Library of the Worlds Best Literature, Ancient and Modern, Volume 3 | Page 8

Farewell! may God protect you all."
Walpurga and her mother were in tears.
"And now, in God's name, let us start!" The chains were loosened; the
boat put off. Music, shouting, singing, and the firing of cannon
resounded while the boat quietly moved away from the shore. The sun
burst forth in all his glory.

The mother sat there, with her hands clasped. All were silent. The only
sound heard was the neighing of the foal.
Walpurga was the first to break the silence. "O dear Lord! if people
would only show each other half as much love during life as they do
when one dies or moves away."
The grandmother, who was in the middle of a prayer, shook her head.
She quickly finished her prayer and said:--
"That's more than one has the right to ask. It won't do to go about all
day long with your heart in your hand. But remember, I've always told
you that the people are good enough at heart, even if there are a few
bad ones among them."
Hansei bestowed an admiring glance upon his wife, who had so many
different thoughts about almost everything. He supposed it was caused
by her having been away from home. But his heart was full, too,
although in a different way.
"I can hardly realize," said Hansei, taking a long breath and putting the
pipe, which he had intended to light, back into his pocket, "what has
become of all the years that I spent there and all that I went through
during the time. Look, Walpurga! the road you see there leads to my
home. I know every hill and every hollow. My mother's buried there.
Do you see the pines growing on the hill over yonder? That hill was
quite bare; every tree was cut down when the French were here; and see
how fine and hardy the trees are now. I planted most of them myself. I
was a little boy about eleven or twelve years old when the forester hired
me. He had fresh soil brought for the whole place and covered the
rocky spots with moss. In the spring I worked from six in the morning
till seven in the evening, putting in the little plants. My left hand was
almost frozen, for I had to keep putting it into a tub of wet loam, with
which I covered the roots. I was scantily clothed into the bargain, and
had nothing to eat all day long but a piece of bread. In the morning it
was cold enough to freeze the marrow in one's bones, and at noon I was
almost roasted by the hot sun beating on the rocks. It was a hard life.
Yes, I had a hard time of it when I was young. Thank God, it hasn't

harmed me any. But I shan't forget it; and let's be right industrious and
give all we can to the poor. I never would have believed that I'd live to
call a single tree or a handful of earth my own; and now that God has
given me so much, let's try and deserve it all."
Hansei's eyes blinked, as if there was something in them, and he pulled
his hat down over his forehead. Now, while he was pulling himself up
by the roots as it were, he could not help thinking of how thoroughly he
had become engrafted into the neighborhood by the work of his hands
and by habit. He had felled many a tree, but he knew full well how hard
it was to remove the stumps.
The foal grew restive. Gruberwaldl, who had come with them in order
to hold it, was not strong enough, and one of the boatmen was obliged
to go to his assistance.
"Stay with the foal," said Hansei. "I'll take the oar."
"And I too," cried Walpurga. "Who knows when I'll have another
chance? Ah! how often I've rowed on the lake with you and my blessed
father."
Hansei and Walpurga sat side by side plying their oars in perfect time.
It did them both good to have some employment which would enable
them to work off the excitement.
"I shall miss the water," said Walpurga; "without the lake, life'll seem
so dull and dry. I felt that, while I was in the city."
Hansei did not answer.
"At the summer palace there's a pond with swans swimming about in
it," said she, but still received no answer. She looked around, and a
feeling of anger arose within her. When she said anything at the palace,
it was always listened to.
In a sorrowful tone she added, "It would have been better if we'd
moved in the spring; it would have been much easier to get used to

things."
"Maybe it