"Ah," answered his mother, and she sighed a little. "There is no
one but Seppi and Leneli. Together they must fill your place, and
you, Fritz, must take them with you to-day up the mountain to
learn the way and begin their work."

"To-day! This very day?" screamed the Twins. They had never been
up to the goat-pastures in their lives, and it was a most
exciting event.

Then Leneli thought of her mother. She flung her arms about her
neck. "But who will stay with you, dear Mother?" she cried. "All
day you will be alone, with everything to do and no one to speak
to but the baby."

"Yes," sighed the mother, "that is true. It will be a long,
lonely summer for me, but there is no other way, so we must each
do our part bravely and not complain. It is good fortune that
Father and Fritz will both be earning money in the alps, and,
with wise old Bello to help you, you will soon be as good
goatherds as your brother. Come, now, hurry and eat your
breakfasts, for the goats are already milked and impatient to be
gone."

She took Roseli in her arms and disappeared down the stairs, and
when, a few moments later, the Twins and Fritz came into the
kitchen, she had their breakfast of bread and milk ready for
them, and their luncheon of bread and cheese wrapped in a clean
white cloth for Fritz to put in his pocket.

Father Adolf came back from the garden, where he had been hoeing