The Elson Readers Part 8

They might 'a' knowed wings made o' wax Wouldn't stan' sun-heat an' hard whacks; I'll make mine o' luther, Er suthin' er other."

And he said to himself, as he tinkered and planned: "But I ain't goin' to show my hand To mummies that never can understand The fust idee that's big an' grand.

They'd 'a' laft an' made fun O' Creation itself afore 'twas done!"

So he kept his secret from all the rest, Safely b.u.t.toned within his vest; And in the loft above the shed Himself he locks, With thimble and thread And wax and hammer and buckles and screws, And all such things as geniuses use; Two bats for patterns, curious fellows!

A charcoal-pot and a pair of bellows; An old hoop-skirt or two, as Well as Some wire and several old umbrellas; A carriage-cover, for tail and wings; A piece of harness; and straps and strings; And a big strong box, In which he locks These and a hundred other things.

His grinning brothers, Reuben and Burke And Nathan and Jotham and Solomon, lurk Around the corner to see him work-- Sitting cross-legged, like a Turk, Drawing the waxed end through with a jerk, And boring the holes with a comical quirk Of his wise old head, and a knowing smirk.

But vainly they mounted each other's backs, And poked through knot-holes and pried through cracks; With wood from the pile and straw from the stacks He plugged the knot-holes and calked the cracks; And a bucket of water, which one would think; He had brought up into the loft to drink When he chanced to be dry, Stood always nigh, For Darius was sly!

And whenever at work he happened to spy At c.h.i.n.k or crevice a blinking eye, He let a dipper of water fly.

"Take that! an' ef ever ye get a peep, Guess ye'll ketch a weasel asleep!"

And he sings as he locks His big strong box: "The weasel's head is small an' trim, An' he is leetle an' long an' slim, An' quick of motion an' nimble of limb, An' ef yeou'll be Advised by me, Keep wide awake when ye're ketchin' him!"

So day after day He st.i.tched and tinkered and hammered Till at last 'twas done-- The greatest invention under the sun!

"An' now," says Darius, "hooray fer some fun!"

'Twas the Fourth of July, And the weather was dry, And not a cloud was on all the sky Save a few light fleeces, which here and there.

Half mist, half air, Like foam on the ocean went floating by; Just as lovely a morning as ever was seen For a nice little trip in a flying-machine.

Thought cunning Darius: "Now I shan't go Along 'ith the fellers to see the show.

I'll say I've got sich a terrible cough!

An' then, when the folks 'ave all gone off, I'll hev full swing For to try the thing, An' practyse a leetle on the wing."

"Ain't goin' to see the celebration?"

Says Brother Nate. "No; botheration!

I've got sich a cold--a toothache--I-- My gracious!--feel's though I should fly!"

Said Jotham, "Sho!

Guess ye better go."

But Darius said, "No!

Shouldn't wonder 'f yeou might see me, though, 'Long 'bout noon, ef I git red O' this jumpin', thumpin' pain 'n my head."

For all the while to himself he said: "I'll tell ye what!

I'll fly a few times around the lot, To see how 't seems; then soon's I've got The hang o' the thing, ez likely's not, I'll astonish the nation, And all creation, By flyin' over the celebration!

Over their heads I'll sail like an eagle; I'll balance myself on my wings like a sea-gull; I'll dance on the chimbleys; I'll stan' on the steeple; I'll flop up to winders an' scare the people!

I'll light on the libbe'ty-pole, an' crow; An' I'll say to the gawpin' fools below, 'What world's this 'ere That I've come near?'

Fer I'll make 'em believe I'm a chap f'm the moon!

An' I'll try a race 'ith their ol' bulloon."

He crept from his bed; And, seeing the others were gone, he said, "I'm a gittin' over the cold 'n my head."

And away he sped To open the wonderful box in the shed.

His brothers had walked but a little way When Jotham to Nathan chanced to say, "What on airth is he up to, hey?"

"Don'o'--the' 's suthin' er other to pay, Er he wouldn't 'a' stayed to hum today."

Says Burke, "His toothache's all 'n his eye!

He never'd miss a Fo'th-o'-July Ef he hedn't got some machine to try.

Le's hurry back an' hide in the barn, An' pay him fer tellin' us that yarn!"

"Agreed!" Through the orchard they creep back, Along by the fences, behind the stack, And one by one, through a hole in the wall, In under the dusty barn they crawl, Dressed in their Sunday garments all; And a very astonishing sight was that, When each in his cobwebbed coat and hat Came up through the floor like an ancient rat And there they hid; And Reuben slid The fastenings back, and the door undid.

"Keep dark!" said he, "While I squint an' see what the' is to see."

As knights of old put on their mail-- From head to foot An iron suit, Iron jacket and iron boot, Iron breeches, and on the head No hat, but an iron pot instead, And under the chin the bail (I believe they called the thing a helm); And the lid they carried they called a shield; And, thus accoutered, they took the field, Sallying forth to overwhelm The dragons and pagans that plagued the realm-- So this modern knight Prepared for flight, Put on his wings and strapped them tight; Jointed and jaunty, strong and light; Buckled them fast to shoulder and hip-- Ten feet they measured from tip to tip!

And a helm had he, but that he wore, Not on his head like those of yore, But more like the helm of a ship.

"Hush!" Reuben said, "He's up in the shed!

He's opened the winder--I see his head!

He stretches it out, An' pokes it about, Lookin' to see 'f the coast is clear, An' n.o.body near; Guess he don'o' who's hid in here!

He's riggin' a spring-board over the sill!

Stop laffin', Solomon! Burke, keep still!

He's a climbin' out now--of all the things!

What's he got on? I van, it's wings!

An' that 'tother thing? I yum, it's a tail!

An' there he sets like a hawk on a rail!

Steppin' careful, he travels the length Of his spring-board, and teeters to try its strength.

Now he stretches his wings, like a monstrous bat; Peeks over his shoulder, this way an' that, Fer to see 'f the' 's anyone pa.s.sin' by; But the' 's on'y a ca'f an' a goslin' nigh.

They turn up at him a wonderin' eye, To see--the dragon! he's goin' to fly!

Away he goes! Jimminy! what a jump!

Flop--flop--an' plump To the ground with a thump!

Flutt'rin' an' flound'rin', all in a lump!"

As a demon is hurled by an angel's spear, Heels over head, to his proper sphere-- Heels over head, and head over heels, Dizzily down the abyss he wheels-- So fell Darius. Upon his crown, In the midst of the barnyard, he came down, In a wonderful whirl of tangled strings, Broken braces and broken springs, Broken tail and broken wings, Shooting-stars, and various things!

Away with a bellow fled the calf, And what was that? Did the gosling laugh?

'Tis a merry roar From the old barn-door, And he hears the voice of Jotham crying, "Say, D'rius! how de yeou like flyin'?"

Slowly, ruefully, where he lay, Darius just turned and looked that way, As he stanched his sorrowful nose with his cuff.

"Wal, I like flyin' well enough,"

He said; "but the' ain't sich a thunderin' sight O' fun in 't when ye come to light."

MORAL

I just have room for the moral here, And this is the moral: Stick to your sphere.

Or if you insist, as you have the right, On spreading your wings for a loftier flight, The moral is: Take care how you light.

NOTES AND QUESTIONS

Biography. John Townsend Trowbridge (1827-1916), an American writer, lived in Cambridge. He and Lucy Larcom were for a time editors of Our Young Folks' Magazine. Trowbridge first saw a flying-machine sixty years after he wrote "Darius Green and His Flying-Machine." He was then eighty-three years old.

Discussion. 1. What did Darius Green believe that men would soon be able to do? 2. What did Darius determine to use as material for his machine? 3. Why did he not tell his brothers what he was trying to do?

4. When did he plan to try his machine? 5. Find the lines that tell what he imagined he would do. 6. Find the lines that tell what he really did. 7. What did he say was the unpleasant part of flying? 8.

Mention some inventions that people once thought were as impossible as the boys thought this flying-machine was. 9. Mention some inventors at whom people once laughed but who are now honored. 10. In what way does the author make his story humorous? 11. Notice Darius's language on pages 67 and 68. The writer shows by such words that Darius was not a well-educated boy; are persons often judged by the way they talk? 12.

In Wildman's Famous Leaders of Industry, you will find interesting facts about Orville and Wilbur Wright..You will enjoy reading The Boys' Airplane Book, Collins. 13, Report any current news on airplane development, airplane mail routes, etc., that you can find. 14. Find in the Glossary the meaning of: soaring; lank; gimlet; yore; pinion; tinkered; mummies; quirk; smirk; crevice; weasel; cunning; ancient; helm; ruefully. 15. p.r.o.nounce: Darius; aspiring; genius; awry; grimace; droll; Daedalus; Icarus; almanacs; phoebe; calked; breeches; accoutered; pagans; jaunty; stanched.

Phrases for Study

aspiring genius, like a Turk, riveted his attention, knights of old, Daedalus of yore, thus accoutered, man's dominion, plagued the realm, navigate the azure, his proper sphere, beat us holler, stick to your sphere.