The Dutch Twins | Page 4

THE DUTCH TWINS
By Lucy Fitch Perkins
ILLUSTRATED BY THE AUTHOR

Geographical Series
THE DUTCH TWINS PRIMER. Grade I. THE DUTCH TWINS.
Grade III. THE ESKIMO TWINS. Grade II. THE JAPANESE TWINS.
Grade IV. THE SWISS TWINS. Grade IV. THE IRISH TWINS. Grade
V. THE ITALIAN TWINS. Grades V and VI. THE SCOTCH TWINS.
Grades V and VI. THE MEXICAN TWINS. Grade VI. THE
BELGIAN TWINS. Grade VI. THE FRENCH TWINS. Grade VII.
Historical Series
THE CAVE TWINS. Grade IV. THE SPARTAN TWINS. Grades
V-VI. THE PURITAN TWINS. Grades VI-VII.

CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION - KIT AND KAT
I. THE DAY THEY WENT FISHING II. MARKET DAY WITH
FATHER III. MOTHER'S DAY. IV. ONE SUNDAY V. THE DAY
THEY DROVE THE MILK CART VI. THE DAY THEY GOT
THEIR SKATES

THE DUTCH TWINS
KIT AND KAT
This is a picture of Kit and Kat. They are Twins, and they live in
Holland. Kit is the boy, and Kat is the girl.
Of course their real names are not Kit and Kat at all. Their real names
are Christopher and Katrina. But you can see for yourself that such long
names as that would never in the world fit such a short pair of Twins.
So the Twins' Mother, Vrouw Vedder, said,
"They cannot be called Christopher and Katrina until they are four and
a half feet high."
Now it takes a long time to grow four and a half feet of Boy and Girl.
You know, chickens and puppies and colts and kittens always grow up
much faster than twins. Kit and Kat ate a great many breakfasts and
dinners and suppers, and played a great many plays, and had a great
many happy days while they were growing up to their names. I will tell
you about some of them.

I. THE DAY THEY WENT FISHING
One summer morning, very early, Vrouw Vedder opened the door of
her little Dutch kitchen and stepped out.

She looked across the road which ran by the house, across the canal on
the other side, across the level green fields that lay beyond, clear to the
blue rim of the world, where the sky touches the earth. The sky was
very blue; and the great, round, shining face of the sun was just peering
over the tops of the trees, as she looked out.
Vrouw Vedder listened. The roosters in the barnyard were crowing, the
ducks in the canal were quacking, and all the little birds in the fields
were singing for joy. Vrouw Vedder hummed a slow little tune of her
own, as she went back into her kitchen.
Kit and Kat were still asleep in their little cupboard bed. She gave them
each a kiss. The Twins opened their eyes and sat up.
"O Kit and Kat," said Vrouw Vedder, "the sun is up, the birds are all
awake. and singing, and Grandfather is going fishing to-day. If you will
hurry, you may go with him! He is coming at six o'clock; so pop out of
bed and get dressed. I will put some lunch for you in the yellow basket,
and you may dig worms for bait in the garden. Only be sure not to step
on the young cabbages that Father planted."
Kit and Kat bounced out of bed in a minute. Their mother helped them
put on their clothes and new wooden shoes. Then she gave them each a
bowl of bread and milk for their breakfast. They ate it sitting on the
kitchen doorstep.
This is a picture of Kit and Kat digging worms. You see they did just as
their mother said, and did not step on the young cabbages. They sat on
them, instead. But that was an accident.
Kit dug the worms, and Kat put them into a basket, with some earth in
it to make them feel at home.
When Grandfather came, he brought a large fishing-rod for himself and
two little ones for the Twins. There was a little hook on the end of each
line.
Vrouw Vedder kissed Kit and Kat goodbye.

"Mind Grandfather, and don't fall into the water," she said.
Grandfather and the Twins started off together down the long road
beside the canal.
The house where the Twins lived was right beside the canal. Their
father was a gardener, and his beautiful rows of cabbages and beets and
onions stretched in long lines across the level fields by the roadside.
Grandfather lived in a large town, a little way beyond the farm where
the Twins lived. He did not often have a holiday, because he carried
milk to the doors of the people in the town, every morning early.
Sometime I will tell you how he did it; but I must not tell you now,
because if I do, I