Windmills and wooden shoes

by Maude M. Grant

THE STORY

Peter was a little Dutch boy. He lived in Holland. He lived by the big dike. The dike was very big and very strong. It kept the sea from the land of Holland.

Peter knew how men watched the dikes. He knew that they had to do it, for if a leak came in the dike, the water would rush in.

The dike would break and the water would cover the land.

One day Peter’s mother said to Peter, “Peter, I wish you would take your father’s dinner to him. He is working far, far down on the shore. You may run along on the dike if you wish.”

So Peter started out with his basket. He went along the dike. He had gone quite far, and was tired, so he sat down to rest.

As he sat there, he heard a trickling sound. “That sounds like water trickling in a hole,” said Peter to himself.

He looked around. At last he found a little hole in the dike. The water was trickling in.

It was only a tiny stream.