Then, clever as I am, I can earn a
lot of money. With the very first pennies I make, I'll buy Father a new
cloth coat. Cloth, did I say? No, it shall be of gold and silver with
diamond buttons. That poor man certainly deserves it; for, after all,
isn't he in his shirt sleeves because he was good enough to buy a
book for me? On this cold day, too! Fathers are indeed good to their
children!"
As he talked to himself, he thought he heard sounds of pipes and drums
coming from a distance: pi-pi-pi, pi-pi-pi. . .zum, zum, zum, zum.
He stopped to listen. Those sounds came from a little street that led to
a small village along the shore.
"What can that noise be? What a nuisance that I have to go to school!
Otherwise. . ."
There he stopped, very much puzzled. He felt he had to make up his mind
for either one thing or another. Should he go to school, or should he
follow the pipes?
"Today I'll follow the pipes, and tomorrow I'll go to school. There's
always plenty of time to go to school," decided the little rascal at
last, shrugging his shoulders.
No sooner said than done.
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