Walter’s condition was about the same. All at once he seized her arm. He thought that he saw somebody—somebody who looked like——
“That’s right, dear. Hold fast to me. It’s simply death and murder!”
Walter did not say anything.
“Isn’t it enough to run anybody crazy?” continued the dear Juffrouw. “Hold fast to me, and remember that I am your Christine.”
He was remembering something else.
“Don’t be afraid—Lord, that child’s beside himself—nobody shall hurt you. I will take care of you.”
He held on to her arm all the tighter; otherwise he was as if turned to stone.
“I wouldn’t pay any attention to it, sweetheart. But—it is bad enough. Do you see that girl there with the North Holland cap on? I wouldn’t like to be in her place.”
“It is—Femke! O God, it is Femke!”
Shaking off Juffrouw Laps, who attempted to hold him back, he rushed down the steps and in a few minutes was in the thickest of the fray.