The Empire Annual for Girls, 1911 | Page 9

of Gretchen's mother, old Barbara; she does not
complain of the goître; though she has to bear it under her chin, she
tries to keep it out of sight. I wish you would do the same with your
clumsiness. There, go and change your clothes, go, you unlucky child,
go!"
* * * * *

You are perhaps wondering how it comes to pass that an inn can exist
placed alone in the midst of green pasture-land, and only approached
by a simple foot track, which more than once leads the wayfarer across
mere plank bridges, and which passes, only at long intervals, small
groups of cottages that call themselves villages. You naturally wonder
how the guests at this lonely inn fare with regard to provisions. It is
true that milk is sent down every day from the cows on the green Alps
higher up the mountain, and that the farm boasts of plenty of ducks and
fowls, of eggs and honey. There are a few sheep and goats, too; we
have seen that there are pigs. Fräulein Christina Fasch makes good
bread, and she is famous for her delicate puddings and sauces; the
puzzle is, whence come the groceries, and the extras, and the wines that
are consumed in the inn?
A mile or so beyond, on a lower spur of the mountain ridge that
overlooks the Rhine, a gap comes in the hedge that screens an almost
precipitous descent into the broad, flat valley. The descent looks more
perilous than it is, for constant use has worn the slender track into a
series of rough steps, which lead to the vine-clad knoll on which is
situated Malans, and at Malans George Fasch, the landlord of our inn,
can purchase all he needs, for it is near a station on the railway line
between Zurich and Coire and close to the busy town of Mayenfeld in
the valley below.
Just now there are no visitors at the inn, so the landlord only makes his
toilsome journey once a fortnight; but when there is a family in the
house he visits the valley more frequently, for he cannot bring very
large stores with him, although he does not spare himself fatigue, and
he mounts the natural ladder with surprising rapidity, considering the
load he carries strapped to his shoulders.
The great joy of Anna was to meet her father at the top of the pass, and
persuade him to lighten his burden by giving her some of it to carry;
and to-day, when she had washed her face and hands, and had changed
her clothes, she wished that he had gone to Malans; his coming back
would have helped her to forget her disaster. Her aunt's words clung to
the girl like burs; and now, as they rang in her ears again, she went into

the wood to have her cry out, unobserved.
She stood leaning against a tree; and, as the tears rolled over her face,
she turned and hid it against the rough red bark of the pine. She was
crying for the loss of the dear, gentle mother who had always helped
her. Her mother had so screened her awkwardness from public notice
that Anna had scarcely been aware of it. Her Aunt Christina had said,
when she was summoned four years ago to manage her brother's
household, "Your wife has ruined Anna, brother. I shall have hard work
to improve her."
Anna was not crying now about her aunt's constant fault-finding; there
was something in her grief more bitter even than the tears she shed for
her mother; it seemed to the girl that day by day she was becoming
more and more clumsy and stupid; she broke the crockery, and even the
furniture; she spoiled her frocks; and, worst of all, she had more than
once met her father's kind blue eyes fixed on her with a look of sadness
that went to her heart. Did he, too, think that she would never be useful
to herself or to any one?
At this thought her tears came more freely, and she pressed her hot face
against the tree.
"I wonder why I was made!" she sobbed.
There came a sharp crackling sound, as the twigs and pine-needles
snapped under a heavy tread.
Anna caught up her white apron and vigorously rubbed her eyes; then
she hurried out to the path from her shelter among the trees.
In another minute her arms were round her father, and she was kissing
him on both cheeks.
[Sidenote: A Startling Face]
George Fasch kissed her and patted her shoulder; then a suppressed sob
caught his ear. He held Anna away from him, and looked at her face.

It was red and green in streaks, and her eyes were red and inflamed.
The