diff options
| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 05:21:29 -0700 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 05:21:29 -0700 |
| commit | 688fb870ea8856614678c4fcf95c428d65575dc0 (patch) | |
| tree | 49d3b690c640f5ff98d738af1735ea8062bd3f3d | |
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 3 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 3497.txt | 2483 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 3497.zip | bin | 0 -> 42064 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 |
5 files changed, 2499 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/3497.txt b/3497.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a33e41d --- /dev/null +++ b/3497.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2483 @@ +The Project Gutenberg Etext The Swiss Twins, by Lucy Fitch Perkins +#2 in our series by Lucy Fitch Perkins + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the laws for your country before redistributing these files!!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. + +Please do not remove this. + +This should be the first thing seen when anyone opens the book. +Do not change or edit it without written permission. The words +are carefully chosen to provide users with the information they +need about what they can legally do with the texts. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and Donations* + +Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and +further information is included below, including for donations. + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a 501(c)(3) +organization with EIN [Employee Identification Number] 64-6221541 + + + +Title: The Swiss Twins + +Author: Lucy Fitch Perkins + +Release Date: October, 2002 [EBook #3497] +[Yes, we are about one year ahead of schedule] +[The actual date this file first posted = 05/22/01] +[Most recently updated on July 15, 2007] + +Edition: 11 + +Language: English + +The Project Gutenberg Etext The Swiss Twins, by Lucy Fitch Perkins +********This file should be named 3497.txt or 3497.zip****** + + +Produced for Project Gutenberg by Lynn Hill +hill_lynn@hotmail.com + +This PG project is dedicated to retired teacher Betty Sheridan, +who introduced me to the "Twins" stories. She generously loaned +this book to be produced for PG. + +Project Gutenberg Etexts are usually created from multiple editions, +all of which are in the Public Domain in the United States, unless a +copyright notice is included. Therefore, we usually do NOT keep any +of these books in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +We are now trying to release all our books one year in advance +of the official release dates, leaving time for better editing. +Please be encouraged to send us error messages even years after +the official publication date. + +Please note: neither this list nor its contents are final till +midnight of the last day of the month of any such announcement. +The official release date of all Project Gutenberg Etexts is at +Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month. A +preliminary version may often be posted for suggestion, comment +and editing by those who wish to do so. + +Most people start at our sites at: +https://gutenberg.org +http://promo.net/pg + + +Those of you who want to download any Etext before announcement +can surf to them as follows, and just download by date; this is +also a good way to get them instantly upon announcement, as the +indexes our cataloguers produce obviously take a while after an +announcement goes out in the Project Gutenberg Newsletter. + +http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext02 +or +ftp://ftp.ibiblio.org/pub/docs/books/gutenberg/etext02 + +Or /etext01, 00, 99, 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90 + +Just search by the first five letters of the filename you want, +as it appears in our Newsletters. + + +Information about Project Gutenberg (one page) + +We produce about two million dollars for each hour we work. The +time it takes us, a rather conservative estimate, is fifty hours +to get any etext selected, entered, proofread, edited, copyright +searched and analyzed, the copyright letters written, etc. This +projected audience is one hundred million readers. If our value +per text is nominally estimated at one dollar then we produce $2 +million dollars per hour this year as we release fifty new Etext +files per month, or 500 more Etexts in 2000 for a total of 3000+ +If they reach just 1-2% of the world's population then the total +should reach over 300 billion Etexts given away by year's end. + +The Goal of Project Gutenberg is to Give Away One Trillion Etext +Files by December 31, 2001. [10,000 x 100,000,000 = 1 Trillion] +This is ten thousand titles each to one hundred million readers, +which is only about 4% of the present number of computer users. + +At our revised rates of production, we will reach only one-third +of that goal by the end of 2001, or about 3,333 Etexts unless we +manage to get some real funding. + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been created +to secure a future for Project Gutenberg into the next millennium. + +We need your donations more than ever! + +As of 05/16/01 contributions are only being solicited from people in: +Connecticut, Louisiana, Maine, Missouri, Oklahoma, Colorado, +Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, +South Dakota, Texas, Vermont, Wyoming, South Carolina. + +We have filed in about 45 states now, but these are the only ones +that have responded. + +As the requirements for other states are met, +additions to this list will be made and fund raising +will begin in the additional states. Please feel +free to ask to check the status of your state. + +In answer to various questions we have received on this: + +We are constantly working on finishing the paperwork +to legally request donations in all 50 states. If +your state is not listed and you would like to know +if we have added it since the list you have, just ask. + +While we cannot solicit donations from people in +states where we are not yet registered, we know +of no prohibition against accepting donations +from donors in these states who approach us with +an offer to donate. + + +International donations are accepted, +but we don't know ANYTHING about how +to make them tax-deductible, or +even if they CAN be made deductible, +and don't have the staff to handle it +even if there are ways. + +All donations should be made to: + +Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +PMB 113 +1739 University Ave. +Oxford, MS 38655-4109 + + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a 501(c)(3) +organization with EIN [Employee Identification Number] 64-6221541, +and has been approved as a 501(c)(3) organization by the US Internal +Revenue Service (IRS). Donations are tax-deductible to the maximum +extent permitted by law. As the requirements for other states are met, +additions to this list will be made and fund raising will begin in the +additional states. + +We need your donations more than ever! + +You can get up to date donation information at: + +https://www.gutenberg.org/donation.html + + +*** + +If you can't reach Project Gutenberg, +you can always email directly to: + +Michael S. Hart <hart@pobox.com> + +hart@pobox.com forwards to hart@prairienet.org and archive.org +if your mail bounces from archive.org, I will still see it, if +it bounces from prairienet.org, better resend later on. . . . + +Prof. Hart will answer or forward your message. + +We would prefer to send you information by email. + + +*** + + +Example command-line FTP session: + +ftp ftp.ibiblio.org +login: anonymous +password: your@login +cd pub/docs/books/gutenberg +cd etext90 through etext99 or etext00 through etext02, etc. +dir [to see files] +get or mget [to get files. . .set bin for zip files] +GET GUTINDEX.?? [to get a year's listing of books, e.g., GUTINDEX.99] +GET GUTINDEX.ALL [to get a listing of ALL books] + + +**The Legal Small Print** + + +(Three Pages) + +***START**THE SMALL PRINT!**FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS**START*** +Why is this "Small Print!" statement here? You know: lawyers. +They tell us you might sue us if there is something wrong with +your copy of this etext, even if you got it for free from +someone other than us, and even if what's wrong is not our +fault. So, among other things, this "Small Print!" statement +disclaims most of our liability to you. It also tells you how +you may distribute copies of this etext if you want to. + +*BEFORE!* YOU USE OR READ THIS ETEXT +By using or reading any part of this PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +etext, you indicate that you understand, agree to and accept +this "Small Print!" statement. If you do not, you can receive +a refund of the money (if any) you paid for this etext by +sending a request within 30 days of receiving it to the person +you got it from. If you received this etext on a physical +medium (such as a disk), you must return it with your request. + +ABOUT PROJECT GUTENBERG-TM ETEXTS +This PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etext, like most PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etexts, +is a "public domain" work distributed by Professor Michael S. Hart +through the Project Gutenberg Association (the "Project"). +Among other things, this means that no one owns a United States copyright +on or for this work, so the Project (and you!) can copy and +distribute it in the United States without permission and +without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth +below, apply if you wish to copy and distribute this etext +under the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark. + +Please do not use the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark to market +any commercial products without permission. + +To create these etexts, the Project expends considerable +efforts to identify, transcribe and proofread public domain +works. Despite these efforts, the Project's etexts and any +medium they may be on may contain "Defects". Among other +things, Defects may take the form of incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other +intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged +disk or other etext medium, a computer virus, or computer +codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment. + +LIMITED WARRANTY; DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES +But for the "Right of Replacement or Refund" described below, +[1] Michael Hart and the Foundation (and any other party you may +receive this etext from as a PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etext) disclaims +all liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including +legal fees, and [2] YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE OR +UNDER STRICT LIABILITY, OR FOR BREACH OF WARRANTY OR CONTRACT, +INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE +OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE +POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. + +If you discover a Defect in this etext within 90 days of +receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) +you paid for it by sending an explanatory note within that +time to the person you received it from. If you received it +on a physical medium, you must return it with your note, and +such person may choose to alternatively give you a replacement +copy. If you received it electronically, such person may +choose to alternatively give you a second opportunity to +receive it electronically. + +THIS ETEXT IS OTHERWISE PROVIDED TO YOU "AS-IS". NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE MADE TO YOU AS +TO THE ETEXT OR ANY MEDIUM IT MAY BE ON, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A +PARTICULAR PURPOSE. + +Some states do not allow disclaimers of implied warranties or +the exclusion or limitation of consequential damages, so the +above disclaimers and exclusions may not apply to you, and you +may have other legal rights. + +INDEMNITY +You will indemnify and hold Michael Hart, the Foundation, +and its trustees and agents, and any volunteers associated +with the production and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm +texts harmless, from all liability, cost and expense, including +legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of the +following that you do or cause: [1] distribution of this etext, +[2] alteration, modification, or addition to the etext, +or [3] any Defect. + +DISTRIBUTION UNDER "PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm" +You may distribute copies of this etext electronically, or by +disk, book or any other medium if you either delete this +"Small Print!" and all other references to Project Gutenberg, +or: + +[1] Only give exact copies of it. Among other things, this + requires that you do not remove, alter or modify the + etext or this "small print!" statement. You may however, + if you wish, distribute this etext in machine readable + binary, compressed, mark-up, or proprietary form, + including any form resulting from conversion by word + processing or hypertext software, but only so long as + *EITHER*: + + [*] The etext, when displayed, is clearly readable, and + does *not* contain characters other than those + intended by the author of the work, although tilde + (~), asterisk (*) and underline (_) characters may + be used to convey punctuation intended by the + author, and additional characters may be used to + indicate hypertext links; OR + + [*] The etext may be readily converted by the reader at + no expense into plain ASCII, EBCDIC or equivalent + form by the program that displays the etext (as is + the case, for instance, with most word processors); + OR + + [*] You provide, or agree to also provide on request at + no additional cost, fee or expense, a copy of the + etext in its original plain ASCII form (or in EBCDIC + or other equivalent proprietary form). + +[2] Honor the etext refund and replacement provisions of this + "Small Print!" statement. + +[3] Pay a trademark license fee to the Foundation of 20% of the + gross profits you derive calculated using the method you + already use to calculate your applicable taxes. If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation" + the 60 days following each date you prepare (or were + legally required to prepare) your annual (or equivalent + periodic) tax return. Please contact us beforehand to + let us know your plans and to work out the details. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +Project Gutenberg is dedicated to increasing the number of +public domain and licensed works that can be freely distributed +in machine readable form. + +The Project gratefully accepts contributions of money, time, +public domain materials, or royalty free copyright licenses. +Money should be paid to the: +"Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +If you are interested in contributing scanning equipment or +software or other items, please contact Michael Hart at: +hart@pobox.com + +*END THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.05/20/01*END* +[Portions of this header are copyright (C) 2001 by Michael S. Hart +and may be reprinted only when these Etexts are free of all fees.] +[Project Gutenberg is a TradeMark and may not be used in any sales +of Project Gutenberg Etexts or other materials be they hardware or +software or any other related product without express permission.] + + + + + + +Produced for Project Gutenberg by Lynn Hill +hill_lynn@hotmail.com + +This PG project is dedicated to retired teacher Betty Sheridan, +who introduced me to the "Twins" stories. She generously loaned +this book to be produced for PG. + + + + + + +Produced for Project Gutenberg by Lynn Hill +hill_lynn@hotmail.com + +This PG project is dedicated to retired teacher Betty Sheridan, +who introduced me to the "Twins" stories. She generously loaned +this book to be produced for PG. + + + + + +THE SWISS TWINS + +By Lucy Fitch Perkins + + + + +Also by Lucy Fitch Perkins + +Geographical Series + +THE DUTCH TWINS PRIMER. Grade I. + +THE DUTCH TWINS AND LITTLE BROTHER. Grade II. + +THE FARM TWINS. Grades I-III. + +THE ESKIMO TWINS. Grade II. + +THE DUTCH TWINS. Grade III. + +THE PICKANINNY TWINS. Grades III-IV. + +THE CHINESE TWINS. Grades III-IV. + +THE JAPANESE TWINS. Grade IV. + +THE SWISS TWINS. Grade IV. + +THE NORWEGIAN TWINS. Grades IV-V. + +THE FILIPINO TWINS. Grade V. + +THE IRISH TWINS. Grade V. + +THE ITALIAN TWINS. Grade V. + +THE MEXICAN TWINS. Grade V. + +THE SCOTCH TWINS. Grade VI. + +THE SPANISH TWINS. Grades VI-VII. + +THE BELGIAN TWINS. Grade VII. + +THE FRENCH TWINS. Grade VII. + + +Historical Series + +THE INDIAN TWINS. Grades III-IV. + +THE CAVE TWINS. Grade IV. + +THE SPARTAN TWINS. Grade V. + +THE COLONIAL TWINS OF VIRGINIA. Grade VI. + +THE AMERICAN TWINS OF 1812. Grade VI. + +THE PIONEER TWINS. Grade VI. + +THE AMERICAN TWINS OF THE REVOLUTION. Grade VII. + +THE PURITAN TWINS. Grade VII. + +Each volume is illustrated by the author + +HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY + +COPYRIGHT, 1922, BY LUCY FITCH PERKINS + +ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INCLUDING THE RIGHT TO REPRODUCE +THIS BOOK OR PARTS THEREOF IN ANY FORM + +The Riverside Press + +CAMBRIDGE - MASSACHUSETTS + +PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. + + + + +CONTENTS + + +I. THE RESPONSIBLE CUCKOO + +II. THE TWINS LEARN A NEW TRADE + +III. A MOUNTAIN STORM + +IV. THE LONELY HERDSMAN + +V. THE PASS + +VI. NEW FRIENDS AND OLD + +This book belongs to + + + + +I. THE RESPONSIBLE CUCKOO + +THE RESPONSIBLE CUCKOO + + +High on the kitchen wall of an old farm-house on a mountain-side +in Switzerland there hangs a tiny wooden clock. In the tiny +wooden clock there lives a tiny wooden cuckoo, and every hour he +hops out of his tiny wooden door, takes a look about to see what +is going on in the world, shouts out the time of day, and pops +back again into his little dark house, there to wait and tick +away the minutes until it is time once more to tell the hour. + +Late one spring afternoon, just as the sun was sinking out of +sight, lighting up the snow-capped mountains with beautiful +colors and sending long shafts of golden light across the +valleys, the cuckoo woke with a start. + +"Bless me!" he said to himself, "Here it is six o'clock and not a +sound in the kitchen! It's high time for Mother Adolf to be +getting supper. What in the world this family would do without me +I really cannot think! They'd never know it was supper time if I +didn't tell them, and would starve to death as likely as not. It +is lucky for them I am such a responsible bird." The tiny wooden +door flew open and he stuck out his tiny wooden head. There was +not a sound in the kitchen but the loud ticking of the clock. + +"Just as I thought," said the cuckoo. "Not a soul here." + +There stood the table against the kitchen wall, with a little +gray mouse on it nibbling a crumb of cheese. Along finger of +sunlight streamed through the western window and touched the +great stone stove, as if trying to waken the fire within. A beam +fell upon a pan of water standing on the floor and sent gay +sparkles of light dancing over the shining tins in the cupboard. +The cuckoo saw it all at a glance. "This will never do," he +ticked indignantly. There was a queer rumbling sound in his +insides as if his feelings were getting quite too much for him, +and then suddenly he sent a loud "cuckoo" ringing through the +silent room. Instantly the little gray mouse leaped down from the +table and scampered away to his hole in the wall, the golden +sunbeam flickered and was gone, and shadows began to creep into +the corners. "Cuckoo, cuckoo," he shouted at the top of his +voice, "cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo,"--six times in all,--and then, +his duty done, he popped back again into his little dark house, +and the door clicked behind him. + +Out in the garden Mother Adolf heard him and, raising her head +from the onion-bed, where she was pulling weeds, she counted on +her fingers, "One, two, three, four, five, six! Bless my soul, +six o'clock and the sun already out of sight behind old Pilatus," +she said, and, rising from her knees a little stiffly, she stood +for a moment looking down the green slopes toward the valley. + +Far, far below, the blue waters of Lake Lucerne mirrored the +glowing colors of the mountain-peaks beyond its farther shore, +and nearer, among the foothills of old Pilatus itself, a little +village nestled among green trees, its roofs clustered about a +white church-spire. Now the bells in the steeple began to ring, +and the sound floated out across the green fields spangled with +yellow daffodils, and reached Mother Adolf where she stood. Bells +from more distant villages soon joined in the clamor, until all +the air was filled with music and a hundred echoes woke in the +mountains. + +The tiny wooden cuckoo heard them and ticked loudly with +satisfaction. "Everybody follows me," he said to himself proudly. +"I wake all the bells in the world." + +"Where can the children be?" said Mother Adolf aloud to herself, +looking about the garden. "I haven't heard a sound from either +the baby or the Twins for over an hour," and, making a hollow +between her lands, she added her own bit of music to the chorus +of the hills. + +(line of music notation) + +she sang, and immediately from behind the willows which fringed +the brook at the end of the garden two childish voices gave back +an answering strain. + +(line of music notation) + +A moment later two sunburned, towheaded, blue-eyed children, a +boy and girl of ten, appeared, dragging after them a box mounted +on rough wooden wheels in which there sat a round, pink, +blue-eyed cherub of a baby. Shouting with laughter, they came +tearing up the garden path to their mother's side. + +"Hush, my children," said Mother Adolf, laying her finger on her +lips. "It is the Angelus." + +The shouts were instantly silenced, and the two children stood +beside the mother with clasped hands and bowed heads until the +echoes of the bells died away in the distance. + +Far down on the long path to the village a man, bending under the +weight of a huge basket, also stood still for a moment in silent +prayer, then toiled again up the steep slope. + +"See," cried Mother Adolf as she lifted her head, "there comes +Father from the village with bread for our supper in his basket. +Run, Seppi, and help him bring the bundles home. Our Fritz will +soon be coming with the goats, too, and he and Father will both +be as hungry as wolves and in a hurry for their supper. Hark!" +she paused to listen. + +Far away from out the blue shadows of the mountain came the sound +of a horn playing a merry little tune. + +"There's Fritz now," cried Mother Adolf. "Hurry, Seppi, and you, +Leneli, come with me to the kitchen. You can give little Roseli +her supper, while I spread the table and set the soup to boil +before the goats get here to be milked." She lifted the baby in +her arms as she spoke, and set off at a smart pace toward the +house, followed by Leneli dragging the cart and playing +peek-a-boo with the baby over her mother's shoulder. + +When they reached the door, Leneli sat down on the step, and +Mother Adolf put the baby in her arms and went at once into the +quiet house. Then there was a sound of quick steps about the +kitchen, a rattling of the stove, and a clatter of tins which +must have pleased the cuckoo, and soon she reappeared in the door +with a bowl and spoon in her hands. + +The bowl she gave to Leneli, and little Roseli, crowing with +delight, seized the spoon and stuck it first into an eye, and +then into her tiny pink button of a nose, in a frantic effort to +find her mouth. It was astonishing to Baby Roseli how that +rosebud mouth of hers managed to hide itself, even though she was +careful to keep it wide open while she searched for it. When she +had explored her whole face with the spoon in vain, Leneli took +the tiny hand in hers and guided each mouthful down the little +red lane. + +Over their heads the robin in the cherry tree by the door sat +high up on a twig and chirped a good-night song to his nestlings. +"Cherries are ripe, cherries are ripe, cherries are ripe in +June," sang the robin. At least that is what Leneli told the baby +he said, and surely she ought to know. + +Before Baby Roseli had finished the last mouthful of her supper, +Father and Seppi appeared with the bundles, and then there was +the clatter of many little hoofs on the hard earth of the +door-yard, and round the corner of the old gray farm-house came +big brother Fritz with the goats. With Fritz came Bello, his +faithful dog, barking and wagging his tail for joy at getting +home again. Bello ran at once to Leneli and licked her hand, +nearly upsetting the bowl of milk in his noisy greeting, and the +baby crowed with delight and seized him by his long, silky ears. + +"Down, Bello, down," cried Leneli, holding the bowl high out of +reach; "you'll spill the baby's supper!" And Bello, thinking she +meant that he should beg for it, sat up on his hind legs with his +front paws crossed and barked three times, as Fritz had taught +him to do. + +"He must have a bite or he'll forget his manners," laughed Fritz, +and Leneli broke off a crumb of bread and tossed it to him. Bello +caught it before it fell, swallowed it at one gulp, and begged +for more. + +"No, no," said Leneli, "good old Bello, go now with Fritz and +help him drive the goats to the milking-shed, and by and by you +shall have your supper." + +Fritz whistled, and instantly Bello was off like a shot after +Nanni, the brown goat, who was already on her way to the garden +to eat the young green carrot-tops she saw peeping out of the +ground. + +"It's time that child was in bed," said the cuckoo to himself, +and out he came from his little house and called "cuckoo" seven +times so reproachfully that Leneli hastened upstairs with the +baby and put her down in her crib at once. + +Baby Roseli did not agree with the cuckoo. She wanted to stay up +and play with Bello, and hear the robin sing, but Leneli sat down +beside the crib, and while Mother Adolf milked the goats she sang +over and over again an old song. + + "Sleep, baby, sleep! + + Thy father watches the sheep, + + Thy mother is shaking the dreamland tree + + And down falls a little dream on thee. + + Sleep, baby, sleep!" + + + "Sleep, baby, sleep! + + The large stars are the sheep, + + The little stars are the lambs, I guess, + + And the silver moon is the shepherdess. + + Sleep, baby, sleep!" + +Over and over she sang it, until at last the heavy lids closed +over the blue eyes. Then she crept quietly down the creaking +stairs in the dark, and ate her bread and cheese and drank her +soup by candle-light with her father and mother, Seppi and Fritz, +all seated about the kitchen table. + +By nine o'clock the room was once more silent and deserted, the +little mouse was creeping quietly from his hole in the wall, and +Bello lay by the door asleep with his nose on his paws. High over +Mt. Pilatus the moon sailed through the star-lit sky, bathing the +old gray farm-house in silver light and playing hide and seek +with shadows on the snow-capped peaks. + +"Cuckoo," called the tiny wooden cuckoo nine times, and at once +the bells in the village steeple answered him. "That's as it +should be," ticked the cuckoo. "That church-bell is really very +intelligent. Let me see; to-morrow morning I must wake the +roosters at three, and the sun at four, and the family must be up +by five. I'll just turn in and get a wink of sleep myself while I +can," and he popped into the clock ones more and shut the door. + + + + +II. THE TWINS LEARN A NEW TRADE + +THE TWINS LEARN A NEW TRADE + + +At five o'clock the next morning Father and Mother Adolf were +already up, and the cuckoo woke Fritz, but though he shouted five +times with all his might and main, neither Seppi nor Leneli +stirred in their sleep. + +"Fritz, go wake the Twins," said Mother Adolf, when he came to +the door of the shed where she was milking the goats. "Only don't +wake the baby. I want her to sleep as long as she will." + +"Yes, Mother," said Fritz dutifully, and he was off at once, +leaping up the creaky stairs three steps at a time. + +He went first to Leneli's bed and tickled her toes. She drew up +her knees and slept on. Then he went to Seppi's bed, and when +shaking and rolling over failed to rouse him, he took him by one +leg and pulled him out of bed. Seppi woke up with a roar and cast +himself upon Fritz, and in a moment the two boys were rolling +about on the floor, yelling like Indians. The uproar woke Leneli, +and the baby too, and Mother Adolf, hearing the noise, came +running from the goat-shed just in time to find Seppi sitting on +top of Fritz beating time on his stomach to a tune which he was +singing at the top of his lungs. The baby was crowing with +delight as she watched the scuffle from Leneli's arms. + +Mother Adolf gazed upon this lively scene with dismay. Then she +picked Seppi off Fritz's stomach and gazed sternly at her oldest +son. "Fritz," said she, "I told you to be quiet and not wake the +baby." + +"I was quiet," said Fritz, sitting up. "I was just as quiet as I +could be, but they wouldn't wake up that way, so I had to pull +Seppi out of bed; there was no other way to get him up." He +looked up at his mother with such honest eyes that in spite of +herself her lips twitched and then she smiled outright. + +"I should have known better than to send such a great overgrown +pup of a boy as you on such an errand," she said. "Bello would +have done it better. Next time I shall send him. + +"And now, since you are all awake, I will tell you the great news +that Father told me last night. He has been chosen by the commune +to take the herds of the village up to the high alps to be gone +all summer. He will take Fritz with him to guard the cattle while +he makes the cheese. There is no better cheese-maker in all the +mountains than your father, and that is why the commune chose +him," she finished proudly. + +More than anything else in the world, every boy in that part of +Switzerland longs to go with the herds to the high mountain +pastures for the summer, and Fritz was so delighted that he +turned a somersault at once to express his feelings. When he was +right side up again, a puzzled look came over his face, and he +said, "Who will take care of our own goats?" + +"Ah," answered his mother, and she sighed a little. "There is no +one but Seppi and Leneli. Together they must fill your place, and +you, Fritz, must take them with you to-day up the mountain to +learn the way and begin their work." + +"To-day! This very day?" screamed the Twins. They had never been +up to the goat-pastures in their lives, and it was a most +exciting event. + +Then Leneli thought of her mother. She flung her arms about her +neck. "But who will stay with you, dear Mother?" she cried. "All +day you will be alone, with everything to do and no one to speak +to but the baby." + +"Yes," sighed the mother, "that is true. It will be a long, +lonely summer for me, but there is no other way, so we must each +do our part bravely and not complain. It is good fortune that +Father and Fritz will both be earning money in the alps, and, +with wise old Bello to help you, you will soon be as good +goatherds as your brother. Come, now, hurry and eat your +breakfasts, for the goats are already milked and impatient to be +gone." + +She took Roseli in her arms and disappeared down the stairs, and +when, a few moments later, the Twins and Fritz came into the +kitchen, she had their breakfast of bread and milk ready for +them, and their luncheon of bread and cheese wrapped in a clean +white cloth for Fritz to put in his pocket. + +Father Adolf came back from the garden, where he had been hoeing +potatoes, to see the little procession start away for the hills. +First came the goats, frisking about in the fresh morning air and +jingling all their bells. Then came Bello, looking very +important, then Fritz with a cock's feather in his cap and his +little horn and his cup slung over his shoulder, and last of all +the Twins. + +"It's a long way, my children," said Mother Adolf, as she kissed +them good-bye. "Your legs will get tired, but you must climb on +just the same. If every one stopped when he was tired, the +world's work would never be done. Learn the way carefully and +remember always to pray if any danger comes. You are very near +the good God on the mountain, and He will take care of you if you +ask Him, never fear." + +"Obey Fritz," said Father Adolf, "and do not stray off by +yourselves. Stay always with Fritz and the goats." + +"We will," cried the Twins, and away they ran to join their +brother, who was already some little distance ahead of them. They +turned as the path rounded the great cliff where the echoes +lived, and the Twins waved their hands, while Fritz played his +merry little tune on the horn. Then the rocks hid them from view, +and the long climb began in earnest. + +It was many rough uphill miles to the alps where the goats were +pastured, and the stout little legs ached with weariness long +before they reached the patches of green grass which were +reserved for them. On the way up they passed fields where cows +were grazing, and Bello had hard work to keep the goats in the +path, but these pastures were only for cows, and goats were not +allowed in them. For two hours they climbed steadily up and up, +following a mountain path that led sometimes beside a rushing +brook, sometimes along the edges of dizzy precipices, and always +among rocks with wonderful views of distant snow-capped peaks +above them and green, green valleys below. + +At last, when it seemed to the weary children that they could not +go another step, they came out upon a high pasture, where Fritz +called a halt. The goats leaped joyfully forward, snatching +greedy mouthfuls of the rich green grass which grew among the +rocks. Bello flopped heavily down on a flat stone with his tongue +hanging out, and Fritz and the Twins rolled over on their backs +on a soft carpet of grass to rest. + +Almost at once Seppi said, "I'm hungry." + +"So 'm I," said Leneli. + +"You'll be hungry all the time up here," said Fritz +encouragingly. "It's the air." + +"Let's eat," urged Seppi. + +Fritz took the package of luncheon from his pocket and opened it. + +"It looks very small. It looks a great deal smaller than it did +at home," said Leneli. "I wonder why?" + +"You are hungrier now than you were then," said Fritz. + +"I could eat it all myself," said Seppi. + +"But you won't," laughed Fritz; "I'll see to that." He divided +the bread and cheese into three equal portions and handed one to +each of the Twins. The third he put in his own pocket. "Now I +don't care what you do with yours," he said; "only, if you eat it +all now, you'll be hungry enough to browse with the goats before +it's time to go home. Better take just a bite and a drink of +water and eat more by and by." + +Seppi looked hungrily at his portion and took a bite. Then he +just couldn't stop, and before he knew it his whole luncheon was +gone and it was only nine o'clock in the morning! + +Leneli took two bites of hers, and then, wrapping it carefully in +the piece of cloth, placed it high up on an overhanging rock out +of the way of temptation. Then, while Fritz was teaching Seppi +all the tricks of a goat-boy's trade, she found a soft patch of +grass all spangled with blue gentians and fell asleep with her +head on her arm. She slept for some time, and Fritz and Seppi, +seeing how tired she was, did not disturb her. + +She was roused at last by the tinkling of a goat-bell almost over +her head, and woke up just in time to see her luncheon, cloth and +all, disappearing into the mouth of Nanni, the brown goat! Poor +Leneli screamed with dismay, and Fritz and Seppi, thinking +perhaps she had hurt herself, came dashing to her side. Leneli +was boiling with rage. She could only point at Nanni, who stood +calmly out of reach above them with the last scrap of cloth +dangling from her lips. + +"You wretched, black-hearted pig of a goat!" she screamed, +stamping her foot. "You've eaten every bit of my lunch, and I'd +only taken two little teeny bites! Oh, I wish I'd eaten it all +like that greedy Seppi!" + +Fritz and Seppi were sorry, but when they saw the goat looking +down at Leneli so calmly while she stormed and scolded below, +they rolled over on the ground helpless with laughter. + +"It's all very well for you to laugh, sniffed Leneli; you've +both got your lunches," and she went away quite sulkily and sat +down on a stone by herself. Bello came and sat beside her and +licked her hand. + +Fritz had to dash away just then after a straying goat, but he +was soon back again with his luncheon in his hand. "Here," he +said, "you can have some of my bread and cheese." + +"Oh, Fritzi," said Leneli gratefully, "you are as good and kind +as that goat is bad, but I'm going to take only a teeny mouthful, +just to keep me from starving!" + +"All right," said Fritz, holding the slice of bread for her to +bite. "To-morrow we'll ask Mother to put up more bread and +cheese, and if you get hungry again, you can milk old Nanni +herself and get even with her that way." + +"But I don't know how to milk," said Leneli with her mouth full. + +"It's time you learned then," said Fritz briskly. "You've seen +Mother do it over and over again. Come, I'll teach you." + +Nanni, the goat, had leaped down from her high perch, and was now +taking a drink from a little sparkling mountain rill which flowed +through the pasture. + +"Come along," said Fritz. "There's no time like the present," +and, taking his cup in his hand, he started toward her. + +Leneli hung back a little. "Nanni is the naughtiest goat in the +whole flock," she said resentfully. "If it weren't for getting my +lunch back, I wouldn't try to milk her." + +It may be that Nanni heard it and was offended, or it may be that +she knew that she had no milk to give them so early in the +morning. Anyway, she made up her mind she would not be bothered +at that time of day, so as fast as they came near her, she walked +on a few steps, and by the time they had reached that spot she +had moved farther still. + +"We mustn't frighten her," said Fritz, "It's bad for the milk." + +For some time they patiently followed her about, and at last just +as they were ready to lay hands upon her, she suddenly leaped +upon a rock and from that to a higher one, until she stood far +out of reach on a dizzy overhanging cliff. + +"That Nanni!" cried Fritz wrathfully as he prepared to follow +her. "She'll break her pesky neck and mine too some day." + +He climbed a tree for a short cut to the cliff and dropped from +an overhanging branch to the narrow shelf of rock in front of the +goat. Bello, meanwhile, ran back and forth below, barking like +everything, but quite unable either to follow Nanni up the steep +trail, or to climb the tree as Fritz had done. + +"Come, Nanni," said Fritz, holding out his hand as he stepped +carefully toward her. + +Nanni sniffed and backed. Leneli and Seppi watched from below, +breathless with anxiety. If she should back too much she might +fall over the cliff and be killed. If she should dash forward she +might knock Fritz over it instead. But Fritz was a wise goat-boy! +He put his hand in his pocket and drew out a handful of salt, +which he kept for just such times as this. He held it out toward +Nanni and carefully and slowly backed away from the edge of the +cliff, coaxing her to follow him. As she stepped forward, he +stepped back, and in this way led her by a roundabout path down +the farther side of the rocks to the place where the other goats +wore still feeding. + +"Oh, Fritzi, I never could do that," said Leneli, hugging him +when he was on safe ground once more. "I should be so frightened." + +"I could," said Seppi promptly; "I'm not afraid." + +"Don't you try it, young man," said Fritz, "unless it's the only +thing you can do. The best goat-boy is the one who keeps his +goats from getting into such places. It's much cleverer to keep +out of trouble than to get out." + +They gave up the milking lesson for the time being, but when the long +day was over and they were on their way down the mountain-pass in the +late afternoon, they came to a wide level space. Here they paused, +and, while Seppi stood with his arm about Nanni's neck and fed her +handfuls of green grass, Leneli really did milk enough for a +refreshing drink to sustain her on the long homeward journey. + +Singing, playing tunes on the horn, and rousing the ever-ready +echoes with their yodels, they ran down the steep mountain path +in a much shorter time than it had taken to climb it in the +morning, and came in sight of the old farm-house just as the +Angelus rang again in the little white village spire. They paused +on the mountain path and bent their heads, but Nanni was not a +religious goat! She remembered the glimpse she had had the night +before of green things growing in the garden and suddenly bolted +down the steep path at a break-neck speed. All the rest of the +flock followed pell-mell after her, and the children were obliged +to cut short their prayers in order to save the carrot-tops from +being eaten up. + +The last mile was covered in record-breaking time, and before the +cuckoo clock struck seven the children and goats and dog all came +galloping into the yard together. + + + + +III. A MOUNTAIN STORM + +A MOUNTAIN STORM + + +The next day, and the day after that, the same lesson was +repeated. The Twins went away with Fritz in the early morning and +stayed all day long with the goats and came home with him in the +sunset glow. But on the fourth day it was quite, quite different. +It was different not only because they were to go alone with the +goats for the first time, but also because it was the day when +the greatest event of the whole year was to happen. + +On that very morning the cattle were to start away to the high +alps to be gone all summer! Every one in the little gray +farm-house was up with the dawn, and while Mother Adolf milked +the goats, the Twins took their breakfast to a high rock beside +the mountain path, where they could get a good view of the +village below. Father Adolf and Fritz had kissed Mother Adolf and +the baby good-bye before daylight, and had gone to the village to +get the cattle in line for their long march. They did not say +good-bye to the Twins, for they were to join the procession when +it passed the house; since for the first two miles the paths to +the high alps where the cattle grazed and to the goat-pastures +were the same. + +Leneli and Seppi had finished their bread and milk and were +hopping about in great excitement on the hill-top, when suddenly +from the village below there was a burst of gay music and they +knew that the procession had begun to move. Seppi ran back to the +milking-shed as fast as his legs could carry him. "They're +coming, they're coming!" he shouted. + +"Our goats are ready," said Mother Adolf. "You and Bello may take +them out to the path and wait there until the cattle have passed +by. Then you must fall in behind them with Father and Fritz and +go with them as far as the Giant Pine Tree that stands at the +parting of the paths. Father and Fritz will leave you there, and +you and Leneli must go on alone. You are sure you know the way?" +She looked anxiously into Seppi's blue eyes. + +"Oh, yes, Mother," said Seppi, confidently. "Don't you worry. I +know it well, and so does Leneli. We can take care of the goats +just as well as Fritz. You'll see!" + +Seppi, with Bello's help, drove the goats to a place where they +could crop the grass beside the mountain path, and there a few +moments later Mother Adolf joined them, dragging the baby in the +wooden cart. The procession was already in plain sight, winding +up the steep mountain path from the village. First came three +fine brindled cows, each with a bell as big as a bucket hanging +from her neck and a wreath of flowers about her horns. After them +came thirty more, each with a smaller bell, marching proudly +along in single file behind the leaders. All the bells were +jingling, and all the people who followed them from the village +were singing and yodeling until the air was full of jolly sounds. +The last cow in line carried the milking-stool on her horns, and +behind her walked Father and Fritz. + +Bello, who understood very well what was going on, kept the goats +herded together beside the path, and when Seppi and Leneli, +singing and shouting with the rest, drove them forward, Bello +marched proudly right behind the goats, barking and waving his +tail like a flag. + +Mother Adolf's heart swelled with pride as she watched her +husband and children march away so gayly, but when they had +disappeared from view and the music sounded fainter and fainter +as it grew more distant, she wiped her eyes on her apron, picked +up the Twins' breakfast-bowls, and went slowly with little Roseli +back to the lonely farm-house. The people from the village walked +but a little way up the mountain-side, and when they too returned +to their homes, there were no mare songs and yodels; and a great +silence settled over the mountain. + +Up and up the rocky trail wound the long train of cattle and +goats, until they came to the Giant Pine Tree, and here Father +Adolf and Fritz stopped. + +"Remember, my children," said Father Adolf solemnly to the Twins, +"the goats are our only wealth. If they stray away and are lost +or fall over a cliff and are killed, the fault will be yours. You +must be faithful, watchful, and brave, and let nothing happen to +the goats lest we go hungry when winter comes." Then he and Fritz +said good-bye, and the children, feeling very solemn and +important, went on their lonely way. + +Bello was a wonderful dog. He could count, for he always knew +when one of the goats was missing and would run about with his +nose to the trail until he found her, then he would bark at her +heels until she came back to join the flock. But, clever as he +was, he was puzzled when he saw the goats going in one direction +and Fritz in another. He stood at the parting of the paths and +looked first one way, then the other, and whined; then he dashed +after Fritz. + +"No, no, Bello, go with the goats," cried Fritz. Bello's ears and +tail drooped, and he looked pleadingly up at Fritz. + +Fritz had given his little horn to Seppi, and now he shouted to +him, "Blow your horn." Seppi could not play Fritz's merry little +tune, but he blew a terrific blast, and Bello knew that he must +follow the sound of the horn, even though it meant parting from +his dear Fritz. + +"Good old dog!" said Fritz, patting him; "go find them," and +Bello licked his hand, then tore away up the mountain after the +goats. + +When he reached them, he tried to round them up and drive them +back to Fritz, and it was some time before Seppi could make him +understand that the goats must go to the pastures as usual. Then, +though he followed them faithfully, he did not run about in +circles and bark down every hollow log as he usually did. +Instead, he walked along solemnly beside Leneli with his nose in +her hand. + +"See, Seppi," she said, "he knows he must help with the goats, +but he wants to go with Fritz." + +"There are lots of people in the world that know less than +Bello," Seppi answered wisely. He put the horn to his lips, +puffed out his cheeks, and blew with all his might. It made a +fearful noise, which was echoed from all the surrounding cliffs +and was answered by Fritz's yodel far away on the mountain +path. Bello pricked up his ears and whined. They called back and +forth in this way, the sounds growing fainter and fainter in the +distance, until they could no longer hear each other at all, and +the Twins were for the first time quite alone on the mountain +with Bello and the goats. + +When at last they reached the pasture, they threw themselves down +on the grass, and Leneli at once took her knitting out of her +pocket and went to work. Bello sighed and lay down beside her, +with his eyes on the goats. The sun was warm and it was very +still on the mountain-side. There was no sound except the tearing +noise made by the goats as they cropped the grass and the tinkle +of their bells. Then Seppi began to practice on his horn. He blew +and blew until he was red in the face, trying to play Fritz's +tune, but only a hoarse bellow came from its throat. + +Leneli stood the noise for some time. Then she plucked a blade of +grass, stretched it across a hollow between her two thumbs, and, +when Seppi was not looking, blew with all her might right by his +ear! It made a fearful screech, which echoed and reechoed until +it seemed as if the very air had been broken into a million bits. + +Seppi gave a screech of his own and clapped his hands over his +ears. "What did you do that for?" he said crossly, "just when I +was beginning to get the tune." + +"Well," said Leneli, "you may have begun, but you were still a +long, long way from getting it! My noise was just as good as +yours! I'll stop if you will." + +Seppi grumpily laid aside his horn and sat hugging his knees and +looking at the wonderful view spread out before them. Across the +valley the Rigi lifted its crest to the sky. Little toy villages, +each with its white spire, lay sleeping silently in the sunshine. +On the shores of the lake far below he could see the city of +Lucerne. It might have been a painted city, for not a sound +reached them from its busy streets, and there was no movement to +be seen except here and there the waving of a tiny thread of +smoke. On the lake the white sails looked, at that distance, like +tiny white butterflies hovering over the blue water. + +"I suppose we can see almost the whole world from here; don't +you?" said Leneli. + +"Pooh! no," Seppi answered loftily. "There's lots more to it than +this, though this is the best part of it, of course. Why, there +are oceans bigger than Lake Lucerne and a mile deep, and there's +Paris and London besides." + +"Dear, dear," said Leneli. "Mother says we are very near to God +on the mountains, and I suppose He can look down and see +everybody and know just what they are doing all the time, but I +don't see how He possibly can keep track of all of us at once." + +"He can't, silly," answered her brother, still more loftily. +"Don't you know that the earth is round, so He can't see but one +side at a time, if He looks ever so hard? I suppose that's why He +made the nighttime. He shuts some of the people up in the dark +whole He watches the rest of them on the other side." Seppi had +never thought this out before, but he always tried to have some +answer to give to Leneli when she asked questions, or else she +might get the idea that he didn't know any more than she did. +Leneli usually believed whatever he told her, and, this question +being settled, she went on with her knitting. + +The goats grazed peacefully about them; the air was very still +and grew quite warm in the sunshine. About the snow-white crest +of the Rigi little wisps of clouds were gathering. They grew +longer and longer and sank lower on the mountain-side. + +"It's raining in Lucerne," said Seppi. + +The clouds fell still lower and spread over the whole valley, +until the children from their high seat looked out over a sea of +mist. There were sounds of distant thunder from the rolling +clouds and vivid flashes of lightning far below them. + +"It's a little lonesome up here with all the world shut away out +of sight, and nobody around but God; isn't it?" said Leneli +timidly. + +"There are the goats, and Bello," answered Seppi comfortingly. He +looked straight up into the sky. Little wisps of clouds were +gathering around the crest of old Pilatus now. The sun was +suddenly hidden, and he felt a drop of rain. "It's going to rain +here in a minute, and hard, too," he said. + +"What shall we do?" cried Leneli, rolling up her knitting and +springing to her feet. + +"Get wet, I guess," answered Seppi. "There's no shelter." + +"There must be something," said Leneli. "I'll look, while you and +Bello get the goats together." She dashed away as she spoke, and +soon from a point farther down the mountain they heard her call. + +Goats, Bello, and Seppi, all came thundering down the path +together and found her huddled under an overhanging rock, +sheltered by the branches of a spreading pine. Bello and Seppi +dived under the rock beside her, and the goats gathered close +about them just as the storm broke in earnest. The lightning +flashed, the thunder rolled, and the rain came down in torrents, +making a gray curtain of water about the rock. The children +shrank back under the shelter as far as they could go, and +neither one said a word, except once when a stream of water +suddenly ran down the back of Leneli's neck. Then she jumped and +said "Ow," in a voice that Seppi heard even above the roar of the +thunder. + +For a long time they sat there while the storm raged about them. +Then the thunder went roaring away farther and farther down the +valley, the rain ceased, and the sun came out. + +"The storm's over," said Seppi. "Let's get out of here." + +The goats had already scattered and were nibbling tufts of wet +grass, when the two children crawled out from under the rock. +Leneli's dress was quite muddy where the rain had come through +the crack and poured down her neck, and she was twisting herself +round, trying to see the extent of the damage, when suddenly +there was a terrific roar and rumble as if the thunder had begun +all over again, though the sky was blue and clear. Crash followed +crash, and there was a sound of great rocks falling from dizzy +mountain-heights far above them. + +The children clung to each other in terror, the goats trembled, +and Bello crept farther under the rock. "The avalanche!" gasped +Leneli, shaking with fright. "Father thought there wouldn't be +any more this spring! Oh, I wish we were home!" + +Far down the mountain-side there were sounds of mighty trees +being torn up by the roots and of rocks broken from the cliffs +and bounding from ledge to ledge. + +It seemed as if the whole world were being torn to pieces. At +last the terrible roar ceased and a terrible silence settled over +the mountains. The children knew well the awful dangers of the +avalanche. Ever since they could remember they had heard stories +of travelers buried alive under masses of snow and ice, and of +whole villages swept away, or so covered with stones, trees, and, +earth that not a sign of them was ever seen again. + +Their first thought was of their mother. + +"Oh," shuddered Leneli, "do you suppose our house was in the path +of it?" + +Seppi thought a moment; then he said soberly, "No, that couldn't +be, for there is a wide hollow between our farm and the +mountain-slope that would have to be filled first. I'm quite sure +no avalanche could possibly carry the house away." + +"Father--Fritz," sobbed Leneli. + +"They are far round on the other side of the mountain by this +time," said Seppi, "where the sun has not yet had so much chance +to melt the snow and start avalanches. They could not have been +harmed by this one, for it fell on our side of the mountain." + +"Let us start home anyway," said Leneli, "even if it is early. I +can't wait until night to know that Mother and Baby Roseli are +safe." + +"We ought to keep the goats up here eating all day," objected +Seppi, "or they won't give any milk to-night." + +"They may not give much anyway," answered Leneli, "because +they've been so frightened, but we will let them go slowly and +they can get a bite here and there as they go." + +She took up her alpenstock, a long stick which she always carried +with her, hung the little bundle of lunch, tied up in a cloth, +from the end of it, put the stick over her shoulder, and, calling +Bello, began at once to herd the goats together. + +Seppi followed her a little doubtfully, and soon they were all on +their way down the steep mountain path. The sun was now shining +again as brilliantly as ever; the white clouds were floating +lazily across the deep blue sky, and it did not seem as if +anything unusual could possibly have happened. + +Seppi's conscience troubled him. "It was only a thunder-storm +after all," he said to Leneli, "and the avalanche is past and +gone. It can't do any more harm. I'm afraid Father wouldn't like +us to give up and go home now. He might think we were no better +than babies to be so scared when we know we aren't hurt." + +Leneli did not answer, but she kept right on going, and for a +time they trudged along in silence. They had reached the Giant +Pine where the trails divided, and had rounded a bend in the +path, when Bello, who was a little way ahead with the goats, +suddenly set up a furious barking. + +"It's that Nanni, I do not doubt," said Seppi. "She's probably +trying to break her neck somewhere." He dashed ahead and +disappeared around a high rock, Leneli following him at a slower +pace. + +In a moment Seppi came running back to her, his face pale with +surprise and alarm. + +"It isn't Nanni," he gasped, "it's the avalanche! It's all across +the pass! We can't get by." + +He seized his sister's hand and dragged her to the top of the rock +which overlooked the pass, and there they gazed in dismay at the scene +before them. Where that morning the procession from the village had so +gayly followed the winding trail up the mountain-side, there was now a +great mass of rocks, ice, and snow completely blocking the path. Worse +than that, the avalanche had made a dam across the bed of the mountain +stream where the cattle stopped to drink, turning it into a little +lake which was growing wider and deeper every moment. The goats were +huddled together on the brink, bleating anxiously, while Bello, +completely bewildered, ran back and forth, barking wildly. + +The children knew well how serious their situation was; they were +alone on the mountain, the only pass to the village closed, and +without food except the lunch they had brought from home that +morning. For a few moments they watched the water rising steadily +in the little lake, too terrified to speak; then Leneli said, +"Let's go back to the Giant Pine and think." + +Seppi blew his little horn, but, instead of rounding up the +goats, Bello only looked at him and whined. It had been a day of +tremendous surprises to Bello. First Fritz had left him; then +came the thunder-storm; then starting home in the middle of the +day instead of at the proper time; and now the path itself was +gone! No wonder he was bewildered. Seppi dashed down to the +water's edge and drove the goats up the trail again himself, and +while they snatched stray mouthfuls here and there about the pine +tree, he and Leneli sat down under it to think. + +"We can't get home that way; that's certain," said Seppi, +pointing to the buried pass. + +"And we can't stay here either," moaned Leneli; "not if there is +a way out in any direction." + +"There's the path Father and Fritz took this morning," said +Seppi. "We might try that. It must go somewhere." + +"Perhaps that is blocked too," said Leneli. + +"I'll go a little way and see," said Seppi. "You stay here and +watch the goats." + +"Give me your horn, then," said Leneli; "and I'll blow it every +little while so you can find your way back. You know Father +always tells us not to leave the path because it's so easy to get +lost." + +"That's a good idea," said Seppi. "See if you can blow it." + +Leneli put it to, her lips and blew until her face was purple, +but achieved only a dismal squawk. + +"I'll keep the horn myself," said Seppi, taking it from her, "and +every little while I'll blow it. You can answer by blowing on a +grass stem the way you did up yonder. Girls can't manage a horn +anyway." + +Leneli was too miserable to reply, and in another minute Seppi +had disappeared up the strange path. For what seemed to her a +very long time, Leneli answered the horn, as it grew fainter and +fainter in the distance. Finally she could not hear it at all. + +"Oh, what shall I do if Seppi's gone too?" she moaned when her +desperate signals brought no answer. + +Then her Mother's words came back to her, and, plumping herself +down on her knees among the goats, she sent up a fervent prayer. + +"Oh, dear God," she cried, clasping her hands, "Mother said we +should be very close to you on the mountain and I suppose you can +see me and Seppi both at the same time, from where you are. +Please, please send him back for I'm scared. Dear God, do please +hurry and help us find the way down the mountain before it gets +dark and you have to go away to watch the other side of the +world. Amen." + +She rose from her knees and listened. Far away there came the +sound of Seppi's horn. "Oh, thank you, God! There he comes!" she +dried joyfully, and, snatching a grass-blade, she put it between +her thumbs and gave an answering blast. + +Soon Seppi himself came bounding into sight. "Come along," he +shouted, waving his hand frantically toward the path, and Leneli +at once called Bello, and together they started the goats. + +"The avalanche must have begun on the other side of our pass," +said Seppi when Leneli caught up with him. "There's no sign of it +on this side." + +"Maybe if we follow far enough we'll find Father and Fritz," said +Leneli, brightening. + +"I thought of that, too," answered Seppi, "but if there is any +way to get down the mountain, I think we ought to do it on +Mother's account. Father and Fritz won't know about it, so they +won't be anxious, but if we don't get home Mother will think we +are killed." + +"Oh, I wish we could fly," said Leneli. + +"Then we must wish for wings on the goats too," said Seppi, "for +you know Father said we must take care of them whatever happens." + +Sad and frightened though she was, Leneli giggled a little at +that. "Wouldn't they look funny flying through the air with you +and me and Bello all flopping after them?" she said. "Anyway, +they might go a little faster than they do now," she added +impatiently, giving Nanni a poke with her stick. + +"They are hungry," said Seppi. "They hardly had time to eat +anything before the storm came up." + +Then a bright idea came into his head. "I'm hungry, too," he +said, "and so are you. Let's eat our lunch while the goats get a +few mouthfuls among the rocks, and then we shall all have more +strength and shall get along faster." + + + + +IV. THE LONELY HERDSMAN + +THE LONELY HERDSMAN + + +The sun was already dipping toward the west when they finished +the last crumb of their bread and cheese, washed it down with a +drink from the mountain stream, and started once more on their +journey. They followed the path without much difficulty, for it +had been trampled by the feet of many cattle that morning, and at +the end of an hour had covered several miles without meeting a +person or finding any sign of human habitation The way grew +wilder and wilder and wound slowly upward. + +"It's going to be dark pretty soon," said Leneli at last, trying +hard to conceal the tremble in her voice, "and we are going up +instead of down. Seppi, do you suppose there are any bears and +wolves about here?" + +"Maybe," said Seppi, and there was a little catch in his throat, +too. "But then," he added, trying hard to look on the bright side +of things, "if there are, they'd be much more likely to eat the +goats. I don't believe they care much about eating people." + +"Well, anyway, if they do," quavered Leneli, "I hope they'll +begin with Nanni." + +The afternoon waned; the shadows grew longer and longer, and they +wire just making up their minds that they must soon lie down +among the goats beside the trail and wait for morning, when a +turn in the path brought them out on a spur of the mountain where +they could look for miles across a deep valley towards the west. +On the farther side, range after range of snow-capped peaks gave +back the golden glory of the sunset, and from somewhere came the +sound of an Alpine horn playing the first few notes of the hymn +"Praise Ye the Lord." + +"The Angelus!" cried Leneli clasping, her hands. "They can't hear +the church-bells up here, so they blow the horns instead." + +Far away across the valley another horn answered, then another +and another, and the echoes took up the refrain until it seemed +as if the hills themselves were singing. + +Following eagerly the direction of the sound the children were +overjoyed to see in the distance a lonely herdsman standing on a +great rock overlooking the valley, his long Alpine horn in his +hand, and his head bowed in prayer. Leneli and Seppi bowed their +heads too, and it comforted them to think that their mother in +the old farm-house, and Father and Fritz on the far-away alp, +were all at that same moment praying too. It seemed to bring them +near together in spite of the distance which separated them. + +Their prayers said, the children hastened forward, driving the +goats before them, and now the sound of cow-bells mingled with +the tinkle of the bells on the goats. Another turn in the path +revealed a green pasture where a herd of cows was grazing, and, +just beyond, a rough shelter made of logs with the herdsman, +still holding his horn, standing beside it. He was gazing in +astonishment at the sight of two little children alone on the +mountains at so late an hour. He was an old man, with a shaggy +white beard, and strange kind eyes that seemed always looking for +something that he could not find. Beside him, his ears pointed +forward and his tail pointing back, was his dog. The dog was +growling. + +For an instant the children stood still, not quite daring to go +nearer, but Bello, dear friendly old Bello, had no such fears. He +ran forward barking joyfully; the two dogs smelled each other, +and then trotted back down the path together as if they had been +friends since they were puppies. + +The man followed at a slower pace. "What in the world are you +doing up here on the mountains with your goats at this time o' +day?" he said to the children. + +The Twins told him their story, and he stood for a moment +scratching his head, as if he were much puzzled to know what to +do with them. + +"Well," he said at length, "you can't get down the mountain +to-night, that's certain; and you must be hungry enough to eat an +ox roasted whole, that's certain too. And your goats are hungry +into the bargain. Goats aren't allowed in this pasture, but they +mustn't starve either. Nothing is as it should be." + +He scratched his head again, and Leneli, fearing he was going to +turn them away, could not keep a large tear from rolling, down +her nose and splashing off her chin. + +"There, there," said the old herdsman, comfortingly, "don't you +cry, sissy. Things aren't so bad but that they might be worse. +You can sleep in the hay up yonder," he jerked his thumb toward +the hut, "and I'll give you a bite to eat, and the goats will +help themselves, I've no manner of doubt." + +"We can drink goat's milk," said Leneli timidly, "and you may +have all we don't take." + +"We'll have to milk them first," said Seppi, "and we've never +done it before. Mother always does the milking." + +"I know how," said Leneli proudly. "Don't you remember, Fritz +taught me the day Nanni swallowed my lunch?" + +"I'll lend you a milk-pail," said the herdsman. "The cows were +all milked some time ago." + +He went back to the but and soon reappeared with two pails, and +as Leneli struggled with one goat he milked another, while Seppi +fed both creatures with tufts of grass to keep them quiet. It was +the first good grass the goats had seen since morning, and +apparently they were determined to eat the pasture clean. + +The herdsman looked at them anxiously and scratched his head +again. "They certainly have healthy appetites," he said woefully; +"they don't calculate to leave anything behind 'em but stones and +gravel!" + +The milking took some time and after it was done, the old man +placed the sad and tired children on the bench beside his door, +and while they ate the food he gave them and watched the moon +rise over the mountains, he told them about his home in the +village fifteen miles away at the foot of the pass, and about his +wife and two grandchildren who lived there with him. + +"The only thing you can do," he said, "is to go down the pass on +this side of the mountain. You can spend the night at my house or +at some farm-house on the way and it is only about ten miles back +to your own village from the foot of the pass." + +"But how can we find the way?" quavered poor Leneli. + +The old man scratched his head, as he always did when he was +puzzled, and finally said, "Well, I'm blest if I can tell you. +It's a hard pass. I'd go with you, but I'm alone here and I can't +leave the cows even for half a day. I'll start you right, the dog +and the goats have some sense of their own; and the good God will +guide you. Besides, Swiss boys and girls are never afraid." + +"I'm a little afraid, I think," confessed Leneli. She looked at the +moon and thought how it must be shining down on the old farm-house; +and of her mother, who at that very moment must be frantic with fears +for their safety; and of the long and perilous journey before they +could see her again, and though she tried hard to swallow them, three +little sobs slipped out. + +The old man heard them. "Why, bless me, bless me," he said, +rumpling his hair until it stood on end, "this will never do at +all! Why, bless us, think of William Tell! Think of Peter, who +lived long ago in your own Lucerne, and who saved the whole city! +To take a little herd of goats down a strange pass is child's +play compared with what he did; and he was only a boy like Seppi +here, and I always thought girls were braver than boys." + +Leneli sat up and sniffed resolutely. "I think--I'm almost sure-- +I'm going to be brave now," she said. "Tell us about Peter." + +"Well, it was like this," said the herds-man. "Peter was a +smart, likely lad enough, but nobody thought he was a hero. In +fact, he never suspected it himself. You see, you can't tell +whether you are one or not until something happens that calls for +courage. Then if you do the right thing, whether you are afraid +or not, you'll know you are one. Well, one summer night this +Peter went out to have a swim in the lake, and when he crawled +upon the bank to dress again, he was so tired he fell asleep. By +and by he was wakened by voices and, opening his eyes, he saw +five or six men creeping stealthily along the lake-shore. + +"'Aha,' says Peter to himself, 'that's not the walk of honest +men.' + +"He got up on his elbow in the long grass and watched them +without being seen. He saw many more men steal silently after the +first group, and among them he recognized the Bailiff of +Rothenburg, whom he knew to be an Austrian and the sworn enemy of +Lucerne. He saw the men talk together and heard enough of what +they said to be sure that danger threatened his beloved town. So +when they moved on, he followed them, slipping along behind rocks +and bushes, until suddenly they disappeared as if the earth had +swallowed them. Peter groped about hunting for them until at last +he saw a faint light shining from out a dark cavern among the +rocks. Then, though he knew how dangerous it was, he followed the +light and found himself in a long, dark tunnel." + +"Oh," shuddered Leneli. "I could never be as brave as that. I +don't like dark places." + +"Peter knew that a tunnel ran underneath the walls of the town +and that the other end of it opened by a trap-door into a stable +in Lucerne," went on the old man without noticing Leneli's +interruption, "and at once he saw that some traitor must have +told the Austrians of this secret passage. He crept closer and +closer to the group of men, until he was near enough to hear what +they said. You may be sure his blood ran cold in his veins when +he heard the voice of a man he knew, telling the Austrians just +how best they could capture the town! He knew that terrible +things would happen in Lucerne that night if the enemy ever +reached the other end of the tunnel, and at once made up his mind +that he must alarm the town. He dropped on his hands and knees +and was beginning to crawl back toward the entrance, when he +heard some one coming into the tunnel! He sprang to his feet and +tried to run past, but the passage was narrow, and he was caught +at once and dragged into the light." + +"Oh! Oh!" gasped the Twins, breathless with excitement. "It +sounds just like a bad dream." + +"It was no dream," said the old herdsman, "for when the traitor, +whose name was Jean de Malters, saw Peter, he was terribly angry. +'How did you come here,' he roared, in a voice that made the +earth shake. + +"'I was asleep on the bank and you woke me up, so I followed to +see what was going on,' said Peter. + +"'I don't believe you. Some one sent you to spy upon us,' said +Jean de Matters, and he shook Peter. 'Who sent you?' + +"'No one,' said Peter. 'I have told you the truth.' + +"'You lie,' said his captor. 'I give you just two minutes to tell +who sent you, and if you do not tell us then, you shall die!' + +"Poor Peter thought of his home and his mother and father, and +there never was a more homesick boy in the world than he was at +that moment, but though he was terribly frightened, he did not +say a single word. + +"'He shall die, then,' said Jean de Falters, when the two minutes +were up, and Peter had not spoken. + +"One of the Austrians interfered. 'No,' he said. 'It would be bad +luck to begin the night's work by shedding the blood of a child. +Make him swear he will not tell what he has seen to any living +soul, and let him go.' + +"In spite of Jean de Matters, who was bound that he should be +killed, that was what they did, and the moment he was free you +may be sure Peter ran like the wind for home. + +"Now you see," said the old herdsman, and he shook his finger at +Seppi and Leneli, "I this was a dreadful position for Peter. He +had solemnly promised not to tell a living soul what he had seen +and heard, but if he didn't tell, his parents and friends would +be murdered before morning. + +"That evening his father and a number of other men were gathered +together in the town hall of Lucerne to talk over community +affairs, when Peter suddenly burst into the room, his eyes as big +as saucers. + +"The men gathered about him, thinking he must have some +tremendous piece of news, but Peter spoke never a word to them. +Instead, he marched up to the great porcelain stove that stood in +the room. + +"'O Stove,' said Peter, 'I have just heard terrible things which +I have promised not to tell to a living soul, but you, O Stove, +have no soul, so to you I will say that the Austrians are now in +the tunnel underneath the walls and that at midnight they will +break in and sack the town.' + +"At first the men thought Peter had gone crazy, but when he had +finished telling the stove all he had seen and heard, they flew +to alarm the town and get their weapons. + +"At midnight, when the Austrians came up through the hole in the +stable floor, they were received by a little army of men of +Lucerne, and in the battle that followed they were completely +whipped and driven from the town forever. And it was Peter who +saved the city. + +"You see that was Peter's chance to show what he was made of, and +he didn't miss his chance. He did the right thing, even though he +was afraid. It's a great thing not to miss one's chance." + +The old herdsman looked up at the moon as if he hadn't meant any +one in particular when he said that about missing one's chance, +and the children didn't say a word for a minute. + +Then Seppi said, "If Peter could save a whole town, I guess we +can get down that pass with a few goats." + +"Why, of course," said the herdsman. "It's your chance, you see, +and when you get home very likely you'll find you are both +heroes. You see if there were never any danger, there never could +be any heroes at all! Now climb up into the hay, both of you, and +I'll wake you for an early start in the morning." + + + + +V. THE PASS + +THE PASS + + +All night long the children slept soundly in the hayloft, with +the moon peering in at them through the chinks between the logs. +In the morning they were awakened by the music of cow-bells, and +by the voice of the old herdsman, who stuck his head up through +the hole in the floor and called out "Wake up, my young heroes! +The sun is already looking over the crest of Rigi, and it's time +you were on your way." + +Seppi and Leneli sat up and rubbed their eyes, and for a moment +could not think where they were or how they came to be there. +Then they remembered, and, springing from their rude beds, ran +out into the glorious morning and washed their faces and hands in +the mountain stream that flowed near the hut. Then there were the +goats to be milked, and breakfast to be eaten, and the shadows +were already shortening when at last they were ready for their +lonely and dangerous journey. + +The old herdsman packed some bread and cheese in their lunch-cloth, +Leneli slung the bundle on her alpenstock, and Seppi called Bello to +herd the goats. But the goats were well pleased with the rich green +grass of the alp, and were unwilling to leave the pasture. They +frisked and gamboled and stood on their hind legs butting each other +playfully, and it was some time before Seppi and Bello could get them +fairly started. + +The old herdsman had done his milking very early in order to go a +little way with the children, and now, leaving the cows in charge +of his faithful dog, he led the way down the steep mountain path. + +The morning air was so clear and sparkling and the sun shone so +bright upon the snow-capped peaks, that the children almost +forgot the dangers of the unknown path. It seemed impossible that +anything could happen to them in such a wonderful and beautiful +world, and they said good-bye quite cheerfully to the good old +herdsman when at last he stopped and told them he must go back to +his cheese-making. From the place where they stood, they could +see the path like a tiny thread, winding through forests, down a +long, narrow valley shut in by high cliffs, past waterfalls fed +by mountain snows, and losing itself at last where a tiny white +steeple marked the little village which was the home of the old +herdsman. The old man pointed to it. "Follow the path and +remember Peter of Lucerne," he said. "This is your chance! Trust +the good God, do not be afraid, and soon your troubles will be +over and you will be once more in your mother's arms." He stood +on a rock and watched the little procession until a bend in the +path hid it from sight, then he went back to his lonely pasture. + +For an hour or so, the children trudged quite cheerfully on their +way. "This isn't hard at all," said Seppi. "The pass is easier to +follow than our own. How silly we were to be scared!" + +They were so used to climbing about in perilous places that when +a little later the path led them along a shelf-like projection on +the side of steep cliffs, overhanging a mountain stream, they +were not frightened. But when they began to grow tired, and the +trail led them into a dark forest, where the sun came through the +thick boughs and shone only in patches of light upon the slippery +spruce needles, they grew less courageous. + +"I don't like the forest," said Leneli, shivering a little and +looking behind her. "It always seems as if things would happen to +you in the woods." + +"What kind of things?" said Seppi, who was beginning to feel a +bit shaky himself. + +"Why--you know," answered Leneli, "the kind of things that giants +and dragons and dwarfs do! And then there's that story about +Pontius Pilate. You know our old Mount Pilatus was named that +because they say his body was thrown into one of its lakes, and +his spirit haunts the mountain. He only comes out once a year, +but oh, Seppi, suppose this should be the time!" + +"Huh!" said Seppi scornfully. "Girls' talk! Of course I don't +believe such things; besides, he only comes out on Good Friday, +anyway!" + +"Well," said Leneli, "lots of people do believe them, even +grown-up people." + +"Pooh," said Seppi, and just to show that he didn't care at all +about such idle tales he began to whistle; but Leneli noticed +that he too looked behind him now and then. + +It grew more and more difficult to find the way, for there were +openings between the trees that looked like paths and the true +path wound in and out, and came near losing itself entirely among +the rocks. The brown needles covered the ground in every +direction, so the pass was no different in color from the rest of +the forest floor. When they looked behind them or peered +fearfully under the spruce boughs for dwarfs or giants, of course +they were not watching the trail carefully, and so, when suddenly +there was a loud whirring noise above the trees and a great bird +flew almost over their heads, they were so startled they just ran +without noticing which way they were going. Bello was startled +too, and began to bark. This started the goats, and before you +could say "Jack Robinson" children, dog, goats, and all were +galloping pell-mell through the woods. + +After the loud whirring noise the forest was still again, and the +children stopped their mad race, but they could not stop the +goats. On and on they ran with Bello after them, and there was +nothing for the children to do but follow, for had not their +father told them that the welfare of the whole family depended +upon the goats, and if any should be lost, they alone would be to +blame? Stumbling over roots, dodging trees and rocks, they +plunged wildly along until finally they saw a light spot ahead +and a moment later came out suddenly upon the edge of a +precipice, from which they could look straight down into a deep +valley below. The goats were there before them huddled together +an the brow of the cliff, bleating piteously. Bello sat on his +haunches with his tongue hanging out and looked at the scenery! +Seppi and Leneli looked at each other in dismay. + +"Now you've done it!" said Seppi miserably. "We've lost the path, +and it's all your fault! If we had been thinking about Peter of +Lucerne instead of about those silly old giants and dwarfs, this +would not have happened." + +"You were just as scared as I was," said Leneli, "and you needn't +try to lay it all on me! You jumped and ran just as soon as I +did, when that bird flew over our heads." + +Seppi knew that this was true, so he said nobly: "Very well, +let's not quarrel about it. What we need to do is to get the +goats back to the path." + +He took some salt from his pocket, as his big brother had taught +him to do, and walked slowly toward them, holding out his hand. +Nanni stretched her neck forward and had taken just one lick of +the salt when suddenly the loud whirring noise came again, there +was a terrific scream overhead, and from the crags above them a +great golden eagle swooped down towards the frightened group on +the cliff, and, sticking his terrible talons into Nanni's back, +tried to lift her bodily into the air! For an instant she swung +dizzily over the edge of the cliff as the eagle beat his wings +furiously in an effort to rise with his heavy burden. But in that +instant Seppi leaped forward and, seizing the goat by the tail, +pulled back with all his might. Leneli sprang to the rescue of +Seppi, grasping him firmly around the waist, and screaming like a +wildcat as she added her strength to his. + +Meanwhile Bello barked furiously, and the rest of the goats fled +bleating into the woods in a mad stampede. It was all over in +less time that it takes to tell it. The goat, wounded and +bleeding, dropped to the ground, the great bird soared away into +the dizzy spaces beyond the cliff, and the children dashed into +the shelter of the woods, dragging Nanni after them. They could +not sink down on the ground and recover from their fright as they +longed to do, for by this time the goats had scattered among the +trees and must be brought together again at once. Bello was +distractedly trying to round them up, but as he had no idea of +the direction in which to drive them, they were all galloping +wildly about, first this way, then that. + +It was some time before the children succeeded in getting the +flock together again, but at last they were able to drive them +farther into the woods, and away from the dangers of the cliffs, +and were soon fortunate enough to come upon a little mountain +stream which was singing its way through the forest. Here the +goats stopped willingly to drink, and for the first time the +children were able to give some attention to Nanni. Her back was +torn and bloody, but her injuries were not serious and on the +whole she seemed little the worse for her experience. + +"We must let all the goats rest a little," said Seppi. "There +isn't any food for them, but they can have a good drink while we +eat our lunch, and then we just must find that path." + +They sat down on a rock and Leneli opened the bundle of food +which the old herdsman had given them. "Isn't it queer?" said +she, as she handed Seppi a piece of cheese, "I'm not as scared as +I was before that dreadful eagle came. Are you?" + +Seppi paused with his mouth open for a bite. "Why, I'm not, +either!" he said with surprise. + +Leneli's eyes grew big. "Seppi," said she earnestly, "do you +suppose, maybe, we're heroes like Peter of Lucerne, after all, +and never knew it?" + +Seppi thought about this so seriously that for a minute he forgot +to eat. Then he said, "Why, of course we are! We were scared but +we did the right thing! My, but I'm glad!" He sighed with relief +and took a big bite and munched away in silence. + +At last he said solemnly, "Of course, now that we know we really +are heroes, we won't be scared any more! We'll stop before we +begin!" + +Leneli looked doubtful. "I'm afraid I shall be scared again if we +don't find the Pass," she said. "We might die up here in the +mountains just like Moses in sight of the promised land. And some +time maybe a hunter would find our bones lying scattered about on +the ground." She sniffed a little at this pathetic picture, and +her eyes filled with tears. + +"Look here," said Seppi, jumping to his feet and gazing down at +her sternly. "Is that any way for a hero to talk? They aren't +going to find any bones of mine, I can tell you! I'm going to get +down this mountain with all the goats, and so are you!" + +"Well," said the heroine, doubtfully, "I was only supposing." + +"Well, then, don't suppose that way," growled Seppi. "Just +suppose we find the pass and get somewhere in time for supper, +and get home to-morrow!" + +At that very minute a bright thought struck him. "What a silly!" +he said. "Why didn't I think of it before? This stream runs down +hill, and if we follow it we shall have to get down to the +valley, too. Come along!" + +He was in such a hurry to carry out his idea that he started at +once with his bread and cheese in his hand. + +"But maybe it won't be anywhere near the village where the +herdsman's home is, if we do get down," objected Leneli; "we +ought to find the path." + +"We'll be more likely to find it by following the stream," said +Seppi, giving a loud blast on his horn, "and if we don't find +that village, we'll find another place just as good. I'll bet +there are some kind people everywhere." + +Bello was at that moment barking down a hollow log in the hope of +catching a hare, but he obediently rounded up the goats when +Seppi called him, and the little caravan began to move. + +It was not so simple as it sounded. The stream had worn a deep +channel among the rocks. Trees had fallen across it, undermined +by the swift current. Here it roared through a narrow gorge and +there spread into a wide pool, then again plunged through +underbrush and among rocks in its haste to reach the lake far +below. The goats made slow progress and, whenever it was possible +to do so, wandered away into easier paths and had to be driven +back. + +At last, to their great relief, the children saw a break in the +trees, and they rushed joyfully forward, only to find that the +stream at this point leaped over a cliff in a waterfall fifty +feet high! The young explorers gazed at this new difficulty +without a word. + +Far below in the green valley they could see little white specks +which were farm buildings, and tiny villages nestling among trees +along the banks of a wide stream. They could even see the glacier +which fed this river, lying like some huge white monster along +the valley, its broad nose thrust between the banks on either +side. + +"Every time we think we've found the way out, we just get deeper +in than ever," moaned Leneli, at last. "We can't get down this +way, and if we did we'd have to cross the glacier." + +"It isn't a very big one," said Seppi, looking down at it. + +"You can't tell from here," quavered Leneli. + +Seppi looked about him. To the right the forest slopes stretched +upward toward the mountain-top. In front was the plunge, and at +the left the stream gurgled over rocks and stones to its fall. + +"We'll just have to cross it," said Seppi firmly. He drove the +goats back a little way to a place where it was possible to ford +the stream, and in, a little while the whole caravan stood +dripping on the farther bank. + +"I'm going to follow along the edge of this cliff," said Seppi, +"and you and the goats follow after me. I'm sure we shall find a +place where we can get down. I'll keep calling, so you'll know +which way to go." + +He plunged into the forest at the word and was lost to sight, and +Leneli, driving the goats before her, plunged after him. Guided +by the sound of the waterfall, they forced their way through +underbrush, over great piles of rocks and around perilous curves, +seeking always the lower levels, until at last, when she was +almost ready to give up in despair, Leneli heard a joyful shout +from Seppi and, hastening forward, found him at the edge of the +forest, looking out over a wide range of foothills. The forest +was now behind them, and before them lay green slopes spangled +like the stars in the milky way with yellow daffodils and blue +gentians. + +The goats, wild with delight at seeing fresh pasturage, leaped +forward and began to browse, and dear old Bello sat down on his +haunches with his tongue hanging out and gazed upon the scene as +benevolently as if his own stomach were full instead of empty. +The children were so weary they threw themselves down in the +grass beside him to rest. + +Now that they had escaped the perils of the forest, it almost +seemed to them for a little while as if their troubles were over, +but by and by Seppi sat up and studied the scene before them. He +looked past the long slopes to the glacier and the river in the +valley below. + +"We've got to get across that somehow," he said to Leneli, at +last, pointing to the stream, "and there are only two ways of +doing it. When we get down there, we must either go through the +river, or across the glacier which feeds it." + +"We can't go through it," answered Leneli. "We don't know how +deep it is." + +"Then it will have to be the glacier," said Seppi, "and I'm glad goats +are so sure-footed. We'd better start along, for it's getting later +every minute, and I'm bound to reach that farm-house before dark." He +pointed to a speck in the distance. + +"Oh, dear," sighed Leneli, as she followed his finger with her +eye, "it's like dying to get to heaven! Suppose we fall into +cracks in the glacier?" + +"You're the worst supposer I ever saw," snapped Seppi. "Suppose +we don't fall in! Suppose we get across all right with all the +goats, and suppose there's a good woman at the farm-house who +feeds us, and Bello too! Suppose she gives us... what would you +like best for supper, Leneli?" + +"Oh!" cried Leneli, clasping her hands, "soup and pancakes!" + +"Hurry up, then," said Seppi. "We shall surely never get them, +nor anything else, by staying here." + +Leneli struggled to her feet, and once more they moved forward. +Half an hour of brisk walking brought them to the edge of the +glacier, and here Seppi arranged their marching order. + +"I'll go first," he said, "the same as a guide, then the goats, +and then you and Bello. You must watch every step, and keep +sticking in your alpenstock to be sure you are on solid ice. If +you don't, you might strike a hollow place and fall through the +crust." + +"I'll be careful," said Leneli. + +"All right, then! here we go!" said Seppi. "I can just smell +those pancakes!" and with that he set out across the river of +ice. + +The children understood very well the dangers of the glaciers. It +was not simply a frozen stream on which one might skate. It was a +great slow-moving, grinding avalanche of ice and rocks, full of +seams and cracks and holes, which was creeping steadily down the +valley. The river formed by the melting snows, gushed forth from +beneath it and rushed away to join the lake still far below. + +Even the goats knew it was a perilous journey, and besides they +were unwilling to leave the rich grass of the fields, so it was +with some difficulty that they were finally driven forward upon +the glacier. Seppi led the way, blowing on his little horn to +encourage them, trying every step with his stick, and waiting for +them to catch up before going farther. They were nearly half way +across, when Seppi stopped and called to Leneli to stand still. +There in front of him yawned a wide crevasse. The frozen river +had cracked open, and if they went forward in a straight line +they would plunge down into an ice prison from which they could +never escape alive. + +It was the hardest puzzle and the greatest danger they had met in +their whole journey, and for a minute poor Seppi almost gave up +in despair. He thought they would have to go back and try the +river after all. Shouting to Leneli to keep the goats together if +she could, he turned and made his way up-stream along the edge of +the crevasse. It grew narrower as he followed it, and broke into +a number of smaller cracks. + +The only way to get to the other side was to follow along these +smaller cracks where they made a crooked natural bridge across +the chasm. Even Seppi's stout heart quailed a little as he gazed +down into the depths of the huge rifts. The walls of ice gleamed +with wonderful greens and blues, but he had no heart to admire +the beautiful colors. + +"Remember Peter of Lucerne, and come on," he shouted back to Leneli, +and without another word started across the treacherous ice bridge. It +made no difference whether she was frightened or not, Leneli simply +had to follow him even though the goats, sure-footed as they were, +shrank from the journey, and Bello hung back and whined. + +"Follow exactly in my footsteps," shouted Seppi, and Leneli +swallowed a lump in her throat, grasped her alpenstock more +firmly and went forward. + +"Don't look down into the hole! Look at the bridge across it!" +shouted Seppi. + +He stepped carefully forward, finding solid footing with his +stick before each step, and in a short time stood safely on the +other side of the chasm. There he waited and held his breath, +while the goats picked their way daintily across the ice bridge +after him, and when Leneli and Bello at last reached his side, he +hugged them both for joy. + +"There," he said, "there can't be anything worse than that, and +we'll soon be on green grass again." + +They passed other smaller crevasses, but they could make their way +around the ends of these, and it was not long before they had +scrambled over the rocks at the glacier's edge and once more stood on +solid ground. Even Bello seemed to realize that their troubles were +now nearly over, for he barked and ran round them in circles and +leaped up with his paws on their shoulders to give them dog kisses, +and, as for his tail--he nearly wagged it loose in his joy. The goats +sprang forward to reach the grass, and when the children drove them +on, snatched greedy mouthfuls as they passed. The children could see +the farm-house growing from a mere speck larger and larger as they +came down the valley toward it, and at last the little group of +stragglers pattered into the door-yard. + +The noise of bleating goats and a barking dog brought the +farmer's wife to the door, and for a moment she stood there with +her baby in her arms and looked down at them in astonishment, +just as the old herdsman had done on the mountain. + +"Where in the world did you come from?" she cried at last. "Who +are you? and what do you want here?" + +Leneli opened her mouth to answer, but when she saw the woman's +kind face, and the baby sucking its thumb and looking at them +solemnly, it reminded her so of her mother and Baby Roseli that, +instead of explaining, she burst into tears. + +The woman clattered down the steps of once, put her free arm +around Leneli, and patted her comfortingly, while Seppi told her +their story. Before he had got farther than the avalanche part of +it, she seemed to guess all the rest. It was not the first time +that people had been lost on the mountain. + +"Come right in this minute," she cried. "Don't stop to talk! You +must be as hungry as wolves. I'll get you something to eat, and +then you can tell me every word." + +"Please," said Leneli timidly, drying her tears, "could you give +Bello something first? The goats have had a little grass and we +had some bread and cheese, but Bello hasn't had a bite all day." + +"Bless my soul!" said the woman. "What a little woman it is, to +think first of the dog! Here," she cried to Seppi; "take this +bone to him right away, and shut up the goats in the barn-yard. +Then come back and I'll give you whatever you like best, if I've +got it!" + +"If you please, ma'am," said Seppi, his eyes shining, "up on the +mountain when we were lost, we saw your house and we just +supposed that maybe you might have soup and pancakes!" + +"Bless my soul!" cried the woman. "Soup and pancakes it shall be, +and that's soon ready!" + +She put the baby into Leneli's arms and flew about the kitchen, +rattling pots and pans, stirring up the fire, and mixing her +batter; and when Seppi returned, the smell of pancakes was +already in the air, and the soup was bubbling in the pot. In five +minutes more the children were seated at the kitchen table with +steaming bowls before them, while their new friend cooked a pile +of pancakes that it would have warmed the cockles of your heart +to see. + +The farmer himself was far away on the high alps with his cattle, +and came down the mountain only once in a while with a load of +cheeses on his back. His wife was very lonely in his absence and +was glad to have company, if only for a single night; so she +comforted the children and talked with them about their mother, +and piled pancakes on their plates until they could not hold +another mouthful. Then she helped them milk the goats, and when +the sun went down, sent them to bed so they would be well rested +for their long walk the next day. + + + + +VI. NEW FRIENDS AND OLD + +NEW FRIENDS AND OLD + + +When the children came into the kitchen the next morning, they +found their new friend beating mush and milk together for their +breakfast, and there was a smell of coffee in the air. + +"Sit right down and eat," said she, pushing a stool toward the +table with her foot. "I've milked the goats for you. They didn't +give much, poor things, and it's no wonder, after such a day as +they had yesterday! The wonder is that they gave any at all. I've +made coffee for you, for you've a long day ahead of you, and it +will cheer up your insides. It's a lucky thing for you the day is +so fine. I thought I heard it rain in the night, but old Pilatus' +head has no cloud cap this morning, and he is a good weather +prophet." + +The baby was already seated in her high chair at the table, +beating upon it with a spoon to welcome them, and the children +were soon seated beside her putting away a great store of the +good mush. The farmer's wife had no one but the baby to talk to +during the long days when her husband was away, and she made the +most of her time while the children were with her. She told them +all about her cows and her pigs and her chickens, just how much +hay her husband brought down from his highland meadow on his back +the previous summer, and how many cheeses he expected to bring +home from the alp at the end of the season. And when at last they +had eaten all they could, she put up a lunch for them, and gave +them full directions for reaching their own village. + +"It's not hard at all," said she, "for though it is still a long +way to the foot of the mountain, you've only to follow the road, +and if you don't know which turn to take at a cross-roads, +there'll always be somebody to ask somewhere along the way. If +you could get so far down the mountain and across the glacier by +yourselves you've nothing to fear now, and you'd better make all +the speed you can, for my heart bleeds for your poor mother. She +must be half dead with anxiety by now." + +She kissed them good-bye at the door and stood with her baby on +her arm, gazing after them when they drove the goats out of the +door-yard and started down the highway toward their home. They +did not forget to thank their kind hostess, and after they had +started turned again and again to wave a farewell to her. She +waved to them in return, and the baby also fluttered her tiny +pink hand until they were quite out of sight. + +"We'll never forget her, shall we?" said Leneli. + +"Never," answered Seppi, fervently. "She's almost as good as +Mother! And doesn't she make good pancakes, though?" + +They set their faces northward and trudged along, hurrying rather +than slacking their speed as the miles lengthened behind them, +for as the distance between them and their home shortened, their +eagerness to get there increased. It was a good twelve miles from +the farm-house where they had spent the night to their own +village, and a mile this side of the village and a mile up the +mountain-slope was their own dear home. This, to the sturdy Swiss +boy and girl, brought up in the mountains, was not a hard walk, +but they knew that goats must not be driven too fast if they are +expected to give any milk, so it was late afternoon before the +cavalcade reached the foot of their own hill-side and began the +last climb of the weary journey. + +The children could see their own roof, weighted down by stones, +peeping over the edge of the hill long before they were anywhere +near it, and they fastened their homesick eyes upon it as a +sailor fixes his upon the North Star at sea. Now they could see +the whole house, with the goat-shed and cow-stables back of it, +the straw-stack, and the southern slope of the garden. + +They strained their eyes for a glimpse of their mother, but there +was no movement to be seen anywhere about the place. Even the +breeze had died down, so there was not so much as a flutter among +the trees as they drew nearer and nearer. At last, unable to hold +themselves back longer, they broke into a run and came dashing +into the yard with all the goat-bells jingling, Bello barking, +and their own voices raised in a joyful shout: "Mother, Mother, +where are you? We're home!" + +But to their surprise and great disappointment, there was no +answer. The house was as still as if it were asleep. Leaving the +goats to Bello, the children dashed into the kitchen. There was +no one there, and there was no sound but the loud tick-tock of +the cuckoo clock. They dashed upstairs to the bedrooms and back +again to the kitchen. Everywhere silence. + +"It's just as if the house were dead when Mother isn't in it," +sobbed Leneli. "Where can she be? And Roseli too!" + +"Roseli is where Mother is, you may be sure," said Seppi. + +They ran outdoors again, and found Bello barking madly at Nanni, +who was having a blissful time with the carrot-tops, which she +refused to leave even when Bello, who knew very well she +shouldn't be in the garden at all, nipped at her heels. + +"We'll have to shut up the goats," said Seppi, as he ran to +Bello's assistance. + +They drove them into the shed, gave them some hay, and then +rested their weary legs for a moment, siting on the kitchen +steps, while they considered what to do next. + +Then an awful thought struck Leneli. "The avalanche!" she gasped. +"Maybe she was caught by it!" + +Seppi grew pale and gulped down a sob. "No," he said, when after +a moment he could speak. "I don't believe it! There's no sign of +the avalanche about here, and Mother never goes away from home. +She's trying to find us; that's what she's doing!" + +Leneli collapsed on the step. "Oh, Seppi," she cried, "do you +suppose she's lost on the mountain just as we've found ourselves +and got home again?" The thought was too much for her, and she +sobbed afresh. + +"Well," said Seppi, "crying won't do any good. Let's go and see +if we can find her." + +Weary as they were, they started at once to their feet to begin +this new quest, even though the shadows were long across the +flower-starred mountain-slopes and the sun was already sinking +toward the west. + +As they rounded the corner of the house, Seppi gave a joyful +shout and pointed up the goat-path toward the mountain. There, a +long distance off, they saw their mother coming toward them with +Baby Roseli in her arms! Even at that distance they could see +that she looked weary and sad, for her head drooped and her step +was slow. All their own weariness vanished like magic at sight of +her, and with a shout that waked the echoes on old Pilatus they +bounded up the path to meet her. + +She heard the shout, and shading her eyes with her hand, looked +eagerly in the direction of the sound, and in another minute +mother and children were clasped in each other's arms, while Baby +Roseli crowed with delight from a nest in the midst of grass and +flowers where she had been suddenly deposited. + +For a moment they gave themselves up to the joy of reunion, then +Seppi said proudly: "We brought the goats safely home, Mother. +They are all in the shed." + +"I thought you had been swallowed up by the avalanche," sobbed +their mother, clasping them again to her heart. "All the men of +the village are now up the mountain-side searching for you and +trying to break a fresh path to the goat-pastures. They must be +told that you are safe." + +She sprang to her feet, and started back up the path. Then she +thought of Seppi's horn. "Blow," she cried, "blow Fritz's tune if +you can. They all know it, and some of them are near enough to +hear." + +Seppi put the horn to his lips and blew. At first it was only a +dismal squawk; then, though it sounded much like the crowing of a +young rooster in imitation of an old one, he did manage to +achieve the first few notes of Fritz's tune. Soon a head appeared +above a rock far up the trail, then a whole man scrambled to the +top of it and gazed earnestly at the little group in the path +below. + +Again Seppi sounded his horn, his mother flung out her apron like +a flag of victory, and all of them, including Roseli, waved their +arms so joyously that there was no mistaking the message. With an +answering shout the man dropped out of sight again behind the +rock, and a few moments later they saw him running down the +hill-side toward the village. + +Soon the church-bell was clanging joyfully from the belfry, +carrying the news of the wanderers' safe return to every one +within hearing distance. Bells from the adjoining village joined +the clamor, and horns answering from distant crags told the glad +news. The toilers on the mountain-side heard and rejoiced. + +From the cliffs where the echoes lived came shout after shout, +and soon the women of the village, who had been watching with the +distracted mother and helping in the work of the men, came +hurrying down the goat-path to welcome the wanderers and rejoice +over their safe return. They were joined by one and another of +the men as they returned from the mountain-side, until quite a +group had gathered in the blossoming field to hear the children +tell the story of their perilous adventures. They were standing thus +when the sun dipped behind the western hills and the Angelus once +more called the countryside to prayer. With grateful hearts and +bowed heads, neighbors and friends gave thanks to God for his +mercies, then scattered to their own firesides, leaving the happy +mother and children together. + +When they entered the kitchen of the old farm-house once more, +the tiny wooden cuckoo hopped out of his tiny wooden door and +shouted "cuckoo" seven times, and when they had eaten their +supper, and the children sat beside the great stove telling their +mother all over again about the old herdsman, and the eagle, and +the farmer's wife, and all the other events of their three days +on the mountain, the cuckoo waited fifteen whole minutes beyond +the hour before he could make up his mind to remind them of +bed-time. Then he stuck his head out once more and cried "cuckoo" +quite hysterically eight times. Even then they lingered to talk +about Father and Fritz far away in the high alps, and of how glad +they were that they knew nothing of the dangers and anxieties +they had just been through. + +"Dear me!" said the mother, rising at last, "how fast the time +goes when we are happy! It's long past your bed hour, and you +must be very tired. We must stop talking this very minute!" + +She sent the children upstairs, tucked them in bed, heard their +prayers, and kissed them good-night. Their she came back to the +kitchen, patted Bello, why was sound asleep on the doorstep, +looked at the moon rising over the crest of Rigi, fastened the +door, pulled up the weights to wind the clock, and, taking her +candle, went upstairs to bed herself. + +When at last the sound of her footsteps ceased, and the house was +quiet for the night, the cuckoo stuck out his head and looked +about the silent kitchen. The moonlight streamed in at the +eastern window, the little mouse was creeping from her hole, and +the shadows were whispering together in corners. + +"On the whole," said the cuckoo to himself, "I think I've managed +this thing very well. Every one is happy again, and now I can +take a little rest myself. The past three days have been very +wearying to one with my responsibilities." + +"Cuckoo," he called nine times, then the tiny wooden door clapped +shut, and he too went to sleep. + + + + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext The Swiss Twins, by Lucy Fitch Perkins + diff --git a/3497.zip b/3497.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a0c0be0 --- /dev/null +++ b/3497.zip diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d647176 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #3497 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3497) |