m ' » * * s * ^ G <^ v ' % .** ^ ^ ^ ■ ^ °- Q-> ", rO v ,. ^ * o /■ <> w ^°- /•^ n ■ay oJ> v * % *% ^ v o<\- XL* "% **. ^fvo 1 ^ °^ V ^ : 'W C .' V. °* r-^P 0° * %W Preface. PERHAPS the most important book that falls into the hands of a child is his School Reader. Its manifold themes tend to open various channels of thought ; its style of expression impresses itself jpon the pupil's mind, and has an influence to mold his forms of speech and writing; the compositions themselves are stored in his memory to recur a thousand times in after life, — the more dear for being associated with the cherished scenes of childhood ; and, most of all. the sentiments inculcated become inevitably a part of his moral consciousness. His rules of life, his springs of action in times which test his integrity or try his virtue, are in very many instances traceable to the seed which took root in his heart from the lessons in his School Reader. But these or any other desirable ends to be derived from such a book imply, of course, that its selections shall be of the right stamp. Not alone muse they inculcate wholesome truths, but they must do this in a genial, attractive way. We must interest the pupil in order to benefit him. A pitiful martyrdom is endured by teachers and scholars where weary hours are spent in endeavoring to make chil- dren comprehend abstractions fit only for the mind of a Bacon, or to urge them through intricacies of style which might bewilder a Johnson. If " wisdom's ways are ways of pleasantness." as we surely believe, that cannot be the wisest course which proves irksome and repulsive. With these convictions, the endeavor has been made to compile a book which should, first of all, be pure and ennobling in its moral in- fluence ; and next, one which should be both profitable and enjoyable. An elaborate theoretical treatise, with set rules for reading, might have been included in the Introduction, but long experience and observation have convinced the compiler that such things are of little practical value in the school-room, and are generally unused by the most successful teachers. No number of abstract definitions, no amount of mere theory, ever changed a poor reader to a good one. vi PKEFACE. Plain common sense is, after all, the best guide. Whatever aids the pupil to understand a piece will help him to read it. ' Thought and emotion compel expression ; rules too often fetter it. Three things <3an be done by the teacher with advantage : give the pupils practical exercises to increase their command of voice ; talk with them in a vvay to inspire them with the spirit of what they read ; give them a . of . . love . . and . . reconciliation % ARTICULATION. 27 III. Articulation of Phrases. 1. In every period of life . . the acquisition of knowledge . . is one of the most pleasing employments . . of the human mind. 2. x\n old clock . . that had stood for fifty years . . in a farm- er's kitchen . . without giving its owner . . any cause of com- plaint, . . early one summer's morning . . before the family was stirring . . suddenly stopped. 3. Hark ! . . hark to the robin ! . . its magical call . . Awakens the flowerets . . that slept in the dells ; . . The snow-drop, . . the primrose, . . the hyacinth, . . all Attune at the summons . . their silvery bells. . . Hush ! . . ting-a-ring-ting ! . . don't you hear how they sing 1 . . They are pealing a fairy -like welcome . . to Spring. IV. Articulation of Sentences. 1. The greater the difficulty, the more glory there is in sur- mounting it ; skilful pilots gain their reputation from storms and tempests. 2. How far, Catiline ! wilt thou abuse our patience ? How long wilt thou baffle justice in thy mad career'? To what extreme wilt thou cany thy audacity ] 3. Welcome her, thunders of fort and of fleet ! Welcome her, thundering cheer of the street ! Welcome her, all things youthful and sweet, Scatter the blossoms under her feet ! Break, happy land, into earlier flowers ! Make music, bird, in the new-budded bowers ! Welcome her, welcome her, all that is ours ! Warble, bugle, and trumpet, blare ! Flags, flutter out upon turrets and towers ! Flames, on the windy headland flare ! Utter your jubilee, steeple and spire ! Clash, ye bells, in the merry March air ! Flash, ye cities, in rivers of fire ! Welcome her, welcome the land's desire 28 THE FIFTH READER. V. SLIDES OB INFLECTIONS. I. Falling Inflections. OUSE thee up ! waste not life in fond delusions ! Be a soldier, — be a hero, — be a man ! 2. " Halt ! " The dust-brown ranks stood fast. " Fire ! " Out blazed the rifle blast. 3. There is a sound of thunder afar, Stbrm in the South that darkens the day, E Storm of battle and thunder of war ; Well if it do not roll our way. Stbrm ! stbrm ! Riflemen, form ! Ready, be ready to meet the storm ! Riflemen, riflemen, riflemen, form ! II. Rising Inflections. 1. May I stay here ? — I have no objection. You may if you like. 2. Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and ardu- ous struggle for liberty 1 Are w r e disposed to be of the number of those who, having eyes, see not, and having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation ? 3. Art thou nothing daunted by the nightly watch % Noth- ing, by the city guards'? Nothing, by the rally of all good citizens ? Nothing, by the assembling of the Senate in this for- tified place 1 Nothing, by the averted looks of all here present ] III. Rising and Falling Inflections. 1. Sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish, I give my hand and my heart to this vote. 2. Spare that you may spend ; fast that you may feast ; labor that you may live ; and run that you may rest. 3. Will you rise like men, and firmly assert your rights, or will you tamely submit to be trampled on % QUALITY OF VOICE. 29 IV. Circumflex Inflections. 1. It is vastly easy for you, Mistress Dial, who have always, as everybody knows, set yourself up above me, — it is vastly easy for you, I say, to accuse other people of laziness. 2. The common error is, to resolve to act right after break- fast, or after dinner, or to-morrow morning, or next time : but now, just now, this once, we must go on the same as ever. 3. If you said so, then I said so. Oho ! did you say so 1 So they shook hands and were sworn brothers. VI QUALITY OF VOICE. I. Whisper. IS all prepared ? — speak soft and low." " All ready ! we have sent the men, As you appointed, to the place." 2. All silent they went, for the time was approaching, The moon the blue zenith already was touching. 3. Hark ! I hear the bugles of the enemy ! They are on their march along the bank of the river. We must retreat instantly, or be cut off from our boats. II. Half- Whisper, or Aspirated Tone. 1. " Silence ! " in undertones they cry, " No whisper ! — not a breath ! The sound that warns thy comrades nigh Shall sentence thee to death," 2. He hears a nbise, — he 's all awake, — Again ! On tiptoe down the hill He softly creeps. 3. Soldiers !. you are now within a few steps of the enemy's outpost. A swift and noiseless advance around that projecting 30 THE FIFTH READEK. rock, and we are upon them, — we capture them without the possibility of resistance. III. Pure Tone. 1. I come, I come ! — ye have called me long, — I come o'er the mountains with light and song. 2. Merrily swinging on brier and weed, Near to the nest of his little dame, Over the mountain-side or mead, Robert of Lincoln is telling his name, — Bob-odink, Bob-o-link, spink, spank, spink. 3. Hurrah ! how gayly we ride ! How the ship careers ! How she leaps ! How gracefully she bends ! How fair her white wings ! How trim her hull ! How slim her tall taper masts ! What a beautiful dancing fairy ! IV. Orotund. 1. thou that rollest above, round as the shield of my fathers! whence are thy beams, Sun! thy everlasting light? 2. And lo ! from the assembled crowd There rose a shout prolonged and loud. 3. Now for the fight, — now for the cannon peal, — Forward, — through blood and toil and cloud and fire ! VII. MOVEMENT, OR RATE OF UTTERANCE. I. Quick Movement. ALL the little boys and girls, With rosy cheeks and flaxen curls, And sparkling eyes and teeth like pearls, Tripping and skipping, ran merrily after The wonderful music, with shouting and laughter. FORCE. 31 2. The steed along the drawbridge flies Just as it trembled on the rise ; Not lighter does the swallow skim Along the smooth lake's level brim. 3. One April day, while Putnam is ploughing on his farm, Rides furious by a horseman, whose cry is, "Arm! Arm! Arm!" " What news ? what news % " says Putnam. And he : " The war 's begun, For yesterday a battle was fought at Lexington." II. Moderate 1. 'T is not enough no harshness gives offense ; The sound must seem an echo to the sense. 2. Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced it to you, trippingly on the tongue ; but, if you mouth it, as many of our players do, I had as lief the town-crier spoke my lines. 3. The air, the earth, the water, teem with delighted exist- ence. In a spring noon, or a summer evening, on whichever side we turn our eyes, myriads of happy beings crowd upon our view. Ill, Slow. 1. The curfew tolls the knell of parting day ; The lowing herd w T inds slowly o'er the lea ; The ploughman homeward plods his weary way, And leaves the world to darkness and to me. 2. If there 's a Power above us (And that there is, all Nature cries aloud Through all her works), he must delight in virtue ; And that which he delights in must be happy. 3. O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is Thy name in all the earth ! who hast set Thy glory above the heavens. When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers ; the moon and the stars, which Thou hast ordained; what is man that Thou art mindful of him ? and the son of man, that thou visitest him ? 32 THE FIFTH READER. VIII. FORCE. I. Gentle. FLOW, softly flow, by lawn and lea 9 A rivulet, then a river ; No more by thee my steps shall be, Forever and forever. 2. The night shall be filled with music, And the cares that infest the day Shall fold their tents, like the Arabs, And as silently steal away. 3. hark, hear ! how thin and clear, And thinner, clearer, farther going ; sweet and far, from cliff and scar, The horns of Elf-land faintly blowing. II. Moderate. 1 . Expression is the dress of thought, and still Appears more decent as more suitable. 2. We should make the same use of a book that the bee does of a flower : he gathers sweets from it, but does not injure it. 3. It is not what people 6at, but what they digest, that makes them strong. It is not what they gain, but what they save, that makes them rich. It is not what they read, but what they remember, that makes them learned. It is not what they profess, but what they practice, that makes them good. III. Loud. 1. The war, then, must go on. We must fight it through. And since the war must go on, why put off longer the Declara- tion of Independence ^ PITCH OF VOICE. 33 2. Sound, sound the clarion, fill the fife ! To all the sensual world proclaim, One crowded hour of glorious life Is worth an age without a name. 3. Hurrah ! the land is safe, is safe ; it rallies from the shock ! Ring round, ring round, ye merry bells, till every steeple rock ! Let trumpets blow and mad drums beat ! let maidens scatter flowers ! The sun bursts through the battle smoke ! Hurrah ! the day is ours ! IV. Very Loud. 1 . Boat ahoy ! Boat ahoy ! 2. Ye guards of liberty, I 'm with you once again. I call to you With all my voice. 3. Rejoice, you men of Angiers, ring your bells ! King John, your king and England's, doth approach : Open your gates, and give the victors way ! IX. PITCH OF VOICE. I. High. CRY Holiday ! Holiday ! let us be gay, And share in the rav~:ure of heaven and earth ; For, see ! what a sunshiny joy they display, To welcome the Spring on the day of her birth, 2. You must wake and call me early, call me early, mother dear ; To-morrow '11 be the happiest time of all the glad New- Year ; Of all the glad New- Year, mother, the maddest, merriest day ; For I J a to be Queen o' the May, mother, I 'm to be Queen o' the May. 34 THE FIFTH READER. 3. Hear the sledges with the bells, Silver bells ! What a world of merriment their melody foretells ! How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle, In the icy air of night [ While the stars that oversprinkle All the heavens, seem to twinkle With a crystalline delight. II. Middle. 1. But true expression, like the unchanging sun, Clears and improves whate'er it shines upon ; It gilds all objects, but it alters none. 2. 'T is education forms the common mind ; Just as the twig is bent, the tree 's inclined. 3. As Caesar loved me, I weep for him ; as he was fortunate, I rejoice at it ; as he was valiant, I honor him ; but as he was ambitious, I slew him. III. Low. 1. Hark ! from the battlements of yonder tower, The solemn bell has tolled the midnight hour. 2. The curfew tolls the knell of parting day ; The lowing herd winds slowly o'er the lea ; The ploughman homeward plods his weary way, And leaves the world to darkness and to me. 3. Of old hast Thou laid the foundations of the earth ; and the heavens are the work of Thy hands. They shall perish, but Thou shalt endure ; yea, all of them shall wax old, like a garment ; as a vesture shalt Thou change them, and they shall be changed : but Thou art the same ; and Thy years shall have no end. VWll " So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caicsed them to understand the reading." Nkhemiah, VIII. 8. The Fifth Reader, l,_TEE FISH I DIDN'T CATCH. I REMEMBER my first fishing-excursion as if it were but yesterday. I have been happy many times in my life, but never more intensely so than when I received that first fishing-pole from my uncle's hand, and trudged off with him through the woods and meadows, 2. It was a still, sweet day of early summer ; the long afternoon shadows of the trees lay cool across our path ; the leaves seemed greener, the flowers brighter, the birds merrier, than ever before. 3. My uncle, who knew by long experience where were the best haunts of pickerel, considerately placed me at the most favorable point. I threw out my line as I had so often seen others do, and waited anxiously for a bite, mov- ing the bait in rapid jerks on the surface of the water, in imitation of the leap of a frog. Nothing came of it, " Try again," said my uncle. 4. Suddenly the bait sank out of sight. " Now for it," thought I ; " here is a fish at last," I made a strong pull, and brought up a tangle of weeds. Again and again I cast out my line with aching arms, and drew it back empty. I looked to my uncle appealingly. "Try once more," he said ; " we fishermen must have patience." 5. Suddenly something tugged at my line, and swept off with it into deep water. Jerking it up, I saw a fine pick- erel wriggling in the sun. " Uncle ! " I cried, looking back in uncontrollable excitement, " I Ve got a fish 1 " 38 THE FIFTH READER. 6. " Not yet/' said my uncle. As he spoke there was a plash in the water ; I caught the arrowy gleam of a scared fish shooting into the middle of the stream ; my hook hung empty from the line. I had lost my prize. 7. Overcome by my great and bitter disappointment, I sat down on the nearest hassock, and for a time refused to be comforted even by my uncle's assurance that there were more fish in the brook. He refitted my bait, and, putting the pole again in my hands, told me to try my luck once more. 8. " But remember, boy," he said, with his shrewd smile, " never brag of catching a fish until he is on dry ground. I've seen older folks doing that in more ways than one, and so making fools of themselves. It 's no use to boast of anything until it 's done, nor then, either, for it speaks for itself." 9. How often since I have been reminded of the fish I did n't catch ! When I hear people boasting of a work as yet undone, and trying to anticipate the credit which be- longs only to actual achievement, I call to mind that scene by the brookside ; and the wise caution of my uncle in that particular instance takes the form of a proverb of uni- versal application : " Never brag of your fish before TOU CATCH HIM." j mM&r EXERCISE. Reaj) these sentences, first as given ; THEN agatn, supplying WORDS OR PHRASES OF SIMILAR MEANING IN PLACE OF THOSE IN ITALICS. 1. I remember my first fishing-excursion. 2. I trudged off through the woods and meadows. 3. Suddenly the bait sank out of sight. 4. I cast out my line, and drew it back empty. 5. Suddenly something tugged at my line. 6. Jerking it up, I saw a fine pickerel wriggling in the sun. 7. I saw a scared fish shooting into the middle of the stream. 8. I sat down on the nearest hassock. [Tuft of coarse grass.] 9. My uncle assured me there were more fish in the brook. 10. I call to mind that scene by the brookside. 11. It 's no use to boast of anything until it 's done. THE FLY AND THE LEAFLET. 39 II - THE FLY AND THE LEAFLET ON a bridge I was standing, one morning. And watching the current roll by, When suddenly into the water There fell an unfortunate fly. ii. The fishes that swam to the surface Were looking for something to eat, And I thought that the hapless young insect Would surely afford them a treat. in. " Poor thing ! " I exclaimed, with compassion, " Your trials and dangers abound ; For if you escape being eaten, You cannot escape being drowned." IV. No sooner the sentence was spoken Than, lo ! like an angel of love, I saw r to the waters beneath me A leaflet descend from above. v. It glided serene on the streamlet, 'T was an ark to the poor little fly, Which, soon to the land re-ascending, Spread its wings in the breezes to dry VI. 0, sweet was the truth that was whispered, That mortals should never despair, For He who takes care of the insect Much more for His children will care ! 40 THE FIFTH READER. VII. And though to our short-sighted vision No way of escape may appear, Let us trust, — for when least we expect it, The help of our Father is near. III. — STONING THE FROGS. MABY OSBORNE and Augustina sat together be- hind a screen of rocks and bushes, and peeped out to the place where two boys, George and Johnny, were standing near the shore of the pond. 2. " This is the place, Johnny," said George. " Now we must pick up all the stones we can find, and get them ready, and then watch the water, and just as soon as we see a head come up above the lily-pads, we must let drive." 3. In a word, George had brought Johnny down to the shore of the pond at the watering-place, with a view to pelting the poor frogs that lived in the water there, among the lily-pads and bulrushes which grew at a little distance from the shore. 4. " Tubh ! " said one of the frogs. v "There 1 " exclaimed George, " don't you hear him, John- ny ? " " Yes," replied Johnny, " but I don't see him." 5. " He is out that way," said George, and then sudden- ly he threw the stone with great force. The two girls heard the splash it made in the water, but could not see where it struck. 6. " Did you hit him ? " asked Johnny. " I don't know," said George. " I did not see him ; I only fired at a venture." 7. " They are pelting the frogs," said Augustina, in a whisper. " Yes," replied Mary Osborne, speaking also very softly. *' Do you think we had better go and tell them they must not do it ? " STONING THE FROGS. 41 8. " No," said Augustina ; " that would not do any good. Tliey will do just as they have a mind to for all that we can say." " One of them is not very big," said Mary Osborne. 9. " No, Johnny is a small boy/' replied Augustina, " but he will do just as the big one says. Besides, if we say anything to them, it is as likely as not that they will begin to pelt us with their stones. But hark ! here is somebody coming." 10. Augustina began gently to push away some of the leaves so that she could see better. " It is a man coming on a horse," said she. " He is turn- ing down from the road. He is coming to water his horse. I hope he will find out what the boys are doing, and will give them a good scolding." 11. The man upon the horse did find out what the boys were doing, for George was in the act of throwing a stone when the man first came in sight of him, as he turned down toward the shore. And he did give them a good scolding, — at least, what the boys called such. 12. All the while the man had been talking with the boys, his horse had been drinking. The horse having now drank enough, the man turned him round and went back toward the road, saying as he went, — " Now remember, boys ! When I am gone, leave the frogs alone, and don't pelt them any more." So saying, the man and the horse disappeared. 13. " Who is that man ? " asked Johnny. " I don't know," said George, looking out at the same time over the water to see if he could discover another frog. " Whoever he is, we won't mind what he says." 14. " No, but 1 11 tell you what it is," said Johnny. " What is it ? " asked George, beginning to take aim. 15. " If he had only let us have his horse, we might have gone out and got some pond-lilies." " Hoh ! " exclaimed George, in a tone of great contempt. u That man would not let us have his horse to get pond- lilies." 42 THE FIFTH READER. §£* A2J 16. Just at that instant George caught sight of a frog, and immediately he threw his stone with all his force. " My ! " he ejaculated. " I came within an inch of him. I took aim right between his eyes. That 's the way to take aim, — right between the eyes." 17. The boys evincing thus a disposition to go on pelt- ing the frogs, Mary Osborne was very much inclined to go out and try the effect of her remonstrances upon them. But Augustina dissuaded her from any such attempt. 18. In a few minutes they heard the sound of wheels. At the same moment they heard Johnny say, — " Here 's somebody coming, George." Johnny was afraid it might be somebody coming to give them another scolding for pelting the frogs. STONING THE FROGS. 43 19. " I don't care," said George. " Look and see if you know who it is/' said Johnny. So George looked up. " No," said he, " I don't know who it is." 20. The wagon was now turning down toward the water- ing-place, and the girls could see that there was quite an agreeable-looking young man in it. He was well dressed, and he had a frank and open countenance. 21. As soon as the horse came to the margin of the water, the young man said, — " Boys, will one of you be good enough to unhook the check-rein, so that my horse can drink ? " 22. The boys threw down their stones, and ran at once to the horse. George, being the tallest, unhooked the rein, and the horse began to drink. 23. " I knew you were clever fellows the minute I put my eyes on you," said the young man. " Now jump up into my wagon. I want you up here." 24. The boys immediately scrambled up into the wagon. The young man made room for them upon the seat. As soon as they were comfortably settled, George looked up at the young man, and asked, — " What do you want of us ? " 25. " 0, only your company up here, while my horse is drinking," said he. " What is there here on the pond that you were looking at when I came along ? " 26. " Frogs," said George. " Pond-lilies," said Johnny. Johnny seemed to have an instinctive feeling that it was better to turn the conversa- tion toward the pond-lilies than to the frogs. 27. " Would you like some of those pond-lilies ? " asked the young man. " Yes, indeed," exclaimed both the boys. 28. " Then we will drive out and get some," replied the young man. "You are not afraid to go with me, are you?" " No, indeed ' " said the boys. 44 THE FIFTH READER. 29. "Then scramble over behind the seat," said ttie young man, "and I will drive out there, and back you down among the lily-pads, and you can get as many lilies as you like," * IV. — STONING THE FROGS. PART SECOND. MAEY OSBOBNE and Augustina were so much in- terested in watching the operation of backing the wagon into the water, that they forgot their desire to keep themselves concealed, and went down to the margin of the pond, and there stood in full view, looking on while the boys were gathering the lilies. 2. "It is William Darricut," said Augustina to Mary Osborne, in a whisper. " Hush ! " said Mary Osborne. 3. The party in the wagon did not see the two girls. The boys were busy gathering the lilies, and William Dar- ricut was watching the boys, to see that they did not lean over too far. 4. " George," said Johnny, stopping suddenly, and point- ing to a little distance off over the water. " Look ! there 's a frog ! See ! " 5. " Yes," said young Darricut. " He is sunning him- self. We won't hurt you, old fellow. We won't even frighten you if we can help it. Will we, boys ? " " No," said the boys. 6. " If I only had a crust of bread here," said William Darricut, " I would feed him with the crumbs." The boys looked at the frog, but said nothing. 7. " I wish he would come here and let us see him swim," continued the young man. " You don't know how elegantly he can swim. The best way, in fact, for a boy to leaxn to swim is to watch how one of these big pond-lily frogs pushes backwards with his hind paddles, and then draws his legs up to push again. STONING THE FROGS, 45 8. M And yet I have known some boys to take pleasure in tormenting them and pelting them with stones. That is a bad sign. It is a sign of an ugly fellow to like to pelt frogs in a pond. 9. " George," said the young man, suddenly interrupting himself, " would you like to drive the wagon up out of the water ?" "Yes," said George, eagerly. "Then give the little fellow your lilies to hold, and scramble back over here." 10. George and Johnny both climbed along the side of the wagon back to the seat, and then, after Johnny had taken all the pond-lilies, George, with great pride and sat- isfaction, drove the wagon out to dry land. In the mean- time, the two girls had gone back into their place of retreat without having been observed. 11. As soon as the wagon reached -the land, the boys got out of it, and William Darricut, after bidding them good-by, drove away. The two boys stood a moment on the shore at the place where the wagon had left them, without saying a word. 12. Presently George began to push away with his foot the pile of stones which he had collected for ammunition, so as to scatter them about the shore. Johnny immediately began to do the same with his pile of stones. 13. " That was a good fellow, was n't he, George ? " said he. "Yes," said George, "he was a real good fellow." 14. Here there was another pause. George seemed to be feeling in the bottom of his pockets. Presently he said, "You have not got any crumbs of bread, or anything in your pockets, have you, Johnny ? " 15. "No," said Johnny, beginning at the same time to feel in his pockets, " I don't think I have." " Because if we only had some crumbs," said George, " we might give them to the frogs." 16. " I '11 give them my cake," said Mary Osborne, in an eager whisper to Augustina. She immediately left the 46 THE FIFTH READER. peep-hole windows and went down around the rocks, by the little pathway near the water, followed closely by Augus- tina, and came out suddenly into view before the boys. They seemed amazed at this sudden apparition. 17. " Here is a cake you may have to feed the frogs with," she said, at the same time holding out the cake tow T ard them. The boys hesitated a moment, appearing not to know what to do. At length George took the cake into his hand and looked at it. 18. Presently, after a moment's pause, he said, " I wish you would let Johnny and me eat it, instead of giving it to the frogs." " Well," said Mary Osborne, " Johnny and you may have it." 19. " And we '11 give you some of our pond-lilies," said Johnny. " Yes," said George, " so Ave will." 20. Accordingly George broke the cake in two, and gave each of the girls two or three pond-lilies, as many aa they w T ere willing to take. 21. Soon after this the two parties separated; the boys going away by the road, and the girls setting out on their return home by the pathway in which they came. Jacob Abbott. EXERCISE. [See Directions on page 38.] 1. Johnny is a small boy, but he will do as tie big boy says. 2. Augustina began gently to push away some of the leaves. 3. The boys evinced a disposition to go on pelting the frogs. 4. " My ! " he ejaculated. " I came within an inch of him." 5. In a few minutes they heard the sound of wheels. 6. The horse came to the margin of the water. 7. The boys immediately scrambled up into the wagon. 8. The girls forgot their desire to keep themselves concealed. 9. They stood mfull view while the boys were gathering lilies. 10. You don't know how elegantly a frog can swim. 11. The girls came out suddenly into view before the boys. 12. They seemed amazed at this sudden apparition. [Appearance.! THE DAY IS DONE. 47 V.— THE DAT IS DOME. i. The day is done, and the darkness Falls from the wings of Night, As a feather is wafted downward From an eagle in his flight. I see the lights of the village Gleam through the rain and the mist, And a feeling of sadness comes o'er me, That my soul cannot resist — IT. A feeling of sadness and longing, That is not akin to pain, And resembles sorrow only As the mist resembles rain. Come, read to me some poem, Some simple and heartfelt lay, That shall soothe this restless feeling, And banish the thoughts of day. in. Not from the grand old masters, Not from the bards sublime, Whose distant footsteps echo Through the corridors of Time. For like strains o r martial music, Their mighty t noughts suggest Life's endless toil and endeavor ; And to-night I long for rest. IV. Read from some humbler poet, Whose songs gushed from his heart, As showers from the clouds of summer 5 Or tears from the eyelids start; Who, through long days of labor, And nights devoid of ease, Still heard in his soul the music Of wonderful melodies. 48 THE FIFTH READER. Such songs have power to quiet The restless pulse of care, And come like the benediction That follows after prayer. Then read from the treasured volume The poem of thy choice, And lend to the rhyme of the poet The beauty of thy voice. VI. And the night shall be filled with music, And the cares, that infest the day, Snail fold their tents, like the Arabs, And as silently steal away. H. W. Longfellow VI. — THE TRUTH-SPEAKER. IN the year 1777 war was going on in this country, for King George the Third wanted to make unjust laws in America, but the people would not obey them. A Gov- ernor, whose name was Griswold, found himself in danger of bein