small cottage, while their owners
all talked at once to two sweet-faced women standing in the doorway.
These were Marie's sisters, whose husbands were out on the sea fishing,
and who lived close beside each other in two tiny cottages exactly
alike.

"Oh," exclaimed Katharine, as, panting and breathless, she joined the
group, "do you always take off your shoes before you go into the
house?"

[Illustration: LITTLE MAYKEN]

"Why, of course," said the children.

"How funny!" said Katharine.

Then Marie, who had been left far behind, came up and introduced the
little stranger to Juffrouw Van Dyne and Juffrouw Boekman, who took her
into the house, followed by the three children who belonged there and
the four cousins who belonged next door. They took off her coat and hat
and gave her an arm-chair to sit in as she nibbled a tiny piece of
gingerbread, while large pieces from the same loaf disappeared as if by
magic among the other children. Then Gretel showed to her her doll; Jan
shyly put into her hand a very pretty small model of the boat she had
come in on that morning; Lotten offered her a piece of Edam cheese,
which she took, while politely declining Mayken's offer to teach her to
knit, little Katrine deposited a beautiful white kitten on her lap;
Ludolf showed her a fine pair of klompen on which his father was
teaching him to carve some very pretty figures; Freitje brought all his
new fishing-tackle and invited her to go fishing with him at the back of
the house. It was not long before Katharine forgot that she was
homesick, and grew really interested in her surroundings; and later the
dinner, consisting chiefly of fish and rye bread, tasted very good to
the now hungry Katharine.

It was after dinner that the tragedy happened. The children had all
started out for a walk. Before they had gone more than a mile from the
house the fog settled all around them--so dense, so thick, blotting out
everything, that they could not see more than a step ahead. They were
not frightened, however, as all they had to do was to turn round and go
straight ahead toward home. The children took one another's hands at
Gretel's direction, stretching themselves across the road, Katharine,
who held Gretel's hand, being at one end of the line. They walked on
slowly along the dike for a short time, talking busily, though not able
to see where they were going, when suddenly Katharine felt her feet
slipping. In trying to steady herself she le