i86
ought to be ashamed to be singing all the time like
that as though she was a young girl, he went out in
a temper, although there was no one in the shop
but the new assistant. He went to Amsterdam.
There he roamed through what he took to be
dubious quarters of the town, and every now and
again he came to a standstill outside an ale-house.
He went into one of them in a narrow street between
two canals ; it was dark there, and it was not until
he was seated that he saw Frans at a table behind
him. Frans came and sat beside him, lowering his
eyes in embarrassment because his brother gave
him such a straight look. < I'll tell you all about it
in a moment/ he said. They did not speak again
until they were outside. Walking slowly beside him
on the dyke, Frans confessed that he hadn't dared to
ask his brother for the money, but he had talked it
over with Stien and she had offered to lend it to
him out of her savings. Minke's boys and another,
whose name he didn't know, had brought a message
from Floris that he was in great straits. Frans had
come with the money and had expected to meet
Floris himself, but he had sent that fellow Blusser to
say that he was afraid of his uncle. This was the
second time that Frans had brought money here.
* He can't be allowed to starve,5 he said. Where
Floris was he had not discovered.
* So that's what you've been doing/ said Weren-
donk, fi But the money shall be returned to Stien,*