AGAIN it was Sunday. That day no one from the but went to church. Very early in the morning they read a part of the Word of God, sang a song, prayed, and everybody went his way. Filina had an invitation from the manager of the Gemer estate. He had to go to the castle, and the boys said they would go to Palko's cottage, not to enter, because the doctor had the key, but to see if the wood had been already brought and where the draymen had stacked it. But who can describe their surprise when they reached the cottage. They saw all the windows open and on the kitchen-table sat a large white cat. The fur around her head looked like a cap. Her eyes were blue and round like those of an owl. Her long broad tail hung out of the window. Around her neck she had a band decorated with small pearls, and a small gilt bell was hanging from it. When they saw her they were glad they had not brought the dogs along. Fido went with his master and Dunaj was somewhere roaming in the woods.
"Someone must live here already," remarked the surprised Ondrejko.
"Really, so it is. The cat would not be sitting there by herself," added Palko. They walked carefully around the cottage. In the yard they found the wood already cut and stacked. Then they took counsel together. If the ladies had already come, they must find flowers for them. The boys calculated that by the time they would return, the new inhabitants of the cottage would be up.
When they returned, in about an hour, each one had a large bouquet of flowers and foliage. Palko arranged them for all three. He was already a master in that work. Ondrejko carried his bouquet before him with both hands, so that he could hardly see the path in front. Petrik carried his bouquet over his shoulder. He was the first to notice that the door was open and smoke was coming from the chimney.
The next moment an elderly lady with a black dress and white cap stepped into the doorway. Her otherwise good-looking face bore evidence of much care, and she looked distressed, seeming to say, "What shall I do now?"
"She certainly needs something," said Palko, as the boys ran toward the cottage.
To their greeting, the lady answered in the Czech language. Her kind face brightened as she looked at the boys and their large bouquets.
"Are you the nurse of the sick lady?" Palko began. "We promised the doctor that we would bring flowers, so we have brought them now. They are wilted, but if you put them in the brook they will freshen up."
"Thank you very kindly. My lady will be glad." Taking the flowers from the boys, the lady placed their ends in the brook.
"Since you are not familiar here, perhaps you will need something that you cannot find in the woods," Palko said thoughtfully. "We shall be glad to serve you; just let us know."
"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 nearby," 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."
It was good that there was a hall between the bedroom and the kitchen, for thus the sleeper was not disturbed. Palko proved to be a very good helper. From the kitchen which looked like a county fair, they carried away trunks, bags, coverings, raincoats, and towels, into the clean storage room, which the lady had not yet discovered. Some things they laid on the shelves which Lesina had already put up, and others were hung on nails on the wall. One of the trunks, the lady emptied. In it were the china and all the kitchen utensils. These Palko carried at once to the new kitchen cupboard. Some things he hung up near the stove. One of the table-cloths he spread over the table. After he had found the broom which his father had made from the branches that he had cut and brought, he swept the kitchen, for with the carrying in of so many things, much dirt had accumulated. He ran with the pitcher for water, and placing one of the bouquets in it, set it on the covered table. Just as he had finished, his comrades came running, hot and perspiring. Ondrejko carried the crock with a narrow neck, completely covered with braided straw, and the covered can of milk. Petrik carried quite a heavy bundle on his back.
When the nurse returned from the storeroom she could hardly believe her eyes. On the table on a wooden plate lay the black-bread, salt was in a new wooden bowl, cheese in a dish, on a plate there was fresh golden butter, and in a can, milk. The fire that had gone out in the kitchen stove, was burning brightly now. The boys sat on the bench by the window, Palko standing in front of them.
"Are you already here, my children?" asked the nurse; "and what have you brought?"
"Bread and salt, as you have asked. The whey is in the crock. The milk we brought for you, because you are not sick," explained Petrik.
Ondrejko added, "It may be that your lady will not want to drink the whey today, and that you will make coffee instead, for yourself."
"For you," Petrik added, "there is also butter and cheese. Palko is able to do this because some day all this around here will be his."
The boys were surprised when the eyes of the nurse suddenly filled with tears. She wiped them off and kissed the small messengers.
"You are right, Ondrejko, today I will fix coffee, and you all will take breakfast with me. In the meantime perhaps my lady will be up."
Before the coffee was finished, the boys found out that the nurse's name was Moravec and that they could call her Aunty; that she was born in the mountains of northern Bohemia in just such a cottage as this. She went to America with her parents, and was married there, but when her husband died, and not having her own daughter any more, she had served this lady ten years, and took care of her like her own child. Before the boys realized it, each had in front of him a beautiful cup with a golden edge, full of fragrant coffee, and a big piece of Bohemian bun. After all, they had found the seemingly lost bag, and really, it would have been a pity if the good Bohemian buns had been lost!
Just as their breakfast was finished, the sound of a silver bell was heard from the room. Aunty ran in quickly, like a young girl.
"Perhaps it is time for us to go," advised Petrik. Ondrejko looked at Palko to see what he would say. He had succeeded in attracting the beautiful cat to him. She sat beside him on the bench, and with her front paws, like a squirrel, took the dipped bun from him. Now she was even sitting on his knees and was purring.
"We cannot leave these dishes thus, when they were dirtied by us. She has no help here," said Palko.
So he ran with a tin bucket for water, and Petrik ran to bring wood. In the meantime Ondrejko remained alone in the kitchen, when the doors of the bedroom opened. At first he heard the voice of Aunty—and then another. The blood rushed to his head, the voice was so clear and so beautiful. Oh, such mysterious recollections, as from times so distant, very distant, as if from the secrets of long past remembrances! What they said he did not understand. The cat wriggled out of his hands, lifted its long tail and jumped to the door. The door was not fully closed and she opened it with one paw and disappeared before the eyes of the surprised boy. He was not even aware of it. He was so fully taken up with the voice that he did not hear any more. The boys' coming disturbed and awakened him.
Palko washed the dishes, Petrik dried them; they put everything away, and disappeared as quietly as they could.