Heidi (23 page)

And now Sebastian came in, and lifting the package on to his
shoulder, carried it off to be forwarded at once to the doctor's
house.

The early light of morning lay rosy red upon the mountains, and
a fresh breeze rustled through the fir trees and set their
ancient branches waving to and fro. The sound awoke Heidi and she
opened her eyes. The roaring in the trees always stirred a strong
emotion within her and seemed to drew her irresistibly to them.
So she jumped out of bed and dressed herself as quickly as she
could, but it took her some time even then, for she was careful
now to be always clean and tidy.

When she went down her ladder she found her grandfather had
already left the hut. He was standing outside looking at the sky
and examining the landscape as he did every morning, to see what
sort of weather it was going to be.

Little pink clouds were floating over the sky, that was growing
brighter and bluer with every minute, while the heights and the
meadow lands were turning gold under the rising sun, which was
just appearing above the topmost peaks.

"O how beautiful! how beautiful! Good-morning, grandfather!"
cried Heidi, running out.

"What, you are awake already, are you?" he answered, giving her
a morning greeting.

Then Heidi ran round to the fir trees to enjoy the sound she
loved so well, and with every fresh gust of wind which came
roaring through their branches she gave a fresh jump and cry of
delight.

Meanwhile the grandfather had gone to milk the goats; this done
he brushed and washed them, ready for their mountain excursion,
and brought them out of their shed. As soon as Heidi caught
sight of her two friends she ran and embraced them, and they
bleated in return, while they vied with each other in showing
their affection by poking their heads against her and trying
which could get nearest her, so that she was almost crushed
between them. But Heidi was not afraid of them, and when the
lively Little Bear gave rather too violent a thrust, she only
said, "No, Little Bear, you are pushing like the Great Turk," and
Little Bear immediately drew back his head and left off his rough
attentions, while Little Swan lifted her head and put on an
expression as much as to say, "No one shall ever accuse me of
behaving like the Great Turk." For White Swan was a rather more
distinguished person than Brown Bear.

And now Peter's whistle was heard and all the goats came along,
leaping and springing, and Heidi soon found herself surrounded
by the whole flock, pushed this way and that by their
obstreperous greetings, but at last she managed to get through
them to where Snowflake was standing, for the young goat had in
vain striven to reach her.

Peter now gave a last tremendous whistle, in order to startle
the goats and drive them off, for he wanted to get near himself
to say something to Heidi. The goats sprang aside and he came up
to her.

"Can you come out with me to-day?" he asked, evidently unwilling
to hear her refuse.

"I am afraid I cannot, Peter," she answered. "I am expecting
them every minute from Frankfurt, and I must be at home when they
come."

"You have said the same thing for days now," grumbled Peter.

"I must continue to say it till they come," replied Heidi. "How
can you think, Peter, that I would be away when they came? As if
I could do such a thing?"

"They would find Uncle at home," he answered with a snarling
voice.

But at this moment the grandfather's stentorian voice was heard.
"Why is the army not marching forward? Is it the field-marshal
who is missing or some of the troops?"

Whereupon Peter turned and went off, swinging his stick round so
that it whistled through the air, and the goats, who understood
the signal, started at full trot for their mountain pasture,
Peter following in their wake.

Since Heidi had been back with her grandfather things came now
and then into her mind of which she had never thought in former
days. So now, with great exertion, she put her bed in order
every morning, patting and stroking it till she had got it
perfectly smooth and flat. Then she went about the room
downstairs, put each chair back in its place, and if she found
anything lying about she put it in the cupboard. After that she
fetched a duster, climbed on a chair, and rubbed the table till
it shone again. When the grandfather came in later he would look
round well pleased and say to himself, "We look like Sunday every
day now; Heidi did not go abroad for nothing."

After Peter had departed and she and her grandfather had
breakfasted, Heidi began her daily work as usual, but she did
not get on with it very fast. It was so lovely out of doors to-
day, and every minute something happened to interrupt her in her
work. Now it was a bright beam of sun shining cheerfully through
the open window, and seeming to say, "Come out, Heidi, come out!"
Heidi felt she could not stay indoors, and she ran out in answer
to the call. The sunlight lay sparkling on everything around the
hut and on all the mountains and far away along the valley, and
the grass slope looked so golden and inviting that she was
obliged to sit down for a few minutes and look about her. Then
she suddenly remembered that her stool was left standing in the
middle of the floor and that the table had not been rubbed, and
she jumped up and ran inside again. But it was not long before
the fir trees began their old song; Heidi felt it in all her
limbs, and again the desire to run outside was irresistible, and
she was off to play and leap to the tune of the waving branches.
The grandfather, who was busy in his work-shed, stepped out from
time to time smiling to watch her at her gambols. He had just
gone back to his work on one of these occasions when Heidi
called out, "Grandfather! grandfather! Come, come!"

He stepped quickly out, almost afraid something had happened to
the child, but he saw her running towards where the mountain
path descended, crying, "They are coming! they are coming! and
the doctor is in front of them!"

Heidi rushed forward to welcome her old friend, who held out his
hands in greeting to her. When she came up to him she clung to
his outstretched arm, and exclaimed in the joy of her heart,
"Good-morning, doctor, and thank you ever so many times."

"God bless you, child! what have you got to thank me for?" asked
the doctor, smiling.

"For being at home again with grandfather," the child explained.

The doctor's face brightened as if a sudden ray of sunshine had
passed across it; he had not expected such a reception as this.
Lost in the sense of his loneliness he had climbed the mountain
without heeding how beautiful it was on every side, and how more
and more beautiful it became the higher he got. He had quite
thought that Heidi would have forgotten him; she had seen so
little of him, and he had felt rather like one bearing a message
of disappointment, anticipating no great show of favor, coming
as he did without the expected friends. But instead, here was
Heidi, her eyes dancing for joy, and full of gratitude and
affection, clinging to the arm of her kind friend.

He took her by the hand with fatherly tenderness.

"Take me now to your grandfather, Heidi, and show me where you
live."

But Heidi still remained standing, looking down the path with a
questioning gaze. "Where are Clara and grandmother?" she asked.

"Ah, now I have to tell you something which you will be as sorry
about as I am," answered the doctor. "You see, Heidi, I have
come alone. Clara was very ill and could not travel, and so the
grandmother stayed behind too. But next spring, when the days
grow warm and long again, they are coming here for certain."

Heidi was greatly concerned; she could not at first bring
herself to believe that what she had for so long been picturing
to herself was not going to happen after all. She stood
motionless for a second or two, overcome by the unexpected
disappointment. The doctor said nothing further; all around lay
the silence, only the sighing of the fir trees could be heard
from where they stood. Then Heidi suddenly remembered why she had
run down there, and that the doctor had really come. She lifted
her eyes and saw the sad expression in his as he looked down at
her; she had never seen him with that look on his face when she
was in Frankfurt. It went to Heidi's heart; she could not bear to
see anybody unhappy, especially her dear doctor. No doubt it was
because Clara and grandmother could not come, and so she began to
think how best she might console him.

"Oh, it won't be very long to wait for spring, and then they
will be sure to come," she said in a reassuring voice. "Time
passes very quickly with us, and then they will be able to stay
longer when they are here, and Clara will be pleased at that. Now
let us go and find grandfather."

Hand in hand with her friend she climbed up to the hut. She was
so anxious to make the doctor happy again that she began once
more assuring him that the winter passed so quickly on the
mountain that it was hardly to be taken account of, and that
summer would be back again before they knew it, and she became
so convinced of the truth of her own words that she called out
quite cheerfully to her grandfather as they approached, "They
have not come to-day, but they will be here in a very short
time."

The doctor was no stranger to the grandfather, for the child had
talked to him so much about her friend. The old man held out his
hand to his guest in friendly greeting. Then the two men sat
down in front of the hut, and Heidi had her little place too, for
the doctor beckoned her to come and sit beside him. The doctor
told Uncle how Herr Sesemann had insisted on his taking this
journey, and he felt himself it would do him good as he had not
been quite the thing for a long time. Then he whispered to Heidi
that there was something being brought up the mountain which had
travelled with him from Frankfurt, and which would give her even
more pleasure than seeing the old doctor. Heidi got into a great
state of excitement on hearing this, wondering what it could be,
The old man urged the doctor to spend as many of the beautiful
autumn days on the mountain as he could, and at least to come up
whenever it was fine; he could not offer him a lodging, as he had
no place to put him; he advised the doctor, however, not to go
back to Ragatz, but to stay at Dorfli, where there was a clean
tidy little inn. Then the doctor could come up every morning,
which would do him no end of good, and if he liked, he, the
grandfather, would act as his guide to any part of the mountains
he would like to see. The doctor was delighted with this
proposal, and it was settled that it should be as the
grandfather suggested.

Meanwhile the sun had been climbing up the sky, and it was now
noon. The wind had sunk and the fir trees stood motionless. The
air was still wonderfully warm and mild for that height, while a
delicious freshness was mingled with the warmth of the sun.

Alm-Uncle now rose and went indoors, returning in a few minutes
with a table which he placed in front of the seat.

"There, Heidi, now run in and bring us what we want for the
table," he said. "The doctor must take us as he finds us; if the
food is plain, he will acknowledge that the dining-room is
pleasant."

"I should think so indeed," replied the doctor as he looked down
over the sun-lit valley, "and I accept the kind invitation;
everything must taste good up here."

Heidi ran backwards and forwards as busy as a bee and brought
out everything she could find in the cupboard, for she did not
know how to be pleased enough that she could help to entertain
the doctor. The grandfather meanwhile had been preparing the
meal, and now appeared with a steaming jug of milk and golden-
brown toasted cheese. Then he cut some thin slices from the meat
he had cured himself in the pure air, and the doctor enjoyed his
dinner better than he had for a whole year past.

"Our Clara must certainly come up here," he said, "it would make
her quite a different person, and if she ate for any length of
time as I have to-day, she would grow plumper than any one has
ever known her before."

As he spoke a man was seen coming up the path carrying a large
package on his back. When he reached the hut he threw it on the
ground and drew in two or three good breaths of the mountain
air.

"Ah, here's what travelled with me from Frankfurt," said the
doctor, rising, and he went up to the package and began undoing
it, Heidi looking on in great expectation. After he had released
it from its heavy outer covering, "There, child," he said, "now
you can go on unpacking your treasures yourself."

Heidi undid her presents one by one until they were all
displayed; she could not speak the while for wonder and delight.
Not till the doctor went up to her again and opened the large
box to show Heidi the cakes that were for the grandmother to eat
with her coffee, did she at last give a cry of joy, exclaiming,
"Now grandmother will have nice things to eat," and she wanted to
pack everything up again and start at once to give them to her.
But the grandfather said he should walk down with the doctor that
evening and she could go with them and take the things. Heidi
now found the packet of tobacco which she ran and gave to her
grandfather; he was so pleased with it that he immediately
filled his pipe with some, and the two men then sat down together
again, the smoke curling up from their pipes as they talked of
all kinds of things, while Heidi continued to examine first one
and then another of her presents. Suddenly she ran up to them,
and standing in front of the doctor waited till there was a pause
in the conversation, and then said, "No, the other thing has not
given me more pleasure than seeing you, doctor."