Part 9

35. "I'm sure I don't know; I've lost my way. I meant to go to the Chesapeake, and I'm afraid I've got wrong somehow. Dear me! it was all by following that pleasant warm water. I'm sure I've lost my way."

And when Tom asked him again, he could only answer: "I've lost my way. Don't talk to me; I want to think."

36. Then there came up a shoal of porpoises, rolling as they went--papas and mammas and little children--and all quite smooth and shiny, because the fairies French polish them every morning; and they sighed so softly as they came by that Tom took courage to speak to them; but all they answered was, "Hush, hush, hush!" for that was all they had learned to say.

37. And then Tom left the buoy and used to go along the sands and round the rocks, and come out in the night and cry and call for the water-babies; but he never heard a voice call in return. And at last, with his fretting and crying, he grew lean and thin.

38. But one day among the rocks he found a playfellow. It was not a water-baby, alas! but it was a lobster; and a very distinguished lobster he was, for he had live barnacles on his claws, which is a great mark of distinction in lobsterdom.

39. Tom had never seen a lobster before, and he was mightily taken with this one, for he thought him the most curious, odd, ridiculous creature he had ever seen; and there he was not far wrong, for all the ingenious men and all the scientific men and all the fanciful men in the world could never invent, if all their wits were boiled into one, anything so curious and so ridiculous as a lobster.

40. He had one claw knobbed and the other jagged; and Tom delighted in watching him hold on to the seaweed with his knobbed claw while he cut up salads with his jagged one, and then put them into his mouth after smelling at them like a monkey.

41. Tom asked him about water-babies. Yes, he said, he had seen them often. But he did not think much of them. They were meddlesome little creatures that went about helping fish and shells which got into scrapes. Well, for his part, he would be ashamed to be helped by little, soft creatures that had not even a shell on their backs. He had lived quite long enough in the world to take care of himself.

42. He was a conceited fellow, the old lobster, and not very civil to Tom. But he was so funny and Tom so lonely that he could not quarrel with him; and they used to sit in holes in the rocks and chat for hours.

* * * * *

I. =Bŭr´rō̍_w_s̝=: holes in the ground made for homes by certain animals. =Hȯv´ẽrs̝=: covers; shelters. =Swĩrl´ĭng=: whirling. =Strĭds=: passages between steep rocks or banks, so narrow that they look as if they might be crossed at a stride. =Căt´ȧ răcts=: great falls of water over steep places.

II. =Bärġ´ĕs̝=: roomy boats to carry goods or passengers, =Ha̤_w_s̝´ẽrs̝=: large ropes. =Buoy=: a floating object chained in place to mark a channel or to show the position of something under the water, as a rock. =Bȧs=_s_, =Mŭl´lĕt=: kinds of fish.

III. =Tẽrns̝=, =Gŭl_l_s̝=: long-winged seabirds. =Sē_a_-pī_e_s̝=: shore birds, sometimes called oyster catchers. =Ȧ _w_rȳ´=: twisted toward one side.

IV. =Pŏl´lȯ_c_k=: a sea-fish something like the cod. =Pleasant warm water=: the Gulf Stream. What can you tell about it? =Shō_a_l=: a great number; a crowd--said especially of fish. =Pôr´pȯ_i_s ĕs̝=: sea animals. =Bär´nȧ cl_e_s̝=:small shell fish which fasten themselves on rocks, timbers, other animals, etc.

* * * * *

We trout lead a happy life. We swim about in the brooks. We shine like silver as we dart to and fro in the clear, cool water. We play in the shallow water; we hide in the deep pools. On warm days we lie in the shadow of the rocks.

Change the sentences so that only one trout shall speak: as, I lead a happy life.

* * * * *

Do not think of your faults, still less of others' faults; in every person who comes near you, look for what is good and strong; honor that; rejoice in it; and, as you can, try to imitate it; and your faults will drop off like dead leaves when their time comes.

RUSKIN

Psalm XXIV

The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.

For He hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods.

Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in His holy place?

He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.

He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.

This is the generation of them that seek Him, that seek Thy face, O Jacob. Selah.

Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.

Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.

Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.

Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory. Selah.

A Good Samaritan

BY GEORGE MACDONALD

George Macdonald (1824 ----): A Scottish poet and novelist. Among his novels are "Robert Falconer," "Malcolm," "David Elginbrod," and "Annals of a Quiet Neighborhood." Macdonald wrote several books for children, of which the best known are "At the Back of the North Wind" and "The Princess and the Goblin."

1. The thousand streets of London gray Repel all country sights; But bar not winds upon their way, Nor quench the scent of new-mown hay In depth of summer nights.

2. And here and there an open spot, Still bare to light and dark, With grass receives the wanderer hot; There trees are growing, houses not-- They call the place a park.

3. Soft creatures with ungentle guides, God's sheep from hill and plain, Flow thitherward in fitful tides, There weary lie on woolly sides, Or crop the grass amain.

4. In Regent's Park one cloudless day An over-driven sheep, Arrived from long and dusty way, Throbbing with thirst and hotness lay, A panting woolly heap.

5. But help is nearer than we know For ills of every name: Ragged enough to scare the crow, But with a heart to pity woe, A quick-eyed urchin came.

6. Little he knew of field or fold, Yet knew what ailed; his cap Was ready cup for water cold; Though rumpled, stained, and very old, Its rents were small--good-hap!

7. Shaping the rim and crown he went Till crown from rim was deep. The water gushed from pore and rent; Before he came one-half was spent-- The other saved the sheep.

* * * * *

=Rē̍ pĕl´=: drive away. =Ŭn ġĕn´tl_e_=: not gentle; rough. =Fĭt´fụl=: changeable. =Ȧ mā_i_n´=: busily.

The Spartan Three Hundred

I

1. About five hundred years before the birth of Christ, almost all the nations of Asia were under the rule of Xerxes, the king of Persia, whom the Greeks called the Great King. Xerxes had conquered tribe after tribe and nation after nation, until the greater part of the known world acknowledged his rule.

2. But the little free states along the eastern Mediterranean still remained unconquered, and against these states of Greece Xerxes was leading all the power of his mighty empire.

Ten years before, at the battle of Marathon, a small Greek army had defeated the Persian hosts, and Xerxes was resolved to avenge this humiliation.

3. At the battle of which I am going to tell you, the overwhelming numbers of the Persians did indeed win the victory, but the honor and glory of the day rest with the little band of Greek heroes who fought to the death for the freedom of their country.

4. The Persian army in advancing on Greece were obliged to march through a narrow pass, with the sea on one side and a steep precipice on the other. This pass was called Thermopylæ, and it was here that the Greeks resolved to make a stand. They did not know till they had marched to Thermopylæ that behind the pass there was a mountain path by which soldiers might climb round and over the mountain and fall upon their rear.

5. The Greek army encamped in the pass, between the narrow, northern gateway by which the enemy must enter, and a gateway to the south. They were protected in front by an old wall which they repaired.

6. The Greek general was Leonidas, a Spartan king. He had with him three hundred Spartans and a few thousand soldiers from other cities of Greece. The Persians outnumbered them a hundred to one. This small force was only the advance guard of the Greek army. But Leonidas thought that with it he could at least hold the pass till his countrymen could join him.

7. When Xerxes came near Thermopylæ, he sent a horseman forward to spy out the position of the Greeks who dared oppose him. This man rode up close to the Greek camp and saw the Spartans amusing themselves, running and wrestling, and combing out their long hair.

8. They took no notice of him, and he rode back to tell the king how few they were and how unconcerned. Xerxes sent for a Greek who was in his camp and asked what these things meant.

9. The Greek replied: "O king, I have told you before of these men, and you have laughed at me. They have come to fight with you for this pass. It is the Spartan custom to dress the hair with great care before a battle. Be assured that if you conquer the Spartans no other nation in the world will dare stand against you, O king. For you are now to engage with the noblest city and kingdom of all among the Greeks, and the most valiant men."

10. Xerxes did not believe what the Greek said. He waited four days to give the little band time to retreat. Then, as it still held its ground, in a rage he bade his warriors take the Greeks alive and bring them into his presence. Accordingly, the attack was made, but the Persians could not break a way into the Spartan ranks. Fighting in the narrow space at the mouth of the pass, they were unable to avail themselves of their numbers.

11. In wave after wave all day long they dashed themselves against the Greeks, and left their dead lying at the mouth of the pass. Thereby it was made clear to everyone, and not least to the great king himself, that men were many, but heroes few.

II

12. The next day the king ordered his own bodyguard, called the Ten Thousand Immortals, to attack the holders of the pass. The Immortals were the picked soldiers of the whole army, but they fared no better than the others. Three times the king sprang from his throne in dismay as he saw his soldiers driven back with great loss. And on the third day the Persians fought with no better success.

13. While the king was in doubt what to do, a treacherous Greek came and told him about the path over the mountains. Xerxes at once sent soldiers along that path to attack the Greeks from the rear.

14. When the guards who had been stationed on the mountain brought news of the coming of the Persians, the Greeks were not agreed as to what they should do. Some wanted to retreat and abandon a position which it was now impossible to hold.

15. Leonidas bade them depart; but for him and his countrymen it was not honorable to turn their backs on any foe. For the manner of the Spartans was this: to die rather than yield. However sorely beset or overwhelmed by numbers, they never left the ground alive and unvictorious.

16. Leonidas had two kinsmen in the camp whom he tried to save by giving them messages and letters to Sparta. But one answered that he had come to fight, not to carry letters; and the other said that his deeds would tell all that Sparta wished to know. Another Spartan, when told that the enemy's archers were so numerous that their arrows darkened the sun, replied: "So much the better; we shall fight in the shade."

17. Some of the Greeks retired, but a few resolved to stay with the brave Spartans. And now the Greeks under Leonidas did not wait to be attacked in front and rear, but marched out into the wide part of the pass and assailed the Persians. The Persian officers drove their soldiers forward with whips. The poor wretches were pierced with the Greek spears, hurled into the sea, or trampled under foot.

18. The Spartans, knowing that death awaited them, were desperate, and displayed the utmost possible valor. When their spears were broken, they assailed the Persians with their swords. And when the swords gave out, they fought with their daggers, and even with their hands and teeth, till not one living man remained among them.

19. When the sun went down, there was only a mound of slain, bristling with spears and arrows.

The heroic Spartans were buried on the spot where they fell, and over them was raised a column with the inscription: "Strangers, go tell at Sparta that we lie here obedient to its laws."

20. The column and its inscription have long since perished, but the glory of the Three Hundred will endure forever.

* * * * *

I. =Xerx´es.= =Hu mil´i a´tion=: shame; disgrace. =Ther mop´y læ.= =Lē ŏn´ĭ das.= =As sured´=: sure; certain. =Val´iant=: brave.

II. =Ȧ băn´dȯn=: give up. =Băd_e_=: ordered. =Sōr_e´_ly̆=: greatly. =Rē̍ tīr_e_d´=: went away. =Ăs sā_i_l_e_d´=: attacked. =Văl´or=: courage. =In scrip´tion=: that which is inscribed or written, especially on a building or monument.

The Fairy Life

BY WILLIAM SHAKSPERE

Come unto these yellow sands, And then take hands: Courtesied when you have and kissed The wild waves whist, Foot it featly here and there; And, sweet sprites, the burden bear. Hark, hark! "Bow-wow," The watch-dog's bark: "Bow-wow." Hark, hark! I hear The strain of strutting chanticleer Cry, "Cock-a-diddle-dow!"

* * * * *

=Whĭst=: still; quiet. =Fē_a_t´ly̆=: nimbly. =Sprīt_e_s=: spirits; fairies. =Bûr´d_e_n=: the chorus of a song.

Charles Dickens

1. Charles Dickens, one of the most popular of English novelists, was born in 1812 at Portsmouth, where his father was a government clerk. When he was two years old, the family moved to London, and thence to Chatham dockyard.

2. Charles Dickens's father was poor; but, fortunately for the book-loving boy, among the few family possessions was a small library of good books, and he spent many hours poring over "The Vicar of Wakefield," "Robinson Crusoe," and the essays in "The Tatler," "The Spectator," and "The Idler." He and a boy cousin amused themselves during their holidays by getting up private theatricals, for which Charles wrote a play, "The Sultan of India," which was greatly admired by his boy friends.

3. These were happy, care-free days, but they soon came to an end. The family went back to London. The father first lost his government position, and then was sent to prison for debt, according to the law at that time. The mother went to live with the father in prison, and Charles had to earn his living by pasting labels on blacking-pots. His wages were only six shillings a week, and with this sum he had to support himself. The home was entirely broken up; even the precious books were sold; and these were sad, lonely days for the ten-year-old boy.

4. Things brightened a little when he took lodgings near the prison, where he could see his father and mother every day. As it was a family trait to look upon the bright side of things, even the prison life was not intolerable. By and by better days came, and Charles had two years of school life.

5. Then he became office boy in a lawyer's office. In his seventeenth year he became a reporter, having learned shorthand in the reading-room of the British Museum.

6. His career as a writer began a few years later, when he sent some sketches of street life to a magazine. These sketches were signed "Boz." They were so good that a year later he was employed to write similar articles for a newspaper, and they appeared in book form under the title, "Sketches by Boz."

7. This led to an offer by a publishing firm for a series of articles to appear with a set of comic drawings. Dickens wrote for them in 1836 the famous "Pickwick Papers." This consisted of sketches relating the adventures of an imaginary club of Londoners during their visits to the country. It made Dickens famous at once. The next year he published his first novel, "Oliver Twist." This struck a new note in fiction, and gave pitch to the life work of the author; for from this time he never wavered in his purpose, which was the portrayal of the life of the lower classes and the righting of social wrongs.

8. One of the most popular of Dickens's books is "David Copperfield," which is supposed to contain many reminiscences of the author's own early days. In this book occur some of the most famous of Dickens's characters.

9. Among his other works Dickens produced a series of tales called "The Christmas Stories." The first of these, "A Christmas Carol," appeared in 1843, and for a number of years he published a story of this kind every year. The most celebrated of these stories are "A Christmas Carol," "The Cricket on the Hearth," and "The Chimes." In these stories Dickens did more than give to the world pleasant and interesting tales of domestic life; he portrayed the true spirit of Christmastide, with its lessons of peace and good will.

10. Dickens also wrote "A Tale of Two Cities," "Nicholas Nickleby," and "A Child's History of England," which is a great favorite with young people. He died suddenly in 1870 and was buried in Westminster Abbey.

This selection is from "Bleak House," one of the best of Dickens's novels.

* * * * *

=Shĭll´ĭngs̝=: the shilling is a silver coin of Great Britain, equal in value to about twenty-four cents of our money. =Ĭn tŏl´ẽr ȧ bl_e_=: not to be borne. =Pōr trā_y´_al=: description. =Rĕm ĭ nĭs´çĕnç ĕs̝=: recollections. =Çĕl´ē̍ brā tĕd=: famous; well known.

Little Charley

BY CHARLES DICKENS

I

1. We found the house to which we had been directed by a friend of my guardian, and we went up to the top room. I tapped at the door, and a little shrill voice inside said: "We are locked in; Mrs. Blinder's got the key."

2. We had been prepared for this by Mrs. Blinder, the shopkeeper below, who had given us the key of the room.

3. I applied the key on hearing this, and opened the door. In a poor room, with a sloping ceiling, and containing very little furniture, was a mite of a boy, some five or six years old, nursing and hushing a heavy child of eighteen months. There was no fire, though the weather was cold; both children were wrapped in some poor shawls and tippets as a substitute. Their clothing was not so warm, however, but that their noses looked red and pinched and their small figures shrunken, as the boy walked up and down, nursing and hushing the child, with its head on his shoulder.

4. "Who has locked you up here alone?" we naturally asked.

"Charley," said the boy, standing still to gaze at us.

"Is Charley your brother?"

"No. She's my sister Charlotte. Father called her Charley."

5. "Where is Charley now?"

"Out a-washing," said the boy, beginning to walk up and down again, and taking the baby's nankeen bonnet much too near the bedstead by trying to gaze at us at the same time.

6. We were looking at one another and at these two children, when there came into the room a very little girl, childish in figure, but shrewd and older looking in the face--pretty faced, too--wearing a womanly sort of bonnet much too large for her and drying her bare arms on a womanly sort of apron. Her fingers were white and wrinkled with washing, and the soapsuds were yet smoking which she wiped off her arms. But for this she might have been a child playing at washing and imitating a poor workingwoman with a quick observation of the truth.

7. She had come running from some place in the neighborhood, and had made all the haste she could. Consequently, though she was very light, she was out of breath and could not speak at first, as she stood panting, and wiping her arms, and looking quietly at us.

8. "Oh, here's Charley!" said the boy.

The child he was nursing stretched forth its arms and cried out to be taken by Charley. The little girl took it in a womanly sort of manner belonging to the apron and the bonnet, and stood looking at us over the burden that clung to her most affectionately.

9. "Is it possible," whispered my guardian, as we put a chair for the little creature and got her to sit down with her load--the boy keeping close to her, holding to her apron--"that this child works for the rest! Look at this! Look at this!"

10. It was a thing to look at. The three children close together, and two of them relying solely on the third, and the third so young and yet with an air of age and steadiness that sat so strangely on the childish figure.

II

11. "Charley, Charley," said my guardian, "how old are you?"

"Over thirteen, sir," replied the child.

12. "Oh, what a great age!" said my guardian. "What a great age, Charley!"

I cannot describe the tenderness with which he spoke to her, half playfully, yet all the more compassionately and mournfully.

13. "And do you live alone here with these babies, Charley?" said my guardian.

"Yes, sir," returned the child, looking up into his face with perfect confidence, "since father died."

14. "And how do you live, Charley? O Charley," said my guardian, turning his face away for a moment, "how do you live?"

"Since father died, sir, I've gone out to work. I'm out washing to-day."

15. "God help you, Charley!" said my guardian. "You're not tall enough to reach the tub."

"In pattens, I am, sir," she said quickly. "I've got a high pair that belonged to mother."

"And when did mother die? Poor mother!"

16. "Mother died just after Emma was born," said the child, glancing at the face upon her bosom. "Then father said I was to be as good a mother to her as I could. And so I tried. And so I worked at home, and did cleaning and nursing and washing for a long time before I began to go out. And that's how I know how; don't you see, sir?"

17. "And do you often go out?"

"As often as I can," said Charley, opening her eyes and smiling, "because of earning sixpences and shillings."

18. "And do you always lock the babies up when you go out?"

"To keep 'em safe, sir, don't you see?" said Charley. "Mrs. Blinder comes up now and then, and Mr. Gridley comes up sometimes, and perhaps I can run in sometimes; and they can play, you know, and Tom isn't afraid of being locked up. Are you, Tom?"

"No--o!" said Tom, stoutly.

19. "When it comes on dark, the lamps are lighted down in the court, and they show up here quite bright--almost quite bright. Don't they, Tom?"

"Yes, Charley," said Tom; "almost quite bright."

20. "Then, he's as good as gold," said the little creature--oh! in such a motherly, womanly way. "And when Emma's tired, he puts her to bed. And when he's tired, he goes to bed himself. And when I come home and light the candle and have a bit of supper, he sits up again and has it with me. Don't you, Tom?"

21. "Oh, yes, Charley," said Tom. "That I do!" And either in this glimpse of the great pleasure of his life, or in gratitude and love for Charley, who was all in all to him, he laid his face among the scanty folds of her frock and passed from laughing into crying.