I?
Gerbrand had noticed that he sometimes had
nothing left by the middle of the week, and when
he was asked about this, it would turn out that he
had been to a caf<£ with some lads from the cotton-
mill. That must be watched, for today it might be
milk, but toftiorrow it would be brandy. But still,
he couldn't be going about much with these lads,
for whenever anyone met him in the street he was
always alone, and in the evening after half-past
eight it was well known that he never went any-
where except to the Market Square or somewhere
in its vicinity. What the boy went there for nobody
could ever make out. He chatted with the verger,
and also with the town bell-ringer and the man who
chimed the Damiaatjes ; he knew all about the
bells. He had no other hobby. Diderik offered
to take him with him to the skittle-alley sometimes,
but he always declined. Only a month or two ago
his brot-her-in-law had invited him to go to the
circus in Amsterdam, but he had pulled a long face
as though the idea disgusted him. He wouldn't
venture anywhere outside Haarlem. That was
because he was timid, and afraid of anything he
didn't know. If a customer who had never been
in the shop before came in, he always left it to one
of the others to serve him. Without doubt he was
a lad who not only needed watching, but also needed
the support of someone stronger. And Gerbrand
was there to take care of him.