Toni, the Little Woodcarver | Page 3

too," replied Toneli, starting
"Yes, yes, we shall go there too," promised his mother, "but now we
must first go home to the stone hut," and without a word she went with
the little one back to the silent cottage.
The proprietor of the Matten farm sent word to Elsbeth the following
day that he would do everything necessary for her husband, and so she
need not come until it was time for the service, for she would not
recognize her husband. He sent her some money in order that she
would not have too much care in the next few days, and promised to
think of her later on.
Elsbeth did as he advised and remained at home until the bells in
Kandergrund rang for the service. Then she went to accompany her
husband to his resting place.
Sad and hard days came for Elsbeth. She missed her good, kind
husband everywhere, and felt quite lost without him. Besides, cares
came now which she had known little about before, for her husband
had had his good, daily work. But now she felt sometimes as if she
would almost despair. She had nothing but her goat and the little potato
field behind the cottage, and from these she had to feed and clothe
herself and the little one, and besides furnish rent for the little house.
Elsbeth had only one consolation, but one that always supported her
when pain and care oppressed her; she could pray, and although often
in the midst of tears, still always with the firm belief that the dear Lord
would hear her supplication.
When at night she had put little Toni in his tiny bed she would kneel
down beside him and repeat aloud the old hymn, which now came from
the depths of her heart, as never before:

Oh, God of Love, oh Father-heart, In whom my trust is founded, I
know full well how good Thou art-- E'en when by grief I am wounded.
Oh Lord, it surely can not be That Thou wilt let me languish In
hopeless depths of misery, And live in tears of anguish.
Oh Lord, my soul yearns for thine aid In this dark vale of weeping; For
thee I've waited, hoped and prayed Assured of thy safe keeping.
Lord let me bear whate'er thy Love May send of grief or sorrow, Until
Thou, in thy Heaven above Make dawn a brighter morrow.
And in the midst of her urgent praying, the mother's tears flowed
abundantly, and little Toni, deeply moved in his heart by his mother's
weeping and earnest prayer, kept his hands folded and wept softly too.
So the time passed. Elsbeth struggled along and little Toni was able to
help her in many ways, for he was now seven years old. He was his
mother's only joy, and she was able to take delight in him for he was
obedient and willing to do everything she desired. He had always been
so inseparable from his mother that he knew exactly how the tasks of
the day had to be done, and he desired nothing but to help her whenever
he could. If she was working in the little field, he squatted beside her,
pulled out the weeds, and threw the stones across the path.
If his mother was taking the goat out of the shed so that she could
nibble the grass around the hut, he went with her step by step, for his
mother had told him he must watch her so that she would not run away.
If his mother was sitting in winter by her spinning-wheel, he sat the
whole time beside her, mending his winter shoes with strong strips of
cloth, as she had taught him to do. He had no greater wish than to see
his mother happy and contented. His greatest pleasure was, when
Sunday came and she was resting from all work, to sit with her on the
little wooden bench in front of the house and listen as she told him
about his father and talk with her about all kinds of things.
But now the time had come for Toni to go to school. It was very hard

for him to leave his mother and remain away from her so much. The
long way down to Kandergrund and up again took so much time, that
Toni was hardly ever with his mother any more through the day, but
only in the evening. Indeed he always came home so quickly that she
could hardly believe it possible, for he looked forward with pleasure all
day long to getting home again. He lost no time with his school-mates
but ran immediately away from them as soon as school was over. He
was not accustomed to the ways of the other