Again it was Sunday. That day no one from the hut went to church. Very
early in the morning they read a part of the Word of God, sang a song,
prayed, and everybody went his way. Filina had an invitation from the
manager of the Gemer estate. He had to go to the castle, and the boys
said they would go to Palko's cottage, not to enter, because the
doctor had the key, but to see if the wood had been already brought
and where the draymen had stacked it. But who can describe their
surprise when they reached the cottage. They saw all the windows open
and on the kitchen-table sat a large white cat. The fur around her
head looked like a cap. Her eyes were blue and round like those of an
owl. Her long broad tail hung out of the window. Around her neck she
had a band decorated with small pearls, and a small gilt bell was
hanging from it. When they saw her they were glad they had not brought
the dogs along. Fido went with his master and Dunaj was somewhere
roaming in the woods.
"Someone must live here already," remarked the surprised Ondrejko.
"Really, so it is. The cat would not be sitting there by herself,"
added Palko. They walked carefully around the cottage. In the yard
they found the wood already cut and stacked. Then they took counsel
together. If the ladies had already come, they must find flowers for
them. The boys calculated that by the time they would return, the new
inhabitants of the cottage would be up.
When they returned, in about an hour, each one had a large bouquet of
flowers and foliage. Palko arranged them for all three. He was already
a master in that work. Ondrejko carried his bouquet before him with
both hands, so that he could hardly see the path in front. Petrik
carried his bouquet over his shoulder. He was the first to notice that
the door was open and smoke was coming from the chimney.
The next moment an elderly lady with a black dress and white cap
stepped into the doorway. Her otherwise good-looking face bore
evidence of much care, and she looked distressed, seeming to say,
"What shall I do now?"
"She certainly needs something," said Palko, as the boys ran toward
the cottage.
To their greeting, the lady answered in the Czech language. Her kind
face brightened as she looked at the boys and their large bouquets.
"Are you the nurse of the sick lady?" Palko began. "We promised the
doctor that we would bring flowers, so we have brought them now. They
are wilted, but if you put them in the brook they will freshen up."
"Thank you very kindly. My lady will be glad."
Taking the flowers from the boys, the lady placed their ends in the
brook.
"Since you are not familiar here, perhaps you will need something that
you cannot find in the woods," Palko said thoughtfully. "We shall be
glad to serve you; just let us know."
"I shall be very thankful, boys, if you will help me. We have brought
everything except salt and bread, which we do not have, because the
bag in which the eatables were, must have been left in the coach. We
came late last night instead of this morning, so the doctor did not
accompany us, and my surroundings are still strange."
"We will bring some salt and bread. Our hut is near by," Petrik cried
zealously. "Also the whey will be ready. Come on, Ondrejko."
"Are they to bring us milk and bread from the hut?" inquired the lady.
"That will be from us," Ondrejko assured her. "But we have to go at
once so that we can return soon."
"I will stay with you," decided Palko, "because the cottage belongs
to my father. Although you may be used to having things arranged
differently, I may be able to show you where you can put one thing and
another."
"So this is your cottage? Then you can advise me where to put
everything that we have brought along. What shall we call you?"
"Palko Lesina. The other boy is Petrik Filina, and the third one is
Ondrejko de Gemer."
"What is his name?" asked the lady, startled.
"De Gemer. The sheepfolds belong to his father. The doctor sent
Ondrejko to Bacha Filina because he was weak. Here he thrives well.
From the time that he has lived as we live and not like a gentleman,
he has been getting well and strong. And how about your lady; could
she sleep last night?"
"Oh, my poor lady!" sobbed the elderly woman. "If she only knew. I
don't know whether she slept in the night, but now she sleeps as she
has not slept for a long time. Come, Palko, enter softly."
It was good that there was a hall between the bedroom and the kitchen,
for thus the sleeper was not disturbed. Palko proved to be a very good
helper. From the kitchen which looked like a county fair, they carried
away trunks, bags, coverings, raincoats, and towels, into the clean
storage room, which the lady had not yet discovered. Some things they
laid on the shelves which Lesina had already put up, and others were
hung on nails on the wall. One of the trunks, the lady emptied. In it
were the china and all the kitchen utensils. These Palko carried at
once to the new kitchen cupboard. Some things he hung up near the
stove. One of the table-cloths he spread over the table. After he had
found the broom which his father had made from the branches that he
had cut and brought, he swept the kitchen, for with the carrying in of
so many things, much dirt had accumulated. He ran with the pitcher for
water, and placing one of the bouquets in it, set it on the covered
table. Just as he had finished, his comrades came running, hot and
perspiring. Ondrejko carried the crock with a narrow neck, completely
covered with braided straw, and the covered can of milk. Petrik
carried quite a heavy bundle on his back.
When the nurse returned from the storeroom she could hardly believe
her eyes. On the table on a wooden plate lay the black-bread, salt was
in a new wooden bowl, cheese in a dish, on a plate there was fresh
golden butter, and in a can, milk. The fire that had gone out in the
kitchen stove, was burning brightly now. The boys sat on the bench by
the window, Palko standing in front of them.
"Are you already here, my children?" asked the nurse; "and what have
you brought?"
"Bread and salt, as you have asked. The whey is in the crock. The milk
we brought for you, because you are not sick," explained Petrik.
Ondrejko added, "It may be that your lady will not want to drink the
whey today, and that you will make coffee instead, for yourself."
"For you," Petrik added, "there is also butter and cheese. Palko is
able to do this because some day all this around here will be his."
The boys were surprised when the eyes of the nurse suddenly filled
with tears. She wiped them off and kissed the small messengers.
"You are right, Ondrejko, today I will fix coffee, and you all will
take breakfast with me. In the meantime perhaps my lady will be up."
Before the coffee was finished, the boys found out that the nurse's
name was Moravec and that they could call her Aunty; that she was born
in the mountains of northern Bohemia in just such a cottage as this.
She went to America with her parents, and was married there, but when
her husband died, and not having her own daughter any more, she had
served this lady ten years, and took care of her like her own child.
Before the boys realized it, each had in front of him a beautiful
cup with a golden edge, full of fragrant coffee, and a big piece of
Bohemian bun. After all, they had found the seemingly lost bag, and
really, it would have been a pity if the good Bohemian buns had been
lost!
Just as their breakfast was finished, the sound of a silver bell was
heard from the room. Aunty ran in quickly, like a young girl.
"Perhaps it is time for us to go," advised Petrik. Ondrejko looked at
Palko to see what he would say. He had succeeded in attracting the
beautiful cat to him. She sat beside him on the bench, and with her
front paws, like a squirrel, took the dipped bun from him. Now she was
even sitting on his knees and was purring.
"We cannot leave these dishes thus, when they were dirtied by us. She
has no help here," said Palko.
So he ran with a tin bucket for water, and Petrik ran to bring wood.
In the meantime Ondrejko remained alone in the kitchen, when the doors
of the bedroom opened. At first he heard the voice of Aunty--and then
another. The blood rushed to his head, the voice was so clear and
so beautiful. Oh, such mysterious recollections, as from times
so distant, very distant, as if from the secrets of long past
remembrances! What they said he did not understand. The cat wriggled
out of his hands, lifted its long tail and jumped to the door.
The door was not fully closed and she opened it with one paw and
disappeared before the eyes of the surprised boy. He was not even
aware of it. He was so fully taken up with the voice that he did not
hear any more. The boys' coming disturbed and awakened him.
Palko washed the dishes, Petrik dried them; they put everything away,
and disappeared as quietly as they could.