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tion, and then he begged the proprietor to leave
him alone for a moment.
He opened the bag and found in it an empty
purse, an empty pocket-book, a few articles of
clothing, including a nightshirt covered with blood-
stains. He looked at it, folded it up and put it on
one side. And if I had given him the money, he
asked himself, would it have prevented this from
happening ?
He shut the bag and took it with him ; he left
the shirt lying there in order to spare his sister the
sight of it. When he got outside, he had the feeling
that he had left something behind which would
remain in his memory and, without knowing why,
he found himself thinking of the little child.
Throughout the long journey the brothers sat in
the railway-train in silence, looking out of the win-
dows at the wet fields ; now and again, after looking
at Gerbrand, the youngest would sigh. The former
sat upright, motionless, his eyes fixed as though he
were looking into himself. All through the long
hours he had not uttered a word, but when the
train steamed into the station and they were stand-
ing up, he said : c Let us not forget, the son must
not suffer for the iniquities of his father, and we are
there to help him, for it is a heavy load that rests
on his shoulders.' In silence they passed along the
dark streets on their way home, very few lights were
still burning behind the windows.