The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Three Comrades, by Kristina Roy

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Title: The Three Comrades

Author: Kristina Roy

Release Date: April 25, 2004 [EBook #12143]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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THE THREE COMRADES

_by Kristina Roy_

of Stara Tura, Slovakia.

Translated by Charles Lukesh

First Edition, 3,000--November, 1941

THE THREE COMRADES

CHAPTER ONE

In the whole wide world there were no comrades who loved each other
better than Petrik,[1] Ondrejko,[2] and Fido. All three were orphans
and had had a hard time in the world thus far. Both parents of Petrik
had died of a malignant fever. He became a public charge and was
sent from place to place, till finally he was placed in charge of
"Bacha"[3] Filina, who was his father's uncle, and had charge of the
sheep pasturing on the mountain clearings of the estate of Lord Gemer.
There was but a poor hut, but to mistreated Petrik it was like a
paradise. Ondrejko, whom they called at home Andreas de Gemer, came
to the old "Bacha" at the order of the doctor, that he might grow
stronger in the mountain air, drinking whey and eating black bread. As
it was, Ondrejko did, and did not, have a father--at least he could
not remember him. He was but two years old when his parents separated
for ever. His mother took him with her when she left, but even then he
did not live with her. She left him with strange people whom she paid
to keep him, and went alone into the world. The people talked about
her; said that she was a famous singer, and that many went from
distant places to hear her.

[Footnote 1: Diminutive for Peter.]

[Footnote 2: Diminutive for Andreas.]

[Footnote 3: "_Bacha_"--shepherd overseer.]

Ondrejko remembered only one of her visits, and that she was very
beautiful, and brought him a box full of chocolates, a rocking-horse,
a trumpet--and who knows what more? After that he never saw her again,
and probably would never see her any more. The lady with whom he
stayed talked a