andmother would not allow _that!_ All Father
said was: "All right Gretel, but don't go quite off your head first or
you won't be able to find your way to Schwindgasse. Is Hella as crazy as
you are?" Of course, how can one be otherwise?

January 3rd. Still 2 hours, it's awful, Hella is coming to fetch me at
half past 3. In school to-day we kept on looking at one another, and all
the other girls thought it must be something to do with a man. Goodness,
what do we care about a man now! We had a splendid idea, that we had
just time to make a memento for _her_, since she does not leave until
the evening of the 5th. I am having traced on a piece of yellow silk
for a book marker an edelweiss and her monogram E. T., the new one of
course. Hella is painting a paperknife in imitation of tarsia mosaic.
I would rather have done something of that sort too, but I have no
patience for such work, so I often spoil it before I've finished. But
one can't very well spoil a piece of embroidery. But I shan't get the
tracing on the silk back from the shop until half past 3, so I shall
have to work all night and the whole day to-morrow.

Evening. Thank goodness and confound it, whichever way you like to
take it, the idiot at the shop had forgotten about the bookmarker and I
shan't get it until to-morrow morning early. So I'm able to write now:
It was heavenly! We had to walk up and down in front of her house for
at least half an hour, until at last it was 5 minutes past 4. She was so
sweet to us! She wanted to say Sie to us, but we _simply would not
have it_, and so she said Du as she used to. We talked of all sorts of
things, I don't know what, only that I suddenly burst out crying, and
then she drew me to her b -- --, no, I can't write that about her; she
drew me to herself and than I felt _her heart beating!_ and went almost
crazy. Hella says that I put both my arms round her neck, but I'm sure
that's all imagination, for I should never have dared. She has such
fascinating hands, and the _wedding ring_ glistens so on her divine
ring finger. Of course we talked about the school, and then she suddenly
said: Tell me what really happened about those compositions, when half
the class deliberately refrained from putting any punctuation marks.
"Oh," we said, "that is a frightful cram, it wasn't _half_ the class,
but only 6 of us who have a special veneration for you." Then we told
her how it all came about. She laughed a little, and said: "Well, gi