Just at this moment the prayer-bell sounded. The grandmother folded her hands and repeated the Lord's Prayer, and Rico also folded his hands. Every thing was quiet in the room. After a while the grandmother bent over and closed the old teacher's eyes, for he had passed away. Then she took Rico by the hand, and went softly home with him. CHAPTER VIII. ON THE LAKE OF SILS. Stineli did not recover herself during the entire week, her joy was so great; but it seemed as if that week were ten days longer than any other, for Sunday seemed never to come. At last it did come, and a golden sun shone over the harvest fields, and she and Rico went up under the fir-trees, where the sparkling lake lay spread out at their feet; and the girl's heart was so overflowing with happiness, that she had to dance about and shout aloud before she seated herself on the moss, on the very edge of the slope. There she could see every thing round about,--the sunny heights and the lake, and, stretched over all, the blue heavens. Suddenly she called out, "Come now, Rico; we will sing,--sing for ever so long." So the lad seated himself by Stineli's side, and placed his fiddle in position,--for he had, of course, brought that too,--and began to play, and the children sang,-- "Little lambkins, come down From the bright, sunny height," until they had sung all the verses; but Stineli had not had half enough. "We will sing more," she said, and went on,-- "Little lambkins, above On the bright, pleasant hill, The sunlight is sparkling, The winds are not still." And then Rico sang the verse and was pleased and said, "Sing some more." Stineli was quite excited: thought a bit, and looked up, then down, and sang again,-- "And the lambkins, and the lambkins, And the heavens so blue; And red and white flowers, And the green grasses, too." Then Rico fiddled and sung the verse with her, and said again, "Some more." Stineli laughed, and, glancing at Rico, sang,-- "And a sad little boy, And a very gay maid; And a lake like another, That from water is made." Laughing and singing, Stineli went on,-- "And the lambkins, and the lambkins, They jumped up so high, And all were most merry, And did not know why. "And a boy and a girl By the lake-side did sit, And because they forgot it, It hurt not a bit." Now they began at the very beginning, and sang the whole thing through again, and made merry over it, and were so happy that they sang it at least ten times over; and the more they repeated it, the better it sounded to their ears. After this Rico played several tunes that he had learned from his father; but they soon came back to their own song, and began that again. In the midst of it the girl stopped and said, "It has just come into my head how you can go down to the other lake, and will not need any money either." Rico paused suddenly and gazed at his companion, awaiting what was coming next.