The Belgian Twins | Page 6

had hastened ahead of the cart to stir up
the kitchen fire and put the kettle on before the others should reach
home, and when Father Van Hove at last drove into the farmyard, she
was already on the way to the pasture bars with her milk-pail on her
arm. "Set the table for supper, ma Mie," she called back, "and do not let
the pot boil over! Jan, you may shut up the fowls; they have already
gone to roost."
"And what shall I do, Mother?" laughed Father Van Hove.
"You," she called back, "you may unharness Pier and turn him out in
the pasture for the night! And I'll wager I shall be back with a full
milk-pail before you've even so much as fed the pig, let alone the other
chores--men are so slow!" She waved her hand gayly and disappeared
behind the pasture bars, as she spoke.
"Hurry, now, my man," said Father Van Hove to Jan. "We must not let
Mother beat us! We will let the cart stand right there near the barn, and
to-morrow we can store the grain away to make room for a new load. I
will let you lead Pier to the pasture, while I feed the pig myself; by her
squeals she is hungry enough to eat you up in one mouthful."
II
THE RUMORS
THE RUMORS
When Mother Van Hove returned from the pasture, fifteen minutes
later, her orders had all been carried out. Pier was in the pasture, the
hens were shut up for the night, and the pig, which had been squealing
with hunger, was row grunting with satisfaction over her evening meal;
Fidel was gnawing a bone, and Father Van Hove was already washing
his hands at the pump, beside the kitchen door.
"You are all good children," said the mother as she set down her
brimming pail and took her turn at the wash-basin and the soap. "Jan
and Marie, have you washed your hands?"

"I have," called Marie from the kitchen, and supper is ready and the
table set."
"I washed my hands in the canal this morning," pleaded Jan. "Won't
that do?"
"You ate your lunch this noon, too," answered his mother promptly.
"Won't that do? Why do you need to eat again when you have already
eaten twice today?"
"Because I am hungry again," answered Jan.
"Well, you are also dirty again," said his mother, as she put the soap in
his hands and wiped her own on the clean towel which Marie handed
her from the door. She cleaned her wooden shoes on the bundle of
straw which lay for the purpose beside the kitchen door; then she went
inside and took her place opposite Father Van Hove at the little round
oaken table by the window.
Marie was already in her chair, and in a moment Jan joined them with a
beaming smile and a face which, though clean in the middle, showed a
gray border from ear to ear.
"If you don't believe I'm clean, look at the towel!" he said, holding it
up.
"Oh, my heart!" cried his mother, throwing up her hands. "I declare
there's but one creature in all God's world that cares nothing for
cleanliness! Even a pig has some manners if given half a chance, but
boys!" She seized the grimy towel and held it up despairingly for
Father Van Hove to see. "He's just wet his face and wiped all the dirt
off on the towel. The Devil himself is not more afraid of holy water
than Jan Van Hove is of water of any kind!" she cried.
"Go and wash yourself properly, Janke," said his father sternly, and Jan
disappeared through the kitchen door. Sounds of vigorous pumping and
splashing without were heard in the kitchen, and when Jan appeared
once more, he was allowed to take his place at the supper-table with the
family.
Father Van Hove bowed his head, and the Twins and their mother made
the sign of the cross with him, as he began their grace before meat. "In
the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, Amen,"
prayed Father Van Hove. "Hail, Mary, full of Grace." Then, as the
prayer continued, the mother and children with folded hands and bowed
heads joined in the petition: "Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us

sinners now and in the hour of our death, Amen." A clatter of spoons
followed the grace, and Mother Van Hove's good buttermilk pap was
not long in disappearing down their four hungry throats.
The long day in the open air had made the children so sleepy they could
scarcely keep their eyes open through the meal. "Come, my children,"
said their mother briskly, as she rose from the