was best and to think of means
to carry it out.

Mea's forehead, also, was darkened by heavy clouds, but she was not as
silent as her brother. Every few moments exclamations of pain or
indignation escaped her. But had she not fared badly?

When they had moved from Sils to Nolla, Elvira had immediately approached
Mea as if she wanted to become her friend. Mrs. Knippel had sent her an
invitation in order to cement the bonds of friendship, and she had done
the same with Bruno, who was to become her sons' close comrade. It was
quite true that Bruno had declared from the beginning that he would not
make friends with the two who were to share his studies, and every time
they came together fights and quarrels were the result.

But Mea had a heart which craved friendship. She was overcome with
happiness by the advances of the Knippel family, and immediately gave
herself to her new friend with absolute confidence and warm love. Soon
many differences of opinion and of natural disposition showed themselves
in the two girls, but Mea, in her overflowing joy of having found a
friend, was little troubled by this at first. She thought that all these
things would come right by and by when they came closer to each other.
She hoped that the desired harmony would come when they became better
acquainted. But the more the two girls got to know know each other, the
deeper their differences grew, and every attempt at a clear understanding
only ended in a wider estrangement.

Mrs. Maxa had always tried to fill her children with a contempt not only
of all wrong, but also of low and ugly actions. She had made an effort
to keep her children from harmful influences and to implant in them a
hate for these things. Whenever Mea found Elvira of a different opinion
in such matters, she was assured that she was in the right by the
mother's opinion, which coincided with her own; so she felt as if Elvira
should be shown the right way, too. Whenever this happened, Elvira
turned from her and told her that she wanted to hear no sermons.

So the two had not yet become friends, despite the fact that Mea was
still hoping and wishing for it, and her brother Kurt had proved himself
in the right when he had doubted it from the beginning. Since the
incident with Loneli, when Mea had told her friend her opinion in
perfectly good faith, Elvira had not spoken to her any more and had
remained angry. But Mea's nature was not inclined to sulk. Whenever she
felt herse