When the evening came, Heidi returned home up the mountain. The
stars came out overhead one by one, so bright and sparkling that
each seemed to send a fresh ray of joy into her heart; she was
obliged to pause continually to look up, and as the whole sky at
last grew spangled with them she spoke aloud, "Yes, I understand
now why we feel so happy, and are not afraid about anything,
because God knows what is good and beautiful for us." And the
stars with their glistening eyes continued to nod to her till
she reached home, where she found her grandfather also standing
and looking up at them, for they had seldom been more glorious
than they were this night.
Not only were the nights of this month of May so clear and
bright, but the days as well; the sun rose every morning into
the cloudless sky, as undimmed in its splendor as when it sank
the evening before, and the grandfather would look out early and
exclaim with astonishment, "This is indeed a wonderful year of
sun; it will make all the shrubs and plants grow apace; you will
have to see, general, that your army does not get out of hand
from overfeeding." And Peter would swing his stick with an air
of assurance and an expression on his face as much as to say,
"see to that."
So May passed, everything growing greener and greener, and then
came the month of June, with a hotter sun and long light days,
that brought the flowers out all over the mountain, so that
every spot was bright with them and the air full of their sweet
scents. This month too was drawing to its close when one day
Heidi, having finished her domestic duties, ran out with the
intention of paying first a visit to the fir trees, and then
going up higher to see if the bush of rock roses was yet in
bloom, for its flowers were so lovely when standing open in the
sun. But just as she was turning the corner of the hut, she gave
such a loud cry that her grandfather came running out of the shed
to see what had happened.
"Grandfather, grandfather!" she cried, beside herself with
excitement. "Come here! look! look!"
The old man was by her side by this time and looked in the
198