Chapter M: S.--By all the fields, mountains, cities and prairies, what sort of (3)

So, in the midst of anxiety and strife and scenes that hardened his boyish heart, Edward grew to be fifteen years old. He was now beginning to take great interest in the government, and to show that he had a mind and will of his own. Yet, King though he was, he still went on with lessons. So earnest was he that he was held up to all the boys of England, as an example. At the same time, however, he liked to play, though he had sadly little chance for it. He played a game something like baseball, and tennis, and was fond of archery as a sport.

You will be interested to read what were the things that a boy who was to be a king had learned by the time he was fifteen. He could speak and write Latin and French as well as English. He read Greek, Italian, and Spanish. He had studied the geography of his own country thoroughly, and knew all about the chief ports of England, Ireland, Scotland, and France. He had studied fortifications, and the places where they needed to be built or strengthened. He astonished his advisers by the intelligence with which he could talk about affairs of state.

It seems likely, does it not, that Edward would have made an excellent King if ever he had taken the government into his own hands? For the only fault that shows plainly in him is his coldness of heart. But he had never been strong, and before he was sixteen he became very ill, as a result of a cough that he had had for a long time. He had not strength to fight off the disease; so, patiently and gently as he had lived, the boy King died. He had had a chance to be neither a real boy nor a real King.

--_Adapted from "Boy-Kings and Girl-Queens",
by H. E. Marshall._

"SOME UGLY OLD LAWYER"

One of the things that made President Lincoln great was his
kindness in small things. Here is a story, told by a man who saw
the incident take place, that gives an instance of such kindness.

You should all begin reading this story at the same moment. At the
end of one minute your teacher will ask you to close your books
and answer the questions she asks.

One day President Lincoln was met in the park between the White House and the War Department by an irate, crippled soldier, who was swearing in a high key, cursing the Government from the President down. Mr. Lincoln paused and asked him what was the matter.

"Matter enough," was the reply. "I want my money. I have been discharged here, and can't get my pay."

Mr. Lincoln asked if he had his papers, saying that he used to practice law in a small way, and possibly could help him. The soldier rather ungraciously said that he had the papers.

My friend and I stepped behind some convenient shrubbery where we could watch the result. Mr. Lincoln took the papers from the hands of the angry soldier, and sat down with him at the foot of a convenient tree, where he examined them carefully, and writing a line on the back, told the soldier to take them to Mr. Potts, Chief Clerk of the War Department, who would doubtless attend to the matter at once.

After Mr. Lincoln had left the soldier, we stepped out and asked him if he knew whom he had been talking with. "Some ugly old fellow who pretends to be a lawyer," was the reply. My companion asked to see the papers, and on their being handed to him, pointed to the indorsement they had received. To the soldier's great surprise and confusion, this indorsement read:

"Mr. Potts, attend to this man's case at once and see that he gets his pay. A. L."

QUESTIONS

1. Why was Mr. Lincoln willing to help the soldier?

2. Why didn't he tell the soldier who he was?

3. Is there a joke in this story? If so, whom was the joke on?

ADDING THE RIGHT WORDS

Arrange your paper with your name on the first line and your grade
on the second line. Do not write anything on the third line, but
on the next six lines, write in the margin the numbers 1 to 6.

Below are six lists of words. All the words included in each list
are related in some way. For instance, all the words in the first
list name colors--

red yellow orange

After figure 1 on your paper write two other words that might be
included in this list of colors. Any two color-words will be
correct.

Now in the same way find out what kind of words are included in
the second list and after figure 2 write two words that could be
added to this list. Complete the exercise by adding to each of the
remaining lists in the same manner. When you finish, wait quietly
for the others.

1. red, yellow, orange.

2. wash, scrub, dust.

3. trolley car, bicycle, carriage.

4. desk, picture, bookcase.

5. Marion, Louise, Ruth.

6. harp, piano, cornet.

THE DESERT INDIANS' "FIRE BED"

You may have one minute in which to read this selection.

The Indians of our "American Sahara" are compelled by circumstances to overcome conditions not encountered by their brothers of the plains and mountains.

The "fire bed" is among the most useful and original methods employed by them to "sleep warm", in the "open", as in fall and spring the nights are very cold.

A shallow trench is "scooped out" in the sand, about six feet in length, three feet wide, and six or eight inches deep. The sand is "banked up" on the sides, and a fire is then made in the "pit", covering the entire length. This not only warms the bottom but the banked sides as well.

After the fire has burned long enough to warm the sand thoroughly, the larger unburned sticks are thrown out, but all live coals are left in the pit. The sand on the sides is now covered over the coals to a depth of about four inches. The "sleeper" will then lie down in the warm sand; and, if he possesses a blanket, he will throw it over him, thus keeping in the heat, and will sleep warm.

I have tried this out myself many times, both upon the desert and in the mountains, and have never suffered from the cold.

--"_Boy Scouts' Year Book."
Courtesy of D. Appleton and Company._

Describe to your teacher how the Desert Indians are able to sleep
out of doors in warm beds.

YES OR NO?

1. All dogs have a keen sense of smell. My pet animal has a keen sense of smell; do you know that my pet is a dog?

2. It took George six minutes to finish his exercise correctly. John finished in five minutes, but most of his answers were wrong. Was George the better reader?

PIETRO'S ADVENTURE

You should all begin reading at the same moment. Your teacher will
announce before you begin how much time she is going to give you.
She will divide the class into three equal groups according to
speed and find out which group writes the best answers to the
questions at the end of this selection.

I

Pietro Vittori was playing in the shade of an olive grove on a mountain side that overlooked the sea near Naples. Just below him was a white road that stretched away into the distance for many miles. Far below the road the blue water sparkled in the sunshine. It was a beautiful spot. Pietro, who had never been far from the olive grove and the mountain side, supposed that all the world was like it.

As he looked at the road, he saw a little cloud of dust in the distance; soon a motor car moved slowly along the road until it came to a stop. The driver and a man on the seat behind him got out and busied themselves about the car. They looked at the long slope of the road before them and shook their heads.

Drawn by curiosity, Pietro moved nearer and nearer until he stood beside the road. He could see that something was wrong, but he understood no word that the strangers spoke. Suddenly the glance of the man fell on the bright-eyed, barefoot lad, and he asked Pietro a question. His voice was kindly, but Pietro could only shake his head. Then the man laughed and patted Pietro's brown curls. He led the boy to the side of the car, and pointed to a tank beneath the seat of the driver.

This time Pietro understood; he knew that the tank contained the wonderful fluid that made the car go. This car could go no farther because the supply of the wonderful fluid was used up. It was all plain enough, and he knew what he could do to help. His dark eyes shone brightly as he looked up at the man.

"Si, si, signore!" he cried, eagerly; and in an instant more he was flying up the long slope, until at last he was out of sight round a curve. The driver of the car started to follow him, but soon gave up the attempt, for it was very hot. All the way to the village Pietro ran as fast as his bare feet would carry him--two kilometres or more.

It was nearly an hour before Pietro came hurrying back. With him was the man from the shop in the village, and he bore a filled can in either hand. The travelers were patiently waiting. They could do nothing else, for their only hope lay in Pietro, unless by chance another motor car should come along.

When they were ready to start again, the man patted Pietro's curly head once more, and slipped some bright silver coins into his hand--to the great surprise of Pietro, who had never seen other coins than those made of copper. Then the man leaped to his seat, and the whole party waved their hands to Pietro, and called out gayly to him in their strange language; then the car sped out of sight. Then Pietro hurried up through the olive grove to his little home, where the bright silver coins surprised his parents even more than they had surprised him.

Now that was only a small adventure; but adventures were few in Pietro's life, and so he thought of it often through the weeks and months that followed. A year later, with his parents and his brothers and sisters, he went over the mountains to Naples, and sailed in a great ship across the ocean to Boston; and all that meant so many adventures that he almost forgot his long run over the hot and dusty road to help the strangers.

II

Pietro had lived in the North End of Boston about two years, when he had another adventure. Late one afternoon, toward the end of November, he was walking slowly along the street on his way home from school. His heart was heavy. At school he had just been learning the story of Thanksgiving, and he had heard much about Thanksgiving celebrations; but he knew that there would be no Thanksgiving dinner in the crowded little rooms where he lived, for the family was large, and his father had long been without work.

As two men passed him, one said to the other, "How this part of Boston has changed! I thought I could take you straight to the Old North Church, but I seem to be getting lost."

Pietro sprang to the man's side. "I know the way!" he cried. "Let me show you! And I can tell you all about the church where Paul Revere hung the lanterns."

The two men looked down, and laughed. "That is the way with the little Italian boys; they soon become real Americans," said the one who had spoken first. "We shall be glad to have you guide us," he added to Pietro.

So Pietro proudly walked before them, and led the way, first to the historic church, and then to the old cemetery on Copp's Hill, near by. All this time the man was watching him curiously. "I think you and I have met before," he said at length. "Do you remember me?"

For the first time Pietro looked long and hard at the man's face. Then he cried out, "Yes, yes! I did not see before! You were the man in the car that stopped on the Amalfi road." He fairly danced for pleasure that the strange man had remembered him so long. Then he hurried on: "See! I can talk with you now! I am an American! I go to school!"

"You see," said the man laughingly, as he turned to his friend, "I can remember the face of a bright Italian boy better than I can the streets of my own city."

Then he told his friend of the help that Pietro had given when the motor car stopped on the Italian mountain side. With a few questions, he drew from Pietro his own story, and he watched the brown-eyed boy closely as they talked.

"Pietro," he said, at last, "I like you, and I want to be your friend. Keep on in school and study. Come and see me to talk things over once in a while. I'll be able to help you when it is time for you to go to work. In the meantime I can find work for your father." He gave Pietro his address, and checked the words of thanks that came pouring out. "And this," the man went on, "will give you all a Thanksgiving dinner as a reward for your work as guide this afternoon."

A bill was pressed into Pietro's hand, and the men hurried on. Pietro stood where they left him, and looked first at the bill in his hand, and then at the two men, who turned and waved their hands as they went round a corner.

So it came about that the fortunes of the Vittori family took a sudden change for the better, and there was a happy Thanksgiving dinner in their tenement--all as a result of Pietro's cheerful readiness to be of help three years before, when strangers were in trouble on an Italian mountain side.

--_John Clair Minot.
Courtesy of "The Youth's Companion"._

QUESTIONS

1. Near what city did the first part of this story take place?

2. In what city did the second part occur?

3. What service did Pietro do for the travelers in the first part?

4. What happened to Pietro between the first and second parts of
the story?

5. Did Pietro do anything in the second part of the story similar
to what he did in the first?

6. Do you think the American gentleman had a good memory?

7. Pietro was very polite and obliging, wasn't he? What two good
things did he do for his family by being so?

8. What do you think "_Si, si, signore_" means? Why are these
three words printed in italics?

SOME PATRIOTIC MINE WORKERS

You should all begin reading this selection at the same moment.

Can you read it thoroughly in thirty seconds?

Not all the good soldiers in the American army which helped to win
the World War were in the trenches, or even in France. And they
were not all young men. See if you do not think the following
occurrence proves the truth of this statement.

In October, 1918, shortly before the war ended, one hundred and fifty mine workers, who had retired from service after earning enough to support themselves in their old age, returned to the mines at Stoneboro, Pennsylvania, when they learned of the shortage of men during the war. They mined four thousand tons of coal while they waited for the railway siding to be completed to the new opening where they were to work.

--"_Youth's Companion._"

QUESTIONS

Why is it right to call these men patriotic?

Is that kind of patriotism needed only in war time?

FATHER DOMINO

It was the early spring time. The snow banks were melting away, leaving the brown earth soft enough for the flowers to push through as soon as they felt the warmth of the sun.

Across the high hill, which sloped down to the river, came a pair of foxes. The splendid Silver Fox, with a black mark across the eyes like a mask, was called Domino. The dainty little lady fox by his side, with a red coat and an elegant ruffle of white, was Snowyruff. They had met one day in the woods, and chosen each other for mates and friends for life, as is the way of foxes. Now they were searching through the woods for a place to build their home.

Snowyruff looked about the piney glade, nosed the ground, then began to dig. It was her way of saying, "I am satisfied. We'll set up housekeeping here."

She did not know that she had chosen the same sunny slope on which Domino himself had lived as a tiny cub, but she did know that it was a fine place for a home for a family of foxes. The hillside would be sheltered and warm; the den door would be hidden by the pine thicket near.

The deep snow and deep leaves had kept the earth soft enough for her to dig, so she worked away with a will. Domino sat on the hill and kept guard for an hour, then he took her place and worked while Snowyruff kept watch. So, working together, they built their home; a cozy, well-hidden den it was, too. No eye could detect it, though within a dozen feet; and as the warm spring sunshine set the grass growing, it was better hidden each day.

The pair were more and more careful not to be seen near the den. At last one day Snowyruff said to Domino: "Keep away now!" and he kept away from the den for days. While he was absent a wonderful thing happened: Five little foxes were born! When Snowyruff left them to slip down to the river for a cooling drink of water, Domino was there on the bank watching. She said to him in plain Fox language: "You must not come home yet," so he crouched with his head flat on the leaves, and she hurried back to the den.

The next day when she was hungry, she ate some of the food which they had stored up in the dry sand of the side chamber of the den. Two days later, she went to the door, and there was a pile of food--Domino had stolen down and left it for her and their babies. After that, every day, there was food at the door, or hidden in the grass near by.

When the cubs were nine days old their eyes opened, they whimpered less, and Snowyruff felt it safer to leave them. Domino now came in to see his family, and a proud father he was. He guarded them with the greatest care, and was as devoted to them as Mother Snowyruff herself.

When they were about a month old, the little toddlers were brought out into the sunlight in front of the den. There they romped and wrestled and raced with each other. Sometimes they chased flies or bumble-bees, sometimes they made a fine game of catching Mother's tail, or tussled over a dried duck's wing.

As the days passed and the young foxes grew stronger, Domino and Snowyruff began teaching them to find food for themselves. Live game was brought home each day. Sometimes a frog, or a fat field mouse, was brought, and then turned loose for the youngsters to re-capture. Once Domino called, "Chur-chur-chur," and when the rollicking cubs came tumbling over one another, he dropped a live muskrat in their midst. They pounced on it, but the muskrat was a desperate fighter. It seemed for a time that he would win, but the father and mother only looked on. They must let their children learn to do hard things for themselves, so they waited until one cub was strong enough and quick enough to lay the muskrat low.

The happy growing days went by, and the cubs had not learned the meaning of fear. One day Domino was returning home with food. Five little black noses, ten little beady eyes, set in woolly heads, were bunched at the den door. Suddenly the bay of a hound sounded near and Domino leaped on a stump to listen. There was no mistake; the hound was coming nearer the home place. Snowyruff warned the little ones, and Domino loped bravely out to meet his enemy. He showed himself boldly, and even barked defiance at the big hound, then dashed away, leading him farther and farther from the den.

Domino ran hard for an hour, then began trying to throw the hound off his trail, but it was not easy. The hound was swift and keen in following the trail, and though he doubled, crossed, and tried every trick he knew, Domino could not throw him off. The fox ran lightly ahead, the hound crashing heavily after him, baying loudly. At last Domino led his enemy along a narrow ledge which ran at the edge of a cliff overhanging the river.

On they went. Domino was growing very tired. His steps were lagging so that the hound was gaining upon him at every jump. Up and up they went; Domino went slower still. The hound could see him just ahead. He drew closer with each bound. At last Domino reached the top of the cliff. His black coat gleamed against the sky. He could go no farther; it was the end of the trail. The hound plunged forward, and leaped at the fox; but Domino sprang lightly aside, and the hound plunged headlong over the rugged cliff. He was hurled down into the icy flood below. He swam out as best he could, battered and bleeding, and limped home, whining with pain. Domino turned back and ran to the den, where five little black noses, ten little beady eyes, set in five little woolly heads, waited for their father.

The hound never came back again, and the Fox family lived in peace until the little foxes grew large enough to leave the home den and make homes for themselves.

--_From "Stories for Children and How to Tell Them".
Courtesy of J. Berg Esenwein._

QUESTIONS

1. What kind of home does a fox build for his family?

2. What kind of lessons did the Fox children have to be taught?

3. What did Domino do that reminds you of what a human father
would do for his family?

4. Make a list of the things the Fox family did that seem almost
human.

THE GOOD GIANT WINS HIS FORTUNE

Here is just one "movie" scene, just enough to fill up this page.
If you have forgotten how to play it, refer to the directions on
page 38.

"Ha," said the giant as he stooped down and picked up something. "Here is the key." Then he unbolted the door and walked into the vault where he saw chests of gold and silver arranged along the wall. He marked dozens of them with the chalk that he had in his pocket. When he had finished, he put a purse full of diamonds in his pocket, swung a bag full of money over his shoulder, and went out without another word, locking the terrified steward in.

THE MOLE AWAKES

One of the facts discovered by a student of nature is that every
part of an animal's body is fitted to perform its special task,
and to help the animal live in the surroundings where it finds its
home. Notice three ways in which the mole's bodily equipment is
fitted to the life he leads.

"Dig" is expressed in every line of the mole's body. Digging is his life-work, and to this Nature has adapted his every organ. His eyes are of no use in this underground life, and so they have dwindled away until externally there is little sign of them. Objects he probably never sees with any distinctness, though he still can tell light from darkness. But he seems to recognize light only to avoid it. In the darkness of his tunnels not only would his eyes be useless, but dirt would be apt to get into them while he is digging; so they are gradually leaving him.

The ears, too, or that part of them that projects from the head, would be in the way. So they have been discarded. The inner and most important part of the ear, however, still remains, and the mole hears quite well.

His most remarkable difference from ordinary animals is in the arms. These are very short, and the hands are broad, hard, and horny, and have very firm claws. When I catch a good, vigorous mole, I find I scarcely have force enough in my thumb and forefinger to hold his front feet together. He can often separate them in spite of all my straining. His other muscles are comparatively weak. The hands have been altered into great shovels, and when he tries to walk over smooth, level ground or on a floor he moves with odd, quick steps, resting on the sides and not on the palms of his hands. He reminds one of a wound-up toy that is held in the air and allowed to run down. But when he gets under the sod, the heaving line that forms over him as he digs shows that there he is in his proper element. Most animals would get dirty leading such a life, but you never see a cleaner animal than the mole. He comes out of the loose earth and squirms about a little, and he is clean. His smooth gray fur, shading to a silvery hue when it is ruffled, is very short and close and exceedingly dry. Indeed I know no animal with a more velvety coat. He would be a delightful pet to handle were it not for his ceaseless wriggling. Then too he carries a strong musky odor. This latter, indeed, is his only defence and I fear it is a poor one. Certainly it does not usually deter a dog from snapping him up. But perhaps it is meant for his friends rather than his foes. Friendly moles may scent each other from afar.

The mole is a reversible machine. He can run forward or backward at will. Probably as a result of this habit, it is wonderful how alike are the two ends of his body, his nose and his tail. Each is slender and each is bare; each is very sensitive, and the tail is just about as long as the nose. I think he uses whichever happens to precede, as a feeler, when he is making his way through his tunnel. For once having made a good big runway, he is very apt to keep on using it through the season. I doubt not he is often forced to travel backwards through his burrow. Then his tail must serve him as an effective guide.

--_From "Under the Open Sky", by S. C. Schmucker.
Courtesy of J. B. Lippincott Co._

QUESTIONS

1. Explain what the author means by saying, "The mole is a
reversible machine."

2. How long did it take you to read this selection?

THE COUNT AND THE ROBBERS

Ever since the World's War began, we have heard a great deal about
Belgium, the gallant little country which saved the world, and
Holland, her sturdy neighbor which stayed neutral. Both these small
countries were once called the Netherlands. "Nether" means "lower";
you can see how suitable a name "lower lands" is for a country that
is much of it below sea level. Until the fifteenth century this
country had no one ruler, but was cut up into many little parts,
each governed by a duke or count. Here is the story of a kind count,
who ruled in one part of the land in the twelfth century.

In the twelfth century there ruled in Bruges a certain Count Bordewyn, whose fathers had reigned for many years before him. Bruges, in those days, was one of the most important centres of the Netherlands, and the count was a kind and good man whose only thought was to make his people happy. In order that they might not be afraid to tell him their needs, he went about among them dressed as a farmer and a peasant; and they, thinking he was one of themselves, spoke out freely in his presence. One night he left his castle, and, poorly dressed, went out into the country to see if there was any good he could do. It was a dark, cold night, and after walking for some time he was glad to see the lights of a house in the distance. When he reached the building, he knocked at the door and went in. He found himself at a wedding-party given by a farmer whose daughter had been married that day. The good count was very happy to be of the party, and without letting the people know who he was, he sat down with them and sang and feasted. It was very late when they, much against their will, let him leave them, and he walked back through the lonely country, making plans for his people's happiness.

Suddenly he heard a whistle, and five men rushed out from a clump of trees and threw themselves upon him. The Count struggled to the trees, set his back against one and prepared to fight. The robbers were armed with knives, but the Count had only a big stick. On they rushed at him. He struck at the first one with all his strength, and hit him so hard that he fell to the ground. Another one crept up to his side, and would have cut his head open; but the Count turned quickly, and, catching the stroke on his stick, snatched the knife from the robber's hand, and with a blow sent him to join his comrade senseless on the ground. This left three against one, and the Count felt his strength giving way under their blows. Still full of courage, he swung the stick round his head to keep the wretches at a distance, and, as loudly as he could, he prayed to God to send him help. At this moment he saw dimly outlined against the darkness a human figure. In its hands it wielded a strange weapon, which soon was falling again and again on the heads and shoulders of the three bandits until they took to their heels and ran. At first the Count thought it was some angel from heaven come to his help, but as the figure drew nearer he saw that it was a farmer, and that the mysterious weapon was a flail.

The Count and the farmer embraced each other, and for a moment did not speak. Then said the Count, "My brave fellow! How can I thank you? You have saved my life!"

But the farmer would not listen to his thanks; "No, no," said he; "I have done only what you would have done for me in the same circumstances, and nothing more need be said. I take it that you are a merchant earning a living for your wife and family, as I try to do for mine."

But the Count insisted that the farmer should ask some favor. "Listen!" said he; "I am in the service of the Count, and perhaps can do you some great good."

For a time the farmer was silent, and then, hesitating very much, he told the Count his dearest wish. "For thirty years I have worked on a piece of land; with this flail I have beaten the corn, and I have loved the farm as my child. Yesterday my master died, and the land will pass into strange hands and out of my care."

The Count had listened quietly to his story, and at last spoke: "But, my friend, this is not such a difficult matter. How would you like the land for your own?"

The poor farmer wept with emotion. "Really, is it possible that you have such influence?" said he.

"Come to the castle to-morrow," said the Count, "and ask for the Captain of the Guard."

And the farmer, mystified and wondering, went slowly home. When his wife opened the door, she was very angry with him for being so late; but Cornelius--that was the farmer's name--explained what had happened, and although the wife could scarcely believe that such good fortune could be theirs, yet they went to bed full of hope.

At daybreak Cornelius dressed in his best and set off for the castle, followed by the prayers and blessings of his wife. When he arrived he was so frightened that he could hardly speak to the big soldiers who guarded the door, but at last he gave his message and asked to see the Captain. He followed the soldier into a splendid hall richly hung with tapestries, and soon the man whose life he had saved came into the room. He was dressed so beautifully in silk and cloth of gold that Cornelius hardly recognized him, and when he did he was afraid to ask his question. But his friend told him not to fear, that the Count was favorable to him.

He led the trembling Cornelius through many rooms and at last stopped outside a big door. "In this hall you will see the Count. Ask for what you wish," he said.

But Cornelius said he was so much afraid that he dared not ask. "Besides, how shall I know the Count from all his followers?" he inquired.

And the answer was that all the people in the room would kneel, bare-headed, except Count Bordewyn himself. So Cornelius followed his guide into the great hall where all the Court was assembled in grandeur, and, looking round him, he perceived that the only persons standing were himself and the man whose life he had saved. Seeing this, he at once knew that this man was the Count, and he flung himself on his knees and begged forgiveness for his presumption in speaking to him as he had done. But the Count, taking his hands, raised him to his feet and embraced him, and telling his Court the history of the previous night, he commanded them to treat Cornelius with every respect. He gave him the farm and land for his own, and stocked it with grain and cattle.

--_From "A Peep at the Netherlands,"
by Beatrix Jungman._

1. What was the Count's object in going about in disguise?

2. What do you think he gained by it?

3. What risks did he run?

4. Do you think the farmer deserved so great a reward?

5. What is a _flail_? You can find out from the story, without
using a dictionary.

6. Do you suppose the Count's people loved him? Why?

7. What difference do you see between the way the subjects of the
Count treated him in his castle and the way Americans would treat
their mayor, governor, or president?

8. Name the three scenes in this story.

WHAT THE EARLIEST MEN DID FOR US

You are now going to read a chapter of history. It will help you
to see how our ancestors learned some things that are very common
to us today, but which had to be learned before the wonderful
comforts we enjoy were possible.

You will like to study history if you keep in mind that it does
not just tell of something that happened a long time ago, but that
it shows how our civilization with its homes and schools and
churches and government and our great railroads and steamships and
factories came into existence. The thing we call civilization has
grown and changed in thousands of years much as you have grown and
changed in the few years that you can remember.

You will need to read this selection very carefully. Your teacher
will ask you the questions at the end and probably a good many
more. See if you can read it the first time so thoroughly that you
can answer all the questions. It will help you very much if you
will write topics as you go along. In the fourth paragraph you
will find a list of things that man has always needed. If you use
each of these things as a heading and under it make a list of the
steps of man's progress, you will probably find that you have
mastered the selection.

History is the story of what men have done in the past. It was not until men had learned how to write that they could keep a record of what they did. But men lived upon the earth for many thousand years before they knew how to write. In that early time they learned how to do many things which we are still doing and to make many things which we are still making and using. In these ways they did much to make life what it is for us.

How is it possible for us to know anything about what life was like in those ancient times when men could not write? Did you ever find an Indian arrow-head? Perhaps you have seen a collection of stone arrow-heads and axes. These relics and others like them tell us many things about the people who made them. Then there are people now living, like the natives of Australia or some of the tribes of American Indians, who still use, or used until very recently, these crude stone implements, and who live very much as our own ancestors lived many thousand years ago.

The earliest men lived but little better than the animals in the forest about them. They were without shelter or clothing and had only such food as they could find from day to day. Men have either found or made everything that we now have. Early man possessed a great advantage over all the animals because he had a better brain and a wonderful pair of hands with which he could make the weapons, tools, and other things that he needed.

Men have always needed food, shelter, clothing, and the means of protection against the dangers around them. It took our early ancestors many thousand years to learn how to provide themselves with these simple necessities of life.

At first men lived upon the roots, herbs, wild berries, and fruits in the forest. Sometimes they found birds' nests in the trees and ate the eggs or the young birds. Occasionally they found a dead bird or animal and thus learned to like the taste of flesh. They hunted for shellfish by the seashore and caught fish in the streams and lakes. Then they began to kill the smaller animals with stones or clubs and in this way they became meat eaters. When men had learned how to make knives, spears, and bows and arrows, they could kill the larger animals and get a better supply of food.

For a long time all food was eaten raw, because the use of fire was unknown. We do not know how man discovered fire. He may have kindled it first from a tree set aflame by the lightning. By and by he found that a spark could be produced by striking two stones together in the right way or that he could make a fire by rubbing two pieces of wood together.

The making of fire was one of the most wonderful inventions in the world. Men could now cook their food. At first they roasted bits of meat before the blaze or in the hot ashes. Later, when they had learned how to make vessels that would hold water, they began to boil all kinds of food over the fire.

For a long time men procured their food by hunting, trapping, and fishing. During this time they began to capture and tame the young of some of the wild animals. Probably the dog was the first domestic animal. The cow was also domesticated at a very early period. Man used her meat and milk for food and her skin for clothing. He made tools and implements out of her bones and horns. No other animal has been more useful to him. The goat and the sheep, the hog and the ass, and later the horse, were tamed by early men long before real history began. After these animals had been domesticated by the hunters and trappers, some men became shepherds and herdsmen and wandered from place to place with their flocks and herds in search of the best pastures.

Presently another step was taken toward civilized life. Men had long known that the seeds of some of the wild grasses and plants were good to eat. Now some one noticed that if these seeds were sown they sprang up and brought forth many more seeds. Then it was discovered that the seeds grew better and yielded a more abundant crop if the ground were broken up and made soft before the seed was sown. Because of these discoveries some men began to be farmers. By cultivation, the wild grasses which grew in the fields or beside the rivers were developed into wheat, oats, barley, and rice, the great cereals of the world.

When men began to procure their food by cultivating the soil it became necessary for them to remain in the same place in order to gather the harvest when it ripened. They could no longer wander from place to place as they had done when they were only hunters or shepherds. They now began to live in permanent villages and to cultivate the land lying near by. In this way the beginning of farming led to a settled life and the making of permanent homes.

Probably the earliest men had only such shelter from the rain and protection from wild animals as the trees gave them. After a time men began to live in dens and caves in the earth. These people are called the "cave dwellers". Still later men built huts by bending young trees together, weaving branches between them, and covering the whole structure with leaves and bark. When the hut was built of poles covered with the skins of animals it became a tent. Many of the people who wandered from place to place with their flocks and herds dwelt in tents.

When men settled near the fields that they were beginning to cultivate, they built permanent homes of stone plastered with mud or of bricks made of clay and dried in the sun. The roofs were covered with brush or timber. Then fire places and rude chimneys were added to these simple houses, and in other ways man's dwelling place was gradually improved.

The first clothing was probably made from the leaves of trees or from grasses matted together. When man became a good hunter he wore the skins of the animals that he killed. The ancestors of all of us were once clad in skins. The women of those early days used to cure the skins of small animals by drying them. They then made garments of them by sewing them together with needles of bone and the sinews of animals for thread.

The women scraped and worked the large skins until they were soft and pliable. These they used for clothing, or for blankets, or for the covering of their tents. Still later, the women learned to spin yarn from wool sheared from the sheep and from the thread of the flax which they were beginning to raise. The next step was to weave the yarn and the thread into woolen and linen cloth.

It was because early man had the mind to invent and the hands to make the weapons, tools, and utensils which he needed that he was able to make such progress in procuring food, shelter, and clothing.

Man's first weapon was a club. A stone which he used to crack nuts with probably was his earliest tool. At first he simply found stones of the right shape for his purpose. Then he began to chip a piece of flint until it had a rough edge. Now he had a hatchet as well as a hammer. Because he held this hatchet in his hand it has been called a fist-hatchet. A great many of these fist-hatchets have been found. In the course of time man learned how to use thongs of rawhide to bind handles to his fist-hatchets. Now he had axes and spears.

It was a great day in the long climb toward civilized ways of living when some unknown inventor made the first bow. With arrows tipped with sharp bits of stone, man could now kill the larger animals. Stone knives were used to skin the game. Flint scrapers and other implements were very useful in scraping and softening the skins to fit them for use.

By using pieces of flint with rough edges as saws and files, men began to make tools of horn, bones, and shells. They now possessed daggers and hammers of horn and awls and needles of bone.

For many thousand years, stone arrow-heads, knives, and axes were made with rough, chipped edges. This time is sometimes called the Old Stone Age. When men had learned to make better tools of their stone knives and axes by grinding and polishing them to a smooth, sharp edge, they had entered upon the New Stone Age.

The next great forward step in human progress was taken when men discovered metals and began to use them. Copper was the first metal used, but it was soon found that it was too soft for making many articles.

Presently it was discovered that if a little tin were mixed with the copper it made a harder metal called bronze. So many weapons, tools, and ornaments were made of bronze that the time when it was used is called the Bronze Age.

Iron is the most useful of all the metals. It is much harder than bronze and better suited in every way for making tools and implements. It took man a long time to learn how to use it, because it is not so easy to work as copper and bronze. When man made this "king of metals" his servant, he traveled a long, long way on the road which leads to civilization.

The men invented the weapons and some of the tools of the earliest ages. But it is probable that the women first made many useful tools and utensils. Women wove the first baskets to use in gathering and carrying berries, nuts, and other articles of food. They used to cover fish with clay in order to bake them in the coals and they noticed how the fires hardened the clay. Then by molding clay over baskets so that they could be hung over the fire, women gradually learned how to make earthenware pots and bowls. Afterwards they cut spoons, ladles, and drinking cups from shells, gourds, and the horns of animals. In these ways our foremothers made their first cooking utensils and their first dishes for holding and serving food and drink.

Women were not only the first basket-makers and potters. They were also the first spinners and weavers. They ground the first grain into flour with mortars and pestles of stone. Later they made simple mills for this purpose. In fact, women who lived before the dawn of history, began nearly all the household arts and crafts and in this way helped all the people who have lived since then.

Our earliest ancestors, like ourselves, found it necessary to carry things from place to place. But they lived long before the days of the railroad and the steamship. The first burdens were borne by the women. They followed the men who hunted, and carried the meat and the hides of the slain animals back to the camp. After the dog, the donkey, and the horse had been tamed, articles to be transported were packed upon their backs or dragged upon the ground behind them. Sleds were made in the northern lands. Canoes and boats were built by the dwellers by the rivers and the sea. Last of all, the wheeled cart was invented. All these things are older than history.

We often call our own time the age of invention. The steam engine, the telegraph, and the many uses of electricity are all modern. They have made wonderful changes in our ways of living. But these changes in our lives are not as remarkable as were those made in the lives of our earliest ancestors so long ago by such inventions as the fishhook and the bow and arrow, and such discoveries as how to make fire, how to make pottery, how to domesticate animals and plants, and how to smelt and work the metals.

Nowadays children have homes and are cared for by their parents. Among the very earliest men there was nothing like our homes or our families. Each person found his own food and took care of himself. Of course, mothers cared for their babies, but nobody took care of a child after he was large enough to find his own food. Then he had to shift for himself. When he wanted his breakfast or his dinner he dug roots or hunted for berries, nuts, or acorns. Sometimes he feasted upon birds' eggs or upon a rabbit or a squirrel which he had caught. The honey which he found in the nests of the wild bees was his only candy and he was apt to get well stung in taking it. He lived in constant fear of the wild animals around him and usually slept in a tree for safety. He spent his entire life in this way.

There are many things that people can do better by working together. It took many years for early men to learn to help one another. When they became cave dwellers and learned how to make fire, the first family group began to be formed. This group was called the clan. The clan simply means those who were kin to each other; that is, a number of men and women who believed that they were descended from a common ancestor. At first the common ancestor was a woman, the clan mother. In those days, relationship was always counted on the mother's side. When a man married he went to live with the clan of his wife. In the course of time groups of clans came to be called tribes.

A long time later, after the animals had been domesticated and men had come to own flocks and herds and other things that we call property, the father became the head of the family, as we know it today. Our kind of a family with the father as its head existed before history began.

Words had to be invented, just as tools were. At first men had no language. Very slowly they gave names to the things about them and learned to talk to each other. Mothers sang jingles and lullabies to their babies. Around the campfire at night men told how they had hunted the wild beasts. Women talked as they gathered and prepared food or dressed the skins of the wild animals. Mothers wanted their children to be brave and wise, so they told them stories about the bravest and wisest of their clan in the olden time. Perhaps this is why children, and older people too for that matter, have always been fond of stories. In these ways languages grew and the simple beginnings of literature were made.

People have always been fond of ornaments. The earliest men wore necklaces of teeth and claws. Later they made beads of bronze or of gold. The women tried to make their baskets and their clothes as beautiful as possible by coloring them with natural dyes. Some of the men liked to draw pictures of wild animals upon pieces of bone or upon the walls of their homes in the caves. People learned to count upon their fingers, and to use various parts of their bodies, like the finger, the hand, and the arm, as measures of length. For example, the cubit of which we read in the Bible was the distance from the elbow to the end of the middle finger. Our arts and sciences have grown from such crude and simple beginnings.