and sometimes green, now became a black band of mystery. But presently a brilliant flame flares out overhead; they have lighted the pine knots on top of the pilot house. * * * Startled birds suddenly flutter into the light, and, after an instant of illuminated flight, melt into the darkness. From the perfect silence of these short flights one derives a certain sense of awe. Now there is a mighty crack and crash; limbs and leaves scrape and scrub along the deck; a little bell tingles; we stop. In turning a short curve, or rather doubling, the boat has run her nose smack into the right bank, and a projecting stump has now thrust itself sheer through the starboard side. Out, Dick! Out, Henry! Dick and Henry shuffle forward to the bow, thrust forth their long white pole against a tree trunk, strain and push and bend to the deck as if they were salaaming to the god of night and adversity, our bow slowly rounds into the stream, the wheel turns, and we puff quietly along. a mal' ga ma' tion (shun), a blending. coigne (koin), corner. fil' lip, to snap. gar' ish, showy; dazzling. her' e dit' a ment, any species of property that may be inherited. jux' ta po si'tion (zĭsh' ŭn), position side by side. limp' kin, a species of wading bird. or' ni thol' o gy, a branch of zoology treating of the natural history and classification of birds. pel lu' cid ness, transparency. Speak not at all, in any wise, till you have somewhat to speak; care not for the reward of your speaking, but simply for the truth of your speaking. - CARLYLE. THE WRECK OF THE HESPERUS. HENRY W. LONGFELLOW. It was the schooner Hesperus That sailed the wintry sea; And the skipper had taken his little daughter To bear him company. Blue were her eyes as the fairy-flax, Her cheeks like the dawn of day, The skipper he stood beside the helm, And he watched how the veering flaw did blow The smoke now West, now South. Then up and spake an old Sailor, Had sailed to the Spanish Main, "I pray thee, put into yonder port, For I fear a hurricane. "Last night the moon had a golden ring, The skipper he blew a whiff from his pipe, Colder and louder blew the wind, Down came the storm, and smote amain The vessel in its strength; She shuddered and paused, like a frighted steed, Then leaped her cable's length. "Come hither! come hither! my little daughter, And do not tremble so; For I can weather the roughest gale That ever wind did blow." He wrapped her warm in his seaman's coat, He cut a rope from a broken spar, "O father! I hear the church-bells ring; O say, what may it be?" "Tis a fog-bell on a rock-bound coast!"— And he steered for the open sea. "O father! I hear the sound of guns; O say, what may it be?" "Some ship in distress, that can not live In such an angry sea!" "O father! I see a gleaming light; O say, what may it be?" But the father answered never A frozen corpse was he. word, Lashed to the helm, all stiff and stark, The lantern gleamed through the gleaming snow Then the maiden clasped her hands and prayed That saved she might be; And she thought of Christ, who stilled the wave On the Lake of Galilee. And fast through the midnight dark and drear, And ever the fitful gusts between The breakers were right beneath her bows, And a whooping billow swept the crew She struck where the white and fleecy waves But the cruel rocks, they gored her side Her rattling shrouds, all sheathed in ice, At daybreak, on the bleak sea-beach, To see the form of a maiden fair, Lashed close to a drifting mast. The salt sea was frozen on her breast, The salt tears in her eyes; And he saw her hair, like the brown seaweed, Such was the wreck of the Hesperus, In the midnight and the snow! a main', violently. card' ed, combed with a card. fair' y-flax, so called because the petals drop as soon as touched. flaw, a gust of wind. haw' thorn, a thorny shrub. schoon' er, a small sailing vessel. skip' per, the master of a vessel. stark, rigid. stove, broke in. veer' ing, turning. WASHINGTON. THOMAS JEFFERSON. His mind was great and powerful, without being of the very first order; his penetration strong, though not so acute as that of a Newton, Bacon, or Locke; and, as far as he saw, no judgment was ever sounder. It was slow in operation, being little aided by invention or imagination, but sure in conclusion. Hence the common remark of his officers, of the advantage he derived from councils of war, where, hearing all suggestions, he selected whatever was best; and certainly no general ever planned his battles more judiciously. But if deranged during the course of the action, if any member of his plan was dislocated by sudden |