Sanders' Union Fourth Reader Part 25

FIRST VOICE.

4. River! river'! singing gayly From the hill-side all day long, Teach my heart the merry music Of thy cheery, rippling song.

SECOND VOICE.

Many winding ways I follow; Yet, at length, I reach the sea.

Man, remember that _thy_ ocean Is ETERNITY!

QUESTIONS.--1. What is meant by _G.o.d's warning on the wall?_ See the 5th chap. of Daniel. 2. What is meant by _minstrel-bird?_ Ans. The lark.

LESSON XXII.

GLARE, dazzling light.

BLITHE' LY, gayly; joyfully.

WROUGHT, worked; labored.

RE MORSE', painful regret.

WANE, decrease; grow less.

FAN' CIES, whims; notions.

A NON._'_ is an abbreviation of _anonymous_, which means _without name; nameless_. See SANDERS' a.n.a.lYSIS, page 88, Exercise 108.

SOWING AND HARVESTING.

ANON.

1. They are sowing their seed in the daylight fair, They are sowing their seed in the noonday's glare, They are sowing their seed in the soft twilight, They are sowing their seed in the solemn night; _What_ shall their harvest be?

2. They are sowing their seed of pleasant thought, In the spring's green light they have blithely wrought; They have brought their fancies from wood and dell, Where the mosses creep, and the flower-buds swell; _Rare_ shall the harvest be!

3. They are sowing the seeds of word and deed, Which the cold know not, nor the careless heed,-- Of the gentle word and the kindest deed, That have blessed the heart in its sorest need; _Sweet_ shall the harvest be!

4. And some are sowing the seeds of pain, Of late remorse, and in maddened brain; And the stars shall fall, and the sun shall wane, Ere they root the weeds from the soil again; _Dark_ will the harvest be!

5. And some are standing with idle hand, Yet they scatter seeds on their native land; And some are sowing the seeds of care, Which their soil has borne, and still must bear; _Sad_ will the harvest be!

6. They are sowing the seed of n.o.ble deed, With a sleepless watch and an earnest heed; With a ceaseless hand o'er the earth they sow, And the fields are whitening where'er they go; _Rich_ will the harvest be!

7. Sown in darkness, or sown in light, Sown in weakness, or sown in might, Sown in meekness, or sown in wrath, In the broad work-field, or the shadowy path, SURE will the harvest be!

QUESTIONS.--1. Who are meant by _they_ in this lesson? 2. What is said of those who are _sowing the seeds of word and deed?_ 3. What, of those who are sowing the _seeds of care?_ 4. Repeat the last verse. 5. What pa.s.sage of Scripture teaches the same idea? Ans. "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."--Gal., 6th chap., 7th verse.

LESSON XXIII.

FOR' TI FI ED, strengthened by works of art for defense.

SUL' TRY, close; oppressively hot.

BOAT' SWAIN, one who has charge of a ship's boats, rigging, &c.

TARS, sailors.

MOOR' ED, anch.o.r.ed.

BUOYS, floats.

AN' CHOR, iron instrument for holding ships.

STAR' BOARD, right side of a ship.

FORE' CAS TLE, short deck in the fore part of a ship.

WAKE, track.

BE REFT', deprived.

IM' MI NENT, impending.

PIERC' ED, went through.

FORE AND AFT, before and behind.

SWAY' ED, swung; moved.

CAR' Ca.s.s, dead body.

EX CITE' MENT, agitation.

PHA' SES, forms; appearances.

[Headnote 1: SA HA' RA, is a Great Desert in Africa, lying south of the Barbary States, and extending from the Atlantic on the west to Egypt and Nubia on the east. The winds that come from this desert, are hot and suffocating.]

A THRILLING INCIDENT.

ANON.

1. Our n.o.ble ship lay at anchor in the Bay of Tangier, a fortified town in the extreme northwest of Africa. The day had been extremely mild, with a gentle breeze sweeping to the northward and westward; but, toward the close of the afternoon, the sea-breeze died away, and one of those sultry, oven-like breathings came from the great, sun-burnt Sahara [Headnote 1].

2. Half an hour before sundown, the captain gave the cheering order for the boatswain to call the hands to "go in swimming;" and, in less than five minutes, the forms of our tars were seen leaping from the arms of the lower yards, into the water. One of the studding sails, with its corners suspended from the main yard-arm and the swinging boom, had been lowered into the water, and into this most of the swimmers made their way.

3. Among those who seemed to be enjoying the sport most heartily, were two of the boys, Timothy Wallace and Frederic Fairbanks, the latter of whom was the son of our old gunner; and, in a laughing mood, they started out from the studding sail on a race. There was a loud ringing shout of joy on their lips as they put off, and they darted through the water like fishes. The surface of the sea was smooth as gla.s.s, though its bosom rose in long, heavy swells that set in from the Atlantic.

4. The vessel was moored with a long sweep from both cables, and one of the buoys of the anchor was far away on the starboard quarter, where it rose and fell with the lazy swells of the waves. Toward this buoy the two lads made their way, young Fairbanks taking the lead; but, when they were within about twenty or thirty fathoms of the buoy, Wallace shot ahead and promised to win the race.

5. The old gunner had watched the progress of his little son with a great degree of pride; and when he saw him drop behind, he leaped upon the quarter-deck, and was just upon the point of urging him on by a shout, when a cry was heard that struck him with instant horror.

6. "_A shark! a shark!_" was sounded from the captain of the forecastle; and, at the sound of these terrible words, the men who were in the water, leaped and plunged toward the ship. Right abeam, at the distance of three or four cables' lengths, was seen the wake of a shark in the water, where the back of the monster was visible. His course was for the boys.

7. For a moment, the gunner stood like one bereft of reason; but, on the next, he shouted at the top of his voice, for the boys to turn; but they heard him not. Stoutly the two swimmers strove for the goal, all unconscious of their imminent danger. Their merry laugh still rang over the waters, and, at length, they both touched the buoy together.

8. Oh, what agony filled the heart of the gunner! A boat had put off, but he knew that it could not reach the boys in season, and every moment he expected to see the monster sink from sight,--_then_ he knew that all hope would be gone. At this moment, a cry reached the ship, that pierced every heart,--the boys had discovered their enemy.

9. The cry started the old gunner to his senses, and quicker than thought, he sprang from the quarter-deck. The guns were all loaded and shotted, fore and aft, and none knew their temper better than he. With steady hand, made strong by sudden hope, the old gunner seized a priming-wire and picked the cartridge of one of the quarter guns; then he took from his pocket a percussion cap, fixed it in its place, and set back the hammer of the patent lock.

10. With a giant strength the old man swayed the breech of the heavy gun to its bearing, and then seizing the string of the lock, he stood back and watched for the next swell that would bring the shark in range. He had aimed the piece some distance ahead of his mark; but yet a little moment would settle his hopes and fears.

11. Every breath was hushed, and every heart in that old ship beat painfully. The boat was yet some distance from the boys, while the horrid sea-monster was fearfully near. Suddenly the air was rent by the roar of the heavy gun; and, as the old man knew his shot was gone, he sank back upon the hatch, and covered his face with his hands, as if afraid to see the result of his own efforts; for, if he had failed, he knew that his boy was lost.

12. For a moment after the report of the gun had died away upon the air, there was an unbroken silence; but, as the dense smoke arose from the surface of the water, there was, at first, a low murmur breaking from the lips of the men,--that murmur grew louder and stronger, till it swelled to a joyous, deafening shout. The old gunner sprang to his feet, and gazed off on the water, and the first thing that met his view, was the huge carca.s.s of the shark, floating on his back--a mangled, lifeless ma.s.s.

13. In a few moments, the boats reached the daring swimmers, and, greatly frightened, they were brought on board. The old man clasped his boy in his arms, and then, overcome by the powerful excitement, he leaned upon a gun for support. I have seen men in all the phases of excitement and suspense, but never have I seen three human beings more overcome by thrilling emotions, than on that startling moment when they first knew the effect of our gunner's shot.