nt
Poot's grand parlor?"

Ben laughed. "Only once, and that was on the day of my arrival. Jacob
says I shall have no chance of entering it again until the time of his
sister Kanau's wedding, the week after Christmas. Father has consented
that I shall remain to witness the great event. Every Saturday Aunt Poot
and her fat Kate go into that parlor and sweep and polish and scrub;
then it is darkened and closed until Saturday comes again; not a soul
enters it in the meantime; but the schoonmaken, as she calls it, must be
done just the same."

"That is nothing. Every parlor in Broek meets with the same treatment,"
said Lambert. "What do you think of those moving figures in her
neighbor's garden?"

"Oh, they're well enough; the swans must seem really alive gliding about
the pond in summer; but that nodding mandarin in the corner, under the
chestnut trees, is ridiculous, only fit for children to laugh at. And
then the stiff garden patches, and the trees all trimmed and painted.
Excuse me, Van Mounen, but I shall never learn to admire Dutch taste."

"It will take time," answered Lambert condescendingly, "but you are sure
to agree with it at last. I saw much to admire in England, and I hope
I shall be sent back with you to study at Oxford, but, take everything
together, I like Holland best."

"Of course you do," said Ben in a tone of hearty approval. "You wouldn't
be a good Hollander if you didn't. Nothing like loving one's country. It
is strange, though, to have such a warm feeling for such a cold place.
If we were not exercising all the time, we should freeze outright."

Lambert laughed.

"That's your English blood, Benjamin. I'M not cold. And look at the
skaters here on the canal--they're red as roses and happy as lords.
Halloo, good Captain van Holp," called out Lambert in Dutch, "what say
you to stopping at yonder farmhouse and warming our toes?"

"Who is cold?" asked Peter, turning around.

"Benjamin Dobbs."

"Benjamin Dobbs shall be warmed," and the party was brought to a halt.

On the Way to Haarlem

On approaching the door of the farmhouse the boys suddenly found
themselves in the midst of a lively domestic scene. A burly Dutchman
came rushing out, closely followed by his dear vrouw, and she was
beating him smartly with her long-handled warming pan. The expression on
her face gave our boys so little promise of a kind reception that they
prudently resolved to carry their toes elsewhere to be warm