you gold in your mouth? And
"Eagle"! Can you fly? Take me with you. What a big play-ground up
there, and no school!

I wonder how the first school began. Which came first, the school,
or the teacher? But the first teacher must have attended a school. And
the first school must have had a teacher.

So the first school must have just started itself. But that is
impossible. "Eagle," can you turn yourself?--with the wind? Can you
turn yourself some other way? Try it. Beat "Morning Hour." Quick,
quick--beautiful!

Now, once more alone. Good!

Now, together again! Karre, karre, kra, kra--stretch your arms out and
take me with you. Will you? Put your hat on, Eagle; how the ribbons
fly.--Who are you? Warre, warre, ware, wan--I can't help it; it was the
duck. Tell me what your name is. Fanny, fanny, fanny, fan---- Is your
name fan? And you, Morning Hour, what is your name? Ceny, ceny, ceny,
ce. What kind of a name is Ce? Now together--sing a song together:

Fanny, fanny, fanny, fan--
Ceny, ceny, ceny, ce--
Fanny, ceny, fanny, ceny,
Fanny, ceny, fan--cy.

Fancy--what do you mean by that? Is that the name of both of you? And
what is it? Has it wings?

"Morning Hour" and "Eagle" had fused into something that had wings
and was called fancy.

Fancy lifted Walter up and bore him away.

When she brought him back to the bridge again it had already been
dark for a long time. He shook himself as if he were wet, rubbed his
eyes and started home. We shall see later what awaited him there;
but first we must go back a few hours. I hope the reader will not
disdain an invitation to Juffrouw Pieterse's. Remember that her
husband never made anything, but bought everything ready-made in Paris.

In passing by I should like to make Master Pennewip a short visit.

CHAPTER VII

School was out; and the seats looked as if the pupils had just left
the tediousness of it all lying there. The map of Europe looked down
peevishly on the heap of writing-pads. There lay the mutilated and
well-worn goose-quills, which since time immemorial have opened up
the gates of learning. True, the black-board vaunted itself with the
heavy results of the last lesson in "fractions"; but the school was
no more. The spirit had fled: It was a corpse.

Yes, the "Geist" had gone out with the children; for the reader will
see in a moment that they carried about with them a tremendous amount
of that artic