Page:The grandmother; a story of country life in Bohemia.pdf/109

Rh to comfort them. "Do not weep, that will do no good; if I do not bring her back, we must leave her with God."

The father took a few dollars for his journey, told the household what must be done in his absence, and started on his journey. Along the way he asked many persons if they had seen his daughter, describing her from head to foot, but nobody had seen her. At Joseph-hof, they told him that the chasseurs went to Hradetz, and at Hradetz he learned that that dark soldier had been put into another division, and that he wanted to be discharged. What had finally become of him they could not tell, but they knew that it was the very same soldier that had been quartered at Zernov. He found no traces of Victorka. He was advised to apply at the police office, but he would hear nothing of this.

"I'll have nothing to do with the police. I don't want her to be brought home like a vagrant, so that people will point the finger at her. She shall not be thus disgraced. Let her be wherever she will, she is in God's hands, without whose will not a hair can fall from her head. If she is to return, she will return; if not, then God's will be done; she shall not be dragged before the public."

This was the father's decision. He begged the gamekeeper at Hradetz, if he should see Victorka or hear anything of her, to tell her that her father sought her, and, if she wished to return, to provide her with a suitable escort. The gamekeeper promised all; for many a good day had he enjoyed at the home of Mikesh. Then the father returned home, his mind at peace, knowing that he had done all that was in his power.