for not a ray of sunshine had penetrated through the hair all summer long. The mother finished the two heavy tresses and wound them about Cornelli's head like a crown. Smilingly the mother looked into Cornelli's face. The great change had thrilled her with joy.

"Now come with me to the children. We shall see if they can notice any change," she said, and taking the little girl's hand, she led her away. Cornelli was extremely glad to enter the room at the mother's side, for she would not have dared to go alone. When the door opened, she looked shyly at the floor.

Mux had already been waiting for his companion and now ran to meet her. "What have you done, Cornelli?" he cried out in sudden surprise. "Your forehead looks quite clean and neat, and you have shiny eyes like a canary bird, and you don't look like an owl any more."

"Why Cornelli! You are transformed!" Agnes exclaimed. "Just let me see you. Make a little room, Mux! No, I don't know you any more. It is fortunate you did it, for it is a pleasure to look at you now."

"Your mother has done it," Cornelli explained confusedly, for she was quite overcome at all these manifestations of joy.

Nika also glanced up at her. "You are a different child, Cornelli, and I do not see how you could ever have gotten the way you were."

These words were said in such a charming manner that a deep sensation of well-being filled Cornelli. She tried to fight against it, however, for she did not think it possible that she should suddenly become freed from her horrible, sickening fear.

Agnes was very anxious to practice their song for the festive reception of the newly risen Dino, and Cornelli, too, was filled with ardor. The two children kept up their singing quite a while, for Agnes could not weary of trying the songs for two voices which she had never before been able to use.

Dino did not come until lunch time. Though he was still very pale, he felt extremely lively. "Hurrah, Cornelli!" he cried out as he entered the living room. "Now you look again the way you used to in Iller-Stream when you forgot to pull your curtains over your brow. You even look better than that, Cornelli, you look perfectly splendid! Another hurrah for this great joy!"

The next moment a surprise came for Dino: the lovely festive song which Agnes and Cornelli were singing in his honor. The voice of the latter was full of purity and strength, and Dino kept on signalling to Nika over and over again, saying in a low voice: "Do you hear it? Do you see it? Do you notice it at last?"

It was quite evident that two had not been of the same opinion about Cornelli till that day.

So they all had a merry feast. In Cornelli's heart the feeling of delicious well-being gradually began to drive away all other sensations. Her old gaiety broke forth boundlessly and roused all the others as well to great merriment and joy. Dino looked quite well again, and his eyes fairly beamed with happiness. Even the mother joined in their gay mood, and she had to glance over and over again at her two daughters, who had seldom shown such unclouded joy. She heaved a secret sigh, however, and asked herself: I wonder how long this happiness will last, for we have hard times before us.

"Wasn't I right, after all?" Dino said to his sisters, when Cornelli had retired and the family separated at bedtime. The sisters till now had made disparaging remarks to him about Cornelli. "We do not see what attracts you in her," they had said. "We don't understand how you can find her entertaining," and so on.

When Cornelli was alone in her room that night, she felt as in a dream. What had happened to her? Was it really true that the great sorrow which had weighed on her and had taken all her joy away had forever disappeared? The mother had told her firmly that it had been an error, and the children had proved it to be so by their reception of her. So she could be happy again as she had always been. Cornelli was filled with joy and praise to God at this thought.

"How wonderfully God has led me," she said in her heart. She remembered how anxiously she had prayed to Him to prevent her from being sent to town. Now she had come to town, but in such a different way from what she had feared! She had been freed from her trouble by going away. Martha had certainly been right and she would always try to remember this. In the future she would pray to God that she might do everything according to His will, and she made up her mind that she would never again try to force the fulfilment of her own wishes. She felt that she owed the good Lord in Heaven especial praises, so she lay down to sleep quite late, and because of her happiness, even stayed awake a long time after her prayers were said.

"I have to tell you something, Cornelli," said the mother next day, when all the family was peacefully gathered around the supper table. "You know that I have written to your father asking him to let you stay here a little longer. He has answered me, saying that he would be very pleased if his little daughter could stay with us for a year and could take all the lessons that my daughters are taking; but he leaves you free to decide about it. So you must write to your father to let him know the answer to his proposal.

"Oh, you must stay here, Cornelli. Won't you please stay?" Dino exclaimed. "Then you can be here till summer time and we two can go back to Iller-Stream together, for it is quite settled that I am going again to our good old Martha."

"And I'll go, too," Mux said with conviction. "Do you know, Cornelli," he whispered into her ear, "I'll stay with you all the time in your own house and Dino can go alone to old Martha."

Agnes was simply enchanted with this new prospect. "Oh, how wonderful, how wonderful!" she exclaimed over and over again. "Now we can have singing lessons together and sing again at home. Oh, that is too wonderful!"

Nika also begged Cornelli to stay. "I hope you will tell your father that you intend to remain with us, Cornelli," she said. "We are only just beginning to know you well."

Cornelli's eyes sparkled with pleasure, for now the whole family wanted to keep her with them. Suddenly a thought flashed through her. When her father had threatened to send her to town for a year, she had been terribly upset, and now the year spent in town with this family seemed like pure pleasure. How different everything had been from what she had thought and feared.

"I should love to stay here!" she exclaimed with deep emotion. "Can I write to Papa now?" That suited Mrs. Halm exactly. Sitting down beside Cornelli, she also wrote to Mr. Hellmut, and both letters were sent at once.

Two days later Mr. Hellmut was sitting at the breakfast table, looking at his mail. First of all he opened a fat envelope which had come to him from town. There were two letters in it which caused him great surprise. Mrs. Halm wrote that all the members of her family had joyfully received his proposal to leave Cornelli with them for a longer stay. She told him that they had all become so fond of Cornelli that she would have left behind a feeling of real loss.

Cornelli's letter read as follows:

DEAR PAPA:

I should love to stay here, for the mother and all the children are very good to me, and I love them dearly. I should also like to learn lots and lots of things. Nika and Agnes know so much and are so clever, and I should be so glad to learn what they know. I shall be unspeakably happy if you will let me stay. Please give my love to Martha, Esther, and Matthew.

YOUR CORNELLI.

After reading the letters, the Director shook his head. "What on earth has happened?" he said to himself. "A few weeks have hardly passed since they told me that this child could not be set to rights, and I have myself seen how stubborn she was and how strangely she behaved. And what a change already! However, I must not take literally what has probably been written in a moment of excitement."

Mr. Hellmut was very glad about Cornelli's intention to remain in town, for thus his greatest care had been taken from him. A lovely woman, who with her children had made a most favorable impression on him, had promised to devote herself to his child, and he only wondered how long the present arrangement would last.

Mrs. Halm had soon arranged a regular course of studies for Cornelli. Agnes was very anxious for her to start music lessons right away, for she thought that that was the most important thing. Cornelli herself was eager to do this, for she wanted to learn everything that Nika and Agnes were learning. So she threw herself with fresh energy into all the fields of study that were opened to her.

Dino also was going to school, for he had entirely recovered. Every morning the four children started out gaily, talking eagerly while they walked down the street, until they finally separated for their various schools. If they met again on their way home, they were still more lively, for they would tell each other all their experiences. Cornelli surpassed them all in that respect. She had the talent of describing everything in such a funny and vivid fashion that she made them all laugh.

Mux alone was unhappy in these days, for he had lost his beloved companion. Full of anger, he would meet the four laughing school children when they were coming up the stairs and would say: "If I owned all the schools I would certainly burn them."

"But I hope not all the teachers, too, Mux," said Dino, "for then one would have to tell an even worse tale about you than you were telling about Agnes."

The door between Cornelli's and the sisters' room was always open now, for they all had wished it. There was not a single evening on which they did not make use of the last moment for talking to each other about their mutual interests.

Cornelli was filled with admiration for Nika and for everything she did. She could not understand how Nika, who was so lovely and could do such wonderful things, could have a sorrow. She had never forgotten about it, because she had often noticed that the young girl suffered from some grief.

Even Agnes often stopped laughing quite suddenly. She would say: "Yes, Cornelli, it is easy for you to be jolly. It is easy for you." So Cornelli knew that Agnes also carried a care about with her. When Agnes frowned and made dreadful wrinkles, Cornelli was quite sure that then her sorrow was hurting her. She would have loved to help her, but she had never asked her friends about it. She knew that she had been glad when nobody had asked her about her own trouble.

One day it happened that Agnes came home from her music lesson quite upset and terribly excited. "Oh, Mama," she called from the door, "the teacher has given us the pieces today which we have to play for our examinations. He has given me the most difficult one, and while giving it to me he said: 'I shall really make something fine out of you.'"

Agnes was throwing her music sheets away as if they were her greatest enemies; then she ran away to her room. There she threw herself down on a chair and began to sob loudly. Cornelli had followed her, for she was filled with sympathy. Putting her arms about Agnes, she said: "Tell me, Agnes, what makes you cry. I know what it is like to have to cry like that. But why do you do it now, when your teacher has just praised you?"

"What good is that to me?" Agnes burst out. "How does it help me to play ever so well? What good would it ever do me even to practice day and night? Nika and I can only keep on one year more, and then everything is over. Then she can't paint any more and I can't have any more music lessons, for we shall have to become dressmakers. We won't even have time to go through the higher classes in school. I would a thousand times rather travel through the world and sing in front of the houses for pennies—yes, I'll do that!"

"Can't your mother help you?" asked Cornelli, remembering the mother's help in her own case.

"No, she can't; and she is very unhappy herself. There is not a soul on earth who could help us, for our guardian says that it just has to be."

Cornelli was quite crushed by this explanation, for now she understood quite well why Nika often had such sad eyes. The hopeless prospect made Cornelli's heart heavy, too. When Agnes had had such a passionate outbreak, she did not regain her composure for several days. Then Nika would not say a word, either, and the mother only looked very sadly at her children.

Then Dino also became silent, for he knew what tormented his mother and his sisters. He would have loved to help them, but he knew no way. So Cornelli could not laugh any more, either, and her friend's great sorrow weighed on her, too, for she had experienced a heavy grief herself and had not forgotten what it was like.



CHAPTER X

NEW LIFE IN ILLER-STREAM



Winter had come. For the inhabitants of the garret lodging the days were filled with so much regular work that the nights were always greeted with loud regrets and complaints. They were always sorry when the day was done and no more time was left for their plans. Agnes was especially angry and ready to spit fire from disgust at the arrival of the hated bedtime which always broke up everything.

"We lose half of our lives in sleeping," she indignantly called out several times. "I wish you would let us sing all night long, Mother," she said. "We should only be more keen for our other work next day, if we could really devote ourselves to music for a while, instead of always stopping off in the middle whenever we are in the mood to sing." The children's mother, however, did not agree with Agnes, so the nights had to be used for sleeping as before.

Cornelli's singing delighted Agnes more and more. Cornelli sang everything as lightly and freely as a bird, and with such a clear and resonant voice that everybody got pleasure from it. There was no other voice in the whole school which was as sure and as full as Cornelli's. Even the teacher said so, and during the singing lesson he placed her right in front of him, because she was the best leader of the chorus.

In the middle of winter Mr. Hellmut wrote to Mrs. Halm to inform her that he was taking a lengthy journey to foreign parts. As he felt that Cornelli was well taken care of in her household, he was anxious to use this opportunity for travelling. He also wrote that he had shortened his last trip in order not to tie his kind cousin and her friend too long to his lonely house. He told her that he was very sorry not to be able to pay her and Cornelli a visit before leaving, for he had to start at once.

Never before had spring come so fast. So at least it seemed to Cornelli, who was walking home alone one day from school. The winter had gone by and already a mild wind was blowing through the streets, and the melting snow was dropping from the roofs.

From the top of a roof a little bird was whistling and singing a song of delight to the bright blue sky above. Cornelli's school had been over sooner than the other children's, so she was in no hurry and stood still to listen. A ray of sunshine was flowing into the street, and the bird kept on singing and whistling, on and on, a heavenly, familiar sound.

Suddenly the lovely beech wood at home rose before Cornelli's eyes, and she saw the trees in their first green leaves, the first violets under the hedge, her beloved first violets; she saw the yellow crocuses sparkling beside the bright red primroses in the garden. The birds at home used to whistle above her in all the trees in just the same way as these in the city.

Oh, how lovely the coming of the spring had always been at home! How wonderful it would be to see all these familiar sights again! At that thought Cornelli ran to the house as fast as she possibly could. Sitting down beside her ink-well she wrote as follows:

DEAR PAPA:

I am sure it is more beautiful at home now than anywhere else. May I come home soon? I am sure that the violets are out and that everything is getting green in the woods. Soon there will be lots of flowers in the garden, and later on the roses, and then all the berries and forget-me-nots in the meadows will come out. I know now that it is nowhere as beautiful as at home. I should love to show the mother and the girls everything, and I know that Mux would adore the little kid. Dino already loves the meadows and the garden, and I hope that he will come to Iller-Stream again. If I could only soon see it all again!

A great many kisses,

from your daughter,

CORNELLI.

Cornelli did not get an answer from her father for three weeks. He wrote to her that his journey had been lengthened beyond his expectation. He also said how glad he was that his daughter had suddenly realized what a beautiful home she had, but that he disapproved entirely of her leaving her school abruptly. He told her to stay in town till the summer holidays, for he was obliged himself to stay away till then. He gave her permission to invite for the holidays all the family who had been so good to her, for he and Cornelli, too, had much reason to be grateful to Mrs. Halm. There was plenty of room for all of them in the house, and he would like to have them with him all summer long.

Cornelli at first was a little disappointed that it was going to be so long before she could be home and see again the garden, the meadows and the beech wood, for her longing for them had grown more and more. But when she thought of the prospect of having all the family with her all summer, including Dino and his mother, she was so happy that all her disappointment vanished.

Her joy was supreme when that day at lunch time she gave the family her father's invitation. On all sides she perceived signs of boundless joy. Nika and Agnes had had the firm conviction that they were to spend the summer, as usual, in the hot garret dwelling without any special holidays. And now they could spend all summer in beautiful Iller-Stream, about which Dino had told them so much. He had described Cornelli's house and garden as a perfect paradise, and now they would live there themselves.

Agnes screamed for joy and Nika's face was radiant with happiness. Mrs. Halm was greatly moved with gratitude and delight. She had been worrying lately about Dino, for she had been uncertain whether she would be able to send him away long enough for the boy to be properly strengthened. She had feared that the time would have to be exceedingly short and that the benefit therefore would be very slight. Now the good God had suddenly taken all her anxiety from her and had changed it into a boundless blessing.

Dino smiled with complete satisfaction, and said again and again: "I wish you knew how wonderful it all is. Such a garden and such trees! Such a stable and such horses! Oh, how I love beautiful Iller-Stream!"

Mux called out louder and louder: "Oh, Cornelli, take me along!" He could not realize that he was really going, too. There were still many days and even weeks before their bliss would come true, but with this heavenly prospect before them the children performed their remaining duties only too joyfully.

It was different for Cornelli. Her longing for her home had grown more violent every day. Wherever she saw a green tree or a bush, she saw the garden at home, the meadows, and the flowers in Iller-Stream before her mind's eye. So her desire to return there, to see it all again, became almost painful. She felt finally as if the day would never come when she could again see her home.

It came, nevertheless. A large trunk was taken away on a cart, and the whole family followed it towards the station. Trina came last. In her wondering eyes one could see that despite all the preparations she did not yet believe the reality of the coming journey. Cornelli had begged Mrs. Halm so urgently to let her go, too, that the child's wish had been granted. Cornelli had been willing to take the responsibility for the unexpected guest. Mux was so excited that he kept on running in front of everybody and hindering them all in walking.

"Be sensible, Mux!" Dino exclaimed. "If you go on like that, we'll miss the train and there won't be any trip."

These words disconcerted Mux to such a degree that he simply tore away down the street. Dino had to run after him to catch him, for Mux knew no road or way and had dashed ahead only in his fear of arriving too late.

At last they reached the station and entered their car. Now they were moving out into the beautiful country. The sun was shining over the fields and woods, and there was not a single cloud in the sky. Cornelli was sitting beside the open window, eagerly looking out. The journey lasted for a little more than two hours, and as soon as it was over they got out.

"Here he comes, here he comes!" Cornelli cried out, running towards the road which led into the valley. Here Matthew was just stopping the pair of horses from their lively trot.

In a moment Cornelli was at the dismounting coachman's side, calling to him: "How are you, Matthew? I am coming home again. Is everything at home still the same?"

"Welcome, Cornelli, welcome home!" he said, radiant with joy, for his master's child was his greatest pride. "But how you have grown, Cornelli! Oh, how changed our Cornelli is!"

Matthew shook her hand with great delight and then opened the carriage door for the family who had approached.

"Oh, here is the young gentleman from last summer," Matthew said again, shaking Dino's hand. "But you looked better when you were with us. Oh, yes, the young gentleman looked much better then, I think."

"I should think so, Matthew," said Dino. "Of course, I looked better when I could drink such good milk from the stable, in the fine, fresh morning air. It was different in town."

Mrs. Halm had entered the carriage and the two girls had followed. Mux, gazing motionless at the shining horses, could not be taken away in a hurry from that wonderful sight.

"They are coming along, too," said Matthew, who enjoyed the open admiration the little boy was showing. "You will be able to look at them every day, and you can ride on them to the fountain."

That helped the situation. Everybody was soon inside of the carriage, and Trina sat beside Matthew on the coachman's box. Now they galloped gaily along into the valley.

"Oh, mother, just look at the red daisies!" Cornelli cried out. "Oh, look at the golden buttercups! Oh, look, look; see all the blue forget-me-nots!"

Cornelli had jumped up, for she could not sit still anymore, and was looking forwards and backwards, to right and to left. The meadows had never been so full of flowers, and every few moments Cornelli cried out with delight. When the carriage drove into the courtyard, Cornelli was the first to jump down.

"Oh, Esther, how are you?" she called to her old friend. Full of dignity and covered with a spotless white apron, the cook stood ready to receive the guests.

"Oh, now I am home again! Is everything still the same? Is the garden still the way it was? And Martha and her house, too?"

"Yes, yes, Cornelli. And how are you?" returned Esther, looking eagerly at Cornelli. "How you have changed! In truth you have changed wonderfully. You are not the same."

Cornelli was already running into the house to the living-room and to her own wardrobe. Yes, everything had remained the same. She flew outside again to the mother, to lead her into the house. The child's face fairly beamed with joy.

Cornelli's father was busy working in his office. Hearing the sound of the approaching wheels, he started. "Here they are already," he said to himself. He hastily threw off his working coat and putting on a good coat left the iron foundry. While he was walking across the courtyard he sighed deeply. Freshly stamped in his memory, he saw before him his only child as she had looked when he had returned from his journey a year ago. Cornelli had stood before him shyly, with averted glance, resembling a little savage, who had never been combed.

"I wonder what the child is like now?" he muttered to himself.

As he entered the living room Cornelli looked up at him. The Director was quite startled at what he saw. Now Cornelli flew up to him.

"Oh, Papa, oh, Papa! It is so wonderful to be home again! Everything is still the way it used to be. Oh, I am so glad to be home again!"

The father wanted to embrace his child, but before he did so he held her at arm's length to gaze at her once more.

"Cornelli," he said with tears in his eyes, "you look at me the way your mother used to. You have grown just like your mother," he said, putting his arms lovingly about her. "How was it possible? How could you change in this way? How did it happen?"

"Mother knows about it, Papa. Mother has helped me," said Cornelli, going with shining eyes to the mother, for Mrs. Halm had retreated to the back of the room.

The Director now turned to his new guest. "Welcome to our house," he said heartily, greeting both her and the children. Holding Cornelli's hand within his own, he continued with emotion: "How different you have brought her back to me! How did you do it? Can this be the same child that I brought you?"

The happy father had to look at Cornelli over and over again, for he hardly yet realized that this was his child. Was this really Cornelli and not a creature of his imagination? So he held the child's hand and looked again and again into her shining eyes; it really seemed as if he could not believe it.

Esther, laden with the dinner dishes, now came into the room to set the table. She informed her master that the guest rooms were ready and that she supposed the ladies wanted to retire before the coming meal.

Mrs. Halm and her daughter gladly followed her, but Cornelli said: "Oh, Papa, can I run over to Martha? I'll be back very soon."

Dino also begged to go, for he longed to see old Martha again. As the permission had readily been given, the two children started off. They had meant to run down the path, but Cornelli could not go fast. The meadow was so full of daisies, buttercups and especially of blue forget-me-nots, her favorite flowers, that she felt as if she had to gather them all, and Dino had to remind her that their time was short and that the flowers would still be there to-morrow.

Martha had heard that Cornelli and her guests were expected that day, so she had several times glanced towards the garden to see if she could discover trace of her or of Dino. Now both came flying up the steps, and Martha ran out to meet them. Oh, yes, here was Dino, Dino whom she knew so well, and Cornelli, too—Martha looked at the child and tried to say something. Instead of that, however, bright tears started to her eyes, and she was unable to speak.

"Oh, Martha, how I have looked forward to coming home and coming to you right away!" Cornelli exclaimed. "Are you glad, too, Martha? Oh, I am so happy!"

"I too, I too, Cornelli," Martha assured her. "What memories you bring back to me, child, for you have grown just like your mother. Oh, how different you are now from what you were. God has blessed your life in town. It seems like a miracle. Oh, how I have prayed for this!"

After these words she shook Dino's hand, looking at him rather sadly, for her great joy at seeing him again was dimmed by his delicate appearance.

"Oh, Dino, how pale and thin you look," she said. "Last year you were so much stouter."

"That is why I came again to Iller-Stream," Dino replied cheerfully. "You must rejoice with us now, Mrs. Martha, for Cornelli and I are tremendously pleased to be here again. It is just as lovely here as it was last year, and now we can come to see you every day, for this seems like home."

Martha was so moved that she could not speak. Here was Cornelli, looking as fresh and bright as ever; all the unspeakably sad expression had vanished from her face, together with the awful disfigurement of those days. The old woman was deeply stirred by the happy look in the little girl's eyes. Her young mother had looked at her just that way. And here was Dino, too, full of his old attachment, and speaking such kind words to her. She could hardly believe this great happiness.

"We have to go, now, Martha," Cornelli said, "but we'll come every day the way we used to; you know that, Martha. I'll run over every single day."

"And I, too," cried Dino. When the happy little couple were running away, Martha looked after them from her little stairway. Her eyes were moist, yet followed the two till they were lost from sight.

Even then she still stood there with folded hands.

"Oh, good God," she said quietly, "my heart is full of thankfulness. Thou hast blessed everything that was hard for the child, and hast turned everything to good."

When the children entered the house, Cornelli said: "Just go in, Dino, I'll soon follow you."

Then she turned and went into the kitchen.

"Oh, I was hoping all the time that our Cornelli could still find her way to the kitchen," said Esther with satisfaction. "Come and let me have a real look at you, Cornelli!"

Esther placed herself squarely in front of the child and said: "You have grown a lot last year, Cornelli. And your hair is so neatly combed and brushed! One certainly can enjoy looking at our Cornelli, now."

Cornelli blushed a little, for she had to remember the way she had looked when she had gone away. She knew how it had been and how she had shut her heart against the help Esther had often offered her.

"Oh, Esther, I have to tell you something. Where is Trina, the maid, who has come with them?"

"I told her to go behind the house to look at the vegetable garden," said Esther. "She stood in my way all the time. I am afraid she is not very quick."

"No, she isn't; I know that. But Esther, I want to tell you something about her. Please be good to her!" Cornelli begged. "You see, Trina is block-headed and awkward, but she can't help it. You don't know how that is, but I know. And if you are very good to her, she won't mind as much being that way. Won't you do me that favor, Esther?"

Full of surprise, Esther looked after the child, who was running towards the dining room.

"How does she ever think of such things," Esther murmured to herself. "One might think Cornelli had to begin at the bottom herself, instead of being the Director's daughter who can have whatever she wants."

Esther kept on shaking her head for quite a while, but she was anxious to show Cornelli that she was the only daughter of the house and could command her. She was very proud of Cornelli's position and eager to prove to her young mistress that she was only too happy to follow her wishes.

When the first merry meal was over, the children were allowed to run out to the garden. They already knew what they were going to see there, because Dino had described it to them with great enthusiasm. He had told them about the flower garden with its wealth of color, the trellises, covered with red peaches, the heavily laden pear and apple trees. Now they could see all those wonders for themselves, including the stable with the splendid cows and the proud and shining horses. So the five children ran away with great eagerness.

The Director and Mrs. Halm remained in the dining room, drinking their coffee in each other's company.

"Please, Mr. Hellmut," she said, as soon as the door had closed behind the children, "please let me thank you for your great kindness. I want to tell you how grateful I am."

"What do you mean? Why do you want to thank me, Mrs. Halm?" the Director interrupted her. "Please let me speak first! It is I who want to thank you. I shall never be able to repay you for what you have done. What wonders you have accomplished for my child! How you have been able to change and develop Cornelli! How well she looks now! I have to gaze at her again and again, for I can hardly believe that it is the same child. How can I thank you enough? How did you ever do it? And what patience, care and trouble you must have taken with her. I am afraid that it has required endless thought on your part to bring her back like this."

"Oh, no, Mr. Hellmut, that was not the way at all," said Mrs. Halm. "Cornelli has cost me neither patience, care, nor trouble. If by a little love I have been able to draw out the good kernel of her nature and bring it to happy development, then that is all I have done. Cornelli has never made my task hard for me. We have all become so fond of her that we had to think with sorrow of the time when she would leave us. I shall never forget what happy hours Dino had with Cornelli during his illness and how she constantly entertained my sociable little Mux with her constant merriment and kindness. Yes, Mr. Hellmut, I shall never forget what she has done, and I can assure you that you have a lovely little daughter."

The Director jumped up in his excitement and strode to and fro in the room. What different enthusiasm from that of a year ago!

"You do not know what you are saying, Mrs. Halm," he said, standing still before her. "You are relieving me of most dreadful anxiety. I have suffered perfect tortures, because I was blaming myself for having neglected my Cornelia's child. I thought it was too late and that Cornelli had grown hopelessly stubborn. Now you have come and brought me back my child so that she even resembles her mother in her eyes and her whole expression and appearance. My wife was friendly and gay, and now you tell me that this is Cornelli's disposition, too."

"I have to tell you something else, Mr. Hellmut," Mrs. Halm continued. "I am perfectly sure that a child's first impressions are very important. It is natural that Cornelli missed her mother's guidance, but she was not by any means a neglected child when she came to me. From what she and Dino have told me I am perfectly sure that Martha gave Cornelli the best one can possibly give a child on spiritual education. I esteem old Martha very highly, for she must love and understand children as few people do."

"My wife used to say the same thing, and that is why I had such confidence in Martha. Unfortunately a time came later on when I feared that she was wrong, and I did not realize what she meant to Cornelli. You have reminded me of my great debt—"

At this moment such loud laughter and rejoicing sounded from below that both stepped to the open window.

Mux was screaming loudly, and seemed quite beside himself. "Mama, Mama," he cried out, "just look at a living goat boy and a real goat! Come down and see me!"

Mux was sitting on the seat of a lovely wicker carriage, with two reins in one hand and a whip in the other, while a young and slender goat was pulling him. Agnes and Cornelli were running beside the carriage as protectors, while Dino held the goat lightly by the reins to keep her from running off. All the children were screaming with delight at the wonderful ride.

Matthew was standing beside the bushes to watch this trial trip, for he thought that his help might be needed. He had built the carriage for Cornelli and had already several times harnessed the goat so as to teach her how to behave when Cornelli returned. When Matthew had first shown the little conveyance to the children, Cornelli had said right away that Mux had to take the first ride in order to realize the scene he loved so much in his picture book.

Mux simply screamed to his mother in wild joy. To see the wonderful spectacle from near by, she came down to the garden.

The Director also left the house, but he went another way. Not long afterwards he went up Martha's little stairway to the porch where the old woman sat on her stool mending.

"Oh, Mr. Hellmut!" she called out in her surprise. Opening the door she led her visitor into her room, for the porch was very narrow.

Mr. Hellmut entered.

"Martha," he said in a business-like tone, "I have spoiled your business by taking your boarder away from you forever. That requires a compensation, and so I have just bought your little cottage from the farmer over there, besides the little piece of ground in front of it. Now you will have more room for your carnations, and if you manage well, you can surely have some pleasant days from the rent which you save. Are you satisfied?"

"Oh, Mr. Hellmut! Is this little house really my own, now, and will I really have a garden besides? Oh, Mr. Hellmut!"

But her benefactor would not let her say any more. After heartily shaking her hand, he hurried away.

The large raspberries were peeping out between the green leaves, and the golden plums were dropping from the heavily laden branches. From morning till night on these beautiful summer days Mux fairly swam in uninterrupted bliss. Before he had even opened his eyes in the morning, he would call out to his mother in his sleep: "Oh, mother, are we in Iller-Stream still? Are we still here?" Then the hours of the day began, each more lovely than the last, and Mux could not tell which was the best.

As the boy spent most of the day in the stable, the hayloft, and the barn, his mother had been obliged to make him a special stable costume. The little boy loved to watch the milking of the cows, and he never tired of admiring the horses and the goat.

Matthew had become his best friend. The gardener constantly thought out pleasant surprises for Mux, who showed a decided taste for farming. If Matthew had to do some important work where Mux was in his way, he always devised a plan to keep the boy amused elsewhere: "Go down there to the raspberry hedge, Mux!" he would say. "The berries are finest and biggest there, because the sun has cooked them through. Go to the plum tree afterwards and wait for me!"

Mux would obey promptly, wandering over to the plum tree from the raspberry bushes, which he had lightened considerably. He then would sit thoughtfully under the plum tree, waiting till Matthew returned. The gardener then shook the tree so mightily that a flood of golden plums came rolling down over Mux, who could freely enjoy the wealth about him.

If Matthew could not be found and Cornelli and Dino were busy with their own plans and did not need him, Mux knew another friend who always gave him a good reception, that friend was Esther. He loved to find her in the vegetable garden, which was also full of surprises for him. It was like a marvel to the little boy that the green peas hung here in abundance, whereas they were only served at home on feast days. He became quite scared when Esther picked a basketful. But when he warned her, saying, "Don't take them all, for then we won't have any more," she only laughed and said: "They always grow again; in a week there will be plenty more."

If Mux looked a little timidly at the large cabbage heads, Esther said to him: "Don't be afraid of them, Mux. If I cook cabbage, everybody else likes it so much that you won't have to eat it at all, and you can take the potatoes which I serve with it."

Mux often accompanied Esther to the kitchen, where he soon picked up a lot of useful knowledge. There was no pastry the exact recipe of which as well as how it tasted Mux could not tell. In this manner he lived through heavenly days.

They were no less heavenly for the other children. Dino and Cornelli had started the large undertaking of laying out Martha's garden after their own plan. They were so busy inventing things and carrying them out that they could hardly ever be found.

Agnes struggled with Dino for first place in Cornelli's affection, but Dino was always the victor. Cornelli never forgot that he had been her first friend, who had held fast to their friendship. For this she remained faithful to him.

It was a consolation to Agnes that she could play on the lovely piano whenever she wanted to and that Cornelli was always home in the evenings, when she could sing with her. Mr. Hellmut would sit in his arm-chair while the two girls sang one song after another, and he could never hear enough. Beaming with joy, he would say to Mrs. Halm from time to time: "The child has her mother's voice, except that her mother's voice was still fuller and softer."

Mrs. Halm's face would beam, too, as she would say: "Just have a little patience, Director. You are sure some day to hear Cornelli's voice when there will be nothing more to desire in it. Her teacher's highest wish is to train her voice." For answer the father nodded and lay back in his chair smiling contentedly.

Nika, too, was completely changed. No shadows dimmed her eyes, for she could wander about all day with her paint box from one lovely spot to another, up to the beech wood or to the hill where the big oak tree stood. There she could sit on a bench and look down, over the house and garden, and far below into the wide, green valley. Nika was very happy to be able to spend all her time in painting, without ever being disturbed or called away by unwished-for duties.

When the mother saw the happy faces of her girls and Dino's improved health, she felt very happy, too. Suddenly, however, the thought would rise in her: How will it be when these lovely days are over and we have to start living again in the narrow confines of town and in the shadow of those coming years?

The holidays were nearing their end, but nobody yet had time to think of that, for the Director's birthday was drawing near and this was to be the great feast day for everybody. Mrs. Halm had asked each of the children to think out some surprise for Mr. Hellmut. For Mux, however, she wrote a beautiful birthday verse. As the little boy's head was filled solely with thoughts of the barn and stable, the kitchen and the goat cart, the plums, the beetles and ants, it took a great deal of time and trouble to fix the verse in his memory. Nika, needing no advice, had long ago decided what to do. Every day as soon as the meals were over, she silently disappeared. Agnes and Cornelli bolted the door of the music room and let mysterious songs issue from behind it. Only Dino was still undecided about his task. When he was left alone with his mother and Mux one day, and all the others were busy with their preparations, he said: "Tell me what I could do, mother."

"Draw him a picture of the beautiful goat," Mux advised. He knew that Dino could draw animals well, and to him there was no finer animal in all the world than the goat.

"What a knowing goat boy you are, Mux," Dino exclaimed. Despite his refusal to draw the goat, he had nevertheless gotten an idea from his little brother. "Oh, I'll draw the two brown horses," he called out joyously. "I'll make one trotting and the other walking. Matthew must lead them up for me."

So the boy ran happily to the stable, and after that day he and Matthew had many meetings in secret.

The birthday came at last.

When the Director entered the dining room in the morning, such a beautiful duet resounded from the next room that he was compelled to draw nearer. Agnes and Cornelli were both singing a lovely song with such deep feeling that the Director could hardly speak. When they had ended, he patted them both on the shoulder with fatherly tenderness and then passed into the next room. Here Mux approached him and said his verse faultlessly in a loud, clear voice. On the table the Director found two beautiful drawings of his brown horses, and his joy over them was so great that he did not put them down for quite a while. But finally he saw all at once a large picture resting in the middle of the table. His house, with the surrounding garden, the luminous meadow with the view toward the valley and the distant mountains beyond, was painted in such fresh and absolutely natural colors that Mr. Hellmut was quite overcome. This was the view he had loved so passionately from his childhood.

"Cornelli, come here!" the father called. "Just look at this picture! Don't you have a beautiful home? Do you love your home as much as your father loves it?"

"Oh yes, Papa, I love it so much!" said Cornelli. "And I have to think every day that I never knew how beautiful it was before I went away. But ever since I came home again, I know. Oh, how beautiful it looks in the picture!"

Agnes had been standing behind Cornelli. Suddenly she exclaimed passionately: "Oh, Cornelli, if only you didn't have such a beautiful home!"

"Agnes," the mother said in alarm, "what unseemly words are you saying?"

The Director looked in astonishment at Agnes, whose eyes were flashing fire while she regarded the painting.

"Have you had a disagreement with Cornelli? Is that the reason why you don't want her to have such a beautiful home?" he asked with a sly smile.

Agnes flushed scarlet.

"Oh no, Mr. Hellmut, I did not mean it that way. I have never fought with Cornelli, and I only fight with Dino because he wants to have Cornelli all the time. If Cornelli didn't have this beautiful home and if she were like me and had to give up all her music lessons and had to earn her living, we could do fine things together. She has such a beautiful voice that we could hire a harp and could travel into strange cities and sing before the houses. Later on we could give concerts and begin a singing school. But I can't do anything alone."

At this outbreak, which no sign from her could check, the mother became alternately hot and cold from fright. Agnes' eyes still flashed with passionate excitement like burning coals.

"I approve of the singing school, but especially of sitting down to breakfast. I hope very much that we have the usual chocolate to drink to-day, for it is a good old custom for birthdays which should not be neglected. So a singing school is to be founded," he continued, while Mux gazed solemnly at the three huge cakes which were placed beside the three big chocolate pots. "The wandering harp players are a little too poetical for me, but I like the idea of a school, Agnes. As I, too, wish to profit from it, I want it to be built on my estate. Lots of our workmen in the foundry have small children, whose mothers are busy with the housework and their small babies. So Agnes and Cornelli are going to found a singing school in Iller-Stream, where all the children will go, whose mothers have no time for singing. Upon their arrival the children shall all be given a bowl of milk and a piece of bread apiece to make their voices fuller. Now we have settled all about the school. I shall also have my two teachers instructed, so that they won't ever be out of practice. I have also some work for Nika: she shall fill my house with lovely pictures from top to bottom. To inspire her with plenty of new ideas, I am going to send her to her professor in town for lessons. Dino shall help me keep my two horses in trim by giving them plenty of exercise, for that will be good for him and them. I can use Mux by having him trained to become the manager of my estate. The good beginning he has made in the knowledge of farming under Matthew's guidance shall be continued while the ground is covered with green and the trees are bearing fruit. The mother shall stay here for the protection of you all. So tell me, now, how you like my plan. Shall it be thus?"

Absolute silence followed. The children hardly dared to realize that the words they had just heard were true, and the mother was filled with deep emotion. She could not utter a word, and tears flowed from her eyes. Could it be possible that her great sorrow and heavy cares were suddenly lifted from her? Could it really be true?

At that moment Mux said loudly: "Yes, we like it very much!" He had clearly grasped that it meant for him keeping on doing what he had enjoyed so much under Matthew's and Esther's care. The Director had to laugh, and continued: "I must have the reply of the chief, my dear Mrs. Halm, so please listen to my plan. I shall let you manage the children in the winter, and you shall arrange whatever they are to learn, but they must come here in the summer when I can enjoy all the results of their studies. I shall also enjoy the great advantage of having you manage my house when you are here. Does that suit everybody, or am I getting more than my share?"

At last the mother composed herself.

"Oh, Mr. Hellmut, how can I thank you?" she said, offering him her trembling hand. "I do not know how to express what is in my heart. How can I be grateful enough for such boundless kindness? You cannot know what your generosity means to us all."

Even the children had understood that this unheard-of bliss was true. Nika was the first to run with beaming eyes to the Director and to seize his hand, but she could find no words to show her gratitude. Agnes and Dino, too, had run towards the Director, and the latter did not know how to shake all the hands that were offered to him. Mux, who could find no access to his benefactor, climbed up on a chair, and putting his arms about him from behind, screamed a thousand words of thanks right into the Director's ears. The wild rejoicing became louder and louder.

"Cornelli," said the father at last, "give thanks to your foster-mother! She has earned them, for she has brought joy back to our house."

Cornelli did it with a full and willing heart, for she realized what the children's mother had done for her. Soon afterwards, Dino and Cornelli ran away for they had had a simultaneous thought. They did not want to wait another moment before bringing Martha the wonderful news. Nobody on earth could share their boundless happiness as Martha would.

Martha's heart overflowed when she heard what had been proposed. Between freely flowing tears she said again and again: "Oh, Cornelli! Everything has happened so wonderfully for you. God has ordained it much more wisely than we could have wished and prayed for. From now on, we shall leave everything entirely in His hands. We'll do that as long as we live, won't we, Cornelli?"

Cornelli nodded with understanding; she had not forgotten how she had complained to Martha, and how Martha had told her to seek God's help. Martha had assured her that the help would always come, even if it revealed itself differently from the way she expected. Now it had all turned out so gloriously, and so much more splendidly than Cornelli could ever have imagined!

There had never been such rejoicing in the house as Agnes started when she and Nika had retired to their room in the evening and Cornelli had come to pay her accustomed little evening visit. She skipped and danced about the room like a newly freed bird and called out: "Now our troubles are over and no secret fears can scare us any more. Now we can sing all we want and can live here with you every summer, Cornelli. Oh, we are the happiest creatures in all the world, and it has all happened through you, Cornelli; you wonderful, incomparable Cornelli!"

Agnes, seizing her friend's hand, jumped about with her in the room at such a rate that Nika had to calm her. The elder sister warned Agnes that the Director might have to repent of his kindness to them if their lengthy stay began with such violent noise. One could see, though, that Nika was willing enough to join the others in their antics.

"The day on which you came to our house, Cornelli," she said, "has really been more blessed than any other day in the year. So we must always celebrate it as a great feast day."

Nika had lately been very sweet and friendly to Cornelli, and the younger girl had been very happy about it. But had never dreamed that Nika would ever speak to her like this.

When Esther heard that the Halm family was going to remain for the present and return every year, she said: "Oh, I am glad. That is much better than if some other people I know had to come back. It is better for me and for Cornelli, as well as for the whole house."

"Oh, if I could only come again, too!" said Trina, whose face in these days was always beaming. "Oh, one feels so happy here!"

THE END