Then Johannes shut the little gold key tight in his hand, pressed his head against the downy coat of the good rabbit, and fell fast asleep.
III
Where is he, Presto? – Where is he? What a fright to wake up in the boat, among the reeds, all alone, the master gone and not a trace of him! It is something to be alarmed about.
And how long you have been running, barking nervously, trying to find him, poor Presto! How could you sleep so soundly and not notice the little master get out of the boat? Otherwise, you would have wakened as soon as he made the least move.
You could scarcely find the place where he landed, and here in the downs you are all confused. That nervous sniffing has not helped a bit. Oh, despair! The master gone – not a sign of him. Find him, Presto, find him!
See! straight before you on the hillside. Is not that a little form lying there? Look! look!
For an instant the little dog stood motionless, straining his gaze out into the distance. Then suddenly he stretched out his head, and raced – flew with all the might of his four little paws toward that dark spot on the hillside.
And when it proved to be the grievously wanted little master, he could not find a way to fully express his joy and thankfulness. He wagged his tail, his entire little body quivering with joy – he jumped, yelped, barked, and then pushed his little cold nose against the face of his long-sought friend, and licked and sniffed all over it.
"Cuddle down, Presto, in your basket," said Johannes, only half awake.
How stupid of the master! There was no basket there, as any one could see.
Very, very slowly the day began to break in the mind of the little sleeper.
Presto's sniffings he was used to – every morning. But dream-figures of elves and moonshine still lingered in his soul as the morning mists cling to the landscape. He feared that the chill breath of the dawn might chase them away. "Eyes fast shut," thought he, "or I shall see the clock and the wall-paper, just as ever."
But he was not lying right. He felt there was no covering over him. Slowly and cautiously he opened his eyelids a very little way.
Bright light. Blue sky. Clouds.
Then Johannes opened his eyes wide and said: "Is it really true?"
Yes, he lay in the middle of the dunes. The cheerful sunshine warmed him, he breathed the fresh morning air, and in the distance a fine mist skirted the woods. He saw only the tall beech tree beside the pond, and the roof of his house rising above the foliage. Bees and beetles hummed about him; above him sang the ascending skylark; from far away came the sound of barkino-does, and the rumble of the distant town. It was all as plain as day.
But what had he dreamed and what not? Where was Windekind? And where was the rabbit?
He could see neither of them. Only Presto, who sat up against him as close as possible, watching him expectantly.
"Could I have been sleep-walking?" murmured Johannes, softly.
Beside him was a rabbit-hole. But there were a great many such in the dunes. He sat up straight, so as to give it a good look. What was it he felt in his tightly shut hand?
A thrill ran through him from the crown of his head to his feet as he opened his hand. There lay a bright little gold key.
For a time he sat speechless.
"Presto," said he then, while the tears sprang to his eyes, "Presto, then it is true!"
Presto sprang up and tried, by barking, to make it clear to his master that he was hungry and wanted to go home.
To the house? Johannes had not thought of that, and cared little to return. But soon he heard different voices calling his name. Then he began to realize that his behavior would be considered neither kind nor courteous; and that, for a long time to come, there would be no friendly words in store for him.
For an instant, at the first trouble, his tears of joy were very nearly turned into those of fear and regret. But when he thought about Windekind, who now was his friend – his friend and confidant – of the elf-king's gift, and of the glorious, indisputable truth of all that had occurred, he took his way home, calm and prepared for anything.
But the meeting was more difficult than he expected. He had not fully anticipated the fear and distress of the household over his absence. He was urged to promise solemnly that he never again would be so naughty and imprudent.
"I cannot do so," said he, resolutely. They were surprised at that. He was interrogated, coaxed, threatened; but he thought of Windekind and remained stubborn. What could it matter if only he held Windekind's friendship – and what would he not be willing to suffer for Windekind's sake! He pressed the little key close to his breast, and shut his lips together, while he answered every question with a shrug of his shoulders. "I cannot promise," said he, again.
But his father said: "It is a serious matter with him – we will let him be, now. Something unusual must have happened. Sometime, he will tell us about it."
Johannes smiled, silently ate his bread and butter, and then slipped away to his little bedroom. There, he snipped oft a bit of the curtain cord, strung his precious key upon it, and hung it around his neck, on his bare breast. Then, comforted, he went to school.
It went very badly that day at school. He knew none of his lessons, and paid absolutely no attention. His thoughts flew continually to the pond, and to the marvelous happenings of the evening before. He could scarcely believe that a friend of the elf-king could again be obliged to figure sums, and conjugate verbs.
But it had all truly been, and not one of those around him knew anything about it. No one could believe or understand – not even the master – no matter how fierce he looked, nor how scornfully he called Johannes a lazy dog. He endured the angry comments with resignation and performed the tasks which his absent-mindedness brought upon him.
"They have not the least idea of it. They may rail at me as much as they please. I shall remain Windekind's friend, and Windekind is worth more to me than all of them put together; yes, master and all."
That was not respectful of Johannes. But after all the hard things he had heard about them the evening before, his esteem for his fellow-creatures had not been increased.
More than that, he was not sensible enough to put his wisdom to the best use; or, rather, to keep silent.
When his master stated that human beings only were gifted by God with reasoning powers, and were placed as rulers over all the other animals, he began to laugh. That cost him a bad mark, and a severe rebuke. And when his seat-mate read aloud from his exercise-book the following sentence: "The sun is very old – she is older than my cross old aunt," Johannes instantly cried out, "He is older!"
Everybody laughed at him, and the master, astonished at such amazing stupidity, as he called it, made Johannes remain after school to write out this sentence a hundred times: "The age of my aunt is very great, the age of the sun is greater; but the greatest thing of all is my amazing stupidity."
His schoolmates had all disappeared, and Johannes sat alone writing in the great school-room. The sun shone gaily in, lighting up a thousand motes on the way, and forming on the white-washed walls great splashes of light which, with the passing hours, crept slowly forward. The teacher had gone away, and shut the door behind him with a bang. Johannes was already on the fifty-second "age of my aunt," when a nimble little mouse, with silky ears, and little black beads of eyes, came out of the farthest corner of the room and ran without a sound along by the wall. Johannes kept as still as death, not to frighten away the pretty creature. It was not afraid, and came up close to where he was sitting. Then, peering round a moment with its bright keen little eyes, it sprang lightly up – one jump to the bench, the second to the desk on which Johannes was writing.
"Hey!" said he, half to himself, "but you are a plucky little mouse!"
"I do not know whom I should be afraid of," said a mite of a voice; and the mouse showed his little teeth as if he were laughing.
Johannes had already