"Come, boys!" called their father. "It is time to go on. Gretel's mother says she may go with us as far as her father's cabin. We shall give Franz and Sep a fine surprise."
"Oh, goody!" cried Gretel. "I haven't seen Franz and Sep since they took the cows up the mountain in the spring."
"Tell us about it, Gretel," said Jack. "What happens when the cows go up the mountain?"
"Why, that is the jolliest day of the whole year," said Gretel, "except, perhaps, the day when they all come home in the fall.
"Father ties big bells around the necks of the prettiest cows, and mother and I trim their horns with flowers. Then the procession begins. This year Sep led the procession with his seven little goats. He was the proudest boy that ever went up the mountain.
Sep led the procession with his seven little goats
"The cows know what it means when the bells are tied to their necks. The summer on the alps is a long picnic for them. Mother and I go up a little way with the procession. Other families take their cows up the mountain the same day, and we sing and have a jolly time."
"Do you send all of your cows up to the higher alps in the spring?" asked Jack. "Where did you get the delicious cream that your mother gave us to-day?"
"We keep one cow at home to give us milk and cream during the summer," said Gretel. "I am always sorry for the poor cow that is left behind, she is so lonesome. We have to tie her very carefully, or she runs away. She keeps going until she finds her friends 'way up the mountain. Then, of course, father or one of the boys must bring her down again."