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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of School Reading by Grades, by James Baldwin
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: School Reading by Grades
+       Sixth Year
+
+Author: James Baldwin
+
+Release Date: July 26, 2011 [EBook #36864]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SCHOOL READING BY GRADES ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Larry B. Harrison and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+  SCHOOL READING BY GRADES
+
+  _SIXTH YEAR_
+
+  BY
+  JAMES BALDWIN
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+  NEW YORK      CINCINNATI      CHICAGO
+  AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY
+
+
+
+
+  COPYRIGHT, 1897, BY
+  AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY.
+
+  SCH. READ. SIXTH YEAR.
+  W. P. 12
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+The pupil who is in his sixth year at school should be able to read
+quite well. He should be able to pronounce at sight and without
+hesitation all new or unusual words; and when reading aloud, his tones
+should be so clear, his enunciation so faultless, and his manner so
+agreeable that his hearers shall listen with pleasure and shall have a
+ready understanding of whatever is being read. He is now prepared to
+devote more and more attention to literary criticism--that is, to the
+study of the peculiarities of style which distinguish any selection,
+the passages which are remarkable for their beauty, their truth, or
+their adaptation to the particular purpose for which they were
+written. The habit should be cultivated of looking for and enjoying
+the admirable qualities of any literary production, and particularly
+of such productions as are generally recognized as the classics of our
+language. While learning to distinguish between good literature and
+that sort of writing which, properly speaking, is not literature at
+all, the pupil's acquaintance with books is enlarged and extended. He
+learns to know what are the best books and why they are so considered;
+and he acquires some knowledge of the lives of the best authors and of
+the circumstances under which certain of their works were produced.
+
+The present volume is designed to aid the learner in the acquisition
+of all these ends. The selections are of a highly interesting
+character, and illustrate almost every variety of English composition.
+To assist in their comprehension, many of the selections are
+introduced or followed by brief historical or bibliographical notes.
+Hints also are given as to collateral, or supplementary readings on a
+variety of subjects. To assist the pupil still further to enlarge his
+acquaintance with books and authors, additional notes, literary and
+biographical, are given in the appendix; here also may be found
+several pages of brief notes explanatory of difficult passages,
+unusual expressions, and historical references, such as might
+otherwise be stumbling stones in the way of the learner. The numerous
+portraits of authors is another important feature designed to add to
+the interest and beauty of the book, and to assist the pupil to a more
+intimate acquaintance with the makers of our literature. Most of the
+full-page pictures are reproductions of famous paintings, and these,
+while serving as illustrations of the text which they accompany, are
+designed to introduce the learner to some of the masters of art also,
+and perform the more important office of cultivating and enlarging his
+æsthetic tastes and sympathies.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+                                                                    PAGE
+
+  Two Ways of Telling a Story        _Jean Ingelow_                    7
+
+  The Death of the Flowers           _William Cullen Bryant_          18
+
+  The Great Volcanic Eruption        _J. T. Van Gestel_               20
+
+  The Return of Columbus             _Washington Irving_              25
+
+  What the Sunbeams do               _Arabella B. Buckley_            29
+
+  Horatius at the Bridge             _Thomas Babington Macaulay_      32
+
+  How Sir Francis Drake sailed
+      round the World                _James A. Froude_                44
+
+  A Brave Rescue and a Rough Ride    _Richard D. Blackmore_           51
+
+  The Glory of God                   _From the Psalms of David_       65
+
+  The Battle of Bannockburn          _Sir Walter Scott_               66
+
+  The Soldier's Dream                _Thomas Campbell_                75
+
+  Lord Ullin's Daughter              _Thomas Campbell_                76
+
+  Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata                                        78
+
+  The Story of Tempe Wick            _Frank R. Stockton_              83
+
+  Life in Norman England             _W. F. Collier_                  89
+
+  The Romance of the Swan's Nest     _Elizabeth Barrett Browning_     98
+
+  A Patriarch of the Olden Time      _From the "Book of Job"_        102
+
+  How Cortés entered the City of
+      Mexico                         _William H. Prescott_           104
+
+  The Skylark                        _James Hogg_                    112
+
+  The Mystery of the Tadpole         _George Henry Lewes_            113
+
+  The Glove and the Lions            _Leigh Hunt_                    119
+
+  True Growth                        _Ben Jonson_                    120
+
+  The Shipwreck                      _Charles Dickens_               121
+
+  The Happy Valley                   _Dr. Samuel Johnson_            135
+
+  The Pass of Killiecrankie          _W. E. Aytoun_                  138
+
+  Summer Rain                        _Henry Ward Beecher_            143
+
+  Life in the Backwoods              _William Dean Howells_          146
+
+  How they besieged the Town         _Charles Reade_                 153
+
+  Lochinvar                          _Sir Walter Scott_              163
+
+  On a Tropical River                _Charles Kingsley_              165
+
+  The Flag of Our Country            _Robert C. Winthrop_            173
+
+  The High Tide on the Coast of
+      Lincolnshire, 1571             _Jean Ingelow_                  175
+
+  The Story of Thomas Becket
+
+       I. His Life                   _Anonymous_                     181
+
+      II. His Death                  _Arthur Penrhyn Stanley_        185
+
+  The Pilgrims (1620)                _Edward Everett_                192
+
+  The Landing of the Pilgrims        _Felicia Hemans_                195
+
+  Patriotism                         _William Cowper_                196
+
+  The Robin                          _Charles Conrad Abbott_         197
+
+  Motions of Birds                   _Gilbert White_                 200
+
+  Origin of Rivers                   _John Tyndall_                  202
+
+  Address at the Dedication of
+      Gettysburg Cemetery            _Abraham Lincoln_               205
+
+  The American Flag                  _Joseph Rodman Drake_           206
+
+  The Last Fight in the Coliseum,
+      A.D. 404                       _Charlotte M. Yonge_            208
+
+  The Passing of Arthur              _Alfred Tennyson_               216
+
+  THE PRINCIPLES OF GOOD READING                                     225
+
+  AUTHORS AND BOOKS                                                  228
+
+  EXPLANATORY NOTES                                                  235
+
+
+FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS.
+
+                                        ARTIST
+
+  Columbus at Barcelona              _R. Balaca_                      24
+
+  The Defense of the Bridge          _A. I. Keller_                   37
+
+  Ruins of a Norman Castle           _From a photograph_              90
+
+  The Lions                          _Rosa Bonheur_                  118
+
+  The Shipwreck                      _A. Marlon_                     129
+
+  Canterbury Cathedral               _From a photograph_             187
+
+  The Departure of the Mayflower     _A. W. Bayes_                   194
+
+  The Last Prayer--Christian
+      Martyrs in the Coliseum        _J. L. Gerome_                  212
+
+
+PORTRAITS OF AUTHORS.
+
+  Washington Irving                                           Title-page
+
+  Thomas Babington Macaulay                                           32
+
+  James Anthony Froude                                                50
+
+  Thomas Campbell                                                     76
+
+  Frank R. Stockton                                                   83
+
+  Elizabeth Barrett Browning                                          98
+
+  William H. Prescott                                                104
+
+  George Henry Lewes                                                 113
+
+  Leigh Hunt                                                         119
+
+  Charles Dickens                                                    121
+
+  Dr. Samuel Johnson                                                 135
+
+  Henry Ward Beecher                                                 143
+
+  William Dean Howells                                               146
+
+  Charles Reade                                                      153
+
+  Charles Kingsley                                                   165
+
+  Jean Ingelow                                                       175
+
+  Arthur Penrhyn Stanley                                             191
+
+  Edward Everett                                                     192
+
+  John Tyndall                                                       202
+
+  Abraham Lincoln                                                    205
+
+  Joseph Rodman Drake                                                206
+
+  Charlotte M. Yonge                                                 208
+
+    Acknowledgments are due to the following persons for their
+    courteous permission to use valuable selections from their works:
+    Dr. Charles C. Abbott for the essay on "The Robin"; Mr. William
+    Dean Howells for his sketch of "Life in the Backwoods"; The J. B.
+    Lippincott Company for the selections from Prescott's "Conquest of
+    Mexico" and Abbott's "Birdland Echoes"; and Mr. Frank R. Stockton
+    for "The Story of Tempe Wicke."
+
+
+
+
+SCHOOL READING.
+
+SIXTH YEAR.
+
+
+
+
+TWO WAYS OF TELLING A STORY.
+
+
+I.
+
+Who is this? A careless little midshipman, idling about in a great
+city, with his pockets full of money.
+
+He is waiting for the coach: it comes up presently, and he gets on the
+top of it, and looks about him.
+
+They soon leave the chimney pots behind them; his eyes wander with
+delight over the harvest fields, he smells the honeysuckle in the
+hedgerow, and he wishes he was down among the hazel bushes, that he
+might strip them of the milky nuts; then he sees a great wain piled up
+with barley, and he wishes he was seated on the top of it; then they
+go through a little wood, and he likes to see the checkered shadows of
+the trees lying across the white road; and then a squirrel runs up a
+bough, and he can not forbear to whoop and halloo, though he can not
+chase it to its nest.
+
+The other passengers are delighted with his simplicity and childlike
+glee; and they encourage him to talk to them about the sea and ships,
+especially Her Majesty's ship "The Asp," wherein he has the honor to
+sail. In the jargon of the sea, he describes her many perfections,
+and enlarges on her peculiar advantages; he then confides to them how
+a certain middy, having been ordered to the masthead as a punishment,
+had seen, while sitting on the topmast crosstrees, something
+uncommonly like the sea serpent--but, finding this hint received with
+incredulous smiles, he begins to tell them how he hopes that, some
+day, he shall be promoted to have charge of the poop. The passengers
+hope he will have that honor; they have no doubt he deserves it. His
+cheeks flush with pleasure to hear them say so, and he little thinks
+that they have no notion in what "that honor" may happen to consist.
+
+The coach stops: the little midshipman, with his hands in his pockets,
+sits rattling his money, and singing. There is a poor woman standing
+by the door of the village inn; she looks careworn, and well she may,
+for, in the spring, her husband went up to the city to seek for work.
+He got work, and she was expecting soon to join him there, when alas!
+a fellow-workman wrote her word how he had met with an accident, how
+he was very ill and wanted his wife to come and nurse him. But she has
+two young children, and is destitute; she must walk up all the way,
+and she is sick at heart when she thinks that perhaps he may die among
+strangers before she can reach him.
+
+She does not think of begging, but seeing the boy's eyes attracted to
+her, she makes him a courtesy, and he withdraws his hand and throws
+her down a sovereign. She looks at it with incredulous joy, and then
+she looks at him.
+
+"It's all right," he says, and the coach starts again, while, full of
+gratitude, she hires a cart to take her across the country to the
+railway, that the next night she may sit by the bedside of her sick
+husband.
+
+The midshipman knows nothing about that; and he never will know.
+
+The passengers go on talking--the little midshipman has told them who
+he is, and where he is going; but there is one man who has never
+joined in the conversation; he is dark-looking and restless; he sits
+apart; he has seen the glitter of the falling coin, and now he watches
+the boy more narrowly than before.
+
+He is a strong man, resolute and determined; the boy with the pockets
+full of money will be no match for him. The midshipman has told the
+other passengers that his father's house is the parsonage at Y----;
+the coach goes within five miles of it, and he means to get down at
+the nearest point, and walk, or rather run over to his home, through
+the great wood.
+
+The man decides to get down too, and go through the wood; he will rob
+the little midshipman; perhaps, if he cries out or struggles, he will
+do worse. The boy, he thinks, will have no chance against him; it is
+quite impossible that he can escape; the way is lonely, and the sun
+will be down.
+
+No. There seems indeed little chance of escape; the half-fledged bird
+just fluttering down from its nest has no more chance against the
+keen-eyed hawk, than the little light-hearted sailor boy will have
+against him--at least so thinks the man as he makes his plans.
+
+
+II.
+
+The coach reaches the village where the boy is to alight. He wishes
+the other passengers "good evening," and runs lightly down between the
+scattered houses. The man has got down also, and is following.
+
+The path lies through the village churchyard; there is evening
+service, and the door is wide open, for it is warm. The little
+midshipman stops by the door, looks in, and listens. The clergyman has
+just risen, and is giving out his text. Thirteen months have past
+since the boy was within a house of prayer; and a feeling of pleasure
+and awe induces him to stand still and listen.
+
+"Are not two sparrows [he hears] sold for a farthing? and one of them
+shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs
+of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not, therefore, ye are of more
+value than many sparrows."
+
+He hears the opening sentences of the sermon; and then he remembers
+his home, and comes softly out of the porch, full of a calm and
+serious pleasure. The clergyman has reminded him of his father, and
+his careless heart is now filled with the echoes of his voice and of
+his prayers. He thinks on what the clergyman said, of the care of our
+heavenly Father for us; he remembers how, when he left home, his
+father prayed that he might be preserved through every danger; he does
+not remember any particular danger that he has been exposed to,
+excepting in the great storm; but he is grateful that he has come home
+in safety, and he hopes whenever he shall be in danger, which he
+supposes he shall be some day--he hopes, that then the providence of
+God will watch over him, and protect him. And so he presses onward to
+the entrance of the wood.
+
+The man is there before him. He has pushed himself into the thicket,
+and cut a heavy club; he suffers the boy to go on before, and then he
+comes out and follows him. It is too light at present for his deed of
+darkness and too near the entrance of the wood, but he knows that
+shortly the path will branch off into two, and the right one for the
+boy to take will be dark and lonely.
+
+But what prompts the little midshipman, when not fifty yards from the
+branching of the path, to break into a sudden run? It is not fear, for
+he never dreams of danger. Some sudden impulse, or some wild wish for
+home, makes him dash off suddenly, with a whoop and a bound. On he
+goes, as if running a race; the path bends, and the man loses sight of
+him. "But I shall have him yet," he thinks; "he can not keep this pace
+up long."
+
+The boy has nearly reached the place where the path divides, when he
+startles a young white owl that can scarcely fly, and it goes whirring
+along, close to the ground, before him. He gains upon it; another
+moment, and it will be his. Now it gets the start again; they come to
+the branching of the paths, and the bird goes down the wrong one. The
+temptation to follow is too strong to be resisted; he knows that
+somewhere, deep in the wood, there is a cross track by which he can
+get into the path he has left; if only he runs a little faster, he
+shall be at home nearly as soon.
+
+On he rushes; the path takes a bend, and he is just out of sight when
+his pursuer comes where the paths divide. The boy has turned to the
+right; the man takes the left, and the faster they both run the
+farther they are asunder.
+
+The white owl still leads him on; the path gets darker and narrower;
+at last he finds that he has missed it altogether, and his feet are on
+the soft ground. He flounders about among the trees, vexed with
+himself, and panting after his race. At last he finds another track,
+and pushes on as fast as he can. He has lost his way--but he keeps
+bearing to the left; and, though it is now dark, he thinks that he
+must reach the main path sooner or later.
+
+He does not know this part of the wood, but he runs on. O, little
+midshipman! why did you chase that owl? If you had kept in the path
+with the dark man behind you, there was a chance that you might have
+outrun him; or, if he had overtaken you, some passing wayfarer might
+have heard your cries, and come to save you. Now you are running on
+straight to your death, for the forest water is deep and black at the
+bottom of this hill. O, that the moon might come out and show it to you!
+
+The moon is under a thick canopy of heavy black clouds; and there is
+not a star to glitter on the water and make it visible. The fern is
+soft under his feet as he runs and slips down the sloping hill. At
+last he strikes his foot against a stone, stumbles, and falls. Two
+minutes more and he will roll into the black water.
+
+"Heyday!" cries the boy, "what's this? Oh, how it tears my hands! Oh,
+this thorn bush! Oh, my arms! I can't get free!" He struggles and
+pants. "All this comes of leaving the path," he says; "I shouldn't
+have cared for rolling down if it hadn't been for this bush. The fern
+was soft enough. I'll never stray in a wood at night again. There,
+free at last! And my jacket nearly torn off my back!"
+
+With a good deal of patience, and a great many scratches, he gets free
+of the thorn which had arrested his progress, when his feet were
+within a yard of the water, manages to scramble up the bank, and makes
+the best of his way through the wood.
+
+And now, as the clouds move slowly onward, the moon shows her face on
+the black surface of the water; and the little white owl comes and
+hoots, and flutters over it like a wandering snowdrift. But the boy is
+deep in the wood again, and knows nothing of the danger from which he
+has escaped.
+
+
+III.
+
+All this time the dark passenger follows the main track, and believes
+that his prey is before him. At last he hears a crashing of dead
+boughs, and presently the little midshipman's voice not fifty yards
+before him. Yes, it is too true; the boy is in the cross track. He
+will pass the cottage in the wood directly, and after that his pursuer
+will come upon him.
+
+The boy bounds into the path; but, as he passes the cottage, he is so
+thirsty that he thinks he must ask the people if they will sell him a
+cup of tea.
+
+He enters without ceremony. "Tea?" says the woodman, who is sitting at
+his supper. "No, we have no tea; but perhaps my wife can give thee a
+drink of milk. Come in." So he comes in, and shuts the door; and,
+while he sits waiting for the milk, footsteps pass. They are the
+footsteps of his pursuer, who goes on with the club in his hand, and
+is angry and impatient that he has not yet come up with him.
+
+The woman goes to her little dairy for the milk, and the boy thinks
+she is a long time. He drinks it, thanks her, and takes his leave.
+
+Fast and fast the man runs on, and, as fast as he can, the boy runs
+after him. It is very dark, but there is a yellow streak in the sky,
+where the moon is plowing up a furrowed mass of gray cloud, and one or
+two stars are blinking through the branches of the trees.
+
+Fast the boy follows, and fast the man runs on, with his weapon in his
+hand. Suddenly he hears the joyish whoop--not before, but behind him.
+He stops and listens breathlessly. Yes, it is so. He pushes himself
+into the thicket, and raises his club to strike when the boy shall pass.
+
+On he comes, running lightly, with his hands in his pockets. A sound
+strikes at the same instant on the ears of both; and the boy turns
+back from the very jaws of death to listen. It is the sound of wheels,
+and it draws rapidly nearer. A man comes up, driving a little gig.
+
+"Halloa?" he says, in a loud, cheerful voice. "What! benighted,
+youngster?"
+
+"Oh, is it you, Mr. Davis?" says the boy; "no, I am not benighted; or,
+at any rate, I know my way out of the wood."
+
+The man draws farther back among the shrubs. "Why, bless the boy," he
+hears the farmer say, "to think of our meeting in this way. The parson
+told me he was in hopes of seeing thee some day this week. I'll give
+thee a lift. This is a lonely place to be in this time o' night."
+
+"Lonely!" says the boy, laughing. "I don't mind that; and if you know
+the way, it's as safe as the quarter-deck."
+
+So he gets into the farmer's gig, and is once more out of reach of the
+pursuer. But the man knows that the farmer's house is a quarter of a
+mile nearer than the parsonage, and in that quarter of a mile there is
+still a chance of committing the robbery. He determines still to make
+the attempt, and cuts across the wood with such rapid strides that he
+reaches the farmer's gate just as the gig drives up to it.
+
+"Well, thank you, farmer," says the midshipman, as he prepares to get
+down.
+
+"I wish you good night, gentlemen," says the man, when he passes.
+
+"Good night, friend," the farmer replies. "I say, my boy, it's a dark
+night enough; but I have a mind to drive you on to the parsonage, and
+hear the rest of this long tale of yours about the sea serpent."
+
+The little wheels go on again. They pass the man; and he stands still
+in the road to listen till the sound dies away. Then he flings his
+club into the hedge, and goes back. His evil purposes have all been
+frustrated--the thoughtless boy, without knowing anything about it,
+has baffled him at every turn.
+
+
+IV.
+
+And now the little midshipman is at home--the joyful meeting has taken
+place; and when they have all admired his growth, and measured his
+height on the window frame, and seen him eat his supper, they begin to
+question him about his adventures, more for the pleasure of hearing
+him talk than any curiosity.
+
+"Adventures!" says the boy, seated between his father and mother on a
+sofa. "Why, mother, I wrote you an account of the voyage, and there's
+nothing else to tell. Nothing happened to-day--at least nothing
+particular."
+
+"Did you come by the coach we told you of?" asks his father.
+
+"Oh, yes, papa; and when we had got about twenty miles, there came up
+a beggar, while we changed horses, and I threw down, as I thought, a
+shilling, but, as it fell, I saw it was a sovereign. She was very
+honest, and showed me what it was, but I didn't take it back, for you
+know, it's a long time since I gave anything to anybody."
+
+"Very true, my boy," his mother answers; "but you should not be
+careless with your money.
+
+"I suppose you got down at the crossroads?" says his elder brother.
+
+"Yes, and went through the wood. I should have been here sooner if I
+hadn't lost my way there."
+
+"Lost your way!" says his mother, alarmed. "My dear boy, you should
+not have left the path at dusk."
+
+"Oh, mother," says the little midshipman, with a smile, "you're always
+thinking we're in danger. If you could see me sometimes sitting at the
+jib-boom end, or across the main topmast crosstrees, you _would_ be
+frightened. But what danger can there be in a wood?"
+
+"Well, my boy," she answers, "I don't wish to be over-anxious, and to
+make my children uncomfortable by my fears. What did you stray from
+the path for?"
+
+"Only to chase a little owl, mother; but I didn't catch her after all.
+I got a roll down a bank, and caught my jacket against a thorn bush,
+which was rather unlucky. Ah! three large holes I see in my sleeve.
+And so I scrambled up again, and got into the path, and stopped at the
+cottage for some milk. What a time the woman kept me, to be sure! But
+very soon Mr. Davis drove up in his gig, and he brought me on to the
+gate."
+
+"And so this story being brought to a close," his father says, "we
+find that you had no adventures at all!"
+
+"No, papa, nothing happened; nothing particular, I mean."
+
+Nothing particular! If they could have known, they would have thought
+lightly in comparison of the dangers of "the jib-boom end, and the
+main topmast crosstrees." But they did not know, any more than we do,
+of the dangers that hourly beset us. Some few dangers we are aware of,
+and we do what we can to provide against them; but, for the greater
+portion, "our eyes are held that we can not see." We walk securely
+under His guidance, without whom "not a sparrow falleth to the
+ground!" and when we have had escapes that the angels have wondered
+at, we come home and say, perhaps, that "nothing has happened; at
+least nothing particular."
+
+  --_Jean Ingelow._
+
+
+
+
+THE DEATH OF THE FLOWERS.
+
+
+    The melancholy days are come, the saddest of the year,
+    Of wailing winds, and naked woods, and meadows brown and sere.
+    Heaped in the hollows of the grove, the autumn leaves lie dead;
+    They rustle to the eddying gust, and to the rabbit's tread.
+    The robin and the wren are flown, and from the shrubs the jay,
+    And from the wood-top calls the crow through all the gloomy day.
+
+    Where are the flowers, the fair young flowers, that lately sprang
+              and stood
+    In brighter light and softer airs, a beauteous sisterhood?
+    Alas! they all are in their graves; the gentle race of flowers
+    Are lying in their lowly beds, with the fair and good of ours.
+    The rain is falling where they lie, but the cold November rain
+    Calls not from out the gloomy earth the lovely ones again.
+
+    The windflower and the violet, they perished long ago,
+    And the brier rose and the orchis died amid the summer glow;
+    But on the hill the goldenrod, and the aster in the wood,
+    And the yellow sunflower by the brook in autumn beauty stood,
+    Till fell the frost from the clear, cold heaven, as falls the plague
+              on men,
+    And the brightness of their smile was gone, from upland, glade, and
+              glen.
+
+    And now, when comes the calm, mild day, as still such days will
+              come,
+    To call the squirrel and the bee from out their winter home;
+    When the sound of dropping nuts is heard, though all the trees are
+              still,
+    And twinkle in the smoky light the waters of the rill,
+    The south wind searches for the flowers whose fragrance late he
+              bore,
+    And sighs to find them in the wood and by the stream no more.
+
+    And then I think of one who in her youthful beauty died,
+    The fair, meek blossom that grew up and faded by my side.
+    In the cold, moist earth we laid her, when the forests cast the
+              leaf,
+    And we wept that one so lovely should have a life so brief:
+    Yet not unmeet it was that one like that young friend of ours,
+    So gentle and so beautiful, should perish with the flowers.
+
+
+
+
+THE GREAT VOLCANIC ERUPTION.
+
+
+In 1883 the most destructive volcanic eruption ever known occurred in
+the Straits of Sunda and the neighboring islands. The trouble began on
+Sunday morning, the 13th of May. Java, Sumatra, and Borneo were
+convulsed by earthquakes. The surface of the earth rocked, houses
+tumbled down, and big trees were shaken to the ground. Earthquakes are
+no rarity in those islands, but this earthquake showed no signs of
+ceasing. The earth quivered constantly, and from its depths there
+seemed to rise strange sounds and hollow explosions.
+
+On Thursday there came a telegram from Anjer, ninety miles away, on
+the northwest coast of Java, intimating that a volcano had broken out
+at Krakatoa island, about thirty miles west of Anjer, in Sunda Strait.
+I was requested by the Dutch government to go to the scene of action
+and take scientific observations, and by four o'clock that afternoon I
+started with a party on board a special steamer from Batavia.
+
+As we rounded the northern extremity of Java, we saw ascending from
+Krakatoa, still fifty miles away, an immense column of smoke. Its
+appearance changed as we approached. First it looked like flame, then it
+appeared to be steam, and finally it had the appearance of a pillar of
+fire inside one of white fleecy wool. The diameter of this pillar of
+fire and smoke was, I should think, at least one and a half miles. All
+the while we heard that sullen, thunderous roar which had been a feature
+of this disturbance ever since Sunday, and was now becoming louder.
+
+We remained on deck all night and watched. The din increased till we
+could with difficulty hear one another's voices. Dawn approached, and
+when the rays of the sun fell on the shores of Krakatoa, we saw them
+reflected from what we thought was a river, and we resolved to steam
+into its mouth and disembark.
+
+When we came to within three quarters of a mile of the shore, we
+discovered that what we supposed to be a river was a torrent of molten
+sulphur. The smell almost overpowered us. We steamed away to the
+windward, and made for the other side of the island.
+
+This island, though volcanic, had up till now been quiet for at least
+a century. It was eight or ten miles long and four wide, and was
+covered with forests of fine mahogany and rosewood trees. It was
+inhabited by a few fishermen, but we found no signs of these people.
+The land, down to the water's edge, was covered with powdered pumice
+stone, which rained down from the clouds around the great column of
+fire. Everything with life had already disappeared from the landscape,
+which was covered with a steaming mass of stones and ashes.
+
+Several of us landed and began walking towards the volcano. We sank
+deep in the soft pumice, which blistered our feet with its heat. I
+climbed painfully upwards toward the crater, in order to measure it
+with my sextant; but in a short time the heat melted the mercury off
+the mirror of the instrument. I was then half a mile from the crater.
+
+As I was returning to the shore, I saw the bottom of each footstep I
+had made on my way up glowing red with the heat from beneath. We
+photographed the scene from the deck of the steamer, where the fire
+hose was kept playing constantly, wetting the rigging and everything
+about the ship to prevent her from taking fire.
+
+The steamer then returned to Batavia, and I went to reside at Anjer.
+From my villa on the hillside a mile inland, I could see Krakatoa,
+thirty miles away, belching out its never-ending eruption. We supposed
+that it would go on till it burned itself out, and that then it would
+become quiet again. But in this we were mistaken.
+
+On Sunday morning, the 12th of August, nearly three months later, I
+was sitting on the veranda of my house taking my morning cup of tea. I
+saw the fishing boats lying at anchor in the bay, the fishermen
+themselves being on shore at rest. As my gaze rested on the boats, I
+suddenly became aware that they were all beginning to move rapidly in
+one direction. Then in an instant, to my intense surprise, they all
+disappeared.
+
+I ran farther up the hillside to get a better view, and looked far out
+to sea. Instantly a great glare of fire right in the midst of the sea
+caught my eye. All the way across the bay and the strait, in a line of
+flame reaching to Krakatoa itself, the bottom of the sea seemed to
+have cracked open so that the subterraneous fires were belching forth.
+On either side the waters were pouring into this gulf with a
+tremendous noise, but the fire was not extinguished.
+
+The hissing roar brought out the people of Anjer in excited crowds. My
+eyes were turned away for a moment as I beckoned to some one, and
+during that moment came a terrible, deafening explosion. It stunned
+me; and when I was able again to turn my eyes toward the bay, I could
+see nothing. The whole scene was shrouded in darkness, from amid which
+came cries and groans, the creaking of breaking beams in the houses,
+and, above all, the roar of the breakers on the shore. The city of
+Anjer, with its sixty thousand people, had been engulfed!
+
+I afterwards found that the water was one hundred feet deep where the
+city of Anjer had been, and that the coast line had moved one and a
+half miles inland. A big island in the strait had been split in two,
+with a wide passage between its parts. An island to the northwest of
+Krakatoa had wholly disappeared. The air was filled with minute
+particles of dust, which after some weeks spread even to Europe and
+America. What the causes of such a tremendous convulsion may have
+been, it is quite impossible accurately to say.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The foregoing narrative was written by J. T. Van Gestel, who was at
+the time residing in the island of Java. Compare his description of
+this event with those of the eruption of Vesuvius and the destruction
+of Pompeii, given in "School Reading by Grades--Fifth Year." Read also
+the younger Pliny's description of the eruption of Vesuvius. It may be
+found in Church and Brodribb's translation of selections from Pliny's
+Letters. Other interesting readings about volcanoes may be found in
+"Volcanoes, Past and Present," by Edward Hull, and in "Volcanoes and
+Earthquakes," by Dr. George Hartwig.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration:
+
+  From the Painting by R. Balaca.      Engraved by Robert Varley.
+
+  Columbus at Barcelona.
+]
+
+THE RETURN OF COLUMBUS.
+
+
+The fame of the discovery made by Columbus had resounded throughout
+the nation, and, as his route lay through several of the finest and
+most populous provinces of Spain, his journey appeared like the
+progress of a sovereign. Wherever he passed, the country poured forth
+its inhabitants, who lined the road and thronged the villages. The
+streets, windows, and balconies of the towns were filled with eager
+spectators, who rent the air with acclamations. His journey was
+continually impeded by the multitude pressing to gain a sight of him
+and of the Indians, who were regarded with as much astonishment as if
+they had been natives of another planet. It was impossible to satisfy
+the craving curiosity which assailed himself and his attendants at
+every stage with innumerable questions; popular rumor, as usual, had
+exaggerated the truth, and had filled the newly found country with all
+kinds of wonders.
+
+About the middle of April Columbus arrived at Barcelona, where every
+preparation had been made to give him a solemn and magnificent
+reception. The beauty and serenity of the weather in that genial
+season and favored climate contributed to give splendor to this
+memorable ceremony. As he drew near the place, many of the more
+youthful courtiers and hidalgos, together with a vast concourse of the
+populace, came forth to meet and welcome him. His entrance into this
+noble city has been compared to one of those triumphs which the Romans
+were accustomed to decree to conquerors. First were paraded the
+Indians, painted according to their savage fashion, and decorated with
+their national ornaments of gold; after these were borne various kinds
+of live parrots, together with stuffed birds and animals of unknown
+species, and rare plants supposed to be of precious qualities; while
+great care was taken to make a conspicuous display of Indian coronets,
+bracelets, and other decorations of gold, which might give an idea of
+the wealth of the newly discovered regions. After this followed
+Columbus on horseback, surrounded by a brilliant cavalcade of Spanish
+chivalry. The streets were almost impassable from the countless
+multitude; the windows and balconies were crowded with the fair; the
+very roofs were covered with spectators. It seemed as if the public
+eye could not be sated with gazing on these trophies of an unknown
+world, or on the remarkable man by whom it had been discovered. There
+was a sublimity in this event that mingled a solemn feeling with the
+public joy. It was looked upon as a vast and signal dispensation of
+Providence in reward for the piety of the monarchs; and the majestic
+and venerable appearance of the discoverer, so different from the
+youth and buoyancy generally expected from roving enterprise, seemed
+in harmony with the grandeur and dignity of his achievement.
+
+To receive him with suitable pomp and distinction, the sovereigns had
+ordered their throne to be placed in public, under a rich canopy of
+brocade of gold, in a vast and splendid saloon. Here the king and
+queen awaited his arrival, seated in state, with the Prince Juan
+beside them, and attended by the dignitaries of their court, and the
+principal nobility of Castile, Valencia, Catalonia, and Aragon, all
+impatient to behold the man who had conferred so incalculable a
+benefit upon the nation. At length Columbus entered the hall,
+surrounded by a brilliant crowd of cavaliers, among whom, says Las
+Casas, he was conspicuous for his stately and commanding person,
+which, with his countenance rendered venerable by his gray hairs, gave
+him the august appearance of a senator of Rome. A modest smile lighted
+up his features, showing that he enjoyed the state and glory in which
+he came; and certainly nothing could be more deeply moving to a mind
+inflamed by noble ambition, and conscious of having greatly deserved,
+than these testimonials of the admiration and gratitude of a nation,
+or rather of a world. As Columbus approached, the sovereigns rose, as
+if receiving a person of the highest rank. Bending his knees, he
+offered to kiss their hands; but there was some hesitation on their
+part to permit this act of homage. Raising him in the most gracious
+manner, they ordered him to seat himself in their presence; a rare
+honor in this proud and punctilious court.
+
+At their request, he now gave an account of the most striking events
+of his voyage, and a description of the islands discovered. He
+displayed specimens of unknown birds and other animals; of rare plants
+of medicinal and aromatic virtues; of native gold in dust, in crude
+masses, or labored into barbaric ornaments; and, above all, the
+natives of these countries, who were objects of intense and
+inexhaustible interest. All these he pronounced mere harbingers of
+greater discoveries yet to be made, which would add realms of
+incalculable wealth to the dominions of their majesties, and whole
+nations of proselytes to the true faith.
+
+When he had finished, the sovereigns sank on their knees, and, raising
+their clasped hands to heaven, their eyes filled with tears of joy and
+gratitude, poured forth thanks and praises to God for so great a
+providence; all present followed their example; a deep and solemn
+enthusiasm pervaded that splendid assembly, and prevented all common
+acclamations of triumph. The anthem _Te Deum laudamus_, chanted by the
+choir of the royal chapel, with the accompaniment of instruments, rose
+in full body of sacred harmony, bearing up as it were the feelings and
+thoughts of the auditors to heaven, "so that" says the venerable Las
+Casas, "it seemed as if in that hour they communicated with celestial
+delights." Such was the solemn and pious manner in which the brilliant
+court of Spain celebrated this sublime event; offering up a grateful
+tribute of melody and praise, and giving glory to God for the
+discovery of another world.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+This description of the reception of the great discoverer after his
+return from his first voyage, is from Washington Irving's famous book
+entitled "The Life and Voyages of Columbus." Other readings on the
+same subject are to be found in Prescott's "Ferdinand and Isabella,"
+Kingston's "Notable Voyagers," Mrs. Bolton's "Famous Voyagers,"
+Saunders' "Story of the Discovery of the New World," and McMaster's
+"School History of the United States."
+
+
+
+
+WHAT THE SUNBEAMS DO.
+
+
+What work do the sunbeams do for us? They do two things,--they give us
+light and heat. It is by means of them alone that we see anything.
+
+When the room was dark you could not distinguish the table, the chairs,
+or even the walls of the room. Why? Because they had no light waves to
+send to your eye. But as the sunbeams began to pour in at the window,
+the waves played upon the things in the room; and when they hit them
+they bounded off them back to your eye, as a wave of the sea bounds back
+from a rock, and strikes against a passing boat. Then, when they fell
+upon your eye, they entered it, and excited the retina and the nerves;
+and the image of the chair or the table was carried to your brain.
+
+Some substances send back hardly any waves of light, but let them all
+pass through them. A pane of clear glass, for instance, lets nearly
+all the light waves pass through it; and therefore you often can not
+see the glass, because no light messengers come back to you from it.
+Thus people have sometimes walked up against a glass door, and broken
+it, not seeing it was there.
+
+Those substances are transparent, which, for some reason unknown to
+us, allow the ether waves to pass through them. In clear glass, all
+the light waves pass through; while in a white wall the larger part of
+the rays are reflected back to the eye. Into polished shining metal
+the waves hardly enter at all, but are thrown back from the surface;
+and so a steel knife or a silver spoon is very bright, and is clearly
+seen. Quicksilver is put at the back of looking-glasses because it
+reflects so many waves.
+
+The reflected light waves not only make us see things, but they make
+us see them in different colors. Imagine a sunbeam playing on a leaf:
+part of its waves bound straight back from it to our eye, and make us
+see the surface of the leaf; but the rest go right into the leaf
+itself, and there some of them are used up and kept prisoners. The
+red, orange, yellow, blue, indigo, and violet waves are all useful to
+the leaf, and it does not let them go again. But it can not absorb the
+green waves, and so it throws them back; and they travel to your eye,
+and make you see a green color. So, when you say a leaf is green, you
+mean that the leaf does not want the green waves of the sunbeam, but
+sends them back to you. In the same way the scarlet geranium rejects
+the red waves; a white tablecloth sends back nearly the whole of the
+waves, and a black coat scarcely any.
+
+Is it not strange that there is really no such thing as color in the
+leaf, the table, the coat, or the geranium; that we see them of
+different colors because they send back only certain-colored waves to
+our eye?
+
+So far we have spoken only of light; but hold your hand in the sun,
+and feel the heat of the sunbeams, and then consider if the waves of
+heat do not do work also. There are many waves in a sunbeam which move
+too slowly to make us see light when they hit our eye; but we can feel
+them as heat, though we cannot see them as light.
+
+The simplest way of feeling heat waves is to hold a warm flatiron near
+your face. You know that no light comes from it, yet you can feel the
+heat waves beating violently against your face.
+
+Now, there are many of these dark heat rays in a sunbeam, and it is
+they that do most of the work in the world. It is the heat waves that
+make the air hot and light, and so cause it to rise, and make winds
+and air currents; and these again give rise to ocean currents. It is
+these dark rays, again, that strike upon the land, and give it the
+warmth which enables plants to grow. It is they also that keep up the
+warmth in our own bodies, both by coming to us directly from the sun,
+and also in a very roundabout way through plants.
+
+Coal is made of plants, and the heat it gives out is the heat these
+plants once took in. Think how much work is done by burning coal. Not
+only are our houses warmed by coal fires and lighted by coal gas, but
+our steam engines work entirely by water which has been turned into
+steam by the heat of coal fires; and our steamboats travel all over
+the world by means of the same power.
+
+In the same way the oil of our lamps comes either from olives, which
+grow on trees, or from coal and the remains of plants in the earth.
+Even our tallow candles are made of mutton fat, and sheep eat grass;
+and so, turn which way we will, we find that the light and heat on our
+earth, whether it comes from fires, or candles, or lamps, or gas, is
+equally the work of those waves of ether coming from the sun, which
+make what we call a sunbeam.
+
+  --_From "The Fairy Land of Science," by Arabella B. Buckley._
+
+
+
+
+HORATIUS AT THE BRIDGE.
+
+
+Tarquin the Proud was the seventh and last king of Rome. Such were his
+acts of tyranny, and such the crimes of his son, "the false Sextus,"
+that the people rose in rebellion, and, in the year 509 B.C., drove
+him and his family away from Rome and declared that they would have no
+more kings. The Tarquins took refuge among the Etruscans, whose
+country bordered Rome on the north. They made a treaty of friendship
+with Porsena, the king of Clusium, and induced him to raise a large
+army for the purpose of forcing the Romans to allow them to return to
+power. A battle was fought, and the Romans being defeated were obliged
+to flee across the wooden bridge which spanned the Tiber at Rome. To
+prevent Porsena from entering the city, the Roman Consul ordered that
+the bridge should be destroyed.
+
+[Illustration: Thomas Babington Macaulay.]
+
+The story of the manner in which this was done is told by Lord
+Macaulay in his "Lays of Ancient Rome," a collection of heroic ballads
+relating to the times of the kings and the early consuls. The author
+speaks, not in his own person, but in the person of an ancient
+minstrel who is supposed to have lived about one hundred years after
+the event, and who therefore knew only what a Roman citizen of that
+time could have known.
+
+    But the Consul's brow was sad,
+      And the Consul's speech was low,
+    And darkly looked he at the wall,
+      And darkly at the foe.
+    "Their van will be upon us
+      Before the bridge goes down;
+    And if they once may win the bridge,
+      What hope to save the town?"
+
+    Then out spake brave Horatius,
+      The captain of the gate:
+    "To every man upon this Earth
+      Death cometh soon or late;
+    And how can man die better
+      Than facing fearful odds,
+    For the ashes of his fathers,
+      And the temples of his gods?
+
+    "Hew down the bridge, Sir Consul,
+      With all the speed ye may;
+    I, with two more to help me,
+      Will hold the foe in play.
+    In yon strait path a thousand
+      May well be stopped by three;
+    Now, who will stand on either hand,
+      And keep the bridge with me?"
+
+    Then out spake Spurius Lartius,--
+      A Ramnian proud was he:
+    "Lo, I will stand at thy right hand,
+      And keep the bridge with thee."
+    And out spake strong Herminius,--
+      Of Titian blood was he:
+    "I will abide on thy left side,
+      And keep the bridge with thee."
+
+    "Horatius," quoth the Consul,
+      "As thou say'st, so let it be."
+    And straight against that great array
+      Forth went the dauntless Three.
+
+        Meanwhile the Tuscan army,
+          Right glorious to behold,
+    Came flashing back the noonday light,
+    Rank behind rank, like surges bright
+          Of a broad sea of gold.
+    Four hundred trumpets sounded
+          A peal of warlike glee,
+    As that great host, with measured tread,
+    And spears advanced, and ensigns spread,
+    Rolled slowly towards the bridge's head,
+          Where stood the dauntless Three.
+
+      The Three stood calm and silent,
+        And looked upon the foes,
+      And a great shout of laughter
+        From all the vanguard rose.
+      And forth three chiefs came spurring
+        Before that deep array;
+    To earth they sprang, their swords they drew
+    And lifted high their shields, and flew
+        To win the narrow way.
+
+    Annus from green Tifernum,
+      Lord of the Hill of Vines;
+    And Seius, whose eight hundred slaves
+      Sicken in Ilva's mines;
+    And Picus, long to Clusium
+      Vassal in peace and war,
+    Who led to fight his Umbrian powers
+    From that gray crag where, girt with towers,
+    The fortress of Nequinum lowers
+      O'er the pale waves of Nar.
+
+    Stout Lartius hurled down Annus
+      Into the stream beneath:
+    Herminius struck at Seius,
+      And clove him to the teeth:
+    At Picus brave Horatius
+      Darted one fiery thrust;
+    And the proud Umbrian's gilded arms
+      Clashed in the bloody dust.
+
+    And now no sound of laughter
+      Was heard among the foes.
+    A wild and wrathful clamor
+      From all the vanguard rose.
+    Six spears' length from the entrance
+      Halted that mighty mass,
+    And for a space no man came forth
+      To win the narrow pass.
+
+    But hark! the cry is Astur:
+      And lo! the ranks divide;
+    And the great Lord of Luna
+      Comes with his stately stride.
+    Upon his ample shoulders
+      Clangs loud the fourfold shield,
+    And in his hand he shakes the brand
+      Which none but he can wield.
+
+    He smiled on those bold Romans
+      A smile serene and high;
+    He eyed the flinching Tuscans,
+      And scorn was in his eye.
+    Quoth he, "The she-wolf's litter
+      Stand savagely at bay:
+    But will ye dare to follow,
+      If Astur clears the way?"
+
+    Then whirling up his broadsword
+      With both hands to the height,
+    He rushed against Horatius,
+      And smote with all his might.
+    With shield and blade Horatius
+      Right deftly turned the blow.
+    The blow, though turned, came yet too nigh;
+    It missed his helm, but gashed his thigh:
+    The Tuscans raised a joyful cry
+      To see the red blood flow.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+  Drawn by A. I. Keller.      Engraved by Robert Varley.
+
+  The Defense of the Bridge.
+]
+
+    He reeled, and on Herminius
+      He leaned one breathing space;
+    Then, like a wild cat mad with wounds,
+      Sprang right at Astur's face.
+    Through teeth and skull and helmet,
+      So fierce a thrust he sped,
+    The good sword stood a handbreadth out
+      Behind the Tuscan's head!
+
+    And the great Lord of Luna
+      Fell at that deadly stroke,
+    As falls on Mount Alvernus
+      A thunder-smitten oak.
+    Far o'er the crashing forest
+      The giant arms lie spread;
+    And the pale augurs, muttering low,
+      Gaze on the blasted head.
+
+    Then all Etruria's noblest
+      Felt their hearts sink to see
+    On the earth the bloody corpses,
+      In the path the dauntless Three:
+    And, from the ghastly entrance
+      Where those bold Romans stood,
+    All shrank, like boys who unaware,
+    Ranging the woods to start a hare,
+    Come to the mouth of the dark lair,
+    Where, growling low, a fierce old bear
+      Lies amidst bones and blood.
+
+    Yet one man for one moment
+      Stood out before the crowd;
+    Well known was he to all the Three,
+      And they gave him greeting loud:
+    "Now welcome, welcome, Sextus!
+      Now welcome to thy home!
+    Why dost thou stay and turn away?
+      Here lies the road to Rome."
+
+    Thrice looked he at the city;
+      Thrice looked he at the dead;
+    And thrice came on in fury,
+      And thrice turned back in dread:
+    And, white with fear and hatred,
+      Scowled at the narrow way
+    Where, wallowing in a pool of blood,
+      The bravest Tuscans lay.
+
+    But meanwhile ax and lever
+      Have manfully been plied,
+    And now the bridge hangs tottering
+      Above the boiling tide.
+    "Come back, come back, Horatius!"
+      Loud cried the Fathers all.
+    "Back, Lartius! Back, Herminius!
+      Back, ere the ruin fall!"
+
+    Back darted Spurius Lartius;
+      Herminius darted back;
+    And, as they passed, beneath their feet
+      They felt the timbers crack.
+    But when they turned their faces,
+      And on the farther shore
+    Saw brave Horatius stand alone,
+      They would have crossed once more.
+
+    But with a crash like thunder
+      Fell every loosened beam,
+    And, like a dam, the mighty wreck
+      Lay right athwart the stream:
+    And a long shout of triumph
+      Rose from the walls of Rome,
+    As to the highest turret tops
+      Was splashed the yellow-foam.
+
+    Alone stood brave Horatius,
+      But constant still in mind;
+    Thrice thirty thousand foes before,
+      And the broad flood behind.
+    "Down with him!" cried false Sextus,
+      With a smile on his pale face.
+    "Now, yield thee!" cried Lars Porsena,
+      "Now yield thee to our grace."
+
+    Round turned he, as not deigning
+      Those craven ranks to see;
+    Naught spake he to Lars Porsena,
+      To Sextus naught spake he;
+    But he saw on Palatinus
+      The white porch of his home;
+    And he spake to the noble river
+      That rolls by the tower of Rome:
+
+    "O, Tiber! Father Tiber!
+      To whom the Romans pray,
+    A Roman's life, a Roman's arms,
+      Take thou in charge this day!"
+    So he spake, and speaking sheathed
+      The good sword by his side,
+    And with his harness on his back,
+      Plunged headlong in the tide.
+
+    No sound of joy or sorrow
+      Was heard from either bank;
+    But friends and foes, in dumb surprise,
+    With parted lips and straining eyes,
+      Stood gazing where he sank:
+    And when above the surges
+      They saw his crest appear,
+    All Rome sent forth a rapturous cry,
+    And even the ranks of Tuscany
+      Could scarce forbear to cheer.
+
+    But fiercely ran the current,
+      Swollen high by months of rain:
+    And fast his blood was flowing;
+      And he was sore in pain,
+    And heavy with his armor,
+      And spent with changing blows:
+    And oft they thought him sinking,
+      But still again he rose.
+
+    "Curse on him!" quoth false Sextus,
+      "Will not the villain drown?
+    But for this stay, ere close of day
+      We should have sacked the town!"--
+    "Heaven help him!" quoth Lars Porsena,
+      "And bring him safe to shore;
+    For such a gallant feat of arms
+      Was never seen before."
+
+    And now he feels the bottom;
+      Now on dry earth he stands;
+    Now round him throng the Fathers,
+      To press his gory hands;
+    And now with shouts and clapping,
+      And noise of weeping loud,
+    He enters through the River Gate,
+      Borne by the joyous crowd.
+
+    They gave him of the corn land,
+      That was of public right,
+    As much as two strong oxen
+      Could plow from morn till night;
+    And they made a molten image,
+      And set it up on high,
+    And there it stands unto this day
+      To witness if I lie.
+
+    And still his name sounds stirring
+      Unto the men of Rome,
+    As the trumpet-blast that cries to them
+      To charge the Volscians home.
+    And mothers pray to Juno
+      For boys with hearts as bold
+    As his who kept the bridge so well
+      In the brave days of old.
+
+    And in the nights of winter
+      When the cold north winds blow,
+    And the long howling of the wolves
+      Is heard amidst the snow;
+    When round the lonely cottage
+      Roars loud the tempest's din,
+    And the good logs of Algidus
+      Roar louder yet within;
+
+    When the oldest cask is opened,
+      And the largest lamp is lit;
+    When the chestnuts glow in the embers,
+      And the kid turns on the spit;
+    When young and old in circle
+      Around the firebrands close;
+    When the girls are weaving baskets,
+      And the lads are shaping bows;
+
+    When the goodman mends his armor,
+      And trims his helmet's plume;
+    When the goodwife's shuttle merrily
+      Goes flashing through the loom;
+    With weeping and with laughter
+      Still is the story told,
+    How well Horatius kept the bridge
+      In the brave days of old.
+
+
+
+
+HOW SIR FRANCIS DRAKE SAILED ROUND THE WORLD.
+
+
+The ships which the Spaniards used on the Pacific were usually built
+on the spot. But Magellan was known to have gone by the Horn, and
+where a Portuguese could go an Englishman could go. Drake proposed to
+try. The vessels in which he was preparing to tempt fortune seem
+preposterously small. The "Pelican," or "Golden Hind," which belonged
+to Drake himself, was but 120 tons, at best no larger than a modern
+racing yawl, though perhaps no racing yawl was ever better equipped
+for the work which she had to do. The next, the "Elizabeth" of London,
+was said to be eighty tons; a small pinnace of twelve tons, in which
+we should hardly risk a summer cruise round the Land's End, with two
+sloops or frigates of fifty and thirty tons, made the rest. The
+"Elizabeth" was commanded by Captain Winter, a queen's officer, and
+perhaps a son of the old admiral.
+
+[Illustration: Sir Francis Drake.]
+
+We may credit Drake with knowing what he was about. He and his
+comrades were carrying their lives in their hands. If they were taken
+they would be inevitably hanged. Their safety depended on speed of
+sailing, and specially on the power of working fast to windward,
+which the heavy square-rigged ships could not do. The crews all told
+were one hundred and sixty men and boys.
+
+On November 15th, 1577, the "Pelican" and her consorts sailed out of
+Plymouth Sound. The elements frowned on their start. On the second day
+they were caught in a winter gale. The "Pelican" sprung her mainmast,
+and they put back to refit and repair. Before the middle of December
+all was again in order. The weather mended, and with a fair wind and
+smooth water they made a fast run down the coast to the Cape de Verde
+Islands. There taking up the northeast Trades, they struck across the
+Atlantic. They passed the mouth of the Plate River, finding to their
+astonishment fresh water at the ship's side in fifty-four fathoms. On
+June 20th they reached Port St. Julian on the coast of Patagonia.
+
+It was now midwinter, the stormiest season of the year, and they
+remained for six weeks in Port St. Julian. They burnt the twelve-ton
+pinnace, as too small for the work they had now before them, and there
+remained only the "Pelican," the "Elizabeth," and the "Marigold." In
+cold, wild weather they weighed at last, and on August 20th made the
+opening of Magellan's Straits. The passage is seventy miles long,
+tortuous and dangerous. They had no charts. Icy mountains overhung
+them on either side; heavy snow fell below. They brought up
+occasionally at an island to rest the men, and let them kill a few
+seals and penguins to give them fresh food. Everything they saw was
+new, wild, and wonderful.
+
+Having to feel their way, they were three weeks in getting through.
+They had counted on reaching the Pacific that the worst of their work
+was over, and that they could run north at once into warmer and calmer
+latitudes. The peaceful ocean, when they entered it, proved the
+stormiest they had ever sailed on. A fierce westerly gale drove them
+six hundred miles to the southeast outside the Horn. The "Marigold"
+went down in the tremendous encounter. Captain Winter in the
+"Elizabeth" made his way back into Magellan's Straits. There he lay
+for three weeks, lighting fires nightly to show Drake where he was;
+but no Drake appeared. They had agreed, if separated, to meet on the
+coast in the latitude of Valparaiso; but Winter was chicken-hearted,
+and sore, we are told, "against the mariners' will," when the three
+weeks were out, he sailed away for England, where he reported that all
+the ships were lost but the "Pelican," and that the "Pelican" was
+probably lost too.
+
+Drake had believed better of Winter, and had not expected to be so
+deserted. He had himself taken refuge among the islands which form the
+Cape, waiting for the spring and milder weather. He used the time in
+making surveys, and observing the habits of the native Patagonians.
+The days lengthened, and the sea smoothed at last. He then sailed for
+Valparaiso, hoping to meet Winter there, as he had arranged. At
+Valparaiso there was no Winter, but there was in the port instead a
+great galleon just come in from Peru. The galleon's crew took him for
+a Spaniard, hoisted their colors, and beat their drums. The "Pelican"
+shot alongside. The English sailors in high spirits leaped on board.
+No life was taken; Drake never hurt man if he could help it. The crew
+jumped overboard, and swam ashore. The prize was examined. Four
+hundred pounds' weight of gold was found in her, besides other plunder.
+
+Drake went on next to Tarapaca, where silver from the Andes mines was
+shipped for Panama. At Tarapaca there was the same unconsciousness of
+danger. The silver bars lay piled on the quay, the muleteers who had
+brought them were sleeping peacefully in the sunshine at their side.
+The muleteers were left to their slumbers. The bars were lifted into
+the English boats. A train of mules or llamas came in at that moment
+with a second load as rich as the first. This, too, went into the
+"Pelican's" hold. The bullion taken at Tarapaca was worth nearly half
+a million ducats.
+
+Still there was no news of Winter. Drake began to realize that he was
+now entirely alone, and had only himself and his own crew to depend
+on. There was nothing to do but to go through with it, danger adding
+to the interest. Arica was the next point visited. Half a hundred
+blocks of silver were picked up at Arica. After Arica came Lima, the
+chief depot of all, where the grandest haul was looked for. At Lima,
+alas! they were just too late. Twelve great hulks lay anchored there.
+The sails were unbent, the men were ashore. They contained nothing but
+some chests of reels and a few bales of silk and linen. But a
+thirteenth, called the "Cacafuego," had sailed a few days before for
+the Isthmus with the whole produce of the Lima mines for the season.
+Her ballast was silver, her cargo gold and emeralds and rubies.
+
+Drake deliberately cut the cables of the ships in the roads, that they
+might drive ashore and be unable to follow him. The "Pelican" spread her
+wings, and sped away in pursuit. He would know the "Cacafuego," so he
+learned at Lima, by the peculiar cut of her sails. The first man who
+caught sight of her was promised a gold chain for his reward. A sail was
+seen on the second day. It was not the chase, but it was worth stopping
+for. Eighty pounds' weight of gold was found, and a great gold crucifix,
+set with emeralds said to be as large as pigeons' eggs.
+
+We learn from the Spanish accounts that the Viceroy of Lima, as soon
+as he recovered from his astonishment, dispatched ships in pursuit.
+They came up with the last plundered vessel, heard terrible tales of
+the rovers' strength, and went back for a larger force. The "Pelican"
+meanwhile went along upon her course for eight hundred miles. At
+length, off Quito, and close under the shore, the "Cacafuego's"
+peculiar sails were sighted, and the gold chain was claimed. There she
+was, going lazily along a few miles ahead. Care was needed in
+approaching her. If she guessed the "Pelican's" character she would
+run in upon the land, and they would lose her. It was afternoon. The
+sun was still above the horizon, and Drake meant to wait till night,
+when the breeze would be off the shore, as in the tropics it always is.
+
+The "Pelican" sailed two feet to the "Cacafuego's" one. Drake filled his
+empty wine skins with water and trailed them astern to stop his way. The
+chase supposed that she was followed by some heavily-loaded trader,
+and, wishing for company on a lonely voyage, she slackened sail, and
+waited for him to come up. At length the sun went down into the ocean,
+the rosy light faded from off the snows of the Andes; and when both
+ships had become invisible from the shore, the skins were hauled in, the
+night wind rose, and the water began to ripple under the "Pelican's"
+bows. The "Cacafuego" was swiftly overtaken, and when within a cable's
+length a voice hailed her to put her head into the wind. The Spanish
+commander, not understanding so strange an order, held on his course. A
+broadside brought down his mainyard, and a flight of arrows rattled on
+his deck. He was himself wounded. In a few minutes he was a prisoner,
+and the ship and her precious freight were in the corsair's power. The
+wreck was cut away; the ship was cleared; a prize crew was put on board.
+Both vessels turned their heads to the sea. At daybreak no land was to
+be seen, and the examination of the prize began. The full value was
+never acknowledged. The invoice, if there was one, was destroyed. The
+accurate figures were known only to Drake and Queen Elizabeth. A
+published schedule acknowledged to twenty tons of silver bullion,
+thirteen chests of silver coins, and a hundredweight of gold, but there
+were gold nuggets beside in indefinite quantity, and "a great store" of
+pearls, emeralds, and diamonds.
+
+Drake, we are told, was greatly satisfied. He thought it prudent to
+stay in the neighborhood no longer than necessary. He went north with
+all sail set, taking his prize along with him. The master, San Juan de
+Anton, was removed on board the "Pelican," to have his wound attended
+to. He remained as Drake's guest for a week, and sent in a report of
+what he observed to the Spanish government. One at least of Drake's
+party spoke excellent Spanish. This person took San Juan over the
+ship. She showed signs, San Juan said, of rough service, but was still
+in fine condition, with ample arms, spare rope, mattocks, carpenters'
+tools of all descriptions. There were eighty-five men on board all
+told, fifty of them men of war, the rest young fellows, ship boys, and
+the like. Drake himself was treated with great reverence; a sentinel
+stood always at his cabin door. He dined alone with music.
+
+[Illustration: James Anthony Froude.]
+
+The "Pelican" met with many other adventures, and at last sailed for
+home. Sweeping in fine clear weather round the Cape of Good Hope, she
+touched once for water at Sierra Leone, and finally sailed in triumph
+into Plymouth Harbor.
+
+English sympathy with an extraordinary exploit is always irresistible.
+Shouts of applause rang through the country; and Elizabeth, every bit
+of her an English-woman, felt with her subjects. She sent for Drake to
+London, made him tell his story over and over again, and was never
+weary of listening to him.
+
+  --_From "English Seamen in the Sixteenth Century,"
+  by James Anthony Froude._
+
+
+
+
+A BRAVE RESCUE AND A ROUGH RIDE.
+
+
+It happened upon a November evening (when I was about fifteen years
+old, and outgrowing my strength very rapidly, my sister Annie being
+turned thirteen, and a deal of rain having fallen, and all the troughs
+in the yard being flooded, and the bark from the wood ricks washed
+down the gutter, and even our watershoot growing brown) that the ducks
+in the barnyard made a terrible quacking, instead of marching off to
+their pen, one behind another. Thereupon Annie and I ran out to see
+what might be the sense of it. There were thirteen ducks, and ten
+lily-white (as the fashion of ducks then was), not, I mean,
+twenty-three in all, but ten white and three brown-striped ones; and
+without being nice about their color, they all quacked very movingly.
+They pushed their gold-colored bills here and there (yet dirty, as
+gold is apt to be), and they jumped on the triangles of their feet,
+and sounded out of their nostrils; and some of the overexcited ones
+ran along low on the ground, quacking grievously, with their bills
+snapping and bending, and the roof of their mouths exhibited.
+
+Annie began to cry "dilly, dilly, einy, einy, ducksey," according to
+the burden of a tune they seem to have accepted as the national ducks'
+anthem; but instead of being soothed by it, they only quacked three
+times as hard, and ran round till we were giddy. And then they shook
+their tails all together, and looked grave, and went round and round
+again.
+
+Now, I am uncommonly fond of ducks, whether roystering, roosting, or
+roasted; and it is a fine sight to behold them walk, paddling one after
+another, with their toes out, like soldiers drilling, and their little
+eyes cocked all ways at once, and the way that they dib with their
+bills, and dabble, and throw up their heads and enjoy something, and
+then tell the others about it. Therefore, I knew at once, by the way
+they were carrying on, that there must be something or other gone wholly
+amiss in the duck world. Sister Annie perceived it, too, but with a
+greater quickness; for she counted them like a good duck wife, and could
+only tell thirteen of them, when she knew there ought to be fourteen.
+
+And so we began to search about, and the ducks ran to lead us aright,
+having come that far to fetch us; and when we got down to the foot of
+the courtyard where the two great ash trees stand by the side of the
+little water, we found good reason for the urgence and melancholy of
+the duck birds. Lo! the old white drake, the father of all, a bird of
+high manners and chivalry, always the last to help himself from the
+pan of barley meal, and the first to show fight to a dog or cock
+intruding upon his family, this fine fellow, and a pillar of the
+state, was now in a sad predicament, yet quacking very stoutly.
+
+For the brook, wherewith he had been familiar from his callow
+childhood, and wherein he was wont to quest for water newts, and
+tadpoles, and caddice worms, and other game, this brook, which
+afforded him very often scanty space to dabble in, and sometimes
+starved the cresses, was now coming down in a great brown flood, as if
+the banks never belonged to it. The foaming of it, and the noise, and
+the cresting of the corners, and the up and down, like the wave of the
+sea, were enough to frighten any duck, though bred upon stormy waters,
+which our ducks never had been.
+
+There is always a hurdle six feet long and four and a half in depth,
+swung by a chain at either end from an oak laid across the channel.
+And the use of this hurdle is to keep our kine at milking time from
+straying away there drinking (for in truth they are very dainty) and
+to fence strange cattle, or Farmer Snowe's horses, from coming along
+the bed of the brook unknown, to steal our substance.
+
+But now this hurdle, which hung in the summer a foot above the
+trickle, would have been dipped more than two feet deep but for the
+power against it. For the torrent came down so vehemently that the
+chains in full stretch were creaking, and the hurdle buffeted almost
+flat, and thatched (so to say), with the drift stuff, was going seesaw
+with a sulky splash on the dirty red comb of the waters.
+
+But saddest to see was between two bars, where a fog was of rushes,
+and flood wood, and wild celery, and dead crow's-foot. For there was
+our venerable mallard jammed in by the joint of his shoulder, speaking
+aloud as he rose and fell, with his topknot full of water, unable to
+comprehend it, with his tail washed far away from him, but often
+compelled to be silent, being ducked very harshly against his will by
+the choking fall to of the hurdle.
+
+For a moment I could not help laughing; because, being borne high up
+and dry by a tumult of the torrent, he gave me a look from his one
+little eye (having lost one in fight with a turkey cock), a gaze of
+appealing sorrow, and then a loud quack to second it. But the quack
+came out of time, I suppose, for his throat got filled with water, as
+the hurdle carried him back again. And then there was scarcely the
+screw of his tail to be seen until he swung up again, and left small
+doubt, by the way he spluttered, and failed to quack, and hung down
+his poor crest, but what he must drown in another minute, and frogs
+triumph over his body.
+
+Annie was crying and wringing her hands, and I was about to rush into
+the water, although I liked not the look of it, but hoped to hold on
+by the hurdle, when a man on horseback came suddenly round the corner
+of the great ash hedge on the other side of the stream, and his
+horse's feet were in the water.
+
+"Ho, there," he cried, "get thee back, boy! The flood will carry thee
+down like a straw. I will do it for thee, and no trouble."
+
+With that he leaned forward, and spoke to his mare--she was just of
+the tint of a strawberry, a young thing, very beautiful--and she
+arched up her neck, as misliking the job; yet, trusting him, would
+attempt it. She entered the flood, with her dainty fore legs sloped
+further and further in front of her, and her delicate ears pricked
+forward, and the size of her great eyes increasing; but he kept her
+straight in the turbid rush, by the pressure of his knee on her.
+
+Then she looked back, and wondered at him, as the force of the torrent
+grew stronger, but he bade her go on; and on she went, and it foamed
+up over her shoulders; and she tossed up her lip and scorned it, for
+now her courage was waking.
+
+Then, as the rush of it swept her away, and she struck with her
+forefeet down the stream, he leaned from his saddle in a manner which
+I never could have thought possible, and caught up old Tom with his
+left hand, and set him between his hostlers, and smiled at his faint
+quack of gratitude. In a moment all three were carried down stream,
+and the rider lay flat on his horse, and tossed the hurdle clear from
+him, and made for the bend of smooth water.
+
+They landed some thirty or forty yards lower, in the midst of our
+kitchen garden, where the winter cabbage was; but though Annie and I
+crept in through the hedge, and were full of our thanks and admiring
+him, he would answer us never a word until he had spoken in full to
+the mare, as if explaining the whole to her.
+
+"Sweetheart, I know thou couldst have leaped it," he said, as he
+patted her cheek, being on the ground by this time, and she was
+nudging up to him, with the water pattering off from her; "but I had
+good reason, Winnie dear, for making thee go through it."
+
+She answered him kindly with her soft eyes, and sniffed at him very
+lovingly, and they understood one another. Then he took from his
+waistcoat two peppercorns, and made the old drake swallow them, and
+tried him softly on his legs, where the leading gap in the hedge was.
+
+Old Tom stood up quite bravely, and clapped his wings, and shook off
+the wet from his tail feathers; and then away into the courtyard, and
+his family gathered around him, and they all made a noise in their
+throats, and stood up, and put their bills together, to thank God for
+his great deliverance.
+
+Having taken all this trouble, and watched the end of that adventure,
+the gentleman turned round to us with a pleasant smile on his face, as
+if he were lightly amused with himself; and we came up and looked at
+him. He was rather short, about John Fry's height, or maybe a little
+taller, but very strongly built and springy, as his gait at every step
+showed plainly, although his legs were bowed with much riding, and he
+looked as if he lived on horseback.
+
+To a boy like me he seemed very old, being over twenty, and well found
+in beard; but he was not more than four and twenty, fresh and ruddy
+looking, with a short nose and keen blue eyes, and a merry, waggish
+jerk about him, as if the world were not in earnest. Yet he had a
+sharp, stern way, like the crack of a pistol, if anything misliked
+him; and we knew (for children see such things) that it was safer to
+tickle than buffet him.
+
+"Well, young ones, what be gaping at?" He gave pretty Annie a chuck on
+the chin, and took me all in without winking.
+
+"Your mare," said I, standing stoutly up, being a tall boy now; "I
+never saw such a beauty, sir. Will you let me have a ride on her?"
+
+"Think thou couldst ride her, lad? She will have no burden but mine.
+Thou couldst never ride her! Tut! I would be loath to kill thee."
+
+"Ride her!" I cried, with the bravest scorn, for she looked so kind and
+gentle; "there never was horse upon Exmoor but I could tackle in half an
+hour. Only I never ride upon saddle. Take those leathers off of her."
+
+He looked at me with a dry little whistle, and thrust his hands into
+his pockets, and so grinned that I could not stand it. And Annie laid
+hold of me in such a way that I was almost mad with her. And he
+laughed, and approved her for doing so. And the worst of all was--he
+said nothing.
+
+"Get away, Annie. Do you think I'm a fool, good sir? Only trust me
+with her, and I will not override her."
+
+"For that I will go bail, my son. She is liker to override thee. But
+the ground is soft to fall upon, after all this rain. Now come out
+into the yard, young man, for the sake of your mother's cabbages. And
+the mellow straw bed will be softer for thee, since pride must have
+its fall. I am thy mother's cousin, boy, and I'm going up to the
+house. Tom Faggus is my name, as everybody knows, and this is my young
+mare, Winnie."
+
+What a fool I must have been not to know it at once! Tom Faggus, the
+great highwayman, and his young blood mare, the strawberry. Already
+her fame was noised abroad, nearly as much as her master's, and my
+longing to ride her grew tenfold, but fear came at the back of it. Not
+that I had the smallest fear of what the mare could do to me, by fair
+play and horse trickery, but that the glory of sitting upon her seemed
+to be too great for me; especially as there were rumors abroad that
+she was not a mare, after all, but a witch.
+
+However, she looked like a filly all over, and wonderfully beautiful
+with her supple stride, and soft slope of shoulder, and glossy coat
+beaded with water, and prominent eyes full of docile fire. Whether this
+came from her Eastern blood of the Arabs newly imported, and whether the
+cream color, mixed with our bay, led to that bright strawberry tint, is
+certainly more than I can decide, being chiefly acquaint with farm
+horses. And these are of any color and form; you never can count what
+they will be, and are lucky to get four legs to them.
+
+Mr. Faggus gave his mare a wink, and she walked demurely after him, a
+bright young thing, flowing over with life, yet dropping her soul to a
+higher one, and led by love to anything, as the manner is of such
+creatures, when they know what is the best for them. Then Winnie trod
+lightly upon the straw, because it had soft muck under it, and her
+delicate feet came back again.
+
+"Up for it still, boy, be ye?" Tom Faggus stopped, and the mare
+stopped there; and they looked at me provokingly.
+
+"Is she able to leap, sir? There is good take-off on this side of the
+brook."
+
+Mr. Faggus laughed very quietly, turning round to Winnie so that she
+might enter into it. And she, for her part, seemed to know exactly
+where the fun lay.
+
+"Good tumble off, you mean, my boy. Well, there can be small harm to
+thee. I am akin to thy family, and know the substance of their skulls."
+
+"Let me get up," said I, waxing wroth, for reasons I can not tell
+you, because they are too manifold; "take off your saddlebag things. I
+will try not to squeeze her ribs in, unless she plays nonsense with me."
+
+Then Mr. Faggus was up on his mettle at this proud speech of mine, and
+John Fry was running up all the while, and Bill Dadds, and half a
+dozen others. Tom Faggus gave one glance around, and then dropped all
+regard for me. The high repute of his mare was at stake, and what was
+my life compared to it? Through my defiance, and stupid ways, here was
+I in a duello, and my legs not come to their strength yet, and my arms
+as limp as herring.
+
+Something of this occurred to him, even in his wrath with me, for he
+spoke very softly to the filly, who now could scarce subdue herself;
+but she drew in her nostrils, and breathed to his breath, and did all
+she could to answer him.
+
+"Not too hard, my dear," he said; "let him gently down on the mixen.
+That will be quite enough." Then he turned the saddle off, and I was
+up in a moment. She began at first so easily, and pricked her ears so
+lovingly, and minced about as if pleased to find so light a weight
+upon her, that I thought she knew I could ride a little, and feared to
+show any capers. "Gee wugg, Polly!" cried I, for all the men were now
+looking on, being then at the leaving-off time; "gee wugg, Polly, and
+show what thou be'est made of." With that I plugged my heels into her,
+and Billy Dadds flung his hat up.
+
+Nevertheless, she outraged not, though her eyes were frightening Annie,
+and John Fry took a pick to keep him safe; but she curbed to and fro
+with her strong forearms rising like springs ingathered, waiting and
+quivering grievously, and beginning to sweat about it. Then her master
+gave a shrill, clear whistle, when her ears were bent toward him, and I
+felt her form beneath me gathering up like whalebone, and her hind legs
+coming under her, and I knew that I was in for it.
+
+First she reared upright in the air, and struck me full on the nose
+with her comb, till I bled worse than Robin Snell made me; and then
+down with her fore feet deep in the straw, and with her hind feet
+going to heaven. Finding me stick to her still like wax, for my mettle
+was up as hers was, away she flew with me swifter than ever I went
+before, or since, I trow.
+
+She drove full head at the cob wall--"Oh, Jack, slip off!" screamed
+Annie--then she turned like light, when I thought to crush her, and
+ground my left knee against it. "Dear me!" I cried, for my breeches were
+broken, and short words went the farthest--"if you kill me, you shall
+die with me." Then she took the courtyard gate at a leap, knocking my
+words between my teeth, and then right over a quickset hedge, as if the
+sky were a breath to her; and away for the water meadows, while I lay on
+her neck like a child and wished I had never been born.
+
+Straight away, all in the front of the wind, and scattering clouds
+around her, all I know of the speed we made was the frightful flash of
+her shoulders, and her mane like trees in a tempest. I felt the earth
+under us rushing away, and the air left far behind us, and my breath
+came and went, and I prayed to God, and was sorry to be so late of it.
+
+All the long swift while, without power of thought, I clung to her
+crest and shoulders, and was proud of holding on so long, though sure
+of being beaten. Then in her fury at feeling me still, she rushed at
+another device for it, and leaped the wide water-trough sideways
+across, to and fro, till no breath was left in me. The hazel boughs
+took me too hard in the face, and the tall dog-briers got hold of me,
+and the ache of my back was like crimping a fish, till I longed to
+give it up, thoroughly beaten, and lie there and die in the cresses.
+
+But there came a shrill whistle from up the home hill, where the
+people had hurried to watch us, and the mare stopped as if with a
+bullet, then set off for home with the speed of a swallow, and going
+as smoothly and silently. I never had dreamed of such delicate motion,
+fluent, and graceful, and ambient, soft as the breeze flitting over
+the flowers, but swift as the summer lightning.
+
+I sat up again, but my strength was all spent, and no time left to
+recover it; and though she rose at our gate like a bird, I tumbled off
+into the soft mud.
+
+"Well done, lad," Mr. Faggus said, good-naturedly; for all were now
+gathered round me, as I rose from the ground, somewhat tottering, and
+miry, and crest-fallen, but otherwise none the worse (having fallen
+upon my head, which is of uncommon substance); "not at all bad work,
+my boy; we may teach you to ride by and by, I see; I thought not to
+see you stick on so long--"
+
+"I should have stuck on much longer, sir, if her sides had not been
+wet. She was so slippery--"
+
+"Boy, thou art right. She hath given many the slip. Ha! ha! Vex not,
+Jack, that I laugh at thee. She is like a sweetheart to me, and better
+than any of them be. It would have gone to my heart if thou hadst
+conquered. None but I can ride my Winnie mare."
+
+"Foul shame to thee, then, Tom Faggus," cried mother, coming up
+suddenly, and speaking so that all were amazed, having never seen her
+wrathful, "to put my boy, my boy, across her, as if his life were no
+more than thine! A man would have taken thy mad horse and thee, and
+flung them both into a horse pond--ay, and what's more, I'll have it
+done now, if a hair of his head is injured. Oh, my boy, my boy! Put up
+the other arm, Johnny." All the time mother was scolding so, she was
+feeling me and wiping me; while Faggus tried to look greatly ashamed,
+having sense of the ways of women.
+
+"Only look at his jacket, mother!" cried Annie; "and a shilling's
+worth gone from his smallclothes!"
+
+"What care I for his clothes, thou goose? Take that, and heed thine own
+a bit." And mother gave Annie a slap which sent her swinging up against
+Mr. Faggus, and he caught her, and kissed and protected her; and she
+looked at him very nicely, with great tears in her soft blue eyes.
+
+"Oh, fie upon thee, fie upon thee," cried mother (being yet more vexed
+with him, because she had beaten Annie); "after all we have done for
+thee, and saved thy worthless neck--and to try to kill my son for me!
+Never more shall horse of thine enter stable here, since these be thy
+returns to me. Small thanks to you, John Fry, I say; much you care for
+your master's son!"
+
+"Well, missus, what could us do?" began John; "Jan wudd goo, now
+wudd't her, Jem? And how was us--"
+
+"Jan, indeed! Master John, if you please, to a lad of his years and
+stature. And now, Tom Faggus, be off, if you please, and think
+yourself lucky to go so."
+
+Everybody looked at mother, to hear her talk like that, knowing how
+quiet she was day by day, and how pleasant to be cheated. And the men
+began to shoulder their shovels, both so as to be away from her, and
+to go and tell their wives of it. Winnie, too, was looking at her,
+being pointed at so much, and wondering if she had done amiss. And
+then she came to me, and trembled, and stooped her head, and asked my
+pardon, if she had been too proud with me.
+
+"Winnie shall stop here to-night," said I, for Tom Faggus still said
+never a word all the while, but began to buckle his things on.
+"Mother, I tell you Winnie shall stop; else I will go away with her. I
+never knew what it was, till now, to ride a horse worth riding."
+
+"Young man," said Tom Faggus, still preparing sternly to depart, "you
+know more about a horse than any man on Exmoor. Your mother may well
+be proud of you, but she need have had no fear. As if I, Tom Faggus,
+your father's cousin--and the only thing I am proud of--would ever
+have let you mount my mare, which dukes and princes have vainly
+sought, except for the courage in your eyes, and the look of your
+father about you. I knew you could ride when I saw you, and rarely
+you have conquered. But women don't understand us."
+
+With that he fetched a heavy sigh, and feebly got upon Winnie's back,
+and she came to say farewell to me. He lifted his hat to my mother
+with a glance of sorrow, but never a word, and to me he said: "Open
+the gate, Cousin John, if you please. You have beaten her so, that she
+cannot leap it, poor thing."
+
+But, before he was truly gone out of our yard, my mother came softly
+after him, with her afternoon apron across her eyes, and one hand
+ready to offer him. Nevertheless, he made as if he had not seen her,
+though he let his horse go slowly. "Stop, Cousin Tom," my mother said,
+"a word with you before you go."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Lorna Doone," by Richard Blackmore, from which this extract is taken,
+is justly regarded as one of the few really great romances written in
+the latter part of the nineteenth century. It is a story of the times
+of Charles II., and culminates about the time of the rebellion of
+Monmouth in 1685. The narrative is supposed to be related by a sturdy
+farmer of Exmoor, named John Ridd, who is the hero of the tale. The
+main part of the action centers round the deeds of a band of outlaws
+called the Doones, who had established themselves in a narrow valley
+of Exmoor, from whence they levied tribute upon their neighbors and
+bade defiance to the officers of the law. The quaint and homely style
+in which the story is written wins the admiration of all readers, and
+gives to the work an indefinable charm.
+
+
+
+
+THE GLORY OF GOD.
+
+
+    The heavens declare the glory of God;
+    And the firmament sheweth his handywork.
+    Day unto day uttereth speech,
+    And night unto night sheweth knowledge,
+    There is no speech nor language,
+    Where their voice is not heard.
+    Their line is gone out through all the earth,
+    And their words to the end of the world.
+    In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun,
+    Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
+    And rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.
+    His going forth is from the end of the heaven,
+    And his circuit unto the ends of it:
+    And there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.
+    The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul;
+    The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;
+    The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;
+    The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;
+    The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;
+    The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
+    More to be desired are they than gold; yea than much fine gold;
+    Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
+    Moreover by them is thy servant warned;
+    And in keeping of them there is great reward.
+    Who can understand his errors?
+    Cleanse thou me from secret faults.
+    Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins;
+    Let them not have dominion over me:
+    Then shall I be upright, and I shall be
+    Innocent from the great transgression.
+    Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart,
+    Be acceptable in thy sight,
+    O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.
+
+  --_From the Psalms of David._
+
+
+
+
+THE BATTLE OF BANNOCKBURN.
+
+
+The Battle of Bannockburn, in Scotland, was one of the most famous in
+history. It was fought June 24th, 1314, between Robert Bruce of
+Scotland and Edward II. of England. The army of Bruce consisted of
+30,000 men; that of Edward of 100,000, of whom 52,000 were archers.
+The story of the battle is thus described by Sir Walter Scott in his
+"Tales of a Grandfather":
+
+    Now when Sir Philip Mowbray, the governor of Stirling, came to
+    London, to tell the King, that Stirling, the last Scottish town of
+    importance which remained in possession of the English, was to be
+    surrendered if it were not relieved by force of arms before
+    midsummer, then all the English nobles called out, it would be a
+    sin and shame to permit the fair conquest which Edward the First
+    had made, to be forfeited to the Scots for want of fighting. It
+    was, therefore, resolved, that the King should go himself to
+    Scotland, with as great forces as he could possibly muster.
+
+    King Edward the Second, therefore, assembled one of the greatest
+    armies which a King of England ever commanded. There were troops
+    brought from all his dominions. Many brave soldiers from the
+    French provinces which the King of England possessed in
+    France,--many Irish, many Welsh,--and all the great English nobles
+    and barons, with their followers, were assembled in one great army.
+
+    King Robert the Bruce summoned all his nobles and barons to join
+    him, when he heard of the great preparations which the King of
+    England was making. They were not so numerous as the English by many
+    thousand men. In fact, his whole army did not very much exceed
+    thirty thousand, and they were much worse armed than the wealthy
+    Englishmen; but then, Robert, who was at their head, was one of the
+    most expert generals of the time; and the officers he had under him,
+    were his brother Edward, his nephew Randolph, his faithful follower
+    the Douglas, and other brave and experienced leaders, who commanded
+    the same men that had been accustomed to fight and gain victories
+    under every disadvantage of situation and numbers.
+
+    The King, on his part, studied how he might supply, by address and
+    stratagem, what he wanted in numbers and strength. He knew the
+    superiority of the English, both in their heavy-armed cavalry,
+    which were much better mounted and armed than that of the Scots,
+    and in their archers, who were better trained than any others in
+    the world. Both these advantages he resolved to provide against.
+    With this purpose, he led his army down into a plain near
+    Stirling, called the Park, near which, and beneath it, the English
+    army must needs pass through a boggy country, broken with water
+    courses, while the Scots occupied hard dry ground. He then caused
+    all the ground upon the front of his line of battle, where cavalry
+    were likely to act, to be dug full of holes, about as deep as a
+    man's knee. They were filled with light brushwood, and the turf
+    was laid on the top, so that it appeared a plain field, while in
+    reality it was all full of these pits as a honeycomb is of holes.
+    He also, it is said, caused steel spikes, called calthrops, to be
+    scattered up and down in the plain, where the English cavalry were
+    most likely to advance, trusting in that manner to lame and
+    destroy their horses.
+
+    When the Scottish army was drawn up, the line stretched north and
+    south. On the south, it was terminated by the banks of the brook
+    called Bannockburn, which are so rocky, that no troops could attack
+    them there. On the left, the Scottish line extended near to the town
+    of Stirling. Bruce reviewed his troops very carefully; all the
+    useless servants, drivers of carts, and such like, of whom there
+    were very many, he ordered to go behind a height, afterwards, in
+    memory of the event, called the Gillies' hill, that is, the
+    Servants' hill. He then spoke to the soldiers, and expressed his
+    determination to gain the victory, or to lose his life on the field
+    of battle. He desired that all those who did not propose to fight to
+    the last, should leave the field before the battle began, and that
+    none should remain except those who were determined to take the
+    issue of victory or death, as God should send it.
+
+    When the main body of his army was thus placed in order, the King
+    posted Randolph, with a body of horse, near to the Church of St.
+    Ninian's, commanding him to use the utmost diligence to prevent
+    any succors from being thrown into Stirling Castle. He then
+    dispatched James of Douglas, and Sir Robert Keith, the Mareschal
+    of the Scottish army, in order that they might survey, as nearly
+    as they could, the English force, which was now approaching from
+    Falkirk. They returned with information, that the approach of that
+    vast host was one of the most beautiful and terrible sights which
+    could be seen,--that the whole country seemed covered with men at
+    arms on horse and foot,--that the number of standards, banners,
+    and pennons (all flags of different kinds) made so gallant a show,
+    that the bravest and most numerous host in Christendom might be
+    alarmed to see King Edward moving against them.
+
+    It was upon the twenty-third of June (1314) the King of Scotland
+    heard the news, that the English army were approaching Stirling.
+    He drew out his army, therefore, in the order which he had before
+    resolved on. After a short time, Bruce, who was looking out
+    anxiously for the enemy, saw a body of English cavalry trying to
+    get into Stirling from the eastward. This was the Lord Clifford,
+    who, with a chosen body of eight hundred horse had been detached
+    to relieve the castle.
+
+    "See, Randolph," said the King to his nephew, "there is a rose
+    fallen from your chaplet." By this he meant that Randolph had lost
+    some honor, by suffering the enemy to pass where he had been
+    stationed to hinder them. Randolph made no reply, but rushed
+    against Clifford with little more than half his number. The Scots
+    were on foot. The English turned to charge them with their lances,
+    and Randolph drew up his men in close order to receive the onset.
+    He seemed to be in so much danger, that Douglas asked leave of the
+    King to go and assist him. The King refused him permission.
+
+    "Let Randolph," he said, "redeem his own fault; I can not break
+    the order of battle for his sake." Still the danger appeared
+    greater, and the English horse seemed entirely to encompass the
+    small handful of Scottish infantry. "So please you," said Douglas
+    to the King, "my heart will not suffer me to stand idle and see
+    Randolph perish--I must go to his assistance." He rode off
+    accordingly; but long before they had reached the place of combat,
+    they saw the English horses galloping off, many with empty saddles.
+
+    "Halt!" said Douglas to his men, "Randolph has gained the day;
+    since we were not soon enough to help him in the battle, do not
+    let us lessen his glory by approaching the field." Now, that was
+    nobly done; especially as Douglas and Randolph were always
+    contending which should rise highest in the good opinion of the
+    King and the nation.
+
+    The van of the English army now came in sight, and a number of
+    their bravest knights drew near to see what the Scots were doing.
+    They saw King Robert dressed in his armor, and distinguished by a
+    gold crown, which he wore over his helmet. He was not mounted on
+    his great war horse, because he did not expect to fight that
+    evening. But he rode on a little pony up and down the ranks of his
+    army, putting his men in order, and carried in his hand a short
+    battle ax made of steel. When the King saw the English horsemen
+    draw near, he advanced a little before his own men, that he might
+    look at them more nearly.
+
+    There was a knight among the English, called Sir Henry de Bohun,
+    who thought this would be a good opportunity to gain great fame to
+    himself, and put an end to the war, by killing King Robert. The
+    King being poorly mounted, and having no lance, Bohun galloped on
+    him suddenly and furiously, thinking, with his long spear, and his
+    tall powerful horse, easily to bear him down to the ground. King
+    Robert saw him, and permitted him to come very near, then suddenly
+    turned his pony a little to one side, so that Sir Henry missed him
+    with the lance point, and was in the act of being carried past him
+    by the career of his horse. But as he passed, King Robert rose up
+    in his stirrups, and struck Sir Henry on the head with his battle
+    ax so terrible a blow, that it broke to pieces his iron helmet as
+    if it had been a nutshell, and hurled him from his saddle. He was
+    dead before he reached the ground. This gallant action was blamed
+    by the Scottish leaders, who thought Bruce ought not to have
+    exposed himself to so much danger, when the safety of the whole
+    army depended on him. The King only kept looking at his weapon,
+    which was injured by the force of the blow, and said, "I have
+    broken my good battle ax."
+
+    The next morning, being the twenty-fourth of June, at break of day,
+    the battle began in terrible earnest. The English as they advanced
+    saw the Scots getting into line. The Abbot of Inchaffray walked
+    through their ranks barefooted, and exhorted them to fight for their
+    freedom. They kneeled down as he passed, and prayed to heaven for
+    victory. King Edward, who saw this, called out, "They kneel
+    down--they are asking forgiveness." "Yes," said a celebrated English
+    baron, called Ingelram de Umphraville, "but they ask it from God,
+    not from us--these men will conquer, or die upon the field."
+
+    The English King ordered his men to begin the battle. The archers
+    then bent their bows, and began to shoot so closely together, that
+    the arrows fell like flakes of snow on a Christmas day. But Bruce,
+    as I told you before, was prepared for them. He had in readiness a
+    body of men at arms well mounted, who rode at full gallop among the
+    archers, and as they had no weapons save their bows and arrows,
+    which they could not use when they were attacked hand to hand, they
+    were cut down in great numbers, and thrown into total confusion.
+
+    The fine English cavalry then advanced to support their archers,
+    and to attack the Scottish line. But coming over the ground, which
+    was dug full of pits, the horses fell into these holes, and the
+    riders lay tumbling about, without any means of defense, and
+    unable to rise, from the weight of their armor. The Englishmen
+    began to fall into general disorder; and the Scottish King,
+    bringing up more of his forces, attacked and pressed them still
+    more closely.
+
+    On a sudden, while the battle was obstinately maintained on both
+    sides, an event happened which decided the victory. The servants
+    and attendants on the Scottish camp had, as I told you, been sent
+    behind the army to a place afterwards called the Gillies' hill.
+    But when they saw that their masters were likely to gain the day,
+    they rushed from their place of concealment with such weapons as
+    they could get, that they might have their share in the victory
+    and in the spoil. The English, seeing them come suddenly over the
+    hill, mistook this disorderly rabble for a new army coming up to
+    sustain the Scots, and, losing all heart, began to shift every man
+    for himself. Edward himself left the field as fast as he could
+    ride. A valiant knight, Sir Giles de Argentine, attended the King
+    till he got him out of the press of the combat. But he would
+    retreat no farther. "It is not my custom," he said, "to fly." With
+    that he took leave of the King, set spurs to horse, and calling
+    out his war cry of Argentine! Argentine! he rushed into the
+    thickest of the Scottish ranks, and was killed.
+
+    Edward first fled to Stirling Castle, and entreated admittance;
+    but Sir Philip Mowbray, the governor, reminded the fugitive
+    sovereign that he was obliged to surrender the castle next day, so
+    Edward was fain to fly through the Torwood, closely pursued by
+    Douglas with a body of cavalry. An odd circumstance happened
+    during the chase, which showed how loosely some of the Scottish
+    barons of that day held their political opinions: As Douglas was
+    riding furiously after Edward, he met a Scottish knight, Sir
+    Laurence Abernethy, with twenty horse. Sir Laurence had hitherto
+    owned the English interest, and was bringing this band of
+    followers to serve King Edward's army. But learning from Douglas
+    that the English King was entirely defeated, he changed sides on
+    the spot, and was easily prevailed upon to join Douglas in
+    pursuing the unfortunate Edward, with the very followers whom he
+    had been leading to join his standard.
+
+    Douglas and Abernethy followed King Edward as far as Dunbar, where
+    the English had still a friend, in the governor, Patrick, Earl of
+    March. The Earl received Edward in his forlorn condition, and
+    furnished him with a fishing skiff, or small ship, in which he
+    escaped to England, having entirely lost his fine army, and a
+    great number of his bravest nobles.
+
+    The English never before or afterwards, whether in France or
+    Scotland, lost so dreadful a battle as that of Bannockburn, nor
+    did the Scots ever gain one of the same importance.
+
+Such is the story that is told by Sir Walter Scott in his "Tales of a
+Grandfather." It will be interesting now to read Burns's poem
+beginning, "Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled," which we can easily
+imagine to be Bruce's address to his men at the beginning of the great
+fight. Read also Sir Walter Scott's metrical description of the
+battle, in the long poem entitled "The Lord of the Isles."
+
+
+
+
+THE SOLDIER'S DREAM.
+
+
+    Our bugles sang truce; for the night cloud had lowered,
+      And the sentinel stars set their watch in the sky;
+    And thousands had sunk on the ground overpowered--
+      The weary to sleep, and the wounded to die.
+
+    When reposing that night on my pallet of straw,
+      By the wolf-scaring fagot that guarded the slain,
+    At the dead of the night a sweet vision I saw,
+      And thrice ere the morning I dreamed it again.
+
+    Methought from the battlefield's dreadful array,
+      Far, far I had roamed on a desolate track;
+    'Twas autumn--and sunshine arose on the way
+      To the home of my fathers, that welcomed me back.
+
+    I flew to the pleasant fields traversed so oft
+      In life's morning march, when my bosom was young;
+    I heard my own mountain goats bleating aloft,
+      And knew the sweet strain that the corn reapers sung.
+
+    Then pledged we the wine cup, and fondly I swore
+      From my home and my weeping friends never to part;
+    My little ones kissed me a thousand times o'er,
+      And my wife sobbed aloud in her fulness of heart.
+
+    "Stay, stay with us!--rest; thou art weary and worn!"
+      And fain was their war-broken soldier to stay;
+    But sorrow returned with the dawning of morn,
+      And the voice in my dreaming ear melted away!
+
+  --_Thomas Campbell._
+
+
+
+
+LORD ULLIN'S DAUGHTER.
+
+
+    A chieftain, to the Highlands bound,
+      Cries, "Boatman, do not tarry!
+    And I'll give thee a silver pound
+      To row us o'er the ferry."
+
+    "Now who be ye, would cross Lochgyle,
+      This dark and stormy water?"
+    "Oh, I'm the chief of Ulva's isle,
+      And this Lord Ullin's daughter.
+
+[Illustration: Thomas Campbell.]
+
+    "And fast before her father's men
+      Three days we've fled together;
+    For should he find us in the glen,
+      My blood would stain the heather.
+
+    "His horsemen hard behind us ride:
+      Should they our steps discover,
+    Then who will cheer my bonny bride
+      When they have slain her lover?"
+
+    Out spoke the hardy Highland wight:
+      "I'll go, my chief: I'm ready
+    It is not for your silver bright,
+      But for your winsome lady;
+
+    "And, by my word, the bonny bird
+      In danger shall not tarry;
+    So, though the waves are raging white,
+      I'll row you o'er the ferry."
+
+    By this the storm grew loud apace;
+      The water wraith was shrieking;
+    And in the scowl of heaven each face
+      Grew dark as they were speaking.
+
+    But still, as wilder blew the wind,
+      And as the night grew drearer,
+    Adown the glen rode arméd men;
+      Their trampling sounded nearer.
+
+    "Oh haste thee, haste," the lady cries,
+      "Though tempests round us gather,
+    I'll meet the raging of the skies,
+      But not an angry father."
+
+    The boat has left a stormy land,
+      A stormy sea before her,
+    When, oh, too strong for human hand,
+      The tempest gathered o'er her.
+
+    And still they rowed amidst the roar
+      Of waters fast prevailing.
+    Lord Ullin reached that fatal shore:
+      His wrath was changed to wailing;
+
+    For, sore dismayed, through storm and shade,
+      His child he did discover:
+    One lovely hand she stretch'd for aid,
+      And one was round her lover.
+
+    "Come back! come back!" he cried in grief,
+      "Across this stormy water;
+    And I'll forgive your Highland chief,
+      My daughter! oh, my daughter!"
+
+    'Twas vain! The loud waves lashed the shore,
+      Return or aid preventing:
+    The waters wild went o'er his child,
+      And he was left lamenting.
+
+  --_Thomas Campbell._
+
+
+
+
+BEETHOVEN'S MOONLIGHT SONATA.
+
+
+Among the great musical composers of modern times there have been few
+who rank with Ludwig van Beethoven. This famous man was born in Bonn,
+Germany, in 1770; he died at Vienna in 1827. It may be truthfully said
+that the works of Beethoven created a new epoch in the history and
+development of music, and his compositions lose none of their
+popularity as the years go by.
+
+Beethoven's life was a sad one. He was alone in the world, deaf, and the
+object of unkind treatment by those who should have been his friends.
+How nobly he rose above all petty annoyances, we can readily understand
+when we listen to the grand and solemn strains of his immortal music.
+The following story illustrates the kindliness of his nature and shows
+how some of his works seemed to be almost the result of inspiration.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It happened at Bonn. One moonlight winter's evening I called upon
+Beethoven; for I wished him to take a walk, and afterwards sup with
+me. In passing through a dark, narrow street, he suddenly paused.
+"Hush!" he said, "what sound is that? It is from my Sonata in F. Hark!
+how well it is played!"
+
+[Illustration: Ludwig van Beethoven.]
+
+It was a little, mean dwelling, and we paused outside and listened.
+The player went on; but, in the midst of the finale, there was a
+sudden break; then the voice of sobbing. "I cannot play any more. It
+is so beautiful; it is utterly beyond my power to do it justice. Oh,
+what would I not give to go to the concert at Cologne!"
+
+"Ah! my sister," said her companion; "why create regrets when there is
+no remedy? We can scarcely pay our rent."
+
+"You are right, and yet I wish for once in my life to hear some really
+good music. But it is of no use."
+
+Beethoven looked at me. "Let us go in," he said.
+
+"Go in!" I exclaimed. "What can we go in for?"
+
+"I will play to her," he said, in an excited tone. "Here is
+feeling--genius--understanding! I will play to her, and she will
+understand it." And, before I could prevent him, his hand was upon
+the door. It opened, and we entered.
+
+A pale young man was sitting by the table, making shoes; and near him,
+leaning sorrowfully upon an old-fashioned piano, sat a young girl,
+with a profusion of light hair falling over her face.
+
+"Pardon me," said Beethoven, "but I heard music and was tempted to
+enter. I am a musician."
+
+The girl blushed, and the young man looked grave and somewhat annoyed.
+
+"I--I also overheard something of what you said," continued my friend.
+"You wish to hear--that is, you would like--that is--shall I play for
+you?"
+
+There was something so odd in the whole affair, and something so
+comical and pleasant in the manner of the speaker, that the spell was
+broken in a moment.
+
+"Thank you," said the shoemaker; "but our piano is so wretched, and we
+have no music."
+
+"No music!" echoed my friend; "how, then, does the young lady--" He
+paused, and colored; for, as he looked in the girl's face, he saw that
+she was blind. "I--I entreat your pardon," he stammered. "I had not
+perceived before. Then you play by ear? But where do you hear the
+music, since you frequent no concerts?"
+
+"We lived at Bruhl for two years, and while there, I used to hear a
+lady practicing near us. During the summer evenings her windows were
+generally open, and I walked to and fro outside to listen to her."
+
+She seemed so shy that Beethoven said no more, but seated himself
+quietly before the piano and began to play. He had no sooner struck
+the first chord than I knew what would follow. Never, during all the
+years I knew him, did I hear him play as he then played to that blind
+girl and her brother. He seemed to be inspired; and, from the instant
+that his fingers began to wander along the keys, the very tone of the
+instrument seemed to grow sweeter and more equal.
+
+The brother and sister were silent with wonder and rapture. The former
+laid aside his work; the latter, with her head bent slightly forward,
+and her hands pressed tightly over her breast, crouched down near the
+end of the piano, as if fearful lest even the beating of her heart
+should break the flow of those magical sounds.
+
+Suddenly the flame of the single candle wavered, sank, flickered, and
+went out. Beethoven paused, and I threw open the shutters, admitting a
+flood of brilliant moonlight. The room was almost as light as before,
+the moon's rays falling strongest upon the piano and player. His head
+dropped upon his breast; his hands rested upon his knees; he seemed
+absorbed in deep thought. He remained thus for some time. At length
+the young shoemaker rose and approached him eagerly.
+
+"Wonderful man!" he said, in a low tone. "Who and what are you?"
+
+"Listen!" said Beethoven, and he played the opening bars of the Sonata
+in F. A cry of recognition burst from them both, and exclaiming, "Then
+you are Beethoven!" they covered his hands with tears and kisses.
+
+He rose to go, but we held him back with entreaties. "Play to us once
+more--only once more!"
+
+He suffered himself to be led back to the instrument. The moon shone
+brightly in through the window, and lighted up his glorious, ragged
+head and massive figure. "I will improvise a Sonata to the Moonlight!"
+said he, looking up thoughtfully to the sky and stars. Then his hands
+dropped on the keys, and he began playing a sad and infinitely lovely
+movement, which crept gently over the instrument, like the calm flow
+of moonlight over the dark earth. This was followed by a wild, elfin
+passage in triple time--a sort of grotesque interlude, like the dance
+of sprites upon the lawn. Then came a swift agitato finale--a
+breathless, hurrying, trembling movement, descriptive of flight, and
+uncertainty, and vague impulsive terror, which carried us away on its
+rustling wings, and left us all in emotion and wonder.
+
+"Farewell to you!" said Beethoven, pushing back his chair, and turning
+toward the door--"farewell to you!"
+
+"You will come again?" asked they, in one breath.
+
+He paused and looked compassionately, almost tenderly, at the face of
+the blind girl.
+
+"Yes, yes," he said hurriedly, "I will come again, and give the young
+lady some lessons! Farewell! I will come again!"
+
+Their looks followed us in silence more eloquent than words till we
+were out of sight.
+
+"Let us make haste back," said Beethoven, "that I may write out that
+Sonata while I can yet remember it."
+
+We did so, and he sat over it until long past day dawn. And this was
+the origin of that Moonlight Sonata with which we are all so fondly
+acquainted.
+
+
+
+
+THE STORY OF TEMPE WICK.
+
+
+There are so many curious and unexpected things which may happen in time
+of war, especially to people who live in parts of a country where the
+enemy may be expected to come, or where the friendly army is already
+encamped, that it is impossible to guard against unpleasant occurrences;
+and it often happens that the only thing to be depended upon when an
+emergency arises, is presence of mind, and quickness of wit.
+
+[Illustration: Frank R. Stockton.]
+
+In these qualities, New Jersey girls have never shown themselves behind
+their sisters of other parts of the country, and a very good proof of
+this is shown by an incident which took place near Morristown during the
+time that the American army was quartered in that neighborhood.
+
+Not far from the town was a farm then known as Wick's farm, situated
+in a beautiful wooded country. The daughter of Mr. Wick, named Tempe
+(probably short for Temperance), was the owner of a very fine horse,
+and on this beautiful animal it was her delight to ride over the roads
+and through the woods of the surrounding country. She had been
+accustomed to horses since she was a child, and was not afraid to ride
+anywhere by herself.
+
+When she first began to canter over these hills and dales, it had been
+in times of peace, when there was nothing in this quiet country of
+which any one might be afraid; and now, although these were days of
+war, she felt no fear. There were soldiers not far away, but these she
+looked upon as her friends and protectors; for Washington and his army
+had encamped in that region to defend the country against the approach
+of the enemy. If any straggling Redcoats should feel a desire to come
+along the hills, they would be very apt to restrain their inclinations
+so long as they knew that that brave American army was encamped near by.
+
+So Miss Tempe Wick, fearing nothing, rode far and wide, as she had
+been in the habit of doing, and every day she and her good steed
+became better and better acquainted with each other.
+
+One fine afternoon, as Tempe was slowly riding homeward, within a mile
+of her house, she met half a dozen soldiers in Continental uniform,
+and two of them, stepping in front of her, called upon her to stop.
+When she had done so, one of them seized her bridle. She did not know
+the men; but still, as they belonged to Washington's army, who were
+her countrymen and friends, she saw no reason to be afraid, and asked
+them what they wanted.
+
+At first she received no answer, for they were very busily occupied in
+looking at her horse and expressing their satisfaction at the fine
+points of the animal. Tempe had had her horse praised before; but
+these men were looking at him, and talking about him, very much as if
+he were for sale and they were thinking of buying. Presently one of
+the men said to her that this was a very excellent horse that she was
+riding, and they wanted it. To this Tempe exclaimed, in great
+amazement, that it was her own horse, that she wanted him herself, and
+had no wish to dispose of him. Some of the soldiers laughed, and one
+of them told her that the troops were about to move, and that good
+horses were greatly needed, and that they had orders to levy upon the
+surrounding country and take horses wherever they could find them.
+
+Now was Tempe astonished beyond measure. If half a dozen British
+soldiers had surrounded her, and had declared that they intended to
+rob her of her horse, she would not have wondered at it, for they
+would have taken it as the property of an enemy. But that the soldiers
+of her own country, the men on whom she and all her friends and
+neighbors depended for protection and safety, should turn on her and
+rob her, as if they had been a set of marauding Hessians, was
+something she could scarcely comprehend. But it did not take her long
+to understand, that no matter who they were or what they
+were,--whether they thought they had a right to do what they
+threatened, or whether they had no regard for right and justice,--they
+were in earnest, and intended to take her horse. When this conviction
+flashed into the mind of Tempe Wick, there also flashed into it a
+determination to show these men that a Jersey girl had a will of her
+own, and that if they wanted her property, they would have to do a
+great deal more than simply to come to her and ask her to hand it over
+to them.
+
+After a little parley, during which the man who held her bridle let go
+of it, supposing she was about to dismount, she suddenly gave her
+spirited horse a sharp cut with the whip, dashed between two of the
+soldiers, and before they could comprehend what had happened she was
+off and away.
+
+As fast as they could run, the soldiers followed her, one or two of
+them firing their guns in the air, thinking to frighten her and make
+her stop; but, as though she had been a deer and her pursuers ordinary
+hunters, she swiftly sped away from them.
+
+But they did not give up the chase. Some of them knew where this girl
+lived, and were confident that when they reached her house, they would
+have the horse. If they had known it was such a fine animal, they
+would have come after it before. According to their belief, good
+horses should go into the army, and people who staid at home, and
+expected other people to fight for them, ought to be willing to do
+what they could to help in the good cause, and at least give their
+horses to the army.
+
+As Tempe sat upon her bounding steed, she knew very well that the
+soldiers could never catch her; but her heart sank within her as she
+thought of what would happen when they came to the farm and demanded
+her horse. Running away from them was only postponing her trouble for
+a little while, for there was no one about the place who could prevent
+those men from going to the barn and taking away the animal.
+
+It would be of no use to pass her house and ride on and on. Where
+should she go? She must come back sometime, and all the soldiers would
+have to do would be to halt at the farm, and wait until she returned.
+And even if she should take her horse into the wood and tie him to a
+tree, they would know by her coming back on foot that she had left him
+at no great distance, and they would be sure to follow his tracks and
+find him.
+
+As Tempe rode swiftly on, her thoughts galloped as fast as her horse,
+and before she reached the house she had come to a conclusion as to
+the best thing to be done. She did not ride toward the barn, but
+dashed through the gateway of the large yard, and sprang from her
+steed. As she turned in, she looked down the road; but the men were
+not in sight. What she was going to do was something which people
+never did, but it was the only thing she could think of, and she was a
+girl whose actions were as quick as her ideas were original. Without
+stopping an instant, she took her horse to the back door, and led him
+boldly into the house.
+
+This was not the sort of stable to which Tempe's horse or any other
+American horse was accustomed; but this animal knew his mistress, and
+where she led, he was willing to follow. If one of the farm hands had
+attempted to take the creature into the house, there would probably
+have been some rearing and plunging; but nothing of this kind happened
+as our Jersey girl, with her hand on her horse's bridle, led him
+quickly inside and closed the door behind him. As the story goes, she
+took him through the kitchen, and then into the parlor, without the
+slightest regard to the injury his shoes might do to the well-kept
+floor; and from the parlor she led him into a bedroom on the lower
+floor, which was usually used as a guest chamber, but which never
+before had such a guest as this.
+
+This room had but a single window, the shutters of which were kept
+closed when it was not in use, and there was no entrance to it except
+through the door which opened from the parlor. The door was quickly
+closed, and Tempe stood with her horse in the darkness.
+
+When the soldiers reached the farm they went to the barn. They
+examined the outhouses, visited the pasture fields, and made a
+thorough search, high and low, near and far; but no sign of a horse
+could they find. Of course, the notion that the animal was concealed
+in the house did not enter their minds, and the only way in which they
+could account for the total disappearance of the horse was, that Tempe
+had ridden off with him--where they knew not. We do not know how long
+they waited for the sight of a hungry horse coming home to his supper,
+but we do know that while there was the slightest danger of her dear
+horse being taken away from her, that animal remained a carefully
+attended guest in the spare room of the Wick house; and the tradition
+is, that he staid there three weeks. There Tempe waited on him as if
+he had been a visitor of high degree; and if she was afraid to go to
+the barn to bring him hay and oats, she doubtless gave him biscuit and
+soft bread,--dainties of which a horse is very fond, especially when
+they are brought to him by such a kind mistress as Tempe.
+
+When the cavalry moved away from their camp near Morristown, no one of
+them rode on that fine horse on which they had seen a girl gayly
+cantering, and which, when they had been about to put their hands upon
+it, had flown away, like a butterfly from under the straw hat of a
+schoolboy. When the troops were gone, the horse came out of the guest
+chamber and went back to his stall in the stable; and that room in
+which he passed so many quiet days, and the door through which the
+horse timidly stepped under the shadow of that hospitable roof, are
+still to be seen at the old Wick house, which stands now, as it stood
+then, with its shaded yard and the great willow tree behind it, on the
+pleasant country road by which we may drive from Morristown to Mendham
+by the way of Washington Corner.
+
+  --_From "Stories of New Jersey," by Frank R. Stockton._
+
+
+
+
+LIFE IN NORMAN ENGLAND.
+
+
+The tall frowning keep and solid walls of the great stone castles, in
+which the Norman barons lived, betokened an age of violence and
+suspicion. Beauty gave way to the needs of safety. Girdled with its
+green and slimy ditch, round the inner edge of which ran a parapeted
+wall pierced along the top with shot holes, stood the buildings,
+spreading often over many acres.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+  From a Photograph.      Engraved by John Evans.
+
+  Ruins of a Norman Castle.
+]
+
+If an enemy managed to cross the moat and force the gateway, in spite
+of a portcullis crashing from above, and melted lead pouring in
+burning streams from the perforated top of the rounded arch, but
+little of his work was yet done; for the keep lifted its huge angular
+block of masonry within the inner bailey or courtyard, and from the
+narrow chinks in its ten-foot wall rained a sharp incessant shower of
+arrows, sweeping all approaches to the high and narrow stair, by which
+alone access could be had to its interior.
+
+These loopholes were the only windows, except in the topmost story,
+where the chieftain, like a vulture in his rocky nest, watched all the
+surrounding country. The day of splendid oriels had not yet come in
+castle architecture.
+
+Thus a baron in his keep could defy, and often did defy, the king upon
+his throne. Under his roof, eating daily at his board, lived a throng
+of armed retainers; and around his castle lay farms tilled by martial
+franklins, who at his call laid aside their implements of husbandry,
+took up the sword and spear, which they could wield with equal skill,
+and marched beneath his banner to the war.
+
+With robe ungirt and head uncovered each tenant had done homage and
+sworn an oath of fealty, placing his joined hands between those of the
+sitting baron, and humbly saying as he knelt, "I become your man from
+this day forward, of life and limb and of earthly worship; and unto you
+I shall be true and faithful, and bear to you faith for the tenements
+that I claim to hold of you, saving the faith that I owe unto our
+sovereign lord the king." A kiss from the baron completed the ceremony.
+
+The furniture of a Norman keep was not unlike that of an English
+house. There was richer ornament--more elaborate carving. A
+_faldestol_, the original of our arm-chair, spread its drapery and
+cushions for the chieftain in his lounging moods. His bed now boasted
+curtains and a roof, although, like the English lord, he still lay
+only upon straw. Chimneys tunneled the thick walls, and the cupboards
+glittered with glass and silver. Horn lanterns and the old spiked
+candlesticks lit up his evening hours, when the chessboard arrayed its
+clumsy men, carved out of walrus tusk, then commonly called
+whale's-bone. But the baron had an unpleasant trick of breaking the
+chessboard on his opponent's head, when he found himself checkmated;
+which somewhat marred said opponent's enjoyment of the game. Dice of
+horn and bone emptied many a purse in Norman England.
+
+[Illustration: Horn Lantern.]
+
+Dances and music whiled away the long winter nights; and on summer
+evenings the castle courtyards resounded with the noise of football,
+_kayles_ (a sort of ninepins), wrestling, boxing, leaping, and the
+fierce joys of the bull bait. But out of doors, when no fighting was
+on hand, the hound, the hawk, and the lance attracted the best
+energies and skill of the Norman gentleman.
+
+Rousing the forest game with dogs, they shot at it with barbed and
+feathered arrows. A field of ripening corn never turned the chase
+aside: it was one privilege of a feudal baron to ride as he pleased
+over his tenants' crops, and another to quarter his insolent hunting
+train in the farmhouses which pleased him best! The elaborate details
+of _woodcraft_ became an important part of a noble boy's education;
+for the numerous bugle calls and scientific dissection of a dead stag
+took many seasons to learn.
+
+After the Conquest, to kill a deer or own a hawk came more than ever
+to be regarded as the special privilege of the aristocracy. The hawk,
+daintily dressed, as befitted the companion of nobility, with his head
+wrapped in an embroidered hood, and a peal of silver bells tinkling
+from his rough legs, sat in state, bound with leathern jesses to the
+wrist, which was protected by a thick glove. The ladies and the clergy
+loved him. By many a mere the abbots ambled on their ponies over the
+swampy soil, and sweet shrill voices cheered the long-winged hawk, as
+he darted off in pursuit of the soaring quarry.
+
+[Illustration: The Hawk.]
+
+The author of "Ivanhoe" has made the tournament a picture familiar to
+all readers of romance. It therefore needs no long description here.
+It was held in honor of some great event--a coronation, wedding, or
+victory. Having practiced well during squirehood at the _quintain_,
+the knight, clad in full armor, with visor barred and the colors of
+his lady on crest and scarf, rode into the lists, for which some level
+green was chosen and surrounded with a palisade.
+
+For days before, his shield had been hanging in a neighboring church,
+as a sign of his intention to compete in this great game of chivalry.
+If any stain lay on his knighthood, a lady, by touching the suspended
+shield with a wand, could debar him from a share in the jousting. And
+if, when he had entered the lists he was rude to a lady, or broke in
+any way the etiquette of the tilt yard, he was beaten from the lists
+with the ashwood lances of the knights.
+
+[Illustration: The Knight.]
+
+The simple joust was the shock of two knights, who galloped with
+leveled spears at each other, aiming at breast or head, with the
+object either of unhorsing the antagonist, or, if he sat his charger
+well, of splintering the lance upon his helmet or his shield. The
+mellay hurled together, at the dropping of the prince's baton, two
+parties of knights, who hacked away at each other with ax and mace and
+sword, often gashing limbs and breaking bones in the wild excitement
+of the fray. Bright eyes glanced from the surrounding galleries upon
+the brutal sport; and when the victor, with broken plume, and battered
+armor, dragged his weary limbs to the footstool of the beauty who
+presided as Queen over the festival, her white hands decorated him
+with the meed of his achievements.
+
+The Normans probably dined at nine in the morning. When they rose they
+took a light meal; and ate something also after their day's work,
+immediately before going to bed. Goose and garlic formed a favorite
+dish. Their cookery was more elaborate, and, in comparison, more
+delicate, than the preparations for an English feed; but the character
+for temperance, which they brought with them from the Continent, soon
+vanished.
+
+The poorer classes hardly ever ate flesh, living principally on bread,
+butter, and cheese,--a social fact which seems to underlie that usage
+of our tongue by which the living animals in field or stall bore
+English names--ox, sheep, calf, pig, deer; while their flesh, promoted
+to Norman dishes, rejoiced in names of French origin--beef, mutton,
+veal, pork, venison. Round cakes, piously marked with a cross, piled
+the tables, on which pastry of various kinds also appeared. In good
+houses cups of glass held the wine, which was borne from the cellar
+below in jugs.
+
+Squatted around the door or on the stair leading to the Norman dining
+hall, was a crowd of beggars or lickers, who grew so insolent in the
+days of Rufus, that ushers, armed with rods, were posted outside to
+beat back the noisy throng, who thought little of snatching the dishes
+as the cooks carried them to table!
+
+The juggler, who under the Normans filled the place of the English
+gleeman, tumbled, sang, and balanced knives in the hall; or out in the
+bailey of an afternoon displayed the acquirements of his trained
+monkey or bear. The fool, too, clad in colored patchwork, cracked his
+ribald jokes and shook his cap and bells at the elbow of roaring
+barons, when the board was spread and the circles of the wine began.
+
+While knights hunted in the greenwood or tilted in the lists, and
+jugglers tumbled in the noisy hall, the monk in the quiet scriptorium
+compiled chronicles of passing events, copied valuable manuscripts,
+and painted rich borders and brilliant initials on every page. These
+illuminations form a valuable set of materials for our pictures of
+life in the Middle Ages.
+
+Monasteries served many useful purposes at the time of which I write.
+Besides their manifest value as centers of study and literary work,
+they gave alms to the poor, a supper and a bed to travelers; their
+tenants were better off and better treated than the tenants of the
+nobles; the monks could store grain, grow apples, and cultivate their
+flower beds with little risk of injury from war, because they had
+spiritual thunders at their call, which awed even the most reckless of
+the soldiery into a respect for sacred property.
+
+Splendid structures those monasteries generally were, since that vivid
+taste for architecture which the Norman possessed in a high degree,
+and which could not find room for its display in the naked strength of
+the solid keep, lavished its entire energy and grace upon buildings
+lying in the safe shadow of the Cross. Nor was architectural taste the
+only reason for their magnificence. Since they were nearly all erected
+as offerings to Heaven, the religion of the age impelled the pious
+builders to spare no cost in decorating the exterior with fretwork and
+sculpture of Caen stone, the interior with gilded cornices and windows
+of painted glass.
+
+As schools, too, the monasteries did no trifling service to society
+in the Middle Ages. In addition to their influence as great centers of
+learning, English law had enjoined every mass priest to keep a school
+in his parish church, where all the young committed to his care might
+be instructed. This custom continued long after the Norman Conquest.
+In the Trinity College Psalter we have a picture of a Norman school,
+where the pupils sit in a circular row around the master as he
+lectures to them from a long roll of manuscript. Two writers sit by
+the desk, busy with copies resembling that which the teacher holds.
+
+The youth of the middle classes, destined for the cloister or the
+merchant's stall, chiefly thronged these schools. The aristocracy
+cared little for book-learning. Very few indeed of the barons could
+read or write. But all could ride, fence, tilt, play, and carve
+extremely well; for to these accomplishments many years of pagehood
+and squirehood were given.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The foregoing description of manners and customs during the age of
+feudalism has been adapted from a popular "History of England," by W.
+F. Collier. A much fuller description may be found in Knight's
+"History of England," and in Green's "Short History of the English
+People." The period described was in many respects the most romantic
+in the history of the world, and many delightful and instructive books
+have been written concerning it. Read Scott's "Ivanhoe" and "The
+Talisman." Reference may also be had to Pauli's "Pictures of Old
+England," and Jusserand's "English Wayfaring Life in the Middle Ages."
+
+
+
+
+THE ROMANCE OF THE SWAN'S NEST.
+
+[Illustration: Elizabeth Barrett Browning.]
+
+    "So the dreams depart,
+    So the fading phantoms flee,
+    And the sharp reality
+    Now must act its part."
+
+  --_Westwood's "Beads from a Rosary."_
+
+
+I.
+
+    Little Ellie sits alone
+      'Mid the beeches of a meadow,
+        By a stream side on the grass,
+    And the trees are showering down
+      Doubles of their leaves in shadow,
+        On her shining hair and face.
+
+
+II.
+
+    She has thrown her bonnet by,
+      And her feet she has been dipping
+        In the shallow water's flow;
+    Now she holds them nakedly
+      In her hands, all sleek and dripping,
+        While she rocketh to and fro.
+
+
+III.
+
+    Little Ellie sits alone,
+      And the smile she softly uses
+        Fills the silence like a speech,
+    While she thinks what shall be done,
+      And the sweetest pleasure chooses
+        For her future within reach.
+
+
+IV.
+
+    Little Ellie in her smile
+      Chooses, "I will have a lover,
+        Riding on a steed of steeds:
+    He shall love me without guile,
+      And to _him_ I will discover
+        The swan's nest among the reeds.
+
+
+V.
+
+    "And the steed shall be red roan,
+      And the lover shall be noble,
+        With an eye that takes the breath.
+    And the lute he plays upon
+      Shall strike ladies into trouble,
+        As his sword strikes men to death.
+
+
+VI.
+
+    "And the steed it shall be shod
+      All in silver, housed in azure;
+        And the mane shall swim the wind;
+    And the hoofs along the sod
+      Shall flash onward, and keep measure,
+        Till the shepherds look behind.
+
+
+VII.
+
+    "But my lover will not prize
+      All the glory that he rides in,
+        When he gazes in my face.
+    He will say, 'O Love, thine eyes
+      Build the shrine my soul abides in,
+        And I kneel here for thy grace!'
+
+
+VIII.
+
+    "Then, aye, then he shall kneel low,
+      With the red-roan steed anear him,
+        Which shall seem to understand,
+    Till I answer, 'Rise and go!
+      For the world must love and fear him
+        Whom I gift with heart and hand.'
+
+
+IX.
+
+    "Then he will arise so pale,
+      I shall feel my own lips tremble
+        With a _yes_ I must not say:
+    Nathless maiden brave, 'Farewell,'
+      I will utter, and dissemble--
+        'Light to-morrow with to-day!'
+
+
+X.
+
+    "Then he'll ride among the hills
+      To the wide world past the river,
+        There to put away all wrong,
+    To make straight distorted wills,
+      And to empty the broad quiver
+        Which the wicked bear along.
+
+
+XI.
+
+    "Three times shall a young foot page
+      Swim the stream, and climb the mountain,
+        And kneel down beside my feet:
+    'Lo! my master sends this gage,
+      Lady, for thy pity's counting.
+        What wilt thou exchange for it?'
+
+
+XII.
+
+    "And the first time I will send
+      A white rosebud for a guerdon--
+        And the second time, a glove;
+    But the third time--I may bend
+      From my pride, and answer--'Pardon,
+        If he comes to take my love.'
+
+
+XIII.
+
+    "Then the young foot page will run--
+      Then my lover will ride faster,
+        Till he kneeleth at my knee:
+    'I am a duke's eldest son!
+      Thousand serfs do call me master,--
+        But, O Love, I love but _thee_!'"...
+
+
+XIV.
+
+    Little Ellie, with her smile
+      Not yet ended, rose up gayly,
+        Tied the bonnet, donned the shoe,
+    And went homeward, round a mile,
+      Just to see, as she did daily,
+        What more eggs were with the two.
+
+
+XV.
+
+    Pushing through the elm-tree copse,
+      Winding up the stream, light-hearted,
+        Where the osier pathway leads,
+    Past the boughs she stoops, and stops.
+      Lo, the wild swan had deserted,
+        And a rat had gnawed the reeds!
+
+
+XVI.
+
+    Ellie went home sad and slow.
+      If she found the lover ever,
+        With his red-roan steed of steeds,
+    Sooth I know not; but I know
+      She could never show him--never,
+         That swan's nest among the reeds.
+
+  --_Elizabeth Barrett Browning._
+
+
+
+
+A PATRIARCH OF THE OLDEN TIME
+
+
+Oh that I were as in months past, as in the days when God preserved
+me; when his candle shined upon my head, and when by his light I
+walked through darkness; as I was in the days of my youth, when the
+secret of God was upon my tabernacle; when the Almighty was yet with
+me; when my children were about me; when I washed my steps with
+butter, and the rock poured me out rivers of oil.
+
+When the ear heard me, then it blessed me; and when the eye saw me, it
+gave witness to me: because I delivered the poor that cried, and the
+fatherless, and him that had none to help him. The blessing of him that
+was ready to perish came upon me; and I caused the widow's heart to sing
+for joy. I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame. I was a
+father to the poor; and the cause which I knew not, I searched out.
+
+Did not I weep for him that was in trouble? Was not my soul grieved
+for the poor? Let me be weighed in an even balance that God may know
+mine integrity. If I did despise the cause of my man servant or of my
+maid servant, when they contended with me, what then shall I do when
+God riseth up? and when he visiteth, what shall I answer him? Did not
+he that made me make him also?
+
+If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes
+of the widow to fail, or have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the
+fatherless hath not eaten thereof; if I have seen any perish for want
+of clothing, or any poor without covering; if his loins have not
+blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep; if
+I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, when I saw my help in
+the gate; then let mine arm fall from my shoulder blade, and mine arm
+be broken from the bone.
+
+If I rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me, or lifted up
+myself when evil found him (neither have I suffered my mouth to sin,
+by wishing a curse to his soul. The stranger did not lodge in the
+street; but I opened my doors to the traveler). If my land cry against
+me, or the furrows likewise thereof complain; if I have eaten the
+fruits thereof without money, or have caused the owners thereof to
+lose their life: let thistles grow instead of wheat, and cockle
+instead of barley.
+
+  --_From the "Book of Job."_
+
+
+
+
+HOW CORTÉS ENTERED THE CITY OF MEXICO.
+
+[Illustration: William H. Prescott.]
+
+
+Mexico, when first discovered by Europeans, was inhabited by a
+civilized race called Aztecs. The conquest of that country and the
+subjugation of its people by the Spaniards under Hernando Cortés, in
+1518-21, was one of the most remarkable episodes in the history of the
+Western Continent. William H. Prescott, our American historian, in his
+"Conquest of Mexico," has told the story of that event in a manner so
+delightful that the whole narrative reads like a romance. His
+description of the entry of the Spaniards into the capital city of the
+Aztecs is as follows:--
+
+    It was the eighth of November, 1519, a conspicuous day in history,
+    as that on which the Europeans first set foot in the capital of
+    the Western World.
+
+    Cortés with his little body of horse formed a sort of advanced
+    guard to the army. Then came the Spanish infantry, who in a
+    summer's campaign had acquired the discipline and the
+    weather-beaten aspect of veterans. The baggage occupied the
+    center; and the rear was closed by the dark files of Tlascalan
+    warriors. The whole number must have fallen short of seven
+    thousand; of which fewer than four hundred were Spaniards.
+
+    Everywhere the conquerors beheld the evidence of a crowded and
+    thriving population, exceeding all they had yet seen. The temples
+    and principal buildings of the cities were covered with a hard
+    white stucco, which glistened like enamel in the level beams of
+    the morning. The margin of the lake was thickly gemmed with towns
+    and hamlets. The water was darkened by swarms of canoes filled
+    with Indians, who clambered up the sides of the causeway and gazed
+    with curious astonishment on the strangers. And here, also, they
+    beheld those fairy islands of flowers, overshadowed occasionally
+    by trees of considerable size, rising and falling with the gentle
+    undulation of the billows.
+
+    At the distance of half a league from the capital, they
+    encountered a solid work, or curtain of stone, which traversed the
+    dike. It was twelve feet high, was strengthened by towers at the
+    extremities, and in the center was a battlemented gateway, which
+    opened a passage to the troops.
+
+    Here they were met by several hundred Aztec chiefs, who came out
+    to announce the approach of Montezuma and to welcome the Spaniards
+    to his capital. They were dressed in the fanciful gala costume of
+    the country, with the _maxlatl_, or cotton sash, around their
+    loins, and a broad mantle of the same material, or of the
+    brilliant feather embroidery, flowing gracefully down their
+    shoulders. On their necks and arms they displayed collars and
+    bracelets of turquoise mosaic, with which delicate plumage was
+    curiously mingled, while their ears and underlips, and
+    occasionally their noses, were garnished with pendants formed of
+    precious stones, or crescents of fine gold.
+
+    As each cacique made the usual formal salutation of the country
+    separately to the general, the tedious ceremony delayed the march
+    more than an hour. After this the army experienced no further
+    interruption till it reached a bridge near the gates of the city.
+    It was built of wood, and was thrown across an opening of the
+    dike, which furnished an outlet to the waters when agitated by the
+    winds or swollen by a sudden influx in the rainy season. It was a
+    drawbridge; and the Spaniards, as they crossed it, felt how truly
+    they were committing themselves to the mercy of Montezuma, who, by
+    thus cutting off their communications with the country, might hold
+    them prisoners in his capital.
+
+    In the midst of these unpleasant reflections, they beheld the
+    glittering retinue of the emperor emerging from the great street
+    which led then, as it still does, through the heart of the city.
+    Amidst a crowd of Indian nobles, preceded by three officers of
+    state bearing golden wands, they saw the royal palanquin blazing
+    with burnished gold. It was borne on the shoulders of nobles, and
+    over it a canopy of gaudy feather work, powdered with jewels and
+    fringed with silver, was supported by four attendants of the same
+    rank. They were barefooted, and walked with a slow, measured pace,
+    and with eyes bent on the ground.
+
+    When the train had come within a convenient distance, it halted, and
+    Montezuma, descending from his litter, came forward, leaning on the
+    arms of the lords of Tezcuco and Iztapalapan, his nephew and
+    brother, both of whom had already been made known to the Spaniards.
+    As the monarch advanced under the canopy, the obsequious attendants
+    strewed the ground with cotton tapestry, that his imperial feet
+    might not be contaminated by the rude soil. His subjects of high and
+    low degree, who lined the sides of the causeway, bent forward with
+    their eyes fastened on the ground as he passed, and some of the
+    humbler class prostrated themselves before him.
+
+    Montezuma wore the girdle and ample square cloak, _tilmatli_, of his
+    nation. It was made of the finest cotton, with the embroidered ends
+    gathered in a knot round his neck. His feet were defended by sandals
+    having soles of gold, and the leathern thongs which bound them to
+    his ankles were embossed with the same metal. Both the cloak and
+    sandals were sprinkled with pearls and precious stones, among which
+    the emerald, and another green stone of high estimation among the
+    Aztecs, were conspicuous. On his head he wore no other ornament than
+    a _panache_ of plumes of the royal green, which floated down his
+    back, the badge of military, rather than of regal, rank.
+
+    He was at this time about forty years of age. His person was tall
+    and thin, but not ill made. His hair, which was black and
+    straight, was not very long; to wear it short was considered
+    unbecoming to persons of rank. His beard was thin; his complexion
+    somewhat paler than is often found in his dusky, or rather
+    copper-colored, race. His features, though serious in their
+    expression, did not wear the look of melancholy, indeed of
+    dejection, which characterizes his portrait, and which may well
+    have settled on them at a later period. He moved with dignity, and
+    his whole demeanor, tempered by an expression of benignity not to
+    have been anticipated from the reports circulated of his
+    character, was worthy of a great prince.
+
+    The army halted as he drew near. Cortés, dismounting, threw his
+    reins to a page, and supported by a few of the principal
+    cavaliers, advanced to meet him. The interview must have been one
+    of uncommon interest to both. In Montezuma, Cortés beheld the lord
+    of the broad realms he had traversed, whose magnificence and power
+    had been the burden of every tongue. In the Spaniard, on the other
+    hand, the Aztec prince saw the strange being whose history seemed
+    to be so mysteriously connected with his own; the predicted one of
+    his oracles, whose achievements proclaimed him something more than
+    human.
+
+    But whatever may have been the monarch's feelings, he so far
+    suppressed them as to receive his guest with princely courtesy,
+    and to express his satisfaction at personally seeing him in his
+    capital. Cortés responded by the most profound expressions of
+    respect, while he made ample acknowledgments for the substantial
+    proofs which the emperor had given the Spaniards of his
+    munificence. He then hung round Montezuma's neck a sparkling chain
+    of colored crystal, accompanying this with a movement as if to
+    embrace him, when he was restrained by the two Aztec lords,
+    shocked at the menaced profanation of the sacred person of their
+    master. After the interchange of these civilities, Montezuma
+    appointed his brother to conduct the Spaniards to their residence
+    in the capital, and, again entering his litter, was borne off
+    amidst prostrate crowds in the same state in which he had come.
+    The Spaniards quickly followed, and, with colors flying and music
+    playing, soon made their entrance into the southern quarter of
+    Tenochtitlan.
+
+    Here, again, they found fresh cause for admiration in the grandeur
+    of the city and the superior style of its architecture. The
+    dwellings of the poorer class were, indeed, chiefly of reeds and
+    mud. But the great avenue through which they were now marching was
+    lined with the houses of the nobles, who were encouraged by the
+    emperor to make the capital their residence. They were built of a
+    red porous stone drawn from quarries in the neighborhood, and,
+    though they rarely rose to a second story, often covered a large
+    space of ground. The flat roofs, _azoteas_, were protected by
+    stone parapets, so that every house was a fortress. Sometimes
+    these roofs resembled parterres of flowers, so thickly were they
+    covered with them, but more frequently these were cultivated in
+    broad terraced gardens, laid out between the edifices.
+    Occasionally a great square or market place intervened, surrounded
+    by its porticoes of stone and stucco; or a pyramidal temple reared
+    its colossal bulk, crowned with its tapering sanctuaries, and
+    altars blazing with inextinguishable fires. The great street
+    facing the southern causeway, unlike most others in the place, was
+    wide, and extended some miles in nearly a straight line, as before
+    noticed, through the center of the city. A spectator standing at
+    one end of it, as his eye ranged along the deep vista of temples,
+    terraces, and gardens, might clearly discern the other, with the
+    blue mountains in the distance, which, in the transparent
+    atmosphere of the table-land, seemed almost in contact with the
+    buildings.
+
+    But what most impressed the Spaniards was the throngs of people
+    who swarmed through the streets and on the canals, filling every
+    doorway and window and clustering on the roofs of the buildings.
+    "I well remember the spectacle," exclaims Bernal Diaz; "it seems
+    now, after so many years, as present to my mind as if it were but
+    yesterday." But what must have been the sensations of the Aztecs
+    themselves, as they looked on the portentous pageant! as they
+    heard, now for the first time, the well-cemented pavement ring
+    under the iron tramp of the horses,--the strange animals which
+    fear had clothed in such supernatural terrors: as they gazed on
+    the children of the East, revealing their celestial origin in
+    their fair complexions; saw the bright falchions and bonnets of
+    steel, a metal to them unknown, glancing like meteors in the sun,
+    while sounds of unearthly music--at least, such as their rude
+    instruments had never wakened--floated in the air?
+
+    [Illustration: Hernando Cortés.]
+
+    As they passed down the spacious street, the troops repeatedly
+    traversed bridges suspended above canals, along which they saw the
+    Indian barks gliding swiftly with their little cargoes of fruits
+    and vegetables for the markets of Tenochtitlan. At length they
+    halted before a broad area near the center of the city, where rose
+    the huge pyramidal pile dedicated to the patron war god of the
+    Aztecs, second only, in size as well as sanctity, to the temple of
+    Cholula, and covering the same ground now in part occupied by the
+    great cathedral of Mexico.
+
+    Facing the western gate of the inclosure of the temple, stood a
+    low range of stone buildings, spreading over a wide extent of
+    ground, the palace of Axayacatl, Montezuma's father, built by that
+    monarch about fifty years before. It was appropriated as the
+    barracks of the Spaniards. The emperor himself was in the
+    courtyard, waiting to receive them. Approaching Cortés, he took
+    from a vase of flowers, borne by one of his slaves, a massy
+    collar, in which the shell of a species of crawfish, much prized
+    by the Indians, was set in gold and connected by heavy links of
+    the same metal. From this chain depended eight ornaments, also of
+    gold, made in resemblance of the same shellfish, a span in length
+    each, and of delicate workmanship; for the Aztec goldsmiths were
+    confessed to have shown skill in their craft not inferior to their
+    brethren of Europe. Montezuma, as he hung the gorgeous collar
+    round the general's neck, said, "This palace belongs to you,
+    Malinche" (the epithet by which he always addressed him), "and
+    your brethren. Rest after your fatigues, for you have much need to
+    do so, and in a little while I will visit you again." So saying,
+    he withdrew with his attendants, evincing in this act a delicate
+    consideration not to have been expected in a barbarian.
+
+
+
+
+THE SKYLARK.
+
+
+      Bird of the wilderness,
+      Blithesome and cumberless,
+    Sweet be thy matin o'er moorland and lea!
+      Emblem of happiness,
+      Blest is thy dwelling place:
+    Oh to abide in the desert with thee!
+
+      Wild is thy lay, and loud,
+      Far in the downy cloud:
+    Love gives it energy, love gave it birth.
+      Where, on thy dewy wing,
+      Where art thou journeying?
+    Thy lay is in heaven, thy love is on earth.
+
+      O'er fell and fountain sheen,
+      O'er moor and mountain green,
+    O'er the red streamer that heralds the day,
+      Over the cloudlet dim,
+      Over the rainbow's rim,
+    Musical cherub, soar, singing, away!
+
+      Then, when the gloaming comes,
+      Low in the heather blooms
+    Sweet will thy welcome and bed of love be;
+      Emblem of happiness,
+      Blest is thy dwelling place:
+    Oh to abide in the desert with thee!
+
+  --_James Hogg._
+
+
+
+
+THE MYSTERY OF THE TADPOLE.
+
+
+A blade of grass is a mystery, if men would but distill it out. When my
+learned friend Dr. Syntax, glancing round my workroom, observed a vase
+full of tadpoles, he asked me in a tone of sniffling superiority: "Do
+you really mean to say you find any interest in those little beasts?"
+
+[Illustration: George Henry Lewes.]
+
+"As much as you find in books," I answered, with some energy.
+
+"H'm," grunted Syntax.
+
+Very absurd isn't it? But we all have our hobbies. I can pass a
+bookstall on which I perceive that the ignorance of the bookseller
+permits him to exhibit now and then rare editions of valuable books at
+almost no price at all. The sight gives me no thrill--it does not even
+cause me to slacken my pace.
+
+But I can't so easily pass a pond in which I see a shoal of tadpoles
+swimming about, as ignorant of their own value as the bookseller is of
+his books. I may walk on, but the sight has sent a slight electric
+shock through me.
+
+"Why, sir," I said to my learned friend, "there is more to me in the
+_tail_ of one of those tadpoles than in all the musty old volumes you
+so much delight to pick up. But I won't thrash your dog unless you
+thrash mine."
+
+"Why, what on earth can you do with the tail?"
+
+[Illustration: Tadpoles in different Stages of Development.]
+
+"Do with it? Study it, experiment on it, put it under the microscope,
+and day by day watch the growth of its various parts. At first it is
+little more than a mass of cells. Then I notice that these cells begin
+to take a definite shape, and blood vessels appear in them. Then the
+muscles begin to appear."
+
+"Very interesting, I dare say."
+
+"You don't seem to think so, by your tone. But look in this vase: here
+are several tadpoles with the most apologetic of tails--mere stumps,
+in fact. I cut them off nine days ago."
+
+"Will they grow again?"
+
+"Perfectly; for, although the frog dispenses with a tail almost as
+soon as he reaches the frog form, the tadpole needs his tail to swim
+with; and when by any accident he loses it, Nature kindly supplies him
+with another."
+
+"Yes, yes," added Syntax, glad to feel himself once more among things
+of which he knew something; "just like the lobster or the crab, you
+know. They tear off their legs and arms in a most reckless way, and
+yet they always grow new ones again."
+
+"Would you like to know what has become of the tails which I cut off
+from these fellows?"
+
+"Aren't they dead?"
+
+"Not at all. Alive and kicking."
+
+"Alive after nine days? Oh! oh!"
+
+"Here they are, in this glass. It is exactly nine days since they were
+cut off, and I have been watching them daily under the microscope. I
+assure you that I have seen them _grow_, not _larger_, indeed, but
+develop more and more, muscle fibers appearing each day where before
+there were none at all."
+
+"Come, now, you are trying to see what a fool you can make of me."
+
+"I am perfectly serious. The discovery is none of mine. It was made by
+M. Vulpian in Paris. He says that the tails live many days--as many as
+eighteen in one instance; but I have never kept mine alive more than
+eleven. He says, moreover, that they not only grow, as I have said,
+but that they seem to possess feeling, for they twist about with a
+rapid swimming movement when irritated."
+
+"Well, but I say, how _could_ they live when separated from the body?
+Our arms or legs don't live; the lobster's legs don't live."
+
+"Quite true. But in those cases we have limbs of a complex
+organization, which require a complex apparatus in order to sustain
+their life. They must have blood, the blood must circulate."
+
+"Stop, stop! I don't want to understand why our arms can't live apart
+from our bodies. They don't. The fact is enough for me. I want to know
+why the tail of a tadpole can live apart from the body."
+
+"It _can_. Is not the fact enough for you in that case also? Well, I
+was going to tell you the reason. The tail will live apart from the
+body only so long as it retains its early immature form. If you cut it
+off from a tadpole which is old enough to have lost its external gills
+a week or more, the tail will _not_ live more than three or four days.
+And every tail will die as soon as it reaches the point in its
+development which requires the circulation of the blood as a necessary
+condition."
+
+"But where does it get food?"
+
+"That is more than I can say. I don't know that it wants food. You
+know that reptiles can live without food a wonderful length of time."
+
+"Really, I begin to think there is more in these little beasts than I
+ever dreamed of. But it must take a great deal of study to get at
+these facts."
+
+"Not more than to get at any of the other open secrets of Nature. But,
+since you are interested, look at these tails as the tadpoles come
+bobbing against the side of the glass. Do you see how they are covered
+with little white spots?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Look closer. All over the tail there are tiny, cotton-like spots.
+Take a lens, if your eye isn't sharp enough. There, now you see them."
+
+"Yes; I see a sort of _fluff_ scattered about."
+
+"That fluff is an immense colony of parasites. Let us place the
+tadpole under the microscope, and you will see each spot turn out to
+be a multitude of elegant and active animals, having bodies not unlike
+a crystal goblet supported on an extremely long and flexible stem, and
+having round their rim or mouth a range of long, delicate hairs, the
+motion of which gives a wheel-like aspect, and makes an eddy in the
+water which brings food to the animal."
+
+"This is really interesting! How active they are! How they shrink up,
+and then, unwinding their twisted stems, expand again! What's the name
+of this thing?"
+
+"_Vorticella_. It may be found growing on water fleas, plants, decayed
+wood, or these tadpoles. People who study the animalcules are very
+fond of this Vorticella."
+
+"Well, I never could have believed such a patch of fluff could turn
+out a sight like this: I could watch it for an hour. But what are
+those small yellowish things sticking on the side of these parasites?"
+
+"Those, my dear Syntax, are also parasites."
+
+"What, parasites living on parasites?"
+
+"Why not? Nature is economical. Don't you live on beef, and mutton,
+and fish? Don't these beeves, muttons, and fishes live on vegetables
+and animals? Don't the vegetables and animals live on other organic
+matters? Eat and be eaten, is one law: live and let live, is another."
+
+[Illustration: The Tadpole's last Stage.]
+
+The learned Doctor remained thoughtful; then he screwed up one side of
+his face into the most frightful wrinkles, while with the eye of the
+other he resumed his examination of the Vorticella.
+
+  --_George Henry Lewes._
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration:
+
+  From the Painting by Rosa Bonheur.      Engraved by Horace Baker.
+
+  The Lions.
+]
+
+THE GLOVE AND THE LIONS.
+
+
+    King Francis was a hearty king, and loved a royal sport,
+    And one day, as his lions fought, sat looking on the court;
+    The nobles filled the benches, with the ladies in their pride,
+    And 'mongst them sat the Count de Lorge, with one for whom he
+              sighed:
+    And truly 'twas a gallant thing to see that crowning show,--
+    Valor and love, and a king above, and the royal beasts below.
+
+[Illustration: Leigh Hunt.]
+
+    Ramped and roared the lions, with horrid laughing jaws;
+    They bit, they glared, gave blows like beams, a wind went with their
+              paws;
+    With wallowing might and stifled roar, they rolled on one another,
+    Till all the pit, with sand and mane, was in a thunderous smother;
+    The bloody foam above the bars came whisking through the air:
+    Said Francis, then, "Faith, gentlemen, we're better here than
+              there."
+
+    De Lorge's love o'erheard the king, a beauteous, lively dame,
+    With smiling lips and sharp bright eyes, which always seemed the
+              same;
+    She thought, "The Count, my lover, is brave as brave can be,
+    He surely would do wondrous things to show his love of me;
+    King, ladies, lovers, all look on; the occasion is divine;
+    I'll drop my glove, to prove his love; great glory will be mine."
+
+    She dropped her glove, to prove his love; then looked at him, and
+              smiled;
+    He bowed, and in a moment leaped among the lions wild:
+    The leap was quick, return was quick, he soon regained the place,
+    Then threw the glove, but not with love, right in the lady's face.
+    "In faith," cried Francis, "rightly done!" and he rose from where he
+              sat;
+    "No love," quoth he, "but vanity sets love a task like that."
+
+  --_Leigh Hunt._
+
+
+
+
+TRUE GROWTH.
+
+
+        It is not growing like a tree
+        In bulk, doth make man better be;
+    Or standing like an oak, three hundred year,
+    To fall a log at last, dry, bald, and sere;
+        A lily of a day
+        Is fairer far in May,
+      Although it fall and die that night--
+      It was the plant and flower of Light.
+    In small proportions we just beauties see;
+    And in short measures life may perfect be.
+
+  --_Ben Jonson._
+
+
+
+
+THE SHIPWRECK.
+
+
+I.
+
+Having made up my mind to go down to Yarmouth, I went round to the
+coach office and took the box seat on the mail. In the evening I
+started, by that conveyance, down the road.
+
+"Don't you think that a very remarkable sky?" I asked the coachman, in
+the first stage out of London. "I don't remember to have seen one like
+it."
+
+"Nor I--not equal to it," he replied. "That's wind, sir; there'll be
+mischief done at sea, I expect before long."
+
+[Illustration: Charles Dickens.]
+
+It was a murky confusion--here and there blotted with a color like the
+color of the smoke from damp fuel--of flying clouds tossed up into
+most remarkable heaps, suggesting greater heights in the clouds than
+there were depths below them to the bottom of the deepest hollows in
+the earth, through which the wild moon seemed to plunge headlong, as
+if, in a dread disturbance of the laws of nature, she had lost her way
+and were frightened. There had been wind all day; and it was rising
+then, with an extraordinary great sound. In another hour it had much
+increased, and the sky was more overcast, and it blew harder.
+
+But as the night advanced, the clouds closing in and densely
+overspreading the whole sky, then very dark, it came on to blow harder
+and harder. It still increased, until our horses could scarcely face
+the wind. Many times in the dark part of the night (it was then late
+in September, when the nights were not short) the leaders turned
+about, or came to a dead stop; and we were often in apprehension that
+the coach would be blown over.
+
+When the day broke, it blew harder and harder. I had been in Yarmouth
+when the seamen said it blew great guns, but I had never known the
+like of this, or anything approaching to it. We came to Ipswich--very
+late, having had to fight every inch of ground since we were ten miles
+out of London; and found a cluster of people in the market place, who
+had risen from their beds in the night, fearful of falling chimneys.
+Some of these, congregating about the innyard while we changed horses,
+told us of great sheets of lead having been ripped off a high church
+tower and flung into a by-street, which they then blocked up. Others
+had to tell of country people, coming in from neighboring villages,
+who had seen great trees lying torn out of the earth, and whole ricks
+scattered about the roads and fields. Still there was no abatement in
+the storm, but it blew harder.
+
+As we struggled on, nearer and nearer to the sea, from which the
+mighty wind was blowing dead on shore, its force became more and more
+terrific. Long before we saw the sea, its spray was on our lips, and
+showered salt rain upon us. The water was out, over miles and miles of
+the flat country adjacent to Yarmouth; and every sheet and puddle
+lashed its banks, and had its stress of little breakers setting
+heavily towards us. When we came within sight of the sea, the waves on
+the horizon, caught at intervals above the rolling abyss, were like
+glimpses of another shore with towers and buildings. When at last we
+got into the town, the people came out to their doors, all aslant, and
+with streaming hair, making a wonder of the mail that had come through
+such a night.
+
+I put up at the old inn, and went down to look at the sea, staggering
+along the street, which was strewn with sand and seaweed, and with
+flying blotches of sea foam; afraid of falling slates and tiles; and
+holding by people I met at angry corners. Coming near the beach, I
+saw, not only the boatmen, but half the people of the town, lurking
+behind buildings; some now and then braving the fury of the storm to
+look away to sea, and blown sheer out of their course in trying to get
+zigzag back.
+
+Joining these groups, I found bewailing women whose husbands were away
+in herring or oyster boats, which there was too much reason to think
+might have foundered before they could run in anywhere for safety.
+Grizzled old sailors were among the people, shaking their heads as
+they looked from water to sky, and muttering to one another;
+shipowners excited and uneasy; children huddling together, and peering
+into older faces; even stout mariners disturbed and anxious, leveling
+their glasses at the sea from behind places of shelter, as if they
+were surveying an enemy.
+
+The tremendous sea itself, when I could find sufficient pause to look
+at it, in the agitation of the blinding wind, the flying stones and
+sand, and the awful noise, confounded me. As the high watery walls
+came rolling in, and, at their highest, tumbled into surf, they looked
+as if the least would engulf the town. As the receding wave swept back
+with a hoarse roar, it seemed to scoop out caves in the beach, as if
+its purpose were to undermine the earth. When some white-headed
+billows thundered on, and dashed themselves to pieces before they
+reached the land, every fragment of the late whole seemed possessed by
+the full might of its wrath, rushing to be gathered to the composition
+of another monster. Undulating hills were changed to valleys,
+undulating valleys (with a storm bird sometimes skimming through them)
+were lifted up to hills; masses of water shivered and shook the beach
+with a booming sound; every shape tumultuously rolled on, as soon as
+made, to change its shape and place, and beat another shape and place
+away; the ideal shore on the horizon, with its towers and buildings,
+rose and fell; the clouds flew fast and thick; I seemed to see a
+rending and upheaving of all nature.
+
+Not finding my old friend, Ham, among the people whom this memorable
+wind--for it is still remembered down there as the greatest ever known
+to blow upon that coast--had brought together, I made my way to his
+house. It was shut; and as no one answered to my knocking, I went by
+back ways and by-lanes to the yard where he worked. I learned there
+that he had gone to Lowestoft, to meet some sudden exigency of ship
+repairing in which his skill was required; but that he would be back
+to-morrow morning in good time.
+
+I went back to the inn; and when I had washed and dressed, and tried
+to sleep, but in vain, it was five o'clock in the afternoon. I had not
+sat five minutes by the coffee-room fire, when the waiter, coming to
+stir it as an excuse for talking, told me that two colliers had gone
+down, with all hands, a few miles away; and that some other ships had
+been seen laboring hard in the Roads, and trying in great distress to
+keep off shore. "Mercy on them, and on all poor sailors," said he, "if
+we had another night like the last!"
+
+I was very much depressed in spirits, very solitary, and felt an
+uneasiness in Ham's not being there, disproportionate to the occasion.
+I was seriously affected, without knowing how much, by late events,
+and my exposure to the fierce wind had confused me. There was that
+jumble in my thoughts and recollections that I had lost the clear
+arrangement of time and distance. Thus, if I had gone out into the
+town, I should not have been surprised, I think, to encounter some one
+who I knew must be then in London. So to speak, there was in these
+respects a curious inattention in my mind. Yet it was busy, too, with
+all the remembrances the place naturally awakened, and they were
+particularly distinct and vivid.
+
+In this state, the waiter's dismal intelligence about the ships
+immediately connected itself, without any effort of my volition, with my
+uneasiness about Ham. I was persuaded that possibly he would attempt to
+return from Lowestoft by sea, and be lost. This grew so strong with me,
+that I resolved to go back to the yard before I took my dinner, and ask
+the boat builder if he thought his attempting to return by sea at all
+likely. If he gave me the least reason to think so, I would go over to
+Lowestoft and prevent it by bringing him with me.
+
+I hastily ordered my dinner, and went back to the yard. I was none too
+soon; for the boat builder, with a lantern in his hand, was locking
+the yard gate. He quite laughed when I asked him the question, and
+said there was no fear; no man in his senses, or out of them, would
+put off in such a gale of wind, least of all Ham Peggotty, who had
+been born to seafaring.
+
+I went back to the inn. The howl and roar, the rattling of the doors
+and windows, the rumbling in the chimneys, the apparent rocking of the
+very house that sheltered me, and the prodigious tumult of the sea,
+were more fearful than in the morning. But there was now a great
+darkness besides; and that invested the storm with new terrors, real
+and fanciful.
+
+I could not eat, I could not sit still, I could not continue steadfast
+in anything. Something within me, faintly answering to the storm
+without, tossed up the depths of my memory and made a tumult in them.
+Yet, in all the hurry of my thoughts, wild running with thundering
+sea, the storm and my uneasiness regarding Ham were always in the
+foreground.
+
+My dinner went away almost untasted, and I tried to refresh myself
+with a glass or two of wine. In vain. I fell into a dull slumber
+before the fire, without losing my consciousness either of the uproar
+out of doors or of the place in which I was. Both became overshadowed
+by a new undefinable horror; and when I awoke--or rather when I shook
+off the lethargy that bound me in my chair--my whole frame thrilled
+with objectless and unintelligible fear.
+
+I walked to and fro, tried to read an old gazetteer, listened to the
+awful noises; looked at faces, scenes, and figures in the fire. At
+length the steady ticking of the undisturbed clock on the wall
+tormented me to that degree that I resolved to go to bed.
+
+It was reassuring, on such a night, to be told that some of the inn
+servants had agreed together to sit up until morning. I went to bed,
+exceedingly weary and heavy; but on my lying down all such sensations
+vanished, as if by magic, and I was broad awake, with every sense
+refined.
+
+For hours I lay there, listening to the wind and water; imagining now
+that I heard shrieks out at sea, now that I distinctly heard the
+firing of signal guns, and now the fall of houses in the town. I got
+up several times and looked out, but could see nothing except the
+reflection in the window panes of the faint candle I had left burning,
+and of my own haggard face looking in at me from the black void.
+
+At length my restlessness attained to such a pitch, that I hurried on
+my clothes, and went downstairs. In the large kitchen, where I dimly
+saw bacon and ropes of onions hanging from the beams, the watchers
+were clustered together, in various attitudes, about a table,
+purposely moved away from the great chimney, and brought near the
+door. A pretty girl who had her ears stopped with her apron, and her
+eyes upon the door, screamed when I appeared, supposing me to be a
+spirit; but the others had more presence of mind, and were glad of an
+addition to their company. One man, referring to the topic they had
+been discussing, asked me whether I thought the souls of the collier
+crews who had gone down were out in the storm?
+
+I remained there, I dare say two hours. There was a dark gloom in my
+solitary chamber when I at length returned to it; but I was tired now,
+and, getting into bed again, fell off a tower and down a precipice
+into the depths of sleep. I have an impression that for a long time,
+though I dreamed of being elsewhere and in a variety of scenes, it was
+always blowing in my dream. At length I lost that feeble hold upon
+reality, and was engaged with two dear friends, but who they were I
+don't know, at the siege of some town in a roar of cannonading.
+
+
+II.
+
+The thunder of the cannon was so loud and incessant, that I could not
+hear something I much desired to hear, until I made a great exertion,
+and awoke. It was broad day--eight or nine o'clock; the storm raging,
+in lieu of the batteries; and some one knocking and calling at my door.
+
+"What is the matter?" I cried.
+
+"A wreck! close by!"
+
+I sprang out of bed, and asked what wreck?
+
+[Illustration:
+
+  From the Painting by A. Marlon.      Carbon by Braun, Clement & Co.
+  Engraved by Walter Aikman.
+
+  The Shipwreck.
+]
+
+"A schooner, from Spain or Portugal, laden with fruit and wine. Make
+haste, sir, if you want to see her! Its thought she'll go to pieces
+every moment."
+
+The excited voice went clamoring along the staircase; and I wrapped
+myself in my clothes as quickly as I could, and ran into the street.
+Numbers of people were there before us, all running in one direction,
+to the beach. I ran the same way, outstripping a good many, and soon
+came facing the wild sea.
+
+The wind might by this time have lulled a little, though not more
+sensibly than if the cannonading I had dreamed of had been diminished
+by the silencing of half a dozen guns out of hundreds. But the sea,
+having upon it the additional agitation of the whole night, was
+infinitely more terrific than when I had seen it last. Every
+appearance it had then presented bore the expression of being
+_swelled_; and the height to which the breakers rose, and, looking
+over one another, bore one another down, and rolled in, in
+interminable hosts, was most appalling.
+
+In the difficulty of hearing anything but wind and waves, and in the
+crowd, and the unspeakable confusion, and my first breathless attempts
+to stand against the weather, I was so confused that I looked out to
+sea for the wreck, and saw nothing but the foaming heads of the great
+waves. A half-dressed boatman standing next me pointed with his bare
+arm (a tattooed arrow on it, pointing in the same direction) to the
+left. Then, O great Heaven, I saw it, close in upon us!
+
+One mast was broken short off, six or eight feet from the deck, and
+lay over the side, entangled in a maze of sail and rigging; and all
+that ruin, as the ship rolled and beat,--which she did without a
+moment's pause, and with a violence quite inconceivable,--beat the
+side as if it would stave it in. Some efforts were even then being
+made to cut this portion of the wreck away; for as the ship, which was
+broadside on, turned towards us in her rolling, I plainly descried her
+people at work with axes, especially one active figure, with long
+curling hair, conspicuous among the rest. But a great cry, which was
+audible even above the wind and water, rose from the shore at this
+moment: the sea, sweeping over the rolling wreck, made a clean breach,
+and carried men, spars, casks, planks, bulwarks, heaps of such toys,
+into the boiling surge.
+
+The second mast was yet standing, with the rags of a rent sail, and a
+wild confusion of broken cordage, flapping to and fro. The ship had
+struck once, the same boatman hoarsely said in my ear, and then lifted
+in and struck again. I understood him to add that she was parting
+amidships, and I could readily suppose so, for the rolling and beating
+were too tremendous for any human work to suffer long. As he spoke,
+there was another great cry of pity from the beach: four men arose
+with the wreck out of the deep, clinging to the rigging of the
+remaining mast; uppermost, the active figure with the curling hair.
+
+There was a bell on board; and as the ship rolled and dashed, like a
+desperate creature driven mad, now showing us the whole sweep of her
+deck, as she turned on her beam ends towards the shore, now nothing but
+her keel, as she sprung wildly over and turned towards the sea, the
+bell rang; and its sound, the knell of those unhappy men, was borne
+towards us on the wind. Again we lost her, and again she rose. Two men
+were gone. The agony on shore increased. Men groaned and clasped their
+hands; women shrieked, and turned away their faces. Some ran wildly up
+and down along the beach, crying for help where no help could be. I
+found myself one of these, frantically imploring a knot of sailors whom
+I knew, not to let those two lost creatures perish before our eyes.
+
+They were making out to me, in an agitated way, that the lifeboat had
+been bravely manned an hour ago, and could do nothing; and that as no
+man would be so desperate as to attempt to wade off with a rope, and
+establish a communication with the shore, there was nothing left to try;
+when I noticed that some new sensation moved the people on the beach,
+and saw them part, and Ham come breaking through them to the front.
+
+I ran to him, as well as I know, to repeat my appeal for help. But
+distracted though I was by a sight so new to me and terrible, the
+determination in his face, and his look out to sea, awoke me to a
+knowledge of his danger. I held him back with both arms, and implored
+the men with whom I had been speaking not to listen to him, not to do
+murder, not to let him stir from off that sand.
+
+Another cry arose from the shore; and, looking towards the wreck, we saw
+the cruel sail, with blow on blow, beat off the lower of the two men,
+and fly up in triumph round the active figure left alone upon the mast.
+
+Against such a sight, and against such determination as that of the
+calmly desperate man who was already accustomed to lead half the
+people present, I might as hopefully have intreated the wind. "Mas'r
+Davy," he said cheerily, grasping me by both hands, "if my time is
+come, 'tis come. If't an't, I'll bide it. Lord above bless you, and
+bless all! Mates, make me ready! I'm a going off!"
+
+I was swept away, but not unkindly, to some distance, where the people
+around me made me stay; urging, as I confusedly perceived, that he was
+bent on going, with help or without, and that I should endanger the
+precautions for his safety by troubling those with whom they rested. I
+don't know what I answered, or what they rejoined, but I saw hurry on
+the beach, and men running with ropes from a capstan that was there,
+and penetrating into a circle of figures that hid him from me. Then I
+saw him standing alone, in a seaman's frock and trowsers, a rope in
+his hand or slung to his wrist, another round his body; and several of
+the best men holding, at a little distance, to the latter, which he
+laid out himself, slack upon the shore, at his feet.
+
+The wreck, even to my unpracticed eye, was breaking up. I saw that she
+was parting in the middle, and that the life of the solitary man upon
+the mast hung by a thread. Still he clung to it.
+
+Ham watched the sea, standing alone, with the silence of suspended
+breath behind him, and the storm before, until there was a great
+retiring wave, when, with a backward glance at those who held the
+rope, which was made fast round his body, he dashed in after it, and
+in a moment was buffeting with the water--rising with the hills,
+falling with valleys, lost beneath the foam; then drawn again to land.
+They hauled in hastily.
+
+He was hurt. I saw blood on his face from where I stood; but he took
+no thought of that. He seemed hurriedly to give them some directions
+for leaving him more free, or so I judged from the motion of his
+arm--and was gone, as before.
+
+And now he made for the wreck--rising with the hills, falling with the
+valleys, lost beneath the rugged foam, borne in towards the shore,
+borne on towards the ship, striving hard and valiantly. The distance
+was nothing, but the power of the sea and wind made the strife deadly.
+
+At length he neared the wreck. He was so near that with one more of
+his vigorous strokes he would be clinging to it,--when a high, green,
+vast hillside of water, moving on shoreward from beyond the ship, he
+seemed to leap up into it with a mighty bound, and the ship was gone!
+
+Some eddying fragments I saw in the sea, as if a mere cask had been
+broken, in running to the spot where they were hauling in.
+Consternation was in every face. They drew him to my very
+feet--insensible, dead. He was carried to the nearest house; and, no
+one preventing me now, I remained near him, busy, while every means of
+restoration was tried; but he had been beaten to death by the great
+wave, and his generous heart was stilled for ever.
+
+  --_From "David Copperfield," by Charles Dickens._
+
+
+
+
+THE HAPPY VALLEY.
+
+
+The place which the wisdom or policy of antiquity had destined for the
+residence of the Abyssinian princes was a spacious valley in the
+kingdom of Amhara, surrounded on every side by mountains, of which the
+summits overhang the middle part. The only passage by which it could
+be entered was a cavern that passed under a rock, of which it has been
+long disputed whether it was the work of Nature or of human industry.
+
+[Illustration: Dr. Samuel Johnson.]
+
+The outlet of the cavern was concealed by a thick wood, and the mouth,
+which opened into the valley, was closed with gates of iron forged by
+the artificers of ancient days, so massy that no man could, without
+the help of engines, open or shut them.
+
+From the mountains, on every side, rivulets descended, that filled all
+the valley with verdure and fertility, and formed a lake in the
+middle, inhabited by fish of every species, and frequented by every
+fowl which Nature has taught to dip the wing in water. This lake
+discharged its superfluities by a stream, which entered a dark cleft
+of the mountain on the northern side, and fell, with dreadful noise,
+from precipice to precipice, till it was heard no more.
+
+The sides of the mountains were covered with trees. The banks of the
+brooks were diversified with flowers. Every blast shook spices from
+the rocks, and every month dropped fruits upon the ground. All animals
+that bite the grass or browse the shrub, whether wild or tame,
+wandered in this extensive circuit, secured from beasts of prey by the
+mountains which confined them.
+
+On one part were flocks and herds feeding in the pastures; on another,
+all the beasts of chase frisking in the lawns; the sprightly kid was
+bounding on the rocks, the subtle monkey frolicking in the trees, and
+the solemn elephant reposing in the shade. All the diversities of the
+world were brought together; the blessings of nature were collected,
+and its evils extracted and excluded.
+
+The valley, wide and fruitful, supplied its inhabitants with the
+necessaries of life; and all delights and superfluities were added at
+the annual visit which the Emperor paid his children, when the iron
+gate was opened to the sound of music, and during eight days every one
+that resided in the valley was required to propose whatever might
+contribute to make seclusion pleasant, to fill up the vacancies of
+attention, and lessen the tediousness of the time.
+
+Every desire was immediately granted. All the artificers of pleasure
+were called to gladden the festivity; the musicians exerted the power
+of harmony, and the dancers showed their activity before the princes,
+in hope that they should pass their lives in this blissful captivity,
+to which those only were admitted whose performance was thought
+capable of adding novelty to luxury.
+
+Such was the appearance of security and delight which this retirement
+afforded, that they to whom it was new always desired that it might be
+perpetual; and as those on whom the iron gate had once closed were
+never suffered to return, the effect of long experience could not be
+known. Thus every year produced new schemes of delight and new
+competitors for imprisonment.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Dr. Samuel Johnson's "Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia," from which this
+selection is taken, was first published in 1759. "The late Mr.
+Strahan, the printer, told me," says Boswell, "that Johnson wrote it,
+so that with the profits he might defray the expenses of his mother's
+funeral, and pay some little debts which she had left. He told Sir
+Joshua Reynolds that he composed it in the evenings of one week, sent
+it to the press in portions as it was written, and had never since
+read it over. None of his writings have been so extensively diffused
+over Europe, for it has been translated into most, if not all, of the
+modern languages. This tale, with all the charms of oriental imagery,
+and all the force and beauty of which the English language is capable,
+leads us through the most important scenes of human life, and shows us
+that this stage of our being is full of 'vanity and vexation of spirit.'"
+
+The peculiarities of style which distinguish all of Johnson's writings
+are well illustrated in this story. Notice the stately flow of
+high-sounding words; the dignified formality of many of the
+descriptive passages; and the richness and perfection which
+characterize the production as a whole.
+
+
+
+
+THE PASS OF KILLIECRANKIE.
+
+
+John Græme of Claverhouse, whose title of Viscount Dundee had been
+given him in reward for his cruelties to the Western Covenanters, was
+the instigator and leader of a revolt of the Highland clans against
+the government of William III. in Scotland. General Mackay, with his
+loyal Scotch regiments, was sent out to suppress the uprising. But as
+they climbed the pass of Killiecrankie, on the 27th of July, 1689,
+Dundee charged them at the head of three thousand clansmen, and swept
+them in headlong rout down the glen. His death in the moment of
+victory broke, however, the only bond which held the Highlanders
+together, and in a few weeks the host which had spread terror through
+the Lowlands melted helplessly away.
+
+The Græmes, or Grahams, were among the most noted of Scottish
+families, and included some of the most distinguished men of the
+country. Among them were Sir John the Græme, the faithful aid of Sir
+William Wallace, who fell in the battle of Falkirk, 1298, and the
+celebrated Marquis of Montrose, who died in 1650, and whose exploits
+are immortalized in Scott's "Legend of Montrose."
+
+In the following stirring verses from "The Lays of the Scottish
+Cavaliers," by W. E. Aytoun, the fight at Killiecrankie is described,
+presumably, by one of the adherents of Dundee. The title of the poem
+in its complete form is "The Burial March of Dundee." Our selection
+includes only so much as relates to the conflict in the pass.
+
+    On the heights of Killiecrankie
+      Yester-morn our army lay:
+    Slowly rose the mist in columns
+      From the river's broken way;
+    Hoarsely roared the swollen torrent,
+      And the pass was wrapt in gloom,
+    When the clansmen rose together
+      From their lair amidst the broom.
+    Then we belted on our tartans,
+      And our bonnets down we drew,
+    And we felt our broadswords' edges,
+      And we proved them to be true;
+    And we prayed the prayer of soldiers,
+      And we cried the gathering cry,
+    And we clasped the hands of kinsmen,
+      And we swore to do or die!
+    Then our leader rode before us
+      On his war horse black as night--
+    Well the Cameronian rebels
+      Knew that charger in the fight!--
+    And a cry of exultation
+      From the bearded warriors rose;
+    For we loved the house of Claver'se,
+      And we thought of good Montrose,
+    But he raised his hand for silence--
+      "Soldiers! I have sworn a vow:
+    Ere the evening star shall glisten
+      On Schehallion's lofty brow,
+    Either we shall rest in triumph,
+      Or another of the Græmes
+    Shall have died in battle harness
+      For his country and King James!
+    Think upon the Royal Martyr--
+      Think of what his race endure--
+    Think of him whom butchers murdered
+      On the field of Magus Muir:--
+    By his sacred blood I charge ye,
+      By the ruined hearth and shrine--
+    By the blighted hopes of Scotland,
+      By your injuries and mine--
+    Strike this day as if the anvil
+      Lay beneath your blows the while,
+    Be they Covenanting traitors,
+      Or the brood of false Argyle!
+    Strike! and drive the trembling rebels
+      Backwards o'er the stormy Forth;
+    Let them tell their pale Convention
+      How they fared within the North.
+    Let them tell that Highland honor
+      Is not to be bought or sold,
+    That we scorn their prince's anger
+      As we loathe his foreign gold.
+    Strike! and when the fight is over,
+      If ye look in vain for me,
+    Where the dead are lying thickest,
+      Search for him that was Dundee!"
+    Loudly then the hills reëchoed
+      With our answer to his call,
+    But a deeper echo sounded
+      In the bosoms of us all.
+    For the lands of wide Breadalbane
+      Not a man who heard him speak
+    Would that day have left the battle.
+      Burning eye and flushing cheek
+    Told the clansmen's fierce emotion,
+      And they harder drew their breath;
+    For their souls were strong within them,
+      Stronger than the grasp of death.
+    Soon we heard a challenge trumpet
+      Sounding in the pass below,
+    And the distant tramp of horses,
+      And the voices of the foe:
+    Down we crouched amid the bracken,
+      Till the Lowland ranks drew near,
+    Panting like the hounds in summer,
+      When they scent the stately deer.
+    From the dark defile emerging,
+      Next we saw the squadrons come,
+    Leslie's foot and Leven's troopers
+      Marching to the tuck of drum;
+    Through the scattered wood of birches,
+      O'er the broken ground and heath,
+    Wound the long battalion slowly,
+      Till they gained the field beneath;
+    Then we bounded from our covert.--
+      Judge how looked the Saxons then,
+    When they saw the rugged mountain
+      Start to life with armèd men!
+    Like a tempest down the ridges
+      Swept the hurricane of steel,
+    Rose the slogan of Macdonald,--
+      Flashed the broadsword of Lochiell!
+    Vainly sped the withering volley
+      'Mongst the foremost of our band--
+    On we poured until we met them,
+      Foot to foot, and hand to hand.
+    Horse and man went down like driftwood
+      When the floods are black at Yule,
+    And their carcasses are whirling
+      In the Garry's deepest pool.
+    Horse and man went down before us--
+      Living foe there tarried none
+    On the field of Killiecrankie,
+      When that stubborn fight was done!
+    And the evening star was shining
+      On Schehallion's distant head,
+    When we wiped our bloody broadswords,
+      And returned to count the dead.
+    There we found him gashed and gory,
+      Stretched upon the cumbered plain,
+    As he told us where to seek him,
+      In the thickest of the slain.
+    And a smile was on his visage,
+      For within his dying ear
+    Pealed the joyful note of triumph,
+      And the clansmen's clamorous cheer:
+    So, amidst the battle's thunder,
+      Shot, and steel, and scorching flame,
+    In the glory of his manhood
+      Passed the spirit of the Græme!
+
+
+
+
+SUMMER RAIN.
+
+
+It is a long time since much rain fell. The ground is a little dry, the
+road is a good deal dusty. The garden bakes. Transplanted trees are
+thirsty. Wheels are shrinking and tires are looking dangerous. Men
+speculate on the clouds; they begin to calculate how long it will be, if
+no rain falls, before the potatoes will suffer; the oats, the grass, the
+corn--everything! To be sure, nothing is yet suffering; but then--
+
+[Illustration: Henry Ward Beecher.]
+
+Rain, rain, rain! All day, all night, steady raining. Will it never
+stop? The hay is out and spoiling. The rain washes the garden. All
+things have drunk their fill. The springs revive, the meadows are wet;
+the rivers run discolored with soil from every hill.
+
+Smoking cattle reek under the sheds. Hens, and fowl in general,
+shelter and plume. The sky is leaden. The clouds are full yet. The
+long fleece covers the mountains. The hills are capped in white. The
+air is full of moisture.
+
+The wind roars down the chimney. The birds are silent. No insects
+chirp. Closets smell moldy. The barometer is clogged. We thump it, but
+it will not get up. It seems to have an understanding with the
+weather. The trees drip, shoes are muddy, carriage and wagon are
+splashed with dirt. Paths are soft.
+
+So it is. When it is clear we want rain, and when it rains we wish it
+would shine. But after all, how lucky for grumblers that they are not
+allowed to meddle with the weather, and that it is put above their
+reach. What a scrambling, selfish, mischief-making time we should
+have, if men undertook to parcel out the seasons and the weather
+according to their several humors or interests!
+
+If one will but look for enjoyment, how much there is in every change
+of weather. The formation of clouds--the various signs and signals,
+the uncertain wheeling and marching of the fleecy cohorts, the shades
+of light and gray in the broken heavens--all have their pleasure to an
+observant eye. Then come the wind gust, the distant dark cloud, the
+occasional fiery streak shot down through it, the run and hurry of men
+whose work may suffer!
+
+Indeed, sir, your humble servant, even, was stirred up on the day
+after Fourth of July. The grass in the old orchard was not my best.
+Indeed, we grumbled at it considerably while it was yet standing. But
+being cut and the rain threatening it, one would have thought it gold
+by the nimble way in which we tried to save it!
+
+Blessed be horse rakes! Once, half a dozen men with half a dozen rakes
+would have gone whisking up and down, thrusting out and pulling in the
+long-handled rakes with slow and laborious progress. But no more of
+that. See friend Turner, mounted on the wheeled horse rake, riding
+about as if for pleasure. It is easy times when _men_ ride and
+_horses_ rake.
+
+Meanwhile, the clouds come bowling noiselessly through the air, and
+spit here and there a drop preliminary. Well, if one thing suffers,
+another gains! See how the leaves are washed; the grass drinks, even
+drinks; the garden drinks; everything drinks.
+
+It is our opinion that everything except man is laughing and
+rejoicing. Trees shake their leaves with a softer sound. Rocks look
+moist and soft, at least where the moss grows. Even the solitary old
+pine tree chords his harp, and sings soft and low melodies with
+plaintive undulations!
+
+A good summer storm is a rain of riches. If gold and silver rattled
+down from the clouds, they could hardly enrich the land so much as
+soft, long rains. Every drop is silver going to the mint. The roots
+are machinery, and, catching the willing drops, they array them,
+refine them, roll them, stamp them, and turn them out coined berries,
+apples, grains, and grasses!
+
+When the heavens send clouds and they bank up the horizon, be sure
+they have hidden gold in them. All the mountains of California are not
+so rich as are the soft mines of heaven, that send down treasures upon
+man without tasking him, and pour riches upon his field without spade
+or pickax--without his search or notice.
+
+Well, let it rain, then! No matter if the journey is delayed, the
+picnic spoiled, the visit adjourned. Blessed be rain--and rain in
+summer. And blessed be he who watereth the earth and enricheth it for
+man and beast.
+
+  --_Henry Ward Beecher._
+
+
+
+
+LIFE IN THE BACKWOODS.
+
+[Illustration: William Dean Howells.]
+
+
+It would not be easy to say where or when the first log cabin was built,
+but it is safe to say that it was somewhere in the English colonies of
+North America, and it is certain that it became the type of the
+settler's house throughout the whole middle west. It may be called the
+American house, the Western house, the Ohio house. Hardly any other
+house was built for a hundred years by the men who were clearing the
+land for the stately mansions of our day. As long as the primeval
+forests stood, the log cabin remained the woodsman's home; and not fifty
+years ago, I saw log cabins newly built in one of the richest and most
+prosperous regions of Ohio. They were, to be sure, log cabins of a finer
+pattern than the first settler reared. They were of logs handsomely
+shaped with the broadax; the joints between the logs were plastered with
+mortar; the chimney at the end was of stone; the roof was shingled, the
+windows were of glass, and the door was solid and well hung. But
+throughout that region there were many log cabins, mostly sunk to the
+uses of stables and corn cribs, of the kind that the borderers built in
+the times of the Indian War, from 1750 to 1800. They were framed of the
+round logs untouched by the ax except for the notches at the ends where
+they were fitted into one another; the chimney was of small sticks stuck
+together with mud, and was as frail as a barn swallow's nest; the walls
+were stuffed with moss, plastered with clay; the floor was of rough
+boards called puncheons, riven from the block with a heavy knife; the
+roof was of clapboards laid loosely on the rafters, and held in place
+with logs fastened athwart them.
+
+[Illustration: Log Cabin.]
+
+There is a delightful account of such a log cabin by John S. Williams,
+whose father settled in the woods of Belmont County in 1800. "Our
+cabin," he says, "had been raised, covered, part of the cracks
+chinked, and part of the floor laid, when we moved in on Christmas
+day. There had not been a stick cut except in building the cabin,
+which was so high from the ground that a bear, wolf, panther, or any
+animal less in size than a cow could enter without even a squeeze....
+The green ash puncheons had shrunk so as to leave cracks in the floor
+and doors from one to two inches wide. At both the doors we had high,
+unsteady, and sometimes icy steps, made by piling the logs cut out of
+the walls, for the doors and the window, if it could be called a
+window, when perhaps it was the largest spot in the top, bottom, or
+sides of the cabin where the wind could _not_ enter. It was made by
+sawing out a log, and placing sticks across and then by pasting an
+old newspaper over the hole, and applying hog's lard, we had a kind of
+glazing which shed a most beautiful and mellow light across the cabin
+when the sun shone on it. All other light entered at the doors,
+cracks, and chimneys. Our cabin was twenty-four by eighteen. The west
+end was occupied by two beds, the center of each side by a door.... On
+the opposite side of the window, made of clapboards, supported on pins
+driven into the walls, were our shelves. On these shelves my sister
+displayed in simple order, a host of pewter plates, and dishes and
+spoons, scoured and bright.... Our chimney occupied most of the east
+end; with pots and kettles opposite the window, under the shelves, a
+gun on hooks over the north door, four split-bottomed chairs, three
+three-legged stools, and a small eight by ten looking-glass sloped
+from the wall over a large towel and comb case.... We got a roof laid
+over head as soon as possible, but it was laid of loose clapboards
+split from a red-oak, and a cat might have shaken every board in our
+ceiling.... We made two kinds of furniture. One kind was of hickory
+bark, with the outside shaved off. This we would take off all around
+the tree, the size of which would determine the caliber of our box.
+Into one end we would place a flat piece of bark or puncheon, cut
+round to fit in the bark, which stood on end the same as when on the
+tree.... A much finer article was made of slippery-elm bark, shaved
+smooth, with the inside out, bent round and sewed together, where the
+end of the hoop or main bark lapped over.... This was the finest
+furniture in a lady's dressing room," and such a cabin and its
+appointments were splendor and luxury beside those of the very
+earliest pioneers, and many of the latest. The Williamses were
+Quakers, and the mother was recently from England; they were of far
+gentler breeding and finer tastes than most of their neighbors, who
+had been backwoodsmen for generations.
+
+When the first settlers broke the silence of the woods with the stroke
+of their axes, and hewed out a space for their cabins and their
+fields, they inclosed their homes with a high stockade of logs, for
+defense against the Indians; or if they built their cabins outside the
+wooden walls of their stronghold, they always expected to flee to it
+at the first alarm, and to stand siege within it.
+
+The Indians had no cannon, and the logs of the stockade were proof
+against their rifles; if a breach was made, there was still the
+blockhouse left, the citadel of every little fort. This was heavily
+built, and pierced with loopholes for the riflemen within, whose wives
+ran bullets for them at its mighty hearth, and who kept the savage foe
+from its sides by firing down upon them through the projecting timbers
+of its upper story. But in many a fearful siege the Indians set the
+roof ablaze with arrows wrapped in burning tow, and then the fight
+became desperate indeed. After the Indian war ended, the stockade was
+no longer needed, and the settlers had only the wild beasts to contend
+with, and those constant enemies of the poor in all ages and
+conditions,--hunger and cold.
+
+Winter after winter, the Williamses heard the wolves howling round
+them in the woods, and this music was familiar to the ears of all the
+Ohio pioneers, who trusted their rifles for both the safety and
+support of their families. They deadened the trees around them by
+girdling them with the ax, and planted the spaces between the leafless
+trunks with corn and beans and pumpkins. These were their necessaries,
+but they had an occasional luxury in the wild honey from the hollow of
+a bee tree when the bears had not got at it.
+
+In its season, there was an abundance of wild fruit, plums and
+cherries, haws and grapes, berries, and nuts of every kind, and the
+maples yielded all the sugar they chose to make from them. But it was
+long before they had, at any time, the profusion which our modern arts
+enable us to enjoy the whole year round, and in the hard beginnings
+the orchard and the garden were forgotten for the fields.
+
+When once the settler was housed against the weather, he had the
+conditions of a certain rude comfort indoors. If his cabin was not
+proof against the wind and rain or snow, its vast fireplace formed the
+means of heating, while the forest was an inexhaustible store of fuel.
+At first he dressed in the skins and pelts of the deer and fox and
+wolf, and his costume could have varied little from that of the red
+savage about him, for we often read how he mistook Indians for white
+men at first sight, and how the Indians in their turn mistook white
+men for their own people.
+
+The whole family went barefoot in the summer, but in winter the
+pioneer wore moccasins of buckskin, and buckskin leggins or trousers;
+his coat was a hunting shirt belted at the waist and fringed where it
+fell to his knees. It was of homespun, a mixture of wool and flax
+called linsey-woolsey, and out of this the dresses of his wife and
+daughters were made; the wool was shorn from the sheep which were so
+scarce that they were never killed for their flesh, except by the
+wolves, which were very fond of mutton, but had no use for wool.
+
+For a wedding dress a cotton check was thought superb, and it really
+cost a dollar a yard; silks, satins, laces, were unknown. A man never
+left his house without his rifle; the gun was a part of his dress, and
+in his belt he carried a hunting knife and a hatchet; on his head he
+wore a cap of squirrel skin, often with the plume-like tail dangling
+from it.
+
+The furniture of the cabins was, like the clothing of the pioneers,
+homemade. A bedstead was contrived by stretching poles from forked
+sticks driven into the ground, and laying clapboards across them; the
+bedclothes were bearskins. Stools, benches, and tables were roughed
+out with auger and broadax; the puncheon floor was left bare, and if
+the earth formed the floor, no rug ever replaced the grass which was
+its first carpet. The cabin had but one room where the whole of life
+went on by day; the father and mother slept there at night, and the
+children mounted to their chamber in the loft by means of a ladder.
+
+The food was what has been already named. The meat was venison, bear,
+raccoon, wild turkey, wild duck, and pheasant; the drink was water, or
+rye coffee, or whisky which the little stills everywhere supplied only
+too abundantly. Wheat bread was long unknown, and corn cakes of
+various makings and bakings supplied its place. The most delicious
+morsel of all was corn grated while still in the milk and fashioned
+into round cakes eaten hot from the clapboard before the fire, or from
+the mysterious depths of the Dutch oven, buried in coals and ashes on
+the hearth. There was soon a great flow of milk from the kine that
+multiplied in the woods and pastures, and there was sweetening enough
+from the maple tree and the bee tree, but salt was very scarce and
+very dear, and long journeys were made through the perilous woods to
+and from the licks, or salt springs, which the deer had discovered
+before the white man or red man knew them.
+
+The bees which hived their honey in the hollow trees were tame bees
+gone wild, and with the coming of the settlers, some of the wild
+things increased so much that they became a pest. Such were the crows
+which literally blackened the fields after the settlers plowed, and
+which the whole family had to fight from the corn when it was planted.
+Such were the rabbits, and such, above all, were the squirrels which
+overran the farms, and devoured every green thing till the people
+combined in great squirrel hunts and destroyed them by tens of
+thousands. The larger game had meanwhile disappeared. The buffalo and
+the elk went first; the deer followed, and the bear, and even the
+useless wolf. But long after these the poisonous reptiles lingered,
+the rattlesnake, the moccasin, and the yet deadlier copperhead; and it
+was only when the whole country was cleared that they ceased to be a
+very common danger.
+
+  --_From "Stories of Ohio," by William Dean Howells._
+
+
+
+
+HOW THEY BESIEGED THE TOWN.
+
+
+Charles Reade, in his great romance entitled "The Cloister and the
+Hearth," has not only presented us with a story of absorbing interest,
+but has given us a vivid and accurate view of manners and customs
+during one of the most interesting periods of history. The following
+extract is particularly interesting because of its vivid portrayal of
+the methods of warfare in vogue at that time. There was a rebellion in
+Flanders. More than one knight had broken his oath of fealty to the
+Duke of Burgundy, who was the ruler of that country, and some of the
+strongest castles were fortified by rebels. To subdue these
+dissatisfied spirits and to reduce the country again to subjection,
+Counts Anthony and Baldwyn of Burgundy had entered Flanders at the
+head of a considerable army and were carrying fire and sword among the
+enemies of the Duke. One of their exploits at this time is thus
+narrated by the novelist:--
+
+[Illustration: Charles Reade.]
+
+    One afternoon they came in sight of a strongly fortified town; and
+    a whisper went through the little army that this was a disaffected
+    place. But upon coming nearer they saw that the great gate stood
+    open, and the towers that flanked it on each side were manned
+    with a single sentinel apiece. So the advancing force somewhat
+    broke their array and marched carelessly.
+
+    When they were within a furlong, the drawbridge across the moat
+    rose slowly and creaking till it stood vertical against the fort;
+    and the very moment it settled, into this warlike attitude, down
+    rattled the portcullis at the gate, and the towers and curtains
+    bristled with lances and crossbows.
+
+    A stern hum ran through the front rank and spread to the rear.
+
+    "Halt!" cried their leader. The word went down the line, and they
+    halted. "Herald to the gate!"
+
+    A herald spurred out of the ranks, and halting twenty yards from
+    the gate, raised his bugle with his herald's flag hanging down
+    round it, and blew a summons. A tall figure in brazen armor
+    appeared over the gate. A few fiery words passed between him and
+    the herald, which were not audible; but their import was clear,
+    for the herald blew a single keen and threatening note at the
+    walls, and came galloping back with war in his face.
+
+    The leader moved out of the line to meet him, and their heads had
+    not been together two seconds ere he turned in his saddle and
+    shouted, "Pioneers, to the van!" and in a moment hedges were
+    leveled, and the force took the field and encamped just out of
+    shot from the walls; and away went mounted officers flying south,
+    east, and west, to the friendly towns, for catapults, palisades,
+    mantelets, raw hides, tar barrels, carpenters, provisions, and all
+    the materials for a siege.
+
+    The besiegers encamped a furlong from the walls, and made roads;
+    kept their pikemen in camp ready for an assault when practicable;
+    and sent forward their sappers, pioneers, catapultiers, and
+    crossbowmen. These opened a siege by filling the moat and mining,
+    or breaching the wall, etc. And as much of their work had to be
+    done under close fire of arrows, quarrels, bolts, stones, and
+    little rocks, the above artists "had need of a hundred eyes," and
+    acted in concert with a vigilance, and an amount of individual
+    intelligence, daring, and skill that made a siege very
+    interesting, and even amusing,--to lookers-on.
+
+    The first thing they did was to advance their carpenters behind
+    rolling mantelets, and to erect a stockade high and strong on the
+    very edge of the moat. Some lives were lost at this, but not many;
+    for a strong force of crossbowmen, including Denys, rolled their
+    mantelets[1] up and shot over the workmen's heads at every
+    besieged person who showed his nose, and at every loophole, arrow
+    slit, or other aperture, which commanded the particular spot the
+    carpenters happened to be upon. Covered by their condensed fire,
+    these soon raised a high palisade between them and the ordinary
+    missiles from the walls.
+
+    But the besieged expected this, and ran out at night their hoards
+    or wooden penthouses on the top of the curtains. The curtains were
+    built with square holes near the top to receive the beams that
+    supported these structures, the true defense of mediæval forts,
+    from which the besieged delivered their missiles with far more
+    freedom and variety of range than they could shoot through the
+    oblique but immovable loopholes of the curtain. On this the
+    besiegers brought up mangonels, and set them hurling huge stones
+    at these wood works and battering them to pieces. At the same time
+    they built a triangular wooden tower as high as the curtain, and
+    kept it ready for use, and just out of shot.
+
+    This was a terrible sight to the besieged. These wooden towers had
+    taken many a town. They began to mine underneath that part of the
+    moat the tower stood frowning at; and made other preparations to
+    give it a warm reception. The besiegers also mined, but at another
+    part, their object being to get under the square barbican and
+    throw it down. All this time Denys was behind his mantelet with
+    another arbalester, protecting the workmen and making some
+    excellent shots. These ended by earning him the esteem of an
+    unseen archer, who every now and then sent a winged compliment
+    quivering into his mantelet. One came and stuck within an inch of
+    the narrow slit through which Denys was squinting at the moment.
+
+    [Illustration: Hoard, or Penthouse.]
+
+    "Ha! ha!" cried he, "you shoot well, my friend. Come forth and
+    receive my congratulations! Shall merit, such as thine, hide its
+    head? Comrade, it is one of those Englishmen, with his half ell
+    shaft. I'll not die till I've had a shot at London wall."
+
+    On the side of the besieged was a figure that soon attracted great
+    notice by promenading under fire. It was a tall knight, clad in
+    complete brass, and carrying a light but prodigiously long lance,
+    with which he directed the movements of the besieged. And when any
+    disaster befell the besiegers, this tall knight and his long lance
+    were pretty sure to be concerned in it.
+
+    My young reader will say, "Why did not Denys shoot him?"
+
+    Denys did shoot him; every day of his life; other arbalesters shot
+    him; archers shot him. Everybody shot him. He was there to be
+    shot, apparently. But the abomination was, he did not mind being
+    shot. Nay, worse, he got at last so demoralized as not to seem to
+    know when he was shot. At last the besiegers got spiteful, and
+    would not waste any more good steel on him.
+
+    It was a bright day, clear, but not quite frosty. The efforts of
+    the besieging force were concentrated against a space of about two
+    hundred and fifty yards, containing two curtains and two towers,
+    one of which was the square barbican, the other had a pointed roof
+    that was built to overlap, and by this means a row of dangerous
+    crenelets between the roof and the masonry grinned down at the
+    nearer assailants, and looked not very unlike the grinders of a
+    modern frigate with each port nearly closed. The curtains were
+    overlapped with penthouses somewhat shattered by the mangonels,
+    and other slinging engines of the besiegers.
+
+    On the besiegers' edge of the moat was what seemed at first sight
+    a gigantic arsenal, longer than it was broad, peopled by human
+    ants, and full of busy, honest industry, and displaying all the
+    various mechanical science of the age in full operation. Here the
+    lever at work, there the winch and pulley, here the balance, there
+    the capstan. Everywhere heaps of stones, and piles of fascines,
+    mantelets, and rows of fire barrels. Mantelets rolling, the hammer
+    tapping all day, horses and carts in endless succession rattling
+    up with materials.
+
+    At the edge of the moat opposite the wooden tower, a strong
+    penthouse, which they called "a cat," might be seen stealing
+    towards the curtain, and gradually filling up the moat with
+    fascines and rubbish, which the workmen flung out at its mouth. It
+    was advanced by two sets of ropes passing round pulleys, and each
+    worked by a windlass at some distance from the cat. The knight
+    burnt the first cat by flinging blazing tar barrels on it. So the
+    besiegers made the roof of this one very steep, and covered it
+    with raw hides, and the tar barrels could not harm it.
+
+    And now the engineers proceeded to the unusual step of slinging
+    fifty-pound stones at an individual.
+
+    This catapult was a scientific, simple, and beautiful engine, and
+    very effective in vertical fire at the short ranges of the period.
+
+    Imagine a fir tree cut down, and set to turn round a horizontal
+    axis on lofty uprights, but not in equilibrium; three fourths of
+    the tree being on the hither side. At the shorter and thicker end
+    of the tree was fastened a weight of half a ton. This butt end
+    just before the discharge pointed towards the enemy. By means of a
+    powerful winch the long tapering portion of the tree was forced
+    down to the very ground, and fastened by a bolt; and the stone
+    placed in a sling attached to the tree's nose. But this process of
+    course raised the butt end with its huge weight high in the air,
+    and kept it there struggling in vain to come down. The bolt was
+    now drawn; then the short end swung furiously down, the long end
+    went as furiously up, and at its highest elevation flung the huge
+    stone out of the sling with a tremendous jerk. In this case the
+    huge mass so flung missed the knight, but came down near him on
+    the penthouse, and went through it like paper, making an awful gap
+    in roof and floor.
+
+    [Illustration: A Catapult.]
+
+    "Aha! a good shot!" cried Baldwyn of Burgundy.
+
+    The tall knight retired. The besiegers hooted him. He reappeared
+    on the platform of the barbican, his helmet being just visible
+    above the parapet. He seemed very busy, and soon an enormous
+    Turkish catapult made its appearance on the platform, and, aided
+    by the elevation at which it was planted, flung a twenty-pound
+    stone two hundred and forty yards in the air. The next stone
+    struck a horse that was bringing up a sheaf of arrows in a cart,
+    bowled the horse over dead like a rabbit, and split the cart. It
+    was then turned at the besiegers' wooden tower, supposed to be out
+    of shot. Sir Turk slung stones cut with sharp edges on purpose,
+    and struck it repeatedly, and broke it in several places. The
+    besiegers turned two of their slinging engines on this monster,
+    and kept constantly slinging smaller stones on to the platform of
+    the barbican, and killed two of the engineers. But the Turk
+    disdained to retort. He flung a forty-pound stone on to the
+    besiegers' great catapult, and hitting it in the neighborhood of
+    the axis, knocked the whole structure to pieces, and sent the
+    engineers skipping and yelling.
+
+    The next morning an unwelcome sight greeted the besieged. The cat
+    was covered with mattresses and raw hides, and fast filling up the
+    moat. The knight stoned it, but in vain; flung burning tar barrels
+    on it, but in vain. Then with his own hands he let down by a rope
+    a bag of burning sulphur and pitch, and stunk them out. But
+    Baldwyn, armed like a lobster, ran, and bounding on the roof, cut
+    the string, and the work went on. Then the knight sent fresh
+    engineers into the mine, and undermined the place and underpinned
+    it with beams, and covered the beams thickly with grease and tar.
+
+    At break of day the moat was filled, and the wooden tower began to
+    move on its wheels towards a part of the curtain on which two
+    catapults were already playing, to breach the hoards and clear the
+    way. There was something awful and magical in its approach without
+    visible agency, for it was driven by internal rollers worked by
+    leverage.
+
+    On the top was a platform, where stood the first assailing party
+    protected in front by the drawbridge of the turret, which stood
+    vertical till lowered on to the wall; but better protected by full
+    suits of armor. The besieged slung at the tower, and struck it
+    often, but in vain. It was well defended with mattresses and
+    hides, and presently was at the edge of the moat. The knight bade
+    fire the mine underneath it.
+
+    Then the Turkish engine flung a stone of half a hundredweight
+    right amongst the knights, and carried two away with it off the
+    tower on to the plain.
+
+    And now the besieging catapults flung blazing tar barrels, and fired
+    the hoards on both sides, and the assailants ran up the ladders
+    behind the tower, and lowered the drawbridge on to the battered
+    curtain, while the catapults in concert flung tar barrels, and fired
+    the adjoining works to dislodge the defenders. The armed men on the
+    platform sprang on the bridge, led by Baldwyn. The invulnerable
+    knight and his men at arms met them, and a fearful combat ensued, in
+    which many a figure was seen to fall headlong down off the narrow
+    bridge. But fresh besiegers kept swarming up behind the tower, and
+    the besieged were driven off the bridge.
+
+    Another minute, and the town would have been taken; but so well
+    had the firing of the mines been timed, that just at this instant
+    the underpinnings gave way, and the tower suddenly sank away from
+    the walls, tearing the drawbridge clear and pouring the soldiers
+    off it against the masonry and on to the dry moat.
+
+    The besieged uttered a fierce shout, and in a moment surrounded
+    Baldwyn and his fellows; but strange to say, offered them quarter.
+    While a party disarmed and disposed of these, others fired the
+    turret in fifty places with a sort of hand grenades. At this work
+    who so busy as the tall knight? He put fire bags on his long
+    spear, and thrust them into the doomed structure late so terrible.
+    To do this, he was obliged to stand on a projecting beam, holding
+    on by the hand of a pikeman to steady himself. This provoked
+    Denys; he ran out from his mantelet, hoping to escape notice in
+    the confusion, and leveling his crossbow missed the knight clean,
+    but sent his bolt into the brain of the pikeman, and the tall
+    knight fell heavily from the wall, lance and all.
+
+    The knight, his armor glittering in the morning sun, fell
+    headlong, but turning as he neared the water, struck it with a
+    slap that sounded a mile off.
+
+    None ever thought to see him again. But he fell at the edge of the
+    fascines, and his spear stuck into them under the water, and by a
+    mighty effort he got to the side, but could not get out. Anthony
+    sent a dozen knights with a white flag to take him prisoner. He
+    submitted like a lamb, but said nothing.
+
+[Footnote 1: For explanation of this and similar terms used in this
+selection, see the notes at the end of this book and especially the
+word "Castle" in Webster's International Dictionary.]
+
+
+
+
+LOCHINVAR.
+
+LADY HERON'S SONG.
+
+
+    Oh, young Lochinvar is come out of the west!
+    Through all the wide Border his steed was the best:
+    And, save his good broadsword, he weapons had none;
+    He rode all unarmed, and he rode all alone.
+    So faithful in love, and so dauntless in war,
+    There never was knight like the young Lochinvar.
+
+    He staid not for brake, and he stopped not for stone;
+    He swam the Esk river, where ford there was none;
+    But, ere he alighted at Netherby gate,
+    The bride had consented--the gallant came late;
+    For a laggard in love, and a dastard in war,
+    Was to wed the fair Ellen of brave Lochinvar.
+
+    So boldly he entered the Netherby hall,
+    Among bridesmen, and kinsmen, and brothers, and all.
+    Then spoke the bride's father, his hand on his sword,
+    (For the poor craven bridegroom said never a word),
+    "Oh, come ye in peace here, or come ye in war,
+    Or to dance at our bridal, young lord Lochinvar?"
+
+    "I long wooed your daughter--my suit you denied;
+    Love swells like the Solway, but ebbs like its tide;
+    And now I am come with this lost love of mine
+    To lead but one measure, drink one cup of wine.
+    There are maidens in Scotland more lovely by far,
+    That would gladly be bride to the young Lochinvar."
+
+    The bride kissed the goblet, the knight took it up;
+    He quaffed off the wine, and he threw down the cup;
+    She looked down to blush, and she looked up to sigh,
+    With a smile on her lips, and a tear in her eye.
+    He took her soft hand, ere her mother could bar--
+    "Now tread we a measure!" said young Lochinvar.
+
+    So stately his form, and so lovely her face,
+    That never a hall such a galliard did grace;
+    While her mother did fret, and her father did fume,
+    And the bridegroom stood dangling his bonnet and plume;
+    And the bridemaidens whispered, "'Twere better by far
+    To have matched our fair cousin with young Lochinvar."
+
+    One touch to her hand, and one word in her ear,
+    When they reached the hall door, and the charger stood near;
+    So light to the croup the fair lady he swung,
+    So light to the saddle before her he sprung!
+    "She is won! We are gone, over bank, bush, and scaur!
+    They'll have fleet steeds that follow!" quoth young Lochinvar.
+
+    There was mounting 'mong Græmes of the Netherby clan;
+    Forsters, Fenwicks, and Musgraves, they rode and they ran;
+    There was racing and chasing on Cannobie Lee,
+    But the lost bride of Netherby ne'er did they see.
+    So daring in love, and so dauntless in war,
+    Have you e'er heard of gallant like young Lochinvar?
+
+  --_From "Marmion," by Sir Walter Scott._
+
+
+
+
+ON A TROPICAL RIVER.
+
+
+"Westward Ho!" is a novel written by Rev. Charles Kingsley, and first
+published in 1855. It is a story of the times of Queen Elizabeth, of
+the threatened invasion of England by the Spanish Armada, and of wild
+adventure on the sea and in the forests of the New World. Several
+historical personages are made to appear in the story, such as Sir
+Walter Raleigh, Sir Francis Drake, Admiral Hawkins, and others. The
+hero is Amyas Leigh, "a Devonshire youth of great bodily strength, of
+lively affection and sweet temper, combined with a marked propensity
+to combat from his earliest years." Amyas and his companions had
+undertaken an expedition to discover the fabled golden city of Manoa,
+which was said to exist somewhere in the wilds of South America. They
+had been searching more than three years for this city when they
+reached the Meta River in canoes, and the following adventure occurred.
+
+[Illustration: Charles Kingsley.]
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+For three hours or more Amyas Leigh and his companions paddled easily
+up the glassy and windless reaches, between two green
+flower-bespangled walls of forest, gay with innumerable birds and
+insects; while down from the branches which overhung the stream, long
+trailers hung to the water's edge, and seemed admiring in the clear
+mirror the images of their own gorgeous flowers. River, trees,
+flowers, birds, insects,--it was all a fairyland; but it was a
+colossal one; and yet the voyagers took little note of it.
+
+It was now to them an everyday occurrence to see trees full two
+hundred feet high one mass of yellow or purple blossom to the highest
+twigs, and every branch and stem one hanging garden of crimson and
+orange orchids or vanillas. Common to them were all the fantastic and
+enormous shapes with which Nature bedecks her robes beneath the fierce
+suns and fattening rains of the tropic forest. Common were forms and
+colors of bird, and fish, and butterfly, more strange and bright than
+ever opium eater dreamed.
+
+The long processions of monkeys, who kept pace with them along the
+tree tops, and proclaimed their wonder in every imaginable whistle and
+grunt and howl, had ceased to move their laughter, as much as the roar
+of the jaguar and the rustle of the boa had ceased to move their fear;
+and when a brilliant green and rose-colored fish, flat-bodied like a
+bream, flat-finned like a salmon, and sawtoothed like a shark, leaped
+clean on board of the canoe to escape the rush of a huge alligator
+(whose loathsome snout, ere he could stop, actually rattled against
+the canoe), Jack coolly picked up the fish and said:
+
+"He's four pound weight! If you catch fish for us like that, old
+fellow, just keep in our wake, and we'll give you the cleanings for
+your wages!"
+
+They paddled onward hour after hour, sheltering themselves as best
+they could under the shadow of the southern bank, while on their right
+hand the full sun glare lay upon the enormous wall of mimosas, figs,
+and laurels, which formed the northern forest, broken by the slender
+shafts of bamboo tufts, and decked with a thousand gaudy parasites;
+bank upon bank of gorgeous bloom piled upward to the sky, till where
+its outline cut the blue, flowers and leaves, too lofty to be
+distinguished by the eye, formed a broken rainbow of all hues
+quivering in the ascending streams of azure mist, until they seemed to
+melt and mingle with the very heavens.
+
+And as the sun rose higher and higher, a great stillness fell upon the
+forest. The jaguars and the monkeys had hidden themselves in the
+darkest depths of the woods. The birds' notes died out one by one; the
+very butterflies ceased their flitting over the tree tops, and slept
+with outspread wings upon the glossy leaves, undistinguishable from
+the flowers around them. Now and then a parrot swung and screamed at
+them from an overhanging bough; or a thirsty monkey slid lazily down a
+swinging vine to the surface of the stream, dipped up the water in his
+tiny hand, and started chattering back, as his eyes met those of some
+foul alligator peering upward through the clear depths below.
+
+In shaded nooks beneath the boughs, rabbits as large as sheep went
+paddling sleepily round and round, thrusting up their unwieldy heads
+among the blooms of the blue water lilies; while black and purple
+water hens ran up and down upon the rafts of floating leaves. The
+shining snout of a fresh-water dolphin rose slowly to the surface; a
+jet of spray whirred up; a rainbow hung upon it for a moment; and the
+black snout sank lazily again.
+
+Here and there, too, upon some shallow pebbly shore, scarlet
+flamingoes stood dreaming knee-deep on one leg; crested cranes pranced
+up and down, admiring their own finery; and irises and egrets dipped
+their bills under water in search of prey; but before noon, even those
+had slipped away, and there reigned a stillness which might be
+heard--a stillness in which, as Humboldt says: "If beyond the silence
+we listen for the faintest undertones, we detect a stifled, continuous
+hum of insects, which crowd the air close to the earth; a confused
+swarming murmur which hangs round every bush, in the cracked bark of
+trees, in the soil undermined by lizards and bees; a voice proclaiming
+to us that all Nature breathes, that under a thousand different forms
+life swarms in the gaping and dusty earth, as much as in the bosom of
+the waters, and in the air which breathes around."
+
+At last a soft and distant murmur, increasing gradually to a heavy
+roar, announced that they were nearing some cataract; till, turning a
+point where the alluvial soil rose into a low cliff fringed with
+delicate ferns, they came in full sight of a scene at which all
+paused--not with astonishment, but with something very like disgust.
+
+"Rapids again!" grumbled one. "I thought we had had enough of them on
+the Orinoco!"
+
+"We shall have to get out, and draw the canoes overland, I suppose!"
+
+"There's worse behind; don't you see the spray behind the palms?"
+
+"Stop grumbling, my masters, and don't cry out before you are hurt.
+Paddle right up to the largest of those islands, and let us look about
+us."
+
+In front of them was a snow-white bar of foam, some ten feet high,
+along which were ranged three or four islands of black rock. Each was
+crested with a knot of lofty palms, whose green tops stood out clear
+against the bright sky, while the lower half of their stems loomed
+hazy through a luminous veil of rainbowed mist. The banks right and
+left of the fall were so densely fringed with a low hedge of shrubs
+that landing seemed almost impossible; and their Indian guide,
+suddenly looking round him and whispering, bade them beware of
+savages, and pointed to a canoe which lay swinging in the eddies under
+the largest island, moored apparently to the root of some tree.
+
+"Silence, all!" cried Amyas, "and paddle up thither and seize the
+canoe. If there be an Indian on the island, we will have speech of
+him. But mind, and treat him friendly; and on your lives, neither
+strike nor shoot, even if he offers to fight."
+
+So, choosing a line of smooth backwater just in the wake of the
+island, they drove their canoes up by main force, and fastened them
+safely by the side of the Indian's, while Amyas, always the foremost,
+sprang boldly on shore, whispering to the Indian boy to follow him.
+
+Once on the island, Amyas felt sure enough that, if its wild tenant
+had not seen them approach, he certainly had not heard them, so
+deafening was the noise which filled his brain, and which seemed to
+make the very leaves upon the bushes quiver and the solid stone
+beneath his feet reel and ring. For two hundred yards and more above
+the fall, nothing met his eye but one white waste of raging foam, with
+here and there a transverse dike of rock, which hurled columns of
+spray and surges of beaded water high into the air,--strangely
+contrasting with the still and silent cliffs of green leaves which
+walled the river right and left, and more strangely still with the
+knots of enormous palms upon the islets, which reared their polished
+shafts a hundred feet into the air, straight and upright as masts,
+while their broad plumes and golden-clustered fruit slept in the
+sunshine far aloft, the image of the stateliest repose amid the
+wildest wrath of Nature.
+
+Ten yards farther, the cataract fell sheer in thunder; but a high
+fern-fringed rock turned its force away from the beach. Here, if
+anywhere, was the place to find the owner of the canoe. He leaped down
+upon the pebbles; and as he did so, a figure rose from behind a
+neighboring rock, and met him face to face. It was an Indian girl.
+
+He spoke first, in some Indian tongue, gently and smilingly, and made
+a half-step forward; but quick as light she caught up from the ground
+a bow, and held it fiercely toward him, fitted with the long arrow,
+with which, as he could see, she had been striking fish, for a line of
+twisted grass hung from its barbed head. Amyas stopped, laid down his
+own bow and sword, and made another step in advance, smiling still,
+and making all Indian signs of amity. But the arrow was still pointed
+straight at his breast, and he knew the mettle and strength of the
+forest nymphs well enough to stand still and call for the Indian boy.
+
+[Illustration: A figure rose from behind a neighboring rock.]
+
+The boy, who had been peering from above, leaped down to them in a
+moment; and began, as the safest method, groveling on his nose upon
+the pebbles, while he tried two or three dialects, one of which at
+last she seemed to understand, and answered in a tone of evident
+suspicion and anger.
+
+"What does she say?"
+
+"That you are a Spaniard and a robber because you have a beard."
+
+"Tell her that we are no Spaniards, but that we hate them, and are
+come across the great waters to help the Indians to kill them."
+
+The boy had no sooner spoken, than, nimble as a deer, the nymph had
+sprung up the rocks, and darted between the palm stems to her own
+canoe. Suddenly she caught sight of the English boats, and stopped
+with a cry of fear and rage.
+
+"Let her pass!" shouted Amyas, who had followed her closely. "Push
+your boats off, and let her pass. Boy, tell her to go on; they will
+not come near her."
+
+But she hesitated still, and with arrow drawn to the head, faced first
+on the boat's crew, and then on Amyas, till the Englishmen had shoved
+off full twenty yards.
+
+Then, leaping into her tiny piragua, she darted into the wildest whirl
+of the eddies, shooting along with vigorous strokes, while the English
+trembled as they saw the frail bark spinning and leaping amid the
+muzzles of the alligators and the huge dog-toothed trout. But, with
+the swiftness of an arrow, she reached the northern bank, drove her
+canoe among the bushes, and, leaping from it, darted into the bush,
+and vanished like a dream.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The chief interest in the foregoing story lies, of course, in its
+faithful and glowing picture of scenery in the midst of a tropical
+forest. The learner should read it a second time and try to point out
+all the passages that are remarkable for their wealth of description.
+He should try to form in his mind an image of the sights and sounds
+that he would encounter in a voyage up the Meta River or any other of
+the tributaries of the Orinoco or the Amazon.
+
+
+
+
+THE FLAG OF OUR COUNTRY.
+
+
+I.
+
+There is the national flag. He must be cold indeed who can look upon
+its folds, rippling in the breeze, without pride of country. If he be
+in a foreign land, the flag is companionship and country itself, with
+all its endearments.
+
+Who, as he sees it, can think of a state merely? Whose eyes once
+fastened upon its radiant trophies, can fail to recognize the image of
+the whole nation? It has been called a "floating piece of poetry," and
+yet I know not if it have an intrinsic beauty beyond other ensigns.
+Its highest beauty is in what it symbolizes. It is because it
+represents all, that all gaze at it with delight and reverence.
+
+It is a piece of bunting lifted in the air; but it speaks sublimely,
+and every part has a voice. Its stripes of alternate red and white
+proclaim the original union of thirteen states to maintain the
+Declaration of Independence. Its stars of white on a field of blue
+proclaim that union of states constituting our national constellation,
+which receives a new star with every new state. The two together
+signify union past and present.
+
+The very colors have a language which was officially recognized by our
+fathers. White is for purity, red for valor, blue for justice; and
+altogether, bunting, stripes, stars, and colors, blazing in the sky,
+make the flag of our country to be cherished by all our hearts, to be
+upheld by all our hands.
+
+
+II.
+
+I have said enough and more than enough to manifest the spirit in
+which this flag is now committed to your charge. It is the national
+ensign, pure and simple, dearer to all hearts at this moment as we
+lift it to the gale, and see no other sign of hope upon the storm
+cloud which rolls and rattles above it, save that which is its own
+radiant hues--dearer, a thousand fold dearer to us all than ever it
+was before, while gilded by the sunshine of prosperity and playing
+with the zephyrs of peace. It will speak for itself far more
+eloquently than I can speak for it.
+
+Behold it! Listen to it! Every star has a tongue; every stripe is
+articulate. There is no speech nor language where their voices are not
+heard. There is magic in the web of it. It has an answer for every
+question of duty. It has a solution for every doubt and every
+perplexity. It has a word of good cheer for every hour of gloom or of
+despondency.
+
+Behold it! Listen to it! It speaks of earlier and of later struggles.
+It speaks of victories and sometimes of reverses, on the sea and on
+the land. It speaks of patriots and heroes among the living and among
+the dead; and of him, the first and greatest of them all, around whose
+consecrated ashes this unnatural and abhorrent strife has been so long
+raging. But, before all and above all other associations and
+memories,--whether of glorious men, or glorious deeds, or glorious
+places,--its voice is ever of Union and Liberty, of the Constitution
+and of the Laws.
+
+  --_Robert C. Winthrop._
+
+
+
+
+THE HIGH TIDE ON THE COAST OF LINCOLNSHIRE--1571.
+
+
+    The old mayor climbed the belfry tower,
+      The ringers ran by two, by three:--
+    "Pull, if ye never pulled before,
+      Good ringers, pull your best," quoth he.
+    "Play up, play up, O Boston bells!
+    Ply all your changes, all your swells;
+    Play up 'The Brides of Enderby'!"
+
+[Illustration: Jean Ingelow.]
+
+    Men say it was a stolen tide;
+      The Lord that sent it, he knows all;
+    But in mine ears doth still abide
+      The message that the bells let fall:
+    And there was naught of strange, beside
+    The flights of mews and peewits pied
+      By millions crouched on the old sea wall.
+
+    I sat and spun within the door,
+      My thread brake off, I raised mine eyes;
+    The level sun, like ruddy ore,
+      Lay sinking in the barren skies,
+    And dark against day's golden death
+    She moved where Lindis wandereth,
+    My son's fair wife, Elizabeth.
+
+    "Cusha! Cusha! Cusha!" calling,
+    Ere the early dews were falling,
+    Far away I heard her song.
+    "Cusha! Cusha!" all along,
+    Where the reedy Lindis floweth,
+        Floweth, floweth;
+    From the meads where melick groweth
+    Faintly came her milking song,
+
+    "Cusha! Cusha! Cusha!" calling,
+    "For the dews will soon be falling;
+    Leave your meadow grasses mellow,
+        Mellow, mellow;
+    Quit your cowslips, cowslips yellow;
+    Come up, Whitefoot, come up, Lightfoot;
+    Quit the stalks of parsley hollow,
+        Hollow, hollow;
+    Come up, Jetty, rise and follow,
+    From the clovers lift your head;
+    Come up, Whitefoot, come up, Lightfoot,
+    Come up, Jetty, rise and follow,
+    Jetty, to the milking shed."
+
+    If it be long, ay, long ago,
+        When I begin to think how long,
+    Again I hear the Lindis flow,
+        Swift as an arrow, sharp and strong;
+    And all the air, it seemeth me,
+    Is full of floating bells (saith she),
+    That ring the tune of Enderby.
+
+    All fresh the level pasture lay,
+        And not a shadow might be seen,
+    Save where full five good miles away
+        The steeple towered from out the green.
+    And lo! the great bell far and wide
+    Was heard in all the country side
+    That Saturday at eventide.
+
+    The swanherds where their sedges are
+        Moved on in sunset's golden breath,
+    The shepherd lads I heard afar,
+        And my son's wife, Elizabeth;
+    Till floating o'er the grassy sea
+    Came down that kindly message free,
+    The "Brides of Mavis Enderby."
+
+    Then some looked up into the sky,
+      And all along where Lindis flows
+    To where the goodly vessels lie,
+      And where the lordly steeple shows.
+    They said, "And why should this thing be?
+    What danger lowers by land or sea?
+    They ring the tune of Enderby!
+
+    "For evil news from Mablethorpe,
+      Of pirate galleys warping down;
+    For ships ashore beyond the scorpe,
+      They have not spared to wake the town:
+    But while the west is red to see,
+    And storms be none, and pirates flee,
+    Why ring 'The Brides of Enderby'?"
+
+    I looked without, and lo! my son
+      Came riding down with might and main;
+    He raised a shout as he drew on,
+      Till all the welkin rang again,
+    "Elizabeth! Elizabeth!"
+    (A sweeter woman ne'er drew breath
+    Than my son's wife, Elizabeth.)
+
+    "The old sea wall," he cried, "is down,
+      The rising tide comes on apace,
+    And boats adrift in yonder town
+      Go sailing up the market place."
+    He shook as one that looks on death:
+    "God save you, mother!" straight he saith,
+    "Where is my wife, Elizabeth?"
+
+    "Good son, where Lindis winds away,
+      With her two bairns I marked her long;
+    And ere yon bells began to play,
+      Afar I heard her milking song."
+    He looked across the grassy lea,
+    To right, to left, "Ho, Enderby!"
+    They rang "The Brides of Enderby!"
+
+    With that he cried and beat his breast;
+      For, lo! along the river's bed
+    A mighty eygre reared his crest,
+      And up the Lindis raging sped.
+    It swept with thunderous noises loud;
+    Shaped like a curling snow-white cloud,
+    Or like a demon in a shroud.
+
+    And rearing Lindis backward pressed
+      Shook all her trembling banks amain;
+    Then madly at the eygre's breast
+      Flung up her weltering walls again.
+    Then banks came down with ruin and rout--
+    Then beaten foam flew round about--
+    Then all the mighty floods were out.
+
+    So far, so fast the eygre drave,
+      The heart had hardly time to beat
+    Before a shallow seething wave
+      Sobbed in the grasses at our feet;
+    The feet had hardly time to flee
+    Before it brake against the knee,
+    And all the world was in the sea.
+
+    Upon the roof we sat that night,
+      The noise of bells went sweeping by;
+    I marked the lofty beacon light
+      Stream from the church tower, red and high--
+    A lurid mark and dread to see;
+    And awesome bells they were to me,
+    That in the dark rang "Enderby."
+
+    They rang the sailor lads to guide
+      From roof to roof who fearless rowed;
+    And I--my son was at my side,
+      And yet the ruddy beacon glowed;
+    And yet he moaned beneath his breath,
+    "Oh, come in life, or come in death!
+    Oh lost! my love Elizabeth."
+
+    And didst thou visit him no more?
+      Thou didst, thou didst, my daughter dear;
+    The waters laid thee at his door,
+      Ere yet the early dawn was clear.
+    Thy pretty bairns in fast embrace,
+    The lifted sun shone on thy face,
+    Down drifted to thy dwelling place.
+
+    That flow strewed wrecks about the grass,
+      That ebb swept out the flocks to sea;
+    A fatal ebb and flow, alas!
+      To many more than mine and me:
+    But each will mourn his own (she saith),
+    And sweeter woman ne'er drew breath
+    Than my son's wife, Elizabeth.
+
+    I shall never hear her more
+    By the reedy Lindis shore,
+    "Cusha! Cusha! Cusha!" calling,
+    Ere the early dews be falling;
+    I shall never hear her song,
+    "Cusha! Cusha!" all along
+    Where the sunny Lindis floweth,
+      Goeth, floweth;
+    From the meads where melick groweth,
+    Where the water winding down,
+    Onward floweth to the town.
+
+    I shall never see her more
+    Where the reeds and rushes quiver,
+      Shiver, quiver;
+    Stand beside the sobbing river,
+    Sobbing, throbbing, in its falling
+    To the sandy, lonesome shore;
+    I shall never hear her calling,
+    "Leave your meadow grasses mellow,
+      Mellow, mellow;
+    Quit your cowslips, cowslips yellow;
+    Come up, Whitefoot, come up, Lightfoot;
+    Quit your pipes of parsley hollow,
+      Hollow, hollow;
+    Come up, Lightfoot, rise and follow;
+      Lightfoot, Whitefoot,
+    From your clovers lift the head;
+    Come up, Jetty, follow, follow,
+    Jetty, to the milking shed."
+
+  --_Jean Ingelow._
+
+
+
+
+THE STORY OF THOMAS BECKET.
+
+
+I. HIS LIFE.
+
+Henry II. began his reign over England in the year 1154, and he was
+the mightiest king that had yet sat upon the throne. He had vast
+possessions. All England and nearly half of France were his, and he
+was well able to rule over them and keep them in order.
+
+He was a short, stout, reddish-haired man, with a face well-tanned by
+exposure to the wind and the sun. His legs were bowed by constant
+riding. Ever busy at something, he rarely sat down, except at meals;
+and there was plenty of work for him to do.
+
+In the early years of his reign his chief friend and servant was
+Thomas Becket, who was a clever and handsome man. He knew well how to
+please the king by sharing in his amusements, and by helping him in
+the great work of keeping order among his barons and knights.
+
+When Becket was a young man he was out hunting, one day, with his pet
+hawk upon his wrist. Riding carelessly along, he came to a narrow
+wooden bridge, which crossed a stream close to a mill. When in the
+middle of the bridge his horse stumbled, and Becket, horse, and hawk
+were thrown into the water.
+
+The horse at once swam to the bank. So did Becket, but, upon looking
+back, he saw his hawk struggling in the middle of the stream. Its
+straps had become entangled about its feet and wings, and the bird was
+helpless. Although the stream was running swiftly to the great
+mill-wheel, Becket turned round and swam back to save the hawk.
+
+By this time the current had carried him very near to the wheel, and
+in another moment both man and bird must have been crushed to death.
+But just then the miller saw the danger and stopped the mill. Becket
+climbed out of the water with the bird in his hand, seeming not at all
+frightened because of the danger which he had escaped. During his
+entire life he had many trials and was opposed by many enemies; but he
+faced them all as fearlessly as he had risked drowning in order to
+save his hawk.
+
+King Henry made Becket his chancellor, that is his chief minister, and
+gave him much wealth. Becket lived in great splendor in a fine palace.
+He was so hospitable that he kept an open table, at which all were
+free to come and feast when they chose. His clothes were the finest
+and gayest that could be made, and wherever he went he took with him
+troops of friends and servants.
+
+Once, when he was sent to France to settle a dispute with the French
+king, he traveled with such a large train of followers that the people
+were filled with wonder. We can picture the procession entering a
+quiet country town.
+
+"First came two hundred boys singing quaint songs or glees. Then
+followed great hounds with their keepers, behind whom were wagons
+guarded by fierce English mastiffs. One of the wagons was laden with
+beer to be given away to the people who might render any help on the
+road.
+
+"Then came twelve horses, upon each of which sat a monkey and a groom.
+After all these there followed a vast company of knights and squires
+and priests, riding two and two.
+
+"Last of all came Becket and a few friends, with whom he talked by the
+way." We can imagine the wonder of the French people at so fine, yet
+strange, a show. We can hear them exclaim, "What kind of a man must
+the king of England be, when his chancellor can travel in such state!"
+
+At this time the Church in England possessed great power and wealth.
+It was the safeguard that stood between the people and the greed and
+cruelty of their rulers. It was the protector of the poor, and the
+friend of the oppressed; and even the king was obliged to obey its
+commands.
+
+King Henry was jealous of the influence of the Church. He resolved
+that, having already reduced the power of the barons, he would now
+reduce the power of the Church. And among all his faithful men, who
+would be more likely to help him in such business than his friend
+Becket, who had hitherto been his ablest assistant in every undertaking?
+
+[Illustration: Thomas Becket. (From an Old Painting.)]
+
+It happened about this time that the Archbishop of Canterbury, the
+highest officer of the Church in England, died. This event was very
+pleasing to Henry, and through his influence the Pope appointed Thomas
+Becket to be the new archbishop.
+
+Becket had hitherto been faithful to Henry in all things, but he now
+felt that his first duty was to the Church, and he resolved to defend
+its rights, even though he should displease the king. He changed
+entirely the manner of his life. Instead of his splendid clothes, he
+wore a monk's dress and a hair shirt next to his skin. He tried, as
+people understood it in those times, to carry out the teachings of his
+Lord and Master; and every day he waited upon a number of poor men
+and washed their feet. Instead of gay knights only good and pious men
+sat at his table. He gave up his chancellorship, and told the king
+plainly that he would resist all attempts to take away the rights of
+the Church.
+
+Many were the quarrels after that between the king and the archbishop.
+At one time, in a fit of rage, Henry cried out: "I will not be
+preached at by you. Are you not the son of one of my clowns?"
+
+"It is true," replied the archbishop, "I am not descended from ancient
+kings, but neither was the blessed Peter to whom were given the keys
+of the kingdom of heaven."
+
+"But Peter," said the king, "died for his Lord."
+
+"And I, too, will die for my Lord," said Becket, "when the time shall
+come."
+
+And it was not long till the time did come. Upon hearing some hasty,
+angry words from the king, four knights set out to Canterbury,
+determined to kill Becket, and thus not only put an end to the long
+quarrel but win the king's favor for themselves.
+
+  --_Anonymous._
+
+
+II. HIS DEATH.
+
+The vespers had already begun, and the monks were singing the service
+in the choir, when two boys rushed up the nave, announcing, more by
+their terrified gestures than by their words, that the soldiers were
+bursting into the palace and monastery. Instantly the service was
+thrown into the utmost confusion; part remained at prayer, part fled
+into the numerous hiding places the vast fabric affords; and part
+went down the steps of the choir into the transept to meet the little
+band at the door.
+
+"Come in, come in!" exclaimed one of them. "Come in, and let us die
+together."
+
+The Archbishop continued to stand outside, and said: "Go and finish
+the service. So long as you keep in the entrance, I shall not come
+in." They fell back a few paces, and he stepped within the door, but,
+finding the whole place thronged with people, he paused on the
+threshold, and asked, "What is it that these people fear?" One general
+answer broke forth, "The armed men in the cloister." As he turned and
+said, "I shall go out to them," he heard the clash of arms behind. The
+knights had just forced their way into the cloister, and were now (as
+would appear from their being thus seen through the open door)
+advancing along its southern side. They were in mail, which covered
+their faces up to their eyes, and carried their swords drawn. Three
+had hatchets. Fitzurse, with the ax he had taken from the carpenters,
+was foremost, shouting as he came, "Here, here, king's men!"
+Immediately behind him followed Robert Fitzranulph, with three other
+knights; and a motley group--some their own followers, some from the
+town--with weapons, though not in armor, brought up the rear. At this
+sight, so unwonted in the peaceful cloisters of Canterbury, not
+probably beheld since the time when the monastery had been sacked by
+the Danes, the monks within, regardless of all remonstrances, shut the
+door of the cathedral, and proceeded to barricade it with iron bars. A
+loud knocking was heard from the band without, who, having vainly
+endeavored to prevent the entrance of the knights into the cloister,
+now rushed before them to take refuge in the church. Becket, who had
+stepped some paces into the cathedral, but was resisting the
+solicitations of those immediately about him to move up into the choir
+for safety, darted back, calling aloud as he went, "Away, you cowards!
+By virtue of your obedience I command you not to shut the door--the
+church must not be turned into a castle." With his own hands he thrust
+them away from the door, opened it himself, and catching hold of the
+excluded monks, dragged them into the building, exclaiming, "Come in,
+come in--faster, faster!"
+
+[Illustration:
+
+  From a Photograph.      Engraved by Charles Meeder.
+
+  Canterbury Cathedral.
+]
+
+The knights, who had been checked for a moment by the sight of the
+closed door, on seeing it unexpectedly thrown open, rushed into the
+church. It was, we must remember, about five o'clock in a winter
+evening; the shades of night were gathering, and were deepened into a
+still darker gloom within the high and massive walls of the vast
+cathedral, which was only illuminated here and there by the solitary
+lamps burning before the altars. The twilight, lengthening from the
+shortest day a fortnight before, was but just sufficient to reveal the
+outline of objects.
+
+In the dim twilight they could just discern a group of figures
+mounting the steps of the eastern staircase. One of the knights called
+out to them, "Stay." Another, "Where is Thomas Becket, traitor to the
+king?" No answer was returned. None could have been expected by any
+one who remembered the indignant silence with which Becket had swept
+by when the same words had been applied by Randulf of Broc at
+Northampton. Fitzurse rushed forward, and, stumbling against one of
+the monks on the lower step, still not able to distinguish clearly in
+the darkness, exclaimed, "Where is the Archbishop?" Instantly the
+answer came: "Reginald, here I am, no traitor, but the archbishop and
+priest of God; what do you wish?" and from the fourth step, which he
+had reached in his ascent, with a slight motion of his head--noticed
+apparently as his peculiar manner in moments of excitement--Becket
+descended to the transept. Attired, we are told, in his white rochet,
+with a cloak and hood thrown over his shoulders, he thus suddenly
+confronted his assailants. Fitzurse sprang back two or three paces,
+and Becket passing by him took up his station between the central
+pillar and the massive wall which still forms the southwest corner of
+what was then the chapel of St. Benedict. Here they gathered round
+him, with the cry, "Absolve the bishops whom you have excommunicated."
+"I cannot do other than I have done," he replied, and turning to
+Fitzurse, he added, "Reginald, you have received many favors at my
+hands; why do you come into my church armed?" Fitzurse planted the ax
+against his breast, and returned for answer, "You shall die--I will
+tear out your heart." Another, perhaps in kindness, struck him between
+the shoulders with the flat of his sword, exclaiming, "Fly; you are a
+dead man." "I am ready to die," replied the primate, "for God and the
+Church; but I warn you, I curse you in the name of God Almighty, if
+you do not let my men escape."
+
+The well-known horror which in that age was felt at an act of
+sacrilege, together with the sight of the crowds who were rushing in
+from the town through the nave, turned their efforts for the next few
+moments to carrying him out of the church. Fitzurse threw down the ax,
+and tried to drag him out by the collar of his long cloak, calling,
+"Come with us--you are our prisoner." "I will not fly, you detestable
+fellow," was Becket's reply, roused to his usual vehemence, and
+wrenching the cloak out of Fitzurse's grasp. The three knights
+struggled violently to put him on Tracy's shoulders. Becket set his
+back against the pillar, and resisted with all his might, whilst Grim,
+vehemently remonstrating, threw his arms around him to aid his
+efforts. In the scuffle, Becket fastened upon Tracy, shook him by his
+coat of mail, and exerting his great strength flung him down on the
+pavement. It was hopeless to carry on the attempt to remove him. And
+in the final struggle which now began, Fitzurse, as before, took the
+lead. He approached with his drawn sword, and waving it over his head,
+cried, "Strike, strike!" but merely dashed off his cap. Tracy sprang
+forward and struck a more decided blow.
+
+The blood from the first blow was trickling down his face in a thin
+streak; he wiped it with his arm, and when he saw the stain, he said,
+"Into thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit." At the third blow, he
+sank on his knees--his arms falling, but his hands still joined as if
+in prayer. With his face turned towards the altar of St. Benedict, he
+murmured in a low voice, "For the name of Jesus, and the defense of
+the Church, I am willing to die." Without moving hand or foot, he
+fell flat on his face as he spoke. In this posture he received a
+tremendous blow, aimed with such violence that the scalp or crown of
+the head was severed from the skull. "Let us go--let us go," said Hugh
+of Horsea, "the traitor is dead; he will rise no more."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The life of Thomas Becket, and his tragic death, have furnished themes
+for many noble contributions to English literature. Arthur Penrhyn
+Stanley, Dean of Westminster, has written of him, in a very impartial
+and trustworthy manner, in his "Historical Memoirs of Canterbury" from
+which the above extract is taken. The poet Tennyson, late in life,
+composed a tragedy entitled "Becket" which portrays in a vivid,
+poetical manner the most striking scenes in the career of the great
+archbishop. James Anthony Froude, in "Short Stories on Great
+Subjects," has written a charming and instructive essay on the "Life
+and Times of Thomas Becket"; and Professor Freeman has presented us
+with a similar historical study in his "Saint Thomas of Canterbury."
+It may also be observed that Chaucer's immortal work, "The Canterbury
+Tales," depends for its connecting thread upon the once general custom
+of making pilgrimages to the tomb of Becket.
+
+[Illustration: Dean Stanley.]
+
+
+
+
+THE PILGRIMS. (1620.)
+
+
+Methinks I see one solitary, adventurous vessel, the "Mayflower," of a
+forlorn hope, freighted with the prospects of a future state, and bound
+across the unknown sea. I behold it pursuing, with a thousand
+misgivings, the uncertain, the tedious voyage. Suns rise and set, and
+weeks and months pass, and winter surprises them on the deep, but brings
+them not the sight of the wished-for shore. I see them now, scantily
+supplied with provisions, crowded almost to suffocation, in their
+ill-stored prison, delayed by calms, pursuing a circuitous route,--and
+now, driven in fury before the raging tempest, on the high and giddy
+waves. The awful voice of the storm brawls through the rigging.
+
+[Illustration: Edward Everett.]
+
+The laboring masts seem straining from their base; the dismal sound of
+the pumps is heard; the ship leaps, as it were, madly, from billow to
+billow; the ocean breaks, and settles with engulfing floods over the
+floating deck, and beats with deadening, shivering weight, against the
+staggering vessel.
+
+I see them escape from these perils, pursuing their all but desperate
+undertaking, and landed at last, after a five months' passage, on the
+ice-clad rocks of Plymouth,--weak and weary from the voyage, poorly
+armed, scantily provisioned, without shelter, without means,
+surrounded by hostile tribes.
+
+Shut now the volume of history, and tell me, on any principle of human
+probability, what shall be the fate of this handful of adventurers?
+Tell me, man of military science, in how many months were they all
+swept off by the thirty savage tribes, enumerated within the early
+limits of New England?
+
+Tell me, politician, how long did a shadow of a colony on which your
+conventions and treaties had not smiled, languish on the distant
+coast? Student of history, compare for me the baffled projects, the
+deserted settlements, the abandoned adventures of other times, and
+find the parallel of this.
+
+Was it the winter's storm, beating upon the houseless heads of women
+and children? was it hard labor and spare meals? was it disease? was
+it the tomahawk? was it the deep malady of a blighted hope, a ruined
+enterprise, and a broken heart, aching in its last moments at the
+recollection of the loved and left, beyond the sea? was it some, or
+all of these united, that hurried this forsaken company to their
+melancholy fate?
+
+And is it possible, that neither of these causes, that not all
+combined, were able to blast this bud of hope? Is it possible, that
+from a beginning so feeble, so frail, so worthy not so much of
+admiration as of pity, there has gone forth a progress so steady, a
+growth so wonderful, an expansion so ample, a reality so important, a
+promise, yet to be fulfilled, so glorious?
+
+  --_Edward Everett._
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration:
+
+  From the Painting by A. W. Bayes.      Engraved by E. Heinemann.
+
+  The Departure of the Mayflower.
+]
+
+THE LANDING OF THE PILGRIMS.
+
+(1620.)
+
+
+    The breaking waves dashed high
+      On a stern and rock-bound coast,
+    And the trees against a stormy sky,
+      Their giant branches tossed.
+
+    And the heavy night hung dark
+      The hills and waters o'er,
+    When a band of exiles moored their bark
+      On the wild New England shore.
+
+    Not as the conqueror comes,
+      They, the true-hearted, came;
+    Not with the roll of the stirring drums,
+      And the trumpet that sings of fame.
+
+    Not as the flying come,
+      In silence and in fear;
+    They shook the depths of the desert gloom
+      With their hymns of lofty cheer.
+
+    Amidst the storm they sang,
+      And the stars heard, and the sea:
+    And the sounding aisles of the dim woods rang
+      To the anthem of the free!
+
+    The ocean eagle soared
+      From his nest by the white wave's foam:
+    And the rocking pines of the forest roared,--
+      This was their welcome home!
+
+    There were men with hoary hair,
+      Amidst that pilgrim band;
+    Why had _they_ come to wither there,
+      Away from their childhood's land?
+
+    There was woman's fearless eye,
+      Lit by her deep love's truth;
+    There was manhood's brow serenely high,
+      And the fiery heart of youth.
+
+    What sought they thus afar?
+      Bright jewels of the mine?
+    The wealth of seas, the spoils of war?--
+      They sought a faith's pure shrine!
+
+    Ay! call it holy ground,
+      The soil where first they trod:
+    They have left unstained what there they found,
+      Freedom to worship God.
+
+  --_Felicia Hemans._
+
+
+
+
+    Patriots have toiled, and in their country's cause
+    Bled nobly; and their deeds, as they deserve
+    Receive proud recompense. We give in charge
+    Their names to the sweet lyre. The historic Muse,
+    Proud of the treasure, marches with it down
+    To latest times; and Sculpture, in her turn,
+    Gives bond in stone and ever-during brass
+    To guard them, and to immortalize her trust.
+
+  --_William Cowper._
+
+
+
+
+THE ROBIN.
+
+
+The robin is perhaps the best known of all our birds. The name is so
+prominent in children's stories, in folklore, in poetry, and in
+general literature, that even town children who have never seen the
+bird know it by name; but to many grown people, even those who have
+lived all their lives in the country, the robin is not familiar as a
+winter bird. It is known to come and go, it is true, but is supposed
+to be merely in transit, and just where the observer happens to be is
+not its abiding place. This impression is due to lack of observation,
+for the birds are as well disposed towards your thicket and cedar
+trees as those of some far-off neighbor.
+
+This crystal-clear, cold January day, with the mercury almost at zero,
+I found the robins on the south hillside, and seldom have they shown
+to better advantage. One was perched in a sapling beech to which the
+leaves still clung. It chirped at times so that its companions could
+hear it, and was answered by them, as well as by the nuthatches, a
+tree creeper, some sparrows, and a winter wren.
+
+It was a cozy, warm spot wherein these birds had gathered, which,
+strangely enough, was filled with music even when every bird was mute.
+This robin was half concealed among the crisp beech leaves, and
+these--not the birds about them--were singing. The breeze caused them
+to tremble violently, and their thin edges were as harp strings, the
+wiry sound produced being smoothed by the crisp rattling caused by the
+leaves' rapid contact with each other.
+
+It was much like the click of butterflies' wings, but greatly
+exaggerated. A simple sound, but a sweet, wholesome one that made me
+think less of the winter's rigor and recalled the recent warm autumnal
+days. They were singing leaves, and the robin watched them closely as
+he stood near by, and chirped at times, as if to encourage them.
+Altogether it made a pretty picture, one of those that human skill has
+not yet transferred to a printed page; and our winter sunshine is full
+of just such beauty.
+
+How incomprehensible it is that any one should speak of the _few_
+robins that venture to remain! Flocks of a hundred or more are not
+uncommon in the depth of winter, and this recalls the fact that at
+this time of year robins are never alone. It may appear so for a time,
+but when the bird you are watching is ready to move on, his call will
+be answered by others that you have not seen, and half a dozen at
+least will fly off to new scenes.
+
+This is often noticed on a much larger scale when we flush robins in a
+field. They are generally widely scattered, and, go where you will,
+there will be one or two hopping before you; but when one takes alarm,
+the danger cry is heard by all, and a great flock will gather in the
+air in an incredibly short time.
+
+Robins are not lovers of frozen ground; they know where the earth
+resists frost, down in the marshy meadows, and there they congregate
+in the dreary midwinter afternoons, after spending the morning feeding
+upon berries. I have seen them picking those of the cedar, poison ivy,
+green brier, and even the seedy, withered fruit of the poke; but at
+times this question of food supply must be a difficult problem to
+solve, and then they leave us for a while, until pleasanter weather
+prevails, when they venture back.
+
+In April, when the chill of winter is no longer in its bones, the
+robin becomes prominent, and the more so because of the noise it
+makes. It sings fairly well, and early in the morning there is a world
+of suggestiveness in the ringing notes. The song is loud, declamatory,
+and acceptable more for the pleasant thoughts it occasions than for
+the actual melody. We are always glad to hear the robins, but never
+for the same reason that we listen to a wood thrush. Of course there
+are exceptions.
+
+With the close of the nesting season--and this extends well into the
+summer--much of the attractiveness of the bird disappears. As
+individual members of great loose flocks that fret the upper air with
+an incessant chirping, they offer little to entertain us even when the
+less hardy minstrels of the summer have sought their southern homes.
+
+It is true that they add something to the picture of a dreamy October
+afternoon when the mellow sunlight tips the wilted grasses with dull
+gold. They restore for the time the summertide activity of the meadows
+when with golden-winged woodpeckers they chase the crickets in the
+close-cropped pastures, but they are soon forgotten if a song sparrow
+sings or a wary hawk screams among the clouds. Robins are always
+welcome, but never more so than when they chatter, on an April
+morning, of the near future with its buds and blossoms.
+
+  --_From "Bird-Land Echoes," by Charles Conrad Abbott._
+
+
+
+
+THE MOTIONS OF BIRDS.
+
+
+A good ornithologist should be able to distinguish birds by their air
+as well as by their colors and shape, on the wing as well as on the
+ground; and in the bush as well as in the hand. For though it must not
+be said that every species of bird has a manner peculiar to itself,
+yet there is somewhat in most _genera_, at least, that at first sight
+discriminates them, and enables a judicious observer to pronounce upon
+them with some certainty.
+
+Thus kites and buzzards sail round in circles with wings expanded and
+motionless; and it is from their gliding manner that the former are
+still called in the north of England gleads, from the Saxon verb
+_glidan_, to glide. Hen harriers fly low over the meadows or fields of
+corn, and beat the ground regularly like a pointer or setting dog.
+Owls move in a buoyant manner, as if lighter than the air; they seem
+to want ballast.
+
+There is a peculiarity belonging to ravens that must draw the
+attention even of the most incurious--they spend all their leisure
+time in striking and cuffing each other on the wing in a kind of
+playful skirmish; and, when they move from one place to another,
+frequently turn on their backs with a loud croak, and seem to be
+falling to the ground. When this odd gesture betides them, they are
+scratching themselves with one foot, and thus lose the center of
+gravity. Rooks sometimes dive and tumble in a frolicsome manner; crows
+and daws swagger in their walk; woodpeckers fly with a wavy motion,
+opening and closing their wings at every stroke, and so are always
+rising or falling in curves. All of this genus use their tails, which
+incline downward, as a support while they run up trees. Parrots, like
+all other hooked-clawed birds, walk awkwardly, and make use of their
+bill as a third foot, climbing and descending with ridiculous caution.
+
+All the gallinæ parade and walk gracefully, and run nimbly, but fly
+with difficulty, with an impetuous whirring, and in a straight line.
+Magpies and jays flutter with powerless wings, and make no dispatch;
+herons seem encumbered with too much sail for their light bodies, but
+these vast hollow wings are necessary in carrying burdens, such as
+large fishes, and the like; pigeons, and particularly the sort called
+smiters, have a way of clashing their wings, the one against the
+other, over their backs with a loud snap; another variety, called
+tumblers, turn themselves over in the air.
+
+The kingfisher darts along like an arrow; fern owls, or goatsuckers,
+glance in the dusk over the tops of trees like a meteor; swallows
+sweep over the surface of the ground and water, and distinguish
+themselves by rapid turns and quick evolutions; swifts dash round in
+circles; and the bank martin moves with frequent vacillations like a
+butterfly.
+
+Most small birds hop; but wagtails and larks walk, moving their legs
+alternately. All the duck kind waddle; divers and auks walk as if
+fettered, and stand erect, on their tails. Geese and cranes, and most
+wild fowls, move in figured flights, often changing their position.
+
+  --_From "The Natural History of Selbourne," by Gilbert White._
+
+
+
+
+THE ORIGIN OF RIVERS.
+
+
+Let us trace a river to its source. Beginning where it empties itself
+into the sea, and following it backwards, we find it from time to time
+joined by tributaries which swell its waters. The river of course
+becomes smaller as these tributaries are passed. It shrinks first to a
+brook, then to a stream; this again divides itself into a number of
+smaller streamlets, ending in mere threads of water. These constitute
+the source of the river, and are usually found among hills.
+
+Thus, the Severn has its source in the Welsh mountains; the Thames in
+the Cotswold Hills; the Missouri in the Rocky Mountains; and the
+Amazon in the Andes of Peru.
+
+[Illustration: John Tyndall.]
+
+But it is quite plain that we have not yet reached the real beginning
+of the rivers. Whence do the earliest streams derive their water? A
+brief residence among the mountains would prove to you that they are
+fed by rains. In dry weather you would find the streams feeble,
+sometimes, indeed, quite dried up. In wet weather you would see them
+foaming torrents. In general these streams lose themselves as little
+threads of water upon the hillsides; but sometimes you may trace a
+river to a definite spring. But you very soon assure yourself that
+such springs are also fed by rain, which has percolated through the
+rocks or soil, and which, through some orifice that it has found or
+formed, comes to the light of day.
+
+But we can not end here. Whence comes the rain that forms the mountain
+streams? Observation enables you to answer the question. Rain does not
+come from a clear sky. It comes from clouds.
+
+But what are clouds? Is there nothing you are acquainted with which
+they resemble? You discover at once a likeness between them and the
+condensed steam of a locomotive. At every puff of the engine a cloud
+is projected into the air.
+
+Watch the cloud sharply. You notice that it first forms at a little
+distance from the top of the funnel. Give close attention and you will
+sometimes see a perfectly clear space between the funnel and the
+cloud. Through that clear space the thing which makes the cloud must
+pass. What then is this thing which at one moment is transparent and
+invisible, and at the next moment visible as a dense opaque cloud?
+
+It is the _steam_ or _vapor of water_ from the boiler. Within the
+boiler this steam is transparent and invisible; but to keep it in this
+invisible state a heat would be required as great as that within the
+boiler. When the vapor mingles with the cold air above the hot funnel,
+it ceases to be vapor. Every bit of steam shrinks, when chilled, to a
+much more minute particle of water. The liquid particles thus produced
+form a kind of _water dust_ of exceeding fineness, which floats in the
+air, and is called a _cloud_.
+
+Watch the cloud banner from the funnel of a running locomotive: you
+see it growing gradually less dense. It finally melts away altogether,
+and, if you continue your observations, you will not fail to notice
+that the speed of its disappearance depends on the character of the
+day. In moist weather the cloud hangs long and lazily in the air; in
+dry weather it is rapidly licked up. What has become of it? It has
+been reconverted into true invisible vapor. The _drier_ the air, and
+the _hotter_ the air, the greater is the amount of cloud which can be
+thus dissolved in it.
+
+Make the lid of a kettle air-tight, and permit the steam to issue from
+the spout; a cloud is formed in all respects similar to that which
+issues from the funnel of the locomotive. To produce the cloud, in the
+case of the locomotive and the kettle, _heat_ is necessary. By heating
+the water we first convert it into steam, and then by chilling the
+steam we convert it into cloud. Is there any fire in nature which
+produces the clouds of our atmosphere? There is--the fire of the sun.
+
+By tracing the course of a river, we find that both its beginning and
+its ending are in the sea. All its water is derived from the sea, and to
+the sea it returns its floods. But if we seek for its causes, we find
+that its beginning and its ending are in the sun. For it is the fire of
+the sun that produces the clouds from which the water of the river is
+derived, and it is the same fire of the sun that dries up its stream.
+
+  --_Adapted from "Forms of Water in Clouds and Rivers,"
+  by John Tyndall._
+
+
+
+
+ADDRESS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN
+
+AT THE DEDICATION OF GETTYSBURG CEMETERY, THE 19TH OF NOVEMBER, 1863.
+
+
+Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this
+continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the
+proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a
+great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so
+conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great
+battlefield of the war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that
+field as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives
+that their nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that
+we should do this.
+
+[Illustration: Abraham Lincoln.]
+
+But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate, we can not consecrate, we
+can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who
+struggled here, have consecrated it far above our power to add or
+detract. The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say
+here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us, the
+living, rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they
+who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to
+be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us--that from these
+honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they
+gave the last full measure of devotion--that we here highly resolve that
+these dead shall not have died in vain--that this nation, under God,
+shall have a new birth of freedom--and that government of the people, by
+the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
+
+
+
+
+THE AMERICAN FLAG.
+
+
+    When Freedom, from her mountain height,
+      Unfurled her standard to the air,
+    She tore the azure robe of night,
+      And set the stars of glory there;
+    She mingled with its gorgeous dyes
+    The milky baldric of the skies,
+    And striped its pure, celestial white
+    With streakings of the morning light;
+    Then from his mansion in the sun
+    She called her eagle bearer down,
+    And gave into his mighty hand
+    The symbol of her chosen land.
+
+[Illustration: Joseph Rodman Drake.]
+
+    Flag of the brave! thy folds shall fly,
+    The sign of hope and triumph high!
+    When speaks the signal trumpet tone,
+    And the long line comes gleaming on
+    (Ere yet the life blood, warm and wet,
+    Has dimmed the glistening bayonet),
+    Each soldier's eye shall brightly turn
+    To where thy sky-born glories burn,
+    And as his springing steps advance,
+    Catch war and vengeance from thy glance.
+    And when the cannon mouthings loud
+    Heave in wild wreaths the battle shroud,
+    And gory sabers rise and fall,
+    Like shoots of flame on midnight's pall,
+    Then shall thy meteor glances glow,
+      And cowering foes shall sink beneath
+    Each gallant arm that strikes below
+      That lovely messenger of death.
+    Flag of the seas! on ocean's wave
+    Thy stars shall glitter o'er the brave;
+    When death, careering on the gale,
+    Sweeps darkly round the bellied sail,
+    And frighted waves rush wildly back
+    Before the broadside's reeling rack,
+    Each dying wanderer of the sea
+    Shall look at once to heaven and thee,
+    And smile to see thy splendors fly
+    In triumph o'er his closing eye.
+
+    Flag of the free heart's hope and home,
+      By angel hands to valor given,
+    Thy stars have lit the welkin dome,
+      And all thy hues were born in heaven.
+    Forever float that standard sheet!
+      Where breathes the foe, but falls before us,
+    With Freedom's soil beneath our feet,
+      And Freedom's banner streaming o'er us!
+
+  --_Joseph Rodman Drake._
+
+
+
+
+THE LAST FIGHT IN THE COLISEUM, A.D. 404.
+
+[Illustration: Charlotte M. Yonge.]
+
+
+The grandest and most renowned of all ancient amphitheaters is the
+Coliseum at Rome. It was built by Vespasian and his son Titus, the
+conquerors of Jerusalem, in a valley in the midst of the seven hills
+of Rome. The captive Jews were forced to labor at it; and the
+materials--granite outside, and a softer stone within--are so solid,
+and so admirably put together, that still, at the end of eighteen
+centuries, it has scarcely even become a ruin, but remains one of the
+greatest wonders of Rome. Five acres of ground were inclosed within
+the oval of its outer wall, which outside rises perpendicularly in
+tiers of arches one above another. Within, the galleries of seats
+projected forwards, each tier coming out far beyond the one above it;
+so that between the lowest and the outer wall there was room for a
+great variety of chambers, passages, and vaults around the central
+space, called the arena.
+
+Altogether, when full, this huge building held no fewer than 87,000
+spectators! It had no roof; but when there was rain, or if the sun was
+too hot, the sailors in the porticoes unfurled awnings that ran along
+upon ropes, and formed a covering of silk and gold tissue over the
+whole. Purple was the favorite color for this veil, because, when the
+sun shone through it, it cast such beautiful rosy tints on the snowy
+arena and the white purple-edged togas of the Roman citizens.
+
+When the emperor had seated himself and given the signal, the sports
+began. Sometimes a rope dancing elephant would begin the
+entertainment, by mounting even to the summit of the building and
+descending by a cord. Or a lion came forth with a jeweled crown on his
+head, a diamond necklace round his neck, his mane plaited with gold,
+and his claws gilded, and played a hundred pretty gentle antics with a
+little hare that danced fearlessly within his grasp.
+
+Sometimes water was let into the arena, a ship sailed in, and falling
+to pieces in the midst, sent a crowd of strange animals swimming in
+all directions. Sometimes the ground opened, and trees came growing up
+through it, bearing golden fruit. Or the beautiful old tale of Orpheus
+was acted: these trees would follow the harp and song of a musician;
+but--to make the whole part complete--it was no mere play, but in real
+earnest, that the Orpheus of the piece fell a prey to live bears.
+
+For the Coliseum had not been built for such harmless spectacles as
+those first described. The fierce Romans wanted to be excited and to
+feel themselves strongly stirred; and, presently, the doors of the pits
+and dens around the arena were thrown open, and absolutely savage beasts
+were let loose upon one another--rhinoceroses and tigers, bulls and
+lions, leopards and wild boars--while the people watched with ferocious
+curiosity to see the various kinds of attack and defense, their ears at
+the same time being delighted, instead of horror-struck, by the roars
+and howls of the noble creatures whose courage was thus misused.
+
+[Illustration: The Coliseum at the Present Day.]
+
+Wild beasts tearing each other to pieces might, one would think,
+satisfy any taste for horror; but the spectators needed even nobler
+game to be set before their favorite monsters:--men were brought
+forward to confront them. Some of these were, at first, in full armor,
+and fought hard, generally with success. Or hunters came, almost
+unarmed, and gained the victory by swiftness and dexterity, throwing a
+piece of cloth over a lion's head, or disconcerting him by putting
+their fist down his throat. But it was not only skill, but death, that
+the Romans loved to see; and condemned criminals and deserters were
+reserved to feast the lions, and to entertain the populace with their
+various kinds of death. Among those condemned was many a Christian
+martyr, who witnessed a good confession before the savage-eyed
+multitude around the arena, and "met the lion's gory mane" with a calm
+resolution and a hopeful joy that the lookers-on could not understand.
+To see a Christian die, with upward gaze, and hymns of joy on his
+tongue, was the most strange and unaccountable sight the Coliseum
+could offer; and it was therefore the choicest, and reserved for the
+last of the spectacles in which the brute creation had a part.
+
+The carcasses were dragged off with hooks, the bloodstained sand was
+covered with a fresh green layer, perfume was wafted in stronger
+clouds, and a procession come forward--tall, well-made men, in the
+prime of their strength. Some carried a sword and a lasso, others a
+trident and a net; some were in light armor, others in the full, heavy
+equipment of a soldier; some on horseback, some in chariots, some on
+foot. They marched in, and made their obeisance to the emperor; and
+with one voice their greeting sounded through the building: "Hail,
+Cæsar; those about to die salute thee!" They were the gladiators--the
+swordsmen trained to fight to the death to amuse the populace.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+  From the Painting by J. L. Gerome.      Engraved by Henry Wolf.
+
+  The Last Prayer--Christian Martyrs in the Coliseum.
+]
+
+Fights of all sorts took place,--the light-armed soldier and the
+netsman--the lasso and the javelin--the two heavy-armed warriors,--all
+combinations of single combat, and sometimes a general mêlée. When a
+gladiator wounded his adversary, he shouted to the spectators, "He has
+it!" and looked up to know whether he should kill or spare. When the
+people held up their thumbs, the conquered was left to recover, if he
+could; if they turned them down, he was to die; and if he showed any
+reluctance to present his throat for the deathblow, there was a
+scornful shout, "Receive the steel!"
+
+      "I see before me the gladiator lie:
+        He leans upon his hand; his manly brow
+      Consents to death, but conquers agony;
+        And his drooped head sinks gradually low;
+        And through his side the last drops, ebbing slow
+      From the red gash, fall heavy, one by one,
+        Like the first of a thunder-shower; and now
+      The arena swims around him--he is gone,
+    Ere ceased the inhuman shout which hailed the wretch who won."
+
+Christianity, however, worked its way upwards, and at last was
+professed by the emperor on his throne. Persecution came to an end,
+and no more martyrs fed the beasts in the Coliseum. The Christian
+emperors endeavored to prevent any more shows where cruelty and death
+formed the chief interest, and no truly religious person could endure
+the spectacle; but custom and love of excitement prevailed even
+against the emperor. They went on for fully a hundred years after Rome
+had, in name, become a Christian city.
+
+Meantime the enemies of Rome were coming nearer and nearer. Alaric, the
+great chief of the Goths, led his forces into Italy, and threatened the
+city itself. Honorius, the emperor, was a cowardly, almost idiotic boy;
+but his brave general, Stilicho, assembled his forces, met the Goths,
+and gave them a complete defeat, on Easter day of the year 403. He
+pursued them to the mountains, and for that time saved Rome.
+
+In the joy of victory, the Roman Senate invited the conqueror and his
+ward Honorius to enter the city in triumph, at the opening of the new
+year, with the white steeds, purple robes, and vermilion cheeks with
+which, of old, victorious generals were welcomed at Rome. The churches
+were visited instead of the Temple of Jupiter, and there was no murder
+of the captives; but Roman bloodthirstiness was not yet allayed, and,
+after the procession had been completed, the Coliseum shows commenced,
+innocently at first, with races on foot, on horseback, and in chariots;
+then followed a grand hunt of beasts turned loose in the arena; and next
+a sword dance. But after the sword dance came the arraying of swordsmen,
+with no blunted weapons, but with sharp spears and swords--a gladiator
+combat in full earnest. The people, enchanted, applauded with shouts of
+ecstasy this gratification of their savage tastes.
+
+Suddenly, however, there was an interruption. A rude, roughly robed
+man, bareheaded and barefooted, had sprung into the arena, and, waving
+back the gladiators, began to call aloud upon the people to cease from
+the shedding of innocent blood, and not to requite God's mercy, in
+turning away the sword of the enemy, by encouraging murder. Shouts,
+howls, cries, broke in upon his words; this was no place for
+preachings,--the old customs of Rome should be observed,--"Back, old
+man!"--"On, gladiators!"
+
+The gladiators thrust aside the meddler, and rushed to the attack. He
+still stood between, holding them apart, striving in vain to be heard.
+"Sedition! sedition!"--"Down with him!"--was the cry; and the prefect
+in authority himself added his voice. The gladiators, enraged at
+interference with their vocation, cut him down. Stones, or whatever
+came to hand, rained upon him from the furious people, and he perished
+in the midst of the arena! He lay dead; and then the people began to
+reflect upon what had been done.
+
+His dress showed that he was one of the hermits who had vowed themselves
+to a life of prayer and self-denial, and who were greatly reverenced,
+even by the most thoughtless. The few who had previously seen him, told
+that he had come from the wilds of Asia on a pilgrimage, to visit the
+shrines and keep his Christmas at Rome. They knew that he was a holy
+man--no more. But his spirit had been stirred by the sight of thousands
+flocking to see men slaughter one another, and in his simple-hearted
+zeal he had resolved to stop the cruelty, or die.
+
+He had died, but not in vain. His work was done. The shock of such a
+death before their eyes turned the hearts of the people; they saw the
+wickedness and cruelty to which they had blindly surrendered
+themselves; and since the day when the hermit died in the Coliseum,
+there has never been another fight of gladiators. The custom was
+utterly abolished; and one habitual crime at least was wiped from the
+earth by the self-devotion of one humble, obscure, and nameless man.
+
+  --_From "A Book of Golden Deeds," by Charlotte Yonge._
+
+
+
+
+THE PASSING OF ARTHUR.
+
+
+The reader has already become somewhat acquainted with the marvelous
+history of King Arthur, and has read about the poems and romances by
+which the memory of his life and exploits have been preserved. He has
+also read the mythical account of the King's last hours on earth as
+recorded in the quaint old romance written by Sir Thomas Malory. Here
+he may read another rendering of the same story, written in grand and
+beautiful poetic form by Alfred Tennyson. In the "Idylls of the King,"
+Lord Tennyson has given us a complete history of Arthur and of the
+brave knights and fair ladies who lived at his court. These poems are
+among the noblest ever written in our language. Turn now to the last
+story in "School Reading by Grades--Fifth Year," and compare each
+passage in that brief narrative with its corresponding passage in the
+following poem.
+
+      So all day long the noise of battle roll'd
+    Among the mountains by the winter sea;
+    Until King Arthur's Table, man by man,
+    Had fall'n in Lyonesse about their lord,
+    King Arthur. Then, because his wound was deep,
+    The bold Sir Bedivere uplifted him,
+    Sir Bedivere, the last of all his knights,
+    And bore him to a chapel nigh the field,
+    A broken chancel with a broken cross,
+    That stood on a dark strait of barren land.
+    On one side lay the Ocean, and on one
+    Lay a great water, and the moon was full.
+      Then spake King Arthur to Sir Bedivere:
+    "The sequel of to-day unsolders all
+    The goodliest fellowship of famous knights
+    Whereof this world holds record. Such a sleep
+    They sleep--the men I loved. I think that we
+    Shall never more, at any future time,
+    Delight our souls with talk of knightly deeds,
+    Walking about the gardens and the halls
+    Of Camelot, as in the days that were.
+    I perish by this people which I made,--
+    Tho' Merlin sware that I should come again
+    To rule once more; but let what will be, be,
+    I am so deeply smitten thro' the helm
+    That without help I can not last till morn.
+    Thou therefore take my brand Excalibur,
+    Which was my pride: for thou rememberest how
+    In those old days, one summer noon, an arm
+    Rose up from out the bosom of the lake,
+    Clothed in white samite, mystic, wonderful,
+    Holding the sword--and how I row'd across
+    And took it, and have worn it, like a king:
+    And, wheresoever I am sung or told
+    In after time, this also shall be known:
+    But now delay not: take Excalibur,
+    And fling him far into the middle mere;
+    Watch what thou seëst and lightly bring me word."
+      To him replied the bold Sir Bedivere:
+    "It is not meet, Sir King, to leave thee thus,
+    Aidless, alone, and smitten thro' the helm.
+    A little thing may harm a wounded man.
+    Yet I thy hest will all perform at full,
+    Watch what I see, and lightly bring thee word."
+      So saying, from the ruin'd shrine he stept,
+    And in the moon athwart the place of tombs,
+    Where lay the mighty bones of ancient men,
+    Old knights, and over them the sea wind sang
+    Shrill, chill, with flakes of foam. He, stepping down
+    By zigzag paths, and juts of pointed rock,
+    Came on the shining levels of the lake.
+      There drew he forth the brand Excalibur,
+    And o'er him, drawing it, the winter moon,
+    Brightening the skirts of a long cloud, ran forth
+    And sparkled keen with frost against the hilt:
+    For all the haft twinkled with diamond sparks,
+    Myriads of topaz lights, and jacinth work
+    Of subtlest jewelry. He gazed so long
+    That both his eyes were dazzled, as he stood,
+    This way and that dividing the swift mind,
+    In act to throw: but at the last it seem'd
+    Better to leave Excalibur conceal'd
+    There in the many-knotted waterflags,
+    That whistled stiff and dry about the marge.
+    So strode he back slow to the wounded King.
+      Then spake King Arthur to Sir Bedivere:
+    "Hast thou perform'd my mission which I gave?
+    What is it thou hast seen? or what hast heard?"
+      And answer made the bold Sir Bedivere:
+    "I heard the ripple washing in the reeds,
+    And the wild water lapping on the crag."
+      To whom replied King Arthur, faint and pale:
+    "Thou hast betray'd thy nature and thy name,
+    Not rendering true answer, as beseem'd
+    Thy fëalty, nor like a noble knight:
+    For surer sign had follow'd, either hand,
+    Or voice, or else a motion of the mere.
+    This is a shameful thing for men to lie.
+    Yet now I charge thee, quickly go again,
+    As thou art lief and dear, and do the thing
+    I bade thee, watch, and lightly bring me word."
+      Then went Sir Bedivere the second time
+    Across the ridge, and paced beside the mere,
+    Counting the dewy pebbles, fix'd in thought;
+    But when he saw the wonder of the hilt,
+    How curiously and strangely chased, he smote
+    His palms together, and he cried aloud:
+      "And if indeed I cast the brand away,
+    Surely a precious thing, one worthy note,
+    Should thus be lost for ever from the earth,
+    Which might have pleased the eyes of many men.
+    What good should follow this, if this were done?
+    What harm, undone? deep harm to disobey,
+    Seeing obedience is the bond of rule.
+    Were it well to obey then, if a king demand
+    An act unprofitable, against himself?
+    The King is sick, and knows not what he does.
+    What record, or what relic of my lord
+    Should be to after time, but empty breath
+    And rumors of a doubt? but were this kept,
+    Stored in some treasure-house of mighty kings,
+    Some one might show it at a joust of arms,
+    Saying, 'King Arthur's sword, Excalibur,
+    Wrought by the lonely maiden of the Lake.
+    Nine years she wrought it, sitting in the deeps
+    Upon the hidden bases of the hills.'
+    So might some old man speak in the after time
+    To all the people, winning reverence.
+    But now much honor and much fame were lost."
+      So spake he, clouded with his own conceit,--
+    And hid Excalibur the second time,
+    And so strode back slow to the wounded King.
+      Then spoke King Arthur, breathing heavily:
+    "What is it thou hast seen? or what hast heard?"
+      And answer made the bold Sir Bedivere:
+    "I heard the water lapping on the crag,
+    And the long ripple washing in the reeds."
+      To whom replied King Arthur, much in wrath:
+    "Ah, miserable and unkind, untrue,
+    Unknightly, traitor-hearted! Woe is me!
+    Authority forgets a dying king,
+    Laid widow'd of the power in his eye
+    That bow'd the will. I see thee what thou art,
+    For thou, the latest-left of all my knights,
+    In whom should meet the offices of all,
+    Thou wouldst betray me for the precious hilt;
+    Either from lust of gold, or like a girl
+    Valuing the giddy pleasure of the eyes.
+    Yet, for a man may fail in duty twice,
+    And the third time may prosper, get thee hence:
+    But, if thou spare to fling Excalibur,
+    I will arise and slay thee with my hands."
+      Then quickly rose Sir Bedivere, and ran,
+    And, leaping down the ridges lightly, plunged
+    Among the bulrush beds, and clutch'd the sword,
+    And strongly wheel'd and threw it. The great brand
+    Made lightnings in the splendor of the moon,
+    And flashing round and round, and whirl'd in an arch,
+    Shot like a streamer of the northern morn,
+    Seen where the moving isles of winter shock
+    By night, with noises of the Northern Sea.
+    So flash'd and fell the brand Excalibur:
+    But ere he dipt the surface, rose an arm
+    Clothed in white samite, mystic, wonderful,
+    And caught him by the hilt, and brandish'd him
+    Three times, and drew him under in the mere.
+    And lightly went the other to the King.
+      Then spoke King Arthur, drawing thicker breath:
+    "Now see I by thine eyes that this is done.
+    Speak out: what is it thou hast heard, or seen?"
+      And answer made the bold Sir Bedivere:
+    "Sir King, I closed mine eyelids, lest the gems
+    Should blind my purpose, for I never saw,
+    Nor shall see, here or elsewhere, till I die,
+    Not tho' I live three lives of mortal men,
+    So great a miracle as yonder hilt.
+    Then with both hands I flung him, wheeling him;
+    But when I look'd again, behold an arm,
+    Clothed in white samite, mystic, wonderful,
+    That caught him by the hilt, and brandish'd him
+    Three times and drew him under in the mere."
+      And answer made King Arthur, breathing hard:
+    "My end draws nigh; 'tis time that I were gone.
+    Make broad thy shoulders to receive my weight,
+    And bear me to the margin; yet I fear
+    My wound hath taken cold, and I shall die."
+      So saying, from the pavement he half rose,
+    Slowly, with pain, reclining on his arm,
+    And looking wistfully with wide blue eyes
+    As in a picture. Him Sir Bedivere
+    Remorsefully regarded thro' his tears,
+    And would have spoken, but he found not words;
+    Then took with care, and kneeling on one knee,
+    O'er both his shoulders drew the languid hands,
+    And rising bore him thro' the place of tombs.
+      But, as he walk'd, King Arthur panted hard,
+    Like one that feels a nightmare on his bed
+    When all the house is mute. So sigh'd the King,
+    Muttering and murmuring at his ear, "Quick, quick!
+    I fear it is too late, and I shall die."
+    But the other swiftly strode from ridge to ridge,
+    Clothed with his breath, and looking as he walk'd,
+    Larger than human on the frozen hills.
+    He heard the deep behind him, and a cry
+    Before. His own thought drove him, like a goad.
+    Dry clash'd his harness in the icy caves
+    And barren chasms, and all to left and right
+    The bare black cliff clang'd round him, as he based
+    His feet on jets of slippery crag that rang
+    Sharp-smitten with the dint of armed heels--
+    And on a sudden, lo! the level lake,
+    And the long glories of the winter moon.
+      Then saw they how there hove a dusky barge,
+    Dark as a funeral scarf from stem to stern,
+    Beneath them; and descending they were ware
+    That all the decks were dense with stately forms
+    Black-stoled, black-hooded, like a dream--by these
+    Three Queens with crowns of gold--and from them rose
+    A cry that shiver'd to the tingling stars,
+    And, as it were one voice, an agony
+    Of lamentation, like a wind, that shrills
+    All night in a waste land, where no one comes,
+    Or hath come, since the making of the world.
+      Then murmur'd Arthur, "Place me in the barge."
+    So to the barge they came. There those three Queens
+    Put forth their hands, and took the King, and wept....
+      Then loudly cried the bold Sir Bedivere:
+    "Ah! my Lord Arthur, whither shall I go?
+    Where shall I hide my forehead and my eyes?
+    For now I see the true old times are dead,
+    When every morning brought a noble chance,
+    And every chance brought out a noble knight....
+    But now the whole Round Table is dissolved
+    Which was an image of the mighty world,
+    And I, the last, go forth companionless,
+    And the days darken round me, and the years,
+    Among new men, strange faces, other minds."
+      And slowly answered Arthur from the barge:
+    "The old order changeth, yielding place to new,
+    And God fulfills himself in many ways,
+    Lest one good custom should corrupt the world.
+    Comfort thyself; what comfort is in me?
+    I have lived my life, and that which I have done
+    May He within himself make pure! but thou,
+    If thou shouldst never see my face again,
+    Pray for my soul. More things are wrought by prayer
+    Than this world dreams of. Wherefore, let thy voice
+    Rise like a fountain for me night and day.
+    For what are men better than sheep or goats
+    That nourish a blind life within the brain,
+    If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer
+    Both for themselves and those who call them friends?
+    For so the whole round earth is every way
+    Bound by gold chains about the feet of God.
+    But now farewell. I am going a long way
+    With these thou seëst--if indeed I go
+    (For all my mind is clouded with a doubt)--
+    To the island-valley of Avilion
+    Where falls not hail, or rain, or any snow,
+    Nor ever wind blows loudly; but it lies
+    Deep-meadow'd, happy, fair with orchard lawns
+    And bowery hollows crown'd with summer sea,
+    Where I will heal me of my grievous wound."
+      So said he, and the barge with oar and sail
+    Moved from the brink, like some full-breasted swan
+    That, fluting a wild carol ere her death,
+    Ruffles her pure cold plume, and takes the flood
+    With swarthy webs. Long stood Sir Bedivere
+    Revolving many memories, till the hull
+    Look'd one black dot against the verge of dawn,
+    And on the mere the wailing died away.
+
+  --_From "The Idylls of the King," by Alfred Tennyson._
+
+
+
+
+FOR STUDY AND REFERENCE.
+
+
+PRINCIPLES OF GOOD READING.
+
+To become a good reader, patient and long-continued practice is
+necessary. We learn to read by much reading and never by the study of
+formal rules. Nevertheless, a knowledge of the following general
+principles and definitions may be of some value in assisting the
+learner to acquire correct habits in the practice of oral reading.
+
+PRONUNCIATION.
+
+Under this term are included Articulation, Syllabication, and Accent.
+
+Correct articulation requires that each letter, syllable, and word
+should be clearly and properly pronounced. Incorrect articulation is
+the result either of careless habits or of natural defects. In either
+case, it may be largely overcome by persistent and careful drill in
+the pronunciation of those words in which the greatest difficulty is
+experienced. Conversation, declamation, calisthenics, singing, and
+similar exercises should be engaged in, in order to assist in
+overcoming habits of timidity or diffidence, and to give increased
+power and flexibility to the vocal organs.
+
+Syllabication and accent are learned by careful observation and by
+reference, in all cases of doubt, to some standard dictionary.
+
+EXPRESSION.
+
+Correct expression in reading has reference to tone of voice,
+inflection, pitch, emphasis, all of which are included under
+modulation.
+
+TONE.
+
+Tone, or quality of voice, is the kind of sound employed in reading or
+speaking. A conversational tone is such as is used in ordinary
+conversation for the expression of quiet or unemotional thoughts. A
+full tone of voice is used in the expression of high or lofty
+sentiments, and of feelings of joy, courage, or exultation. A middle
+tone is used in the rendering of expressions which while not
+conversational in character are too unimpassioned to require a full
+tone. A low or subdued tone is used in passages where the sense
+requires a suppression of sound. The only rule necessary is this:
+_Study so to regulate the tone of voice that it shall always be in
+harmony with the thoughts expressed._
+
+INFLECTION.
+
+Inflection is the upward or downward movement of the voice in speaking
+or reading. There are two inflections: the _rising inflection_, in
+which the voice slides upward; and the _falling inflection_, in which
+the voice slides downward. Sometimes there is a union of the two
+inflections upon a single sound or syllable, in order to express
+surprise, scorn, irony, sorrow, or other strong or peculiar emotion.
+This union of inflections is called _circumflex_. No rule for
+inflections can be given which is not subject to numerous exceptions.
+The movement of the voice, whether upward or downward, is in all cases
+determined by the thought in the sentence. _That inflection should be
+used which will assist to convey, in the most natural and forcible
+manner, the meaning intended by the author._
+
+PITCH.
+
+Very closely related to tone and inflection is pitch, by which is meant
+the degree of elevation of the voice. Pitch may be _middle_, _high_, or
+_low_. Middle pitch is that which is used in common conversation and in
+the expression of unemotional thoughts. Light and joyous emotions and
+lively narration require a high pitch. Passages expressing sadness, deep
+joy, dignified serenity of mind, and kindred emotions, require a low
+pitch. Hence, the only rule to be observed is this: _Let the pitch be
+always in harmony with the sentiments to be expressed._
+
+EMPHASIS.
+
+Emphasis is any change of pitch, or variation of the voice, which
+serves to call special attention to an important word, syllable, or
+expression. The only rule that can be given for securing correctness
+of emphasis is: _Be natural._ Children, in ordinary conversation,
+never make mistakes in emphasis. If they are made to understand what
+they are reading, have not been permitted to imitate incorrect models,
+and are not hampered by unnecessary rules, they will read as well as
+they talk. Let reading be but conversation from the book, and not only
+emphasis, but pitch and inflection will require but little separate
+attention, and no special rules.
+
+PAUSES.
+
+Pauses in reading are necessary to make the meaning clear or to assist
+in the proper modulation of the voice and therefore in the correct
+rendering of the sentiments of the author. The former are called
+grammatical pauses, and are indicated by the marks of punctuation; the
+latter are called rhetorical pauses, and depend for their correct
+usage upon the reader's understanding of the thoughts which he is
+endeavoring to render. In reading poetry, a slight pause is generally
+proper at the end of each line, and sometimes also at the middle of
+each line. The latter is called the _cæsural_ pause. The object of
+poetic pauses is simply to promote the melody.
+
+
+AUTHORS AND BOOKS.
+
+=Abbott, Charles Conrad=, the author of the essay on "The Robin" (page
+197), is an American writer and naturalist. He was born at Trenton, N.
+J., in 1843. He is an ardent lover of nature, and has written several
+delightful books on subjects relating to popular science and outdoor
+life. Among these are "Birdland Echoes," from which the above-named
+essay is taken; "A Naturalist's Wanderings about Home," and "Waste
+Land Wanderings."
+
+=Aytoun= (ā´toon), =William Edmonstoune=, the author of the selection
+entitled "The Pass of Killiecrankie" (page 138), was a Scottish lawyer
+and poet. Born in Edinburgh, 1813; died, 1865. He was for many years one
+of the editors of "Blackwood's Magazine." He wrote "Lays of the Scottish
+Cavaliers," "Ballads of Scotland," and other poems.
+
+=Blackmore, Richard D.=, the author of "Lorna Doone," is an English
+lawyer and novelist. Born in Berkshire, 1825. Besides "Lorna Doone,"
+he has written "Alice Lorraine," "Springhaven," "The Maid of Sker,"
+and several other stories.
+
+=Browning, Mrs. Elizabeth Barrett=, the author of "The Romance of the
+Swan's Nest" (page 98), was an English poet. Born in Durham, England,
+1806. In 1846 she married Robert Browning, and during the rest of her
+life resided chiefly at Florence, Italy, where she died in 1861. She
+wrote "Prometheus Bound" (1833), "Aurora Leigh" (1857), and many
+shorter poems.
+
+=Bryant, William Cullen=, the author of "The Death of the Flowers"
+(page 18), was one of the most popular of American poets. Born at
+Cummington, Mass., 1794; died at New York, 1878. Besides his poems, he
+wrote translations of Homer's "Iliad" and "Odyssey," and was for more
+than half a century one of the editors of "The Evening Post" (New York).
+
+=Buckley, Arabella Burton=, is an English author and naturalist. Born
+at Brighton, England, 1840. She has written several books on
+scientific subjects for young readers: "The Fairy Land of Science,"
+from which our selection is taken (page 29), "Winners in Life's Race,"
+and "Life and her Children."
+
+=Campbell, Thomas=: A British poet and critic. Born at Glasgow,
+Scotland, 1777; died, 1844. He wrote "The Pleasures of Hope,"
+"Hohenlinden," "Lochiel's Warning," and many other well-known poems.
+
+"=Cloister and the Hearth, The=": An historical romance, by Charles
+Reade, first published in 1861. The scenes are laid mostly in Holland
+and Italy, and the time is the middle of the fifteenth century. See
+page 153.
+
+=Collier, W. F.=, author of the sketch on "Life in Norman England" (page
+89), is an English historian. He has written "The History of the British
+Empire," "A History of England," and several other similar works.
+
+=Cowper, William=: A celebrated English poet. Born, 1731; died, 1800.
+His principal work was "The Task," from which our brief selection
+(page 196) has been taken. He wrote also "John Gilpin," "Tirocinium,"
+and several other poems.
+
+"=David Copperfield, The Personal History of=": A novel, by Charles
+Dickens, first published in 1849. "Of all my books," says Dickens, "I
+like this the best." Many scenes in the novelist's own life are
+depicted in this story. The character from whom the book took its name
+is a timid boy reduced to desperation by the cruelty of his
+stepfather, Mr. Murdstone. At ten years of age he is sent to a
+warehouse in London, where he was employed in rough work at a small
+salary. He finally runs away, and is protected and adopted by an
+eccentric maiden lady, Miss Betsey Trotwood. He becomes a writer, and
+marries a gentle, innocent little lady, whom he calls his "child
+wife"; she dies, and he afterwards marries a woman of stronger mind,
+named Agnes Wickfield. The selection which we give (page 121) is a
+fair example of the style which characterizes the story.
+
+=Dickens, Charles=: The most popular of English novelists. Born, 1812;
+died, 1870. Wrote "The Pickwick Papers," "Nicholas Nickleby," "Oliver
+Twist," "David Copperfield," from which our story of "The Shipwreck"
+(page 121) has been taken, and numerous other works of fiction.
+
+=Drake, Joseph Rodman=, author of "The American Flag" (page 206), was
+an American poet. Born at New York, 1795; died, 1820. His principal
+work was "The Culprit Fay," written in 1816.
+
+=Everett, Edward=: An American statesman and orator. Born at Boston,
+Mass., 1794; died, 1865. He was editor of the "North American Review,"
+member of Congress, Governor of Massachusetts, President of Harvard
+College, Secretary of State in the cabinet of Millard Fillmore, and
+United States Senator from Massachusetts. His orations and speeches
+fill four volumes.
+
+=Froude, James Anthony=: A noted English historian. Born, 1818; died,
+1894. His chief work was a "History of England from the Fall of Wolsey
+to the Defeat of the Spanish Armada." He also wrote four volumes of
+"Short Studies on Great Subjects," "Cæsar, a Sketch," "Life of Lord
+Beaconsfield," "Life of Carlyle," etc.
+
+=Hemans, Mrs. Felicia=: An English poet. Born at Liverpool, 1793; died,
+1835. She wrote numerous short poems, which were at one time very
+popular. She is best remembered in this country as the author of "The
+Landing of the Pilgrims" (page 195), "Casabianca," and similar pieces.
+
+=Hogg, James=: A Scottish poet, often called from his occupation the
+Ettrick Shepherd. Born, 1770; died, 1835. Among his poems are "The
+Queen's Wake" (1813), "The Pilgrims of the Sun" (1815), and many short
+pieces.
+
+=Howells, William Dean=: An American novelist and poet. Born at
+Martinsville, Ohio, 1837. He was for ten years editor of the "Atlantic
+Monthly." He has written numerous novels, several short comedies or
+farces, and a volume of poetry. Our selection is from one of his
+latest works, "Stories of Ohio," a series of sketches relating to the
+settlement and early history of that commonwealth.
+
+=Hunt, James Henry Leigh=, author of the poem entitled "The Glove and
+the Lions" (page 119), was an English essayist and poet. Born, 1784;
+died, 1859. His chief poem is "The Story of Rimini"; his principal
+prose works are "Life of Lord Byron" (1828), and "Autobiography" (1850).
+
+"=Idylls of the King=": The first part of this noble poem by Lord
+Tennyson appeared in 1859, and the remaining parts were issued at
+various intervals until its completion. It comprises twelve books, or
+poems, which should be read in the following order: "The Coming of
+Arthur," "Gareth and Lynette," "The Marriage of Geraint," "Geraint and
+Enid," "Balin and Balan," "Merlin and Vivien," "Lancelot and Elaine,"
+"The Holy Grail," "Pelleas and Etarre," "The Last Tournament,"
+"Guinevere," "The Passing of Arthur." Taken together in this order,
+these various poems present a complete and connected history of King
+Arthur and his knights. See page 216.
+
+=Ingelow= (in´je lō), =Jean=: An English poet and novelist. Born at
+Boston, Lincolnshire, 1830; died, 1897. Wrote "Off the Skelligs,"
+"Fated to be Free," "A Motto Changed," several children's books, and
+numerous poems.
+
+=Irving, Washington=: An eminent American writer. Born, 1783; died,
+1859. His principal works are "Columbus and his Companions" (from
+which the extract beginning on page 25 is taken), "The Sketch Book,"
+"Tales of a Traveler" (1824), "The Conquest of Granada" (1829), "The
+Alhambra" (1832), "Oliver Goldsmith" (1849), "Mahomet and His
+Successors" (1850), "Life of George Washington" (1859).
+
+"=Job, The Book of=": One of the books of the Old Testament, the
+authorship of which is unknown, but has been ascribed to various
+persons and periods of time. It is doubtless one of the oldest
+literary productions in our possession, and may be described as a
+poetic drama, having a didactic purpose. The hero of the book is Job,
+a man of great wealth and prosperity, who has been suddenly overtaken
+by misfortune. The great literary merit of the work is recognized by
+all scholars.
+
+=Johnson, Dr. Samuel=: An eminent English essayist, poet, and
+lexicographer. Born, 1709; died, 1784. For his biography, see
+Macaulay's essay on his life and works in "School Reading by
+Grades--Seventh Year."
+
+=Jonson, Ben=: A celebrated English poet and dramatist. Born, 1573;
+died, 1637. Among his plays are "Every Man in his Humour" (1598),
+"Cynthia's Revels" (1600), "The Alchemist" (1610), etc.
+
+=Kingsley, Charles=: An eminent English author and clergyman. See
+Biographical Notes in "School Reading by Grades--Fifth Year."
+
+"=Lays of Ancient Rome=": A volume of poems written by Lord Macaulay
+and first published in 1842. It includes "Horatius" (see page 32),
+"The Battle of Lake Regillus," "Virginia," and "The Prophecy of Capys."
+
+=Lewes= (lū´es), =George Henry=: An English philosophical and
+miscellaneous writer. Born at London, 1817; died, 1878. He wrote
+"Seaside Studies" (1858), "Studies in Animal Life" (1862), "Problems
+of Life and Mind" (1874), and many other works on scientific and
+philosophical subjects.
+
+=Lincoln, Abraham=: The sixteenth President of the United States. Born
+in Kentucky, 1809; died at Washington, D. C., 1865. The "Address at
+Gettysburg" (page 205) is generally conceded to be one of the noblest
+examples of oratory produced in modern times.
+
+"=Lorna Doone=: a Romance of Exmoor." First published in 1869. See
+page 64.
+
+"=Mexico, History of the Conquest of=," by William H. Prescott (see
+page 104), was first published in 1843. Other works relating to the
+same event are "The Spanish Conquest in America," by Sir Arthur Helps,
+"The Fair God" (a romance) by General Lew Wallace.
+
+=Prescott, William Hickling=: An eminent American historian. Born at
+Salem, Mass., 1796; died, 1859. His principal works are "History of
+the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella" (1838), "Conquest of Mexico" (see
+note above), "Conquest of Peru" (1847), "History of Philip II" (1858).
+
+=Reade, Charles=: A noted English barrister and novelist. Born in
+Oxfordshire, 1814; died, 1884. His novels are very numerous, but the
+best is "The Cloister and the Hearth," from which our selection is
+taken (page 153). Several of his writings are noted for their strong
+opposition to social evils.
+
+=Scott, Sir Walter.= See Biographical Notes in "School Reading by
+Grades--Fifth Year."
+
+=Stanley, Arthur Penrhyn=: An English divine and historian. Born,
+1815; died, 1881. He traveled in Egypt and Palestine in 1852-53; wrote
+"Sinai and Palestine" (1856), "Memorials of Canterbury" (1855),
+"History of the Jewish Church" (1865), etc.
+
+=Stockton, Frank Richard=: A noted American author and humorist. Born
+at Philadelphia, 1834. He has written "Rudder Grange," "The Clocks of
+Rondaine," "Pomona's Travels," "Stories of New Jersey," and many
+other works, including several books for children.
+
+"=Tales of a Grandfather=": A collection of historical stories, by Sir
+Walter Scott, first published in four series, 1827-30. See page 66.
+
+=Tennyson, Alfred.= See Biographical Notes in "School Reading by
+Grades--Fifth Year."
+
+=Tyndall, John=: An eminent British scientist. Born in Ireland, 1820;
+died in England, 1893. Among his works are "The Forms of Water in
+Clouds and Rivers" (1873) from which our extract is selected (page
+202), "Hours of Exercise in the Alps" (1871), "Fragments of Science"
+(1892), and many other works of a similar character.
+
+"=Westward Ho! or the Voyages and Adventures of Sir Amyas Leigh=": A
+novel by Charles Kingsley, first published in 1855. See page 165.
+
+=Winthrop, Robert Charles=: An American statesman and orator. Born at
+Boston, 1809; died, 1894. His most famous addresses were delivered at
+the laying of the corner-stone of the Washington Monument, 1848, and
+at the completion of the same monument, 1885.
+
+=White, Gilbert=: An English clergyman and naturalist, famous as the
+author of "Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne" (1789). He was
+born at Selborne, 1720; died there, 1793.
+
+=Yonge= (yung), =Charlotte Mary=: An English writer and novelist. Born
+at Otterbourne, 1823. She has written more than a hundred volumes,
+including, "The Heir of Redclyffe," "Daisy Chain," "Landmarks of
+History," and "A Book of Golden Deeds," from which the selection
+beginning on page 208 is taken.
+
+
+EXPLANATORY NOTES.
+
+=Page 20.= "Straits of Sunda." The passage between the islands of Java
+and Sumatra, leading from the Indian Ocean to the Sea of Java. See a
+good map of this part of the world.
+
+=25.= "The Return of Columbus." Returning from his first voyage (see
+"School Reading by Grades--Fourth Year," page 43), Columbus reached
+Palos, March 15, 1493. The selection here given from Irving describes
+his triumphal reception a few weeks later at the court of Ferdinand
+and Isabella at Barcelona.
+
+"Hidalgos." Spanish noblemen of the lower class.
+
+=27.= "Las Casas." A Spanish historian, born, 1474; died, 1566. He
+went to America in 1502, and in 1542 was Bishop of Chiapas in Mexico.
+We are indebted to him for some of the earliest trustworthy accounts
+of the Spanish discoveries. He was the friend and defender of the
+Indians against their European conquerors.
+
+=28.= "_Te Deum laudamus._" "We praise thee, O God."
+
+=32.= Tarquin the Proud, or Tarquinius Superbus, reigned, according to
+the traditional account, from 534 to 509 B.C. The modern name of
+Clusium is Chiusi (Kē [=oo]´sē). It is situated in the province
+of Siena in Italy, and is famous for its ruins of Etruscan origin.
+
+=33.= "Consul." After the expulsion of the kings from Rome the
+governing power was vested in two consuls, who were elected annually.
+At the time of the story, one of the consuls had been slain in battle
+with Porsena. Our selection begins with the twenty-sixth stanza of
+Macaulay's poem.
+
+"Ramnian," belonging to the Ramnes, the first of the three tribes
+which originally composed the Roman nation. Herminius was a member of
+the second tribe, or Tities. The third tribe were the Luceres.
+
+=35.= For the places mentioned on this and the following pages, see
+some good classical atlas.
+
+=36.= "She-wolf's litter." A reference to the legend that Romulus and
+Remus, the founders of Rome, were, when babes, protected and reared by
+a she-wolf.
+
+=42.= "Fathers." The Roman senators.
+
+=44.= Sir Francis Drake was an English seaman, born about 1540; died,
+1596. He was famous for his operations on the sea against the
+Spaniards of America, and especially for being the first Englishman to
+circumnavigate the globe.
+
+=66.= Bannockburn is the name of a small village three miles south of
+Stirling, in Scotland. Robert Bruce, one of the national heroes of
+Scotland, was born, 1274; died, 1329. His right to the throne of
+Scotland was disputed by Edward I. of England, who claimed the
+suzerainty of that country for himself. The war which resulted from
+this dispute was continued by Edward II. until he met with the signal
+defeat here narrated. Bruce's right to the Scottish throne was
+formally acknowledged by England in 1328.
+
+=89.= "Great stone castles." For a description of the different parts
+of a Norman castle mentioned in this selection, see the word "Castle"
+in Webster's International Dictionary.
+
+=93.= "Conquest." The Norman conquest under Duke William, 1066. See
+"School Reading by Grades--Fourth Year," page 181.
+
+"Author of 'Ivanhoe.'" Sir Walter Scott. See "Ivanhoe," Chapter VIII.
+
+"Quintain." An upright post, on the top of which turned a cross-piece,
+having on one end a broad board and on the other a sandbag. The
+endeavor was to strike the board with the lance while riding under it
+and get away without being hit by the sandbag.
+
+=96.= "Scriptorium." A room in a monastery where the monks wrote or
+copied manuscripts. See "School Reading by Grades--Fifth Year," page
+170.
+
+=100.= "Nathless." Nevertheless.
+
+=104.= Cortés. Hernando Cortés was born in Spain in 1485. In 1504, at
+the age of nineteen, he sailed for Santo Domingo, where he was
+received with great favor, and where for several years he held
+important offices in connection with the government of the new colony.
+In 1518 he organized the expedition for the conquest of Mexico. The
+city was finally captured, after a gallant defense of 77 days, August
+13, 1521. Utterly neglected and forsaken in his old age, Cortés died
+at Seville, in Spain, December 2, 1547.
+
+=106.= "Palanquin" (păl an kēn´). An inclosed litter, borne on
+men's shoulders, for conveying a single person.
+
+=106.= "Cacique" (k[.a] sēk´). A chieftain, or nobleman, among the
+Aztecs or Indians.
+
+=107.= "Panache" (păn [.a]sh´). A plume or bunch of feathers. A
+military plume.
+
+=109.= "Tenochtitlan" (ten ōch tēt län´). The Aztec name for
+their chief city, the site of which is now occupied by the city of
+Mexico. It was founded about two hundred years before the Spanish
+conquest, and was built on an island in Tezcuco Lake. The name Mexitl,
+or Mexico, was also applied to the city, or to a portion of it.
+
+=110.= "Bernal Diaz" (dē´äth). A Spanish soldier in the army of
+Cortés, who afterwards wrote a history of the conquest.
+
+=111.= "Montezuma." Cortés repaid this chieftain for his kindness by
+seizing him in his own house and carrying him to the Spanish quarters,
+where he kept him as a prisoner. The Aztecs attacked the quarters, and
+Montezuma, by the direction of Cortés, appeared on the wall to counsel
+peace. This so exasperated them that they pelted him with stones, and
+wounded him so that he died four days later.
+
+=118.= "The Lions." Rosa Bonheur, from whose painting this picture has
+been reproduced, is one of the most famous painters of the nineteenth
+century, especially of animal life and of landscapes. She was born at
+Bordeaux, France, in 1828. For nearly fifty years she has been
+directress of the Free School of Design for Young Girls in Paris. Many
+of her paintings have received high praise, but the one by which she
+is best known in this country is "The Horse Fair," in the Metropolitan
+Museum of Art, New York.
+
+=138.= "Sir William Wallace." One of the national heroes of Scotland.
+His deeds are commemorated in a once very popular romance by Jane
+Porter entitled "The Scottish Chiefs" (1810).
+
+=139.= "Schehallion." A mountain 35 miles northwest of Perth.
+Altitude, 3547 feet.
+
+=140.= "Royal Martyr." King Charles I. of England, beheaded by
+Parliament, 1649.
+
+"King James." James II., at that time a fugitive from his throne.
+
+"Covenanting traitors." Adherents of the "Solemn League and Covenant"
+adopted by the Scottish Parliament in 1638, and by the English
+Parliament in 1643, for the preservation of the reformed religion in
+Scotland and the suppression of papacy and prelacy.
+
+=153.= "Burgundy." The limits and character of the region known by
+this name have varied greatly at different periods of history. The
+Burgundy here mentioned was the great duchy of that name, the capital
+of which was Dijon. The Duke of Burgundy at the time of this story was
+the famous Charles the Bold, who was its ruler from 1467 to 1477.
+After his death it passed into the control of the king of France.
+
+"Flanders." This country, which now forms the southeastern part of the
+province of Zealand, Netherlands, was united to Burgundy in 1369.
+Upon the death of Charles the Bold it passed to Austria; but since
+that time it has been successively acquired by various other
+neighboring states.
+
+=154.= "Palisades." Strong long stakes one end of which is set in the
+ground and the other sharpened.
+
+"Sappers." Builders of fortifications.
+
+=155.= "Quarrels." Square-headed arrows for crossbows.
+
+"Mantelets." Large shields of rope, wood, or metal.
+
+"Mangonels." Engines for throwing stones or javelins.
+
+=156.= "Barbican." See "Castle" in Webster's International Dictionary.
+A tower for defending the entrance to a castle.
+
+"Arbalester." A crossbowman.
+
+"Half ell shaft." A shaft or arrow half an ell in length.
+
+=158.= "Fascines" (făs´sēnz). Bundles of sticks bound together
+and used for filling ditches or raising batteries.
+
+=160.= "Sir Turk." The Turkish catapult just described.
+
+=163.= "Solway." Solway Firth, an arm of the Irish Sea, extending into
+Scotland: remarkable for the rapidity of its tides.
+
+=164.= "Graeme" (grām). See page 138.
+
+=165.= "Manoa" (mä nō´ä). The city ruled by the gilded king, El
+Dorado. It was said to be built on an island in a lake called Parima,
+somewhere in the northern part of South America. Beginning about 1530,
+great numbers of expeditions were made by the Spaniards in search of
+this fabled city, all of which ended in disappointment and disaster.
+
+=175.= "Naught of strange." Nothing out of the usual order.
+
+=176.= "Lindis." A small stream in Lincolnshire.
+
+"Melick" (mĕl´ĭk). Melic grass, a kind of grass eaten by cattle.
+
+=177.= "Warping down." Turning aside out of a straight course; moving
+in zigzag lines.
+
+"Scope." A sea wall, or steep shore.
+
+=178.= "Bairns." Little children.
+
+=179.= "Eygre" (ē´gẽr). The flood tide moving with great force
+and swiftness up the river.
+
+=181.= Henry II. of England was born in 1133; died, 1189. He was the
+first of the Plantagenet line of kings.
+
+=182.= Thomas Becket, born in London, 1118, was the son of a rich
+merchant, and became a member of the household of Theobald, archbishop
+of Canterbury, about 1142. Through the influence of Theobald his
+interests with the king were advanced, and he became chancellor during
+the first year of Henry's reign. He was murdered in 1170.
+
+=190.= In 1172 Becket was canonized under the title of St. Thomas of
+Canterbury, and in 1220 his bones were removed to Trinity Chapel,
+where they became the object of great veneration. For several
+centuries pilgrimages were made to his shrine from all parts of
+England. Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" were related by a party of
+pilgrims who were making this journey, presumably near the close of
+the fourteenth century. By order of King Henry VIII. the shrine was
+finally destroyed, and the bones of Becket were scattered and burned.
+
+=200.= "Genera." Plural of _genus_--a name applied to a class of
+objects subdivided into species.
+
+"Hen harriers." Hawks which fly low and harass fowls or small animals.
+
+=201.= "Gallinæ" (găl lī´ne). The order of birds which includes
+domestic fowls, pheasants, quails, grouse, etc.
+
+=205.= The National Cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, was
+dedicated by President Lincoln, November 19, 1863. It was here that
+the great battle of Gettysburg was fought, July 1, 2, and 3 of the
+same year. The cemetery contains the graves of 3580 soldiers, with a
+central monument, built at a cost of $50,000, and a large number of
+regimental monuments on the various historic points of the battlefield.
+
+=208.= "Vespasian and his son Titus." Vespasian was emperor of Rome
+A.D. 70-79. He was succeeded by his son Titus, who died two years
+later. Jerusalem was taken and destroyed by Titus, acting as his
+father's general, in the year 70. Both these emperors expended large
+sums on public works. The Coliseum, although begun by Vespasian in 72,
+was not finished during his reign. Despite the enormous mass of the
+present ruins, it is estimated that they comprise only about one third
+of the original materials; the remainder have been carried away,
+destroyed, or used in the construction of other buildings.
+
+=209.= "Orpheus." The sweet musician of Thrace whose music charmed
+birds and beasts, and caused even rocks and trees to move from their
+places to listen to the divine melody.
+
+=212.= "The Last Prayer." Jean Leon Gérôme, the painter of this
+picture, is a celebrated French artist, born at Vesoul in 1824. He
+studied in Italy, and to perfect himself in his art, traveled for some
+years in Egypt, Turkey, and other eastern countries. As might have
+been expected, the subjects of many of his paintings are oriental. In
+1863, he became professor of painting at the Academy of Fine Arts. His
+works are very numerous and meritorious.
+
+=213.= The stanza of poetry quoted on this page is from Lord Byron's
+"Childe Harold's Pilgrimage."
+
+"Honorius." Honorius was born at Constantinople, A.D. 384, and became
+emperor of the western empire in 395 at the age of eleven years. He
+married the daughter of his guardian, Stilicho, in 398. It was during
+his reign (in 410) that Rome was taken and sacked by Alaric the Goth.
+He died in 423.
+
+=216.= "Lyonesse" (lī o nĕs´). A mythical region, said to have
+extended from Land's End, in Cornwall, to the Scilly Islands. A
+tradition still exists of the submersion and destruction of this
+country, probably in the tenth century. King Arthur was said to have
+been a native of Lyonesse.
+
+=217.= "Camelot." A legendary town in England where Arthur had his
+palace and court. It is supposed by some to have been near Winchester;
+others locate it in Wales.
+
+"Merlin." A half-legendary bard and wizard, who is supposed to have
+lived in the early part of the sixth century. He was the companion and
+counselor of Arthur, and instituted the Round Table at Carduel. The
+famous prose romance, called the "Romance of Merlin," was written in
+French by Hélie de Borron about the year 1200. It was translated into
+English about the middle of the fifteenth century.
+
+"Excalibur." The sword which Arthur had received from the Lady of the
+Lake. It had many miraculous qualities, and the wearer of its scabbard
+could lose no blood.
+
+=223.= "Daïs throne." A throne raised upon an elevated platform or daïs.
+
+=224.= "Avilion." In Celtic mythology, the Land of the Blessed--an
+earthly paradise in the western seas. All the great heroes of mediæval
+times, as Arthur and Ogier the Dane, were carried there, where they
+lived in perfect happiness at the court of Morgan le Fay, the queen of
+the fairies.
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Note
+
+
+  * Line numbers removed from short stories.
+
+  * Obvious punctuation and spelling errors repaired.
+
+  * Footnote moved to the end of short story.
+
+  * In Table of Contents "Portraits of Authors" page number corrected
+    for Arthur Penrhyn Stanley from "190" to "191".
+
+  * Chiusi (Kē [=oo]´sē) contains [=oo] representing a "long oo" sound
+    not represented in any charts.
+
+  * Text enclosed between equal signs was in bold face in the original
+    (=bold=).
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's School Reading by Grades, by James Baldwin
+
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of School Reading by Grades, by James Baldwin
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: School Reading by Grades
+       Sixth Year
+
+Author: James Baldwin
+
+Release Date: July 26, 2011 [EBook #36864]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SCHOOL READING BY GRADES ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Larry B. Harrison and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+  SCHOOL READING BY GRADES
+
+  _SIXTH YEAR_
+
+  BY
+  JAMES BALDWIN
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+  NEW YORK      CINCINNATI      CHICAGO
+  AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY
+
+
+
+
+  COPYRIGHT, 1897, BY
+  AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY.
+
+  SCH. READ. SIXTH YEAR.
+  W. P. 12
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+The pupil who is in his sixth year at school should be able to read
+quite well. He should be able to pronounce at sight and without
+hesitation all new or unusual words; and when reading aloud, his tones
+should be so clear, his enunciation so faultless, and his manner so
+agreeable that his hearers shall listen with pleasure and shall have a
+ready understanding of whatever is being read. He is now prepared to
+devote more and more attention to literary criticism--that is, to the
+study of the peculiarities of style which distinguish any selection,
+the passages which are remarkable for their beauty, their truth, or
+their adaptation to the particular purpose for which they were
+written. The habit should be cultivated of looking for and enjoying
+the admirable qualities of any literary production, and particularly
+of such productions as are generally recognized as the classics of our
+language. While learning to distinguish between good literature and
+that sort of writing which, properly speaking, is not literature at
+all, the pupil's acquaintance with books is enlarged and extended. He
+learns to know what are the best books and why they are so considered;
+and he acquires some knowledge of the lives of the best authors and of
+the circumstances under which certain of their works were produced.
+
+The present volume is designed to aid the learner in the acquisition
+of all these ends. The selections are of a highly interesting
+character, and illustrate almost every variety of English composition.
+To assist in their comprehension, many of the selections are
+introduced or followed by brief historical or bibliographical notes.
+Hints also are given as to collateral, or supplementary readings on a
+variety of subjects. To assist the pupil still further to enlarge his
+acquaintance with books and authors, additional notes, literary and
+biographical, are given in the appendix; here also may be found
+several pages of brief notes explanatory of difficult passages,
+unusual expressions, and historical references, such as might
+otherwise be stumbling stones in the way of the learner. The numerous
+portraits of authors is another important feature designed to add to
+the interest and beauty of the book, and to assist the pupil to a more
+intimate acquaintance with the makers of our literature. Most of the
+full-page pictures are reproductions of famous paintings, and these,
+while serving as illustrations of the text which they accompany, are
+designed to introduce the learner to some of the masters of art also,
+and perform the more important office of cultivating and enlarging his
+�sthetic tastes and sympathies.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+                                                                    PAGE
+
+  Two Ways of Telling a Story        _Jean Ingelow_                    7
+
+  The Death of the Flowers           _William Cullen Bryant_          18
+
+  The Great Volcanic Eruption        _J. T. Van Gestel_               20
+
+  The Return of Columbus             _Washington Irving_              25
+
+  What the Sunbeams do               _Arabella B. Buckley_            29
+
+  Horatius at the Bridge             _Thomas Babington Macaulay_      32
+
+  How Sir Francis Drake sailed
+      round the World                _James A. Froude_                44
+
+  A Brave Rescue and a Rough Ride    _Richard D. Blackmore_           51
+
+  The Glory of God                   _From the Psalms of David_       65
+
+  The Battle of Bannockburn          _Sir Walter Scott_               66
+
+  The Soldier's Dream                _Thomas Campbell_                75
+
+  Lord Ullin's Daughter              _Thomas Campbell_                76
+
+  Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata                                        78
+
+  The Story of Tempe Wick            _Frank R. Stockton_              83
+
+  Life in Norman England             _W. F. Collier_                  89
+
+  The Romance of the Swan's Nest     _Elizabeth Barrett Browning_     98
+
+  A Patriarch of the Olden Time      _From the "Book of Job"_        102
+
+  How Cort�s entered the City of
+      Mexico                         _William H. Prescott_           104
+
+  The Skylark                        _James Hogg_                    112
+
+  The Mystery of the Tadpole         _George Henry Lewes_            113
+
+  The Glove and the Lions            _Leigh Hunt_                    119
+
+  True Growth                        _Ben Jonson_                    120
+
+  The Shipwreck                      _Charles Dickens_               121
+
+  The Happy Valley                   _Dr. Samuel Johnson_            135
+
+  The Pass of Killiecrankie          _W. E. Aytoun_                  138
+
+  Summer Rain                        _Henry Ward Beecher_            143
+
+  Life in the Backwoods              _William Dean Howells_          146
+
+  How they besieged the Town         _Charles Reade_                 153
+
+  Lochinvar                          _Sir Walter Scott_              163
+
+  On a Tropical River                _Charles Kingsley_              165
+
+  The Flag of Our Country            _Robert C. Winthrop_            173
+
+  The High Tide on the Coast of
+      Lincolnshire, 1571             _Jean Ingelow_                  175
+
+  The Story of Thomas Becket
+
+       I. His Life                   _Anonymous_                     181
+
+      II. His Death                  _Arthur Penrhyn Stanley_        185
+
+  The Pilgrims (1620)                _Edward Everett_                192
+
+  The Landing of the Pilgrims        _Felicia Hemans_                195
+
+  Patriotism                         _William Cowper_                196
+
+  The Robin                          _Charles Conrad Abbott_         197
+
+  Motions of Birds                   _Gilbert White_                 200
+
+  Origin of Rivers                   _John Tyndall_                  202
+
+  Address at the Dedication of
+      Gettysburg Cemetery            _Abraham Lincoln_               205
+
+  The American Flag                  _Joseph Rodman Drake_           206
+
+  The Last Fight in the Coliseum,
+      A.D. 404                       _Charlotte M. Yonge_            208
+
+  The Passing of Arthur              _Alfred Tennyson_               216
+
+  THE PRINCIPLES OF GOOD READING                                     225
+
+  AUTHORS AND BOOKS                                                  228
+
+  EXPLANATORY NOTES                                                  235
+
+
+FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS.
+
+                                        ARTIST
+
+  Columbus at Barcelona              _R. Balaca_                      24
+
+  The Defense of the Bridge          _A. I. Keller_                   37
+
+  Ruins of a Norman Castle           _From a photograph_              90
+
+  The Lions                          _Rosa Bonheur_                  118
+
+  The Shipwreck                      _A. Marlon_                     129
+
+  Canterbury Cathedral               _From a photograph_             187
+
+  The Departure of the Mayflower     _A. W. Bayes_                   194
+
+  The Last Prayer--Christian
+      Martyrs in the Coliseum        _J. L. Gerome_                  212
+
+
+PORTRAITS OF AUTHORS.
+
+  Washington Irving                                           Title-page
+
+  Thomas Babington Macaulay                                           32
+
+  James Anthony Froude                                                50
+
+  Thomas Campbell                                                     76
+
+  Frank R. Stockton                                                   83
+
+  Elizabeth Barrett Browning                                          98
+
+  William H. Prescott                                                104
+
+  George Henry Lewes                                                 113
+
+  Leigh Hunt                                                         119
+
+  Charles Dickens                                                    121
+
+  Dr. Samuel Johnson                                                 135
+
+  Henry Ward Beecher                                                 143
+
+  William Dean Howells                                               146
+
+  Charles Reade                                                      153
+
+  Charles Kingsley                                                   165
+
+  Jean Ingelow                                                       175
+
+  Arthur Penrhyn Stanley                                             191
+
+  Edward Everett                                                     192
+
+  John Tyndall                                                       202
+
+  Abraham Lincoln                                                    205
+
+  Joseph Rodman Drake                                                206
+
+  Charlotte M. Yonge                                                 208
+
+    Acknowledgments are due to the following persons for their
+    courteous permission to use valuable selections from their works:
+    Dr. Charles C. Abbott for the essay on "The Robin"; Mr. William
+    Dean Howells for his sketch of "Life in the Backwoods"; The J. B.
+    Lippincott Company for the selections from Prescott's "Conquest of
+    Mexico" and Abbott's "Birdland Echoes"; and Mr. Frank R. Stockton
+    for "The Story of Tempe Wicke."
+
+
+
+
+SCHOOL READING.
+
+SIXTH YEAR.
+
+
+
+
+TWO WAYS OF TELLING A STORY.
+
+
+I.
+
+Who is this? A careless little midshipman, idling about in a great
+city, with his pockets full of money.
+
+He is waiting for the coach: it comes up presently, and he gets on the
+top of it, and looks about him.
+
+They soon leave the chimney pots behind them; his eyes wander with
+delight over the harvest fields, he smells the honeysuckle in the
+hedgerow, and he wishes he was down among the hazel bushes, that he
+might strip them of the milky nuts; then he sees a great wain piled up
+with barley, and he wishes he was seated on the top of it; then they
+go through a little wood, and he likes to see the checkered shadows of
+the trees lying across the white road; and then a squirrel runs up a
+bough, and he can not forbear to whoop and halloo, though he can not
+chase it to its nest.
+
+The other passengers are delighted with his simplicity and childlike
+glee; and they encourage him to talk to them about the sea and ships,
+especially Her Majesty's ship "The Asp," wherein he has the honor to
+sail. In the jargon of the sea, he describes her many perfections,
+and enlarges on her peculiar advantages; he then confides to them how
+a certain middy, having been ordered to the masthead as a punishment,
+had seen, while sitting on the topmast crosstrees, something
+uncommonly like the sea serpent--but, finding this hint received with
+incredulous smiles, he begins to tell them how he hopes that, some
+day, he shall be promoted to have charge of the poop. The passengers
+hope he will have that honor; they have no doubt he deserves it. His
+cheeks flush with pleasure to hear them say so, and he little thinks
+that they have no notion in what "that honor" may happen to consist.
+
+The coach stops: the little midshipman, with his hands in his pockets,
+sits rattling his money, and singing. There is a poor woman standing
+by the door of the village inn; she looks careworn, and well she may,
+for, in the spring, her husband went up to the city to seek for work.
+He got work, and she was expecting soon to join him there, when alas!
+a fellow-workman wrote her word how he had met with an accident, how
+he was very ill and wanted his wife to come and nurse him. But she has
+two young children, and is destitute; she must walk up all the way,
+and she is sick at heart when she thinks that perhaps he may die among
+strangers before she can reach him.
+
+She does not think of begging, but seeing the boy's eyes attracted to
+her, she makes him a courtesy, and he withdraws his hand and throws
+her down a sovereign. She looks at it with incredulous joy, and then
+she looks at him.
+
+"It's all right," he says, and the coach starts again, while, full of
+gratitude, she hires a cart to take her across the country to the
+railway, that the next night she may sit by the bedside of her sick
+husband.
+
+The midshipman knows nothing about that; and he never will know.
+
+The passengers go on talking--the little midshipman has told them who
+he is, and where he is going; but there is one man who has never
+joined in the conversation; he is dark-looking and restless; he sits
+apart; he has seen the glitter of the falling coin, and now he watches
+the boy more narrowly than before.
+
+He is a strong man, resolute and determined; the boy with the pockets
+full of money will be no match for him. The midshipman has told the
+other passengers that his father's house is the parsonage at Y----;
+the coach goes within five miles of it, and he means to get down at
+the nearest point, and walk, or rather run over to his home, through
+the great wood.
+
+The man decides to get down too, and go through the wood; he will rob
+the little midshipman; perhaps, if he cries out or struggles, he will
+do worse. The boy, he thinks, will have no chance against him; it is
+quite impossible that he can escape; the way is lonely, and the sun
+will be down.
+
+No. There seems indeed little chance of escape; the half-fledged bird
+just fluttering down from its nest has no more chance against the
+keen-eyed hawk, than the little light-hearted sailor boy will have
+against him--at least so thinks the man as he makes his plans.
+
+
+II.
+
+The coach reaches the village where the boy is to alight. He wishes
+the other passengers "good evening," and runs lightly down between the
+scattered houses. The man has got down also, and is following.
+
+The path lies through the village churchyard; there is evening
+service, and the door is wide open, for it is warm. The little
+midshipman stops by the door, looks in, and listens. The clergyman has
+just risen, and is giving out his text. Thirteen months have past
+since the boy was within a house of prayer; and a feeling of pleasure
+and awe induces him to stand still and listen.
+
+"Are not two sparrows [he hears] sold for a farthing? and one of them
+shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs
+of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not, therefore, ye are of more
+value than many sparrows."
+
+He hears the opening sentences of the sermon; and then he remembers
+his home, and comes softly out of the porch, full of a calm and
+serious pleasure. The clergyman has reminded him of his father, and
+his careless heart is now filled with the echoes of his voice and of
+his prayers. He thinks on what the clergyman said, of the care of our
+heavenly Father for us; he remembers how, when he left home, his
+father prayed that he might be preserved through every danger; he does
+not remember any particular danger that he has been exposed to,
+excepting in the great storm; but he is grateful that he has come home
+in safety, and he hopes whenever he shall be in danger, which he
+supposes he shall be some day--he hopes, that then the providence of
+God will watch over him, and protect him. And so he presses onward to
+the entrance of the wood.
+
+The man is there before him. He has pushed himself into the thicket,
+and cut a heavy club; he suffers the boy to go on before, and then he
+comes out and follows him. It is too light at present for his deed of
+darkness and too near the entrance of the wood, but he knows that
+shortly the path will branch off into two, and the right one for the
+boy to take will be dark and lonely.
+
+But what prompts the little midshipman, when not fifty yards from the
+branching of the path, to break into a sudden run? It is not fear, for
+he never dreams of danger. Some sudden impulse, or some wild wish for
+home, makes him dash off suddenly, with a whoop and a bound. On he
+goes, as if running a race; the path bends, and the man loses sight of
+him. "But I shall have him yet," he thinks; "he can not keep this pace
+up long."
+
+The boy has nearly reached the place where the path divides, when he
+startles a young white owl that can scarcely fly, and it goes whirring
+along, close to the ground, before him. He gains upon it; another
+moment, and it will be his. Now it gets the start again; they come to
+the branching of the paths, and the bird goes down the wrong one. The
+temptation to follow is too strong to be resisted; he knows that
+somewhere, deep in the wood, there is a cross track by which he can
+get into the path he has left; if only he runs a little faster, he
+shall be at home nearly as soon.
+
+On he rushes; the path takes a bend, and he is just out of sight when
+his pursuer comes where the paths divide. The boy has turned to the
+right; the man takes the left, and the faster they both run the
+farther they are asunder.
+
+The white owl still leads him on; the path gets darker and narrower;
+at last he finds that he has missed it altogether, and his feet are on
+the soft ground. He flounders about among the trees, vexed with
+himself, and panting after his race. At last he finds another track,
+and pushes on as fast as he can. He has lost his way--but he keeps
+bearing to the left; and, though it is now dark, he thinks that he
+must reach the main path sooner or later.
+
+He does not know this part of the wood, but he runs on. O, little
+midshipman! why did you chase that owl? If you had kept in the path
+with the dark man behind you, there was a chance that you might have
+outrun him; or, if he had overtaken you, some passing wayfarer might
+have heard your cries, and come to save you. Now you are running on
+straight to your death, for the forest water is deep and black at the
+bottom of this hill. O, that the moon might come out and show it to you!
+
+The moon is under a thick canopy of heavy black clouds; and there is
+not a star to glitter on the water and make it visible. The fern is
+soft under his feet as he runs and slips down the sloping hill. At
+last he strikes his foot against a stone, stumbles, and falls. Two
+minutes more and he will roll into the black water.
+
+"Heyday!" cries the boy, "what's this? Oh, how it tears my hands! Oh,
+this thorn bush! Oh, my arms! I can't get free!" He struggles and
+pants. "All this comes of leaving the path," he says; "I shouldn't
+have cared for rolling down if it hadn't been for this bush. The fern
+was soft enough. I'll never stray in a wood at night again. There,
+free at last! And my jacket nearly torn off my back!"
+
+With a good deal of patience, and a great many scratches, he gets free
+of the thorn which had arrested his progress, when his feet were
+within a yard of the water, manages to scramble up the bank, and makes
+the best of his way through the wood.
+
+And now, as the clouds move slowly onward, the moon shows her face on
+the black surface of the water; and the little white owl comes and
+hoots, and flutters over it like a wandering snowdrift. But the boy is
+deep in the wood again, and knows nothing of the danger from which he
+has escaped.
+
+
+III.
+
+All this time the dark passenger follows the main track, and believes
+that his prey is before him. At last he hears a crashing of dead
+boughs, and presently the little midshipman's voice not fifty yards
+before him. Yes, it is too true; the boy is in the cross track. He
+will pass the cottage in the wood directly, and after that his pursuer
+will come upon him.
+
+The boy bounds into the path; but, as he passes the cottage, he is so
+thirsty that he thinks he must ask the people if they will sell him a
+cup of tea.
+
+He enters without ceremony. "Tea?" says the woodman, who is sitting at
+his supper. "No, we have no tea; but perhaps my wife can give thee a
+drink of milk. Come in." So he comes in, and shuts the door; and,
+while he sits waiting for the milk, footsteps pass. They are the
+footsteps of his pursuer, who goes on with the club in his hand, and
+is angry and impatient that he has not yet come up with him.
+
+The woman goes to her little dairy for the milk, and the boy thinks
+she is a long time. He drinks it, thanks her, and takes his leave.
+
+Fast and fast the man runs on, and, as fast as he can, the boy runs
+after him. It is very dark, but there is a yellow streak in the sky,
+where the moon is plowing up a furrowed mass of gray cloud, and one or
+two stars are blinking through the branches of the trees.
+
+Fast the boy follows, and fast the man runs on, with his weapon in his
+hand. Suddenly he hears the joyish whoop--not before, but behind him.
+He stops and listens breathlessly. Yes, it is so. He pushes himself
+into the thicket, and raises his club to strike when the boy shall pass.
+
+On he comes, running lightly, with his hands in his pockets. A sound
+strikes at the same instant on the ears of both; and the boy turns
+back from the very jaws of death to listen. It is the sound of wheels,
+and it draws rapidly nearer. A man comes up, driving a little gig.
+
+"Halloa?" he says, in a loud, cheerful voice. "What! benighted,
+youngster?"
+
+"Oh, is it you, Mr. Davis?" says the boy; "no, I am not benighted; or,
+at any rate, I know my way out of the wood."
+
+The man draws farther back among the shrubs. "Why, bless the boy," he
+hears the farmer say, "to think of our meeting in this way. The parson
+told me he was in hopes of seeing thee some day this week. I'll give
+thee a lift. This is a lonely place to be in this time o' night."
+
+"Lonely!" says the boy, laughing. "I don't mind that; and if you know
+the way, it's as safe as the quarter-deck."
+
+So he gets into the farmer's gig, and is once more out of reach of the
+pursuer. But the man knows that the farmer's house is a quarter of a
+mile nearer than the parsonage, and in that quarter of a mile there is
+still a chance of committing the robbery. He determines still to make
+the attempt, and cuts across the wood with such rapid strides that he
+reaches the farmer's gate just as the gig drives up to it.
+
+"Well, thank you, farmer," says the midshipman, as he prepares to get
+down.
+
+"I wish you good night, gentlemen," says the man, when he passes.
+
+"Good night, friend," the farmer replies. "I say, my boy, it's a dark
+night enough; but I have a mind to drive you on to the parsonage, and
+hear the rest of this long tale of yours about the sea serpent."
+
+The little wheels go on again. They pass the man; and he stands still
+in the road to listen till the sound dies away. Then he flings his
+club into the hedge, and goes back. His evil purposes have all been
+frustrated--the thoughtless boy, without knowing anything about it,
+has baffled him at every turn.
+
+
+IV.
+
+And now the little midshipman is at home--the joyful meeting has taken
+place; and when they have all admired his growth, and measured his
+height on the window frame, and seen him eat his supper, they begin to
+question him about his adventures, more for the pleasure of hearing
+him talk than any curiosity.
+
+"Adventures!" says the boy, seated between his father and mother on a
+sofa. "Why, mother, I wrote you an account of the voyage, and there's
+nothing else to tell. Nothing happened to-day--at least nothing
+particular."
+
+"Did you come by the coach we told you of?" asks his father.
+
+"Oh, yes, papa; and when we had got about twenty miles, there came up
+a beggar, while we changed horses, and I threw down, as I thought, a
+shilling, but, as it fell, I saw it was a sovereign. She was very
+honest, and showed me what it was, but I didn't take it back, for you
+know, it's a long time since I gave anything to anybody."
+
+"Very true, my boy," his mother answers; "but you should not be
+careless with your money.
+
+"I suppose you got down at the crossroads?" says his elder brother.
+
+"Yes, and went through the wood. I should have been here sooner if I
+hadn't lost my way there."
+
+"Lost your way!" says his mother, alarmed. "My dear boy, you should
+not have left the path at dusk."
+
+"Oh, mother," says the little midshipman, with a smile, "you're always
+thinking we're in danger. If you could see me sometimes sitting at the
+jib-boom end, or across the main topmast crosstrees, you _would_ be
+frightened. But what danger can there be in a wood?"
+
+"Well, my boy," she answers, "I don't wish to be over-anxious, and to
+make my children uncomfortable by my fears. What did you stray from
+the path for?"
+
+"Only to chase a little owl, mother; but I didn't catch her after all.
+I got a roll down a bank, and caught my jacket against a thorn bush,
+which was rather unlucky. Ah! three large holes I see in my sleeve.
+And so I scrambled up again, and got into the path, and stopped at the
+cottage for some milk. What a time the woman kept me, to be sure! But
+very soon Mr. Davis drove up in his gig, and he brought me on to the
+gate."
+
+"And so this story being brought to a close," his father says, "we
+find that you had no adventures at all!"
+
+"No, papa, nothing happened; nothing particular, I mean."
+
+Nothing particular! If they could have known, they would have thought
+lightly in comparison of the dangers of "the jib-boom end, and the
+main topmast crosstrees." But they did not know, any more than we do,
+of the dangers that hourly beset us. Some few dangers we are aware of,
+and we do what we can to provide against them; but, for the greater
+portion, "our eyes are held that we can not see." We walk securely
+under His guidance, without whom "not a sparrow falleth to the
+ground!" and when we have had escapes that the angels have wondered
+at, we come home and say, perhaps, that "nothing has happened; at
+least nothing particular."
+
+  --_Jean Ingelow._
+
+
+
+
+THE DEATH OF THE FLOWERS.
+
+
+    The melancholy days are come, the saddest of the year,
+    Of wailing winds, and naked woods, and meadows brown and sere.
+    Heaped in the hollows of the grove, the autumn leaves lie dead;
+    They rustle to the eddying gust, and to the rabbit's tread.
+    The robin and the wren are flown, and from the shrubs the jay,
+    And from the wood-top calls the crow through all the gloomy day.
+
+    Where are the flowers, the fair young flowers, that lately sprang
+              and stood
+    In brighter light and softer airs, a beauteous sisterhood?
+    Alas! they all are in their graves; the gentle race of flowers
+    Are lying in their lowly beds, with the fair and good of ours.
+    The rain is falling where they lie, but the cold November rain
+    Calls not from out the gloomy earth the lovely ones again.
+
+    The windflower and the violet, they perished long ago,
+    And the brier rose and the orchis died amid the summer glow;
+    But on the hill the goldenrod, and the aster in the wood,
+    And the yellow sunflower by the brook in autumn beauty stood,
+    Till fell the frost from the clear, cold heaven, as falls the plague
+              on men,
+    And the brightness of their smile was gone, from upland, glade, and
+              glen.
+
+    And now, when comes the calm, mild day, as still such days will
+              come,
+    To call the squirrel and the bee from out their winter home;
+    When the sound of dropping nuts is heard, though all the trees are
+              still,
+    And twinkle in the smoky light the waters of the rill,
+    The south wind searches for the flowers whose fragrance late he
+              bore,
+    And sighs to find them in the wood and by the stream no more.
+
+    And then I think of one who in her youthful beauty died,
+    The fair, meek blossom that grew up and faded by my side.
+    In the cold, moist earth we laid her, when the forests cast the
+              leaf,
+    And we wept that one so lovely should have a life so brief:
+    Yet not unmeet it was that one like that young friend of ours,
+    So gentle and so beautiful, should perish with the flowers.
+
+
+
+
+THE GREAT VOLCANIC ERUPTION.
+
+
+In 1883 the most destructive volcanic eruption ever known occurred in
+the Straits of Sunda and the neighboring islands. The trouble began on
+Sunday morning, the 13th of May. Java, Sumatra, and Borneo were
+convulsed by earthquakes. The surface of the earth rocked, houses
+tumbled down, and big trees were shaken to the ground. Earthquakes are
+no rarity in those islands, but this earthquake showed no signs of
+ceasing. The earth quivered constantly, and from its depths there
+seemed to rise strange sounds and hollow explosions.
+
+On Thursday there came a telegram from Anjer, ninety miles away, on
+the northwest coast of Java, intimating that a volcano had broken out
+at Krakatoa island, about thirty miles west of Anjer, in Sunda Strait.
+I was requested by the Dutch government to go to the scene of action
+and take scientific observations, and by four o'clock that afternoon I
+started with a party on board a special steamer from Batavia.
+
+As we rounded the northern extremity of Java, we saw ascending from
+Krakatoa, still fifty miles away, an immense column of smoke. Its
+appearance changed as we approached. First it looked like flame, then it
+appeared to be steam, and finally it had the appearance of a pillar of
+fire inside one of white fleecy wool. The diameter of this pillar of
+fire and smoke was, I should think, at least one and a half miles. All
+the while we heard that sullen, thunderous roar which had been a feature
+of this disturbance ever since Sunday, and was now becoming louder.
+
+We remained on deck all night and watched. The din increased till we
+could with difficulty hear one another's voices. Dawn approached, and
+when the rays of the sun fell on the shores of Krakatoa, we saw them
+reflected from what we thought was a river, and we resolved to steam
+into its mouth and disembark.
+
+When we came to within three quarters of a mile of the shore, we
+discovered that what we supposed to be a river was a torrent of molten
+sulphur. The smell almost overpowered us. We steamed away to the
+windward, and made for the other side of the island.
+
+This island, though volcanic, had up till now been quiet for at least
+a century. It was eight or ten miles long and four wide, and was
+covered with forests of fine mahogany and rosewood trees. It was
+inhabited by a few fishermen, but we found no signs of these people.
+The land, down to the water's edge, was covered with powdered pumice
+stone, which rained down from the clouds around the great column of
+fire. Everything with life had already disappeared from the landscape,
+which was covered with a steaming mass of stones and ashes.
+
+Several of us landed and began walking towards the volcano. We sank
+deep in the soft pumice, which blistered our feet with its heat. I
+climbed painfully upwards toward the crater, in order to measure it
+with my sextant; but in a short time the heat melted the mercury off
+the mirror of the instrument. I was then half a mile from the crater.
+
+As I was returning to the shore, I saw the bottom of each footstep I
+had made on my way up glowing red with the heat from beneath. We
+photographed the scene from the deck of the steamer, where the fire
+hose was kept playing constantly, wetting the rigging and everything
+about the ship to prevent her from taking fire.
+
+The steamer then returned to Batavia, and I went to reside at Anjer.
+From my villa on the hillside a mile inland, I could see Krakatoa,
+thirty miles away, belching out its never-ending eruption. We supposed
+that it would go on till it burned itself out, and that then it would
+become quiet again. But in this we were mistaken.
+
+On Sunday morning, the 12th of August, nearly three months later, I
+was sitting on the veranda of my house taking my morning cup of tea. I
+saw the fishing boats lying at anchor in the bay, the fishermen
+themselves being on shore at rest. As my gaze rested on the boats, I
+suddenly became aware that they were all beginning to move rapidly in
+one direction. Then in an instant, to my intense surprise, they all
+disappeared.
+
+I ran farther up the hillside to get a better view, and looked far out
+to sea. Instantly a great glare of fire right in the midst of the sea
+caught my eye. All the way across the bay and the strait, in a line of
+flame reaching to Krakatoa itself, the bottom of the sea seemed to
+have cracked open so that the subterraneous fires were belching forth.
+On either side the waters were pouring into this gulf with a
+tremendous noise, but the fire was not extinguished.
+
+The hissing roar brought out the people of Anjer in excited crowds. My
+eyes were turned away for a moment as I beckoned to some one, and
+during that moment came a terrible, deafening explosion. It stunned
+me; and when I was able again to turn my eyes toward the bay, I could
+see nothing. The whole scene was shrouded in darkness, from amid which
+came cries and groans, the creaking of breaking beams in the houses,
+and, above all, the roar of the breakers on the shore. The city of
+Anjer, with its sixty thousand people, had been engulfed!
+
+I afterwards found that the water was one hundred feet deep where the
+city of Anjer had been, and that the coast line had moved one and a
+half miles inland. A big island in the strait had been split in two,
+with a wide passage between its parts. An island to the northwest of
+Krakatoa had wholly disappeared. The air was filled with minute
+particles of dust, which after some weeks spread even to Europe and
+America. What the causes of such a tremendous convulsion may have
+been, it is quite impossible accurately to say.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The foregoing narrative was written by J. T. Van Gestel, who was at
+the time residing in the island of Java. Compare his description of
+this event with those of the eruption of Vesuvius and the destruction
+of Pompeii, given in "School Reading by Grades--Fifth Year." Read also
+the younger Pliny's description of the eruption of Vesuvius. It may be
+found in Church and Brodribb's translation of selections from Pliny's
+Letters. Other interesting readings about volcanoes may be found in
+"Volcanoes, Past and Present," by Edward Hull, and in "Volcanoes and
+Earthquakes," by Dr. George Hartwig.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration:
+
+  From the Painting by R. Balaca.      Engraved by Robert Varley.
+
+  Columbus at Barcelona.
+]
+
+THE RETURN OF COLUMBUS.
+
+
+The fame of the discovery made by Columbus had resounded throughout
+the nation, and, as his route lay through several of the finest and
+most populous provinces of Spain, his journey appeared like the
+progress of a sovereign. Wherever he passed, the country poured forth
+its inhabitants, who lined the road and thronged the villages. The
+streets, windows, and balconies of the towns were filled with eager
+spectators, who rent the air with acclamations. His journey was
+continually impeded by the multitude pressing to gain a sight of him
+and of the Indians, who were regarded with as much astonishment as if
+they had been natives of another planet. It was impossible to satisfy
+the craving curiosity which assailed himself and his attendants at
+every stage with innumerable questions; popular rumor, as usual, had
+exaggerated the truth, and had filled the newly found country with all
+kinds of wonders.
+
+About the middle of April Columbus arrived at Barcelona, where every
+preparation had been made to give him a solemn and magnificent
+reception. The beauty and serenity of the weather in that genial
+season and favored climate contributed to give splendor to this
+memorable ceremony. As he drew near the place, many of the more
+youthful courtiers and hidalgos, together with a vast concourse of the
+populace, came forth to meet and welcome him. His entrance into this
+noble city has been compared to one of those triumphs which the Romans
+were accustomed to decree to conquerors. First were paraded the
+Indians, painted according to their savage fashion, and decorated with
+their national ornaments of gold; after these were borne various kinds
+of live parrots, together with stuffed birds and animals of unknown
+species, and rare plants supposed to be of precious qualities; while
+great care was taken to make a conspicuous display of Indian coronets,
+bracelets, and other decorations of gold, which might give an idea of
+the wealth of the newly discovered regions. After this followed
+Columbus on horseback, surrounded by a brilliant cavalcade of Spanish
+chivalry. The streets were almost impassable from the countless
+multitude; the windows and balconies were crowded with the fair; the
+very roofs were covered with spectators. It seemed as if the public
+eye could not be sated with gazing on these trophies of an unknown
+world, or on the remarkable man by whom it had been discovered. There
+was a sublimity in this event that mingled a solemn feeling with the
+public joy. It was looked upon as a vast and signal dispensation of
+Providence in reward for the piety of the monarchs; and the majestic
+and venerable appearance of the discoverer, so different from the
+youth and buoyancy generally expected from roving enterprise, seemed
+in harmony with the grandeur and dignity of his achievement.
+
+To receive him with suitable pomp and distinction, the sovereigns had
+ordered their throne to be placed in public, under a rich canopy of
+brocade of gold, in a vast and splendid saloon. Here the king and
+queen awaited his arrival, seated in state, with the Prince Juan
+beside them, and attended by the dignitaries of their court, and the
+principal nobility of Castile, Valencia, Catalonia, and Aragon, all
+impatient to behold the man who had conferred so incalculable a
+benefit upon the nation. At length Columbus entered the hall,
+surrounded by a brilliant crowd of cavaliers, among whom, says Las
+Casas, he was conspicuous for his stately and commanding person,
+which, with his countenance rendered venerable by his gray hairs, gave
+him the august appearance of a senator of Rome. A modest smile lighted
+up his features, showing that he enjoyed the state and glory in which
+he came; and certainly nothing could be more deeply moving to a mind
+inflamed by noble ambition, and conscious of having greatly deserved,
+than these testimonials of the admiration and gratitude of a nation,
+or rather of a world. As Columbus approached, the sovereigns rose, as
+if receiving a person of the highest rank. Bending his knees, he
+offered to kiss their hands; but there was some hesitation on their
+part to permit this act of homage. Raising him in the most gracious
+manner, they ordered him to seat himself in their presence; a rare
+honor in this proud and punctilious court.
+
+At their request, he now gave an account of the most striking events
+of his voyage, and a description of the islands discovered. He
+displayed specimens of unknown birds and other animals; of rare plants
+of medicinal and aromatic virtues; of native gold in dust, in crude
+masses, or labored into barbaric ornaments; and, above all, the
+natives of these countries, who were objects of intense and
+inexhaustible interest. All these he pronounced mere harbingers of
+greater discoveries yet to be made, which would add realms of
+incalculable wealth to the dominions of their majesties, and whole
+nations of proselytes to the true faith.
+
+When he had finished, the sovereigns sank on their knees, and, raising
+their clasped hands to heaven, their eyes filled with tears of joy and
+gratitude, poured forth thanks and praises to God for so great a
+providence; all present followed their example; a deep and solemn
+enthusiasm pervaded that splendid assembly, and prevented all common
+acclamations of triumph. The anthem _Te Deum laudamus_, chanted by the
+choir of the royal chapel, with the accompaniment of instruments, rose
+in full body of sacred harmony, bearing up as it were the feelings and
+thoughts of the auditors to heaven, "so that" says the venerable Las
+Casas, "it seemed as if in that hour they communicated with celestial
+delights." Such was the solemn and pious manner in which the brilliant
+court of Spain celebrated this sublime event; offering up a grateful
+tribute of melody and praise, and giving glory to God for the
+discovery of another world.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+This description of the reception of the great discoverer after his
+return from his first voyage, is from Washington Irving's famous book
+entitled "The Life and Voyages of Columbus." Other readings on the
+same subject are to be found in Prescott's "Ferdinand and Isabella,"
+Kingston's "Notable Voyagers," Mrs. Bolton's "Famous Voyagers,"
+Saunders' "Story of the Discovery of the New World," and McMaster's
+"School History of the United States."
+
+
+
+
+WHAT THE SUNBEAMS DO.
+
+
+What work do the sunbeams do for us? They do two things,--they give us
+light and heat. It is by means of them alone that we see anything.
+
+When the room was dark you could not distinguish the table, the chairs,
+or even the walls of the room. Why? Because they had no light waves to
+send to your eye. But as the sunbeams began to pour in at the window,
+the waves played upon the things in the room; and when they hit them
+they bounded off them back to your eye, as a wave of the sea bounds back
+from a rock, and strikes against a passing boat. Then, when they fell
+upon your eye, they entered it, and excited the retina and the nerves;
+and the image of the chair or the table was carried to your brain.
+
+Some substances send back hardly any waves of light, but let them all
+pass through them. A pane of clear glass, for instance, lets nearly
+all the light waves pass through it; and therefore you often can not
+see the glass, because no light messengers come back to you from it.
+Thus people have sometimes walked up against a glass door, and broken
+it, not seeing it was there.
+
+Those substances are transparent, which, for some reason unknown to
+us, allow the ether waves to pass through them. In clear glass, all
+the light waves pass through; while in a white wall the larger part of
+the rays are reflected back to the eye. Into polished shining metal
+the waves hardly enter at all, but are thrown back from the surface;
+and so a steel knife or a silver spoon is very bright, and is clearly
+seen. Quicksilver is put at the back of looking-glasses because it
+reflects so many waves.
+
+The reflected light waves not only make us see things, but they make
+us see them in different colors. Imagine a sunbeam playing on a leaf:
+part of its waves bound straight back from it to our eye, and make us
+see the surface of the leaf; but the rest go right into the leaf
+itself, and there some of them are used up and kept prisoners. The
+red, orange, yellow, blue, indigo, and violet waves are all useful to
+the leaf, and it does not let them go again. But it can not absorb the
+green waves, and so it throws them back; and they travel to your eye,
+and make you see a green color. So, when you say a leaf is green, you
+mean that the leaf does not want the green waves of the sunbeam, but
+sends them back to you. In the same way the scarlet geranium rejects
+the red waves; a white tablecloth sends back nearly the whole of the
+waves, and a black coat scarcely any.
+
+Is it not strange that there is really no such thing as color in the
+leaf, the table, the coat, or the geranium; that we see them of
+different colors because they send back only certain-colored waves to
+our eye?
+
+So far we have spoken only of light; but hold your hand in the sun,
+and feel the heat of the sunbeams, and then consider if the waves of
+heat do not do work also. There are many waves in a sunbeam which move
+too slowly to make us see light when they hit our eye; but we can feel
+them as heat, though we cannot see them as light.
+
+The simplest way of feeling heat waves is to hold a warm flatiron near
+your face. You know that no light comes from it, yet you can feel the
+heat waves beating violently against your face.
+
+Now, there are many of these dark heat rays in a sunbeam, and it is
+they that do most of the work in the world. It is the heat waves that
+make the air hot and light, and so cause it to rise, and make winds
+and air currents; and these again give rise to ocean currents. It is
+these dark rays, again, that strike upon the land, and give it the
+warmth which enables plants to grow. It is they also that keep up the
+warmth in our own bodies, both by coming to us directly from the sun,
+and also in a very roundabout way through plants.
+
+Coal is made of plants, and the heat it gives out is the heat these
+plants once took in. Think how much work is done by burning coal. Not
+only are our houses warmed by coal fires and lighted by coal gas, but
+our steam engines work entirely by water which has been turned into
+steam by the heat of coal fires; and our steamboats travel all over
+the world by means of the same power.
+
+In the same way the oil of our lamps comes either from olives, which
+grow on trees, or from coal and the remains of plants in the earth.
+Even our tallow candles are made of mutton fat, and sheep eat grass;
+and so, turn which way we will, we find that the light and heat on our
+earth, whether it comes from fires, or candles, or lamps, or gas, is
+equally the work of those waves of ether coming from the sun, which
+make what we call a sunbeam.
+
+  --_From "The Fairy Land of Science," by Arabella B. Buckley._
+
+
+
+
+HORATIUS AT THE BRIDGE.
+
+
+Tarquin the Proud was the seventh and last king of Rome. Such were his
+acts of tyranny, and such the crimes of his son, "the false Sextus,"
+that the people rose in rebellion, and, in the year 509 B.C., drove
+him and his family away from Rome and declared that they would have no
+more kings. The Tarquins took refuge among the Etruscans, whose
+country bordered Rome on the north. They made a treaty of friendship
+with Porsena, the king of Clusium, and induced him to raise a large
+army for the purpose of forcing the Romans to allow them to return to
+power. A battle was fought, and the Romans being defeated were obliged
+to flee across the wooden bridge which spanned the Tiber at Rome. To
+prevent Porsena from entering the city, the Roman Consul ordered that
+the bridge should be destroyed.
+
+[Illustration: Thomas Babington Macaulay.]
+
+The story of the manner in which this was done is told by Lord
+Macaulay in his "Lays of Ancient Rome," a collection of heroic ballads
+relating to the times of the kings and the early consuls. The author
+speaks, not in his own person, but in the person of an ancient
+minstrel who is supposed to have lived about one hundred years after
+the event, and who therefore knew only what a Roman citizen of that
+time could have known.
+
+    But the Consul's brow was sad,
+      And the Consul's speech was low,
+    And darkly looked he at the wall,
+      And darkly at the foe.
+    "Their van will be upon us
+      Before the bridge goes down;
+    And if they once may win the bridge,
+      What hope to save the town?"
+
+    Then out spake brave Horatius,
+      The captain of the gate:
+    "To every man upon this Earth
+      Death cometh soon or late;
+    And how can man die better
+      Than facing fearful odds,
+    For the ashes of his fathers,
+      And the temples of his gods?
+
+    "Hew down the bridge, Sir Consul,
+      With all the speed ye may;
+    I, with two more to help me,
+      Will hold the foe in play.
+    In yon strait path a thousand
+      May well be stopped by three;
+    Now, who will stand on either hand,
+      And keep the bridge with me?"
+
+    Then out spake Spurius Lartius,--
+      A Ramnian proud was he:
+    "Lo, I will stand at thy right hand,
+      And keep the bridge with thee."
+    And out spake strong Herminius,--
+      Of Titian blood was he:
+    "I will abide on thy left side,
+      And keep the bridge with thee."
+
+    "Horatius," quoth the Consul,
+      "As thou say'st, so let it be."
+    And straight against that great array
+      Forth went the dauntless Three.
+
+        Meanwhile the Tuscan army,
+          Right glorious to behold,
+    Came flashing back the noonday light,
+    Rank behind rank, like surges bright
+          Of a broad sea of gold.
+    Four hundred trumpets sounded
+          A peal of warlike glee,
+    As that great host, with measured tread,
+    And spears advanced, and ensigns spread,
+    Rolled slowly towards the bridge's head,
+          Where stood the dauntless Three.
+
+      The Three stood calm and silent,
+        And looked upon the foes,
+      And a great shout of laughter
+        From all the vanguard rose.
+      And forth three chiefs came spurring
+        Before that deep array;
+    To earth they sprang, their swords they drew
+    And lifted high their shields, and flew
+        To win the narrow way.
+
+    Annus from green Tifernum,
+      Lord of the Hill of Vines;
+    And Seius, whose eight hundred slaves
+      Sicken in Ilva's mines;
+    And Picus, long to Clusium
+      Vassal in peace and war,
+    Who led to fight his Umbrian powers
+    From that gray crag where, girt with towers,
+    The fortress of Nequinum lowers
+      O'er the pale waves of Nar.
+
+    Stout Lartius hurled down Annus
+      Into the stream beneath:
+    Herminius struck at Seius,
+      And clove him to the teeth:
+    At Picus brave Horatius
+      Darted one fiery thrust;
+    And the proud Umbrian's gilded arms
+      Clashed in the bloody dust.
+
+    And now no sound of laughter
+      Was heard among the foes.
+    A wild and wrathful clamor
+      From all the vanguard rose.
+    Six spears' length from the entrance
+      Halted that mighty mass,
+    And for a space no man came forth
+      To win the narrow pass.
+
+    But hark! the cry is Astur:
+      And lo! the ranks divide;
+    And the great Lord of Luna
+      Comes with his stately stride.
+    Upon his ample shoulders
+      Clangs loud the fourfold shield,
+    And in his hand he shakes the brand
+      Which none but he can wield.
+
+    He smiled on those bold Romans
+      A smile serene and high;
+    He eyed the flinching Tuscans,
+      And scorn was in his eye.
+    Quoth he, "The she-wolf's litter
+      Stand savagely at bay:
+    But will ye dare to follow,
+      If Astur clears the way?"
+
+    Then whirling up his broadsword
+      With both hands to the height,
+    He rushed against Horatius,
+      And smote with all his might.
+    With shield and blade Horatius
+      Right deftly turned the blow.
+    The blow, though turned, came yet too nigh;
+    It missed his helm, but gashed his thigh:
+    The Tuscans raised a joyful cry
+      To see the red blood flow.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+  Drawn by A. I. Keller.      Engraved by Robert Varley.
+
+  The Defense of the Bridge.
+]
+
+    He reeled, and on Herminius
+      He leaned one breathing space;
+    Then, like a wild cat mad with wounds,
+      Sprang right at Astur's face.
+    Through teeth and skull and helmet,
+      So fierce a thrust he sped,
+    The good sword stood a handbreadth out
+      Behind the Tuscan's head!
+
+    And the great Lord of Luna
+      Fell at that deadly stroke,
+    As falls on Mount Alvernus
+      A thunder-smitten oak.
+    Far o'er the crashing forest
+      The giant arms lie spread;
+    And the pale augurs, muttering low,
+      Gaze on the blasted head.
+
+    Then all Etruria's noblest
+      Felt their hearts sink to see
+    On the earth the bloody corpses,
+      In the path the dauntless Three:
+    And, from the ghastly entrance
+      Where those bold Romans stood,
+    All shrank, like boys who unaware,
+    Ranging the woods to start a hare,
+    Come to the mouth of the dark lair,
+    Where, growling low, a fierce old bear
+      Lies amidst bones and blood.
+
+    Yet one man for one moment
+      Stood out before the crowd;
+    Well known was he to all the Three,
+      And they gave him greeting loud:
+    "Now welcome, welcome, Sextus!
+      Now welcome to thy home!
+    Why dost thou stay and turn away?
+      Here lies the road to Rome."
+
+    Thrice looked he at the city;
+      Thrice looked he at the dead;
+    And thrice came on in fury,
+      And thrice turned back in dread:
+    And, white with fear and hatred,
+      Scowled at the narrow way
+    Where, wallowing in a pool of blood,
+      The bravest Tuscans lay.
+
+    But meanwhile ax and lever
+      Have manfully been plied,
+    And now the bridge hangs tottering
+      Above the boiling tide.
+    "Come back, come back, Horatius!"
+      Loud cried the Fathers all.
+    "Back, Lartius! Back, Herminius!
+      Back, ere the ruin fall!"
+
+    Back darted Spurius Lartius;
+      Herminius darted back;
+    And, as they passed, beneath their feet
+      They felt the timbers crack.
+    But when they turned their faces,
+      And on the farther shore
+    Saw brave Horatius stand alone,
+      They would have crossed once more.
+
+    But with a crash like thunder
+      Fell every loosened beam,
+    And, like a dam, the mighty wreck
+      Lay right athwart the stream:
+    And a long shout of triumph
+      Rose from the walls of Rome,
+    As to the highest turret tops
+      Was splashed the yellow-foam.
+
+    Alone stood brave Horatius,
+      But constant still in mind;
+    Thrice thirty thousand foes before,
+      And the broad flood behind.
+    "Down with him!" cried false Sextus,
+      With a smile on his pale face.
+    "Now, yield thee!" cried Lars Porsena,
+      "Now yield thee to our grace."
+
+    Round turned he, as not deigning
+      Those craven ranks to see;
+    Naught spake he to Lars Porsena,
+      To Sextus naught spake he;
+    But he saw on Palatinus
+      The white porch of his home;
+    And he spake to the noble river
+      That rolls by the tower of Rome:
+
+    "O, Tiber! Father Tiber!
+      To whom the Romans pray,
+    A Roman's life, a Roman's arms,
+      Take thou in charge this day!"
+    So he spake, and speaking sheathed
+      The good sword by his side,
+    And with his harness on his back,
+      Plunged headlong in the tide.
+
+    No sound of joy or sorrow
+      Was heard from either bank;
+    But friends and foes, in dumb surprise,
+    With parted lips and straining eyes,
+      Stood gazing where he sank:
+    And when above the surges
+      They saw his crest appear,
+    All Rome sent forth a rapturous cry,
+    And even the ranks of Tuscany
+      Could scarce forbear to cheer.
+
+    But fiercely ran the current,
+      Swollen high by months of rain:
+    And fast his blood was flowing;
+      And he was sore in pain,
+    And heavy with his armor,
+      And spent with changing blows:
+    And oft they thought him sinking,
+      But still again he rose.
+
+    "Curse on him!" quoth false Sextus,
+      "Will not the villain drown?
+    But for this stay, ere close of day
+      We should have sacked the town!"--
+    "Heaven help him!" quoth Lars Porsena,
+      "And bring him safe to shore;
+    For such a gallant feat of arms
+      Was never seen before."
+
+    And now he feels the bottom;
+      Now on dry earth he stands;
+    Now round him throng the Fathers,
+      To press his gory hands;
+    And now with shouts and clapping,
+      And noise of weeping loud,
+    He enters through the River Gate,
+      Borne by the joyous crowd.
+
+    They gave him of the corn land,
+      That was of public right,
+    As much as two strong oxen
+      Could plow from morn till night;
+    And they made a molten image,
+      And set it up on high,
+    And there it stands unto this day
+      To witness if I lie.
+
+    And still his name sounds stirring
+      Unto the men of Rome,
+    As the trumpet-blast that cries to them
+      To charge the Volscians home.
+    And mothers pray to Juno
+      For boys with hearts as bold
+    As his who kept the bridge so well
+      In the brave days of old.
+
+    And in the nights of winter
+      When the cold north winds blow,
+    And the long howling of the wolves
+      Is heard amidst the snow;
+    When round the lonely cottage
+      Roars loud the tempest's din,
+    And the good logs of Algidus
+      Roar louder yet within;
+
+    When the oldest cask is opened,
+      And the largest lamp is lit;
+    When the chestnuts glow in the embers,
+      And the kid turns on the spit;
+    When young and old in circle
+      Around the firebrands close;
+    When the girls are weaving baskets,
+      And the lads are shaping bows;
+
+    When the goodman mends his armor,
+      And trims his helmet's plume;
+    When the goodwife's shuttle merrily
+      Goes flashing through the loom;
+    With weeping and with laughter
+      Still is the story told,
+    How well Horatius kept the bridge
+      In the brave days of old.
+
+
+
+
+HOW SIR FRANCIS DRAKE SAILED ROUND THE WORLD.
+
+
+The ships which the Spaniards used on the Pacific were usually built
+on the spot. But Magellan was known to have gone by the Horn, and
+where a Portuguese could go an Englishman could go. Drake proposed to
+try. The vessels in which he was preparing to tempt fortune seem
+preposterously small. The "Pelican," or "Golden Hind," which belonged
+to Drake himself, was but 120 tons, at best no larger than a modern
+racing yawl, though perhaps no racing yawl was ever better equipped
+for the work which she had to do. The next, the "Elizabeth" of London,
+was said to be eighty tons; a small pinnace of twelve tons, in which
+we should hardly risk a summer cruise round the Land's End, with two
+sloops or frigates of fifty and thirty tons, made the rest. The
+"Elizabeth" was commanded by Captain Winter, a queen's officer, and
+perhaps a son of the old admiral.
+
+[Illustration: Sir Francis Drake.]
+
+We may credit Drake with knowing what he was about. He and his
+comrades were carrying their lives in their hands. If they were taken
+they would be inevitably hanged. Their safety depended on speed of
+sailing, and specially on the power of working fast to windward,
+which the heavy square-rigged ships could not do. The crews all told
+were one hundred and sixty men and boys.
+
+On November 15th, 1577, the "Pelican" and her consorts sailed out of
+Plymouth Sound. The elements frowned on their start. On the second day
+they were caught in a winter gale. The "Pelican" sprung her mainmast,
+and they put back to refit and repair. Before the middle of December
+all was again in order. The weather mended, and with a fair wind and
+smooth water they made a fast run down the coast to the Cape de Verde
+Islands. There taking up the northeast Trades, they struck across the
+Atlantic. They passed the mouth of the Plate River, finding to their
+astonishment fresh water at the ship's side in fifty-four fathoms. On
+June 20th they reached Port St. Julian on the coast of Patagonia.
+
+It was now midwinter, the stormiest season of the year, and they
+remained for six weeks in Port St. Julian. They burnt the twelve-ton
+pinnace, as too small for the work they had now before them, and there
+remained only the "Pelican," the "Elizabeth," and the "Marigold." In
+cold, wild weather they weighed at last, and on August 20th made the
+opening of Magellan's Straits. The passage is seventy miles long,
+tortuous and dangerous. They had no charts. Icy mountains overhung
+them on either side; heavy snow fell below. They brought up
+occasionally at an island to rest the men, and let them kill a few
+seals and penguins to give them fresh food. Everything they saw was
+new, wild, and wonderful.
+
+Having to feel their way, they were three weeks in getting through.
+They had counted on reaching the Pacific that the worst of their work
+was over, and that they could run north at once into warmer and calmer
+latitudes. The peaceful ocean, when they entered it, proved the
+stormiest they had ever sailed on. A fierce westerly gale drove them
+six hundred miles to the southeast outside the Horn. The "Marigold"
+went down in the tremendous encounter. Captain Winter in the
+"Elizabeth" made his way back into Magellan's Straits. There he lay
+for three weeks, lighting fires nightly to show Drake where he was;
+but no Drake appeared. They had agreed, if separated, to meet on the
+coast in the latitude of Valparaiso; but Winter was chicken-hearted,
+and sore, we are told, "against the mariners' will," when the three
+weeks were out, he sailed away for England, where he reported that all
+the ships were lost but the "Pelican," and that the "Pelican" was
+probably lost too.
+
+Drake had believed better of Winter, and had not expected to be so
+deserted. He had himself taken refuge among the islands which form the
+Cape, waiting for the spring and milder weather. He used the time in
+making surveys, and observing the habits of the native Patagonians.
+The days lengthened, and the sea smoothed at last. He then sailed for
+Valparaiso, hoping to meet Winter there, as he had arranged. At
+Valparaiso there was no Winter, but there was in the port instead a
+great galleon just come in from Peru. The galleon's crew took him for
+a Spaniard, hoisted their colors, and beat their drums. The "Pelican"
+shot alongside. The English sailors in high spirits leaped on board.
+No life was taken; Drake never hurt man if he could help it. The crew
+jumped overboard, and swam ashore. The prize was examined. Four
+hundred pounds' weight of gold was found in her, besides other plunder.
+
+Drake went on next to Tarapaca, where silver from the Andes mines was
+shipped for Panama. At Tarapaca there was the same unconsciousness of
+danger. The silver bars lay piled on the quay, the muleteers who had
+brought them were sleeping peacefully in the sunshine at their side.
+The muleteers were left to their slumbers. The bars were lifted into
+the English boats. A train of mules or llamas came in at that moment
+with a second load as rich as the first. This, too, went into the
+"Pelican's" hold. The bullion taken at Tarapaca was worth nearly half
+a million ducats.
+
+Still there was no news of Winter. Drake began to realize that he was
+now entirely alone, and had only himself and his own crew to depend
+on. There was nothing to do but to go through with it, danger adding
+to the interest. Arica was the next point visited. Half a hundred
+blocks of silver were picked up at Arica. After Arica came Lima, the
+chief depot of all, where the grandest haul was looked for. At Lima,
+alas! they were just too late. Twelve great hulks lay anchored there.
+The sails were unbent, the men were ashore. They contained nothing but
+some chests of reels and a few bales of silk and linen. But a
+thirteenth, called the "Cacafuego," had sailed a few days before for
+the Isthmus with the whole produce of the Lima mines for the season.
+Her ballast was silver, her cargo gold and emeralds and rubies.
+
+Drake deliberately cut the cables of the ships in the roads, that they
+might drive ashore and be unable to follow him. The "Pelican" spread her
+wings, and sped away in pursuit. He would know the "Cacafuego," so he
+learned at Lima, by the peculiar cut of her sails. The first man who
+caught sight of her was promised a gold chain for his reward. A sail was
+seen on the second day. It was not the chase, but it was worth stopping
+for. Eighty pounds' weight of gold was found, and a great gold crucifix,
+set with emeralds said to be as large as pigeons' eggs.
+
+We learn from the Spanish accounts that the Viceroy of Lima, as soon
+as he recovered from his astonishment, dispatched ships in pursuit.
+They came up with the last plundered vessel, heard terrible tales of
+the rovers' strength, and went back for a larger force. The "Pelican"
+meanwhile went along upon her course for eight hundred miles. At
+length, off Quito, and close under the shore, the "Cacafuego's"
+peculiar sails were sighted, and the gold chain was claimed. There she
+was, going lazily along a few miles ahead. Care was needed in
+approaching her. If she guessed the "Pelican's" character she would
+run in upon the land, and they would lose her. It was afternoon. The
+sun was still above the horizon, and Drake meant to wait till night,
+when the breeze would be off the shore, as in the tropics it always is.
+
+The "Pelican" sailed two feet to the "Cacafuego's" one. Drake filled his
+empty wine skins with water and trailed them astern to stop his way. The
+chase supposed that she was followed by some heavily-loaded trader,
+and, wishing for company on a lonely voyage, she slackened sail, and
+waited for him to come up. At length the sun went down into the ocean,
+the rosy light faded from off the snows of the Andes; and when both
+ships had become invisible from the shore, the skins were hauled in, the
+night wind rose, and the water began to ripple under the "Pelican's"
+bows. The "Cacafuego" was swiftly overtaken, and when within a cable's
+length a voice hailed her to put her head into the wind. The Spanish
+commander, not understanding so strange an order, held on his course. A
+broadside brought down his mainyard, and a flight of arrows rattled on
+his deck. He was himself wounded. In a few minutes he was a prisoner,
+and the ship and her precious freight were in the corsair's power. The
+wreck was cut away; the ship was cleared; a prize crew was put on board.
+Both vessels turned their heads to the sea. At daybreak no land was to
+be seen, and the examination of the prize began. The full value was
+never acknowledged. The invoice, if there was one, was destroyed. The
+accurate figures were known only to Drake and Queen Elizabeth. A
+published schedule acknowledged to twenty tons of silver bullion,
+thirteen chests of silver coins, and a hundredweight of gold, but there
+were gold nuggets beside in indefinite quantity, and "a great store" of
+pearls, emeralds, and diamonds.
+
+Drake, we are told, was greatly satisfied. He thought it prudent to
+stay in the neighborhood no longer than necessary. He went north with
+all sail set, taking his prize along with him. The master, San Juan de
+Anton, was removed on board the "Pelican," to have his wound attended
+to. He remained as Drake's guest for a week, and sent in a report of
+what he observed to the Spanish government. One at least of Drake's
+party spoke excellent Spanish. This person took San Juan over the
+ship. She showed signs, San Juan said, of rough service, but was still
+in fine condition, with ample arms, spare rope, mattocks, carpenters'
+tools of all descriptions. There were eighty-five men on board all
+told, fifty of them men of war, the rest young fellows, ship boys, and
+the like. Drake himself was treated with great reverence; a sentinel
+stood always at his cabin door. He dined alone with music.
+
+[Illustration: James Anthony Froude.]
+
+The "Pelican" met with many other adventures, and at last sailed for
+home. Sweeping in fine clear weather round the Cape of Good Hope, she
+touched once for water at Sierra Leone, and finally sailed in triumph
+into Plymouth Harbor.
+
+English sympathy with an extraordinary exploit is always irresistible.
+Shouts of applause rang through the country; and Elizabeth, every bit
+of her an English-woman, felt with her subjects. She sent for Drake to
+London, made him tell his story over and over again, and was never
+weary of listening to him.
+
+  --_From "English Seamen in the Sixteenth Century,"
+  by James Anthony Froude._
+
+
+
+
+A BRAVE RESCUE AND A ROUGH RIDE.
+
+
+It happened upon a November evening (when I was about fifteen years
+old, and outgrowing my strength very rapidly, my sister Annie being
+turned thirteen, and a deal of rain having fallen, and all the troughs
+in the yard being flooded, and the bark from the wood ricks washed
+down the gutter, and even our watershoot growing brown) that the ducks
+in the barnyard made a terrible quacking, instead of marching off to
+their pen, one behind another. Thereupon Annie and I ran out to see
+what might be the sense of it. There were thirteen ducks, and ten
+lily-white (as the fashion of ducks then was), not, I mean,
+twenty-three in all, but ten white and three brown-striped ones; and
+without being nice about their color, they all quacked very movingly.
+They pushed their gold-colored bills here and there (yet dirty, as
+gold is apt to be), and they jumped on the triangles of their feet,
+and sounded out of their nostrils; and some of the overexcited ones
+ran along low on the ground, quacking grievously, with their bills
+snapping and bending, and the roof of their mouths exhibited.
+
+Annie began to cry "dilly, dilly, einy, einy, ducksey," according to
+the burden of a tune they seem to have accepted as the national ducks'
+anthem; but instead of being soothed by it, they only quacked three
+times as hard, and ran round till we were giddy. And then they shook
+their tails all together, and looked grave, and went round and round
+again.
+
+Now, I am uncommonly fond of ducks, whether roystering, roosting, or
+roasted; and it is a fine sight to behold them walk, paddling one after
+another, with their toes out, like soldiers drilling, and their little
+eyes cocked all ways at once, and the way that they dib with their
+bills, and dabble, and throw up their heads and enjoy something, and
+then tell the others about it. Therefore, I knew at once, by the way
+they were carrying on, that there must be something or other gone wholly
+amiss in the duck world. Sister Annie perceived it, too, but with a
+greater quickness; for she counted them like a good duck wife, and could
+only tell thirteen of them, when she knew there ought to be fourteen.
+
+And so we began to search about, and the ducks ran to lead us aright,
+having come that far to fetch us; and when we got down to the foot of
+the courtyard where the two great ash trees stand by the side of the
+little water, we found good reason for the urgence and melancholy of
+the duck birds. Lo! the old white drake, the father of all, a bird of
+high manners and chivalry, always the last to help himself from the
+pan of barley meal, and the first to show fight to a dog or cock
+intruding upon his family, this fine fellow, and a pillar of the
+state, was now in a sad predicament, yet quacking very stoutly.
+
+For the brook, wherewith he had been familiar from his callow
+childhood, and wherein he was wont to quest for water newts, and
+tadpoles, and caddice worms, and other game, this brook, which
+afforded him very often scanty space to dabble in, and sometimes
+starved the cresses, was now coming down in a great brown flood, as if
+the banks never belonged to it. The foaming of it, and the noise, and
+the cresting of the corners, and the up and down, like the wave of the
+sea, were enough to frighten any duck, though bred upon stormy waters,
+which our ducks never had been.
+
+There is always a hurdle six feet long and four and a half in depth,
+swung by a chain at either end from an oak laid across the channel.
+And the use of this hurdle is to keep our kine at milking time from
+straying away there drinking (for in truth they are very dainty) and
+to fence strange cattle, or Farmer Snowe's horses, from coming along
+the bed of the brook unknown, to steal our substance.
+
+But now this hurdle, which hung in the summer a foot above the
+trickle, would have been dipped more than two feet deep but for the
+power against it. For the torrent came down so vehemently that the
+chains in full stretch were creaking, and the hurdle buffeted almost
+flat, and thatched (so to say), with the drift stuff, was going seesaw
+with a sulky splash on the dirty red comb of the waters.
+
+But saddest to see was between two bars, where a fog was of rushes,
+and flood wood, and wild celery, and dead crow's-foot. For there was
+our venerable mallard jammed in by the joint of his shoulder, speaking
+aloud as he rose and fell, with his topknot full of water, unable to
+comprehend it, with his tail washed far away from him, but often
+compelled to be silent, being ducked very harshly against his will by
+the choking fall to of the hurdle.
+
+For a moment I could not help laughing; because, being borne high up
+and dry by a tumult of the torrent, he gave me a look from his one
+little eye (having lost one in fight with a turkey cock), a gaze of
+appealing sorrow, and then a loud quack to second it. But the quack
+came out of time, I suppose, for his throat got filled with water, as
+the hurdle carried him back again. And then there was scarcely the
+screw of his tail to be seen until he swung up again, and left small
+doubt, by the way he spluttered, and failed to quack, and hung down
+his poor crest, but what he must drown in another minute, and frogs
+triumph over his body.
+
+Annie was crying and wringing her hands, and I was about to rush into
+the water, although I liked not the look of it, but hoped to hold on
+by the hurdle, when a man on horseback came suddenly round the corner
+of the great ash hedge on the other side of the stream, and his
+horse's feet were in the water.
+
+"Ho, there," he cried, "get thee back, boy! The flood will carry thee
+down like a straw. I will do it for thee, and no trouble."
+
+With that he leaned forward, and spoke to his mare--she was just of
+the tint of a strawberry, a young thing, very beautiful--and she
+arched up her neck, as misliking the job; yet, trusting him, would
+attempt it. She entered the flood, with her dainty fore legs sloped
+further and further in front of her, and her delicate ears pricked
+forward, and the size of her great eyes increasing; but he kept her
+straight in the turbid rush, by the pressure of his knee on her.
+
+Then she looked back, and wondered at him, as the force of the torrent
+grew stronger, but he bade her go on; and on she went, and it foamed
+up over her shoulders; and she tossed up her lip and scorned it, for
+now her courage was waking.
+
+Then, as the rush of it swept her away, and she struck with her
+forefeet down the stream, he leaned from his saddle in a manner which
+I never could have thought possible, and caught up old Tom with his
+left hand, and set him between his hostlers, and smiled at his faint
+quack of gratitude. In a moment all three were carried down stream,
+and the rider lay flat on his horse, and tossed the hurdle clear from
+him, and made for the bend of smooth water.
+
+They landed some thirty or forty yards lower, in the midst of our
+kitchen garden, where the winter cabbage was; but though Annie and I
+crept in through the hedge, and were full of our thanks and admiring
+him, he would answer us never a word until he had spoken in full to
+the mare, as if explaining the whole to her.
+
+"Sweetheart, I know thou couldst have leaped it," he said, as he
+patted her cheek, being on the ground by this time, and she was
+nudging up to him, with the water pattering off from her; "but I had
+good reason, Winnie dear, for making thee go through it."
+
+She answered him kindly with her soft eyes, and sniffed at him very
+lovingly, and they understood one another. Then he took from his
+waistcoat two peppercorns, and made the old drake swallow them, and
+tried him softly on his legs, where the leading gap in the hedge was.
+
+Old Tom stood up quite bravely, and clapped his wings, and shook off
+the wet from his tail feathers; and then away into the courtyard, and
+his family gathered around him, and they all made a noise in their
+throats, and stood up, and put their bills together, to thank God for
+his great deliverance.
+
+Having taken all this trouble, and watched the end of that adventure,
+the gentleman turned round to us with a pleasant smile on his face, as
+if he were lightly amused with himself; and we came up and looked at
+him. He was rather short, about John Fry's height, or maybe a little
+taller, but very strongly built and springy, as his gait at every step
+showed plainly, although his legs were bowed with much riding, and he
+looked as if he lived on horseback.
+
+To a boy like me he seemed very old, being over twenty, and well found
+in beard; but he was not more than four and twenty, fresh and ruddy
+looking, with a short nose and keen blue eyes, and a merry, waggish
+jerk about him, as if the world were not in earnest. Yet he had a
+sharp, stern way, like the crack of a pistol, if anything misliked
+him; and we knew (for children see such things) that it was safer to
+tickle than buffet him.
+
+"Well, young ones, what be gaping at?" He gave pretty Annie a chuck on
+the chin, and took me all in without winking.
+
+"Your mare," said I, standing stoutly up, being a tall boy now; "I
+never saw such a beauty, sir. Will you let me have a ride on her?"
+
+"Think thou couldst ride her, lad? She will have no burden but mine.
+Thou couldst never ride her! Tut! I would be loath to kill thee."
+
+"Ride her!" I cried, with the bravest scorn, for she looked so kind and
+gentle; "there never was horse upon Exmoor but I could tackle in half an
+hour. Only I never ride upon saddle. Take those leathers off of her."
+
+He looked at me with a dry little whistle, and thrust his hands into
+his pockets, and so grinned that I could not stand it. And Annie laid
+hold of me in such a way that I was almost mad with her. And he
+laughed, and approved her for doing so. And the worst of all was--he
+said nothing.
+
+"Get away, Annie. Do you think I'm a fool, good sir? Only trust me
+with her, and I will not override her."
+
+"For that I will go bail, my son. She is liker to override thee. But
+the ground is soft to fall upon, after all this rain. Now come out
+into the yard, young man, for the sake of your mother's cabbages. And
+the mellow straw bed will be softer for thee, since pride must have
+its fall. I am thy mother's cousin, boy, and I'm going up to the
+house. Tom Faggus is my name, as everybody knows, and this is my young
+mare, Winnie."
+
+What a fool I must have been not to know it at once! Tom Faggus, the
+great highwayman, and his young blood mare, the strawberry. Already
+her fame was noised abroad, nearly as much as her master's, and my
+longing to ride her grew tenfold, but fear came at the back of it. Not
+that I had the smallest fear of what the mare could do to me, by fair
+play and horse trickery, but that the glory of sitting upon her seemed
+to be too great for me; especially as there were rumors abroad that
+she was not a mare, after all, but a witch.
+
+However, she looked like a filly all over, and wonderfully beautiful
+with her supple stride, and soft slope of shoulder, and glossy coat
+beaded with water, and prominent eyes full of docile fire. Whether this
+came from her Eastern blood of the Arabs newly imported, and whether the
+cream color, mixed with our bay, led to that bright strawberry tint, is
+certainly more than I can decide, being chiefly acquaint with farm
+horses. And these are of any color and form; you never can count what
+they will be, and are lucky to get four legs to them.
+
+Mr. Faggus gave his mare a wink, and she walked demurely after him, a
+bright young thing, flowing over with life, yet dropping her soul to a
+higher one, and led by love to anything, as the manner is of such
+creatures, when they know what is the best for them. Then Winnie trod
+lightly upon the straw, because it had soft muck under it, and her
+delicate feet came back again.
+
+"Up for it still, boy, be ye?" Tom Faggus stopped, and the mare
+stopped there; and they looked at me provokingly.
+
+"Is she able to leap, sir? There is good take-off on this side of the
+brook."
+
+Mr. Faggus laughed very quietly, turning round to Winnie so that she
+might enter into it. And she, for her part, seemed to know exactly
+where the fun lay.
+
+"Good tumble off, you mean, my boy. Well, there can be small harm to
+thee. I am akin to thy family, and know the substance of their skulls."
+
+"Let me get up," said I, waxing wroth, for reasons I can not tell
+you, because they are too manifold; "take off your saddlebag things. I
+will try not to squeeze her ribs in, unless she plays nonsense with me."
+
+Then Mr. Faggus was up on his mettle at this proud speech of mine, and
+John Fry was running up all the while, and Bill Dadds, and half a
+dozen others. Tom Faggus gave one glance around, and then dropped all
+regard for me. The high repute of his mare was at stake, and what was
+my life compared to it? Through my defiance, and stupid ways, here was
+I in a duello, and my legs not come to their strength yet, and my arms
+as limp as herring.
+
+Something of this occurred to him, even in his wrath with me, for he
+spoke very softly to the filly, who now could scarce subdue herself;
+but she drew in her nostrils, and breathed to his breath, and did all
+she could to answer him.
+
+"Not too hard, my dear," he said; "let him gently down on the mixen.
+That will be quite enough." Then he turned the saddle off, and I was
+up in a moment. She began at first so easily, and pricked her ears so
+lovingly, and minced about as if pleased to find so light a weight
+upon her, that I thought she knew I could ride a little, and feared to
+show any capers. "Gee wugg, Polly!" cried I, for all the men were now
+looking on, being then at the leaving-off time; "gee wugg, Polly, and
+show what thou be'est made of." With that I plugged my heels into her,
+and Billy Dadds flung his hat up.
+
+Nevertheless, she outraged not, though her eyes were frightening Annie,
+and John Fry took a pick to keep him safe; but she curbed to and fro
+with her strong forearms rising like springs ingathered, waiting and
+quivering grievously, and beginning to sweat about it. Then her master
+gave a shrill, clear whistle, when her ears were bent toward him, and I
+felt her form beneath me gathering up like whalebone, and her hind legs
+coming under her, and I knew that I was in for it.
+
+First she reared upright in the air, and struck me full on the nose
+with her comb, till I bled worse than Robin Snell made me; and then
+down with her fore feet deep in the straw, and with her hind feet
+going to heaven. Finding me stick to her still like wax, for my mettle
+was up as hers was, away she flew with me swifter than ever I went
+before, or since, I trow.
+
+She drove full head at the cob wall--"Oh, Jack, slip off!" screamed
+Annie--then she turned like light, when I thought to crush her, and
+ground my left knee against it. "Dear me!" I cried, for my breeches were
+broken, and short words went the farthest--"if you kill me, you shall
+die with me." Then she took the courtyard gate at a leap, knocking my
+words between my teeth, and then right over a quickset hedge, as if the
+sky were a breath to her; and away for the water meadows, while I lay on
+her neck like a child and wished I had never been born.
+
+Straight away, all in the front of the wind, and scattering clouds
+around her, all I know of the speed we made was the frightful flash of
+her shoulders, and her mane like trees in a tempest. I felt the earth
+under us rushing away, and the air left far behind us, and my breath
+came and went, and I prayed to God, and was sorry to be so late of it.
+
+All the long swift while, without power of thought, I clung to her
+crest and shoulders, and was proud of holding on so long, though sure
+of being beaten. Then in her fury at feeling me still, she rushed at
+another device for it, and leaped the wide water-trough sideways
+across, to and fro, till no breath was left in me. The hazel boughs
+took me too hard in the face, and the tall dog-briers got hold of me,
+and the ache of my back was like crimping a fish, till I longed to
+give it up, thoroughly beaten, and lie there and die in the cresses.
+
+But there came a shrill whistle from up the home hill, where the
+people had hurried to watch us, and the mare stopped as if with a
+bullet, then set off for home with the speed of a swallow, and going
+as smoothly and silently. I never had dreamed of such delicate motion,
+fluent, and graceful, and ambient, soft as the breeze flitting over
+the flowers, but swift as the summer lightning.
+
+I sat up again, but my strength was all spent, and no time left to
+recover it; and though she rose at our gate like a bird, I tumbled off
+into the soft mud.
+
+"Well done, lad," Mr. Faggus said, good-naturedly; for all were now
+gathered round me, as I rose from the ground, somewhat tottering, and
+miry, and crest-fallen, but otherwise none the worse (having fallen
+upon my head, which is of uncommon substance); "not at all bad work,
+my boy; we may teach you to ride by and by, I see; I thought not to
+see you stick on so long--"
+
+"I should have stuck on much longer, sir, if her sides had not been
+wet. She was so slippery--"
+
+"Boy, thou art right. She hath given many the slip. Ha! ha! Vex not,
+Jack, that I laugh at thee. She is like a sweetheart to me, and better
+than any of them be. It would have gone to my heart if thou hadst
+conquered. None but I can ride my Winnie mare."
+
+"Foul shame to thee, then, Tom Faggus," cried mother, coming up
+suddenly, and speaking so that all were amazed, having never seen her
+wrathful, "to put my boy, my boy, across her, as if his life were no
+more than thine! A man would have taken thy mad horse and thee, and
+flung them both into a horse pond--ay, and what's more, I'll have it
+done now, if a hair of his head is injured. Oh, my boy, my boy! Put up
+the other arm, Johnny." All the time mother was scolding so, she was
+feeling me and wiping me; while Faggus tried to look greatly ashamed,
+having sense of the ways of women.
+
+"Only look at his jacket, mother!" cried Annie; "and a shilling's
+worth gone from his smallclothes!"
+
+"What care I for his clothes, thou goose? Take that, and heed thine own
+a bit." And mother gave Annie a slap which sent her swinging up against
+Mr. Faggus, and he caught her, and kissed and protected her; and she
+looked at him very nicely, with great tears in her soft blue eyes.
+
+"Oh, fie upon thee, fie upon thee," cried mother (being yet more vexed
+with him, because she had beaten Annie); "after all we have done for
+thee, and saved thy worthless neck--and to try to kill my son for me!
+Never more shall horse of thine enter stable here, since these be thy
+returns to me. Small thanks to you, John Fry, I say; much you care for
+your master's son!"
+
+"Well, missus, what could us do?" began John; "Jan wudd goo, now
+wudd't her, Jem? And how was us--"
+
+"Jan, indeed! Master John, if you please, to a lad of his years and
+stature. And now, Tom Faggus, be off, if you please, and think
+yourself lucky to go so."
+
+Everybody looked at mother, to hear her talk like that, knowing how
+quiet she was day by day, and how pleasant to be cheated. And the men
+began to shoulder their shovels, both so as to be away from her, and
+to go and tell their wives of it. Winnie, too, was looking at her,
+being pointed at so much, and wondering if she had done amiss. And
+then she came to me, and trembled, and stooped her head, and asked my
+pardon, if she had been too proud with me.
+
+"Winnie shall stop here to-night," said I, for Tom Faggus still said
+never a word all the while, but began to buckle his things on.
+"Mother, I tell you Winnie shall stop; else I will go away with her. I
+never knew what it was, till now, to ride a horse worth riding."
+
+"Young man," said Tom Faggus, still preparing sternly to depart, "you
+know more about a horse than any man on Exmoor. Your mother may well
+be proud of you, but she need have had no fear. As if I, Tom Faggus,
+your father's cousin--and the only thing I am proud of--would ever
+have let you mount my mare, which dukes and princes have vainly
+sought, except for the courage in your eyes, and the look of your
+father about you. I knew you could ride when I saw you, and rarely
+you have conquered. But women don't understand us."
+
+With that he fetched a heavy sigh, and feebly got upon Winnie's back,
+and she came to say farewell to me. He lifted his hat to my mother
+with a glance of sorrow, but never a word, and to me he said: "Open
+the gate, Cousin John, if you please. You have beaten her so, that she
+cannot leap it, poor thing."
+
+But, before he was truly gone out of our yard, my mother came softly
+after him, with her afternoon apron across her eyes, and one hand
+ready to offer him. Nevertheless, he made as if he had not seen her,
+though he let his horse go slowly. "Stop, Cousin Tom," my mother said,
+"a word with you before you go."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Lorna Doone," by Richard Blackmore, from which this extract is taken,
+is justly regarded as one of the few really great romances written in
+the latter part of the nineteenth century. It is a story of the times
+of Charles II., and culminates about the time of the rebellion of
+Monmouth in 1685. The narrative is supposed to be related by a sturdy
+farmer of Exmoor, named John Ridd, who is the hero of the tale. The
+main part of the action centers round the deeds of a band of outlaws
+called the Doones, who had established themselves in a narrow valley
+of Exmoor, from whence they levied tribute upon their neighbors and
+bade defiance to the officers of the law. The quaint and homely style
+in which the story is written wins the admiration of all readers, and
+gives to the work an indefinable charm.
+
+
+
+
+THE GLORY OF GOD.
+
+
+    The heavens declare the glory of God;
+    And the firmament sheweth his handywork.
+    Day unto day uttereth speech,
+    And night unto night sheweth knowledge,
+    There is no speech nor language,
+    Where their voice is not heard.
+    Their line is gone out through all the earth,
+    And their words to the end of the world.
+    In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun,
+    Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
+    And rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.
+    His going forth is from the end of the heaven,
+    And his circuit unto the ends of it:
+    And there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.
+    The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul;
+    The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;
+    The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;
+    The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;
+    The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;
+    The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
+    More to be desired are they than gold; yea than much fine gold;
+    Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
+    Moreover by them is thy servant warned;
+    And in keeping of them there is great reward.
+    Who can understand his errors?
+    Cleanse thou me from secret faults.
+    Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins;
+    Let them not have dominion over me:
+    Then shall I be upright, and I shall be
+    Innocent from the great transgression.
+    Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart,
+    Be acceptable in thy sight,
+    O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.
+
+  --_From the Psalms of David._
+
+
+
+
+THE BATTLE OF BANNOCKBURN.
+
+
+The Battle of Bannockburn, in Scotland, was one of the most famous in
+history. It was fought June 24th, 1314, between Robert Bruce of
+Scotland and Edward II. of England. The army of Bruce consisted of
+30,000 men; that of Edward of 100,000, of whom 52,000 were archers.
+The story of the battle is thus described by Sir Walter Scott in his
+"Tales of a Grandfather":
+
+    Now when Sir Philip Mowbray, the governor of Stirling, came to
+    London, to tell the King, that Stirling, the last Scottish town of
+    importance which remained in possession of the English, was to be
+    surrendered if it were not relieved by force of arms before
+    midsummer, then all the English nobles called out, it would be a
+    sin and shame to permit the fair conquest which Edward the First
+    had made, to be forfeited to the Scots for want of fighting. It
+    was, therefore, resolved, that the King should go himself to
+    Scotland, with as great forces as he could possibly muster.
+
+    King Edward the Second, therefore, assembled one of the greatest
+    armies which a King of England ever commanded. There were troops
+    brought from all his dominions. Many brave soldiers from the
+    French provinces which the King of England possessed in
+    France,--many Irish, many Welsh,--and all the great English nobles
+    and barons, with their followers, were assembled in one great army.
+
+    King Robert the Bruce summoned all his nobles and barons to join
+    him, when he heard of the great preparations which the King of
+    England was making. They were not so numerous as the English by many
+    thousand men. In fact, his whole army did not very much exceed
+    thirty thousand, and they were much worse armed than the wealthy
+    Englishmen; but then, Robert, who was at their head, was one of the
+    most expert generals of the time; and the officers he had under him,
+    were his brother Edward, his nephew Randolph, his faithful follower
+    the Douglas, and other brave and experienced leaders, who commanded
+    the same men that had been accustomed to fight and gain victories
+    under every disadvantage of situation and numbers.
+
+    The King, on his part, studied how he might supply, by address and
+    stratagem, what he wanted in numbers and strength. He knew the
+    superiority of the English, both in their heavy-armed cavalry,
+    which were much better mounted and armed than that of the Scots,
+    and in their archers, who were better trained than any others in
+    the world. Both these advantages he resolved to provide against.
+    With this purpose, he led his army down into a plain near
+    Stirling, called the Park, near which, and beneath it, the English
+    army must needs pass through a boggy country, broken with water
+    courses, while the Scots occupied hard dry ground. He then caused
+    all the ground upon the front of his line of battle, where cavalry
+    were likely to act, to be dug full of holes, about as deep as a
+    man's knee. They were filled with light brushwood, and the turf
+    was laid on the top, so that it appeared a plain field, while in
+    reality it was all full of these pits as a honeycomb is of holes.
+    He also, it is said, caused steel spikes, called calthrops, to be
+    scattered up and down in the plain, where the English cavalry were
+    most likely to advance, trusting in that manner to lame and
+    destroy their horses.
+
+    When the Scottish army was drawn up, the line stretched north and
+    south. On the south, it was terminated by the banks of the brook
+    called Bannockburn, which are so rocky, that no troops could attack
+    them there. On the left, the Scottish line extended near to the town
+    of Stirling. Bruce reviewed his troops very carefully; all the
+    useless servants, drivers of carts, and such like, of whom there
+    were very many, he ordered to go behind a height, afterwards, in
+    memory of the event, called the Gillies' hill, that is, the
+    Servants' hill. He then spoke to the soldiers, and expressed his
+    determination to gain the victory, or to lose his life on the field
+    of battle. He desired that all those who did not propose to fight to
+    the last, should leave the field before the battle began, and that
+    none should remain except those who were determined to take the
+    issue of victory or death, as God should send it.
+
+    When the main body of his army was thus placed in order, the King
+    posted Randolph, with a body of horse, near to the Church of St.
+    Ninian's, commanding him to use the utmost diligence to prevent
+    any succors from being thrown into Stirling Castle. He then
+    dispatched James of Douglas, and Sir Robert Keith, the Mareschal
+    of the Scottish army, in order that they might survey, as nearly
+    as they could, the English force, which was now approaching from
+    Falkirk. They returned with information, that the approach of that
+    vast host was one of the most beautiful and terrible sights which
+    could be seen,--that the whole country seemed covered with men at
+    arms on horse and foot,--that the number of standards, banners,
+    and pennons (all flags of different kinds) made so gallant a show,
+    that the bravest and most numerous host in Christendom might be
+    alarmed to see King Edward moving against them.
+
+    It was upon the twenty-third of June (1314) the King of Scotland
+    heard the news, that the English army were approaching Stirling.
+    He drew out his army, therefore, in the order which he had before
+    resolved on. After a short time, Bruce, who was looking out
+    anxiously for the enemy, saw a body of English cavalry trying to
+    get into Stirling from the eastward. This was the Lord Clifford,
+    who, with a chosen body of eight hundred horse had been detached
+    to relieve the castle.
+
+    "See, Randolph," said the King to his nephew, "there is a rose
+    fallen from your chaplet." By this he meant that Randolph had lost
+    some honor, by suffering the enemy to pass where he had been
+    stationed to hinder them. Randolph made no reply, but rushed
+    against Clifford with little more than half his number. The Scots
+    were on foot. The English turned to charge them with their lances,
+    and Randolph drew up his men in close order to receive the onset.
+    He seemed to be in so much danger, that Douglas asked leave of the
+    King to go and assist him. The King refused him permission.
+
+    "Let Randolph," he said, "redeem his own fault; I can not break
+    the order of battle for his sake." Still the danger appeared
+    greater, and the English horse seemed entirely to encompass the
+    small handful of Scottish infantry. "So please you," said Douglas
+    to the King, "my heart will not suffer me to stand idle and see
+    Randolph perish--I must go to his assistance." He rode off
+    accordingly; but long before they had reached the place of combat,
+    they saw the English horses galloping off, many with empty saddles.
+
+    "Halt!" said Douglas to his men, "Randolph has gained the day;
+    since we were not soon enough to help him in the battle, do not
+    let us lessen his glory by approaching the field." Now, that was
+    nobly done; especially as Douglas and Randolph were always
+    contending which should rise highest in the good opinion of the
+    King and the nation.
+
+    The van of the English army now came in sight, and a number of
+    their bravest knights drew near to see what the Scots were doing.
+    They saw King Robert dressed in his armor, and distinguished by a
+    gold crown, which he wore over his helmet. He was not mounted on
+    his great war horse, because he did not expect to fight that
+    evening. But he rode on a little pony up and down the ranks of his
+    army, putting his men in order, and carried in his hand a short
+    battle ax made of steel. When the King saw the English horsemen
+    draw near, he advanced a little before his own men, that he might
+    look at them more nearly.
+
+    There was a knight among the English, called Sir Henry de Bohun,
+    who thought this would be a good opportunity to gain great fame to
+    himself, and put an end to the war, by killing King Robert. The
+    King being poorly mounted, and having no lance, Bohun galloped on
+    him suddenly and furiously, thinking, with his long spear, and his
+    tall powerful horse, easily to bear him down to the ground. King
+    Robert saw him, and permitted him to come very near, then suddenly
+    turned his pony a little to one side, so that Sir Henry missed him
+    with the lance point, and was in the act of being carried past him
+    by the career of his horse. But as he passed, King Robert rose up
+    in his stirrups, and struck Sir Henry on the head with his battle
+    ax so terrible a blow, that it broke to pieces his iron helmet as
+    if it had been a nutshell, and hurled him from his saddle. He was
+    dead before he reached the ground. This gallant action was blamed
+    by the Scottish leaders, who thought Bruce ought not to have
+    exposed himself to so much danger, when the safety of the whole
+    army depended on him. The King only kept looking at his weapon,
+    which was injured by the force of the blow, and said, "I have
+    broken my good battle ax."
+
+    The next morning, being the twenty-fourth of June, at break of day,
+    the battle began in terrible earnest. The English as they advanced
+    saw the Scots getting into line. The Abbot of Inchaffray walked
+    through their ranks barefooted, and exhorted them to fight for their
+    freedom. They kneeled down as he passed, and prayed to heaven for
+    victory. King Edward, who saw this, called out, "They kneel
+    down--they are asking forgiveness." "Yes," said a celebrated English
+    baron, called Ingelram de Umphraville, "but they ask it from God,
+    not from us--these men will conquer, or die upon the field."
+
+    The English King ordered his men to begin the battle. The archers
+    then bent their bows, and began to shoot so closely together, that
+    the arrows fell like flakes of snow on a Christmas day. But Bruce,
+    as I told you before, was prepared for them. He had in readiness a
+    body of men at arms well mounted, who rode at full gallop among the
+    archers, and as they had no weapons save their bows and arrows,
+    which they could not use when they were attacked hand to hand, they
+    were cut down in great numbers, and thrown into total confusion.
+
+    The fine English cavalry then advanced to support their archers,
+    and to attack the Scottish line. But coming over the ground, which
+    was dug full of pits, the horses fell into these holes, and the
+    riders lay tumbling about, without any means of defense, and
+    unable to rise, from the weight of their armor. The Englishmen
+    began to fall into general disorder; and the Scottish King,
+    bringing up more of his forces, attacked and pressed them still
+    more closely.
+
+    On a sudden, while the battle was obstinately maintained on both
+    sides, an event happened which decided the victory. The servants
+    and attendants on the Scottish camp had, as I told you, been sent
+    behind the army to a place afterwards called the Gillies' hill.
+    But when they saw that their masters were likely to gain the day,
+    they rushed from their place of concealment with such weapons as
+    they could get, that they might have their share in the victory
+    and in the spoil. The English, seeing them come suddenly over the
+    hill, mistook this disorderly rabble for a new army coming up to
+    sustain the Scots, and, losing all heart, began to shift every man
+    for himself. Edward himself left the field as fast as he could
+    ride. A valiant knight, Sir Giles de Argentine, attended the King
+    till he got him out of the press of the combat. But he would
+    retreat no farther. "It is not my custom," he said, "to fly." With
+    that he took leave of the King, set spurs to horse, and calling
+    out his war cry of Argentine! Argentine! he rushed into the
+    thickest of the Scottish ranks, and was killed.
+
+    Edward first fled to Stirling Castle, and entreated admittance;
+    but Sir Philip Mowbray, the governor, reminded the fugitive
+    sovereign that he was obliged to surrender the castle next day, so
+    Edward was fain to fly through the Torwood, closely pursued by
+    Douglas with a body of cavalry. An odd circumstance happened
+    during the chase, which showed how loosely some of the Scottish
+    barons of that day held their political opinions: As Douglas was
+    riding furiously after Edward, he met a Scottish knight, Sir
+    Laurence Abernethy, with twenty horse. Sir Laurence had hitherto
+    owned the English interest, and was bringing this band of
+    followers to serve King Edward's army. But learning from Douglas
+    that the English King was entirely defeated, he changed sides on
+    the spot, and was easily prevailed upon to join Douglas in
+    pursuing the unfortunate Edward, with the very followers whom he
+    had been leading to join his standard.
+
+    Douglas and Abernethy followed King Edward as far as Dunbar, where
+    the English had still a friend, in the governor, Patrick, Earl of
+    March. The Earl received Edward in his forlorn condition, and
+    furnished him with a fishing skiff, or small ship, in which he
+    escaped to England, having entirely lost his fine army, and a
+    great number of his bravest nobles.
+
+    The English never before or afterwards, whether in France or
+    Scotland, lost so dreadful a battle as that of Bannockburn, nor
+    did the Scots ever gain one of the same importance.
+
+Such is the story that is told by Sir Walter Scott in his "Tales of a
+Grandfather." It will be interesting now to read Burns's poem
+beginning, "Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled," which we can easily
+imagine to be Bruce's address to his men at the beginning of the great
+fight. Read also Sir Walter Scott's metrical description of the
+battle, in the long poem entitled "The Lord of the Isles."
+
+
+
+
+THE SOLDIER'S DREAM.
+
+
+    Our bugles sang truce; for the night cloud had lowered,
+      And the sentinel stars set their watch in the sky;
+    And thousands had sunk on the ground overpowered--
+      The weary to sleep, and the wounded to die.
+
+    When reposing that night on my pallet of straw,
+      By the wolf-scaring fagot that guarded the slain,
+    At the dead of the night a sweet vision I saw,
+      And thrice ere the morning I dreamed it again.
+
+    Methought from the battlefield's dreadful array,
+      Far, far I had roamed on a desolate track;
+    'Twas autumn--and sunshine arose on the way
+      To the home of my fathers, that welcomed me back.
+
+    I flew to the pleasant fields traversed so oft
+      In life's morning march, when my bosom was young;
+    I heard my own mountain goats bleating aloft,
+      And knew the sweet strain that the corn reapers sung.
+
+    Then pledged we the wine cup, and fondly I swore
+      From my home and my weeping friends never to part;
+    My little ones kissed me a thousand times o'er,
+      And my wife sobbed aloud in her fulness of heart.
+
+    "Stay, stay with us!--rest; thou art weary and worn!"
+      And fain was their war-broken soldier to stay;
+    But sorrow returned with the dawning of morn,
+      And the voice in my dreaming ear melted away!
+
+  --_Thomas Campbell._
+
+
+
+
+LORD ULLIN'S DAUGHTER.
+
+
+    A chieftain, to the Highlands bound,
+      Cries, "Boatman, do not tarry!
+    And I'll give thee a silver pound
+      To row us o'er the ferry."
+
+    "Now who be ye, would cross Lochgyle,
+      This dark and stormy water?"
+    "Oh, I'm the chief of Ulva's isle,
+      And this Lord Ullin's daughter.
+
+[Illustration: Thomas Campbell.]
+
+    "And fast before her father's men
+      Three days we've fled together;
+    For should he find us in the glen,
+      My blood would stain the heather.
+
+    "His horsemen hard behind us ride:
+      Should they our steps discover,
+    Then who will cheer my bonny bride
+      When they have slain her lover?"
+
+    Out spoke the hardy Highland wight:
+      "I'll go, my chief: I'm ready
+    It is not for your silver bright,
+      But for your winsome lady;
+
+    "And, by my word, the bonny bird
+      In danger shall not tarry;
+    So, though the waves are raging white,
+      I'll row you o'er the ferry."
+
+    By this the storm grew loud apace;
+      The water wraith was shrieking;
+    And in the scowl of heaven each face
+      Grew dark as they were speaking.
+
+    But still, as wilder blew the wind,
+      And as the night grew drearer,
+    Adown the glen rode arm�d men;
+      Their trampling sounded nearer.
+
+    "Oh haste thee, haste," the lady cries,
+      "Though tempests round us gather,
+    I'll meet the raging of the skies,
+      But not an angry father."
+
+    The boat has left a stormy land,
+      A stormy sea before her,
+    When, oh, too strong for human hand,
+      The tempest gathered o'er her.
+
+    And still they rowed amidst the roar
+      Of waters fast prevailing.
+    Lord Ullin reached that fatal shore:
+      His wrath was changed to wailing;
+
+    For, sore dismayed, through storm and shade,
+      His child he did discover:
+    One lovely hand she stretch'd for aid,
+      And one was round her lover.
+
+    "Come back! come back!" he cried in grief,
+      "Across this stormy water;
+    And I'll forgive your Highland chief,
+      My daughter! oh, my daughter!"
+
+    'Twas vain! The loud waves lashed the shore,
+      Return or aid preventing:
+    The waters wild went o'er his child,
+      And he was left lamenting.
+
+  --_Thomas Campbell._
+
+
+
+
+BEETHOVEN'S MOONLIGHT SONATA.
+
+
+Among the great musical composers of modern times there have been few
+who rank with Ludwig van Beethoven. This famous man was born in Bonn,
+Germany, in 1770; he died at Vienna in 1827. It may be truthfully said
+that the works of Beethoven created a new epoch in the history and
+development of music, and his compositions lose none of their
+popularity as the years go by.
+
+Beethoven's life was a sad one. He was alone in the world, deaf, and the
+object of unkind treatment by those who should have been his friends.
+How nobly he rose above all petty annoyances, we can readily understand
+when we listen to the grand and solemn strains of his immortal music.
+The following story illustrates the kindliness of his nature and shows
+how some of his works seemed to be almost the result of inspiration.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It happened at Bonn. One moonlight winter's evening I called upon
+Beethoven; for I wished him to take a walk, and afterwards sup with
+me. In passing through a dark, narrow street, he suddenly paused.
+"Hush!" he said, "what sound is that? It is from my Sonata in F. Hark!
+how well it is played!"
+
+[Illustration: Ludwig van Beethoven.]
+
+It was a little, mean dwelling, and we paused outside and listened.
+The player went on; but, in the midst of the finale, there was a
+sudden break; then the voice of sobbing. "I cannot play any more. It
+is so beautiful; it is utterly beyond my power to do it justice. Oh,
+what would I not give to go to the concert at Cologne!"
+
+"Ah! my sister," said her companion; "why create regrets when there is
+no remedy? We can scarcely pay our rent."
+
+"You are right, and yet I wish for once in my life to hear some really
+good music. But it is of no use."
+
+Beethoven looked at me. "Let us go in," he said.
+
+"Go in!" I exclaimed. "What can we go in for?"
+
+"I will play to her," he said, in an excited tone. "Here is
+feeling--genius--understanding! I will play to her, and she will
+understand it." And, before I could prevent him, his hand was upon
+the door. It opened, and we entered.
+
+A pale young man was sitting by the table, making shoes; and near him,
+leaning sorrowfully upon an old-fashioned piano, sat a young girl,
+with a profusion of light hair falling over her face.
+
+"Pardon me," said Beethoven, "but I heard music and was tempted to
+enter. I am a musician."
+
+The girl blushed, and the young man looked grave and somewhat annoyed.
+
+"I--I also overheard something of what you said," continued my friend.
+"You wish to hear--that is, you would like--that is--shall I play for
+you?"
+
+There was something so odd in the whole affair, and something so
+comical and pleasant in the manner of the speaker, that the spell was
+broken in a moment.
+
+"Thank you," said the shoemaker; "but our piano is so wretched, and we
+have no music."
+
+"No music!" echoed my friend; "how, then, does the young lady--" He
+paused, and colored; for, as he looked in the girl's face, he saw that
+she was blind. "I--I entreat your pardon," he stammered. "I had not
+perceived before. Then you play by ear? But where do you hear the
+music, since you frequent no concerts?"
+
+"We lived at Bruhl for two years, and while there, I used to hear a
+lady practicing near us. During the summer evenings her windows were
+generally open, and I walked to and fro outside to listen to her."
+
+She seemed so shy that Beethoven said no more, but seated himself
+quietly before the piano and began to play. He had no sooner struck
+the first chord than I knew what would follow. Never, during all the
+years I knew him, did I hear him play as he then played to that blind
+girl and her brother. He seemed to be inspired; and, from the instant
+that his fingers began to wander along the keys, the very tone of the
+instrument seemed to grow sweeter and more equal.
+
+The brother and sister were silent with wonder and rapture. The former
+laid aside his work; the latter, with her head bent slightly forward,
+and her hands pressed tightly over her breast, crouched down near the
+end of the piano, as if fearful lest even the beating of her heart
+should break the flow of those magical sounds.
+
+Suddenly the flame of the single candle wavered, sank, flickered, and
+went out. Beethoven paused, and I threw open the shutters, admitting a
+flood of brilliant moonlight. The room was almost as light as before,
+the moon's rays falling strongest upon the piano and player. His head
+dropped upon his breast; his hands rested upon his knees; he seemed
+absorbed in deep thought. He remained thus for some time. At length
+the young shoemaker rose and approached him eagerly.
+
+"Wonderful man!" he said, in a low tone. "Who and what are you?"
+
+"Listen!" said Beethoven, and he played the opening bars of the Sonata
+in F. A cry of recognition burst from them both, and exclaiming, "Then
+you are Beethoven!" they covered his hands with tears and kisses.
+
+He rose to go, but we held him back with entreaties. "Play to us once
+more--only once more!"
+
+He suffered himself to be led back to the instrument. The moon shone
+brightly in through the window, and lighted up his glorious, ragged
+head and massive figure. "I will improvise a Sonata to the Moonlight!"
+said he, looking up thoughtfully to the sky and stars. Then his hands
+dropped on the keys, and he began playing a sad and infinitely lovely
+movement, which crept gently over the instrument, like the calm flow
+of moonlight over the dark earth. This was followed by a wild, elfin
+passage in triple time--a sort of grotesque interlude, like the dance
+of sprites upon the lawn. Then came a swift agitato finale--a
+breathless, hurrying, trembling movement, descriptive of flight, and
+uncertainty, and vague impulsive terror, which carried us away on its
+rustling wings, and left us all in emotion and wonder.
+
+"Farewell to you!" said Beethoven, pushing back his chair, and turning
+toward the door--"farewell to you!"
+
+"You will come again?" asked they, in one breath.
+
+He paused and looked compassionately, almost tenderly, at the face of
+the blind girl.
+
+"Yes, yes," he said hurriedly, "I will come again, and give the young
+lady some lessons! Farewell! I will come again!"
+
+Their looks followed us in silence more eloquent than words till we
+were out of sight.
+
+"Let us make haste back," said Beethoven, "that I may write out that
+Sonata while I can yet remember it."
+
+We did so, and he sat over it until long past day dawn. And this was
+the origin of that Moonlight Sonata with which we are all so fondly
+acquainted.
+
+
+
+
+THE STORY OF TEMPE WICK.
+
+
+There are so many curious and unexpected things which may happen in time
+of war, especially to people who live in parts of a country where the
+enemy may be expected to come, or where the friendly army is already
+encamped, that it is impossible to guard against unpleasant occurrences;
+and it often happens that the only thing to be depended upon when an
+emergency arises, is presence of mind, and quickness of wit.
+
+[Illustration: Frank R. Stockton.]
+
+In these qualities, New Jersey girls have never shown themselves behind
+their sisters of other parts of the country, and a very good proof of
+this is shown by an incident which took place near Morristown during the
+time that the American army was quartered in that neighborhood.
+
+Not far from the town was a farm then known as Wick's farm, situated
+in a beautiful wooded country. The daughter of Mr. Wick, named Tempe
+(probably short for Temperance), was the owner of a very fine horse,
+and on this beautiful animal it was her delight to ride over the roads
+and through the woods of the surrounding country. She had been
+accustomed to horses since she was a child, and was not afraid to ride
+anywhere by herself.
+
+When she first began to canter over these hills and dales, it had been
+in times of peace, when there was nothing in this quiet country of
+which any one might be afraid; and now, although these were days of
+war, she felt no fear. There were soldiers not far away, but these she
+looked upon as her friends and protectors; for Washington and his army
+had encamped in that region to defend the country against the approach
+of the enemy. If any straggling Redcoats should feel a desire to come
+along the hills, they would be very apt to restrain their inclinations
+so long as they knew that that brave American army was encamped near by.
+
+So Miss Tempe Wick, fearing nothing, rode far and wide, as she had
+been in the habit of doing, and every day she and her good steed
+became better and better acquainted with each other.
+
+One fine afternoon, as Tempe was slowly riding homeward, within a mile
+of her house, she met half a dozen soldiers in Continental uniform,
+and two of them, stepping in front of her, called upon her to stop.
+When she had done so, one of them seized her bridle. She did not know
+the men; but still, as they belonged to Washington's army, who were
+her countrymen and friends, she saw no reason to be afraid, and asked
+them what they wanted.
+
+At first she received no answer, for they were very busily occupied in
+looking at her horse and expressing their satisfaction at the fine
+points of the animal. Tempe had had her horse praised before; but
+these men were looking at him, and talking about him, very much as if
+he were for sale and they were thinking of buying. Presently one of
+the men said to her that this was a very excellent horse that she was
+riding, and they wanted it. To this Tempe exclaimed, in great
+amazement, that it was her own horse, that she wanted him herself, and
+had no wish to dispose of him. Some of the soldiers laughed, and one
+of them told her that the troops were about to move, and that good
+horses were greatly needed, and that they had orders to levy upon the
+surrounding country and take horses wherever they could find them.
+
+Now was Tempe astonished beyond measure. If half a dozen British
+soldiers had surrounded her, and had declared that they intended to
+rob her of her horse, she would not have wondered at it, for they
+would have taken it as the property of an enemy. But that the soldiers
+of her own country, the men on whom she and all her friends and
+neighbors depended for protection and safety, should turn on her and
+rob her, as if they had been a set of marauding Hessians, was
+something she could scarcely comprehend. But it did not take her long
+to understand, that no matter who they were or what they
+were,--whether they thought they had a right to do what they
+threatened, or whether they had no regard for right and justice,--they
+were in earnest, and intended to take her horse. When this conviction
+flashed into the mind of Tempe Wick, there also flashed into it a
+determination to show these men that a Jersey girl had a will of her
+own, and that if they wanted her property, they would have to do a
+great deal more than simply to come to her and ask her to hand it over
+to them.
+
+After a little parley, during which the man who held her bridle let go
+of it, supposing she was about to dismount, she suddenly gave her
+spirited horse a sharp cut with the whip, dashed between two of the
+soldiers, and before they could comprehend what had happened she was
+off and away.
+
+As fast as they could run, the soldiers followed her, one or two of
+them firing their guns in the air, thinking to frighten her and make
+her stop; but, as though she had been a deer and her pursuers ordinary
+hunters, she swiftly sped away from them.
+
+But they did not give up the chase. Some of them knew where this girl
+lived, and were confident that when they reached her house, they would
+have the horse. If they had known it was such a fine animal, they
+would have come after it before. According to their belief, good
+horses should go into the army, and people who staid at home, and
+expected other people to fight for them, ought to be willing to do
+what they could to help in the good cause, and at least give their
+horses to the army.
+
+As Tempe sat upon her bounding steed, she knew very well that the
+soldiers could never catch her; but her heart sank within her as she
+thought of what would happen when they came to the farm and demanded
+her horse. Running away from them was only postponing her trouble for
+a little while, for there was no one about the place who could prevent
+those men from going to the barn and taking away the animal.
+
+It would be of no use to pass her house and ride on and on. Where
+should she go? She must come back sometime, and all the soldiers would
+have to do would be to halt at the farm, and wait until she returned.
+And even if she should take her horse into the wood and tie him to a
+tree, they would know by her coming back on foot that she had left him
+at no great distance, and they would be sure to follow his tracks and
+find him.
+
+As Tempe rode swiftly on, her thoughts galloped as fast as her horse,
+and before she reached the house she had come to a conclusion as to
+the best thing to be done. She did not ride toward the barn, but
+dashed through the gateway of the large yard, and sprang from her
+steed. As she turned in, she looked down the road; but the men were
+not in sight. What she was going to do was something which people
+never did, but it was the only thing she could think of, and she was a
+girl whose actions were as quick as her ideas were original. Without
+stopping an instant, she took her horse to the back door, and led him
+boldly into the house.
+
+This was not the sort of stable to which Tempe's horse or any other
+American horse was accustomed; but this animal knew his mistress, and
+where she led, he was willing to follow. If one of the farm hands had
+attempted to take the creature into the house, there would probably
+have been some rearing and plunging; but nothing of this kind happened
+as our Jersey girl, with her hand on her horse's bridle, led him
+quickly inside and closed the door behind him. As the story goes, she
+took him through the kitchen, and then into the parlor, without the
+slightest regard to the injury his shoes might do to the well-kept
+floor; and from the parlor she led him into a bedroom on the lower
+floor, which was usually used as a guest chamber, but which never
+before had such a guest as this.
+
+This room had but a single window, the shutters of which were kept
+closed when it was not in use, and there was no entrance to it except
+through the door which opened from the parlor. The door was quickly
+closed, and Tempe stood with her horse in the darkness.
+
+When the soldiers reached the farm they went to the barn. They
+examined the outhouses, visited the pasture fields, and made a
+thorough search, high and low, near and far; but no sign of a horse
+could they find. Of course, the notion that the animal was concealed
+in the house did not enter their minds, and the only way in which they
+could account for the total disappearance of the horse was, that Tempe
+had ridden off with him--where they knew not. We do not know how long
+they waited for the sight of a hungry horse coming home to his supper,
+but we do know that while there was the slightest danger of her dear
+horse being taken away from her, that animal remained a carefully
+attended guest in the spare room of the Wick house; and the tradition
+is, that he staid there three weeks. There Tempe waited on him as if
+he had been a visitor of high degree; and if she was afraid to go to
+the barn to bring him hay and oats, she doubtless gave him biscuit and
+soft bread,--dainties of which a horse is very fond, especially when
+they are brought to him by such a kind mistress as Tempe.
+
+When the cavalry moved away from their camp near Morristown, no one of
+them rode on that fine horse on which they had seen a girl gayly
+cantering, and which, when they had been about to put their hands upon
+it, had flown away, like a butterfly from under the straw hat of a
+schoolboy. When the troops were gone, the horse came out of the guest
+chamber and went back to his stall in the stable; and that room in
+which he passed so many quiet days, and the door through which the
+horse timidly stepped under the shadow of that hospitable roof, are
+still to be seen at the old Wick house, which stands now, as it stood
+then, with its shaded yard and the great willow tree behind it, on the
+pleasant country road by which we may drive from Morristown to Mendham
+by the way of Washington Corner.
+
+  --_From "Stories of New Jersey," by Frank R. Stockton._
+
+
+
+
+LIFE IN NORMAN ENGLAND.
+
+
+The tall frowning keep and solid walls of the great stone castles, in
+which the Norman barons lived, betokened an age of violence and
+suspicion. Beauty gave way to the needs of safety. Girdled with its
+green and slimy ditch, round the inner edge of which ran a parapeted
+wall pierced along the top with shot holes, stood the buildings,
+spreading often over many acres.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+  From a Photograph.      Engraved by John Evans.
+
+  Ruins of a Norman Castle.
+]
+
+If an enemy managed to cross the moat and force the gateway, in spite
+of a portcullis crashing from above, and melted lead pouring in
+burning streams from the perforated top of the rounded arch, but
+little of his work was yet done; for the keep lifted its huge angular
+block of masonry within the inner bailey or courtyard, and from the
+narrow chinks in its ten-foot wall rained a sharp incessant shower of
+arrows, sweeping all approaches to the high and narrow stair, by which
+alone access could be had to its interior.
+
+These loopholes were the only windows, except in the topmost story,
+where the chieftain, like a vulture in his rocky nest, watched all the
+surrounding country. The day of splendid oriels had not yet come in
+castle architecture.
+
+Thus a baron in his keep could defy, and often did defy, the king upon
+his throne. Under his roof, eating daily at his board, lived a throng
+of armed retainers; and around his castle lay farms tilled by martial
+franklins, who at his call laid aside their implements of husbandry,
+took up the sword and spear, which they could wield with equal skill,
+and marched beneath his banner to the war.
+
+With robe ungirt and head uncovered each tenant had done homage and
+sworn an oath of fealty, placing his joined hands between those of the
+sitting baron, and humbly saying as he knelt, "I become your man from
+this day forward, of life and limb and of earthly worship; and unto you
+I shall be true and faithful, and bear to you faith for the tenements
+that I claim to hold of you, saving the faith that I owe unto our
+sovereign lord the king." A kiss from the baron completed the ceremony.
+
+The furniture of a Norman keep was not unlike that of an English
+house. There was richer ornament--more elaborate carving. A
+_faldestol_, the original of our arm-chair, spread its drapery and
+cushions for the chieftain in his lounging moods. His bed now boasted
+curtains and a roof, although, like the English lord, he still lay
+only upon straw. Chimneys tunneled the thick walls, and the cupboards
+glittered with glass and silver. Horn lanterns and the old spiked
+candlesticks lit up his evening hours, when the chessboard arrayed its
+clumsy men, carved out of walrus tusk, then commonly called
+whale's-bone. But the baron had an unpleasant trick of breaking the
+chessboard on his opponent's head, when he found himself checkmated;
+which somewhat marred said opponent's enjoyment of the game. Dice of
+horn and bone emptied many a purse in Norman England.
+
+[Illustration: Horn Lantern.]
+
+Dances and music whiled away the long winter nights; and on summer
+evenings the castle courtyards resounded with the noise of football,
+_kayles_ (a sort of ninepins), wrestling, boxing, leaping, and the
+fierce joys of the bull bait. But out of doors, when no fighting was
+on hand, the hound, the hawk, and the lance attracted the best
+energies and skill of the Norman gentleman.
+
+Rousing the forest game with dogs, they shot at it with barbed and
+feathered arrows. A field of ripening corn never turned the chase
+aside: it was one privilege of a feudal baron to ride as he pleased
+over his tenants' crops, and another to quarter his insolent hunting
+train in the farmhouses which pleased him best! The elaborate details
+of _woodcraft_ became an important part of a noble boy's education;
+for the numerous bugle calls and scientific dissection of a dead stag
+took many seasons to learn.
+
+After the Conquest, to kill a deer or own a hawk came more than ever
+to be regarded as the special privilege of the aristocracy. The hawk,
+daintily dressed, as befitted the companion of nobility, with his head
+wrapped in an embroidered hood, and a peal of silver bells tinkling
+from his rough legs, sat in state, bound with leathern jesses to the
+wrist, which was protected by a thick glove. The ladies and the clergy
+loved him. By many a mere the abbots ambled on their ponies over the
+swampy soil, and sweet shrill voices cheered the long-winged hawk, as
+he darted off in pursuit of the soaring quarry.
+
+[Illustration: The Hawk.]
+
+The author of "Ivanhoe" has made the tournament a picture familiar to
+all readers of romance. It therefore needs no long description here.
+It was held in honor of some great event--a coronation, wedding, or
+victory. Having practiced well during squirehood at the _quintain_,
+the knight, clad in full armor, with visor barred and the colors of
+his lady on crest and scarf, rode into the lists, for which some level
+green was chosen and surrounded with a palisade.
+
+For days before, his shield had been hanging in a neighboring church,
+as a sign of his intention to compete in this great game of chivalry.
+If any stain lay on his knighthood, a lady, by touching the suspended
+shield with a wand, could debar him from a share in the jousting. And
+if, when he had entered the lists he was rude to a lady, or broke in
+any way the etiquette of the tilt yard, he was beaten from the lists
+with the ashwood lances of the knights.
+
+[Illustration: The Knight.]
+
+The simple joust was the shock of two knights, who galloped with
+leveled spears at each other, aiming at breast or head, with the
+object either of unhorsing the antagonist, or, if he sat his charger
+well, of splintering the lance upon his helmet or his shield. The
+mellay hurled together, at the dropping of the prince's baton, two
+parties of knights, who hacked away at each other with ax and mace and
+sword, often gashing limbs and breaking bones in the wild excitement
+of the fray. Bright eyes glanced from the surrounding galleries upon
+the brutal sport; and when the victor, with broken plume, and battered
+armor, dragged his weary limbs to the footstool of the beauty who
+presided as Queen over the festival, her white hands decorated him
+with the meed of his achievements.
+
+The Normans probably dined at nine in the morning. When they rose they
+took a light meal; and ate something also after their day's work,
+immediately before going to bed. Goose and garlic formed a favorite
+dish. Their cookery was more elaborate, and, in comparison, more
+delicate, than the preparations for an English feed; but the character
+for temperance, which they brought with them from the Continent, soon
+vanished.
+
+The poorer classes hardly ever ate flesh, living principally on bread,
+butter, and cheese,--a social fact which seems to underlie that usage
+of our tongue by which the living animals in field or stall bore
+English names--ox, sheep, calf, pig, deer; while their flesh, promoted
+to Norman dishes, rejoiced in names of French origin--beef, mutton,
+veal, pork, venison. Round cakes, piously marked with a cross, piled
+the tables, on which pastry of various kinds also appeared. In good
+houses cups of glass held the wine, which was borne from the cellar
+below in jugs.
+
+Squatted around the door or on the stair leading to the Norman dining
+hall, was a crowd of beggars or lickers, who grew so insolent in the
+days of Rufus, that ushers, armed with rods, were posted outside to
+beat back the noisy throng, who thought little of snatching the dishes
+as the cooks carried them to table!
+
+The juggler, who under the Normans filled the place of the English
+gleeman, tumbled, sang, and balanced knives in the hall; or out in the
+bailey of an afternoon displayed the acquirements of his trained
+monkey or bear. The fool, too, clad in colored patchwork, cracked his
+ribald jokes and shook his cap and bells at the elbow of roaring
+barons, when the board was spread and the circles of the wine began.
+
+While knights hunted in the greenwood or tilted in the lists, and
+jugglers tumbled in the noisy hall, the monk in the quiet scriptorium
+compiled chronicles of passing events, copied valuable manuscripts,
+and painted rich borders and brilliant initials on every page. These
+illuminations form a valuable set of materials for our pictures of
+life in the Middle Ages.
+
+Monasteries served many useful purposes at the time of which I write.
+Besides their manifest value as centers of study and literary work,
+they gave alms to the poor, a supper and a bed to travelers; their
+tenants were better off and better treated than the tenants of the
+nobles; the monks could store grain, grow apples, and cultivate their
+flower beds with little risk of injury from war, because they had
+spiritual thunders at their call, which awed even the most reckless of
+the soldiery into a respect for sacred property.
+
+Splendid structures those monasteries generally were, since that vivid
+taste for architecture which the Norman possessed in a high degree,
+and which could not find room for its display in the naked strength of
+the solid keep, lavished its entire energy and grace upon buildings
+lying in the safe shadow of the Cross. Nor was architectural taste the
+only reason for their magnificence. Since they were nearly all erected
+as offerings to Heaven, the religion of the age impelled the pious
+builders to spare no cost in decorating the exterior with fretwork and
+sculpture of Caen stone, the interior with gilded cornices and windows
+of painted glass.
+
+As schools, too, the monasteries did no trifling service to society
+in the Middle Ages. In addition to their influence as great centers of
+learning, English law had enjoined every mass priest to keep a school
+in his parish church, where all the young committed to his care might
+be instructed. This custom continued long after the Norman Conquest.
+In the Trinity College Psalter we have a picture of a Norman school,
+where the pupils sit in a circular row around the master as he
+lectures to them from a long roll of manuscript. Two writers sit by
+the desk, busy with copies resembling that which the teacher holds.
+
+The youth of the middle classes, destined for the cloister or the
+merchant's stall, chiefly thronged these schools. The aristocracy
+cared little for book-learning. Very few indeed of the barons could
+read or write. But all could ride, fence, tilt, play, and carve
+extremely well; for to these accomplishments many years of pagehood
+and squirehood were given.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The foregoing description of manners and customs during the age of
+feudalism has been adapted from a popular "History of England," by W.
+F. Collier. A much fuller description may be found in Knight's
+"History of England," and in Green's "Short History of the English
+People." The period described was in many respects the most romantic
+in the history of the world, and many delightful and instructive books
+have been written concerning it. Read Scott's "Ivanhoe" and "The
+Talisman." Reference may also be had to Pauli's "Pictures of Old
+England," and Jusserand's "English Wayfaring Life in the Middle Ages."
+
+
+
+
+THE ROMANCE OF THE SWAN'S NEST.
+
+[Illustration: Elizabeth Barrett Browning.]
+
+    "So the dreams depart,
+    So the fading phantoms flee,
+    And the sharp reality
+    Now must act its part."
+
+  --_Westwood's "Beads from a Rosary."_
+
+
+I.
+
+    Little Ellie sits alone
+      'Mid the beeches of a meadow,
+        By a stream side on the grass,
+    And the trees are showering down
+      Doubles of their leaves in shadow,
+        On her shining hair and face.
+
+
+II.
+
+    She has thrown her bonnet by,
+      And her feet she has been dipping
+        In the shallow water's flow;
+    Now she holds them nakedly
+      In her hands, all sleek and dripping,
+        While she rocketh to and fro.
+
+
+III.
+
+    Little Ellie sits alone,
+      And the smile she softly uses
+        Fills the silence like a speech,
+    While she thinks what shall be done,
+      And the sweetest pleasure chooses
+        For her future within reach.
+
+
+IV.
+
+    Little Ellie in her smile
+      Chooses, "I will have a lover,
+        Riding on a steed of steeds:
+    He shall love me without guile,
+      And to _him_ I will discover
+        The swan's nest among the reeds.
+
+
+V.
+
+    "And the steed shall be red roan,
+      And the lover shall be noble,
+        With an eye that takes the breath.
+    And the lute he plays upon
+      Shall strike ladies into trouble,
+        As his sword strikes men to death.
+
+
+VI.
+
+    "And the steed it shall be shod
+      All in silver, housed in azure;
+        And the mane shall swim the wind;
+    And the hoofs along the sod
+      Shall flash onward, and keep measure,
+        Till the shepherds look behind.
+
+
+VII.
+
+    "But my lover will not prize
+      All the glory that he rides in,
+        When he gazes in my face.
+    He will say, 'O Love, thine eyes
+      Build the shrine my soul abides in,
+        And I kneel here for thy grace!'
+
+
+VIII.
+
+    "Then, aye, then he shall kneel low,
+      With the red-roan steed anear him,
+        Which shall seem to understand,
+    Till I answer, 'Rise and go!
+      For the world must love and fear him
+        Whom I gift with heart and hand.'
+
+
+IX.
+
+    "Then he will arise so pale,
+      I shall feel my own lips tremble
+        With a _yes_ I must not say:
+    Nathless maiden brave, 'Farewell,'
+      I will utter, and dissemble--
+        'Light to-morrow with to-day!'
+
+
+X.
+
+    "Then he'll ride among the hills
+      To the wide world past the river,
+        There to put away all wrong,
+    To make straight distorted wills,
+      And to empty the broad quiver
+        Which the wicked bear along.
+
+
+XI.
+
+    "Three times shall a young foot page
+      Swim the stream, and climb the mountain,
+        And kneel down beside my feet:
+    'Lo! my master sends this gage,
+      Lady, for thy pity's counting.
+        What wilt thou exchange for it?'
+
+
+XII.
+
+    "And the first time I will send
+      A white rosebud for a guerdon--
+        And the second time, a glove;
+    But the third time--I may bend
+      From my pride, and answer--'Pardon,
+        If he comes to take my love.'
+
+
+XIII.
+
+    "Then the young foot page will run--
+      Then my lover will ride faster,
+        Till he kneeleth at my knee:
+    'I am a duke's eldest son!
+      Thousand serfs do call me master,--
+        But, O Love, I love but _thee_!'"...
+
+
+XIV.
+
+    Little Ellie, with her smile
+      Not yet ended, rose up gayly,
+        Tied the bonnet, donned the shoe,
+    And went homeward, round a mile,
+      Just to see, as she did daily,
+        What more eggs were with the two.
+
+
+XV.
+
+    Pushing through the elm-tree copse,
+      Winding up the stream, light-hearted,
+        Where the osier pathway leads,
+    Past the boughs she stoops, and stops.
+      Lo, the wild swan had deserted,
+        And a rat had gnawed the reeds!
+
+
+XVI.
+
+    Ellie went home sad and slow.
+      If she found the lover ever,
+        With his red-roan steed of steeds,
+    Sooth I know not; but I know
+      She could never show him--never,
+         That swan's nest among the reeds.
+
+  --_Elizabeth Barrett Browning._
+
+
+
+
+A PATRIARCH OF THE OLDEN TIME
+
+
+Oh that I were as in months past, as in the days when God preserved
+me; when his candle shined upon my head, and when by his light I
+walked through darkness; as I was in the days of my youth, when the
+secret of God was upon my tabernacle; when the Almighty was yet with
+me; when my children were about me; when I washed my steps with
+butter, and the rock poured me out rivers of oil.
+
+When the ear heard me, then it blessed me; and when the eye saw me, it
+gave witness to me: because I delivered the poor that cried, and the
+fatherless, and him that had none to help him. The blessing of him that
+was ready to perish came upon me; and I caused the widow's heart to sing
+for joy. I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame. I was a
+father to the poor; and the cause which I knew not, I searched out.
+
+Did not I weep for him that was in trouble? Was not my soul grieved
+for the poor? Let me be weighed in an even balance that God may know
+mine integrity. If I did despise the cause of my man servant or of my
+maid servant, when they contended with me, what then shall I do when
+God riseth up? and when he visiteth, what shall I answer him? Did not
+he that made me make him also?
+
+If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes
+of the widow to fail, or have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the
+fatherless hath not eaten thereof; if I have seen any perish for want
+of clothing, or any poor without covering; if his loins have not
+blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep; if
+I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, when I saw my help in
+the gate; then let mine arm fall from my shoulder blade, and mine arm
+be broken from the bone.
+
+If I rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me, or lifted up
+myself when evil found him (neither have I suffered my mouth to sin,
+by wishing a curse to his soul. The stranger did not lodge in the
+street; but I opened my doors to the traveler). If my land cry against
+me, or the furrows likewise thereof complain; if I have eaten the
+fruits thereof without money, or have caused the owners thereof to
+lose their life: let thistles grow instead of wheat, and cockle
+instead of barley.
+
+  --_From the "Book of Job."_
+
+
+
+
+HOW CORT�S ENTERED THE CITY OF MEXICO.
+
+[Illustration: William H. Prescott.]
+
+
+Mexico, when first discovered by Europeans, was inhabited by a
+civilized race called Aztecs. The conquest of that country and the
+subjugation of its people by the Spaniards under Hernando Cort�s, in
+1518-21, was one of the most remarkable episodes in the history of the
+Western Continent. William H. Prescott, our American historian, in his
+"Conquest of Mexico," has told the story of that event in a manner so
+delightful that the whole narrative reads like a romance. His
+description of the entry of the Spaniards into the capital city of the
+Aztecs is as follows:--
+
+    It was the eighth of November, 1519, a conspicuous day in history,
+    as that on which the Europeans first set foot in the capital of
+    the Western World.
+
+    Cort�s with his little body of horse formed a sort of advanced
+    guard to the army. Then came the Spanish infantry, who in a
+    summer's campaign had acquired the discipline and the
+    weather-beaten aspect of veterans. The baggage occupied the
+    center; and the rear was closed by the dark files of Tlascalan
+    warriors. The whole number must have fallen short of seven
+    thousand; of which fewer than four hundred were Spaniards.
+
+    Everywhere the conquerors beheld the evidence of a crowded and
+    thriving population, exceeding all they had yet seen. The temples
+    and principal buildings of the cities were covered with a hard
+    white stucco, which glistened like enamel in the level beams of
+    the morning. The margin of the lake was thickly gemmed with towns
+    and hamlets. The water was darkened by swarms of canoes filled
+    with Indians, who clambered up the sides of the causeway and gazed
+    with curious astonishment on the strangers. And here, also, they
+    beheld those fairy islands of flowers, overshadowed occasionally
+    by trees of considerable size, rising and falling with the gentle
+    undulation of the billows.
+
+    At the distance of half a league from the capital, they
+    encountered a solid work, or curtain of stone, which traversed the
+    dike. It was twelve feet high, was strengthened by towers at the
+    extremities, and in the center was a battlemented gateway, which
+    opened a passage to the troops.
+
+    Here they were met by several hundred Aztec chiefs, who came out
+    to announce the approach of Montezuma and to welcome the Spaniards
+    to his capital. They were dressed in the fanciful gala costume of
+    the country, with the _maxlatl_, or cotton sash, around their
+    loins, and a broad mantle of the same material, or of the
+    brilliant feather embroidery, flowing gracefully down their
+    shoulders. On their necks and arms they displayed collars and
+    bracelets of turquoise mosaic, with which delicate plumage was
+    curiously mingled, while their ears and underlips, and
+    occasionally their noses, were garnished with pendants formed of
+    precious stones, or crescents of fine gold.
+
+    As each cacique made the usual formal salutation of the country
+    separately to the general, the tedious ceremony delayed the march
+    more than an hour. After this the army experienced no further
+    interruption till it reached a bridge near the gates of the city.
+    It was built of wood, and was thrown across an opening of the
+    dike, which furnished an outlet to the waters when agitated by the
+    winds or swollen by a sudden influx in the rainy season. It was a
+    drawbridge; and the Spaniards, as they crossed it, felt how truly
+    they were committing themselves to the mercy of Montezuma, who, by
+    thus cutting off their communications with the country, might hold
+    them prisoners in his capital.
+
+    In the midst of these unpleasant reflections, they beheld the
+    glittering retinue of the emperor emerging from the great street
+    which led then, as it still does, through the heart of the city.
+    Amidst a crowd of Indian nobles, preceded by three officers of
+    state bearing golden wands, they saw the royal palanquin blazing
+    with burnished gold. It was borne on the shoulders of nobles, and
+    over it a canopy of gaudy feather work, powdered with jewels and
+    fringed with silver, was supported by four attendants of the same
+    rank. They were barefooted, and walked with a slow, measured pace,
+    and with eyes bent on the ground.
+
+    When the train had come within a convenient distance, it halted, and
+    Montezuma, descending from his litter, came forward, leaning on the
+    arms of the lords of Tezcuco and Iztapalapan, his nephew and
+    brother, both of whom had already been made known to the Spaniards.
+    As the monarch advanced under the canopy, the obsequious attendants
+    strewed the ground with cotton tapestry, that his imperial feet
+    might not be contaminated by the rude soil. His subjects of high and
+    low degree, who lined the sides of the causeway, bent forward with
+    their eyes fastened on the ground as he passed, and some of the
+    humbler class prostrated themselves before him.
+
+    Montezuma wore the girdle and ample square cloak, _tilmatli_, of his
+    nation. It was made of the finest cotton, with the embroidered ends
+    gathered in a knot round his neck. His feet were defended by sandals
+    having soles of gold, and the leathern thongs which bound them to
+    his ankles were embossed with the same metal. Both the cloak and
+    sandals were sprinkled with pearls and precious stones, among which
+    the emerald, and another green stone of high estimation among the
+    Aztecs, were conspicuous. On his head he wore no other ornament than
+    a _panache_ of plumes of the royal green, which floated down his
+    back, the badge of military, rather than of regal, rank.
+
+    He was at this time about forty years of age. His person was tall
+    and thin, but not ill made. His hair, which was black and
+    straight, was not very long; to wear it short was considered
+    unbecoming to persons of rank. His beard was thin; his complexion
+    somewhat paler than is often found in his dusky, or rather
+    copper-colored, race. His features, though serious in their
+    expression, did not wear the look of melancholy, indeed of
+    dejection, which characterizes his portrait, and which may well
+    have settled on them at a later period. He moved with dignity, and
+    his whole demeanor, tempered by an expression of benignity not to
+    have been anticipated from the reports circulated of his
+    character, was worthy of a great prince.
+
+    The army halted as he drew near. Cort�s, dismounting, threw his
+    reins to a page, and supported by a few of the principal
+    cavaliers, advanced to meet him. The interview must have been one
+    of uncommon interest to both. In Montezuma, Cort�s beheld the lord
+    of the broad realms he had traversed, whose magnificence and power
+    had been the burden of every tongue. In the Spaniard, on the other
+    hand, the Aztec prince saw the strange being whose history seemed
+    to be so mysteriously connected with his own; the predicted one of
+    his oracles, whose achievements proclaimed him something more than
+    human.
+
+    But whatever may have been the monarch's feelings, he so far
+    suppressed them as to receive his guest with princely courtesy,
+    and to express his satisfaction at personally seeing him in his
+    capital. Cort�s responded by the most profound expressions of
+    respect, while he made ample acknowledgments for the substantial
+    proofs which the emperor had given the Spaniards of his
+    munificence. He then hung round Montezuma's neck a sparkling chain
+    of colored crystal, accompanying this with a movement as if to
+    embrace him, when he was restrained by the two Aztec lords,
+    shocked at the menaced profanation of the sacred person of their
+    master. After the interchange of these civilities, Montezuma
+    appointed his brother to conduct the Spaniards to their residence
+    in the capital, and, again entering his litter, was borne off
+    amidst prostrate crowds in the same state in which he had come.
+    The Spaniards quickly followed, and, with colors flying and music
+    playing, soon made their entrance into the southern quarter of
+    Tenochtitlan.
+
+    Here, again, they found fresh cause for admiration in the grandeur
+    of the city and the superior style of its architecture. The
+    dwellings of the poorer class were, indeed, chiefly of reeds and
+    mud. But the great avenue through which they were now marching was
+    lined with the houses of the nobles, who were encouraged by the
+    emperor to make the capital their residence. They were built of a
+    red porous stone drawn from quarries in the neighborhood, and,
+    though they rarely rose to a second story, often covered a large
+    space of ground. The flat roofs, _azoteas_, were protected by
+    stone parapets, so that every house was a fortress. Sometimes
+    these roofs resembled parterres of flowers, so thickly were they
+    covered with them, but more frequently these were cultivated in
+    broad terraced gardens, laid out between the edifices.
+    Occasionally a great square or market place intervened, surrounded
+    by its porticoes of stone and stucco; or a pyramidal temple reared
+    its colossal bulk, crowned with its tapering sanctuaries, and
+    altars blazing with inextinguishable fires. The great street
+    facing the southern causeway, unlike most others in the place, was
+    wide, and extended some miles in nearly a straight line, as before
+    noticed, through the center of the city. A spectator standing at
+    one end of it, as his eye ranged along the deep vista of temples,
+    terraces, and gardens, might clearly discern the other, with the
+    blue mountains in the distance, which, in the transparent
+    atmosphere of the table-land, seemed almost in contact with the
+    buildings.
+
+    But what most impressed the Spaniards was the throngs of people
+    who swarmed through the streets and on the canals, filling every
+    doorway and window and clustering on the roofs of the buildings.
+    "I well remember the spectacle," exclaims Bernal Diaz; "it seems
+    now, after so many years, as present to my mind as if it were but
+    yesterday." But what must have been the sensations of the Aztecs
+    themselves, as they looked on the portentous pageant! as they
+    heard, now for the first time, the well-cemented pavement ring
+    under the iron tramp of the horses,--the strange animals which
+    fear had clothed in such supernatural terrors: as they gazed on
+    the children of the East, revealing their celestial origin in
+    their fair complexions; saw the bright falchions and bonnets of
+    steel, a metal to them unknown, glancing like meteors in the sun,
+    while sounds of unearthly music--at least, such as their rude
+    instruments had never wakened--floated in the air?
+
+    [Illustration: Hernando Cort�s.]
+
+    As they passed down the spacious street, the troops repeatedly
+    traversed bridges suspended above canals, along which they saw the
+    Indian barks gliding swiftly with their little cargoes of fruits
+    and vegetables for the markets of Tenochtitlan. At length they
+    halted before a broad area near the center of the city, where rose
+    the huge pyramidal pile dedicated to the patron war god of the
+    Aztecs, second only, in size as well as sanctity, to the temple of
+    Cholula, and covering the same ground now in part occupied by the
+    great cathedral of Mexico.
+
+    Facing the western gate of the inclosure of the temple, stood a
+    low range of stone buildings, spreading over a wide extent of
+    ground, the palace of Axayacatl, Montezuma's father, built by that
+    monarch about fifty years before. It was appropriated as the
+    barracks of the Spaniards. The emperor himself was in the
+    courtyard, waiting to receive them. Approaching Cort�s, he took
+    from a vase of flowers, borne by one of his slaves, a massy
+    collar, in which the shell of a species of crawfish, much prized
+    by the Indians, was set in gold and connected by heavy links of
+    the same metal. From this chain depended eight ornaments, also of
+    gold, made in resemblance of the same shellfish, a span in length
+    each, and of delicate workmanship; for the Aztec goldsmiths were
+    confessed to have shown skill in their craft not inferior to their
+    brethren of Europe. Montezuma, as he hung the gorgeous collar
+    round the general's neck, said, "This palace belongs to you,
+    Malinche" (the epithet by which he always addressed him), "and
+    your brethren. Rest after your fatigues, for you have much need to
+    do so, and in a little while I will visit you again." So saying,
+    he withdrew with his attendants, evincing in this act a delicate
+    consideration not to have been expected in a barbarian.
+
+
+
+
+THE SKYLARK.
+
+
+      Bird of the wilderness,
+      Blithesome and cumberless,
+    Sweet be thy matin o'er moorland and lea!
+      Emblem of happiness,
+      Blest is thy dwelling place:
+    Oh to abide in the desert with thee!
+
+      Wild is thy lay, and loud,
+      Far in the downy cloud:
+    Love gives it energy, love gave it birth.
+      Where, on thy dewy wing,
+      Where art thou journeying?
+    Thy lay is in heaven, thy love is on earth.
+
+      O'er fell and fountain sheen,
+      O'er moor and mountain green,
+    O'er the red streamer that heralds the day,
+      Over the cloudlet dim,
+      Over the rainbow's rim,
+    Musical cherub, soar, singing, away!
+
+      Then, when the gloaming comes,
+      Low in the heather blooms
+    Sweet will thy welcome and bed of love be;
+      Emblem of happiness,
+      Blest is thy dwelling place:
+    Oh to abide in the desert with thee!
+
+  --_James Hogg._
+
+
+
+
+THE MYSTERY OF THE TADPOLE.
+
+
+A blade of grass is a mystery, if men would but distill it out. When my
+learned friend Dr. Syntax, glancing round my workroom, observed a vase
+full of tadpoles, he asked me in a tone of sniffling superiority: "Do
+you really mean to say you find any interest in those little beasts?"
+
+[Illustration: George Henry Lewes.]
+
+"As much as you find in books," I answered, with some energy.
+
+"H'm," grunted Syntax.
+
+Very absurd isn't it? But we all have our hobbies. I can pass a
+bookstall on which I perceive that the ignorance of the bookseller
+permits him to exhibit now and then rare editions of valuable books at
+almost no price at all. The sight gives me no thrill--it does not even
+cause me to slacken my pace.
+
+But I can't so easily pass a pond in which I see a shoal of tadpoles
+swimming about, as ignorant of their own value as the bookseller is of
+his books. I may walk on, but the sight has sent a slight electric
+shock through me.
+
+"Why, sir," I said to my learned friend, "there is more to me in the
+_tail_ of one of those tadpoles than in all the musty old volumes you
+so much delight to pick up. But I won't thrash your dog unless you
+thrash mine."
+
+"Why, what on earth can you do with the tail?"
+
+[Illustration: Tadpoles in different Stages of Development.]
+
+"Do with it? Study it, experiment on it, put it under the microscope,
+and day by day watch the growth of its various parts. At first it is
+little more than a mass of cells. Then I notice that these cells begin
+to take a definite shape, and blood vessels appear in them. Then the
+muscles begin to appear."
+
+"Very interesting, I dare say."
+
+"You don't seem to think so, by your tone. But look in this vase: here
+are several tadpoles with the most apologetic of tails--mere stumps,
+in fact. I cut them off nine days ago."
+
+"Will they grow again?"
+
+"Perfectly; for, although the frog dispenses with a tail almost as
+soon as he reaches the frog form, the tadpole needs his tail to swim
+with; and when by any accident he loses it, Nature kindly supplies him
+with another."
+
+"Yes, yes," added Syntax, glad to feel himself once more among things
+of which he knew something; "just like the lobster or the crab, you
+know. They tear off their legs and arms in a most reckless way, and
+yet they always grow new ones again."
+
+"Would you like to know what has become of the tails which I cut off
+from these fellows?"
+
+"Aren't they dead?"
+
+"Not at all. Alive and kicking."
+
+"Alive after nine days? Oh! oh!"
+
+"Here they are, in this glass. It is exactly nine days since they were
+cut off, and I have been watching them daily under the microscope. I
+assure you that I have seen them _grow_, not _larger_, indeed, but
+develop more and more, muscle fibers appearing each day where before
+there were none at all."
+
+"Come, now, you are trying to see what a fool you can make of me."
+
+"I am perfectly serious. The discovery is none of mine. It was made by
+M. Vulpian in Paris. He says that the tails live many days--as many as
+eighteen in one instance; but I have never kept mine alive more than
+eleven. He says, moreover, that they not only grow, as I have said,
+but that they seem to possess feeling, for they twist about with a
+rapid swimming movement when irritated."
+
+"Well, but I say, how _could_ they live when separated from the body?
+Our arms or legs don't live; the lobster's legs don't live."
+
+"Quite true. But in those cases we have limbs of a complex
+organization, which require a complex apparatus in order to sustain
+their life. They must have blood, the blood must circulate."
+
+"Stop, stop! I don't want to understand why our arms can't live apart
+from our bodies. They don't. The fact is enough for me. I want to know
+why the tail of a tadpole can live apart from the body."
+
+"It _can_. Is not the fact enough for you in that case also? Well, I
+was going to tell you the reason. The tail will live apart from the
+body only so long as it retains its early immature form. If you cut it
+off from a tadpole which is old enough to have lost its external gills
+a week or more, the tail will _not_ live more than three or four days.
+And every tail will die as soon as it reaches the point in its
+development which requires the circulation of the blood as a necessary
+condition."
+
+"But where does it get food?"
+
+"That is more than I can say. I don't know that it wants food. You
+know that reptiles can live without food a wonderful length of time."
+
+"Really, I begin to think there is more in these little beasts than I
+ever dreamed of. But it must take a great deal of study to get at
+these facts."
+
+"Not more than to get at any of the other open secrets of Nature. But,
+since you are interested, look at these tails as the tadpoles come
+bobbing against the side of the glass. Do you see how they are covered
+with little white spots?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Look closer. All over the tail there are tiny, cotton-like spots.
+Take a lens, if your eye isn't sharp enough. There, now you see them."
+
+"Yes; I see a sort of _fluff_ scattered about."
+
+"That fluff is an immense colony of parasites. Let us place the
+tadpole under the microscope, and you will see each spot turn out to
+be a multitude of elegant and active animals, having bodies not unlike
+a crystal goblet supported on an extremely long and flexible stem, and
+having round their rim or mouth a range of long, delicate hairs, the
+motion of which gives a wheel-like aspect, and makes an eddy in the
+water which brings food to the animal."
+
+"This is really interesting! How active they are! How they shrink up,
+and then, unwinding their twisted stems, expand again! What's the name
+of this thing?"
+
+"_Vorticella_. It may be found growing on water fleas, plants, decayed
+wood, or these tadpoles. People who study the animalcules are very
+fond of this Vorticella."
+
+"Well, I never could have believed such a patch of fluff could turn
+out a sight like this: I could watch it for an hour. But what are
+those small yellowish things sticking on the side of these parasites?"
+
+"Those, my dear Syntax, are also parasites."
+
+"What, parasites living on parasites?"
+
+"Why not? Nature is economical. Don't you live on beef, and mutton,
+and fish? Don't these beeves, muttons, and fishes live on vegetables
+and animals? Don't the vegetables and animals live on other organic
+matters? Eat and be eaten, is one law: live and let live, is another."
+
+[Illustration: The Tadpole's last Stage.]
+
+The learned Doctor remained thoughtful; then he screwed up one side of
+his face into the most frightful wrinkles, while with the eye of the
+other he resumed his examination of the Vorticella.
+
+  --_George Henry Lewes._
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration:
+
+  From the Painting by Rosa Bonheur.      Engraved by Horace Baker.
+
+  The Lions.
+]
+
+THE GLOVE AND THE LIONS.
+
+
+    King Francis was a hearty king, and loved a royal sport,
+    And one day, as his lions fought, sat looking on the court;
+    The nobles filled the benches, with the ladies in their pride,
+    And 'mongst them sat the Count de Lorge, with one for whom he
+              sighed:
+    And truly 'twas a gallant thing to see that crowning show,--
+    Valor and love, and a king above, and the royal beasts below.
+
+[Illustration: Leigh Hunt.]
+
+    Ramped and roared the lions, with horrid laughing jaws;
+    They bit, they glared, gave blows like beams, a wind went with their
+              paws;
+    With wallowing might and stifled roar, they rolled on one another,
+    Till all the pit, with sand and mane, was in a thunderous smother;
+    The bloody foam above the bars came whisking through the air:
+    Said Francis, then, "Faith, gentlemen, we're better here than
+              there."
+
+    De Lorge's love o'erheard the king, a beauteous, lively dame,
+    With smiling lips and sharp bright eyes, which always seemed the
+              same;
+    She thought, "The Count, my lover, is brave as brave can be,
+    He surely would do wondrous things to show his love of me;
+    King, ladies, lovers, all look on; the occasion is divine;
+    I'll drop my glove, to prove his love; great glory will be mine."
+
+    She dropped her glove, to prove his love; then looked at him, and
+              smiled;
+    He bowed, and in a moment leaped among the lions wild:
+    The leap was quick, return was quick, he soon regained the place,
+    Then threw the glove, but not with love, right in the lady's face.
+    "In faith," cried Francis, "rightly done!" and he rose from where he
+              sat;
+    "No love," quoth he, "but vanity sets love a task like that."
+
+  --_Leigh Hunt._
+
+
+
+
+TRUE GROWTH.
+
+
+        It is not growing like a tree
+        In bulk, doth make man better be;
+    Or standing like an oak, three hundred year,
+    To fall a log at last, dry, bald, and sere;
+        A lily of a day
+        Is fairer far in May,
+      Although it fall and die that night--
+      It was the plant and flower of Light.
+    In small proportions we just beauties see;
+    And in short measures life may perfect be.
+
+  --_Ben Jonson._
+
+
+
+
+THE SHIPWRECK.
+
+
+I.
+
+Having made up my mind to go down to Yarmouth, I went round to the
+coach office and took the box seat on the mail. In the evening I
+started, by that conveyance, down the road.
+
+"Don't you think that a very remarkable sky?" I asked the coachman, in
+the first stage out of London. "I don't remember to have seen one like
+it."
+
+"Nor I--not equal to it," he replied. "That's wind, sir; there'll be
+mischief done at sea, I expect before long."
+
+[Illustration: Charles Dickens.]
+
+It was a murky confusion--here and there blotted with a color like the
+color of the smoke from damp fuel--of flying clouds tossed up into
+most remarkable heaps, suggesting greater heights in the clouds than
+there were depths below them to the bottom of the deepest hollows in
+the earth, through which the wild moon seemed to plunge headlong, as
+if, in a dread disturbance of the laws of nature, she had lost her way
+and were frightened. There had been wind all day; and it was rising
+then, with an extraordinary great sound. In another hour it had much
+increased, and the sky was more overcast, and it blew harder.
+
+But as the night advanced, the clouds closing in and densely
+overspreading the whole sky, then very dark, it came on to blow harder
+and harder. It still increased, until our horses could scarcely face
+the wind. Many times in the dark part of the night (it was then late
+in September, when the nights were not short) the leaders turned
+about, or came to a dead stop; and we were often in apprehension that
+the coach would be blown over.
+
+When the day broke, it blew harder and harder. I had been in Yarmouth
+when the seamen said it blew great guns, but I had never known the
+like of this, or anything approaching to it. We came to Ipswich--very
+late, having had to fight every inch of ground since we were ten miles
+out of London; and found a cluster of people in the market place, who
+had risen from their beds in the night, fearful of falling chimneys.
+Some of these, congregating about the innyard while we changed horses,
+told us of great sheets of lead having been ripped off a high church
+tower and flung into a by-street, which they then blocked up. Others
+had to tell of country people, coming in from neighboring villages,
+who had seen great trees lying torn out of the earth, and whole ricks
+scattered about the roads and fields. Still there was no abatement in
+the storm, but it blew harder.
+
+As we struggled on, nearer and nearer to the sea, from which the
+mighty wind was blowing dead on shore, its force became more and more
+terrific. Long before we saw the sea, its spray was on our lips, and
+showered salt rain upon us. The water was out, over miles and miles of
+the flat country adjacent to Yarmouth; and every sheet and puddle
+lashed its banks, and had its stress of little breakers setting
+heavily towards us. When we came within sight of the sea, the waves on
+the horizon, caught at intervals above the rolling abyss, were like
+glimpses of another shore with towers and buildings. When at last we
+got into the town, the people came out to their doors, all aslant, and
+with streaming hair, making a wonder of the mail that had come through
+such a night.
+
+I put up at the old inn, and went down to look at the sea, staggering
+along the street, which was strewn with sand and seaweed, and with
+flying blotches of sea foam; afraid of falling slates and tiles; and
+holding by people I met at angry corners. Coming near the beach, I
+saw, not only the boatmen, but half the people of the town, lurking
+behind buildings; some now and then braving the fury of the storm to
+look away to sea, and blown sheer out of their course in trying to get
+zigzag back.
+
+Joining these groups, I found bewailing women whose husbands were away
+in herring or oyster boats, which there was too much reason to think
+might have foundered before they could run in anywhere for safety.
+Grizzled old sailors were among the people, shaking their heads as
+they looked from water to sky, and muttering to one another;
+shipowners excited and uneasy; children huddling together, and peering
+into older faces; even stout mariners disturbed and anxious, leveling
+their glasses at the sea from behind places of shelter, as if they
+were surveying an enemy.
+
+The tremendous sea itself, when I could find sufficient pause to look
+at it, in the agitation of the blinding wind, the flying stones and
+sand, and the awful noise, confounded me. As the high watery walls
+came rolling in, and, at their highest, tumbled into surf, they looked
+as if the least would engulf the town. As the receding wave swept back
+with a hoarse roar, it seemed to scoop out caves in the beach, as if
+its purpose were to undermine the earth. When some white-headed
+billows thundered on, and dashed themselves to pieces before they
+reached the land, every fragment of the late whole seemed possessed by
+the full might of its wrath, rushing to be gathered to the composition
+of another monster. Undulating hills were changed to valleys,
+undulating valleys (with a storm bird sometimes skimming through them)
+were lifted up to hills; masses of water shivered and shook the beach
+with a booming sound; every shape tumultuously rolled on, as soon as
+made, to change its shape and place, and beat another shape and place
+away; the ideal shore on the horizon, with its towers and buildings,
+rose and fell; the clouds flew fast and thick; I seemed to see a
+rending and upheaving of all nature.
+
+Not finding my old friend, Ham, among the people whom this memorable
+wind--for it is still remembered down there as the greatest ever known
+to blow upon that coast--had brought together, I made my way to his
+house. It was shut; and as no one answered to my knocking, I went by
+back ways and by-lanes to the yard where he worked. I learned there
+that he had gone to Lowestoft, to meet some sudden exigency of ship
+repairing in which his skill was required; but that he would be back
+to-morrow morning in good time.
+
+I went back to the inn; and when I had washed and dressed, and tried
+to sleep, but in vain, it was five o'clock in the afternoon. I had not
+sat five minutes by the coffee-room fire, when the waiter, coming to
+stir it as an excuse for talking, told me that two colliers had gone
+down, with all hands, a few miles away; and that some other ships had
+been seen laboring hard in the Roads, and trying in great distress to
+keep off shore. "Mercy on them, and on all poor sailors," said he, "if
+we had another night like the last!"
+
+I was very much depressed in spirits, very solitary, and felt an
+uneasiness in Ham's not being there, disproportionate to the occasion.
+I was seriously affected, without knowing how much, by late events,
+and my exposure to the fierce wind had confused me. There was that
+jumble in my thoughts and recollections that I had lost the clear
+arrangement of time and distance. Thus, if I had gone out into the
+town, I should not have been surprised, I think, to encounter some one
+who I knew must be then in London. So to speak, there was in these
+respects a curious inattention in my mind. Yet it was busy, too, with
+all the remembrances the place naturally awakened, and they were
+particularly distinct and vivid.
+
+In this state, the waiter's dismal intelligence about the ships
+immediately connected itself, without any effort of my volition, with my
+uneasiness about Ham. I was persuaded that possibly he would attempt to
+return from Lowestoft by sea, and be lost. This grew so strong with me,
+that I resolved to go back to the yard before I took my dinner, and ask
+the boat builder if he thought his attempting to return by sea at all
+likely. If he gave me the least reason to think so, I would go over to
+Lowestoft and prevent it by bringing him with me.
+
+I hastily ordered my dinner, and went back to the yard. I was none too
+soon; for the boat builder, with a lantern in his hand, was locking
+the yard gate. He quite laughed when I asked him the question, and
+said there was no fear; no man in his senses, or out of them, would
+put off in such a gale of wind, least of all Ham Peggotty, who had
+been born to seafaring.
+
+I went back to the inn. The howl and roar, the rattling of the doors
+and windows, the rumbling in the chimneys, the apparent rocking of the
+very house that sheltered me, and the prodigious tumult of the sea,
+were more fearful than in the morning. But there was now a great
+darkness besides; and that invested the storm with new terrors, real
+and fanciful.
+
+I could not eat, I could not sit still, I could not continue steadfast
+in anything. Something within me, faintly answering to the storm
+without, tossed up the depths of my memory and made a tumult in them.
+Yet, in all the hurry of my thoughts, wild running with thundering
+sea, the storm and my uneasiness regarding Ham were always in the
+foreground.
+
+My dinner went away almost untasted, and I tried to refresh myself
+with a glass or two of wine. In vain. I fell into a dull slumber
+before the fire, without losing my consciousness either of the uproar
+out of doors or of the place in which I was. Both became overshadowed
+by a new undefinable horror; and when I awoke--or rather when I shook
+off the lethargy that bound me in my chair--my whole frame thrilled
+with objectless and unintelligible fear.
+
+I walked to and fro, tried to read an old gazetteer, listened to the
+awful noises; looked at faces, scenes, and figures in the fire. At
+length the steady ticking of the undisturbed clock on the wall
+tormented me to that degree that I resolved to go to bed.
+
+It was reassuring, on such a night, to be told that some of the inn
+servants had agreed together to sit up until morning. I went to bed,
+exceedingly weary and heavy; but on my lying down all such sensations
+vanished, as if by magic, and I was broad awake, with every sense
+refined.
+
+For hours I lay there, listening to the wind and water; imagining now
+that I heard shrieks out at sea, now that I distinctly heard the
+firing of signal guns, and now the fall of houses in the town. I got
+up several times and looked out, but could see nothing except the
+reflection in the window panes of the faint candle I had left burning,
+and of my own haggard face looking in at me from the black void.
+
+At length my restlessness attained to such a pitch, that I hurried on
+my clothes, and went downstairs. In the large kitchen, where I dimly
+saw bacon and ropes of onions hanging from the beams, the watchers
+were clustered together, in various attitudes, about a table,
+purposely moved away from the great chimney, and brought near the
+door. A pretty girl who had her ears stopped with her apron, and her
+eyes upon the door, screamed when I appeared, supposing me to be a
+spirit; but the others had more presence of mind, and were glad of an
+addition to their company. One man, referring to the topic they had
+been discussing, asked me whether I thought the souls of the collier
+crews who had gone down were out in the storm?
+
+I remained there, I dare say two hours. There was a dark gloom in my
+solitary chamber when I at length returned to it; but I was tired now,
+and, getting into bed again, fell off a tower and down a precipice
+into the depths of sleep. I have an impression that for a long time,
+though I dreamed of being elsewhere and in a variety of scenes, it was
+always blowing in my dream. At length I lost that feeble hold upon
+reality, and was engaged with two dear friends, but who they were I
+don't know, at the siege of some town in a roar of cannonading.
+
+
+II.
+
+The thunder of the cannon was so loud and incessant, that I could not
+hear something I much desired to hear, until I made a great exertion,
+and awoke. It was broad day--eight or nine o'clock; the storm raging,
+in lieu of the batteries; and some one knocking and calling at my door.
+
+"What is the matter?" I cried.
+
+"A wreck! close by!"
+
+I sprang out of bed, and asked what wreck?
+
+[Illustration:
+
+  From the Painting by A. Marlon.      Carbon by Braun, Clement & Co.
+  Engraved by Walter Aikman.
+
+  The Shipwreck.
+]
+
+"A schooner, from Spain or Portugal, laden with fruit and wine. Make
+haste, sir, if you want to see her! Its thought she'll go to pieces
+every moment."
+
+The excited voice went clamoring along the staircase; and I wrapped
+myself in my clothes as quickly as I could, and ran into the street.
+Numbers of people were there before us, all running in one direction,
+to the beach. I ran the same way, outstripping a good many, and soon
+came facing the wild sea.
+
+The wind might by this time have lulled a little, though not more
+sensibly than if the cannonading I had dreamed of had been diminished
+by the silencing of half a dozen guns out of hundreds. But the sea,
+having upon it the additional agitation of the whole night, was
+infinitely more terrific than when I had seen it last. Every
+appearance it had then presented bore the expression of being
+_swelled_; and the height to which the breakers rose, and, looking
+over one another, bore one another down, and rolled in, in
+interminable hosts, was most appalling.
+
+In the difficulty of hearing anything but wind and waves, and in the
+crowd, and the unspeakable confusion, and my first breathless attempts
+to stand against the weather, I was so confused that I looked out to
+sea for the wreck, and saw nothing but the foaming heads of the great
+waves. A half-dressed boatman standing next me pointed with his bare
+arm (a tattooed arrow on it, pointing in the same direction) to the
+left. Then, O great Heaven, I saw it, close in upon us!
+
+One mast was broken short off, six or eight feet from the deck, and
+lay over the side, entangled in a maze of sail and rigging; and all
+that ruin, as the ship rolled and beat,--which she did without a
+moment's pause, and with a violence quite inconceivable,--beat the
+side as if it would stave it in. Some efforts were even then being
+made to cut this portion of the wreck away; for as the ship, which was
+broadside on, turned towards us in her rolling, I plainly descried her
+people at work with axes, especially one active figure, with long
+curling hair, conspicuous among the rest. But a great cry, which was
+audible even above the wind and water, rose from the shore at this
+moment: the sea, sweeping over the rolling wreck, made a clean breach,
+and carried men, spars, casks, planks, bulwarks, heaps of such toys,
+into the boiling surge.
+
+The second mast was yet standing, with the rags of a rent sail, and a
+wild confusion of broken cordage, flapping to and fro. The ship had
+struck once, the same boatman hoarsely said in my ear, and then lifted
+in and struck again. I understood him to add that she was parting
+amidships, and I could readily suppose so, for the rolling and beating
+were too tremendous for any human work to suffer long. As he spoke,
+there was another great cry of pity from the beach: four men arose
+with the wreck out of the deep, clinging to the rigging of the
+remaining mast; uppermost, the active figure with the curling hair.
+
+There was a bell on board; and as the ship rolled and dashed, like a
+desperate creature driven mad, now showing us the whole sweep of her
+deck, as she turned on her beam ends towards the shore, now nothing but
+her keel, as she sprung wildly over and turned towards the sea, the
+bell rang; and its sound, the knell of those unhappy men, was borne
+towards us on the wind. Again we lost her, and again she rose. Two men
+were gone. The agony on shore increased. Men groaned and clasped their
+hands; women shrieked, and turned away their faces. Some ran wildly up
+and down along the beach, crying for help where no help could be. I
+found myself one of these, frantically imploring a knot of sailors whom
+I knew, not to let those two lost creatures perish before our eyes.
+
+They were making out to me, in an agitated way, that the lifeboat had
+been bravely manned an hour ago, and could do nothing; and that as no
+man would be so desperate as to attempt to wade off with a rope, and
+establish a communication with the shore, there was nothing left to try;
+when I noticed that some new sensation moved the people on the beach,
+and saw them part, and Ham come breaking through them to the front.
+
+I ran to him, as well as I know, to repeat my appeal for help. But
+distracted though I was by a sight so new to me and terrible, the
+determination in his face, and his look out to sea, awoke me to a
+knowledge of his danger. I held him back with both arms, and implored
+the men with whom I had been speaking not to listen to him, not to do
+murder, not to let him stir from off that sand.
+
+Another cry arose from the shore; and, looking towards the wreck, we saw
+the cruel sail, with blow on blow, beat off the lower of the two men,
+and fly up in triumph round the active figure left alone upon the mast.
+
+Against such a sight, and against such determination as that of the
+calmly desperate man who was already accustomed to lead half the
+people present, I might as hopefully have intreated the wind. "Mas'r
+Davy," he said cheerily, grasping me by both hands, "if my time is
+come, 'tis come. If't an't, I'll bide it. Lord above bless you, and
+bless all! Mates, make me ready! I'm a going off!"
+
+I was swept away, but not unkindly, to some distance, where the people
+around me made me stay; urging, as I confusedly perceived, that he was
+bent on going, with help or without, and that I should endanger the
+precautions for his safety by troubling those with whom they rested. I
+don't know what I answered, or what they rejoined, but I saw hurry on
+the beach, and men running with ropes from a capstan that was there,
+and penetrating into a circle of figures that hid him from me. Then I
+saw him standing alone, in a seaman's frock and trowsers, a rope in
+his hand or slung to his wrist, another round his body; and several of
+the best men holding, at a little distance, to the latter, which he
+laid out himself, slack upon the shore, at his feet.
+
+The wreck, even to my unpracticed eye, was breaking up. I saw that she
+was parting in the middle, and that the life of the solitary man upon
+the mast hung by a thread. Still he clung to it.
+
+Ham watched the sea, standing alone, with the silence of suspended
+breath behind him, and the storm before, until there was a great
+retiring wave, when, with a backward glance at those who held the
+rope, which was made fast round his body, he dashed in after it, and
+in a moment was buffeting with the water--rising with the hills,
+falling with valleys, lost beneath the foam; then drawn again to land.
+They hauled in hastily.
+
+He was hurt. I saw blood on his face from where I stood; but he took
+no thought of that. He seemed hurriedly to give them some directions
+for leaving him more free, or so I judged from the motion of his
+arm--and was gone, as before.
+
+And now he made for the wreck--rising with the hills, falling with the
+valleys, lost beneath the rugged foam, borne in towards the shore,
+borne on towards the ship, striving hard and valiantly. The distance
+was nothing, but the power of the sea and wind made the strife deadly.
+
+At length he neared the wreck. He was so near that with one more of
+his vigorous strokes he would be clinging to it,--when a high, green,
+vast hillside of water, moving on shoreward from beyond the ship, he
+seemed to leap up into it with a mighty bound, and the ship was gone!
+
+Some eddying fragments I saw in the sea, as if a mere cask had been
+broken, in running to the spot where they were hauling in.
+Consternation was in every face. They drew him to my very
+feet--insensible, dead. He was carried to the nearest house; and, no
+one preventing me now, I remained near him, busy, while every means of
+restoration was tried; but he had been beaten to death by the great
+wave, and his generous heart was stilled for ever.
+
+  --_From "David Copperfield," by Charles Dickens._
+
+
+
+
+THE HAPPY VALLEY.
+
+
+The place which the wisdom or policy of antiquity had destined for the
+residence of the Abyssinian princes was a spacious valley in the
+kingdom of Amhara, surrounded on every side by mountains, of which the
+summits overhang the middle part. The only passage by which it could
+be entered was a cavern that passed under a rock, of which it has been
+long disputed whether it was the work of Nature or of human industry.
+
+[Illustration: Dr. Samuel Johnson.]
+
+The outlet of the cavern was concealed by a thick wood, and the mouth,
+which opened into the valley, was closed with gates of iron forged by
+the artificers of ancient days, so massy that no man could, without
+the help of engines, open or shut them.
+
+From the mountains, on every side, rivulets descended, that filled all
+the valley with verdure and fertility, and formed a lake in the
+middle, inhabited by fish of every species, and frequented by every
+fowl which Nature has taught to dip the wing in water. This lake
+discharged its superfluities by a stream, which entered a dark cleft
+of the mountain on the northern side, and fell, with dreadful noise,
+from precipice to precipice, till it was heard no more.
+
+The sides of the mountains were covered with trees. The banks of the
+brooks were diversified with flowers. Every blast shook spices from
+the rocks, and every month dropped fruits upon the ground. All animals
+that bite the grass or browse the shrub, whether wild or tame,
+wandered in this extensive circuit, secured from beasts of prey by the
+mountains which confined them.
+
+On one part were flocks and herds feeding in the pastures; on another,
+all the beasts of chase frisking in the lawns; the sprightly kid was
+bounding on the rocks, the subtle monkey frolicking in the trees, and
+the solemn elephant reposing in the shade. All the diversities of the
+world were brought together; the blessings of nature were collected,
+and its evils extracted and excluded.
+
+The valley, wide and fruitful, supplied its inhabitants with the
+necessaries of life; and all delights and superfluities were added at
+the annual visit which the Emperor paid his children, when the iron
+gate was opened to the sound of music, and during eight days every one
+that resided in the valley was required to propose whatever might
+contribute to make seclusion pleasant, to fill up the vacancies of
+attention, and lessen the tediousness of the time.
+
+Every desire was immediately granted. All the artificers of pleasure
+were called to gladden the festivity; the musicians exerted the power
+of harmony, and the dancers showed their activity before the princes,
+in hope that they should pass their lives in this blissful captivity,
+to which those only were admitted whose performance was thought
+capable of adding novelty to luxury.
+
+Such was the appearance of security and delight which this retirement
+afforded, that they to whom it was new always desired that it might be
+perpetual; and as those on whom the iron gate had once closed were
+never suffered to return, the effect of long experience could not be
+known. Thus every year produced new schemes of delight and new
+competitors for imprisonment.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Dr. Samuel Johnson's "Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia," from which this
+selection is taken, was first published in 1759. "The late Mr.
+Strahan, the printer, told me," says Boswell, "that Johnson wrote it,
+so that with the profits he might defray the expenses of his mother's
+funeral, and pay some little debts which she had left. He told Sir
+Joshua Reynolds that he composed it in the evenings of one week, sent
+it to the press in portions as it was written, and had never since
+read it over. None of his writings have been so extensively diffused
+over Europe, for it has been translated into most, if not all, of the
+modern languages. This tale, with all the charms of oriental imagery,
+and all the force and beauty of which the English language is capable,
+leads us through the most important scenes of human life, and shows us
+that this stage of our being is full of 'vanity and vexation of spirit.'"
+
+The peculiarities of style which distinguish all of Johnson's writings
+are well illustrated in this story. Notice the stately flow of
+high-sounding words; the dignified formality of many of the
+descriptive passages; and the richness and perfection which
+characterize the production as a whole.
+
+
+
+
+THE PASS OF KILLIECRANKIE.
+
+
+John Gr�me of Claverhouse, whose title of Viscount Dundee had been
+given him in reward for his cruelties to the Western Covenanters, was
+the instigator and leader of a revolt of the Highland clans against
+the government of William III. in Scotland. General Mackay, with his
+loyal Scotch regiments, was sent out to suppress the uprising. But as
+they climbed the pass of Killiecrankie, on the 27th of July, 1689,
+Dundee charged them at the head of three thousand clansmen, and swept
+them in headlong rout down the glen. His death in the moment of
+victory broke, however, the only bond which held the Highlanders
+together, and in a few weeks the host which had spread terror through
+the Lowlands melted helplessly away.
+
+The Gr�mes, or Grahams, were among the most noted of Scottish
+families, and included some of the most distinguished men of the
+country. Among them were Sir John the Gr�me, the faithful aid of Sir
+William Wallace, who fell in the battle of Falkirk, 1298, and the
+celebrated Marquis of Montrose, who died in 1650, and whose exploits
+are immortalized in Scott's "Legend of Montrose."
+
+In the following stirring verses from "The Lays of the Scottish
+Cavaliers," by W. E. Aytoun, the fight at Killiecrankie is described,
+presumably, by one of the adherents of Dundee. The title of the poem
+in its complete form is "The Burial March of Dundee." Our selection
+includes only so much as relates to the conflict in the pass.
+
+    On the heights of Killiecrankie
+      Yester-morn our army lay:
+    Slowly rose the mist in columns
+      From the river's broken way;
+    Hoarsely roared the swollen torrent,
+      And the pass was wrapt in gloom,
+    When the clansmen rose together
+      From their lair amidst the broom.
+    Then we belted on our tartans,
+      And our bonnets down we drew,
+    And we felt our broadswords' edges,
+      And we proved them to be true;
+    And we prayed the prayer of soldiers,
+      And we cried the gathering cry,
+    And we clasped the hands of kinsmen,
+      And we swore to do or die!
+    Then our leader rode before us
+      On his war horse black as night--
+    Well the Cameronian rebels
+      Knew that charger in the fight!--
+    And a cry of exultation
+      From the bearded warriors rose;
+    For we loved the house of Claver'se,
+      And we thought of good Montrose,
+    But he raised his hand for silence--
+      "Soldiers! I have sworn a vow:
+    Ere the evening star shall glisten
+      On Schehallion's lofty brow,
+    Either we shall rest in triumph,
+      Or another of the Gr�mes
+    Shall have died in battle harness
+      For his country and King James!
+    Think upon the Royal Martyr--
+      Think of what his race endure--
+    Think of him whom butchers murdered
+      On the field of Magus Muir:--
+    By his sacred blood I charge ye,
+      By the ruined hearth and shrine--
+    By the blighted hopes of Scotland,
+      By your injuries and mine--
+    Strike this day as if the anvil
+      Lay beneath your blows the while,
+    Be they Covenanting traitors,
+      Or the brood of false Argyle!
+    Strike! and drive the trembling rebels
+      Backwards o'er the stormy Forth;
+    Let them tell their pale Convention
+      How they fared within the North.
+    Let them tell that Highland honor
+      Is not to be bought or sold,
+    That we scorn their prince's anger
+      As we loathe his foreign gold.
+    Strike! and when the fight is over,
+      If ye look in vain for me,
+    Where the dead are lying thickest,
+      Search for him that was Dundee!"
+    Loudly then the hills re�choed
+      With our answer to his call,
+    But a deeper echo sounded
+      In the bosoms of us all.
+    For the lands of wide Breadalbane
+      Not a man who heard him speak
+    Would that day have left the battle.
+      Burning eye and flushing cheek
+    Told the clansmen's fierce emotion,
+      And they harder drew their breath;
+    For their souls were strong within them,
+      Stronger than the grasp of death.
+    Soon we heard a challenge trumpet
+      Sounding in the pass below,
+    And the distant tramp of horses,
+      And the voices of the foe:
+    Down we crouched amid the bracken,
+      Till the Lowland ranks drew near,
+    Panting like the hounds in summer,
+      When they scent the stately deer.
+    From the dark defile emerging,
+      Next we saw the squadrons come,
+    Leslie's foot and Leven's troopers
+      Marching to the tuck of drum;
+    Through the scattered wood of birches,
+      O'er the broken ground and heath,
+    Wound the long battalion slowly,
+      Till they gained the field beneath;
+    Then we bounded from our covert.--
+      Judge how looked the Saxons then,
+    When they saw the rugged mountain
+      Start to life with arm�d men!
+    Like a tempest down the ridges
+      Swept the hurricane of steel,
+    Rose the slogan of Macdonald,--
+      Flashed the broadsword of Lochiell!
+    Vainly sped the withering volley
+      'Mongst the foremost of our band--
+    On we poured until we met them,
+      Foot to foot, and hand to hand.
+    Horse and man went down like driftwood
+      When the floods are black at Yule,
+    And their carcasses are whirling
+      In the Garry's deepest pool.
+    Horse and man went down before us--
+      Living foe there tarried none
+    On the field of Killiecrankie,
+      When that stubborn fight was done!
+    And the evening star was shining
+      On Schehallion's distant head,
+    When we wiped our bloody broadswords,
+      And returned to count the dead.
+    There we found him gashed and gory,
+      Stretched upon the cumbered plain,
+    As he told us where to seek him,
+      In the thickest of the slain.
+    And a smile was on his visage,
+      For within his dying ear
+    Pealed the joyful note of triumph,
+      And the clansmen's clamorous cheer:
+    So, amidst the battle's thunder,
+      Shot, and steel, and scorching flame,
+    In the glory of his manhood
+      Passed the spirit of the Gr�me!
+
+
+
+
+SUMMER RAIN.
+
+
+It is a long time since much rain fell. The ground is a little dry, the
+road is a good deal dusty. The garden bakes. Transplanted trees are
+thirsty. Wheels are shrinking and tires are looking dangerous. Men
+speculate on the clouds; they begin to calculate how long it will be, if
+no rain falls, before the potatoes will suffer; the oats, the grass, the
+corn--everything! To be sure, nothing is yet suffering; but then--
+
+[Illustration: Henry Ward Beecher.]
+
+Rain, rain, rain! All day, all night, steady raining. Will it never
+stop? The hay is out and spoiling. The rain washes the garden. All
+things have drunk their fill. The springs revive, the meadows are wet;
+the rivers run discolored with soil from every hill.
+
+Smoking cattle reek under the sheds. Hens, and fowl in general,
+shelter and plume. The sky is leaden. The clouds are full yet. The
+long fleece covers the mountains. The hills are capped in white. The
+air is full of moisture.
+
+The wind roars down the chimney. The birds are silent. No insects
+chirp. Closets smell moldy. The barometer is clogged. We thump it, but
+it will not get up. It seems to have an understanding with the
+weather. The trees drip, shoes are muddy, carriage and wagon are
+splashed with dirt. Paths are soft.
+
+So it is. When it is clear we want rain, and when it rains we wish it
+would shine. But after all, how lucky for grumblers that they are not
+allowed to meddle with the weather, and that it is put above their
+reach. What a scrambling, selfish, mischief-making time we should
+have, if men undertook to parcel out the seasons and the weather
+according to their several humors or interests!
+
+If one will but look for enjoyment, how much there is in every change
+of weather. The formation of clouds--the various signs and signals,
+the uncertain wheeling and marching of the fleecy cohorts, the shades
+of light and gray in the broken heavens--all have their pleasure to an
+observant eye. Then come the wind gust, the distant dark cloud, the
+occasional fiery streak shot down through it, the run and hurry of men
+whose work may suffer!
+
+Indeed, sir, your humble servant, even, was stirred up on the day
+after Fourth of July. The grass in the old orchard was not my best.
+Indeed, we grumbled at it considerably while it was yet standing. But
+being cut and the rain threatening it, one would have thought it gold
+by the nimble way in which we tried to save it!
+
+Blessed be horse rakes! Once, half a dozen men with half a dozen rakes
+would have gone whisking up and down, thrusting out and pulling in the
+long-handled rakes with slow and laborious progress. But no more of
+that. See friend Turner, mounted on the wheeled horse rake, riding
+about as if for pleasure. It is easy times when _men_ ride and
+_horses_ rake.
+
+Meanwhile, the clouds come bowling noiselessly through the air, and
+spit here and there a drop preliminary. Well, if one thing suffers,
+another gains! See how the leaves are washed; the grass drinks, even
+drinks; the garden drinks; everything drinks.
+
+It is our opinion that everything except man is laughing and
+rejoicing. Trees shake their leaves with a softer sound. Rocks look
+moist and soft, at least where the moss grows. Even the solitary old
+pine tree chords his harp, and sings soft and low melodies with
+plaintive undulations!
+
+A good summer storm is a rain of riches. If gold and silver rattled
+down from the clouds, they could hardly enrich the land so much as
+soft, long rains. Every drop is silver going to the mint. The roots
+are machinery, and, catching the willing drops, they array them,
+refine them, roll them, stamp them, and turn them out coined berries,
+apples, grains, and grasses!
+
+When the heavens send clouds and they bank up the horizon, be sure
+they have hidden gold in them. All the mountains of California are not
+so rich as are the soft mines of heaven, that send down treasures upon
+man without tasking him, and pour riches upon his field without spade
+or pickax--without his search or notice.
+
+Well, let it rain, then! No matter if the journey is delayed, the
+picnic spoiled, the visit adjourned. Blessed be rain--and rain in
+summer. And blessed be he who watereth the earth and enricheth it for
+man and beast.
+
+  --_Henry Ward Beecher._
+
+
+
+
+LIFE IN THE BACKWOODS.
+
+[Illustration: William Dean Howells.]
+
+
+It would not be easy to say where or when the first log cabin was built,
+but it is safe to say that it was somewhere in the English colonies of
+North America, and it is certain that it became the type of the
+settler's house throughout the whole middle west. It may be called the
+American house, the Western house, the Ohio house. Hardly any other
+house was built for a hundred years by the men who were clearing the
+land for the stately mansions of our day. As long as the primeval
+forests stood, the log cabin remained the woodsman's home; and not fifty
+years ago, I saw log cabins newly built in one of the richest and most
+prosperous regions of Ohio. They were, to be sure, log cabins of a finer
+pattern than the first settler reared. They were of logs handsomely
+shaped with the broadax; the joints between the logs were plastered with
+mortar; the chimney at the end was of stone; the roof was shingled, the
+windows were of glass, and the door was solid and well hung. But
+throughout that region there were many log cabins, mostly sunk to the
+uses of stables and corn cribs, of the kind that the borderers built in
+the times of the Indian War, from 1750 to 1800. They were framed of the
+round logs untouched by the ax except for the notches at the ends where
+they were fitted into one another; the chimney was of small sticks stuck
+together with mud, and was as frail as a barn swallow's nest; the walls
+were stuffed with moss, plastered with clay; the floor was of rough
+boards called puncheons, riven from the block with a heavy knife; the
+roof was of clapboards laid loosely on the rafters, and held in place
+with logs fastened athwart them.
+
+[Illustration: Log Cabin.]
+
+There is a delightful account of such a log cabin by John S. Williams,
+whose father settled in the woods of Belmont County in 1800. "Our
+cabin," he says, "had been raised, covered, part of the cracks
+chinked, and part of the floor laid, when we moved in on Christmas
+day. There had not been a stick cut except in building the cabin,
+which was so high from the ground that a bear, wolf, panther, or any
+animal less in size than a cow could enter without even a squeeze....
+The green ash puncheons had shrunk so as to leave cracks in the floor
+and doors from one to two inches wide. At both the doors we had high,
+unsteady, and sometimes icy steps, made by piling the logs cut out of
+the walls, for the doors and the window, if it could be called a
+window, when perhaps it was the largest spot in the top, bottom, or
+sides of the cabin where the wind could _not_ enter. It was made by
+sawing out a log, and placing sticks across and then by pasting an
+old newspaper over the hole, and applying hog's lard, we had a kind of
+glazing which shed a most beautiful and mellow light across the cabin
+when the sun shone on it. All other light entered at the doors,
+cracks, and chimneys. Our cabin was twenty-four by eighteen. The west
+end was occupied by two beds, the center of each side by a door.... On
+the opposite side of the window, made of clapboards, supported on pins
+driven into the walls, were our shelves. On these shelves my sister
+displayed in simple order, a host of pewter plates, and dishes and
+spoons, scoured and bright.... Our chimney occupied most of the east
+end; with pots and kettles opposite the window, under the shelves, a
+gun on hooks over the north door, four split-bottomed chairs, three
+three-legged stools, and a small eight by ten looking-glass sloped
+from the wall over a large towel and comb case.... We got a roof laid
+over head as soon as possible, but it was laid of loose clapboards
+split from a red-oak, and a cat might have shaken every board in our
+ceiling.... We made two kinds of furniture. One kind was of hickory
+bark, with the outside shaved off. This we would take off all around
+the tree, the size of which would determine the caliber of our box.
+Into one end we would place a flat piece of bark or puncheon, cut
+round to fit in the bark, which stood on end the same as when on the
+tree.... A much finer article was made of slippery-elm bark, shaved
+smooth, with the inside out, bent round and sewed together, where the
+end of the hoop or main bark lapped over.... This was the finest
+furniture in a lady's dressing room," and such a cabin and its
+appointments were splendor and luxury beside those of the very
+earliest pioneers, and many of the latest. The Williamses were
+Quakers, and the mother was recently from England; they were of far
+gentler breeding and finer tastes than most of their neighbors, who
+had been backwoodsmen for generations.
+
+When the first settlers broke the silence of the woods with the stroke
+of their axes, and hewed out a space for their cabins and their
+fields, they inclosed their homes with a high stockade of logs, for
+defense against the Indians; or if they built their cabins outside the
+wooden walls of their stronghold, they always expected to flee to it
+at the first alarm, and to stand siege within it.
+
+The Indians had no cannon, and the logs of the stockade were proof
+against their rifles; if a breach was made, there was still the
+blockhouse left, the citadel of every little fort. This was heavily
+built, and pierced with loopholes for the riflemen within, whose wives
+ran bullets for them at its mighty hearth, and who kept the savage foe
+from its sides by firing down upon them through the projecting timbers
+of its upper story. But in many a fearful siege the Indians set the
+roof ablaze with arrows wrapped in burning tow, and then the fight
+became desperate indeed. After the Indian war ended, the stockade was
+no longer needed, and the settlers had only the wild beasts to contend
+with, and those constant enemies of the poor in all ages and
+conditions,--hunger and cold.
+
+Winter after winter, the Williamses heard the wolves howling round
+them in the woods, and this music was familiar to the ears of all the
+Ohio pioneers, who trusted their rifles for both the safety and
+support of their families. They deadened the trees around them by
+girdling them with the ax, and planted the spaces between the leafless
+trunks with corn and beans and pumpkins. These were their necessaries,
+but they had an occasional luxury in the wild honey from the hollow of
+a bee tree when the bears had not got at it.
+
+In its season, there was an abundance of wild fruit, plums and
+cherries, haws and grapes, berries, and nuts of every kind, and the
+maples yielded all the sugar they chose to make from them. But it was
+long before they had, at any time, the profusion which our modern arts
+enable us to enjoy the whole year round, and in the hard beginnings
+the orchard and the garden were forgotten for the fields.
+
+When once the settler was housed against the weather, he had the
+conditions of a certain rude comfort indoors. If his cabin was not
+proof against the wind and rain or snow, its vast fireplace formed the
+means of heating, while the forest was an inexhaustible store of fuel.
+At first he dressed in the skins and pelts of the deer and fox and
+wolf, and his costume could have varied little from that of the red
+savage about him, for we often read how he mistook Indians for white
+men at first sight, and how the Indians in their turn mistook white
+men for their own people.
+
+The whole family went barefoot in the summer, but in winter the
+pioneer wore moccasins of buckskin, and buckskin leggins or trousers;
+his coat was a hunting shirt belted at the waist and fringed where it
+fell to his knees. It was of homespun, a mixture of wool and flax
+called linsey-woolsey, and out of this the dresses of his wife and
+daughters were made; the wool was shorn from the sheep which were so
+scarce that they were never killed for their flesh, except by the
+wolves, which were very fond of mutton, but had no use for wool.
+
+For a wedding dress a cotton check was thought superb, and it really
+cost a dollar a yard; silks, satins, laces, were unknown. A man never
+left his house without his rifle; the gun was a part of his dress, and
+in his belt he carried a hunting knife and a hatchet; on his head he
+wore a cap of squirrel skin, often with the plume-like tail dangling
+from it.
+
+The furniture of the cabins was, like the clothing of the pioneers,
+homemade. A bedstead was contrived by stretching poles from forked
+sticks driven into the ground, and laying clapboards across them; the
+bedclothes were bearskins. Stools, benches, and tables were roughed
+out with auger and broadax; the puncheon floor was left bare, and if
+the earth formed the floor, no rug ever replaced the grass which was
+its first carpet. The cabin had but one room where the whole of life
+went on by day; the father and mother slept there at night, and the
+children mounted to their chamber in the loft by means of a ladder.
+
+The food was what has been already named. The meat was venison, bear,
+raccoon, wild turkey, wild duck, and pheasant; the drink was water, or
+rye coffee, or whisky which the little stills everywhere supplied only
+too abundantly. Wheat bread was long unknown, and corn cakes of
+various makings and bakings supplied its place. The most delicious
+morsel of all was corn grated while still in the milk and fashioned
+into round cakes eaten hot from the clapboard before the fire, or from
+the mysterious depths of the Dutch oven, buried in coals and ashes on
+the hearth. There was soon a great flow of milk from the kine that
+multiplied in the woods and pastures, and there was sweetening enough
+from the maple tree and the bee tree, but salt was very scarce and
+very dear, and long journeys were made through the perilous woods to
+and from the licks, or salt springs, which the deer had discovered
+before the white man or red man knew them.
+
+The bees which hived their honey in the hollow trees were tame bees
+gone wild, and with the coming of the settlers, some of the wild
+things increased so much that they became a pest. Such were the crows
+which literally blackened the fields after the settlers plowed, and
+which the whole family had to fight from the corn when it was planted.
+Such were the rabbits, and such, above all, were the squirrels which
+overran the farms, and devoured every green thing till the people
+combined in great squirrel hunts and destroyed them by tens of
+thousands. The larger game had meanwhile disappeared. The buffalo and
+the elk went first; the deer followed, and the bear, and even the
+useless wolf. But long after these the poisonous reptiles lingered,
+the rattlesnake, the moccasin, and the yet deadlier copperhead; and it
+was only when the whole country was cleared that they ceased to be a
+very common danger.
+
+  --_From "Stories of Ohio," by William Dean Howells._
+
+
+
+
+HOW THEY BESIEGED THE TOWN.
+
+
+Charles Reade, in his great romance entitled "The Cloister and the
+Hearth," has not only presented us with a story of absorbing interest,
+but has given us a vivid and accurate view of manners and customs
+during one of the most interesting periods of history. The following
+extract is particularly interesting because of its vivid portrayal of
+the methods of warfare in vogue at that time. There was a rebellion in
+Flanders. More than one knight had broken his oath of fealty to the
+Duke of Burgundy, who was the ruler of that country, and some of the
+strongest castles were fortified by rebels. To subdue these
+dissatisfied spirits and to reduce the country again to subjection,
+Counts Anthony and Baldwyn of Burgundy had entered Flanders at the
+head of a considerable army and were carrying fire and sword among the
+enemies of the Duke. One of their exploits at this time is thus
+narrated by the novelist:--
+
+[Illustration: Charles Reade.]
+
+    One afternoon they came in sight of a strongly fortified town; and
+    a whisper went through the little army that this was a disaffected
+    place. But upon coming nearer they saw that the great gate stood
+    open, and the towers that flanked it on each side were manned
+    with a single sentinel apiece. So the advancing force somewhat
+    broke their array and marched carelessly.
+
+    When they were within a furlong, the drawbridge across the moat
+    rose slowly and creaking till it stood vertical against the fort;
+    and the very moment it settled, into this warlike attitude, down
+    rattled the portcullis at the gate, and the towers and curtains
+    bristled with lances and crossbows.
+
+    A stern hum ran through the front rank and spread to the rear.
+
+    "Halt!" cried their leader. The word went down the line, and they
+    halted. "Herald to the gate!"
+
+    A herald spurred out of the ranks, and halting twenty yards from
+    the gate, raised his bugle with his herald's flag hanging down
+    round it, and blew a summons. A tall figure in brazen armor
+    appeared over the gate. A few fiery words passed between him and
+    the herald, which were not audible; but their import was clear,
+    for the herald blew a single keen and threatening note at the
+    walls, and came galloping back with war in his face.
+
+    The leader moved out of the line to meet him, and their heads had
+    not been together two seconds ere he turned in his saddle and
+    shouted, "Pioneers, to the van!" and in a moment hedges were
+    leveled, and the force took the field and encamped just out of
+    shot from the walls; and away went mounted officers flying south,
+    east, and west, to the friendly towns, for catapults, palisades,
+    mantelets, raw hides, tar barrels, carpenters, provisions, and all
+    the materials for a siege.
+
+    The besiegers encamped a furlong from the walls, and made roads;
+    kept their pikemen in camp ready for an assault when practicable;
+    and sent forward their sappers, pioneers, catapultiers, and
+    crossbowmen. These opened a siege by filling the moat and mining,
+    or breaching the wall, etc. And as much of their work had to be
+    done under close fire of arrows, quarrels, bolts, stones, and
+    little rocks, the above artists "had need of a hundred eyes," and
+    acted in concert with a vigilance, and an amount of individual
+    intelligence, daring, and skill that made a siege very
+    interesting, and even amusing,--to lookers-on.
+
+    The first thing they did was to advance their carpenters behind
+    rolling mantelets, and to erect a stockade high and strong on the
+    very edge of the moat. Some lives were lost at this, but not many;
+    for a strong force of crossbowmen, including Denys, rolled their
+    mantelets[1] up and shot over the workmen's heads at every
+    besieged person who showed his nose, and at every loophole, arrow
+    slit, or other aperture, which commanded the particular spot the
+    carpenters happened to be upon. Covered by their condensed fire,
+    these soon raised a high palisade between them and the ordinary
+    missiles from the walls.
+
+    But the besieged expected this, and ran out at night their hoards
+    or wooden penthouses on the top of the curtains. The curtains were
+    built with square holes near the top to receive the beams that
+    supported these structures, the true defense of medi�val forts,
+    from which the besieged delivered their missiles with far more
+    freedom and variety of range than they could shoot through the
+    oblique but immovable loopholes of the curtain. On this the
+    besiegers brought up mangonels, and set them hurling huge stones
+    at these wood works and battering them to pieces. At the same time
+    they built a triangular wooden tower as high as the curtain, and
+    kept it ready for use, and just out of shot.
+
+    This was a terrible sight to the besieged. These wooden towers had
+    taken many a town. They began to mine underneath that part of the
+    moat the tower stood frowning at; and made other preparations to
+    give it a warm reception. The besiegers also mined, but at another
+    part, their object being to get under the square barbican and
+    throw it down. All this time Denys was behind his mantelet with
+    another arbalester, protecting the workmen and making some
+    excellent shots. These ended by earning him the esteem of an
+    unseen archer, who every now and then sent a winged compliment
+    quivering into his mantelet. One came and stuck within an inch of
+    the narrow slit through which Denys was squinting at the moment.
+
+    [Illustration: Hoard, or Penthouse.]
+
+    "Ha! ha!" cried he, "you shoot well, my friend. Come forth and
+    receive my congratulations! Shall merit, such as thine, hide its
+    head? Comrade, it is one of those Englishmen, with his half ell
+    shaft. I'll not die till I've had a shot at London wall."
+
+    On the side of the besieged was a figure that soon attracted great
+    notice by promenading under fire. It was a tall knight, clad in
+    complete brass, and carrying a light but prodigiously long lance,
+    with which he directed the movements of the besieged. And when any
+    disaster befell the besiegers, this tall knight and his long lance
+    were pretty sure to be concerned in it.
+
+    My young reader will say, "Why did not Denys shoot him?"
+
+    Denys did shoot him; every day of his life; other arbalesters shot
+    him; archers shot him. Everybody shot him. He was there to be
+    shot, apparently. But the abomination was, he did not mind being
+    shot. Nay, worse, he got at last so demoralized as not to seem to
+    know when he was shot. At last the besiegers got spiteful, and
+    would not waste any more good steel on him.
+
+    It was a bright day, clear, but not quite frosty. The efforts of
+    the besieging force were concentrated against a space of about two
+    hundred and fifty yards, containing two curtains and two towers,
+    one of which was the square barbican, the other had a pointed roof
+    that was built to overlap, and by this means a row of dangerous
+    crenelets between the roof and the masonry grinned down at the
+    nearer assailants, and looked not very unlike the grinders of a
+    modern frigate with each port nearly closed. The curtains were
+    overlapped with penthouses somewhat shattered by the mangonels,
+    and other slinging engines of the besiegers.
+
+    On the besiegers' edge of the moat was what seemed at first sight
+    a gigantic arsenal, longer than it was broad, peopled by human
+    ants, and full of busy, honest industry, and displaying all the
+    various mechanical science of the age in full operation. Here the
+    lever at work, there the winch and pulley, here the balance, there
+    the capstan. Everywhere heaps of stones, and piles of fascines,
+    mantelets, and rows of fire barrels. Mantelets rolling, the hammer
+    tapping all day, horses and carts in endless succession rattling
+    up with materials.
+
+    At the edge of the moat opposite the wooden tower, a strong
+    penthouse, which they called "a cat," might be seen stealing
+    towards the curtain, and gradually filling up the moat with
+    fascines and rubbish, which the workmen flung out at its mouth. It
+    was advanced by two sets of ropes passing round pulleys, and each
+    worked by a windlass at some distance from the cat. The knight
+    burnt the first cat by flinging blazing tar barrels on it. So the
+    besiegers made the roof of this one very steep, and covered it
+    with raw hides, and the tar barrels could not harm it.
+
+    And now the engineers proceeded to the unusual step of slinging
+    fifty-pound stones at an individual.
+
+    This catapult was a scientific, simple, and beautiful engine, and
+    very effective in vertical fire at the short ranges of the period.
+
+    Imagine a fir tree cut down, and set to turn round a horizontal
+    axis on lofty uprights, but not in equilibrium; three fourths of
+    the tree being on the hither side. At the shorter and thicker end
+    of the tree was fastened a weight of half a ton. This butt end
+    just before the discharge pointed towards the enemy. By means of a
+    powerful winch the long tapering portion of the tree was forced
+    down to the very ground, and fastened by a bolt; and the stone
+    placed in a sling attached to the tree's nose. But this process of
+    course raised the butt end with its huge weight high in the air,
+    and kept it there struggling in vain to come down. The bolt was
+    now drawn; then the short end swung furiously down, the long end
+    went as furiously up, and at its highest elevation flung the huge
+    stone out of the sling with a tremendous jerk. In this case the
+    huge mass so flung missed the knight, but came down near him on
+    the penthouse, and went through it like paper, making an awful gap
+    in roof and floor.
+
+    [Illustration: A Catapult.]
+
+    "Aha! a good shot!" cried Baldwyn of Burgundy.
+
+    The tall knight retired. The besiegers hooted him. He reappeared
+    on the platform of the barbican, his helmet being just visible
+    above the parapet. He seemed very busy, and soon an enormous
+    Turkish catapult made its appearance on the platform, and, aided
+    by the elevation at which it was planted, flung a twenty-pound
+    stone two hundred and forty yards in the air. The next stone
+    struck a horse that was bringing up a sheaf of arrows in a cart,
+    bowled the horse over dead like a rabbit, and split the cart. It
+    was then turned at the besiegers' wooden tower, supposed to be out
+    of shot. Sir Turk slung stones cut with sharp edges on purpose,
+    and struck it repeatedly, and broke it in several places. The
+    besiegers turned two of their slinging engines on this monster,
+    and kept constantly slinging smaller stones on to the platform of
+    the barbican, and killed two of the engineers. But the Turk
+    disdained to retort. He flung a forty-pound stone on to the
+    besiegers' great catapult, and hitting it in the neighborhood of
+    the axis, knocked the whole structure to pieces, and sent the
+    engineers skipping and yelling.
+
+    The next morning an unwelcome sight greeted the besieged. The cat
+    was covered with mattresses and raw hides, and fast filling up the
+    moat. The knight stoned it, but in vain; flung burning tar barrels
+    on it, but in vain. Then with his own hands he let down by a rope
+    a bag of burning sulphur and pitch, and stunk them out. But
+    Baldwyn, armed like a lobster, ran, and bounding on the roof, cut
+    the string, and the work went on. Then the knight sent fresh
+    engineers into the mine, and undermined the place and underpinned
+    it with beams, and covered the beams thickly with grease and tar.
+
+    At break of day the moat was filled, and the wooden tower began to
+    move on its wheels towards a part of the curtain on which two
+    catapults were already playing, to breach the hoards and clear the
+    way. There was something awful and magical in its approach without
+    visible agency, for it was driven by internal rollers worked by
+    leverage.
+
+    On the top was a platform, where stood the first assailing party
+    protected in front by the drawbridge of the turret, which stood
+    vertical till lowered on to the wall; but better protected by full
+    suits of armor. The besieged slung at the tower, and struck it
+    often, but in vain. It was well defended with mattresses and
+    hides, and presently was at the edge of the moat. The knight bade
+    fire the mine underneath it.
+
+    Then the Turkish engine flung a stone of half a hundredweight
+    right amongst the knights, and carried two away with it off the
+    tower on to the plain.
+
+    And now the besieging catapults flung blazing tar barrels, and fired
+    the hoards on both sides, and the assailants ran up the ladders
+    behind the tower, and lowered the drawbridge on to the battered
+    curtain, while the catapults in concert flung tar barrels, and fired
+    the adjoining works to dislodge the defenders. The armed men on the
+    platform sprang on the bridge, led by Baldwyn. The invulnerable
+    knight and his men at arms met them, and a fearful combat ensued, in
+    which many a figure was seen to fall headlong down off the narrow
+    bridge. But fresh besiegers kept swarming up behind the tower, and
+    the besieged were driven off the bridge.
+
+    Another minute, and the town would have been taken; but so well
+    had the firing of the mines been timed, that just at this instant
+    the underpinnings gave way, and the tower suddenly sank away from
+    the walls, tearing the drawbridge clear and pouring the soldiers
+    off it against the masonry and on to the dry moat.
+
+    The besieged uttered a fierce shout, and in a moment surrounded
+    Baldwyn and his fellows; but strange to say, offered them quarter.
+    While a party disarmed and disposed of these, others fired the
+    turret in fifty places with a sort of hand grenades. At this work
+    who so busy as the tall knight? He put fire bags on his long
+    spear, and thrust them into the doomed structure late so terrible.
+    To do this, he was obliged to stand on a projecting beam, holding
+    on by the hand of a pikeman to steady himself. This provoked
+    Denys; he ran out from his mantelet, hoping to escape notice in
+    the confusion, and leveling his crossbow missed the knight clean,
+    but sent his bolt into the brain of the pikeman, and the tall
+    knight fell heavily from the wall, lance and all.
+
+    The knight, his armor glittering in the morning sun, fell
+    headlong, but turning as he neared the water, struck it with a
+    slap that sounded a mile off.
+
+    None ever thought to see him again. But he fell at the edge of the
+    fascines, and his spear stuck into them under the water, and by a
+    mighty effort he got to the side, but could not get out. Anthony
+    sent a dozen knights with a white flag to take him prisoner. He
+    submitted like a lamb, but said nothing.
+
+[Footnote 1: For explanation of this and similar terms used in this
+selection, see the notes at the end of this book and especially the
+word "Castle" in Webster's International Dictionary.]
+
+
+
+
+LOCHINVAR.
+
+LADY HERON'S SONG.
+
+
+    Oh, young Lochinvar is come out of the west!
+    Through all the wide Border his steed was the best:
+    And, save his good broadsword, he weapons had none;
+    He rode all unarmed, and he rode all alone.
+    So faithful in love, and so dauntless in war,
+    There never was knight like the young Lochinvar.
+
+    He staid not for brake, and he stopped not for stone;
+    He swam the Esk river, where ford there was none;
+    But, ere he alighted at Netherby gate,
+    The bride had consented--the gallant came late;
+    For a laggard in love, and a dastard in war,
+    Was to wed the fair Ellen of brave Lochinvar.
+
+    So boldly he entered the Netherby hall,
+    Among bridesmen, and kinsmen, and brothers, and all.
+    Then spoke the bride's father, his hand on his sword,
+    (For the poor craven bridegroom said never a word),
+    "Oh, come ye in peace here, or come ye in war,
+    Or to dance at our bridal, young lord Lochinvar?"
+
+    "I long wooed your daughter--my suit you denied;
+    Love swells like the Solway, but ebbs like its tide;
+    And now I am come with this lost love of mine
+    To lead but one measure, drink one cup of wine.
+    There are maidens in Scotland more lovely by far,
+    That would gladly be bride to the young Lochinvar."
+
+    The bride kissed the goblet, the knight took it up;
+    He quaffed off the wine, and he threw down the cup;
+    She looked down to blush, and she looked up to sigh,
+    With a smile on her lips, and a tear in her eye.
+    He took her soft hand, ere her mother could bar--
+    "Now tread we a measure!" said young Lochinvar.
+
+    So stately his form, and so lovely her face,
+    That never a hall such a galliard did grace;
+    While her mother did fret, and her father did fume,
+    And the bridegroom stood dangling his bonnet and plume;
+    And the bridemaidens whispered, "'Twere better by far
+    To have matched our fair cousin with young Lochinvar."
+
+    One touch to her hand, and one word in her ear,
+    When they reached the hall door, and the charger stood near;
+    So light to the croup the fair lady he swung,
+    So light to the saddle before her he sprung!
+    "She is won! We are gone, over bank, bush, and scaur!
+    They'll have fleet steeds that follow!" quoth young Lochinvar.
+
+    There was mounting 'mong Gr�mes of the Netherby clan;
+    Forsters, Fenwicks, and Musgraves, they rode and they ran;
+    There was racing and chasing on Cannobie Lee,
+    But the lost bride of Netherby ne'er did they see.
+    So daring in love, and so dauntless in war,
+    Have you e'er heard of gallant like young Lochinvar?
+
+  --_From "Marmion," by Sir Walter Scott._
+
+
+
+
+ON A TROPICAL RIVER.
+
+
+"Westward Ho!" is a novel written by Rev. Charles Kingsley, and first
+published in 1855. It is a story of the times of Queen Elizabeth, of
+the threatened invasion of England by the Spanish Armada, and of wild
+adventure on the sea and in the forests of the New World. Several
+historical personages are made to appear in the story, such as Sir
+Walter Raleigh, Sir Francis Drake, Admiral Hawkins, and others. The
+hero is Amyas Leigh, "a Devonshire youth of great bodily strength, of
+lively affection and sweet temper, combined with a marked propensity
+to combat from his earliest years." Amyas and his companions had
+undertaken an expedition to discover the fabled golden city of Manoa,
+which was said to exist somewhere in the wilds of South America. They
+had been searching more than three years for this city when they
+reached the Meta River in canoes, and the following adventure occurred.
+
+[Illustration: Charles Kingsley.]
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+For three hours or more Amyas Leigh and his companions paddled easily
+up the glassy and windless reaches, between two green
+flower-bespangled walls of forest, gay with innumerable birds and
+insects; while down from the branches which overhung the stream, long
+trailers hung to the water's edge, and seemed admiring in the clear
+mirror the images of their own gorgeous flowers. River, trees,
+flowers, birds, insects,--it was all a fairyland; but it was a
+colossal one; and yet the voyagers took little note of it.
+
+It was now to them an everyday occurrence to see trees full two
+hundred feet high one mass of yellow or purple blossom to the highest
+twigs, and every branch and stem one hanging garden of crimson and
+orange orchids or vanillas. Common to them were all the fantastic and
+enormous shapes with which Nature bedecks her robes beneath the fierce
+suns and fattening rains of the tropic forest. Common were forms and
+colors of bird, and fish, and butterfly, more strange and bright than
+ever opium eater dreamed.
+
+The long processions of monkeys, who kept pace with them along the
+tree tops, and proclaimed their wonder in every imaginable whistle and
+grunt and howl, had ceased to move their laughter, as much as the roar
+of the jaguar and the rustle of the boa had ceased to move their fear;
+and when a brilliant green and rose-colored fish, flat-bodied like a
+bream, flat-finned like a salmon, and sawtoothed like a shark, leaped
+clean on board of the canoe to escape the rush of a huge alligator
+(whose loathsome snout, ere he could stop, actually rattled against
+the canoe), Jack coolly picked up the fish and said:
+
+"He's four pound weight! If you catch fish for us like that, old
+fellow, just keep in our wake, and we'll give you the cleanings for
+your wages!"
+
+They paddled onward hour after hour, sheltering themselves as best
+they could under the shadow of the southern bank, while on their right
+hand the full sun glare lay upon the enormous wall of mimosas, figs,
+and laurels, which formed the northern forest, broken by the slender
+shafts of bamboo tufts, and decked with a thousand gaudy parasites;
+bank upon bank of gorgeous bloom piled upward to the sky, till where
+its outline cut the blue, flowers and leaves, too lofty to be
+distinguished by the eye, formed a broken rainbow of all hues
+quivering in the ascending streams of azure mist, until they seemed to
+melt and mingle with the very heavens.
+
+And as the sun rose higher and higher, a great stillness fell upon the
+forest. The jaguars and the monkeys had hidden themselves in the
+darkest depths of the woods. The birds' notes died out one by one; the
+very butterflies ceased their flitting over the tree tops, and slept
+with outspread wings upon the glossy leaves, undistinguishable from
+the flowers around them. Now and then a parrot swung and screamed at
+them from an overhanging bough; or a thirsty monkey slid lazily down a
+swinging vine to the surface of the stream, dipped up the water in his
+tiny hand, and started chattering back, as his eyes met those of some
+foul alligator peering upward through the clear depths below.
+
+In shaded nooks beneath the boughs, rabbits as large as sheep went
+paddling sleepily round and round, thrusting up their unwieldy heads
+among the blooms of the blue water lilies; while black and purple
+water hens ran up and down upon the rafts of floating leaves. The
+shining snout of a fresh-water dolphin rose slowly to the surface; a
+jet of spray whirred up; a rainbow hung upon it for a moment; and the
+black snout sank lazily again.
+
+Here and there, too, upon some shallow pebbly shore, scarlet
+flamingoes stood dreaming knee-deep on one leg; crested cranes pranced
+up and down, admiring their own finery; and irises and egrets dipped
+their bills under water in search of prey; but before noon, even those
+had slipped away, and there reigned a stillness which might be
+heard--a stillness in which, as Humboldt says: "If beyond the silence
+we listen for the faintest undertones, we detect a stifled, continuous
+hum of insects, which crowd the air close to the earth; a confused
+swarming murmur which hangs round every bush, in the cracked bark of
+trees, in the soil undermined by lizards and bees; a voice proclaiming
+to us that all Nature breathes, that under a thousand different forms
+life swarms in the gaping and dusty earth, as much as in the bosom of
+the waters, and in the air which breathes around."
+
+At last a soft and distant murmur, increasing gradually to a heavy
+roar, announced that they were nearing some cataract; till, turning a
+point where the alluvial soil rose into a low cliff fringed with
+delicate ferns, they came in full sight of a scene at which all
+paused--not with astonishment, but with something very like disgust.
+
+"Rapids again!" grumbled one. "I thought we had had enough of them on
+the Orinoco!"
+
+"We shall have to get out, and draw the canoes overland, I suppose!"
+
+"There's worse behind; don't you see the spray behind the palms?"
+
+"Stop grumbling, my masters, and don't cry out before you are hurt.
+Paddle right up to the largest of those islands, and let us look about
+us."
+
+In front of them was a snow-white bar of foam, some ten feet high,
+along which were ranged three or four islands of black rock. Each was
+crested with a knot of lofty palms, whose green tops stood out clear
+against the bright sky, while the lower half of their stems loomed
+hazy through a luminous veil of rainbowed mist. The banks right and
+left of the fall were so densely fringed with a low hedge of shrubs
+that landing seemed almost impossible; and their Indian guide,
+suddenly looking round him and whispering, bade them beware of
+savages, and pointed to a canoe which lay swinging in the eddies under
+the largest island, moored apparently to the root of some tree.
+
+"Silence, all!" cried Amyas, "and paddle up thither and seize the
+canoe. If there be an Indian on the island, we will have speech of
+him. But mind, and treat him friendly; and on your lives, neither
+strike nor shoot, even if he offers to fight."
+
+So, choosing a line of smooth backwater just in the wake of the
+island, they drove their canoes up by main force, and fastened them
+safely by the side of the Indian's, while Amyas, always the foremost,
+sprang boldly on shore, whispering to the Indian boy to follow him.
+
+Once on the island, Amyas felt sure enough that, if its wild tenant
+had not seen them approach, he certainly had not heard them, so
+deafening was the noise which filled his brain, and which seemed to
+make the very leaves upon the bushes quiver and the solid stone
+beneath his feet reel and ring. For two hundred yards and more above
+the fall, nothing met his eye but one white waste of raging foam, with
+here and there a transverse dike of rock, which hurled columns of
+spray and surges of beaded water high into the air,--strangely
+contrasting with the still and silent cliffs of green leaves which
+walled the river right and left, and more strangely still with the
+knots of enormous palms upon the islets, which reared their polished
+shafts a hundred feet into the air, straight and upright as masts,
+while their broad plumes and golden-clustered fruit slept in the
+sunshine far aloft, the image of the stateliest repose amid the
+wildest wrath of Nature.
+
+Ten yards farther, the cataract fell sheer in thunder; but a high
+fern-fringed rock turned its force away from the beach. Here, if
+anywhere, was the place to find the owner of the canoe. He leaped down
+upon the pebbles; and as he did so, a figure rose from behind a
+neighboring rock, and met him face to face. It was an Indian girl.
+
+He spoke first, in some Indian tongue, gently and smilingly, and made
+a half-step forward; but quick as light she caught up from the ground
+a bow, and held it fiercely toward him, fitted with the long arrow,
+with which, as he could see, she had been striking fish, for a line of
+twisted grass hung from its barbed head. Amyas stopped, laid down his
+own bow and sword, and made another step in advance, smiling still,
+and making all Indian signs of amity. But the arrow was still pointed
+straight at his breast, and he knew the mettle and strength of the
+forest nymphs well enough to stand still and call for the Indian boy.
+
+[Illustration: A figure rose from behind a neighboring rock.]
+
+The boy, who had been peering from above, leaped down to them in a
+moment; and began, as the safest method, groveling on his nose upon
+the pebbles, while he tried two or three dialects, one of which at
+last she seemed to understand, and answered in a tone of evident
+suspicion and anger.
+
+"What does she say?"
+
+"That you are a Spaniard and a robber because you have a beard."
+
+"Tell her that we are no Spaniards, but that we hate them, and are
+come across the great waters to help the Indians to kill them."
+
+The boy had no sooner spoken, than, nimble as a deer, the nymph had
+sprung up the rocks, and darted between the palm stems to her own
+canoe. Suddenly she caught sight of the English boats, and stopped
+with a cry of fear and rage.
+
+"Let her pass!" shouted Amyas, who had followed her closely. "Push
+your boats off, and let her pass. Boy, tell her to go on; they will
+not come near her."
+
+But she hesitated still, and with arrow drawn to the head, faced first
+on the boat's crew, and then on Amyas, till the Englishmen had shoved
+off full twenty yards.
+
+Then, leaping into her tiny piragua, she darted into the wildest whirl
+of the eddies, shooting along with vigorous strokes, while the English
+trembled as they saw the frail bark spinning and leaping amid the
+muzzles of the alligators and the huge dog-toothed trout. But, with
+the swiftness of an arrow, she reached the northern bank, drove her
+canoe among the bushes, and, leaping from it, darted into the bush,
+and vanished like a dream.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The chief interest in the foregoing story lies, of course, in its
+faithful and glowing picture of scenery in the midst of a tropical
+forest. The learner should read it a second time and try to point out
+all the passages that are remarkable for their wealth of description.
+He should try to form in his mind an image of the sights and sounds
+that he would encounter in a voyage up the Meta River or any other of
+the tributaries of the Orinoco or the Amazon.
+
+
+
+
+THE FLAG OF OUR COUNTRY.
+
+
+I.
+
+There is the national flag. He must be cold indeed who can look upon
+its folds, rippling in the breeze, without pride of country. If he be
+in a foreign land, the flag is companionship and country itself, with
+all its endearments.
+
+Who, as he sees it, can think of a state merely? Whose eyes once
+fastened upon its radiant trophies, can fail to recognize the image of
+the whole nation? It has been called a "floating piece of poetry," and
+yet I know not if it have an intrinsic beauty beyond other ensigns.
+Its highest beauty is in what it symbolizes. It is because it
+represents all, that all gaze at it with delight and reverence.
+
+It is a piece of bunting lifted in the air; but it speaks sublimely,
+and every part has a voice. Its stripes of alternate red and white
+proclaim the original union of thirteen states to maintain the
+Declaration of Independence. Its stars of white on a field of blue
+proclaim that union of states constituting our national constellation,
+which receives a new star with every new state. The two together
+signify union past and present.
+
+The very colors have a language which was officially recognized by our
+fathers. White is for purity, red for valor, blue for justice; and
+altogether, bunting, stripes, stars, and colors, blazing in the sky,
+make the flag of our country to be cherished by all our hearts, to be
+upheld by all our hands.
+
+
+II.
+
+I have said enough and more than enough to manifest the spirit in
+which this flag is now committed to your charge. It is the national
+ensign, pure and simple, dearer to all hearts at this moment as we
+lift it to the gale, and see no other sign of hope upon the storm
+cloud which rolls and rattles above it, save that which is its own
+radiant hues--dearer, a thousand fold dearer to us all than ever it
+was before, while gilded by the sunshine of prosperity and playing
+with the zephyrs of peace. It will speak for itself far more
+eloquently than I can speak for it.
+
+Behold it! Listen to it! Every star has a tongue; every stripe is
+articulate. There is no speech nor language where their voices are not
+heard. There is magic in the web of it. It has an answer for every
+question of duty. It has a solution for every doubt and every
+perplexity. It has a word of good cheer for every hour of gloom or of
+despondency.
+
+Behold it! Listen to it! It speaks of earlier and of later struggles.
+It speaks of victories and sometimes of reverses, on the sea and on
+the land. It speaks of patriots and heroes among the living and among
+the dead; and of him, the first and greatest of them all, around whose
+consecrated ashes this unnatural and abhorrent strife has been so long
+raging. But, before all and above all other associations and
+memories,--whether of glorious men, or glorious deeds, or glorious
+places,--its voice is ever of Union and Liberty, of the Constitution
+and of the Laws.
+
+  --_Robert C. Winthrop._
+
+
+
+
+THE HIGH TIDE ON THE COAST OF LINCOLNSHIRE--1571.
+
+
+    The old mayor climbed the belfry tower,
+      The ringers ran by two, by three:--
+    "Pull, if ye never pulled before,
+      Good ringers, pull your best," quoth he.
+    "Play up, play up, O Boston bells!
+    Ply all your changes, all your swells;
+    Play up 'The Brides of Enderby'!"
+
+[Illustration: Jean Ingelow.]
+
+    Men say it was a stolen tide;
+      The Lord that sent it, he knows all;
+    But in mine ears doth still abide
+      The message that the bells let fall:
+    And there was naught of strange, beside
+    The flights of mews and peewits pied
+      By millions crouched on the old sea wall.
+
+    I sat and spun within the door,
+      My thread brake off, I raised mine eyes;
+    The level sun, like ruddy ore,
+      Lay sinking in the barren skies,
+    And dark against day's golden death
+    She moved where Lindis wandereth,
+    My son's fair wife, Elizabeth.
+
+    "Cusha! Cusha! Cusha!" calling,
+    Ere the early dews were falling,
+    Far away I heard her song.
+    "Cusha! Cusha!" all along,
+    Where the reedy Lindis floweth,
+        Floweth, floweth;
+    From the meads where melick groweth
+    Faintly came her milking song,
+
+    "Cusha! Cusha! Cusha!" calling,
+    "For the dews will soon be falling;
+    Leave your meadow grasses mellow,
+        Mellow, mellow;
+    Quit your cowslips, cowslips yellow;
+    Come up, Whitefoot, come up, Lightfoot;
+    Quit the stalks of parsley hollow,
+        Hollow, hollow;
+    Come up, Jetty, rise and follow,
+    From the clovers lift your head;
+    Come up, Whitefoot, come up, Lightfoot,
+    Come up, Jetty, rise and follow,
+    Jetty, to the milking shed."
+
+    If it be long, ay, long ago,
+        When I begin to think how long,
+    Again I hear the Lindis flow,
+        Swift as an arrow, sharp and strong;
+    And all the air, it seemeth me,
+    Is full of floating bells (saith she),
+    That ring the tune of Enderby.
+
+    All fresh the level pasture lay,
+        And not a shadow might be seen,
+    Save where full five good miles away
+        The steeple towered from out the green.
+    And lo! the great bell far and wide
+    Was heard in all the country side
+    That Saturday at eventide.
+
+    The swanherds where their sedges are
+        Moved on in sunset's golden breath,
+    The shepherd lads I heard afar,
+        And my son's wife, Elizabeth;
+    Till floating o'er the grassy sea
+    Came down that kindly message free,
+    The "Brides of Mavis Enderby."
+
+    Then some looked up into the sky,
+      And all along where Lindis flows
+    To where the goodly vessels lie,
+      And where the lordly steeple shows.
+    They said, "And why should this thing be?
+    What danger lowers by land or sea?
+    They ring the tune of Enderby!
+
+    "For evil news from Mablethorpe,
+      Of pirate galleys warping down;
+    For ships ashore beyond the scorpe,
+      They have not spared to wake the town:
+    But while the west is red to see,
+    And storms be none, and pirates flee,
+    Why ring 'The Brides of Enderby'?"
+
+    I looked without, and lo! my son
+      Came riding down with might and main;
+    He raised a shout as he drew on,
+      Till all the welkin rang again,
+    "Elizabeth! Elizabeth!"
+    (A sweeter woman ne'er drew breath
+    Than my son's wife, Elizabeth.)
+
+    "The old sea wall," he cried, "is down,
+      The rising tide comes on apace,
+    And boats adrift in yonder town
+      Go sailing up the market place."
+    He shook as one that looks on death:
+    "God save you, mother!" straight he saith,
+    "Where is my wife, Elizabeth?"
+
+    "Good son, where Lindis winds away,
+      With her two bairns I marked her long;
+    And ere yon bells began to play,
+      Afar I heard her milking song."
+    He looked across the grassy lea,
+    To right, to left, "Ho, Enderby!"
+    They rang "The Brides of Enderby!"
+
+    With that he cried and beat his breast;
+      For, lo! along the river's bed
+    A mighty eygre reared his crest,
+      And up the Lindis raging sped.
+    It swept with thunderous noises loud;
+    Shaped like a curling snow-white cloud,
+    Or like a demon in a shroud.
+
+    And rearing Lindis backward pressed
+      Shook all her trembling banks amain;
+    Then madly at the eygre's breast
+      Flung up her weltering walls again.
+    Then banks came down with ruin and rout--
+    Then beaten foam flew round about--
+    Then all the mighty floods were out.
+
+    So far, so fast the eygre drave,
+      The heart had hardly time to beat
+    Before a shallow seething wave
+      Sobbed in the grasses at our feet;
+    The feet had hardly time to flee
+    Before it brake against the knee,
+    And all the world was in the sea.
+
+    Upon the roof we sat that night,
+      The noise of bells went sweeping by;
+    I marked the lofty beacon light
+      Stream from the church tower, red and high--
+    A lurid mark and dread to see;
+    And awesome bells they were to me,
+    That in the dark rang "Enderby."
+
+    They rang the sailor lads to guide
+      From roof to roof who fearless rowed;
+    And I--my son was at my side,
+      And yet the ruddy beacon glowed;
+    And yet he moaned beneath his breath,
+    "Oh, come in life, or come in death!
+    Oh lost! my love Elizabeth."
+
+    And didst thou visit him no more?
+      Thou didst, thou didst, my daughter dear;
+    The waters laid thee at his door,
+      Ere yet the early dawn was clear.
+    Thy pretty bairns in fast embrace,
+    The lifted sun shone on thy face,
+    Down drifted to thy dwelling place.
+
+    That flow strewed wrecks about the grass,
+      That ebb swept out the flocks to sea;
+    A fatal ebb and flow, alas!
+      To many more than mine and me:
+    But each will mourn his own (she saith),
+    And sweeter woman ne'er drew breath
+    Than my son's wife, Elizabeth.
+
+    I shall never hear her more
+    By the reedy Lindis shore,
+    "Cusha! Cusha! Cusha!" calling,
+    Ere the early dews be falling;
+    I shall never hear her song,
+    "Cusha! Cusha!" all along
+    Where the sunny Lindis floweth,
+      Goeth, floweth;
+    From the meads where melick groweth,
+    Where the water winding down,
+    Onward floweth to the town.
+
+    I shall never see her more
+    Where the reeds and rushes quiver,
+      Shiver, quiver;
+    Stand beside the sobbing river,
+    Sobbing, throbbing, in its falling
+    To the sandy, lonesome shore;
+    I shall never hear her calling,
+    "Leave your meadow grasses mellow,
+      Mellow, mellow;
+    Quit your cowslips, cowslips yellow;
+    Come up, Whitefoot, come up, Lightfoot;
+    Quit your pipes of parsley hollow,
+      Hollow, hollow;
+    Come up, Lightfoot, rise and follow;
+      Lightfoot, Whitefoot,
+    From your clovers lift the head;
+    Come up, Jetty, follow, follow,
+    Jetty, to the milking shed."
+
+  --_Jean Ingelow._
+
+
+
+
+THE STORY OF THOMAS BECKET.
+
+
+I. HIS LIFE.
+
+Henry II. began his reign over England in the year 1154, and he was
+the mightiest king that had yet sat upon the throne. He had vast
+possessions. All England and nearly half of France were his, and he
+was well able to rule over them and keep them in order.
+
+He was a short, stout, reddish-haired man, with a face well-tanned by
+exposure to the wind and the sun. His legs were bowed by constant
+riding. Ever busy at something, he rarely sat down, except at meals;
+and there was plenty of work for him to do.
+
+In the early years of his reign his chief friend and servant was
+Thomas Becket, who was a clever and handsome man. He knew well how to
+please the king by sharing in his amusements, and by helping him in
+the great work of keeping order among his barons and knights.
+
+When Becket was a young man he was out hunting, one day, with his pet
+hawk upon his wrist. Riding carelessly along, he came to a narrow
+wooden bridge, which crossed a stream close to a mill. When in the
+middle of the bridge his horse stumbled, and Becket, horse, and hawk
+were thrown into the water.
+
+The horse at once swam to the bank. So did Becket, but, upon looking
+back, he saw his hawk struggling in the middle of the stream. Its
+straps had become entangled about its feet and wings, and the bird was
+helpless. Although the stream was running swiftly to the great
+mill-wheel, Becket turned round and swam back to save the hawk.
+
+By this time the current had carried him very near to the wheel, and
+in another moment both man and bird must have been crushed to death.
+But just then the miller saw the danger and stopped the mill. Becket
+climbed out of the water with the bird in his hand, seeming not at all
+frightened because of the danger which he had escaped. During his
+entire life he had many trials and was opposed by many enemies; but he
+faced them all as fearlessly as he had risked drowning in order to
+save his hawk.
+
+King Henry made Becket his chancellor, that is his chief minister, and
+gave him much wealth. Becket lived in great splendor in a fine palace.
+He was so hospitable that he kept an open table, at which all were
+free to come and feast when they chose. His clothes were the finest
+and gayest that could be made, and wherever he went he took with him
+troops of friends and servants.
+
+Once, when he was sent to France to settle a dispute with the French
+king, he traveled with such a large train of followers that the people
+were filled with wonder. We can picture the procession entering a
+quiet country town.
+
+"First came two hundred boys singing quaint songs or glees. Then
+followed great hounds with their keepers, behind whom were wagons
+guarded by fierce English mastiffs. One of the wagons was laden with
+beer to be given away to the people who might render any help on the
+road.
+
+"Then came twelve horses, upon each of which sat a monkey and a groom.
+After all these there followed a vast company of knights and squires
+and priests, riding two and two.
+
+"Last of all came Becket and a few friends, with whom he talked by the
+way." We can imagine the wonder of the French people at so fine, yet
+strange, a show. We can hear them exclaim, "What kind of a man must
+the king of England be, when his chancellor can travel in such state!"
+
+At this time the Church in England possessed great power and wealth.
+It was the safeguard that stood between the people and the greed and
+cruelty of their rulers. It was the protector of the poor, and the
+friend of the oppressed; and even the king was obliged to obey its
+commands.
+
+King Henry was jealous of the influence of the Church. He resolved
+that, having already reduced the power of the barons, he would now
+reduce the power of the Church. And among all his faithful men, who
+would be more likely to help him in such business than his friend
+Becket, who had hitherto been his ablest assistant in every undertaking?
+
+[Illustration: Thomas Becket. (From an Old Painting.)]
+
+It happened about this time that the Archbishop of Canterbury, the
+highest officer of the Church in England, died. This event was very
+pleasing to Henry, and through his influence the Pope appointed Thomas
+Becket to be the new archbishop.
+
+Becket had hitherto been faithful to Henry in all things, but he now
+felt that his first duty was to the Church, and he resolved to defend
+its rights, even though he should displease the king. He changed
+entirely the manner of his life. Instead of his splendid clothes, he
+wore a monk's dress and a hair shirt next to his skin. He tried, as
+people understood it in those times, to carry out the teachings of his
+Lord and Master; and every day he waited upon a number of poor men
+and washed their feet. Instead of gay knights only good and pious men
+sat at his table. He gave up his chancellorship, and told the king
+plainly that he would resist all attempts to take away the rights of
+the Church.
+
+Many were the quarrels after that between the king and the archbishop.
+At one time, in a fit of rage, Henry cried out: "I will not be
+preached at by you. Are you not the son of one of my clowns?"
+
+"It is true," replied the archbishop, "I am not descended from ancient
+kings, but neither was the blessed Peter to whom were given the keys
+of the kingdom of heaven."
+
+"But Peter," said the king, "died for his Lord."
+
+"And I, too, will die for my Lord," said Becket, "when the time shall
+come."
+
+And it was not long till the time did come. Upon hearing some hasty,
+angry words from the king, four knights set out to Canterbury,
+determined to kill Becket, and thus not only put an end to the long
+quarrel but win the king's favor for themselves.
+
+  --_Anonymous._
+
+
+II. HIS DEATH.
+
+The vespers had already begun, and the monks were singing the service
+in the choir, when two boys rushed up the nave, announcing, more by
+their terrified gestures than by their words, that the soldiers were
+bursting into the palace and monastery. Instantly the service was
+thrown into the utmost confusion; part remained at prayer, part fled
+into the numerous hiding places the vast fabric affords; and part
+went down the steps of the choir into the transept to meet the little
+band at the door.
+
+"Come in, come in!" exclaimed one of them. "Come in, and let us die
+together."
+
+The Archbishop continued to stand outside, and said: "Go and finish
+the service. So long as you keep in the entrance, I shall not come
+in." They fell back a few paces, and he stepped within the door, but,
+finding the whole place thronged with people, he paused on the
+threshold, and asked, "What is it that these people fear?" One general
+answer broke forth, "The armed men in the cloister." As he turned and
+said, "I shall go out to them," he heard the clash of arms behind. The
+knights had just forced their way into the cloister, and were now (as
+would appear from their being thus seen through the open door)
+advancing along its southern side. They were in mail, which covered
+their faces up to their eyes, and carried their swords drawn. Three
+had hatchets. Fitzurse, with the ax he had taken from the carpenters,
+was foremost, shouting as he came, "Here, here, king's men!"
+Immediately behind him followed Robert Fitzranulph, with three other
+knights; and a motley group--some their own followers, some from the
+town--with weapons, though not in armor, brought up the rear. At this
+sight, so unwonted in the peaceful cloisters of Canterbury, not
+probably beheld since the time when the monastery had been sacked by
+the Danes, the monks within, regardless of all remonstrances, shut the
+door of the cathedral, and proceeded to barricade it with iron bars. A
+loud knocking was heard from the band without, who, having vainly
+endeavored to prevent the entrance of the knights into the cloister,
+now rushed before them to take refuge in the church. Becket, who had
+stepped some paces into the cathedral, but was resisting the
+solicitations of those immediately about him to move up into the choir
+for safety, darted back, calling aloud as he went, "Away, you cowards!
+By virtue of your obedience I command you not to shut the door--the
+church must not be turned into a castle." With his own hands he thrust
+them away from the door, opened it himself, and catching hold of the
+excluded monks, dragged them into the building, exclaiming, "Come in,
+come in--faster, faster!"
+
+[Illustration:
+
+  From a Photograph.      Engraved by Charles Meeder.
+
+  Canterbury Cathedral.
+]
+
+The knights, who had been checked for a moment by the sight of the
+closed door, on seeing it unexpectedly thrown open, rushed into the
+church. It was, we must remember, about five o'clock in a winter
+evening; the shades of night were gathering, and were deepened into a
+still darker gloom within the high and massive walls of the vast
+cathedral, which was only illuminated here and there by the solitary
+lamps burning before the altars. The twilight, lengthening from the
+shortest day a fortnight before, was but just sufficient to reveal the
+outline of objects.
+
+In the dim twilight they could just discern a group of figures
+mounting the steps of the eastern staircase. One of the knights called
+out to them, "Stay." Another, "Where is Thomas Becket, traitor to the
+king?" No answer was returned. None could have been expected by any
+one who remembered the indignant silence with which Becket had swept
+by when the same words had been applied by Randulf of Broc at
+Northampton. Fitzurse rushed forward, and, stumbling against one of
+the monks on the lower step, still not able to distinguish clearly in
+the darkness, exclaimed, "Where is the Archbishop?" Instantly the
+answer came: "Reginald, here I am, no traitor, but the archbishop and
+priest of God; what do you wish?" and from the fourth step, which he
+had reached in his ascent, with a slight motion of his head--noticed
+apparently as his peculiar manner in moments of excitement--Becket
+descended to the transept. Attired, we are told, in his white rochet,
+with a cloak and hood thrown over his shoulders, he thus suddenly
+confronted his assailants. Fitzurse sprang back two or three paces,
+and Becket passing by him took up his station between the central
+pillar and the massive wall which still forms the southwest corner of
+what was then the chapel of St. Benedict. Here they gathered round
+him, with the cry, "Absolve the bishops whom you have excommunicated."
+"I cannot do other than I have done," he replied, and turning to
+Fitzurse, he added, "Reginald, you have received many favors at my
+hands; why do you come into my church armed?" Fitzurse planted the ax
+against his breast, and returned for answer, "You shall die--I will
+tear out your heart." Another, perhaps in kindness, struck him between
+the shoulders with the flat of his sword, exclaiming, "Fly; you are a
+dead man." "I am ready to die," replied the primate, "for God and the
+Church; but I warn you, I curse you in the name of God Almighty, if
+you do not let my men escape."
+
+The well-known horror which in that age was felt at an act of
+sacrilege, together with the sight of the crowds who were rushing in
+from the town through the nave, turned their efforts for the next few
+moments to carrying him out of the church. Fitzurse threw down the ax,
+and tried to drag him out by the collar of his long cloak, calling,
+"Come with us--you are our prisoner." "I will not fly, you detestable
+fellow," was Becket's reply, roused to his usual vehemence, and
+wrenching the cloak out of Fitzurse's grasp. The three knights
+struggled violently to put him on Tracy's shoulders. Becket set his
+back against the pillar, and resisted with all his might, whilst Grim,
+vehemently remonstrating, threw his arms around him to aid his
+efforts. In the scuffle, Becket fastened upon Tracy, shook him by his
+coat of mail, and exerting his great strength flung him down on the
+pavement. It was hopeless to carry on the attempt to remove him. And
+in the final struggle which now began, Fitzurse, as before, took the
+lead. He approached with his drawn sword, and waving it over his head,
+cried, "Strike, strike!" but merely dashed off his cap. Tracy sprang
+forward and struck a more decided blow.
+
+The blood from the first blow was trickling down his face in a thin
+streak; he wiped it with his arm, and when he saw the stain, he said,
+"Into thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit." At the third blow, he
+sank on his knees--his arms falling, but his hands still joined as if
+in prayer. With his face turned towards the altar of St. Benedict, he
+murmured in a low voice, "For the name of Jesus, and the defense of
+the Church, I am willing to die." Without moving hand or foot, he
+fell flat on his face as he spoke. In this posture he received a
+tremendous blow, aimed with such violence that the scalp or crown of
+the head was severed from the skull. "Let us go--let us go," said Hugh
+of Horsea, "the traitor is dead; he will rise no more."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The life of Thomas Becket, and his tragic death, have furnished themes
+for many noble contributions to English literature. Arthur Penrhyn
+Stanley, Dean of Westminster, has written of him, in a very impartial
+and trustworthy manner, in his "Historical Memoirs of Canterbury" from
+which the above extract is taken. The poet Tennyson, late in life,
+composed a tragedy entitled "Becket" which portrays in a vivid,
+poetical manner the most striking scenes in the career of the great
+archbishop. James Anthony Froude, in "Short Stories on Great
+Subjects," has written a charming and instructive essay on the "Life
+and Times of Thomas Becket"; and Professor Freeman has presented us
+with a similar historical study in his "Saint Thomas of Canterbury."
+It may also be observed that Chaucer's immortal work, "The Canterbury
+Tales," depends for its connecting thread upon the once general custom
+of making pilgrimages to the tomb of Becket.
+
+[Illustration: Dean Stanley.]
+
+
+
+
+THE PILGRIMS. (1620.)
+
+
+Methinks I see one solitary, adventurous vessel, the "Mayflower," of a
+forlorn hope, freighted with the prospects of a future state, and bound
+across the unknown sea. I behold it pursuing, with a thousand
+misgivings, the uncertain, the tedious voyage. Suns rise and set, and
+weeks and months pass, and winter surprises them on the deep, but brings
+them not the sight of the wished-for shore. I see them now, scantily
+supplied with provisions, crowded almost to suffocation, in their
+ill-stored prison, delayed by calms, pursuing a circuitous route,--and
+now, driven in fury before the raging tempest, on the high and giddy
+waves. The awful voice of the storm brawls through the rigging.
+
+[Illustration: Edward Everett.]
+
+The laboring masts seem straining from their base; the dismal sound of
+the pumps is heard; the ship leaps, as it were, madly, from billow to
+billow; the ocean breaks, and settles with engulfing floods over the
+floating deck, and beats with deadening, shivering weight, against the
+staggering vessel.
+
+I see them escape from these perils, pursuing their all but desperate
+undertaking, and landed at last, after a five months' passage, on the
+ice-clad rocks of Plymouth,--weak and weary from the voyage, poorly
+armed, scantily provisioned, without shelter, without means,
+surrounded by hostile tribes.
+
+Shut now the volume of history, and tell me, on any principle of human
+probability, what shall be the fate of this handful of adventurers?
+Tell me, man of military science, in how many months were they all
+swept off by the thirty savage tribes, enumerated within the early
+limits of New England?
+
+Tell me, politician, how long did a shadow of a colony on which your
+conventions and treaties had not smiled, languish on the distant
+coast? Student of history, compare for me the baffled projects, the
+deserted settlements, the abandoned adventures of other times, and
+find the parallel of this.
+
+Was it the winter's storm, beating upon the houseless heads of women
+and children? was it hard labor and spare meals? was it disease? was
+it the tomahawk? was it the deep malady of a blighted hope, a ruined
+enterprise, and a broken heart, aching in its last moments at the
+recollection of the loved and left, beyond the sea? was it some, or
+all of these united, that hurried this forsaken company to their
+melancholy fate?
+
+And is it possible, that neither of these causes, that not all
+combined, were able to blast this bud of hope? Is it possible, that
+from a beginning so feeble, so frail, so worthy not so much of
+admiration as of pity, there has gone forth a progress so steady, a
+growth so wonderful, an expansion so ample, a reality so important, a
+promise, yet to be fulfilled, so glorious?
+
+  --_Edward Everett._
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration:
+
+  From the Painting by A. W. Bayes.      Engraved by E. Heinemann.
+
+  The Departure of the Mayflower.
+]
+
+THE LANDING OF THE PILGRIMS.
+
+(1620.)
+
+
+    The breaking waves dashed high
+      On a stern and rock-bound coast,
+    And the trees against a stormy sky,
+      Their giant branches tossed.
+
+    And the heavy night hung dark
+      The hills and waters o'er,
+    When a band of exiles moored their bark
+      On the wild New England shore.
+
+    Not as the conqueror comes,
+      They, the true-hearted, came;
+    Not with the roll of the stirring drums,
+      And the trumpet that sings of fame.
+
+    Not as the flying come,
+      In silence and in fear;
+    They shook the depths of the desert gloom
+      With their hymns of lofty cheer.
+
+    Amidst the storm they sang,
+      And the stars heard, and the sea:
+    And the sounding aisles of the dim woods rang
+      To the anthem of the free!
+
+    The ocean eagle soared
+      From his nest by the white wave's foam:
+    And the rocking pines of the forest roared,--
+      This was their welcome home!
+
+    There were men with hoary hair,
+      Amidst that pilgrim band;
+    Why had _they_ come to wither there,
+      Away from their childhood's land?
+
+    There was woman's fearless eye,
+      Lit by her deep love's truth;
+    There was manhood's brow serenely high,
+      And the fiery heart of youth.
+
+    What sought they thus afar?
+      Bright jewels of the mine?
+    The wealth of seas, the spoils of war?--
+      They sought a faith's pure shrine!
+
+    Ay! call it holy ground,
+      The soil where first they trod:
+    They have left unstained what there they found,
+      Freedom to worship God.
+
+  --_Felicia Hemans._
+
+
+
+
+    Patriots have toiled, and in their country's cause
+    Bled nobly; and their deeds, as they deserve
+    Receive proud recompense. We give in charge
+    Their names to the sweet lyre. The historic Muse,
+    Proud of the treasure, marches with it down
+    To latest times; and Sculpture, in her turn,
+    Gives bond in stone and ever-during brass
+    To guard them, and to immortalize her trust.
+
+  --_William Cowper._
+
+
+
+
+THE ROBIN.
+
+
+The robin is perhaps the best known of all our birds. The name is so
+prominent in children's stories, in folklore, in poetry, and in
+general literature, that even town children who have never seen the
+bird know it by name; but to many grown people, even those who have
+lived all their lives in the country, the robin is not familiar as a
+winter bird. It is known to come and go, it is true, but is supposed
+to be merely in transit, and just where the observer happens to be is
+not its abiding place. This impression is due to lack of observation,
+for the birds are as well disposed towards your thicket and cedar
+trees as those of some far-off neighbor.
+
+This crystal-clear, cold January day, with the mercury almost at zero,
+I found the robins on the south hillside, and seldom have they shown
+to better advantage. One was perched in a sapling beech to which the
+leaves still clung. It chirped at times so that its companions could
+hear it, and was answered by them, as well as by the nuthatches, a
+tree creeper, some sparrows, and a winter wren.
+
+It was a cozy, warm spot wherein these birds had gathered, which,
+strangely enough, was filled with music even when every bird was mute.
+This robin was half concealed among the crisp beech leaves, and
+these--not the birds about them--were singing. The breeze caused them
+to tremble violently, and their thin edges were as harp strings, the
+wiry sound produced being smoothed by the crisp rattling caused by the
+leaves' rapid contact with each other.
+
+It was much like the click of butterflies' wings, but greatly
+exaggerated. A simple sound, but a sweet, wholesome one that made me
+think less of the winter's rigor and recalled the recent warm autumnal
+days. They were singing leaves, and the robin watched them closely as
+he stood near by, and chirped at times, as if to encourage them.
+Altogether it made a pretty picture, one of those that human skill has
+not yet transferred to a printed page; and our winter sunshine is full
+of just such beauty.
+
+How incomprehensible it is that any one should speak of the _few_
+robins that venture to remain! Flocks of a hundred or more are not
+uncommon in the depth of winter, and this recalls the fact that at
+this time of year robins are never alone. It may appear so for a time,
+but when the bird you are watching is ready to move on, his call will
+be answered by others that you have not seen, and half a dozen at
+least will fly off to new scenes.
+
+This is often noticed on a much larger scale when we flush robins in a
+field. They are generally widely scattered, and, go where you will,
+there will be one or two hopping before you; but when one takes alarm,
+the danger cry is heard by all, and a great flock will gather in the
+air in an incredibly short time.
+
+Robins are not lovers of frozen ground; they know where the earth
+resists frost, down in the marshy meadows, and there they congregate
+in the dreary midwinter afternoons, after spending the morning feeding
+upon berries. I have seen them picking those of the cedar, poison ivy,
+green brier, and even the seedy, withered fruit of the poke; but at
+times this question of food supply must be a difficult problem to
+solve, and then they leave us for a while, until pleasanter weather
+prevails, when they venture back.
+
+In April, when the chill of winter is no longer in its bones, the
+robin becomes prominent, and the more so because of the noise it
+makes. It sings fairly well, and early in the morning there is a world
+of suggestiveness in the ringing notes. The song is loud, declamatory,
+and acceptable more for the pleasant thoughts it occasions than for
+the actual melody. We are always glad to hear the robins, but never
+for the same reason that we listen to a wood thrush. Of course there
+are exceptions.
+
+With the close of the nesting season--and this extends well into the
+summer--much of the attractiveness of the bird disappears. As
+individual members of great loose flocks that fret the upper air with
+an incessant chirping, they offer little to entertain us even when the
+less hardy minstrels of the summer have sought their southern homes.
+
+It is true that they add something to the picture of a dreamy October
+afternoon when the mellow sunlight tips the wilted grasses with dull
+gold. They restore for the time the summertide activity of the meadows
+when with golden-winged woodpeckers they chase the crickets in the
+close-cropped pastures, but they are soon forgotten if a song sparrow
+sings or a wary hawk screams among the clouds. Robins are always
+welcome, but never more so than when they chatter, on an April
+morning, of the near future with its buds and blossoms.
+
+  --_From "Bird-Land Echoes," by Charles Conrad Abbott._
+
+
+
+
+THE MOTIONS OF BIRDS.
+
+
+A good ornithologist should be able to distinguish birds by their air
+as well as by their colors and shape, on the wing as well as on the
+ground; and in the bush as well as in the hand. For though it must not
+be said that every species of bird has a manner peculiar to itself,
+yet there is somewhat in most _genera_, at least, that at first sight
+discriminates them, and enables a judicious observer to pronounce upon
+them with some certainty.
+
+Thus kites and buzzards sail round in circles with wings expanded and
+motionless; and it is from their gliding manner that the former are
+still called in the north of England gleads, from the Saxon verb
+_glidan_, to glide. Hen harriers fly low over the meadows or fields of
+corn, and beat the ground regularly like a pointer or setting dog.
+Owls move in a buoyant manner, as if lighter than the air; they seem
+to want ballast.
+
+There is a peculiarity belonging to ravens that must draw the
+attention even of the most incurious--they spend all their leisure
+time in striking and cuffing each other on the wing in a kind of
+playful skirmish; and, when they move from one place to another,
+frequently turn on their backs with a loud croak, and seem to be
+falling to the ground. When this odd gesture betides them, they are
+scratching themselves with one foot, and thus lose the center of
+gravity. Rooks sometimes dive and tumble in a frolicsome manner; crows
+and daws swagger in their walk; woodpeckers fly with a wavy motion,
+opening and closing their wings at every stroke, and so are always
+rising or falling in curves. All of this genus use their tails, which
+incline downward, as a support while they run up trees. Parrots, like
+all other hooked-clawed birds, walk awkwardly, and make use of their
+bill as a third foot, climbing and descending with ridiculous caution.
+
+All the gallin� parade and walk gracefully, and run nimbly, but fly
+with difficulty, with an impetuous whirring, and in a straight line.
+Magpies and jays flutter with powerless wings, and make no dispatch;
+herons seem encumbered with too much sail for their light bodies, but
+these vast hollow wings are necessary in carrying burdens, such as
+large fishes, and the like; pigeons, and particularly the sort called
+smiters, have a way of clashing their wings, the one against the
+other, over their backs with a loud snap; another variety, called
+tumblers, turn themselves over in the air.
+
+The kingfisher darts along like an arrow; fern owls, or goatsuckers,
+glance in the dusk over the tops of trees like a meteor; swallows
+sweep over the surface of the ground and water, and distinguish
+themselves by rapid turns and quick evolutions; swifts dash round in
+circles; and the bank martin moves with frequent vacillations like a
+butterfly.
+
+Most small birds hop; but wagtails and larks walk, moving their legs
+alternately. All the duck kind waddle; divers and auks walk as if
+fettered, and stand erect, on their tails. Geese and cranes, and most
+wild fowls, move in figured flights, often changing their position.
+
+  --_From "The Natural History of Selbourne," by Gilbert White._
+
+
+
+
+THE ORIGIN OF RIVERS.
+
+
+Let us trace a river to its source. Beginning where it empties itself
+into the sea, and following it backwards, we find it from time to time
+joined by tributaries which swell its waters. The river of course
+becomes smaller as these tributaries are passed. It shrinks first to a
+brook, then to a stream; this again divides itself into a number of
+smaller streamlets, ending in mere threads of water. These constitute
+the source of the river, and are usually found among hills.
+
+Thus, the Severn has its source in the Welsh mountains; the Thames in
+the Cotswold Hills; the Missouri in the Rocky Mountains; and the
+Amazon in the Andes of Peru.
+
+[Illustration: John Tyndall.]
+
+But it is quite plain that we have not yet reached the real beginning
+of the rivers. Whence do the earliest streams derive their water? A
+brief residence among the mountains would prove to you that they are
+fed by rains. In dry weather you would find the streams feeble,
+sometimes, indeed, quite dried up. In wet weather you would see them
+foaming torrents. In general these streams lose themselves as little
+threads of water upon the hillsides; but sometimes you may trace a
+river to a definite spring. But you very soon assure yourself that
+such springs are also fed by rain, which has percolated through the
+rocks or soil, and which, through some orifice that it has found or
+formed, comes to the light of day.
+
+But we can not end here. Whence comes the rain that forms the mountain
+streams? Observation enables you to answer the question. Rain does not
+come from a clear sky. It comes from clouds.
+
+But what are clouds? Is there nothing you are acquainted with which
+they resemble? You discover at once a likeness between them and the
+condensed steam of a locomotive. At every puff of the engine a cloud
+is projected into the air.
+
+Watch the cloud sharply. You notice that it first forms at a little
+distance from the top of the funnel. Give close attention and you will
+sometimes see a perfectly clear space between the funnel and the
+cloud. Through that clear space the thing which makes the cloud must
+pass. What then is this thing which at one moment is transparent and
+invisible, and at the next moment visible as a dense opaque cloud?
+
+It is the _steam_ or _vapor of water_ from the boiler. Within the
+boiler this steam is transparent and invisible; but to keep it in this
+invisible state a heat would be required as great as that within the
+boiler. When the vapor mingles with the cold air above the hot funnel,
+it ceases to be vapor. Every bit of steam shrinks, when chilled, to a
+much more minute particle of water. The liquid particles thus produced
+form a kind of _water dust_ of exceeding fineness, which floats in the
+air, and is called a _cloud_.
+
+Watch the cloud banner from the funnel of a running locomotive: you
+see it growing gradually less dense. It finally melts away altogether,
+and, if you continue your observations, you will not fail to notice
+that the speed of its disappearance depends on the character of the
+day. In moist weather the cloud hangs long and lazily in the air; in
+dry weather it is rapidly licked up. What has become of it? It has
+been reconverted into true invisible vapor. The _drier_ the air, and
+the _hotter_ the air, the greater is the amount of cloud which can be
+thus dissolved in it.
+
+Make the lid of a kettle air-tight, and permit the steam to issue from
+the spout; a cloud is formed in all respects similar to that which
+issues from the funnel of the locomotive. To produce the cloud, in the
+case of the locomotive and the kettle, _heat_ is necessary. By heating
+the water we first convert it into steam, and then by chilling the
+steam we convert it into cloud. Is there any fire in nature which
+produces the clouds of our atmosphere? There is--the fire of the sun.
+
+By tracing the course of a river, we find that both its beginning and
+its ending are in the sea. All its water is derived from the sea, and to
+the sea it returns its floods. But if we seek for its causes, we find
+that its beginning and its ending are in the sun. For it is the fire of
+the sun that produces the clouds from which the water of the river is
+derived, and it is the same fire of the sun that dries up its stream.
+
+  --_Adapted from "Forms of Water in Clouds and Rivers,"
+  by John Tyndall._
+
+
+
+
+ADDRESS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN
+
+AT THE DEDICATION OF GETTYSBURG CEMETERY, THE 19TH OF NOVEMBER, 1863.
+
+
+Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this
+continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the
+proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a
+great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so
+conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great
+battlefield of the war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that
+field as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives
+that their nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that
+we should do this.
+
+[Illustration: Abraham Lincoln.]
+
+But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate, we can not consecrate, we
+can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who
+struggled here, have consecrated it far above our power to add or
+detract. The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say
+here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us, the
+living, rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they
+who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to
+be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us--that from these
+honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they
+gave the last full measure of devotion--that we here highly resolve that
+these dead shall not have died in vain--that this nation, under God,
+shall have a new birth of freedom--and that government of the people, by
+the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
+
+
+
+
+THE AMERICAN FLAG.
+
+
+    When Freedom, from her mountain height,
+      Unfurled her standard to the air,
+    She tore the azure robe of night,
+      And set the stars of glory there;
+    She mingled with its gorgeous dyes
+    The milky baldric of the skies,
+    And striped its pure, celestial white
+    With streakings of the morning light;
+    Then from his mansion in the sun
+    She called her eagle bearer down,
+    And gave into his mighty hand
+    The symbol of her chosen land.
+
+[Illustration: Joseph Rodman Drake.]
+
+    Flag of the brave! thy folds shall fly,
+    The sign of hope and triumph high!
+    When speaks the signal trumpet tone,
+    And the long line comes gleaming on
+    (Ere yet the life blood, warm and wet,
+    Has dimmed the glistening bayonet),
+    Each soldier's eye shall brightly turn
+    To where thy sky-born glories burn,
+    And as his springing steps advance,
+    Catch war and vengeance from thy glance.
+    And when the cannon mouthings loud
+    Heave in wild wreaths the battle shroud,
+    And gory sabers rise and fall,
+    Like shoots of flame on midnight's pall,
+    Then shall thy meteor glances glow,
+      And cowering foes shall sink beneath
+    Each gallant arm that strikes below
+      That lovely messenger of death.
+    Flag of the seas! on ocean's wave
+    Thy stars shall glitter o'er the brave;
+    When death, careering on the gale,
+    Sweeps darkly round the bellied sail,
+    And frighted waves rush wildly back
+    Before the broadside's reeling rack,
+    Each dying wanderer of the sea
+    Shall look at once to heaven and thee,
+    And smile to see thy splendors fly
+    In triumph o'er his closing eye.
+
+    Flag of the free heart's hope and home,
+      By angel hands to valor given,
+    Thy stars have lit the welkin dome,
+      And all thy hues were born in heaven.
+    Forever float that standard sheet!
+      Where breathes the foe, but falls before us,
+    With Freedom's soil beneath our feet,
+      And Freedom's banner streaming o'er us!
+
+  --_Joseph Rodman Drake._
+
+
+
+
+THE LAST FIGHT IN THE COLISEUM, A.D. 404.
+
+[Illustration: Charlotte M. Yonge.]
+
+
+The grandest and most renowned of all ancient amphitheaters is the
+Coliseum at Rome. It was built by Vespasian and his son Titus, the
+conquerors of Jerusalem, in a valley in the midst of the seven hills
+of Rome. The captive Jews were forced to labor at it; and the
+materials--granite outside, and a softer stone within--are so solid,
+and so admirably put together, that still, at the end of eighteen
+centuries, it has scarcely even become a ruin, but remains one of the
+greatest wonders of Rome. Five acres of ground were inclosed within
+the oval of its outer wall, which outside rises perpendicularly in
+tiers of arches one above another. Within, the galleries of seats
+projected forwards, each tier coming out far beyond the one above it;
+so that between the lowest and the outer wall there was room for a
+great variety of chambers, passages, and vaults around the central
+space, called the arena.
+
+Altogether, when full, this huge building held no fewer than 87,000
+spectators! It had no roof; but when there was rain, or if the sun was
+too hot, the sailors in the porticoes unfurled awnings that ran along
+upon ropes, and formed a covering of silk and gold tissue over the
+whole. Purple was the favorite color for this veil, because, when the
+sun shone through it, it cast such beautiful rosy tints on the snowy
+arena and the white purple-edged togas of the Roman citizens.
+
+When the emperor had seated himself and given the signal, the sports
+began. Sometimes a rope dancing elephant would begin the
+entertainment, by mounting even to the summit of the building and
+descending by a cord. Or a lion came forth with a jeweled crown on his
+head, a diamond necklace round his neck, his mane plaited with gold,
+and his claws gilded, and played a hundred pretty gentle antics with a
+little hare that danced fearlessly within his grasp.
+
+Sometimes water was let into the arena, a ship sailed in, and falling
+to pieces in the midst, sent a crowd of strange animals swimming in
+all directions. Sometimes the ground opened, and trees came growing up
+through it, bearing golden fruit. Or the beautiful old tale of Orpheus
+was acted: these trees would follow the harp and song of a musician;
+but--to make the whole part complete--it was no mere play, but in real
+earnest, that the Orpheus of the piece fell a prey to live bears.
+
+For the Coliseum had not been built for such harmless spectacles as
+those first described. The fierce Romans wanted to be excited and to
+feel themselves strongly stirred; and, presently, the doors of the pits
+and dens around the arena were thrown open, and absolutely savage beasts
+were let loose upon one another--rhinoceroses and tigers, bulls and
+lions, leopards and wild boars--while the people watched with ferocious
+curiosity to see the various kinds of attack and defense, their ears at
+the same time being delighted, instead of horror-struck, by the roars
+and howls of the noble creatures whose courage was thus misused.
+
+[Illustration: The Coliseum at the Present Day.]
+
+Wild beasts tearing each other to pieces might, one would think,
+satisfy any taste for horror; but the spectators needed even nobler
+game to be set before their favorite monsters:--men were brought
+forward to confront them. Some of these were, at first, in full armor,
+and fought hard, generally with success. Or hunters came, almost
+unarmed, and gained the victory by swiftness and dexterity, throwing a
+piece of cloth over a lion's head, or disconcerting him by putting
+their fist down his throat. But it was not only skill, but death, that
+the Romans loved to see; and condemned criminals and deserters were
+reserved to feast the lions, and to entertain the populace with their
+various kinds of death. Among those condemned was many a Christian
+martyr, who witnessed a good confession before the savage-eyed
+multitude around the arena, and "met the lion's gory mane" with a calm
+resolution and a hopeful joy that the lookers-on could not understand.
+To see a Christian die, with upward gaze, and hymns of joy on his
+tongue, was the most strange and unaccountable sight the Coliseum
+could offer; and it was therefore the choicest, and reserved for the
+last of the spectacles in which the brute creation had a part.
+
+The carcasses were dragged off with hooks, the bloodstained sand was
+covered with a fresh green layer, perfume was wafted in stronger
+clouds, and a procession come forward--tall, well-made men, in the
+prime of their strength. Some carried a sword and a lasso, others a
+trident and a net; some were in light armor, others in the full, heavy
+equipment of a soldier; some on horseback, some in chariots, some on
+foot. They marched in, and made their obeisance to the emperor; and
+with one voice their greeting sounded through the building: "Hail,
+C�sar; those about to die salute thee!" They were the gladiators--the
+swordsmen trained to fight to the death to amuse the populace.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+  From the Painting by J. L. Gerome.      Engraved by Henry Wolf.
+
+  The Last Prayer--Christian Martyrs in the Coliseum.
+]
+
+Fights of all sorts took place,--the light-armed soldier and the
+netsman--the lasso and the javelin--the two heavy-armed warriors,--all
+combinations of single combat, and sometimes a general m�l�e. When a
+gladiator wounded his adversary, he shouted to the spectators, "He has
+it!" and looked up to know whether he should kill or spare. When the
+people held up their thumbs, the conquered was left to recover, if he
+could; if they turned them down, he was to die; and if he showed any
+reluctance to present his throat for the deathblow, there was a
+scornful shout, "Receive the steel!"
+
+      "I see before me the gladiator lie:
+        He leans upon his hand; his manly brow
+      Consents to death, but conquers agony;
+        And his drooped head sinks gradually low;
+        And through his side the last drops, ebbing slow
+      From the red gash, fall heavy, one by one,
+        Like the first of a thunder-shower; and now
+      The arena swims around him--he is gone,
+    Ere ceased the inhuman shout which hailed the wretch who won."
+
+Christianity, however, worked its way upwards, and at last was
+professed by the emperor on his throne. Persecution came to an end,
+and no more martyrs fed the beasts in the Coliseum. The Christian
+emperors endeavored to prevent any more shows where cruelty and death
+formed the chief interest, and no truly religious person could endure
+the spectacle; but custom and love of excitement prevailed even
+against the emperor. They went on for fully a hundred years after Rome
+had, in name, become a Christian city.
+
+Meantime the enemies of Rome were coming nearer and nearer. Alaric, the
+great chief of the Goths, led his forces into Italy, and threatened the
+city itself. Honorius, the emperor, was a cowardly, almost idiotic boy;
+but his brave general, Stilicho, assembled his forces, met the Goths,
+and gave them a complete defeat, on Easter day of the year 403. He
+pursued them to the mountains, and for that time saved Rome.
+
+In the joy of victory, the Roman Senate invited the conqueror and his
+ward Honorius to enter the city in triumph, at the opening of the new
+year, with the white steeds, purple robes, and vermilion cheeks with
+which, of old, victorious generals were welcomed at Rome. The churches
+were visited instead of the Temple of Jupiter, and there was no murder
+of the captives; but Roman bloodthirstiness was not yet allayed, and,
+after the procession had been completed, the Coliseum shows commenced,
+innocently at first, with races on foot, on horseback, and in chariots;
+then followed a grand hunt of beasts turned loose in the arena; and next
+a sword dance. But after the sword dance came the arraying of swordsmen,
+with no blunted weapons, but with sharp spears and swords--a gladiator
+combat in full earnest. The people, enchanted, applauded with shouts of
+ecstasy this gratification of their savage tastes.
+
+Suddenly, however, there was an interruption. A rude, roughly robed
+man, bareheaded and barefooted, had sprung into the arena, and, waving
+back the gladiators, began to call aloud upon the people to cease from
+the shedding of innocent blood, and not to requite God's mercy, in
+turning away the sword of the enemy, by encouraging murder. Shouts,
+howls, cries, broke in upon his words; this was no place for
+preachings,--the old customs of Rome should be observed,--"Back, old
+man!"--"On, gladiators!"
+
+The gladiators thrust aside the meddler, and rushed to the attack. He
+still stood between, holding them apart, striving in vain to be heard.
+"Sedition! sedition!"--"Down with him!"--was the cry; and the prefect
+in authority himself added his voice. The gladiators, enraged at
+interference with their vocation, cut him down. Stones, or whatever
+came to hand, rained upon him from the furious people, and he perished
+in the midst of the arena! He lay dead; and then the people began to
+reflect upon what had been done.
+
+His dress showed that he was one of the hermits who had vowed themselves
+to a life of prayer and self-denial, and who were greatly reverenced,
+even by the most thoughtless. The few who had previously seen him, told
+that he had come from the wilds of Asia on a pilgrimage, to visit the
+shrines and keep his Christmas at Rome. They knew that he was a holy
+man--no more. But his spirit had been stirred by the sight of thousands
+flocking to see men slaughter one another, and in his simple-hearted
+zeal he had resolved to stop the cruelty, or die.
+
+He had died, but not in vain. His work was done. The shock of such a
+death before their eyes turned the hearts of the people; they saw the
+wickedness and cruelty to which they had blindly surrendered
+themselves; and since the day when the hermit died in the Coliseum,
+there has never been another fight of gladiators. The custom was
+utterly abolished; and one habitual crime at least was wiped from the
+earth by the self-devotion of one humble, obscure, and nameless man.
+
+  --_From "A Book of Golden Deeds," by Charlotte Yonge._
+
+
+
+
+THE PASSING OF ARTHUR.
+
+
+The reader has already become somewhat acquainted with the marvelous
+history of King Arthur, and has read about the poems and romances by
+which the memory of his life and exploits have been preserved. He has
+also read the mythical account of the King's last hours on earth as
+recorded in the quaint old romance written by Sir Thomas Malory. Here
+he may read another rendering of the same story, written in grand and
+beautiful poetic form by Alfred Tennyson. In the "Idylls of the King,"
+Lord Tennyson has given us a complete history of Arthur and of the
+brave knights and fair ladies who lived at his court. These poems are
+among the noblest ever written in our language. Turn now to the last
+story in "School Reading by Grades--Fifth Year," and compare each
+passage in that brief narrative with its corresponding passage in the
+following poem.
+
+      So all day long the noise of battle roll'd
+    Among the mountains by the winter sea;
+    Until King Arthur's Table, man by man,
+    Had fall'n in Lyonesse about their lord,
+    King Arthur. Then, because his wound was deep,
+    The bold Sir Bedivere uplifted him,
+    Sir Bedivere, the last of all his knights,
+    And bore him to a chapel nigh the field,
+    A broken chancel with a broken cross,
+    That stood on a dark strait of barren land.
+    On one side lay the Ocean, and on one
+    Lay a great water, and the moon was full.
+      Then spake King Arthur to Sir Bedivere:
+    "The sequel of to-day unsolders all
+    The goodliest fellowship of famous knights
+    Whereof this world holds record. Such a sleep
+    They sleep--the men I loved. I think that we
+    Shall never more, at any future time,
+    Delight our souls with talk of knightly deeds,
+    Walking about the gardens and the halls
+    Of Camelot, as in the days that were.
+    I perish by this people which I made,--
+    Tho' Merlin sware that I should come again
+    To rule once more; but let what will be, be,
+    I am so deeply smitten thro' the helm
+    That without help I can not last till morn.
+    Thou therefore take my brand Excalibur,
+    Which was my pride: for thou rememberest how
+    In those old days, one summer noon, an arm
+    Rose up from out the bosom of the lake,
+    Clothed in white samite, mystic, wonderful,
+    Holding the sword--and how I row'd across
+    And took it, and have worn it, like a king:
+    And, wheresoever I am sung or told
+    In after time, this also shall be known:
+    But now delay not: take Excalibur,
+    And fling him far into the middle mere;
+    Watch what thou se�st and lightly bring me word."
+      To him replied the bold Sir Bedivere:
+    "It is not meet, Sir King, to leave thee thus,
+    Aidless, alone, and smitten thro' the helm.
+    A little thing may harm a wounded man.
+    Yet I thy hest will all perform at full,
+    Watch what I see, and lightly bring thee word."
+      So saying, from the ruin'd shrine he stept,
+    And in the moon athwart the place of tombs,
+    Where lay the mighty bones of ancient men,
+    Old knights, and over them the sea wind sang
+    Shrill, chill, with flakes of foam. He, stepping down
+    By zigzag paths, and juts of pointed rock,
+    Came on the shining levels of the lake.
+      There drew he forth the brand Excalibur,
+    And o'er him, drawing it, the winter moon,
+    Brightening the skirts of a long cloud, ran forth
+    And sparkled keen with frost against the hilt:
+    For all the haft twinkled with diamond sparks,
+    Myriads of topaz lights, and jacinth work
+    Of subtlest jewelry. He gazed so long
+    That both his eyes were dazzled, as he stood,
+    This way and that dividing the swift mind,
+    In act to throw: but at the last it seem'd
+    Better to leave Excalibur conceal'd
+    There in the many-knotted waterflags,
+    That whistled stiff and dry about the marge.
+    So strode he back slow to the wounded King.
+      Then spake King Arthur to Sir Bedivere:
+    "Hast thou perform'd my mission which I gave?
+    What is it thou hast seen? or what hast heard?"
+      And answer made the bold Sir Bedivere:
+    "I heard the ripple washing in the reeds,
+    And the wild water lapping on the crag."
+      To whom replied King Arthur, faint and pale:
+    "Thou hast betray'd thy nature and thy name,
+    Not rendering true answer, as beseem'd
+    Thy f�alty, nor like a noble knight:
+    For surer sign had follow'd, either hand,
+    Or voice, or else a motion of the mere.
+    This is a shameful thing for men to lie.
+    Yet now I charge thee, quickly go again,
+    As thou art lief and dear, and do the thing
+    I bade thee, watch, and lightly bring me word."
+      Then went Sir Bedivere the second time
+    Across the ridge, and paced beside the mere,
+    Counting the dewy pebbles, fix'd in thought;
+    But when he saw the wonder of the hilt,
+    How curiously and strangely chased, he smote
+    His palms together, and he cried aloud:
+      "And if indeed I cast the brand away,
+    Surely a precious thing, one worthy note,
+    Should thus be lost for ever from the earth,
+    Which might have pleased the eyes of many men.
+    What good should follow this, if this were done?
+    What harm, undone? deep harm to disobey,
+    Seeing obedience is the bond of rule.
+    Were it well to obey then, if a king demand
+    An act unprofitable, against himself?
+    The King is sick, and knows not what he does.
+    What record, or what relic of my lord
+    Should be to after time, but empty breath
+    And rumors of a doubt? but were this kept,
+    Stored in some treasure-house of mighty kings,
+    Some one might show it at a joust of arms,
+    Saying, 'King Arthur's sword, Excalibur,
+    Wrought by the lonely maiden of the Lake.
+    Nine years she wrought it, sitting in the deeps
+    Upon the hidden bases of the hills.'
+    So might some old man speak in the after time
+    To all the people, winning reverence.
+    But now much honor and much fame were lost."
+      So spake he, clouded with his own conceit,--
+    And hid Excalibur the second time,
+    And so strode back slow to the wounded King.
+      Then spoke King Arthur, breathing heavily:
+    "What is it thou hast seen? or what hast heard?"
+      And answer made the bold Sir Bedivere:
+    "I heard the water lapping on the crag,
+    And the long ripple washing in the reeds."
+      To whom replied King Arthur, much in wrath:
+    "Ah, miserable and unkind, untrue,
+    Unknightly, traitor-hearted! Woe is me!
+    Authority forgets a dying king,
+    Laid widow'd of the power in his eye
+    That bow'd the will. I see thee what thou art,
+    For thou, the latest-left of all my knights,
+    In whom should meet the offices of all,
+    Thou wouldst betray me for the precious hilt;
+    Either from lust of gold, or like a girl
+    Valuing the giddy pleasure of the eyes.
+    Yet, for a man may fail in duty twice,
+    And the third time may prosper, get thee hence:
+    But, if thou spare to fling Excalibur,
+    I will arise and slay thee with my hands."
+      Then quickly rose Sir Bedivere, and ran,
+    And, leaping down the ridges lightly, plunged
+    Among the bulrush beds, and clutch'd the sword,
+    And strongly wheel'd and threw it. The great brand
+    Made lightnings in the splendor of the moon,
+    And flashing round and round, and whirl'd in an arch,
+    Shot like a streamer of the northern morn,
+    Seen where the moving isles of winter shock
+    By night, with noises of the Northern Sea.
+    So flash'd and fell the brand Excalibur:
+    But ere he dipt the surface, rose an arm
+    Clothed in white samite, mystic, wonderful,
+    And caught him by the hilt, and brandish'd him
+    Three times, and drew him under in the mere.
+    And lightly went the other to the King.
+      Then spoke King Arthur, drawing thicker breath:
+    "Now see I by thine eyes that this is done.
+    Speak out: what is it thou hast heard, or seen?"
+      And answer made the bold Sir Bedivere:
+    "Sir King, I closed mine eyelids, lest the gems
+    Should blind my purpose, for I never saw,
+    Nor shall see, here or elsewhere, till I die,
+    Not tho' I live three lives of mortal men,
+    So great a miracle as yonder hilt.
+    Then with both hands I flung him, wheeling him;
+    But when I look'd again, behold an arm,
+    Clothed in white samite, mystic, wonderful,
+    That caught him by the hilt, and brandish'd him
+    Three times and drew him under in the mere."
+      And answer made King Arthur, breathing hard:
+    "My end draws nigh; 'tis time that I were gone.
+    Make broad thy shoulders to receive my weight,
+    And bear me to the margin; yet I fear
+    My wound hath taken cold, and I shall die."
+      So saying, from the pavement he half rose,
+    Slowly, with pain, reclining on his arm,
+    And looking wistfully with wide blue eyes
+    As in a picture. Him Sir Bedivere
+    Remorsefully regarded thro' his tears,
+    And would have spoken, but he found not words;
+    Then took with care, and kneeling on one knee,
+    O'er both his shoulders drew the languid hands,
+    And rising bore him thro' the place of tombs.
+      But, as he walk'd, King Arthur panted hard,
+    Like one that feels a nightmare on his bed
+    When all the house is mute. So sigh'd the King,
+    Muttering and murmuring at his ear, "Quick, quick!
+    I fear it is too late, and I shall die."
+    But the other swiftly strode from ridge to ridge,
+    Clothed with his breath, and looking as he walk'd,
+    Larger than human on the frozen hills.
+    He heard the deep behind him, and a cry
+    Before. His own thought drove him, like a goad.
+    Dry clash'd his harness in the icy caves
+    And barren chasms, and all to left and right
+    The bare black cliff clang'd round him, as he based
+    His feet on jets of slippery crag that rang
+    Sharp-smitten with the dint of armed heels--
+    And on a sudden, lo! the level lake,
+    And the long glories of the winter moon.
+      Then saw they how there hove a dusky barge,
+    Dark as a funeral scarf from stem to stern,
+    Beneath them; and descending they were ware
+    That all the decks were dense with stately forms
+    Black-stoled, black-hooded, like a dream--by these
+    Three Queens with crowns of gold--and from them rose
+    A cry that shiver'd to the tingling stars,
+    And, as it were one voice, an agony
+    Of lamentation, like a wind, that shrills
+    All night in a waste land, where no one comes,
+    Or hath come, since the making of the world.
+      Then murmur'd Arthur, "Place me in the barge."
+    So to the barge they came. There those three Queens
+    Put forth their hands, and took the King, and wept....
+      Then loudly cried the bold Sir Bedivere:
+    "Ah! my Lord Arthur, whither shall I go?
+    Where shall I hide my forehead and my eyes?
+    For now I see the true old times are dead,
+    When every morning brought a noble chance,
+    And every chance brought out a noble knight....
+    But now the whole Round Table is dissolved
+    Which was an image of the mighty world,
+    And I, the last, go forth companionless,
+    And the days darken round me, and the years,
+    Among new men, strange faces, other minds."
+      And slowly answered Arthur from the barge:
+    "The old order changeth, yielding place to new,
+    And God fulfills himself in many ways,
+    Lest one good custom should corrupt the world.
+    Comfort thyself; what comfort is in me?
+    I have lived my life, and that which I have done
+    May He within himself make pure! but thou,
+    If thou shouldst never see my face again,
+    Pray for my soul. More things are wrought by prayer
+    Than this world dreams of. Wherefore, let thy voice
+    Rise like a fountain for me night and day.
+    For what are men better than sheep or goats
+    That nourish a blind life within the brain,
+    If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer
+    Both for themselves and those who call them friends?
+    For so the whole round earth is every way
+    Bound by gold chains about the feet of God.
+    But now farewell. I am going a long way
+    With these thou se�st--if indeed I go
+    (For all my mind is clouded with a doubt)--
+    To the island-valley of Avilion
+    Where falls not hail, or rain, or any snow,
+    Nor ever wind blows loudly; but it lies
+    Deep-meadow'd, happy, fair with orchard lawns
+    And bowery hollows crown'd with summer sea,
+    Where I will heal me of my grievous wound."
+      So said he, and the barge with oar and sail
+    Moved from the brink, like some full-breasted swan
+    That, fluting a wild carol ere her death,
+    Ruffles her pure cold plume, and takes the flood
+    With swarthy webs. Long stood Sir Bedivere
+    Revolving many memories, till the hull
+    Look'd one black dot against the verge of dawn,
+    And on the mere the wailing died away.
+
+  --_From "The Idylls of the King," by Alfred Tennyson._
+
+
+
+
+FOR STUDY AND REFERENCE.
+
+
+PRINCIPLES OF GOOD READING.
+
+To become a good reader, patient and long-continued practice is
+necessary. We learn to read by much reading and never by the study of
+formal rules. Nevertheless, a knowledge of the following general
+principles and definitions may be of some value in assisting the
+learner to acquire correct habits in the practice of oral reading.
+
+PRONUNCIATION.
+
+Under this term are included Articulation, Syllabication, and Accent.
+
+Correct articulation requires that each letter, syllable, and word
+should be clearly and properly pronounced. Incorrect articulation is
+the result either of careless habits or of natural defects. In either
+case, it may be largely overcome by persistent and careful drill in
+the pronunciation of those words in which the greatest difficulty is
+experienced. Conversation, declamation, calisthenics, singing, and
+similar exercises should be engaged in, in order to assist in
+overcoming habits of timidity or diffidence, and to give increased
+power and flexibility to the vocal organs.
+
+Syllabication and accent are learned by careful observation and by
+reference, in all cases of doubt, to some standard dictionary.
+
+EXPRESSION.
+
+Correct expression in reading has reference to tone of voice,
+inflection, pitch, emphasis, all of which are included under
+modulation.
+
+TONE.
+
+Tone, or quality of voice, is the kind of sound employed in reading or
+speaking. A conversational tone is such as is used in ordinary
+conversation for the expression of quiet or unemotional thoughts. A
+full tone of voice is used in the expression of high or lofty
+sentiments, and of feelings of joy, courage, or exultation. A middle
+tone is used in the rendering of expressions which while not
+conversational in character are too unimpassioned to require a full
+tone. A low or subdued tone is used in passages where the sense
+requires a suppression of sound. The only rule necessary is this:
+_Study so to regulate the tone of voice that it shall always be in
+harmony with the thoughts expressed._
+
+INFLECTION.
+
+Inflection is the upward or downward movement of the voice in speaking
+or reading. There are two inflections: the _rising inflection_, in
+which the voice slides upward; and the _falling inflection_, in which
+the voice slides downward. Sometimes there is a union of the two
+inflections upon a single sound or syllable, in order to express
+surprise, scorn, irony, sorrow, or other strong or peculiar emotion.
+This union of inflections is called _circumflex_. No rule for
+inflections can be given which is not subject to numerous exceptions.
+The movement of the voice, whether upward or downward, is in all cases
+determined by the thought in the sentence. _That inflection should be
+used which will assist to convey, in the most natural and forcible
+manner, the meaning intended by the author._
+
+PITCH.
+
+Very closely related to tone and inflection is pitch, by which is meant
+the degree of elevation of the voice. Pitch may be _middle_, _high_, or
+_low_. Middle pitch is that which is used in common conversation and in
+the expression of unemotional thoughts. Light and joyous emotions and
+lively narration require a high pitch. Passages expressing sadness, deep
+joy, dignified serenity of mind, and kindred emotions, require a low
+pitch. Hence, the only rule to be observed is this: _Let the pitch be
+always in harmony with the sentiments to be expressed._
+
+EMPHASIS.
+
+Emphasis is any change of pitch, or variation of the voice, which
+serves to call special attention to an important word, syllable, or
+expression. The only rule that can be given for securing correctness
+of emphasis is: _Be natural._ Children, in ordinary conversation,
+never make mistakes in emphasis. If they are made to understand what
+they are reading, have not been permitted to imitate incorrect models,
+and are not hampered by unnecessary rules, they will read as well as
+they talk. Let reading be but conversation from the book, and not only
+emphasis, but pitch and inflection will require but little separate
+attention, and no special rules.
+
+PAUSES.
+
+Pauses in reading are necessary to make the meaning clear or to assist
+in the proper modulation of the voice and therefore in the correct
+rendering of the sentiments of the author. The former are called
+grammatical pauses, and are indicated by the marks of punctuation; the
+latter are called rhetorical pauses, and depend for their correct
+usage upon the reader's understanding of the thoughts which he is
+endeavoring to render. In reading poetry, a slight pause is generally
+proper at the end of each line, and sometimes also at the middle of
+each line. The latter is called the _c�sural_ pause. The object of
+poetic pauses is simply to promote the melody.
+
+
+AUTHORS AND BOOKS.
+
+=Abbott, Charles Conrad=, the author of the essay on "The Robin" (page
+197), is an American writer and naturalist. He was born at Trenton, N.
+J., in 1843. He is an ardent lover of nature, and has written several
+delightful books on subjects relating to popular science and outdoor
+life. Among these are "Birdland Echoes," from which the above-named
+essay is taken; "A Naturalist's Wanderings about Home," and "Waste
+Land Wanderings."
+
+=Aytoun= ([=a]�toon), =William Edmonstoune=, the author of the selection
+entitled "The Pass of Killiecrankie" (page 138), was a Scottish lawyer
+and poet. Born in Edinburgh, 1813; died, 1865. He was for many years one
+of the editors of "Blackwood's Magazine." He wrote "Lays of the Scottish
+Cavaliers," "Ballads of Scotland," and other poems.
+
+=Blackmore, Richard D.=, the author of "Lorna Doone," is an English
+lawyer and novelist. Born in Berkshire, 1825. Besides "Lorna Doone,"
+he has written "Alice Lorraine," "Springhaven," "The Maid of Sker,"
+and several other stories.
+
+=Browning, Mrs. Elizabeth Barrett=, the author of "The Romance of the
+Swan's Nest" (page 98), was an English poet. Born in Durham, England,
+1806. In 1846 she married Robert Browning, and during the rest of her
+life resided chiefly at Florence, Italy, where she died in 1861. She
+wrote "Prometheus Bound" (1833), "Aurora Leigh" (1857), and many
+shorter poems.
+
+=Bryant, William Cullen=, the author of "The Death of the Flowers"
+(page 18), was one of the most popular of American poets. Born at
+Cummington, Mass., 1794; died at New York, 1878. Besides his poems, he
+wrote translations of Homer's "Iliad" and "Odyssey," and was for more
+than half a century one of the editors of "The Evening Post" (New York).
+
+=Buckley, Arabella Burton=, is an English author and naturalist. Born
+at Brighton, England, 1840. She has written several books on
+scientific subjects for young readers: "The Fairy Land of Science,"
+from which our selection is taken (page 29), "Winners in Life's Race,"
+and "Life and her Children."
+
+=Campbell, Thomas=: A British poet and critic. Born at Glasgow,
+Scotland, 1777; died, 1844. He wrote "The Pleasures of Hope,"
+"Hohenlinden," "Lochiel's Warning," and many other well-known poems.
+
+"=Cloister and the Hearth, The=": An historical romance, by Charles
+Reade, first published in 1861. The scenes are laid mostly in Holland
+and Italy, and the time is the middle of the fifteenth century. See
+page 153.
+
+=Collier, W. F.=, author of the sketch on "Life in Norman England" (page
+89), is an English historian. He has written "The History of the British
+Empire," "A History of England," and several other similar works.
+
+=Cowper, William=: A celebrated English poet. Born, 1731; died, 1800.
+His principal work was "The Task," from which our brief selection
+(page 196) has been taken. He wrote also "John Gilpin," "Tirocinium,"
+and several other poems.
+
+"=David Copperfield, The Personal History of=": A novel, by Charles
+Dickens, first published in 1849. "Of all my books," says Dickens, "I
+like this the best." Many scenes in the novelist's own life are
+depicted in this story. The character from whom the book took its name
+is a timid boy reduced to desperation by the cruelty of his
+stepfather, Mr. Murdstone. At ten years of age he is sent to a
+warehouse in London, where he was employed in rough work at a small
+salary. He finally runs away, and is protected and adopted by an
+eccentric maiden lady, Miss Betsey Trotwood. He becomes a writer, and
+marries a gentle, innocent little lady, whom he calls his "child
+wife"; she dies, and he afterwards marries a woman of stronger mind,
+named Agnes Wickfield. The selection which we give (page 121) is a
+fair example of the style which characterizes the story.
+
+=Dickens, Charles=: The most popular of English novelists. Born, 1812;
+died, 1870. Wrote "The Pickwick Papers," "Nicholas Nickleby," "Oliver
+Twist," "David Copperfield," from which our story of "The Shipwreck"
+(page 121) has been taken, and numerous other works of fiction.
+
+=Drake, Joseph Rodman=, author of "The American Flag" (page 206), was
+an American poet. Born at New York, 1795; died, 1820. His principal
+work was "The Culprit Fay," written in 1816.
+
+=Everett, Edward=: An American statesman and orator. Born at Boston,
+Mass., 1794; died, 1865. He was editor of the "North American Review,"
+member of Congress, Governor of Massachusetts, President of Harvard
+College, Secretary of State in the cabinet of Millard Fillmore, and
+United States Senator from Massachusetts. His orations and speeches
+fill four volumes.
+
+=Froude, James Anthony=: A noted English historian. Born, 1818; died,
+1894. His chief work was a "History of England from the Fall of Wolsey
+to the Defeat of the Spanish Armada." He also wrote four volumes of
+"Short Studies on Great Subjects," "C�sar, a Sketch," "Life of Lord
+Beaconsfield," "Life of Carlyle," etc.
+
+=Hemans, Mrs. Felicia=: An English poet. Born at Liverpool, 1793; died,
+1835. She wrote numerous short poems, which were at one time very
+popular. She is best remembered in this country as the author of "The
+Landing of the Pilgrims" (page 195), "Casabianca," and similar pieces.
+
+=Hogg, James=: A Scottish poet, often called from his occupation the
+Ettrick Shepherd. Born, 1770; died, 1835. Among his poems are "The
+Queen's Wake" (1813), "The Pilgrims of the Sun" (1815), and many short
+pieces.
+
+=Howells, William Dean=: An American novelist and poet. Born at
+Martinsville, Ohio, 1837. He was for ten years editor of the "Atlantic
+Monthly." He has written numerous novels, several short comedies or
+farces, and a volume of poetry. Our selection is from one of his
+latest works, "Stories of Ohio," a series of sketches relating to the
+settlement and early history of that commonwealth.
+
+=Hunt, James Henry Leigh=, author of the poem entitled "The Glove and
+the Lions" (page 119), was an English essayist and poet. Born, 1784;
+died, 1859. His chief poem is "The Story of Rimini"; his principal
+prose works are "Life of Lord Byron" (1828), and "Autobiography" (1850).
+
+"=Idylls of the King=": The first part of this noble poem by Lord
+Tennyson appeared in 1859, and the remaining parts were issued at
+various intervals until its completion. It comprises twelve books, or
+poems, which should be read in the following order: "The Coming of
+Arthur," "Gareth and Lynette," "The Marriage of Geraint," "Geraint and
+Enid," "Balin and Balan," "Merlin and Vivien," "Lancelot and Elaine,"
+"The Holy Grail," "Pelleas and Etarre," "The Last Tournament,"
+"Guinevere," "The Passing of Arthur." Taken together in this order,
+these various poems present a complete and connected history of King
+Arthur and his knights. See page 216.
+
+=Ingelow= (in�je l[=o]), =Jean=: An English poet and novelist. Born at
+Boston, Lincolnshire, 1830; died, 1897. Wrote "Off the Skelligs,"
+"Fated to be Free," "A Motto Changed," several children's books, and
+numerous poems.
+
+=Irving, Washington=: An eminent American writer. Born, 1783; died,
+1859. His principal works are "Columbus and his Companions" (from
+which the extract beginning on page 25 is taken), "The Sketch Book,"
+"Tales of a Traveler" (1824), "The Conquest of Granada" (1829), "The
+Alhambra" (1832), "Oliver Goldsmith" (1849), "Mahomet and His
+Successors" (1850), "Life of George Washington" (1859).
+
+"=Job, The Book of=": One of the books of the Old Testament, the
+authorship of which is unknown, but has been ascribed to various
+persons and periods of time. It is doubtless one of the oldest
+literary productions in our possession, and may be described as a
+poetic drama, having a didactic purpose. The hero of the book is Job,
+a man of great wealth and prosperity, who has been suddenly overtaken
+by misfortune. The great literary merit of the work is recognized by
+all scholars.
+
+=Johnson, Dr. Samuel=: An eminent English essayist, poet, and
+lexicographer. Born, 1709; died, 1784. For his biography, see
+Macaulay's essay on his life and works in "School Reading by
+Grades--Seventh Year."
+
+=Jonson, Ben=: A celebrated English poet and dramatist. Born, 1573;
+died, 1637. Among his plays are "Every Man in his Humour" (1598),
+"Cynthia's Revels" (1600), "The Alchemist" (1610), etc.
+
+=Kingsley, Charles=: An eminent English author and clergyman. See
+Biographical Notes in "School Reading by Grades--Fifth Year."
+
+"=Lays of Ancient Rome=": A volume of poems written by Lord Macaulay
+and first published in 1842. It includes "Horatius" (see page 32),
+"The Battle of Lake Regillus," "Virginia," and "The Prophecy of Capys."
+
+=Lewes= (l[=u]�es), =George Henry=: An English philosophical and
+miscellaneous writer. Born at London, 1817; died, 1878. He wrote
+"Seaside Studies" (1858), "Studies in Animal Life" (1862), "Problems
+of Life and Mind" (1874), and many other works on scientific and
+philosophical subjects.
+
+=Lincoln, Abraham=: The sixteenth President of the United States. Born
+in Kentucky, 1809; died at Washington, D. C., 1865. The "Address at
+Gettysburg" (page 205) is generally conceded to be one of the noblest
+examples of oratory produced in modern times.
+
+"=Lorna Doone=: a Romance of Exmoor." First published in 1869. See
+page 64.
+
+"=Mexico, History of the Conquest of=," by William H. Prescott (see
+page 104), was first published in 1843. Other works relating to the
+same event are "The Spanish Conquest in America," by Sir Arthur Helps,
+"The Fair God" (a romance) by General Lew Wallace.
+
+=Prescott, William Hickling=: An eminent American historian. Born at
+Salem, Mass., 1796; died, 1859. His principal works are "History of
+the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella" (1838), "Conquest of Mexico" (see
+note above), "Conquest of Peru" (1847), "History of Philip II" (1858).
+
+=Reade, Charles=: A noted English barrister and novelist. Born in
+Oxfordshire, 1814; died, 1884. His novels are very numerous, but the
+best is "The Cloister and the Hearth," from which our selection is
+taken (page 153). Several of his writings are noted for their strong
+opposition to social evils.
+
+=Scott, Sir Walter.= See Biographical Notes in "School Reading by
+Grades--Fifth Year."
+
+=Stanley, Arthur Penrhyn=: An English divine and historian. Born,
+1815; died, 1881. He traveled in Egypt and Palestine in 1852-53; wrote
+"Sinai and Palestine" (1856), "Memorials of Canterbury" (1855),
+"History of the Jewish Church" (1865), etc.
+
+=Stockton, Frank Richard=: A noted American author and humorist. Born
+at Philadelphia, 1834. He has written "Rudder Grange," "The Clocks of
+Rondaine," "Pomona's Travels," "Stories of New Jersey," and many
+other works, including several books for children.
+
+"=Tales of a Grandfather=": A collection of historical stories, by Sir
+Walter Scott, first published in four series, 1827-30. See page 66.
+
+=Tennyson, Alfred.= See Biographical Notes in "School Reading by
+Grades--Fifth Year."
+
+=Tyndall, John=: An eminent British scientist. Born in Ireland, 1820;
+died in England, 1893. Among his works are "The Forms of Water in
+Clouds and Rivers" (1873) from which our extract is selected (page
+202), "Hours of Exercise in the Alps" (1871), "Fragments of Science"
+(1892), and many other works of a similar character.
+
+"=Westward Ho! or the Voyages and Adventures of Sir Amyas Leigh=": A
+novel by Charles Kingsley, first published in 1855. See page 165.
+
+=Winthrop, Robert Charles=: An American statesman and orator. Born at
+Boston, 1809; died, 1894. His most famous addresses were delivered at
+the laying of the corner-stone of the Washington Monument, 1848, and
+at the completion of the same monument, 1885.
+
+=White, Gilbert=: An English clergyman and naturalist, famous as the
+author of "Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne" (1789). He was
+born at Selborne, 1720; died there, 1793.
+
+=Yonge= (yung), =Charlotte Mary=: An English writer and novelist. Born
+at Otterbourne, 1823. She has written more than a hundred volumes,
+including, "The Heir of Redclyffe," "Daisy Chain," "Landmarks of
+History," and "A Book of Golden Deeds," from which the selection
+beginning on page 208 is taken.
+
+
+EXPLANATORY NOTES.
+
+=Page 20.= "Straits of Sunda." The passage between the islands of Java
+and Sumatra, leading from the Indian Ocean to the Sea of Java. See a
+good map of this part of the world.
+
+=25.= "The Return of Columbus." Returning from his first voyage (see
+"School Reading by Grades--Fourth Year," page 43), Columbus reached
+Palos, March 15, 1493. The selection here given from Irving describes
+his triumphal reception a few weeks later at the court of Ferdinand
+and Isabella at Barcelona.
+
+"Hidalgos." Spanish noblemen of the lower class.
+
+=27.= "Las Casas." A Spanish historian, born, 1474; died, 1566. He
+went to America in 1502, and in 1542 was Bishop of Chiapas in Mexico.
+We are indebted to him for some of the earliest trustworthy accounts
+of the Spanish discoveries. He was the friend and defender of the
+Indians against their European conquerors.
+
+=28.= "_Te Deum laudamus._" "We praise thee, O God."
+
+=32.= Tarquin the Proud, or Tarquinius Superbus, reigned, according to
+the traditional account, from 534 to 509 B.C. The modern name of
+Clusium is Chiusi (K[=e] [=oo]�s[=e]). It is situated in the province
+of Siena in Italy, and is famous for its ruins of Etruscan origin.
+
+=33.= "Consul." After the expulsion of the kings from Rome the
+governing power was vested in two consuls, who were elected annually.
+At the time of the story, one of the consuls had been slain in battle
+with Porsena. Our selection begins with the twenty-sixth stanza of
+Macaulay's poem.
+
+"Ramnian," belonging to the Ramnes, the first of the three tribes
+which originally composed the Roman nation. Herminius was a member of
+the second tribe, or Tities. The third tribe were the Luceres.
+
+=35.= For the places mentioned on this and the following pages, see
+some good classical atlas.
+
+=36.= "She-wolf's litter." A reference to the legend that Romulus and
+Remus, the founders of Rome, were, when babes, protected and reared by
+a she-wolf.
+
+=42.= "Fathers." The Roman senators.
+
+=44.= Sir Francis Drake was an English seaman, born about 1540; died,
+1596. He was famous for his operations on the sea against the
+Spaniards of America, and especially for being the first Englishman to
+circumnavigate the globe.
+
+=66.= Bannockburn is the name of a small village three miles south of
+Stirling, in Scotland. Robert Bruce, one of the national heroes of
+Scotland, was born, 1274; died, 1329. His right to the throne of
+Scotland was disputed by Edward I. of England, who claimed the
+suzerainty of that country for himself. The war which resulted from
+this dispute was continued by Edward II. until he met with the signal
+defeat here narrated. Bruce's right to the Scottish throne was
+formally acknowledged by England in 1328.
+
+=89.= "Great stone castles." For a description of the different parts
+of a Norman castle mentioned in this selection, see the word "Castle"
+in Webster's International Dictionary.
+
+=93.= "Conquest." The Norman conquest under Duke William, 1066. See
+"School Reading by Grades--Fourth Year," page 181.
+
+"Author of 'Ivanhoe.'" Sir Walter Scott. See "Ivanhoe," Chapter VIII.
+
+"Quintain." An upright post, on the top of which turned a cross-piece,
+having on one end a broad board and on the other a sandbag. The
+endeavor was to strike the board with the lance while riding under it
+and get away without being hit by the sandbag.
+
+=96.= "Scriptorium." A room in a monastery where the monks wrote or
+copied manuscripts. See "School Reading by Grades--Fifth Year," page
+170.
+
+=100.= "Nathless." Nevertheless.
+
+=104.= Cort�s. Hernando Cort�s was born in Spain in 1485. In 1504, at
+the age of nineteen, he sailed for Santo Domingo, where he was
+received with great favor, and where for several years he held
+important offices in connection with the government of the new colony.
+In 1518 he organized the expedition for the conquest of Mexico. The
+city was finally captured, after a gallant defense of 77 days, August
+13, 1521. Utterly neglected and forsaken in his old age, Cort�s died
+at Seville, in Spain, December 2, 1547.
+
+=106.= "Palanquin" (p[)a]l an k[=e]n�). An inclosed litter, borne on
+men's shoulders, for conveying a single person.
+
+=106.= "Cacique" (k[.a] s[=e]k�). A chieftain, or nobleman, among the
+Aztecs or Indians.
+
+=107.= "Panache" (p[)a]n [.a]sh�). A plume or bunch of feathers. A
+military plume.
+
+=109.= "Tenochtitlan" (ten [=o]ch t[=e]t l�n�). The Aztec name for
+their chief city, the site of which is now occupied by the city of
+Mexico. It was founded about two hundred years before the Spanish
+conquest, and was built on an island in Tezcuco Lake. The name Mexitl,
+or Mexico, was also applied to the city, or to a portion of it.
+
+=110.= "Bernal Diaz" (d[=e]��th). A Spanish soldier in the army of
+Cort�s, who afterwards wrote a history of the conquest.
+
+=111.= "Montezuma." Cort�s repaid this chieftain for his kindness by
+seizing him in his own house and carrying him to the Spanish quarters,
+where he kept him as a prisoner. The Aztecs attacked the quarters, and
+Montezuma, by the direction of Cort�s, appeared on the wall to counsel
+peace. This so exasperated them that they pelted him with stones, and
+wounded him so that he died four days later.
+
+=118.= "The Lions." Rosa Bonheur, from whose painting this picture has
+been reproduced, is one of the most famous painters of the nineteenth
+century, especially of animal life and of landscapes. She was born at
+Bordeaux, France, in 1828. For nearly fifty years she has been
+directress of the Free School of Design for Young Girls in Paris. Many
+of her paintings have received high praise, but the one by which she
+is best known in this country is "The Horse Fair," in the Metropolitan
+Museum of Art, New York.
+
+=138.= "Sir William Wallace." One of the national heroes of Scotland.
+His deeds are commemorated in a once very popular romance by Jane
+Porter entitled "The Scottish Chiefs" (1810).
+
+=139.= "Schehallion." A mountain 35 miles northwest of Perth.
+Altitude, 3547 feet.
+
+=140.= "Royal Martyr." King Charles I. of England, beheaded by
+Parliament, 1649.
+
+"King James." James II., at that time a fugitive from his throne.
+
+"Covenanting traitors." Adherents of the "Solemn League and Covenant"
+adopted by the Scottish Parliament in 1638, and by the English
+Parliament in 1643, for the preservation of the reformed religion in
+Scotland and the suppression of papacy and prelacy.
+
+=153.= "Burgundy." The limits and character of the region known by
+this name have varied greatly at different periods of history. The
+Burgundy here mentioned was the great duchy of that name, the capital
+of which was Dijon. The Duke of Burgundy at the time of this story was
+the famous Charles the Bold, who was its ruler from 1467 to 1477.
+After his death it passed into the control of the king of France.
+
+"Flanders." This country, which now forms the southeastern part of the
+province of Zealand, Netherlands, was united to Burgundy in 1369.
+Upon the death of Charles the Bold it passed to Austria; but since
+that time it has been successively acquired by various other
+neighboring states.
+
+=154.= "Palisades." Strong long stakes one end of which is set in the
+ground and the other sharpened.
+
+"Sappers." Builders of fortifications.
+
+=155.= "Quarrels." Square-headed arrows for crossbows.
+
+"Mantelets." Large shields of rope, wood, or metal.
+
+"Mangonels." Engines for throwing stones or javelins.
+
+=156.= "Barbican." See "Castle" in Webster's International Dictionary.
+A tower for defending the entrance to a castle.
+
+"Arbalester." A crossbowman.
+
+"Half ell shaft." A shaft or arrow half an ell in length.
+
+=158.= "Fascines" (f[)a]s�s[=e]nz). Bundles of sticks bound together
+and used for filling ditches or raising batteries.
+
+=160.= "Sir Turk." The Turkish catapult just described.
+
+=163.= "Solway." Solway Firth, an arm of the Irish Sea, extending into
+Scotland: remarkable for the rapidity of its tides.
+
+=164.= "Graeme" (gr[=a]m). See page 138.
+
+=165.= "Manoa" (m� n[=o]��). The city ruled by the gilded king, El
+Dorado. It was said to be built on an island in a lake called Parima,
+somewhere in the northern part of South America. Beginning about 1530,
+great numbers of expeditions were made by the Spaniards in search of
+this fabled city, all of which ended in disappointment and disaster.
+
+=175.= "Naught of strange." Nothing out of the usual order.
+
+=176.= "Lindis." A small stream in Lincolnshire.
+
+"Melick" (m[)e]l�[)i]k). Melic grass, a kind of grass eaten by cattle.
+
+=177.= "Warping down." Turning aside out of a straight course; moving
+in zigzag lines.
+
+"Scope." A sea wall, or steep shore.
+
+=178.= "Bairns." Little children.
+
+=179.= "Eygre" ([=e]�g[~e]r). The flood tide moving with great force
+and swiftness up the river.
+
+=181.= Henry II. of England was born in 1133; died, 1189. He was the
+first of the Plantagenet line of kings.
+
+=182.= Thomas Becket, born in London, 1118, was the son of a rich
+merchant, and became a member of the household of Theobald, archbishop
+of Canterbury, about 1142. Through the influence of Theobald his
+interests with the king were advanced, and he became chancellor during
+the first year of Henry's reign. He was murdered in 1170.
+
+=190.= In 1172 Becket was canonized under the title of St. Thomas of
+Canterbury, and in 1220 his bones were removed to Trinity Chapel,
+where they became the object of great veneration. For several
+centuries pilgrimages were made to his shrine from all parts of
+England. Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" were related by a party of
+pilgrims who were making this journey, presumably near the close of
+the fourteenth century. By order of King Henry VIII. the shrine was
+finally destroyed, and the bones of Becket were scattered and burned.
+
+=200.= "Genera." Plural of _genus_--a name applied to a class of
+objects subdivided into species.
+
+"Hen harriers." Hawks which fly low and harass fowls or small animals.
+
+=201.= "Gallin�" (g[)a]l l[=i]�ne). The order of birds which includes
+domestic fowls, pheasants, quails, grouse, etc.
+
+=205.= The National Cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, was
+dedicated by President Lincoln, November 19, 1863. It was here that
+the great battle of Gettysburg was fought, July 1, 2, and 3 of the
+same year. The cemetery contains the graves of 3580 soldiers, with a
+central monument, built at a cost of $50,000, and a large number of
+regimental monuments on the various historic points of the battlefield.
+
+=208.= "Vespasian and his son Titus." Vespasian was emperor of Rome
+A.D. 70-79. He was succeeded by his son Titus, who died two years
+later. Jerusalem was taken and destroyed by Titus, acting as his
+father's general, in the year 70. Both these emperors expended large
+sums on public works. The Coliseum, although begun by Vespasian in 72,
+was not finished during his reign. Despite the enormous mass of the
+present ruins, it is estimated that they comprise only about one third
+of the original materials; the remainder have been carried away,
+destroyed, or used in the construction of other buildings.
+
+=209.= "Orpheus." The sweet musician of Thrace whose music charmed
+birds and beasts, and caused even rocks and trees to move from their
+places to listen to the divine melody.
+
+=212.= "The Last Prayer." Jean Leon G�r�me, the painter of this
+picture, is a celebrated French artist, born at Vesoul in 1824. He
+studied in Italy, and to perfect himself in his art, traveled for some
+years in Egypt, Turkey, and other eastern countries. As might have
+been expected, the subjects of many of his paintings are oriental. In
+1863, he became professor of painting at the Academy of Fine Arts. His
+works are very numerous and meritorious.
+
+=213.= The stanza of poetry quoted on this page is from Lord Byron's
+"Childe Harold's Pilgrimage."
+
+"Honorius." Honorius was born at Constantinople, A.D. 384, and became
+emperor of the western empire in 395 at the age of eleven years. He
+married the daughter of his guardian, Stilicho, in 398. It was during
+his reign (in 410) that Rome was taken and sacked by Alaric the Goth.
+He died in 423.
+
+=216.= "Lyonesse" (l[=i] o n[)e]s�). A mythical region, said to have
+extended from Land's End, in Cornwall, to the Scilly Islands. A
+tradition still exists of the submersion and destruction of this
+country, probably in the tenth century. King Arthur was said to have
+been a native of Lyonesse.
+
+=217.= "Camelot." A legendary town in England where Arthur had his
+palace and court. It is supposed by some to have been near Winchester;
+others locate it in Wales.
+
+"Merlin." A half-legendary bard and wizard, who is supposed to have
+lived in the early part of the sixth century. He was the companion and
+counselor of Arthur, and instituted the Round Table at Carduel. The
+famous prose romance, called the "Romance of Merlin," was written in
+French by H�lie de Borron about the year 1200. It was translated into
+English about the middle of the fifteenth century.
+
+"Excalibur." The sword which Arthur had received from the Lady of the
+Lake. It had many miraculous qualities, and the wearer of its scabbard
+could lose no blood.
+
+=223.= "Da�s throne." A throne raised upon an elevated platform or da�s.
+
+=224.= "Avilion." In Celtic mythology, the Land of the Blessed--an
+earthly paradise in the western seas. All the great heroes of medi�val
+times, as Arthur and Ogier the Dane, were carried there, where they
+lived in perfect happiness at the court of Morgan le Fay, the queen of
+the fairies.
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Note
+
+
+  * Line numbers removed from short stories.
+
+  * Obvious punctuation and spelling errors repaired.
+
+  * Footnote moved to the end of short story.
+
+  * In Table of Contents "Portraits of Authors" page number corrected
+    for Arthur Penrhyn Stanley from "190" to "191".
+
+  * Chiusi (K[=e] [=oo]�s[=e]) contains [=oo] representing a "long oo" sound
+    not represented in any charts.
+
+  * Text enclosed between equal signs was in bold face in the original
+    (=bold=).
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's School Reading by Grades, by James Baldwin
+
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+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of School Reading by Grades: Sixth Year, by James Baldwin.
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+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of School Reading by Grades, by James Baldwin
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: School Reading by Grades
+       Sixth Year
+
+Author: James Baldwin
+
+Release Date: July 26, 2011 [EBook #36864]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SCHOOL READING BY GRADES ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Larry B. Harrison and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+
+<h1>SCHOOL READING BY GRADES</h1>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<h2><i>SIXTH YEAR</i></h2>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<h3>BY</h3>
+<h2>JAMES BALDWIN</h2>
+
+<p>&nbsp;<a name="Title" id="Title"></a></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;">
+    <a name="p0001-illus.jpg" id="p0001-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p0001-illus.jpg" width="350" height="421" alt="A portrait" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<h3>NEW YORK &nbsp; &#9671; &nbsp; CINCINNATI &nbsp; &#9671; &nbsp; CHICAGO</h3>
+<h2>AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY</h2>
+
+<hr />
+
+<h4><span class="smcap">Copyright, 1897, by</span></h4>
+<h3>AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY.</h3>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<h4>SCH. READ. SIXTH YEAR.<br />
+W. P. 12</h4>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span></p>
+<h2>PREFACE.</h2>
+
+<p>The pupil who is in his sixth year at school should be able to read
+quite well. He should be able to pronounce at sight and without hesitation
+all new or unusual words; and when reading aloud, his tones should
+be so clear, his enunciation so faultless, and his manner so agreeable
+that his hearers shall listen with pleasure and shall have a ready understanding
+of whatever is being read. He is now prepared to devote more
+and more attention to literary criticism&mdash;that is, to the study of the
+peculiarities of style which distinguish any selection, the passages which
+are remarkable for their beauty, their truth, or their adaptation to the
+particular purpose for which they were written. The habit should be
+cultivated of looking for and enjoying the admirable qualities of any
+literary production, and particularly of such productions as are generally
+recognized as the classics of our language. While learning to distinguish
+between good literature and that sort of writing which, properly speaking,
+is not literature at all, the pupil's acquaintance with books is enlarged
+and extended. He learns to know what are the best books and why
+they are so considered; and he acquires some knowledge of the lives of
+the best authors and of the circumstances under which certain of their
+works were produced.</p>
+
+<p>The present volume is designed to aid the learner in the acquisition of
+all these ends. The selections are of a highly interesting character, and
+illustrate almost every variety of English composition. To assist in their
+comprehension, many of the selections are introduced or followed by
+brief historical or bibliographical notes. Hints also are given as to collateral,
+or supplementary readings on a variety of subjects. To assist the
+pupil still further to enlarge his acquaintance with books and authors,
+additional notes, literary and biographical, are given in the appendix;
+here also may be found several pages of brief notes explanatory of difficult
+passages, unusual expressions, and historical references, such as
+might otherwise be stumbling stones in the way of the learner. The
+numerous portraits of authors is another important feature designed to
+add to the interest and beauty of the book, and to assist the pupil to a
+more intimate acquaintance with the makers of our literature. Most of
+the full-page pictures are reproductions of famous paintings, and these,
+while serving as illustrations of the text which they accompany, are
+designed to introduce the learner to some of the masters of art also, and
+perform the more important office of cultivating and enlarging his �sthetic
+tastes and sympathies.</p>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CONTENTS.</h2>
+
+<table class="toc" summary="Contents">
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="c2">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="c3"><small>PAGE</small></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">Two Ways of Telling a Story</td>
+<td class="c2"><i>Jean Ingelow</i></td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_7">7</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">The Death of the Flowers</td>
+<td class="c2"><i>William Cullen Bryant</i></td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_18">18</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">The Great Volcanic Eruption</td>
+<td class="c2"><i>J. T. Van Gestel</i></td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_20">20</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">The Return of Columbus</td>
+<td class="c2"><i>Washington Irving</i></td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_25">25</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">What the Sunbeams do</td>
+<td class="c2"><i>Arabella B. Buckley</i></td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_29">29</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">Horatius at the Bridge</td>
+<td class="c2"><i>Thomas Babington Macaulay</i></td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_32">32</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">How Sir Francis Drake sailed round<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;the World</td>
+<td class="c2"><i>James A. Froude</i></td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_44">44</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">A Brave Rescue and a Rough Ride</td>
+<td class="c2"><i>Richard D. Blackmore</i></td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_51">51</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">The Glory of God</td>
+<td class="c2"><i>From the Psalms of David</i></td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_65">65</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">The Battle of Bannockburn</td>
+<td class="c2"><i>Sir Walter Scott</i></td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_66">66</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">The Soldier's Dream</td>
+<td class="c2"><i>Thomas Campbell</i></td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_75">75</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">Lord Ullin's Daughter</td>
+<td class="c2"><i>Thomas Campbell</i></td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_76">76</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata</td>
+<td class="c2">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_78">78</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">The Story of Tempe Wick</td>
+<td class="c2"><i>Frank R. Stockton</i></td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_83">83</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">Life in Norman England</td>
+<td class="c2"><i>W. F. Collier</i></td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_89">89</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">The Romance of the Swan's Nest</td>
+<td class="c2"><i>Elizabeth Barrett Browning</i></td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_98">98</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">A Patriarch of the Olden Time</td>
+<td class="c2"><i>From the "Book of Job"</i></td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_102">102</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">How Cort�s entered the City of<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Mexico</td>
+<td class="c2"><i>William H. Prescott</i></td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_104">104</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">The Skylark</td>
+<td class="c2"><i>James Hogg</i></td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_112">112</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">The Mystery of the Tadpole</td>
+<td class="c2"><i>George Henry Lewes</i></td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_113">113</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">The Glove and the Lions</td>
+<td class="c2"><i>Leigh Hunt</i></td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_119">119</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">True Growth</td>
+<td class="c2"><i>Ben Jonson</i></td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_120">120</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">The Shipwreck</td>
+<td class="c2"><i>Charles Dickens</i></td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_121">121</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">The Happy Valley</td>
+<td class="c2"><i>Dr. Samuel Johnson</i></td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_135">135</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">The Pass of Killiecrankie</td>
+<td class="c2"><i>W. E. Aytoun</i></td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_138">138</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">Summer Rain</td>
+<td class="c2"><i>Henry Ward Beecher</i></td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_143">143</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">Life in the Backwoods</td>
+<td class="c2"><i>William Dean Howells</i></td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_146">146</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">How they besieged the Town</td>
+<td class="c2"><i>Charles Reade</i></td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_153">153</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">Lochinvar</td>
+<td class="c2"><i>Sir Walter Scott</i></td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_163">163</a><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">On a Tropical River</td>
+<td class="c2"><i>Charles Kingsley</i></td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_165">165</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">The Flag of Our Country</td>
+<td class="c2"><i>Robert C. Winthrop</i></td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_173">173</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">The High Tide on the Coast of Lincolnshire,<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;1571</td>
+<td class="c2"><i>Jean Ingelow</i></td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_175">175</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">The Story of Thomas Becket</td>
+<td class="c2">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="c3">&nbsp;</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;I. His Life</td>
+<td class="c2"><i>Anonymous</i></td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_181">181</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;II. His Death</td>
+<td class="c2"><i>Arthur Penrhyn Stanley</i></td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_185">185</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">The Pilgrims (1620)</td>
+<td class="c2"><i>Edward Everett</i></td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_191">191</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">The Landing of the Pilgrims</td>
+<td class="c2"><i>Felicia Hemans</i></td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_195">195</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">Patriotism</td>
+<td class="c2"><i>William Cowper</i></td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_196">196</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">The Robin</td>
+<td class="c2"><i>Charles Conrad Abbott</i></td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_197">197</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">Motions of Birds</td>
+<td class="c2"><i>Gilbert White</i></td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_200">200</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">Origin of Rivers</td>
+<td class="c2"><i>John Tyndall</i></td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_202">202</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">Address at the Dedication of Gettysburg<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Cemetery</td>
+<td class="c2"><i>Abraham Lincoln</i></td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_205">205</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">The American Flag</td>
+<td class="c2"><i>Joseph Rodman Drake</i></td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_206">206</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">The Last Fight in the Coliseum,<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span class="smcap">A.D.</span> 404</td>
+<td class="c2"><i>Charlotte M. Yonge</i></td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_208">208</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">The Passing of Arthur</td>
+<td class="c2"><i>Alfred Tennyson</i></td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_216">216</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="c2">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="c3">&nbsp;</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1"><span class="smcap">The Principles of Good Reading</span></td>
+<td class="c2">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_225">225</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1"><span class="smcap">Authors and Books</span></td>
+<td class="c2">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_228">228</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1"><span class="smcap">Explanatory Notes</span></td>
+<td class="c2">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_235">235</a></td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<h3>FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS.</h3>
+
+<table class="toc" summary="Contents">
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="c2">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<small>ARTIST</small></td>
+<td class="c3">&nbsp;</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">Columbus at Barcelona</td>
+<td class="c2"><i>R. Balaca</i></td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_24">24</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">The Defense of the Bridge</td>
+<td class="c2"><i>A. I. Keller</i></td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_37">37</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">Ruins of a Norman Castle</td>
+<td class="c2"><i>From a photograph</i></td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_89">90</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">The Lions</td>
+<td class="c2"><i>Rosa Bonheur</i></td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_118">118</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">The Shipwreck</td>
+<td class="c2"><i>A. Marlon</i></td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_129">129</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">Canterbury Cathedral</td>
+<td class="c2"><i>From a photograph</i></td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_188">187</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">The Departure of the Mayflower</td>
+<td class="c2"><i>A. W. Bayes</i></td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_194">194</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">The Last Prayer&mdash;Christian Martyrs<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;in the Coliseum</td>
+<td class="c2"><i>J. L. Gerome</i></td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_211">212</a></td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span></p>
+<h3>PORTRAITS OF AUTHORS.</h3>
+
+<table class="toc" summary="Contents">
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">Washington Irving</td>
+<td class="c2">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Title">Title-page</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">Thomas Babington Macaulay</td>
+<td class="c2">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_32">32</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">James Anthony Froude</td>
+<td class="c2">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_50">50</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">Thomas Campbell</td>
+<td class="c2">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_76">76</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">Frank R. Stockton</td>
+<td class="c2">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_83">83</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">Elizabeth Barrett Browning</td>
+<td class="c2">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_98">98</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">William H. Prescott</td>
+<td class="c2">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_104">104</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">George Henry Lewes</td>
+<td class="c2">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_113">113</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">Leigh Hunt</td>
+<td class="c2">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_119">119</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">Charles Dickens</td>
+<td class="c2">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_121">121</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">Dr. Samuel Johnson</td>
+<td class="c2">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_135">135</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">Henry Ward Beecher</td>
+<td class="c2">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_143">143</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">William Dean Howells</td>
+<td class="c2">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_146">146</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">Charles Reade</td>
+<td class="c2">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_153">153</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">Charles Kingsley</td>
+<td class="c2">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_165">165</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">Jean Ingelow</td>
+<td class="c2">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_175">175</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">Arthur Penrhyn <a name="Stanley" id="Stanley"></a>Stanley</td>
+<td class="c2">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_191">191</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">Edward Everett</td>
+<td class="c2">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_192">192</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">John Tyndall</td>
+<td class="c2">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_202">202</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">Abraham Lincoln</td>
+<td class="c2">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_205">205</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">Joseph Rodman Drake</td>
+<td class="c2">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_206">206</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="c1">Charlotte M. Yonge</td>
+<td class="c2">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="c3"><a href="#Page_208">208</a></td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p>Acknowledgments are due to the following persons for their courteous permission
+to use valuable selections from their works: Dr. Charles C. Abbott
+for the essay on "The Robin"; Mr. William Dean Howells for his sketch of
+"Life in the Backwoods"; The J. B. Lippincott Company for the selections
+from Prescott's "Conquest of Mexico" and Abbott's "Birdland Echoes";
+and Mr. Frank R. Stockton for "The Story of Tempe Wicke."</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span></p>
+<h1>SCHOOL READING.</h1>
+<h2>SIXTH YEAR.</h2>
+
+
+<hr />
+<h2>TWO WAYS OF TELLING A STORY.</h2>
+
+<hr class="hr2" />
+
+<h3>I.</h3>
+
+<p>Who is this? A careless little midshipman, idling
+about in a great city, with his pockets full of money.</p>
+
+<p>He is waiting for the coach: it comes up presently,
+and he gets on the top of it, and looks about him.</p>
+
+<p>They soon leave the chimney pots behind them; his
+eyes wander with delight over the harvest fields, he
+smells the honeysuckle in the hedgerow, and he wishes
+he was down among the hazel bushes, that he might
+strip them of the milky nuts; then he sees a great wain
+piled up with barley, and he wishes he was seated on the
+top of it; then they go through a little wood, and he
+likes to see the checkered shadows of the trees lying
+across the white road; and then a squirrel runs up a
+bough, and he can not forbear to whoop and halloo,
+though he can not chase it to its nest.</p>
+
+<p>The other passengers are delighted with his simplicity
+and childlike glee; and they encourage him to talk to
+them about the sea and ships, especially Her Majesty's
+ship "The Asp," wherein he has the honor to sail. In the
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span>
+jargon of the sea, he describes her many perfections, and
+enlarges on her peculiar advantages; he then confides to
+them how a certain middy, having been ordered to the
+masthead as a punishment, had seen, while sitting on the
+topmast crosstrees, something uncommonly like the sea
+serpent&mdash;but, finding this hint received with incredulous
+smiles, he begins to tell them how he hopes that, some
+day, he shall be promoted to have charge of the poop.
+The passengers hope he will have that honor; they have
+no doubt he deserves it. His cheeks flush with pleasure
+to hear them say so, and he little thinks that they have
+no notion in what "that honor" may happen to consist.</p>
+
+<p>The coach stops: the little midshipman, with his
+hands in his pockets, sits rattling his money, and singing.
+There is a poor woman standing by the door of
+the village inn; she looks careworn, and well she may,
+for, in the spring, her husband went up to the city to
+seek for work. He got work, and she was expecting
+soon to join him there, when alas! a fellow-workman
+wrote her word how he had met with an accident, how
+he was very ill and wanted his wife to come and nurse
+him. But she has two young children, and is destitute;
+she must walk up all the way, and she is sick at heart
+when she thinks that perhaps he may die among strangers
+before she can reach him.</p>
+
+<p>She does not think of begging, but seeing the boy's
+eyes attracted to her, she makes him a courtesy, and he
+withdraws his hand and throws her down a sovereign.
+She looks at it with incredulous joy, and then she looks
+at him.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span>
+    "It's all right," he says, and the coach starts again,
+while, full of gratitude, she hires a cart to take her across
+the country to the railway, that the next night she may
+sit by the bedside of her sick husband.</p>
+
+<p>The midshipman knows nothing about that; and he
+never will know.</p>
+
+<p>The passengers go on talking&mdash;the little midshipman
+has told them who he is, and where he is going; but
+there is one man who has never joined in the conversation;
+he is dark-looking and restless; he sits apart; he
+has seen the glitter of the falling coin, and now he
+watches the boy more narrowly than before.</p>
+
+<p>He is a strong man, resolute and determined; the boy
+with the pockets full of money will be no match for him.
+The midshipman has told the other passengers that his
+father's house is the parsonage at Y&mdash;&mdash;; the coach goes
+within five miles of it, and he means to get down at the
+nearest point, and walk, or rather run over to his home,
+through the great wood.</p>
+
+<p>The man decides to get down too, and go through the
+wood; he will rob the little midshipman; perhaps, if he
+cries out or struggles, he will do worse. The boy, he
+thinks, will have no chance against him; it is quite impossible
+that he can escape; the way is lonely, and the
+sun will be down.</p>
+
+<p>No. There seems indeed little chance of escape; the
+half-fledged bird just fluttering down from its nest has no
+more chance against the keen-eyed hawk, than the little
+light-hearted sailor boy will have against him&mdash;at least
+so thinks the man as he makes his plans.</p>
+
+
+<hr class="hr2" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span></p>
+<h3>II.</h3>
+
+<p>The coach reaches the village where the boy is to alight.
+He wishes the other passengers "good evening," and runs
+lightly down between the scattered houses. The man has
+got down also, and is following.</p>
+
+<p>The path lies through the village churchyard; there is
+evening service, and the door is wide open, for it is warm.
+The little midshipman stops by the door, looks in, and
+listens. The clergyman has just risen, and is giving out
+his text. Thirteen months have past since the boy was
+within a house of prayer; and a feeling of pleasure and
+awe induces him to stand still and listen.</p>
+
+<p>"Are not two sparrows [he hears] sold for a farthing?
+and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your
+Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
+Fear ye not, therefore, ye are of more value than many
+sparrows."</p>
+
+<p>He hears the opening sentences of the sermon; and
+then he remembers his home, and comes softly out of the
+porch, full of a calm and serious pleasure. The clergyman
+has reminded him of his father, and his careless heart
+is now filled with the echoes of his voice and of his prayers.
+He thinks on what the clergyman said, of the care
+of our heavenly Father for us; he remembers how, when
+he left home, his father prayed that he might be preserved
+through every danger; he does not remember any particular
+danger that he has been exposed to, excepting in the
+great storm; but he is grateful that he has come home in
+safety, and he hopes whenever he shall be in danger, which
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span>
+he supposes he shall be some day&mdash;he hopes, that then the
+providence of God will watch over him, and protect him.
+And so he presses onward to the entrance of the wood.</p>
+
+<p>The man is there before him. He has pushed himself
+into the thicket, and cut a heavy club; he suffers the boy
+to go on before, and then he comes out and follows him.
+It is too light at present for his deed of darkness and
+too near the entrance of the wood, but he knows that
+shortly the path will branch off into two, and the right
+one for the boy to take will be dark and lonely.</p>
+
+<p>But what prompts the little midshipman, when not fifty
+yards from the branching of the path, to break into a
+sudden run? It is not fear, for he never dreams of danger.
+Some sudden impulse, or some wild wish for home,
+makes him dash off suddenly, with a whoop and a bound.
+On he goes, as if running a race; the path bends, and the
+man loses sight of him. "But I shall have him yet," he
+thinks; "he can not keep this pace up long."</p>
+
+<p>The boy has nearly reached the place where the path
+divides, when he startles a young white owl that can
+scarcely fly, and it goes whirring along, close to the
+ground, before him. He gains upon it; another moment,
+and it will be his. Now it gets the start again; they
+come to the branching of the paths, and the bird goes
+down the wrong one. The temptation to follow is too
+strong to be resisted; he knows that somewhere, deep in
+the wood, there is a cross track by which he can get into
+the path he has left; if only he runs a little faster, he
+shall be at home nearly as soon.</p>
+
+<p>On he rushes; the path takes a bend, and he is just out
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span>
+of sight when his pursuer comes where the paths divide.
+The boy has turned to the right; the man takes the left,
+and the faster they both run the farther they are asunder.</p>
+
+<p>The white owl still leads him on; the path gets darker
+and narrower; at last he finds that he has missed it altogether,
+and his feet are on the soft ground. He flounders
+about among the trees, vexed with himself, and panting
+after his race. At last he finds another track, and pushes
+on as fast as he can. He has lost his way&mdash;but he keeps
+bearing to the left; and, though it is now dark, he thinks
+that he must reach the main path sooner or later.</p>
+
+<p>He does not know this part of the wood, but he runs on.
+O, little midshipman! why did you chase that owl? If
+you had kept in the path with the dark man behind you,
+there was a chance that you might have outrun him; or,
+if he had overtaken you, some passing wayfarer might
+have heard your cries, and come to save you. Now you
+are running on straight to your death, for the forest water
+is deep and black at the bottom of this hill. O, that the
+moon might come out and show it to you!</p>
+
+<p>The moon is under a thick canopy of heavy black clouds;
+and there is not a star to glitter on the water and make
+it visible. The fern is soft under his feet as he runs and
+slips down the sloping hill. At last he strikes his foot
+against a stone, stumbles, and falls. Two minutes more
+and he will roll into the black water.</p>
+
+<p>"Heyday!" cries the boy, "what's this? Oh, how it
+tears my hands! Oh, this thorn bush! Oh, my arms!
+I can't get free!" He struggles and pants. "All this
+comes of leaving the path," he says; "I shouldn't have
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span>
+cared for rolling down if it hadn't been for this bush.
+The fern was soft enough. I'll never stray in a wood
+at night again. There, free at last! And my jacket
+nearly torn off my back!"</p>
+
+<p>With a good deal of patience, and a great many
+scratches, he gets free of the thorn which had arrested
+his progress, when his feet were within a yard of the
+water, manages to scramble up the bank, and makes
+the best of his way through the wood.</p>
+
+<p>And now, as the clouds move slowly onward, the moon
+shows her face on the black surface of the water; and
+the little white owl comes and hoots, and flutters over
+it like a wandering snowdrift. But the boy is deep in
+the wood again, and knows nothing of the danger from
+which he has escaped.</p>
+
+
+<hr class="hr2" />
+<h3>III.</h3>
+
+<p>All this time the dark passenger follows the main
+track, and believes that his prey is before him. At
+last he hears a crashing of dead boughs, and presently
+the little midshipman's voice not fifty yards before him.
+Yes, it is too true; the boy is in the cross track. He
+will pass the cottage in the wood directly, and after that
+his pursuer will come upon him.</p>
+
+<p>The boy bounds into the path; but, as he passes the
+cottage, he is so thirsty that he thinks he must ask the
+people if they will sell him a cup of tea.</p>
+
+<p>He enters without ceremony. "Tea?" says the woodman,
+who is sitting at his supper. "No, we have no
+tea; but perhaps my wife can give thee a drink of
+milk. Come in." So he comes in, and shuts the door;
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span>
+and, while he sits waiting for the milk, footsteps pass.
+They are the footsteps of his pursuer, who goes on
+with the club in his hand, and is angry and impatient
+that he has not yet come up with him.</p>
+
+<p>The woman goes to her little dairy for the milk, and
+the boy thinks she is a long time. He drinks it, thanks
+her, and takes his leave.</p>
+
+<p>Fast and fast the man runs on, and, as fast as he can,
+the boy runs after him. It is very dark, but there is a
+yellow streak in the sky, where the moon is plowing
+up a furrowed mass of gray cloud, and one or two
+stars are blinking through the branches of the trees.</p>
+
+<p>Fast the boy follows, and fast the man runs on, with
+his weapon in his hand. Suddenly he hears the joyish
+whoop&mdash;not before, but behind him. He stops and
+listens breathlessly. Yes, it is so. He pushes himself
+into the thicket, and raises his club to strike when the
+boy shall pass.</p>
+
+<p>On he comes, running lightly, with his hands in his
+pockets. A sound strikes at the same instant on the
+ears of both; and the boy turns back from the very
+jaws of death to listen. It is the sound of wheels, and
+it draws rapidly nearer. A man comes up, driving a
+little gig.</p>
+
+<p>"Halloa?" he says, in a loud, cheerful voice. "What!
+benighted, youngster?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, is it you, Mr. Davis?" says the boy; "no, I am
+not benighted; or, at any rate, I know my way out of
+the wood."</p>
+
+<p>The man draws farther back among the shrubs.
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span>
+"Why, bless the boy," he hears the farmer say, "to
+think of our meeting in this way. The parson told
+me he was in hopes of seeing thee some day this week.
+I'll give thee a lift. This is a lonely place to be in this
+time o' night."</p>
+
+<p>"Lonely!" says the boy, laughing. "I don't mind
+that; and if you know the way, it's as safe as the quarter-deck."</p>
+
+<p>So he gets into the farmer's gig, and is once more out
+of reach of the pursuer. But the man knows that the
+farmer's house is a quarter of a mile nearer than the parsonage,
+and in that quarter of a mile there is still a chance
+of committing the robbery. He determines still to make
+the attempt, and cuts across the wood with such rapid
+strides that he reaches the farmer's gate just as the gig
+drives up to it.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, thank you, farmer," says the midshipman, as he
+prepares to get down.</p>
+
+<p>"I wish you good night, gentlemen," says the man,
+when he passes.</p>
+
+<p>"Good night, friend," the farmer replies. "I say, my
+boy, it's a dark night enough; but I have a mind to
+drive you on to the parsonage, and hear the rest of this
+long tale of yours about the sea serpent."</p>
+
+<p>The little wheels go on again. They pass the man;
+and he stands still in the road to listen till the sound dies
+away. Then he flings his club into the hedge, and goes
+back. His evil purposes have all been frustrated&mdash;the
+thoughtless boy, without knowing anything about it, has
+baffled him at every turn.</p>
+
+
+<hr class="hr2" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span></p>
+<h3>IV.</h3>
+
+<p>And now the little midshipman is at home&mdash;the joyful
+meeting has taken place; and when they have all
+admired his growth, and measured his height on the window
+frame, and seen him eat his supper, they begin to
+question him about his adventures, more for the pleasure
+of hearing him talk than any curiosity.</p>
+
+<p>"Adventures!" says the boy, seated between his father
+and mother on a sofa. "Why, mother, I wrote you an
+account of the voyage, and there's nothing else to tell.
+Nothing happened to-day&mdash;at least nothing particular."</p>
+
+<p>"Did you come by the coach we told you of?" asks
+his father.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes, papa; and when we had got about twenty
+miles, there came up a beggar, while we changed horses,
+and I threw down, as I thought, a shilling, but, as it fell,
+I saw it was a sovereign. She was very honest, and
+showed me what it was, but I didn't take it back, for you
+know, it's a long time since I gave anything to anybody."</p>
+
+<p>"Very true, my boy," his mother answers; "but you
+should not be careless with your money.</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose you got down at the crossroads?" says his
+elder brother.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, and went through the wood. I should have
+been here sooner if I hadn't lost my way there."</p>
+
+<p>"Lost your way!" says his mother, alarmed. "My
+dear boy, you should not have left the path at dusk."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, mother," says the little midshipman, with a smile,
+"you're always thinking we're in danger. If you could
+see me sometimes sitting at the jib-boom end, or across
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span>
+the main topmast crosstrees, you <i>would</i> be frightened.
+But what danger can there be in a wood?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, my boy," she answers, "I don't wish to be over-anxious,
+and to make my children uncomfortable by my
+fears. What did you stray from the path for?"</p>
+
+<p>"Only to chase a little owl, mother; but I didn't
+catch her after all. I got a roll down a bank, and caught
+my jacket against a thorn bush, which was rather unlucky.
+Ah! three large holes I see in my sleeve. And so I
+scrambled up again, and got into the path, and stopped at
+the cottage for some milk. What a time the woman kept
+me, to be sure! But very soon Mr. Davis drove up in
+his gig, and he brought me on to the gate."</p>
+
+<p>"And so this story being brought to a close," his father
+says, "we find that you had no adventures at all!"</p>
+
+<p>"No, papa, nothing happened; nothing particular, I
+mean."</p>
+
+<p>Nothing particular! If they could have known, they
+would have thought lightly in comparison of the dangers
+of "the jib-boom end, and the main topmast crosstrees."
+But they did not know, any more than we do, of the
+dangers that hourly beset us. Some few dangers we are
+aware of, and we do what we can to provide against
+them; but, for the greater portion, "our eyes are held
+that we can not see." We walk securely under His
+guidance, without whom "not a sparrow falleth to the
+ground!" and when we have had escapes that the angels
+have wondered at, we come home and say, perhaps, that
+"nothing has happened; at least nothing particular."</p>
+
+<div class="signature">&mdash;<i>Jean Ingelow.</i></div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span></p>
+<h2>THE DEATH OF THE FLOWERS.</h2>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The melancholy days are come, the saddest of the year,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of wailing winds, and naked woods, and meadows brown and sere.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Heaped in the hollows of the grove, the autumn leaves lie dead;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">They rustle to the eddying gust, and to the rabbit's tread.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The robin and the wren are flown, and from the shrubs the jay,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And from the wood-top calls the crow through all the gloomy day.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Where are the flowers, the fair young flowers, that lately sprang and stood<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In brighter light and softer airs, a beauteous sisterhood?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Alas! they all are in their graves; the gentle race of flowers<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Are lying in their lowly beds, with the fair and good of ours.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The rain is falling where they lie, but the cold November rain<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Calls not from out the gloomy earth the lovely ones again.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The windflower and the violet, they perished long ago,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And the brier rose and the orchis died amid the summer glow;<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span>
+    <span class="i0">But on the hill the goldenrod, and the aster in the wood,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And the yellow sunflower by the brook in autumn beauty stood,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Till fell the frost from the clear, cold heaven, as falls the plague on men,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And the brightness of their smile was gone, from upland, glade, and glen.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">And now, when comes the calm, mild day, as still such days will come,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To call the squirrel and the bee from out their winter home;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">When the sound of dropping nuts is heard, though all the trees are still,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And twinkle in the smoky light the waters of the rill,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The south wind searches for the flowers whose fragrance late he bore,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And sighs to find them in the wood and by the stream no more.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">And then I think of one who in her youthful beauty died,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The fair, meek blossom that grew up and faded by my side.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In the cold, moist earth we laid her, when the forests cast the leaf,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And we wept that one so lovely should have a life so brief:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Yet not unmeet it was that one like that young friend of ours,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">So gentle and so beautiful, should perish with the flowers.<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span></p>
+<h2>THE GREAT VOLCANIC ERUPTION.</h2>
+
+<p>In 1883 the most destructive volcanic eruption ever
+known occurred in the Straits of Sunda and the neighboring
+islands. The trouble began on Sunday morning,
+the 13th of May. Java, Sumatra, and Borneo were
+convulsed by earthquakes. The surface of the earth
+rocked, houses tumbled down, and big trees were shaken
+to the ground. Earthquakes are no rarity in those
+islands, but this earthquake showed no signs of ceasing.
+The earth quivered constantly, and from its depths there
+seemed to rise strange sounds and hollow explosions.</p>
+
+<p>On Thursday there came a telegram from Anjer, ninety
+miles away, on the northwest coast of Java, intimating
+that a volcano had broken out at Krakatoa island, about
+thirty miles west of Anjer, in Sunda Strait. I was
+requested by the Dutch government to go to the scene
+of action and take scientific observations, and by four
+o'clock that afternoon I started with a party on board a
+special steamer from Batavia.</p>
+
+<p>As we rounded the northern extremity of Java, we saw
+ascending from Krakatoa, still fifty miles away, an immense
+column of smoke. Its appearance changed as we
+approached. First it looked like flame, then it appeared
+to be steam, and finally it had the appearance of a pillar
+of fire inside one of white fleecy wool. The diameter of
+this pillar of fire and smoke was, I should think, at least
+one and a half miles. All the while we heard that sullen,
+thunderous roar which had been a feature of this disturbance
+ever since Sunday, and was now becoming louder.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span>
+    We remained on deck all night and watched. The din
+increased till we could with difficulty hear one another's
+voices. Dawn approached, and when the rays of the sun
+fell on the shores of Krakatoa, we saw them reflected from
+what we thought was a river, and we resolved to steam
+into its mouth and disembark.</p>
+
+<p>When we came to within three quarters of a mile of the
+shore, we discovered that what we supposed to be a river
+was a torrent of molten sulphur. The smell almost overpowered
+us. We steamed away to the windward, and
+made for the other side of the island.</p>
+
+<p>This island, though volcanic, had up till now been quiet
+for at least a century. It was eight or ten miles long and
+four wide, and was covered with forests of fine mahogany
+and rosewood trees. It was inhabited by a few fishermen,
+but we found no signs of these people. The land, down
+to the water's edge, was covered with powdered pumice
+stone, which rained down from the clouds around the
+great column of fire. Everything with life had already
+disappeared from the landscape, which was covered with
+a steaming mass of stones and ashes.</p>
+
+<p>Several of us landed and began walking towards the
+volcano. We sank deep in the soft pumice, which blistered
+our feet with its heat. I climbed painfully upwards
+toward the crater, in order to measure it with my sextant;
+but in a short time the heat melted the mercury off
+the mirror of the instrument. I was then half a mile
+from the crater.</p>
+
+<p>As I was returning to the shore, I saw the bottom of
+each footstep I had made on my way up glowing red
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span>
+with the heat from beneath. We photographed the scene
+from the deck of the steamer, where the fire hose was kept
+playing constantly, wetting the rigging and everything
+about the ship to prevent her from taking fire.</p>
+
+<p>The steamer then returned to Batavia, and I went to
+reside at Anjer. From my villa on the hillside a mile
+inland, I could see Krakatoa, thirty miles away, belching
+out its never-ending eruption. We supposed that it
+would go on till it burned itself out, and that then it
+would become quiet again. But in this we were mistaken.</p>
+
+<p>On Sunday morning, the 12th of August, nearly
+three months later, I was sitting on the veranda of my
+house taking my morning cup of tea. I saw the fishing
+boats lying at anchor in the bay, the fishermen themselves
+being on shore at rest. As my gaze rested on the boats,
+I suddenly became aware that they were all beginning to
+move rapidly in one direction. Then in an instant, to
+my intense surprise, they all disappeared.</p>
+
+<p>I ran farther up the hillside to get a better view, and
+looked far out to sea. Instantly a great glare of fire
+right in the midst of the sea caught my eye. All the
+way across the bay and the strait, in a line of flame
+reaching to Krakatoa itself, the bottom of the sea seemed
+to have cracked open so that the subterraneous fires were
+belching forth. On either side the waters were pouring
+into this gulf with a tremendous noise, but the fire was
+not extinguished.</p>
+
+<p>The hissing roar brought out the people of Anjer in
+excited crowds. My eyes were turned away for a moment
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span>
+as I beckoned to some one, and during that moment
+came a terrible, deafening explosion. It stunned me;
+and when I was able again to turn my eyes toward the
+bay, I could see nothing. The whole scene was shrouded
+in darkness, from amid which came cries and groans, the
+creaking of breaking beams in the houses, and, above all,
+the roar of the breakers on the shore. The city of Anjer,
+with its sixty thousand people, had been engulfed!</p>
+
+<p>I afterwards found that the water was one hundred feet
+deep where the city of Anjer had been, and that the coast
+line had moved one and a half miles inland. A big island
+in the strait had been split in two, with a wide passage
+between its parts. An island to the northwest of Krakatoa
+had wholly disappeared. The air was filled with
+minute particles of dust, which after some weeks spread
+even to Europe and America. What the causes of such
+a tremendous convulsion may have been, it is quite impossible
+accurately to say.</p>
+
+<p class="cen">*****</p>
+
+<p>The foregoing narrative was written by J. T. Van Gestel,
+who was at the time residing in the island of Java.
+Compare his description of this event with those of the
+eruption of Vesuvius and the destruction of Pompeii,
+given in "School Reading by Grades&mdash;Fifth Year."
+Read also the younger Pliny's description of the eruption
+of Vesuvius. It may be found in Church and Brodribb's
+translation of selections from Pliny's Letters. Other
+interesting readings about volcanoes may be found in
+"Volcanoes, Past and Present," by Edward Hull, and in
+"Volcanoes and Earthquakes," by Dr. George Hartwig.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 500px;">
+    <a name="front" id="front"></a>
+    <a name="p0024-illus.jpg" id="p0024-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p0024-illus.jpg" width="500" height="345" alt="Columbus at royal court" title="" />
+    <p class="caption2">From the Painting by R. Balaca.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Engraved by Robert Varley.<br />
+                        Columbus at Barcelona.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span></p>
+<h2>THE RETURN OF COLUMBUS.</h2>
+
+<p>The fame of the discovery made by Columbus had
+resounded throughout the nation, and, as his route lay
+through several of the finest and most populous provinces
+of Spain, his journey appeared like the progress
+of a sovereign. Wherever he passed, the country poured
+forth its inhabitants, who lined the road and thronged
+the villages. The streets, windows, and balconies of
+the towns were filled with eager spectators, who rent
+the air with acclamations. His journey was continually
+impeded by the multitude pressing to gain a sight
+of him and of the Indians, who were regarded with
+as much astonishment as if they had been natives of
+another planet. It was impossible to satisfy the craving
+curiosity which assailed himself and his attendants
+at every stage with innumerable questions; popular
+rumor, as usual, had exaggerated the truth, and had
+filled the newly found country with all kinds of wonders.</p>
+
+<p>About the middle of April Columbus arrived at Barcelona,
+where every preparation had been made to give
+him a solemn and magnificent reception. The beauty and
+serenity of the weather in that genial season and favored
+climate contributed to give splendor to this memorable
+ceremony. As he drew near the place, many of the more
+youthful courtiers and hidalgos, together with a vast concourse
+of the populace, came forth to meet and welcome
+him. His entrance into this noble city has been compared
+to one of those triumphs which the Romans were accustomed
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span>
+to decree to conquerors. First were paraded the
+Indians, painted according to their savage fashion, and
+decorated with their national ornaments of gold; after
+these were borne various kinds of live parrots, together
+with stuffed birds and animals of unknown species, and
+rare plants supposed to be of precious qualities; while
+great care was taken to make a conspicuous display of
+Indian coronets, bracelets, and other decorations of gold,
+which might give an idea of the wealth of the newly discovered
+regions. After this followed Columbus on horseback,
+surrounded by a brilliant cavalcade of Spanish
+chivalry. The streets were almost impassable from the
+countless multitude; the windows and balconies were
+crowded with the fair; the very roofs were covered with
+spectators. It seemed as if the public eye could not be
+sated with gazing on these trophies of an unknown world,
+or on the remarkable man by whom it had been discovered.
+There was a sublimity in this event that mingled
+a solemn feeling with the public joy. It was looked upon
+as a vast and signal dispensation of Providence in reward
+for the piety of the monarchs; and the majestic and
+venerable appearance of the discoverer, so different from
+the youth and buoyancy generally expected from roving
+enterprise, seemed in harmony with the grandeur and
+dignity of his achievement.</p>
+
+<p>To receive him with suitable pomp and distinction,
+the sovereigns had ordered their throne to be placed in
+public, under a rich canopy of brocade of gold, in a vast
+and splendid saloon. Here the king and queen awaited
+his arrival, seated in state, with the Prince Juan beside
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span>
+them, and attended by the dignitaries of their court, and
+the principal nobility of Castile, Valencia, Catalonia, and
+Aragon, all impatient to behold the man who had conferred
+so incalculable a benefit upon the nation. At
+length Columbus entered the hall, surrounded by a brilliant
+crowd of cavaliers, among whom, says Las Casas, he
+was conspicuous for his stately and commanding person,
+which, with his countenance rendered venerable by his
+gray hairs, gave him the august appearance of a senator
+of Rome. A modest smile lighted up his features, showing
+that he enjoyed the state and glory in which he came;
+and certainly nothing could be more deeply moving to a
+mind inflamed by noble ambition, and conscious of having
+greatly deserved, than these testimonials of the admiration
+and gratitude of a nation, or rather of a world. As
+Columbus approached, the sovereigns rose, as if receiving
+a person of the highest rank. Bending his knees, he
+offered to kiss their hands; but there was some hesitation
+on their part to permit this act of homage. Raising him
+in the most gracious manner, they ordered him to seat
+himself in their presence; a rare honor in this proud and
+punctilious court.</p>
+
+<p>At their request, he now gave an account of the most
+striking events of his voyage, and a description of the
+islands discovered. He displayed specimens of unknown
+birds and other animals; of rare plants of medicinal and
+aromatic virtues; of native gold in dust, in crude masses,
+or labored into barbaric ornaments; and, above all, the
+natives of these countries, who were objects of intense
+and inexhaustible interest. All these he pronounced mere
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span>
+harbingers of greater discoveries yet to be made, which
+would add realms of incalculable wealth to the dominions
+of their majesties, and whole nations of proselytes to the
+true faith.</p>
+
+<p>When he had finished, the sovereigns sank on their
+knees, and, raising their clasped hands to heaven, their
+eyes filled with tears of joy and gratitude, poured forth
+thanks and praises to God for so great a providence; all
+present followed their example; a deep and solemn enthusiasm
+pervaded that splendid assembly, and prevented
+all common acclamations of triumph. The anthem <i>Te
+Deum laudamus</i>, chanted by the choir of the royal chapel,
+with the accompaniment of instruments, rose in full body
+of sacred harmony, bearing up as it were the feelings and
+thoughts of the auditors to heaven, "so that" says the
+venerable Las Casas, "it seemed as if in that hour they
+communicated with celestial delights." Such was the
+solemn and pious manner in which the brilliant court of
+Spain celebrated this sublime event; offering up a grateful
+tribute of melody and praise, and giving glory to God
+for the discovery of another world.</p>
+
+<p class="cen">*****</p>
+
+<p>This description of the reception of the great discoverer
+after his return from his first voyage, is from Washington
+Irving's famous book entitled "The Life and Voyages of
+Columbus." Other readings on the same subject are to be
+found in Prescott's "Ferdinand and Isabella," Kingston's
+"Notable Voyagers," Mrs. Bolton's "Famous Voyagers,"
+Saunders' "Story of the Discovery of the New World,"
+and McMaster's "School History of the United States."</p>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span></p>
+<h2>WHAT THE SUNBEAMS DO.</h2>
+
+<p>What work do the sunbeams do for us? They do two
+things,&mdash;they give us light and heat. It is by means of
+them alone that we see anything.</p>
+
+<p>When the room was dark you could not distinguish the
+table, the chairs, or even the walls of the room. Why?
+Because they had no light waves to send to your eye.
+But as the sunbeams began to pour in at the window, the
+waves played upon the things in the room; and when
+they hit them they bounded off them back to your eye,
+as a wave of the sea bounds back from a rock, and strikes
+against a passing boat. Then, when they fell upon your
+eye, they entered it, and excited the retina and the
+nerves; and the image of the chair or the table was
+carried to your brain.</p>
+
+<p>Some substances send back hardly any waves of light,
+but let them all pass through them. A pane of clear
+glass, for instance, lets nearly all the light waves pass
+through it; and therefore you often can not see the glass,
+because no light messengers come back to you from it.
+Thus people have sometimes walked up against a glass
+door, and broken it, not seeing it was there.</p>
+
+<p>Those substances are transparent, which, for some reason
+unknown to us, allow the ether waves to pass through
+them. In clear glass, all the light waves pass through;
+while in a white wall the larger part of the rays are
+reflected back to the eye. Into polished shining metal
+the waves hardly enter at all, but are thrown back from
+the surface; and so a steel knife or a silver spoon is
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span>
+very bright, and is clearly seen. Quicksilver is put
+at the back of looking-glasses because it reflects so many
+waves.</p>
+
+<p>The reflected light waves not only make us see things,
+but they make us see them in different colors. Imagine
+a sunbeam playing on a leaf: part of its waves bound
+straight back from it to our eye, and make us see the
+surface of the leaf; but the rest go right into the leaf
+itself, and there some of them are used up and kept
+prisoners. The red, orange, yellow, blue, indigo, and
+violet waves are all useful to the leaf, and it does not let
+them go again. But it can not absorb the green waves,
+and so it throws them back; and they travel to your eye,
+and make you see a green color. So, when you say a leaf
+is green, you mean that the leaf does not want the green
+waves of the sunbeam, but sends them back to you. In
+the same way the scarlet geranium rejects the red waves;
+a white tablecloth sends back nearly the whole of the
+waves, and a black coat scarcely any.</p>
+
+<p>Is it not strange that there is really no such thing as
+color in the leaf, the table, the coat, or the geranium;
+that we see them of different colors because they send
+back only certain-colored waves to our eye?</p>
+
+<p>So far we have spoken only of light; but hold your
+hand in the sun, and feel the heat of the sunbeams, and
+then consider if the waves of heat do not do work also.
+There are many waves in a sunbeam which move too
+slowly to make us see light when they hit our eye; but
+we can feel them as heat, though we cannot see them as
+light.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span>
+    The simplest way of feeling heat waves is to hold a
+warm flatiron near your face. You know that no light
+comes from it, yet you can feel the heat waves beating
+violently against your face.</p>
+
+<p>Now, there are many of these dark heat rays in a sunbeam,
+and it is they that do most of the work in the
+world. It is the heat waves that make the air hot and
+light, and so cause it to rise, and make winds and air
+currents; and these again give rise to ocean currents.
+It is these dark rays, again, that strike upon the land,
+and give it the warmth which enables plants to grow. It
+is they also that keep up the warmth in our own bodies,
+both by coming to us directly from the sun, and also in a
+very roundabout way through plants.</p>
+
+<p>Coal is made of plants, and the heat it gives out is the
+heat these plants once took in. Think how much work
+is done by burning coal. Not only are our houses warmed
+by coal fires and lighted by coal gas, but our steam
+engines work entirely by water which has been turned
+into steam by the heat of coal fires; and our steamboats
+travel all over the world by means of the same power.</p>
+
+<p>In the same way the oil of our lamps comes either from
+olives, which grow on trees, or from coal and the remains
+of plants in the earth. Even our tallow candles are made
+of mutton fat, and sheep eat grass; and so, turn which
+way we will, we find that the light and heat on our earth,
+whether it comes from fires, or candles, or lamps, or gas,
+is equally the work of those waves of ether coming from
+the sun, which make what we call a sunbeam.</p>
+
+<div class="signature">&mdash;<i>From "The Fairy Land of Science," by Arabella B. Buckley.</i></div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span></p>
+<h2>HORATIUS AT THE BRIDGE.</h2>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 200px;">
+    <a name="p0032-illus.jpg" id="p0032-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p0032-illus.jpg" width="200" height="194" alt="The author" title="" />
+ <p class="caption2">Thomas Babington Macaulay.</p>
+</div>
+<p>Tarquin the Proud was the seventh and last king of
+Rome. Such were his acts of tyranny, and such the
+crimes of his son, "the false Sextus," that the people
+rose in rebellion, and, in the year 509 <span class="smcap">B.C.</span>, drove him
+and his family away from Rome and declared
+that they would have no more
+kings. The Tarquins took refuge
+among the Etruscans, whose country
+bordered Rome on the north. They
+made a treaty of friendship with
+Porsena, the king of Clusium,
+and induced him to raise a
+large army for the purpose of
+forcing the Romans to allow
+them to return to power. A
+battle was fought, and the Romans
+being defeated were obliged
+to flee across the wooden bridge which spanned the Tiber
+at Rome. To prevent Porsena from entering the city, the
+Roman Consul ordered that the bridge should be destroyed.</p>
+
+<p>The story of the manner in which this was done is told
+by Lord Macaulay in his "Lays of Ancient Rome," a collection
+of heroic ballads relating to the times of the kings
+and the early consuls. The author speaks, not in his own
+person, but in the person of an ancient minstrel who is
+supposed to have lived about one hundred years after the
+event, and who therefore knew only what a Roman citizen
+of that time could have known.</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span>
+    <span class="i0">But the Consul's brow was sad,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And the Consul's speech was low,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And darkly looked he at the wall,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And darkly at the foe.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"Their van will be upon us<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Before the bridge goes down;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And if they once may win the bridge,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">What hope to save the town?"<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Then out spake brave Horatius,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The captain of the gate:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"To every man upon this Earth<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Death cometh soon or late;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And how can man die better<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Than facing fearful odds,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For the ashes of his fathers,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And the temples of his gods?<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Hew down the bridge, Sir Consul,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">With all the speed ye may;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">I, with two more to help me,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Will hold the foe in play.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In yon strait path a thousand<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">May well be stopped by three;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Now, who will stand on either hand,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And keep the bridge with me?"<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Then out spake Spurius Lartius,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">A Ramnian proud was he:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"Lo, I will stand at thy right hand,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And keep the bridge with thee."<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span>
+    <span class="i0">And out spake strong Herminius,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Of Titian blood was he:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"I will abide on thy left side,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And keep the bridge with thee."<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Horatius," quoth the Consul,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">"As thou say'st, so let it be."<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And straight against that great array<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Forth went the dauntless Three.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">Meanwhile the Tuscan army,<br /></span>
+<span class="i3">Right glorious to behold,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Came flashing back the noonday light,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Rank behind rank, like surges bright<br /></span>
+<span class="i3">Of a broad sea of gold.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Four hundred trumpets sounded<br /></span>
+<span class="i3">A peal of warlike glee,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">As that great host, with measured tread,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And spears advanced, and ensigns spread,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Rolled slowly towards the bridge's head,<br /></span>
+<span class="i3">Where stood the dauntless Three.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i1">The Three stood calm and silent,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And looked upon the foes,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And a great shout of laughter<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">From all the vanguard rose.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And forth three chiefs came spurring<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Before that deep array;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To earth they sprang, their swords they drew<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And lifted high their shields, and flew<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">To win the narrow way.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span>
+    <span class="i0">Annus from green Tifernum,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Lord of the Hill of Vines;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And Seius, whose eight hundred slaves<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Sicken in Ilva's mines;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And Picus, long to Clusium<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Vassal in peace and war,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Who led to fight his Umbrian powers<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">From that gray crag where, girt with towers,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The fortress of Nequinum lowers<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">O'er the pale waves of Nar.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Stout Lartius hurled down Annus<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Into the stream beneath:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Herminius struck at Seius,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And clove him to the teeth:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">At Picus brave Horatius<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Darted one fiery thrust;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And the proud Umbrian's gilded arms<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Clashed in the bloody dust.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">And now no sound of laughter<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Was heard among the foes.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A wild and wrathful clamor<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">From all the vanguard rose.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Six spears' length from the entrance<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Halted that mighty mass,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And for a space no man came forth<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">To win the narrow pass.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span>
+    <span class="i0">But hark! the cry is Astur:<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And lo! the ranks divide;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And the great Lord of Luna<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Comes with his stately stride.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Upon his ample shoulders<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Clangs loud the fourfold shield,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And in his hand he shakes the brand<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Which none but he can wield.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">He smiled on those bold Romans<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">A smile serene and high;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He eyed the flinching Tuscans,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And scorn was in his eye.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Quoth he, "The she-wolf's litter<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Stand savagely at bay:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But will ye dare to follow,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">If Astur clears the way?"<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Then whirling up his broadsword<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">With both hands to the height,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He rushed against Horatius,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And smote with all his might.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With shield and blade Horatius<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Right deftly turned the blow.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The blow, though turned, came yet too nigh;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">It missed his helm, but gashed his thigh:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The Tuscans raised a joyful cry<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">To see the red blood flow.<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 500px;">
+    <a name="p0037-illus.jpg" id="p0037-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p0037-illus.jpg" width="500" height="320" alt="A defensive act" title="" />
+    <p class="caption2">Drawn by A. I. Keller.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Engraved by Robert Varley.<br />
+                        The Defense of the Bridge.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span>
+    <span class="i0">He reeled, and on Herminius<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">He leaned one breathing space;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Then, like a wild cat mad with wounds,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Sprang right at Astur's face.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Through teeth and skull and helmet,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">So fierce a thrust he sped,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The good sword stood a handbreadth out<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Behind the Tuscan's head!<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">And the great Lord of Luna<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Fell at that deadly stroke,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">As falls on Mount Alvernus<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">A thunder-smitten oak.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Far o'er the crashing forest<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The giant arms lie spread;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And the pale augurs, muttering low,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Gaze on the blasted head.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Then all Etruria's noblest<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Felt their hearts sink to see<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">On the earth the bloody corpses,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">In the path the dauntless Three:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And, from the ghastly entrance<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Where those bold Romans stood,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">All shrank, like boys who unaware,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Ranging the woods to start a hare,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Come to the mouth of the dark lair,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Where, growling low, a fierce old bear<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Lies amidst bones and blood.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span>
+    <span class="i0">Yet one man for one moment<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Stood out before the crowd;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Well known was he to all the Three,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And they gave him greeting loud:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"Now welcome, welcome, Sextus!<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Now welcome to thy home!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Why dost thou stay and turn away?<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Here lies the road to Rome."<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Thrice looked he at the city;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Thrice looked he at the dead;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And thrice came on in fury,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And thrice turned back in dread:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And, white with fear and hatred,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Scowled at the narrow way<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Where, wallowing in a pool of blood,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The bravest Tuscans lay.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">But meanwhile ax and lever<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Have manfully been plied,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And now the bridge hangs tottering<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Above the boiling tide.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"Come back, come back, Horatius!"<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Loud cried the Fathers all.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"Back, Lartius! Back, Herminius!<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Back, ere the ruin fall!"<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Back darted Spurius Lartius;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Herminius darted back;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And, as they passed, beneath their feet<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">They felt the timbers crack.<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span>
+    <span class="i0">But when they turned their faces,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And on the farther shore<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Saw brave Horatius stand alone,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">They would have crossed once more.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">But with a crash like thunder<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Fell every loosened beam,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And, like a dam, the mighty wreck<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Lay right athwart the stream:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And a long shout of triumph<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Rose from the walls of Rome,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">As to the highest turret tops<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Was splashed the yellow-foam.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Alone stood brave Horatius,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">But constant still in mind;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Thrice thirty thousand foes before,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And the broad flood behind.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"Down with him!" cried false Sextus,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">With a smile on his pale face.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"Now, yield thee!" cried Lars Porsena,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">"Now yield thee to our grace."<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Round turned he, as not deigning<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Those craven ranks to see;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Naught spake he to Lars Porsena,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">To Sextus naught spake he;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But he saw on Palatinus<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The white porch of his home;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And he spake to the noble river<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">That rolls by the tower of Rome:<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span>
+    <span class="i0">"O, Tiber! Father Tiber!<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">To whom the Romans pray,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A Roman's life, a Roman's arms,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Take thou in charge this day!"<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">So he spake, and speaking sheathed<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The good sword by his side,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And with his harness on his back,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Plunged headlong in the tide.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">No sound of joy or sorrow<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Was heard from either bank;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But friends and foes, in dumb surprise,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With parted lips and straining eyes,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Stood gazing where he sank:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And when above the surges<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">They saw his crest appear,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">All Rome sent forth a rapturous cry,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And even the ranks of Tuscany<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Could scarce forbear to cheer.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">But fiercely ran the current,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Swollen high by months of rain:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And fast his blood was flowing;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And he was sore in pain,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And heavy with his armor,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And spent with changing blows:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And oft they thought him sinking,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">But still again he rose.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span>
+    <span class="i0">"Curse on him!" quoth false Sextus,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">"Will not the villain drown?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But for this stay, ere close of day<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">We should have sacked the town!"&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"Heaven help him!" quoth Lars Porsena,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">"And bring him safe to shore;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For such a gallant feat of arms<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Was never seen before."<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">And now he feels the bottom;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Now on dry earth he stands;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Now round him throng the Fathers,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">To press his gory hands;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And now with shouts and clapping,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And noise of weeping loud,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He enters through the River Gate,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Borne by the joyous crowd.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">They gave him of the corn land,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">That was of public right,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">As much as two strong oxen<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Could plow from morn till night;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And they made a molten image,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And set it up on high,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And there it stands unto this day<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">To witness if I lie.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">And still his name sounds stirring<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Unto the men of Rome,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">As the trumpet-blast that cries to them<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">To charge the Volscians home.<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span>
+    <span class="i0">And mothers pray to Juno<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">For boys with hearts as bold<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">As his who kept the bridge so well<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">In the brave days of old.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">And in the nights of winter<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">When the cold north winds blow,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And the long howling of the wolves<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Is heard amidst the snow;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">When round the lonely cottage<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Roars loud the tempest's din,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And the good logs of Algidus<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Roar louder yet within;<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">When the oldest cask is opened,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And the largest lamp is lit;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">When the chestnuts glow in the embers,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And the kid turns on the spit;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">When young and old in circle<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Around the firebrands close;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">When the girls are weaving baskets,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And the lads are shaping bows;<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">When the goodman mends his armor,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And trims his helmet's plume;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">When the goodwife's shuttle merrily<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Goes flashing through the loom;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With weeping and with laughter<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Still is the story told,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">How well Horatius kept the bridge<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">In the brave days of old.<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span></p>
+<h2>HOW SIR FRANCIS DRAKE SAILED ROUND<br />
+THE WORLD.</h2>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 200px;">
+    <a name="p0044-illus.jpg" id="p0044-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p0044-illus.jpg" width="200" height="212" alt="Drake's portrait" title="" />
+ <p class="caption2">Sir Francis Drake.</p>
+</div>
+<p>The ships which the Spaniards used on the Pacific
+were usually built on the spot. But Magellan was
+known to have gone by the Horn, and where a Portuguese
+could go an Englishman could go.
+Drake proposed to try. The vessels in
+which he was preparing to tempt fortune
+seem preposterously small. The
+"Pelican," or "Golden Hind,"
+which belonged to Drake himself,
+was but 120 tons, at best
+no larger than a modern racing
+yawl, though perhaps no
+racing yawl was ever better
+equipped for the work which
+she had to do. The next,
+the "Elizabeth" of London,
+was said to be eighty tons; a small pinnace of twelve
+tons, in which we should hardly risk a summer cruise
+round the Land's End, with two sloops or frigates of fifty
+and thirty tons, made the rest. The "Elizabeth" was
+commanded by Captain Winter, a queen's officer, and
+perhaps a son of the old admiral.</p>
+
+<p>We may credit Drake with knowing what he was
+about. He and his comrades were carrying their lives
+in their hands. If they were taken they would be inevitably
+hanged. Their safety depended on speed of
+sailing, and specially on the power of working fast to
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span>
+windward, which the heavy square-rigged ships could
+not do. The crews all told were one hundred and sixty
+men and boys.</p>
+
+<p>On November 15th, 1577, the "Pelican" and her consorts
+sailed out of Plymouth Sound. The elements frowned
+on their start. On the second day they were caught in
+a winter gale. The "Pelican" sprung her mainmast,
+and they put back to refit and repair. Before the middle
+of December all was again in order. The weather
+mended, and with a fair wind and smooth water they
+made a fast run down the coast to the Cape de Verde
+Islands. There taking up the northeast Trades, they
+struck across the Atlantic. They passed the mouth of
+the Plate River, finding to their astonishment fresh water
+at the ship's side in fifty-four fathoms. On June 20th
+they reached Port St. Julian on the coast of Patagonia.</p>
+
+<p>It was now midwinter, the stormiest season of the
+year, and they remained for six weeks in Port St. Julian.
+They burnt the twelve-ton pinnace, as too small for the
+work they had now before them, and there remained only
+the "Pelican," the "Elizabeth," and the "Marigold." In
+cold, wild weather they weighed at last, and on August
+20th made the opening of Magellan's Straits. The passage
+is seventy miles long, tortuous and dangerous.
+They had no charts. Icy mountains overhung them on
+either side; heavy snow fell below. They brought up
+occasionally at an island to rest the men, and let them
+kill a few seals and penguins to give them fresh food.
+Everything they saw was new, wild, and wonderful.</p>
+
+<p>Having to feel their way, they were three weeks in
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>
+getting through. They had counted on reaching the
+Pacific that the worst of their work was over, and that
+they could run north at once into warmer and calmer
+latitudes. The peaceful ocean, when they entered it,
+proved the stormiest they had ever sailed on. A fierce
+westerly gale drove them six hundred miles to the southeast
+outside the Horn. The "Marigold" went down in the
+tremendous encounter. Captain Winter in the "Elizabeth"
+made his way back into Magellan's Straits. There
+he lay for three weeks, lighting fires nightly to show
+Drake where he was; but no Drake appeared. They had
+agreed, if separated, to meet on the coast in the latitude
+of Valparaiso; but Winter was chicken-hearted, and sore,
+we are told, "against the mariners' will," when the three
+weeks were out, he sailed away for England, where he
+reported that all the ships were lost but the "Pelican,"
+and that the "Pelican" was probably lost too.</p>
+
+<p>Drake had believed better of Winter, and had not
+expected to be so deserted. He had himself taken refuge
+among the islands which form the Cape, waiting for the
+spring and milder weather. He used the time in making
+surveys, and observing the habits of the native Patagonians.
+The days lengthened, and the sea smoothed at last.
+He then sailed for Valparaiso, hoping to meet Winter
+there, as he had arranged. At Valparaiso there was no
+Winter, but there was in the port instead a great galleon
+just come in from Peru. The galleon's crew took him
+for a Spaniard, hoisted their colors, and beat their drums.
+The "Pelican" shot alongside. The English sailors
+in high spirits leaped on board. No life was taken;
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span>
+Drake never hurt man if he could help it. The crew
+jumped overboard, and swam ashore. The prize was
+examined. Four hundred pounds' weight of gold was
+found in her, besides other plunder.</p>
+
+<p>Drake went on next to Tarapaca, where silver from the
+Andes mines was shipped for Panama. At Tarapaca
+there was the same unconsciousness of danger. The
+silver bars lay piled on the quay, the muleteers who had
+brought them were sleeping peacefully in the sunshine at
+their side. The muleteers were left to their slumbers.
+The bars were lifted into the English boats. A train of
+mules or llamas came in at that moment with a second
+load as rich as the first. This, too, went into the "Pelican's"
+hold. The bullion taken at Tarapaca was worth
+nearly half a million ducats.</p>
+
+<p>Still there was no news of Winter. Drake began to
+realize that he was now entirely alone, and had only himself
+and his own crew to depend on. There was nothing
+to do but to go through with it, danger adding to the
+interest. Arica was the next point visited. Half a
+hundred blocks of silver were picked up at Arica. After
+Arica came Lima, the chief depot of all, where the grandest
+haul was looked for. At Lima, alas! they were just
+too late. Twelve great hulks lay anchored there. The
+sails were unbent, the men were ashore. They contained
+nothing but some chests of reels and a few bales of silk
+and linen. But a thirteenth, called the "Cacafuego," had
+sailed a few days before for the Isthmus with the whole
+produce of the Lima mines for the season. Her ballast
+was silver, her cargo gold and emeralds and rubies.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span>
+    Drake deliberately cut the cables of the ships in the
+roads, that they might drive ashore and be unable to
+follow him. The "Pelican" spread her wings, and sped
+away in pursuit. He would know the "Cacafuego," so
+he learned at Lima, by the peculiar cut of her sails. The
+first man who caught sight of her was promised a gold
+chain for his reward. A sail was seen on the second
+day. It was not the chase, but it was worth stopping
+for. Eighty pounds' weight of gold was found, and a
+great gold crucifix, set with emeralds said to be as large
+as pigeons' eggs.</p>
+
+<p>We learn from the Spanish accounts that the Viceroy
+of Lima, as soon as he recovered from his astonishment,
+dispatched ships in pursuit. They came up with the
+last plundered vessel, heard terrible tales of the rovers'
+strength, and went back for a larger force. The "Pelican"
+meanwhile went along upon her course for eight hundred
+miles. At length, off Quito, and close under the shore,
+the "Cacafuego's" peculiar sails were sighted, and the gold
+chain was claimed. There she was, going lazily along a
+few miles ahead. Care was needed in approaching her.
+If she guessed the "Pelican's" character she would run
+in upon the land, and they would lose her. It was
+afternoon. The sun was still above the horizon, and
+Drake meant to wait till night, when the breeze would be
+off the shore, as in the tropics it always is.</p>
+
+<p>The "Pelican" sailed two feet to the "Cacafuego's" one.
+Drake filled his empty wine skins with water and trailed
+them astern to stop his way. The chase supposed that
+she was followed by some heavily-loaded trader, and,
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span>
+wishing for company on a lonely voyage, she slackened
+sail, and waited for him to come up. At length the sun
+went down into the ocean, the rosy light faded from off
+the snows of the Andes; and when both ships had become
+invisible from the shore, the skins were hauled in,
+the night wind rose, and the water began to ripple under
+the "Pelican's" bows. The "Cacafuego" was swiftly overtaken,
+and when within a cable's length a voice hailed her
+to put her head into the wind. The Spanish commander,
+not understanding so strange an order, held on his course.
+A broadside brought down his mainyard, and a flight of
+arrows rattled on his deck. He was himself wounded.
+In a few minutes he was a prisoner, and the ship and her
+precious freight were in the corsair's power. The wreck
+was cut away; the ship was cleared; a prize crew was
+put on board. Both vessels turned their heads to the
+sea. At daybreak no land was to be seen, and the examination
+of the prize began. The full value was never
+acknowledged. The invoice, if there was one, was destroyed.
+The accurate figures were known only to Drake
+and Queen Elizabeth. A published schedule acknowledged
+to twenty tons of silver bullion, thirteen chests of
+silver coins, and a hundredweight of gold, but there were
+gold nuggets beside in indefinite quantity, and "a great
+store" of pearls, emeralds, and diamonds.</p>
+
+<p>Drake, we are told, was greatly satisfied. He thought
+it prudent to stay in the neighborhood no longer than
+necessary. He went north with all sail set, taking his
+prize along with him. The master, San Juan de Anton, was
+removed on board the "Pelican," to have his wound attended
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span>
+to. He remained as Drake's guest for a week,
+and sent in a report of what he observed to the Spanish
+government. One at least of Drake's party spoke excellent
+Spanish. This person took San Juan over the ship.
+She showed signs, San Juan said, of rough service, but
+was still in fine condition, with ample arms, spare rope,
+mattocks, carpenters' tools of all descriptions. There
+were eighty-five men on board all told, fifty of them men
+of war, the rest young fellows, ship boys, and the like.
+Drake himself was treated with great reverence; a sentinel
+stood always at his cabin door. He dined alone with
+music.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 200px;">
+    <a name="p0050-illus.jpg" id="p0050-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p0050-illus.jpg" width="200" height="217" alt="Author's portrait" title="" />
+ <p class="caption2">James Anthony Froude.</p>
+</div>
+<p>The "Pelican" met with many other adventures, and at
+last sailed for home. Sweeping in fine
+clear weather round the Cape of Good
+Hope, she touched once for water
+at Sierra Leone, and finally sailed
+in triumph into Plymouth
+Harbor.</p>
+
+<p>English sympathy with an
+extraordinary exploit is always
+irresistible. Shouts of
+applause rang through the
+country; and Elizabeth, every
+bit of her an English-woman,
+felt with her subjects. She
+sent for Drake to London, made him tell his story over
+and over again, and was never weary of listening to him.</p>
+
+<div class="signature">&mdash;<i>From "English Seamen in the Sixteenth Century,"<br />
+by James Anthony Froude.</i>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span></p>
+<h2>A BRAVE RESCUE AND A ROUGH RIDE.</h2>
+
+<p>It happened upon a November evening (when I was
+about fifteen years old, and outgrowing my strength very
+rapidly, my sister Annie being turned thirteen, and a deal
+of rain having fallen, and all the troughs in the yard
+being flooded, and the bark from the wood ricks washed
+down the gutter, and even our watershoot growing
+brown) that the ducks in the barnyard made a terrible
+quacking, instead of marching off to their pen, one behind
+another. Thereupon Annie and I ran out to see what
+might be the sense of it. There were thirteen ducks, and
+ten lily-white (as the fashion of ducks then was), not, I
+mean, twenty-three in all, but ten white and three brown-striped
+ones; and without being nice about their color,
+they all quacked very movingly. They pushed their
+gold-colored bills here and there (yet dirty, as gold is apt
+to be), and they jumped on the triangles of their feet,
+and sounded out of their nostrils; and some of the overexcited
+ones ran along low on the ground, quacking
+grievously, with their bills snapping and bending, and the
+roof of their mouths exhibited.</p>
+
+<p>Annie began to cry "dilly, dilly, einy, einy, ducksey,"
+according to the burden of a tune they seem to have accepted
+as the national ducks' anthem; but instead of being
+soothed by it, they only quacked three times as hard, and
+ran round till we were giddy. And then they shook their
+tails all together, and looked grave, and went round and
+round again.</p>
+
+<p>Now, I am uncommonly fond of ducks, whether roystering,
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span>
+roosting, or roasted; and it is a fine sight to behold
+them walk, paddling one after another, with their toes
+out, like soldiers drilling, and their little eyes cocked all
+ways at once, and the way that they dib with their bills,
+and dabble, and throw up their heads and enjoy something,
+and then tell the others about it. Therefore, I
+knew at once, by the way they were carrying on, that
+there must be something or other gone wholly amiss in
+the duck world. Sister Annie perceived it, too, but with
+a greater quickness; for she counted them like a good
+duck wife, and could only tell thirteen of them, when she
+knew there ought to be fourteen.</p>
+
+<p>And so we began to search about, and the ducks ran to
+lead us aright, having come that far to fetch us; and
+when we got down to the foot of the courtyard where
+the two great ash trees stand by the side of the little
+water, we found good reason for the urgence and melancholy
+of the duck birds. Lo! the old white drake, the
+father of all, a bird of high manners and chivalry, always
+the last to help himself from the pan of barley meal, and
+the first to show fight to a dog or cock intruding upon his
+family, this fine fellow, and a pillar of the state, was now
+in a sad predicament, yet quacking very stoutly.</p>
+
+<p>For the brook, wherewith he had been familiar from his
+callow childhood, and wherein he was wont to quest for
+water newts, and tadpoles, and caddice worms, and other
+game, this brook, which afforded him very often scanty
+space to dabble in, and sometimes starved the cresses, was
+now coming down in a great brown flood, as if the banks
+never belonged to it. The foaming of it, and the noise,
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span>
+and the cresting of the corners, and the up and down, like
+the wave of the sea, were enough to frighten any duck,
+though bred upon stormy waters, which our ducks never
+had been.</p>
+
+<p>There is always a hurdle six feet long and four and a
+half in depth, swung by a chain at either end from an oak
+laid across the channel. And the use of this hurdle is to
+keep our kine at milking time from straying away there
+drinking (for in truth they are very dainty) and to fence
+strange cattle, or Farmer Snowe's horses, from coming
+along the bed of the brook unknown, to steal our substance.</p>
+
+<p>But now this hurdle, which hung in the summer a foot
+above the trickle, would have been dipped more than two
+feet deep but for the power against it. For the torrent
+came down so vehemently that the chains in full stretch
+were creaking, and the hurdle buffeted almost flat, and
+thatched (so to say), with the drift stuff, was going seesaw
+with a sulky splash on the dirty red comb of the
+waters.</p>
+
+<p>But saddest to see was between two bars, where a fog was
+of rushes, and flood wood, and wild celery, and dead crow's-foot.
+For there was our venerable mallard jammed in by
+the joint of his shoulder, speaking aloud as he rose and
+fell, with his topknot full of water, unable to comprehend
+it, with his tail washed far away from him, but often compelled
+to be silent, being ducked very harshly against his
+will by the choking fall to of the hurdle.</p>
+
+<p>For a moment I could not help laughing; because, being
+borne high up and dry by a tumult of the torrent, he gave
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span>
+me a look from his one little eye (having lost one in fight
+with a turkey cock), a gaze of appealing sorrow, and then
+a loud quack to second it. But the quack came out of
+time, I suppose, for his throat got filled with water, as
+the hurdle carried him back again. And then there was
+scarcely the screw of his tail to be seen until he swung
+up again, and left small doubt, by the way he spluttered,
+and failed to quack, and hung down his poor crest, but
+what he must drown in another minute, and frogs triumph
+over his body.</p>
+
+<p>Annie was crying and wringing her hands, and I was
+about to rush into the water, although I liked not the look
+of it, but hoped to hold on by the hurdle, when a man on
+horseback came suddenly round the corner of the great
+ash hedge on the other side of the stream, and his horse's
+feet were in the water.</p>
+
+<p>"Ho, there," he cried, "get thee back, boy! The flood
+will carry thee down like a straw. I will do it for thee,
+and no trouble."</p>
+
+<p>With that he leaned forward, and spoke to his mare&mdash;she
+was just of the tint of a strawberry, a young thing,
+very beautiful&mdash;and she arched up her neck, as misliking
+the job; yet, trusting him, would attempt it. She
+entered the flood, with her dainty fore legs sloped further
+and further in front of her, and her delicate ears pricked
+forward, and the size of her great eyes increasing; but he
+kept her straight in the turbid rush, by the pressure of his
+knee on her.</p>
+
+<p>Then she looked back, and wondered at him, as the force
+of the torrent grew stronger, but he bade her go on; and
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span>
+on she went, and it foamed up over her shoulders; and
+she tossed up her lip and scorned it, for now her courage
+was waking.</p>
+
+<p>Then, as the rush of it swept her away, and she struck
+with her forefeet down the stream, he leaned from his
+saddle in a manner which I never could have thought
+possible, and caught up old Tom with his left hand, and
+set him between his hostlers, and smiled at his faint quack
+of gratitude. In a moment all three were carried down
+stream, and the rider lay flat on his horse, and tossed the
+hurdle clear from him, and made for the bend of smooth
+water.</p>
+
+<p>They landed some thirty or forty yards lower, in the
+midst of our kitchen garden, where the winter cabbage
+was; but though Annie and I crept in through the hedge,
+and were full of our thanks and admiring him, he would
+answer us never a word until he had spoken in full to the
+mare, as if explaining the whole to her.</p>
+
+<p>"Sweetheart, I know thou couldst have leaped it," he
+said, as he patted her cheek, being on the ground by this
+time, and she was nudging up to him, with the water
+pattering off from her; "but I had good reason, Winnie
+dear, for making thee go through it."</p>
+
+<p>She answered him kindly with her soft eyes, and sniffed
+at him very lovingly, and they understood one another.
+Then he took from his waistcoat two peppercorns, and
+made the old drake swallow them, and tried him softly on
+his legs, where the leading gap in the hedge was.</p>
+
+<p>Old Tom stood up quite bravely, and clapped his wings,
+and shook off the wet from his tail feathers; and then away
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span>
+into the courtyard, and his family gathered around him,
+and they all made a noise in their throats, and stood up,
+and put their bills together, to thank God for his great
+deliverance.</p>
+
+<p>Having taken all this trouble, and watched the end of
+that adventure, the gentleman turned round to us with a
+pleasant smile on his face, as if he were lightly amused
+with himself; and we came up and looked at him. He was
+rather short, about John Fry's height, or maybe a little
+taller, but very strongly built and springy, as his gait at
+every step showed plainly, although his legs were bowed
+with much riding, and he looked as if he lived on horseback.</p>
+
+<p>To a boy like me he seemed very old, being over
+twenty, and well found in beard; but he was not more
+than four and twenty, fresh and ruddy looking, with a
+short nose and keen blue eyes, and a merry, waggish jerk
+about him, as if the world were not in earnest. Yet he
+had a sharp, stern way, like the crack of a pistol, if anything
+misliked him; and we knew (for children see such
+things) that it was safer to tickle than buffet him.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, young ones, what be gaping at?" He gave
+pretty Annie a chuck on the chin, and took me all in
+without winking.</p>
+
+<p>"Your mare," said I, standing stoutly up, being a tall
+boy now; "I never saw such a beauty, sir. Will you let
+me have a ride on her?"</p>
+
+<p>"Think thou couldst ride her, lad? She will have no
+burden but mine. Thou couldst never ride her! Tut!
+I would be loath to kill thee."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span>
+    "Ride her!" I cried, with the bravest scorn, for she
+looked so kind and gentle; "there never was horse upon
+Exmoor but I could tackle in half an hour. Only I
+never ride upon saddle. Take those leathers off of her."</p>
+
+<p>He looked at me with a dry little whistle, and thrust
+his hands into his pockets, and so grinned that I could not
+stand it. And Annie laid hold of me in such a way that
+I was almost mad with her. And he laughed, and approved
+her for doing so. And the worst of all was&mdash;he said
+nothing.</p>
+
+<p>"Get away, Annie. Do you think I'm a fool, good sir?
+Only trust me with her, and I will not override her."</p>
+
+<p>"For that I will go bail, my son. She is liker to override
+thee. But the ground is soft to fall upon, after all
+this rain. Now come out into the yard, young man, for
+the sake of your mother's cabbages. And the mellow
+straw bed will be softer for thee, since pride must have
+its fall. I am thy mother's cousin, boy, and I'm going
+up to the house. Tom Faggus is my name, as everybody
+knows, and this is my young mare, Winnie."</p>
+
+<p>What a fool I must have been not to know it at once!
+Tom Faggus, the great highwayman, and his young
+blood mare, the strawberry. Already her fame was
+noised abroad, nearly as much as her master's, and my
+longing to ride her grew tenfold, but fear came at the
+back of it. Not that I had the smallest fear of what the
+mare could do to me, by fair play and horse trickery, but
+that the glory of sitting upon her seemed to be too great
+for me; especially as there were rumors abroad that she
+was not a mare, after all, but a witch.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span>
+    However, she looked like a filly all over, and wonderfully
+beautiful with her supple stride, and soft slope of
+shoulder, and glossy coat beaded with water, and prominent
+eyes full of docile fire. Whether this came from
+her Eastern blood of the Arabs newly imported, and
+whether the cream color, mixed with our bay, led to
+that bright strawberry tint, is certainly more than I
+can decide, being chiefly acquaint with farm horses.
+And these are of any color and form; you never can
+count what they will be, and are lucky to get four legs
+to them.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Faggus gave his mare a wink, and she walked
+demurely after him, a bright young thing, flowing over
+with life, yet dropping her soul to a higher one, and led
+by love to anything, as the manner is of such creatures,
+when they know what is the best for them. Then Winnie
+trod lightly upon the straw, because it had soft muck
+under it, and her delicate feet came back again.</p>
+
+<p>"Up for it still, boy, be ye?" Tom Faggus stopped,
+and the mare stopped there; and they looked at me
+provokingly.</p>
+
+<p>"Is she able to leap, sir? There is good take-off on
+this side of the brook."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Faggus laughed very quietly, turning round to
+Winnie so that she might enter into it. And she, for her
+part, seemed to know exactly where the fun lay.</p>
+
+<p>"Good tumble off, you mean, my boy. Well, there
+can be small harm to thee. I am akin to thy family, and
+know the substance of their skulls."</p>
+
+<p>"Let me get up," said I, waxing wroth, for reasons I
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span>
+can not tell you, because they are too manifold; "take off
+your saddlebag things. I will try not to squeeze her
+ribs in, unless she plays nonsense with me."</p>
+
+<p>Then Mr. Faggus was up on his mettle at this proud
+speech of mine, and John Fry was running up all the
+while, and Bill Dadds, and half a dozen others. Tom
+Faggus gave one glance around, and then dropped all
+regard for me. The high repute of his mare was at stake,
+and what was my life compared to it? Through my
+defiance, and stupid ways, here was I in a duello, and
+my legs not come to their strength yet, and my arms
+as limp as herring.</p>
+
+<p>Something of this occurred to him, even in his wrath
+with me, for he spoke very softly to the filly, who now
+could scarce subdue herself; but she drew in her nostrils,
+and breathed to his breath, and did all she could
+to answer him.</p>
+
+<p>"Not too hard, my dear," he said; "let him gently
+down on the mixen. That will be quite enough." Then
+he turned the saddle off, and I was up in a moment.
+She began at first so easily, and pricked her ears so lovingly,
+and minced about as if pleased to find so light a
+weight upon her, that I thought she knew I could ride
+a little, and feared to show any capers. "Gee wugg,
+Polly!" cried I, for all the men were now looking on,
+being then at the leaving-off time; "gee wugg, Polly,
+and show what thou be'est made of." With that I
+plugged my heels into her, and Billy Dadds flung his
+hat up.</p>
+
+<p>Nevertheless, she outraged not, though her eyes were
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span>
+frightening Annie, and John Fry took a pick to keep
+him safe; but she curbed to and fro with her strong forearms
+rising like springs ingathered, waiting and quivering
+grievously, and beginning to sweat about it. Then
+her master gave a shrill, clear whistle, when her ears
+were bent toward him, and I felt her form beneath me
+gathering up like whalebone, and her hind legs coming
+under her, and I knew that I was in for it.</p>
+
+<p>First she reared upright in the air, and struck me full
+on the nose with her comb, till I bled worse than Robin
+Snell made me; and then down with her fore feet deep
+in the straw, and with her hind feet going to heaven.
+Finding me stick to her still like wax, for my mettle was
+up as hers was, away she flew with me swifter than ever
+I went before, or since, I trow.</p>
+
+<p>She drove full head at the cob wall&mdash;"Oh, Jack, slip
+off!" screamed Annie&mdash;then she turned like light, when
+I thought to crush her, and ground my left knee against
+it. "Dear me!" I cried, for my breeches were broken,
+and short words went the farthest&mdash;"if you kill me, you
+shall die with me." Then she took the courtyard gate
+at a leap, knocking my words between my teeth, and
+then right over a quickset hedge, as if the sky were a
+breath to her; and away for the water meadows, while I
+lay on her neck like a child and wished I had never been
+born.</p>
+
+<p>Straight away, all in the front of the wind, and scattering
+clouds around her, all I know of the speed we made
+was the frightful flash of her shoulders, and her mane
+like trees in a tempest. I felt the earth under us rushing
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>
+away, and the air left far behind us, and my breath
+came and went, and I prayed to God, and was sorry to
+be so late of it.</p>
+
+<p>All the long swift while, without power of thought, I
+clung to her crest and shoulders, and was proud of holding
+on so long, though sure of being beaten. Then in
+her fury at feeling me still, she rushed at another device
+for it, and leaped the wide water-trough sideways across,
+to and fro, till no breath was left in me. The hazel
+boughs took me too hard in the face, and the tall dog-briers
+got hold of me, and the ache of my back was like
+crimping a fish, till I longed to give it up, thoroughly
+beaten, and lie there and die in the cresses.</p>
+
+<p>But there came a shrill whistle from up the home hill,
+where the people had hurried to watch us, and the mare
+stopped as if with a bullet, then set off for home with
+the speed of a swallow, and going as smoothly and silently.
+I never had dreamed of such delicate motion,
+fluent, and graceful, and ambient, soft as the breeze flitting
+over the flowers, but swift as the summer lightning.</p>
+
+<p>I sat up again, but my strength was all spent, and no
+time left to recover it; and though she rose at our gate
+like a bird, I tumbled off into the soft mud.</p>
+
+<p>"Well done, lad," Mr. Faggus said, good-naturedly;
+for all were now gathered round me, as I rose from the
+ground, somewhat tottering, and miry, and crest-fallen,
+but otherwise none the worse (having fallen upon my
+head, which is of uncommon substance); "not at all bad
+work, my boy; we may teach you to ride by and by, I
+see; I thought not to see you stick on so long&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span>
+    "I should have stuck on much longer, sir, if her sides
+had not been wet. She was so slippery&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Boy, thou art right. She hath given many the slip.
+Ha! ha! Vex not, Jack, that I laugh at thee. She is
+like a sweetheart to me, and better than any of them be.
+It would have gone to my heart if thou hadst conquered.
+None but I can ride my Winnie mare."</p>
+
+<p>"Foul shame to thee, then, Tom Faggus," cried mother,
+coming up suddenly, and speaking so that all were amazed,
+having never seen her wrathful, "to put my boy, my boy,
+across her, as if his life were no more than thine! A
+man would have taken thy mad horse and thee, and flung
+them both into a horse pond&mdash;ay, and what's more, I'll
+have it done now, if a hair of his head is injured. Oh,
+my boy, my boy! Put up the other arm, Johnny." All
+the time mother was scolding so, she was feeling me and
+wiping me; while Faggus tried to look greatly ashamed,
+having sense of the ways of women.</p>
+
+<p>"Only look at his jacket, mother!" cried Annie; "and
+a shilling's worth gone from his smallclothes!"</p>
+
+<p>"What care I for his clothes, thou goose? Take that,
+and heed thine own a bit." And mother gave Annie a
+slap which sent her swinging up against Mr. Faggus, and
+he caught her, and kissed and protected her; and she
+looked at him very nicely, with great tears in her soft
+blue eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, fie upon thee, fie upon thee," cried mother (being
+yet more vexed with him, because she had beaten Annie);
+"after all we have done for thee, and saved thy worthless
+neck&mdash;and to try to kill my son for me! Never more
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span>
+shall horse of thine enter stable here, since these be thy
+returns to me. Small thanks to you, John Fry, I say;
+much you care for your master's son!"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, missus, what could us do?" began John; "Jan
+wudd goo, now wudd't her, Jem? And how was us&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Jan, indeed! Master John, if you please, to a lad of
+his years and stature. And now, Tom Faggus, be off, if
+you please, and think yourself lucky to go so."</p>
+
+<p>Everybody looked at mother, to hear her talk like that,
+knowing how quiet she was day by day, and how pleasant
+to be cheated. And the men began to shoulder their
+shovels, both so as to be away from her, and to go and
+tell their wives of it. Winnie, too, was looking at her,
+being pointed at so much, and wondering if she had done
+amiss. And then she came to me, and trembled, and
+stooped her head, and asked my pardon, if she had been
+too proud with me.</p>
+
+<p>"Winnie shall stop here to-night," said I, for Tom
+Faggus still said never a word all the while, but began
+to buckle his things on. "Mother, I tell you Winnie
+shall stop; else I will go away with her. I never knew
+what it was, till now, to ride a horse worth riding."</p>
+
+<p>"Young man," said Tom Faggus, still preparing sternly
+to depart, "you know more about a horse than any man
+on Exmoor. Your mother may well be proud of you, but
+she need have had no fear. As if I, Tom Faggus, your
+father's cousin&mdash;and the only thing I am proud of&mdash;would
+ever have let you mount my mare, which dukes
+and princes have vainly sought, except for the courage
+in your eyes, and the look of your father about you. I
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span>
+knew you could ride when I saw you, and rarely you
+have conquered. But women don't understand us."</p>
+
+<p>With that he fetched a heavy sigh, and feebly got upon
+Winnie's back, and she came to say farewell to me. He
+lifted his hat to my mother with a glance of sorrow, but
+never a word, and to me he said: "Open the gate, Cousin
+John, if you please. You have beaten her so, that she
+cannot leap it, poor thing."</p>
+
+<p>But, before he was truly gone out of our yard, my
+mother came softly after him, with her afternoon apron
+across her eyes, and one hand ready to offer him. Nevertheless,
+he made as if he had not seen her, though he
+let his horse go slowly. "Stop, Cousin Tom," my mother
+said, "a word with you before you go."</p>
+
+<p class="cen">*****</p>
+
+<p>"Lorna Doone," by Richard Blackmore, from which this
+extract is taken, is justly regarded as one of the few really
+great romances written in the latter part of the nineteenth
+century. It is a story of the times of Charles II., and
+culminates about the time of the rebellion of Monmouth
+in 1685. The narrative is supposed to be related by a
+sturdy farmer of Exmoor, named John Ridd, who is the
+hero of the tale. The main part of the action centers
+round the deeds of a band of outlaws called the Doones,
+who had established themselves in a narrow valley of
+Exmoor, from whence they levied tribute upon their
+neighbors and bade defiance to the officers of the law.
+The quaint and homely style in which the story is written
+wins the admiration of all readers, and gives to the work
+an indefinable charm.</p>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span></p>
+<h2>THE GLORY OF GOD.</h2>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The heavens declare the glory of God;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And the firmament sheweth his handywork.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Day unto day uttereth speech,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And night unto night sheweth knowledge,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">There is no speech nor language,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Where their voice is not heard.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Their line is gone out through all the earth,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And their words to the end of the world.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">His going forth is from the end of the heaven,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And his circuit unto the ends of it:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">More to be desired are they than gold; yea than much fine gold;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Moreover by them is thy servant warned;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And in keeping of them there is great reward.<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span>
+    <span class="i0">Who can understand his errors?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Cleanse thou me from secret faults.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Let them not have dominion over me:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Then shall I be upright, and I shall be<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Innocent from the great transgression.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Be acceptable in thy sight,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.<br /></span>
+<div class="signature2">&mdash;<i>From the Psalms of David.</i></div>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<h2>THE BATTLE OF BANNOCKBURN.</h2>
+
+<p>The Battle of Bannockburn, in Scotland, was one of
+the most famous in history. It was fought June 24th,
+1314, between Robert Bruce of Scotland and Edward II.
+of England. The army of Bruce consisted of 30,000
+men; that of Edward of 100,000, of whom 52,000 were
+archers. The story of the battle is thus described by Sir
+Walter Scott in his "Tales of a Grandfather":</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p>Now when Sir Philip Mowbray, the governor of Stirling,
+came to London, to tell the King, that Stirling, the
+last Scottish town of importance which remained in possession
+of the English, was to be surrendered if it were
+not relieved by force of arms before midsummer, then all
+the English nobles called out, it would be a sin and shame
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span>
+to permit the fair conquest which Edward the First had
+made, to be forfeited to the Scots for want of fighting.
+It was, therefore, resolved, that the King should go himself
+to Scotland, with as great forces as he could possibly
+muster.</p>
+
+<p>King Edward the Second, therefore, assembled one of
+the greatest armies which a King of England ever commanded.
+There were troops brought from all his dominions.
+Many brave soldiers from the French provinces
+which the King of England possessed in France,&mdash;many
+Irish, many Welsh,&mdash;and all the great English nobles and
+barons, with their followers, were assembled in one great
+army.</p>
+
+<p>King Robert the Bruce summoned all his nobles and
+barons to join him, when he heard of the great preparations
+which the King of England was making. They
+were not so numerous as the English by many thousand
+men. In fact, his whole army did not very much exceed
+thirty thousand, and they were much worse armed than
+the wealthy Englishmen; but then, Robert, who was
+at their head, was one of the most expert generals of
+the time; and the officers he had under him, were his
+brother Edward, his nephew Randolph, his faithful follower
+the Douglas, and other brave and experienced leaders,
+who commanded the same men that had been
+accustomed to fight and gain victories under every disadvantage
+of situation and numbers.</p>
+
+<p>The King, on his part, studied how he might supply,
+by address and stratagem, what he wanted in numbers
+and strength. He knew the superiority of the English,
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span>
+both in their heavy-armed cavalry, which were much
+better mounted and armed than that of the Scots, and in
+their archers, who were better trained than any others in
+the world. Both these advantages he resolved to provide
+against. With this purpose, he led his army down into a
+plain near Stirling, called the Park, near which, and beneath
+it, the English army must needs pass through a
+boggy country, broken with water courses, while the Scots
+occupied hard dry ground. He then caused all the
+ground upon the front of his line of battle, where cavalry
+were likely to act, to be dug full of holes, about as deep
+as a man's knee. They were filled with light brushwood,
+and the turf was laid on the top, so that it appeared a
+plain field, while in reality it was all full of these pits as
+a honeycomb is of holes. He also, it is said, caused steel
+spikes, called calthrops, to be scattered up and down in
+the plain, where the English cavalry were most likely
+to advance, trusting in that manner to lame and destroy
+their horses.</p>
+
+<p>When the Scottish army was drawn up, the line stretched
+north and south. On the south, it was terminated by
+the banks of the brook called Bannockburn, which are so
+rocky, that no troops could attack them there. On the
+left, the Scottish line extended near to the town of Stirling.
+Bruce reviewed his troops very carefully; all the
+useless servants, drivers of carts, and such like, of whom
+there were very many, he ordered to go behind a height,
+afterwards, in memory of the event, called the Gillies'
+hill, that is, the Servants' hill. He then spoke to the
+soldiers, and expressed his determination to gain the
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span>
+victory, or to lose his life on the field of battle. He
+desired that all those who did not propose to fight to the
+last, should leave the field before the battle began, and
+that none should remain except those who were determined
+to take the issue of victory or death, as God should
+send it.</p>
+
+<p>When the main body of his army was thus placed in
+order, the King posted Randolph, with a body of horse,
+near to the Church of St. Ninian's, commanding him to
+use the utmost diligence to prevent any succors from
+being thrown into Stirling Castle. He then dispatched
+James of Douglas, and Sir Robert Keith, the Mareschal of
+the Scottish army, in order that they might survey, as
+nearly as they could, the English force, which was now
+approaching from Falkirk. They returned with information,
+that the approach of that vast host was one of the
+most beautiful and terrible sights which could be seen,&mdash;that
+the whole country seemed covered with men at
+arms on horse and foot,&mdash;that the number of standards,
+banners, and pennons (all flags of different kinds) made so
+gallant a show, that the bravest and most numerous host
+in Christendom might be alarmed to see King Edward
+moving against them.</p>
+
+<p>It was upon the twenty-third of June (1314) the King
+of Scotland heard the news, that the English army were
+approaching Stirling. He drew out his army, therefore, in
+the order which he had before resolved on. After a short
+time, Bruce, who was looking out anxiously for the enemy,
+saw a body of English cavalry trying to get into Stirling
+from the eastward. This was the Lord Clifford, who,
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span>
+with a chosen body of eight hundred horse had been
+detached to relieve the castle.</p>
+
+<p>"See, Randolph," said the King to his nephew, "there
+is a rose fallen from your chaplet." By this he meant
+that Randolph had lost some honor, by suffering the
+enemy to pass where he had been stationed to hinder
+them. Randolph made no reply, but rushed against Clifford
+with little more than half his number. The Scots
+were on foot. The English turned to charge them with
+their lances, and Randolph drew up his men in close order
+to receive the onset. He seemed to be in so much danger,
+that Douglas asked leave of the King to go and assist
+him. The King refused him permission.</p>
+
+<p>"Let Randolph," he said, "redeem his own fault; I
+can not break the order of battle for his sake." Still the
+danger appeared greater, and the English horse seemed
+entirely to encompass the small handful of Scottish infantry.
+"So please you," said Douglas to the King, "my
+heart will not suffer me to stand idle and see Randolph
+perish&mdash;I must go to his assistance." He rode off accordingly;
+but long before they had reached the place of
+combat, they saw the English horses galloping off, many
+with empty saddles.</p>
+
+<p>"Halt!" said Douglas to his men, "Randolph has
+gained the day; since we were not soon enough to help
+him in the battle, do not let us lessen his glory by approaching
+the field." Now, that was nobly done; especially
+as Douglas and Randolph were always contending
+which should rise highest in the good opinion of the King
+and the nation.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span>
+    The van of the English army now came in sight, and a
+number of their bravest knights drew near to see what
+the Scots were doing. They saw King Robert dressed in
+his armor, and distinguished by a gold crown, which he
+wore over his helmet. He was not mounted on his great
+war horse, because he did not expect to fight that evening.
+But he rode on a little pony up and down the ranks
+of his army, putting his men in order, and carried in his
+hand a short battle ax made of steel. When the King
+saw the English horsemen draw near, he advanced a little
+before his own men, that he might look at them more
+nearly.</p>
+
+<p>There was a knight among the English, called Sir
+Henry de Bohun, who thought this would be a good opportunity
+to gain great fame to himself, and put an end
+to the war, by killing King Robert. The King being
+poorly mounted, and having no lance, Bohun galloped on
+him suddenly and furiously, thinking, with his long spear,
+and his tall powerful horse, easily to bear him down to
+the ground. King Robert saw him, and permitted him
+to come very near, then suddenly turned his pony a little
+to one side, so that Sir Henry missed him with the lance
+point, and was in the act of being carried past him by the
+career of his horse. But as he passed, King Robert rose
+up in his stirrups, and struck Sir Henry on the head with
+his battle ax so terrible a blow, that it broke to pieces
+his iron helmet as if it had been a nutshell, and hurled
+him from his saddle. He was dead before he reached the
+ground. This gallant action was blamed by the Scottish
+leaders, who thought Bruce ought not to have exposed
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span>
+himself to so much danger, when the safety of the whole
+army depended on him. The King only kept looking at
+his weapon, which was injured by the force of the blow,
+and said, "I have broken my good battle ax."</p>
+
+<p>The next morning, being the twenty-fourth of June, at
+break of day, the battle began in terrible earnest. The
+English as they advanced saw the Scots getting into line.
+The Abbot of Inchaffray walked through their ranks
+barefooted, and exhorted them to fight for their freedom.
+They kneeled down as he passed, and prayed to heaven
+for victory. King Edward, who saw this, called out,
+"They kneel down&mdash;they are asking forgiveness."
+"Yes," said a celebrated English baron, called Ingelram
+de Umphraville, "but they ask it from God, not from us&mdash;these
+men will conquer, or die upon the field."</p>
+
+<p>The English King ordered his men to begin the battle.
+The archers then bent their bows, and began to shoot so
+closely together, that the arrows fell like flakes of snow
+on a Christmas day. But Bruce, as I told you before, was
+prepared for them. He had in readiness a body of men at
+arms well mounted, who rode at full gallop among the
+archers, and as they had no weapons save their bows and
+arrows, which they could not use when they were attacked
+hand to hand, they were cut down in great numbers, and
+thrown into total confusion.</p>
+
+<p>The fine English cavalry then advanced to support
+their archers, and to attack the Scottish line. But coming
+over the ground, which was dug full of pits, the
+horses fell into these holes, and the riders lay tumbling
+about, without any means of defense, and unable to rise,
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span>
+from the weight of their armor. The Englishmen began
+to fall into general disorder; and the Scottish King,
+bringing up more of his forces, attacked and pressed
+them still more closely.</p>
+
+<p>On a sudden, while the battle was obstinately maintained
+on both sides, an event happened which decided
+the victory. The servants and attendants on the Scottish
+camp had, as I told you, been sent behind the army
+to a place afterwards called the Gillies' hill. But when
+they saw that their masters were likely to gain the day,
+they rushed from their place of concealment with such
+weapons as they could get, that they might have their
+share in the victory and in the spoil. The English, seeing
+them come suddenly over the hill, mistook this disorderly
+rabble for a new army coming up to sustain the
+Scots, and, losing all heart, began to shift every man for
+himself. Edward himself left the field as fast as he could
+ride. A valiant knight, Sir Giles de Argentine, attended
+the King till he got him out of the press of the combat.
+But he would retreat no farther. "It is not my custom,"
+he said, "to fly." With that he took leave of the King, set
+spurs to horse, and calling out his war cry of Argentine!
+Argentine! he rushed into the thickest of the Scottish
+ranks, and was killed.</p>
+
+<p>Edward first fled to Stirling Castle, and entreated admittance;
+but Sir Philip Mowbray, the governor, reminded
+the fugitive sovereign that he was obliged to surrender
+the castle next day, so Edward was fain to fly through
+the Torwood, closely pursued by Douglas with a body of
+cavalry. An odd circumstance happened during the
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span>
+chase, which showed how loosely some of the Scottish
+barons of that day held their political opinions: As
+Douglas was riding furiously after Edward, he met a
+Scottish knight, Sir Laurence Abernethy, with twenty
+horse. Sir Laurence had hitherto owned the English interest,
+and was bringing this band of followers to serve
+King Edward's army. But learning from Douglas that
+the English King was entirely defeated, he changed sides
+on the spot, and was easily prevailed upon to join Douglas
+in pursuing the unfortunate Edward, with the very followers
+whom he had been leading to join his standard.</p>
+
+<p>Douglas and Abernethy followed King Edward as far
+as Dunbar, where the English had still a friend, in the
+governor, Patrick, Earl of March. The Earl received
+Edward in his forlorn condition, and furnished him with a
+fishing skiff, or small ship, in which he escaped to England,
+having entirely lost his fine army, and a great number of
+his bravest nobles.</p>
+
+<p>The English never before or afterwards, whether in
+France or Scotland, lost so dreadful a battle as that of
+Bannockburn, nor did the Scots ever gain one of the same
+importance.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>Such is the story that is told by Sir Walter Scott in his
+"Tales of a Grandfather." It will be interesting now to
+read Burns's poem beginning, "Scots wha hae wi' Wallace
+bled," which we can easily imagine to be Bruce's
+address to his men at the beginning of the great fight.
+Read also Sir Walter Scott's metrical description of the
+battle, in the long poem entitled "The Lord of the Isles."</p>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span></p>
+<h2>THE SOLDIER'S DREAM.</h2>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Our bugles sang truce; for the night cloud had lowered,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And the sentinel stars set their watch in the sky;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And thousands had sunk on the ground overpowered&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The weary to sleep, and the wounded to die.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">When reposing that night on my pallet of straw,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">By the wolf-scaring fagot that guarded the slain,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">At the dead of the night a sweet vision I saw,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And thrice ere the morning I dreamed it again.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Methought from the battlefield's dreadful array,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Far, far I had roamed on a desolate track;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">'Twas autumn&mdash;and sunshine arose on the way<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">To the home of my fathers, that welcomed me back.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">I flew to the pleasant fields traversed so oft<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">In life's morning march, when my bosom was young;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">I heard my own mountain goats bleating aloft,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And knew the sweet strain that the corn reapers sung.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Then pledged we the wine cup, and fondly I swore<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">From my home and my weeping friends never to part;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">My little ones kissed me a thousand times o'er,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And my wife sobbed aloud in her fulness of heart.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Stay, stay with us!&mdash;rest; thou art weary and worn!"<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And fain was their war-broken soldier to stay;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But sorrow returned with the dawning of morn,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And the voice in my dreaming ear melted away!<br /></span>
+<div class="signature2">&mdash;<i>Thomas Campbell.</i></div>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span></p>
+<h2>LORD ULLIN'S DAUGHTER.</h2>
+
+<div class="figleft2" style="width: 200px;">
+    <a name="p0076-illus.jpg" id="p0076-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p0076-illus.jpg" width="200" height="217" alt="Author's portrait" title="" />
+ <p class="caption2">Thomas Campbell.</p>
+</div>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">A chieftain, to the Highlands bound,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Cries, "Boatman, do not tarry!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And I'll give thee a silver pound<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">To row us o'er the ferry."<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Now who be ye, would cross Lochgyle,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">This dark and stormy water?"<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"Oh, I'm the chief of Ulva's isle,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And this Lord Ullin's daughter.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"And fast before her father's men<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Three days we've fled together;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For should he find us in the glen,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">My blood would stain the heather.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"His horsemen hard behind us ride:<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Should they our steps discover,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Then who will cheer my bonny bride<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">When they have slain her lover?"<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Out spoke the hardy Highland wight:<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">"I'll go, my chief: I'm ready<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">It is not for your silver bright,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">But for your winsome lady;<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span>
+    <span class="i0">"And, by my word, the bonny bird<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">In danger shall not tarry;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">So, though the waves are raging white,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">I'll row you o'er the ferry."<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">By this the storm grew loud apace;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The water wraith was shrieking;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And in the scowl of heaven each face<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Grew dark as they were speaking.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">But still, as wilder blew the wind,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And as the night grew drearer,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Adown the glen rode arm�d men;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Their trampling sounded nearer.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Oh haste thee, haste," the lady cries,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">"Though tempests round us gather,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">I'll meet the raging of the skies,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">But not an angry father."<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The boat has left a stormy land,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">A stormy sea before her,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">When, oh, too strong for human hand,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The tempest gathered o'er her.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">And still they rowed amidst the roar<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Of waters fast prevailing.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Lord Ullin reached that fatal shore:<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">His wrath was changed to wailing;<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span>
+    <span class="i0">For, sore dismayed, through storm and shade,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">His child he did discover:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">One lovely hand she stretch'd for aid,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And one was round her lover.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Come back! come back!" he cried in grief,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">"Across this stormy water;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And I'll forgive your Highland chief,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">My daughter! oh, my daughter!"<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">'Twas vain! The loud waves lashed the shore,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Return or aid preventing:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The waters wild went o'er his child,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And he was left lamenting.<br /></span>
+<div class="signature2">&mdash;<i>Thomas Campbell.</i></div>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<h2>BEETHOVEN'S MOONLIGHT SONATA.</h2>
+
+<p>Among the great musical composers of modern times
+there have been few who rank with Ludwig van Beethoven.
+This famous man was born in Bonn, Germany,
+in 1770; he died at Vienna in 1827. It may be truthfully
+said that the works of Beethoven created a new epoch in
+the history and development of music, and his compositions
+lose none of their popularity as the years go by.</p>
+
+<p>Beethoven's life was a sad one. He was alone in the
+world, deaf, and the object of unkind treatment by those
+who should have been his friends. How nobly he rose above
+all petty annoyances, we can readily understand when we
+listen to the grand and solemn strains of his immortal
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span>
+music. The following story illustrates the kindliness
+of his nature and shows how some of his works seemed
+to be almost the result of inspiration.</p>
+
+<p class="cen">*****</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 200px;">
+    <a name="p0079-illus.jpg" id="p0079-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p0079-illus.jpg" width="200" height="246" alt="His portrait" title="" />
+ <p class="caption2">Ludwig van Beethoven.</p>
+</div>
+<p>It happened at Bonn. One moonlight winter's evening
+I called upon Beethoven; for I wished him to take
+a walk, and afterwards sup with me. In passing through
+a dark, narrow street, he suddenly paused.
+"Hush!" he said, "what sound is that? It
+is from my Sonata in F. Hark! how well
+it is played!"</p>
+
+<p>It was a little, mean dwelling, and
+we paused outside and listened. The
+player went on; but, in the midst of
+the finale, there was a sudden break;
+then the voice of sobbing. "I cannot
+play any more. It is so beautiful;
+it is utterly beyond my power to do it
+justice. Oh, what would I not give
+to go to the concert at Cologne!"</p>
+
+<p>"Ah! my sister," said her companion; "why create
+regrets when there is no remedy? We can scarcely pay
+our rent."</p>
+
+<p>"You are right, and yet I wish for once in my life to
+hear some really good music. But it is of no use."</p>
+
+<p>Beethoven looked at me. "Let us go in," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"Go in!" I exclaimed. "What can we go in for?"</p>
+
+<p>"I will play to her," he said, in an excited tone.
+"Here is feeling&mdash;genius&mdash;understanding! I will play
+to her, and she will understand it."
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span>
+And, before I could prevent him, his hand was upon
+the door. It opened, and we entered.</p>
+
+<p>A pale young man was sitting by the table, making
+shoes; and near him, leaning sorrowfully upon an old-fashioned
+piano, sat a young girl, with a profusion of
+light hair falling over her face.</p>
+
+<p>"Pardon me," said Beethoven, "but I heard music
+and was tempted to enter. I am a musician."</p>
+
+<p>The girl blushed, and the young man looked grave
+and somewhat annoyed.</p>
+
+<p>"I&mdash;I also overheard something of what you said,"
+continued my friend. "You wish to hear&mdash;that is, you
+would like&mdash;that is&mdash;shall I play for you?"</p>
+
+<p>There was something so odd in the whole affair, and
+something so comical and pleasant in the manner of the
+speaker, that the spell was broken in a moment.</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you," said the shoemaker; "but our piano is
+so wretched, and we have no music."</p>
+
+<p>"No music!" echoed my friend; "how, then, does the
+young lady&mdash;" He paused, and colored; for, as he
+looked in the girl's face, he saw that she was blind.
+"I&mdash;I entreat your pardon," he stammered. "I had not
+perceived before. Then you play by ear? But where
+do you hear the music, since you frequent no concerts?"</p>
+
+<p>"We lived at Bruhl for two years, and while there,
+I used to hear a lady practicing near us. During the
+summer evenings her windows were generally open, and
+I walked to and fro outside to listen to her."</p>
+
+<p>She seemed so shy that Beethoven said no more, but
+seated himself quietly before the piano and began to
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span>
+play. He had no sooner struck the first chord than I
+knew what would follow. Never, during all the years
+I knew him, did I hear him play as he then played to
+that blind girl and her brother. He seemed to be inspired;
+and, from the instant that his fingers began to
+wander along the keys, the very tone of the instrument
+seemed to grow sweeter and more equal.</p>
+
+<p>The brother and sister were silent with wonder and
+rapture. The former laid aside his work; the latter,
+with her head bent slightly forward, and her hands
+pressed tightly over her breast, crouched down near the
+end of the piano, as if fearful lest even the beating of
+her heart should break the flow of those magical sounds.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly the flame of the single candle wavered, sank,
+flickered, and went out. Beethoven paused, and I threw
+open the shutters, admitting a flood of brilliant moonlight.
+The room was almost as light as before, the
+moon's rays falling strongest upon the piano and player.
+His head dropped upon his breast; his hands rested
+upon his knees; he seemed absorbed in deep thought.
+He remained thus for some time. At length the young
+shoemaker rose and approached him eagerly.</p>
+
+<p>"Wonderful man!" he said, in a low tone. "Who
+and what are you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Listen!" said Beethoven, and he played the opening
+bars of the Sonata in F. A cry of recognition burst from
+them both, and exclaiming, "Then you are Beethoven!"
+they covered his hands with tears and kisses.</p>
+
+<p>He rose to go, but we held him back with entreaties.
+"Play to us once more&mdash;only once more!"</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span>
+    He suffered himself to be led back to the instrument.
+The moon shone brightly in through the window, and
+lighted up his glorious, ragged head and massive figure.
+"I will improvise a Sonata to the Moonlight!" said he,
+looking up thoughtfully to the sky and stars. Then his
+hands dropped on the keys, and he began playing a sad
+and infinitely lovely movement, which crept gently over
+the instrument, like the calm flow of moonlight over the
+dark earth. This was followed by a wild, elfin passage
+in triple time&mdash;a sort of grotesque interlude, like the
+dance of sprites upon the lawn. Then came a swift
+agitato finale&mdash;a breathless, hurrying, trembling movement,
+descriptive of flight, and uncertainty, and vague
+impulsive terror, which carried us away on its rustling
+wings, and left us all in emotion and wonder.</p>
+
+<p>"Farewell to you!" said Beethoven, pushing back his
+chair, and turning toward the door&mdash;"farewell to you!"</p>
+
+<p>"You will come again?" asked they, in one breath.</p>
+
+<p>He paused and looked compassionately, almost tenderly,
+at the face of the blind girl.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, yes," he said hurriedly, "I will come again, and
+give the young lady some lessons! Farewell! I will
+come again!"</p>
+
+<p>Their looks followed us in silence more eloquent than
+words till we were out of sight.</p>
+
+<p>"Let us make haste back," said Beethoven, "that I
+may write out that Sonata while I can yet remember it."</p>
+
+<p>We did so, and he sat over it until long past day dawn.
+And this was the origin of that Moonlight Sonata with
+which we are all so fondly acquainted.</p>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span></p>
+<h2>THE STORY OF TEMPE WICK.</h2>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 200px;">
+    <a name="p0083-illus.jpg" id="p0083-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p0083-illus.jpg" width="200" height="196" alt="Author's portrait" title="" />
+ <p class="caption2">Frank R. Stockton.</p>
+</div>
+<p>There are so many curious and unexpected things
+which may happen in time of war, especially to people
+who live in parts of a country where the enemy may
+be expected to come, or where the
+friendly army is already encamped,
+that it is impossible to guard against
+unpleasant occurrences; and it often
+happens that the only thing to be
+depended upon when an emergency
+arises, is presence of mind, and
+quickness of wit.</p>
+
+<p>In these qualities, New Jersey
+girls have never shown
+themselves behind their sisters
+of other parts of the country,
+and a very good proof of
+this is shown by an incident
+which took place near Morristown during the time that
+the American army was quartered in that neighborhood.</p>
+
+<p>Not far from the town was a farm then known as
+Wick's farm, situated in a beautiful wooded country.
+The daughter of Mr. Wick, named Tempe (probably
+short for Temperance), was the owner of a very fine
+horse, and on this beautiful animal it was her delight
+to ride over the roads and through the woods of the
+surrounding country. She had been accustomed to
+horses since she was a child, and was not afraid to ride
+anywhere by herself.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span>
+    When she first began to canter over these hills and
+dales, it had been in times of peace, when there was
+nothing in this quiet country of which any one might
+be afraid; and now, although these were days of war,
+she felt no fear. There were soldiers not far away, but
+these she looked upon as her friends and protectors;
+for Washington and his army had encamped in that
+region to defend the country against the approach of
+the enemy. If any straggling Redcoats should feel a
+desire to come along the hills, they would be very apt
+to restrain their inclinations so long as they knew that
+that brave American army was encamped near by.</p>
+
+<p>So Miss Tempe Wick, fearing nothing, rode far and
+wide, as she had been in the habit of doing, and every
+day she and her good steed became better and better
+acquainted with each other.</p>
+
+<p>One fine afternoon, as Tempe was slowly riding homeward,
+within a mile of her house, she met half a dozen
+soldiers in Continental uniform, and two of them, stepping
+in front of her, called upon her to stop. When she
+had done so, one of them seized her bridle. She did
+not know the men; but still, as they belonged to Washington's
+army, who were her countrymen and friends,
+she saw no reason to be afraid, and asked them what
+they wanted.</p>
+
+<p>At first she received no answer, for they were very
+busily occupied in looking at her horse and expressing
+their satisfaction at the fine points of the animal. Tempe
+had had her horse praised before; but these men were
+looking at him, and talking about him, very much as if
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span>
+he were for sale and they were thinking of buying.
+Presently one of the men said to her that this was a very
+excellent horse that she was riding, and they wanted it.
+To this Tempe exclaimed, in great amazement, that it
+was her own horse, that she wanted him herself, and had
+no wish to dispose of him. Some of the soldiers laughed,
+and one of them told her that the troops were about to
+move, and that good horses were greatly needed, and that
+they had orders to levy upon the surrounding country
+and take horses wherever they could find them.</p>
+
+<p>Now was Tempe astonished beyond measure. If half
+a dozen British soldiers had surrounded her, and had declared
+that they intended to rob her of her horse, she
+would not have wondered at it, for they would have taken
+it as the property of an enemy. But that the soldiers of
+her own country, the men on whom she and all her friends
+and neighbors depended for protection and safety, should
+turn on her and rob her, as if they had been a set
+of marauding Hessians, was something she could scarcely
+comprehend. But it did not take her long to understand,
+that no matter who they were or what they were,&mdash;whether
+they thought they had a right to do what
+they threatened, or whether they had no regard for right
+and justice,&mdash;they were in earnest, and intended to take
+her horse. When this conviction flashed into the mind
+of Tempe Wick, there also flashed into it a determination
+to show these men that a Jersey girl had a will of her
+own, and that if they wanted her property, they would
+have to do a great deal more than simply to come to her
+and ask her to hand it over to them.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span>
+    After a little parley, during which the man who held
+her bridle let go of it, supposing she was about to dismount,
+she suddenly gave her spirited horse a sharp cut
+with the whip, dashed between two of the soldiers, and
+before they could comprehend what had happened she
+was off and away.</p>
+
+<p>As fast as they could run, the soldiers followed her,
+one or two of them firing their guns in the air, thinking
+to frighten her and make her stop; but, as though she
+had been a deer and her pursuers ordinary hunters, she
+swiftly sped away from them.</p>
+
+<p>But they did not give up the chase. Some of them
+knew where this girl lived, and were confident that when
+they reached her house, they would have the horse. If
+they had known it was such a fine animal, they would
+have come after it before. According to their belief,
+good horses should go into the army, and people who
+staid at home, and expected other people to fight for
+them, ought to be willing to do what they could to help
+in the good cause, and at least give their horses to the
+army.</p>
+
+<p>As Tempe sat upon her bounding steed, she knew very
+well that the soldiers could never catch her; but her
+heart sank within her as she thought of what would happen
+when they came to the farm and demanded her horse.
+Running away from them was only postponing her trouble
+for a little while, for there was no one about the place
+who could prevent those men from going to the barn and
+taking away the animal.</p>
+
+<p>It would be of no use to pass her house and ride on and
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span>
+on. Where should she go? She must come back sometime,
+and all the soldiers would have to do would be to
+halt at the farm, and wait until she returned. And even
+if she should take her horse into the wood and tie him to
+a tree, they would know by her coming back on foot that
+she had left him at no great distance, and they would be
+sure to follow his tracks and find him.</p>
+
+<p>As Tempe rode swiftly on, her thoughts galloped as
+fast as her horse, and before she reached the house she had
+come to a conclusion as to the best thing to be done. She
+did not ride toward the barn, but dashed through the
+gateway of the large yard, and sprang from her steed.
+As she turned in, she looked down the road; but the
+men were not in sight. What she was going to do was
+something which people never did, but it was the only
+thing she could think of, and she was a girl whose actions
+were as quick as her ideas were original. Without stopping
+an instant, she took her horse to the back door, and
+led him boldly into the house.</p>
+
+<p>This was not the sort of stable to which Tempe's horse
+or any other American horse was accustomed; but this
+animal knew his mistress, and where she led, he was willing
+to follow. If one of the farm hands had attempted
+to take the creature into the house, there would probably
+have been some rearing and plunging; but nothing of
+this kind happened as our Jersey girl, with her hand on
+her horse's bridle, led him quickly inside and closed the
+door behind him. As the story goes, she took him
+through the kitchen, and then into the parlor, without
+the slightest regard to the injury his shoes might do to
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>
+the well-kept floor; and from the parlor she led him into
+a bedroom on the lower floor, which was usually used as a
+guest chamber, but which never before had such a guest
+as this.</p>
+
+<p>This room had but a single window, the shutters of
+which were kept closed when it was not in use, and there
+was no entrance to it except through the door which
+opened from the parlor. The door was quickly closed,
+and Tempe stood with her horse in the darkness.</p>
+
+<p>When the soldiers reached the farm they went to the
+barn. They examined the outhouses, visited the pasture
+fields, and made a thorough search, high and low, near
+and far; but no sign of a horse could they find. Of
+course, the notion that the animal was concealed in the
+house did not enter their minds, and the only way in
+which they could account for the total disappearance of
+the horse was, that Tempe had ridden off with him&mdash;where
+they knew not. We do not know how long they
+waited for the sight of a hungry horse coming home to
+his supper, but we do know that while there was the
+slightest danger of her dear horse being taken away
+from her, that animal remained a carefully attended guest
+in the spare room of the Wick house; and the tradition
+is, that he staid there three weeks. There Tempe waited
+on him as if he had been a visitor of high degree; and if
+she was afraid to go to the barn to bring him hay and
+oats, she doubtless gave him biscuit and soft bread,&mdash;dainties
+of which a horse is very fond, especially when
+they are brought to him by such a kind mistress as
+Tempe.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]<br />[Pg 90]</a></span>
+    When the cavalry moved away from their camp near
+Morristown, no one of them rode on that fine horse on
+which they had seen a girl gayly cantering, and which,
+when they had been about to put their hands upon it, had
+flown away, like a butterfly from under the straw hat of a
+schoolboy. When the troops were gone, the horse came
+out of the guest chamber and went back to his stall in the
+stable; and that room in which he passed so many quiet
+days, and the door through which the horse timidly
+stepped under the shadow of that hospitable roof, are still
+to be seen at the old Wick house, which stands now, as it
+stood then, with its shaded yard and the great willow tree
+behind it, on the pleasant country road by which we may
+drive from Morristown to Mendham by the way of
+Washington Corner.</p>
+
+<div class="signature">&mdash;<i>From "Stories of New Jersey," by Frank R. Stockton.</i></div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<h2>LIFE IN NORMAN ENGLAND.</h2>
+
+<p>The tall frowning keep and solid walls of the great
+stone castles, in which the Norman barons lived, betokened
+an age of violence and suspicion. Beauty gave
+way to the needs of safety. Girdled with its green and
+slimy ditch, round the inner edge of which ran a parapeted
+wall pierced along the top with shot holes, stood
+the buildings, spreading often over many acres.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 500px;">
+    <a name="p0090-illus.jpg" id="p0090-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p0090-illus.jpg" width="500" height="303" alt="A castle" title="" />
+ <p class="caption2">From a Photograph.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Engraved by John Evans.<br />
+                     Ruins of a Norman Castle.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>If an enemy managed to cross the moat and force the
+gateway, in spite of a portcullis crashing from above, and
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span>
+melted lead pouring in burning streams from the perforated
+top of the rounded arch, but little of his work was
+yet done; for the keep lifted its huge angular block of
+masonry within the inner bailey or courtyard, and from
+the narrow chinks in its ten-foot wall rained a sharp incessant
+shower of arrows, sweeping all approaches to the
+high and narrow stair, by which alone access could be
+had to its interior.</p>
+
+<p>These loopholes were the only windows, except in the
+topmost story, where the chieftain, like a vulture in his
+rocky nest, watched all the surrounding country. The
+day of splendid oriels had not yet come in castle architecture.</p>
+
+<p>Thus a baron in his keep could defy, and often did
+defy, the king upon his throne. Under his roof, eating
+daily at his board, lived a throng of armed retainers;
+and around his castle lay farms tilled by martial franklins,
+who at his call laid aside their implements of husbandry,
+took up the sword and spear, which they could
+wield with equal skill, and marched beneath his banner to
+the war.</p>
+
+<p>With robe ungirt and head uncovered each tenant had
+done homage and sworn an oath of fealty, placing his
+joined hands between those of the sitting baron, and
+humbly saying as he knelt, "I become your man from
+this day forward, of life and limb and of earthly worship;
+and unto you I shall be true and faithful, and bear to you
+faith for the tenements that I claim to hold of you, saving
+the faith that I owe unto our sovereign lord the king."
+A kiss from the baron completed the ceremony.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 200px;">
+    <a name="p0092-illus.jpg" id="p0092-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p0092-illus.jpg" width="200" height="263" alt="A lamp" title="" />
+ <p class="caption2">Horn Lantern.</p>
+</div>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span>
+    The furniture of a Norman keep was not unlike that
+of an English house. There was richer ornament&mdash;more
+elaborate carving. A <i>faldestol</i>, the original of our arm-chair,
+spread its drapery and cushions for the chieftain in
+his lounging moods. His bed now boasted curtains and
+a roof, although, like the English lord, he still lay only
+upon straw. Chimneys tunneled the thick walls, and
+the cupboards glittered with glass and silver. Horn
+lanterns and the old spiked candlesticks lit up
+his evening hours, when the chessboard arrayed
+its clumsy men, carved out of walrus tusk,
+then commonly called whale's-bone. But
+the baron had an unpleasant trick of breaking
+the chessboard on his opponent's head,
+when he found himself checkmated; which
+somewhat marred said opponent's enjoyment
+of the game. Dice of horn and bone emptied
+many a purse in Norman England.</p>
+
+<p>Dances and music whiled away the long winter
+nights; and on summer evenings the castle courtyards
+resounded with the noise of football, <i>kayles</i> (a sort
+of ninepins), wrestling, boxing, leaping, and the fierce
+joys of the bull bait. But out of doors, when no fighting
+was on hand, the hound, the hawk, and the lance
+attracted the best energies and skill of the Norman
+gentleman.</p>
+
+<p>Rousing the forest game with dogs, they shot at it
+with barbed and feathered arrows. A field of ripening
+corn never turned the chase aside: it was one privilege of
+a feudal baron to ride as he pleased over his tenants'
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span>
+crops, and another to quarter his insolent hunting train
+in the farmhouses which pleased him best! The elaborate
+details of <i>woodcraft</i> became an important part of a
+noble boy's education; for the numerous bugle calls and
+scientific dissection of a dead stag took many seasons to
+learn.</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 150px;">
+    <a name="p0093-illus.jpg" id="p0093-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p0093-illus.jpg" width="150" height="333" alt="A hooded bird" title="" />
+ <p class="caption2">The Hawk.</p>
+</div>
+<p>After the Conquest, to kill a deer or own a hawk came
+more than ever to be regarded as the special privilege of
+the aristocracy. The hawk, daintily dressed, as befitted
+the companion of nobility, with his head wrapped
+in an embroidered hood, and a peal of silver bells
+tinkling from his rough legs, sat in state, bound
+with leathern jesses to the wrist, which was protected
+by a thick glove. The ladies and the clergy
+loved him. By many a mere the abbots ambled
+on their ponies over the swampy soil, and sweet
+shrill voices cheered the long-winged hawk, as he
+darted off in pursuit of the soaring quarry.</p>
+
+<p>The author of "Ivanhoe" has made the tournament
+a picture familiar to all readers of romance. It
+therefore needs no long description here. It was held
+in honor of some great event&mdash;a coronation, wedding,
+or victory. Having practiced well during squirehood
+at the <i>quintain</i>, the knight, clad in full armor, with
+visor barred and the colors of his lady on crest and
+scarf, rode into the lists, for which some level green was
+chosen and surrounded with a palisade.</p>
+
+<p>For days before, his shield had been hanging in a neighboring
+church, as a sign of his intention to compete in
+this great game of chivalry. If any stain lay on his
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span>
+knighthood, a lady, by touching the suspended shield
+with a wand, could debar him from a share in the jousting.
+And if, when he had entered the lists he was rude
+to a lady, or broke in any way the etiquette of the tilt
+yard, he was beaten from the lists with the ashwood
+lances of the knights.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 200px;">
+    <a name="p0094-illus.jpg" id="p0094-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p0094-illus.jpg" width="200" height="307" alt="A man in armor" title="" />
+ <p class="caption2">The Knight.</p>
+</div>
+<p>The simple joust was the shock
+of two knights, who galloped with
+leveled spears at each other, aiming
+at breast or head, with the
+object either of unhorsing the antagonist,
+or, if he sat his charger
+well, of splintering the lance upon
+his helmet or his shield. The
+mellay hurled together, at the
+dropping of the prince's baton,
+two parties of knights, who
+hacked away at each other with
+ax and mace and sword, often
+gashing limbs and breaking bones
+in the wild excitement of the
+fray. Bright eyes glanced from
+the surrounding galleries upon the brutal sport; and
+when the victor, with broken plume, and battered armor,
+dragged his weary limbs to the footstool of the beauty
+who presided as Queen over the festival, her white hands
+decorated him with the meed of his achievements.</p>
+
+<p>The Normans probably dined at nine in the morning.
+When they rose they took a light meal; and ate something
+also after their day's work, immediately before going
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span>
+to bed. Goose and garlic formed a favorite dish. Their
+cookery was more elaborate, and, in comparison, more
+delicate, than the preparations for an English feed; but
+the character for temperance, which they brought with
+them from the Continent, soon vanished.</p>
+
+<p>The poorer classes hardly ever ate flesh, living principally
+on bread, butter, and cheese,&mdash;a social fact which
+seems to underlie that usage of our tongue by which the
+living animals in field or stall bore English names&mdash;ox,
+sheep, calf, pig, deer; while their flesh, promoted to Norman
+dishes, rejoiced in names of French origin&mdash;beef,
+mutton, veal, pork, venison. Round cakes, piously
+marked with a cross, piled the tables, on which pastry
+of various kinds also appeared. In good houses cups of
+glass held the wine, which was borne from the cellar
+below in jugs.</p>
+
+<p>Squatted around the door or on the stair leading to
+the Norman dining hall, was a crowd of beggars or
+lickers, who grew so insolent in the days of Rufus, that
+ushers, armed with rods, were posted outside to beat back
+the noisy throng, who thought little of snatching the
+dishes as the cooks carried them to table!</p>
+
+<p>The juggler, who under the Normans filled the place
+of the English gleeman, tumbled, sang, and balanced
+knives in the hall; or out in the bailey of an afternoon
+displayed the acquirements of his trained monkey or bear.
+The fool, too, clad in colored patchwork, cracked his
+ribald jokes and shook his cap and bells at the elbow of
+roaring barons, when the board was spread and the circles
+of the wine began.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span>
+    While knights hunted in the greenwood or tilted in the
+lists, and jugglers tumbled in the noisy hall, the monk in
+the quiet scriptorium compiled chronicles of passing
+events, copied valuable manuscripts, and painted rich
+borders and brilliant initials on every page. These illuminations
+form a valuable set of materials for our pictures
+of life in the Middle Ages.</p>
+
+<p>Monasteries served many useful purposes at the time of
+which I write. Besides their manifest value as centers of
+study and literary work, they gave alms to the poor, a
+supper and a bed to travelers; their tenants were better
+off and better treated than the tenants of the nobles; the
+monks could store grain, grow apples, and cultivate their
+flower beds with little risk of injury from war, because
+they had spiritual thunders at their call, which awed even
+the most reckless of the soldiery into a respect for sacred
+property.</p>
+
+<p>Splendid structures those monasteries generally were,
+since that vivid taste for architecture which the Norman
+possessed in a high degree, and which could not find room
+for its display in the naked strength of the solid keep,
+lavished its entire energy and grace upon buildings lying
+in the safe shadow of the Cross. Nor was architectural
+taste the only reason for their magnificence. Since they
+were nearly all erected as offerings to Heaven, the religion
+of the age impelled the pious builders to spare no cost in
+decorating the exterior with fretwork and sculpture of
+Caen stone, the interior with gilded cornices and windows
+of painted glass.</p>
+
+<p>As schools, too, the monasteries did no trifling service
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span>
+to society in the Middle Ages. In addition to their influence
+as great centers of learning, English law had enjoined
+every mass priest to keep a school in his parish church,
+where all the young committed to his care might be instructed.
+This custom continued long after the Norman
+Conquest. In the Trinity College Psalter we have a picture
+of a Norman school, where the pupils sit in a circular
+row around the master as he lectures to them from a long
+roll of manuscript. Two writers sit by the desk, busy
+with copies resembling that which the teacher holds.</p>
+
+<p>The youth of the middle classes, destined for the cloister
+or the merchant's stall, chiefly thronged these schools.
+The aristocracy cared little for book-learning. Very few
+indeed of the barons could read or write. But all could
+ride, fence, tilt, play, and carve extremely well; for to
+these accomplishments many years of pagehood and
+squirehood were given.</p>
+
+<p class="cen">*****</p>
+
+<p>The foregoing description of manners and customs
+during the age of feudalism has been adapted from
+a popular "History of England," by W. F. Collier. A
+much fuller description may be found in Knight's "History
+of England," and in Green's "Short History of the
+English People." The period described was in many
+respects the most romantic in the history of the world,
+and many delightful and instructive books have been
+written concerning it. Read Scott's "Ivanhoe" and
+"The Talisman." Reference may also be had to Pauli's
+"Pictures of Old England," and Jusserand's "English
+Wayfaring Life in the Middle Ages."</p>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span></p>
+<h2>THE ROMANCE OF THE SWAN'S NEST.</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;">
+    <a name="p0098-illus.jpg" id="p0098-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p0098-illus.jpg" width="200" height="252" alt="Author's portrait" title="" />
+ <p class="caption2">Elizabeth Barrett Browning.</p>
+</div>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"So the dreams depart,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">So the fading phantoms flee,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And the sharp reality<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Now must act its part."<br /></span>
+<div class="signature2">&mdash;<i>Westwood's "Beads from a Rosary."</i></div>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<hr class="hr2" />
+
+<h3>I.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Little Ellie sits alone<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">'Mid the beeches of a meadow,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">By a stream side on the grass,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And the trees are showering down<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Doubles of their leaves in shadow,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">On her shining hair and face.<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<hr class="hr2" />
+
+<h3>II.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">She has thrown her bonnet by,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And her feet she has been dipping<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">In the shallow water's flow;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Now she holds them nakedly<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">In her hands, all sleek and dripping,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">While she rocketh to and fro.<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<hr class="hr2" />
+
+<h3>III.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Little Ellie sits alone,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And the smile she softly uses<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Fills the silence like a speech,<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span>
+    <span class="i0">While she thinks what shall be done,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And the sweetest pleasure chooses<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">For her future within reach.<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<hr class="hr2" />
+
+<h3>IV.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Little Ellie in her smile<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Chooses, "I will have a lover,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Riding on a steed of steeds:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He shall love me without guile,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And to <i>him</i> I will discover<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The swan's nest among the reeds.<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<hr class="hr2" />
+
+<h3>V.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"And the steed shall be red roan,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And the lover shall be noble,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">With an eye that takes the breath.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And the lute he plays upon<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Shall strike ladies into trouble,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">As his sword strikes men to death.<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<hr class="hr2" />
+
+<h3>VI.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"And the steed it shall be shod<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">All in silver, housed in azure;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And the mane shall swim the wind;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And the hoofs along the sod<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Shall flash onward, and keep measure,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Till the shepherds look behind.<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<hr class="hr2" />
+
+<h3>VII.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"But my lover will not prize<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">All the glory that he rides in,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">When he gazes in my face.<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span>
+    <span class="i0">He will say, 'O Love, thine eyes<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Build the shrine my soul abides in,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And I kneel here for thy grace!'<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<hr class="hr2" />
+
+<h3>VIII.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Then, aye, then he shall kneel low,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">With the red-roan steed anear him,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Which shall seem to understand,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Till I answer, 'Rise and go!<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">For the world must love and fear him<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Whom I gift with heart and hand.'<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<hr class="hr2" />
+
+<h3>IX.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Then he will arise so pale,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">I shall feel my own lips tremble<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">With a <i>yes</i> I must not say:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Nathless maiden brave, 'Farewell,'<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">I will utter, and dissemble&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">'Light to-morrow with to-day!'<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<hr class="hr2" />
+
+<h3>X.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Then he'll ride among the hills<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">To the wide world past the river,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">There to put away all wrong,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To make straight distorted wills,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And to empty the broad quiver<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Which the wicked bear along.<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<hr class="hr2" />
+
+<h3>XI.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Three times shall a young foot page<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Swim the stream, and climb the mountain,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And kneel down beside my feet:<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span>
+    <span class="i0">'Lo! my master sends this gage,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Lady, for thy pity's counting.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">What wilt thou exchange for it?'<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<hr class="hr2" />
+
+<h3>XII.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"And the first time I will send<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">A white rosebud for a guerdon&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And the second time, a glove;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But the third time&mdash;I may bend<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">From my pride, and answer&mdash;'Pardon,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">If he comes to take my love.'<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<hr class="hr2" />
+
+<h3>XIII.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Then the young foot page will run&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Then my lover will ride faster,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Till he kneeleth at my knee:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">'I am a duke's eldest son!<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Thousand serfs do call me master,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">But, O Love, I love but <i>thee</i>!'"...<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<hr class="hr2" />
+
+<h3>XIV.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Little Ellie, with her smile<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Not yet ended, rose up gayly,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Tied the bonnet, donned the shoe,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And went homeward, round a mile,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Just to see, as she did daily,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">What more eggs were with the two.<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<hr class="hr2" />
+
+<h3>XV.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Pushing through the elm-tree copse,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Winding up the stream, light-hearted,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Where the osier pathway leads,<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span>
+    <span class="i0">Past the boughs she stoops, and stops.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Lo, the wild swan had deserted,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And a rat had gnawed the reeds!<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<hr class="hr2" />
+
+<h3>XVI.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Ellie went home sad and slow.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">If she found the lover ever,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">With his red-roan steed of steeds,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Sooth I know not; but I know<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">She could never show him&mdash;never,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">That swan's nest among the reeds.<br /></span>
+<div class="signature2">&mdash;<i>Elizabeth Barrett Browning.</i></div>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<h2>A PATRIARCH OF THE OLDEN TIME</h2>
+
+<p>Oh that I were as in months past, as in the days when
+God preserved me; when his candle shined upon my
+head, and when by his light I walked through darkness;
+as I was in the days of my youth, when the secret of
+God was upon my tabernacle; when the Almighty was
+yet with me; when my children were about me; when I
+washed my steps with butter, and the rock poured me
+out rivers of oil.</p>
+
+<p>When the ear heard me, then it blessed me; and when
+the eye saw me, it gave witness to me: because I delivered
+the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that
+had none to help him. The blessing of him that was
+ready to perish came upon me; and I caused the widow's
+heart to sing for joy. I was eyes to the blind, and feet
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span>
+was I to the lame. I was a father to the poor; and the
+cause which I knew not, I searched out.</p>
+
+<p>Did not I weep for him that was in trouble? Was not
+my soul grieved for the poor? Let me be weighed in an
+even balance that God may know mine integrity. If I
+did despise the cause of my man servant or of my maid
+servant, when they contended with me, what then shall I
+do when God riseth up? and when he visiteth, what
+shall I answer him? Did not he that made me make
+him also?</p>
+
+<p>If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have
+caused the eyes of the widow to fail, or have eaten my
+morsel myself alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten
+thereof; if I have seen any perish for want of clothing,
+or any poor without covering; if his loins have not blessed
+me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my
+sheep; if I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless,
+when I saw my help in the gate; then let mine arm fall
+from my shoulder blade, and mine arm be broken from
+the bone.</p>
+
+<p>If I rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me,
+or lifted up myself when evil found him (neither have
+I suffered my mouth to sin, by wishing a curse to his soul.
+The stranger did not lodge in the street; but I opened
+my doors to the traveler). If my land cry against me, or
+the furrows likewise thereof complain; if I have eaten
+the fruits thereof without money, or have caused the
+owners thereof to lose their life: let thistles grow instead
+of wheat, and cockle instead of barley.</p>
+
+<div class="signature">&mdash;<i>From the "Book of Job."</i></div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span></p>
+<h2>HOW CORT�S ENTERED THE CITY OF MEXICO.</h2>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 200px;">
+    <a name="p0104-illus.jpg" id="p0104-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p0104-illus.jpg" width="200" height="197" alt="Author's portrait" title="" />
+ <p class="caption2">William H. Prescott.</p>
+</div>
+<p>Mexico, when first discovered by
+Europeans, was inhabited by a civilized
+race called Aztecs. The conquest
+of that country and the
+subjugation of its people by the
+Spaniards under Hernando
+Cort�s, in 1518&ndash;21, was one
+of the most remarkable episodes
+in the history of the
+Western Continent. William
+H. Prescott, our American
+historian, in his "Conquest of
+Mexico," has told the story of
+that event in a manner so delightful that the whole
+narrative reads like a romance. His description of the
+entry of the Spaniards into the capital city of the Aztecs
+is as follows:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p>It was the eighth of November, 1519, a conspicuous
+day in history, as that on which the Europeans first set
+foot in the capital of the Western World.</p>
+
+<p>Cort�s with his little body of horse formed a sort of
+advanced guard to the army. Then came the Spanish
+infantry, who in a summer's campaign had acquired the
+discipline and the weather-beaten aspect of veterans.
+The baggage occupied the center; and the rear was
+closed by the dark files of Tlascalan warriors. The
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span>
+whole number must have fallen short of seven thousand;
+of which fewer than four hundred were Spaniards.</p>
+
+<p>Everywhere the conquerors beheld the evidence of a
+crowded and thriving population, exceeding all they had
+yet seen. The temples and principal buildings of the
+cities were covered with a hard white stucco, which
+glistened like enamel in the level beams of the morning.
+The margin of the lake was thickly gemmed with towns
+and hamlets. The water was darkened by swarms of
+canoes filled with Indians, who clambered up the sides
+of the causeway and gazed with curious astonishment
+on the strangers. And here, also, they beheld those
+fairy islands of flowers, overshadowed occasionally by
+trees of considerable size, rising and falling with the
+gentle undulation of the billows.</p>
+
+<p>At the distance of half a league from the capital, they
+encountered a solid work, or curtain of stone, which
+traversed the dike. It was twelve feet high, was
+strengthened by towers at the extremities, and in the
+center was a battlemented gateway, which opened a
+passage to the troops.</p>
+
+<p>Here they were met by several hundred Aztec chiefs,
+who came out to announce the approach of Montezuma
+and to welcome the Spaniards to his capital. They were
+dressed in the fanciful gala costume of the country, with
+the <i>maxlatl</i>, or cotton sash, around their loins, and a
+broad mantle of the same material, or of the brilliant
+feather embroidery, flowing gracefully down their shoulders.
+On their necks and arms they displayed collars and
+bracelets of turquoise mosaic, with which delicate plumage
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span>
+was curiously mingled, while their ears and underlips,
+and occasionally their noses, were garnished with pendants
+formed of precious stones, or crescents of fine gold.</p>
+
+<p>As each cacique made the usual formal salutation of
+the country separately to the general, the tedious ceremony
+delayed the march more than an hour. After
+this the army experienced no further interruption till
+it reached a bridge near the gates of the city. It was
+built of wood, and was thrown across an opening of
+the dike, which furnished an outlet to the waters when
+agitated by the winds or swollen by a sudden influx in
+the rainy season. It was a drawbridge; and the Spaniards,
+as they crossed it, felt how truly they were committing
+themselves to the mercy of Montezuma, who,
+by thus cutting off their communications with the
+country, might hold them prisoners in his capital.</p>
+
+<p>In the midst of these unpleasant reflections, they beheld
+the glittering retinue of the emperor emerging
+from the great street which led then, as it still does,
+through the heart of the city. Amidst a crowd of
+Indian nobles, preceded by three officers of state bearing
+golden wands, they saw the royal palanquin blazing
+with burnished gold. It was borne on the shoulders of
+nobles, and over it a canopy of gaudy feather work, powdered
+with jewels and fringed with silver, was supported
+by four attendants of the same rank. They were barefooted,
+and walked with a slow, measured pace, and with
+eyes bent on the ground.</p>
+
+<p>When the train had come within a convenient distance,
+it halted, and Montezuma, descending from his litter,
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span>
+came forward, leaning on the arms of the lords of
+Tezcuco and Iztapalapan, his nephew and brother, both
+of whom had already been made known to the Spaniards.
+As the monarch advanced under the canopy, the obsequious
+attendants strewed the ground with cotton tapestry,
+that his imperial feet might not be contaminated by
+the rude soil. His subjects of high and low degree, who
+lined the sides of the causeway, bent forward with their
+eyes fastened on the ground as he passed, and some of
+the humbler class prostrated themselves before him.</p>
+
+<p>Montezuma wore the girdle and ample square cloak, <i>tilmatli</i>,
+of his nation. It was made of the finest cotton, with
+the embroidered ends gathered in a knot round his neck.
+His feet were defended by sandals having soles of gold,
+and the leathern thongs which bound them to his ankles
+were embossed with the same metal. Both the cloak and
+sandals were sprinkled with pearls and precious stones,
+among which the emerald, and another green stone of
+high estimation among the Aztecs, were conspicuous.
+On his head he wore no other ornament than a <i>panache</i>
+of plumes of the royal green, which floated down his
+back, the badge of military, rather than of regal, rank.</p>
+
+<p>He was at this time about forty years of age. His
+person was tall and thin, but not ill made. His hair,
+which was black and straight, was not very long; to wear
+it short was considered unbecoming to persons of rank.
+His beard was thin; his complexion somewhat paler than
+is often found in his dusky, or rather copper-colored, race.
+His features, though serious in their expression, did not
+wear the look of melancholy, indeed of dejection, which
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span>
+characterizes his portrait, and which may well have settled
+on them at a later period. He moved with dignity, and
+his whole demeanor, tempered by an expression of benignity
+not to have been anticipated from the reports circulated
+of his character, was worthy of a great prince.</p>
+
+<p>The army halted as he drew near. Cort�s, dismounting,
+threw his reins to a page, and supported by a few
+of the principal cavaliers, advanced to meet him. The
+interview must have been one of uncommon interest to
+both. In Montezuma, Cort�s beheld the lord of the
+broad realms he had traversed, whose magnificence and
+power had been the burden of every tongue. In the
+Spaniard, on the other hand, the Aztec prince saw the
+strange being whose history seemed to be so mysteriously
+connected with his own; the predicted one of his oracles,
+whose achievements proclaimed him something more than
+human.</p>
+
+<p>But whatever may have been the monarch's feelings,
+he so far suppressed them as to receive his guest with
+princely courtesy, and to express his satisfaction at personally
+seeing him in his capital. Cort�s responded by
+the most profound expressions of respect, while he made
+ample acknowledgments for the substantial proofs which
+the emperor had given the Spaniards of his munificence.
+He then hung round Montezuma's neck a sparkling chain
+of colored crystal, accompanying this with a movement as
+if to embrace him, when he was restrained by the two
+Aztec lords, shocked at the menaced profanation of the
+sacred person of their master. After the interchange of
+these civilities, Montezuma appointed his brother to conduct
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span>
+the Spaniards to their residence in the capital, and,
+again entering his litter, was borne off amidst prostrate
+crowds in the same state in which he had come. The
+Spaniards quickly followed, and, with colors flying and
+music playing, soon made their entrance into the southern
+quarter of Tenochtitlan.</p>
+
+<p>Here, again, they found fresh cause for admiration in
+the grandeur of the city and the superior style of its
+architecture. The dwellings of the poorer class were,
+indeed, chiefly of reeds and mud. But the great avenue
+through which they were now marching was lined with
+the houses of the nobles, who were encouraged by the
+emperor to make the capital their residence. They were
+built of a red porous stone drawn from quarries in the
+neighborhood, and, though they rarely rose to a second
+story, often covered a large space of ground. The flat
+roofs, <i>azoteas</i>, were protected by stone parapets, so that
+every house was a fortress. Sometimes these roofs resembled
+parterres of flowers, so thickly were they covered
+with them, but more frequently these were cultivated in
+broad terraced gardens, laid out between the edifices.
+Occasionally a great square or market place intervened,
+surrounded by its porticoes of stone and stucco; or a
+pyramidal temple reared its colossal bulk, crowned with
+its tapering sanctuaries, and altars blazing with inextinguishable
+fires. The great street facing the southern
+causeway, unlike most others in the place, was wide, and
+extended some miles in nearly a straight line, as before
+noticed, through the center of the city. A spectator
+standing at one end of it, as his eye ranged along the deep
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span>
+vista of temples, terraces, and gardens, might clearly discern
+the other, with the blue mountains in the distance,
+which, in the transparent atmosphere of the table-land,
+seemed almost in contact with the buildings.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 200px;">
+    <a name="p0110-illus.jpg" id="p0110-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p0110-illus.jpg" width="200" height="203" alt="Cort�s's portrait" title="" />
+ <p class="caption2">Hernando Cort�s.</p>
+</div>
+<p>But what most impressed the Spaniards was the throngs
+of people who swarmed through the streets and on the
+canals, filling every doorway and window and clustering
+on the roofs of the buildings. "I well remember the
+spectacle," exclaims Bernal Diaz; "it seems now, after so
+many years, as present to my mind
+as if it were but yesterday." But
+what must have been the sensations
+of the Aztecs themselves, as they
+looked on the portentous pageant!
+as they heard, now
+for the first time, the well-cemented
+pavement ring under
+the iron tramp of the
+horses,&mdash;the strange animals
+which fear had clothed in
+such supernatural terrors: as
+they gazed on the children of
+the East, revealing their celestial origin in their fair complexions;
+saw the bright falchions and bonnets of steel, a
+metal to them unknown, glancing like meteors in the sun,
+while sounds of unearthly music&mdash;at least, such as their
+rude instruments had never wakened&mdash;floated in the air?</p>
+
+<p>As they passed down the spacious street, the troops
+repeatedly traversed bridges suspended above canals,
+along which they saw the Indian barks gliding swiftly
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span>
+with their little cargoes of fruits and vegetables for the
+markets of Tenochtitlan. At length they halted before a
+broad area near the center of the city, where rose the
+huge pyramidal pile dedicated to the patron war god of
+the Aztecs, second only, in size as well as sanctity, to the
+temple of Cholula, and covering the same ground now in
+part occupied by the great cathedral of Mexico.</p>
+
+<p>Facing the western gate of the inclosure of the temple,
+stood a low range of stone buildings, spreading over a
+wide extent of ground, the palace of Axayacatl, Montezuma's
+father, built by that monarch about fifty years
+before. It was appropriated as the barracks of the Spaniards.
+The emperor himself was in the courtyard, waiting
+to receive them. Approaching Cort�s, he took from
+a vase of flowers, borne by one of his slaves, a massy
+collar, in which the shell of a species of crawfish, much
+prized by the Indians, was set in gold and connected by
+heavy links of the same metal. From this chain depended
+eight ornaments, also of gold, made in resemblance of the
+same shellfish, a span in length each, and of delicate
+workmanship; for the Aztec goldsmiths were confessed
+to have shown skill in their craft not inferior to their
+brethren of Europe. Montezuma, as he hung the gorgeous
+collar round the general's neck, said, "This palace belongs
+to you, Malinche" (the epithet by which he always
+addressed him), "and your brethren. Rest after your
+fatigues, for you have much need to do so, and in a little
+while I will visit you again." So saying, he withdrew
+with his attendants, evincing in this act a delicate consideration
+not to have been expected in a barbarian.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span></p>
+<h2>THE SKYLARK.</h2>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i1">Bird of the wilderness,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Blithesome and cumberless,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Sweet be thy matin o'er moorland and lea!<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Emblem of happiness,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Blest is thy dwelling place:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Oh to abide in the desert with thee!<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i1">Wild is thy lay, and loud,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Far in the downy cloud:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Love gives it energy, love gave it birth.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Where, on thy dewy wing,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Where art thou journeying?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Thy lay is in heaven, thy love is on earth.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i1">O'er fell and fountain sheen,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">O'er moor and mountain green,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">O'er the red streamer that heralds the day,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Over the cloudlet dim,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Over the rainbow's rim,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Musical cherub, soar, singing, away!<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i1">Then, when the gloaming comes,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Low in the heather blooms<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Sweet will thy welcome and bed of love be;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Emblem of happiness,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Blest is thy dwelling place:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Oh to abide in the desert with thee!<br /></span>
+<div class="signature2">&mdash;<i>James Hogg.</i></div>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span></p>
+<h2>THE MYSTERY OF THE TADPOLE.</h2>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 200px;">
+    <a name="p0113-illus.jpg" id="p0113-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p0113-illus.jpg" width="200" height="225" alt="Author's portrait" title="" />
+ <p class="caption2">George Henry Lewes.</p>
+</div>
+<p>A blade of grass is a mystery, if men would but distill
+it out. When my learned friend Dr. Syntax, glancing
+round my workroom, observed a vase full of tadpoles, he
+asked me in a tone of sniffling superiority:
+"Do you really mean to say
+you find any interest in those little
+beasts?"</p>
+
+<p>"As much as you find in
+books," I answered, with some
+energy.</p>
+
+<p>"H'm," grunted Syntax.</p>
+
+<p>Very absurd isn't it? But
+we all have our hobbies. I can
+pass a bookstall on which I perceive
+that the ignorance of the
+bookseller permits him to exhibit
+now and then rare editions of
+valuable books at almost no price at all. The sight gives me
+no thrill&mdash;it does not even cause me to slacken my pace.</p>
+
+<p>But I can't so easily pass a pond in which I see a shoal
+of tadpoles swimming about, as ignorant of their own
+value as the bookseller is of his books. I may walk on,
+but the sight has sent a slight electric shock through me.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, sir," I said to my learned friend, "there is
+more to me in the <i>tail</i> of one of those tadpoles than in all
+the musty old volumes you so much delight to pick up.
+But I won't thrash your dog unless you thrash mine."</p>
+
+<p>"Why, what on earth can you do with the tail?"</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 200px;">
+    <a name="p0114-illus.jpg" id="p0114-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p0114-illus.jpg" width="200" height="158" alt="Several tadpoles" title="" />
+ <p class="caption2">Tadpoles in different Stages of Development.</p>
+</div>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span>
+    "Do with it? Study it, experiment on it, put it under
+the microscope, and day by day watch the growth of its
+various parts. At first it is little more than a mass of
+cells. Then I notice that these cells begin to take a
+definite shape, and blood vessels
+appear in them. Then the muscles
+begin to appear."</p>
+
+<p>"Very interesting, I dare
+say."</p>
+
+<p>"You don't seem to think
+so, by your tone. But look in
+this vase: here are several tadpoles
+with the most apologetic
+of tails&mdash;mere stumps, in fact.
+I cut them off nine days ago."</p>
+
+<p>"Will they grow again?"</p>
+
+<p>"Perfectly; for, although the frog dispenses with a
+tail almost as soon as he reaches the frog form, the
+tadpole needs his tail to swim with; and when by
+any accident he loses it, Nature kindly supplies him
+with another."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, yes," added Syntax, glad to feel himself once
+more among things of which he knew something; "just
+like the lobster or the crab, you know. They tear off
+their legs and arms in a most reckless way, and yet they
+always grow new ones again."</p>
+
+<p>"Would you like to know what has become of the
+tails which I cut off from these fellows?"</p>
+
+<p>"Aren't they dead?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not at all. Alive and kicking."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span>
+    "Alive after nine days? Oh! oh!"</p>
+
+<p>"Here they are, in this glass. It is exactly nine days
+since they were cut off, and I have been watching them
+daily under the microscope. I assure you that I have
+seen them <i>grow</i>, not <i>larger</i>, indeed, but develop more and
+more, muscle fibers appearing each day where before there
+were none at all."</p>
+
+<p>"Come, now, you are trying to see what a fool you can
+make of me."</p>
+
+<p>"I am perfectly serious. The discovery is none of
+mine. It was made by M. Vulpian in Paris. He says
+that the tails live many days&mdash;as many as eighteen in
+one instance; but I have never kept mine alive more
+than eleven. He says, moreover, that they not only
+grow, as I have said, but that they seem to possess feeling,
+for they twist about with a rapid swimming movement
+when irritated."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, but I say, how <i>could</i> they live when separated
+from the body? Our arms or legs don't live; the lobster's
+legs don't live."</p>
+
+<p>"Quite true. But in those cases we have limbs of a
+complex organization, which require a complex apparatus
+in order to sustain their life. They must have blood, the
+blood must circulate."</p>
+
+<p>"Stop, stop! I don't want to understand why our
+arms can't live apart from our bodies. They don't. The
+fact is enough for me. I want to know why the tail of a
+tadpole can live apart from the body."</p>
+
+<p>"It <i>can</i>. Is not the fact enough for you in that case
+also? Well, I was going to tell you the reason. The tail
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span>
+will live apart from the body only so long as it retains its
+early immature form. If you cut it off from a tadpole
+which is old enough to have lost its external gills a week
+or more, the tail will <i>not</i> live more than three or four
+days. And every tail will die as soon as it reaches the
+point in its development which requires the circulation of
+the blood as a necessary condition."</p>
+
+<p>"But where does it get food?"</p>
+
+<p>"That is more than I can say. I don't know that it
+wants food. You know that reptiles can live without
+food a wonderful length of time."</p>
+
+<p>"Really, I begin to think there is more in these little
+beasts than I ever dreamed of. But it must take a great
+deal of study to get at these facts."</p>
+
+<p>"Not more than to get at any of the other open secrets
+of Nature. But, since you are interested, look at these
+tails as the tadpoles come bobbing against the side of
+the glass. Do you see how they are covered with little
+white spots?"</p>
+
+<p>"No."</p>
+
+<p>"Look closer. All over the tail there are tiny, cotton-like
+spots. Take a lens, if your eye isn't sharp enough.
+There, now you see them."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; I see a sort of <i>fluff</i> scattered about."</p>
+
+<p>"That fluff is an immense colony of parasites. Let us
+place the tadpole under the microscope, and you will see
+each spot turn out to be a multitude of elegant and active
+animals, having bodies not unlike a crystal goblet supported
+on an extremely long and flexible stem, and
+having round their rim or mouth a range of long, delicate
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span>
+hairs, the motion of which gives a wheel-like aspect,
+and makes an eddy in the water which brings food to the
+animal."</p>
+
+<p>"This is really interesting! How active they are!
+How they shrink up, and then, unwinding their twisted
+stems, expand again! What's the name of this thing?"</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Vorticella</i>. It may be found growing on water fleas,
+plants, decayed wood, or these tadpoles. People who
+study the animalcules are very fond of this Vorticella."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I never could have believed such a patch of
+fluff could turn out a sight like this: I could watch it
+for an hour. But what are those small yellowish things
+sticking on the side of these parasites?"</p>
+
+<p>"Those, my dear Syntax, are also parasites."</p>
+
+<p>"What, parasites living on parasites?"</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 200px;">
+    <a name="p0117-illus.jpg" id="p0117-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p0117-illus.jpg" width="200" height="90" alt="Now a frog" title="" />
+ <p class="caption2">The Tadpole's last Stage.</p>
+</div>
+<p>"Why not? Nature is economical. Don't you live on
+beef, and mutton, and fish? Don't these beeves, muttons,
+and fishes live on vegetables
+and animals?
+Don't the vegetables
+and animals live on
+other organic matters?
+Eat and be eaten, is one
+law: live and let live,
+is another."</p>
+
+<p>The learned Doctor remained thoughtful; then he
+screwed up one side of his face into the most frightful
+wrinkles, while with the eye of the other he resumed his
+examination of the Vorticella.</p>
+
+<div class="signature">&mdash;<i>George Henry Lewes.</i></div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 500px;">
+    <a name="p0118-illus.jpg" id="p0118-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p0118-illus.jpg" width="500" height="304" alt="Lion family" title="" />
+ <p class="caption2">From the Painting by Rosa Bonheur.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Engraved by Horace Baker.<br />
+                     The Lions.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span></p>
+<h2>THE GLOVE AND THE LIONS.</h2>
+
+<div class="figright2" style="width: 200px;">
+    <a name="p0119-illus.jpg" id="p0119-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p0119-illus.jpg" width="200" height="222" alt="Author's portrait" title="" />
+ <p class="caption2">Leigh Hunt.</p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">King Francis was a hearty king, and loved a royal sport,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And one day, as his lions fought, sat looking on the court;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The nobles filled the benches, with the ladies in their pride,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And 'mongst them sat the Count de Lorge, with one for whom he sighed:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And truly 'twas a gallant thing to see that crowning show,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Valor and love, and a king above, and the royal beasts below.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Ramped and roared the lions, with horrid laughing jaws;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">They bit, they glared, gave blows like beams, a wind went with their paws;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With wallowing might and stifled roar, they rolled on one another,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Till all the pit, with sand and mane, was in a thunderous smother;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The bloody foam above the bars came whisking through the air:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Said Francis, then, "Faith, gentlemen, we're better here than there."<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">De Lorge's love o'erheard the king, a beauteous, lively dame,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With smiling lips and sharp bright eyes, which always seemed the same;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">She thought, "The Count, my lover, is brave as brave can be,<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span>
+    <span class="i0">He surely would do wondrous things to show his love of me;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">King, ladies, lovers, all look on; the occasion is divine;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">I'll drop my glove, to prove his love; great glory will be mine."<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">She dropped her glove, to prove his love; then looked at him, and smiled;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He bowed, and in a moment leaped among the lions wild:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The leap was quick, return was quick, he soon regained the place,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Then threw the glove, but not with love, right in the lady's face.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"In faith," cried Francis, "rightly done!" and he rose from where he sat;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"No love," quoth he, "but vanity sets love a task like that."<br /></span>
+<div class="signature2">&mdash;<i>Leigh Hunt.</i></div>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<h2>TRUE GROWTH.</h2>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">It is not growing like a tree<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">In bulk, doth make man better be;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Or standing like an oak, three hundred year,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To fall a log at last, dry, bald, and sere;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">A lily of a day<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Is fairer far in May,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Although it fall and die that night&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">It was the plant and flower of Light.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In small proportions we just beauties see;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And in short measures life may perfect be.<br /></span>
+<div class="signature2">&mdash;<i>Ben Jonson.</i></div>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span></p>
+<h2>THE SHIPWRECK.</h2>
+
+<hr class="hr2" />
+<h3>I.</h3>
+
+<p>Having made up my mind to go down to Yarmouth,
+I went round to the coach office and took the box seat on
+the mail. In the evening I started,
+by that conveyance, down the road.</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 200px;">
+    <a name="p0121-illus.jpg" id="p0121-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p0121-illus.jpg" width="200" height="211" alt="Author's portrait" title="" />
+ <p class="caption2">Charles Dickens.</p>
+</div>
+<p>"Don't you think that a very
+remarkable sky?" I asked the
+coachman, in the first stage
+out of London. "I don't
+remember to have seen one
+like it."</p>
+
+<p>"Nor I&mdash;not equal to it,"
+he replied. "That's wind,
+sir; there'll be mischief
+done at sea, I expect before
+long."</p>
+
+<p>It was a murky confusion&mdash;here
+and there blotted with a color like the color of
+the smoke from damp fuel&mdash;of flying clouds tossed up
+into most remarkable heaps, suggesting greater heights
+in the clouds than there were depths below them to the
+bottom of the deepest hollows in the earth, through which
+the wild moon seemed to plunge headlong, as if, in a
+dread disturbance of the laws of nature, she had lost her
+way and were frightened. There had been wind all day;
+and it was rising then, with an extraordinary great sound.
+In another hour it had much increased, and the sky was
+more overcast, and it blew harder.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span>
+    But as the night advanced, the clouds closing in and
+densely overspreading the whole sky, then very dark, it
+came on to blow harder and harder. It still increased,
+until our horses could scarcely face the wind. Many
+times in the dark part of the night (it was then late in
+September, when the nights were not short) the leaders
+turned about, or came to a dead stop; and we were often
+in apprehension that the coach would be blown over.</p>
+
+<p>When the day broke, it blew harder and harder. I
+had been in Yarmouth when the seamen said it blew
+great guns, but I had never known the like of this, or
+anything approaching to it. We came to Ipswich&mdash;very
+late, having had to fight every inch of ground since we
+were ten miles out of London; and found a cluster of
+people in the market place, who had risen from their beds
+in the night, fearful of falling chimneys. Some of these,
+congregating about the innyard while we changed horses,
+told us of great sheets of lead having been ripped off a
+high church tower and flung into a by-street, which they
+then blocked up. Others had to tell of country people,
+coming in from neighboring villages, who had seen great
+trees lying torn out of the earth, and whole ricks scattered
+about the roads and fields. Still there was no
+abatement in the storm, but it blew harder.</p>
+
+<p>As we struggled on, nearer and nearer to the sea,
+from which the mighty wind was blowing dead on shore,
+its force became more and more terrific. Long before we
+saw the sea, its spray was on our lips, and showered salt
+rain upon us. The water was out, over miles and miles
+of the flat country adjacent to Yarmouth; and every
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span>
+sheet and puddle lashed its banks, and had its stress of
+little breakers setting heavily towards us. When we
+came within sight of the sea, the waves on the horizon,
+caught at intervals above the rolling abyss, were like
+glimpses of another shore with towers and buildings.
+When at last we got into the town, the people came
+out to their doors, all aslant, and with streaming hair,
+making a wonder of the mail that had come through such
+a night.</p>
+
+<p>I put up at the old inn, and went down to look at the
+sea, staggering along the street, which was strewn with
+sand and seaweed, and with flying blotches of sea foam;
+afraid of falling slates and tiles; and holding by people
+I met at angry corners. Coming near the beach, I saw,
+not only the boatmen, but half the people of the town,
+lurking behind buildings; some now and then braving the
+fury of the storm to look away to sea, and blown sheer
+out of their course in trying to get zigzag back.</p>
+
+<p>Joining these groups, I found bewailing women whose
+husbands were away in herring or oyster boats, which
+there was too much reason to think might have foundered
+before they could run in anywhere for safety. Grizzled
+old sailors were among the people, shaking their heads
+as they looked from water to sky, and muttering to
+one another; shipowners excited and uneasy; children
+huddling together, and peering into older faces; even
+stout mariners disturbed and anxious, leveling their
+glasses at the sea from behind places of shelter, as if they
+were surveying an enemy.</p>
+
+<p>The tremendous sea itself, when I could find sufficient
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span>
+pause to look at it, in the agitation of the blinding
+wind, the flying stones and sand, and the awful noise,
+confounded me. As the high watery walls came rolling
+in, and, at their highest, tumbled into surf, they looked
+as if the least would engulf the town. As the receding
+wave swept back with a hoarse roar, it seemed to scoop
+out caves in the beach, as if its purpose were to undermine
+the earth. When some white-headed billows thundered
+on, and dashed themselves to pieces before they
+reached the land, every fragment of the late whole
+seemed possessed by the full might of its wrath, rushing
+to be gathered to the composition of another monster.
+Undulating hills were changed to valleys, undulating
+valleys (with a storm bird sometimes skimming through
+them) were lifted up to hills; masses of water shivered
+and shook the beach with a booming sound; every shape
+tumultuously rolled on, as soon as made, to change its
+shape and place, and beat another shape and place
+away; the ideal shore on the horizon, with its towers
+and buildings, rose and fell; the clouds flew fast and
+thick; I seemed to see a rending and upheaving of all
+nature.</p>
+
+<p>Not finding my old friend, Ham, among the people
+whom this memorable wind&mdash;for it is still remembered
+down there as the greatest ever known to blow upon
+that coast&mdash;had brought together, I made my way to
+his house. It was shut; and as no one answered to my
+knocking, I went by back ways and by-lanes to the yard
+where he worked. I learned there that he had gone to
+Lowestoft, to meet some sudden exigency of ship repairing
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span>
+in which his skill was required; but that he would be
+back to-morrow morning in good time.</p>
+
+<p>I went back to the inn; and when I had washed
+and dressed, and tried to sleep, but in vain, it was five
+o'clock in the afternoon. I had not sat five minutes by
+the coffee-room fire, when the waiter, coming to stir it as
+an excuse for talking, told me that two colliers had gone
+down, with all hands, a few miles away; and that some
+other ships had been seen laboring hard in the Roads,
+and trying in great distress to keep off shore. "Mercy
+on them, and on all poor sailors," said he, "if we had
+another night like the last!"</p>
+
+<p>I was very much depressed in spirits, very solitary,
+and felt an uneasiness in Ham's not being there, disproportionate
+to the occasion. I was seriously affected,
+without knowing how much, by late events, and my exposure
+to the fierce wind had confused me. There was
+that jumble in my thoughts and recollections that I had
+lost the clear arrangement of time and distance. Thus,
+if I had gone out into the town, I should not have been
+surprised, I think, to encounter some one who I knew
+must be then in London. So to speak, there was in these
+respects a curious inattention in my mind. Yet it was
+busy, too, with all the remembrances the place naturally
+awakened, and they were particularly distinct and vivid.</p>
+
+<p>In this state, the waiter's dismal intelligence about
+the ships immediately connected itself, without any effort
+of my volition, with my uneasiness about Ham. I was
+persuaded that possibly he would attempt to return from
+Lowestoft by sea, and be lost. This grew so strong with
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span>
+me, that I resolved to go back to the yard before I took
+my dinner, and ask the boat builder if he thought his attempting
+to return by sea at all likely. If he gave me
+the least reason to think so, I would go over to Lowestoft
+and prevent it by bringing him with me.</p>
+
+<p>I hastily ordered my dinner, and went back to the
+yard. I was none too soon; for the boat builder, with a
+lantern in his hand, was locking the yard gate. He quite
+laughed when I asked him the question, and said there
+was no fear; no man in his senses, or out of them, would
+put off in such a gale of wind, least of all Ham Peggotty,
+who had been born to seafaring.</p>
+
+<p>I went back to the inn. The howl and roar, the
+rattling of the doors and windows, the rumbling in the
+chimneys, the apparent rocking of the very house that
+sheltered me, and the prodigious tumult of the sea, were
+more fearful than in the morning. But there was now a
+great darkness besides; and that invested the storm with
+new terrors, real and fanciful.</p>
+
+<p>I could not eat, I could not sit still, I could not
+continue steadfast in anything. Something within me,
+faintly answering to the storm without, tossed up the
+depths of my memory and made a tumult in them. Yet,
+in all the hurry of my thoughts, wild running with thundering
+sea, the storm and my uneasiness regarding Ham
+were always in the foreground.</p>
+
+<p>My dinner went away almost untasted, and I tried to
+refresh myself with a glass or two of wine. In vain. I
+fell into a dull slumber before the fire, without losing my
+consciousness either of the uproar out of doors or of the
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span>
+place in which I was. Both became overshadowed by a
+new undefinable horror; and when I awoke&mdash;or rather
+when I shook off the lethargy that bound me in my chair&mdash;my
+whole frame thrilled with objectless and unintelligible
+fear.</p>
+
+<p>I walked to and fro, tried to read an old gazetteer,
+listened to the awful noises; looked at faces, scenes, and
+figures in the fire. At length the steady ticking of the
+undisturbed clock on the wall tormented me to that degree
+that I resolved to go to bed.</p>
+
+<p>It was reassuring, on such a night, to be told that some
+of the inn servants had agreed together to sit up until
+morning. I went to bed, exceedingly weary and heavy;
+but on my lying down all such sensations vanished, as if
+by magic, and I was broad awake, with every sense refined.</p>
+
+<p>For hours I lay there, listening to the wind and water;
+imagining now that I heard shrieks out at sea, now
+that I distinctly heard the firing of signal guns, and now
+the fall of houses in the town. I got up several times and
+looked out, but could see nothing except the reflection in
+the window panes of the faint candle I had left burning,
+and of my own haggard face looking in at me from the
+black void.</p>
+
+<p>At length my restlessness attained to such a pitch,
+that I hurried on my clothes, and went downstairs. In
+the large kitchen, where I dimly saw bacon and ropes of
+onions hanging from the beams, the watchers were clustered
+together, in various attitudes, about a table, purposely
+moved away from the great chimney, and brought
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span>
+near the door. A pretty girl who had her ears stopped
+with her apron, and her eyes upon the door, screamed
+when I appeared, supposing me to be a spirit; but the
+others had more presence of mind, and were glad of an
+addition to their company. One man, referring to the
+topic they had been discussing, asked me whether I
+thought the souls of the collier crews who had gone down
+were out in the storm?</p>
+
+<p>I remained there, I dare say two hours. There was
+a dark gloom in my solitary chamber when I at length
+returned to it; but I was tired now, and, getting into
+bed again, fell off a tower and down a precipice into the
+depths of sleep. I have an impression that for a long
+time, though I dreamed of being elsewhere and in a
+variety of scenes, it was always blowing in my dream.
+At length I lost that feeble hold upon reality, and was
+engaged with two dear friends, but who they were I don't
+know, at the siege of some town in a roar of cannonading.</p>
+
+
+<hr class="hr2" />
+<h3>II.</h3>
+
+<p>The thunder of the cannon was so loud and incessant,
+that I could not hear something I much desired to
+hear, until I made a great exertion, and awoke. It was
+broad day&mdash;eight or nine o'clock; the storm raging, in
+lieu of the batteries; and some one knocking and calling
+at my door.</p>
+
+<p>"What is the matter?" I cried.</p>
+
+<p>"A wreck! close by!"</p>
+
+<p>I sprang out of bed, and asked what wreck?</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span></p>
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 500px;">
+    <a name="p0129-illus.jpg" id="p0129-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p0129-illus.jpg" width="500" height="334" alt="Escaping from a wreck at sea" title="" />
+ <p class="caption2">From the Painting by A. Marlon.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Carbon by Braun, Clement &amp; Co.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
+                     Engraved by Walter Aikman.<br />The Shipwreck.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span>
+    "A schooner, from Spain or Portugal, laden with fruit
+and wine. Make haste, sir, if you want to see her! Its
+thought she'll go to pieces every moment."</p>
+
+<p>The excited voice went clamoring along the staircase;
+and I wrapped myself in my clothes as quickly as I could,
+and ran into the street. Numbers of people were there
+before us, all running in one direction, to the beach. I
+ran the same way, outstripping a good many, and soon
+came facing the wild sea.</p>
+
+<p>The wind might by this time have lulled a little,
+though not more sensibly than if the cannonading I had
+dreamed of had been diminished by the silencing of half
+a dozen guns out of hundreds. But the sea, having upon
+it the additional agitation of the whole night, was infinitely
+more terrific than when I had seen it last. Every
+appearance it had then presented bore the expression of
+being <i>swelled</i>; and the height to which the breakers rose,
+and, looking over one another, bore one another down,
+and rolled in, in interminable hosts, was most appalling.</p>
+
+<p>In the difficulty of hearing anything but wind and
+waves, and in the crowd, and the unspeakable confusion,
+and my first breathless attempts to stand against the
+weather, I was so confused that I looked out to sea for
+the wreck, and saw nothing but the foaming heads of the
+great waves. A half-dressed boatman standing next me
+pointed with his bare arm (a tattooed arrow on it, pointing
+in the same direction) to the left. Then, O great Heaven,
+I saw it, close in upon us!</p>
+
+<p>One mast was broken short off, six or eight feet from
+the deck, and lay over the side, entangled in a maze
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span>
+of sail and rigging; and all that ruin, as the ship rolled
+and beat,&mdash;which she did without a moment's pause, and
+with a violence quite inconceivable,&mdash;beat the side as if it
+would stave it in. Some efforts were even then being
+made to cut this portion of the wreck away; for as the
+ship, which was broadside on, turned towards us in her
+rolling, I plainly descried her people at work with
+axes, especially one active figure, with long curling hair,
+conspicuous among the rest. But a great cry, which was
+audible even above the wind and water, rose from the
+shore at this moment: the sea, sweeping over the rolling
+wreck, made a clean breach, and carried men, spars, casks,
+planks, bulwarks, heaps of such toys, into the boiling
+surge.</p>
+
+<p>The second mast was yet standing, with the rags of
+a rent sail, and a wild confusion of broken cordage, flapping
+to and fro. The ship had struck once, the same
+boatman hoarsely said in my ear, and then lifted in and
+struck again. I understood him to add that she was
+parting amidships, and I could readily suppose so, for the
+rolling and beating were too tremendous for any human
+work to suffer long. As he spoke, there was another
+great cry of pity from the beach: four men arose with
+the wreck out of the deep, clinging to the rigging of the
+remaining mast; uppermost, the active figure with the
+curling hair.</p>
+
+<p>There was a bell on board; and as the ship rolled
+and dashed, like a desperate creature driven mad, now
+showing us the whole sweep of her deck, as she turned on
+her beam ends towards the shore, now nothing but her
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span>
+keel, as she sprung wildly over and turned towards the
+sea, the bell rang; and its sound, the knell of those
+unhappy men, was borne towards us on the wind. Again
+we lost her, and again she rose. Two men were gone.
+The agony on shore increased. Men groaned and clasped
+their hands; women shrieked, and turned away their faces.
+Some ran wildly up and down along the beach, crying for
+help where no help could be. I found myself one of these,
+frantically imploring a knot of sailors whom I knew, not
+to let those two lost creatures perish before our eyes.</p>
+
+<p>They were making out to me, in an agitated way,
+that the lifeboat had been bravely manned an hour ago,
+and could do nothing; and that as no man would be so
+desperate as to attempt to wade off with a rope, and establish
+a communication with the shore, there was nothing
+left to try; when I noticed that some new sensation moved
+the people on the beach, and saw them part, and Ham come
+breaking through them to the front.</p>
+
+<p>I ran to him, as well as I know, to repeat my appeal
+for help. But distracted though I was by a sight so new
+to me and terrible, the determination in his face, and his
+look out to sea, awoke me to a knowledge of his danger.
+I held him back with both arms, and implored the men
+with whom I had been speaking not to listen to him, not
+to do murder, not to let him stir from off that sand.</p>
+
+<p>Another cry arose from the shore; and, looking
+towards the wreck, we saw the cruel sail, with blow on
+blow, beat off the lower of the two men, and fly up in triumph
+round the active figure left alone upon the mast.</p>
+
+<p>Against such a sight, and against such determination
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span>
+as that of the calmly desperate man who was already
+accustomed to lead half the people present, I might as
+hopefully have intreated the wind. "Mas'r Davy," he
+said cheerily, grasping me by both hands, "if my time is
+come, 'tis come. If't an't, I'll bide it. Lord above bless
+you, and bless all! Mates, make me ready! I'm a going
+off!"</p>
+
+<p>I was swept away, but not unkindly, to some distance,
+where the people around me made me stay; urging, as
+I confusedly perceived, that he was bent on going, with
+help or without, and that I should endanger the precautions
+for his safety by troubling those with whom they
+rested. I don't know what I answered, or what they rejoined,
+but I saw hurry on the beach, and men running
+with ropes from a capstan that was there, and penetrating
+into a circle of figures that hid him from me. Then I saw
+him standing alone, in a seaman's frock and trowsers, a rope
+in his hand or slung to his wrist, another round his body;
+and several of the best men holding, at a little distance, to
+the latter, which he laid out himself, slack upon the shore,
+at his feet.</p>
+
+<p>The wreck, even to my unpracticed eye, was breaking
+up. I saw that she was parting in the middle, and that
+the life of the solitary man upon the mast hung by a
+thread. Still he clung to it.</p>
+
+<p>Ham watched the sea, standing alone, with the silence
+of suspended breath behind him, and the storm before,
+until there was a great retiring wave, when, with a backward
+glance at those who held the rope, which was
+made fast round his body, he dashed in after it, and in a
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span>
+moment was buffeting with the water&mdash;rising with the
+hills, falling with valleys, lost beneath the foam; then
+drawn again to land. They hauled in hastily.</p>
+
+<p>He was hurt. I saw blood on his face from where
+I stood; but he took no thought of that. He seemed
+hurriedly to give them some directions for leaving him
+more free, or so I judged from the motion of his arm&mdash;and
+was gone, as before.</p>
+
+<p>And now he made for the wreck&mdash;rising with the
+hills, falling with the valleys, lost beneath the rugged
+foam, borne in towards the shore, borne on towards the
+ship, striving hard and valiantly. The distance was
+nothing, but the power of the sea and wind made the
+strife deadly.</p>
+
+<p>At length he neared the wreck. He was so near
+that with one more of his vigorous strokes he would be
+clinging to it,&mdash;when a high, green, vast hillside of water,
+moving on shoreward from beyond the ship, he seemed to
+leap up into it with a mighty bound, and the ship was
+gone!</p>
+
+<p>Some eddying fragments I saw in the sea, as if a mere
+cask had been broken, in running to the spot where
+they were hauling in. Consternation was in every face.
+They drew him to my very feet&mdash;insensible, dead. He
+was carried to the nearest house; and, no one preventing
+me now, I remained near him, busy, while every means of
+restoration was tried; but he had been beaten to death
+by the great wave, and his generous heart was stilled for
+ever.</p>
+
+<div class="signature">&mdash;<i>From "David Copperfield," by Charles Dickens.</i></div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span></p>
+<h2>THE HAPPY VALLEY.</h2>
+
+<p>The place which the wisdom or policy of antiquity had
+destined for the residence of the Abyssinian princes was
+a spacious valley in the kingdom of Amhara,
+surrounded on every side by mountains,
+of which the summits overhang the
+middle part. The only passage by
+which it could be entered was
+a cavern that passed under a
+rock, of which it has been long
+disputed whether it was the
+work of Nature or of human
+industry.</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 200px;">
+    <a name="p0135-illus.jpg" id="p0135-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p0135-illus.jpg" width="200" height="199" alt="Author's portrait" title="" />
+ <p class="caption2">Dr. Samuel Johnson.</p>
+</div>
+<p>The outlet of the cavern was
+concealed by a thick wood, and
+the mouth, which opened into
+the valley, was closed with gates of iron forged by the
+artificers of ancient days, so massy that no man could,
+without the help of engines, open or shut them.</p>
+
+<p>From the mountains, on every side, rivulets descended,
+that filled all the valley with verdure and fertility, and
+formed a lake in the middle, inhabited by fish of every
+species, and frequented by every fowl which Nature has
+taught to dip the wing in water. This lake discharged
+its superfluities by a stream, which entered a dark cleft of
+the mountain on the northern side, and fell, with dreadful
+noise, from precipice to precipice, till it was heard no
+more.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span>
+    The sides of the mountains were covered with trees.
+The banks of the brooks were diversified with flowers.
+Every blast shook spices from the rocks, and every month
+dropped fruits upon the ground. All animals that bite
+the grass or browse the shrub, whether wild or tame,
+wandered in this extensive circuit, secured from beasts of
+prey by the mountains which confined them.</p>
+
+<p>On one part were flocks and herds feeding in the pastures;
+on another, all the beasts of chase frisking in the
+lawns; the sprightly kid was bounding on the rocks, the
+subtle monkey frolicking in the trees, and the solemn
+elephant reposing in the shade. All the diversities of the
+world were brought together; the blessings of nature
+were collected, and its evils extracted and excluded.</p>
+
+<p>The valley, wide and fruitful, supplied its inhabitants
+with the necessaries of life; and all delights and superfluities
+were added at the annual visit which the Emperor
+paid his children, when the iron gate was opened to the
+sound of music, and during eight days every one that
+resided in the valley was required to propose whatever
+might contribute to make seclusion pleasant, to fill up the
+vacancies of attention, and lessen the tediousness of the
+time.</p>
+
+<p>Every desire was immediately granted. All the artificers
+of pleasure were called to gladden the festivity; the
+musicians exerted the power of harmony, and the dancers
+showed their activity before the princes, in hope that they
+should pass their lives in this blissful captivity, to which
+those only were admitted whose performance was thought
+capable of adding novelty to luxury.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span>
+    Such was the appearance of security and delight which
+this retirement afforded, that they to whom it was
+new always desired that it might be perpetual; and as
+those on whom the iron gate had once closed were never
+suffered to return, the effect of long experience could not
+be known. Thus every year produced new schemes of
+delight and new competitors for imprisonment.</p>
+
+<p class="cen">*****</p>
+
+<p>Dr. Samuel Johnson's "Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia,"
+from which this selection is taken, was first published in
+1759. "The late Mr. Strahan, the printer, told me," says
+Boswell, "that Johnson wrote it, so that with the profits
+he might defray the expenses of his mother's funeral, and
+pay some little debts which she had left. He told Sir
+Joshua Reynolds that he composed it in the evenings of
+one week, sent it to the press in portions as it was written,
+and had never since read it over. None of his writings
+have been so extensively diffused over Europe, for it has
+been translated into most, if not all, of the modern languages.
+This tale, with all the charms of oriental imagery,
+and all the force and beauty of which the English
+language is capable, leads us through the most important
+scenes of human life, and shows us that this stage of our
+being is full of 'vanity and vexation of spirit.'"</p>
+
+<p>The peculiarities of style which distinguish all of Johnson's
+writings are well illustrated in this story. Notice
+the stately flow of high-sounding words; the dignified
+formality of many of the descriptive passages; and the
+richness and perfection which characterize the production
+as a whole.</p>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span></p>
+<h2>THE PASS OF KILLIECRANKIE.</h2>
+
+<p>John Gr�me of Claverhouse, whose title of Viscount
+Dundee had been given him in reward for his cruelties to
+the Western Covenanters, was the instigator and leader
+of a revolt of the Highland clans against the government
+of William III. in Scotland. General Mackay, with his
+loyal Scotch regiments, was sent out to suppress the uprising.
+But as they climbed the pass of Killiecrankie, on
+the 27th of July, 1689, Dundee charged them at the head
+of three thousand clansmen, and swept them in headlong
+rout down the glen. His death in the moment of victory
+broke, however, the only bond which held the Highlanders
+together, and in a few weeks the host which had
+spread terror through the Lowlands melted helplessly
+away.</p>
+
+<p>The Gr�mes, or Grahams, were among the most noted
+of Scottish families, and included some of the most distinguished
+men of the country. Among them were Sir
+John the Gr�me, the faithful aid of Sir William Wallace,
+who fell in the battle of Falkirk, 1298, and the celebrated
+Marquis of Montrose, who died in 1650, and whose exploits
+are immortalized in Scott's "Legend of Montrose."</p>
+
+<p>In the following stirring verses from "The Lays of
+the Scottish Cavaliers," by W. E. Aytoun, the fight at
+Killiecrankie is described, presumably, by one of the
+adherents of Dundee. The title of the poem in its complete
+form is "The Burial March of Dundee." Our selection
+includes only so much as relates to the conflict in
+the pass.</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span>
+    <span class="i0">On the heights of Killiecrankie<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Yester-morn our army lay:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Slowly rose the mist in columns<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">From the river's broken way;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Hoarsely roared the swollen torrent,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And the pass was wrapt in gloom,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">When the clansmen rose together<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">From their lair amidst the broom.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Then we belted on our tartans,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And our bonnets down we drew,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And we felt our broadswords' edges,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And we proved them to be true;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And we prayed the prayer of soldiers,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And we cried the gathering cry,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And we clasped the hands of kinsmen,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And we swore to do or die!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Then our leader rode before us<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">On his war horse black as night&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Well the Cameronian rebels<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Knew that charger in the fight!&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And a cry of exultation<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">From the bearded warriors rose;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For we loved the house of Claver'se,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And we thought of good Montrose,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But he raised his hand for silence&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">"Soldiers! I have sworn a vow:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Ere the evening star shall glisten<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">On Schehallion's lofty brow,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Either we shall rest in triumph,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Or another of the Gr�mes<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span>
+    <span class="i0">Shall have died in battle harness<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">For his country and King James!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Think upon the Royal Martyr&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Think of what his race endure&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Think of him whom butchers murdered<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">On the field of Magus Muir:&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">By his sacred blood I charge ye,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">By the ruined hearth and shrine&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">By the blighted hopes of Scotland,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">By your injuries and mine&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Strike this day as if the anvil<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Lay beneath your blows the while,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Be they Covenanting traitors,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Or the brood of false Argyle!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Strike! and drive the trembling rebels<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Backwards o'er the stormy Forth;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Let them tell their pale Convention<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">How they fared within the North.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Let them tell that Highland honor<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Is not to be bought or sold,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That we scorn their prince's anger<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">As we loathe his foreign gold.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Strike! and when the fight is over,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">If ye look in vain for me,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Where the dead are lying thickest,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Search for him that was Dundee!"<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Loudly then the hills re�choed<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">With our answer to his call,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But a deeper echo sounded<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">In the bosoms of us all.<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span>
+    <span class="i0">For the lands of wide Breadalbane<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Not a man who heard him speak<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Would that day have left the battle.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Burning eye and flushing cheek<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Told the clansmen's fierce emotion,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And they harder drew their breath;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For their souls were strong within them,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Stronger than the grasp of death.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Soon we heard a challenge trumpet<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Sounding in the pass below,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And the distant tramp of horses,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And the voices of the foe:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Down we crouched amid the bracken,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Till the Lowland ranks drew near,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Panting like the hounds in summer,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">When they scent the stately deer.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">From the dark defile emerging,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Next we saw the squadrons come,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Leslie's foot and Leven's troopers<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Marching to the tuck of drum;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Through the scattered wood of birches,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">O'er the broken ground and heath,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Wound the long battalion slowly,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Till they gained the field beneath;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Then we bounded from our covert.&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Judge how looked the Saxons then,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">When they saw the rugged mountain<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Start to life with arm�d men!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Like a tempest down the ridges<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Swept the hurricane of steel,<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span>
+    <span class="i0">Rose the slogan of Macdonald,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Flashed the broadsword of Lochiell!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Vainly sped the withering volley<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">'Mongst the foremost of our band&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">On we poured until we met them,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Foot to foot, and hand to hand.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Horse and man went down like driftwood<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">When the floods are black at Yule,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And their carcasses are whirling<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">In the Garry's deepest pool.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Horse and man went down before us&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Living foe there tarried none<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">On the field of Killiecrankie,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">When that stubborn fight was done!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And the evening star was shining<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">On Schehallion's distant head,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">When we wiped our bloody broadswords,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And returned to count the dead.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">There we found him gashed and gory,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Stretched upon the cumbered plain,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">As he told us where to seek him,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">In the thickest of the slain.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And a smile was on his visage,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">For within his dying ear<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Pealed the joyful note of triumph,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And the clansmen's clamorous cheer:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">So, amidst the battle's thunder,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Shot, and steel, and scorching flame,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In the glory of his manhood<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Passed the spirit of the Gr�me!<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span></p>
+<h2>SUMMER RAIN.</h2>
+
+<p>It is a long time since much rain fell. The ground
+is a little dry, the road is a good deal dusty. The garden
+bakes. Transplanted trees are thirsty. Wheels are
+shrinking and tires are looking dangerous.
+Men speculate on the clouds;
+they begin to calculate how long it
+will be, if no rain falls, before the
+potatoes will suffer; the oats, the
+grass, the corn&mdash;everything!
+To be sure, nothing is yet suffering;
+but then&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 200px;">
+    <a name="p0143-illus.jpg" id="p0143-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p0143-illus.jpg" width="200" height="199" alt="Author's portrait" title="" />
+ <p class="caption2">Henry Ward Beecher.</p>
+</div>
+<p>Rain, rain, rain! All day,
+all night, steady raining. Will
+it never stop? The hay is out
+and spoiling. The rain washes
+the garden. All things have
+drunk their fill. The springs revive, the meadows are
+wet; the rivers run discolored with soil from every
+hill.</p>
+
+<p>Smoking cattle reek under the sheds. Hens, and
+fowl in general, shelter and plume. The sky is leaden.
+The clouds are full yet. The long fleece covers the
+mountains. The hills are capped in white. The air
+is full of moisture.</p>
+
+<p>The wind roars down the chimney. The birds are
+silent. No insects chirp. Closets smell moldy. The
+barometer is clogged. We thump it, but it will not get
+up. It seems to have an understanding with the weather.
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span>
+The trees drip, shoes are muddy, carriage and wagon are
+splashed with dirt. Paths are soft.</p>
+
+<p>So it is. When it is clear we want rain, and when it
+rains we wish it would shine. But after all, how lucky
+for grumblers that they are not allowed to meddle with
+the weather, and that it is put above their reach. What
+a scrambling, selfish, mischief-making time we should
+have, if men undertook to parcel out the seasons and the
+weather according to their several humors or interests!</p>
+
+<p>If one will but look for enjoyment, how much there is
+in every change of weather. The formation of clouds&mdash;the
+various signs and signals, the uncertain wheeling and
+marching of the fleecy cohorts, the shades of light and
+gray in the broken heavens&mdash;all have their pleasure to
+an observant eye. Then come the wind gust, the distant
+dark cloud, the occasional fiery streak shot down through
+it, the run and hurry of men whose work may suffer!</p>
+
+<p>Indeed, sir, your humble servant, even, was stirred
+up on the day after Fourth of July. The grass in the
+old orchard was not my best. Indeed, we grumbled at
+it considerably while it was yet standing. But being cut
+and the rain threatening it, one would have thought it
+gold by the nimble way in which we tried to save it!</p>
+
+<p>Blessed be horse rakes! Once, half a dozen men with
+half a dozen rakes would have gone whisking up and
+down, thrusting out and pulling in the long-handled
+rakes with slow and laborious progress. But no more
+of that. See friend Turner, mounted on the wheeled
+horse rake, riding about as if for pleasure. It is easy
+times when <i>men</i> ride and <i>horses</i> rake.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span>
+    Meanwhile, the clouds come bowling noiselessly through
+the air, and spit here and there a drop preliminary. Well,
+if one thing suffers, another gains! See how the leaves
+are washed; the grass drinks, even drinks; the garden
+drinks; everything drinks.</p>
+
+<p>It is our opinion that everything except man is laughing
+and rejoicing. Trees shake their leaves with a softer
+sound. Rocks look moist and soft, at least where the
+moss grows. Even the solitary old pine tree chords
+his harp, and sings soft and low melodies with plaintive
+undulations!</p>
+
+<p>A good summer storm is a rain of riches. If gold and
+silver rattled down from the clouds, they could hardly
+enrich the land so much as soft, long rains. Every drop
+is silver going to the mint. The roots are machinery,
+and, catching the willing drops, they array them, refine
+them, roll them, stamp them, and turn them out coined
+berries, apples, grains, and grasses!</p>
+
+<p>When the heavens send clouds and they bank up the
+horizon, be sure they have hidden gold in them. All the
+mountains of California are not so rich as are the soft
+mines of heaven, that send down treasures upon man
+without tasking him, and pour riches upon his field without
+spade or pickax&mdash;without his search or notice.</p>
+
+<p>Well, let it rain, then! No matter if the journey is
+delayed, the picnic spoiled, the visit adjourned. Blessed
+be rain&mdash;and rain in summer. And blessed be he who
+watereth the earth and enricheth it for man and beast.</p>
+
+<div class="signature">&mdash;<i>Henry Ward Beecher.</i></div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span></p>
+<h2>LIFE IN THE BACKWOODS.</h2>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 200px;">
+    <a name="p0146-illus.jpg" id="p0146-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p0146-illus.jpg" width="200" height="189" alt="Author's portrait" title="" />
+ <p class="caption2">William Dean Howells.</p>
+</div>
+<p>It would not be easy to say where or when the first log
+cabin was built, but it is safe to say that it was somewhere
+in the English colonies of North America, and it
+is certain that it became the type
+of the settler's house throughout
+the whole middle west. It
+may be called the American
+house, the Western house, the
+Ohio house. Hardly any
+other house was built for a
+hundred years by the men
+who were clearing the land
+for the stately mansions of
+our day. As long as the primeval
+forests stood, the log
+cabin remained the woodsman's home; and not fifty years
+ago, I saw log cabins newly built in one of the richest
+and most prosperous regions of Ohio. They were, to be
+sure, log cabins of a finer pattern than the first settler
+reared. They were of logs handsomely shaped with the
+broadax; the joints between the logs were plastered
+with mortar; the chimney at the end was of stone; the
+roof was shingled, the windows were of glass, and the
+door was solid and well hung. But throughout that region
+there were many log cabins, mostly sunk to the uses of
+stables and corn cribs, of the kind that the borderers built
+in the times of the Indian War, from 1750 to 1800. They
+were framed of the round logs untouched by the ax except
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span>
+for the notches at the ends where they were fitted into one
+another; the chimney was of small sticks stuck together
+with mud, and was as frail as a barn swallow's nest; the
+walls were stuffed with moss, plastered with clay; the
+floor was of rough boards called puncheons, riven from
+the block with a heavy knife; the roof was of clapboards
+laid loosely on the rafters, and held in place with logs
+fastened athwart them.</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 200px;">
+    <a name="p0147-illus.jpg" id="p0147-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p0147-illus.jpg" width="200" height="188" alt="A small home" title="" />
+ <p class="caption2">Log Cabin.</p>
+</div>
+<p>There is a delightful account of such a log cabin by
+John S. Williams, whose father settled in the woods of
+Belmont County in 1800. "Our cabin," he says, "had
+been raised, covered, part of
+the cracks chinked, and part
+of the floor laid, when we
+moved in on Christmas day.
+There had not been a stick
+cut except in building the
+cabin, which was so high from
+the ground that a bear, wolf,
+panther, or any animal less
+in size than a cow could enter
+without even a squeeze....
+The green ash puncheons had
+shrunk so as to leave cracks in the floor and doors from
+one to two inches wide. At both the doors we had high,
+unsteady, and sometimes icy steps, made by piling the
+logs cut out of the walls, for the doors and the window,
+if it could be called a window, when perhaps it was the
+largest spot in the top, bottom, or sides of the cabin
+where the wind could <i>not</i> enter. It was made by sawing
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span>
+out a log, and placing sticks across and then by pasting
+an old newspaper over the hole, and applying hog's lard,
+we had a kind of glazing which shed a most beautiful
+and mellow light across the cabin when the sun shone on
+it. All other light entered at the doors, cracks, and
+chimneys. Our cabin was twenty-four by eighteen. The
+west end was occupied by two beds, the center of each
+side by a door.... On the opposite side of the window,
+made of clapboards, supported on pins driven into
+the walls, were our shelves. On these shelves my sister
+displayed in simple order, a host of pewter plates, and
+dishes and spoons, scoured and bright.... Our chimney
+occupied most of the east end; with pots and kettles
+opposite the window, under the shelves, a gun on hooks
+over the north door, four split-bottomed chairs, three three-legged
+stools, and a small eight by ten looking-glass sloped
+from the wall over a large towel and comb case.... We
+got a roof laid over head as soon as possible, but it was
+laid of loose clapboards split from a red-oak, and a cat
+might have shaken every board in our ceiling.... We
+made two kinds of furniture. One kind was of hickory
+bark, with the outside shaved off. This we would take off
+all around the tree, the size of which would determine the
+caliber of our box. Into one end we would place a flat
+piece of bark or puncheon, cut round to fit in the bark,
+which stood on end the same as when on the tree....
+A much finer article was made of slippery-elm bark, shaved
+smooth, with the inside out, bent round and sewed together,
+where the end of the hoop or main bark lapped
+over.... This was the finest furniture in a lady's dressing
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span>
+room," and such a cabin and its appointments were
+splendor and luxury beside those of the very earliest
+pioneers, and many of the latest. The Williamses were
+Quakers, and the mother was recently from England;
+they were of far gentler breeding and finer tastes than
+most of their neighbors, who had been backwoodsmen for
+generations.</p>
+
+<p>When the first settlers broke the silence of the woods
+with the stroke of their axes, and hewed out a space for
+their cabins and their fields, they inclosed their homes with
+a high stockade of logs, for defense against the Indians;
+or if they built their cabins outside the wooden walls of
+their stronghold, they always expected to flee to it at the
+first alarm, and to stand siege within it.</p>
+
+<p>The Indians had no cannon, and the logs of the stockade
+were proof against their rifles; if a breach was made, there
+was still the blockhouse left, the citadel of every little fort.
+This was heavily built, and pierced with loopholes for the
+riflemen within, whose wives ran bullets for them at its
+mighty hearth, and who kept the savage foe from its sides
+by firing down upon them through the projecting timbers
+of its upper story. But in many a fearful siege the Indians
+set the roof ablaze with arrows wrapped in burning
+tow, and then the fight became desperate indeed. After
+the Indian war ended, the stockade was no longer needed,
+and the settlers had only the wild beasts to contend with,
+and those constant enemies of the poor in all ages and
+conditions,&mdash;hunger and cold.</p>
+
+<p>Winter after winter, the Williamses heard the wolves
+howling round them in the woods, and this music was
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span>
+familiar to the ears of all the Ohio pioneers, who trusted
+their rifles for both the safety and support of their families.
+They deadened the trees around them by girdling
+them with the ax, and planted the spaces between the
+leafless trunks with corn and beans and pumpkins. These
+were their necessaries, but they had an occasional luxury
+in the wild honey from the hollow of a bee tree when the
+bears had not got at it.</p>
+
+<p>In its season, there was an abundance of wild fruit,
+plums and cherries, haws and grapes, berries, and nuts
+of every kind, and the maples yielded all the sugar they
+chose to make from them. But it was long before they
+had, at any time, the profusion which our modern arts
+enable us to enjoy the whole year round, and in the hard
+beginnings the orchard and the garden were forgotten
+for the fields.</p>
+
+<p>When once the settler was housed against the weather,
+he had the conditions of a certain rude comfort indoors.
+If his cabin was not proof against the wind and rain or
+snow, its vast fireplace formed the means of heating, while
+the forest was an inexhaustible store of fuel. At first he
+dressed in the skins and pelts of the deer and fox and
+wolf, and his costume could have varied little from that
+of the red savage about him, for we often read how he
+mistook Indians for white men at first sight, and how the
+Indians in their turn mistook white men for their own
+people.</p>
+
+<p>The whole family went barefoot in the summer, but
+in winter the pioneer wore moccasins of buckskin, and
+buckskin leggins or trousers; his coat was a hunting
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span>
+shirt belted at the waist and fringed where it fell to his
+knees. It was of homespun, a mixture of wool and flax
+called linsey-woolsey, and out of this the dresses of his
+wife and daughters were made; the wool was shorn from
+the sheep which were so scarce that they were never killed
+for their flesh, except by the wolves, which were very fond
+of mutton, but had no use for wool.</p>
+
+<p>For a wedding dress a cotton check was thought superb,
+and it really cost a dollar a yard; silks, satins, laces, were
+unknown. A man never left his house without his rifle;
+the gun was a part of his dress, and in his belt he carried
+a hunting knife and a hatchet; on his head he wore a
+cap of squirrel skin, often with the plume-like tail dangling
+from it.</p>
+
+<p>The furniture of the cabins was, like the clothing of the
+pioneers, homemade. A bedstead was contrived by stretching
+poles from forked sticks driven into the ground, and
+laying clapboards across them; the bedclothes were bearskins.
+Stools, benches, and tables were roughed out with
+auger and broadax; the puncheon floor was left bare, and
+if the earth formed the floor, no rug ever replaced the
+grass which was its first carpet. The cabin had but one
+room where the whole of life went on by day; the father
+and mother slept there at night, and the children mounted
+to their chamber in the loft by means of a ladder.</p>
+
+<p>The food was what has been already named. The meat
+was venison, bear, raccoon, wild turkey, wild duck, and
+pheasant; the drink was water, or rye coffee, or whisky
+which the little stills everywhere supplied only too abundantly.
+Wheat bread was long unknown, and corn cakes
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span>
+of various makings and bakings supplied its place. The
+most delicious morsel of all was corn grated while still in
+the milk and fashioned into round cakes eaten hot from the
+clapboard before the fire, or from the mysterious depths
+of the Dutch oven, buried in coals and ashes on the hearth.
+There was soon a great flow of milk from the kine that
+multiplied in the woods and pastures, and there was sweetening
+enough from the maple tree and the bee tree, but salt
+was very scarce and very dear, and long journeys were made
+through the perilous woods to and from the licks, or salt
+springs, which the deer had discovered before the white
+man or red man knew them.</p>
+
+<p>The bees which hived their honey in the hollow trees
+were tame bees gone wild, and with the coming of the
+settlers, some of the wild things increased so much that
+they became a pest. Such were the crows which literally
+blackened the fields after the settlers plowed, and which
+the whole family had to fight from the corn when it was
+planted. Such were the rabbits, and such, above all,
+were the squirrels which overran the farms, and devoured
+every green thing till the people combined in great squirrel
+hunts and destroyed them by tens of thousands. The
+larger game had meanwhile disappeared. The buffalo
+and the elk went first; the deer followed, and the bear,
+and even the useless wolf. But long after these the
+poisonous reptiles lingered, the rattlesnake, the moccasin,
+and the yet deadlier copperhead; and it was only when
+the whole country was cleared that they ceased to be a
+very common danger.</p>
+
+<div class="signature">&mdash;<i>From "Stories of Ohio," by William Dean Howells.</i></div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span></p>
+<h2>HOW THEY BESIEGED THE TOWN.</h2>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 200px;">
+    <a name="p0153-illus.jpg" id="p0153-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p0153-illus.jpg" width="200" height="202" alt="Author's portrait" title="" />
+ <p class="caption2">Charles Reade.</p>
+</div>
+<p>Charles Reade, in his great romance entitled "The
+Cloister and the Hearth," has not only presented us with
+a story of absorbing interest, but has given us a vivid
+and accurate view of manners and customs
+during one of the most interesting
+periods of history. The following
+extract is particularly
+interesting because of its vivid
+portrayal of the methods of
+warfare in vogue at that time.
+There was a rebellion in Flanders.
+More than one knight
+had broken his oath of fealty
+to the Duke of Burgundy, who
+was the ruler of that country,
+and some of the strongest castles
+were fortified by rebels. To subdue these dissatisfied
+spirits and to reduce the country again to subjection,
+Counts Anthony and Baldwyn of Burgundy had entered
+Flanders at the head of a considerable army and were
+carrying fire and sword among the enemies of the Duke.
+One of their exploits at this time is thus narrated by
+the novelist:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p>One afternoon they came in sight of a strongly fortified
+town; and a whisper went through the little army that
+this was a disaffected place. But upon coming nearer
+they saw that the great gate stood open, and the towers
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span>
+that flanked it on each side were manned with a single
+sentinel apiece. So the advancing force somewhat broke
+their array and marched carelessly.</p>
+
+<p>When they were within a furlong, the drawbridge
+across the moat rose slowly and creaking till it stood
+vertical against the fort; and the very moment it settled,
+into this warlike attitude, down rattled the portcullis at
+the gate, and the towers and curtains bristled with lances
+and crossbows.</p>
+
+<p>A stern hum ran through the front rank and spread to
+the rear.</p>
+
+<p>"Halt!" cried their leader. The word went down the
+line, and they halted. "Herald to the gate!"</p>
+
+<p>A herald spurred out of the ranks, and halting twenty
+yards from the gate, raised his bugle with his herald's
+flag hanging down round it, and blew a summons. A tall
+figure in brazen armor appeared over the gate. A few
+fiery words passed between him and the herald, which
+were not audible; but their import was clear, for the
+herald blew a single keen and threatening note at the
+walls, and came galloping back with war in his face.</p>
+
+<p>The leader moved out of the line to meet him, and their
+heads had not been together two seconds ere he turned in
+his saddle and shouted, "Pioneers, to the van!" and in a
+moment hedges were leveled, and the force took the field
+and encamped just out of shot from the walls; and away
+went mounted officers flying south, east, and west, to the
+friendly towns, for catapults, palisades, mantelets, raw
+hides, tar barrels, carpenters, provisions, and all the materials
+for a siege.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span>
+    The besiegers encamped a furlong from the walls, and
+made roads; kept their pikemen in camp ready for an
+assault when practicable; and sent forward their sappers,
+pioneers, catapultiers, and crossbowmen. These opened
+a siege by filling the moat and mining, or breaching the
+wall, etc. And as much of their work had to be done
+under close fire of arrows, quarrels, bolts, stones, and little
+rocks, the above artists "had need of a hundred eyes,"
+and acted in concert with a vigilance, and an amount of
+individual intelligence, daring, and skill that made a
+siege very interesting, and even amusing,&mdash;to lookers-on.</p>
+
+<p>The first thing they did was to advance their carpenters
+behind rolling mantelets, and to erect a stockade high and
+strong on the very edge of the moat. Some lives were
+lost at this, but not many; for a strong force of crossbowmen,
+including Denys, rolled their mantelets<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a>
+    <a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> up and
+shot over the workmen's heads at every besieged person
+who showed his nose, and at every loophole, arrow slit, or
+other aperture, which commanded the particular spot the
+carpenters happened to be upon. Covered by their condensed
+fire, these soon raised a high palisade between
+them and the ordinary missiles from the walls.</p>
+
+<p>But the besieged expected this, and ran out at night
+their hoards or wooden penthouses on the top of the curtains.
+The curtains were built with square holes near
+the top to receive the beams that supported these structures,
+the true defense of medi�val forts, from which the
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span>
+besieged delivered their missiles with far more freedom
+and variety of range than they could shoot through the
+oblique but immovable loopholes of the curtain. On
+this the besiegers brought up mangonels, and set them
+hurling huge stones at these wood works and battering
+them to pieces. At the same time they built a triangular
+wooden tower as high as the curtain, and kept it ready
+for use, and just out of shot.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 150px;">
+    <a name="p0156-illus.jpg" id="p0156-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p0156-illus.jpg" width="150" height="211" alt="Being besieged" title="" />
+ <p class="caption2">Hoard, or Penthouse.</p>
+</div>
+<p>This was a terrible sight to the besieged. These
+wooden towers had taken many a town. They began to
+mine underneath that part of the moat the tower
+stood frowning at; and made other preparations
+to give it a warm reception. The besiegers
+also mined, but at another part, their
+object being to get under the square barbican
+and throw it down. All this
+time Denys was behind his mantelet
+with another arbalester,
+protecting the workmen
+and making some excellent
+shots. These ended by
+earning him the esteem of
+an unseen archer, who every
+now and then sent a winged
+compliment quivering into his mantelet.
+One came and stuck within
+an inch of the narrow slit through
+which Denys was squinting at the
+moment.</p>
+
+<p>"Ha! ha!" cried he, "you shoot well, my friend.
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span>
+Come forth and receive my congratulations! Shall merit,
+such as thine, hide its head? Comrade, it is one of those
+Englishmen, with his half ell shaft. I'll not die till I've
+had a shot at London wall."</p>
+
+<p>On the side of the besieged was a figure that soon
+attracted great notice by promenading under fire. It
+was a tall knight, clad in complete brass, and carrying
+a light but prodigiously long lance, with which he directed
+the movements of the besieged. And when any disaster
+befell the besiegers, this tall knight and his long lance
+were pretty sure to be concerned in it.</p>
+
+<p>My young reader will say, "Why did not Denys shoot
+him?"</p>
+
+<p>Denys did shoot him; every day of his life; other
+arbalesters shot him; archers shot him. Everybody
+shot him. He was there to be shot, apparently. But
+the abomination was, he did not mind being shot. Nay,
+worse, he got at last so demoralized as not to seem to
+know when he was shot. At last the besiegers got spiteful,
+and would not waste any more good steel on him.</p>
+
+<p>It was a bright day, clear, but not quite frosty. The
+efforts of the besieging force were concentrated against
+a space of about two hundred and fifty yards, containing
+two curtains and two towers, one of which was the square
+barbican, the other had a pointed roof that was built to
+overlap, and by this means a row of dangerous crenelets
+between the roof and the masonry grinned down at the
+nearer assailants, and looked not very unlike the grinders
+of a modern frigate with each port nearly closed. The
+curtains were overlapped with penthouses somewhat shattered
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span>
+by the mangonels, and other slinging engines of the
+besiegers.</p>
+
+<p>On the besiegers' edge of the moat was what seemed at
+first sight a gigantic arsenal, longer than it was broad,
+peopled by human ants, and full of busy, honest industry,
+and displaying all the various mechanical science of the
+age in full operation. Here the lever at work, there the
+winch and pulley, here the balance, there the capstan.
+Everywhere heaps of stones, and piles of fascines, mantelets,
+and rows of fire barrels. Mantelets rolling, the
+hammer tapping all day, horses and carts in endless succession
+rattling up with materials.</p>
+
+<p>At the edge of the moat opposite the wooden tower, a
+strong penthouse, which they called "a cat," might be
+seen stealing towards the curtain, and gradually filling
+up the moat with fascines and rubbish, which the workmen
+flung out at its mouth. It was advanced by two
+sets of ropes passing round pulleys, and each worked by
+a windlass at some distance from the cat. The knight
+burnt the first cat by flinging blazing tar barrels on it. So
+the besiegers made the roof of this one very steep, and
+covered it with raw hides, and the tar barrels could not
+harm it.</p>
+
+<p>And now the engineers proceeded to the unusual step
+of slinging fifty-pound stones at an individual.</p>
+
+<p>This catapult was a scientific, simple, and beautiful
+engine, and very effective in vertical fire at the short
+ranges of the period.</p>
+
+<p>Imagine a fir tree cut down, and set to turn round a
+horizontal axis on lofty uprights, but not in equilibrium;
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span>
+three fourths of the tree being on the hither side. At
+the shorter and thicker end of the tree was fastened a
+weight of half a ton. This butt end just before the
+discharge pointed towards the enemy. By means of a
+powerful winch the long tapering portion of the tree
+was forced down to the very ground, and fastened by a
+bolt; and the stone placed in a sling attached to the
+tree's nose. But this process of course raised the butt
+end with its huge weight high in the air, and
+kept it there struggling in vain to come down.
+The bolt was now drawn; then the short end
+swung furiously down,
+the long end went as
+furiously up, and at its
+highest elevation flung
+the huge stone out of
+the sling with a tremendous
+jerk. In this
+case the huge mass
+so flung missed the
+knight, but came down
+near him on the penthouse,
+and went through it
+like paper, making an awful
+gap in roof and floor.</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 150px;">
+    <a name="p0159-illus.jpg" id="p0159-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p0159-illus.jpg" width="150" height="186" alt="A large war weapon" title="" />
+ <p class="caption2">A Catapult.</p>
+</div>
+<p>"Aha! a good shot!"
+cried Baldwyn of Burgundy.</p>
+
+<p>The tall knight retired. The besiegers hooted him.
+He reappeared on the platform of the barbican, his
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span>
+helmet being just visible above the parapet. He seemed
+very busy, and soon an enormous Turkish catapult made
+its appearance on the platform, and, aided by the elevation
+at which it was planted, flung a twenty-pound
+stone two hundred and forty yards in the air. The next
+stone struck a horse that was bringing up a sheaf of
+arrows in a cart, bowled the horse over dead like a rabbit,
+and split the cart. It was then turned at the besiegers'
+wooden tower, supposed to be out of shot. Sir Turk
+slung stones cut with sharp edges on purpose, and struck
+it repeatedly, and broke it in several places. The besiegers
+turned two of their slinging engines on this
+monster, and kept constantly slinging smaller stones
+on to the platform of the barbican, and killed two of
+the engineers. But the Turk disdained to retort. He
+flung a forty-pound stone on to the besiegers' great
+catapult, and hitting it in the neighborhood of the axis,
+knocked the whole structure to pieces, and sent the
+engineers skipping and yelling.</p>
+
+<p>The next morning an unwelcome sight greeted the
+besieged. The cat was covered with mattresses and raw
+hides, and fast filling up the moat. The knight stoned
+it, but in vain; flung burning tar barrels on it, but in
+vain. Then with his own hands he let down by a rope
+a bag of burning sulphur and pitch, and stunk them out.
+But Baldwyn, armed like a lobster, ran, and bounding
+on the roof, cut the string, and the work went on. Then
+the knight sent fresh engineers into the mine, and undermined
+the place and underpinned it with beams, and
+covered the beams thickly with grease and tar.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span>
+    At break of day the moat was filled, and the wooden
+tower began to move on its wheels towards a part of the
+curtain on which two catapults were already playing, to
+breach the hoards and clear the way. There was something
+awful and magical in its approach without visible
+agency, for it was driven by internal rollers worked by
+leverage.</p>
+
+<p>On the top was a platform, where stood the first assailing
+party protected in front by the drawbridge of the
+turret, which stood vertical till lowered on to the wall;
+but better protected by full suits of armor. The
+besieged slung at the tower, and struck it often, but
+in vain. It was well defended with mattresses and hides,
+and presently was at the edge of the moat. The knight
+bade fire the mine underneath it.</p>
+
+<p>Then the Turkish engine flung a stone of half a hundredweight
+right amongst the knights, and carried two
+away with it off the tower on to the plain.</p>
+
+<p>And now the besieging catapults flung blazing tar
+barrels, and fired the hoards on both sides, and the assailants
+ran up the ladders behind the tower, and lowered
+the drawbridge on to the battered curtain, while the catapults
+in concert flung tar barrels, and fired the adjoining
+works to dislodge the defenders. The armed men on the
+platform sprang on the bridge, led by Baldwyn. The
+invulnerable knight and his men at arms met them, and
+a fearful combat ensued, in which many a figure was seen
+to fall headlong down off the narrow bridge. But fresh
+besiegers kept swarming up behind the tower, and the
+besieged were driven off the bridge.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span>
+    Another minute, and the town would have been taken;
+but so well had the firing of the mines been timed, that
+just at this instant the underpinnings gave way, and the
+tower suddenly sank away from the walls, tearing the
+drawbridge clear and pouring the soldiers off it against
+the masonry and on to the dry moat.</p>
+
+<p>The besieged uttered a fierce shout, and in a moment
+surrounded Baldwyn and his fellows; but strange to
+say, offered them quarter. While a party disarmed and
+disposed of these, others fired the turret in fifty places
+with a sort of hand grenades. At this work who so
+busy as the tall knight? He put fire bags on his long
+spear, and thrust them into the doomed structure late
+so terrible. To do this, he was obliged to stand on a
+projecting beam, holding on by the hand of a pikeman
+to steady himself. This provoked Denys; he ran out
+from his mantelet, hoping to escape notice in the confusion,
+and leveling his crossbow missed the knight clean,
+but sent his bolt into the brain of the pikeman, and the
+tall knight fell heavily from the wall, lance and all.</p>
+
+<p>The knight, his armor glittering in the morning sun,
+fell headlong, but turning as he neared the water, struck
+it with a slap that sounded a mile off.</p>
+
+<p>None ever thought to see him again. But he fell at
+the edge of the fascines, and his spear stuck into them
+under the water, and by a mighty effort he got to the
+side, but could not get out. Anthony sent a dozen
+knights with a white flag to take him prisoner. He submitted
+like a lamb, but said nothing.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr class="hr2" />
+<div class="fn">
+<h4>Footnote</h4>
+<p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a>
+    <a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a>
+    For explanation of this and similar terms used in this selection, see
+the notes at the end of this book and especially the word "Castle" in
+Webster's International Dictionary.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span></p>
+<h2>LOCHINVAR.</h2>
+<h3>LADY HERON'S SONG.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Oh, young Lochinvar is come out of the west!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Through all the wide Border his steed was the best:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And, save his good broadsword, he weapons had none;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He rode all unarmed, and he rode all alone.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">So faithful in love, and so dauntless in war,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">There never was knight like the young Lochinvar.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">He staid not for brake, and he stopped not for stone;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He swam the Esk river, where ford there was none;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But, ere he alighted at Netherby gate,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The bride had consented&mdash;the gallant came late;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For a laggard in love, and a dastard in war,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Was to wed the fair Ellen of brave Lochinvar.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">So boldly he entered the Netherby hall,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Among bridesmen, and kinsmen, and brothers, and all.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Then spoke the bride's father, his hand on his sword,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">(For the poor craven bridegroom said never a word),<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"Oh, come ye in peace here, or come ye in war,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Or to dance at our bridal, young lord Lochinvar?"<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"I long wooed your daughter&mdash;my suit you denied;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Love swells like the Solway, but ebbs like its tide;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And now I am come with this lost love of mine<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To lead but one measure, drink one cup of wine.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">There are maidens in Scotland more lovely by far,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That would gladly be bride to the young Lochinvar."<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span>
+    <span class="i0">The bride kissed the goblet, the knight took it up;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He quaffed off the wine, and he threw down the cup;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">She looked down to blush, and she looked up to sigh,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With a smile on her lips, and a tear in her eye.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He took her soft hand, ere her mother could bar&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"Now tread we a measure!" said young Lochinvar.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">So stately his form, and so lovely her face,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That never a hall such a galliard did grace;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">While her mother did fret, and her father did fume,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And the bridegroom stood dangling his bonnet and plume;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And the bridemaidens whispered, "'Twere better by far<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To have matched our fair cousin with young Lochinvar."<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">One touch to her hand, and one word in her ear,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">When they reached the hall door, and the charger stood near;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">So light to the croup the fair lady he swung,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">So light to the saddle before her he sprung!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"She is won! We are gone, over bank, bush, and scaur!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">They'll have fleet steeds that follow!" quoth young Lochinvar.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">There was mounting 'mong Gr�mes of the Netherby clan;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Forsters, Fenwicks, and Musgraves, they rode and they ran;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">There was racing and chasing on Cannobie Lee,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But the lost bride of Netherby ne'er did they see.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">So daring in love, and so dauntless in war,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Have you e'er heard of gallant like young Lochinvar?<br /></span>
+<div class="signature2">&mdash;<i>From "Marmion," by Sir Walter Scott.</i></div>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span></p>
+<h2>ON A TROPICAL RIVER.</h2>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 200px;">
+    <a name="p0165-illus.jpg" id="p0165-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p0165-illus.jpg" width="200" height="208" alt="Author's portrait" title="" />
+ <p class="caption2">Charles Kingsley.</p>
+</div>
+<p>"Westward Ho!" is a novel written by Rev. Charles
+Kingsley, and first published in 1855. It is a story of
+the times of Queen Elizabeth, of the threatened invasion
+of England by the Spanish Armada,
+and of wild adventure on the sea and
+in the forests of the New World.
+Several historical personages are
+made to appear in the story, such
+as Sir Walter Raleigh, Sir
+Francis Drake, Admiral Hawkins,
+and others. The hero is
+Amyas Leigh, "a Devonshire
+youth of great bodily strength,
+of lively affection and sweet
+temper, combined with a marked
+propensity to combat from his
+earliest years." Amyas and his companions had undertaken
+an expedition to discover the fabled golden city of
+Manoa, which was said to exist somewhere in the wilds
+of South America. They had been searching more than
+three years for this city when they reached the Meta
+River in canoes, and the following adventure occurred.</p>
+
+<p class="cen">*****</p>
+
+<p>For three hours or more Amyas Leigh and his companions
+paddled easily up the glassy and windless reaches,
+between two green flower-bespangled walls of forest, gay
+with innumerable birds and insects; while down from
+the branches which overhung the stream, long trailers
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span>
+hung to the water's edge, and seemed admiring in the
+clear mirror the images of their own gorgeous flowers.
+River, trees, flowers, birds, insects,&mdash;it was all a fairyland;
+but it was a colossal one; and yet the voyagers
+took little note of it.</p>
+
+<p>It was now to them an everyday occurrence to see trees
+full two hundred feet high one mass of yellow or purple
+blossom to the highest twigs, and every branch and stem
+one hanging garden of crimson and orange orchids or
+vanillas. Common to them were all the fantastic and
+enormous shapes with which Nature bedecks her robes
+beneath the fierce suns and fattening rains of the tropic
+forest. Common were forms and colors of bird, and fish,
+and butterfly, more strange and bright than ever opium
+eater dreamed.</p>
+
+<p>The long processions of monkeys, who kept pace with
+them along the tree tops, and proclaimed their wonder in
+every imaginable whistle and grunt and howl, had ceased
+to move their laughter, as much as the roar of the jaguar
+and the rustle of the boa had ceased to move their fear;
+and when a brilliant green and rose-colored fish, flat-bodied
+like a bream, flat-finned like a salmon, and sawtoothed
+like a shark, leaped clean on board of the canoe
+to escape the rush of a huge alligator (whose loathsome
+snout, ere he could stop, actually rattled against the
+canoe), Jack coolly picked up the fish and said:</p>
+
+<p>"He's four pound weight! If you catch fish for us
+like that, old fellow, just keep in our wake, and we'll
+give you the cleanings for your wages!"</p>
+
+<p>They paddled onward hour after hour, sheltering themselves
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span>
+as best they could under the shadow of the southern
+bank, while on their right hand the full sun glare lay
+upon the enormous wall of mimosas, figs, and laurels,
+which formed the northern forest, broken by the slender
+shafts of bamboo tufts, and decked with a thousand gaudy
+parasites; bank upon bank of gorgeous bloom piled upward
+to the sky, till where its outline cut the blue,
+flowers and leaves, too lofty to be distinguished by the
+eye, formed a broken rainbow of all hues quivering in the
+ascending streams of azure mist, until they seemed to
+melt and mingle with the very heavens.</p>
+
+<p>And as the sun rose higher and higher, a great stillness
+fell upon the forest. The jaguars and the monkeys had
+hidden themselves in the darkest depths of the woods.
+The birds' notes died out one by one; the very butterflies
+ceased their flitting over the tree tops, and slept with outspread
+wings upon the glossy leaves, undistinguishable
+from the flowers around them. Now and then a parrot
+swung and screamed at them from an overhanging bough;
+or a thirsty monkey slid lazily down a swinging vine to
+the surface of the stream, dipped up the water in his tiny
+hand, and started chattering back, as his eyes met those
+of some foul alligator peering upward through the clear
+depths below.</p>
+
+<p>In shaded nooks beneath the boughs, rabbits as large as
+sheep went paddling sleepily round and round, thrusting
+up their unwieldy heads among the blooms of the blue
+water lilies; while black and purple water hens ran up
+and down upon the rafts of floating leaves. The shining
+snout of a fresh-water dolphin rose slowly to the surface;
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span>
+a jet of spray whirred up; a rainbow hung upon it for a
+moment; and the black snout sank lazily again.</p>
+
+<p>Here and there, too, upon some shallow pebbly shore,
+scarlet flamingoes stood dreaming knee-deep on one leg;
+crested cranes pranced up and down, admiring their own
+finery; and irises and egrets dipped their bills under
+water in search of prey; but before noon, even those had
+slipped away, and there reigned a stillness which might
+be heard&mdash;a stillness in which, as Humboldt says: "If
+beyond the silence we listen for the faintest undertones,
+we detect a stifled, continuous hum of insects, which
+crowd the air close to the earth; a confused swarming
+murmur which hangs round every bush, in the cracked
+bark of trees, in the soil undermined by lizards and bees;
+a voice proclaiming to us that all Nature breathes, that
+under a thousand different forms life swarms in the gaping
+and dusty earth, as much as in the bosom of the waters,
+and in the air which breathes around."</p>
+
+<p>At last a soft and distant murmur, increasing gradually
+to a heavy roar, announced that they were nearing some
+cataract; till, turning a point where the alluvial soil rose
+into a low cliff fringed with delicate ferns, they came in
+full sight of a scene at which all paused&mdash;not with
+astonishment, but with something very like disgust.</p>
+
+<p>"Rapids again!" grumbled one. "I thought we had
+had enough of them on the Orinoco!"</p>
+
+<p>"We shall have to get out, and draw the canoes overland,
+I suppose!"</p>
+
+<p>"There's worse behind; don't you see the spray behind
+the palms?"</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span>
+    "Stop grumbling, my masters, and don't cry out before
+you are hurt. Paddle right up to the largest of those
+islands, and let us look about us."</p>
+
+<p>In front of them was a snow-white bar of foam, some
+ten feet high, along which were ranged three or four
+islands of black rock. Each was crested with a knot of
+lofty palms, whose green tops stood out clear against the
+bright sky, while the lower half of their stems loomed
+hazy through a luminous veil of rainbowed mist. The
+banks right and left of the fall were so densely fringed
+with a low hedge of shrubs that landing seemed almost
+impossible; and their Indian guide, suddenly looking
+round him and whispering, bade them beware of savages,
+and pointed to a canoe which lay swinging in the eddies
+under the largest island, moored apparently to the root of
+some tree.</p>
+
+<p>"Silence, all!" cried Amyas, "and paddle up thither
+and seize the canoe. If there be an Indian on the island,
+we will have speech of him. But mind, and treat him
+friendly; and on your lives, neither strike nor shoot, even
+if he offers to fight."</p>
+
+<p>So, choosing a line of smooth backwater just in the
+wake of the island, they drove their canoes up by main
+force, and fastened them safely by the side of the Indian's,
+while Amyas, always the foremost, sprang boldly on shore,
+whispering to the Indian boy to follow him.</p>
+
+<p>Once on the island, Amyas felt sure enough that, if its
+wild tenant had not seen them approach, he certainly had
+not heard them, so deafening was the noise which filled
+his brain, and which seemed to make the very leaves upon
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span>
+the bushes quiver and the solid stone beneath his feet reel
+and ring. For two hundred yards and more above the
+fall, nothing met his eye but one white waste of raging
+foam, with here and there a transverse dike of rock, which
+hurled columns of spray and surges of beaded water high
+into the air,&mdash;strangely contrasting with the still and
+silent cliffs of green leaves which walled the river right
+and left, and more strangely still with the knots of enormous
+palms upon the islets, which reared their polished
+shafts a hundred feet into the air, straight and upright as
+masts, while their broad plumes and golden-clustered fruit
+slept in the sunshine far aloft, the image of the stateliest
+repose amid the wildest wrath of Nature.</p>
+
+<p>Ten yards farther, the cataract fell sheer in thunder;
+but a high fern-fringed rock turned its force away from
+the beach. Here, if anywhere, was the place to find the
+owner of the canoe. He leaped down upon the pebbles;
+and as he did so, a figure rose from behind a neighboring
+rock, and met him face to face. It was an Indian
+girl.</p>
+
+<p>He spoke first, in some Indian tongue, gently and smilingly,
+and made a half-step forward; but quick as light
+she caught up from the ground a bow, and held it fiercely
+toward him, fitted with the long arrow, with which, as he
+could see, she had been striking fish, for a line of twisted
+grass hung from its barbed head. Amyas stopped, laid
+down his own bow and sword, and made another step in
+advance, smiling still, and making all Indian signs of
+amity. But the arrow was still pointed straight at his
+breast, and he knew the mettle and strength of the forest
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span>
+nymphs well enough to stand still and call for the Indian
+boy.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+    <a name="p0171-illus.jpg" id="p0171-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p0171-illus.jpg" width="500" height="380" alt="An encounter" title="" />
+ <p class="caption2">A figure rose from behind a neighboring rock.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>The boy, who had been peering from above, leaped down
+to them in a moment; and began, as the safest method,
+groveling on his nose upon the pebbles, while he tried
+two or three dialects, one of which at last she seemed to
+understand, and answered in a tone of evident suspicion
+and anger.</p>
+
+<p>"What does she say?"</p>
+
+<p>"That you are a Spaniard and a robber because you
+have a beard."</p>
+
+<p>"Tell her that we are no Spaniards, but that we hate
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span>
+them, and are come across the great waters to help the
+Indians to kill them."</p>
+
+<p>The boy had no sooner spoken, than, nimble as a deer,
+the nymph had sprung up the rocks, and darted between
+the palm stems to her own canoe. Suddenly she caught
+sight of the English boats, and stopped with a cry of fear
+and rage.</p>
+
+<p>"Let her pass!" shouted Amyas, who had followed her
+closely. "Push your boats off, and let her pass. Boy,
+tell her to go on; they will not come near her."</p>
+
+<p>But she hesitated still, and with arrow drawn to the
+head, faced first on the boat's crew, and then on Amyas,
+till the Englishmen had shoved off full twenty yards.</p>
+
+<p>Then, leaping into her tiny piragua, she darted into
+the wildest whirl of the eddies, shooting along with
+vigorous strokes, while the English trembled as they saw
+the frail bark spinning and leaping amid the muzzles
+of the alligators and the huge dog-toothed trout. But,
+with the swiftness of an arrow, she reached the northern
+bank, drove her canoe among the bushes, and, leaping
+from it, darted into the bush, and vanished like a dream.</p>
+
+<p class="cen">*****</p>
+
+<p>The chief interest in the foregoing story lies, of course,
+in its faithful and glowing picture of scenery in the midst
+of a tropical forest. The learner should read it a second
+time and try to point out all the passages that are remarkable
+for their wealth of description. He should try to
+form in his mind an image of the sights and sounds that
+he would encounter in a voyage up the Meta River or any
+other of the tributaries of the Orinoco or the Amazon.</p>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span></p>
+<h2>THE FLAG OF OUR COUNTRY.</h2>
+
+<hr class="hr2" />
+<h3>I.</h3>
+
+<p>There is the national flag. He must be cold indeed
+who can look upon its folds, rippling in the breeze, without
+pride of country. If he be in a foreign land, the flag
+is companionship and country itself, with all its endearments.</p>
+
+<p>Who, as he sees it, can think of a state merely?
+Whose eyes once fastened upon its radiant trophies, can
+fail to recognize the image of the whole nation? It has
+been called a "floating piece of poetry," and yet I know
+not if it have an intrinsic beauty beyond other ensigns.
+Its highest beauty is in what it symbolizes. It is because
+it represents all, that all gaze at it with delight
+and reverence.</p>
+
+<p>It is a piece of bunting lifted in the air; but it speaks
+sublimely, and every part has a voice. Its stripes of
+alternate red and white proclaim the original union of
+thirteen states to maintain the Declaration of Independence.
+Its stars of white on a field of blue proclaim that
+union of states constituting our national constellation,
+which receives a new star with every new state. The two
+together signify union past and present.</p>
+
+<p>The very colors have a language which was officially
+recognized by our fathers. White is for purity, red for
+valor, blue for justice; and altogether, bunting, stripes,
+stars, and colors, blazing in the sky, make the flag of our
+country to be cherished by all our hearts, to be upheld by
+all our hands.</p>
+
+
+<hr class="hr2" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span></p>
+<h3>II.</h3>
+
+<p>I have said enough and more than enough to manifest
+the spirit in which this flag is now committed to your
+charge. It is the national ensign, pure and simple,
+dearer to all hearts at this moment as we lift it to the
+gale, and see no other sign of hope upon the storm cloud
+which rolls and rattles above it, save that which is its
+own radiant hues&mdash;dearer, a thousand fold dearer to us
+all than ever it was before, while gilded by the sunshine
+of prosperity and playing with the zephyrs of peace. It
+will speak for itself far more eloquently than I can speak
+for it.</p>
+
+<p>Behold it! Listen to it! Every star has a tongue;
+every stripe is articulate. There is no speech nor language
+where their voices are not heard. There is magic
+in the web of it. It has an answer for every question of
+duty. It has a solution for every doubt and every perplexity.
+It has a word of good cheer for every hour
+of gloom or of despondency.</p>
+
+<p>Behold it! Listen to it! It speaks of earlier and of
+later struggles. It speaks of victories and sometimes of
+reverses, on the sea and on the land. It speaks of patriots
+and heroes among the living and among the dead; and of
+him, the first and greatest of them all, around whose consecrated
+ashes this unnatural and abhorrent strife has
+been so long raging. But, before all and above all other
+associations and memories,&mdash;whether of glorious men, or
+glorious deeds, or glorious places,&mdash;its voice is ever of
+Union and Liberty, of the Constitution and of the Laws.</p>
+
+<div class="signature">&mdash;<i>Robert C. Winthrop.</i></div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span></p>
+<h2>THE HIGH TIDE ON THE COAST OF LINCOLNSHIRE&mdash;1571.</h2>
+
+<div class="figright2" style="width: 200px;">
+    <a name="p0175-illus.jpg" id="p0175-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p0175-illus.jpg" width="200" height="205" alt="Author's portrait" title="" />
+ <p class="caption2">Jean Ingelow.</p>
+</div>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The old mayor climbed the belfry tower,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The ringers ran by two, by three:&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"Pull, if ye never pulled before,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Good ringers, pull your best," quoth he.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"Play up, play up, O Boston bells!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Ply all your changes, all your swells;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Play up 'The Brides of Enderby'!"<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Men say it was a stolen tide;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The Lord that sent it, he knows all;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But in mine ears doth still abide<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The message that the bells let fall:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And there was naught of strange, beside<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The flights of mews and peewits pied<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">By millions crouched on the old sea wall.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">I sat and spun within the door,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">My thread brake off, I raised mine eyes;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The level sun, like ruddy ore,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Lay sinking in the barren skies,<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span>
+    <span class="i0">And dark against day's golden death<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">She moved where Lindis wandereth,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">My son's fair wife, Elizabeth.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Cusha! Cusha! Cusha!" calling,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Ere the early dews were falling,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Far away I heard her song.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"Cusha! Cusha!" all along,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Where the reedy Lindis floweth,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Floweth, floweth;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">From the meads where melick groweth<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Faintly came her milking song,<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Cusha! Cusha! Cusha!" calling,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"For the dews will soon be falling;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Leave your meadow grasses mellow,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Mellow, mellow;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Quit your cowslips, cowslips yellow;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Come up, Whitefoot, come up, Lightfoot;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Quit the stalks of parsley hollow,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Hollow, hollow;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Come up, Jetty, rise and follow,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">From the clovers lift your head;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Come up, Whitefoot, come up, Lightfoot,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Come up, Jetty, rise and follow,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Jetty, to the milking shed."<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">If it be long, ay, long ago,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">When I begin to think how long,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Again I hear the Lindis flow,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Swift as an arrow, sharp and strong;<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span>
+    <span class="i0">And all the air, it seemeth me,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Is full of floating bells (saith she),<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That ring the tune of Enderby.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">All fresh the level pasture lay,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And not a shadow might be seen,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Save where full five good miles away<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The steeple towered from out the green.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And lo! the great bell far and wide<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Was heard in all the country side<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That Saturday at eventide.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The swanherds where their sedges are<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Moved on in sunset's golden breath,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The shepherd lads I heard afar,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And my son's wife, Elizabeth;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Till floating o'er the grassy sea<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Came down that kindly message free,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The "Brides of Mavis Enderby."<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Then some looked up into the sky,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And all along where Lindis flows<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To where the goodly vessels lie,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And where the lordly steeple shows.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">They said, "And why should this thing be?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">What danger lowers by land or sea?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">They ring the tune of Enderby!<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"For evil news from Mablethorpe,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Of pirate galleys warping down;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For ships ashore beyond the scorpe,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">They have not spared to wake the town:<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span>
+    <span class="i0">But while the west is red to see,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And storms be none, and pirates flee,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Why ring 'The Brides of Enderby'?"<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">I looked without, and lo! my son<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Came riding down with might and main;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He raised a shout as he drew on,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Till all the welkin rang again,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"Elizabeth! Elizabeth!"<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">(A sweeter woman ne'er drew breath<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Than my son's wife, Elizabeth.)<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"The old sea wall," he cried, "is down,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The rising tide comes on apace,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And boats adrift in yonder town<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Go sailing up the market place."<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He shook as one that looks on death:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"God save you, mother!" straight he saith,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"Where is my wife, Elizabeth?"<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Good son, where Lindis winds away,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">With her two bairns I marked her long;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And ere yon bells began to play,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Afar I heard her milking song."<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He looked across the grassy lea,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To right, to left, "Ho, Enderby!"<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">They rang "The Brides of Enderby!"<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">With that he cried and beat his breast;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">For, lo! along the river's bed<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A mighty eygre reared his crest,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And up the Lindis raging sped.<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span>
+    <span class="i0">It swept with thunderous noises loud;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Shaped like a curling snow-white cloud,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Or like a demon in a shroud.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">And rearing Lindis backward pressed<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Shook all her trembling banks amain;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Then madly at the eygre's breast<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Flung up her weltering walls again.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Then banks came down with ruin and rout&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Then beaten foam flew round about&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Then all the mighty floods were out.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">So far, so fast the eygre drave,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The heart had hardly time to beat<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Before a shallow seething wave<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Sobbed in the grasses at our feet;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The feet had hardly time to flee<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Before it brake against the knee,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And all the world was in the sea.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Upon the roof we sat that night,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The noise of bells went sweeping by;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">I marked the lofty beacon light<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Stream from the church tower, red and high&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A lurid mark and dread to see;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And awesome bells they were to me,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That in the dark rang "Enderby."<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">They rang the sailor lads to guide<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">From roof to roof who fearless rowed;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And I&mdash;my son was at my side,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And yet the ruddy beacon glowed;<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span>
+    <span class="i0">And yet he moaned beneath his breath,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"Oh, come in life, or come in death!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Oh lost! my love Elizabeth."<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">And didst thou visit him no more?<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Thou didst, thou didst, my daughter dear;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The waters laid thee at his door,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Ere yet the early dawn was clear.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Thy pretty bairns in fast embrace,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The lifted sun shone on thy face,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Down drifted to thy dwelling place.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">That flow strewed wrecks about the grass,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">That ebb swept out the flocks to sea;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A fatal ebb and flow, alas!<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">To many more than mine and me:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But each will mourn his own (she saith),<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And sweeter woman ne'er drew breath<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Than my son's wife, Elizabeth.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">I shall never hear her more<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">By the reedy Lindis shore,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"Cusha! Cusha! Cusha!" calling,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Ere the early dews be falling;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">I shall never hear her song,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"Cusha! Cusha!" all along<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Where the sunny Lindis floweth,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Goeth, floweth;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">From the meads where melick groweth,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Where the water winding down,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Onward floweth to the town.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span>
+    <span class="i0">I shall never see her more<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Where the reeds and rushes quiver,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Shiver, quiver;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Stand beside the sobbing river,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Sobbing, throbbing, in its falling<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To the sandy, lonesome shore;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">I shall never hear her calling,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"Leave your meadow grasses mellow,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Mellow, mellow;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Quit your cowslips, cowslips yellow;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Come up, Whitefoot, come up, Lightfoot;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Quit your pipes of parsley hollow,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Hollow, hollow;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Come up, Lightfoot, rise and follow;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Lightfoot, Whitefoot,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">From your clovers lift the head;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Come up, Jetty, follow, follow,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Jetty, to the milking shed."<br /></span>
+<div class="signature2">&mdash;<i>Jean Ingelow.</i></div>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<h2>THE STORY OF THOMAS BECKET.</h2>
+
+<hr class="hr2" />
+<h3>I. HIS LIFE.</h3>
+
+<p>Henry II. began his reign over England in the year
+1154, and he was the mightiest king that had yet sat
+upon the throne. He had vast possessions. All England
+and nearly half of France were his, and he was well able
+to rule over them and keep them in order.</p>
+
+<p>He was a short, stout, reddish-haired man, with a face
+well-tanned by exposure to the wind and the sun. His
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span>
+legs were bowed by constant riding. Ever busy at something,
+he rarely sat down, except at meals; and there
+was plenty of work for him to do.</p>
+
+<p>In the early years of his reign his chief friend and
+servant was Thomas Becket, who was a clever and handsome
+man. He knew well how to please the king by
+sharing in his amusements, and by helping him in the great
+work of keeping order among his barons and knights.</p>
+
+<p>When Becket was a young man he was out hunting,
+one day, with his pet hawk upon his wrist. Riding carelessly
+along, he came to a narrow wooden bridge, which
+crossed a stream close to a mill. When in the middle
+of the bridge his horse stumbled, and Becket, horse,
+and hawk were thrown into the water.</p>
+
+<p>The horse at once swam to the bank. So did Becket,
+but, upon looking back, he saw his hawk struggling in
+the middle of the stream. Its straps had become entangled
+about its feet and wings, and the bird was helpless.
+Although the stream was running swiftly to the
+great mill-wheel, Becket turned round and swam back
+to save the hawk.</p>
+
+<p>By this time the current had carried him very near to
+the wheel, and in another moment both man and bird must
+have been crushed to death. But just then the miller saw
+the danger and stopped the mill. Becket climbed out of
+the water with the bird in his hand, seeming not at all
+frightened because of the danger which he had escaped.
+During his entire life he had many trials and was opposed
+by many enemies; but he faced them all as fearlessly as
+he had risked drowning in order to save his hawk.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span>
+    King Henry made Becket his chancellor, that is his chief
+minister, and gave him much wealth. Becket lived in
+great splendor in a fine palace. He was so hospitable
+that he kept an open table, at which all were free to
+come and feast when they chose. His clothes were the
+finest and gayest that could be made, and wherever he
+went he took with him troops of friends and servants.</p>
+
+<p>Once, when he was sent to France to settle a dispute
+with the French king, he traveled with such a large
+train of followers that the people were filled with wonder.
+We can picture the procession entering a quiet
+country town.</p>
+
+<p>"First came two hundred boys singing quaint songs or
+glees. Then followed great hounds with their keepers,
+behind whom were wagons guarded by fierce English
+mastiffs. One of the wagons was laden with beer to be
+given away to the people who might render any help
+on the road.</p>
+
+<p>"Then came twelve horses, upon each of which sat a
+monkey and a groom. After all these there followed a
+vast company of knights and squires and priests, riding
+two and two.</p>
+
+<p>"Last of all came Becket and a few friends, with whom
+he talked by the way." We can imagine the wonder of
+the French people at so fine, yet strange, a show. We
+can hear them exclaim, "What kind of a man must the
+king of England be, when his chancellor can travel in
+such state!"</p>
+
+<p>At this time the Church in England possessed great
+power and wealth. It was the safeguard that stood
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span>
+between the people and the greed and cruelty of their
+rulers. It was the protector of the poor, and the friend
+of the oppressed; and even the king was obliged to obey
+its commands.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 200px;">
+    <a name="p0184-illus.jpg" id="p0184-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p0184-illus.jpg" width="200" height="200" alt="His portrait" title="" />
+ <p class="caption2">Thomas Becket.<br />(From an Old Painting.)</p>
+</div>
+<p>King Henry was jealous of the influence of the Church.
+He resolved that, having already reduced the power of
+the barons, he would now reduce the
+power of the Church. And among
+all his faithful men, who would be
+more likely to help him in such
+business than his friend Becket,
+who had hitherto been his
+ablest assistant in every undertaking?</p>
+
+<p>It happened about this time
+that the Archbishop of Canterbury,
+the highest officer of
+the Church in England, died.
+This event was very pleasing
+to Henry, and through his
+influence the Pope appointed Thomas Becket to be the
+new archbishop.</p>
+
+<p>Becket had hitherto been faithful to Henry in all
+things, but he now felt that his first duty was to the
+Church, and he resolved to defend its rights, even though
+he should displease the king. He changed entirely the
+manner of his life. Instead of his splendid clothes, he
+wore a monk's dress and a hair shirt next to his skin.
+He tried, as people understood it in those times, to carry
+out the teachings of his Lord and Master; and every day
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span>
+he waited upon a number of poor men and washed their
+feet. Instead of gay knights only good and pious men
+sat at his table. He gave up his chancellorship, and told
+the king plainly that he would resist all attempts to take
+away the rights of the Church.</p>
+
+<p>Many were the quarrels after that between the king
+and the archbishop. At one time, in a fit of rage, Henry
+cried out: "I will not be preached at by you. Are you
+not the son of one of my clowns?"</p>
+
+<p>"It is true," replied the archbishop, "I am not descended
+from ancient kings, but neither was the blessed
+Peter to whom were given the keys of the kingdom of
+heaven."</p>
+
+<p>"But Peter," said the king, "died for his Lord."</p>
+
+<p>"And I, too, will die for my Lord," said Becket, "when
+the time shall come."</p>
+
+<p>And it was not long till the time did come. Upon
+hearing some hasty, angry words from the king, four
+knights set out to Canterbury, determined to kill Becket,
+and thus not only put an end to the long quarrel but win
+the king's favor for themselves.</p>
+
+<div class="signature">&mdash;<i>Anonymous.</i></div>
+
+
+<hr class="hr2" />
+<h3>II. HIS DEATH.</h3>
+
+<p>The vespers had already begun, and the monks were
+singing the service in the choir, when two boys rushed
+up the nave, announcing, more by their terrified gestures
+than by their words, that the soldiers were bursting into
+the palace and monastery. Instantly the service was
+thrown into the utmost confusion; part remained at
+prayer, part fled into the numerous hiding places the vast
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span>
+fabric affords; and part went down the steps of the choir
+into the transept to meet the little band at the door.</p>
+
+<p>"Come in, come in!" exclaimed one of them. "Come
+in, and let us die together."</p>
+
+<p>The Archbishop continued to stand outside, and said:
+"Go and finish the service. So long as you keep in
+the entrance, I shall not come in." They fell back a
+few paces, and he stepped within the door, but, finding
+the whole place thronged with people, he paused on the
+threshold, and asked, "What is it that these people
+fear?" One general answer broke forth, "The armed
+men in the cloister." As he turned and said, "I shall
+go out to them," he heard the clash of arms behind. The
+knights had just forced their way into the cloister, and
+were now (as would appear from their being thus seen
+through the open door) advancing along its southern
+side. They were in mail, which covered their faces up
+to their eyes, and carried their swords drawn. Three
+had hatchets. Fitzurse, with the ax he had taken from
+the carpenters, was foremost, shouting as he came, "Here,
+here, king's men!" Immediately behind him followed
+Robert Fitzranulph, with three other knights; and a
+motley group&mdash;some their own followers, some from the
+town&mdash;with weapons, though not in armor, brought up
+the rear. At this sight, so unwonted in the peaceful
+cloisters of Canterbury, not probably beheld since the
+time when the monastery had been sacked by the Danes,
+the monks within, regardless of all remonstrances, shut
+the door of the cathedral, and proceeded to barricade it
+with iron bars. A loud knocking was heard from the
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 187]<br />[Pg 188]</a></span>
+band without, who, having vainly endeavored to prevent
+the entrance of the knights into the cloister, now rushed
+before them to take refuge in the church. Becket, who
+had stepped some paces into the cathedral, but was resisting
+the solicitations of those immediately about him to
+move up into the choir for safety, darted back, calling
+aloud as he went, "Away, you cowards! By virtue of
+your obedience I command you not to shut the door&mdash;the
+church must not be turned into a castle." With his
+own hands he thrust them away from the door, opened
+it himself, and catching hold of the excluded monks,
+dragged them into the building, exclaiming, "Come in,
+come in&mdash;faster, faster!"</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 500px;">
+    <a name="p0187-illus.jpg" id="p0187-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p0187-illus.jpg" width="500" height="297" alt="A very large church" title="" />
+ <p class="caption2">From a Photograph.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Engraved by Charles Meeder.<br />
+                     Canterbury Cathedral.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>The knights, who had been checked for a moment by
+the sight of the closed door, on seeing it unexpectedly
+thrown open, rushed into the church. It was, we must
+remember, about five o'clock in a winter evening; the
+shades of night were gathering, and were deepened into a
+still darker gloom within the high and massive walls of
+the vast cathedral, which was only illuminated here and
+there by the solitary lamps burning before the altars.
+The twilight, lengthening from the shortest day a fortnight
+before, was but just sufficient to reveal the outline
+of objects.</p>
+
+<p>In the dim twilight they could just discern a group of
+figures mounting the steps of the eastern staircase. One
+of the knights called out to them, "Stay." Another,
+"Where is Thomas Becket, traitor to the king?" No
+answer was returned. None could have been expected by
+any one who remembered the indignant silence with which
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span>
+Becket had swept by when the same words had been
+applied by Randulf of Broc at Northampton. Fitzurse
+rushed forward, and, stumbling against one of the monks
+on the lower step, still not able to distinguish clearly in
+the darkness, exclaimed, "Where is the Archbishop?"
+Instantly the answer came: "Reginald, here I am, no
+traitor, but the archbishop and priest of God; what do
+you wish?" and from the fourth step, which he had
+reached in his ascent, with a slight motion of his head&mdash;noticed
+apparently as his peculiar manner in moments of
+excitement&mdash;Becket descended to the transept. Attired,
+we are told, in his white rochet, with a cloak and hood
+thrown over his shoulders, he thus suddenly confronted
+his assailants. Fitzurse sprang back two or three paces,
+and Becket passing by him took up his station between the
+central pillar and the massive wall which still forms the
+southwest corner of what was then the chapel of St.
+Benedict. Here they gathered round him, with the cry,
+"Absolve the bishops whom you have excommunicated."
+"I cannot do other than I have done," he replied, and
+turning to Fitzurse, he added, "Reginald, you have received
+many favors at my hands; why do you come into
+my church armed?" Fitzurse planted the ax against his
+breast, and returned for answer, "You shall die&mdash;I will
+tear out your heart." Another, perhaps in kindness,
+struck him between the shoulders with the flat of his
+sword, exclaiming, "Fly; you are a dead man." "I am
+ready to die," replied the primate, "for God and the
+Church; but I warn you, I curse you in the name of God
+Almighty, if you do not let my men escape."</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span>
+    The well-known horror which in that age was felt at
+an act of sacrilege, together with the sight of the crowds
+who were rushing in from the town through the nave,
+turned their efforts for the next few moments to carrying
+him out of the church. Fitzurse threw down the ax,
+and tried to drag him out by the collar of his long cloak,
+calling, "Come with us&mdash;you are our prisoner." "I
+will not fly, you detestable fellow," was Becket's reply,
+roused to his usual vehemence, and wrenching the cloak
+out of Fitzurse's grasp. The three knights struggled
+violently to put him on Tracy's shoulders. Becket set
+his back against the pillar, and resisted with all his might,
+whilst Grim, vehemently remonstrating, threw his arms
+around him to aid his efforts. In the scuffle, Becket
+fastened upon Tracy, shook him by his coat of mail, and
+exerting his great strength flung him down on the pavement.
+It was hopeless to carry on the attempt to remove
+him. And in the final struggle which now began, Fitzurse,
+as before, took the lead. He approached with his
+drawn sword, and waving it over his head, cried, "Strike,
+strike!" but merely dashed off his cap. Tracy sprang
+forward and struck a more decided blow.</p>
+
+<p>The blood from the first blow was trickling down his
+face in a thin streak; he wiped it with his arm, and when
+he saw the stain, he said, "Into thy hands, O Lord, I
+commend my spirit." At the third blow, he sank on his
+knees&mdash;his arms falling, but his hands still joined as if in
+prayer. With his face turned towards the altar of St.
+Benedict, he murmured in a low voice, "For the name of
+Jesus, and the defense of the Church, I am willing to die."
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span>
+Without moving hand or foot, he fell flat on his face as
+he spoke. In this posture he received a tremendous blow,
+aimed with such violence that the scalp or crown of the
+head was severed from the skull. "Let us go&mdash;let us
+go," said Hugh of Horsea, "the traitor is dead; he will
+rise no more."</p>
+
+<p class="cen">*****</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 200px;">
+    <a name="p0191-illus.jpg" id="p0191-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p0191-illus.jpg" width="200" height="206" alt="Author's portrait" title="" />
+ <p class="caption2">Dean Stanley.</p>
+</div>
+<p>The life of Thomas Becket, and his tragic death, have
+furnished themes for many noble contributions to English
+literature. Arthur Penrhyn Stanley,
+Dean of Westminster, has written of
+him, in a very impartial and trustworthy
+manner, in his "Historical
+Memoirs of Canterbury"
+from which the above extract
+is taken. The poet Tennyson,
+late in life, composed a tragedy
+entitled "Becket" which portrays
+in a vivid, poetical manner
+the most striking scenes in
+the career of the great archbishop.
+James Anthony Froude,
+in "Short Stories on Great Subjects," has written a charming
+and instructive essay on the "Life and Times of
+Thomas Becket"; and Professor Freeman has presented
+us with a similar historical study in his "Saint Thomas
+of Canterbury." It may also be observed that Chaucer's
+immortal work, "The Canterbury Tales," depends for its
+connecting thread upon the once general custom of making
+pilgrimages to the tomb of Becket.</p>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span></p>
+<h2>THE PILGRIMS. (1620.)</h2>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 200px;">
+    <a name="p0192-illus.jpg" id="p0192-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p0192-illus.jpg" width="200" height="200" alt="Author's portrait" title="" />
+ <p class="caption2">Edward Everett.</p>
+</div>
+<p>Methinks I see one solitary, adventurous vessel, the
+"Mayflower," of a forlorn hope, freighted with the prospects
+of a future state, and bound across the unknown sea.
+I behold it pursuing, with a thousand misgivings, the uncertain,
+the tedious voyage. Suns rise and set, and weeks
+and months pass, and winter surprises them on the deep,
+but brings them not the sight of the
+wished-for shore. I see them now,
+scantily supplied with provisions,
+crowded almost to suffocation, in their
+ill-stored prison, delayed by calms,
+pursuing a circuitous route,&mdash;and
+now, driven in fury
+before the raging tempest,
+on the high and giddy
+waves. The awful voice of
+the storm brawls through
+the rigging.</p>
+
+<p>The laboring masts seem
+straining from their base; the dismal sound of the pumps
+is heard; the ship leaps, as it were, madly, from billow to
+billow; the ocean breaks, and settles with engulfing floods
+over the floating deck, and beats with deadening, shivering
+weight, against the staggering vessel.</p>
+
+<p>I see them escape from these perils, pursuing their all
+but desperate undertaking, and landed at last, after a five
+months' passage, on the ice-clad rocks of Plymouth,&mdash;weak
+and weary from the voyage, poorly armed, scantily
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span>
+provisioned, without shelter, without means, surrounded
+by hostile tribes.</p>
+
+<p>Shut now the volume of history, and tell me, on any
+principle of human probability, what shall be the fate of
+this handful of adventurers? Tell me, man of military
+science, in how many months were they all swept off by
+the thirty savage tribes, enumerated within the early
+limits of New England?</p>
+
+<p>Tell me, politician, how long did a shadow of a colony
+on which your conventions and treaties had not smiled,
+languish on the distant coast? Student of history, compare
+for me the baffled projects, the deserted settlements,
+the abandoned adventures of other times, and find the
+parallel of this.</p>
+
+<p>Was it the winter's storm, beating upon the houseless
+heads of women and children? was it hard labor and
+spare meals? was it disease? was it the tomahawk? was
+it the deep malady of a blighted hope, a ruined enterprise,
+and a broken heart, aching in its last moments at the
+recollection of the loved and left, beyond the sea? was it
+some, or all of these united, that hurried this forsaken
+company to their melancholy fate?</p>
+
+<p>And is it possible, that neither of these causes, that not
+all combined, were able to blast this bud of hope? Is it
+possible, that from a beginning so feeble, so frail, so worthy
+not so much of admiration as of pity, there has gone
+forth a progress so steady, a growth so wonderful, an expansion
+so ample, a reality so important, a promise, yet to
+be fulfilled, so glorious?</p>
+
+<div class="signature">&mdash;<i>Edward Everett.</i></div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter bord" style="width: 500px;">
+    <a name="p0194-illus.jpg" id="p0194-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p0194-illus.jpg" width="500" height="298" alt="Watching the ship leave" title="" />
+ <p class="caption2">From the Painting by A. W. Bayes.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Engraved by E. Heinemann.<br />
+                     The Departure of the Mayflower.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span></p>
+<h2>THE LANDING OF THE PILGRIMS.</h2>
+<h3>(1620.)</h3>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The breaking waves dashed high<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">On a stern and rock-bound coast,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And the trees against a stormy sky,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Their giant branches tossed.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">And the heavy night hung dark<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The hills and waters o'er,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">When a band of exiles moored their bark<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">On the wild New England shore.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Not as the conqueror comes,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">They, the true-hearted, came;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Not with the roll of the stirring drums,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And the trumpet that sings of fame.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Not as the flying come,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">In silence and in fear;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">They shook the depths of the desert gloom<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">With their hymns of lofty cheer.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Amidst the storm they sang,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And the stars heard, and the sea:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And the sounding aisles of the dim woods rang<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">To the anthem of the free!<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The ocean eagle soared<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">From his nest by the white wave's foam:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And the rocking pines of the forest roared,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">This was their welcome home!<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span>
+    <span class="i0">There were men with hoary hair,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Amidst that pilgrim band;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Why had <i>they</i> come to wither there,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Away from their childhood's land?<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">There was woman's fearless eye,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Lit by her deep love's truth;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">There was manhood's brow serenely high,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And the fiery heart of youth.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">What sought they thus afar?<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Bright jewels of the mine?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The wealth of seas, the spoils of war?&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">They sought a faith's pure shrine!<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Ay! call it holy ground,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">The soil where first they trod:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">They have left unstained what there they found,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Freedom to worship God.<br /></span>
+<div class="signature2">&mdash;<i>Felicia Hemans.</i></div>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Patriots have toiled, and in their country's cause<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Bled nobly; and their deeds, as they deserve<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Receive proud recompense. We give in charge<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Their names to the sweet lyre. The historic Muse,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Proud of the treasure, marches with it down<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To latest times; and Sculpture, in her turn,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Gives bond in stone and ever-during brass<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To guard them, and to immortalize her trust.<br /></span>
+<div class="signature2">&mdash;<i>William Cowper.</i></div>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span></p>
+<h2>THE ROBIN.</h2>
+
+<p>The robin is perhaps the best known of all our birds.
+The name is so prominent in children's stories, in folklore,
+in poetry, and in general literature, that even town
+children who have never seen the bird know it by name;
+but to many grown people, even those who have lived all
+their lives in the country, the robin is not familiar as a
+winter bird. It is known to come and go, it is true, but
+is supposed to be merely in transit, and just where the
+observer happens to be is not its abiding place. This
+impression is due to lack of observation, for the birds are
+as well disposed towards your thicket and cedar trees as
+those of some far-off neighbor.</p>
+
+<p>This crystal-clear, cold January day, with the mercury
+almost at zero, I found the robins on the south hillside,
+and seldom have they shown to better advantage. One
+was perched in a sapling beech to which the leaves still
+clung. It chirped at times so that its companions could
+hear it, and was answered by them, as well as by the nuthatches,
+a tree creeper, some sparrows, and a winter wren.</p>
+
+<p>It was a cozy, warm spot wherein these birds had
+gathered, which, strangely enough, was filled with music
+even when every bird was mute. This robin was half
+concealed among the crisp beech leaves, and these&mdash;not
+the birds about them&mdash;were singing. The breeze caused
+them to tremble violently, and their thin edges were as
+harp strings, the wiry sound produced being smoothed by
+the crisp rattling caused by the leaves' rapid contact with
+each other.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span>
+    It was much like the click of butterflies' wings, but
+greatly exaggerated. A simple sound, but a sweet,
+wholesome one that made me think less of the winter's
+rigor and recalled the recent warm autumnal days. They
+were singing leaves, and the robin watched them closely
+as he stood near by, and chirped at times, as if to encourage
+them. Altogether it made a pretty picture, one of
+those that human skill has not yet transferred to a printed
+page; and our winter sunshine is full of just such beauty.</p>
+
+<p>How incomprehensible it is that any one should speak
+of the <i>few</i> robins that venture to remain! Flocks of a
+hundred or more are not uncommon in the depth of
+winter, and this recalls the fact that at this time of year
+robins are never alone. It may appear so for a time, but
+when the bird you are watching is ready to move on, his
+call will be answered by others that you have not seen,
+and half a dozen at least will fly off to new scenes.</p>
+
+<p>This is often noticed on a much larger scale when we
+flush robins in a field. They are generally widely scattered,
+and, go where you will, there will be one or two
+hopping before you; but when one takes alarm, the
+danger cry is heard by all, and a great flock will gather
+in the air in an incredibly short time.</p>
+
+<p>Robins are not lovers of frozen ground; they know
+where the earth resists frost, down in the marshy meadows,
+and there they congregate in the dreary midwinter afternoons,
+after spending the morning feeding upon berries.
+I have seen them picking those of the cedar, poison ivy,
+green brier, and even the seedy, withered fruit of the
+poke; but at times this question of food supply must
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span>
+be a difficult problem to solve, and then they leave us
+for a while, until pleasanter weather prevails, when they
+venture back.</p>
+
+<p>In April, when the chill of winter is no longer in its
+bones, the robin becomes prominent, and the more so
+because of the noise it makes. It sings fairly well, and
+early in the morning there is a world of suggestiveness
+in the ringing notes. The song is loud, declamatory, and
+acceptable more for the pleasant thoughts it occasions
+than for the actual melody. We are always glad to hear
+the robins, but never for the same reason that we listen
+to a wood thrush. Of course there are exceptions.</p>
+
+<p>With the close of the nesting season&mdash;and this extends
+well into the summer&mdash;much of the attractiveness
+of the bird disappears. As individual members of great
+loose flocks that fret the upper air with an incessant
+chirping, they offer little to entertain us even when the
+less hardy minstrels of the summer have sought their
+southern homes.</p>
+
+<p>It is true that they add something to the picture of a
+dreamy October afternoon when the mellow sunlight tips
+the wilted grasses with dull gold. They restore for the
+time the summertide activity of the meadows when with
+golden-winged woodpeckers they chase the crickets in the
+close-cropped pastures, but they are soon forgotten if a
+song sparrow sings or a wary hawk screams among the
+clouds. Robins are always welcome, but never more so
+than when they chatter, on an April morning, of the near
+future with its buds and blossoms.</p>
+
+<div class="signature">&mdash;<i>From "Bird-Land Echoes," by Charles Conrad Abbott.</i></div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span></p>
+<h2>THE MOTIONS OF BIRDS.</h2>
+
+<p>A good ornithologist should be able to distinguish birds
+by their air as well as by their colors and shape, on the
+wing as well as on the ground; and in the bush as well
+as in the hand. For though it must not be said that
+every species of bird has a manner peculiar to itself, yet
+there is somewhat in most <i>genera</i>, at least, that at first
+sight discriminates them, and enables a judicious observer
+to pronounce upon them with some certainty.</p>
+
+<p>Thus kites and buzzards sail round in circles with
+wings expanded and motionless; and it is from their gliding
+manner that the former are still called in the north of
+England gleads, from the Saxon verb <i>glidan</i>, to glide.
+Hen harriers fly low over the meadows or fields of corn,
+and beat the ground regularly like a pointer or setting
+dog. Owls move in a buoyant manner, as if lighter than
+the air; they seem to want ballast.</p>
+
+<p>There is a peculiarity belonging to ravens that must
+draw the attention even of the most incurious&mdash;they
+spend all their leisure time in striking and cuffing each
+other on the wing in a kind of playful skirmish; and,
+when they move from one place to another, frequently
+turn on their backs with a loud croak, and seem to be
+falling to the ground. When this odd gesture betides
+them, they are scratching themselves with one foot, and
+thus lose the center of gravity. Rooks sometimes dive
+and tumble in a frolicsome manner; crows and daws
+swagger in their walk; woodpeckers fly with a wavy
+motion, opening and closing their wings at every stroke,
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span>
+and so are always rising or falling in curves. All of this
+genus use their tails, which incline downward, as a support
+while they run up trees. Parrots, like all other
+hooked-clawed birds, walk awkwardly, and make use of
+their bill as a third foot, climbing and descending with
+ridiculous caution.</p>
+
+<p>All the gallin� parade and walk gracefully, and run
+nimbly, but fly with difficulty, with an impetuous whirring,
+and in a straight line. Magpies and jays flutter
+with powerless wings, and make no dispatch; herons
+seem encumbered with too much sail for their light
+bodies, but these vast hollow wings are necessary in
+carrying burdens, such as large fishes, and the like;
+pigeons, and particularly the sort called smiters, have a
+way of clashing their wings, the one against the other,
+over their backs with a loud snap; another variety, called
+tumblers, turn themselves over in the air.</p>
+
+<p>The kingfisher darts along like an arrow; fern owls,
+or goatsuckers, glance in the dusk over the tops of trees
+like a meteor; swallows sweep over the surface of the
+ground and water, and distinguish themselves by rapid
+turns and quick evolutions; swifts dash round in circles;
+and the bank martin moves with frequent vacillations like
+a butterfly.</p>
+
+<p>Most small birds hop; but wagtails and larks walk, moving
+their legs alternately. All the duck kind waddle;
+divers and auks walk as if fettered, and stand erect, on
+their tails. Geese and cranes, and most wild fowls, move
+in figured flights, often changing their position.</p>
+
+<div class="signature">&mdash;<i>From "The Natural History of Selbourne," by Gilbert White.</i></div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span></p>
+<h2>THE ORIGIN OF RIVERS.</h2>
+
+<p>Let us trace a river to its source. Beginning where it
+empties itself into the sea, and following it backwards,
+we find it from time to time joined by tributaries which
+swell its waters. The river of course becomes smaller as
+these tributaries are passed. It shrinks first to a brook,
+then to a stream; this again divides
+itself into a number of smaller streamlets,
+ending in mere threads of water.
+These constitute the source of
+the river, and are usually found
+among hills.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 200px;">
+    <a name="p0202-illus.jpg" id="p0202-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p0202-illus.jpg" width="200" height="249" alt="Author's portrait" title="" />
+ <p class="caption2">John Tyndall.</p>
+</div>
+<p>Thus, the Severn has its source
+in the Welsh mountains; the
+Thames in the Cotswold Hills;
+the Missouri in the Rocky Mountains;
+and the Amazon in the
+Andes of Peru.</p>
+
+<p>But it is quite plain that we have
+not yet reached the real beginning
+of the rivers. Whence do the earliest streams derive
+their water? A brief residence among the mountains
+would prove to you that they are fed by rains. In dry
+weather you would find the streams feeble, sometimes,
+indeed, quite dried up. In wet weather you would see
+them foaming torrents. In general these streams lose
+themselves as little threads of water upon the hillsides;
+but sometimes you may trace a river to a definite spring.
+But you very soon assure yourself that such springs are
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span>
+also fed by rain, which has percolated through the rocks
+or soil, and which, through some orifice that it has found
+or formed, comes to the light of day.</p>
+
+<p>But we can not end here. Whence comes the rain that
+forms the mountain streams? Observation enables you
+to answer the question. Rain does not come from a clear
+sky. It comes from clouds.</p>
+
+<p>But what are clouds? Is there nothing you are acquainted
+with which they resemble? You discover at
+once a likeness between them and the condensed steam
+of a locomotive. At every puff of the engine a cloud is
+projected into the air.</p>
+
+<p>Watch the cloud sharply. You notice that it first
+forms at a little distance from the top of the funnel.
+Give close attention and you will sometimes see a perfectly
+clear space between the funnel and the cloud.
+Through that clear space the thing which makes the
+cloud must pass. What then is this thing which at one
+moment is transparent and invisible, and at the next
+moment visible as a dense opaque cloud?</p>
+
+<p>It is the <i>steam</i> or <i>vapor of water</i> from the boiler.
+Within the boiler this steam is transparent and invisible;
+but to keep it in this invisible state a heat would be
+required as great as that within the boiler. When the
+vapor mingles with the cold air above the hot funnel, it
+ceases to be vapor. Every bit of steam shrinks, when
+chilled, to a much more minute particle of water. The
+liquid particles thus produced form a kind of <i>water dust</i>
+of exceeding fineness, which floats in the air, and is called
+a <i>cloud</i>.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span>
+    Watch the cloud banner from the funnel of a running
+locomotive: you see it growing gradually less dense. It
+finally melts away altogether, and, if you continue your
+observations, you will not fail to notice that the speed of
+its disappearance depends on the character of the day.
+In moist weather the cloud hangs long and lazily in the
+air; in dry weather it is rapidly licked up. What has
+become of it? It has been reconverted into true invisible
+vapor. The <i>drier</i> the air, and the <i>hotter</i> the air, the
+greater is the amount of cloud which can be thus dissolved
+in it.</p>
+
+<p>Make the lid of a kettle air-tight, and permit the steam
+to issue from the spout; a cloud is formed in all respects
+similar to that which issues from the funnel of the locomotive.
+To produce the cloud, in the case of the locomotive
+and the kettle, <i>heat</i> is necessary. By heating the
+water we first convert it into steam, and then by chilling
+the steam we convert it into cloud. Is there any fire in
+nature which produces the clouds of our atmosphere?
+There is&mdash;the fire of the sun.</p>
+
+<p>By tracing the course of a river, we find that both
+its beginning and its ending are in the sea. All its water
+is derived from the sea, and to the sea it returns its
+floods. But if we seek for its causes, we find that its
+beginning and its ending are in the sun. For it is the
+fire of the sun that produces the clouds from which the
+water of the river is derived, and it is the same fire of
+the sun that dries up its stream.</p>
+
+<div class="signature">&mdash;<i>Adapted from "Forms of Water in Clouds and Rivers,"
+by John Tyndall.</i></div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span></p>
+<h2>ADDRESS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN</h2>
+
+<h3>AT THE DEDICATION OF GETTYSBURG CEMETERY, THE 19TH<br />
+OF NOVEMBER, 1863.</h3>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 200px;">
+    <a name="p0205-illus.jpg" id="p0205-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p0205-illus.jpg" width="200" height="203" alt="Author's portrait" title="" />
+ <p class="caption2">Abraham Lincoln.</p>
+</div>
+<p>Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought
+forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty,
+and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created
+equal. Now we are engaged in a
+great civil war, testing whether that
+nation, or any nation so conceived
+and so dedicated, can long endure.
+We are met on a great
+battlefield of the war. We
+have come to dedicate a portion
+of that field as a final
+resting place for those who
+here gave their lives that
+their nation might live. It
+is altogether fitting and proper
+that we should do this.</p>
+
+<p>But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate, we can not
+consecrate, we can not hallow this ground. The brave
+men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated
+it far above our power to add or detract. The world
+will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but
+it can never forget what they did here. It is for us, the
+living, rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work
+which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.
+It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the
+great task remaining before us&mdash;that from these honored
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span>
+dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which
+they gave the last full measure of devotion&mdash;that we here
+highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain&mdash;that
+this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of
+freedom&mdash;and that government of the people, by the people,
+for the people, shall not perish from the earth.</p>
+
+
+<hr />
+<h2>THE AMERICAN FLAG.</h2>
+
+<div class="figleft2" style="width: 200px;">
+    <a name="p0206-illus.jpg" id="p0206-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p0206-illus.jpg" width="200" height="202" alt="Author's portrait" title="" />
+ <p class="caption2">Joseph Rodman Drake.</p>
+</div>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">When Freedom, from her mountain height,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Unfurled her standard to the air,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">She tore the azure robe of night,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And set the stars of glory there;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">She mingled with its gorgeous dyes<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The milky baldric of the skies,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And striped its pure, celestial white<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With streakings of the morning light;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Then from his mansion in the sun<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">She called her eagle bearer down,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And gave into his mighty hand<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The symbol of her chosen land.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Flag of the brave! thy folds shall fly,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The sign of hope and triumph high!<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span>
+    <span class="i0">When speaks the signal trumpet tone,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And the long line comes gleaming on<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">(Ere yet the life blood, warm and wet,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Has dimmed the glistening bayonet),<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Each soldier's eye shall brightly turn<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To where thy sky-born glories burn,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And as his springing steps advance,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Catch war and vengeance from thy glance.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And when the cannon mouthings loud<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Heave in wild wreaths the battle shroud,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And gory sabers rise and fall,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Like shoots of flame on midnight's pall,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Then shall thy meteor glances glow,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And cowering foes shall sink beneath<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Each gallant arm that strikes below<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">That lovely messenger of death.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Flag of the seas! on ocean's wave<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Thy stars shall glitter o'er the brave;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">When death, careering on the gale,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Sweeps darkly round the bellied sail,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And frighted waves rush wildly back<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Before the broadside's reeling rack,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Each dying wanderer of the sea<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Shall look at once to heaven and thee,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And smile to see thy splendors fly<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In triumph o'er his closing eye.<br /></span>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Flag of the free heart's hope and home,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">By angel hands to valor given,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Thy stars have lit the welkin dome,<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span>
+    <span class="i1">And all thy hues were born in heaven.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Forever float that standard sheet!<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Where breathes the foe, but falls before us,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With Freedom's soil beneath our feet,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And Freedom's banner streaming o'er us!<br /></span>
+<div class="signature2">&mdash;<i>Joseph Rodman Drake.</i></div>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<h2>THE LAST FIGHT IN THE COLISEUM,<br />
+A.D. 404.</h2>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 200px;">
+    <a name="p0208-illus.jpg" id="p0208-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p0208-illus.jpg" width="200" height="206" alt="Author's portrait" title="" />
+ <p class="caption2">Charlotte M. Yonge.</p>
+</div>
+<p>The grandest and most renowned of all ancient amphitheaters
+is the Coliseum at Rome. It was built by
+Vespasian and his son Titus, the conquerors of Jerusalem,
+in a valley in the midst of the seven
+hills of Rome. The captive Jews
+were forced to labor at it; and the
+materials&mdash;granite outside, and a
+softer stone within&mdash;are so
+solid, and so admirably put
+together, that still, at the end
+of eighteen centuries, it has
+scarcely even become a ruin,
+but remains one of the greatest
+wonders of Rome. Five acres of
+ground were inclosed within the
+oval of its outer wall, which outside
+rises perpendicularly in tiers of arches one above another.
+Within, the galleries of seats projected forwards, each
+tier coming out far beyond the one above it; so that
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span>
+between the lowest and the outer wall there was room
+for a great variety of chambers, passages, and vaults
+around the central space, called the arena.</p>
+
+<p>Altogether, when full, this huge building held no fewer
+than 87,000 spectators! It had no roof; but when there
+was rain, or if the sun was too hot, the sailors in the
+porticoes unfurled awnings that ran along upon ropes, and
+formed a covering of silk and gold tissue over the whole.
+Purple was the favorite color for this veil, because,
+when the sun shone through it, it cast such beautiful rosy
+tints on the snowy arena and the white purple-edged togas
+of the Roman citizens.</p>
+
+<p>When the emperor had seated himself and given the
+signal, the sports began. Sometimes a rope dancing elephant
+would begin the entertainment, by mounting even
+to the summit of the building and descending by a cord.
+Or a lion came forth with a jeweled crown on his head, a
+diamond necklace round his neck, his mane plaited with
+gold, and his claws gilded, and played a hundred pretty
+gentle antics with a little hare that danced fearlessly
+within his grasp.</p>
+
+<p>Sometimes water was let into the arena, a ship sailed
+in, and falling to pieces in the midst, sent a crowd of
+strange animals swimming in all directions. Sometimes
+the ground opened, and trees came growing up through
+it, bearing golden fruit. Or the beautiful old tale of
+Orpheus was acted: these trees would follow the harp
+and song of a musician; but&mdash;to make the whole part
+complete&mdash;it was no mere play, but in real earnest, that
+the Orpheus of the piece fell a prey to live bears.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span>
+    For the Coliseum had not been built for such harmless
+spectacles as those first described. The fierce Romans
+wanted to be excited and to feel themselves strongly
+stirred; and, presently, the doors of the pits and dens
+around the arena were thrown open, and absolutely savage
+beasts were let loose upon one another&mdash;rhinoceroses
+and tigers, bulls and lions, leopards and wild boars&mdash;while
+the people watched with ferocious curiosity to see
+the various kinds of attack and defense, their ears at the
+same time being delighted, instead of horror-struck, by
+the roars and howls of the noble creatures whose
+courage was thus misused.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 200px;">
+    <a name="p0210-illus.jpg" id="p0210-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p0210-illus.jpg" width="200" height="119" alt="A Roman ruin" title="" />
+ <p class="caption2">The Coliseum at the Present Day.</p>
+</div>
+<p>Wild beasts tearing each
+other to pieces might, one
+would think, satisfy any
+taste for horror; but the
+spectators needed even
+nobler game to be set
+before their favorite monsters:&mdash;men
+were brought
+forward to confront them. Some of these were, at first,
+in full armor, and fought hard, generally with success.
+Or hunters came, almost unarmed, and gained the victory
+by swiftness and dexterity, throwing a piece of cloth
+over a lion's head, or disconcerting him by putting their
+fist down his throat. But it was not only skill, but
+death, that the Romans loved to see; and condemned
+criminals and deserters were reserved to feast the lions,
+and to entertain the populace with their various kinds of
+death. Among those condemned was many a Christian
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]<br />[Pg 212]</a></span>
+martyr, who witnessed a good confession before the savage-eyed
+multitude around the arena, and "met the lion's gory
+mane" with a calm resolution and a hopeful joy that the
+lookers-on could not understand. To see a Christian die,
+with upward gaze, and hymns of joy on his tongue, was
+the most strange and unaccountable sight the Coliseum
+could offer; and it was therefore the choicest, and reserved
+for the last of the spectacles in which the brute creation
+had a part.</p>
+
+<p>The carcasses were dragged off with hooks, the bloodstained
+sand was covered with a fresh green layer, perfume
+was wafted in stronger clouds, and a procession
+come forward&mdash;tall, well-made men, in the prime of their
+strength. Some carried a sword and a lasso, others a
+trident and a net; some were in light armor, others in
+the full, heavy equipment of a soldier; some on horseback,
+some in chariots, some on foot. They marched in,
+and made their obeisance to the emperor; and with one
+voice their greeting sounded through the building: "Hail,
+C�sar; those about to die salute thee!" They were the
+gladiators&mdash;the swordsmen trained to fight to the death
+to amuse the populace.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+    <a name="p0212-illus.jpg" id="p0212-illus.jpg"></a>
+    <img src="images/p0212-illus.jpg" width="500" height="286" alt="Victims in the arena" title="" />
+ <p class="caption2">From the Painting by J. L. Gerome.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Engraved by Henry Wolf.<br />
+                     The Last Prayer&mdash;Christian Martyrs in the Coliseum.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>Fights of all sorts took place,&mdash;the light-armed soldier
+and the netsman&mdash;the lasso and the javelin&mdash;the two
+heavy-armed warriors,&mdash;all combinations of single combat,
+and sometimes a general m�l�e. When a gladiator
+wounded his adversary, he shouted to the spectators, "He
+has it!" and looked up to know whether he should kill
+or spare. When the people held up their thumbs, the
+conquered was left to recover, if he could; if they turned
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span>
+them down, he was to die; and if he showed any reluctance
+to present his throat for the deathblow, there was a scornful
+shout, "Receive the steel!"</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">"I see before me the gladiator lie:<br /></span>
+<span class="i3">He leans upon his hand; his manly brow<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Consents to death, but conquers agony;<br /></span>
+<span class="i3">And his drooped head sinks gradually low;<br /></span>
+<span class="i3">And through his side the last drops, ebbing slow<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">From the red gash, fall heavy, one by one,<br /></span>
+<span class="i3">Like the first of a thunder-shower; and now<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The arena swims around him&mdash;he is gone,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Ere ceased the inhuman shout which hailed the wretch who won."<br /></span>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<p>Christianity, however, worked its way upwards, and at
+last was professed by the emperor on his throne. Persecution
+came to an end, and no more martyrs fed the
+beasts in the Coliseum. The Christian emperors endeavored
+to prevent any more shows where cruelty and death
+formed the chief interest, and no truly religious person
+could endure the spectacle; but custom and love of excitement
+prevailed even against the emperor. They
+went on for fully a hundred years after Rome had, in
+name, become a Christian city.</p>
+
+<p>Meantime the enemies of Rome were coming nearer
+and nearer. Alaric, the great chief of the Goths, led his
+forces into Italy, and threatened the city itself. Honorius,
+the emperor, was a cowardly, almost idiotic boy;
+but his brave general, Stilicho, assembled his forces, met
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span>
+the Goths, and gave them a complete defeat, on Easter
+day of the year 403. He pursued them to the mountains,
+and for that time saved Rome.</p>
+
+<p>In the joy of victory, the Roman Senate invited the
+conqueror and his ward Honorius to enter the city in
+triumph, at the opening of the new year, with the white
+steeds, purple robes, and vermilion cheeks with which, of
+old, victorious generals were welcomed at Rome. The
+churches were visited instead of the Temple of Jupiter,
+and there was no murder of the captives; but Roman
+bloodthirstiness was not yet allayed, and, after the procession
+had been completed, the Coliseum shows commenced,
+innocently at first, with races on foot, on horseback,
+and in chariots; then followed a grand hunt of
+beasts turned loose in the arena; and next a sword dance.
+But after the sword dance came the arraying of swordsmen,
+with no blunted weapons, but with sharp spears and
+swords&mdash;a gladiator combat in full earnest. The people,
+enchanted, applauded with shouts of ecstasy this gratification
+of their savage tastes.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly, however, there was an interruption. A
+rude, roughly robed man, bareheaded and barefooted, had
+sprung into the arena, and, waving back the gladiators,
+began to call aloud upon the people to cease from the
+shedding of innocent blood, and not to requite God's
+mercy, in turning away the sword of the enemy, by encouraging
+murder. Shouts, howls, cries, broke in upon
+his words; this was no place for preachings,&mdash;the old
+customs of Rome should be observed,&mdash;"Back, old man!"&mdash;"On,
+gladiators!"</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span>
+    The gladiators thrust aside the meddler, and rushed to
+the attack. He still stood between, holding them apart,
+striving in vain to be heard. "Sedition! sedition!"&mdash;"Down
+with him!"&mdash;was the cry; and the prefect in
+authority himself added his voice. The gladiators, enraged
+at interference with their vocation, cut him down.
+Stones, or whatever came to hand, rained upon him from
+the furious people, and he perished in the midst of the
+arena! He lay dead; and then the people began to
+reflect upon what had been done.</p>
+
+<p>His dress showed that he was one of the hermits who
+had vowed themselves to a life of prayer and self-denial,
+and who were greatly reverenced, even by the most
+thoughtless. The few who had previously seen him,
+told that he had come from the wilds of Asia on a pilgrimage,
+to visit the shrines and keep his Christmas at
+Rome. They knew that he was a holy man&mdash;no more.
+But his spirit had been stirred by the sight of thousands
+flocking to see men slaughter one another, and in his simple-hearted
+zeal he had resolved to stop the cruelty, or die.</p>
+
+<p>He had died, but not in vain. His work was done.
+The shock of such a death before their eyes turned the
+hearts of the people; they saw the wickedness and
+cruelty to which they had blindly surrendered themselves;
+and since the day when the hermit died in the
+Coliseum, there has never been another fight of gladiators.
+The custom was utterly abolished; and one habitual
+crime at least was wiped from the earth by the self-devotion
+of one humble, obscure, and nameless man.</p>
+
+<div class="signature">&mdash;<i>From "A Book of Golden Deeds," by Charlotte Yonge.</i></div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span></p>
+<h2>THE PASSING OF ARTHUR.</h2>
+
+<p>The reader has already become somewhat acquainted with
+the marvelous history of King Arthur, and has read about the
+poems and romances by which the memory of his life and
+exploits have been preserved. He has also read the mythical
+account of the King's last hours on earth as recorded in the
+quaint old romance written by Sir Thomas Malory. Here he
+may read another rendering of the same story, written in
+grand and beautiful poetic form by Alfred Tennyson. In
+the "Idylls of the King," Lord Tennyson has given us a
+complete history of Arthur and of the brave knights and fair
+ladies who lived at his court. These poems are among the
+noblest ever written in our language. Turn now to the last
+story in "School Reading by Grades&mdash;Fifth Year," and compare
+each passage in that brief narrative with its corresponding
+passage in the following poem.</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<span class="i1">So all day long the noise of battle roll'd<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Among the mountains by the winter sea;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Until King Arthur's Table, man by man,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Had fall'n in Lyonesse about their lord,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">King Arthur. Then, because his wound was deep,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The bold Sir Bedivere uplifted him,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Sir Bedivere, the last of all his knights,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And bore him to a chapel nigh the field,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A broken chancel with a broken cross,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That stood on a dark strait of barren land.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">On one side lay the Ocean, and on one<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Lay a great water, and the moon was full.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Then spake King Arthur to Sir Bedivere:<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span>
+    <span class="i0">"The sequel of to-day unsolders all<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The goodliest fellowship of famous knights<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Whereof this world holds record. Such a sleep<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">They sleep&mdash;the men I loved. I think that we<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Shall never more, at any future time,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Delight our souls with talk of knightly deeds,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Walking about the gardens and the halls<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of Camelot, as in the days that were.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">I perish by this people which I made,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Tho' Merlin sware that I should come again<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To rule once more; but let what will be, be,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">I am so deeply smitten thro' the helm<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That without help I can not last till morn.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Thou therefore take my brand Excalibur,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Which was my pride: for thou rememberest how<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In those old days, one summer noon, an arm<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Rose up from out the bosom of the lake,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Clothed in white samite, mystic, wonderful,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Holding the sword&mdash;and how I row'd across<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And took it, and have worn it, like a king:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And, wheresoever I am sung or told<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In after time, this also shall be known:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But now delay not: take Excalibur,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And fling him far into the middle mere;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Watch what thou se�st and lightly bring me word."<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">To him replied the bold Sir Bedivere:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"It is not meet, Sir King, to leave thee thus,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Aidless, alone, and smitten thro' the helm.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A little thing may harm a wounded man.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Yet I thy hest will all perform at full,<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span>
+    <span class="i0">Watch what I see, and lightly bring thee word."<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">So saying, from the ruin'd shrine he stept,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And in the moon athwart the place of tombs,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Where lay the mighty bones of ancient men,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Old knights, and over them the sea wind sang<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Shrill, chill, with flakes of foam. He, stepping down<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">By zigzag paths, and juts of pointed rock,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Came on the shining levels of the lake.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">There drew he forth the brand Excalibur,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And o'er him, drawing it, the winter moon,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Brightening the skirts of a long cloud, ran forth<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And sparkled keen with frost against the hilt:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For all the haft twinkled with diamond sparks,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Myriads of topaz lights, and jacinth work<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of subtlest jewelry. He gazed so long<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That both his eyes were dazzled, as he stood,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">This way and that dividing the swift mind,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In act to throw: but at the last it seem'd<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Better to leave Excalibur conceal'd<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">There in the many-knotted waterflags,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That whistled stiff and dry about the marge.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">So strode he back slow to the wounded King.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Then spake King Arthur to Sir Bedivere:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"Hast thou perform'd my mission which I gave?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">What is it thou hast seen? or what hast heard?"<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And answer made the bold Sir Bedivere:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"I heard the ripple washing in the reeds,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And the wild water lapping on the crag."<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">To whom replied King Arthur, faint and pale:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"Thou hast betray'd thy nature and thy name,<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span>
+    <span class="i0">Not rendering true answer, as beseem'd<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Thy f�alty, nor like a noble knight:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For surer sign had follow'd, either hand,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Or voice, or else a motion of the mere.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">This is a shameful thing for men to lie.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Yet now I charge thee, quickly go again,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">As thou art lief and dear, and do the thing<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">I bade thee, watch, and lightly bring me word."<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Then went Sir Bedivere the second time<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Across the ridge, and paced beside the mere,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Counting the dewy pebbles, fix'd in thought;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But when he saw the wonder of the hilt,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">How curiously and strangely chased, he smote<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">His palms together, and he cried aloud:<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">"And if indeed I cast the brand away,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Surely a precious thing, one worthy note,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Should thus be lost for ever from the earth,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Which might have pleased the eyes of many men.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">What good should follow this, if this were done?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">What harm, undone? deep harm to disobey,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Seeing obedience is the bond of rule.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Were it well to obey then, if a king demand<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">An act unprofitable, against himself?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The King is sick, and knows not what he does.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">What record, or what relic of my lord<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Should be to after time, but empty breath<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And rumors of a doubt? but were this kept,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Stored in some treasure-house of mighty kings,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Some one might show it at a joust of arms,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Saying, 'King Arthur's sword, Excalibur,<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span>
+    <span class="i0">Wrought by the lonely maiden of the Lake.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Nine years she wrought it, sitting in the deeps<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Upon the hidden bases of the hills.'<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">So might some old man speak in the after time<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To all the people, winning reverence.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But now much honor and much fame were lost."<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">So spake he, clouded with his own conceit,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And hid Excalibur the second time,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And so strode back slow to the wounded King.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Then spoke King Arthur, breathing heavily:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"What is it thou hast seen? or what hast heard?"<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And answer made the bold Sir Bedivere:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"I heard the water lapping on the crag,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And the long ripple washing in the reeds."<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">To whom replied King Arthur, much in wrath:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"Ah, miserable and unkind, untrue,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Unknightly, traitor-hearted! Woe is me!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Authority forgets a dying king,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Laid widow'd of the power in his eye<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That bow'd the will. I see thee what thou art,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For thou, the latest-left of all my knights,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In whom should meet the offices of all,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Thou wouldst betray me for the precious hilt;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Either from lust of gold, or like a girl<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Valuing the giddy pleasure of the eyes.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Yet, for a man may fail in duty twice,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And the third time may prosper, get thee hence:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But, if thou spare to fling Excalibur,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">I will arise and slay thee with my hands."<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Then quickly rose Sir Bedivere, and ran,<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span>
+    <span class="i0">And, leaping down the ridges lightly, plunged<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Among the bulrush beds, and clutch'd the sword,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And strongly wheel'd and threw it. The great brand<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Made lightnings in the splendor of the moon,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And flashing round and round, and whirl'd in an arch,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Shot like a streamer of the northern morn,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Seen where the moving isles of winter shock<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">By night, with noises of the Northern Sea.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">So flash'd and fell the brand Excalibur:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But ere he dipt the surface, rose an arm<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Clothed in white samite, mystic, wonderful,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And caught him by the hilt, and brandish'd him<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Three times, and drew him under in the mere.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And lightly went the other to the King.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Then spoke King Arthur, drawing thicker breath:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"Now see I by thine eyes that this is done.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Speak out: what is it thou hast heard, or seen?"<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And answer made the bold Sir Bedivere:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"Sir King, I closed mine eyelids, lest the gems<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Should blind my purpose, for I never saw,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Nor shall see, here or elsewhere, till I die,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Not tho' I live three lives of mortal men,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">So great a miracle as yonder hilt.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Then with both hands I flung him, wheeling him;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But when I look'd again, behold an arm,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Clothed in white samite, mystic, wonderful,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That caught him by the hilt, and brandish'd him<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Three times and drew him under in the mere."<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And answer made King Arthur, breathing hard:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"My end draws nigh; 'tis time that I were gone.<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span>
+    <span class="i0">Make broad thy shoulders to receive my weight,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And bear me to the margin; yet I fear<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">My wound hath taken cold, and I shall die."<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">So saying, from the pavement he half rose,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Slowly, with pain, reclining on his arm,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And looking wistfully with wide blue eyes<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">As in a picture. Him Sir Bedivere<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Remorsefully regarded thro' his tears,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And would have spoken, but he found not words;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Then took with care, and kneeling on one knee,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">O'er both his shoulders drew the languid hands,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And rising bore him thro' the place of tombs.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">But, as he walk'd, King Arthur panted hard,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Like one that feels a nightmare on his bed<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">When all the house is mute. So sigh'd the King,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Muttering and murmuring at his ear, "Quick, quick!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">I fear it is too late, and I shall die."<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But the other swiftly strode from ridge to ridge,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Clothed with his breath, and looking as he walk'd,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Larger than human on the frozen hills.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">He heard the deep behind him, and a cry<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Before. His own thought drove him, like a goad.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Dry clash'd his harness in the icy caves<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And barren chasms, and all to left and right<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The bare black cliff clang'd round him, as he based<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">His feet on jets of slippery crag that rang<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Sharp-smitten with the dint of armed heels&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And on a sudden, lo! the level lake,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And the long glories of the winter moon.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Then saw they how there hove a dusky barge,<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span>
+    <span class="i0">Dark as a funeral scarf from stem to stern,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Beneath them; and descending they were ware<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That all the decks were dense with stately forms<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Black-stoled, black-hooded, like a dream&mdash;by these<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Three Queens with crowns of gold&mdash;and from them rose<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A cry that shiver'd to the tingling stars,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And, as it were one voice, an agony<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of lamentation, like a wind, that shrills<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">All night in a waste land, where no one comes,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Or hath come, since the making of the world.<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Then murmur'd Arthur, "Place me in the barge."<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">So to the barge they came. There those three Queens<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Put forth their hands, and took the King, and wept....<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Then loudly cried the bold Sir Bedivere:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"Ah! my Lord Arthur, whither shall I go?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Where shall I hide my forehead and my eyes?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For now I see the true old times are dead,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">When every morning brought a noble chance,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And every chance brought out a noble knight....<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But now the whole Round Table is dissolved<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Which was an image of the mighty world,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And I, the last, go forth companionless,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And the days darken round me, and the years,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Among new men, strange faces, other minds."<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And slowly answered Arthur from the barge:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"The old order changeth, yielding place to new,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And God fulfills himself in many ways,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Lest one good custom should corrupt the world.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Comfort thyself; what comfort is in me?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">I have lived my life, and that which I have done<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span>
+    <span class="i0">May He within himself make pure! but thou,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">If thou shouldst never see my face again,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Pray for my soul. More things are wrought by prayer<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Than this world dreams of. Wherefore, let thy voice<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Rise like a fountain for me night and day.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For what are men better than sheep or goats<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That nourish a blind life within the brain,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Both for themselves and those who call them friends?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For so the whole round earth is every way<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Bound by gold chains about the feet of God.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But now farewell. I am going a long way<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With these thou se�st&mdash;if indeed I go<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">(For all my mind is clouded with a doubt)&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To the island-valley of Avilion<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Where falls not hail, or rain, or any snow,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Nor ever wind blows loudly; but it lies<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Deep-meadow'd, happy, fair with orchard lawns<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And bowery hollows crown'd with summer sea,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Where I will heal me of my grievous wound."<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">So said he, and the barge with oar and sail<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Moved from the brink, like some full-breasted swan<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That, fluting a wild carol ere her death,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Ruffles her pure cold plume, and takes the flood<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With swarthy webs. Long stood Sir Bedivere<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Revolving many memories, till the hull<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Look'd one black dot against the verge of dawn,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And on the mere the wailing died away.<br /></span>
+<div class="signature2">&mdash;<i>From "The Idylls of the King," by Alfred Tennyson.</i></div>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span></p>
+<h2>FOR STUDY AND REFERENCE.</h2>
+
+<hr class="hr2" />
+<h3>PRINCIPLES OF GOOD READING.</h3>
+
+<p>To become a good reader, patient and long-continued practice
+is necessary. We learn to read by much reading and
+never by the study of formal rules. Nevertheless, a knowledge
+of the following general principles and definitions may
+be of some value in assisting the learner to acquire correct
+habits in the practice of oral reading.</p>
+
+
+<h4><span class="smcap">Pronunciation.</span></h4>
+
+<p>Under this term are included Articulation, Syllabication,
+and Accent.</p>
+
+<p>Correct articulation requires that each letter, syllable, and
+word should be clearly and properly pronounced. Incorrect
+articulation is the result either of careless habits or of natural
+defects. In either case, it may be largely overcome by persistent
+and careful drill in the pronunciation of those words
+in which the greatest difficulty is experienced. Conversation,
+declamation, calisthenics, singing, and similar exercises should
+be engaged in, in order to assist in overcoming habits of
+timidity or diffidence, and to give increased power and flexibility
+to the vocal organs.</p>
+
+<p>Syllabication and accent are learned by careful observation
+and by reference, in all cases of doubt, to some standard
+dictionary.</p>
+
+
+<h4><span class="smcap">Expression.</span></h4>
+
+<p>Correct expression in reading has reference to tone of voice,
+inflection, pitch, emphasis, all of which are included under
+modulation.</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span></p>
+<h4><span class="smcap">Tone.</span></h4>
+
+<p>Tone, or quality of voice, is the kind of sound employed in
+reading or speaking. A conversational tone is such as is used
+in ordinary conversation for the expression of quiet or unemotional
+thoughts. A full tone of voice is used in the expression
+of high or lofty sentiments, and of feelings of joy, courage, or
+exultation. A middle tone is used in the rendering of expressions
+which while not conversational in character are too unimpassioned
+to require a full tone. A low or subdued tone
+is used in passages where the sense requires a suppression of
+sound. The only rule necessary is this: <i>Study so to regulate
+the tone of voice that it shall always be in harmony with the
+thoughts expressed.</i></p>
+
+
+<h4><span class="smcap">Inflection.</span></h4>
+
+<p>Inflection is the upward or downward movement of the
+voice in speaking or reading. There are two inflections:
+the <i>rising inflection</i>, in which the voice slides upward; and the
+<i>falling inflection</i>, in which the voice slides downward. Sometimes
+there is a union of the two inflections upon a single
+sound or syllable, in order to express surprise, scorn, irony,
+sorrow, or other strong or peculiar emotion. This union of
+inflections is called <i>circumflex</i>. No rule for inflections can be
+given which is not subject to numerous exceptions. The movement
+of the voice, whether upward or downward, is in all cases
+determined by the thought in the sentence. <i>That inflection
+should be used which will assist to convey, in the most natural
+and forcible manner, the meaning intended by the author.</i></p>
+
+
+<h4><span class="smcap">Pitch.</span></h4>
+
+<p>Very closely related to tone and inflection is pitch, by which
+is meant the degree of elevation of the voice. Pitch may be
+<i>middle</i>, <i>high</i>, or <i>low</i>. Middle pitch is that which is used in
+common conversation and in the expression of unemotional
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span>
+thoughts. Light and joyous emotions and lively narration
+require a high pitch. Passages expressing sadness, deep joy,
+dignified serenity of mind, and kindred emotions, require a
+low pitch. Hence, the only rule to be observed is this: <i>Let
+the pitch be always in harmony with the sentiments to be expressed.</i></p>
+
+
+<h4><span class="smcap">Emphasis.</span></h4>
+
+<p>Emphasis is any change of pitch, or variation of the voice,
+which serves to call special attention to an important word,
+syllable, or expression. The only rule that can be given for
+securing correctness of emphasis is: <i>Be natural.</i> Children, in
+ordinary conversation, never make mistakes in emphasis. If
+they are made to understand what they are reading, have not
+been permitted to imitate incorrect models, and are not hampered
+by unnecessary rules, they will read as well as they
+talk. Let reading be but conversation from the book, and not
+only emphasis, but pitch and inflection will require but little
+separate attention, and no special rules.</p>
+
+
+<h4><span class="smcap">Pauses.</span></h4>
+
+<p>Pauses in reading are necessary to make the meaning clear
+or to assist in the proper modulation of the voice and therefore
+in the correct rendering of the sentiments of the author. The
+former are called grammatical pauses, and are indicated by the
+marks of punctuation; the latter are called rhetorical pauses,
+and depend for their correct usage upon the reader's understanding
+of the thoughts which he is endeavoring to render.
+In reading poetry, a slight pause is generally proper at the
+end of each line, and sometimes also at the middle of each
+line. The latter is called the <i>c�sural</i> pause. The object of
+poetic pauses is simply to promote the melody.</p>
+
+
+<hr class="hr2" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span></p>
+<h3>AUTHORS AND BOOKS.</h3>
+
+<p><b>Abbott, Charles Conrad</b>, the author of the essay on "The
+Robin" (page <a href="#Page_197">197</a>), is an American writer and naturalist. He
+was born at Trenton, N. J., in 1843. He is an ardent lover of
+nature, and has written several delightful books on subjects
+relating to popular science and outdoor life. Among these are
+"Birdland Echoes," from which the above-named essay is
+taken; "A Naturalist's Wanderings about Home," and
+"Waste Land Wanderings."</p>
+
+<p><b>Aytoun</b> (&#257;�toon), <b>William Edmonstoune</b>, the author of the
+selection entitled "The Pass of Killiecrankie" (page <a href="#Page_138">138</a>), was
+a Scottish lawyer and poet. Born in Edinburgh, 1813; died,
+1865. He was for many years one of the editors of "Blackwood's
+Magazine." He wrote "Lays of the Scottish Cavaliers,"
+"Ballads of Scotland," and other poems.</p>
+
+<p><b>Blackmore, Richard D.</b>, the author of "Lorna Doone," is an
+English lawyer and novelist. Born in Berkshire, 1825. Besides
+"Lorna Doone," he has written "Alice Lorraine,"
+"Springhaven," "The Maid of Sker," and several other stories.</p>
+
+<p><b>Browning, Mrs. Elizabeth Barrett</b>, the author of "The Romance
+of the Swan's Nest" (page <a href="#Page_98">98</a>), was an English poet.
+Born in Durham, England, 1806. In 1846 she married Robert
+Browning, and during the rest of her life resided chiefly at
+Florence, Italy, where she died in 1861. She wrote "Prometheus
+Bound" (1833), "Aurora Leigh" (1857), and many
+shorter poems.</p>
+
+<p><b>Bryant, William Cullen</b>, the author of "The Death of the
+Flowers" (page <a href="#Page_18">18</a>), was one of the most popular of American
+poets. Born at Cummington, Mass., 1794; died at New York,
+1878. Besides his poems, he wrote translations of Homer's
+"Iliad" and "Odyssey," and was for more than half a century
+one of the editors of "The Evening Post" (New York).</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span>
+    <b>Buckley, Arabella Burton</b>, is an English author and naturalist.
+Born at Brighton, England, 1840. She has written several
+books on scientific subjects for young readers: "The Fairy
+Land of Science," from which our selection is taken (page <a href="#Page_29">29</a>),
+"Winners in Life's Race," and "Life and her Children."</p>
+
+<p><b>Campbell, Thomas</b>: A British poet and critic. Born at Glasgow,
+Scotland, 1777; died, 1844. He wrote "The Pleasures
+of Hope," "Hohenlinden," "Lochiel's Warning," and many
+other well-known poems.</p>
+
+<p>"<b>Cloister and the Hearth, The</b>": An historical romance, by
+Charles Reade, first published in 1861. The scenes are laid
+mostly in Holland and Italy, and the time is the middle of the
+fifteenth century. See page <a href="#Page_153">153</a>.</p>
+
+<p><b>Collier, W. F.</b>, author of the sketch on "Life in Norman
+England" (page <a href="#Page_89">89</a>), is an English historian. He has written
+"The History of the British Empire," "A History of England,"
+and several other similar works.</p>
+
+<p><b>Cowper, William</b>: A celebrated English poet. Born, 1731;
+died, 1800. His principal work was "The Task," from which
+our brief selection (page <a href="#Page_196">196</a>) has been taken. He wrote also
+"John Gilpin," "Tirocinium," and several other poems.</p>
+
+<p>"<b>David Copperfield, The Personal History of</b>": A novel, by
+Charles Dickens, first published in 1849. "Of all my books,"
+says Dickens, "I like this the best." Many scenes in the
+novelist's own life are depicted in this story. The character
+from whom the book took its name is a timid boy reduced to
+desperation by the cruelty of his stepfather, Mr. Murdstone.
+At ten years of age he is sent to a warehouse in London,
+where he was employed in rough work at a small salary. He
+finally runs away, and is protected and adopted by an eccentric
+maiden lady, Miss Betsey Trotwood. He becomes a writer,
+and marries a gentle, innocent little lady, whom he calls his
+"child wife"; she dies, and he afterwards marries a woman of
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span>
+stronger mind, named Agnes Wickfield. The selection which
+we give (page <a href="#Page_121">121</a>) is a fair example of the style which characterizes
+the story.</p>
+
+<p><b>Dickens, Charles</b>: The most popular of English novelists.
+Born, 1812; died, 1870. Wrote "The Pickwick Papers,"
+"Nicholas Nickleby," "Oliver Twist," "David Copperfield,"
+from which our story of "The Shipwreck" (page <a href="#Page_121">121</a>) has been
+taken, and numerous other works of fiction.</p>
+
+<p><b>Drake, Joseph Rodman</b>, author of "The American Flag"
+(page <a href="#Page_206">206</a>), was an American poet. Born at New York, 1795;
+died, 1820. His principal work was "The Culprit Fay,"
+written in 1816.</p>
+
+<p><b>Everett, Edward</b>: An American statesman and orator. Born
+at Boston, Mass., 1794; died, 1865. He was editor of the
+"North American Review," member of Congress, Governor of
+Massachusetts, President of Harvard College, Secretary of
+State in the cabinet of Millard Fillmore, and United States
+Senator from Massachusetts. His orations and speeches fill
+four volumes.</p>
+
+<p><b>Froude, James Anthony</b>: A noted English historian. Born,
+1818; died, 1894. His chief work was a "History of England
+from the Fall of Wolsey to the Defeat of the Spanish
+Armada." He also wrote four volumes of "Short Studies on
+Great Subjects," "C�sar, a Sketch," "Life of Lord Beaconsfield,"
+"Life of Carlyle," etc.</p>
+
+<p><b>Hemans, Mrs. Felicia</b>: An English poet. Born at Liverpool,
+1793; died, 1835. She wrote numerous short poems, which
+were at one time very popular. She is best remembered in
+this country as the author of "The Landing of the Pilgrims"
+(page <a href="#Page_195">195</a>), "Casabianca," and similar pieces.</p>
+
+<p><b>Hogg, James</b>: A Scottish poet, often called from his occupation
+the Ettrick Shepherd. Born, 1770; died, 1835. Among
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span>
+his poems are "The Queen's Wake" (1813), "The Pilgrims of
+the Sun" (1815), and many short pieces.</p>
+
+<p><b>Howells, William Dean</b>: An American novelist and poet.
+Born at Martinsville, Ohio, 1837. He was for ten years editor
+of the "Atlantic Monthly." He has written numerous novels,
+several short comedies or farces, and a volume of poetry. Our
+selection is from one of his latest works, "Stories of Ohio," a
+series of sketches relating to the settlement and early history
+of that commonwealth.</p>
+
+<p><b>Hunt, James Henry Leigh</b>, author of the poem entitled "The
+Glove and the Lions" (page <a href="#Page_119">119</a>), was an English essayist and
+poet. Born, 1784; died, 1859. His chief poem is "The Story
+of Rimini"; his principal prose works are "Life of Lord
+Byron" (1828), and "Autobiography" (1850).</p>
+
+<p>"<b>Idylls of the King</b>": The first part of this noble poem by
+Lord Tennyson appeared in 1859, and the remaining parts
+were issued at various intervals until its completion. It comprises
+twelve books, or poems, which should be read in the
+following order: "The Coming of Arthur," "Gareth and
+Lynette," "The Marriage of Geraint," "Geraint and Enid,"
+"Balin and Balan," "Merlin and Vivien," "Lancelot and
+Elaine," "The Holy Grail," "Pelleas and Etarre," "The Last
+Tournament," "Guinevere," "The Passing of Arthur." Taken
+together in this order, these various poems present a complete
+and connected history of King Arthur and his knights. See
+page <a href="#Page_216">216</a>.</p>
+
+<p><b>Ingelow</b> (in�je l&#333;), <b>Jean</b>: An English poet and novelist. Born
+at Boston, Lincolnshire, 1830; died, 1897. Wrote "Off the
+Skelligs," "Fated to be Free," "A Motto Changed," several
+children's books, and numerous poems.</p>
+
+<p><b>Irving, Washington</b>: An eminent American writer. Born,
+1783; died, 1859. His principal works are "Columbus and
+his Companions" (from which the extract beginning on page
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span>
+<a href="#Page_25">25</a> is taken), "The Sketch Book," "Tales of a Traveler"
+(1824), "The Conquest of Granada" (1829), "The Alhambra"
+(1832), "Oliver Goldsmith" (1849), "Mahomet and His Successors"
+(1850), "Life of George Washington" (1859).</p>
+
+<p>"<b>Job, The Book of</b>": One of the books of the Old Testament,
+the authorship of which is unknown, but has been
+ascribed to various persons and periods of time. It is doubtless
+one of the oldest literary productions in our possession, and
+may be described as a poetic drama, having a didactic purpose.
+The hero of the book is Job, a man of great wealth and prosperity,
+who has been suddenly overtaken by misfortune. The
+great literary merit of the work is recognized by all scholars.</p>
+
+<p><b>Johnson, Dr. Samuel</b>: An eminent English essayist, poet, and
+lexicographer. Born, 1709; died, 1784. For his biography, see
+Macaulay's essay on his life and works in "School Reading by
+Grades&mdash;Seventh Year."</p>
+
+<p><b>Jonson, Ben</b>: A celebrated English poet and dramatist. Born,
+1573; died, 1637. Among his plays are "Every Man in his
+Humour" (1598), "Cynthia's Revels" (1600), "The Alchemist"
+(1610), etc.</p>
+
+<p><b>Kingsley, Charles</b>: An eminent English author and clergyman.
+See Biographical Notes in "School Reading by Grades&mdash;Fifth
+Year."</p>
+
+<p>"<b>Lays of Ancient Rome</b>": A volume of poems written by
+Lord Macaulay and first published in 1842. It includes
+"Horatius" (see page <a href="#Page_32">32</a>), "The Battle of Lake Regillus,"
+"Virginia," and "The Prophecy of Capys."</p>
+
+<p><b>Lewes</b> (l&#363;�es), <b>George Henry</b>: An English philosophical and
+miscellaneous writer. Born at London, 1817; died, 1878. He
+wrote "Seaside Studies" (1858), "Studies in Animal Life"
+(1862), "Problems of Life and Mind" (1874), and many other
+works on scientific and philosophical subjects.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span>
+    <b>Lincoln, Abraham</b>: The sixteenth President of the United
+States. Born in Kentucky, 1809; died at Washington, D. C.,
+1865. The "Address at Gettysburg" (page <a href="#Page_205">205</a>) is generally
+conceded to be one of the noblest examples of oratory produced
+in modern times.</p>
+
+<p>"<b>Lorna Doone</b>: a Romance of Exmoor." First published
+in 1869. See page <a href="#Page_64">64</a>.</p>
+
+<p>"<b>Mexico, History of the Conquest of</b>," by William H. Prescott
+(see page <a href="#Page_104">104</a>), was first published in 1843. Other works
+relating to the same event are "The Spanish Conquest in
+America," by Sir Arthur Helps, "The Fair God" (a romance)
+by General Lew Wallace.</p>
+
+<p><b>Prescott, William Hickling</b>: An eminent American historian.
+Born at Salem, Mass., 1796; died, 1859. His principal works
+are "History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella" (1838),
+"Conquest of Mexico" (see note above), "Conquest of Peru"
+(1847), "History of Philip II" (1858).</p>
+
+<p><b>Reade, Charles</b>: A noted English barrister and novelist.
+Born in Oxfordshire, 1814; died, 1884. His novels are very
+numerous, but the best is "The Cloister and the Hearth," from
+which our selection is taken (page <a href="#Page_153">153</a>). Several of his writings
+are noted for their strong opposition to social evils.</p>
+
+<p><b>Scott, Sir Walter.</b> See Biographical Notes in "School Reading
+by Grades&mdash;Fifth Year."</p>
+
+<p><b>Stanley, Arthur Penrhyn</b>: An English divine and historian.
+Born, 1815; died, 1881. He traveled in Egypt and Palestine
+in 1852&ndash;53; wrote "Sinai and Palestine" (1856), "Memorials
+of Canterbury" (1855), "History of the Jewish Church"
+(1865), etc.</p>
+
+<p><b>Stockton, Frank Richard</b>: A noted American author and
+humorist. Born at Philadelphia, 1834. He has written
+"Rudder Grange," "The Clocks of Rondaine," "Pomona's
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span>
+Travels," "Stories of New Jersey," and many other works,
+including several books for children.</p>
+
+<p>"<b>Tales of a Grandfather</b>": A collection of historical stories,
+by Sir Walter Scott, first published in four series, 1827&ndash;30.
+See page <a href="#Page_66">66</a>.</p>
+
+<p><b>Tennyson, Alfred.</b> See Biographical Notes in "School Reading
+by Grades&mdash;Fifth Year."</p>
+
+<p><b>Tyndall, John</b>: An eminent British scientist. Born in Ireland,
+1820; died in England, 1893. Among his works are
+"The Forms of Water in Clouds and Rivers" (1873) from
+which our extract is selected (page <a href="#Page_202">202</a>), "Hours of Exercise
+in the Alps" (1871), "Fragments of Science" (1892), and
+many other works of a similar character.</p>
+
+<p>"<b>Westward Ho! or the Voyages and Adventures of Sir Amyas
+Leigh</b>": A novel by Charles Kingsley, first published in 1855.
+See page <a href="#Page_165">165</a>.</p>
+
+<p><b>Winthrop, Robert Charles</b>: An American statesman and orator.
+Born at Boston, 1809; died, 1894. His most famous addresses
+were delivered at the laying of the corner-stone of the Washington
+Monument, 1848, and at the completion of the same
+monument, 1885.</p>
+
+<p><b>White, Gilbert</b>: An English clergyman and naturalist, famous
+as the author of "Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne"
+(1789). He was born at Selborne, 1720; died there,
+1793.</p>
+
+<p><b>Yonge</b> (yung), <b>Charlotte Mary</b>: An English writer and novelist.
+Born at Otterbourne, 1823. She has written more than
+a hundred volumes, including, "The Heir of Redclyffe," "Daisy
+Chain," "Landmarks of History," and "A Book of Golden
+Deeds," from which the selection beginning on page <a href="#Page_208">208</a> is
+taken.</p>
+
+
+<hr class="hr2" />
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span></p>
+<h3>EXPLANATORY NOTES.</h3>
+
+<p><b>Page <a href="#Page_20">20</a>.</b> "Straits of Sunda." The passage between the islands of
+Java and Sumatra, leading from the Indian Ocean to the Sea of Java.
+See a good map of this part of the world.</p>
+
+<p><b><a href="#Page_25">25</a>.</b> "The Return of Columbus." Returning from his first voyage
+(see "School Reading by Grades&mdash;Fourth Year," page 43), Columbus
+reached Palos, March 15, 1493. The selection here given from Irving describes
+his triumphal reception a few weeks later at the court of Ferdinand
+and Isabella at Barcelona.</p>
+
+<p>"Hidalgos." Spanish noblemen of the lower class.</p>
+
+<p><b><a href="#Page_27">27</a>.</b> "Las Casas." A Spanish historian, born, 1474; died, 1566. He
+went to America in 1502, and in 1542 was Bishop of Chiapas in Mexico.
+We are indebted to him for some of the earliest trustworthy accounts of
+the Spanish discoveries. He was the friend and defender of the Indians
+against their European conquerors.</p>
+
+<p><b><a href="#Page_28">28</a>.</b> "<i>Te Deum laudamus.</i>" "We praise thee, O God."</p>
+
+<p><b><a href="#Page_32">32</a>.</b> Tarquin the Proud, or Tarquinius Superbus, reigned, according
+to the traditional account, from 534 to 509 <span class="smcap">B.C.</span> The modern name of
+Clusium is Chiusi <a name="oo" id="oo"></a>(K&#275; [=oo]�s&#275;). It is situated in the province of Siena in
+Italy, and is famous for its ruins of Etruscan origin.</p>
+
+<p><b><a href="#Page_33">33</a>.</b> "Consul." After the expulsion of the kings from Rome the
+governing power was vested in two consuls, who were elected annually.
+At the time of the story, one of the consuls had been slain in battle
+with Porsena. Our selection begins with the twenty-sixth stanza of
+Macaulay's poem.</p>
+
+<p>"Ramnian," belonging to the Ramnes, the first of the three tribes
+which originally composed the Roman nation. Herminius was a member
+of the second tribe, or Tities. The third tribe were the Luceres.</p>
+
+<p><b><a href="#Page_35">35</a>.</b> For the places mentioned on this and the following pages, see
+some good classical atlas.</p>
+
+<p><b><a href="#Page_36">36</a>.</b> "She-wolf's litter." A reference to the legend that Romulus
+and Remus, the founders of Rome, were, when babes, protected and
+reared by a she-wolf.</p>
+
+<p><b><a href="#Page_42">42</a>.</b> "Fathers." The Roman senators.</p>
+
+<p><b><a href="#Page_44">44</a>.</b> Sir Francis Drake was an English seaman, born about 1540; died,
+1596. He was famous for his operations on the sea against the Spaniards
+of America, and especially for being the first Englishman to circumnavigate
+the globe.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span>
+    <b><a href="#Page_66">66</a>.</b> Bannockburn is the name of a small village three miles south of
+Stirling, in Scotland. Robert Bruce, one of the national heroes of Scotland,
+was born, 1274; died, 1329. His right to the throne of Scotland was
+disputed by Edward I. of England, who claimed the suzerainty of that
+country for himself. The war which resulted from this dispute was continued
+by Edward II. until he met with the signal defeat here narrated.
+Bruce's right to the Scottish throne was formally acknowledged by England
+in 1328.</p>
+
+<p><b><a href="#Page_89">89</a>.</b> "Great stone castles." For a description of the different parts
+of a Norman castle mentioned in this selection, see the word "Castle" in
+Webster's International Dictionary.</p>
+
+<p><b><a href="#Page_93">93</a>.</b> "Conquest." The Norman conquest under Duke William, 1066.
+See "School Reading by Grades&mdash;Fourth Year," page 181.</p>
+
+<p>"Author of 'Ivanhoe.'" Sir Walter Scott. See "Ivanhoe," Chapter
+VIII.</p>
+
+<p>"Quintain." An upright post, on the top of which turned a cross-piece,
+having on one end a broad board and on the other a sandbag. The
+endeavor was to strike the board with the lance while riding under it and
+get away without being hit by the sandbag.</p>
+
+<p><b><a href="#Page_96">96</a>.</b> "Scriptorium." A room in a monastery where the monks wrote
+or copied manuscripts. See "School Reading by Grades&mdash;Fifth Year,"
+page 170.</p>
+
+<p><b><a href="#Page_100">100</a>.</b> "Nathless." Nevertheless.</p>
+
+<p><b><a href="#Page_104">104</a>.</b> Cort�s. Hernando Cort�s was born in Spain in 1485. In 1504,
+at the age of nineteen, he sailed for Santo Domingo, where he was received
+with great favor, and where for several years he held important
+offices in connection with the government of the new colony. In 1518
+he organized the expedition for the conquest of Mexico. The city was
+finally captured, after a gallant defense of 77 days, August 13, 1521.
+Utterly neglected and forsaken in his old age, Cort�s died at Seville, in
+Spain, December 2, 1547.</p>
+
+<p><b><a href="#Page_106">106</a>.</b> "Palanquin" (p&#259;l an k&#275;n�). An inclosed litter, borne on men's
+shoulders, for conveying a single person.</p>
+
+<p><b><a href="#Page_106">106</a>.</b> "Cacique" (k&#551; s&#275;k�). A chieftain, or nobleman, among the
+Aztecs or Indians.</p>
+
+<p><b><a href="#Page_107">107</a>.</b> "Panache" (p&#259;n &#551;sh�). A plume or bunch of feathers. A military
+plume.</p>
+
+<p><b><a href="#Page_109">109</a>.</b> "Tenochtitlan" (ten &#333;ch t&#275;t l�n�). The Aztec name for their
+chief city, the site of which is now occupied by the city of Mexico. It
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span>
+was founded about two hundred years before the Spanish conquest, and
+was built on an island in Tezcuco Lake. The name Mexitl, or Mexico,
+was also applied to the city, or to a portion of it.</p>
+
+<p><b><a href="#Page_110">110</a>.</b> "Bernal Diaz" (d&#275;��th). A Spanish soldier in the army of
+Cort�s, who afterwards wrote a history of the conquest.</p>
+
+<p><b><a href="#Page_111">111</a>.</b> "Montezuma." Cort�s repaid this chieftain for his kindness by
+seizing him in his own house and carrying him to the Spanish quarters,
+where he kept him as a prisoner. The Aztecs attacked the quarters, and
+Montezuma, by the direction of Cort�s, appeared on the wall to counsel
+peace. This so exasperated them that they pelted him with stones, and
+wounded him so that he died four days later.</p>
+
+<p><b><a href="#Page_118">118</a>.</b> "The Lions." Rosa Bonheur, from whose painting this picture
+has been reproduced, is one of the most famous painters of the
+nineteenth century, especially of animal life and of landscapes. She
+was born at Bordeaux, France, in 1828. For nearly fifty years she has
+been directress of the Free School of Design for Young Girls in Paris.
+Many of her paintings have received high praise, but the one by which
+she is best known in this country is "The Horse Fair," in the Metropolitan
+Museum of Art, New York.</p>
+
+<p><b><a href="#Page_138">138</a>.</b> "Sir William Wallace." One of the national heroes of Scotland.
+His deeds are commemorated in a once very popular romance by
+Jane Porter entitled "The Scottish Chiefs" (1810).</p>
+
+<p><b><a href="#Page_139">139</a>.</b> "Schehallion." A mountain 35 miles northwest of Perth.
+Altitude, 3547 feet.</p>
+
+<p><b><a href="#Page_140">140</a>.</b> "Royal Martyr." King Charles I. of England, beheaded by
+Parliament, 1649.</p>
+
+<p>"King James." James II., at that time a fugitive from his throne.</p>
+
+<p>"Covenanting traitors." Adherents of the "Solemn League and
+Covenant" adopted by the Scottish Parliament in 1638, and by the
+English Parliament in 1643, for the preservation of the reformed religion
+in Scotland and the suppression of papacy and prelacy.</p>
+
+<p><b><a href="#Page_153">153</a>.</b> "Burgundy." The limits and character of the region known by
+this name have varied greatly at different periods of history. The Burgundy
+here mentioned was the great duchy of that name, the capital of
+which was Dijon. The Duke of Burgundy at the time of this story was
+the famous Charles the Bold, who was its ruler from 1467 to 1477. After
+his death it passed into the control of the king of France.</p>
+
+<p>"Flanders." This country, which now forms the southeastern part of
+the province of Zealand, Netherlands, was united to Burgundy in 1369.
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span>
+Upon the death of Charles the Bold it passed to Austria; but since that
+time it has been successively acquired by various other neighboring
+states.</p>
+
+<p><b><a href="#Page_154">154</a>.</b> "Palisades." Strong long stakes one end of which is set in
+the ground and the other sharpened.</p>
+
+<p>"Sappers." Builders of fortifications.</p>
+
+<p><b><a href="#Page_155">155</a>.</b> "Quarrels." Square-headed arrows for crossbows.</p>
+
+<p>"Mantelets." Large shields of rope, wood, or metal.</p>
+
+<p>"Mangonels." Engines for throwing stones or javelins.</p>
+
+<p><b><a href="#Page_156">156</a>.</b> "Barbican." See "Castle" in Webster's International Dictionary.
+A tower for defending the entrance to a castle.</p>
+
+<p>"Arbalester." A crossbowman.</p>
+
+<p>"Half ell shaft." A shaft or arrow half an ell in length.</p>
+
+<p><b><a href="#Page_158">158</a>.</b> "Fascines" (f&#259;s�s&#275;nz). Bundles of sticks bound together and
+used for filling ditches or raising batteries.</p>
+
+<p><b><a href="#Page_160">160</a>.</b> "Sir Turk." The Turkish catapult just described.</p>
+
+<p><b><a href="#Page_163">163</a>.</b> "Solway." Solway Firth, an arm of the Irish Sea, extending
+into Scotland: remarkable for the rapidity of its tides.</p>
+
+<p><b><a href="#Page_164">164</a>.</b> "Graeme" (gr&#257;m). See page <a href="#Page_138">138</a>.</p>
+
+<p><b><a href="#Page_165">165</a>.</b> "Manoa" (m� n&#333;��). The city ruled by the gilded king, El
+Dorado. It was said to be built on an island in a lake called Parima,
+somewhere in the northern part of South America. Beginning about
+1530, great numbers of expeditions were made by the Spaniards in search
+of this fabled city, all of which ended in disappointment and disaster.</p>
+
+<p><b><a href="#Page_175">175</a>.</b> "Naught of strange." Nothing out of the usual order.</p>
+
+<p><b><a href="#Page_176">176</a>.</b> "Lindis." A small stream in Lincolnshire.</p>
+
+<p>"Melick" (m&#277;l�&#301;k). Melic grass, a kind of grass eaten by cattle.</p>
+
+<p><b><a href="#Page_177">177</a>.</b> "Warping down." Turning aside out of a straight course;
+moving in zigzag lines.</p>
+
+<p>"Scope." A sea wall, or steep shore.</p>
+
+<p><b><a href="#Page_178">178</a>.</b> "Bairns." Little children.</p>
+
+<p><b><a href="#Page_179">179</a>.</b> "Eygre" (&#275;�g&#7869;r). The flood tide moving with great force and
+swiftness up the river.</p>
+
+<p><b><a href="#Page_181">181</a>.</b> Henry II. of England was born in 1133; died, 1189. He was the
+first of the Plantagenet line of kings.</p>
+
+<p><b><a href="#Page_182">182</a>.</b> Thomas Becket, born in London, 1118, was the son of a rich
+merchant, and became a member of the household of Theobald, archbishop
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span>
+of Canterbury, about 1142. Through the influence of Theobald
+his interests with the king were advanced, and he became chancellor
+during the first year of Henry's reign. He was murdered in 1170.</p>
+
+<p><b><a href="#Page_190">190</a>.</b> In 1172 Becket was canonized under the title of St. Thomas of
+Canterbury, and in 1220 his bones were removed to Trinity Chapel,
+where they became the object of great veneration. For several centuries
+pilgrimages were made to his shrine from all parts of England. Chaucer's
+"Canterbury Tales" were related by a party of pilgrims who were making
+this journey, presumably near the close of the fourteenth century.
+By order of King Henry VIII. the shrine was finally destroyed, and the
+bones of Becket were scattered and burned.</p>
+
+<p><b><a href="#Page_200">200</a>.</b> "Genera." Plural of <i>genus</i>&mdash;a name applied to a class of
+objects subdivided into species.</p>
+
+<p>"Hen harriers." Hawks which fly low and harass fowls or small
+animals.</p>
+
+<p><b><a href="#Page_201">201</a>.</b> "Gallin�" (g&#259;l l&#299;�ne). The order of birds which includes
+domestic fowls, pheasants, quails, grouse, etc.</p>
+
+<p><b><a href="#Page_205">205</a>.</b> The National Cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, was dedicated
+by President Lincoln, November 19, 1863. It was here that the great
+battle of Gettysburg was fought, July 1, 2, and 3 of the same year. The
+cemetery contains the graves of 3580 soldiers, with a central monument,
+built at a cost of $50,000, and a large number of regimental monuments
+on the various historic points of the battlefield.</p>
+
+<p><b><a href="#Page_208">208</a>.</b> "Vespasian and his son Titus." Vespasian was emperor of
+Rome <span class="smcap">A.D.</span> 70&ndash;79. He was succeeded by his son Titus, who died two
+years later. Jerusalem was taken and destroyed by Titus, acting as his
+father's general, in the year 70. Both these emperors expended large
+sums on public works. The Coliseum, although begun by Vespasian in
+72, was not finished during his reign. Despite the enormous mass of the
+present ruins, it is estimated that they comprise only about one third of
+the original materials; the remainder have been carried away, destroyed,
+or used in the construction of other buildings.</p>
+
+<p><b><a href="#Page_209">209</a>.</b> "Orpheus." The sweet musician of Thrace whose music
+charmed birds and beasts, and caused even rocks and trees to move from
+their places to listen to the divine melody.</p>
+
+<p><b><a href="#Page_211">212</a>.</b> "The Last Prayer." Jean Leon G�r�me, the painter of this
+picture, is a celebrated French artist, born at Vesoul in 1824. He studied
+in Italy, and to perfect himself in his art, traveled for some years in
+Egypt, Turkey, and other eastern countries. As might have been
+    <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span>
+expected, the subjects of many of his paintings are oriental. In 1863, he
+became professor of painting at the Academy of Fine Arts. His works
+are very numerous and meritorious.</p>
+
+<p><b><a href="#Page_213">213</a>.</b> The stanza of poetry quoted on this page is from Lord Byron's
+"Childe Harold's Pilgrimage."</p>
+
+<p>"Honorius." Honorius was born at Constantinople, <span class="smcap">A.D.</span> 384, and
+became emperor of the western empire in 395 at the age of eleven years.
+He married the daughter of his guardian, Stilicho, in 398. It was during
+his reign (in 410) that Rome was taken and sacked by Alaric the Goth.
+He died in 423.</p>
+
+<p><b><a href="#Page_216">216</a>.</b> "Lyonesse" (l&#299; o n&#277;s�). A mythical region, said to have
+extended from Land's End, in Cornwall, to the Scilly Islands. A tradition
+still exists of the submersion and destruction of this country, probably
+in the tenth century. King Arthur was said to have been a native of
+Lyonesse.</p>
+
+<p><b><a href="#Page_217">217</a>.</b> "Camelot." A legendary town in England where Arthur had
+his palace and court. It is supposed by some to have been near Winchester;
+others locate it in Wales.</p>
+
+<p>"Merlin." A half-legendary bard and wizard, who is supposed to
+have lived in the early part of the sixth century. He was the companion
+and counselor of Arthur, and instituted the Round Table at Carduel.
+The famous prose romance, called the "Romance of Merlin," was written
+in French by H�lie de Borron about the year 1200. It was translated
+into English about the middle of the fifteenth century.</p>
+
+<p>"Excalibur." The sword which Arthur had received from the Lady
+of the Lake. It had many miraculous qualities, and the wearer of its
+scabbard could lose no blood.</p>
+
+<p><b><a href="#Page_223">223</a>.</b> "Da�s throne." A throne raised upon an elevated platform
+or da�s.</p>
+
+<p><b><a href="#Page_224">224</a>.</b> "Avilion." In Celtic mythology, the Land of the Blessed&mdash;an
+earthly paradise in the western seas. All the great heroes of medi�val
+times, as Arthur and Ogier the Dane, were carried there, where they lived
+in perfect happiness at the court of Morgan le Fay, the queen of the
+fairies.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<div class="tn">
+<h4>Transcriber's Note</h4>
+<ul class="corrections">
+  <li>Line numbers removed from short stories.</li>
+  <li>Obvious punctuation and spelling errors repaired.</li>
+  <li>Footnote moved to the end of short story.</li>
+  <li>In Table of Contents "Portraits of Authors" page number corrected for Arthur Penrhyn Stanley
+      from "190" to "<a href="#Stanley">191</a>".</li>
+  <li><a href="#oo">Chiusi</a> (K&#275; [=oo]�s&#275;) contains [=oo] representing a "long oo" sound not
+      represented in any charts.</li>
+</ul>
+</div>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's School Reading by Grades, by James Baldwin
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of School Reading by Grades, by James Baldwin
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: School Reading by Grades
+       Sixth Year
+
+Author: James Baldwin
+
+Release Date: July 26, 2011 [EBook #36864]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SCHOOL READING BY GRADES ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Larry B. Harrison and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+  SCHOOL READING BY GRADES
+
+  _SIXTH YEAR_
+
+  BY
+  JAMES BALDWIN
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+  NEW YORK      CINCINNATI      CHICAGO
+  AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY
+
+
+
+
+  COPYRIGHT, 1897, BY
+  AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY.
+
+  SCH. READ. SIXTH YEAR.
+  W. P. 12
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+The pupil who is in his sixth year at school should be able to read
+quite well. He should be able to pronounce at sight and without
+hesitation all new or unusual words; and when reading aloud, his tones
+should be so clear, his enunciation so faultless, and his manner so
+agreeable that his hearers shall listen with pleasure and shall have a
+ready understanding of whatever is being read. He is now prepared to
+devote more and more attention to literary criticism--that is, to the
+study of the peculiarities of style which distinguish any selection,
+the passages which are remarkable for their beauty, their truth, or
+their adaptation to the particular purpose for which they were
+written. The habit should be cultivated of looking for and enjoying
+the admirable qualities of any literary production, and particularly
+of such productions as are generally recognized as the classics of our
+language. While learning to distinguish between good literature and
+that sort of writing which, properly speaking, is not literature at
+all, the pupil's acquaintance with books is enlarged and extended. He
+learns to know what are the best books and why they are so considered;
+and he acquires some knowledge of the lives of the best authors and of
+the circumstances under which certain of their works were produced.
+
+The present volume is designed to aid the learner in the acquisition
+of all these ends. The selections are of a highly interesting
+character, and illustrate almost every variety of English composition.
+To assist in their comprehension, many of the selections are
+introduced or followed by brief historical or bibliographical notes.
+Hints also are given as to collateral, or supplementary readings on a
+variety of subjects. To assist the pupil still further to enlarge his
+acquaintance with books and authors, additional notes, literary and
+biographical, are given in the appendix; here also may be found
+several pages of brief notes explanatory of difficult passages,
+unusual expressions, and historical references, such as might
+otherwise be stumbling stones in the way of the learner. The numerous
+portraits of authors is another important feature designed to add to
+the interest and beauty of the book, and to assist the pupil to a more
+intimate acquaintance with the makers of our literature. Most of the
+full-page pictures are reproductions of famous paintings, and these,
+while serving as illustrations of the text which they accompany, are
+designed to introduce the learner to some of the masters of art also,
+and perform the more important office of cultivating and enlarging his
+aesthetic tastes and sympathies.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+                                                                    PAGE
+
+  Two Ways of Telling a Story        _Jean Ingelow_                    7
+
+  The Death of the Flowers           _William Cullen Bryant_          18
+
+  The Great Volcanic Eruption        _J. T. Van Gestel_               20
+
+  The Return of Columbus             _Washington Irving_              25
+
+  What the Sunbeams do               _Arabella B. Buckley_            29
+
+  Horatius at the Bridge             _Thomas Babington Macaulay_      32
+
+  How Sir Francis Drake sailed
+      round the World                _James A. Froude_                44
+
+  A Brave Rescue and a Rough Ride    _Richard D. Blackmore_           51
+
+  The Glory of God                   _From the Psalms of David_       65
+
+  The Battle of Bannockburn          _Sir Walter Scott_               66
+
+  The Soldier's Dream                _Thomas Campbell_                75
+
+  Lord Ullin's Daughter              _Thomas Campbell_                76
+
+  Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata                                        78
+
+  The Story of Tempe Wick            _Frank R. Stockton_              83
+
+  Life in Norman England             _W. F. Collier_                  89
+
+  The Romance of the Swan's Nest     _Elizabeth Barrett Browning_     98
+
+  A Patriarch of the Olden Time      _From the "Book of Job"_        102
+
+  How Cortes entered the City of
+      Mexico                         _William H. Prescott_           104
+
+  The Skylark                        _James Hogg_                    112
+
+  The Mystery of the Tadpole         _George Henry Lewes_            113
+
+  The Glove and the Lions            _Leigh Hunt_                    119
+
+  True Growth                        _Ben Jonson_                    120
+
+  The Shipwreck                      _Charles Dickens_               121
+
+  The Happy Valley                   _Dr. Samuel Johnson_            135
+
+  The Pass of Killiecrankie          _W. E. Aytoun_                  138
+
+  Summer Rain                        _Henry Ward Beecher_            143
+
+  Life in the Backwoods              _William Dean Howells_          146
+
+  How they besieged the Town         _Charles Reade_                 153
+
+  Lochinvar                          _Sir Walter Scott_              163
+
+  On a Tropical River                _Charles Kingsley_              165
+
+  The Flag of Our Country            _Robert C. Winthrop_            173
+
+  The High Tide on the Coast of
+      Lincolnshire, 1571             _Jean Ingelow_                  175
+
+  The Story of Thomas Becket
+
+       I. His Life                   _Anonymous_                     181
+
+      II. His Death                  _Arthur Penrhyn Stanley_        185
+
+  The Pilgrims (1620)                _Edward Everett_                192
+
+  The Landing of the Pilgrims        _Felicia Hemans_                195
+
+  Patriotism                         _William Cowper_                196
+
+  The Robin                          _Charles Conrad Abbott_         197
+
+  Motions of Birds                   _Gilbert White_                 200
+
+  Origin of Rivers                   _John Tyndall_                  202
+
+  Address at the Dedication of
+      Gettysburg Cemetery            _Abraham Lincoln_               205
+
+  The American Flag                  _Joseph Rodman Drake_           206
+
+  The Last Fight in the Coliseum,
+      A.D. 404                       _Charlotte M. Yonge_            208
+
+  The Passing of Arthur              _Alfred Tennyson_               216
+
+  THE PRINCIPLES OF GOOD READING                                     225
+
+  AUTHORS AND BOOKS                                                  228
+
+  EXPLANATORY NOTES                                                  235
+
+
+FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS.
+
+                                        ARTIST
+
+  Columbus at Barcelona              _R. Balaca_                      24
+
+  The Defense of the Bridge          _A. I. Keller_                   37
+
+  Ruins of a Norman Castle           _From a photograph_              90
+
+  The Lions                          _Rosa Bonheur_                  118
+
+  The Shipwreck                      _A. Marlon_                     129
+
+  Canterbury Cathedral               _From a photograph_             187
+
+  The Departure of the Mayflower     _A. W. Bayes_                   194
+
+  The Last Prayer--Christian
+      Martyrs in the Coliseum        _J. L. Gerome_                  212
+
+
+PORTRAITS OF AUTHORS.
+
+  Washington Irving                                           Title-page
+
+  Thomas Babington Macaulay                                           32
+
+  James Anthony Froude                                                50
+
+  Thomas Campbell                                                     76
+
+  Frank R. Stockton                                                   83
+
+  Elizabeth Barrett Browning                                          98
+
+  William H. Prescott                                                104
+
+  George Henry Lewes                                                 113
+
+  Leigh Hunt                                                         119
+
+  Charles Dickens                                                    121
+
+  Dr. Samuel Johnson                                                 135
+
+  Henry Ward Beecher                                                 143
+
+  William Dean Howells                                               146
+
+  Charles Reade                                                      153
+
+  Charles Kingsley                                                   165
+
+  Jean Ingelow                                                       175
+
+  Arthur Penrhyn Stanley                                             191
+
+  Edward Everett                                                     192
+
+  John Tyndall                                                       202
+
+  Abraham Lincoln                                                    205
+
+  Joseph Rodman Drake                                                206
+
+  Charlotte M. Yonge                                                 208
+
+    Acknowledgments are due to the following persons for their
+    courteous permission to use valuable selections from their works:
+    Dr. Charles C. Abbott for the essay on "The Robin"; Mr. William
+    Dean Howells for his sketch of "Life in the Backwoods"; The J. B.
+    Lippincott Company for the selections from Prescott's "Conquest of
+    Mexico" and Abbott's "Birdland Echoes"; and Mr. Frank R. Stockton
+    for "The Story of Tempe Wicke."
+
+
+
+
+SCHOOL READING.
+
+SIXTH YEAR.
+
+
+
+
+TWO WAYS OF TELLING A STORY.
+
+
+I.
+
+Who is this? A careless little midshipman, idling about in a great
+city, with his pockets full of money.
+
+He is waiting for the coach: it comes up presently, and he gets on the
+top of it, and looks about him.
+
+They soon leave the chimney pots behind them; his eyes wander with
+delight over the harvest fields, he smells the honeysuckle in the
+hedgerow, and he wishes he was down among the hazel bushes, that he
+might strip them of the milky nuts; then he sees a great wain piled up
+with barley, and he wishes he was seated on the top of it; then they
+go through a little wood, and he likes to see the checkered shadows of
+the trees lying across the white road; and then a squirrel runs up a
+bough, and he can not forbear to whoop and halloo, though he can not
+chase it to its nest.
+
+The other passengers are delighted with his simplicity and childlike
+glee; and they encourage him to talk to them about the sea and ships,
+especially Her Majesty's ship "The Asp," wherein he has the honor to
+sail. In the jargon of the sea, he describes her many perfections,
+and enlarges on her peculiar advantages; he then confides to them how
+a certain middy, having been ordered to the masthead as a punishment,
+had seen, while sitting on the topmast crosstrees, something
+uncommonly like the sea serpent--but, finding this hint received with
+incredulous smiles, he begins to tell them how he hopes that, some
+day, he shall be promoted to have charge of the poop. The passengers
+hope he will have that honor; they have no doubt he deserves it. His
+cheeks flush with pleasure to hear them say so, and he little thinks
+that they have no notion in what "that honor" may happen to consist.
+
+The coach stops: the little midshipman, with his hands in his pockets,
+sits rattling his money, and singing. There is a poor woman standing
+by the door of the village inn; she looks careworn, and well she may,
+for, in the spring, her husband went up to the city to seek for work.
+He got work, and she was expecting soon to join him there, when alas!
+a fellow-workman wrote her word how he had met with an accident, how
+he was very ill and wanted his wife to come and nurse him. But she has
+two young children, and is destitute; she must walk up all the way,
+and she is sick at heart when she thinks that perhaps he may die among
+strangers before she can reach him.
+
+She does not think of begging, but seeing the boy's eyes attracted to
+her, she makes him a courtesy, and he withdraws his hand and throws
+her down a sovereign. She looks at it with incredulous joy, and then
+she looks at him.
+
+"It's all right," he says, and the coach starts again, while, full of
+gratitude, she hires a cart to take her across the country to the
+railway, that the next night she may sit by the bedside of her sick
+husband.
+
+The midshipman knows nothing about that; and he never will know.
+
+The passengers go on talking--the little midshipman has told them who
+he is, and where he is going; but there is one man who has never
+joined in the conversation; he is dark-looking and restless; he sits
+apart; he has seen the glitter of the falling coin, and now he watches
+the boy more narrowly than before.
+
+He is a strong man, resolute and determined; the boy with the pockets
+full of money will be no match for him. The midshipman has told the
+other passengers that his father's house is the parsonage at Y----;
+the coach goes within five miles of it, and he means to get down at
+the nearest point, and walk, or rather run over to his home, through
+the great wood.
+
+The man decides to get down too, and go through the wood; he will rob
+the little midshipman; perhaps, if he cries out or struggles, he will
+do worse. The boy, he thinks, will have no chance against him; it is
+quite impossible that he can escape; the way is lonely, and the sun
+will be down.
+
+No. There seems indeed little chance of escape; the half-fledged bird
+just fluttering down from its nest has no more chance against the
+keen-eyed hawk, than the little light-hearted sailor boy will have
+against him--at least so thinks the man as he makes his plans.
+
+
+II.
+
+The coach reaches the village where the boy is to alight. He wishes
+the other passengers "good evening," and runs lightly down between the
+scattered houses. The man has got down also, and is following.
+
+The path lies through the village churchyard; there is evening
+service, and the door is wide open, for it is warm. The little
+midshipman stops by the door, looks in, and listens. The clergyman has
+just risen, and is giving out his text. Thirteen months have past
+since the boy was within a house of prayer; and a feeling of pleasure
+and awe induces him to stand still and listen.
+
+"Are not two sparrows [he hears] sold for a farthing? and one of them
+shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs
+of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not, therefore, ye are of more
+value than many sparrows."
+
+He hears the opening sentences of the sermon; and then he remembers
+his home, and comes softly out of the porch, full of a calm and
+serious pleasure. The clergyman has reminded him of his father, and
+his careless heart is now filled with the echoes of his voice and of
+his prayers. He thinks on what the clergyman said, of the care of our
+heavenly Father for us; he remembers how, when he left home, his
+father prayed that he might be preserved through every danger; he does
+not remember any particular danger that he has been exposed to,
+excepting in the great storm; but he is grateful that he has come home
+in safety, and he hopes whenever he shall be in danger, which he
+supposes he shall be some day--he hopes, that then the providence of
+God will watch over him, and protect him. And so he presses onward to
+the entrance of the wood.
+
+The man is there before him. He has pushed himself into the thicket,
+and cut a heavy club; he suffers the boy to go on before, and then he
+comes out and follows him. It is too light at present for his deed of
+darkness and too near the entrance of the wood, but he knows that
+shortly the path will branch off into two, and the right one for the
+boy to take will be dark and lonely.
+
+But what prompts the little midshipman, when not fifty yards from the
+branching of the path, to break into a sudden run? It is not fear, for
+he never dreams of danger. Some sudden impulse, or some wild wish for
+home, makes him dash off suddenly, with a whoop and a bound. On he
+goes, as if running a race; the path bends, and the man loses sight of
+him. "But I shall have him yet," he thinks; "he can not keep this pace
+up long."
+
+The boy has nearly reached the place where the path divides, when he
+startles a young white owl that can scarcely fly, and it goes whirring
+along, close to the ground, before him. He gains upon it; another
+moment, and it will be his. Now it gets the start again; they come to
+the branching of the paths, and the bird goes down the wrong one. The
+temptation to follow is too strong to be resisted; he knows that
+somewhere, deep in the wood, there is a cross track by which he can
+get into the path he has left; if only he runs a little faster, he
+shall be at home nearly as soon.
+
+On he rushes; the path takes a bend, and he is just out of sight when
+his pursuer comes where the paths divide. The boy has turned to the
+right; the man takes the left, and the faster they both run the
+farther they are asunder.
+
+The white owl still leads him on; the path gets darker and narrower;
+at last he finds that he has missed it altogether, and his feet are on
+the soft ground. He flounders about among the trees, vexed with
+himself, and panting after his race. At last he finds another track,
+and pushes on as fast as he can. He has lost his way--but he keeps
+bearing to the left; and, though it is now dark, he thinks that he
+must reach the main path sooner or later.
+
+He does not know this part of the wood, but he runs on. O, little
+midshipman! why did you chase that owl? If you had kept in the path
+with the dark man behind you, there was a chance that you might have
+outrun him; or, if he had overtaken you, some passing wayfarer might
+have heard your cries, and come to save you. Now you are running on
+straight to your death, for the forest water is deep and black at the
+bottom of this hill. O, that the moon might come out and show it to you!
+
+The moon is under a thick canopy of heavy black clouds; and there is
+not a star to glitter on the water and make it visible. The fern is
+soft under his feet as he runs and slips down the sloping hill. At
+last he strikes his foot against a stone, stumbles, and falls. Two
+minutes more and he will roll into the black water.
+
+"Heyday!" cries the boy, "what's this? Oh, how it tears my hands! Oh,
+this thorn bush! Oh, my arms! I can't get free!" He struggles and
+pants. "All this comes of leaving the path," he says; "I shouldn't
+have cared for rolling down if it hadn't been for this bush. The fern
+was soft enough. I'll never stray in a wood at night again. There,
+free at last! And my jacket nearly torn off my back!"
+
+With a good deal of patience, and a great many scratches, he gets free
+of the thorn which had arrested his progress, when his feet were
+within a yard of the water, manages to scramble up the bank, and makes
+the best of his way through the wood.
+
+And now, as the clouds move slowly onward, the moon shows her face on
+the black surface of the water; and the little white owl comes and
+hoots, and flutters over it like a wandering snowdrift. But the boy is
+deep in the wood again, and knows nothing of the danger from which he
+has escaped.
+
+
+III.
+
+All this time the dark passenger follows the main track, and believes
+that his prey is before him. At last he hears a crashing of dead
+boughs, and presently the little midshipman's voice not fifty yards
+before him. Yes, it is too true; the boy is in the cross track. He
+will pass the cottage in the wood directly, and after that his pursuer
+will come upon him.
+
+The boy bounds into the path; but, as he passes the cottage, he is so
+thirsty that he thinks he must ask the people if they will sell him a
+cup of tea.
+
+He enters without ceremony. "Tea?" says the woodman, who is sitting at
+his supper. "No, we have no tea; but perhaps my wife can give thee a
+drink of milk. Come in." So he comes in, and shuts the door; and,
+while he sits waiting for the milk, footsteps pass. They are the
+footsteps of his pursuer, who goes on with the club in his hand, and
+is angry and impatient that he has not yet come up with him.
+
+The woman goes to her little dairy for the milk, and the boy thinks
+she is a long time. He drinks it, thanks her, and takes his leave.
+
+Fast and fast the man runs on, and, as fast as he can, the boy runs
+after him. It is very dark, but there is a yellow streak in the sky,
+where the moon is plowing up a furrowed mass of gray cloud, and one or
+two stars are blinking through the branches of the trees.
+
+Fast the boy follows, and fast the man runs on, with his weapon in his
+hand. Suddenly he hears the joyish whoop--not before, but behind him.
+He stops and listens breathlessly. Yes, it is so. He pushes himself
+into the thicket, and raises his club to strike when the boy shall pass.
+
+On he comes, running lightly, with his hands in his pockets. A sound
+strikes at the same instant on the ears of both; and the boy turns
+back from the very jaws of death to listen. It is the sound of wheels,
+and it draws rapidly nearer. A man comes up, driving a little gig.
+
+"Halloa?" he says, in a loud, cheerful voice. "What! benighted,
+youngster?"
+
+"Oh, is it you, Mr. Davis?" says the boy; "no, I am not benighted; or,
+at any rate, I know my way out of the wood."
+
+The man draws farther back among the shrubs. "Why, bless the boy," he
+hears the farmer say, "to think of our meeting in this way. The parson
+told me he was in hopes of seeing thee some day this week. I'll give
+thee a lift. This is a lonely place to be in this time o' night."
+
+"Lonely!" says the boy, laughing. "I don't mind that; and if you know
+the way, it's as safe as the quarter-deck."
+
+So he gets into the farmer's gig, and is once more out of reach of the
+pursuer. But the man knows that the farmer's house is a quarter of a
+mile nearer than the parsonage, and in that quarter of a mile there is
+still a chance of committing the robbery. He determines still to make
+the attempt, and cuts across the wood with such rapid strides that he
+reaches the farmer's gate just as the gig drives up to it.
+
+"Well, thank you, farmer," says the midshipman, as he prepares to get
+down.
+
+"I wish you good night, gentlemen," says the man, when he passes.
+
+"Good night, friend," the farmer replies. "I say, my boy, it's a dark
+night enough; but I have a mind to drive you on to the parsonage, and
+hear the rest of this long tale of yours about the sea serpent."
+
+The little wheels go on again. They pass the man; and he stands still
+in the road to listen till the sound dies away. Then he flings his
+club into the hedge, and goes back. His evil purposes have all been
+frustrated--the thoughtless boy, without knowing anything about it,
+has baffled him at every turn.
+
+
+IV.
+
+And now the little midshipman is at home--the joyful meeting has taken
+place; and when they have all admired his growth, and measured his
+height on the window frame, and seen him eat his supper, they begin to
+question him about his adventures, more for the pleasure of hearing
+him talk than any curiosity.
+
+"Adventures!" says the boy, seated between his father and mother on a
+sofa. "Why, mother, I wrote you an account of the voyage, and there's
+nothing else to tell. Nothing happened to-day--at least nothing
+particular."
+
+"Did you come by the coach we told you of?" asks his father.
+
+"Oh, yes, papa; and when we had got about twenty miles, there came up
+a beggar, while we changed horses, and I threw down, as I thought, a
+shilling, but, as it fell, I saw it was a sovereign. She was very
+honest, and showed me what it was, but I didn't take it back, for you
+know, it's a long time since I gave anything to anybody."
+
+"Very true, my boy," his mother answers; "but you should not be
+careless with your money.
+
+"I suppose you got down at the crossroads?" says his elder brother.
+
+"Yes, and went through the wood. I should have been here sooner if I
+hadn't lost my way there."
+
+"Lost your way!" says his mother, alarmed. "My dear boy, you should
+not have left the path at dusk."
+
+"Oh, mother," says the little midshipman, with a smile, "you're always
+thinking we're in danger. If you could see me sometimes sitting at the
+jib-boom end, or across the main topmast crosstrees, you _would_ be
+frightened. But what danger can there be in a wood?"
+
+"Well, my boy," she answers, "I don't wish to be over-anxious, and to
+make my children uncomfortable by my fears. What did you stray from
+the path for?"
+
+"Only to chase a little owl, mother; but I didn't catch her after all.
+I got a roll down a bank, and caught my jacket against a thorn bush,
+which was rather unlucky. Ah! three large holes I see in my sleeve.
+And so I scrambled up again, and got into the path, and stopped at the
+cottage for some milk. What a time the woman kept me, to be sure! But
+very soon Mr. Davis drove up in his gig, and he brought me on to the
+gate."
+
+"And so this story being brought to a close," his father says, "we
+find that you had no adventures at all!"
+
+"No, papa, nothing happened; nothing particular, I mean."
+
+Nothing particular! If they could have known, they would have thought
+lightly in comparison of the dangers of "the jib-boom end, and the
+main topmast crosstrees." But they did not know, any more than we do,
+of the dangers that hourly beset us. Some few dangers we are aware of,
+and we do what we can to provide against them; but, for the greater
+portion, "our eyes are held that we can not see." We walk securely
+under His guidance, without whom "not a sparrow falleth to the
+ground!" and when we have had escapes that the angels have wondered
+at, we come home and say, perhaps, that "nothing has happened; at
+least nothing particular."
+
+  --_Jean Ingelow._
+
+
+
+
+THE DEATH OF THE FLOWERS.
+
+
+    The melancholy days are come, the saddest of the year,
+    Of wailing winds, and naked woods, and meadows brown and sere.
+    Heaped in the hollows of the grove, the autumn leaves lie dead;
+    They rustle to the eddying gust, and to the rabbit's tread.
+    The robin and the wren are flown, and from the shrubs the jay,
+    And from the wood-top calls the crow through all the gloomy day.
+
+    Where are the flowers, the fair young flowers, that lately sprang
+              and stood
+    In brighter light and softer airs, a beauteous sisterhood?
+    Alas! they all are in their graves; the gentle race of flowers
+    Are lying in their lowly beds, with the fair and good of ours.
+    The rain is falling where they lie, but the cold November rain
+    Calls not from out the gloomy earth the lovely ones again.
+
+    The windflower and the violet, they perished long ago,
+    And the brier rose and the orchis died amid the summer glow;
+    But on the hill the goldenrod, and the aster in the wood,
+    And the yellow sunflower by the brook in autumn beauty stood,
+    Till fell the frost from the clear, cold heaven, as falls the plague
+              on men,
+    And the brightness of their smile was gone, from upland, glade, and
+              glen.
+
+    And now, when comes the calm, mild day, as still such days will
+              come,
+    To call the squirrel and the bee from out their winter home;
+    When the sound of dropping nuts is heard, though all the trees are
+              still,
+    And twinkle in the smoky light the waters of the rill,
+    The south wind searches for the flowers whose fragrance late he
+              bore,
+    And sighs to find them in the wood and by the stream no more.
+
+    And then I think of one who in her youthful beauty died,
+    The fair, meek blossom that grew up and faded by my side.
+    In the cold, moist earth we laid her, when the forests cast the
+              leaf,
+    And we wept that one so lovely should have a life so brief:
+    Yet not unmeet it was that one like that young friend of ours,
+    So gentle and so beautiful, should perish with the flowers.
+
+
+
+
+THE GREAT VOLCANIC ERUPTION.
+
+
+In 1883 the most destructive volcanic eruption ever known occurred in
+the Straits of Sunda and the neighboring islands. The trouble began on
+Sunday morning, the 13th of May. Java, Sumatra, and Borneo were
+convulsed by earthquakes. The surface of the earth rocked, houses
+tumbled down, and big trees were shaken to the ground. Earthquakes are
+no rarity in those islands, but this earthquake showed no signs of
+ceasing. The earth quivered constantly, and from its depths there
+seemed to rise strange sounds and hollow explosions.
+
+On Thursday there came a telegram from Anjer, ninety miles away, on
+the northwest coast of Java, intimating that a volcano had broken out
+at Krakatoa island, about thirty miles west of Anjer, in Sunda Strait.
+I was requested by the Dutch government to go to the scene of action
+and take scientific observations, and by four o'clock that afternoon I
+started with a party on board a special steamer from Batavia.
+
+As we rounded the northern extremity of Java, we saw ascending from
+Krakatoa, still fifty miles away, an immense column of smoke. Its
+appearance changed as we approached. First it looked like flame, then it
+appeared to be steam, and finally it had the appearance of a pillar of
+fire inside one of white fleecy wool. The diameter of this pillar of
+fire and smoke was, I should think, at least one and a half miles. All
+the while we heard that sullen, thunderous roar which had been a feature
+of this disturbance ever since Sunday, and was now becoming louder.
+
+We remained on deck all night and watched. The din increased till we
+could with difficulty hear one another's voices. Dawn approached, and
+when the rays of the sun fell on the shores of Krakatoa, we saw them
+reflected from what we thought was a river, and we resolved to steam
+into its mouth and disembark.
+
+When we came to within three quarters of a mile of the shore, we
+discovered that what we supposed to be a river was a torrent of molten
+sulphur. The smell almost overpowered us. We steamed away to the
+windward, and made for the other side of the island.
+
+This island, though volcanic, had up till now been quiet for at least
+a century. It was eight or ten miles long and four wide, and was
+covered with forests of fine mahogany and rosewood trees. It was
+inhabited by a few fishermen, but we found no signs of these people.
+The land, down to the water's edge, was covered with powdered pumice
+stone, which rained down from the clouds around the great column of
+fire. Everything with life had already disappeared from the landscape,
+which was covered with a steaming mass of stones and ashes.
+
+Several of us landed and began walking towards the volcano. We sank
+deep in the soft pumice, which blistered our feet with its heat. I
+climbed painfully upwards toward the crater, in order to measure it
+with my sextant; but in a short time the heat melted the mercury off
+the mirror of the instrument. I was then half a mile from the crater.
+
+As I was returning to the shore, I saw the bottom of each footstep I
+had made on my way up glowing red with the heat from beneath. We
+photographed the scene from the deck of the steamer, where the fire
+hose was kept playing constantly, wetting the rigging and everything
+about the ship to prevent her from taking fire.
+
+The steamer then returned to Batavia, and I went to reside at Anjer.
+From my villa on the hillside a mile inland, I could see Krakatoa,
+thirty miles away, belching out its never-ending eruption. We supposed
+that it would go on till it burned itself out, and that then it would
+become quiet again. But in this we were mistaken.
+
+On Sunday morning, the 12th of August, nearly three months later, I
+was sitting on the veranda of my house taking my morning cup of tea. I
+saw the fishing boats lying at anchor in the bay, the fishermen
+themselves being on shore at rest. As my gaze rested on the boats, I
+suddenly became aware that they were all beginning to move rapidly in
+one direction. Then in an instant, to my intense surprise, they all
+disappeared.
+
+I ran farther up the hillside to get a better view, and looked far out
+to sea. Instantly a great glare of fire right in the midst of the sea
+caught my eye. All the way across the bay and the strait, in a line of
+flame reaching to Krakatoa itself, the bottom of the sea seemed to
+have cracked open so that the subterraneous fires were belching forth.
+On either side the waters were pouring into this gulf with a
+tremendous noise, but the fire was not extinguished.
+
+The hissing roar brought out the people of Anjer in excited crowds. My
+eyes were turned away for a moment as I beckoned to some one, and
+during that moment came a terrible, deafening explosion. It stunned
+me; and when I was able again to turn my eyes toward the bay, I could
+see nothing. The whole scene was shrouded in darkness, from amid which
+came cries and groans, the creaking of breaking beams in the houses,
+and, above all, the roar of the breakers on the shore. The city of
+Anjer, with its sixty thousand people, had been engulfed!
+
+I afterwards found that the water was one hundred feet deep where the
+city of Anjer had been, and that the coast line had moved one and a
+half miles inland. A big island in the strait had been split in two,
+with a wide passage between its parts. An island to the northwest of
+Krakatoa had wholly disappeared. The air was filled with minute
+particles of dust, which after some weeks spread even to Europe and
+America. What the causes of such a tremendous convulsion may have
+been, it is quite impossible accurately to say.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The foregoing narrative was written by J. T. Van Gestel, who was at
+the time residing in the island of Java. Compare his description of
+this event with those of the eruption of Vesuvius and the destruction
+of Pompeii, given in "School Reading by Grades--Fifth Year." Read also
+the younger Pliny's description of the eruption of Vesuvius. It may be
+found in Church and Brodribb's translation of selections from Pliny's
+Letters. Other interesting readings about volcanoes may be found in
+"Volcanoes, Past and Present," by Edward Hull, and in "Volcanoes and
+Earthquakes," by Dr. George Hartwig.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration:
+
+  From the Painting by R. Balaca.      Engraved by Robert Varley.
+
+  Columbus at Barcelona.
+]
+
+THE RETURN OF COLUMBUS.
+
+
+The fame of the discovery made by Columbus had resounded throughout
+the nation, and, as his route lay through several of the finest and
+most populous provinces of Spain, his journey appeared like the
+progress of a sovereign. Wherever he passed, the country poured forth
+its inhabitants, who lined the road and thronged the villages. The
+streets, windows, and balconies of the towns were filled with eager
+spectators, who rent the air with acclamations. His journey was
+continually impeded by the multitude pressing to gain a sight of him
+and of the Indians, who were regarded with as much astonishment as if
+they had been natives of another planet. It was impossible to satisfy
+the craving curiosity which assailed himself and his attendants at
+every stage with innumerable questions; popular rumor, as usual, had
+exaggerated the truth, and had filled the newly found country with all
+kinds of wonders.
+
+About the middle of April Columbus arrived at Barcelona, where every
+preparation had been made to give him a solemn and magnificent
+reception. The beauty and serenity of the weather in that genial
+season and favored climate contributed to give splendor to this
+memorable ceremony. As he drew near the place, many of the more
+youthful courtiers and hidalgos, together with a vast concourse of the
+populace, came forth to meet and welcome him. His entrance into this
+noble city has been compared to one of those triumphs which the Romans
+were accustomed to decree to conquerors. First were paraded the
+Indians, painted according to their savage fashion, and decorated with
+their national ornaments of gold; after these were borne various kinds
+of live parrots, together with stuffed birds and animals of unknown
+species, and rare plants supposed to be of precious qualities; while
+great care was taken to make a conspicuous display of Indian coronets,
+bracelets, and other decorations of gold, which might give an idea of
+the wealth of the newly discovered regions. After this followed
+Columbus on horseback, surrounded by a brilliant cavalcade of Spanish
+chivalry. The streets were almost impassable from the countless
+multitude; the windows and balconies were crowded with the fair; the
+very roofs were covered with spectators. It seemed as if the public
+eye could not be sated with gazing on these trophies of an unknown
+world, or on the remarkable man by whom it had been discovered. There
+was a sublimity in this event that mingled a solemn feeling with the
+public joy. It was looked upon as a vast and signal dispensation of
+Providence in reward for the piety of the monarchs; and the majestic
+and venerable appearance of the discoverer, so different from the
+youth and buoyancy generally expected from roving enterprise, seemed
+in harmony with the grandeur and dignity of his achievement.
+
+To receive him with suitable pomp and distinction, the sovereigns had
+ordered their throne to be placed in public, under a rich canopy of
+brocade of gold, in a vast and splendid saloon. Here the king and
+queen awaited his arrival, seated in state, with the Prince Juan
+beside them, and attended by the dignitaries of their court, and the
+principal nobility of Castile, Valencia, Catalonia, and Aragon, all
+impatient to behold the man who had conferred so incalculable a
+benefit upon the nation. At length Columbus entered the hall,
+surrounded by a brilliant crowd of cavaliers, among whom, says Las
+Casas, he was conspicuous for his stately and commanding person,
+which, with his countenance rendered venerable by his gray hairs, gave
+him the august appearance of a senator of Rome. A modest smile lighted
+up his features, showing that he enjoyed the state and glory in which
+he came; and certainly nothing could be more deeply moving to a mind
+inflamed by noble ambition, and conscious of having greatly deserved,
+than these testimonials of the admiration and gratitude of a nation,
+or rather of a world. As Columbus approached, the sovereigns rose, as
+if receiving a person of the highest rank. Bending his knees, he
+offered to kiss their hands; but there was some hesitation on their
+part to permit this act of homage. Raising him in the most gracious
+manner, they ordered him to seat himself in their presence; a rare
+honor in this proud and punctilious court.
+
+At their request, he now gave an account of the most striking events
+of his voyage, and a description of the islands discovered. He
+displayed specimens of unknown birds and other animals; of rare plants
+of medicinal and aromatic virtues; of native gold in dust, in crude
+masses, or labored into barbaric ornaments; and, above all, the
+natives of these countries, who were objects of intense and
+inexhaustible interest. All these he pronounced mere harbingers of
+greater discoveries yet to be made, which would add realms of
+incalculable wealth to the dominions of their majesties, and whole
+nations of proselytes to the true faith.
+
+When he had finished, the sovereigns sank on their knees, and, raising
+their clasped hands to heaven, their eyes filled with tears of joy and
+gratitude, poured forth thanks and praises to God for so great a
+providence; all present followed their example; a deep and solemn
+enthusiasm pervaded that splendid assembly, and prevented all common
+acclamations of triumph. The anthem _Te Deum laudamus_, chanted by the
+choir of the royal chapel, with the accompaniment of instruments, rose
+in full body of sacred harmony, bearing up as it were the feelings and
+thoughts of the auditors to heaven, "so that" says the venerable Las
+Casas, "it seemed as if in that hour they communicated with celestial
+delights." Such was the solemn and pious manner in which the brilliant
+court of Spain celebrated this sublime event; offering up a grateful
+tribute of melody and praise, and giving glory to God for the
+discovery of another world.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+This description of the reception of the great discoverer after his
+return from his first voyage, is from Washington Irving's famous book
+entitled "The Life and Voyages of Columbus." Other readings on the
+same subject are to be found in Prescott's "Ferdinand and Isabella,"
+Kingston's "Notable Voyagers," Mrs. Bolton's "Famous Voyagers,"
+Saunders' "Story of the Discovery of the New World," and McMaster's
+"School History of the United States."
+
+
+
+
+WHAT THE SUNBEAMS DO.
+
+
+What work do the sunbeams do for us? They do two things,--they give us
+light and heat. It is by means of them alone that we see anything.
+
+When the room was dark you could not distinguish the table, the chairs,
+or even the walls of the room. Why? Because they had no light waves to
+send to your eye. But as the sunbeams began to pour in at the window,
+the waves played upon the things in the room; and when they hit them
+they bounded off them back to your eye, as a wave of the sea bounds back
+from a rock, and strikes against a passing boat. Then, when they fell
+upon your eye, they entered it, and excited the retina and the nerves;
+and the image of the chair or the table was carried to your brain.
+
+Some substances send back hardly any waves of light, but let them all
+pass through them. A pane of clear glass, for instance, lets nearly
+all the light waves pass through it; and therefore you often can not
+see the glass, because no light messengers come back to you from it.
+Thus people have sometimes walked up against a glass door, and broken
+it, not seeing it was there.
+
+Those substances are transparent, which, for some reason unknown to
+us, allow the ether waves to pass through them. In clear glass, all
+the light waves pass through; while in a white wall the larger part of
+the rays are reflected back to the eye. Into polished shining metal
+the waves hardly enter at all, but are thrown back from the surface;
+and so a steel knife or a silver spoon is very bright, and is clearly
+seen. Quicksilver is put at the back of looking-glasses because it
+reflects so many waves.
+
+The reflected light waves not only make us see things, but they make
+us see them in different colors. Imagine a sunbeam playing on a leaf:
+part of its waves bound straight back from it to our eye, and make us
+see the surface of the leaf; but the rest go right into the leaf
+itself, and there some of them are used up and kept prisoners. The
+red, orange, yellow, blue, indigo, and violet waves are all useful to
+the leaf, and it does not let them go again. But it can not absorb the
+green waves, and so it throws them back; and they travel to your eye,
+and make you see a green color. So, when you say a leaf is green, you
+mean that the leaf does not want the green waves of the sunbeam, but
+sends them back to you. In the same way the scarlet geranium rejects
+the red waves; a white tablecloth sends back nearly the whole of the
+waves, and a black coat scarcely any.
+
+Is it not strange that there is really no such thing as color in the
+leaf, the table, the coat, or the geranium; that we see them of
+different colors because they send back only certain-colored waves to
+our eye?
+
+So far we have spoken only of light; but hold your hand in the sun,
+and feel the heat of the sunbeams, and then consider if the waves of
+heat do not do work also. There are many waves in a sunbeam which move
+too slowly to make us see light when they hit our eye; but we can feel
+them as heat, though we cannot see them as light.
+
+The simplest way of feeling heat waves is to hold a warm flatiron near
+your face. You know that no light comes from it, yet you can feel the
+heat waves beating violently against your face.
+
+Now, there are many of these dark heat rays in a sunbeam, and it is
+they that do most of the work in the world. It is the heat waves that
+make the air hot and light, and so cause it to rise, and make winds
+and air currents; and these again give rise to ocean currents. It is
+these dark rays, again, that strike upon the land, and give it the
+warmth which enables plants to grow. It is they also that keep up the
+warmth in our own bodies, both by coming to us directly from the sun,
+and also in a very roundabout way through plants.
+
+Coal is made of plants, and the heat it gives out is the heat these
+plants once took in. Think how much work is done by burning coal. Not
+only are our houses warmed by coal fires and lighted by coal gas, but
+our steam engines work entirely by water which has been turned into
+steam by the heat of coal fires; and our steamboats travel all over
+the world by means of the same power.
+
+In the same way the oil of our lamps comes either from olives, which
+grow on trees, or from coal and the remains of plants in the earth.
+Even our tallow candles are made of mutton fat, and sheep eat grass;
+and so, turn which way we will, we find that the light and heat on our
+earth, whether it comes from fires, or candles, or lamps, or gas, is
+equally the work of those waves of ether coming from the sun, which
+make what we call a sunbeam.
+
+  --_From "The Fairy Land of Science," by Arabella B. Buckley._
+
+
+
+
+HORATIUS AT THE BRIDGE.
+
+
+Tarquin the Proud was the seventh and last king of Rome. Such were his
+acts of tyranny, and such the crimes of his son, "the false Sextus,"
+that the people rose in rebellion, and, in the year 509 B.C., drove
+him and his family away from Rome and declared that they would have no
+more kings. The Tarquins took refuge among the Etruscans, whose
+country bordered Rome on the north. They made a treaty of friendship
+with Porsena, the king of Clusium, and induced him to raise a large
+army for the purpose of forcing the Romans to allow them to return to
+power. A battle was fought, and the Romans being defeated were obliged
+to flee across the wooden bridge which spanned the Tiber at Rome. To
+prevent Porsena from entering the city, the Roman Consul ordered that
+the bridge should be destroyed.
+
+[Illustration: Thomas Babington Macaulay.]
+
+The story of the manner in which this was done is told by Lord
+Macaulay in his "Lays of Ancient Rome," a collection of heroic ballads
+relating to the times of the kings and the early consuls. The author
+speaks, not in his own person, but in the person of an ancient
+minstrel who is supposed to have lived about one hundred years after
+the event, and who therefore knew only what a Roman citizen of that
+time could have known.
+
+    But the Consul's brow was sad,
+      And the Consul's speech was low,
+    And darkly looked he at the wall,
+      And darkly at the foe.
+    "Their van will be upon us
+      Before the bridge goes down;
+    And if they once may win the bridge,
+      What hope to save the town?"
+
+    Then out spake brave Horatius,
+      The captain of the gate:
+    "To every man upon this Earth
+      Death cometh soon or late;
+    And how can man die better
+      Than facing fearful odds,
+    For the ashes of his fathers,
+      And the temples of his gods?
+
+    "Hew down the bridge, Sir Consul,
+      With all the speed ye may;
+    I, with two more to help me,
+      Will hold the foe in play.
+    In yon strait path a thousand
+      May well be stopped by three;
+    Now, who will stand on either hand,
+      And keep the bridge with me?"
+
+    Then out spake Spurius Lartius,--
+      A Ramnian proud was he:
+    "Lo, I will stand at thy right hand,
+      And keep the bridge with thee."
+    And out spake strong Herminius,--
+      Of Titian blood was he:
+    "I will abide on thy left side,
+      And keep the bridge with thee."
+
+    "Horatius," quoth the Consul,
+      "As thou say'st, so let it be."
+    And straight against that great array
+      Forth went the dauntless Three.
+
+        Meanwhile the Tuscan army,
+          Right glorious to behold,
+    Came flashing back the noonday light,
+    Rank behind rank, like surges bright
+          Of a broad sea of gold.
+    Four hundred trumpets sounded
+          A peal of warlike glee,
+    As that great host, with measured tread,
+    And spears advanced, and ensigns spread,
+    Rolled slowly towards the bridge's head,
+          Where stood the dauntless Three.
+
+      The Three stood calm and silent,
+        And looked upon the foes,
+      And a great shout of laughter
+        From all the vanguard rose.
+      And forth three chiefs came spurring
+        Before that deep array;
+    To earth they sprang, their swords they drew
+    And lifted high their shields, and flew
+        To win the narrow way.
+
+    Annus from green Tifernum,
+      Lord of the Hill of Vines;
+    And Seius, whose eight hundred slaves
+      Sicken in Ilva's mines;
+    And Picus, long to Clusium
+      Vassal in peace and war,
+    Who led to fight his Umbrian powers
+    From that gray crag where, girt with towers,
+    The fortress of Nequinum lowers
+      O'er the pale waves of Nar.
+
+    Stout Lartius hurled down Annus
+      Into the stream beneath:
+    Herminius struck at Seius,
+      And clove him to the teeth:
+    At Picus brave Horatius
+      Darted one fiery thrust;
+    And the proud Umbrian's gilded arms
+      Clashed in the bloody dust.
+
+    And now no sound of laughter
+      Was heard among the foes.
+    A wild and wrathful clamor
+      From all the vanguard rose.
+    Six spears' length from the entrance
+      Halted that mighty mass,
+    And for a space no man came forth
+      To win the narrow pass.
+
+    But hark! the cry is Astur:
+      And lo! the ranks divide;
+    And the great Lord of Luna
+      Comes with his stately stride.
+    Upon his ample shoulders
+      Clangs loud the fourfold shield,
+    And in his hand he shakes the brand
+      Which none but he can wield.
+
+    He smiled on those bold Romans
+      A smile serene and high;
+    He eyed the flinching Tuscans,
+      And scorn was in his eye.
+    Quoth he, "The she-wolf's litter
+      Stand savagely at bay:
+    But will ye dare to follow,
+      If Astur clears the way?"
+
+    Then whirling up his broadsword
+      With both hands to the height,
+    He rushed against Horatius,
+      And smote with all his might.
+    With shield and blade Horatius
+      Right deftly turned the blow.
+    The blow, though turned, came yet too nigh;
+    It missed his helm, but gashed his thigh:
+    The Tuscans raised a joyful cry
+      To see the red blood flow.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+  Drawn by A. I. Keller.      Engraved by Robert Varley.
+
+  The Defense of the Bridge.
+]
+
+    He reeled, and on Herminius
+      He leaned one breathing space;
+    Then, like a wild cat mad with wounds,
+      Sprang right at Astur's face.
+    Through teeth and skull and helmet,
+      So fierce a thrust he sped,
+    The good sword stood a handbreadth out
+      Behind the Tuscan's head!
+
+    And the great Lord of Luna
+      Fell at that deadly stroke,
+    As falls on Mount Alvernus
+      A thunder-smitten oak.
+    Far o'er the crashing forest
+      The giant arms lie spread;
+    And the pale augurs, muttering low,
+      Gaze on the blasted head.
+
+    Then all Etruria's noblest
+      Felt their hearts sink to see
+    On the earth the bloody corpses,
+      In the path the dauntless Three:
+    And, from the ghastly entrance
+      Where those bold Romans stood,
+    All shrank, like boys who unaware,
+    Ranging the woods to start a hare,
+    Come to the mouth of the dark lair,
+    Where, growling low, a fierce old bear
+      Lies amidst bones and blood.
+
+    Yet one man for one moment
+      Stood out before the crowd;
+    Well known was he to all the Three,
+      And they gave him greeting loud:
+    "Now welcome, welcome, Sextus!
+      Now welcome to thy home!
+    Why dost thou stay and turn away?
+      Here lies the road to Rome."
+
+    Thrice looked he at the city;
+      Thrice looked he at the dead;
+    And thrice came on in fury,
+      And thrice turned back in dread:
+    And, white with fear and hatred,
+      Scowled at the narrow way
+    Where, wallowing in a pool of blood,
+      The bravest Tuscans lay.
+
+    But meanwhile ax and lever
+      Have manfully been plied,
+    And now the bridge hangs tottering
+      Above the boiling tide.
+    "Come back, come back, Horatius!"
+      Loud cried the Fathers all.
+    "Back, Lartius! Back, Herminius!
+      Back, ere the ruin fall!"
+
+    Back darted Spurius Lartius;
+      Herminius darted back;
+    And, as they passed, beneath their feet
+      They felt the timbers crack.
+    But when they turned their faces,
+      And on the farther shore
+    Saw brave Horatius stand alone,
+      They would have crossed once more.
+
+    But with a crash like thunder
+      Fell every loosened beam,
+    And, like a dam, the mighty wreck
+      Lay right athwart the stream:
+    And a long shout of triumph
+      Rose from the walls of Rome,
+    As to the highest turret tops
+      Was splashed the yellow-foam.
+
+    Alone stood brave Horatius,
+      But constant still in mind;
+    Thrice thirty thousand foes before,
+      And the broad flood behind.
+    "Down with him!" cried false Sextus,
+      With a smile on his pale face.
+    "Now, yield thee!" cried Lars Porsena,
+      "Now yield thee to our grace."
+
+    Round turned he, as not deigning
+      Those craven ranks to see;
+    Naught spake he to Lars Porsena,
+      To Sextus naught spake he;
+    But he saw on Palatinus
+      The white porch of his home;
+    And he spake to the noble river
+      That rolls by the tower of Rome:
+
+    "O, Tiber! Father Tiber!
+      To whom the Romans pray,
+    A Roman's life, a Roman's arms,
+      Take thou in charge this day!"
+    So he spake, and speaking sheathed
+      The good sword by his side,
+    And with his harness on his back,
+      Plunged headlong in the tide.
+
+    No sound of joy or sorrow
+      Was heard from either bank;
+    But friends and foes, in dumb surprise,
+    With parted lips and straining eyes,
+      Stood gazing where he sank:
+    And when above the surges
+      They saw his crest appear,
+    All Rome sent forth a rapturous cry,
+    And even the ranks of Tuscany
+      Could scarce forbear to cheer.
+
+    But fiercely ran the current,
+      Swollen high by months of rain:
+    And fast his blood was flowing;
+      And he was sore in pain,
+    And heavy with his armor,
+      And spent with changing blows:
+    And oft they thought him sinking,
+      But still again he rose.
+
+    "Curse on him!" quoth false Sextus,
+      "Will not the villain drown?
+    But for this stay, ere close of day
+      We should have sacked the town!"--
+    "Heaven help him!" quoth Lars Porsena,
+      "And bring him safe to shore;
+    For such a gallant feat of arms
+      Was never seen before."
+
+    And now he feels the bottom;
+      Now on dry earth he stands;
+    Now round him throng the Fathers,
+      To press his gory hands;
+    And now with shouts and clapping,
+      And noise of weeping loud,
+    He enters through the River Gate,
+      Borne by the joyous crowd.
+
+    They gave him of the corn land,
+      That was of public right,
+    As much as two strong oxen
+      Could plow from morn till night;
+    And they made a molten image,
+      And set it up on high,
+    And there it stands unto this day
+      To witness if I lie.
+
+    And still his name sounds stirring
+      Unto the men of Rome,
+    As the trumpet-blast that cries to them
+      To charge the Volscians home.
+    And mothers pray to Juno
+      For boys with hearts as bold
+    As his who kept the bridge so well
+      In the brave days of old.
+
+    And in the nights of winter
+      When the cold north winds blow,
+    And the long howling of the wolves
+      Is heard amidst the snow;
+    When round the lonely cottage
+      Roars loud the tempest's din,
+    And the good logs of Algidus
+      Roar louder yet within;
+
+    When the oldest cask is opened,
+      And the largest lamp is lit;
+    When the chestnuts glow in the embers,
+      And the kid turns on the spit;
+    When young and old in circle
+      Around the firebrands close;
+    When the girls are weaving baskets,
+      And the lads are shaping bows;
+
+    When the goodman mends his armor,
+      And trims his helmet's plume;
+    When the goodwife's shuttle merrily
+      Goes flashing through the loom;
+    With weeping and with laughter
+      Still is the story told,
+    How well Horatius kept the bridge
+      In the brave days of old.
+
+
+
+
+HOW SIR FRANCIS DRAKE SAILED ROUND THE WORLD.
+
+
+The ships which the Spaniards used on the Pacific were usually built
+on the spot. But Magellan was known to have gone by the Horn, and
+where a Portuguese could go an Englishman could go. Drake proposed to
+try. The vessels in which he was preparing to tempt fortune seem
+preposterously small. The "Pelican," or "Golden Hind," which belonged
+to Drake himself, was but 120 tons, at best no larger than a modern
+racing yawl, though perhaps no racing yawl was ever better equipped
+for the work which she had to do. The next, the "Elizabeth" of London,
+was said to be eighty tons; a small pinnace of twelve tons, in which
+we should hardly risk a summer cruise round the Land's End, with two
+sloops or frigates of fifty and thirty tons, made the rest. The
+"Elizabeth" was commanded by Captain Winter, a queen's officer, and
+perhaps a son of the old admiral.
+
+[Illustration: Sir Francis Drake.]
+
+We may credit Drake with knowing what he was about. He and his
+comrades were carrying their lives in their hands. If they were taken
+they would be inevitably hanged. Their safety depended on speed of
+sailing, and specially on the power of working fast to windward,
+which the heavy square-rigged ships could not do. The crews all told
+were one hundred and sixty men and boys.
+
+On November 15th, 1577, the "Pelican" and her consorts sailed out of
+Plymouth Sound. The elements frowned on their start. On the second day
+they were caught in a winter gale. The "Pelican" sprung her mainmast,
+and they put back to refit and repair. Before the middle of December
+all was again in order. The weather mended, and with a fair wind and
+smooth water they made a fast run down the coast to the Cape de Verde
+Islands. There taking up the northeast Trades, they struck across the
+Atlantic. They passed the mouth of the Plate River, finding to their
+astonishment fresh water at the ship's side in fifty-four fathoms. On
+June 20th they reached Port St. Julian on the coast of Patagonia.
+
+It was now midwinter, the stormiest season of the year, and they
+remained for six weeks in Port St. Julian. They burnt the twelve-ton
+pinnace, as too small for the work they had now before them, and there
+remained only the "Pelican," the "Elizabeth," and the "Marigold." In
+cold, wild weather they weighed at last, and on August 20th made the
+opening of Magellan's Straits. The passage is seventy miles long,
+tortuous and dangerous. They had no charts. Icy mountains overhung
+them on either side; heavy snow fell below. They brought up
+occasionally at an island to rest the men, and let them kill a few
+seals and penguins to give them fresh food. Everything they saw was
+new, wild, and wonderful.
+
+Having to feel their way, they were three weeks in getting through.
+They had counted on reaching the Pacific that the worst of their work
+was over, and that they could run north at once into warmer and calmer
+latitudes. The peaceful ocean, when they entered it, proved the
+stormiest they had ever sailed on. A fierce westerly gale drove them
+six hundred miles to the southeast outside the Horn. The "Marigold"
+went down in the tremendous encounter. Captain Winter in the
+"Elizabeth" made his way back into Magellan's Straits. There he lay
+for three weeks, lighting fires nightly to show Drake where he was;
+but no Drake appeared. They had agreed, if separated, to meet on the
+coast in the latitude of Valparaiso; but Winter was chicken-hearted,
+and sore, we are told, "against the mariners' will," when the three
+weeks were out, he sailed away for England, where he reported that all
+the ships were lost but the "Pelican," and that the "Pelican" was
+probably lost too.
+
+Drake had believed better of Winter, and had not expected to be so
+deserted. He had himself taken refuge among the islands which form the
+Cape, waiting for the spring and milder weather. He used the time in
+making surveys, and observing the habits of the native Patagonians.
+The days lengthened, and the sea smoothed at last. He then sailed for
+Valparaiso, hoping to meet Winter there, as he had arranged. At
+Valparaiso there was no Winter, but there was in the port instead a
+great galleon just come in from Peru. The galleon's crew took him for
+a Spaniard, hoisted their colors, and beat their drums. The "Pelican"
+shot alongside. The English sailors in high spirits leaped on board.
+No life was taken; Drake never hurt man if he could help it. The crew
+jumped overboard, and swam ashore. The prize was examined. Four
+hundred pounds' weight of gold was found in her, besides other plunder.
+
+Drake went on next to Tarapaca, where silver from the Andes mines was
+shipped for Panama. At Tarapaca there was the same unconsciousness of
+danger. The silver bars lay piled on the quay, the muleteers who had
+brought them were sleeping peacefully in the sunshine at their side.
+The muleteers were left to their slumbers. The bars were lifted into
+the English boats. A train of mules or llamas came in at that moment
+with a second load as rich as the first. This, too, went into the
+"Pelican's" hold. The bullion taken at Tarapaca was worth nearly half
+a million ducats.
+
+Still there was no news of Winter. Drake began to realize that he was
+now entirely alone, and had only himself and his own crew to depend
+on. There was nothing to do but to go through with it, danger adding
+to the interest. Arica was the next point visited. Half a hundred
+blocks of silver were picked up at Arica. After Arica came Lima, the
+chief depot of all, where the grandest haul was looked for. At Lima,
+alas! they were just too late. Twelve great hulks lay anchored there.
+The sails were unbent, the men were ashore. They contained nothing but
+some chests of reels and a few bales of silk and linen. But a
+thirteenth, called the "Cacafuego," had sailed a few days before for
+the Isthmus with the whole produce of the Lima mines for the season.
+Her ballast was silver, her cargo gold and emeralds and rubies.
+
+Drake deliberately cut the cables of the ships in the roads, that they
+might drive ashore and be unable to follow him. The "Pelican" spread her
+wings, and sped away in pursuit. He would know the "Cacafuego," so he
+learned at Lima, by the peculiar cut of her sails. The first man who
+caught sight of her was promised a gold chain for his reward. A sail was
+seen on the second day. It was not the chase, but it was worth stopping
+for. Eighty pounds' weight of gold was found, and a great gold crucifix,
+set with emeralds said to be as large as pigeons' eggs.
+
+We learn from the Spanish accounts that the Viceroy of Lima, as soon
+as he recovered from his astonishment, dispatched ships in pursuit.
+They came up with the last plundered vessel, heard terrible tales of
+the rovers' strength, and went back for a larger force. The "Pelican"
+meanwhile went along upon her course for eight hundred miles. At
+length, off Quito, and close under the shore, the "Cacafuego's"
+peculiar sails were sighted, and the gold chain was claimed. There she
+was, going lazily along a few miles ahead. Care was needed in
+approaching her. If she guessed the "Pelican's" character she would
+run in upon the land, and they would lose her. It was afternoon. The
+sun was still above the horizon, and Drake meant to wait till night,
+when the breeze would be off the shore, as in the tropics it always is.
+
+The "Pelican" sailed two feet to the "Cacafuego's" one. Drake filled his
+empty wine skins with water and trailed them astern to stop his way. The
+chase supposed that she was followed by some heavily-loaded trader,
+and, wishing for company on a lonely voyage, she slackened sail, and
+waited for him to come up. At length the sun went down into the ocean,
+the rosy light faded from off the snows of the Andes; and when both
+ships had become invisible from the shore, the skins were hauled in, the
+night wind rose, and the water began to ripple under the "Pelican's"
+bows. The "Cacafuego" was swiftly overtaken, and when within a cable's
+length a voice hailed her to put her head into the wind. The Spanish
+commander, not understanding so strange an order, held on his course. A
+broadside brought down his mainyard, and a flight of arrows rattled on
+his deck. He was himself wounded. In a few minutes he was a prisoner,
+and the ship and her precious freight were in the corsair's power. The
+wreck was cut away; the ship was cleared; a prize crew was put on board.
+Both vessels turned their heads to the sea. At daybreak no land was to
+be seen, and the examination of the prize began. The full value was
+never acknowledged. The invoice, if there was one, was destroyed. The
+accurate figures were known only to Drake and Queen Elizabeth. A
+published schedule acknowledged to twenty tons of silver bullion,
+thirteen chests of silver coins, and a hundredweight of gold, but there
+were gold nuggets beside in indefinite quantity, and "a great store" of
+pearls, emeralds, and diamonds.
+
+Drake, we are told, was greatly satisfied. He thought it prudent to
+stay in the neighborhood no longer than necessary. He went north with
+all sail set, taking his prize along with him. The master, San Juan de
+Anton, was removed on board the "Pelican," to have his wound attended
+to. He remained as Drake's guest for a week, and sent in a report of
+what he observed to the Spanish government. One at least of Drake's
+party spoke excellent Spanish. This person took San Juan over the
+ship. She showed signs, San Juan said, of rough service, but was still
+in fine condition, with ample arms, spare rope, mattocks, carpenters'
+tools of all descriptions. There were eighty-five men on board all
+told, fifty of them men of war, the rest young fellows, ship boys, and
+the like. Drake himself was treated with great reverence; a sentinel
+stood always at his cabin door. He dined alone with music.
+
+[Illustration: James Anthony Froude.]
+
+The "Pelican" met with many other adventures, and at last sailed for
+home. Sweeping in fine clear weather round the Cape of Good Hope, she
+touched once for water at Sierra Leone, and finally sailed in triumph
+into Plymouth Harbor.
+
+English sympathy with an extraordinary exploit is always irresistible.
+Shouts of applause rang through the country; and Elizabeth, every bit
+of her an English-woman, felt with her subjects. She sent for Drake to
+London, made him tell his story over and over again, and was never
+weary of listening to him.
+
+  --_From "English Seamen in the Sixteenth Century,"
+  by James Anthony Froude._
+
+
+
+
+A BRAVE RESCUE AND A ROUGH RIDE.
+
+
+It happened upon a November evening (when I was about fifteen years
+old, and outgrowing my strength very rapidly, my sister Annie being
+turned thirteen, and a deal of rain having fallen, and all the troughs
+in the yard being flooded, and the bark from the wood ricks washed
+down the gutter, and even our watershoot growing brown) that the ducks
+in the barnyard made a terrible quacking, instead of marching off to
+their pen, one behind another. Thereupon Annie and I ran out to see
+what might be the sense of it. There were thirteen ducks, and ten
+lily-white (as the fashion of ducks then was), not, I mean,
+twenty-three in all, but ten white and three brown-striped ones; and
+without being nice about their color, they all quacked very movingly.
+They pushed their gold-colored bills here and there (yet dirty, as
+gold is apt to be), and they jumped on the triangles of their feet,
+and sounded out of their nostrils; and some of the overexcited ones
+ran along low on the ground, quacking grievously, with their bills
+snapping and bending, and the roof of their mouths exhibited.
+
+Annie began to cry "dilly, dilly, einy, einy, ducksey," according to
+the burden of a tune they seem to have accepted as the national ducks'
+anthem; but instead of being soothed by it, they only quacked three
+times as hard, and ran round till we were giddy. And then they shook
+their tails all together, and looked grave, and went round and round
+again.
+
+Now, I am uncommonly fond of ducks, whether roystering, roosting, or
+roasted; and it is a fine sight to behold them walk, paddling one after
+another, with their toes out, like soldiers drilling, and their little
+eyes cocked all ways at once, and the way that they dib with their
+bills, and dabble, and throw up their heads and enjoy something, and
+then tell the others about it. Therefore, I knew at once, by the way
+they were carrying on, that there must be something or other gone wholly
+amiss in the duck world. Sister Annie perceived it, too, but with a
+greater quickness; for she counted them like a good duck wife, and could
+only tell thirteen of them, when she knew there ought to be fourteen.
+
+And so we began to search about, and the ducks ran to lead us aright,
+having come that far to fetch us; and when we got down to the foot of
+the courtyard where the two great ash trees stand by the side of the
+little water, we found good reason for the urgence and melancholy of
+the duck birds. Lo! the old white drake, the father of all, a bird of
+high manners and chivalry, always the last to help himself from the
+pan of barley meal, and the first to show fight to a dog or cock
+intruding upon his family, this fine fellow, and a pillar of the
+state, was now in a sad predicament, yet quacking very stoutly.
+
+For the brook, wherewith he had been familiar from his callow
+childhood, and wherein he was wont to quest for water newts, and
+tadpoles, and caddice worms, and other game, this brook, which
+afforded him very often scanty space to dabble in, and sometimes
+starved the cresses, was now coming down in a great brown flood, as if
+the banks never belonged to it. The foaming of it, and the noise, and
+the cresting of the corners, and the up and down, like the wave of the
+sea, were enough to frighten any duck, though bred upon stormy waters,
+which our ducks never had been.
+
+There is always a hurdle six feet long and four and a half in depth,
+swung by a chain at either end from an oak laid across the channel.
+And the use of this hurdle is to keep our kine at milking time from
+straying away there drinking (for in truth they are very dainty) and
+to fence strange cattle, or Farmer Snowe's horses, from coming along
+the bed of the brook unknown, to steal our substance.
+
+But now this hurdle, which hung in the summer a foot above the
+trickle, would have been dipped more than two feet deep but for the
+power against it. For the torrent came down so vehemently that the
+chains in full stretch were creaking, and the hurdle buffeted almost
+flat, and thatched (so to say), with the drift stuff, was going seesaw
+with a sulky splash on the dirty red comb of the waters.
+
+But saddest to see was between two bars, where a fog was of rushes,
+and flood wood, and wild celery, and dead crow's-foot. For there was
+our venerable mallard jammed in by the joint of his shoulder, speaking
+aloud as he rose and fell, with his topknot full of water, unable to
+comprehend it, with his tail washed far away from him, but often
+compelled to be silent, being ducked very harshly against his will by
+the choking fall to of the hurdle.
+
+For a moment I could not help laughing; because, being borne high up
+and dry by a tumult of the torrent, he gave me a look from his one
+little eye (having lost one in fight with a turkey cock), a gaze of
+appealing sorrow, and then a loud quack to second it. But the quack
+came out of time, I suppose, for his throat got filled with water, as
+the hurdle carried him back again. And then there was scarcely the
+screw of his tail to be seen until he swung up again, and left small
+doubt, by the way he spluttered, and failed to quack, and hung down
+his poor crest, but what he must drown in another minute, and frogs
+triumph over his body.
+
+Annie was crying and wringing her hands, and I was about to rush into
+the water, although I liked not the look of it, but hoped to hold on
+by the hurdle, when a man on horseback came suddenly round the corner
+of the great ash hedge on the other side of the stream, and his
+horse's feet were in the water.
+
+"Ho, there," he cried, "get thee back, boy! The flood will carry thee
+down like a straw. I will do it for thee, and no trouble."
+
+With that he leaned forward, and spoke to his mare--she was just of
+the tint of a strawberry, a young thing, very beautiful--and she
+arched up her neck, as misliking the job; yet, trusting him, would
+attempt it. She entered the flood, with her dainty fore legs sloped
+further and further in front of her, and her delicate ears pricked
+forward, and the size of her great eyes increasing; but he kept her
+straight in the turbid rush, by the pressure of his knee on her.
+
+Then she looked back, and wondered at him, as the force of the torrent
+grew stronger, but he bade her go on; and on she went, and it foamed
+up over her shoulders; and she tossed up her lip and scorned it, for
+now her courage was waking.
+
+Then, as the rush of it swept her away, and she struck with her
+forefeet down the stream, he leaned from his saddle in a manner which
+I never could have thought possible, and caught up old Tom with his
+left hand, and set him between his hostlers, and smiled at his faint
+quack of gratitude. In a moment all three were carried down stream,
+and the rider lay flat on his horse, and tossed the hurdle clear from
+him, and made for the bend of smooth water.
+
+They landed some thirty or forty yards lower, in the midst of our
+kitchen garden, where the winter cabbage was; but though Annie and I
+crept in through the hedge, and were full of our thanks and admiring
+him, he would answer us never a word until he had spoken in full to
+the mare, as if explaining the whole to her.
+
+"Sweetheart, I know thou couldst have leaped it," he said, as he
+patted her cheek, being on the ground by this time, and she was
+nudging up to him, with the water pattering off from her; "but I had
+good reason, Winnie dear, for making thee go through it."
+
+She answered him kindly with her soft eyes, and sniffed at him very
+lovingly, and they understood one another. Then he took from his
+waistcoat two peppercorns, and made the old drake swallow them, and
+tried him softly on his legs, where the leading gap in the hedge was.
+
+Old Tom stood up quite bravely, and clapped his wings, and shook off
+the wet from his tail feathers; and then away into the courtyard, and
+his family gathered around him, and they all made a noise in their
+throats, and stood up, and put their bills together, to thank God for
+his great deliverance.
+
+Having taken all this trouble, and watched the end of that adventure,
+the gentleman turned round to us with a pleasant smile on his face, as
+if he were lightly amused with himself; and we came up and looked at
+him. He was rather short, about John Fry's height, or maybe a little
+taller, but very strongly built and springy, as his gait at every step
+showed plainly, although his legs were bowed with much riding, and he
+looked as if he lived on horseback.
+
+To a boy like me he seemed very old, being over twenty, and well found
+in beard; but he was not more than four and twenty, fresh and ruddy
+looking, with a short nose and keen blue eyes, and a merry, waggish
+jerk about him, as if the world were not in earnest. Yet he had a
+sharp, stern way, like the crack of a pistol, if anything misliked
+him; and we knew (for children see such things) that it was safer to
+tickle than buffet him.
+
+"Well, young ones, what be gaping at?" He gave pretty Annie a chuck on
+the chin, and took me all in without winking.
+
+"Your mare," said I, standing stoutly up, being a tall boy now; "I
+never saw such a beauty, sir. Will you let me have a ride on her?"
+
+"Think thou couldst ride her, lad? She will have no burden but mine.
+Thou couldst never ride her! Tut! I would be loath to kill thee."
+
+"Ride her!" I cried, with the bravest scorn, for she looked so kind and
+gentle; "there never was horse upon Exmoor but I could tackle in half an
+hour. Only I never ride upon saddle. Take those leathers off of her."
+
+He looked at me with a dry little whistle, and thrust his hands into
+his pockets, and so grinned that I could not stand it. And Annie laid
+hold of me in such a way that I was almost mad with her. And he
+laughed, and approved her for doing so. And the worst of all was--he
+said nothing.
+
+"Get away, Annie. Do you think I'm a fool, good sir? Only trust me
+with her, and I will not override her."
+
+"For that I will go bail, my son. She is liker to override thee. But
+the ground is soft to fall upon, after all this rain. Now come out
+into the yard, young man, for the sake of your mother's cabbages. And
+the mellow straw bed will be softer for thee, since pride must have
+its fall. I am thy mother's cousin, boy, and I'm going up to the
+house. Tom Faggus is my name, as everybody knows, and this is my young
+mare, Winnie."
+
+What a fool I must have been not to know it at once! Tom Faggus, the
+great highwayman, and his young blood mare, the strawberry. Already
+her fame was noised abroad, nearly as much as her master's, and my
+longing to ride her grew tenfold, but fear came at the back of it. Not
+that I had the smallest fear of what the mare could do to me, by fair
+play and horse trickery, but that the glory of sitting upon her seemed
+to be too great for me; especially as there were rumors abroad that
+she was not a mare, after all, but a witch.
+
+However, she looked like a filly all over, and wonderfully beautiful
+with her supple stride, and soft slope of shoulder, and glossy coat
+beaded with water, and prominent eyes full of docile fire. Whether this
+came from her Eastern blood of the Arabs newly imported, and whether the
+cream color, mixed with our bay, led to that bright strawberry tint, is
+certainly more than I can decide, being chiefly acquaint with farm
+horses. And these are of any color and form; you never can count what
+they will be, and are lucky to get four legs to them.
+
+Mr. Faggus gave his mare a wink, and she walked demurely after him, a
+bright young thing, flowing over with life, yet dropping her soul to a
+higher one, and led by love to anything, as the manner is of such
+creatures, when they know what is the best for them. Then Winnie trod
+lightly upon the straw, because it had soft muck under it, and her
+delicate feet came back again.
+
+"Up for it still, boy, be ye?" Tom Faggus stopped, and the mare
+stopped there; and they looked at me provokingly.
+
+"Is she able to leap, sir? There is good take-off on this side of the
+brook."
+
+Mr. Faggus laughed very quietly, turning round to Winnie so that she
+might enter into it. And she, for her part, seemed to know exactly
+where the fun lay.
+
+"Good tumble off, you mean, my boy. Well, there can be small harm to
+thee. I am akin to thy family, and know the substance of their skulls."
+
+"Let me get up," said I, waxing wroth, for reasons I can not tell
+you, because they are too manifold; "take off your saddlebag things. I
+will try not to squeeze her ribs in, unless she plays nonsense with me."
+
+Then Mr. Faggus was up on his mettle at this proud speech of mine, and
+John Fry was running up all the while, and Bill Dadds, and half a
+dozen others. Tom Faggus gave one glance around, and then dropped all
+regard for me. The high repute of his mare was at stake, and what was
+my life compared to it? Through my defiance, and stupid ways, here was
+I in a duello, and my legs not come to their strength yet, and my arms
+as limp as herring.
+
+Something of this occurred to him, even in his wrath with me, for he
+spoke very softly to the filly, who now could scarce subdue herself;
+but she drew in her nostrils, and breathed to his breath, and did all
+she could to answer him.
+
+"Not too hard, my dear," he said; "let him gently down on the mixen.
+That will be quite enough." Then he turned the saddle off, and I was
+up in a moment. She began at first so easily, and pricked her ears so
+lovingly, and minced about as if pleased to find so light a weight
+upon her, that I thought she knew I could ride a little, and feared to
+show any capers. "Gee wugg, Polly!" cried I, for all the men were now
+looking on, being then at the leaving-off time; "gee wugg, Polly, and
+show what thou be'est made of." With that I plugged my heels into her,
+and Billy Dadds flung his hat up.
+
+Nevertheless, she outraged not, though her eyes were frightening Annie,
+and John Fry took a pick to keep him safe; but she curbed to and fro
+with her strong forearms rising like springs ingathered, waiting and
+quivering grievously, and beginning to sweat about it. Then her master
+gave a shrill, clear whistle, when her ears were bent toward him, and I
+felt her form beneath me gathering up like whalebone, and her hind legs
+coming under her, and I knew that I was in for it.
+
+First she reared upright in the air, and struck me full on the nose
+with her comb, till I bled worse than Robin Snell made me; and then
+down with her fore feet deep in the straw, and with her hind feet
+going to heaven. Finding me stick to her still like wax, for my mettle
+was up as hers was, away she flew with me swifter than ever I went
+before, or since, I trow.
+
+She drove full head at the cob wall--"Oh, Jack, slip off!" screamed
+Annie--then she turned like light, when I thought to crush her, and
+ground my left knee against it. "Dear me!" I cried, for my breeches were
+broken, and short words went the farthest--"if you kill me, you shall
+die with me." Then she took the courtyard gate at a leap, knocking my
+words between my teeth, and then right over a quickset hedge, as if the
+sky were a breath to her; and away for the water meadows, while I lay on
+her neck like a child and wished I had never been born.
+
+Straight away, all in the front of the wind, and scattering clouds
+around her, all I know of the speed we made was the frightful flash of
+her shoulders, and her mane like trees in a tempest. I felt the earth
+under us rushing away, and the air left far behind us, and my breath
+came and went, and I prayed to God, and was sorry to be so late of it.
+
+All the long swift while, without power of thought, I clung to her
+crest and shoulders, and was proud of holding on so long, though sure
+of being beaten. Then in her fury at feeling me still, she rushed at
+another device for it, and leaped the wide water-trough sideways
+across, to and fro, till no breath was left in me. The hazel boughs
+took me too hard in the face, and the tall dog-briers got hold of me,
+and the ache of my back was like crimping a fish, till I longed to
+give it up, thoroughly beaten, and lie there and die in the cresses.
+
+But there came a shrill whistle from up the home hill, where the
+people had hurried to watch us, and the mare stopped as if with a
+bullet, then set off for home with the speed of a swallow, and going
+as smoothly and silently. I never had dreamed of such delicate motion,
+fluent, and graceful, and ambient, soft as the breeze flitting over
+the flowers, but swift as the summer lightning.
+
+I sat up again, but my strength was all spent, and no time left to
+recover it; and though she rose at our gate like a bird, I tumbled off
+into the soft mud.
+
+"Well done, lad," Mr. Faggus said, good-naturedly; for all were now
+gathered round me, as I rose from the ground, somewhat tottering, and
+miry, and crest-fallen, but otherwise none the worse (having fallen
+upon my head, which is of uncommon substance); "not at all bad work,
+my boy; we may teach you to ride by and by, I see; I thought not to
+see you stick on so long--"
+
+"I should have stuck on much longer, sir, if her sides had not been
+wet. She was so slippery--"
+
+"Boy, thou art right. She hath given many the slip. Ha! ha! Vex not,
+Jack, that I laugh at thee. She is like a sweetheart to me, and better
+than any of them be. It would have gone to my heart if thou hadst
+conquered. None but I can ride my Winnie mare."
+
+"Foul shame to thee, then, Tom Faggus," cried mother, coming up
+suddenly, and speaking so that all were amazed, having never seen her
+wrathful, "to put my boy, my boy, across her, as if his life were no
+more than thine! A man would have taken thy mad horse and thee, and
+flung them both into a horse pond--ay, and what's more, I'll have it
+done now, if a hair of his head is injured. Oh, my boy, my boy! Put up
+the other arm, Johnny." All the time mother was scolding so, she was
+feeling me and wiping me; while Faggus tried to look greatly ashamed,
+having sense of the ways of women.
+
+"Only look at his jacket, mother!" cried Annie; "and a shilling's
+worth gone from his smallclothes!"
+
+"What care I for his clothes, thou goose? Take that, and heed thine own
+a bit." And mother gave Annie a slap which sent her swinging up against
+Mr. Faggus, and he caught her, and kissed and protected her; and she
+looked at him very nicely, with great tears in her soft blue eyes.
+
+"Oh, fie upon thee, fie upon thee," cried mother (being yet more vexed
+with him, because she had beaten Annie); "after all we have done for
+thee, and saved thy worthless neck--and to try to kill my son for me!
+Never more shall horse of thine enter stable here, since these be thy
+returns to me. Small thanks to you, John Fry, I say; much you care for
+your master's son!"
+
+"Well, missus, what could us do?" began John; "Jan wudd goo, now
+wudd't her, Jem? And how was us--"
+
+"Jan, indeed! Master John, if you please, to a lad of his years and
+stature. And now, Tom Faggus, be off, if you please, and think
+yourself lucky to go so."
+
+Everybody looked at mother, to hear her talk like that, knowing how
+quiet she was day by day, and how pleasant to be cheated. And the men
+began to shoulder their shovels, both so as to be away from her, and
+to go and tell their wives of it. Winnie, too, was looking at her,
+being pointed at so much, and wondering if she had done amiss. And
+then she came to me, and trembled, and stooped her head, and asked my
+pardon, if she had been too proud with me.
+
+"Winnie shall stop here to-night," said I, for Tom Faggus still said
+never a word all the while, but began to buckle his things on.
+"Mother, I tell you Winnie shall stop; else I will go away with her. I
+never knew what it was, till now, to ride a horse worth riding."
+
+"Young man," said Tom Faggus, still preparing sternly to depart, "you
+know more about a horse than any man on Exmoor. Your mother may well
+be proud of you, but she need have had no fear. As if I, Tom Faggus,
+your father's cousin--and the only thing I am proud of--would ever
+have let you mount my mare, which dukes and princes have vainly
+sought, except for the courage in your eyes, and the look of your
+father about you. I knew you could ride when I saw you, and rarely
+you have conquered. But women don't understand us."
+
+With that he fetched a heavy sigh, and feebly got upon Winnie's back,
+and she came to say farewell to me. He lifted his hat to my mother
+with a glance of sorrow, but never a word, and to me he said: "Open
+the gate, Cousin John, if you please. You have beaten her so, that she
+cannot leap it, poor thing."
+
+But, before he was truly gone out of our yard, my mother came softly
+after him, with her afternoon apron across her eyes, and one hand
+ready to offer him. Nevertheless, he made as if he had not seen her,
+though he let his horse go slowly. "Stop, Cousin Tom," my mother said,
+"a word with you before you go."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Lorna Doone," by Richard Blackmore, from which this extract is taken,
+is justly regarded as one of the few really great romances written in
+the latter part of the nineteenth century. It is a story of the times
+of Charles II., and culminates about the time of the rebellion of
+Monmouth in 1685. The narrative is supposed to be related by a sturdy
+farmer of Exmoor, named John Ridd, who is the hero of the tale. The
+main part of the action centers round the deeds of a band of outlaws
+called the Doones, who had established themselves in a narrow valley
+of Exmoor, from whence they levied tribute upon their neighbors and
+bade defiance to the officers of the law. The quaint and homely style
+in which the story is written wins the admiration of all readers, and
+gives to the work an indefinable charm.
+
+
+
+
+THE GLORY OF GOD.
+
+
+    The heavens declare the glory of God;
+    And the firmament sheweth his handywork.
+    Day unto day uttereth speech,
+    And night unto night sheweth knowledge,
+    There is no speech nor language,
+    Where their voice is not heard.
+    Their line is gone out through all the earth,
+    And their words to the end of the world.
+    In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun,
+    Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
+    And rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.
+    His going forth is from the end of the heaven,
+    And his circuit unto the ends of it:
+    And there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.
+    The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul;
+    The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;
+    The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;
+    The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;
+    The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;
+    The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
+    More to be desired are they than gold; yea than much fine gold;
+    Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
+    Moreover by them is thy servant warned;
+    And in keeping of them there is great reward.
+    Who can understand his errors?
+    Cleanse thou me from secret faults.
+    Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins;
+    Let them not have dominion over me:
+    Then shall I be upright, and I shall be
+    Innocent from the great transgression.
+    Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart,
+    Be acceptable in thy sight,
+    O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.
+
+  --_From the Psalms of David._
+
+
+
+
+THE BATTLE OF BANNOCKBURN.
+
+
+The Battle of Bannockburn, in Scotland, was one of the most famous in
+history. It was fought June 24th, 1314, between Robert Bruce of
+Scotland and Edward II. of England. The army of Bruce consisted of
+30,000 men; that of Edward of 100,000, of whom 52,000 were archers.
+The story of the battle is thus described by Sir Walter Scott in his
+"Tales of a Grandfather":
+
+    Now when Sir Philip Mowbray, the governor of Stirling, came to
+    London, to tell the King, that Stirling, the last Scottish town of
+    importance which remained in possession of the English, was to be
+    surrendered if it were not relieved by force of arms before
+    midsummer, then all the English nobles called out, it would be a
+    sin and shame to permit the fair conquest which Edward the First
+    had made, to be forfeited to the Scots for want of fighting. It
+    was, therefore, resolved, that the King should go himself to
+    Scotland, with as great forces as he could possibly muster.
+
+    King Edward the Second, therefore, assembled one of the greatest
+    armies which a King of England ever commanded. There were troops
+    brought from all his dominions. Many brave soldiers from the
+    French provinces which the King of England possessed in
+    France,--many Irish, many Welsh,--and all the great English nobles
+    and barons, with their followers, were assembled in one great army.
+
+    King Robert the Bruce summoned all his nobles and barons to join
+    him, when he heard of the great preparations which the King of
+    England was making. They were not so numerous as the English by many
+    thousand men. In fact, his whole army did not very much exceed
+    thirty thousand, and they were much worse armed than the wealthy
+    Englishmen; but then, Robert, who was at their head, was one of the
+    most expert generals of the time; and the officers he had under him,
+    were his brother Edward, his nephew Randolph, his faithful follower
+    the Douglas, and other brave and experienced leaders, who commanded
+    the same men that had been accustomed to fight and gain victories
+    under every disadvantage of situation and numbers.
+
+    The King, on his part, studied how he might supply, by address and
+    stratagem, what he wanted in numbers and strength. He knew the
+    superiority of the English, both in their heavy-armed cavalry,
+    which were much better mounted and armed than that of the Scots,
+    and in their archers, who were better trained than any others in
+    the world. Both these advantages he resolved to provide against.
+    With this purpose, he led his army down into a plain near
+    Stirling, called the Park, near which, and beneath it, the English
+    army must needs pass through a boggy country, broken with water
+    courses, while the Scots occupied hard dry ground. He then caused
+    all the ground upon the front of his line of battle, where cavalry
+    were likely to act, to be dug full of holes, about as deep as a
+    man's knee. They were filled with light brushwood, and the turf
+    was laid on the top, so that it appeared a plain field, while in
+    reality it was all full of these pits as a honeycomb is of holes.
+    He also, it is said, caused steel spikes, called calthrops, to be
+    scattered up and down in the plain, where the English cavalry were
+    most likely to advance, trusting in that manner to lame and
+    destroy their horses.
+
+    When the Scottish army was drawn up, the line stretched north and
+    south. On the south, it was terminated by the banks of the brook
+    called Bannockburn, which are so rocky, that no troops could attack
+    them there. On the left, the Scottish line extended near to the town
+    of Stirling. Bruce reviewed his troops very carefully; all the
+    useless servants, drivers of carts, and such like, of whom there
+    were very many, he ordered to go behind a height, afterwards, in
+    memory of the event, called the Gillies' hill, that is, the
+    Servants' hill. He then spoke to the soldiers, and expressed his
+    determination to gain the victory, or to lose his life on the field
+    of battle. He desired that all those who did not propose to fight to
+    the last, should leave the field before the battle began, and that
+    none should remain except those who were determined to take the
+    issue of victory or death, as God should send it.
+
+    When the main body of his army was thus placed in order, the King
+    posted Randolph, with a body of horse, near to the Church of St.
+    Ninian's, commanding him to use the utmost diligence to prevent
+    any succors from being thrown into Stirling Castle. He then
+    dispatched James of Douglas, and Sir Robert Keith, the Mareschal
+    of the Scottish army, in order that they might survey, as nearly
+    as they could, the English force, which was now approaching from
+    Falkirk. They returned with information, that the approach of that
+    vast host was one of the most beautiful and terrible sights which
+    could be seen,--that the whole country seemed covered with men at
+    arms on horse and foot,--that the number of standards, banners,
+    and pennons (all flags of different kinds) made so gallant a show,
+    that the bravest and most numerous host in Christendom might be
+    alarmed to see King Edward moving against them.
+
+    It was upon the twenty-third of June (1314) the King of Scotland
+    heard the news, that the English army were approaching Stirling.
+    He drew out his army, therefore, in the order which he had before
+    resolved on. After a short time, Bruce, who was looking out
+    anxiously for the enemy, saw a body of English cavalry trying to
+    get into Stirling from the eastward. This was the Lord Clifford,
+    who, with a chosen body of eight hundred horse had been detached
+    to relieve the castle.
+
+    "See, Randolph," said the King to his nephew, "there is a rose
+    fallen from your chaplet." By this he meant that Randolph had lost
+    some honor, by suffering the enemy to pass where he had been
+    stationed to hinder them. Randolph made no reply, but rushed
+    against Clifford with little more than half his number. The Scots
+    were on foot. The English turned to charge them with their lances,
+    and Randolph drew up his men in close order to receive the onset.
+    He seemed to be in so much danger, that Douglas asked leave of the
+    King to go and assist him. The King refused him permission.
+
+    "Let Randolph," he said, "redeem his own fault; I can not break
+    the order of battle for his sake." Still the danger appeared
+    greater, and the English horse seemed entirely to encompass the
+    small handful of Scottish infantry. "So please you," said Douglas
+    to the King, "my heart will not suffer me to stand idle and see
+    Randolph perish--I must go to his assistance." He rode off
+    accordingly; but long before they had reached the place of combat,
+    they saw the English horses galloping off, many with empty saddles.
+
+    "Halt!" said Douglas to his men, "Randolph has gained the day;
+    since we were not soon enough to help him in the battle, do not
+    let us lessen his glory by approaching the field." Now, that was
+    nobly done; especially as Douglas and Randolph were always
+    contending which should rise highest in the good opinion of the
+    King and the nation.
+
+    The van of the English army now came in sight, and a number of
+    their bravest knights drew near to see what the Scots were doing.
+    They saw King Robert dressed in his armor, and distinguished by a
+    gold crown, which he wore over his helmet. He was not mounted on
+    his great war horse, because he did not expect to fight that
+    evening. But he rode on a little pony up and down the ranks of his
+    army, putting his men in order, and carried in his hand a short
+    battle ax made of steel. When the King saw the English horsemen
+    draw near, he advanced a little before his own men, that he might
+    look at them more nearly.
+
+    There was a knight among the English, called Sir Henry de Bohun,
+    who thought this would be a good opportunity to gain great fame to
+    himself, and put an end to the war, by killing King Robert. The
+    King being poorly mounted, and having no lance, Bohun galloped on
+    him suddenly and furiously, thinking, with his long spear, and his
+    tall powerful horse, easily to bear him down to the ground. King
+    Robert saw him, and permitted him to come very near, then suddenly
+    turned his pony a little to one side, so that Sir Henry missed him
+    with the lance point, and was in the act of being carried past him
+    by the career of his horse. But as he passed, King Robert rose up
+    in his stirrups, and struck Sir Henry on the head with his battle
+    ax so terrible a blow, that it broke to pieces his iron helmet as
+    if it had been a nutshell, and hurled him from his saddle. He was
+    dead before he reached the ground. This gallant action was blamed
+    by the Scottish leaders, who thought Bruce ought not to have
+    exposed himself to so much danger, when the safety of the whole
+    army depended on him. The King only kept looking at his weapon,
+    which was injured by the force of the blow, and said, "I have
+    broken my good battle ax."
+
+    The next morning, being the twenty-fourth of June, at break of day,
+    the battle began in terrible earnest. The English as they advanced
+    saw the Scots getting into line. The Abbot of Inchaffray walked
+    through their ranks barefooted, and exhorted them to fight for their
+    freedom. They kneeled down as he passed, and prayed to heaven for
+    victory. King Edward, who saw this, called out, "They kneel
+    down--they are asking forgiveness." "Yes," said a celebrated English
+    baron, called Ingelram de Umphraville, "but they ask it from God,
+    not from us--these men will conquer, or die upon the field."
+
+    The English King ordered his men to begin the battle. The archers
+    then bent their bows, and began to shoot so closely together, that
+    the arrows fell like flakes of snow on a Christmas day. But Bruce,
+    as I told you before, was prepared for them. He had in readiness a
+    body of men at arms well mounted, who rode at full gallop among the
+    archers, and as they had no weapons save their bows and arrows,
+    which they could not use when they were attacked hand to hand, they
+    were cut down in great numbers, and thrown into total confusion.
+
+    The fine English cavalry then advanced to support their archers,
+    and to attack the Scottish line. But coming over the ground, which
+    was dug full of pits, the horses fell into these holes, and the
+    riders lay tumbling about, without any means of defense, and
+    unable to rise, from the weight of their armor. The Englishmen
+    began to fall into general disorder; and the Scottish King,
+    bringing up more of his forces, attacked and pressed them still
+    more closely.
+
+    On a sudden, while the battle was obstinately maintained on both
+    sides, an event happened which decided the victory. The servants
+    and attendants on the Scottish camp had, as I told you, been sent
+    behind the army to a place afterwards called the Gillies' hill.
+    But when they saw that their masters were likely to gain the day,
+    they rushed from their place of concealment with such weapons as
+    they could get, that they might have their share in the victory
+    and in the spoil. The English, seeing them come suddenly over the
+    hill, mistook this disorderly rabble for a new army coming up to
+    sustain the Scots, and, losing all heart, began to shift every man
+    for himself. Edward himself left the field as fast as he could
+    ride. A valiant knight, Sir Giles de Argentine, attended the King
+    till he got him out of the press of the combat. But he would
+    retreat no farther. "It is not my custom," he said, "to fly." With
+    that he took leave of the King, set spurs to horse, and calling
+    out his war cry of Argentine! Argentine! he rushed into the
+    thickest of the Scottish ranks, and was killed.
+
+    Edward first fled to Stirling Castle, and entreated admittance;
+    but Sir Philip Mowbray, the governor, reminded the fugitive
+    sovereign that he was obliged to surrender the castle next day, so
+    Edward was fain to fly through the Torwood, closely pursued by
+    Douglas with a body of cavalry. An odd circumstance happened
+    during the chase, which showed how loosely some of the Scottish
+    barons of that day held their political opinions: As Douglas was
+    riding furiously after Edward, he met a Scottish knight, Sir
+    Laurence Abernethy, with twenty horse. Sir Laurence had hitherto
+    owned the English interest, and was bringing this band of
+    followers to serve King Edward's army. But learning from Douglas
+    that the English King was entirely defeated, he changed sides on
+    the spot, and was easily prevailed upon to join Douglas in
+    pursuing the unfortunate Edward, with the very followers whom he
+    had been leading to join his standard.
+
+    Douglas and Abernethy followed King Edward as far as Dunbar, where
+    the English had still a friend, in the governor, Patrick, Earl of
+    March. The Earl received Edward in his forlorn condition, and
+    furnished him with a fishing skiff, or small ship, in which he
+    escaped to England, having entirely lost his fine army, and a
+    great number of his bravest nobles.
+
+    The English never before or afterwards, whether in France or
+    Scotland, lost so dreadful a battle as that of Bannockburn, nor
+    did the Scots ever gain one of the same importance.
+
+Such is the story that is told by Sir Walter Scott in his "Tales of a
+Grandfather." It will be interesting now to read Burns's poem
+beginning, "Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled," which we can easily
+imagine to be Bruce's address to his men at the beginning of the great
+fight. Read also Sir Walter Scott's metrical description of the
+battle, in the long poem entitled "The Lord of the Isles."
+
+
+
+
+THE SOLDIER'S DREAM.
+
+
+    Our bugles sang truce; for the night cloud had lowered,
+      And the sentinel stars set their watch in the sky;
+    And thousands had sunk on the ground overpowered--
+      The weary to sleep, and the wounded to die.
+
+    When reposing that night on my pallet of straw,
+      By the wolf-scaring fagot that guarded the slain,
+    At the dead of the night a sweet vision I saw,
+      And thrice ere the morning I dreamed it again.
+
+    Methought from the battlefield's dreadful array,
+      Far, far I had roamed on a desolate track;
+    'Twas autumn--and sunshine arose on the way
+      To the home of my fathers, that welcomed me back.
+
+    I flew to the pleasant fields traversed so oft
+      In life's morning march, when my bosom was young;
+    I heard my own mountain goats bleating aloft,
+      And knew the sweet strain that the corn reapers sung.
+
+    Then pledged we the wine cup, and fondly I swore
+      From my home and my weeping friends never to part;
+    My little ones kissed me a thousand times o'er,
+      And my wife sobbed aloud in her fulness of heart.
+
+    "Stay, stay with us!--rest; thou art weary and worn!"
+      And fain was their war-broken soldier to stay;
+    But sorrow returned with the dawning of morn,
+      And the voice in my dreaming ear melted away!
+
+  --_Thomas Campbell._
+
+
+
+
+LORD ULLIN'S DAUGHTER.
+
+
+    A chieftain, to the Highlands bound,
+      Cries, "Boatman, do not tarry!
+    And I'll give thee a silver pound
+      To row us o'er the ferry."
+
+    "Now who be ye, would cross Lochgyle,
+      This dark and stormy water?"
+    "Oh, I'm the chief of Ulva's isle,
+      And this Lord Ullin's daughter.
+
+[Illustration: Thomas Campbell.]
+
+    "And fast before her father's men
+      Three days we've fled together;
+    For should he find us in the glen,
+      My blood would stain the heather.
+
+    "His horsemen hard behind us ride:
+      Should they our steps discover,
+    Then who will cheer my bonny bride
+      When they have slain her lover?"
+
+    Out spoke the hardy Highland wight:
+      "I'll go, my chief: I'm ready
+    It is not for your silver bright,
+      But for your winsome lady;
+
+    "And, by my word, the bonny bird
+      In danger shall not tarry;
+    So, though the waves are raging white,
+      I'll row you o'er the ferry."
+
+    By this the storm grew loud apace;
+      The water wraith was shrieking;
+    And in the scowl of heaven each face
+      Grew dark as they were speaking.
+
+    But still, as wilder blew the wind,
+      And as the night grew drearer,
+    Adown the glen rode armed men;
+      Their trampling sounded nearer.
+
+    "Oh haste thee, haste," the lady cries,
+      "Though tempests round us gather,
+    I'll meet the raging of the skies,
+      But not an angry father."
+
+    The boat has left a stormy land,
+      A stormy sea before her,
+    When, oh, too strong for human hand,
+      The tempest gathered o'er her.
+
+    And still they rowed amidst the roar
+      Of waters fast prevailing.
+    Lord Ullin reached that fatal shore:
+      His wrath was changed to wailing;
+
+    For, sore dismayed, through storm and shade,
+      His child he did discover:
+    One lovely hand she stretch'd for aid,
+      And one was round her lover.
+
+    "Come back! come back!" he cried in grief,
+      "Across this stormy water;
+    And I'll forgive your Highland chief,
+      My daughter! oh, my daughter!"
+
+    'Twas vain! The loud waves lashed the shore,
+      Return or aid preventing:
+    The waters wild went o'er his child,
+      And he was left lamenting.
+
+  --_Thomas Campbell._
+
+
+
+
+BEETHOVEN'S MOONLIGHT SONATA.
+
+
+Among the great musical composers of modern times there have been few
+who rank with Ludwig van Beethoven. This famous man was born in Bonn,
+Germany, in 1770; he died at Vienna in 1827. It may be truthfully said
+that the works of Beethoven created a new epoch in the history and
+development of music, and his compositions lose none of their
+popularity as the years go by.
+
+Beethoven's life was a sad one. He was alone in the world, deaf, and the
+object of unkind treatment by those who should have been his friends.
+How nobly he rose above all petty annoyances, we can readily understand
+when we listen to the grand and solemn strains of his immortal music.
+The following story illustrates the kindliness of his nature and shows
+how some of his works seemed to be almost the result of inspiration.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It happened at Bonn. One moonlight winter's evening I called upon
+Beethoven; for I wished him to take a walk, and afterwards sup with
+me. In passing through a dark, narrow street, he suddenly paused.
+"Hush!" he said, "what sound is that? It is from my Sonata in F. Hark!
+how well it is played!"
+
+[Illustration: Ludwig van Beethoven.]
+
+It was a little, mean dwelling, and we paused outside and listened.
+The player went on; but, in the midst of the finale, there was a
+sudden break; then the voice of sobbing. "I cannot play any more. It
+is so beautiful; it is utterly beyond my power to do it justice. Oh,
+what would I not give to go to the concert at Cologne!"
+
+"Ah! my sister," said her companion; "why create regrets when there is
+no remedy? We can scarcely pay our rent."
+
+"You are right, and yet I wish for once in my life to hear some really
+good music. But it is of no use."
+
+Beethoven looked at me. "Let us go in," he said.
+
+"Go in!" I exclaimed. "What can we go in for?"
+
+"I will play to her," he said, in an excited tone. "Here is
+feeling--genius--understanding! I will play to her, and she will
+understand it." And, before I could prevent him, his hand was upon
+the door. It opened, and we entered.
+
+A pale young man was sitting by the table, making shoes; and near him,
+leaning sorrowfully upon an old-fashioned piano, sat a young girl,
+with a profusion of light hair falling over her face.
+
+"Pardon me," said Beethoven, "but I heard music and was tempted to
+enter. I am a musician."
+
+The girl blushed, and the young man looked grave and somewhat annoyed.
+
+"I--I also overheard something of what you said," continued my friend.
+"You wish to hear--that is, you would like--that is--shall I play for
+you?"
+
+There was something so odd in the whole affair, and something so
+comical and pleasant in the manner of the speaker, that the spell was
+broken in a moment.
+
+"Thank you," said the shoemaker; "but our piano is so wretched, and we
+have no music."
+
+"No music!" echoed my friend; "how, then, does the young lady--" He
+paused, and colored; for, as he looked in the girl's face, he saw that
+she was blind. "I--I entreat your pardon," he stammered. "I had not
+perceived before. Then you play by ear? But where do you hear the
+music, since you frequent no concerts?"
+
+"We lived at Bruhl for two years, and while there, I used to hear a
+lady practicing near us. During the summer evenings her windows were
+generally open, and I walked to and fro outside to listen to her."
+
+She seemed so shy that Beethoven said no more, but seated himself
+quietly before the piano and began to play. He had no sooner struck
+the first chord than I knew what would follow. Never, during all the
+years I knew him, did I hear him play as he then played to that blind
+girl and her brother. He seemed to be inspired; and, from the instant
+that his fingers began to wander along the keys, the very tone of the
+instrument seemed to grow sweeter and more equal.
+
+The brother and sister were silent with wonder and rapture. The former
+laid aside his work; the latter, with her head bent slightly forward,
+and her hands pressed tightly over her breast, crouched down near the
+end of the piano, as if fearful lest even the beating of her heart
+should break the flow of those magical sounds.
+
+Suddenly the flame of the single candle wavered, sank, flickered, and
+went out. Beethoven paused, and I threw open the shutters, admitting a
+flood of brilliant moonlight. The room was almost as light as before,
+the moon's rays falling strongest upon the piano and player. His head
+dropped upon his breast; his hands rested upon his knees; he seemed
+absorbed in deep thought. He remained thus for some time. At length
+the young shoemaker rose and approached him eagerly.
+
+"Wonderful man!" he said, in a low tone. "Who and what are you?"
+
+"Listen!" said Beethoven, and he played the opening bars of the Sonata
+in F. A cry of recognition burst from them both, and exclaiming, "Then
+you are Beethoven!" they covered his hands with tears and kisses.
+
+He rose to go, but we held him back with entreaties. "Play to us once
+more--only once more!"
+
+He suffered himself to be led back to the instrument. The moon shone
+brightly in through the window, and lighted up his glorious, ragged
+head and massive figure. "I will improvise a Sonata to the Moonlight!"
+said he, looking up thoughtfully to the sky and stars. Then his hands
+dropped on the keys, and he began playing a sad and infinitely lovely
+movement, which crept gently over the instrument, like the calm flow
+of moonlight over the dark earth. This was followed by a wild, elfin
+passage in triple time--a sort of grotesque interlude, like the dance
+of sprites upon the lawn. Then came a swift agitato finale--a
+breathless, hurrying, trembling movement, descriptive of flight, and
+uncertainty, and vague impulsive terror, which carried us away on its
+rustling wings, and left us all in emotion and wonder.
+
+"Farewell to you!" said Beethoven, pushing back his chair, and turning
+toward the door--"farewell to you!"
+
+"You will come again?" asked they, in one breath.
+
+He paused and looked compassionately, almost tenderly, at the face of
+the blind girl.
+
+"Yes, yes," he said hurriedly, "I will come again, and give the young
+lady some lessons! Farewell! I will come again!"
+
+Their looks followed us in silence more eloquent than words till we
+were out of sight.
+
+"Let us make haste back," said Beethoven, "that I may write out that
+Sonata while I can yet remember it."
+
+We did so, and he sat over it until long past day dawn. And this was
+the origin of that Moonlight Sonata with which we are all so fondly
+acquainted.
+
+
+
+
+THE STORY OF TEMPE WICK.
+
+
+There are so many curious and unexpected things which may happen in time
+of war, especially to people who live in parts of a country where the
+enemy may be expected to come, or where the friendly army is already
+encamped, that it is impossible to guard against unpleasant occurrences;
+and it often happens that the only thing to be depended upon when an
+emergency arises, is presence of mind, and quickness of wit.
+
+[Illustration: Frank R. Stockton.]
+
+In these qualities, New Jersey girls have never shown themselves behind
+their sisters of other parts of the country, and a very good proof of
+this is shown by an incident which took place near Morristown during the
+time that the American army was quartered in that neighborhood.
+
+Not far from the town was a farm then known as Wick's farm, situated
+in a beautiful wooded country. The daughter of Mr. Wick, named Tempe
+(probably short for Temperance), was the owner of a very fine horse,
+and on this beautiful animal it was her delight to ride over the roads
+and through the woods of the surrounding country. She had been
+accustomed to horses since she was a child, and was not afraid to ride
+anywhere by herself.
+
+When she first began to canter over these hills and dales, it had been
+in times of peace, when there was nothing in this quiet country of
+which any one might be afraid; and now, although these were days of
+war, she felt no fear. There were soldiers not far away, but these she
+looked upon as her friends and protectors; for Washington and his army
+had encamped in that region to defend the country against the approach
+of the enemy. If any straggling Redcoats should feel a desire to come
+along the hills, they would be very apt to restrain their inclinations
+so long as they knew that that brave American army was encamped near by.
+
+So Miss Tempe Wick, fearing nothing, rode far and wide, as she had
+been in the habit of doing, and every day she and her good steed
+became better and better acquainted with each other.
+
+One fine afternoon, as Tempe was slowly riding homeward, within a mile
+of her house, she met half a dozen soldiers in Continental uniform,
+and two of them, stepping in front of her, called upon her to stop.
+When she had done so, one of them seized her bridle. She did not know
+the men; but still, as they belonged to Washington's army, who were
+her countrymen and friends, she saw no reason to be afraid, and asked
+them what they wanted.
+
+At first she received no answer, for they were very busily occupied in
+looking at her horse and expressing their satisfaction at the fine
+points of the animal. Tempe had had her horse praised before; but
+these men were looking at him, and talking about him, very much as if
+he were for sale and they were thinking of buying. Presently one of
+the men said to her that this was a very excellent horse that she was
+riding, and they wanted it. To this Tempe exclaimed, in great
+amazement, that it was her own horse, that she wanted him herself, and
+had no wish to dispose of him. Some of the soldiers laughed, and one
+of them told her that the troops were about to move, and that good
+horses were greatly needed, and that they had orders to levy upon the
+surrounding country and take horses wherever they could find them.
+
+Now was Tempe astonished beyond measure. If half a dozen British
+soldiers had surrounded her, and had declared that they intended to
+rob her of her horse, she would not have wondered at it, for they
+would have taken it as the property of an enemy. But that the soldiers
+of her own country, the men on whom she and all her friends and
+neighbors depended for protection and safety, should turn on her and
+rob her, as if they had been a set of marauding Hessians, was
+something she could scarcely comprehend. But it did not take her long
+to understand, that no matter who they were or what they
+were,--whether they thought they had a right to do what they
+threatened, or whether they had no regard for right and justice,--they
+were in earnest, and intended to take her horse. When this conviction
+flashed into the mind of Tempe Wick, there also flashed into it a
+determination to show these men that a Jersey girl had a will of her
+own, and that if they wanted her property, they would have to do a
+great deal more than simply to come to her and ask her to hand it over
+to them.
+
+After a little parley, during which the man who held her bridle let go
+of it, supposing she was about to dismount, she suddenly gave her
+spirited horse a sharp cut with the whip, dashed between two of the
+soldiers, and before they could comprehend what had happened she was
+off and away.
+
+As fast as they could run, the soldiers followed her, one or two of
+them firing their guns in the air, thinking to frighten her and make
+her stop; but, as though she had been a deer and her pursuers ordinary
+hunters, she swiftly sped away from them.
+
+But they did not give up the chase. Some of them knew where this girl
+lived, and were confident that when they reached her house, they would
+have the horse. If they had known it was such a fine animal, they
+would have come after it before. According to their belief, good
+horses should go into the army, and people who staid at home, and
+expected other people to fight for them, ought to be willing to do
+what they could to help in the good cause, and at least give their
+horses to the army.
+
+As Tempe sat upon her bounding steed, she knew very well that the
+soldiers could never catch her; but her heart sank within her as she
+thought of what would happen when they came to the farm and demanded
+her horse. Running away from them was only postponing her trouble for
+a little while, for there was no one about the place who could prevent
+those men from going to the barn and taking away the animal.
+
+It would be of no use to pass her house and ride on and on. Where
+should she go? She must come back sometime, and all the soldiers would
+have to do would be to halt at the farm, and wait until she returned.
+And even if she should take her horse into the wood and tie him to a
+tree, they would know by her coming back on foot that she had left him
+at no great distance, and they would be sure to follow his tracks and
+find him.
+
+As Tempe rode swiftly on, her thoughts galloped as fast as her horse,
+and before she reached the house she had come to a conclusion as to
+the best thing to be done. She did not ride toward the barn, but
+dashed through the gateway of the large yard, and sprang from her
+steed. As she turned in, she looked down the road; but the men were
+not in sight. What she was going to do was something which people
+never did, but it was the only thing she could think of, and she was a
+girl whose actions were as quick as her ideas were original. Without
+stopping an instant, she took her horse to the back door, and led him
+boldly into the house.
+
+This was not the sort of stable to which Tempe's horse or any other
+American horse was accustomed; but this animal knew his mistress, and
+where she led, he was willing to follow. If one of the farm hands had
+attempted to take the creature into the house, there would probably
+have been some rearing and plunging; but nothing of this kind happened
+as our Jersey girl, with her hand on her horse's bridle, led him
+quickly inside and closed the door behind him. As the story goes, she
+took him through the kitchen, and then into the parlor, without the
+slightest regard to the injury his shoes might do to the well-kept
+floor; and from the parlor she led him into a bedroom on the lower
+floor, which was usually used as a guest chamber, but which never
+before had such a guest as this.
+
+This room had but a single window, the shutters of which were kept
+closed when it was not in use, and there was no entrance to it except
+through the door which opened from the parlor. The door was quickly
+closed, and Tempe stood with her horse in the darkness.
+
+When the soldiers reached the farm they went to the barn. They
+examined the outhouses, visited the pasture fields, and made a
+thorough search, high and low, near and far; but no sign of a horse
+could they find. Of course, the notion that the animal was concealed
+in the house did not enter their minds, and the only way in which they
+could account for the total disappearance of the horse was, that Tempe
+had ridden off with him--where they knew not. We do not know how long
+they waited for the sight of a hungry horse coming home to his supper,
+but we do know that while there was the slightest danger of her dear
+horse being taken away from her, that animal remained a carefully
+attended guest in the spare room of the Wick house; and the tradition
+is, that he staid there three weeks. There Tempe waited on him as if
+he had been a visitor of high degree; and if she was afraid to go to
+the barn to bring him hay and oats, she doubtless gave him biscuit and
+soft bread,--dainties of which a horse is very fond, especially when
+they are brought to him by such a kind mistress as Tempe.
+
+When the cavalry moved away from their camp near Morristown, no one of
+them rode on that fine horse on which they had seen a girl gayly
+cantering, and which, when they had been about to put their hands upon
+it, had flown away, like a butterfly from under the straw hat of a
+schoolboy. When the troops were gone, the horse came out of the guest
+chamber and went back to his stall in the stable; and that room in
+which he passed so many quiet days, and the door through which the
+horse timidly stepped under the shadow of that hospitable roof, are
+still to be seen at the old Wick house, which stands now, as it stood
+then, with its shaded yard and the great willow tree behind it, on the
+pleasant country road by which we may drive from Morristown to Mendham
+by the way of Washington Corner.
+
+  --_From "Stories of New Jersey," by Frank R. Stockton._
+
+
+
+
+LIFE IN NORMAN ENGLAND.
+
+
+The tall frowning keep and solid walls of the great stone castles, in
+which the Norman barons lived, betokened an age of violence and
+suspicion. Beauty gave way to the needs of safety. Girdled with its
+green and slimy ditch, round the inner edge of which ran a parapeted
+wall pierced along the top with shot holes, stood the buildings,
+spreading often over many acres.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+  From a Photograph.      Engraved by John Evans.
+
+  Ruins of a Norman Castle.
+]
+
+If an enemy managed to cross the moat and force the gateway, in spite
+of a portcullis crashing from above, and melted lead pouring in
+burning streams from the perforated top of the rounded arch, but
+little of his work was yet done; for the keep lifted its huge angular
+block of masonry within the inner bailey or courtyard, and from the
+narrow chinks in its ten-foot wall rained a sharp incessant shower of
+arrows, sweeping all approaches to the high and narrow stair, by which
+alone access could be had to its interior.
+
+These loopholes were the only windows, except in the topmost story,
+where the chieftain, like a vulture in his rocky nest, watched all the
+surrounding country. The day of splendid oriels had not yet come in
+castle architecture.
+
+Thus a baron in his keep could defy, and often did defy, the king upon
+his throne. Under his roof, eating daily at his board, lived a throng
+of armed retainers; and around his castle lay farms tilled by martial
+franklins, who at his call laid aside their implements of husbandry,
+took up the sword and spear, which they could wield with equal skill,
+and marched beneath his banner to the war.
+
+With robe ungirt and head uncovered each tenant had done homage and
+sworn an oath of fealty, placing his joined hands between those of the
+sitting baron, and humbly saying as he knelt, "I become your man from
+this day forward, of life and limb and of earthly worship; and unto you
+I shall be true and faithful, and bear to you faith for the tenements
+that I claim to hold of you, saving the faith that I owe unto our
+sovereign lord the king." A kiss from the baron completed the ceremony.
+
+The furniture of a Norman keep was not unlike that of an English
+house. There was richer ornament--more elaborate carving. A
+_faldestol_, the original of our arm-chair, spread its drapery and
+cushions for the chieftain in his lounging moods. His bed now boasted
+curtains and a roof, although, like the English lord, he still lay
+only upon straw. Chimneys tunneled the thick walls, and the cupboards
+glittered with glass and silver. Horn lanterns and the old spiked
+candlesticks lit up his evening hours, when the chessboard arrayed its
+clumsy men, carved out of walrus tusk, then commonly called
+whale's-bone. But the baron had an unpleasant trick of breaking the
+chessboard on his opponent's head, when he found himself checkmated;
+which somewhat marred said opponent's enjoyment of the game. Dice of
+horn and bone emptied many a purse in Norman England.
+
+[Illustration: Horn Lantern.]
+
+Dances and music whiled away the long winter nights; and on summer
+evenings the castle courtyards resounded with the noise of football,
+_kayles_ (a sort of ninepins), wrestling, boxing, leaping, and the
+fierce joys of the bull bait. But out of doors, when no fighting was
+on hand, the hound, the hawk, and the lance attracted the best
+energies and skill of the Norman gentleman.
+
+Rousing the forest game with dogs, they shot at it with barbed and
+feathered arrows. A field of ripening corn never turned the chase
+aside: it was one privilege of a feudal baron to ride as he pleased
+over his tenants' crops, and another to quarter his insolent hunting
+train in the farmhouses which pleased him best! The elaborate details
+of _woodcraft_ became an important part of a noble boy's education;
+for the numerous bugle calls and scientific dissection of a dead stag
+took many seasons to learn.
+
+After the Conquest, to kill a deer or own a hawk came more than ever
+to be regarded as the special privilege of the aristocracy. The hawk,
+daintily dressed, as befitted the companion of nobility, with his head
+wrapped in an embroidered hood, and a peal of silver bells tinkling
+from his rough legs, sat in state, bound with leathern jesses to the
+wrist, which was protected by a thick glove. The ladies and the clergy
+loved him. By many a mere the abbots ambled on their ponies over the
+swampy soil, and sweet shrill voices cheered the long-winged hawk, as
+he darted off in pursuit of the soaring quarry.
+
+[Illustration: The Hawk.]
+
+The author of "Ivanhoe" has made the tournament a picture familiar to
+all readers of romance. It therefore needs no long description here.
+It was held in honor of some great event--a coronation, wedding, or
+victory. Having practiced well during squirehood at the _quintain_,
+the knight, clad in full armor, with visor barred and the colors of
+his lady on crest and scarf, rode into the lists, for which some level
+green was chosen and surrounded with a palisade.
+
+For days before, his shield had been hanging in a neighboring church,
+as a sign of his intention to compete in this great game of chivalry.
+If any stain lay on his knighthood, a lady, by touching the suspended
+shield with a wand, could debar him from a share in the jousting. And
+if, when he had entered the lists he was rude to a lady, or broke in
+any way the etiquette of the tilt yard, he was beaten from the lists
+with the ashwood lances of the knights.
+
+[Illustration: The Knight.]
+
+The simple joust was the shock of two knights, who galloped with
+leveled spears at each other, aiming at breast or head, with the
+object either of unhorsing the antagonist, or, if he sat his charger
+well, of splintering the lance upon his helmet or his shield. The
+mellay hurled together, at the dropping of the prince's baton, two
+parties of knights, who hacked away at each other with ax and mace and
+sword, often gashing limbs and breaking bones in the wild excitement
+of the fray. Bright eyes glanced from the surrounding galleries upon
+the brutal sport; and when the victor, with broken plume, and battered
+armor, dragged his weary limbs to the footstool of the beauty who
+presided as Queen over the festival, her white hands decorated him
+with the meed of his achievements.
+
+The Normans probably dined at nine in the morning. When they rose they
+took a light meal; and ate something also after their day's work,
+immediately before going to bed. Goose and garlic formed a favorite
+dish. Their cookery was more elaborate, and, in comparison, more
+delicate, than the preparations for an English feed; but the character
+for temperance, which they brought with them from the Continent, soon
+vanished.
+
+The poorer classes hardly ever ate flesh, living principally on bread,
+butter, and cheese,--a social fact which seems to underlie that usage
+of our tongue by which the living animals in field or stall bore
+English names--ox, sheep, calf, pig, deer; while their flesh, promoted
+to Norman dishes, rejoiced in names of French origin--beef, mutton,
+veal, pork, venison. Round cakes, piously marked with a cross, piled
+the tables, on which pastry of various kinds also appeared. In good
+houses cups of glass held the wine, which was borne from the cellar
+below in jugs.
+
+Squatted around the door or on the stair leading to the Norman dining
+hall, was a crowd of beggars or lickers, who grew so insolent in the
+days of Rufus, that ushers, armed with rods, were posted outside to
+beat back the noisy throng, who thought little of snatching the dishes
+as the cooks carried them to table!
+
+The juggler, who under the Normans filled the place of the English
+gleeman, tumbled, sang, and balanced knives in the hall; or out in the
+bailey of an afternoon displayed the acquirements of his trained
+monkey or bear. The fool, too, clad in colored patchwork, cracked his
+ribald jokes and shook his cap and bells at the elbow of roaring
+barons, when the board was spread and the circles of the wine began.
+
+While knights hunted in the greenwood or tilted in the lists, and
+jugglers tumbled in the noisy hall, the monk in the quiet scriptorium
+compiled chronicles of passing events, copied valuable manuscripts,
+and painted rich borders and brilliant initials on every page. These
+illuminations form a valuable set of materials for our pictures of
+life in the Middle Ages.
+
+Monasteries served many useful purposes at the time of which I write.
+Besides their manifest value as centers of study and literary work,
+they gave alms to the poor, a supper and a bed to travelers; their
+tenants were better off and better treated than the tenants of the
+nobles; the monks could store grain, grow apples, and cultivate their
+flower beds with little risk of injury from war, because they had
+spiritual thunders at their call, which awed even the most reckless of
+the soldiery into a respect for sacred property.
+
+Splendid structures those monasteries generally were, since that vivid
+taste for architecture which the Norman possessed in a high degree,
+and which could not find room for its display in the naked strength of
+the solid keep, lavished its entire energy and grace upon buildings
+lying in the safe shadow of the Cross. Nor was architectural taste the
+only reason for their magnificence. Since they were nearly all erected
+as offerings to Heaven, the religion of the age impelled the pious
+builders to spare no cost in decorating the exterior with fretwork and
+sculpture of Caen stone, the interior with gilded cornices and windows
+of painted glass.
+
+As schools, too, the monasteries did no trifling service to society
+in the Middle Ages. In addition to their influence as great centers of
+learning, English law had enjoined every mass priest to keep a school
+in his parish church, where all the young committed to his care might
+be instructed. This custom continued long after the Norman Conquest.
+In the Trinity College Psalter we have a picture of a Norman school,
+where the pupils sit in a circular row around the master as he
+lectures to them from a long roll of manuscript. Two writers sit by
+the desk, busy with copies resembling that which the teacher holds.
+
+The youth of the middle classes, destined for the cloister or the
+merchant's stall, chiefly thronged these schools. The aristocracy
+cared little for book-learning. Very few indeed of the barons could
+read or write. But all could ride, fence, tilt, play, and carve
+extremely well; for to these accomplishments many years of pagehood
+and squirehood were given.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The foregoing description of manners and customs during the age of
+feudalism has been adapted from a popular "History of England," by W.
+F. Collier. A much fuller description may be found in Knight's
+"History of England," and in Green's "Short History of the English
+People." The period described was in many respects the most romantic
+in the history of the world, and many delightful and instructive books
+have been written concerning it. Read Scott's "Ivanhoe" and "The
+Talisman." Reference may also be had to Pauli's "Pictures of Old
+England," and Jusserand's "English Wayfaring Life in the Middle Ages."
+
+
+
+
+THE ROMANCE OF THE SWAN'S NEST.
+
+[Illustration: Elizabeth Barrett Browning.]
+
+    "So the dreams depart,
+    So the fading phantoms flee,
+    And the sharp reality
+    Now must act its part."
+
+  --_Westwood's "Beads from a Rosary."_
+
+
+I.
+
+    Little Ellie sits alone
+      'Mid the beeches of a meadow,
+        By a stream side on the grass,
+    And the trees are showering down
+      Doubles of their leaves in shadow,
+        On her shining hair and face.
+
+
+II.
+
+    She has thrown her bonnet by,
+      And her feet she has been dipping
+        In the shallow water's flow;
+    Now she holds them nakedly
+      In her hands, all sleek and dripping,
+        While she rocketh to and fro.
+
+
+III.
+
+    Little Ellie sits alone,
+      And the smile she softly uses
+        Fills the silence like a speech,
+    While she thinks what shall be done,
+      And the sweetest pleasure chooses
+        For her future within reach.
+
+
+IV.
+
+    Little Ellie in her smile
+      Chooses, "I will have a lover,
+        Riding on a steed of steeds:
+    He shall love me without guile,
+      And to _him_ I will discover
+        The swan's nest among the reeds.
+
+
+V.
+
+    "And the steed shall be red roan,
+      And the lover shall be noble,
+        With an eye that takes the breath.
+    And the lute he plays upon
+      Shall strike ladies into trouble,
+        As his sword strikes men to death.
+
+
+VI.
+
+    "And the steed it shall be shod
+      All in silver, housed in azure;
+        And the mane shall swim the wind;
+    And the hoofs along the sod
+      Shall flash onward, and keep measure,
+        Till the shepherds look behind.
+
+
+VII.
+
+    "But my lover will not prize
+      All the glory that he rides in,
+        When he gazes in my face.
+    He will say, 'O Love, thine eyes
+      Build the shrine my soul abides in,
+        And I kneel here for thy grace!'
+
+
+VIII.
+
+    "Then, aye, then he shall kneel low,
+      With the red-roan steed anear him,
+        Which shall seem to understand,
+    Till I answer, 'Rise and go!
+      For the world must love and fear him
+        Whom I gift with heart and hand.'
+
+
+IX.
+
+    "Then he will arise so pale,
+      I shall feel my own lips tremble
+        With a _yes_ I must not say:
+    Nathless maiden brave, 'Farewell,'
+      I will utter, and dissemble--
+        'Light to-morrow with to-day!'
+
+
+X.
+
+    "Then he'll ride among the hills
+      To the wide world past the river,
+        There to put away all wrong,
+    To make straight distorted wills,
+      And to empty the broad quiver
+        Which the wicked bear along.
+
+
+XI.
+
+    "Three times shall a young foot page
+      Swim the stream, and climb the mountain,
+        And kneel down beside my feet:
+    'Lo! my master sends this gage,
+      Lady, for thy pity's counting.
+        What wilt thou exchange for it?'
+
+
+XII.
+
+    "And the first time I will send
+      A white rosebud for a guerdon--
+        And the second time, a glove;
+    But the third time--I may bend
+      From my pride, and answer--'Pardon,
+        If he comes to take my love.'
+
+
+XIII.
+
+    "Then the young foot page will run--
+      Then my lover will ride faster,
+        Till he kneeleth at my knee:
+    'I am a duke's eldest son!
+      Thousand serfs do call me master,--
+        But, O Love, I love but _thee_!'"...
+
+
+XIV.
+
+    Little Ellie, with her smile
+      Not yet ended, rose up gayly,
+        Tied the bonnet, donned the shoe,
+    And went homeward, round a mile,
+      Just to see, as she did daily,
+        What more eggs were with the two.
+
+
+XV.
+
+    Pushing through the elm-tree copse,
+      Winding up the stream, light-hearted,
+        Where the osier pathway leads,
+    Past the boughs she stoops, and stops.
+      Lo, the wild swan had deserted,
+        And a rat had gnawed the reeds!
+
+
+XVI.
+
+    Ellie went home sad and slow.
+      If she found the lover ever,
+        With his red-roan steed of steeds,
+    Sooth I know not; but I know
+      She could never show him--never,
+         That swan's nest among the reeds.
+
+  --_Elizabeth Barrett Browning._
+
+
+
+
+A PATRIARCH OF THE OLDEN TIME
+
+
+Oh that I were as in months past, as in the days when God preserved
+me; when his candle shined upon my head, and when by his light I
+walked through darkness; as I was in the days of my youth, when the
+secret of God was upon my tabernacle; when the Almighty was yet with
+me; when my children were about me; when I washed my steps with
+butter, and the rock poured me out rivers of oil.
+
+When the ear heard me, then it blessed me; and when the eye saw me, it
+gave witness to me: because I delivered the poor that cried, and the
+fatherless, and him that had none to help him. The blessing of him that
+was ready to perish came upon me; and I caused the widow's heart to sing
+for joy. I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame. I was a
+father to the poor; and the cause which I knew not, I searched out.
+
+Did not I weep for him that was in trouble? Was not my soul grieved
+for the poor? Let me be weighed in an even balance that God may know
+mine integrity. If I did despise the cause of my man servant or of my
+maid servant, when they contended with me, what then shall I do when
+God riseth up? and when he visiteth, what shall I answer him? Did not
+he that made me make him also?
+
+If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes
+of the widow to fail, or have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the
+fatherless hath not eaten thereof; if I have seen any perish for want
+of clothing, or any poor without covering; if his loins have not
+blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep; if
+I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, when I saw my help in
+the gate; then let mine arm fall from my shoulder blade, and mine arm
+be broken from the bone.
+
+If I rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me, or lifted up
+myself when evil found him (neither have I suffered my mouth to sin,
+by wishing a curse to his soul. The stranger did not lodge in the
+street; but I opened my doors to the traveler). If my land cry against
+me, or the furrows likewise thereof complain; if I have eaten the
+fruits thereof without money, or have caused the owners thereof to
+lose their life: let thistles grow instead of wheat, and cockle
+instead of barley.
+
+  --_From the "Book of Job."_
+
+
+
+
+HOW CORTES ENTERED THE CITY OF MEXICO.
+
+[Illustration: William H. Prescott.]
+
+
+Mexico, when first discovered by Europeans, was inhabited by a
+civilized race called Aztecs. The conquest of that country and the
+subjugation of its people by the Spaniards under Hernando Cortes, in
+1518-21, was one of the most remarkable episodes in the history of the
+Western Continent. William H. Prescott, our American historian, in his
+"Conquest of Mexico," has told the story of that event in a manner so
+delightful that the whole narrative reads like a romance. His
+description of the entry of the Spaniards into the capital city of the
+Aztecs is as follows:--
+
+    It was the eighth of November, 1519, a conspicuous day in history,
+    as that on which the Europeans first set foot in the capital of
+    the Western World.
+
+    Cortes with his little body of horse formed a sort of advanced
+    guard to the army. Then came the Spanish infantry, who in a
+    summer's campaign had acquired the discipline and the
+    weather-beaten aspect of veterans. The baggage occupied the
+    center; and the rear was closed by the dark files of Tlascalan
+    warriors. The whole number must have fallen short of seven
+    thousand; of which fewer than four hundred were Spaniards.
+
+    Everywhere the conquerors beheld the evidence of a crowded and
+    thriving population, exceeding all they had yet seen. The temples
+    and principal buildings of the cities were covered with a hard
+    white stucco, which glistened like enamel in the level beams of
+    the morning. The margin of the lake was thickly gemmed with towns
+    and hamlets. The water was darkened by swarms of canoes filled
+    with Indians, who clambered up the sides of the causeway and gazed
+    with curious astonishment on the strangers. And here, also, they
+    beheld those fairy islands of flowers, overshadowed occasionally
+    by trees of considerable size, rising and falling with the gentle
+    undulation of the billows.
+
+    At the distance of half a league from the capital, they
+    encountered a solid work, or curtain of stone, which traversed the
+    dike. It was twelve feet high, was strengthened by towers at the
+    extremities, and in the center was a battlemented gateway, which
+    opened a passage to the troops.
+
+    Here they were met by several hundred Aztec chiefs, who came out
+    to announce the approach of Montezuma and to welcome the Spaniards
+    to his capital. They were dressed in the fanciful gala costume of
+    the country, with the _maxlatl_, or cotton sash, around their
+    loins, and a broad mantle of the same material, or of the
+    brilliant feather embroidery, flowing gracefully down their
+    shoulders. On their necks and arms they displayed collars and
+    bracelets of turquoise mosaic, with which delicate plumage was
+    curiously mingled, while their ears and underlips, and
+    occasionally their noses, were garnished with pendants formed of
+    precious stones, or crescents of fine gold.
+
+    As each cacique made the usual formal salutation of the country
+    separately to the general, the tedious ceremony delayed the march
+    more than an hour. After this the army experienced no further
+    interruption till it reached a bridge near the gates of the city.
+    It was built of wood, and was thrown across an opening of the
+    dike, which furnished an outlet to the waters when agitated by the
+    winds or swollen by a sudden influx in the rainy season. It was a
+    drawbridge; and the Spaniards, as they crossed it, felt how truly
+    they were committing themselves to the mercy of Montezuma, who, by
+    thus cutting off their communications with the country, might hold
+    them prisoners in his capital.
+
+    In the midst of these unpleasant reflections, they beheld the
+    glittering retinue of the emperor emerging from the great street
+    which led then, as it still does, through the heart of the city.
+    Amidst a crowd of Indian nobles, preceded by three officers of
+    state bearing golden wands, they saw the royal palanquin blazing
+    with burnished gold. It was borne on the shoulders of nobles, and
+    over it a canopy of gaudy feather work, powdered with jewels and
+    fringed with silver, was supported by four attendants of the same
+    rank. They were barefooted, and walked with a slow, measured pace,
+    and with eyes bent on the ground.
+
+    When the train had come within a convenient distance, it halted, and
+    Montezuma, descending from his litter, came forward, leaning on the
+    arms of the lords of Tezcuco and Iztapalapan, his nephew and
+    brother, both of whom had already been made known to the Spaniards.
+    As the monarch advanced under the canopy, the obsequious attendants
+    strewed the ground with cotton tapestry, that his imperial feet
+    might not be contaminated by the rude soil. His subjects of high and
+    low degree, who lined the sides of the causeway, bent forward with
+    their eyes fastened on the ground as he passed, and some of the
+    humbler class prostrated themselves before him.
+
+    Montezuma wore the girdle and ample square cloak, _tilmatli_, of his
+    nation. It was made of the finest cotton, with the embroidered ends
+    gathered in a knot round his neck. His feet were defended by sandals
+    having soles of gold, and the leathern thongs which bound them to
+    his ankles were embossed with the same metal. Both the cloak and
+    sandals were sprinkled with pearls and precious stones, among which
+    the emerald, and another green stone of high estimation among the
+    Aztecs, were conspicuous. On his head he wore no other ornament than
+    a _panache_ of plumes of the royal green, which floated down his
+    back, the badge of military, rather than of regal, rank.
+
+    He was at this time about forty years of age. His person was tall
+    and thin, but not ill made. His hair, which was black and
+    straight, was not very long; to wear it short was considered
+    unbecoming to persons of rank. His beard was thin; his complexion
+    somewhat paler than is often found in his dusky, or rather
+    copper-colored, race. His features, though serious in their
+    expression, did not wear the look of melancholy, indeed of
+    dejection, which characterizes his portrait, and which may well
+    have settled on them at a later period. He moved with dignity, and
+    his whole demeanor, tempered by an expression of benignity not to
+    have been anticipated from the reports circulated of his
+    character, was worthy of a great prince.
+
+    The army halted as he drew near. Cortes, dismounting, threw his
+    reins to a page, and supported by a few of the principal
+    cavaliers, advanced to meet him. The interview must have been one
+    of uncommon interest to both. In Montezuma, Cortes beheld the lord
+    of the broad realms he had traversed, whose magnificence and power
+    had been the burden of every tongue. In the Spaniard, on the other
+    hand, the Aztec prince saw the strange being whose history seemed
+    to be so mysteriously connected with his own; the predicted one of
+    his oracles, whose achievements proclaimed him something more than
+    human.
+
+    But whatever may have been the monarch's feelings, he so far
+    suppressed them as to receive his guest with princely courtesy,
+    and to express his satisfaction at personally seeing him in his
+    capital. Cortes responded by the most profound expressions of
+    respect, while he made ample acknowledgments for the substantial
+    proofs which the emperor had given the Spaniards of his
+    munificence. He then hung round Montezuma's neck a sparkling chain
+    of colored crystal, accompanying this with a movement as if to
+    embrace him, when he was restrained by the two Aztec lords,
+    shocked at the menaced profanation of the sacred person of their
+    master. After the interchange of these civilities, Montezuma
+    appointed his brother to conduct the Spaniards to their residence
+    in the capital, and, again entering his litter, was borne off
+    amidst prostrate crowds in the same state in which he had come.
+    The Spaniards quickly followed, and, with colors flying and music
+    playing, soon made their entrance into the southern quarter of
+    Tenochtitlan.
+
+    Here, again, they found fresh cause for admiration in the grandeur
+    of the city and the superior style of its architecture. The
+    dwellings of the poorer class were, indeed, chiefly of reeds and
+    mud. But the great avenue through which they were now marching was
+    lined with the houses of the nobles, who were encouraged by the
+    emperor to make the capital their residence. They were built of a
+    red porous stone drawn from quarries in the neighborhood, and,
+    though they rarely rose to a second story, often covered a large
+    space of ground. The flat roofs, _azoteas_, were protected by
+    stone parapets, so that every house was a fortress. Sometimes
+    these roofs resembled parterres of flowers, so thickly were they
+    covered with them, but more frequently these were cultivated in
+    broad terraced gardens, laid out between the edifices.
+    Occasionally a great square or market place intervened, surrounded
+    by its porticoes of stone and stucco; or a pyramidal temple reared
+    its colossal bulk, crowned with its tapering sanctuaries, and
+    altars blazing with inextinguishable fires. The great street
+    facing the southern causeway, unlike most others in the place, was
+    wide, and extended some miles in nearly a straight line, as before
+    noticed, through the center of the city. A spectator standing at
+    one end of it, as his eye ranged along the deep vista of temples,
+    terraces, and gardens, might clearly discern the other, with the
+    blue mountains in the distance, which, in the transparent
+    atmosphere of the table-land, seemed almost in contact with the
+    buildings.
+
+    But what most impressed the Spaniards was the throngs of people
+    who swarmed through the streets and on the canals, filling every
+    doorway and window and clustering on the roofs of the buildings.
+    "I well remember the spectacle," exclaims Bernal Diaz; "it seems
+    now, after so many years, as present to my mind as if it were but
+    yesterday." But what must have been the sensations of the Aztecs
+    themselves, as they looked on the portentous pageant! as they
+    heard, now for the first time, the well-cemented pavement ring
+    under the iron tramp of the horses,--the strange animals which
+    fear had clothed in such supernatural terrors: as they gazed on
+    the children of the East, revealing their celestial origin in
+    their fair complexions; saw the bright falchions and bonnets of
+    steel, a metal to them unknown, glancing like meteors in the sun,
+    while sounds of unearthly music--at least, such as their rude
+    instruments had never wakened--floated in the air?
+
+    [Illustration: Hernando Cortes.]
+
+    As they passed down the spacious street, the troops repeatedly
+    traversed bridges suspended above canals, along which they saw the
+    Indian barks gliding swiftly with their little cargoes of fruits
+    and vegetables for the markets of Tenochtitlan. At length they
+    halted before a broad area near the center of the city, where rose
+    the huge pyramidal pile dedicated to the patron war god of the
+    Aztecs, second only, in size as well as sanctity, to the temple of
+    Cholula, and covering the same ground now in part occupied by the
+    great cathedral of Mexico.
+
+    Facing the western gate of the inclosure of the temple, stood a
+    low range of stone buildings, spreading over a wide extent of
+    ground, the palace of Axayacatl, Montezuma's father, built by that
+    monarch about fifty years before. It was appropriated as the
+    barracks of the Spaniards. The emperor himself was in the
+    courtyard, waiting to receive them. Approaching Cortes, he took
+    from a vase of flowers, borne by one of his slaves, a massy
+    collar, in which the shell of a species of crawfish, much prized
+    by the Indians, was set in gold and connected by heavy links of
+    the same metal. From this chain depended eight ornaments, also of
+    gold, made in resemblance of the same shellfish, a span in length
+    each, and of delicate workmanship; for the Aztec goldsmiths were
+    confessed to have shown skill in their craft not inferior to their
+    brethren of Europe. Montezuma, as he hung the gorgeous collar
+    round the general's neck, said, "This palace belongs to you,
+    Malinche" (the epithet by which he always addressed him), "and
+    your brethren. Rest after your fatigues, for you have much need to
+    do so, and in a little while I will visit you again." So saying,
+    he withdrew with his attendants, evincing in this act a delicate
+    consideration not to have been expected in a barbarian.
+
+
+
+
+THE SKYLARK.
+
+
+      Bird of the wilderness,
+      Blithesome and cumberless,
+    Sweet be thy matin o'er moorland and lea!
+      Emblem of happiness,
+      Blest is thy dwelling place:
+    Oh to abide in the desert with thee!
+
+      Wild is thy lay, and loud,
+      Far in the downy cloud:
+    Love gives it energy, love gave it birth.
+      Where, on thy dewy wing,
+      Where art thou journeying?
+    Thy lay is in heaven, thy love is on earth.
+
+      O'er fell and fountain sheen,
+      O'er moor and mountain green,
+    O'er the red streamer that heralds the day,
+      Over the cloudlet dim,
+      Over the rainbow's rim,
+    Musical cherub, soar, singing, away!
+
+      Then, when the gloaming comes,
+      Low in the heather blooms
+    Sweet will thy welcome and bed of love be;
+      Emblem of happiness,
+      Blest is thy dwelling place:
+    Oh to abide in the desert with thee!
+
+  --_James Hogg._
+
+
+
+
+THE MYSTERY OF THE TADPOLE.
+
+
+A blade of grass is a mystery, if men would but distill it out. When my
+learned friend Dr. Syntax, glancing round my workroom, observed a vase
+full of tadpoles, he asked me in a tone of sniffling superiority: "Do
+you really mean to say you find any interest in those little beasts?"
+
+[Illustration: George Henry Lewes.]
+
+"As much as you find in books," I answered, with some energy.
+
+"H'm," grunted Syntax.
+
+Very absurd isn't it? But we all have our hobbies. I can pass a
+bookstall on which I perceive that the ignorance of the bookseller
+permits him to exhibit now and then rare editions of valuable books at
+almost no price at all. The sight gives me no thrill--it does not even
+cause me to slacken my pace.
+
+But I can't so easily pass a pond in which I see a shoal of tadpoles
+swimming about, as ignorant of their own value as the bookseller is of
+his books. I may walk on, but the sight has sent a slight electric
+shock through me.
+
+"Why, sir," I said to my learned friend, "there is more to me in the
+_tail_ of one of those tadpoles than in all the musty old volumes you
+so much delight to pick up. But I won't thrash your dog unless you
+thrash mine."
+
+"Why, what on earth can you do with the tail?"
+
+[Illustration: Tadpoles in different Stages of Development.]
+
+"Do with it? Study it, experiment on it, put it under the microscope,
+and day by day watch the growth of its various parts. At first it is
+little more than a mass of cells. Then I notice that these cells begin
+to take a definite shape, and blood vessels appear in them. Then the
+muscles begin to appear."
+
+"Very interesting, I dare say."
+
+"You don't seem to think so, by your tone. But look in this vase: here
+are several tadpoles with the most apologetic of tails--mere stumps,
+in fact. I cut them off nine days ago."
+
+"Will they grow again?"
+
+"Perfectly; for, although the frog dispenses with a tail almost as
+soon as he reaches the frog form, the tadpole needs his tail to swim
+with; and when by any accident he loses it, Nature kindly supplies him
+with another."
+
+"Yes, yes," added Syntax, glad to feel himself once more among things
+of which he knew something; "just like the lobster or the crab, you
+know. They tear off their legs and arms in a most reckless way, and
+yet they always grow new ones again."
+
+"Would you like to know what has become of the tails which I cut off
+from these fellows?"
+
+"Aren't they dead?"
+
+"Not at all. Alive and kicking."
+
+"Alive after nine days? Oh! oh!"
+
+"Here they are, in this glass. It is exactly nine days since they were
+cut off, and I have been watching them daily under the microscope. I
+assure you that I have seen them _grow_, not _larger_, indeed, but
+develop more and more, muscle fibers appearing each day where before
+there were none at all."
+
+"Come, now, you are trying to see what a fool you can make of me."
+
+"I am perfectly serious. The discovery is none of mine. It was made by
+M. Vulpian in Paris. He says that the tails live many days--as many as
+eighteen in one instance; but I have never kept mine alive more than
+eleven. He says, moreover, that they not only grow, as I have said,
+but that they seem to possess feeling, for they twist about with a
+rapid swimming movement when irritated."
+
+"Well, but I say, how _could_ they live when separated from the body?
+Our arms or legs don't live; the lobster's legs don't live."
+
+"Quite true. But in those cases we have limbs of a complex
+organization, which require a complex apparatus in order to sustain
+their life. They must have blood, the blood must circulate."
+
+"Stop, stop! I don't want to understand why our arms can't live apart
+from our bodies. They don't. The fact is enough for me. I want to know
+why the tail of a tadpole can live apart from the body."
+
+"It _can_. Is not the fact enough for you in that case also? Well, I
+was going to tell you the reason. The tail will live apart from the
+body only so long as it retains its early immature form. If you cut it
+off from a tadpole which is old enough to have lost its external gills
+a week or more, the tail will _not_ live more than three or four days.
+And every tail will die as soon as it reaches the point in its
+development which requires the circulation of the blood as a necessary
+condition."
+
+"But where does it get food?"
+
+"That is more than I can say. I don't know that it wants food. You
+know that reptiles can live without food a wonderful length of time."
+
+"Really, I begin to think there is more in these little beasts than I
+ever dreamed of. But it must take a great deal of study to get at
+these facts."
+
+"Not more than to get at any of the other open secrets of Nature. But,
+since you are interested, look at these tails as the tadpoles come
+bobbing against the side of the glass. Do you see how they are covered
+with little white spots?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Look closer. All over the tail there are tiny, cotton-like spots.
+Take a lens, if your eye isn't sharp enough. There, now you see them."
+
+"Yes; I see a sort of _fluff_ scattered about."
+
+"That fluff is an immense colony of parasites. Let us place the
+tadpole under the microscope, and you will see each spot turn out to
+be a multitude of elegant and active animals, having bodies not unlike
+a crystal goblet supported on an extremely long and flexible stem, and
+having round their rim or mouth a range of long, delicate hairs, the
+motion of which gives a wheel-like aspect, and makes an eddy in the
+water which brings food to the animal."
+
+"This is really interesting! How active they are! How they shrink up,
+and then, unwinding their twisted stems, expand again! What's the name
+of this thing?"
+
+"_Vorticella_. It may be found growing on water fleas, plants, decayed
+wood, or these tadpoles. People who study the animalcules are very
+fond of this Vorticella."
+
+"Well, I never could have believed such a patch of fluff could turn
+out a sight like this: I could watch it for an hour. But what are
+those small yellowish things sticking on the side of these parasites?"
+
+"Those, my dear Syntax, are also parasites."
+
+"What, parasites living on parasites?"
+
+"Why not? Nature is economical. Don't you live on beef, and mutton,
+and fish? Don't these beeves, muttons, and fishes live on vegetables
+and animals? Don't the vegetables and animals live on other organic
+matters? Eat and be eaten, is one law: live and let live, is another."
+
+[Illustration: The Tadpole's last Stage.]
+
+The learned Doctor remained thoughtful; then he screwed up one side of
+his face into the most frightful wrinkles, while with the eye of the
+other he resumed his examination of the Vorticella.
+
+  --_George Henry Lewes._
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration:
+
+  From the Painting by Rosa Bonheur.      Engraved by Horace Baker.
+
+  The Lions.
+]
+
+THE GLOVE AND THE LIONS.
+
+
+    King Francis was a hearty king, and loved a royal sport,
+    And one day, as his lions fought, sat looking on the court;
+    The nobles filled the benches, with the ladies in their pride,
+    And 'mongst them sat the Count de Lorge, with one for whom he
+              sighed:
+    And truly 'twas a gallant thing to see that crowning show,--
+    Valor and love, and a king above, and the royal beasts below.
+
+[Illustration: Leigh Hunt.]
+
+    Ramped and roared the lions, with horrid laughing jaws;
+    They bit, they glared, gave blows like beams, a wind went with their
+              paws;
+    With wallowing might and stifled roar, they rolled on one another,
+    Till all the pit, with sand and mane, was in a thunderous smother;
+    The bloody foam above the bars came whisking through the air:
+    Said Francis, then, "Faith, gentlemen, we're better here than
+              there."
+
+    De Lorge's love o'erheard the king, a beauteous, lively dame,
+    With smiling lips and sharp bright eyes, which always seemed the
+              same;
+    She thought, "The Count, my lover, is brave as brave can be,
+    He surely would do wondrous things to show his love of me;
+    King, ladies, lovers, all look on; the occasion is divine;
+    I'll drop my glove, to prove his love; great glory will be mine."
+
+    She dropped her glove, to prove his love; then looked at him, and
+              smiled;
+    He bowed, and in a moment leaped among the lions wild:
+    The leap was quick, return was quick, he soon regained the place,
+    Then threw the glove, but not with love, right in the lady's face.
+    "In faith," cried Francis, "rightly done!" and he rose from where he
+              sat;
+    "No love," quoth he, "but vanity sets love a task like that."
+
+  --_Leigh Hunt._
+
+
+
+
+TRUE GROWTH.
+
+
+        It is not growing like a tree
+        In bulk, doth make man better be;
+    Or standing like an oak, three hundred year,
+    To fall a log at last, dry, bald, and sere;
+        A lily of a day
+        Is fairer far in May,
+      Although it fall and die that night--
+      It was the plant and flower of Light.
+    In small proportions we just beauties see;
+    And in short measures life may perfect be.
+
+  --_Ben Jonson._
+
+
+
+
+THE SHIPWRECK.
+
+
+I.
+
+Having made up my mind to go down to Yarmouth, I went round to the
+coach office and took the box seat on the mail. In the evening I
+started, by that conveyance, down the road.
+
+"Don't you think that a very remarkable sky?" I asked the coachman, in
+the first stage out of London. "I don't remember to have seen one like
+it."
+
+"Nor I--not equal to it," he replied. "That's wind, sir; there'll be
+mischief done at sea, I expect before long."
+
+[Illustration: Charles Dickens.]
+
+It was a murky confusion--here and there blotted with a color like the
+color of the smoke from damp fuel--of flying clouds tossed up into
+most remarkable heaps, suggesting greater heights in the clouds than
+there were depths below them to the bottom of the deepest hollows in
+the earth, through which the wild moon seemed to plunge headlong, as
+if, in a dread disturbance of the laws of nature, she had lost her way
+and were frightened. There had been wind all day; and it was rising
+then, with an extraordinary great sound. In another hour it had much
+increased, and the sky was more overcast, and it blew harder.
+
+But as the night advanced, the clouds closing in and densely
+overspreading the whole sky, then very dark, it came on to blow harder
+and harder. It still increased, until our horses could scarcely face
+the wind. Many times in the dark part of the night (it was then late
+in September, when the nights were not short) the leaders turned
+about, or came to a dead stop; and we were often in apprehension that
+the coach would be blown over.
+
+When the day broke, it blew harder and harder. I had been in Yarmouth
+when the seamen said it blew great guns, but I had never known the
+like of this, or anything approaching to it. We came to Ipswich--very
+late, having had to fight every inch of ground since we were ten miles
+out of London; and found a cluster of people in the market place, who
+had risen from their beds in the night, fearful of falling chimneys.
+Some of these, congregating about the innyard while we changed horses,
+told us of great sheets of lead having been ripped off a high church
+tower and flung into a by-street, which they then blocked up. Others
+had to tell of country people, coming in from neighboring villages,
+who had seen great trees lying torn out of the earth, and whole ricks
+scattered about the roads and fields. Still there was no abatement in
+the storm, but it blew harder.
+
+As we struggled on, nearer and nearer to the sea, from which the
+mighty wind was blowing dead on shore, its force became more and more
+terrific. Long before we saw the sea, its spray was on our lips, and
+showered salt rain upon us. The water was out, over miles and miles of
+the flat country adjacent to Yarmouth; and every sheet and puddle
+lashed its banks, and had its stress of little breakers setting
+heavily towards us. When we came within sight of the sea, the waves on
+the horizon, caught at intervals above the rolling abyss, were like
+glimpses of another shore with towers and buildings. When at last we
+got into the town, the people came out to their doors, all aslant, and
+with streaming hair, making a wonder of the mail that had come through
+such a night.
+
+I put up at the old inn, and went down to look at the sea, staggering
+along the street, which was strewn with sand and seaweed, and with
+flying blotches of sea foam; afraid of falling slates and tiles; and
+holding by people I met at angry corners. Coming near the beach, I
+saw, not only the boatmen, but half the people of the town, lurking
+behind buildings; some now and then braving the fury of the storm to
+look away to sea, and blown sheer out of their course in trying to get
+zigzag back.
+
+Joining these groups, I found bewailing women whose husbands were away
+in herring or oyster boats, which there was too much reason to think
+might have foundered before they could run in anywhere for safety.
+Grizzled old sailors were among the people, shaking their heads as
+they looked from water to sky, and muttering to one another;
+shipowners excited and uneasy; children huddling together, and peering
+into older faces; even stout mariners disturbed and anxious, leveling
+their glasses at the sea from behind places of shelter, as if they
+were surveying an enemy.
+
+The tremendous sea itself, when I could find sufficient pause to look
+at it, in the agitation of the blinding wind, the flying stones and
+sand, and the awful noise, confounded me. As the high watery walls
+came rolling in, and, at their highest, tumbled into surf, they looked
+as if the least would engulf the town. As the receding wave swept back
+with a hoarse roar, it seemed to scoop out caves in the beach, as if
+its purpose were to undermine the earth. When some white-headed
+billows thundered on, and dashed themselves to pieces before they
+reached the land, every fragment of the late whole seemed possessed by
+the full might of its wrath, rushing to be gathered to the composition
+of another monster. Undulating hills were changed to valleys,
+undulating valleys (with a storm bird sometimes skimming through them)
+were lifted up to hills; masses of water shivered and shook the beach
+with a booming sound; every shape tumultuously rolled on, as soon as
+made, to change its shape and place, and beat another shape and place
+away; the ideal shore on the horizon, with its towers and buildings,
+rose and fell; the clouds flew fast and thick; I seemed to see a
+rending and upheaving of all nature.
+
+Not finding my old friend, Ham, among the people whom this memorable
+wind--for it is still remembered down there as the greatest ever known
+to blow upon that coast--had brought together, I made my way to his
+house. It was shut; and as no one answered to my knocking, I went by
+back ways and by-lanes to the yard where he worked. I learned there
+that he had gone to Lowestoft, to meet some sudden exigency of ship
+repairing in which his skill was required; but that he would be back
+to-morrow morning in good time.
+
+I went back to the inn; and when I had washed and dressed, and tried
+to sleep, but in vain, it was five o'clock in the afternoon. I had not
+sat five minutes by the coffee-room fire, when the waiter, coming to
+stir it as an excuse for talking, told me that two colliers had gone
+down, with all hands, a few miles away; and that some other ships had
+been seen laboring hard in the Roads, and trying in great distress to
+keep off shore. "Mercy on them, and on all poor sailors," said he, "if
+we had another night like the last!"
+
+I was very much depressed in spirits, very solitary, and felt an
+uneasiness in Ham's not being there, disproportionate to the occasion.
+I was seriously affected, without knowing how much, by late events,
+and my exposure to the fierce wind had confused me. There was that
+jumble in my thoughts and recollections that I had lost the clear
+arrangement of time and distance. Thus, if I had gone out into the
+town, I should not have been surprised, I think, to encounter some one
+who I knew must be then in London. So to speak, there was in these
+respects a curious inattention in my mind. Yet it was busy, too, with
+all the remembrances the place naturally awakened, and they were
+particularly distinct and vivid.
+
+In this state, the waiter's dismal intelligence about the ships
+immediately connected itself, without any effort of my volition, with my
+uneasiness about Ham. I was persuaded that possibly he would attempt to
+return from Lowestoft by sea, and be lost. This grew so strong with me,
+that I resolved to go back to the yard before I took my dinner, and ask
+the boat builder if he thought his attempting to return by sea at all
+likely. If he gave me the least reason to think so, I would go over to
+Lowestoft and prevent it by bringing him with me.
+
+I hastily ordered my dinner, and went back to the yard. I was none too
+soon; for the boat builder, with a lantern in his hand, was locking
+the yard gate. He quite laughed when I asked him the question, and
+said there was no fear; no man in his senses, or out of them, would
+put off in such a gale of wind, least of all Ham Peggotty, who had
+been born to seafaring.
+
+I went back to the inn. The howl and roar, the rattling of the doors
+and windows, the rumbling in the chimneys, the apparent rocking of the
+very house that sheltered me, and the prodigious tumult of the sea,
+were more fearful than in the morning. But there was now a great
+darkness besides; and that invested the storm with new terrors, real
+and fanciful.
+
+I could not eat, I could not sit still, I could not continue steadfast
+in anything. Something within me, faintly answering to the storm
+without, tossed up the depths of my memory and made a tumult in them.
+Yet, in all the hurry of my thoughts, wild running with thundering
+sea, the storm and my uneasiness regarding Ham were always in the
+foreground.
+
+My dinner went away almost untasted, and I tried to refresh myself
+with a glass or two of wine. In vain. I fell into a dull slumber
+before the fire, without losing my consciousness either of the uproar
+out of doors or of the place in which I was. Both became overshadowed
+by a new undefinable horror; and when I awoke--or rather when I shook
+off the lethargy that bound me in my chair--my whole frame thrilled
+with objectless and unintelligible fear.
+
+I walked to and fro, tried to read an old gazetteer, listened to the
+awful noises; looked at faces, scenes, and figures in the fire. At
+length the steady ticking of the undisturbed clock on the wall
+tormented me to that degree that I resolved to go to bed.
+
+It was reassuring, on such a night, to be told that some of the inn
+servants had agreed together to sit up until morning. I went to bed,
+exceedingly weary and heavy; but on my lying down all such sensations
+vanished, as if by magic, and I was broad awake, with every sense
+refined.
+
+For hours I lay there, listening to the wind and water; imagining now
+that I heard shrieks out at sea, now that I distinctly heard the
+firing of signal guns, and now the fall of houses in the town. I got
+up several times and looked out, but could see nothing except the
+reflection in the window panes of the faint candle I had left burning,
+and of my own haggard face looking in at me from the black void.
+
+At length my restlessness attained to such a pitch, that I hurried on
+my clothes, and went downstairs. In the large kitchen, where I dimly
+saw bacon and ropes of onions hanging from the beams, the watchers
+were clustered together, in various attitudes, about a table,
+purposely moved away from the great chimney, and brought near the
+door. A pretty girl who had her ears stopped with her apron, and her
+eyes upon the door, screamed when I appeared, supposing me to be a
+spirit; but the others had more presence of mind, and were glad of an
+addition to their company. One man, referring to the topic they had
+been discussing, asked me whether I thought the souls of the collier
+crews who had gone down were out in the storm?
+
+I remained there, I dare say two hours. There was a dark gloom in my
+solitary chamber when I at length returned to it; but I was tired now,
+and, getting into bed again, fell off a tower and down a precipice
+into the depths of sleep. I have an impression that for a long time,
+though I dreamed of being elsewhere and in a variety of scenes, it was
+always blowing in my dream. At length I lost that feeble hold upon
+reality, and was engaged with two dear friends, but who they were I
+don't know, at the siege of some town in a roar of cannonading.
+
+
+II.
+
+The thunder of the cannon was so loud and incessant, that I could not
+hear something I much desired to hear, until I made a great exertion,
+and awoke. It was broad day--eight or nine o'clock; the storm raging,
+in lieu of the batteries; and some one knocking and calling at my door.
+
+"What is the matter?" I cried.
+
+"A wreck! close by!"
+
+I sprang out of bed, and asked what wreck?
+
+[Illustration:
+
+  From the Painting by A. Marlon.      Carbon by Braun, Clement & Co.
+  Engraved by Walter Aikman.
+
+  The Shipwreck.
+]
+
+"A schooner, from Spain or Portugal, laden with fruit and wine. Make
+haste, sir, if you want to see her! Its thought she'll go to pieces
+every moment."
+
+The excited voice went clamoring along the staircase; and I wrapped
+myself in my clothes as quickly as I could, and ran into the street.
+Numbers of people were there before us, all running in one direction,
+to the beach. I ran the same way, outstripping a good many, and soon
+came facing the wild sea.
+
+The wind might by this time have lulled a little, though not more
+sensibly than if the cannonading I had dreamed of had been diminished
+by the silencing of half a dozen guns out of hundreds. But the sea,
+having upon it the additional agitation of the whole night, was
+infinitely more terrific than when I had seen it last. Every
+appearance it had then presented bore the expression of being
+_swelled_; and the height to which the breakers rose, and, looking
+over one another, bore one another down, and rolled in, in
+interminable hosts, was most appalling.
+
+In the difficulty of hearing anything but wind and waves, and in the
+crowd, and the unspeakable confusion, and my first breathless attempts
+to stand against the weather, I was so confused that I looked out to
+sea for the wreck, and saw nothing but the foaming heads of the great
+waves. A half-dressed boatman standing next me pointed with his bare
+arm (a tattooed arrow on it, pointing in the same direction) to the
+left. Then, O great Heaven, I saw it, close in upon us!
+
+One mast was broken short off, six or eight feet from the deck, and
+lay over the side, entangled in a maze of sail and rigging; and all
+that ruin, as the ship rolled and beat,--which she did without a
+moment's pause, and with a violence quite inconceivable,--beat the
+side as if it would stave it in. Some efforts were even then being
+made to cut this portion of the wreck away; for as the ship, which was
+broadside on, turned towards us in her rolling, I plainly descried her
+people at work with axes, especially one active figure, with long
+curling hair, conspicuous among the rest. But a great cry, which was
+audible even above the wind and water, rose from the shore at this
+moment: the sea, sweeping over the rolling wreck, made a clean breach,
+and carried men, spars, casks, planks, bulwarks, heaps of such toys,
+into the boiling surge.
+
+The second mast was yet standing, with the rags of a rent sail, and a
+wild confusion of broken cordage, flapping to and fro. The ship had
+struck once, the same boatman hoarsely said in my ear, and then lifted
+in and struck again. I understood him to add that she was parting
+amidships, and I could readily suppose so, for the rolling and beating
+were too tremendous for any human work to suffer long. As he spoke,
+there was another great cry of pity from the beach: four men arose
+with the wreck out of the deep, clinging to the rigging of the
+remaining mast; uppermost, the active figure with the curling hair.
+
+There was a bell on board; and as the ship rolled and dashed, like a
+desperate creature driven mad, now showing us the whole sweep of her
+deck, as she turned on her beam ends towards the shore, now nothing but
+her keel, as she sprung wildly over and turned towards the sea, the
+bell rang; and its sound, the knell of those unhappy men, was borne
+towards us on the wind. Again we lost her, and again she rose. Two men
+were gone. The agony on shore increased. Men groaned and clasped their
+hands; women shrieked, and turned away their faces. Some ran wildly up
+and down along the beach, crying for help where no help could be. I
+found myself one of these, frantically imploring a knot of sailors whom
+I knew, not to let those two lost creatures perish before our eyes.
+
+They were making out to me, in an agitated way, that the lifeboat had
+been bravely manned an hour ago, and could do nothing; and that as no
+man would be so desperate as to attempt to wade off with a rope, and
+establish a communication with the shore, there was nothing left to try;
+when I noticed that some new sensation moved the people on the beach,
+and saw them part, and Ham come breaking through them to the front.
+
+I ran to him, as well as I know, to repeat my appeal for help. But
+distracted though I was by a sight so new to me and terrible, the
+determination in his face, and his look out to sea, awoke me to a
+knowledge of his danger. I held him back with both arms, and implored
+the men with whom I had been speaking not to listen to him, not to do
+murder, not to let him stir from off that sand.
+
+Another cry arose from the shore; and, looking towards the wreck, we saw
+the cruel sail, with blow on blow, beat off the lower of the two men,
+and fly up in triumph round the active figure left alone upon the mast.
+
+Against such a sight, and against such determination as that of the
+calmly desperate man who was already accustomed to lead half the
+people present, I might as hopefully have intreated the wind. "Mas'r
+Davy," he said cheerily, grasping me by both hands, "if my time is
+come, 'tis come. If't an't, I'll bide it. Lord above bless you, and
+bless all! Mates, make me ready! I'm a going off!"
+
+I was swept away, but not unkindly, to some distance, where the people
+around me made me stay; urging, as I confusedly perceived, that he was
+bent on going, with help or without, and that I should endanger the
+precautions for his safety by troubling those with whom they rested. I
+don't know what I answered, or what they rejoined, but I saw hurry on
+the beach, and men running with ropes from a capstan that was there,
+and penetrating into a circle of figures that hid him from me. Then I
+saw him standing alone, in a seaman's frock and trowsers, a rope in
+his hand or slung to his wrist, another round his body; and several of
+the best men holding, at a little distance, to the latter, which he
+laid out himself, slack upon the shore, at his feet.
+
+The wreck, even to my unpracticed eye, was breaking up. I saw that she
+was parting in the middle, and that the life of the solitary man upon
+the mast hung by a thread. Still he clung to it.
+
+Ham watched the sea, standing alone, with the silence of suspended
+breath behind him, and the storm before, until there was a great
+retiring wave, when, with a backward glance at those who held the
+rope, which was made fast round his body, he dashed in after it, and
+in a moment was buffeting with the water--rising with the hills,
+falling with valleys, lost beneath the foam; then drawn again to land.
+They hauled in hastily.
+
+He was hurt. I saw blood on his face from where I stood; but he took
+no thought of that. He seemed hurriedly to give them some directions
+for leaving him more free, or so I judged from the motion of his
+arm--and was gone, as before.
+
+And now he made for the wreck--rising with the hills, falling with the
+valleys, lost beneath the rugged foam, borne in towards the shore,
+borne on towards the ship, striving hard and valiantly. The distance
+was nothing, but the power of the sea and wind made the strife deadly.
+
+At length he neared the wreck. He was so near that with one more of
+his vigorous strokes he would be clinging to it,--when a high, green,
+vast hillside of water, moving on shoreward from beyond the ship, he
+seemed to leap up into it with a mighty bound, and the ship was gone!
+
+Some eddying fragments I saw in the sea, as if a mere cask had been
+broken, in running to the spot where they were hauling in.
+Consternation was in every face. They drew him to my very
+feet--insensible, dead. He was carried to the nearest house; and, no
+one preventing me now, I remained near him, busy, while every means of
+restoration was tried; but he had been beaten to death by the great
+wave, and his generous heart was stilled for ever.
+
+  --_From "David Copperfield," by Charles Dickens._
+
+
+
+
+THE HAPPY VALLEY.
+
+
+The place which the wisdom or policy of antiquity had destined for the
+residence of the Abyssinian princes was a spacious valley in the
+kingdom of Amhara, surrounded on every side by mountains, of which the
+summits overhang the middle part. The only passage by which it could
+be entered was a cavern that passed under a rock, of which it has been
+long disputed whether it was the work of Nature or of human industry.
+
+[Illustration: Dr. Samuel Johnson.]
+
+The outlet of the cavern was concealed by a thick wood, and the mouth,
+which opened into the valley, was closed with gates of iron forged by
+the artificers of ancient days, so massy that no man could, without
+the help of engines, open or shut them.
+
+From the mountains, on every side, rivulets descended, that filled all
+the valley with verdure and fertility, and formed a lake in the
+middle, inhabited by fish of every species, and frequented by every
+fowl which Nature has taught to dip the wing in water. This lake
+discharged its superfluities by a stream, which entered a dark cleft
+of the mountain on the northern side, and fell, with dreadful noise,
+from precipice to precipice, till it was heard no more.
+
+The sides of the mountains were covered with trees. The banks of the
+brooks were diversified with flowers. Every blast shook spices from
+the rocks, and every month dropped fruits upon the ground. All animals
+that bite the grass or browse the shrub, whether wild or tame,
+wandered in this extensive circuit, secured from beasts of prey by the
+mountains which confined them.
+
+On one part were flocks and herds feeding in the pastures; on another,
+all the beasts of chase frisking in the lawns; the sprightly kid was
+bounding on the rocks, the subtle monkey frolicking in the trees, and
+the solemn elephant reposing in the shade. All the diversities of the
+world were brought together; the blessings of nature were collected,
+and its evils extracted and excluded.
+
+The valley, wide and fruitful, supplied its inhabitants with the
+necessaries of life; and all delights and superfluities were added at
+the annual visit which the Emperor paid his children, when the iron
+gate was opened to the sound of music, and during eight days every one
+that resided in the valley was required to propose whatever might
+contribute to make seclusion pleasant, to fill up the vacancies of
+attention, and lessen the tediousness of the time.
+
+Every desire was immediately granted. All the artificers of pleasure
+were called to gladden the festivity; the musicians exerted the power
+of harmony, and the dancers showed their activity before the princes,
+in hope that they should pass their lives in this blissful captivity,
+to which those only were admitted whose performance was thought
+capable of adding novelty to luxury.
+
+Such was the appearance of security and delight which this retirement
+afforded, that they to whom it was new always desired that it might be
+perpetual; and as those on whom the iron gate had once closed were
+never suffered to return, the effect of long experience could not be
+known. Thus every year produced new schemes of delight and new
+competitors for imprisonment.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Dr. Samuel Johnson's "Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia," from which this
+selection is taken, was first published in 1759. "The late Mr.
+Strahan, the printer, told me," says Boswell, "that Johnson wrote it,
+so that with the profits he might defray the expenses of his mother's
+funeral, and pay some little debts which she had left. He told Sir
+Joshua Reynolds that he composed it in the evenings of one week, sent
+it to the press in portions as it was written, and had never since
+read it over. None of his writings have been so extensively diffused
+over Europe, for it has been translated into most, if not all, of the
+modern languages. This tale, with all the charms of oriental imagery,
+and all the force and beauty of which the English language is capable,
+leads us through the most important scenes of human life, and shows us
+that this stage of our being is full of 'vanity and vexation of spirit.'"
+
+The peculiarities of style which distinguish all of Johnson's writings
+are well illustrated in this story. Notice the stately flow of
+high-sounding words; the dignified formality of many of the
+descriptive passages; and the richness and perfection which
+characterize the production as a whole.
+
+
+
+
+THE PASS OF KILLIECRANKIE.
+
+
+John Graeme of Claverhouse, whose title of Viscount Dundee had been
+given him in reward for his cruelties to the Western Covenanters, was
+the instigator and leader of a revolt of the Highland clans against
+the government of William III. in Scotland. General Mackay, with his
+loyal Scotch regiments, was sent out to suppress the uprising. But as
+they climbed the pass of Killiecrankie, on the 27th of July, 1689,
+Dundee charged them at the head of three thousand clansmen, and swept
+them in headlong rout down the glen. His death in the moment of
+victory broke, however, the only bond which held the Highlanders
+together, and in a few weeks the host which had spread terror through
+the Lowlands melted helplessly away.
+
+The Graemes, or Grahams, were among the most noted of Scottish
+families, and included some of the most distinguished men of the
+country. Among them were Sir John the Graeme, the faithful aid of Sir
+William Wallace, who fell in the battle of Falkirk, 1298, and the
+celebrated Marquis of Montrose, who died in 1650, and whose exploits
+are immortalized in Scott's "Legend of Montrose."
+
+In the following stirring verses from "The Lays of the Scottish
+Cavaliers," by W. E. Aytoun, the fight at Killiecrankie is described,
+presumably, by one of the adherents of Dundee. The title of the poem
+in its complete form is "The Burial March of Dundee." Our selection
+includes only so much as relates to the conflict in the pass.
+
+    On the heights of Killiecrankie
+      Yester-morn our army lay:
+    Slowly rose the mist in columns
+      From the river's broken way;
+    Hoarsely roared the swollen torrent,
+      And the pass was wrapt in gloom,
+    When the clansmen rose together
+      From their lair amidst the broom.
+    Then we belted on our tartans,
+      And our bonnets down we drew,
+    And we felt our broadswords' edges,
+      And we proved them to be true;
+    And we prayed the prayer of soldiers,
+      And we cried the gathering cry,
+    And we clasped the hands of kinsmen,
+      And we swore to do or die!
+    Then our leader rode before us
+      On his war horse black as night--
+    Well the Cameronian rebels
+      Knew that charger in the fight!--
+    And a cry of exultation
+      From the bearded warriors rose;
+    For we loved the house of Claver'se,
+      And we thought of good Montrose,
+    But he raised his hand for silence--
+      "Soldiers! I have sworn a vow:
+    Ere the evening star shall glisten
+      On Schehallion's lofty brow,
+    Either we shall rest in triumph,
+      Or another of the Graemes
+    Shall have died in battle harness
+      For his country and King James!
+    Think upon the Royal Martyr--
+      Think of what his race endure--
+    Think of him whom butchers murdered
+      On the field of Magus Muir:--
+    By his sacred blood I charge ye,
+      By the ruined hearth and shrine--
+    By the blighted hopes of Scotland,
+      By your injuries and mine--
+    Strike this day as if the anvil
+      Lay beneath your blows the while,
+    Be they Covenanting traitors,
+      Or the brood of false Argyle!
+    Strike! and drive the trembling rebels
+      Backwards o'er the stormy Forth;
+    Let them tell their pale Convention
+      How they fared within the North.
+    Let them tell that Highland honor
+      Is not to be bought or sold,
+    That we scorn their prince's anger
+      As we loathe his foreign gold.
+    Strike! and when the fight is over,
+      If ye look in vain for me,
+    Where the dead are lying thickest,
+      Search for him that was Dundee!"
+    Loudly then the hills reechoed
+      With our answer to his call,
+    But a deeper echo sounded
+      In the bosoms of us all.
+    For the lands of wide Breadalbane
+      Not a man who heard him speak
+    Would that day have left the battle.
+      Burning eye and flushing cheek
+    Told the clansmen's fierce emotion,
+      And they harder drew their breath;
+    For their souls were strong within them,
+      Stronger than the grasp of death.
+    Soon we heard a challenge trumpet
+      Sounding in the pass below,
+    And the distant tramp of horses,
+      And the voices of the foe:
+    Down we crouched amid the bracken,
+      Till the Lowland ranks drew near,
+    Panting like the hounds in summer,
+      When they scent the stately deer.
+    From the dark defile emerging,
+      Next we saw the squadrons come,
+    Leslie's foot and Leven's troopers
+      Marching to the tuck of drum;
+    Through the scattered wood of birches,
+      O'er the broken ground and heath,
+    Wound the long battalion slowly,
+      Till they gained the field beneath;
+    Then we bounded from our covert.--
+      Judge how looked the Saxons then,
+    When they saw the rugged mountain
+      Start to life with armed men!
+    Like a tempest down the ridges
+      Swept the hurricane of steel,
+    Rose the slogan of Macdonald,--
+      Flashed the broadsword of Lochiell!
+    Vainly sped the withering volley
+      'Mongst the foremost of our band--
+    On we poured until we met them,
+      Foot to foot, and hand to hand.
+    Horse and man went down like driftwood
+      When the floods are black at Yule,
+    And their carcasses are whirling
+      In the Garry's deepest pool.
+    Horse and man went down before us--
+      Living foe there tarried none
+    On the field of Killiecrankie,
+      When that stubborn fight was done!
+    And the evening star was shining
+      On Schehallion's distant head,
+    When we wiped our bloody broadswords,
+      And returned to count the dead.
+    There we found him gashed and gory,
+      Stretched upon the cumbered plain,
+    As he told us where to seek him,
+      In the thickest of the slain.
+    And a smile was on his visage,
+      For within his dying ear
+    Pealed the joyful note of triumph,
+      And the clansmen's clamorous cheer:
+    So, amidst the battle's thunder,
+      Shot, and steel, and scorching flame,
+    In the glory of his manhood
+      Passed the spirit of the Graeme!
+
+
+
+
+SUMMER RAIN.
+
+
+It is a long time since much rain fell. The ground is a little dry, the
+road is a good deal dusty. The garden bakes. Transplanted trees are
+thirsty. Wheels are shrinking and tires are looking dangerous. Men
+speculate on the clouds; they begin to calculate how long it will be, if
+no rain falls, before the potatoes will suffer; the oats, the grass, the
+corn--everything! To be sure, nothing is yet suffering; but then--
+
+[Illustration: Henry Ward Beecher.]
+
+Rain, rain, rain! All day, all night, steady raining. Will it never
+stop? The hay is out and spoiling. The rain washes the garden. All
+things have drunk their fill. The springs revive, the meadows are wet;
+the rivers run discolored with soil from every hill.
+
+Smoking cattle reek under the sheds. Hens, and fowl in general,
+shelter and plume. The sky is leaden. The clouds are full yet. The
+long fleece covers the mountains. The hills are capped in white. The
+air is full of moisture.
+
+The wind roars down the chimney. The birds are silent. No insects
+chirp. Closets smell moldy. The barometer is clogged. We thump it, but
+it will not get up. It seems to have an understanding with the
+weather. The trees drip, shoes are muddy, carriage and wagon are
+splashed with dirt. Paths are soft.
+
+So it is. When it is clear we want rain, and when it rains we wish it
+would shine. But after all, how lucky for grumblers that they are not
+allowed to meddle with the weather, and that it is put above their
+reach. What a scrambling, selfish, mischief-making time we should
+have, if men undertook to parcel out the seasons and the weather
+according to their several humors or interests!
+
+If one will but look for enjoyment, how much there is in every change
+of weather. The formation of clouds--the various signs and signals,
+the uncertain wheeling and marching of the fleecy cohorts, the shades
+of light and gray in the broken heavens--all have their pleasure to an
+observant eye. Then come the wind gust, the distant dark cloud, the
+occasional fiery streak shot down through it, the run and hurry of men
+whose work may suffer!
+
+Indeed, sir, your humble servant, even, was stirred up on the day
+after Fourth of July. The grass in the old orchard was not my best.
+Indeed, we grumbled at it considerably while it was yet standing. But
+being cut and the rain threatening it, one would have thought it gold
+by the nimble way in which we tried to save it!
+
+Blessed be horse rakes! Once, half a dozen men with half a dozen rakes
+would have gone whisking up and down, thrusting out and pulling in the
+long-handled rakes with slow and laborious progress. But no more of
+that. See friend Turner, mounted on the wheeled horse rake, riding
+about as if for pleasure. It is easy times when _men_ ride and
+_horses_ rake.
+
+Meanwhile, the clouds come bowling noiselessly through the air, and
+spit here and there a drop preliminary. Well, if one thing suffers,
+another gains! See how the leaves are washed; the grass drinks, even
+drinks; the garden drinks; everything drinks.
+
+It is our opinion that everything except man is laughing and
+rejoicing. Trees shake their leaves with a softer sound. Rocks look
+moist and soft, at least where the moss grows. Even the solitary old
+pine tree chords his harp, and sings soft and low melodies with
+plaintive undulations!
+
+A good summer storm is a rain of riches. If gold and silver rattled
+down from the clouds, they could hardly enrich the land so much as
+soft, long rains. Every drop is silver going to the mint. The roots
+are machinery, and, catching the willing drops, they array them,
+refine them, roll them, stamp them, and turn them out coined berries,
+apples, grains, and grasses!
+
+When the heavens send clouds and they bank up the horizon, be sure
+they have hidden gold in them. All the mountains of California are not
+so rich as are the soft mines of heaven, that send down treasures upon
+man without tasking him, and pour riches upon his field without spade
+or pickax--without his search or notice.
+
+Well, let it rain, then! No matter if the journey is delayed, the
+picnic spoiled, the visit adjourned. Blessed be rain--and rain in
+summer. And blessed be he who watereth the earth and enricheth it for
+man and beast.
+
+  --_Henry Ward Beecher._
+
+
+
+
+LIFE IN THE BACKWOODS.
+
+[Illustration: William Dean Howells.]
+
+
+It would not be easy to say where or when the first log cabin was built,
+but it is safe to say that it was somewhere in the English colonies of
+North America, and it is certain that it became the type of the
+settler's house throughout the whole middle west. It may be called the
+American house, the Western house, the Ohio house. Hardly any other
+house was built for a hundred years by the men who were clearing the
+land for the stately mansions of our day. As long as the primeval
+forests stood, the log cabin remained the woodsman's home; and not fifty
+years ago, I saw log cabins newly built in one of the richest and most
+prosperous regions of Ohio. They were, to be sure, log cabins of a finer
+pattern than the first settler reared. They were of logs handsomely
+shaped with the broadax; the joints between the logs were plastered with
+mortar; the chimney at the end was of stone; the roof was shingled, the
+windows were of glass, and the door was solid and well hung. But
+throughout that region there were many log cabins, mostly sunk to the
+uses of stables and corn cribs, of the kind that the borderers built in
+the times of the Indian War, from 1750 to 1800. They were framed of the
+round logs untouched by the ax except for the notches at the ends where
+they were fitted into one another; the chimney was of small sticks stuck
+together with mud, and was as frail as a barn swallow's nest; the walls
+were stuffed with moss, plastered with clay; the floor was of rough
+boards called puncheons, riven from the block with a heavy knife; the
+roof was of clapboards laid loosely on the rafters, and held in place
+with logs fastened athwart them.
+
+[Illustration: Log Cabin.]
+
+There is a delightful account of such a log cabin by John S. Williams,
+whose father settled in the woods of Belmont County in 1800. "Our
+cabin," he says, "had been raised, covered, part of the cracks
+chinked, and part of the floor laid, when we moved in on Christmas
+day. There had not been a stick cut except in building the cabin,
+which was so high from the ground that a bear, wolf, panther, or any
+animal less in size than a cow could enter without even a squeeze....
+The green ash puncheons had shrunk so as to leave cracks in the floor
+and doors from one to two inches wide. At both the doors we had high,
+unsteady, and sometimes icy steps, made by piling the logs cut out of
+the walls, for the doors and the window, if it could be called a
+window, when perhaps it was the largest spot in the top, bottom, or
+sides of the cabin where the wind could _not_ enter. It was made by
+sawing out a log, and placing sticks across and then by pasting an
+old newspaper over the hole, and applying hog's lard, we had a kind of
+glazing which shed a most beautiful and mellow light across the cabin
+when the sun shone on it. All other light entered at the doors,
+cracks, and chimneys. Our cabin was twenty-four by eighteen. The west
+end was occupied by two beds, the center of each side by a door.... On
+the opposite side of the window, made of clapboards, supported on pins
+driven into the walls, were our shelves. On these shelves my sister
+displayed in simple order, a host of pewter plates, and dishes and
+spoons, scoured and bright.... Our chimney occupied most of the east
+end; with pots and kettles opposite the window, under the shelves, a
+gun on hooks over the north door, four split-bottomed chairs, three
+three-legged stools, and a small eight by ten looking-glass sloped
+from the wall over a large towel and comb case.... We got a roof laid
+over head as soon as possible, but it was laid of loose clapboards
+split from a red-oak, and a cat might have shaken every board in our
+ceiling.... We made two kinds of furniture. One kind was of hickory
+bark, with the outside shaved off. This we would take off all around
+the tree, the size of which would determine the caliber of our box.
+Into one end we would place a flat piece of bark or puncheon, cut
+round to fit in the bark, which stood on end the same as when on the
+tree.... A much finer article was made of slippery-elm bark, shaved
+smooth, with the inside out, bent round and sewed together, where the
+end of the hoop or main bark lapped over.... This was the finest
+furniture in a lady's dressing room," and such a cabin and its
+appointments were splendor and luxury beside those of the very
+earliest pioneers, and many of the latest. The Williamses were
+Quakers, and the mother was recently from England; they were of far
+gentler breeding and finer tastes than most of their neighbors, who
+had been backwoodsmen for generations.
+
+When the first settlers broke the silence of the woods with the stroke
+of their axes, and hewed out a space for their cabins and their
+fields, they inclosed their homes with a high stockade of logs, for
+defense against the Indians; or if they built their cabins outside the
+wooden walls of their stronghold, they always expected to flee to it
+at the first alarm, and to stand siege within it.
+
+The Indians had no cannon, and the logs of the stockade were proof
+against their rifles; if a breach was made, there was still the
+blockhouse left, the citadel of every little fort. This was heavily
+built, and pierced with loopholes for the riflemen within, whose wives
+ran bullets for them at its mighty hearth, and who kept the savage foe
+from its sides by firing down upon them through the projecting timbers
+of its upper story. But in many a fearful siege the Indians set the
+roof ablaze with arrows wrapped in burning tow, and then the fight
+became desperate indeed. After the Indian war ended, the stockade was
+no longer needed, and the settlers had only the wild beasts to contend
+with, and those constant enemies of the poor in all ages and
+conditions,--hunger and cold.
+
+Winter after winter, the Williamses heard the wolves howling round
+them in the woods, and this music was familiar to the ears of all the
+Ohio pioneers, who trusted their rifles for both the safety and
+support of their families. They deadened the trees around them by
+girdling them with the ax, and planted the spaces between the leafless
+trunks with corn and beans and pumpkins. These were their necessaries,
+but they had an occasional luxury in the wild honey from the hollow of
+a bee tree when the bears had not got at it.
+
+In its season, there was an abundance of wild fruit, plums and
+cherries, haws and grapes, berries, and nuts of every kind, and the
+maples yielded all the sugar they chose to make from them. But it was
+long before they had, at any time, the profusion which our modern arts
+enable us to enjoy the whole year round, and in the hard beginnings
+the orchard and the garden were forgotten for the fields.
+
+When once the settler was housed against the weather, he had the
+conditions of a certain rude comfort indoors. If his cabin was not
+proof against the wind and rain or snow, its vast fireplace formed the
+means of heating, while the forest was an inexhaustible store of fuel.
+At first he dressed in the skins and pelts of the deer and fox and
+wolf, and his costume could have varied little from that of the red
+savage about him, for we often read how he mistook Indians for white
+men at first sight, and how the Indians in their turn mistook white
+men for their own people.
+
+The whole family went barefoot in the summer, but in winter the
+pioneer wore moccasins of buckskin, and buckskin leggins or trousers;
+his coat was a hunting shirt belted at the waist and fringed where it
+fell to his knees. It was of homespun, a mixture of wool and flax
+called linsey-woolsey, and out of this the dresses of his wife and
+daughters were made; the wool was shorn from the sheep which were so
+scarce that they were never killed for their flesh, except by the
+wolves, which were very fond of mutton, but had no use for wool.
+
+For a wedding dress a cotton check was thought superb, and it really
+cost a dollar a yard; silks, satins, laces, were unknown. A man never
+left his house without his rifle; the gun was a part of his dress, and
+in his belt he carried a hunting knife and a hatchet; on his head he
+wore a cap of squirrel skin, often with the plume-like tail dangling
+from it.
+
+The furniture of the cabins was, like the clothing of the pioneers,
+homemade. A bedstead was contrived by stretching poles from forked
+sticks driven into the ground, and laying clapboards across them; the
+bedclothes were bearskins. Stools, benches, and tables were roughed
+out with auger and broadax; the puncheon floor was left bare, and if
+the earth formed the floor, no rug ever replaced the grass which was
+its first carpet. The cabin had but one room where the whole of life
+went on by day; the father and mother slept there at night, and the
+children mounted to their chamber in the loft by means of a ladder.
+
+The food was what has been already named. The meat was venison, bear,
+raccoon, wild turkey, wild duck, and pheasant; the drink was water, or
+rye coffee, or whisky which the little stills everywhere supplied only
+too abundantly. Wheat bread was long unknown, and corn cakes of
+various makings and bakings supplied its place. The most delicious
+morsel of all was corn grated while still in the milk and fashioned
+into round cakes eaten hot from the clapboard before the fire, or from
+the mysterious depths of the Dutch oven, buried in coals and ashes on
+the hearth. There was soon a great flow of milk from the kine that
+multiplied in the woods and pastures, and there was sweetening enough
+from the maple tree and the bee tree, but salt was very scarce and
+very dear, and long journeys were made through the perilous woods to
+and from the licks, or salt springs, which the deer had discovered
+before the white man or red man knew them.
+
+The bees which hived their honey in the hollow trees were tame bees
+gone wild, and with the coming of the settlers, some of the wild
+things increased so much that they became a pest. Such were the crows
+which literally blackened the fields after the settlers plowed, and
+which the whole family had to fight from the corn when it was planted.
+Such were the rabbits, and such, above all, were the squirrels which
+overran the farms, and devoured every green thing till the people
+combined in great squirrel hunts and destroyed them by tens of
+thousands. The larger game had meanwhile disappeared. The buffalo and
+the elk went first; the deer followed, and the bear, and even the
+useless wolf. But long after these the poisonous reptiles lingered,
+the rattlesnake, the moccasin, and the yet deadlier copperhead; and it
+was only when the whole country was cleared that they ceased to be a
+very common danger.
+
+  --_From "Stories of Ohio," by William Dean Howells._
+
+
+
+
+HOW THEY BESIEGED THE TOWN.
+
+
+Charles Reade, in his great romance entitled "The Cloister and the
+Hearth," has not only presented us with a story of absorbing interest,
+but has given us a vivid and accurate view of manners and customs
+during one of the most interesting periods of history. The following
+extract is particularly interesting because of its vivid portrayal of
+the methods of warfare in vogue at that time. There was a rebellion in
+Flanders. More than one knight had broken his oath of fealty to the
+Duke of Burgundy, who was the ruler of that country, and some of the
+strongest castles were fortified by rebels. To subdue these
+dissatisfied spirits and to reduce the country again to subjection,
+Counts Anthony and Baldwyn of Burgundy had entered Flanders at the
+head of a considerable army and were carrying fire and sword among the
+enemies of the Duke. One of their exploits at this time is thus
+narrated by the novelist:--
+
+[Illustration: Charles Reade.]
+
+    One afternoon they came in sight of a strongly fortified town; and
+    a whisper went through the little army that this was a disaffected
+    place. But upon coming nearer they saw that the great gate stood
+    open, and the towers that flanked it on each side were manned
+    with a single sentinel apiece. So the advancing force somewhat
+    broke their array and marched carelessly.
+
+    When they were within a furlong, the drawbridge across the moat
+    rose slowly and creaking till it stood vertical against the fort;
+    and the very moment it settled, into this warlike attitude, down
+    rattled the portcullis at the gate, and the towers and curtains
+    bristled with lances and crossbows.
+
+    A stern hum ran through the front rank and spread to the rear.
+
+    "Halt!" cried their leader. The word went down the line, and they
+    halted. "Herald to the gate!"
+
+    A herald spurred out of the ranks, and halting twenty yards from
+    the gate, raised his bugle with his herald's flag hanging down
+    round it, and blew a summons. A tall figure in brazen armor
+    appeared over the gate. A few fiery words passed between him and
+    the herald, which were not audible; but their import was clear,
+    for the herald blew a single keen and threatening note at the
+    walls, and came galloping back with war in his face.
+
+    The leader moved out of the line to meet him, and their heads had
+    not been together two seconds ere he turned in his saddle and
+    shouted, "Pioneers, to the van!" and in a moment hedges were
+    leveled, and the force took the field and encamped just out of
+    shot from the walls; and away went mounted officers flying south,
+    east, and west, to the friendly towns, for catapults, palisades,
+    mantelets, raw hides, tar barrels, carpenters, provisions, and all
+    the materials for a siege.
+
+    The besiegers encamped a furlong from the walls, and made roads;
+    kept their pikemen in camp ready for an assault when practicable;
+    and sent forward their sappers, pioneers, catapultiers, and
+    crossbowmen. These opened a siege by filling the moat and mining,
+    or breaching the wall, etc. And as much of their work had to be
+    done under close fire of arrows, quarrels, bolts, stones, and
+    little rocks, the above artists "had need of a hundred eyes," and
+    acted in concert with a vigilance, and an amount of individual
+    intelligence, daring, and skill that made a siege very
+    interesting, and even amusing,--to lookers-on.
+
+    The first thing they did was to advance their carpenters behind
+    rolling mantelets, and to erect a stockade high and strong on the
+    very edge of the moat. Some lives were lost at this, but not many;
+    for a strong force of crossbowmen, including Denys, rolled their
+    mantelets[1] up and shot over the workmen's heads at every
+    besieged person who showed his nose, and at every loophole, arrow
+    slit, or other aperture, which commanded the particular spot the
+    carpenters happened to be upon. Covered by their condensed fire,
+    these soon raised a high palisade between them and the ordinary
+    missiles from the walls.
+
+    But the besieged expected this, and ran out at night their hoards
+    or wooden penthouses on the top of the curtains. The curtains were
+    built with square holes near the top to receive the beams that
+    supported these structures, the true defense of mediaeval forts,
+    from which the besieged delivered their missiles with far more
+    freedom and variety of range than they could shoot through the
+    oblique but immovable loopholes of the curtain. On this the
+    besiegers brought up mangonels, and set them hurling huge stones
+    at these wood works and battering them to pieces. At the same time
+    they built a triangular wooden tower as high as the curtain, and
+    kept it ready for use, and just out of shot.
+
+    This was a terrible sight to the besieged. These wooden towers had
+    taken many a town. They began to mine underneath that part of the
+    moat the tower stood frowning at; and made other preparations to
+    give it a warm reception. The besiegers also mined, but at another
+    part, their object being to get under the square barbican and
+    throw it down. All this time Denys was behind his mantelet with
+    another arbalester, protecting the workmen and making some
+    excellent shots. These ended by earning him the esteem of an
+    unseen archer, who every now and then sent a winged compliment
+    quivering into his mantelet. One came and stuck within an inch of
+    the narrow slit through which Denys was squinting at the moment.
+
+    [Illustration: Hoard, or Penthouse.]
+
+    "Ha! ha!" cried he, "you shoot well, my friend. Come forth and
+    receive my congratulations! Shall merit, such as thine, hide its
+    head? Comrade, it is one of those Englishmen, with his half ell
+    shaft. I'll not die till I've had a shot at London wall."
+
+    On the side of the besieged was a figure that soon attracted great
+    notice by promenading under fire. It was a tall knight, clad in
+    complete brass, and carrying a light but prodigiously long lance,
+    with which he directed the movements of the besieged. And when any
+    disaster befell the besiegers, this tall knight and his long lance
+    were pretty sure to be concerned in it.
+
+    My young reader will say, "Why did not Denys shoot him?"
+
+    Denys did shoot him; every day of his life; other arbalesters shot
+    him; archers shot him. Everybody shot him. He was there to be
+    shot, apparently. But the abomination was, he did not mind being
+    shot. Nay, worse, he got at last so demoralized as not to seem to
+    know when he was shot. At last the besiegers got spiteful, and
+    would not waste any more good steel on him.
+
+    It was a bright day, clear, but not quite frosty. The efforts of
+    the besieging force were concentrated against a space of about two
+    hundred and fifty yards, containing two curtains and two towers,
+    one of which was the square barbican, the other had a pointed roof
+    that was built to overlap, and by this means a row of dangerous
+    crenelets between the roof and the masonry grinned down at the
+    nearer assailants, and looked not very unlike the grinders of a
+    modern frigate with each port nearly closed. The curtains were
+    overlapped with penthouses somewhat shattered by the mangonels,
+    and other slinging engines of the besiegers.
+
+    On the besiegers' edge of the moat was what seemed at first sight
+    a gigantic arsenal, longer than it was broad, peopled by human
+    ants, and full of busy, honest industry, and displaying all the
+    various mechanical science of the age in full operation. Here the
+    lever at work, there the winch and pulley, here the balance, there
+    the capstan. Everywhere heaps of stones, and piles of fascines,
+    mantelets, and rows of fire barrels. Mantelets rolling, the hammer
+    tapping all day, horses and carts in endless succession rattling
+    up with materials.
+
+    At the edge of the moat opposite the wooden tower, a strong
+    penthouse, which they called "a cat," might be seen stealing
+    towards the curtain, and gradually filling up the moat with
+    fascines and rubbish, which the workmen flung out at its mouth. It
+    was advanced by two sets of ropes passing round pulleys, and each
+    worked by a windlass at some distance from the cat. The knight
+    burnt the first cat by flinging blazing tar barrels on it. So the
+    besiegers made the roof of this one very steep, and covered it
+    with raw hides, and the tar barrels could not harm it.
+
+    And now the engineers proceeded to the unusual step of slinging
+    fifty-pound stones at an individual.
+
+    This catapult was a scientific, simple, and beautiful engine, and
+    very effective in vertical fire at the short ranges of the period.
+
+    Imagine a fir tree cut down, and set to turn round a horizontal
+    axis on lofty uprights, but not in equilibrium; three fourths of
+    the tree being on the hither side. At the shorter and thicker end
+    of the tree was fastened a weight of half a ton. This butt end
+    just before the discharge pointed towards the enemy. By means of a
+    powerful winch the long tapering portion of the tree was forced
+    down to the very ground, and fastened by a bolt; and the stone
+    placed in a sling attached to the tree's nose. But this process of
+    course raised the butt end with its huge weight high in the air,
+    and kept it there struggling in vain to come down. The bolt was
+    now drawn; then the short end swung furiously down, the long end
+    went as furiously up, and at its highest elevation flung the huge
+    stone out of the sling with a tremendous jerk. In this case the
+    huge mass so flung missed the knight, but came down near him on
+    the penthouse, and went through it like paper, making an awful gap
+    in roof and floor.
+
+    [Illustration: A Catapult.]
+
+    "Aha! a good shot!" cried Baldwyn of Burgundy.
+
+    The tall knight retired. The besiegers hooted him. He reappeared
+    on the platform of the barbican, his helmet being just visible
+    above the parapet. He seemed very busy, and soon an enormous
+    Turkish catapult made its appearance on the platform, and, aided
+    by the elevation at which it was planted, flung a twenty-pound
+    stone two hundred and forty yards in the air. The next stone
+    struck a horse that was bringing up a sheaf of arrows in a cart,
+    bowled the horse over dead like a rabbit, and split the cart. It
+    was then turned at the besiegers' wooden tower, supposed to be out
+    of shot. Sir Turk slung stones cut with sharp edges on purpose,
+    and struck it repeatedly, and broke it in several places. The
+    besiegers turned two of their slinging engines on this monster,
+    and kept constantly slinging smaller stones on to the platform of
+    the barbican, and killed two of the engineers. But the Turk
+    disdained to retort. He flung a forty-pound stone on to the
+    besiegers' great catapult, and hitting it in the neighborhood of
+    the axis, knocked the whole structure to pieces, and sent the
+    engineers skipping and yelling.
+
+    The next morning an unwelcome sight greeted the besieged. The cat
+    was covered with mattresses and raw hides, and fast filling up the
+    moat. The knight stoned it, but in vain; flung burning tar barrels
+    on it, but in vain. Then with his own hands he let down by a rope
+    a bag of burning sulphur and pitch, and stunk them out. But
+    Baldwyn, armed like a lobster, ran, and bounding on the roof, cut
+    the string, and the work went on. Then the knight sent fresh
+    engineers into the mine, and undermined the place and underpinned
+    it with beams, and covered the beams thickly with grease and tar.
+
+    At break of day the moat was filled, and the wooden tower began to
+    move on its wheels towards a part of the curtain on which two
+    catapults were already playing, to breach the hoards and clear the
+    way. There was something awful and magical in its approach without
+    visible agency, for it was driven by internal rollers worked by
+    leverage.
+
+    On the top was a platform, where stood the first assailing party
+    protected in front by the drawbridge of the turret, which stood
+    vertical till lowered on to the wall; but better protected by full
+    suits of armor. The besieged slung at the tower, and struck it
+    often, but in vain. It was well defended with mattresses and
+    hides, and presently was at the edge of the moat. The knight bade
+    fire the mine underneath it.
+
+    Then the Turkish engine flung a stone of half a hundredweight
+    right amongst the knights, and carried two away with it off the
+    tower on to the plain.
+
+    And now the besieging catapults flung blazing tar barrels, and fired
+    the hoards on both sides, and the assailants ran up the ladders
+    behind the tower, and lowered the drawbridge on to the battered
+    curtain, while the catapults in concert flung tar barrels, and fired
+    the adjoining works to dislodge the defenders. The armed men on the
+    platform sprang on the bridge, led by Baldwyn. The invulnerable
+    knight and his men at arms met them, and a fearful combat ensued, in
+    which many a figure was seen to fall headlong down off the narrow
+    bridge. But fresh besiegers kept swarming up behind the tower, and
+    the besieged were driven off the bridge.
+
+    Another minute, and the town would have been taken; but so well
+    had the firing of the mines been timed, that just at this instant
+    the underpinnings gave way, and the tower suddenly sank away from
+    the walls, tearing the drawbridge clear and pouring the soldiers
+    off it against the masonry and on to the dry moat.
+
+    The besieged uttered a fierce shout, and in a moment surrounded
+    Baldwyn and his fellows; but strange to say, offered them quarter.
+    While a party disarmed and disposed of these, others fired the
+    turret in fifty places with a sort of hand grenades. At this work
+    who so busy as the tall knight? He put fire bags on his long
+    spear, and thrust them into the doomed structure late so terrible.
+    To do this, he was obliged to stand on a projecting beam, holding
+    on by the hand of a pikeman to steady himself. This provoked
+    Denys; he ran out from his mantelet, hoping to escape notice in
+    the confusion, and leveling his crossbow missed the knight clean,
+    but sent his bolt into the brain of the pikeman, and the tall
+    knight fell heavily from the wall, lance and all.
+
+    The knight, his armor glittering in the morning sun, fell
+    headlong, but turning as he neared the water, struck it with a
+    slap that sounded a mile off.
+
+    None ever thought to see him again. But he fell at the edge of the
+    fascines, and his spear stuck into them under the water, and by a
+    mighty effort he got to the side, but could not get out. Anthony
+    sent a dozen knights with a white flag to take him prisoner. He
+    submitted like a lamb, but said nothing.
+
+[Footnote 1: For explanation of this and similar terms used in this
+selection, see the notes at the end of this book and especially the
+word "Castle" in Webster's International Dictionary.]
+
+
+
+
+LOCHINVAR.
+
+LADY HERON'S SONG.
+
+
+    Oh, young Lochinvar is come out of the west!
+    Through all the wide Border his steed was the best:
+    And, save his good broadsword, he weapons had none;
+    He rode all unarmed, and he rode all alone.
+    So faithful in love, and so dauntless in war,
+    There never was knight like the young Lochinvar.
+
+    He staid not for brake, and he stopped not for stone;
+    He swam the Esk river, where ford there was none;
+    But, ere he alighted at Netherby gate,
+    The bride had consented--the gallant came late;
+    For a laggard in love, and a dastard in war,
+    Was to wed the fair Ellen of brave Lochinvar.
+
+    So boldly he entered the Netherby hall,
+    Among bridesmen, and kinsmen, and brothers, and all.
+    Then spoke the bride's father, his hand on his sword,
+    (For the poor craven bridegroom said never a word),
+    "Oh, come ye in peace here, or come ye in war,
+    Or to dance at our bridal, young lord Lochinvar?"
+
+    "I long wooed your daughter--my suit you denied;
+    Love swells like the Solway, but ebbs like its tide;
+    And now I am come with this lost love of mine
+    To lead but one measure, drink one cup of wine.
+    There are maidens in Scotland more lovely by far,
+    That would gladly be bride to the young Lochinvar."
+
+    The bride kissed the goblet, the knight took it up;
+    He quaffed off the wine, and he threw down the cup;
+    She looked down to blush, and she looked up to sigh,
+    With a smile on her lips, and a tear in her eye.
+    He took her soft hand, ere her mother could bar--
+    "Now tread we a measure!" said young Lochinvar.
+
+    So stately his form, and so lovely her face,
+    That never a hall such a galliard did grace;
+    While her mother did fret, and her father did fume,
+    And the bridegroom stood dangling his bonnet and plume;
+    And the bridemaidens whispered, "'Twere better by far
+    To have matched our fair cousin with young Lochinvar."
+
+    One touch to her hand, and one word in her ear,
+    When they reached the hall door, and the charger stood near;
+    So light to the croup the fair lady he swung,
+    So light to the saddle before her he sprung!
+    "She is won! We are gone, over bank, bush, and scaur!
+    They'll have fleet steeds that follow!" quoth young Lochinvar.
+
+    There was mounting 'mong Graemes of the Netherby clan;
+    Forsters, Fenwicks, and Musgraves, they rode and they ran;
+    There was racing and chasing on Cannobie Lee,
+    But the lost bride of Netherby ne'er did they see.
+    So daring in love, and so dauntless in war,
+    Have you e'er heard of gallant like young Lochinvar?
+
+  --_From "Marmion," by Sir Walter Scott._
+
+
+
+
+ON A TROPICAL RIVER.
+
+
+"Westward Ho!" is a novel written by Rev. Charles Kingsley, and first
+published in 1855. It is a story of the times of Queen Elizabeth, of
+the threatened invasion of England by the Spanish Armada, and of wild
+adventure on the sea and in the forests of the New World. Several
+historical personages are made to appear in the story, such as Sir
+Walter Raleigh, Sir Francis Drake, Admiral Hawkins, and others. The
+hero is Amyas Leigh, "a Devonshire youth of great bodily strength, of
+lively affection and sweet temper, combined with a marked propensity
+to combat from his earliest years." Amyas and his companions had
+undertaken an expedition to discover the fabled golden city of Manoa,
+which was said to exist somewhere in the wilds of South America. They
+had been searching more than three years for this city when they
+reached the Meta River in canoes, and the following adventure occurred.
+
+[Illustration: Charles Kingsley.]
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+For three hours or more Amyas Leigh and his companions paddled easily
+up the glassy and windless reaches, between two green
+flower-bespangled walls of forest, gay with innumerable birds and
+insects; while down from the branches which overhung the stream, long
+trailers hung to the water's edge, and seemed admiring in the clear
+mirror the images of their own gorgeous flowers. River, trees,
+flowers, birds, insects,--it was all a fairyland; but it was a
+colossal one; and yet the voyagers took little note of it.
+
+It was now to them an everyday occurrence to see trees full two
+hundred feet high one mass of yellow or purple blossom to the highest
+twigs, and every branch and stem one hanging garden of crimson and
+orange orchids or vanillas. Common to them were all the fantastic and
+enormous shapes with which Nature bedecks her robes beneath the fierce
+suns and fattening rains of the tropic forest. Common were forms and
+colors of bird, and fish, and butterfly, more strange and bright than
+ever opium eater dreamed.
+
+The long processions of monkeys, who kept pace with them along the
+tree tops, and proclaimed their wonder in every imaginable whistle and
+grunt and howl, had ceased to move their laughter, as much as the roar
+of the jaguar and the rustle of the boa had ceased to move their fear;
+and when a brilliant green and rose-colored fish, flat-bodied like a
+bream, flat-finned like a salmon, and sawtoothed like a shark, leaped
+clean on board of the canoe to escape the rush of a huge alligator
+(whose loathsome snout, ere he could stop, actually rattled against
+the canoe), Jack coolly picked up the fish and said:
+
+"He's four pound weight! If you catch fish for us like that, old
+fellow, just keep in our wake, and we'll give you the cleanings for
+your wages!"
+
+They paddled onward hour after hour, sheltering themselves as best
+they could under the shadow of the southern bank, while on their right
+hand the full sun glare lay upon the enormous wall of mimosas, figs,
+and laurels, which formed the northern forest, broken by the slender
+shafts of bamboo tufts, and decked with a thousand gaudy parasites;
+bank upon bank of gorgeous bloom piled upward to the sky, till where
+its outline cut the blue, flowers and leaves, too lofty to be
+distinguished by the eye, formed a broken rainbow of all hues
+quivering in the ascending streams of azure mist, until they seemed to
+melt and mingle with the very heavens.
+
+And as the sun rose higher and higher, a great stillness fell upon the
+forest. The jaguars and the monkeys had hidden themselves in the
+darkest depths of the woods. The birds' notes died out one by one; the
+very butterflies ceased their flitting over the tree tops, and slept
+with outspread wings upon the glossy leaves, undistinguishable from
+the flowers around them. Now and then a parrot swung and screamed at
+them from an overhanging bough; or a thirsty monkey slid lazily down a
+swinging vine to the surface of the stream, dipped up the water in his
+tiny hand, and started chattering back, as his eyes met those of some
+foul alligator peering upward through the clear depths below.
+
+In shaded nooks beneath the boughs, rabbits as large as sheep went
+paddling sleepily round and round, thrusting up their unwieldy heads
+among the blooms of the blue water lilies; while black and purple
+water hens ran up and down upon the rafts of floating leaves. The
+shining snout of a fresh-water dolphin rose slowly to the surface; a
+jet of spray whirred up; a rainbow hung upon it for a moment; and the
+black snout sank lazily again.
+
+Here and there, too, upon some shallow pebbly shore, scarlet
+flamingoes stood dreaming knee-deep on one leg; crested cranes pranced
+up and down, admiring their own finery; and irises and egrets dipped
+their bills under water in search of prey; but before noon, even those
+had slipped away, and there reigned a stillness which might be
+heard--a stillness in which, as Humboldt says: "If beyond the silence
+we listen for the faintest undertones, we detect a stifled, continuous
+hum of insects, which crowd the air close to the earth; a confused
+swarming murmur which hangs round every bush, in the cracked bark of
+trees, in the soil undermined by lizards and bees; a voice proclaiming
+to us that all Nature breathes, that under a thousand different forms
+life swarms in the gaping and dusty earth, as much as in the bosom of
+the waters, and in the air which breathes around."
+
+At last a soft and distant murmur, increasing gradually to a heavy
+roar, announced that they were nearing some cataract; till, turning a
+point where the alluvial soil rose into a low cliff fringed with
+delicate ferns, they came in full sight of a scene at which all
+paused--not with astonishment, but with something very like disgust.
+
+"Rapids again!" grumbled one. "I thought we had had enough of them on
+the Orinoco!"
+
+"We shall have to get out, and draw the canoes overland, I suppose!"
+
+"There's worse behind; don't you see the spray behind the palms?"
+
+"Stop grumbling, my masters, and don't cry out before you are hurt.
+Paddle right up to the largest of those islands, and let us look about
+us."
+
+In front of them was a snow-white bar of foam, some ten feet high,
+along which were ranged three or four islands of black rock. Each was
+crested with a knot of lofty palms, whose green tops stood out clear
+against the bright sky, while the lower half of their stems loomed
+hazy through a luminous veil of rainbowed mist. The banks right and
+left of the fall were so densely fringed with a low hedge of shrubs
+that landing seemed almost impossible; and their Indian guide,
+suddenly looking round him and whispering, bade them beware of
+savages, and pointed to a canoe which lay swinging in the eddies under
+the largest island, moored apparently to the root of some tree.
+
+"Silence, all!" cried Amyas, "and paddle up thither and seize the
+canoe. If there be an Indian on the island, we will have speech of
+him. But mind, and treat him friendly; and on your lives, neither
+strike nor shoot, even if he offers to fight."
+
+So, choosing a line of smooth backwater just in the wake of the
+island, they drove their canoes up by main force, and fastened them
+safely by the side of the Indian's, while Amyas, always the foremost,
+sprang boldly on shore, whispering to the Indian boy to follow him.
+
+Once on the island, Amyas felt sure enough that, if its wild tenant
+had not seen them approach, he certainly had not heard them, so
+deafening was the noise which filled his brain, and which seemed to
+make the very leaves upon the bushes quiver and the solid stone
+beneath his feet reel and ring. For two hundred yards and more above
+the fall, nothing met his eye but one white waste of raging foam, with
+here and there a transverse dike of rock, which hurled columns of
+spray and surges of beaded water high into the air,--strangely
+contrasting with the still and silent cliffs of green leaves which
+walled the river right and left, and more strangely still with the
+knots of enormous palms upon the islets, which reared their polished
+shafts a hundred feet into the air, straight and upright as masts,
+while their broad plumes and golden-clustered fruit slept in the
+sunshine far aloft, the image of the stateliest repose amid the
+wildest wrath of Nature.
+
+Ten yards farther, the cataract fell sheer in thunder; but a high
+fern-fringed rock turned its force away from the beach. Here, if
+anywhere, was the place to find the owner of the canoe. He leaped down
+upon the pebbles; and as he did so, a figure rose from behind a
+neighboring rock, and met him face to face. It was an Indian girl.
+
+He spoke first, in some Indian tongue, gently and smilingly, and made
+a half-step forward; but quick as light she caught up from the ground
+a bow, and held it fiercely toward him, fitted with the long arrow,
+with which, as he could see, she had been striking fish, for a line of
+twisted grass hung from its barbed head. Amyas stopped, laid down his
+own bow and sword, and made another step in advance, smiling still,
+and making all Indian signs of amity. But the arrow was still pointed
+straight at his breast, and he knew the mettle and strength of the
+forest nymphs well enough to stand still and call for the Indian boy.
+
+[Illustration: A figure rose from behind a neighboring rock.]
+
+The boy, who had been peering from above, leaped down to them in a
+moment; and began, as the safest method, groveling on his nose upon
+the pebbles, while he tried two or three dialects, one of which at
+last she seemed to understand, and answered in a tone of evident
+suspicion and anger.
+
+"What does she say?"
+
+"That you are a Spaniard and a robber because you have a beard."
+
+"Tell her that we are no Spaniards, but that we hate them, and are
+come across the great waters to help the Indians to kill them."
+
+The boy had no sooner spoken, than, nimble as a deer, the nymph had
+sprung up the rocks, and darted between the palm stems to her own
+canoe. Suddenly she caught sight of the English boats, and stopped
+with a cry of fear and rage.
+
+"Let her pass!" shouted Amyas, who had followed her closely. "Push
+your boats off, and let her pass. Boy, tell her to go on; they will
+not come near her."
+
+But she hesitated still, and with arrow drawn to the head, faced first
+on the boat's crew, and then on Amyas, till the Englishmen had shoved
+off full twenty yards.
+
+Then, leaping into her tiny piragua, she darted into the wildest whirl
+of the eddies, shooting along with vigorous strokes, while the English
+trembled as they saw the frail bark spinning and leaping amid the
+muzzles of the alligators and the huge dog-toothed trout. But, with
+the swiftness of an arrow, she reached the northern bank, drove her
+canoe among the bushes, and, leaping from it, darted into the bush,
+and vanished like a dream.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The chief interest in the foregoing story lies, of course, in its
+faithful and glowing picture of scenery in the midst of a tropical
+forest. The learner should read it a second time and try to point out
+all the passages that are remarkable for their wealth of description.
+He should try to form in his mind an image of the sights and sounds
+that he would encounter in a voyage up the Meta River or any other of
+the tributaries of the Orinoco or the Amazon.
+
+
+
+
+THE FLAG OF OUR COUNTRY.
+
+
+I.
+
+There is the national flag. He must be cold indeed who can look upon
+its folds, rippling in the breeze, without pride of country. If he be
+in a foreign land, the flag is companionship and country itself, with
+all its endearments.
+
+Who, as he sees it, can think of a state merely? Whose eyes once
+fastened upon its radiant trophies, can fail to recognize the image of
+the whole nation? It has been called a "floating piece of poetry," and
+yet I know not if it have an intrinsic beauty beyond other ensigns.
+Its highest beauty is in what it symbolizes. It is because it
+represents all, that all gaze at it with delight and reverence.
+
+It is a piece of bunting lifted in the air; but it speaks sublimely,
+and every part has a voice. Its stripes of alternate red and white
+proclaim the original union of thirteen states to maintain the
+Declaration of Independence. Its stars of white on a field of blue
+proclaim that union of states constituting our national constellation,
+which receives a new star with every new state. The two together
+signify union past and present.
+
+The very colors have a language which was officially recognized by our
+fathers. White is for purity, red for valor, blue for justice; and
+altogether, bunting, stripes, stars, and colors, blazing in the sky,
+make the flag of our country to be cherished by all our hearts, to be
+upheld by all our hands.
+
+
+II.
+
+I have said enough and more than enough to manifest the spirit in
+which this flag is now committed to your charge. It is the national
+ensign, pure and simple, dearer to all hearts at this moment as we
+lift it to the gale, and see no other sign of hope upon the storm
+cloud which rolls and rattles above it, save that which is its own
+radiant hues--dearer, a thousand fold dearer to us all than ever it
+was before, while gilded by the sunshine of prosperity and playing
+with the zephyrs of peace. It will speak for itself far more
+eloquently than I can speak for it.
+
+Behold it! Listen to it! Every star has a tongue; every stripe is
+articulate. There is no speech nor language where their voices are not
+heard. There is magic in the web of it. It has an answer for every
+question of duty. It has a solution for every doubt and every
+perplexity. It has a word of good cheer for every hour of gloom or of
+despondency.
+
+Behold it! Listen to it! It speaks of earlier and of later struggles.
+It speaks of victories and sometimes of reverses, on the sea and on
+the land. It speaks of patriots and heroes among the living and among
+the dead; and of him, the first and greatest of them all, around whose
+consecrated ashes this unnatural and abhorrent strife has been so long
+raging. But, before all and above all other associations and
+memories,--whether of glorious men, or glorious deeds, or glorious
+places,--its voice is ever of Union and Liberty, of the Constitution
+and of the Laws.
+
+  --_Robert C. Winthrop._
+
+
+
+
+THE HIGH TIDE ON THE COAST OF LINCOLNSHIRE--1571.
+
+
+    The old mayor climbed the belfry tower,
+      The ringers ran by two, by three:--
+    "Pull, if ye never pulled before,
+      Good ringers, pull your best," quoth he.
+    "Play up, play up, O Boston bells!
+    Ply all your changes, all your swells;
+    Play up 'The Brides of Enderby'!"
+
+[Illustration: Jean Ingelow.]
+
+    Men say it was a stolen tide;
+      The Lord that sent it, he knows all;
+    But in mine ears doth still abide
+      The message that the bells let fall:
+    And there was naught of strange, beside
+    The flights of mews and peewits pied
+      By millions crouched on the old sea wall.
+
+    I sat and spun within the door,
+      My thread brake off, I raised mine eyes;
+    The level sun, like ruddy ore,
+      Lay sinking in the barren skies,
+    And dark against day's golden death
+    She moved where Lindis wandereth,
+    My son's fair wife, Elizabeth.
+
+    "Cusha! Cusha! Cusha!" calling,
+    Ere the early dews were falling,
+    Far away I heard her song.
+    "Cusha! Cusha!" all along,
+    Where the reedy Lindis floweth,
+        Floweth, floweth;
+    From the meads where melick groweth
+    Faintly came her milking song,
+
+    "Cusha! Cusha! Cusha!" calling,
+    "For the dews will soon be falling;
+    Leave your meadow grasses mellow,
+        Mellow, mellow;
+    Quit your cowslips, cowslips yellow;
+    Come up, Whitefoot, come up, Lightfoot;
+    Quit the stalks of parsley hollow,
+        Hollow, hollow;
+    Come up, Jetty, rise and follow,
+    From the clovers lift your head;
+    Come up, Whitefoot, come up, Lightfoot,
+    Come up, Jetty, rise and follow,
+    Jetty, to the milking shed."
+
+    If it be long, ay, long ago,
+        When I begin to think how long,
+    Again I hear the Lindis flow,
+        Swift as an arrow, sharp and strong;
+    And all the air, it seemeth me,
+    Is full of floating bells (saith she),
+    That ring the tune of Enderby.
+
+    All fresh the level pasture lay,
+        And not a shadow might be seen,
+    Save where full five good miles away
+        The steeple towered from out the green.
+    And lo! the great bell far and wide
+    Was heard in all the country side
+    That Saturday at eventide.
+
+    The swanherds where their sedges are
+        Moved on in sunset's golden breath,
+    The shepherd lads I heard afar,
+        And my son's wife, Elizabeth;
+    Till floating o'er the grassy sea
+    Came down that kindly message free,
+    The "Brides of Mavis Enderby."
+
+    Then some looked up into the sky,
+      And all along where Lindis flows
+    To where the goodly vessels lie,
+      And where the lordly steeple shows.
+    They said, "And why should this thing be?
+    What danger lowers by land or sea?
+    They ring the tune of Enderby!
+
+    "For evil news from Mablethorpe,
+      Of pirate galleys warping down;
+    For ships ashore beyond the scorpe,
+      They have not spared to wake the town:
+    But while the west is red to see,
+    And storms be none, and pirates flee,
+    Why ring 'The Brides of Enderby'?"
+
+    I looked without, and lo! my son
+      Came riding down with might and main;
+    He raised a shout as he drew on,
+      Till all the welkin rang again,
+    "Elizabeth! Elizabeth!"
+    (A sweeter woman ne'er drew breath
+    Than my son's wife, Elizabeth.)
+
+    "The old sea wall," he cried, "is down,
+      The rising tide comes on apace,
+    And boats adrift in yonder town
+      Go sailing up the market place."
+    He shook as one that looks on death:
+    "God save you, mother!" straight he saith,
+    "Where is my wife, Elizabeth?"
+
+    "Good son, where Lindis winds away,
+      With her two bairns I marked her long;
+    And ere yon bells began to play,
+      Afar I heard her milking song."
+    He looked across the grassy lea,
+    To right, to left, "Ho, Enderby!"
+    They rang "The Brides of Enderby!"
+
+    With that he cried and beat his breast;
+      For, lo! along the river's bed
+    A mighty eygre reared his crest,
+      And up the Lindis raging sped.
+    It swept with thunderous noises loud;
+    Shaped like a curling snow-white cloud,
+    Or like a demon in a shroud.
+
+    And rearing Lindis backward pressed
+      Shook all her trembling banks amain;
+    Then madly at the eygre's breast
+      Flung up her weltering walls again.
+    Then banks came down with ruin and rout--
+    Then beaten foam flew round about--
+    Then all the mighty floods were out.
+
+    So far, so fast the eygre drave,
+      The heart had hardly time to beat
+    Before a shallow seething wave
+      Sobbed in the grasses at our feet;
+    The feet had hardly time to flee
+    Before it brake against the knee,
+    And all the world was in the sea.
+
+    Upon the roof we sat that night,
+      The noise of bells went sweeping by;
+    I marked the lofty beacon light
+      Stream from the church tower, red and high--
+    A lurid mark and dread to see;
+    And awesome bells they were to me,
+    That in the dark rang "Enderby."
+
+    They rang the sailor lads to guide
+      From roof to roof who fearless rowed;
+    And I--my son was at my side,
+      And yet the ruddy beacon glowed;
+    And yet he moaned beneath his breath,
+    "Oh, come in life, or come in death!
+    Oh lost! my love Elizabeth."
+
+    And didst thou visit him no more?
+      Thou didst, thou didst, my daughter dear;
+    The waters laid thee at his door,
+      Ere yet the early dawn was clear.
+    Thy pretty bairns in fast embrace,
+    The lifted sun shone on thy face,
+    Down drifted to thy dwelling place.
+
+    That flow strewed wrecks about the grass,
+      That ebb swept out the flocks to sea;
+    A fatal ebb and flow, alas!
+      To many more than mine and me:
+    But each will mourn his own (she saith),
+    And sweeter woman ne'er drew breath
+    Than my son's wife, Elizabeth.
+
+    I shall never hear her more
+    By the reedy Lindis shore,
+    "Cusha! Cusha! Cusha!" calling,
+    Ere the early dews be falling;
+    I shall never hear her song,
+    "Cusha! Cusha!" all along
+    Where the sunny Lindis floweth,
+      Goeth, floweth;
+    From the meads where melick groweth,
+    Where the water winding down,
+    Onward floweth to the town.
+
+    I shall never see her more
+    Where the reeds and rushes quiver,
+      Shiver, quiver;
+    Stand beside the sobbing river,
+    Sobbing, throbbing, in its falling
+    To the sandy, lonesome shore;
+    I shall never hear her calling,
+    "Leave your meadow grasses mellow,
+      Mellow, mellow;
+    Quit your cowslips, cowslips yellow;
+    Come up, Whitefoot, come up, Lightfoot;
+    Quit your pipes of parsley hollow,
+      Hollow, hollow;
+    Come up, Lightfoot, rise and follow;
+      Lightfoot, Whitefoot,
+    From your clovers lift the head;
+    Come up, Jetty, follow, follow,
+    Jetty, to the milking shed."
+
+  --_Jean Ingelow._
+
+
+
+
+THE STORY OF THOMAS BECKET.
+
+
+I. HIS LIFE.
+
+Henry II. began his reign over England in the year 1154, and he was
+the mightiest king that had yet sat upon the throne. He had vast
+possessions. All England and nearly half of France were his, and he
+was well able to rule over them and keep them in order.
+
+He was a short, stout, reddish-haired man, with a face well-tanned by
+exposure to the wind and the sun. His legs were bowed by constant
+riding. Ever busy at something, he rarely sat down, except at meals;
+and there was plenty of work for him to do.
+
+In the early years of his reign his chief friend and servant was
+Thomas Becket, who was a clever and handsome man. He knew well how to
+please the king by sharing in his amusements, and by helping him in
+the great work of keeping order among his barons and knights.
+
+When Becket was a young man he was out hunting, one day, with his pet
+hawk upon his wrist. Riding carelessly along, he came to a narrow
+wooden bridge, which crossed a stream close to a mill. When in the
+middle of the bridge his horse stumbled, and Becket, horse, and hawk
+were thrown into the water.
+
+The horse at once swam to the bank. So did Becket, but, upon looking
+back, he saw his hawk struggling in the middle of the stream. Its
+straps had become entangled about its feet and wings, and the bird was
+helpless. Although the stream was running swiftly to the great
+mill-wheel, Becket turned round and swam back to save the hawk.
+
+By this time the current had carried him very near to the wheel, and
+in another moment both man and bird must have been crushed to death.
+But just then the miller saw the danger and stopped the mill. Becket
+climbed out of the water with the bird in his hand, seeming not at all
+frightened because of the danger which he had escaped. During his
+entire life he had many trials and was opposed by many enemies; but he
+faced them all as fearlessly as he had risked drowning in order to
+save his hawk.
+
+King Henry made Becket his chancellor, that is his chief minister, and
+gave him much wealth. Becket lived in great splendor in a fine palace.
+He was so hospitable that he kept an open table, at which all were
+free to come and feast when they chose. His clothes were the finest
+and gayest that could be made, and wherever he went he took with him
+troops of friends and servants.
+
+Once, when he was sent to France to settle a dispute with the French
+king, he traveled with such a large train of followers that the people
+were filled with wonder. We can picture the procession entering a
+quiet country town.
+
+"First came two hundred boys singing quaint songs or glees. Then
+followed great hounds with their keepers, behind whom were wagons
+guarded by fierce English mastiffs. One of the wagons was laden with
+beer to be given away to the people who might render any help on the
+road.
+
+"Then came twelve horses, upon each of which sat a monkey and a groom.
+After all these there followed a vast company of knights and squires
+and priests, riding two and two.
+
+"Last of all came Becket and a few friends, with whom he talked by the
+way." We can imagine the wonder of the French people at so fine, yet
+strange, a show. We can hear them exclaim, "What kind of a man must
+the king of England be, when his chancellor can travel in such state!"
+
+At this time the Church in England possessed great power and wealth.
+It was the safeguard that stood between the people and the greed and
+cruelty of their rulers. It was the protector of the poor, and the
+friend of the oppressed; and even the king was obliged to obey its
+commands.
+
+King Henry was jealous of the influence of the Church. He resolved
+that, having already reduced the power of the barons, he would now
+reduce the power of the Church. And among all his faithful men, who
+would be more likely to help him in such business than his friend
+Becket, who had hitherto been his ablest assistant in every undertaking?
+
+[Illustration: Thomas Becket. (From an Old Painting.)]
+
+It happened about this time that the Archbishop of Canterbury, the
+highest officer of the Church in England, died. This event was very
+pleasing to Henry, and through his influence the Pope appointed Thomas
+Becket to be the new archbishop.
+
+Becket had hitherto been faithful to Henry in all things, but he now
+felt that his first duty was to the Church, and he resolved to defend
+its rights, even though he should displease the king. He changed
+entirely the manner of his life. Instead of his splendid clothes, he
+wore a monk's dress and a hair shirt next to his skin. He tried, as
+people understood it in those times, to carry out the teachings of his
+Lord and Master; and every day he waited upon a number of poor men
+and washed their feet. Instead of gay knights only good and pious men
+sat at his table. He gave up his chancellorship, and told the king
+plainly that he would resist all attempts to take away the rights of
+the Church.
+
+Many were the quarrels after that between the king and the archbishop.
+At one time, in a fit of rage, Henry cried out: "I will not be
+preached at by you. Are you not the son of one of my clowns?"
+
+"It is true," replied the archbishop, "I am not descended from ancient
+kings, but neither was the blessed Peter to whom were given the keys
+of the kingdom of heaven."
+
+"But Peter," said the king, "died for his Lord."
+
+"And I, too, will die for my Lord," said Becket, "when the time shall
+come."
+
+And it was not long till the time did come. Upon hearing some hasty,
+angry words from the king, four knights set out to Canterbury,
+determined to kill Becket, and thus not only put an end to the long
+quarrel but win the king's favor for themselves.
+
+  --_Anonymous._
+
+
+II. HIS DEATH.
+
+The vespers had already begun, and the monks were singing the service
+in the choir, when two boys rushed up the nave, announcing, more by
+their terrified gestures than by their words, that the soldiers were
+bursting into the palace and monastery. Instantly the service was
+thrown into the utmost confusion; part remained at prayer, part fled
+into the numerous hiding places the vast fabric affords; and part
+went down the steps of the choir into the transept to meet the little
+band at the door.
+
+"Come in, come in!" exclaimed one of them. "Come in, and let us die
+together."
+
+The Archbishop continued to stand outside, and said: "Go and finish
+the service. So long as you keep in the entrance, I shall not come
+in." They fell back a few paces, and he stepped within the door, but,
+finding the whole place thronged with people, he paused on the
+threshold, and asked, "What is it that these people fear?" One general
+answer broke forth, "The armed men in the cloister." As he turned and
+said, "I shall go out to them," he heard the clash of arms behind. The
+knights had just forced their way into the cloister, and were now (as
+would appear from their being thus seen through the open door)
+advancing along its southern side. They were in mail, which covered
+their faces up to their eyes, and carried their swords drawn. Three
+had hatchets. Fitzurse, with the ax he had taken from the carpenters,
+was foremost, shouting as he came, "Here, here, king's men!"
+Immediately behind him followed Robert Fitzranulph, with three other
+knights; and a motley group--some their own followers, some from the
+town--with weapons, though not in armor, brought up the rear. At this
+sight, so unwonted in the peaceful cloisters of Canterbury, not
+probably beheld since the time when the monastery had been sacked by
+the Danes, the monks within, regardless of all remonstrances, shut the
+door of the cathedral, and proceeded to barricade it with iron bars. A
+loud knocking was heard from the band without, who, having vainly
+endeavored to prevent the entrance of the knights into the cloister,
+now rushed before them to take refuge in the church. Becket, who had
+stepped some paces into the cathedral, but was resisting the
+solicitations of those immediately about him to move up into the choir
+for safety, darted back, calling aloud as he went, "Away, you cowards!
+By virtue of your obedience I command you not to shut the door--the
+church must not be turned into a castle." With his own hands he thrust
+them away from the door, opened it himself, and catching hold of the
+excluded monks, dragged them into the building, exclaiming, "Come in,
+come in--faster, faster!"
+
+[Illustration:
+
+  From a Photograph.      Engraved by Charles Meeder.
+
+  Canterbury Cathedral.
+]
+
+The knights, who had been checked for a moment by the sight of the
+closed door, on seeing it unexpectedly thrown open, rushed into the
+church. It was, we must remember, about five o'clock in a winter
+evening; the shades of night were gathering, and were deepened into a
+still darker gloom within the high and massive walls of the vast
+cathedral, which was only illuminated here and there by the solitary
+lamps burning before the altars. The twilight, lengthening from the
+shortest day a fortnight before, was but just sufficient to reveal the
+outline of objects.
+
+In the dim twilight they could just discern a group of figures
+mounting the steps of the eastern staircase. One of the knights called
+out to them, "Stay." Another, "Where is Thomas Becket, traitor to the
+king?" No answer was returned. None could have been expected by any
+one who remembered the indignant silence with which Becket had swept
+by when the same words had been applied by Randulf of Broc at
+Northampton. Fitzurse rushed forward, and, stumbling against one of
+the monks on the lower step, still not able to distinguish clearly in
+the darkness, exclaimed, "Where is the Archbishop?" Instantly the
+answer came: "Reginald, here I am, no traitor, but the archbishop and
+priest of God; what do you wish?" and from the fourth step, which he
+had reached in his ascent, with a slight motion of his head--noticed
+apparently as his peculiar manner in moments of excitement--Becket
+descended to the transept. Attired, we are told, in his white rochet,
+with a cloak and hood thrown over his shoulders, he thus suddenly
+confronted his assailants. Fitzurse sprang back two or three paces,
+and Becket passing by him took up his station between the central
+pillar and the massive wall which still forms the southwest corner of
+what was then the chapel of St. Benedict. Here they gathered round
+him, with the cry, "Absolve the bishops whom you have excommunicated."
+"I cannot do other than I have done," he replied, and turning to
+Fitzurse, he added, "Reginald, you have received many favors at my
+hands; why do you come into my church armed?" Fitzurse planted the ax
+against his breast, and returned for answer, "You shall die--I will
+tear out your heart." Another, perhaps in kindness, struck him between
+the shoulders with the flat of his sword, exclaiming, "Fly; you are a
+dead man." "I am ready to die," replied the primate, "for God and the
+Church; but I warn you, I curse you in the name of God Almighty, if
+you do not let my men escape."
+
+The well-known horror which in that age was felt at an act of
+sacrilege, together with the sight of the crowds who were rushing in
+from the town through the nave, turned their efforts for the next few
+moments to carrying him out of the church. Fitzurse threw down the ax,
+and tried to drag him out by the collar of his long cloak, calling,
+"Come with us--you are our prisoner." "I will not fly, you detestable
+fellow," was Becket's reply, roused to his usual vehemence, and
+wrenching the cloak out of Fitzurse's grasp. The three knights
+struggled violently to put him on Tracy's shoulders. Becket set his
+back against the pillar, and resisted with all his might, whilst Grim,
+vehemently remonstrating, threw his arms around him to aid his
+efforts. In the scuffle, Becket fastened upon Tracy, shook him by his
+coat of mail, and exerting his great strength flung him down on the
+pavement. It was hopeless to carry on the attempt to remove him. And
+in the final struggle which now began, Fitzurse, as before, took the
+lead. He approached with his drawn sword, and waving it over his head,
+cried, "Strike, strike!" but merely dashed off his cap. Tracy sprang
+forward and struck a more decided blow.
+
+The blood from the first blow was trickling down his face in a thin
+streak; he wiped it with his arm, and when he saw the stain, he said,
+"Into thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit." At the third blow, he
+sank on his knees--his arms falling, but his hands still joined as if
+in prayer. With his face turned towards the altar of St. Benedict, he
+murmured in a low voice, "For the name of Jesus, and the defense of
+the Church, I am willing to die." Without moving hand or foot, he
+fell flat on his face as he spoke. In this posture he received a
+tremendous blow, aimed with such violence that the scalp or crown of
+the head was severed from the skull. "Let us go--let us go," said Hugh
+of Horsea, "the traitor is dead; he will rise no more."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The life of Thomas Becket, and his tragic death, have furnished themes
+for many noble contributions to English literature. Arthur Penrhyn
+Stanley, Dean of Westminster, has written of him, in a very impartial
+and trustworthy manner, in his "Historical Memoirs of Canterbury" from
+which the above extract is taken. The poet Tennyson, late in life,
+composed a tragedy entitled "Becket" which portrays in a vivid,
+poetical manner the most striking scenes in the career of the great
+archbishop. James Anthony Froude, in "Short Stories on Great
+Subjects," has written a charming and instructive essay on the "Life
+and Times of Thomas Becket"; and Professor Freeman has presented us
+with a similar historical study in his "Saint Thomas of Canterbury."
+It may also be observed that Chaucer's immortal work, "The Canterbury
+Tales," depends for its connecting thread upon the once general custom
+of making pilgrimages to the tomb of Becket.
+
+[Illustration: Dean Stanley.]
+
+
+
+
+THE PILGRIMS. (1620.)
+
+
+Methinks I see one solitary, adventurous vessel, the "Mayflower," of a
+forlorn hope, freighted with the prospects of a future state, and bound
+across the unknown sea. I behold it pursuing, with a thousand
+misgivings, the uncertain, the tedious voyage. Suns rise and set, and
+weeks and months pass, and winter surprises them on the deep, but brings
+them not the sight of the wished-for shore. I see them now, scantily
+supplied with provisions, crowded almost to suffocation, in their
+ill-stored prison, delayed by calms, pursuing a circuitous route,--and
+now, driven in fury before the raging tempest, on the high and giddy
+waves. The awful voice of the storm brawls through the rigging.
+
+[Illustration: Edward Everett.]
+
+The laboring masts seem straining from their base; the dismal sound of
+the pumps is heard; the ship leaps, as it were, madly, from billow to
+billow; the ocean breaks, and settles with engulfing floods over the
+floating deck, and beats with deadening, shivering weight, against the
+staggering vessel.
+
+I see them escape from these perils, pursuing their all but desperate
+undertaking, and landed at last, after a five months' passage, on the
+ice-clad rocks of Plymouth,--weak and weary from the voyage, poorly
+armed, scantily provisioned, without shelter, without means,
+surrounded by hostile tribes.
+
+Shut now the volume of history, and tell me, on any principle of human
+probability, what shall be the fate of this handful of adventurers?
+Tell me, man of military science, in how many months were they all
+swept off by the thirty savage tribes, enumerated within the early
+limits of New England?
+
+Tell me, politician, how long did a shadow of a colony on which your
+conventions and treaties had not smiled, languish on the distant
+coast? Student of history, compare for me the baffled projects, the
+deserted settlements, the abandoned adventures of other times, and
+find the parallel of this.
+
+Was it the winter's storm, beating upon the houseless heads of women
+and children? was it hard labor and spare meals? was it disease? was
+it the tomahawk? was it the deep malady of a blighted hope, a ruined
+enterprise, and a broken heart, aching in its last moments at the
+recollection of the loved and left, beyond the sea? was it some, or
+all of these united, that hurried this forsaken company to their
+melancholy fate?
+
+And is it possible, that neither of these causes, that not all
+combined, were able to blast this bud of hope? Is it possible, that
+from a beginning so feeble, so frail, so worthy not so much of
+admiration as of pity, there has gone forth a progress so steady, a
+growth so wonderful, an expansion so ample, a reality so important, a
+promise, yet to be fulfilled, so glorious?
+
+  --_Edward Everett._
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration:
+
+  From the Painting by A. W. Bayes.      Engraved by E. Heinemann.
+
+  The Departure of the Mayflower.
+]
+
+THE LANDING OF THE PILGRIMS.
+
+(1620.)
+
+
+    The breaking waves dashed high
+      On a stern and rock-bound coast,
+    And the trees against a stormy sky,
+      Their giant branches tossed.
+
+    And the heavy night hung dark
+      The hills and waters o'er,
+    When a band of exiles moored their bark
+      On the wild New England shore.
+
+    Not as the conqueror comes,
+      They, the true-hearted, came;
+    Not with the roll of the stirring drums,
+      And the trumpet that sings of fame.
+
+    Not as the flying come,
+      In silence and in fear;
+    They shook the depths of the desert gloom
+      With their hymns of lofty cheer.
+
+    Amidst the storm they sang,
+      And the stars heard, and the sea:
+    And the sounding aisles of the dim woods rang
+      To the anthem of the free!
+
+    The ocean eagle soared
+      From his nest by the white wave's foam:
+    And the rocking pines of the forest roared,--
+      This was their welcome home!
+
+    There were men with hoary hair,
+      Amidst that pilgrim band;
+    Why had _they_ come to wither there,
+      Away from their childhood's land?
+
+    There was woman's fearless eye,
+      Lit by her deep love's truth;
+    There was manhood's brow serenely high,
+      And the fiery heart of youth.
+
+    What sought they thus afar?
+      Bright jewels of the mine?
+    The wealth of seas, the spoils of war?--
+      They sought a faith's pure shrine!
+
+    Ay! call it holy ground,
+      The soil where first they trod:
+    They have left unstained what there they found,
+      Freedom to worship God.
+
+  --_Felicia Hemans._
+
+
+
+
+    Patriots have toiled, and in their country's cause
+    Bled nobly; and their deeds, as they deserve
+    Receive proud recompense. We give in charge
+    Their names to the sweet lyre. The historic Muse,
+    Proud of the treasure, marches with it down
+    To latest times; and Sculpture, in her turn,
+    Gives bond in stone and ever-during brass
+    To guard them, and to immortalize her trust.
+
+  --_William Cowper._
+
+
+
+
+THE ROBIN.
+
+
+The robin is perhaps the best known of all our birds. The name is so
+prominent in children's stories, in folklore, in poetry, and in
+general literature, that even town children who have never seen the
+bird know it by name; but to many grown people, even those who have
+lived all their lives in the country, the robin is not familiar as a
+winter bird. It is known to come and go, it is true, but is supposed
+to be merely in transit, and just where the observer happens to be is
+not its abiding place. This impression is due to lack of observation,
+for the birds are as well disposed towards your thicket and cedar
+trees as those of some far-off neighbor.
+
+This crystal-clear, cold January day, with the mercury almost at zero,
+I found the robins on the south hillside, and seldom have they shown
+to better advantage. One was perched in a sapling beech to which the
+leaves still clung. It chirped at times so that its companions could
+hear it, and was answered by them, as well as by the nuthatches, a
+tree creeper, some sparrows, and a winter wren.
+
+It was a cozy, warm spot wherein these birds had gathered, which,
+strangely enough, was filled with music even when every bird was mute.
+This robin was half concealed among the crisp beech leaves, and
+these--not the birds about them--were singing. The breeze caused them
+to tremble violently, and their thin edges were as harp strings, the
+wiry sound produced being smoothed by the crisp rattling caused by the
+leaves' rapid contact with each other.
+
+It was much like the click of butterflies' wings, but greatly
+exaggerated. A simple sound, but a sweet, wholesome one that made me
+think less of the winter's rigor and recalled the recent warm autumnal
+days. They were singing leaves, and the robin watched them closely as
+he stood near by, and chirped at times, as if to encourage them.
+Altogether it made a pretty picture, one of those that human skill has
+not yet transferred to a printed page; and our winter sunshine is full
+of just such beauty.
+
+How incomprehensible it is that any one should speak of the _few_
+robins that venture to remain! Flocks of a hundred or more are not
+uncommon in the depth of winter, and this recalls the fact that at
+this time of year robins are never alone. It may appear so for a time,
+but when the bird you are watching is ready to move on, his call will
+be answered by others that you have not seen, and half a dozen at
+least will fly off to new scenes.
+
+This is often noticed on a much larger scale when we flush robins in a
+field. They are generally widely scattered, and, go where you will,
+there will be one or two hopping before you; but when one takes alarm,
+the danger cry is heard by all, and a great flock will gather in the
+air in an incredibly short time.
+
+Robins are not lovers of frozen ground; they know where the earth
+resists frost, down in the marshy meadows, and there they congregate
+in the dreary midwinter afternoons, after spending the morning feeding
+upon berries. I have seen them picking those of the cedar, poison ivy,
+green brier, and even the seedy, withered fruit of the poke; but at
+times this question of food supply must be a difficult problem to
+solve, and then they leave us for a while, until pleasanter weather
+prevails, when they venture back.
+
+In April, when the chill of winter is no longer in its bones, the
+robin becomes prominent, and the more so because of the noise it
+makes. It sings fairly well, and early in the morning there is a world
+of suggestiveness in the ringing notes. The song is loud, declamatory,
+and acceptable more for the pleasant thoughts it occasions than for
+the actual melody. We are always glad to hear the robins, but never
+for the same reason that we listen to a wood thrush. Of course there
+are exceptions.
+
+With the close of the nesting season--and this extends well into the
+summer--much of the attractiveness of the bird disappears. As
+individual members of great loose flocks that fret the upper air with
+an incessant chirping, they offer little to entertain us even when the
+less hardy minstrels of the summer have sought their southern homes.
+
+It is true that they add something to the picture of a dreamy October
+afternoon when the mellow sunlight tips the wilted grasses with dull
+gold. They restore for the time the summertide activity of the meadows
+when with golden-winged woodpeckers they chase the crickets in the
+close-cropped pastures, but they are soon forgotten if a song sparrow
+sings or a wary hawk screams among the clouds. Robins are always
+welcome, but never more so than when they chatter, on an April
+morning, of the near future with its buds and blossoms.
+
+  --_From "Bird-Land Echoes," by Charles Conrad Abbott._
+
+
+
+
+THE MOTIONS OF BIRDS.
+
+
+A good ornithologist should be able to distinguish birds by their air
+as well as by their colors and shape, on the wing as well as on the
+ground; and in the bush as well as in the hand. For though it must not
+be said that every species of bird has a manner peculiar to itself,
+yet there is somewhat in most _genera_, at least, that at first sight
+discriminates them, and enables a judicious observer to pronounce upon
+them with some certainty.
+
+Thus kites and buzzards sail round in circles with wings expanded and
+motionless; and it is from their gliding manner that the former are
+still called in the north of England gleads, from the Saxon verb
+_glidan_, to glide. Hen harriers fly low over the meadows or fields of
+corn, and beat the ground regularly like a pointer or setting dog.
+Owls move in a buoyant manner, as if lighter than the air; they seem
+to want ballast.
+
+There is a peculiarity belonging to ravens that must draw the
+attention even of the most incurious--they spend all their leisure
+time in striking and cuffing each other on the wing in a kind of
+playful skirmish; and, when they move from one place to another,
+frequently turn on their backs with a loud croak, and seem to be
+falling to the ground. When this odd gesture betides them, they are
+scratching themselves with one foot, and thus lose the center of
+gravity. Rooks sometimes dive and tumble in a frolicsome manner; crows
+and daws swagger in their walk; woodpeckers fly with a wavy motion,
+opening and closing their wings at every stroke, and so are always
+rising or falling in curves. All of this genus use their tails, which
+incline downward, as a support while they run up trees. Parrots, like
+all other hooked-clawed birds, walk awkwardly, and make use of their
+bill as a third foot, climbing and descending with ridiculous caution.
+
+All the gallinae parade and walk gracefully, and run nimbly, but fly
+with difficulty, with an impetuous whirring, and in a straight line.
+Magpies and jays flutter with powerless wings, and make no dispatch;
+herons seem encumbered with too much sail for their light bodies, but
+these vast hollow wings are necessary in carrying burdens, such as
+large fishes, and the like; pigeons, and particularly the sort called
+smiters, have a way of clashing their wings, the one against the
+other, over their backs with a loud snap; another variety, called
+tumblers, turn themselves over in the air.
+
+The kingfisher darts along like an arrow; fern owls, or goatsuckers,
+glance in the dusk over the tops of trees like a meteor; swallows
+sweep over the surface of the ground and water, and distinguish
+themselves by rapid turns and quick evolutions; swifts dash round in
+circles; and the bank martin moves with frequent vacillations like a
+butterfly.
+
+Most small birds hop; but wagtails and larks walk, moving their legs
+alternately. All the duck kind waddle; divers and auks walk as if
+fettered, and stand erect, on their tails. Geese and cranes, and most
+wild fowls, move in figured flights, often changing their position.
+
+  --_From "The Natural History of Selbourne," by Gilbert White._
+
+
+
+
+THE ORIGIN OF RIVERS.
+
+
+Let us trace a river to its source. Beginning where it empties itself
+into the sea, and following it backwards, we find it from time to time
+joined by tributaries which swell its waters. The river of course
+becomes smaller as these tributaries are passed. It shrinks first to a
+brook, then to a stream; this again divides itself into a number of
+smaller streamlets, ending in mere threads of water. These constitute
+the source of the river, and are usually found among hills.
+
+Thus, the Severn has its source in the Welsh mountains; the Thames in
+the Cotswold Hills; the Missouri in the Rocky Mountains; and the
+Amazon in the Andes of Peru.
+
+[Illustration: John Tyndall.]
+
+But it is quite plain that we have not yet reached the real beginning
+of the rivers. Whence do the earliest streams derive their water? A
+brief residence among the mountains would prove to you that they are
+fed by rains. In dry weather you would find the streams feeble,
+sometimes, indeed, quite dried up. In wet weather you would see them
+foaming torrents. In general these streams lose themselves as little
+threads of water upon the hillsides; but sometimes you may trace a
+river to a definite spring. But you very soon assure yourself that
+such springs are also fed by rain, which has percolated through the
+rocks or soil, and which, through some orifice that it has found or
+formed, comes to the light of day.
+
+But we can not end here. Whence comes the rain that forms the mountain
+streams? Observation enables you to answer the question. Rain does not
+come from a clear sky. It comes from clouds.
+
+But what are clouds? Is there nothing you are acquainted with which
+they resemble? You discover at once a likeness between them and the
+condensed steam of a locomotive. At every puff of the engine a cloud
+is projected into the air.
+
+Watch the cloud sharply. You notice that it first forms at a little
+distance from the top of the funnel. Give close attention and you will
+sometimes see a perfectly clear space between the funnel and the
+cloud. Through that clear space the thing which makes the cloud must
+pass. What then is this thing which at one moment is transparent and
+invisible, and at the next moment visible as a dense opaque cloud?
+
+It is the _steam_ or _vapor of water_ from the boiler. Within the
+boiler this steam is transparent and invisible; but to keep it in this
+invisible state a heat would be required as great as that within the
+boiler. When the vapor mingles with the cold air above the hot funnel,
+it ceases to be vapor. Every bit of steam shrinks, when chilled, to a
+much more minute particle of water. The liquid particles thus produced
+form a kind of _water dust_ of exceeding fineness, which floats in the
+air, and is called a _cloud_.
+
+Watch the cloud banner from the funnel of a running locomotive: you
+see it growing gradually less dense. It finally melts away altogether,
+and, if you continue your observations, you will not fail to notice
+that the speed of its disappearance depends on the character of the
+day. In moist weather the cloud hangs long and lazily in the air; in
+dry weather it is rapidly licked up. What has become of it? It has
+been reconverted into true invisible vapor. The _drier_ the air, and
+the _hotter_ the air, the greater is the amount of cloud which can be
+thus dissolved in it.
+
+Make the lid of a kettle air-tight, and permit the steam to issue from
+the spout; a cloud is formed in all respects similar to that which
+issues from the funnel of the locomotive. To produce the cloud, in the
+case of the locomotive and the kettle, _heat_ is necessary. By heating
+the water we first convert it into steam, and then by chilling the
+steam we convert it into cloud. Is there any fire in nature which
+produces the clouds of our atmosphere? There is--the fire of the sun.
+
+By tracing the course of a river, we find that both its beginning and
+its ending are in the sea. All its water is derived from the sea, and to
+the sea it returns its floods. But if we seek for its causes, we find
+that its beginning and its ending are in the sun. For it is the fire of
+the sun that produces the clouds from which the water of the river is
+derived, and it is the same fire of the sun that dries up its stream.
+
+  --_Adapted from "Forms of Water in Clouds and Rivers,"
+  by John Tyndall._
+
+
+
+
+ADDRESS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN
+
+AT THE DEDICATION OF GETTYSBURG CEMETERY, THE 19TH OF NOVEMBER, 1863.
+
+
+Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this
+continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the
+proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a
+great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so
+conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great
+battlefield of the war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that
+field as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives
+that their nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that
+we should do this.
+
+[Illustration: Abraham Lincoln.]
+
+But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate, we can not consecrate, we
+can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who
+struggled here, have consecrated it far above our power to add or
+detract. The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say
+here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us, the
+living, rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they
+who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to
+be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us--that from these
+honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they
+gave the last full measure of devotion--that we here highly resolve that
+these dead shall not have died in vain--that this nation, under God,
+shall have a new birth of freedom--and that government of the people, by
+the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
+
+
+
+
+THE AMERICAN FLAG.
+
+
+    When Freedom, from her mountain height,
+      Unfurled her standard to the air,
+    She tore the azure robe of night,
+      And set the stars of glory there;
+    She mingled with its gorgeous dyes
+    The milky baldric of the skies,
+    And striped its pure, celestial white
+    With streakings of the morning light;
+    Then from his mansion in the sun
+    She called her eagle bearer down,
+    And gave into his mighty hand
+    The symbol of her chosen land.
+
+[Illustration: Joseph Rodman Drake.]
+
+    Flag of the brave! thy folds shall fly,
+    The sign of hope and triumph high!
+    When speaks the signal trumpet tone,
+    And the long line comes gleaming on
+    (Ere yet the life blood, warm and wet,
+    Has dimmed the glistening bayonet),
+    Each soldier's eye shall brightly turn
+    To where thy sky-born glories burn,
+    And as his springing steps advance,
+    Catch war and vengeance from thy glance.
+    And when the cannon mouthings loud
+    Heave in wild wreaths the battle shroud,
+    And gory sabers rise and fall,
+    Like shoots of flame on midnight's pall,
+    Then shall thy meteor glances glow,
+      And cowering foes shall sink beneath
+    Each gallant arm that strikes below
+      That lovely messenger of death.
+    Flag of the seas! on ocean's wave
+    Thy stars shall glitter o'er the brave;
+    When death, careering on the gale,
+    Sweeps darkly round the bellied sail,
+    And frighted waves rush wildly back
+    Before the broadside's reeling rack,
+    Each dying wanderer of the sea
+    Shall look at once to heaven and thee,
+    And smile to see thy splendors fly
+    In triumph o'er his closing eye.
+
+    Flag of the free heart's hope and home,
+      By angel hands to valor given,
+    Thy stars have lit the welkin dome,
+      And all thy hues were born in heaven.
+    Forever float that standard sheet!
+      Where breathes the foe, but falls before us,
+    With Freedom's soil beneath our feet,
+      And Freedom's banner streaming o'er us!
+
+  --_Joseph Rodman Drake._
+
+
+
+
+THE LAST FIGHT IN THE COLISEUM, A.D. 404.
+
+[Illustration: Charlotte M. Yonge.]
+
+
+The grandest and most renowned of all ancient amphitheaters is the
+Coliseum at Rome. It was built by Vespasian and his son Titus, the
+conquerors of Jerusalem, in a valley in the midst of the seven hills
+of Rome. The captive Jews were forced to labor at it; and the
+materials--granite outside, and a softer stone within--are so solid,
+and so admirably put together, that still, at the end of eighteen
+centuries, it has scarcely even become a ruin, but remains one of the
+greatest wonders of Rome. Five acres of ground were inclosed within
+the oval of its outer wall, which outside rises perpendicularly in
+tiers of arches one above another. Within, the galleries of seats
+projected forwards, each tier coming out far beyond the one above it;
+so that between the lowest and the outer wall there was room for a
+great variety of chambers, passages, and vaults around the central
+space, called the arena.
+
+Altogether, when full, this huge building held no fewer than 87,000
+spectators! It had no roof; but when there was rain, or if the sun was
+too hot, the sailors in the porticoes unfurled awnings that ran along
+upon ropes, and formed a covering of silk and gold tissue over the
+whole. Purple was the favorite color for this veil, because, when the
+sun shone through it, it cast such beautiful rosy tints on the snowy
+arena and the white purple-edged togas of the Roman citizens.
+
+When the emperor had seated himself and given the signal, the sports
+began. Sometimes a rope dancing elephant would begin the
+entertainment, by mounting even to the summit of the building and
+descending by a cord. Or a lion came forth with a jeweled crown on his
+head, a diamond necklace round his neck, his mane plaited with gold,
+and his claws gilded, and played a hundred pretty gentle antics with a
+little hare that danced fearlessly within his grasp.
+
+Sometimes water was let into the arena, a ship sailed in, and falling
+to pieces in the midst, sent a crowd of strange animals swimming in
+all directions. Sometimes the ground opened, and trees came growing up
+through it, bearing golden fruit. Or the beautiful old tale of Orpheus
+was acted: these trees would follow the harp and song of a musician;
+but--to make the whole part complete--it was no mere play, but in real
+earnest, that the Orpheus of the piece fell a prey to live bears.
+
+For the Coliseum had not been built for such harmless spectacles as
+those first described. The fierce Romans wanted to be excited and to
+feel themselves strongly stirred; and, presently, the doors of the pits
+and dens around the arena were thrown open, and absolutely savage beasts
+were let loose upon one another--rhinoceroses and tigers, bulls and
+lions, leopards and wild boars--while the people watched with ferocious
+curiosity to see the various kinds of attack and defense, their ears at
+the same time being delighted, instead of horror-struck, by the roars
+and howls of the noble creatures whose courage was thus misused.
+
+[Illustration: The Coliseum at the Present Day.]
+
+Wild beasts tearing each other to pieces might, one would think,
+satisfy any taste for horror; but the spectators needed even nobler
+game to be set before their favorite monsters:--men were brought
+forward to confront them. Some of these were, at first, in full armor,
+and fought hard, generally with success. Or hunters came, almost
+unarmed, and gained the victory by swiftness and dexterity, throwing a
+piece of cloth over a lion's head, or disconcerting him by putting
+their fist down his throat. But it was not only skill, but death, that
+the Romans loved to see; and condemned criminals and deserters were
+reserved to feast the lions, and to entertain the populace with their
+various kinds of death. Among those condemned was many a Christian
+martyr, who witnessed a good confession before the savage-eyed
+multitude around the arena, and "met the lion's gory mane" with a calm
+resolution and a hopeful joy that the lookers-on could not understand.
+To see a Christian die, with upward gaze, and hymns of joy on his
+tongue, was the most strange and unaccountable sight the Coliseum
+could offer; and it was therefore the choicest, and reserved for the
+last of the spectacles in which the brute creation had a part.
+
+The carcasses were dragged off with hooks, the bloodstained sand was
+covered with a fresh green layer, perfume was wafted in stronger
+clouds, and a procession come forward--tall, well-made men, in the
+prime of their strength. Some carried a sword and a lasso, others a
+trident and a net; some were in light armor, others in the full, heavy
+equipment of a soldier; some on horseback, some in chariots, some on
+foot. They marched in, and made their obeisance to the emperor; and
+with one voice their greeting sounded through the building: "Hail,
+Caesar; those about to die salute thee!" They were the gladiators--the
+swordsmen trained to fight to the death to amuse the populace.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+  From the Painting by J. L. Gerome.      Engraved by Henry Wolf.
+
+  The Last Prayer--Christian Martyrs in the Coliseum.
+]
+
+Fights of all sorts took place,--the light-armed soldier and the
+netsman--the lasso and the javelin--the two heavy-armed warriors,--all
+combinations of single combat, and sometimes a general melee. When a
+gladiator wounded his adversary, he shouted to the spectators, "He has
+it!" and looked up to know whether he should kill or spare. When the
+people held up their thumbs, the conquered was left to recover, if he
+could; if they turned them down, he was to die; and if he showed any
+reluctance to present his throat for the deathblow, there was a
+scornful shout, "Receive the steel!"
+
+      "I see before me the gladiator lie:
+        He leans upon his hand; his manly brow
+      Consents to death, but conquers agony;
+        And his drooped head sinks gradually low;
+        And through his side the last drops, ebbing slow
+      From the red gash, fall heavy, one by one,
+        Like the first of a thunder-shower; and now
+      The arena swims around him--he is gone,
+    Ere ceased the inhuman shout which hailed the wretch who won."
+
+Christianity, however, worked its way upwards, and at last was
+professed by the emperor on his throne. Persecution came to an end,
+and no more martyrs fed the beasts in the Coliseum. The Christian
+emperors endeavored to prevent any more shows where cruelty and death
+formed the chief interest, and no truly religious person could endure
+the spectacle; but custom and love of excitement prevailed even
+against the emperor. They went on for fully a hundred years after Rome
+had, in name, become a Christian city.
+
+Meantime the enemies of Rome were coming nearer and nearer. Alaric, the
+great chief of the Goths, led his forces into Italy, and threatened the
+city itself. Honorius, the emperor, was a cowardly, almost idiotic boy;
+but his brave general, Stilicho, assembled his forces, met the Goths,
+and gave them a complete defeat, on Easter day of the year 403. He
+pursued them to the mountains, and for that time saved Rome.
+
+In the joy of victory, the Roman Senate invited the conqueror and his
+ward Honorius to enter the city in triumph, at the opening of the new
+year, with the white steeds, purple robes, and vermilion cheeks with
+which, of old, victorious generals were welcomed at Rome. The churches
+were visited instead of the Temple of Jupiter, and there was no murder
+of the captives; but Roman bloodthirstiness was not yet allayed, and,
+after the procession had been completed, the Coliseum shows commenced,
+innocently at first, with races on foot, on horseback, and in chariots;
+then followed a grand hunt of beasts turned loose in the arena; and next
+a sword dance. But after the sword dance came the arraying of swordsmen,
+with no blunted weapons, but with sharp spears and swords--a gladiator
+combat in full earnest. The people, enchanted, applauded with shouts of
+ecstasy this gratification of their savage tastes.
+
+Suddenly, however, there was an interruption. A rude, roughly robed
+man, bareheaded and barefooted, had sprung into the arena, and, waving
+back the gladiators, began to call aloud upon the people to cease from
+the shedding of innocent blood, and not to requite God's mercy, in
+turning away the sword of the enemy, by encouraging murder. Shouts,
+howls, cries, broke in upon his words; this was no place for
+preachings,--the old customs of Rome should be observed,--"Back, old
+man!"--"On, gladiators!"
+
+The gladiators thrust aside the meddler, and rushed to the attack. He
+still stood between, holding them apart, striving in vain to be heard.
+"Sedition! sedition!"--"Down with him!"--was the cry; and the prefect
+in authority himself added his voice. The gladiators, enraged at
+interference with their vocation, cut him down. Stones, or whatever
+came to hand, rained upon him from the furious people, and he perished
+in the midst of the arena! He lay dead; and then the people began to
+reflect upon what had been done.
+
+His dress showed that he was one of the hermits who had vowed themselves
+to a life of prayer and self-denial, and who were greatly reverenced,
+even by the most thoughtless. The few who had previously seen him, told
+that he had come from the wilds of Asia on a pilgrimage, to visit the
+shrines and keep his Christmas at Rome. They knew that he was a holy
+man--no more. But his spirit had been stirred by the sight of thousands
+flocking to see men slaughter one another, and in his simple-hearted
+zeal he had resolved to stop the cruelty, or die.
+
+He had died, but not in vain. His work was done. The shock of such a
+death before their eyes turned the hearts of the people; they saw the
+wickedness and cruelty to which they had blindly surrendered
+themselves; and since the day when the hermit died in the Coliseum,
+there has never been another fight of gladiators. The custom was
+utterly abolished; and one habitual crime at least was wiped from the
+earth by the self-devotion of one humble, obscure, and nameless man.
+
+  --_From "A Book of Golden Deeds," by Charlotte Yonge._
+
+
+
+
+THE PASSING OF ARTHUR.
+
+
+The reader has already become somewhat acquainted with the marvelous
+history of King Arthur, and has read about the poems and romances by
+which the memory of his life and exploits have been preserved. He has
+also read the mythical account of the King's last hours on earth as
+recorded in the quaint old romance written by Sir Thomas Malory. Here
+he may read another rendering of the same story, written in grand and
+beautiful poetic form by Alfred Tennyson. In the "Idylls of the King,"
+Lord Tennyson has given us a complete history of Arthur and of the
+brave knights and fair ladies who lived at his court. These poems are
+among the noblest ever written in our language. Turn now to the last
+story in "School Reading by Grades--Fifth Year," and compare each
+passage in that brief narrative with its corresponding passage in the
+following poem.
+
+      So all day long the noise of battle roll'd
+    Among the mountains by the winter sea;
+    Until King Arthur's Table, man by man,
+    Had fall'n in Lyonesse about their lord,
+    King Arthur. Then, because his wound was deep,
+    The bold Sir Bedivere uplifted him,
+    Sir Bedivere, the last of all his knights,
+    And bore him to a chapel nigh the field,
+    A broken chancel with a broken cross,
+    That stood on a dark strait of barren land.
+    On one side lay the Ocean, and on one
+    Lay a great water, and the moon was full.
+      Then spake King Arthur to Sir Bedivere:
+    "The sequel of to-day unsolders all
+    The goodliest fellowship of famous knights
+    Whereof this world holds record. Such a sleep
+    They sleep--the men I loved. I think that we
+    Shall never more, at any future time,
+    Delight our souls with talk of knightly deeds,
+    Walking about the gardens and the halls
+    Of Camelot, as in the days that were.
+    I perish by this people which I made,--
+    Tho' Merlin sware that I should come again
+    To rule once more; but let what will be, be,
+    I am so deeply smitten thro' the helm
+    That without help I can not last till morn.
+    Thou therefore take my brand Excalibur,
+    Which was my pride: for thou rememberest how
+    In those old days, one summer noon, an arm
+    Rose up from out the bosom of the lake,
+    Clothed in white samite, mystic, wonderful,
+    Holding the sword--and how I row'd across
+    And took it, and have worn it, like a king:
+    And, wheresoever I am sung or told
+    In after time, this also shall be known:
+    But now delay not: take Excalibur,
+    And fling him far into the middle mere;
+    Watch what thou seest and lightly bring me word."
+      To him replied the bold Sir Bedivere:
+    "It is not meet, Sir King, to leave thee thus,
+    Aidless, alone, and smitten thro' the helm.
+    A little thing may harm a wounded man.
+    Yet I thy hest will all perform at full,
+    Watch what I see, and lightly bring thee word."
+      So saying, from the ruin'd shrine he stept,
+    And in the moon athwart the place of tombs,
+    Where lay the mighty bones of ancient men,
+    Old knights, and over them the sea wind sang
+    Shrill, chill, with flakes of foam. He, stepping down
+    By zigzag paths, and juts of pointed rock,
+    Came on the shining levels of the lake.
+      There drew he forth the brand Excalibur,
+    And o'er him, drawing it, the winter moon,
+    Brightening the skirts of a long cloud, ran forth
+    And sparkled keen with frost against the hilt:
+    For all the haft twinkled with diamond sparks,
+    Myriads of topaz lights, and jacinth work
+    Of subtlest jewelry. He gazed so long
+    That both his eyes were dazzled, as he stood,
+    This way and that dividing the swift mind,
+    In act to throw: but at the last it seem'd
+    Better to leave Excalibur conceal'd
+    There in the many-knotted waterflags,
+    That whistled stiff and dry about the marge.
+    So strode he back slow to the wounded King.
+      Then spake King Arthur to Sir Bedivere:
+    "Hast thou perform'd my mission which I gave?
+    What is it thou hast seen? or what hast heard?"
+      And answer made the bold Sir Bedivere:
+    "I heard the ripple washing in the reeds,
+    And the wild water lapping on the crag."
+      To whom replied King Arthur, faint and pale:
+    "Thou hast betray'd thy nature and thy name,
+    Not rendering true answer, as beseem'd
+    Thy fealty, nor like a noble knight:
+    For surer sign had follow'd, either hand,
+    Or voice, or else a motion of the mere.
+    This is a shameful thing for men to lie.
+    Yet now I charge thee, quickly go again,
+    As thou art lief and dear, and do the thing
+    I bade thee, watch, and lightly bring me word."
+      Then went Sir Bedivere the second time
+    Across the ridge, and paced beside the mere,
+    Counting the dewy pebbles, fix'd in thought;
+    But when he saw the wonder of the hilt,
+    How curiously and strangely chased, he smote
+    His palms together, and he cried aloud:
+      "And if indeed I cast the brand away,
+    Surely a precious thing, one worthy note,
+    Should thus be lost for ever from the earth,
+    Which might have pleased the eyes of many men.
+    What good should follow this, if this were done?
+    What harm, undone? deep harm to disobey,
+    Seeing obedience is the bond of rule.
+    Were it well to obey then, if a king demand
+    An act unprofitable, against himself?
+    The King is sick, and knows not what he does.
+    What record, or what relic of my lord
+    Should be to after time, but empty breath
+    And rumors of a doubt? but were this kept,
+    Stored in some treasure-house of mighty kings,
+    Some one might show it at a joust of arms,
+    Saying, 'King Arthur's sword, Excalibur,
+    Wrought by the lonely maiden of the Lake.
+    Nine years she wrought it, sitting in the deeps
+    Upon the hidden bases of the hills.'
+    So might some old man speak in the after time
+    To all the people, winning reverence.
+    But now much honor and much fame were lost."
+      So spake he, clouded with his own conceit,--
+    And hid Excalibur the second time,
+    And so strode back slow to the wounded King.
+      Then spoke King Arthur, breathing heavily:
+    "What is it thou hast seen? or what hast heard?"
+      And answer made the bold Sir Bedivere:
+    "I heard the water lapping on the crag,
+    And the long ripple washing in the reeds."
+      To whom replied King Arthur, much in wrath:
+    "Ah, miserable and unkind, untrue,
+    Unknightly, traitor-hearted! Woe is me!
+    Authority forgets a dying king,
+    Laid widow'd of the power in his eye
+    That bow'd the will. I see thee what thou art,
+    For thou, the latest-left of all my knights,
+    In whom should meet the offices of all,
+    Thou wouldst betray me for the precious hilt;
+    Either from lust of gold, or like a girl
+    Valuing the giddy pleasure of the eyes.
+    Yet, for a man may fail in duty twice,
+    And the third time may prosper, get thee hence:
+    But, if thou spare to fling Excalibur,
+    I will arise and slay thee with my hands."
+      Then quickly rose Sir Bedivere, and ran,
+    And, leaping down the ridges lightly, plunged
+    Among the bulrush beds, and clutch'd the sword,
+    And strongly wheel'd and threw it. The great brand
+    Made lightnings in the splendor of the moon,
+    And flashing round and round, and whirl'd in an arch,
+    Shot like a streamer of the northern morn,
+    Seen where the moving isles of winter shock
+    By night, with noises of the Northern Sea.
+    So flash'd and fell the brand Excalibur:
+    But ere he dipt the surface, rose an arm
+    Clothed in white samite, mystic, wonderful,
+    And caught him by the hilt, and brandish'd him
+    Three times, and drew him under in the mere.
+    And lightly went the other to the King.
+      Then spoke King Arthur, drawing thicker breath:
+    "Now see I by thine eyes that this is done.
+    Speak out: what is it thou hast heard, or seen?"
+      And answer made the bold Sir Bedivere:
+    "Sir King, I closed mine eyelids, lest the gems
+    Should blind my purpose, for I never saw,
+    Nor shall see, here or elsewhere, till I die,
+    Not tho' I live three lives of mortal men,
+    So great a miracle as yonder hilt.
+    Then with both hands I flung him, wheeling him;
+    But when I look'd again, behold an arm,
+    Clothed in white samite, mystic, wonderful,
+    That caught him by the hilt, and brandish'd him
+    Three times and drew him under in the mere."
+      And answer made King Arthur, breathing hard:
+    "My end draws nigh; 'tis time that I were gone.
+    Make broad thy shoulders to receive my weight,
+    And bear me to the margin; yet I fear
+    My wound hath taken cold, and I shall die."
+      So saying, from the pavement he half rose,
+    Slowly, with pain, reclining on his arm,
+    And looking wistfully with wide blue eyes
+    As in a picture. Him Sir Bedivere
+    Remorsefully regarded thro' his tears,
+    And would have spoken, but he found not words;
+    Then took with care, and kneeling on one knee,
+    O'er both his shoulders drew the languid hands,
+    And rising bore him thro' the place of tombs.
+      But, as he walk'd, King Arthur panted hard,
+    Like one that feels a nightmare on his bed
+    When all the house is mute. So sigh'd the King,
+    Muttering and murmuring at his ear, "Quick, quick!
+    I fear it is too late, and I shall die."
+    But the other swiftly strode from ridge to ridge,
+    Clothed with his breath, and looking as he walk'd,
+    Larger than human on the frozen hills.
+    He heard the deep behind him, and a cry
+    Before. His own thought drove him, like a goad.
+    Dry clash'd his harness in the icy caves
+    And barren chasms, and all to left and right
+    The bare black cliff clang'd round him, as he based
+    His feet on jets of slippery crag that rang
+    Sharp-smitten with the dint of armed heels--
+    And on a sudden, lo! the level lake,
+    And the long glories of the winter moon.
+      Then saw they how there hove a dusky barge,
+    Dark as a funeral scarf from stem to stern,
+    Beneath them; and descending they were ware
+    That all the decks were dense with stately forms
+    Black-stoled, black-hooded, like a dream--by these
+    Three Queens with crowns of gold--and from them rose
+    A cry that shiver'd to the tingling stars,
+    And, as it were one voice, an agony
+    Of lamentation, like a wind, that shrills
+    All night in a waste land, where no one comes,
+    Or hath come, since the making of the world.
+      Then murmur'd Arthur, "Place me in the barge."
+    So to the barge they came. There those three Queens
+    Put forth their hands, and took the King, and wept....
+      Then loudly cried the bold Sir Bedivere:
+    "Ah! my Lord Arthur, whither shall I go?
+    Where shall I hide my forehead and my eyes?
+    For now I see the true old times are dead,
+    When every morning brought a noble chance,
+    And every chance brought out a noble knight....
+    But now the whole Round Table is dissolved
+    Which was an image of the mighty world,
+    And I, the last, go forth companionless,
+    And the days darken round me, and the years,
+    Among new men, strange faces, other minds."
+      And slowly answered Arthur from the barge:
+    "The old order changeth, yielding place to new,
+    And God fulfills himself in many ways,
+    Lest one good custom should corrupt the world.
+    Comfort thyself; what comfort is in me?
+    I have lived my life, and that which I have done
+    May He within himself make pure! but thou,
+    If thou shouldst never see my face again,
+    Pray for my soul. More things are wrought by prayer
+    Than this world dreams of. Wherefore, let thy voice
+    Rise like a fountain for me night and day.
+    For what are men better than sheep or goats
+    That nourish a blind life within the brain,
+    If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer
+    Both for themselves and those who call them friends?
+    For so the whole round earth is every way
+    Bound by gold chains about the feet of God.
+    But now farewell. I am going a long way
+    With these thou seest--if indeed I go
+    (For all my mind is clouded with a doubt)--
+    To the island-valley of Avilion
+    Where falls not hail, or rain, or any snow,
+    Nor ever wind blows loudly; but it lies
+    Deep-meadow'd, happy, fair with orchard lawns
+    And bowery hollows crown'd with summer sea,
+    Where I will heal me of my grievous wound."
+      So said he, and the barge with oar and sail
+    Moved from the brink, like some full-breasted swan
+    That, fluting a wild carol ere her death,
+    Ruffles her pure cold plume, and takes the flood
+    With swarthy webs. Long stood Sir Bedivere
+    Revolving many memories, till the hull
+    Look'd one black dot against the verge of dawn,
+    And on the mere the wailing died away.
+
+  --_From "The Idylls of the King," by Alfred Tennyson._
+
+
+
+
+FOR STUDY AND REFERENCE.
+
+
+PRINCIPLES OF GOOD READING.
+
+To become a good reader, patient and long-continued practice is
+necessary. We learn to read by much reading and never by the study of
+formal rules. Nevertheless, a knowledge of the following general
+principles and definitions may be of some value in assisting the
+learner to acquire correct habits in the practice of oral reading.
+
+PRONUNCIATION.
+
+Under this term are included Articulation, Syllabication, and Accent.
+
+Correct articulation requires that each letter, syllable, and word
+should be clearly and properly pronounced. Incorrect articulation is
+the result either of careless habits or of natural defects. In either
+case, it may be largely overcome by persistent and careful drill in
+the pronunciation of those words in which the greatest difficulty is
+experienced. Conversation, declamation, calisthenics, singing, and
+similar exercises should be engaged in, in order to assist in
+overcoming habits of timidity or diffidence, and to give increased
+power and flexibility to the vocal organs.
+
+Syllabication and accent are learned by careful observation and by
+reference, in all cases of doubt, to some standard dictionary.
+
+EXPRESSION.
+
+Correct expression in reading has reference to tone of voice,
+inflection, pitch, emphasis, all of which are included under
+modulation.
+
+TONE.
+
+Tone, or quality of voice, is the kind of sound employed in reading or
+speaking. A conversational tone is such as is used in ordinary
+conversation for the expression of quiet or unemotional thoughts. A
+full tone of voice is used in the expression of high or lofty
+sentiments, and of feelings of joy, courage, or exultation. A middle
+tone is used in the rendering of expressions which while not
+conversational in character are too unimpassioned to require a full
+tone. A low or subdued tone is used in passages where the sense
+requires a suppression of sound. The only rule necessary is this:
+_Study so to regulate the tone of voice that it shall always be in
+harmony with the thoughts expressed._
+
+INFLECTION.
+
+Inflection is the upward or downward movement of the voice in speaking
+or reading. There are two inflections: the _rising inflection_, in
+which the voice slides upward; and the _falling inflection_, in which
+the voice slides downward. Sometimes there is a union of the two
+inflections upon a single sound or syllable, in order to express
+surprise, scorn, irony, sorrow, or other strong or peculiar emotion.
+This union of inflections is called _circumflex_. No rule for
+inflections can be given which is not subject to numerous exceptions.
+The movement of the voice, whether upward or downward, is in all cases
+determined by the thought in the sentence. _That inflection should be
+used which will assist to convey, in the most natural and forcible
+manner, the meaning intended by the author._
+
+PITCH.
+
+Very closely related to tone and inflection is pitch, by which is meant
+the degree of elevation of the voice. Pitch may be _middle_, _high_, or
+_low_. Middle pitch is that which is used in common conversation and in
+the expression of unemotional thoughts. Light and joyous emotions and
+lively narration require a high pitch. Passages expressing sadness, deep
+joy, dignified serenity of mind, and kindred emotions, require a low
+pitch. Hence, the only rule to be observed is this: _Let the pitch be
+always in harmony with the sentiments to be expressed._
+
+EMPHASIS.
+
+Emphasis is any change of pitch, or variation of the voice, which
+serves to call special attention to an important word, syllable, or
+expression. The only rule that can be given for securing correctness
+of emphasis is: _Be natural._ Children, in ordinary conversation,
+never make mistakes in emphasis. If they are made to understand what
+they are reading, have not been permitted to imitate incorrect models,
+and are not hampered by unnecessary rules, they will read as well as
+they talk. Let reading be but conversation from the book, and not only
+emphasis, but pitch and inflection will require but little separate
+attention, and no special rules.
+
+PAUSES.
+
+Pauses in reading are necessary to make the meaning clear or to assist
+in the proper modulation of the voice and therefore in the correct
+rendering of the sentiments of the author. The former are called
+grammatical pauses, and are indicated by the marks of punctuation; the
+latter are called rhetorical pauses, and depend for their correct
+usage upon the reader's understanding of the thoughts which he is
+endeavoring to render. In reading poetry, a slight pause is generally
+proper at the end of each line, and sometimes also at the middle of
+each line. The latter is called the _caesural_ pause. The object of
+poetic pauses is simply to promote the melody.
+
+
+AUTHORS AND BOOKS.
+
+=Abbott, Charles Conrad=, the author of the essay on "The Robin" (page
+197), is an American writer and naturalist. He was born at Trenton, N.
+J., in 1843. He is an ardent lover of nature, and has written several
+delightful books on subjects relating to popular science and outdoor
+life. Among these are "Birdland Echoes," from which the above-named
+essay is taken; "A Naturalist's Wanderings about Home," and "Waste
+Land Wanderings."
+
+=Aytoun= ([=a]'toon), =William Edmonstoune=, the author of the selection
+entitled "The Pass of Killiecrankie" (page 138), was a Scottish lawyer
+and poet. Born in Edinburgh, 1813; died, 1865. He was for many years one
+of the editors of "Blackwood's Magazine." He wrote "Lays of the Scottish
+Cavaliers," "Ballads of Scotland," and other poems.
+
+=Blackmore, Richard D.=, the author of "Lorna Doone," is an English
+lawyer and novelist. Born in Berkshire, 1825. Besides "Lorna Doone,"
+he has written "Alice Lorraine," "Springhaven," "The Maid of Sker,"
+and several other stories.
+
+=Browning, Mrs. Elizabeth Barrett=, the author of "The Romance of the
+Swan's Nest" (page 98), was an English poet. Born in Durham, England,
+1806. In 1846 she married Robert Browning, and during the rest of her
+life resided chiefly at Florence, Italy, where she died in 1861. She
+wrote "Prometheus Bound" (1833), "Aurora Leigh" (1857), and many
+shorter poems.
+
+=Bryant, William Cullen=, the author of "The Death of the Flowers"
+(page 18), was one of the most popular of American poets. Born at
+Cummington, Mass., 1794; died at New York, 1878. Besides his poems, he
+wrote translations of Homer's "Iliad" and "Odyssey," and was for more
+than half a century one of the editors of "The Evening Post" (New York).
+
+=Buckley, Arabella Burton=, is an English author and naturalist. Born
+at Brighton, England, 1840. She has written several books on
+scientific subjects for young readers: "The Fairy Land of Science,"
+from which our selection is taken (page 29), "Winners in Life's Race,"
+and "Life and her Children."
+
+=Campbell, Thomas=: A British poet and critic. Born at Glasgow,
+Scotland, 1777; died, 1844. He wrote "The Pleasures of Hope,"
+"Hohenlinden," "Lochiel's Warning," and many other well-known poems.
+
+"=Cloister and the Hearth, The=": An historical romance, by Charles
+Reade, first published in 1861. The scenes are laid mostly in Holland
+and Italy, and the time is the middle of the fifteenth century. See
+page 153.
+
+=Collier, W. F.=, author of the sketch on "Life in Norman England" (page
+89), is an English historian. He has written "The History of the British
+Empire," "A History of England," and several other similar works.
+
+=Cowper, William=: A celebrated English poet. Born, 1731; died, 1800.
+His principal work was "The Task," from which our brief selection
+(page 196) has been taken. He wrote also "John Gilpin," "Tirocinium,"
+and several other poems.
+
+"=David Copperfield, The Personal History of=": A novel, by Charles
+Dickens, first published in 1849. "Of all my books," says Dickens, "I
+like this the best." Many scenes in the novelist's own life are
+depicted in this story. The character from whom the book took its name
+is a timid boy reduced to desperation by the cruelty of his
+stepfather, Mr. Murdstone. At ten years of age he is sent to a
+warehouse in London, where he was employed in rough work at a small
+salary. He finally runs away, and is protected and adopted by an
+eccentric maiden lady, Miss Betsey Trotwood. He becomes a writer, and
+marries a gentle, innocent little lady, whom he calls his "child
+wife"; she dies, and he afterwards marries a woman of stronger mind,
+named Agnes Wickfield. The selection which we give (page 121) is a
+fair example of the style which characterizes the story.
+
+=Dickens, Charles=: The most popular of English novelists. Born, 1812;
+died, 1870. Wrote "The Pickwick Papers," "Nicholas Nickleby," "Oliver
+Twist," "David Copperfield," from which our story of "The Shipwreck"
+(page 121) has been taken, and numerous other works of fiction.
+
+=Drake, Joseph Rodman=, author of "The American Flag" (page 206), was
+an American poet. Born at New York, 1795; died, 1820. His principal
+work was "The Culprit Fay," written in 1816.
+
+=Everett, Edward=: An American statesman and orator. Born at Boston,
+Mass., 1794; died, 1865. He was editor of the "North American Review,"
+member of Congress, Governor of Massachusetts, President of Harvard
+College, Secretary of State in the cabinet of Millard Fillmore, and
+United States Senator from Massachusetts. His orations and speeches
+fill four volumes.
+
+=Froude, James Anthony=: A noted English historian. Born, 1818; died,
+1894. His chief work was a "History of England from the Fall of Wolsey
+to the Defeat of the Spanish Armada." He also wrote four volumes of
+"Short Studies on Great Subjects," "Caesar, a Sketch," "Life of Lord
+Beaconsfield," "Life of Carlyle," etc.
+
+=Hemans, Mrs. Felicia=: An English poet. Born at Liverpool, 1793; died,
+1835. She wrote numerous short poems, which were at one time very
+popular. She is best remembered in this country as the author of "The
+Landing of the Pilgrims" (page 195), "Casabianca," and similar pieces.
+
+=Hogg, James=: A Scottish poet, often called from his occupation the
+Ettrick Shepherd. Born, 1770; died, 1835. Among his poems are "The
+Queen's Wake" (1813), "The Pilgrims of the Sun" (1815), and many short
+pieces.
+
+=Howells, William Dean=: An American novelist and poet. Born at
+Martinsville, Ohio, 1837. He was for ten years editor of the "Atlantic
+Monthly." He has written numerous novels, several short comedies or
+farces, and a volume of poetry. Our selection is from one of his
+latest works, "Stories of Ohio," a series of sketches relating to the
+settlement and early history of that commonwealth.
+
+=Hunt, James Henry Leigh=, author of the poem entitled "The Glove and
+the Lions" (page 119), was an English essayist and poet. Born, 1784;
+died, 1859. His chief poem is "The Story of Rimini"; his principal
+prose works are "Life of Lord Byron" (1828), and "Autobiography" (1850).
+
+"=Idylls of the King=": The first part of this noble poem by Lord
+Tennyson appeared in 1859, and the remaining parts were issued at
+various intervals until its completion. It comprises twelve books, or
+poems, which should be read in the following order: "The Coming of
+Arthur," "Gareth and Lynette," "The Marriage of Geraint," "Geraint and
+Enid," "Balin and Balan," "Merlin and Vivien," "Lancelot and Elaine,"
+"The Holy Grail," "Pelleas and Etarre," "The Last Tournament,"
+"Guinevere," "The Passing of Arthur." Taken together in this order,
+these various poems present a complete and connected history of King
+Arthur and his knights. See page 216.
+
+=Ingelow= (in'je l[=o]), =Jean=: An English poet and novelist. Born at
+Boston, Lincolnshire, 1830; died, 1897. Wrote "Off the Skelligs,"
+"Fated to be Free," "A Motto Changed," several children's books, and
+numerous poems.
+
+=Irving, Washington=: An eminent American writer. Born, 1783; died,
+1859. His principal works are "Columbus and his Companions" (from
+which the extract beginning on page 25 is taken), "The Sketch Book,"
+"Tales of a Traveler" (1824), "The Conquest of Granada" (1829), "The
+Alhambra" (1832), "Oliver Goldsmith" (1849), "Mahomet and His
+Successors" (1850), "Life of George Washington" (1859).
+
+"=Job, The Book of=": One of the books of the Old Testament, the
+authorship of which is unknown, but has been ascribed to various
+persons and periods of time. It is doubtless one of the oldest
+literary productions in our possession, and may be described as a
+poetic drama, having a didactic purpose. The hero of the book is Job,
+a man of great wealth and prosperity, who has been suddenly overtaken
+by misfortune. The great literary merit of the work is recognized by
+all scholars.
+
+=Johnson, Dr. Samuel=: An eminent English essayist, poet, and
+lexicographer. Born, 1709; died, 1784. For his biography, see
+Macaulay's essay on his life and works in "School Reading by
+Grades--Seventh Year."
+
+=Jonson, Ben=: A celebrated English poet and dramatist. Born, 1573;
+died, 1637. Among his plays are "Every Man in his Humour" (1598),
+"Cynthia's Revels" (1600), "The Alchemist" (1610), etc.
+
+=Kingsley, Charles=: An eminent English author and clergyman. See
+Biographical Notes in "School Reading by Grades--Fifth Year."
+
+"=Lays of Ancient Rome=": A volume of poems written by Lord Macaulay
+and first published in 1842. It includes "Horatius" (see page 32),
+"The Battle of Lake Regillus," "Virginia," and "The Prophecy of Capys."
+
+=Lewes= (l[=u]'es), =George Henry=: An English philosophical and
+miscellaneous writer. Born at London, 1817; died, 1878. He wrote
+"Seaside Studies" (1858), "Studies in Animal Life" (1862), "Problems
+of Life and Mind" (1874), and many other works on scientific and
+philosophical subjects.
+
+=Lincoln, Abraham=: The sixteenth President of the United States. Born
+in Kentucky, 1809; died at Washington, D. C., 1865. The "Address at
+Gettysburg" (page 205) is generally conceded to be one of the noblest
+examples of oratory produced in modern times.
+
+"=Lorna Doone=: a Romance of Exmoor." First published in 1869. See
+page 64.
+
+"=Mexico, History of the Conquest of=," by William H. Prescott (see
+page 104), was first published in 1843. Other works relating to the
+same event are "The Spanish Conquest in America," by Sir Arthur Helps,
+"The Fair God" (a romance) by General Lew Wallace.
+
+=Prescott, William Hickling=: An eminent American historian. Born at
+Salem, Mass., 1796; died, 1859. His principal works are "History of
+the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella" (1838), "Conquest of Mexico" (see
+note above), "Conquest of Peru" (1847), "History of Philip II" (1858).
+
+=Reade, Charles=: A noted English barrister and novelist. Born in
+Oxfordshire, 1814; died, 1884. His novels are very numerous, but the
+best is "The Cloister and the Hearth," from which our selection is
+taken (page 153). Several of his writings are noted for their strong
+opposition to social evils.
+
+=Scott, Sir Walter.= See Biographical Notes in "School Reading by
+Grades--Fifth Year."
+
+=Stanley, Arthur Penrhyn=: An English divine and historian. Born,
+1815; died, 1881. He traveled in Egypt and Palestine in 1852-53; wrote
+"Sinai and Palestine" (1856), "Memorials of Canterbury" (1855),
+"History of the Jewish Church" (1865), etc.
+
+=Stockton, Frank Richard=: A noted American author and humorist. Born
+at Philadelphia, 1834. He has written "Rudder Grange," "The Clocks of
+Rondaine," "Pomona's Travels," "Stories of New Jersey," and many
+other works, including several books for children.
+
+"=Tales of a Grandfather=": A collection of historical stories, by Sir
+Walter Scott, first published in four series, 1827-30. See page 66.
+
+=Tennyson, Alfred.= See Biographical Notes in "School Reading by
+Grades--Fifth Year."
+
+=Tyndall, John=: An eminent British scientist. Born in Ireland, 1820;
+died in England, 1893. Among his works are "The Forms of Water in
+Clouds and Rivers" (1873) from which our extract is selected (page
+202), "Hours of Exercise in the Alps" (1871), "Fragments of Science"
+(1892), and many other works of a similar character.
+
+"=Westward Ho! or the Voyages and Adventures of Sir Amyas Leigh=": A
+novel by Charles Kingsley, first published in 1855. See page 165.
+
+=Winthrop, Robert Charles=: An American statesman and orator. Born at
+Boston, 1809; died, 1894. His most famous addresses were delivered at
+the laying of the corner-stone of the Washington Monument, 1848, and
+at the completion of the same monument, 1885.
+
+=White, Gilbert=: An English clergyman and naturalist, famous as the
+author of "Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne" (1789). He was
+born at Selborne, 1720; died there, 1793.
+
+=Yonge= (yung), =Charlotte Mary=: An English writer and novelist. Born
+at Otterbourne, 1823. She has written more than a hundred volumes,
+including, "The Heir of Redclyffe," "Daisy Chain," "Landmarks of
+History," and "A Book of Golden Deeds," from which the selection
+beginning on page 208 is taken.
+
+
+EXPLANATORY NOTES.
+
+=Page 20.= "Straits of Sunda." The passage between the islands of Java
+and Sumatra, leading from the Indian Ocean to the Sea of Java. See a
+good map of this part of the world.
+
+=25.= "The Return of Columbus." Returning from his first voyage (see
+"School Reading by Grades--Fourth Year," page 43), Columbus reached
+Palos, March 15, 1493. The selection here given from Irving describes
+his triumphal reception a few weeks later at the court of Ferdinand
+and Isabella at Barcelona.
+
+"Hidalgos." Spanish noblemen of the lower class.
+
+=27.= "Las Casas." A Spanish historian, born, 1474; died, 1566. He
+went to America in 1502, and in 1542 was Bishop of Chiapas in Mexico.
+We are indebted to him for some of the earliest trustworthy accounts
+of the Spanish discoveries. He was the friend and defender of the
+Indians against their European conquerors.
+
+=28.= "_Te Deum laudamus._" "We praise thee, O God."
+
+=32.= Tarquin the Proud, or Tarquinius Superbus, reigned, according to
+the traditional account, from 534 to 509 B.C. The modern name of
+Clusium is Chiusi (K[=e] [=oo]'s[=e]). It is situated in the province
+of Siena in Italy, and is famous for its ruins of Etruscan origin.
+
+=33.= "Consul." After the expulsion of the kings from Rome the
+governing power was vested in two consuls, who were elected annually.
+At the time of the story, one of the consuls had been slain in battle
+with Porsena. Our selection begins with the twenty-sixth stanza of
+Macaulay's poem.
+
+"Ramnian," belonging to the Ramnes, the first of the three tribes
+which originally composed the Roman nation. Herminius was a member of
+the second tribe, or Tities. The third tribe were the Luceres.
+
+=35.= For the places mentioned on this and the following pages, see
+some good classical atlas.
+
+=36.= "She-wolf's litter." A reference to the legend that Romulus and
+Remus, the founders of Rome, were, when babes, protected and reared by
+a she-wolf.
+
+=42.= "Fathers." The Roman senators.
+
+=44.= Sir Francis Drake was an English seaman, born about 1540; died,
+1596. He was famous for his operations on the sea against the
+Spaniards of America, and especially for being the first Englishman to
+circumnavigate the globe.
+
+=66.= Bannockburn is the name of a small village three miles south of
+Stirling, in Scotland. Robert Bruce, one of the national heroes of
+Scotland, was born, 1274; died, 1329. His right to the throne of
+Scotland was disputed by Edward I. of England, who claimed the
+suzerainty of that country for himself. The war which resulted from
+this dispute was continued by Edward II. until he met with the signal
+defeat here narrated. Bruce's right to the Scottish throne was
+formally acknowledged by England in 1328.
+
+=89.= "Great stone castles." For a description of the different parts
+of a Norman castle mentioned in this selection, see the word "Castle"
+in Webster's International Dictionary.
+
+=93.= "Conquest." The Norman conquest under Duke William, 1066. See
+"School Reading by Grades--Fourth Year," page 181.
+
+"Author of 'Ivanhoe.'" Sir Walter Scott. See "Ivanhoe," Chapter VIII.
+
+"Quintain." An upright post, on the top of which turned a cross-piece,
+having on one end a broad board and on the other a sandbag. The
+endeavor was to strike the board with the lance while riding under it
+and get away without being hit by the sandbag.
+
+=96.= "Scriptorium." A room in a monastery where the monks wrote or
+copied manuscripts. See "School Reading by Grades--Fifth Year," page
+170.
+
+=100.= "Nathless." Nevertheless.
+
+=104.= Cortes. Hernando Cortes was born in Spain in 1485. In 1504, at
+the age of nineteen, he sailed for Santo Domingo, where he was
+received with great favor, and where for several years he held
+important offices in connection with the government of the new colony.
+In 1518 he organized the expedition for the conquest of Mexico. The
+city was finally captured, after a gallant defense of 77 days, August
+13, 1521. Utterly neglected and forsaken in his old age, Cortes died
+at Seville, in Spain, December 2, 1547.
+
+=106.= "Palanquin" (p[)a]l an k[=e]n'). An inclosed litter, borne on
+men's shoulders, for conveying a single person.
+
+=106.= "Cacique" (k[.a] s[=e]k'). A chieftain, or nobleman, among the
+Aztecs or Indians.
+
+=107.= "Panache" (p[)a]n [.a]sh'). A plume or bunch of feathers. A
+military plume.
+
+=109.= "Tenochtitlan" (ten [=o]ch t[=e]t laen'). The Aztec name for
+their chief city, the site of which is now occupied by the city of
+Mexico. It was founded about two hundred years before the Spanish
+conquest, and was built on an island in Tezcuco Lake. The name Mexitl,
+or Mexico, was also applied to the city, or to a portion of it.
+
+=110.= "Bernal Diaz" (d[=e]'aeth). A Spanish soldier in the army of
+Cortes, who afterwards wrote a history of the conquest.
+
+=111.= "Montezuma." Cortes repaid this chieftain for his kindness by
+seizing him in his own house and carrying him to the Spanish quarters,
+where he kept him as a prisoner. The Aztecs attacked the quarters, and
+Montezuma, by the direction of Cortes, appeared on the wall to counsel
+peace. This so exasperated them that they pelted him with stones, and
+wounded him so that he died four days later.
+
+=118.= "The Lions." Rosa Bonheur, from whose painting this picture has
+been reproduced, is one of the most famous painters of the nineteenth
+century, especially of animal life and of landscapes. She was born at
+Bordeaux, France, in 1828. For nearly fifty years she has been
+directress of the Free School of Design for Young Girls in Paris. Many
+of her paintings have received high praise, but the one by which she
+is best known in this country is "The Horse Fair," in the Metropolitan
+Museum of Art, New York.
+
+=138.= "Sir William Wallace." One of the national heroes of Scotland.
+His deeds are commemorated in a once very popular romance by Jane
+Porter entitled "The Scottish Chiefs" (1810).
+
+=139.= "Schehallion." A mountain 35 miles northwest of Perth.
+Altitude, 3547 feet.
+
+=140.= "Royal Martyr." King Charles I. of England, beheaded by
+Parliament, 1649.
+
+"King James." James II., at that time a fugitive from his throne.
+
+"Covenanting traitors." Adherents of the "Solemn League and Covenant"
+adopted by the Scottish Parliament in 1638, and by the English
+Parliament in 1643, for the preservation of the reformed religion in
+Scotland and the suppression of papacy and prelacy.
+
+=153.= "Burgundy." The limits and character of the region known by
+this name have varied greatly at different periods of history. The
+Burgundy here mentioned was the great duchy of that name, the capital
+of which was Dijon. The Duke of Burgundy at the time of this story was
+the famous Charles the Bold, who was its ruler from 1467 to 1477.
+After his death it passed into the control of the king of France.
+
+"Flanders." This country, which now forms the southeastern part of the
+province of Zealand, Netherlands, was united to Burgundy in 1369.
+Upon the death of Charles the Bold it passed to Austria; but since
+that time it has been successively acquired by various other
+neighboring states.
+
+=154.= "Palisades." Strong long stakes one end of which is set in the
+ground and the other sharpened.
+
+"Sappers." Builders of fortifications.
+
+=155.= "Quarrels." Square-headed arrows for crossbows.
+
+"Mantelets." Large shields of rope, wood, or metal.
+
+"Mangonels." Engines for throwing stones or javelins.
+
+=156.= "Barbican." See "Castle" in Webster's International Dictionary.
+A tower for defending the entrance to a castle.
+
+"Arbalester." A crossbowman.
+
+"Half ell shaft." A shaft or arrow half an ell in length.
+
+=158.= "Fascines" (f[)a]s's[=e]nz). Bundles of sticks bound together
+and used for filling ditches or raising batteries.
+
+=160.= "Sir Turk." The Turkish catapult just described.
+
+=163.= "Solway." Solway Firth, an arm of the Irish Sea, extending into
+Scotland: remarkable for the rapidity of its tides.
+
+=164.= "Graeme" (gr[=a]m). See page 138.
+
+=165.= "Manoa" (mae n[=o]'ae). The city ruled by the gilded king, El
+Dorado. It was said to be built on an island in a lake called Parima,
+somewhere in the northern part of South America. Beginning about 1530,
+great numbers of expeditions were made by the Spaniards in search of
+this fabled city, all of which ended in disappointment and disaster.
+
+=175.= "Naught of strange." Nothing out of the usual order.
+
+=176.= "Lindis." A small stream in Lincolnshire.
+
+"Melick" (m[)e]l'[)i]k). Melic grass, a kind of grass eaten by cattle.
+
+=177.= "Warping down." Turning aside out of a straight course; moving
+in zigzag lines.
+
+"Scope." A sea wall, or steep shore.
+
+=178.= "Bairns." Little children.
+
+=179.= "Eygre" ([=e]'g[~e]r). The flood tide moving with great force
+and swiftness up the river.
+
+=181.= Henry II. of England was born in 1133; died, 1189. He was the
+first of the Plantagenet line of kings.
+
+=182.= Thomas Becket, born in London, 1118, was the son of a rich
+merchant, and became a member of the household of Theobald, archbishop
+of Canterbury, about 1142. Through the influence of Theobald his
+interests with the king were advanced, and he became chancellor during
+the first year of Henry's reign. He was murdered in 1170.
+
+=190.= In 1172 Becket was canonized under the title of St. Thomas of
+Canterbury, and in 1220 his bones were removed to Trinity Chapel,
+where they became the object of great veneration. For several
+centuries pilgrimages were made to his shrine from all parts of
+England. Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" were related by a party of
+pilgrims who were making this journey, presumably near the close of
+the fourteenth century. By order of King Henry VIII. the shrine was
+finally destroyed, and the bones of Becket were scattered and burned.
+
+=200.= "Genera." Plural of _genus_--a name applied to a class of
+objects subdivided into species.
+
+"Hen harriers." Hawks which fly low and harass fowls or small animals.
+
+=201.= "Gallinae" (g[)a]l l[=i]'ne). The order of birds which includes
+domestic fowls, pheasants, quails, grouse, etc.
+
+=205.= The National Cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, was
+dedicated by President Lincoln, November 19, 1863. It was here that
+the great battle of Gettysburg was fought, July 1, 2, and 3 of the
+same year. The cemetery contains the graves of 3580 soldiers, with a
+central monument, built at a cost of $50,000, and a large number of
+regimental monuments on the various historic points of the battlefield.
+
+=208.= "Vespasian and his son Titus." Vespasian was emperor of Rome
+A.D. 70-79. He was succeeded by his son Titus, who died two years
+later. Jerusalem was taken and destroyed by Titus, acting as his
+father's general, in the year 70. Both these emperors expended large
+sums on public works. The Coliseum, although begun by Vespasian in 72,
+was not finished during his reign. Despite the enormous mass of the
+present ruins, it is estimated that they comprise only about one third
+of the original materials; the remainder have been carried away,
+destroyed, or used in the construction of other buildings.
+
+=209.= "Orpheus." The sweet musician of Thrace whose music charmed
+birds and beasts, and caused even rocks and trees to move from their
+places to listen to the divine melody.
+
+=212.= "The Last Prayer." Jean Leon Gerome, the painter of this
+picture, is a celebrated French artist, born at Vesoul in 1824. He
+studied in Italy, and to perfect himself in his art, traveled for some
+years in Egypt, Turkey, and other eastern countries. As might have
+been expected, the subjects of many of his paintings are oriental. In
+1863, he became professor of painting at the Academy of Fine Arts. His
+works are very numerous and meritorious.
+
+=213.= The stanza of poetry quoted on this page is from Lord Byron's
+"Childe Harold's Pilgrimage."
+
+"Honorius." Honorius was born at Constantinople, A.D. 384, and became
+emperor of the western empire in 395 at the age of eleven years. He
+married the daughter of his guardian, Stilicho, in 398. It was during
+his reign (in 410) that Rome was taken and sacked by Alaric the Goth.
+He died in 423.
+
+=216.= "Lyonesse" (l[=i] o n[)e]s'). A mythical region, said to have
+extended from Land's End, in Cornwall, to the Scilly Islands. A
+tradition still exists of the submersion and destruction of this
+country, probably in the tenth century. King Arthur was said to have
+been a native of Lyonesse.
+
+=217.= "Camelot." A legendary town in England where Arthur had his
+palace and court. It is supposed by some to have been near Winchester;
+others locate it in Wales.
+
+"Merlin." A half-legendary bard and wizard, who is supposed to have
+lived in the early part of the sixth century. He was the companion and
+counselor of Arthur, and instituted the Round Table at Carduel. The
+famous prose romance, called the "Romance of Merlin," was written in
+French by Helie de Borron about the year 1200. It was translated into
+English about the middle of the fifteenth century.
+
+"Excalibur." The sword which Arthur had received from the Lady of the
+Lake. It had many miraculous qualities, and the wearer of its scabbard
+could lose no blood.
+
+=223.= "Dais throne." A throne raised upon an elevated platform or dais.
+
+=224.= "Avilion." In Celtic mythology, the Land of the Blessed--an
+earthly paradise in the western seas. All the great heroes of mediaeval
+times, as Arthur and Ogier the Dane, were carried there, where they
+lived in perfect happiness at the court of Morgan le Fay, the queen of
+the fairies.
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Note
+
+
+  * Line numbers removed from short stories.
+
+  * Obvious punctuation and spelling errors repaired.
+
+  * Footnote moved to the end of short story.
+
+  * In Table of Contents "Portraits of Authors" page number corrected
+    for Arthur Penrhyn Stanley from "190" to "191".
+
+  * Chiusi (K[=e] [=oo]'s[=e]) contains [=oo] representing a "long oo" sound
+    not represented in any charts.
+
+  * Text enclosed between equal signs was in bold face in the original
+    (=bold=).
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's School Reading by Grades, by James Baldwin
+
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