Page:Augusta Seaman--Jacqueline of the carrier pigeons.djvu/324

296 against his own, and her father understood.

“And now let us call in Vrouw Voorhaas and Jan,” cried Gysbert, “and tell them the  good news!” Vrouw Voorhaas expressed her  approval in her own quiet way, and Jan who  now occupied a trusted position in the household shouted hurrah like a boy! In the midst of this rejoicing, Dr. de Witt dropped in on  his way home from the burgomaster’s.

“And let me tell you all something else,” he added when he had been informed of the  children’s good fortune. “Mynheer Van der Werf has been commissioned by the Prince,  in the name of the city, to buy all thy carrier-pigeons, Juffrouw Jacqueline, that were used  during the siege, preserve them carefully  while they live, and have them stuffed and  placed in the Leyden Museum when they die. Likewise he undertakes to buy thy hodge-podge pot, Gysbert, for a good round sum, and place that also in the Museum. So I suppose you will both have to make up your