GEORGE TO MARGARET.
DEAREST SISTER:—God bless you! Mother has sent me, through the post, three letters which you have written to her, and first-rate scholarly letters they are, dear Margaret, and do you great credit; and besides these letters, two of the gold pieces which you gave her. Why Margaret, you recollect the fairy tales, that amused our childhood in days gone by. It really seems that the good fairies have you under their keeping, and are going to make you as rich as a queen.
But more than with the letters, and more than with the gold, was I pleased with your honesty. Virtue is a brighter jewel than ever flashed from emperor's crown! What a strange commotion the letters made! My comrades all know that my dear mother is very poor, and when they heard of the money which the letter contained, and of the mysterious manner in which my mother obtained it, they came to the conclusion that the gold was stolen.
The affair came to the ears of my captain, who, though a young officer, is yet a man of great prudence and courage. He sent for me. "How is this, Kaurner?" said he, "you appear to have grown suddenly rich, and the story of your wealth is a very romance in itself. Have you got the letters with you?"
I answered that I had; gave him the four letters, and laid down on the table the two gold pieces, which I had not yet changed. He read the letters carefully, with evident pleasure.
"Your mother is a truly honorable woman," he said; "Your sister, an upright, virtuous girl, and you have always shown yourself an honest, brave lad. Your mother has brought you both up in honest principles. Always continue to love your mother as you do, and follow her good counsels. Your sister's kindness and civility to Madame Von Holme in offering to bring her the Spa water without fee or reward, particularly pleases me. Madame Von Holme is my aunt, and a more upright, excellent woman, does not exist."
"Perhaps," said I, "this good lady put gold coins in place of the copper ones."
"No," he answered, "that cannot be it; her will is good, but her means are limited, and she could not afford to give a gold piece for a jug of water. The matter of the coins is at present a mystery. Be content to know that the upright and the honest will never be in want of friends."
A day or two afterwards, I was summoned to the captain's presence. He asked me whether I would be his servant. You must know that many of the private soldiers act as servants to the officers, and that the soldier who had been employed in this domestic capacity by the captain, had been drafted to another regiment, and the situation was therefore vacant.
"Your sister," said the captain, "is so faithful and honest towards my aunt, so active and obliging, that I think you will serve me with equal fidelity."