Even Stineli felt discouraged, but happier thoughts came to her as they turned the corner to enter the field and she saw the indications of spring on every hand.
"See, Rico, it will be summer in a short time, and we can go to the woods once more. Let us go this Sunday so that you will be happy again."
"I shall never be happy again, Stineli, but if you would like to go, I will go with you."
They arranged their plans so that they could go the following Sunday. It was not an easy task for Stineli to get away, for Peter, Sam, and Urschli had the measles, and a goat was sick at the stable. She was kept busy from the time she returned from school until late at night. Saturday she worked all day and much later than usual, but did it so willingly and was so cheerful that her father said: "Stineli is a perfect treasure. She makes us all happy."
CHAPTER IV
THE DISTANT LAKE WITHOUT A NAME
When Stineli awoke the following morning, she instantly realized that it was Sunday. The grandmother's words of the previous evening were still fresh in her memory, "You deserve the whole afternoon to-morrow, and you shall have it."
After dinner, when Stineli had finished all the necessary duties and was prepared to join Rico, Peter called from his bed, "Stineli, come, stay with me!"