have, and wished his cousins owned such beautiful ships as
he and Martin had; for among the last things bought before leaving
New York were two little sailing-vessels--the "America" and the
"Columbus." Mr. Chester said Holland was full of water, and these were
proper toys to take there.

The two canal-boats, being precisely alike, were distinguished from
each other only by their names. Greta's had "Wilhelmina" painted on
the side in black letters, while Minchen's had "Gouda" in red letters.
They were similar to American canal-boats in shape, and of a dark
red-brown color. Will thought them stumpy and heavy-looking; and he
did not admire the red sails with crooked gaffs, and smiled at the
blue pennants, stretched out on stiff frames that turned with the
wind. But when Greta showed him a tiny windlass on the deck, by means
of which she easily raised and lowered the mast, he came to the
conclusion that a Dutch canal-boat was not to be despised.

"I do this when we pass under bridges," she explained.

"Where are your mules for drawing your boat?"

"My boat sails!" she said, proudly. "If there is no wind, I drag it
along myself. That is the way we do in our country."

[Illustration: "CHARLOTTE WAS PUSHING THE BOAT ALONG, MAKING HER WAY
TO THE LANDING-STAIRS."]

The American vessels were now unpacked and displayed. When the girls
saw these sharp-prowed, graceful ships, with their tapering masts
and pretty sails, their eyes glistened, and they declared that never
before had they seen anything so lovely. Their, pride in their
canal-boats suffered a woful downfall. The boys proposed to try all
the vessels on the canal at the back of the house, but Greta objected.

"Mother never lets us go there to sail our boats," she said. "It is
a dirty place, and she is afraid we will fall in. But there is a
beautiful stream by the mill where we are going to-morrow, and there
we can try our boats, and see which goes the fastest."

"Let us take a walk, then," said Martin. "I want to look at this queer
place."

The Van Shaicks lived in Zaandam, and it is indeed a queer place to
American eyes. It is a large town, with but two streets, one on each
side of the Zaan River; but these two extend for a long distance, and
are crossed at frequent intervals by canals, so that Martin soon got
tired counting the little bridges the children passed over in their
walk. Will was not quite sure whether the brick-paved street was all
road-way or all