presence of nature and not be cured of vanity and conceit. When we see how gently and patiently she effaces or beautifies all traces of convulsions, agonies, defeats, and enmities, we feel that we are able to overcome hate and 5 envy and all ignoble passions. Since life is great, nay, of inestimable value, no opportunity by which it may be improved can be small. Higher things remain to be done than have yet been accomplished. God and His universe still wait on each individual soul, 10 offering opportunity. In the midst of the humble and inevitable realities of daily life each one must seek out for himself the way to better worlds. Our power, our worth, will be proportionate to the industry and perseverance with which we make right use of the ever-recurring minor occa15 sions, whether for becoming or for doing good. Opportunity is not wanting - there is place and means for all — but we lack will, we lack faith, hope and desire, we lack watchfulness, meditation, and earnest striving, we lack aim and purpose. 20 Do we imagine that it is not possible to lead a high life in a lowly room? That one may not be a hero, sage, or saint in a factory or a coal-pit, at the handle of a plow or the throttle of the engine? We are all in the center of the same world and whatever happens to us is great, if 25 there be greatness in us. The disbelievers in opportunity are voluble with excuses. They cannot; they have no leisure; they have not the means. But they can if they will; leisure to improve one's self is never wanting, and they who seek find the means. There is always opportunity to 30 do right, though he who does it stand alone, like Abdiel, Among innumerable false, unmoved, HELPS FOR STUDY Where do we get the word "opportunity"? What does it mean? In what way can evils, such as poverty, neglect, and suffering, be opportunities for good? Explain "omnipresent." To what does Õuida compare poverty? What are "Vikings"? In what ways may the dust of daily happenings be turned to gold? What does the writer mean by "immortal silent ones"? What people did Moses lead forth from bondage? What is the "starry vault"? Who was Emerson? Who is the "great calm mother"? What does the writer say of opportunity? NOTES 226:9 Ouida. The pen name of Louise De la Ramée (18401909), an English writer. 228: 6 Thermopyla. A famous pass in Greece, leading from Thessaly into Locris. It is celebrated as the scene of the heroic death of Leonidas, King of Sparta, and his three hundred Spartans, when they attempted to prevent the invasion of the Persians 480 B. C. 228: 6 Homer. The celebrated Greek poet, author of the Iliad and the Odyssey. 228:6 Demosthenes. The greatest of Greek orators. he denounced was Philip of Macedon. The tyrant 228: 8 Galileo. (1564-1642). A famous Italian astronomer, to whom we are indebted for much of the information regarding the heavenly bodies. He invented the telescope, and discovered the use of the pendulum in measuring time. 229: 30 Abdiel. A seraph in Milton's "Paradise Lost." He was the only seraph who remained loyal when Satan stirred up the angels to revolt. VOCABULARY Ouida (we'da) Thermopylae (ther-mop'i-lē) Abdiel (ab'di-el) Demosthenes(dē-mos'thē-nēz) Galileo (gal-i-lē'ō) 5 10 15 20 FOOTSTEPS OF ANGELS HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW When the hours of Day are numbered, Ere the evening lamps are lighted, Then the forms of the departed The beloved, the true-hearted, Come to visit me once more. He, the young and strong, who cherished By the roadside fell and perished, They, the holy ones and weakly, And with them the Being Beauteous, And is now a saint in heaven. What is meant by "When the hours of Day are numbered"? What does the poet say of the "voices of the Night"? What is indicated by the line, "Ere the evening lamps are lighted"? Explain "fitful firelight." Do you know who is meant by "Being Beauteous"? What does the poet say in the last stanza? Why do you think he called this poem, "Footsteps of Angels"? SPARTACUS TO THE GLADIATORS ELIJAH KELLOGG Elijah Kellogg, a Congregational minister, was born in Portland, Maine, in 1813. He was the author of several series of books for young folks, among them the following: "The Whispering Pine" Series, "Elm Island" Series, and "Pleasant Cove" Series. It had been a day of triumph in Capua. Lentulus, returning with victorious eagles, had amused the populace with the sports of the amphitheatre to an extent hitherto unknown even in that luxurious city. The shouts of revelry 5 had died away; the roar of the lion had ceased; the last loiterer had retired from the banquet, and the lights in the palace of the victor were extinguished. The moon, piercing the tissue of fleecy clouds, silvered the dewdrop on the corselet of the Roman sentinel, and tipped the dark waters 10 of Volturnus with wavy, tremulous light. It was a night of holy calm, when the zephyr sways the young spring leaves, and whispers among the hollow reeds its dreamy music. No sound was heard, but the last sob of some weary wave, telling its story to the smooth pebbles of the beach, 15 and then all was still as the breast when the spirit has departed. In the deep recesses of the amphitheatre a band of gladiators were crowded together their muscles still knotted with the agony of conflict, the foam upon their lips, and the 20 scowl of battle yet lingering upon their brows — when Spartacus, rising in the midst of that grim assemblage, thus addressed them: "Ye call me chief, and ye do well to call him chief who, |