broad, sunny landscape. There was the green
meadow-land, with its duck-pond, and beyond, round the road to the old
mill in the valley, the steep path leading uphill to the graveyard, and
finally, away off towards the south, great masses of dense forest,
rising one above the other, covering the mountain-sides and shutting
out all that lay beyond.

"So that will be your room dear father, and this one next to it mine,"
said Carmen, pleasantly, as she and the old man wandered about in the
bright morning air over the grounds and through the partially finished
building which was to be their home.

"How pretty it will be here, father! I will raise vines all around the
windows, so that, in summer, a pretty shade will fall in the rooms; and
even though we are not allowed to have any ornaments, a cabinet of
books will be here, and by the window shall stand a table with a vase
of flowers on it, while over there I will make a cosey little nook,
like the one Frau von Trautenau has in her room. And then when evening
comes, dear father, you shall sit by me, and tell me of the snow-capped
Himalayas, and the wonders of the East Indian world. Or when the lamp
is lighted, I will read to you, just as I did to Frau von Trautenau in
her dear little nook."

"How often you speak of that lady, Carmen! Is she so very dear to
you?" asked Mauer.

"Yes, very dear, father," she replied eagerly, and the warmth of her
feelings betrayed itself in her countenance. "She was very, very kind
to me; and with her, I, who was so lonely, felt how good it must be to
look into a mother's eyes. I could always turn to her for sympathy and
advice, feeling sure of being understood; and that was a great comfort
to me, when I thought you never would return, father. She is not grave
and austere, like our Sisters here, but is in all things noble and
good; and even though she belongs to those who are outside in the
world, yet anyone following her could not go wrong. The world!" she
continued thoughtfully. "We are all of this world as long as we live.
How can one set of people consider themselves so much better than the
others?"

"We do not think ourselves better, child, but on a surer road to become
so," interrupted the father. "And yet, even with us, there are no
insurmountable barriers to keep us from straying into the by-paths
which lead us away from the goal!" he added, with a sigh.

"Yes father," she said, with a fond smile. "That is just what I s