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We gave three loud hurrahs "for the old school," as the coach started; and, upon the top of the hill that overlooks the village, we gave another round.

15. As we rode on under the pine trees, I thought how I would come back, after the college days were over,

a man, with a beaver hat and a cane, and with a splendid barouche; and how I would take the best chamber at the inn, and astonish the old school-master by giving him a familiar tap on the shoulder; and how I would be the admiration and the wonder of the pretty girl in the fur-trimmed hat. Alas, how our thoughts outrun our deeds!

16. For long, long years, I saw no more of my old school; and when, at length, the new view came, great changes crashing like tornadoes — had swept over my path! I thought no more of startling the villagers or astonishing the black-eyed girl. No, no! I was content to slip quietly through the little town, with only a tear or two, as I recalled the dead ones, and mused upon the emptiness of life. — Ik Marvel (Donald G. Mitchell.)

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3. From sheds, new-roofed with Carrara,1
Came chanticleer's muffled crow;

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The stiff rails were softened to swan's-down;

And still wavered down the snow.

1 Carrara, Italy, is a locality famous for quarries of the finest statuary mar

ble.

4. I stood, and watched from my window
The noiseless work of the sky,

And the sudden flurries of snow-birds,
Like brown leaves whirling by.

5. I thought of a mound in sweet Auburn, Where a little head-stone stood;

How the flakes were folding it gently,

As did robins the "Babes in the Wood."

6. Up spoke our own little Mabel,

Saying, "Father, who makes it snow?"
And I told of the good All-father
Who cares for us here below.

7. Again, I looked at the snow-fall,
And thought of the leaden sky
That arched o'er our first great sorrow,
When that mound was heaped so high.

8. I remember the gradual patience

That fell from that cloud, like snow,
Flake by flake, healing and hiding
The scar of our buried woe.

9. And, again, to the child I whispered,
“The snow that husheth all,
Darling, the merciful Father
Alone can bid it fall!”

10. Then, with eyes that saw not, I kissed her,
And she, kissing back, could not know
That my kiss was given to her sister
Folded close under deepening snow.

JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL.

XI. DISCOVERY OF PLYMOUTH HARBOR.

ON

N Saturday morning, November 21, 1620, the Mayflower, with its Pilgrim band, cast anchor in the little harbor at the extremity of Cape Cod. Several expeditions, one after another, vainly explored the land in search of a place of settlement. Thus, twentyfive days passed away. The anxiety of the Pilgrims became intense. Winter was increasing in severity. Their provisions were fast disappearing. The ship must soon leave them and return to Europe. Under these circumstances, Captain Miles Standish, with a picked party of ten men, set sail in the shallop to explore, thoroughly, Massachusetts Bay.

2. A cold wind plowed the bay, and the spray, dashing over the boat, covered them with ice as with coats of mail. They ran down the coast about twenty miles, when, doubling a point of land, they saw twelve Indians on the beach, cutting up a grampus. As they turned their bow toward the shore, the Indians fled, and soon disappeared in the stunted growth behind the sand-hills.

3. With difficulty, they effected a landing, and constructed a frail barricade of logs to protect them from the wind and from the arrows of the natives. Sentinels were stationed, a roaring fire was built, and our weary exiles, wrapped in their cloaks, soon forgot all their troubles in the oblivion of sleep. During the night, the gleam of the camp-fires of the Indians was seen in the distance.

4. In the morning, the company divided; a part to follow along the shore, through the woods, to see if they could find any suitable place for their settlement, while the rest sailed slowly along in the boat, noticing the depth of the water, and watching for harbors. Thus,

the day passed without any important results. At the close of the short winter's day, as the shades of another night were lowering around them, the boat put into a small creek, where its inmates were soon joined by the party from the woods. They met joyfully, for they had not seen each other since the morning, and much solicitude was felt for those who were exposed to ambuscades from the Indians.

5. They built a camp of logs and pine boughs, about the height of a man, their fire in the centre, and, having set a guard, wrapped themselves in their cloaks and sought sleep.

6. About midnight, they heard "a hideous cry," and the sentinels shouted, " To arms!" They sprang to their feet, seized guns and swords, when, suddenly, the clamor ceased. The sounds had been so different from anything which they had ever heard, that they concluded they must have been the howling of wolves, or the cry of some other unknown beasts of the forest.

7. The day had hardly dawned, when they rose and had prayers. They were preparing for breakfast, and some were carrying their muskets and other articles down to the boat, when, suddenly, a renewal of the yells which had startled them in the night almost deafened them; and a shower of arrows fell upon them from an unseen foe, concealed behind the dense trees of the forest.

8. Some ran to the boat to recover their arms; two discharged their muskets at random; while others, with more self-possession, held their loaded guns, ready to shoot any Indian who should approach, and urged their companions not to fire without deliberate aim. For some moments the conflict raged, the Indians being very

cautious not to expose themselves, and the Pilgrims sending their bullets with unerring aim, whenever they could catch sight of the foe.

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