on her children, she said:

"Sing and be merry. Sing the song that father and I so often sang
together; that one verse, the good one."

Hansei and Walpurga plied the oars while they sang:--

"Ah, blissful is the tender tie
That binds me, love, to thee;
And swiftly speed the hours by,
When thou art near to me."

They repeated the verse again, although at times the joyous shouting of
the child and the neighing of the foal bade fair to interrupt it.

* * * * *

As they drew near the house, they could hear the neighing of the white
foal.

"That's a good beginning," cried Hansei.

The grandmother placed the child on the ground, and got her hymn-book
out of the chest. Pressing the book against her breast with both hands,
she went into the house, being the first to enter. Hansei, who was
standing near the stable, took a piece of chalk from his pocket and
wrote the letters C.M.B., and the date, on the stable door. Then he too
went into the house,--his wife, Irma, and the child following him.

Before going into the sitting-room the grandmother knocked thrice at the