"Oh, don't be so soft-hearted all the time!" said Barefoot. "Is what I said going to take away any of your good fortune? You are always acting as if the geese were biting you. And now I will only tell you one thing, and that is, that you should hold fast to what you have, and remain where you are. It's no use to be like a cuckoo, sleeping on a different tree every night. I, too, could get other places, but I won't; I have brought it about that I am well off here. Look you, he who is every minute running to another place will always be treated like a stranger--people know that tomorrow he perhaps won't belong to the house, and so they don't make him at home in it today." "I don't need your preaching," said Damie, and he started to go away in anger. "You are always scolding me, and toward everybody else in the world you are good-natured." "That's because you are my brother," said Barefoot, laughing and caressing the angry boy. In truth, a strange difference had developed itself between brother and sister; Damie had a certain begging propensity, and then again the next minute showed a kind of pride; Barefoot, on the other hand, was always good-natured and yielding, but was nevertheless supported by a certain self-respect, which was never detracted from by her willingness to work and oblige. She now succeeded in pacifying her brother, and said: "Look, I have an idea. But first you must be good, for the coat must not lie on an angry heart. Farmer Rodel still has in his possession our dear father's clothes; you are tall now, and they will just fit you. Now it will give you a good appearance if you arrive at the farm in such respectable clothes; then your fellow-servants will see where you come from, and what worthy parents you had." Damie saw that this was sensible, and Barefoot induced old Farmer Rodel--with considerable difficulty, for he did not want to give up the clothes so soon--to hand the garments over to Damie. Barefoot at once took him up to her room and made him put on his father's coat and vest then and there. He objected, but when Amrei had set her heart on a thing, it had to be done. The hat, alone, Damie could not be induced to wear; when he had put on the coat, Amrei laid her hand on his shoulder and said: "There, now you are my brother and my father, and now the coat is going to be worn again with a new man in it. Look, Damie,--you have there the finest coat of honor in the world; hold it in honor, and be as worthy and honest in it as our dear father was." She could say no more. She laid her head on her brother's shoulder, and tears fell upon the paternal coat which had once more been brought to light. "You say that I am soft-hearted," said Damie, "and you are much worse yourself."