them to come quick.'

"It is needless to add that they did come quickly and that--"

"Jenny Dobbs," said the teacher, rather impatiently, "if you cannot
control your feelings so as to read distinctly, we will wait until you
recover yourself."

"Yes, sir!" said Jenny, quite startled.

It was strange, but at that very moment, Ben, far over the sea, was
saying to Lambert, "The noble little fellow! I have frequently met with
an account of the incident, but I never knew, till now, that it was
really true."

"True! Of course it is," said Lambert. "I have given you the story just
as Mother told it to me, years ago. Why, there is not a child in Holland
who does not know it. And, Ben, you may not think so, but that little
boy represents the spirit of the whole country. Not a leak can show
itself anywhere either in its politics, honor, or public safety, that a
million fingers are not ready to stop it, at any cost."

"Whew!" cried Master Ben. "Big talking that!"

"It's true talk anyway," rejoined Lambert, so very quietly that Ben
wisely resolved to make no further comment.

On the Canal

The skating season had commenced unusually early; our boys were by no
means alone upon the ice. The afternoon was so fine that men, women, and
children, bent upon enjoying the holiday, had flocked to the grand canal
from far and near. Saint Nicholas had evidently remembered the favorite
pastime; shining new skates were everywhere to be seen. Whole families
were skimming their way to Haarlem or Leyden or the neighboring
villages. The ice seemed fairly alive. Men noticed the erect, easy
carriage of women, and their picturesque variety of costume. There were
the latest fashions, fresh from Paris, floating past dingy, moth-eaten
garments that had seen service through two generations; coal-scuttle
bonnets perched over freckled faces bright with holiday smiles; stiff
muslin caps with wings at the sides, flapping beside cheeks rosy with
health and contentment; furs, too, encircling the whitest of throats;
and scanty garments fluttering below faces ruddy with exercise. In
short, every quaint and comical mixture of dry goods and flesh that
Holland could furnish seemed sent to enliven the scene.

There were belles from Leyden, and fishwives from the border villages;
cheese women from Gouda, and prim matrons from beautiful country seats
on the Haarlemmer Meer. Gray-headed skaters were constantly to be seen;
wrinkled old women with ba