Do you remember the book that Jan’s mother gave him for his birthday?
Jan has read the book now. He will tell you the story of little Peter. He likes it the best of all the stories in his book.
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.
“O, what shall I do?” said Peter. He ran to see if there was any one coming. But he could see no one. So he ran back to the hole in the dike and put his little hand over the hole. His hand stopped the water from coming in.
Poor Peter called and called, but no one heard. He became very stiff and lame, but he did not take his hand from the hole in the dike.
At last the sun went down, and it began to grow dark. Peter’s father and mother came to look for him. They found him cold and frightened with his little hand over the leak in the dike.
Men came with their tools and mended the dike.
“Brave, brave Peter,” they said. “You have saved your country from a great flood.”
All the people thought Peter was very brave indeed. They came to see him and brought him gifts. Even the king thanked Peter and sent him a bag of gold.
“I think Peter was very brave and very unselfish,” said Jan. “He did not think of himself, though he was cold and stiff and frightened. He thought of all the people who would lose their homes and lives, and so, though he was only a little boy, he was brave and strong enough to save his country from the sea.”