Hiders make best finders

Hiders make best finders is the proverb Dame Brinker recalls while she and Hans Brinker discuss the Brinker family's missing money. Her appeal to it turns the practical frustration of a fruitless search into a note of hope, though the family's uncertainty about what happened to the money remains unresolved in the exchange.

Use in the Conversation

Dame Brinker says the proverb after acknowledging that searching the cottage has been useless. Hans observes that she has nearly pulled the place apart in the effort. Her answer gives the saying a literal force: the money is missing, and the family hopes that persistent searching may uncover what was hidden. In context, however, the proverb is not a solution or proof that anyone will find the money; it is a consoling maxim offered amid discouragement.

Uncertainty and Hope

The conversation also shows how little the family knows. Dame Brinker says she has not seen the money since the day before her husband was injured. Hans wonders whether his father might be able to say something about it. Dame Brinker thinks he might, but immediately qualifies that hope: her own belief changes from one day to the next. She considers whether her husband used the money to pay for the silver watch the family has guarded since the injury, then rejects the thought. Against these shifting possibilities, the proverb holds open the chance of recovery without resolving where the money went.