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for ? ' She wrung out her flannel without removing
her eyes, and she answered slowly : c Anyone who's
startled when you look at him has something on his
conscience.9
And once, when he went into the parlour, Jansje.
was standing in front of Uncle Gerbrand, and she left
off speaking. They both looked at him, waiting
for him to go away again. He realised that they
were talking of him, and he wondered what they
could know about him. It was more than a year
since he had done anything that he would not have
dared to tell his uncle, and if he was asked he
wouldn't deny that he had perpetually to strive
against his inclinations. His uncle would under-
stand that well enough, for, after all, all men were
sinful by nature, and he would no doubt help him to
suppress them. He had nothing on his conscience
except the fear of doing wrong. But for a long time
he had had the feeling that his uncle didn't trust
him, but, on the contrary, was always watching him.
However much he was praised for his work at school
and for his conduct, there was something in his
uncle's voice that sounded as though he had not
forgotten what Floris had once confessed. And
now he began to have an idea that he was suspected
of something ; he observed Jansje, and he often
caught her looking at him.
What she might be thinking left him indifferent,
although it annoyed him to have her staring at him,