v.fe: •-^i;5 0-, '^,»"' -.■• - ^ ■ L I B R.AR.Y OF THL UNIVERSITY Of ILLINOIS 634377 Oh Ed cerpS "V Xi; ■"., ;• ■'a,; ,iS^.Aii»^ J*- f-. > .1.-1. ?,siisi^ f. ■:^sii.'i'>wft/; A-.«^>' .'-ttV^ :'-v;. »•-« ' X v-E^^r 3 \ ¥!«' *7f ijf" "A- *■ Return this book on or before the Latest Date stamped below. University of Illinois Library NOV 2b i; M^IH 16 ijSr Nnv - 3 OCT 2 ^ OCT 13 WS o V r^ L161— H41 -'1^ ••*?■ ' S.- V'* \S^. Ul _l o z 3 -I < I I- 3 X Ul X «: ; HEIDI A LITTLE SWISS GIRL'S CITY AND MOUNTAIN LIFE BY FRAU JOHANNA SPYRI TRANSLATED FROM THE THIRTEENTH GERMAN EDITION BY HELEN B. DOLE WITH ILLUSTRATIONS GINN AND COMPANY BOSTON • NEW YORK • CHICAGO • LONDON Copyright, 1899 GINN AND COMPANY ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 513-5 g/^ THE ALM-UNCLE fmi have for a little while longer ; it won't take us more than an hour," Just then a large, pleasant-looking woman came out of the cottage and joined them. The little girl jumped to her feet and followed the two women, who had instantly fallen into a lively conversation regarding all the inhabitants of the hamlet and of the neighbor- hood, " But really, Dete, where are you taking the child ? " asked tlie newcomer. " It is your sister's little girl, is n't it, — the orphan ? " " Yes, it is," replied the other, " I am taking her up to her grandfather ; she will have to stay there." ** What ! the little girl is going to live with the Aim- Uncle ? You must have lost your senses, Dete ! How can you think of doing such a thing.? The old man will send you back with such a scheme as that." " He can't do it ; he 's her grandfather, and it is time for him to look out for her ; I have had her till now, and I must tell you. Barbel, that I could not think of letting her hinder me from taking such a place as I have just had offered me. Her grandfather must do his part pow." ^ " That 's very well, if he were like other men," urged the portly Barbel with some indignation. "But you know what he is. What will he do with a child — especially with such a young one ? He won't hear of such a thing — But where are you going.?" /^ " To Frankfurt," said Dete, " I have an extra good ;,. place there. The family was down at the Baths last 4 HEIDI t summer ; I had charge of their rooms, and they wanted then to take me back with them. I could n't manage it ; but they are here again this year, and still want me to go with them, and I am going ; you may be sure of that." " I 'm glad I 'm not in the child's place ! " cried Barbel with a gesture of repulsion. " Nobody knows what ails the old man up there. He will have nothing to do with a living soul ; from one end of the year to the other he never sets foot in a church ; and if once in a twelve- month he comes down with his thick staff, every one keeps out of his way and is afraid of him. With his heavy gray eyebrows and his tremendous beard he looks like a heathen and a savage, and people are glad enough not to meet him alone." "Nevertheless," said Dete stubbornly, "he's her grandfather, and it 's his business to look after the child ; he won't do her any harm ; if he does, he will have to answer for it, not I." " I should like to know," said Barbel insinuatingly, " I should really like to know what the old man has on his conscience that makes him look so fierce and live all alone up there on the Aim and keep almost hidden from sight. People tell all sorts of stories about him ; of course you must know something about it, Dete ; your sister must have told you; hasn't she.'" " Of course she has, but I hold my tongue ; if he should hear of it, I should suffer ! " But Barbel had long desired to know the real cause of the Aim-Uncle's peculiarities, and why it was that-t" THE A LM- UNCLE 5 he looked so gloomy and lived alone by himself on the mountain, and why -pec^le always spoke of him with bated breath, a» if tl^y were afraid to be against him and yet would iw)t say anything in his favor. Barbel also w£»s ignorant of the reason that all the people in the village called him the Aim-Uncle, for of course he could not be the actual uncle of all the inhabitants ; but as every one called him so, she did the same and never spoke of the old man as anything else than "Ohi," which in the dialect of that region means uncle. Barbel had only recently married into the village ; before that her home had been down in the valley at Prattigau, and she was not familiar with all the happen- ings and all the curious characters of the village and the surrounding region thnwgh a long series of years. Her good friend Dete, on the contrary, was a native of the village and had lived there till within a year. Then her mother had died and she had ^'one down to Ragatz, where the Baths are, and had found a fine posi- tion as chambermaid in a great hotel. She had come from Ragatz that very morning with the little girl, hav- ing had the chance to ride as far as Mayenfeld on a hay wagon which an acquaintance of hers was driving h(5me. Barbel thought that this was a good chance to find out something, and she was bound not to let it slip. She seized Dete's arm confidentially and said :- — " But one can learn the real truth from you instead of the gossip which is talked; I am sure you know the whole story. Come now, just tell me what is 6 HEIDI the matter with the old man ; has he always been so feared ? Has he always been such a hermit ? " " I can't tell whether he has always been so or not ; I am twenty-six now, and he is certainly seventy, and of course I never saw him when he was young ; you might know that. If I were certain that he would never again be seen in all Prattigau, I might tell you all sorts of things about him ; my mother was from Domleschg, and so was he." "There now, Dete, what do you mean?" exclaimed Barbel, a little offended. "You need not be so severe on our gossip in Prattigau ; and, besides, I can keep a secret or two if need be. Now tell me ; you shan't regret it." "Well then, I will ; but mind you hold your tongue," said Dete warningly. Before she began she glanced round to see if the little girl were not too close at their heels to hear every word that was said. The child was not to be seen; she must have ceased following them some distance back, but in their lively conversation they had not noticed it. Dete stood still and gazed all around. There were several turns in the footpath ; nevertheless they could see almost all the way down to the village. Not a soul was in sight. " I see her ! " exclaimed Barbel. " There she is ! Don't you see her .'' " and she pointed with her finger to a place quite distant from the path. " She is climb- ing up the cliffs with the goatherd Peter and his goats. Why is he so late to-day with his animals } But it is just as well, for he can look after the child, and you will be all the better able to talk with me." 4 THE ALM-UNCLE 7 " Peter need n't trouble himself to look after her," remarked Dete; "she is not dull for a child of five years ; she keeps her eyes open and sees what is going on. I have already noticed that, and it's a good thing for her that she does. The old man has nothing to leave her but his two- goats and his mountain hut." "And did he once have more.?" asked Barbel. " He } Well, I should say that he did once have ^ more," replied Dete warmly ; " he used to have the finest farm in Domleschg. He was the eldest son and had only, one brother, who was quiet and well behaved. But the elder would do nothing but play the fine gentleman and travel about the country, mixing with bad people that nobody knew about. He drank and gambled away the whole property ; and so it happened that his father and mother died, one first and then the other, from sheer grief ; and his brother, who was also reduced to beggary, went away out of mortification, nobody knew where; and the uncle himself, as he had nothing left but a bad name, also disappeared — at first no one knew whither, then it was reported that he had gone with the soldiers to Naples, and after that nothing more was heard of him for twelve or fifteen years. Then he suddenly appeared again in Domleschg with a half-grown boy and tried to find a home for him among his relations. But every door was closed to him, and no one wanted to know anything more about him. This made him very bitter ; he said he would never set foot in Domleschg again, and he came here to Dorfli and lived with the boy. His wife was probably a Grison woman whom 8 HEIDI he had come across down below and soon after lost. He must have had some money still, for he let the boy Tobias learn the carpenter's trade ; and he was a steady fellow and well thought of by all the people in Dorfli. But nobody had confidence in the old nian, and it was said that he had deserted from Naples, that he had got into trouble, that he had killed somebody, not in war of course, but in some quarrel. But we recognize the relationship, for my mother's grandmother was his grandmother's first cousin. So we called him Uncle, and as we are related to almost all the people in Dorfli, on father's side, they all call him Uncle, and since he went up on the Aim he has been known as the Aim- Uncle." " But what became of Tobias ?" asked Barbel eagerly. " Wait and I '11 tell you. I can't tell all things in one breath ! " exclaimed Dete. " Tobias was serving his time in Mels, and as soon as he finished he came home to Dorfli and married my sister Adelheid, for they had always been fond of each other, and after their mar- riage they lived very happily together. But it did n't last long. Two years after, while Tobias was working on a new house, a beam fell on him and killed him. Adelheid's fright and grief when her husband was brought home so disfigured threw her into a violent fever, from which she did not recover. She never was very strong, and" was often in such a condition that it was almost impossible to tell whether she was asleep or awake. Only two weeks after Tobias's death Adelheid too was buried. Then the sad fate of the two was in THE ALM-UNCLE 9 everybody's mouth far and wide, and it was hinted and openly declared that it was a judgment the uncle deserved for his godless life. It was said so to his face ; even the priest admonished him seriously to do penance, but he only grew more and more surly and obdurate and no longer spoke to any one, and every one avoided him. " Suddenly it was reported that the uncle had gone up on the Aim and no longer came down at all ; since then he has staid there and lives at enmity with God and man. " Mother and I took Adelheid's little child ; she was a year old. Last summer mother died, and as I wanted to work down at the Baths, I took her to board with old Ursel up in Pfafferserdorf. I was able to stay at the Baths all winter. I found plenty of work, because I could sew and mend ; and early in the spring the lady I served last year came back from Frankfurt, and she is going to take me home with her. Day after to-mor- row morning we start. It is a good place, I can tell you." ' ^ " And now are you going to give the child to the old man up there } I 'm surprised that you should think of such a thing, Dete," said Barbel reproachfully. "What do you mean.?" retorted Dete. "I have done my duty by the child. What else could I do with her now t I don't think I could take a child scarcely five years old to Frankfurt. But where are you going, an)rway, Barbel } We are halfway up the Aim now." 10 HEIDI " I have already reached the place where I was going. I want to speak to the goatherd Peter's wife. She does spinning for me in winter. So good-bye, Date; good luck to you!" Date shook her companion's hand and stood still while Barbel went into the little, dark brown mountain hut standing a few steps from the path in a hollow, where it was somewhat sheltered from the winds. It was a good thing that it was in a little hollow, for it looked so dilapidated and decayed that it would have been a dangerous dwelling when the mighty south wind swept across the mountain, making everything in the hut, doors and windows, rattle, and all the worm- eaten rafters tremble and creak. On such days, if the hut had been up on the Aim, it would certainly have been blown down into the valley. Here dwelt the goatherd Peter, the eleven-year-old boy who every morning went down to Dorfii to get the goats and drive them up on the Aim, to feed till even- ing on the short, nourishing herbs. Then Peter would hurry down again with the light-footed animals, give a shrill whistle through his fingers as soon as he reached Dorfli, and all the owners would immediately come and get their goats. Little boys and girls came for the most part, for the creatures were peaceful and harm- less. All through the summer it was the only time in the day when Peter associated with his fellow-beings ; the rest of the time he lived alone with his goats. To be sure, he had his mother and blind grandmother at home ; but he had to go away very early in the mom- THE ALM-UNCLE 11 ing, and come back from Dorfli late in the evening ; so in order to play with the children as long as possible, he spent only enough time at home to swallow his bread and milk. His father, who was also called Peter the goatherd, because he had followed the same calling in his earlier days, had met with an accident some years before while felling trees. His mother, whose real name was Bri- gitta, was called by every one, for consistency's sake, " goatherd Peter's wife," and the blind grandmother was known by old and young, far and wide, simply by the name of Grandmother. Dete waited full ten minutes, looking around in every direction for a glimpse of the children with the goats ; but as they were nowhere in sight, she climbed a little higher, where she could have a better view of the Aim down to the foot. Here she peered first this way and then that, showing signs of increasing impatience both in her face and in her movements. Meanwhile the children were coming along by a roundabout way. Peter knew many spots where there were all sorts of good shrubs and bushes for his goats to nibble ; so he frequently wandered from the path with his flock. At first the child in her heavy garb climbed after them with great difficulty, panting with heat and discomfort and straining every nerve. She said not a word, but gazed first at Peter, who jumped about without any difficulty in his bare feet and light trousers, then at the goats with their small, slender legs climbing still more easily over bushes and stones and steep crags. ^ 12 HEIDI Suddenly the child sat down on the ground and in great haste pulled off her shoes and stockings; then she stood up again, took off her thick, red neckerchief, unfastened her Sunday frock, quickly took that off, and began to unhook her everyday dress. This she wore under the other, to save her Aunt Dete the trouble of carrying it. Quick as lightning came off also tn every- day frock, and there the child stood in her light under- clothes with delight, stretching her bare arms out of her short chemise sleeves. Then she laid them all in a neat little pile, and jumped and climbed after the goats by Peter's side, as easily as any in the whole company. Peter had not noticed what the child was doing while she remained behind. But when she came run- ning after him in this new costume a grin began to spread over his face, and when he looked back and saw the little pile of clothes lying on the ground the grin grew still broader and his mouth reached almost from ear to ear ; but he said nothing. The child, feeling so free and light, began to talk with Peter, and he had all sorts of questions to answer, for she wanted to know how many goats he had, where he was going with them, and what he would do when he reached there. Finally the children with the goats approached the hut and came in sight of Aunt Dete. She had hardly caught a glimpse of the group climbing up the moun- tain side when she screamed out : — "Heidi, what have you been doing.!" What is the THE ALM-l^NCLE 13 matter with you ? Where is your dress and the other one and your neckerchief? I bought you brand-new shoes on the mountain, and I made you new stockings, and they are all gone ! all gone ! Heidi, what hive you done with them ? Where have you put them all? " The -child calmly pointed down the mountain and said: '^here!" The aunt followed the direction of her finger. To be sure, there lay something, and on the top of it was a red speck ; that was surely the neckerchief. "You careless girl! " cried the aunt in great excite- ment. " What were you thinking about ? Why did you take everything off ? What did you mean ? " " I did n't need them," said the child, without looking in the least sorry for what she had done. " Oh, you careless, senseless Heidi ! don't you know anything? " the aunt went on, lamenting and scolding. " It will take half an hour for any one to go down there again ! Come, Peter, run back for me and get the things ! Come, be quick, and don't stand there star- ing at me as if you were nailed to the ground." " I am late already," said Peter slowly, and with both hands in his pockets stood still just where he was when he heard the aunt's angry reproaches. '-' If you stand there staring like that, you will not get far, I 'm thinking," called out Aunt Dete. " Come here! you must have something nice. Do you see this?" She held up a new five-kreutzer piece, which glis- tened in his eyes. Suddenly he started, and with tre- 14 HEIDI mendous leaps went the shortest way down the Aim, and soon reached the little pile of clothes. He picked them up and brought them back so quickly that the aunt could not help praising him, and gave him his money without delay. Peter put it deep down in his pocket, and his face lighted up with a broad grin, for such a treasure did not very often fall to his share. "You may carry the things on up to the uncle's, as long as you 're go- ing that way," con- tinued Aunt Dete, while she set about climbing the steep cliff, which rose high behind Peter's hut. The boy willingly undertook the task and followed the others with his bundle in his left hand, and swinging his stick in his right. Heidi and the goats skipped and jumped along merrily by his side. Thus in about three- quarters of an hour the procession reached the height where on a jutting cliff stood the old uncle's hut, exposed to every wind, but also accessible to every THE ALM-UNCLE 15 ray of sunlight and with a wide view of the valley below. Behind the hut stood three ancient fir trees with long, thick, untrimmed branches. Farther back the mountain with its old gray crags rose higher still, now displaying lovely, fertile pastures, now a tangle of boulders and bushes, and finally surmounted with bare, steep cliffs. The uncle had made himself a seat by the side of the hut looking down into the valley. Here he sat with his pipe in his mouth, his hands resting on his knees, calmly watching the children, Aunt Dete, and the goats as they came climbing up the mountain. Aunt Dete had been gradually left behind, and Heidi was the first to reach the hut. She went straight to the old man, held out her hand to him, and said : — " How do you do, grandfather .? " "Well, well, what does this mean.?" asked the old man roughly, barely touching the child's hand and giving her a long, penetrating look from uiider his bushy eyebrows. Heidi gazed back at him in return without once winking her eyes, for she had never seen any one like her grandfather, with his long beard and heavy gray eyebrows meeting in the middle of his fore- head like a thicket. In the meanwhile Aunt Dete arrived with Peter, who stood still for a time looking on to see what would happen. "I wish you good morning, uncle," said Dete, step- ping up to him. " I have brought Tobias and Adelheid's child to you. You will hardly know her, for you have n't seen her since she was a year old." -y- 16 HEIDI "Well, what can the child do here with me?" asked the old man curtly ; "and you there," he called out to Peter, "you can go along with your goats. You are none too early. Take mine too ! " Peter obeyed without delay and disappeared, for the uncle had made it plain that he was not wanted. " She must stay with you, uncle," said Dete in reply to his question. " I am sure I have done my duty by her these four years, and now it is your turn to do what you can for her." "Indeed.-*" said the old man; and his eyes flashed at Dete. " Suppose the child begins to fret and whine for you, as is usually the case with the unreasonable little things, what shall I do with her } " "That is your business," retorted Dete; "I am sure no one told me what to do with the little one when it was given into my hands, only a year old, and I already had enough to do to take care of myself and mother. Now I must look out for myself, and you are next of kin to the child. If you can't have her, do what you please with her ; you will have to answer for her, if she comes to any harm. You don't want to have anything more laid to your charge." Dete's conscience was not quite easy; she became excited and said more than she had intended. The uncle rose at her last words; he gave her such a look that she took several steps backward ; then he stretched out his arm and said imperatively: — "Get you gone down where you came from, and don't show yourself here again very soon ! " THE ALM-UNCLE ' 17 Dete did not need to be told twice. " Good-bye, then ; and good-bye to you too, Heidi," she said quickly and hurried down the mountain to Dorfli, as fast as she could go, for her anxiety im- pelled her onward, as if she were a powerful steam engine. In Dorfli many more asked her about Heidi ; they all knew Dete well and whose child she was, and all that had taken place. When from every door and window came the question, ** Where is the child } Dete, where have you left the child .-' " she called back with more and more irritation : — " Up with the Aim- Uncle ! Up with the Aim-Uncle, I tell you ! " She was disgusted because the women everywhere exclaimed: "How could you do so!" and "The poor little soul!" and "Such a little helpless thing left up there ! " and then again and again : " The poor little soul ! " Dete pushed on as fast as she could, and was glad when she was out of their hearing; she did not feel quite easy about the matter, for the dying mother had given the child to her. But she quieted her misgivings by saying to herself that it would not be long before she could do something again for her, since she would be earning a good deal of money ; so she felt very glad that she would soon be in a fine situation, and far away from all the people who would speak to her about the matter. CHAPTER II AT THE GRANDFATHER'S After Dete had disappeared, the uncle sat down again on the bench and blew great clouds of smoke from his pipe, while he kept his eyes fixed on the ground without saying a word. Meanwhile Heidi was content to look about her. She discovered the goats' shed built near the hut and peeped into it. It was empty. The child continued her investigations and came to the fir trees behind the hut. The wind was blowing hard, and it whistled and roared through the branches, high up in the tops. Heidi stood still and listened. When it subsided somewhat she went around to the other side of the hut and came back to her grandfather. When she found him in the same place where she had left him, she placed herself in front of him, put her hands behind her, and gazed at him. Her grandfather looked up. " What do you want to do ? " he asked as the child continued standing in front of him without moving. " I want to see what you have in the hut," said Heidi. " Come along, then ! " and the grandfather rose and started to go into the hut. i8 AT THE GRANDFATHER'S 19 "Bring your bundle of clothes," he said as he entered. " I shan't want them any more," replied Heidi. The old man turned around and looked sharply at the child, whose black eyes shone in expectation of what might be inside. "She's not lacking in intelligence," he said half to himself. " Why won't you need them any more .-' " he asked aloud. " I 'd rather go like the goats, with their swift little legs." " So you shall, but bring the thingsalong," commanded the grandfather; "they can be put in the cupboard." Heidi obeyed. The old man opened the door, and Heidi followed him into a good-sized room, which embraced the whole hut. In it were a table and a chair; in one corner was the grandfather's bed, in another the fireplace where hung the large kettle ; on the other side, in the wall, was a large door, which the grandfather opened ; it was the cupboard. There hung his clothes, and on one shelf lay his shirts, stockings, and linen ; on another were plates, cups, and glasses, and on the topmost a loaf of bread, smoked meat, and cheese. Everything the Aim-Uncle owned and needed for his subsistence was kept in this closet. As soon as he had opened the door, Heidi came running with her bundle and pushed it in, as far back of her grand- father's clothes as possible, that it might not be easy to find it again. Then she looked carefully around the rpom and said : — 20 HEIDI "Where shall I sleep, grandfather?" " Wherever you like," he replied. This was quite to Heidi's mind. She looked into every nook and corner to see where would be the best place for her to sleep. In the corner by her grand- father's bed stood a little ladder, which led to the hayloft. Heidi climbed this. There lay a fresh, fra- grant heap of hay, and through a round window one could look far down into the valley below. " I will sleep here," Heidi called down ; " it is lovely ! Just come and see how lovely it is here, grandfather ! " "I know all about it," sounded from below. " I am going to make a bed," called out the child again as she ran busily to and fro in the loft ; " but you must come up here and bring a sheet, for the bed must have a sheet for me to sleep on," "Well, well," said the grandfather below; and after a few moments he went to the cupboard and rummaged afeout ; then he drew out from under his shirts a long, coarse piece of cloth, which might serve for a sheet. He came up the ladder and found that a very neat little bed had been made in the hayloft ; the hay was piled up higher at one end to form the head, and it was placed in such a way that one could look from it straight out through the round open window. "That is made very nicely," said the grandfather; "next comes the sheet; but wait a moment," — and he took up a good armful of hay and made the bed as thick again, in order that the hard floor might not be felt through it; "there, now put it on." AT THE GRANDFATHER'S 21 Heidi quickly took hold of the sheet, but was unable to lift it, it was so heavy • however, this made it all the better because the sh rp wisps of hay could not penetrate the firm cloth. Then the two together spread the sheet over the hay, and where it was too broad or too long Heidi quickly tucked it under. Now it appeared quite trim and neat, and Heidi stood looking at it thoughtfully. "We have forgotten one thing, grandfather," she said, " What is that } " he asked, " The coverlet ; when we go to bed we creep in between the sheet and the coverlet." " Is that so .'' But supposing I have n't any } " asked the old man. "Oh, then it's no matter," said Heidi soothingly; "we can take more hay for a coverlet " ; and she was about to run to the hay mow again, but her grand- father prevented her, "Wait a moment," he said, and went down the ladder to his own bed. Then he came back and laid a large, heavy linen bag on the floor, " Is n't that better than hay ? " he asked. Heidi pulled at the bag with all her might and main, trying to unfold it, but her little hands could not manage the heavy thing. Her grandfather helped, and when it was finally spread out on the bed, it all looked very neat and comfortable, and Heidi, looking at her new resting- place admiringly, said : — "That is a splendid coverlet, and the whole bed is 22 \ HEIDI lovely ! How I wish it were night so that I could lie down in it ! " " I think we migh have something to eat first," said the grandfather. " What do you say ? " In her eagerness over the bed, Heidi had forgotten everything else ; but now that eating was suggested to her, a great feeling of hunger rose within her, for she had taken nothing all day, except a piece of bread and a cup of weak coffee early in the morning, and afterwards she had made the long journey. So Heidi heartily assented with: — "Yes, I think so too." "Well, let us go down, since we are agreed," said the old man and followed close upon the child's steps. He went to the fireplace, pushed the large kettle aside and drew forward the little one that hung on the chain, sat down on the three-legged wooden stool with the round seat in front of him and kindled a bright fire. The kettle began to boil, and the old man held over the fire a large piece of cheese on the end of a long iron fork. He moved it this way and that, until it was golden yellow on all sides. Heidi looked on with eager attention. Suddenly a new idea came to her mind ; she jumped up and ran to the cupboard, and kept going back and forth. When the grandfather brought the toasted cheese to the table, it was already nicely laid with the round loaf of bread, two plates and two knives, for Heidi had noticed everything in the cupboard, and knew that all would be needed for the meal. "That is right, to think of doing something your- AT THE GRANDFATHER'S 23 self," said the grandfather, laying the cheese on the bread and putting the teapot on the table ; " but there is something still lacking." Heidi saw how invitingly the steam came out of the pot and ran quickly back to the cupboard. But there was only one little bowl there. Heidi was not long perplexed ; behind it stood two glasses ; the child im- mediately came back with the bowl and glasses and placed them on the table. "Very good. You know how to help yourself; but where are you going to sit } " The grandfather himself was sitting in the only chair. Heidi shot like an arrow to the fireplace, brought back the little three-legged stool and sat down on it. " Well, you have a seat, sure enough, only it is rather low," said the grandfather; "but in my chair also you would be too short to reach the table ; but now you must have something anyway, so come ! " Saying which he rose, filled the little bowl with milk, placed it on the chair, and pushed it close to the three- legged stool, so" that Heidi had a table in front of her. The grandfather laid a large slice of bread and a piece of the golden cheese on the chair and said : — " Now eat ! " He seated himself on the corner of the table and began his dinner. Heidi grasped her bowl and drank and drank without stopping, for all the thirst of her long journey came back to her. Then she drew a long breath and set down the bowl. " Do you like the milk ? " asked her grandfather. \ 24 HEIDI " I never tasted such good milk before," answered Heidi. " Then you must have some more " ; and the grand- father filled the bowl again to the brim and placed it before the child, who looked quite content as she began to eat her bread, after it had been spread with the toasted cheese soft as butter. The combination tasted very good, with frequent drinks of milk. When the meal was over, the grandfather went out to the goat-shed to put it in order, and Heidi watched him closely as he first swept it clean with a broom and AT THE GRANDFATHER'S 25 then laid down fresh straw for the animals to sleep on. Then he went to his little shop, cut some round sticks, shaped a board, made some holes in it, put the round sticks into them, and suddenly it was a stool like his own, only much higher. Heidi was speechless with amazement as she saw his work. " What is this, Heidi } " asked the grandfather. " It is a stool for me, because it is so high ; you made it all at once," said the child, still deeply astonished. " She knows what she sees ; her eyes are in the right place," remarked the grandfather to himself as he went around the hut driving a nail here and there ; then he repaired something about the door and went from place to place with hammer, nails, and pieces of wood, mend- ing and clearing away wherever it was needed. Heidi followed him step by step and watched him with the closest attention, and everything he did amused her very much. Evening was coming on. It was beginning to blow harder in the old fir trees, for a mighty wind had sprung up and was whistling and moaning through their thick tops. It sounded so beautiful in Heidi's ears and heart that she was quite delighted, and skipped and jumped under the firs as if she were experiencing the greatest pleasure of her life. The grandfather stood in the door- way and watched the child. A shrill whistle sounded. Heidi stopped her jump- ing, and the grandfather stepped outside. Down from above came goat after goat, leaping like a hunting train, and Peter in the midst of them, \yith a shout of joy 26 HEIDI Heidi rushed in among the flock and greeted her old friends of the morning one after the other. When they reached the hut, they all stood still, and two lovely slender goats — one white, the other brown — came out from the others to the grandfather and licked his hands, in which he held some salt to welcome them. This he did each evening. Peter disappeared with his flock. Heidi gently stroked first one goat and then the other and ran around them to stroke them on the other side ; she was perfectly delighted with the little creatures. " Are they ours, grandfather } Are they both ours } Will they go into the shed } Will they stay with us always } " asked Heidi, one question following the other in her delight. When the goats had finished licking their salt, the old man said : — " Go and bring out your little bowl and the bread." Heidi obeyed and came back at once. The grand- father milked the goat and filled the bowl and cut off a piece of bread, saying : — " Now eat your supper and then go up to bed ! Your Aunt Dete left a bundle for you; your nightgowns and other things are in it. You will find it downstairs in the closet if you need it. I must attend to the goats now ; so sleep well ! " " Good-night, grandfather ! Good-night — what are their names, grandfather .-' what are their names ? " cried the child, running after the old man and the goats as they disappeared in the shed. AT THE GRANDFATHER'S 27 "The white one is named Schwanli^ and the brown one Barli,"^ answered the grandfather. " Good-night, Schwanli ! good-night, Barli ! " called Heidi at the top of her voice. Then Heidi sat down on the bench and ate her bread and drank her milk ; but the strong wind almost blew her off from her seat ; so she finished hastily, then went in and climbed up to her bed, in which she immediately fell asleep and slept as soundly and well as if she had been in the loveliest bed of some royal princess. Not long after, even before it was wholly dark, the grandfather also went to bed ; for he was always up with the sun, and it came climbing over the mountain very early in the summer time. In the night the wind blew with such force that its blasts made the whole hut tremble, and every rafter creaked. It howled and groaned down the chimney like voices in distress, and outside in the fir trees it raged with such fury that now and then a bough was broken off. In the middle of the night the grandfather rose and said half aloud to himself : — " She may be afraid." He climbed the ladder and went to Heidi's bedside. The moon outside shone brightly in the sky for a mo- ment and then disappeared behind the driving clouds, and everything grew dark. Then the moonlight came again brightly through the round opening and fell directly on Heidi's couch. Her cheeks were fiery red ^ Schwanli = little swan. 2 Barli = little bear. 28 HEIDI as she slept under the heavy coverlet, and she lay per- fectly calm and peaceful on her little round arm. She must have been dreaming happy dreams, for a look of contentment was on her face. The grandfather gazed long at the sweetly sleeping child until the moon went behind a cloud again and it was dark. Then he went back to his own bed. CHAPTER III IN THE PASTURE Heidi was awakened early in the morning by a loud whistle ; and when she opened her eyes, a flood of sun- shine was pouring through the round window on her bed and the hay close by, so that everything about shone like gold. Heidi looked around her in amazement and did not know where she was. Then she heard her grandfather's deep voice outside, and everything came back to her mind — where she had come from, and that now she was up on the Aim with her grandfather and no longer with old Ursel. Ursel was always cold, so that she liked to sit by the kitchen fire or the stove in her chamber. Heidi had been obliged to stay very near, so that the old woman could see where she was, because she was deaf and could not hear her. This had often been very irksome to Heidi, who longed to run outside. So she was very glad when she awoke in her new home and remembered how many strange things she had seen the day before and what she would see again that day, especially Schwanli and Barli. Heidi jumped quickly out of bed and in a few minutes had put on all that she wore the day before ; it was very little. Then she climbed down the ladder and ran out 29 -:%.■:.•'*, 30 HEIDI in front of the hut. There already stood the goatherd Peter with his flock, and the grandfather was bringing Schwanli and Barli out of the shed to join the other goats. Heidi ran up to him to say good-morning to him and the goats. "Would you like to go to the pasture, too .-* " asked the grandfather. Heidi was pleased with the idea and jumped for joy. " But first wash and be clean, or else the sun will laugh at you when it is shining so brightly up there and sees that you are dirty; see, everything is ready for you." The grandfather pointed to a large tub full of water standing before the door in the sunshine. Heidi ran to it and splashed and rubbed until she was all shining. Meanwhile the grandfather went into the hut and called to Peter : — " Come here, general of the goats, and bring your haversack with you." Peter, surprised, obeyed the call and brought along the little bag in which he carried his meagre dinner. " Open it," said the old man ; and he put in a large piece of bread and an equally large piece of cheese. Peter opened his round eyes as wide as possible in his amazement, for both pieces were half as large again as what he had brought for his own dinner. " Now in goes the little bowl," continued the uncle, " for the child cannot drink the way you do, right from the goat ; she does n't know how. Milk two bowlsful at noon for her, as she is to go with you and stay until IN THE PASTURE 31 you come down again ; take care that she does n't fall over the rocks ; do you hear? " Heidi came running up. "Can the sun laugh at me now, grandfather?" she asked eagerly. In her fear of the sun she had rubbed her face, neck, and arms so vigorously with the coarse towel her grandfather had hung by the water tub that she looked as red as a lobster. Her grandfather smiled. " No ; now he has nothing to laugh at," he admitted ; " but do you know to-night, when you come home, you must go in all over, like a fish ; for after running about like the goats you will have black feet. Now you can march along." So she went merrily up the Aim. The wind in the night had blown away the last clouds ; the sky was everywhere a deep blue, and in the midst stood the sun, shining on the green mountain ; all the blue and yellow flowers opened their calyxes and looked up with gladness. Heidi jumped here and there and shouted for joy; for there were whole troops of delicate prim- roses together, and yonder it was blue with gentians, and everywhere in the sunshine smiled and nodded the tender-leaved golden rock-roses. Heidi was so charmed by all these glistening, nodding flowers that she entirely forgot the goats and even Peter. She ran far ahead and then off on one side, for it shone red here and yel- low there and enticed her in every direction. Wherever she went she plucked quantities of the flowers and put them into her apron, for she wanted to carry them all 32 HEIDI home and put them into the hay in her sleeping room, that it might look there as it did here. So Peter had to look everywhere ; and his round eyes, which did not move quickly from one place to another, had more work than they could well manage, for the goats were as bad as Heidi. They ran hither and thither, and he was obliged to whistle and shout and swing his rod continually in order to drive all the stragglers together. "Where have you gone now, Heidi.?" he called almost angrily. " Here," sounded from some indefinite place. Peter could see no one, for Heidi was sitting on the ground behind a knoll, which was thickly covered with fragrant wild flowers. The whole air around was filled with the sweet odor, and Heidi had never breathed anything so exquisite before. She sat down among the flowers and drew in long breaths of the perfume. "Come along!" called Peter again. "You must not fall down over the cliffs ; the uncle charged me not to let you." " Where are the cliffs .? " asked Heidi without stirring from the place, for every breath of wind brought the sweet odor to the child with increasing charm. " Up there, 'way up ; we have still a long way to go ; so come along now ! And up at the very top sits the old robber-bird croaking." That availed. Heidi immediately jumped up and ran to Peter with her apron full of flowers. "You have enough now," he said, when they were IN THE PASTURE ZZ once more climbing together ; " besides, you '11 stay here forever, and if you pick them all you won't have any to-morrow." The last reason convinced Heidi ; besides, her apron was already so full that there was hardly room for more, and there must be some left for to-morrow. So she went along with Peter ; and the goats behaved better and hurried along without delay, for they smelt the good herbage in the distance on the high pasture land. The pasture where Peter usually went with his goats for the day lay at the foot of the high cliff. The lower part of this was covered with bushes and fir trees, but it rose toward heaven quite bald and steep. On one side of the mountain there were deep chasms. The grandfather was quite right in warning Peter about them. When Peter reached this spot on the heights, he took off his bag and laid it carefully in a little hollow in the ground. He knew that the wind often rushed across in strong gusts, and he did not wish to see his precious possessions roll down the mountain: Then he stretched himself out on the ground in the sunny pas- ture to rest from the exertion of climbing. In the mean time Heidi had taken off her apron, rolled it up tightly with the flowers inside, and laid it close to the lunch bag. Then she sat down beside Peter and looked around her. The valley lay far below in the full morning sunshine. In front of her Heidi saw a great wide field of snow, stretching high up into the deep blue sky ; on the left stood an enormous mass 34 HEIDI of rock, on^ each side of which a higher tower of bald, jagged crags rose into the azure and looked very sternly down on Heidi. The child sat as still as a mouse ; every- where there was a great, deep stillness ; only the wind passed very softly and gently over the tender bluebells and the radiant golden rock-roses, which were every- where gaily nodding to and fro on their slender stems. Peter had gone to sleep after his exertion, and the goats were climbing among the bushes. She drank in the golden sunlight, the fresh air, the delicate fragrance of the flowers, and desired nothing more than to remain there forever. A good while passed IN THE PASTURE 35 in this way, and Heidi had gazed so often and so long at the lofty mountain tops that it seemed as if they all had faces and were gazing down quite familiarly at her, like good friends. Then she heard above her a loud, shrill screaming and croaking, and as she looked up into the air the largest bird she had ever seen in her life was flying around on wide, outstretched wings and coming back in wider circles and screaming loud and piercingly over her head. " Peter ! Peter ! Wake up ! " cried Heidi at the top of her voice. " See, there is the robber-bird ! See ! see!" Peter jumped up at the call and looked with Heidi at the bird, which was flying higher and higher in the blue sky. Finally it disappeared over the gray cliffs. "Where has he gone now.''" asked Heidi, who had watched the bird with eager scrutiny. " Home to his nest," was Peter's answer. " Is his home 'way up there ? Oh, how lovely to be so high up ! Why does he scream so .'' " asked Heidi again. "Because he can't help it," explained Peter. " Let us climb up there and see where his home is,"- proposed Heidi. " Oh ! oh ! oh ! " burst out Peter, uttering each excla- mation with more vehement disapproval ; "no goat can get there, and the uncle said you must not fall over the cliff." Then Peter suddenly began such a whistling and call- ing that Heidi did not know what was going to happen ; 36 HEIDI but the goats must have understood the sound, for one after another they came jumping down until the whole flock was assembled on the green slope, some nibbling the spicy stalks, others running to and fro, and still others amusing themselves by butting one another with their horns. Heidi jumped up and ran around among the goats. It was new and indescribably amusing to her to see how the little creatures leaped about and played together, and Heidi made thepersonal acquaintance of each, for every one had a quite distinct individuality and its own peculiar ways. Meanwhile Peter had brought out the bag and nicely arranged all four of the pieces of bread and cheese on the ground in a square, the larger pieces on Heidi's side, the smaller ones on his side ; he knew just how many he had. Then he took the little bowl and milked sweet, fresh milk from Schwanli into it and placed it in the middle of the square. Then he called Heidi, but he had to call longer for her than for the goats, because she was so interested and pleased with the varied gamboling and frolicking of her new playmates that she saw and heard nothing else. But Peter knew how to make himself understood. He called till it made the rocks above echo ; and Heidi appeared, and the table he had laid looked so inviting that she danced around it for joy. " Stop jumping; it is time to eat," said Peter; "sit down and begin." Heidi sat down. IN THE PASTURE 37 "Is the milk mine? " she asked, contemplating with satisfaction the neat square and the bowl in the middle. "Yes," answered Peter, "and the two large pieces of bread and cheese are yours, too; and when you have drunk all the milk, you can have another bowlful from Schwanli, and then it is my turn." " And where will you get your milk t " Heidi wanted to know. "From my goat — from Schnecke. Go to eating! " commanded Peter once more. Heidi began with her milk, and as soon as she set down her empty bowl Peter rose and filled it again. Heidi broke some of her bread into it ; the rest, a piece still larger than all Peter's bread, she handed over to him, with all her large portion of cheese, and said : — " You may have that. " I have enough." Peter looked at Heidi in speechless amazement, for never in his life had he been able to say such a thing or give anything away. He hesitated a little, for he could not really ' believe that Heidi was in earnest. She persisted in offering the bread and cheese, and when he did not take it, she laid it down on his knee. Then he saw that she meant it for him, seized the prize, nodded his thanks, and then made the most satisfactory dinner of his goatherd life. Meantime Heidi watched the goats. " What are their names, Peter ? " she asked. He knew them all well enough and could keep them in his head all the better because he had little else to 38 HEIDI ^ store away there. So he began and without hesitation named one after the other, pointing to each one as he did so. Heidi listened with the closest attention to his explanation, and before long she could distinguish them from one another and call each by name ; for they all had their peculiarities, which any one might remember, but it was necessary to look at them closely, and she did this. There was the big Tiirk with his powerful horns. He was always trying to butt all the others, and if he came near, most of them ran away and would have nothing to do with their rough comrade. The brave Distelfinck, a slender, nimble little goat, was the only one that did not avoid him, but often ran at him three or four times in succession so swiftly and skilfully that the big Turk would stand still in astonishment and make no further attack ; for the Distelfinck looked very warlike and had sharp horns. There was the little white Schneehopli, always bleat- ing so touchingly, so beseechingly, that Heidi ran to her again- and again and put her arms around her head to comfort her. But now the child hurried to her once more, for her mournful young voice was again raised in appeal. Heidi threw her arm around the little creature's neck and asked quite sympathetically: — " What is the matter, Schneehopli 1 Why do you cry so .■* " The goat trustingly pressed close to Heidi's side and became perfectly quiet. Peter called out from where he was sitting, with IN THE PASTURE 39 frequent interruptions while he took a bite and a swallow : — " She does so because the old one does n't come with her any more. They sold her and sent her to Mayen- feld day before yesterday ; so she does n't come up on the Aim any longer." " Who is the old one ? " asked Heidi. " Why, the mother, of course," was the reply. " Where is the grandmother ? " asked Heidi again. "Hasn't any." " And the grandfather > " "Hasn't any." "You poor Schneehopli," said Heidi, drawing the little creature tenderly towards her. " Don't cry so any more, for, you see, I will come with you every day, and then you won't be alone ; and if you want anything, you can come to me." Schneehopli rubbed her head contentedly against Heidi's shoulder and bleated no more. By far the prettiest and cleanest of the goats were Schwanli and Barli, who were decidedly superior in their behavior, and usually went their own way ; they especially avoided the obtrusive Tiirk and treated him with contempt. The animals had begun to climb up to the bushes again, each one after his own fashion : some leaping carelessly over everything, others cautiously seeking out the good herbs as they went along, while the Tiirk tried his horns here and there — first in one place and then in another. 40 HEIDI Schwanli and Barli climbed prettily and gracefully, and whenever they found fine bushes, there they sta- tioned themselves and browsed on them. Heidi stood with her hands behind her back, watching them all with the closest attention. "Peter," she said to the boy, who had thrown him- self down again on the ground, "the prettiest of them all are Schwanli and Barli." "Of course they are," was the reply. "The Aim- Uncle brushes and washes them and gives them salt and has the best shed." Suddenly Peter jumped up and fairly leaped after the goats. Heidi ran after him ; she felt that something must have happened, and she could not remain behind. Peter ran through the midst of the goats to the side of the mountain, where the rocks descended steep and bare far below, and where a careless goat, going near, might easily fall over and break all its bones. He had seen the venturesome Distelfinck jumping along in that direc- tion ; he reached there just in time, for at that instant the little goat came to the very edge of the precipice. Just as it was falling, Peter flung himself down on the ground and managed to seize one of its legs and hold it fast, Distelfinck bleated with anger and surprise, to be held so by his leg and hindered from continuing his merry course, and struggled obstinately onward. Peter screamed: "Heidi, help me!" for he couldn't get up and was almost pulling off Distelfinck's leg. Heidi was already there and instantly understood their sorry plight. She quickly pulled up from the ground some fragrant IN THE PASTURE 41 herbs and held them under Distelfinck's nose and said soothingly : — "Come, come, Distelfinck, you must be sensible! See, you might fall off and break your bones, and that would give you frightful pain." The goat quickly turned around and eagerly nibbled the herbs from Heidi's hand. Meanwhile Peter had succeeded in getting on his feet and had seized the cord which held the bell around Distelfinck's neck. Heidi seized it on the opposite side, and the two together led the runaway back to the peacefully feed- ing flock. When Peter had the goat in safety once more, he raised his rod to beat him soundly as a punishment, and Distelfinck timidly drew back, for he saw what was going to happen. But Heidi cried : — " No, Peter ! no, you must not beat him ! See how frightened he is ! " "He deserves it," snarled Peter and was going to strike the goat. But Heidi seized his arm and cried indignantly : — " You shall not do it ; it will hurt him ! Let him alone ! " Peter looked in astonishment at the commanding Heidi, whose black eyes snapped at him. He reluc- tantly dropped his rod. '•He can go if you will give me some of your cheese again to-morrow," said Peter, yielding; for he wanted some compensation for his fright. " You may have it all — the whole piece — to-morrow 42 HEIDI and every day ; I do not want it," said Heidi with ready assent ; " and I will give you a good part of my bread, too, as I did to-day. But then you must never, never beat Distelfinck, nor Schneehopli, nor any of the goats." " It 's all the same to me," remarked Peter ; and this was as good as a promise with him. Then he let the offender go, and the happy Distelfinck leaped high in the air and then bounded back into the flock. Thus the day had imperceptibly passed away, and the sun was just ready to go down behind the mountains. Heidi sat down on the ground again and silently gazed at the bluebells and the rock-roses glowing in the even- ing light ; and all the grass seemed tinted with gold, and the cliffs above began to gleam and sparkle. Sud- denly Heidi jumped up and exclaimed : — " Peter ! Peter ! it 's on fire ! It 's on fire ! All the mountains are burning, and the big snow field over there is on fire and the sky ! Oh, see ! see ! The high cliff is all burning ! Oh, the beautiful fiery snow ! Peter, get up ! See ! the fire reaches up to the robber- bird ! Look at the rocks ! See the fir trees ! Every- thing, everything is on fire ! " " It 's always so," said Peter good-naturedly, peeling the bark from his rod ; " but it is no fire." "What is it, then } " asked Heidi, running back and forth in order to look on every side ; for she could not see enough, it was so beautiful everywhere. " What is it, Peter } what is it .-* " cried Heidi again. "It comes so of itself," explained Peter. IN THE PASTURE 43 "Oh, see! see!" cried Heidi in great excitement; '< suddenly it grows rosy red ! Look at the snow and the high, pointed rocks ! What are their names, Peter? " " Mountains don't have names," he replied. " Oh, how lovely I" See the snow all rosy red ! And oh, on the rocks above there are ever and ever so many roses ! Oh, now they are turning gray I Oh ! Oh I Now it is all gone ! It is all gone, Peter ! " And Heidi sat down on the ground and looked as distressed as if everything was really coming to an end. " It will be just the same again to-morrow," explained Peter, " Get up ! We must go home now." Peter whistled and called the goats together, and they started on the homeward journey. " Will it be like that every day — every day when we go to the pasture .'' " asked Heidi, listening eagerly for some decided assurance as she walked down the moun- tain by Peter's side. " Usually," was the reply. " But really to-morrow again } " she wanted to know. " Yes ; yes, to-morrow, certainly ! " assured Peter. Then Heidi was happy once more, but she had re- ceived so many impressions, and so many things were going around in her mind, that she was perfectly silent until they reached the hut and saw her grandfather. He was sitting under the fir trees, where he had also made a seat and was in the habit of waiting in the even- ing for his goats, which came down in this direction. Heidi ran straight up to him, followed by Schwanli 44 ^ HEIDI and Barli; for the goats knew their master and their shed. Peter called out to Heidi : — " Come again to-morrow ! Good-night ! " He was pleased to have Heidi go with him. Heidi darted back, gave Peter her hand, and assured him that she would accompany him again ; then she sprang into the midst of the departing flock, threw her arms once more around Schneehopli's neck, and said confidingly : — " Sleep well, Schneehopli, and remember that I will go with you again to-morrow and that you must never bleat so mournfully again." Schneehopli seemed pleased and looked thankfully into Heidi's face and then leaped gaily after the other goats. Heidi came back under the fir trees. " Oh, grandfather, it was so beautiful!" she exclaimed even before she had reached him — " the fire and the roses on the cliffs and the blue and yellow flowers ; and see what I have brought you ! " Whereupon Heidi shook all her wealth of flowers out of her folded apron in front of her grandfather. But what a sight the poor little flowers made ! Heidi no longer recognized them. They were all like nay, and not a single cup was open. ** Oh, grandfather, what is the matter with them .-• " cried Heidi, quite shocked. " They were not like that ; why do they look so now } " " They like to stand out in the sunshine and not shut up in your apron," said the grandfather. IN THE PASTURE 45 "Then I iHU never bring any more home. But, grandfather, what made the robber-bird scream so ? " asked Heidi urgently. " You must jump into the water now, while I go to the shed and fetch the milk ; afterwards we will go into the house together and have supper. Then I will tell you about it." So it was ; and later, when Heidi sat on her high stool before her little bowl of milk, next her grandfather, she again asked the question : — " Why did the robber-bird keep croaking and scream- ing so, grandfather .-' " "He is mocking at the people down below, because so many sit together in the villages and make one another wicked. So he mocks at them : * It would be much bet- ter for you to leave one another and let each go his own way and climb up to some mountain-top, as I do ! ' " The grandfather spoke these words so wildly that the robber-bird's screaming came back to Heidi's mind still more impressively. "Why have the mountains no names, grandfather.-' " asked Heidi again. "They have names," he replied; "and if you can describe one to me sa that I can recognize it, I will tell you what it is called." Then Heidi described the rocky mountain, with its two high towers, just as she had seen it, and the grand- father, well pleased, said : — " Very good ! I know it ; it is called Falkniss.^ Did you see any more .>' " ^ Falcon's nest. 46 HEIDI Then Heidi described the mountain witli the big snow field, which had been on fire, then turned rose color, and then suddenly grew pale and wan. "I know that, too," said the grandfather; "that is the Casaplana. So it pleased you up in the pasture? did it ? " Then Heidi told him about everything that had hap- pened throughout the day — how lovely it had been ; and she asked her grandfather to tell her where the fire at evening had come from, for Peter had not known any- thing about it. " You see," the grandfather explained, " the sun does it. When he says good-night to the mountains, he sends to them his most beautiful rays so that they may not forget him until he comes back again in the morning." This pleased Heidi, and she could hardly wait for another day to come so that she could go up to the pasture and see once more how the sun said good-night to the mountains. But first she had to go to sleep, and she slept soundly the whole night long on her bed of hay and dreamed of bright, shining mountains and their red roses, in the midst of which Schneehopli merrily ran and jumped. CHAPTER IV AT THE GRANDMOTHER'S On the following morning the bright sun appeared again, and Peter came with his goats, and they all went together up to the pasture ; and so it happened day after day. Heidi grew very brown and strong and healthy from this outdoor life, and she was as happy as the merry little birds in all the trees in the green woods. It was now autumn, and the wind was beginning to blow louder over the mountains ; so the grandfather said one day : — " You must stay here to-day, Heidi ; the wind with one puff could blow a little thing like you over all the rocks down into the valley." But when Peter heard this in the morning, he looked very unhappy, for he saw real misfortune before him. He did not know how to pass the time, it was so tedi- ous when Heidi was not with him. He missed his hearty dinner. Moreover, the goats were so contrary these days that he had twice as much trouble with them ; they were so accustomed to Heidi's company that they would not go along, but ran off in every direction, because she was not with them. Heidi was never unhappy, for she always found some- thing about her to enjoy. She would have preferred 47 48 HEIDI to go with Peter and the goats to the pasture, to the flowers, and up to the robber-bird, where there were so many things to do, with all the different goats ; but still her grandfather's hammering and sawing and car- pentering were very interesting to Heidi. It pleased her that he was just preparing the pretty round goat cheeses. Since she had to stay at home, it was particu- larly delightful to watch the remarkable operations of her grandfather as he bared both arms and stirred the cheese in the big kettle. But more attractive than all else to Heidi on such windy days was the roaring and rushing in the three old fir trees behind the hut. Wherever she happened to be, she had to run to them every little while, for nothing was so fascinating and wonderful as this deep, mysterious sound up in the tree-tops. Heidi would stand under them and listen ; she was never tired of seeing and hearing how the wind roared and rocked the trees with such might. The sun was no longer hot, as in summer, and Heidi brought out her shoes and stockings and also her little coat ; for it grew cooler and cooler. When she stood under the fir trees the wind blew through her as if she were a thin leaf, but she kept running back again and could not stay in the house when she heard the wind. Then it grew cold, and Peter breathed on his hands when he came early in the morning, but not for long, for suddenly one night a deep snow fell. When the sun rose, the whole Aim was white, and not a single green leaf was to be seen anywhere about AT THE GRANDMOTHER'S 49 After this goatherd Peter came no more with his flock; and Heidi looked with amazement out of the little window, for it was beginning to snow again ; and big flakes fell thick and fast, until the snow came up to the window, and then still higher, until they could not open the window, and they were completely buried in the little house. This made Heidi so merry that she kept running from one window to the other to see how it was increasing and whether the snow would cover the entire hut, so that they would need to have a light in the middle of the day. It was not so bad as that ; and the following day the grandfather went out with his shovel, for the storm was ended. He piled up great heaps of snow, so that there seemed to be mountains of it all around the hut. Now the windows and the door were free, and it was fortunate ; for as Heidi and her grandfather were sitting in the afternoon on their three-legged stools, suddenly there was a great knocking and stamping against the threshold, and finally the door opened. It was Peter the goatherd; he had not kicked against the door through rudeness, but in order to beat off the snow from his shoes. Indeed, Peter was covered with snow, for he had been obliged to struggle through the high drifts ; so that great lumps remained clinging to him, frozen fast by the sharp cold. But he had not given up, for he was anxious to reach Heidi, whom he had not seen for a whole long week. " Good-afternoon," said he as he entered, then placed himself as near as possible to the fire and 50 HEIDI made no further remark ; but his whole face beamed with pleasure at being there. Heidi looked at him wonderingly ; for now that he was so near the fire, he began to thaw all over, so that he looked like a little waterfall. *' Well, general, how are you ? " asked the grand- father. " Now you are without an army and must bite your slate pencil." "Why must he bite his slate pencil, grandfather?" asked Heidi at once with curiosity. " In winter he has to go to school," explained the grandfather. " There you learn to read and write, and often it is hard work ; so it helps a little if you bite your slate pencil. Isn't it so, general.?" " Yes, it is so," said Peter. Heidi's interest in the matter was now aroused, and she had to ask Peter a great many questions about the school and everything that happened and was to be seen and heard there. As much time was always spent in any conversation in which Peter was obliged to take part, the result was that meanwhile he was able to get well dried from top to toe. It was always a great effort for him to put his thoughts into words — to express his meaning,; but this time it was unusually difficult, for he had scarcely succeeded in giving one answer before Heidi put two or three more unexpected questions and mostly such as required a whole sentence in reply. The grandfather had kept quite still during this con- versation, but the corners of his mouth had twitched with amusement, and this was a sign that he was listening. AT THE GRANDMOTHER'S 51 "Well, general, now you have been under fire and need strengthening. Come, stay to supper with us ! " Whereupon the grandfather rose and brought the evening meal from the cupboard, and Heidi pushed the stools to the table. Next the wall there was still another seat, which the grandfather had made and fas- tened there. Now that he was no longer alone, he had fashioned here and there all sorts of seats for two ; for Heidi had a way of always keeping near him wher- ever he went. So they all three had good seats ; and Peter opened his round eyes very wide when he saw what a big piece of the fine dried meat the Aim-Uncle laid on his thick slice of bread. Peter had not had anything so good for a long time. When the pleasant meal was over, it began to grow dark, and Peter started for home. When he had said "good-night " and " God bless you" and was already in the doorway, he turned round once more and said : — " Next Sunday I will come again — a week from to-day; and you must come to my grandmother's some- time ; she said so," It was a new idea to Heidi that she should go to visit some one, but it took root on the spot, and on the following morning Heidi's first words were : — " Grandfather, now I must really go down to the grandmother's ; she expects me." "There is too much snow," replied the grandfather, putting her off. But the purpose was deeply seated in Heidi's mind. After that not a day passed when Heidi did not say five or six times : — ■ ■ ^k^ n I 52 HEIDI " Grandfather, now I must really go ; the grand- mother is expecting me." On the fourth day, when the cold was so bitter that it cracked and creaked with every footstep outdoors, and the whole covering of snow was frozen hard all about, and yet the beautiful sun looked in at the window, Heidi, as she sat on her high stool eating her dinner, began her little speech again : — " To-day I must really go to the grandmother's ; she will be tired of waiting for me." Then the grandfather rose from the dinner table, went up to the hayloft, brought down the thick bag that served as Heidi's bed covering, and said : — *' Well, come along ! " The child was greatly delighted and skipped after him out into the glistening world of snow. In the old fir trees it was now quite still ; the white snow lay on every bough, and the trees sparkled and shone all over in the sunshine so gloriously that Heidi jumped up and down with delight and kept exclaiming: — " Come out, grandfather ! come out ! The fir trees are all covered with real silver and gold ! " The grandfather had gone into the shop and now came out with a wide sled. It had a handle fastened to the side, and from the low seat one could hold the feet out in front against the snowy ground and steer with one or the other in the required direction. After the grandfather had first looked all around the fir trees with Heidi, he seated himself on the sled, took the child in his lap, wrapped her up in the bag, so that AT THE GRANDMOTHER'S 53 she might be warm and comfortable, and held her tight with his left arm, as this was very necessary for the coming journey. Then with his right hand he seized the handle and gave a push with both feet. The sled shot away down the mountain with such swiftness that Heidi thought she was flying through the air like a bird and shouted with joy. Suddenly the sled stood still in front of Peter the goatherd's hut. The grandfather put the child on the ground, unwrapped her covering, and said : — " Now go in, and when it begins to grow dark, come out again and start along on the way home." Then he turned round with his sled and drew it up the mountain. Heidi opened the door and went into a little room which looked black. There was a fireplace in it and some bowls on a stand. This was the kitchen. Then came another door, which Heidi also opened. This led into a small sitting-room ; for this was not a Swiss cot- tage, like her grandfather's, with one single, large room and a loft above it, btit a very old little house, where everything was small, narrow, and shabby. When Heidi stepped into the little sitting-room, she stood right in front of a table by which sat a woman mending Peter's jacket. Heidi immediately recognized it. In the corner sat an old, bent grandmother spin- ning. Heidi knew at once who she was. She went straight to the spinning wheel and said : — " How do you do, grandmother } I have come to see you. Did you think it was a long time before I came ? " 54 HEIDI The grandmother raised her head and sought for the hand held out to her. When she found it, she felt of it for some time thoughtfully ; then she said : — "Are you the child staying up with the Aim-Uncle? Are you Heidi ? " "Yes, yes," replied the child; "I have just come down with my grandfather on the sled." " Is that possible ! Your hand is so warm ! Say, Brigitte, did the Aim-Uncle himself come down with the child.?" Peter's mother, Brigitte, who was mending by the table, had risen and was now examining the child with curiosity from head to foot ; then she said : — " I don't know, mother, whether the uncle himself came with her or not ; it is not likely ; the child may be mistaken." But Heidi looked straight at the woman and said sturdily : — " I know very well who wrapped me up in the cov- erlet and brought me down on the sled. It was my grandfather." " Then there must be something in what Peter said last summer about the Aim-Uncle, although we thought he was not right," said the grandmother. "Who could really have believed that such a thing was possible } I thought the child would n't live three weeks up there ! How does she look, Brigitte .-* " Brigitte had studied her so thoroughly in the mean time that she could well describe her appearance. " She has a delicate form like Adelheid," she replied! \ AT THE GRANDMOTHER'S 55 " but she has black eyes and curly hair, like Tobias and also like the old man up there. I believe she looks like them both." Meanwhile Heidi was not idle ; she had looked around and noticed everything. Now she said : — " See, grandmother ! there is a shutter that keeps swinging back and forth. My grandfather would drive in a nail at once to hold it fast. It will break a pane of glass. See, see ! " " Oh, you good child ! " said the grandmother ; " I cannot see it, but I can hear it and much more be- sides the shutter. Everything creaks and rattles when the wind blows, and it comes in everywhere. Every- thing is loose ; and often in the night when both the others are asleep, I am so anxious and afraid lest the whole house should tumble down over our heads and kill us all three ; and there is no man to mend any- thing about the hut, for Peter does n't know how." " But why can't you see how the shutter swings, grandmother.^ See! there it goes again — there, there, there ! " and Heidi pointed with her finger directly toward the place. " Ah, child ! I can see nothing at all, nothing at all ; the shutter or anything else," said the grandmother mournfully. " But if I go out and open the shutter wide so that it will be quite light ; can you see then, grandmother .? " " No, no, not even then ! No one can make it light for me again ! " ** But if you go out in the white snow, then it will 56 HEIDI surely be light for you. Just come with me, grand- mother ; I will show you." Heidi took the grandmother by the hand to lead her out, for she was beginning to be distressed because it did not seem light anywhere to the old dame. " Let me sit still, you good child ! It would be dark to me even in the snow and in the light. My eyes cannot see ! " "But then in the summer time, grandmother," said Heidi, still anxiously seeking some way out of the dif- ficulty ; "you know when the sun comes down quite hot and then says ' good-night ' to the mountains, and they shine fiery red, and all the yellow flowers glisten ; then it will be light to you, won't it .-• " " Ah, child ! I can never see them any more. The fiery mountains and the golden flowers above us will never more be bright to me on earth — nevermore." Then Heidi burst into loud weeping. Full of dis- tress, she kept sobbing : — " Who can make it light again for you .'' Can no one .'' Can no one at all .'' " The grandmother tried to comfort the child, but she did not soon succeed. Heidi hardly ever cried; but when she once began, it was almost impossible for her to recover from her grief. The grandmother had tried every means to soothe the child, for it went to her heart to have her sob so pitifully. Finally she said : — " Come, dear Heidi, come here ! I want to tell you something. When a person cannot see, it is so pleas- AT THE GRANDMOTHER'S 57 ant to hear a friendly word, and I like to hear you talk. Come, sit down near me and tell me what you do up there and what your grandfather does. I used to know him well, but for many years I have heard nothing about him, except through Peter ; but Peter does n't say much." Then a new idea came to Heidi's mind. She quickly wiped away her tears and said comfortingly : — "Just wait, grandmother; I will tell my grandfather all about it. He will make it light for you again, and he will fix the hut so that it won't tumble down. He can make everything all right." The grandmother remained silent. Then Heidi be- gan with great liveliness to tell about her life with her grandfather and the days she spent in the pasture ; about her present life in the winter, and what her grandfather made out of wood — benches and stools and lovely cribs to put hay in for Schwanli and Barli, and a large new water tub for bathing in summer, and a new milk bowl and spoon. Heidi grew still more eager in describing the beautiful things which were made out of a piece of wood, and how she staid near her grandfather and watched him, and how quickly he did everything. The grandmother listened with great interest and from time to time interrupted her with : — " Do you hear that, Brigitte ? Do you hear what she says of the uncle .'' " Suddenly the story was interrupted by a great thump- ing at the door, and in stamped Peter. The boy im- mediately stood still and opened his round eyes wide 58 HEIDI in astonishment at the sight of Heidi, and then a good- natured grin spread over his face as she said : " Good- afternoon, Peter ! " " Is it possible that he has already come home from school ! " exclaimed the grandmother in surprise. " No afternoon for many a year has passed so quickly ! Good-afternoon, Peterli ! How did you get on with the reading ? " "Just the same," answered Peter. "Dear, dear!" said the grandmother with a little sigh; "I thought there might be a change! Think! You will be twelve years old next February ! " "Why should there be a change, grandmother?" asked Heidi at once with interest. " I only thought he might be able to learn some- thing," said the grandmother; "learn to read, I mean. Up there on the shelf I have an old prayer-book with beautiful hymns in it which I have not heard for so long that I cannot remember them ; so I thought if Peterli could only learn, he would perhaps be able to read Some of the verses to me. But he cannot learn ; it is too hard for him." " I think I must get a light, it is already quite dark," said Peter's mother, who had been busy mending the jacket all the while. "The afternoon has gone before I was aware of it, either." Then Heidi jumped up from her chair, quickly reached out her hand and said : — " Good-night, grandmother ! I must go home right away, if it is growing dark " ; and Peter and his mother AT THE GRANDMOTHER'S 59 shook hands with her, one after the other, and accom- panied her to the door. But the grandmother called out anxiously : — " Wait, wait, Heidi ! You must not go alone. Peter must go with you ; do you hear .? And take care of the child, Peterli. Don't let her fall down or stand still with her, for she might freeze. • Do you hear } And has she a good thick handkerchief round her neck .-' " ♦* I have no handkerchief at all ; but I shall not freeze," Heidi called back. Then she went out at the door and slipped away so quickly that Peter could hardly follow her. But the grandmother called anxiously: — " Run after her, Brigitte, run ! The child will be frozen — out so in the night. Take my neckerchief. Run quickly ! " Brigitte obeyed. But the children had gone only a few steps up the mountain when they saw the grand- father coming down, and in a moment he was with them. "Very good, Heidi," said he; "you have kept your word ! " He wrapped the coverlet round the child once more, took her in his arms and climbed up the mountain. Brigitte saw this and went back into the hut with Peter and told the grandmother in great surprise all about it. The. grandmother was also sur- prised and kept saying : — " God be praised and thanked that he is so good to her ! God be praised and thanked ! If he will only let her come to see me again ; for the child did me so 60 HEIDI much good ! What a kind heart she has ! How amus- ingly she talks ! " And until she went to bed she kept repeating : — " If she will only come again ! Now there is some- thing still left in the world to give me pleasure! " Brigitte agreed with her every time, and Peter nodded his head approvingly and stretched his mouth wide with delight, saying : — " I knew it ! " Meanwhile Heidi, wrapped in her bag, had much to say to her grandfather ; but as her voice did not pene- trate the eight-fold wrap, and he could not understand a word, he said : — " Wait a little, until we get home ; then tell me about it." As soon as he reached the hut and had taken off Heidi's wrap, she said: — "Grandfather, to-morrow we must take the hammer and the big nails and fasten the shutter at the grand- mother's house, and drive a good many more nails ; for everything creaks and rattles there." " We must } We must do so .-' Who told you that } " asked the grandfather. " Nobody told me so ; I knew it without," replied Heidi ; " for everything is loose and it makes the grandmother anxious and afraid when the wind blows; and she can't sleep. She thinks : ' Now everything will fall down on our heads.' And nobody can make it light any more for the grandmother ! She does n't know how any one can. But you can surely, grand- AT THE GRANDMOTHER'S 61 father ! Only think how sad it is for her to be always in the dark ! and nobody can help her but you ! To-morrow we will go ; won't we, grandfather ? " Heidi clung to her grandfather and looked up at him with undoubting confidence. The old man gazed at the child for a little while, then said : — "Yes, Heidi; we will make everything fast at the grandmother's hut, so that there will be no more rat- tling. To-morrow we will do so," Then the child jumped for joy all around the room and cried : — " To-morrow we will do it ! To-morrow we will do it!" The grandfather kept his word. The following after- noon they took the same ride on the sled. The old man set the child down before the door and said : " Now go in, and when it is night come back." Then he laid the bag on the sled and went around the house. Scarcely had Heidi opened the door and run into the room, when the grandmother called out from her corner : — " Here comes the child ! It is the child ! " She dropped her thread and stopped the wheel for joy, and held out both hands. Heidi immediately pushed the little low chair quite near, sat down in it, and had a great many more things to tell her and to ask her. " But suddenly there was a heavy pounding on the house. It startled the grand- mother so that she nearly upset the spinning wheel and, trembling, cried out : — 62 HEIDI " Oh, dear me ! it has come at last ; the hut is all tumbling to pieces." But Heidi held her fast by the arm and said consol- ingly : — " No, no, grandmother ; don't be afraid, it is grand- father with his hammer ; he is going to mend every- thing so that you won't be worried and afraid any longer." '\ " Oh ! is it possible ? Is such a thing possible ? So the dear Lord has not entirely forgotten us ! " exclaimed the grandmother. " Did you hear that, Brigitte, did you hear what it is .-' It is really a hammer ! Go out, Brigitte, and if it is the Aim-Uncle tell him he must come in a moment and let me thank him." Brigitte went out. The Aim-Uncle was just driving new fastenings into the wall ; Brigitte went toward him and said : — '* I wish you good-afternoon, uncle, and so does my mother ; and I want to thank you for doing us such a service, and so does my mother indoors. Surely no one else would do such a thing for us, and we want to thank you, for surely" — " That will do," interrupted the old man ; " what you think of the Aim-Uncle I already know. Just go back into the house ; I can find out myself what needs to be done." Brigitte at once obeyed, for the uncle had a way which people did not usually oppose. He pounded and hammered all around the hut ; then he climbed the nar- row little staircase up under the roof and kept on ham- AT THE GRANDMOTHER'S 63 mering until he had driven the last nail he had brought with him. Meanwhile it had begun to grow dark ; he had hardly come down and drawn his sled from behind the goat-shed when Heidi stepped out from the door. The grandfather wrapped her up in his arms and carried her as on the previous day, drawing the sled after him. Thus the winter passed. After many long years a joy had come into the blind grandmother's dreary life, and her days were no more long and dark ; for now she always had something pleasant to anticipate. From early morning she listened for the tripping footstep, and when the door opened and the child actually came dancing in, then she always exclaimed joyfully : — " God be praised ! She has come again ! " Heidi would sit down by her side and prattle and talk merrily about everything she knew ; it made the time pass so quickly that the grandmother did not notice it, and not once did she ask as formerly : — " Brigitte, is the day nearly over } " Every time that Heidi closed the door behind her she would say : — " How short the afternoon has been, has n't it, Bri- gitte .'' " and Brigitte would reply : " To be sure, it seems to me we have hardly put away the dinner plates." And the grandmother would say again : — " If only the good Lord will preserve the child for me and keep the Aim-Uncle kind. Does she look well, Brigitte .-' " and every time Brigitte would answer : " She looks like a rosy apple." 64 HEIDI Heidi had also a great fondness for the old grand- mother, and whenever it came to her mind that no one, not even her grandfather, could make it light for her again, a great feeling of sorrow came over her ; but the grandmother assured her that she suffered least when she was with her, so Heidi came down on the sled every fine winter's day. The grandfather, without making any objection, had brought her, always carrying his hammer and other things ; and he spent many an afternoon working about Peter's hut. It had a good result ; there was no more creaking and rattling, and the grandmother said she should never forget the uncle, for she had not been able to sleep well for many a long winter. CHAPTER V TWO VISITS AND THEIR CONSEQUENCES Quickly passed the winter, and still more quickly the merry summer following ; and a new winter was already drawing to an end. Heidi was as happy and contented as the birds of the air, and rejoiced more and more every day in the approaching spring, when the warm south wind would blow through the fir trees and drive away the snow ; then the bright sunshine would call forth the blue and yellow flowers, and the days in the pasture would come again — days which to Heidi brought the greatest pleasure that earth could give. Heidi was now in her eighth year ; she had learned all sorts of handiwork from her grandfather.- She could go around with the goats as if she were one of them, and Schwanli and Barli followed her like trusty dogs, bleating loudly for joy if they merely heard her voice. This winter Peter had already brought word twice from the school-teacher in Dorfli that the Aim-Uncle ought to send the child living with him to school, for she was more than old enough and should have gone the winter before. The uncle had sent word back to the school-teacher both times that if he wanted anything of him he would find him at home, but that he should 6; 66 HEIDI not send the child to school. This message Peter had faithfully delivered. When the March sun had melted the snow on the slopes, and the snowdrops were in bloom everywhere in the valley, when the fir trees on the Aim had shaken off their burden of snow, and their branches again waved merrily — then Heidi in her delight kept running back and forth from the house to the goat-shed, and from the goat-shed to the fir trees, and then into the hut to her grandfather to tell him how much larger the TIVO VISITS AND THEIR CONSEQUENCES 67 piece of green ground had grown under the trees. Then she would immediately run back to look again, for she could not wait until everything should be green once more, arid the lovely summer with its verdure and bloom return to the mountain. One sunny March morning, when Heidi was running back and forth in this way, and was jumping over the threshold for about the tenth time, she nearly fell back- wards into the house from fright ; for suddenly there appeared before her an old man all in black, who looked at her very earnestly. But when he saw how startled she was, he said kindly : — " You must not- be afraid of me ; I love children. Give me your hand ! You must be Heidi ; where is your grandfather .-• " . " He is sitting at the table, carving round spoons out of wood," replied Heidi, opening the door. It was the old pastor from Dorfli, who had known the uncle well years before, when he still lived in the valley and was one of his neighbors. He stepped into the hut, went up to the old man; who was bending over his wood- carving, and said : — " Good-morning, neighbor ! " The grandfather looked up in surprise; the next instant he rose and replied : - — " Good-morning, pastor." Then he offered him his stool, saying: "If the pastor does not object to a wooden seat, here is one." The pastor sat down. After a moment he said : — " I have not seen you for a long time, neighbor." 68 A HEIDI "Nor have I seen you, pastor," was the answer. " I come to-day to talk with you about something," continued the pastor. " I think you already know what the matter is which I am going to speak about, and I want to hear what your intention is." The pastor remained silent and looked at the child, standing in the doorway and attentively watching the new apparition. •' Heidi, go out to the goats," said the grandfather. " You may take a little salt along and stay with them until I come." Heidi immediately disappeared. "The child should have been sent to school a year ago, and she certainly ought to have gone this winter," said the pastor ; " the teacher has sent you word about it, but you have made no reply. What do you intend to do with her, neighbor 1 " " I do not intend to send her to school," was the answer. The pastor looked in surprise at the old man as he sat with folded arms on his bench and looked very determined. "What are you going to make of the child.?" then asked the pastor. " Nothing ; she grows and thrives with the goats and ' the birds ; she is well enough with them, and she learns no harm from them." " But the child is neither a goat nor a bird ; she is a human being. If she learns no harm from such com- panions, neither does she learn anything elsfe ; she ought TIVO VIS ITS AND THEIR CONSEQUENCES 69 to learn something, and the time for it has arrived. I have come to tell you now, neighbor, so that you may be able to think it over and make your arrangements during the summer. This is the last winter that the child can spend without any instruction ; next winter she must go to school, and every day." "I shall not do it, pastor," said the old man de- cidedly. " Do you really suppose, then, that there is no means of bringing you to terms if you will persist so obsti- nately in your unreasonable behavior .'' " said the pastor somewhat warmly. " You have been about the world a great deal and have had an opportunity to see and learn much, and I should give you credit for better sense, neighbor." " Indeed ! " said the old man ; and his voice showed that he was no longer so perfectly calm in his mind ; "and does the pastor suppose that I would really send a delicate child next winter on icy mornings through storm and snow down the mountain, a two hours' journey, and let her come back again at night, when it often blusters and rages so that any one of us would be lost in the wind and snow, and she only a little child .■* Possibly the pastor can recall her mother, Adelheid ; she used to walk in her sleep and have ill turns. Shall the child, too, be made to suffer from such a struggle .? Just let any one come and try to compel me ! I will go into every court with her, and then we shall see who is going to compel me ! " " You are quite right, neighbor," said the pastor with 70 HEIDI friendliness ; " it would not be possible to send the child from here to school. But I can see that she is dear to you ; for her sake do what you ought to have done long ago ; come down into Dorfli and live once more with human beings. What kind of a life is this up here, alone and embittered toward God and man I If any- thing should happen to you up here, who would help you .'' I cannot understand in the least why you are not half frozen all winter long in your hut, and how can the delicate child endure it .-' '" " The child has young blood and good shelter ; that I can assure you, pastor. Moreover, I know where there is wood, and also when it is a good time to get it ; the pastor ought to look into my shed ; there is enough there so that the fire in my hut never goes out all win- ter long. It is not for me to go down into the valley as the pastor suggests ; the people down there despise me and I despise them, so it is better for both that we remain apart." " No, no ; it is not good for you ; I know what the trouble is," said the pastor earnestly. " As to the peo- ple scorning you down in the valley, it is not so bad. Believe me, neighbor, seek to make peace with your God ; ask for his pardon if you have done any wrong, and then come and see how differently the people re- gard you, and how well it can still be with you." The pastor rose, held out his hand to the old man, and said again with heartiness : — " I count upon it, neighbor, that next winter you are to come down with us, for we are good old friends. TIVO VISITS AND THEIR CONSEQUENCES 71 I should feel very sorry if you had to be forced ; give me your hand on it that you will come down and live among us again, reconciled to God and man." The Aim-Uncle gave his hand to the pastor, but said firmly and decidedly : — '• The pastor means well toward me, but I cannot do what he expects ; that I tell him surely and finally. I shall not send the child, neither shall I come down myself." "Then God help you!" said the pastor, and went sadly out of the hut and down the mountain. The Aim-Uncle was out of sorts. In the afternoon when Heidi said, " Now let us go to the grandmother's," he replied curtly : " Not to-day." He did not speak again all day, and on the following morning when Heidi asked, "Are we going to the grandmother's to-day ? " he still answered shortly and merely said: "We shall see." Before the bowls had been put away after dinner another visitor came to the door. It was Aunt Dete. She had on her head a fine hat with a feather in it, and a dress which swept up everything on the floor, and in the hut lay all sorts of things which would not improve a dress. The uncle looked at her from top to toe and said not a word. But Aunt Dete had a very friendly speech in her mind, for she immediately began to flatter him by saying that Heidi was looking so well that she hardly recognized her, and that it was plain to be seen that she had not fared ill with her grandfather. She had 72 HEIDI really always intended to take her away again, for she understood very well that the little one must be a trouble to him, but never at any time before had she been able to find a place for her. But day and night she had wondered how she could provide for the child, and to-day she had come because she had suddenly heard of something which would be such good luck to Heidi that she could hardly believe it. She had gone at once to see about the matter, and now she could say it was as good as settled, and not one in a hundred thousand was so fortunate as Heidi. " Some very wealthy relatives of my mistress, who live in almost the finest house in all Frankfurt, have an only daughter who is obliged to sit all the time in a wheel chair, because she is lame and not well in other ways. So she is almost always alone and obliged to study alone with a teacher, which is very dull for her ; and, besides, she would like to have a playmate in the house." This had been spoken about at her employer's house, and her mistress, who felt great sympathy for the little invalid, was anxious to find such a companion as the housekeeper described. The housekeeper had said she wanted an unspoiled child, not like those seen every day. Then Aunt Dete had at once thought of Heidi and hastened immediately to tell her all about the child and her character; and the lady engaged to have her come. " It was impossible to tell what good fortune was before Heidi, for when she was once there, if she pleased the people, and some- thing might possibly happen to the only daughter — TWO VISITS AND THEIR CONSEQUENCES 73 there was no knowing, she was so sickly — and if the people should not care to be left without any child, the most unheard-of good luck might " — "Will you ever finish?" interrupted the uncle, who had not said a word all this time. " Bah," retorted Dete, tossing her head. " You act exactly as if I had told you the most ordinary thing in the world, and there is n't a single person throughout all Prattigau who would n't thank God in Heaven if I brought such news to them as I have brought to you." " Take it to any one you like ; I will have none of it," said the uncle bluntly. Dete went off like a rocket and said : — "Well, if that is what you think about it, uncle, I will tell you what I think ; the child is now eight years old and can do nothing and knows nothing, and you will not let her learn anything. You will not send her to school nor to church ; that they told me down in Dorfli; and she is my own sister's child. I have to answer for what happens to her; and when a child can have such good fortune as Heidi, there can only be one person to prevent, and that one who cares for nobody and wishes nobody any good. But I won't give in ; that I can tell you ; and the people are all in my favor ; there is n't a single person down in Dorfli who will not help me, and is not against you ; so take heed if you don't care to be brought before the court, uncle ; there are things that might be brought up which you would not like to hear, for when a man once gets into court many things are hunted up that he has forgotten all about." 74 HEIDI "Silence!" roared the uncle; and his eyes blazed like fire, " Take her and be gone ! Never bring her into my sight again. I never want to see her with feathers in her hat and words in her mouth such as you have spoken to-day ! " The uncle strode out of the house. " You have made my grandfather angry," said Heidi ; and her black eyes snapped at her aunt in no friendly way. " He will soon be all right again. Now come," urged the aunt ; " where are your clothes .'' " " I will not come," said Heidi. " What do you say } " continued the aunt ; then she somewhat changed her tone of voice and went on in a half friendly, half annoyed way : — " Come, come along, you don't know any better ; you can't imagine what a good time you will have." She went to the cupboard, took out Heidi's things and put them together. " Now come, take your little hat, it does n't look very well, but it will do for once ; put it on and make haste to come along." " I shall not come," answered Heidi. " Don't be so foolish and stubborn, like the goats ; you must have learned it from them. Listen to me ; your grandfather is angry ; you have just heard him say that we must never come into his sight again ; he wants you to go with me now, and you must not make him more angry. You have n't the least idea how lovely it is in Frankfurt, and how many things you will see TH^O VISITS AND THEIR CONSEQUENCES 75 there ; and if you don't like it you can come back here ; then the grandfather will be good-natured again." " Can I turn right round and come back again to- night ? " " Oh, come along ! I tell you, you can come home if you want to. To-day we will go as far as Mayenfeld, and to-morrow morning early we will get into the train, and in that you can get home again in no time ; it 's like flying." Aunt Dete took the bundle of clothes on her arm, and Heidi by the hand, and they started down the mountain. As it was not yet time to go to the pasture, Peter still went to school down in Dorfli, or was supposed to go there ; but he took a holiday now and then, for he thought it was of no use to go to school ; reading was not necessary, but a little wandering about and looking for large rods was profitable because he could make use of them. So he was just coming toward his hut from the farther side with a visible result of that day's efforts in a huge long bundle of thick hazel rods which he car- ried on his shoulder. He stood still and stared at the two approaching figures until they reached him. " Where are you going } " he asked. " I am hurrying to Frankfurt with my aunt," replied Heidi ; " but I will first go in to see the grandmother, for she is expecting me." " No, no ; no talking, it is already too late," said the aunt hastily, and holding the struggling Heidi fast by the hand; "you can see her when you come back; so come along ! " 76 HEIDI Whereupon the aunt dragged Heidi off with her and did not let go, for she was afraid if she went in the child might refuse to go away, and that the grandmother might take her part. Peter ran into the hut and beat on the table with his whole bundle of rods, making such a frightful noise that the whole house trembled ; the grandmother sprang up from her spinning wheel in alarm and cried out aloud. Peter had to give vent to his feelings. " What is the matter .'' What is the matter } " cried the grandmother with great concern ; and the mother, who had been sitting by the table and was almost startled out of her wits by the noise, said in her natu- rally patient way : — " What is the matter, Peterli ? What makes you so wild ? " " Because she has taken Heidi away with her," ex- plained Peter. " Who .'' who ? Where, Peterli, where .-• " asked the grandmother with new concern ; she quickly guessed what had happened, for her daughter had told her a short time before that she had seen Dete go up to the Aim- Uncle's. All trembling in her haste, the grandmother opened the window and called out beseechingly : — " Dete, Dete, don't take the child away from us ! Don't take Heidi away from us ! " The two travelers heard the voice, and Dete must have surmised what she said, for she took hold of the child more firmly than ever and ran as fast as she could. Heidi resisted and said : — TWO VISITS AND THEIR CONSEQUENCES 77 "The grandmother is calling; I want to go to her." But the aunt would not allow it and pacified the child by telling her that they must hurry in order not to be too late, and that the next morning they could travel farther and she could then see whether it pleased her well enough in Frankfurt to be willing to stay there. If she wanted to come back home again, she could do so at once ; and then she could bring something to the grandmother which would delight her. This prospect pleased Heidi. She began to hurry without further objection ^ "What can I bring home to the grandmother,?" she asked after a while. " Something good," said the aunt ; " some lovely, soft white rolls that will please her; for she can hardly eat the hard black bread any longer." " Yes ; she always gives it back to Peter and says : *It is too hard for me.' I have seen that myself," stated Heidi. " So let us go fast, Aunt Dete ; then, perhaps, we shall reach Frankfurt to-day, so that I can soon be back again with the rolls." Heidi then began to run so fast that Dete, with her bundle in her arms, could hardly keep up with her. But she was very glad that she went so swiftly ; for they were coming to the first houses in Dorfli, and there everybody would make remarks and ask questions, which might set Heidi to thinking again. So she hurried straight through, and the child pulled so hard at her hand that all the people could see that she was 78 HEIDI obliged to hasten to please the child. So she merely replied to those who questioned and called to her from every door and window : — " You see I can't stop now, for the child is in a hurry, and we have still far to go." "Are you taking her away.? Is she running away from the Aim-Uncle } It 's only a wonder that she is still alive ! And yet what rosy cheeks she has ! " Such remarks as these came from every side ; and Dete was glad that she came through the place without delay and without being obliged to make any explana- tionj and also that Heidi said never a word, but only pushed on in the greatest haste. From that day on the Aim-Uncle looked more ill- natured than ever when he came down and passed through Dorfli. He spoke to no one ; and with his cheese basket on his back, his enormous staff in his hand, and his thick, contracted brows, he looked so menacing that the women said to the little children :— " Take care ! Get out of the Aim-Uncle's way or he may hurt you ! " The old man had nothing to do with any one in Dorfli, but went through there far down into the valley, where he sold his cheeses and procured his supply of bread and meat. When he passed along through Dorfli' the people all stood in groups behind him, and every one knew some strange thing about the Aim-Uncle ; how he grew more wild-looking, and no longer even so much as greeted any one. All were agreed that it was fortunate that the child was able to escape ; for they TWO VISITS AND THEIR CONSEQUENCES 79 had seen how she hurried away as if she were afraid the old man was coming after her to bring her back. The blind grandmother was the only one who stood by the Aim-Uncle ; and she always told every one who came up to her house, to bring spinning or to get yarn, how good and care-taking he had been to the child, and what he had done for her and her daughter ; how many afternoons he had worked about their little house, which would surely have tumbled to pieces without his help. So this information also reached Dorfli ; but most people who heard it said that perhaps the grand- mother was too old to understand rightly about it ; for she could no longer hear well, while she could not see at all. The Aim-Uncle showed himself no longer at Peter's hut ; it was a good thing that it had been so well repaired, for it remained for a long time untouched. The blind grandmother now began the day with sighs, and not one passed that she did not say sor- rowfully : — "Ah! with the child all joy and good have been taken away from us, and the days are so empty ! If I could only hear Heidi's voice once more before I die I" CHAPTER VI A NEW CHAPTER AND ENTIRELY NEW SCENES In the house of Herr Sesemann, in Frankfurt, reclined the little sick daughter, Klara, in her comfortable wheel chair. She spent the whole day in it and was pushed from one room to another. She was now in the so-called library, next the large dining-room, and here all sorts of articles were scattered about for comfort, showing that it was used as the living-room. From the beautiful, large bookcase one could see how it had been named, and that it was the place where the little lame girl received her daily instruction. Klara had a pale, thin face, out of which looked two . gentle blue eyes, at this moment directed toward the large wall clock, which seemed to go unusually slow ; for Klara, who was hardly ever impatient, now said with some uneasiness : — " Is n't it time yet, Fraulein Rottenmeier ? " Fraulein Rottenmeier sat very upright in a little sew- ing-chair and was embroidering. She wore a mysterious wrap, a large cape, or sort of cloak, which gave her a solemn appearance, and was accentuated by a kind of high dome, which she had on her head. Fraulein Rottenmeier, since the death of Klara's mother many years before, had been in charge of everything in the 80 A NEW CHAPTER AND NEW SCENES 81 Sesemann household. Herr Sesemann was away most of the time and left the whole house in Fraulein Rot- tenmeier's care, but with the condition that his little daughter should have a voice in everything, and that nothing should be done contrary to her wishes. While Klara, with signs of impatience, was for the second time asking Fraulein Rottenmeier whether it was not time for the expected guests to arrive, Dete, holding Heidi by the hand, was standing at the entrance door below, asking the coachman Johann, who had just jumped down from the carriage, whether she might ven- ture to disturb Fraulein Rottenmeier at so late an hour. " That is not my business," growled the coachman ; " ring for Sebastian, inside there in the corridor," Dete did as he told her ; and the butler, with big buttons on his coat and round eyes almost as big in his head, came down the stairs. " I would like to ask whether I may venture to dis- turb Fraulein Rottenmeier at this hour." "That is not my business," answered the butler; " ring the other bell for the maid Tinette " ; and without further information Sebastian disappeared. Dete rang again. This time the maid Tinette ap- peared on the stairs, with a little cap, dazzlingly white, on the middle of her head and a scornful expression on her face. " What is it .^ " she asked from the stairs, without coming down. Dete repeated her request. Tinette disappeared, but soon came back again and called down the stairs : — 82 HEIDI " You are expected." Dete, with Heidi, then went up the stairs and, follow- ing Tinette, entered the library. Here Dete remained politely standing by the door ; she still held Heidi fast by the hand, for she was not quite sure what the child might take it into her head to do in this strange place. Fraulein Rottenmeier slowly rose from her seat and came nearer, in order to scrutinize the newly arrived companion for the daughter of the house. Her appear- ance did not seem to please her. Heidi had on her plain cotton dress and her old crushed straw hat. Her eyes peered forth very innocently from under it and looked with unconcealed amazement at the construction on the lady's head. " What is your name .'' " asked Fraulein Rottenmeier, after having looked searchingly for some minutes at the child, who never took her eyes away from her. " Heidi," she replied distinctly, in a ringing voice. " What .'* what .-* That can surely be no Christian name. Then you can't have been baptized. What name was given you in baptism .■" " asked Fraulein Rottenmeier further. "That I do not know," replied Heidi. " What an answer ! " exclaimed the lady, shaking her head. " Dete, is the child foolish or pert .■' " " If the lady will allow me, I will speak for the child, for she is very inexperienced," said Dete, after she had given Heidi a little nudge on the sly for her unbecoming answer. " She is neither foolish nor pert, for she knows nothing about it ; she means just what she says. But A NEW CHAPTER AND NEW SCENES 83 this is the first time she has ever been in a gentleman's house, and she knows nothing about good manners ; she is willing and quick to learn if the lady will have forbearance. She was baptized Adelheid, like her mother, my late sister." "Well ! that is a name that can be pronounced," observed Fraulein Rottenmeier. " But, Dete, I must tell you that she is a remarkable-looking child for her age. I informed you that Fraulein Klara's companion must be of her age, in order to pursue the same studies with her and, especially, to share her occupations. Frau- lein Klara is more than twelve years old ; how old is this child >. " " With the lady's permission," Dete began again, " I can't quite recollect just how old she is ; to be sure, she must be somewhat younger, but not very much. I can't say exactly ; but she may be about the tenth year, or nearly that, I should think." " I am eight now ; grandfather said so," explained Heidi. The aunt nudged her again ; but Heidi had not the least suspicion why and was not at all embarrassed. " What .-' Only eight years old ! " exclaimed Fraulein Rottenmeier with some indignation. " Four years too little ! What does it mean ? What have you learned .-' And what books have you studied ? " " None," said Heidi. " What ? what ? How did you learn to read then ? " asked the lady again. " I have never learned to read ; neither has Peter," stated Heidi. 84 HEIDI " Good gracious ! you cannot read ! You really can- not read ! " exclaimed Fraulein Rottenmeier with the greatest horror. " Is it possible that you are unable to read ? What have you learned, then ? " "Nothing," said Heidi in strict accordance with the truth. " Dete," said Fraulein Rottenmeier, after some min- utes, in which she tried to compose herself ; " this is not according to the agreement. How could you bring me this creature } " But Dete was not so easily abashed ; she answered eagerly : — " If the lady will allow me, the child is exactly what I thought the lady wanted ; the lady explained to me that she must be quite different and not at all like other children, and so I brought this little one ; for the larger ones among us are not so different, and I thought this one answered the description perfectly. But I must be going. My mistress is expecting me; if she will allow me, I will come again soon and see how she gets along." With a courtesy Dete went out of the door and down the stairs as fast as she could go. Fraulein Rottenmeier stood still for a moment, then ran after Dete. It sud- denly occurred to her that she wished to talk with the aunt about a number of things if the child was really going to remain ; and here she was, and, as she saw, the aunt was determined to leave her. Heidi remained on the spot by the door where she had stood from the first. Until then Klara had A NEW CHAPTER AND NEW SCENES 85 watched everything in silence from her chair. Now she beckoned to Heidi: — " Come here ! " Heidi went to the wheel chair, " Would you rather be called Heidi or Adelheid ? " asked Klara. " My name is Heidi and nothing else," was Heidi's reply. " Then I will always call you so," said Klara. " I like the name for you ; I have never heard it before, but I have never seen a child before that looks like you. Have you always had such short, curly hair.!*" " Yes, I think so," answered Heidi. " Did you want to come to Frankfurt } " asked Klara again. " No ; but to-morrow I am going back home again to carry the grandmother some white rolls," explained Heidi. "You are a strange child!" said Klara. "They have brought you to Frankfurt expressly to stay with me and study with me, and you see now it will be very funny, because, you don't know how to read at all, and there will be something entirely new in the study hours. It has often been so frightfully tedious, and it seems as if the morning would never end. You see, the Herr Kandidat comes every morning at ten o'clock, and then the lessons begin and last until two, and it is so long ! The Herr Kandidat often puts his book close to his face, as if he had suddenly grown nearsighted, but he is only yawning frightfully behind it, and Fraulein 86 HEIDI Rottenmeier, too, takes out her big handkerchief every now and then and buries her whole face in it as if she were very much affected by what we are reading ; but I know perfectly well that she is only yawning terribly. Then I want to yawn so badly, but I have to swallow it down, for if I yawn only one single time Fraulein Rot- tenmeier brings the cod-liver oil and says I am getting faint. Cod-liver oil is the very worst thing to take, so I prefer to smother the yawns. But now it will be less wearisome, for I can listen while you learn to read." Heidi shook her head quite thoughtfully when she heard about learning to read. " But, Heidi, you must learn to read, of course ; every one has to, and the Herr Kandidat is very good — he is never cross, and he will explain everything to you. But you see, when he explains anything, if you don't understand at all about it you must just wait and say nothing, or else he will explain a great deal more and you will understand still less. But afterwards, when you have learned something and know it, then you will understand what he meant." Just then Fraulein Rottenmeier came into the room ; she had not succeeded in calling Dete back and was evidently disturbed by it, for she had not been able to tell her exactly in what respect the child was not according to the agreement, and since she did not know what to do to retrace her steps she was all the more agitated, as she herself had proposed the whole thing. A NEW CHAPTER AND NEW SCENES 87 She went from the library to the dining-room, and from there back again, and then immediately turned round and went to Sebastian, who passed his round eyes thoughtfully over the table, which was already laid, to see if there was any fault to be found with his work. " Think your great thoughts to-morrow, and to-day get ready for us to come to the table." With these words Fraulein Rottenmeier passed by Sebastian and called Tinette in such an ungracious tone that she came mincing along with even shorter steps than usual, and stood before her with such a mocking face that Fraulein Rottenmeier herself did not dare to speak angrily to her; so her irritation increased within her. " The little visitor's room is to be put in order, Tinette," said the lady with forced calmness ; " every- thing is ready, but the furniture needs to be dusted." " It is well worth while," said Tinette, sneeringly, and went out. Meanwhile Sebastian had opened the double doors of the library with considerable noise, for he was very angry, but did not dare to give vent to his feelings in words before Fraulein Rottenmeier; he then went quite calmly into the library to push out the wheel chair. While he was arranging the handle at the back of the chair Heidi placed herself in front of him and fixed her eyes upon himi He noticed it and suddenly burst forth : — " Now what is there so extraordinary to look at .■* " he growled at Heidi, in a way he would not have spoken 88 HEIDI if he had seen Fraulein Rottenmeier. She was just com- ing into the room when Heidi replied : — "You look just like Peter, the goatherd." The lady clasped her hands in horror. " Is it possi- ble ! " she groaned half aloud. " She is saying thou to the servants ! The creature lacks the most primitive ideas ! " The chair came rolling along, and Klara was placed by Sebastian at the table. Fraulein Rottenmeier sat next her and beckoned to A NEW CHAPTER AND NEW SCENES 89 Heidi to take the place opposite. No one else came to the table, and as the three sat far apart, there was plenty of room for Sebastian to serve his dishes. Next Heidi's plate lay a lovely white roll; the child cast longing looks at it. The resemblance which Heidi had discovered must have aroused her entire confidence in Sebastian, for she sat as still as a mouse and did not move until he held out the large tray and offered her the fried fish ; then she pointed to the roll and said : — " Can I have that .? " Sebastian nodded and glanced at Fraulein Rotten- meier, for he wondered what impression the question would make on her. In a twinkling Heidi seized her roll and put it into her pocket. Sebastian made up a lace to keep from laughing, for he knew very well that it was not allowable. He remained standing silently by Heidi, for he did not dare to speak, and neither did he dare to move away until he was bidden. Heidi looked at him for some time in amazement, and then asked : — " Shall I eat some of that } " Sebastian nodded again. "Then give me some," she said, looking calmly at her plate. Sebastian's face grew very thoughtful, and the tray in his hand began to tremble dangerously. " You can put the tray on the table and come back again later," said Fraulein Rottenmeier, looking severely at him. Sebastian at once disappeared. 90 HEIDI " As for you, Adelheid, I must positively give you some ideas ; I see that," continued Fraulein Rotten- meier with a deep sigh. " In the first place, I will tell you how to behave at the table"; and the lady ex- plained clearly and minutely everything that Heidi had to do. "Then," she went on, " I must impress it upon you particularly that you are not to speak to Sebastian at the table, unless you have some order to give, or some necessary question to ask." She then told her how she was to address the differ- ent members of the household, ending with: " Klara will tell you how she wishes you to call her." " Klara, of course," said the little invalid. Then followed a multitude of instructions about ris- ing in the morning and going to bed, about coming in and going out, about shutting doors, and about orderli- ness in general. Meantime Heidi's eyes closed, for she had been up since five o'clock and had taken a long journey. She leaned back in her chair and fell asleep. When Fraulein Rottenmeier finally came to the end of her instructions, she said : — " Now think this all over ! Have you understood everything .-* " " Heidi has been asleep for. a long time," said Klara, looking much amused ; the supper hour had not passed so quickly in a long time. " I never in all my life saw the like of this child ! " exclaimed Fraulein Rottenmeier in great vexation ; and she rang the bell so violently that Tinette and Sebastian both came rushing in together. In spite of all the con- A NEW CHAPTER AND NEW SCENES 91 fusion Heidi did not wake, and they had the greatest difficulty in arousing her sufficiently to get her to her sleeping-room, -first through the library, then through Klara's bedroom and Fraulein Rottenmeier's, to the corner chamber, which was now ready for the little girl. CHAPTER VII FRAULEIN ROTTENMEIER HAS AN UNCOMFORT- ABLE DAY When Heidi awoke, on her first morning in Frank- furt, she could not understand what she saw. She rubbed her eyes hard, then looked up again ; everything was the same. She was sitting in a high white bed in a large room ; where the light came in, hung long, long white curtains ; near by stood two chairs with large flowers on them ; then there was a sofa with the same flowers, and a round table in front of it, and in the cor- ner was a wash-stand on which were things that Heidi had never seen before. Suddenly she remembered that she was in Frankfurt, and everything that had happened the day before came back to her mind ; and finally she recalled quite clearly the lady's instructions, as far as she had heard them, Heidi jumped from the bed and dressed herself. She went first to one window and then to the other, for she wanted to see the sky and earth outside ; she felt as if she were in a cage behind the long curtains. She could not push them aside, so she crawled in behind them in order to reach the window. But this was so high that her head hardly came up far enough to let her see out. Heidi did not find what she was looking 92 AN UNCOMFORTABLE DAY 93 for. She ran from one window to the other and then back again ; but there was always the same thing be- fore her eyes, — walls and windows, and then walls and then windows again. This puzzled her. It was still early in the morning, for she was accustomed to rise betimes on the Aim, and then to run outdoors immediately to see if the sky was blue and the sun already up ; if the fir trees were murmuring, and the blue flowers had opened their eyes. As a little bird, placed for the first time in a handsome, glittering cage, flies back and forth and tries every bar to see if it cannot slip between and fly out and regain its freedom, so Heidi kept running from one window to the other, trying to open them, for she felt that there must be something to be seen besides walls and windows ; she felt sure that the ground underneath, with the green grass and the last melting snow on the cliffs, must come into sight, and she longed to see it. But the windows remained firmly closed, no matter how hard the child tugged and pulled and tried to get her little fingers under the sash. After some time, when she found that her exertions were of no avail, she gave up the plan and wondered how it would be if she were to go outdoors and around behind the house until she should come to some grass, for she remembered that the evening before she had walked over nothing but stones in front of the house. There was a knock at the door, and Tinette immediately thrust her head in and said curtly: — 9+ HEIDI " Breakfast 's ready ! " Heidi did not in the least understand that these words meant an invitation ; Tinette's scornful face seemed to warn her not to come too near her rather than to give a friendly summons, and Heidi understood this and acted accordingly. She took the little foot- stool out from under the table, placed it in a corner, sat down on it, and waited to see what would happen. After some time she heard a bustling, and Fraulein Rottenmeier, again in a state of irritation, came and called into Heidi's room : — " What is the matter with you, Adelheid ? Don't you understand what breakfast means .-' Come down ! " Heidi understood this, and at once followed her. Klara had been sitting some time in her place in the dining-room and gave Heidi a friendly greeting. She looked much more contented than usual, for she expected all sorts of strange things to happen that day. The breakfast passed without any disturbance ; Heidi ate her bread and butter properly enough, and after the meal was over Klara was rolled back into the library. Heidi was bidden by Fraulein Rottenmeier to follow and remain with Klara until the Herr Kandidat came to begin the lessons. When the two children were alone Heidi said at once : — " How do you see outdoors and 'way down to the ground here .'' " "We open the window and look out," replied Klara, amused at the question. " But the windows don't open," said Heidi sadly. AN UNCOMFORTABLE DAY 95 "Well! well!" exclaimed Klara, "you can't open them, and I can't help you ; but when you see Sebastian, he will open one for you." It was a great relief to Heidi to know that the windows could open and that she could look out, for her room had seemed to her like a prison. Klara then began to ask Heidi about her home; and Heidi was delighted to tell her about the Aim, the goats, and the pasture, and everything she was so fond of. In the mean time the Herr Kandidat arrived ; but Fraulein Rottenmeier did not take him as usual into the library, for she wished to talk with him first, and so asked him into the dining-room, where she sat down in front of him, and in great excitement described her embarrassing situation, and how it had come about. She had written some time before to Herr Sesemann in Paris, where he was staying, that his daughter had for a long time desired to have a companion in the house, and that she herself believed that it would be an incentive to Klai-a in the study hours, and give her stimulating society the rest of the time. In reality the plan was a very desirable one for Fraulein Rottenmeier herself, as she was anxious to have some one there to relieve her from entertaining the sick girl — a task which was often too much for her. Herr Sesemann had re- plied that he would willingly grant his daughter's wish, but with the condition that her playmate should be in every way as Klara's equal ; for he would have no chil- dren tormented in his house — "a really very unneces- 96 , HEIDI sary remark from Herr Sesemann, for who wants to torment children ? " She then went on to tell the Herr Kandidat how terribly disappointed she had been in the child, and related all the strange things she had done since she had been in the house, proving not only that he would have literally to begin his instruction with the alphabet, but that she, too, had to commence at the very begin- ning in every kind of training. She saw only one way out of these unfortunate circumstances, and that was for the Herr Kandidat to declare that two children so different could not be taught together without great harm to the advanced pupil ; this \yould be a sufficient reason to Herr Sesemann for putting an end to the matter and allowing the child to be immediately sent back where she came from ; she would not dare to undertake this without his consent, because the master of the house knew that the child had come. But the Herr Kandidat was very discreet and never one-sided in his judgment. He spoke many consoling words to Fraulein Rotten- meier and gave the opinion that if the young girl was backward in one way she might be so advanced in other ways that with well-regulated instruction they would be brought into harmony. When Fraulein Rottenmeier saw that the Herr Kandidat did not favor her, but would undertake to teach A-B-C's, she opened the door into the library for him, and after he had gone in closed it quickly behind him and remained on the other side, for she had a horror of A-B-C's. AN UNCOMFORTABLE DAY 97 She strode up and down the room, considering how the servants should address Adelhe id. Herr Sesemann had written that she must be treated as his daughter; and this command had to be carried out, especially in regard to the servants, thought Fraulein Rottenmeier. But she was not able to meditate long without inter- ruption, for suddenly from the library came a fright- ful crash as of something falling, and then a call to Sebastian for help. She rushed into the room. There on the floor everything lay in a heap — books, copy- books, inkstand, and on t *p of all the rest the table- cover, from underneath lich a stream of ink flowed across the whole length of the room. Heidi had disappeared. "Just look at that !" exclaimed Fraulein Rottenmeier, wringing her hands.. "Table-cover, books, and work- basket, all in the ink ! Such a thing never happened before ! There 's no doubt about it, it is that wretched creature ! " The Herr Kandidat stood in perfect dismay gazing at the destruction which could be regarded only in one light, as very disturbing. Klara, on the other hand, watched the unusual occurrence and its result with a look of per- fect delight and simply said by way of explanation : — " Yes, Heidi did it, but not on purpose ; she really must not be blamed ; she was only in such a fearful hurry to get away, and pulled the cover with her, and so everything fell with it to the floor. Several carriages went by, one after the other, so she rushed out ; perhaps she had never seen a coach before." 98 HEIDI " There, is n't it just as I told you, Herr Kandidat ? The creature hasr.'t an idea about anything! not a suspicion what a lesson hour is, that she ought to sit still and listen. But where is the unlucky child ? If she has run away, what would Herr Sesemann say to me ? " Fraulein Rottenmeier darted out and down the stairs. There in the open doorway stood Heidi, looking, quite perplexed, up and down the street. "What is it ? What k the matter with you ? Why have you run away .-* " demi ided Fraulein Rottenmeier of the little girl. " I heard the fir trees roar, but I don't know where they are, and I don't hear them any longer," answered Heidi, looking blankly in the direction where the rolling of the carriages had died away, a noise which in Heidi's ears seemed like the raging of the wind in the firs, so that she had followed the sound in the highest glee. " Firs ! Are we in the woods ? What a notion ! Come up and see what you have done ! " Whereupon Fraulein Rottenmeier went upstairs again ; Heidi followed her and was very much astonished to see the great damage done, for in her delight and haste to hear the fir trees she had not noticed what she was dragging after her. " You have done that once ; you must not do it again," said Fraulein Rottenmeier, pointing to the floor; " when you are having lessons you must sit still in your chair and pay attention. If you cannot do it by your- AN UNCOMFORTABLE DAY 99 self, I shall have to fasten you to your seat. Do you understand ? " " Yes," replied Heidi, "and I will sit still now"; for she began to comprehend what she was expected to do. Tinette and Sebastian by this time had to come to put the room in order, and the Herr Kandidat went away, for all further teaching had to be given up. There had been no excuse for yawning that morning. In the afternoon Klara always had to rest a long time, and Heidi could then busy herself as she pleased; so Fraulein Rottenmeier had explained to her in the morning. When Klara had lain down to rest in her chair after dinner, Fraulein Rottenmeier went to her room. Heidi was glad to have the time to herself, for she had in her mind a plan which she was anxious to undertake, but she would be obliged to have help about it. Therefore she placed herself in the middle of the hall, in front of the dining-room, in order that the person she wished to see might not escape her. Sure enough, in a little while Sebastian came up the stairs with the large tea tray, bringing the silver up from the kitchen to put away in the china closet. When he reached the last stair Heidi stepped up to him, saying : — " I would like to ask you something," and added, as if to pacify him, " but it is really not wrong, as it was this morning"; for she noticed that he looked a little cross, and she thought it was on account of the ink on the carpet. Sebastian then laughed so loud that Heidi looked 100 HEIDI at him in amazement, for she had n't noticed anything amusing. "All right, go ahead, Mamsell." " My name is n't Mamsell," said Heidi, a little vexed in her turn ; " my name is Heidi." " That 's all right ; Fraulein Rottenmeier told me to call you so," explained Sebastian, " Did she } Well, then, I must be called so," said Heidi resignedly ; for she had noticed that everything had to be as Fraulein Rottenmeier said, "Now I have three names," she added with a sigh. "What did the little Mamsell want to ask.?" said Sebastian as he went into the dining-room and was putting away the silver in the closet. " How do you open the windows, Sebastian .-' " " This way," he replied, pushing up one of the large windows. Heidi went to it, but she was too small to be able to see anything ; she reached only to the window sill, " There ; now the little girl can look out and see what there is below," said Sebastian, bringing a high wooden stool and setting it down. Heidi climbed up with great delight, and was able at last to take the longed-for look out the window. But she immediately drew her head in, evidently much disappointed. " There is nothing to see at all but the stony street," said the child mournfully ; " if you go clear round the house, what do you see on the other side, Sebastian.-* " "Just the same," was the answer. AN UNCOMFORTABLE DAY 101 " But where do you go to see way down across the whole valley?" " You have to climb up into some high church tower, like the one over there with the golden dome above it. From up there you can see away off ever so far." Then Heidi quickly climbed down from the stool, ran out of the door, down the stairs, and went out into the street. But she did not find it as she imagined it would be. When she saw the tower through the win- dow, she fancied she would only have to go across the street and it would be just in front of her. She went down the entire length of the street, but without com- ing to the tower, and she could no longer see it any- where ; and she came to another street and then another, and so on, but still she did not see the tower. A great many persons passed her, but they were all in such a hurry that Heidi thought they had no time to tell her anything about it. Finally she saw a boy standing on the corner of the next street ; he was carrying a small hand organ on his back and a very strange animal in his ^rms. Heidi ran up to him and asked : — " Where is the tower with the golden dome at the very top.? " "Don't know," was the answer. "Who can tell me then where it is.''" asked Heidi again. " Don't know." " Don't you know any other church with a high tower.? " " Certainly I know one." " Come and show me where it is." 102 HEIDI " Show me first what you will give me if I do." The boy held out his hand. Heidi searched in her pocket. She drew out a little picture, on which was painted a garland of red roses ; she looked at it for a little while, for she disliked to part with it. That very morning Klara had given it to her ; but to look down into the valley, across the green slopes ! *• There," said Heidi, holding out the picture to him ; "will you take that.? " The boy drew his hand back and shook his head. "What do you want, then.-*" asked Heidi, delighted to put her picture back into her pocket. "Money." " I have n't any, but Klara has, and she will give me some ; how much do you want.? " "Twenty pfennigs." " Well, then, come along." The two accordingly went through a long street, and on the way Heidi asked her companion what he was carrying on his back, and he explained that under the cloth he had an organ which made wonderful music when he turned the handle. Suddenly they came to an old church with a high tower ; the boy stood still and said : — "There!" " But how can I get in ?" asked Heidi when she found that the doors were closed. " Don't know," was the answer. " Do you think I could ring here as I do for Sebas- tian?" AN UNCOMFORTABLE DAY 103 " Don't know." Heidi had noticed a bell in the wall and now pulled it with all her might. " If I go up there you must wait down here, for I don't know the way back, and you must show me." " What will you give me if I do.-* " " What shall I have to give you, then.? " " Twenty pfennigs more." A key was turned in the old lock on the inside, and the creaking door opened ; an old man stepped out and looked at first surprised and then rather angrily at the children and said : — " How did you dare to ring for me to come down .-' Can't you read what it says under the bell.-' 'For those who wish to ascend the tower.' " The boy pointed to Heidi and said not a word. Heidi replied : " I want to go up into the tower." "What do you want to do up there.-*" asked the tower-keeper. "Did some one send you here.''" " No," answered Heidi. " I only want to go up so that I can look down." " Go home, and don't play any more tricks on me, or you won't get off so easily another time ! " Where- upon the tower-keeper turned round and was about to shut the door, but Heidi held him by the coat-tail and said pleadingly: — " Only just this once ! " He looked around, and Heidi's eyes gazed up at him so beseechingly that he quite changed his mind ; he took hold of the child's hand and said in a kindly tone : — 104 HEIDI " If you are so anxious to go, come with me." The boy sat down on the stone step in front of the door and signified that he did not care to go with them. Heidi, holding the tower-keeper's hand, climbed many, many steps, which grew smaller and smaller ; finally she went up an extremely narrow staircase, and then she was at the top. The keeper lifted Heidi up and held her to the open window. "There, now look down," he said. Heidi saw below her a sea of roofs, towers, and chimneys. She drew her head back quickly and said in a tone of disappointment : — " It is not at all what I thought it would be." " Is that so } What does a little girl like you know- about a view } Well, now come down, and don't ring at a church door again ! " The k^e'eper put Heidi on the floor and started down the narrow stairs in front of her. On the left, where they began to grow wider, there was a door which opened into the keeper's room ; close by, where the floor ex- tended out under the sloping roof, stood a large basket, and in front of it sat a big gray cat, growling, for in the basket lived her family, and she wished to warn ev^y passer-by not to disturb her domestic arrangements. Heidi stood still and looked amazed, for she had never seen such a huge cat before; in the old tower there lived whole flocks of mice, so the cat had no difficulty in catching half a dozen little ones every day. The tower-keeper noticed Heidi's surprise and said : — AN UNCOMFORTABLE DAY 105 " Come, you may look at the kittens ; she won't hurt you while I am here." Heidi went toward the basket and screamed with delight. " Oh, the cunning little creatures ! the lovely kit- tens ! " she exclaimed again and again, running back and forth around the basket, in order to watch the amusing frolic and play of seven or eight little kittens as they crawled and jumped and tumbled over one another. "Would you like one.!*" asked the tower-keeper, pleased to see Heidi dance with delight, " For my own.-* To keep always .-^ " asked Heidi, ex- cited and hardly able to believe in such good luck. " Yes, to be sure ; you can have more than one — you can have them all, if you have room for them," said the man, glad of a chance to dispose of the kittens without having to harm them. . ' Heidi was highly delighted. The kittens would have so much room in the big house, and how surprised and pleased - Klara would be when the pretty creatures arrived ! " But how can I carry them.-* " asked Heidi, and was going to take some of them up in her hands at once, but the big cat jumped up on her arm and growled so fiercely that she drew back greatly frightened. " I will bring them to you, only tell me where," said the keeper, stroking the old cat to make her good- natured again, for she was his friend and had lived in the tower with him for a good many years. 106 HEIDI " To Herr Sesemann's big house. There is a golden head of a dog with a big ring in his mouth on the front door," explained Heidi. This detail was superfluous, for the tower-keeper had sat in the tower for many long years and knew every house far and wide ; besides, Sebastian was an old acquaintance of his. " I know where it is," he remarked ; " but whom shall I bring the things to, and whom shall I ask for.? You don't belong to Herr Sese- mann, do you.? " " No ; but Klara will be so delighted to have the kit- tens ! " The tower-keeper was ready to go on down the stairs, but Heidi could hardly tear herself away from the entertaining spectacle. "If I could only carry one or two with me — one for myself and one for Klara ! Why can't I.? " " Well, wait a little," said the keeper ; and he carried the old cat carefully into his little room, put her into the cupboard, shut the door, and came back : " There, now take two ! " Heidi's eyes shone with delight. She chose a white kitten and a striped yellow and white one, and put one in her right pocket and the other in the left. Then she went down the stairs. AN UNCOMFORTABLE DAY 107 The boy was still sitting on the steps outside, and when the keeper had closed the door after Heidi she said : — "Which is the way to Herr Sesemann's house?" "Don't know," was the answer. Heidi then began to describe, as well as she knew how, about the front door, the windows, and the steps ; but the boy shook his head ; he knew nothing about it. "You see," Heidi went on, "out of one window you look at a big, big gray house, and the roof goes so"; and with her forefinger she described a sharp point in the air. Then the boy jumped up ; all he needed was some such sign in order to find the way. He started off on the run and Heidi after him, and in a short time they stood directly in front of the door with the big brass knocker. Heidi rang the bell. Sebastian soon ap- peared, and when he saw Heidi he exclaimed urg- ently : — "Quick! quick!" Heidi ran in in great haste, and Sebastian closed the door ; he had not noticed the boy standing disappointed outside. "Quick, Mamsell ! " urged Sebastian again; "go right into the dining-room ; they are already at the table. Fraulein Rottenmeier looks like a loaded can- non ; but what made the little Mamsell run away so.-" " Heidi went into the dining-room. Fraulein Rotten- meier did not look up, and Klara said nothing ; there was an uncomfortable silence. Sebastian pushed up ,108 HEIDI Heidi's chair. When she was once seated in her place, Fraulein Rottenmeier began with a stern face and a very solemn voice : — " Adelheid, I will talk with you later ; now I have only this to say : you have behaved very badly, and really deserve to be punished for leaving the house without askings permission, without any one knowing a thing about it, and wandering about until so late in the day ; I never heard of such conduct." " Meow," sounded as the apparent answer. Then the lady grew angry : — " What, Adelheid," she exclaimed, raising her voice, ** after such behavior, do you dare to play a naughty trick.'' You had better be very careful, I assure you ! " " I did n't," began Heidi. *' Meow ! meow ! " Sebastian put his tray down on the table and rushed out of the room. " That is enough," Fraulein Rottenmeier tried to say ; but she was so excited that her voice no longer sounded. " Get up and leave the room ! " Heidi, much frightened, rose from her chair and tried once more to explain. " I really did n't " — "Meow! meow! meow!" "But, Heidi," said Klara, "when you see how angry you are making Fraulein Rottenmeier, why do you keep saying * meow '}" " I am not doing it ; it is the kittens," Heidi at last was able to say without interruption. AN UNCOMFORTABLE DAY 109 "What? what? cats? kittens?" screamed Fraulein Rottenmeier. " Sebastian ! Tinette ! Find the horri- ble creatures and take them away ! " Whereupon the lady rushed into the library and fas- tened the door in order to be safe, for to Fraulein Rot- tenmeier kittens were the most dreadful things in the world. Sebastian was standing outside the door and had to stop laughing before he could enter the room again. While he was serving Heidi, he had noticed a little cat's head peeping out of her pocket, and when it began to meow he could hardly contain himself long enough to set his tray on the table. At last he was able to go back calmly into the room, some time after the distressed lady had called for help. Everything was then perfectly quiet and peaceful ; Klara was hold- ing the kittens in her lap, Heidi was kneeling by her side, and both were playing to their great delight with the two tiny, graceful creatures. " Sebastian," said Klara as he entered, " you must help us ; you must find a bed for the kittens where Fraulein Rottenmeier will not see them, for she is afraid of them, and will have them taken away ; we want to keep the cunning things and bring them out whenever we are alone. Where can you put them ? " " I will take care of them, Fraulein Klara," replied Sebastian willingly ; " I will make a fine bed for them in a basket, and put it where the timid lady will never come ; just leave it all to me." Sebastian went on with his work, chuckling to him- self all the while, for he thought : " This is n't the last 110 HEIDI of it ! " and he did not at all dislike to see Fraulein Rot- tenmeier a little distressed. Some time after, when it was almost time to go to bed, Fraulein Rottenmeier opened the door a very little way and called through the crack : — " Have the horrible creatures been taken away ? " " Yes, indeed ! Yes, indeed ! " answered Sebastian, who had kept busy in the room, expecting this question. Quickly and quietly he took the two kittens out of Klara's lap and disappeared with them. Fraulein Rottenmeier deferred until the following day the especial scolding which she had intended to give Heidi ; for she felt too exhausted that night, after all the preceding emotions of vexation, anger, and fright, which in turn Heidi had unconsciously provoked in her. She drew back in silence, and Klara and Heidi followed quite content, for they knew their kittens were in a good bed. CHAPTER VIII DISTURBANCES IN THE SESEMANN HOUSE On the following morning Sebastian had no sooner opened the front door for the Herr Kandidat and ushered him into the library than some one else rang the bell, but with such force that Sebastian rushed down the stairs with all his might, for he thought: — " No one rings like that except Herr Sesemann him- self ; he must have come home unexpectedly." He pulled open the door ; a ragged boy with a hand organ on his back stood before him. " What do you mean ? " said Sebastian to him. " I will teach you how to pull doorbells ! What do you want here .'' " " I want to see Klara," was the reply. " You dirty street urchin, you ! can't you say ' Frau- lein Klara,' as the rest of us do } What have you to do with Fraulein Klara } " asked Sebastian savagely. " She owes me forty pfennigs," explained the boy. ** You are certainly not right in your mind ! How do you know, anyway, that there is such a person as Fraulein Klara here } " " I showed her the way yesterday; that makes twenty pfennigs ; and then I showed her the way back again ; that makes twenty more ! " III 112 HEIDI " You see what a fib you are telling ; Fraulein Klara never goes out ; she is not able to go out. Get you gone where you belong before I start you ! " But the boy was not at all frightened ; he remained calmly standing still and said coolly: — " But I saw her on the street. I can describe her ; she had short, curly black hair, and her eyes are black, and her dress brown, and she does n't talk as we do." " Oho !" thought Sebastian, chuckling to himself; "that is the little Mamsell, who has been in more mischief." Then he said, pulling the boy in: — " You 're quite right ; follow me and wait at the door until I come out again. If I let you come in, you must play something ; it will please Fraulein Klara." He went upstairs, knocked at the library door, and was called in. " There is a boy here who wishes to see Fraulein Klara herself," announced Sebastian. Klara was very much delighted at this unusual occurrence. "He may come right in," she said; "may he not, Herr Kandidat, if he wants to speak to me .'' " The boy soon entered the room, and, according to his instructions, he immediately began to play his organ. In order to avoid the A-B-C's, Fraulein Rottenmeier was busying herself with all sorts of things in the dining-room. Suddenly she stopped to listen. Did the sound come from the street .-• and so near } How could the sound of a hand organ come from the library } And yet — really ! She rushed through the long dining- DISTURBANCES IN THE SESEMANN HOUSE 113 room and threw open the door. There, — she could hardly believe it, — there in the middle of the library stood a ragged organ-grinder, playing his instrument most diligently. The Herr Kandidat seemed trying to say something, but the words failed to come. Klara and Heidi were listening with beaming faces to the music. " Stop ! stop immediately ! " exclaimed Fraulein Rot- tenmeier, coming into the room. Her voice was drowned by the music. Then she ran toward the boy, but sud- denly she felt something between her feet ; she looked on the floor ; a horrible black creature was crawling under her skirts — a turtle. Fraulein Rottenmeier jumped in the air as she had not done before for many years, then screamed at the top of her voice : — - " Sebastian ! Sebastian ! " Suddenly the organ-grinder stopped, for this time her voice was heard above the music. Sebastian, doubled up with laughter, stood outside the half-open door, for he had seen the jump Fraulein Rottenmeier made. Finally he entered. Fraulein Rottenmeier had thrown herself into a chair. " Away with them both, the boy and that creature ! Send them away immediately, Sebastian ! " she cried to him. Sebastian readily obeyed. He led out the boy, who had quickly seized his turtle, then pressing some- thing into his hand he said: — " Forty for Fraulein Klara, and forty for playing. You did well " ; whereupon he closed the door. Quiet was once more restored in the library; the 114 HEIDI studies were resumed, and Fraulein Rottenmeier had settled herself in the room, in order that her presence might prevent a similar dreadful occurrence. After the study hours she intended to investigate the case and punish the guilty one, so that it would not be forgotten. Soon there came another knock at the door, and Sebastian again came in with the information that a large basket had been brought, which was to be given immediately to Fraulein Klara herself. "To me.-*" asked Klara in surprise and curious to know what it might be ; " let me see at once what it looks like." Sebastian brought in a covered basket and then hastened away. " I think you had better finish your studies first and then open the basket," remarked Fraulein Rottenmeier. Klara could not imagine what had been sent to her; she gazed with longing eyes at the basket. " Herr Kandidat," she said, stopping short while she was declining a word, " may I not take just one little peep to see what is in the basket and then go right on with my lessons } " " From one point of view I might be in favor of it, from another against it," replied the Herr Kandidat; " the reason for it would be that if your whole attention is directed toward this object " — His remark could not be finished. The cover of the basket was not fastened, and suddenly, one, two, three, and then two, and then even more little kittens jumped out into the room and began to scamper around so DISTURBANCES IN THE SESEMANN HOUSE 115 unaccountably fast that it seemed as if the whole room were full of the tiny creatures. They jumped over the Herr Kandidat's boots, bit his trousers, climbed up I 1 '^ ^*^^y -