“And not a bit of ventilation that can get in any other way,” added Eleanor.
The hostess comprehended something of what was said, and she laughingly shrugged her plump shoulders and pointed to her two “younkers” who were as fat and rosy as Baldwin apples. Mr. Fabian was admiring the wonderful dado of tiles, that ran about the room from the floor to a height of four feet. Each tile presented a scene of Holland, and they were so set that a white tile alternated with a Delft blue one, making the whole pattern very effective. The windows were placed above the dado, thus being four feet above the floor. But instead of high narrow windows, they were square, or low and long, and opened in casement style.
While Mr. Fabian was conversing with the woman about old tiles and Dutch furniture, Polly spied a corner cupboard. She beckoned Eleanor over to it, and the two immediately began examining the old blue ware in the china-closet.
Dodo heard them and hurried over, and that drew Mr. Fabian’s attention to them, also. His hostess smiled, and led him across the large room to the cupboard.
Before the collectors left that room, they had acquired some fine old Delft pieces, and Mr. Fabian hugged an antique jug that he was not sure of, but its markings would prove its great age as soon as he could trace it, he was sure.
Mr. Alexander, who had been almost ignored during the past few days, excepting at night when they stopped at different towns for rest, now said: “Would you like to reach Cologne tonight? I figger we can do it easily, onless you want to stop anywhere?”
“The only place I want to stop and give the girls a peep into a porcelain factory, is at Bonn. But that is on the other side of Cologne; so let her go, if you like,” returned Mr. Fabian.
The roads, however, were too bad for speeding, and they had to be content with reaching Arnheim for the night. The next day they reached Cologne, but drove on to Bonn, as Mr. Fabian had planned. In the afternoon they reached Coblentz where the great Byzantine Cathedral was visited and pictures taken of it. The next day, on the trip southward, along the Rhine, were many picturesque castles and fortresses which made splendid scenes for the camera.
Mr. Fabian wished to conduct the girls from Frankfort to Nürnberg, a famous old mediaeval city with unique houses still to be seen, although they were built hundreds of years ago. But the girls had no desire to visit any German cities, they said.
“But it is a famous place,” argued Mr. Fabian. “It was the very first town in Germany to embrace Christianity.”