But
the Pastor sent down to his sexton, an older, kindly man, who had given
him a helping hand for years in many matters of responsibility. He was
commissioned to take Toni with all care to the great sanitarium in Bern
and to give the letter to the doctor there, a good friend of the Pastor's.
A half hour later, the open carriage with the high seat drove up in front
of the Pastor's house. The sexton climbed up, placed the sick boy beside
him, held him carefully but firmly and thus Toni drove out into the world,
with a horse, for the first time in his life. But he sat there with no
sign of interest. It was as if he were no longer conscious of the outer
world.
CHAPTER FOURTH
IN THE SANITARIUM
The doctor of the sanitarium was sitting with his family around the family
table, engaged in merry conversation on various subjects. Even the lady
from Geneva, who spent several hours a day with the family, seemed to-day
a little infected by the children's gayety. She had never before taken so
lively a part in the discussion, which the school-children carried on
about different interests.
This lady's beloved and gifted son had died not long before; on this
account she had fallen into such deep sadness that her health had suffered
greatly and therefore she had been brought to the sanitarium to recover.
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