The only
thing she could plan was to ask the ladies to let her have Leonore
sometimes during the summer holidays. She decided not to dampen the
children's good spirits that evening with the discouraging news in the
letter.
CHAPTER VIII
MAeZLI PAYS VISITS
Whenever Maezli found the time heavy on her hands, she would suddenly
remember people who might want to see her. She had been extremely
occupied all these days entertaining Leonore, as during school hours she
had been the older girl's sole companion. Her brothers and sisters were
now home for a holiday and constantly surrounded Leonore. Finding
herself without her usual employment, Maezli ran after her mother on the
morning of the holiday and kept on saying, "I must go to see Apollonie.
I am sure Loneli is sad that I have not been to see her so long," until
her mother finally gave her permission to go that afternoon.
On her way to Apollonie Maezli had been struck by an idea which occupied
her very much. She arrived at the cottage of her old friend and sat down
beside Loneli, who was not in the least sad, but looked about her with
the merriest eyes. "I must go see the Castle-Steward to-day," she said
quickly. "I promised it but I forgot about it."
"No, no, Maezli," Apollonie said evasively, "we have lots of other things
to do. We have to see if the plums are getting ripe on the tree in the
corner of the garden, and after that you must see the chickens.
Pages:
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193