"I shall be very thankful, boys, if you will help me. We have brought everything except salt and bread, which we do not have, because the bag in which the eatables were, must have been left in the coach. We came late last night instead of this morning, so the doctor did not accompany us, and my surroundings are still strange."
"We will bring some salt and bread. Our hut is near by," Petrik cried zealously. "Also the whey will be ready. Come on, Ondrejko."
"Are they to bring us milk and bread from the hut?" inquired the lady.
"That will be from us," Ondrejko assured her. "But we have to go at once so that we can return soon."
"I will stay with you," decided Palko, "because the cottage belongs to my father. Although you may be used to having things arranged differently, I may be able to show you where you can put one thing and another."
"So this is your cottage? Then you can advise me where to put everything that we have brought along. What shall we call you?"
"Palko Lesina. The other boy is Petrik Filina, and the third one is
Ondrejko de Gemer."
"What is his name?" asked the lady, startled.
"De Gemer. The sheepfolds belong to his father. The doctor sent Ondrejko to Bacha Filina because he was weak. Here he thrives well. From the time that he has lived as we live and not like a gentleman, he has been getting well and strong. And how about your lady; could she sleep last night?"
"Oh, my poor lady!" sobbed the elderly woman. "If she only knew. I don't know whether she slept in the night, but now she sleeps as she has not slept for a long time. Come, Palko, enter softly."