New National Fourth Reader Part 49

I said nothing about having seen through the keyhole the harmless razor; but wishing to get some praise for my heroic encounter with the burglar, I mildly asked if it was the custom in York for men as well as turkeys to roost in trees.

Another burst of laughter from the boys did away with my last hope of glory. As soon as he could speak, Joe answered--

"Johnny planned to be up early to pick the last cherries off that tree.

I wanted to get ahead of him, and as I was going a-fishing, I went off quietly before daylight."

"Did you get the cherries?" I asked, bound to have some laugh on my side.

"Guess I didn't," grumbled Joe, rubbing his knees, while Johnny added--

"He got a horrid scare and a right good sc.r.a.ping, for he didn't know any one was down there. Couldn't go a-fishing, either--he was so lame--and I had the cherries after all. Served him right, didn't it?"

No answer was necessary. Mrs. Grant went off to repeat the tale in the kitchen, and the sounds of hearty laughter that I heard, a.s.sured me that Seth was enjoying the joke as well as the rest of us.

Language Lesson.--Let pupils make out an _a.n.a.lysis_ for so much of the last three lessons as may be included under the subject--"A Night at the Cottage."

Suggestion.--The _a.n.a.lysis_ of _simple subjects_, and their treatment orally or in writing, are valuable exercises, and should be a.s.signed to pupils as frequently as possible during the whole of their school life.

LESSON XLVIII.

mel'o dy, _sounds pleasant to the ear_.

chant'ed, _sung in a simple melody_.

witch, _a person supposed to deal with evil spirits_.

trump'et, _a hollow piece of metal used to make music_.

har'mo ny, _the effect produced by uniting two or more different parts in music_.

WHAT THE CHIMNEY SANG.

Over the chimney the night-wind sang And chanted a melody no one knew; And the Woman stopped, as her babe she tossed, And thought of the one she had long since lost: And said, as her tear-drop back she forced, "I hate the wind in the chimney."

Over the chimney the night-wind sang And chanted a melody no one knew; And the Children said, as they closer drew, "'Tis some witch that is cleaving the black night through-- 'Tis a fairy trumpet that just then blew, And we fear the wind in the chimney."

Over the chimney the night-wind sang And chanted a melody no one knew; And the Man, as he sat on his hearth below, Said to himself, "It will surely snow, And fuel is dear and wages low, And I'll stop the leak in the chimney."

Over the chimney the night-wind sang And chanted a melody no one knew; But the Poet listened and smiled, for he Was Man, and Woman, and Child--all three, And said, "It is G.o.d's own harmony, This wind we hear in the chimney."

Directions for Reading.--The first two lines of each stanza may be read more slowly and with a fuller tone of voice than the rest of the stanza.

Notice that the words of special _emphasis_ throughout the poem begin with capital letters.

Mark _inflections_ in the last four lines of the first and last stanzas.

LESSON XLIX.

sel'dom, _not often; rarely_.

jun'gles, _places covered with trees and brushwood_.

tough (tuf), _not easily separated_.

ap par'ent ly, _seemingly; in appearance_.

a cute', _quick in action; sharp_.

charg'es, _rushes forward_.

gram'p us, _a kind of fish_.

re sumed', _started again; took up again_.

hid'e ous, _horrid to look at_.

de struc'tion, _death; entire loss_.

re sist', _stand against_.