peril close at hand? Whoever, on the first day and during the great
linen-fair on Friday and the following days, received spending money from
parents or godparents, or whoever had eyes to see, ears to hear, and a
nose to smell, passed through the rows of booths with his or her
companions, stopped before the camels and dancing-bears, gazed into the
open taverns, where not only lads and lasses, but merry old people
whirled in the dance to the music of bagpipes, clarionets and violins--
examined gingerbread and other dainties with the attention of an expert,
or obeyed the blasts of the trumpet, by which the quack doctor's negro
summoned the crowd.

Adrian, the burgomaster's son, also strolled day after day, alone or with
his companions, through the splendors of the fair, often grasping with
the secure sense of wealth the leather purse that hung at his belt, for
it contained several stivers, which had flowed in from various sources;
his father, his mother, Barbara and his godmother. Captain Van
Duivenvoorde, his particular friend, on whose noble horse he had often
ridden, had taken him three times into a wafer booth, where he eat till
he was satisfied, and thus, even on the Tuesday after Ascension-Day, his
little fortune was but slightly diminished. He intended to buy something
very big and sensible: a knight's sword or a cross-bow; perhaps even--but
this thought seemed like an evil temptation--the ginger-cake covered with
almonds, which was exhibited in the booth of a Delft confectioner. He
and Bessie could surely nibble for weeks upon this giant cake, if they
were economical, and economy is an admirable virtue. Something must at
any rate be spared for "little brothers,"--[A kind of griddle or
pancake.]--the nice spiced cakes which were baked in many booths before
the eyes of the passers-by.

On Tuesday afternoon his way led him past the famous Rotterdam cake-shop.