Chapter-9
Early next morning, Uncle Alp was standing around his hut and gazing in front of his hut. The fresh bright morning sun lay on the mountain and the valley and the sun was shining bright first time in the winter. He could hear the sound of a few early bells up from the valley and the birds were singing their morning songs in the fir trees. He stepped back into the hut and called up, “Come along, Heidi! The sun is up! Put on your best frock as we are going to church together!”
Heidi did not take much time in getting ready and it was such an unusual summons from her grandfather that she avoided making a mistake. She put on her smart Frankfurt dress and soon went down. But when she saw her grandfather she stood still, gazing at him in astonishment. She was amazed to see her grandfather neatly dressed with a fine shining fur coat with silver buttons. She thought her grandfather looked the best today in all these years.
“Why, grandfather!” she exclaimed, “I never saw you look like that before! Oh, you do look nice in your Sunday coat!”
The old man smiled and replied, “You are looking as cute as a princess from heaven, darling. Now, come along!”
He took Heidi’s hand in his and together they walked down the mountain side. The bells were ringing in every direction now, sounding louder and fuller as they neared the valley. Heidi listened to them with delight.
“Listen to the bells, grandfather! It seems like some great festival!” shouted Heidi pointing towards the direction of the sound of the bell.
The congregation had already assembled and the singing began when Heidi and her grandfather entered the church at Dorfli and sat down at the back. But before the hymn was over, everyone was nudging his neighbour and whispering, “Do you see? Uncle Alp is in church!”
Soon everybody in the church knew about Uncle Alp’s presence and all the women kept on turning round to look at him. They were not interested in the singing any further. But everybody became more attentive when the sermon began as the preacher used to speak with such warmth and thankfulness that the effect of his words caught everybody’s attention.
At the end Uncle Alp held Heidi by the hand and left the church. Now, they made their way towards the pastor’s house. The rest of the congregation looked curiously after him and some even followed him to see whether he went inside the pastor’s house. He entered the pastor’s house. This increased everyone’s curiosity.
Then they collected in groups and talked over this strange event. Everyone’s eyes kept looking at the pastor’s door waiting to see whether Uncle came out looking angry and quarrelsome or if the interview had been a peaceful one. But the main reason behind everybody’s curiosity was as they could not think of the reason that had brought the old man to the church after so many years and what it all meant.
This event changed the views of some people and they adopted a new tone. One of the few people staring at the door said, “Uncle Alp is not so bad after all as we thought. See, how carefully he took the little one by the hand.”
And others responded and said they had always thought people had exaggerated about him. If he was so bad, he would be afraid to go inside the pastor’s house. So everybody began to feel quite friendly towards Uncle. The women now came up and related all they had been told by Peter and his grandmother. Finally, they all stood there like people waiting for an old friend whom they had long missed from among them.
Meanwhile, Uncle Alp had gone into the pastor’s house and knocked at the study door. The latter came out and greeted him not as if he were surprised to see him but as if he had quite expected to see him there. He probably might have caught the sight of the old man in church. He shook hands warmly with him. Uncle Alp hesitated to speak as he had not expected such a friendly reception.
It took him a few moments to collect himself and then he said, “I have come to ask you, pastor, to forget the words I spoke to you when you called on me. I beg you not to owe me ill-will for having been so obstinately set against your well-meant advice. You were right and I was wrong, but I have now made up my mind to follow your advice and to find a place at Dorfli as the child is not strong enough to stand the bitter cold up on the mountain. I know people here will see me as a person not to be trusted but I know it is my own fault and you will, I am sure, not do so.”
The pastor’s kindly eyes shone with pleasure. He pressed the old man’s hand in his, and said with emotion, “Son, you went into the right church before you came to mine; I am greatly rejoiced. You will not repent coming to live with us again and I will always welcome you as a dear friend and neighbour and I look forward to spend the rest of the winter together. We will find some nice friends too for the little one.”
The pastor laid his hand kindly on the child’s head and took her by the hand as he walked to the door with the old man. He did not say goodbye to him till they were standing outside so that all the people standing there might see him shake hands as if he were parting from his best friend.
The door had just shut behind him before the whole congregation came forward to greet Uncle. Everyone was striving to be the first one to shake hands with him. So, many hands were held out that made Uncle confused as to with which to begin.
And some voice came, “We are so pleased to see you among us again,” and another voice came, “I have been wishing it always that we could have a talk together again.”
Greetings of all kinds echoed from every side. When he told them that he was thinking of returning to his old quarters in Dorfli for the rest of the winter. There was such a general chorus of pleasure that any one would have thought he was the most beloved person in all Dorfli. They had hardly known how to live without him. Most of his friends accompanied him and Heidi some way up the mountain. At last, the old man stood alone with the child watching their retreating figures. There was a light upon his face as if reflected from some inner sunshine of heart.
Heidi, looking up at him with her clear steady eyes, said, “Grandfather, you look nicer and nicer today; I never saw you like that before.”
“Do you think so?” he answered with a smile, “I am happier today than I ever was. It is good to be at peace with God and man! God was good to me when He sent you to my hut.”
When they reached Peter’s home, the grandfather opened the door and walked straight in. He told the grandmother about his plans to spend the rest of the winter in Dorfli.
The grandmother looked at Uncle in pleased surprise and cried, “I have always lived to see such a thing! I can thank you for all that you have done for me. May God reward you!”
She stretched out a trembling hand to him. When the grandfather shook it warmly, she went on, still holding his, “And I have something on my heart I want to say. If I have injured you in any way, do not punish me by sending the child away again before I lie under the grass. Oh, you do not know what that child is to me!” and before he could notice Heidi had already taken her usual stand close to the grandmother.
“Do not fear, grandmother,” said Uncle in a reassuring voice, “I will not punish either you or myself by doing so. We are all together now, and pray God we may continue so for long.”
Brigitta drew the Uncle aside towards a corner of the room and showed him a hat with the feathers. She told him that it belonged to Heidi and she dropped it there when she first came to meet Grandmother after returning from Frankfurt the first day. She told she could not take such a thing from a child. Heidi told her Grandfather that though the hat was hers yet she did not wish to wear it any more.
The grandfather looked towards Heidi without any displeasure and said, “The hat is hers, and if she does not wish to wear it any more she has a right to say so and to give it to you; so take it.”
Brigitta was highly delighted at this. “It is well worth more than ten shillings!” she said as she held it up. “Heidi has brought home all the blessings with her from Frankfurt! I have thought sometimes that it might be good to send Peter there for a little while; what do you think, Uncle?”
A merry look came into the grandfather’s eye. He thought it would do Peter no harm, but he had better wait for a good opportunity before start. At the same moment, Peter himself rushed in and was in a great hurry, knocking his head violently against the door in his haste. Everything in the room rattled.
Gasping and breathless he stood still after this and held out a letter.
The letter was addressed to Heidi and had been delivered at the post-office in Dorfli. They all sat down round the table to hear what was in it, as Heidi opened it at once and read it without hesitation. The letter was from Clara. The latter wrote that the house had been so dull since Heidi left that she did not know how to bear herself. She had at last persuaded her father to take her to the baths at Ragatz in the spring. The grandmamma had arranged to join them there and they both were looking forward to her visit her and her grandfather’s visit there.
The grandmamma had sent a further message to Heidi which said that Heidi did the right thing taking the rolls to the grandmother so that she might not have to eat them dry. She was sending some coffee which was already on its way and the grandmamma hoped when she came to the Alp, Heidi would take her to see her old friend.
There were exclamations of pleasure and astonishment on hearing all this news. There was so much to talk and ask about that. But the grandfather did not notice as it was already growing dark. There was general delight at the thought of the coming days and the visit of the people from Frankfurt.
The grandmother then said, “It is the happiest of all things when an old friend comes and greets us after a long time. The heart is comforted with the assurance that some day everything that we have loved will be given back to us. I hope you and your child will come again tomorrow?”
The old man and Heidi promised her faithfully to do so. It was time for them to leave now and the two started their way back to the mountain. They had been greeted with bells when they made their journey down in the morning and now they were accompanied by the peaceful evening.
But when the grandmamma and Clara came there would be many fresh joys and surprises both for Heidi and the grandmother. A proper bed would be put up in the hay-loft, for wherever the grandmamma stepped in, there everything would soon be in right order, outside and in.
