Nello and Patrasche sat at the door of the hut.
Across the village from the mill, Nello could hear the sounds of Alois' birthday.
Little Alois was Nello's best friend, but her father had refused to invite him to her party.
Nello was sad, but he turned his mind to other things.
He looked at the little shed behind the hut.
No one, except him, went in there, and inside was his great secret.
Nello's secret was an easel.
He had made it himself with pieces of wood.
A large sheet of paper was attached to the easel.
On the paper was a picture of an old man sitting on a fallen tree.
The old man was Michel, the woodman.
Nello had seen Michel many times, sitting alone on a log at dusk.
The portrait was simple.
It had a few small flaws, if you wanted to look for them.
Yet it was very real and very beautiful.
Nello had another secret:
he planned to enter this portrait in an art competition.
The competition was in Antwerp.
It was open to anyone under eighteen years old.
The prize was two hundred francs.
All spring, summer, and autumn, Nello worked on his portrait of the woodman.
When his milk deliveries were finished for the day, he crept into the shed to draw.
He drew with charcoal, and many times, he went without food so that he could buy more charcoal.
Nello said nothing to anyone.
His grandfather would not have understood, and he did not see Alois anymore.
He told only Patrasche.
He whispered in the dog's ear, "The artist Rubens would give me first prize if he were the judge!"
Patrasche agreed. Patrasche knew that Rubens had loved dogs because he had painted them so well.
"People who love dogs are always good," Patrasche reasoned.
The competition deadline was the first day of December.
The prizes were to be announced on December 24 so that the winner could celebrate on Christmas Day.
November 30, the day before the deadline, was a cold winter day.
At twilight, Nello put his picture in the green milk cart.
With Patrasche's help, they walked to Antwerp and through its dark streets.
They found the large public building where the competition was being held.
Nello nervously walked inside and set his picture on the table provided.
"Perhaps it is worth nothing at all.
How can I tell?" he thought.
As Nello walked away, his heart beat fast.
"Maybe it's a foolish idea," he thought.
"I am just a poor boy who can barely read!
Could I draw anything that a real artist might admire?"
Nello and Patrasche passed the cathedral.
There, Nello thought he saw the figure of Rubens in the fog.
The figure seemed to say, "Have courage!
I had to be brave to be a great painter.
You can be too!"
Nello ran home through the cold night, comforted.
He had done his best, and he knew this was all he could do.
Nello fell asleep, and Patrasche curled up next to him.