Erick's lost song, and
what Kaetheli had told her about what was in it.

"Aha," said Edi, and giggled a little, "on that account you took that
book from the piano. Erick will be pleased with the words you will get
from this."

He held the book before his sister and pointed with his finger to the
title: "Songs Without Words". Sally was not as thorough in her thinking
as her brother was. She had, in the zeal of her intention, thought that
these were some particular kind of songs, and she now looked with some
confusion at the book in which only black notes were to be found. Ritz,
too, was now roused to interest in the doings. He too had taken up a
book and read rather laboriously: "Battle Sonnets" from--

"What! You have also been to my table, Sally?" the aunt interrupted the
reader. "You children are really terrible! At any rate you ought to have
been in bed long ago; it is high time, pack together."

But this time Sally showed herself unusually obstinate. She assured them
that she could not sleep, not for the whole night, if she had not found
the song. She must bring it to Kaetheli, as she had promised to do so,
and from fear that she should not find the song Sally worked herself
into such a state of excitement that the mother interfered. She
explained to the child that they were not the kind of books where such a
song could be found, and that the descriptions which Kaetheli had given
were much too uncertain to find any song. Sally herself should speak
with Erick about what he still knew of his song, and then they would
search for it together, for she too would gladly help the poor boy to
keep in memory the song his mother had loved.

These words pacified Sally and so she willingly packed together her
books and put each in its place.

CHAPTER VII

Erick Enlists in the Fighting Army

Meanwhile the sunny September had approached and everywhere the apples
and pears were smiling down from the trees. Every morning one could see
the Mayor of Upper Wood walk toward the hillside, where he had started a
new vineyard where only reddish, sweet Alsatian grapes grew. The
hillside lay toward the valley about a half-hour's walk below Upper
Wood; but the walk was not too far for the Mayor to watch the growth of
his grapes, for they were of the most delicious kind.

The Justice of Peace, Kaetheli's father, had also a small vineyard on
that side, but of a much inferior kind, and when he sometimes went to
see whether his g