book under his arm. As he went along
 he began to imagine a thousand things in his
 little brain, and to build a thousand castles in
 the air, one more beautiful than the other.
 
And talking to himself he said:
 
‘To-day at school I will learn to read at
 once; then to-morrow I will begin to write, and
 the day after to-morrow to cipher. ‘Then with
 my acquirements I will earn a great deal of
 money, and with the first money I have in
 my pocket I will immediately buy for my papa
 a beautiful new cloth coat. But what am I
 saying? Cloth, indeed! It shall be all made
 of gold and silver, and it shall have diamond
 buttons. That poor man really deserves it;
 for to buy me books and have me taught he
 has remained in his shirt sleeves. . . . And in
 this cold! It is only fathers who are capable
 of such sacrifices! .. .”
 
Whilst he was saying this with great emo¬
 tion he thought that he heard music in the dis¬
 tance that sounded like fifes and the beating
 of a big drum; fi-fi-fi, fi-fi-fi, zum, zum, zum,
 
44