General Books

DRIVEN FROM HOME. A boy of sixteen, with a small gripsack in his hand, trudged along the country road. He was of good height for his age, strongly built, and had a frank, attractive face. He was naturally of a cheerful temperament, but at present his face was grave, and not without a shade of anxiety. This can hardly be a matter of surprise when we consider that he was thrown upon his own resources,... more...

"What's your name, little one?" I began, in as soft a voice as I could manage. And, by the way, why is it we always begin by asking little children their names? Is it because we fancy a name will help to make them a little bigger? You never thought of as king a real large man his name, now, did you? But, however that may be, I felt it quite necessary to know his name; so, as he didn't... more...

Little Cyclone is a grizzly cub from Alaska, who earned his name by the vigor of his resistance to ill treatment. When his mother was fired at, on a timbered hillside facing Chilkat River, he and his brother ran away as fast as their stumpy little legs could carry them. When they crept where they had last seen her, they thought her asleep; and cuddling up close against her yet warm body they slept... more...

MAY MORNING AND NEW YEAR'S EVE. It is the evening before the first of May, and the boys are looking forward to a May-day festival with the children in the neighborhood. Mrs. Chilton read aloud these beautiful lines of Milton:— Now the bright morning star, Day's harbinger,Comes dancing from the east, and loads with herThe flowery May, who from her green lap throwsThe yellow cowslip, and the... more...

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM Hermia and Lysander were lovers; but Hermia's father wished her to marry another man, named Demetrius. Now, in Athens, where they lived, there was a wicked law, by which any girl who refused to marry according to her father's wishes, might be put to death. Hermia's father was so angry with her for refusing to do as he wished, that he actually brought her... more...

CHAPTER I Wherein Great Risks Are Taken and the Limberlost Guard Is Hired Freckles came down the corduroy that crosses the lower end of the Limberlost. At a glance he might have been mistaken for a tramp, but he was truly seeking work. He was intensely eager to belong somewhere and to be attached to almost any enterprise that would furnish him food and clothing. Long before he came in sight of the camp... more...

A QUEER PLACE TO LIVE The village near one end of Pleasant Valley where Farmer Green often went to sell butter and eggs was not the only village to be seen from Blue Mountain. There was another which Farmer Green seldom visited, because it lay beyond the mountain and was a long distance from his house. Though he owned the land where it stood, those that lived there thought they had every right to stay... more...

The day is dull and dreary,And chilly winds and eerieAre sweeping through the tall oak trees that fringe the orchard lane.They send the dead leaves flying,And with a mournful cryingThey dash the western window-panes with slanting lines of rain.My little ’Trude and Teddy,Come quickly and make ready,Take down from off the highest shelf the book you think so grand.We’ll travel off together,To lands of... more...

THE UGLY DUCKLING. under broke does keep only turkey warm ugly water A duck made her nest under some leaves. [Illustration: THE DUCK'S NEST.] She sat on the eggs to keep them warm. At last the eggs broke, one after the other. Little ducks came out. Only one egg was left. It was a very large one. At last it broke, and out came a big, ugly duckling. "What a big duckling!" said the old duck.... more...

GENERAL INTRODUCTION Books are as essentially a part of the home where boys and girls are growing into manhood and womanhood as any other part of the furnishings. Parents have no more right to starve a child’s mind than they have his body. If a child is to take his place among the men and women of his time he needs to know the past out of which the present grew, and he needs to know what is going on... more...