"And now, boys," added Jacob, when he had told the plan, "who will go with us?"
"I will! I will!" cried the boys eagerly.
"And so will I!" ventured little Voostenwalbert.
"Ha! ha!" laughed Jacob, holding his fat sides, and shaking his puffy cheeks, "you go? Such a little fellow as you? Why, youngster, you haven't left off your pads yet!"
Now in Holland very young children wear a thin, padded cushion around their heads, surmounted with a framework of whalebone and ribbon, to protect them in case of a fall; and it is the dividing line between babyhood and childhood when they leave it off. Voost had arrived at this dignity several years before; consequently Jacob's insult was rather too great for endurance.
"Look out what you say!" he squeaked. "Lucky for you when you can leave off your pads—you're padded all over!"
"Ha! ha!" roared all the boys except Master Dobbs, who could not understand. "Ha! ha!"—and the good-natured Jacob laughed more than any.
"It ish my fat—yaw—he say I bees pad mit fat!" he explained to Ben.
So a vote was passed unanimously in favor of allowing the now popular Voost to join the party, if his parents would consent.
"Good-night!" sang out the happy youngster, skating homeward with all his might.