. St. Nicholas [serial] . y pro-nouncing the word, are pro-vided with spikes for breaking | passages through the ice to en-able barges and other vesselsto pass. They are sometimesused by hand, and sometimesare made very large and heavy,and drawn by as many as twentyor even thirty horses. Thereis no little excitement amongthe boys and girls when a bigice-breaker comes out for thefirst time in the season. Thegreat crashing thing inspiresthem with wonder and admira-tion ; yet with all its might itcuts only a narrow pathway for The main face of the country be- the boats, longs to the skaters. For
. St. Nicholas [serial] . y pro-nouncing the word, are pro-vided with spikes for breaking | passages through the ice to en-able barges and other vesselsto pass. They are sometimesused by hand, and sometimesare made very large and heavy,and drawn by as many as twentyor even thirty horses. Thereis no little excitement amongthe boys and girls when a bigice-breaker comes out for thefirst time in the season. Thegreat crashing thing inspiresthem with wonder and admira-tion ; yet with all its might itcuts only a narrow pathway for The main face of the country be- the boats, longs to the skaters. For miles and miles the glassy ice spreadsits mirror under the blinking and dazzled is one shining network of slipperyhighway. Who would walk or ride then ? Notone. Doctors skate to their patients; clergymento their parishioners; market-women to townwith baskets upon their heads. Laborers goskimming by, with tools on their shoulders, andtradespeople busily planning the days affairs; 112 THE LAND OF PLUCK. [ head of nikolaas tulp, the anatomist,(from Rembrandts painting, the school of anatomy, - ?AT THE HAGUE.) fat old burgomasters, too, with gold-headedcanes cautiously nourished to keep them inbalance; laughing girls with arms entwined;long files of young men shouting as they pass;children with school-satchels slung over theirshoulders,— all whizzing by, this way and that, until you can see nothing but the flashing ofskates, and a rushing confusion of color. And while all this is happening in the openair, the simple indoor life is steadily goingon, in the homes, the shops, the churches, theschools, the workshops, the picture-galleries. THE LAND OF PLUCK. 3 Ah, the picture-galleries! All Hollanders,from the very richest and most cultivated toalmost the very humblest, visit and enjoy therare collections of paintings that ennoble theirprincipal towns and cities. And what picturesthose old Dutchmen have painted ! The Dutch-men of to-day well may be proud of
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Keywords: ., bookauthordodgemar, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, bookyear1873
