"What is that I hear about you, Rico?" began the teacher, sharply. "You are a very obedient little fellow, but inattention is a serious fault, the result of which you have just seen. Let us try again. Now, Rico, see that you sing this time."
The children joined heartily, and Rico's voice sustained the song to the end. Then the teacher gave the violin a few final strokes and laid it on the table. "A good instrument that!" he said, and rubbed his hands with evident satisfaction.
CHAPTER III
THE SCHOOLMASTER'S VIOLIN
After school Stineli and Rico found their way out of the mass of children and started for home.
"Were you dreaming about your lake when you forgot to sing this morning?" asked Stineli.
"No, something quite different," answered Rico. "I was watching the teacher, and I am sure that I can play 'Little Lambs,' if I only had a violin."
The wish must have been a heartfelt one with Rico, for he said it with such a deep sigh that Stineli's sympathy was at once aroused and she said: "We will buy one together. I have ever so many pennies that grandmother gave me—I think twelve in all. How many have you?"