ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN PRODUCTION NOTE University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library Brittle Books Project, 2018.COPYRIGHT NOTIFICATION In Copyright. Reproduced according to U.S. copyright law USC 17 section 107. Contact dcc@librarv.uiuc.edu for more information. This digital copy was made from the printed version held by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It was made in compliance with copyright law. Prepared for the Brittle Books Project, Preservation Department, Main Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign by Northern Micrographics Brookhaven Bindery La Crosse, Wisconsin 2018HISTORY READER .EMENTARY SCHOOLS L. L. W. WILSON, Ph.D. T.$ MACMILLA?: CC5ANY1/'AMERICA My country, 'tis of thee, Sweet land of liberty, Of thee I sing; Land where lfiy fathers died, Land of the Pilgrims' pride, From every mountain side Let freedom ring. Our fathers' God, to thee, Author of Liberty, To thee we sing. Long may our land be bright With freedom's holy light; Protect us by thy might, Great God, our King.HISTORY READER yon ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS ARRANGED WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO HOLIDAYS BY L. L. W. WILSON, Ph.D. Author Of " Nature Study in Elementary Schools. Part i; Man©* fob, Teachers JPajr* u: Reads* " KTeto gotfe THE MACMILLAN COMPANY LONDON; MACMILLAN & CO., I/rn, 1924 AM rights rowrvidCopyright, 1898, By THE M ACM ILL AN COMPANY Nurbjootj $re0g J. S. Cushing Co. — Berwick & Smith Cc. Norwood, Mass., U.S.A.PREFACE A manual for teachers on History in the Ele- mentary School is now in process of publication. Until this is issued the following suggestions may be of some value to the teachers who wish to make a profitable use of the reader. SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS Children like best to read about things of which they already know. Therefore fill the children's minds with the central thought for the month, with other stories, and occasionally with these same stories amplified, before their own reading begins. With colored crayons put on the board, in Sep- tember, drawings of the Indians; in October, the ships of Columbus and of the Vikings; in Novem- ber, the wild turkey; in May and June, the flags. Stencils of Washington, Grant, Lincoln, Franklin, and the other American worthies make large graphic likenesses on the blackboard. Prang publishes a number of inexpensive color reproductions of famous historic scenes. More interesting than even the largest and most brilliantly colored of pictures are impromptu games *n PREFACE and plays based on the stories, in which the children are the happy actors. Let the stage properties be few. And just here a hint may be sufficient; viz. children like to be trees almost as well as to be wild Indians 1 In regard to the use of these stories for reading, I would suggest the following method as one of the many ways in which children may be taught to become fluent, intelligent readers : — Divide the time allotted to reading into two periods as widely separated from each other as possible. In the first of these teach all of the new words, and drill upon them thoroughly. Too much em- phasis cannot be laid on the importance of this pre- paratory word study. In general, the following methods will be satis- factory with second and third year pupils: — I. Write upon the board a new word with all the diacritical marks that may be necessary to enable the pupil to pronounce it correctly. II. Teach the meaning of the word. III. Proceed in the same way with several other words. IY. Drill on the instant recognition of these words without diacritical marks. Y. Let the pupils write the words from dictation, marking the sounds and accents, and dividing it properly into syllables. Later in the day let him read the lesson for theCONTENTS Xi PAGE The Price of a Little Pilgrim......77 Captain Miles Standish.......79 Thanksgiving Day. L. M. Child.....79 The First Thanksgiving.......81 The Pumpkin. J. G-. Whittier1.....83 Another Thanksgiving Story......85 A Song of King David.......89 The First People who came to America .... 90 Sir Walter Raleigh........90 The First Comers to Virginia ...... 92 The First Settlers in Virginia . . . . , . 93 DECEMBER Other Settlements But Did Ever Men with Nobler Will (Poem) . „ .95 Early Life of Captain John Smith.....97 The Settlement of Virginia ...... 99 Captain Smith looks for the Pacific Ocean . . . 100 He is made a Prisoner of Powhatan.....101 He returns to Jamestown ........102 He explores the Chesapeake . . . . . 103 Other Adventures........104 Story of Pocahontas........100 Story of Henry Hudson.......110 William Penn . . . ......114 The Early Settlements . . . . . , .119 The Indians and the Whites .... . 121 The Indian in War ...... . 123 1 By permission of Houghton, Mifflin 1J riors sat under the fragrant pine trees and smoked their pipes. The little children romped in the fields. And decorated themselves with the long yellow hair of Mondamin, — for so the Indians called the corn. Sometimes, tired of play, they sat at the feet of an old warrior. They listened to the story of his brave deeds. When the harvest was gathered in, a great feast was spread. Then the Indians sent up thanks to the Great Spirit for giving them corn.6 september At last all was ended by a great ball game There were three hundred players on each side. That was a game, indeed! tf THE INDIANS These Indians were the people who lived here before the white man came. They had brown skin, black eyes, and straight black hair. The warriors stained their faces with splashes of red, yellow, and blue paint. This was to make them look even more fierce and terrible than they really were. The Indian wore a whole deer-skin over his shoulder for a mantle.THE INDIANS 7 He wore leggings of deer-skin also. His wife wore a deer-skin apron. In the north, where it was cold, she wore a mantle of beaver-skin. Her shoes, or moccasins, were made of deer- skin embroidered with beads. E They had no trousers to patch, nor stockings to darn, nor pockets to get holes in them. But perhaps you would rather have pockets with holes, than no pockets at all! I wonder where the Indian boy put his mar- bles, and his penknife, and his horse-chestnuts, and his apple cores? We must inquire about this. Think how happy his little sister must have been to sit down without fear of mussing her dress and spoiling her sash! "t was warm, the lit- tle Indian children were happy without * >'" clothes.8 september INDIAN HOUSES The Indian house or wigwam was a tent of bark or mats held up by poles. There was but one room. The family slept on mats or skins on the ground. water and cooked their food ? Many of them had wooden vessels which they did not dare to put on the fire. So they put water into their wooden bowls and threw in heated stones. When the water was very hot, they put in it whatever they had to cook. Father's dinner would not be on the table in time if we had to cook in this slow way. against The fire was built in the mid- dle, the smoke go- ing out through a hole in the roof. The Indian got his fire by twirling the end of a stick "against another piece of wood. How do you suppose they boiledhiawatha 9 Fish and meat were laid over the fire on a gridiron of sticks. They roasted corn and squash under hot ashes. They had no' salt. They used the leaves of the bay and of some plants for seasoning. After his dinner the Indian filled his pipe and smoked in silence. • - STORY OF THE LITTLE INDIAN BOY, HIAWATHA Adapted from Long- fellow HIAWATHA'S HOME By the shining Big-Sea-Water, Stood the wigwam of Nokomis, Daughter of the Moon, Nokomis.10 SEPTEMBER Dark behind it rose the forest, Rose the black and gloomy pine trees. Rose the firs with cones upon them. Bright before it beat the water, Beat the clear and sunny water, Beat the shining Big-Sea-Water. There the wrinkled old Nokomis Nursed the little Hiawatha, Rocked him in his linden cradle, Stilled his fretful wail by saying, " Hush, the Naked Bear will hear thee!" Lulled him into slumber, singing, " Ewa-yea! my little owlet! Who is this that lights the wigwam ? With his great eyes lights the wigwam? Ewa-yea! my little owlet! " At the door on summer evenings Sat the little Hiawatha, Heard the whispering of the pine tree, Heard the lapping of the water. Saw the firefly Wah-wah-taysee Flitting through the dusk of evening, With the twinkle of its candle Lighting up the brakes and bushes.HIAWATHA 11 And he sang the song of children, Sang the song Nokomis taught him: " Wah-wah-taysee, little firefly, Little flitting white-fire insect, Little dancing white-fire creature, Light me with your little candle, Ere upon my bed I lay me, Ere in sleep I close my eyelids." HIAWATHA'S QUESTIONS He saw the moon rise from the water, Saw the flecks and shadows on it. Whispered. " What is that, Nokomis ? " And the good Nokomis answered: u Once a warrior, very angry,i2 SEPTEMBER Seized his grandmother, and threw her Up into the sky at midnight. Right against the moon he threw her. 'Tis her body that you see there." He saw the rainbow in the heaven. Whispered, " What is that, Nokomis ?" And the good Nokomis answered: " 'Tis the heaven of flowers you see there All the wild flowers of the forest, All the lilies of the prairies, When on earth they fade and perish, Blossom in the heavens above us." When he heard the owls at midnight Hooting, laughing in the forest, " What is that ? " he cried in terror, " What is that," he asked, " Nokomis ? " And the good Nokomis answered: " That is but the owl and owlet, Talking in their native language, Talking, scolding at each other."HIAWATHA 13 HIAWATHA IN THE FOREST Then the little Hiawatha Learned of every bird its language, Learned their names and -£3? all their secrets, How they built their nests in sum- ^ mer, Where they hid themselves in winter, ' Talked with them whene'er he met them, Called them " Hiawatha's Chickens." Of all the beasts he learned the language, Learned their names and all their secrets: How the beavers built their lodges, Where the squirrels hid their acorns, How the reindeer ran so swiftly, Why the rabbit was so timid. Talked with them whene'er he met them, Oalled them " Hiawatha's Brothers."14 september HOW HIAWATHA KILLED HIS FIRST DEER Then Iago, the great boaster, He the marvellous story-teller, He the traveller and the talker, He the friend of old Nokomis, Made a bow for Hiawatha. Then he said to Hiawatha: " Go, my son, into the forest, Where the red deer herd together. Kill for us a famous roebuck, Kill for us a deer with antlers." Forth into the forest straightway All alone walked Hiawatha, From a branch of ash he made it, From an oak bough made the ar- rows, Tipped with flint and winged with feathers, And the cord he made of deer-skin.HIAWATHA 15 Proudly with his bow and arrows. And the birds sang round him, o'er him, " Do not shoot us, Hiawatha." And the rabbit from his pathway Leaped aside, and at a distance Sat erect upon his haunches, Half in fear and half in frolic, Saying to the little ^ hunter, 7 N " Do not shoot me, Hia watha." *-• Hidden in the alder bushes, There he waited till the deer cam#, Till he saw two antlers lifted, / Saw two eyes look from the thicket, Saw two nostrils point to windward. And a deer came down the pathway Flecked with leafy light and shadow, And his heart within him fluttered. X Then upon one knee uprising > Hiawatha aimed an arrow. \16 september The wary roebuck started, Leaped as if to meet the arrow. Ah! the singing, fatal arrow, Like a wasp ^ v it buzzed and stung him. Dead he lay^fe there in the forest. I From the red deer's -3 • * hide Nokomis Made a cloak for Hia- watha. From the red deer's flesh Nokomis ' ^ Made a banquet in his honor. All the village came and feasted. All the guests praised Hiawatha. HOW THE GREAT SPIRIT SENT THE CORN Very early the little Indian boy was taught to be brave. When he was eleven years old, he had to leave his father's wigwam. He stayed all alone in the forest seven days.HIAWATHA 17 He must not eat a mouthful, nor must he even take a drink of cool water from the spring. No matter how much he suffered he must not cry. He must be patient and silent. He knew that if he were brave the Great Spirit would come to him. He would make of him a mighty warrior. Like other Indian boys. Hiawatha prayed and fasted seven days in the forest. But he did not ask to become a great warrior. He prayed that the Great Spirit would send him something to save the people from starvation. On the first day of his fasting he wandered through the leafy wood. He saw the deer start from the thicket. He saw the rabbi' ' ' The squirrel counte The pigeon was building her nest in the pine trees. bis hoard of acorns. were flying north- ward. " Master of Life, The wild geese o18 SEPTEMBER he said, " must our lives depend on these things ? " The next day he wandered through a meadow. There were growing the wild rice, the blue berry, the strawberry, the gooseberry, and the grapevine. Still he said, " Master of Life, must our lives depend on these things ? " On the third day he sat by the lake. He saw the sturgeon leaping and scattering drops of water. In its depths, the yellow perch looked like a sunbeam. There swam the pike, the herring, and the crawfish. " Master of Life," he said, " must our lives depend on these things ? " The fourth day found him too weak to leave his bed of leaves and branches. Suddenly he saw a beautiful youth standing in front of him. He was dressed in green and yellow. Above his soft golden hair nodded long green feathers. He looked at Hiawatha with pity.HIAWATHA 19 With a voice as soft as the south wind he said : — " Your prayers are heard in heaven. For you are praying not for yourself. You are praying for the good of others. But even so, you cannot have it without labor. Come and wrestle with me. My name is Mondamin." Although he was weak, Hiawatha arose. Strangely enough, the more he wrestled the stronger he grew. " It is enough," at last said the beautiful stranger.SEPTEMBER " I shall come to-morrow to try you again/' Three times more they wrestled. On the fourth day Hiawatha conquered the beautiful youth. He stripped from him his green and yeliow clothes. He dug a grave for him, and covered him with light, loose earth. Then he went home to the wigwam of his grandmother, the old Nokomis. But he did not forget the grave of Mondamin. Every day he kept the earth soft above it. He uprooted the weeds. He drove away the insects and the ravens. At last a small green feather shot up from the earth. Before the summer ended there stood the corn in its full dress of green. Above its golden hair nodded long green feathers. " My prayer was heard," cried Hiawatha, " It is Mondamin." Later in the autumn the green leaves were yellow. The soft and juicy kernels became hard and golden like wampum.indian monet 21 Then Hiawatha gave the first feast of Mondamin. Then he told the people of the new gift of the Great Spirit. INDIAN MONEY Wampum beads were made out of seashells. The Indian chipped off the pretty pink and purple parts of the inside of the clam, or the ^onch shell.22 SEPTEMBEB Then he rubbed it with a stone nail. When it was the right size, he bored a hole in the middle of it. This took a long time because he had no tools except bits of shell and stone. These beads were made into belts and bracelets. They were also used as money. The Indians who lived on the sea- coast bought furs with wam- pum from those who lived in the mountains. When the white people came, they also used wampum as money.' The white people put shell beads on the plate when it was passed round in church. How would you like to get beads, howevel pretty, when you asked for pennies ?the indian boats 23 THE INDIAN BOATS Hurry ! Hurry ! we shall miss it. There she is, puffing and snorting, and send- ing out clouds of smoke. What a noisy monster! Now we are all aboard. The great wheel turns. The boat shivers. The waters splash. See that white foamy path that she makes. We are off at last. But it was a boat of a very different sort that sailed the _ water when the In- dian lived here. sSklfr Silent and swift, his light canoe floated Wa? on the water like fI'1- an autumn leaf. He made his boat "y ~ with his own hands. First he went into the forest and cut some branches from the cedar tree. 24 september They were strong and easily bent. Out of these he made the framework. Then he stripped from the Birch her beautiful white bark. He sewed this together and bound it to the framework. His thread was the tough roots of the larch. Then to make it water-tight he smeared the seams with the gum of the fir tree. So the birch canoe was built. HOW THE INDIANS WROTE The Indian could not write a letter as we do. For he had neither pen nor paper. He had no A, B, C's. When he wanted to send a message, what do you suppose he did ? He used for paper a piece of the smooth bark of the birch. Or perhaps he took a piece of the white skin of the reindeer. For ink, he squeezed the juice of berries, black and red.HOW THE INDIANS WROTE 26 For a pen, he made a brush from the young twig of a tree. But what did he do for A, B, C's ? He made pictures of what he wished to say. Let me show you. Here is a pict- ure of his wig- wam. See the footprints on the pathway. Which way are they pointing ? Toward the door of the wigwam, are they not ? He means to say: — " Come to see me. You are welcome ! "OCTOBER THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA October 12, 1492 27PHE FIRST WHITE MAN IN AMERICA One October morning, four hundred years ago, a white man landed in America! "Well," you say, perhaps, "here's much ado about nothing! What is there so wonder- ful about that ? " If you told us that some Indians had come to town, that would he jolly news, indeed! "We can see white men every day." But white men were not seen here every day at that time. It was a strange sight, indeed, to the copper- colored people who saw it. For it was the first white face that they had ever seen! It was the first time that they had ever seen blue eyes! They hid their own naked bronze bodies be- hind some bushes and watched. This is what they saw. There was a handsome man in clothes of scar- let and gold. 2930 OCTOBER He carried a sword in the right hand. A banner was in his left hand. Other men in bright armor followed him. The great man planted the banner on tlie shore. Then he knelt down and kissed the earth. When he arose, the others knelt at his feet. They kissed his hand. " This man must have come from the sky," said the poor red men to each other. " He is some Great Spirit who is strong and mighty."THE FIRST WHITE MAN IN AMERICA 31 " Out there in the water," they whispered, " are the winged boats. In these they have sailed down upon the clouds." Then they came out from their hiding-place. And they, too, fell down at the great man's feet and kissed them. Who was he ? He was Christopher Columbus. The white men who were with him were Spanish sailors. And the three ships were called the Santa Maria, the JPinta, and the Nina. They had not sailed down on the cloud. They had sailed west from Spain on the At- lantic Ocean. Never before had ships crossed this wide ocean. After many weary nights and days, they at last came to one of the Bahama Islands. Here Columbus and his men landed and planted the Spanish flag. This was on Friday, October 12, 1492.OCTOBER 12, 1492 One poor day! Remember whose and not how short it isf It is God's day, it is Columbus's. One day with life and heart, is more than time enough to found a world. — James Russell Loweuu 32boyhood of columbus BOYHOOD OF COLUMBUS Perhaps some day you will cross this great Ocean as Columbus did. But not just as he did either. For you will sail east to the shore of Europe. And indeed you will not be likely to sail at all. You will probably go in a great ship driven by steam. Instead of ten weary weeks, it will take you only six days. No doubt you will some day go to Genoa in Italy. Here in a narrow street stands a small house. On the front is a tablet, which has on it these words: — "No home more worthy! Here, under his father's roof, Christopher Columbus passed his boyhood and youth." The father of the little Christopher was a wool-comber. That means that he made the wool ready to be woven into cloth. The little boy learned the same trade.34 OCTOBER But when he was not working or studying, he loved to run down to the wharves. And there before his eyes lay the beautiful and inviting sea. Here he could watch some of the ships sailing out to distant lands. Here were others coming in to unload their eich cargoes. The streets of the city were always full of sailors coming and going. Her docks were always full of ships. No doubt the little boy often longed to go w sea.BOYHOOD OF COLUMBUS At school he learned to make maps and charts for the use of sailors. And he had a book which he loved to read over and over again. This book was called The Travels of Marco Polo. It told him how this great man had travelled overland to the east hundreds of years before. It told him what rich cities he had found there. It told him of the gold and precious stones, the gums and spices, that he had brought home from India and China. Columbus dreamed of finding this land some day. At last, when he was fourteen years old, his father let him go to sea. He soon became a captain of a small coasting- vessel. In this way he learned the art of sailing.36 october GEOGRAPHY IN THE TIME OF COLUMBUS At that time, sailors did not dare to go very far from land. They kept mostly within the Mediterranean The Atlantic Ocean was called the " Sea of Darkness." They believed that great monsters swam in it. You know that the earth is round. But then only a few wise men thought so. Columbus was one of these. He felt sure therefore that he could reach Asia by sailing straight across the " Sea of Darkness." And so, indeed, he could, had not America been in the way. Even he, wise as he was, did not dream of finding a new world. There was a story, too, that in one part it was so hot that the water boiled. They did not know that there was such a place as Amer- ica.columbus makes beady 3? COLUMBUS MAKES READY Columbus felt so sure that he could find this new way round the world, that he made up his mind to try it. But he had to have ships and sailors and money. Only a king could give hiin these. So he went to Spain and told his plans to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. They listened to them with patience. But they were very busy, just then, with a war.88 october Columbus hoped that after the war was ovei they would fit out some ships for him. Year after year he followed the King and the Queen about from one city to another. He was poor and had no friends. Besides, people only laughed at the idea that men and women lived on the other side of the globe. " They would have to walk with their feet up and their heads down," they said. Even the children laughed at Columbus when he passed along the street. They touched their foreheads, meaning that the poor man was crazy. » LA RABIDA At last poor Columbus gave up all hope. He left the court. Taking his little son by the hand, he started to travel home on foot. One day he stopped at a house where some good men lived, to ask for bread and water for his child. Ft was the Convent of La Rabida.I*A RABIDA 39 The prior of the convent began to talk with him, and Columbus told him of his plans. Instead of laughing at him as others had done, the prior believed in him. He knew the great Queen Isabella very well. So he wrote a letter to her, asking her to help Columbus. She sent Columbus a mule and some new clothes, and bade him come back to court. But when he got there he could not agree to what, the King and Queen asked. Once more he set out. He thought: " I shall leave Spain and try to get help from the King of France." But once more his friends begged the Queen not to let him go. So she sent after him a messenger who brought him back. The Queen promised to send him to find tL«s new way to India.40 october COLUMBUS AT THE CONVENT A content gate is near. 'Tis late. Ting-ling. The bell they ring. They ring the bell. They ask for bread. " Just for my child," the father said, Kind hands the bread will bring. White was his hair, his mien was fair, His look was calm and great. The porter ran and called a friar. This friar made haste and told the prior, The prior came to the gate. He took them in, he gave them food; The traveller's dreams he heard; And fast the midnight moments flew, And fast the good man's wonder grew, And all his heart was stirred. The child, the while, with soft, sweet smile. Forgetful of all sorrow, Lay soundly sleeping in his bed. The good man kissed him then, and said: " You leave us not to-morrow!"COLUMBUS AT THE CONVENT ^^77^fwJ? " I pray you, rest, the convent's guest. This child shall be our own. A precious care, while you prepare Your business with the court, and bear Your message to the throne."42 october And so his guest he comforted. 0 wise, good prior! to you Who cheered the stranger's darkest days, And helped him on his way, what praise And gratitude are due! — Adapted from J. T. Trowbridge, THE VOYAGE But Columbus's troubles were not all over. He could not get sailors to go with him. They were afraid of the strange ocean. At last, however, all was ready. The sailors said good by to their weeping friends. Then they went on board the three little vessels. And they set out over the strange waters, where no ship had ever been. Columbus had a hard time to keep up the courage of the sailors. You know that a captain of a ship keeps an account of how far the ship goes each day. Columbus kept two accounts.THE VOYAGE In the one which he showed the sailors, he did not give the true distance from Spain. They were frightened, too, when they noticed that the needle of the compass did not point north. Do you know any- thing about a mariner's compass ? Then they grumbled because the wind blew from the east for many days. "We shall have no wind to come back," they said. When the wind fell to a calm, then they said: — " Our ships will lie here and rot for want oi wind to get away." So they grumbled all the time. If it was not one thing, it was another. There was always a sailor in the rigging, look ing for land. One day the glad cry of " Land ! Land! was heard. But it was only a cloud. Columbus tried to comfort them by showing them signs of coming land.44 OCTOBER "Look at the seaweed on the water," he said " See the birds, — the wild herons and the ducks. " They tell us that land cannot be far away." But it was of no use. They whispered among themselves that he was crazy. They planned to throw him overboard and then sail back to Spain. '•We will say that he fell j, a overboard, while looking at the stars," they whispered. But the next day they saw a carved stick in the water. Some man's hand must have carved this," they thought. : Let us go on a little longer." Sure enough, when the next morning broke, there lay before them a beautiful island. This, as you have already read, was on the morning of October 12, 1492. I the triumph of columbus 46 It was the landing of Columbus that the naked copper-colored people watched from behind the bushes. Columbus was as much surprised as they were. For he had thought that he was coming to the rich land of India. But here were only poor savages! "This is very strange," he said. "Still, I am sure that this is India." And so these people were called Indians. THE TRIUMPH OF COLUMBUS Columbus sailed among these islands. He looked for the beautiful cities that Marco Polo had described. But he did not find them. V He gave the Indians presents o| strings of beads, and bells, and colored caps. They were as pleased with these presents a* children would be. ^ Yet they were men and women. \ But they were savages. \/46 OCTOBER At last Columbus started home to carry the news of his great discovery. During his voyage home the ship was nearly wrecked. But at last, in April, he reached Spain.the last days of columbus 41 And what a triumph he had! And what a parade that was! Would you not be glad to stand and look at it1? First came some Indians whom Columbus had brought with him. They were all smeared with paint. They wore bright feathers and gold orna ments. Then followed parrots and stuffed birds and strange things made of gold. Columbus rode a beautiful horse. After him came Spanish soldiers in bright armor. They were proud to follow such a great man. Under a golden canopy sat the King and Queen, waiting to receive him. That was a happy moment for Columbus I THE LAST DAYS OF COLUMBUS After this great day of his life, Columbus had many sad ones. He crossed the ocean three times more. He tried to build towns on the land that he had discovered.48 OCTOBER But the people who came with him were unruly. They quarrelled among themselves and treated the Indians badly. Once Columbus was even made a prisoner by one of them. Chains were put on his ankles and wrists, and thus he was sent back to Spain. What a shame! When the good Queen saw him kneeling before her in this unhappy state, she wept. Columbus, too, could not speak for sobbing. She ordered his chains to be cut off.AMERICUS VESPUCIUS But after this Columbus was ill and sad, and at last he died. He never knew that he had discovered a new world. How fine it would have been if you eoula have told him all about it! " Dear Christopher Columbus," perhaps you would have said, "this is not Asia. This is America. '■ If you want to go to Asia this way, you have a long journey still. " First you must go across this land, America. And then you must cross an ocean wider than the one you have already crossed." AMERICUS VESPUCIUS Do you know how to sing " Hail, Columbia, happy land " ? " Columbia " is our own America. Some'people think that it ought to be called Columbia, after Columbus, who discovered it. " But who christened it America, and after whom was it named ?" you ask.50 OCTOBER It was named after Americus. He was a great sailor, too, and crossed the ocean to the new land many times. But this was not so hard to do after Colum- bus had shown the way. Americus wrote the story of all he had seen. And he wrote it so well that people began to call it his land, just as if he had found it. It sometimes happens that those who talk well are praised for what other people do. So it happened that when the maps were made, showing this new land, it was called "America" on them. Now it may be that you think that America ought to be called Columbia. Do you ? Well! well! I am afraid that it cannot be changed now. So many millions of people have grown used to saying, "America." It is a pretty name, too, and we love it.COMING OF THE NORSEMEN You must not forget that America is a large continent. See how long it is ! It is not only New York, or Philadelphia, or Chicago, or the great city in which you live. No, indeed! It goes far to the cold north, where the bears and seals live. It stretches to the warm south, where oranges and bananas grow. Columbus discovered the warm, sunny part. Let me tell you about the men who first landed on the bleak north coast 5152 OCTOBER If you look at the map, you will see that the ocean is not nearly so wide in the north as it is in the south. There are islands in it just like stepping- stones in a brook. Have you ever picked your way from one side of the stream to the other by stepping from stone to stone ? Just so did the Northmen, or Norsemen, step from island to island. The story of their travels is told in some beautiful old books still kept in one of the libraries of Europe. These books were made before people knew how to print from type.COMING OF THE NORSEMEN 53 Each letter was drawn carefully by men who prayed as they wrote. This they did because they wanted God to help them to make a beautiful book.54 october THE SAGA OF ERIC THE RED These old Norse books, or sagas, have been put into English. Here is a part of one about our own country. " The land some call Green- land was discovered and settled from Iceland. " Eric the Red was the name of the man who went from there. " He took part of the land and called it Greenland. "He said it would encourage people to come there if the land had a good name. "They found there ruins of houses, pieces of boats, and stone tools. " Learned men say that twenty-five ships went that summer to Greenland from Iceland. " But only fourteen of them arrived. " Of the rest, some were driven back, and others were wrecked."saga of leif the fortunate 55 SAGA OF LEIP THE FORTUNATE Leif was the son of Eric. For this reason he is called Leif Ericson. Why do you suppose he is called Leif the Fort- unate ? Perhaps this is part of the reason: — He sailed with his men from Greenland to the continent of America. " There they built a large house. " They did not want for salmon. " They thought the salmon larger than they had ever seen before. " There was no frost in winter. " The grass was not much withered. " The days and nights were more equal than in Greenland and Iceland. " It happened one evening that a man of the party was missing. " It was Tyrker. "Leif was very sorry, for Tyrker had lived with his father. " Leif had loved Tyrker in his childhood. " Leif went with twelve men to find him.56 OCTOBER "But thej had gone only a short way whei Tyrker came to meet them. "Leif soon saw that Tyrker was quite merry. " Leif said to him: — "' Why art thou so late ? And why didst thou leave thy comrades ?' " He answered : — " ' I did not go much farther than they. "'Yet I have something quite new to tell. " ' I found vines and grapes.' "' Is that true,' said Leif. "' Yes, it is true,' said he. 'I was born where there were plenty of grapes.' " The next morning, Leif said to his men: — ' Now we must do two things, — gather grapes, and cut down trees in the forest.' " With this cargo, Leif sailed back to Greenland. He called the country where he had been "Yin- land." Here is a picture of the BpB| Old Stone Mill, at New- H port. Some people thought •s that the Northmen builtfbom "the voyage to vinland" 51 it. But it was built much later by an English- man. And here is the famous rock of Dighton. Can you read the writing ? It is picture writing by the Indians. For a long time it was thought that perhaps Leif or his men had written it. FROM "THE VOYAGE TO VINLAND" There lies the New Land, Yours to behold it, Not to possess it; Here shall a realm rise Mighty in Manhood, Justice, and Mercy. —James Russeli Lowell.58 qctobek JOHN CABOT AND HIS SONS Columbus was trying to get to India in Asia when he stumbled over America. How strange to find by chance a continent! But why were people so eager to find a short way to India? It was the land of gold and spices. In those days people were very fond of spices. They mixed them with everything that they ate. They mixed them with everything that they drank. Perhaps we do not now use so many spices. _ But we use gold and sil- ver just as much. It is the money of the world. Columbus had not found these things. Now another man - was to try. =s**""" \\ This was John Cabot. He lived in England. But like Columbus, he was born in Italy. He was a great traveller.JOHN CABOT AND HIS SONS 58 One time he had gone far into the east to a city called Mecca. Here he saw camels coining into the city. They carried loads of spices on their backs. " Where do these spices come from ? " he asked the drivers of the camels. "From a country far to the east," they answered. "And they were brought there from a country still farther east." So Cabot thought that if he sailed west far enough, he would come at last to the land where the spices grew. While Cabot was living in England, there came the news of what Columbus had done. Then there came to his heart a great wish " to do some notable thing."60 OCTOBER So he asked the King of England to fit him out a ship. The King agreed to this, and in 1497 all was ready. Cabot sailed more to the north than Columbus. He reached, therefore, the cold northern coast. There he landed and planted a large cross. He planted also the flags of England, and of his own city. Why did he do this ? When he returned to England he told people that he had found China. If he came now, he might think that he had found China. So many Chinese live with us! Cabot was very proud of what he had done. He was called the " Great Admiral." He dressed in silks like the other great mei< of that time. " Yes ! yes ! " said King Henry of England. " This is all very fine. But where are the spices, and where is the gold?" So once more he set out. He sailed along the coast to the north. And then he went as far south as North Carolina. But he saw only Indians dressed in skins.JOHN CABOT AND HIS SONS 61 And the only metal that they had was copper. When he returned to England, his sailors told marvellous tales of what they had seen. They said that the sea along the coast was so full of codfish that the ship could scarcely move. They even told of bears swimming out into the sea and catching codfish in their claws. But the English people wished to hear about the spices and gold. When John Cabot could not show them these things, they did not care any more about him. " But the land belongs to us, anyway," thej said. We shall hear more about this.No sun, 110 moon, No morn, no noon, No dawn, no dusk, no proper time of day; No sky, no earthly view, No distance looking blue. No road, no street, no "other side the way/* No warmth, 110 cheerfulness, no healthful ease, No comfortable feel in any member. No shade, 110 shine, no butterflies, no bees, No fruits, no flowers, 110 leaves, no birds, — November t — Adapted from Thomas Hoor>. 06NOVEMBER thanksgiving THE PILGRIMS When November comes, you say joyfully: — " Soon it will be Thanksgiving." Jack Frost is here. The trees are bare. In some cold places in the north and in the west the snow has already fallen. We are glad to be in a warm, cosy room, reading a book or looking at pictures, or listen- ing to a story. Here is a story of the first white people who came at this bleak season to live on the cold New England coast: — Three hundred years ago, a little ship reached land at Cape Cod. It was not any larger than the boats that go up and down the river. But it had crossed the great ocean. r 8666 NOVEMBER For more than two months it had ridden over the high waves that seemed ready to swallow it. Brave little ship with the tender little name ! What was its name, do you know ? The Mayflower ! Poor Httle Mayflower coming here in the killing frost of November! and brave people too, it had brought.THE MAYFLOWER 67 i®1 " ' God be praised,' the Pilgrim said, hi "// f Who saw the blossoms peer Above the brown leaves, dry and dead, 'Behold our Mayflower here. > ' God wills it: here shall our rest be, Our years of wander- ing;' o'er. For us the Mayflower of the Sea Shall spread her sails no more.'" —John Greenleaf Whit tier.88 november * * 4 THE LANDING OF THE PILGRIMS One hundred people came over in the Mayflower. They hoped to find homes in this land. Among them was a soldier named Miles Standish. He and sixteen other men landed first. They walked along the shore, looking for a place to settle. In one spot they found the ground newly patted down.plymouth rock 60 They said: " Something has been buried here." They began to dig, and what do you suppose they found? Indian baskets filled with corn! They had never seen corn before. Even now it will not flourish anywhere except in America. Some of this corn they took with them to plant in the spring. They did not know then to whom the corn belonged. Afterwards they found the owners and paid them for it. ♦ PLYMOUTH ROCK Captain Miles Standish and his men made several other trips. At last they found the place for which they were looking. This was Plymouth. Here, then, was a safe harbor for their ship. It had once been an Indian village, but all the people were dead from a fever. Luckily the cornfields were still standing.70 NOVEMBER There was also a running brook from which they could gee fresh water. Just before Christmas they landed on Ply mouth Eock. Some rough houses were built. The winds were icy. They had not enough of the right kind of food. So first one was taken sick, and then another. Brave Miles Standish and his soldiers nursed and helped them. But, in spite of all his care, before spring half of the people were dead. Those who still lived were afraid of the Indians. They did not want them to know how many had died. So they planted corn above the level graves. At last the cruel winter was over. The sun shone warmer and melted the snow. The grass began to grow green, and the little birds came from the south. Paper dipped in oil served . s for window glass. gj^ The weather was m- now verv cold. I The snow fell fast and often.the pilgrims 11 WHY THE PILGRIMS CAME TO AMERICA Perhaps you wonder why these people wished to live in a wilderness, full of wild beasts and wild men. Do you know where their home had been, and why they had left it ? First of all, they had lived in England and were very happy. But after a while the King said that every- body must go to his church or else go to prison. Some people did not use the same words in their prayers that the King did. These were sent to prison. Sometimes they were driven from their homes. " Sometimes even they were put to death. Now these people did not like the King's church. They were very unhappy. "Let us go away from here," they said ; " let us find a country where we can be free." So they left their English homes and went to ft country called Holland,72 november HOLLAND This is a very strange country. It is as fiat as your slate. The little Dutch boys cannot coast down the hills on their sleds, for there are no hills. It is so low and flat that the sea could run over it. But the people built dykes to keep the water back. Even then some water gets in. But the large windmills pump it into the canals. " What land is this that seems to be A mingling of the land and sea ?HOLLAND 73 Where over fields and pastures green The painted ships float high in air, And over all and everywhere The sails of windmills sink and soar, Like wings of sea-gulls on the shore," The canals run through the centre of the streets. This is just where the trolley tracks are in our city. Instead of cars and carriages passing, you see boats sailing before the front door. In our cities, when the builder begins a new house, he digs the cellar first. In Holland, he sinks posts down into the soft wet earth. He then builds the house on top of them. In this strange place, then, the English lived for a time.74 november DUTCH CHILD Oh, a sturdy little pilgrim All the way from Holland Land, With your cosy cap and muff, And your skates in hand ! If I tried to catch and kiss you, Roly-poly, round and sweet, I suspect that you would tie Wings upon your feet. Away and away you will be flitting Down the river smooth as glass. I, upon the bank, will throw Kisses as you pass. — Edith M. Thomas. THE PILGRIMS IN AMERICA How would you like to leave your own green hills for another land ? How would you like to live where the chil- dren can speak only Dutch ? Well, the English did not like it very well either.THE PILGRIMS IN AMERICA 75 They called themselves " Pilgrims " when they began to wander. Now they felt that their wanderings were not yet over. They made up their minds to cross the great ocean and settle in America. Here there was no king to trouble them. They knew, too, that here they could bring up the children to speak their own language. So it came to pass that some of the Pilgrims came to America in the ship called the Mayflower. Perhaps some of you have a chair, a kettle, a spoon, a sampler, or even an ancestor who came over in the Mayfloioer ? The Pilgrims had a long and stormy passage. The children cried a great deal because they Were cold. The rough ocean frightened them. They had no playthings. But when the Mayflower was in the middle of the ocean, a little Pilgrim baby was born. Here was the jolliest plaything in the world ! He was a great comfort to the grown-up peo- ple, too. What would you name a little baby that was born in the middle of the ocean ? His mother named him Oceanus.7b november SQUANTO In the spring an Indian chief walked into the little town of Plymouth, and said : — " Welcome, Englishman." Where do you suppose he had learned to speak English? Squanto had taught him. The next time he came he brought Squanto with him. Squanto had been carried to Spain and Eng- u land, and then brought back again, by a I J . cruel captain. 11W spoke English very well. wjln After this he lived with the Pilgrims jjw and taught them many things. j|g He showed them how to tread eels out m of the river mud with their feet, pi He taught them to put a fish or two II in their hills of corn, so that the corn |il would grow better. Iffl He frightened the other Indians by telling H them of the gunpowder and fevers stored in |« the cellars of the white people's houses. Once some unfriendly Indians sent to the Pilgrims a snake-skin filled with arrows.the pkice of a little pilgrim 77 Squanto told the English that it meant war. So the Pilgrims tilled the snake-skin with bul- lets and sent it back. What did this mean ? The Indians understood. They sent the bul- lets back, and there was no war. » ■ THE PRICE OF A LITTLE PILGRIM One day, little Ralph Billington could not be found. His mother feared that the Indians had taken him away. Her husband was dead, so she went for help to Governor Bradford. He was the chief man in the colony. Governor Bradford sounded the signal horn. Many men came forward, all of whom were ready to go with him. Of these he chose ten fathers. He thought that they would be the most eager to find the widow's only boy. They searched up and down the coast in a boat, with Squanto for a guide.T8 NOVEMBER At last they Sk,w smoke curling up from several wig- p);\V |u warns. r When they landed the Ind- ians came rushing to the shore. They called out, " Yengese." " Yengese" was the Indian word for Eng- We say " Yengese " when we say " Yankee.'' Each of the Indians drew an arrow. " Stop," said Squanto, " these are friends. A white mother weeps in her wigwam for hei papoose. Have you found him ? " " If we have," said the chief, " what will you give for him ? " " Whatever you wish," said the Governor. u A knife ? " asked the chief. The Captain smiled. He said to Squanto: " I am afraid that the mother will not be pleased to think her boy worth so little." So Squanto gave the chief two jack-knives, and received in return the frightened boy. lish.thanksgiving day 7» CAPTAIN MILES STANDISH Captain Standish was a little man. One of his enemies nicknamed him " Captain Shrimp." A large Indian said to him: "You are a captain, but jou are a little man. I am not a chief, but I am strong and brave." Not long after this the captain killed the large Indian. Sometimes skill counts for more than size. The Indians soon learned to fear Captain Standish. The people of Plymouth both loved and feared him. THANKSGIVING DAY Over the river and through the wood To grandfather's house we go. The horse knows the way To carry the sleigh Through the white and drifted snow.NOVEMBER Over the river and through the wood — Oh, how the wind does blow! It stings the toes And bites the nose, As over the ground we go. Over the river and through the wood To have a first-rate play. Hear the bells ring, Ting-a-ling-ling, Hurrah for Thanksgiving Day! Over the river and through the wood Trot fast, my dapple gray! Spring o'er the ground, Like a hunting hound, For this is Thanksgiving Day, Over the river and through the wood, And straight through the barnyard gate We seem to go Extremely slow— It is so hard to wait!THB FIRST THANKSGIVING 81 Over the river and through the wood — Now grandmother's cap I spy! Hurrah for the fun! Is the pudding done ? Hurrah for the pumpkin pie! —Lydia Mabia Child. THE FIRST THANKSGIVING I have told you of the sufferings and the bravery of the Pilgrims during the first winter that they spent in America. The settlers knew better how to prepare for another winter. They made their houses more comfortable. They planted plenty of corn. The spring and summer brought the sunshine and rain to ripen it. So when autumn came, they had a fine harvest. All summer long their work had kept them busy and happy. They had given thanks every day for the kindness of the Indians. They were grateful for their other blessings. But they felt that now they ought to have a «82 NOVEMBER big Thanksgiving feast and invite the Indians to it. So they began to get ready for the first Thanksgiving Day. The Pilgrim mothers made bread and cake of the com. The pumpkins they made into pies. The Pilgrim fathers went hunting and fishing. They brought back duck and geese and great wild turkey, enough to last a week. They found plenty of fish and clams. Nor did their guests, the Indians, come empty- handed. They brought with them five large deer. The Indians were dressed in their very best skins. They had put on plenty of paint, and snakes, and fox-tails. Before each meal, both Indians and Pilgrims thanked God for his goodness to thein. They ran races and played games. Some- times they tried to see who could shoot the farthest. In the evening they sang and danced. They must have had a good time, for they stayed three whole days. This happened nearly three hundred years ago. But Thanksgiving Day has been kept ever since then.FROM "THE PUMPKIN w 6d At first only the people in New England celebrated it. This was because many of them were the children, then the grandchildren, the great grand- children, the great, great grandchildren, and the great, great, great grandchildren cf thos6 who first came over. Now everybody keeps Thanksgiving, and keeps it with turkey and pumpkin pie. For everybody ought to give thanks that these brave, hard-working people came to thia country. It is a help to all of us. FROM THE PUMPKIN Oh, fruit loved of boyhood! the old days recalling When wood-grapes were purpling and brown nuts were falling I84 NOVEMBER When wild ugly faces we carved in its skin, Glaring out through the dark with a candle within! When we laughed round the corn heap, with hearts all in tune, Our chair a broad pumpkin, our lantern the moon, Telling tales of the fairy who travelled like steam In a pumpkin-shell coach, with two rats for her team! — John Greenleaf Whittier.another thanksgiving story 8£ ANOTHER THANKSGIVING STORY When the English first came to America, they stayed near the sea. After a while many people came over. So they had to go farther and farther inland. Among those who travelled across the moun- tains, about a hundred years ago, was the Moore family. They were looking for a new home. They found it in a forest in Ohio. There was only one room in the house that they built there. The two boys slept in a kind of loft. They had to climb a ladder each night. The first winter was a hard one. Still they had plenty of wood for fire. The boys snared rabbits, while the father hunted and fished. So they always had enough to eat. One of the boys, Obed, had brought with him a package of pumpkin seeds. He wanted to be sure to have a Thanksgiving dinner, even in the forest. He knew that he could shoot plenty oi wild86 NOVEMBER turkeys there. But who ever heard of a wild pumpkin pie. But before it was time to plant the seeds, some squirrels carried them. away. Whtm mtmw' Poor Obed! He never expected again to taste a pump- k ^ 41 kin pie. Some weeks afterwards, in clearing the ground, they were burning some stumps of trees. From a hollow one, out popped a little black eyed squirrel. Obed ran to see the nest. He found some rags and pieces of paper.another thanksgiving story " Hello," he said, " this is the very squirrel that carried off my seeds." There were the empty shells, sure enough. And among them were still left three whole sound seeds. All their crops did well that year, but the pumpkin bore best of all. Obed was not willing to have the pumpkins used until Thanksgiving. But finally one of the children persuaded him to make a jack lantern of the largest. Did you ever see a jack lantern on a dark night ? It is a huge, grinning monster, with eyes and nose and mouth of flame. Obed cut off the top of the pumpkin. He scooped out the seeds inside. He cut two big holes for eyes. The nose was a triangle and the mouth a long slit. Just as he had finished a man galloped up. " Get ready for the Indians," he cried. They covered up the fires, hoping that the Indians would pass them by. Then Mrs. Moore and the girls went to the loft. Mr. Moore had gone for some winter things to the next village.88 NOVEMBER Z. — The two boys stayed below, watching. Suddenly they saw shad- ows moving across the snowy field. " They are coming," said Obed. " Stand by the window with the axe, while I get the rifle." As Obed looked for the bullet pouch, he stum- bled across the jack lantern. An idea came to him. He covered the lantern with his coat. In the ashes he found a live coal. With this he carefully lighted the candle. Then he carried it to the window. He quickly pulled away his coat. The Indians gave a yell and fled to the woods. All night long Obed kept the lantern at the window. But the Indians were too frightened to re- turn.A song op king david 89 Which do you think they liked the best that Thanksgiving Day, the turkey or the Pumpkin Pie? A SONG OF KING DAVID 0 come let us sing unto the Lord. Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanks- giving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.90 november For the Lord is a great God and a great King above all gods. In his hands are the deep places of the earth. The strength of the hills is his also. The sea is his and he made it, And his hands formed the dry land. 0 come let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord our maker. For he is our God. And we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. THE FIRST PEOPLE WHO CAME TO AMERICA SIR WALTER RALEIGH John Cabot did not find gold and spices in this new land. So the people cared nothing for it. Years and years passed, and no one thought of coming to live here. They only thought of a way to go round the New World. They only wanted to push on to India.SIB WALTER RALEIGH 91 America was something in the way. " We want to find the Pacific Ocean," they said. How astonished they would have been to know how many thousands of miles it is to the Pacific from the Atlantic coast. You know, I think. At least, you know how many days it takes to cross the continent. Even the fast train takes a week. And there were no trains then to carry these traders to the Pacific. Long after the Cabots came here, the great Queen Elizabeth ruled England. There were many brave soldiers and captains to serve her. The bravest and most handsome of these was Sir "Walter Raleigh. One day when the Queen was taking a walk, she came to a muddy place in the road. She stopped for a moment to see if she could pick her steps through it.92 NOVEMBER Sir Walter Raleigh at once took his beautiful new plush coat from his shoulders. He spread it over the place for the Queen to walk on. After this Queen Elizabeth was very fond of him. She gave him a large piece of land on this continent. So he sent over some men in ships; for he wanted to see what sort of a country it was. FIRST COMERS TO VIRGINIA They found a warm, sunny land. High cedar trees grew here and many wild grapes. The Indians came down to the beach to see the pale faces. The white men gave them presents. One of the Indians took a great fancy to a bright tin dish. When it was given to him, he made a hole in it. He hung it on his breast for an ornament. But the white man learned some things from the Indians. They learned how to smoke.the first settlers in virginia 93 Yes; the Indians were the first people to smoke tobacco. Walnut shells were used for the bowls of their pipes. The stems were straws. They drew the smoke into their mouths. Then they puffed it out through their nostrils. Sir Walter Raleigh learned to smoke in this way. One day his servant saw the smoke coming from his nose. He thought that his master was on fire. A pitcher of ale was in the servant's hand. He quickly poured it over Sir Walter's head. THE FIRST SETTLERS IN VIRGINIA This land was now called " Virginia." The name was in honor of Queen Elizabeth. She was often called the Virgin Queen. After this, Sir Walter Raleigh sent over pea pie to live in Virginia. And there was born here a little English baby girl. She was named " Virginia " Dare. But many of the people became ill and died. The Indians, too, were cruel. At last, not one of the white people was left.94 NOVEMBER The little English baby grew up, perhaps, among the Indians. After Queen Elizabeth died, Sir Walter Ral- eigh was thrown into prison. The new king did not like him. Afterwards this bad king had Sir Walter's head cut off. This was three hundred years ago, remember. Kings cannot do such wicked things now. OTHER SETTLEMENTS " But did ever men with nobler will A holier Christmas keep ; When the sky was cold and gray, And there were no ancient bells to ring- No chapel of baron or lord or king, That gray cold Christmas Day? " Hezekiah Butterworth. /itV 'A 95DECEMBER It was on the twenty-second of this month that the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. Most people in New England celebrate this day with a dinner, Even those who never lived in New England are proud of what the Pilgrims did. But the Pilgrims were not the only people who came to America in those early times. And, as you read last month, they were not even the first to come here. In the next two months I shall tell you of some of the other brave men who helped to set- tle America. CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH his early life Not long after the cruel death of Sir Walter Raleigh, other people came to live in Virginia. They built a little town, which they called Jamestown. The name was given it in honoi h 97 .98 DECEMBER of King James. James was the king who had put Sir Walter Raleigh to death. Jamestown was settled thirteen years before the Pilgrims came to Plymouth. Captain John Smith was the leader of the Jamestown settlers. Many strange things had happened to John Smith be- fore this. He had led a very rough-and-tumble life. He had found the world a hard place. He was shipwrecked. He was robbed. And he was forced to beg for his bread. Then he became a soldier and went to war with the Turks. He cut off the heads of three Turks. He was so proud of this deed that he had pictures of them for his flag.the settlement of virginia 99 But at last he was taken prisoner. He was then made a slave. His master was very cruel to him. He put an iron collar on his neck. One day his master gave him a flail and told him to thrash some wheat. While he was doing this, the Turk began to thrash him. John Smith grew very angry. He turned upon his master and killed him with the heavy flail. Then he took a bag of wheat for food. Jump- ing upon the back of his master's horse, he galloped into the wilderness. At last he got away from Turkey and reached England. He was just in time to join the company that set sail in three little ships for Virginia. THE SETTLEMENT Otf VIRGINIA Very few of the men in this company knew how to work. They expected to pick up gold in America, as you pick daisies in a meadow.100 december Of course they did not find it. Very soon they had eaten all the food that they had brought with them. After this, a great many died from want of something to eat. The Indians who lived near had fields of corn. The waving tassels were a strange sight to these white men. They had never tasted this Indian food. Captain John Smith traded some trinkets for the ripe corn. This saved the lives of many of the people. THE SEARCH FOR THE PACIFIC OCEAN Then Captain Smith thought that he would look around for the Pacific Ocean. Whenever there was nothing else to do, some- body always said: — " Oh! suppose we look for the Pacific Ocean, now." So Captain Smith set sail up the little Chicka- hominy River to find the Pacific Ocean. He did not know that it was nearly three thousand miles away!a prisoner to powhatan 101 He left two men in charge of his boat while he went on land. The Indians came and killed the men. Then they ran after John Smith. He got into a swamp and sank up to his waist in mud. He could neither walk nor run. So the Indians caught him and made him a prisoner. - - ♦ A PRISONER TO POWHATAN They took him from one village to another. The Indians had great curiosity to see a white man. At last they brought him before their chief Powhatan. But the Indians were afraid to hurt John Smith. For they knew that the white people had big guns. They knew that these blazed and smoked and made a noise like thunder. John Smith did not have his big gun with him. So he took a compass from his pocket. He showed it to the Indians.102 december " What mysterious thing is this ?" they thought. And they grew still more afraid of Captain Smith. After some weeks had passed by, Powhatan set him free. » THE RETURN TO JAMESTOWN He was taken back to Jamestown by two Indians. These men were to bring back to their chief two cannons and a grindstone. These things were too heavy for the Indians to carry. So they had to be satisfied with some trinkets. But even a great chief like Powhatan was very fond of trinkets. The English sent him a wash-basin, a bedstead, and a red cloak. You cannot believe how fine he felt himself!the chesapeake 104 He became so proud that he would not sell corn to the settlers in Jamestown. " It is very fine to have a wash-basin," said Captain Smith to Powhatan. " But look at these!" And he showed him some blue beads. He pretended that they were made out of the same thing as the sky. He said that they were worn only by the greatest kings. Now Powhatan was not happy until he got some of these precious beads. At last, for a boat load of corn the settlers gave him a pound of blue glass beads. What a simple king! Perhaps it was not right for Captain Smith to trade beads for corn. But Captain Smith could not bear to see poor men dying for something to eat. THE CHESAPEAKE Smith did not find the Pacific Ocean by sail- ing up the Chickahominy River. The Indians found him, as you have read. So now he sailed up the Chesapeake Bay.104 december He made a good map of the great bay. He traded with the Indians for corn. So he kept the poor people at Jamestown alive, Smith and his men lived in an open boat. They suffered many hardships. Once they were nearly wrecked by a storm. Their sail was torn to pieces. They had to patch it with the shirts from their backs. They were often hungry and thirsty and cold. Once, when many of the men were sick, the Indians attacked them. Captain Smith put the sick men under a cover. But he mounted their hats on sticks among his well men. So the boat seemed full of men to the Indians. OTHER ADVENTURES Another time two Indian brothers stole a gun and hid it away. They were caught. One was put in prison, while the other was sent to bring back the stolen gun.OTHER ADVENTURES 105 The one in prison was allowed a fire of char- coal to keep him from freezing. One day he was found smothered by the gas from the charcoal. His brother, who had just come back, was nearly heartbroken. But Captain Smith brought back to life the man who had seemed to be dead. This filled the Indians with astonishment. They thought that Captain Smith was indeed a great Medicine Man. John Smith sailed north, too, along the New England coast. He got furs from the Indians. He and his men caught and salted fish. He also made the first good map of the coast. On this voyage he had two ships. The captain of the second one was a man named Hunt. This man coaxed twenty-four Indians on board his boat. Then he sailed away with them to Spain. Here he tried to sell the poor Indians for slaves.106 december But some men found out what lie was doing. They were good, and they stopped him. They took the Indians and made Christians of them. One of them afterwards went to England to live. Then he came back to America. His name was Squanto. Do you remember how kind Squanto was to the English Pilgrims in Massachusetts ? Captain Smith had to leave the colony in Jamestown after a few years. He went back to England, and there he died. THE STORY OF POCAHONTAS Pocahontas was the daughter of Powhatan. Pocahontas is the Indian name for " Little Tomboy." Her father gave it to her as a pet name. She was only ten years old when Captain Smith was held as a prisoner by her father. He soon grew very fond of her. He made her many pretty toys.THE STORY OF POCAHONTAS 10? One day she heard that her father was going to put the white man to death. She cried bitterly. Sure enough, the next day Captain Smith was brought out from the wigwam. He was forced to put his head upon some stones. The chief watched him with a stern frown upon his brow. His little daughter sat at his feet. The other Indians stood around in a circle. They were ready to beat out Captain Smith's brains with their clubs. All at once the little Pocahontas ran to him. She laid her head on his. They could not kill him without striking her. The old chief loved his daughter. So he spared Captain Smith for her sake.108 DECEMBER Pocahontas loved all the pale faces. She was fond of going to Jamestown. She often broiight the settlers food. Many times she saved their lives by giving them warning of the cruel plans of the Indians. After Captain Smith went to England, the Indians were no longer friendly to the white people. Pocahontas did not visit Jamestown any more. The people had a very hard time. They had so little to eat, that they were forced to eat their horses. Whenever the Indians got, the chance, they killed the white people. Many died of hunger. Some went to sea and became pirates. After a while ships came from England with food. By this time Pocahontas was no longer a little girl. She was a young woman of about eighteen. One time she was making a visit to an old chief on the Potomac River. At the same time an English captain waa trading with the Indians there.THE STORY OP POCAHONTAS 109 He offered the chief a copper kettle in ex- change for Pocahontas. Now an Indian always wanted a copper kettle, just as a boy always wants a bicycle. So poor Pocahontas became a prisoner to the English, at Jamestown. An Englishman who lived there, John Rolfe by name, wished to marry her. Her father Powhatan readily agreed to this marriage. Some of her brothers were sent to be pres- ent at the wedding. First she was taught the Christian religion. She was baptized and given the name Rebecca. Then she was married to John Rolfe in the little church at Jamestown. Powhatan now made peace with the white people. Two years later, Pocahontas and her little baby boy were taken to England by her hus- band. She was much petted by the King and Queen and other great people. For she was herself a king's daughter. Just as she was about to return to Virginia, she was taken ill and died.110 december HENRY HUDSON Here is another great sea-captain. He was a friend of Captain John Smith. was almost dashed to pieces against the ice- bergs in the Arctic Ocean. Do you know what brave men to-day are trying to find the North Pole ? Henry Hudson found the northern seas crowded with whales. The English company who had sent him out, now fitted up whaling ships to catch them. He had taken many voyages to find a way to China and India. He had even hoped to find a way by the North Pole. He went farther north than any one else, but he had to give it up. For his little shipHENRY HUDSON 111 Why did they want the whales ? Are the;y good to eat? Henry Hudson was asked by the Dutch to be captain of one of their ships. The Dutch were the people who lived in Holland, you remember. He sailed from Amsterdam in the Half Moon. Just before sailing he received a letter from his friend Captain Smith. Captain Smith told him that there was a strait north of Virginia which certainly led to the Pacific Ocean. The Half Moon crossed the Atlantic to find this strait. It then sailed slowly down the coast of North America. They were watching for an opening to the west. At last the Half Moon entered the beautiful harbor by which thousands of ships now reach New York. This little Half Moon was the first ship that ever sailed on those waters. Henry Hudson sent men to examine the land.112 DECEMBEK They said, " It is as pleasant with grass and flowers and very sweet smells as ever we have seen." Then the ship sailed up the river that has ever since been called the "Hudson." The Indians came and traded with the sailors. They gave them great stores of corn and beans and oysters. They were very friendly. The chief even invited Henry Hudson to his wigwam. Here he sat on a mat and ate from a red wooden bowl. The chief wanted him to stay all night. The Indians broke their arrows and threw them into the fire. This was a sign that they were friends. When Hudson went back to Holland he told of the great river and fine land. The Dutch sent over men to trade in furs with the Indians. After a while they built a little town on the island where New York now stands. This they called New Amsterdam.HENRY HUDSON 113 But very soon some Eng- % lish traders came sailing into the harbor. " This is English land," said they. "We found it before you did." This they said because John Cabot had been the first to sail along the coast. The English had now found out that to trade furs with the Indians was one way to become rich. It was almost as good a way as finding gold. They made up their minds to keep every one else away from their land. The little Dutch town at New Amsterdam was not ready to fight. It was like a little boy bullied by a big one. So the English took it and called it New York.114 december Would you like to hear what became of Henry Hudson ? He came again to America. This time he discovered the great bay which is called Hudson's Bay on your map. Here some wicked sailors in his ship rose up against him. They put him adrift in a boat. He was never seen again. WILLIAM PENN On the high tower of the City Hall in Phila- delphia stands a statue of William Penn. It is so high up that his broad - brimmed Quaker hat almost touches the clouds. His hand is stretched out over the city, as if he were blessing it. This is the man who founded Phila- delphia. That name means " Brotherly Love." William Penn believed that all men should m .WILLIAM PENN US love and help each other as if they were Drothers. His father was a great soldier. He had won many battles on the sea. He was called Admiral Penn. He was rich and often visited the King's court. He wanted his son to be a great man in the same way. So he sent him to school at Oxford. Here William Penn heard a famous preacher named Thomas Loe. This man said that war was wicked. He said that it was wrong to serve the 'King as a soldier. He thought that there should be no fighting, but peace instead. He believed that men should love, not kill, each other. He taught that all men were brothers, were equal. Therefore, he said, one man should not take off his hat to another. These people called themselves "Friends."116 DECEMBER Others called them " Quakers." They were treated very badly in England. They were often thrown into prison because they did not believe as the King did. But William Penn was only expelled from school. His father was very angry with him. He sent him to travel in other countries. He hoped that his son would forget his Quaker ideas. And so, indeed, he did. For when he came back to England, his father was better pleased with him. He took him to see the King. The King made him one of his soldiers in Ireland. Here is a picture of William Penn in armor. But one day he heard that Thomas Loe was to preach in Cork. He went to hear him. All of his old feeling came back to him. He attended the Quaker meetings again. For this he was thrown into prison.WILLIAM PENN in His father had him set free. But he was very angry with him. " Why will you not take off your hat to his Majesty the King ? Why will you not uncover to me, your father?" he asked. "If you will promise to do this, I will forgive you all the rest." William Penn asked for time to think about it. After some days he told his father that he could not promise to do this. The old admiral then turned his son out of doors. He would have nothing more to do with him. Before he died, he asked the Duke of York, the King's brother, to look after his son William. "I am afraid that he will get into a great deal of trouble," said his dying father. William Penn now became a preacher himself. For this he was arrested and put in prison for eight months in the Tower of London. On the next page you will see the Tower. Another time he was sent to prison because he would not take off his hat in court.118 DECEMBER The Duke of York, his father's friend, always had him set free. But Penn always began to preach again just as soon as he was out of prison. At last Penn thought to himself: " Why should not the Friends find a new home in America?" , The Pilgrims and Puritans had suffered for their religion in England. They were both of them now living in Massachusetts. Then he remembered that the King owed his father a large sum of money. Penn asked for land on the Delaware River in place of this money. " Yes," said the King; " and in honor of your father, it shall be called ' Pennsylvania.' "THE EARLY SETTLEMENTS 119 So it happened that in 1682 a colony of Friends came to live on the banks of the Delaware. William Penn made a treaty with the Indians under a large elm tree. The savages came all armed and painted. The Friends had neither guns nor swords. They did not believe in war. The red men and the white promised to be friends and brothers. Pennsylvania grew very rapidly. William Penn made laws that no one should be troubled because of his religion. He lived a long time after this, and saw many people happy in Philadelphia. But he still keeps his hat on, in Philadelphia, on top of the city hall. THE EARLY SETTLEMENTS So for different reasons the white people came to live in America. All along the coast were little groups of them. People of different nations came to the ne'W land120 DECEMBER . They wished to be free from cruel kings, and to enjoy peace and liberty. They hoped to find a place where they could Work and make homes for their children. French people lived far to the north in what we call Canada. The little boys and girls in Canada speak French, because their great-grandfathers came from France. The Spaniards lived in Florida and in South America. The English people in New England built ships. They caught codfish and mackerel and whales. The people who lived in the middle part raised wheat. Farther south were fields of tobacco, rice, and indigo. And still people from other countries come over in the big ships to this land of ours. It is the " Land of the free and the home of the brave." Here, if they are good and industrious, they may be happy. It is our dear Fatherland. Let us love it.the indians and the whites 121 THE INDIANS AND THE WHITES The Indians hated the pale faces. They did not like to see so many of them coming to stay. "They take our lands, and drive us out," they said. Now this was not quite true. The Indians had sold their lands for blankets, beads, and such things. These were the same as money to them. They did not care for the land very much. They used it chiefly for hunting, for it was all covered with woods. If the Indians were allowed to keep it, it would be of no use to the great numbers who need it. There would be no farms growing wheat and rye and oats. Nor orchards of apples and pears and peaches. Nor milk and eggs and butter and cheese. If your little baby brother has a book, you take it from him, even if he should cry for a while.122 DECEMBER You are afraid that he may tear the leaves. He does not know any better. So the Indians were a baby race. They had not learned how to use the land. Now they saw how much the white men had made of it. They wanted to be paid all over again. Many of the white people tried to do good to the Indians. They set up schools for the Indian chil- dren. Good men preached to them and tried to make them Christians. This made the chiefs and medicine men angry. They did not like to see their people praying to the God whom the whites prayed to. But it is true, too, that some of the white people had cheated the Indians. Wicked men gave them strong drink. Then while they were drunk, they robbed them. They took from them the rich furs and skins of the animals that they had killed. These the white people could sell in Europe for a great deal of money.THE INDIAN IN WAR 123 THE INDIAN IN WAR So, in spite of everything, cruel wars took place. The Indians burned houses and robbed farms. At first the Indian fought with bow and arrow. He had his tomahawk, too. This was a great stone axe with a long || wooden handle. || But after a little while he got knives gi and guns from the white people. M He would not trade his land or corn for 06 anything but gunpowder. You will laugh when I tell you what they M did with the first powder that they got. w They planted it! They thought that it would grow like their Indian corn! " We shall gather in a big crop," they thought, " and shall kill all the white men." But they learned better very quickly. Soon they could load and shoot a musket as well as a white man.124 DECEMBER Oh, but they were sly in war ! Let me tell you some of their tricks. They put on their snowshoes with the hind part before. This was to make tracks that seemed to go the other way. The white men did not know the way through the woods. They had to have Indian guides. The guides pretended to be good friends. But often they led them into an Indian ambush. Do you know what this means ? It means that the Indians did not stand up and fight like brave men. They hid behind trees and bushes and shot the white men in the back. They could load their guns lying on the ground. thow the whites defended themselves 125 An Indian could make a cry like the wild turkey. The white hunter would be trapped in the woods and killed. But stranger than all is this: — The Indian could dress himself up with twigs so as to look exactly like a bush 1 HOW THE WHITES DEFENDED THEM- SELVES Many of these things the white people learned to do. They built block-houses for people to run into when the Indians came. Here is a picture of one. What does it look like to you ?126 DECEMBER Sometimes, at night, a tap on the window of a house would be heard. " Indians ! " a voice outside whispered. Then the whole family got out of bed. They did not make a light, nor speak a word. They put on some clothes, and quickly ran to the block-house. Even the dogs were trained not to bark. In those days men took their guns with them, even to church. The people grew very brave in these long wars. One man, whose house was attacked, thought of this plan: He showed himself in a different hat and coat. Then he appeared without a hat. Another time, without a coat. He gave orders in a loud voice. He made the Indians believe that the house was full of men. So they went away. You have already been told how a brave boy frightened some Indians away by a Jack-o'- lantern. Do you know what that is ? - What do you suppose the Indians thought 11 was?king philip's war 12? KING PHILIP'S WAR King Philip was chief of the Indians who lived near Plymouth. He was the son of Massa- soit, who had been a good friend of the Pilgrims. Massasoit had given his little son the English name of Philip. Philip thought himself a great king. He wore a coat made of wampum. Can you remember what this is ? Can you tell how it was made ? Wampum was used as money by the Indians, and by the white people, too, for a time. So this coat was a fortune to its owner. It was as if a man now should sew gold dol- lars over his coat. Philip also wore a belt of wampum about his head.128 DECEMBER Another belt with long ends went around his waist. He was a rich and powerful chief. He grew to hate the settlers at Plymouth, his father's friends. He cut up his wampum coat. He sent the bead money to other chiefs, with this word: — " Come and help me to fight the whites!" So the war began. Here is the story of a battle in it. The white people ran into their block-house. The Indians shot burning arrows on the roof. But the white men tore off the shingles and put out the fire. Then the Indians crept up and lighted a fire under the corner of the block-house. But the men inside dashed out. They drove the Indians back and put out the fire. The Indians now made a cart with a barrel for a wheel. They put lighted straw on it. Then they wheeled this blazing straw against the house.KING PHILIP'S WAR 129 The poor white people thought that they would be burned to death. Just then it began to rain ! The rain put out the fire, and the whites were saved. So the battle ended. The great white captain in this war was Cap- tain Benjamin Church. He knew how to fight the Indians in their own way. He knew, too, how to make them his friends. Some friendly Indians helped him in this war with Philip. At last Philip was shot. They cut off the head of this Indian king. It was placed over a gate-post at Plymouth. This was to make all the other Indians afraid. It was a cruel custom.130 DECEMBER LIFE IN THE COLONIAL TIME When people first came to this country they had to take as a house anything that would shelter them. Some of them dug holes in the ground for dwelling-places. Some built rude cab- ins of round logs. But as time went on, better houses were built. Let us see how they lived one hundred years after Captain Smith set- tled Virginia. In the middle of the house was a large room called " the hall." In this was a great fireplace, so wide that there were seats inside. Here the children sat in the evening. By looking up, they could see the stars through the top of the chimney. There were no carpets on the floors. The floor of the best room was strewnLIFE IN THE COLONIAL TIME 131 with sand. Pretty figures were marked off in it. There were no china dishes to eat from. People had to take their dinner • from wooden plates. Some rich people, though, had pewter dishes. The good housekeeper liked to have a row of shining pewter plates on her " dresser." Pots and kettles hung over the logs in the fireplace on a swinging crane. A whole pig or fowl was hung before the fire, and turned about while it roasted for dinner. What do you think they had for break- fast ? Bread and cheese! There was neither tea nor coffee for a long while yet. For supper they had Indian meal mush. There was a great deal of hunting and fish- ing. The woods were full of wild turkeys. The rivers were alive with fish. Men as well as women wore a great deal of lace and satin.132 DECEMBER Here is a rich man of the time. See his short breeches fastened at the knee by silver buttons. He has long stockings and shoes with silver buckles. Perhaps he is going to take a ride on his bicycle. No, indeed ! He would open his eyes very wide with astonishment if he saw such a thing. Look at this strange bonnet on the lady's head. If she pulls the string, it opens like a bellows, and comes down over her face. It is called a calash. There were not many schools yet. Some of the children never even learned to read. But the young people had jolly times. They had learned some new sports from the Dutch settlers in New York. What do you suppose these were ? Coasting, skating, and sleighing! What a merry time! It was very rough travelling in those days.OLD WHALING SONG 133 It took a long time to get from one place to another. There were of course no railroad trains. There were not yet stage coaches even, for there were »o roads. There were only Indian trails and bridle paths On land, everybody went on horseback. On water, they trav- elled in canoes and little sailing-boats. Peddlers carried their goods from one village to another on pack-horses. The roads were too t/ narrow, and the woods too thick, for wagons to go through. i wmw< OLD WHALING SONG When spring returns with western gales, And gentle breezes sweep The rustling seas, we spread our sails To plough the water deep.DECEMBER Cape Cod, our dearest native land, We leave astern, and lose Its sinking cliffs and lessening sands, While zephyr gently blows. Now toward the early dawning east We speed our course away, With eager minds and joyful hearts To meet the rising day. When eastward, clear of Newfoundland We stem the frozen Pole, We see the icy islands stand, The northern billows roll. Now see the northern regions where Eternal winter reigns; One day and night fill up the year, And endless cold maintains. We view the monsters of the deep, Great whales in numerous swarms, And creatures there, that play and leap, Of strange, unusual forms.a pilgrim christmas 135 WHen in our station we are placed, And whales around us play, We launch our boats into the main, And swiftly chase our prey. A PILGRIM CHRISTMAS " 'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse." Children, you all know that night before Christmas, do you not ? It is almost as happy a time as Christmas itself. We are expecting so much joy.136 DECEMBER "So now is come our joyfullest feast; Let every man be jolly; Each room with, ivy leaves is drest, And. every post with holly." The poor little Puritan children in New Eng- land did not know anything of this joy of Christmas. Their parents thought that it was wrong and foolish to keep Christmas Day. The Sabbath was the only day that they kept. The first Christmas Day that the Pilgrims spent in this new land fell on Monday. It was a cold, bleak day. There were no Christmas carols, no gifts, no good cheer. The people went to work as they did on any other day. They raised the frame sides of their first house! It was the birthday of their town. A year passed, and a second Christmas came. Some newcomers had arrived at Plymouth in the good ship Fortune. On Christmas morning, when the people were called to work as usual, some of these young men refused to work. " It is against our conscience," said they, " to work on Christmas Day."a butch christmas 1S7 So the Governor excused them. The rest of the Pilgrims went to work. At noon they came home to dinner. The Governor found the young men who were too good to work playing ball in the street. Some of them were trying to see who could pitch an iron bar farthest. He took the ball and the bar away from them. He ordered them into their houses. "If it is against your conscience to work to- day, it is against my conscience to allow you to play while others work." A DUTCH CHRISTMAS The little Dutch children in New York had a much happier time. The Dutch people had very different ideas of life from the Pilgrims. They liked to be cheerful, and they wished to see their little ones joyous and rollicking. What great fires were built in the big fireplace 1 What funny pictures on the tiles 1 Such Christmas trees! Oh, what a blaze of light!138 december What goodies! What queer little Dutch cakes! • The little English children had never yet seen a Christmas tree. We must say "thank you" to the Dutch for that pretty thing. And then the dinner! Even the little Puritans of to-day know what a good Christmas dinner is. CHRISTMAS IN VIRGINIA They brought in the Yule log. This was the trunk of a great tree cut down in the forest. They placed it in the huge fireplace. They lighted it from a part of last year's Christmas fire. The flames reddened the great hall. They lighted up the holly and ivy. The pale mistletoe berries hung in the centre of the hall. There was music and dancing and playing of games.CHRISTMAS IN VIRGINIA 136 Do you know the funny game of snap dragon ? A big dish of fat raisins is brought in on the table. The candles are put out. The raisins are covered with brandy and a light touched to it. A blue flame spreads over the dish. Then you join hands in a circle and dance around the dish. As you dance you try to snap a raisin. All at once some one throws a handful of salt in the flames. Then there is a circle of dancing ghosts! Then the dinner on Christmas Day of roast pheasant or wild turkey, ending up with plum pudding and mince pie! "Well-arday! well-a-day! Christmas too soon goes away."BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, Born January 17, 1706.BOYHOOD OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN In 1706 there was a little boy born in Boston named Benjamin Franklin. It was nothing new to have a baby in that house. For the little Benjamin had sixteen brothers and sisters. Maybe you think it was jolly to have so many playmates. But the father was poor because he had so many children to support. Benjamin had not much time for play. 143144 JANUARY When he was ten years old he was taken from school to help his father. His father kept a little shop. He made and sold soap and candles. The boy had to cut the wicks for the candles, and fill the moulds with melted tallow. Sometimes he had to tend shop and run errands. Benjamin did not like this work. He wished to go to sea, and be a sailor. His father tried to turn the boy's mind away from this idea. At last, he asked his son if he would not like to be a printer like his oldest brother, James. Benjamin was pleased with this, for he was very fond of books. He thought that making books would be bet- ter work than making candles. So he was apprenticed to his brother James. James was already a grown man, and had a printing-office of his own. An apprentice is one who is bound to stay for a number of years to learn his trade. For a while, little Benjamin was very happy. As he was often sent to the bookstores, he had a chance to borrow books.BOYHOOD OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 14*5 He sometimes sat up all night to read one of these books. Benjamin would much rather have a book than a good dinner. He asked his brother to give him money and let him board himself. In this way he saved some money to buy books. He used to read them while the other printers were at dinner. Every day he read the little newspaper that his brother printed. He wanted to write for the paper, but he knew that his brother would laugh at the idea. So he wrote some things and put them under the door of the printing-office. James Franklin never suspected that Benja- min had written these articles. You may imagine how proud Benjamin was to see them in print. But the two brothers did not get along very well together. The older brother was stern, and, perhaps, Benjamin was saucy. At last, when Benjamin was seventeen years old, he ran away.146 JANUARY He went to New York in a sailing-vessel. But, finding no work, lie started for Phila delphia. FRANKLIN IN PHILADELPHIA He had a long and rough journey. Many times he was homesick. At last, one morning, he walked into Philadelphia. You should have seen thif poor, friendless runaway boy. His clothes were torn, and spattered with mud. His pockets were stuffed out with his spare stockings and shirts. He had a long roll of bread under each arm, which he had just bought from the baker. Another roll of bread he ate as he walked along. You would have laughed at him, I am sure. Just as a young girl named Deborah Reed didfranklin, the printer 147 She stood at the door of her father's house and laughed heartily at, him. Years afterwards this same young girl became his wife. This was the way that Franklin entered Phila- delphia. But this poor, friendless boy became the greatest man in the city. Philadelphia is proud of him to this day. What did he do, to be remembered so long and so well ? Let us see. ♦ ■ FRANKLIN, THE PRINTER He got work with a printer named Keimer. But people soon noticed him as different from other workmen. He spent all his time, out of the printing- shop, in reading. He spent his evenings with a few other young men who loved books. The young printer soon had a good deal of money saved. He went back to Boston to visit his father and mother.148 JANUARY They were very glad to see him so prosperous. He wore a good suit, of clothes. He carried a watch and had some money in his pocket. He returned to Philadelphia and after some years started a printing-press of his own. He started a newspaper which turned out to be the best one in America. You see he had been used to writing ever since he was a little boy. In those days books were scarce. Only rich people could afford to buy nice books. But everybody bought an almanac. Franklin published a little book of this sort. It was called "Poor Richard's Almanac." People bought it because they liked to read the wise sayings of Poor Richard. But everybody knew that " Poor Richard" was Franklin himself. Franklin thought of a plan by which people could read books without buying them. This was no less than to have a free public library. This was a glorious thought. The poor man now had his library as well as the rich man.FRANKLIN'S KITE 14& After Franklin started the public library in Philadelphia many other cities did the same thing. Ask your teacher to tell you about the great public library in Boston, and in Washington. Franklin studied hard all the time. He learned several languages without the aid of a teacher. He had married Deborah Reed by this time. She helped him in the shop. He sold station- ery and also kept a printing-office. They lived very plainly, and the printer was getting rich. » .— FRANKLIN'S KITE Now we come to the time when he made a great discovery. This was something that made him famous all over the world. At that time people did not know much about electricity. This is a long word to you, but one that you often hear. For electricity does much for us now. So we know its name as well as our owa.150 OANUAKY It brings us swiftly to school in the morning on the trolley car. It lights our churches and halls and houses. It carries a message from father's office. It brings us the news every day from all parts of the world. But this silent servant of ours was not so well known in Franklin's time. They did not even know that electricity was the same sort of a thing as the lightning in the sky. Franklin thought of a plan to find this out. Now you will certainly laugh when I tell you that it was nothing more nor less than to fly a kite! But what a kite! Instead of paper he used a silk handkerchief. At its top he placed a metal point. From the metal point ran down a string of hemp, by which he could fly it. At the end of the hemp string was fastened a key. But Franklin did not hold to the key. He had a bit of silk ribbon in his hand. This was tied to the string above the key. It was not on a pleasant sunny spring day that he first tried to fly this strange kite..FKANKLIN'S KITE 151 It was at night, during a thunder-storm. Now, perhaps you see why he could not make the kite of paper. But why did he have the metal point, and the hemp string, and the key, and the silk ribbon ? Franklin knew that electricity would be at- tracted by a metal point. He knew that electricity would also run along a hemp string and to a metal key. He knew also that the electricity would not «/ run along a silk ribbon. Now do you see the use of the sharp metal point ? Do you understand that the electricity would not give him a shock because of the silk ribbon ? In a moment you will see the use of the key. One stormy night he went out and sent up his kite. All at once he saw the little fibres of the hemp string stand up. He held his hand near the key and felt the electricity. Then he knew for certain that lightning was electricity. This discovery led him to invent the light- ning-rod.152 january The great men of Europe heard with wonder what Franklin had found out. They said that he was one of the greatest men in the world. They called him, after this, Doctor Franklin. -♦- FRANKLIN IN FRANCE Doctor Franklin did other services for his country. You have read about the war between the people in America and the English king. Doctor Franklin was one of the men who helped to make the Declaration of Independence. The colonies needed some other country to help them. So they sent Doctor Franklin to France to ask the King for help. This poor printer had to appear before the great King of France. Some one who saw him then, says : — "Doctor Franklin is very much run after by all people who can get hold of him. " He has an agreeable face. " His spectacles are always on his eyes.FRANKLIN IN FRANCE 153 A fur cap is always is very "He has but little hair. on his head. "He wears no powder. His linen white. A brown coat makes his dress." At one of the grand companies to which Doctor Franklin was in- vited, this happened: — Some beautiful women came toward the old man. They placed on his white locks a crown of laurel. Then each gave the old man two kisses on his cheeks. He persuaded the French king to give ships and money to the Ameri- cans. When peace was made, Doctor Franklin started to leave Paris. He was old and feeble. So he was carried on the Queen's own litter till he reached the sea. Then he got on board the big ship and came home to America.154 january He helped to make the Constitution of the United States. He died in Philadelphia in 1790. FRANKLIN'S RULES OF CONDUCT I wished to live without committing any fault at any time. As I knew what was right and what was wrong, I did not see why I might not always do the one and avoid the other. But soon I found that this was more difficult than I had thought. I concluded that merety thinking about it was not sufficient. I found that bad habits must be broken and good ones acquired. For this purpose I tried the following: — I made a list of all the virtues that seemed to me desirable to acquire. There were thirteen. Here are some of them. Temperance. Do not either eat or drink too much.FRANKLIN'S RULES OF CONDUCT 155 Silence. Speak not except to benefit yourself or others. Order. Let all your things have their places. Let everything that you do have its time. Resolution. Resolve to do what you ought. Do without fail what you ought. Frugality. Spend money only for the good of others or yourself. Waste nothing. Industry. Lose no time. Always be doing something useful. Sincerity. Deceive no one. Justice. Hurt no one. Help those whom you ought to help. Moderation. Do not resent injuries even as much as you think that they deserve.156 JANUARY Cleanliness. , Be perfectly clean in body, clothes, and room. Tranquillity. Do not be disturbed by small things, or by common accidents that cannot be helped. I made a book in which I kept a page for each virtue. I ruled each page with red ink thus: — CLEANLINESS Be perfectly clean in body, clothes, and room. Sun- day Mon- day Tubs- day Wed- nesday Thurs- day Fri- day Satur- day Temperance Silence Order Resolution Frugality- Industry Sincerity- Justice Moderation Cleanliness Tranquillity ELECTRICITY SINCE THE TIME OF FRANKLIN 157 I gave a week's strict attention to each of the virtues. Thus, one week I took great care to avoid the least uncleanliness. Every evening, however, I marked all the faults of the day. So that if in this week, I could keep my line of cleanliness clear, I tried the next week to keep this and the next line clear. I hoped in the end to be able to see a clear page. But I was surprised to find myself much fuller of faults than I had thought. Nevertheless, I had the satisfaction of seeing them grow less. — Adapted from Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography. -+- ELECTRICITY SINCE THE TIME OF FRANKLIN When Franklin lived, and for many, many years afterwards, it took weeks and months for news to go from one part of the country to another.158 JANUARY There was no railroad even. The mails were carried by a man on horse- back or by a stage coach. But now is it not wonderful! When your father reads his paper, he knows what has happened in every part of the world the day before. He knows what Congress did in Washington. He knows that more gold has been found in the Klondike. He knows that the people of Cuba have fought a battle with the soldiers of Spain. He knows that the Queen had company for dinner. He knows that the Emperor of China is going to war with Russia. The electric telegraph sends the news. The messages travel over the wires as quick as a wink.colonial telegraph 159 THE INDIAN TELEGRAPH Sometimes the Indians sent a message in this way: — An Indian built a fire. When it blazed up, he threw on it an armful of green grass. He quickly covered the fire with his blanket for a minute. When he took his blanket off, a great puff of white smoke shot up into the air. It sailed up like a great white cloud, or like a balloon. This could be seen for many miles. Those who were watching for it, knew what it meant. They had arranged with him beforehand. And by the number of puffs he told them what they wanted to know. COLONIAL TELEGRAPH Fire has been often used for telegraphing. During the Revolution, a fire on a hilltop meant that the British were coming.160 JANUARY Those who saw it, lighted other fires farther ^way. " To arms ! The British are coming!" This was the message carried by the fires, as plainly as the tick-tick-tick of the telegraph of to-day. Bang! Bang! Bang! These shots from a white man's gun meant: — " The Indians are coming." Every one who heard it took his gun and fired three times. Then he ran towards the place where the first shot had been fired. So the news of the danger was sent along from one to another by firing. Soon men were coming from every direction. The Indians were then likely to be driven away. A BOY'S TELEGRAPH You probably have made a telegraph yourself ■vhich your chum understands. Have you not sometimes sent him a message with your finger tips ?A BOY'S TELEGRAPH 161 What did the three shrill whistles mean that sent you running around the corner so quickly ? Once upon a time there were two schoolboys in France who invented a sort of a telegraph. They were brothers. But they were in different schools a few miles apart. Ji? i They were not al- lowed to write letters. So they made up their minds to talk to each other by signs. They put up poles with bars of wood. These bars could be turned up or down. Both knew what a change in the bars meant. Perhaps you have seen signals somewhat- like this on the railroads. When these boys became men, they sold theif invention to the French government.162 JANUARY SAMUEL F. B. MORSE At last the man who was to invent the real telegraph was born. His name was Samuel Morse. He was a Massachusetts boy. While he was in college he learned a great deal about electricity. But he liked to make pictures better than anything else. So he made up his mind that he would be an artist. He made his living by painting portraits of people on ivory. He went to Europe to study how to be a better painter. After four years of study he came back. He was a better painter, but he was as poor as ever. His clothes were old and his shoes were worn at the toes. " My stockings," he said, " want to see my mother." Morse painted many pictures, but he could not sell them.SAMUEL F. B. MORSE 163 He was forty years of age before he made his great invention. He was too poor to make his machine. He happened to tell his plan to a young man named Yail. Yail was very clever and he had a rich father. He persuaded his father to lend himself and Morse two thousand dollars. Then they set to work in a room in Judge Yail's workshop in New Jersey. But finally Judge Yail grew discouraged. But at last the machine was ready to try. Young Vail sent word to his father. Judge Yail came into the little room, only half believing that they had really finished their work. He wrote on a slip of paper these words: — " A patient waiter is no loser." " There," said he, " if you can send that to Morse, at the other end of the line, I shall be convinced." " Tick-tick-tick," went this first little machine. And Morse read the message at his end of the line. Great was the joy of every one.164 JANUARY Congress was told about it. They gave Morse money to build a line from Washington to Baltimore. A lady sent the first message over this tele- graph. It was this: — " What God hath wrought!" Samuel Morse was not poor and friendless after this. He was honored both in Europe and America for his great invention. When Samuel Morse was a very old man, the telegraph operators wished to do honor to him. They put up a statue of him in Central Park, New York. In the evening the people went to the Acad- emy. When the old man came upon the stage, they stood up and cheered him. He was led to a seat beside a small table. On this was the first telegraph ever used. It was connected with every telegraph wire in the world. He need only to lay his finger on the key to speak to the whole world. Everybody waited. Then was heard the click-click-click.rhe atlantic cable 165 The father of the telegraph was sending his farewell message. " Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will to men." » THE ATLANTIC CABLE The Atlantic Cable is over two thousand miles long. It runs through the ocean. One end is an- chored at this continent of ours. The other end is in Ireland. It was not easy to lay this long wire. The men who tried it failed many times. People laughed at them. But they were pa- tient. They believed that it could be done. Two vessels sailed from Cork. Each had one half of the cable on board. In the middle of the ocean they spliced the two halves. They put in a bent sixpence for luck, for this was the third time they had tried to lay the cable. Then one vessel sailed back to Ireland. The other sailed west to Newfoundland. It was done. A message was sent through it.166 JANUARY " England and America are united by tele- graph. Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, and good will to men." Queen Victoria cabled to our President. And he sent an answer back. The people sent off fireworks, and praised and cheered the men who had done this. But after a few weeks the cable did not work. Something was the matter. The people who had laughed before, now laughed louder than ever. " We told you so ! " they said. But the patient men who believed in it, tried to do it all over again. It took them eight years, but they did not mind that. For at last it was well done. From that day to this it brings us news. And now there are five Atlantic Cables. The longest cable is between London and Calcutta. It is seven thousand miles long.the telephone 167 ELECTRIC LIGHT Perhaps your grandfather will tell you how he used to make a light. It was in some such way as this: — He struck a piece of flint against a piece of steel. This made a spark of fire. By letting this spark fall on something that would burn easily, he then started a fire. Now he might light his pipe or his candle. There were no matches then. There was no gas to burn. Of course there was no beautiful electric light. Now when we wish to light our rooms, we touch a button in the wall. What wizard has done this, do you know ? I shall tell you about him in a little while. THE TELEPHONE Did you ever try to talk along a string to a boy holding the other end ? Would it not be wonderful to talk along a wire one thousand miles long?108 JANUARY " Hello!" a man in New York says at his end of the wire. " Hello!" the other man answers in Chicago. Then he buys wheat, or something else, and says good by. The wizard has been at work again. THE PHONOGRAPH I am sure that you have put the little rubber tubes to your ears and have heard the band play. Or you have heard a voice singing "Ben Bolt." Or, perhaps, some one has said in your ears: — " Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Smith will now play on the cornet' The Last Rose of Summer.' " And all the time there is only a little cylinder going round and round. Do you not think there must really be a wizard somewhere ? And then think of the moving pictures ! Oh, I know that you have seen them!the great inventor 169 And think, too, of the cars without horses that bring you to school! And see them at night sometimes when a gay crowd of young folks take a ride. How beautiful they are, all covered with red, yellow, and green lights! But all this is only play to the great things that this great inventor has made. Let me tell you something about the man himself. THE GREAT INVENTOR He lives at Menlo Park in New Jersey. His name is Thomas A. Edison. Perhaps you think that is a plain name for a great man. Thomas is an every-day sort of a name. It is hard to believe that any Thomas that you know will become a great man some day. But this was not an every-day sort of Thomas. When he was twelve years old, he was a newsboy on a Grand Trunk Railroad train. It ran between Detroit and Port Huron. The parents of Thomas lived at Port Huron.170 JANUARY He sold apples, figs, toys, newspapers, and magazines. While selling his papers, he thought that he might as well get up a paper of his own. He bought some type in Detroit. He used part of a freight car for his printing-office. He wrote and printed the paper all by himself. He called it " The Grand Trunk Herald." It was a little paper, twelve inches by sixteen inches. It sold for three cents a copy. The little editor and printer became quite famous. It was the only paper in the world printed on a railroad train. One of the great papers in England, " The London Times," printed something about it. Young Thomas was greatly delighted at all this. He thought himself a little Ben Franklin. In another corner of this same old freight car he put up some shelves. These he soon had filled with bottles and glass jars. It looked like a drug store or a chemist's shop. That is indeed what it was, only Thomas didTHE GREAT INVENTOR 171 not sell what was in his bottles. He was study- ing chemistry. This was his first laboratory. He was beginning to be an electrician. He was trying to find out what happened when he mixed together two or three of the stuffs in the bottles. One day something happened which fright- ened him very much. A big noise ! An explosion ! A fire ! The conductor ran to the place and put out the fire. Then he put out Thomas. He threw the printing-press and the bottles out of the win- dow. He boxed young Edison's ears and threw him out after them. He set up his next laboratory in the basement of his father's house. One day he bought a book which told about the telegraph. He began to study all that he could find about this strange thing. When he had ' read the book through, he could not rest until he had tried it for him. self.172 JANUARY He rigged up a line from his house to an« other boy's. The two boys used stove-pipe wire for their line. The trees were their poles. Bottles were used for the glass knobs that the wire rested on. They needed now a battery to start a current of electricity. Edison had seen sparks come out from a cat's fur, when it was rubbed the wrong way. The story is told of him that he rubbed together two big black cats. Neither puss liked to have its fur rumpled in this way. So Edison had to give it up. After a while some one bought him an old battery, and messages were really sent over this line. One day Edison walked to the railroad station at Port Huron. A fast train was rushing in. All at once a little two-year-old child crept on the track just in front of the train. A moment more and its little body would be crushed under the wheels. Young Edison saw the danger.THE GREAT INVENTOR 178 He picked up the child at the risk of his life. The father of the child was the telegraph operator at Port Huron station. He offered to teach young Thomas Edison how to become a telegraph operator. He learned very quickly. He was then only fifteen years old. It was not long before he could send messages and take them faster than any one else. Thomas Edison was now a young man work- ing for himself. While he worked he dreamed of the useful things he would invent. But Edison did not know yet that the whole world would hear of him. Other people did not know it either. His employers found fault with him. They said he was " absent-minded." His companions called him "luny." This was because he tried to think of a way to make one wire send two messages. When they laughed at him and called him crazy, he said: — " I shall make it send four messages." He worked night and day. He did not care for dress or for fun.174 * JANUARY But he was always poor. He spent the money he earned on books. He bought with it many things that he needed in making experiments. He was always trying new ways. His em- ployers did not like this. They said that his head was too full of his own plans. So he lost one place after another. At last he thought that he would try to get work in New York. Edison was now twenty-eight years old. He had no money. He wore old clothes. He -was often hungry. He tramped the streets for three weeks look- ing for a job. One day he happened to go into an office on Wall Street to ask for work. There was there a little electric machine. It rolled out a strip of paper. This told any one who looked at it, what stocks were selling for all oyer the world. Some men buy and sell stocks all day. They are obliged to know the prices of the stocks every minute. The machine printed words on the paper. This paper let men see whether they ought to buy or sell.THE GREAT INVENTOR 175 .# Just then the machine would not work. No one could find out what was the matter with it. Even the man who made it could not set it going again. Edison asked them to let him try to make it work. Sure enough! In a few minutes it was working away as well as ever. "We must not let such a man go," they said. Now his good fortune began. He has never been poor again. But he works as hard as ever. He has a great laboratory where he makes his wonders. His house is within a stone's throw. That word better than any other tells a boy how near it is. But when Edison is working out any of his wonders, he does not take time to go home. He sleeps on the bench beside his work table. He eats a herring and a piece of bread for his lunch while he works. J5JANUARY He forgets to brush his hair and black his boots. This is the way he worked when he was making the electric lights that are now in our houses and churches. For months and months he took no rest. Several thousand lamps were made before he could make the right one. The little wires inside the globe that are bent in this way gave him a great deal of trouble. At first he made them of plat- inum. Do you know what this is ? But they blackened the glass globe. Then he tried carbon. But he could not make them thin and threadlike. At last he made them of bamboo fibres. These are first bent into shape. Then they are put in a hot oven until the wood is almost changed into carbon. Even Edison had to learn to be patient.FEBRUARY ABRAHAM LINCOLN Born February 12, 1809 Lives of great men all remind us We can make our lives sublime; And, departing, leave behind us Footprints on the sands of time. — Henry W. Longfellow N 177THE PIONEER'S LIFE For a long time the Alleghany Mountains were like a high wall to the people who lived on the coast. Nobody cared to climb over the wall to see what was on the other side. Nobody dared, indeed, for beyond these moun- tains was a wilderness. It was full of Indians and wild animals. We climb over this wall easily enough now. And the railroad train, like a huge snake, goes hissing through the land. At last, it comes to another much higher wall. This is the Rocky Mountain range. But the snake of a train winds through and goes west on the other side. At last it reaches California and the coast of the Pacific. Here is the great ocean that Captain Smith thought was at the head of the Chickahominy River. 179180 FEBRUARY •-- But ferent one hundred was and twenty-five years ago. Those who first came over the mountain had a hard life. One of these great pioneers was named Daniel Boone. He crossed the mountains and hunted bears and buffaloes. Then he built a rude fort in what we now call Kentucky. This fort he named Boonesborough. When it was fin- ished, he brought his wife and daughters to live with him. These were the first white women in Ken- tuckyfrom "abraham lincoln" 181 But he had to fight the Indians all the time. Once the Indians took his daughters prisoners. The girls tore pieces off their dresses and dropped them along the path. This was to guide their father in following them. The Indians were caught, and the girls taken away from them. These backwoods people had to learn to be brave. But this is a story of a backwoods boy. It is a story of one who was born in a log hut and who became President of the United States. You will love him when you hear how good and brave and honest he was. How tall and strong, yet how gentle and kind! It is the story of Abraham Lincoln. ABRAHAM LINCOLN " A laboring man, with horny hands, Who swung the axe, who tilled his lands. " 0 honest face, which all men knew ! 0 tender heart, but known to few! "182 february BOYHOOD OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN Abraham Lincoln was born in a log cabin in the backwoods of Kentucky. It was on February 12, 1809. Here is a picture of the home in which the baby was born. It was a poor cabin with only one room. His father was a poor man, who could hardly write his own name. His grandfather was Abraham Lin- coln, who had been a friend of Daniel Boone. He had moved to Kentucky about the same time as his friend Boone. He had been killed by the Indians. The little baby was named after his grand- father Abraham. Little Abe grew into a healthy and happy ahild. When he was seven years old, his father moved to Indiana. Here he lived in a house of the poorest sort. r\^BOYHOOD OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 183 It had only three sides. The fourth was open to the weather. There was no chimney, the fire was built out of doors in front of the open side. Such a house was called a " half-face camp." There was no floor. Above the room was a little loft. This was Abraham's bedroom. Do not think that there was anything so fine as a stairway! No, indeed! The little fellow had to climb up on pegs driven in the wall. His bed was a pile of dry leaves in a corner. Abraham wore trousers of deer-skin. His hat was a coon-skin. On his feet were home-made moccasins. His shirt, or blouse, was made of linsey- woolsey. These were " pretty pinching times," he said. You would be surprised to know all that little Abe could do when he was only ten years old. . He could drive a team of horses. Handle a plough and sickle. Thresh the wheat with a flail. Chop wood and clear a field for planting corn.184 february Help his father in carpenter work. Help him to make chairs and shelves and cabinets. He was ready to help the women, too. He would carry water, make the fire, and tend the baby. His father was so poor that sometimes Abra- ham had to go as a " hired boy " to a neighbor. LINCOLN AT SCHOOL With all this hard work little Abe was not getting much schooling. He went to school " by littles," he says. The old log schoolhouses of those days had large open fireplaces. The boys had to chop the wood and build the fire. The schoolmasters did not know very much themselves. And they were often cruel men. They whipped the boys with long switches that were used to drive the oxen. But little Abe learned to read and write. Above all, he learned to think for himself.LINCOLN AT SCHOOL 185 When he did not understand anything, he went into the woods. Here he thought the matter out and tried to put it into clear words. He had not many books. Those he had he knew by heart. The Bible, Pilgrim's Progress, and Robinson Crusoe, he read over and over again. One time a neighbor lent him a Life of Washington. The book got wet, and little Abe was afraid that it was spoiled. The owner said: " Being as it's you, Abe, T won't be hard on you. " Come over and shuck corn for three days, and the book is yours ! " Great was the joy of the boy to have it as his own. When he ploughed a field, he let the horse rest at the end of every long row. Then Abe took out his book and sat on the top rail of the fence to read. He wrote letters for the people who did not know how to write. Sometimes he did his sums by the light of the fire on the wooden fire-shovel for a slate.186 FEBRUARY His pencil was a charred stick of wood. The fences and logs around the farm were filled with his figures. He wrote on the rails the thoughts that pleased him in the books that he had read. Here is one of Abraham's sums in his copy book. You see he has proved it, too! Do you sometimes prove your sums ? Some one says of him at this time : — " Abe was the best penman in the neighbor- hood. "One day I asked him to write some copies for me. ctsvry^ Of a. fOOOO'rrdi**-' Amid the awe that hushes all, And speak the anguish of a land That shook with horror at thy fall. Thy task is done. The bond are free. We bear thee to an honored grave, Whose proudest monument shall be The broken fetters of the slave. Pure was thy life. Its bloody close Hath placed thee with the sons of light, Among the noble host of those Who perished in the cause of Right. — William Cullen BryantGEORGE WASHINGTON Born February 22, 1732 Broad-minded, higher-souled, there is but one Who was all this and ours, and all men's,-—Washington. —James Russell Lowell m200 FEBRUARY THE VIRGINIA BOY His home was a low-roofed, comfortable old farmhouse. It was on a hill that sloped down to the Potomac River. farm land or forest. There was a broad piazza in front, and a great chimney at either end. It had a big attic, such as boys and girls love to play in. But perhaps you would think that it was not a very grand house. There was only one story and a half. There were no carpets on the floors. There was no gas nor electric light. All about it wasTHE VIRGINIA BOY 201 There were not many books, and the furni- ture was not very fine. But it was a comfortable and happy home for all that. Here, on February 22, 1732 was born George Washington. There were already two boys in the house, Lawrence and Augustine. They were half brothers to George. With these boys and his own brothers and sisters, who were born after him, George always had plenty of company. And he was fond of company and liked sport of all sorts. He could ride a horse when he was only eight or nine years old. He could swim and row. He was the fastest runner and the best wrestler among all the boys around. No boy could "dare him" to anything that needed skill or strength. He had to go to school, of course. This was a little log schoolhouse, called a "field school." Sometimes nothing would grow in a field. Then they built a log schoolhouse on it.202 FEBRUARY It was to such a school that Washington was sent. He and the other boys used to play soldier. They had cornstalks for guns and gourds for drums. Part of the boys played that they were French. The other side, with Washington at the head, were Americans. Then there would be a furious charge and a great battle. It was all in play, of course. The little captain would always be the victor. So he grew up to be strong and manly. There were not many things he was afraid of. He never did an underhand thing. He hated a lie. He could always be trusted to keep his promises. He was obedient. But he was just as fond of fun, just as bois- terous and boyish a boy as you are. He could not bear to let anything master him. Once he made up his mind to break a wild colt that would not let anybody mount him. He went into the field very early in the morning.THE VIRGINIA BOY 20S He caught the colt and flung himself on its back. But the young colt had as much spirit as its young master. It plunged and reared. Still the boy kept his seat. At last, worn out with the struggle, the colt fell dead. Young Washington was very sorry for this. When he went into breakfast, his mother asked some question about the colt. ''Madam," said Washington, "I killed the colt this morning." It was his mother, now, who had to look after her son, for the father was dead. What should she do with this big, high- spirited son of hers to make him a good man ? This was a question that gave her a great deal of anxiety. He was now sixteen. He had learned in school a little bookkeeping and surveying. The boy wanted to be a sailor. He dreamed of a free life on the blue waters. His mother had almost given her consent.204 FEBKUARVT But, at last, the thought of losing her boy was too painful. Washington loved his mother dearly. Rather than grieve her, he gave up his dream of the sea. While Washington was at school, he wrote out, in his copy book, over fifty rules for be- havior in company. Here are some of these. ♦ SOME OF WASHINGTON'S RULES FOR CONDUCT In the presence of others, sing not to your- self, nor drum with your fingers or feet. Turn not your back to others, especially in speaking. Jog not the table on which another reads or writes. Lean not on any one. Read no letters, books, or papers in company. But when there is a necessity for doing it, you must ask leave. Look not nigh when another is writing a letter.washington, the surveyor 205 Let your countenance be pleasant, but in serious matters somewhat grave. Strive not with your superiors in argument, but always submit your judgment to others with modesty. Think before you speak. When another speaks, be attentive yourself and disturb not the audience. Undertake not what you cannot perform, but be careful to keep your promise. Make no show of great delight in your food. Feed not with greediness. Cut your bread with a knife. Lean not on the table. Neither find fault with what you eat. Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire, called conscience. WASHINGTON, THE SURVEYOR When George was sixteen years of age, he left school. At that time, a great part of Virginia was owned by a rich man named Lord Fairfax.206 FEBRUARY He did not know how much land he owned, for it had never been surveyed. Now George had learned how to do this. This great man asked young Washington to survey his lands on the other side of the mountains. He offered to give him good pay for this work. So Washington set out for the wilderness. He crossed rough mountains and waded through streams. At night he slept out under the sky, by a campfire. He had to find his own dinner and cook it. With his gun he killed wild turkey or other game. Or with his line he caught a fish in the stream. Then he toasted his meat or fish before the campfire. He held it on a forked stick until it was done. He came across some Indians, too. He saw them dance to the music of a strange drum. This was made by stretching a deer-skin very tightly over the top of a pot half full of water. Washington lived this rough life for three years.war with the french 201 He was learning to be a soldier; but he did not know it. He was learning how to bear hardships, how to endure. When Washington came home, he was a young man nineteen years old. The Governor made him major in the militia. He was called, after this, Major Washington. Then he took lessons in military drill from an old soldier. He learned how to use a sword. Just at this time the English people thought that they would have to go to war with the French. Let me tell you why. -» . ■— WAR WITH THE FRENCH The French people had made homes up in the north in Canada, as you have read. Now they were coming south along the Ohio River. They said that all the land west of the Alle- ghany Mountains belonged to them.208 FEBRUARY They said that the English must stay between the mountains and the ocean. The English did not like to be shut up in such a narrow strip of land. They said that the whole continent, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, belonged to the English king and people. Of course, they did not know how wide it was. But that would not have made any difference, I suppose. "John Cabot and his son sailed all along this coast from north to south," they said. " This was many years before any French people came here. " So the land belongs to us ! " said the English. " No, it belongs to us !" said the French. At last the Governor of Virginia made up his mind to send a letter to the French about the matter. But who would carry it ? It is easy enough to send a letter to-day. You put on the corner a stamp with the head of Washington on it. You slip it in a little box at the corner of the street.he carries the message 209 And in a few days here is the answer beside your breakfast plate! When the Governor was looking for somebody to carry his letter, he chose Washington. He knew the woods and the ways of the Indians. HE CARRIES THE MESSAGE He set out on this hard errand. He took with him a few hardy men. He had to make his way over mountains on horseback. He had to cross swollen streams. After a long journey he reached the Ohio Oliver. Here he got a chief called " The Half-king" and some other Indians to go with him to the French fort. The French officers read the letter. They sent word back that they would not give up their fort. Washington now started for home. He carried a pack on his back and his gun on his shoulder. With another man named Gist he went ahead of the other men.210 FEBRUARY They had a rascally Indian for a guide. This fellow wanted to carry Washington's gun for him. But Washington did not trust this fellow and carried it himself. At length, as evening came, the Indian turned and suddenly fired at Washington. He did not hit him, for it was dark. Before he could load his gun again, they seized him. Gist wanted to kill him, but Washington let him go. This was not the only time that Washington nearly lost his life on this dangerous errand. He and Gist tried to cross the Allegheny River on a raft. The river was full of floating ice. Washington was pushing the raft with a pole. All at once the pole caught in something and he was thrown into the icy river. He got out again, but had to spend the cold night on an island in the river. The next morning they got ashore by walking on the ice. At last he returned and gave the Governor the answer to his letter.washington in the french war 211 The story of his journey was talked about all over the country. The people in Virginia thought that Major Washington was the bravest young man in the land. ♦ WASHINGTON IN THE FRENCH WAR The French had been asked to go away, but they would not. The Governor now made up his mind to drive them away. So Major Washington was again sent West to take and hold the country for the English. On his first trip he had come to a place w~here the great rivers meet. These are the Allegheny and the Monongahela rivers. " Here is a good place for a fort," said he. " There will be a great city on this spot, some day." Now he hurried on to build his fort at that point. But the French were already there. They had built a fort which they called " Fort Duquesne."212 february So Major Washington went back a little to a place called "Great Meadows." Here he built his fort and called it " Fort Necessity." But Washington had only a few soldiers, and the French had a great many. Washington was wise as well as brave. When he saw that he could not hold the fort, he marched out. Then he went home to Virginia. WASHINGTON AND GENERAL BRAD- DOCK The next year the King of England sent some of his own soldiers over to fight the French. At their head was General Braddock. "We shall make short work of them," he boasted. He was proud of his soldiers in their bright red coats. He thought that the Americans did not know how to fight. He saw that their coats were shabby and that they did not march well.WASHINGTON AND GENERAL BRADDOCK 213 Major Washington told him that the Indians were helping the French. " They do not stand up and fight like the whites," said he. " They lie in ambush, and jump out when you least expect them." He begged him to send out scouts. Scouts are soldiers who go ahead of the army and find the hiding-places of the enemy. But General Braddock laughed at all this. " Pooh ! pooh ! " he said, " I know how to lead an army." He was a brave man, but he was not a wise one. He thought that he knew more than anybody could tell him. He would not learn from others. "Experience keeps a dear school; but fools will learn in no other." This wise saying was first written in Poor Richard's Almanac.214 february You have read about this book and the great Doctor Franklin who wrote it Let us now see what happened to General Braddock BRADDOCK'S DEFEAT It was in July, 1755. Braddock and his army were marching along a narrow track in the woods. Everything was silent. There was not a sound but the tramp, tramp of the soldiers. All at once the woods rang with the wild cry of the Indians. It was like the howling of a pack of wolves. Hidden behind trees and bushes, the Indians shot down the English. The Americans took to the trees and fired back in Indian fashion. But the English soldiers could not see any- thing to shoot at. Braddock made them stand up in line as if the enemy were in front of them. They did not run away; they obeyed orders ; they were brave.BRADDOCK'S DEFEAT 215 The poor fellows were easily shot down. General Braddock himself was killed. Washington had two horses shot under him. Four bullets went through his coat. But the battle was lost, in spite of all he could do. This war lasted for a long time. At the end of it the French were driven out of the land west of the Alleghany Mountains. They even had to give up Canada to the English. The English people soon began to move into the new land. Then the states of Kentucky and Tennessee were made. Washington was now the hero of the people. Colonel Washington he was now called. He was glad to get home to beautiful Mount Yernon. He had married a lady named Mrs. Martha Custis. She had two little children whom Washington loved dearly.216 febbuary WASHINGTON AT MOUNT VERNON Colonel Washington now lived quietly at his home on the Potomac. He rode over his large estate to see that every- thing went well. He kept his accounts as neatly as he had writ- ten his copy-books when he was a schoolboy. He was fond of hunting and fishing. Here is a picture of Mount Vernon, Washing- ton's home. You must visit this beautiful place some day.WASHINGTON AT MOUNT VERNON 217 You may go inside and enter the rooms where Washington once lived. These are very dear to Here is the chair on which he sat; the desk at which he wrote. Here is the bed on which he died. Our govern- ment bought this house to preserve it in memory of our first President.218 FEBRUARY You will read in the next chapter what Wash- ington did for his country in the Revolution. How brave and wise he was! But here we shall talk a little about his life at Mount Yernon. Washington had no little boy or girl of his very own. He had two step-children, little "Jacky" and his sister " Patty." These children were great pets of Washington. He was very fond of little ones. Often Washington took his little step-son "a hunting " with him. Many times they " catched a fox " together. Washington tells us of this in his diary. Little Patty died when she was seventeen. Her brother, though, grew to be a man and to have children of his own. He was a soldier with Washington in the Revolution. Just before the war was ended he died. Washington loved him dearly. He threw himself on a couch and wept like a child. Mount Vernon was very lonely now without the children.WASHINGTON AT MOUNT VERNON 219 "Jacky" had left two little children. So Washington brought them up as his own. Nellie Custis was his pet and pride. She went with him in all his rides and walks. Her bright chatter and sunny smiles could always set him laughing. When you go to Mount Yernon you will see Nellie Custis's room. There is the old-fashioned piano or harpsi- chord that Washington gave her. Nellie's brother was much loved by Washing- ton, too. He grew up to be a man of gentle manners and fine tastes. He wrote the Life of Washington. He and his sister Nellie lived to be old people. All his life Washington was fond of chil- dren. He would walk up and down the great por- tico at Mount Vernon with a little toddling girl holding his finger. Many a toy he bought for these pets. Some of these keepsakes are now kept by the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the little folks to whom they were given.220 FEBRUARY As a boy he was honest, truthful, and brave. As a young man he was manly, pure, and strong. As a man he was a leader of men: clear- headed, clean-hearted, great, and grand, and noble.Lexington • 1775- Surrender of cornwaliis i7atGEORGE WASHINGTON "First in war; first in peace; and first in the hearts of his countrymen."THE CAUSE OF THE REVOLUTION The English Parliament tried to make the Americans pay a tax. The Parliament is the body of men who make the laws in England. The Americans said: "We are not allowed to send men to speak for us in Parliament. " So the Parliament has no right to tax us without our consent." But the English King and Parliament thought that the Americans had not the same rights as English people. They put a tax on tea and sent a great ship- load of it to America. When the ship came into Boston Harbor, what do you think some of the people did ? They went on board at night; they cut open the tearchests. Then they emptied the tea into the water! That was a big tearparty, was it not ? "We will not use anything that is taxed," the people said. 223•224 march and april For a person who bought anything that was taxed, helped to pay the tax. You give two cents to the government when you buy a stamp for your letter. So they would not drink any more tea. Ladies made tea from the leaves of the sage and the sassafras. They sipped it out of their pretty china cups, and made believe to like it. Even in this little thing they were fighting for the right. The gentlemen wore clothes made out of homespun cloth. This was a coarse cloth, for the Americans had not learned yet to make fine cloth. The Americans refused to pay taxes. THE FIRST CONGRESS There were now thirteen colonies on the coast of America. They were ready to help each other. There was a meeting, called a " Congress," of men from all these colonies. It sent a letter to the King, asking him for the same freedom that the English people hadthe fight at concord 225 He would not repeal the laws which took away that freedom. So the quarrel grew very bitter. The King sent his red-coated soldiers to America again. But this time they were not to light the French and Indians. They were sent to fight the King's own people,—the English in America. When King George sent an army to our country, it was right that we should have one to defend our homes. So the farmers learned to use their guns. They were ready to march any minute that they might be called. They were called " minute men." Their wives learned to knit stockings and to weave cloth. THE FIGHT AT CONCORD The Americans had stored at Concord many things that soldiers would need. There were bullets and powder and cannon balls. q226 MARCH AND APRIL The redcoats started from Boston in the dead of night. They went to Concord to take these things. But a brave man, named Paul Revere, rode ahead and gave the alarm. The minute men seized their guns. They met the British at Lexington and drove them back. This was the first battle of the Revolutionary War. WASHINGTON, COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF Now that war had really begun, there had to be a leader. Congress remembered the brave and wise con- duct of Colonel George Washington. They made him commander-in-chief of the army. Now he was General Washington. The colonies gave up all hope of getting jus- tice from the King of England. They decided to set up a country for them- selves.trenton 227 FOURTH OF JULY On the 4th of July, 1776, Congress declared the colonies " free and independent." This is what people mean when they talk of the " Declaration of Independence." This is the very beginning of our nation. TRENTON * The King of England was very angry when he heard of the bold act of the Americans. He thought that he must put down the rebels . in earnest. He sent a large army over here. Washington tried to keep this army out of New York. But he was beaten, and had to retreat him- self. He marched across New Jersey. Then he crossed the Delaware River. Here he rested awhile. The British were chasing him. Part of their army rested at Trenton.228 MARCH AND APRIL These were the Hessians. They were Ger- man soldiers. The King of England had hired them to fight some battles for him. The Hessians meant to wait at Trenton until the Delaware was frozen over. Then they could walk across and catch Washington. They thought, too, that Trenton was a nice place to spend Christmas in. Washington's poor soldiers were not looking for a Merry Christmas. They were hungry and cold. Some of them were barefooted. They were down-hearted. Washington led his men along the ' river bank the night before Christmas. It was very cold. Snow was falling. They left tracks of blood from their bare feet on the frozen ground. They came to a place where boats were wait- ing. These boats had to be pushed across the river with poles. The river was so full of pieces of ice that oars could not be used. The boats crossed again and again, until all the men were on the other side.the battle of princeton 229 It was three o'clock on Christmas morning when the last boat load landed. Then Washington began his march to Tren- ton. It was eight o'clock when he got there. The Hessians were still asleep. They had been eat- ing and drinking until late in the night. When they heard the drums of the Ameri- cans, they jumped up. They tried to fight, but it was too late. They had to lay down their arms and give themselves up. Washington took nine hundred prisoners. This was a jolly Christmas for the Americans after all! THE BATTLE OP PRINCETON The British now sent another army against Washington, at Trenton. At its head was Cornwallis. He had more men than Washington. They fought a battle. Night came on, and they stopped fighting until morning. " I will catch the fox in the morning," laughed Cornwallis.230 MARCH AND APRIL Washington was wise. He knew when to fight, and he knew when to go. This was a time to go. He could not cross the river, for he had not boats enough. But he knew a road that would take him round behind the British. He must first shut up the eyes of Cornwallis. He must pretend that he is going to stay. So he set some of his men digging in the trenches, as if they were making earthworks. He had his campfires brightly burning. " I shall certainly catch the fox in the morn- ing," laughed Cornwallis before he went to bed. But that night Washington and his army marched out the other way. They went north to Princeton. They met some British soldiers going to help Cornwallis at Trenton. Washington fought a battle with them and beat them. In the morning Cornwallis heard the booming of cannon. He thought it was thunder. He rubbed his eyes so that he might see better. For he could not believe his eyes. The fox was gone.running the blockade 231 RUNNING THE BLOCKADE When the French fleet lay In Massachusetts Bay In that day, When the British Squadron made Its impudent parade Of blockade, All along and up and down The harbor of the town, The brave, proud town, That had fought with all its might Its bold, brave fight For the right,232 MARCH AND APRIL Chafing thus, impatient, sore, One day along the shore Slowly bore A clipper schooner, worn And rough and forlorn, With its torn Sails fluttering in the air. The British sailors stare At her there. " Heave to! " Then sharp and short Question and quick retort Make British sport. " What is that you say — Where do I hail from, pray, What is my cargo, eh ? " My cargo ? I'll allow You can hear 'em crowing now At the bow." The British captain laughed As he leaned him there abaft; " 'Tis a harmless craft,"RUNNING THE BLOCKADE 233 He cried. And a gay " Heave ahead! " Sounded forth, and there sped Down the red Sunset track, unafraid, Straight through the blockade, This jade Of a harmless craft, Packed full to her draft, Fore and aft, With powder and shot. One day when, red hot, The British got Their full share and more Of this cargo, they swore, With a roar, At the trick she had played, This bad Yankee jade Who had run the blockade. — Adapted from Nora Perry.234 march and april THE LAST BATTLE OF THE REVOLU- TION Our war with the English king had lasted seven years. It was a hard struggle for such a little country against such a strong one. At last another strong country came to our aid. The King of France sent men and ships to help the Americans finish the war. "Washington had two moves, as a chess-player would say. He might move against the British in New York. Or he might move against the British in Yorktown. Yorktown is in Virginia. Cornwallis was the leader there. Washington felt that he should like to play a little game with Cornwallis first. But he pretended to be getting ready to fight the British in New York. So the soldiers there got ready to fight Wasb ington and the French.THE LAST BATTLE OF THE REVOLUTION 238 But Washington, all at once, went south instead of north. He went straight down to Virginia. He surrounded York town. He built mounds of earth round it. He put cannon on these mounds. It was too late for the British in New York to send help to Cornwallis. The French ships sailed into Chesapeake Bay. Cornwallis could not get out on the side of the sea, nor on the land side. There was some very hard fighting. One time the bullets were flying thick and fast around Washington. One of his officers told him that it was dangerous to stand there. " If you think so, you may step back," said Washington. He was always cool and brave. But he was thoughtful and kind to others. At last Cornwallis gave up. The British marched out. Cornwallis gave his sword to Washington. This was a sign that he would fight no more against the Ameri- cans.236 march and april The army in New York could not fight the war alone. They sailed away, and the war was ended. The English king had to agree that the colonies should be free. Then Washington went back to his home on the Potomac. QUAINT THANKSGIVING HYMN, OF 1783 The Lord above, in tender love, Hath saved us from our foes. Through Washington the thing is done; The war is at a close. America has won the day Through Washington, our chief; Come, let us rejoice with heart and voice And bid good bye to grief. Let us agree, since we are free, All needless things to shun; And lay aside all pomp and pride, Like our great Washington.the new constitution 23? THE NEW CONSTITUTION But now a new trouble came about. Each state had its own government. So there were thirteen nations instead of one. A new government was formed which united these thirteen little nations into one large one. There was to be a President and a Congress, Who was to be the first President ? The people did not take long to answer this question. They elected General George Washington. A messenger was sent out to Mount Vernon with the news. The General set out for New York, which was then the capital. All the people turned out to do honor to him. At Trenton, where he had won his Christmas present, an arch had been made. Here young girls, dressed in white, sang and strewed flowers in his path. The whole city of New York bade him " wel- come." He took the oath of office in the presence of a great crowd of people.238 march and april By this oath he swore to carry out the laws of the new nation. Now he was President Wash- ington. After four years he was elected a second time. And again, after four years, the people wished to elect hin? a third time. But he refused this honor. He published a "fare- well address" to the people. Once more he went home to Mount Vernon. Here this great and good man died in 1799. GENERAL GAGE AND THE BOYS ON BOSTON COMMON The boys of long ago were as fond of skating and coasting as you are. In 1776 the boys of Boston had a fine skating ground on the Common. The Common is a large open place in theTHE BOYS ON BOSTON COMMON 235) middle of the city, where boys and girls may play. Here, when school was over, they could have a jolly time with their sleds and skates. But the soldiers of General Gage did not like to see the boys enjoying themselves. They hated the " little rebels." So every time that the boys made a fine sliding-place, the soldiers spoiled it. The boys thought that it was not fair to be treated in this way. Do you think it was fair ? What was the right way for the boys to act then ? Well, this is what they did. First, they asked the Captain to forbid his soldiers from spoiling their sports. But all in vain. Then they went to General Gage himself, the commander of all the soldiers in Boston. One of the boys was spokesman for the whole party. "Your troops, sir, have trodden down our snow hills," said he. " They have broken the ice on our skating ground.240 march and april, "We complained. They called us 'young rebels.' They told us to ' help ourselves if we could.' " When we told the Captain of this, he laughed at us. " So we have come to you, for we can bear it no longer." The General was surprised. Turning to one of his officers, he said: — " The very children here draw in a love of liberty with the air they breathe. " You may go, my brave boys. If my troops trouble you again, they shall be punished." PAUL REVERE'S RIDE " Listen, my children, and you shall hear Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere, On the eighteenth of April in Seventy-five." It was a dark night; the moon had not yet risen. Paul Revere and his friend were whispering softly to each other. " I hear that the British mean to send some soldiers to-night, to Concord.PAUL REVERE'S RIDE 241 " They want to get the powder and guns that - we have stored there." " Now," said Paul Revere, " you keep a sharp look out, and " if they march By land or sea, from the town to-night Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch Of the North Church tower, as a signal light | One if by land, and two if by sea. I on the opposite shore, will be Eeady to ride and spread the alarm Through every Middlesex village and farm, For the country folk to be up and to arm." Then, he said " good night," and rowed si- lently across the river. His friend walked through the dark and silent streets. Up and down he wandered, and watched, and listened with eager ears. All at once he heard a sound. What was it ?242 MARCH AND APRIL " The sound of arms, and the tramp of feet, And the measured tread of the grenadiers Marching down to their boats on the shore/' Quickly he climbed the tower of the old North Church. The wooden stairs creaked under his stealthy step. The pigeons were startled from their perches. " Still upward he goes, By the trembling ladder, steep and tall, To the highest window in the wall, Where he paused to listen and look down A moment on the roofs of the town, And the moonlight flowing over all." All this time Paul Revere was waiting on the opposite shore. All booted and spurred, he was ready to mount and ride. His horse was as impatient to be off as the master. He stamped and fretted and chafed at the bit, His master " watches with eager search The belfry tower of the old North Church. And lo! as he iooks, on the belfry's height, A glimmer, and then a gleam of light!PAUL RjfiVERE'S RIDE 243 He springs to the saddle, the bridle he turns, He lingers and gazes, till full on his sight A second lamp in the belfry burns !" Then there is a hurry of hoofs ! The good steed flies like the wind. No need for his rider to urge him. No need for the cruel spurs in his side. See! On they go ! Now in the moonlight! Now in the shadow! The sparks fly from under his hoofs. Now soft on the sand, Now loud on the ledges, Is heard the tramp of his steed as he rides. " It was twelve by the village clock When he crossed the bridge into Medford town; He heard the crowing of the cock, And the barking of the farmer's dog." The people waken and listen to hear the hurrying hoof-beats. " Up! Up ! and arm ! ' he cries, as he rides. " It was one by the village clock When he galloped into Lexington." " Up ! Up! and arm! "244 MARCH AND APRIL " It was two by the village clock When he came to the bridge in Concord town; He heard the bleating of the flock And the twitter of birds among the trees, And felt the breath of the morning breeze Blowing over the meadows brown." " You know the rest, in the books you have read, How the British soldiers fired and fled — How the farmers gave them ball for ball, From behind each fence and farmyard wall."story of another ride 246 STORY OF ANOTHER RIDE The people in America had grown very angry with the King of England. He treated them as if they were slaves, not free men. " He has taken our money without our con- sent," they said. " He will not give us our rights. " He will not listen to our complaints. " His redcoats have fired upon us. "We can not bear this treatment any longer." The great men from all the colonies met in Philadelphia, to see what could be done about it. This meeting was called the Continental Congress. They met in a large room in the old State- house in Philadelphia. " What shall we do ? " was the question that they were asking each other. " Let us start a nation of our own," said the bolder ones. Thomas Jefferson of Virginia was asked to write out on paper the whole matter. So he wrote it clearly and plainly.246 MARCH AND APRIL He told of all the hard things that the people had suffered. He told of all the wrong things that the King had done to the people. He said that "all men were created equal"; that the poor man had a right to be happy as well as the rich man. He ended with these words : " These colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and indepen- dent." This paper is called the " Declaration of Independence." It is the very beginning of the United States. The men in Congress who thought that this was right were going to vote " aye." Those who thought that it was wrong were going to vote " nay." Some very good men meant to vote " nay." They thought that the colonies ought to obey the King in everything. Just as a child should obey its father. So it happened that there were almost as many on one side as the other. All the thirteen states were at last ready to vote except little Delaware.STORY OF ANOTHER RIDE 247 The man who ought to vote for Delaware was eighty miles away. His name was Caesar Rodney. A message was sent to him: — " Come quickly, if you wish to vote for independence!" As soon as he got this message he called out, " Saddle the black!" He jumped upon his horse. He galloped north with the speed of the wind. On he went wildly. He drove the spurs into his horse's side. All day he rode; and all night. "If I am only in time!" was his one thought. " If I am only in time !" It was the morning of the 4th of July, 1776, when at last he reached Philadelphia. His horse, covered with foam and dust, dashed through the streets. At Independence Hall, the long ride was over. The poor, tired beast was led away. Caesar Rodney entered the hall. He was just in time to answer his name in the roll call. " I vote for independence ! " he said.248 march and april THE LIBERTY BELL Herb is an old bell that we all love. It is silent now. It will never ring again. You see that there is a great crack in the side. It used to hang in the steeple of the State- house in Philadelphia. The Continental Congress met in the hall beneath. Once it rang out clear and strong. All the people who heard it gave a great shout of joy. This was because it told them that they were to have liberty and independence. Yes. The men in Congress had voted " aye." The colonies were no longer little baby states. They were a young nation.THE LIBERTY BELL 249 The people wished to hear the Declaration of Independence read. So they came crowding into the Statehouse yard. They were all eager to hear the good news. Then one of the men came out on the steps and read in a loud voice. When it was done, the bell in the steeple set up a mighty ringing. And the people set up a mighty shouting. The drums beat. The cannon boomed. And what did all the noise and shouting mean ? It meant Liberty for them and for us. This was the first 4th of July. But it was not as noisy as you like to have the 4th of July. "The great bell rang all day and almost all night," some one said. Perhaps you may think that it got this crack at that time, from so much ringing. No, indeed. It rung out joyfully every 4th of July for over fifty years. In 1843, it was rung on February 22. I need not tell you why. But the dear old bell was done for.250 MARCH AND APRIL It had cracked a little before this. But now the crack grew wider. It had given its last peal. It is a famous traveller, this old bell. It was made in England. It came in a big ship across the ocean to Philadelphia. Perhaps the sea voyage did not agree with it. At any rate, it had to be made all over again in Philadelphia. This was in 1753. Then it was that this beautiful motto was put on it: — " Proclaim liberty throughout all the land, unto all the inhabitants thereof." They little dreamed, then, that that was just what the old bell would do. In the year of the three sevens, 1777, the British troops were marching toward Phila- delphia. The people made up their minds to save their fine bell. They took it down from the high steeple. They put it on a cart and carried it away.the ballad of valley forge 251 They were afraid that the British soldiers would make cannon out of it. When the redcoats had been driven away, the old bell was carried back to Philadel- phia. ; Not many years ago, it took a very long journey indeed. It travelled from Philadelphia to Chicago to the World's Pair. How many hundreds of miles is that, do you know ? For a poor old bell, this was a long way. THE BALLAD OF VALLEY FORGE " Tell me a story, Gran'ther; Not that of Riding Hood, Nor how the robins buried The children in the wood. " But how you fought the Indians So many years ago, Or Valley Forge in winter And all about the snow."MARCH AND APRIL THE MAECH TO VALLEY EORG-E " In the fall of seventy-seven, My little Abner, hear, In the middle of November, Of that unhappy year, " I marched with Morgan's Rifles, A corps of gallant men, To join our wretched army In the Quaker State of Penn. " The General called a council To meet him in his tent And choose our winter quarters, And all the generals went. " But Washington decided, When all had spoken round, That Valley Forge, in Chester, Should be our winter ground. "We pushed ahead till nightfall Closed round our struggling lines. Then halted in the shelter Of a rugged belt of pines.THE BALLAD OF VALLEY FORGE s( 'Twas bitter, bitter, Abner, On the frozen ground to lie, No pillow but a knapsack, No blanket but the sky! "We took the road at daybreak In the blinding snow and wind, The wounded went in wagons; We left the dead behind. " You might have tracked us, Abner, By the trail of blood we shed. We bled at every footstep ; The snow for miles was red! " On the seventeenth of December, (The day was still and bright,) We crossed the swollen Schuylkill With Valley Forge in sight. "We pitched our tents by the river, In a room along the street, Built fires and cooked our dinners, And dressed our bleeding feet."MARCH AND APRIL THE CAMP AT VALLEY FOBGE " The general planned our village, The streets were east and west. We dug the snow in trenches, A dozen men abreast. " Our huts were built by Christmas, Rough logs, a slab the door; The cracks with clay were plastered, The frozen ground the floor.THE BALLAD OF VALLEY FORGE 255 " Well, there we were all winter, Ten thousand men, or more, Oh, how can I remember, Or speak of what we bore!" THE STOKY OF WASHINGTON'S CLOAK " I had a burning fever, I had a freezing chill, I dreamed of killing Indians, I dreamed of Bunker Hill. " One night when I was better The guard was ordered out In front of Varnum's quarters, Before the Star Redoubt. " I thought I heard them call me, It was my turn to go; So I snatched a hat and musket, And hobbled through the snow. ' Along the roaring river, Beyond the narrow ford, Till near the outer picket — When all at once I heard256 MARCH AND APRIL " The General's voice — I harkened, And through the darkness broke His tall commanding figure, Wrapt in a martial cloak. "' Good evening, Nathan Baldwin, I am glad to see you out.' * It is my night on guard, sir, Before the Star Redoubt. "' I'll do my duty, General.' What did the General say ? He threw his cloak about me And slowly walked away. "' God bless you, sir,' I shouted, And as I strode along I laughed and cried together, And hummed a battle song." LITTLE ABNER AT VALLEY FORGE The outside latch was lifted, A draft blew in the room, They heard one calling, " Mother!'' And " Abner, fetch a broom."marion's men 257 The dog barked — Abner giggled — But Gran'ther shook his head — Now Mother brought the candles And the table soon was spread With the dishes on the dresser, And the loaf of wheat and rye, The baked beans from the oven, And a royal pumpkin pie. " Draw up, we're ready, Reuben. But where did Abner go ? " With Gran'ther's crutch for a musket, He was marching sad and slow, Freezing in thought at midnight, At Valley Forge in the snow. — Adapted from R» IL Stoddard. MARION'S MEN There were two brave men who fought the British in the South. One was General Sumter. He was called the " Game Cock." The other was General Marion. He was called the " Swamp Fox." 8258 MARCH AND APRIL Marion gave the British a great deal of trouble. Only for him they could have taken South Carolina. They sent a great army there to take him and his men. But they could not catch him! He would hide in the dark woods. Then he would come out when they did not expect him. When the battle was over he would go back to the woods again. The British called him the Swamp Fox. His soldiers were fond of him. SUMTEE They were ready to die rather than give in to the British. But they had a hard time of it. They slept on the ground without blankets. They had nothing to eat but potatoes and hominy. They were just a few brave men. There were not enough of them to be called an army. %MARION'S MEN 259 They had nothing but old-fashioned, worn-out guns with which to fight the British. When they wanted swords, they took the long saws out of the saw-mill. The blacksmith cut these into pieces. Then he hammered these pieces into swords. When they wanted bullets, they melted their pewter mugs and plates. One time Marion tried to take a Brit- ish fort. This fort was built on » -| MARION top of a little mound. Marion put his men around the fort so that the soldiers could not go out to get water. But the men in the fort dug a well. Marion made up his mind that he would have to try some other way. He sent his men to the woods to cut logs. They cut a great many. They laid some of them on the ground.260 MARCH AND APRIL Then they laid others on top of them, cross- wise. So they laid a great many rows on top of each other. All night they worked, building up these logs. In the morning there was a high tower. On the top of it were Marion's men. Now they could fire down into the fort. The British soldiers saw that it was of no use to hold out any longer. They were taken prisoners.sergeant .jasper 261 SERGEANT JASPER One of the bravest of Marion's men was Ser- geant Jasper. Here is one of his bold deeds : — The Americans were building a fort to keep Charleston safe. You know that Charleston is on the seacoast in South Carolina. The people were afraid that British ships would come and take the city. Sure enough, before the fort was finished the ships came. They began to fire upon the fort. But the fort was built of palmetto wood. A great deal of this grows in South Carolina. It is a soft wood, but tough. The cannon balls sunk into the soft, spongy wood. But they did not do much harm to the men inside the fort. One of these balls broke the flagstaff. The flag fell to the earth outside of the fort. Sergeant Jasper jumped down from the wall of the fort. He picked up the flag.262 march and april The balls were falling around him like hail- stones. He fastened the flag on the staff and hoisted it once more. This was a brave act. General Moultrie, the commander of the fori, was proud of his brave sergeant. He gave his own sword to Sergeant Jasper. This brave man was afterwards killed in battle. SONG OF MARION'S MEN Our band is few, but tried and true, Our leader frank and bold; The British soldier trembles When Marion's name is told. We have no fort but dark green woods, Our tent's a shady tree — We know the forest 'round us As sailors know the sea. 'Tis life to ride the fiery horse Across the moonlight plain, 'Tis life to feel the night wind That lifts his tossing mane.ethan allen 268 A moment in the British camp, A moment and away Back to the pathless forest Before the peep of day. —Adapted from William Cullen Bryant* ETHAN ALLEN Ethan Allen was a " Green Mountain " boy He lived in the backwoods of Vermont. You know that this state is called the "Green Mountain State." He was as tall as a giant. He was strong and brave. He got a little com- pany of men together, as brave as himself. "Let us strike a blow for our country," he said. "Lead the way! "We will follow you," said the Green Mountain Boys. So he led them to Lake Champlain. 264 MARCH AND APRIL This is between Vermont and New York. On the shore of this lake the British had a fort. It was called Fort Ticonderoga. It was night when the Green Mountain Boys got to the fort. The soldiers inside the fort were asleep. Everything was quiet. The water of the lake broke upon the shore in little waves. The sentinel was walking up and down, with his gun upon his shoulder. He did not dream of what was going to happen. All at onoe the Green Mountain Boys rushed upon him. They entered the fort. Ethan Allen rushed ahead. He ran into the room where the commander of the fort was asleep in bed. The officer opened his eyes. He must have been surprised to bee this young giant standing there. Maybe he was a little frightened. " I call upon you to give up this fort," cried Ethan Allen. " In whose name ? " asked the officer.general anthony wayne 265 "In the name of the great Jehovah and the Continental Congress ! " answered Ethan Allen. It was a fine thing for the Americans to get this fort. They got a great deal of gunpowder, too. This they wanted very much. GENERAL ANTHONY WAYNE Whenever there was a brave man needed for some bold deed, Washington was likely to call on Anthony Wayne. He was so full of courage that the peo- ple called him " Mad Anthony Wayne." But he was wise and prudent, too. The Indians called him "The Chief who never Sleeps " and " The Black Snake." Once the British held the top of a steep, stony hill on the Hudson River.266 MARCH AND APRIL It was called " Stony Point." " Mad Anthony " made up his mind to drive them away. His soldiers fixed their bayonets. There was no powder in their guns. They charged up the hill. " Mad Anthony " was at their head. It is not easy to climb up a steep hill at any time. It must be very much harder when some one at the top is firing a gun at you. A great many of these brave fellows never reached the top of that hill. But those who did get to the top gave the British a good trouncing. The British had to go away and leave the fort to the Americans. The people of Pennsylvania were very proud of Anthony Wayne. They tell many stories of him yet in Waynes- borough. They say that when he was a boy he was playing soldier all the time. He drilled and marched the other boys.GENERAL ANTHONY WAYNE 267 He made forts in the snow. His cannon balls were frozen snowballs. But all boys are fond of this sort of play. We are very glad that all these boys do not have to fire cannon balls when they grow up. We should be thankful that we live in a time of peace. War makes people miserable and unhappy. The poor men are killed or badly wounded. The women at home are crying for their hus- bands and fathers. Some brave women leave their homes and go to nurse the wounded soldiers. But it is a sad time for all. One night General Wayne and his soldiers had their camp near Waynesborough. The General had promised to visit his wife and little ones in the evening. But the evening passed, and he did not come. The poor lady was very uneasy. She was afraid something had happened. Sure enough, something had happened. A man came running past the house. He was out of breath. He called out, "The British came on us in the dark.268 MARCH AND APRIL " There were two of them to one of us. It was of no use to stand up against so many, so I ran away." This man was a coward. You may be sure that " Mad Anthony" would never have run away. Mrs. Wayne was very sad. She was afraid that her husband might be killed or taken prisoner. In a little while the sound of horses' hoofs was heard. The British soldiers came up. They placed themselves around the house. They did not want any one in the house to escape. They said that they were looking for General Wayne. They searched every room in the house. They looked in the closets and under the beds. They ought to have known better, for " Mad Anthony" was not the sort of a man to hide under a bed. But Mrs. Wayne let them do what they would. She was too happy to learn that her husband had not been killed nor taken prisoner.nathan hale 269 NATHAN HALE Heke is the story of another hero. His name was Nathan Hale. I hope that when you read the story of this young patriot, you will love him. He has not been loved and praised enough. In 1776 Washington and his soldiers were almost hopeless. They had been forced to leave New York. They were at Harlem Heights, near by. Many of the soldiers were sick. Others were half starved. There was no money to pay them. Winter was coming, and there were no blankets nor warm clothing. But the British soldiers were well cared for. They were crowing over the victories they had won. "We will soon crush these rebels," they were saying. They meant to go into New York and live there all winter..270 MARCH AND APRIL If Washington could find out the plans of the British, he might defeat them. So he said, " I must have some one to go into the British camp in disguise, and find out all their plans. Who will offer to do this ?" The officers looked at one another. No one was willing to undertake this dangerous errand. For it meant that he must become a spy! Every one scorns a spy. If the spy is caught, he is put to death in a shameful way — he is hanged. To shoot him would be too glorious a death for a spy. But here was something that had to be done for the country. Who will risk this shameful death ? The men who heard the question were brave men. Every one would gladly die on the battle- field for his country. " And perhaps I may become famous like Washington," each one thought in his heart. " But there is no fame for a spy. Nothing but the gallows if he is caught." All were silent. Once more the question is asked. " Who will offer to do this for his country ? " Suddenly a young officer entered the room.NATHAN HALE 271 He was very pale. He had been sick for a long time. " I will undertake it," he said. It was Captain Nathan Hale. Everybody was astonished. They all loved and admired him. His friends tried to persuade him to change his mind. He answered, " I know the danger of this errand. But it is a duty that some one must do. I wish to be useful. "Every kind of service for the good of one's country is honorable, if it is necessary." These are patriotic words. He was only twenty-one years old. He was going to give up all his hopes of fame and glory. He was going to give up his very life, perhaps, for his country. He was a handsome young man. He was tall and broad-chested. His hair was soft and light brown in color. His blue eyes beamed with kindness. He was quick to lend a helping hand to any- thing in distress. Every one loved him. Nathan Hale got ready for his errand. He took off his soldier's uniform. He put272 MAECH AND APRIL on a brown cloth suit and a broad-brimmed hat. He went into the British lines. He pretended to be a schoolmaster, who was looking for a situation. He pretended that he hated the "rebels," as the Americans were called. He talked and laughed, and made jokes with the soldiers. " He's a good sort of fellow, that Yankee school-teacher," said they. All the time he was finding out their secrets. When they were not looking, he made draw- ings of their forts. He wrote down notes of their plans in Latin, so that the British soldiers could not read them. They thought it was very natural for a schoolmaster to be writing in Latin. He wore shoes with loose inner soles. He hid these papers between the soles. At last he started back to the American camp. He was feeling quite happy. His errand was almost done. No one had suspected him. He had walked many miles away from the British camp.NATHAN HALE 273 He was going to Norwalk on the Sound. Here, in the morning, a boat was to come for him. He made up his mind to get his supper in the little inn, and to sleep there all night. He went into the inn. There was a number of persons in the room. One of the men looked at him sharply. Very soon this man left the room. Nathan Hale thought, " It seems to me that I have seen that man before." At daybreak he was up. He ran down to the shore to look for the boat. To his joy he saw it coming! At last his work was over. These were his friends. How glad they would be to find him safe and sound! But as it came near, he saw that the men in the boat were British sailors. He tried to run. A voice called, " Surrender or die!" Six muskets were pointed at him. He was taken prisoner, and carried in the little boat to the big British ship in the river. He was searched. The papers were found in his boots. *274 MARCH AND APRIL Thej took him to New York. They brought him to General Howe, the British commander. He did not deny that he was a spy. He said that he was sorry that he had not served his country better. He was sentenced to be hanged the next morning at daybreak. The British were very cruel to him. He asked for a Bible. They would not let him have one. He wrote letters saying "good by" to his mother and sister. They tore them up before his eyes. It was a beautiful September morning. The young hero was taken to a farm near New York. He was placed under a large apple tree. One of the strong limbs of this tree was to be the gallows. Even at that early hour men and women had come to see the sad sight. The women wept and sobbed. But the patriot was calm. Looking around upon the people, he said: — " I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country ! "jnax'hajn hale The brutal British officer called out: — " Swing the rebel off ! " And so ended the life of this hero spy. NATHAN HALE The breezes went steadily Through the tall pines, Saying oh ! hush! Quickly stole by A bold legion of horse, For Hale in the bush. " Keep still," said the thrush As she nestled her young In a nest by the road; " For the tyrants are near, And with them appear What brings us no good." The cool shades of night Were coming apace, The tattoo had beat, The noble one sprang From his dark lurking-place To make his retreat.MARCH AND APRIL He warily trod On the dry, rustling leaves, As he passed through the wood, And silently gained His rude boat on the shore As she played with the flood. The guards of the camp On that dark dreary night Had a murderous will; They caught him and bore him Afar from the shore To a hut on the hill. An ominous owl, With his solemn bass voice, Sat moaning hard by, " The tyrant's proud minions Most gladly rejoice, For he must soon die." They took him and bound him And bore him away Down the hill's grassy side. 'Twas there the base hirelings In royal array His cause did deride.benedict arnold 277 Five minutes were given, Short moments, no more, For him to repent. He prayed for his mother, He asked not another; To Heav?n he went. Thou pale king of terrors, Thou life's gloomy foe, Go frighten the slave; Fell tyrants, to you, Their allegiance they owe; No fears for the brave. — Old Song. BENEDICT ARNOLD Here is a story of a man who began by being a hero, and ended by being a traitor. Benedict Arnold was a brave soldier. He helped to win the glorious victory of Saratoga. In this battle he was wounded in the leg, and his horse was shot under him. For this brave conduct he ought to have been promoted by Congress.278 MARCH AND APRIL But he was neglected. Other men were placed ahead of him. He was very angry at being slighted in this way. Washington, too, was sorry for this, for he was a friend of Arnold. He wrote a letter to Congress about it. " There is not a better officer in the army,' he said. After this the wrong was righted, and Arnold was made a Major-General. He was given charge of the soldiers in Phila- delphia. But he still felt sore over the way in which Congress had treated him. He made friends with the people who did not love the young country. He spent a great deal of money. He could not pay his debts. Congress found fault with him. Now his story begins to be a very sad one. From this time Benedict Arnold begins to be a traitor. He thought, perhaps, " These people are ready enough to blame me, they are not so ready tc praise me."BENEDICT ARNOLD 278 He brooded over his wrongs until he felt him self a very ill-used man. He began to wish very much to hurt the people who had hurt him. He wished to strike a hard blow at this Congress which had slighted him and blamed him. He stored up in his heart wicked thoughts of jealousy and revenge. " How could he best strike this blow ?" he asked himself. " You are a good soldier. Fight against this people, not for them!" was the answer that came into his heart. And so he made up his mind to be one of the King's soldiers, and to fight against Washing- ton and the rest of the rebels. Think of it! But this was not all that he meant to do. He asked Washington to put him in com- mand at West Point. This is a strong fort on the Hudson River. Arnold meant to give up this fort to the Brit- ish, with all its soldiers and its guns. Washington believed and trusted him. He thought him a brave soldier and a good patriot280 MARCH AND APRIL How could Arnold bear so to deceive Wash- ington ! But he had so long cherished wicked thoughts that all the kind and good feelings were dead. After he was put in charge of West Point he wrote a letter to the British general in New York. This was Sir Henry Clinton. Arnold told him in this letter that he wished to join the British army, and that he would put West Point into the hands of the King's soldiers. When Sir Henry Clinton received this letter, he sent a young officer to talk to Benedict Arnold about it. This young man was called John Andre. He was handsome and brave; everybody loved him. He was fond of company. He liked to laugh and talk with the ladies. He could sing and write poetry. He could draw pictures and play on musical instruments. It was hard to believe that he could be a good soldier too. But when the time came he showed himself fearless as any old soldier.BENEDICT ARNOLD 281 He went to West Point and met Arnold in the woods at night. They talked all night. When daylight came, Andre wished to go back to New York. He had come in a boat called the Vulture, but it had gone down the river a little distance. So Major Andrd had to ride back to New York on horseback. To do this he would have to pass through the American lines. The soldiers would know by his uniform that he was a British officer. He took off his soldier's clothes, and put on a plain suit. The papers on which Arnold had written his plan for giving up the fort must be hidden away carefully. Andre pulled off his stocking and slipped them in the sole. He changed his name, too. He called him- self " Mr. John Anderson." Arnold gave him a pass to show to any one who might stop him. " Pass Mr. John Anderson through the lines. u Benedict Arnold."282 MARCH AND APRIL Andre now started to New York. To all the sentinels who stopped him he showed his pass. " All right! Pass on!" they said. He had nearly reached New York. All was going well. ■ " Soon the British ^ will be in West Point. The war will be over. " The Ameri- cans will be beaten. No inde- pendence for r them." ^ All at once his thoughts were broken in upon. Three young men suddenly jumped into the middle of the road, and pointed their pistols at him. They asked him who he was and where he was going. One wore a British soldier's coat. He thought that they were friends of the British.BENEDICT ARNOLD 288 (t Do not detain me," he said. I am a British officer, and I must hurry to New York." "Well, we are Americans, and you are our prisoner!" said they. Poor Andr6! They searched his pockets. They made him take off his boots. Then they found the papers. " He is a spy! " they shouted. They marched him to the American head- quarters and gave him up a prisoner. The next morning Benedict Arnold was expect- ing General Washington to breakfast with him. Every moment the guest was expected. A letter was brought in by a messenger. It told Arnold that Andre was caught, and all would soon be found out. You may be sure that he did not wait to see Washington. He kissed his wife and baby good by. He sprang upon his horse and galloped away. He reached the British lines in safety. When Washington came in to breakfast he was told that Arnold had fled. "Whom can we trust?" he said, and covering his face with his hands, he wept.284 march and april Benedict Arnold felt in after years a great deal of sorrow for what he had done. Before his death he had his old uniform brought to him. " Let me die in this old uniform in which I fought my battles. May God forgive me for ever putting on any other," he said. I can hardly bear to tell you what was done with John Andre. He was tried by a court martial. This is a court of soldiers, instead of a judge and jury. They declared him to be a spy. They sen- tenced him to be hanged. Poor young Andre was not afraid of death. But he asked them to shoot him like a soldier, not hang him like a villain. But the court would not change the sentence. ANDRE'S LAST REQUEST It is not the fear of death That damps my brow. It is not for another breath I ask thee now.ANDES'S LAST REQUEST 286 I can die with a lip unstirred, And a quiet heart. Let but this prayer be heard Ere I depart. I can give up my mother's look, My sister's kiss. I can think of love — yet brook A death like this! I can give up the young fame I burned to win. All but the spotless name I glory in. Thine is the power to give, Thine to deny, Joy for the hour I live, Calmness to die. By all the brave should cherish, By all my dying breath, I ask that I may perish By a soldier's death. — Nathaniel Parker Willis,286 march and april STORY OF ELIZABETH ZANE There was once a brave girl named Elizabeth Zane. She did something of which a brave man might be proud. This is the story. She lived in a little village called Wheeling, on the banks of the Ohio River. This was a new country then. There were not many white people living in it. The Indians hated these newcomers. Whenever they caught a white man they scalped him. And when a white man caught an Indian, he killed him. In the village of Wheeling the white people had built a log fort. It was something like the old block-houses that you have read about. Around the fort was a stockade. This is a fence made by setting posts in the ground close together. Whenever the Indians attacked the village, all the people ran into the fort for safety. In 1777 these Indians were helping the Brit- ish against the Americans.STORY OF ELIZABETH ZANE 28? A party of them came to take Fort Henry, as it was called. All the people went into the fort, and the gates were shut. The men inside now fired out through the logs on the Indians. They were all good shots. For these men were hunters. Then the head man sent out fourteen of the men to drive the Indians away. But the Indians were so many that the whites were nearly all killed. Then some more men went out of the fort, but they were all killed. Then the Indians went a little way off to rest. Then there were only twelve men left in the fort. And the powder was nearly all gone. There was a keg of powder in a house a little distance away. If they only had that keg of powder, they might still hold the fort. But who would go for it ? Any one who went outside of the fort would surely be fired at by the Indians. Two or three of the young men offered to go.288 MARCH AND APRIL The head man said, "We can only spare.one of you. Settle it among yourselves which it shall be." Then spoke out Elizabeth Zane. " Let me go for the powder." But every one said, "No; we would not let a girl go on such a dangerous errand." Her friends begged her with tears not to think of doing it. But she had made up her mind to go for the powder. "We cannot spare one man/' she said. "I am only a girl, and will not be missed." At last she had her own way. They opened the gate of the fort a little bit, and she ran out. The Indians saw her come out. They did not shoot. Maybe they thought that it was not worth while to shoot a girl. She reached the house. She poured the powder into her apron. Then she started to run back to the fort. But now the Indians seemed all at once to know what she had gone for. They gave a wild yell. They fired their guns at her.STORY OF ELIZABETH ZANE 289 But none of the bullets hit her. Faster than ever she ran. She got through the gate just as another shower of bullets came from the Indians. Now the Indians tried to break in the door. This was their plan : — They found a hollow maple log. They plugged up one end of .' They made a cannon. They got iron chains from a blacksmith's shop in the village. These they tied around the log. Then they filled the hollow with gunpowder. They rammed stones and bits of broken iron into it until it was full. They pushed this strange cannon nearly to the door of the fort. Then they set a fire to it. There was a loud noise! There was a horrible yell! The old log had burst. It had killed many Indians. It had not hurt the fort. After a while some soldiers from another place came to the help of the people in the fort. But it was Elizabeth Zane who had saved the fort. e.UiMiTHE TREE What do we plant when we plant the tree ? We plant the ship which will cross the sea. We plant the mast to carry the sails, We plant the planks to withstand the gales, The keel, the keelson, the beam, and knee. We plant the ship when we plant the tree. What do we do when we plant the tree ? We plant the house for you and me. We plant the rafters, the shingles, the floors. We plant the studding, the lath, the doors, The beams and siding, all parts that be. We plant the house when we plant the tree. What do we plant when we plant the tree ? A thousand things that we daily see. We plant the spire that out-towers the crag. We plant the staff for our country's flag. We plant the shade from the hot sun free. We plant all these when we plant the tree. — Henry Abbey m294 arbor day ARBOR DAY When the white people first came to this country, the trees were so plentiful that they were in the way. Almost the first thing that each new group of settlers did was to make a " clearing." They did this by cutting down some trees. Out of these they then built their log cabins. The trees were thus very useful to them. Indeed, they were so useful that the settlers went on cutting them down, without much thought. Still there were plenty left. Perhaps you may remember the way that the Indians fought. There must have been a great many trees in the time of the Revolution. Farther west, in the time of Daniel Boone, and later, in the boyhood of Lincoln, trees were even in the way. But now how is it ? Are there many trees in New York, or Boston, or Philadelphia, or in Chicago or St. Louis, or San Francisco ?arbor day 295 Are not even our lovely mountain sides almost bare of trees ? Is this because we are trying to get rid of the trees? Surely not, for the living trees are very good to us. They give us shade. They give us purer air. They bring the rain. They break the force of storms. No; it is not because we want to get rid of the living trees. It is because we can sell the trees for lum- ber, for fuel, for paper pulp. And because we get money for the dead trees we sometimes forget the greater good which we receive from the living trees. Did you ever hear of killing two birds with one stone? Well, we can do that with the trees. We can use all the old trees that we need. But we must plant new trees in theif places. Our wise country knows this. And so she asks even the little children to join her in planting trees on Arbor Day.296 arbor day PLANT A TREE He who plants a tree Plants a hope. Rootlets up through fibres blindly grope, Leaves unfold unto horizons free. So man's life must climb From the clods of time Unto heavens sublime. Canst thou prophesy, thou little tree, What the glory of the boughs shall be ? He who plants a tree Plants a joy; Plants a comfort that will never cloy; Every day a fresh reality. Beautiful and strong, To whose shelter throng Creatures blithe with song. If thou couldst but know, thou happy tree, Of the bliss that shall inhabit thee ! —Adapted from, Lucy Larcomthe liberty trees 29? THE LIBERTY TREES Ten years before the Revolution began, the people met under certain trees to talk about their troubles. These trees were called " Liberty Trees." Sometimes a small red cap was placed on top. This was done so that every one might know that the tree stood for liberty. There was a magnificent elm in Boston on Washington Street, called the "Liberty Elm." Under it were held some of the meetings against the Stamp Act.298 arbor day On • its branches they hung effigies of the royal governor. Four months later, he read hig resignation under the same tree. But finally the British soldiers cut it down and burned it for fuel. In South Carolina the Declaration ot Inde- pendence was read under a Liberty Oak. This tree, too, was soon after cut down and burned by the British. OTHER FAMOUS TREES broke the treaty. " The elm, in all its branches green, Is fairest of all God's stately trees." , The great Treaty Elm on the Delaware was blown down many years ago. Stelar-' This was the tree '4$:' under whose branches w* Penn made that fa- mous peace treaty You remember that neither the Indians nor Penn ever with the Indians.OTHER FAMOUS TREES 299 THE WASHINGTON" ELM, CAMBBIDGE, MASS. Under this tree, in 1775, Washington took command of the Continental army. It is still alive. It still tells its long story to all wise little boys and girls who listen hard as the wind blows softly through its branches.300 arbor day " The birch, most shy and ladylike of trees." — James Russell Lowell HIAWATHA'S CANOE Said Hiawatha: — " Give me of your bark, 0 Birch Tree! Lay aside your cloak, 0 Birch Tree! Lay aside your white skin wrapper, For the summer time is coming And the sun is warm in heaven, And you need no white skin wrapper."HIAWATHA'S CANOE And the tree with all its branches Rustled in the breeze of morning, Saying with a sigh of patience: "Take my cloak, 0 Hiawatha!" " Give me of your boughs, 0 Cedar! My canoe to make more steady, Make more strong and firm beneath me.1 Through the summit of the Cedar Went a sound—a cry of horror, But it whispered, bending downward, " Take my boughs, O Hiawatha."302 ARBOR DAY " Give me of your roots, 0 Tamarack ! Of your fibrous roots, 0 Larch Tree! My canoe to bind together." And the Larch, with all its fibres, Shivered in the air of morning, Touched his forehead with its tassels, Said, with one long sigh of sorrow, "Take them all, 0 Hiawatha." " Give me of your balm, 0 Fir Tree! Of your balsam and your resin, So to close the seams together, That the water may not enter And the river may not enter." And the Fir Tree, tall and sombre, Answered wailing, answered weep- ing* " Take my balm, 0 Hiawatha." Thus the birch canoe was builded In the valley, by the river,HIAWATHA'S CANOE 303 And the forest's life was in it. All its mystery and its magic, All the lightness of the birch tree, All the toughness of the cedar, All the larch's supple sinews ; And it floated on the river Like a yellow leaf in Autumn, Like a yellow water lily. —Adapted from LongfellowSOME STORIES OF BRAVE SEA CAPTAINS 305OUR FIRST SAILORS We did not have any big ships to fight Eng- land with in the Revolution. England was very hard to beat at sea. She was called the " Mistress of the Sea." Even countries as great as herself could not whip her seamen nor take her ships. A young country like the United States had to have a great deal of pluck to try it. But the people here were not afraid of Eng- land ; and they were not afraid of the sea. Most of the people then lived on the seacoast, as you know. They travelled by water. They carried their goods from one place to another by water. Some one said of them that they were a "web-footed people." Do you know what this means ? If we did not have big war-ships, we had little ships that did good service. Daring American captains put to sea in them They fought the British merchant ships. 307308 some stories of brave sea-captains They took kegs of gunpowder from the Brit* ish ships for the Americans to use in the war. One time they got ten thousand suits of clothes from a British ship. These were meant for the British soldiers here. But ten thousand brave American soldiers were kept warm in them that winter. CAPTAIN JOHN PAUL JONES Captain John Paul Jones was a great man of this time. He was a Scotchman. He was not obliged to fight our battles. But he was fond of liberty. He was willing to help any people to get this precious thing. One time he ran across a great English war-ship. This was near the coast of Scotland. The big English ship was called the Serapis.CAPTAIN JOHN PAUL JONES 309 Paul Jones' little ship was called the Bon' homme Richard. This means Goodman Richard. It was a good fighter, at any rate. The battle lasted a long time. At first, it was like two men sparring. One tries to get a blow in. The other dodges. Then the second gives a blow. Perhaps the first man does not dodge in time. He is hit. The big ship seemed to be getting the better of the sturdy little one. The little one was get- ting hit too often. Then John Paul Jones took thick ropes. He lashed the two ships together. Now it was as if the two men were locked close in each other's arms. One man has the other's head under his arm. He is punching him. So the Bonhomme Richard came to close quarters with the Serapis. It was too much for the big fighter. The Serapis gave up. But the brave little Bonhomme Richard was so cut up that she sank to the bottom. John Paul Jones took all his men on board the Serapis.310 some stories of brave sea-captains CAPTAIN LAWRENCE Another brave sea-captain was Captain Law- rence. He was commander of the ship Chesapeake. He fought bravely with the Brit- ship Shannon. They took these brave words as their battle - cry. " Don't give up the ship! " This has been a watchword for brave men and women ever since. When you have something hard to do, strug- gle with it bravely. In the midst of the fight, his men saw him stagger and fall. " Don't give up the ship!" he cried to his They carried him ten- derly from the deck to the cabin. He was shot, and must soon die. men.CAPTAIN LAWRENCE 311 Do not let it conquer you. Say to your- self:— " Don't give up the ship!' This brave Captain Lawrence was fighting in a second war that we had with England. This is called the " War of 1812." There were many famous fights at sea in this war. The English could not believe that their big ships were beaten. The news of the first great fight at sea soon came to England. This is what an English paper said about it: — " On the 19th of August, the United States ship Constitution met the King's ship Guerriere. u The King's ship, it is said, went down. " Nothing is impossible! Not even for a man to bite his own nose off! " But we do not believe—that the King's ship has gone down."312 some stories of brave sea-captains COMMODORE PERRY There were some British ships in Lake Erie Young Oliver Perry was sent to fight them. He put up on his flagship a banner. It had on it the words of Lawrence: —■ : Don't give up the ship." ' During the battle this flag- ship was riddled with shot. It was fast going to the bottom. Perry took his banner down. He got into a small boat, to be rowed to an- other ship. Hp stood up in the row-boat with his banner in his hand. The shot was falling like hail about him. But he got safely on board the other ship. He began the battle again. The British ships were taken by the Americans. This is the way that Perry sent the news:—■ "We have met the enemy, and they are ours."MAT 4, 1780, BIRD DAY iSpi|iisES&fiA III ''Uk^J^rL- liiiiiii!!ll!!M;lliiH.H!JOHN JAMES AUDUBON To-day is the birthday of a man who knew more about American birds than any other man of his time. This was because he loved them dearly. Even when he was a little boy in dresses he used to lie under the trees in spring listening to their songs. This was in Louisiana. There it is warm enough to live out of doors almost all the year. As Audubon grew older, he loved to draw and paint the birds. But he was never quite satisfied with his work. Therefore he was very glad when his father sent him to France to study. For in France there lived a great painter, named David. With David he learned how to draw and paint. When he came back to this country he lived for a while not far from Yalley Forge, in Penn- sylvania. 315316 MAT Here he was happy in the woods with his friends. He brought the animals into the house, too. How would you like to live in the same room with frogs and snakes, and opossums and raccoons and squirrels and birds ? Sometimes Audubon put on a handsome black satin suit with long lace ruffles, and rode on horseback through the country. On one of these trips he met his future wife. She liked him from the first, even, for he was very gay and handsome, as well as clever and good. She believed in him, and knew that he would some day become a great man. She helped him to become one, too. For when later he became very poor, she herself earned three thousand dollars for him. But Audubon worked hard himself. He painted portraits. He taught dancing. He often played the fiddle and danced at the same time. And all this time he was studying and draw- ing the birds. Perhaps this is what kept him so happy.JOHN JAMES AUDUBON 817 After years of hard work he had painted a thousand birds. But still he was not satisfied. He had already travelled all over the country, looking for new ones. But he thought that he must paint a few more. So he put his beautiful pictures in the garret of a friend in Philadelphia. When he came back for them, the rats had eaten them. They had even made a nest of the pieces. This nearly broke his heart. But he did not give up. He said, "I can make better paintings than those." And he did. Last year, in New. York, a copy of Audubon's book of Birds was sold for eighteen hundred dollars. The man who bought it thinks that he is very fortunate to have such a beautiful book. We are not wise enough to write about tha birds as Audubon did. Nor could we paint them as he did.818 MAX But even we can do something for the birds. We can, perhaps, keep ourselves and othera from robbing their nests. We should not wear stuffed birds on our hats. We not only help the birds by this. We also help the country. For many birds do us a great deal of good. They eat the caterpillars that do so much damage to the plants. And then how beautiful they are! And ho"v» sweet is their song I SOME OP THE SONG BIRDS THAT HELP US ROBIN When the willows gleam along the brooks, And the grass grows gieen in shady nooks, In the sunshine and the rain I hear the robin in the lane Singing cheerily, Cheer up, cheer up, Cheerily, cheerily, Cheer up.SONG BIRDS THAT HELP US 81a But the snow is still Along the walls and on the hill. The days are cold, the nights forlorn, For one is here, and one is gone. Tut, tut, cheerily, Cheer up, cheerily, Cheerily, cheerily, Cheer up. When the spring hope seems to wane, I hear the joyful strain, A song at night, a song at morn, A lesson deep to me is borne. Hearing cheerily, Cheer up, cheer up, Cheerily, cheerily, Cbeer up. —»From In a Masque of Poet*820 MAT ROBIN " From the North and the East, From the South and the West, Woodland, wheatfield, Over and over, And over and over, Five o'clock, ten o'clock, Twelve, or seven, Nothing but Robin calls Heard under heaven." FEOM THE " BLUEBIRD" Sing strong and clear, 0 Bluebird dear, While all the land with splendor fills, Sidney Lanier The Bluebird seeks our maple groves And charms them intf tasselling. Drifting adown the first warm wind, That thrills the first warm days of spring,SONG BIRDS THAT HELP US 321 While maples gladden in the dales. And plum trees blossom in the vales. — Maurice Thompson " My creamy breast is speckled (Perhaps you'd call it freckled) Black and brown. r< My pliant russet tail Beats like a frantic flail, Up and down. " In the top branch of a tree You may chance to glance at When I sing. BROWN THRUSH322 MAY " But I'm very, very shy, When I silently float by, On the wing. " Whew there! Hi there! Such a clatter I What's the matter ? what's the matter ? Really, really ? " Digging, delving, raking, sowing, Corn is sprouting, corn is growing! Plant it, plant it! " Gather it, gather it! Thresh it, thresh it! Hide it, hide it, do! (I see it — and you.) Oh! — I am that famous scratcher, H-a-r-p-o-r-h-y-n-c-h-u-s-r-u-f-u-s — Thrasher — Cloaked in brown." —Mabel Osgood Wrightswallow 823 SWALLOW "What tidings hath the swallow heard That bids her leave the land of Summer, For woods and fields where April yields Bleak welcome to the blithe newcomer ? " # * # # # " She is here, she is here, the Swallow, Fair seasons bringing, fair years to follow." —Boubdillom324 MAY HOW WE REACHED THE PACIFIC This was such a pleasant land that more and more people came every year to live in it. Look at the boys and girls in your class. This one's father or grandfather came from Germany. That one's came from France. An- other is an Englishman, or Irishman, or Pole, or Italian.. One reason why people liked to live here was that they were free. They could choose their own rulers. They did not have to obey a cruel king. They could go to the church they liked best. They did not have to pay heavy taxes. They could say what the money of the gov- ernment should be spent for. They also found that the land was rich and fertile. In Virginia people got rich by raising tobacco. And there was so much land that everybody could have a large piece. m.bice 826 Broad pastures fed sheep and cows. Fields of wheat and corn grew in the North. In South Carolina rice was planted. * RICE Did you ever hear the story of the way in which rice was grown in South Carolina ? Well, once on a time there was no rice grow- ing in South Carolina. It came a stranger to this country, too, just as the people did. A man named Thomas Smith who lived in Charleston had once lived in a country where rice grew.326 MAT He had noticed that it was always planted in wet ground. There was a great deal of wet soil in South Carolina. Nothing would grow in it. "I wish that I had some rice seed," said Smith. " I would try it on this wet ground. I think that it would grow." A few days after this a ship was driven on shore by a storm. The captain of the ship turned out to be an old friend of Smith. The ship had just come from the country where rice grew. Smith asked the captain if he had any seed rice. Seed rice is the kind to sow in the ground. The captain found one little bag of seed rice. Smith planted this in the wet ground in his garden. It grew fast. He gave some of the seed to the neighbors. Soon this part of the country was covered with rice-fields. Ship loads were sold to other countries.COTTOjS 327 COTTON Did you ever see the cotton plant ? Is it not one of the prettiest things that you ever laid eyes on ? Try to think of acres and acres of land covered with these white fuzzy balls! What a beau-^ tiful sight! Like the fields in win- ter covered with snow, perhaps you are thinking. Yes, but over these fields is shining the hot summer sun. And black men, almost naked, are in the fields. They are gathering into baskets the snowy balls. I ' >,• iV328 may SLAVES They are the negro slaves. We have no slaves in our country now. We are glad of this. But years and years ago people did not think it was wrong to make slaves of the negroes. In 1619 a ship came into the harbor of James- town. It had on board nineteen negro men. These men were sold to the white planters of Virginia.SLAVES 329 These were the first slaves in our country. But other ships came with more slaves for sale. When rice and corn were planted, more slaves were bought. The black man could stand the work in the hot sunny fields better than the white man. He came from Africa, which is a very warm country. If a slave had little children born, these boys and girls were slaves, too. Their masters might sell them to other mas- ters. The poor, children might have to go many miles away, and never see their parents again. Some masters were cruel. They whipped their slaves and made them work very hard. Other masters were kind. They treated their slaves gently, and cared for them in their old age. There were no slaves in the North. In the North it is too cold to raise rice and cotton.830 MAT JOHN BROWN John Brown's body lies a mould'ring in the grave, His soul is marching on! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah i His soul is marching on. The stars of heaven are looking kindly down On the grave of old John Brown. Glory! Glory ! Hallelujah! His soul is marching on. He has gone to be a soldier, in the army of the Lord. His soul is marching on. Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! His soul is marching on. THE GROWTH WESTWARD " Westward the course of Empire takes its way." Some people want a great deal of "elbow room." They were people of this sort who went west. The east was too crowded for them.THE GROWTH WESTWARD 331 You have read some stories of one of these daring men. I mean Daniel Boone. You have seen how hard it was to build homes in the wilderness. Think of the hard times that Abraham Lin- coln had! But in spite of hunger and sickness, and the cruel Indians, new homes were made. Villages grew into towns, and towns into cities. Our country spread west until it reached the " King of waters." That is the Mississippi. Then it grew and grew, until it spread out to the Rocky Mountains. The years passed. Our country was still growing. It grew just as a boy grows with the years. There comes a time when he does not grow any more in height. He is a man. He may grow broader, perhaps, and wiser. So our country grew as far west as it ever could grow when it reached California. Then it could call its own the shore of the Pacific Ocean. We have at last reached the Pacific Ocean! And it is not so near Baltimore as John Smith once thought it was. Is it ?332 may BALBOA Perhaps you would like to know the name of the man who first found this great ocean. His name was Balboa. He was a Spaniard. He crossed the ocean about twenty years after Columbus. He was very good to the Indians. They sent him as a present a box full of gold. When the box was opened, the white men began to quarrel about the gold. Each man wanted the biggest share for himself. The Indian chief said, " Shame, white men! There is a land not far away where there is plenty of gold for all." He offered to show them the way to this land. One bright morning they started out. They crossed some mountains. " Beyond these moun- tains," said the Indian, " is a great ocean. There also is the land of gold." Balboa made his men wait for him on a ridge of the mountain. He went to the top alone. He wanted to see this great ocean first.balboa 333 There it lay, sparkling so peacefully. There was the great ocean never before seen by a white man. He fell on his knees and said a prayer. He called his men. They went down to the shore. Balboa stepped into the water. He said that he took this ocean and its shores for the King of Spain. He saw the mountain's far blue height Whence golden waters flow. Then with his men he scaled the crags, Three hundred years ago. He gained the turret crag — alone — And wept! to see below An ocean boundless and unknown, Three hundred years ago. And while he raised upon that height The banner of his lord, A mighty purpose grasped him still As still he grasped the sword. Then down he rushed with all his men, As headlong rivers flow, And plunged knee-deep into the sea, Three hundred years ago.334 MAT And while he held above his head The conquering flag of Spain, He waved his gleaming sword and smote The waters of the Main : For Home! for Leon! and Castille! Thrice gave the cleaving blow. And thus Balboa claimed the sea, Three hundred years ago. — T. Buchanan Read. So Mexico and California belonged to Spain for two hundred years. In 1845 the United States had a war with Mexico. After the war, Mexico gave California to the United States. GOLD IN CALIFORNIA Most of the people who lived in California spoke Spanish. They were a quiet people. They raised cattle. After a while some of the people in the United States who wanted elbow room moved into California.GOLD IN CALIFORNIA 835 Then was found the " Land of Gold " of which the Indian had told Balboa. This is the way it was found. A man named Sutter moved into Califoiv nia. He built a house for himself. It was called Sutter's fort. He had a great deal of land. He raised cat- tle. He traded with the Indians. After a while he thought that he would build a sawmill. This had to be built on the banks of a run- ning stream. This stream was forty miles from Sutter's fort. He sent a carpenter and some workmen to build this sawmill. The carpenter's name was Marshall. He and his men worked for some months. To make the mill run well, he had to dig a ditch to carry off the water. One morning he went out to see how the men were getting along with this work. The water was very clear. He could see the pebbles in the bottom of the ditch. He thought that he saw, too, a little yellow bead.336 MAY He stooped down and picked it up. It was about the size of a pea. He found other yellow beads. His heart began to beat quickly. Perhaps this was gold, and he had become a rich man. He hammered it with a stone. It did not break. Now he felt almost sure that it was gold. The men dug up some ounces of the yellow stuff. Marshall rode back to Sutter's fort. He rushed into Sutter's house all spattered with mud. His eyes were wild. He was very much excited. He locked the door. Then he showed Sutter the yellow beads. Sutter weighed the yellow stuff and found that it was gold. After a while the news spread. People came from all over the country to dig for gold. Thousands of men came. Millions of dollars' worth of gold was found. California became a rich State.GENERAL ULYSSES SIMPSON GRANT Born April 27, 1822 Died July 23, 1885 " Let us have Peace.55 337838 MAY BOYHOOD Here is the story of an Ohio boy who became great and. famous. He was born in a little frame house on the banks of the Ohio River. Near by was his father's tanyard. It was full of the reddish powder that is made from grinding to dust the barks of trees. This powder is used to turn skins into soft leather. The baby was christened Ulysses. This seems a strange name for a tanner's son. For Ulysses was a great soldier of Greece. He was so brave and wise that we still know him, although he lived thousands of years ago. Now it was not at all likely that this little baby would have to fight any bat,ties when he grew to be a man. His father would be glad to have his help in the tanyard, I suppose. But maybe the spirit of old dead and gone Ulysses was tickled at having this little tanner's boy named after him. ^rhaps he said to himself: —GENERAL ULYSSES SIMPSON GRANT 339 "I shall make my little namesake a great soldier, too." For, indeed, that is just what happened. This boy became our greatest soldier. To-day the poor little house in which he was born is kept as a precious treasure. It has been moved to the city of Columbus, the capital of Ohio. There it is kept in the park, in a sort of house- box of brick and glass. People are fond of looking at the humble birthplace of such a great man. The father of Ulysses moved to another house soon after the baby was born. Here he had a farm as well as a tanyard. The little boy never liked the tanyard. But he was happy on the farm. He was very fond of horses. When he was six years old he could ride horseback better than any man in the place. Once his father took him to a circus, and let him ride a fiery little pony around the ring. He was the leader in all sports that boys love — fishing, hunting, swimming, and skating.340 MAT He was clever at jumping and wrestling in the tanyard. But it. was not all play for Ulysses. He had to go to school. It seems that he did not like school very much. Then he had to do " chores " on the farm. He helped to take care of the live stock, — that is, the horses and cows and pigs and sheep. He hauled wood. He could hold a plough and turn a furrow. He helped to bring in the hay and grain. Perhaps you are beginning to think that old Ulysses has forgotten his namesake. " He is going to become a farmer, after all," you are saying. But old Ulysses knew what he was about. He had been something of a farmer himself, before he was a soldier. He knew that this was the best training for a soldier. A soldier must know how to ride a horse so well that it will not throw him. It may plunge and rear in battle, but the good soldier sits firm in the saddle. And surely a soldier must know how to swim.general ulysses simpson grant 341 Often an army, in making a long march, comes to a river. The soldier must cross it. He cannot wait for a fine yacht to carry him across. He can- not wait to take off his heavy knapsack or boots. He just plunges in and swims across. So the young Ulysses was getting some of his training as a soldier. But he did not know it, any more than you would have known it. AT WEST POINT At last, when Ulysses was seventeen years old, his father thought that he would send him to West Point. West Point is the school on the Hudson where our boys are taught to be soldiers. I have no doubt that it was old Ulysses who put this thought in the tanner's head. So, Ulysses Simpson Grant became a cadet at West Point. "What's the new boy's name?" asked the other cadets. "U.S.Grant."342 MAY " Ha! ha ! " they laughed, " U. S., the United States; he has the same letters as Uncle Sam." So they nicknamed him " Uncle Sam/' and he was called " Sam " Grant. Perhaps you would like to know what sort of a looking boy " Sam " Grant was. He was short and plump. He had a freckled face, straight sandy hair, and blue eyes. He was quiet and shy. He never bragged about what he could do. He never told a lie. " Did Sam Grant say so ? Oh! then it's all right," the boys would say. He could take a joke, and did not get angry easily. But he was ready to fight back. He was a little bit lazy, but he was not stupid. There was one thing he could do better than any other boy in school. That was to ride a horse. Once, on the back of his horse "York," he took a high jump over a bar that was six feet from the ground. This is talked about at West Point yet. They call it " Grant's upon York." At last his school days came to an end. He went home as Lieutenant Grant.general ulysses simfson graot 343. HIS FIRST TASTE OF WAR Very soon, this young soldier had to go to war. Our country had a quarrel with Mexico. So she called out her soldiers to fight the Mexicans. Young Lieutenant Grant says that he did not feel very happy when he was going into his first battle. The noise of the guns, and the roar and smoke of the cannons, made him homesick. He felt that he would like to see his mother. Now I can see some little youngster laughing at the idea of a big soldier wanting to see his mother. But there are many great soldiers who have felt just the same way. That does not keep them from being brave and doing their duty. So this young soldier made a name for himself during the two years of this war. There is a famous ride made by the young lieutenant. A battle was going on. The soldiers needed more ammunition.344 MAY Who would ride to the town and order it 1 It was a dangerous ride. People would fire at him from housetops and windows. Grant threw himself upon his horse and rode it as you have sometimes seen a circus rider do. He swung himself against the horse's side, with one heel in the saddle, and one hand hold- ing on to the horse's mane. He made a short cut by jumping over a wall. He kept on until he got to the place where he gave his message. Had he not been learning how to be a soldier, on his father's farm ? In this war he learned many more lessons that a soldier has to learn. He learned to be patient; to be obedient; to endure cold and hunger, and long and tiresome marches. He was learning to be a better soldier in a greater war. The old Ulysses, perhaps, knew this. But Grant did not know it. He was glad when the war was over. He did not like war, and could not bear the sight of blood.general ulysses simpson gkant 34o BETWEEN TIMES When the war with Mexico was over, it really seemed as if this soldier would have to become a farmer. He was married now, and had little chil- dren. His pay as a soldier was not enough to sup- port them. So he got a little farm. He had to build his own house. He carted the stones for the cellar. He hauled the logs for the walls. He split the shingles for the roof. When his house was built, he began to raise potatoes and corn and wheat. Sometimes he would cut a load of wood and carry it into the town, and sell it from door to door. But times were hard and money was scarce. He called his farm " Hardscrabble," because he found life there such a hard " scrabble." After trying to get along in this way, he had to give it up. " I can't make a go of it here," he said ; " I must leave."846 MAY So Captain Grant moved to Illinois and was made a clerk in his father's leather store. This was a pretty business for a man named Ulysses, was it not! We should like to know what old Ulysses was thinking of, to let his namesake do this work. But all at once came the call to arms ! Another war ! A terrible war ! The war between the North and South! The quiet man who walked every morning from his home to the leather store, and every evening back again, was changed to the soldier, Ulysses. v. GRANT IN THE CIVIL WAR One of the first great things that General Grant and his army did in the war, was to take Fort Donelson on the Mississippi River. The fight had lasted a long time. The gen- eral inside the fort asked Grant on what terms he would let him surrender ? " Unconditional surrender," said Grant. By that he meant that they should give up themselves, and all they had, or he would fight them over again, and make them give up.GENERAL ULYSSES SIMPSON GRANT 347 The people in the North were glad at the falj of this fort. " Who is this man, Grant ? " they said. Then when they saw the first letters of his name, U.S., they called him: — " Unconditional Surrender Grant." He won so many battles, that, at last, the President made him commander of the whole army. The President was Abraham Lincoln. You read about this great man a few weeks ago. Now for the first time, these two great men met each other. Lincoln was tall and ungainly, but he had an earnest face and beautiful eyes. Grant was a foot shorter than the President. His shoulders were slightly stooping. He had a quiet face and a steady eye. You must read, when you are older, about all the great battles of this war. General Grant was trying to take Richmond. General Lee was trying to keep it for the South.348 MAY Richmond was the capital of the Southern States. He went on inch by inch. If he was defeated one day, he tried again the next. He did not change his mind. He did not alter his plan. " He holds on like a bull-dog," some one said of him. " I shall fight it out on this line, if it takes all summer," he said himself. At last, the end came. " Lee has surrendered ! " There was joy throughout the country. In many places bells rang, bonfires blazed, guns were fired. Grant was the hero of the hour. There were other great generals, too, who helped General Grant to bring the war to an end. If we have not told about them, it is because this is a story of General Grant. Grant himself says in one of his letters that he could not have done what he did without them. There was Sherman who marched with his army through Georgia.general ulysses simpson grant 349 Do you not know the song: — " Hurrah! Hurrah! We bring the jubilee. Hurrah! Hurrah! the flag that makes us free! So we sang the chorus from Atlanta to the sea, While we were march- ing through Geor- gia." MARCHING THROUGH GEORGIA Bring the good old bugle, boys! We'll sing, another song — Sing it with a spirit That will start the world along} Sing it as we used to sing it, Fifty thousand strong, While we were marching through Georgia. Hurrah ! Hurrah! we bring the jubilee! Hurrah! Hurrah! the flag that makes us free! So we sang the chorus from Atlanta to the sea, While we were marching through Georgia.850 MAT How the darkies shouted When they heard the joyful sound! How the turkeys gobbled Which the commissary found ! How sweet potatoes even Started from the ground! While we were marching through Georgia. — Henry C. Work. FROM "ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S CHRISTMAS GIFT" Click ! click! across the electric wire Came suddenly flashing words of fire, And a great shout broke from city and town, At the news of Sherman's marching down, Marching down on his way to the sea, Through the Georgia swamps to victory. Faster and faster the great news came, Flashing along like tongues of flame! McAllister ours! Ah! then, ah! then, To that patientest, tenderest, noblest of men, This message from Sherman came flying swift, " I send you Savannah for a Christmas gift!" —Nora Perrygeneral ulysses simpson grant 351 There was Sheridan who made a wonderful ride and kept Lee's army from getting away. And we all know Meade, the hero of the battle of Gettys- burg. All these great men get their share of praise. So the long war ended, and the tan- ner's son was the greatest soldier in the land. I wonder if the spirit of old Ulysses smiled ? GRANT AS PRESIDENT " Let us have peace." Grant said these great words. The people repeated them. They took them as their motto. They made this soldier, who wanted peace, President. They liked his way of doing things so well, that they made him President a second time. He was President in 1876, which was our country's one hundredth birthday.352 MAY There was a great World's Fair in Philadel- phia in honor of this birthday. You remember that it was in Philadelphia that the Declaration of Independence was signed. On the fourth of July, 1876, President Grant opened this great Fair. When his term as President was over, Grant thought that he would take a vacation. He had earned it, do you not think so ? HOW GRANT SPENT HIS VACATION General Grant wished to see the world. It may be that old Ulysses had something to do with this, too. For he was a great traveller, and met with many strange adventures. You will some day read of these travels of the Greek Ulysses. They are told in a beautiful poem called the " Odyssey " But I shall tell you here just a little of the travels of our Ulysses. Our Ulysses was a very modest man. He would have been satisfied to go abroadGENERAL ULYSSES SIMPSON GRANT 853 " on his own hook " like any plain, simple man. But the country would not have it so. Our government sent letters to the rulers of other countries to say that General Grant was going to pay them a visit. So they were all on the lookout for him. Now it is almost like a fairy tale, to read about General Grant's travels. He took dinner with the Queen of England, in Windsor Castle. He made a call on the Emperor of Germany. He met the President of France, who was also a great soldier. He visited the King of Italy. He talked with the Emperor of Austria, and with the Czar of Russia. But he enjoyed just as much his chances of talking with the people. The workingmen of England cheered him heartily. He liked this, for had he not been a working- man himself ? Then he went into India, to China, to Japan. Everywhere he was treated like a king. Think of it! This poor boy who had begun life in a frame cabin. 8 A354 MAY At last he steamed across the wide Pacific and entered the " Golden Gate," the harbor of San Francisco. HIS DEATH So his vacation was over. His story, too, is nearly done. This great, modest, simple-minded man died in 1885. He is buried in Riverside Park, in New York City. A beautiful monument marks the spot where he rests.THE DEAD COMRADE Thy silence speaks and tells of honor, truth, Of faithful service — generous victory — A nation saved. For thee a nation weeps ; Clasp hands again, through tears! Our leader sleeps ! Good night." " Under the sod and dew, Waiting the judgment day; Under the laurel the Blue, Under the willow the Gray, # # # # # Love and tears for the Blue, Tears and love for the Gray." -+- THE DEAD COMRADE [grant] Come, soldiers, arouse ye! Another has gone. Come, let us bury our comrade; His battles are done. His sun it is set; He was true; he was brave. He feared not the grave. There is naught to regret.356 may Bring music and banners And wreaths for his bier. No fault for the fighter That death conquered here. Bring him home ne'er to rove. Bear him home to his rest, And over his breast Fold the flag of his love. Great Captain of Battles, We leave him with thee ! What was wrong, oh, forgive it; His spirit make free! Sound taps and away! Out lights and to bed ! Farewell, soldier dead! Farewell — for a day! — Richard Watson Gilde*. WHAT IS DECORATION DAY? What a joy it is to watch the coming oi spring! What a delight to see the faint green colot creeping over the brown fields!WHAT IS DECORATION DAY? 351 The buds on the trees begin to swell. One morning, you look out, and see the tender green leaves. What a surprise! In May the flowers have come. One day in May, the teacher says: — "Children, I hope that you will bring some flowers for Decoration Day." The next morning, before school begins, in walks a huge bouquet. Yes, indeed! It seems to be walking into school all by itself. But pretty soon, the teacher sees a pair of little feet below, and a pair of bright eyes above. She hears a little voice saying: "If you please, this is for Decoration Day." So all the children come with arms full of flowers. Soon there is a sweet-smelling pile in the schoolroom. How fragrant they are ! Out in the streets everybody is carrying flowers. Grown people and children have bunches of roses and lilies and pinks and pansies in their hands.358 MAT The houses are trimmed with flags. Bands oi music are playing. Soldiers are marching. Where are the soldiers going, and the people with the flowers ? They are going to the cemetery and to the soldiers' monuments. Wherever a little flag flutters over a grave, there a brave soldier lies buried. There the people will scatter flowers. Some one will tell how noble and brave he was. " He gave his life for his country and his flag." Then to the sound of music the people pass on. Maybe a woman stays behind and sheds a few tears. For it is a sad story as well as a glorious one. It is a long time, though, since it happened, and the tears are nearly all dried now. But the glory of it will last forever. These are the soldiers who died in our civil war. They are the victorious soldiers whom Grant led. We call them the Boys in Blue. They are the soldiers whom Lee led in the South. We call them the Boys in Grajr. Our country does not wish, us to forget these brave men.cavalry song 359 So every year we give one day to thinking of them. And we put flags and flowers on their graves, This is Decoration Day. CAVxlLRY SONG Draw your girth tight, boys: This morning we ride With God and the right, boys, To sanction our side, Where the balls patter, Where the shot shatter, Where the shell scatter, Red death far and wide. Look to your arms, boys, Your friends tried and true. How the blood warms, boys! The foe is in view ! Forward! Break cover! Ride through them ! Ride over them! Then we'll baptize the clover With blood as with dew ! — George H. Boker.360 MAY SOMETHING ABOUT THE CIVIL WAR This dear Union of ours was a large family of States. At first they were baby States, as you know. But they grew strong enough to take care of themselves. Then together they fought for their liberty against the King of England. After this they made a nation of themselves. "We will form one family," they said, "and the head of the family shall be the President and Congress at Washington." This united and happy family was called the " United States." But in a large family of brothers and sisters quarrels sometimes break out. For young people are often headstrong, and want their own way. Then the good father and mother settle the quarrel, and make the brothers friends again. So quarrels broke out in this family of States. . At first these were not very bitter quarrels. The President and Congress settled the strife, The States were good friends again.SOMETHING ABOUT THE CIVIL WAK 861 But when people quarrel very often, it leaves in the heart a sore place. This does not heal quickly. So, little by little the States in the North and those in the South began to look on each other as enemies. One of the things that they quarrelled about was the negro slaves. The North said that the South ought not to have negro slaves. When Abraham Lincoln was made President, the Southerners did not like it. They knew that President Lincoln had said: — " If ever I get a chance to strike a blow at slavery, I'll hit it hard." So the States in- the South said that they could no longer live with the North as one family. They could not live at peace with their brothers in the North. They would not obey the head of the family of States at Washington. " We will make a new house for ourselves," they said. "We shall have things as we wish them." So eleven of this family of States set up for themselves.362 may They called themselves the " Confederate States of America." The North answered : " This is not right; we all promised to stand together as one family. You must keep your promise. The union shall not be broken." Then they fell to blows. The first gun was fired by the South. " Our flag has been fired upon! Seventy-five thousand troops wanted at once! Abraham Lincoln." This is the message that the President sent to the North. Then, men said good-bye to their wives and little ones. They hurried off to battle and to death. Men and women cried in the streets as " the boys in blue" marched to the war. It was the same way in the South. Men shouldered their muskets and marched out to give their lives for the side that they thought was right. Women wept for husbands and sons and brothers who would never come back.SOMETHING ABOUT THE CIVIL WAR ' 363 Many brave women went to nurse the wounded soldiers in the hospitals. Others worked at home to get food and clothes for the men at the front. For four years this angry quarrel lasted. Hundreds of thousands of men were killed. It was an awful time. But it was a brave time, too. There were great deeds and great men. The North was proud of Grant and Sherman. The South loved Lee and Stonewall Jackson. At last General Lee was beaten. His soldiers laid down their arms, and the war was over. " The boys in blue " had con- quered " the boys in gray." The family of States was reunited. The Union was saved. 16 Lord of the universe, shield us and guide us, Trusting Thee always through shadow and sun. Thou hast united us, who shall divide us ? Keep us, oh, keep us, the Many in One!" — Oliver Wendell Holmesm may BEFORE VICKSBURG Back from the front there came, Weeping and sorely lame, The merest child, the youngest face, Man ever saw in such a fearful place. Stifling his tears, he limped his chief to meet. But when he paused and tottering stood, Around the circle of his little feet There spread a pool of bright young blood. Shocked at his doleful case, Sherman cried, " Halt! Front face ! Who are you ? Speak, my gallant boy!" " A drummer, sir; Fifty-fifth Illinois." "Are you not hit?" "That's nothing. Only send Some cartridges. Our men are out, And the foe press us." " But, my little friend — " " Don't mind me ! Did you hear that shout ? What if our men be driven ? 0 for the love of Heaven Send to my Colonel, General dear! " " But you ? " " Oh, I shall easily find the rear!"general lee 365 " I'll see to that," cried Sherman, and a drop, Angels might envy, dimmed his eye As the boy, toiling toward the hill's hard top, Turned round, and with his shrill child's cry Shouted, " 0 don't forget! We'll win the battle yet! But let our soldiers have some more, More cartridges, sir, — calibre fifty-four! " — Adapted from George H. Boker, GENERAL LEE There were plenty of heroes among the Boys in Gray. They fought nobly for a cause which they felt was the right one. Two of these brave heroes will never be for- gotten. These are General Robert E. Lee and General Thomas G. Jackson, who was called by his soldiers " Stonewall" Jackson. General Lee was born in Virginia. He learned how to be a soldier at West Point. He was an officer in the army of the United States for a long time.366 MAT When Virginia went out of the Union, Gen- eral Lee gave up his command and went out with his state. He was made commander-in-chief of the army of the South. He was a very handsome man, tall and broad- shouldered. He was gentle in his manners. Every one in the South thought him as nearly perfect as a man can be. He owned the beauti- ful place on the Poto- mac called " Arlington." Here he was born. And to this beautiful house he brought his wife. She was a great-granddaughter of Mrs. Wash- ington. But the government took this place away from General Lee. General Lee was a hard man to conquer. Very bravely he held Richmond. Many of the best generals of the North had tried to drive him out. Wmtys',©eneral lee 367 Thousands of Union soldiers had fallen in battle before him. When, at last, General Grant defeated him, the brave " Army of Virginia " had to disband. Lee was sad and silent as he looked at his noble soldiers. * " Men, we have fought the war together," he said sorrowfully, " and I have done the best I could for you." They cheered him wildly. They remembered his courage, his patience, and his tenderness. AN ENGLISH OFFICER'S ACCOUNT OF LEE " General Lee is the handsomest man of his age that I ever saw. He is tall, broad-shouldered, — a thorough soldier in appearance. His manners are most courteous and full of dignity. He is a perfect gentleman in every respect. He has none of the small vices, such as smoking, drinking, chewing, or swearing. And his bitterest enemy never accused him of any of the greater ones. His only faults arise from great amiability."868 MAY AT GETTYSBURG " The conduct of General Lee was sublime. He encouraged his broken troops, riding among them quite alone. His face, always cheerful, showed no signs of disappointment or care. He said, ' All this will come right in the end. But all good men must rally. We want all good and true men just now.' Very few failed to answer his appeal. And many badly wounded men took off their caps and cheered him. When an officer began to beat his horse for shying at the bursting of a shell, he called out: ' Don't whip him, Captain ! don't whip him ! I have just such another foolish horse myself, and whipping does no good.' " "STONEWALL" JACKSON Jackson was the southern soldiers' hero. They loved him dearly. Even the dying and the wounded after a battle tried to cheer him when he passed." STONEWALL " JACKSON 869 In camp, when the soldiers heard a shout at a distance, they said, — " That's either Stonewall Jackson or a rabbit!" To see Jackson cheered the soldier's heart. To see a rabbit gave the poor hungry soldier hope of a din- ner. How did he get the name of " Stonewall" ? They say it was in this way: — In the Battle of Bull Run, the soldiers were being driven back, " Look at Jackson! " some one called out. " There he stands like a stone wall! " " Rally behind the Virginians ! " , The soldiers returned and won the battle. Always, after that, he was called Stonewall Jackson. General Jackson was a very religious man. He said a prayer before everything that he did. If he won a battle, he thanked God. for the victory. 2 9870 MAT If he was defeated, he thanked God for pre- serving him. His negro servant used to say, — " When I see him get up several times in de night and pray, den I knows dat dere will be something to pay in the morning. So I goes and packs his haversack." He was careful to keep the Sabbath. He would not travel on that day. He would not even allow a letter that he had written to travel on that day. If he could not post it before the last day of the week, he kept it over until Monday. He was a very modest man! He did not boast of his great deeds. In a letter to his wife he says: — "Yesterday we fought a great battle and gained a great victory, for which all the glory is due to God alone." Whenever the soldiers caught sight of him, they rent the air with their cheers. He always lifted his hat in answer. Then he would put spurs to his horse and gallop out of sight. He shared all the hardships of his men."STONEWALL" JACKSON 371 His clothes were shabby, his boots were broken. Those who did not know him would not think he was the commander. Once he and some of his officers had to ride through a field of oats. The farmer rushed out in a great rage. He said he would report them to the com- mander, for trampling down his oat-field. " What is your name, sir ? " he said to the general. " Jackson," answered our hero. "What Jackson?" asked the farmer. "General Jackson," was the reply. " What! Stonewall Jackson ? " " That is what they call me." The farmer took off his hat with the greatest respect. " General Jackson, ride over my whole field. Do whatever you like with it, sir." There was a great battle at Chancellorsville. In the noise and confusion and dense smoke, the soldiers could not see who was in front of thsm. They fired.372 MAY Their own general, their beloved Stonewall Jackson, received from this fire his mortal wound. He was found lying on the ground. " General, are you much hurt ? " " Yes, I think I am; and all my wounds were from my own men." They carried him off the field. The surgeon had to cut off his left arm. When General Lee heard of this, he was very sorry. He sent Stonewall Jackson this message: — " Dear General, you are better off than I am. You have lost your left arm; but I, in losing you, have lost my right arm." For some days afterwards, he lived. Then he grew weaker. He ceased to notice anything. He murmured broken words. All at once he spoke out very cheerfully and distinctly: — " Let us cross over the river, and rest under the shade of the trees." These were his last words. The honest, brave soldier had crossed to the other shore.dixie 373 A SOUTHERN SOLDIER SONG DIXIE Southrons, hear your country call you. Up ! Lest worst than death befall you. To arms! To arms ! To arms! In Dixie. Lo ! All the beacon fires are lighted; Let all hearts be now united. To arms! To arms! Advance the flag of Dixie! Hurrah! hurrah! For Dixie's land we take our stand, And live or die for Dixie. To arms! To arms! And conquer peace for Dixie. To arms! To arms! And conquer peace for Dixie. Hear the Northern thunders mutter. Northern flags in South wind flutter. To arms! To arms! To arms! In Dixie. Fear no danger. Shun no labor. Lift up rifle, pike, and saber. To arms! To arms! Advance the flag of Dixie 1374 MAY Hurrah! hurrah! For Dixie's land we take our stand, And live or die for Dixie. To arms! To arms ! And conquer peace for Dixie. To arms! To arms ! And conquer peace for Dixie. How the South's great heart rejoices At your cannons' ringing voices. To arms! To arms ! To arms ! In Dixie. Shoulder pressing close to shoulder, Let the odds make each heart bolder. To arms! To arms! Advance the flag of Dixie! Hurrah! hurrah! For Dixie's land we take our stand, And live or die for Dixie. To arms! To arms! And conquer peace for Dixie. To arms! To arms! And conquer peace for Dixie.the war with spain 375 THE WAR WITH SPAIN "Where is the land of gold and spices?" asked Columbus of the Indians. "Westward over the great waters," they pointed. " What do you call it ? " he asked. " Cuba," they said. At last he came to the shores of this island, on October 28th, 1492. " Everything is green as April in Andalusia," he wrote in his diary. " The singing of the birds is such that one would never wish to leave. " The fragrance from the blossoming groves is the sweetest in the world." This beautiful land has ever since belonged to Spain. And there in the Cathedral of Havana lie the bones of Columbus. But now Spain has lost this treasure island. She did not let go willingly. A great war was fought, and many lives were lost. Our country helped Cuba. Now, Cuba is free.376 MAY Have you ever seen a little boy bullied bj a big one ? The little one is down. The big one presses his knee on his chest. The little one struggles to get away, but it is of no use. Then another boy comes round the corner. " Let that little fellow go," he says. " No, I will not. This is not your fight," says the bully. "It is going to be my fight if you do not treat that little one better." So he falls to, and soon sets the little one free. Cuba had been governed very badly by Spain. The people were poor, and had to pay heavy taxes. They wished to get free from Spain and gov- ern themselves. Many times they had tried and failed. Each time Spain's hand would be heavier than ever. A year or two ago they tried once more to get free. But Spain's soldiers shot down the rebels. They laid waste the fields, and the people were starving.THE WAR WITH SPAIN 37? Our people felt very sorry to know of all this misery. Good men sent food to the starving men and women and children of Cuba. But our government did not wish to meddle, for, after all, good people should obey the laws. If the laws are bad, a good gov- ernment should change them. President Mc- Kinley and Con- gress thought that at least they would see fair play done' in this fight be- tween Cuba and Spain. There were some of our citizens, too, living in Cuba. They might get some blows if Uncle Sam was not on the lookout for them. So we sent one of our big war-ships, the Maine, to Havana Harbor. One night, after the men had gone to their berths, an awful thing happened.878 MAX There was a loud explosion ! A terrible rush of water! The great iron plates of the ship were torn apart like paper When the waters had calmed down, there were left only the ruins of the noble ship. It had been blown up by a torpedo under- neath the water. Two hundred and fifty three of our sailors were killed. Our President thought that at last it was time to put an end to the bad state of affairs in Cuba. He called upon Spain to give Cuba her free- dom, and so bring back peace. If Spain refused, he would make war on her. Spain said that this was her fight, and that the United States ought not to meddle. So the President declared the United States at war with Spain. the fibst battle In the Pacific Ocean, near Japan, lie other islands belonging to Spain. These are the Philippines. On these islands hemp is grown.THE WAR WITH SPAIN 379 On one of the islands is the large city of Manila. All the best ropes of the world are made of manila hemp. Many of the houses in Manila are built of bamboo, and thatched with palm leaves. The city lies on a beautiful bay. Here was fought the first battle of our war with Spain. Early on Sunday morning, the first day of May, our war-ships sailed into the bay. Their big guns opened fire. The Spanish guns answered back. In a few hours our brave men had beaten the Spaniards. We had not lost a single man. Admiral Dewey, who commanded our fleet, became a great hero, like Perry and Farragut. Do you remember the deeds of these great men? He was very proud of his men, too.880 MAT " Their hearts are as stout as their ships," he said. Our government soon sent a large army of soldiers to occupy Manila, and to keep order there. This army was com- manded by General Merritt. Another large fleet was sent to blockade Cuba. Do you know what this means ? This fleet was com- manded by Admiral Sampson. Our soldiers, too, were getting together at Tampa, in Florida, ready to be carried to Cuba. THE BATTLES NEAR SANTIAGO Thousands of men were enlisting every day. They were ready to suffer hardships, and per" haps death, at the call of their country.THE WAR WITH SPAIN 381 In the meantime, Spain was sending against us a great fleet under Admiral Cervera. When Admiral Sampson heard this, sight of the Ameri- cans. Every one was asking, " Where is Cervera ? " " He is hidden in the harbor of Santiago," said some one.. And sure enough, that is where he was. " Now let us keep him there," said ' Americans. " Let us bottle him up." The harbor of Santiago is a broad bar a narrow entrance. It is like a narrow-necked bottle. The ships of Admiral Schley's squr placed at the neck of the bottle to Spanish ships from getting out. But Cervera man- aged to keep out of He left Admiral Schley to keep up the blockade of the Cuban coast. he started in search of the Spanish ships.382 MAY " It would be safer still if we put a cork in the bottle." So the vessel Merrimac, with Lieutenant Hobson and seven other men on board, sailed into the middle of the narrow chan- nel. The Spanish guns on shore shot at them from right and left. But these brave men did their duty in face of the fire. They exploded a torpedo under the Merrimac. The vessel sank. They thought they had corked vp the entrance to the harbor. Admiral Cervera was too brave a man to give "without trying to escape. 3 knew that a close watch was kept at e boldly sailed out in the daylight, he brave men in our ships were ready "otured him, and destroyed hisThough lieved that t But for 1 would have This was i No wonder t Spaniards c?11 Oregon 'L' dog." T wer T wasof hey. were t and i'S. gh Rid- ,vely, so s did not irst of July . the army to El Caney. in six min- the end of a ^j».rmy was were thethe war with spain 385 " It is very gallant, but very foolish," said some who saw them. " It is impossible to take the hill," said others " It is slaughter." It was slaughter, too, for many men were killed. But the hill was captured. Our men were dusty. Their hair was matted to their foreheads. Their shirts were glued to their backs. They were hungry and weary. But when at last they sat on the crest of the captured hill, they felt satisfied. Soon after this victory Santiago surrendered. * THE SURRENDER OF PORTO RICO Many of the Amer • ican officers had never commanded in battle. But General Mer- ritt, of whom you have read, and Gen- eral Miles were ex- perienced men. This is a picture of General Miles. 2 o386 MAY Our soldiers were very glad to see him at Tampa. For they knew that at last they would set sail. They were tired of being idle, and they wanted to get to work. So with gay hearts they left Florida for Porto Rico. The people of Porto Rico were glad to see them, too. The city of Ponce was surrendered at once. General Miles wrote: — " The people received the troops and saluted the flag with wild enthusiasm. ' " This is a prosperous and beautiful country. " The results have thus far been accomplished without the loss of a single life." A few men were wounded later- But after all it was, as General Miles said, — "The most amiable capitulation that ever took place." Spain now saw that the United States was strong. They could not ill-treat the Cubans any longer. So they agreed to make Cuba free.THE WAR WITH SPAIN 381 They had been beaten because our cause was just. And because our soldiers and sailors were brave. Thf next event in this war was the best of all. It was PEACE.JUNE FLAG DAY, JUNE 14, 1777 Rattlesnake ruts , crescent flag creatunion-fias ;t£y Ross's X F/RST FIJA: wtawiMnTnu's ^3»r Coat or ARMS # STATES »fJUNE 'Tis the star-spangled banner { Oh, long may it wave! O'er the land of the free And the home of the brave Iw Everybody in the United States knows this beautiful song. But not everybody knows the story of the brave man who wrote it. How many stars were there in the star- spangled banner? There were fifteen. And how many in the flag now ? 301892 JUNE There were fifteen stars because when the song was written there were only fifteen children in our State family. It was written during our second war with England. In this war the British took our city of Wash- ington. One of our soldiers in this war was Francis Scott Key, a young lawyer. Hp wanted to visit a friend who was a British prisoner. He therefore went to the ship, carrying a plain white flag. Such a white flag is called a flag of truce. It means: " I am not coming here to fight you. I only want to say something to you." When Key reached the ships, they were just ready to sail to Baltimore. They wanted to capture Baltimore just as they had captured Washington. But they were afraid that he would tell the Americans of their plan. So they kept him on board one of the ships, and carried him to Baltimore. So Key watched the battle from the British ship.JUNE 393 He was very much afraid that the little American fort would give up. Every night the British fired bombs and rockets. By this light Key saw that the American flag was still waving over the fort. As he wrote in the poem: — " And the rockets' red glare, The bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night That our flag was still there." At last the British ships grew tired of firing. Now it was all dark again. Key could not tell whether our flag was still flying. He kept thinking, as he says in his song, — " Oh, say, does that star-spangled banner still wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave ? " At last the daylight came. Key looked eagerly towards the fort A flag was flying from the top. As it grew lighter, Key saw that it was our own Stars and Stripes. He took from his pocket an old letter. On its back he wrote the famous song.394 june THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER Oh, say, can you see By the dawn's early light, What so proudly we hailed At the twilight's last gleaming ? Those stripes and bright stars, Through the perilous fight, O'er the ramparts we watched Were so gallantly streaming. And the rockets' red glare, The bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night That our flag was still there. Oh, say, does the star-spangled banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave ? On the shore dimly seen, Through the mist of the deep, Where the foe's haughty host In dread silence reposes, What is that which the breeze O'er the towering steep, As it fitfully blows, Half conceals, half discloses ?THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER 395 Now it catches the gleam Of the morning's first beam, In full glory reflected ' Now shines in the stream. 'Tis the star-spangled banner, Oh, long may it wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave. Oh, thus be it ever When freemen shall stand Between their loved home And war's desolation; Blest with victory and peace, May the heaven-rescued land Praise the Power that hath made And preserved us a nation. Then conquer we must, For our cause it is just, And this be our motto — " In God is our trust." And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave While the land of the free is the home of the brave. — Francis Scott Key.896 JUKE; SOME OF THE EARLY FLAGS TURKS head Flag How many of you remember Captain John Smith? He had a flag, too. Do you think that it was the star-spangled banner that he car- ried ? No, indeed; but still he was very proud of it. Look at it and see if you can tell me why. Perhaps you think that the Amer- icans who threw the tea overboard carried the stars and stripes? pwen*r&.MH No; not even they had our beau- tiful flag. This was their banner. And here are some other pretty flags that the , crescent flag Americans liked to carry. But because in the Revolution we became one family, it was de- cided to have one flag. And who do you think was the principal member of the committee to design a flag ? Dr. Benjamin Franklin! Rattlesnake FlagSOME OF THE EARLY FLAGS 89? Here is the flag that he proposed. It was very pretty, but the design \"VV V'\ that was finally chosen means more. Some people think that the idea came from Washington's coat of arms. They also say that red stripes are for the blood of the patriots, and the group of stars in the left-hand corner shows, perhaps, the new family of States rising in the west. The flag is beautiful to us because it is ours and we love it. But other people think it beautiful, too. Shortly after the Revolution one of our ships carried it to the China seas. The Chinese thought the "flower flag," as they called it, very lovely. Thousands of them came down to thjs harboi to see the " flower flag ship."398 JUNE BETSY ROSS On June 14, 1777, Congress passed the fol- lowing resolution: — " That the flag of the United States be thir- teen stripes, alternate red and white. " That the Union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation." In Philadelphia at this time lived a widow, Mrs. Betsy Ross. Betsy Ross had always been a very neat sewer. Both she and her husband had earned their living in the upholstery business. But now on account of the war, there was very little work of this kind to be done. But Betsy's neat sewing was well known. So it was to her that George Washington and two other gentlemen went. George Washington drew the flag for her, and asked her to make one from cloth. "I am not sure that I can, but X will try," said Betsy. "Here is something that you have taken from the British," she said, pointing to the six- pointed star.BETSY ROSS 399 The six-pointed star may be seen to-day on English money. The gentlemen thought that a five-pointed star would be more difficult to cut. Mrs. Ross took a bit of paper, folded it, and made one cut with her scissors. Then she opened out the paper. And there was a perfect, beautiful, five-pointed star. " It is easier to cut, you see," said Mrs. Ross. " But even if it were ten times more difficult, I would do it rather than have a British star in our American flag," said she. The next day her uncle furnished her with the materia], and in three days she had finished the first flag. This was so well done that the business of making the flags was given to her, and later to her daughter.june FLAG SONG Out on the breeze, O'er land and seas, A beautiful banner is streaming. Shining its stars, , Splendid its bars, Under the sunshine 'tis gleaming. Hail to the flag, The dear bonny flag — The flag that is red, white, and blue. Over the brave Long may it wave, Peace to the world ever bringing. While to the stars Linked with the bars, Hearts will forever be singing. Hail to the flag, The dear bonny flag — The flag that is red, white, and blue. —Lydia Avery Coonxey WakixOUR FLAG 401 OUR FLAG Oue flag means all that our fathers meant in the Revolutionary War. It means all that the Declara- tion of Independ- ence meant. It means justice. It means lib- erty. It means happi- ness. Our flag carries American ideas, ^ American history, and American feelings. Every color means liberty. Every thread means liberty. Every star and stripe means' liberty. It does not mean lawlessness, but liberty through law, and laws for liberty. 2 o 402 june Forget not what it means. And for the sake of its ideas, be true to your country's flag. —Adapted from an address by Henry Ward Beecher. WHAT CAN WE DO FOR THE FLAG? We know now something of what the flag means, and of what it has done for us. Now let us see what we can do for our flag. "Be like George Washington, and Abraham Lincoln, and Grant," said one little boy. Or, like Benjamin Franklin, we can try to be Temperate, Clean, Orderly, Resolute, Frugal, Industrious, Sincere, and Just.f?ROM "THE BUILDING OF THE SHIP" Thou too, sail on, 0 ship of State, Sail on, 0 Union, strong and great! Sail on, nor fear to breast the sea! Oar hearts, our hopes, are all with thee. Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears, Our faith triumphant o'er our fears, ./ Are all with thee, — are all with thee! — Henry W. Long; bellow i 4(vi-: Printed in the Unite.-' of America.This book is a preservation facsimile produced for the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. It is made in compliance with copyright law and produced on acid-free archival 60# book weight paper which meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (permanence of paper). Preservation facsimile printing and binding by Northern Micrographics Brookhaven Bindery La Crosse, Wisconsin 2018