Hans Brinker; Or, The Silver Skates

by Mary Mapes Dodge

  XVII

  THE MAN WITH FOUR HEADS

  After leaving the church, the boys stopped near by in the openmarket-place, to look at the bronze statue of Laurens Janzoon Coster,who is believed by the Dutch to have been the inventor of printing. Thisis disputed by those who award the same honor to Johannes Gutenberg ofMayence; while many maintain that Faustus, a servant of Coster, stolehis master's wooden types on a Christmas eve, when the latter was atchurch, and fled with his booty, and his secret, to Mayence. Coster wasa native of Haarlem, and the Hollanders are naturally anxious to securethe credit of the invention for their illustrious townsman. Certain itis, that the first book he printed, is kept, by the city, in a silvercase wrapped in silk, and is shown with great caution as a most preciousrelic. It is said, he first conceived the idea of printing from cuttinghis name upon the bark of a tree, and afterward pressing a piece ofpaper upon the characters.

  Of course Lambert and his English friend fully discussed this subject.They also had rather a warm argument concerning another invention.Lambert declared that the honor of giving both the telescope andmicroscope to the world lay between Metius and Jansen, both Hollanders;while Ben as stoutly insisted that Roger Bacon, an English monk of thethirteenth century, "wrote out the whole thing, sir, perfectdescriptions of microscopes and telescopes, too, long before either ofthose other fellows were born."

  On one subject, however, they both agreed: that the art of curing andpickling herrings was discovered by William Beukles of Holland, and thatthe country did perfectly right in honoring him as a nationalbenefactor, for its wealth and importance had been in a great measuredue to its herring trade.

  "It is astonishing," said Ben, "in what prodigious quantities those fishare found. I don't know how it is here, but on the coast of England, offYarmouth, the herring shoals have been known to be six and seven feetdeep with fish."

  "That is prodigious, indeed," said Lambert, "but you know your wordherring is derived from the German _heer_, an army, on account of a waythe fish have of coming in large numbers."

  Soon afterward, while passing a cobbler's shop, Ben exclaimed:

  "Hollo! Lambert, here is the name of one of your greatest men over acobbler's stall! Boerhaave--if it were only Herman Boerhaave instead ofHendrick, it would be complete."

  Lambert knit his brows reflectively, as he replied:

  "Boerhaave--Boerhaave--the name is perfectly familiar; I remember, too,he was born in 1668, but the rest is all gone, as usual. There have beenso many famous Hollanders, you see, it is impossible for a fellow toknow them all. What was he? Did he have two heads? or was he one of yourgreat, natural swimmers like Marco Polo?"

  "He had _four_ heads," answered Ben, laughing, "for he was a greatphysician, naturalist, botanist and chemist. I am full of him just now,for I read his life a few weeks ago."

  "Pour out a little then," said Lambert; "only walk faster, we shall losesight of the other boys."

  "Well," resumed Ben, quickening his pace, and looking with greatinterest at everything going on in the crowded street. "This Dr.Boerhaave was a great anspewker."

  "A great _what_?" roared Lambert.

  "Oh, I beg pardon--I was thinking of that man over there, with thecocked hat. He's an anspewker, isn't he?"

  "Yes. He's an aanspreeker--if that is what you mean to say. But whatabout your friend with the four heads?"

  "Well, as I was going to say, the doctor was left a penniless orphan atsixteen without education or friends."

  "Jolly beginning!" interposed Lambert.

  "Now don't interrupt. He was a poor friendless orphan at sixteen, but hewas so persevering and industrious, so determined to gain knowledge,that he made his way, and in time became one of the most learned men ofEurope. All the----What is that?"

  "Where? What do you mean?"

  "Why, that paper on the door opposite. Don't you see? Two or threepersons are reading it; I have noticed several of these papers sinceI've been here."

  "Oh, that's only a health-bulletin. Somebody in the house is ill, and toprevent a steady knocking at the door, the family write an account ofthe patient's condition on a placard, and hang it outside the door, forthe benefit of inquiring friends--a very sensible custom, I'm sure.Nothing strange about it that I can see--go on, please--you said 'allthe'--and there you left me hanging."

  "I was going to say," resumed Ben, "that all the--all the--how comicallypersons do dress here, to be sure! Just look at those men and women withtheir sugar-loaf hats--and see this woman ahead of us with astraw-bonnet like a scoop-shovel tapering to a point in the back. Didever you see anything so funny? And those tremendous wooden shoes,too--I declare she's a beauty!"

  "Oh, they are only back-country folk," said Lambert, ratherimpatiently--"You might as well let old Boerhaave drop, or else shutyour eyes----"

  "Ha! ha! Well, I was _going_ to say--all the big men of his day soughtout this great professor. Even Peter the Great when he came over toHolland from Russia to learn ship-building, attended his lecturesregularly. By that time Boerhaave was professor of Medicine andChemistry and Botany in the University of Leyden. He had grown to bevery wealthy as a practicing physician; but he used to say that the poorwere his best patients because God would be their pay-master. All Europelearned to love and honor him. In short, he became so famous that acertain mandarin of China addressed a letter to 'The illustriousBoerhaave, physician in Europe,' and the letter found its way to himwithout any difficulty."

  "My goodness! That is what I call being a public character. The boyshave stopped. How now, Captain van Holp, what next?"

  "We propose to move on," said Van Holp; "there is nothing to see at thisseason in the Bosch--the Bosch is a noble wood, Benjamin, a grand Parkwhere they have most magnificent trees, protected by law--Do youunderstand?"

  "Ya!" nodded Ben, as the captain proceeded:

  "Unless you all desire to visit the Museum of Natural History, we may goon the grand canal again. If we had more time it would be pleasant totake Benjamin up the Blue Stairs."

  "What are the Blue Stairs, Lambert?" asked Ben.

  "They are the highest point of the Dunes. You have a grand view of theocean from there, besides a fine chance to see how wonderful these Dunesare. One can hardly believe that the wind could ever heap up sand in soremarkable a way. But we have to go through Bloemendal to get there--nota very pretty village, and some distance from here. What do you say?"

  "Oh, I am ready for anything. For my part, I would rather steer directfor Leyden, but we'll do as the captain says--hey, Jacob?"

  "Ya, dat ish goot," said Jacob, who felt decidedly more like takinganother nap, than ascending the Blue Stairs.

  The captain was in favor of going to Leyden.

  "It's four long miles from here. (Full sixteen of your English miles,Benjamin.) We have no time to lose if you wish to reach there beforemidnight. Decide quickly, boys--Blue Stairs or Leyden?"

  "Leyden," they answered--and were out of Haarlem in a twinkling,admiring the lofty, tower-like windmills and pretty country-seats asthey left the city behind them.

  "If you really wish to see Haarlem," said Lambert to Ben, after they hadskated a while in silence, "you should visit it in summer. It is thegreatest place in the world for beautiful flowers. The walks around thecity are superb; and the 'Wood' with its miles of noble elms, all infull feather, is something to remember. You need not smile, old fellow,at my saying 'full feather'--I was thinking of waving plumes, and got mywords mixed up a little. But a Dutch elm beats everything; it is thenoblest tree on earth, Ben--if you except the English oak----"

  "Aye," said Ben, solemnly, "_if_ you except the English oak"--and forsome moments he could scarcely see the canal because Robby and Jennykept bobbing in the air before his eyes.