Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1886-04-14
GRETA'S FAITH.

Her big blue eyes appealed to me,
crusty old bachelor that L was; and, as
she trudged along beside us switching
nies from our horses legs with a fra
grant bunch of walnut leaves, l wished
that her poor little feet were better
covered for the journey up the long hill
before Us, and that her patient fulfil
ment of a rather ignoble duty spoke less
of keen poverty.
She was far prettier than most Swiss
peaSant-children, and did not look more
than seven years old. One plait of her
blond hair had lost It's decoration of
common twlne, and hung in curly waves
to her waist, its brightness relieving
the nondescript brown of her dress.
AS We arrived at the brow of the hill
she stayed the carriage-wheel with q
block of wood carried for the purpose
under one sunburnt arm, and spoke
10 her for the first time. She Informed
me that her name was Greta, but was
unable to tell either her age or her
fathers name-In fact, she SEEMED to
doubt the existence of such an individ-
ual either at the present time or in the
past, explaining that she lived at the
mill below in the valley, and was deS-
titute orphan supported by the charity
of the miller's family and the other
villagers.
"Can you earn much money switch
ing flies?" [ asked.
''Oh, yes-SOmetlmeS sixty centimeS
dayl The travellers in the Lauter-
brunnen valley are very kind"
Sand do you save your earnings?'
s'No; must give them all to the mil
ler's wife," she answered quietly.
felt disappointed"for the pleasure
Of making her little gift of money
was marred for me.
SIS this child telling the truth about
herself?'' l asked of the driver in
French.
"Greta? Yes, she is honest as gold; l
wish l could say the same Of the other
children about her. Her little basket
Of fruit are never sold to strangers with
a layer of good berries on top and the
stale ones of yesterday below. Oh,
yes, Greta is to be trusted! The poor
little thing seems grateful for the neigh
bors' charity, though she has been used
to it since her babyhood."
"What kind of people were her pa
rents?"
sWho knoYs?'' the man replied,
with an expressive shrug of the shoul-
ders.
Arrived before a wayside inn, Greta
bade us adieu, with her eyes full of
thankful wonder at the bright gold
piece had given heT-poSSibly the IrSt
coin of the kind she had seen. felt
greatly interested in the child, and
thought more Of Der wide open eyes,
blue as harebells, than of the magnifi-
cent range of sDOw-clad mountains
opening before me as 1 continued On
my way.
l wished that l could take the little
thing away from her present life OF sor-
did duties and hard fare, and raise her
to s6tnething better. What comfort
she might be to me in my declining
years as she grew Olderl For mine was
a lonely life, and sometimes shudder-
ed when / thought how desolate my
latter years were likely to be.
This dream of adopting Greta or any
other child was very foolish for man
OF my meagre fortunes. 1 had small
annuity which procured for me only
the barest necessities of life, and for
any other outlay, such as my present
tourney, | depended upon the few
guIneas which at rare intervals l gath
cred together for water-color sketches
which | was passionately fond Of exc
cutting.
Tie day of my meeting with Greta
should be marked with red letter In
my life's calendar on more accounts
than one.
That afternoon, while l Was sketch
ing a glimpse of the Staubbach, an
elderly lady came towards me and
asked permission to look at my work
She seemed pleased with 1t, for on the
following day she bought the sketch,
payinc me considerable more than my
rr;ce. Furthermore, at the end OF a
week she offered ME a salary which
seemed to be mine of wealth, II would
come 20 England to instruct her daugh-
;e- in my art. l availed myself OF this
0pportunity, OF course; and, my duties
at an end with one pupil, took others,
AND manv years passed before again |
quilted my native land.
At last the rowing fit seized me again,
and for the second time l found myself
in the Lauterbrunnen valley. Inc
familiar scene brought yivldly before |
me the summer-day of nearly ten years
before. when the blue-eyed child trudg-
ed beside my carriage switching hleS-
| descended from ny einSpdnner as we |
passed the old mill; and L entered,
ostepsibly to ask for drink OF wine or |
,ni.k. but in reality to inquire what had |
been tie fate of my little friend OF long
ago.
A glass of milk was served me by
pleasant-voiced girl of about sixteen or
seventeen, in a neat pcasant-costnme,
and with frank lovely eyes OF an intense
blue. | seemed to have met the glance
of those eyes before, and sometnlng
told me that the child whom l had
ionged for III years gone by now stood
before me transformed into tai hand-
some girl. ] asked what had become
of the child Greta, who lived at the
mill long before. She looked at me
with wide open eyes.
81 am Greta,n she replied. "What
does the qnddige Herr askr" ;,
SONY because L was here once In ola
t,mes. u answered. 'You came up
tbe hill and talked to me, and at pait
inc YOU were very pleased when L gave
Won a cold piece Do you remempers
To nv astonishment, she shoWea me
,be coin suspend ID from her neck Dy
h;t ot velvet She seemed delighted 10
90 90 mo apain.and grew very friendly
md Confidential. She told me that IL
-Has her good fortune to be the Detroth-
al wife Of Max Ulrich, employed IN
,.;nava,d near Interthal. HIS master
Eileyaan wiz a.,,,,ed among the rich} men OF