Cornelli Part 16

"That is a fine idea, Martha," Mr. h.e.l.lmut said, a little more calmly.

"Please do all you possibly can to make the idea pleasant and desirable to the child. Do not forget, Martha, that you are my only help."

After these words Mr. h.e.l.lmut went away.

"Oh, the good kind Director!" said Martha, following him with her eyes.

"What help can old, stupid Martha be to him, I wonder. But I shall certainly do whatever I can."

Arrived at home, Mr. h.e.l.lmut went straight up to Cornelli's room. She was still kneeling at her bed in the same att.i.tude, and still crying bitterly.

"Get up, Cornelli, and stop crying," he said. "I meant well with you, but you did not understand me. You shall stay at home for the present; later on you may feel differently about it. You can go to Martha to-morrow. Listen well to her words, for she is your best friend."

Cornelli could not have heard a more consoling word. It sounded so hopeful after all the horrible news about going away.

"Can't I go to Martha right away?" she said longingly.

"Yes, you can, Cornelli," replied her father, "but you have not eaten anything yet."

"That does not matter," said Cornelli, already running down the stairs.

At last Cornelli was running again. She flew quickly up the little stairs and into Martha's room.

"I have to go away, Martha, but not right away. Papa says that I have to go," the child called out on entering. "Papa told me to come to you; I think it was because I cried all the time and he wanted me to stop. But I won't stop, unless you promise to help me to stay at home.

I do not want to go to all the strange children. I couldn't stand it; oh, no, I couldn't! Oh, it would be dreadful. Please help me, Martha, help me!" The terrible fear in Cornelli's voice and the sight of her swollen eyes went straight to Martha's heart.

"Come and sit down on your little stool the way you used to in the old times, Cornelli," she said lovingly, "and I'll tell you something that will help and console you. It has helped me, too, and still does when trouble comes. You see, Cornelli, I once had to go through a terrible sorrow just as great as yours is to-day. I had to give a child I loved back to G.o.d. So I cried, as loudly as you are crying and even louder: 'No, I can't do it, I can't!' The more I fought against it, the more terrible I felt, till in the end I even thought I should despair. So I cried out in my heart: 'Can n.o.body help me?' And then I suddenly knew who could do it. I knelt down and prayed to G.o.d: 'Oh, give me help, for thou alone canst do it!'"

"Can I stay here if I pray like that, Martha? Will G.o.d help me right away?" asked Cornelli eagerly.

"Yes, He will surely help you the way He knows is best for you, Cornelli. If it should be good for you to go away and you ask your Father in Heaven for help, He will bless your life away from home, so that it won't be as hard as you have feared. If you pray to Him, you will get the firm a.s.surance that nothing will be hard for you, because you have His help in everything you do. G.o.d is sure to ordain everything in such a wise way that happiness will come to you in the end."

"Did you have to give Him your child after all?" Cornelli wanted to know.

"Yes, G.o.d took it to Himself," Martha answered.

"And could you get happy again, Martha?"

"Yes, yes. The pain was very great, but I was consoled by the thought of my child's peace. I knew how many ills he had been spared. G.o.d gave me the a.s.surance that He meant well with both of us. With that thought I could grow happy again."

"I want to go home, now," said Cornelli, suddenly getting up. It seemed as if something were drawing her away.

"Yes, go now, child, and think of what I told you!" said Martha, accompanying her.

"Yes, I will," said Cornelli. She ran home quickly, because the desire to get to her room was urging her on.

Cornelli had never prayed so earnestly and heartily as she did that day. Kneeling beside her bed, she confided all her sorrow to her Father in Heaven, and begged Him to make her happy once more.

CHAPTER VIII

A MOTHER

When Mr. h.e.l.lmut sat down to his coffee in the morning he always found letters and newspapers on the breakfast table.

"Good gracious!" he exclaimed on the morning after the ladies'

departure, "what correspondents have you in town, Cornelli? Here is a letter for you."

Cornelli, looking up from her cup, glanced incredulously at the letter.

"It is really for you. Listen! Miss Cornelli h.e.l.lmut, Iller-Stream, Iron Foundry," the father read. "Here it is!"

Cornelli opened the letter under great suspense and read:

DEAR CORNELLI:

Only think! I am ill and have to lie in bed. The doctor has forbidden me to read and write, so this letter will be very short. It is very tiresome to be sick, for my sisters are in school all day. Mama always has a lot to attend to and Mux is still a very useless little fellow.

Could you not come here and pay me a little visit? I should love to see you and should enjoy hearing all about Iller-Stream. You could tell me all about good old Martha, whom I love nearly as much as a grandmother, about your little kid and Matthew, the horses and everything else, and especially about yourself. I always had such a good time with you that I should be terribly pleased if you came to visit me. Please come very, very soon! Your faithful friend,

DINO.

When Cornelli was folding up the letter again, her father said: "Can I read it, too?"

Cornelli promptly handed him her letter.

"What friend is this that wants you to come to visit him?" the father asked with astonishment. "I expect you to cry immediately, though, for you might have to go to town."

"Oh, no, Papa, I really would love to see him," said Cornelli. "It is Dino, who stayed with Martha this summer."

The father put down his spoon from pure surprise and looked wonderingly at his daughter.

"How strange you are, Cornelli!" he said finally. "Now you suddenly want to visit a strange family. You only know this boy and you do not hesitate about it and are not even shy about appearing in your present condition."

"Dino knows me well and knows that I would come to see him alone. He will arrange everything for me so that I won't have to see his mother or his sisters. He knows everything," was Cornelli's explanation.

"That has no sense at all," the father said curtly, and gathering up his papers he went away.

Soon afterwards he entered Martha's little house.

"Here I am again. I wonder what you will say to me?" he called to the surprised old woman. "Here is a letter with an invitation which came for Cornelli to-day. It is from a boy who stayed with you. Who is he?

Who are his parents?"

This question made Martha fairly overflow with praises of the boy. She told Mr. h.e.l.lmut that she had never known a boy who was so polite and friendly to simple folks as this boy had been; he had been well brought up, had the most refined and charming manners, and was well educated, and at the same time so simple and childishly devoted to old, plain Martha. She had never read letters like the mother's letter to her son, so beautiful, affectionate and elevating. He had always read them to her, and she had had to cry every time from sheer emotion. She had never before seen as beautiful linen as the boy had worn, and it had all been his two sisters' work.

"Martha," the Director finally interrupted her, "according to your account, it would be a great blessing for my daughter to spend even a day in such a family."

"If you would really take her there, Director, I certainly would be happy--ah! I would not know a greater happiness."