rs. In this way persons who cannot afford to keep a
fire burning in hot weather may yet have their cup of tea or coffee and
bit of boiled fish and potato.

After leaving the old fire woman, who nodded a pleasant good-bye to
us, and willingly put our stivers in her great outside pocket, we drove
through the streets enjoying the singular sights of a public washing
day. Yes, in certain quarters of the city, away from the canals, the
streets were lively with washerwomen hard at work. Hundreds of them
in clumsy wooden shoes, with their tucked-up skirts, bare arms, and
close-fitting caps, were bending over tall wooden tubs that reached as
high as their waists--gossiping and rubbing, rubbing and gossiping--with
perfect unconcern, in the public thoroughfare, and all washing with cold
water instead of using hot, as we do. What a grand thing it would be for
our old fire woman if boiling water were suddenly to become the fashion
on these public washing days!

And now goodbye. Oh! I must tell you one more thing. We found today in
an Amsterdam bookstore this story of Hans Brinker told in Dutch. It is
a queer-looking volume, beautifully printed, and with colored pictures,
but filled with such astounding words that it really made me feel sorry
for the little Hollanders who are to read them.

Good-bye again, in the touching words of our Dutch translator with whom
I'm sure you'll heartily agree: Toch ben ik er mijn landgenooten dank
baar voor, die mijn arbeid steeds zoo welwillend outvangen en wier
genegenheid ik voortdurend hoop te verdienen.

Yours affectionately, The Author.

Contents

Hans and Gretel
Holland
The Silver Skates
Hans and Gretel Find a Friend
Shadows in the Home
Sunbeams
Hans Has His Way
Introducing Jacob Poot and His Cousin
The Festival of Saint Nicholas
What the Boys Saw and Did in Amsterdam
Big Manias and Little Oddities
On the Way to Haarlem
A Catastrophe
Hans
Homes
Haarlem--The Boys Hear Voices
The Man with Four Heads
Friends in Need
On the Canal
Jacob Poot Changes the Plan
Mynheer Kleef and His Bill of Fare
The Red Lion Becomes Dangerous
Before the Court
The Beleaguered Cities
Leyden
The Palace in the Wood
The Merchant Prince and the Sister-Princess
Through the Hague
A Day of Rest
Homeward Bound
Boys and Girls
The Crisis