ou are!" she burst out. "I was just thinking myself
that a stay here would strengthen the child, but then I thought of the
care and trouble for you. And now you have offered to do it, as if it
was nothing at all. How can I thank you enough, uncle?"

After shaking hands many times, the two prepared Clara's bed, which,
thanks to the old lady's precautions, was soon so soft that the hay
could not be felt through at all.

The uncle had carried his new patient back to her rolling-chair, and
there they found her sitting, with Heidi beside her. They were eagerly
talking of their plans for the coming weeks. When they were told that
Clara might stay for a month or so, their faces beamed more than ever.

The guide, with the horse, and the carriers of the chair, now
appeared, but the last two were not needed any more and could be sent
away.

When the grandmother got ready to leave, Clara called gaily to her:
"Oh grandmama, it won't be long, for you must often come and see us."

While the uncle was leading the horse down the steep incline, the
grandmama told him that she would go back to Ragatz, for the Doerfli
was too lonely for her. She also promised to come back from time to
time.

Before the grandfather had returned, Peter came racing down to the hut
with all his goats. Seeing Heidi, they ran up to her in haste, and so
Clara made the acquaintance of Schwaenli and Baerli and all the others.

Peter, however, kept away, only sending furious looks at the two
girls. When they bade him good-night, he only ran away, beating the
air with his stick.

The end of the joyous day had come. The two children were both lying
in their beds.

"Oh, Heidi!" Clara exclaimed, "I can see so many glittering stars, and
I feel as if we were driving in a high carriage straight into the
sky."

"Yes, and do you know why the stars twinkle so merrily?" inquired
Heidi.

"No, but tell me."

"Because they know that God in heaven looks after us mortals and we
never need to fear. See, they twinkle and show us how to be merry,
too. But Clara, we must not forget to pray to God and ask Him to think
of us and keep us safe."

Sitting up in bed, they then said their evening prayer. As soon as
Heidi lay down, she fell asleep. But Clara could not sleep quite yet,
it was too wonderful to see the stars from her bed.

In truth she had never seen them before, because in Frankfurt all the
blinds were always down long before the stars came out, and at night