had never seen before. He noticed that there were no men working in
the fields. The houses which he passed stood silent and empty. The
grass along the roadside was scorched as if a fire had passed over it.
A field of wheat was all trampled and burned.
St. George drew up his horse, and looked carefully about him. Everywhere
there was silence and desolation. "What can be the dreadful thing which
has driven all the people from their homes? I must find out, and give
them help if I can," he said. But there was no one to ask, so St. George
rode forward until at last, far in the distance, he saw the walls of a
city. "Here surely I shall find some one who can tell me the cause of
all this," he said, so he rode more swiftly toward the city.
Just then the great gate opened and St. George saw crowds of people
standing inside the wall. Some of them were weeping; all of them
seemed afraid. As St. George watched, he saw a beautiful maiden
dressed in white, with a girdle of scarlet about her waist, pass
through the gate alone. The gate clanged shut, and the maiden walked
along the road, weeping bitterly. She did not see St. George, who was
riding quickly towards her.
"Maiden, why do you weep?" he asked as he reached her side.
She looked up at St. George sitting there on his horse, so straight
and tall and beautiful. "Oh, Sir Knight!" she cried, "ride quickly
from this place. You know not the danger you are in!"
"Danger!" said St. George; "do you think a knight would flee from
danger? Besides, you, a fair, weak girl, are here alone. Think you a
knight would leave you or any woman so? Tell me your trouble that I
may help you."
[Illustration: ST. GEORGE SAW THE HEAD OF THE DRAGON LIFTED FROM THE
POOL]
"No! No!" she cried. "Hasten away. You would only lose your life.
There is a terrible dragon near. He may come at any moment. One breath
would destroy you if he found you here. Go! Go quickly!"
"Tell me more of this," said St. George sternly. "Why are you here
alone to meet this dragon? Are there no men left in yon city?"
"Oh," said the maiden, "my father, the king, is old and feeble. He has
only me to help him take care of his people. This terrible dragon has
driven them from their homes, carried away their cattle, and ruined
their crops. They have all come within the walls of the city for safety.
For weeks now the dragon has come to the very gates of the city. We have
been forced to give him two sheep each day for his breakfast.
"Yesterday there were no sheep left to give, so he said that unless a
young maiden were given him today he would break down the walls and
destroy the city. The people cried to my father to save them, but he
could do nothing. I am going to give myself to the dragon. Perhaps if
he has me, the Princess, he may spare our people."
"Lead the way, brave Princess. Show me where this monster may be found."
When the Princess saw St. George's flashing eyes and great, strong arm
as he drew forth his sword, she felt afraid no more. Turning, she led
the way to a shining pool.
"There's where he stays," she whispered. "See, the water moves. He is
waking."
St. George saw the head of the dragon lifted from the pool. Fold on
fold he rose from the water. When he saw St. George he gave a roar of
rage and plunged toward him. The smoke and flames flew from his
nostrils, and he opened his great jaws as if to swallow both the
knight and his horse.
St. George shouted and, waving his sword above his head, rode at the
dragon. Quick and hard came the blows from St. George's sword. It was
a terrible battle.
At last the dragon was wounded. He roared with pain and plunged at St.
George, opening his great mouth close to the brave Knight's head.
St. George looked carefully, then struck with all his strength straight
down through the dragon's throat, and he fell at the horse's feet--dead.
Then St. George shouted for joy at his victory. He called to the
Princess. She came and stood beside him.
"Give me the girdle from about your waist, O Princess," said St. George.
The Princess gave him her girdle and St. George bound it around the
dragon's neck, and they pulled the dragon after them by that little
silken ribbon back to the city so that all of the people could see
that the dragon could never harm them again.
When they saw St. George bringing the Princess back in safety and knew
that the dragon was slain, they threw open the gates of the city and
sent up great shouts of joy. The King heard them and came out from his
palace to see why the people were shouting. When he saw his daughter
safe he was the happiest of them all. "O brave Knight," he said, "I am
old and weak. Stay here and help me guard my people from harm."
"I'll stay as long as ever you have need of me," St. George answered.
So he lived in the palace and helped the old King take care of his
people, and when the old King died, St. George was made King in his
stead. The people felt happy and safe so long as they had such a brave
and good man for their King.
--_From "Stories for Children and How to Tell Them"._
--_Courtesy of J. Berg Esenwein._
QUESTIONS
1. Why did St. George feel that he ought to ride away from his
home? What do you conclude from this must have been the chief duty
of a knight?
2. What signs did St. George find that he had come to a place
where there was work for him to do?
3. For what do you admire the Princess? Which do you think was
braver, St. George or she?
4. What nation recently played the part of the dragon in the
world? What form of government did this nation have?
5. What nations played the part of St. George? In what way did the
governments of all but one of these nations differ from the
"dragon" nation?
NONSENSE TEST
This is just a little nonsense test but don't be too sure that you
can get everything in it exactly right. Carry out the following
directions very carefully.
No matter whether Benjamin Franklin was the father of his country or
not, draw a circle in the center of your paper. Now if December is
the first month of the year put the largest of these four numbers
in the circle. (17-6-11-21). But if not, put any one of the smaller
numbers there. Then copy this example on your paper under the circle.
(7 + 5 = .) Write a wrong answer to it, mark it correct and sign your
name at the bottom.
TURNING OUT THE INTRUDER
Arrange your paper with your name on the first line at the right,
and your grade below it on the second line. Skip the third line,
but on the next eight lines, in the margin, write the figures, 1
to 8.
Here is an exercise that will let you see not only how well you can
follow printed directions, but also how well you can arrange words
in classes or groups. Read the first group of words at the bottom of
the page. What kind of list does it seem to be? A list of several
kinds of fruit, does it not? Or at least it would be a good list of
fruit, if we could omit the word ROPE, which does not seem to belong
to the list at all. After figure 1, on your paper, write the word
ROPE.
In each of the other groups there is also a word that should be
dropped out. You are going to write these words on your paper. Start
with the next group, and when you find the word that should be
omitted, write it after figure 2; and in the same way, finish the
remaining groups in the exercise. When you finish wait quietly for
the others to do so.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
apple lion mountain lumbering automobile
peach tiger gulfs farming store
rope elephant hills grazing bank
grape tusks plain manufacturing station
pear horse valley jumping hotel
orange cow island fishing church
6. 7. 8.
flowers cup chair
grass saucer table
fence plate room
tree pan sofa
bush pitcher bench
weeds bowl bookcase
ROOSEVELT'S FAVORITE STUDY
You should all begin to read this story at the same moment.
At the end of five minutes you will be asked to close your books
and follow your teacher's directions.
Very often the things that a boy or girl likes to do as a child are
signs of what he or she will like to do as a man or woman. This is
true in the case of Theodore Roosevelt. One of the subjects in which
he was all his life most interested was his favorite study as a boy.
It seems that he was not an unusually clever student in his early
years. In Latin and Greek and mathematics he was poor; in science and
history and geography he made better progress; but best of all he
loved natural history--the study of animals.
His first experience in this study befell him when he was nine years
old. He was walking past one of the city markets one day, when he saw
a dead seal lying on a slab of wood. He had just been reading about
seals, and it seemed a wonderful thing to see a real one. He became
possessed with a longing to own the seal. Being unable to form any
plan for satisfying that longing, he contented himself with visiting
the market day by day to gaze upon the object which proved so
interesting to him. He took the seal's measurements carefully with a
folding pocket rule and had considerable difficulty when he came to
measuring its girth. Somehow or other he got the animal's skull, and
with it he and two of his cousins immediately founded what they called
the "Roosevelt Museum of Natural History". At the same time his
observations of the seal and the measurements which he had made of it
were carefully set down in a blank book.
In another blank book were recorded further observations in natural
history. This work was entitled, "Natural History on Insects, by
Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.," and began in this fashion: "All these
insects are native of North America. Most of the insects are not in
other books. I will write about ants first."
The beginning of the treatise on ants is entertaining, if not deeply
scientific. "Ants," he writes, "are di_fi_ded into three sorts for
every species. These kinds are officer, soilder [soldier?] and worker.
There are about one officer to ten soilders and one soilder to two
workers." The book then went on to describe other insects which he had
observed, all of which he assured the reader "inhabit North America".
At the end of the volume on insects were a few notes on fishes. Among
these was a description of the crayfish. "I need not describe the form
of the crayfish to you," wrote the young author; "look at the lobster
and you have its form." These observations, recorded at the age of
nine years, are worth mentioning because they show a real interest in
the creatures of which he was writing.
When Theodore was thirteen, his father sent him to a little shop to
take lessons in taxidermy, the stuffing and mounting of animals. Then
the boy wanted to secure his own specimens; so his father gave him a
gun for that purpose. When he first tried to use this gun, he was
puzzled to find that he could not see the objects at which his
companions were shooting. One day some boys with him read aloud an
advertisement written in huge letters on a billboard some distance
away, and Theodore then realized, for the first time, that there must
be something the matter with his eyes because he could not see the
letters. His father soon got him a pair of spectacles, which, he says,
opened up a new world to him.
When he was fourteen the family went to Europe, and, among other
expeditions, took a trip up the Nile. Before they started on this
trip. Theodore picked up in Cairo a book which contained some account
of the birds of that region. Armed with this book and with the gun
which his father had given him, he secured a number of specimens of
birds in Egypt.
Unfortunately for the rest of the family, Theodore insisted on
carrying his natural history specimens about with him from place to
place. One day when the family was in Vienna, his brother Elliot
inquired plaintively of their father whether it would be possible that
he should now and then have a room to himself in the hotels, instead
of being obliged always to share one with Theodore. Mr. Roosevelt was
perfectly willing to comply, but inquired the reason for Elliot's
request. Elliot said, "Come and see our room, and you will
understand." When they reached the boys' room, they found bottles of
taxidermist's supplies everywhere, and in the basin the remains of
specimens which Theodore had lately captured. Theodore himself records
the fact that he was "grubby". "I suppose," he says, "that all growing
boys tend to be grubby; but the small boy with the taste for natural
history is generally the very grubbiest of all."
--_Adapted from "The Life of Theodore Roosevelt,"
by William Draper Lewis.
Courtesy of The John C. Winston Co._
TOPICS
Your teacher will call on you to come to the front of your class
and tell about one of the following topics:
1. Roosevelt and the seal.
2. Roosevelt's eyesight.
3. His trip up the Nile.
4. That Roosevelt boy as a room-mate.
WHAT A CHIMNEY IS
Probably you think you can tell all about a chimney, but you may
be able to learn something interesting from this selection.
You should all begin reading at the same time. Your teacher will
give the signal when to close your books. She will then ask you to
write answers to the questions at the end.
A hollow tree was the first chimney of our unlettered forefathers.
Accidentally set on fire, this tree illustrated the principle upon
which all chimneys have been constructed. It showed that warm air,
being lighter than cold air, tends to rise. When this warm air is
confined within an enclosure open at the top and bottom, a strong
upward current fills the space. As the warm air rises, the cold air
rushes in through the opening at the bottom of the shaft, and in this
way a draft is created which supplies the fire at the foot of the
chimney with the oxygen it needs to support combustion.
Simple chimneys are constructed of logs and mortar, or of stones and
mortar, such as those built for log cabins; of brick, also of cement and
of iron pipes made for the purpose. Since a long column of hot air
produces a stronger current than a short one, the tallest chimneys,
other things being equal, produce the strongest draft. Tall chimneys are
larger at the base than at the top. This is to make the structure stable
and to increase the draft by contracting the flue at the top. At the
bottom the chimney is usually connected with the fire by a flue. A
fireplace, however, is practically an enlarged part of the chimney.
The size and height of a chimney depend upon the size of the furnace.
For larger furnaces there is greater danger of making the flue too
small than too large. The stacks or chimneys of the largest steamships
like the Mauritania and the Imperator are so large that two railway
trains could run through them abreast, and they are about 175 feet in
length. The difference between a chimney and a smokestack is in name
only; chimneys constructed of tubing made from iron plates are usually
called stacks.
--_From "The World Book".
Courtesy of W. F. Quarrie & Co._
QUESTIONS
1. How does a difference between warm and cold air make chimneys
useful?
2. Why is a tall chimney better than a short one?
3. How large are the chimneys or stacks on the largest steamships?
IS IT TRUE?
Arrange your paper as you are accustomed to do. Number the lines
from one to ten. As you read each of the following statements,
decide for yourself if it is true or false, and write the word
_true_ or the word _false_ as the case may be, on the proper line
of your paper.
1. Cloth is woven on looms.
2. Strawberries grow on trees.
3. The American Indians were always friendly to the early settlers.
4. Russia is a happy country.
5. The monks of the middle ages were the best educated men of their
time.
6. The Pilgrims settled Virginia in 1620.
7. It is not important that a voter should be intelligent.
8. Warm clothing costs less than doctors' bills.
9. Education is cheaper than revolution.
10. Money earns money.
FRANKLIN WRITES FOR THE NEWSPAPER
Here is Benjamin Franklin's own account of his first attempt at
writing. You see, he did not have a chance to learn to write, as
you do, by practice in composition in school.
My brother had, in 1720 or 1721, begun to print a newspaper. It was the
second that appeared in America, and was called the "New England
Courant". The only one before it was the "Boston News-Letter". I
remember his being _dissuaded_ by some of his friends from the
undertaking, as not likely to succeed, one newspaper being, in their
judgment, enough for America. At this time (1771) there are not less
than five and twenty. He went on, however, with the undertaking; and
after having worked in composing the types and printing off the sheets,
I was employed to carry the papers through the streets to the customers.
He had some ingenious men among his friends, who amused themselves by
writing little pieces for this paper, which gained it credit and made
it more in demand; and these gentlemen often visited us. Hearing their
conversations, and their accounts of the _approbation_ their papers
were received with, I was excited to try my hand among them; but being
still a boy, and suspecting that my brother would object to printing
anything of mine in his paper if he knew it to be mine, I contrived to
_disguise_ my hand; and, writing an _anonymous_ paper, I put it in at
night under the door of the printing-house. It was found in the
morning and communicated to his writing friends when they called in as
usual. They read it, and commented on it in my hearing; and I had the
_exquisite_ pleasure of finding it met with their approbation, and
that in their different guesses at the author, none were named but men
of some _character_ among us for learning and _ingenuity_. I suppose
now that I was rather lucky in my judges and that perhaps they were
not really so very good ones as I then _esteemed_ them.
Encouraged, however, by this, I wrote and conveyed in the same way to
the press several more papers which were equally approved; and I kept
my secret till my small fund of sense for such performances was pretty
well exhausted, and then I _discovered_ it, when I began to be
considered a little more by my brother's acquaintance, and in a manner
that did not quite please him, as he thought, probably with reason,
that it tended to make me too vain.
--_Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin._
QUESTIONS
1. What is there in this story that suggests that Franklin was a
modest boy?
2. How does it seem to you, from this story, that young people in
Franklin's day were looked upon by their elders?
3. Was he a good writer when he began? How do you know?
4. Can you tell the meaning of the words in italics, from their
use in the story? Look them up in a dictionary and compare the
meaning you find with your judgment from the way they were used.
YES OR NO?
1. I need six dozen 1-1/4" screws. They will cost me five cents a
dozen. There are twelve dozen in a box, and a box will cost thirty-two
cents. Would it pay me to get just what I need now?
2. All but three of the girls in our class are members of the United
States School Garden Army. Edith is not a member of the United States
School Garden Army. Is it possible that Edith is a member of our class?
HOW TO MAKE A SUN-DIAL
Did you ever think how hard it would be to get along without clocks?
At almost every city street corner we can look at a clock; every
railway station, every post office, every schoolhouse, has at least
one; and everybody's house contains one or more. And at that, boys and
girls are sometimes late for school.
No, we certainly couldn't manage without these useful mechanisms; and
yet, there was a time, not so many centuries ago, either, when they
were a rare possession; and a time before that when they had not yet
been invented. What did our far-off ancestors do?
Let us pretend that we are going for a walk in the beautiful garden of
a country mansion. Here in the midst of a rose bed stands a low stone
pillar, with an upright, triangular piece of metal attached to its top
near the center, and some figures marked in a circle around the edge.
[Illustration]
This is a sun-dial. The owner of the garden has it here for a pretty
ornament; but in the old times, before the days of clocks, people told
the time by means of sun-dials, judging the hour by the position of
the shadow cast by the piece of metal upon the stone. If you would
like, just for the fun of it, to have such a sun-clock in your own
little garden, there is a very easy way to make one.
Choose a spot of ground that is perfectly flat, where the sun shines
all day long. Set up, or get your father or big brother to set up for
you, a post four or five inches thick. Make it stand perfectly firm
and straight. Now find a thin, flat piece of board--a box top or a
shingle will do--and nail it like a table top on to the top of the
post. After these preparations have been made, you must wait for a
clear, starry night when you can go out and find the North Star. The
way to do this is by looking at the "Big Dipper", the group of stars
that of course you know.
The two stars marked A and B are called the "Pointers"; and, looking
in the direction of the arrow, the next star in line with them is the
North Star. Take a straight, thin stick, and fasten it to the center
of the top of the post, slanting it so that it will point directly at
the North Star. That is all you can do until the next day.
[Illustration]
At twelve o'clock, if the sun is bright, you will find your slanting
stick casting a shadow on the piece of board. Mark the line where it
falls, and put the figure 12 upon it, to show that this line belongs
to twelve o'clock. Do the same thing at one, two, and three o'clock,
and so on through the afternoon. In the same way, the next day, you
can mark the morning hours.
If you like, you can print on your sun-dial the motto that is often
used for them: "Non horas sed serenas", which means "I mark none but
sunny hours".
QUESTIONS
1. What did our ancestors use instead of a clock?
2. How can you find the North Star?
3. Can you draw a diagram of the sun-clock?
PUTTING WORDS WHERE THEY BELONG
Arrange your paper with your name on the first line and your grade
on the second line. Divide the rest of your paper into four parts
with lines drawn as shown below:
TRAVELING | BANKING | GRAZING | SEASHORE
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
Below is a list of words that is not very well arranged. Some
words suggest a long railroad journey, some an errand to the bank,
some the lonely occupation of a cowboy, and others a vacation at
the shore. Write the words, TRAVELING, BANKING, GRAZING, SEASHORE
at the top of your paper on the fourth line as shown above. Now
rearrange the words below into four columns under these four
heads, putting all the words that seem to suggest TRAVELING in the
first column, and all the words that suggest BANKING in the second
column, and every word that suggests GRAZING or SEASHORE in its
proper column. When you finish wait quietly for the others.
discount station flock cattle
train interest bridge deposit
sheep check vault account
cashier salt-lick grass ranch
sand waves life-guard balance
suitcase taxi signal curve
ocean swim fence herd
spring adding machine pass-book tree
beach fish conductor ticket
boardwalk engineer lighthouse steamer
AN INDIAN BUFFALO HUNT
This selection was written by a white man who ran away from home
when a boy and lived among the Indians of the plains for twelve
years about the middle of the last century. He married an Indian
maiden, Washtella, and became a chief in the tribe. He gives many
interesting descriptions of Indian life and customs, which
probably give some idea of the way our own ancestors may have
lived thousands of years ago.
The Indians depended upon the buffalo for their chief supply of
food. Millions of these animals roamed the plains in vast herds.
The Indians cannot be blamed in the least for slaughtering these
animals for food, but the white men who drove the Indians from the
plains killed the buffaloes often for mere sport, and exterminated
them except for a few small herds now in captivity.
Read the story as rapidly as you can without skipping or losing
the meaning, and be prepared to stand in front of the class and
give a complete discussion of any of the topics given at the end
of the selection.
When our camp was pitched, I walked out along the banks of the
beautiful lake, to see what I could discover. Its waters were clear as
crystal and full of fish. Not a boat, and perhaps not even a canoe,
had ever rippled its bosom, and I could not but imagine, as I gazed
across the blue expanse, that one day commerce would spring up, and
towns and cities be built upon its green shores.