"Thou idiot!" exclaimed Beeckman; "'tis a dunce's cap!"
"Dunder and blitzen!" swore Peter Alrichs, "hast thou lost all our provision and made fools of us, too?"
They struck the dunce's cap off Nanking's head with their staves, and threw their beer in his face.
"Two hundred guilders are we out of pocket," cried both these great men. "Was ever such a brainless dolt in our possessions?"
The room rang with the cry, "Incurable idiot!" and Gerrit Van Swearingen cried louder than any, "Go drown thyself, and spare thy mother shame!"
"Then I shall not marry Elsje?" exclaimed Nanking, bursting into tears.
"No!" stormed Peter Alrichs; "thou shalt marry a calf. Away!"
When Nanking arrived home he found his mother sitting very close to Ffob Oothout. He told his tale with a broken heart.
"My man," exclaimed the rough sailor, in his kindest tone, but still very rough, "take this advice from me: Whatever thou believest, tell it not. Where thy head is weak, hold thy teeth tight. Then thou canst still have faith in many things, and make no grief."
The next day the Blue Cock sailed into the roadstead and the fort thundered a salute. Fort and vessel dipped the tricolor flag of the States-General and the municipal banner of Amsterdam. Beeckman surrendered all the country on South River to Hinoyossa, who came ashore very drunk and very haughty, and threatened to set up an empire for himself and fit out privateers against the world.