The Dutch Twins
by
Lucy Fitch Perkins
This PG project is dedicated to Luana Rodriquez, who proofreads
my projects and loves the "Twins" stories.
This book belongs to
Lawrence and other children
THE DUTCH TWINS
By Lucy Fitch Perkins
ILLUSTRATED BY THE AUTHOR
Geographical Series
THE DUTCH TWINS PRIMER. Grade I.
THE DUTCH TWINS. Grade III.
THE ESKIMO TWINS. Grade II.
THE JAPANESE TWINS. Grade IV.
THE SWISS TWINS. Grade IV.
THE IRISH TWINS. Grade V.
THE ITALIAN TWINS. Grades V and VI.
THE SCOTCH TWINS. Grades V and VI.
THE MEXICAN TWINS. Grade VI.
THE BELGIAN TWINS. Grade VI.
THE FRENCH TWINS. Grade VII.
Historical Series
THE CAVE TWINS. Grade IV.
THE SPARTAN TWINS. Grades V-VI.
THE PURITAN TWINS. Grades VI-VII.
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION - KIT AND KAT
I. THE DAY THEY WENT FISHING
II. MARKET DAY WITH FATHER
III. MOTHER'S DAY.
IV. ONE SUNDAY
V. THE DAY THEY DROVE THE MILK CART
VI. THE DAY THEY GOT THEIR SKATES
THE DUTCH TWINS
KIT AND KAT
This is a picture of Kit and Kat. They are Twins, and they live
in Holland. Kit is the boy, and Kat is the girl.
Of course their real names are not Kit and Kat at all. Their real
names are Christopher and Katrina. But you can see for yourself
that such long names as that would never in the world fit such a
short pair of Twins. So the Twins' Mother, Vrouw Vedder, said,
"They cannot be called Christopher and Katrina until they are
four and a half feet high."
Now it takes a long time to grow four and a half feet of Boy and
Girl. You know, chickens and puppies and colts and kittens always
grow up much faster than twins. Kit and Kat ate a great many
breakfasts and dinners and suppers, and played a great many
plays, and had a great many happy days while they were growing up
to their names. I will tell you about some of them.
I. THE DAY THEY WENT FISHING
One summer morning, very early, Vrouw Vedder opened the door of
her little Dutch kitchen and stepped out.
She looked across the road which ran by the house, across the
canal on the other side, across the level green fields that lay
beyond, clear to the blue rim of the world, where the sky touches
the earth. The sky was very blue; and the great, round, shining
face of the sun was just peering over the tops of the trees, as
she looked out.
Vrouw Vedder listened. The roosters in the barnyard were crowing,
the ducks in the canal were quacking, and all the little birds in
the fields were singing for joy. Vrouw Vedder hummed a slow
little tune of her own, as she went back into
her kitchen.
Kit and Kat were still asleep in their little cupboard bed. She
gave them each a kiss. The Twins opened their eyes and sat up.
"O Kit and Kat," said Vrouw Vedder, "the sun is up, the birds are
all awake. and singing, and Grandfather is going fishing to-day.
If you will hurry, you may go with him! He is coming at six
o'clock; so pop out of bed and get dressed. I will put some lunch
for you in the yellow basket, and you may dig worms for bait in
the garden. Only be sure not to step on the young cabbages that
Father planted."
Kit and Kat bounced out of bed in a minute. Their mother helped
them put on their clothes and new wooden shoes. Then she gave
them each a bowl of bread and milk for their breakfast. They ate
it sitting on the kitchen doorstep.
This is a picture of Kit and Kat digging worms. You see they did
just as their mother said, and did not step on the young
cabbages. They sat on them, instead. But that was an accident.
Kit dug the worms, and Kat put them into a basket, with some
earth in it to make them feel at home.
When Grandfather came, he brought a large fishing-rod for himself
and two little ones for the Twins. There was a little hook on the
end of each line.
Vrouw Vedder kissed Kit and Kat goodbye.
"Mind Grandfather, and don't fall into the water," she said.
Grandfather and the Twins started off together down the long road
beside the canal.
The house where the Twins lived was right beside the canal. Their
father was a gardener, and his beautiful rows of cabbages and
beets and onions stretched in long lines across the level fields
by the roadside.
Grandfather lived in a large town, a little way beyond the farm
where the Twins lived. He did not often have a holiday, because
he carried milk to the doors of the people in the town, every
morning early. Sometime I will tell you how he did it; but I must
not tell you now, because if I do, I can't tell you about their
going fishing.
This morning, Grandfather carried his rod and the lunch-basket.
Kit and Kat carried the basket of worms between them, and their
rods over their shoulders, and they were all three very happy.
They walked along ever so far, beside the canal. Then they turned
to the left and walked along a path that ran from the canal
across the green fields to what looked like a hill.
But it wasn't a hill at all, really, because there aren't any
hills in Holland. It was a long, long wall of earth, very high--
oh, as high as a house, or even higher! And it had sloping
sides.
There is such a wall of earth all around the country of Holland,
where the Twins live. There has to be a wall, because the sea is
higher than the land. If there were no walls to shut out the sea,
the whole country would be covered with water; and if that were
so, then there wouldn't be any Holland, or any Holland Twins, or
any story. So you see it was very lucky for the Twins that the
wall was there. They called it a dyke.
Grandfather and Kit and Kat climbed the dyke. When they reached
the top, they sat down a few minutes to rest and look at the
great blue sea. Grandfather sat in the middle, With Kit on one
side, and Kat on the other; and the basket of worms and the
basket of lunch were there, too.
They saw a great ship sail slowly by, making a cloud of smoke.
"Where do the ships go, Grandfather?" asked Kit.
"To America, and England, and China, and all over the world,"
said Grandfather.
"Why?" asked Kat. Kat almost always said "Why?" and when she
didn't, Kit did.
"To take flax and linen from the mills of Holland to make dresses
for little girls in other countries," said Grandfather.
"Is that all?" asked Kit.
"They take cheese and herring, bulbs and butter, and lots of
other things besides, and bring back to us wheat and meat and all
sorts of good things from the lands across the sea."
"I think I'll be a sea captain when I'm big," said Kit.
"So will I," said Kat.
"Girls can't," said Kit.
But Grandfather shook his head and said:
"You can't tell what a girl may be by the time she's four feet
and a half high and is called Katrina. There's no telling what
girls will do anyway. But, children, if we stay here we shall not
catch any fish."
So they went down the other side of the dyke and cut onto a
little pier that ran from the sandy beach into the water.
Grandfather showed them how to bait their hooker. Kit baited
Kat's for her, because Kat said it made her all wriggly inside to
do it. She did not like it. Neither did the worm!
They all sat down on the end of the pier, Grandfather sat on the
very end and let his wooden shoes hang down over the water; but
he made Kit and Kat sit with their feet stuck straight out in
front of them, so they just reached to the edge, "So you can't
fall in," said Grandfather.
They dropped their hooks into the water and sat very still,
waiting for a bite. The sun climbed higher and higher in the sky,
and it grew hotter and hotter on the pier. The flies tickled
Kat's nose and made her sneeze.
"Keep still, can't you?" said Kit crossly. "You'll scare the
fish. Girls don't know how to fish, anyway."
Pretty soon Kat felt a queer little jerk on her line. She was
perfectly sure she did.
Kat squealed and jerked her rod. She jerked it so hard that one
foot flew right up in the air, and one of her new wooden shoes
went--splash--right into the water!
But that wasn't the worst of it! Before you could say Jack
Robinson, Kat's hook flew around and caught in Kit's clothes and
pricked him.
Kit jumped and said "Ow!" And then--no one could ever tell how it
happened--there was Kit in the water, too, splashing like a young
whale, with Kat's hook still holding fast to his clothes in the
back!
Grandfather jumped then, too, you may be sure. He caught hold of
Kat's rod and pulled hard and called out, "Steady there, steady!"
And in one minute there was Kit in the shallow water beside the
pier, puffing and blowing like a grampus!
Grandfather reached down and pulled him up.
When Kit was safely on the pier, Kat threw her arms around his
neck, though the water was running down in streams from his hair
and eyes and ears.
"O Kit," she said, "I truly thought it was a fish on my line when
I jumped!"
"Just like a g-g-girl," said Kit. "They don't know how to f-f-
fish." You see his teeth were chattering, because the water was
cold.
"Well, anyway," said Kat, "I caught more than you did. I caught
you!"
Then Kat thought of something else She shook her finger at Kit.
"O Kit," she said, "Mother told you not to fall into the water!"
"'T-t-twas all your fault," roared Kit. "Y-y-you began it!
Anyway, where is your new wooden shoe?"
"Where are both of yours?" screamed Kat.
Sure enough, where were they? No one had thought about shoes,
because they were thinking so hard about Kit.
They ran to the end of the pier and looked. There was Kat's shoe
sailing away toward America like a little boat! Kit's were still
bobbing about in the water near the pier.
"Oh! Oh! Oh!" shrieked Kat; but the tide was going out and
carrying her shoe farther away every minute. They could not get
it; but Grandfather reached down with his rod and fished out both
of Kit's shoes Then Kat took off her other one and her stockings,
and they all three went back to the beach.
Grandfather and Kat covered Kit up with sand to keep him warm
while his clothes were drying. Then Grandfather stuck the Twins'
fish-poles up in the sand and tied the lines together for a
clothes-line, and hung Kit's clothes up on it, and Kat put their
three wooden shoes in a row beside Kit.
Then they ate their luncheon of bread and butter, cheese, and
milk, with some radishes from Father's garden. It tasted very
good, even if it was sandy. After lunch Grandfather said, "It
will never do to go home without any fish at all."
So by and by he went back to the pier and caught one while the
Twins played in the sand. He put it in the lunch-basket to carry
home.
Kat brought shells and pebbles to Kit, because he had to stay
covered up in the sand, and Kit built a play dyke all around.
himself with them, and Kat dug a canal outside the dyke. Then she
made sand-pies in clam-shells and set them in a row in the sun to
bake.
They played until the shadow of the dyke grew very long across
the sandy beach, and then Grandfather said it was time to go
home.
He helped Kit dress, but Kit's clothes were still a little wet in
the thick parts. And Kat had to go barefooted and carry her one
wooden shoe.
They climbed the dyke and crossed the fields, and walked along
the road by the canal. The road shone, like a strip of yellow
ribbon across the green field. They walked quite slowly, for they
were tired and sleepy.
By and by Kit said, "I see our house"; and Kat said, "I see
Mother at the gate."
Grandfather gave the fish he caught to Kit and Kat, and Vrouw
Vedder cooked it for their supper; and though it was not a very
big fish, they all had some.
Grandfather must have told Vrouw Vedder something about what had
happened; for that night, when she put Kit to bed, she felt of
his clothes carefully--but she didn't say a word about their
being damp. And she said to Kat: "To-morrow we will see the
shoemaker and have him make you another shoe."
Then Kit and Kat hugged her and said good-night, and popped off
to sleep before you could wink your eyes.
II
MARKET DAY WITH FATHER
One afternoon Kit and Kat were playing around the kitchen
doorstep, while their Mother sat on a bench by the door, peeling
some onions for supper. It was not yet supper-time, but Vrouw
Vedder was always ahead of the clock with the work.
Kit and Kat had a pan of water and were teaching their ducklings
to swim. They each had one little fat duckling of their very own.
The ducklings squawked when Kit lifted them over the edge of the
pan into the water.
"Don't do that, Kit," said Kat. "The ducklings don't like it. You
didn't like it when you fell into the water, did you?"
"But I'm not a duck," said Kit.
"Well, anyway, they're tired and want to go to their mother,"
said Kat. "Let's do something else! I'll tell you what! Let's go
out to the garden and help Father get the boat loaded for
market."
"All right," said Kit. "May we, Mother?"
"Yes," said Vrouw Vedder; "and you may ask Father if he will take
you to market with him to-morrow if it's fair. Tell him I said
you could ask."
"Oh, goody, goody!" said Kit and Kat, both at once; and they ran
as fast as their wooden shoes would take them out into the
garden.
They found their father cutting cabbages and gathering them into
piles. He was stopping to light his pipe, when they reached him.
"O Father!" said Kit and Kat both together. "May we go on the
boat to market with you to-morrow morning? Mother said we might
ask!"
Father Vedder blew two puffs from his pipe without answering.
"We'll help you load the boat," said Kit.
"Yes," said Kat, "I can carry a cabbage."
"I can carry two," said Kit. "We'll both be good," said Kat.
"Very well," said Father, at last. "We'll see how you work! And
to-morrow morning, if it's fair, I'll see! But you must go to bed
early to-night, because you'll have to get up very early in the
morning, if you go with me! Now you each take a cabbage and run
along."
Father Vedder went back to his work.
Kit and Kat ran to the cabbage-pile. Kat took one, and Kit took
two--just to show that he could.
"When Father says 'I'll see,' he always means 'yes,'" Kat said to
Kit.
Perhaps it seems queer to you that they should go to market in a
boat, but it didn't seem queer at all to the Twins.
Your see, in Holland there are a great many canals. They cross
the fields like roadways of water, and that is what they really
are. Little canals open into big ones, and big ones go clear to
the sea.
It is very easy for farmers to load their vegetables for market
right on a boat. They can pull the boat out into the big canal,
and then away they go to sell their produce in the town.
The canals flow through the towns, too, and make water streets,
where boats go up and down as carriages go here.
The Twins and their father worked like beavers, washing the
vegetables and packing them in baskets, until their good old boat
was filled with cabbages and onions and beets and carrots and all
sorts of good things to eat.
By that time it was nearly dark, and they were all three very
hungry; so they went home.
They found that Mother Vedder had made buttermilk porridge for
supper. The Twins loved buttermilk porridge. They each ate three
bowls of it, and then their mother put them to bed.
This is a picture of the bed! It opened like a cupboard right
into the kitchen, and it was like going to bed on a shelf in the
pantry.
The very next thing the Twins knew, it was morning, and there was
Vrouw Vedder calling to them.
"It's market day, and the sun is almost up. Come Kit and Kat, if
you want to go with Father," she said.
The Twins bounced out like two rubber balls. They ate some
breakfast and then ran to the boat.
Father was there before them. He helped them into the boat and
put them both on one seat, and told them to sit still. Then he
got in and took the pole and pushed off.
Vrouw Vedder stood on the canal bank to see them pass.
"Be good children; mind Father, and don't get lost," she called
after them.
Kit and Kat were very busy all the way to town, looking at the
things to be seen on each side of the canal.
It was so early in the morning that the grass was all shiny with
dew. Black and white cows were eating the rich green grass, and a
few laborers were already in the fields.
They passed little groups of farm buildings, their red-tiled
roofs shining in the morning sun; and the windmills threw long,
long shadows across the fields.
The blue blossoms of the flax nodded to them from the canal bank;
and once, they saw a stork fly over a mossy green roof, to her
nest on the chimney, with a frog in her mouth.
They went under bridges and by little canals that opened into the
main canal. They passed so close to some of the houses that Kit
and Kat could see the white curtains blowing in the windows, and
the pots of red geraniums standing on the sill. In one house the
family waved their hands to Kit and Kat from the breakfast table,
and a little farther on they passed a woman who was washing
clothes in the canal. Other boats filled with vegetables and
flowers of all colors passed them. And they were going to market
too. Only no other boat had twins in it.
"Good day, neighbor Vedder," one man called out. "Are you taking
a pair of fat pigs to market?"
By and by they came to the town. There were a great many boats in
the canal here, and people calling back and forth to each other
from them.
Kit and Kat saw a boat that the Captain's family lived in. It was
like a floating house.
The Twins thought it must be grand to live on a boat like that,
just going about from town to town, seeing new sights every day.
"We should never have to go to school at all," said Kit.
They wished their own boat were big enough to move about in; but
Father told them they must sit very, very still all the time.
There were houses on each side of the canal, in the town, and
people were clattering along over the pavement in their wooden
shoes.
The market-place was an open square in the middle of the town. It
had little booths and stalls all about it. The farmers brought
their fresh vegetables and flowers, or whatever they had to sell,
into these stalls, and then sat there waiting for customers.
Kit and Kat helped their father to unload the boat. Then they sat
down on a box, and Father gave them each some bread and cheese to
eat; for they were hungry again. They put the cheese between
slices of bread and took bites, while they looked about.
Soon there were a good many people in the square. Most of them
were women with market baskets on their arms. They went to the
different stalls to see what they would buy for dinner.
A large woman with a big basket on her arm came along to the
stall where Kit and Kat were sitting.
"Bless my heart!" she said. "Are you twins?"
"Yes, Ma'am," said Kit and Kat. And Kat said, "We're five years
old."
"O my soul!" said the large woman. "So you are! What are your
names?"
"Christopher aid Katrina, but they call us Kit and Kat for
short." It was Kat who said this. And Kit said,
"When we are four feet and a half high, we are going to be called
Christopher and Katrina."
"Well, well, well!" said the large woman. "So you are! Now my
name is Vrouw Van der Kloot. Are you helping Father?"
"Yes," said the Twins. "We're going to help him sell things."
"Then you may sell me a cabbage and ten onions," said Vrouw Van
der Kloot.
Father Vedder's eyes twinkled, and he lit his pipe. Kit got a
cabbage for the Vrouw.
"You can get the ten onions," he said to Kat. You see, really Kit
couldn't count ten and be sure of it. So he asked Kat to do it.
Kat wasn't afraid. She took out a little pile of onions in a
measure, and said to Vrouw Van der Kloot,
"Is that ten?"
Then Vrouw Van der Kloot counted them with Kat, very carefully.
There were eleven, and so she gave back one. Theca she gave Kat
the money for the onions, and Kit the money for the cabbage.
Father Vedder said, "Now Kit and Kat, by and by, when you get
hungry again, you can go over to Vrouw Van der Kloot's stall and
buy something from her. She keeps the sweetie shop."
"Oh! Oh!" cried Kit and Kat. "We're hungry yet! Can't we go now?"
"No, not now," said Father. "We must do some work first."
The Twins helped Father Vedder a long time. They learned to count
ten and to do several other things. Then their father gave them
the money for the cabbage and the ten onions they had sold to
Vrouw Van der Kloot, and said,
"You may walk around the market and look in all the stalls, and
buy the thing you like best that costs just two cents. Then come
back here to me."
Kit and Kat set forth on their travels, to see the world. They
each held the money tightly shut in one hand, and with the other
hand they held on to each other.
"The world is very large," said Kit and Kat.
They saw all sorts of strange things in the market. There were
tables piled high with flowers. There was a stall full of birds
in cages, singing away with all their might. One cage had five
little birds in it, sitting in a row.
"O Kit," cried Kat, "let's buy the birds!"
They asked the woman if the birds cost two cents, and she said,
"No, my angels; they cost fifty cents."
You see, now that the Twins could count ten, they knew they
couldn't get the birds for two cents when they cost fifty. So
they went to the next place.
There, there were chickens and ducks for sale. But the Twins had
plenty of those at home. There were stalls and stalls of
vegetables just like Father's, and there were booths where meat
and fish and wood and peat were sold. But the Twins couldn't find
anything they wanted that cost exactly two cents.
At last, what should they see but Vrouw Van der Kloot's fat face
smiling at them from a stall just full of cakes and cookies and
bread, and chocolate, and honey cakes, and goodies of all kinds.
The Twins held up their money.
There on the counter was a whole row of St. Nicholas dolls with
currant eyes, and they knew at once that there was nothing else
in all the market they should like so much!
"Do these cost two cents apiece, dear Vrouw Van der Kloot?" asked
Kat.
"No," said Vrouw Van der Kloot; "they cost one cent apiece."
The Twins were discouraged.
"I don't believe there's a single thing in this whole market that
costs just two cents," said Kat.
"Keep still!" said Kit. "Let me think."
They sat down on the curb. Kat kept still, and Kit took hold of
his head with both hands and thought hard. He thought so hard
that he scowled all over his forehead!
"I tell you what it is, Kat," he said at last. "If those St.
Nicholas dolls cost one cent apiece, I _think_ we could get two
of them for two cents."
"O Kit," said Kat, "how splendidly you can think! Does it hurt
you much? Let's ask Vrouw Van der Kloot."
They went back to the good Vrouw, who was selling some coffee
bread to a woman with a basket.
"O Vrouw Van der Kloot," said Kat, "Kit says that if those St.
Nicholas dolls cost one cent apiece, he _thinks_ we could get two
for two cents. Do you think so?"
"Of course you can," said Vrouw Van der Kloot; and she winked at
the lady with the bread.
"But you've got two cents, and I've got two," said Kat to Kit.
"If you should get two Nicholas dolls, why, I should have my two
cents left; shouldn't I? Oh! dear, it won't come out right
anyway!"
"Let me think some more," said Kit; and when he had thought some
more, he said,
"I'll tell you what let's! You get two with your two cents, and
I'll get two with mine! And I'll give my other one to Mother and
you can give your other one to Father!"
"That's just what we'll do," said Kat.
They went back to Vrouw Van der Kloot.
"We'll take _four_ dolls," said Kat.
"Well, well, well!" said the Vrouw. "So you've figured it all
out, have you?" And she counted out the dolls--"One for Kit, and
one for Kat, and one for Father, and one for Mother, and an extra
one for good measure!"
"O Kit, she's given us one more!" said Kat. "Let's eat it right
now! Thank you, dear Vrouw Van der Kloot."
So they ate up the one more then and there, beginning with the
feet. Kit bit one off, and Kat bit the other; and they took turns
until the St. Nicholas doll was all gone.
Then they took the four others, said goodbye to the good Vrouw,
and went back to Father's stall. They found that Father had sold
all his things and was ready to go home.
They carried their empty baskets back to the boat, and soon were
on their way home. The Twins sat on one seat, holding tight to
their dolls, which were growing rather sticky.
The boat was so light that they went home from market much more
quickly than they had come, and it did not seem long before they
saw their own house. There it was, with its mossy roof half
hidden among the trees, and Vrouw Vedder waiting for them at the
gate.
Dinner was all ready, and the Twins set the four St. Nicholas
dolls in a row, in the middle of the table.
"There's one for Father, and one for Mother, and one for Kat, and
one for me," said Kit.
"O Mother," said Kat, "Kit can think! He thought just how many
dolls he could buy when they were one for one cent! Isn't it fine
that he can do that?"
"You've learned a great deal at the market," said Vrouw Vedder.
But Kit didn't say a word. He just looked proud and pleased and
put his hands in his pockets.
"By and by, when you are four and a half feet high and are called
Christopher, you can go with Father every time," said Vrouw
Vedder.
"I can think a little bit, too," said Kat. "Can't I go?"
"No," said Vrouw Vedder. "Girls shouldn't think much. It isn't
good for them. Leave thinking to the men. You can stay at home
and help me."
III
MOTHER'S DAY
"Yesterday was a very long day," said Vrouw Vedder on the morning
after Market Day. "You were gone such a long time."
Kat gave her mother a great hug.
"We'll stay with you all day today, Mother," she said. "Won't we,
Kit?"
"Yes," said Kit; and he hugged her too.
"And we'll help you just as much as we helped Father yesterday.
Won't we, Kit?"
"More," said Kit.
"I shouldn't wonder!" said Father.
"I shall be glad of help," said Vrouw Vedder, "because Grandma is
coming, and I want everything to be very clean and tidy when she
comes. I'm going first to the pasture to milk the cow. You can go
with me and keep the flies away. That will be a great help."
Vrouw Vedder put a yoke across her shoulders, with hooks hanging
from each end of it. Then she hung a large pail on one of the
hooks, and a brass milk can on the other. She gave Kat a little
pail to carry, and Kit took some switches from the willow tree in
the yard, with which to drive away the flies. Then they all three
started down the road to the pasture.
Pretty soon they came to a little bridge over the canal, which
they had to cross.
"Oh, dear," said Kat, looking down at the water, "I'm scared!"
You see, there was no railing at all to take hold of, and the
bridge was quite narrow.
"Ho! 'Fraidy cat!" said Kit. "I'll go first and show you how."
"And I'll walk behind you," said Vrouw Vedder.
Kat walked very slowly and held on hard to her pail, and so she
got over the bridge safely.
"When I'm four feet and a half high, I'm going to jump over the
canal on a jumping pole," said Kit.
"O how brave you are!" said Kat. "I should be scared. And besides
I'm afraid I should drop my shoes in the water."
"Well, of course," said Kit, "boys can do a great many things
that girls can't do."
When they reached the pasture, there was Mevrouw Holstein waiting
for them. Mevrouw Holstein was the cow's name. Kit and Kat named
her.
Vrouw Vedder tucked up her skirts--and that was quite a task, for
she wore a great many of them--and sat down on a little stool.
Kit and Kat stood beside her and waved their willow wands and
said "Shoo!" to the flies; and Vrouw Vedder began to milk.
Mevrouw Holstein had eaten so much of the green meadow grass that
Vrouw Vedder filled both the big pail and the brass can, and the
little pail too, with rich milk.
"I shall have milk enough to make butter and cheese," said Vrouw
Vedder. "There are no cows like our Dutch cows in all the world,
I believe."
"O Mother, are you going to churn today?" asked Kat.
"Yes," said the Vrouw, "I have cream enough at home to make a
good roll of butter, and you may help me if you will be very
careful and work steadily."
"I will be very steady," said Kat. "I'm big enough now to learn."
"All Dutch girls must know how to make good butter and cheese,"
said Vrouw Vedder.
"And boys can drink the buttermilk," said Kit.
"I'll drink some too," said Kat.
"There'll be plenty for both," said their mother.
When she had finished milking, Vrouw Vedder shook out her skirts,
put the yoke across her shoulders again and lifted the large pail
of milk. She hung it on one of the hook and the brass milk can on
the other. Kat took the small pail, and they started back home.
The milk was quite heavy, so they walked slowly.
They had crossed the bridge and were just turning down the road,
when what should they see but their old goose and gander walking
along the road, followed by six little goslings!
"O Mother, Mother," screamed Kat; "there is the old goose that we
haven't seen for so long! She has stolen her nest and hatched out
six little geese all her own! They are taking them to the canal
to swim."
"Quick, Kit, quick!" said Vrouw Vedder. "Don't let them go into
the canal! We must drive them home."
Kit ran boldly forward in front of them, and Kat ran too. She
spilled some of the milk; but she was in such a hurry that she
never knew it, until afterwards, when she found some in her
wooden shoes!
"K-s-s-s!" said the old goose; and she ran straight for the Twins
with her mouth open and her wings spread! The old gander ran at
them too. I can't begin to tell you how scared Kat was then! She
stood right still and screamed.
Kit was scared too; but he stood by Kat, like a brave boy, and
shook his willow switches at the geese, and shouted "Shoo! Shoo!"
just as he did at the flies.
Vrouw Vedder set her pails down in the road and came up behind,
flapping her apron. Then the old goose and the gander and all the
little goslings started slowly along the road for home, saying
cross words in Goose talk all the way!
Father Vedder was working in the garden, when the procession came
down the road. First came the geese, looking very indignant, and
the goslings. Then came Kit with the leaves all whipped off his
willow switches. Then came Kat with her pail; and, last of all,
Vrouw Vedder and the milk!
When the new family of geese had been taken care of, and the
fresh milk had been put away to cool, Vrouw Vedder got out her
churn and scalded it well. Then she put in her cream, and put the
cover down over the handle of the dasher.
"Now, Kit and Kat, you may take turns," she said, "and see which
one of you can bring the butter, but be sure you work the dasher
very evenly or the butter will not be good."
"Me first!" said Kat, and she began. Kit sat on a little stool
and watched for the butter.
Kat worked the dasher up and down, up and down. The cream
splashed and splashed inside the churn, and a little white ring
of spatters came up around the dasher. Kat worked until her arms
ached.
"Now it's my turn," said Kit. Then he poked the dasher, and the
cream splashed and splashed for quite a long time; but still the
butter did not come.
"Ho!" said Kat. "You're nothing but a boy. Of course you don't
know how to churn. Let me try." And she took her turn.
Dash! Splash! Splash, dash! She worked away; and very soon,
around the dasher, there was a ring of little specks of butter.
"Come, butter, come! Come, butter, come!
Some for a honey cake, and some for a bun,"
she sang in time to the dasher; and truly, when Vrouw Vedder
opened the churn, there was a large cake of yellow butter!
Vrouw Vedder took out the butter and worked it into a nice roll.
Then she gave each of the Twins a cup of buttermilk to drink.
While the Twins drank the buttermilk, their mother washed the
churn and put it away. When she was all through, it was still
quite early in the morning, because they had gotten up with the
sun.
"Now we must clean the house," she said.
So she got out her scrubbing-brushes, and mops, and pails, and
dusters, and began.
First she shook out the pillows of the best bed, that nobody ever
slept in, and pushed back the curtains so that the embroidered
coverlet could be seen. Then she put the other beds in order and
drew the curtains in front of them.
She dusted the linen press and left it open just a little, so
that her beautiful rolls of white linen, tied with ribbons, would
show. Kat dusted the chairs, and Kit carried the big brass jugs
outside the kitchen door to be polished.
Then they all three rubbed and scoured and polished them until
they shone like the sun.
"Now it is time to cook the dinner," said Vrouw Vedder. "We will
have pork and potatoes and some cabbage. Kit, run to the garden
and bring a cabbage; and Kat, you may get the fire ready to cook
it, when Kit brings it in."
Kat went to the stove--but it was such a funny stove! It wasn't a
stove at all, really.
There was a sort of table built up against the chimney. It was
all covered with pretty blue tiles, with pictures of boats on
them. Over this table, there was a shelf, like a mantel shelf.
There were plates on it, and from the bottom of the shelf hung
some chains with hooks on them. The coals were right out on the
little table.
Kat took the bellows and--puff, puff, puff!--made the coals burn
brighter. She peeped in the kettle to see that there was water in
it. Then she put some more charcoal on the fire.
Kit brought in the cabbage, and Vrouw Vedder cut it up and put it
into the pot of water hanging over the fire. She put the pork and
potatoes in too.
In a little while the pot was bubbling away merrily; and Father
Vedder, who was in the garden, sniffed the air and said,
"I know what we are going to have for dinner."
While the pot boiled, Vrouw Vedder scrubbed the floor and wiped
the window. then she took her brooms and scrubbing-brush outside.
She scrubbed the door and the outside of the house. She scrubbed
the little pig with soap. The little pig squealed, because she
got some soap in its eyes. She scrubbed the steps--and even the
trunk of the poplar tree in the yard! She scrubbed everything in
sight, except Father Vedder and the Twins! By and by she came to
the door and called,
"Come to dinner! Only be sure to leave your wooden shoes outside,
when you come into my clean kitchen."
Here are the shoes, just as they left them, all in a row. And as
it was Saturday, the shoes were scrubbed too, that night.
When the dinner was cleared away, Vrouw Vedder said to the Twins,
"It is almost time for Grandmother to come. Let's walk out to
meet her."
They walked clear to the edge of the town before they saw her
coming. They walked on top of the dyke, so they could look right
down into the street, and see all the houses in a row.
Grandmother was coming up the street with a basket on her arm.
"What do you think is in that basket?" Vrouw Vedder asked the
Twins.
"Honey cake!" said Kit; and Kat said, "Candy!"
And Kit and Kat were both right. There was a large honey cake and
anise candies, and some currant buns besides!
Grandmother let them peep in and see. They were very polite and
did not ask for any--Vrouw Vedder was proud of the Twins' good
manners. Grandmother said,
"This afternoon, when we have tea, you shall have some."
"I'm glad I ate such a lot of dinner," said Kit to Kat, as they
walked along; "or else I'd just have to have a bun this minute!"
"Yes," said Kat, "it's much easier to be polite when you aren't
hungry."
When they got home, Kit and Kat took their Grandmother to see the
new goslings, and to see the ducklings too. And Vrouw Vedder
showed her the butter that Kit and Kat had helped to churn; and
Grandmother said,
"My, my! What helpers they are getting to be!" Then she said,
"How clean the house is!" and then, "How the brasses shine!"
"Yes," said Vrouw Vedder; "the Twins helped me make everything
clean and tidy to show to you."
"I guess it's time for honey cake," said Grandmother.
Then Vrouw Vedder stirred up the fire again and boiled the kettle
and made tea. She took down her best china cups and put them out
on the round table.
Then Grandmother opened her basket and took out the honey cake
and buns and the candy; and Vrouw Vedder brought out her fresh
butter.
"I can't stay polite much longer," said Kit to Kat.
Grandmother gave them each a thin slice of honey cake and a bun;
and Vrouw Vedder spread some of the butter on the buns--and oh,
how good they were!
"Some for a honey cake,
And some for a bun,"
sang Kat. It didn't take the Twins long to finish them.
When they had drunk their tea, Grandmother brought out her
knitting, and Mother Vedder began to spin.
"How many rolls of linen have you ready for Kat when she
marries?" Grandmother asked.
"I try to make at least one roll each year; so she has four now
and I am working on the fifth one," said Vrouw Vedder. "She shall
be as well-to-do as any farmer's daughter near here, when she
marries. See, this is the last one," and Vrouw Vedder took from
the press a roll of beautiful white linen tied with blue ribbons.
"Is that for me, Mother?" asked Kat.
"Yes," said Vrouw Vedder. "When you marry, we shall have a fine
press full of linen for you."
"Isn't Kit going to have some too?" asked Kat.
Grandmother laughed.
"The mother of the little girl who will some day marry Kit, is
working now on her linen, no doubt; so Kit won't need any of
yours."
The Twins looked very solemn and went out into the yard. They sat
down on the bench by the kitchen door together. Then Kat said,
"Kit, do you suppose we've got to be married?"
"It looks like it," said Kit.
Things seemed very dark indeed to the Twins.
"Well," said Kat, "I just tell you I'm not going to do it. I 'm
going to stay at home with Mother and Father, and you and the
ducks and everything!"
"What will they do with the linen then?" said Kit. "I guess
you'll have to be married."
Kat began to cry.
"I'll just go and ask Mother," she said.
"I'll go with you," said Kit. "I don't want to any more than you
do."
So the Twins got down from the bench and went into the kitchen
where Grandmother and Vrouw Vedder were.
Their mother was spinning flax to make linen thread.
"Mother," said the Twins, "will you please excuse us from being
married."
"O my soul!" said Vrouw Vedder. She seemed surprised.
"We don't want to at all," said Kat. "We'd rather stay with you."
"You shan't be married until after you are four feet and a half
high and are called Christopher and Katrina anyway," said Vrouw
Vedder. "I promise you that."
The Twins were much relieved. They went out and fed their
ducklings. They felt so much better that they gave them an extra
handful of grain, and they carried a bun to Father Vedder, who
was hoeing in the farthest corner of the garden. He ate it,
leaning on his hoe.
When they went back to the house, it was late in the afternoon.
Grandmother was rolling up her knitting.
"I must go home to Grandfather;" she said. "He'll be wanting his
supper."
The Twins walked down the road as far as the first bridge with
Grandmother. There she kissed them good-bye and sent them home.
When their mother put them to bed that night, Kat said,
"Has this been a short day, Mother?"
"Oh, very short!" said Vrouw Vedder, "because you helped me so
much."
Then she kissed them good-night and went out to feed the pigs,
and shut up the chickens for the night.
When she was gone, Kit said,
"I don't see how they got along before we came. We help so much!"
"No," said Kat; "I don't think--" But what she didn't think, no
one will ever know, because just then she popped off to sleep.
IV
ONE SUNDAY
One Sunday morning in early fall, Kit and Kat woke up and peeped
out from their cupboard bed to see what was going on in the
world.
The sun was shining through the little panes of the kitchen
window, making square patches of light on the floor. The kettle
was singing on the fire, and Vrowv Vedder was already putting
away the breakfast things.
Father Vedder was lighting his pipe with a coal from the fire. He
had on his black Sunday clothes, all ready for church. Father
Vedder did not look at Kit and Kat at all. He just puffed away at
his pipe and said to himself,
"If there are any Twins anywhere that want to go to church with
me, they'd better get dressed and eat their breakfasts."
Kit and Kat tumbled out of the cupboard at once.
Vrouw Vedder came to help them dress.
I can't tell you how many petticoats she put on Kat, but it was
ever so many. And. over them all she put a skirt of plaid. There
was a waist of a different color, and over that a kerchief with
bright red roses on it. And over the skirt she put a new, clean
apron.
Kit was dressed very splendidly too. He had full baggy trousers
of velveteen that reached to his ankles, and a jacket that
buttoned with big silver buttons. His trousers had pockets in
them.
Kit and Kat both wore stockings, which Vrouw Vedder had knit, and
their best shoes of stout leather.
When they were all dressed, Vrouw Vedder stood them up side by
side and had them turn around slowly to be sure they were all
right.
"Now see that you behave well in meeting," she said. "Sit up
straight. Look at the Dominie, and do not whisper."
"Yes, Mother," said Kit and Kat.
Then she tied a big apron over each of them and gave them each a
bowl of bread and milk. While they were eating it, Father Vedder
went out and looked at the pigs, and chickens, and ducks, and
geese, and smoked his pipe.
When he came in, Kit and Kat were quite ready. Vrouw Vedder had
tied on Kat's little white-winged cap, and put Kit's hat on. She
kissed them good-bye, and they were off, one on each side of
Father Vedder, holding tight to his hands.
Mother Vedder looked after them proudly, from the doorway. She
did not go to church that day.
They walked slowly along the roadway in the bright sunshine. Many
of their neighbors and friends, all dressed in their best, were
walking to church, too.
Father Vedder and Kit and Kat went a little out of their way, in
order to pass a large windmill that was swinging its arms around
and creaking out a kind of sleepy windmill song. This is the song
it seemed to sing:
Around, and around, and around, I go,
Sometimes fast and sometimes slow.
I pump the water and grind the grain,
The marshy fields of the Lowlands, drain.
I harness the wind to turn my mill,
Around, and around, and around with a will!
Perhaps it was listening to the windmill song that made Kat say,
"Why do we have windmills, father?"
Kit and Kat said "Why?" every few steps on that walk. You see,
they didn't often have their father all to themselves, to ask
questions of.
"Why, what a little Dutch girl," said Father Vedder, "not to know
what windmills are for! They pump the water out of the fields, to
be sure! Don't you know how wet the fields are sometimes? If we
didn't keep pumping the water out, they would be so wet we could
not make gardens at all."
"Does the wind pump the water?" asked Kat.
"Of course it does, goosie girl! and grinds the grain too. The
wind blows against the great arms and turns them round and round.
That works the pumps; and the pumps suck the water out of the
fields, and it is poured out into the canals. If it weren't for
the good old windmills working away, who knows but the water
would get the best of us some day and cover up all our land!"
"Wouldn't the dykes keep out the sea?" asked Kit.
"Suppose the dykes should break!" said Father Vedder. "Even one
little break can let in lots of water. The dykes have to be
watched day and night all the time, and the least bit of a hole
stopped up right away, so it can't grow any bigger and let in the
sea."
"Oh dear," Kat said, "what a leaky country!"
She ran near the mill and let the wind from the fans blow her
hair and the white wings on her cap.
As the great fans swung near the ground, Kit jumped up and caught
hold of one. It lifted him right off the ground as it swung
around, and in a minute he was dangling high in the air.
"Jump, jump, quick," shouted Father Vedder.
Kit let go and dropped to the ground just in time. In another
minute he would have been carried clear over.
As it was, he sat down very hard on the ground, and had to have
the dirt brushed off of his Sunday clothes.
"I am surprised at you," Father Vedder said, while he brushed
him. "You are too small to swing on windmills, and besides it is
the Sabbath day. Don't you ever do it again until you are big
enough to be called Christopher!"
Sitting down so hard in the dirt had hurt Kit a little bit, and
scared him a good deal, so he said, "No, father."
Then they walked all around the mill. They peeped inside a door
which was open, and saw the pumps working away.
"Yes," said Father Vedder, "it is nip and tuck between wind and
water in Holland. Let us sit down here on the canal bank, in the
sunshine, and I will tell you what hard work has to be done to
keep this good land of ours. And it is a good land! We should be
thankful for it! Just see the rich green meadows over there, with
the cows grazing in them!" Father Vedder pointed to the
beautiful fields across the canal. "The grass is so rich and
fresh, that the cows here give more milk than any other cows in
the whole world!"
"That's what Mother says," said Kat.
"The Holland butter and cheese are famous everywhere," went on
Father Vedder; "and we have all the good milk we want to drink,
besides. The Dutch gardens, too, are the finest in the world."
"And ours is one of the best of Dutch gardens, isn't it, Father?"
said Kit.
"It's a very good garden," said Father Vedder, proudly. "No one
can raise better onions and cabbage and carrots than I can. And
the Dutch bulbs! Our tulips and hyacinths make the whole world
bloom!"
"Holland is really the greatest country there is; isn't it?" said
Kit.
"Well, not in point of size, perhaps," Father Vedder admitted;
"but in pluck, my boy, it is! Did you know that sometimes people
call Holland the Land of Pluck?"
"I don't see why," said Kat. "I'm Dutch, but I'm afraid of lots
of things! I'm afraid of spiders and of cross geese, and of
falling into the water!"
"You're a girl, if you are Dutch," said Kit. "Boys are always
pluckier than girls; aren't they, Father?"
"Really plucky people never boast," said Father Vedder.
Kit looked the other way and dug the toe of his shoe into the
dirt. Kat snuggled up to her Father and sniffed at Kit.
"So there, Kit!" was all she said.
"There's pluck enough to go round," said Father Vedder mildly,
"and we all need it boys and girls, and men and women too. It
was pluck that made Holland, and it's pluck that keeps her from
slipping back into the sea."
"How did pluck make Holland?" asked Kit.
"There wasn't any Holland in the first place," Father Vedder
answered. "There were only some marshes and some lands under
water. But people built a wall of earth around these flats; and
then they pumped out the water from the space inside the wall,
and made canals through the land, and drained it. And after all
that work, we have our rich fields."
"How does pluck keep them?" asked Kat.
"The dykes have to be watched and mended all the time," said
Father Vedder. "And the windmills have to work and work, to keep
the fields drained. No one can be lazy in Holland. Each one has
to work well for what he gets. If Holland should grow lazy, she
would soon be back again in the Zuyder Zee! So, my children, you
see you must learn well and work hard. And that is all my sermon
to-day."
"It is a better sermon than the Dominic will preach, I know,"
said Kat.
"Tut, tut! You must never say such things," said Father Vedder.
He got up and held out his hands to the Twins.
"Come! we must walk along, or we shall be late for church," he
said. "Here comes the Dominie now."
There indeed was the Dominie! Kit and Kat knew him well. No one
else dressed as he did. He wore a high silk hat, and long, black
coat and trousers, such as city people wear.
As he came along the road, all the people bowed respectfully; the
little boys took off their caps, and the little girls bobbed a
courtesy. Kit and Kat bobbed and courtesied too, and the Dominie
smiled at them and laid his hand on Kit's head.
"I wish he'd come to see us again," said Kit, after the Dominie
had passed by.
Father Vedder was pleased.
"I am glad to see that you love your pastor, my son," he said.
"Well," said Kit, "I don't really like him so very much, because
we have to be washed, and recite the catechism, and mind all our
manners when he comes. But Mother always has such good things to
eat when the Dominie comes--doesn't she, Kat?--cake and preserves
and everything!"
"If it weren't for the catechism and such things, it would be
something like St. Nicholas day!" sighed Kat. "But the Dominie
never forgets! And last time I couldn't tell what saving grace
was! The cakes are good, but..."
"Good Dutch boys and girls always learn their catechism well,"
said Father Vedder; "then they are glad to see the good Dominie
as well as the cakes. Now no more chatter! Here is a penny for
each of you to put in the bag when it is passed."
He gave them each a penny. Kit put his in his pocket. Kat didn't
have a pocket, so she held hers tight in her hand.
At the church door they met Grandfather and Grandmother.
Grandfather looked very fine indeed, in his black clothes; and
Grandmother was all dressed up in her best black dress, with a
fresh white cap, and a shawl over her shoulders. She carried a
large psalm book with golden clasps in one hand, and a scent
bottle in the other. She had some peppermints too. Kit and Kat
smelled them.
They all went into the church together, and an old woman led them
to their seats. Kit and Kat sat one each side of Grandmother.
Grandfather and Father Vedder sat on the other side of the church
with all the rest of the men.
"You must sit very still and look straight before you," said
Grandmother.
Kit remembered the peppermints and sat up like a soldier. So did
Kat.
Pretty soon the schoolmaster came in and went up into the pulpit.
He read a chapter from the Bible, and then the Dominic stood up
in the pulpit and began to preach. He preached a long time.
Kit and Kat tried very hard to sit still, just as Grandmother had
said; but pretty soon their heads began to nod.
Grandmother gave them each a peppermint.
They waked up for a minute. But the Dominic kept right on
preaching, until they were both sound asleep with their heads on
Grandmother's shoulders, one on each side; and if they had been
awake to see, they might have thought that Grandmother took a nap
too.
The sermon was so very long that a great many people went to
sleep. So, by and by, the Dominie said,
"We will all sing the Ninety-first Psalm."
Everybody woke up.
Grandmother opened the great golden clasps of her psalm book, and
stood up with all the rest of the people. She stood up quickly,
so that no one would think she had been asleep. She forgot that
the Twins were asleep too, with their heads on her shoulders.
That was why, when she got up, Kit and Kat fell against each
other and bumped their heads!
They forgot that they were in church. They said "Ow!" both
together, and Kat began to cry. But Grandmother said "Sh! sh!"
and gave them each a peppermint; and that made them feel much
better.
Pretty soon the schoolmaster came along with a little bag on the
end of along stick. He passed it to each person. Kit and Kat each
put in a penny, though Kit had a hard time to get his out of his
pocket. But Grandmother vas so upset about the Twins getting
bumped, that she forgot and put in a peppermint instead.
When church was over and they were out on the street again,
Grandmother said,
"Now you are coming home with me to stay all night."
"Really and truly?" said the Twins. "And may we go with
Grandfather to carry the milk in the morning?"
"Yes," said Grandfather, "and Kit may drive the dogs."
Kit jumped right up and down, he was so happy, even if it was
Sunday.
"May I too? May I too?" asked Kat.
"You are a girl," said Grandfather. "You may ride in the wagon."
"Oh, I wish to-morrow would come right away," said Kat.
Then Kit and Kat said good-bye to Father Vedder and went home
with Grandmother and Grandfather.
They lived on a little street in the town, where the houses stood
in a row close together. The houses were built of brick and had
wooden shutters at the windows, and they were so clean they shone
in the sun.
This is a picture of Grandmother's house and of Grandmother and
Kit and Kat going in. The door opened right into the kitchen.
Grandmother put away her shawl and psalm book and scent bottle as
soon as she was home. Then she put on a big apron and drew out
the round table.
She boiled the kettle and made coffee; and, when it was done, she
set the coffee pot on a pretty little porcelain stove on the
table to keep hot. She got out bread and cheese and smoked beef
and, best of all, a plate of little cakes.
Then they all four sat down to eat. I will not tell you how many
cakes Kit and Kat ate, but it was a good many.
After dinner, Grandmother put away the things, and Kat helped
her.
Kit sat beside Grandfather in the doorway while he smoked. Pretty
soon Grandfather said,
"Bring me my accordeon, Kit."
Kit ran to the press in the corner. He knew where the accordeon
was kept.
Then Grandfather took the accordeon, tipped his head back, shut
his eyes and began to play, beating time with one foot. Kat heard
the music and came out too.
She and Kit sat down on the doorstep, one on each side of
Grandfather, to listen.
Grandfather played six tunes.
Then Grandmother said,
"Why don't we go to the woods to hear the band play?"
"No reason at all," said Grandfather. So very soon they were on
their way to a grove on the edge of the town.
In the grove a band was playing; and just as the Twins and
Grandfather and Grandmother came up, it began to play the national
hymn of Holland. All the people began to sing. There were a great
many people in the grove, and they all sang as aloud as they
could; so there was a great sound. Grandfather and Grandmother
and Kit and Kat all sang too; for they all knew every word of the
hymn.
This is what they sang:
Let him in whom old Dutch blood flows,
Untainted, free and strong;
Whose heart for Prince and Country glows,
Now join us in our song;
Let him with us lift up his voice,
And sing in patriot band,
The song at which all hearts rejoice,
For Prince and Fatherland,
For Prince and Fatherland.
We brothers, true unto a man,
Will sing the old song yet;
Away with him who ever can
His Prince or Land forget!
A human heart glowed in him ne'er,
We turn from him our hand,
Who callous hears the song and prayer,
For Prince and Fatherland,
For Prince and Fatherland.
Preserve, O God, the dear old ground
Thou to our fathers gave;
The land where we a cradle found,
And where we'll find a grave!
We call, O Lord, to Thee on high,
As near death's door we stand,
Oh! Safety, blessing to our cry
For Prince and Fatherland,
For Prince and Fatherland.
Loud ring thro' all rejoicings here,
Our prayer, O Lord, to Thee;
Preserve our Prince, his house so dear
To Holland great and free!
From youth thro' life, be this our song,
Till near to death we stand:
O God, preserve our sov'reign long,
Our Prince and Fatherland,
Our Prince and Fatherland.
Now, while the people were singing with all their might, and the
band was playing, and Kit and Kat were having the most beautiful
time they had ever had in their whole lives, what do you think
happened?
Down the long drive through the trees came a great, splendid
carriage, drawn by a pair of beautiful white horses with wavy
white tails and manes. There were two soldiers on horseback
riding in front of the carriage, and the driver of the carriage
was dressed in blue and orange livery.
The carriage was open, and in it sat a beautiful, smiling young
lady. Beside her sat her husband; and a nurse, in the other seat,
held a baby in her arms.
When the people saw the carriage and the lady, they waved their
caps and shouted, "Long live the Queen!"
"Look! Look! Kit and Kat," said Grandfather. "It is your dear
Queen Wilhelmina, and Prince Henry and the little Princess! Wave
your hands!"
Kit and kat waved with all their might, but they were so short,
and the people crowded beside the driveway so, that neither of
them could see. Then Grandfather caught Kit and lifted him up
high, and Grandmother did the same with Kat.
It was fine to be up so high. Kit and Kat could see everything
better than anyone else there. And when the carriage came by, the
queen saw Kit and Kat! She smiled at them, and the nurse held the
little Princess up high for them to see! Kit and Kat threw kisses
to the little Princess; and the Princess waved her baby hand to
Kit and Kat; and then they were all gone, like a bright dream.
But the soldiers were better to see even than queens, Kit
thought. Kat thought the baby, any baby, was nicer than either.
When the carriage was out of sight, Grandfather and Grandmother
set the Twins down on the ground. Everyone began to talk about
the Queen, about how sweet she was, and how good; and the band
played, and everybody was as happy as they could possibly be.
By and by it was time to go home; for, Grandfather said, "Dutch
girls and boys must learn to get up early in the morning,
especially Twins that are going out with the milk cart."
So they went back to Grandfather Winkle's house; and Grandmother
put them to bed in a little cupboard like their own at home,
after they had had some supper. And the last thing Kat said that
night was,
"O Kit, just to think that to-day we saw the Queen and the
soldiers, and the Queen's baby, and to-morrow we are going to
drive in the milk cart! What a beautiful world it is!"
Just as they were dropping off to sleep, they heard a great noise
in the street.
"Clap, clap, clap," it sounded, eight times.
"There goes the Klapper man," said Grandmother Winkle. "Eight
o'clock, and time all honest folk were abed."
V
THE DAY THEY DROVE THE MILK CART
The next morning Kit and Kat woke up very early, without any
one's calling them. You see, they were afraid they would be too
late to go with the milk cart.
But Grandfather Winkle had only just gone out to get the milk
ready, and they had plenty of time to dress while Grandmother got
breakfast. Grandmother helped with the buttons and the hard
parts.
Grandmother Winkle's kitchen was quite like the kitchen at home,
only a little nicer. It had red tiles on the floor; and it had
ever so many blue plates hanging around on the walls, and
standing on edge in a row on the shelves. There was a warming-pan
with a bright brass cover, hanging on the wall; and I wish you
could have seen the pillows and the coverlet on the best bed!
Grandmother Winkle had embroidered those all herself, and she was
very proud of them. When she had company, she always drew the
curtains back so that her beautiful bed would be seen. She said
that Kit and Kat were company, and she always left the curtains
open when they came to visit her.
When the Twins were all dressed, Grandmother said,
"Mercy sakes! You have on your best clothes! Now that's just like
a man to promise to take you out in your best clothes in a milk
wagon! Whatever was Grandfather thinking about!"
Kit and Kat thought she was going to say that they couldn't go,
so they dug their knuckles in their eyes and began to cry. But
they hadn't got farther than the first whimper when Grandmother
said,
"Well, well, we must fix it somehow. Don't cry now, that's a good
Kit and Kat." So the Twins took their knuckles out of their eyes
and began to smile.
Grandmother went to the press and brought out two aprons. One was
a very small apron. It wouldn't reach to Kit's knees. But she put
it on him and tied it around his waist.
"This was your Uncle Jan's when he was a little boy," she said.
"It's pretty small, but it will help some."
Kit wished that Uncle Jan had taken it with him when he went to
America. But he didn't say so.
Then Grandmother took another apron out of the press. It looked
as if it had been there a long time.
"Kat, you must wear this," she said. "It was your mother's when
she was a little girl."
Now, this apron was all faded, and it had patches on it of
different kinds of cloth. Kat looked at her best dress. Then she
looked at the apron. Then she thought about the milk cart. She
wondered if she wanted to go in the milk cart badly enough to
wear that apron over her Sunday dress! She stuck her finger in
her mouth and looked sidewise at Grandmother Winkle.
Grandmother didn't say a word. She just looked firm and held up
the apron.
Very soon Kat came slowly--very slowly--and Grandmother buttoned
the apron up behind, and that was the end of that.
The Twins could hardly eat any breakfast, they were in such a
hurry to go. As soon as they had taken the last spoonful, and
Grandfather Winkle had finished his coffee, they ran out into the
place where the dogs were kept, to help Grandfather harness them.
There were two black and white dogs. Their names were Peter and
Paul.
The wagon was small, just the right size for the dogs; and it was
painted blue. The bright brass cans full of milk were already in;
and there was a little seat for Kat to sit on.
When the last strap was fastened, Grandfather lifted Kat up and
set her on the seat. She held on with both hands.
Then Grandfather gave the lines to Kit, and a little stick for a
whip, and told him to walk slowly along beside the dogs. He told
him to be sure not to let go of the lines.
Grandfather walked behind, carrying some milk cans.
Grandmother stood in the door to see them off; and, as they
started away, Kat took one hand off the cart long enough to wave
it to her. Then she held on again; for the bricks in the pavement
made the cart joggle a good deal.
"We must go first to Vrouw de Vet," Grandfather called out. "She
takes one quart of milk. Go slowly."
At first Kit went slowly. But pretty soon there was a great
rattling behind him; and Hans Hite, a boy he knew, drove right
past him with his dog cart! He drove fast; and, as he passed Kit,
he stuck out his tongue and called out,
"Milk for sale! Milk for sale!
A milk cart drawn by a pair of snails!"
Kit forgot all about going slowly.
"Get up!" he said to the dogs, and he touched them with his long
stick.
Peter and Paul "got up." They jumped forward and began to run!
Kit ran as fast as his legs would go beside the dogs, holding the
lines. But the dogs had four legs apiece, and Kit had only two;
so you see he couldn't keep up very well.
Kat began to scream the moment that Peter and Paul began to run.
The dogs thought that something that made a dreadful noise was
after them, and they ran faster than ever. You see, Grandfather
Winkle never in the world screamed like that, and Peter and Paul
didn't know what to make of it. So they ran and ran and ran.
Kat held on the best she could, but she bounced up ever so far in
the air every time the cart struck a bump in the street. So did
the milk cans; and when they came down again, the milk splashed
out.
Kat didn't always come down in the same spot. All the spots were
hard, so it didn't really matter much which one she struck as she
came down.
But Kat didn't think about that; she just screamed. And Peter and
Paul ran and ran, and Kit ran and ran, until he couldn't run any
more; he just sat down hard on the pavement and slid along. But
he didn't let go of the lines!
When Kit sat down, it jerked the dogs so hard that they stopped
suddenly. But Kat didn't stop; she went right on. She flew out
over the front of the cart and landed on the ground, among all of
Peter and Paul's legs! Then she stopped going, but she didn't
stop screaming.
And, though Kit was a boy, he screamed some too. Then Peter and
Paul pointed their noses up in the air and began to howl.
Way back, ever so far, Grandfather was coming along as fast as he
could; but that wasn't very fast.
All the doors on the street flew open, and all the good
housewives came clattering out to see what was the matter. They
picked Kat up and told her not to cry, and wiped her eyes with
their aprons, and stood Kit on his feet, and patted the dogs; and
pretty soon Peter and Paul stopped barking, and Kit and Kat
stopped screaming, and then it was time to find out what had
really happened.
Neither of the Twins had any broken bones; the good housewives
wiggled all their arms and legs, and felt of their bones to see.
But shocking things had happened, nevertheless! Kat had torn a
great hole in the front of her best dress; and Kit had worn two
round holes in the seat of his Sunday clothes, where he slid
along on the pavement; and, besides that, the milk was slopped
all over the bottom of the cart!
Just then Grandfather came up. If it hadn't been that his pipe
was still in his mouth, I really don't know what he might not
have said! He looked at the cart, and he looked at the Twins.
Then he took his pine out of his mouth and said sternly to Kit,
"Why didn't you do as I told you?"
"I did," said Kit, very much scared. "You told me to be sure to
hold tight to the lines, and I did! I never let go once."
"Yes, and look at his clothes," said one of the women. She turned
him around and showed Grandfather the holes.
"I told you to go slowly," said Grandfather. "Now look at the
cart, and see what you've done by not minding, spoiled your best
clothes and Kat's, and spilled the milk! Go back to Grandmother."
"But I couldn't mind twice at one time," said Kit. "I was minding
about not letting go."
"Oh dear," sobbed Kat, "I wish we were four and a half feet high
now! If we were, this never would have happened."
Grandfather took the dogs and went on to Vrouw de Vets, without
another word.
The Twins took each other's hands, and walked back to
Grandmother's house. Quite a number of little boys and girls in
wooden shoes clattered along with them. Grandmother heard all the
noise, and ran to the door to see what was the matter.
"Laws a mercy me, I told you so!" she cried, the moment she saw
them. "Look at your clothes! See how you've torn them!"
"I can't see the holes in mine," said Kit.
"But I can," said Kat. And then all the children talked at once;
and what with wooden shoes and the tongues all going, Grandmother
clapped her hands over her ears to shut out the noise. Then she
took Kit and Kat into the kitchen and shut the door. She put on
her glasses and got down on the floor so she could see better.
Then she turned Kit and Kat all around and looked at the holes.
"O! my soul!" she said. She took off the aprons and the torn
clothes and put the Twins to bed while she mended.
She got out a pair of Grandfather's oldest velveteen breeches
that had been patched a great deal, and found a good piece to
patch with. Then she patched the holes in Kit's breeches so
neatly that one had to look very carefully indeed to see that
there had ever been any holes there at all.
Then she patched Kay's dress; and, when it was all done, she
shook it out and said to herself,
"Seems to me those Twins have been quiet for a long time."
She went over to the cupboard bed; and there were Kit and Kat
fast asleep; with their cheeks all stained with tears and dirt.
Grandmother Winkle kissed them. Kit and Kat woke up, and
Grandmother dressed them in their Sunday clothes again, and
washed their faces and made them feel as good as new.
By and by Grandfather Winkle came home from going about with the
milk. Grandmother Winkle scrubbed the cart and made it all clean
again; and by noon you would never have known, unless you had
looked very, very closely, much more closely than would be polite
that anything had happened to the Twins or the milk cart, or
their clothes or anything.
After they had eaten their dinner, and the dogs were rested and
Grandfather had smoked his pipe he said,
"Kit, if you think you can mind, I will take you and Kat both
home in the dog cart." Kit and Kat both nodded their heads very
hard. "Only, I'll do the driving myself," said Grandfather
Winkle. And he did.
He put Kit and Kat both on the seat, and he walked slowly beside
the cart. They went out on the road beside the canal toward home.
They got there just as the sun was getting low in the west, and
Vrouw Vedder was going out to feed her chickens.
VI
THE DAY THEY GOT THEIR SKATES
One morning, when Kit and Kat ran out early to feed their
ducklings, the frost nipped their noses and ears.
"It's getting colder every day. Very soon winter will come," Kat
said.
They ran down to the canal. The old goose and the gander and the
goslings--now half grown--were standing on the bank, looking
unhappy: there was a thin sheet of ice all over the canal, and
they could not go swimming.
Kit took a stick and broke the ice. Thin sheets of it, like
pieces of broken glass, were soon floating about; and the old
goose, the gander, and all the goslings went down the bank in a
procession into the water.
They swam about among the pieces of ice for a while, but it was
so cold that they soon came up on the bank into the sun again and
wiggled their tails to shake out the water. Then they all sat
down in the sun to get their feet warm.
Kit and Kat ran up and down the road and played tag until their
cheeks were red and they were warm as toast. Then they ran into
Vrouw Vedder's warm kitchen.
The kettle was singing on the fire, and there was a smell of
coffee in the air. Vrouw Vedder gave the Twins some in a large
cup. She put in a good deal of milk and gave them each a piece of
sugar to sweeten it with.
"Is it Sunday?" asked Kat. On Sundays they sometimes had coffee.
On other days they had milk.
"No," said Vrouw Vedder; "but it is cold, and I thought a cup of
coffee would warm us all up."
While they were drinking their coffee, Kit and Kat talked about
the ice, and what fun they would have with their sleds on the
canals when winter came.
"I tell you what it is, Kat," said Kit; "I think we're big enough
to have skates. Hans Hite isn't much bigger than I am, and he had
skates last winter. I mean to ask Father this very day."
"Yah," said Kat--that is the way Dutch Twins always say yes--
"Yah, and let us be very good and help mother all we can. I think
maybe they will give skates to good Twins quite soon, even if we
aren't very big yet--not big enough to be called Christopher and
Katrina."
Vrouw Vedder was heating water and getting out her scrubbing
brushes, so Kit and Kat knew that she was going to clean
something.
"What are you going to scrub to-day, Mother?" asked Kit.
"I'm going to scrub the stable," said Vrouw Vedder. "It is
getting too cold for the cows to stay all night in the pastures.
Father means to bring Mevrouw Holstein in to-night, and I want
her stable to be nice and clean for her."
"We'll help you," said Kit and Kat very politely.
"Good children!" their mother said. "You may carry the brushes."
So they opened a door beside the fireplace, and walked right into
the stable.
The stable was really a part of the house. There were two stalls
in the stable. Vrouw Vedder took her pails of water and her
brushes and began to scrub. She scrubbed the walls, and the sides
of the stalls, and the floor. The Twins scrubbed, too, until they
were tired; and the stable was so clean, you would have liked to
live there yourself.
"Let's play out here," said Kat. "Let's play house."
"All right," said Kit. "I'll be the father, and you be the
mother."
"But who will be Twins?" said Kat.
"Let's get the ducklings," said Kit.
"They can be Twins, of course," said Kat. "They are, anyway."
So Kit ran out and brought in the ducklings. They were so tame
they always ran to Kit and Kat, when they saw them coming. They
were almost ducks now, they had grown so big.
"Let's give the Twins their dinner," said Kat. So she got some
grain, and they both sat down on a little box and held the ducks
in their laps and fed them from their hands. The ducks ate
greedily.
"You have very bad manners," said Kat. "You will get your clothes
all dirty." She took two rags and tied them around the ducks'
necks for bibs. The ducks did not like bibs. They quacked.
"Now don't say anything like that," said Kat. "You must do just
as you are told and not spill your food."
Then Kit got some water and a spoon and gave the Twins a drink,
but they did not like the drink either.
"Now we must put them to sleep," said Kat. They rocked the ducks
in their arms, but the ducks squawked dreadfully.
"What bad children to cry so!" said Kit. "You can have both the
Twins"; and he gave his duck to Kat.
"You fix a bed for them," said Kat. So Kit turned up the box they
had been sitting on, and put some hay in it; and they put the
ducks in on the hay.
Pretty soon the ducks went to sleep. Kit and Kat ran away to play
out of doors and forgot all about them.
They didn't think about them again until Father Vedder came home
at night with Mevrouw Holstein. When he put the cow into the
stall, he stumbled over the box. It was rather dark in the
stable.
"Quack, quack!" said the ducks.
Kit and Kat were helping Father put the cow into the stall and
get some hay for her. When the ducks quacked, Father Vedder said,
"What in the world is this?"
"Oh, our Twins! our Twins!" cried Kit and Kat. "Don't let Mevrouw
Holstein step on the Twins!"
Father Vedder pulled out the box. Kit and Kat each took a duck
and carried it out to the poultry house.
"Twins are a great care," said Kit and Kat.
"Now is the time to ask," whispered Kat to Kit, that night, when
Father Vedder had finished his supper and was lighting his pipe.
"You must ask very politely, just the very politest way you
can."
They went and stood before their father. They put their feet
together. Kit made a bow, and Kat bobbed a curtsy.
"Dear parent," said Kit.
"That's a good start," whispered Kat. "Go on."
"Well, well, what now?" said Father Vedder.
"Dear parent, Kat and I are quite big now. I think we must be
nearly four feet and a half high. Don't you think we are big
enough to have skates this winter?"
"So that's it!" said Father Vedder. Then he smoked his pipe
again.
"There was ice on the canal this morning," said Kat.
"So you think you are big enough to skate, do you?" said Father
Vedder, at last. Mother Vedder was clearing away the supper.
"What do you think about it, Mother?" said Father Vedder.
"They have been very good children," said the Vrouw. "There are
the skates you and I had when we were children. We might try them
on and see if they are big enough to wear them. They are in the
bag hanging back of the press."
Kit and Kat almost screamed with joy.
"Our feet are quite large. I'm sure we can wear them," they said.
Father Vedder got the bag down and took out two pairs of skates.
They had long curling ends on the runners. The Twins sat down on
the floor. Father Vedder tried on the skates.
"They are still pretty large; but you will grow," he told the
Twins. "You may have them if you will be very careful and not let
them get rusty. By and by we will teach you to skate."
The Twins practiced standing in the skates on the kitchen floor;
and, when bedtime came, they took the skates to bed with them.
"O Kit," said Kat, "I never supposed we'd get them so soon. Did
you?"
"Well," said Kit, "you see, we're pretty big and very good. That
makes a difference."
"It's very nice to be good when people notice it, isn't it?" said
Kat.
"Yah," said Kit. "I'm going to be good now right along, all the
time; for very soon St. Nicholas will come, and he leaves only a
rod in the shoes of bad children. And if you've been bad, you
have to tell him about it."
"Oh! Oh!" said Kat. "I'm going to be good all the time too. I'm
going to be good until after the feast of St. Nicholas, anyway."
Not many days after Kit and Kat got their skates, there came a
cold, cold wind. It blew over the fields and over the canals all
day and all night long; and in the morning, when the Twins looked
out, the canal was one shining roadway of ice.
Father Vedder came in from the stable with a great pail full of
milk.
"Winter is here now, for good and all," he said, as he set the
pail down. "The canals are frozen over, and soon it will be the
day for the feast of St. Nicholas."
Kit and Kat ran to him and said, both together,
"Dear Father Vedder, will you please teach us to skate before
St. Nicholas Day?"
"I'll see if the ice is strong enough to bear," said Father
Vedder; and he went right down to the canal to see, that very
minute. When he came in, he said,
"Yes, the ice is strong; and we will go out as soon as you are
ready, and try your skates."
Vrouw Vedder said, "I should like to go too"; and Father Vedder
said to Kit and Kat,
"Your mother used to be the finest skater in the whole village
when she was a young girl. You must not let her beat you."
They hurried through with their work, Kit and Kat helped. Then
they all put on their heavy shoes and wraps, took their skates
over their shoulders, and started for the canal.
"If you learn to skate well enough, we will take you to town
before the feast of St. Nicholas," said Father Vedder. "But it
comes very soon."
He put on his own skates and Kit's, and the mother put on her own
and Kat's.
"I'm sure we can do it almost right away," said Kat.
"Now we'll show you how to skate," said Father Vedder. He stood
the Twins up on the ice. They held each other's hands. They were
afraid to move. Father Vedder took Mother Vedder's hand.
"See," he said, "like this!" And away they went like two
swallows, skimming over the ice. In a minute they were ever so
far away.
Kit and Kat felt lonesome, and very queer, when they saw their
father and mother flying along in that way. They weren't used to
see them do anything but work, and move about slowly.
"It looks easy," said Kit. "Let's try it. We must not be afraid."
He started with his right leg, pushing it out a little in front
of him. But it was very strange how his legs acted. They didn't
seem to belong to him at all! His left leg tried to follow his
right, just as it ought to; but, instead, it slid out sidewise
and knocked against Kat's skates. Then both Kat's feet flew up;
and she sat down very hard, on the ice. And Kit came down on top
of her.
They tried to get up; but, each time they tried, their feet slid
away from them.
"Oh dear," said Kat, "we are all mixed up! Are those your feet or
mine? I can't tell which is which!"
"They don't any of them mind," said Kit. "I can't stand up on any
of them. I've tried them all! We'll just have to wait until
Father and Mother come back and pick us out."
"Ice is quite cold to sit on, isn't it?" said Kat.
Soon Father and Mother Vedder came skimming back again. When they
saw Kit and Kat, they laughed and skated to them, picked them up,
and set them on their feet.
"Now I'll take Kit, and you take Kat," said Vrouw Vedder to her
husband, "and they'll be skating in no time." So Kat's father
took her hands, and Kit took hold of his mother's, and they
started off.
At first the Twins' feet didn't behave well at all. They seemed
to want to do everything they could to bother them. They would
sprawl way apart; then they would toe in and run into each other.
Many times Kit and Kat would have fallen if Father and Mother
Vedder had not held them up; but before the lesson was over, both
Kit and Kat could skate a little bit alone.
"See, this is the way," said Vrouw Vedder; and she skated around
in a circle. Then she cut a figure like this 8 in the ice. Then
Father Vedder did a figure like this S all on one foot.
"My!" said Kit and Kat.
"I think our parents must skate the best of all the people in the
world," said Kat.
"I'm going to some day," said Kit.
"So'm I," said Kat.
After a while Vrouw Vedder said,
"It's time to go home. Not too much the first time." So they all
went back home with their cheeks as red as roses, and their noses
too, and such an appetite for dinner!
But the Twins were a little lame next day.
Every day after that, Kit and Kat went out with their skates to
the ditches and tried and tried to skate as Father and Mother did
they did so want to skate to town and see the sights before the
feast of St. Nicholas! They worked so hard that in a week they
could skate very well; and then they planned a surprise for their
mother.
"If you will watch at the window, you'll see a great sight on the
canal very soon," said Kit to his mother one day.
Of course Vrouw Vedder hadn't the least idea what it would be!
Kit and Kat slipped out through the stable and ran down to the
ditch. They put on their skates and skated from the ditch out to
the big canal.
Vrouw Vedder was watching at the window. Soon she saw Kit and Kat
go flying by, hand in hand, on the canal! They waved their hands
to her. Vrouw Vedder was so pleased that she went to call Father
Vedder, who was in the hay-loft over the stable.
"Come and see Kit and Kat," she cried.
Father Vedder came down from the loft and looked too. Then Kit
cut a figure like this, S, and Kat cut one like this, 6. The
round spot is where she sat down hard, just as she was almost
around.
When they came into the kitchen Father said,
"I think we could take such a fine pair of skaters as that to the
Vink with us on our way to town! The ice is very hard and thick
for so early in the season, and we will go to-morrow."
"We can see the shops too. St. Nicholas is coming, and the shops
are full of fine things," said Vrouw Vedder.
Kit and Kat could hardly wait for tomorrow to come. They polished
their skates and made everything ready.
"What do you suppose the Vink is?" said Kat to Kit.
"I think it is something like a church," said Kit.
"You don't know what a Vink is, so there," said Kat. "I think
it's something to eat."
Then Kit changed the subject.
"I'll race you to-morrow," he said.
"I'll beat," said Kat.
"We'll see," said Kit.
The next day they started, all four, quite early in the morning:
Vrouw Vedder took her basket on her arm.
"I shall want to buy some things," she said.
Father Vedder lighted his pipe "To keep my nose warm," he said.
Then they all went down to the canal and put on their skates.
"Kat and I are going to race to the first windmill," said Kit.
"I'll tell you when to start," said Father Vedder.
"And I'll get a cake for the one who wins," said the mother.
"One, two, three!" Away they flew like the wind! Father and
Mother Vedder came close behind.
Kit was so sure he would beat that he thought he would show off a
little. He went zigzag across the canal; once or twice he stopped
to skate in curves.
Kat didn't stop for anything. She kept her eyes on the windmill,
and she skated as hard as she could.
They were getting quite near the mill now. Kit stopped playing
and began to skate as fast as he could. But Kat had got the start
of him.
"I'll soon get ahead of her," he thought. "She 's a girl, and I'm
a boy." He struck out with great long sweeps, as long as such
short legs could make, but Kat kept ahead; and in another minute
there she was at the windmill, quite out of breath, and pointing
her finger at Kit!
"I beat, I beat," she said.
"Well, I could have beaten if I wanted to," said Kit.
"I'll get the cake," said Kat.
"I don't care," said Kit. But Kat knew that he did.
"I'll give you a piece," she said.
Father and Mother Vedder came along then; and when Kit and Kat
were rested, they all skated for along time without saying
anything. Then Father Vedder said proudly to his wife,
"They keep up as well as anybody! Were there ever such Twins!"
And Mother Vedder said,
"Never!"
By and by other people appeared on the canal men and women and
children, all skating. They were going to the town to see the
sights too.
One woman skated by with her baby in her arms. One man was
smoking a long pipe, and his wife was carrying a basket of eggs.
But the man and woman were good skaters. They flew along,
laughing; and no one could get near enough to upset them.
As they came nearer to the town, Kit and Kat saw a tent near the
place where one canal opened into another. A man stood near the
tent. He put his hands together and shouted through them to the
skaters,
"Come in, come in, and get a drink
Of warm sweet milk on your way to the Vink:"
"We must be getting quite near the Vink," Kat said. "I do wonder
what it looks like Do you think it's alive?"
They passed another tent. There a man was shouting,
"Come buy a sweet cake; it costs but a cent,
Come buy, come buy, from the man in the tent."
Vrouw Vedder said,
"I promised a cake to the one who beat in the race. We'll go in
here and get it."
So they went to the tent.
They bought two cakes, and each ate half of one. Kat broke the
cakes and gave them to the others, because she won the race.
When they had eaten the cakes, they skated on. The canals grew
more and more crowded. There were a good many tents; flags were
flying, and the whole place was very gay.
At last they saw a big building, with crowds of merry skaters
about it. Many people were going in and out.
"There's the Vink," said Father Vedder.
"Where?" said Kit and Kat.
He pointed to the building.
"Oh!" said Kit. He never said another word about what they had
thought it was like.
Soon they were inside the Vink. It was a large restaurant. There
were many little tables about, crowded with people, eating and
drinking. Father Vedder found a table, and they all sat down.
"Bring us some pea soup," he said to the waiter. Soon they were
eating the hot soup.
"This is the best thing I ever had," said Kit.
When they had eaten their soup; they went out of the building and
walked through the streets of the town. All the shops were filled
with pretty things. The bake shops had wonderful cakes with
little candies on top, and there were great cakes made like St.
Nicholas himself in his long robes.
Kit and Kat flattened their noses against all the shop windows,
and looked at the toys and cakes.
"I wish St. Nicholas would bring me that," said kit, pointing to
a very large St. Nicholas cake.
"And I want some of those," Kat said, pointing to some cakes made
in the shapes of birds and fish.
Vrouw Vedder had gone with her basket on an errand. Father Vedder
and Kit and Kat walked slowly along, waiting for her. Soon there
was a great noise up the street. There were shouts, and the
clatter of wooden shoes.
"Look! Look!" cried Kit.
There, in the midst of the crowd, was a great white horse; and
riding on it was the good St. Nicholas himself! He had a long
white beard and red cheeks, and long robes, with a mitre on his
head; and he smiled at the children, who crowded around him and
followed him in a noisy procession down the street.
Behind St. Nicholas came a cart, filled with packages of all
sizes. The children were all shouting at once, "Give me a cake,
good St. Nicholas!" or, "Give me a new pair of shoes!" or
whatever each one wanted most.
"Where is he going?" asked Kit and Kat.
"He's carrying presents to houses where there are good girls and
boys," Father Vedder said. "For bad children, there is only a rod
in the shoe."
"I'm glad we're so good," said Kit.
"When will he come to our house?" asked Kat.
"Not until to-morrow," said Father Vedder. "But you must fill
your wooden shoes with beans or hay for his good horse, tonight;
and then perhaps he will come down the chimney and leave
something in them. It's worth trying."
Kit and hat were in a hurry to get home, for fear the Saint would
get there first.
It was growing late, so they all went to a waffle shop for their
supper.
In the shop a woman sat before an open fire. On the fire was a
big waffle iron. She made the waffles, put sugar and butter on
them, and passed a plate of them to each one. Oh, how good they
were!
When they had eaten their waffles, Father and Mother Vedder and
the Twins went back to the canal and put on their skates. It was
late in the afternoon: They took hold of hands and began to skate
toward home, four in a row. Father and Mother Vedder were on the
outside, and the Twins in the middle.
It was dark when they reached home. Vrouw Vedder lighted the
fire, while Father Vedder went to feed the cow and see that the
chickens and ducks and geese were all safe for the night.
Kit and Kat ran for their wooden shoes. They each took one and
put some hay in it. This was for St. Nicholas to give to his
horse. Father Vedder put the shoes on the mantel. Then they
hurried to bed to make morning come quicker.
Father and Mother Vedder sat up late that night. Mother Vedder
said it was to prepare the goose for dinner the next day.
When the Twins woke the next morning, the fire was already
roaring up the chimney, and the kitchen was warm as toast. They
hopped out of bed and ran for their wooden shoes. Mother Vedder
reached up to the mantel shelf for them. Truly, the hay was gone
and there in each shoe was a package done up in paper!
"Oh, he did come! He did come!" cried Kat. "O Mother, you're sure
you didn't build the fire before he had got out of the chimney?"
"I'm sure," said Vrouw Vedder. "I've made the fire on many a St.
Nicholas morning, and I've never burned him yet!"
The Twins climbed up the steps to their cupboard bed and sat on
the edge of it to open their packages. In Kit's was a big St.
Nicholas cake, like the one in the shop window! And in Kat's were
three cakes like birds, and two like fish!
"Just what we wanted!" said Kit and Kat. "Do you suppose he heard
us say so?"
"St. Nicholas can hear what people think," said Vrouw Vedder. "He
is coming to see you to-night at six o'clock, and you must be
ready to sing him a little song and answer any questions he asks
you."
"How glad I am that we are so good!" said Kat.
"We'll see what the Saint thinks about that," said the mother.
"Now get dressed; for Grandfather and Grandmother will be here
for dinner, and we're going to have roast goose, and there's a
great deal to do."
Kit and Kat set their beautiful cakes up where they could see
them while they dressed.
"I do wish every day were St. Nicholas Day," said Kit.
"Or the day before," said Kat. "That was such a nice day!"
"All the days are nice days, I think," said Kit.
"I don't think the dog-cart day was so very nice," said Kat. "We
tore our best clothes, and they'll never, never be so nice again.
That was because you didn't mind!"
"Well," said Kit, "I minded as much as I could. How can I mind
two things at one time? You know how well I can think! You know
how I thought about Vrouw Van der Kloot's cakes. But I can't
think how I can mind twice at one time."
"I don't suppose you can," said Kat. "But anyway, I'm sorry about
my dress."
Just then Vrouw Vedder called them to come and eat their
breakfast.
Father and Mother Vedder sat down at the little round table and
bowed their heads. Kit and Kat stood up. Father Vedder said
grace; and then they ate their salt herring and drank their
coffee; and Kit and Kat had coffee too, because it was St.
Nicholas morning.
It was snowing when, after breakfast, Kit went out with his
father to feed the chickens and the pigs, and to see that the cow
had something very good that she liked to eat. When they had done
that, they called Kat; and she helped throw out some grain on the
white snow, so the birds could have a feast, too.
It snowed all day. Kit and Kat both helped their mother get the
dinner. They got the cabbage and the onions and the potatoes
ready; and when the goose was hung upon the fire to roast, they
watched it and kept it spinning around on the spit, so it would
brown evenly.
By and by the kitchen was all in order, and you can't think how
clean and homelike it looked! The brasses all around the room had
little flames dancing in them, because they were so bright and
shiny. Everything was ready for the St. Nicholas feast. The goose
was nearly roasted, and there was such a good smell of it in the
air!
After a while there was a great stamping of feet at the door; and
Vrouw Vedder ran with the broom to brush the snow off Grandfather
and Grandmother, who had skated all the way from town, on the
canal. When they were warmed and dried, and all their wraps put
away, Grandfather and Grandmother Winkle looked around the
pleasant kitchen; and Grandmother said to Grandfather,
"Our Neltje is certainly a good house-wife." Neltje was Vrouw
Vedder. And Grandfather said,
"There's only one better one, my dear." He meant Grandmother
Winkle.
By and by they all sat down to dinner, and I can't begin to tell
you how good it was! It makes one hungry just to think of it.
They had roast goose and onions and turnips and cabbage. They had
bread and butter, and cheese, and sweet cakes.
"Everything except the flour in the bread, we raised ourselves,"
said Vrouw Vedder. "The hens gave us the eggs; and the cow, the
butter. The Twins helped Father and me to take care of the
chickens, and to milk the cow, and to make the butter; so it is
our very own St. Nicholas feast that we are eating."
"A farmer's life is the best life there is," said Father Vedder.
They sat a long time at the table; and Grandfather told stories
about when he was a boy; and Father Vedder told how Kit and Kat
learned to skate; and Kit and Kat told how they saw St. Nicholas
riding on a white horse, and how he sent them the very things
they wanted; and they all enjoyed themselves very much.
After dinner, Grandmother Winkle sat down in the chimney corner
and called Kit and Kat.
"Come here," she said, "and I'll tell you some stories about St.
Nicholas."
The Twins brought two little stools and sat beside her, one on
each side. She took out her knitting; and as the needles clicked
in her fingers, she told this story:
"Once upon a time, many years ago, three little brothers went out
one day to the woods to gather fagots. They were just about as
big as you are, Kit and Kat."
"Were they all three, twins?" asked Kat.
"The story doesn't tell about that," said Grandmother Winkle;
"but maybe they were. At any rate, they all got lost in the woods
and wandered ever so far, trying to find their way home. But
instead of finding their way home, they just got more and more
lost all the time. They were very tired and hungry; but, as they
were brave boys, not one of them cried."
"It's lucky that none of those twins were girls," said Kit.
"I've even heard of boy twins that cried, when dog carts ran
away, or something of that kind happened," said Grandmother
Winkle. "But you shouldn't interrupt; it's not polite."
"Oh!" said Kit very meekly.
"Well, as I was saying, they were very lost indeed. Night was
coming on; and they were just thinking that they must lie down on
the ground to sleep, when one of them saw a light shining through
the leaves. He pointed it out to the others; and they walked
along toward it, stumbling over roots and stones as they went,
for it was now quite dark.
"As they came nearer, they saw that the light came from the
window of a poor little hut on the edge of a clearing.
"They went to the door and knocked. The door was opened by a
dirty old woman, who lived in the but with her husband, who was a
farmer.
"The boys told the old woman that they had lost their way, and
asked her if she could give them a place to sleep. She spoke to
her husband, who sat crouched over a little fire in the corner;
and he told her to give them a bed in the loft.
"The three boys climbed the little ladder into the loft and lay
down on the hay. They were so tired that they fell asleep at
once. The old man and his wife whispered about them over their
bit of fire.
"'They are fine-looking boys; and well dressed,' said the old
woman.
"'Yes,' said the old man, 'and I have no doubt they have plenty
of money about them.'
"'Do you really think so?' said the wife.
"'I think I'll find out,' said the wicked farmer. So he climbed
up to the loft and killed the three boys. Then he looked in their
pockets for money; but there was no money there.
"He was very angry. And he was very much afraid, wicked people
are always afraid."
"Are all afraid people wicked?" asked Kat. She wished very much
that she were brave.
"M-m-m, well, not always," said Grandmother Winkle.
"The wicked farmer was so afraid that he wanted to put the bodies
of the three boys where no one would find them. So he carried
them down cellar and put them into the pickle tub with his pork."
"Oh! Oh! Oh!" screamed Kat, and she put her hands over her ears.
Even Kit's eyes were very round and big. But Grandmother said,
"Now, don't you be scared until I get to the end of the story.
Didn't I tell you it was all about St. Nicholas? You wait and see
what happened!
"That very same day the wicked farmer went to market with some
vegetables to sell. As he was sitting in the market, St. Nicholas
appeared, before him. He had on his mitre and his long robes,
just as you see him in Kit's cake.
"Have you any pork to sell?" St. Nicholas asked the man.
"No," said the farmer.
"What of the three young pigs in your brine tub in the cellar?"
said St. Nicholas.
The farmer saw that his wicked deed was found out, as all wicked
deeds are, sooner or later. He fell on his knees and begged the
good Saint to forgive him.
St. Nicholas said, "Show me the way to your house."
The farmer left his vegetables unsold in the market and went
home at once, the Saint following all the way.
When they reached the hut, St. Nicholas went to the pickled-pork
tub in the cellar. He waved his staff over the tub, and out
jumped the three boys, hearty and well! Then the good Saint took
them through the woods and left them in sight of their own home.
"Oh, what a good St. Nicholas!" said Kit and Kat. "Tell us
another."
"Well," said Grandmother Winkle, once upon another time there was
a very mean man, who had a great deal of money, that often
happens. He had, also, three beautiful daughters, that sometimes
happens too.
One day he lost all his money. Now, he cared more for money than
for anything else in the world more, even, than for his three
beautiful daughters. So he made up his mind to sell them!
St. Nicholas knew of this wicked plan; so that very night he
went to the man's house and dropped some money through a broken
window.
"Why did he do that?" asked Kat.
Because the man was selling his daughters to get money. If he
had money enough, he wouldn't sell them.
The first night St. Nicholas dropped enough money to pay for the
eldest daughter. The next night he took a purse of gold for the
second daughter, and dropped it down the chimney. It fell down
right in front of the man, as he was getting a coal to light his
pipe. The third night the man watched; and when St. Nicholas
came, the door flew open, and the man ran out. He caught St.
Nicholas by his long robe and held him.
"O St. Nicholas, Servant of the Lord," he said, "why dost thou
hide thy good deeds?"
And from that time on, every one has known it is St. Nicholas
who brings gifts in the night and drops them down the chimney.
"Did the man sell his daughter?" asked Kat.
"No," said Grandmother. "He was so ashamed of himself that he
wasn't wicked any more."
"Does St. Nicholas give everybody presents so they will be good?"
asked Kat.
"Yes," said Grandmother; "that's why bad children get only a rod
in their shoes."
"He gave the bad man nice presents to make him good," said Kit.
"Why doesn't he give bad children nice things to make them good
too?"
Grandmother Winkle knitted for a minute without speaking. Then
she said,
"I guess he thinks that the rod is the present that will make
them good in the shortest time."
The clock had been ticking steadily along while Grandmother had
been telling stories, and it was now late in the afternoon. The
sky was all red in the west; there were long, long shadows across
the snowy fields, and the corners of the kitchen were quite dark.
"It's almost time to expect him, now," said Vrouw Vedder; and she
brought out a sheet and spread it in the middle of the kitchen
floor. She stirred up the fire, and the room was filled with the
pleasant glow from the flames.
Kit and Kat sat on their little stools. Their eyes were very big.
At five minutes of six, Vrouw Vedder said,
"He will be here in just a few minutes, now. Get up, Kit and Kat,
and sing your song!"
The Twins stood up on the edge of the sheet and began to sing:
"St. Nicholas, good, holy man,
Put on your best gown;
Ride with it to Amsterdam,
From Amsterdam to Spain."
While they were singing, there was a sound at the door, of some
one feeling for the latch. Then the door flew open, and a great
shower of sweet cakes and candies fell onto the sheet, all around
Kit and Kat! There in the doorway stood St. Nicholas himself,
smiling and shaking off the snow! His horse was stamping outside.
Kit and Kat could hear it.
They stopped singing and hardly breathed, they stood so still.
They looked at St. Nicholas with big, big eyes. In one hand St.
Nicholas carried two large packages; in the other, a birch rod.
"Are there any good children here?" said St. Nicholas.
"Pretty good, if you please, dear St. Nicholas," said Kit in a
very small voice.
"Children who always mind their mothers and fathers and
grandfathers and grandmothers?" said St. Nicholas, "and who do
not quarrel?"
Kat couldn't say anything at all, though the Saint looked right
at her! Vrouw Vedder spoke.
"I think, dear St. Nicholas, they are very good children," she
said.
"Then I will leave these for them and carry the rod along to some
bad little boy and girl, if I find one," said St. Nicholas.
"There seem to be very few about here. I haven't left a single
rod yet." And he handed one big package to Kit, and another to
Kat.
"Thank you," said Kit and Kat.
St. Nicholas smiled at them and waved his hand. Then the door
shut, and he was gone!
Kit and Kat dropped on their knees to pick up the cakes and
candies. They passed the cakes and candies around to each one.
Vrouw Vedder lighted the candles, and then they all gathered
around to see Kit and Kat open their bundles.
"You open yours first," said Vrouw Vedder to Kat.
Kat was so excited that she could hardly untie the string. When
she got the bundle open, there was a beautiful new Sunday dress
much prettier than the torn one had ever been! Oh, how pleased
Kat was! She hugged her motherand her grandmother and her father
and her grandfather.
"I just wish I could hug dear St. Nicholas, too," she said.
Then Kit opened his bundle; and there was a beautiful new
velveteen suit, with his very own silver buttons on it! It had
pockets in it! He put his hand in one pocket. It had a penny in
it! Then he put his hand in the other pocket. There was another
penny!
"I'm going to see if there's a pocket in mine," said Kat.
She hunted and hunted and hunted. By and by she found a pocket.
And sure enough, there was a penny in that too!
Then some presents came from somewhere for Father and Mother
Vedder and for Grandfather and Grandmother Winkle; and such a
time as they all had, opening the bundles and showing their
presents!
Then Mother Vedder tried on Kit's suit and Kat's dress, to see if
they were the right size. They were just right exactly.
"St. Nicholas even knows how big we are," said Kat.
"Oh, I wish St. Nicholas Day would last a week," said Kit.
"That reminds me," said Vrouw Vedder, and she looked at the
clock. "Half-past ten, and these children still up! Bless my
heart, this will never do! Come here, Kit and Kat, and let me
undo your buttons!"
"May we take our new clothes to bed with us?" Kat asked.
"Yes, just this once," said Mother Vedder, "because this
is St. Nicholas night."
They kissed their Grandfather and Grandmother good-night, and
their Mother and Father, and said their prayers like good
children; and then they climbed up into their little cupboard
bed, and Vrouw Vedder drew the curtains, so they would go to
sleep sooner.
"Good-night, dear little Twins," she said.
And so say we.
SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS
This book is the first of a series of stories for supplementary
reading the purpose of which is to give children a correct idea
of life in different countries, both in the spirit and atmosphere
of the story, and in the actual descriptions. These books will
also further a spirit of friendliness and good will for children
of other nationalities. Respect for and an understanding of the
life and customs of other races, are not only educationally
valuable, but are fundamentally important in this "crucible of
nations," where different races are fusing themselves together as
never before in the history of the world. Tradition is a precious
heritage, and the traditions of other nations should be the
natural inheritance of the American child, since here as nowhere
else all the nations of the earth are entering into our national
life.
The author has recognized from the start that the purpose of a
book of this kind would fail of realization if the narrative does
not appeal strongly to children. The delight with which the book
has been received by children is evidence that the important
element of interest has not been left out of the narrative.
To make the reading of this story most valuable as a school
exercise, it is suggested that children be allowed at the outset
to turn the pages of the book in order to get glimpses of "Kit"
and "Kat," in the various scenes in which they are portrayed, in
the illustrations, thus arousing their interest. With a globe, or
a map of the world, point out Holland, and tell the children
something about the unique character of the country.
The text is so simply written that any third or fourth grade
child can read it without much preparation. In the third grade it
may be well to have the children read it first in the study
period in order to work out the pronunciation of the more
difficult words. In the fourth grade the children can usually
read it at sight, without the preparatory study.
In connection with the reading of the book, have children read
selections from their readers and other books about Holland and
its people. The legend of "The Hole in the Dike" is an
illustration of this kind of collateral reading. Let children
also bring to class postcards and other pictures illustrating
scenes in Holland.
The unique illustrations in the book should be much used, both in
the reading of the story and in other ways. Children will enjoy
sketching some of the pictures; their simple treatment makes them
especially useful for this purpose. An excellent oral language
exercise would be for the children, after they have read the
story, to take turns telling the story from the pictures; and a
good composition exercise would be for each child to select the
picture that he would like to write upon, make a sketch of it,
and write the story in his own words.
These are only a few of the number of ways that will occur to
resourceful teachers of making the book a valuable as well as an
interesting exercise in reading.
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