"I might eat something," said Dean listlessly.
Pompey bustled round, and prepared a lunch, to which Dean, homesick as he was, did not fail to do justice. It takes a great deal to spoil the appetite of a growing boy.
After the noon repast Dean sat down. He was beginning to find the monotony intolerable.
"Have you got any books down here, Pompey?" he asked.
Pompey shook his head.
"No use for books, young massa. I can't read."
"But I can."
"Perhaps Massa Kirby will bring you some if you ask him."
Dean did not care to ask any favor of Kirby. Moreover he knew that that gentleman was not particularly literary, and doubted if he was in a position to grant the request.
By way of beguiling the time he took out his harmonica in an absent mood, and began to play "Old Folks at Home."