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Gretchen was always up when thewas rosy, when the trees were still dark and motionless, and the beads of dehite and frostlike For what is better than to meet the day as it comes over the mountains, and silence breaks here and there, in the houses and streets, in the fields and the vineyards? Let old age, which has played its part and taken to the wings of the stage, let old age loiter in the reen years Gretchen awoke as the birds awoke, with snatches and little trills of song To her nearest neighbors there was about her that which reood clock; when they heard her voice they kneas ti The tinkle of the bell outside brought her to the door, and her two goats ca in to be relieved of their creamy burden Gretchen was fond of them; they needed no care at all Theoff to the steep pastures

Even in ers The fire was down to the last ember; so she went into the cluttered courtyard and broke into pieces one of the limbs she had carried up from the valley earlier in the season The fire renewed its cheerful crackle, the kettle boiled briskly, and the frugal breakfast was under way

There was daily one cup of coffee, but neither Gretchen nor her grandmother claimed this luxury; it was for the sick wole she had a cup when her as done, but to Gretchen the arorandmother's breakfast and her own out of the way, she carried the coffee and bread and a hot brick up to the invalid The wo

What the character of the woman's illness was Gretchen hadn't an idea, but there could be no doubt that she was ill, desperately, had the goose-girl but known it Her face was thin and the bones were visible under the drum-like skin; her hands were merely claws But she would have no doctor; she would have no care save that which Gretchen gave her Sometimes she remained in bed all the day She had been out of the house but once since she cairl, for she never complained, never asked questions, talked but little, and always smiled kindly when the pilloas freshened