Rico and Wiseli | Page 7

happy again," said Rico; "but if you want
to go, I will go with you."
When they reached the door, they had arranged to go to the wood on
the following Sunday, and Stineli was very happy at the thought. She
did all that she was able to do through the week, and there was a great
deal of work for her. Peterli, Sami, and Urschli had the measles, and in
the stable one of the goats was sick, and needed hot water very often;
and Stineli had to run hither and thither, lending a helping hand in
every direction as soon as she came home from school, and on Saturday
all day long until late in the evening; and then there were the stable
buckets to be cleaned. But that night her father said,--
"Stineli is a handy child."

CHAPTER IV
.
THE BEAUTIFUL DISTANT LAKE WITHOUT A NAME
When Stineli awoke on the following Sunday morning, she was
conscious of an unusual light-heartedness, and at first could not
understand the cause, until she remembered what day it was, and that
her grandmother had said, on the previous evening, "To-morrow you
must have the whole afternoon to yourself: it is rightfully yours."
After dinner was finished, and all the dishes taken away, and the table
washed off by Stineli, Peterli called out, "Come here to me;" and the
two others screamed, "No, to me!" and her father said, "Now Stineli
must go to look after the goats."
But at this moment her grandmother went through the kitchen, and
made a sign to Stineli to follow her.
"Now go in peace, my child," she said. "I will take care of the goats and
the children; but be sure to come home, both of you, punctually when
the bell rings for prayer." The grandmother knew very well that there
were two of them.
Off flew Stineli, like a bird whose cage-door has suddenly been opened;
and outside stood Rico, who had been waiting for a long time. They
went on together, across the meadow towards the wood.
On the mountains the sun was shining brightly, and the blue heavens
lay over all the landscape. They were obliged to pass, for a little while,

through the shade in the snow; but the sun was shining a little farther
on, and shimmered on the waters of the lake, and there were lovely dry
spots on the slope that was almost hanging over the lake.
There the children seated themselves. A sharp wind came down from
the heights, and whistled about their ears. Stineli was as happy as
happy could be. She shouted out, again and again, "Oh, look, Rico;
look! How beautiful it is in the sun! Now summer has come, look how
the lake glistens! There cannot be a more beautiful lake than this one
anywhere," she said confidently.
"Yes, yes, Stineli! You ought to see the lake I know about just once,"
said Rico; and looked so longingly across the lake, that it seemed as if
that which he wanted to see began just beyond their vision.
"Over there are no dark fir-trees, with sharp needles, but shining green
leaves, and great red flowers; and the mountains are not so high and
dark, nor so near, but lie off in the distance, and are purple; and the sky
and the lake are all golden and still and warm. There the wind does not
feel like this, and one's feet never get full of snow; and one can sit all
day long on the sunny ground, and look about."
Stineli was quite carried away by this description. She already saw the
red flowers and the golden lake before her eyes, and seemed to know
exactly how beautiful it all was.
"Perhaps you may be able to go there again to see it all, Rico. Do you
know the way?"
"You must cross the Maloja. I have been there with my father once. He
pointed me out the road that goes all the way down the mountain,--first
this way, then that, and far below lies the lake; but so far, so far, that it
is scarcely possible to go there."
"Oh! that is easy enough," said Stineli. "You have to go farther and
farther, that is all; and at the end you will surely get there."
"But my father told me something else. Do you know, Stineli, when
you are travelling and stop at an inn, and eat something and sleep there,
then there is something to pay, and you must have money for that."
"Oh! we have lots of money," cried Stineli triumphantly. But her
companion was not triumphant.
"That is exactly as good as nothing. I know that by the affair of the
fiddle," he said sadly.
"Then it will be