“And I am glad you came. It isn’t so lonely for me. Before I had only Juba.”
“Wouldn’t she play with you?” asked Ernest with a smile.
“Juba is too old to play. I hope you will stay with me a good while.”
Ernest could not echo this wish, so he answered evasively:
“I can’t tell yet how long I shall stay. But the time will come when you will leave the cave and live like other little boys in a house.”
“Did papa tell you that?”
“He told me that he should send you to school before long.”
“What is a school like?” asked the little boy anxiously.
“There will be a good many boys, some older, some younger than yourself. You will study lessons together and play together.”
“I think that will be nice.”