Rico and Wiseli   By: Johanna Spyri (1827-1901)

RICO AND STINELI and HOW WISELI WAS PROVIDED FOR

BY

JOHANNA SPYRI

Translated By Louise Brooks

CONTENTS

RICO AND STINELI

CHAPTER

I. IN THE QUIET HOUSE II. IN THE SCHOOL III. THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER'S FIDDLE IV. THE BEAUTIFUL, DISTANT LAKE WITHOUT A NAME V. A SAD HOUSE, BUT THE LAKE GETS A NAME VI. RICO'S MOTHER VII. A PRECIOUS LEGACY, AND A PRECIOUS PRAYER VIII. ON THE LAKE OF SILS IX. A PERPLEXING AFFAIR X. A LITTLE LIGHT XI. A LONG JOURNEY XII. IT STILLS GOES ON XIII. ON THE DISTANT, BEAUTIFUL LAKE XIV. NEW FRIENDSHIPS FORMED, WHILE THE OLD ONES ARE NOT FORGOTTEN XV. SILVIO'S WISHES PRODUCE RESULTS XVI. COUNSEL THAT BRINGS JOY TO MANY XVII. BACK AGAIN OVER THE MOUNTAINS XVIII. TWO HAPPY TRAVELLERS XIX. CLOUDS ON THE BEAUTIFUL LAKE OF GARDA XX. AT HOME XXI. SUNSHINE ON THE LAKE OF GARDA

HOW WISELI WAS PROVIDED FOR

I. COASTING II. AT HOME WHERE ALL ARE HAPPY III. ALSO AT HOME IV. AT COUSIN GOTTI'S V. HOW TIME WENT ONE, AND SUMMER CAME VI. OLD AND NEW VII. ANDREW IS BETTER, AND SOMEBODY ELSE, ALSO VIII. SOMETHING VERY STRANGE HAPPENS

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

"So the lad seated himself, and placed his fiddle in position."

"Rico played correctly, and with enthusiasm."

"Wiseli hastened into the room, and went to her mother's side."

"Andrew raised himself in his bed to see who was there."

RICO AND STINELI.

CHAPTER I.

IN THE QUIET HOUSE.

In the Ober Engadin, on the highway up to Maloja, stands the lonely village of Sils; and back towards the mountains, across the fields, nestles a little cluster of huts known as Sils Maria. Here, in an open field, two cottages stand, facing each other.

Noticeable in both are the old wooden house doors, and the tiny windows quite imbedded in the thick walls. A bit of a garden plot belongs to one of these poor dwellings, where the pot herbs and the cabbages look only a trifle better than their spindling companions the flowers.

The other house has nothing but a little shed, where two or three hens may be seen running in and out. This cottage is smaller than its neighbor, and its wooden door is quite black from age.

Out of this door every morning, at the same hour, came a large man. In order to pass out he was obliged to stoop, so tall was he. His hair was black and glossy, and his eyes were also black; and under his finely shaped nose grew a thick black beard, completely hiding the lower part of his face; so that, except the glistening of his white teeth when he spoke, nothing was visible. But he rarely spoke.

Everybody in Sils knew the man, but he was never called by his name, it was always "the Italian." He went by the foot path across to Sils every day regularly, and thence up to Maloja. They were working on the highway in that place, and there he found employment.

When, however, he did not have work up there, he went down to the Baths of St. Moritz. Houses were being built down there, and he found work in plenty; and there passed the day, only returning to his cottage at nightfall.

When he came out of his house in the morning, he was usually followed by a little boy, who lingered on the threshold after his father had gone on his way, and looked with his big black eyes for a long time in the direction his father had taken; but where he was looking that no one could have told, for his eyes had a faraway look, as if they saw nothing that lay before them and near, but were searching for something invisible to everybody.