HEIDI
Peter knew that thick hazel stick, and immediately bent his head over the W and struggled to master it.
Another day the lines ran:—
Then comes the X for you
Or be sure you’ll get no food to-day.
Peter looked towards the cupboard where the bread and cheese were kept and said crossly, “I never said that I should forget the X.”
“That’s all right; if you don’t forget it we can go on to learn the next, and then you will only have one more,” replied Heidi, anxious to encourage him.
Peter did not quite understand, but when Heidi went on and read:
And should you make a stop at Y
They’ll point at you and cry, Fie, fie.
All the gentlemen in Frankfurt with tall black hats on their heads, and scorn and mockery in their faces rose up before his mind’s eye, and he threw himself with energy on the Y, not letting it go till at last he knew it so thoroughly that he could see what it was like even when he shut his eyes.
He arrived on the following day in a somewhat lofty frame of mind, for there was now only one letter to struggle over, and when Heidi began the lesson with reading aloud:—
Make haste with Z, if you’re too slow
Off to the Hottentots you’ll go.
Peter remarked scornfully, “I dare say, when no one knows even where such people live.”
“I assure you, Peter,” replied Heidi, “grandfather knows all
[294]
