But though the good woman had to come down to these humble means of
subsistence, yet she still kept up a feeling of family pride, having
descended from the Vanderspiegels, of Amsterdam; and she had the
family arms painted and framed, and hung over her mantel-piece. She
was, in truth, much respected by all the poorer people of the place;
her house was quite a resort of the old wives of the neighbourhood;
they would drop in there of a winter's afternoon, as she sat knitting
on one side of her fire-place, her cat purring on the other, and the
tea-kettle singing before it; and they would gossip with her until
late in the evening. There was always an arm-chair for Peter de
Groodt, sometimes called Long Peter, and sometimes Peter Longlegs, the
clerk and sexton of the little Lutheran church, who was her great
crony, and indeed the oracle of her fire-side. Nay, the Dominie
himself did not disdain, now and then, to step in, converse about the
state of her mind, and take a glass of her special good cherry-brandy.
Indeed, he never failed to call on new-year's day, and wish her a
happy new year; and the good dame, who was a little vain on some
points, always piqued herself on giving him as large a cake as any one
in town.
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