"This is all one gets for kindness," grumbled Bertha. "Here have I been beating my brains half the night to think what I could do for the girl, how I could take care of her, and this is all the thanks I get! Well, it's no wonder. 'What's bred in the bone will never come out of the flesh.'"
"Mammy! mammy! they want you to get out some clean sheets," a bullet-headed lad called aloud at the door.
"Come here, Fritz," cried Bertha. "There, look at your sister." And she drew the boy towards her, evidently expecting the sight of him to produce a deep impression upon Gretchen. "Look, Gretel, this is your brother,--doesn't this touch you? We have three more of them. But that makes no difference, you shall be the fifth; I want some one to take care of the little ones. Only think how fine it is for you to find parents and brothers and sisters all at once. They'll take care of you." And suddenly a tear rolled down her fat cheek. "For you are my child, after all!"
And she took Gretchen's face between her hands and pressed upon it a smacking kiss. The girl patiently endured the caress, but when her mother released her she stood erect again, like a fair flower upon which dust has been cast without robbing it of its fragrance or soiling its purity. As the flower differs from the soil whence it springs, this child differed from her mother. And as surely as the flower turns from the ground to the sun, the girl's pure spirit turned from her mother to the light that her education and training had revealed to her.
"Mammy," the boy persisted, plucking Bertha by the skirts, "come, hurry!"
"You'll tear my dress, you bad boy!" cried his mother, slapping his hand.
The boy screamed. "You're so slow when any one is in a hurry, I had to call you."
"Hold your tongue!" his father now interposed. "Leave the room. What will your new sister think of you?"
"I don't mind her," said the boy insolently, as he left the room.
Gretchen and Hilsborn exchanged one long look. It was as if they were old acquaintances and could understand each other without a word. Gretchen shuddered at the thought of living in this family, and, besides, she had during the night formed a resolution that she was determined to carry out although it should cost her her life.