Page:The grandmother; a story of country life in Bohemia.pdf/76

70 sin to see how the lambs were doing and how much they had grown since last she saw them. You must remember that at that time there was neither village nor chapel here. There was only the farm and the farm house where dwelt the steward and such servants as were needed to do the work. All around there was nothing but woods, in which were many wild beasts.

"Turynsky's little daughter had often been to the farm, but she had ridden with her father. Now she thought, simple child: 'I'll take a little run and I'll be there.' She followed her eyes, thinking one way as good as another,—she was young and ignorant like you. When, however, she had gone a long time, and no farm was in sight, she began to be alarmed; she thought: 'What will my father and mother say when they find out that I have left the castle?' She turned and hastened back toward her home. When one is alarmed, especially such a child, one becomes confused very easily. She lost her way and went neither to the castle nor to the farm, but into a dense forest where there was neither path nor light. Soon she knew that she was lost.

"You can imagine how she felt. But you would not be so badly off; for you can speak and hear, which she could not. She ran hither and thither and only grew the more bewildered. At last she was very tired, hungry, and thirsty; but that was as nothing compared with the fear that she had of the night and the wild beasts that she knew would prowl about; and, besides, she thought of the anxiety of her father and mother.

"Worn out with fright and weeping, all at once