Heidi
beautiful! A king might well envy you! And how well my little Heidi
looks--like a wild rose!" she continued, drawing the child towards her
and stroking her fresh pink cheeks. "I don't know which way to look
first, it is all so lovely! What do you say to it, Clara, what do you
say?"
Clara was gazing round entranced; she had never imagined, much less
seen, anything so beautiful. She gave vent to her delight in cries of
joy. "O Grandmamma," she said, "I should like to remain here for ever."
The grandfather had meanwhile drawn up the invalid chair and spread
some of the wraps over it; he now went up to Clara.
"Supposing we carry the little daughter now to her accustomed chair;
I think she will be more comfortable, the travelling sedan is rather
hard," he said, and without waiting for any one to help him he lifted
the child in his strong arms and laid her gently down on her own couch.
He then covered her over carefully and arranged her feet on the soft
cushion, as if he had never done anything all his life but wait on
cripples. The grandmamma looked on with surprise.
"My dear Uncle," she exclaimed, "if I knew where you had learned to
nurse I would at once send all the nurses I know to the same place that
they might handle their patients in like manner. How do you come to
know so much?"
Uncle smiled. "I know more from experience than training," he answered,
but as he spoke the smile died away and a look of sadness passed over
his face. The vision rose before him of a face of suffering that he had
known long years before, the face of a man lying crippled on his couch
of pain, and unable to move a limb. The man had been his captain during
the fierce fighting in Sicily; he had found him lying wounded and had
carried him away, and after that the captain would suffer no one else
near him, and Uncle had stayed and nursed him till his sufferings ended
in death. It all came back to Uncle now, and it seemed natural to him
to attend the sick Clara and to show her all those kindly attentions
with which he had once been so familiar.
"O Heidi, if only I could walk about with you," said Clara longingly,
"if I could but go and look at the fir trees and at everything I know
so well from your description, although I have never been here before."
Heidi in response put out all her strength, and after a slight effort,
managed to wheel Clara's chair quite easily round the hut to the fir
trees. There they paused. Clara had never seen such trees before, with
their tall, straight stems, and long, thick branches growing thicker
and thicker till they touched the ground. Even the grandmamma, who had
followed the children, was astonished at the sight of them.
Heidi had now wheeled Clara toward the goat shed, and had flung open
the door, so that Clara might have a full view of the inside. Clara
lamented to her grandmother that they would have to leave early before
the goats came home. "I should so like to have seen Peter and his whole
flock."
"Oh, the flowers!" exclaimed Clara. "Look at the bushes of red flowers,
and all the nodding blue bells! Oh, if I could but get out and pick
some!"
Heidi ran off at once and picked her a large nosegay of them.
"But these are nothing, Clara," she said, laying the flowers on her
lap. "If you could come up higher to where the goats are feeding, then
you would indeed see something! Bushes on bushes of the red centaury,
and ever so many more of the blue-bell flowers; and then the bright
yellow rock roses, that gleam like pure gold, and all crowding together
in the one spot. And then there are others with the large leaves that
grandfather calls Bright Eyes, and the brown ones with little round
heads that smell so delicious. Oh, it is beautiful up there, and if you
sit down among them you never want to get up again, everything looks
and smells so lovely!"
Heidi's eyes sparkled with the remembrance of what she was describing;
she was longing herself to see it all again, and Clara caught her
enthusiasm and looked back at her with equal longing in her soft blue
eyes.
"Grandmamma, do you think I could get up there? Is it possible for
me to go?" she asked eagerly. "If only I could walk, climb about
everywhere with you, Heidi!"
"I am sure I could push you up, the chair goes so easily," said Heidi,
and in proof of her words, she sent the chair at such a pace round the
corner that it nearly went flying down the mountain-side. Grandmamma
being at hand, however, stopped it in time.
The grandfather, meantime, had not been idle. He had by this time put
the table and extra chairs in front of the seat, so that they might all
sit out here and eat the dinner that was preparing inside. The milk
and the cheese were soon ready, and then the company sat down in high
spirits to their mid-day meal.
Grandmamma was enchanted, as the doctor had been, with their
dining-room, whence one could see far along the valley, and far over
the mountains to the farthest stretch of blue sky. A light wind blew
refreshingly over them as they sat at table, and the rustling of the
fir trees made a festive accompaniment to the repast.
"I never enjoyed anything as much as this. It is really superb!" cried
grandmamma two or three times over; and then suddenly in a tone of
surprise, "Do I really see you taking a second piece of toasted cheese,
Clara!"
There, sure enough, was a second golden-colored slice of cheese on
Clara's plate.
"Oh, it does taste so nice, Grandmamma--better than all the dishes we
have at Ragatz," replied Clara, as she continued eating with appetite.
"That's right, eat what you can!" exclaimed Uncle. "It's the mountain
air, which makes up for the deficiencies of the kitchen."
And so the meal went on. Grandmamma and Alm-Uncle got on very well
together, and their conversation became more and more lively. They were
so thoroughly agreed in their opinions of men and things and the world
in general that they might have been taken for old cronies. The time
passed merrily, and then grandmamma looked towards the west and said,--
"We must soon get ready to go, Clara, the sun is a good way down; the
men will be here directly with the horse and sedan."
Clara's face fell, and she said beseechingly, "Oh, just another hour,
Grandmamma, or two hours. We haven't seen inside the hut yet, or
Heidi's bed, or any of the other things. If only the day was ten hours
long!"
"Well, that is not possible," said grandmamma, but she herself was
anxious to see inside the hut, so they all rose from the table and
Uncle wheeled Clara's chair to the door. But there they came to a
standstill, for the chair was much too broad to pass through the door.
Uncle, however, soon settled the difficulty by lifting Clara in his
strong arms and carrying her inside.
Grandmamma went all round and examined the household arrangements, and
was very much amused and pleased at their orderliness and the cozy
appearance of everything. "And this is your bedroom up here, Heidi, is
it not?" she asked, as without fear she mounted the ladder to the hay
loft. "Oh, it does smell sweet, what a healthy place to sleep in." She
went up to the round window and looked out, and grandfather followed up
with Clara in his arms, Heidi springing up after them. Then they all
stood and examined Heidi's wonderful hay-bed, and grandmamma looked
thoughtfully at it and drew in from time to time fragrant draughts of
the hay-perfumed air, while Clara was charmed beyond words with the
sleeping apartment.
"It is delightful for you up here, Heidi! You can look from your bed
straight into the sky, and then such a delicious smell all round you!
and outside the fir trees waving and rustling! I have never seen such a
pleasant, cheerful bedroom before."
Uncle looked across at the grandmamma. "I have been thinking," he
said to her, "that if you were willing to agree to it, your little
granddaughter might remain up here, and I am sure she would grow
stronger. You have brought up all kinds of shawls and covers with you,
and we could make up a soft bed out of them, and as to looking after
the child, you need have no fear, for I will see to that."
Clara and Heidi were as overjoyed at these words as if they were
two birds let out of their cages, and grandmamma's face beamed with
satisfaction.
"You are indeed kind, my dear Uncle," she exclaimed. "I was just
thinking myself that a stay up here might be the very thing she wanted.
But then the trouble, the inconvenience to yourself! And you speak of
nursing and looking after her as if it were a mere nothing! I thank you
sincerely, I thank you from my whole heart, Uncle." And she took his
hand and gave it a long and grateful shake, which he returned with a
pleased expression of countenance.
Uncle immediately set to work to get things ready. He carried Clara
back to her chair outside, Heidi following, not knowing how to jump
high enough into the air to express her contentment. Then he gathered
up a whole pile of shawls and furs and said, smiling, "It is a good
thing that grandmamma came up well provided for a winter's campaign; we
shall be able to make good use of these."
The two had meanwhile ascended to the hay-loft and begun to prepare a
bed; there were so many articles piled one over the other that when
finished it looked like a regular little fortress. Grandmamma passed
her hand carefully over it to make sure that there were no bits of hay
sticking out. "If there's a bit that can come through it will," she
said. The soft mattress, however, was so smooth and thick that nothing
could penetrate it. Then they went down again well satisfied, and found
the children laughing and talking together and arranging all they were
going to do from morning till evening as long as Clara stayed. The
next question was how long she was to remain, and first grandmamma was
asked, but she referred them to the grandfather, who gave it as his
opinion that she ought to make trial of the mountain air for at least
a month. The children clapped their hands for joy, for they had not
expected to be together for so long a time.
The bearers and the horse and guide were now seen approaching; the
former were sent back at once, and grandmamma prepared to mount for her
return journey.
"It's not saying good-bye, Grandmamma," Clara called out, "for you will
come up now and then and see how we are getting on, and we shall so
look forward to your visits."
Grandmamma mounted her sturdy animal, and Uncle took the bridle to lead
her down the steep mountain path; she begged him not to come far with
her, but he insisted on seeing her safely as far as Doerfli, for the
way was precipitous and not without danger for the rider, he said.
Grandmamma did not care to stay alone in Doerfli, and therefore decided
to return to Ragatz, and thence to make excursions up the mountain from
time to time.
Peter came down with his goats before Uncle had returned. As soon as
the animals caught sight of Heidi they all came flocking towards her,
and she, as well as Clara on her couch, were soon surrounded by the
goats, pushing and poking their heads one over the other, while Heidi
introduced each in turn by its name to her friend Clara.
It was not long before the latter had made the long-wished-for
acquaintance of little Snowflake, the lively Greenfinch, and the
well-behaved goats belonging to grandfather, as well as of the many
others, including the Grand Turk. Peter meanwhile stood apart looking
on, and casting somewhat unfriendly glances towards Clara.
When the two children called out, "Good-evening, Peter," he made no
answer, but swung his stick angrily, as if wanting to cut the air in
two, and then ran off with his goats after him.
The climax to all the beautiful things that Clara had already seen upon