answered Walpurga. "Wherever you
take me to, I'll be satisfied, for we'll be together, and you can't
imagine how happy mother is."

Although the grandmother had, before this, rarely thought of dying, she
often complained that she wouldn't live long enough to move to the farm
with them, and thus, as mother of the farmer's wife, return to where
she had once been a servant.

All day long, she would tell Walpurga of the beautiful apple-trees in
the great garden there, and of the brook whose water was such that the
articles washed in it would become as white as snow, and that, too,
without using a particle of soap. She also extolled the virtue of the
people who were living there, and cautioned Walpurga to use good
judgment in dispensing the gifts which it would now be her duty to
bestow on others. She knew the old pensioner, and was indeed distantly
related to him. They must treat him kindly, and thus bring blessings on
the house.

Time sped by, and the hour of departure gradually drew near.

Walpurga had already packed the clothing and household utensils, but
was obliged to unpack them again, as they were needed.

As the time for their departure drew near, the villagers became even
more kindly and affable toward them, and Walpurga complained to her
mother:

"I feel just as I did when I was about to leave the palace. I was
always anxious to get away, and when the time came, I felt worried
about leaving."

"Yes, child," said the mother, consoling her, "it will be just the same
when you leave the world. How often one would like to go, but when the
time comes, one isn't anxious to leave. Oh, my child! I feel as if the
whole world were speaking to me and as if I understood it all.
Everything, men and women especially, seems at its best when you have
to part from it. That's the way it is when one parts with life. For it
isn't till then that we begin to understand how beautiful the world is,
after all, and how many good hearts we leave behind us."

Walpurga and her mother were now able to talk with each other to their
heart's content, for they no longer got an hour of Hansei's company. He
spent much of his time with Grubersepp, whom he accompanied into the
fields, and from whom he received much advice and instruction.

One evening a messenger came, asking Hansei to come to Grubersepp's at
once. He hurried off and did not return until late. Walpurga and her
mother, curious to know what was going on, sat up for him. It wa