plaster was not serious ; he had gone to the office
with his arm in a sling, still pale from the shock.
Before twelve o'clock the shop was in order again,
and later on the workmen came to remove the
broken glass and splintered wood from the frame.
And all through the gossip that went on over the
disaster until late that evening there was a note of
pity for Werendonk—old Werendonk, as he was
called for the first time. They realised what a
burden this unexpected expense would be for him,
who never spent any money except on his task.
Little enlightenment could be obtained from Floris,
either by the carpenter or by Werendonk, who
questioned him in turn. He had been asleep, he
was awakened by the crash of the falling ceiling
and the pain, that was all he could say; he had
been very much upset by it, too. To Stien he said,
when he stood with her in the attic looking through
the hole, that he had seen it coming for a long time,
in fact he lay in bed all the time expecting something
to happen, and he believed that still worse things
were hanging over them. She said that was non-
sense, for everyone had always said that the house
was on the point of collapsing, so it was hardly to
be wondered at that one floor should give way.
He pursed his lips as though he were on the point
of tears, he went on looking at the hole and it
seemed to him a mournful sight. * Come,5 she said,
c help me instead of standing there, what's broken