a72 Hans Brinker

XXXII
GRETEL AND HILDA

T was recess-hour. At the first stroke of the schoolhouse-
bell, the canal seemed to give a tremendous shout, and
grow suddenly alive with boys and girls. The sly thing,
shining so quietly under the noonday sun, was a kaleidoscope
at heart, and only needed a shake from that great clapper to
start it into dazzling changes.

Dozens of gayly-clad children were skating in and out among
each other; and all their pent-up merriment of the morning
was relieving itself in song and shout and laughter. There
was nothing to check the flow of frolic. Not a thought of
school-books came out with them into the sunshine. Latin,
arithmetic, grammar, all were locked up for an hour in the
dingy schoolroom. The teacher might be a noun, if he
wished, and a proper one at that; but ¢hey meant to enjoy
themselves. As long as the skating was as perfect as this, it
made no difference whether Holland were on the north pole or
the equator. And, as for philosophy, how could they bother
themselves about inertia and gravitation and such things, when
it was as much as they could do to keep from getting knocked
over in the commotion?

In the height of the fun, one of the children called out, —

“ What is that?” :

“ What? Where?” cried a dozen voices.