"Jesus' goodness has no end, It is every morning new!"
The foundling appeared to be neither bad tempered, nor accustomed to very careful nursing. Quicker than Kummas hoped, it became quiet, and fell asleep. He remembered his broken violincello, and, gently as possible, he laid the little sleeper in the musical cradle, carried it carefully, and began in this fashion his pilgrimage to the next village, and to his miserable cottage, into which he brought his little clarionet, as he sportingly called the child, in safety. Only once had he found it necessary, before day-break, to set the new-fashioned cradle in motion, and to sing, "Hush! hush!"
"Have you not made a mistake, neighbour?" asked Anne Maria, the peasant into whose house Kummas had gone very early in the morning. "The tavern is lower down the village, and I keep no brandy."
For the first time for many years, Kummas felt his face grow red. "I wish to buy a can of milk," he replied.
"Milk!" exclaimed the peasant, astonished. "This must be before your end! I have certainly heard that milk-drinkers may become brandy-drinkers; but never the reverse."
Kummas patiently endured the rebuke of the good woman, as a punishment for his former mode of life. He then continued, "If you could give me the milk new from the cow, and still warm, I would like it better. I have got a guest. The stork last night brought me a little child; and, as you have children, I wish you to tell me how it must be treated and nursed."
"Go away!" said the woman angrily; "I have no time for your foolish jests."
"Well!" answered Kummas, "if you will not believe my words, you will, perhaps, believe your own eyes."
It may be imagined how great was the astonishment of the peasant, when, in a few minutes, Kummas returned with the infant in his arms. When her surprise at the unexpected appearance had somewhat abated, she said to Kummas, at the same time laying her hand on his shoulder, "Neighbour, you are really better than I gave you credit for, and are an honest man. That is a splendid child. God bless it! Stout and strong as a young lion. Now he opens his pretty blue eyes. So you would like something to drink, my fine fellow? Eh! Haste, Hannah, and bring us some milk from the cow," she said, turning to a young girl who was beside her; "and now, let me see if you are rightly dressed. There, neighbour, hold the young rascal, until I bring something else to put on him. He is so strong that you may hold him upright already."