A STRING OF BEADS I. "I DIDN'T THINK." "I didn't think!" A woman flings the whiteness of her reputation in the dust, and, waking to the realization of her loss when the cruel glare of the world's disapproval reveals it, she seeks to plead her thoughtlessness as an entreaty of the world's pardon. But the flint-hearted world is slow to grant it, if she be a woman. "You have thrown your rose in the dust, go live there with it," the world cries,... 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. "He does not look like us. Can he be a... more...

Preface This little book, a revision of one privately printed a few years ago, has been prepared for home use, and for this reason the classification has been made according to the age, and not the school grade, of the child. But as children differ so greatly in capacity, it should be understood that in this respect the arrangement is only approximate. The endeavor has been made to choose those fairy tales which are most free from horrible... more...

INTRODUCTION § 1. MIDDLE HIGH GERMAN Middle High German (MHG.) embraces the High German language from about the year 1100 to 1500. It is divided into three great dialect-groups: Upper German, Franconian, and East Middle German. 1. Upper German is divided into: (a) Alemanic, embracing High Alemanic (Switzerland), and Low Alemanic (South Baden, Swabia, and Alsace). (b) Bavarian, extending over Bavaria and those parts of Austria where... more...

MCMII Dear Charlie,—Having a spare moment as I crossed the continent last time, I sat down in the rear end of a Lake Shore Limited train, and began to cast about me with a view to hitting upon some way of passing the time amicably with myself. As I looked about the car, I studied the faces and persons of my fellow-travellers, and found them uniformly uninteresting. My mind wandered from them out of the window, and I noted with a... more...

A Gold Hunter's Experience Early in the summer of 1860 I had a bad attack of gold fever. In Chicago the conditions for such a malady were all favorable. Since the panic of 1857 there had been three years of general depression, money was scarce, there was little activity in business, the outlook was discouraging, and I, like hundreds of others, felt blue. Gold had been discovered in the fall of 1858 in the vicinity of Pike's Peak, by a party of... more...

The Ruling Element "Jason and His Men." What constitutes a state?Not high-raised battlements or labored mound,  Thick wall or moated gate;Not cities proud with spires and turrets crowned;  Not bays and broad armed ports,Where, laughing at the storm, rich navies ride;  Not starred and spangled courts,Where low-browed baseness wafts perfume to pride.  No! men--high-minded men--With powers as far above... more...

THE STORY OF RUTH. IN the district called Ephrath, belonging to the tribe of Judah, stood the city of Bethlehem, or "house of bread." It was a city with walls and gates, and lay between fruitful hills and well-watered valleys. There among pleasant cornfields and pasture lands lived a man named Elimelech, which means "my God is my King." He was descended from one of the princes of Judah, and was a man of means and consequence. A FERTILE REGION... more...

SEE, chil-dren, the Fur-bear-ing Seal;Ob-serve his mis-di-rect-ed zeal:He dines with most ab-ste-mi-ous careOn Fish, Ice Water and Fresh AirA-void-ing cond-i-ments or spice,For fear his fur should not be niceAnd fine and smooth and soft and meetFor Broad-way or for Re-gent StreetAnd yet some-how I of-ten feel(Though for the kind Fur-bear-ing SealI har-bor a Re-spect Pro-found)   The Giraffe.   SEE the Gi-raffe; he is so tallThere is... more...

CHAPTER I—ANCIENT ENGLAND AND THE ROMANS If you look at a Map of the World, you will see, in the left-hand upper corner of the Eastern Hemisphere, two Islands lying in the sea.  They are England and Scotland, and Ireland.  England and Scotland form the greater part of these Islands.  Ireland is the next in size.  The little neighbouring islands, which are so small upon the Map as to be mere dots, are chiefly little bits... more...