She could scarcely refrain from sobbing, so clearly did she see the anxiety and trouble that were in his heart, the same that weighed down her own father at home.

She held her hand to him, he pressed it kindly, and she was gone.
When the father entered the cottage, the children all began talking at once, so that he could not understand a word they said.

He went to the bedside, and asked his wife for an explanation.

She told him just what had happened, and of her wonder that a child so well dressed and with such an air of refinement should have been able to do that kind of work for poor people like themselves, and she didn't know where she could have come from; but the father said simply, "Our Heavenly Father has taken pity on our misery, and has sent a kind angel to help us." And he thought of the tears of pity that he had seen in Elsli's eyes.
Elsli ran as fast as she could along the path to the linden tree and up into the garden.

The supper-bell rang just as she reached the house, and the different members of the household gathered together from their different occupations.