Page:Three stories by Vítězslav Hálek (1886).pdf/47

 to school with them, they paused to listen; and as the musicians and their listeners were both equally juvenile, they quickly came to understand one another. The young public paid what it could, and Venik promised to accompany them with his music to school.

And he accompanied them. Krista paced beside him, and Venik played all he could think of to make them dance and laugh and whistle. After him trotted the youthful group of scholars, and a procession so gay debouched into the village that the like of it the villagers had never seen before. To school advanced so cheery a procession of children that even the school had never seen anything like it. In a moment school was deserted, and round Venik and Krista gathered an audience which was composed of all the children in the village. Then Krista began to sing, Venik accompanying her on his violin, and the school children were almost beside themselves. When it was rumoured among them that the musicians were orphans, gifts rained upon them from all sides. Kreutzers, all kinds of sweetmeats and sugarplums which the children had with them for school. Venik soon had his hand full of kreutzers, and eatables and dainties filled Krista’s apron.

This happy beginning filled them with hope and courage. As the children were now obliged to go in to school, they made a compact with Venik and Krista to meet them again as soon as school was