There as the mother sits all day, Robert is singing with all his might: Spink, spank, spink; Nice good wife, that never goes out, 6. Soon as the little ones chip the shell, Spink, spank, spink; This new life is likely to be Hard for a gay young fellow like me. 7. Robert of Lincoln at length is made Spink, spank, spink; Nobody knows but my mate and I 8. Summer wanes; the children are grown; Fun and frolic no more he knows, Robert of Lincoln's a hum-drum crone; Off he flies, and we sing as he goes: Bob-o'-link, bob-o'-link, Spink, spank, spink; When you can pipe that merry old strain, LANGUAGE EXERCISE. I. Of what word is "Robert of Lincoln a more high-sounding form? What picture arises in the mind when the Bob-olink's mate is spoken of as his "Quaker wife"? What word (1) is a poetical form of meadow? What distinction between "modest" and "shy" (4)? What expression (6) means is very busy? What expression (8) means summer draws to a close? Explain "little dame" (1); "broods in the grass" (3); “chip the shell" (6); "pipe that merry old strain" (8). II. Write the analysis: merrily creature cowardly Analyze this sentence: "When you can pipe that merry old strain, What noun is modified by the phrase "flecked with purple"? III. How many lines in each stanza? With which line does the third line rhyme? the fourth? the sixth? the eighth? Point out a simile in stanza 4. What pretty picture is painted in stanza 6? Change to the prose order: "White are his shoulders and white is his crest." "Snug and safe is that nest of ours." "Modest and shy as a nun is she." "Off is his holiday garment laid." ǎd'ju-tant-ġĕn'er-al, the prin- | en-erōach'ment, intruding on cipal staff officer of an army. ǎg'ile, nimble, quick. de-võlved', passed to. ee-çen'trie, odd, whimsical. the possession of another. prī-mē'val, in a state of nature. 1. BORDERING on the lower course of the Potomac is the county of Westmoreland, Virginia. Here there flows into the great river a rivulet called Pope's Creek. On this brook, about half a mile from its union with the Potomac, there stood, in the early part of the last century, a little low-roofed house with a great chimney on the outside of each gable. 2. This was the home of Augustine Washington, Esq., who was descended from an ancient and titled English family, and was the owner of large tracts of land in Virginia. Beneath this humble roof the child who was to become known to all the world as George Washington was born February 22, 1732. His mother's name was Mary Ball; she was the second wife of Augustine Washington, and George was their eldest child. 3. When George was quite young the house at Pope's Creek was destroyed by fire, and his father removed to a plantation which he owned near Fred ericksburg. Here the elder Washington died when George was eleven years old, and the training and upbringing of the lad devolved upon his mother. 4. Mary Washington was a woman of marked character. Under her rule, gentle yet firm, George was trained in habits of industry, frugality, and self-control: he learned to obey. rightful authority, to love justice, and to speak the truth. Her illustrious son, through life remembered with profound gratitude her wise and judicious training. 5. The opportunities for education in Virginia at this time were very scanty. He learned to read, to cipher, and to write a clear round hand; and before he was fifteen he had acquired a good knowledge of book-keeping and surveying. And this was all the schooling that George Washington received. 6. Even in his boyhood he gave remarkable promise of those qualities which distinguished him as a man. He inherited his mother's love of command, but at the same time he had so strong a sense of justice that it was impossible for him to do or permit anything that was unfair. He was a manly, straightforward boy, beloved by his schoolmates; he led in all their sports and decided in all their disputes. He was very fond of athletic exercises, and he grew up strong and agile of frame, and capable of great physical endurance. He was a remarkably bold and graceful horseman. 7. After leaving school George went to live with an elder half-brother, Lawrence Washington, who resided on his estate at Mount Vernon, on the Potomac. The next neighbor was an eccentric English nobleman named Lord Fairfax, who owned immense tracts of land west of the Blue Ridge, in the Shenandoah Valley, a region which was then a primeval wilderness. 8. Lord Fairfax wished to have his wild lands surveyed, and engaged the sixteen-yearold lad to do the work. Young Washington rode on horseback up the course of the Potomac, and began his work in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley. He laid off the forest-land into farms, working hard all day with his compass, and sleeping under the trees, wrapped |