"By whom?"
"By this boy," pointing to Ernst, "We were running a race."
"Is the little one your brother?"
"Yes;" she looked lovingly in the boy's face and passed her hand over his dark curls.
"And she is my only sister," said the little fellow with great emphasis.
"Indeed! Well, you seem quite fond of this only sister," said Herr von Walde.
"Oh yes; I love her dearly. She plays with me just like a boy."
"Is it possible?"
"Oh yes; if I want to play soldiers she puts on just the same kind of paper hat that she makes for me, and marches, drumming up and down the garden, just as long as I choose. And before I go to bed she tells me lovely stories while I am eating my supper."
A bright smile broke over Herr von Walde's face. Elizabeth had never seen it before, and she found that it gave an indescribable charm to features which she had thought immovably stern; it seemed to her like a clear sunbeam breaking through a thick, cloudy sky.