Presently their father opened the kitchen-door, and called
out, "What does this all mean?" Then the boys all answered at once, from
the floor; and one said, "Wiseli did not want it;" and another, "Wiseli
had not any;" and "As long as Wiseli did not want any"--
Their father called out, loudly, "If you do not stop that, I will come
in with the thong, and whip you." And he slammed the door again.
"It" did not "stop," however; but, as soon as the door was shut again,
it began worse than ever, for Hannes found that the best way to treat
the enemy was to grasp him by the hair; and so they all seized each
other by the hair, and stood in a ring, uttering terrible noises. In the
kitchen their mother sat on a stool, and peeled potatoes. When her
husband closed the door again, she asked,--
"What is your idea about that child? Why did you bring her home with
you at once?"
"I thought she would have to stay with somebody. I am her cousin Gotti,
and she has no other relatives. You can make her useful. She can do what
you are doing now. Then you will be able to do other things. You are
always saying that the boys give you so much work,--more than is right."
"Yes, as regards them, a great help she will be! You can hear now what
a racket there is in there, and she is only a quarter of an hour in
the house."
"I have heard that sort of thing a good many times before the little one
came.
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