LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
[Never in his life had he seen anything so splendid] . . . Frontispiece
["Come, let us go there quickly"]
[Martin bent over the child, and laid his broad, strong hand on her]
CHAPTER FIRST
BEFORE THE JOURNEY
In Dresden, not far from the Terrace on the Elbe, stands a large stone house. One sunny July morning Herr Feland was sitting there in his easy chair, and holding such a large newspaper in front of him that nothing at all could be seen of his face.
Opposite him sat his wife in a white morning cap. From time to time she poured a little water from the singing kettle on the fragrant coffee in the coffee-pot. Breakfast was about to be served.
Then the door opened and two little girls entered, followed by a young lady, who regarded with some anxiety the lively way in which little Rita ran bounding through the room in order finally to spring with one big leap on her papa's knee. By her skill in jumping it was plain to see that it was not the first time she had accomplished this. Rita now looked triumphantly around as if to say: "Now I am once more seated in my strong castle where no harm can reach me!"