Then she gave each of the Twins a cup of buttermilk to drink.
While the Twins drank the buttermilk, their mother washed the
churn and put it away. When she was all through, it was still
quite early in the morning, because they had gotten up with the
sun.
"Now we must clean the house," she said.
So she got out her scrubbing-brushes, and mops, and pails, and
dusters, and began.
First she shook out the pillows of the best bed, that nobody ever
slept in, and pushed back the curtains so that the embroidered
coverlet could be seen. Then she put the other beds in order and
drew the curtains in front of them.
She dusted the linen press and left it open just a little, so
that her beautiful rolls of white linen, tied with ribbons, would
show. Kat dusted the chairs, and Kit carried the big brass jugs
outside the kitchen door to be polished.
Then they all three rubbed and scoured and polished them until
they shone like the sun.
"Now it is time to cook the dinner," said Vrouw Vedder. "We will
have pork and potatoes and some cabbage. Kit, run to the garden
and bring a cabbage; and Kat, you may get the fire ready to cook
it, when Kit brings it in."
Kat went to the stove--but it was such a funny stove! It wasn't a
stove at all, really.
There was a sort of table built up against the chimney. It was
all covered with pretty blue tiles, with pictures of boats on
them. Over this table, there was a shelf, like a mantel shelf.
There were plates on it, and from the bottom of the shelf hung
some chains with hooks on them.
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