Page:The grandmother; a story of country life in Bohemia.pdf/33

Rh The walls were decorated with several pictures of saints, and above Grandmother's bed was a crucifix adorned with garlands. Inside of the double window were some flower pots with sweet balsams and musk, and on the sides there hung little linen bags of medicinal herbs, such as linden blossoms, elder blossoms, and the like.

The table drawer contained Grandmother's sewing, a bundle of sacred hymns, the prayers of the Holy Passion, some spinning-wheel cords, and a blessed candle which was always lighted when a thunder storm was coming up.

What the children liked the best in her room was the large flowered chest. They loved to examine the blue and green roses with brown leaves upon the red background, and the blue lilies with red birds among them; but they were the most delighted when she opened the chest. The inside of the cover was lined with pictures and prayers,—all brought from the various shrines to which people made pilgrimages. On one side of the chest was a small drawer, and what treasures were in that! Family documents and letters from her daughters in Vienna, a small linen bag full of silver dollars sent by her children for her betterment, but which out of joy and gratitude Grandmother never spent. In a small wooden box, there were five strings of garnets, with a silver coin on which was engraved the picture of Emperor Josephand Maria Theresa. When she opened that box,—and she always did so whenever the children asked her,—she would say: “See, my children, these garnets were given me by your grandfather for my wedding, and this dollar the Emperor Joseph himself gave me. That