venture back after his capture of Mr. Samson, for fear he should not be allowed to get out again and give his report to the king; and now no doubt the Jew, who did not care anything at all about it, would be sent in his place. Well, it did not much matter after all, so long as Miss Esther were set free, and that the king had promised she should be. [Pg 69] So now Miska was in Visegrád again, not a little proud of his smart livery, and greatly enjoying his comfortable quarters after the rough, hard life which he had led. But these, after all, were very secondary matters; the great thing was that he was in the king's service, and must do all that lay in his power to please him. "I am page to King Matthias," said he to himself over and over again. "The king called me his 'little brother' and 'gossip,' and the king will be ashamed if his gossip is a donkey and does not know the A B C. Ah, you just wait, gossip-king! for I will[Pg 70] distinguish myself. I will make you open your eyes and your mouth too!" [Pg 70] Miska was a gay-tempered fellow, as lively as gunpowder, and it was vain to expect from him the sober, plodding diligence which belongs to calmer and tamer natures. If the truth must be told, Miska did not care very greatly about his reading and writing for their own sakes. He did his best with them to please the king, but he was glad enough when his time for study was over for the day, and enjoyed the few hours he was able to spend in the riding-school much more than he did the daily appearance of his wearisome teacher, who came as true to his time as the most obstinate of fevers. When the king's riding-master clapped him on the shoulder and said, "Michael, you are a man! 'Raven' or 'Swan' carried you well to-day, and couldn't manage to throw you," he was pleased indeed; but he was much more glad when his teacher said, "Come, Mr. Michael, I declare you are getting on like pepper! If you go on like this, I shall come to you for a lesson in a couple of months' time." Miska could read, and write a very fair hand, before he knew where he was; but though writing rather[Pg 71] amused him, he took no pleasure or interest in the books in which he learned to read. It always cost him a struggle to keep his temper during lesson-time, and occasionally he felt such an irresistible inclination to go to sleep, that his teacher was obliged to rouse him by a friendly twitch or two.
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