Page:The grandmother; a story of country life in Bohemia.pdf/203



HE Princess is gone, and with her the Countess; the father is gone, and the merry swallows, whose homes were under the eves, are gone, too. For several days it has seemed at Proshek's as it does after a funeral; the mother's eyes are often red from weeping, and the children seeing this weep, too.

"Now, Theresa, dry your eyes," Grandmother would say. "What good does it do to cry? You knew what you had to expect when you married, so now have patience. And you, children, rather than shed tears, pray God to keep your father in good health, so that when spring comes he may return to us."

"When the swallows return, Grandma?" asked Adelka.

"Certainly, my dear," replied Grandmother, and the child dried her tears.

Around the Bleachery it was sad and quiet. The foliage in the forest grew less and less dense; when Victorka came down the hill she could be seen from afar. The hill grew yellow, the wind and streams carried away heaps of dried leaves no one knew whither. The wealth of the orchard was hidden in the store-room, and in the garden only asters and kitchen and French marigolds were seen; and the fireflies played their games near the dam in the meadow saffron. When the children