Shortly after meeting Peter, Mr. Sesemann passed the first hut, and so was satisfied that he was on the right path. He continued his climb with renewed courage, and at last, after a long and exhausting walk, he came in sight of his goal. There, only a little distance farther up, stood the grandfather's home, with the dark tops of the fir trees waving above its roof. Mr. Sesemann was delighted to have come to the last steep bit of his journey, in another minute or two he would be with his little daughter, and he pleased himself with the thought of her surprise. But the company above had seen his approaching figure and recognized who it was, and they were preparing something he little expected as a surprise on their part. As he stepped on to the space in front of the hut two figures came towards him. One a tall girl with fair hair and pink cheeks, leaning on Heidi, whose dark eyes were dancing with joy. Mr. Sesemann suddenly stopped, staring at the two children, and all at once the tears started to his eyes. What memories arose in his heart! Just so had Clara's mother looked, the fair-haired girl with the delicate pink-and-white complexion. He did not know if he was awake or dreaming. "Don't you know me, Papa?" called Clara to him, her face beaming with happiness. "Am I so altered since you saw me?" Then the father ran to his child and clasped her in his arms. "Yes, you are indeed altered! How is it possible? Is it true what I see?" And the delighted man stepped back to look full at her again, and to make sure that the picture would not vanish before his eyes. "Are you my little Clara, really my little Clara?" he kept on saying, then he clasped her in his arms again, and again put her away from him that he might look and make sure it was she who stood before him. Then grandmamma came up, anxious for a sight of her son's happy face. "Well, what do you say now, dear son?" she exclaimed. "You have given us a pleasant surprise, but it is nothing in comparison to what we have prepared for you, you must confess," and she gave her son an affectionate kiss as she spoke. "But now," she went on, "you must come and pay your respects to Uncle, who is our chief benefactor." "Yes, indeed, and our little Heidi, too," said Mr. Sesemann, shaking Heidi by the hand. "Well? are you quite well and happy in your mountain home? but I need not ask, no Alpine rose could look more blooming. I am glad, child, it is a pleasure to me to see you so." And Heidi looked up with equal pleasure into his kind face. How good he had always been to her! And that he should find such happiness awaiting him up here on the mountain made her heart beat with gladness. Grandmamma introduced him to Uncle, and while the two men were shaking hands and Mr. Sesemann was expressing his heartfelt thanks and boundless astonishment to the old man, grandmamma wandered round to the back to see the old fir trees again.