"Just what I thought!" said the wife, greatly pleased that everything upstairs could remain as it was. "You will have to have a little table, a bench and a chest of drawers to be comfortable," she added, "and when you have finished eating, boys, you can carry them out for him."
She bustled off, and her three sons soon followed, and as Vinzi thought perhaps he could help, he would have gone too. But his cousin beckoned him back, declaring his knapsack had been enough of a load for that day; it was none too light, and hanging it on his arm, they went out to the hayrick.
They had scarcely reached it when the three boys came hurrying along. Jos carried the chest on his back, Faz the little table with a quilt on top of it, Russli a bench, and the mother followed with pillow and sheets. With an agility that clearly showed she was used to climbing into the hayrick, she was in at the little door, ready to take one thing after another as her husband lifted them up.
When the last had been put in, his cousin said, "Now we'll say good-night. Inside the door is a wooden bolt, just like the one outside. With it fastened, you are sole master of your castle."
And now his wife came down, saying, "There, everything is ready for you. See, young cousin, down there is the brook, and that will be your washroom. No one will disturb you. You will find a towel on your bench. Sleep soundly!"
The three boys also wished him good-night, but Jos turned around again to say, "Are you coming with us early in the morning, when we drive the cows out, Vinzi? And will you stay with us all day while we are herding?"
"Why, of course," answered Vinzi, "but you must tell me which cows I have to watch most carefully. Will you wake me so I am not late?"
"Yes, I'll call good and loud through the round air hole," promised Jos.
Now Vinzi was alone. He climbed up to his little door and looked into the hayrick. There in one corner on a high soft pile of hay, his bed was made. Beside it, the hay had been pushed away to make room for the little table and bench, and the chest stood against the wall. It was a most comfortable little room. But he could not go to sleep yet, for he was quite excited with all the experiences of the day.
