"Poor papa!" said Helena, "your fresh pipe?"
"Do you not think the poor sick man will be more refreshed when he sees me, than I should be by a few puffs of tobacco?" said her father gravely.
"But, my dear uncle, can I not undertake this for you?" asked the candidate. "I am so anxious to make myself acquainted at once with the duties of my sacred office."
"No, my dear nephew," replied the pastor; "let us do all things in order. You are not even appointed here yet; and then you must learn to know your people before you can undertake these visits; the sight of a stranger only excites a sick person. Wait quietly here--I will return shortly." And he left the house with the child, who ceased crying when she found the pastor was going to see her father.
The candidate walked to the window; his eyes first rested on Helena, who sat bending over the work she had again taken up, then they strayed through the window, beyond the rose beds, to the wood-crowned horizon.
"It is really pretty here," he said, "and in summer it is pleasant to reside here."
"Oh yes, it is lovely," interrupted the young girl, in that tone of complete conviction and natural enthusiasm with which young hearts regard the place where they have passed a happy childhood, feeling certain that it must be the most charming and delightful spot in the world; "you will think it still more beautiful when you know all the glorious country around us, and all our pretty, quiet walks, even the monotonous fir woods have their charm, and their language"--and her eyes sought the dark green forests enclosing the sunny landscape as in a frame.
A slight smile, half compassionate, half ironical, played round the lips of the candidate.
"I really wonder," he said, "how my uncle, with his well-stored mind, so plainly appearing in his conversation, and still extolled by the friends of his youth, should have been able to exist here all these years, so far removed from all intellectual life, and from all intercourse with the progress of the world. He is considered one of the first pastors in the country, his duties, it is well known, have been performed in an exemplary manner, and with his reputation for learning, and the influence he possesses, he might long ago have held a seat in the Consistory. To such a man, this would have been the starting-point for a great, an important career! I cannot imagine how he has endured life among these peasants!"
Helena looked with her great eyes at her cousin in amazement. His words struck an element quite unknown to her life.