The Soup. Jorma Rotko

we would be re-baptized by the elder, as a Fleming Mennonite. That was about it.

      Required at the next service was a formally, unanimous acceptance by the parish before our conversion would be complete, but no one spoke. It appeared our acceptance had already taken place, so it looked like we were in.

      The Dirksen’s, our new Frisian friends, had six sons and a 17-year old daughter named Johanna. She was helping her mother, Katharina, in the kitchen; carried water from the well and using an ax to chop firewood.

      We talked with Dirksen about the idea of building a rowing boat during winter. Was he familiar with a place in Danzig where we could purchase raw materials and equipment for the project?

      “Danzig is a very expensive city,” he said laughing. “We don’t buy but sell things there. We buy what we need in Elbing. It’s smaller and much cheaper than Danzig”, Dirksen said.

      “Elbing is easy to find. The only good road around here is the highway to Elbing. It takes you first through the village of Loytzenhof, then on to where you cross the Nogat River at the Nogatbrügge Bridge into the town of Elbing,” he said. “You’ll find the merchants and warehouses are on the left bank of the river in the Speicherinseln district, known locally as ‘Warehouse Island.’ They sell everything you’ll need”.

      Dirksen promised to loan us his horse and wagon for the trip. “You will need to plan on spending two days,” he said. “Otherwise, the horse gets too tired”.

      We spent a rather rainy week working to remove bushes and dig ditches. Then, unexpectedly, the weather changed. The rain stopped and the wind diminished leaving a blue sky and beautiful autumn days. Perfect for making the trip to Elbing.

      Dirksen harnessed his horse and loaded in the wagon some oats and hay for the animal. It took us all day to reach Elbing, but we luckily found most shops still open. At a store called Neptunsspeicher, we bought new hemp rope for the Geest, tools, copper nails, and a big barrel tar. We had intended to buy oak planking but found none available, so bought pine instead.

      The Weisse Taube inn, where we were to spend the night, stood on the opposite side of the river, near the bridge in town. The innkeeper promised us good shelter for the horse and wagon and soft beds for us. We had no complaints about breakfast the next morning, either. It consisted of a filling big chunk of salt pork and fried eggs.

      “I’m off to the marketplace,” Dietrich said after leaving the table. “I heard yesterday you can buy amber here reasonably and that Elbing’s silversmiths are some of the best”.

      I was confused and must have given him a questioning look.