And many a night she lay awake, yearning for Hansel,
praying for him, and blessing him. She seemed to hear his gay and
careless laugh ringing from Alp to Alp--how different from the polite
smirk of the junior, the fat grin of the senior Hahn! She saw his
tall, agile figure standing upon a rock leaning upon his gun, outlined
against the blue horizon,--and she heard his strong clear voice
yodling and calling to her from afar. It is not to be wondered at that
Ilka did not thrive in Berlin as well as her mother did; just as the
tender-petaled alpine rose can only breathe the cool breezes of its
native mountains, and withers and droops if transplanted to a garden.
Mother Uberta was by no means blind to the fact that both Fritz and
his father had designs on her daughter, and having convinced herself
that their prosperity rested on a solid basis, she was not disinclined
to favor their suits. The only difficulty was to make a choice between
them; and having ascertained that Fritz was entirely dependent upon
his father's bounty, she quickly decided in favor of the father. But
she was too wise to allow Mr. Hahn to suspect that he was a desirable
son-in-law, being rather addicted to the belief that men only worship
what seems utterly beyond their reach.
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