The Little Hero of Holland ….

   Peter tried to whistle, but his teethchattered with the cold. He thought of his brother and sister in their warm beds, and of his dear father and mother. "I must not let them be drowned," he thought. "I must stay here until someone comes, if I have to stay all night."
   The moon and stars looked down on the child crouching on a stone on the side of the dike. His head was bent, and his eyes were closed, but e was not asleep, for every now and then he rubbed the hand that was holding back the angry sea.
   "I'll stand it somehow," he thought. So he stayed there all night keeping the sea out.
   Early the next morning a man going to work thought he heard a groan as he walked along the top of the dike. Looking over the edge, he saw a child clinging to the side of the great wall.
   "What's the matter?" he called. "Are you hurt?"
   "I'm keeping the water back!" Peter yelled. "Tell them to come quickly!"
   The alarm was spread. People came running with shovels and the hole was soon mended.
   They carried Peter home to his parents, and before long the whole town knew hos he had saved their lives that night. To this day, they have never forgotten the brave little hero of Holland.