Heidi | Page 9

answered Heidi.
"Then you shall have more," and with that the grandfather filled the
little bowl again. The little girl ate and drank with the greatest
enjoyment. After she was through, both went out into the goat-shed.
Here the old man busied himself, and Heidi watched him attentively
while he was sweeping and putting down fresh straw for the goats to
sleep on. Then he went to the little shop alongside and fashioned a high
chair for Heidi, to the little girl's greatest amazement.
"What is this?" asked the grandfather.
"This is a chair for me. I am sure of it because it is so high. How
quickly it was made!" said the child, full of admiration and wonder.
"She knows what is what and has her eyes on the right place," the
grandfather said to himself, while he walked around the hut, fastening a
nail or a loose board here and there. He wandered about with his
hammer and nails, repairing whatever was in need of fixing. Heidi

followed him at every step and watched the performance with great
enjoyment and attention.
At last the evening came. The old fir-trees were rustling and a mighty
wind was roaring and howling through the tree-tops. Those sounds
thrilled Heidi's heart and filled it with happiness and joy. She danced
and jumped about under the trees, for those sounds made her feel as if a
wonderful thing had happened to her. The grandfather stood under the
door, watching her, when suddenly a shrill whistle was heard. Heidi
stood still and the grandfather joined her outside. Down from the
heights came one goat after another, with Peter in their midst. Uttering
a cry of joy, Heidi ran into the middle of the flock, greeting her old
friends. When they had all reached the hut, they stopped on their way
and two beautiful slender goats came out of the herd, one of them white
and the other brown. They came up to the grandfather, who held out
some salt in his hands to them, as he did every night. Heidi tenderly
caressed first one and then the other, seeming beside herself with joy.
"Are they ours, grandfather? Do they both belong to us? Are they going
to the stable? Are they going to stay with us?" Heidi kept on asking in
her excitement. The grandfather hardly could put in a "yes, yes, surely"
between her numerous questions. When the goats had licked up all the
salt, the old man said, "Go in, Heidi, and fetch your bowl and the
bread."
Heidi obeyed and returned instantly. The grandfather milked a full
bowl from the white goat, cut a piece of bread for the child, and told
her to eat. "Afterwards you can go to bed. If you need some shirts and
other linen, you will find them in the bottom of the cupboard. Aunt
Deta has left a bundle for you. Now good-night, I have to look after the
goats and lock them up for the night."
"Good-night, grandfather! Oh, please tell me what their names are,"
called Heidi after him.
"The white one's name is Schwänli and the brown one I call Bärli," was
his answer.

"Good-night, Schwänli! Good-night, Bärli," the little girl called loudly,
for they were just disappearing in the shed. Heidi now sat down on the
bench and took her supper. The strong wind nearly blew her from her
seat, so she hurried with her meal, to be able to go inside and up to her
bed. She slept in it as well as a prince on his royal couch.
Very soon after Heidi had gone up, before it was quite dark, the old
man also sought his bed. He was always up in the morning with the sun,
which rose early over the mountain-side in those summer days. It was a
wild, stormy night; the hut was shaking in the gusts and all the boards
were creaking. The wind howled through the chimney and the old
fir-trees shook so strongly that many a dry branch came crashing down.
In the middle of the night the grandfather got up, saying to himself: "I
am sure she is afraid." Climbing up the ladder, he went up to Heidi's
bed. The first moment everything lay in darkness, when all of a sudden
the moon came out behind the clouds and sent his brilliant light across
Heidi's bed. Her cheeks were burning red and she lay peacefully on her
round and chubby arms. She must have had a happy dream, for she was
smiling in her sleep. The grandfather stood and watched her till a cloud
flew over the moon and left everything in total darkness. Then he went
down to seek his bed again.

III
ON THE PASTURE
Heidi was awakened early next morning