After many hearty shakings of the hand the uncle started on his way. Vinzenz wished to accompany him to the borders of his property, and the others went as far as the garden hedge.
When the men had disappeared, Stefeli asked quickly, “Jos, wouldn’t you like to go to the pasture? Then I could, too, if you want me to.”
“Certainly. But you can’t ask me what I want,” replied Jos, “because I am not master here.”
“Oh, I wish one could be master for once,” sighed Stefeli.
The father soon returned, and as the mother had found several things to attend to in the vegetable garden, he met all three outside. He went up to Jos, while Stefeli stood with round expectant eyes behind the boy.
“It seems to me you find real pleasure in the cows, Jos. Are you willing to take charge of them and take them to the pasture?” asked the father. “You are your own master then all day. I’ll leave you in absolute charge of them, for you know what there is to do. The child can go with you and can help in case of need. She knows all the roads hereabouts and also a good deal about her business. Does that suit you?”
“Oh, yes, I’d like to do that best of all,” cried Jos, while Stefeli leaped for joy. Then she raced into the house after her mother, as preparations for the day must be made at once. The father meanwhile went to the stable with Jos, as it was time to start.
Stefeli had never pictured to herself how wonderful it would be to be outside again and to chase her old friends and then cool off again under the shady ash tree. Jos’s great joy in everything he saw and experienced would have carried Stefeli along, even if she had not been filled with happiness and joy herself. All her old acquaintances were there again, besides four gorgeous new red and white spotted cows, which her father had fetched from Freiburg. Another young Schwärzeli was there, too, which galloped just as merrily from one side of the pasture to the other as Stefeli’s other favorite had done, and often jumped over fences and bridges if they did not catch her in time. Stefeli remembered all their characteristics and told Jos about them. They would get to know the four new ones before very long.
Jos grasped things eagerly and always retained his knowledge. It seemed miraculous to Stefeli how he could outguess a cow when she wanted to run off. Then he caressed and calmed her. He caught Schwärzeli by the tail while giving her first bound, before she started flying off across the pasture like the wind. It was exactly as if he could tell by looking at them just when they wanted to escape. Not much running had to be done, therefore, and Jos always said to the child, “Just stay under the tree, Stefeli, I can manage them quite well alone.”
And he was right. He had learned to understand the new cows so quickly that they made large astonished eyes when their plans to run away were always frustrated from the start.