"Oh, yes, I remember Wisi," said Max, "and I used to like the girl,
too; but I don't believe that I ever knew of her being named anything
else."
"I know that you used to know, Max," persisted Mrs. Ritter. "Mother so
often deplored the fact that we would not use the pretty name Aloise,
and she never liked what we did call her."
"What became of Wisi?" inquired Max.
"Well," continued Mrs. Ritter, "Wisi and I were much together, for we
were in the same class and went from grade to grade at the same time.
Andreas, through all those years, was her stanchest friend, and she
willingly accepted his attentions, often finding his friendship of
great advantage to herself.
"For one thing we were supposed to bring certain examples worked out
on our slates when we came to school in the morning, but Wisi's slate
was usually blank. She was always light-hearted and merry, and she
would put her slate on her desk in a very unconcerned way and go out
to play; when she returned, the slate was filled with neatly copied
examples.
"Once it was brought before the school that some one had broken a
windowpane, and again, that some one had shaken the teacher's fruit
trees, and I remember that we all knew it was Wisi's fault; but
Andreas took the blame upon himself and the punishment also. The rest
of us accepted it as a matter of course, for we all liked Wisi and
were used to having her escape.
"How it happened that the quietest, most earnest boy in school should
care especially about the most mischievous girl used to puzzle us, and
I often wondered if Wisi were not indifferent to Andreas's interest in
her. I asked mamma about it one day, and she said, 'I am afraid that
Aloise is somewhat vain, and that she may live to see the bad results
of her carelessness.' After that I worried about her myself.
"Some time later we had Bible studies together, preparatory to our
confirmation, and she took such an interest in them that we began to
think she had given up her mischievous ways. She regularly came to
sing with us Sunday evenings, and we liked to have her with us, for
her cheerfulness infected us all. By this time she was a very pretty
young woman, not rugged, but perfectly well; and she far surpassed the
other girls of the neighborhood in grace, beauty, and accomplishments.
Andreas was still at his trade, but he managed to come home nearly
every Sunday. We could all see how much he cared for Wisi. He was the
only one that ever called her Wiseli, and he always accented the name
so softly that we thought it was very pretty.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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