c I could have told you that in advance/ she said,
* that man has no heart.3
He was speaking, he could barely hear his own
voice. The Damiaatjes ceased, the big clock struck
the half-hour. He had told her everything he did
on that night, although he had not wanted to ; his
head fell on his arm across the table. Then he felt
her hand on his shoulder and he heard : 6 Poor lad/
on a note that sounded like a sob. She stood thus
beside him for a long time in the dark. c You can
always come to me/ she said at last,* if you feel you
want to unburden yourself. And don't forget, no
one need do wrong if he doesn't want to. As long
as you don't want to, God will help you. And you
can always rely on your Uncle Gerbrand, he is an
upright man.'
At the door she repeated : c You can always
come to me, if you've too much on your mind, 1*11
keep it to myself; after all, I'm old enough to be
your grandmother/ And he said : * Thank you,
Jansje.'
He didn't meet his friends again until the school
term began. He visited Kolk and they laughed at
Blusser's saucy jokes. One evening Uncle Frans
looked up in amazement because he had not said
" amen " at the end of grace* And once, when he
was standing talking to Stien on the stairs, he said :
c Damned nonsense, there is no God, that's nothing
but lies for stupid people/ He grew noisy about the