“I approve of the singing school, but especially of sitting down to breakfast. I hope very much that we have the usual chocolate to drink to-day, for it is a good old custom for birthdays which should not be neglected. So a singing school is to be founded,” he continued, while Mux gazed solemnly at the three huge cakes which were placed beside the three big chocolate pots. “The wandering harp players are a little too poetical for me, but I like the idea of a school, Agnes. As I, too, wish to profit from it, I want it to be built on my estate. Lots of our workmen in the foundry have small children, whose mothers are busy with the housework and their small babies. So Agnes and Cornelli are going to found a singing school in Iller-Stream, where all the children will go, whose mothers have no time for singing. Upon their arrival the children shall all be given a bowl of milk and a piece of bread apiece to make their voices fuller. Now we have settled all about the school. I shall also have my two teachers instructed, so that they won’t ever be out of practice. I have also some work for Nika: she shall fill my house with lovely pictures from top to bottom. To inspire her with plenty of new ideas, I am going to send her to her professor in town for lessons. Dino shall help me keep my two horses in trim by giving them plenty of exercise, for that will be good for him and them. I can use Mux by having him trained to become the manager of my estate. The good beginning he has made in the knowledge of farming under Matthew’s guidance shall be continued while the ground is covered with green and the trees are bearing fruit. The mother shall stay here for the protection of you all. So tell me, now, how you like my plan. Shall it be thus?”
Absolute silence followed. The children hardly dared to realize that the words they had just heard were true, and the mother was filled with deep emotion. She could not utter a word, and tears flowed from her eyes. Could it be possible that her great sorrow and heavy cares were suddenly lifted from her? Could it really be true?
At that moment Mux said loudly: “Yes, we like it very much!” He had clearly grasped that it meant for him keeping on doing what he had enjoyed so much under Matthew’s and Esther’s care. The Director had to laugh, and continued: “I must have the reply of the chief, my dear Mrs. Halm, so please listen to my plan. I shall let you manage the children in the winter, and you shall arrange whatever they are to learn, but they must come here in the summer when I can enjoy all the results of their studies. I shall also enjoy the great advantage of having you manage my house when you are here. Does that suit everybody, or am I getting more than my share?”
At last the mother composed herself.
“Oh, Mr. Hellmut, how can I thank you?” she said, offering him her trembling hand. “I do not know how to express what is in my heart. How can I be grateful enough for such boundless kindness? You cannot know what your generosity means to us all.”
Even the children had understood that this unheard-of bliss was true. Nika was the first to run with beaming eyes to the Director and to seize his hand, but she could find no words to show her gratitude. Agnes and Dino, too, had run towards the Director, and the latter did not know how to shake all the hands that were offered to him. Mux, who could find no access to his benefactor, climbed up on a chair, and putting his arms about him from behind, screamed a thousand words of thanks right into the Director’s ears. The wild rejoicing became louder and louder.
“Cornelli,” said the father at last, “give thanks to your foster-mother! She has earned them, for she has brought joy back to our house.”
Cornelli did it with a full and willing heart, for she realized what the children’s mother had done for her. Soon afterwards, Dino and Cornelli ran away for they had had a simultaneous thought. They did not want to wait another moment before bringing Martha the wonderful news. Nobody on earth could share their boundless happiness as Martha would.
Martha’s heart overflowed when she heard what had been proposed. Between freely flowing tears she said again and again: “Oh, Cornelli! Everything has happened so wonderfully for you. God has ordained it much more wisely than we could have wished and prayed for. From now on, we shall leave everything entirely in His hands. We’ll do that as long as we live, won’t we, Cornelli?”
Cornelli nodded with understanding; she had not forgotten how she had complained to Martha, and how Martha had told her to seek God’s help. Martha had assured her that the help would always come, even if it revealed itself differently from the way she expected. Now it had all turned out so gloriously, and so much more splendidly than Cornelli could ever have imagined!