Page:Czechoslovak stories.pdf/283

 Wants to get reconciled with you. And your daughter-in-law saw to it that everything was made as attractive as possible for you. They themselves live here in the school. Joseph has a sign over his door, ‘School Janitor,’ but it’s in German, in big letters, ‘Schuldiener.’ You’ll be surprised!”

“Well, I’ll not see it,” said the old man, but immediately fell into thought. A queer idea flashed into his head.

“So you say the school’s to be consecrated in a week? Well, I won’t carry the holy water for them during the ceremony.” Without any words of parting, he left Halama, entered the yard and directed his course straight to the old drying kiln which now was newly whitewashed and tastefully prepared inside.

“Joseph, Schuldiener,” cried Halama in muffled tones, tapping at the window. “Your old father has returned and has gone to his ‘cottage.’”

There was a movement inside the room and Apolenka came running out to greet her father-in-law and take him to his new abode. Joseph did not yet have the courage.

A peculiar change came over old Nešněra. He never had been very loquacious, but from the time he returned from prison he never spoke a word with anyone. He would pat his daughter-in-law and grandchildren on the head, but he never offered his hand to his son, and