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he always said he had got them from his little friend
in the Drive. He had a lot of sweets in his pocket,
too, and never asked for a slice of bread-and-butter
now.
This association lasted only a few months, from
the winter until this little friend left the town. But
in that time Floris had learnt things that would
never have entered Uncle Gerbrand's head. He
only found out from a confectioner, who showed
him an unpaid bill amounting to many guilders for
sweetmeats that the young gentleman, always accom-
panied by Floris, had had from his shop. He
couldn't be punished for this, he could only be for-
bidden to associate with boys of that kind. But the
harm was done already. Floris knew things that
are unknown to most boys of ten.
Less attention was paid to him at this period, too,
because Agnete's health was precarious. The daily
woman bought a turtle-dove in a green cage, which
was hung in the passage near the kitchen ; some-
times a turtle-dove took people's diseases from them,
she said. That spring Frans noticed that Floris had
grown a lot, his forehead looked broader, his thin
neck shot up out of his white collar. Uncle Ger-
brand had little to say to him, only every day he
had to give him a scolding because he was always
late for meals ; he listened with lowered eyes, with-
out saying a word. He went to school regularly,
behaved well there, was quiet and orderly, and