"What has happened?"
"Go back!" he said in an unsteady voice. "It is nothing. Go back to bed.
It is not for vimmins!"
Then Carlen was sure it was some ill to Wilhelm, and with a loud cry she
darted to the barn, and flew up the stairway leading to his room.
John, hearing her steps, confronted her at the head of the stairs.
"Good God, Carlen!" he cried, "go back! You must not come here. Where is
father?"
"I will come in!" she answered wildly, trying to force her way past
him. "I will come in. You shall not keep me out. What has happened to
him? Let me by!" And she wrestled in her brother's strong arms with
strength almost equal to his.
"Carlen! You shall not come in! You shall not see!" he cried.
"Shall not see!" she shrieked. "Is he dead?"
"Yes, my sister, he is dead," answered John, solemnly. In the next
instant he held Carlen's unconscious form in his arms; and when Farmer
Weitbreck, half dazed, reached the foot of the stairs, the first sight
which met his eyes was his daughter, held in her brother's arms,
apparently lifeless, her head hanging over his shoulder.
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