CHAPTER PAGE I. THE QUIET HOME 1 II. IN SCHOOL 5 III. THE SCHOOLMASTER'S VIOLIN 10 IV. THE DISTANT LAKE WITHOUT A NAME 17 V. THE LAKE HAS A NAME 22 VI. RICO'S MOTHER 25 VII. A PRECIOUS LEGACY AND A PRECIOUS PRAYER 28 VIII. AT LAKE SILS 33 IX. A PUZZLING OCCURRENCE 39 X. A LITTLE LIGHT 43 XI. A LONG JOURNEY 45 XII. THE JOURNEY CONTINUED 54 XIII. LAKE GARDA 60 XIV. NEW FRIENDS 67 XV. AN EMPHATIC APPEAL 82 XVI. THE ADVICE 86 XVII. OVER THE MOUNTAINS 94 XVIII. TWO HAPPY TRAVELERS 103 XIX. CLOUDS AT LAKE GARDA 111 XX. AT HOME 117 XXI. SUNSHINE AT LAKE GARDA 127 WISELI FINDS HER PLACE CHAPTER PAGE I. COASTING 133 II. THE HOME ON THE HILL 138 III. ANOTHER HOME 155 IV. THE GOTTI HOME 163 V. HOW LIFE CONTINUES AND SUMMER COMES 174 VI. A NEW FEATURE 192 VII. BRIGHTER DAYS FOR THE PATIENT AND FOR SOME ONE ELSE 205 VIII. THE UNEXPECTED HAPPENS 216 PRONOUNCING VOCABULARY 231 HEIMATLOS LAKE SILS AND LAKE GARDA CHAPTER I THE QUIET HOME In the Upper Engadine Valley, on the road leading up to the Maloja Pass, lies a lonely town called Sils. Taking a diagonal path from the street back to the mountains, one comes to a smaller village known as Sils-Maria. Here, a little aside from the highway, in a field, two dwellings stood opposite each other. Both had old-fashioned doors and tiny windows set deep in the wall. One house had a garden, where herbs and vegetables and a few straggling flowers were growing. The other, which was much smaller, had only an old stable with a couple of chickens wandering in and out of it.