86 12. How were the horsemen dressed? 13. Why did the children's eyes glisten? 14. What can you tell about the elephant ? 15. What about the little horse? 16. What about the camel ? 17. What is meant by the camels being "tame to the plaudits of their fame"? 18. What were they "masticating"? 19. How were the wagons "battened fast"? 20. What was the "mystery" 21. Describe the clown. 22. Memorize the in the wagons? роет. Other easy poems of Mr. Riley's are "The Brook Song," "The South Wind and the Sun," "On the Sunny Side," "The Pixy People," "No Boy Knows," "A Sudden Shower," "A Song" ("There is ever a song somewhere"). of yore of old; a long time ago. stride (strīde): a long step. cantered (căn'tered): galloped easily. shambling (shăm'bling): walking awkwardly or dragging the feet. plaudits (plau'dits): clapping of the hands; cheers. listless (list'less): careless, not masticating (măs'tĭcāt Ing): chewing. tattoo (tǎt too'): a beating or drum- PART III. FAIRY AND WONDER STORIES OLD PIPES AND THE DRYAD FRANK RICHARD STOCKTON [This story of Old Pipes is in Mr. Stockton's delightful book, "Fanciful Tales." Do you know the book? If you don't, perhaps you know the "Ting-a-ling Stories," or "Tales out of School," or "A Jolly Fellowship," or "The Floating Prince," or "Personally Conducted." Mr. Stock- 5 ton wrote all of these, and also those exceedingly funny stories, "Rudder Grange" and "Pomona's Travels." He always saw the funny side of things, and yet he saw, too, all that was sweet and true. Mr. Stockton was born in Philadelphia in 1834. His 10 father was a descendant of Richard Stockton who signed the Declaration of Independence. His mother was from Virginia. Young Frank went to the public schools and at the age of ten began to write verses. They were not remarkable verses, perhaps no better than most children of 15 ten could write, but they showed that he liked to write, and when one likes to do a thing, he can generally, with some practice, learn to do it well. He went through the 5 88 Central High School of Philadelphia, but did not go to college. Instead of that, he learned to engrave blocks of wood, called woodcuts, from which pictures are printed in books and magazines. About this time he began to write stories for children not to earn money, but because he loved to write them — and he soon found that the children loved to hear them, too. At last so many people became interested in them that he gave up his engraving and spent all his time writ10 ing. He worked for a Philadelphia newspaper when he was not writing stories. Then he went to New York and wrote for Scribner's Magazine, and when the children's magazine, St. Nicholas, was started in 1873, he was made one of its editors. After seven years of this work he gave up his 15 position as an editor and spent the rest of his life writing books. A gentleman who went to see him in his later years describes him as a small man with a gray mustache and hair almost white. Whenever he spoke, his big dark eyes 20 would light up. When he smiled, his whole soul would seem to show out in his face like a burst of sunshine. He loved children and was always ready to joke with them. He married a Miss Tuttle, who lived in Virginia, the state from which his mother came. They lived, during his 25 later years, on a beautiful farm of a hundred and fifty acres near Charlestown, West Virginia. It was a place once owned by Washington. The house is said to have been planned by Washington for a favorite grandnephew. Mr. Stockton, after becoming famous and greatly beloved, died in 1902, at the age of sixty-eight. 5 The story "Old Pipes and the Dryad" tells of an old man who was made young by the kiss of a dryad. A great many years ago it was believed that these dryads, or fairies, lived in the trees, and that every tree, or at least every highborn, respectable tree, had a dryad of its own, who 10 was born with it and lived in it, watching and protecting it as it grew, and who finally died with it when it fell. The dryads were supposed to be very beautiful, and there are a great many legends about them. Every one seemed to agree that the kiss of a dryad was a very pleasant thing, 15 and some said that it would make a person ten years younger. Mr. Stockton in his story has followed this idea.] I A mountain brook ran through a little village. Over the brook there was a narrow bridge, and from the bridge a footpath led out from the village and up the hillside to 20 the cottage of Old Pipes and his mother. For many, many years Old Pipes had been employed by the villagers to pipe the cattle down from the hills. Every afternoon, an hour before sunset, he would sit on a rock in front of his cottage and play on his pipes. Then all the |