"Who? Well, Johannes; but you are an odd child! Do you like animals better?"
"Oh, much better—and flowers."
"Really, I do, too—sometimes. But that is not right. Father says we must love our friends."
"Why is that not right? I like whom I choose whether it is right or not."
"Fie, Johannes! Have you no parents, then, nor any one who cares for you? Are you not fond of them?"
"Yes," said Johannes, remembering. "I love my father, but not because it is right, nor because he is a human being."
"Why, then?"
"I do not know—because he is not like other human beings—because he, too, is fond of birds and flowers."
"And so am I, Johannes. Look!" And Robinetta called the robin to her hand, and petted it.
"I know it," said Johannes. "And I love you very much, too.