Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1868-05-07

answered her husband. "The Water
staat will want all the hands they can get
tonight. 1t is an awful storm, surely.
By s. Willibald, what gust that was p
I must stop to explain to you that the
IVater-staat are the persons into whose
charge the dykes Of Holland are given.
They have large revenue, and many Of
fcers and servants under them; and one
of their chief stations is the Hondsbossche,
of which have already spoken.
Il trust. father, there will be no mis-
chief" said Coletta.
"Aye, child, and you would say so a
thousand times as earnestly if you could
remember the last great storm-ten years
ago come next month. Aye! that acas a
storm indeed! And yet We had but little
of it here
Il shall 60 out, wife, if this lasts," said
Schoorl. ''Last tide only wanted four
inches of the highest I ever saw it; and
that is near foot above Great Danger
mark. Hark what is that?" .a
A hand was laid on the door, and an
aged voice said, Take poor man in for
the love of God! !'
Marry. come in and welcome" cried
Conrad, starting up. 1T is not the MI ght
for dog to be out i'm He drew back
the bar-the door was dashed open by the
wind-the squall beat into the house
the fire glared out and it wanted the
strong mans full strength to close it a.
gain. @,
The same beggar whom we saw before,
pale. weary, and dripping from head to
foot, stood in the kitchen.
''Come in. good man. come nearer to
the frc!''. cried Dame Fleta. whats
its use but to warm body at? Nay,
never stand about the tiles. I'll warrant
it's easier to clean them than to cure a
fever"
That's true," said the honest farmer.
cor stay-step this way, man-anything
were better than those wet rags"
With many thanks, the beggar follow
ed his host, and presently came back wrap
ped up in thick dry rug.
:Set on some supper, girl" said her
father to Coletta; .'this honest man is
hungered. [ know-and. if he is not, [
am" ....-.-
So the supper was set on; a mighty
boar-ham, the bearer of which had fatten-
ed himself on the acoras of OldeH burg a
great Permerend cheese bread as white
as snow, and Alkmaar beer. And now
the storm lulled little. The beggar,
seated at the lower end of the long table,
that shone like a black looking glass, said
little and ate scarcely anything. The
others and more especially Conrad, COM
mented on the tempest. wondered if Pop
po would return that light. and told dole
full stories of past floods. Towards eight
o'clock the wind rose again.
Il will 60 out" said the farmer cit is
a shame to leave those men on such
night" And he hsa just taken down his
ponderous stick, when the door was shak-
en- violently. and a voice shouted, ''Let
me in let me in!'
''It is Poppo!'' cried Coletta and she
few to the door.
Father" cried the young man, rush
ing in, battered and drenched with the
storm, 'come to the Dyke instantly
The water is higher than the Waterman
den remembers it in the year of the great
food-all the village is out-old Simon,
the sail-maker, has sent US his last yard
OF canvas; come at once" And father
and son were off in moment. 4:l
A wild. fierce scene. A long dyke,
steep to the land, sloping more gently off
to the sea; its narrow summit alive with
strong men, hurrying this way and that
torches glaring out with horrible bright
ness; the sea roaring and shouting with a
noise far more dreadful than thunder the
long waves licking up the ascent, even to
to the very top, and every now and then
sweeping over, and deluging the land side,
with tons Of water; the wind bowling and
shrieking along the embankments some
hurrying onwards with bundles of willow
twigs. some in groups of five or six kneel-
Ing on the ground, and stitching up sacks
of sand: the officers believing out their
orders: here and there heap of straw
fred for a clearer light seaward; every
where terror, confusion, cries. the 'thun-
der Of captains, and the shouting. Old
Jan Oosterhouf, the Water warden, had
just given orders to raise work of sand
bags breast-high on the worst defended
part Of the dyke. Four times had the
sea washed over it, and the last time a
stream of water, twenty feet broad, pour
ed down into the village.
IL think its giving below, Captain, :"
said Poppo Schoorl.
"Then God have mercy upon us !" cried
the Water-warden. ''Can never a one
of you lend hand to peg a sail down.
F1'll try" cried Poppo; 'Pll try" said
Conrad; and "I'll try" cried three or four
more of the stoutest hearts.
s'Straw here! straw here!'' shouted
Oosterhouf; ''Scboorl, look to that. Pop
po, have three sail breadths stitched to-
gether. We want more hands. Run
down, some one, to old Willibald's wife,
and tell her to ring the alarm bell. Hold
hard, lads join hands! God a mercy -
Here it comes."" a
Hands were clasped in moment -
The below of the approaching wave-the
Kissing, tapping sound as it rolled up the
bank--and then the surge swept over the