"I will run for the pastor!" cried the aunt, and rushed out ahead of the trembling boy.
Later he heard his aunt tell the pastor that for several weeks his father had been working down in the St. Gall district on a railroad. He had received a bad wound on his head while blasting stone. The journey home, part of which had to be taken in an open wagon, had proved too much for him.
The following Sunday the man was buried. Rico was the only mourner to follow the coffin. A few neighbors joined him through sympathy, and thus the procession moved through Sils. Here Rico heard the pastor read aloud during the service, "The dead man was called Enrico Trevillo and was born in Peschiera on Lake Garda."
It seemed to Rico that he was hearing something he had known very well but had not been able to recall. He understood now why he had always had the lake in mind when he and the father had sung his favorite song:
As Rico was returning alone from the funeral, he noticed that the grandmother and Stineli were waiting in the yard. When he drew near they beckoned him to come to them.
The grandmother gave the boy and girl some bread, saying: "Now go and take a walk together. Rico had better not be left alone to-day."
She looked pityingly after the boy as the children walked away. When she could see them no longer, she repeated softly:
"Whatever in His care is laid
Shall have a happy end."