Sami obeyed immediately. For a long while he trotted along without
stopping. The little girl seemed to enjoy the ride. She looked so eagerly
around with her bright eyes on every side, as if she couldn’t see enough.
Then they came to a meadow thick with flowers.
“Hold still! Hold still!” cried the little one suddenly, and sprang with
a big jump out of the low carriage.
“Now we must have all the flowers, every single one! Come!”
And the little girl was already in the midst of the grass, stamping
bravely forward. But Sami said quite prudently:
“You mustn’t go so into the grass. It is forbidden. But see, if we go
around outside and take all the flowers you can reach, there will be a
big bunch.”
The little one came out, for she knew that she ought not to do what was
forbidden. Then the flowers were gathered according to Sami’s advice, but
the little companion soon had enough of such exertion, seated herself on
the ground and said:
“Come, sit down by me. But you must not speak French to me. I have to
learn that with Madame Laurent, but I would rather speak German, and you
must do so too.”
“I don’t speak French, I don’t know how,” replied Sami; “but I can’t
speak like you either.”
“Where do you come from then, if you don’t speak German and don’t speak
French?” the little one wanted to know.
Sami thought for a moment, then he said:
“First I came from Chailly and then from Zweisimmen.”
“No, no,” interrupted the little one warmly. “People are never from
two places, only from one. I am from Berlin, in Germany, you see. Then
Papa bought an estate and now we are living on Lake Geneva. What is
your name?”
Sami told her.
“And my name is Betti. Why did you come into the courtyard when Tina
wanted to send you out?”
Sami had to think for a while, then he said:
“Because those words were on the robe, I knew they were God-fearing
people where it belonged, and my grandmother told me I must stay with
such people and never go away, for I should learn nothing but good
from them.”
“Must you stay with us now, and never go away again?” asked little
Betti eagerly.
“Yes, I think so,” answered Sami. “Perhaps I can weed the garden.”
“That is right,” said Betti, delighted. “You see, Tina will not take me
in the carriage; she says I am too big. Will you take me every day in the
carriage to the meadow for ever so many hours?”
“Yes, indeed, I will do that gladly,” promised Sami, “and you shall have
all the flowers. Then I will take you besides to the trees where all the
birds sing ‘Only trust the dear Lord!’ and where the finch cries so loud
above them all: ‘Trust! Trust! Trust! Trust!’ Have you heard him too?”
At this description little Betti’s eyes grew bigger and brighter with
expectation.
“Come now, let’s go right away to the birds,” she exclaimed, jumped up
and ran in haste to the carriage.
Sami followed.
At this moment Tina, with a very red face, came running up from below.
Her looks did not portend anything good.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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