oil over! Jan, you may shut up the fowls; they have already
gone to roost."

"And what shall I do, Mother?" laughed Father Van Hove.

"You," she called back, "you may unharness Pier and turn him out in the
pasture for the night! And I'll wager I shall be back with a full
milk-pail before you've even so much as fed the pig, let alone the
other chores--men are so slow!" She waved her hand gayly and
disappeared behind the pasture bars, as she spoke.

"Hurry, now, my man," said Father Van Hove to Jan. "We must not let
Mother beat us! We will let the cart stand right there near the barn,
and to-morrow we can store the grain away to make room for a new load.
I will let you lead Pier to the pasture, while I feed the pig myself;
by her squeals she is hungry enough to eat you up in one mouthful."

II

THE RUMORS

When Mother Van Hove returned from the pasture, fifteen minutes later,
her orders had all been carried out. Pier was in the pasture, the hens
were shut up for the night, and the pig, which had been squealing with
hunger, was row grunting with satisfaction over her evening meal; Fidel
was gnawing a bone, and Father Van Hove was already washing his hands
at the pump, beside the kitchen door.

"You are all good children," said the mother as she set down her
brimming pail and took her turn at the wash-basin and the soap. "Jan
and Marie, have you washed your hands?"

"I have," called Marie from the kitchen, "and supper is ready and the
table set."

"I washed my hands in the canal this morning," pleaded Jan. "Won't that
do?"

"You ate your lunch this noon, too," answered his mother promptly.
"Won't that do? Why do you need to eat again when you have already
eaten twice today?"

"Because I am hungry again," answered Jan.

"Well, you are also dirty again," said his mother, as she put the soap
in his hands and wiped her own on the clean towel which Marie handed
her from the door. She cleaned her wooden shoes on the bundle of straw
which lay for the purpose beside the kitchen door; then she went inside
and took her place opposite Father Van Hove at the little round oaken
table by the window.

Marie was already in her chair, and in a moment Jan joined them with a
beaming smile and a face which, though clean in the middle, showed a
gray border from ear to ear.

"If you don't believe I'm clean, look at the towel!" he said, holding
it up.

"Oh, my heart!" cried his mother, throwing up her hands. "I declare
t