Heidi | Page 4

her tales, lived among the scenes and
people she describes, and the setting of her stories has the charm of the
mountain scenery amid which she places her small actors.
Her chief works, besides Heidi, were:-- Am Sonntag; Arthur und
Squirrel; Aus dem Leben; Aus den Schweizer Bergen; Aus Nah und
Fern; Aus unserem, Lande; Cornelli wird erzogen; Einer vom Hause
Lesa; 10 Geschichten fur Yung und Alt; Kurze Geschichten, 2 vols.;
Gritli's Kinder, 2 vols.; Heimathlos; Im Tilonethal; In Leuchtensa;
Keiner zu Klein Helfer zu sein; Onkel Titus; Schloss Wildenstein; Sina;
Ein Goldener Spruch; Die Hauffer Muhle; Verschollen, nicht vergessen;
Was soll deim aus ihr werden; Was aus ihr Geworden ist. M.E.

HEIDI

CHAPTER I.
UP THE MOUNTAIN TO ALM-UNCLE
From the old and pleasantly situated village of Mayenfeld, a footpath
winds through green and shady meadows to the foot of the mountains,
which on this side look down from their stern and lofty heights upon
the valley below. The land grows gradually wilder as the path ascends,

and the climber has not gone far before he begins to inhale the
fragrance of the short grass and sturdy mountain-plants, for the way is
steep and leads directly up to the summits above.
On a clear sunny morning in June two figures might be seen climbing
the narrow mountain path; one, a tall strong-looking girl, the other a
child whom she was leading by the hand, and whose little checks were
so aglow with heat that the crimson color could be seen even through
the dark, sunburnt skin. And this was hardly to be wondered at, for in
spite of the hot June sun the child was clothed as if to keep off the
bitterest frost. She did not look more than five years old, if as much,
but what her natural figure was like, it would have been hard to say, for
she had apparently two, if not three dresses, one above the other, and
over these a thick red woollen shawl wound round about her, so that the
little body presented a shapeless appearance, as, with its small feet shod
in thick, nailed mountain-shoes, it slowly and laboriously plodded its
way up in the heat. The two must have left the valley a good hour's
walk behind them, when they came to the hamlet known as Dorfli,
which is situated half-way up the mountain. Here the wayfarers met
with greetings from all sides, some calling to them from windows,
some from open doors, others from outside, for the elder girl was now
in her old home. She did not, however, pause in her walk to respond to
her friends' welcoming cries and questions, but passed on without
stopping for a moment until she reached the last of the scattered houses
of the hamlet. Here a voice called to her from the door: "Wait a
moment, Dete; if you are going up higher, I will come with you."
The girl thus addressed stood still, and the child immediately let go her
hand and seated herself on the ground.
"Are you tired, Heidi?" asked her companion.
"No, I am hot," answered the child.
"We shall soon get to the top now. - You must walk bravely on a little
longer, and take good long steps, and in another hour we shall be
there," said Dete in an encouraging voice.

They were now joined by a stout, good-natured-looking woman, who
walked on ahead with her old acquaintance, the two breaking forth at
once into lively conversation about everybody and everything in Dorfli
and its surroundings, while the child wandered behind them.
"And where are you off to with the child?" asked the one who had just
joined the party. "I suppose it is the child your sister left?"
"Yes," answered Dete. "I am taking her up to Uncle, where she must
stay."
"The child stay up there with Alm-Uncle! You must be out of your
senses, Dete! How can you think of such a thing! The old man,
however, will soon send you and your proposal packing off home
again!"
"He cannot very well do that, seeing that he is her grandfather. He must
do something for her. I have had the charge of the child till now, and I
can tell you, Barbel, I am not going to give up the chance which has
just fallen to me of getting a good place, for her sake. It is for the
grandfather now to do his duty by her."
"That would be all very well if he were like other people," asseverated
stout Barbel warmly, "but you know what he is. And what can he do
with a child, especially with one so young! The child cannot possibly
live with him. But where are you thinking of going yourself?"
"To Frankfurt,