Jacob and Ben had obtained permission to go on a long skating
journey--no less a one than from Broek to The Hague, the capital
of Holland, a distance of nearly fifty miles! *{Throughout this
narrative distances are given according to our standard, the
English statute mile of 5,280 feet. The Dutch mile is more than
four times as long as ours.}
"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 to 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.
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