There is only one Sunday pleasure that outweighs the knee-riding with Uncle Blasi, and that is when Veronica takes her little girl in her lap and lets Dieterli press close to her side, as he does only when he is very much excited. Then the mother takes a little picture in her hand, the picture of a red rose. Suddenly the flower opens, and a little verse in golden letters appears. Every time this opens, it elicits a cry of joy from the children, and they are never tired of seeing the wonder repeated. And Veronica is never tired of repeating it; for the rose and the verse are so interwoven with her life that they recall many memories of joy and sorrow; and she often says to the children, "Some time when you are old enough, I will explain this golden motto to you, and you shall learn it by heart." When Blasi and Judith are alone together, he likes to talk over old times, and he often reminds her that he had fully made up his mind to marry Veronica himself; and he always winds up with, "I want you to understand that I would never have given her up to any one else; but an old friend like Dietrich, you know;--of course it's a very different thing with Dietrich." And Judith, laughing, answers, "Yes, yes, Blasi, you're quite right; it's a very different thing with Dietrich." THE END. End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Veronica And Other Friends by Johanna (Heusser) Spyri