upon
what the mouth of this dark hollow said.

"I had thought of making you swear here never to forsake God, never to
continue the misfortunes of this family; but why this oath? That some
one should take with him to the other world one sin more, in that in the
hour of his death he forswore himself? What oath would bind him who
says: 'The mercy of God I desire not'?

"But instead, I brought you here and related you the history of your
family. Later you shall know still more therefrom, that is yet secret
and obscure before you. Now look once more around you, and then--let us
go out.

"Now you know what is the meaning of this melancholy house, whose door
the ivy enters with the close of a man's life from time to time. You
know that the family brings its suicides hither to burial, because
elsewhere they have no place. But you know also that in this awful
sleeping-room there is space for only _one_ person more, and the second
will find no other resting-place than the grave-ditch!"

With these words grandmother passionately thrust us both from her. In
terror we fell into each other's arms before her frenzied gaze.

Then, with a shrill cry, she rushed toward us and embraced us both with
all the might of a lunatic; wept and gasped, till finally she fainted
utterly away.

CHAPTER II

THE GIRL SUBSTITUTE[4]

[Footnote 4: In former days it was the custom for a Magyar and a German
family to interchange children, with a view to their learning the two
languages perfectly. So Fanny Fromm is interchanged with Desiderius
Aronffy.]

A pleasant old custom was then in fashion in our town: the interchange
of children,--perhaps it is in fashion still. In our many-tongued
fatherland one town is German-speaking, the other Magyar-speaking, and,
being brothers, after all to understand each other was a necessity.
Germans must learn Magyar and Magyars, German. And peace is restored.

So a method of temporarily exchanging children grew up: German parents
wrote to Magyar towns, Magyar parents to German towns, to the respective
school directors, to ask if there were any pupils who could be
interchanged. In this manner one child was given for another, a kind,
gentle, womanly thought!

The child left home, father, mother, brother, only to find another home
among strangers: another mother, other brothers and sisters, and his
absence did not leave a void at home; child replaced child; and if the
adopted mother devoted a world of te