By Lucy Fitch Pérkins - Forgotten Books€¦ · come with me to the kitchen. You can give little R oseli her supper, while I spread the table and set the soup to boil before t he

By Lucy Fi t ch Pérkins

ILLU S! R A ! ED BY ! ! E AU ! ! OR

Eoéféfi’

ARIDNEW Yc’

ifi

fi

k“ 3

! OU ! ! ! ON ! IFFLIN C O ! PANYat! ! B ibct sihz 9m m cumming !

‘

5412 1

C ON ! EN ! S

I. ! ! E R E SPONSIBLE C U C ! OO

II. ! ! E ! WINS LEAR N A NEW ! R ADE

III . A ! OU N! AIN S! OR !

I! . ! ! E LONELY ! ER DS! AN

! . ! ! E PAss

! I. NEW FR IENDS AND OLD

I

THE RESPONSIBLE C U C ! OO

! ! E RESPONSIBLE C U C ! OO

H I! ! on the ki tchen wal l of an old farmhouse on a mountain - s ide in Switzerland t here hangs a tiny wooden clock . I nthe tiny wooden clock t here l ives a tinywooden cuckoo

,and ev ery hour he hops

out of h is tiny wooden door,takes a look

abou t to see what i s going on in the world,

shouts out the time of day,and pops back

again into hi s l i ttl e dark house,there to

wait and tick away the minutes unti l i t i stime once more to tel l the hour .

Late one spring afternoon, jus t as the sun

was s inking out of s ight,l ighting up the

snow-capped mountains with beauti ful colors and sending long shafts of golden l ightacross the val leys

,the cuckoo woke with a

start .

‘Bless me l he said to himself. “ Here

i t i s s1x o'

clock and not a sound in theki tchen ! I t s high time for Mother Adolfto be getting supper. What in the worldthi s fami ly would do without me I real lycannot th ink ! They ’d never know it wassupper time if I did n'

t tel l them,and would

starve to death as l ikely as not . I t is l uckyfor them I am such a respon s ibl e bird .

The tiny wooden door flew open and hestuck out his tiny wooden head . There was

not a sound in the ki tchen but the loud ticking of the clock .

“

! ust as I thought, said the cuckoo‘.

Not a soul here .

!

There s tood the table against the kitchenwal l

,with a l i ttle gray mouse on i t n ibbl ing a

crumb of cheese . A long finger of sunl ightstreamed through the western window andtouched the great stone stove

,as if trying to

waken the fire with in . A beam fel l upon apan of water standing on the floor and sentgay sparkles of l ight dancing over the shining tins i n the cupboard . The cuckoo saw

i t al l at a glance .

“ ! his w i l l never do, he

ticked indignantly . There was a queer rumbl ing sound in his i ns ides as if h is feel ingswere getting qu ite too much for h im

,and

thensuddenly he sent a loud cuckoo ! ringing through the si l ent room . I nstantly thel i ttle gray mouse leaped down from the tableand scampered away to his hol e in the wal l

,

the golden sunbeam fl i ckered and was gone,

and shadows began to creep into the corners . “ Cuckoo

,cuckoo

,he shouted at the

top of his voice,

“ cuckoo,cuckoo

,cuckoo

,

—six times i n al l,

- and then,his duty

done,he popped back again i nto his l i ttl e

dark house,and the door cl icked beh ind

hlm .

Out i n the garden Mother Adol f heardhim and

,raisi ng her head from the on ion

bed,where she was pul l i ng weeds

,she

counted on her fingers,

“ One,two

,three

,

four,five

,s ix ! Bless my soul

,s ix o ’clock and

the sun al ready out of s ight behind old

Pilatus,

! she said,and

,ri s ing from her

knees a l ittle stiffly,she stood for a mo

5

ment looking down the green slopes towardthe val ley .

Far,far below

,the blue waters of Lake

Lucerne mirrored the glowing colors of themountain -peaks beyond i ts farther shore

,

and nearer,among the foothi l l s of old P ila

tus i tself,a l i ttl e vi l lage nestled among

green trees,i ts roofs clustered about a white

church - spire . Now the bel ls i n the steeplebegan to ring

,and the sound floated out

across the green fields Spangled wi th yel lowdaffodi l s

,and reached Mother Adolf where

she stood . Bel ls from more distant v i l lagessoon joined in the clamor

,unti l al l the ai r

was fill ed with music and a hundred echoeswoke in the mountains .The tiny wooden cuckoo heard them andticked loudly wi th sati sfaction . Everybody fol lows me

,he said to h imself

proudly .

“ I wake al l the bel ls i n the world .

“ Where can the chi ldren be ? ! saidMother Adolf aloud to herself, lookingabout the garden .

“ I have n’

t heard asound from either the baby or the Twins

6

w ith clasped hands and bowed heads unti lthe echoes of the bel l s died away in the distance .

Far down on the long path to the vi l lagea man

,bending under the weight of a huge

basket,also stood sti l l for a moment in si

lent prayer . then toi l ed again up the steep

slope .

See,cried Mother Adolf as she l i fted

her head,

“ there comes Father from the vi !lage wi th bread for our supper in his basket .R un

,Seppi

,and help him bring the bundles

home . Our Fri tz wi l l soon be coming withthe goats

,too

,and he and Father wil l both

be as hungry as wolves and in a hurry fortheir supper . Hark ! she paused to l i sten .

Far away from out the blue shadows ofthe mountain came the sound of a hornplaying a merry l i ttl e tune

“ There ’

s Fri tz now,cried Mother

Adolf. “ Hurry,Seppi

,and you,

Leneli,

come with me to the ki tchen . You can givel ittle R oseli her supper

,while I spread the

table and set the soup to boi l before the8

m i l!11

4,

ré z

goats get here to be mi lked . She l i ftedthe baby in her arms as she spoke

,and set

off at a smart pace toward the house,fol

lowed by Leneli dragging the cart andplaying peek-a-boo with the baby over hermother ’s shoulder .When they reached the door

, Leneli satdown on the step

,and Mother Adolf put

the baby in her arms and went at once into

9

the quiet house . Then there was a soundof quick steps about the kitchen

,a rattl ing

of the stove , and a clatter of tins wh ichmust have pleased the cuckoo

,and soon

she reappeared in the door with a bowland Spoon in her hands .

The bowl she gave to Leneli,and l i ttl e

R oseli,crowing with del ight

,seized the

spoon and stuck i t first i nto an eye,and

then into her tiny pink button of a nose,i n

a franti c effort to find her mouth . I t wasastonishing to Baby R oseli how that rosebud mouth of hers managed to hide i tsel f

,

even though she was careful to keep i t wideopen whi le she searched for i t . When shehad explored her whole face with the spoonin vain

,Leneli took the tiny hand in hers

and guided each mouthful down the l i ttlered lane .

Over their heads the robin in the cherrytree by the door sat h igh up on a twig andchirped a good-night song to his nestl ings .“ Cherri es are ripe

,cherries are ripe

,cher

ries are ripe in ! une , sang the robin . At10

l east that is what Leneli told the baby hesaid

,and surely she ought to know .

Before Baby R oseli had finished the lastmouthful of her supper

,Father and Seppi

appeared with the bundles,and then there

was the clatter of many l i ttl e hoofs on thehard earth of the door-yard

,and round the

corner of the old gray farm -house came bigbrother Fri tz wi th the goats . With Fritzcame Bel lo

,h is fai thful dog

,barking and

wagging h i s tai l for joy at getting homeagain . Bel lo ran at once to Leneli andl i cked her hand

,nearly upsetting the bowl

l l

of milk in his noi sy greeting,and the baby

crowed with del ight and seized him by hislong, s i lky ears .

“ Down , Bel lo , down , cried Leneli holding the bowl h igh out of reach ; “ you l l spil lthe baby ’s supper ! ! And Bel lo

,thinking

she meant that he should beg for i t,sat up

on his h ind legs with his front paws crossedand barked three times , as Fri tz had taughthim to do .

He must have a bite or he ’

11forget h ismanners

,

! laughed Fritz,and Leneli broke

off a crumb of bread and tossed i t to him .

Bel lo caught i t before i t fel l , swal lowed itat one gulp

,and begged for more .

No,no

,said Leneli

,

“ good old Bel lo,

go now with Fri tz and help h im drive thegoats to the mi lking- shed

,and by and by

you shal l have your supper .Fritz whistl ed

,and instantly Bello was

off l i ke a shot after Nanni , the brown goat,who was already on her way to the gardento eat the young green carrot—tops she sawpeeping out of the ground .

1 2

I t ’s time that ch i ld was in bed,said

the cuckoo to h imself,and out he came

from his l i ttl e house and cal led “ cuckooseven times so reproachful ly that Lenelihastened upstairs with the baby and puther down in her crib at once .

Baby R oseli did not agree wi th thecuckoo . She wanted to stay up and playwith Bel lo

,and hear the robin sing

,but

Leneli sat down beside the crib , and whi leMother Adolf mi lked the goats she sangover and over again an old song .

IS

S leep , baby , sleep !! hy father watc hes t he sheep ,! hy m other is shaking t he dream land tree.And down fal ls a l i ttle dream on thee .

S leep , baby , s leep !

Sleep , bab'

s leep !! he larg e s tars are t he sheep ,! he l i ttle s tars are t he lam bs , I g uess ,And t he si lver m oon is t he shepherdess .

S leep , babv s leep .

Over and over she sang it,unti l at last the

heavy l ids closed over the blue eyes . Thenshe crept quietly down the creaking stairsi n the dark

,and ate her bread and cheese

and drank her soup by candle- l ight withher father and mother

,Seppi and Fri tz

,al l

seated about the kitchen table .

By nine o ’clock the room was once mores i l ent and deserted

,the l i ttl e mouse was

creeping quietly from hi s hole in the wal l,

and Bel lo lay by the door asleep with h isnose on h i s paws . High over Mt . Pi latusthe moon sai led through the s tar- l i t sky

,

bath ing the old gray farm -house in si lver14

II

LEARN A NEWTRADE

II

THE TWINS LEARN A NEWTRADE

A ! five o ’clock the next morn ing Fatherand Mother Adolf were already up

,and the

cuckoo woke Fri tz,but though he shouted

five times with al l h i s might and main,nei

ther Seppi nor Leneli sti rred in their s leep .

Fritz,go wake the Twins

,

! said MotherAdolf

,when he came to the door of the

shed where she was mi lking the goats . “ Onlydon ’t wake the baby . I want her to sleepas long as she wil l . !

Yes,Mother

,said Fritz duti ful ly

,and

he was off at once,l eaping up the creaky

stairs three steps at a time .He went first to Leneli ’s bedand tick l edher toes . She drew up ‘

her knee‘

s and slept

on. Then he went to Sepp i’

s bed,and when

shaking and rol l ing over fai l ed to rouse him,

he took him by one l eg and pul led him out

of bed . Seppi woke up wi th a roar and casthimself upon Fri tz

,and in a moment the

two boys were rol l ing about on the floor,

yell ing l ike I ndians . The uproar woke Lenel i

,and the baby too

,and Mother Adolf

,

hearing the noise,came runn ing from the

goat-shed j us t i n time to find Seppi s i ttingon top of Fritz beating time on his stomachto a tune which he was s inging at the topof his lungs . The baby was crowing withdel ight as she watched the scuffle fromLeneli

’

s arms .

Mother Adolf gazed upon this l ivelyscene with dismay . Then she picked Seppioff Fri tz ’s stomach and gazed sternly at heroldest son.

“ Fritz,said she

,

“ I told youto be quiet and not wake the baby .

I was qu iet,said Fri tz

,s i tti ng up .

“ Iwas j ust as quiet as I could be , but theywould n’

t wake up that way , so I had topul l Seppi out of bed ; there was no other

2 0

way to get h im up . He looked up at h ismother with such honest eyes that i n spi teof herself her l ips twitched and then shesmi led outright .I should have known better than to

send such a great overgrown pup-of-a boy

as you on such an errand , she said . Bel lowould have done i t better . Next time Ishal l send him .

“ And now,s ince you are al l awake

,I

wi l l tel l you the great news that Fathertold me last n ight. He has been chosen bythe commune to take th e herds of the vi llage up to the h igh alps to be gone al lsummer . He wil l take Fri tz with h im to

guard the cattl e while he makes the cheese .

There is no better cheese -maker in al l themountains than your father

,and that i s

why the commune chose him,she finished

proudly .

More than anything else in the world,

every boy in that part of Switzerland longsto g o with the herds to the high mountainpastures for the summer

,and Fritz was so

2 1

de l ighted that he turned a somersault atonce to express his feel i ngs . When he wasright side up again

,a puzzl ed look came over

h is face,and he said

,

“ Who wil l take careof our own goats ? !

“ Ah,

! answered hi s mother,and she

s ighed a l i ttl e .

“ There i s no one but Seppiand Leneli . Together they must fi l l yourplace

,and you

,Fri tz

,must take them with

you to-day up the mountain to learn theway and begin their work .

“ To-day ! This very day ? screamedthe Twins . They had never been up to thegoat-pastures i n their l ives

,and i t was a

most exci ting event.Then Leneli thought of her mother . She

flung her arms about h er neck . But whowi l l stay with you,

dear Mother ? ! shecried .

“ All day you will be alone , witheverything to do and no one to speak tobut the baby .

!

Yes,sighed the mother , “ that i s true .

I t wi l l be a long,lonely summer for me ,

but there is no other way , so we must each2 2

hi s cup slung over hi s shoulder,and last

of al l the Twins .It

’

s a long way,my chi ldren

,said

Mother Adol f,as she kissed them good

bye .

“ Your legs wi l l get ti red,but you

must cl imb on j ust the same . I f every one

stopped when he was ti red,the world ’s

work would never be done . Learn the waycareful ly and remem ber always to pray ifany danger comes . You are very near the

24

good God on the mountain,and H e wil l

take care of you i f you ask H im ,never fear .

“ Obey Fri tz,sa i d Father Adol f

,

“ anddo not stray offby yourselves . Stay alwayswith Fri tz and the goats .

“ We will,cried the Twins

,and away

they ran to j oin the ir brother,who was

already some l i ttl e di stance ahead of them .

They turned as the path rounded the greatcl i ff where the echoes l ived

,and the Twins

waved their hands,whi le Fri tz played h is

merry l i ttl e tune on the horn . Then therocks hid them from view

,and the long

cl imb began in earnest.I t was many rough uphi l l mi les to thealps where the goats were pastured

,and

the stout l i ttl e legs ached with wearinesslong before they reached the patches ofgreen grass which were reserved for them .

On the way up they passed fields wherecows were graz ing

,and Bel lo had hard

work to keep the goats in the path , butthese pastures were only for cows , andgoats were not al lowed in them . For two

2 5

hours they cl imbed steadi ly up and up,fol

low ing a mountain path that led sometimesbes ide a rushing brook

,sometimes along

the edges of dizzy precipices,and always

among rocks with wonderfu l views of di stant snow-capped peaks above them andgreen

,green val leys below .

At last,when it seemed to the weary

chi ldren that they could not go another step,

they came out upon a high pasture,where

Fritz cal l ed a halt . The goats l eaped joyful ly forward

,snatching greedy mouthfuls

of the ri ch green grass which grew amongthe rocks . Bel lo flopped heavi ly down on aflat stone with hi s tongue hanging out

,and

Fri tz and the Twins rol led over on thei rbacks on a soft carpet Of grass to rest .Almost at once Seppi said

,

“ I ’m hungry .

“ So ’

m I,said Leneli .

You ’

11be hungry al l the time up heresaid Fritz encourag ing ly i

“ I t ’s the air .“ Let ’s eat

,urged Seppi .

Fri tz took the package of luncheon fromhis pocket and Opened i t .

2 6

I t looks very smal l . I t looks a greatdeal sma l l er than i t d id at home

,said

Leneli . “ I wonder why ? !

“ You are hungri er now than you werethen

,

! said Fri tz .

“ I could eat i t al l mysel f,said Seppi .

But you won ’t,

! laughed Fri tz ; “ I ’

11seeto that . He divided the bread and cheesei nto three equal portions and handed one toeach of the Twins . The third he put in hisown pocket . Now I don ’t care what youdo with yours

,

! he said ; “ only,i f you eat i t

al l now, you

’

ll be hungry enough to browsewith the goats before i t ’

s time to g o home .

Better take j ust a bi te and a drink ofwaterand eat more by and by .

Seppi looked hungri ly at h is portion andtook a bi te . Then he just could n ’t stop

,

and before he knew i t hi s whole luncheonwas gone and i t was only nine O ’clock inthe morn ing !Leneli took two bites Of hers

,and then

,

wrapping it careful ly i n the piece of cloth,

placed i t h igh up on an overhanging rock2 7

out Of the way of temptation . ! hen,wh i le

Fri tz was teach ing Seppi al l the tricks of agoat—boy ’s trade , she found a soft patch Ofgrass al l spangled w i th blue gentians andfel l asleep with her head on her arm . Sheslept for some time

,and Fritz and Seppi

,

seeing how tired she was,did not disturb

her .She was roused at last by the tinkl i ngof a goat-bel l almost over her head

,and

woke up j us t in time to see her luncheon,

cloth and al l,disappearing into the mouth

of Nanni,the brown goat ! Poor Leneli

screamed with dismay,and Fri tz and Seppi

,

th inking perhaps she had hurt hersel f,came

dashing to her s ide . Leneli was boi l ingwith rage . She could only point at Nann i ,who stood calmly out of reach above themwith the last scrap of cloth dangl ing fromher l ips .

“ You wretched,black-hearted pig of a

goat ! she screamed , s tamping her foot .You ’

ve eaten every bit of my lunch , andI ’d only taken two l i ttl e teeny bites ! Oh

,

2 8

I wish I ’d eaten it al l l ike that greedy

Seppfl

Fritz and Seppi were sorry , but whenthey saw the goat looking down at Leneli

so calmly whil e she stormed and scolded2 9

below,they rol led over on the ground help

l ess with laughter.“ I t ’s al l very wel l for you to laugh

,

sn iffed Leneli ; you ’ve both got yourlunches

,and she went away quite sulki ly

and sat down on a stone by herself. Bel locame and sat bes ide her and l icked her hand .

Fri tz had to dash away just then after astraying goat, but he was soon back againwith his luncheon in his hand .

“ Here,he

said,

“ you can have some of my bread andcheese .

“ Oh,Fri t z i , said Leneli grateful ly ;

you are as good and kind as that goat i sbad

,but I ’m going to take only a teeny

mouthful,j ust to keep me from starving !

“ All right,said Fri tz

,holding the sl i ce

of bread for her to bite . To-morrow we ’

11

ask Mother to put up more bread andcheese

,and if you get hungry again , you

can milk old Nann i hersel f and get evenwith her that way .

!

“ But I don ’t know how to milk, saidLeneli with her mouth ful l .

30

We must n ’t frighten her,said Fri tz .

I t ’

s bad for the milk .

For some time they patiently fol lowedher about

,and at last j ust as they were

ready to lay hands upon her, she suddenlyleaped upon a rock and from that to a higherone,unti l she stood far out of reach on a

dizzy overhanging cl iff.“ That Nanni ! cri ed Fri tz wrath ful ly ashe prepared to fol low her . “ She ’l l breakher pesky neck and mine too some day .

32

! e cl imbed a tree for a short cut to thecl i ff and dropped from an overhangingbranch to the narrow shelf Of rock i n frontOf the goat. Bel lo

,meanwhi le

,ran back and

forth below,barking l ike everything

,but

qui te unable e i ther to fol low Nann i up thesteep trai l

,or to cl imb the tree as Fritz had

done .

Come,Nanni

,

! said Fri tz,holding out

his hand as he stepped careful ly toward her .Nanni sn i ffed and backed . Leneli andSeppi watched from below

,breathless with

anxiety . I f she should back too much shemight fal l over the cl i ff and be ki l l ed . I f sheshould dash forward she might knock Fritzover i t i nstead . But Fri tz was a wise goatboy ! He put his hand in hi s pocket anddrew out a handful of sal t, which he keptfor j ust such times as thi s . He held i t outtoward Nanni and careful ly and slowlybacked away from the edge of the cl i ff,coaxing her to fol low h im . As she steppedforward

,he stepped back

,and in th is way

led her by a roundabout path down the far

33

ther s ide of the rocks to the place wherethe other goats were sti l l feeding.

“ Oh,Fritz i

,I never could do that

,said

Leneli,hugging him when he was on safe

ground once more .

“ I should be so frightened .

“ I could said Seppi promptly ; “ I ’mnot afraid .

Don ’t you try i t, young man , said Fri tz ,unless i t ’s the only th ing you can do . Thebest goat-boy i s the one who keeps hisgoats from getting in to such places . I t ’smuch cleverer to keep out of trouble thanto get out .

They gave up the milking l esson for thetime being

,but when the long day was over

and they were on their way down themountai n -pass i n the late afternoon

,they

came to a wide level space . Here theypaused

,and

,whi le Seppi stood with his

arm about Nanni ’s neck and fed her handfuls of green grass

,Leneli real ly did milk

enough for a refreshing drink to sustai n heron the long homeward journey .

34

Singing, playing tunes on the horn , androus ing the ever-ready echoes with theiryodels

,they ran down the steep mountain

path i n a much shorter time than i t hadtaken to cl imb i t in the morning

,and came

in s ight of the Old farm n house j ust as theAngelus rang again i n the l i ttl e white vi llage spire . They paused on the mountainpath and bent their heads

,but Nanni was

not a rel igious goat ! She remembered thegl impse she had had the night before ofgreenth ings growing in the garden and suddenlybol ted down the steep path at a break-neckspeed . All the rest

°

of the flock fol lowedpel l -mel l after her

,and the ch i ldren were

obl iged to cut short their prayers i n orderto save the carrot- tops from bei ng eaten up .

The last mi le was ‘covered i n recordbreaking time

,and before the cuckoo clock

struck seven the chi ldren and goats and dogal l came gal loping into the yard together.

AIN STOR !

the mountain path,where they could get

a good ! i ew of the vi l lage below . FatherAdolf and Fri tz had kissed Mother Adolfand the baby good-bye before dayl ight

,and

had gone to the vi l lage to get the cattl e inl ine for their long march . They did not

say good-bye to the Twins,for they were

to j oin t he procession when it passed thehouse , since for the first two miles thepaths to th e h igh alps where the cattle

g razed and to the goat-pastures were thesame .

Leneli and Seppi had fini shed thei r breadand milk and were hopping about i n greatexcitement on the h i l l - top

,when suddenly

from the vi l lage below there was a burstof gay musi c and they knew that the procession had begun to move . Seppi ran backto the milking- shed as fast as his legs couldcarry h im . They ’

re coming,they ’

re coming ! he shouted .

Our goats are ready,said Mother

Adol f. “ You and Bel lo may take them outto the path and wai t there unti l the cattl e

40

have passed by . Then you must fal l in behind them with Father and Fri tz and g owith them as far as the G iant P ine ! reethat stands at the parting Of the paths .

Father and Fritz wi l l leave you there, and

41,

you and Leneli must g o on alone . You aresure you know the way ? She looked anxious ly i n to Seppi

’

s blue eyes .Oh

,yes

,Mother

,

! sa id Seppi,confi

dent ly .

“ Don ’t you worry . I know i t wel l,

and so does Leneli . We can take care ofthe goats j ust as wel l as Fri tz . You ’

ll see !Seppi

,with Bel lo

'

s help,drove the goats

to a place where they could crop the grassbeside the mountain path

,and there a few

moments later Mother Adolf joined them,

dragging the baby in the wooden cart . Theprocession was already in plai n sight

,W i nd

‘

ing up the steep mountain path from thevi l lage . First came three fine brindled cows

,

each with a bel l as big as a bucket hanging from her neck and a wreath of flowersabout her horns . After them came thirtymore

,each with a smal ler bel l

,marching

proudly along in s ingle fi l e beh ind theleaders . All the bel l s were j ingl ing, and al lthe people who fol lowed them from the vi !lage were si nging and yodel ing unti l theair was ful l of j ol ly sounds . The last cow

42

i n l ine carr ied the milking-stool on herhorns

,and beh ind her walked Father and

Fritz .

Bel lo,who understood very wel l what

was going on,kept the goats herded to

gether beside the path,and when Seppi and

Leneli,s inging and shouting wi th the rest

,

drove them forward,Bel lo marched proudly

right beh ind the goats,barking and way

i ng his tai l l ike a flag.

Mother Adol f’5 heart swel led with prideas she watched her husband and ch i ldrenmarch away so gayly

,but when they had

disappeared from view and the musicsounded fainter and fainter as i t grew moredistant

,she wiped her eyes on her apron

,

picked up the Twins ’ breakfast-bowls,and

went slowly with l ittl e R oseli back to thelonely farm -house . The people from thevi l lage walked but a l i ttl e way up the mountain-s ide , and when they too returned totheir homes

,there were no more songs and

yodel s,and a great si lence settl ed over the

moun ta i n .

43

U p and up the rocky trai l wound thelong train of cattle and goats

,un ti l they

came to the Giant Pine Tree,and here

Father Adolf and Fritz stopped.

“ R emember,my chi ldren

,

! said FatherAdolf solemnly to the Twins

,

“ the goatsare our only weal th . I f they stray awayand are lost or fal l over a c liffand are ki l l ed

,

the faul t wi l l be yours . You must be faith

ful,watchful

,and brave

,and let noth ing

happen to the goats l est we go hungry whenwinter comes .

!

Then he and Fri tz saidgood-bye

,and the ch i ldren

,feel i ng very

solemn and important , went on thei r lonelyivay .

Bel lo was a wonderful dog . He couldcount

,for he always knew when one of the

goats was missi ng and would run aboutwith h i s nose to the trai l unti l he found her

,

then he would bark at her heel s unti l shecame back to j oin the flock . But

,clever as

he was,he was puzzled when he saw the

goats going in one direction and Fri tz i nanother . He stood at the parting of the

44

paths and looked first one way,then the

other,and whined ; then he dashed after

Fri tz .

N0 , no , Bel lo , go with the goats , criedFritz . Bel lo ’s ears and tai l drooped

,and he

looked pleadingly up at Fritz .

Fritz had given hi s l i ttl e horn to Seppi,

and now he shouted to him,

“ Blow yourhorn . Seppi could not play Fri tz ’s merryl i ttl e tune

,but he blew a terrific blast

,and

Bel lo knew that he must fol low the soundof the horn even though i t meant partingfrom his dear Fri tz .

“ Good old dog ! said Fri tz,patting him ;

g o find them,and Bel lo l i cked hi s hand

,

then tore away up the mountain after thegoats .

When he reached them,he tried to round

them up and drive them back to Fri tz,and

i t was some time before Seppi could makehim understand that the goats must g o tothe pastures as usual . Then

,though he

fol lowed them fai thful ly,he did not run

about i n circles and bark down every hol

45

low log as he usual ly did . I nstead, he

walked along solemnly beside Leneli withhis nose in her hand .

See, Seppi , she said , “ he knows hemust help wi th the goats

,but he wants to

g o with Fri tz .

“ There are lots of people in the worldthat know less than Bel lo

,Seppi answered

wisely . He put the horn to his l ips,puffed

out h is cheeks , and blew with al l h is might.I t made a fearful noise

,which was echoed

from al l the surrounding cl i ffs and was answered by Fri tz ’s yodel far away on the

mountain path . Bel lo pricked up his earsand whined . They cal led back and forth inth is way

,the sounds growing fainter and

fainter i n the distance,unti l they could no

longer hear each other at al l,and the Twins

were for the first time qui te alone on themountain with Bel lo and the goats .When at last they reached the pasture,they threw themselves down on the grass,and Leneli at once took her kn itti ng out ofher pocket and went to work . Bello sighed

46

practice on h is horn . He blew and b l ewunti l he was red in the face

,try ing to play

Fritz ’s tune,but on ly a hoarse bel low came

from its throat .Leneli stood the noise for some time .

Then she plucked a blade ofgrass,stretched

i t across a hol low between her two thumbs ,

and,when Seppi was not looking

,blew with

al l her might right by his ear ! I t made afearfu l screech

,which echoed and reechoed

unti l i t seemed as if the very air had beenbroken into a mil l i on bits .Seppi gave a screech of his own and

clapped hi s hands over hi s ears .

“ Whatdid you do that for ? ! he said cross ly

,

“ j ustwhen I was beginn ing to get the tune .

“ Well,

! said Leneli,

“ you may have begun

,but you were sti l l a long, long way

from getting i t ! My noise was j ust asgood as yours ! I ’

ll stop if you wi l l .Seppi grumpi ly laid as ide his horn andsat hugging his knees and looking at thewonderfu l vi ew spread out before them .

Across the val ley the R igi l ifted its crest

48

to the sky . L i ttl e toy vi l lages,each with

i ts whi te spire , l ay sl eeping si l en tly i n thesunshine . On the shores of the lake farbelow he could see the city Of Lucerne . I tm ight have been a painted ci ty

,for not a

sound reached them from its busy streets,

and there was no movement to be seen ex

49

cept here and there the wav ing of a tinythread Of smoke . On the lake the whitesa i l s looked

,at that dis tance

,l ike tiny white

butterfl i es hovering over the blue water .I suppose we can see almost the whole

world from here ; don’t you ? ! said Leneli .

Pooh ! no,Seppi answered lofti ly .

There ’

s lots more to i t than th is,though

this is the best part of i t,of course . Why

,

there are oceans bigger than Lake Lucerneand a mile deep

,and there ’

s Paris andLondon bes ides

“ Dear,dear

,said Leneli . “ Mother says

we are very near to ! od on the mountains ,and I suppose He can look down and seeeverybody and know just what they aredoing al l the time

,but I don ’t see how

He poss ibly can keep track of al l of us atonce .

“ He can ’t,s i l ly

,answered her brother

,

sti l l more lofti ly .

“ Don ’t you know thatthe earth is round

,so He can ’t see but one

side at a time,i f He looks ever so hard ? I

suppose that '

s why He made the night-time .

50

He shuts some of the people up i n the darkwhi le H e watches the rest of them on theother s ide . Seppi had never thought th isout before , but he always tried to have someanswer to give to Leneli when she askedquestions

,or else she might get the idea

that he did n’

t know any more than she did .

Leneli usual ly bel i eved whatever he toldher

,and

,th i s question being settled

,she

went on with her kni tti ng .

The goats grazed peaceful ly about them ;the air was very sti l l and grew quite warmin the sunshine . About the snow-whitecrest of the R igi l i ttl e wisps of clouds weregathering. They grew longer and longerand sank lower on the mounta i n -s ide .

I t ’s rain ing in Lucerne,said Seppi .

The clouds fel l sti l l l ower and spread overthe whole val l ey

,unti l the chi ldren from

their h igh seat looked out over a sea of

mist . There were sounds of distant thunderfrom the rol l ing c l ouds and vivid flashes ofl ightn ing far below them .

I t ’s a l i ttl e lonesome up here wi th al l

SI

the world shut away out of s ight,and no

body around but God ; i s n’

t i t ? ! said Lenel i timidly .

“ There are the goats,and Bel lo

,an

swered Seppi comfortingly . He lookedstraight up into the sky . L i ttle wisps ofclouds were gathering around the crest ofOld P i latus now . The sun was suddenlyhidden

,and he fel t a drop of rain .

“ I t ’sgoing to rain here in a minute

,and hard

,

too he said .

What shal l we do ? cri ed Leneli,rol l

ing up her kn i tting and springing to her

feetGet wet

,I guess answered Seppi .

There ’

s no shelter .“ There must be someth ing, said Lenel i . “ I ’ l l look

,whil e you and Bel lo get

the goats together . ! She dashed away asshe spoke

,and soon from a point farther

down the mountai n they heard her cal l .Goats

,Bel lo

,and Seppi

,al l came thun

dering down the path together and foundher huddl ed under an overhanging rock,

5 2

shel tered by the branches of a spreadingpine . Bel lo and Seppi dived under the rockbes ide her

,and the goats gathered close

about them just as the storm broke in earnest . The l ightn ing flashed

,the thunder

rol l ed,and the rain came down in torrents

,

making a gray curtai n of water about therock . The chi ldren shrank back under theshelter as far as they could go

,and neither

one said a word,except once when a stream

of water suddenly ran down the back of

Leneli’

s neck . Then she j umped and saidOw

,i n a voice that Seppi heard even

above the roar of the thunder .For a long time they sat there whi le thestorm raged about them . Then the thunderwent roaring away farther and farther downthe val ley

,the rai n ceased

,and the sun

came out .The storm ’

s over,said Seppi . Let ’s

get out Of here .

The goats had al ready scattered and weren ibbl ing tufts Of wet grass , when the twoch ildren crawled out from under the rock .

53

Leneli s dress was qui te muddy where therain had come through the crack and poureddown her neck , and she was twisting herself round , trying to see the extent of thedamage

,when sudden ly there was a terri

fic roar and rumble as if the thunder hadbegun al l over again

,though the sky was

blue and cl ear . Crash fol lowed crash,and

there was a sound ofg reat rocks fal l ing fromdizzy mountain -heights far above them .

The chi ldren clung to each other in terror

,the goats trembled

,and Bel lo crept

farther under the rock .

“ The avalanche ! !

gasped Leneli,shaking with fright . Father

thought there would n’

t be any more th i sspring ! Oh

,I wish we were home ! !

Far down the mountain -side there weresounds of mighty trees being torn up bythe roots and of rocks broken from thecl i ffs and bounding from ledge to ledge .

I t seemed as i f the whole world werebeing torn to pieces . At last the terribleroar ceased and a terribl e s i l ence settl edover the mountain s . The chi ldren knew

54

Let us start home anyway,said Le

nel i,

“ even if i t i s early . I can ’t wai t unti ln ight to know that Mother and Baby R oseliare safe .

We ought to keep the goats up hereeating al l day

,obj ected Seppi

,

“or they

won ’t give any mi lk to-night .“ They may not give much anyway

,an

swered Leneli,

“ because they ’ve been sofrightened

,but we wi l l l et them g o slowly

and they can get a bi te here and there asthey go .

She took up her alpenstock,a long stick

which she always carried with her,hung

the l i ttl e bundle of lunch,tied up in a cloth

,

from the end of i t,put the stick over her

shoulder,and

,cal l ing Bel lo

,began at once

to herd the goats together .Seppi fol lowed her a l i ttl e doubtful ly

,and

soon they were al l on their way down thesteep mountain path . The sun was nowsh in ing agai n as bri l l iantly as ever ; thewhite clouds were floating laz i ly across thedeep blue sky

,and it did not seem as if

56

anything unusual could poss ibly have happened .

Sepp i’

s conscience troubled him . I t wasonly a thunder-storm after al l

,

! he said toLeneli

,

“ and the avalanche i s past andgone . I t can ’t do any more harm . I ’mafraid Father would n’

t l ike us to give upand go home now . He might th ink wewere no better than babies to be so scaredwhen we know we are n’

t hurt . !

Leneli did not answer,but she kept right

on going,and for a time they trudged along

in si lence . They had reached the GiantP ine where the trai l s divided

,and had

rounded a bend in the path,when Bel lo

,

who was a l i ttl e way ahead with the goats,

suddenly set up a furious barking .

I t ’s that Nanni,I do not doubt

,said

Seppi . “ She ’s probably try ing to breakher neck somewhere . He dashed aheadand disappeared around a high rock

,Le

nel i fol lowing h im at a slower pace .I n a moment Seppi came running back

to her, his face pal e wi th surprise and a larm .

S7

I t is n’

t Nanni,he gasped

,

“ i t ’

s the avalanche ! I t ’

5 al l across the pass ! We can ’tget by .

He seized hi s s i ster ’s hand and draggedher to the top of the rock which overlookedthe pass

,and there they gazed in di smay

at the scene before them . Where that morning the process ion from the vi l lage had so

gayly fol lowed the winding trai l up themountain - side

,there was now a great mass

of rocks , i ce , and snow completely blocking the path . Worse than that

,the ava

lanche had made a dam across the bedof the mountai n stream where the cattlestopped to drink , turn ing i t in to a l i ttle lakewhich was growing wider and deeper everymoment . The goats were huddled together on the brink

,bleating anxiously

,

while Bel lo,completely bewi ldered

,ran

back and forth,barking wildly .

The chi ldren knew wel l how serious thei rsi tuation was ; they were alone on the mountain , the only pass to the vi l lage closed , andwithout food except the lunch they had

58

brought from home that morning . For afew moments they watched the water ri sing steadi ly i n the l i ttl e lake

, too terrifiedto speak ; then Leneli said , “ Let ’s go backto the Giant P ine and think .

Seppi blew his l i ttl e born,but

,i nstead of

rounding up the goats,Bel lo only looked

at h im and whined . I t had been a day oftremendous surpri ses to Bel lo . Firs t Fri tz

59

had left h im ; then came the thunder-storm ;then starting home in the middle of the dayinstead of at the proper time ; and now thepath itself was gone ! No wonder he wasbewildered . Seppi dashed down to thewater’s edge and drove the goats up thetrai l again himself

,and whi le they snatched

stray mouthful s here and there about thepine tree

,he and Leneli sat down under i t

to th ink .

We can ’ t get home that way ; that’s

certain,said Seppi

,pointing to the buried

pass .“ And we can ’t stay here ei ther

,m oaned

Leneli ;“ not i f there i s a way out i n any

direction .

There '

s the path Father and Fri tz tookthis morning

,said Seppi . “ We might try

that . I t must go somewhere .

“ Perhaps that i s blocked too,sa id Le

I ’

11go a l i ttl e way and see,said Seppi .

You stay here and watch the goats .

“ Give me your horn,then

,said Leneli

,

60

“ and I ’

ll blow i t every l i ttl e whi le so youcan find your way back . You know Fatheralways tel l s us not to l eave the path becausei t ’

s so easy to get lost“ That ’s a good idea

,said Seppi . “ See

i f you can blow i t .Leneli put i t to her l ips and blew unti l

her face was purple,but ach ieved only a

di smal squawk .

“ I ’

ll keep the horn mysel f,said Seppi

,

taking i t from her,

“ and every l i ttl e whi leI ’l l blow it . You can answer by blowingon a grass stem the way you did up yonder . Girl s can ’t manage a horn anyway .

!

Leneli was too miserable to reply,and

in another m inute Seppi had disappearedup the strange path . For what seemed toher a very long time

,Leneli answered the

horn,as i t grew fainter and fainter in the

di stance . Final ly she could not hear i t at

al lOh

,what shal l I do i f Seppi

’

s gonetoo ? ! she moaned when her desperate signals brought no answer .

6 1

Then her Mother ’s words came back toher

,and

,plumping hersel f down on her

knees among the goats,she sent up a fer

vent prayer .“ Oh , dear ! od ,

she cried,clasping her

hands,

“ Mother said we should be veryclose to you on the mountain and I suppose you can see me and Seppi both at thesame time

,from where you are . Please ,

please send him back for I ’

m scared . DearGod , do please hurry and help us find theway down the mountain before i t gets dark

6 2

know about i t,so they won ’t be anx i ous

,

but i f we don ’t get home Mother wi l l th inkwe are ki l led .

“ Oh,I wish we could fly

,said Leneli .

Then we must wish for wings on the

goats too,said Seppi

,

“ for you knowFather said we must take care of themwhatever happens .

!

Sad and frightened though she was,Le

nel i giggled a l i ttle at that “ Would n’

t theylook funny flying through the ai r with youand me and Bel lo al l flopping after them ?

she said .

“ Anyway,they might go a l i ttle

faster than they do now,

! she added impat ient ly ,

giving Nanni a poke with her sti ck .

“ They are hungry,said Seppi . “ They

hardly had time to eat anyth ing before thes torm came up .

!

Then a bright idea came into h is head .

I ’m hungry,too

,he said

,

“ and so areyou . Let ’s eat our lunch whi le the goatsget a few mouthful s among the rocks

,and

then we shal l al l have more strength andshal l get along faster . !

I!

Y HERDS ! AN

I!

THE LONELY HERDS ! AN

! ! E sun was already d ipping toward thewest when they fini sh ed the last crumb oftheir bread and cheese

,washed i t down

w i th a drink from the mountain stream,and

started once more on thei r j ourney . Theyfol lowed the path without much di fficul ty

,

for i t had been trampled by the feet of manycattle that morn ing

,and at the end of an

hour had covered several mi les withoutmeeting a person or finding any sign of

human habi tation , The way grew w i lderand wilder and wound slowly upwardI t ’s going to be dark pretty soon , said

Leneli at last,trying hard to conceal the

tremble i n her vo ice,

“ and we are go ing upinstead of down . Seppi , do you supposethere are any bears and wo lves abouthere ?

Maybe,said Seppi

,and there was a

l i ttl e catch in h is throat,too .

“ But then,

he added,try ing hard to look on the bright

side of things,i f there are

,they ’d be much

more l ikely to eat the goats . I don ’t bel ievethey care much about eating people .

“ Well,anyway

,i f they do

,quavered

Leneli,I hOpe they

’

11begin with Nanni .The afternoon waned ; the shadows grewlonger and longer

,and they were j ust mak

ing up thei r minds that they must soon l iedown among the goats beside the trai l andwait for morn ing

,when a turn in the path

brought them out on a spur of the mountain where they could look for mi les acrossa deep val ley towards the west . On thefarther side

,range after range of snow

capped peaks gave back the golden gloryof the sunset, and from somewhere camethe sound of an Alpine horn playing thefirst few notes of the hymn “ Praise Ye theLord .

“ The Angelus ! cri ed Leneli claspingher hands . “ They can ’t hear the church

68

bel l s up here,so they blow the horns in

stead .

Far away across the val l ey another hornanswered

,then another and another

,and

the echoes took up the refrain unti l i t seemed

as i f the h i l l s themselves were s inging .

Following eagerly the di rection of thesound the chi ldren were overj oyed to see

69

in the d istance a lonely herdsman standingon a great rock overlooking the valley

,his

long Alpine horn in h is hand , and his headbowed in prayer . Leneli and Seppi bowedtheir heads too

,and it comforted them to

think that their mother i n the old farm -house,

and Father and Fri tz on the far-away alp,

were al l at that same moment praying too .

I t seemed to bring them near together inspite of the distance which separated them .

Their prayers said,the ch i ldren hastened

forward,driving the goats before them

,and

now the sound of cow -bel l s mingled withthe ti nkle of the bel l s on the goats . Another turn i n the path revealed a greenpasture where a herd of cows was graz ing

,

and,j ust beyond

,a rough shel ter made of

logs with the herdsman,sti l l holding h is

horn,standing beside it . He was gazing in

aston ishment at the s ight of two l i ttle ch ildren alone on the mountains at so late anhour . He was an old man , with a shaggywhite beard

,and strange kind eyes that

seemed always looking for someth ing that

70

! e ran forward barking j oyful ly ; the twodogs smel led each other

,and then trotted

back down the path together as i f they hadbeen friends since they were puppies .

The man fol lowed at a slower pace .

What in the world are you doing up hereon the mountains with your goats at thi stime 0’ day ? ! he said to the ch i ldren .

The Twins told h im their story,and he

stood for a moment scratching h is head,as

if he were much puzzled to know what todo with them .

“ Well,he said at l ength

,

“ you can ’tget down the mountain to -night

,that ’

s certai n ; and you must be hungry enough toeat an ox roasted whol e

,that ’

s certain too.

And your goats are hungry into the bargain . Goats are n’

t al lowed in th is pasture,

but they must n ’t starve ei ther . Noth ing isas i t should be .

He scratched h is head again,and Leneli

,

fearing he was going to turn them away,

could not keep a large tear from rol l ingdown her nose and splashing Off her chin .

7 2

There,there

,said the old herdsman

,

comfortingly,don ’t you cry

,s issy . Things

are n’

t so bad but that they might be worse .

You can sleep in the hay up yonder,he

j erked his thumb toward the hut,

“ and I ’ l lgive you a bi te to eat, and the goats wi l lhelp themselves

,I ’

v e no manner of doubt.We can drink goat’s mi lk

,

! said Lenelitimidly , “ and you may have al l we don ’ttakef

’

“ We ’ l l have to milk them first,said

Seppi , “ and we ’ve never done i t before .

Mother always does the milking .

“ I know how , said Leneli proudly .

Don ’t you remember, Fritz taught me theday Nanni swal lowed my lunch ? !

I ’ l l l end you a milk-pai l , said theherdsman .

“ The cows were al l mi lkedsome time ag o.

He went back to the but and soon re

appeared with two pai l s , and as Lenelistruggled with one goat he mi lked another,whi le Seppi fed both creatures with tufts ofgrass to keep them quiet . I t was the first

73

good grass the goats had seen since morning

,and apparently they were determined

to eat the pasture clean .

The herdsman looked at them anx iouslyand scratched h is head again .

“ They certainly have heal thy appeti tes , he said woeful ly ; “ th ey don ’t calculate to leave anything beh ind ’em but stones and gravel !The mi lking took some time and after i twas done

,the old man placed the sad and

tired chi ldren on the bench beside h is door,

and whi l e they ate the food he gave themand watched the moon rise over the mountains

,he told them about h is home in the

vi l lage fi fteen miles away at the foot of thepass , and about his wife and two grandch i ldren who l ived there with him

“ The only thing you can do,he said

,

i s to go down the pass on thi s s ide of

the mountain . You can spend the night atmy house or at some farm -house on theway and i t i s only about ten mi les backto your own vi l lage from the foot of thepass .

But how can we find the way ? quavered poor Leneli .The Old man scratched hi s head

,as he

always did when he was puzz led,and final ly

said,

“ Well,I ’

m blest ifI can tel l you. I t ’sa hard pass . I ’

d go with you,but I ’

m alonehere and I can ’t l eave the cows even for

75

hal f a day . I ’

ll start you right,the dog and

the goats have some sense of their own,

and the good ! od wil l guide you. Bes ides,

Swiss boys and girls are never afraid .

!

I ’m a l i ttle afraid,I thi nk

,confessed

Leneli . She looked at the moon and thoughthow i t must be shin ing down on the Old

farm -house and of her mother,who at that

very moment must be franti c wi th fears fortheir safety ; and Of the long and peri lousj ourney before they could see her again

,

and though she tried hard to swal low them,

three l i ttl e sobs sl ipped out .

The Old man heard them .

“ Why,bless

me,bless me

,

! he said,rumpl ing h is hair

unti l i t stood on end,th i s wi l l never do at

al l ! Why , bl ess us , th ink of Wil l iam Tel l !Think of Peter

,who l ived long ago in your

own Lucerne,and who saved the whole

ci ty ! To take a l i ttle herd Of goats down astrange pass i s chi ld ’s play compared withwhat he did ; and he was only a boy l ikeSeppi here

,and I always thought girls

were braver than boys .

!

76

Leneli sat up and sni ffed resolutely .

“ Ith i nk— I ’

m almost sure I ’m going tobe brave now

,she said .

“ Tel l us about

Peter.“ Wel l

,i t was l ike th is

,said the herds

man . Peter was a smart,l i kely lad enough

,

but nobody thought he was a hero . I n fact,he never suspected i t h imself. You see

, you

can ’t te l l whether you are one or not unti lsometh ing happens that cal l s for courage .

Then if you do the right thing ,whether you

are afraid or not,you ’ l l know you are one .

Well,one summer night th is Peter went

out to have a swim in the lake,and when

he crawled up on the bank to dress again,

he was so'

t ired he fel l as leep . By and by hewas wakened by voices and

,Opening hi s

eyes,he saw five or s ix men creeping steal th

i ly along the lake - shore .

Aha,

’ says Peter to h imself,

‘that ’

s notthe walk of honest men .

’

He got up on his elbow in the longgrass and watched them without being seen .

He saw many more men steal s i l ently after

77

the first group,and among them he recog

nized the Bai l i ff Of R othenburg,whom he

knew to be an Austrian and the swornenemy of Lucerne . He saw the men talktogether and heard enough of what theysaid to be sure that danger threatened h isbeloved town . SO when they moved on

,he

fol lowed them,s l ipping along beh ind rocks

and bushes,unti l suddenly they disappeared

as if the earth had swal lowed them . Petergroped about hunting for them unti l at lasthe saw a faint l ight shining from out a darkcavern among the rocks . Then

,though he

knew how dangerous i t was,he fol lowed

the l ight and found h imself in a long,dark

tunneL

“ Oh,shuddered Leneli . I could never

be as brave as that . I don ’t l i ke dark places .

“ Peter knew that a tunnel ran underneath the wal ls of the town and that theother end of i t Opened by a trap-door into astable i n Lucerne

,went on the old man

without notic ing Leneli ’s i nterruption,

“ andat once he saw that some trai tor must have

78

bly angry .

‘How did you come here,

’ heroared

,i n avoic e that made the earth shake .

“ ‘I was as leep on the bank and youwoke me up

,so I fol lowed to see what was

going on,

’ said Peter .“ ‘I don ’t bel i eve you . Some one sent

you to spy U pon us,

’ said ! ean de Malters ,and he shook Peter . ‘Who sent you ? ’

N0 one,

’ said Peter . ‘I have told youthe truth .

’

“ ‘You l ie,

’ said h is captor . ‘I ’

11 give

you j ust two minutes to tel l who sent you ,and if you do not tel l us then

,you shall

di e ! ’

“ Poor Peter thought Of hi s home and hismother and father

,and there never was a

more homes i ck boy i n the world than hewas at that moment , but though he wasterribly frightened

,he did not say a single

word .

‘He shal l die,then

,

’ said j ean de Malters

,when the two minutes were up

,and

Peter had not spoken .

“ One of the Austrians interfered .

‘No,

80

3

he said .

‘I t would be bad luck to begin thenight ’s work by shedding the blood of ach i ld . Make him swear he wi l l not te l l whathe has seen to any l ivi ng soul

,and let him

g O’

I n spite of j ean de Malters , who wasbound that he should be ki l led

,that was

what they did,and the moment he was free

you may be sure Peter ran l ike the windfor home .

Now you see,said the old herdsman

,

and he shook his finger at Seppi and Lenel i

,

“ th is was a dreadful pos ition for Peter .He had solemnly promised not to tel l a l iving soul what he had seen and heard

,but if

he did n’

t tel l,his parents and friends would

be murdered before morn ing .

“ That evening his father and a numberof other men were gathered together in thetown hal l of Lucerne to talk over com m u

mi ty affairs,when Peter suddenly burst into

the room,h is eyes as big as saucers .

The men gathered about h im,th inking

he must have some tremendous piece of

81

news,but Peter spoke never a word to them .

I nstead,he marched up to the great poree

lain stove that stood in the room .

O Stove,

’ said Peter, I have j ust heardterrible things which I have promised not totel l to a l iv ing soul

,but you,

O Stove,have

no soul , so to you I wi l l say that the Aust rians are now in the tunnel underneath thewal ls and that at midnight they wil l breakin and sack the town .

’

“ At first the men thought Peter had gonecrazy

,but when he had fin ished tel l ing the

stove al l he had seen and heard,they flew

to alarm the town and get their weapons .“ At midnight

,when the Austrians came

up through the hole i n the stable floor,they

were received by a l i ttle army of men of

Lucerne,and in the battl e that fol lowed

they were compl etely whipped and drivenfrom the town forever . And i t was Peterwho saved the city .

“ You see that was Peter ’s chance t o showwhat he was made of

, and he did n’

t missh is chance . He did the right th ing

,even

82

though he was afraid . I t ’s a great thingnot to miss one ’s chance .

The Old herdsman looked up at the moonas if he had n’

t meant any one i n partic ularwhen he said that about m i ssm g one

’schance

,and the chi ldren did n ’ t say a word

for a minute .

Then Seppi said,

“ I f Peter could save awhole town

,I guess we can get down that

pass with a few goats“ Why

,of course

,said the herdsman .

I t ’s your chance,you see

,and when you

get home very l ikely you ’l l find you areboth heroes . You see i f there were neverany danger

,there never could be any heroes

at al l I Now cl imb up into the hay,both of

you , and I’l l wake you for an early start

i n the morning .

!

THE PASS

flowed near the hut . Then there were thegoats to be mi lked

,and breakfast to be eaten ,

and the shadows were already shorten ingwhen at last they were ready for thei r lonelyand dangerous journey .

The old herdsman packed some breadand cheese i n thei r lunch-cloth

,Leneli slung

the bundle on her alpenstock,and Seppi

cal led Bel lo to herd the goats . But the goatswere wel l pleased with the rich green grassof the alp

,and were unwil l i ng to leave the

pasture . They fris ked and gamboled ands tood on their h ind legs butting each otherplayful ly

,and i t was some time before

Seppi and Bel lo could get them fairlystarted .

The old herdsman had done his mi lkingvery early in order to g o a l i ttl e way withthe ch i ldren

,and now

,l eaving the cows in

charge of his fai thful dog,he l ed the way

down the steep mountain path .

The morning air was so clear and sparkl ing and the sun shone so bright upon thesnow-capped peaks

,that the chi ldren almost88

forgot the dangers of the unknown path .

I t seemed imposs ible that anything couldhappen to them in such a wonderful andbeauti ful world

,and they said good-bye

qui te cheerful ly to the good Old herdsmanwhen at last he stopped and told them hemust go back to his cheese-making . Fromthe place where they stood

,they could see

the path l ike a tiny thread,winding through

forests,down a long

,narrow val ley shut in

by high cl i ffs,past waterfal ls fed by moun

tain snows,and los i ng i tsel f at last where

a tiny white steepl e marked the l i ttle vi llage which was the home of the Old herdsman . The old man pointed to i t . “ Fol lowthe path and remember Peter of Lucerne

,

he said “ Thi s i s your chance ! Trust thegood God

,do not be afraid

,and soon your

troubles wil l be over and you wil l be oncemore in your mother ’s arms . He stoodon a rock and watched the l i ttl e processionunti l a bend in the path h id it from sight

,

then he went back to his lonely pasture .For an hour or so, the ch i ldren trudged

89

quite cheerful ly on their way .

“ Thi s i s n’

t

hard at al l , said Seppi . “ The pass i s easier to fol low than our own. How si l ly wewere to be scared !They were so used to cl imbing about inperi lous places that when a l i ttl e later thepath led them along a shelf- l i ke projectionon the s ide Of steep cl i ffs , overhanging amountain stream

,they were not frightened .

But when they began to grow ti red , and thetrai l l ed them into a dark forest

,where the sun

came through the thick boughs and shoneonly i n patches of l ight upon the sl ipperyspruce needles

,they grew less courageous .

“ I don ’t l ike the forest,said Leneli ,

sh ivering a l i ttl e and looking behind her .“ I t always seems as if things would happen to you in the woods . ’

“ What kind Of th ings ? said Seppi , whowas beginning to feel a bi t shaky h imsel f.

“ Why—you know,answered Leneli ,

the kind of th ings that giants and dragonsand dwarfs do ! And then there

’

s that storyabout Pontius Pi late . You know our old

90

! uh ! said Seppi scornful ly . Girls ’

talk ! Of course I don ’t bel ieve such things ;besides

,he only comes out on Good Fri

day,anyway !Well , said Leneli , “ lots Of people do

bel ieve them,even grown -up people .

!

Pooh,said Seppi

,and j ust to show

that he did n’

t care at al l about such idletales he began to whistle ; but Leneli noticed that he too looked beh ind h im nowand then .

I t grew more and more difficul t to findthe way

,for there were openings between

the trees that looked l ike paths and the truepath wound in and out

,and came near los

ing i tself enti rely among the rocks . Thebrown needles covered the ground in everydirection

,so the pass was no di fferent i n

color from the rest Of the forest floor . Whenthey looked behind them or peered fearful lyunder the spruce boughs for dwarfs orgiants ,of course they were not watch ing the trai lcareful ly

,and so

,when suddenly there was

a loud whirring noise above the trees and

92

a great bird flew almost over their heads ,they were so startl ed they j ust ran withoutnotic ing whi ch way they were going . Bel lowas startled too

,and began to bark . This

started the goats and before you could say“

j ack R obinson chi ldren , dog ,goats , and

al l were gal loping pel l -mell through thewoods .

After the loud whirring noise the forestwas sti l l again

,and the chi ldren stopped

their mad race,but they could not stop the

goats . On and on they ,ran with Bel lo after

them,and there was noth ing for the chi l

dren to do but fol low,for had not their

father told them that the welfare of the wholefami ly depended upon the goats

,and if any

should be lost,they alone would be to

blame ? Stumbl i ng over roots,dodging trees

and rocks,they plunged wildly along unti l

finally they saw a l ight spot ahead and amoment later came out suddenly upon theedge of a precipice

,from which they could

look straight down into a deep val ley below .

The goats were there before them huddled

93

together on the brow of the cl i ff,bleating

pi teously . Bel lo sat on h is haunches withhis tongue hanging out and looked at thescenery ! Seppi and Leneli looked at eachother i n dismay .

“ Now you ’

ve done it ! said Seppi miserably .

“ We ’

ve lost the path,and i t ’s al l

your faul t ! I f we had been th inking aboutPeter of Lucerne instead of about thoses i l ly old giants and dwarfs

,th is would not

have happened .

“ You were j ust as scared as I was,said

Leneli,

“ and you need n’

t try to lay i t al lon me ! You j umped and ran j ust as soonas I d id

,when that bird flew over our

headsf’

Seppi knew that thi s was true,so he said

nobly ! “ ! ery wel l,l e t ’s not quarrel about

i t . What we need to do i s to get the goatsback to the path .

He took some sal t from his pocket,as

h is big brother had taught him to do,and

walked slowly toward them,holding out hi s

hand . Nann i s tretched her neck forward

94

the frightened group on the cl i ff,and

,stick

ing his terrible talons into Nann i ’s back,

tried to l i ft her bodi ly into the air ! For aninstant she swung dizzi ly over the edge Ofthe cl i ff as the eagle beat hi s wings furi

ous ly i n an effort to ri se with h is heavyburden . But i n that instant Seppi leapedforward and

,seiz ing the goat by the tai l

,

pul led back with al l h i s might . Lenelisprang to the rescue of Seppi

,grasping

him firmly around the waist,and screaming

l ike a wi ldcat as she added her strength toh i s .

Meanwhil e Bel lo barked furious ly,and

the rest of the goats fled bleating into thewoods in a mad stampede . I t was al l overin less time that i t takes to tel l i t . The goat,wounded and bleeding

,dropped to the

ground , the great bird soared away intothe dizzy spaces beyond the cl i ff

,and the

chi ldren dashed into the shel ter of the woods,

dragging Nanni after them . They could nots ink down on the ground and recover fromtheir fright as they longed to do

,for by this

96

time the goats had scattered among thetrees and must be brought together againat once . Bel lo was distractedly trying toround them up

,but as he had no idea of

97

the direction in which to drive them, theywere al l gal lop ing wi ldly about, first thi sway

,then that .

I t was some time before the chi ldrensucceeded in getting the flock togetheragain

,but at last they were able to drive

them farther i nto the woods,and away from

the dangers of the cl i ffs,and were soon

fortunate enough to come upon a l i ttle mountain stream which was s inging its waythrough the forest . Here the goats stoppedwil l ingly to drink

,and for the first time the

ch i ldren were able to give some attentionto Nanni . Her back was torn and bloody ,but her injuries were not serious and on

the whole she seemed l i ttl e the worse forher experience .

“ We must let al l the goats rest a l i ttle,

said Seppi . “ ! here i s n ’t any food forthem

,but they can have a good drink whi le

we eat our lunch , and then we j ust m us t

find that path .

They sat down on a rock and Leneliopened the bundle of food which the old

98

Seppi thought about th is so serious lythat for a minute he forgot to eat . Then hesaid

,

“ Why,of course we are ! We were

scared but we did the right thing ! My,but

I ’

m glad ! He sighed with rel i ef and tooka big bite and munched away in s i l ence .

At last he said solemnly,

“ Of course,

now that we know we real ly are heroes,we

won ’t be scared any more ! We ’

11stop before we begin !

Leneli looked doubtful . “ I ’m afraid Ishal l be scared again if we don ’t find thePass

,she said .

“ We might die up herei n the mountains j ust l ike Moses i n sightof the promised land . And some time maybea hunter would find our bones lying scattered about on the ground .

! She sni ffed al ittl e at thi s pathetic picture

,and her eyes

fi l l ed with tearsLook here

,said Seppi

,j umping to h is

feet and gaz ing down at her sternly .

“ I sthat any way for a hero to talk ? Theyare n’

t going to find any bones of mine,I

can tel l you ! I’

m going to get down th is100

mountain with al l the goats , and so areyou ! !

Well,said the heroine

,doubtful ly

,

“ Iwas on ly supposing .

Well,then

,don ’t suppose that way

,

growled Seppi . j ust suppose we find thepass and get somewhere in time for supper ,and get home to-morrow !At that very minute a bright thoughtstruck him .

“ What a s i l ly ! he said .

“ Whydid n’

t I th ink of i t before ? This stream runsdown hil l

,and if we fol low it we shal l have

to get down to the val ley,too . Come along !

He was in such a hurry to carry out hisidea that he started at once with h is breadand cheese in his hand .

But maybe i t won ’t be anywhere nearthe vi l lage where the herdsman ’s home is ,i f we do get down

,obj ected Leneli ; “ we

ought to find the path .

!

We ’l l be more l ikely to find i t by following the s tream

,said Seppi

,giving a

loud blast on his horn,

“ and if we don’

tfind that vi l lage

,we ’l l find another place

10 1

j ust as good . I ’

ll bet there are some kindpeopl e everywhere .

Bel lo was at that moment barking downa hol low log i n the hope of catch ing a hare,but he obediently rounded up the goatswhen Seppi cal l ed him

,and the l i ttl e cara

van began to move .

I t was not so simple as i t sounded . Thestream had worn a deep channel amongthe rocks . Trees had fal len across i t

,under

mined by the swift current . Here i t roaredthrough a narrow gorge and there spreadinto a wide pool

,then again plunged

through underbrush and among rocks in i tshaste to reach the lake far below . The goatsmade slow progress and

,whenever i t was

poss ible to do so,wandered away in to

easier paths and had to be driven back .

At last,to their great rel ief

,the chi ldren

saw a break in the trees,and they rushed

joyful ly forward,only to find that the stream

at this poin t leaped over a cl i ff in a waterfal l fifty feet h igh ! The young explorersgazed at th i s new difficul ty without a word .

10 2

way to a place where i t was possibl e toford the stream

,and i n a l i ttl e whi le the

whole caravan stood dripping on the farther bank .

I ’

m going to fol low along the edge ofth i s cl i ff

,said Seppi

,and you and the

goats fol low after me . I ’m sure we shal lfind a place where we can get down . I ’l lkeep cal l i ng

,so you ’ l l know which way to

go .

’

He plunged into the forest at the wordand was lost to s ight

,and Leneli

,driving

the goats before her,plunged after h im .

Guided by the sound of the waterfal l,they

forced their way through underbrush,over

great pi les of rocks and around peri louscurves

,seeking alway s the lower level s ,

unti l at last,when she was almost ready to

give up in despair,Leneli heard a joyful

shout from Seppi and,hasten ing forward

,

found him at the edge of the forest,looking

out over a wide range of footh i l l s . Theforest was now behind them ,

and beforethem lay green slopes spangled l ike the

104

stars i n the mi lky way with yel low daffodi lsand blue gentians .

The goats,wild with del ight at seeing

fresh pasturage,l eaped forward and began

to browse , and dear Old Bel lo sat down onhis haunches with hi s tongue hanging outand gazed upon the scene ‘as benevolentlyas if h i s own stomach were ful l instead of

empty . The chi ldren were so weary theythrew themselves down in the grass bes ideh im to rest .

05

Now that they had escaped the peri l s ofthe forest

,i t almost seemed to them for a

l i ttl e whi le as i f thei r troubles were over,

but by and by Seppi sat up and studied thescene before them . He looked past the longslopes to the glacier and the river i n theval ley below .

We ’ve got to get across that somehow ,

! he said to Leneli,at last

,pointing to

the stream,and there are only two ways

of doing it . When we get down there,we

must ei ther g o through the river, or acrossthe glacier which feeds i t . !

“ We can ’t go through it,answered Le

nel i . “ We don ’t know how deep i t is . !

“ Then i t wi l l have to be the glacier,

said Sepp i,

“ and I ’m glad goats are so

sure-footed . We ’

d better start along,for

i t ’s getting later every minute,and I ’m

bound to reach that farm-house beforedark . He pointed to a speck in the distance .

Oh , dear, s ighed Leneli , as she followed h is finger w i th her eye , i t ’s l ike dy

106

might strike a hol low place and fal l throughthe crust .I ’

ll be careful , said LeneliAll right

,then ! here we g o ! said Seppi .

I can j ust smell those pancakes ! andwith that he set out across the river of ice .

The chi ldren understood very wel l thedangers of the glaciers . I t was not simplya frozen stream on which one might skate .I t was a great slow-moving

,grinding ava

lanche of i ce and rocks,ful l of seams and

cracks and holes,which was creeping stead

i ly down the val ley . The river formed bythe melting snows

,gushed forth from be

neath i t and rushed away to j oin the lakesti l l far below .

Even the goats knew i t was a peri lousj ourney

,and besides they were unwi l l ing

to leave the rich grass of the fields,so i t

was with some difficul ty that they werefinal ly driven forward upon the glacier .Seppi led the way

,blowing on hi s l i ttl e horn

to encourage them,trying every step with

his sti ck,and wai ting for them to catch up

108

before going farther . They were nearly halfway across

,when Seppi stopped and cal led

to Leneli to stand sti l l . There in front ofhimyawned a wide crevasse . The frozen riverhad cracked Open

,and if they went forward

in a straight l ine they would plunge downinto an ice prison from which they couldnever escape al ive .

I t was the hardest puzz le and the greatest danger they had met in their wholej ourney

,and for a minute poor Seppi al

most gave up indespai r. He thought theywould have to g o back and try the riverafter al l . Shouting to Leneli to keep thegoats together i f she could

,he turned and

m ade h is way up- stream along the edge Ofthe crevasse . I t grew narrower as he followed it

,and broke into a number ofsm aller

cracks .

The only way to get to the other sidewas to fol low along these smal l er crackswhere they made a crooked natural bridgeacross the chasm . Even Seppi

’

s stout heartquai l ed a l i ttl e as he gazed down into the

109

depths of the huge rifts . The wal ls of i cegleamed with wonderful greens and blues

,

but he had no heart to admire the beauti fulcolors .

R emember Peter of Lucerne,and come

on,he shouted back to Leneli

,and without

another word started across the treacherousice bridge . I t made no di fference whethershe was frightened or not

,Leneli simply

had to fol low him even though the goats,

sure-footed as they were,shrank from the

j ourney,and Bel lo hung back and whined .

Fol low exactly i n my footsteps,shouted

Seppi,and Leneli swal lowed a lump in her

throat,grasped her alpenstock more firmly

and went forward .

Don ’t look down into the hole ! Lookat the bridge across i t ! shouted Seppi .He stepped careful ly forward , finding

sol id footing with hi s stick before each step,

and in a short time stood safely on the otherside of the chasm . There he waited andheld his breath

,while the goats pi cked thei r

way dainti ly across the ice bridge after him ,

I 10

edge and once more stood on sol id ground .

Even Bel lo seemed to real iz e that theirtroubles were now nearly over

,for he

barked and ran round them in circl es andleaped up with h is paws on thei r shouldersto give them dog kisses

,and

,as for his tai l

he nearly wagged i t loose in h is joy . Thegoats sprang forward to reach the grass

,

and when the ch i ldren drove them on,

snatched greedy mouthfuls as they passed .

The chi ldren could see the farm-housegrowing from a mere speck larger andlarg er as they came down the val l ey towardi t

,and at las t the l i ttl e group of stragglers

pattered into the door-yard .

The noise ofbl eating goats and a barking

dog brought the farmer’s wife to the door

,

and for a moment she stood there with herbaby in her arms and looked down at themin astoni shment

,j ust as the Old herdsman

had done on the mountain .

Where in the world did you comefrom ?

! she cried at last. “ Who are you ?

and what do you want here ? !

I I 2

Leneli opened her mouth to answer, butwhen she saw the woman ’s kind face

,and

the bab y sucking its thumb and looking atthem sol emnly , i t reminded her so of hermother and Baby R oseli that

,i nstead ofex

plain ing,she burst i nto tears .

The woman clattered down the steps at1 13

once,put her free arm around Leneli , and

patted her comforti ngly , while Seppi toldher thei r story . Before he had got fartherthan the avalanche part of i t, she seemed toguess al l the rest . I t was not the first timethat people had been lost on the mountain .

Come right in th is minute,she cried .

Don ’ t stop to talk ! You must be as hungry as wolves . I ’ l l get you something toeat

,and then you can tel l me every word .

Please,

! said Leneli timidly,drying her

tears,

“ could you give Bel lo someth ingfirst ? The goats have had a l i ttle grassand we had some bread and cheese

,but

Bel lo has n’

t had a bite al l day .

Bless my soul ! said the woman .

What a l i ttl e woman it i s,to th ink first of

the dog ! Here,she cried to Seppi ; take

th is bone to h im right away,and shut up

the goats i n the barn -yard . Then comeback and I ’l l give you whatever you l ikebest

,i f I ’ve got i t !

“ I f you please , ma’am

,said Seppi

,his

eyes shin ing,

“ up on the mountain whenI I4

flew about the ki tchen,rattl i ng pots and

pans,sti rri ng up the fire

,and mixing her

batter ; and when Seppi returned , the smel lof pancakes was already in the air

,and

the soup was bubbl ing in the pot . I n fiveminutes more the chi ldren were seated atthe ki tchen table w ith steaming bowls before them

,whi le thei r new friend cooked a

pi l e of pancakes that i t would have warmedthe cockles of your heart to see .

The farmer h im self was far away on thehigh alps with his cattl e

,and came down

the mountain only once in a whi l e with aload of cheeses on his back . H is wife wasvery lonely in hi s absence and was glad tohave company

,i f only for a s ingl e n ight ;

so she comforted the chi ldren and talkedw ith them about thei r mother, and pi ledpancakes on thei r plates unti l they couldnot hold another mouthful . Then she helpedthem milk . the goats

,and when the sun

went down,sent them to bed so they would

be wel l rested for their long walk the nextday .

! I

DS AND OLD

The baby was already seated in her h ighchair at the table

,beating upon i t wi th a

spoon to welcome them,and the chi ldren

were soon seated beside her putting awaya great store of the good mush . The farmer’s wife had no one but the baby to talkto during the long days when her husbandwas away

,and she made the most of her

time whi le the ch i ldren were with her . Shetold them al l about her cows and her pigsand her chi ckens

,j ust how much hay her

husband brought down from his highlandmeadow on his back the previous summer

,

and how many cheeses he expected to bringhome from the alp at the end of the season. And when at last they had eaten al lthey could

,she put up a lunch for them

,

and gave them ful l d i rections for reach ingtheir own vi l lage .

“ I t ’s not hard at al l,said she

,

“ forthough it i s sti l l a long way to the foot Ofthe mountain

,you ’ve only to fol low the

road,and if you don ’t know which turn to

take at a cross-roads , there’

11always be12 0

somebody to ask somewhere along the way .

I f you could get so far down the mountainand across the glacier by yourselves you ’venoth ing to fear now

,and you

’

d better makeal l the speed you can

,for my heart bleeds

for y our poor mother . She must be hal fdead with anxiety by now .

’

She kissed them good -bye at the doorand stood with her baby on her arm

,gaz

ing after them when they drove the goatsout of the door—yard and started down thehighway toward their home . They did notforget to thank their kind hostess

,and after

they had started turned again and again toWave a farewel l to her . She waved to themin return

,and the baby al so fluttered her

tiny pink hand unti l they were qu i te out ofs ight .

“ We ’

11never forget her,shall we ? said

Leneli .

“ Never,answered Seppi

,fervently .

She ’s almost as good as Mother ! Anddoes n’

t she make good pancakes,though ?

They set their faces z northward and4m

trudged along,hurrying rather than slack

ing their speed as the mi les lengthened behind them

,for as the di stance between them

and thei r home shortened,the ir eagerness

to get there i ncreased . I t was a good twelvemiles from the farm-house where they hadspent the night to thei r own vi l lage

,and a

mi le th is s ide of the vi l lage and a mi leup the mountain -S lope was their own dearhome . This

,to the sturdy Swiss boy and

g i rl , brought up in the mountains , was nota hard walk

,but they knew that goats must

not be driven too fast if they are expectedto give any mi lk

,so i t was late afternoon

before the cavalcade reached the foot of

thei r own h i l l-s ide and began the last cl imbof the weary j ourneyThe chi ldren could see their own roof,weighted down by stones

,peeping over the

edge of the h i l l l ong before they were anywhere near it

,and they fastened their home

s ick eyes upon i t as a sai lor fixes his uponthe North Star at sea . Now they could seethe whole house

,with the goat-shed and12 2

Mother is n’

t in i t,sobbed Leneli . “ Where

can she be ? And ! osel i too !R oseli i s where Mother i s

,you may be

sure,

! said Seppi .They ran outdoors again

,and found

Bel lo barking madly at Nanni,who was

having a bl i ssful time with the carrot- tops,

which she refused to leave even whenBel lo

,who knew very wel l she should n’

t

be in the garden at al l,nipped at her heels .

“ We ’

11have to shut up the goats,said

Seppi,as he ran to Bel lo ’s assi stance .

They drove them into the shed,gave

them some hay,and then rested their weary

legs for a moment,s i tting on the ki tchen

steps,whi le they considered what to do

nex tThen an awful thought struck Leneli .The avalanche ! she gasped .

“ Maybeshe was caught by i t !Seppi grew pale and gulped down a sob .

NO,he said

,when after a moment he

could speak .

“ I don ’t bel ieve i t ! There ’sno s ign of the avalanche about here , and

124

Mother never goes away from home . She ’

s

trying to find us that ’

s what she ’s doing !Leneli col lapsed on the step .

“ Oh,Seppi

,

she cried,

“ do you suppose she ’s lost onthe mountain j ust as we ’ve found ourselvesand got home again ? The thought wastoo much for her

,and she sobbed afresh .

“ Well,said Sepp i

,

“ crying won ’t doany good . L et ’s go and see if we can findher .Weary as they were

,they started at once

to their feet to begin this new quest,even

though the shadows were long across theflower- starred mountain - slopes and the sunwas already sink i ng toward the west .As they rounded the corner of the house

,

Seppi gave a j oyful shout and pointed upthe goat-path toward the mountain . There ,a long distance Off

,they saw thei r mother

coming toward them with Baby R oseli i nher arms ! Even at that di stance they couldsee that she looked weary and sad

,for her

head drooped and her step was slow .

All their own weariness vanished l ike12 5

magic at s ight of her,and with a shout that

waked the echoes on Old Pilatus theybounded up the path to meet her .She heard the shout

,and

,shading her

eyes with her hand,looked eagerly in the

direction of the sound , and in another minute mother and ch i ldren were clasped ineach other ’s arms

,whi le Baby R oseli crowed

with del ight from a nes t i n the midst ofgrass and flowers where she had been suddenly depos i ted .

For a moment they gave themselves upto the j oy of reunion

,then Seppi said

proudly ! “ We brought the goats safelyhome

,Mother . They are al l i n the shed .

!

“ I thought you had been swal lowed upby the avalanche , sobbed thei r mother,clasping them again to her heart . “ All themen of the vi l lage are now up the mountain -s ide search ing for you and trying tobreak a fresh path to the goat-pastures .

They must be told that you are safe .

She sprang to her feet,and started back

up the path . Then she thought of Seppi’

s

12 6

though it sounded much l ike the crowing ofa young rooster i n imitation of an Old one

,

he did manage to ach ieve the first few notesof Fritz ’s tune . Soon a head appeared abovea rock far up the trai l

,then a whole man

scrambled to the top of i t and gazed earnes t ly at the l i ttl e group i n the path below .

Again Seppi sounded his horn,hi s mother

flung out her apron l ike a flag of victory,

and al l of them,i ncluding R oseli

,waved

their arm s so j oyously that there was nomistaking the message . With an answeringshout the man dropped out of sight againbehind the rock

,and a few moments later

they saw him runn ing down the hi l ls idetoward the vi l lage .

Soon the church -bel l was clanging joyful ly from the belfry

,carrying the news of

the wanderers ’ safe return to every onewi thin hearing dis tance . Bel l s from the adj oini ng vi l lage j oined the clamor , and hornsanswering from distant crags told the gladnews . The toi l ers on the mountain - sideheard and rej oiced .

12 8

From the cl i ffs where the echoes l ivedcame shout after shout

,and soon the women

of the vi l lage,who had been watching with

the distracted mother and helping in thework of the men

,came hurrying down the

goat-path to welcome the wanderers andrejoice over their safe return . They werej oined by one and another of the men asthey returned from the mountain -s ide

,unti l

qu ite a group had gathered in the blossoming field to hear the chi ldren tel l the storyof their peri lous adventures . They werestanding thus when the sun dipped behindthe western h i l l s and the Angelus once morecal led the countryside to prayer . With grateful hearts and bowed heads

,neig hbors and

friends gave thanks to ! od for his mercies,

then scattered to their own fires ides,l eaving

the happy mother and ch i ldren together .When they entered the kitchen of the oldfarm-house once more

,the ti ny wooden

cuckoo hOpped out of hi s tiny wooden doorand shouted “ cuckoo ! seven times

,and

when they had eaten thei r supper,and the

1 2 9

children sat beside the great stove tel l ingtheir mother al l over again about the oldherdsman

,and the eagle

,and the farmer ’s

w ife,and al l the other events of their three

days on the mountain,the cuckoo waited

fifteen whole minutes beyond the hour before he could make up hi s mind to remindthem of bed- time . Then he stuck his headout once more and cried “ cuckoo quitehysterical ly eight times . Even then theyl ingered to talk about Father and Fri tz faraway in the h igh alps

,and of how glad

they were that they knew nothing of thedangers and anxieti es they had j ust beenthrough .

Dear me ! said the mother,ri s ing at

last,

“ how fast the time goes when we arehappy ! I t ’s long past your bed hour

,and

you must be very ti red . We must stoptalking this v ery minute ! !

She sent the ch i ldren upstairs,tucked

them in bed,heard thei r prayers

,and kissed

them good- night. Then she came back tothe ki tchen

,patted Bel lo

,who was sound

130

When at last the sound of her foots tepsceased

,and the house was quiet for the

night,th e cuckoo stuck out his head and

looked about the si l en t ki tchen . The moonl ight streamed i n at the eastern window

,

the l i ttl e mouse was creeping from her hole,

and the shadows were whispering togetheri n corners .

“ On the whole,said the cuckoo to him

self,

“ I th ink I ’

ve managed th is thing verywel l . Every one i s happy again

,and now

I can take a l i ttle rest mysel f. The pastthree days have been very wearying to onewith my responsibi l i ti es .

“ Cuckoo,he cal led n ine times

,then the

tiny wooden door clapped shut,and he too

went to sleep .