Talked with them whene'er he met them, Of all beasts he learned the language, Why the rabbit was so timid, Talked with them whene'er he met them, 5 10 HENRY W. LONGFELLOW. Gitche-Gumee (Git'che-Gu'mee) Minnie-wawa (Min'ne-wa'wa) Hiawatha (Hē'a-wa'tha) Nokomis (No-ko'mis) Mudway-aushka (Mūd-wayaush'ka) HELPS TO STUDY 1. Hiawatha was the hero of one of the Indian tribes. 2. In what kind of place did he live? What lullaby did. Nokomis sing to him? 3. What things did she teach him about the moon? About the rainbow? 4. What did he learn about the birds and beasts? 5. The "Death-dance of the Spirits" was the northern lights. 6. What is the broad, white road in heaven? THE LEAK IN THE DIKE Many years ago there lived in Holland a little boy, who did a brave deed. His name was Peter. His father was a sluicer; that is, a man whose work it was to watch the sluices, or gates, in the dikes. He had to open and close these gates for the ships to pass out of the canals into the sea. Even the little children were taught that the dikes must be watched every moment, and that a hole no longer than your little finger was a very 10 dangerous thing. One lovely afternoon in the early fall, when Peter was eight years old, his mother called him from his play. "Come, Peter," she said, "I wish you to go across the dike and take these cakes 15 to your friend, the blind man. If you go quickly, and do not stop to play, you will be home again before it is dark." The little boy was glad to go on such an errand, and started off with a light heart. He stayed 20 with the poor blind man a little while to tell him about his walk along the dike; of the sun and the flowers and the ships far out at sea. Then he remembered his mother's wish that he should return before dark, and bidding his friend Good-by," he set out for home. 66 As he walked beside the canal, he noticed how the rains had swollen the waters, and how they beat against the side of the dike, and he thought of his father's gates. 5 "I am glad they are so strong," he said to him- 10 self. "If they gave way what would become of us? These pretty fields would be covered with water. Father always calls them the 'angry waters.' I suppose he thinks they are angry at him for keeping them out so long." 15 As he walked along he sometimes stopped to pick the pretty blue flowers beside the road, or to listen to the rabbits' soft tread as they rustled through the grass. But oftener he thought of his visit to the poor blind man who had so few pleas- 20 ures and was always so glad to have a visitor. Suddenly he noticed that the sun was setting, and that it was growing dark. "Mother will be watching for me," he thought, and he began to run toward home. Just then he heard a noise. It was the sound of trickling water! He stopped and looked down. 5 There was a small hole in the dike, through which a tiny stream was flowing. Any child in Holland is frightened at the thought of a leak in the dike. Peter understood the danger at once. If the 10 water ran through a little hole it would soon make a larger one, and the whole country would be flooded. Throwing away his flowers, he climbed down the side of the dike, thrust his finger into the tiny hole, and stopped the water. 15 "Oho!" he said to himself. "The angry waters must stay back now. I can keep them back with my finger. Holland shall not be drowned while I am here." This was all very well at first, but it soon grew 20 dark and cold. The little fellow shouted and screamed. "Come here! come here!" he called. But no one heard him; no one came to help him. It grew still colder, and his arm ached, and began to grow stiff and numb. He shouted again, "Will no one come? Mother! Mother!" But his mother had looked anxiously along the dike road many times since sunset for her little boy, and now she had closed and locked the cot-5 tage door, thinking that Peter was spending the night with his blind friend, and that she would scold him in the morning for staying away from home without her permission. Peter tried to whistle, but his teeth chattered 10 with the cold. He thought of his brother and sister in their warm beds, and of his dear father |