Page - 106 - in The Forest Farm - Tales of the Austrian Tyrol

stopping. “Yes, the lightning had certainly struck the hill-hut and it was burnt down, but nothing had happened to Oswald’s family.” It’s awful to think of the fate of some men! We went on together for a while; neither said a word. At last I stood still and asked, “When did he learn it?” “When after nine years he had been free for half a year, and he came home and was always laughing in the air, then I told it him myself.” “How did you say it to him?” “‘Father Kickel, your daughter-in-law and your grandson Anderl are still alive, and all is well with them.’” “And what did he say to that?” “‘So,’ said he, ‘they are still alive? And I had always dreamt that they were all dead, all! God, what tales the young people tell!’ And then he laughed again.” “Ah—mad then!” “It must have been so,” said my companion. “For a while after that he tried to earn his bread as a farm-servant, but later on, as he couldn’t succeed in that, he came on the parish. As a rule, one saw nothing amiss with him, but many a time one did—many a time one did.” “You knew him quite well?” I asked the young fellow. “Well, naturally,” was his answer; “he was my grandfather.”