CONCLUSION.
The next spring, when the country was covered with verdure and flowers,
the Count, accompanied by his wife, and daughter, and Mary, went to his
home at Eichbourg. Towards evening they approached the village, and
when Mary saw in the light of the setting sun the familiar church
steeple, the Castle, and the cottage where she had spent so many happy
years with her father, she was so deeply touched that tears started to
her eyes.
But in the midst of the sorrowful memories which the scene called up in
her mind, there came to her a devout feeling of thankfulness for the
wonderful way in which God had led her back.
"When I left Eichbourg," she said, "it was in disgrace, and without
ever expecting to come back again. The ways of Providence are
mysterious, but God is good."
When the carriage stopped at the Castle, the servants and officers
belonging to the Count's household were waiting to receive them. Mary
had a warm welcome from them all. Every one showed the greatest joy at
seeing her again, and their congratulations on her innocence having
been proved were manifestly sincere. The old judge who had sent her
into banishment was among those who welcomed her most cordially. Taking
her hand in the presence of all the servants, he asked her pardon for
the mistake he had made. He expressed his gratitude to the Count and
Countess for having so nobly repaired the injustice, assured them that
he reproached himself for the misfortune, and that he was willing to do
everything in his power to discharge his debt.
The exciting day came to an end, and Mary was glad to escape to her
chamber. Next morning, the sun shining brightly into her room woke her
early. As soon as she was dressed she ran to visit her father's
cottage, and to walk once more round the old familiar garden. On her
way she met numbers of the villagers, and all of them showed great
happiness at seeing her.
The old farmer and his wife, who had now been settled some time in the
cottage, were delighted to meet her again. They kissed her
affectionately and assured her of the happiness of their new life.
"When you were without a home," said the farmer, with tears in his
eyes, "we received you and your father into our own, and now that we
are old and had no place that we could call our own, you give us this
charming cottage in which we might spend our declining years."
"Yes," said his wife, "it is always well to be generous and hospitable.
We never know how soon we shall receive it again."
"Well, well," said her husband, "I am glad we did not think of that
then. We took Mary and her father in without hope of reward. However,
the maxim is not the less true, 'Do good to others and you will always
find some one to do good to you.'"
When Mary entered the cottage, the sight of the place where her father
used to sit raised a host of sad but sweet recollections in her mind.
She walked round the garden and kissed every tree planted by his hand,
seeing in each an old acquaintance. The little apple tree which had
been their favourite, was just now covered with blossom, and before it
she stopped to meditate for a little on man's brief life, which fades
away before the tree which he has planted. In the arbour where she had
passed so many happy hours with her father, she rested a little, and
gave herself up to reflection. Looking around on the garden, which he
had cultivated so diligently by the sweat of his brow, she fancied that
she could still see him, and tears streamed from her eyes, when she
remembered that he had gone from her for ever. But one thought soothed
her heart and made her calm, the thought that he had gone to a better
world, and was now reaping the reward of his beautiful life.
As long as Mary lived she spent some weeks every spring at the Castle,
cherished and honoured by every one there, and endearing herself to the
people of the village, and particularly to the children, among whom she
was a great favourite. Her delight was to take them apart and to talk
to them of the Saviour, and she had the happiness of believing that
many of them under her instructions gave their hearts to God.
A monument had been erected to her father in fulfilment of a promise
which Amelia had made to Mary that evening when she found her sitting
on her father's grave. It was an elegant monument of white marble,
ornamented with an epitaph in gold letters. Besides the name of the
deceased, his age and occupation, nothing in the way of epitaph was
added but these words of Jesus--
"I am the Resurrection and the Life:
He that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live."
Underneath these words a beautiful basket of flowers had been cut from
a design drawn by Amelia herself. Underneath the basket was written--
"_All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof as the
flowers of the field. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, but
the word of the Lord endureth for ever._"
The erection of this monument gave great satisfaction to the good old
minister of Erlenbrunn. The dark background of the fir trees threw the
monument into relief, and gave it a very beautiful appearance; and when
the rose tree planted by his grave was in bloom, and its branches
covered with roses bent over the marble, which was of dazzling
whiteness, the sight was a striking one. The humble old man's monument
was the most beautiful ornament of the rural churchyard, and the good
minister never allowed strangers to leave the church without taking
them to see it.
When some people observed that it was a good idea to have put a basket
of flowers on the tomb of a man who was at the same time a gardener and
a basket-maker, the old minister would say--
"But it is something better than a good idea. The basket of flowers tells
more than you know, and it is not without reason that our villagers look
upon it as the symbol of a touching story. The ground on which we tread
has been bathed with a daughter's tears."
Then he would pour into the attentive ears of strangers the familiar
story of the basket of flowers, concluding his recital with the
assurance which this whole story is intended to illustrate: That piety
towards God and truth towards men will never fail to triumph over the
malice of the worst of foes.
Let our readers who have followed this touching story be assured that
under all circumstances it is best to do as Mary did--walk in the fear
of God, love and obey their earthly parents, stand fast by the truth,
and under all circumstances trust fully in God. Thus they will live
happy and die with a sure prospect of eternal glory.
THE END
_Printed by_
MORRISON & GIBB LIMITED
_Edinburgh_
End of Project Gutenberg's The Basket of Flowers, by Christoph von Schmid