Kurt, who was usually cheerful, had been as terribly depressed for the last few days as if he had been carrying a heavy weight around with him all the time.  He had kept something from his mother, and therefore the weight seemed to get heavier and heavier.  It oppressed Kurt more than he could say that he had not immediately confessed his fault.  But how could the mother have believed him when he told her that he had seen a figure which could not possibly be human.  He really felt like a traitor towards his mother.  All people in Nolla believed anew that a ghost of Wildenstein went about, for the apparition had actually been seen.  Kurt knew quite well that it was all his fault.  He hardly dared to look at his mother and he longed for somebody to help him.  He was filled with the craving to be happy again.

Only Lippo and Maezli pursued their usual occupations and were untroubled by heavy thoughts.  As soon as Maezli noticed that the usual cheerfulness had departed from the house, she tried to get into a different atmosphere at once.  She always knew a place of refuge in such a case.  “Oh, mama, I have to go and see Apollonie,” she would repeatedly say with firm conviction to her mother.  Having the greatest confidence in Apollonie’s guarding hand, and knowing, besides, that Maezli’s visits always were welcome, the mother often let her youngest go there.  The little girl was well able to find her way to the cottage and always went without attempting any digressions from the path.  In the evening Loneli generally accompanied her home.  Maezli would arrive carrying a large bunch of flowers, the inevitable gift from Apollonie, Presenting them to her mother, she would shout:  “There they are again, just look!  I have some for you again, mother.”

The mother then looked full of delight at the bunch and said, “Yes, those are the same lovely mignonette that used to grow in the castle-garden, Apollonie has transplanted them into her own.  But they were much finer in the castle, nowhere could their equal have been found,” she concluded, inhaling the delicious fragrance of the flowers.

Maezli promptly poked her little nose into the bouquet, uttering an exclamation of unspeakable delight.

Loneli’s eyes were very merry again, and was full of her usual gaiety.  Since Kurt had made his little speech and had rehabilitated Loneli’s honour before the school children, the grandmother was as kind to her as of yore and never mentioned the shame-bench again.  Loneli’s heart was simply filled with gratefulness for what he had done and she often wished in turn for an opportunity to help him out of some trouble.  She had noticed that Kurt was no longer the merriest and most entertaining of the children, and had given up being their leader in all gay undertakings.  What could be the matter?  Loneli hated to see him that way and could not help pondering about this remarkable change.  Being extremely observant, she had noticed that it was very hard to find out the truth about the night expedition to the castle.  All the boys’ answers consisted in dark allusions to the fact that the ghost was wandering about Wildenstein more than ever.  As not one of them wanted to admit the hasty retreat before the ghost had even been properly inspected, they only dropped vague and terrifying words about the matter.