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 over and over again, for he hardly yet realized that this was his child. Was this really Cornelli and not a creature of his imagination? So he held the child’s hand and looked again and again into her shining eyes; it really seemed as if he could not believe it.

Esther, laden with the dinner dishes, now came into the room to set the table. She informed her master that the guest rooms were ready and that she supposed the ladies wanted to retire before the coming meal.

Mrs. Halm and her daughter gladly followed her, but Cornelli said: “Oh, Papa, can I run over to Martha? I’ll be back very soon.”

Dino also begged to go, for he longed to see old Martha again. As the permission had readily been given, the two children started off. They had meant to run down the path, but Cornelli could not go fast. The meadow was so full of daisies, buttercups and especially of blue forget-me-nots, her favorite flowers, that she felt as if she had to gather them all, and Dino had to remind her that their time was short and that the flowers would still be there to-morrow.