"Just as you please. He is sitting round the corner, in the sun."
"Go into the house, then, Gretchen," said Ernestine. "I will come in one moment."
And she went round the house as quickly as her strength would permit, and approached the old man, who was teaching Käthchen her lesson. The child would have run to meet her, but Ernestine motioned to her not to speak, and knelt silently down by Leonhardt.
"Who is this?" he asked.
Ernestine made no reply, but imprinted a kiss upon his hand. He smiled. "Oh, it is my daughter Ernestine!"
"Yes, father, it is I," she said. "I come to you the first time that I have driven out. There is much within me that is still dark. I come to you for light."
"You bring me light, and do you ask me to give you light? But I know what you mean, and I will give you all that I have. Heaven may make me, poor blind old man, its instrument in comforting and assisting you. Tell me, then, Ernestine, why does the sunshine that now floods your life fail to penetrate your heart?"
"Send the child away, father."
"Go, Käthi dear," Leonhardt said.
"To Walter?" the little girl asked, delighted.