132 A DOG OF FLANDERS.

went and begged grace of the owner
of the hut, a cobbler who went every
Sunday night to drink his pint of
wine and smoke with Baas Cogesz.
The cobbler would grant no mercy.
He was a harsh, miserly man, and
loved money. He claimed in default
of his rent every stick and stone,
every pot and pan, in the hut, and
bade Nello and Patrasche be out of
it on the morrow.

Now, the cabin was lowly enough,
and in some sense miserable enough,
and yet their hearts clove to it with
a great affection. They had been so
happy there, and in the summer, with
its clambering vine and its flowering
beans, it was so pretty and bright in
the midst of the sun-lighted fields!