“Yes, very much.”
“That’s enough, then. You shall come, my lad. Wait a moment; hear what I have to say. You must be obedient and follow out my instructions.”
“Yes; I’ll do everything you tell me,” cried the boy.
“And you will have to do as we do—live hard and work hard.”
“I’m not afraid of work,” said the boy, smiling.
“And now interpret this to your father. I will do everything I can to protect you, and you shall be like one of us, but he must not expect me to be answerable for any mishaps that may come to us out in the wilds.”
Giovanni turned eagerly to his father, but the skipper waved his hand.
“Understand,” he said, nodding his head. “I you trust. Take il mio boy.”
He held out his hand to Brazier, and shook his solemnly as if in sign manual of the compact, and then repeated the performance with Rob, whose hand he retained, and, taking his son’s, placed them together.
“Fratelli! broders!” he said, smiling.