Sanders' Union Fourth Reader Part 31

A DORN' ED, decorated; embellished.

SPOILS, booty; prey.

ANT' LERS, branching horns.

SUS PEND' ED, hung; atatched.

DIS TRACT' ED, disturbed; disordered.

FU' GI TIVE, runaway; wanderer.

BE SET', hemmen in; surrounded.

TRAI' TORS, betrayers.

HEATH, place overgrown with shrubs.

LIEGE, lord; sovereign.

LOY' AL, true; faithful.

FE' AL TY, loyalty; fidelity.

MA' TRON, married woman.

REC OG NIZ' ED, knew; recollected.

IN VAD' ERS, persons invading.

ROBERT BRUCE AND THE SCOTCH WOMAN.

ANON.

1. Many years ago, an old Scotch woman sat alone, spinning by the kitchen fire, in her little cottage. The room was adorned with the spoils of the chase, and many implements of war and hunting. There were spears, bows and arrows, swords, and shields; and, against the side of the room, hung a pair of huge antlers, once reared on the lordly brow of a "stag of ten," [Footnote: That is, a stag ten years old. The age of the animal is known by the number of p.r.o.ngs or tines, each year one new p.r.o.ng being added.] on which were suspended skins, plaids, bonnets, and one or two ponderous battle-axes.

2. The table, in the middle of the floor, was spread for supper, and some oatmeal cakes were baking before the fire. But the dame was not thinking of any of _these things_, nor of her two manly sons, who, in an adjoining room, were busily preparing for the next day's sport.

3. She was thinking of the distracted state of her native land, and of the good king, Robert Bruce, a fugitive in his own kingdom, beset, on every hand, by open enemies and secret traitors. "Alas!" thought she, "to-night I dwell here in peace, while to-morrow may see me driven out into the heath; and even now our king is a wanderer, with no shelter for his weary limbs."

4. A loud knock at the door broke in upon her musings. She rose, trembling with fear, to unbar the entrance, and beheld a man closely m.u.f.fled in a cloak. "My good woman," said he, "will you grant a poor traveler the shelter of your roof to-night'?"

5. "Right willingly will I," said she; "for the love of _one_, for whose sake all travelers are welcome here." 6. "For whose sake is it that you make all wanderers welcome?" asked the stranger.

7. "For the sake of our good king, Robert Bruce, who, though he is now hunted like a wild beast, with horn and hound, I trust yet to see on the throne of Scotland!"

8. "Nay, then, my good woman," replied the man, "since you love him so well, know that you see him now _I_ am Robert Bruce."

9. "_You'!_--are _you_ our king'?" she inquired, sinking on her knees, and reverently kissing his hand; "where, then, are your followers, and why are you thus alone?"

10. "I have no followers now," replied Bruce, "and am, therefore, compelled to travel alone."

11. "Nay, my liege," exclaimed the loyal dame, "that you shall do no longer; for here are my two sons, whom I give to you, and may they long live to serve and defend your majesty!"

12. The Scottish youths bent their knees, and took the oath of fealty; and then, sitting beside the fire, the king entered into conversation with his new retainers, while their mother was busied in preparing the evening meal.

13. Suddenly, they were startled by the tramp of horses' hoofs, and the voices of men. "'_Tis the English!_" shouted the matron, "_fight to the last, my sons, and defend your king!_" But, at this moment, the king recognized the voices of Lord James, of Douglas, and of Edward Bruce, and bade them have no fear.

14. Bruce was overjoyed at meeting with his brother, and his faithful friend Douglas, who had with them a band of one hundred and fifty men.

He bade farewell to the brave and loyal woman, and, taking with him her two sons, left the place.

15. The two young Scots served Bruce well and faithfully, and were high officers in his service when, at the head of a conquering army, he drove the English invaders from the soil of Scotland, and rendered her again a _free and independent kingdom_.

QUESTIONS.--1. Describe the room in which the Scotch woman resided. 2, What is meant by a "_stag of ten?_" 3. Who did the stranger prove to be?

4. Who joined Bruce? 5. What did Bruce and his men then do?

LESSON x.x.xIV.

PROS PER' ITY, success; good fortune.

DIG' NI FIES, elevates; enn.o.bles.

SUS TAIN' ED, endured; suffered.

AD VERS' I TY, calamity; misfortune.

UN ERR' ING, sure; certain.

FOR LORN', forsaken; wretched.

CAN' O PY, covering overhead.

EI DER DOWN, fine, soft feathers from the eider-duck.

DE VOID', dest.i.tute.

IM MERS' ED, inwrapped; sunk.

GOS' SA MER Y, like gossamer; filmy.

RE COIL' ED, started back.

FOIL' ED, frustrated; defeated.

RO MANCE', fiction.

TRIV' I AL, small; trifling.

CON FIDE', trust; believe.

AD' VERSE, contrary; opposite.

PALM, token of victory.

ROBERT BRUCE AND THE SPIDER.

BERNARD BARTON.

1. Not in _prosperity's broad light_, Can reason justly scan The _sterling worth which_, viewed aright, _Most dignifies the man_.

Favored at once by wind and tide, The skillful pilot well may guide The bark in safety on; Yet, when his harbor he has gained, He who no conflict hath sustained, No meed has fairly won.

2. But in _adversity's dark hour_ _Of peril and of fear,_ When clouds above the vessel lower, With scarce one star to cheer; When winds are loud, and waves are high, And ocean, to a timid eye, Appears the seaman's grave; Amid the conflict, calm, unmoved, By truth's unerring test is proved _The skillful and the brave._

3. For Scotland and her freedom's right The Bruce his part had played; _In five successive fields of fight_ _Been conquered and dismayed._ _Once more, against the English host_ _His band he led, and once more lost_ _The meed for which he fought;_ And now, from battle faint and worn, The homeless fugitive forlorn A hut's lone shelter sought.

4. And cheerless was that resting-place For him who claimed a throne; His canopy, devoid of grace,-- The rude, rough beams alone; The heather couch his only bed, Yet well I know had slumber fled From couch of eider down; Through darksome night to dawn of day, Immersed in wakeful thought he lay, Of Scotland and her crown.

5. The sun rose brightly, and its gleam Fell on that hapless bed, And tinged with light each shapeless beam Which roofed the lowly shed; When, looking up with wistful eye, The Bruce beheld a spider try His filmy thread to fling From beam to beam of that rude cot; And well the insect's toilsome lot Taught Scotland's future king.

6. Six times his gossamery thread The wary spider threw: In vain the filmy line was sped; For, powerless or untrue, Each aim appeared and back recoiled The patient insect, _six times foiled_, And yet unconquered still; And soon the Bruce, with eager eye, Saw him prepare once more to try His courage, strength, and skill.

7. _One effort more, the seventh and last_,-- The hero hailed the sign!

And on the wished-for beam hung fast The slender, silken line.

Slight as it was, his spirit caught The more than omen; for his thought The lesson well could trace, Which even "he who runs may read,"

That _perseverance gains its meed_, And _patience wins the race_.

8. Is it a tale of mere romance'?