NEW LIFE IN ILLER-STREAM
Winter had come. For the inhabitants of the garret lodging the days
were filled with so much regular work that the nights were always
greeted with loud regrets and complaints. They were always sorry when
the day was done and no more time was left for their plans. Agnes was
especially angry and ready to spit fire from disgust at the arrival
of the hated bedtime which always broke up everything.
“We lose half of our lives in sleeping,” she indignantly called out
several times. “I wish you would let us sing all night long, Mother,”
she said. “We should only be more keen for our other work next day,
if we could really devote ourselves to music for a while, instead of
always stopping off in the middle whenever we are in the mood to sing.”
The children’s mother, however, did not agree with Agnes, so the nights
had to be used for sleeping as before.
Cornelli’s singing delighted Agnes more and more. Cornelli sang
everything as lightly and freely as a bird, and with such a clear and
resonant voice that everybody got pleasure from it. There was no other
voice in the whole school which was as sure and as full as Cornelli’s.
Even the teacher said so, and during the singing lesson he placed her
right in front of him, because she was the best leader of the chorus.
In the middle of winter Mr. Hellmut wrote to Mrs. Halm to inform her
that he was taking a lengthy journey to foreign parts. As he felt that
Cornelli was well taken care of in her household, he was anxious to
use this opportunity for travelling. He also wrote that he had shortened
his last trip in order not to tie his kind cousin and her friend too
long to his lonely house. He told her that he was very sorry not to
be able to pay her and Cornelli a visit before leaving, for he had to
start at once.
Never before had spring come so fast. So at least it seemed to Cornelli,
who was walking home alone one day from school. The winter had gone
by and already a mild wind was blowing through the streets, and the
melting snow was dropping from the roofs.
From the top of a roof a little bird was whistling and singing a song
of delight to the bright blue sky above. Cornelli’s school had been
over sooner than the other children’s, so she was in no hurry and stood
still to listen. A ray of sunshine was flowing into the street, and
the bird kept on singing and whistling, on and on, a heavenly, familiar
sound.
Suddenly the lovely beech wood at home rose before Cornelli’s eyes,
and she saw the trees in their first green leaves, the first violets
under the hedge, her beloved first violets; she saw the yellow crocuses
sparkling beside the bright red primroses in the garden. The birds at
home used to whistle above her in all the trees in just the same way
as these in the city.
Oh, how lovely the coming of the spring had always been at home! How
wonderful it would be to see all these familiar sights again! At that
thought Cornelli ran to the house as fast as she possibly could. Sitting
down beside her ink-well she wrote as follows:
DEAR PAPA:
I am sure it is more beautiful at home now than anywhere else. May I
come home soon? I am sure that the violets are out and that everything
is getting green in the woods. Soon there will be lots of flowers in
the garden, and later on the roses, and then all the berries and
forget-me-nots in the meadows will come out. I know now that it is
nowhere as beautiful as at home. I should love to show the mother and
the girls everything, and I know that Mux would adore the little kid.
Dino already loves the meadows and the garden, and I hope that he will
come to Iller-Stream again. If I could only soon see it all again!
A great many kisses,
from your daughter,
CORNELLI.
Cornelli did not get an answer from her father for three weeks. He
wrote to her that his journey had been lengthened beyond his
expectation. He also said how glad he was that his daughter had suddenly
realized what a beautiful home she had, but that he disapproved entirely
of her leaving her school abruptly. He told her to stay in town till
the summer holidays, for he was obliged himself to stay away till then.
He gave her permission to invite for the holidays all the family who
had been so good to her, for he and Cornelli, too, had much reason to
be grateful to Mrs. Halm. There was plenty of room for all of them in
the house, and he would like to have them with him all summer long.
Cornelli at first was a little disappointed that it was going to be
so long before she could be home and see again the garden, the meadows
and the beech wood, for her longing for them had grown more and more.
But when she thought of the prospect of having all the family with her
all summer, including Dino and his mother, she was so happy that all
her disappointment vanished.
Her joy was supreme when that day at lunch time she gave the family
her father’s invitation. On all sides she perceived signs of boundless
joy. Nika and Agnes had had the firm conviction that they were to spend
the summer, as usual, in the hot garret dwelling without any special
holidays. And now they could spend all summer in beautiful Iller-Stream,
about which Dino had told them so much. He had described Cornelli’s
house and garden as a perfect paradise, and now they would live there
themselves.
Agnes screamed for joy and Nika’s face was radiant with happiness.
Mrs. Halm was greatly moved with gratitude and delight. She had been
worrying lately about Dino, for she had been uncertain whether she
would be able to send him away long enough for the boy to be properly
strengthened. She had feared that the time would have to be exceedingly
short and that the benefit therefore would be very slight. Now the
good God had suddenly taken all her anxiety from her and had changed
it into a boundless blessing.
Dino smiled with complete satisfaction, and said again and again: “I
wish you knew how wonderful it all is. Such a garden and such trees!
Such a stable and such horses! Oh, how I love beautiful Iller-Stream!”
Mux called out louder and louder: “Oh, Cornelli, take me along!” He
could not realize that he was really going, too. There were still many
days and even weeks before their bliss would come true, but with this
heavenly prospect before them the children performed their remaining
duties only too joyfully.
It was different for Cornelli. Her longing for her home had grown more
violent every day. Wherever she saw a green tree or a bush, she saw
the garden at home, the meadows, and the flowers in Iller-Stream before
her mind’s eye. So her desire to return there, to see it all again,
became almost painful. She felt finally as if the day would never come
when she could again see her home.
It came, nevertheless. A large trunk was taken away on a cart, and the
whole family followed it towards the station. Trina came last. In her
wondering eyes one could see that despite all the preparations she did
not yet believe the reality of the coming journey. Cornelli had begged
Mrs. Halm so urgently to let her go, too, that the child’s wish had
been granted. Cornelli had been willing to take the responsibility for
the unexpected guest. Mux was so excited that he kept on running in
front of everybody and hindering them all in walking.
“Be sensible, Mux!” Dino exclaimed. “If you go on like that, we’ll
miss the train and there won’t be any trip.”
These words disconcerted Mux to such a degree that he simply tore away
down the street. Dino had to run after him to catch him, for Mux knew
no road or way and had dashed ahead only in his fear of arriving too
late.
At last they reached the station and entered their car. Now they were
moving out into the beautiful country. The sun was shining over the
fields and woods, and there was not a single cloud in the sky. Cornelli
was sitting beside the open window, eagerly looking out. The journey
lasted for a little more than two hours, and as soon as it was over
they got out.
“Here he comes, here he comes!” Cornelli cried out, running towards
the road which led into the valley. Here Matthew was just stopping the
pair of horses from their lively trot.
In a moment Cornelli was at the dismounting coachman’s side, calling
to him: “How are you, Matthew? I am coming home again. Is everything
at home still the same?”
“Welcome, Cornelli, welcome home!” he said, radiant with joy, for his
master’s child was his greatest pride. “But how you have grown,
Cornelli! Oh, how changed our Cornelli is!”
Matthew shook her hand with great delight and then opened the carriage
door for the family who had approached.
“Oh, here is the young gentleman from last summer,” Matthew said again,
shaking Dino’s hand. “But you looked better when you were with us. Oh,
yes, the young gentleman looked much better then, I think.”
“I should think so, Matthew,” said Dino. “Of course, I looked better
when I could drink such good milk from the stable, in the fine, fresh
morning air. It was different in town.”
Mrs. Halm had entered the carriage and the two girls had followed.
Mux, gazing motionless at the shining horses, could not be taken away
in a hurry from that wonderful sight.
“They are coming along, too,” said Matthew, who enjoyed the open
admiration the little boy was showing. “You will be able to look at
them every day, and you can ride on them to the fountain.”
That helped the situation. Everybody was soon inside of the carriage,
and Trina sat beside Matthew on the coachman’s box. Now they galloped
gaily along into the valley.
“Oh, mother, just look at the red daisies!” Cornelli cried out. “Oh,
look at the golden buttercups! Oh, look, look; see all the blue
forget-me-nots!”
Cornelli had jumped up, for she could not sit still anymore, and was
looking forwards and backwards, to right and to left. The meadows had
never been so full of flowers, and every few moments Cornelli cried
out with delight. When the carriage drove into the courtyard, Cornelli
was the first to jump down.
“Oh, Esther, how are you?” she called to her old friend. Full of dignity
and covered with a spotless white apron, the cook stood ready to receive
the guests.
“Oh, now I am home again! Is everything still the same? Is the garden
still the way it was? And Martha and her house, too?”
“Yes, yes, Cornelli. And how are you?” returned Esther, looking eagerly
at Cornelli. “How you have changed! In truth you have changed
wonderfully. You are not the same.”
Cornelli was already running into the house to the living-room and to
her own wardrobe. Yes, everything had remained the same. She flew
outside again to the mother, to lead her into the house. The child’s
face fairly beamed with joy.
Cornelli’s father was busy working in his office. Hearing the sound
of the approaching wheels, he started. “Here they are already,” he
said to himself. He hastily threw off his working coat and putting on
a good coat left the iron foundry. While he was walking across the
courtyard he sighed deeply. Freshly stamped in his memory, he saw
before him his only child as she had looked when he had returned from
his journey a year ago. Cornelli had stood before him shyly, with
averted glance, resembling a little savage, who had never been combed.
“I wonder what the child is like now?” he muttered to himself.
As he entered the living room Cornelli looked up at him. The Director
was quite startled at what he saw. Now Cornelli flew up to him.
“Oh, Papa, oh, Papa! It is so wonderful to be home again! Everything
is still the way it used to be. Oh, I am so glad to be home again!”
The father wanted to embrace his child, but before he did so he held
her at arm’s length to gaze at her once more.
“Cornelli,” he said with tears in his eyes, “you look at me the way
your mother used to. You have grown just like your mother,” he said,
putting his arms lovingly about her. “How was it possible? How could
you change in this way? How did it happen?”
“Mother knows about it, Papa. Mother has helped me,” said Cornelli,
going with shining eyes to the mother, for Mrs. Halm had retreated to
the back of the room.
The Director now turned to his new guest. “Welcome to our house,” he
said heartily, greeting both her and the children. Holding Cornelli’s
hand within his own, he continued with emotion: “How different you
have brought her back to me! How did you do it? Can this be the same
child that I brought you?”
The happy father had to look at Cornelli over and over again, for he
hardly yet realized that this was his child. Was this really Cornelli
and not a creature of his imagination? So he held the child’s hand and
looked again and again into her shining eyes; it really seemed as if
he could not believe it.
Esther, laden with the dinner dishes, now came into the room to set
the table. She informed her master that the guest rooms were ready and
that she supposed the ladies wanted to retire before the coming meal.
Mrs. Halm and her daughter gladly followed her, but Cornelli said:
“Oh, Papa, can I run over to Martha? I’ll be back very soon.”
Dino also begged to go, for he longed to see old Martha again. As the
permission had readily been given, the two children started off. They
had meant to run down the path, but Cornelli could not go fast. The
meadow was so full of daisies, buttercups and especially of blue
forget-me-nots, her favorite flowers, that she felt as if she had to
gather them all, and Dino had to remind her that their time was short
and that the flowers would still be there to-morrow.
Martha had heard that Cornelli and her guests were expected that day,
so she had several times glanced towards the garden to see if she could
discover trace of her or of Dino. Now both came flying up the steps,
and Martha ran out to meet them. Oh, yes, here was Dino, Dino whom she
knew so well, and Cornelli, too--Martha looked at the child and tried
to say something. Instead of that, however, bright tears started to
her eyes, and she was unable to speak.
“Oh, Martha, how I have looked forward to coming home and coming to
you right away!” Cornelli exclaimed. “Are you glad, too, Martha? Oh,
I am so happy!”
“I too, I too, Cornelli,” Martha assured her. “What memories you bring
back to me, child, for you have grown just like your mother. Oh, how
different you are now from what you were. God has blessed your life
in town. It seems like a miracle. Oh, how I have prayed for this!”
After these words she shook Dino’s hand, looking at him rather sadly,
for her great joy at seeing him again was dimmed by his delicate
appearance.
“Oh, Dino, how pale and thin you look,” she said. “Last year you were
so much stouter.”
“That is why I came again to Iller-Stream,” Dino replied cheerfully.
“You must rejoice with us now, Mrs. Martha, for Cornelli and I are
tremendously pleased to be here again. It is just as lovely here as
it was last year, and now we can come to see you every day, for this
seems like home.”
Martha was so moved that she could not speak. Here was Cornelli, looking
as fresh and bright as ever; all the unspeakably sad expression had
vanished from her face, together with the awful disfigurement of those
days. The old woman was deeply stirred by the happy look in the little
girl’s eyes. Her young mother had looked at her just that way. And
here was Dino, too, full of his old attachment, and speaking such kind
words to her. She could hardly believe this great happiness.
“We have to go, now, Martha,” Cornelli said, “but we’ll come every day
the way we used to; you know that, Martha. I’ll run over every single
day.”
“And I, too,” cried Dino. When the happy little couple were running
away, Martha looked after them from her little stairway. Her eyes were
moist, yet followed the two till they were lost from sight.
Even then she still stood there with folded hands.
“Oh, good God,” she said quietly, “my heart is full of thankfulness.
Thou hast blessed everything that was hard for the child, and hast
turned everything to good.”
When the children entered the house, Cornelli said: “Just go in, Dino,
I’ll soon follow you.”
Then she turned and went into the kitchen.
“Oh, I was hoping all the time that our Cornelli could still find her
way to the kitchen,” said Esther with satisfaction. “Come and let me
have a real look at you, Cornelli!”
Esther placed herself squarely in front of the child and said: “You
have grown a lot last year, Cornelli. And your hair is so neatly combed
and brushed! One certainly can enjoy looking at our Cornelli, now.”
Cornelli blushed a little, for she had to remember the way she had
looked when she had gone away. She knew how it had been and how she
had shut her heart against the help Esther had often offered her.
“Oh, Esther, I have to tell you something. Where is Trina, the maid,
who has come with them?”
“I told her to go behind the house to look at the vegetable garden,”
said Esther. “She stood in my way all the time. I am afraid she is not
very quick.”
“No, she isn’t; I know that. But Esther, I want to tell you something
about her. Please be good to her!” Cornelli begged. “You see, Trina
is block-headed and awkward, but she can’t help it. You don’t know how
that is, but I know. And if you are very good to her, she won’t mind
as much being that way. Won’t you do me that favor, Esther?”
Full of surprise, Esther looked after the child, who was running towards
the dining room.
“How does she ever think of such things,” Esther murmured to herself.
“One might think Cornelli had to begin at the bottom herself, instead
of being the Director’s daughter who can have whatever she wants.”
Esther kept on shaking her head for quite a while, but she was anxious
to show Cornelli that she was the only daughter of the house and could
command her. She was very proud of Cornelli’s position and eager to
prove to her young mistress that she was only too happy to follow her
wishes.
When the first merry meal was over, the children were allowed to run
out to the garden. They already knew what they were going to see there,
because Dino had described it to them with great enthusiasm. He had
told them about the flower garden with its wealth of color, the
trellises, covered with red peaches, the heavily laden pear and apple
trees. Now they could see all those wonders for themselves, including
the stable with the splendid cows and the proud and shining horses.
So the five children ran away with great eagerness.
The Director and Mrs. Halm remained in the dining room, drinking their
coffee in each other’s company.
“Please, Mr. Hellmut,” she said, as soon as the door had closed behind
the children, “please let me thank you for your great kindness. I want
to tell you how grateful I am.”
“What do you mean? Why do you want to thank me, Mrs. Halm?” the Director
interrupted her. “Please let me speak first! It is I who want to thank
you. I shall never be able to repay you for what you have done. What
wonders you have accomplished for my child! How you have been able to
change and develop Cornelli! How well she looks now! I have to gaze
at her again and again, for I can hardly believe that it is the same
child. How can I thank you enough? How did you ever do it? And what
patience, care and trouble you must have taken with her. I am afraid
that it has required endless thought on your part to bring her back
like this.”
“Oh, no, Mr. Hellmut, that was not the way at all,” said Mrs. Halm.
“Cornelli has cost me neither patience, care, nor trouble. If by a
little love I have been able to draw out the good kernel of her nature
and bring it to happy development, then that is all I have done.
Cornelli has never made my task hard for me. We have all become so
fond of her that we had to think with sorrow of the time when she would
leave us. I shall never forget what happy hours Dino had with Cornelli
during his illness and how she constantly entertained my sociable
little Mux with her constant merriment and kindness. Yes, Mr. Hellmut,
I shall never forget what she has done, and I can assure you that you
have a lovely little daughter.”
The Director jumped up in his excitement and strode to and fro in the
room. What different enthusiasm from that of a year ago!
“You do not know what you are saying, Mrs. Halm,” he said, standing
still before her. “You are relieving me of most dreadful anxiety. I
have suffered perfect tortures, because I was blaming myself for having
neglected my Cornelia’s child. I thought it was too late and that
Cornelli had grown hopelessly stubborn. Now you have come and brought
me back my child so that she even resembles her mother in her eyes and
her whole expression and appearance. My wife was friendly and gay, and
now you tell me that this is Cornelli’s disposition, too.”
“I have to tell you something else, Mr. Hellmut,” Mrs. Halm continued.
“I am perfectly sure that a child’s first impressions are very
important. It is natural that Cornelli missed her mother’s guidance,
but she was not by any means a neglected child when she came to me.
From what she and Dino have told me I am perfectly sure that Martha
gave Cornelli the best one can possibly give a child on spiritual
education. I esteem old Martha very highly, for she must love and
understand children as few people do.”
“My wife used to say the same thing, and that is why I had such
confidence in Martha. Unfortunately a time came later on when I feared
that she was wrong, and I did not realize what she meant to Cornelli.
You have reminded me of my great debt--”
At this moment such loud laughter and rejoicing sounded from below
that both stepped to the open window.
Mux was screaming loudly, and seemed quite beside himself. “Mama,
Mama,” he cried out, “just look at a living goat boy and a real goat!
Come down and see me!”
Mux was sitting on the seat of a lovely wicker carriage, with two reins
in one hand and a whip in the other, while a young and slender goat
was pulling him. Agnes and Cornelli were running beside the carriage
as protectors, while Dino held the goat lightly by the reins to keep
her from running off. All the children were screaming with delight at
the wonderful ride.
Matthew was standing beside the bushes to watch this trial trip, for
he thought that his help might be needed. He had built the carriage
for Cornelli and had already several times harnessed the goat so as
to teach her how to behave when Cornelli returned. When Matthew had
first shown the little conveyance to the children, Cornelli had said
right away that Mux had to take the first ride in order to realize the
scene he loved so much in his picture book.
Mux simply screamed to his mother in wild joy. To see the wonderful
spectacle from near by, she came down to the garden.
The Director also left the house, but he went another way. Not long
afterwards he went up Martha’s little stairway to the porch where the
old woman sat on her stool mending.
“Oh, Mr. Hellmut!” she called out in her surprise. Opening the door
she led her visitor into her room, for the porch was very narrow.
Mr. Hellmut entered.
“Martha,” he said in a business-like tone, “I have spoiled your business
by taking your boarder away from you forever. That requires a
compensation, and so I have just bought your little cottage from the
farmer over there, besides the little piece of ground in front of it.
Now you will have more room for your carnations, and if you manage
well, you can surely have some pleasant days from the rent which you
save. Are you satisfied?”
“Oh, Mr. Hellmut! Is this little house really my own, now, and will
I really have a garden besides? Oh, Mr. Hellmut!”
But her benefactor would not let her say any more. After heartily
shaking her hand, he hurried away.
The large raspberries were peeping out between the green leaves, and
the golden plums were dropping from the heavily laden branches. From
morning till night on these beautiful summer days Mux fairly swam in
uninterrupted bliss. Before he had even opened his eyes in the morning,
he would call out to his mother in his sleep: “Oh, mother, are we in
Iller-Stream still? Are we still here?” Then the hours of the day
began, each more lovely than the last, and Mux could not tell which
was the best.
As the boy spent most of the day in the stable, the hayloft, and the
barn, his mother had been obliged to make him a special stable costume.
The little boy loved to watch the milking of the cows, and he never
tired of admiring the horses and the goat.
Matthew had become his best friend. The gardener constantly thought
out pleasant surprises for Mux, who showed a decided taste for farming.
If Matthew had to do some important work where Mux was in his way, he
always devised a plan to keep the boy amused elsewhere: “Go down there
to the raspberry hedge, Mux!” he would say. “The berries are finest
and biggest there, because the sun has cooked them through. Go to the
plum tree afterwards and wait for me!”
Mux would obey promptly, wandering over to the plum tree from the
raspberry bushes, which he had lightened considerably. He then would
sit thoughtfully under the plum tree, waiting till Matthew returned.
The gardener then shook the tree so mightily that a flood of golden
plums came rolling down over Mux, who could freely enjoy the wealth
about him.
If Matthew could not be found and Cornelli and Dino were busy with
their own plans and did not need him, Mux knew another friend who
always gave him a good reception, that friend was Esther. He loved to
find her in the vegetable garden, which was also full of surprises for
him. It was like a marvel to the little boy that the green peas hung
here in abundance, whereas they were only served at home on feast days.
He became quite scared when Esther picked a basketful. But when he
warned her, saying, “Don’t take them all, for then we won’t have any
more,” she only laughed and said: “They always grow again; in a week
there will be plenty more.”
If Mux looked a little timidly at the large cabbage heads, Esther said
to him: “Don’t be afraid of them, Mux. If I cook cabbage, everybody
else likes it so much that you won’t have to eat it at all, and you
can take the potatoes which I serve with it.”
Mux often accompanied Esther to the kitchen, where he soon picked up
a lot of useful knowledge. There was no pastry the exact recipe of
which as well as how it tasted Mux could not tell. In this manner he
lived through heavenly days.
They were no less heavenly for the other children. Dino and Cornelli
had started the large undertaking of laying out Martha’s garden after
their own plan. They were so busy inventing things and carrying them
out that they could hardly ever be found.
Agnes struggled with Dino for first place in Cornelli’s affection, but
Dino was always the victor. Cornelli never forgot that he had been her
first friend, who had held fast to their friendship. For this she
remained faithful to him.
It was a consolation to Agnes that she could play on the lovely piano
whenever she wanted to and that Cornelli was always home in the
evenings, when she could sing with her. Mr. Hellmut would sit in his
arm-chair while the two girls sang one song after another, and he could
never hear enough. Beaming with joy, he would say to Mrs. Halm from
time to time: “The child has her mother’s voice, except that her
mother’s voice was still fuller and softer.”
Mrs. Halm’s face would beam, too, as she would say: “Just have a little
patience, Director. You are sure some day to hear Cornelli’s voice
when there will be nothing more to desire in it. Her teacher’s highest
wish is to train her voice.” For answer the father nodded and lay back
in his chair smiling contentedly.
Nika, too, was completely changed. No shadows dimmed her eyes, for she
could wander about all day with her paint box from one lovely spot to
another, up to the beech wood or to the hill where the big oak tree
stood. There she could sit on a bench and look down, over the house
and garden, and far below into the wide, green valley. Nika was very
happy to be able to spend all her time in painting, without ever being
disturbed or called away by unwished-for duties.
When the mother saw the happy faces of her girls and Dino’s improved
health, she felt very happy, too. Suddenly, however, the thought would
rise in her: How will it be when these lovely days are over and we
have to start living again in the narrow confines of town and in the
shadow of those coming years?
The holidays were nearing their end, but nobody yet had time to think
of that, for the Director’s birthday was drawing near and this was to
be the great feast day for everybody. Mrs. Halm had asked each of the
children to think out some surprise for Mr. Hellmut. For Mux, however,
she wrote a beautiful birthday verse. As the little boy’s head was
filled solely with thoughts of the barn and stable, the kitchen and
the goat cart, the plums, the beetles and ants, it took a great deal
of time and trouble to fix the verse in his memory. Nika, needing no
advice, had long ago decided what to do. Every day as soon as the meals
were over, she silently disappeared. Agnes and Cornelli bolted the
door of the music room and let mysterious songs issue from behind it.
Only Dino was still undecided about his task. When he was left alone
with his mother and Mux one day, and all the others were busy with
their preparations, he said: “Tell me what I could do, mother.”
“Draw him a picture of the beautiful goat,” Mux advised. He knew that
Dino could draw animals well, and to him there was no finer animal in
all the world than the goat.
“What a knowing goat boy you are, Mux,” Dino exclaimed. Despite his
refusal to draw the goat, he had nevertheless gotten an idea from his
little brother. “Oh, I’ll draw the two brown horses,” he called out
joyously. “I’ll make one trotting and the other walking. Matthew must
lead them up for me.”
So the boy ran happily to the stable, and after that day he and Matthew
had many meetings in secret.
The birthday came at last.
When the Director entered the dining room in the morning, such a
beautiful duet resounded from the next room that he was compelled to
draw nearer. Agnes and Cornelli were both singing a lovely song with
such deep feeling that the Director could hardly speak. When they had
ended, he patted them both on the shoulder with fatherly tenderness
and then passed into the next room. Here Mux approached him and said
his verse faultlessly in a loud, clear voice. On the table the Director
found two beautiful drawings of his brown horses, and his joy over
them was so great that he did not put them down for quite a while. But
finally he saw all at once a large picture resting in the middle of
the table. His house, with the surrounding garden, the luminous meadow
with the view toward the valley and the distant mountains beyond, was
painted in such fresh and absolutely natural colors that Mr. Hellmut
was quite overcome. This was the view he had loved so passionately
from his childhood.
“Cornelli, come here!” the father called. “Just look at this picture!
Don’t you have a beautiful home? Do you love your home as much as your
father loves it?”
“Oh yes, Papa, I love it so much!” said Cornelli. “And I have to think
every day that I never knew how beautiful it was before I went away.
But ever since I came home again, I know. Oh, how beautiful it looks
in the picture!”
Agnes had been standing behind Cornelli. Suddenly she exclaimed
passionately: “Oh, Cornelli, if only you didn’t have such a beautiful
home!”
“Agnes,” the mother said in alarm, “what unseemly words are you saying?”
The Director looked in astonishment at Agnes, whose eyes were flashing
fire while she regarded the painting.
“Have you had a disagreement with Cornelli? Is that the reason why you
don’t want her to have such a beautiful home?” he asked with a sly
smile.
Agnes flushed scarlet.
“Oh no, Mr. Hellmut, I did not mean it that way. I have never fought
with Cornelli, and I only fight with Dino because he wants to have
Cornelli all the time. If Cornelli didn’t have this beautiful home and
if she were like me and had to give up all her music lessons and had
to earn her living, we could do fine things together. She has such a
beautiful voice that we could hire a harp and could travel into strange
cities and sing before the houses. Later on we could give concerts and
begin a singing school. But I can’t do anything alone.”
At this outbreak, which no sign from her could check, the mother became
alternately hot and cold from fright. Agnes’ eyes still flashed with
passionate excitement like burning coals.
“I approve of the singing school, but especially of sitting down to
breakfast. I hope very much that we have the usual chocolate to drink
to-day, for it is a good old custom for birthdays which should not be
neglected. So a singing school is to be founded,” he continued, while
Mux gazed solemnly at the three huge cakes which were placed beside
the three big chocolate pots. “The wandering harp players are a little
too poetical for me, but I like the idea of a school, Agnes. As I,
too, wish to profit from it, I want it to be built on my estate. Lots
of our workmen in the foundry have small children, whose mothers are
busy with the housework and their small babies. So Agnes and Cornelli
are going to found a singing school in Iller-Stream, where all the
children will go, whose mothers have no time for singing. Upon their
arrival the children shall all be given a bowl of milk and a piece of
bread apiece to make their voices fuller. Now we have settled all about
the school. I shall also have my two teachers instructed, so that they
won’t ever be out of practice. I have also some work for Nika: she
shall fill my house with lovely pictures from top to bottom. To inspire
her with plenty of new ideas, I am going to send her to her professor
in town for lessons. Dino shall help me keep my two horses in trim by
giving them plenty of exercise, for that will be good for him and them.
I can use Mux by having him trained to become the manager of my estate.
The good beginning he has made in the knowledge of farming under
Matthew’s guidance shall be continued while the ground is covered with
green and the trees are bearing fruit. The mother shall stay here for
the protection of you all. So tell me, now, how you like my plan. Shall
it be thus?”
Absolute silence followed. The children hardly dared to realize that
the words they had just heard were true, and the mother was filled
with deep emotion. She could not utter a word, and tears flowed from
her eyes. Could it be possible that her great sorrow and heavy cares
were suddenly lifted from her? Could it really be true?
At that moment Mux said loudly: “Yes, we like it very much!” He had
clearly grasped that it meant for him keeping on doing what he had
enjoyed so much under Matthew’s and Esther’s care. The Director had
to laugh, and continued: “I must have the reply of the chief, my dear
Mrs. Halm, so please listen to my plan. I shall let you manage the
children in the winter, and you shall arrange whatever they are to
learn, but they must come here in the summer when I can enjoy all the
results of their studies. I shall also enjoy the great advantage of
having you manage my house when you are here. Does that suit everybody,
or am I getting more than my share?”
At last the mother composed herself.
“Oh, Mr. Hellmut, how can I thank you?” she said, offering him her
trembling hand. “I do not know how to express what is in my heart. How
can I be grateful enough for such boundless kindness? You cannot know
what your generosity means to us all.”
Even the children had understood that this unheard-of bliss was true.
Nika was the first to run with beaming eyes to the Director and to
seize his hand, but she could find no words to show her gratitude.
Agnes and Dino, too, had run towards the Director, and the latter did
not know how to shake all the hands that were offered to him. Mux, who
could find no access to his benefactor, climbed up on a chair, and
putting his arms about him from behind, screamed a thousand words of
thanks right into the Director’s ears. The wild rejoicing became louder
and louder.
“Cornelli,” said the father at last, “give thanks to your foster-mother!
She has earned them, for she has brought joy back to our house.”
Cornelli did it with a full and willing heart, for she realized what
the children’s mother had done for her. Soon afterwards, Dino and
Cornelli ran away for they had had a simultaneous thought. They did
not want to wait another moment before bringing Martha the wonderful
news. Nobody on earth could share their boundless happiness as Martha
would.
Martha’s heart overflowed when she heard what had been proposed. Between
freely flowing tears she said again and again: “Oh, Cornelli! Everything
has happened so wonderfully for you. God has ordained it much more
wisely than we could have wished and prayed for. From now on, we shall
leave everything entirely in His hands. We’ll do that as long as we
live, won’t we, Cornelli?”
Cornelli nodded with understanding; she had not forgotten how she had
complained to Martha, and how Martha had told her to seek God’s help.
Martha had assured her that the help would always come, even if it
revealed itself differently from the way she expected. Now it had all
turned out so gloriously, and so much more splendidly than Cornelli
could ever have imagined!
There had never been such rejoicing in the house as Agnes started when
she and Nika had retired to their room in the evening and Cornelli had
come to pay her accustomed little evening visit. She skipped and danced
about the room like a newly freed bird and called out: “Now our troubles
are over and no secret fears can scare us any more. Now we can sing
all we want and can live here with you every summer, Cornelli. Oh, we
are the happiest creatures in all the world, and it has all happened
through you, Cornelli; you wonderful, incomparable Cornelli!”
Agnes, seizing her friend’s hand, jumped about with her in the room
at such a rate that Nika had to calm her. The elder sister warned Agnes
that the Director might have to repent of his kindness to them if their
lengthy stay began with such violent noise. One could see, though,
that Nika was willing enough to join the others in their antics.
“The day on which you came to our house, Cornelli,” she said, “has
really been more blessed than any other day in the year. So we must
always celebrate it as a great feast day.”
Nika had lately been very sweet and friendly to Cornelli, and the
younger girl had been very happy about it. But had never dreamed that
Nika would ever speak to her like this.
When Esther heard that the Halm family was going to remain for the
present and return every year, she said: “Oh, I am glad. That is much
better than if some other people I know had to come back. It is better
for me and for Cornelli, as well as for the whole house.”
“Oh, if I could only come again, too!” said Trina, whose face in these
days was always beaming. “Oh, one feels so happy here!”
“That is very true,” Esther affirmed. “I do not see why you shouldn’t.
You don’t need to worry, Trina. If Cornelli and I wish you well, we’ll
see that you come here again.”
The Director did not like the thought of losing his large new family
so soon, so he said one day to Mrs. Halm: “I am very anxious to prolong
the children’s holiday this year till late in the fall. Dino, who is
more in need of his studies than the others, is least able to go back
to town, because he ought to be thoroughly strengthened and made
absolutely well. If it should be necessary for him to study, we have
our good Mr. Maelinger, who can give him lessons.” The mother agreed,
for she also was very anxious to have Dino as well as possible, and
she was very grateful to her benefactor for making this possible.
“There is another reason which makes a longer stay necessary,” continued
the Director. “As I fully intend to visit you and the children several
times during the winter, I have rented a more comfortable apartment
for you, because I was rather afraid of finding your tower-like dwelling
a little inconvenient for me. The apartment will be ready for you in
the late autumn, and I want you to get all the rest you can before you
move there, for it is sure to involve some additional work for you.
I hope sincerely that you do not resent my step.”
“I can only thank you continually,” said the mother now. The children
arrived at the same moment, and all further words from her were
swallowed up in their loud and stormy manifestations of joy. Cornelli
had already told them of her father’s plan to let them all stay in
Iller-Stream till winter time.
When all the fruit had ripened on the trees and Dino was shaking one
of them and Cornelli another, Matthew looked over from the barn door,
happily rubbing his hands. Right under the tree he saw the other
children, one biting into an apple, the other into a pear.
“It certainly is different now from last year,” he said, smiling to
himself. “There is not a rotten plum or a lonesome pear in all the
orchard.”
Every evening, when the last songs resounded in the house, there were
some of thanks and praise which rose up to Heaven like a loud rejoicing.
More than once the Director said to his little daughter, when she gave
him her goodnight kiss: “Did not God mean well with us, Cornelli, when
he guided Martha to write such an inviting notice to the paper?”