Little by little, as the hill-tops and the
tree-tops peeped out of the mist, so the love-tokens which God had
visibly scattered through her life began to appear--how she had been
guarded here and there, how she had enjoyed many more cheerful days than
many, many poor children, and how she had found parents too, much better
than other children had, who, if they had not taken her to their hearts
like father and mother, had still loved her and so brought her up that
she could face all people with the feeling that she was looked upon as a
real human being. No, she might not complain of her good Father up
yonder; she felt that His hand had been over her. And was His hand not
over her still? Had He perhaps taken compassion on the poor lonely girl?
Had He decreed, since she had remained faithful till then and tried to
keep herself unspotted by sin, to satisfy now the longing of her heart,
to give her a faithful breast to lay her head on-something of her own,
so that one day somebody would weep at her death, somebody escort her on
the sad road to the gruesome grave? Was it perhaps Uli, the loyal,
skilful servant, whom she had loved so long in her reserved heart; whom
she could reproach with nothing save his mistake with Elsie, and that he
too had been seized by the delusion that money makes happiness; who had
so faithfully and honestly laid bare his heart and repented of his
error? Was it not a strange dispensation that they had both come to this
particular place, that Uli had not gone away before, that Elsie had had
to marry, that the desire had come to her aunt to give the lease of the
farm to Uli? Was it not wonderful how all that fitted in together; was
not the Father's kind hand evident in it? Should she scorn what was
offered her? Was it something hard or repulsive that was asked of her?
Now her spirit unveiled its pictures, peopled the desolate future with
them.
Pages:
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342