While the wheelwright was repairing the carriage, Alfred engaged him in
conversation concerning the stable-boy, all of whose statements the man
corroborated. He also showed a willingness to apprentice the boy on the
terms stated.
The damage had now been repaired, so the Duchess paid the charges,
giving the stable-boy a few coins, and seated herself in the carriage
with her children.
After whispering a few words to the boy, to tell him how to reach the
villa, Alfred joined his mother and sister, and with tooting of horns
they proceeded on their journey in high spirits.
CHAPTER II
APPRENTICESHIP
The little stable-boy, Michael Warden, hurried on to his sick father. It
was late, and the journey would take him two hours. On his way he
stopped to buy a few delicacies for his father with the coins the
Duchess had given him. To his surprise, he found on arrival that his
father was very much improved.
Before daybreak on the following morning, Michael hurried to the woods
to find the nightingale's nest he knew so well. When he had last visited
it, he had seen five brownish-green eggs there. But as he now peered
into it he found, to his great astonishment, that the young birds had
broken through their shells. With all haste he set out for the villa,
several miles distant, to study the situation and decide where he could
best fasten the nest. Arriving there, he found a suitable place, and
then hurried back to the woods.
In the course of a few days, he succeeded in caging the parent birds.
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