‘ ‘ They left long ago, ’ ’ she answered monotonously. ‘ ‘ Perhaps
they could not stand the smoke. ’ ’
‘ ‘ But it is not always here ? ’ ’
“Always.”
They walked along in silence to the other end of the village,
but Gertrude occasionally nodded to a child or spoke a few words
with the young maidens, who seemed to look upon Arnold in a
pitiful manner. At last they arrived at the extreme end of the
village which they found to be as quiet as the other parts were
lively. The gardens looked as if they had not been attended to
for years, thick grass grew on the walks, and not a single tree
bore fruit. Here the returning funeral procession passed them in
silence, and the two almost involuntarily wended their way
toward the churchyard.
Arnold sought to cheer up his companion, who had become
very sad, by describing other places which he had visited and the
outside world in general. She had never even heard of railroads
and she listened in astonishment to all that he told her. She had
no knowledge of the telegraph nor of any of the recent inventions,
and the young artist could not account for her ignorance of the
things which were of such universal interest.
Meanwhile they arrived at the cemetery and the stranger was
at once struck by the antique stones and monuments which, in
spite of their evident great age, were unbroken.
' 1 That is a very old stone, ’ ’ said he as he stooped down and
deciphered with great difficulty the words: “ ‘Anna Maria Bert
hold, nee Stieglitz, born December ist, 1188 —died December 2nd,
1224.’ ”
‘ ‘ That is my mother, ’ ’ said Gertrude sadly as two large tears
appeared- in her eyes and fell down upon her bodice. ,
‘ ‘ Your mother, my dear child, it was perhaps your great-great
grandmother. ’ ’
“ No,” said Gertrude, “my own mother. My father remarried
and it is my step-mother who now lives with us.”
“ But does it not say ‘ died in 1224? ’ That was more than six
hundred years ago. ’ ’
“What does the year matter?” she asked sadly,
certainly a blessing that she could go to God beforehand.”
Arnold stooped down and examined the stone more carefully in
order to see'if the first 2 might not be an 8, but it was not. He
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‘ ‘ it was