-good-bye!"

Grimm turned away from the table with a growl, to confront Kathrien.

"Why, girl!" he exclaimed, in quick concern. "You look as if you are
going to cry. What is it? Tell Oom Peter!"

CHAPTER III

PETER GRIMM HAS A PLAN

"That man!" panted Kathrien. "He actually wants to buy our home--our
gardens! Oh!" slipping for a moment back into the Dutch that was ever
nearer to her heart than English, "_Stel je zoon brutali tat!_"

"Don't you worry!" consoled Peter. "He won't get a stick or a stone of
ours. Wouldn't you think that girl had been born a Grimm, Fritzy? She's
got the true spirit. No, no, dear. Of course we won't sell. Never.
Never. _Never._ Hey, Fritz?"

"Certainly not!" declared Frederik. "The idea is preposterous."

"Fritzy!" exclaimed Grimm. "Speaking of ideas, I've got one, too. We'll
print the Grimm history in our new Midsummer Almanac. That's better than
a full-page cut of any tulip that ever sprouted. Katie, go get the
Staaten Bible and read it aloud to us. We can tell, then, how it will
strike the public."

The girl went to the side table where lay the great Bible, drew a chair
up to it, seated herself, turned over the leaves until she found what
she sought, then began to read in a manner that argued many previous
renditions of the quaint old phraseology.

"In the spring of 1709 there settled on Quassic Creek, New York Colony,
Johann Grimm, aged twenty-two--husbandman and vinedresser. Also,
Johanna, his wife. To him Queen Anne furnished one square, one rule, one
compass, two whipping saws, and several small pieces----"

"You left out 'two augers,'" prompted Grimm.

"Yes, 'and two augers.' To him was born a son and----"

"See?" cried Grimm. "That was the foundation of our family and our
business here. And here we are, still. After seven generations. We'll
print it. Hey, Fritzy?"

"Certainly, sir," approved Frederik, stifling a yawn with an access of
filial enthusiasm. "By all means, we'll print it."

"And, Fritzy," continued Grimm, with heavy significance, "we're relying
on you for the next line in the book."

Frederik glanced around him. Hartmann, during the reading, had gone
from the room to get some papers he had left at the office. But Kathrien
still lingered, restoring the Bible to its wonted place.

"Oh, by the way, Oom Peter," said Frederik, lowering his voice so as not
to reach the girl's ears, "I want to speak to you about a private matter
when you can spare me