"But where is this Stephen?" worried Petrik. "They were the same age,
so he must be just as old now. Perhaps he will tell us some other time
about him." They were stopped from further talking by Fido. Somehow he
had managed to get to them and they were rejoiced. They told him once
more about the hero Whitie and enjoined upon him to follow him. He
wagged his tail, licked their hands and faces, whining for joy as if
he were promising it all, and when the boys slept, he slept with one
eye open because he had to stand guard over his comrades.




CHAPTER THREE


The following week Bacha Filina had much work to do, so he could not
look much after the boys, though they did all they could; they obeyed
him and tried to please him in every way. On Tuesday the doctor came
to look at Ondrejko. He was told where Ondrejko slept, but he only
laughed: "Good for you, boy, that will help you; though your father is
a great lord and a proud Magyar, everything serves in its time. Thus I
trust we shall live to see that the Tatra Mountains will belong to the
Slovaks and also these woods. Because your grandfather lived there as
a great Slovak, you also as a good Slovak will be living. Just learn
the language of your father and draw near to that soil which they once
cultivated." The boys didn't grasp what he meant. They only felt that
he was their friend.

The evening came. They had to make a bed for the doctor beside
themselves on the hay. In the morning he drank the good milk and ate