Strange Stories of Colonial Days

by Various

  XII

  THE VROUW VAN TWINKLE'S KRULLERS

  A Story of Old New York

  Clean, snug, and picturesque as a Holland town was our city of New Yorkfor some years after it had dropped its juvenile name of New Amsterdamand adopted its present name; but not so suddenly could it change itsnature and Dutch ways. Dutch neatness and the Dutch tongue still reignedsupreme. Substantial wooden houses turned gable ends of black and yellowHolland bricks to the front, until Pearl Street appeared like atriumphal procession of chess-boards; while no mansion in that thenfashionable quarter could boast more big doors and small windows thanthat of the worthy burgher Van Twinkle, and the little weathercock onthe roof was as giddy as any of its neighbors, and as undecided as towhich way the wind actually did blow.

  An air of festivity pervaded this residence on a certain winter's day inthe early part of the eighteenth century; windows were thrown open, andGretel, the eldest daughter of the family, followed by black Sophy,armed with brooms, mops, and pails, entered that _sanctum sanctorum_,the best parlor, to scrub and scour with unwonted energy; for to-morrowwould be that greatest of Knickerbocker holidays, _Nieuw Jaar_, or NewYear, when every good Hollander would consider it his duty to call uponhis friends and neighbors, and the front door with its great brassknocker would swing from morning till night to admit the well-wishers ofthe season.

  In the big kitchen also active preparations were going forward. A royalfire blazed in the wide chimney, and the Vrouw Van Twinkle, in shortgown and petticoat, was cutting out and boiling those lightest andrichest of krullers for which she was famous among the good housewivesof the town: real Dutch krullers, brown as nuts, and crisp as pie-crust.

  "Out of the way, youngsters!" cried the dame to a boy and girl loungingnear to watch the boiling, "or spattered will you be with the hog's fat.Take thy sister, Jan, and off with her to the Flatten Barrack. She wouldenjoy a good sledding this fine day, and that I know."

  "Rather would I go to the skating on the Salt River," said Jan.

  "But that you must not. It I forbid, for very unsafe is it now, thyfather did observe only this morning."

  "Foolishness, though, was that, mother," argued Jan, "for last nightTunis Vanderbeck from Breucklyn came over on the ice, and told me thatfirm was it as any rock, and smooth as thy soft, pink cheek."

  "Thou flatterer!" laughed his mother; "but not so canst thou pull thewool over my eyes; so away with you both to the sledding, and here aretwo stivers with which to buy New-Year cakes at Peter Clopper'sbake-house." And diving in the patchwork pocket hung at her side, MadamVan Twinkle produced the coins, which sent the children off with smilingfaces to the hill at the end of Garden Street, stopping on the way toinvest in the sweet New-Year cakes, stamped with a crown and breeches.

  Jan made short work of his; but Katrina had scarce begun to nibble herfluted oval when she spied an aged man, with a long gray beard, beggingfor charity.

  "See, Jan," she cried, "the poor, miserable old beggar! How cold andhungry he looks!"

  "Then to work should he go."

  "But it may be no work he has to do. Ach! the sight of him makes myheart to ache, and help him will I all I can." So saying, thekind-hearted girl darted to the mendicant's side and slipped her cakeinto his hand.

  "A thousand thanks, little lady!" exclaimed the man, fervently; "for Iam near to starving, or I would not be here; and you are the first whohas heeded me to-day."

  He was evidently English; but Katrina cared not for that, and, carriedaway by her feelings, added a guilder, given her at Christmas, to hergift of the New-Year cake, thereby calling forth a shower ofbenedictions, although the old fellow seemed strangely nervousmeanwhile, glancing in a frightened manner at each passer-by. As soon asthe little maid's back was turned he slunk into a dark alley and out ofsight.

  "A silly noodle art thou, Katrina, thus to throw away thy presents,"said Jan, as they hurried on. But his sister only shook her head, andsmiled as though quite satisfied, while her heart beat a happy roundelayall the short December afternoon as she slid on her wooden sled andfrolicked with the little Dutch Vans and Vanders on the Flatten-BarrackHill.

  Twilight was falling when the young Van Twinkles wended their way home,to find their bread and buttermilk ready for them by the kitchen fire,and their father and mother and Gretel gone to a supper of soft wafflesand chocolate and a New-Year's-Eve dance at the Van Corlear Bouwerie.

  "The best parlor, does it look fine and gay, Sophy?" asked Katrina, asshe finished her evening meal.

  "Dat it do," replied the old slave woman; "for waved am de sand on defloor like white clouds, and de brass chair-nails shine jest like littlemissy's eyes. 'Spect de ole mynheer and his vrouw come down and dancedis night for sure."

  "What mynheer, Sophy?" asked Jan.

  "De great mynheer in de portrait--your gran'fader, ob course. Hab youchillens neber heard how on New-Year Eve, when de clock strike twelve,down come all de pictur' folkses to shake hands and wish each oder'Happy New-Year,' and den, if nuffin disturb 'em, mebbe dey dance in defirelight."

  "Really, Sophy, do they?" asked the little girl.

  "Yah, dey do. Master Jan may laugh if he please, but right am I. My olemoeder hab so tole me, and wif her own eyes hab she seen de ghostesdances."

  "A rare sight it must be! I wish that I could see it," said Katrina; andlater, when she went in to inspect the parlor, she gazed up withincreased respect at her stolid-faced Holland ancestors.

  "Much would I love to see them tread a minuet!" sighed Katrina again,and even after her head was laid on her pillow the idea haunted herdreams, until, as the tall clock in the hall struck eleven, she startedup wide-awake, with the feeling that something eventful was about tohappen.

  "Almost spent is the old year!" she thought, "and soon down the picturefolk will come to greet the new. Oh, I must, I must them see!" andalthough the household was by this time asleep, she crept out of bed,slipped on her clothes, and stole noiselessly down-stairs.

  "Still are they yet," she whispered, glancing up at the pictured faces."But near the hour draws, and hide I must, or they may not come down,for Sophy says that spectators they do not love. Ah, there is just theplace!" and running to the linen chest she lifted the lid, andclambering lightly in, nestled down among the lavender-scented sheetsand table-cloths.

  "A very comfortable hiding-spot, truly!" exclaimed Katrina, as sheplaced a book beneath the cover to hold it slightly open; and so coseydid it prove that she grew a bit drowsy before the midnight bells chimedthe knell of another twelvemonth. Then indeed, however, she was on thealert in an instant and peering eagerly out. Her corner was in shadow,but the ruddy glow from the hickory logs revealed the portraits stillunmoved, and she was about to utter an exclamation of disappointment,when she was startled to see a door leading to the rear of the housesuddenly swing open and the figure of a man carrying a lantern enterwith slow and stealthy tread. An old man, apparently, with gray hair andbeard, and a sack thrown across his shoulders. "'Tis the Old Yearhimself!" thought the fanciful girl; but the next moment she almostbetrayed herself by a scream as she recognized the beggar to whom shehad given her New-Year cake that very afternoon.

  Slowly the midnight marauder approached, and then, all at once, awonderful transformation took place. The bent form became straight, thegray beard and hair were torn off, and a younger and not unhandsome manstood before the little watcher's astonished gaze.

  She was too dumfounded to do anything but tremble and stare, as theintruder seated himself at the table and ate and drank, almost snatchingthe viands in his eagerness. His appetite appeased, however, he seemedto hesitate; but then, with a muttered, "Well, what must be must, andhere's for home and Emily!" he seized a silver bowl and dropped it intohis bag, following it up with the porringers and plates, that were thevery apple of the Dutch house-mother's eye.

  Too frightened to speak, poor little Katrina watched these proceedings;but when the thief laid hands on a certain old and beautifully engravedflagon, she murmured:
"The loving-cup! the dear loving-cup! Oh, myfather's heart 'twill break to lose that!"

  "Plenty of the needful here!" chuckled the burglar; but a moment laterhe had his surprise, for out of the shadows suddenly emerged a small,slight figure, and a stern voice cried, "Stop!"

  With a startled exclamation the man fell back, and then, as Katrinaexclaimed, "The loving-cup that is so old--ah, take not that!" hedropped into a chair, ejaculating, "By St. George, 'tis the little ladyof the cake herself!"

  "That is so," said Katrina.

  The man reddened. "Believe me, miss," he said, "I did not know this wasyour home, or naught would have tempted me here; and this is the firsttime I have ever soiled my fingers with such work as this."

  "Then why begin now?" asked Katrina.

  "Because I was down on my luck, and there seemed no other way. Listen!For two years I have served as a soldier in the British army, and nomore honest one ever entered the province. I did not mind hard work, butmy health gave out, and at last the rude fare and the homesickness Icould stand no longer, and three days ago I deserted from the Englishfort down yonder. The officers are on my track, but, so far, disguisedas an old beggar, I have escaped detection beneath their very noses. Ifcaught I shall be flogged within an inch of my life, and, it may be,shot. Just over the water my wife and a blue-eyed lass like you arelonging for my return, but, saving your guilder, I was penniless, andso, for the first time, determined to take what was not my own."

  "Poor man!" sighed Katrina, the tears starting.

  "To-morrow night the _Golden Lion_ sails for England. Her crew, afterthe New-Year festivities, will be dazed at least, so I can readilyconceal myself until the ship is out at sea. Then ho! for home and mylittle Jeanie!"

  "And as a bad, wicked robber will you go to her?" asked the girl.

  "No; indeed no!" cried the man, emptying his sack. "You have saved mefrom that, little lady, as well as from starvation to-day, for I wouldnot steal from you or yours. Give me but these krullers to eat while Iam a stowaway, and all the plate I will leave."

  "Yes, that will I do," said Katrina, rejoiced, and she herself droppedthe crisp cakes into the man's bag. "Now at once go, and godspeed."

  "But first you must promise to mention this meeting to no one untilafter the _Golden Lion_ weighs anchor at seven o'clock on New-Year'snight."

  "To my mother may I not?" asked Katrina.

  "No, no, to nobody! Oh, remember my life is in your hands! Promise, Ibeg."

  His tone was so imploring the girl was touched.

  "I like it not, but I promise," she said.

  "Thank you. Farewell." And again disguised, the deserter departed, as hecame, by a back window.

  Feeling as though in a dream, Katrina rearranged the disordered table,and then, creeping up to bed, fell so sound asleep that she never heardJan when he awoke the household with his "Happy New-Years."

  Gayly the sunbeams glittered on the black-and-yellow gables that 1st ofJanuary, and fully as resplendent were the maids and matrons of New Yorkin their best muslins and brocades; while Katrina presented a veryquaint, attractive little vision when she came down in her taffeta gownand embroidered stomacher, with her amber beads about her neck. Her facewas hardly in accord with her attire, however, when she found every onedemanding, "What has become of the krullers--the New-Year krullers?"

  Madam Van Twinkle looked flushed and angry. "The beautiful cakes withwhich I so much trouble took!" she cried. "Ach! a bad, wicked theft itis, and a mystery unaccountable."

  "Mebbe de great ole mynheer and his vrouw gobbled 'em up," put in Sophy.

  "But what is worse," continued the dame, "in one big kruller, as asurprise, I did hide a ring of gold sent to Gretel by her godmother inHolland, and that too is whisked away."

  At this Gretel also began to bewail the loss, and suggested thatperhaps little black Josie, Sophy's son, was the miscreant.

  "If so it be, to the whipping-post shall he go!" cried the enragedDutchwoman, starting for the kitchen; but before she reached the doorKatrina exclaimed, "No, mother, no; Josie is not the one."

  "Why, mine Katrina, what canst thou know of this?" asked Mynheer VanTwinkle, in amazement.

  "I know--I know who has taken the cakes," stammered the blushing girl;"but tell I cannot now."

  "Not tell!" gasped her mother. "Why and wherefore?"

  "Because my promise I have given. But when the night comes, then shallyou know all."

  "Foolishness is this, Katrina," cried the good housewife, who was fastlosing her temper as well as her cakes, "and at once I command you tosay who has my New-Year krullers."

  "And my ring from Rotterdam," added Gretel.

  "But that I cannot. A lie would it be. Oh, my vader, canst thou not metrust until the nightfall?"

  "Surely, sweetheart. There, good vrouw, say no more, but leave thelittle one in peace. A promise thou wouldst not have her break."

  "Some there be better broken than kept; but whom promised she?"

  Katrina was silent, and now even her father looked grave. "Speak, _mijnkind_; whom didst thou promise?"

  "I cannot tell."

  "See you, Jacobus, 'tis stubborn she is, and wrong it looks. But list,Katrina; you shall speak this minute, or else to your chamber go, andthere spend your New-Year's Day."

  At this mynheer puffed grimly at his pipe, and Gretel would haveremonstrated, but without a word Katrina turned and left the parlor.Ascending to her little attic-room, she removed her holiday finery, andsat sadly down to work on her Flemish lace, trying to console herself byrepeating: "Right am I, and I know I am right. A promise once givenmust not broken be," while the New-Year callers came and went, and thesound of merry greetings floated up from below.

  So it was scarce a happy New-Year, and the little weathercock must havepointed very much to the east if he considered the way the wind blewwithin-doors, for even Jan turned fractious, and declared, "There was nofun in calling on a parcel of old _vrouws_," and he should go to theturkey-shooting at Beekman's Swamp instead. But this his mother forbade."Shoot you will not this day," she said, "for at fourteen, like agentleman and a good Hollander should you behave. So start at once, andmy greetings bear to the Van Pelts and Vander Voorts and MistressHogeboom," while his father carried him off with him to call on thedominie's wife.

  This visit over, however, they parted company, and Jan lingered long inthe market-place to see the darkies dance to the rude music of horns andtom-toms. Here he encountered two of his chums, Nicholas Van Ripper andRem Hochstrasser, carrying guns on their shoulders.

  "Thee, Jan? Good!" they cried. "Now come with us to the turkey-shooting.A prize thou art sure to win."

  "But I started the New-Year visits to make!" said Jan.

  "And paid them in the market-place!" laughed Nicholas. "Thou art a slyone, Jan! But great sport is there at the Swamp to-day; much better thanthe chatter of the girls and a headache to-morrow."

  "So think I, Nick; but I have on my _kirch_ clothes;" and Jan glanceddown at his best galligaskins and his coat with its silver buttons.

  "Not a bit will it hurt them; so come along." And thus urged, Jan joinedhis friends, and was soon at Beekman's Swamp, where a bevy of youthswere squandering their stivers in the exciting sport of firing at liveturkeys.

  Nick and Rem did well, and each bore off a plump fowl, but luck seemedagainst Jan, who could not succeed in even ruffling a feather; while atlast he had the misfortune to slip and get a rough tumble, besidessoiling his breeches and tearing a rent in the skirt of his finebroadcloth coat.

  "Ha! ha! What will Madam Van Twinkle say to that?" laughed hisunsympathetic companions, when they saw Jan stamping round, his littlequeue of hair, tied with an eel-skin, fairly standing out with rage.

  "Whatever she says, 'twill be your fault, ye dough-nuts!" he shouted,and would have indulged in some rather forcible Dutch epithets had nothis cousin Tunis Vanderbeck come up at the moment, saying, "Mind it not,Jan, but with me come to Breucklyn to skate."

  "Yah; better wi
ll that be than facing the mother in this plight," saidJan; and he was skating across the Salt River before he remembered thathe had been positively forbidden to venture there.

  "Sure art thou that the ice is strong, Tunis?" he asked.

  "Not so strong as it was. The thaw has weakened it some, but 'twill holdto-night, if--" But at that instant an ominous cracking sounded beneaththeir feet, and Tunis had just time to glide to a firmer spot before ascream rang through the air, and he looked back to see the dark surgingwater in an opening in the ice, and Jan's head disappearing beneath.

  While, in the twilight, Katrina sat by her window, thinking of blue-eyedEnglish Jeanie, she was startled by a voice on the shed roof withoutcalling, "Let me in, Katrina--let me in;" and on opening the casement avery wet and bedraggled boy tumbled at her feet, sputtering out, "Runfor dry clothes and a hot drink, my Trina, for nearly drowned am I, andfrozen as well."

  The girl hastened to obey, and not until her brother was snug and warmin her feather-bed did she ask, "Whatever has happened to thee, Jan?"

  "Why, on the river I was, and the ice it broke, and in I fell. But foran old cove who risked his life to save me, in Davy Jones's locker wouldI be this minute; for never a hand did Tunis Vanderbeck stir to helpme, and unfriends will we be henceforth."

  "And thy _kirch_ suit is ruined. Does the mother know it?"

  "No; for fear of her I came in by the roof, but I met the fatheroutside, and angry enough he is because I went to the shooting and onthe river. He says that on bread and water shall I live for a week, andto the Philadelphia Fair shall I not go;" and a sob rose in the boy'sthroat. "But what is queerest, Katrina, the old chap who pulled me outseemed to know me, and gave me this for you," and Jan produced a moist,soggy package, which, on being undone, revealed a single broken kruller,in the centre of which, however, gleamed a heavy gold ring.

  "Good! good! Oh, glad am I!" cried Katrina; and hastening to put on herfestival dress, when the clock chimed seven she went dancing down to theparlor, and creeping to her mother's side, whispered, "Now, my moeder,all will I tell thee."

  In amazement the family listened to her story of the midnight visitor,and when she ended by slipping the ring on Gretel's finger, saying, "Nocommon thief was he, for this he sent me by Jan, whom he has saved froma grave in the Salt River," the Dutchwoman caught her to her heart,sobbing, "Oh, my Katrina, forgive thy mother, for it was in my temper Ispoke this morning, and a true, brave girl hast thou been. To think thatbut for thee our rare old silver would be on its way to England!" Greteltoo hugged her rapturously, and the tears were in Mynheer Van Twinkle'seyes as he asked:

  "How can I repay my daughter for saving the loving-cup of my ancestors,and for her lonely day above?"

  "By forgiving Jan, father, and letting him come to the New-Year supper.Disobedient has he been, I know, but well punished is he, and he is fullof sorrow."

  "Well, then, for thee, it shall be so."

  So Jan was summoned down, and a truly festal evening was held within thehome circle, beneath the gaze of the old mynheer and his vrouw, whobeamed benignantly from their heavy frames.

  The _Golden Lion_ sailed true to time, and never again was the deserterheard of on this side of the Atlantic; but for long after Katrina waspointed out as "the blue-eyed maid who saved the family plate and gaveaway Vrouw Van Twinkle's New-Year krullers."