making a bargain. They offer for sale the sweetest little toy-houses, models
of the mountain cottages in Switzerland. Whether it be rain or sunshine,
these crowds of children are always to be seen with their wares.
About twenty years ago, there might be seen occasionally, standing at a
short distance from the other children, a little boy, who was also anxious to
sell his curious wares. He had an earnest, expressive countenance, and held
the box containing his carved toys tightly with both hands, as if unwilling to
part with it. His earnest look, and being also a very little boy, made him
noticed by the strangers; so that he often sold the most, without knowing
why. An hour’s walk farther up the ascent lived his grandfather, who cut
and carved the pretty little toy-houses; and in the old man’s room stood a
large press, full of all sorts of carved things-nut-crackers, knives and forks,
boxes with beautifully carved foliage, leaping chamois. It contained
everything that could delight the eyes of a child. But the boy, who was
named Rudy, looked with still greater pleasure and longing at some old fire-
arms which hung upon the rafters, under the ceiling of the room. His
grandfather promised him that he should have them some day, but that he
must first grow big and strong, and learn how to use them. Small as he was,
the goats were placed in his care, and a good goat-keeper should also be a
good climber, and such Rudy was; he sometimes, indeed, climbed higher
than the goats, for he was fond of seeking for birds’-nests at the top of high
trees; he was bold and daring, but was seldom seen to smile, excepting
when he stood by the roaring cataract, or heard the descending roll of the
avalanche. He never played with the other children, and was not seen with
them, unless his grandfather sent him down to sell his curious
workmanship. Rudy did not much like trade; he loved to climb the
mountains, or to sit by his grandfather and listen to his tales of olden times,
or of the people in Meyringen, the place of his birth.
“In the early ages of the world,” said the old man, “these people could
not be found in Switzerland. They are a colony from the north, where their
ancestors still dwell, and are called Swedes.”
