Week in, week out, from morn till night, You can hear his bellows blow; You can hear him swing his heavy sledge, With measured beat and slow, Like a s.e.xton ringing the village bell, When the evening sun is low.
[Ill.u.s.tration: THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH.
From the Painting by Sir Edwin Landseer. Engraved by Henry W.
Peckwell.]
And children coming home from school Look in at the open door; They love to see the flaming forge, And hear the bellows roar, And catch the burning sparks that fly Like chaff from a threshing floor.
He goes on Sunday to the church, And sits among his boys; He hears the parson pray and preach, He hears his daughter"s voice Singing in the village choir, And it makes his heart rejoice.
It sounds to him like her mother"s voice, Singing in Paradise!
He needs must think of her once more, How in the grave she lies; And with his hard, rough hand he wipes A tear out of his eyes.
Toiling,--rejoicing,--sorrowing, Onward through life he goes; Each morning sees some task begun, Each evening sees its close; Something attempted, something done, Has earned a night"s repose.
Thanks, thanks to thee, my worthy friend, For the lesson thou hast taught!
Thus at the flaming forge of life Our fortunes must be wrought; Thus on its sounding anvil shaped Each burning deed and thought.
--HENRY W. LONGFELLOW.
GEORGE WASHINGTON, THE YOUNG SURVEYOR
beyond compa.s.s Mount Vernon acres bargain undertake measure surveyor interesting
It is very interesting to know how George Washington pa.s.sed his boyhood. In many ways he was no better than other boys. He had a quick temper, and he soon found that he must learn to control it.
But he wished to make a good and useful man of himself. This story tells some of the ways in which he tried to do this.
He had learned to survey land, and this knowledge soon became of great use to him. When he was sixteen years old, he went to live with his brother Lawrence at Mount Vernon.
He took his compa.s.s and surveyor"s chain with him. Nearly every day he went out into the fields to measure his brother"s land.
A tall, white-haired gentleman often came into the fields to see what Washington was doing, and to talk with him. This was Sir Thomas Fairfax.
He had lately come to America from his home in England. He owned thousands of acres of land in the new country beyond the mountains.
Sir Thomas was very fond of hunting, and he liked to have Washington go with him. They often rode out together, and the old Englishman came to like his young friend very much. He saw that the boy was manly and brave and very careful in all that he did.
"Here is a boy who likes to make himself useful; I can trust him," he said. And Sir Thomas soon made a bargain with young Washington to survey his wild lands.
Washington loved out-of-door life, and he was very fond of riding on horseback. So he was glad to undertake the work of surveying land for Sir Thomas.
SURVEYING IN THE WILDERNESS
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One bright day in early spring the young surveyor started out on his first trip across the mountains. With him was a cousin of Sir Thomas Fairfax. Each young man rode a good horse and carried a gun.
As there were no roads in the wild country they found their way through paths in the forest. They climbed mountains and swam rivers. At night they slept in a hunter"s cabin or by a camp fire in the woods.
Often they were wet and cold and without shelter. They cooked their meat over the fire on forked sticks, and they used wooden chips and leaves for plates.
One day they met a band of Indians. There were thirty of them, and their bodies were half covered with war paint.
The Indians seemed very friendly. They built a huge fire under the trees and danced their war dance. One of them drummed on a deerskin stretched over an iron pot.
[Ill.u.s.tration: George Washington, the Surveyor.]
The others whooped and yelled as they danced around the fire. It was a strange sight, and the young men looked on with wonder.
For weeks Washington and his companion lived in the forest. They found the best places for hunting, and the best lands for farms.
When they returned home Sir Thomas was much pleased with all that the young men told him about the new country. He made up his mind to move across the mountains and to spend the rest of his life upon his own lands.
George was well paid for his work of surveying. This was the first money he had ever earned, and he enjoyed spending it because he had worked hard for it.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
HIS NEW HOME
I.
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In the autumn after Abraham Lincoln was eight years old, his parents left their Kentucky home and moved to Indiana.
They had no wagon, and all their household goods were carried on the backs of two horses. At night they slept on the ground, sheltered only by the trees.
It was not more than fifty or sixty miles from the old home to the new; but it was a good many days before the family reached their journey"s end. Over a part of the way there was no road. The movers had sometimes to cut a path through the thick woods.
The boy was tall and very strong for his age. He already knew how to handle an ax, and few men could shoot with a rifle better than he. He was his father"s helper in all kinds of work.
It was in November when the family came to the place which was to be their future home. Winter was near at hand. There was no house nor shelter of any kind. What would become of the patient, tired mother, and the gentle little sister?
Hardly had they reached the spot chosen for their home than Lincoln and his father were at work with their axes. In a short time they had built what they called a camp.
[Ill.u.s.tration]
This camp was but a rude shed made of poles and covered with leaves and branches. It was inclosed on three sides. The fourth side was left open, and in front of it a fire was built.