The Adventures of Nicholas Read Online Free PDF Page A

gold’s all you care for, here’s more:

NICHOLAS FINDS A WAY  
    NE year, when Nicholas was about sixty years old and his beard had grown as fluffy and white as new-fallen snow, a strange family came to live in the village. It wasn’t much of a family to be sure—just a little old man, as brown and as hard as a nut, and one little thin girl who shrank away from the crowd of villagers who gathered, as they always gathered, when something new was happening.
    “His name is Karl Dinsler,” one woman whispered. “They say he’s very rich, and so he must be, to have money enough to buy the big house on the hill.”
    “He may be rich,” sniffed another, “but he certainly doesn’t look it. Did you see how shabbily he was dressed? And that poor little thing he had with him looks as if a good meal wouldn’t do her any harm. Who is she anyway?”

    “That’s his granddaughter. The child’s parents died a short time ago, and they say this old man
    bought the house up here to be alone.”
    “He can stay alone then,” remarked another. “Did you see how he scowled at us when all we wanted to do was welcome them to the village?”
    “Yes, but somehow I pity that little girl. Who will take care of her up in that big barn of a place?”
    It was lucky the villagers had a chance to get a good look at the newcomers that first day, because after that, little was seen of them. The girl seemed to have vanished completely, and the old man came down from the hill only to buy small amounts of food—some fish and some flour.
    It was the schoolmaster who told the villagers of the strange thing that had happened. “He’s nailed up all the gates except the front one, and that he keeps locked with a heavy bolt. Besides that, he’s put boards on all the windows and even on the front door. When I tried to ask if he planned to send the child to school, he wouldn’t let me past the front gate.”
    “Well, at least the little girl will make some friends at the schoolhouse,” one mother remarked.
    “I’m afraid not,” the schoolmaster replied. “When I told him that the children usually brought in vegetables or a few coins to pay for their schooling, he told me to go about my business—that he’d take care of his grandchild’s education.”
    “Why, the man must be crazy!” the villagers said, astounded. “He must be afraid of something.”
    “Afraid, nothing,” one man exclaimed, “unless he’s afraid someone will take his gold away from him.”
    “Well, this news will interest Nicholas,” said another. “One more child in the village, and a lonely
    one too.”
    “Nicholas knows all about her,” they heard a deep voice say, and they all turned to see that it was the woodcarver himself. “Her name is Kati. I once knew a little girl named Kati,” he went on, a sad look in his usually merry blue eyes. “And that is why I’d like to do something for this poor child.”
    “Why, how did you find out her name, Nicholas?”
    “She was wandering around in the yard, and I stopped to talk to her. She says she’s not allowed to go outside the fence and that she can play in the yard only an hour each day. She also told me her grandfather doesn’t want her to play with the village children, for fear she’ll talk about the gold he has.”
    The honest villagers were indignant. “As if we’d touch his old money,” they said angrily.
    “I don’t know what we can do about it,” said Nicholas. “We can’t force our way into the house, and after all, she’s his own grandchild. We’ll have to wait and see what happens. I can’t believe anyone could stay as mean as that with a little child.”
    The others shook their heads. “He’s mean all right. Why he probably won’t even let her put out her stocking on Christmas Eve.”
    Nicholas laughed. “No, he wouldn’t open his front door even to get something free.”
    However, Nicholas carefully made a few little toys for Kati and packed them away with his other gifts.