The Brownies had never heard the name. Miss Mohr however, knew it well.
“Peter Van Der Lann is the young Dutchman who started a tulip nursery here last fall,” she declared. “His little niece, Hanny, often comes to the library to read.”
“A charming little girl,” added Miss Gordon warmly. “Just the right age to be a Brownie too—eight, I believe.”
The Brownies now were very quiet, thinking about Hanny. Then Connie spoke.
“I saw her once, I think. She was buying a lolly-pop at the drugstore. She had long shining yellow braids and very blue eyes. But she wore big wooden shoes!”
“Klompen,” supplied Miss Mohr, using the Dutch name. “Hanny only wore them when she first came to Rosedale months ago. She wears regular American shoes now. She has improved her English a great deal too.”
“Would she want to be a Brownie Scout?” Jane Tuttle asked, doubt in her voice.
“I’m certain she would,” replied Miss Gordon. “Holland has a Brownie organization too, you know. There, Brownies are called Kabouters which means Little Elves.”
The girls plied Miss Gordon with eager questions about Hanny and the country from which she had come.
In the midst of the conversation, someone tapped lightly on the door of the story room. Another librarian entered to speak to Miss Mohr.