"Yes," was the general answer; and from this time forth he was
unmolested,--for he had shown that his temper was proof against
teasing.

But on this occasion he formed the resolution of seeking intercourse
with his neighbors more than formerly. He saw that his duties to his
fellows were not circumscribed by the school-room.

The execution of this design was not long without its reward.

One Sunday afternoon, on returning from church-service, he took his way
by the street which skirted the hill-side, called the "Bruck," or
Bridge. An old woman was sitting in front of her house with her hands
folded and her head shaking with palsy. He said, kindly,--

"How do you do? The sunshine does you good, doesn't it?"

"Thank you, kind gentleman," answered the old woman, still nodding.

The teacher stood still.

"You have seen many summers, haven't you?" said he.

"Seventy-eight: a good number. Seventy years is the life of man, says
the Scripture. I often think Death must have forgotten me. Well, our
Lord God will fetch me in his own good time: he knows when. I sha'n't
get out of his sight."

"But you seem to keep up very well."

"Not very well,--the cramp; but this helps it." She pointed to the gray
threads she had tied around her arms, the veins of which were swollen.

"What is that?"

"Why, a pure virgin spun this before she broke her fast in the morning,
and spoke the Lord's Prayer three times while she did it. If you put
that round your arm, and don't cry out about it, and speak the prayer
to the Lord's holy three nails nine times over, it drives away the
cramp. I have to cough so much," she said, pointing to her chest, to
excuse the frequent interruptions in her speech.

"Who spun the threads for you?" inquired the teacher, again.

"My Hedwig,--my grand-daughter. Don't you know her? Who are you?"

"I am the new teacher."

"And don't know my Hedwig! Why, she's one of the choristers. What's the
world coming to, I'd just like to know! The schoolmaster doesn't know
the choristers any more!

"I used to sing in the choir myself,--though, to hear me cough, you
wouldn't think so. I was a smart lass: oh, yes. I was fit enough to be
seen: and once a year there was a grand dinner, and the parson and the
schoolmaster were there. Oh, they did use to sing the funniest songs
then, about the Bavarian Heaven, and such things! That's all over now:
the world isn't what it used to be when I was young."

"You love your gr