"This, ladies, is a question to which I can give you no answer; but I ask you to listen and then judge.
"The very day I arrived at the chalet I had made a singular remark—the blind girl was especially uneasy about the bees.
"While the wind was roaring without Raesel sat with her head on her hands listening attentively.
"'Father,' said she, 'I think at the end of the apiary the third hive on the right is still open. Go and see. The wind blows from the north; all the bees are home; you can shut the hive.'
"And her father having gone out by a side door, when he returned he said—
"'It is all right, my child; I have closed the hive.'
"Half an hour afterwards the girl, rousing herself once more from her reverie, murmured—
"'There are no more bees about, but under the roof of the apiary there are some waiting; they are in the sixth hive near the door; please go and let them in, father.'
"The old man left the house at once. He was away more than a quarter of an hour; then he came back and told his daughter that everything was as she wished it—the bees had just gone into their hive.
"The child nodded, and replied—