A sudden fear overcame Thoma that she had stayed here too long, and she hastened homeward. At the pear-tree the Galloping Cooper met her, and said that he had been sent to tell her to come home quickly; that her mother was very ill.
CHAPTER LXIV.
Not long after Thoma had gone, her mother called Landolin and said:
"Put your mind at ease and be cheerful again. You may be sure that Thoma will come home with pure happiness and blessing. Everything will be right again. She will come holding Anton's hand."
Landolin was silent. He was struck by his wife's glorified expression, and changed voice. She closed her eyes, but after a while she said, laughing:
"Walderjörgli! Nothing has pleased me so much for a long time as his greeting. When I am well again you must take me up to see him."
Landolin nodded. He could not tell his wife that the news had just come that Walderjörgli was dying.
Landolin went into the living-room and looked out of the window. He saw the agent of the Hail Insurance Company come out of the field with the bailiff and several of the town council. The agent was putting his note-book into his pocket. The men had evidently been looking at and estimating the damages done by the hail. They drew nearer to Landolin's house, and he greeted them pleasantly, but the agent nodded, and was passing by.
"Well! How is it?" asked Landolin. "Have you not looked at my fields and valued the damages? And why without me?"
The agent replied that Landolin was no longer insured; that Peter had discontinued in the spring.