"But it was your own wish to go away. And you can be cheerful, too, if you only try hard enough." In silence she walked on with her brother to the Holderwasen. There, under the wild pear-tree, she said: "Here we will say good-by. God bless you, and don't be afraid of anything!" They shook hands warmly, and then Damie walked on toward Hirlingen, and Barefoot turned back toward the village. Not until she got to the foot of the hill, where Damie could not see her, did she venture to lift up her apron and wipe away the tears that were running down her cheeks. [Amrei and Damie were separated for three years. During this time the girl made herself more and more liked and respected by everybody, not only on account of her pleasant ways and general helpfulness, but also on account of her self-sacrificing devotion to her unappreciative brother. While her going barefoot and having been a goose-girl caused her to be the victim of more or less raillery, still nobody meant it at all seriously unless it was Rose, Farmer Rodel's youngest daughter, who was jealous of Amrei's popularity. One day when Amrei was standing by her window, she heard the fire-bell ringing.] "There's a fire at Scheckennarre's, at Hirlingen!" was the cry outside. The engine was brought out, and Barefoot climbed upon it and rode away with the firemen. "My Damie! My Damie!" she kept repeating to herself in great alarm. But it was day-time, and in the day-time people could not be burned to death in a fire. And sure enough, when they arrived at Hirlingen, the house was already in ashes. Beside the road, in an orchard, stood Damie in the act of tying two piebalds,--fine, handsome horses,--to a tree; and oxen, bulls, and cows were all running about in confusion. They stopped the engine to let Barefoot get off, and with a cry of "God be praised that nothing has happened to you!" she hurried toward her brother. Damie, however, made no reply, and stood with both hands resting on the neck of one of the horses. "What is it? Why don't you speak? Have you hurt yourself?" "I have not hurt myself, but the fire has hurt me." "What's the matter?" "All I have is lost--all my clothes and my little bit of money! I've nothing now but what's on my back." "And are father's clothes burnt too?" "Are they fireproof?" replied Damie, angrily. "Don't ask such stupid questions!" Barefoot was ready to cry at this ungracious reception by her brother; but she quickly remembered, as if by intuition, that misfortune in its first shock often makes people harsh, unkind, and quarrelsome. So she merely said: "Thank God that you have escaped with your life! Father's clothes--to be sure, in those there's something lost that cannot be replaced--but sooner or later they would have been worn out anyway."