But the Swiss boys and girls have some time for play as well as for work and school.  They often have holidays.  One of their greatest holidays is the day that the men come home from the mountains with their flocks.  The boys and girls go out to meet them.  They sing songs.  The bells ring, and flags wave.  Everybody is merry and happy.

The children in Switzerland have a great many pretty toys.  Some of their toys are made to play music.  The Swiss make all kinds of music boxes.

In Switzerland, instead of a king, they have a president, as we have.  And in past times they had brave men who fought to make their country free.  One of their great men was William Tell.  The Swiss love his name as strongly as we love the name of George Washington.

[Illustration:  Swiss Dog Cart.]

HOLLAND.

The people who live in Holland are called Dutch.

There are many canals in Holland.  In some of the towns they have canals instead of streets.  There are bridges across the canals for people to go from one side of the street to the other.  In some of the streets they have no sidewalks, and nothing between the houses but canals.

[Illustration:  Canals in Holland.]

In most of the houses they have no carpets.  They scatter white sand on the floor every morning.  They keep their houses very clean.  In their kitchens they have open fireplaces, with fires blazing brightly.  Near the fires they have footstools made of cork.  In some houses they have fire boxes for warming their feet.  They can carry these boxes wherever they like.  In cold weather they take their fire boxes to church.

Wherever you go in Holland you see windmills.  When you see them far off they look like giants with their arms stretched out.  The arms are shaped like ladders.  The arms have sails on them to catch the wind.  It is the wind that makes the arms go round.  With these windmills the people pump up water, and grind corn, and saw wood.  The land is very flat and low.  There are no swift running streams to turn the mills.  So the people build windmills.

[Illustration:  Windmills in Holland.]

The great wonder of Holland is the dikes.  Holland is near the sea, and so dikes are built along the beach to keep the water out.  The dikes are strong walls made of earth and stones.  They are very high, and so thick that on the top there is a road to walk and ride on.  In some parts of Holland there are houses also on the top of the dikes.  If it were not for these dikes, the sea would flow in on the land.  Then it would cover the houses and towns, and drown the people.

Did you ever hear the story of the little boy and the hole in the dike?  The little boy’s name was Hans.  He lived near the great dikes along the sea.  One day his mother sent him on an errand.

When he was coming home, he saw water flowing from a small hole in the dike.  He knew that the water came from the sea.  Then he said to himself, “If that water is not stopped, the hole will get larger.  Then the sea will break in, and we shall all be drowned.”