Mary Hazelton Blanchard Wade

“ Not only Swiss children, but those of different lands, began to enjoy their schools better. It all came about through the kind and loving work of Pestalozzi.
Carl has never known of a boy being whipped in his school. Such a punishment is seldom given in Switzerland. The teacher tries love and kindness first. If these fail, the boy is turned out of school. It is a terrible disgrace; it will follow the boy all his life, and he dreads it above everything. ”

“ How does the work go?"
"Pretty hard, my boy, pretty hard, but I love it," answered the younger man of the two mowers. "Still, I shouldn't advise you to be a haymaker when you grow up. It is too dangerous a business."
"It isn't such hard work gathering the hay in these parts as it is in most places," said the older man. "Ah! many a time I have worked all day long on the edge of a precipice; it is a wonder I am living now."
"It is not strange that the law allows only one person in a family to be a haymaker," said Carl's mother, who had come to the door to welcome her visitors. ”

“ Fritz held his sides with laughter.
"Did you believe such a silly story as that, Rudolf? I thought you knew more about the animals of our mountains than that, surely.
"When a marmot's back is bare, you may know it is because the roof of his burrow is not high enough. His hair has rubbed off against it as he moved while asleep."
"How large do the marmots grow?" asked Carl. "Are they pretty creatures, uncle; and are they clever?"
"They are rather stupid, it seems to me, Carl, and they are not as pretty as squirrels. [89] They are larger, however. The colour of their fur is a yellowish-gray. ”

“ The snow falls thick and fast, and after a while the poor traveller cannot tell which way to turn. He grows cold and numb; he is quite tired out. At last he gives up hope, and perhaps he sinks down, and perhaps he loses all sense of where he is. Now is the very time that the good monks, watching the storm, loose the dogs. ”

“ Rudolf hurried to open the door, while Carl clapped his hands. Who should enter but a jolly-looking old fellow with rosy cheeks and twinkling eyes. He was dressed from head to foot in furs. Surely this was Santa Claus himself. There was a great pack of goodies on his back. Carl could see the red apples and bags of candy sticking out. ”

“ The "hood" is a cloud which spreads out over the summit of the mountain and hides it from sight. Carl has often looked for this the night before a picnic or festival. If he saw it, he would go to bed happy, for he felt sure it would be pleasant the next day.
"I shouldn't think Pilatus would be happy with such a name," said Franz. "I wonder if it is really true that Pilate's body was buried in the lake up near its summit."
"That is the story I heard when I was a little boy at my mother's knee," said the old hay-cutter. "I have heard it many times since. ”

“ For the mowers would climb the mountains with their sledges, load them with the nets full of hay, and slide down the slopes with their precious stores.
"May I go with you when you collect the hay in November?" Carl asked his friends. "I won't be afraid, and it is such fun travelling like the wind."
"It will take your breath away, I promise you," said the boy's father. He had come into the house just in time to hear what was being said. "I will risk you, Carl, however. You would not be afraid, and he who is not afraid is generally safe. It is fear that causes most of the accidents. ”

“ He told me that Swiss boys do carve all sorts of things."
"I am sorry," answered Carl, "but I never did work of that kind. Over to the west of us are villages where every one carves. The men do so as well as the boys. One family will make the toy houses all their lives; another will carve chamois and nothing else; still another will cut out toy cows. But we in our village have other work." ”

“ When we go to Zurich, Carl, you shall see those stone ravens, for they are still there."
"Now, please tell me about the holy abbey, father," said Carl, "and how it was blessed by the angels."
"After a while," his father went on, "the priests, who had heard the story of Meinrad's death, decided to build a grand church. It was to be on the very spot where Meinrad's cell had stood and he had been murdered. It was a beautiful building. When it was entirely finished, bishops and knights came to consecrate it to the Lord. People gathered from far and near to listen to the service. ”

“ I wish to have the picture still brighter in my mind as we journey along our way to-morrow."
Rudolf leaned back in his chair. His face was lighted by a happy smile as he said:
"Carl, my dear child, I love to think of the good souls who have made this world so beautiful [112] by living in it. Yes, they have made it more beautiful than the grandest mountains or the loveliest lakes can make it.
"One of those good men was the holy Meinrad, who lived over a thousand years ago. He came from Germany to teach the priests at a small convent on the Lake of Zurich. ”

“ Carl was a little bit disappointed. He turned to his uncle, and said:
"I don't see anything wonderful or dangerous in a glacier, I'm sure."
"Wait till you get a little nearer," was the answer. "It is not as easy to cross it as it at first seems."
"Why does it stay a river of ice all the time, uncle? I should think it would melt in the summer-time, and be like other rivers," Carl went on.
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"High up in the mountains the snow stays all the year round. You know that?"
"O, yes, Uncle Fritz."
"Very well, then. The mass gets heavier and heavier, and much of it is gradually changed into ice." ”

“ Why is it that cretins are often found in the homes of the poor? Some think it is because [45] the Swiss are such hard workers, and yet do not have the nourishing food they should.
"Have you been at home all summer?" asked Rudolf.
"No, I had business that took me over the St. Bernard Pass. It was a hard journey, even in this summer-time, for I travelled most of the way on foot."
"O, how I wish I could have gone with you," cried Franz. "I have always longed to visit the good monks and see their brave dogs."
"It must be a terrible tramp over the mountain in winter," the schoolmaster went on. ”

“ Brave men have lived on its shores. Noble deeds have been done near by. Every Swiss loves this lake, as he thinks of the history of his country.
The little steamer was quickly loaded with its gay passengers, and made its way over the waters. Other steamers soon came in sight, but all were moving in the same direction,—toward the city of Lucerne.
Such a festival is not held every year. Each village generally celebrates the close of school by a picnic or steamer-ride. There is usually something pleasant for the children, but not always a time like this. ”

“ One man in a village keeps making one part of the works; another man works steadily, year after year, on another part, and so on. All these different parts are sent to the factory in the city, and quickly put together into complete watches. That is what my father told me, and he must know, I'm sure."
"Yes, that is the work of the people around Geneva," answered Carl. ”

“ Ever since that time good Catholics of France and Germany, as well as from our own country, make pilgrimages to the abbey of Einsiedeln. It is now a very grand building. Thousands and thousands of dollars have been spent to make it beautiful.
"And Carl, dear, you shall see there the very image of Jesus and Mary which the good priest Meinrad brought to the place when he first sought his home there. Better still, my boy, you shall drink from the fountain from which Jesus himself once drank, as I have been told." ”

“ Our Little Swiss Cousin CHAPTER I.
CARL'S HOLIDAY
"To-morrow, to-morrow!" Carl kept repeating to himself.
He was standing at the window of the little cottage and looking out toward the great mountain. He had lived under its shadow all his life. Its snowy summit was coloured a fiery red as it stood against the sky in the sunset light. People in far-away lands would give a great deal to see such a glorious sight. ”

“ If this chamois guard hears the slightest sound or discovers even a footprint, he at once gives an alarm. Away flees the herd in search of safety.
"But, dear me! it is growing late and you must be up early in the morning. Then you must show me your store of cheeses," he added, turning to Carl's mother. "The cows are looking fine; they must enjoy the pastures here. And now, good night. May you all sleep well in the care of the loving Father."
In a few minutes every one in the little cottage was resting quietly. ”

“ Most of the travellers who come to this part of Switzerland are satisfied if they go up the Rigi in a train. But I have taken many dangerous trips in other parts of the country, and been well paid for them."
"Have you ever been up the Matterhorn?" asked Carl.
"Only once, my boy. It was the most fearful experience of my whole life. I shudder when I think of it. There was a party of [79] three gentlemen besides another guide and myself. You know it is the shape of that mountain that makes it so dangerous to climb. It reaches up toward the heavens like a great icy wedge. ”

“ They find the poor traveller in time to save his life and guide him to the home of the priests. Ah! how I love these good men and their faithful dogs."
"Your cheeks have grown quite rosy with the story, my boy," said the schoolmaster. "The picture in your mind must be bright, indeed. But we cannot praise too highly both the monks and their loving deeds. Sometimes, alas! the dogs do not find the travellers in time, however. Then they can only drag their dead bodies to the monastery, where they will stay till friends of the travellers come to claim them. ”

“ We wonder if it is possible. But the Swiss value the mountain hay greatly. It is sweet and tender and full of fine herbs, while the higher it grows, the better it is. The cattle have a treat in the winter-time when they have a dinner of this wild mountain hay.
Carl's friends had large nets tied up in bundles and fastened to their backs. Their shoes had iron spikes in the strong soles. These would keep their feet from slipping, as they reached down over the edge of a sharp cliff or held themselves on some steep slope while they skilfully gathered the hay and put it in the nets. ”

“ They gave him a feeling of freedom and of strength, and he would often say to himself:
"Ah! the good God has given us a wonderful world to live in, and we are a part of it all."
Day after day of the short summer Carl and Franz would drive the cows higher and higher in search of new feeding-grounds. At last they would come to the bare, brown rocks near the summit, and they would know that the season's work was nearly over.
The villagers who had come with the family had a picnic dinner at the chalet, as the Swiss call a mountain cottage like Carl's. ”

“ Carl, some of them stay in the water all day long! They wear flannel gowns and sit soaking while they play games on floating tables, and even eat their dinners there. The men smoke, while the women laugh and chat. The hot water brings out a rash all over the body, and the blood, after a while, becomes purer. ”

“ We are taught to be kind to the birds and to protect them in every way. I never in my life knew of a Swiss harming a bird's nest. We ought to be kind to the chamois as well. I once knew a boy who had a tame one for a pet. ”

“ Many were found right here in Lake Zurich. They must once have reached up much higher, but have rotted away!"
"Is that the only proof that people built their houses out over the water, Carl?"
"O, no, the schoolmaster says that many tools have been found in the beds of earth between the piles. They were almost all of stone. Besides these, there were things to use in housekeeping, and nets for fishing, and cloth, and even embroidery."
"Dear me! I never happened to hear of these strange people before," exclaimed Rudolf. "What name did the master give them, Carl?" ”

“ It was only a few miles away on the west slope of the mountain.
"They have a fine flock of goats," said one of the men, "and they are getting quantities of rich milk for cheese. But it cannot be [68] good for them to sleep two or three months in such a wretched place. They look pale, even though they breathe this fine mountain air all day long."
"Carl and Franz don't look sickly, by any means," laughed Rudolf, as he pointed to the boys' brown arms. ”

“ They look strong and ugly, yet they are helpless in its clutches. It isn't easy walking over them, either, is it?"
After some hard climbing they found themselves on the glacier. It was not smooth, as Carl had at first thought, but was often cut into deep furrows or piled into rough masses.
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"Look out, now, Carl. We must cross that deep chasm ahead of us very carefully. It is wider than it looks. Here! Follow me."
Fritz led the way to a place where the chasm was narrow enough for him to spring across with the aid of his mountain staff. ”

“ In Carl's village it is the custom to wash only twice a year. Of course, chests full of bedding are needed to last six months, if the pieces are changed as often in Switzerland as they are in our country.
When Carl's mother was married, she [77] brought enough linen to her new home to last for the rest of her life. Carl's grandmother had been busy for years getting it ready for her daughter. A Swiss woman would feel ashamed if she did not have a large quantity of such things with which to begin housekeeping. ”

“ A party of men who had followed him and his servant into the house, and were dressed up in all sorts of funny ways, laughed and joked with Carl's father and mother.
After a few moments of fun, Santa Claus went away, first wishing the boy and his parents good night and a merry day on the morrow. They had many more calls to make before their work would be done, and they must hurry on their way, they said.
When the door was closed, Carl said, "Father, I don't believe that is the real Santa [109] Claus; it is neighbour Hans, who has dressed up like him. ”