Every thing was, however, on so small a scale, and so scrupulously neat and pretty, that it looked more like a toy village than one built for the every-day residence of real men.
After walking on for about a quarter of a mile, the commissioner said that he would show them the interior of one of the dairy houses, where the cheeses were made,—for the business of this town was the making of cheeses from the milk of the cows that feed on the green polders that lie all around them.
"The stalls for the cows," said James, "are in the same house in which the family lives; but the cows are not kept there in summer, and so we shall find the stalls empty."
So saying, James turned aside up a little paved walk which led to the door of a very pretty looking house. He opened the door without any ceremony, and Mr. George and Rollo went in.
The door was near one end of the house, and it opened into a passage way which extended back through the whole depth of it. On one side was a row of stalls, or cribs, for the cows. On the other, were doors opening into the rooms used for the family. A very nice looking Dutch woman, who had apparently seen the party from her window, came out through this side door into the passage way, to welcome them when they came.
The stalls for the cows were all beautifully made, and they were painted and decorated in such an extraordinary manner, that no one could have imagined for what use they were intended. The floors for them were made of the glazed tiles so often used in Holland, and the partitions between them were nicely rubbed as bright as a lady's sideboard. The cribs, too, were now, in the absence of the cows, occupied with various little étagères, and sets of shelves, which were covered with fancy cups and saucers, china images, and curiosities of all sorts,—the Dutch housewives taking a special pride in the collection of such things.
The row of cribs was separated from the floor of the passage way by a sort of trench, about a foot and a half wide and ten inches deep, and outside this trench, and also within it, at the entrances to the cribs, were arrayed a great number of utensils employed in the work of the dairy, such as tubs, cans, cheese presses, moulds, and other such things. These were all beautifully made, and being mounted with brass, which had received the highest polish by constant rubbing, they gave to the whole aspect of the place an exceedingly gay and brilliant appearance.
Some of this apparatus was in use. There were tubs standing, with the curd or whey in them, and cheeses in press or in pickle, and various other indications that the establishment was a genuine one, and was then in active operation. The cheeses were of the round kind, so often seen for sale at the grocers' stores in Boston and New York. They looked like so many big cannon balls.
After walking down the passage way that led by the side of cribs, and examining all these things in detail, the party returned to the door where they had come in, and then, turning to the left, went into the rooms of the house. The first room was the bedroom. The second was the parlor. These rooms were both completely crowded with antique looking furniture, among which were cabinets of Chinese ware, and ornaments of every kind; and all was in such a brilliant condition of nicety and polish, as made the spectacle wonderful to behold.
The bed was in a recess, shut up by doors. When the doors were opened the bed place looked precisely like a berth on board ship.