pended upon his act. He gave a cry of fear

and thrust his arm into the hole. The flow of the water was stopped.

He called for help; but no

one came.

The boy

Night settled over the stormy sea. was alone in the lonely night. It grew cold. His arm ached. He became numb. He tried to whistle. His teeth chattered. He could not whistle. He wished for help, for morning, for rest. Once he was on the point of drawing his arm away. No; he could not do that. The angry waters would rush through and destroy the entire town.

Bravely he suffered and waited. In the early dawn the village pastor, walking on the dike, heard a groan. He ran to the poor boy's relief. Soon others came. The hole in the

dike was closed. Peter was lifted carefully into the strong arms of grateful men and, almost too near death to know what it meant, he was carried home.

His mother had not slept. She was watching for her son. She saw the men carrying her boy home. Her heart was filled with fear, until she heard a glad shout.

pastor who called to her:

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It was the

'Give thanks; your son has saved our land, and God has saved his life."

Many years have gone since then. But when the sea roars and the storm sweeps from the north, the people of Holland tell their children of brave little Peter, whose courage saved the land.

XIV. THE STEAMBOAT-MAKER.

In Lancaster, Pennsylvania, lived a queer boy. He was always found in the shops and

mills watching the men at work and trying to make things for himself.

One day he was in a gun-shop. He asked the workmen for some quicksilver. The workmen asked him what he wanted with it. He would not tell. The men gave it to him and called him "Quicksilver Bob."

This boy's name was Robert Fulton. He was so busy making things that he often failed to learn his lessons. One day he came to school quite late.

"What makes you so late?" asked the

teacher.

"I went to one of the shops to make myself a lead pencil," said " Quicksilver Bob," "and here it is. It is the best pencil I ever had." The teacher took the pencil and found it was the best one he had ever used.

At another time the teacher rapped Robert over the knuckles because he did not know his lesson. He did not like this any more than you would. "Sir," said he, "I came here to have something beaten into my head, not into my knuckles."

Like most boys, "Quicksilver Bob" liked

to go fishing. One day he and Chris Gumpf

were fishing from a flat boat. to push the boat with long hard work.

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The boys had poles. poles. It was

I am tired pushing this old boat with a pole," said Robert to Chris, "and I mean to make a paddle-wheel to push it for us.' He made the wheel, fastened it to the old flat boat, and the boys turned the wheel with a crank. The boys did not use poles any more.

Years after this, Robert Fulton built a successful steamboat. Most persons think it was the first steamboat, but it was not the first. John Fitch had made and run a steam

boat on the Delaware River seventeen years before. Fulton named his boat "The Clermont." He built it in New York City, and said

he would make it run up the Hudson River. When the people saw "The Clermont" they laughed. They said such an old thing could never move. The time came for Fulton to start his boat. A crowd stood on the shore. The black smoke rolled from the smoke stack. "The Clermont" began to move. There were

no oars. There were no sails. She ran a short

distance and stopped.

shore laughed and said,

The people on the

"We told you so."

Fulton tightened some bolts, and the boat