[Illustration: "They reached the cradle and discovered the child in
it."]




THE VINEYARD ON THE HILLSIDE




CHAPTER I

MISSING


Many years ago, in a quaint little village bordering the bank of the
Rhine River, there lived a hard-working farmer, named Joseph Swift, and
his industrious wife, Caroline.

Their neat little white cottage stood very near the edge of the water,
where on the bright, sunny days it was beautifully reflected. On one
side of the cottage, there jutted out into the river a little hill,
overgrown with grapevines which Joseph had planted, and which as a
result of training and watchfulness yielded him abundant fruit. South of
the house there stretched a field, bordered on all sides by leafy
shrubbery. This plot of ground was used by Mrs. Swift as a bleachery,
and through her industry and carefulness she succeeded in making her