And then the words of the kind people who had adopted her came to her ears， when theysaid， “Inge was a sinful girl， who did not value the gifts of God， but trampled them underher feet.”
“Ah，” thought Inge， “they should have punished me， and driven all my naughty tempersout of me.”
A song was made about “the girl who trod on a loaf to keep her shoes from being soiled，”and this song was sung everywhere. The story of her sin was also told to the little children，and they called her “wicked Inge，” and said she was so naughty that she ought to bepunished. Inge heard all this， and her heart became hardened and full of bitterness.
But one day， while hunger and grief were gnawing in her hollow frame， she heard alittle， innocent child， while listening to the tale of the vain， haughty Inge， burst into tearsand exclaim， “But will she never come up again?”
And she heard the reply， “No， she will never come up again.”
“But if she were to say she was sorry， and ask pardon， and promise never to do soagain?” asked the little one.
“Yes， then she might come; but she will not beg pardon，” was the answer.
“Oh， I wish she would!” said the child， who was quite unhappy about it. “I should be soglad. I would give up my doll and all my playthings， if she could only come here again. PoorInge! it is so dreadful for her.”
these pitying words penetrated to Inge's inmost heart， and seemed to do her good. It wasthe first time any one had said， “Poor Inge!” without saying something about her faults. Alittle innocent child was weeping， and praying for mercy for her. It made her feel quitestrange， and she would gladly have wept herself， and it added to her torment to find shecould not do so. And while she thus suffered in a place where nothing changed， years passedaway on earth， and she heard her name less frequently mentioned. But one day a sigh reachedher ear， and the words， “Inge! Inge! what a grief thou hast been to me! I said it wouldbe so.” It was the last sigh of her dying mother.
After this， Inge heard her kind mistress say， “Ah， poor Inge! shall I ever see theeagain? Perhaps I may， for we know not what may happen in the future.” But Inge knew rightwell that her mistress would never come to that dreadful place.
Time-passed—a long bitter time—then Inge heard her name pronounced once more， andsaw what seemed two bright stars shining above her. They were two gentle eyes closing onearth. Many years had passed since the little girl had lamented and wept about “poor Inge.”That child was now an old woman， whom God was taking to Himself. In the last hour ofexistence the events of a whole life often appear before us; and this hour the old womanremembered how， when a child， she had shed tears over the story of Inge， and she prayedfor her now. As the eyes of the old woman closed to earth， the eyes of the soul opened uponthe hidden things of eternity， and then she， in whose last thoughts Inge had been so vividlypresent， saw how deeply the poor girl had sunk. She burst into tears at the sight， and inheaven， as she had done when a little child on earth， she wept and prayed for poor Inge. Hertears and her prayers echoed through the dark void that surrounded the tormented captivesoul， and the unexpected mercy was obtained for it through an angel's tears. As in thoughtInge seemed to act over again every sin she had committed on earth， she trembled， andtears she had never yet been able to weep rushed to her eyes. It seemed impossible that thegates of mercy could ever be opened to her; but while she acknowledged this in deeppenitence， a beam of radiant light shot suddenly into the depths upon her. More powerfulthan the sunbeam that dissolves the man of snow which the children have raised， more quicklythan the snowflake melts and becomes a drop of water on the warm lips of a child， was thestony form of Inge changed， and as a little bird she soared， with the speed of lightning，upward to the world of mortals. A bird that felt timid and shy to all things around it， thatseemed to shrink with shame from meeting any living creature， and hurriedly sought toconceal itself in a dark corner of an old ruined wall; there it sat cowering and unable to utter asound， for it was voiceless. Yet how quickly the little bird discovered the beauty of everythingaround it. The sweet， fresh air; the soft radiance of the moon， as its light spread over theearth; the fragrance which exhaled from bush and tree， made it feel happy as it sat thereclothed in its fresh， bright plumage. All creation seemed to speak of beneficence and love. Thebird wanted to give utterance to thoughts that stirred in his breast， as the cuckoo and thenightingale in the spring， but it could not. Yet in heaven can be heard the song of praise，even from a worm; and the notes trembling in the breast of the bird were as audible toHeaven even as the psalms of David before they had fashioned themselves into words andsong.
Christmas-time drew near， and a peasant who dwelt close by the old wall stuck up a polewith some ears of corn fastened to the top， that the birds of heaven might have feast， andrejoice in the happy， blessed time. And on Christmas morning the sun arose and shone uponthe ears of corn， which were quickly surrounded by a number of twittering birds. Then， froma hole in the wall， gushed forth in song the swelling thoughts of the bird as he issued from hishiding place to perform his first good deed on earth，—and in heaven it was well known whothat bird was.
the winter was very hard; the ponds were covered with ice， and there was very little foodfor either the beasts of the field or the birds of the air. Our little bird flew away into the publicroads， and found here and there， in the ruts of the sledges， a grain of corn， and at thehalting places some crumbs. Of these he ate only a few， but he called around him the otherbirds and the hungry sparrows， that they too might have food. He flew into the towns， andlooked about， and wherever a kind hand had strewed bread on the window-sill for the birds，he only ate a single crumb himself， and gave all the rest to the rest of the other birds. In thecourse of the winter the bird had in this way collected many crumbs and given them to otherbirds， till they equalled the weight of the loaf on which Inge had trod to keep her shoes clean;and when the last bread-crumb had been found and given， the gray wings of the bird becamewhite， and spread themselves out for flight.
“See， yonder is a sea-gull!” cried the children， when they saw the white bird， as itdived into the sea， and rose again into the clear sunlight， white and glittering. But no onecould tell whither it went then although some declared it flew straight to the sun.