A few moments later the house stood dark and quiet in the moonlight.
At the foot of the hill was another house where it would soon be quiet also; from a tiny window a small lamp still sent a faint glimmer into the night.
CHAPTER III
ANOTHER HOME
While Otto and Miezi Ritter were going home after the coasting, Wiseli was running down the hill as fast as her little feet could take her; she realized that she was later than usual and was sorry to have kept her mother waiting. The pleasure of her coast gave an added impetus, for she could scarcely wait to tell her mother about it. In her haste she would have run against a man coming from the house, had he not quickly stepped to one side. She found her mother reclining in a chair by the window, and she wondered at it because it was so unusual. She threw her arms about her neck, saying eagerly, "Are you vexed with me, mother, for not coming sooner?"
"Why, no, child; but I am glad that you are here now."
She hastily told her mother about Otto's kindness, and how she had enjoyed two long rides on the prettiest sled in school. "But, mother," she added, "what is the matter? Why haven't you a light?"
"You may get the lamp now and bring me a glass of water. I am so thirsty."