America with her.

While the presence of my newly found daughter was a quiet pleasure, my
grandson was an incomparable joy to me. He was at my side from morning
till night. I think he must have asked Martella to tell him what
pleased me, for he seemed to anticipate my every wish.

I showed him our own saw-mill, and also the one that belonged to the
village. He readily understood the principle of the machinery, and
seemed to have quite a store of general information.

I had a little nursery of forest-trees; it was well situated. Martella
was always my best assistant: she knew all about planting and how to
care for the plants that had been raised from the seed, and, morever,
had a watchful eye for the grubworm. Since she came to us there had not
been one of these to destroy the seed.

I now went there with Wolfgang, and his first question, on seeing the
thriving bed, was whether it were still early enough in the year to sow
seeds of forest-trees.

We had some soaked one-year-old seeds. We marked his name in the
ground, and he laid the seeds in the furrow, after the subsoil had been
trodden down so that the seeds might at once have firm soil in which to
take root. After that, we placed loose and fertile earth on top.

I explained to him our manner of working: how we mixed lime with the
barren soil of the heath, and thus produced the best and most
nourishing soil for the young shoots; how the seed should be sown after
spring had fairly set in, and how, after the tender plants had reached
the age of two years, they should be transferred to the nursery, there
to remain until their fifth year, when they were to be set out in the
place they were finally to occupy; how the new nursery should not face
directly towards the north, on account of the absence of light, and
because the plants could not then be transplanted to land exposed to
direct rays of the sun, on account of their not being accustomed to
such intense light.

"Grandfather, how long does it take, after planting the seeds, before
the plant shows itself through the soil?"

"Two, or, at the most, three weeks; it generally shows before that
time."

I shall never forget the look that Wolfgang then gave me, and it moved
my heart to think that my grandson, who was born in America, had
planted his name in German soil.

I asked Wolfgang if he did not wish to accompany me up into the woods
where my wood-cutters were at work. He took my hand in silence.

I took my