A few minutes later the headmaster's wife opened the door of the drawing room. Alyosha came up to the door and saw … a little man in a grey suit!
"He is not a knight at all," thought the boy.
Everyone sat down to have dinner. There were a lot of wonderful things on the table, but Alyosha ate very little. He couldn't stop thinking about his Blacky. After the dinner he came up to the headmaster and said:
"Can I go out to play in the yard?"
"Yes," said the headmaster, "but don't stay there long."
Alyosha put on his red coat and a green hat and ran out into the yard. It was four o'clock. The hens were already sleepy. They didn't even want to take new pieces of bread from the boy. Only Blacky was not sleepy. She came up to Alyosha at once. He played with the hen for a long time. Then it got dark: it was time for supper. Alyosha closed the door of the hen-house. The black hen looked at the boy. Her eyes were like two bright stars in the sky.
"Is she asking me to stay?" thought Alyosha. "No, it can't be!"
After supper Alyosha went to the classroom and sat there alone. The guests left at half past ten. Before that Alyosha went downstairs to the bedroom. He got into his bed. The boy put out the light. But he couldn't sleep. Some time later the headmaster entered the bedroom. He had a candle in his hand. He looked at Alyosha and left, closing the door.
Alyosha looked at the moon. All was quiet. Suddenly the boy heard a noise. He looked at the bed of his best friend and saw something strange. "The sheet on the bed is moving!" he thought. And then a voice called him quietly:
"Alyosha! Alyosha!"
Alyosha closed his eyes. He was alone in the bedroom. He was afraid to open his eyes.
"There is somebody under the bed," he thought, "but how can he know my name?"
Alyosha sat up in bed. The sheet started moving again. Somebody called him once more. Suddenly from under the white sheet came… the black hen!
"Oh! It's you, Blacky!" Alyosha cried. "How did you get here?"
Blacky flew up on his bed and said:
"Yes, it's me, Alyosha! You're not afraid of me, are you?"
"No, Blacky, I'm not afraid of you. You are my friend. It's nice to hear your voice. You can speak so well."
"If you are not afraid of me," said the hen, "come with me now. Please, put on your clothes. Quickly!"
"You are funny, Blacky!" said Alyosha. "How can I do that? It's so dark here. I don't see my clothes."
"OK. I have an idea," said the hen.
Then she said something in a strange voice. And suddenly Alyosha saw a lot of very small candles everywhere. The candles were on the floor, on the chairs, at the windows. It was