Gritli's Children

by Johanna Spyri

  CHAPTER III.

  ON THE BEAUTIFUL RHINE.

  In the garden at Rosemount was such an excitement and running to and froas had never been seen there before. It was the day after the arrival ofthe three guests. Great had been the surprise of the doctor's children,yesterday evening, when they were shown up stairs, to find three largerooms assigned for their use, one to each. For the house was so arrangedthat there was but one bed in each room. The windows of all three roomsoverlooked the garden, and beyond could be seen the river. The childrenhad never before been so royally lodged. Emma planned directly to spendlong hours at her window, looking into the moonlight and listening tothe river, as late as she chose, for no one would come to send her offto bed. Oscar looked about the large apartment, and thought what a fineplace it would be to spread out his banners. They would not be in anyone's way, as they were at home; and no one would come and clear themout. Fred examined all the presses, tables, and drawers, and destinedthem to his special uses.

  The meeting of the five children was a most joyous one to them all. Fromthe first moment they found themselves on as intimate a footing as ifthey had never been separated. Elsli and Fani were not changed as thedoctor's children had feared they might be; on the contrary, it seemedas if they were even nearer to their old friends. Fani was merrier andmore lively than ever, and Elsli, although still somewhat shy, was moreconfiding than before, and just as amiable and obliging; and they bothwere so attractive in their nice clothes, that Emma took great delightin merely looking at them.

  The first morning was spent in emptying the big trunk, with AuntClarissa's help, and in arranging the contents in the three rooms. Inthe afternoon the children were allowed to explore the house and garden,and to have a run in the meadows, that they might become acquainted withRosemount and its surroundings. What a pleasure for them all!

  Emma's first wish was to get down to the river-side, under the lindens,and to see the branches dip and rise and dip again into the swiftlyflowing stream. Fani had drawn her a picture of it, and she must see it.It was Fani's favorite spot, and he was ready enough to show it to her;so the two ran off together.

  Fred did not know which way to turn. He was fairly bewildered by allthe living wonders that surrounded him; the glancing, gleaming, hummingworld of the rose-garden. Here a golden beetle crept across the lawn;there the air seemed full of gayly colored butterflies. On the edge ofthe fountain sat a golden-green lizard in the sun. Over on the hedge agreat variety of wonderful insects swarmed on every leaf and twig! Whata harvest he could gather! He ran about in every direction; he wasbeside himself with delight; discovering every moment something new andunexpected. Nor was this in the garden only. Down by the river, underthe old trees, in the thick hedges, in the damp earth by the water-side,between the cracks of the stones by the river, he felt sure of countlesstreasures. He paid little attention to his friends or his brother andsister; he seemed to swim in an ocean of wealth, undreamed of before,and all within his grasp!

  Oscar, meantime, under Elsli's guidance, had been examining every partof the garden; carefully observing everything as he walked along down tothe Rhine, along the meadow-land and back to the court-yard, which wasall walled in, and where two big oak-trees cast a far-reaching shadow.Around these oaks ran a wooden seat where one could sit in comfort underthe thick protection of the leafy cover. Here the two children seatedthemselves; and Oscar looked thoughtfully across the broad meadow,around which ran a high hedge; a broad paved path led from thecourt-yard down to a gate-way of iron-work, which united the hedges thatenclosed the whole estate.

  "And you say, Elsli," said Oscar presently, "that beyond the hedges theland does not belong to Mrs. Stanhope at all?"

  "No, Oscar; a very large vineyard belongs to her besides. It is so largethat you would not believe the quantity of grapes that she gets from it.It lies on the other side of the house, towards the Rhine."

  "I don't mean that," said Oscar; "Fani showed me that this morning. Imean from the end of the meadow-land across the high-road there."

  Elsli was quite sure that Mrs. Stanhope owned nothing beyond thehigh-road.

  "Do you see that little hill over there?" said Oscar, pointing in thatdirection. "There's a wind-mill up there; see how finely the big wingsgo turning round in the wind, like huge banners waving for a festival,and inviting people from all sides to come and rejoice together. Allthe people who are to come to our celebration might camp out around thefoot of that hill, and the speaker could stand up above there on thatplatform, and those huge flags would wave to and fro behind him and showwhere the festival was taking place, to all the neighboring country!"

  Oscar uttered these words in such a tone of enthusiasm that hiscompanion caught the infection; but she hesitated.

  "Yes, it would be fine," she said; "but don't you think we should haveto ask the miller's leave?"

  Oscar thought this would not be at all necessary, as the meeting woulddo no harm to the mill or to the grass, which was evidently very short.He would go over and inspect the place himself.

  "How is the banner getting on, Elsli?" he asked presently.

  "Oh, I forgot it entirely!" said the girl, somewhat startled. "It isall ready, and I meant to put it in your bedroom to welcome you. Yousee, Oscar, I finished it; because Aunt Clarissa said that it would beprettier without a motto, if I put a wreath of Alpine roses on the Swissflag, and so I embroidered one upon it."

  But this did not suit Oscar at all; he wished to have his motto, hisverses, over which he had spent so much trouble and had had so manydiscussions. He had no mind to drop it now; and he looked as if he hadsuffered a severe loss. Elsli saw his disappointment, and she hastenedto propose a remedy. Why not put the motto on the other side of thebanner? Oscar could print the verse in large letters on a piece ofpaper, and she would fasten it upon the banner, on the side opposite theAlpine roses. That was a clever thought. Oscar's spirits rose again,and the banner would be really in the end far handsomer than he hadexpected.

  "You are the smartest girl I know, Elsli," cried the lad; and thisunexpected praise brought the color into Elsli's cheeks, for she waslittle accustomed to notice, much less to commendation.

  "How many Swiss have you found and invited to join our society?"continued Oscar.

  Elsli confessed that she had discovered but one; the baker's boy whobrought fresh bread to the house every day; and she could not induce himto join the society. "I am very sorry," she said, "that I could not doas you asked me; but we are not allowed to go into the kitchen and talkto the people that come there."

  But Oscar was well satisfied. He only wanted to know at what time andfrom which direction the baker's boy came every morning; and this Elslitold him. "All right!" he said; "I can help myself, now."

  Meanwhile, Fani and Emma were walking up and down by the river-side,talking with constantly increasing eagerness. Emma had never been soexcited; she had had a tremendous surprise. Since Fani had left home,she had never lost sight of her hope that he would become a greatartist. He had never mentioned the subject in his letters, and it hadbeen more and more evident that Mrs. Stanhope meant to educate the twochildren, as she would have done her own, in various branches, withoutany view to a special training for a life-work. Emma feared that Faniwould lose his ambition to be an artist, and she set herself to work tocounteract this danger. She had heard of a book called the "Lives ofCelebrated Painters," and she did not rest till her aunt promised toprocure it for her at Christmas; for she thought it would inspire Faniwith fresh enthusiasm to learn how artists had become great andcelebrated. She now brought the book with her, and told Fani about it,in the hope that it would serve as a spur to arouse his dormantenergies. What was her astonishment when Fani pushed the book away, andbroke out passionately:--

  "No, no; I will not read it! I will try not to think of it at all! Yousee, Emma, I have a drawing lesson every day; only now of course I donot, while you are here on a visit. And the more I draw, the more I wantto; I can do much better than I used to, and th
e teacher has told meseveral times that I can certainly learn to be an artist."

  Emma could not contain her joy at these words, and she cried out:--

  "Now it's all right, Fani! You can be a painter, and I am sure you willbe a celebrated one, the most famous one in all the land. But why do notyou tell Mrs. Stanhope directly that you want to do that and nothingelse?"

  Fani shook his head and looked very much depressed.

  "It would be of no use. Mrs. Stanhope will not allow me to be an artist;I am sure of that. Once when we were walking, I said to her that Ithought painting pictures was the greatest happiness a man could have;she said it was only a childish notion; and that when I grew up I shouldhave very different ideas as to greatness and happiness. And since thenshe has taken me about the estate several times; for you know, Emma,that it is a very large property; great vineyards stretching for milesalong the Rhine. She says there is nothing so desirable for a man as toown a large place, and to live on it; and I think she has the thought inher mind that she will keep me with her here on the estate; and ofcourse it would be a great thing for me if she did. Just think of it.Always to live here as we do now; how terribly ungrateful I should be ifI did not rejoice in such a prospect! Only--I must give up all idea ofever being an artist!" And Fani hung his head.

  "Oh, what a shame! It's of no use thinking about it any more, then!"cried Emma, in tones of intense disappointment. "And I was justbeginning to think that everything would turn out for you as I hadhoped. It is too bad! I had such good fun reading the book, and puttingyour name in the place of the celebrated artist; like this--'In delicacyof drawing Fani von Buchberg stands far above all his compeers.' For youknow when you were celebrated, you would be spoken of so; for theyalways take the name of their birth-place, instead of their family name;and that would be particularly nice, because Hopli isn't a very goodname, but Fani von Buchberg sounds finely, doesn't it? Listen!" And Emmaread from the book.

  "Where Fani von Buchberg learned to mix his paints, is a mystery. Evento this day, he is the only one who can place such enchanting tones ofcolor upon his canvas. Of course, that is a mistake; it ought to be_shades_ of color, shouldn't it, Fani? Oh! think, if such things couldbe said of you! and now it is all over; no chance of that any more!" Andthe girl threw herself on the bench as if it wasn't worth while to takethe trouble to stir again.

  Fani sat down at her side. He had followed every word she had said, withincreasing excitement; and he had caught the fire of her enthusiasm,for his eyes flamed.

  "I know something that may make a difference," he said presently; and athis words Emma, who had looked as if life had lost all charm for her,sprang up with renewed interest, exclaiming eagerly:--

  "What is it, Fani? Speak; do speak!"

  "Come with me," and he ran along the river-side, drawing her with him."There, sit down here and look up over Rosemount, towards the wood. Doyou see that ruined castle, all covered with ivy?"

  "I don't see anything. Oh, yes, I do now! I can see an old, old tower";and as she spoke the excited girl leaned backwards towards the river,and she would certainly have fallen in, if Fani had not caught her andheld her fast.

  "There, we will go back to the seat again," he said; "though the ruinis scarcely visible from here," he added, as they reached the spot; "butit is safer. It is the most beautiful ruined castle that you canimagine. It is all covered with ivy, and the stones are moss-grown, andthe gray walls show through in places, and in the setting sun they flamewith crimson; you've no idea how beautiful it is! I saw it once from thesteamboat. It was splendid! Now listen! The last lesson I took, theteacher asked me whether I was in earnest when I said that I wanted tobe a painter; and I said yes, but that I could never be allowed to; andI told him just what I have told you. He understood at once; and he saidthat I mustn't, of course, do anything to displease Mrs. Stanhope; butthat possibly she might in some way be led to have the same wish. Headvised me to make a drawing of something very beautiful; and he saidhe would send it to Duesseldorf, where they do something or other with awhole lot of drawings, and the best one gets a prize. If mine got aprize, Mrs. Stanhope might change her mind; and if it didn't, I couldtry again. I thought directly of the ruined castle, and how beautiful itwould be to draw! But there's no good view of it except from the middleof the river, and it's quite impossible for me to get there."

  To Emma there was no such word as impossible.

  "Of course we can get there, Fani. What a delightful ideal" she cried."We can make a trip on the steamboat, and we can see the river, and youmust make a sketch of it as fast as you can."

  "Oh, yes! I shall just get a few strokes on the paper, andthen--whizz!--we shall be past it like a flash of lightning. What goodwould that do?"

  Emma was not to be discouraged. If the only thing needful was a way totake a sketch from the river, she would set herself to find such a way.

  At this moment Fani interrupted her meditations by the exclamation: "Oh,the bell! the bell!" and she heard the ringing of the supper-bell; andthe two children scampered back to the house, and joined the scatteredguests, who came from every direction to meet in the great dining-room.

  At the upper end of the table, spread with many delicious luxuries, satMrs. Stanhope, and she welcomed the children in the kindest manner. AuntClarissa seated them in their places, then sat down herself at the footof the table, and the meal began. The guests brought wonderful appetitesto the feast. The conversation was subdued, for in Mrs. Stanhope'spresence the children's liveliness was somewhat checked. Elsli spokeleast, and also partook least of the tempting viands. Her abstinenceattracted the attention of Fred, who sat next her, and, in spite of awarning shove which she gave him under the table, to show him that shewished to avoid observation, he exclaimed in a loud whisper:--

  "What's the matter with you, Elsli? Why don't you eat?"

  After supper Mrs. Stanhope led them all out upon the terrace, and theysat down in a semicircle on the garden benches. Then she told them thatshe had a plan of taking them very soon on a steamboat excursion downthe Rhine, as far as Cologne; where there was a remarkably finezooelogical garden which they would all visit together. Emma's eyesblazed with delight, but she did not speak; her thoughts were busy, butnot wholly with the animals of the garden. Fred was delighted at theprospect; but the zooelogical garden had a powerful rival in an enormousnight-moth which was humming about his head, and which he could hardlyresist his desire to jump up and catch. Such a prize it would be! But herecollected his aunt's advice, on the good manners of sitting still,especially in Mrs. Stanhope's presence. Oscar was overjoyed at theprospect of a voyage, and he bethought himself immediately of thepossibility of meeting with persons much more desirable for his Societythan Elsli's baker's boy.

  The next day the children sat down to keep their promise of writing homean account of their experiences. The three letters were very differentin style, but they were all filled with the delight of their writers atthe beauty and magnificence of the villa, and with the pleasures theyenjoyed and the kindness they received. They hoped they should staytwelve weeks instead of six. These were the letters. But into eachletter was secretly slipped a private note, addressed to Aunty, beggingher to persuade papa to allow the visit to be prolonged as much aspossible. Fred added that if the time fixed should be a year, and then acipher added to the number of days, three thousand six hundred and fiftywould not be one too many for him.