Cornelli Part 2

"Do you think, Martha, that my mother can see the golden sky as well from inside as we see it from the outside?" asked the child, pointing to the sunset.

"Yes, I am quite sure of that, Cornelli," Martha eagerly answered. "If our dear Lord lets his dwelling glow so beautifully from outside, just think how wonderful it must be inside where the blessed are in their happiness!"

"Why are they so glad?" Cornelli wanted to know.

"Oh, because they are freed from all sorrow and pain. They are also glad because they know that every pain or sorrow their loved ones on earth have to bear is only a means to bring their prayers to Him who alone can guide them to Heaven."

"Did my mother pray to Him, too?" asked Cornelli again.

"Yes, yes, Cornelli, you can be sure of that," Martha rea.s.sured her.

"Your mother was a good, pious lady. Everybody should pray to be able to go where she is."

The two now reached the post office and gave their message to the innkeeper and postmaster. When twilight had come and the evening bell had long ago rung, they wandered back along the pleasant valley road between green meadows.

CHAPTER II

UP IN THE TOP STORY

One bright morning in May, a portly gentleman, leaning heavily on a gold-headed cane, was walking up the narrow city street. The houses here were so high that the upper windows could scarcely be seen from below. A steep rise in the street caused the gentleman to stop from time to time to get his breath. Scrutinizing the house numbers, he said to himself several times: "Not yet, not yet." Then, climbing up still higher, he at last reached a house beside whose open door six bells were hanging.

The gentleman now began to study the names under the bells, meanwhile gravely shaking his head, for he did not seem to find the name he was seeking.

"Oh dear, at last! and the highest one up, too," he sighed, while he entered the house. Now the real climbing began. At first the steps, though rather high, were white and neat. But after a while they became dark and narrow, and in the end the way led over worn, uneven steps to a narrow door. The only standing room was on the last small step.

"Is this a cage?" said the climber to himself, breathing hard and holding fast to the railing. The thin and creaking steps seemed to him extremely unsafe. After he had pulled the bell-rope, the door opened, and a lady dressed in black stood before him.

"Oh, is it you, kind guardian?" she exclaimed with astonishment. "I am so sorry that you had to come up these winding steps," she added, for she noticed that the stout gentleman had to wipe his face after the great exertion. "I should have been very glad to go down to you, if you had let me know that you were here." The lady meanwhile had led the gentleman into the room and asked him to seat himself.

"As your guardian I simply had to come once to see you," he declared, seating himself on an old sofa and still leaning with both hands on the golden k.n.o.b of his cane. "I have to tell you, my dear Mrs. Halm, that I am sorry you moved to town. You should have followed my advice and lived in a small house in the country. It would have been so much more practical for you than to live in this garret lodging where you have no conveniences whatever. I am quite sure that the country air would have been much better for both you and the children."

"I could not think about conveniences for myself, when my husband died, and I had to leave the parsonage, Mr. Schaller," replied the lady, with a faint smile. "The country air would naturally have been much better for my children, especially for my older boy. But he had to come to town on account of school, and I could not possibly have sent him away from me, delicate as he is. Besides----"

"There are boarding places in town where such boys are well taken care of," the visitor interrupted. "What other reasons did you have?"

"My girls, too, are old enough to learn something which they can make use of later on," continued the lady. "You know that this is necessary and that it is very hard to get such opportunities in the country. I hope I have persuaded you that coming to town with the children was not a foolish undertaking. I am extremely glad that you have given me an opportunity to explain why I did not follow your advice."

"What are your daughters going to learn?" the gentleman asked abruptly.

"Nika, the elder, paints quite well," replied the lady, "and Agnes has a decided talent for music. If both girls are earnest in their studies, they hope later on to be able to teach; indeed, they are very anxious to do so."

"These arts do not bring good returns, even after years and years of study," said the gentleman. "It would be much more sensible for the sisters to busy themselves with dressmaking. They could quickly begin a business in which they might help each other and make some money.

This would really help both you and your son a great deal. If your boy is going to study, it will be a long time before he can be independent."

The parson's widow looked sadly in front of her without saying a word.

"Please do not misunderstand me. I am only speaking in your and your children's interest," the gentleman began again. "I am very sorry not to have met your daughters, for they would soon have agreed with me, if they had heard my reasons. Nowadays young people understand quite well what it means to make one's way easily and advantageously. You can be sure of that."

"My children may still be a little backward in this knowledge. They may, through the influence of their parents, still care for the things which you call the breadless arts," said the lady with a sigh. "But I shall make my children acquainted with your ideas and I shall try to speak to them according to your views, at least as far as I am able."

"How old is the eldest? She ought to be old enough to understand my reasons," remarked the gentleman.

"Nika is in her fourteenth year. Her education is, of course, still incomplete in many ways," replied the lady. "Dino is twelve and Agnes eleven years old. The latter must first of all complete her compulsory school years."

"Still rather young people," said Mr. Schaller, shaking his head. "I am sure of one thing, however. The longer their education will take, the shorter should be the ways to the goal. I am more and more convinced that my advice is right. If you give your little daughters into the hands of a clever dressmaker, your moving to the city will have been of some real use."

In his great zeal to convince his silent listener, the visitor had not noticed that a small boy had entered. This little fellow had at first hidden behind his mother, but, at a sign from her, approached the gentleman. He noticed the child only when a small fist pushed itself forcibly into his closed right hand.

"Please forgive the rather aggressive greeting of my small son," begged the mother.

"Oh, here is another, still. I knew there was a smaller one," exclaimed the dismayed visitor. "Well, boy, what is your name?"

"Mux," was the reply.

The gentleman looked questioningly at the mother.

"That is the name his brother and sisters have given him and the one which seems to have remained quite permanently," she replied. "His name is really Marcus and he is just five years old."

"Well, well, and what do you want to be when you grow up, my young friend?" asked Mr. Schaller.

"An army general," unhesitatingly replied the small boy. After these words the gentleman got up.

"It seems to me, my dear Mrs. Halm, that all your children have pretty high-flown ideas," he said impressively. "I can only hope that before long they will learn that in this world it is not possible for everybody to do what he pleases."

The mother approved this good wish, but added: "I have to tell you, though, that Mux has gotten this idea from his favorite book, where the picture of a general on horseback interests him more than anything else. This, of course, is a pa.s.sing impression, like many others."

"One can never urge proper and successful work too soon nor too often; please do not overlook that, my friend!" With these words the guardian ended the interview and, saying good-bye, carefully descended the steep staircase.

Just then a child was running up the stairs so quickly that it actually seemed as if she had no need to touch the steps at all. As the gentleman was taking up all the room, the only s.p.a.ce left for a pa.s.sage was under the arm with which he held the railing. Here the lithe creature tried to slip through.

"Stop, stop! Do you not belong to the parson's widow, Mrs. Halm?" asked the gentleman, making a barrier with his arm.

"Yes, I belong to her," was the quick answer. And stooping down still lower, the small person again tried to pa.s.s.

"Just hold still one moment, if you can," the gentleman now demanded.

"You probably know that I am Mr. Schaller, your guardian. I have just given your mother some advice, which was meant for your good. You do not look in the least stupid, so you can help to persuade your mother.

I am sure you can understand what is good for you. Are you the elder?"

"No, the younger one," came quickly back for answer.

"So much the better. Then the elder will be still more sensible. If you take my advice you can both contribute to the prosperity of the whole family." With these words the gentleman gave the little girl his hand and went away.

Agnes flew up the rest of the stairs and into the narrow hall. Her brother Mux was standing expectantly in the open doorway. He did this every day at the time his brother and sisters were coming home from school. He loved the change that their coming brought after the quiet morning.

"A fat gentleman was here and mother said afterward: 'Oh G.o.d!' and you can't play the piano any more," he reported.