"There they are, in that box," said Pieter, as he pointed to some fritters, made in the shape of little round balls. "Oh, 'oliebollen' aren't half so nice as waffles; let us have them instead," said Wilhelmina. "I think I agree with Wilhelmina," said Theodore; "the 'oliebollen' seem to be taking a bath in oil," he continued, shaking his head doubtfully. "Oh, try one, anyhow," said Pieter. "You must not miss any of the Kermis cakes." "Well, they taste better than they look," said Theodore, as he swallowed one of the greasy little balls. "How would you like a raw herring, now, to give you an appetite for your dinner?" asked Pieter, as they passed the fish-stalls, which were decorated with festoons of fish that looked, at a little distance, like strings of white flags waving in the breeze. "Not for me, thank you," answered his cousin, "but just look at all those people eating them as if they enjoyed them; and dried fish and smoked fish, too, and all without any bread." [Illustration: AT THE KERMIS] After the waffles had been found and eaten, the young people became much interested in watching a group of men trying to break a cake. The cake was placed over a hollowed-out place in a large log of wood, and whoever could break the cake in halves with a blow of his stick won the cake, or what was left of it. The thing sounds easy, but it proved more difficult than would have seemed possible. "Let us eat an 'ellekoek' together, Pieter; there they are," and Wilhelmina pointed to what looked like yards and yards of ribbon hanging from one of the booths. The children forthwith bought a length, which was measured off for them just as if it really were ribbon, and Wilhelmina put one end in her mouth and Pieter the other end in his. The idea is to eat this ribbon cake without touching it with the hands or without its breaking. This Wilhelmina and Pieter managed to do in spite of much laughter, and gave each other a hearty kiss when they got to the middle of it. "Well," said Theodore, "I should think that a Kermis was for the purpose of eating cakes." The market-place became gayer and gayer. A crowd of people would lock arms and form a long line, and then go skipping and dancing along between the booths, singing and trying to capture other merrymakers in order to make them join their band. "Look out, Theodore, or this line will catch you," laughed Pieter, who jumped out of the way, pulling Wilhelmina after him. The first thing Theodore knew, a gay crowd had circled around him and made him a prisoner, calling out to him to come and keep Kermis with them. But Theodore was not to be captured so easily; he had not become proficient in gymnastics for nothing, so he simply ran up to a short little fellow, and putting his hands on his shoulders, vaulted clean over him, to the amazement of the crowd and the delight of the twins.