THE BURGHERS 117

songs of welcome, of which the most popular was
the familiar

Saint Nicholaes, goed heilig man,
Trekt uw'besten tabbard aan,
En reist daamee naar Amsterdam,
Von Amsterdam naar Spanje.

If the Saint would ride forth thus accoutered and
if he would do what they asked of him, the children
explained that they would be his good friends, as
for that matter they always had been, and would
serve him as long as they lived. At last the fateful
moment arrived. A shower of sweets was hurled
through the open door and amid the general
scramble appeared the Saint in full vestments,
attended by a servant known as Knecht Ruprecht,
and, after the Dutch settlements in America, a,
black man, who added much to the fascination and
excitement of the occasion. He held in one hand
an open sack into which to put particularly ill-
behaved children, while in the other hand he
carried a bunch of rods, which he shook vigorously
from time to time. The good Saint meanwhile
smilingly distributed to the children the parcels
that he had brought, and, after these had all been
opened and the presents had been sufficiently