acquaintances realised that he was absorbed in
thought; they looked at him patiently while he
served them, and when they went out they gave
him a friendly nod. The younger brother, who
had always been the quiet one behind the counter,
was now the more talkative ; he seemed to be less
retiring, at any rate with the neighbours and old
customers. Someone remarked that he seemed to
have a smile on his face even when he was silent.
But in the house, at meals or when he was waiting
to hear what his brother had to say to him, he was
as silent as ever and sometimes so absent-minded
that he would reply " yes" with a smile when the
answer should have been " no". Or he would
unexpectedly say something that astonished Weren-
donk. c We ought to have that wall at the back
of the house whitewashed, brother, it would look
more cheerful.' If, in an hour's time, his eldest
brother referred to it, he would have forgotten it as
completely as though he had never mentioned it.
' Oh,5 he would say, raising his eyebrows, c have it
whitewashed ? ' And he would stare in front of
him as though he were thinking of something else.
Later in the winter, he would go out into the yard
sometimes to look at the sky. 6 With all this fog/
he said to Jansje, ' let's hope we don't get a frost.'
And once he came home in the morning with a
flushed face, while it was still dark and Stien was
sweeping the floor by candle-light. * There was a