Who looks like a tulip on every bright day, As he works in the meadow and pitches the hay, In his pretty red cap and his waist-coat so gay? Little Wooden Shoes. Who looks like a daffy-down-dilly so fair, With a pretty white cap on her neat yellow hair, And the bright orange gown it delights her to wear? Little Wooden Shoes. Can you guess who these “Wooden Shoes” really are, In the Land of the Windmills, so quaint and so far? Now listen, and I’ll tell you just who they are, Katrina and Jan! [Illustration] THE DUTCH GARDENS No one can think of a more beautiful sight than the Dutch gardens in spring. They are full of red, yellow, white and pink tulips. There are rows and rows of purple, pink and white hyacinths. There are great fields of yellow daffodils. They look like patches of sunshine. There are rows and rows of beautiful white narcissus plants. The sweetness of these plants fills the air. Katrina and Jan love to go into the beautiful gardens. They pull the weeds from the flower beds. They like to watch the big, buzzing bees fly around among the flowers. They like to see the pretty butterflies flitting here and there. Some of the butterflies are white and red, and some are big and yellow. “The white and red butterflies look like tulips flying away,” said Jan. “The yellow butterflies look like daffodils,” said little Katrina. [Illustration] THE BARGE Bram’s father has a barge. Do you know what a barge is? It is a big flat boat. The barge of Bram’s father is red and yellow. It has big blue sails. It looks very pretty as it sails down the canals. Bram’s father often takes him out in the barge. Sometimes Bram asks Jan and Katrina, Hilda, Kassie, and Karl to go with him. When the flowers of the tulips and hyacinths have faded, the Dutch people dig up the bulbs from which grow the stems of the plants. The Dutch people are very proud of their fine tulips. [Illustration] They pack the bulbs carefully. They sell them and make a great deal of money. Bram’s father sails his barge on the canals to the tulip fields. Then Bram and Jan and Katrina and Kassie and Hilda and Karl help dig up the tulip bulbs. They put them in boxes on the barge. They work busily all the long day. “I wonder who will plant these bulbs?” asked Bram. “Perhaps some boy in America,” answered Karl; “every year we send thousands of bulbs to America. The Americans love our Dutch tulips.” [Illustration] When the sun is setting, they sail back in the big barge. Past the green meadows they sail, past the yellow and blue farmhouses with red tiled roofs. They glide slowly along. The big barge makes pretty ripples in the smooth water. They see the black and white cows waiting to be milked. They hear the cowbells tinkle. They see the Dutch boys and girls carrying water in big pails.