The two concluding lines of the poem, as many of my readers, to whom it is familiar, will doubtless remember, are these:
“But I’ll swim the sea of slaughter,
Till I sink beneath its wave.”
This Mr. Slocum illustrated by going through the motions{145} of swimming with his hands, much to the delight of the boys.
When the orator had concluded his effort, and with a low bow resumed his seat, the boys applauded uproariously. Mr. Slocum’s vanity was flattered, and he arose to acknowledge the compliment.
“Boys,” he said, “I am glad to find that you appreciate my efforts to instruct you. Don’t be discouraged because you cannot yet speak as well as I do. Keep on in your efforts. Let your motto ever be Excelsior! and the time will perhaps come when you will receive the applause of listening multitudes. The school is now dismissed.”
“Wasn’t it rich, Julius?” asked John Sandford, when they were walking home. “I never wanted to laugh so much in all my life. But the best of it was about the red scalp.”
“You’re envious, John. That’s the reason you ridicule Mr. Slocum’s speaking. I’m afraid you’ll never be as great an orator as he is.”
CHAPTER XX.
MR. SLOCUM’S PANIC.
Had Mr. Slocum become in after years a distinguished man, and in due time a biography had been called for, some one of the scholars who had the great privilege of receiving his instructions would have been admirably qualified, so far as information went, to perform the task of writing it; for, as we have seen, the teacher took frequent occasion to illustrate points that came up in the day’s lessons by narratives drawn from his own personal experience. One day, for instance, when in the class in geography a certain locality was spoken of as abounding in bears, Mr. Slocum indulged in a reminiscence.