Part 6 (1/2)

[Ill.u.s.tration: Swiss Dog Cart.]

HOLLAND.

The people who live in Holland are called Dutch.

There are many ca.n.a.ls in Holland. In some of the towns they have ca.n.a.ls instead of streets. There are bridges across the ca.n.a.ls for people to go from one side of the street to the other. In some of the streets they have no sidewalks, and nothing between the houses but ca.n.a.ls.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Ca.n.a.ls in Holland.]

In most of the houses they have no carpets. They scatter white sand on the floor every morning. They keep their houses very clean. In their kitchens they have open fireplaces, with fires blazing brightly. Near the fires they have footstools made of cork. In some houses they have fire boxes for warming their feet. They can carry these boxes wherever they like. In cold weather they take their fire boxes to church.

Wherever you go in Holland you see windmills. When you see them far off they look like giants with their arms stretched out. The arms are shaped like ladders. The arms have sails on them to catch the wind.

It is the wind that makes the arms go round. With these windmills the people pump up water, and grind corn, and saw wood. The land is very flat and low. There are no swift running streams to turn the mills.

So the people build windmills.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Windmills in Holland.]

The great wonder of Holland is the dikes. Holland is near the sea, and so dikes are built along the beach to keep the water out. The dikes are strong walls made of earth and stones. They are very high, and so thick that on the top there is a road to walk and ride on. In some parts of Holland there are houses also on the top of the dikes. If it were not for these dikes, the sea would flow in on the land. Then it would cover the houses and towns, and drown the people.

Did you ever hear the story of the little boy and the hole in the dike?

The little boy's name was Hans. He lived near the great dikes along the sea. One day his mother sent him on an errand.

When he was coming home, he saw water flowing from a small hole in the dike. He knew that the water came from the sea. Then he said to himself, ”If that water is not stopped, the hole will get larger. Then the sea will break in, and we shall all be drowned.”

So Hans went up to the dike and put his hand against the hole, and stopped the water. This was very hard to do. But the little fellow held bravely on.

When night came and Hans did not come home, his father and some of the people who lived close by went to search for him. After many hours they found him at the dike, keeping the water back with his hand. Then his father took him home, and the men stopped up the hole in the dike.

Everybody praised Hans for what he had done.

The little children in Holland are very pretty. They have round, fat faces, golden hair, and blue eyes. The boys wear wide trousers and little round caps. The girls wear jackets and skirts and little caps with gold braid.

Both boys and girls wear wooden shoes. And what a noise they do make with their wooden shoes when they run around! They have great fun playing their shoes are boats. They sit on the sides of the ca.n.a.ls and take off their shoes and sail them on the water like little boats.

They tie strings to the shoes so that they can draw them in whenever they like.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Dutch Girl with Wooden Shoes.]

Dutch children do not wear shoes in the house, but wear slippers. When they go home after playing or from school they take off their shoes.

They leave them outside the door. Would you not think it strange to see rows of little shoes outside the doors?

Every Sat.u.r.day the children clean their shoes. But they do not s.h.i.+ne them as we do. They wash them with soap and water, and dry them at the fire. If the sun s.h.i.+nes, they hang them on a bush to dry. When they are dry, they are almost as white as snow.

Winter is a very merry season in Holland. Then all the ca.n.a.ls are frozen, and there is great fun skating. Everybody has skates, even the little children. And how merry and happy the boys and girls are, skimming along on the ice!

[Ill.u.s.tration: Skating in Holland.]

The men and women go to market on skates. Those who do not wish to go on skates go in sleds or chairs with runners on them. The chairs are pushed by skaters.