ss Drechsler introduced him to his _protege_.
"Frida Heinz! Is it possible? I must indeed be getting _ein Alter_ if
this be the little girl who was found in the Black Forest."
He listened with interest whilst Miss Drechsler told him the history of
her past years, much of which was new to him, although he had heard of
Frida's gift as a violinist; but when she told of the wonderful way in
which her relations had been discovered, he could refrain himself no
longer, but exclaimed,--
"_Lobe Herrn_, He is good, very good, and answers prayer."
And ere they parted the three knelt at the throne of grace and gave
thanks to God.
On the next day it was settled that Frida should go to the Forest and
see her old friends, taking her grandmother's present with her.
CHAPTER XVIII.
OLD SCENES.
"God's world is steeped in beauty,
God's world is bathed in light."
It was in the leafy month of June that Frida found herself once more
treading the Forest paths. The smaller trees were clothed in their
bright, fresh, green lining--
"Greenness shining, not a colour,
But a tender, living light;"
and to them the dark, gloomy pines acted as a noble background, and once
again the song of birds was heard, and the gentle tinkle, tinkle of the
forest streams.
Memory was very busy at work as the girl--nay, woman now--trod those
familiar scenes. Yonder was the very tree under which Wilhelm found her,
a lonely little one, waiting in vain for the father she would see no
more on earth.
There in the distance were the lonely huts of the wood-cutters who had
so lovingly cared for the orphan child. And as she drew nearer the hut
of the Hoerstels, she recognized many a spot where she and Hans had
played together as happy children, to whom the sighing of the wind amid
the tall pines had seemed the most beautiful music in the world.
As she recalled all these things, her heart filled with love to God, who
had cared for and protected her when her earthly friends had cast her
off. The language of her heart might have been expressed in the words of
the hymn so often sung in Scottish churches:--
"When all Thy mercies, O my God!
My rising soul surveys,
Transported with the view, I'm lost
In wonder, love, and praise."
Words cannot depict the joy of Elsie and Wilhelm at the sight of their
dear woodland child. They had already heard of her having found her
English relations, and heart
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