THE LEAK IN THE DIKE

In which it appears that a leak should be stopped at once, and that a little boy can do a great service.

Holland is a country far across the sea. The boys and girls there wear wooden shoes. They like to skip and dance along the streets clicking these shoes together, or making them ring as they strike the hard pavement.

Peter was a little boy who liked to skip and dance with the others. He was a poor boy and had to wear wooden shoes like the others. He did not mind that, however. He liked best of all to play on the top of the sea-wall, for where Peter lived, the people had to build sea-walls, or dikes, to keep the water from rushing over the land.

Every day Peter would play on the top of the dikes, and was careful not to fall into the water. He could see the great ocean on one side of the dike, with ships and fishing boats far out at sea, and on the other side, below the level of the water, he could see his own little home, and the houses of his neighbors and friends.

One day, while he was playing he heard a little trickle of water. He stopped to listen. He found a tiny stream running through a small hole in the dike.

Peter knew this was a dreadful thing, for he had often heard his father say that a small leak would grow into a great leak, and would break down the great sea-wall, and destroy the village. He knew then that in a little while the small hole would be a large one, and the sea would be rushing in, and it would be too late to stop it.

He said to himself “What can I do? Before long my mother, my father, and all my brothers and sisters will be drowned, and the sea will wash away the whole village.” He was almost ready to cry, but he was too brave a boy for that.

He called aloud, but no one heard. It was growing dark. He put his hand over the hole to see if he could stop the water. But the water was coming in so fast that he had to push his arm in to stop it. He found that, by pulling some grass from the sides of the dike and wrapping it around his hand and arm, he could hold the water back.

It was now quite dark. He lay down on the side of the dike and held his arm in the hole. The water stopped running, and little Peter lay very still. After awhile he called out for help, but still nobody heard him. He could see the lights in the houses, and he knew the people were having supper. This made him hungry and he began to be cold. All night long he lay there holding back the water.

At last morning came, and a man passing by saw Peter lying there, with his arm still in the dike. He called men to help him, and the brave little boy was lifted up, and the leak in the dike was soon stopped.

When the people of the town heard what Peter had done, they cheered him, and soon the mayor came to his home and called him a brave boy who had saved the town from destruction.