Chapter I: Preface

When I began to write these stories about children of all lands I had just returned from Europe whither I journeyed with Marie and Ref. Maybe you don't know Marie and Ref. I'll introduce them: Please meet Marie, my very little daughter, and Ref, my very big reflex camera.

These two are my helpers. Marie helps by being a little girl who knows what other little girls like and by telling me; and Ref helps by snapping pictures of everything interesting that Marie and I see on our travels. I couldn't get along without them.

Several years have gone by since we started our work together and Marie is a bigger girl--but Ref hasn't changed one bit. Ref hasn't changed any more than my interest in writing these books for you. And I hope that _you_ hope that I'll never change, because I want to keep on writing until we'll have no more countries to write about--unless, of course, some one discovers a new country.

Even if a new country isn't discovered, we'll find foreign children to talk about--maybe the children in Mars! Who knows? Nobody. Not even Marie--and Marie usually knows about most things. That's the reason why, you see, though I sign myself

I am really only

Marie's Mother.

DEDICATION

Because she likes "scarey" stories, because she likes this one best of all my books, because I like her best of all--well, just because she's my dear little daughter, I dedicate this book to

Marie Madeleine Brandeis.

CONTENTS

Chapter I PAGE
The Brussels Sprout 13

Chapter II
Papa Pomme's Surprise 32

Chapter III
A Neighbor 43

Chapter IV
Zelie 58

Chapter V
New Friends 69

Chapter VI
Philippe Acts as Guide 81

Chapter VII
Philippe Runs Away 95

Chapter VIII
A Difficult Journey 109

Chapter IX
The City of Sisters 120

Chapter X
In the Shadows of Bruges 131

Chapter XI
Found 139

Chapter XII
Philippe Finds Out 150

Chapter XIII
The Cave of the Crows 162

Chapter XIV
Trompke Talks 175