Peter obeyed Heidi's instructions punctually, and every evening went diligently to work to learn the following letters, taking the sentences thoroughly to heart. The grandfather was frequently in the room smoking his pipe comfortably while the lesson was going on, and his face twitched occasionally as if he was overtaken with a sudden fit of merriment. Peter was often invited to stay to supper after the great exertion he had gone through, which richly compensated him for the anguish of mind he had suffered with the sentence for the day. So the winter went by, and Peter really made progress with his letters; but he went through a terrible fight each day with the sentences. He had got at last to U. Heidi read out:-- And if you put the U for V, You'll go where you would not like to be. Peter growled, "Yes, but I shan't go!" But he was very diligent that day, as if under the impression that some one would seize him suddenly by the collar and drag him where he would rather not go. The next evening Heidi read:-- If you falter at W, worst of all, Look at the stick against the wall. Peter looked at the wall and said scornfully, "There isn't one." "Yes, but do you know what grandfather has in his box?" asked Heidi. "A stick as thick almost as your arm, and if he took that out, you might well say, look at the stick on the wall." Peter knew that thick hazel stick, and immediately bent his head over the W and struggled to master it. Another day the lines ran:-- Then comes the X for you to say Or be sure you'll get no food to-day. Peter looked towards the cupboard where the bread and cheese were kept and said crossly, "I never said that I should forget the X." "That's all right; if you don't forget it we can go on to learn the next, and then you will only have one more," replied Heidi, anxious to encourage him. Peter did not quite understand, but when Heidi went on and read:-- And should you make a stop at Y, They'll point at you and cry, Fie, fie. All the gentlemen in Frankfurt with tall black hats on their heads, and scorn and mockery in their faces rose up before his mind's eye, and he threw himself with energy on the Y, not letting it go till at last he knew it so thoroughly that he could see what it was like even when he shut his eyes. He arrived on the following day in a somewhat lofty frame of mind, for there was now only one letter to struggle over, and when Heidi began the lesson with reading aloud:-- Make haste with Z, if you're too slow Off to the Hottentots you'll go. Peter remarked scornfully, "I dare say, when no one knows even where such people live." "I assure you, Peter," replied Heidi, "grandfather knows all about them. Wait a second and I will run and ask him, for he is only over the way with the pastor." And she rose and ran to the door to put her words into action, but Peter cried out in a voice of agony,--