a festival of song. They sat around in bright colored tents, laughing and
feasting.
By and by some one shouted, “The Mastersingers! The Mastersingers!” The
people cheered them as they passed to their places.
First one and then another of the Mastersingers came forward and sang.
At last a young man took his lute and stood before the people. While he
was singing a beautiful song of spring, one of the strings of his lute
broke.
Just then a cricket jumped upon the lute. Whenever the singer touched the
broken string, the cricket sang.
Those who listened did not know of the broken string. The song of the
cricket was like the music of the lute.
When the song was ended, the women clapped their hands. The men waved
their hats and cheered.
No one had ever heard such beautiful music. The Mastersong had been sung.
They crowned the singer with flowers and hung a gold chain around his
neck.
In the city where he lived there stands a beautiful statue of the
Mastersinger.
In his left hand the Mastersinger holds a lute. The other hand points to
a cricket that stands beside a broken string.
The statue tells us that the great man did not forget the little friend
that helped him sing the Mastersong.
Suggested by ROBERT BROWNING’S poem, “The Two Poets of Crosie.”
KING SOLOMON AND THE BEES.
King Solomon was the wisest man in the world.
One day a beautiful queen came to his castle.
She had heard that King Solomon was very wise. But she did not believe
that he knew everything.
The queen gave him a red rose which she had brought from the garden. She
also gave him a rose that was made of red paper. They looked just alike.
“King Solomon,” she said, “you are very wise. Can you tell me at once
which rose is made of paper, and which grew in the garden?”
King Solomon looked at them, but he could not tell. So he said to his
servants, “Open the windows.”
Some bees flew into the room. They buzzed around the rose that grew in
the garden.
King Solomon pointed to the other one. “That rose,” said he, “is made of
paper.”
Then the queen thought King Solomon the wisest man in the world.
Suggested by JOHN SAXE’S poem, “King Solomon and the Bees.”
THE LITTLE MAID OF THE LIGHTHOUSE.
A tall lighthouse stood far out at sea, on a white rock. Once upon a time
a little girl lived there with her father, mother, and two brothers.
There were no children for her to play with, and she could not go to
school. But she was never sad and lonely.
She loved her rocky home, with the bright light above it, and the great
sea roaring around it. She loved the sky, the sun, the moon, the stars,
and the clouds.
On summer mornings, she liked to go out on the rocks and see the sun rise.
Often she made herself a crown of pink morning-glories. She put this on
her head, and danced about on the rocks like a flower-fairy.
Sometimes she made chains of gold-colored shells to hang about her neck.
She liked to run into the green water in her bare feet. What fun it was!
She laughed, and sang, and danced about in the waves like a little
sea-maid.
[Illustration]
II
The winter seemed very long to the little maid in the lighthouse.
Often, when the windows were covered with frost, she put her pennies
against them. Then she blew on the pennies till they were warm.
The warm pennies made holes in the frost, so that the little maid could
look out on the deep blue sea.
How happy she was if a ship passed by! She wondered where it came from
and where it was going.
Sometimes a sea-bird flew past, high in the sky.
Then she would call out, “Take me to ride with you, sea-bird, between
your wide wings!”
Every evening she watched the lighting of the great lantern in the tower
of the lighthouse. She was a proud little girl when she was old enough to
light it.
Best of all she liked the evenings by the fireside with her books and
playthings.
The wind roared, and the waves dashed against the rocks, but she was safe
and warm.
III
When the first warm days of spring came, she made her garden.
She could hardly wait for the dry, brown seeds to grow into the flowers
she loved so well.
Sometimes she made boats out of the pieces of wood on the shore.
Then she cut sailor boys out of sea wood, and put them in the boats. With
merry shouts she sent them out on the great sea.
Often she sailed shell boats in the pools of water which she found in the
rocks.
These pools were filled with wonderful sea plants and animals. She called
them the gardens of the sea.
Celia Thaxter was the name of the little maid of the lighthouse.
When she grew to be a woman she went to live on the mainland. But the sea
was always singing in her ears like a hollow shell.
She wanted others to know how beautiful it was, so she wrote many poems
about the sea.
GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD MORNING.
A fair little girl sat under a tree
Sewing as long as her eyes could see;
Then she smoothed her work and folded it right,
And said, “Dear work, good night! Good night!”
Such a number of rooks came over her head,
Crying “Caw! Caw!” on their way to bed;
She said as she watched their curious flight,
“Little black things, good night! Good night!”
The horses neighed and the oxen lowed,
The sheep’s “Bleat! Bleat!” came over the road;
All seeming to say, with a quiet delight,
“Good little girl, good night! Good night!”
She did not say to the sun, “Good night!”
Though she saw him there like a ball of light;
For she knew he had God’s time to keep
All over the world, and never could sleep.
The tall pink fox-glove bowed his head,
The violet curtsied and went to bed;
And good little Lucy tied up her hair,
And said on her knees her favorite prayer.
And while on her pillow she softly lay,
She knew nothing more till again it was day;
And all things said to the beautiful sun,
“Good morning! Good morning! Our work is begun.”
LORD HOUGHTON.
[Illustration]
WORD LIST
The following is a list of the words used in the Second Reader, omitting
those previously used in the Primer and First Reader. They are grouped by
pages, in the order in which they first occur.
ix seasons
x goldenrod
orchards
fruit
bending
tokens
September
beauty
cheer
11 Indian
ago
tent
skins
bark
wigwam
wore
deer
beads
swam
hunt
arrows
food
tied
branch
12 feathers
hair
painted
face
fierce
cried
else
wanted
brave
13 people
Pilgrims
ground
place
pile
found
belonged
paid
taken
taught
useful
14 Hiawatha
chief
dressed
Mondamin
wrestle
15 grew
win
lie
stood
tall
showed
gift
always
16 Arabella
Ruth
Peter
many
rag
queer
squash
17 ready
Patty Corncob
pink
almost
Betty Clothes-pin
drew
hat
Dinah
silk
smiled
seemed
18 caterpillar
fuzzy
crawling
though
we’ve
tight
snug
cocoon
spun
slept
stirring
spy
spreading
gorgeous
free
creature
flutters
gaily
19 Rumpel-Stilts-Kin
wicked
daughter
spin
straw
filled
die
locked
brownie
chain
lo
behold
reel
21 ring
queen
22 nothing
held
unhappy
land
23 dancing
bonfire
brew
to-morrow
nobody
Tom
Robert
told
24 October
orange
hosts
princes
they’ll
ghosts
leathery
pears
russet
late
’twill
25 canoe
Birch-tree
cloak
waved
Cedar
bent
frame
Larch-tree
sadly
pulled
26 Fir-tree
balm
sailing
rushing
stately
valley
float
water-lily
27 Lady Gray
hid
each
porch
kept
became
gentle
pockets
shoulder
28 fur
29 elves
shoemaker
pair
standing
sold
bought
four
done
evening
30 wife
rapped
quickly
rich
Christmas eve
across
31 Hallowe’en
Ben
Polly
Martha
pumpkins
Jack-o’-lantern
chose
stem-end
nose
mouth
candle
much
threw
hurrah
33 toast
pop
roast
march
rug
joined
34 Cinderella
coach
poem
learned
moments
stories
clack
kernels
whirl
skip
fellow
leap
snap
crack
tossing
pour
swift
fit
35 Philemon
Baucis
36 ever
traveler
door-step
shouting
meet
welcome
strangers
39 grant
knees
linden
40 November
ah
Thanksgiving Day
guest
moistens
lip
past
pie
41 first
harvest
blessing
Governor
feast
42 plenty
gathered
wild
plums
grapes
ashes
breakfast
whole
games
God
goodness
since
44 kitchen
burning
strings
dried
above
taking
care
pudding
rows
loud
45 uncle
sleigh
aunt
drove
46 drifted
stings
toes
bites
47 first-rate
bells
ting-a-ling-ding
trot
dapple-gray
hound
straight
yard
gate
extremely
slow
48 Whittier
bare
feet
swimming
merry
whistle
strawberries
feed
knew
49 another
Snow-Bound
pole
50 cave
rooster
closed
roared
51 cloth
Rachel
carded
fine
smooth
fastened
spindle
Zum
sounded
thread
fleecy
hum
twist
twirl
53 questions
answer
buttons
color
Joe
chestnut
dye
dipped
guessed
loom
treadle
shuttle
woven
54 snip
scissors
stitch
Jack Frost
I’m
55 forth
holly
box
bay
deck
cottage
December
56 carol
angels
heaven
souls
58 Santa Claus
grain
wonderful
happens
bunch
twittering
59 Piccola
Fred
because
church
60 stocking
toys
awoke
61 candy
62 dearly
also
servant
darkness
same
64 fallen
sorry
close
ribbon
65 leads
sight
they’re
dawn
sink
67 Raphael
master
artist
clay
vases
buy
Luca
duke
wants
neck
68 seven
try
harm
draw
69 tears
joy
kneeling
70 January
rosy
cozy
71 stove
Karl
pictures
72 deal
thought
floor
wagon
climbed
inside
quite
listened
74 thankful
75 flock
world
wilderness
downy
plumed
feathery
flakes
below
poppy
cunning
beneath
touch
fair
grown
wrought
fence
array
folded
pinions
76 tones
rang
sped
Nannie
alive
hush
frighten
whisper
delight
crept
wondrous
joyfully
clasped
cheeks
77 midnight
Naka
nearly
hands
short
noon
dim
79 rocks
reindeer
northern
80 Michael Angelo
Grand Duke
statues
faun
stopped
81 spent
among
become
82 February
valentine
least
don’t
really
83 own
write
shaped
84 between
Abraham Lincoln
George Washington
spoiled
either
pay
Abe
85 unkind
speech
clapping
turtle
shell
coward
gently
muddy
wise
President
87 flag
Philadelphia
Betsy Ross
husband
money
General
soldiers
war
England
planned
thirteen
stripes
later
88 Longfellow
poet
blacksmith
shop
sparks
anvil
wrote
village
felt
pennies
writing
89 road
heart
Robert Louis Stevenson
verses
island
forest
foxes
bats
miles
town
led
packhorses
banks
bathe
lemons
bananas
90 bathing
knife
women
wear
Tusitala
means
writer
prison
91 speckled
sailor
ropes
Japan
Spain
organ
92 March
blusters
glows
summon
rose
93 Freddy
scamper
begin
heat
Katy
peaches
redden
Arty
shivering
lane
Bessie
low
94 Ulysses
traveling
toward
Æolus
sails
quiet
95 safely
tossed
waves
afterward
97 happiest
third
boxes
store-room
early
rice
tea
undressed
98 fifth
top
99 raise
hollow
carp
waterfalls
America
eagle
100 Benjamin Franklin
101 lightning
pointed
wire
key
rainy
brought
strange
street-cars
electricity
102 prettier
bridges
103 shone
diamonds
sparkling
happened
104 heavy
formed
105 April
Rollicking Robin
doesn’t
coaxes
shadow
Easter
vest
106 princess
fairies
twelve
dishes
angry
107 fifteen
prick
finger
spinning
tower
108 hedge
thorns
rode
110 secret
Pussy Willow
purred
stroked
velvet
hummed
blossoms
scarlet
brimming
chattered
fro
clear
111 course
surprise
coop
112 combs
Ki-ki-ri-ki
115 rabbit
laid
116 merrily
cherries
drive
worms
117 music
cages
118 May
pray
arise
crocus
mantles
purple
daffodils
119 squire
Saxon
cowslips
forgot
120 can’t
122 crown
wand
crowd
123 left
wound
sandwiches
124 gown
frown
you’ll
125 Proserpina
Mother Ceres
chariot
dragons
sea-maids
126 noise
King Pluto
127 pearls
rubies
128 sobbed
129 torch
month
bloom
hungry
begun
130 swallowed
spend
131 Nathaniel Hawthorne
lake
132 coasting
weeds
giants
Tanglewood Tales
133 June
lilies
swells
134 Thumbling
pot
tulip
inch
135 ugly
136 bug
claws
137 legs
daisy
dew
138 beggar
clean
139 dead
141 Maia
143 Midsummer
Titania
Oberon
Puck
sorts
tricks
acorn
144 teeter
weest
won’t
sprightly
broadest
blade
balanced
stone
145 Nixie
Nils
born
Sunday
true
perhaps
famous
violin
146 schoolmaster
lessons
147 although
149 July
’tis
spangled
banner
150 liberty
thee
pride
mountain
freedom
native
noble
rills
templed
rapture
thrills
151 breeze
mortal
tongues
breathe
partake
silence
prolong
author
holy
protect
might
152 Fourth of July
written
number
signing
153 Independence Hall
155 perch
camp
beak
front
156 army
drill
captain
battles
157 calico
cotton
burst
wasn’t
stretched
159 woolly
machine
loaded
160 printing
roller
161 August
wet
luminous
jellyfish
162 shut
promised
164 storm
saved
166 cricket
festival
forward
lute
167 sung
168 King Solomon
believe
169 lonely
morning-glories
171 dashed
172 pools
Celia Thaxter
mainland
173 rooks
curious
flight
neighed
lowed
bleat
174 glove
curtsied
favorite
prayer
pillow
[Illustration]