"I have come to see how you are, Wiseli," said Otto, as he took her hand. "Why have you been out of school so long?"
"There was so much to be done that I couldn't go, Otto. See what a lot of pears there are! I have to pick pears from morning until night."
"Your shoes and stockings are soaked," remarked Otto. "Ugh, it is cold here. Doesn't it make you sick to get so wet?"
"Yes, sometimes; but the work usually keeps me warm."
Just then Hans gave such a violent lurch that the basket went over and the pears scattered in every direction.
"Oh," cried Wiseli, "that is too bad! Now we must gather them all over again."
"And that one too," cried Chappi, and he laughed as the pear that he threw hit Wiseli on the forehead hard enough to bring tears to her eyes.
It had scarcely happened, however, before Otto had pulled Chappi from the tree and had taken a firm grip on his throat.
"Stop, you're choking me," gurgled Chappi. He was not laughing any more.