this sweet and a great many more on the day she had
invited us to go and see her." Then they were all
utterly kerblunxed and said: "Great Scott, what
luck, but you always were Frau Doktor M.'s favourites,
especially Lainer. But Lainer always courted Frau
Doktor M."

January 17th. The whole school knows about our
being invited to see her, the glorious one! I've just
been reading it over, and I see that I have left a frightful
lot out, especially about her father. When we were
leaving, just outside the house door we burst out crying
because as I opened the door I had said, For the
last time! Just then an old gentleman came up and
was about to go in, and when he saw that we were
crying, though we were standing quite in the shadow,
he came up to us and asked what was the matter.
Then Hella said: "We have lost out best friend."
Then the old gentleman looked at us for a tremendously
long time and said: "I say, do you happen to
be the two ardent admirers of Frau Doktor Mallburg?
She is my daughter, you know. And then he said:
But you really can't go through the streets bathed in
tears like that. Come upstairs again with me and
my daughter will console you." So we really did go
upstairs again, and she was perfectly unique. Her
father opened the door and called out: Lieserl, your
admirers simply can't part from you, and I found
them being washed out to sea in a river of tears. Then
she came out wearing a _rose-coloured dressing-
gown!!!_ exquisite. And she led us into the room and
said: "Girls, you must not look at me in this old rag,
which is only fit to throw away." I should have liked
to say: "Give it to _me_ then." But of course I could
not. And when we made our final goodbye, perhaps
_for ever_, she kissed each of us _twice over_ and said:
Girls, I wish you all the happiness in the world!

January 18th. Hella invited me there to-day, to
meet Lajos and Jeno. But I'm not going, for Jeno
does not interest me in the very least. That was not
a _real_ love. I don't care for anyone in the whole world
except her, my one and only! Even Hella can't understand
that, in fact she thinks it _dotty_. Father wanted
me to go to Hella's _to change the current of my
thoughts_. Of course I hardly say a word about _her_
to anyone, for no one understands me. But I never
could have believed that Father would be just like
anyone else. It's quite true that I'm getting thin.
I'm so glad that we are not going tobogganing to-day
because Dora has a chill, a _real_ chill this time. So
I am going to the church in Schwindgasse and shall
walk up and down in front of _her_ house; perhaps I
shall meet her father or her mother. I wrote to her
the day before yesterday.

January 24th. I am so happy. She wrote to me
_by return!_ This is the second letter I have had from
her! At dinner to-day Father said: "Hullo, Gretel,
why are you looking so happy to-day? I have not seen
you with such a sunny face for a long time." So I
answered in as few words as possible: "After dinner
I will tell _you_ why." For the others need not know
anything about it. And when I told Father vaguely
that Frau Prof. Th. had written to me, Father said:
"Oh, is _that_ what has pleased you so much. But I
have something up my sleeve which will also please
you. February 1st and 2nd are Sunday and Monday,
you have 2 days free, and if you and Hella can get
a day off from school on Saturday we might make an
excursion to Mariazell. How does that strike you?"
It would be glorious, if only Hella is allowed to come,
for her grandmother imagines that the sore throat she
had before Christmas was due to the tobogganing on
the Anninger, where the sole was torn off her shoe!
As if _we_ could help that. Still, by good luck she may
have forgotten it; she is 63 already, and one forgets
a lot when one is that age.

Evening. Hella may come; it will be splendid!
Perhaps we shall try a little skiing. But really Hella
is a horrid pig; she said: "All right, I'll come, if
you'll promise not to be continually talking about Frau
Professor Th. I'm very fond of her too, but you
are simply crazy about her." It's really too bad, and
I shall never mention _her_ name to the others any more.
I am looking forward so to the tobogganing at Mariazell.
We've never made any such excursion in winter
before. Hurrah, it will be glorious! Oh I do wish the
31st of January were here; I'm frantically excited.

EDITOR'S NOTE

Rita's joyful expectations of tobogganing among glistening
snow-clad hills, remained unfulfilled. The rude hand of fate
was thrust into the lives of the two sisters. On January 29th
their father, suddenly struck down with paralysis, was brought
home in an ambulance, and died in a few hours without recovering
consciousness.