In the hayloft, Hanny and Vevi caught nearly all of the conversation. But they did not understand why Mr. Mattox was so angry at his wife for mentioning Mrs. Gabriel’s name.
Hanny made up her mind she would tell her Uncle Peter all about it when he came home.
“The rain has stopped,” she heard Mr. Mattox say. “We can go now.”
Never guessing that anyone had listened to their talk, the couple left the barn. By the time Vevi and Hanny had slid down from the loft, they were nowhere in sight.
Chapter 11
THE MAN IN GRAY
WHEN Peter Van Der Lann drove into the farm yard twenty minutes later, Hanny and Vevi ran to meet him.
“I came as fast as I could,” the farmer said. “Is everything all right?”
Finding English inadequate, Hanny spoke rapidly in Dutch, telling him everything that had happened during his absence.
Mr. Van Der Lann did not have much to say until he had inspected the tulip fields. Although the high wind and rain had flattened many of the plants, they were not as badly damaged as he had feared.