"Goodness! you haven't eaten anything all day long, and I bet you're
feeble," cried Mrs. Langohr, the next-door neighbor of Christine's
mother, throwing the door of her miserable two-room apartment wide
open, so that all the neighbors should hear, and praise her charitable
inclinations. "O, my God, have mercy on them poor little worms! I must
go and make a little farina soup for 'em. See, that's what I am getting
out of the Bible! Be good to yer neighbor," she said in a loud tone,
apparently for the benefit of the poorly-clad and shy-looking women at
the windows.
"O, holy Father in Heaven! Just look here," she screamed, amazed when
Christine suddenly appeared with twenty hot rolls in her apron, showing
them triumphantly to the neighbors. And rushing into the apartment,
she, with a gladdened heart, distributed them among the starving
children.
The feeble mother with eyes full of tears, glancing thankfully toward
Heaven, listened to Christine's wonderful story about the shoes and the
twenty kreutzers. It seemed incredible. So much happiness in one day!
And Christine's beautiful smile seemed to fill the squalid room with
radiance when she thought of Sunday and the expected arrival of the
shoemaker's bashful boy.
Her happiness increased day by day; for every Sunday Peter punctually
arrived, always bringing some unusual delicacies with him, and
accepting gladly Christine's consent to carry the violin. In fact, he
carried it with such dignity and pride, that, standing behind her, it
often happened that he bowed his acknowledgment to the audience at
the end of each morceau, quite as if he were her partner and one of
the performing artists. Then he would take his old cap and gather the
contributions, always returning them faithfully to Christine. Every
piece of wood that he could deftly worm out of his mistress' household,
he carried to Mrs. Miller, Christine's mother, to warm the chilled
little limbs of her starving children.
His mistress, the shoemaker's wife, often wondered that the cooked
potatoes disappeared from the dinner table as suddenly as if the
earth had swallowed them up. She certainly could not imagine that
they invariably disappeared into Peter's side-pockets although his
occasional grimaces and the red spots on his sensitive skin bore open
testimony.
"Now, now, goodness! what's the matter with you, rascal?" the surprised
mistress would cry, viewing amazedly his distorted face. And one day,
in spite of his Spartan heroism, Peter could not stand it any longer.
"I am sick--stomach-ache--" he stammered, vainly trying to compose
himself, and even forcing a sickly smile to his pale lips.
"You grown-up earthworm, you! The idea of having stomach-ache every
day at this time!" she responded angrily, adding a few choice words
out of her voluminous vocabulary. But being not bad at heart, sympathy
soon gained the upper hand, and she said in a milder tone, giving him a
small coin with a gesture indicative of large liberality--"Here, you
stupid nuisance, you! Go and get a penny's worth of English bitters."
Peter did not require a second command to leave the room. He took the
hint and the penny and went straight to Christine's house. But once
outside, and in respectable distance from his mistress' observing eyes,
he quickly removed the red-hot potatoes from his pant's pockets.
Peter had always been accustomed to save the tips that he received
from his master's patrons when he carried home their shoes--chiefly
for Sunday nights, that he might enjoy a seat in the last gallery at
the theatre. And my! hadn't he been proud and happy when sitting there
in his best well-worn suit, and hearing those wonderful songs, "Belle
Helene," in Offenbach's toneful operetta, and others which he could not
get out of his head for months.
Sometimes, if he had any money left, he would indulge in such luxuries
as a half herring and a glass of Pilsner, being a great gourmand. But
since he had come to know Christine, everything seemed to have changed.
He no longer went to the theatre, but saved all his tips, and went
about as if a secret were hidden in his breast.
"Oh, Mrs. Langohr," cried Christine's mother, one cold morning to her
next-door neighbor. "Don't laugh, for it is true. Peter has bought a
dress for Christine, a winter dress, just imagine!"
Mrs. Langohr held up her hands in amazement. But it was really true.
Peter had bought Christine, with his savings, a warm dress, at a
second-hand store. Christine was beside herself with joy; she had never
known in these days what it was to have a warm rag on her back, and her
gratitude welled up and overflowed in her sparkling eyes.
As Christmas-time gradually approached, Mrs. Miller, feeling much
better in health, commenced to perform her household duties. But
Christine's earnings from her singing and violin diminished as the
holidays drew near, and the simple little income seemed about to vanish
altogether. Even Peter's pour-boire money threatened to cease, causing
him restless nights and much down-heartedness. This discouraging
condition of things took all his former desire for playing pranks out
of the formerly gay-spirited shoemaker's boy.
And when pious processions of tired pilgrims passed through the streets
of Vienna, singing and praying on their way to church, he no longer
played any of his old mischievous tricks on them, but took off his hat
devoutly, and marched along, praying with folded hands and wet eyes.
"Blessed Virgin--be good to her--I pray to thee--but not for
myself--no; only for Christine--she lives under the white
Tanneries--only for her I pray!"