Three times he was on the point of grasping the child, when the waters whirled the prize from him. The third effort was made above the fall; and when it failed, the mother groaned, fully expecting the youth to give up his task. But no; he only pressed forward the more eagerly.
And now, like an arrow from the bow, pursuer and pursued shot to the brink of the precipice. An instant they hung there, distinctly visible amid the foaming waters. Every brain grew dizzy at the sight. But a shout of exultation burst from the spectators, when they saw the boy held aloft by the right arm of the young hero. And thus he brought the child back to the distracted mother.
With a most fervent blessing, she thanked the young man for his heroic deed. And was this blessing heard? Most a.s.suredly; for the self-sacrificing spirit which characterized the life of this youth was none other than that of George Washington, the First President of the United States.
LESSON XLI
AUTUMN
September has come. The fierce heat of summer is gone. Men are at work in the fields cutting down the yellow grain, and binding it up into sheaves. The fields of corn stand in thick ranks, heavy with ears.
The boughs of the orchard hang low with the red and golden fruit.
Laughing boys are picking up the purple plums and the red-cheeked peaches that have fallen in the high gra.s.s. Large, rich melons are on the garden vines, and sweet grapes hang in cl.u.s.ters by the wall.
The larks with their black and yellow b.r.e.a.s.t.s stand watching you on the close-mown meadow. As you come near, they spring up, fly a little distance, and light again. The robins, that long ago left the gardens, feed in flocks upon the red berries of the sumac, and the soft-eyed pigeons are with them to claim their share. The lazy blackbirds follow the cows and pick up crickets and other insects.
At noon, the air is still, mild, and soft. You see blue smoke off by the distant wood and hills. The brook is almost dry. The water runs over the pebbles with a soft, low murmur. The goldenrod is on the hill, the aster by the brook, and the sunflower in the garden.
The twitter of the birds is still heard. The sheep graze upon the brown hillside. The merry whistle of the plowboy comes up from the field, and the cow lows in the distant pasture.
As the sun sinks in the October haze, the low, south wind creeps over the dry tree-tops, and the leaves fall in showers upon the ground. The sun sinks lower, and lower, and is gone; but his bright beams still linger in the west. Then the evening star is seen shining with a soft, mellow light, and the moon rises slowly in the still and hazy air.
November comes. The flowers are all dead. The gra.s.s is pale and white. The wind has blown the dry leaves into heaps. The timid rabbit treads softly on the dry leaves. The crow calls from the high tree-top. The sound of dropping nuts is heard in the wood. Children go out morning and evening to gather nuts for the winter. The busy little squirrels will be sure to get their share.
SELECTION XIV
THE RETORT
One day, a rich man, flushed with pride and wine, Sitting with guests at table, all quite merry, Conceived it would be vastly fine To crack a joke upon his secretary.
"Young man," said he, "by what art, craft, or trade Did your good father earn his livelihood?"
"He was a saddler, sir," the young man said; "And in his line was always reckoned good."
"A saddler, eh? and had you stuffed with Greek, Instead of teaching you like him to sew?
And pray, sir, why did not your father make A saddler, too, of you?"
At this each flatterer, as in duty bound, The joke applauded, and the laugh went round.
At length the secretary, bowing low, Said (craving pardon if too free he made), "Sir, by your leave I fain would know Your father"s trade."
"My father"s trade? Why, sir, but that"s too bad!
My father"s trade? Why, blockhead, art thou mad?
My, father, sir, was never brought so low: He was a gentleman, I"d have you know."
"Indeed! excuse the liberty I take; But if your story"s true, How happened it your father did not make A gentleman of you?"
_G. P. Morris_.
LESSON XLII
WORDS AND THEIR MEANING
I tell you earnestly, you must get into the habit of looking intensely at words, and a.s.suring yourself of their meaning, syllable by syllable, nay, letter by letter. You might read all the books in the British Museum, if you could live long enough, and remain an utterly illiterate, uneducated person; but if you read ten pages of a good book, letter by letter,--that is to say, with real accuracy,--you are forevermore, in some measure, an educated person.
The entire difference between education and non-education (as regards the merely intellectual part of it) consists in this accuracy. A well-educated gentleman may not know many languages, may not be able to speak any but his own, may have read very few books; but whatever word he p.r.o.nounces, he p.r.o.nounces rightly.
An ordinarily clever and sensible seaman will be able to make his way ash.o.r.e at most ports; yet he has only to speak a sentence to be known for an illiterate person; so also the accent, or turn of expression of a single sentence, will at once mark a scholar.
Let the accent of words be watched, and closely; let their meaning be watched more closely still. A few words, well chosen, will do the work that a thousand cannot do, when every one of those few is acting properly, in the function of one another.
LESSON XLIII
HOW TO SELECT A BOY
A gentleman advertised for a boy, and nearly fifty applicants presented themselves to him. Out of the whole number he selected one and dismissed the rest.
"I should like to know," said a friend, "on what ground you selected that boy, who had not a single recommendation?"
"You are mistaken," said the gentleman; "he has a great many. He wiped his feet when he came in, and closed the door after him, showing that he was careful. He gave his seat instantly to that lame old man, showing that he was thoughtful. He took off his cap when he came in and answered my questions promptly, showing that he was gentlemanly.
"He picked up the book which I had purposely laid on the floor and replaced it on the table, and he waited quietly for his turn, instead of pushing and crowding; showing that he was honorable and orderly.
When I talked to him I noticed that his clothes were brushed and his hair in order. When he wrote his name I noticed that his finger-nails were clean.
"Don"t you call those things letters of recommendation? I do; and I would give more for what I can tell about a boy by using my eyes ten minutes than for all the letters he can bring me."
LESSON XLIV
SALT
Salt is an every-day article, so common that we rarely give it a thought; yet, like most common things, it is useful enough to be ranked among the necessaries of life. "I could not live without salt," would sound to us exaggerated in the mouth of any one. Have you ever fancied that you could do without it?
How would meat taste without salt? Would not much of our vegetable food be insipid, if we neglected this common seasoning? And even the "daily bread" demands its share.
Where is this salt found, that we prize so little, yet need so much?