and
her brother still sitting together in silence: none of them spoke a
single word. The evening bells rung out clear; indeed all the three
bells, for the Holy Festival was being rung in, and there was a
singular vibration too in the hearts of these three persons, though
inaudible to any human ear. At length the Pastorin said: "I shall
grieve when the time comes that I no longer hear these bells; what a
multiplicity of events they have rung forth for us!"

The Pastor still sat in silence at the window, and at last said, as if
speaking to himself: "The most trying thing is to resolve to leave what
we are accustomed to; as I have at last made up my mind to do so, both
in my own thoughts, and also to the knowledge of others, it would not
do for me now to retract my determination: I will see you again shortly
Edward."

So saying, the Pastor went into his study.

CHAPTER XII.
WHERE IS JOSEPH?

"Where is Joseph?" asked Schilder-David when he came home.

"He is not here."

"I sent him home however, when I went to speak to our Pastor."

"He is not come home."

"I daresay he is gone to see Haespele again; I will go and fetch him,"
said Martina rising from her chair.

"Don't fail to give him a good box on the ear, for running about alone
in such an independent way," said David to his daughter as she was
leaving the house.

Martina soon came back and said, "Joseph is neither at Haespele's nor in
the workshop."

"Where on earth can that tiresome boy be? I will go and look for him
myself."

The grandfather went out, and enquired for Joseph from house to house;
no one knew anything of him; Schilder-David went home again, thinking
that no doubt he should find the boy arrived before him.

"But where is Joseph?" said Martina to her father, when he entered the
room on the ground floor, that served as a kitchen.

"He is sure to be here very soon," said the grandfather; going however
through the whole house, and searching every corner of it; he called up
to his workshop in the loft the name of Joseph, and felt quite startled
by the hollow echo; he shoved aside presses, behind which neither man
nor boy could have been hidden, and he even opened the cover of the
watercourse, behind the house, forgetting that it was frozen over, and
nobody could possibly fall into it. Just as he returned to the house he
met Haespele, bringing home Joseph's new boots: he told