Chapter IV

30. And Tom sat upon the buoy long days, long weeks, looking out to the sea and wondering when the water-babies would come back; and yet they never came.

31. Then he began to ask all the strange things which came in and out of the sea if they had seen any; and some said "Yes," and some said nothing at all. He asked the bass and the pollock; but they were so greedy after the shrimps that they did not care to answer him a word.

32. Then there came in a whole fleet of purple sea snails, floating along, each on a sponge full of foam, and Tom said: "Where do you come from, you pretty creatures? and have you seen the water-babies?"

33. And the sea snails answered: "Whence we come, we know not; and whither we are going, who can tell? We float out our life in the mid-ocean, with the warm sunshine above our heads and the warm Gulf Stream below; and that is enough for us. Yes, perhaps we have seen the water-babies. We have seen many strange things as we sailed along."

And they floated away, the happy, stupid things, and all went ashore upon the sands.

34. Then there came in a great, lazy sunfish, as big as a fat pig cut in half; and he seemed to have been cut in half, too, and squeezed in a clothes-press till he was flat; but to all his big body and big fins he had only a little rabbit's mouth, no bigger than Tom's; and when Tom questioned him he answered him in a little, squeaky, feeble voice:

35. "I'm sure I don't know; I've lost my way. I meant to go to the Chesapeake, and I'm afraid I've got wrong somehow. Dear me! it was all by following that pleasant warm water. I'm sure I've lost my way."

And when Tom asked him again, he could only answer: "I've lost my way. Don't talk to me; I want to think."

36. Then there came up a shoal of porpoises, rolling as they went--papas and mammas and little children--and all quite smooth and shiny, because the fairies French polish them every morning; and they sighed so softly as they came by that Tom took courage to speak to them; but all they answered was, "Hush, hush, hush!" for that was all they had learned to say.

37. And then Tom left the buoy and used to go along the sands and round the rocks, and come out in the night and cry and call for the water-babies; but he never heard a voice call in return. And at last, with his fretting and crying, he grew lean and thin.

38. But one day among the rocks he found a playfellow. It was not a water-baby, alas! but it was a lobster; and a very distinguished lobster he was, for he had live barnacles on his claws, which is a great mark of distinction in lobsterdom.

39. Tom had never seen a lobster before, and he was mightily taken with this one, for he thought him the most curious, odd, ridiculous creature he had ever seen; and there he was not far wrong, for all the ingenious men and all the scientific men and all the fanciful men in the world could never invent, if all their wits were boiled into one, anything so curious and so ridiculous as a lobster.

40. He had one claw knobbed and the other jagged; and Tom delighted in watching him hold on to the seaweed with his knobbed claw while he cut up salads with his jagged one, and then put them into his mouth after smelling at them like a monkey.

41. Tom asked him about water-babies. Yes, he said, he had seen them often. But he did not think much of them. They were meddlesome little creatures that went about helping fish and shells which got into scrapes. Well, for his part, he would be ashamed to be helped by little, soft creatures that had not even a shell on their backs. He had lived quite long enough in the world to take care of himself.

42. He was a conceited fellow, the old lobster, and not very civil to Tom. But he was so funny and Tom so lonely that he could not quarrel with him; and they used to sit in holes in the rocks and chat for hours.

* * * * *

I. =Bŭr´rō̍_w_s̝=: holes in the ground made for homes by certain
animals. =Hȯv´ẽrs̝=: covers; shelters. =Swĩrl´ĭng=: whirling.
=Strĭds=: passages between steep rocks or banks, so narrow that
they look as if they might be crossed at a stride. =Căt´ȧ răcts=:
great falls of water over steep places.

II. =Bärġ´ĕs̝=: roomy boats to carry goods or passengers,
=Ha̤_w_s̝´ẽrs̝=: large ropes. =Buoy=: a floating object chained in
place to mark a channel or to show the position of something under
the water, as a rock. =Bȧs=_s_, =Mŭl´lĕt=: kinds of fish.

III. =Tẽrns̝=, =Gŭl_l_s̝=: long-winged seabirds. =Sē_a_-pī_e_s̝=:
shore birds, sometimes called oyster catchers. =Ȧ _w_rȳ´=: twisted
toward one side.

IV. =Pŏl´lȯ_c_k=: a sea-fish something like the cod. =Pleasant warm
water=: the Gulf Stream. What can you tell about it? =Shō_a_l=: a
great number; a crowd--said especially of fish. =Pôr´pȯ_i_s ĕs̝=:
sea animals. =Bär´nȧ cl_e_s̝=:small shell fish which fasten
themselves on rocks, timbers, other animals, etc.

* * * * *

We trout lead a happy life. We swim about in the brooks. We shine
like silver as we dart to and fro in the clear, cool water. We play
in the shallow water; we hide in the deep pools. On warm days we
lie in the shadow of the rocks.

Change the sentences so that only one trout shall speak: as, I lead
a happy life.

* * * * *

Do not think of your faults, still less of others' faults; in every person who comes near you, look for what is good and strong; honor that; rejoice in it; and, as you can, try to imitate it; and your faults will drop off like dead leaves when their time comes.

RUSKIN

Psalm XXIV

The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.

For He hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods.

Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in His holy place?

He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.

He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.

This is the generation of them that seek Him, that seek Thy face, O Jacob. Selah.

Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.

Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.

Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.

Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory. Selah.

From the painting by Rosa Bonheur

Brittany Sheep]

A Good Samaritan

BY GEORGE MACDONALD

George Macdonald (1824 ----): A Scottish poet and novelist. Among
his novels are "Robert Falconer," "Malcolm," "David Elginbrod," and
"Annals of a Quiet Neighborhood." Macdonald wrote several books for
children, of which the best known are "At the Back of the North
Wind" and "The Princess and the Goblin."

1. The thousand streets of London gray
Repel all country sights;
But bar not winds upon their way,
Nor quench the scent of new-mown hay
In depth of summer nights.

2. And here and there an open spot,
Still bare to light and dark,
With grass receives the wanderer hot;
There trees are growing, houses not--
They call the place a park.

3. Soft creatures with ungentle guides,
God's sheep from hill and plain,
Flow thitherward in fitful tides,
There weary lie on woolly sides,
Or crop the grass amain.

4. In Regent's Park one cloudless day
An over-driven sheep,
Arrived from long and dusty way,
Throbbing with thirst and hotness lay,
A panting woolly heap.

5. But help is nearer than we know
For ills of every name:
Ragged enough to scare the crow,
But with a heart to pity woe,
A quick-eyed urchin came.

6. Little he knew of field or fold,
Yet knew what ailed; his cap
Was ready cup for water cold;
Though rumpled, stained, and very old,
Its rents were small--good-hap!

7. Shaping the rim and crown he went
Till crown from rim was deep.
The water gushed from pore and rent;
Before he came one-half was spent--
The other saved the sheep.

* * * * *

=Rē̍ pĕl´=: drive away. =Ŭn ġĕn´tl_e_=: not gentle; rough.
=Fĭt´fụl=: changeable. =Ȧ mā_i_n´=: busily.

The Spartan Three Hundred