"Santa Claus helped me get them," said Rudolf, and they all sat down to breakfast laughing at the merry joke.
CHAPTER IX.
THE WONDERFUL ABBEY
It was the beautiful spring-time, and the country had begun to look green and fresh again after the long months of snow and frost.
"Carl, my dear, how would you like to go on a pilgrimage to the Blessed Abbey?" asked his father one night as they finished milking the cows. "Easter Sunday is almost here, and the people of the village are talking of going to Einsiedeln together."
"O, father, that would make me happier than anything else in the world. What a fine time we can have! And only to think that I can see the place with my own eyes. Do you really mean it?"
"Yes, my boy, but do you think you can walk so far without getting tired out?"