Part 21 (1/2)

Just then Hans gave such a violent lurch that the basket went over and the pears scattered in every direction.

”Oh,” cried Wiseli, ”that is too bad! Now we must gather them all over again.”

”And that one too,” cried Chappi, and he laughed as the pear that he threw hit Wiseli on the forehead hard enough to bring tears to her eyes.

It had scarcely happened, however, before Otto had pulled Chappi from the tree and had taken a firm grip on his throat.

”Stop, you're choking me,” gurgled Chappi. He was not laughing any more.

”I will teach you that you are responsible to me when you treat Wiseli in that way,” said Otto, his voice strained in his anger. He tightened his grip as he added, ”Is this enough to make you remember what I told you?”

”Yes,” gasped Chappi, whose face was turning purple.

”I will let you go,” said Otto, ”but I want you to keep in mind that I will give you such a choking as you will remember to your dying day if you ever hurt Wiseli again. Good-by, Wiseli.” Then Otto was gone.

He went straight to his mother and indignantly protested against the necessity of Wiseli's having to live with those boys at her uncle's home. He declared his intention of going over to ask the pastor if complaint might be entered against the whole family, so that Wiseli might be taken from them.

”My dear son,” said Mrs. Ritter; ”there is no lawful way of taking Wiseli from them, and a complaint of that character would only lead the whole family to treat her more unkindly than they do now. So long as the uncle means well by her there is nothing we can do. I realize fully what a hard time Wiseli is having, and I don't want you to think that I have not taken the matter to heart, Otto. I am looking earnestly for an opening to do something for her, and I hope that in the meantime you will protect her as much as possible, without being rude and rough yourself.”

Otto tried to help his mother think of a way to free Wiseli, but each plan proposed proved impracticable, if not impossible. The children had a custom of writing their Christmas wishes upon a slate, and Otto wrote, ”I wish Santa Claus would set Wiseli free.”

January had come and again brought to the children the great pleasure of the year by providing them with snow for the coasting. One beautiful moonlight night the idea came to Otto that it would be great sport to coast by moonlight, and the next day he accordingly suggested to the children that they a.s.semble at seven o'clock for a moonlight ride. The suggestion was enthusiastically received. When they broke up that evening, there were cries of ”All hands back at seven!” ”Hurrah for moonlight!” ”Good-by till seven!”

The Ritter children did not tell their mother of this plan until they came home from school toward evening. Much to their surprise she was not at all enthusiastic over what they considered such a capital idea. She spoke of the intense cold of the evening, the danger, especially to Miezi, in the uncertain light, and the likelihood of the younger ones being frightened in the shadows. In spite of these objections they wished to carry out their plan, and Otto promised not to let Miezi out of his sight if she might go with him. Their request was finally granted, and they started off as happy as birds on the wing.

It was great sport. The track had been worn as smooth as ice, and the fear of the timid ones in the dark places gave zest to the undertaking. Nearly all the children from the neighborhood were there, and the best of humor prevailed. Otto let them all precede him with their sleds, permitting only Miezi to follow him, so that there would be no danger of any one's running into her from behind, and he looked back every moment to see that she was coming safely.

After several rides in this fas.h.i.+on some one proposed that they ride ”tandem fas.h.i.+on,” that is, with all the sleds tied together. The idea was immediately accepted, and they began tying their sleds together in joyful antic.i.p.ation. Otto, however, considered the sport too dangerous for Miezi, as the sleds sometimes became tangled and the whole company was piled up in a ma.s.s. He tied his sled last, letting his sister follow with hers untied. In this way it was expected that they would go as usual, except that Otto would not be free to stop in case Miezi did not keep up with them. Soon the children were off and went down the slippery hill with the speed of the wind.

They had gone but halfway down, when Otto heard a scream behind him in which he recognized his sister's voice, but he was powerless to stop, and he was going too fast to dare to roll himself from his sled until their speed diminished near the foot of the hill. He found Miezi halfway down the hill crying with all her might. Almost breathless, Otto gathered her in his arms, saying, ”What happened, Miezchen? Tell me, what is the matter?”

”He wanted to--he wanted to--he was going to--” sobbed Miezi.

”What did he want to do? Who? Where?” asked Otto.

”The big man over there, he wanted to--he was going to kill me--and he said things.”

”Never mind, Miezchen; be quiet now; he didn't kill you. Did he even hit you?” asked Otto, somewhat puzzled by the occurrence, for he knew Miezi to be a rather fearless child.

”No,” sobbed Miezi, ”but he had a big stick and he raised it like this and was going to strike and he said, 'You look out!' and he called me dreadful names.”

”So he really didn't hurt you at all,” said Otto, much relieved to find it true, although Miezi was of a different opinion.

”Yes, he did--he was going to--and you were all gone ahead and I was all alone,” and from sheer self-pity came a fresh burst of tears.

”Hush now, Miezchen,” coaxed Otto. ”I shall never leave you like that again, so the man shall never get you. If you will be a happy little girl now, just as soon as we get home I will give you the red candy rooster I had on the Christmas tree.”

This promise restored Miezi to her normal self in a moment. She wiped the tears away, but did not let go of Otto's hand for the rest of the evening. The other children had joined them and as they climbed the hill they discussed what had happened. Several of the children had noticed a large man turn out of the road to let them pa.s.s, and it was Otto's opinion that it must have made the man angry to have to step into the snow, and he had threatened Miezi because she was the only one within reach. This seemed a likely explanation to the children, and the subject was dropped. The party broke up after the next ride, as most of them had promised to be at home by eight o'clock.

”Now, Miezchen,” said Otto on the way home, ”if you tell mamma about your being so frightened, you may be sure that she will never let you go with me again. No harm was done, and I think we had better not say anything about it.”