ROSEMOUNT ON THE RHINE, Sept. 28, 18—.

     DEAR FRIEND,—­Thank you a thousand times for your good advice, for
     without it I should never have dared to say a word about Fani.

But I will begin at the beginning and tell you everything as it has happened.  When Fred said good-bye and I drove away from you all, I had to cry a little!  But Aunt Clarissa—­this is what I am to call her always—­was very kind, and talked to me, and bade me tell her everything that troubled me.  Mrs. Stanhope shut her eyes and lay back in the carriage, so still that I thought she was asleep, so I thought it was a good time to tell Aunt Clarissa all about Fani, as you advised.  She didn’t even know that there was such a person, so I had to tell her everything that had happened, and how long it was since I had seen him.  She said of course I must see him in Basel, and that we should have plenty of time, as we were not going farther than that, that day.  She said she would go with me to find him, and that Mrs. Stanhope would be perfectly willing.  When we reached Basel we went to a big hotel.  I never saw anything like it before.  I could scarcely eat my dinner for joy that I was going to see Fani again.  Directly after dinner Aunt Clarissa told Mrs. Stanhope that we wanted to go to see my brother, and Mrs. Stanhope said she would go with us, as she did not want to stay alone.

We went across a long bridge, over a river, and quite a distance further.  At last we came to some small houses, and we began to inquire for the painter Schulz.  There we were right before his house.  Mrs. Stanhope opened the door and went right into the work-shop, and we followed her.  Fani sprang up with a great cry of joy, and threw his arms round Mrs. Stanhope, and his eyes were full of tears, for he was terribly homesick, and had never seen any one from home since he went away.  Then he caught sight of me, and he was gladder still; and he wasn’t the least shy with Mrs. Stanhope—­you know he never is—­but he put his arms round her again, and exclaimed:—­

     “Oh, you don’t know how glad I am to see some one from home!”

You can’t imagine how kind she was to him.  At last she told Fani to call his master, and when the man came she went out into another room to talk with him.  After a while she came back, and then, what do you think?  She asked Fani if he would not like to go and live with me at her house!  I can’t begin to tell you how I felt.  At first I could scarcely breathe for joy, and then I began to think I must have made a mistake; it couldn’t be true.  But Fani cried out with delight, and he seized Mrs. Stanhope’s hand and looked at her so beseechingly, and he promised to work as hard as he could, and do everything to please her if he might only go.  “You shall,” she said; and then she told him when to meet us at the railroad next day.  What a promise for Fani and me!