"So much the better!" Kurt cried out. "Now you won't have to run humbly
after Elvira any more, as if you were always in the wrong, the way you
usually do to win her precious favor."

"Why shouldn't Mea meet her friend kindly again if she wants to, Kurt?"
said the mother. "Elvira knows well enough who has been offended this
time and has broken off the friendship. She will be only too glad when
Mea meets her half-way."

Kurt was beginning another protest, but it was not heard. Lippo and
Mäzli arrived at that moment, loudly announcing the important news that
Kathy was going to serve the soup in a moment and that the table was not
even set.

The mother had put off preparations for dinner on purpose. During the
foregoing conversation she had repeatedly glanced towards the little
garden gate to see if Bruno was not coming, but he could not be seen yet.
So she began to set the table with Mea, while Lippo, too, assisted her.
The little boy knew exactly where everything belonged. He put it there
in the most orderly fashion, and when Mea put a fork or spoon down
quickly a little crookedly, he straightway put them perfectly straight
the way they belonged.

Kurt laughed out loud, "Oh, Lippo, you must become an inn-keeper, then
all your tables will look as if they had been measured out with a
compass."

"Leave Lippo alone," said the mother. "I wish you would all do your
little tasks as carefully as he does."