II.
| beloved | loss | providing | wreaths |
| sealing | grief | happiness | package |
| coasting | meant | playfellow | pleasure |
Longfellow writes in his journal about coasting with the boys for hours upon the hillside, and of working hard with all the children making a snow house in the front yard.
Again he tells of charming birthday parties when children played in the hay and scrambled for sugar plums. These parties always ended with a fine birthday supper.
On the first of May the children sometimes had a May party. The girls wore wreaths upon their heads and danced around the May pole. Then they all went to the summer house for a feast.
In summer the Longfellow children often went to the seaside with their father and mother. All day long they played in the sand and waded in the water.
But a great and terrible sorrow came suddenly to the Longfellow home. One morning, as Mrs. Longfellow was sealing a package with hot wax, her dress caught fire. Before the flames could be put out she was so badly burned that she died soon after.
Never again was the poet full of joy as he had always been before. For him the happiness of life was over. But he never forgot to provide for the pleasure of his children.
Longfellow has told us about his three daughters in a beautiful poem called "The Children's Hour." He has also written about them in a letter to a little girl which you will be glad to read.
[A LETTER TO A LITTLE GIRL]
| Edith | exactly | merriest | piazza |
| Allegra | memory | encamped | nankeen |
Nahant, August 18, 1859.
Your letter followed me down here by the seaside, where I am passing the summer with my three little girls.
The oldest is about your size; but as little girls keep changing every year I can never remember exactly how old she is, and have to ask her mamma, who has a better memory than I have. Her name is Alice. I never forget that. She is a nice girl and loves poetry almost as much as you do.
The second is Edith, with blue eyes and beautiful golden locks which I sometimes call her nankeen hair to make her laugh. She is a busy little woman and wears gray boots.
The youngest is Allegra, which you know means merry; and she is the merriest little thing you ever saw—always singing and laughing all over the house.
These are my three little girls, and Mr. Read has painted them all in one picture which I hope you will see some day.
They bathe in the sea and dig in the sand and patter about the piazza all day long. Sometimes they go to see the Indians encamped on the shore, and buy baskets and bows and arrows.
I do not say anything about the two boys. They are such noisy fellows it is of no use to talk about them.
And now, Miss Emily, give my love to your papa, and good night with a kiss from his friend and yours,
Henry W. Longfellow.
[THE OPEN WINDOW]
The old house by the lindens
Stood silent in the shade,
And on the graveled pathway
The light and shadow played.
I saw the nursery windows
Wide open to the air,
But the faces of the children,
They were no longer there.
The large Newfoundland house dog
Was standing by the door;
He looked for his little playmates,
Who would return no more.
They walked not under the lindens,
They played not in the hall;
But shadow, and silence, and sadness
Were hanging over all.
The birds sang in the branches
With sweet, familiar tone;
But the voices of the children
Will be heard in dreams alone!
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
[THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH]
Under a spreading chestnut-tree
The village smithy stands;
The smith, a mighty man is he,
With large and sinewy hands;
And the muscles of his brawny arms
Are strong as iron bands.
His hair is crisp, and black, and long,
His face is like the tan;
His brow is wet with honest sweat;
He earns whate'er he can,
And looks the whole world in the face,
For he owes not any man.
Week in, week out, from morn till night,
You can hear his bellows blow;
You can hear him swing his heavy sledge,
With measured beat and slow,
Like a sexton ringing the village bell,
When the evening sun is low.
From the Painting by Sir Edwin Landseer. Engraved by Henry W. Peckwell.
THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH.
And children coming home from school
Look in at the open door;
They love to see the flaming forge,
And hear the bellows roar,
And catch the burning sparks that fly
Like chaff from a threshing floor.
He goes on Sunday to the church,
And sits among his boys;
He hears the parson pray and preach,
He hears his daughter's voice
Singing in the village choir,
And it makes his heart rejoice.
It sounds to him like her mother's voice,
Singing in Paradise!
He needs must think of her once more,
How in the grave she lies;
And with his hard, rough hand he wipes
A tear out of his eyes.
Toiling,—rejoicing,—sorrowing,
Onward through life he goes;
Each morning sees some task begun,
Each evening sees its close;
Something attempted, something done,
Has earned a night's repose.
Thanks, thanks to thee, my worthy friend,
For the lesson thou hast taught!
Thus at the flaming forge of life
Our fortunes must be wrought;
Thus on its sounding anvil shaped
Each burning deed and thought.
—Henry W. Longfellow.
[GEORGE WASHINGTON, THE YOUNG SURVEYOR]
| beyond | compass | Mount Vernon |
| acres | bargain | undertake |
| measure | surveyor | interesting |
It is very interesting to know how George Washington passed his boyhood. In many ways he was no better than other boys. He had a quick temper, and he soon found that he must learn to control it.
But he wished to make a good and useful man of himself. This story tells some of the ways in which he tried to do this.
He had learned to survey land, and this knowledge soon became of great use to him. When he was sixteen years old, he went to live with his brother Lawrence at Mount Vernon.
He took his compass and surveyor's chain with him. Nearly every day he went out into the fields to measure his brother's land.
A tall, white-haired gentleman often came into the fields to see what Washington was doing, and to talk with him. This was Sir Thomas Fairfax. He had lately come to America from his home in England. He owned thousands of acres of land in the new country beyond the mountains.
Sir Thomas was very fond of hunting, and he liked to have Washington go with him. They often rode out together, and the old Englishman came to like his young friend very much. He saw that the boy was manly and brave and very careful in all that he did.
"Here is a boy who likes to make himself useful; I can trust him," he said. And Sir Thomas soon made a bargain with young Washington to survey his wild lands.
Washington loved out-of-door life, and he was very fond of riding on horseback. So he was glad to undertake the work of surveying land for Sir Thomas.
[SURVEYING IN THE WILDERNESS]
| cousin | knowledge | Englishman | paid |
| yelled | drummed | gentleman | swam |
One bright day in early spring the young surveyor started out on his first trip across the mountains. With him was a cousin of Sir Thomas Fairfax. Each young man rode a good horse and carried a gun.
As there were no roads in the wild country they found their way through paths in the forest. They climbed mountains and swam rivers. At night they slept in a hunter's cabin or by a camp fire in the woods.
Often they were wet and cold and without shelter. They cooked their meat over the fire on forked sticks, and they used wooden chips and leaves for plates.
George Washington, the Surveyor.
One day they met a band of Indians. There were thirty of them, and their bodies were half covered with war paint.
The Indians seemed very friendly. They built a huge fire under the trees and danced their war dance. One of them drummed on a deerskin stretched over an iron pot.
The others whooped and yelled as they danced around the fire. It was a strange sight, and the young men looked on with wonder.
For weeks Washington and his companion lived in the forest. They found the best places for hunting, and the best lands for farms.
When they returned home Sir Thomas was much pleased with all that the young men told him about the new country. He made up his mind to move across the mountains and to spend the rest of his life upon his own lands.
George was well paid for his work of surveying. This was the first money he had ever earned, and he enjoyed spending it because he had worked hard for it.