ight away!' Just think of a ten-year-old child saying
such a thing. I wonder what to expect next."

"There is nothing very terrible about that, Apollonie," said the rector's
widow with a smile. "The child might have heard you mention Spain
yourself so that it roused her imagination. She probably heard in school
about the country, and her wish to go there only shows that she is
extremely attentive. To think out how she might get there some time is a
very innocent pleasure, which you can indulge. I agree with you that
children should be brought up in a strict and orderly way, because they
might otherwise start on the wrong road, and nobody loves such children.
But Loneli is not that kind at all. There is no child in Nolla whom I
would rather see with my own."

Apollonie's honest face glowed anew. "That is my greatest consolation,"
she said, "and I need it. Many say to me that an old woman like me is
not able to bring up and manage a little child. If you once were obliged
to say to me that I had spoiled my grandchild, I should die of shame.
But I know that the matter is still well, as long as you like to see the
child together with yours. Thank you ever so much now. Those will fill
a whole bed," she continued, upon receiving a large bunch of plants from
her kind friend. "Please let me know if I can help in any way. I am
always at home for you, Mrs. Rector, you know that."

Apollonie now said good-bye with renewed thanks. Carrying her large
green bundle very carefully in order not to injure the tender little
branches, she hurried through the garden towards the castle height. The
rector's widow glanced after her thoughtfully. Apollonie was intimately
connected with the earliest impressions of her childhood, as well as with
the experiences of her youth, with all the people whom she had loved most
and who had stood nearest to her. Her appearance therefore always
brought up many memories in Mrs. Maxa's heart. Since her husband's
death, when she had left the rectory in the valley and had come back to
her old home, all her friends called her Mrs. Maxa to distinguish her
from the present rector's wife of the village. She had been used to see
Apollonie in her parents' house. Baroness Wallerstaetten, the mistress of
the castle at that time, had often consulted the rector as to many
things. Apollonie, a young girl then, had always been her messenger, and
everyone liked to see her at the rectory. When it was discovered how
quick and