ing, well-grown ears^; it is quite a pleasure to see how long' they are. I fancied that I beheld myself^ when I was little, and so I voted for him. I must say, I expect great things from the future-we have made so good a beginning^." Hans Christian Andersen. LXXIV. OFT IN THE STILLY NIGHT. 1. Oft in the stilly night, Ere Slumber's chain has bound me, Fond Memory brings the light Of other days around me: The smiles, the tears Of boyhood's years, The words of love then spoken; The cheerful hearts now broken! Thus, in the stilly night, Ere Slumber's chain has bound me, Sad Memory brings the light Of other days around me. 2. When I remember all The friends, so linked together, I've seen around me fall, Like leaves in wintry weather, I feel like one Who treads alone Whose lights are fled, Whose garlands dead, Thus, in the stilly night, Ere Slumber's chain has bound me, Sad Memory brings the light Of other days around me." Thomas Moore. FOR PREPARATION.-I. Compare the sad feeling of this poem with that of Hood's "I Remember," or of Longfellow's "Rainy Day." (In this one, and in Hood's, memory of the past brings sadness, because of its contrast with the present, which has lost the charming personal relations that were enjoyed in the past. The present condition is empty-only a shell-the delightful social meetings of other days being only suggested, but no longer contained in it.) (This poem, like Lesson XLVII., is intended to be sung rather than read. It is inserted here to afford practice in reading this difficult species of poetry.) II. Měm'-o-ry, linked, băn'-quet-hall, de-pärt'-ed, de-şert'-ed, shone (shon), gone (gòn). III. Mark the feet, underscoring the accented syllables in the first four lines. Why are "Slumber" and "Memory" printed with capitals? IV. Dimmed, banquet-hall, garlands. V. Point out the similes in this piece (i. e., comparisons, or figures of speech, expressed by like or as); also the personifications (inanimate things made to act as persons-Slumber, Memory). LXXV. HARVEY BIRCH. 1. "What animal is moving through the field on our right?" 66 "'Tis a man," said Mason, looking intently at the suspicious object. 66 By his hump, 'tis a dromedary!" added the captain, eying it keenly. Wheeling his horse suddenly from the highway, he exclaimed, "Harvey Birch! Take him, dead or alive!" Mason, and a few of the leading dragoons only, understood the sudden cry, but it was heard throughout the line. A dozen of the men, with the lieutenant at their head, followed the impetuous Lawton, and their speed threatened the pursued with a sudden termination of the race. 2. Birch prudently kept his position on the rock, where he had been seen by Henry Wharton, until evening had begun to shroud the surrounding objects in darkness. From this height he had observed all the events of the day as they occurred. He had watched with a beating heart the departure of the troops under Dunwoodie, and with difficulty had curbed his impatience until the obscurity of night should render his moving free from danger. 3. He had not, however, completed a fourth of his way to his own residence, when his quick ear distinguished the tread of the approaching horse. Trusting to the increasing darkness, he determined to persevere. By crouching, and moving quickly along the surface of the ground, he hoped yet to escape unseen. 4. Captain Lawton was too much engrossed with the foregoing conversation to suffer his eyes to indulge in their usual wanderings; and the peddler, perceiving by the voices that the enemy he most feared had passed, yielded to his impatience, and stood erect, in order to make greater progress. The moment his body rose above the shadow of the ground it was seen, and the chase com menced. 5. For a single instant Birch was helpless, his blood curdling in his veins at the imminence of the danger, and his legs refusing their natural and necessary office. But it was only for a moment. Casting down his pack where he stood, and instinctively tightening the belt he wore, the peddler betook himself to flight. He knew that, while bringing himself on a line with his pursuers and the wood, his form would be lost to sight. 6. This he soon effected, and was straining every nerve to gain the wood itself, when several horsemen rode by him a short distance on his left, and cut him off from this place of refuge. The peddler threw himself on the ground as they came near him, and was passed un seen. 7. But delay now became too dangerous for him to remain in that position. He accordingly arose, and, still keeping in the shadow of the wood, along the skirts of which he heard voices crying to each other to be watchful, he ran with incredible speed in a parallel line, but in an opposite direction, to the march of the dragoons. 8. The confusion of the chase had been heard by the whole of the men, though none distinctly understood the order of Lawton but those who followed. The remainder were lost in doubt as to the duty that was required of them; and the cornet was making eager inquiries of the trooper near him on the subject, when a man, at a short distance in his rear, crossed the road at a single bound. 9. At the same instant the stentorian voice of Lawton rang through the valley, shouting: "Harvey Birch! Take him, dead or alive!" Fifty pistols lighted the scene, and the bullets whistled in every direction round the head of the devoted peddler. A feeling of despair seized his heart, and in the bitterness of that moment he exclaimed: "Hunted like a beast of the forest!" 10. He felt life and its accompaniments to be a burden, and was about to yield himself to his enemies. Na ture, however, prevailed. If taken, there was great reason to apprehend that he would not be honored with the forms of a trial, but that, most probably, the morning's sun would witness his ignominious execution; for he had already been condemned to death, and had only escaped that fate by stratagem. 11. These considerations, with the approaching footsteps of his pursuers, aroused him to new exertions. He again fled before them. A fragment of a wall, that had withstood the ravages made by war in the adjoining fences of the wood, fortunately crossed his path. He hardly had time to throw his exhausted limbs over this barrier, before twenty of his enemies reached its opposite side. 12. Their horses refused to take the leap in the dark, and, amid the confusion of the rearing chargers and the execrations of their riders, Birch was enabled to gain a sight of the base of a hill, on whose summit was a place of perfect security. The heart of the peddler now beat high with hope, when the voice of Captain Lawton again rang in his ears, shouting to his men to make room. 13. The order was obeyed, and the fearless trooper rode at the wall at the top of his horse's speed, plunged the rowels into his charger, and flew over the obstacle in safety. The triumphant hurrahs of the men, and the thundering tread of the horse, too plainly assured the peddler of the imminence of his danger. He was nearly exhausted, and his fate no longer seemed doubtful. 14. "Stop, or die!" was uttered above his head, and in fearful proximity to his ears. Harvey stole a glance over his shoulder, and saw, within a bound of him, the man he most dreaded. By the light of the stars he beheld the uplifted arm and the |
