" Kit and Kat both nodded their heads very
hard. "Only, I'll do the driving myself," said Grandfather
Winkle. And he did.
He put Kit and Kat both on the seat, and he walked slowly beside
the cart. They went out on the road beside the canal toward home.
They got there just as the sun was getting low in the west, and
Vrouw Vedder was going out to feed her chickens.
VI
THE DAY THEY GOT THEIR SKATES
One morning, when Kit and Kat ran out early to feed their
ducklings, the frost nipped their noses and ears.
"It's getting colder every day. Very soon winter will come," Kat
said.
They ran down to the canal. The old goose and the gander and the
goslings--now half grown--were standing on the bank, looking
unhappy: there was a thin sheet of ice all over the canal, and
they could not go swimming.
Kit took a stick and broke the ice. Thin sheets of it, like
pieces of broken glass, were soon floating about; and the old
goose, the gander, and all the goslings went down the bank in a
procession into the water.
They swam about among the pieces of ice for a while, but it was
so cold that they soon came up on the bank into the sun again and
wiggled their tails to shake out the water. Then they all sat
down in the sun to get their feet warm.
Kit and Kat ran up and down the road and played tag until their
cheeks were red and they were warm as toast. Then they ran into
Vrouw Vedder's warm kitchen.
The kettle was singing on the fire, and there was a smell of
coffee in the air.
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