He wished to
do an act of charity as far as he could afford it. He was known to be a
well-conducted man; and, as he made so slight a demand, it was agreed
and settled that the child should henceforth find her home with him.
"It seems to me a very good arrangement," said the colonel to his wife.
"The child will be well cared for there; besides, what else could be
done? She is much too small to be placed anywhere in service, and
certainly you cannot take every orphan child in the neighborhood into
your own house. You might as well turn it into an asylum at once."
Mrs. Ritter was very much disturbed by the news that every thing had
been settled so soon. She had hoped to be able to have found a different
home for Wiseli, who was, she knew, much too sensitive and delicate a
child to be happy in a home where rudeness and roughness were the rule;
but she had not a definite plan in her mind, and now there was nothing
to be done but to try to look after the child's comfort a little, and to
protect her, if possible.
Otto and Pussy did not take the affair so quietly, however. They were in
great excitement when they heard it all on the following morning.
Otto declared Wiseli's lot to be the lot of Daniel in the lion's den,
and brought his fist down on the table with the evident wish that he
were pommelling Cheppi's head.
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