Читать книгу Fairy Tales Told in the Bush онлайн

6 страница из 15

“I’m looking for work, sir,” answered the boy, trying not to show how delighted he felt.

“Good,” said the old man, “and I’m looking for a boy who wants work.”

“Will you engage me, sir?”

“Softly, softly, there are one or two things to speak about first. Can you read and write?”

“No, sir,” answered the boy, not even turning a shade paler under his dye, for you see he had never been taught to be truthful or honourable.

“Good again; then if £50 a year will suit you, you can come at once.”

Of course the boy said “Yes” to that, and the old man led him to a house just over the next hill, a pretty house standing in a big natural garden.

“Come in,” said the old man, unlocking the door, “come in and I’ll show you what you must do to earn your money.”

The boy was astonished to find that the house was really only one big room; each wall was covered with shelves from the ceiling to the floor, and each shelf was full of books. The boy was then told that he would be quite alone in the house, as his master meant to travel for six months. Usually he lived there by himself, but he had studied so much that his brain was tired, and he knew that if he wished to get really well and strong again, he must travel away, and not look at a book for six months. So he had hired the boy just to dust his beloved books in his lonely house, and, as it was so far away from people, he had to give a big sum of money, as wages, to get any one to stay there alone.