The Little Wanderers; A Swiss Tale

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1860. Excerpt: ... husband, and had no male relation to assist her with the spoils of the chase: the only thought, therefore, of the good villagers, was how they should help and console her; and oftentimes was the choicest portion of the game, or the first cheese from the dairy, forced on the acceptance of Lucilla. When we render services to the world at large, we ought to look for no reward on earth beyond the consciousness of having performed our duty; but deeds of kindness rendered to virtuous people have a seven-fold reward. Lucilla had not fixed her abode in her native village to be in any way a burden to its honest inhabitants; and not only did she soon acquire skill in those domestic arts of the women of the valley, which she had not practised since her youth, but from some slight knowledge which she possessed of medicine, directed by her excellent judgment, became in a manner the surgeon and physician of the village, as she was also its chief spiritual adviser; for neither church nor chapel was within reach of that secluded spot, which was only occasionally visited by a wandering friar. Meanwhile, time rolled on its everlasting course; Gertrude had entered her twelfth year, and Conrad was nearly thirteen. Though originally of somewhat delicate frame, their free mountain life had endowed Conrad with a strength and activity equal to that of the active lads of the district, and spread the cheeks of his sister with the brightest hues of health. Steady of brain, and firm of foot, he could pursue the chamois from height to height, leaping the dark chasms, or treading the slippery verge of the precipice, where it scarce seemed to afford a resting-place for the human foot. Once, too, unknown to Dame Lucilla, he had joined a party of hunters in quest of a large and fierce be...