CHAPTER VII

BRIGHTER DAYS FOR THE PATIENT AND FOR SOME ONE ELSE

Since the day that Colonel Ritter had called with the physician to see the joiner after his recovery, Mrs. Ritter had daily visited the patient, and she rejoiced to see how rapidly he was gaining strength. Otto and Miezi had been over twice and taken their friend everything they could think of that might please him. They were glad to have the joiner tell them that a king could not have had better care.

One day the doctor was just leaving his patient, when the colonel came. "The joiner is doing well," said the doctor. "Your wife has spared Trina so long that she ought to go back now, but the poor fellow needs to have somebody with him a while longer. What a pity that he has no relatives! I have been wondering if Mrs. Ritter might not know of some one that we could get to take Trina's place for a couple of weeks."

"I will ask her as soon as I go back, although I am sure that she will be in no haste about taking Trina away."

The next morning, as Mrs. Ritter made her accustomed call, she said to her friend, "Do you feel like talking over a little business matter this morning?"

"Certainly; I am feeling quite like myself," replied the joiner, as he propped his head on his elbow.

"I am thinking of taking Trina away, since you are doing so well," she began.

"Believe me, Mrs. Ritter, for several days I have been urging her to go; I have realized what it meant to you to do without her."

"I shouldn't have let her in if she had taken your advice, but the doctor assures us now that it will be safe for her to leave you, in case some one can be found to take her place. It need not be any one so proficient as Trina, because we could send you your meals from our house. I have been giving the matter a great deal of thought, Andreas, and I think that you ought to have Wiseli come over to stay with you."

"No, no, Mrs. Ritter, of course not!" exclaimed Andreas in astonishment. "Do you suppose I could expect that delicate child to do my work? Oh, Mrs. Ritter, do you imagine I have forgotten for a moment about the girl's mother? Please say nothing more about it, for I would rather never get well."

"But, Andreas, you do not understand me, and I want to tell you something more about it. The child is given very hard work to do where she is, and the worst of it is that they are not kind to her. I should feel so greatly relieved to have her here, because she would at least be treated kindly. I know that Wiseli's mother would want you to take her, so that she might have a real home, and you will be surprised to see how gladly she will come to you and do the little necessary tasks."

"But how could I get the child if I wanted her?"

"I shall be more than glad to arrange that for you if you will trust me with it," replied Mrs. Ritter.

"I must make you promise that she shall be brought only on the condition that she wants to come," said the joiner.

"Yes," said Mrs. Ritter; "Wiseli shall not come unless it is her own wish. I will see you again to-morrow. Good-by."

Instead of going home, Mrs. Ritter went to find Wiseli, for she was eager to free the child from her present surroundings. When she arrived at Beechgreen, she met Mr. Gotti, who was himself just going into the house. "I am surprised to see you over here, and so early in the morning, Mrs. Ritter," he said, as he cordially shook her hand.

"Yes, I am sure you are, Mr. Gotti," she replied. "I have come to see if you could possibly spare Wiseli for about two weeks to care for Joiner Andreas. The doctor thinks that he doesn't need Trina any more, but that he must have some one. I hope that you will not refuse, and that the cure so well begun may be carried to a successful finish."

Mrs. Gotti joined them just then, and her husband explained the matter to her before answering Mrs. Ritter.

"Wiseli couldn't do anything if she went," said Mrs. Gotti.

"The child knows how to do a number of things," corrected the husband. "She is bright and learns readily. I am willing to let her go for two weeks. The spring work will soon begin, and we must have her back then. The joiner will no doubt be well by that time, so this arrangement will be satisfactory to everybody."

"It is very well for you to talk," broke in Mrs. Gotti. "I have just gone through all the trouble of teaching her everything, and when she comes back I shall have it to do over again. The joiner can afford to train a girl for himself if he needs one."

"But, wife, two weeks is not a long time. Mrs. Ritter has spared Trina much longer, and we all have to ask favors sometimes."

"I thank you for the kindness," said Mrs. Ritter, as she rose to take her leave. "I am sure, too, that the joiner will fully appreciate your sacrifice. If you will allow me, I will take the child now."

The aunt objected seriously, but the husband said firmly: "That will be the best way. The sooner she goes, the sooner she will get back, and I want it distinctly understood that it is to be for only two weeks."

Wiseli was called, and told without further explanation to tie a few belongings together; she silently obeyed, not daring to ask any questions. It was just a year since she had come to the house with her bundle. She had been given nothing new during that time except the black jacket she had on; it was thinly lined, and her skirt hung limply to her knees. It was only a moment before she appeared with her bundle under her arm. She looked timidly from her dress to Mrs. Ritter as she entered.

"You are all right, Wiseli; we are not going far," said Mrs. Ritter. Wiseli followed her down the path, after a hasty farewell to the aunt and uncle, and she could not help wondering what was going to be done with her. Mrs. Ritter cut across the fields to make the distance shorter, for she felt as if she could not get the child away fast enough.

As soon as they were out of sight of Beechgreen, Mrs. Ritter turned to Wiseli, saying, "You know who Joiner Andreas is, don't you, Wiseli?"

"Oh, yes," she answered, her face lighting up on hearing the name.

Mrs. Ritter was pleasantly surprised, and continued, "He is sick, Wiseli; do you think that you would like to stay with him a couple of weeks and wait on him so that he will get well again?"

"Of course, Mrs. Ritter, I shall be very glad to go," Wiseli said, and Mrs. Ritter wished that Andreas could have seen her as she said it.

"You must remember to tell him that you are glad to be with him, if you are," said Mrs. Ritter; "otherwise he might think we made you come."

"I shall not forget to tell him," said the little girl.

When they reached the joiner's gate, Mrs. Ritter bade Wiseli enter without her. "Since I know that you like to go to him, I shall not need to go in, but you can tell the joiner that I will be over in the morning, and you must come to me for anything you may want at any time. Good-by."

It was with a light heart that Wiseli ran up the path to the house, for she rejoiced that she was to see the man who had been so kind to her, and that this was to be her home for a few weeks. She understood what was expected of her, and she knew that the joiner was in bed, with no one else in the house, so she entered without ringing. How homelike everything seemed as she looked about! At the farther end of the room she noticed, through the parted curtains, a large bed freshly dressed with a white spread and pillows; she wondered who slept in that room. Then she tapped lightly on the joiner's door, which she opened as soon as she heard a response. The joiner raised himself on his elbow to see who was there.

"Wiseli!" he exclaimed, as if in doubt whether to be glad or sorry. "Come over here and give me your hand." Wiseli silently did as she was told.

"I am sorry that you had to come to me."

"Why?"

"I only mean that perhaps you would a little rather not have come. Mrs. Ritter is always so kind that you did it to please her, didn't you?"

"No, not at all. She never asked me to do it for her. She wanted to know if I cared to come, and I said, 'Yes.' There is no place in the whole world where I should have been so glad to go as to your house."

This must have satisfied the joiner, for his head dropped back to the pillows, and he tried to look at Wiseli, but the tears persisted in filling his eyes.

"What must I do?" asked Wiseli, when he said nothing further.

"I am sure I don't know, Wiseli," said the joiner, gently. "I shall be glad to have you do exactly as you please, if you will stay with me a while first and keep me company."

Wiseli could scarcely believe she had heard aright. Nobody but her mother had ever spoken to her like that. Her first thought was that her mother would be glad if she knew how kind he was. There was the same tenderness in his tones that she used to feel in the mother's, and she unconsciously loved him in the same way. She took his hand in both of hers and chatted with him as freely as if she had always known him.

"I am afraid I ought to be getting dinner," she said at length; "what should you like to have me cook for you?"

"I want you to have just what you like," replied the joiner.

This, however, did not satisfy Wiseli, for she desired above all else to please him, so she asked question after question until she found out what she wanted to know. She knew how to make the soup he said he liked, and she realized now that she had learned many useful things from her aunt, even if they had been taught without kindness. Wiseli prepared the joiner's dinner on a tray and carried it to him.

"I wish you would draw the little table over here and eat your dinner with me," said the joiner. "Mine will taste so much better if you will."

Wiseli was again surprised, but she said, "That is just what mamma would have said."

What a pleasant dinner that was! The joiner was so considerate of Wiseli's comfort that it made the humblest task a pleasure to her.

"Now what are you going to do?" he asked, when they had finished dinner and Wiseli rose from the table.

"I am going to wash the dishes," she replied.

"I suppose such things have to be done," said the joiner, "but I think, since this is your first day with me, that you might stack them up and do them to-morrow; you know there are only a few."

"Why, I should be so ashamed if Mrs. Ritter should happen to come in that I shouldn't know what to do," said Wiseli, and she turned such a serious face to him that he laughed.

"All right," he said; "only remember that you are to do just as you like while you are with me."

Wiseli had not thought that it could be so much fun to do up the dinner work. When it was finished, she said to herself, "Now this kitchen is nice enough for any one to inspect."

She had been told that the alcove opening off from the living room was to be hers, so she hung her few garments in the closet opening from one corner of the room. When she returned to the joiner's room he said, "Good, I have been waiting for you a long time."

"Haven't you a stocking that I could knit while I sit here?" she asked, as she took the chair beside the bed.

"Of course not," answered the sick man; "you have already done too much, and I want you to rest now."

"But I am not allowed to sit idle except on Sunday. Besides, I can knit and talk at the same time."

"If you will be any more contented with a stocking, get one, by all means, but please remember that I don't want you to work unless you prefer to do so," said the joiner.

In this quiet way they passed one day after another. Everything Wiseli did pleased the joiner, and she was thanked for every little service as if it were of the utmost importance. The patient gained so much in strength that he was soon clamoring for permission to get up. The doctor told him that he might sit up whenever he wished, and much of his time was now spent sitting in the bay window in the living room, where the warm sunshine helped to make the days cheerful. He liked to watch his little housekeeper moving about at her household duties, and she succeeded in making his house more attractive than he had ever hoped to see it.

Wiseli so enjoyed herself in this comfortable home, where she had the assurance of being cared for and protected, that she sometimes forgot she must soon give it up and return to her uncle at Beechgreen.