“When I see these things, I feel like I want to war all over again,” exclaimed Mr. Alexander.
Late that night they entered Rotterdam, and there found a fine Inn and a hearty dinner awaiting them. Having replenished the inner being, they started out to see the town by night.
“I don’t see much use in remaining for a day in Rotterdam, girls,” remarked Mr. Fabian. “There isn’t much of interest to us, here, and I don’t believe we can pick up any ‘old bits’ in the city. Bargains in antiques are more readily found in the country places.”
So, late the following morning, they started for Delft; along the road Mr. Fabian stopped several times and secured a few fine pieces of old Delftware.
The tourists remained at The Hague that night. It was a quaint, beautiful old place founded in the year 1250. The artistic-roofed houses, the funny dormer windows, the varied and picture-like gables of the buildings which were placed irregularly on either side of the narrow crooked streets, provided interesting scenes that the girls eagerly captured in the camera.
At an antique shop, on a side street not much wider than a country-lane, the girls found several old door-knockers with the ancient dates stamped in the metal. A great massive lock and key were bought by Mr. Fabian, and Dodo got an iron lantern.
Leaving The Hague, the cars drove along beautiful country roads, with low white-washed cottages having green wooden shutters at the windows, standing prim and pure beside the way. Everything was so clean and neat, though the owners seemed poor, that it was remarked by the girls.
“When you compare these peasants and their spotless homes, to the filth and shiftlessness of the peasants in Ireland, you cannot help but wonder what causes the vast difference in living,” said Polly.
“It is not poverty alone that does this, Polly,” said Mrs. Fabian. “One must go way back and seek deep for the causation of such conditions.”
The girls did not understand what she meant, then, but they could not help but remember her words later, when they began to question political and national problems. Then they understood.