"9
properly. The answer he received was unexpected
and strange. * Yes/ said Floris, € they'll certainly
come to an end soon. For in this house I get no
peace.3 He asked him several times what he meant
by this, but Floris gave no reply. Half an hour
later he saw him hurrying out with a bundle of
books under his arm.
One afternoon a carriage stopped at the door and
Kolk's mother asked to speak to him. c Weren-
donk/ she said, as soon as she was seated, c what I
have to say isn't pleasant/ She had come to advise
him to keep a sharper eye on his nephew, for she had
heard from her son that of all the young men he led
the wildest life, and he had a bad influence on the
others and borrowed money from them, more than
Werendonk probably knew of. He listened, looking
her straight in the face. In the yard Stien was busy
scrubbing her buckets, the noise distracted him, and
he wanted to understand clearly. Hesitatingly, Mrs.
Kolk said that his fiiends suspected him of dis-
honesty, but she only mentioned it because she
thought Werendonk ought to know what the young
people were saying. She had come tp tell him this
because everyone knew how respected Werendonk
was in the town. He thanked her, saying: * Oh
well, madam, young people have to sow their wild
oats.' He accompanied her to her carriage and
bowed, while the neighbours peeped through their
windows. Then he went quietly back behind the