"Oh! I can see all right, even if I am a little bit hard of hearing. And I have a good memory, too—"
"So you have a good memory, eh? Then tell me who called here to-day."
"Oh, there was the postman; and a neighbor who called to borrow a pie-plate—and Petersen who came to ask something of Christina."
"Indeed! And who is this Petersen?"
"A neighbor, Mijnheer; a night-watchman; my master knows him well."
"Yes," said Balthazar, addressing the sergeant, "he is a poor devil who lost his wife a month ago, and his two little children are both sick. We help the poor fellow from time to time."
"And this Petersen was in the house to-day?"
"No, Mijnheer," replied Gudule; "he only spoke to Christina from the sidewalk."
"And what did he tell her?"
"I did not hear, Mijnheer."