table
mending. The grandmother was nowhere to be seen. Brigida now told
Heidi that the grandmother was obliged to stay in bed on those cold
days, as she did not feel very strong. That was something new for
Heidi. Quickly running to the old woman's chamber, she found her lying
in a narrow bed, wrapped up in her grey shawl and thin blanket.

"Thank Heaven!" the grandmother exclaimed when she heard her
darling's step. All autumn and winter long a secret fear had been
gnawing at her heart, that Heidi would be sent for by the strange
gentleman of whom Peter had told her so much. Heidi had approached the
bed, asking anxiously: "Are you very sick, grandmother?"

"No, no, child," the old woman reassured her, "the frost has just gone
into my limbs a little."

"Are you going to be well again as soon as the warm weather comes?"
inquired Heidi.

"Yes, yes, and if God wills, even sooner. I want to go back to my
spinning-wheel and I nearly tried it to-day. I'll get up to-morrow,
though," the grandmother said confidently, for she had noticed how
frightened Heidi was.

The last speech made the child feel more happy. Then, looking
wonderingly at the grandmother, she said: "In Frankfurt people put on
a shawl when they go out. Why are you putting it on in bed,
grandmother?"

"I put it on to keep me warm, Heidi. I am glad to have it, for my
blanket is very thin."

"But, grandmother, your bed is slanting down at your head, where it
ought to be high. No bed ought to be like that."

"I know, child, I can feel it well." So saying, the old woman tried to
change her position on the pillow that lay under her like a thin
board. "My pillow never was very thick, and sleeping on it all these
years has made it flat."

"Oh dear, if I had only asked Clara to give me the bed I had in
Frankfurt!" Heidi lamented. "It had three big pillows on it; I could
hardly sleep because I kept sliding down from them all the time. Could
you sleep with them, grandmother?"

"Of course, because that would keep me warm. I could breathe so much
easier, too," said the grandmother, trying to find a higher place to
lie on. "But I must not talk about it any more, for I have to be
thankful for many things. I get the lovely roll every day and have
this beautiful warm shawl. I also have you, my child! Heidi, wouldn't
you like to read me something to-day?"

Heidi immediately fetched the book and read one song after another.
The grandmother in the meantime was lying