Page:The grandmother; a story of country life in Bohemia.pdf/272

266 "Thus he spoke; what else could I say than that I did, for I had loved him from childhood, and never had thought of any body else. We talked a while longer, then he went to see his mother and I went into the house to tell father that he had come. Father was a prudent man, and he was not at all pleased that George had come at this dangerous time.

"'I don't know whether he'll escape the white coat here,' he said, 'but we will do what we can to hide him; do not tell a single soul that he is here!'

"His mother, although very glad to see him, was greatly alarmed; for he had been enrolled among the conscripts, and had escaped thus far, because no one knew where he was. For three days he was hidden in the garret upon the hay. Through the day, only his mother was with him; but in the evening I came, too, and then we had long, pleasant talks together.

"I was so afraid lest he should be discovered, that I went about like a lost sheep and forgot to keep out of the way of that officer, so that we met several times. He, probably thinking that I wanted to make up with him, began to sing his old tune; I let him talk, but was not so sharp to him as before, for I feared for George. As I said, George was hidden; besides my family and his mother, no one knew that he was in the house.

"The third evening I remained a little longer than usual with him, and when I went home every thing was quiet and it was dark, when all at once that officer stood in my path. He had discovered that I went to Mrs. Novotny's every evening, and