Page:The grandmother; a story of country life in Bohemia.pdf/202

196 "There is no talking with you," she replied, giving him a smart stroke upon the hand.

"When you are at home, he teases you; but when you are away he goes about like a wet chicken," remarked Mrs. Proshek.

"That is the way, those men appreciate us only when they miss us."

Thus the conversation began, but it proved to be unending. The pilgrimage to Svatonovitz was to the inhabitants of this quiet hamlet an event of the greatest importance. It furnished a theme for conversation for at least two weeks. When one of the neighbors had occasion to go to Vamburg, it was discussed six months before and six months after, and a pilgrimage to Maria Zell was talked of for a whole year.