the long winter came to an end. spring days followed, then the warm summer time. the sun streamed through the window and door which stood all the day opened, and the children could sit out in the fresh, sweet air. the goats were driven into the upper pasture and gave much more milk. but the mother could never rest from toil; there was wood to gather for the coming winter, and the grass on the high slopes was cut [13]by her and spread out to dry by the children. then it was bound into bundles, which the mother carried on her head, and the sturdy barty also carried his little bundle.
this was put into the loft over the goat-house.
the days grew very hot and dry, and the goats gave less milk, the mother spent the days and part of the nights knitting and spinning, but there was little time for indoor work while the haymaking lasted, and it was after a day spent in the heat that she returned to find a tiny bit of bread which she divided between the children.
“i am so sorry i have no more to give you,” she said; [14]“i must knit very fast to-night.”
“but where is your piece, mother?” asked the boy.
“i do not wish any; i am not hungry.”
barty and franzelie eagerly tried to divide their small portion.
“no,” she said, “there is no use; perhaps if i could see the doctor when i go to altdorf, he would help me.”
she sank back on the little cot on which she was sitting and her eyes closed. she had fainted from weakness, but the children thought her sleeping.
“come,” said barty, “don’t wake mother up. i will tell you what we will do. we will go down to altdorf and sing our song again, and if we can get some bread or nuts we will bring them all home to mother. i think she will[15] sleep a long time. she is so tired and her face is so white.”
barty held his sister fast by the hand and drew her as far away as possible from the rushing brook. they sang their carol as they went through the meadows to be sure that they remembered it all, and hurried eagerly on. they reached altdorf, not pausing till they came to the great inn with the sign of the golden eagle.
the western sun threw golden rays on the little grass plot before the house, and there under the trees was a long table surrounded by a large company of strange young men. they wore red caps on their heads, and their clothing was unlike what the children had seen in their own land. it was a company of[16] students who were on a walking tour through the alps, and they had made a long march that day.
they were eating and drinking in great glee, and the children shrank back at first startled by the loud voices, merry laughter, and wild songs.
the children stood awhile by the old tower, but when there was a short pause they began the new year’s song.
“listen! be quiet!” cried the powerful voice of the large man at the end of the table. “i hear music.”
the young men looked around, and when they saw the children cried, “nearer; come over here.”
the children came, franzelie timidly holding fast her brother’s hand. the large man with ruddy face and heavy[17] beard stretched out his long arm and drew barty to his side.
“now let them sing, barbarossa,” cried the others.
“sing on,” he said; “don’t be afraid.”
barty sang with clear tones, and his sister joined with voice like a little silver bell, and this was the song:
“with joy we hail the glad new year:
the old one has departed.
may blessed health and happy cheer
e’er keep you merry-hearted.”
“gracious goodness! we are on the other side of the globe,” cried barbarossa, “and here it is the new year”; and howls of laughter rang out.
“don’t make such a row,” cried the young man with black locks who sat[18] near barbarossa; “see the little madonna, she is trembling with fright.”
“count maximilian,” replied barbarossa, “you must take the little madonna under your special protection.”
maximilian held out his hand. “come to me, little one,” he said; “now go on with the song.”
the child trustfully held fast to her new friend and sang:
“now bitter cold, and chilling blast,
o’er ice-bound earth is creeping,
but the dear father holds us fast
within his tender keeping.”
“i have been wonderfully protected from cold this day,” said the merry barbarossa, and another noisy laugh rang out.
[19]
“go on, go on!” cried the students.
“the feathered songsters seek in vain,
their food on hill and heather,
and hungry children toil with pain,
their daily food to gather.”
“they must have it, they must have it!” cried one and all, and many plates piled up with good things were set before the children, but barty would not be tempted, and the children sang on.
“we wish you health and pleasures rare,
and may you, peace possessing,
learn that who trusts the good god’s care
will ever find a blessing.”
cheers followed and they cried: “that is a beautiful wish. that will bring us good luck on our journey.”
then barbarossa placed before barty[20] a plate piled up with good things. he had never seen the like in all his life, and there was a beautiful piece of snow-white bread upon it, such a rare treat!
“now, my son,” said the young man, “go bravely to work; let nothing be left”; and others cried, “here is more, he shall have this.”
barty gazed upon the treasures, his eyes growing larger and larger with delight. another well-filled plate stood before franzelie, who still held fast to her protector.
she was very hungry, and was about to put a morsel into her mouth when she saw that barty was not eating, so she laid it back again upon the plate.
“well, what is the matter, my brave[21] grandson! what is your name?” said barbarossa.
“sebastian. they call me barty.”
“good barty, my son, what deep thoughts make your eyes so large, and your appetite so small?”
“if i only had a sack or basket!”
“and what then?”
“i would carry it all home to my mother. she had no bread to-day; nothing but a little goat’s milk.”
the hearts of the student party were filled with compassion. he should have what he wished, and where did his mother live; was it near by?
when barty explained it was high up in the mountain, they exclaimed with astonishment, and barbarossa said, [22]“if you have come so far, you are surely hungry. is it not so, barty?”
“yes, and we had only a little bit of bread, but when mother can finish some knitting, we can have more.”
now all were interested and various plans were suggested, but barbarossa said, “first i will see that these two children have enough to eat, then we will attend to the rest. here, barty, eat all that is on your plate, and then your mother shall have what is on the table.”
“eat all of this?” said the boy with beaming eyes.
“yes, every bit of it; now begin.”
barty needed no more asking, and maximilian saw to it that his little charge had all she could eat.
“did your mother send you here to sing your song?” asked barbarossa.
“no; she did not know it. she fell[23] back on the cot and went fast asleep because she was so hungry, and she looked so white, and she had said she wished she could see a doctor, and so i told franzelie to come with me and perhaps we could get bread just as we did on new year’s day.”
then all understood how the children came to sing the new year’s carol.
barbarossa rose and said: “i move that we take our little runaway friends back to their mother. to-morrow we must visit the places made famous by the brave william tell, so let us have a moonlight party to the mountains to-night; the moon is full.”
[24]
“and you, old mediciner, shall have your first patient. you shall go as dr. barbarossa and give good advice.”
“and take my medicine with me, maximilian?” he said, putting a flask of wine into his pocket. “some of you fellows bring another one.”
all agreed to the moonlight party, but as they were gathering up their alpenstocks, maximilian said, “do you think this small bit of humanity with her tiny bare feet can keep up with your long strides? i propose that our landlord give us a horse and chaise, and we can also take in it the large provision basket our landlady has so nicely packed.”
“good,” said barbarossa; “you shall go in it with the queen titania, and we will walk with barty for our guide.”
so the party set out while the skies were all aglow with the sunset hues and[25] the snow-white peaks growing rosy with the reflected light.
franzelie was supremely happy, and her kind friend so won her childish heart that she told him all about their mountain life, the goats, the haymaking, and what they did in the long winter.
