Imagine that you, with your brother and sister, were at a neighbor's house the night Paul Revere rode through. You heard his cry. You heard the words spoken by the parents and children in the house. You left quickly to go home, for you knew that the rider had already passed your house. What did you say as you hurried home through the dark? How did your mother receive you? What did your father say and do? He left that night; for he belonged to the Minute Men. Write the story of the night's experience. Include all the incidents suggested above; and tell of your father's hasty preparation, the leave-taking, and the anxious conversation after he had gone. SECTION 51. STUDY OF POEMS AND PICTURE. NARRATIVE COMPOSITION. WARREN'S ADDRESS TO THE AMERICAN SOLDIERS. Stand! the ground's your own, my braves! Will ye look for greener graves? Hope ye mercy still? What's the mercy despots feel? Hear it in that battle-peal! Read it on yon bristling steel! Ask it, Fear ye foes who kill for hire ? Will ye to your homes retire? Look behind you! they're a-fire! And, before you, see Who have done it! From the vale On they come! And will ye quail? - Let their welcome be! In the God of battles trust! But, O, where can dust to dust Be consigned so well, As where Heaven its dews shall shed And the rocks shall raise their head, Of his deeds to tell! JOHN PIERPont. Memorize the poem given above; and read, or listen to the reading of, Holmes's "Grandmother's Story of Bunker Hill Battle." On page 247 is a copy of a picture made by Howard Pyle to illustrate Holmes's poem. Look at the faces closely, and tell what you read there. Why are there no other men shown in the picture? How far away is the terrible battle going on? Imagine that you had an older brother in that battle, and that when you heard the noise of cannon that beautiful summer morning you rushed from the house to watch. Write the story of your imagined experience. Tell what you saw and how you felt as the conflict rose and fell. Did your brother come home that night? SECTION 52. COMPOSITION WRITING. وو If you have read Hale's "The Man Without a Country," you will remember the decision of the Court “that you never hear the name of the United States again.' The next paragraph reads, “Nolan laughed. But nobody else laughed. Old Morgan was too solemn, and the whole room was hushed dead as night in a minute. Even Nolan lost his swagger in a moment." Further on in the story Nolan says to his comrade, "Youngster, let that show you what it is to be without a family, without a home, and without a country. And if ever you are tempted to say a 1 This poem can be found in any complete edition of Holmes's poems, or in Number 6 of the Riverside Literature Series, price 15 cents. word or to do a thing that shall put a bar between you and your family, your home, and your country, pray God in his mercy to take you that instant home to his own heaven.' (a) Many a lad has at some time been so angry with his sister that he has said that he wished he might never hear her name again. Suppose that you had done this, and your mother had quietly said, "All right, my boy, you shall not see sister nor hear her name for a week." Write the incident, following this outline: 1. The quarrel that made you so vexed with sister. 2. The recital of the case to your mother, and her decision. 3. The method of carrying out the sentence. 4. Your thoughts as the week went on, and what you did. 5. Your decision at the end of the week. (b) In the state house at Hartford there is a beautiful statue of one of Connecticut's heroes. It is the youth, Nathan Hale. Do you know the story of his life and hero's death? If so, write it, using this outline: 1. The two armies at New York, and Washington's great need. 2. The difficulty in finding some one to go. 3. Hale's offer, his disguise, and journey. 4. His capture, and his last words. 5. His heroic death. With calm brow, with steady brow, In his look there is no fear, Nor shadow-trace of gloom; But with calm brow and steady brow |