mply have to stop now, Mux," Mrs. Halm replied to his
astonishment, for he had hoped to start a long conversation.

"Well, Mux, you don't seem to be able to get over the cabbage to-day.
Go to sleep, for you have talked enough about it."

Mux knew then that nothing could be done that day, After his evening
prayer and a kiss from his mother, he lay down and was fast asleep
before his mother had even shut the door.

Agnes had just finished her last task and was throwing her books into
a drawer, each more violently than the other. She was still terribly
excited, and as soon as her mother came back to the room, she burst
forth: "Oh, mother, if I am not allowed to study music any more, I
would rather stop learning anything. Why can't I become a servant girl?
I could do the work well enough. As soon as I have earned enough money,
I'll buy a harp and then I can wander from house to house, singing and
playing. I can easily live like that. Nobody needs to be a dressmaker.
People can wear petticoats and jackets. That is enough, and those can
be woven. All other children are better off than we are. They can learn
what they please and we can't learn anything!" An outburst of tears
choked all further words.

During her sister's speech Nika had been quietly drawing, but she was
holding her head lower and lower over her work without once looking
up. She continued her studies, but her eyes seemed to be filling.
Pushing her work away, she held her handkerchief before her face.

"Oh, children," said the mother, looking sadly at them, "do not be so
desperate right away. You know that your good is my good as well, and
that I am doing and shall keep on doing everything in my power to
fulfill your ambitions. It would be my happiest joy to have your talents
developed, so that you could devote all your lives to music and
painting. If we should find it impossible, however, dear children, we
must firmly believe that it would not have been for the best, had we
succeeded, for God alone knows which way to lead us.

"Do not lose your confidenc