Page:The grandmother; a story of country life in Bohemia.pdf/193

Rh else than bread, for when the latter went on a pilgrimage, she lived only on bread and water. This vow was sacred to her, and nothing would induce her to break it. The miller's wife enjoyed it very much at the steward's and when she sank down in the soft feather beds filled with down, she would say with great satisfaction: "Dear soft bed, it feels as if a person were lying in a snow bank."

Christina and Anna went to a certain widow who owned a little house with a garden. They used to sleep in the garret on the hay, where a bed was made for them. They would have slept soundly upon a rock. This night they did not remain in the garret, but climbed down the ladder into the garden.

"Isn't it a thousand times better here than up there?" said Christina. "This garden is our chamber, the stars our candles, 'And the green sward, love, our bed shall be,'" she sang, wrapping herself up in her petticoat and lying down under a tree. "There I shall slumber, there I shall slumber, sweetly with thee," replied Anna, lying down beside her. "But listen! how Mrs. FouskekFousek [sic] snores; it sounds just as if one were emptying a bag of stones," she said laughing.

"Wouldn't it be delightful to sleep beside her. Say, Anna, do you think they will come to-morrow?" asked the girl, turning to her mate.

"Of course they will come," said Anna, with great assurance. "Tomesh is sure to be here, and that Milo should not come is not to be thought of. Why, he likes you."

"Who knows, we have not spoken of it yet."

"And why should you speak of it? one knows