Part 9

So, in the midst of anxiety and strife and scenes that hardened his boyish heart, Edward grew to be fifteen years old. He was now beginning to take great interest in the government, and to show that he had a mind and will of his own. Yet, King though he was, he still went on with lessons. So earnest was he that he was held up to all the boys of England, as an example. At the same time, however, he liked to play, though he had sadly little chance for it. He played a game something like baseball, and tennis, and was fond of archery as a sport.

You will be interested to read what were the things that a boy who was to be a king had learned by the time he was fifteen. He could speak and write Latin and French as well as English. He read Greek, Italian, and Spanish. He had studied the geography of his own country thoroughly, and knew all about the chief ports of England, Ireland, Scotland, and France. He had studied fortifications, and the places where they needed to be built or strengthened. He astonished his advisers by the intelligence with which he could talk about affairs of state.

It seems likely, does it not, that Edward would have made an excellent King if ever he had taken the government into his own hands? For the only fault that shows plainly in him is his coldness of heart. But he had never been strong, and before he was sixteen he became very ill, as a result of a cough that he had had for a long time. He had not strength to fight off the disease; so, patiently and gently as he had lived, the boy King died. He had had a chance to be neither a real boy nor a real King.

--_Adapted from "Boy-Kings and Girl-Queens", by H. E. Marshall._

"SOME UGLY OLD LAWYER"

One of the things that made President Lincoln great was his kindness in small things. Here is a story, told by a man who saw the incident take place, that gives an instance of such kindness.

You should all begin reading this story at the same moment. At the end of one minute your teacher will ask you to close your books and answer the questions she asks.

One day President Lincoln was met in the park between the White House and the War Department by an irate, crippled soldier, who was swearing in a high key, cursing the Government from the President down. Mr. Lincoln paused and asked him what was the matter.

"Matter enough," was the reply. "I want my money. I have been discharged here, and can't get my pay."

Mr. Lincoln asked if he had his papers, saying that he used to practice law in a small way, and possibly could help him. The soldier rather ungraciously said that he had the papers.

My friend and I stepped behind some convenient shrubbery where we could watch the result. Mr. Lincoln took the papers from the hands of the angry soldier, and sat down with him at the foot of a convenient tree, where he examined them carefully, and writing a line on the back, told the soldier to take them to Mr. Potts, Chief Clerk of the War Department, who would doubtless attend to the matter at once.

After Mr. Lincoln had left the soldier, we stepped out and asked him if he knew whom he had been talking with. "Some ugly old fellow who pretends to be a lawyer," was the reply. My companion asked to see the papers, and on their being handed to him, pointed to the indorsement they had received. To the soldier's great surprise and confusion, this indorsement read:

"Mr. Potts, attend to this man's case at once and see that he gets his pay. A. L."

QUESTIONS

1. Why was Mr. Lincoln willing to help the soldier?

2. Why didn't he tell the soldier who he was?

3. Is there a joke in this story? If so, whom was the joke on?

ADDING THE RIGHT WORDS

Arrange your paper with your name on the first line and your grade on the second line. Do not write anything on the third line, but on the next six lines, write in the margin the numbers 1 to 6.

Below are six lists of words. All the words included in each list are related in some way. For instance, all the words in the first list name colors--

red yellow orange

After figure 1 on your paper write two other words that might be included in this list of colors. Any two color-words will be correct.

Now in the same way find out what kind of words are included in the second list and after figure 2 write two words that could be added to this list. Complete the exercise by adding to each of the remaining lists in the same manner. When you finish, wait quietly for the others.

1. red, yellow, orange.

2. wash, scrub, dust.

3. trolley car, bicycle, carriage.

4. desk, picture, bookcase.

5. Marion, Louise, Ruth.

6. harp, piano, cornet.

THE DESERT INDIANS' "FIRE BED"

You may have one minute in which to read this selection.

The Indians of our "American Sahara" are compelled by circumstances to overcome conditions not encountered by their brothers of the plains and mountains.

The "fire bed" is among the most useful and original methods employed by them to "sleep warm", in the "open", as in fall and spring the nights are very cold.

A shallow trench is "scooped out" in the sand, about six feet in length, three feet wide, and six or eight inches deep. The sand is "banked up" on the sides, and a fire is then made in the "pit", covering the entire length. This not only warms the bottom but the banked sides as well.

After the fire has burned long enough to warm the sand thoroughly, the larger unburned sticks are thrown out, but all live coals are left in the pit. The sand on the sides is now covered over the coals to a depth of about four inches. The "sleeper" will then lie down in the warm sand; and, if he possesses a blanket, he will throw it over him, thus keeping in the heat, and will sleep warm.

I have tried this out myself many times, both upon the desert and in the mountains, and have never suffered from the cold.

--"_Boy Scouts' Year Book." Courtesy of D. Appleton and Company._

Describe to your teacher how the Desert Indians are able to sleep out of doors in warm beds.

YES OR NO?

1. All dogs have a keen sense of smell. My pet animal has a keen sense of smell; do you know that my pet is a dog?

2. It took George six minutes to finish his exercise correctly. John finished in five minutes, but most of his answers were wrong. Was George the better reader?

PIETRO'S ADVENTURE

You should all begin reading at the same moment. Your teacher will announce before you begin how much time she is going to give you. She will divide the class into three equal groups according to speed and find out which group writes the best answers to the questions at the end of this selection.

I

Pietro Vittori was playing in the shade of an olive grove on a mountain side that overlooked the sea near Naples. Just below him was a white road that stretched away into the distance for many miles. Far below the road the blue water sparkled in the sunshine. It was a beautiful spot. Pietro, who had never been far from the olive grove and the mountain side, supposed that all the world was like it.

As he looked at the road, he saw a little cloud of dust in the distance; soon a motor car moved slowly along the road until it came to a stop. The driver and a man on the seat behind him got out and busied themselves about the car. They looked at the long slope of the road before them and shook their heads.

Drawn by curiosity, Pietro moved nearer and nearer until he stood beside the road. He could see that something was wrong, but he understood no word that the strangers spoke. Suddenly the glance of the man fell on the bright-eyed, barefoot lad, and he asked Pietro a question. His voice was kindly, but Pietro could only shake his head. Then the man laughed and patted Pietro's brown curls. He led the boy to the side of the car, and pointed to a tank beneath the seat of the driver.

This time Pietro understood; he knew that the tank contained the wonderful fluid that made the car go. This car could go no farther because the supply of the wonderful fluid was used up. It was all plain enough, and he knew what he could do to help. His dark eyes shone brightly as he looked up at the man.

"Si, si, signore!" he cried, eagerly; and in an instant more he was flying up the long slope, until at last he was out of sight round a curve. The driver of the car started to follow him, but soon gave up the attempt, for it was very hot. All the way to the village Pietro ran as fast as his bare feet would carry him--two kilometres or more.

It was nearly an hour before Pietro came hurrying back. With him was the man from the shop in the village, and he bore a filled can in either hand. The travelers were patiently waiting. They could do nothing else, for their only hope lay in Pietro, unless by chance another motor car should come along.

When they were ready to start again, the man patted Pietro's curly head once more, and slipped some bright silver coins into his hand--to the great surprise of Pietro, who had never seen other coins than those made of copper. Then the man leaped to his seat, and the whole party waved their hands to Pietro, and called out gayly to him in their strange language; then the car sped out of sight. Then Pietro hurried up through the olive grove to his little home, where the bright silver coins surprised his parents even more than they had surprised him.

Now that was only a small adventure; but adventures were few in Pietro's life, and so he thought of it often through the weeks and months that followed. A year later, with his parents and his brothers and sisters, he went over the mountains to Naples, and sailed in a great ship across the ocean to Boston; and all that meant so many adventures that he almost forgot his long run over the hot and dusty road to help the strangers.

II

Pietro had lived in the North End of Boston about two years, when he had another adventure. Late one afternoon, toward the end of November, he was walking slowly along the street on his way home from school. His heart was heavy. At school he had just been learning the story of Thanksgiving, and he had heard much about Thanksgiving celebrations; but he knew that there would be no Thanksgiving dinner in the crowded little rooms where he lived, for the family was large, and his father had long been without work.

As two men passed him, one said to the other, "How this part of Boston has changed! I thought I could take you straight to the Old North Church, but I seem to be getting lost."

Pietro sprang to the man's side. "I know the way!" he cried. "Let me show you! And I can tell you all about the church where Paul Revere hung the lanterns."

The two men looked down, and laughed. "That is the way with the little Italian boys; they soon become real Americans," said the one who had spoken first. "We shall be glad to have you guide us," he added to Pietro.

So Pietro proudly walked before them, and led the way, first to the historic church, and then to the old cemetery on Copp's Hill, near by. All this time the man was watching him curiously. "I think you and I have met before," he said at length. "Do you remember me?"

For the first time Pietro looked long and hard at the man's face. Then he cried out, "Yes, yes! I did not see before! You were the man in the car that stopped on the Amalfi road." He fairly danced for pleasure that the strange man had remembered him so long. Then he hurried on: "See! I can talk with you now! I am an American! I go to school!"

"You see," said the man laughingly, as he turned to his friend, "I can remember the face of a bright Italian boy better than I can the streets of my own city."

Then he told his friend of the help that Pietro had given when the motor car stopped on the Italian mountain side. With a few questions, he drew from Pietro his own story, and he watched the brown-eyed boy closely as they talked.

"Pietro," he said, at last, "I like you, and I want to be your friend. Keep on in school and study. Come and see me to talk things over once in a while. I'll be able to help you when it is time for you to go to work. In the meantime I can find work for your father." He gave Pietro his address, and checked the words of thanks that came pouring out. "And this," the man went on, "will give you all a Thanksgiving dinner as a reward for your work as guide this afternoon."

A bill was pressed into Pietro's hand, and the men hurried on. Pietro stood where they left him, and looked first at the bill in his hand, and then at the two men, who turned and waved their hands as they went round a corner.

So it came about that the fortunes of the Vittori family took a sudden change for the better, and there was a happy Thanksgiving dinner in their tenement--all as a result of Pietro's cheerful readiness to be of help three years before, when strangers were in trouble on an Italian mountain side.

--_John Clair Minot. Courtesy of "The Youth's Companion"._

QUESTIONS

1. Near what city did the first part of this story take place?

2. In what city did the second part occur?

3. What service did Pietro do for the travelers in the first part?

4. What happened to Pietro between the first and second parts of the story?

5. Did Pietro do anything in the second part of the story similar to what he did in the first?

6. Do you think the American gentleman had a good memory?

7. Pietro was very polite and obliging, wasn't he? What two good things did he do for his family by being so?

8. What do you think "_Si, si, signore_" means? Why are these three words printed in italics?

SOME PATRIOTIC MINE WORKERS

You should all begin reading this selection at the same moment.

Can you read it thoroughly in thirty seconds?

Not all the good soldiers in the American army which helped to win the World War were in the trenches, or even in France. And they were not all young men. See if you do not think the following occurrence proves the truth of this statement.

In October, 1918, shortly before the war ended, one hundred and fifty mine workers, who had retired from service after earning enough to support themselves in their old age, returned to the mines at Stoneboro, Pennsylvania, when they learned of the shortage of men during the war. They mined four thousand tons of coal while they waited for the railway siding to be completed to the new opening where they were to work.

--"_Youth's Companion._"

QUESTIONS

Why is it right to call these men patriotic?

Is that kind of patriotism needed only in war time?

FATHER DOMINO

It was the early spring time. The snow banks were melting away, leaving the brown earth soft enough for the flowers to push through as soon as they felt the warmth of the sun.

Across the high hill, which sloped down to the river, came a pair of foxes. The splendid Silver Fox, with a black mark across the eyes like a mask, was called Domino. The dainty little lady fox by his side, with a red coat and an elegant ruffle of white, was Snowyruff. They had met one day in the woods, and chosen each other for mates and friends for life, as is the way of foxes. Now they were searching through the woods for a place to build their home.

Snowyruff looked about the piney glade, nosed the ground, then began to dig. It was her way of saying, "I am satisfied. We'll set up housekeeping here."

She did not know that she had chosen the same sunny slope on which Domino himself had lived as a tiny cub, but she did know that it was a fine place for a home for a family of foxes. The hillside would be sheltered and warm; the den door would be hidden by the pine thicket near.

The deep snow and deep leaves had kept the earth soft enough for her to dig, so she worked away with a will. Domino sat on the hill and kept guard for an hour, then he took her place and worked while Snowyruff kept watch. So, working together, they built their home; a cozy, well-hidden den it was, too. No eye could detect it, though within a dozen feet; and as the warm spring sunshine set the grass growing, it was better hidden each day.

The pair were more and more careful not to be seen near the den. At last one day Snowyruff said to Domino: "Keep away now!" and he kept away from the den for days. While he was absent a wonderful thing happened: Five little foxes were born! When Snowyruff left them to slip down to the river for a cooling drink of water, Domino was there on the bank watching. She said to him in plain Fox language: "You must not come home yet," so he crouched with his head flat on the leaves, and she hurried back to the den.

The next day when she was hungry, she ate some of the food which they had stored up in the dry sand of the side chamber of the den. Two days later, she went to the door, and there was a pile of food--Domino had stolen down and left it for her and their babies. After that, every day, there was food at the door, or hidden in the grass near by.

When the cubs were nine days old their eyes opened, they whimpered less, and Snowyruff felt it safer to leave them. Domino now came in to see his family, and a proud father he was. He guarded them with the greatest care, and was as devoted to them as Mother Snowyruff herself.

When they were about a month old, the little toddlers were brought out into the sunlight in front of the den. There they romped and wrestled and raced with each other. Sometimes they chased flies or bumble-bees, sometimes they made a fine game of catching Mother's tail, or tussled over a dried duck's wing.

As the days passed and the young foxes grew stronger, Domino and Snowyruff began teaching them to find food for themselves. Live game was brought home each day. Sometimes a frog, or a fat field mouse, was brought, and then turned loose for the youngsters to re-capture. Once Domino called, "Chur-chur-chur," and when the rollicking cubs came tumbling over one another, he dropped a live muskrat in their midst. They pounced on it, but the muskrat was a desperate fighter. It seemed for a time that he would win, but the father and mother only looked on. They must let their children learn to do hard things for themselves, so they waited until one cub was strong enough and quick enough to lay the muskrat low.

The happy growing days went by, and the cubs had not learned the meaning of fear. One day Domino was returning home with food. Five little black noses, ten little beady eyes, set in woolly heads, were bunched at the den door. Suddenly the bay of a hound sounded near and Domino leaped on a stump to listen. There was no mistake; the hound was coming nearer the home place. Snowyruff warned the little ones, and Domino loped bravely out to meet his enemy. He showed himself boldly, and even barked defiance at the big hound, then dashed away, leading him farther and farther from the den.

Domino ran hard for an hour, then began trying to throw the hound off his trail, but it was not easy. The hound was swift and keen in following the trail, and though he doubled, crossed, and tried every trick he knew, Domino could not throw him off. The fox ran lightly ahead, the hound crashing heavily after him, baying loudly. At last Domino led his enemy along a narrow ledge which ran at the edge of a cliff overhanging the river.

On they went. Domino was growing very tired. His steps were lagging so that the hound was gaining upon him at every jump. Up and up they went; Domino went slower still. The hound could see him just ahead. He drew closer with each bound. At last Domino reached the top of the cliff. His black coat gleamed against the sky. He could go no farther; it was the end of the trail. The hound plunged forward, and leaped at the fox; but Domino sprang lightly aside, and the hound plunged headlong over the rugged cliff. He was hurled down into the icy flood below. He swam out as best he could, battered and bleeding, and limped home, whining with pain. Domino turned back and ran to the den, where five little black noses, ten little beady eyes, set in five little woolly heads, waited for their father.

The hound never came back again, and the Fox family lived in peace until the little foxes grew large enough to leave the home den and make homes for themselves.

--_From "Stories for Children and How to Tell Them". Courtesy of J. Berg Esenwein._

QUESTIONS

1. What kind of home does a fox build for his family?

2. What kind of lessons did the Fox children have to be taught?

3. What did Domino do that reminds you of what a human father would do for his family?

4. Make a list of the things the Fox family did that seem almost human.

THE GOOD GIANT WINS HIS FORTUNE

Here is just one "movie" scene, just enough to fill up this page. If you have forgotten how to play it, refer to the directions on page 38.

"Ha," said the giant as he stooped down and picked up something. "Here is the key." Then he unbolted the door and walked into the vault where he saw chests of gold and silver arranged along the wall. He marked dozens of them with the chalk that he had in his pocket. When he had finished, he put a purse full of diamonds in his pocket, swung a bag full of money over his shoulder, and went out without another word, locking the terrified steward in.

THE MOLE AWAKES

One of the facts discovered by a student of nature is that every part of an animal's body is fitted to perform its special task, and to help the animal live in the surroundings where it finds its home. Notice three ways in which the mole's bodily equipment is fitted to the life he leads.

"Dig" is expressed in every line of the mole's body. Digging is his life-work, and to this Nature has adapted his every organ. His eyes are of no use in this underground life, and so they have dwindled away until externally there is little sign of them. Objects he probably never sees with any distinctness, though he still can tell light from darkness. But he seems to recognize light only to avoid it. In the darkness of his tunnels not only would his eyes be useless, but dirt would be apt to get into them while he is digging; so they are gradually leaving him.

The ears, too, or that part of them that projects from the head, would be in the way. So they have been discarded. The inner and most important part of the ear, however, still remains, and the mole hears quite well.