6. BRUCE AND THE SPIDER
King Robert Bruce, of Scotland, longed to see his people free from England. He had fought six fierce battles, and six times he had been defeated, and his soldiers were so scattered that each soldier was forced to flee for safety into the thick woods. King Bruce himself was hiding in a shed. He was tired and sick at heart, feeling that it was useless to try to do anything more. Just as he was thinking that he would give up, he looked up and saw a spider weaving its web from one beam to another. Six times the spider climbed up almost to the top, and each time it fell down again. As the king watched it fall the sixth time he said, “It will give up.” But no; up it climbed again the seventh time, slowly, slowly, but surely—and succeeded!
Bruce arose full of courage, saying, “I will try again!” He tried again and won! That is why brave boys and girls say to-day, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again!”
7. THE INCHCAPE BELL
More than a hundred years ago there was a great and dangerous rock called the Inchcape Rock in the North Sea. Its top was hidden just below the surface of the waves so that many vessels struck upon it and sank. A kind-hearted priest called an abbot said: “I will chain a bell to the rock, and the bell will float to and fro in the shallow water and warn the sailors of their danger.” Loud and clear this bell rang out, and the sailors blessed the abbot for his kindness. But one calm, summer day a ship with a black flag sailed that way. It belonged to Ralph the Rover, a sea-robber, and he and his ship were the terror of the sea. Ralph saw the bell and said to his boatmen, “Row me to the Inchcape Rock, and we will play a trick on the old abbot.” Being rowed to the rock he cut the warning bell from the float, and the bell sank with a gurgling sound. “The next who comes to this rock will not bless the abbot,” laughed the robber as he sailed away. Many days he sailed the seas and grew rich with the ships he plundered. At last he sailed back home, and in the storm and fog he longed for the sound of the Inchcape Bell to tell him where he was. Then his vessel struck with a fearful crash on the Inchcape Rock, and as the waves rushed in on every side the abbot’s bell, ringing far down on the bottom of the sea, seemed to say, “The next who comes to this rock will not bless the abbot.”—Adapted from Robert Southey.
8. SIR WALTER RALEIGH
One morning, Elizabeth, Queen of England, was taking her daily walk with her maids after a rain-storm that had made the streets of London very muddy. A young man named Walter Raleigh, who was dressed in a new, rich scarlet plush cloak thrown over his shoulders, saw the Queen and her maids stop at a muddy place, wondering how they could cross. Quickly this young man, Walter, forgot all about himself and thought only of the Queen, and how he could help her. He took off his coat, spread it across the muddy place, and with a graceful bow, politely begged the Queen to do him the honor of walking on it as upon a carpet. She crossed without soiling her shoes, and then turned to thank the generous and polite young man. As she walked on, she said to her maids, “Who is he?” “His name is Walter Raleigh,” they replied. Not long after the Queen invited this polite young man to her palace, where she said to him: “Walter Raleigh, I wish to reward you for your generous gallantry. You are Sir Walter Raleigh.” That made him a knight. He became the Queen’s favorite at the court, and a great man in the nation. He tried to get English people to settle in America, and he introduced two things into England, from the Indians, which the people then knew very little about—potatoes and tobacco. There is a story that one day a servant, seeing the smoke curling over his master’s head and thinking he was on fire, ran for a pail of water, which he threw into Sir Walter’s face. This put the fire out quickly, but it did not stop people smoking tobacco. Would it not have been better if Sir Walter Raleigh had left the tobacco with the Indians?
9. SIR PHILIP SIDNEY
Once there was a fierce battle in which a brave and courteous knight and soldier, named Sir Philip Sidney, was wounded while charging to the front on horseback. He reached the camp bleeding and faint with great pain and thirst. A soldier brought him some water, saying, “Here, Sir Philip, I have brought you some clear, cool water from the brook. I will raise your head so that you can drink it.” He stooped low to raise his head, and was just placing the water to his lips when Sir Philip saw a foot-soldier, who was being carried past, looking with longing eyes at the water.