Heidi - Johanna Spyri (red scrolls of magic .txt) 📗
- Author: Johanna Spyri
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The old man smiled and replied, “And you too; now come along!”
He took Heidi’s hand in his and together they walked down the
mountain side. The bells were ringing in every direction now,
sounding louder and fuller as they neared the valley, and Heidi
listened to them with delight. “Hark at them, grandfather! it’s
like a great festival!”
The congregation had already assembled and the singing had begun
when Heidi and her grandfather entered the church at Dorfli and
sat down at the back. But before the hymn was over every one was
nudging his neighbor and whispering, “Do you see? Alm-Uncle is
in church!”
Soon everybody in the church knew of Alm-Uncle’s presence, and
the women kept on turning round to look and quite lost their
place in the singing. But everybody became more attentive when
the sermon began, for the preacher spoke with such warmth and
thankfulness that those present felt the effect of his words, as
if some great joy had come to them all. At the close of the
service Alm-Uncle took Heidi by the hand, and on leaving the
church made his way towards the pastor’s house; the rest of the
congregation looked curiously after him, some even following to
see whether he went inside the pastor’s house, which he did.
Then they collected in groups and talked over this strange event,
keeping their eyes on the pastor’s door, watching to see whether
Alm-Uncle came out looking angry and quarrelsome, or as if the
interview had been a peaceful one, for they could not imagine
what had brought the old man down, and what it all meant. Some,
however, adopted a new tone and expressed their opinion that Alm-Uncle was not so bad after all as they thought, “for see how
carefully he took the little one by the hand.” And others
responded and said they had always thought people had
exaggerated about him, that if he was so downright bad he would
be afraid to go inside the pastor’s house. Then the miller put in
his word, “Did I not tell you so from the first? What child is
there who would run away from where she had plenty to eat and
drink and everything of the best, home to a grandfather who was
cruel and unkind, and of whom she was afraid?”
And so everybody began to feel quite friendly towards Alm-Uncle,
and the women now came up and related all they had been told by
Peter and his grandmother, and finally they all stood there like
people waiting for an old friend whom they had long missed from
among their number.
Meanwhile Alm-Uncle had gone into the pastor’s house and knocked
at the study door. The latter came out and greeted him, not as
if he was surprised to see him, but as if he had quite expected
to see him there; he probably had caught sight of the old man in
church. He shook hands warmly with him, and Alm-Uncle was unable
at first to speak, for he had not expected such a friendly
reception. At last he collected himself and said, “I have come
to ask you, pastor, to forget the words I spoke to you when you
called on me, and to beg you not to owe me ill-will for having
been so obstinately set against your well-meant advice. You were
right, and I was wrong, but I have now made up my mind to follow
your advice and to find a place for myself at Dorfli for the
winter, for the child is not strong enough to stand the bitter
cold up on the mountain. And if the people down here look
askance at me, as at a person not to be trusted, I know it is my
own fault, and you will, I am sure, not do so.”
The pastor’s kindly eyes shone with pleasure. He pressed the old
man’s hand in his, and said with emotion, “Neighbor, you went
into the right church before you came to mine; I am greatly
rejoiced. You will not repent coming to live with us again; as
for myself you will always be welcome as a dear friend and
neighbor, and I look forward to our spending many a pleasant
winter evening together, for I shall prize your companionship,
and we will find some nice friends too for the little one.” And
the pastor laid his hand kindly on the child’s curly head and
took her by the hand as he walked to the door with the old man.
He did not say good-bye to him till they were standing outside,
so that all the people standing about saw him shake hands as if
parting reluctantly from his best friend. The door had hardly
shut behind him before the whole congregation now came forward
to greet Alm-Uncle, every one striving to be the first to shake
hands with him, and so many were held out that Alm-Uncle did not
know with which to begin; and some said, “We are so pleased to
see you among us again,” and another, “I have long been wishing
we could have a talk together again,” and greetings of all kinds
echoed from every side, and when Alm-Uncle told them he was
thinking of returning to his old quarters in Dorfli for the
winter, there was such a general chorus of pleasure that any one
would have thought he was the most beloved person in all Dorfli,
and that they had hardly known how to live without him. Most of
his friends accompanied him and Heidi some way up the mountain,
and each as they bid him good-bye made him promise that when he
next came down he would without fail come and call. As the old
man at last stood alone with the child, watching their
retreating figures, there was a light upon his face as if
reflected from some inner sunshine of heart. Heidi, looking up at
him with her clear steady eyes, said, “Grandfather, you look
nicer and nicer to-day, I never saw you quite like that before.”
“Do you think so?” he answered with a smile. “Well, yes, Heidi,
I am happier to-day than I deserve, happier than I had thought
possible; it is good to be at peace with God and man! God was
good to me when He sent you to my hut.”
When they reached Peter’s home the grandfather opened the door
and walked straight in. “Good-morning, grandmother,” he said. “I
think we shall have to do some more patching, up before the
autumn winds come.”
“Dear God, if it is not Uncle!” cried the grandmother in pleased
surprise. “That I should live to see such a thing! and now I can
thank you for all that you have done for me. May God reward you!
may God reward you!” She stretched out a trembling hand to him,
and when the grandfather shook it warmly, she went on, still
holding his, “And I have something on my heart I want to say, a
prayer to make to you! If I have injured you in any way, do not
punish me by sending the child away again before I lie under the
grass. Oh, you do not know what that child is to me!” and she
clasped the child to her, for Heidi had already taken her usual
stand close to the grandmother.
“Have no fear, grandmother,” said Uncle in a reassuring voice,
“I shall not punish either you or myself by doing so. We are all
together now, and pray God we may continue so for long.”
Brigitta now drew the Uncle aside towards a corner of the room
and showed him the hat with the feathers, explaining to him how
it came there, and adding that of course she could not take such
a thing from a child.
But the grandfather looked towards Heidi without any displeasure
of countenance and said, “The hat is hers, and if she does not
wish to wear it any more she has a right to say so and to give
it to you, so take it, pray.”
Brigitta was highly delighted at this. “It is well worth more
than ten shillings!” she said as she held it up for further
admiration. “And what a blessing Heidi has brought home with her
from Frankfurt! I have thought sometimes that it might be good
to send Peter there for a little while; what do you think,
Uncle?”
A merry look came into the grandfather’s eye. He thought it
would do Peter no harm, but he had better wait for a good
opportunity before starting. At this moment the subject of their
conversation himself rushed in, evidently in a great hurry,
knocking his head violently against the door in his haste, so
that everything in the room rattled. Gasping and breathless he
stood still after this and held out a letter. This was another
great event, for such a thing had never happened before; the
letter was addressed to Heidi and had been delivered at the post-office in Dorfli. They all sat down round the table to hear what
was in it, for Heidi opened it at once and read it without
hesitation. The letter was from Clara. The latter wrote that the
house had been so dull since Heidi left that she did not know how
to bear herself, and she had at last persuaded her father to take
her to the baths at Ragatz in the coming autumn; grandmamma had
arranged to join them there, and they both were looking forward
to paying her and her grandfather a visit. And grandmamma sent a
further message to Heidi which was that the latter had done quite
right to take the rolls to the grandmother, and so that she might
not have to eat them dry, she was sending some coffee, which was
already on its way, and grandmamma hoped when she came to the
Alm in the autumn that Heidi would take her to see her old
friend.
There were exclamations of pleasure and astonishment on hearing
all this news, and so much to talk and ask about that even the
grandfather did not notice how the time was passing; there was
general delight at the thought of the coming days, and even more
at the meeting which had taken place on this one, and the
grandmother spoke and said, “The happiest of all things is when
an old friend comes and greets us as in former times; the heart
is comforted with the assurance that some day everything that we
have loved will be given back to us.—You will come soon again,
uncle, and you child, tomorrow?”
The old man and Heidi promised her faithfully to do so; then it
was time to break up the party, and these two went back up the
mountain. As they had been greeted with bells when they made
their journey down in the morning, so now they were accompanied
by the peaceful evening chimes as they climbed to the hut, which
had quite a Sunday-like appearance as it stood bathed in the
light of the low evening sun.
But when grandmamma comes next autumn there will be many fresh
joys and surprises both for Heidi and grandmother; without doubt
a proper bed will be put up in the hayloft, for wherever
grandmamma steps in, there everything is soon in right order,
outside and in.
CHAPTER XV. PREPARATIONS FOR A JOURNEY
The kind doctor who had given the order that Heidi was to be
sent home was walking along one of the broad streets towards Herr
Sesemann’s house. It was a sunny September morning, so full of
light and sweetness that it seemed as if everybody must rejoice.
But the doctor walked with his eyes fastened to the ground and
did not once lift them to
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