But I forget. If this letter ever reaches you, it must do so by being put in the place where prefaces belong, a small place, you know, that holds very little, and where, to tell the truth, readers generally wish to find still less.
So, good-bye. O! I must tell you one more thing. We found to-day in an Amsterdam bookstore this story of Hans Brinker told in Dutch. It is a queer looking volume, beautifully printed, and with colored pictures, but filled with such astonishing words that it really made me feel sorry for the little Hollanders who are to read them.
Good-bye, again, in the touching words of our Dutch translator with whom I'm sure you'll heartily agree: Toch ben ik er mijn landgenooten dank baar voor, die mijn arbeid steeds zoo welwillend outvangen en wier genegenheid ik voortdurend hoop te verdienen.
Yours affectionately,
The Author.
CONTENTS
I. Hans and Gretel [13]
II. Holland [18]
III. The Silver Skates [28]
IV. Hans and Gretel Find a Friend [34]
V. Shadows in the Home [42]
VI. Sunbeams [50]
VII. Hans Has His Way [55]
VIII. Introducing Jacob Poot and His Cousin [59]
IX. The Festival of Saint Nicholas [66]
X. What the Boys Saw and Did in Amsterdam [76]
XI. Big Manias and Little Oddities [86]
XII. On the Way to Haarlem [94]
XIII. A Catastrophe [98]
XIV. Hans [102]
XV. Homes [108]
XVI. Haarlem, The Boys Hear Voices [116]
XVII. The Man with Four Heads [123]
XVIII. Friends in Need [129]
XIX. On the Canal [137]
XX. Jacob Poot Changes the Plan [144]
XXI. Mynheer Kleef and His Bill of Fare [152]
XXII. The Red Lion Becomes Dangerous [156]
XXIII. Before the Court [169]
XXIV. The Beleaguered Cities [173]
XXV. Leyden [180]
XXVI. The Palace and the Wood [187]
XXVII. The Merchant Prince, and the Sister-Princess [190]
XXVIII. Through the Hauge [204]
XXIX. A Day of Rest [212]
XXX. Homeward Bound [216]
XXXI. Boys and Girls [220]
XXXII. The Crisis [227]
XXXIII. Gretel and Hilda [234]
XXXIV. The Awakening [241]
XXXV. Bones and Tongues [245]
XXXVI. A New Alarm [249]
XXXVII. The Father's Return [254]
XXXVIII. The Thousand Guilders [259]
XXXIX. Glimpses [265]
XL. Looking for Work [269]
XLI. The Fairy Godmother [275]
XLII. The Mysterious Watch [281]
XLIII. A Discovery [290]
XLIV. The Race [299]
XLV. Joy in the Cottage [316]
XLVI. Mysterious Disappearance of Thomas Higgs [325]
XLVII. Broad Sunshine [328]
XLVIII. Conclusion [334]
ILLUSTRATIONS
| Gretel on her stilts | [Frontispiece] | |
| Hans was clever at carving in wood | Facing p. | [30] |
| The door slowly opened | " | [70] |
| The ice seemed fairly alive | " | [136] |
| There was a movement upon the bed | " | [242] |
| "Good-night," they cried | " | [280] |
| Skating slowly the boys and girls moved forward | " | [314] |