iVi' ,.'V y% '. '?.. • • ♦ • ' , V t • O ^■""-•. "\/ /g^. \y:;^^£% ^^^ '^ /^«!^*vv ^o. J?^*. ^«^ *e«o« ^^ O ".,,•' ^O' ^ ♦ore' %^^ EVERYCHILD'S SERIES Camp and Trail in Early American History E VER YCHILtf'S S ERIES Each Cloth Illustrated 16mo 40 cents GREAT OPERA STORIES. For Intermediate Grades. By MiLLicENT S. Bender. HISTORICAL PLAYS FOR CHILDREN. For Intermediate Grades. By Grace E. Bird, Department of English, State Normal School, Plymouth, N. H., and Maude Starling, Supervisor of Training, State Normal School, Plymouth, N. H. BOY AND GIRL HEROES. For Intermediate Grades. By Florence V. Farmer, Vice-Principal Ridge Street School, Newark, N. J., author of "The Plan Book," "Myths of Many Lands," etc. NATURE STORIES. For Primary Grades. By Mary Gardner, of the Duluth, Minn., Public Schools. IN THOSE DAYS. For Intermediate Grades. By Ella B. Hallock, author of "Some Living Things," "First Lessons in Physiology," "Studies in Browning," etc. FAIRY BOOK, A. For Primary Grades. By Kate Forrest Oswell, author of "American School Readers," " Old Time Tales," and other books. OLD TIME TALES. For Primary Grades. By Kate Forrest Oswell. STORIES GRANDMOTHER TOLD. For Primary Grades. By Kate Forrest Oswell. STORIES OF THE SPANISH MAIN. For Intermediate and Grammar Grades. By Frank R. Stockton. Adapted from "Buccaneers and Pirates of Our Coast." NONSENSE DIALOGUES. For Primary Grades. By Mrs. E. E. K. Warner. WHEN WE WERE WEE. ^For Primary and Intermediate Grades. By Martha Young, author of " Plantation Songs," " Plantation,;Bird Legends," " Somebody's Little Girl," and other books. WHEN GREAT FOLKS WERE LITTLE FOLKS. By Dorothy Donnell Calhoun. ^"^ intermediate Grades. HOW MAN CONQUERED NATURE. By Minnie Reynolds. ^^'^ Intermediate and Grammar Grades. STORIES OF THE GOLDEN AGE. For Intermediate Grades. By Mary Gooch Anderson. INDIAN LEGENDS. ^^ For Intermediate Grades. By Margaret Bemister, author of "Thirty Indian Legends." CAMP AND TRAIL IN EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY- For Intermediate Grades. By Marguerite Stockman Dickson, author of " American History for Grammar Grades." PIONEERS AND PATRIOTS IN AMERICAN HISTORY. For Intermediate Grades. By Marguerite Stockman Dickson, author of "American History for Grammar Grades." THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 64-66 Fifth Avenue, New York Chicago Boston San Francisco Atlanta Dallas EVERYCHILD'S SERIES Camp and Trail in Early American History Being Stones of Treasure Seekers, Home Makers, Empire Builders, Indian Fighters, and Liberty Seekers in the New World By Marguerite Stockman Dickson Author of ' * American History for Grammar Schools '* Illustrated by A, P. Linson KeiD gorft The Macmillan Company 1915 All Tights reserved e/2? .ID 6 6% Copyright, 1915, By the MACMILLAN COMPANY. Set up and electrotyped. Published February, 191 5. J. 8. Gushing Co. — Berwick & Smith Co. Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. FEB 1 1 1915 ©aA3!)S604 MY LITTLE FRIENDS IN THE HISTORIC CITY OF PHILADELPHIA MARGARET AND ELEANOR LEITCH PREFACE History stories, for either home or school use, may serve a double purpose. They may be for children who have not yet begun to study history a spur to interest in the past; or they may furnish detail for the older chil- dren whose textbooks of necessity are lacking in this respect. The stories in this book have been selected as types of movements in early American his- tory. The attempt has not been made to give the children many facts, nor to teach the facts that are presented. Rather are we pre- senting a series of pictures, as a sort of his- torical background upon which later historical personages may figure. Let the children read each story as a story merely to be enjoyed but not worked over. Let them admire our heroes, not especially as historical personages, but as men. Charlotte, North Carolina, December, 1914. CONTENTS PAGE The First Americans i The Fair God of Mexico 19 In Quest of Eternal Youth . . » . . 36 An English Sea King 50 The " City of Raleigh " at Roanoke ... 69 A Valley Town in Old New England ... 86 A Story of New France no Peter the Headstrong 129 Seeds of Liberty 149 Camp and Trail in Early American History THE FIRST AMERICANS Long ago, on a bright afternoon In the late autumn, two boys played near the bank of a softly murmuring brook in the gayly colored forest. The golden sunlight cast its flicker- ing shadows down through the leaves. A chill in the air told of coming frost and snow. The boys were slender and straight, and their eyes were bright and keen. They were shooting at a target with bow and arrow. Twang ! went an arrow to the very heart of the target. "^ I would it were the red deer ! " called Red Cloud proudly. "I shall be a mighty hunter." ''And I shall go on the warpath against the Iroquois," answered his friend, Eagle's Wing. CAMP AND VrAIL ''Hark! I hear the men return- ing from the chase." And with this they started at a brisk pace toward the wigwams in the distance beyond the tree trunks. THE FIRST AMERICANS 3 As you have already guessed, these were Indian boys, living the wild free life that the red men lived in the early days. The people of Europe knew nothing of these red-skinned Americans, and they, on the other hand, had no knowledge of the fair-haired people across the sea. There was excitement enough in the Ind- ian village when the boys reached it. The hunters had indeed returned, laden with heavy burdens of game. The squaws were already caring for the skins and cooking great pieces of juicy meat at the open-air fires. The warriors rested, lounging near the campfires, and exchanging stories of their days in the woods. The children ran about, eager to see the game, to hear the stories, and longing for the days when they too might go a-hunting. That night the braves gathered for a great feast. The hunting season was at its height. Great stores of dried meat and fish were being made ready for the winter. All were joyous, and they feasted merrily. 4 CAMP AND .TRAIL Long the painted, feather-decked warriors lingered over the roasted venison and wild turkey. But at length, when they had eaten " The whole village drew near a great campfire, around which the warriors sat in a circle, smoking, and telling stories." their fill, the whole village drew near a great campfire, around which the warriors sat in a circle, smoking, and telling stories. They told wonderful tales of great spirits, of charms and magic. THE FIRST AMERICANS 5 The children listened eagerly. Red Cloud and Eagle's Wing pressed close to the circle, longing, always longing for the day when they should join the warriors around the campfire, in the chase, and on the warpath. Hark ! an old man had just begun his story. ''I shall tell you, my children," said the old man slowly, looking around the great circle, "the story of the magic firebird, which brought to man the fire which is our greatest comfort, in the wigwam, and here where we gather at the close of the day. ''Long ago, as you must know, men lived without fire. Then they were often cold in the bitter winds of winter. Then they had no cooked food, as we have to-day. But, knowing nothing of what fire could do for them, they lived content. ''One day a strange and beautiful bird was seen hovering over a village. All came out from the wigwams to see the wonderful 6 CAMP AND TRAIL creature. It drew nearer and nearer. At last it spoke: 'I have come from a beautiful country far, far away,' it said, 'bringing you a gift. The strange brightness you see about my tail is fire. With it you can do many wonderful things.' "The people started forward. 'Wait, my children,' said the bird softly. 'Only a good man or woman can pluck the fire from my tail. The gift was not meant for the un- kind or the selfish.' "The people stood silent for a moment, but soon a sturdy warrior stepped forward with a bit of wood, that he might light it at the fire flashing about the bird's tail. The fire scorched his hand, and he drew back. "'You think only of yourself,' said the bird sadly. 'The fire is not for you.' "Another man reached out, but he too was scorched, and fell back. 'You cheat your neighbor,' said the bird. 'It is not for you.' And another and another tried, but no one could secure the gift. The people THE FIRST AMERICANS 7 were sad, and the bird was sad too. 'Must I carry away my gift?' it said. 'Is there no one in your village who is good and true ? ' "Just then a woman called softly from a nearby wigwam. 'Oh, beautiful bird, I can- not come to try for the gift. A sick child is here. I cannot leave him. But if he might have the fire near him, perhaps it would make him well.' "'What have you done that is great and good, that you should ask for the gift ? ' said the bird. 'I have done nothing but my duty, I know,' answered the woman, 'so I do not ask it for myself. But the child, O beautiful firebird ! He needs it. Will you not give it to him .? ' "'Here,' said the bird joyfully, 'here at last I have found an unselfish person. Take it, good woman ! The fire is yours.' And she flew near while the woman lighted her bit of wood. And so it was that fire came to men." There was great applause when the aged 8 CAMP AND TRAIL story teller finished his tale; and other stories followed from this one and that one about the campfire. Then came the beat of drum and rattle calling to the dance. Stepping lightly, the dancers moved softly and slowly in and out among the trees. Then the steps grew faster. The dancers whirled and spun, they leaped, they ran. Wider grew the circle and wider. Faster leaped the dancers and faster, until at last they dropped back breathless into their places by the fire. And around the circle arose the clamor of laughter and applause. Next day the warriors remained quietly in the village, chipping stones into shape for arrowheads, mending and making weapons, or lying about lazily smoking, with many jokes and much laughter. You may be sure Red Cloud and Eagle's Wing were not far away. They chipped away gravely at flints for their own arrow heads, watching, listening, and overjoyed when one of the warriors chanced to notice them. THE FIRST AMERICANS 9 Red Cloud's father was "sachem" or chief of his tribe, and Red Cloud hoped some day to be sachem in his father's place. But he knew that he must be brave and strong, cunning and tireless, to be chief after the great Spotted Feather, his father. So he welcomed every chance to listen even to the jokes and careless chatter of the braves. Some day he would be like them — like his father. There was no one like his father, Red Cloud thought. Now Red Cloud was nearly old enough to begin to do a man's work, for Indian boys put away their play when they were still young boys, and were men doing a man's work at an age when our boys are still in the schoolroom. So his father now sometimes took him on hunting trips, or taught him how to spear fish in the rivers, or trap turkeys in the forest. He was learning, learning, every day. So was his friend, Eagle's Wing. And the two walked more proudly as they thought of the swiftly coming days. lo CAMP AND TRAIL When the biting winds of winter came, the wigwams of the village were moved from the open country by the river to the most sheltered spot the tribe could find back in some wooded valley. Here the short winter days were passed, the families hud- dling around the fires in the wigwams, living on their dried and smoked meats and fish, and the squashes and beans and corn the women had planted and harvested in the summer time. Spring seemed long in coming, but it did come at last, and the hunters went joyfully forth in quest of fresh food, while the women planted and tended the little garden patches. It was still early in the spring time when there came trouble between Spotted Feather's tribe and a neighboring one. There was often war between them, for both desired the same hunting ground. Spotted Feather grew silent and watchful. He was absent in the forest days at a time, and once he came back thin and pale from THE FIRST AMERICANS II fasting while he had prayed to the great spirit for vic- tory in the coming fight. His warriors silently made ready, and one day there came to the village other friendly warriors to help Spotted Feather's braves. At evening they all gath- ered in a great silent circle about the campfire. Oh ! that was a wonderful sight to Red Cloud and his boy friends. The warriors were painted, — red and bright blue, black, and white. They wore their 12 CAMP AND TRAIL finest ornaments of feathers, bone, and copper, with strings and belts of wampum beads. High crests of feathers showed which were the chiefs. Spotted Feather wore a brilliantly colored feather mantle. From his belt hung many scalp locks, the scalps of enemies he had killed in battle. Silently the boys brought food to these wonderful warriors, and silently the warriors ate. Then they lighted their pipes, and still silent, smoked and smoked. At last Spotted Feather broke the silence. Looking slowly around the great circle, first at his own braves, and then at his guests and allies, he spoke. He told them of the many many insults they had borne from their long hated foe. He called upon them now to avenge the wrongs they had sufi'ered. The warriors lis- tened gravely, but when the sachem paused a great shout arose. They would follow Spotted Feather on the warpath that very night. THE FIRST AMERICANS 13 Then they scattered, some to pile high the already blazing fire until the flames leaped toward the treetops ; some to set up a great post or pole for the center of the dance. Squaws and boys brought forth the drums. The dance began. Round and round went the shouting warriors, whirling, leaping, wild with the war spirit. Some- times the dance would stop while one chief or another, striking the post for silence, would tell from the center of the circle of his own and his fathers' brave deeds. Then with redoubled tumult the mad whirling dance would go on. All night the red flames of the campfire lighted up the strange scene. But when the first light of the dawn streaked the east- ern sky, the warriors grew silent once more. The gorgeous ornaments were laid aside. The last preparations were made; and the warriors, hideously painted and with bow and tomahawk ready, stole silently away in a long line into the deep forest. 14 CAMP AND TRAIL Red Cloud and Eagle's Wing watched them go, scarcely knowing whether to be glad or sorry that they might not yet share in the awful work of killing and scalping the foe. Days of anxious waiting followed, in which the old men, the women, and the boys and girls went about their usual tasks, but with strange feelings, of pride in their warriors mingled with fears lest they be conquered and return no more. And then one evening, just at dusk, they came. Hearts beat fast as the procession wound its way into the village. Red Cloud looked anxiously at the painted warriors. Yes, his father was there, with bloody scalps hanging from his belt. And there were many captives. That night again there was feasting in the village — feasting, and smoking, and the dance of victory ! During the feasting and the dance, the captives stood proud and silent, tied to near-by tree trunks. They too had been conquerors, and had gloried in THE FIRST AMERICANS 15 the downfall of their enemies. Now it was their pride to show no fear, no flinching. The time of torture came. They must "run the gantlet/' — a long, double line of the old men, women, and children of the village, armed with any sort of club they could seize. Through the lane they formed the captives were driven, with blows raining on them from every side. But not a mur- mur from the captives, though it was double shame to be beaten by the weak ones of the enemy. But worse was coming. Tied once more, fires were kindled around them, and while the flames tortured their limbs, they were beaten, pinched, or shot with arrows, mak- ing every dying breath a torment and a pain. Yet they could sing a death song as they died, — bravely, as they had lived. Red Cloud had borne his part in all this. He had served the warriors at the feast, drummed for the dance, had even shot ar- rows at the dying prisoners as they burned. i6 CAMP AND*TRAIL The last had made him shrink a little. But he knew that warriors must not shrink at such work. And after the first three or four, the dying men seemed only as targets to the boy. And so life went on in the Indian village. We must not think of it as always filled with war and fighting. There were many *' moons" when the red men lived at peace. They made arrows and with them hunted the wild things of the forest. They built their bark canoes and in them fished from river and lake. They told the old stories of the fathers, and they taught the growing boys and girls the lessons of life they must learn. I might tell you how Red Cloud one day came to be sachem in his father's place. But I could tell you nothing new or different about the life in Red Cloud's day. For long, long years the red men lived as their forefathers had lived before them, — a life as wild and free as the beasts lived in the forests. THE FIRST AMERICANS 17 1 8 CAMP AND •TRAIL And so they lived when the white men came and found them in the woods and on the plains of the New World. But when that day came, a new story begins, — the white man's story. We must hear that another day. THE FAIR GOD OF MEXICO 19 The name si^ns on back (^ ^,^ heads. Chief OC£LOTL (fAr/lOYAUANCAN j/tt/'pp on a hi^h backed •sf raw-woven seat ATMOYAUAf/C yvhere water moves in a circle " OF THE TIME or i^OTECl/HZim^h PICTI/RE WRITING THE FAIR GOD OF MEXICO Far to the south of the forests where Red Cloud's people had their homes, lay the beau- tiful land of Mexico. There in a high valley circled by snow-capped mountains, sparkled the waters of Tezcoco Lake. And on a group of islands in this lake had been built a city. Strangest of all, it was an Indian city, and a more beautiful place has seldom been seen. The Aztec Indians knew many things of 20 CAMP AND* TRAIL which northern Indians were ignorant. They built houses and roads and bridges. Their weavers made delicate and beautiful fabrics from cotton. Their gold and silver smiths produced exquisite ornaments. Other workers made wonderful garments of the finest feather work, and still others cut and polished precious stones. In their city were palaces and temples, hospitals, and a huge market place. Their houses were built about green flower-decked courtyards, and their lake city was crossed by well-built canals, which served, as in Venice, for streets. All these things sound like one of our cities to-day. And yet, in many ways the Aztecs were far from being like our city dwellers. They had no written language save picture writing. Their soldiers fought with bow and arrow, or with strange clubs set with razor- like blades of sharp stone. Their only lights were fires or torches. And especially in their religion were these Mexican Indians un- like civilized people to-day. For the inhabit- THE FAIR GOD OF MEXICO 21 ants of this beautiful city killed men or even children as offerings to their gods. And worse than that, they cooked and ate the flesh of their victims. The story I have to tell you is about the lake city of the Aztecs, and the sad end of the Aztec kingdom. We can scarcely imagine the won- der among the people of Europe when Spanish ships sailed across the ^'Sea of Darkness" and found beautiful islands and strange copper-colored men. The old fear of the ocean began to dis- appear, and many Spanish gentle- men, young and old, set out to the new lands to seek their fortunes. And so it happened that about twelve years after the discovery, young Fernando Cortes landed in the Spanish colony of Hispaniola. He was a gay young adventurer, who looked eagerly for a chance to find the treasure he had come to seek. And at last that chance came. A ship sent 22 CAMP AND* TRAIL out from Cuba, where Cortes was then living, returned with stories of great cities, a mighty king, and untold treasure, not far away to the westward ; and Cortes, at this time thirty- four years old, was chosen to lead an expedi- tion to find out more about these things. With eleven vessels, several hundred soldiers, cannon, and a few horses, Cortes set out. He was to trade Spanish beads and trinkets for Indian gold, and he set about the task with a joyful heart. Scarcely had the adventurers landed upon the mainland, when they began to hear of the great monarch whose fame and reputed wealth had brought them to that shore. And indeed, with equal promptness, Mon- tezuma, the Aztec king or war chief, heard of the fair-skinned strangers who had landed on the eastern shore of his dominion. This news, brought to Montezuma by swift runners from the coast, filled the chief with wonder and doubt. The Aztecs knew no fair-skinned nations, but they had long THE FAIR GOD OF MEXICO 23 ago worshipped a fair god. There were many stories of this god, who had once dwelt among the people in the lake city. But the Aztecs had displeased him, and he had gone away. The stories told how he had embarked from the eastern shore of the country on a raft of serpents' skins, and had drifted out of sight. But the fair god would some day return, the stories said, — would return to take back his kingdom, and to punish the people who had done him wrong. And now, on that very eastern shore, strange tower-like ships with wings had landed white-skinned strangers, clad in shining gar- ments, and with commanding, even god- like voices and ways. What wonder that Montezuma's heart was troubled, and he knew not what to do ! Sadly he called his counsellors about him, and the wise men from far-off places in his kingdom. They could tell him nothing. Some of his chiefs said boldly, '^ These are no gods, but only men. Let us hasten to 24 CAMP AND* TRAIL destroy them." And Montezuma was for a moment half persuaded they were right. But no ! who ever heard of white-faced men ? It was the fair god, returning with his train. And could men hope to fight against gods ? So Montezuma wavered. Meanwhile Cortes was advancing, and he must be met, either as friend or foe. Monte- zuma tried the plan of sending rich gifts to the strangers, but with messages desiring them to come no nearer to the city. Cortes accepted graciously the golden ornaments and the gorgeous mantles Montezuma had sent, but politely begged the privilege of visiting the city on the lake. Montezuma returned a polite intimation that it would be impossible to receive him there. Cortes pressed the question again, only to be for- bidden to advance by the now distracted king, who saw no hope for his kingdom if the strangers could not be held back. Cortes, however, paid no attention to Montezuma's message. He was getting THE FAIR GOD OF MEXICO 25 acquainted with the Indians near his camp, and was learning every day that not all of Montezuma's subjects loved their chief. More than thirty tribes paid tribute to the Aztecs, and many of these tribes hated as well as feared their masters. Cortes made friends with these dissatisfied tribes, making himself strong for the conquest he meant to undertake. He founded a settlement on the coast, and when some of his followers demanded that he abandon his plans for conquest and return to Cuba, Cortes settled the question by destroying the ships, after which nothing was left but to remain. Then he called upon his men to follow him, "for the glory of God, and the honor of Spain," and so persua- sive were his words that all forgot their discontent, and wildly shouted, "To Mexico ! to Mexico!" The march lay first across the tropical plain, where feathery palms waved above brightly glowing flowers ; then up the slope of the mountains which shut off the high 26 CAMP AND TRAIL valley from the sea. Palms changed to oaks, and oaks to pines, while far above towered the snowy iire-crowned peak of Orizaba. Higher and still higher they went, through a wild, rough, frozen country, and then down through a mountain pass into a wide green valley with corn fields and gar- dens. The march led sometimes through friendly territory, and sometimes the way was blocked by fighting warriors. The Spaniards fought fiercely against the Tlascalans in their walled stronghold. These were enemies of the Aztecs, with whom they had held many fierce battles. Now they fought with all their might against the Spaniards. Bravely they rushed against their armored foe, and even the roaring cannon did not daunt, them. On and on they came in hordes. But at last they wavered and terror seized them, when the fifteen horsemen of Cortes charged down upon them. What strange two-headed monsters were these ? Surely these must THE FAIR GOD OF MEXICO 27 be gods ! And with their wavering, the Spaniards rushed in and won the day. Once conquered, the Tlascalans made friends with Cortes, and many of their war- riors joined him in his march toward Monte- zuma's city. At last he was within sight of the lake and the white towers of the town. All the requests of Montezuma had been of no use. And the unhappy chief went out to meet his unwelcome guest. The city could be reached only by three causeways or raised roads across the waters of the lake. Along one of these roads came the Spaniards in fine array, while Montezuma and his nobles came to the outskirts of the city to meet them. Very careful was the Aztec war chief to do honor to the fair stranger. He hated him, but he feared him also. So Cortes and his men were comfort- ably housed, well fed, and gifts were showered upon them. When Cortes desired to visit the market- place and the great temple, Montezuma 28 CAMP AND •TRAIL courteously agreed. In the market-place Cortes found much of interest, but the sights of the temple filled him with horror. The great pyramid was built in terraces, with many steps, so arranged that after ascend- ing from one terrace to the next priests and worshippers must go all the way about the building before reaching the next flight. Nearly a mile must be traversed to reach the topmost platform. There stood a great block of jasper, — the stone of sacrifice, — dripping with human blood. Near by were the altars and the idols — great grinning stone figures, the god of evil and the god of war. From their lips also dripped blood, and before them on golden trays lay the sacrifice. Truly it was an awful sight, and we cannot wonder that Cortes longed to throw down the idols and cleanse the dreadful place. But he knew the time was not come. The days passed, and Montezuma still watched, and wondered, and doubted. Gods or men ^ And while he wondered, Cortes THE FAIR GOD OF MEXICO 29 was planning, plotting how he should secure the safety of his men, surrounded as they were by thousands of Indians who might any day turn against them ; how he should gain and profit by the friendship of the discon- tented ones in Montezuma's territory ; and most of all how he should obtain possession of Montezuma's treasure and destroy his power. The plan which Cortes finally decided upon was a bold one. We almost wonder that even Cortes should have dared such a thing. It was no less than to take Mon- tezuma prisoner. It seems impossible that he should have succeeded in this, with thou- sands of Aztec warriors without the walls of Montezuma's palace. But A4ontezuma, once brave and warlike, had watched and wondered and doubted too long. He no longer possessed the will to resist. His proud spirit was broken. So when Cortes de- manded, Montezuma went, and more than that, rebuked his impatient warriors who 30 CAMP AND* TRAIL would have beaten down the Spaniards and rescued their chief. The more the Aztec people saw of the Spaniards, the less they believed them to be gods ; and when they saw their king im- prisoned they longed to destroy the strangers and restore him to his throne. But they might not make war except by the chiefs command. That was the Aztec law. And Montezuma would not order them to fight. The warriors were filled with wonder at the chiefs strange silence. They knew not what to do. But they obeyed the law. All winter Montezuma remained with the Spaniards, and his people waited for him to speak. Then Cortes was called suddenly back to his little settlement at Vera Cruz. And while he was gone, Alvarado, his lieu- tenant, brought trouble upon himself and the hundred and fifty men Cortes had left with him. The Aztecs were celebrating their great spring festival when Alvarado ordered an attack upon them, and many were killed. THE FAIR GOD OF MEXICO 31 The Aztecs were wild with rage, arid when Cortes hastily returned with the remainder of his men he found Alvarado and his soldiers besieged in their palace, the great market closed, the streets empty, and only sullen angry looks were turned upon him by the few Indians he saw. Montezuma sat sad and silent, as he always sat now. Cortes demanded that the chief order the market-place to open. "You forget I am a prisoner," returned the chief. "If you wish the market opened and the people quieted, you must send a chief of my household to them. And I and all my chiefs are here." Cortes then sent Montezuma's brother out to the people. That was a great mistake for Cortes to make. For the chiefs brother called together the council, they made him chief in Montezuma's stead, and next morning a howl- ing, raging horde of warriors surrounded the Spanish quarters, pouring down arrows and stones from neighboring roofs into the court- yard. At last the battle was begun ! 32 CAMP AND* TRAIL For six days it raged. Once Cortes caused Monte- zuma to ascend to the roof and to order his people to cease the fight. But they would not listen to him. They hooted and jeered and called THE FAIR GOD OF MEXICO 33 him coward. They even threw stones at him, before whom once they had bowed to the very dust. He bowed his head before them. His shame was complete. A stone struck him, and he fell. The battle raged on. The great temple was the scene of terrible fighting. Cortes with three hundred picked men and many Tlascalan warriors fought his way up the stairways, around the terraces, the whole long distance to the top, where for three hours Spaniard and Aztec struggled for the victory. And when at last victory lay with the Spaniards, five hundred Aztecs had given their lives for their war god, and not an Indian warrior was left there alive. And still day after day the fighting went on. Cortes knew that he must get his men out of the city if their lives were to be saved. So on the sixth night he made an attempt to get away, under cover of the darkness. But the flight was discovered, and every inch of the way over the long causeway was furiously fought. Horses, cannon, baggage, 34 CAMP ANET TRAIL treasure, were all left behind. The dawn following this "Sorrowful Night" found only a sad and broken few, at sight of whom even the iron-hearted Cortes could but weep. It would seem that now Cortes must have given up all thought of conquering the lake city. But no ! retreating to Tlascala, he rested, and then with all his old determina- tion began anew his conquest of Mexico. Montezuma was dead, but Montezuma's country should be his. Another spring saw him return to the attack, with thousands of Indian allies, with newly arrived Spanish soldiers, cannon, and horses. Once more day after day the battle raged. As always in their fighting, the Aztecs tried to capture the Spaniards alive, that they might sacrifice them to their terrible gods. And the Spaniards fought harder as they thought of the awful processions winding around the lofty pyramid with white-faced victims led to the dreadful stone above. For months the fight went on, but at last THE FAIR GOD OF MEXICO 35 the proud Aztecs were humbled. Many, many were dead. The city lay in ruins. Cortes was the conqueror. Mexico became a Spanish town. The terrible temples were torn down, and Christian churches took their place. This was better for Mexico, better for the world. And yet, we cannot forget the sad figure of Montezuma, conquered by the *^fair god" that he saw in his dreams. 36 CAMP ANl5 TRAIL IN QUEST OF ETERNAL YOUTH Away to the east of the mainland of North America lie the islands to which Columbus first led the ships of Spain. Here the Span- iards had begun their search for gold, and the harsh and cruel treatment of the Indians for which Spanish conquerors in the New World have been justly infamous. The beautiful islands, with their warm and delightful climate, their tropical fruits, and their cool sea breezes, had long been the homes of gentle and trustful natives, who gladly welcomed the strange men in the white-winged ships. But the Spaniards did IN QUEST OF ETERNAL YOUTH 37 not long deserve this trust. Greed for gold seems to have killed all kindness from their hearts, and they made miserable slaves of the once happy, care-free natives. Cruel Spanish governors were placed over them, who drove them to dig in the mines, where their unaccustomed and unceasing toil soon brought them to final rest in death. Thou- sands of lives were thus wasted in the treasure search. The larger islands, Cuba and Haiti, were the first scenes of Spanish conquest. Ovando, an early governor of Haiti, is called "a, human monster" for his cruel deeds. The Indians of eastern Haiti were aroused by the treatment accorded to their neighbors, and when they in turn came under the cruel rule of the Spaniards, resisted their oppressions. A long and bloody campaign followed before these Indians were subdued. Among the Spaniards who fought here was Ponce de Leon, a companion of Columbus on his second voyage and a veteran soldier. When 38 CAMP ANI> TRAIL the conquest ^" was complete, Ponce de Leon was left by Ovando to govern the unhappy red men. But in these days of adventure and treasure seeking, ''the lion"— for that is the mean- ing of de Leon's name — chafed at the dull life he was now leading. He stood on the headlands of Santo Domingo, and looked eastward toward the misty blue moun- tains dimly seen against IN QUEST OF ETERNAL YOUTH 39 the bluer sky. He longed to feel the roll of waves against a good ship's timbers, and the whistle of the wind through sail and shroud. He remembered those misty mountains, on the outward voyage from Spain. Colum- bus had stopped beneath their shadow to find water for his ships. Ponce de Leon could well recall the beauty of the harbor, with green-clad mountains rising in the back- ground and gorgeous plants and flowers nearer shore. "Puerto Rico," Columbus had named it, — ''the rich port." When Indians came across in their dugout canoes from Puerto Rico, de Leon eagerly questioned them about their country. The unsuspecting natives, little dreaming of the sad fate in store for them and their tribes, told of gold in the mountains and in the beds of streams. It was enough. Ponce de Leon must seek these golden shores. Ovando's consent gained, the short voyage of ninety miles was 40 CAMP ANl5 TRAIL soon accomplished, and de Leon stood again, after sixteen years, at Aguadilla, the '^water- ing place" of ColumjDus's ships. Nothing was changed. The same forest-clad moun- tains stood like cool green walls, back from the shore. There were the same beautiful trees and flowers, the same Indian village, whose hospitable people received the Span- iards with kindly greetings. In Puerto Rico was enacted again the sad story of greed and cruelty, of treachery and war. A Spanish city was founded on the north shore of the island, mountains and river beds were searched for gold, and great bands of Indians were set to working the newly dug mines. At first the Indians believed, as the Aztecs had believed, that the Spaniards were immortal, and that it was useless to resist. But a shrewd chief resolved to learn whether a Spaniard could not suffer death. He ordered two of his followers to seize a Spaniard as they were crossing a river to- gether, and to hold the suspected immortal IN QUEST OF ETERNAL YOUTH 41 under water for a while. Then bearing the Spaniard's body, now limp and unresisting, to the bank, they sat down beside it, watching until they could not longer doubt the man was dead. The news spread like wildfire, and a great band of outraged Indians gathered to attack the Spanish town. The Spaniards, however, in steel armor, and with their death-dealing guns, won an easy victory, and some of the Indians fled to the mountains, while the rest sadly bowed to their fate as slaves. Ponce de Leon was now governor of Puerto Rico, and he settled down as he had done in Santo Domingo, to the tasks of his oflice. He built the city of San Juan on a small coral island close in shore. This became the seat of government, and here was built Ponce de Leon's "White Castle" (Casa Blanca), stand- ing high to overlook the sea. The governor was no longer young. He could look back over an eventful life, in which he had valiantly borne his part. He had seen 42 CAMP AND TRAIL strange sights too in these beautiful islands, where he had lived now for nearly twenty years. He had heard strange stories from the red-skinned natives of other wonders which he had not seen. I have no doubt that sometimes he wished he were no longer passing middle age, but were young again, as when he fought the Moors at Granada in old Spain, before he had set out with Columbus to cross the great ocean in quest of fame and gold. Sometimes as he paced the garden of Casa Blanca, he gazed out upon the changing waters of the sea, and longed for new adventures on the rolling deep. There were islands to the northwest. Should he explore them ? He remembered the story he had heard of an island from whose earth gushed the fountain of eternal youth. He who should drink of its sparkling waters would feel the strength of youth in his veins, and if he should bathe in the stream flowing from the fountain he would remain young, and live forever. IN QUEST OF ETERNAL YOUTH 43 Ponce de Leon thought oftener as the days went by of the magic fountain. At last he resolved to seek it. Why not 1 He had wealth and ships. He was as much at home at sea as on the land. He must find the foun- tain soon, while he was still strong, — before old age should creep up behind him, and seize his limbs, binding him to the chimney corner. So the White Castle no longer knew the lion's tread, and ships were sailing In and out among the beautiful islands of the Bahama group, bearing an anxious seeker for a crystal fountain, which should bring back the years of youth and joy. There are nearly three thousand Islands in the Bahama group ; yet Ponce de Leon went bravely to work searching for the isle of the magic fountain. BiminI, the Indians called it, and wherever de Leon landed, he asked questions and heard more stories about the wonderful place. Always, too, the Spaniards looked for gold and jewels ; but they found 44 CAMP AND TRAIL little, and the search went on. At this island and that they touched; in this stream and that they bathed ; they took long drinks from crystal springs. But youth seemed as far away as ever. Winding in and out among the islands, the ships passed through the Bahamas, and sailed on to the northwest. It was spring, and on Easter Day land was again seen. Drawing nearer, the Spaniards saw a lovely shore, green with foliage, bright with blossoms and the gorgeous plumage of many birds. This was the land we know as Florida. The name was given it on that long ago Easter Day, and was taken from the day itself, which Spaniards call "Pascua Florida," the day of the flowery feast. For many days the Spanish ships followed the coast of the flowery land. At first they hoped that here they should find the wondrous fountain, but they drank and bathed with no result. At last the ships were turned back, and de Leon gave up the search. And yet he did not IN QUEST OF ETERNAL YOUTH 45 really give up, for he meant to return another time and search again. Years passed before he made the second voyage. Old age was drawing nearer now. But the brave spirit of the old adventurer was still strong. With many followers he landed on the Florida coast, as he had long ago landed on the fair shore of Puerto Rico. He had conquered there, and made the island Spanish ground. Here he would do the same. He had been ruler of Puerto Rico, dwelling in his White Castle high above the sea. Here also he would rule, and would build another Casa Blanca ; and perhaps he would yet find Bimini and the fountain of youth. The Indians of Florida were fiercely resent- ful of the coming of the strangers, and fighting soon began. Indian arrows fell thickly on the armor of the Spaniards, and Ponce de Leon was wounded by a poisoned dart. He fell, and was carried on board ship. From the first it seemed likely the gallant old soldier would fight no more, and the ships were 46 CAMP ANDi TRAIL turned back. They sought Cuba, the nearest Spanish island, and here de Leon died. He had found, not youth but death, in the flowery land. His body was carried back to Puerto Rico, where it still rests, while above it we may read these words : *' Beneath this stone repose the bones of the valiant Lion whose deeds surpassed the greatness of his name." Seven years after the death of Ponce de Leon a second large company set out from the West Indies to conquer Florida, but this attempt also was a failure. The company moved on and on in the search for gold, through forest and swamp, with little food, and often weakened in fierce battle with the natives. From the west coast of Florida they wan- dered, now by land, and again by sea, to the coast of Texas, where of the six hundred who had begun the voyage, only fifteen remained. Of these, four reached Mexico, and nine years from the beginning of his wanderings, one of the four finally made his way home to Spain. IN QUEST OF ETERNAL YOUTH 47 Here, In spite of his awful experiences, he told great tales of the wonders of the country. "Florida is the richest country in the world," he said. Already a new company was gathering to attempt once more the conquest of the flowery land. Hernando De Soto, young, rich, and already famous for his part in Pizarro's con- quest of Peru, was made governor of Cuba and Florida. He set out from Spain with a large following, for the best and bravest of Spanish soldiers begged to go with so distin- guished a commander. Leaving his wife to govern Cuba in his absence, De Soto crossed to Florida. Once more the beauties of the flowery land were seen, as the Spanish ships approached the shore. The silver sand, the sparkling waters, the golden sunshine, the green of trees, and the gorgeous hues of bird and flower were all there to greet De Soto as they had greeted his countrymen who had gone before. And De Soto sought, as they had sought, 48 CAMP AND .TRAIL for fame and treasure. He went on and on, as they had gone, lured by tales of a richer country ^'over there." He and his six hun- dred men had strange and exciting adventures. Sometimes they found the natives kind and friendly. Sometimes they found them fierce and terrible foes. Like other Spaniards, De Soto often cruelly deceived those natives who were his friends. It was not long before all were enemies, and then the fortunes of the Spaniards grew sad indeed. Passing soon beyond the boundaries of what we know as Florida to-day, the march continued to the ''great river," which De Soto crossed, after a month had been spent in building boats. Neither he nor his men saw Florida again. Three hundred of the men after great suffer- ing reached Mexico, but De Soto was left behind, — dead, with his work unfinished, his ambition unsatisfied, his life cut off when youth had scarcely passed him by. Truly Florida had thus far seemed the land of death. Bright IN QUEST OF ETERNAL YOUTH 49 with flowers, sweet with perfumes, balmy with soft breezes, it beckoned only to destroy. Or perhaps it was not Florida which brought destruction to the cruel Spaniards, but their own cruelty turned back upon themselves. Never were men braver than these old-time treasure seekers. They were all "lions" in the day of battle. Perhaps it is no wonder that they were like lions in other ways. In their own way they were great, but they lacked the true greatness of kind hearts. And so it was that Florida, the flowery land, saw battle and suffering, sickness and death, — and after all, lay quiet again, with the Spaniards passed beyond. And so it lay for many years. At last Spain found a foothold at St. Augustine, but even that she could not hold, and to-day the land of flowers is one of our own fair states. Still we may see the silver sands, the golden sunshine, the gorgeous hues of tree and bird and flower. But peaceful people live now along the shores, and Florida is no more the land of death. 50 CAMP AND TRAIL AN ENGLISH SEA KING The conquest of Mexico brought great riches to the Spanish king. Nor was it long before another Spanish adventurer found al- most unbounded wealth in the Indian king- dom of Peru. Spanish ships carried home whole cargoes of gold and silver and precious stones. The Spanish king grew to be the richest of rulers, and Spanish ships multiplied. Spain was soon the ''mistress of the seas." AN ENGLISH SEA KING 51 There were ships and sailors in France and England, but the Spaniards took great pains that little should be known about their treas- ure lands. They had no idea of sharing their treasure with any one. Perhaps no English sailor ever won greater fame than Francis Drake. They called him a "sea king," and the time came when even Spain, the mistress of the seas, trembled at his name. From early childhood Francis Drake knew the sea as a familiar friend. For years his very home was an abandoned old warship, where the waves rocked him to his evening slumbers and the sea winds sang his lullabies. In Plymouth harbor, where the warships lay when not at sea, the old hulk was anchored, and the boy's days were spent watching the sailors work, listening to sailors' stories, or playing games of naval war. The people of England at this time had no love for the rich and powerful mistress of the seas. It was a time when religion caused 52 CAMP AND. TRAIL many bitter quarrels, and even wars. Catho- lic and Protestant could not live in harmony, as they do to-day. Each hated and despised the other, and both seemed to believe that people could be made to change their beliefs at the point of the sword. The people of Spain were Catholics. Many English people were Protestant, and during most of Drake's life England was ruled by a Protestant queen. So it was not strange that Spaniards hated England, and that Englishmen hated Spain, especially as they saw her king grow stronger and prouder every year. Francis Drake's whole life seems to have been ruled by two great passions. He loved the sea, and he hated Spain. And he made the one passion feed the other. He was still only a boy when he made his first sea voyage, and at nineteen was captain of a slave ship under Captain John Hawkins, his cousin. In those days the slave trade was a new and profitable business, considered quite as proper and respectable as any other sort of trade. AN ENGLISH SEA KING 53 Negroes were captured on the African coast, and were carried across to be sold to the Span- ish planters in the West Indies. The planters were eager to secure the negroes, and would pay well for them, even though they had been forbidden by their king to trade with any but Spanish ships. Sometimes the Spanish governors interfered, but that made little difference to the English captains, who found not only wealth but great satisfaction in outwitting them. We can well imagine that this sort of life just suited young Drake, and that he was well pleased with the cargo of gold and pearls with which they started home from the Spanish islands. Their return was not to be without mishap, however. A hurri- cane drove them far south into the Gulf of Mexico, and to escape destruction Haw- kins boldly put into the Spanish port of Vera Cruz. There he found twelve great ships loaded with Spanish gold and silver, a whole year's produce from the mines of 54 CAMP AND* TRAIL Mexico. They were waiting for the war- ships which should protect them on the voyage to Spain. Next day the warships came, only to find the English fleet barring their entrance to the harbor. Hawkins, however, agreed to allow the Spanish warships to come in if they would grant him permission to repair his ships without interference. The agreement was made, but in spite of it the Spaniards treach- erously attacked the English ships. There was a fearful battle, and of the six vessels Hawkins had led into the harbor, only two of the smaller ones escaped. All of the gold and pearls were gone, and when the two vessels reached England, their half- starved crews carried home nothing to show for their venture except undying hatred for the Spaniards, and an oft-repeated prayer for revenge. We hear no more of trading for Drake. He made two voyages to the Spanish Indies, in which he searched for some vital spot in AN ENGLISH SEA KING 55 which to wound his enemy ; then comes his first attempt to make that wound. With two ships and about seventy men, he sailed once more for the Spanish Main. This time he meant to strike. We hear of him at Nombre de Dios, "the treasure house of the world," and again intercepting the mule trains which brought the Peruvian treasure to that port from Panama. He would cut out vessels from under the very shadow of the Spanish guns. He would seize provision ships, and rifle the cargoes of merchantmen. In all the Caribbean Sea no spot seemed safe from him, and all Span- ish America came to stand in constant dread of "the dragon" who swooped down upon them, struck, and was gone before they could recover breath. It was a strange sort of warfare to be going on between subjects of nations pledged to peace. For however much English and Spaniards hated each other, they were not at war. In later days Drake would have CAMP AND TRAIL ^?m.M been called a pirate, but In his own time no one thought any less of him for helping himself to the treasure of the Spanish king, except that king himself and his country- men. And we must give Drake due credit for two things. He seized no treasure except it belonged to the hated Span- i^^ibu^ AN ENGLISH SEA KING 57 iards ; and contrary to the custom of the time, he neither killed nor tortured prisoners. It was on an overland march to Panama that Drake first saw the boundless waters of the great ''South Sea." At the very- summit of a mountain peak grew a lofty tree, and from its branches he gazed in awe and wonder. Then and there was born in his mind a great resolve, and he prayed "that Almighty God of his great goodness would give him life and leave to sail once in an English ship upon that sea." At last the prows of the vessels were turned toward England, and on a mid- summer Sunday the boom of Drake's can- non in a salute to "home" startled the good folk of Plymouth, and caused the preacher great dismay as his congregation rushed forth in the midst of sermon time to greet the bold young captain. Several years passed before Drake's great resolve in the giant tree of Panama bore fruit. But he was still a young man when 58 CAMP AND TRAIL with five ships he set out to gain his heart's desire. The ill feeling between England and Spain was increasing year by year. No doubt "the dragon's" escapades in the Spanish colonies had something to do with this, and there were other reasons as well. Some- times it seemed as though war was at hand, then the troubled skies would clear again. Queen Elizabeth of England desired peace with so powerful a monarch as King Philip. Yet she longed to injure him, to torment him in any and every way that would not bring open war. There seems little doubt that Drake had her permission, if not her orders, to proceed to the Spanish king's dominions on the Pacific, to rob him of his treasure and put his subjects in fear of their lives. It was generally supposed that Drake's fleet was being fitted for a voyage to Egypt. It is interesting to read that the hardy sea- man was surrounded on this voyage by state AN ENGLISH SEA KING 59 and luxury. Everything was as splendid as money could make it. But I fancy "the dragon" cared less for the splendor than for the work he had set out to do. Only once since the discoverer had first opened the way across the dreaded Atlantic had any seaman been bold enough to sail around South America into the greatest of all the oceans beyond. It was now more than fifty years since Magellan had made his wonderful voyage around the w^orld, and no one had succeeded in following him. Spanish sailors had tried and failed, and it was now long years since any attempt had been made to reach the Spanish settlements on the Pacific except by way of Panama. Here at least the Spaniards felt safe from the dragon. Their treasure ships plied be- tween Valparaiso, Lima, and Panama, secure in the knowledge that no flag had ever floated above those seas but the red and gold of Spain. But ''the dragon" was on the way! 6o CAMP AND TRAIL Down the coast of South America the fleet was struggling, fighting storms that threat- ened to send every ship to the bottom, and fighting no less the grumbling of the seamen, who had started with no notion of such a voyage. Under the fair skies of England it was summer now and June roses were blossoming, while in these forsaken seas winter cold and wild winds grew fiercer every day. But the "sea king" meant to reach the great "South Sea," and nothing could hold him back. Late in August the three ships remaining entered the Straits of Magellan. It was a land of ice and snow through which they sailed. Wild storms and strange cur- rents made every inch of the passage a struggle. But the ships pushed bravely on, and in spite of storms and buffeting, in two weeks they had passed the straits and faced the open sea. Then the worst storm of all struck them, and for nearly two months they were blown about, under black skies, AN ENGLISH SEA KING 6i In strange waters, and along strange shores. One of the three ships went down, with all her crew. Another, separated from the flag- ship, gave up and turned back through the frozen straits. And so the ''sea king" was left alone. When the storm had worn itself away, the Golden Hind lay among islands farther south than ever ship had been before. And Drake was filled with triumph, for the storm had taught him what the world would re- joice to know. The great southern con- tinent marked on all the maps below Magel- lan's Straits was not there ! Only a group of islands, and beyond the Atlantic and Pacific rolling together in one deep, dark sea. Silently and alone he landed on the farthest point, and walking to its very end, lay down, stretching his arms to embrace the land's end of the southern world. Turning away to the northward, Drake sailed under sunny skies and on placid seas. And so it happened that the crew of a 62 CAMP AND .TRAIL Spanish ship in Valparaiso harbor one day saw a sail on the horizon, and looked forward to a merry night. It was the Golden Hind, and her crew made short work of taking the Spanish ship with its cargo of gold and wine ; and indeed of taking anything and every- thing they wanted in the harbor and the town. Then the mysterious ship went on its way up the coast, gayly plundering the little settlements, overhauling treasure ships, and leaving terror and chagrin behind. From Callao, the port of Lima, Drake started in pursuit of a huge vessel, the Spit- fire, loaded with a vast quantity of gold, silver, and precious stones. She was four- teen days ahead of him, but he resolved to have her, though he should "tear her from her moorings at Panama itself." It was an exciting chase, but the dragon overtook and seized his prey. Not daring to hold her there in the path of possible pursuit while he transferred her cargo to the Golden Hind, he led her out a three days' sail into AN ENGLISH SEA KING 63 the silent sea. There the transfer was made, and Drake's treasure was greater by thirteen chests of pieces of eight, eighty pounds of gold, jewels too many to number, and many tons of silver. This capture ended the plundering, for the good ship would hold no more. Surely it had been a great voyage ! And now for home ! But it would never do to go back down the coast into the very arms of the Spaniards, wide awake now, and on the watch. There must be some other way. So up the coast the sea king sailed, by Cali- fornia, up to Oregon, as far as Vancouver Island. He was looking for some passage into the Atlantic, but he found none, and at last turned back. After a month spent in a harbor on the California shore to refit the Golden Hind for still another giant's task, her prow was turned west, and around the world Drake made his way home. Almost three years had passed when the Golden Hind, battered and wormeaten, ap- 64 CAMP AND. TRAIL peared In Plymouth harbor. There was great excitement over Drake's return. The Spanish king sent messages demanding that he be punished for his misdeeds, but the queen was too much pleased with his ex- ploits and his gifts to think of punishment. Before many months had passed, she had publicly made him a knight; and soon Sir Francis Drake was planning new exploits and ''misdeeds." The patience of King Philip was nearly gone, and It was rumored that he was preparing for war. In the midst of these rumors Drake crossed once more to the Spanish settlements on the Gulf Coast, and returned, leaving behind him havoc and destruction. Later, an admiral in the navy now, he sailed King Philip AN ENGLISH SEA KING 65 against Cadiz, In Spain itself, and dealt fearful blows at the fleet King Philip was constructing there. He had ''singed the King of Spain's beard," he said. The next year the dreaded fleet came, — the "Invincible Armada," the Spaniards called it. Drake had been wildly impatient to go forth with every ship England could gather to seek the Armada before it should leave the Spanish coast. But the queen v/ould not consent to this until it was tod late, and the Armada was at England's very shores. So the battle was fought in the English Channel, and it was one of the great battles of the world. The Spanish ships were huge affairs, and as they swept down upon the English in a long crescent-shaped line it must have been a splendid sight. The English ships were there to meet them, with Drake and many another brave old seaman in command. Then there were days of fighting, with clouds of smoke, the boom of cannon, and the crash of falling 66 CAMP AND TRAIL masts and rigging ; with the blare of trump- ets and the shouting of war cries ; with sinking ships and dying sailors. There were nights of fighting in moonlight bright as day; or again in darkness black as ink, but lighted by the fierce glare of the fireships that the English were driving against the Spanish fleet. Oh ! there was fighting in plenty, and there were brave deeds, and great men. But the glory of the battle goes first of all to Sir Francis Drake, the sea king, on his flagship, the Revenge. I shall not try to tell you just how the battle was won for England, but it was a hard fight, and long. It is enough that we see the Spanish fleet, invincible no longer, The Revenge AN ENGLISH SEA KING (,'] but broken and scattered, swept out of the Channel by a kindly wind, driven away to trouble England no more. I have told you the great deeds of this one of England's great men. Now I must tell you of his last treasure hunt, — then lay the pen down, for his story will be done. Once more the dragon was unchained, to sweep across the sea to Nombre de Dios, '^the treasure house of the world." Once more he was to seize King Philip's gold. But alas ! the very fear the name of Drake had inspired had locked the door of the treasure house beyond his power to open. Everywhere were forts and guns, or buried and hidden treasure, and deserted towns. From one place to another he went. But only failure greeted him in each. He pushed on and on. He began to see his great name tarnish. "We must have gold before we see England," he would cry. Disease seized upon his men, and at last upon the sea king himself. 68 CAMP AND .TRAIL Day by day he grew weaker, and at last he died. And there in the waters of the Spanish Main, where often he had sailed to seek for treasure and revenge, they laid him for his last rest. Truly to the sea he belonged. He had but returned to his own ! THE "CITY OF RALEIGH'' AT ROANOKE 69 THE "CITY OF RALEIGH" AT ROANOKE Within the long line of sandbars along the coast of North Carolina lies an island with an Indian name — Roanoke. Outside the bars are the stormy shoals which cause the name of Cape Hatteras to be feared by sailor men. Within is Roanoke, white with glistening sea sand, green with spreading forests, fragrant with summer flowers. Long ago beautiful Roanoke was the scene of a sad, sad story, — saddest of all because 70 CAMP AND .TRAIL it is a story without an end, or more truly, a story whose end we can never know. It is the story of the first English homeseekers in America, with their hopes, their hardships, and at last, — but let me tell you the story ! The countries of Europe looked on with envy while Spain gathered rich treasure from new-found America. But in England one man at least was far-sighted enough to see that gold and silver were not the only treasures that the New World might yield. This man was Sir Walter Raleigh. Some day you may enjoy reading about his life at the brilliant court of Queen Elizabeth. He was a soldier, a sailor, a writer, a court- ier, and a great favorite with the queen. He had many interests, but second to none was his project of '^founding an English nation across the sea." Raleigh believed that prosperous English settlements in America, whose people would trade with England, and to which poor people might THE ^' CITY OF RALEIGH " AT ROANOKE 71 go to earn an honest living, would be greater treasures to the mother country than silver and gold. It was in 1584 that Raleigh obtained the queen's permission to make a settlement on the eastern coast of America, and he made his plans at once. His first thought was to find out more about the new land, therefore he sent two ships on an exploring voyage. In the middle of the summer these ships, having crept along the coast from Florida, rested in harbor at Roanoke Island. The country seemed wonderfully beautiful to the English captains. In their report to Raleigh they tell of ''goodly cedar trees," heavily loaded grape vines, and sweet odors as of "some delicate garden abounding with all kinds of flowers." They describe their meetings with the Indians who lived on the beautiful islands. The red men were very friendly. "A more kind and loving people there cannot be found in the world," writes one of the captains. He tells an amusing 72 CAMP AND TRAIL story of the Indian "king," who from all the gifts the white men offered him chose a bright tin pan, which he hung before him for a shield, and for which he gave the cap- tain *' twenty skins." Much that is interesting is told of the dress of the Indians, their ornaments of pearl and coral, and their homes. Their boats were made from great logs, burned out hollow. Some of them were large enough to hold twenty men. The captains carried home to Raleigh glowing reports of the beauty of the country, the richness of the soil, and the kindness of the people. Raleigh hastened to the queen, who was greatly charmed by his stories of this American paradise. Nothing seemed lacking, — delightful climate, fertile soil, magnificent forests, game, fish, gentle and friendly neighbors. "It shall be called Virginia," cried Eliza- beth, the "Virgin Queen." Raleigh went to work at once, and the THE " CITY OF RALEIGH " AT ROANOKE 73 next summer saw seven English vessels brav- ing the storms of the Atlantic to carry set- tlers to the new Virginia. The queen would not permit Raleigh to go himself, which was unfortunate for the colony. Most of the one hundred and seven settlers knew noth- ing about making homes in a wild country ; and even though they were sent to make the begin- ning of "an English na- tion," they were thinking more of gold mines than of corn fields. They even showed so little wisdom as to quarrel with the Indians. We know that, gentle and kind as the red men seemed, they could change easily enough into cruel and unforgiving enemies ; and this they did, when the white men treated them unfairly. The theft of a silver cup by an Indian was punished by burning a whole Ind- Th( Virgin Queen " 74 CAMP ANI> TRAIL ian village, and after that there was little left of loving kindness between red men and whites. We find it hard to realize just how dis- couraging life in a new and untamed land must be. Away from home and friends, with few comforts, with constant heavy work, coarse food, and no pleasures, most men would become discontented, as these did. They planted and sowed, but it was only lest starvation should overtake them, and not because they longed to make good homes in Virginia. Many a man stole away from his work to search for gold, and to dream as he searched of the day when, his fortune made, he should return to spend it on old English soil. The winter passed, and with the return of the balmy springtime new crops were planted, and the settlers began to look eagerly for the supply ship promised them from England. As they watched they longed for home. THE "CITY OF RALEIGH" AT ROANOKE 75 One day In June sails were seen against the blue of sea and sky, and soon appeared a fleet of twenty-three English vessels. It was Sir Francis Drake's fleet. He was merely making a friendly call, as he returned from calls less friendly along the Spanish Main. Never were Englishmen more welcome than to these homesick Virginians ; and as they thought of Drake's ships headed toward home It seemed as though they too must go, away from these savage, shores, to the peaceful towns or busy cities of old England. In vain Sir Francis tried to cheer them with supplies and even by leaving two small ships In which they might sail for England if their supply ship did not come. The un- happy colonists found no longer any pleas- ure In beautiful Roanoke. They cared noth- ing for their crops, now almost ready for the harvest. They thought only of the roll- ing ocean between them and England ; of the stealthy savages, no longer their friends ; 76 CAMP ANET TRAIL of the dullness and the toil in a new land ; of their fruitless search for gold. Sadly they prepared the letters that Drake would take to their friends in England. And when a sudden storm blew out to sea some of Drake's vessels, with many of the Virginia colonists on board, the rest came clamoring to Drake to take them too, to take them all away from this lonely island, — to take them home. And Drake yielded. So it happened that the summer sun shone brightly on ungathered crops ; on deserted huts ; on forsaken beginnings of homes ; on fair Roanoke, silent once more but for the roll of the sea and the hoarse call of the great white cranes in the marshes along shore. Raleigh might well have been discouraged at the failure of his carefully laid plans. It had been an expensive failure too. Perhaps the only result of the year's struggle was a careful study of the plants and other natural products of Virginia, made by Thomas Har- iot. The most important of the plants, not THE "CITY OF RALEIGH" AT ROANOKE ^'j already known in England, were the potato and the tobacco plants, both of which were soon commonly used in England. The potato was without doubt worth many gold mines. And while we may feel sure that the world would have been better off without tobacco, we shall find many people who will not agree with us, — and we must admit that raising it later brought wealth to many in the New World. The next year we find Raleigh sending out one hundred and fifty new settlers to Vir- ginia. This time they were to seek a home on the mainland north of Cape Hatteras, somewhere on the shore of Chesapeake Bay. Here was to be built the City of Raleigh. The master of the ships, however, cared little where the City of Raleigh should be located, and refused to go farther than the old settlement at Roanoke. Here the new settlers patched up the old houses and began once more the task of founding an English nation in the New World. 78 CAMP AND* TRAIL There were women and children in this second band of colonists, and it was hoped that real homes in Virginia might keep the planters, as the settlers were called, from the great longing for their old homes in England. Scarcely a month after the land- ing a baby was born in Roanoke, daughter to Mistress Eleanor Dare, and granddaughter to Governor John White, who ruled the colony. Preparations were made to baptize this baby, who was the first child born of English parents in America. They named her Vir- ginia, for their new American home. And no doubt the planters gayly celebrated her christening, — little Virginia Dare, first of all the children they hoped to see grow up in the "City of Raleigh" they were so bravely beginning. There was much work to do, for the summer was already far gone, and it seemed likely that unless crops could be planted and harvested before winter, the planters would suffer from hunger, since the stores THE "CITY OF RALEIGH" AT ROANOKE 79 of provisions brought from England would soon be gone. Some tribes of Indians were friendly, but others were mindful of the evil treatment rendered by the earlier band of white men, and close watch must be kept. It was a strange, busy, watchful life upon which baby Virginia's eyes had opened. When she was only a week old, the planters, fearing lest their supplies should be exhausted, and the winter find them without food, urged Governor White to go himself to England that he might hasten the sending of a supply ship. The governor hesitated. He feared to leave his family, with the tiny granddaughter, in this strange land without his protecting arm. But at last he consented, and bidding his loved ones farewell he ordered the sails of the little ship spread and the anchor weighed. So he sailed out of sight, and the settlers went on with their struggle against weariness and hunger and savage foes. 8o CAMP AND 'TRAIL Governor White reached England just as the country was thrown into wild alarm by the Spanish king's Invincible Armada. He found it impossible to get the supplies for which he had come. English ships were ordered to make ready for the defence of England, and forbidden to leave port. Gov- ernor White could only wait. At last Raleigh obtained permission for two ships to sail to Virginia with supplies and more settlers, and in one of these ships the governor thankfully turned westward. They had not gone far, however, before pirates attacked and plundered them, after which they turned back. Again the gover- nor landed on English soil. Again he could only wait. By this time Raleigh had spent a fortune on his colony, and had little left. No one else seemed inclined to spend money on a venture which promised no gold or other immediate profit. At length, however, Ral- eigh succeeded in organizing a company THE ''CITY OF RALEIGH" AT ROANOKE 8i to carry on the work he had begun ; and again White set out to carry aid to Roanoke and to see his family once more. Three years had passed since he left the island settlement, and it was with mingled joy and fear that he approached the Ameri- can coast. The baby Virginia would be old enough to run about now. Perhaps he would find another grandchild in the little home. Had the settlers been able to ward off starvation ^ Had the Indians attacked them ^ What should he find on beautiful Roanoke ^ The ship anchored within the sandbars, and two boatloads of men rowed across to the island. It was night when they ap- proached the shore, — dark as night could be. Seeing a faint light, the boats were rowed as near as it was safe, and anchored, while the trumpeter sounded a call, and afterward played English tunes to tell the settlers that friends were near. There was no answering call or cry. Again 82 CAMP AND TRAIL and again the trumpet's call sounded over the dark waters, but it met no response save a fitful echo from the shore. And so the anxious seekers waited for the morning. At the first light of dawn they went on shore, finding the ashes of the fire they had seen, with many footprints made by naked feet of savages. Going on they found, where the houses had been, a rudely built fort in their stead ; but they found no settlers, and within the fort only scattered cannon balls, overgrown with grass and weeds. Eagerly the governor looked for some sign that might show the fate of the people who were gone. Some of the sailors found five chests, buried, it would seem, for safekeep- ing, but long since dug up again and their contents scattered. The governor looked sadly down upon his own books and pictures, torn and mud stained, and his suit of armor, eaten through with rust. And they could tell him nothing ! The hundred people he had left were gone ! Where ? Starved ? THE "CITY OF RALEIGH" AT ROANOKE 83 Murdered ? Or alive, driven perhaps by hunger or danger to some better, safer place ? What had become of his daughter and the baby grandchild, little Virginia Dare ? The governor's mind rang with questions, to which there were no answers. But wait ! there were letters carved on the great post at the gateway of the fort. Perhaps here was the answer. The men crowded around, spelling out the word. c — R — o — A — ^T — A — N — Croatan. They turned to the governor, whose face was already lighting with hope. Croatan was the name of a neighboring island, where friendly Indians lived. Surely there he would find his people safe, — even baby Virginia, who would run to meet him ! So the governor left Roanoke, and the ship was turned toward Croatan. But storms, and broken cables, lost anchors and scarcity of water seemed to join together to make landing impossible, and the master of the ship at length turned her prow to 84 CAMP AND* TRAIL the south, carrying the governor away with his questions still unanswered. But it made little difference, for there were no answers at Croatan. Nor were there any answers anywhere. We can only guess and wonder and guess again what happened to the lonely people on Roanoke ; where they went and why ; whether the wolf of hunger or the painted warrior made an end of them ; what dreadful sights baby Virginia's eyes looked upon before they were closed forever ; how it all happened that once more beautiful Roanoke was silent save for the roll of the sea and the hoarse cries of the great white cranes in the marshes along shore. The story of Raleigh's lost colony is the first story of English homeseekers in the strange country overseas. It shows us some- thing of what men and women faced who left their peaceful homes in England for the wilderness in America. It makes us wonder that band after band of English colonists THE "CITY OF RALEIGH" AT ROANOKE 85 dared to follow these early settlers, going to many places on the Atlantic shore. The ''City of Raleigh" was never built as Raleigh planned, on the shore of Chesapeake Bay. Roanoke saw no more settlements, and per- haps the Indian warriors felt that they had put an end to the white man's coming. But it was not for long. ''I shall yet live to see Virginia an English nation," said Raleigh, in spite of failure and disappointment. And so he did. You will read of that later Virginia, with its settlement at Jamestown, — of the dan- gers and hardships met and conquered. You will learn of prosperous planters with com- fortable homes and broad fields. You will hear the cheerful sounds of plantation life, with song and children's laughter. And yet I wonder if with me you will sometimes hear a dream echo of an English trumpet playing English tunes, calling unanswered across the dark waters to the lost colony of Roanoke ? 86 CAMP AND. TRAIL A VALLEY TOWN IN OLD NEW ENGLAND A FAMOUS old river is the Connecticut, flowing placidly down through its green New England valley; and many of the sedate old towns in the green valley date back to the early days. You have heard how the Pilgrim Fathers left their homes in England and bravely took up their new life on the bleak shore of Cape Cod Bay. And we might tell story after story of the VALLEY TOWN IN OLD NEW ENGLAND 87 homeseekers whose white sails dotted the Atlantic and whose homes began to spring up all along the coast. The Connecticut valley was settled early, and fifty years after the first shipload of colonists landed in New England there was a chain of little towns along the river. Most of these valley settlements were made by people from the coast towns, who had heard of the fine farm lands in the river valley. In the town of Hatfield, on the western bank of the Connecticut, the autumn of 1677 found the people busy as usual with the harvest and their preparations for winter. There was corn to be cut and husked ; there were beans, pumpkins, and other vegetables to be stored from the frost; flax was to be pulled, grain cut, and fall ploughing done. For Hatfield, like all the settlements, was a farming town, and the winter's comfort de- pended much upon the stores in barn and cellar. Within the houses the women were quite 88 CAMP AND TRAIL as busy as the men outside, with baking and brewing, weaving and spinning, knitting and making warm garments to protect husbands and children from coming frosts and snow. Truly, Hatfield was a busy place, and withal a pleasant place in which to live. The sun shone brightly on the brown Sep- tember fields, and on the long street where the houses of the Hatfield folk were built. A new house was just begun, and the merry ring of the carpenters' hammers could be heard early and late. For frost was coming and the work must be hastened. The south end of "the street" led to the river, where a clumsy old ferry boat served those who would cross to Hadley, on the eastern bank of the stream. All about the prospect was peaceful and pleasant, and spoke of com- fortable living and happy though humble homes. In the big kitchen of one of these Hatfield homesteads, the family was gathering for its evening meal. In the great fireplace VALLEY TOWN IN OLD NEW ENGLAND 89 a cheery fire was blazing, for the fall nights were growing chill. The table, with its snowy cloth of homespun linen, stood ready. The dishes were heavy and clumsy, but the fare was good, for the days of hunger in the settlements had long passed. The goodwife, in ample apron, kerchief, and cap, stirred the porridge in the brass kettle hanging over the fire, while the children played about the room. At the entrance of Goodman Coleman the children drew near the table, the por- ridge was placed in its appointed bowl ; goodman and goodwife took their seats and every head was bowed while the father devoutly prayed God's blessing on the food before them. '^It is well the good weather holdeth," said the goodwife as the cheerful clatter of spoons announced the beginning of the meal. "Canst thou finish the corn to-morrow?" "That can hardly be, Hannah," answered the goodman, "but two more days of fair 90 CAMP AND 'TRAIL weather will see it all in the barns. I am looking for early frost, and shall let naught interfere with harvesting. Thomas," to the tallest of the five children clustered about the table, ''we shall rise betimes to-morrow, so thou shouldst go early to thy bed." "Father," called ten-year-old Hannah, ''didst see the savages pass through the street to-day ^ I feared them so that I ran and hid till they were gone." "I saw them, Hannah, as they passed out the South Gate on their way toward Hadley. They are far away ere now. Thou needst not fear them. It is more than a year since any savage has attacked the valley settlements, and it is believed that our old enemies have left the valley for a new home in Canada. They were Mohawks that thou sawest, going east on the Bay Road." "I would that there were no savages," answered the little girl. "I love not their painted faces, and their wild ways. I shall dream of them to-night." VALLEY TOWN IN OLD NEW ENGLAND 91 "Indeed thou must not, Hannah," said Thomas, "else thou'lt cry out In thy sleep and fright us all." With table cleared and candles lighted, the kitchen settled down to its evening quiet. The baby slept peacefully in its low wooden cradle, and soon the older children were sleeping too, while goodman and goodwife worked busily as they sat beside the fire. There was little time for idling in these busy households. Deftly turning the heel in the stocking she was knitting, the goodwife had leisure to plan the work for to-morrow, and counted it rest enough that the busy feet and voices of the children were stilled for the day. On the other side of the hearth the goodman worked on a stout little shoe, which he was finishing for one of those same busy feet. The tap tap of his hammer and the gentle click of the knitting needles scarcely seemed to break the silence of the room, now only dimly lighted by the dying embers of the fire. 92 CAMP AND .TRAIL When the shoe was finished the goodman took down the Bible from its shelf, and the goodwife, laying aside her knitting, listened reverently to the reading and prayer with which New England families closed their day. Then carefully covering the fire with ashes, they sought their beds. Very early in the morning the village was astir. There were cows to be milked and to be driven out to the herdsman's care. There were sheep to care for, and there was work in the barns. All day the harvest work went on. Heavy ox carts laden with yellow corn creaked and rumbled up the street. In the kitchens great ovens were heated and the baking done. For to-morrow was the Sabbath and there must be food ready. No Puritan housewife cooked on Sunday. ''Hannah, canst thou mind Sarah and the baby for an hour this afternoon .^" asked Goodwife Coleman, when dinner was over and cleared away. "I have a mind to help VALLEY TOWN IN OLD NEW ENGLAND 93 Sarah White with her quilting. The new house will soon be done, and Sarah must be ready with her bridal furnishings. And she hath no mother to help her, poor girl." Hannah felt very sure she could watch little Sarah and the baby sister for an hour, and her mother was soon hastening down the street on her neighborly errand. Sarah was glad enough to have the help, and it was not long before another and another of the kind-hearted Hatfield women had joined them about the quilting frame. The gay patchwork upon which they worked had been carefully sewed by pretty young Sarah, and when the quilting was done, would be laid in the chest with her bridal linen. The women chatted happily as their needles flew. ''Hast heard of the case of John Fisher of Hadley.^" asked one. "The court hath fined him sixty shillings for that he called Thomas Beaman's mother a witch." "And it is well," answered another of the Puritan goodwives, "that the court should 94 CAMP AND -TRAIL bridle the tongues of those who can put no bridle upon them themselves. We may all be called witches if the foolish and the slanderous have their way." ''Dost believe that Mary Webster doth really bewitch the cattle and the horses that pass her door.^" asked another. "It were not safe to say, since I know not," was the reply. ''Wouldst have the court fine me for idle speech .^" ''Well, for my part, I should like to see the old dame tested in the river. If mayhap she should float, then we should all know she was a witch." "Canst talk of naught but witches .^" said Goodwife Coleman. "I like not the subject. Didst see the savages pass through the street yesterday .^" "I like savages still less than witches," came the answer. "Shall we hear the new minister to-morrow .^" And so the talk went on until the hour glass had been turned once and the sand had VALLEY TOWN IN OLD NEW ENGLAND 95 run out half again. Then it was time to return to the little flocks at home, and to set all in order for the Sabbath ere sunset ; for it was the custom, which none dared nor cared to break, to lay aside work and play when the sun went down on Saturday night, and to keep Sabbath until sunset of Sunday. The children found it less easy than their elders to welcome the long hours of the Sabbath. They had few playthings on any day, but what they had were solemnly laid aside, and there was nothing for restless hands and still more restless minds to do. They must rise early, as usual, for it was wicked to waste the Lord's Day in bed. Then, the simple breakfast over and cleared away, there were family prayers, after which the whole family prepared for their walk to the "meeting house," where their long day of worship began by nine o'clock. It was weary work for the children to sit still for three long hours, while the minister's 96 CAMP AND -TRAIL voice resounded in solemn explanation and warning. The women and girls sat on one side of the meeting house, and the youngest children with them. On the other side sat the fathers and young men. But the half- grown boys — the wriggling, mischievous, unruly boys — sat on the steps of the pulpit where all eyes were upon them. There were Thomas and John and Noah, Hannah's brothers, and their playmates and friends. Sometimes when they wriggled overmuch the tithing-man rapped them sharply on the head with his knobbed stick, for it was his duty to keep order in the Lord's house. After the meeting was over came perhaps the hardest time of all. How the children watched the slowly setting sun, and longed for it to disappear behind the western hills. At last it was gone, and once more the home- steads woke to life as the castle of the sleep- ing beauty in the fairy tale. Mother took up her knitting, father and the boys went out to their nightly tasks in the barn, while the VALLEY TOWN IN OLD NEW ENGLAND 97 children ran and jumped and shouted, to let loose the spirits so solemnly sup- pressed all day. On this September Sabbath, the Coleman children begged for pop-corn after supper, and sat in a merry circle on the great hearth while Thomas held the popper over the blaze. Sarah, the four-year-old, wearing the stout little shoes the goodman had made so carefully, shouted with laughter as the yellow kernels mysteriously turned them- selves inside out into tiny snowballs. Even the grave elders smiled at her glee. Bright and early next morning the week's work began. Goodman Coleman, anxious to finish harvesting the corn, took Thomas and even eight-year-old John with him to the corn-field on the South Meadow below the town. Most of the men and boys of the village were there, hastening to get in their crops. Hannah had her daily tasks to do, and her ''stint" of spinning to finish before she 98 CAMP ANDi TRAIL could play, but Noah and Sarah were out early, and had a whole troop of playfellows at their heels, for there were many children in the Hatfield homes. It was a beautiful morning, bright and clear. Gayly the children shouted, and Hannah longed to leave the spinning wheel and join them. But it was after ten when she was free to go, and even then she must first run up-stairs to the attic, where the dried herbs were hanging. Mother wanted catnip for the baby, who seemed ailing, and Hannah must bring it to her. Hurrying up the stairs, she reached the bunches of sweet-smelling herbs. These were the medicines with which people "doctored" themselves in all but the worst sickness. The catnip hung at the end of the row. Just a handful, mother had said. Hannah paused, in the dusky silence of the dimly lighted attic, to listen to the chil- dren playing in the street. How loudly they shouted ! Why, surely that was not VALLEY TOWN IN OLD NEW ENGLAND 99 play ! Some one was frightened ! Something had happened ! Was it — yes, she knew now the strange sound. It was the savage war-whoop. She heard it in the street be- low her, mingled with cries and screams, with rushing feet and wild clamor. One glance from the dusty window drove the little girl with white face and horrified eyes back into the darkest corner. And there she crouched, not daring to stir, until the wild noises grew fainter in the distance. Then the sting of smoke in her eyes, and the crackle of burning wood told of a new danger. With trembling footsteps she crept from her hiding-place, uncertain even now whether she should ever dare to venture down the stairs ; but lest she be burned in the fire she felt sure was beneath her feet, she found her way down. Around every corner she expected to meet the cruel face and clutching hand of a painted warrior. But no one stopped her, and she reached the kitchen, only to find it empty of all save the dense 100 CAMP ANI> TRAIL gray smoke which choked her and drove her to the door. Outside the street was empty save for a straggHng Hne of breathless, frantic men, who even on the South Meadow had heard the awful sounds which meant death and destruction to their homes and loved ones. Hannah could see no savages, and she stumbled along until she reached her mother, lying across the path with the baby in her arms, — both dead, killed by a blow from the tomahawk of some Indian brave. With a wild cry, the little girl threw her- self down beside the mother who had loved her so tenderly ; and there the father found her, when, panting and spent with running, he reached the home he had left so con- fidently that morning. Sarah and Noah were gone. No trace could be found of them or of their playmates ; and as the grief-stricken father gathered the sad little remnant of his family together he hardly knew which seemed worse to him — VALLEY TOWN IN OLD NEW ENGLAND loi death, or captivity among the cruel red men. He thought of his faithful wife, — lost to him forever; of his little children, torn away from home and parents, dragged he knew not whither, nor to what end ! It seemed almost more than he could bear. It was a sad, sad day for Hatfield when the broken families were gathered and count was made of dead, wounded, and missing. Twelve had been killed, and the captives numbered seventeen. Among these were three women and one man. The rest were little children, none of them more than eight years old. Benjamin Wait had lost his wife and all his children, three little girls, the oldest only six; and he resolved that nothing but his own death should keep him from follow- ing the Indians and recovering the lost ones. How he succeeded we shall presently learn, but for the present we must go with the captives on their journey up through the valley. 102 CAMP AND TRAIL It was a forlorn band, hurried along by the rough hands of their captors. Fright- ened children clung to their despairing mothers. Babies wailed, and motherless little ones stumbled along paths they could scarcely see for tears. By nightfall they had reached the neighborhood of Deerfield, one of the newest of the valley towns. It had been destroyed the year before by the Indians, and only a few days ago men had gone up from Hatfield to begin rebuilding their ruined houses. Three of these men and another eight-year-old were brought in to the Indian camp, and next morning the swift march northward was resumed. It was soon guessed by the captives that the Indians meant to take them to Canada. The Indians were friendly with the French, and hoped no doubt to sell the English in some French town for slaves. At this thought the last hope must have died in the weary mothers' hearts. How could their little ones endure the long journey through VALLEY TOWN IN OLD NEW ENGLAND 103 the pathless wilderness ? How could they themselves endure it ? They soon found that the march would be a long one, for the Indians had little food, and must stop to hunt and fish. Sometimes they would camp for several weeks near a good hunting ground or where fish were plenty. Then there would be food. But many times there was neither game nor fish, and both captor and captive felt the keen pangs of hunger. When they were in camp the white men and women were driven to do the heavy work, and when food was scarce, even the children were sent to hunt for roots and wintergreen berries in the woods. As the weather grew colder, suffering was increased. Shoes wore out, and feet grew lame and sore. After tramping along rough paths all day, often carrying a helpless child, the tired women must help the squaws with the camp work at night, until they could scarcely stagger from one task to the next. Some of the more delicate children fell ill. I04 CAMP AND TRAIL and the sight of their thin, pale faces filled their mothers with dread. Sometimes an Indian would pick up an exhausted child and carry it along a mile or two ; but at other times there were only harsh words and blows for the stragglers. Again, perhaps a squaw would take a fancy to one of the *' paleface pappooses," and would take it for her own, dressing it in Indian finery and warm skins. But the squaws had only scorn for the white women, because they could not endure the hardships that Indian women had been used to all their lives. Part of the journey was made on Lake Champlain in canoes. Then the weary march was taken up again, this time over snow and ice and in freezing weather. Two of the captive children grew so feeble that their impatient masters killed them rather than be troubled by them longer. The rest struggled on, and at last reached an Indian camp just outside a French town in Canada. Here they rested, at least from journeying, VALLEY TOWN IN OLD NEW ENGLAND 105 but they were still the slaves of their captors, and often felt the lash. A few were sold to French masters, for the people of the town were sorry for the wretched English, and were kind to them In many little ways. Sometimes the captives hoped that their friends at home would somehow send them aid, but they scarcely knew what they ex- pected, nor how aid could come. The Canadian winter was nearly half gone when two strangers entered the little French town, asking of the people whether there were Indians with English captives near. It would be too long a story to tell how Benjamin Wait had kept his resolution, and about his adventures with Stephen Jennings, another Hatfield man, on the long way from home. It is pleasant to be able to tell you that Goodman Wait found his goodwife and the three little girls, although they were so changed by toil and suffering, dirt and Indian garments, that he hardly knew them when he did find them. Stephen Jennings io6 CAMP AN© TRAIL too found his family. And together the two found the rest. It cost two hundred pounds, or nearly seven hundred dollars of our money, to buy the freedom of all the Hatfield captives, but when the company started for home only three were missing, and these were dead. And with them were two tiny babies, born in the little French town to Goodwife Wait and Goodwife Jennings. These two babies grew to womanhood bearing the names of Canada Wait and Captivity Jennings, in memory of the awful suffering of their mothers, in the midst of .which these children were born. It was spring when the homeward journey was begun. And what a different journey it was from the toilsome march up through the wilderness. Guided and guarded by a company of French soldiers, shielded and comforted by the steadfast men who had come to seek them, the little band set out for home. Their way led them through VALLEY TOWN IN OLD NEW ENGLAND 107 Lake Champlain and down the Hudson to Albany, nearly all the way in canoes. From Albany letters were sent to Hatfield, — the first news the people had received from the Indian sufferers since that awful day in September, eight months before; the first news too from Wait and Jennings, who had been gone nearly as long. There was great joy when the news was received ; and a day or two later the wan- derers reached home. It was a beautiful day in May, and half the townspeople went out through the South Gate to watch for the return. Goodman Coleman, with his two boys and little Hannah, waited anxiously for the little ones. When the company came in sight, what a shout went up ! On every face is joy, — and if on some the joy is shadowed by grief for those who are gone, it is joy nevertheless. Among all the happy ones, however, it seems that none can know the peace and happiness of the wanderers. Once more they see the familiar sights of io8 CAMP AND TRAIL home. The street, the meeting house, the river, the hills — each speaks of home. The waiting friends, the hearty greetings, the tender handclasp, tell of loving sympathy. The story of the capture and the rescue was told again and again. There were sad tales and joyous ones. Scarcely any of the company but still wore the fringed deerskins and the moccasins which told so plainly the story of their life in the woods. But little Sarah returned to her father's arms with her sturdy little feet still shod in the stout little shoes she wore out to her play that sad September day. The Indians never again attacked Hatfield. Other captives from other towns walked the long road to Canada, suffering as these had suffered. Some were rescued and brought back home. Others died ; and others still grew up with the savages and became savages themselves. But these Hatfield captives were the first. Long the people told the story and treasured relics of the sad winter VALLEY TOWN IN OLD NEW ENGLAND 109 march. You may even see to-day, after two and a half centuries, carefully preserved, a mute reminder of the toilsome road — Sarah Coleman's stout little shoe. no CAMP AND TRAIL A STORY OF NEW FRANCE As you doubtless already know, no country in North America north of Mexico now be- longs to any but English-speaking people. Yet the story of early occupation by France and Spain and Holland is told us by the names they have left behind them, as surely as though we read about it in the histories. Florida, St. Augustine, San Francisco, Sacramento, Sierra Nevada, Santa Fe, all speak to us of Spain. A STORY OF NEW FRANCE in Brooklyn (once spelled Breuckelen), Har- lem, Catskill, Flushing, Schenectady, Pough- keepsie, Yonkers, tell as certainly of Dutch days in old New York. And if we travel into Canada and about the Great Lakes, we shall find many traces of French rule — St. Lawrence, Montreal, Champlain, Richelieu, Sault Sainte Marie, Detroit, and almost countless names of smaller places. Down through the Missis- sippi Valley we shall find more French names, — Vincennes, Louisiana, New Or- leans, and many more. The Spanish names are found in Florida and the far west. The Dutch have left their traces only in one state. The English settlements were crowded along the Atlantic coast. But New France extended from the frozen lands of the far north to the sunny shores of the great Gulf of Mexico. While Spaniards sought for treasure, Dutchmen traded for furs, and Englishmen planted and sowed on New World soil, the French were 112 CAMP ANI> TRAIL dreaming of a great empire, which should make France a power to be feared by all the world. Our story will tell us about one of the empire builders — Robert Cavelier de la Salle. Born in France, of rich but not noble family, young Robert Cavelier early showed signs of the greatness he afterward displayed. He was only twenty-three years old when he came to America, led by dreams of ad- venture and achievement. At twenty-three he was, as indeed he all his life remained, a man cold and proud and silent, making few friends, and caring little for friendship ; a man whose dreams no one shared, but whose dreams were the guiding stars of his life. He was brave and per- severing, and when he chose could show great tact in the management of men. But per- haps his most useful quality for the work he was to do was the iron determination, which pushed obstacles aside and allowed A STORY OF NEW FRANCE 113 nothing to Interfere with his success. He has been called ''The Iron Man"; well he deserves the name. New France, when La Salle sought its shores, was a little more than a half century old. Its first successful settlement had been made at about the same time at which the English first succeeded in Virginia. For some years New France meant only Quebec ; and Quebec had the same story of want and hardship and suffering as all the settlements in the New World. From the first the fur trade brought almost the only income, and even now, after fifty years, it was the same. Great efforts had been made by the French king to build up the colony, and to induce the colonists to till the soil, but the reward of his efforts was slow in coming. There were trading posts and there were missions where faithful priests sought the salvation of savage souls. But there were few farms. Quebec is described in the middle of its first century as "a city which lacked nothing 114 CAMP AND -TRAIL so much as people." It had built churches before it had worshippers, schools before it had scholars, hospitals before it had pa- tients. These things were all part of the king's plan to make conditions easy and attractive for the colonist. A part also of this plan provided for the gift of great es- tates to men who had means to improve them. These "seigneurs" in their turn granted small pieces of land to settlers, called "habitants." La Salle received one of these seigneuries, not far from the struggling settlement at Montreal. He had little money, but he set to work on his new domain, and in what leisure he could command he learned to understand and speak the language of seven or eight Indian tribes. From the first he got on well with the Indians, and it was his delight to talk with them, asking questions about the unknown country to the west and south. By this time the wonderful chain of Great Lakes A STORY OF NEW FRANCE 115 had been found, and French voyagers had travelled over much of the northern wilderness. The Indians told La Salle wonderful tales of a great river rising in their country, but flowing southward on and on to the sea — a distance which would require many moons to cover, even in swift canoes. La Salle determined to find this river, and his dreams pictured a great waterway which he should secure for France. If the river flowed into the Pacific, it would give the passage to China and Japan which all the world was seeking. If it flowed south into the Gulf of Mexico, it would pro- vide an outlet for French trade to waters open all the year. La Salle was fortunate in interesting the governor of New France in his plans. The governor. Count Frontenac, was in many ways like La Salle himself, and in him La Salle made one of his rare friends. Fron- tenac did all he could to help in the great ii6 CAMP ANI> TRAIL undertaking, and encouraged his friend in every way. The first step was taken in the building of a fort at the outlet of Lake Ontario. This would serve as a trading post to which the Indians might bring their furs, and with the aid of a vessel to be built would command the lake itself. Frontenac's meeting at this spot with a large company of Iroquois Ind- ians is full of interest. Every detail of the meeting was carefully arranged to im- press the red men with the power of the French. The marching soldiers and their gorgeous uniforms called forth astonished and admiring exclamations, which was just what the governor had intended. In the council to which he invited them, the chiefs were met with great ceremony. Frontenac made them a long speech, in which he some- times flattered them and sometimes threat- ened ; he seemed always to know the right word to say. Pointing to the soldiers, the boats, the A STORY OF NEW FRANCE 117 cannon, he said, ''If your Father (meaning the King of France) can come so far, with so great a force, through such dangerous rapids, merely to make you a visit of pleas- ure and friendship, what would he do if you should awaken his anger, and make it neces- sary for him to punish his disobedient chil- dren ? — Beware how you offend him." The fort now nearly finished he told them was a proof of his fatherly love for them. It was a storehouse where they might obtain the goods they needed without travelling far in their canoes. The stolid warriors smoked their pipes in silence, but Frontenac won their friendship by his clever words. The next step after the completion of the fort was to obtain the king's permission to explore farther to the south. For this purpose Frontenac sent La Salle to France. King Louis listened to the plans of the bold adventurer, and was glad enough to approve them. What could be better than to gain the rich river valley and ii8 CAMP AND TRAIL to control the river itself, — a highroad to the sea ? Who would not permit a willing subject to *' labor at the discovery of the western parts of New France" with such an end in sight ? La Salle therefore returned with the royal permit for which he had asked. He was made seigneur over a large tract of land surrounding the fort on Lake Ontario, which he had named Fort Frontenac. He was to explore and build other forts where they were necessary in his work. These were the days of great dreams. La Salle could see already in his mind the Mississippi Valley, dotted with homes of happy and contented Frenchmen, who should till the rich soil and send shiploads of their produce down the river to the markets of the world. He could see long lines of Indian canoes, loaded with beaver skins and buffalo hides, darting swiftly along the river branches and into the great stream, to be unloaded at his trading posts. He could see a great grim A STORY OF NEW FRANCE 119 fortress where the river met the sea, which should speak to Spaniards of French power they could not hope to break. And with it all who can wonder if he saw glory and power and gold for Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle, who had wrought this magic for France and for the king. These were his dreams, but they were still afar off; and La Salle at once attacked the gigantic task before him. The king had found colony-making expensive, and had given La Salle nothing more than his gracious permission to "labor at discovery." The first need was therefore money. La Salle succeeded in borrowing from many sources. If he succeeded, the money invested would bring great profit to all concerned. If he failed, he would be left with a great burden of debt to pay. Therefore he must succeed. With him on his return from France came Henri de Tonty, from this time to the end of La Salle's life always a faithful and devoted I20 CAMP AND TRAIL friend ; and Father Hennepin, a priest whose dreams of adventure could be satisfied only by seeing for himself the strange sights of the New World wilderness. La Salle's plan was to build a vessel which should carry both men and supplies through the Great Lakes to the river basin. The Indians told stories of great waterfalls between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie ; so it was decided to build the vessel on the latter lake. An advance party went to select a suitable place for the shipbuilding. With them went Father Hennepin, and it is to him we are indebted for the first description of Niagara Falls. Not long after entering the Niagara River the current became so strong that they could no longer force the canoe against it. Land- ing therefore they travelled along the snowy shore. As they went on they heard more and more plainly the noise of falling waters, until at length the great cataract was in sight. ''Thunder of waters," the Indians called it. A STORY OF NEW FRANCE 121 and Hennepin describes it as " a most beauti- ful and at the same time most frightful cascade." Above the falls a place was selected for the building operations, and work was begun. First there must be a fort, but it was slow work to drive stakes for the palisade in mid- winter. The frozen ground often had to be thawed with boiling water. Sullen and jealous Indians from a neighboring Iroquois village watched the work, while at times it appeared as though they would not let it go on. The Iroquois had no desire to see French- men in control of their fur trade from the lakes. La Salle, who always managed Indians with skill, succeeded in getting permission to build his "fortified storehouse" and his great "wooden canoe." As the size of the wooden canoe began to be seen, however, the Indians became alarmed. Once they planned to burn it, and a close watch had to be kept. La Salle's first misfortune was the loss of 122 CAMP AND TRAIL the food and supplies he had sent from Fort Frontenac to Niagara. Because of this loss La Salle set out on foot for Fort Frontenac and was gone from early spring to midsummer. Before his return the vessel was ready to launch. Both Indians and Frenchmen as- sembled for the occasion, and amid the boom of cannon, the hymns of the priests, and the shouts of the Indians, the little vessel slipped from the ways into the river. Upon La Salle's return, the lake voyage began ; across Lake Erie, through the Detroit River and Lake Huron, the little vessel, which had been named the Griffin^ ploughed its way. At the head of Lake Michigan, the French mission and trading post at Michili- mackinac was reached. La Salle, in a fine cloak of scarlet and gold, landed with all his crew. They were greeted by a crowd of Indians and French woodsrangers, who es- corted them to the little bark chapel, where the priests of the mission said mass. Almost immediately La Salle resumed his voyage, A STORY OF NEW FRANCE 123 stopping at Green Bay, where he found hunt- ers whom he had sent ahead to gather furs. By this time La Salle's debts were great, and he determined to send the Griffin back to Niagara with a load of furs to be sold. He, with the larger part of the men, would con- tinue the voyage in canoes until the Griffin should rejoin them at the southern end of the lake. The Griffin turned back, and the canoes pressed forward. But scarcely had they parted when furious storms broke over the lake. The waves washed over the canoes, loaded heavily with supplies. With great difficulty the men got them to the shore. Again and again the storms came, driving the company to days of huddling about sputtering fires of half-soaked driftwood ; to nights in which the only shelter from wind and rain was rain-soaked blankets. Some- times they were without food, but whenever the weather would permit, they launched the canoes and paddled southward. 124 CAMP ANO TRAIL After a time the weather improved, game grew plentiful, and at the approach of winter the party had reached the point where the Griffin was to join them. But alas ! the Griffin never came. The same storms which had almost destroyed the men had probably sent her to the bottom of the lake, and with her the furs from which La Salle had hoped so much. But still La Salle pressed on. A short overland journey brought him with the canoes to the head of the Illinois River. Launching the canoes where the stream was so narrow that a man could almost step across, they followed its winding course through miles of boundless prairie. At last they reached the country of the Illinois Indians, and were kindly received. La Salle asked them, as he had asked the Iroquois, to consent to the building of a fort and a great wooden canoe. The Illinois agreed, but later tried to frighten the Frenchmen by stories of the dangers of the lower course of A STORY OF NEW FRANCE 125 the great river. There were fierce savages, serpents, alligators, and unnatural monsters. There were rocks and whirlpools, and at last a fathomless gulf into which the vessel would plunge and be lost forever. La Salle went calmly on with his prepara- tions, although the tales of the Indians cost him six men, whose fright led them to desert him. The fort was built, the vessel begun. It was long before La Salle had given up hope of the return of the Griffin with the needed supplies. When he did give up, there seemed only one way to get the help he must have, and that way was beset with terrors and hard- ship. He must go himself on foot to Fort Frontenac. And this he did, with five com- panions, leaving Tonty with about a dozen men to await his return. We wonder at the endurance and the iron will of this man, who in little more than two months travelled a thousand miles in Ice, snow, and every sort of peril. Reaching Fort Frontenac he found only discourage- 126 CAMP AND. TRAIL ment. Those whom he owed and could not pay had seized his property. A ship from France bringing a heavy cargo of his goods was lost. And while he was making ready to return to Tonty and his men, a message from Tonty told him that the discontented ones had destroyed the fort, thrown into the river arms, ammunition, and supplies, and had taken to the woods. The work must be given up, or La Salle must begin again at the very beginning. This, being the man he was, he chose to do. First of all, he must carry help to Tonty and the handful of faithful men with him. With twenty-five men he set out and travelled rapidly to the Illinois country. A scene of desolation met his eyes. Where the pros- perous Indian village had been was only solitude and destruction. Coming nearer, it was clear that the Illinois had been at- tacked and destroyed. This was no doubt the work of the Iroquois. There was no sign of Tonty or the men. A STORY OF NEW FRANCE 127 and though La Salle searched faithfully for them, it was months before he found them safe at Michilimackinac. Together, the loved commander and the trusted lieutenant made new preparations and embarked once more to follow the great river to its mouth. Down the Illinois, past shores which called up sad and painful memories, they glided, until their canoes emerged upon the broad stream of which they had heard so much. Now, day by day, they left the land of ice and snow, and drew nearer to a country of sunshine and flowers. They found gentle, friendly Indians, in whose villages they raised crosses bearing the arms of France. Mile after mile they followed the winding river until they reached the sea. And here with all pomp and ceremony, amid the sing- ing of hymns, volleys of musketry, and shouts of "Viv le Roi," La Salle took possession of "Louisiana" for his master King Louis, far away in France. The Louisiana of La Salle was a mighty empire in itself, stretching from 128 CAMP ANIJ TRAIL northern lakes to tropic seas. And La Salle's fame was secure. This is the great moment of La Salle's life, and here let us leave him, with the sun of glorious achievement shining on his un- covered head. Ere long the clouds of strug- gle and disappointment and disaster will shut him in again. The colony he leads from France to the Gulf Shore will be lost on a strange coast. There will be discontent and bitterness. There will be plots and finally murder. And the brave leader will fall. The power and glory of which he dreamed will not be his. So let us leave him, where the Mississippi seeks the sea, claiming the mighty basin for his king, — ''most high, mighty, invincible, and victorious prince, Louis the Great, by the Grace of God King of France and Navarre." PETER THE HEADSTRONG 129 PETER THE HEADSTRONG Annetje Van Varick was a little Dutch girl. She had never seen Holland, the coun- try of the Dutch, but lived happily with her father and mother and her little brother Jan in the New World city called New Amster- dam. The sun, rising round and red over the hills of near-by Long Island one morning in November, 1663, peeped in at Annetje's small-paned window and wakened her from sleep. Just as she opened her eyes to wonder what had roused her, the cow-herd's horn 130 CAMP AND* TRAIL sounded in three loud blasts ; and Annetje knew that it was time to rise. "Jan," she called softly to her sleeping brother, "the cow-herd calls. Open thy lazy eyes and dress thyself." The merry jangle of the cow bells made music for the children's ears, as they hastily laid aside their long-caped night caps and their gowns, and took up the task of getting dressed for the day. A gay little Dutchman was Jan, as in baggy trousers, yellow stockings, and scarlet jacket, he trudged sturdily down the stairs to the kitchen. And Annetje, with stockings of blue, many bright petticoats, and sleeves of red and yellow, must have looked like the tulips in her own summer garden. The iire in the huge fireplace was already blazing when the children reached the kitchen, and the "vrouw" was bustling about, cook- ing the breakfast. The sausages were sput- tering over the fire, filling the room with appetizing odors. The table was spread with PETER THE HEADSTRONG 131 the whitest of linen, and the pewter plates caught the bright light from the fire on their shining faces. Annetje hastened to bring the rye bread and to grate the cheese ; while the mother served steaming porridge from the kettle and little Jan pushed the chairs about the table. The kitchen was a cheery place even in the early light of the autumn morning. Opposite the fireplace stood the dresser, with its rows of pewter and the silver tankards that had come from Holland. A hanging plate rack held blue china from Delfthaven and red Portuguese earthenware. On another wall hung the father's rack of slender, long- stemmed pipes. The floor, scrubbed clean and white, was sprinkled with still whiter sand from the near-by shore. Everywhere was warmth and comfort. The goodman of the house, round of person, and round and red of face as the sun behind the morning hills, ate his sausages and drank his beer in calm content. Then, lighting his 132 CAMP AND TRAIL favorite pipe, he put on his broad-brimmed beaver hat, and walked leisurely forth to his day's labor at trading on the waterfront. A ship loading for old Amsterdam in Holland would carry Mynheer Van Varick's tobacco, grain, and furs to be sold in Dutch markets. He must oversee the loading of the cargo. No doubt also there would be Indians paddling down the river with boat loads of beaver skins, with whom he must make bargains. And daily he expected a shipload of goods from Holland. The housemother, meanwhile, took up her busy round of duties. The Dutch housewife had few idle minutes. With brewing and baking, spinning and weaving, she lived the same sort of life as the Puritan housewife of New England. Jan and Annetje had their own little tasks, of which they loved none better than feeding the geese. Such silly things they were, wad- dling solemnly in long lines about the dooryard, and then down the town street to the water-side. PETER THE HEADSTRONG 133 ^^See, Annetje, the gray gander walks just like 'Old Silverleg,' " cried Jan. And with feet spread wide he strutted along behind the flock. ''Hush, Jan," said Annetje; "it is wrong to speak so of the governor. His leg was lost in battle, so he must be brave. And I think he is good, too, even though his temper be hasty. Only bad children mock at his wooden leg." Jan paid little heed to this warm defence of Governor Peter Stuyvesant, for he had his own notion of the quick-tempered old man, whom he saw almost daily stumping by in his walks about town. It is true he would scarcely have dared to mock and laugh had his elders been about, and I am certain that if the stout old governor had himself appeared in the neighborhood, Jan would have suddenly frozen into a perfect image of an awestruck Dutch infant. "Come, Jan," coaxed Annetje, "I know the frost last night has opened the chestnut 134 CAMP AND TRAIL burs. Get a basket and we will walk up beyond the land gate and into the woods." So the two trudged off, by the steep-roofed houses of gay Dutch tile, with their garden patches now with- ered and brown. The children were not the only people in the Dutch colony who found ''Old Silverleg" an inter- esting and sometimes perplexing study. But most of them, like Jan, preferred to express their opin- ions of him when he was not present. Peter the Headstrong, he was sometimes called, because he was so fond of having his own way. Indeed he made things very un- comfortable and sometimes exciting when he was opposed. Once when a man threatened ^J'," "Studies in Browning," etc. Cloth, i6mo, 111. ix + 148 pages. 40 cents. Stories for little boys and girls about the time when grandma was young. OSWELL. A Fairy Book. For Primary Grades. By Kate Forrest Oswell, author of "American School Readers," and other books. Cloth, i6mo, 111. vii +246 pages. 40 cents. A collection of stories about good fairies and other little ''earth people " for children to read in school. A cheerful task. THE MACMILLAN COMPANY Publishers 64-66 Fifth Avenue New York EVERYCHILD'S SERIES OSWELL. Old Time Tales. For Primary Grades. By Kate Forrest Oswell. Cloth, i6mo, 111. viii + 245 pages. 40 cents. A book of folk-lore and fairy stories. OSWELL. Stories Grandmother Told. For Primary Grades. By Kate Forrest Os\toll. Cloth, i6mo, 111. vii + 246 pages. 40 cents. Old fairy stories interestingly told. REYNOLDS. How Man Conquered Nature. For Intermediate Grades. By Minnie J. Reynolds. Cloth, i6mo, 111. v + 249 pages. 40 cents. A story of how man overcame Nature by his hand and his brain. STOCKTON. Stories of the Spanish Main. For Grammar Grades. By Frank R. Stockton. Adapted from ' ' Buccaneers and Pirates of Our Coast." Cloth, i6mo. 111. vii +232 pages. 40 cents. A collection of stirring adventures on land and sea, portraying scenes of historical and literary value. WARNER. Nonsense Dialogues. For Primary Grades. By E. E. K. Warner. Cloth, i6mo. 111. vi + 168 pages. 40 cents. Mother Goose in dramatic form for very young readers. YOUNG. When We Were Wee. For Intermediate Grades. By Martha Young. Cloth, i6mo, HI. vi + 153 pages. 40 cents. A story of child life on a Louisiana plantation in Civil War times. THE MACMILLAN COMPANY Publishers 64-66 Fifth Avenue New York .<9^r «.'• .0* ..: j^-n* • •o ^* % 'v^*' /\ •^•' **'\ '-.W jP-n^ aVA Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. Neutralizing Agent: Magnesium Oxide Treatment Date^ ^ ^^ o L- r 1997 JHBRREEPER PRESERVATION TECHNOLOGIES, INC. 1 1 1 Thomson Par1< Drive CranberryTwp., PA 16056 '/ .^o--^. (ECKMAN ,_ INDERY INC. |e ^>APR 89 J^W N. MANCHESTER, '^^ INDIANA 46962