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round his ankle. One day Floris, going up to the
attic, saw the door of the room standing ajar ; he
crept on tiptoe, and peeped through the crack.
Frans was sitting, leaning back, on the bed, the
sun shining across his face, and Stien was on her
knees in front of him. She had a little pot in her
hand and was rubbing something into his foot.
* After this no more,5 said Frans, c it's much too dear
and your father needs the money badly.' e Briemen
gave me fifty cents yesterday when I paid the bill,5
she answered. c I can get another pot with that;
you'll see, it'll do the pain good.'
She stood up ; Floris hurried away. On the
attic floor he met her as she was going to her room
with the pot in her hand. And later in the after-
noon, when he brought his books upstairs, he
opened the door of her room cautiously to see what
was in the pot. It was a dark ointment, with a
sweet smell. There were other things there, too,
and the cupboard was open. The next day he went
in again and rummaged about. In a box lay a
handkerchief with some money tied up in it. It
felt heavy. He was curious to know how much it
was, but he dared not open it to see. One morning
in the holidays, when she was out, he counted the
money; there were sixteen guilders.
Three days before the Fair he met Kolk, a boy
from the Third Class, who wore long trousers
already. He said he and some other boys were