LEAVING THE MOUNTAINS
Thus the summer slowly passed in healthy out-of-door life that began to
grow exceedingly monotonous at the end. It was lonely, too, for after
the boys became used to the work even the noon meals together became
rarer, and sometimes several days passed with no other communication
than a few calls to each other.
At last September came. This is the month when the herdsmen take their
sheep again to the valleys. The donkey was laden with cheeses of
sheep's milk, and the boys followed the procession back to the village
from which they had started. They found it delightful to be together
again, and somehow, as they talked it over, the summer experience that
had begun to be trying regained its charm.
They joked, they told folk tales, and Nicolaia even sang a ballad that
had long been a favorite with the Roumanians. It was very touching,
and, of course, had to do with a shepherd, of his love for his sheep
and his dogs and his longing to lie near them even in death.
Long before they reached the farm-house they had been seen by Katinka
who ran out to meet them.
Jonitza found some letters awaiting him. He picked out the daintiest,
knowing it to be from his mother, and, begging to be excused, tore it
open to read immediately.
It was from Sinaia, the fashionable mountain resort where "Carmen
Sylva," the late loved dowager Queen Elizabeth, had had her summer home.
"Your father," said the letter among other things, "has to make a
business trip among our Wallachian farmers. He intends to take you with
him and finally spend a day or two with me here. Later on, we shall
visit relatives for some time at the capital, Bukurest."
Two days later Mr. Popescu took his son away.
As Mr. Popescu's business was with the peasants, most of the trip
was made by carriage through the very rich agricultural sections of
Wallachia. Now they stopped at the farms of the wealthy, where the very
latest in farm machinery could be seen at work; then at some of the
hundreds of small farms where the peasants still harvested their grain
with the sickle, and threshed it with the flail. On the way they passed
orchards of damson plum, from which brandy is made, and vineyards with
their rich yield.
The weather favored them. Only once were they caught in a storm. The
sky directly above had been monotonously blue for several days when
clouds seemed suddenly to form in all directions. A wind arose that
soon changed into a tempest, raising enormous clouds of dust. Angry
lightning began to fly across the sky, while not only the thunder but
the storm itself threatened. Through the dust they could just make out
a tower which showed that they were near a village. The obedient horses
strained every sinew to reach it and did just manage to get under cover
at a rude inn when enormous hail stones began to fall.
It proved to be rather an interesting place where they had secured
shelter, for it was not only an inn but a general store where a little
of everything was kept for sale. As no especial room was assigned them,
Jonitza felt free to wander about the place. On a sort of screened
back porch he found a woman pickling whole heads of cabbage, adding
corn-meal to the brine to hasten fermentation. This, when stuffed with
chopped pork, onions and rice, forms one of the national dishes.
Mr. Popescu smiled at the supper that was placed before them an hour
later. There was, of course, _mamaliga_ and its string, with a big
pitcher of rich milk, then some salted cheese, raw onions, and some
sun-dried beef that had been seasoned with spices and garlic when
cooked. The platters, spoons and forks were of wood, the knives alone
being of steel.
Although the owner of the inn was evidently pleased at having so much
to place before his guests, he seemed to think that he could do still
better. "One of my pigs," he said, "is to be killed to-morrow. If you
will stay till then I can offer you something really fine."
Although that might not have been the reason, Mr. Popescu decided to
stay.
"Come," the landlord's wife said to Jonitza next morning as he sat on
the stoop in front of the inn. In answer to her mysterious beckoning,
Jonitza followed her to the rear. Here he found a group of men and boys
gathered around a big fire from which a very pleasant odor rose.
"What is it?" Jonitza inquired. The landlady laughed and then
whispered, "The pig has been killed and we are burning off its hair."
After the meat had been exposed to the heat for a sufficient length of
time, thin slices were cut off and handed to each person present. This
resulted in loud exclamations from some of the children whose fingers
were burnt and even louder smacking of lips as the delicious morsels
were tasted.
They left late that afternoon for the next village, overtaking on the
way a party of reapers with scythes over their shoulders. A young woman
crowned with wheaten ears led several others, all of whom chanted some
melancholy air about the end of the harvest.
Everywhere they went people sang, the number of folk songs about
soldier life being particularly noticeable. Many of these songs were
exceedingly touching; some, however, were wild in character. All were
full of a spirit of rare bravery and resignation to whatever fate had
in store.
At last among the grand forests near the Prahova River, the pretty
rustic houses of rural Roumania changed to Swiss looking cottages, and
then to fine brown and red-roofed villas, hotels and baths. Sinaia had
been reached.
A little apart from the villas stood the Royal Summer Palace, with its
tall roofs and glittering pinnacles.
During the trip they had changed vehicles and drivers many times,
and now a very old man acted as their coachman. His eyes sparkled as
he pointed out the Château. "I lived near here," he said, "when this
Château was built for King Carol and Queen Elizabeth, whom they tell
me is now generally called 'Carmen Sylva.' My daughter was better
acquainted with her than I. Might I tell you the story, sir? It was
not long after the Château was finished that the King and Queen drove
up to spend a few days here. They had splendid horses and came fast.
My little girl was playing by the roadside and somehow frightened the
horses for they leaped to one side. They were brought under control at
once, but the child had been more frightened than they and cried loudly.
"Her Majesty must have heard her for she ordered the coachman to stop.
When he had done so, she herself got out and went back to my little
one, whom she comforted in a few minutes. As she kissed her and put
some coins in her hands, she whispered, 'Be ready to pay me a visit
to-morrow morning. I'll come for you.'
"We did not think anything of this, but the next day, sure enough,
a carriage came to our little hut for Florica. You can imagine our
excitement until we had our little one again and heard from her the
whole story of her visit to Fairy Land, for that is what the visit to
the Château was to her.
"But I have another and better reason to bless her Gracious Majesty. My
brother, sir, was blind--couldn't see a thing, sir--and our Queen made
him happy, as she did others like him, in the Asylum for the Blind that
she founded in Bukurest.
"She was always doing good.
"She liked our peasant ways, sir, she did, and our dress. In the
Château she always wore the national costume and all her maids had to
do so. Deeper in the woods is a Forester's hut where they tell me she
wrote stories and songs like our own."
As the man chatted they approached a deep-roofed chalet from which the
sound of merry laughter and conversation was wafted down to them. Then
they stopped before it and the next moment Jonitza was in his mother's
arms.