" "Nay, Braesig," said Mrs. Nuessler, "let Joseph
alone, he did his best to make matters comfortable again. When Godfrey
talked about the devil till we all felt quite eerie, Joseph believed in
his existence; and when Rudolph laughed at, and ridiculed all belief in
him, Joseph laughed as heartily as anyone. When the dispute ran highest,
my little Mina took all Godfrey's books to Rudolph's room, and all
Rudolph's to Godfrey's, and when the young men looked rather cross, she
said quickly, that they'd better both study the subject thoroughly, and
then perhaps they might agree better about it than at present." "Mina's
a clever little woman," cried Braesig. "Well," continued Mrs. Nuessler,"
they didn't like it at all at first; but whatever Godfrey's faults may
be, he's a good-natured lad, so he began to study Rudolph's books. And
the other at last set to work at Godfrey's, for you see it was wintry
weather and it gave him something to do. You should have seen them a
short time afterward! They had changed as much as their books. Godfrey
made poor jokes about the devil, and Rudolph sighed and groaned, and
spoke of the devil as if he knew him intimately, and as if he were
accustomed to sit down to dinner with us every day and to eat his
potatoes like any other honest man. Then my little girls turned right
round. Mina took Godfrey's part; and Lina took Rudolph's, for Rudolph
said that Godfrey didn't speak from a Christian standpoint.
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