They walked far enough to bring into clear distinctness the cabin on the cliff.
“Do you see that house. Carlo?” asked his master, directing the dog’s attention with his outstretched finger.
Carlo answered by a short, quick bark, which apparently meant “yes.”
“Carry this note there. Do you understand?”
The dog opened his mouth to receive the missive and trotted contentedly away.
The hermit turned and retraced his steps to the cavern. He stood beside the bed and saw, to his satisfaction, that Robert was still sleeping peacefully.
“It is strange,” said he musingly, “that I should feel such an interest in this boy. I had forsworn all intercourse with my kind, save to provide myself with the necessaries of life. For two years I have lived here alone with my dog and I fancied that I felt no further interest in the affairs of my fellow men. Yet here is a poor boy thrown on my hands, and I feel positive pleasure in having him with me. Yet he is nothing to me. He belongs to a poor fisherman’s family, and probably he is uneducated, and has no tastes in common with me. Yet he is an attractive boy. He has a well-shaped head and a bright eye. There must be a capacity for something better and higher. I will speak with him in the morning.”
He opened a volume from his bookcase, to which reference has not as yet been made, and for two hours he seemed to be absorbed by it.
Closing it at length, he threw himself upon the couch on which Robert had at first been placed and finally fell asleep.