Chapter VIII: Introduction: ix (6)

Now when they had reached Bernard's house, and Bernard and Havelok and Goldborough were sitting there peacefully at supper, the house was suddenly attacked by a band of fierce robbers. Travelers were not as safe in Denmark as they were in England in the days of the strong King Athelwold, and these robbers, thinking that Havelok must be a very rich man, since he had given so valuable a ring to the Earl Ubbe, were come now, a greedy gang, to see if they could get hold of some of his treasure. Before Bernard and his guests were aware of them, the robbers had reached the door, and they shouted to Bernard to let them in or they would kill him. But the valiant Bernard recalled that his guests were in his safe-keeping; and shouting back that the robbers would have to get in before they could kill him, he jumped up and put on his coat of mail and seized an ax and leaped to the doorway. Already the robbers were battering at the door, and they took a huge boulder and let it fly against the door, so that it shivered to splinters. Then Havelok mixed in the fray. He seized a heavy wooden door-tree, which was used to bar the door, and when the robbers tried to break through the door, he laid on right and left. It was not long before Robert and William and Hugh, in the other part of the house, heard the din and came rushing up; and then the fight was on, fast and furious. Robert seized an oar and William and Hugh had great clubs, and these, with Bernard's ax and Havelok's door-tree, made it lively enough for the robbers. But especially Havelok and his door-tree made themselves felt there. The robbers, for all they were well armed with shields and good long swords, were compelled to give way before the flail-like strokes of Havelok's door-tree. When they saw their comrades falling right and left, those that were still able to do so took to their legs and ran away. Some harm they did, however, while the fray lasted, for Havelok had a severe sword-wound in his side, and from several other gashes the blood was flowing freely.

In the morning, when Bernard the Brown told Ubbe of the attacks of the robbers, Ubbe swore that he would bring them to punishment; and he also took further measures to protect Havelok. When he heard that Havelok was wounded, he had him brought to his own castle and gave him a room right next to his own.

Now that night, when Havelok lay asleep in his room and Ubbe in the room next to it, about the middle of the night Ubbe was awakened, and thought he saw a light on the other side of the door. “What's this?” he said to himself. “What mischief are they up to in there?” And he got up to see if everything was all right with his new friend the chapman.

Now when Ubbe peeped through a crack in the door, he saw a strange sight. For there was Havelok peacefully sleeping, and over his head there gleamed the miraculous light that Goldborough had seen and that had caused Grim to spare his life when he was a little child. And looking closer, Ubbe saw something more. For the cover was thrown back, and he saw on Havelok's shoulder the royal birthmark, and he knew immediately that this was the son of his old friend and king, Birkabeyn, and the rightful heir to the throne of Denmark. Eagerly he broke open the door and ran in and fell on his knees beside Havelok, acknowledging him as his lawful lord.

As soon as Havelok realized that he was not dreaming, he saw that good fortune had at last put him in the way of winning back his rights.

And it had indeed, for Ubbe immediately set to work getting together an army for Havelok. It was not long before Havelok had a fine body of fighters ready to follow wherever he led them, and then he thought it was time to seek out his old enemy, Earl Godard. Before this, however, there was another thing to be done, and that was to make knights of Robert and William and Hugh. They were given the stroke on the shoulder with the flat of the sword by Earl Ubbe and thus were dubbed knights. They were granted land and other fee, and they became as brave and powerful barons as any in Denmark.

When Havelok had his plans all made, he set out to find Earl Godard. It was Robert the Red who had the good fortune first to meet with him. But Godard was no coward, and was not to be taken without struggle for his freedom. He defended himself as best he could, but his followers soon became frightened and took to their heels, leaving the wretched Godard a helpless prisoner in the hands of Robert. Havelok was glad enough to have Godard in his power at last, but he made no effort to punish Godard for the injuries he had done to him personally. It was as a traitor to his king and his country that Godard was now held prisoner. When the time of the trial came, by the judgment of his peers, Godard was convicted of treason and sentence of death was passed upon him.

When peace had again been restored throughout Denmark, then the people all joyfully accepted Havelok as their king and the beautiful Goldborough as their queen.

One thing still remained for Havelok to do in England after affairs had all been settled in Denmark--there still remained an accounting with Earl Godrich. And so, as soon as he had got his army together, Havelok and Goldborough went on board ship and sailed over the sea, and soon they were again back at Grimsby. The earl was ready for him, too, for he had heard of Havelok's arrival in England, and he thought he could make quick work of his former kitchen-boy. But Havelok the man, with a Danish army at his back, was a quite different person from Havelok the boy, who carried the cook's baskets from market and distinguished himself only by his record at putting the stone. And this difference Earl Godrich was soon to discover.

It was Ubbe, this time, who had the first meeting with Godrich. Ubbe claimed Godrich as his prisoner, but Godrich immediately drew his sword in self-defense. They fought long and fiercely, and Godrich was decidedly getting the better of it, when Havelok fortunately appeared upon the scene. Havelok demanded that Godrich should yield himself as his prisoner, but for answer Godrich only rushed at Havelok all the more fiercely with his drawn sword, and so violent was his attack, that he succeeded in wounding Havelok. At this, Havelok's patience gave out, and exerting all his powerful strength, in a short time he overcame Godrich and disarmed him and bound him hand and foot. Then Havelok had Godrich carried before a jury of his peers in England, where he was made to answer to the charge of treason, just as Godard had been made to do in Denmark.

All the English barons acknowledged that Goldborough was their true queen, and that Godrich was a tyrant and usurper. And since not only plain justice, but also the welfare of the kingdom, demanded it, the barons passed the sentence of death upon the traitorous Earl Godrich. With much feasting and celebration, Havelok and Goldborough were taken in triumph to London, and there were crowned king and queen of England. Thus Goldborough's dream had come to pass, for she was now queen and lady and Havelok was lord and king over both Denmark and England.

But since Havelok could not be in both countries at one time, and since his Danish friends were eager to get back again to Denmark, now that their work in England was finished, Havelok made Ubbe ruler over Denmark in his place, and he remained in England. Moreover there were other old friends who were also richly deserving of reward. Of these, one was Bertram the cook, Havelok's former master, who had fed him when he was starving. Bertram was made a rich baron, and he was married to one of Grim's daughters, who were still living at Grimsby, but who, of course, had now become great ladies. The other daughter was married to Reynes, Earl of Chester, who was a brave young bachelor and glad enough to get so beautiful and so highly favored a wife as Havelok gave him. Robert the Red and William Wendout and Hugh the Raven all remained in England, where they married rich and beautiful wives, and became Havelok's right-hand men in the good government of the country.

And you can be sure the country was now again well governed. As in the days of the good King Athelwold, a traveler might bear a bag full of red gold on his shoulder from one end of England to the other, and be as safe as though he were guarded by an army of soldiers. Loved by their subjects and feared by their enemies, thus in peace and contentment King Havelok and Queen Goldborough dwelt together many a long year in England, and their children grew up around them. They had passed through their trials and tribulations, and at last only good days were in store for them.

This is the end.

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS

1. What advantage does the author gain by using a somewhat archaic
style?

2. Why does he tell the story with almost the same simplicity that
marks the original story?

3. What events show the character of Havelok?

4. What is the character of Grim?

5. What is the character of Goldborough?

6. In what respects are Earl Godrich and Earl Godard alike?

7. Show that the story is like some of the familiar nursery
legends.

8. Outline the principal events of the narrative.

9. Which events are most impressive?

10. Point out local allusions in the story.

11. In what respects is Havelok truly royal?

12. Point out any uses of the supernatural.

13. Is Bertram a realistic or a romantic character?

14. Point out exceedingly human touches in the story.

15. Point out the emphasis of noble characteristics.

16. Show how description adds to the effectiveness of the story.

17. Show how the story resembles other stories you have read.

18. What reasons have made the story live for a thousand years?

SUBJECTS FOR WRITTEN IMITATION

1. Uncle Tom's Cabin 11. Robinson Crusoe
2. Washington's Boyhood 12. Rip Van Winkle
3. The Story of Treasure Island 13. The Story of Portia
4. The Story of Ivanhoe 14. The Story of Rosalind
5. The Vision of Sir Launfal 15. The Story of Viola
6. Lancelot and Elaine 16. Silas Marner
7. Robin Hood and His Men 17. The Ancient Mariner
8. Huckleberry Finn 18. The Black Knight
9. Tom Sawyer 19. King Arthur
10. Ben Hur 20. Joan of Arc

DIRECTIONS FOR WRITING

You are to re-tell an old story. Select one with which you are entirely familiar. Tell it very simply and plainly, but try very hard to give it the quality of human interest. Make your readers sympathize with your hero and heroine. Tell a number of dramatic episodes, selecting those that do most to emphasize character. Make your story move very quickly, and make its action very vivid and intense. Give emphasis to good characteristics.

THE STORY ESSAY

POLITICS UP TO DATE
By FREDERICK LEWIS ALLEN

_(1890-). A contributor to many magazines. At different times he
served as Instructor in English at Harvard, and as a member of the
editorial staff of_ The Atlantic Monthly, _and of_ The Century.

=The short story and the essay may be combined in what may be called
the story-essay or the dialogue-essay. Many of Addison's _Sir Roger
de Coverley_ essays illustrate such a combination.=

=_Politics Up To Date_ is really a critical essay, directed against
certain tendencies in political campaigns in the United States,
but it is presented in the form of a dialogue between a young
politician and an old politician. It is very effective in its
satire.=

“So you've come to me for advice, have you?” said the Old Politician to the Young Politician. “You want to know how to succeed in politics, do you?”

The Young Politician inclined his head.

“I do,” he replied. “Will you tell me?”

The Old Politician was silent for a moment.

“Times change,” he said at last, “and I dare say there are new issues now in politics that there weren't in the good old days. The technic is somewhat different, too. However, the basic principles remain the same, and, after all, the issues don't really matter; it's what you say about them that counts, and I can tell you what to say about them. Very well, I'll advise you. First of all, if you're running for office in these days, you must run as a hundred-per-cent. American candidate.”

The Young Politician's eye clouded with perplexity.

“What is Americanism,” he asked, “and how does one figure it on a percentage basis?”

The Old Politician brought down his fist on the table with a crash.

“You aspire to political office, and ask questions like that!” he exclaimed in a voice of wrath. “Never question what hundred-per-cent. Americanism is, even to yourself. If you do, somebody else will question, too. Nothing could be more fatal. Don't try to define it; assert it. Say you're hundred per cent. and your opponent isn't. Intimate that if George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln went over your opponent with a slide rule and an adding-machine, they couldn't make him add up to more than ninety-nine per cent. If he's out for a seven-cent fare or a new set of municipal waterworks, tell the people that such things are un-American. Say that he's dodging the issue, and the issue is Americanism.” He paused. “If you were my opponent, and asked what Americanism is, I'd double you up. 'Think of it, my fellow-citizens! He doesn't even know what Americanism is! Is that the kind of man to hold office in the country of Washington and Lincoln?'”

The Young Politician looked round uneasily to make sure that they were indeed alone, for the Old Politician was almost shouting.

“Please,” said the Young Politician, “not so loud. I won't ask that question again. I see your point. What else do you advise?”

“You must learn,” continued the Old Politician, “to be a good denouncer.”

“A good what?”

“Denouncer. Keep your eyes open for objects of popular disapproval, and when you're sure you've got hold of something that is heartily disapproved by the great majority of the people, denounce it. At present I should advise you to denounce the high cost of living, the profiteers, and the Bolshevists. Next year, of course, the list may be quite different, but for the present those three are the best objects of denunciation.”

“What bothers me,” suggested the Young Politician in a hesitating voice, “is that it may be rather hard to drag those things into the campaign. Suppose, for example, I'm pledged to broaden the Main Street of the city upon my election to the city council. Won't it be rather hard to tie the Main Street and the Bolshevists together?”

The Old Politician looked upon the troubled face of the Young Politician with disgust.

“You're a great politician, you are,” he said wearily. “Tie them together? Don't be so ridiculously logical.” He rose to his feet, and as he did so he smote the table once more with his fist. “Gen-tle-men,” he cried hoarsely, surveying an imaginary audience with his glittering eye, “there is a movement on foot in this very county, this very State, nay, this very city, to undermine our Congress, to topple over the Constitution, to put a bomb under our President! Confronted by such a menace to our democratic institutions, what, gentlemen, shall be our answer? Let us broaden Main Street, as Washington would have broadened it, as Lincoln would have broadened it, and let us put down the red flag wherever it shows its head!”

“Its mast,” corrected the Young Politician, visibly moved. “Thank you for those courageous, those hundred-per-cent. words. I shall try to strike that note. But there is something else I want to ask. Suppose I am elected. What shall I do while I hold office in order that I may become ultimately eligible for still higher office?”

“In that case,” replied the old man, who by this time had subsided into his chair, “you must not merely denounce the high cost of living, the profiteers, and the Bolshevists; you must campaign against them.”

“But suppose I am a commissioner of roads or an attorney-general,” queried the Young Politician. “In that case, clearly such things lie outside my province. How can I campaign against them?”

“My dear young man,” said the Old Politician, with a weary smile, “don't bother about your province, as you call it. Your job will undoubtedly be uninteresting and the public won't know anything about it or care anything about it, and the test of your success will be your ability to conduct campaigns which have nothing to do with your job, and therefore stand some chance of interesting the public. There is no reason why even an attorney-general shouldn't campaign against anything, provided he handle his campaign right.

“The principal thing to bear in mind is that you must begin your campaigns noisily and end them so quietly that the sound of their ending is drowned in the noise of the next campaign's beginning. Let's say you begin with a campaign against the high cost of living. First come out with a statement that you, as attorney-general or commissioner of roads or what not, are going to knock the high cost of living to bits, and the whole force of the Government will be behind you. That will put you on the front page once. Then send out telegrams calling a conference to take steps against the cost of living. That will put you on the front page again. Then when the conference meets, address them, and tell them they've got to make conditions better, simply got to. By the way, you ought to have a couple of able secretaries to help you with these speeches, or, better still, to do the routine work of your office so that there will be nothing to divert your mind from your campaigns. Then, after you have the conference well started, step out. Don't stay with them; they may begin asking you for constructive ideas. Step clear of the thing, and start a new campaign.

“I can't over-emphasize the fact that when the conference is well started, you must help the public to forget about it, and stir up interest in something new. Flay the profiteer for a month or two, and get a conference going on profiteers. Rap the Bolshevists, and telegraph for a crowd of citizens to come and probe the Bolshevists while you're deciding what your next campaign shall be. Don't let the people's minds run back to the high cost of living, or they'll be likely to notice that it hasn't gone down. Refer constantly to the success of your own campaigns, and keep the public mind moving.”

The Young Politician was visibly impressed, but apparently a doubt still lingered in his mind.

“There's one thing I'm afraid I don't quite understand,” he said at last. “All this denouncing and rapping and probing--isn't it likely to look rather destructive? Will people want to vote for a man whose pleasantest mood is one of indignation?”

“My dear young man,” replied the Old Politician, “I fear that you misunderstood me. A politician must be always pleasant to the people who are about him, and denounce only persons who are not present. You should compliment your audience when speaking. Be sure to make the right speech in the right place; don't get off your profiteer speech to the Merchants' Association, or they may begin to wonder whether they agree with you, but draw their hearts to yours with your anti-Bolshevik speech; assure them that you and they are going to save the nation from red ruin. Denunciation is pleasant if it's somebody else who is getting denounced. Tell the merchants or the newspaper publishers or the party committeemen, or whoever it is that you are addressing, that they are the most important element in the community and that the war could not have been won if they had not stepped forward to a man and done their duty. That's good to hear.

“Finally, give them a little patriotic rapture. Tell them this is a new age we're in. Picture to them the capitalist and working-man walking hand in hand with their eyes on the flag. Make the great heart of America throb for them. Unpleasant? Why, if you top off with a heart-throb, you can make the most denunciatory speech delightful for one and all.”

The Young Politician rose.

“I see,” he said. “Thank you. Have you any other advice?”

“Merely one or two minor hints,” said the Old Politician. “If the photographers want to take your picture teaching your baby to walk, let them do it; the public loves the home life of its leader. Always be affable to the reporters, but never state your views explicitly, or you may find them embarrassing at some later date. Stick to generalities. I think that's all.”

“Thank you again,” said the Young Politician, putting out his hand. “You are very good. You're--” An idea seemed to seize his mind, and his bearing perceptibly altered. “You, sir, are a good American. I'm always delighted to have an evening with a man who is absolutely one-hundred-per-cent. patriotic American to the core.”

“Good night,” said the Old Politician. “You're getting it very nicely. I think you'll do well.”

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS

1. What advantage is gained by presenting the thought through the
medium of dialogue?

2. What is the character of the Old Politician?

3. Explain the writer's satire of the use of “Americanism.”

4. What are the Old Politician's principles concerning
denunciation?

5. What are the writer's principles?

6. In what ways does the writer satirize the American public?

7. How does the writer satirize political campaigns?

8. How does the writer satirize hypocrisy in political life?

9. How would the writer have a political campaign conducted?

10. How would the writer have an office holder act?

SUBJECTS FOR WRITTEN IMITATION

1. The Good American 11. The Right Kind of Leader
2. Campaign Speaking 12. Testing Political Speeches
3. Political Beliefs 13. Good Citizens
4. Honesty in Public Life 14. How to Vote Conscientiously
5. A Worthy Office Holder 15. A Genuine Statesman
6. Political Methods 16. Patriotic Speeches
7. Denunciation 17. Soap-box Orators
8. A Political Campaign 18. Diverting Attention
9. Sincerity 19. Public Servants
10. Deceiving the Public 20. The American People

DIRECTIONS FOR WRITING

Think of a series of principles in which you strongly believe. Imagine two people who will represent definite attitudes toward the principles that you have in mind. Write a dialogue between the two people, presenting your real thought in the disguise of satire. Let your work represent both the beginning and the ending of the conversation. As in all other writing, make the ending effective.

FREE!
By CHARLES HANSON TOWNE

_(1877--). Managing editor of_ McClure's Magazine. _He has written
many delightful books, among which are:_ The Quiet Singer, and
Other Poems; Jolly Jaunts with Jim; Autumn Loiterers; Shaking Hands
with England.

=Over two hundred years ago Joseph Addison imagined a character
whom he called “The Spectator” meeting with various friends and
discussing with them the life of the times. Through what was said
by these imaginary beings Addison gave his own shrewd comments on
foibles and follies. Mr. Towne's “young-old philosopher” is a sort
of modern “Spectator.” He talks of the drudgery of work, and the
glowing joy of a holiday, and comes to the sudden realization that
the world is a world of work in which every one must play his part
if he is to have real contentment. The essay is Mr. Towne's comment
both on a life of unvaried drudgery and on a life of idleness.=

=“I have wondered what it would seem like to be ... jogging along
with nowhere to go save where one pleased.”=

The young-old philosopher was speaking.

“I had a strange experience yesterday. To have spent twenty years or so at office work, and then suddenly to arrange one's affairs so that a portion of the week became one's own--that is an experience, isn't it?”

We admitted that it was an achievement to be envied.

“How did you manage it?” was the natural question.

“That is a detail of little importance,” he replied. “Let the fact of one's sudden liberty be the point dwelt upon. I found myself walking up the avenue at the miraculous hour of eleven in the morning, and not going to a desk! I was headed for the park, where I knew the trees had long since loaded their branches with leaves, and the grass was so green that it made the heart ache with its loveliness. You know how perfect yesterday was, a summer day to remember and to be grateful for.

“To you who have never known what it is to drudge day in and day out, this may seem a trifling thing to speak of. For myself, a miracle had happened. I could not believe that this golden hour was mine completely. I had never seen shop-windows with quite this slant of the sun on them. Always I had viewed them early or late, or wistfully at noon, when the streets were so crowded with other escaped office men that I could take no pleasure in what I beheld. Shop-windows at eleven in the morning were for the elect of the earth. That hour had always heretofore meant for me a manuscript to be read or edited, a conference to be attended, a telephone call to be answered, a visit from some one seeking advice--something, at any rate, that made it impossible for me to call it my own. I have looked often from a high window at that hour, and seen the people in the streets as they trailed like ribbons round and round the vast city, and I have wondered what it would seem like to be one of them, not hurrying on some commercial errand, but jogging along with nowhere to go save where one pleased.

“At last my dream had come true, and when I found myself projected upon that thrilling avenue, and realized that I had nothing, absolutely nothing, to do until luncheon-time, and I could skip that if I wished, I could scarcely believe that it was I who had thus broken the traces.

“The green of the park greeted me, and, like Raleigh's cloak,[55] a gay pattern of flowers was laid at the entrance for even my unworthy feet metaphorically to tread. And to think that these bright blooms unfolded here day after day and I had so seldom seen them! An old man dozed on a bench near at hand, oblivious to the beauty around him; and a septuagenarian gardener leaned over the circular border, just as Narcissus[56] looked into the pool. Perhaps he saw some image of his youth in the uplifted face of a flower.

“I know that I saw paths and byways everywhere that reminded me of my vanished boyhood; for I am one of those who have always lived in Manhattan, and some of the happiest days I ever spent were those in the park as a child, seeing the menagerie, feeding the squirrels, and rolling a hoop on a graveled pathway.

“I remembered Rossetti's line,[57] 'I have been here before,' as I walked along on this exultant morning; and it indeed seemed as if in some previous incarnation, and not in this life, I had known my footsteps to take this perfumed way. For in the hurry of life and in the rush of our modern days we forget too soon the leisure of childhood, plunging as we do into the rough-and-tumble of an agonized manhood.

“And all this was while the park, like a green island set in a throbbing sea, had waited for me to come back to it! No lake isle of Innesfree[58] could have beguiled the poet more. Anchored at a desk, I had dreamed often of such an hour of freedom; and now that it was really mine, I determined that I would not analyze it, but that I would simply drink in its wonder. It would have been as criminal as to pluck a flower apart.

“Policemen went their weary rounds, swinging their sticks, and it suddenly came to me that even in this sylvan retreat there was stern labor to be done. Just as some one, some time, must sweep out a shrine,--possibly nowadays with a vacuum-cleaner!--so papers must be picked from God's grass, and pick-pockets must be diligently looked for in holiday crowds. Men on high and practical sprinkling-carts must keep the roadways clean, and emissaries of the law must see to it that motorists do not speed too fast. You think of ice-cream as being miraculously made in a park pavilion, and unless you visit the city woodland at the hour of eleven or so in the morning, you may keep your dream. But I beheld a common ice-wagon back up to the door of that cherished house of my childhood, and a strong, rough fellow proved himself the connecting-link between the waitress and her eager little customers.

“At this hour it was as though I had gone behind the scenes of a theater while the stage-hands were busy about their necessary labors. Wiring had to be done,--I had forgotten that they have telephones even in the park,--and a mason was repairing a crumbling wall. How much better to let it crumble, I thought. But all my practicality, through my sense of strange freedom, had left me, and I was ardent for a mad, glad world, where for a long time there would be nothing for anybody to do. I wanted masons and policemen and icemen and nurse-maids and electricians and keepers of zoölogical gardens to be as free as I, forever and ever.

“You see, my unexpected holiday had gone to my head, and it was a summer morning, and I felt somehow that I ought to be working rather than loitering here.

“I suppose I shall be sane to-morrow, but I wonder if I want to be.”

And we all wondered if we didn't like him better when he was just this way, a child with a new toy, or, rather, a child with an old toy that he had almost but not quite forgotten how to play with.

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS

1. What advantage does the essayist gain by using characters to
express his own thoughts?

2. What made the philosopher's holiday so notable?

3. What had been his daily life?

4. Comment on the various thoughts and fancies that came to the
philosopher on his holiday.

5. What is meant by the expression, “An Agonized Manhood”?

6. What joys does the philosopher find?

7. Show how his thoughts come back to the idea of work.

8. In what did his lack of “sanity” consist?

9. Does the expression, “I suppose I shall be sane to-morrow,” mean
that he will wish to work, or wish to have a holiday, or wish
for something else?

10. What was the toy that he had almost forgotten how to play with?

11. What is the author's purpose?

12. What evils in modern life does the essay criticize?

SUBJECTS FOR WRITTEN IMITATION

1. School Athletics 11. Selfishness
2. Home Study 12. School Spirit
3. Exercise 13. Good Manners
4. Reading 14. Playing Jokes
5. Writing Letters 15. Carefulness
6. Aiding Others 16. Honesty in School Work
7. Politeness 17. Thoughtfulness
8. Using Reference Books 18. Practising Music Lessons
9. Going to Bed Early 19. Looking Out for Number One
10. Obedience 20. “Bluffing”

DIRECTIONS FOR WRITING

When you have selected a subject that interests you, write out, in a single sentence, your one most important thought on that subject. Then plan to write an essay that will embody that thought.

If you are to imitate Mr. Towne's method you will think of a typical character who will express your own thought. As soon as you have introduced your character--notice how quickly Mr. Towne introduced the “young-old philosopher”--lead him to relate an experience that made him think about the subject. Write his meditations in such a way that they will show all view-points. Let the end of your essay indicate, rather than state, the view-point that you wish to emphasize.

Mr. Towne gives his essay many elements of originality and much beauty of thought and expression. Imitate his style as well as you can.

FOOTNOTES:

[55] Sir Walter Raleigh is said to have laid his cloak in the mud so that Queen Elizabeth might pass without soiling her garments.

[56] Narcissus. A Greek myth tells of a young man named Narcissus who, leaning over a pool, fell in love with his own reflection, and changed into a flower.

[57] Dante Gabriel Rosetti (1828-1882). An English poet of Italian and English descent. His poems are marked by beauty of form, symbolism and color.

[58] Innesfree. The Irish poet, William Butler Yeats (1864--) wrote _The Lake Isle of Innisfree_ in which he imagines Innisfree as an island of perfect peace, a place for which he longs when “on the roadway, or on the pavements gray.”

THE STORY OF ADVENTURE

PRUNIER TELLS A STORY
By T. MORRIS LONGSTRETH

_An American author and lover of natural scenery. His books on_ The
Adirondacks, _and_ The Catskills _are enticements into the mountain
world. He is a writer for many periodicals._

=The romantic story of adventure deals with events that are far from
being the events of daily life. Usually such a story has for its
setting an unusual scene.=

=_Prunier Tells a Story_ deals with events that come into very
few lives; its setting is a region into which very few people
penetrate. The principal character, the French-Canadian Prunier, is
likewise a type of person with whom few are acquainted.=

=At the same time, the story is told with a degree of naturalness
that makes it seem real. The French-Canadian is brought into touch
with daily life by the presence of his two listeners, who are
people of the ordinary world, and one of whom is a boy.=

=The story is not told merely for wild event: it hangs upon
character and upon noble purpose. It emphasizes courage, ability,
self-sacrifice and faith.=

=The setting of the story is so used that it contributes in a marked
degree to the entire effect. As one reads he feels himself in the
icy north, in the grip of cold and darkness where wild events are
altogether probable.=