Veronica And Other Friends | Page 6

Veronica looked up at the visitor and asked earnestly,
"Cousin Judith, what is fortune?"
"Ah, you are always asking some strange question that no one else ever

thought of asking;" said Cousin Judith, "where on earth did you ever
hear of fortune?"
"Here," said Veronica, holding up the rose with the golden verse in the
centre. "Shall I read it to you?"
"Yes, do, child."
Veronica read--
"Fortune stands ready, full in sight; He wins who knows to grasp it
right."
"Well, it means this--I should say--fortune is whatever anyone wants
the most."
"Fortune is a horse, then," said Dietrich quickly.
Veronica sat thinking. "But, Cousin Judith," she said presently, "how
can any one 'grasp fortune'?"
"With your hands," replied Cousin Judith unhesitatingly, "You see, our
hands are given us to work with, and if we use them diligently and do
our work well, as it ought to be done, then fortune comes to us; so don't
you see we 'grasp it' with our hands?"
The verse had now become endued with life, and meant something real
and attractive to Veronica. She did not lay her rose out of her hand for a
long time, that evening, notwithstanding that Dietrich cast threatening
glances upon it, and finally broke out in vexation,
"I will tear off the spring some time, and spoil the thing altogether."
The rose was not put into the book and the book into the cup-board,
until the time came for the children to say their evening prayers. This
was the closing act of every day; and it was so fixed and regular a habit,
that the children never needed to be bidden to fold their hands, and
kneel to ask God's blessing before they slept.

CHAPTER III.
NINE YEARS LATER.
A sunshiny Easter morning shone over hill and valley. A crowd of
holiday-making people poured out of the little church at Tannenegg,
and scattered in every direction. A long row of blooming lads and
lassies came in close ranks, moving slowly towards the parsonage.
They were the newly-confirmed young people of the parish, who had
that day partaken of the Communion for the first time. They were going
to the house of their pastor, to express their gratitude for his careful and
tender teaching and guidance, before they went out into the world.
Among these were Dietrich and Veronica. Gertrude stood at a little
distance from the church, and watched the procession as it passed by.
Her eyes were filled with tears of pleasurable emotion, as she noticed
that her dark-eyed Veronica was conspicuous among all the maidens
for the tasteful neatness of her costume, and for the sweetness and
grace of her bearing. The glance which Veronica cast upon the mother
in passing was full of love and gratitude; and seemed to repeat the
words that the faithful girl had spoken in the morning, as she left her to
go to the church. "I cannot thank you enough, as long as I live, for what
you have done for me, mother." A yet brighter expression of happiness
crossed Gertrude's countenance when the young men came in
procession after the girls, as her eyes fell on the well-formed lad, a head
taller than his companions, who nodded at her, and greeted her with
merry laughing looks, kissing his hand again and again, and yet once
again. That was her tall handsome Dietrich. His mother's heart leaped
in her breast at the sight of his fresh young life, so full of hope and
promise. Gertrude waited till the visit to the pastor was over, and the
young people had separated on their various paths. Then she in her turn
entered the parsonage. She wished herself to speak her thanks to this
true and long tried adviser and friend, for all that he had done for her
children.
"You are a fortunate mother," said the aged pastor, after he had listened
to Gertrude's expressions of gratitude. "Those are two uncommon
children that the good God has confided to your care, and I feel the

greatest interest in them. The lad has a clear head, and a winning grace
that draws everyone to him. Veronica is serious and conscientious; she
has a calm steady nature and can be depended upon for fidelity to duty,
such as it is rare to find. The children will be your stay and comfort in
your old age. May you keep them in the paths of virtue."
"With God's help;" said Gertrude, and she left the parsonage with tears
of happiness in her eyes. As she passed the garden of her neighbor
Judith, the latter called out over the low hedge,
"They have just gone by, all four of them. It always seems to me
strange that while all babies in the cradle look just alike, so that