UC-NRLF 
 
 GR 
 
 ^AN^iERS 
 
 CNJ 
 o 
 
 1 
 
 CJC5 
 
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 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. 
 
 GIKT 
 
 Received 
 Accession No. 
 
 J rO^U^ 
 
 ^ (o . Class No. 
 
\ 
 
OF TMK 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
adame Whitney's Housekeeping, 
 
HISTORICAL SERIES BOOK I 
 
 G-EANDFATHEE'S 
 
 STOEIBS 
 
 COMPILED AND AKRANGED 
 
 BY JAMKS JOHOJS'NOT 
 
 NEW YORK : CINCINNATI : CHICAGO 
 
 AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY 
 
TG 
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1889, 
 BY D. APPLETON AND COMPANY. 
 
TO THE CHILDREN. 
 
 THIS new book is full of stories, and 
 I think you will like them. If you 
 find a hard word that you do not 
 quite understand, ask your teacher 
 or som^ friend what it means, and 
 in a short time you will be able to 
 read all the* stories here given. 
 You will enjoy them all the more 
 because you will have to study 
 and work to find out what they 
 mean. The first stories you will read tell of things 
 that never happened, but are made up to teach 
 something. They are called Fables. After read- 
 ing them, see if you can tell what they teach. 
 
 Then come stories from fairy-land, which are 
 very amusing. Of course, the animals and birds 
 never spoke as the stories tell of them, but every 
 one likes to read them, they are so pleasant and 
 strange. The next stories tell of giants and pyg- 
 
4: TO THE CHILDREN. 
 
 mies, and other wonderful things. They are called 
 Myths. People in the old, old time believed these 
 stories, but we now know they are not true. 
 
 Then, again, there are stories like that of our 
 old friend Dick Whittington, in part true, but 
 which are so old that we do not know exactly 
 how much of them to believe. They are called 
 Legends, and are the special delight of children. 
 But best of all are the true stories, telling of 
 things that really happened. Many of these stories 
 are as wonderful and strange as the myths and 
 stories from fairy-land. When we read them it is 
 like finding new friends, and you never need grow 
 lonesome w T hen you know so many real people in 
 
 books. 
 
 GRANDFATHER, 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 FABLES. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 I. The Wolf and the Kid. . . , 7 
 
 II. The Fox and the Stork ... 9 
 
 III. The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse 11 
 
 IV. The Vain Jackdaw 14 
 
 V. Spot and her Friends 15 
 
 STORIES OF FAIRY-LAND. 
 
 VI. The Musicians of Bremen 20 
 
 VII. King Wren 24 
 
 MYTHS. 
 
 VIII. The Pygmies 29 
 
 IX. The Golden Touch , 33 
 
 LEGENDS. 
 
 X. King Henry and the Miller 45 
 
 XI. Dick Whittington and his Oat 54 
 
 XII. King Alfred and the Cakes 59 
 
 XIII. Knighting of the Beef 62 
 
 HOME STORIES. 
 
 XIV. Madame Whitney's Housekeeping 64 
 
 XV. The Boston Boys 69 
 
6 CONTENTS. 
 
 PA.GB 
 
 XVI. Washington and the Horse 71 
 
 XVII. Our Grandmothers at School 74 
 
 XVIII. The Boston Tea-Party 81 
 
 XIX. The Young Blacksmith 85 
 
 XX. Rebecca the Drummer 88 
 
 XXL Daniel Webster as a Boy 97 
 
 FOREIGN STORIES. 
 
 XXII. A Story of Cervantes 100 
 
 XXIII. The Boy who took a Boarder 103 
 
 XXIV. Columbus at the Convent 109 
 
 XXV. The Angel of the Camp 112 
 
 XXVI. A Night in the Snow 117 
 
 XXVII. An Old Veteran , ... 122 
 
 XXVIII. A Snow King 126 
 
FABLES. 
 
 I -THE WOLF AND THE KID. 
 
 If AID a goat to a kid : 
 " If you do as you're bid, 
 You need never have cause 
 
 for alarm ; 
 But if you neglect, 
 And my counsel reject, 
 You surely will come to some harm. 
 
GRANDFATHER'S STORIES. 
 
 2. " To market I go, 
 
 So mind what you do : 
 If any one knock at the door, 
 
 Don't pull up the latch, 
 
 Lest mischief you catch, 
 But look out of the window before." 
 
 3. A wolf, which had stood 
 At the edge of the wood, 
 
 Now hastened to knock at the door ; 
 
 And said with voice thick, 
 
 " The door open quick, 
 Let me into the kitchen once more." 
 
 4. The kid thought, of course, 
 That its mother was hoarse, 
 
 And its hand on the door-latch it laid ; 
 
 When the mother's advice 
 
 Came back in a trice, 
 And it peeped through the window insteadc 
 
 5. The wolf stood without, 
 Thinking kid would come out, 
 
 When a hunter came by with a dog ; 
 
 He set off on a run, 
 
 But a shot from the gun 
 Stretched him dead by the side of a log c 
 
FABLES. 
 
 6. The kid made all snug, 
 And laid down on a rug, 
 
 And nibbled some grass from the farm ; 
 And the goat coming back, 
 Found the wolfs recent track, 
 
 But the little one safe from all harm. 
 
 7c Now, boys, and girls too, 
 
 Mind what you do : 
 Copy kid when curled up on the floor ; 
 
 Mamma's counsel alway 
 
 Do your best to obey, 
 And no wolf will come in at the dooi\ 
 
 II.-TRE FOX AND THE STORK. 
 
 1. The fox once invited the stork in a friendly 
 way to dinner. " Neighbor," said he, " IVe had a 
 stroke of luck lately, and the pottage shall be the 
 better for it." The stork accepted, and went in 
 good time, but when the dinner came to the table 
 it proved to be soups and sauces of various kinds, 
 served up in broad, shallow dishes. The poor 
 stork could only dip in the very end of her bill, 
 and could in no way satisfy her hunger. 
 
10 
 
 GRANDFATHER'S STORIES. 
 
 2. The fox lapped the food up 
 very readily with his tongue, 
 and every now 
 
 and then asked 
 his guest how 
 she liked the din- 
 ner, hoped that 
 everything was 
 seasoned to her 
 taste, and declared that he was very sorry to see 
 her eat so little. The stork, seeing the joke, took 
 no notice of it, but pretended to like every dish 
 very much, and at parting urged the fox so ear- 
 nestly to return her visit that he could not refuse. 
 
 3. The day arrived, and so did the fox. " My 
 
 dear stork," said he, "1 have 
 brought an excellent appetite, 
 and I can tell, from the steam 
 of your kitchen, that you have 
 a fine dinner." But to his 
 great dis- 
 gust, when 
 dinner ap- 
 peared, he 
 found it 
 " l "^ consisted 
 
FABLES. 11 
 
 of minced goose, served up in long-necked 
 glasses. The stork thrust in her slender bill 
 and helped herself plentifully, then, turning to 
 Reynard, who was eagerly licking the outside 
 of a dish, where some sauce had been spilled, 
 " I am very glad," said she, smiling, " that you 
 seem to have so good an appetite. I hope you 
 will make as hearty a dinner at my table as I did 
 the other day at yours." Reynard hung his head, 
 and looked very much displeased. " Nay, nay," 
 said the stork, " do not lose your temper ; they that 
 can not take a jest should never make one." 
 
 Ill -THE TOWN MOUSE AND THE COUNTRY 
 MOUSE. 
 
 1. A country mouse, a plain, sensible sort of 
 fellow, was once visited by a former friend of 
 his, who lived in a neighboring city. The coun- 
 try mouse put before his friend some fine peas, 
 some choice bacon, and a bit of rare cheese, 
 and called upon him to eat heartily of the good 
 food. 
 
 2. The city mouse nibbled a little here and 
 there in a dainty manner, wondering at the 
 
GRANDFATHER'S STORIES. 
 
 pleasure his host took in such coarse fare. In 
 their after-dinner chat the town mouse said to the 
 country mouse, "Come now with me, this very 
 
 night, and see with 
 your own eyes what a 
 life I lead." 
 
 3. The country 
 mouse con- 
 sented, and, as 
 soon as it 
 fell dark, off 
 they started 
 
 for the 
 
 city, where they 
 arrived , 
 just as a 
 splendid 
 supper, giv- 
 en by the 
 master of 
 the house, 
 where our 
 town friend 
 lived, was over. 
 
FABLES. 13 
 
 4. The city mouse soon got together a heap of 
 dainties on a corner of the handsome Turkey carpet. 
 
 5. The country mouse, who had never even 
 heard the names of half the meats set before him, 
 was thinking where he should begin, when the 
 room-door creaked, opened, and in entered a serv- 
 ant with a light. 
 
 6. The companions ran off, but, everything 
 soon being quiet again, they returned to their 
 feast, when once more the door opened, and the 
 son of the master of the house came in with a 
 great bounce, followed by his little terrier, who 
 ran sniffing to the very spot where our friends 
 had just been. 
 
 7. The city mouse was by that time safe in 
 his hole which, by -the -way, he had not been 
 thoughtful enough to show to his friend, who 
 could not find a better shelter than a sofa, behind 
 which he waited in fear and trembling till it was 
 quiet again. 
 
 8. The city mouse then called upon him to 
 resume his supper, but the country mouse said: 
 " No, no ; I shall be off as fast as I can. I would 
 rather have a crust, with peace and quietness, than 
 all your fine things in the midst of such alarms 
 and frights as these." 
 
GRANDFATHERS STORIES. 
 
 IV -THE VAIN JACKDAW. 
 
 FINE feathers, Jack thought, make fine fowls r 
 I'll be envied of bats and of owls. 
 
 But the peacock's proud eyes 
 
 Saw through the disguise, 
 And Jack flew the assembly of fowls. 
 
FABLES. 
 
 15 
 
 V-SPOT AND HER FRIENDS. 
 
 1. To the yard by the barn came the farmer one 
 
 morn, 
 
 And, calling the cattle, he said : 
 While they trembled with fright, " Now which 
 
 of you last night 
 
 Shut the barn-door while I was abed ? " 
 Each one of them all shook his head. 
 
 2. Now the little calf, Spot, 
 she was down in the 
 lot; 
 And the way the rest 
 
 talked was a shame ! 
 
 For no one, night before, saw her shut up the 
 door; 
 
16 
 
 GRANDFATHER'S STORIES. 
 
FABLES. 17 
 
 But they said that she did, all the same 
 For they always made her take the blame. 
 
 3. Said the horse (dapple gray), " I was not up 
 
 that way 
 
 Last night, as I now recollect " ; 
 And the bull, passing by, tossed his horns 
 
 very high, 
 
 And said, " Let who may here object, 
 I say, 'tis that calf I suspect." 
 
 4. Then out spoke the cow, " It is terrible now 
 To accuse honest folks of such tricks ! " 
 
 Said the cock in the tree, "I'm sure 'twasn't 
 
 me": 
 
 And the sheep all cried, " Baa ! " (there were 
 
 six), 
 " Now that calf's got herself in a fix ! " 
 
 5. " Why, of course we all knew 'twas the wrong 
 
 thing to do," 
 Said the chickens. "Of course," said the 
 
 cat. 
 " I suppose," cried the mule, " some folks think 
 
 me a fool, 
 
 But I'm not quite so simple as that ; 
 The poor calf never knows what she's at.'' 
 
18 GRANDFATHER'S STORIES. 
 
 6. Just that moment the calf, who was always the 
 
 laugh 
 
 And the jest of the yard, came in sight. 
 " Did you shut the barn-door ? " asked the 
 
 farmer once more. 
 " I did, sir ; I closed it last night ! " 
 Said the calf, "and I thought that was 
 
 right." 
 
 7. Then each one shook his head ; " She will catch 
 
 it," they said ; 
 "Serves her right for her meddlesome 
 
 way ! " 
 Said the farmer : " Come here, little bossy ? my 
 
 dear ; 
 
 You have done what I can not repay, 
 And your fortune is made from to-day. 
 
 8. "For a wonder, last night I forgot the door 
 
 quite ; 
 
 And, if you had not shut it so neat, 
 All my colts had slipped in, and gone right to 
 
 the bin, 
 
 And got what they ought not to eat ; 
 They'd have foundered themselves upon 
 
 wheat." 
 
FABLES, 
 
 19 
 
 9. Then each hoof of them all began loudly to 
 
 bawl ; 
 
 The very mule smiled, the cock crew, 
 "Little Spotty, my dear, you're a favorite here/' 
 They cried ; " we all said it was you 
 We were so glad to give you your due ! " 
 And the calf answered, knowingly, " Boo ! " 
 
 Ptiwbe Gary. 
 
STORIES OF FAIRY-LAND. 
 
 VI -THE MUSICIANS OF BREMEN. 
 
 te^Mt" ite 
 
 1. A 
 certain 
 man had a 
 
 a 
 
 donkey that 
 had become so 
 old as to be un- 
 fit for work ; so 
 his master said he 
 must take off its 
 skin. The donkey 
 heard this, and ran 
 awaytowardBremen, 
 where, he thought, 
 he would become 
 town musician. When 
 he had run some way, 
 he found a hound ly- 
 ing by the road-side. 
 
STORIES OF FAIRY-LAND. 21 
 
 . 2. " What is the matter ? " said the donkey, 
 " Ah ! " replied the hound, " I am growing older 
 and weaker every day. My master has turned me 
 out, and I do not know how to earn my bread." 
 
 3. " Well," said the donkey, " I am going to 
 Bremen to become town musician ; come with me, 
 and play the drum ! " The dog agreed, and off 
 they went. 
 
 4. Soon they came to a cat, with a very long 
 face, sitting in the path. " Now, old shaver," said 
 the donkey, what is the trouble with you ? " "I 
 am getting old, and my teeth are worn short," re- 
 plied the cat, " and my mistress this morning tried 
 to drown me, and I ran away. Now I am here, 
 but do not know where to go." 
 
 5. " Go with us to Bremen," said the donkey, 
 " You can make night-music." So the three went 
 on together. They soon came to a farm-yard, 
 where they heard a rooster crowing with all his 
 might. 
 
 6. "Come, old red-comb," said the donkey, 
 " what makes you crow so loud ? " " The cook is 
 to cut off my head, so as to make soup of me to- 
 morrow," said the rooster. "You have a good 
 voice, go with us to Bremen," said the donkey. 
 
 7. The rooster agreed, and all four went on 
 
22 GRANDFATHERS STORIES. 
 
 together. They could not, however, reach Bremen 
 in one day, and they turned into the forest to pass 
 the night. 
 
 8. The donkey and dog lay down under a 
 large tree ; the cat and the rooster climbed up into 
 the branches, the latter the higher, where he was 
 most safe. Before he went to sleep he looked 
 round and saw a light at a distance. So he called 
 his companions and they all went off together. 
 
 9. They found the light came from the cottage 
 of a robber. The donkey went to the window 
 and peeped in. "What do you see, old gray- 
 horse?" asked the rooster. "A table laid out 
 with food and drink," said the donkey. Then 
 the friends laid a plan to drive the robbers away. 
 
 10. The donkey placed his feet upon the win- 
 dow-ledge, the hound got on his back, the cat 
 climbed upon the hound, and the rooster flew up 
 and perched upon the head of the cat. Then the 
 music began : the donkey brayed, the hound 
 barked, the cat mewed, and the rooster crew ; and 
 they made such a noise that the robbers fled as 
 though Old Nick was after them. 
 
 1 1. The friends sat down to the table, and soon 
 they cleared it. Then the donkey lay down upon 
 some straw, the hound curled up behind the door ? 
 
STORIES OF FAIRY-LAND. 23 
 
 the cat stretched out on the hearth, and the rooster 
 flew up to a high beam. 
 
 12. After a while one of the robbers went back 
 to see what was the matter. He went into the 
 kitchen to strike a light, and he mistook the cat's 
 eyes for live coals. The cat flew at his face, spit- 
 ting and scratching, so he turned and made for 
 the back door. But the hound bit his leg, and 
 the donkey gave him a powerful kick. Then the 
 rooster clapped its wings and cried, " Cock-a- 
 doodle-doo ! " 
 
 13. Then the robber ran back and said to his 
 captain : " O my master, there is a dreadful 
 witch in the house, who spat on me, and scratched 
 my face with her long nails ; then before the door 
 stood a man with a knife, who chopped at my leg ; 
 and in the yard there lies a black monster, who 
 beat me with a great club ; and upon the roof 
 sits a judge, who called out, ' Bring the knave up, 
 do!'" 
 
 14. After this the robbers dared not go near 
 the house again, and the town musicians of Bremen 
 had a good home all their lives. 
 
GRANDFATHERS STORIES. 
 
 VII -KING WREN* 
 
 1. A long time ago the birds decided that 
 they must have a king, and would choose one 
 among themselves. 
 
 2. All agreed to the plan but the plover. 
 Free I have lived and free will I die ! " he said. 
 
B R A R y^S, 
 SITY V 
 :^/ 
 STORIES OF FAIRY-LAND. 25 
 
 and so flew angrily away, crying, " Where shall I 
 rest ? where shall I rest ? " He flew on until he 
 came to a distant swamp, and there he stayed 
 away from his brother birds. 
 
 3. The other birds began to carry out their 
 plan, and one fine May morning they all met in a 
 grove on the banks of a beautiful lake. 
 
 4. There were eagles and finches, the owls and 
 the crows, the larks and the sparrows. I can not 
 name them all, but even the cuckoo came, and 
 also a very small bird, who as yet had no name. 
 
 5. The hen, who had heard nothing of the 
 affair, wondered at the immense crowd. " Wat, 
 wat, wat is all this ? " she cackled, but the rooster 
 comforted her by telling her what it all meant. 
 
 6. It was decided that he should be king w^ho 
 could fly the highest, and thereupon a green frog 
 who sat in the bushes began to croak, "Natt, natt, 
 natt, natt," because he thought there would be 
 many tears shed. But the crow cried out : " Back, 
 croaker ! Everything must be quiet." 
 
 7. It was next decided that the trial should 
 be made at once, because it was such a fine morn- 
 ing, and then no one could say, "I could easily 
 have flown much higher, only that night came on 
 and prevented me." 
 
96 GRANDFATHER'S STORIES. 
 
 8. At a given signal, all the birds mounted in 
 the air ; and as they sailed away, it looked as if a 
 big black cloud was forming. 
 
 9. The small birds soon fell back, for they 
 could not fly far, so they alighted on the ground 
 
 again. 
 
 10. The larger birds kept it up longer, but 
 none of them like the eagle, who soared so high 
 that he almost touched the sun. Then he saw 
 that he was far above the others, and he said to 
 himself : " Why need I fly any higher ? I am cer- 
 tainly the king." So saying, he began to fly 
 downward. 
 
 11. When he alighted, the birds all cried: 
 " You must be our king ! Nobody has flown 
 higher than you." 
 
 12. "Except me," cried the little bird with- 
 out a name, who had hid himself among the 
 feathers on the eagle's back. " When the eagle 
 was at his greatest height, I flew still higher. I 
 am king ! I am king ! " 
 
 13. You our king?" said the other birds in a 
 rage. " We shall not allow your cunning to win." 
 
 14. They then made the condition that he 
 should be king who should fall deepest into the 
 earth. 
 
STORIES OF FAIRY-LAND. 27 
 
 15. How the goose swam cackling to land 
 with her broad breast ! How quickly the rooster 
 grubbed a hole ! 
 
 16. The duck went boldest to work, for she 
 jumped into a ditch, but in so doing sprained her 
 foot, and waddled away to the nearest pond, cry- 
 ing, " Bad work, bad work ! " 
 
 IV. But the little bird without a name found 
 a mouse-hole, into which he crept, and called out 
 in his piping voice, " I am king ! I am king ! " 
 
 18. "You our king?" cried the other birds, 
 fiercely ; " do you think your trickery shall gain 
 for anything ? " They then resolved to keep the 
 poor bird in the hole and starve him. 
 
 19. The owl was set to keep guard during the 
 night, and forbidden to let out the prisoner on 
 pain of death. 
 
 20. The other birds, who were weary with so 
 much flying, went home to their nests with their 
 wives and children, leaving the owl alone by the 
 mouse-hole, staring into it with both his eyes. 
 
 21. By-and-by the owl began to feel tired, and 
 thought that one eye would do to watch the evil 
 thing, while he slept with the other. 
 
 22. Soon the little bird peeped out, but the 
 owl saw him and drove him back. Then the 
 
28 
 
 GRANDFATHER'S STORIES. 
 
 owl began to close first one eye, and go to sleep 
 with that and then the other, and so he intended 
 to pass the whole night, but, unluckily, he once 
 forgot to open the one eye when he shut the 
 other, and so, going to sleep with both, the little 
 bird was able to escape. 
 
 23. From this time the owl dares not show 
 himself by day for fear of the other birds. He 
 
 flies now only by 
 night, and hunts 
 the poor mice, 
 because a 
 mouse-hole 
 brought him into 
 disgrace. 
 
 24. The little bird, 
 too, was afraid to vent- 
 
 ^-f>' 
 
 WW ' ^ ^ +U 
 
 l\2 ^$^ ure among the others, 
 
 so he concealed himself 
 
 in the hedges, and when he thought himself quite 
 safe, he called out, " I am king ! I am king ! " 
 Therefore the other birds called him "hedge- 
 king " in scorn, and that means the wren. 
 
VIII -THE PYGMIES. 
 
 lo A great w r hile ago, 
 when the world was full 
 of wonders, there lived an 
 earth-born giant named An- 
 r n taeus, and a million or more of 
 curious little earth-born people who 
 were called pygmies. The giant and 
 the pygmies both being children of our 
 old mother, Earth, were all brethren, and dwelt 
 together, in a very friendly way, far off in the 
 middle of hot Africa. The largest of the pygmies 
 was only about six inches high, while Antaeus was 
 so very tall that he carried about a large pine- 
 tree as a walking-stick. 
 
 2. While Antaeus was friendly with his little 
 neighbors, he was fierce and cruel to other people, 
 and, when any one came into the pygmy country, 
 he was driven back or killed by a blow from the 
 terrible pine-tree. One day the Greek hero, Her- 
 cules, happened to cross the country, on his way 
 
30 GRANDFATHER'S STORIES. 
 
 to the garden of Hesperides, where grew the 
 golden apples. At once Antaeus flew into a 
 great rage, and went at Hercules with his pine- 
 tree. But Hercules carried a club much stronger 
 than the pine-tree. After a terrible battle, An- 
 taeus was killed, and the hero lay down to rest 
 and went to sleep. 
 
 3. The pygmies loved their big brother An- 
 taeus, and they resolved to avenge his death. So, 
 while Hercules slept, the whole nation came to- 
 gether to decide what they should do. One want- 
 ed to challenge Hercules to fight with him with 
 swords, but the others thought it would be safest 
 to kill him before he awoke. But how were they 
 to do this ? They could not climb up on him as 
 he lay there snoring, and their arrows would not 
 prick through his skin. Besides, if any of them 
 came in the way of Hercules' breath, he was blown 
 away, and tumbled heels over head. After a while 
 they agreed to burn him up. So the whole army 
 gathered sticks, straws, and dry grass, and piled it 
 up under Hercules' head. Then all the archers 
 were placed so as to let fly at their enemy as soon 
 as he awoke. 
 
 4. The pile of straw was then set on fire, and 
 Hercules started up with his hair in a blaze. Then 
 
32 GRANDFATHER'S STORIES. 
 
 twenty thousand archers sent their arrows straight 
 at the hero's face. While still half-asleep, he put 
 out the fire in his hair, and he thought a swarm 
 of mosquitoes had flown in his face. Then he 
 looked about him, and at last discovered the pyg- 
 mies, and he picked up one of them and held him 
 out in his hand. 
 
 5. " What in the world," said Hercules, " may 
 you be ? " "I am your enemy," said the pygmy ; 
 " you have killed our brother Antaeus, and I chal- 
 lenge you to fight with me ! " Hercules was so 
 tickled with the pygmy's big words that he could 
 not help laughing, and came near dropping the 
 little fellow off his hand. " Upon my word," said 
 he, " I have seen wonders before, but nothing like 
 this. Here is a little fellow, not larger than my 
 finger, with a soul as big as my own ! " 
 
 6. So Hercules carefully put the little man 
 down, and, turning to the whole nation, he said : 
 " My good little people, I would not injure you 
 for the world. I ask for peace. Ha ! ha ! for 
 once I am beaten." So saying, he carefully picked 
 his way so as not to crush any of the little folks, 
 and went on his journey to find the golden apples. 
 
MYTHS. 33 
 
 IX -THE GOLDEN TOUCH. 
 
 1. Once upon a time there lived a king whose 
 name was Midas. He had one daughter, a little 
 girl whom he dearly loved, and her name was 
 Marygold. 
 
 2. King Midas was fonder of gold than any- 
 thing else in the world, unless it was this little 
 maiden, and this was the reason he named her 
 Marygold. 
 
 3. The king had great bags of gold coin, a 
 gold cup as big as a wash-bowl, heavy golden 
 bars, and many other treasures ; these he kept 
 hidden away in a dark dungeon of his palace. 
 Every day he would go down to this dismal place, 
 and, locking the door carefully behind him, would 
 count over his riches. 
 
 4. One day Midas was in his treasure-room en- 
 joying himself as usual, when he saw a shadow 
 fall on the heaps of gold. He looked up ; there 
 was a stranger standing in the sunlit corner. 
 
 5. The stranger smiled at Midas kindly, and, 
 looking about the room, said: "You are a very 
 rich man, friend Midas ; I doubt if any other four 
 walls on earth contain so much gold as you have 
 piled up here," 
 
GRANDFATHER'S STORIES. 
 
 
 
 6. " I have done fair- 
 ly well, fairly well," an- 
 swered Midas. " But, 
 after all, it is but a trifle 
 when you think that it 
 has taken me all my life 
 to get it together. If 
 one could live a thousand 
 years, he might have time 
 to grow rich." 
 
 7. "What ! " cried the stranger, "then are you 
 not satisfied?" Midas shook his head, "And 
 
MYTHS. 35 
 
 pray what do you wish ? " asked the stranger. " I 
 should really like to know." 
 
 8. Midas did not answer at once ; he tried to 
 think of the very largest amount of gold possible, 
 and yet it seemed too small. At last a bright idea 
 came to him. 
 
 9. Raising his head, he looked the stranger 
 in the face. " Well, Midas," said the visitor, " I 
 see that you have decided. Tell me your wish." 
 "I am tired of collecting my gold so slowly; I 
 wish everything that I touch may be changed to 
 gold." The stranger's smile grew so very broad 
 that it seemed to fill the room like sunlight. 
 
 10. " The Golden Touch ! " exclaimed he ; " are 
 you quite sure, my friend Midas, that this will 
 satisfy you ? " " How could it fail ? " said Midas. 
 " And will you never be sorry that you possess 
 it?" "Why should I?" asked Midas. "I wish 
 for nothing else to make me perfectly happy." 
 
 11. "Be it as you wish," replied the stranger, 
 waving a farewell with his hand. "To-morrow 
 at sunrise you will find that you have the ' Golden 
 Touch.'" ' 
 
 12. The figure of the stranger was so dazzling 
 that Midas closed his eyes, and when he opened 
 them he saw only a yellow Sunbeam where the 
 
36 GRANDFATHERS STORIES. 
 
 stranger had stood. Very early next morning 
 King Midas awoke, and, stretching his arms out 
 of bed, began to touch the objects near him. He 
 first laid his fingers on a chair by his bedside, 
 but no change could he see. Then he tried the 
 other things, but they remained exactly as before. 
 Sadly disappointed was King Midas. All this 
 while it was only daybreak ; the sun had not yet 
 risen. 
 
 13. But suddenly the first sunbeam came 
 through the window and then on the king's bed, 
 and, as he held the bed-spread in his hand, behold 
 the linen cloth had become cloth of gold ! The 
 "Golden Touch" had come to him with the first 
 sunbeam. 
 
 14. Midas started up joyfully, and ran about 
 the room, touching everything in his way. He 
 seized one of the bed-posts, and it became a fluted 
 golden pillar. He pulled aside a window-curtain, 
 and the tassel grew heavy in his hand a mass of 
 gold. He took up a book from the table. At 
 first touch it looked like a splendidly bound and 
 gilt-edged volume ; but, when he opened it, alas ! 
 these were only thin golden plates, with not one 
 word that could be read. 
 
 15. He hurriedly put on his clothes, and was 
 
MYTHS. 37 
 
 delighted to find himself dressed in gold-cloth, 
 which was soft and flexible, but somewhat heavy. 
 
 16. He drew out his handkerchief, which little 
 Marygold had hemmed for him. This, too, was 
 gold, with the dear child's pretty stitches all along 
 the border in gold thread. This change he did 
 not like so much ; he would rather that his little 
 daughter's handiwork should have remained the 
 same as when she climbed upon his knee and put 
 it in his hand. Then the king left his room and 
 went down the wide staircase, smiling to himself 
 to see the balustrade become a bar of burnished 
 gold. 
 
 17. He stepped from the hall into the garden, 
 blossoming with roses, which scented the morning 
 air with their fragrance. 
 
 18. King Midas looked at them with delight, 
 but thought to himself, " I can make you far more 
 precious " ; so he took great pains, in going from 
 bush to bush, to touch every rose, until each flower 
 and bud, and even the worms at the heart of some 
 of them, were changed to gold. 
 
 19. By this time the king was called to break- 
 fast, and, as the morning air had given him a keen 
 appetite, he made haste back to the palace. Little 
 Marygold had not yet made her appearance. The 
 
38 
 
 STORIES. 
 
 king ordered her to be called, and, seating himself 
 at the table, awaited her. It was not a great 
 while before he saw her coming along the passage- 
 way, crying bitterly. 
 
 20. When Midas heard her sobs, he thought 
 he would give his little Marygold a surprise ; so, 
 
 leaning across the table, 
 he touched his daughter's 
 china bowl, and changed 
 it into shining gold. 
 
 21. Meanwhile Mary- 
 gold slowly opened the 
 door, and showed herself 
 with her apron at her 
 eyes, still sobbing as if her 
 heart would break. 
 
 22. "How now, my 
 little lady ! " cried Midas. 
 "Pray, what is the mat- 
 ter with you, this bright 
 
 morning ? " Marygold, without taking her apron 
 from her eyes, held out her hand, in which was 
 one of the golden roses. 
 
 23. "Beautiful!" exclaimed her father. "And 
 what is there here to make you cry ? " "Ah, dear 
 father ! " answered the child, as well as her sobs 
 
MYTHS. 39 
 
 would let her, " it is not beautiful, but the ugliest 
 flower that ever grew. As soon as I was dressed, 
 I ran into the garden to gather some roses for 
 you, but, oh, dear ! w^hat do you think has hap- 
 pened? All the beautiful roses that smelled so 
 sweetly are blighted and spoiled. They have 
 grown quite yellow, like this one. What can have 
 been the matter with them ? " 
 
 24. " Pooh ! my little girl, pray don't cry about 
 it," said Midas, who was ashamed to tell her the 
 truth. " Sit down and eat your bread and milk ; 
 you will find it easy enough to exchange a golden 
 rose like that, which will last hundreds of years, 
 for an ordinary one which would wither in a day." 
 
 25. " I don't care for such roses as this," cried 
 Marygold, tossing it away. " It has no smell, and 
 its hard petals prick my nose." 
 
 26. The child now sat down to the table, but 
 the tears still came, and she did not notice the 
 change in her china bowl. 
 
 27. The king, whose cup of coffee had been 
 placed before him, lifted a spoonful to his mouth, 
 and sipping it was astonished to find that, the in- 
 stant his lips touched the liquid, it became molten 
 gold, and the next moment hardened into a lump. 
 " Ha ! " exclaimed Midas, rather aghast. " What 
 
40 GRANDFATHERS STORIES. 
 
 is the matter, dear father ? " asked little Mary gold, 
 gazing at him through her tears. 
 
 28. " Nothing, child nothing," said Midas. 
 u Eat your milk before it gets quite cold." 
 
 29. The king then took a brook-trout on his 
 plate, and touched it with his fingers, when it at 
 once became a gold-fish. Then he tried a sinoking- 
 hot cake, but had scarcely broken it before it be- 
 came heavy with gold. An egg, too, underwent 
 a similar change. So it w r as with each dish to 
 which the king was helped, and all the time he 
 grew more and more hungry. 
 
 30. At last, when he had burned his tongue 
 severely with a potato, which had become red-hot 
 metal, he could bear it no longer, but groaned 
 aloud. 
 
 31. On hearing her father's outcry, pretty Mary- 
 gold started from her chair, and, running to him, 
 threw her arms affectionately about his knees. 
 The king bent down and kissed her tenderly. 
 He felt that his little daughter's love was worth a 
 thousand times more than the Golden Touch. 
 
 32. " My precious, precious Mary gold ! " cried 
 he. But Marygold made no answer. Alas ! w^hat 
 had he done ? The moment his lips touched Mary- 
 gold's forehead, a change had taken place. His 
 
MYTHS. 41 
 
 little daughter was a child no longer, but a golden 
 statue. 
 
 33. Poor King Midas ! He stood at first dumb 
 with despair. Then he began to wring his hands 
 and cried, " Would that I were the poorest man 
 in the wide world, if only my dear child were re- 
 stored to me ! " 
 
 34. While he was thus lamenting, suddenly 
 the stranger, who had granted his dearest wish, 
 stood before him. " Well, friend Midas," said he, 
 " pray how do you succeed with the ' Golden 
 Touch ' ? " Midas shook his head and pointed to 
 the golden statue. "I have lost all my heart 
 really cared for." " Ah ! so you have made a 
 discovery since yesterday ? " the stranger said. 
 "Let us see, then, which of these things do you 
 really think is worth the most, the gift of the 
 Golden Touch, or one cup of clear, cold water ? " 
 
 35. " O blessed water ! " exclaimed Midas. "It 
 will never moisten my parched throat again." 
 
 36. " The Golden Touch," continued the stran- 
 ger, " or a crust of bread ? " "A piece of bread," 
 answered Midas, " is worth all the gold on earth." 
 
 37. " The Golden Touch," asked the stranger, 
 " or your own little Marygold, warm, soft, and lov- 
 ing, as she was an hour ago ? " 
 
42 GRANDFATHER'S STORIES. 
 
 38. " My child, my dear child," cried poor Mi- 
 das. " I would not give one small dimple in her 
 chin for the power of changing the whole earth 
 into a solid lump of gold ! " 
 
 39. " You are wiser than you were, King Mi- 
 das," said the stranger, looking seriously at him ; 
 "your own heart, I see, has not been entirely 
 changed to gold. Tell me, do you sincerely wish 
 to get rid of the Golden Touch ?" "It is hateful 
 to me ! " replied Midas. 
 
 40. " Go, then," said the stranger, " and plunge 
 into the river that flows past the bottom of your 
 garden. Take likewise a jar of the same water 
 and sprinkle over any object you may desire to 
 change again from gold to its former substance. 
 If you do this, you may repair the mischief your 
 folly has caused." 
 
 41. King Midas bowed low, and when he lifted 
 his head he was alone. 
 
 42. You will easily believe that Midas lost no 
 time in snatching up a big earthen pitcher earth- 
 en no longer after he had touched it, and hurry- 
 ing to the river-side. On reaching the stream, he 
 plunged in headlong, without so much as waiting 
 to pull off his shoes. 
 
 43. " Poof, poof, poof ! " snorted King Midas, 
 
4A GRANDFATHER'S STORIES. 
 
 as his head rose from the water. " Well, this is 
 really a refreshing bath, and I think I must have 
 quite washed away the ' Golden Touch' and 
 now for filling my pitcher ! " 
 
 44. As he dipped the pitcher in the water, 
 he was glad to see it change from gold into the 
 same good, honest earthen vessel which it had 
 been before. The curse of the Golden Touch had 
 been really removed from him. 
 
 45. And now King Midas hastened back to 
 the palace, bearing the pitcher carefully, that he 
 might not waste a single drop. In handfuls he 
 sprinkled the water over the little golden figure 
 of his Marygold. No sooner did it fall on her, 
 than she began to sneeze and sputter, and how 
 astonished was she to find herself dripping wet. 
 
 46. "Pray do not, dear father," cried she. 
 " See how you have wet my nice frock which I 
 put on only this morning ! " For Marygold did 
 not know that she had been a little golden statue. 
 
 47. King Midas never regretted the loss of the 
 Golden Touch. 
 
 Adapted from Hawthorne. 
 
X.-KING HENRY 
 AND THE MILLER. 
 
 1. Once upon a 
 time, the young king, 
 Henry II, of England, 
 was chasing the deer in 
 his forest of Sherwood, a 
 sport of which he was ex- 
 ceedingly fond. All day 
 
 long he rode with his princes and nobles ; but, 
 being mounted on the swiftest horse, he at length 
 outrode them all, and found himself, at twilight, 
 quite alone, and lost in the mazes of the wood. In 
 vain he wound his horn, shouted, and hallooed. 
 There came to his ear no answering sound of bu- 
 gle, or voice, or galloping horses, or baying hounds. 
 In this strait, the king felt weariness and hunger, 
 and longed for a shelter, support, and a bed, how- 
 ever rude. 
 
 2. He wandered up and down for a while, all 
 bewildered, and not a little troubled lest he should 
 fall a prey to the outlaws who infested those 
 
4:6 GRANDFATHER'S STORIES, 
 
 dense forest shades. But at length, quite by ac- 
 cident, he struck upon a path which led him out 
 into the open country, and on to a public road. 
 Here he happened to meet a man, whom by his 
 whitened dress he knew to be a miller, and of 
 whom he courteously asked the nearest way to 
 Nottingham, where, at that time, he was holding 
 his court. 
 
 3. The miller looked up at him very suspi- 
 ciously, and answered, "Sir, I intend no saucy 
 jest, but I think what I think, and that is, that 
 thou dost not come so far out of the way for noth- 
 ing." 
 
 " Why, man," said the king, pleasantly, " what 
 dost thou take me for, that thou passest such sud- 
 den judgment upon me ? " " Good faith, sir," re- 
 plied the miller, " and to speak plain, I think thou 
 art some gentleman-thief of the forest. So stand 
 back there in the dark. Don't dismount, lest I 
 crack thy knavish crown with my cudgel ! " 
 
 4. " Nay, friend, thou dost me great wrong," 
 answered the king. " I am an honest gentleman. 
 I have lost my way, and I want supper and lodg- 
 ing for the night." 
 
 u I do not believe that thou hast one groat in 
 thy purse, for all thy gay clothes," said the mil- 
 

 LEGENDS. 
 
 ler. " Thou dost carry all thy silver on thy out- 
 side, like a pheasant." 
 
 " Wrong, again. I have money enough to pay 
 for all I call for." 
 
 " Well, if thou art truly* an honest man, and 
 canst pay for it, I will gladly give thee lodging 
 and food." 
 
 5. " I have always been accounted such a man," 
 said the king. fct Here's my hand on V 
 
 " Not so fast," said the miller ; " I must know 
 thee better, ere we shake hands. Thou mayst be 
 a hobgoblin, for all I know." With that the good 
 man led the way to his house, which he entered, 
 his guest dismounting and following him. When 
 they stood in the full firelight, " Now, sir, let me 
 see what thou art like," said the miller. 
 
 " Look thy fill. Do not spare my modesty," 
 replied the merry monarch. 
 
 6. " Well," said the miller, " on the whole, I 
 like thy face ; it is an honest one. Thou mayst 
 stay with us till the morning." The miller's wife, 
 who was busy cooking a supper, the savory steam 
 of which was filling all the cottage, here paused 
 from her work to put in a word : " Ay, by my 
 troth, husband, he is a comely youth, yet it is best 
 to have a care. Art thou no runaway servitor, my 
 
48 
 
 GRANDFATHERS STORIES 
 
 pretty lad ? Show us thy passport, and it please 
 thee; so shall all be well." 
 
 7. The young king, taking off his hat, and bow- 
 ing low, replied : " I have no passport, my fair 
 mistress, and I never was a servitor. I am but a 
 poor huntsman belonging to the court, who has 
 lost his way. I am too wearied to ride to Notting- 
 ham to-night, so ask your kind hospitality." The 
 
LEGENDS, 49 
 
 good woman was so well pleased with these words, 
 that she replied : " Well, thou art welcome, and, 
 though I say it, thou shalt be well lodged in my 
 house. I will give thee a bed of fresh straw, and 
 good brown hempen sheets, span clean, and thou 
 shalt sleep like a prince.' 1 
 
 " Ay, sir," put in the miller, " and thou shalt 
 have no worse a bedfellow than our son Richard." 
 
 8. The king made a wry face, at the idea of 
 sharing his bed with a stranger, but Master Rich- 
 ard, a boorish, bushy-headed, but jolly-looking 
 youth, who sat in the chimney-corner, watching 
 the pot boil, called out, bluntly : " Nay, father, I 
 have a word to say to that. First, my good fel- 
 low, tell me truly, art thou right cleanly and 
 wholesome ? " 
 
 9. The king burst into a hearty laugh, as he 
 answered : " Ay, friend, I'll answer for it ; thou'lt 
 have no cause to complain of me on that score." 
 Soon after this they all sat down to supper, which 
 consisted of hot bag-puddings, apple-pies, and 
 good foamy ale, which last was passed from one 
 to another in a large brown bowl. The miller 
 drank first to his guest's good health, and the 
 merry king did not disdain to take the bowl in 
 turn and drink to his host and hostess, with thanks 
 
50 GRANDFATHER'S STORIES. 
 
 for their good cheer, "and also," lie added, with a 
 courtly bow toward Richard, " permit me to drink 
 to your gallant son." "Then do it quickly," 
 said Dick, " and pass the bowl, for I am dry ! " 
 
 10. " Now, wifej" said the miller, " let us have a 
 taste of ' light-foot.' " At this the good woman 
 brought from the pantry a venison pasty and set 
 it before her husband. He helped his guest to a 
 
 portion, saying: "Eat, sir, but make no waste. 
 It's a dainty dish." 
 
LEGENDS. 51 
 
 11. " Ay, by my faith ! I find it the daintiest 
 dish that I ever tasted," said the king, who was 
 hungry enough to relish much worse fare. 
 
 12. "By my faith! it is no dainty at all," 
 said Kichard, " seeing that we eat it every day." 
 
 " In what place may the meat you call ' light- 
 foot ' be bought ? " asked the king. 
 
 13. "Why, as for that," answered Dick, "we 
 don't buy it at all. We fetch it on our backs 
 from the forest yonder. To say truth, we now 
 and then make free with the king's deer, seeing 
 that he hath more of a good thing than he needs 
 or deserves." 
 
 14. "So, then, this is venison?" said the king. 
 " Ay, any fool may know that. We are never 
 
 without two or three up there under the roof. 
 But mind thou tell no tales when thou leavest us. 
 We would not for twopence that the king should 
 know of it ; he might be villain enough to hang us." 
 
 15. "Don't be uneasy, my friend," said royal 
 Henry. " He shall never know any more of it 
 through me, I promise thee." After this they 
 took a hearty draught of ale all around and went 
 to bed. 
 
 16. The king slept soundly all night on his 
 rude couch of straw, being too tired to be kept 
 
52 GRANDFATHER'S STORIES, 
 
 awake even by the lusty snoring of his bedfellow, 
 Richard. In the morning, after a hearty breakfast, 
 for which, as for his supper, the king paid hand- 
 somely in gold, he mounted his horse to depart for 
 Nottingham. Just at this moment a large party 
 of his nobles, who had been hunting for him for 
 many hours, galloped up to the miller's cottage, 
 and, seeing their sovereign, dismounted and knelt 
 before him, asking his pardon for having lost sight 
 of him in the chase the day previous. 
 
 17. When the miller learned the lofty rank of 
 his guest, and remembered how familiarly he had 
 treated him, he stood speechless with terror, trem- 
 bling from head to foot, expecting nothing less 
 than to be hanged before his own door. The 
 king saw his fright, and was secretly amused, but 
 said nothing. Presently he drew his sword slowly 
 from its scabbard. At this the poor miller 
 dropped on his knees and begged for his life, 
 with big tears rolling down his cheeks. Just be- 
 hind him knelt his wife, crying bitterly. As for 
 Master Richard, he had valiantly turned and run 
 for Sherwood Forest as soon as he found who had 
 been his bedfellow. 
 
 18. The king lifted his sword. " Don't cut off 
 my head, your Majesty ! It won't do anybody 
 
LEGENDS, 
 
 53 
 
 else as much good as it does me ! " cried the miller. 
 The king brought down his sword, not on the 
 miller's neck, but lightly on his shoulder, and said, 
 "Rise, Sir John Cockle!" 
 
 Grace Greenwood, 
 
XL-DICK WHITTINGTON AND HIS CAT. 
 
 1. Once on a time, nearly four hundred years 
 ago, there lived in a small village, near London, a 
 poor little boy named Dick Whittington. His 
 father and mother had died when he was quite 
 young, and he could hardly remember them. Poor 
 Dick had no friends, and he lived about the streets, 
 clothed in rags, and picking up such food as he 
 could get, very much as the dogs do. He had 
 heard of London, and that the streets were paved 
 with gold ; and he thought, if he could once get 
 there, it would be easy for him to pick up guineas 
 enough to make him rich. 
 
 2. A wagoner, going to London, gave Dick a 
 chance to ride, and the poor, half -starved lad was 
 
LEGENDS. 55 
 
 safely set down in the great city. He ran eagerly 
 out to fill his pockets with gold, but everywhere 
 he found dirt and stones instead. Tired with his 
 long walk, he sat down on the steps of a rich mer- 
 chant, Mr. Fitzwarren, to rest, when the ill-natured 
 cook said she would scald him if he did not go 
 away. At this moment the merchant came home, 
 and saw the poor lad as he slowly rose to go on ? 
 and he said to him : " What is the matter, my lad ? 
 Why are you here idle ? Where do you live ? " 
 
 3. To these questions Dick replied by telling 
 his little history, and the kind-hearted Mr. Fitz- 
 warren not only gave him a dinner, but engaged 
 him to help about the kitchen. Here he found 
 friends. The coachman was kind to him, and Miss 
 Alice, the master's daughter, gave him some nice 
 clothes, in place of his old rags. 
 
 4. He had one trouble, however : he lodged in 
 a garret, and the rats and mice ran over his bed so 
 at night that he could not sleep, and he was afraid 
 they would eat him up. One day a visitor gave 
 Dick a silver penny, and then he felt very rich in- 
 deed. The next day, while out in the streets, he 
 saw an old woman with a fine, large cat in her 
 arms, which she was trying to sell. Dick asked 
 the price, and was told a penny. He gave the 
 
56 GRANDFATHERS STORIES. 
 
 old woman the only piece of money lie had ever 
 owned, and took puss home with him. When 
 night came, and the rats and mice made their ap- 
 pearance, the cat soon cleared them out, and they 
 were glad to get away with their lives. 
 
 5. Puss and Dick soon became great friends ; 
 and the little boy was never so happy as when he 
 could steal away to his garret and stroke the back 
 of his pet, while she purred her song to him. 
 
 6. One day Mr. Fitzwarren came in and called 
 all his servants about him. He told them that he 
 was about to send a ship to Africa, and that each 
 one might send something of his own to sell, 
 and have all that it would bring. The servants 
 all brought something, but Dick had only his cat. 
 The coachman offered to help him, but Mr. Fitz- 
 warren said that he must give something of his 
 own, so the cat was taken away. 
 
 7. As Dick stood looking after his good friend, 
 with tears in his eyes, " Now," he said, " the rats 
 and mice will eat me up again ! " At this moment 
 the cook came along, and soundly scolded the 
 poor boy for his idleness, and then cuffed his ears. 
 Then Dick thought he would run away, and he 
 set out on one of the roads leading into the coun- 
 try. After walking for a time, he sat down to 
 
LEGENDS. 57 
 
 rest, and the Bow-bells began to ring, and he 
 thought they said : 
 
 "Turn back, Whittington ! 
 Turn back, thrice Lord Mayor of London ! " 
 
 8. The words were so plain, that he got up 
 and went back to his home and his work. Miss 
 Alice took pity on him and gave him money to 
 buy another cat. 
 
 9. A year passed by, and, as Dick was about 
 his work one day, again he heard the Bow-bells 
 ring, saying to him : 
 
 " Turn back, Whittington ! 
 Turn back, thrice Lord Mayor of London ! " 
 
 Pretty soon Mr. Fitz warren came in, and again 
 called his servants together. The ship had come 
 back, bringing beautiful things to those who had 
 sent out their little presents. When it came to 
 Dick's turn, the porters brought in and piled up 
 before him a great heap of bags of gold. 
 
 10. When the captain arrived in Africa he was 
 welcomed by the king of that country, and was 
 invited to a dinner. But, just as the company 
 were about to sit down, an army of rats rushed 
 in and ate up all the food before the guests could 
 get any. The poor king, with tears in his eyes, 
 said that this often happened, and that he w^ould 
 
58 
 
 GRANDFATHER'* 8 STORIES. 
 
 give half his kingdom to get rid of them. The 
 captain sent for Dick's cat, and when she came she 
 pounced upon the rats with such fury that all who 
 were not killed ran frightened away. Before the 
 captain sailed, the king sent on board a hundred 
 bags of gold in exchange for the beautiful rat- 
 killer. 
 
 11. Dick "Whittington was now very rich. As 
 he grew up he became a merchant. Then he mar- 
 ried Miss Alice, and he lived happily to a good 
 old age. King Henry V. made him Sir Rich- 
 ard Whittington. He was so well liked for his 
 goodness, that he was three times elected Lord 
 Mayor of London ; and to his dying day he never 
 forgot what the Bow-bells said to him when he 
 was a poor little boy. 
 
LEGENDS. 59 
 
 XII -KING ALFRED AND THE CAKES. 
 
 1. When Alfred was twelve years old, he had 
 not been taught to read. One day his mother, 
 Queen Osburgha, read to her sons from a book of 
 Saxon poetry. The art of printing was not known 
 at this time, and the book, which was written, 
 was illuminated with beautiful letters of bright 
 colors. 
 
 2. The brothers liked the stories very much, 
 and their mother said, " I will give this book to 
 the one who first learns to read." Alfred studied 
 very hard, and soon won the book. He was proud 
 of it all his life. When Alfred was twenty -three 
 years of age, he became king. In the first year of 
 his reign he fought nine battles with the Danes. 
 They promised to leave the country, and not re- 
 turn. They did not keep their promises, but came 
 again and again to fight, plunder, and burn. 
 
 3. In the fourth year of King Alfred's reign 
 the Danes came in great numbers to England. 
 The king's soldiers were routed, and the king was 
 obliged to disguise himself as a common peasant, 
 and hide in the cottage of one of his cowherds. 
 One day the cowherd's wife set some cakes to 
 bake, and bade the king, who was sitting by the 
 
60 
 
 GRANDFATHER'S STORIES. 
 
 fire, mending his bow and arrows, to tend them. 
 Alfred thought more of his bow and arrows than 
 he did of the cakes, and let them burn. 
 
 4. Then the woman ran in, and cried out : 
 " There ! don't you see the cakes on fire ? Then 
 
 wherefore turn them not ? 
 
 You're glad enough to eat them when they are 
 piping hot." 
 
LEGENDS. 
 
 61 
 
 5. At last the king was able to join his sol- 
 diers again and once more go against the Danes. 
 As the two armies were encamped near each other, 
 the king disguised himself as a harper, and went 
 with his harp to the Danish camp to find out how 
 great was their force of men and arms. He played 
 and sang in the very tent of Guthren, the Danish 
 leader. While he seemed to think of nothing but 
 his music, the king watched everything and learned 
 all that he wished to know. 
 
 6. And very soon the great king entertained 
 them with different music. He called all his true 
 followers to meet him, and, putting himself at their 
 head, marched on the Danish camp and defeate^ 
 the Danes with great loss to them. They were 
 glad then to make peace. 
 
62 
 
 GRANDFATHER'S STORIES. 
 
 -THE KNIGHTING OF THE SIRLOIN OF 
 BEEF. 
 
 1. WHEN James the First of England 
 
 Rode forth at Christmastide, 
 To hunt a gallant stag, often 
 Of Chingf ord woods the pride ; 
 
 2. The wind blew keen, the snow fell fast. 
 
 And made for earth a pall, 
 As tired steeds and wearied men 
 Returned to Friday Hall. 
 
LEGENDS. 63 
 
 3. The blazing logs, piled on the dogs, 
 
 Were pleasant to behold ; 
 And grateful was the steaming feast 
 To hungry men and cold. 
 
 4. With right good- will all took their fill, 
 
 And soon each found relief ; 
 While James his royal trencher piled 
 From one huge loin of beef. 
 
 5. Quoth James: " Odd's fish, a noble dish, 
 
 Aye noble made by me: 
 By kingly right, I dub thee knight 
 Sir Loin henceforward be." 
 
 6. And never was a royal jest 
 
 Received with such acclaim ; 
 And never knight than good " Sir Loin v/ 
 More worthy of the name. 
 
XIV. 
 
 MADAME WHITNEY'S 
 HOUSEKEEPING. 
 
 ^ 1. MADAME WHITNEY'S 
 
 house, like all of that date, 
 
 had an immense chimney, larger than her bed 
 room, with small fireplaces in the square rooms, 
 and one high, deep, and wide, in the kitchen. 
 A heavy crane swung in this kitchen fireplace, 
 on which she could hang four or five cooking- 
 pots and kettles at a time. At the left was 
 the brick oven, four feet deep and two feet high, 
 arched over with brick. The brick or stone 
 floor of this oven was about four feet higher than 
 the kitchen-floor, and under it was a long pit for 
 ashes. 
 
 2. Madame Whitney's preparations for a boiled 
 dinner began before breakfast, when she put a 
 great piece of salt beef in the pot over the fire. 
 This pot was a fat thing, small at the top, to keep 
 the smoke away from the cover, and it held two 
 or three pailfuls. A piece of pork and a quan- 
 
HOME STORIES. 65 
 
 tity of "garden-sauce" beets, cabbage, turnips, 
 carrots, and potatoes followed the beef at the 
 appropriate time, and, best of all, a pudding. No 
 boiled dinner was complete without its pudding, 
 which was put into the pot at exactly nine o'clock, 
 dinner being always served at noon. The pudding 
 was a simple batter of new milk and Indian-meal, 
 made thin and boiled in a linen bag. To insure light- 
 ness, the water in the pot must be boiling briskly 
 when the pudding was put in, and never stop for 
 an instant. This item of the care-taking attended 
 to, when the bag was turned off, the pudding was 
 always found to be "light as a cork," and, with 
 cream and maple-sugar, was very toothsome, and 
 all the more highly prized that they did not have 
 dessert with every dinner. After the vegetables 
 and meats and pudding had been taken up, crusts 
 of brown bread, which had been saved for this pur- 
 pose, were put into the pot and boiled a few min- 
 utes, then skimmed out a brewis with nameless 
 garden flavors to accompany the dinner. 
 
 3. Many beans were raised. They were baked 
 and stewed, but oftenest of all were made into 
 bean-porridge. This was a rich, thick soup, cooked 
 slowly for a long time. It was made with season- 
 ing of beef -bones, if obtainable, but oftener a few 
 
66 GRANDFATHER'S STORIES. 
 
 slices of salt pork were fried in the pot, two or 
 three quarts of water poured upon them, and 
 added to this was a pint or more of beans previ- 
 ously soaked overnight in cold water. It was 
 additionally seasoned with salt and small bits of 
 pepper-pods, and was a staple article of diet, being 
 made as often as once a week, summer and winter. 
 It was a popular dish with the children, brown 
 bread or wheaten being crumbled liberally into the 
 steaming bowL 
 
 4. Baking-day was the great day of the week. 
 Madame Whitney was up betimes. Cyrus was 
 summoned, and was expected to split a great pile 
 of short oven- wood before breakfast ; and it was 
 Sally's duty during the same time to have sifted 
 the meal and flour three sievefuls of rye- and 
 three of corn-meal into the bread-trough a box 
 as large as a baby-cradle. At each end of the 
 trough, near the top, was a slot to hold the " meal- 
 stick," and along this stick little Sally slid the 
 sieve to and fro, to and fro, to sift the meal. She 
 next sifted a quantity of flour into the wheat-tray 
 a heavy, home-made wooden receptable, holding 
 but little less than the trough. After breakfast, 
 madame rolled her sleeves to her shoulders, tied 
 on a clean linen apron, and, with a pan of milk 
 
HOME STORIES. 67 
 
 and water and a bowl of fresh yeast, began to 
 make the brown bread. 
 
 5. I regret to say that it is my belief that she 
 called this bread " ryninjun " when it was done. 
 It was no light task to mix five or six large loaves, 
 since it must be made stiff enough to bake with- 
 out pans on the bottom of the oven. When it 
 was thoroughly mixed she heaped it on one end 
 of the trough, and set it near the fire to rise. Then 
 she mixed the wheaten dough, and set the tray 
 over the trough. The oven was heated by build- 
 ing a fire of finely split wood in it. This fire was 
 kept an hour or two, but old ladies used to say 
 they "could tell when an oven was hot by the 
 looks." When it was at white heat, the coals 
 were spread over the oven to heat the bottom, and, 
 when this stone floor reached the right degree, the 
 coals and ashes were scraped out, and a birch 
 broom, from which the string had been cut to let 
 the splinters stand in all directions, was used to 
 sweep or mop it clean. Pots of beans and an In- 
 dian pudding were set in while the oven was yet 
 too hot for bread. The rye-and-Indian and the 
 wheat dough having become light, they were 
 gently sprinkled with dry meal, and slid into the 
 oven from the blade of a long-handled wooden 
 
68 GRANDFATHERS STORIES. 
 
 shovel the brown bread first, and, when the oven 
 was a little cooler, the wheat-bread. 
 
 6. There was then room for two or three pies 
 in the mouth of the oven. Fruit-pies could seldom 
 be made ; berries, to be sure, grew in the clearings, 
 and wild grapes grew near some of the streams, 
 but the Whitney family and their neighbors had 
 to wait years for apples and other tree-fruits. 
 When wild cherries were ripe, Madame Whitney 
 used sometimes to make pies of them of both 
 bird-cherries and the bush-cherry, called choke- 
 cherries. In spring she made pies of sorrel. On 
 baking-days the children were sent to gather a 
 quantity of fresh young sorrel-leaves the old 
 leaves were tough and bitter. After covering a 
 plate with paste, she piled it high with carefully 
 washed and picked sorrel, put on plenty of maple- 
 sugar, and covered it with paste. 
 
 7. America had not then become a pie-eating 
 nation, but Madame Whitney made more than her 
 neighbors, especially when pumpkins came. Oh, 
 the pumpkin ! I don't know what our pioneers 
 would have done without it. It was easily raised, 
 and much used. They put it into brown bread 
 to give it a sweet taste ; they ate it simply stewed ; 
 they cut it into long strips, and dried it over the 
 
HOME STORIES. 69 
 
 fire; they made pies of it; and sometimes they 
 even made of it an inferior kind of sirup. 
 
 Luthera Whitney. Selected from " Old-Time Days and Ways" 
 
 XV.-THE BOSTON BOYS. 
 
 1. Just before the Revolution a company of 
 British troops was stationed at Boston. The 
 people did not like them, for they would often 
 stop men in the street, and in many ways make 
 themselves disagreeable. 
 
 2. In the winter the boys in one of the schools 
 had a sliding-place on the Common. This the sol- 
 diers destroyed as often as the boys built it up. 
 After appealing in vain to the captain, the boys 
 finally went to General Gage and complained. 
 " What ! " he said, " have your fathers been teach- 
 ing you rebellion, and sent you here to exhibit it ? " 
 " Nobody sent us, sir," said one of the boys. " We 
 have never injured nor insulted your troops, but 
 they have trodden down our snow-hills, and broken 
 the ice on our skating-ground. We complained, 
 and they called us ' young rebels,' and told us ' to 
 help ourselves if we could.' We told the cap- 
 
70 
 
 GRANDFATHER'S STORIES. 
 
 tains of this, and they 
 laughed at us. Yester- 
 day our works 
 were destroyed 
 for the third 
 time, and 
 we will 
 \ bear it no 
 
 longer." 
 
 3. The General said, with surprise, to one of his 
 officers : " The very children here draw in a love 
 of liberty with the air they breathe. You may 
 go, my brave boys ; and be assured, if my troops 
 trouble you again, they shall be punished." 
 
 Revolutionary Musket. 
 
HOME STORIES. 71 
 
 XYL-WASHINGTON AND THE HORSE. 
 
 1. Washington owed much of his greatness to 
 his mother. She taught him many lessons and 
 gave him many rules ; but her own deeds every 
 day impressed him most. She taught him to be 
 truthful ; but her lessons were not half as for- 
 cible as her own truthfulness. 
 
 2. There is a story told of George Washing- 
 ton's boyhood which is to the point. His father 
 had taken a great deal of pride in his blooded 
 horses, and his mother afterward took great in- 
 terest in the young horses that had not yet been 
 broken; ajid one of them in particular, a sorrel, 
 was extremely spirited. No one had been able 
 to do anything with it, and it was pronounced 
 thoroughly vicious, as people are apt to pronounce 
 horses which they have not learned to master. 
 George was determined to ride this colt, and told 
 his companions that, if they would help him catch 
 it, he would ride and tame it. 
 
 3. Early in the morning they set out for the 
 pasture, where the boys managed to surround the 
 sorrel, and then to put a bit into its mouth. Wash- 
 ington sprang on its back, the boys dropped the 
 bridle, and away flew the angry animal. Its rider 
 
GRANDFATHER'S STORIES. 
 
 at once began to command ; the horse resisted, 
 backing about the field, rearing and plunging. 
 The boys became thoroughly alarmed, but Wash- 
 
 ington kept his 
 
 seat, never once los- 
 
 ing his self-control or 
 
 his mastery of the colt. 
 
 The struggle was a sharp 
 
 one; when suddenly, as if deter- 
 
HOME STORIES. 73 
 
 mined to rid itself of its rider, the creature leaped 
 into the air with a tremendous bound. It was its 
 last. The violence burst a blood-vessel, and the 
 noble horse fell dead. 
 
 4. Before the boys could sufficiently recover 
 to consider how they should extricate themselves 
 from the scrape, they were called to breakfast. 
 The mistress of the house, knowing that they had 
 been in the fields, began to ask after her stock. 
 
 5. "Pray, young gentlemen," said she, "have 
 you seen my blooded colts in your rambles? I 
 hope they are well taken care of. My favorite, I 
 am told, is as large as his sire.' 1 
 
 6. The boys looked at one another, and no one 
 liked to speak. Of course, the mother repeated 
 her question. 
 
 7. " The sorrel is dead, madam," said her son. 
 "I killed him!" And then he told the whole 
 story. They say that his mother flushed with 
 anger, as her son so often used to, and then, like 
 him, controlled herself, and presently said, quietly : 
 "It is well; but while I regret the loss of my fa- 
 vorite, I rejoice in my son, who always speaks the 
 truth." 
 
GRANDFATHERS STORIES. 
 
 XVII -OUR GRANDMOTHERS AT SCHOOL. 
 
 1. Mrs. Diaz, in her delightful sketches, gives 
 an account of her old teachers, and how the 
 
 old-time schools 
 were conducted. 
 She always sees 
 the funny side. 
 
 2. " One of 
 nay teachers/'she 
 says, " was Marm 
 Leonard. She 
 used to wear a 
 ruffled vandyke 
 and a necklace 
 of large blue 
 beads, and a row 
 of reddish false 
 curls on each 
 side of her fore- 
 head. 
 
 3. " Marm 
 Leonard had a 
 faculty for con* 
 
 triving punishments suitable to the nature of each 
 offense. For example, when little Sethy Gushing 
 
HOME STORIES. 
 
 tied his comforter around a kitten and hung it on 
 the clothes-line, she tied the comforter around lit- 
 tle Sethy Gushing and hung him on the crane in 
 her great kitchen fireplace Of course, the fire- 
 place was not at that time in use. 
 
 4. " Scholars who told lies had mustard put on 
 their tongues. When a little girl stole a vial of 
 boxberry-cordial from one of 
 
 the other children, Marm Leon- 
 ard held that little girl's fingers 
 over the red-hot coals. 
 
 5. "She had also 
 othej ways of per- 
 suading us to avoid 
 the evil and take to 
 the good. She kept 
 a thin, oval-shaped 
 silver locket, marked 
 1 Best scholar,' for 
 the best scholar to 
 wear. She also had 
 
 ribbon bows, of blue, pink, light-green, and black. 
 All the good scholars went home with bright 
 bows pinned on their shoulders. The marm had 
 but one black bow, and that was reserved to be 
 pinned on the one who was unusually bad. 
 
76 GRANDFATHER'S STORIES. 
 
 6. "I must not forget to mention the Cate- 
 chism or ' Catechise,' as it was usually called for 
 in that Marm Leonard drilled us well. At the 
 summons ' All stand up and say your Catechise ! ' 
 we all stood up in a straight line on a crack of 
 the floor. She put out the questions in a high 
 pitched tone of voice, speaking very fast, and we 
 answered with equal rapidity, running the words 
 together and scampering along without stopping 
 to breathe. In fact, we answered in one long 
 word. 
 
 7. "The 'Catechise' contained one hundred 
 and seven questions, their answers, the Lord's 
 Prayer, and the Ten Commandments, and the 
 Creed. Some of the scholars knew the book 
 through, and the ' Primer ' besides. 
 
 8. " The ' Primer ' was a thin book, about five 
 inches long and four wide, with blue covers and 
 leather binding. It had a woodcut of John Han- 
 cock and a number of very small woodcuts, one 
 for every letter of the alphabet. These were 
 placed up and down the pages, six in a page, at 
 the left-hand side, each with its couplet at the 
 right Thus, for A there was the couplet 
 
 "' In Adam's fall 
 We sinned all.' 
 
HOME STORIES. 77 
 
 9. " In the picture there were two droll-look- 
 ing human images, whose bond of union seemed 
 to be an apple, which both of them were holding. 
 They stood close to a tree. It looked like a cedar 
 or a hemlock tree, but we knew it to be an ap- 
 ple-tree, because there were apples on it. We 
 were sure they were apples, for we had heard the 
 story again and again. Around the trunk was 
 coiled a serpent of the size so it seemed to us 
 of a small anaconda, for with only two coils it 
 reached from the ground to the branches. 
 
 10. " For ' O ' there were three human images, 
 two of them with crowns and scepters, and the 
 triplet 
 
 " ' Johnny Obadias, 
 David, Josias, 
 All were pious.' 
 
 11. "Besides the pictures and rhymes, the 'Prim- 
 er ' contained the alphabet, the ' abs,' a few pages of 
 6 spelling-words,' a variety of ' Lessons and Max- 
 ims for Children,' several prayers, the whole of 
 the Catechism, the ' Golden Rule,' and a number 
 of verses, texts, and so forth. 
 
 12. "It was always a marked event when the 
 committee visited the school. If the President 
 and all his Cabinet were to walk into the room 
 
HOME STORIES. 79 
 
 where I am writing, they would not seem half so 
 stately and grand to me as did those four gentle 
 men who used to visit the school once or twice 
 during the winter. They came up from town on 
 horseback ; a wheeled vehicle was rarely seen in 
 those days. Their arrival was usually announced 
 by some scholar who had peeped through a crack, 
 or who had stood up and looked out of the window. 
 
 13. " ' Committee's come!' was the whisper 
 which ran through the room. Its effect was mag- 
 ical. The schoolmaster, startled by the sudden 
 silence, would throw a hurried glance at the win- 
 dow, and then try to put on a serene and lamb- 
 like expression. We would listen as still as mice 
 till we heard voices outside ; then came steps in 
 the entry ; then a rap at the door. At the mo- 
 ment of their entrance the stillness was such that 
 we hardly breathed. 
 
 14. " Oh, how majestic they looked with their 
 nice broadcloth (our folks wore homespun), their 
 ruffled shirts, their heavy watch-seals, and their 
 gold-headed canes ! Walking along the alley- way, 
 they fairly lighted up that dingy, low- walled little 
 building. With what an air they looked down 
 upon us ! How could anything seem good in 
 their sight ? 
 
80 GRANDFATHER'S STORIES. 
 
 15. "They usually heard the classes read, 
 looked at the writing-books, and gave out ' spell- 
 ings. 9 Mr. Bixby was the most pompous member 
 of the committee. He felt himself the grandest. 
 I remember his hanging cheeks, and his quick, 
 puffy way of talking. I also recall what he once 
 said when the other gentlemen were in favor of 
 our taking up a new study : ' Oh, it's of no con- 
 sequence no consequence at all ! They are not 
 intended to grace a drawing-room.' 
 
 16. "The ' committee' heard us all read and 
 spell, turned over the leaves of the writing-books, 
 talked in undertones with the schoolmaster and 
 with each other, said ' a few words ' to the schol- 
 ars, then they walked out, hats and canes in hand, 
 and the whole school standing as they passed 
 down the alley. When, at last, the closing door 
 shut them out, it seemed as if the school-room had 
 met with an eclipse. 
 
 17. "We listened in silence while they trotted 
 away, and then, as if just awakened from a dream, 
 scholars resumed their mischief -making, the school- 
 master his natural expression of countenance, and 
 flogging, hair-pulling, and ear-pulling went on as 
 usual, accompanied by the whizzing of rulers." 
 
 Youth's Companion. 
 
HOME STORIES. 
 
 81 
 
 Mi 
 
 THE BOSTON 
 B|J TEA-PARTY. 
 
 1. Before the 
 Revolution, the 
 British laid a tax on tea 
 before it could be sold 
 in America. The Amer- 
 
 icans would not pay 
 this tax, and would 
 not buy the tea. 
 The women came to- 
 
82 GRANDFATHER'S STORIES. 
 
 gather in each town and declared they would drink 
 no tea until the tax was taken off. As they must 
 have something to drink at their tea-parties, some 
 tried catnip, some sage, some sassafras, and some 
 other herbs. It was a hard time for them, poor 
 souls ! but they stood out nobly. 
 
 2. By-and-by, three ships laden with tea were 
 sent to Boston. Then, what a time they had ! 
 Sixty men dressed like Indians, with paint and 
 feathers, jumped on board the vessels and went to 
 work to destroy the tea. The chests were brought 
 up and opened, and the tea turned into the water. 
 Such a tea-party the fish never had before. When 
 the last pound of tea was poured out, the Indians 
 went off, and were never found out by the British. 
 
 3. George P. Morris, the poet, describes this 
 tea-party, and the origin of the tune "Yankee 
 Doodle," in the following poem, which the children 
 should both read and sing : 
 
 4. Once on a time Old Johnny Bull flew in a 
 
 raging fury, 
 And swore that Jonathan should have no trials, 
 
 sir, by jury ; 
 That no elections should be held, across the 
 
 briny waters ; 
 
HOME STORIES. 83 
 
 " And now," said he, " I'll tax the tea of all his 
 sons and daughters." 
 
 Then down he sate in burly state, and blus- 
 tered like a grandee, 
 
 And in derision made a tune called " Yankee 
 doodle dandy." 
 
 " Yankee doodle "- these are facts " Yankee 
 doodle dandy ; 
 
 My^son of wax, your tea I'll tax ; you Yankee 
 doodle dandy ! " 
 
 5. John sent the tea from o'er the sea, with heavy 
 
 duties rated ; 
 But whether hyson or bohea, I never heard it 
 
 stated. 
 Then Jonathan to pout began he laid a strong 
 
 embargo 
 " I'll drink no tea, by Jove ! " so he threw 
 
 overboard the cargo. 
 Then Johnny sent a regiment, big words and 
 
 looks to bandy, 
 Whose martial band, when near the land, 
 
 played "Yankee doodle dandy." 
 " Yankee doodle keep it up Yankee doodle 
 
 dandy 
 I'll poison with a tax your cup, you Yankee 
 
 doodle dandy." 
 
84: GRANDFATHER'S STORIES. 
 
 60 A long war then they had, in which John was 
 
 at last defeated, 
 And Yankee doodle was the march to which 
 
 his troops retreated. 
 'Cute Jonathan, to see them fly, could not 
 
 restrain his laughter ; 
 "That tune," said he, "suits to a T I'll sing it 
 
 ever after ! " 
 Old Johnny's face, to his disgrace, was flushed 
 
 with beer and brandy, 
 E'en while he swore to sing no more, this 
 
 " Yankee doodle dandy." 
 
 Yankee doodle-ho-ha-he Yankee doodle dandy, 
 We kept the tune, but not the tea Yankee 
 
 doodle dandy. 
 
 7. I've told you now the origin of this most lively 
 
 ditty, 
 Which Johnny Bull dislikes as "dull and 
 
 stupid " what a pity ! 
 With " Hail Columbia " it is sung, in chorus 
 
 full and hearty 
 On land and main we breathe the strain John 
 
 made for his tea-party. 
 No matter how we rhyme the words, the music 
 
 speaks them handy, 
 
HOME STORIES. 85 
 
 And where's the fair can't sing the air of 
 
 Yankee doodle dandy ? 
 Yankee doodle, firm and true Yankee doodle 
 
 dandy- 
 Yankee doodle, doodle do, Yankee doodle dandy ! 
 
 XIX. '-THE YOIWG BLACKSMITH. 
 
 1. The battle of Bennington might have been 
 lost by the Americans if Luke Varnum, the young 
 blacksmith, had not been lame. This is the way 
 Edward Everett Hale tells the story : 
 
 2. Luke Varnum was fifteen years old, and he 
 was lame of his left foot. So, when every other 
 boy in Number Five, and every man, old and 
 young, shouldered his firelock and marched off to 
 join General Stark, and go and fight the Hes- 
 sians at Bennington, Luke was left at home. He 
 limped out and held the stirrup for Lieutenant 
 Chittenden to mount, and then he had to stay at 
 home with the babies and the women. 
 
 3. The men had been gone an hour and a half, 
 when three men galloped up on horseback. And 
 Luke went down to the rails to see who they 
 
86 GRANDFATHER'S STORIES. 
 
 were. " Is there nobody here ? " said one of them. 
 " Yes/' said Luke, " I am here." " I see that/' 
 said the first man, laughing. " What I mean is, is 
 there nobody here can set a shoe ? " 
 
 4. " I think I can," said Luke. " I often tend 
 fire for Jonas. I can blow the bellows, and I can 
 hold the horse's foot. Anyway, I will start up 
 the fire." 
 
 5. So Luke went into the forge and took 
 down the tinder-box and struck a light. He 
 built the fire, and hunted up half a dozen nails 
 which Jonas had left, and he had even made two 
 more, when a fourth horseman came slowly down 
 on a walk. 
 
 6.-" What luck," said he, "to find a forge with 
 the fire lighted ! " " We found one," said Marvin, 
 " with a boy who knew how to light it." And the 
 other speaker flung himself off his horse in haste. 
 
 7. And Luke pared the hoof of the dainty 
 creature, and measured the shoe, which was too 
 big for her. He heated it white, and bent it 
 closer, to the proper size. " It is a poor fit," he 
 said, u but it will do." 
 
 8. " It will do very well," said her rider. " But 
 she is very tender-footed, and I do not dare trust 
 her five miles unshod." 
 
88 GRANDFATHER' 1 S STORIES. 
 
 9. And, for pride's sake, the first two nails 
 Luke drove were those he had made himself. 
 And when the shoe was fast, he said, "Tell 
 Jonas that I het up the forge and put on the 
 shoe." 
 
 10. " We will tell him," said the colonel, 
 laughing, and he rode on. But one of the other 
 horsemen tarried a minute, and said : " Boy, no 
 ten men who left you to-day have served our 
 country as you have. That is Colonel Warner." 
 
 11. When I read in the big books of history 
 how Colonel Warner led up his men just in time 
 to save the day at Bennington, I am apt to think 
 of Luke Varnum, the lame young blacksmith. 
 
 XX.-REBECCA THE DRUMMER. 
 
 1. It was about nine o'clock in the morning 
 when the ship first appeared. At once there was 
 the greatest excitement at the village. It was a 
 
HOME STORIES. 89 
 
 British war-ship. What would she do ? Would 
 she tack about in the bay to pick up stray coasters 
 as prizes, or would she land soldiers to burn the 
 town? In either case there would be trouble 
 enough. 
 
 2. Those were sad days, those old war-times 
 in 1812. The sight of a British war-ship in Bos- 
 ton Bay was not pleasant. We were poor then, 
 and had but few vessels able to fight the enemy. 
 Our navy was small, and, though we afterward 
 had the victory, and sent the troublesome ships 
 away never to return, at that time they often came 
 near enough, and the good people in the little vil- 
 lage of Scituate Harbor were in great distress over 
 the strange ship that had appeared at the mouth 
 of the harbor. 
 
 3. It was a fishing-place in those days, and the 
 harbor was full of smacks and boats of all kinds. 
 The soldiers could easily enter the harbor and 
 burn up everything, and no one could prevent 
 them. There were men enough to make a good 
 fight, but they were poorly armed, and had noth- 
 ing but fowling-pieces and shot-guns, while the 
 soldiers had muskets and cannon. 
 
 4. The tide was down during the morning, so 
 that there was no danger for a few hours, and all 
 
90 GRANDFATHER'S STORIES, 
 
 the people went out on the cliffs and beaches to 
 watch the ships, and see what would happen 
 next. 
 
 5. On the end of the low, sandy spit that makes 
 one side of the harbor stood the little white tower 
 known as Scituate Heights. In the house behind 
 the light lived the keeper's family, consisting of 
 himself, wife, and several boys and girls. At the 
 time the ship appeared the keeper was away, and 
 there was no one at home save Mrs. Bates, the 
 eldest daughter Rebecca, about fourteen years old, 
 two of the little boys, and a young girl named 
 Sarah Winsor, who was visiting Rebecca. 
 
 6. Rebecca had been the first to discover the 
 'ship while she was at the lighthouse tower pol- 
 ishing the reflector. She at once descended the 
 steep stairs, and sent off the boys to the village to 
 give the alarm. 
 
 7. For an hour or two the ship tacked and 
 stood off to sea, then tacked again, and made for 
 the shore. Men, women, and children watched 
 her with anxious interest. Then the tide turned, 
 and began to flow into the harbor. The boats 
 aground on the flats floated, and those in deep 
 water swung round at their moorings. Now the 
 soldiers would probably land. If the people meant 
 
STORIES. 91 
 
 to save anything, it was time to be stirring. Boats 
 were hastily put out from the wharf, and such 
 clothing, nets, and other valuables as could be 
 handled were brought ashore, loaded into hay- 
 carts, and carried away. 
 
 8. It was of no use to resist. The soldiers, of 
 course, were well armed, and, if the people made 
 a stand among the houses, they would not prevent 
 the enemy from destroying the shipping. 
 
 9. As the tide spread out over the sandy flats, 
 it filled the harbor, so that, instead of a small 
 channel, it becomes a wide and beautiful bay. The 
 day was fine, and there was a gentle breeze rip- 
 pling the water and making it sparkle in the 
 sun. What a splendid day for fishing or sailing ! 
 Not much use to think of either while that war- 
 ship crossed and recrossed before the harbor- 
 mouth ! 
 
 10. About two o'clock the tide reached high- 
 water mark, and, to the dismay of the people, the 
 ship let go her anchor, swung her yards round, 
 and lay quiet about half a mile from the first cliff. 
 They were going to land to burn the town. With 
 their spy-glasses the people could see the boats 
 lowered to take the soldiers ashore. 
 
 11. Ah ! then there were confusion and uproar 
 
92 
 
 GRANDFATHERS STORIES. 
 
 Every horse in the village was put into some kind 
 of team, and the women and children were hurried 
 off to the woods behind the town. The men 
 would stay and offer as brave a resistance as pos- 
 sible. Their guns were light and poor, but they 
 could use the old fish-houses as a fort, and perhaps 
 make a brave fight of it. If worse came to worse, 
 they could at least retreat and take to the shelter 
 of the woods. 
 
 12. It was a splendid sight. Five large boats, 
 manned by sailors, and filled with soldiers in gay 
 red coats. How their guns glittered in 
 the sun ! The oars all moved 
 together in regular order, and 
 the officers in their fine uni- 
 forms stood up to direct the ex- 
 pedition. It was a courageous 
 company come with a war-ship 
 and cannon to fight helpless fisher- 
 men ! 
 
 13. So Rebecca Bates and Sa- 
 rah Winsor thought, as they sat 
 up in the lighthouse tower look- 
 ing down on the procession of 
 boats as it went past the point and 
 entered the harbor. " Oh, if I only were a man ! " 
 
 An English 
 Grenadier. 
 
HOME STORIES. 93 
 
 cried Rebecca. " What could you do ? See what 
 a lot of them, and look at their guns ! " "I don't 
 care, I'd fight. I'd use father's old shot-gun 
 anything. Think of uncle's new boat and the 
 sloop!" "Yes, and all the boats." "Yes; and 
 to think oue must sit here and see it all, and 
 not lift a finger to help ! " 
 
 14. "Do you think there will be a fight?" 
 " I don't know. Father and uncle are in the vil- 
 lage, and they will do all they can." " See how 
 still it is in town ! There is not a man to be seen." 
 " Oh, they are hiding till the soldiers get nearer. 
 Then we'll hear the shots and the drum." 
 
 15. "The drum! How can they? It is here. 
 Father brought it home to mend last night." 
 "Did he? Then let's" "See! the first boat 
 has reached the sloop. Oh ! oh ! they are going 
 to burn her." "Where is that drum ? " " It's in 
 the kitchen." " I've a great mind to go down and 
 beat it." " What good would that do ? " " Scare 
 'em." " They'd see it was only two girls, and they 
 would laugh, and go on burning just the same." 
 "No; we could hide behind the sand-hills and 
 bushes." 
 
 16. The flame from the burning vessel urged 
 them to instant action. No time for further talk. 
 
94 GRANDFATRER^S STORIES. 
 
 Down the steep stairs of the tower rushed these 
 two young patriots, bent on doing what they could 
 for their country. They got the drum, and found 
 an old fife in the bureau-drawer, and slipped out- 
 of-doors unnoticed. They must be careful, or the 
 soldiers would see them. They went Around back 
 of the house to the north and toward the outside 
 beach, and then turned and plowed through the 
 deep sand just above high-water mark. They 
 must keep out of the sight of the boats, and of 
 the ship also. Luckily, she was anchored to the 
 south of the light, and, as the beach curved to 
 the west, they soon left her out of sight. Then 
 they took to the water-side, and, with the drum 
 between them, ran as fast as they could toward 
 the mainland. Presently they reached the low 
 heaps of sand that showed where the spit joined 
 the fields and woods. 
 
 17. Panting with excitement, they tightened 
 up the drum and tried the fife softly. "Come, 
 begin ! One, two ; one, two ! " Drum ! drum ! 
 drum ! Squeak ! squeak ! squeak ! The men in 
 the town heard it, and were amazed beyond meas- 
 ure. Had the soldiers arrived from Boston ? What 
 did it mean ? Who were coming ? 
 
 18. Louder and louder on the breeze came the 
 
HOME STORIES. 95 
 
 roll of a sturdy drum and the sound of a brave 
 fife. The soldiers in the boats heard the noise, 
 and paused in their work of destruction. The 
 officers ordered everybody into the boats in the 
 greatest haste. The people were rising ! They 
 were coining down the point with cannon to head 
 them off ! They would all be captured and per- 
 haps hung by those dreadful Americans. How 
 the drum rolled ! The fife changed its tune. It 
 played " Yankee Doodle " that horrid tune ! 
 Hark ! the men were cheering in the town ; there 
 were thousands of them in the woods along the 
 shore ! 
 
 19. In grim silence marched the two girls, 
 plodding over the sharp stones, splashing through 
 the puddles, Rebecca beating the old drum with 
 might and main, Sarah blowing the fife with shrill 
 determination. 
 
 20. How the Britishers scrambled into their 
 boats ! One of the brave officers was nearly left 
 behind on the burning sloop. Another fell over- 
 board in his haste to escape from the American 
 army marching down the beach a thousand 
 strong ! How the sailors pulled ! No fancy row- 
 ing now, but desperate haste to get out of the 
 place and escape to the ship. 
 
 7 
 
96 GRANDFATHER'S STORIES. 
 
 21. How the people yelled and cheered on the 
 shore ! Fifty men or more jumped into boats to 
 prepare for the chase. Ringing shots began to 
 crack over the water. Louder and louder rolled 
 the drum, clearer and clearer screamed the fife. 
 Nearly exhausted, half dead with fatigue, the girls 
 toiled on, ready to drop on the wet sand, and still 
 beating and blowing with fiery courage. 
 
 22. The boats swept swiftly out of the harbor 
 on the outgoing tide. The fishermen came up 
 with the burning boats. Part stopped to put out 
 the fires, and the rest pursued the flying enemy, 
 with such shots as they could get at them. In 
 the midst of it all the sun went down. 
 
 23. The red-coats did not return a shot. They 
 expected every minute to see a thousand men open 
 upon them at short range from the beach, and they 
 reserved their powder. 
 
 24. Out of the harbor they went in confusion 
 and dismay. The ship weighed anchor and ran 
 out her big guns, but did not fire a shot. Dark- 
 ness fell down upon the scene as the boats reached 
 the ship. Then she sent a round shot toward the 
 light. It fell short, and threw a great fountain of 
 white spray into the air. 
 
 25. The girls saw it, and, dropping their drum 
 
HOME STORIES. 97 
 
 and fife, sat down on the beach, and laughed until 
 they cried. That night the ship sailed away. The 
 great American army of two had arrived, and she 
 thought it wise to retreat in time ! Rebecca lived 
 
 o 
 
 to a good old age, and, when feeble in body, was 
 brave in spirit and strong in patriotism. 
 
 Charles Barnard. From " St. Nicholas." 
 
 XXI.-DANIEL WEBSTER AS A BOY. 
 
 1. The father of Daniel Webster lived upon a 
 little, rocky farm, in the town of Salisbury, New 
 Hampshire. Here his two sons, Ezekiel and Dan- 
 iel, lived until they left home for school, and for 
 the practice of law, to which they had devoted 
 themselves. The farm was covered with loose 
 stones, and often, before a crop could be put in, the 
 stones on the surface must be removed ; and pick- 
 ing up stones made the back ache so that both of 
 the boys hated it, and made use of all sorts of 
 expedients to avoid it. 
 
 2. This hard work also gave them a dislike to 
 all farm-labor, and whenever they could they 
 would slip away and go a-fishing, or engage io 
 some kind of play. 
 
98 
 
 GRANDPA THER *& STORIES. 
 
 3. One day their father was called away on 
 court duties, to be gone a week. He gave the 
 boys a stint, for the six days' work, to cut up a 
 
 field of corn then just 
 ripe. After the work was done, 
 the boys could have the rest of the 
 time for play. 
 
 4. The father departed early Monday morning, 
 and after breakfast the boys went out to the corn- 
 field. Then Ezekiel said : " Dan, we can do this 
 work all in three days easily enough ; let us play 
 the first three days." a All right," said Dan ; and 
 
HOME STORIES. 99 
 
 away they went and played until Wednesday 
 night. 
 
 5. On Thursday morning they went again to 
 the field and took a good look at the task before 
 them. Then Ezekiel said : " Dan, we can't do all 
 that work in three days anyway ; so let's play 
 the other three days." " I am agreed/' said Dan, 
 and the play was continued till Saturday night. 
 
 6. When the old gentleman came home, he 
 passed by the field and saw that the work had 
 not been done, and he went into the house wdth 
 his face like a thunder-cloud. After supper he 
 called up the boys to give an account of them- 
 selves. "Ezekiel, what have you been doing?" 
 he said, sternly, as they stood before him. " Noth- 
 ing, sir ! " answered the boy, shaking in his shoes 
 at what he expected would soon come. " Daniel, 
 w^hat have you been doing ? " " Helping Zeke ! " 
 answered Dan, promptly. 
 
 7. Dan's reply was so ready, and he looked so 
 innocent, that the father could not repress a smile, 
 and the boys were let off from the whipping which 
 they so richly deserved. For a long time in the 
 neighborhood, " Helping Zeke," became an expres- 
 sion for laziness and neglect of duty." 
 
\ H S 
 
 XXII. 
 STORY OF CERVANTES. 
 
 1. Cervantes was born in A. D. 
 1547, at Alcala de Henares, a 
 walled city seventeen miles north- 
 east from Madrid, on the right bank 
 of the river Hen ares. He was so anxious to learn 
 that he never passed a scrap of paper, even in the 
 streets, without picking it up and reading what- 
 ever was written on it. He delighted in legends, 
 stories of dragons and enchanters, and tales of the 
 old Moorish wars. He loved poetry and plays also. 
 2. One day, when he was about ten years old, 
 he was absent at dinner-time, which was not usual. 
 Besides, the dinner was really a festive one, and 
 that it was to be so the little fellow knew. First, 
 the soup was uncommonly good, with an extra 
 seasoning of saffron ; next there were slices of 
 fresh fish fried in oil, with yolk of eggs ; and, 
 lastly, there was asparagus, with rich, red -pep- 
 
FOREIGN STORIES. 101 
 
 pered sausages, and a bottle of Valdepennas wine. 
 " What can have become of Miguel ? " asked the 
 mother, over and over again. 
 
 3. Just as the family rose from the table, Cer- 
 vantes came tearing along and burst into the 
 room, exclaiming : " I've seen him ! I've seen him ! 
 Oh, the wonderful Lope ! Oh, the funny Lope 1 " 
 
 4. " The who, child ? " asked Madame Cervan- 
 tes. "Lope de Rueda, mother. He's here, and 
 his men, and all his things. I've seen them, every 
 one of them." 
 
 5. " How was it, truly, and where did you go, 
 and what did you see ? " asked Roderigo, his elder 
 brother. 
 
 6. " Why, I don't know as it was, after all, so 
 very, very grand," replied Miguel. " Lope brought 
 his things in a great sack. He had four white 
 shepherds' jackets, turned up with leather, gilded 
 and stamped, some false beards and hair, some 
 shepherds' crooks, and some black paint." 
 
 7. " And where was the theatre ? " " Oh, in 
 the court behind the printing-office. They put 
 four benches in a square, and laid five or six 
 boards across them. They then fixed an old 
 blanket on cords for a curtain, and behind that 
 they dressed. The musicians sat there, too, and 
 
102 GRANDFATHERS STORIES. 
 
 sung old ballads, but without any guitar. There 
 are three actors besides Lope and three musicians. 
 May I go again this afternoon, father? Lope 
 asked the people to go home and get their dinner, 
 and come right back again to see another play." 
 
 8. The more Miguel went to this fine theatre 
 the more he liked to go, and his mother was glad 
 that Lope stayed only two or three days at a time, 
 and then went away with his jackets, and his 
 beards, and his old blankets, to Madrid and Se- 
 ville and other towns about. 
 
 9. Lope de Rueda founded the national theatre 
 of Spain. He wrote his own plays, and was an 
 excellent actor. Cervantes was always poor, but 
 he was diligent, cheerful, and generous. He be- 
 came famous as a writer of plays and stories ; but 
 his greatest book is " Don Quixote," which you 
 will read when you are older. He died A. D. 1616. 
 No monument was raised to his memory until 
 1835, when a bronze statue of him, larger than 
 life, was set up in Madrid. 
 
 Martha G. Sleeper. u Pictures of the History of Spain" 
 
FOREIGN STORIES. 103 
 
 XXIII -THE BOY WHO TOOK A BOARDER. 
 
 1. Once on a time, about two hundred and fifty 
 years ago, a little boy stood, one morning, at the 
 door of a palace in Florence and looked about him. 
 Why he was standing there, I do not know. Per- 
 haps he was watching for the butcher or the milk- 
 man, for he was a kitchen-boy in the house-hotel 
 of a rich and mighty cardinal. He was twelve 
 years old, and his name was Thomas. 
 
 2. Suddenly he felt a tap on his shoulder which 
 made him turn round and exclaim : " What ! is that 
 you, Peter ? What has brought you to Florence, 
 and how are all the people in Cortona ? " 
 
 3. " They are all well," answered Peter, who 
 likewise was a boy of twelve. " But I've left 
 them for good. I'm tired of taking care of sheep. 
 I want to be a painter. I've come to Florence to 
 learn how. They say there's a school here where 
 they teach people." 
 
 4. " But have you any money ? " asked Thomas. 
 " Not a penny," said Peter. " Then you can't be 
 a painter. You had much better take service in 
 the kitchen with me, here in the palace ; you will 
 be sure of not starving to death," said Thomas. 
 
 5. "I don't want to take service, because I 
 
104 
 
 GRANDFATHERS STORIES. 
 
 want to be a painter," said 
 Peter. "But I will tell 
 you what we will do. As 
 you have more than you 
 need to eat, you shall take 
 
 Florence from the Uffizi Palace. 
 
FOREIGN STORIES, 105 
 
 me to board, on trust at first, and when I'm a 
 grown-up painter I will pay you." 
 
 6. " I think," said Thomas, " that I can manage 
 it ; come up-stairs to the garret, where I sleep, and 
 I'll bring you some dinner by-and-by." 
 
 7. So the two boys went up to the little room 
 among the chimney-pots, where Thomas slept. It 
 was very, very small, and all the furniture in it 
 was an old straw bed and two rickety chairs. But 
 the walls were covered with a smooth white plaster. 
 
 8. The food was good and plentiful, for, when 
 Thomas went down into the kitchen, he found half 
 of a fine mutton-pie which had been thrown out. 
 
 9. After dinner Peter was ready to commence 
 work, but had no paints nor brushes, and Thomas 
 had no money to buy them. 
 
 10. At last the smooth, white wall suggested 
 itself to Peter, and, with a charcoal brought up 
 from the kitchen, he commenced to draw upon it. 
 In the course of a few weeks he had covered the 
 entire surface with a great variety of beautiful de- 
 signs. 
 
 11. At last, one happy day Thomas came in 
 possession of a piece of silver money, which he at 
 once paid out for pencils and paper for Peter. 
 Then the young artist changed his life a little. 
 
/ Street Scene in Florence. ~ 
 
FOREIGN STORIES. 107 
 
 He went out early every morning and wandered 
 about Florence, and drew everything that attracted 
 his attention. In this way he came in possession 
 of the pictures of churches, the fronts of palaces, 
 the statues in the public squares, and of the hills 
 beyond the Arno. Then, when it became too dark 
 to work any longer, Peter would go home to his 
 boarding-house and find his dinner all nicely 
 tucked away under the old straw bed to keep it 
 warm. 
 
 12. Things went on in this way for nearly two 
 years. None of the servants knew that Thomas 
 kept a boarder. The cook used to remark that 
 Thomas ate a good deal for a lad of his size, but 
 he didn't seem to grow much. 
 
 13. One day the cardinal set about making re- 
 pairs upon his palace. He went over the house in 
 company with an architect, and while in the attic 
 he went into the lodging-room of the two boys. 
 
 14. Here he saw the fine pictures on the walls 
 drawn in charcoal. " Who occupies this room ?''' he 
 demanded. " The kitchen-boy, Thomas, your Em- 
 inence." " Call the kitchen-boy here, then." 
 
 15. Thomas came up with fear and trembling. 
 He had never been in the mighty cardinal's pres- 
 ence before. He looked at the drawings, and his 
 
108 GRANDFATHER'S STORIES. 
 
 heart sank within him. He fell on his knees and 
 begged that he might remain. " But," said the 
 cardinal, "the boy who can draw these pictures is 
 an artist, he should not stay in the kitchen." 
 
 16. " Oh ! I did not make the pictures ; it was 
 Peter who did that." " But, who is Peter ? " said the 
 cardinal. " He is my old play-mate from Cortona, 
 who came to me when his father and mother died." 
 " Where is he now ? " " Out in the streets studying 
 and drawing," answered Thomas. " Send him to 
 me as soon as he returns," said his Eminence, as he 
 left the room. 
 
 17. But, strange to say, that night Peter did 
 not return. One week, two weeks went by, and 
 still nothing was heard of him. At the end of 
 that time the cardinal made a search for him, and 
 found him in a convent. 
 
 18. It seems he found one of Raffaelle's pict- 
 ures there, and asked permission to copy it. The 
 monks, charmed by the simplicity and talent dis- 
 played by the little artist, readily consented, and 
 while at work they invited him to eat at their 
 table and to sleep in one of their apartments. 
 
 19. The cardinal found Peter a cheerful and 
 happy little boy, resolved to become a painter. 
 He sent him to the best schools of Florence, where 
 
FOREIGN STORIES. 109 
 
 art was taught, and Thomas was sent to a 
 school of another character, and afterward became 
 the personal attendant of the cardinal while he 
 lived. 
 
 20. Fifty years later two old men lived to< 
 gether in one of the most beautiful houses in Flor- 
 ence. They were the two boys whose friendship 
 had never ceased, and Peter was the most noted 
 artist of his age. Their lives were beautiful. 
 
 Charlotte Adams. From u St. Nicholas. 
 
 XXIY.-COLUMBUS AT THE CONVENT. 
 
 1. Dreary and brown the night comes down, 
 
 Gloomy, without a star. 
 On Palos town the night comes down ; 
 The day departs with stormy frown ; 
 
 The sad sea moans afar. 
 
 2. A convent-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. 
 
110 
 
 GRANDFATHERS STORIES. 
 
 3. White was his hair, 
 his mien was fair, 
 His look was calm 
 
 and great. 
 
 The porter ran and called a friar ; 
 The friar made haste and told the prior ; 
 The prior came to the gate. 
 
 He took them in, he gave them food ; 
 The traveler's dreams he heard ; 
 
FOREIGN STORIES. HI 
 
 And fast the midnight moments flew, 
 And fast the good man's wonder grew, 
 And all his heart was stirred 
 
 5 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 ! 
 
 6. " 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." 
 
 7. And so his guest he comforted. 
 
 O wise, good prior ! to you, 
 Who cheered the stranger's darkest days, 
 And helped him on his way, what praise 
 
 And gratitude are due ! 
 
 J a T. Trowlridge. 
 
j 12 GRANDPA THEE '# STORIES. 
 
 XXV.- THE ANGEL OF THE CAMP. 
 
 1. Far away in distant Switzerland, many 
 years ago, the setting sun was shining on the 
 small fortress of Ermatingen. Sentinels paced 
 the walls, and warders looked out from the 
 towers ; but the other soldiers sought their own 
 pleasure. 
 
 2. Some were wrestling or leaping in the court, 
 some were making snow-shoes, some cleaning their 
 armor. Here and there a group of men were mak- 
 ing a supper of black bread, wine, and smoked 
 venison. A few were listening to a song which 
 the harper called the " Lay of the Lily." 
 
 3. A little apart from the rest, a father and 
 child sat together. Before them, on a huge block 
 of wood, was a small silver cup partly filled with 
 goat's milk, a silver plate with a few crumbs of 
 white bread upon it, and the remains of a much 
 humbler supper in a tin can or flagon, and a wood- 
 en bowl. 
 
 4. Little Misa Saulptien was never long absent 
 from her father. In times of peace she was al- 
 ways seen trudging beside him to church and mar- 
 ket. She helped him to sow the grain, to weed 
 the garden, and to keep off the birds. When dan- 
 
FOREIGN STORIES. 113 
 
 ger to Switzerland called him to tlie camp, she 
 was still at his side. 
 
 5. In summer nights, when he kept guard on 
 the wall, she slept within his watch. When the 
 soldiers were sick or wounded, it was Misa who 
 brought cold water for the parched lip, who 
 bathed the fevered brow. Many were the mes- 
 sages which she carried to the families at home 
 from their loved ones on the battle-field. She was 
 so gentle and so brave that her father's comrades 
 called her the " Angel of the Camp," and the rudest 
 among them would have risked his life for her. 
 
 6. The shadiest nook in summer, the warmest 
 spot in winter, were always hers. The priest gave 
 her his blessing as he passed by, and every one 
 had for her a kind word. 
 
 7. When Misa had finished her meal, she 
 seated herself on her father's knee, and gravely 
 darned his tunic, while he told her stories of his 
 boyhood. By and by the soldiers one, by one, 
 went off to sleep, wrapped in skins of bear or wolf, 
 or in thick blankets. Misa and her father with- 
 drew to a deep recess in the wall near the huge 
 chimney, before which a curtain was drawn, and 
 quickly fell asleep on a bed of mountain moss. 
 
 8. The first watch had not quite passed, and 
 
114 GRANDFATHER'S STORIES. 
 
 all but the sentinels were buried in sound slum 
 ber. It was very dark. A strong wind had 
 sprung up, which roared among the pines, and 
 brought with it the sound of far-off cataracts 
 plunging and leaping among the cliffs. Silently 
 the Austrians drew near. Silently they placed 
 scaling-ladders against the walls. Stealthily they 
 mounted one by one. The sentinels were over- 
 powered, without alarming the garrison. Not till 
 the enemy filled the courts did the Swiss awaken. 
 There was a few minutes of fierce fighting, and all 
 was over. The Austrians had captured the for- 
 tress. 
 
 9. John Saulptien, when awakened, snatched 
 up his child, threw a blanket around her, and, 
 fighting his way to a gate which had been opened 
 by the Austrians, bade her flee for her life. Misa 
 had not been quite undressed, and had hurried on 
 her thick stockings and wooden shoes at the first 
 sound ; so, with the blanket around her, she did 
 not care for the snow. Fortunately, the tempest 
 was soon over. She was not afraid of the mid- 
 night or the forest. On, on she sped, her little 
 feet scarcely touching the frozen path. If she 
 could but reach the village, she thought, her fa- 
 ther might be saved. On, on she went through 
 
FOREIGN STORIES. 115 
 
 the gloom, the bitter cold, the fearful loneliness 
 on, on ! 
 
 10. And she did reach the village. Going as 
 near the gate as possible, she called, " Watchman, 
 let me in ! " 
 
 11. "Who speaks?" asked the watchman, 
 stooping down to catch the soft, young voice 
 which came up. 
 
 12. "It is I, Misa Satilptien, good Ambrose. 
 Please let me in." 
 
 13. "Misa Saulptien!" he repeated, still lin- 
 gering, for these were dangerous times, and he 
 feared treachery. " Are you alone ? How came 
 you here at this time of night ? " 
 
 14. "I am all alone. The cruel Austrians 
 have broken into the fortress, and are killing 
 everybody. Oh, do let me in ! I am freezing." 
 
 15. The captain of the guard at the gate knew 
 Misa's voice, and ordered the gate to be opened. 
 "Carefully, carefully," he said "only a little 
 way." 
 
 16. It was done, and poor Misa was drawn in. 
 Before she had finished telling even the little that 
 she knew, the alarm-bell was ringing, lights were 
 gleaming from the windows, and people were 
 flocking round with eager questions. Misa's voice 
 
116 GRANDFATHER'S STORIES. 
 
 grew faint, however, and they took her into the 
 nearest house, rubbed her weary limbs till they 
 were warm, gave her a nice bath, and then made 
 her swallow some warm drink, into which they 
 put a sleeping powder. She tossed and moaned 
 for a time, then she slept quietly till noon the next 
 day. 
 
 17. Meantime stout Thomas Pregall, Rusca 
 Lambra, and Orelli, mounted on horseback, and 
 went forth to warn the neighboring villages. 
 
 18. The story rang like a trumpet-call over 
 the hills and through the valleys. It echoed from 
 the mountains. It was borne over bright lakes 
 and broad rivers. Two thousand Swiss hastily col- 
 lected and marched to the wood of Schwaderlochs. 
 They feared nothing, although eighteen thousand 
 of the enemy lay there ! " Remember Ermatingen !" 
 sounded from wing to wing. Countless were the 
 deeds of valor done. More than one Switzer 
 matched himself with thirty Austrians. At length, 
 driven slowly but surely from every position, 
 shot down, struck down, hewn down, the Austrians 
 turned and fled. The city gates of Constance were 
 not wide enough for the fugitives. Within eight 
 months the Swiss were victorious in as many 
 battles. Maximilian, the German emperor, was at 
 
FOREIGN STORIES. 117 
 
 last willing to conclude a peace, which he did at 
 Basle, September 22, A. D. 1499. 
 
 Martha G. Sleeper. Adapted from u True Stories from the History 
 of the Swiss." 
 
 XXV I. -A NIGHT IN THE SNOW. 
 
 1. In Norway and Sweden the winters are very 
 cold, and the ground is covered deep with snow, 
 which often is blown into great heaps or drifts. 
 People live on farms or in small villages, which 
 are far apart, and when the snow is on the ground 
 there is little traveling on account of the drifts. 
 At stations along the principal roads horses are 
 kept for travelers, and guides are ready to drive 
 from one post to another. Even little boys learn 
 to drive, and become safe guides. Bayard Taylor, 
 w T hile traveling through this country in winter, 
 came to a station quite late in the afternoon, and 
 found the station-master gone. The only one to 
 drive the horse through the cold night was Lars, 
 the son of the station-master, a boy about twelve 
 years old. 
 
 2. Mr. Taylor says : " His face was rosy, his 
 eyes clear and round and blue, and his golden 
 
118 GRANDPA TEER 'S STORIES. 
 
 hair was blown back from his face in silky curls. 
 'Come here, Lars/ I said. 'Are you not afraid 
 to go so far to-night ? ' His mother said : ' You 
 need not fear, sir ; Lars is young, but he will take 
 you safe enough.' 
 
 3. " The boy put on a sheep-skin overcoat, tied 
 the lappets of his fur cap under his chin, and a 
 thick woolen scarf around his head and face, so 
 that only his round eyes were visible, and was 
 ready to start. He had filled the sled with fresh, 
 soft hay, and spread reindeer-skins over us as we 
 cuddled together on the narrow seat. 
 
 4. "The night was dark, the snow blew, and 
 the fir-trees roared all around us. Lars knew the 
 way, and kept the beaten track. So we went on, 
 up hill and down, for a long time, and I began to 
 grow very chilly, when Lars handed me the reins, 
 and began to beat his hands to keep the blood 
 flowing. 
 
 5. " The wind blew harder every minute, and 
 at last, in the darkness, Lars missed the road, the 
 horse sinking into the deep snow. Lars got out 
 and tried to find the path again, but he soon came 
 back and said, 'I can not find the road, and I 
 think we must stay here all night.' 
 
 6. " ' We shall freeze to death in an hour ! ' I 
 
Scene in Norway. 
 
120 GRANDFATHERS STORIES. 
 
 cried. I was already chilled to the bone. The 
 wind had made me very drowsy, and I knew if I 
 slept I should soon be frozen. 
 
 7. " ' Oh, no ! " said little Lars, ' we north peo- 
 ple never freeze. I went to the bear-hunt last win- 
 ter, and we were out several nights in the snow.' 
 4 What will you do % ' said I. ' Let me take care 
 of the pony first,' said Lars ; ' we can spare him 
 some hay and one reindeer-skin.' 
 
 8. " We then unharnessed the horse, and Lars 
 led him under the drooping branches of a fir-tree, 
 tied him to one of them, gave him an armful of 
 hay, and covered him with the reindeer-skin. 
 
 9. " When this was done, Lars spread the rest 
 of the hay evenly over the bottom of the sled and 
 covered it with the skins, which he tucked in very 
 closely on the side toward the wind. Then lift- 
 ing them on the other side he said, ' Now take off 
 your fur coat quick, lay it over the hay, and creep 
 under it.' 
 
 10. "I obeyed as soon as possible. For an in- 
 stant my teeth chattered in the icy air, but the 
 next moment I was under the robe and out of 
 reach of the storm. Lars then took off his coat 
 and crept in beside me. We then drew down the 
 skins and pressed the hay against them so that no 
 
FOREIGN STORIES. 121 
 
 air could get in. Then Lars said we must pull 
 off our boots and loosen our clothes so they would 
 not feel tight anywhere. When this was done, we 
 lay close together, warming each other. In a 
 short time the chill passed away, and I lay as 
 snugly as in the best bed. In five minutes we 
 were asleep. 
 
 11. "I did not wake during the night, and Lars 
 slept equally sound. I was aroused by the cold 
 wind striking my face, and I found Lars peeping 
 out from under the skins. ' I think it must be 
 near six o'clock,' he said ; ' the sky is clear, and I 
 can see the big star. We can start in another 
 hour.' 
 
 12. "While we were talking, we heard shouts 
 and the crack of whips, and we found the farmers 
 had come out with six pairs of horses and a great 
 snow-plow to clear the road. This opened the 
 way, and in about an hour we reached the station, 
 where a good fire and a warm breakfast were ready 
 for us. Here I parted from the little boy who 
 had showed such courage and patience during the 
 dreary night in the snow, and I felt like parting 
 from an old and tried friend." 
 
122 G&ANDFATHE&S STORIES. 
 
 XXYII-AN OLD VETERAN. 
 
 1. You have all read stories of wonderful 
 dogs, horses, and elephants, and perhaps you 
 know that the elephant is a very wise animal a 
 noted French writer says, the wisest. I want to 
 tell you a true story about a big fellow who came 
 from India, and who was called " Re." This was 
 about the year 1815 ; if he were living now, he 
 would be at least one hundred years old. An old 
 Scotch gentleman told me this story, and I will 
 give it to you in his own words : 
 
 2. " When my father was stationed at Fort 
 George, Scotland, with his company of the Royal 
 Artillery, the Seventy-eighth Mackenzie High- 
 landers arrived from Burmah, exchanging with 
 the Eighteenth Royal Irish. I was a little fellow 
 at the time, but recollect the circumstance as well 
 as if it happened a week ago. When the regi- 
 ment appeared, marching through the gates of the 
 garrison, a large and powerful elephant was at 
 their head and before the band, with a monkey 
 sitting on his head, both clothed with the Mac- 
 kenzie tartan the tartan of the regiment. 
 
 3. "When the command was given to 'Halt! 
 Front ! ' the elephant was in position as quickly 
 
Dig I 
 
124 GRANDFATHERS STORIES. 
 
 as the regiment, the monkey capering on his 
 back. 
 
 4. " On every occasion of the regiment turn 
 ing out, Re was in his place. 
 
 5. " The elephant would go through the ordi- 
 nary drill as well as the men, whether it was 
 ' Right face ! ' 'Right about face ! ' < Right- or left- 
 wheel.' 'Front!' 'Mark time.' ' March! 'the large 
 drum giving the tap. The elephant stepped out 
 in front of the band always; and the monkey 
 would get up on his back as quickly as the word 
 * March ! ' was given. 
 
 6. "When the regiment came to a halt and 
 rest, when marching about the wild country, Re 
 would saunter about the men." 
 
 7. It is about this same elephant that the story 
 is told of his going about through the streets of 
 Edinburgh, and, as old Re was well known in the 
 city, even to little children, no one was frightened 
 when they saw him marching along, and often gave 
 him things to eat ginger nuts, sugar, or whatever 
 they had that they thought he would like. But 
 one day he met with a very different reception 
 from what he was used to. He was passing where 
 a tailor was sitting at his bench, stitching away on 
 some cloth. He probably said, " Come here, Re, 
 
FOREIGN STORIES. 
 
 125 
 
 old fellow, and I'll give you something nice," for 
 Master Elephant put out his trunk ; but, instead 
 of a lump of sugar, the tailor gave him a stab with 
 his needle. Now, Re was quite big enough to 
 pick up the tailor and carry him off, or stamp on 
 him ; but, instead of that, he did what might be 
 called " paying him off in the same coin," for he 
 went to a place where there was some dirty water, 
 and filling his trunk full of it, marched back to 
 Mr. Tailor's house, and, when opposite to his bench, 
 sent all the water he had in his trunk over the 
 man. Can't you imagine how surprised the man 
 
 must have 
 been to re- 
 ceive such a 
 water - spout 
 over him ? 
 I'm sure he 
 did not like 
 the treatment very well, 
 and I don't believe he 
 ever forgot the lesson 
 the elephant gave him. 
 
 8. This incident is 
 on record in the books 
 of the regiment. 
 
126 
 
 GRANDFATHER'S STORIES. 
 
 XXVIII -A SNOW-KING. 
 
 1. Casper was his 
 name. He lived on a 
 very higli mountain 
 so high that his 
 home was almost in 
 the region of eternal 
 snow. Indeed, he 
 could almost always 
 find snow six or seven 
 feet deep without going 
 far from the door. But 
 Casper did not care particu- 
 larly for such snow. He was used to it. 
 
 2. It was only when the great storms came, 
 and the snow-drifts piled up forty feet high against 
 the walls of the old house, and the snow-flakes fell 
 and fell and fell, as if they would never stop until 
 they had filled up all the valleys with their pow- 
 dery whiteness, that Casper felt at all anxious 
 about the depth of snow. 
 
 3. At such times, however, he was very apt 
 to put himself to a great deal of trouble and 
 anxiety about the snow. He didn't mind snow- 
 storms himself, because he was a snow-king ; but 
 
FOREIGN STORIES. 127 
 
 there were people who did mind them, and it was 
 about these people that he concerned himself. 
 
 4. Casper was a dog, and he lived with the 
 monks in the monastery of St. Bernard, far up on 
 t je Alps the very highest dwelling in that great 
 range of mountains. You have heard of these 
 great St. Bernard dogs; but if you have never 
 seen Casper you can have no idea how grand a dog 
 can be that is, if he happen to be a snow-king. 
 
 5. And Casper was a king of the snow, every 
 inch of him. Sometimes, when the skies were 
 tolerably clear, and here and there there was a lit- 
 tle sunshine on the hardy grasses that grew about 
 the rocks of the monastery, when the snow was 
 good enough to give them a chance to show them- 
 selves, Casper would trot around very much like 
 an ordinary dog, and lie down and take a com- 
 fortable nap in a sunny spot among the shadows 
 of the grand old Alps, as quietly as if he had 
 never heard of glaciers and avalanches, and had 
 never thought of such a thing as people perishing 
 in the snow. 
 
 6. Now, Casper was not a very old dog, and 
 he had already saved two lives. And yet he was 
 not proud or, at any rate, he did not show it. 
 In fact, if you had seen him jogging around the 
 
 9 
 
128 GRANDFATHER'S STORIES. 
 
 monastery, you might never have thought that 
 he was a king of any kind much less such an 
 important monarch as a snow-king. For almost 
 any intelligent person might make a pretty good 
 king of the ordinary kind, but kings of the snow 
 are very scarce indeed. 
 
 7. One day it began to snow, early in the 
 morning, up on the mountains. It . did not snow 
 very hard at first, but people who were weather- 
 wise thought there would be quite a storm after 
 a while. As the day wore on, it became colder 
 and colder, and the wind began to freeze the 
 snow-flakes into little icy lumps, and it hurled 
 them like showers of bullets across the valleys 
 and over the mountain-peaks. 
 
 8. Although the wind roared sometimes round 
 the craggy corners, and showers of icy shot would 
 now and then rattle against some frozen crusts of 
 snow, the mountains seemed quiet and certainly 
 they were desolate. Up on the mountain- side lay 
 vast masses of snow and ice that were growing 
 heavier and heavier as the snow fell faster and 
 faster. These were all ready to come thundering 
 and crashing down into the valley below, and 
 seemed only waiting for the signal to begin their 
 mad rush down the mountain-side. 
 
FOREIGN STOEIES. 129 
 
 9. For when these great masses of snow and 
 ice are piled up in this way in the Alps, it often 
 requires but a very little thing to start them off. 
 Sometimes a loud word, or the breaking of a stick, 
 or a heavy footstep, will jar the air or snow suffi- 
 ciently to send an avalanche on its way. It 
 would hardly be supposed that on such a day as 
 this any one would be out-of-doors ; but, not- 
 withstanding the bad weather and the promise of 
 worse weather to come, on that afternoon there 
 were five persons toiling up the road toward the 
 monastery. 
 
 10. Four of these were men, and one was a 
 boy about fourteen years old. His name was 
 Paolo Vennatti, and he lived down the mountain- 
 side some miles below the place where we find 
 him on this snowy afternoon. For a day or 
 two, Paolo had been very anxious about the fate 
 of a stray goat which he believed could be 
 found up the mountain, and probably at or 
 near the monastery of St. Bernard. So when that 
 afternoon four men stopped at Paolo's home to 
 rest a little before continuing their journey over 
 the Alps, by the way of the St. Bernard Pass, 
 the boy determined to go with them as far as the 
 monastery. 
 
130 GRANDFATHER'S STORIES. 
 
 11. He did not say anything to his parents 
 about his plan, for he had heard his father tell 
 the men that it would be foolhardy to attempt to 
 cross the mountains that day, when it was not 
 only snowing, but the wind was blowing at such a 
 terrific rate that it would be certain to start an 
 avalanche somewhere on the road. 
 
 12. " And you know well enough that it 
 doesn't need much of a wind to start an ava- 
 lanche," said Paolo's mother. " But the wind's 
 been blowing all the morning and half the night," 
 said one of the men ; " and, if there were any ava- 
 lanches to start, they would be on their way be- 
 fore this." 
 
 13. So the four men started off just after din- 
 ner, and Paolo slipped out after them and joined 
 them when they had got out of sight of the house. 
 One of the men wanted him to go back, but the 
 others said that he might as well come if he 
 chose it wasn't snowing so very hard, and, if he 
 wanted to find his goat as much as he said he 
 did, there was no reason why he should not try 
 to do it. 
 
 14. So they all trudged on, and nothing of 
 any importance happened for an hour. They did 
 not have much difficulty in making their way, for 
 
FOREIGN STORIES. 131 
 
 the snow-storm seemed to be decreasing, and the 
 wind was certainly going down. But all of a 
 sudden something very astonishing happened. 
 
 15. A violent gust of wind seemed to leap 
 from around the corner of a tall mass of rock and 
 crags, and in its arms it carried a vast cloud of 
 snow, which it raised in the air and hurled down 
 upon our travelers, who were instantly buried 
 from sight. This was one of the terrible whirl- 
 winds which often occur in the Alps, when great 
 volumes of newly fallen snow are carried through 
 the air and thrown here or there in masses many 
 feet in depth. 
 
 16. It was as sudden as a flash of lightning. 
 One moment Paolo was walking cheerfully along 
 the road, and in the next he was buried deep 
 under an immense heap of snow ! For a moment 
 he did not know what had happened it seemed 
 as if he had been struck blind. He was not hurt, 
 but the world had suddenly disappeared from his 
 sight. 
 
 17. It was not long, however, before he knew 
 what had happened. There was snow above and 
 below him snow in his eyes, snow in his ears 
 and nose and mouth. He could not get up be- 
 cause there was snow on top of him, and, when 
 
132 GRANDFATHER'S 8TCRIE8. 
 
 he tried to get his legs under him, he could find 
 no support for his feet, for there was nothing but 
 soft snow beneath him. He could breathe, but 
 that was about all he could do. 
 
 18. Paolo soon felt himself sinking lower and 
 lower in the soft snow. He tried again to get his 
 feet straight down under him, and this time they 
 touched something hard. He knew then that he 
 stood on the ground. He had no idea how much 
 snow was piled up over him, nor did he think 
 much about it. Now that he could get his feet 
 on something firm, all that he thought of was to 
 push or scratch himself out of that bed of snow 
 just as fast as he could. He thrust his feet against 
 the ground ; he leaned forward and scratched and 
 dug with his hands and arms like a little terrier 
 after a rat. He kicked, and rolled, and pushed, 
 and dug, and sputtered snow out of his mouth, 
 and so scratched his way along for several yards. 
 Then he suddenly stumbled out into the open air, 
 and went plump down a precipice ! 
 
 19. He did not know how far he fell, but he 
 knew that he went back-foremost into a bed of 
 snow with a crust on it, through which he broke 
 with a gentle crunch, as when you throw a stone 
 through a pane of glass. The snow under the 
 
FOREIGN STORIES. 133 
 
 crust was not very hard, and his fall only jarred 
 him a little. And yet the snow was packed hard 
 enough to give him a chance to crawl out of the 
 hole he had made and to look around him. 
 
 20. He found that he was on an old bed of 
 snow that lay on a ledge twenty feet below the 
 road, and from which the fresh snow had been 
 blown. The mass of snow which had over- 
 whelmed him and his companions he could see 
 piled up on the road above him. If another gust 
 of wind should come around that corner, it might 
 be blown down upon him and cover him again. 
 
 21. So he hurriedly scrambled to his feet and 
 tried to get away from under that steep precipice 
 with its great cap of snow. But he could not 
 go very far. The crust broke beneath him very 
 often; there were hollow places filled with new 
 snow, through which he could scarcely push his 
 way; it was snowing faster and faster, and he 
 was very cold. He could not climb up to the 
 road, and, if he could have done so, there was that 
 great mass of snow out of which he had been 
 glad to get. He did not know what to do ; so he 
 sat down. 
 
 22. Then he drew up his knees and tried to 
 get warm, and think. He could not get warm, 
 
134: GRANDFATHER'S STORIES. 
 
 but he could think very easily. He thought 
 about his parents, and what a wretch he was to 
 come away from them as he had done. What 
 was a goat, after all, that he should risk his life 
 for it? And yet he did not know, when he 
 started, that he was risking his life ; though that 
 was no matter now, for he had done it, and 
 there was no going back. Here he was, alone 
 in the midst of the great Alps. It was dread- 
 fully solemn and cold. The air was full of the 
 smell of snow snow beneath him and all around ' 
 him. 
 
 23. Above him, too ; for it was falling on him 
 until he looked like a little snow-boy as he sat 
 there drawn up in a bunch. He did not expect 
 any help now. He knew the Alps too well to 
 suppose, even if his companions had succeeded in 
 getting out of that snow-drift, that they could 
 find him where he was. He could not shout. 
 His lips and tongue seemed frozen stiff. He 
 could not see very far. 
 
 24. He began to feel a little warmer now, and 
 drowsy. He knew that, if he went to sleep, he 
 would never wake again. But he did not care ; 
 he might as well be comfortable. And there was 
 nobody on earth who could save him. If any- 
 
FOREIGN STORIES. 135 
 
 body came to him there, he would die too ! 
 The best thing he could do would be to go to 
 sleep. In all the whole world there was no one 
 who could save this poor boy that is, if you did 
 not count in Casper, the snow-king. He could do 
 it, and he did do it. 
 
 25. Right through the snow-storm came that 
 great beast ! Rushing over the frozen crust, 
 plunging through the deep places ; bounding, 
 leaping, caring not for drift or storm, like a snow- 
 king as he was, came Casper ! He made one 
 dash at Paolo and rolled him over in the snow. 
 Then he barked at him, as much as to say : " Wake 
 up, you foolish boy ! Don't you know I'm here ? 
 It's all right now." 
 
 26. He pushed Paolo first on one side and 
 then on the other, and, when he had made him 
 open his eyes and stare about him, the great Cas- 
 per barked again in his loudest, freest tones. A 
 snow-storm didn't interfere with Jiis voice. Again 
 and again he barked, as if he were shouting : 
 " Hello-o ! I've found him ! Here he is ! " 
 
 27. Casper had not barked very long before 
 two men came toiling through the storm. One 
 was a St. Bernard monk, and the other was one 
 of the men with whom Paolo had started out in 
 
136 GRANDFATHER'S STORIES. 
 
 the morning. These two took the boy by the 
 arms and raised him up. They shook him, and 
 they made him drink a little brandy that the 
 monk had with him, and then they led him away 
 between them. Casper went ahead, so that it 
 should be all right. They walked back with 
 great difficulty by the w T ay they had come, and 
 soon reached a place where the road could be re- 
 gained, at a point some distance beyond the snow- 
 drift. Then they pressed on to the convent. 
 
 28. The four men had been overwhelmed by 
 the snow-drift, but, as they were considerably in 
 advance of Paolo, the greater part of the mass of 
 fresh snow seemed to pass over them and hurl 
 itself on the boy. After some struggling, the 
 men got out of the deep snow. They missed the 
 boy, but could not tell how to look for him or 
 save him. If they stopped, they were afraid 
 they would perish themselves. So they hurried 
 on, and before they had gone very far they met 
 Casper and two of the St. Bernard monks. They 
 told their story, and one of the monks, with the 
 dog, started down the mountain. He thought the 
 boy might be saved. The youngest of the four 
 men thought he would go too. It was a shanie 
 to desert the poor boy so ! 
 
FOREIGN STORIES. 137 
 
 29. As they hurried along, the man said, " If 
 the snow-drift is still there, we shall never be able 
 to get around it or into it to find the boy." " Cas- 
 per will attend to that," said the monk. He be- 
 lieved in Casper. And, when the dog reached 
 the snow-drift, he did not try to go through it. 
 He had more sense than that. He stopped ; he 
 seemed to be considering the matter. 
 
 30. Then he turned around and ran back. 
 The monk and the other man waited to see what 
 he would do. When Casper reached a place 
 where the bank was low, he leaped down from 
 the road and kept on down the mountain. His 
 idea was to go around the snow-drift. Suddenly 
 he stopped and glared through the falling snow- 
 flakes that went whirling this way and that by 
 the wind. He saw something. The men, who 
 were following at a distance, could only see a 
 little way through the storm. 
 
 31. Then, with a sudden bark, Casper rushed 
 over the frozen crusts and plunged through the 
 deep places, bounding and leaping, caring not for 
 drift or storm, until he found the boy ! 
 
 32. For he was a snow-king. 
 
 Frank R. Stockton. From u St. Nicholas." 
 
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