The young folk had a busy morning. The house had to be swept and tidied; then there was dinner to prepare and to eat. After that they worked in the little garden, and then, later in the afternoon, they sallied out to pick wild berries for supper.
The long bright day passed pleasantly, and the shadows beginning to gather were making them think of going to bed, when just as they were about to lock up the house for the night, a hurried knock came at the front door of the cottage, which faced the wood.
Blonda opened it, and to her surprise Pastor Oshart, pale and panting, stepped across the threshold.
"Your father, my children! Is he at home? I would speak with him at once."
"Dear pastor," said Tonie, "he has gone away to Klingengolf, and will not be back for three days."
"That is indeed unfortunate," replied the old man, and he glanced down uneasily at a small leather bag he was carrying, and which now for the first time, he produced from under his cloak.
"Is there nothing in which we can help you, Pastor Oshart?" asked Tonie. "Blonda and I would be so glad to serve you."
"Yes, my children, it may be that you can," answered the old man. "Let me sit down, and I will tell you why I am come here to-night. But first, Tonie, close thou the shutters and the door, and make all safe, lest some one peep in, or come and surprise us."
Tonie and Blonda exchanged frightened glances. The thought of any possible danger to them in this home of theirs had never occurred to them before, and now, as their eyes sought once more the old man's face, they could see that he was anxious and troubled.
"Listen, little ones," said the pastor. "This morning Rolf Bresser, a friend of mine, came to me and begged me to take charge for a few days of a bag of money—gold and silver coin. It had been given him, he said, by a rich man, to distribute among the poor of the village where he lived. There has been an epidemic of small-pox in the place, and the villagers have been compelled in many cases to burn their clothes and bedding to get rid of the infection. This money is to help them to buy clothing before the cold weather returns.