94. Hans Brinker

pair of glasses anywhere that would help his sight. At last,
a poor old German woman asked him to try hers. They
suited him exactly, and enabled him to go on painting as well
as ever.”

“ Humph!” exclaimed Ludwig, indignantly. “ That was
nice! What did she do without them, I wonder?”

“ Oh!” said Peter, laughing, “likely she had another pair.
At any rate, she insisted upon his taking them. He was so
grateful that he painted a picture of the spectacles for her,
case and all; and she sold it to a burgomaster for a yearly
allowance that made her comfortable for the rest of her days.”

“ Boys,” called Lambert, in a loud whisper, “« come look at
this bear-hunt ! ”

It was a fine painting by Paul Potter, a Dutch artist of the
seventeenth century, who produced excellent works before he
was sixteen years old. The boys admired it, because the subject
pleased them. ‘They passed carelessly by the masterpieces of
Rembrandt and Van der Helst, and went into raptures over an

?

ugly picture by Van der Venne, representing a sea-fight be-
tween the Dutch and English. They also stood spell-bound
before a painting of two little urchins, one of whom was taking
soup, and the other eating an egg. The principal merit in
this work was that the young egg-eater had kindly slobbered
his face with the yolk for their entertainment.

An excellent representation of the “ Feast of St. Nicholas ”
next had the honor of attracting them.

“ Look, Van Mounen !” said Ben to Lambert. “ Could any-
thing be better than this youngster’s face? He looks as if he
knows he deserves a whipping, but hopes St. Nicholas may not
have found him out. TThat’s the kind of painting J like, —
something that tells a story.”