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And it would be late before anyone saw her going
home again, dejected, stepping cautiously in the
dark.
Jansje waited for him in the kitchen, and when he
saw her he shrank back from her. She was on her
feet more quickly than Stien, and it was she who
cut him a slice of bread and butter. When he had
eaten it, she said, looking at him sharply : c If you
want bread, come to my house. I'll give you as
much as you can eat, but don't come here every
evening, scaring your uncle.5 Without answering
her he went upstairs to his bedroom. When he
came down Jansje was sitting with Werendonk. He
looked at her as though he were afraid of her. * I
can't help it/ he said, c I have to come here, I am
always thinking of my own house.' He looked
round the parlour and suddenly, as though he had
seen something on the blind, he ran down the steps
and was gone, the glass panes in the door rattled.
Werendonk was sitting huddled up, exhausted by
what he had experienced the last few days, his^ eyes
on the floor; opposite to him sat Jansje, her eyes
fixed on him : e You see, don't you,' she said, e that
he's out of his mind, coming here every evening like
a ghost, talking nothing but nonsense. What's it
going to lead to, Werendonk, if you let him go on
like this and don't do what you ought to ? I don't
suppose he has anything to eat but what he gets
here, his toes are pushing through his shoes, and who