to be continually reminded of their blindness, set aside and neglected, or even waited on too much. Had you been our guest you would have received a gift from the sightless, for they have one precious gift for the world. In their misfortune they are often happy, and in that they bring happiness to those who see. Shall any seeing man dare to be sad at Christmas or permit a little child to be other than merry and lighthearted? What can excuse the seeing from the duty and privilege of happiness while the blind child joins so merrily in the jubilee? "Tiny Tim" was glad to be at church on Christmas because he thought the sight of him might remind folk who it was that gave the lame power to walk. Even so the blind may remind their seeing brethren who it was that opened the blinded eyes, unstopped the deaf ears, gave health to the sick, and knowledge to the ignorant, and declared that mightier things even than these shall be fulfilled. CLASS ACTIVITIES 1. Tell the class about any blind children you know who are cheerful and happy. 2. Find three places in "Christmas in the Dark" which show that Miss Keller was busy helping prepare the good time. 3. What kinds of gifts did the various children receive? 4. Find and read aloud the paragraph in which Miss Keller tells you how to treat children who are less fortunate than you are. 5. Do you write letters to pupils in your grade who are ill at home? Carry out the spirit of kindness shown in this selection by writing and sending a letter to one of your friends who is sick. 6. Explain, with examples you know about, the statement: "It is more blessed to give than to receive." 2. THE CIRCUS-DAY PARADE JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY Oh, the Circus-Day parade! How the bugles played and played! And how the glossy horses tossed their flossy manes and neighed, As the rattle and the rhyme of the tenor-drummer's time How the grand band-wagon shone with a splendor all its own, And glittered with a glory that our dreams had never known! And how the boys behind, high and low of every kind, Marched in unconscious capture, with a rapture undefined! How the horsemen, two and two, with their plumes of white and blue, And crimson, gold, and purple, nodding by at me and you, Waved the banners that they bore, as the Knights in days of yore, Till our glad eyes gleamed and glistened like the spangles that they wore! How the graceless-graceful stride of the elephant was eyed, And the capers of the little horse that cantered at his side! How the shambling camels, tame to the plaudits of their fame, With listless eyes came silent, masticating as they came. How the cages jolted past, with each wagon battened fast, And, last of all, The Clown, making mirth for all the town, Oh! the Circus-Day parade! How the bugles played and played! And how the glossy horses tossed their flossy manes and neighed, As the rattle and the rhyme of the tenor-drummer's time Filled all the hungry hearts of us with melody sublime! CLASS ACTIVITIES 1. Why does Riley speak first of the music? 2. Does he omit any attractions usually found in the circus parades of to-day? Does he include anything not found in parades you have seen? If so, what? 3. Why does he repeat the first stanza at the end of the poem? 4. Decide what Riley does to make you feel the joy of the parade, in addition to making you understand it. 5. Use the lines you selected for judging poetry, p. 198, and find the most attractive passage in "The Circus-Day Parade." Compare your results. 6. What parts of a circus-day parade do girls like best? What parts do boys enjoy most? 7. Have volunteers take part in a contest: Who can read the first three stanzas with the most spirit; who can make the poem sound most like the fun of a parade? 8. Phrases for study: graceless-graceful stride; wagon battened fast; shambling camels. ADDITIONAL READINGS. 1. "The Young Savage," A. S. Pier, in The Children's Hour, 12: 60–76. 2. "The Monroe Game," W. Camp, ibid., 12:77–94. 3. "The Day of the Game," D. Steele, in Century Magazine, 53: 253–261. 4. “The Coming of the Circus," H. Garland, Boy Life on the Prairie, 203-221. 5. "Running for Boys," S. Scoville, Jr., in St. Nicholas, 22:777-780. 6. "New Views of Golf," F. Ouimet, in St. Nicholas, 47: 679-682. 7. "Angling," World Book, 1: 257. 8. "The Geography of Games," J. R. Hildebrandt, in National Geographic Magazine, 36: 89–144. 3. BOOK HOUSES ANNIE FELLOWS JOHNSTON I always think the cover of Which opens into some one's house A pirate or a fairy queen And when I find a house that's dull I do not often stay. But when I find one full of friends I never know what sort of folks And that's why reading always is CLASS ACTIVITIES 1. Tell of a book which has "opened some one's house" for you. Tell of a book that was "full of friends" for you. best "friend" you have met in a book? Who is the 2. Who is the most interesting person you have met in this book? 3. Tell of a book house in which you did not care to stay. 4. In what book has a fairy or a pirate "opened the door" for you? 5. What book or story can you recommend to your classmates in which you think they will want "to spend the day"? 6. Find phrases like "lift the latch" and "spend the day" in "Book Houses" which have more than their literal meaning. 4. GOING TO THE THEATRE WITH LONGFELLOW EDWARD BOK When Mr. Bok was about fifteen years old, he visited the poet Longfellow in his home at Cambridge, Massachusetts. As you read, notice the good sense and the good taste the boy showed in his visit with the kindly old gentleman. When Edward Bok stood before the home of Longfellow, he realized that he was to see the man around whose head the boy's youthful reading had cast a sort of halo. And when he saw the head itself he had a feeling that he could see the halo. No kindlier pair of eyes ever looked at a boy, as, with a smile, "the white Mr. Longfellow," as Mr. Howells had called him, held out his hand. "I am very glad to see you, my boy," were his first words, and with them he won the boy. Edward smiled back at the poet, and immediately the two were friends. "I have been taking a walk this beautiful morning," he said next, “and am a little late getting at my mail. Suppose you come in and sit at my desk with me, and we will see what the postman has brought. He brings me so many good things, you know." "Now, here is a little girl," he said, as he sat down at the desk with the boy beside him, "who wants my autograph and a 'sentiment.' What sentiment, I wonder, shall I send her?" "Why not send her 'Let us, then, be up and doing'?" suggested the boy. "That's what I should like if I were she." "Should you, indeed?" said Longfellow. "That is a good suggestion. Now, suppose you recite it off to me, so that I shall not have to look it up in my books, and I will write as you recite. But slowly; you know I am an old man and write slowly." Edward thought it strange that Longfellow himself should not know his own great words without looking them up. But he recited the four lines, so familiar to every schoolboy, and when the poet had finished writing them, he said: "Good! I see you have a memory. Now, suppose I copy these lines once more for the little girl and give you this copy? Then you can say, you know, that you dictated my own poetry to me." Of course Edward was delighted, and Longfellow gave him the sheet on which he had written: Let us, then, be up and doing, With a heart for any fate; Still achieving, still pursuing, Learn to labor and to wait. HENRY W. LONGFELLOW. Then, as the fine head bent down to copy the lines once more, Edward ventured to say to him: |