n Wilhelm's knee and heard the
sad story. "Dead! Shall Frida never see him again, nor walk with him,
nor talk with him? Oh! dear, dear fader, why did you die and leave Frida
all alone? I want you, I want you!" and the child burst into a flood of
tears.

They let her cry on, those kind-hearted people--nay, they wept with her;
but after some minutes had passed, Wilhelm raised her head, and asked
her if she would not like to see her father once more, though he could
not speak to her now.

"Yes, oh yes! take me to see him!" she exclaimed. "Oh, take me!" Then
looking eagerly up she said, "Perhaps Jesus can make him live again,
like he did Lazarus, you know. Can't he?" But alas! of the story of
Lazarus being raised from the dead these two people knew nothing; and
when they asked her what she meant, and she said her father had read to
her about it out of her little brown book, they only shook their heads,
and Wilhelm said, "I feared there was something wrong about that little
book. How could any one be raised from the dead?"

Frida's passionate exclamations of love and grief when she saw the dead
body of the man who lay in Johann Schmidt's hut removed all doubt from
the minds of those who heard her as to the relationship between them;
and the manner in which the child turned from a crucifix which Gretchen
brought forward to her, thinking it would comfort her, convinced them
more firmly that the poor man had indeed been a heretic.

No! father never prayed to that, nor would he let _her_ do so, she
said--just to Jesus, dear Jesus in heaven; and though several of those
who heard her words crossed themselves as she spoke, and prayed the
Virgin to forgive, all were much taken with and deeply sorry for the
orphan child; and when Wilhelm raised her in his arms to take her back
to his hut and to the care of Elsie, more than one of the inhabitants of
the Dorf brought some little gift from their small store to be taken
with him to help in the maintenance of the little one so strangely
brought among them. Ere they left the Dorf, Johann Schmidt had returned
from executing his message to Dringenstadt. He had seen the _Pfarrer_,
and he had promised to come along presently and arrange about the
funeral.

CHAPTER IV.

THE PARSONAGE.

"The Lord thy Shepherd is--
Dread not nor be dismayed--
To lead thee on through stormy paths,
By ways His hand hath made."

On the morning of the day that we have written of