{"product_id":"2940013803503","title":"Veronica \u0026 Other Friends","description":"CHAPTER I.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA VISIT TO THE DOCTOR.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt was early in the month of March. The dark blue vault of heaven lay over\u003cbr\u003emountain and valley, swept free from clouds by the keen northern blast as\u003cbr\u003eit blew across the hills, swaying the big trees hither and thither as if\u003cbr\u003ethey were bulrushes, and now and then tearing off huge branches which fell\u003cbr\u003ecrashing to the ground. Other and sadder victims were sacrificed to this\u003cbr\u003efierce north wind. Human beings as well as inanimate objects fell before\u003cbr\u003ehim. He struck down with his mighty arm, not only the old and feeble, but\u003cbr\u003ethe young and strong; just as he swept away the clouds, hurrying them\u003cbr\u003eacross the skies, beyond the horizon line, away out of sight. Sometimes in\u003cbr\u003eone day, a cruel malady would seize one occupant out of each one of the\u003cbr\u003ethree or four little villages clustered on the hillside. A sharp pain\u003cbr\u003eattacked the lungs, and after a brief illness the resistless disease bore\u003cbr\u003eaway the sufferer to the silent grave.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAt the very moment of which we write, a group of black-clad mourners were\u003cbr\u003estanding near one of the pleasantest houses in the isolated village of\u003cbr\u003eTannenegg, waiting for the sound of the church bell, as the signal to lift\u003cbr\u003ethe covered bier on which was stretched the body of a young woman, the\u003cbr\u003elast victim to the north wind's cruel stroke, and to bear her to her\u003cbr\u003efinal resting place. In the quiet room within, two children were seated on\u003cbr\u003ea bench, which ran along the wall. They formed a striking contrast to each\u003cbr\u003eother. The girl, a little black-eyed frowning thing, dressed in some\u003cbr\u003emourning stuff, followed with fierce looks the rapid movements of a woman\u003cbr\u003ewho, standing before an open cup-board, was moving its contents over and\u003cbr\u003eabout, as if in search of something that did not come to hand. The boy was\u003cbr\u003ealso watching her, but his dancing blue eyes had in them a merry look of\u003cbr\u003epleased expectation.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I want to go out, Cousin Judith,\" said the girl, and her tones were half\u003cbr\u003eangry, half anxious, \"Where can my mother be?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Be still, be still,\" said the woman, still tumbling the contents of the\u003cbr\u003ecup-board about nervously. \"I shall find something pretty for you\u003cbr\u003epresently; then you must sit down quietly and play with it, and not go\u003cbr\u003eoutside, not one step, do you hear? Pshaw! there is nothing but rubbish\u003cbr\u003ehere!\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Well, then give us the rose,\" said the little girl, still scowling.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe woman looked about the room.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"There are no roses here,\" she said. \"How should there be, in March?\" she\u003cbr\u003eadded, half vexed at having looked for them. \"There,\" said the child,\u003cbr\u003epointing towards a book that the woman had but a moment before replaced in\u003cbr\u003ethe cup-board.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Ah! now I know what you mean. So your mother always kept the rose, the\u003cbr\u003e\"Fortune rose?\" I often envied her when she used to show it to us in her\u003cbr\u003ehymn-book;\" and as she spoke, she turned the leaves of the old hymnal,\u003cbr\u003euntil she found the rose and handed it to the child.","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47182879752432,"sku":"2940013803503","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013803503_p0.jpg?v=1763590488","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013803503","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}