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AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 FOR AMERICA'S CHILDREN 
 
 BY 
 
 MARA L. PRATT 
 
 IN FIVE VOLUMES 
 
 I. THE BEGINNER'S BOOK 
 
 BOSTON, U.S.A. 
 
 D. C. HEATH & CO., PUBLISHERS 
 
 1900 
 
Copyright, 1900 
 By D. C. Heath & Co. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Page 
 
 I. The Northmen i 
 
 II. Olaf and Snorri 8 
 
 III. Christopher Columbus 23 
 
 IV. Prince Montezuma 37 
 
 V. Leaping Wolf 53 
 
 VI. The Little Pueblo Prince 67 
 
 VII. Virginia Dare 83 
 
 VIII. Betty Alden 89 
 
 IX. Hans and Katrina 101 
 
 X. The Boston Boys 108 
 
 XL The Army of Two 116 
 
 XII. The Boy in Gray 121 
 
 XIII. The Boy in Blue 127 
 
 With fifty -nine illustrations 
 four of which are in color 
 
America's Story for America's Children 
 
 I. THE NORTHMEN 
 
 Away up in the Northland, 
 where the ice and snow 
 never melt, lived little 
 Prince Eric. 
 
 He did not live in a 
 palace, as the princes in 
 fairy stories do. In the 
 summer he lived in a hut 
 on the hillside ; and in the 
 winter he lived in a cave 
 in the mountains. 
 
 Eric liked the winter. 
 For then the men built 
 roaring fires in the caves, 
 and sat and told wonder- 
 
 From the statue by Miss A. 
 ful StOrieS and Sang WOn- Whitney, Boston, Mass. 
 
 derful songs. 
 
 Leif Ericson. 
 
2 AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 They told stories of the sun and the moon, 
 and of the thunder and the lightning. They 
 told stories of the rainbow, and of the frosts and 
 the snow. 
 
 " Why does the warm summer go away?" 
 Prince Eric asked one day. "And why does 
 the long, cold winter come ? " 
 
 " It is because the Summer and the Frost 
 Giants have had a battle," Eric's father said. 
 " The Frost Giants have won the battle and 
 have put Summer to sleep. But by and by 
 Summer will wake. - Then he will whisper to 
 the trees and to the flowers, and they will send 
 out their leaves to make the world glad again. 
 He will breathe upon the brooks that are cov- 
 ered with ice, and they will dance and sing. 
 Then the Frost Giants will have to run away 
 to their homes in the ice mountains ; for they 
 cannot live here when Summer is awake." 
 
 Little Prince Eric liked a storm. He liked 
 to hear the thunder roar, and to see the lightning 
 flash. 
 
THE NORTHMEN 3 
 
 " The rumble of the thunder is the voice of 
 the god Thor," his father said ; " and the light- 
 ning is the flash of his eye." 
 
 One day Prince Eric saw a beautiful rain- 
 bow. He had never seen one before, and it was 
 very wonderful to him. " Tell me the story of 
 the rainbow," he cried. 
 
 Then one of the story-tellers sat down before 
 the fire and sang to the little prince the story of 
 the rainbow. 
 
 " It is a bridge," the story-teller sang ; " and 
 down the bridge good Odin comes. Odin loves 
 the earth-children, and comes to us often as we 
 sleep in our caves. We cannot see him, but he 
 watches over us always. Sometimes he lets us 
 see his beautiful rainbow bridge. Sometimes 
 the Frost Giants try to climb up the bridge to 
 the home of Odin. Then the great god Thor is 
 angry ! We can hear his voice roaring among 
 the clouds. We can see his eyes flash fire, and 
 we can hear the Crash ! Crash ! Crash ! of his 
 great hammer as he throws it across the sky." 
 
4 AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 By and by, when Prince Eric had grown to 
 be a man, he built for himself a great ship and 
 sailed out into the open sea. 
 
 " I will find new lands," he said. 
 
 As he sailed away, his men sang : 
 
 " I am the god Thor ! 
 I am the god of war ! 
 I am the god Thor ! 
 I am the god of war ! " 
 
 Eric sailed and sailed till he came to the 
 island of Iceland. Here he made a new home 
 for himself and his people. 
 
 By and by Eric had a little son. He named 
 him Leif, but the people always called the child 
 Erics son. 
 
 Now Leif Ericson was a brave little prince. 
 He liked to listen to the stories that his father 
 told about the old home in the Northland. He 
 liked to hear about the wonderful voyage his 
 father had made across the sea. He was proud 
 that his father was so great a hero. 
 
 " I will be a hero," Leif said, as he grew older. 
 
THE NORTHMEN 5 
 
 So when he became a man, he too set out 
 upon the sea with a crew of brave Northmen. 
 He sailed out into the west till he came to 
 Greenland. Then he sailed on and on till he 
 came to a long shore that reached north and 
 south as far as he could see. This was the 
 shore of our own country, and these Northmen 
 were the first white men that had ever come 
 to it. 
 
 " This must be a large island," Leif said. So 
 he drove his big ship toward the shore and 
 landed. 
 
 The Skrellings, as Leif called the natives, 
 because of the squealing noises they made, came 
 down to the shore to see what this strange ship 
 was, and why it had come. 
 
 " It is a big dragon ! " the Skrellings said. 
 " See its head and its tail ! How they shine in 
 the sunlight ! " 
 
 It is no wonder the Skrellings thought that 
 it was a dragon ; for a Northman's ship in 
 those days was built to look like a dragon 
 
6 AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 as you will see from the first colored picture 
 in this book. The front of the ship was high, 
 and had a fierce-looking head upon it. The 
 stern of the ship, too, was high, and was built 
 in the shape of a dragon's tail. The head and 
 tail were covered with gold, and the gold shone 
 in the sunlight like fire. Another kind of ship 
 built by the Northmen is shown at the end of 
 this chapter. 
 
 How strange the dragon ship must have 
 looked as it sailed along upon the water ! Is 
 it any wonder the poor Skrellings were afraid 
 when they saw it coming into their harbor ? 
 
 But the Skrellings could frighten the Norse- 
 men sometimes. One day they came down to 
 the shore with long poles. On the ends of the 
 poles were big, blue balls, which made a whiz- 
 zing noise as the Skrellings whirled them about. 
 
 The Northmen had never seen anything like 
 them, and swam away to their ships as fast as 
 ever they could. 
 
 On this first visit to our country the North- 
 
THE NORTHMEN 7 
 
 men found more wild grapes than they could 
 eat or carry away. They had never seen so 
 much fruit in all their lives. So when they 
 went back to their own land, Leif Ericson said, 
 " Behold, we have found a wonderful country 
 across the waters ; and we have named it 
 Vineland ! " 
 
 A Northman's Ship. 
 
 This picture was drawn from a ship which had been buried for 
 hundreds of years away up in the Northland. 
 
A Mazer, or Wooden Drinking-cup. 
 
 II. OLAF AND SNORRI 
 
 Leif Ericson did not care to make his home 
 in this Vineland he had found. 
 
 " It is warm and very beautiful there," he 
 said; "but I love the ice and snow of the 
 North. Let others dwell in Vineland if they 
 will. I will stay in Greenland, where the ice 
 sparkles and where the sky is bright with red 
 and purple and gold." 
 
 One day as Leif Ericson sat in the door- 
 way of his Northern hut, two gilded dragon- 
 ships came sailing toward his shores. 
 
 " They are from Iceland ! " he cried. 
 
 Then Leif's good friend Biorne (Be-ern) 
 ran down to the shore to look. 
 
OLAF AND SNORRI 9 
 
 "One is the ship of Karlsefni" (Karl-sef-nee), 
 Biorne said. " I remember the stripes of blue 
 and white with which he used to paint his ship." 
 
 Yes, it was the ship of Karlsefni. He had 
 sailed for days and days across the waters to 
 find his old friends, Leif and Biorne. 
 
 " Tell me," he said to Leif, " about this won- 
 derful Vineland that you found in the west. 
 Do its shores stretch north and south for miles 
 and miles ? Is the air soft and warm ? Tell 
 me about the trees that lost their leaves in 
 the winter and found them again in the sum- 
 mer. Are there grapes and fruits of many 
 kinds?" 
 
 " It is as you have said," Leif answered. 
 He then told Karlsefni the long story of his 
 voyage and of the land that he had found. 
 
 "Would not this new country make a good 
 home for our people ? " asked Karlsefni. 
 
 " It is indeed a beautiful country," said 
 Leif. 
 
 Soon Karlsefni set out with his two ships 
 
io AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 to find the land that Leif had discovered so 
 many months before. 
 
 Now because Karlsefni went to make a home 
 for his people, he took with him his beauti- 
 ful fair-haired wife, Gudrid (Goo-drid), and Leif's 
 brave little son, Olaf. The other men, too, took 
 their families, and their household furniture, 
 and their cows. They were as happy a band of 
 colonists as ever crossed the seas. 
 
 By and by they reached this shore of ours, 
 and landed not far from the place where Leif 
 first found the grapes and the warm sunshine. 
 
 The men set to work with good will and soon 
 built a village. They traded with the Skrel- 
 lings for the warm, furry skins of the animals 
 which they had killed. Everything went well 
 with the new-comers and the natives. 
 
 Before long a little baby was born in the 
 colony. Its father, Karlsefni, and its mother, 
 Gudrid, were the proudest father and mother 
 in all the world. 
 
 "The baby is a true little Norseman," said 
 
OLAF AND SNORRI n 
 
 Gudrid. " See how blue his eyes are, and how 
 yellow his hair is ! " 
 
 " He is beautiful like his mother, and strong 
 like his father," said the people. 
 
 From the very day the baby was born Olaf 
 loved him. He made a little hammock for him, 
 such as those the Skrellings rocked their babies 
 in; and he liked nothing better than to play 
 with him the whole day long. 
 
 By and by Snorri (Snor-ree) — that was the 
 baby's name — was big enough to walk. Then 
 Olaf would take him down to the water side to 
 play in the sand. 
 
 Now one reason Karlsefni came to this new 
 land was to find mazer wood; for Leif Ericson 
 had said, " There is much mazer wood in this 
 country ; enough for all the people in Europe." 
 
 "But what is mazer wood?" Olaf asked; 
 for he was quite too young to know. So Leif 
 explained to Olaf that mazer wood was the 
 wood of those warts or burrs so often to be seen 
 upon the trunks of trees. The people of Europe 
 
12 AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 wanted mazer wood because it was hard and 
 tough and firm. It would neither break nor 
 warp nor crack. People could carve upon it 
 and it would endure for centuries as if it were 
 rock. 
 
 Still Olaf wondered. Why did the people 
 of Europe want this wood, even if it were so 
 tough and firm? 
 
 But one day Karlsefni brought a fine large 
 bowl from his ship and gave it to Olaf. " It is 
 from our old home in Norseland," he said, " and 
 it is made of mazer wood." 
 
 " This is what the people use mazer wood 
 for, my boy," said Leif; and if the bowl had 
 been lined with diamonds Olaf could not have 
 been more pleased with it. There is a picture 
 of one of these bowls at the beginning of this 
 chapter. 
 
 So when at last Karlsefni and the people 
 had built their village, the men set to work to 
 find mazer wood. 
 
 "We will carry whole ship-loads of it to 
 
OLAF AND SNORRI 13 
 
 Europe," Karlsefni said ; " and it will make 
 us as rich as kings." 
 
 The men set gladly to work felling the trees 
 and cutting out the great burrs of mazer wood. 
 
 But first dams must be built on the rivers 
 that led to the ocean ; for the Norsemen had no 
 horses or carts, and so must float the burrs down 
 the river. 
 
 This was great fun for Olaf and Snorri. 
 They liked to watch the ponds that were made by 
 the dams, and they liked to see the great blocks 
 of mazer wood floating down to the mouth of 
 the river. Often the children made tiny dams 
 in the brooks, and made believe float their own 
 mazer-wood blocks ; for, like all little folks, they 
 tried to do what the grown-up people did. 
 
 Now it happened that the Skrellings did not 
 like to have their rivers and trees put to this 
 use, so more than once they fought the little 
 colony ; and one day Gudrid saw an old squaw 
 looking through the bushes at the baby Snorri 
 as he lay asleep in his hammock. 
 
14 AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 " Never take Snorri out of sight of the vil- 
 lage," Karlsefni had said to Olaf many a time. 
 
 But one day Olaf went into the woods to set 
 a trap. Snorri watched him as he went away. 
 Then it came into his little head that he would 
 follow Olaf. Like a true Norseman, off he set 
 in search of adventure. He soon reached the 
 woods, but where was Olaf? Snorri looked all 
 around, but no Olaf was to be seen. 
 
 "Olaf! Olaf!" he shouted in his little baby 
 voice. Still no Olaf. Then Snorri trudged on 
 into the forest, down the little foot-path toward 
 the lake. 
 
 " Olaf! Olaf!" he shouted again. There was 
 no answer. The forest was very, very still. 
 Just then it came into Snorri's head to be afraid. 
 He looked around him ; there were trees, trees 
 everywhere. He could see no houses, no Olaf; 
 he could see nothing but trees. Then Snorri 
 sat down in the path and screamed and cried, 
 and cried and screamed : " Olaf ! Olaf ! Oh ! Oh ! 
 Oh ! " So loudly did Snorri scream that Olaf 
 
OLAF AND SNORRI 15 ' 
 
 heard him and came running out from the 
 forest. 
 
 "Olaf! Olaf !" wailed Snorri; and he cuddled 
 his little yellow head down on Olaf's shoulder, 
 and sobbed as if his heart would break. 
 
 " Don't cry, Snorri. Don't cry," said Olaf. 
 "Climb up on my back and away we'll go!" 
 
 Now nothing pleased Snorri so well as to 
 ride upon Olaf's back ; so up he climbed and 
 away ran Olaf down the forest path. There 
 was one hill beyond which Olaf was not allowed 
 to go. But this morning he forgot, and up the 
 hill he ran, Snorri still upon his back. 
 
 There was a beautiful plain with fields of 
 corn beyond the hill. There was a little pond, 
 too, and Olaf thought it would be great fun for 
 Snorri to sail ships upon its still waters. So 
 on toward the pond Olaf went, talking to Snorri 
 of the ships they would sail. 
 
 But soon Olaf heard a sound. It frightened 
 him, and he tried to go back toward the edge of 
 the wood. It was very strange, but he could not 
 
16 AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 find the foot-path anywhere. On and on and 
 round and round he wandered; but the farther 
 he wandered, the farther he was from the foot- 
 path. It was beginning to grow dark. Poor 
 Olaf ! Poor Snorri ! They were lost in the 
 woods. 
 
 It grew darker and darker, and Olaf's heart 
 grew heavier and heavier. 
 
 " I 'm so tired ! " said Snorri. 
 
 Then Olaf made a bed of leaves, spread his 
 own cloak over them, and laid Snorri upon the 
 soft bed. 
 
 " So tired ! " Snorri said again ; and then he 
 fell fast asleep. All night long Snorri slept, 
 and all night long little Olaf lay by his side 
 wondering what he should do. Would Karl- 
 sefni come and find them ? Would the Skrel- 
 lings steal them and carry them away to their 
 wigwams ? Would they starve to death in the 
 forest ? 
 
 Just then Olaf heard a crackling sound. 
 Was it a Skrelling? Alas, it was; and in a 
 
OLAF AND SNORRI 17 
 
 minute the savage sprang out from the bushes 
 and seized Olaf by the shoulder. "Ugh! Ugh!" 
 he said ; and Snorri screamed and clung to Olaf. 
 
 " Ugh ! Ugh ! " said the Skrelling again ; 
 and away he marched, dragging Olaf and Snorri 
 along as fast as their little legs could run. 
 
 It was a long, cruel journey. Olaf thought 
 it would never end. But at last they came to 
 the Skrelling village, and the Skrelling took the 
 children to the wigwam of the chief. 
 
 " Ugh ! Ugh ! " said the chief ; and he stared 
 at the little white children till Snorri trembled 
 with fear. 
 
 " Take Snorri home," sobbed Snorri. But 
 Olaf could not take Snorri home ; he could only 
 hold him close in his arms and try to comfort 
 him. 
 
 Then all the men and women of the tribe 
 came and looked at Olaf and Snorri ; and one 
 good old squaw gave Snorri some milk. 
 
 Then some Skrelling children came and in- 
 vited Olaf to play with them. But Olaf could 
 
18 AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 not understand; and if he had understood, he 
 would not have cared for play. 
 
 But the little Skrelling children liked their 
 white-faced visitors. So they stuck feathers in 
 Olaf's hair and tried to daub his face with paints. 
 They had feathers in their own hair and paint on 
 their own faces, and they thought that Olaf 
 should have some, too. 
 
 Snorri thought this was very funny, and 
 when a little Skrelling put some red paint on 
 Olaf's nose, Snorri laughed aloud. This made 
 Olaf laugh, too. Soon the children were at play 
 together, running races and throwing stones at a 
 target. 
 
 But all this time there was great excitement 
 in the home of Olaf and Snorri. Where were 
 the children ? Had the Skrellings stolen them ? 
 
 Poor mother Gudrid's sweet face was pale 
 with terror. Karlsefni's blue eyes flashed. 
 "Ready, ready, my men!" said he; "search 
 every corner in the forest ! " 
 
 Then the men set out together into the 
 
OLAF AND SNORRI 19 
 
 forest. " Here are footsteps," said they as they 
 reached the foot-path. " And small ones — 
 surely the children have been here." Then the 
 men hurried on to the pond ; but there they lost 
 the trail. " They started toward the pond," said 
 Karlsefni ; " but there are no footsteps on the 
 shore." 
 
 By and by the men found the little bed where 
 Snorri had slept. There lay Olaf's little cloak, 
 just as he had spread it over the leaves. 
 
 " See ! see ! " cried Karlsefni ; and he pointed 
 to the torn and broken branches where the Skrel- 
 ling had broken through. 
 
 "A Skrellinghas stolen them! " Karlsefni cried. 
 Without another word the men hurried on. 
 
 " Yes, here are footsteps ! " said the men. 
 " See, large steps where the Skrelling walked. 
 And on either side little footsteps, — Olaf's and 
 Snorri's ! " 
 
 " We must go to the Skrelling village," said 
 Karlsefni. "The children are there." 
 
 So the men went back to their own village, 
 
20 AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 put their fort in order, and left half their force 
 of men to guard it. Then the other half set 
 forth up the river to rescue the children. 
 
 At midnight the fort was roused. " Whoop! 
 whoop ! whoop ! " 
 
 "The Skrellings ! the Skrellings ! " whispered 
 the guard ; and in a twinkling every Norseman 
 was ready with his spear. Then there was a 
 terrible fight. The Skrellings burned the fort, 
 and the Norse warriors hurried the women and 
 children down to the ship, glad enough to escape. 
 There on the ship the men waited for Karlsefni 
 and his men to come back. 
 
 At last they came, and with them the two 
 lost children, Olaf and Snorri. 
 
 " What is this ? " cried Karlsefni, as he came 
 over the hill and down into the village he had left. 
 
 "Hail! hail!/ hail!" shouted the Norsemen 
 from the ship when they saw Karlsefni on the 
 hilltop. But at the same time the Skrellings 
 shouted " Whoop ! whoop ! whoop ! " from the 
 forests round about. 
 
The Fight between the Norsemen and the Skrellings. 
 
22 AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 " They have burned our village ! They have 
 driven our people to the ship ! " said Karlsefni. 
 Without another word, he and his men rushed 
 upon the savages. 
 
 There was another fierce fight, and the Skrel- 
 lings were driven back into the forests. 
 
 " It is a very sorry-looking home," said 
 Biorne, looking around upon the smoking 
 village. 
 
 " Let us go back to our own home in the 
 North," said one of the men. " Why stay here 
 in the midst of Skrellings?" 
 
 " Yes, let us go," said Karlsefni. " The place 
 for Northmen is upon the sea." 
 
 So the men turned their ships toward the 
 ocean. Again the dragons' heads rose and fell 
 upon the waves, and away the Norsemen sped, 
 back to their homes. As they sailed they sang : 
 
 " I am the god Thor ! 
 I am the god of war ! 
 I am the god Thor ! 
 I am the god of war ! " 
 
III. CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS 
 
 It was nearly four 
 hundred years after 
 the Northmen left 
 our country, before 
 Christopher Colum- 
 bus was born. 
 
 He was born -in 
 a little town by the 
 sea. This town was 
 in southern Europe, 
 where the sun shines 
 brightly all the year, 
 and where the sea is 
 nearly always calm 
 and blue. Every day 
 ships came and went 
 
 Columbus when a Youth. 
 
24 AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 in the little harbor, and the boys and girls 
 watched them from the wharf. 
 
 As soon as Columbus could walk, his brother 
 used to take him down to see the ships come 
 and go. All day long the brothers would play 
 about among the boats that were drawn up on 
 the beach. Sometimes they were allowed to play 
 on the decks of the ships ; so that when Colum- 
 bus was only seven years old he knew the name 
 of every mast and every sail and every rope. 
 
 There were row-boats fastened to the wharf, 
 and Columbus liked to sit and rock in them. 
 Sometimes his brothers would row him out to 
 the big ships in the harbor, and the boys would 
 play that they were sailors going out on a voy- 
 age across the great ocean. Then they would 
 talk of the wonderful cities they were going to 
 see, and the wonderful treasures they were go- 
 ing to bring home. 
 
 When Columbus was old enough he would 
 steer the boat, as you can see him doing in the 
 colored picture, and his big brother would play 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS 25 
 
 captain. " Keep due west ! " the brother would 
 shout, and Columbus would shout back, " Ay, 
 ay, sir." 
 
 Often Columbus would sit for hours watch- 
 ing the sailors unload their ships. Sometimes 
 they would let him help them, and then Colum- 
 bus would go down into the hold, and into the 
 cabin where the sailors lived while they were on 
 board ship. He soon learned the names of all 
 the parts of even the biggest ships, and could 
 climb the rigging like a real sailor. 
 
 "You will make a fine sailor by and by," the 
 men would say to him. 
 
 But best of all, Columbus liked to listen to 
 the stories that the sailors told of far-off coun- 
 tries, and to look at the wonderful things that 
 they brought from the lands across the sea. 
 
 " I shall be a sailor when I am a man ! " 
 Columbus would say to himself. "Then I shall 
 see these far-off lands." 
 
 Now the father of Columbus was a wool- 
 comber. He would have been very glad to 
 
26 AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 have Columbus learn the wool-comber's trade. 
 But he soon saw that his son cared for nothing 
 but the sea. So he said to him one day : " I 
 will send you to a school where you can learn 
 all about the sea. I will send you to a school 
 where you can learn to be a good sailor ! " 
 
 This was just what Columbus longed for. 
 He could hardly wait for the day when he 
 should be allowed to go. How he studied at 
 this school ! How fast he learned ! His teachers 
 were proud of him ; and his father and mother 
 were proud of him, too. 
 
 When the boy had learned all there was for 
 him to learn at this school, he came home and 
 made ready to go to sea. 
 
 He was only fourteen years old when he 
 made his first voyage ; and he " followed the 
 sea" till he was an old man. 
 
 Most people in those days thought that the 
 earth was flat. " If it is flat," they said, " we 
 must take care not to sail too near the edge. 
 We might sail off, down into nowhere!" 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS 27 
 
 But Columbus, on one of his voyages, 
 had been to Iceland. There he had heard of 
 the Vineland far away in the west. Besides, 
 Columbus had read books which said that the 
 earth is round like a ball, and he felt sure that 
 the books were right. Very few people knew 
 about books in those days ; so when Columbus 
 began to talk about a round earth the people 
 laughed at him. 
 
 " Anybody can see for himself that the earth 
 is flat," the people said. 
 
 " It does not even look flat," Columbus would 
 say. " Indeed, when a ship goes out to sea, it 
 seems to sail down over a rounded surface. And 
 when the ship comes back it is the tops of the 
 masts we see first." 
 
 The people listened, but they did not believe 
 him. 
 
 " He is crazy," they said. 
 
 " If I had a ship and some good sailors," 
 Columbus thought, " I know I could sail out 
 into the west and around the world." 
 
28 AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 For many years no one would believe him ; 
 and he could find no sailors brave enough to 
 sail out into the strange seas with him. 
 
 " The earth is flat, and we should sail, off 
 the edge ! " the people would say. " Then, too, 
 there are dragons and sea-serpents out in 
 the strange seas. They would eat us alive." 
 
 After a long time Columbus found a good 
 old monk who listened to him. This monk was 
 a wise man, and he believed what Columbus 
 said. The monk went to Isabella, Oueen of 
 Spain, and said: "Here is a man who can bring 
 great riches to Spain. Let me bring him to 
 you, and let him tell his story." 
 
 So Queen Isabella called Columbus to 
 the palace, and he spread out his maps and 
 told his story. The friends of the Queen 
 could see no sense in what he told them ; 
 they laughed at him and called him a mad- 
 man. The King and Queen, however, believed 
 that Columbus was right, and they promised 
 to give him ships. 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS 
 
 29 
 
 " It can do no great harm," they said, 
 " even if he is mistaken. And if he is right, 
 then we shall find a short way to the Spice 
 Islands ! Think how much time and money it 
 will save ! " 
 
 A Ship of the Time of Columbus. 
 
 Columbus hardly dared believe the King and 
 Queen when they promised to help him. Were 
 they really going to give him ships? 
 
 In 1492 Columbus sailed out from the little 
 port of Palos in Spain, while the. people crowded 
 down to the wharves to see the ships depart. 
 
30 AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 " These men will never come back," some of 
 the people said. " The dragons will eat them." 
 
 But there were a few wise ones in the crowd, 
 and they said to the sailors : " Be brave. Obey 
 Columbus. He knows what to do. Think of 
 the glory of finding a short way to the Spice 
 Islands ! " 
 
 Then the sailors cheered: " Long live Spain!" 
 "Long live the King! " "Long live the Queen!" 
 " Long live Columbus ! " 
 
 While the people were still cheering, the 
 little vessels sailed out of the harbor. Out into 
 the west, straight across the sea, they sailed for 
 days and days. 
 
 No vessel had ever sailed so far from the 
 coast before, and it was no wonder that the 
 sailors began to be afraid. Would they sail 
 over the edge of the earth ? The longer the 
 sailors thought about it, the more frightened 
 they grew. 
 
 " Why did we ever come ? " said one sailor. 
 
 " Columbus is a madman," said another. 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS 31 
 
 " Why do we obey him ? " said a third. 
 
 " Let us chain him up and take him back to 
 Spain ! " 
 
 " Let us throw him overboard ! " 
 
 Columbus knew that the sailors were angry. 
 He soon learned that they were planning to take 
 the ships back to Spain. But he knew also that 
 the vessels were nearing land. " It would be a 
 great pity to turn back now," he thought. 
 
 So he called his men to him. 
 
 " We are very near land," he said. " Do you 
 see the fresh branches of trees that float by? 
 They cannot have floated far. If they had, they 
 would not look so fresh and green. And have 
 you seen the small birds in the air ? Surely, 
 small birds do not fly far from land ! " 
 
 Still the sailors frowned and sulked. 
 
 "We don't care where we are," they mut- 
 tered. " We want to get back to Spain." 
 
 So at last Columbus said, " Give me three 
 days more. If we do not see land then, I will 
 turn our vessels toward home." 
 
32 AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 To this the sailors agreed, and the vessels 
 sailed on. 
 
 But how anxious Columbus was ! Would 
 he have to give up, and go back to Spain ? 
 
 One morning, just at daybreak, there came a 
 call from the first ship. " Land ! land ! land ! " 
 the sailors shouted with all their might. 
 
 Columbus' heart beat fast. Could it be true? 
 Yes, there was land. Every sailor could see it. 
 
 In a few hours the vessels came close to an 
 island. The sailors jumped into the small boats, 
 and quickly rowed to the shore. 
 
 Meantime, the Red Men on the land had 
 seen the ships, and they, too, hurried down to 
 the shore. 
 
 " Why have these strange canoes come to 
 our island?" they wondered ; for the Red Men 
 had never seen anything like them. 
 
 " Are they canoes ? Or are they birds with 
 white wings ? If they are canoes, how do they 
 move along the waters without oars ? " the Red 
 Men said to each other. 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS 33 
 
 But when the Spaniards landed, the Red 
 Men wondered still more. They had half a 
 mind to run back into the woods. But the 
 bright-colored clothing of the Spaniards was so 
 wonderful ! The Red Men had never seen any- 
 thing so beautiful. 
 
 * Now, Columbus had brought with him a 
 great cross and a Spanish flag ; ar)d when the 
 men were landed, Columbus set up the cross 
 and raised the flag. 
 
 Then the sailors knelt before the cross. A 
 good monk gave thanks to God for having 
 brought them over the seas in safety, and the 
 poor natives looked on in wonder. The island 
 was very beautiful. There was fruit in plenty, 
 and the sailors were glad to explore. 
 
 "We must be on the shores of Asia," 
 Columbus said ; for he did not know that he 
 had come to America. 
 
 " And if this is the shore of Asia, we 
 have found a short way to the Spice Islands. 
 Indeed, this may be one of them." 
 
 3 
 
34 AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 Columbus was now anxious to get back to 
 Spain. He longed to tell the King and Queen 
 of his success, and that the short route had 
 been found. He longed, too, to tell them that 
 the earth is round like a ball, and that ships can 
 indeed sail around it. 
 
 So the sailors gathered some of every kind 
 of fruit and flowej ; they seized a few of the 
 natives, and then sailed back to Spain. 
 
 You should have heard the people shout 
 when Columbus sailed into the harbor of 
 Palos. It was the greatest voyage that had 
 ever been made. For the first time ships 
 had sailed straight across the broad ocean. 
 And they had not sailed over the edge of the 
 earth, and no " dragons had eaten the sailors 
 alive. 
 
 " Long live Columbus ! Long live Colum- 
 bus ! Long live Columbus!" the people shouted. 
 
 Then Columbus went before the King and 
 Queen, as you see in the picture opposite, and 
 told them all about the voyage. He showed 
 
Reception of Columbus. 
 
 Adapted from the picture, by Ricardo Balaca the famous Spanish artist. 
 The figures and objects are taken from statues and pictures of the time. 
 
36 AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 them the strange fruits and flowers, and the 
 natives in their feathers and war paint. 
 
 The King and Queen were proud of Colum- 
 bus. They gave him rich presents ; and honors 
 were poured upon him. People no longer 
 laughed at him ; they no longer called him a 
 madman. They were anxious to do all they 
 could to honor him ; for now Columbus was a 
 great man in Spain. 
 
Montezuma, the Last King of Mexico. 
 
 From Montanus and Ogilby. 
 
 IV. PRINCE MONTEZUMA 
 
 The white men at first supposed that all the 
 people in the new world were wild and savage, 
 like those that Leif Ericson and Columbus had 
 seen. But this was not so ; for in Mexico there 
 were Aztec Indians, who had fine houses and a 
 well built city. In this city lived little Prince 
 Montezuma. His palace was almost as grand 
 as those in Spain. He dressed in robes of beau- 
 
38 AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 tiful colors, and wore rings upon his fingers and 
 bracelets upon his wrists, and around his neck 
 were strings of beautiful shells. No boy in the 
 city could shoot an arrow or throw a spear as 
 well as he ; and when the boys played at games, 
 he was the most skilful of them all. 
 
 These Aztec people were proud of their 
 Prince and of their fine city, with its high walls 
 and its temples studded with pearls and precious 
 stones. The city was built on an island in a 
 great lake. Across the lake were fine bridges. 
 There were so many of them that they looked 
 like the spokes of a great wheel, with the city 
 at the hub. 
 
 When Prince Montezuma was born he was 
 placed in a little cradle and kept there for three 
 days. Everybody came to look at him and to 
 admire him, but no one except his nurse was 
 allowed to touch him until after the fourth day. 
 
 On the fourth day the little Prince was taken 
 up by his nurse and given his first bath, for now 
 he was to have a name. 
 
PRINCE MONTEZUMA 39 
 
 After he was bathed and wrapped in a beau- 
 tiful robe, the nurse carried him into a great hall 
 in the palace. 
 
 "This child shall be called Montezuma," 
 the nurse cried in a loud voice. Then three 
 boys, who had been chosen because they had 
 loud voices, shouted three times, " Montezuma ! 
 Montezuma! Montezuma!" In this way the 
 little Prince was named. 
 
 The birth of a Prince was a great event to 
 the Aztec people ; so they made pictures of 
 Montezuma when he lay in his cradle and when 
 he was being christened. 
 
 They were so pleased with Montezuma, that 
 they went on making pictures of him until he 
 was a warrior grown. On the next page is a pic- 
 ture of the little Prince when he was three years 
 old. We know that he was three years old by 
 the three circles. The man in the picture is his 
 father. The half-circle shows that his father is 
 telling Montezuma that he is now old enough 
 to eat bread ; but that he must eat only half a 
 
40 
 
 AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 roll. The mother in the picture is showing one 
 of the little Princesses her half-roll. 
 
 OOO 
 
 a—mi — tagua 
 
 Next is a picture of Montezuma's father, and 
 of Montezuma when he'was four years old. His 
 father is teaching him to carry a basket so that 
 
 r 
 
 he may grow to be a useful boy. You see 
 that he is now allowed to eat a whole roll. 
 The little girl, also, is being taught by her 
 mother to do some useful work. 
 
PRINCE MONTEZUMA 
 
 4i 
 
 Here is still another picture of Montezuma 
 and his father. Montezuma is now five years 
 old ; and his father is teaching him to carry on 
 his back a heavy weight hanging from his 
 head. This is to make his muscles grow strong, 
 so that he will hold up his head as an honest, 
 
 
 OOOOO 
 
 manly lad should. The little Princess is now 
 learning to use the spinning-wheel. 
 
 In the next picture Montezuma is seven 
 years old. His father is teaching him to fish 
 with a net ; for of course a Prince must never be 
 idle. Then, too, he must know how to do every- 
 thing that his people know how to do. The 
 Princess has learned to use the spinning-wheel, 
 
42 AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 and now each of the children has a roll and a 
 half a day. 
 
 o 
 
 oooooo 
 
 wmJ 
 
 Sometimes Montezuma did not behave very 
 well. Here is a picture of his father threat- 
 
 oooo 
 oooo 
 
 ev- 
 
 ening the young Prince with punishment. 
 Do you see those little sharp thorns in the 
 picture ? The father will stick them into 
 
PRINCE MONTEZUMA 43 
 
 Montezuma's shoulders if he is not a good 
 boy. See the tears running down Montezuma's 
 face ! He is promising his father that he will 
 be good, and that he will never do so again if 
 his father will spare him this time. If the 
 Princess is not a good girl her punishment will 
 be a thorn in her hand. 
 
 0000 
 00000 
 
 =J 
 
 But alas ! poor little Montezuma! He must 
 have forgotten his promise ; for here is another 
 picture which tells us how one day when he was 
 nine years old, Montezuma's father did punish 
 him with the thorns. And the Princess must 
 have been doing something wrong, for she, too, 
 is being punished. 
 
 The little thing like a tongue in front of the 
 
44 AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 faces in the picture is meant to show that the 
 father and mother are speaking. 
 
 The Aztecs could not write ; so they kept 
 the story of what their people did by means of 
 pictures which they painted upon the walls of 
 the temples. Some of the walls were covered 
 with pictures ; and from time to time the priests 
 explained them to Prince Montezuma. 
 
 " Surely a Prince must know the story of his 
 own people," the priests would say. 
 
 There was one group of pictures that Monte- 
 zuma liked very much. The group told of four 
 terrible plagues which once came upon the 
 Aztecs, and destroyed nearly all the people. 
 
 The Prince studied these story pictures until 
 he could repeat them as well as the priests. 
 
 Here are the four pictures, and here is the 
 story as little Montezuma used to tell it: — 
 
 " The first picture tells of a great flood that 
 came to destroy my people. Those who were 
 not drowned were changed to fishes. I see the 
 Rain god at the top of the picture pouring water 
 
PRINCE MONTEZUMA 
 
 45 
 
 from the rain-making machine down upon my 
 people. But one man and one woman escaped, 
 and hid in a cave ; and so my people were saved 
 a first time. After this there was peace in my 
 
 oooooooo 
 
 i. The Rain. 
 
 land for four thousand and eight years. I know 
 that by the circles in the corner of the picture ; 
 for each little circle means one year, and each 
 of the larger, blacker circles means four hundred 
 years. 
 
4 6 
 
 AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 "The second picture tells of a great wind that 
 came to destroy my people. Some of them were 
 
 ooooo 
 Ooooo 
 
 2. The Wind. 
 
 at this time changed into monkeys with long 
 
 tails. 
 
 But again one man and one woman hid 
 
 from the Wind god, and so my people were saved 
 a second time. Then there was peace in my land 
 
PRINCE. MONTEZUMA 47 
 
 for four thousand and ten years, as I can read 
 from the circles in the corner of the picture. 
 
 3. The Fire. 
 
 " The third picture tells of a great fire that 
 came to destroy my people. At the top of the 
 picture is the Fire god with his fan in his hand. 
 
48 AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 Flames are coming out of his head, and his tail 
 is a long line of fire. But again one man and 
 one woman hid in a cave ; and so my people 
 were saved a third time. Then there was peace 
 in my land for four thousand four hundred and 
 four years, as I can read from the circles in the 
 corner of the picture. 
 
 " The fourth picture tells of a great famine 
 that came to destroy my people. In the picture 
 I see the Famine god reaching down to snatch 
 away the grain and fruit of the earth. But the 
 Famine god did not get all of the grain and 
 fruit. The reapers saved enough to keep them 
 from starving ; and so my people were saved 
 a fourth time. After this there was peace in 
 my land for five thousand two hundred and six 
 years, as I can read from the circles in the 
 corner of the picture." 
 
 By and by, when Montezuma grew to be a 
 man, he was made King over the Aztec people. 
 He no longer played with the boys of the city, but 
 sat upon a golden throne in a grand hall. He wore 
 
PRINCE MONTEZUMA 
 
 49 
 
 a golden crown upon his head and sat in a golden 
 chair, and his feet rested upon a golden stool. 
 You should have seen Montezuma when he 
 
 J*3 
 
 4. The Famine. 
 
 ate his dinner. First his servants came and 
 stood before the throne ; then each servant of- 
 fered some dainty dish to the King. The King 
 looked at the dishes and chose the one he liked 
 best by pointing at it with a long golden rod. 
 
5 o AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 Then the servant placed the dish upon a golden 
 table and the other servants turned and went 
 away. Then Montezuma sat in a golden chair 
 at the golden table, and ate his dinner from a 
 golden plate, all by himself. 
 
 He proved to be a good, kind King. His 
 people loved him and were happy. 
 
 One day some Spanish ships came to the 
 country of the Aztecs. The natives were afraid 
 when they saw the ships coming toward the 
 shore. " What can these strange things be ? " 
 they asked each other. 
 
 " They have wings." 
 
 " And there are white men in the towers ! " 
 
 Then the people ran to tell King Montezuma 
 what had happened. 
 
 " I will send presents to these strangers," 
 said he. " But tell them that they must not 
 come into my city." 
 
 The Spaniards did not care for what the King 
 said, but marched straight on until they came to 
 Montezuma's wonderful city. 
 
PRINCE MONTEZUMA 51 
 
 " There must be much gold in this city," said 
 the Spaniards. " We will take it." And they 
 began at once to fight with the Aztecs. 
 
 The Aztecs fought well, for they were brave 
 and they loved their city. But the Spaniards 
 had guns and gunpowder, and were stronger 
 in battle than the Aztecs. 
 
 Soon Montezuma was killed, and the city fell 
 into the hands of the Spaniards. They broke into 
 the houses and the temples, hoping to find great 
 treasure ; but the Aztecs had hidden it away. 
 
 " Bring the son of this King Montezuma to 
 us," said the Spaniards. 
 
 The young Prince was brought. 
 
 "Where have you hidden the treasure? " the 
 Spaniards cried. 
 
 But the brave Prince would not tell. 
 " Speak ! or we will burn you with red-hot 
 irons." 
 
 Still not a word from the brave son of King 
 Montezuma. 
 
 The hot irons were brought. 
 
52 AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 " Will you tell us where the treasure is ? " 
 the Spaniards asked again. 
 
 " Never ! " cried the Prince. 
 
 Then the Spaniards burned him with the red- 
 hot irons as they had said they would. Still he 
 would not tell where the treasure was. 
 
 " Stone him ! " 
 
 " Lash him ! " 
 
 " Pierce him with the sabres ! " cried the 
 Spanish soldiers. 
 
 But to the very end the Prince would not 
 tell ; and the Spaniards went away without any 
 treasure. 
 
 " We have found a great city," was all the 
 Spanish leader could say. 
 
 " But we have gained no gold," grumbled the 
 soldiers. For the soldiers cared little for the 
 grand city. It was gold they wanted, and this 
 they had not been able to find. 
 
Wampum Belt. 
 
 V. LEAPING WOLF 
 
 Leaping Wolf was an Indian boy. His father 
 was the great chief of the Iroquois, who lived in 
 a village of long houses south of Lake Ontario. 
 
 The Iroquois were a powerful tribe. They 
 were so great that no other tribe dared to attack 
 them. They liked to fight, and all their games 
 and dances had to do with war. When a shield 
 was to be made, the people came together to 
 pray to the gods for success in war. When 
 arrows were to be made, the people prayed that 
 the arrows might go straight to the hearts of 
 their enemies. 
 
 The scalp dance was their special delight. 
 They held it just as the twilight began to fall. 
 The warriors daubed their faces with gay-col- 
 ored paints ; they stuck feathers in their hair, 
 
54 AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 and carried drums and horns and rattles. And 
 as if they could not make noise enough with all 
 these, they yelled and whooped as loud as they 
 could. 
 
 The procession marched straight into the 
 village. Then torches were lighted ; a fire was 
 made ; and the warriors formed in a circle 
 round it. 
 
 Then the chief leaped out into the open space. 
 He shouted the story of his wonderful deeds, 
 and boasted of the many warriors he had slain ; 
 while over his head he waved the scalps he had 
 taken. 
 
 When the chief had finished his story, 
 another warrior would leap out. Then another 
 and another, each one yelling the story of his 
 bravery until he could yell no longer. 
 
 As each warrior finished, the people shouted, 
 " Waugh ! waugh ! waugh ! " which meant, 
 "That is good ! that is good ! that is good ! " 
 
 The houses Leaping Wolf's people built 
 were large enough to hold several families, and 
 
LEAPING WOLF 55 
 
 they are always spoken of now as the " long 
 houses of the Iroquois." 
 
 Leaping Wolf had a good time in his 
 village, for something was always happening or 
 going to happen. 
 
 At the beginning of the year, when the moon 
 was full, came the first great holiday for the 
 
 a ^^^ fe "^Killi 
 
 
 
 Long Houses of the Iroquois. 
 
 people. At that time the holy meeting was held. 
 Then Leaping Wolf's father and all the other 
 chiefs came together and made speeches to each 
 other for four whole days. Leaping Wolf was 
 never interested in the speeches ; but at the close 
 of the fourth day there were games and dances, 
 and in these he could take part. 
 
56 AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 In the early spring Leaping Wolf's people 
 had their second festival. At this time the 
 people gathered for a dance around the maple 
 trees. They believed that this dance helped to 
 make the sap flow. Even the babies were taken 
 to this sugar festival, and when it was over, the 
 mothers made all kinds of soups, sweetened with 
 maple syrup. 
 
 Then came the festival for corn-planting ; 
 next, the strawberry festival ; and last of all, the 
 great festival when the corn was harvested. 
 
 During the long winter that came after the 
 harvest festival, there was still much in Leaping 
 Wolf's village to keep him amused and happy. 
 Best of all, he thought, were the stories that his 
 father used to tell. 
 
 " There is one star that never moves," said 
 Leaping Wolf one night when he was out on 
 the plain with his father. 
 
 " Yes," said his father. " Once there was no 
 such star. But long ago some Iroquois hunters 
 were lost on the great plains. They walked on 
 
LEAPING WOLF 57 
 
 day after day till their corn gave out and they 
 were nearly starved. At last they came into 
 the land of some people called pygmies. 
 
 " ' Lead us to our homes,' said the hunters. 
 
 " The pygmies said, ' A star shall be set 
 in the sky to guide you.' 
 
 " Then this star that never moves shone 
 out, pointing the way to the Iroquois' home. 
 JEver since that time this star has stood fixed 
 in the sky. All other stars change their places. 
 Sometimes they are high in the heavens, some- 
 times low ; but this one star never changes. It 
 stands in one place always, to guide the lost 
 hunters to their homes." 
 
 Leaping Wolf believed that there was a 
 spirit in the wind, in the sun, in the moon, in 
 the trees, in the corn — in everything. He was 
 afraid of some of these spirits ; some of them he 
 loved. He was sure that he had seen the spirit 
 of the corn dressed in her long leaves and silken 
 tassels. The spirit of the squash and the spirit 
 of the bean were very fond of the spirit of the 
 
58 AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 corn. Leaping Wolf was sure of this, for he 
 often saw the bean and the squash twining their 
 arms lovingly around the corn. 
 
 His father also told him that once there 
 were terrible stone giants in the sky. These 
 giants hated the earth people and tried to de- 
 stroy them. One day the giants made up their 
 minds to kill all the earth children they could 
 find ; so they started forth with great clubs over 
 their shoulders. 
 
 " We will fight them," said the brave Iro- 
 quois. So the chiefs came out to meet the stone 
 giants. They hid behind trees with their arrows 
 ready, till by and by they saw one giant coming 
 across the plain. He was taller than a tree, and 
 scalps of earth children were hanging from his 
 wicked club. Then the Iroquois warriors shot 
 their arrows at him as fast as they could. 
 
 " Brave, brave warriors!" whispered the West 
 Wind. So well pleased was the West Wind 
 with the brave Iroquois warriors that he helped 
 them fight the giants. He blew and blew and 
 
LEAPING WOLF 59 
 
 blew, till at last every one of them was blown 
 into the lake and drowned. 
 
 " And that is why," said Leaping Wolf's 
 father, " the Iroquois are so grateful to the West 
 Wind. That is why we hold a festival every 
 year, in honor of our good friend." 
 
 Leaping Wolf once wrote a letter to an 
 Indian boy who lived in the West. His letter 
 did not look like one that you would write ; but 
 Leaping Wolf's friend understood it and was, no 
 doubt, pleased with it. Here is the letter. 
 
 
 The warrior on the right is Leaping Wolf 
 starting out on a hunt. The two little v's show 
 that he was gone two suns — that is, two days. 
 The three heads show that he shot three 
 
6o 
 
 AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 does. Had they been three deer, Leaping Wolf 
 would have made horns on the heads ; but as 
 he drew no horns, his Indian friend in the West 
 knew that they were three does. 
 
 Leaping Wolf's friend also wrote a letter. 
 When Leaping Wolf read it he said, " My friend's 
 father is a brave warrior." Here is the letter. 
 
 The man on the left is the father setting out 
 to buy shells. There is a shell in the picture, 
 just above the moons. This warrior met an 
 
LEAPING WOLF 61 
 
 enemy and killed him, for there is the enemy's 
 scalp. The three black circles show that the 
 father of Leaping Wolf's friend travelled three 
 dark nights. 
 
 The two upright lines at the end show that 
 the letter is finished. That was the friend's 
 way of closing his letter, instead of signing 
 himself, as you would, " Yours very truly." 
 
 One day little Leaping Wolf was sitting 
 in the doorway of his long house, making story 
 pictures for his father. 
 
 " Soon you will be big enough to go into 
 battle with me," his father was saying. Leap- 
 ing Wolf's eyes shone, and the feathers nodded 
 back and forth on his head. He seized his 
 arrows in his little fist and wished that he were 
 big enough to go into battle that very day. 
 
 " We have had no war with those savages 
 across the lake for a long time," said Leaping 
 Wolf's father. " They are cowards," he said ; 
 " they have no warriors, and their chiefs are 
 like women. Ugh ! ugh ! " 
 
62 AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 Then Leaping Wolf said, " Ugh ! ugh ! " 
 For whenever his father scowled and said, 
 " Ugh ! ugh ! " Leaping Wolf, too, said, " Ugh ! 
 ugh ! " 
 
 Even while they were talking, wonderful 
 things were happening up in Canada across the 
 lake. For Champlain, a great French explorer, 
 had come from over the sea and had brought a 
 number of people with him. Already these white 
 men were living on the St. Lawrence River. 
 
 While the little village was building, some of 
 the Indians in the neighborhood came to visit it. 
 Now these were the very Indians that Leaping 
 Wolf's father had called cowards. So when 
 they saw the white men's guns they said, 
 " Come with us and fight our enemies." 
 
 " Who are they ? " Champlain asked. 
 
 " They are the Iroquois, and they live on the 
 other side of the lake. We hate the Iroquois, 
 for we can never conquer them in battle." 
 
 " Perhaps this will be a good way to win the 
 friendship of these Indian neighbors of ours," 
 
LEAPING WOLF 63 
 
 thought Champlain. So he promised to help 
 them against the Iroquois. 
 
 Then the Indian chief called all his warriors 
 together and came to Champlain's village. 
 
 " First we must have our war dance," said 
 the chief. So the warriors went into the forest 
 and spent the whole day painting themselves 
 and fastening feathers in their hair. 
 
 When it was dark they built a great fire ; and 
 danced around it all night long, whooping and 
 yelling and leaping. 
 
 " Are these savages mad ? " Champlain won- 
 dered as he watched them. But the Indians 
 were not mad. It was only their way of getting 
 ready for battle. 
 
 It was all very strange, and Champlain was 
 glad enough when morning came and the Indians 
 were ready to set out. 
 
 After a long march Champlain and the 
 Indians who were with him met the Iroquois. 
 At once both tribes began to howl and yell. 
 This was the Indian way of beginning battle. 
 
64 AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 All night long the two Indian tribes kept up 
 their yelling and howling ; but at the same time 
 they were busy getting ready for battle. 
 
 In the morning they were to begin to fight. 
 Then, when all was ready, Champlain went out 
 and stood in front of his Indian warriors. 
 
 The Iroquois were speechless with terror. 
 Who was the white-faced warrior ? Where did 
 he come from ? And what was that he carried 
 in his hand ? 
 
 Then Champlain raised his gun and fired. 
 
 Bang ! Bang ! Bang ! and three of the Iro- 
 quois fell dead. 
 
 For a second the enemy stood staring at the 
 dead men. What kind of an arrow was it that 
 could kill like that ! Then with a great whoop 
 the Iroquois turned and ran. 
 
 Champlain ran after them and fired his gun 
 again. Bang ! Bang ! and down went more of 
 the flying Indians ! With every shot from the 
 gun, the Indians yelled louder and ran faster. 
 Many of them were taken prisoners ; and those 
 
LEAPING WOLF 65 
 
 that reached their homes alive, talked for days 
 of the white-faced warrior and of the wonderful 
 arrow that he carried. 
 
 " It blazed fire ! " they said. 
 
 " And it made a great noise." 
 
 " It was very strange." 
 r Meantime Champlain's Indians were getting 
 ready to rejoice over their victory. 
 
 " What are you going to do ? " Champlain 
 asked. 
 
 " We are going to have our scalp dance," 
 said the Indians. 
 
 Champlain wondered what a scalp dance 
 could be ; but he soon found out. For again 
 the Indians went into the forests to smear them- 
 selves with paint and to stick feathers in their 
 hair. At last they were ready to come out. 
 They carried drums and horns and rattles, and 
 each warrior whooped at the top of his voice ! 
 
 Then torches were lighted. A fire was made, 
 and the warriors formed in a circle around the 
 
 fire. 
 
 s 
 
66 
 
 AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 Champlain watched the chief and the war- 
 riors as they danced and shouted and swung' 
 their scalp poles round and round. 
 
 "These Indians are a strange people!" he 
 
 thought. 
 
 When he went back to France he had 
 wonderful stories to tell of his savage neighbors, 
 and of the strange battle he had fought with 
 Leaping Wolf's people across the river. 
 
 A Tomahawk and Scalp Pole. 
 
The Pueblo of Taos, New Mexico. 
 
 VI. THE LITTLE PUEBLO PRINCE 
 
 Far out on the great Western plain, many 
 miles beyond the home of Prince Montezuma, 
 lived a little Pueblo Prince. 
 
 He did not live in a wigwam, or in a hut, 
 as some Indians did ; nor in a palace like that 
 of Montezuma. 
 
 The Pueblo Indians built houses large 
 enough for a whole tribe to live in. We now 
 call those houses pueblos, from the Spanish 
 word for " village." 
 
68 
 
 AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 These pueblos were built of stone and clay, 
 and were many stories high. As you can see in 
 the picture at the beginning of the chapter, the 
 roof of one story made a piazza for the people 
 in the story above. 
 
 The Pueblo Indian had to climb into his 
 home in a strange way. First, he must climb 
 up to the second story by means of a ladder. 
 These ladders were made in different ways, as 
 you see in the picture. Then he must draw 
 the ladder up after him ; for if he did not, an 
 
THE LITTLE PUEBLO PRINCE 
 
 69 
 
 enemy might climb into the pueblo. Then 
 he must go up another ladder to another 
 story. Then up another and another, until he 
 reached the piazza above his own home. By 
 still another ladder, he must go down through 
 
 a trap-door in his own roof ; and then at last he 
 was in his house. Here is a picture of the 
 roof, showing the trap-door and the end of a 
 ladder sticking out of it. This was not an 
 easy way to get into one's home. The Pueblo 
 Indians had found it, however, a very safe way 
 
AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 
 to live ; and in those 
 days they thought of 
 safety first of all. 
 
 The chimneys, also, 
 of these houses were 
 very odd. They looked 
 like towers, for they were 
 made of one or more 
 bottomless jars, set one 
 upon another. These 
 jars were fastened 
 firmly together with 
 clay, and often were 
 handsomely decorated. 
 This picture is from a 
 real Pueblo chimney. 
 
 In such a home, 
 then, this little Pueblo 
 Prince was born, — a 
 little brown, black-eyed, 
 black-haired Pueblo 
 baby. 
 
THE LITTLE PUEBLO PRINCE 71 
 
 Proud indeed was the Pueblo King when he 
 was told that a little Prince was born ; and 
 away he hurried to tell the glad news to his 
 good old mother. 
 
 Then the King's mother hurried to the 
 home of the new little Prince. She brought 
 a nice soft blanket to wrap around the baby. 
 But first he must be bathed in a big bowl of 
 warm water in which yucca root had been 
 boiled. 
 
 Next she brought a pan of soft, warm, moist 
 ashes, and pasted the baby with ashes from 
 head to foot. She took great pains to leave 
 a thick paste on the baby's face ; for this, she 
 said, would give him a beautiful complexion 
 by and by. 
 
 A bed of warm sand had been made for the 
 baby. On this his grandmother laid the Prince, 
 and covered him over with the soft blanket that 
 she had brought. 
 
 Every morning for ten days, the little Prince 
 was bathed in the juice of the yucca root and 
 
72 AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 powdered with ashes, and laid in the warm sand 
 to sleep. 
 
 On the morning of the tenth day a change 
 took place in the Prince's life. After he had 
 been bathed and powdered, his grandmother 
 carried him down the ladders of the pueblo, out 
 upon the plain. Here his face was turned 
 toward the rising sun. For these Pueblo people 
 were sun-worshippers, and they took great care 
 that every Pueblo baby should behold the sun 
 the very first time he was taken out of the 
 house. 
 
 After the prayers were said, and the sun had 
 smiled down upon the Prince, he was taken back 
 into the house. He was then bathed in yucca- 
 root water ; but never again was he to sleep in 
 the little sand-bed. A cradle was ready for him 
 now, — a nice little cradle with a hood-like top to 
 shield the baby's head from the wind. 
 
 The parents thought it was a great day when 
 the Pueblo baby was placed in his cradle. But 
 the baby would rather have been left to sleep 
 
THE LITTLE PUEBLO PRINCE 73 
 
 away his days and nights in the sand-bed. 
 Now his little arms and legs were straightened 
 out and bound round and round and strapped to 
 the cradle. He could move neither hand nor 
 foot ; and there he must lie for days and weeks. 
 Indeed he must lie there until he was able to 
 creep or walk about and take care of himself. 
 
 After that he was turned out to play with 
 the other Pueblo children on the piazzas or on 
 the plain round about the pueblo. 
 
 For a time the little Pueblo Prince's life was 
 quite like the life of any happy little Indian boy. 
 But by and by something remarkable happened 
 to him. 
 
 A Pueblo priest came to the door of the 
 house and said to the Prince's mother, " What 
 is the name of this young Prince?" 
 
 " He has no name," the mother replied. 
 " Give him, O priest, a name, and pray that the 
 sun may bless him all the days of his life." 
 
 Then the priest made ready for a grand 
 ceremony. He went into the great square of 
 
74 AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 the village and sprinkled sacred meal and offered 
 up prayers to the sun. At one side of the 
 square he sprinkled yellow meal, at another 
 white meal, at another red meal; and at an- 
 other blue meal. In the centre of the. square he 
 sprinkled black meal and meal of all colors. 
 
 Then the godfather of the little Prince 
 came into the square ; and with him were the 
 godfathers of all the other little boys of the 
 Prince's age. These godfathers carried the boys 
 on their backs, wrapped in tanned buffalo hides. 
 They passed before the line of priests, and as 
 they passed, each priest gave each child a sharp 
 blow with a yucca switch. Now the boys 
 might show how brave they were, and how well 
 they could bear pain. 
 
 Next, eagle's-feathers were placed in the 
 boy's scalp-locks, and they knelt in front of their 
 godfathers. Then with a loud cry the priests 
 ran by the boys, and each priest gave each 
 boy four more sharp blows with the yucca 
 switches. 
 
THE LITTLE PUEBLO PRINCE 75 
 
 Of course the yucca switches tingled, but no 
 Pueblo Prince would cry out, no matter how 
 badly he was hurt. His godfather would be 
 ashamed of him if he did ; and the whole tribe 
 would call him a coward. 
 
 While this little Prince and his playfellows 
 were growing up, the Spaniards were making 
 plans to march into the Pueblo country. 
 
 " We are told that there are seven wonder- 
 ful cities on the great plain," the Spaniards 
 said. " Let us go and find them." 
 
 So one day Coronado, a Spanish general, 
 set out with a fine army of Spaniards to find 
 these seven cities. For days and days they 
 marched, till at last they came upon the very 
 pueblo in which this little Prince lived. The 
 boys were out upon the plain playing at battle, 
 and were " making believe " shoot each other 
 with their arrows. 
 
 Suddenly the little Prince saw something 
 away out on the plain. 
 
 "What is that?" he cried; and all the Pueblo 
 
76 AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 boys stopped playing and looked in the direc- 
 tion the Prince was looking. 
 
 First, they saw something which looked like 
 a great cloud on the horizon. Then it began to 
 glisten in the sunlight ; and at last the boys 
 could see the bright colors of the Spanish 
 uniform. 
 
 " It is an enemy! " shouted the Prince. And 
 away the boys sped toward the pueblo, and up 
 the ladders to their homes. 
 
 " Enemy ! enemy ! " cried the boys ; and the 
 Pueblo fathers came out from the trap-doors to 
 see what it was. 
 
 " Enemy ! enemy ! " and the boys pointed to 
 the glittering soldiers. 
 
 Then the pueblo echoed from story to story 
 with the Pueblo war-cry. Every warrior got 
 ready his arrow and his tomahawk. There were 
 stones already heaped up on the piazzas ready 
 to throw down upon any enemy who should 
 attack the pueblo. 
 
 Meantime Coronado and his soldiers were 
 
THE LITTLE PUEBLO PRINCE 77 
 
 coming nearer and nearer. The Pueblo In- 
 dians could now see that these men were not 
 like any enemy that had ever come upon 
 the village before. 
 
 Then, too, the Spaniards rode upon horses, 
 and the Pueblo Indians had never seen horses. 
 They had never seen a warrior mounted upon 
 an animal of any kind, and it was no wonder 
 that the horses terrified them more even than 
 the Spaniards did. 
 
 "This must be one of the seven cities," 
 Coronado said. He called a halt, and he and 
 his men examined the strange building before 
 them. 
 
 "The people have seen us coming," said 
 Coronado; "for there they are, hundreds of 
 them, and they stand ready for an attack." 
 
 The soldiers rode straight up to the walls 
 of the pueblo and fired their guns at the 
 warriors. The warriors poured down their ar- 
 rows and stones ; but they could not hold out 
 against the Spanish gunpowder and shot. 
 
78 AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 The Spaniards soon scaled the walls and 
 stood face to face with the terror-stricken 
 Indians. 
 
 " Surrender your city," was Coronado's order 
 to the King of the pueblo. There was noth- 
 ing for the poor King to do but to surrender. 
 
 Then the Spaniards feasted upon the corn 
 that they found in the pueblo. In a few days 
 they marched away, taking with them the little 
 Prince and some of his playmates. 
 
 " These are fine boys," said Coronado. " We 
 will teach them to speak our language ; then 
 they will be a great help to us. They may 
 know where we can find gold." 
 
 By and by the Spaniards saw another pueblo 
 in the distance. " Let us hope this will be a 
 rich city ! " Coronado said. 
 
 The Inidans had seen the Spaniards coming, 
 and by the time they reached the pueblo, were 
 ready to fight. But Coronado soon took their 
 city and marched on again. 
 
 In some parts of the country there were high 
 
THE LITTLE PUEBLO PRINCE 79 
 
 cliffs. In these cliffs there were caves, and 
 some of the Indians used these caves for homes. 
 
 They first made their homes among the cliffs 
 to escape from their enemies. Then they liked 
 their lofty houses so well that they went on 
 living there, and would never go down into the 
 plain except to hunt and fish. 
 
 It is said that often a baby girl born in 
 one of these cave homes would grow old and 
 die without ever going down into the plain. 
 But a warrior could not stay in a cave all his 
 life ; for he must bring food to his family. 
 
 It was not easy to climb up and down the 
 cliffs ; but the cave-dweller had learned to make 
 his way very well by means of notches cut into 
 the rock. In the picture on the next page a 
 cave dweller is shown making his way up to 
 his home. 
 
 To one of these cliff homes, Coronado came. 
 
 "Go and tell them to surrender to Spain!" 
 said Coronado to the little Prince. The Prince 
 gave the cave-dwellers Coronado's message. 
 
8o 
 
 AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 
 
 "We will fight!" 
 was the answer they 
 sent back. 
 
 Now Coronado 
 and his men were 
 nearly starved. They 
 had no more food, and 
 could hardly drag 
 themselves along. 
 
 "We must take 
 this city," Coronado 
 said. " It is stored 
 with corn, and we must 
 have it." 
 
 Now there was 
 only a stone stairway 
 leading up the cliff, 
 and it seemed a hope- 
 less task to climb it. 
 But the Spaniards 
 were starving, and they 
 dared try anything. 
 
THE LITTLE PUEBLO PRINCE 81 
 
 So up this staircase they charged, and again 
 the horses and the powder so frightened the 
 Indians that they soon begged for mercy. 
 
 The cave-dwellers were driven out from 
 their homes, and the Spaniards entered. For 
 days they rested and , feasted. 
 
 One day the Prince told Coronado of a great 
 city in the North. " It is greater than any 
 pueblo, and the people are very rich," he said. 
 " The chief of this city wears a robe of gold. 
 There is a river six miles wide, and the people 
 have gold canoes with silver oars." 
 
 " Let us hurry on," the Spaniards said. 
 
 For weeks they marched. It was a hard 
 journey, but in time the place was reached. 
 Alas, how bitter was Coronado's disappoint- 
 ment ! The city was a small village of wooden 
 huts. The river was a muddy stream, and 
 
 there were only a few little canoes upon it. 
 
 » 
 
 Coronado was discouraged, and angry too. 
 " Why did you bring us to such a village as 
 this ? " he asked the Pueblo Prince. 
 
 6 
 
82 AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 The Prince and his comrades began to leap 
 and dance. " We knew there was no gold ! " 
 they cried. "We knew there was no river!" 
 
 Coronado seized the Prince by his scalp- 
 lock. " What do you mean ? " he cried. 
 
 " We hoped you would starve in crossing the 
 desert. We hoped the journey would kill you ! " 
 
 The Prince shouted and danced to show 
 how glad he was. He was so happy to pay 
 the Spaniards back for attacking his people. 
 
 Coronado had now only a hundred poor, 
 worn out, half-starved men ; and as he looked 
 at them he pitied them. 
 
 " Let us go home," they said, " before we 
 all starve." So they went back to Mexico. 
 
 These soldiers had found wonderful cities, to 
 be sure. But they had hoped to find gold ; and 
 to them, such cities were not worth finding. 
 
 " That Prince was brave," Coronado used to 
 say. And as long as they lived, the soldiers 
 never forgot the little Pueblo Prince. 
 
VII. VIRGINIA DARE 
 
 While the French and the Spanish were ex- 
 ploring, the English also were coming over to 
 this new country. They had sent ships to the 
 coast of Virginia, and had given it its name. 
 
 They said, " If this new country is so beau- 
 tiful, let us make new homes for our people 
 there." 
 
 So one day a ship with a number of Eng- 
 lish men, women, and children on board started 
 out from England. It was bound for Virginia ; 
 and glad enough were the people when the 
 ship drew near the shore and they could see 
 the grass and the trees. 
 
 " It is a beautiful shore," said John White, 
 the leader of the band of colonists. 
 
 As soon as they could, the colonists set to 
 work to make homes for themselves in the 
 new country. The climate was warm and there 
 
84 AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 was plenty of lumber with which to build. The 
 soil, too, was very rich, and they soon had fine 
 fields of corn and potatoes. 
 
 One day a little baby girl was born — the 
 first English child born in America. How 
 proud the father and mother were ! 
 
 " She is the baby of the colony," said her 
 grandfather, John White. "Let us name her 
 Virginia." 
 
 The little colonial baby was named Vir- 
 ginia, and all the people in the colony loved her 
 and helped to take care of her in her rough 
 forest home. 
 
 By and by, when the colony was well settled, 
 Mr. White said : " I will go back to England for 
 more supplies. So take good care of baby Vir- 
 ginia while I am gone. Do not leave this place 
 unless you find that you cannot hold it against 
 the Indians. But if you have to go away, leave 
 a sign for me. Cut the name of the place to 
 which you go on one of the trees near the 
 shore." 
 
VIRGINIA DARE 85 
 
 Then John White sailed away. " Keep the 
 colony together ! Take care of the baby ! " he 
 shouted as the ship sailed out of the harbor. 
 
 " We will try! " the brave men shouted back. 
 
 It was a long journey. Then, too, England 
 was very busy with a war when John White 
 reached there, and no ship could be spared to 
 take him back. 
 
 For four long years John White waited ; 
 but at last a ship was given to him, and he 
 set sail for his colony. 
 
 As he neared the Virginia coast, he often 
 wondered if the men would be there to welcome 
 him. " The baby Virginia is now four years 
 old," he said to himself. He tried to think how 
 she would look. 
 
 Sometimes the thought came to him that she 
 might not be alive ; for a colony was a hard 
 place for a little baby to live in. The houses 
 were not always warm, and there was not al- 
 ways food enough for the people. Then, too, 
 the Indians were dangerous neighbors. 
 
86 AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 " I hope nothing has happened to the baby, 
 or to the colony," White kept saying to himself. 
 
 But now the vessel was coming into the 
 harbor. The boats were lowered, and soon the 
 sailors would be on land again. 
 
 But why did no one come down to the 
 shore to meet them ? Were the colonists gone ? 
 Where were the little houses that he had left 
 standing near the shore? 
 
 " Surely, if they have gone away, they have 
 left some word ! " said John White. As soon 
 as he landed he began to search for a tree that 
 should tell him where the colonists had gone. 
 
 At last he found the letters of the word 
 Croatoan cut in the bark of a tree. 
 
 Now Croatoan was the name of an Indian 
 tribe not far away. So he said, " They have 
 gone to the Croatoans ! " But the Croatoans 
 said that they knew nothing of the colonists. 
 
 " Did they not come to you ? " Mr. White 
 asked. " I will give you presents if you will 
 tell me what has become of my people." 
 
VIRGINIA DARE 
 
 87 
 
 But the Indians would tell him nothing. 
 Then away he hurried to the other tribes ; 
 
 A Palisaded Village of Virginia Indians. 
 
 After cut in Hariot's Virginia. 
 
 but they could not tell him where his people 
 had gone. At last he gave up all hope, and 
 went back to the ship. He had tried his best, 
 
88 AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 but could learn nothing. His friends were lost, 
 the baby Virginia was lost, and all the colonists 
 were lost. 
 
 Years after, other white men went to the 
 same place to found another colony. They, too, 
 tried to find out something about the lost 
 colonists. But no one was able to learn what 
 happened to them. 
 
 There is little doubt, however, that the 
 Indians knew what happened to the colonists. 
 Some think that the baby Virginia grew up in 
 the Indian village like a little pappoose. But 
 we do not know, and we never shall know, the 
 true story of poor little Virginia Dare. 
 
/y [ /. 
 
 Plymouth Harbor in Midwinter 300 Years Ago. 
 VIII. BETTY ALDEN 
 
 By and by more colonists came over to Virginia. 
 These colonists had better success ; and soon 
 there was a pretty little village with many fine 
 farms round about it. 
 
 Then other English people thought that they 
 would like to found a colony in America. So 
 one day another ship, the " Mayflower," started 
 out from England. For days and days it sailed, 
 
9Q AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 and by and by a storm drove it in upon the 
 coast of Massachusetts. 
 
 It was mid-winter, and ice and snow were 
 piled up high along the coast. The picture at 
 the top of the chapter shows what the shore 
 looked like at that time. Now it is covered with 
 houses and churches and big buildings. 
 
 "Shall we land here?" said the captain. 
 
 " It is God's will," said the people. 
 
 Then the boats were lowered in Plymouth 
 Bay, and the people sprang out upon the rock 
 we now call Plymouth Rock. 
 
 These colonists set to work at once to 
 build their log houses, and soon they had a 
 comfortable little village. 
 
 One day an Indian walked into the village. 
 
 He stared at the white men, and the white 
 men stared at him. 
 
 " The white men's hats are very strange," 
 the Indian thought. 
 
 " The Indian's feathers are very strange," the 
 white men thought. 
 
BETTY ALDEN 91 
 
 By and by the Indian said, " Welcome, Eng- 
 lishmen ! " To be sure, he said these words in 
 a very strange way, but the colonists understood. 
 They were glad enough to find the Indian so 
 friendly. 
 
 They invited him into their homes ; they 
 gave him presents ; and by and by they sent 
 him to bring his chief. 
 
 The chief came, and the white men and the 
 chief talked together a long time. They agreed 
 that there should be no fighting between 
 them ; and as long as this chief lived there 
 was no trouble with the Indians. 
 
 One day a little baby girl was born in this 
 Plymouth colony. Her name was Betty Alden, 
 and she grew to be the roundest-faced, reddest- 
 cheeked, happiest little girl that ever was. 
 
 Betty was less than a week old when she 
 was taken to the meeting-house to be christened. 
 Colonial babies were always taken to the meet- 
 ing-houses to be christened on their first Sunday, 
 no matter what the weather was. 
 
92 
 
 AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 After this first Sunday, Betty did not go to 
 the meeting-house for some time. Then a little 
 cage was made for her to sit in, while her father 
 
 Some- 
 
 and mother listened to the long sermon 
 
 The Kind of Cradle that Betty was Rocked in. 
 
 times Betty cried, and it was often so cold that 
 her tears froze upon her little cheeks. Betty's 
 mother was sorry for her baby, but it could not 
 be helped. There was no way to heat the meet- 
 
BETTY ALDEN 
 
 93 
 
 ing-houses, and it was not the custom for babies 
 to sit with their mothers during sermon-time. 
 
 She was rocked in a cradle made just like 
 the one you see in the 
 picture. When she 
 grew older she sat up 
 to the table in a chair 
 just likethis one. Then 
 she was taught to walk 
 in a funny little go-cart 
 like that shown on the 
 next page. And the 
 cradle, the chair, and 
 the go-cart have been 
 copied for this book 
 from old ones which 
 have been kept all these 
 hundreds of years. 
 
 Now, the people in this English colony were 
 very strict. They thought it wicked to laugh 
 very much, and they tried to bring up the chil- 
 dren to be quiet and sober like their fathers 
 
 The Kind of Chair that Betty 
 sat IN. 
 
94 
 
 AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 and mothers. But little Betty could not keep 
 quiet, no matter how hard she tried. 
 
 " Betty Alden is a sad romp," the people 
 would often say. Then she would try to behave 
 
 How Betty learned to Walk. 
 
 as the people thought she should; but I am afraid 
 that she did not succeed very well. 
 
 Betty went to the village school. It was 
 an odd little school, and it was held in the 
 big kitchen of one of the houses. 
 
BETTY ALDEN 95 
 
 She learned to read from the Bible which 
 her father had brought from England. A long 
 
 j T/f»e tuts down all 
 Both great and final!. 
 
 ITriiij&'jbeauteoiH W ifc 
 Made David leek his 
 Life 
 
 Whaht in the Sea 
 God's Voice obey, 
 
 Xerxes the great did 
 die, 
 
 3S. And famuli you & I, 
 
 Touib forward Hips 
 Death fooneft -nip*. 
 
 Zacbcus he 
 
 Did cljmb tht Tree 
 
 Hrt Lord to fee, 
 
 A Page from the Oldest Copy of " The New England Primer. ' ; 
 From Paul Leicester Ford's book, by permission of Dodd, Mead & Co. 
 
 time after, when Betty was an old, old lady, a 
 reading-book was printed in the colony. It was 
 called " The New England Primer." 
 
96 AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 You may think that these pages are not 
 very beautiful, but Betty's grandchildren thought 
 that their primer was the most beautiful book 
 ever printed. Very soon they learned to read it 
 through, and with their eyes shut too. 
 
 But if Betty had no reading-book in her 
 school days, she had an old spelling-book. This 
 she studied very faithfully, and she was taught 
 also to make a needlework sampler. 
 
 Betty thought this sampler was very beauti- 
 ful. When it was done, her mother put it in a 
 frame and hung it on the wall. 
 
 Then the people said, " Perhaps Betty will 
 grow to be a sober, quiet child, after all. See 
 how nicely she has made her sampler." 
 
 There were no steel pens in Betty's school 
 days. Each child brought a goose-feather to 
 school, and the teacher cut this feather so that 
 it was pointed like a pen. This was called a 
 quill, and Betty wrote the copies her teacher 
 made for her with a quill like the one you see 
 in the boy's hand in the colored picture. 
 
BETTY ALDEN 97 
 
 Sometimes Betty's schoolmates did not do 
 right. But the teacher had ways of teaching 
 them to behave properly. When they did not 
 learn their catechisms, there were dunce stools 
 for them to sit upon. There were dunce caps, 
 too, which they must wear upon their heads 
 until the lessons were learned. 
 
 Sometimes the teacher put pinchers on the 
 idle children's ears, and sometimes rhubarb was 
 put on their tongues. These punishments, the 
 teacher said, helped the children to learn. 
 
 Whether or not any of these things happened 
 to Betty, I do not know. Very likely not ; for 
 Betty was not an idle child. 
 
 "A good child, a good child ! " the kind old 
 parson used to say. " Betty is a good child, but 
 a little too frolicsome." 
 
 Once Betty was ill, but she got well as soon 
 as she could. She hoped she should never be 
 ill again ; for the doctor gave her some very 
 bad-tasting medicine, made of senna and snails 
 and earth-worms. 
 
 7 
 
98 AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 Betty was seldom allowed to eat candy; 
 indeed, candy was very rare in those days. This 
 is the story Betty's father always told her when 
 she teased for candy: " Once a ship came over 
 from England with a great deal of candy on 
 board. The candy was sold in Boston, but it 
 made the children so ill that the next time 
 the ship came over it brought only senna and 
 rhubarb for the sick children." 
 
 There is a story, but it may not be really 
 true, that there was in a neighboring colony 
 another happy, frolicsome little girl, very like 
 Betty Alden. This little girl's name was 
 Ruth. Ruth had to sit very still and listen to 
 sermons that were hours long, and often the 
 poor little girl fell asleep. Once, so the story 
 said, Ruth laughed aloud in the middle of the 
 sermon. The preacher stopped and looked at 
 her. The tithing-man came and tapped her on 
 the head with his long pole, and Ruth's mother 
 nearly fainted away, she was so ashamed. 
 
 " Alas, alas ! " said Ruth's mother, " I shall 
 
BETTY ALDEN 
 
 99 
 
 never hold up my head again. To think that a 
 child of mine should laugh in church ! " 
 
 When Ruth went home from church her 
 father took her upon his knee to scold her. But 
 
 The First Church in New England. 
 Built in Salem, Mass., in 1632. 
 
 what do you suppose happened ? Poor, tired 
 Ruth fell asleep, while her father was talking. 
 
 " Perhaps it is rather hard for a little girl 
 to sit still so long," Ruth's father thought. So 
 when Ruth awoke, he said to her: " Ruth, you 
 
IOO 
 
 AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 may wear these gold beads every Sabbath that 
 you are a good girl in church." 
 
 How beautiful the. beads were! Ruth wore 
 
 Old House in Salem, Mass. 
 Built in the time of Betty Alden and Ruth. 
 
 them the very next Sabbath. Sometimes Ruth 
 grew tired, and felt like laughing again in 
 sermon-time. But when she looked down at her 
 beautiful gold beads, the laugh would go away. 
 
IX. 
 
 HANS 
 
 AND 
 
 KATRINA 
 
 Not so very far from Betty and Ruth lived two 
 little children, Katrina and Hans Van Tassel. 
 
 Now Hans and Katrina were Dutch, and 
 they came from Holland with their father and 
 mother to join a Dutch colony in the new 
 country. 
 
 The Dutch were a happy, jolly people. 
 They liked to have good times, and they liked 
 to see their children have good times. Hans 
 and Katrina were not expected to be sober and 
 quiet, as Betty and Ruth were. They were 
 
102 
 
 AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 allowed to romp and 
 play and dance. Some- 
 times they were even 
 allowed to go to the 
 grown-up folks' par- 
 ties. Often they were 
 allowed to sit up after 
 dark and listen to the 
 stories that their father 
 and mother liked to 
 tell. No story did 
 Hans and Katrina 
 like so well as the 
 story of old Rip Van 
 Winkle, who went to 
 sleep and slept for 
 twenty years up in the 
 Kaatskill mountains. 
 
 There is a funny 
 picture-book with the 
 story of Rip Van 
 Winkle in it. It has 
 
HANS AND KATRINA 
 
 103 
 
 the picture of the little short elves who made 
 signs to Rip Van Winkle, but who could not 
 speak to him. 
 
 The Elves. 
 
 There is the picture of Rip carrying the 
 cask up the mountain side, and another picture 
 of the elves rolling their ninepins. 
 
 When Ruth and Betty heard the rolling in 
 
104 AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 the skies they called it thunder; but Hans and 
 Katrina knew better. They knew it was the 
 elves still rolling their ninepins, just as they 
 rolled them so long ago. 
 
 But Hans and Katrina were not always romp- 
 ing and telling stories. They were very busy 
 little folks, for all they were so jolly. Katrina 
 could sew and knit, and Hans could cut wood 
 and drive the cows as well as any one could. 
 
 You should have seen Katrina when she was 
 dressed for a party. She wore a funny little 
 cap, and tied her hair in a hard knot behind. 
 She wore a kerchief round her neck, and her 
 skirts were full and stiff. Indeed, she wore so 
 many of these skirts that they stood out like 
 a Dutch cheese. 
 
 Hans wore a tight little jacket, and so many 
 pairs of trousers, one over another, that he 
 looked quite like the pictures of the greedy boy 
 in the story-books. 
 
 Hans and Katrina went to school, just as 
 Ruth and Betty did. The schools would seem 
 
HANS AND KATRINA 105 
 
 very odd to us now, but there were no lazy 
 children in them, you may be sure. The Dutch 
 teacher always carried a birch rod in his hand ; 
 and any child who came to school to play was 
 sure to feel that rod. 
 
 It may be that these jolly little Dutch chil- 
 dren were more mischievous in school than the 
 sober little English children were. We are not 
 sure; but both English and Dutch children 
 had good times in their schools and with their 
 teachers, — there is no doubt of that. 
 
 Both the Dutch and the English mothers 
 liked to scrub and clean their houses. Their 
 windows were rubbed until they shone like 
 looking-glasses; and the floors were as white 
 and clean as tables. These floors were covered 
 with white sand. The housekeepers drew pretty 
 patterns in this sand; for this was the only 
 kind of carpet that they had. 
 
 The English houses were hip-roofed, but the 
 Dutch houses were gable-roofed. The Dutch 
 often built little stoops on the front of their 
 
io6 
 
 AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 houses; for they liked to sit on these stoops 
 in the evening and talk with the people who 
 passed by. 
 
 New Year's Day was a holiday with Hans 
 and Katrina. Everybody made calls on that 
 
 A Dutch House in Hans' and Katrina's Time. 
 
 day, and there were always parties on New 
 Year's evening. 
 
 Hans and Katrina were sure to have a Merry 
 Christmas, for it was the Dutch who set the 
 fashion of hanging the Christmas stockings 
 around the fireplace. And Santa Claus never 
 
HANS AND KATRINA 
 
 107 
 
 forgot to bring Christmas presents to the Dutch 
 children. 
 
 They had good times at Easter, too ; for on 
 that day they sent each other presents of colored 
 eggs tied with bright ribbons. 
 
 The faces of Hans and Katrina were fat and 
 round and rosy. Perhaps it was because they 
 had such good times. Their laugh, too, was 
 honest and cheery. Perhaps it was because 
 they were such honest, cheery little people them- 
 selves. No children in all the land were hap- 
 pier and healthier and jollier than little Dutch 
 Hans and Katrina. 
 
 New York as it was when Hans and Katrina were Children: 
 then it was called new amsterdam. 
 
The House of John Hancock which faced Boston Common. 
 
 X. THE BOSTON BOYS 
 
 All this time the colonies were growing larger. 
 Every year hundreds of people came over from 
 England, and there were many large towns up 
 and down the coast. 
 
 But in upon all this peace and success came 
 a war. England had a great debt, and she 
 thought the colonies should help her pay it. 
 
 The colonies were willing to help if England 
 would do certain things for them that they 
 thought she ought to do, But England was 
 
THE BOSTON BOYS 109 
 
 not willing to do these things. Then came war 
 between the mother country and the colonies, 
 — the war of the Revolution, as it was called. 
 
 "Our soldiers will need warm stockings and 
 blankets and woollen clothing," said the colonial 
 women. So they set to work to spin yarn 
 and weave cloth for the soldiers. The boys 
 and girls did their share; and when the soldiers 
 came the American people were ready for them. 
 
 The English soldiers first made their camp 
 upon the Common in the town of Boston. 
 
 "This is a good place for us," they said. 
 "We will make the Boston people bring us 
 food ; and then, too, from this Common we can 
 keep good watch on the harbor." 
 
 On the Common there was a fine pond ; and 
 here the Boston boys liked to skate and slide. 
 
 " We must n't fail in spelling to-morrow, 
 boys," said one boy as he ran off down the 
 street. The boys laughed ; for they well knew 
 that if they did n't learn their lesson there would 
 be no skating for them. 
 
no AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 The next morning was cold and clear. 
 " Good weather for the ice," thought every boy 
 as he crept out of bed. As soon as school was 
 over, away the boys hurried to the pond. 
 
 But alas for their plans for a good hour's 
 skating! The ice had been broken everywhere; 
 and it had frozen again with a rough and un- 
 even surface. 
 
 "Those British red-coats have done this," 
 cried the boys. 
 
 I am sure the English soldiers would have 
 been terrified if they had heard the threats those 
 Boston boys made. But there were no redcoats 
 in sight, and the disappointed boys went home. 
 
 A few days later the ice thawed ; and there 
 came a heavy rain, followed by a week of frost. 
 
 " Now we shall have skating," the boys 
 said. And again they watched the ice. 
 
 The red-coats, too, watched the ice, and the 
 boys as well. One night they went again to 
 the pond and broke the ice with their heavy 
 boot-heels. 
 
THE BOSTON BOYS in 
 
 " We have nothing else to do," they said ; 
 "and it is fun to see the little Yankees angry." 
 
 On the next afternoon came the boys with 
 their skates, and again they found the ice broken. 
 Then out spoke one of the boys. 
 
 " They have no right to break our ice," he 
 cried. " Let us go to General Gage, and tell 
 him what his men have done." 
 
 Away the boys ran, straight up to the 
 door of the great British general's house. 
 
 " Why do you come here ? " asked the 
 general's servant. 
 
 " We came to see General Gage." 
 
 " General Gage has no time to talk with 
 boys," answered the guard. 
 
 " But we must see him," the boys insisted. 
 
 " What is it, my lads ? " said the general, 
 who just then came to the door. 
 
 " We have come," said the leader of the 
 Boston boys, " to complain of your soldiers." 
 
 " What have my soldiers done to you ? " 
 asked General Gage. 
 
ii2 AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 " They do everything they can to plague 
 us," said the boy. " They knock down our 
 snow forts, and now they are breaking up 
 the ice on our pond. We think it is mean — 
 it is mean — for soldiers to do things like this." 
 
 The boy's cheeks were red and his eyes 
 snapped. His small fists were clenched, and 
 very likely his voice was rather shrill and high. 
 
 The guard laughed. General Gage himself 
 smiled a little. 
 
 " You are plucky boys," he said. " You 
 would make good soldiers. If my soldiers 
 trouble you again, let me know at once." 
 
 Then the boys thanked the general, and 
 went back to their playground. 
 
 " Even the children breathe in liberty in 
 this land," said General Gage, after the boys 
 were gone. 
 
 After a time this war came to an end. 
 The English soldiers went back to England, 
 and the colonies were free. 
 
 " Now," said the colonies, " we do not be- 
 
THE BOSTON BOYS 
 
 ii3 
 
 long to England any more. We are the 
 American people. We will call our country 
 the United States. And we must have a 
 President. Who shall it be?" 
 
 George Washington being made President. 
 
 " George Washington," the people cried. 
 " For he led our troops on to victory." 
 
 And indeed it was George Washington 
 who led the troops on to victory. He de- 
 served the honor of being President. 
 
ii4 AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 The capital city of America at this time was 
 New York. So to this city George Washington 
 went to be made first President of the United 
 States. 
 
 There were no railroads ; so he travelled 
 in his own coach, drawn by six beautiful white 
 horses. There was a coachman in a uniform ; 
 the coach was lined with velvet, and there 
 were flowers of gold on the outside. 
 
 The people were very proud of their new 
 President. As he drove across the country, 
 they came out from the towns to meet him. 
 "Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!" they shouted 
 as the coach drew near. In some towns the 
 people scattered flowers along the road. 
 
 Often Washington stood up in his coach 
 and thanked the people for the honor they 
 had given him. Then the people cheered 
 louder than ever, "Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah! 
 Hurrah for the President ! " 
 
 At New York City a great ball was given 
 in his honor. How fine Washington must 
 
THE BOSTON BOYS 115 
 
 have looked ! He was dressed in velvet and 
 satin, for that was the fashion of those early 
 times. His knee-breeches were of black vel- 
 vet, and fastened at the knee with very hand- 
 some buckles. His stockings were of white 
 silk ; and he had silver buckles upon the 
 shoes. His waistcoat was of embroidered 
 satin, and over this he wore a rich coat of 
 velvet. He wore also a white wig, with a 
 long tail hanging down behind ; for this was 
 the way gentlemen wore their hair in Wash- 
 ington's time. 
 
 It was a great day for New York. It 
 was a great day for the United States. 
 
 Colonial Flag of 1776. 
 
An Old Matchlock Gun. 
 
 XI. THE ARMY OF TWO 
 
 Years after the Revolution, our people had 
 another war with England. This was called 
 the War of 1812, and in it many great battles 
 were fought. When the war was over, there 
 was no story the people liked better to tell 
 than the story of two little girls, Rebecca and 
 Sarah. 
 
 Rebecca's father kept the lighthouse, and 
 Sarah was Rebecca's playmate. One day 
 when the children were at play they saw an 
 English ship coming into the harbor. 
 
 Now Rebecca's father had gone across the 
 bay, and the children were alone. 
 
 " What is that ? " they cried, when they 
 saw the ship. 
 
THE ARMY OF TWO 117 
 
 " It looks like an English ship." 
 
 " But what is it doing in our harbor? " 
 
 " I fear it has come for no good," Rebecca 
 thought. 
 
 Then the children ran up into the light- 
 house to watch. Yes, it was an English ship, 
 coming straight into the bay. It had already 
 begun its mischief; for it had set fire to a 
 little sloop that lay outside the harbor. 
 
 " Oh, if I were a man, would n't I fight ? " 
 cried Rebecca. 
 
 "And I, too," cried Sarah. 
 
 The little girls watched and watched. 
 What could they do? If they could only 
 warn the people of the village! But they 
 could not, for they had no boat. 
 
 " Could n't we scare the. English away?" 
 they wondered. 
 
 " There is a drum in the lighthouse," said 
 Rebecca. 
 
 "There is a fife, too. Let us go and get 
 them ! " 
 
u8 AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 " I can beat the drum." 
 
 " And I can play the fife," said Sarah. 
 
 Then down the stairway the two children 
 
 ran to find the drum and the fife. They 
 
 would play them as hard as ever they could, 
 
 and perhaps the English would think an 
 
 army was coming. 
 
 Then the children crept around behind 
 
 the lighthouse and along through the bushes. 
 " Rub-a-dub, rub-a-dub-dub-dub ! " 
 " Squeakity-squeak ! Squeakity-squeak ! " 
 " Hark ! " called the English captain. 
 " Rub-a-dub, rub-a-dub, rub-a-dub-dub ! " 
 " Squeakity-squeak ! Squeakity-squeak ! " 
 " Troops ! " said the soldiers. " But where 
 
 are they?" Then they listened again. The 
 
 music seemed to be coming nearer and nearer. 
 " They are coming along the point," said the 
 
 captain. The soldiers scrambled into the ship 
 
 and pulled up the little boats. 
 
 " The people have seen us. We will go 
 
 away and try this port some other day," said the 
 
H.siK- '< 
 
 Captain Rebecca and Lieutenant Sarah. 
 
120 AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 captain. Then they turned the ship and sailed 
 out of the harbor. 
 
 " I believe they were really frightened at our 
 music," said the children. 
 
 Meantime the people in the village heard the 
 music too. What did it mean ? Where did it 
 come from ? 
 
 As soon as the ship turned away, the village 
 people hurried over to the lighthouse. And 
 what did they find there ? Only two little girls ! 
 
 "Do you think we scared them away?" 
 asked Rebecca. 
 
 " There can be no doubt of it," the people 
 said. 
 
 From that time, as long as Rebecca and 
 Sarah lived, they were called Captain Rebecca 
 and Lieutenant Sarah. Sometimes they were 
 called the American Army of Two ! 
 
The Confederate Flag. 
 
 XII. THE BOY IN GREY 
 
 (A SOUTHERN STORY) 
 
 By and by there was still an- 
 other war in our country. 
 This war however, was not 
 with the English ; it was be- 
 tween our own people in the 
 North and our own people in 
 the South. 
 
 It was a sad war. The 
 men on both sides were brave 
 and true to what they thought 
 was right. Even the school- 
 boys fought in this war; and 
 there are many stories told of 
 their bravery. 
 
T22 AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 There was one boy in the Southern army 
 whose name was James Dinkins. He had been 
 sent to a North Carolina school where boys are 
 taught to be soldiers; and there he was when 
 the war began. 
 
 The boys of the school longed to go to the 
 war; and all the boys who were old enough 
 went. But James was a new boy, and had not 
 been in training very long. Then, too, he was 
 too young to go to the war. 
 
 " But I must go," he would beg. 
 
 " Too young," the colonel would say. 
 
 One day word came that the Northern sol- 
 diers were coming, and that there would be a 
 battle. 
 
 " I must go and fight," James said. " I 
 cannot stay at school and let the Northern 
 soldiers fight my people ! " 
 
 So at last he was allowed to go. Very 
 soon there was fighting, and James and the 
 other cadets from the military school were 
 formed in line. 
 
THE BOY IN GREY 123 
 
 " Forward, cadets ! " the colonel cried. " Guide 
 centre ! Charge bayonets ! Double quick ! " 
 
 The bullets flew about their heads, but not 
 a boy showed fear. Straight forward they 
 charged, close up to the ranks of the Northern 
 soldiers. The Northern soldiers were amazed ! 
 
 " Mere boys ! " they said. Yes, but brave 
 boys they were. 
 
 There was a hot fight ; the Northern soldiers 
 fell back; and the cadets were the heroes of the 
 day! 
 
 Now in James' family there was an old 
 slave. His name was " Uncle Freeman." He 
 had taken care of young James ever since he 
 was a baby. 
 
 When " Uncle Freeman " knew that his 
 young " Massa " had gone to the war, he begged 
 to go and take care of him again. So when 
 James' father came to visit his boy in camp 
 he brought the old slave with him. 
 
 " Bress you' heart, honey!" cried the faithful 
 Uncle Freeman. " You' ol' uncle come to take 
 
124 AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 care ob you ! Gwine t' take care ob you long as 
 ol' Uncle Freeman lives ! " And from this time 
 James had his faithful friend always by his 
 side in battle and in camp. 
 
 One night the cadets were to sleep in a tent 
 so small that there was hardly room to move. 
 
 " I will not go into that tent unless Uncle 
 Freeman goes too ! " said James. " I will not 
 leave him out here in the cold." 
 
 "But you will freeze out there!" cried the 
 other cadets. 
 
 "Then we will freeze together!" was James' 
 answer. 
 
 After that answer, room was made for Uncle 
 Freeman in the tent, and the old slave slept all 
 night at his "Massa's" feet. 
 
 There came a time by and by when there was 
 not food enough for the cadets. Winter came 
 and they had no warm clothes. Their shoes 
 were so ragged and worn that some of the 
 cadets bound rags around their feet to keep 
 them from freezing. 
 
THE BOY IN GREY 125 
 
 One day Uncle Freeman could not be found. 
 Where had he gone? Had he run away? Was 
 he killed ? No one knew. 
 
 But one night Uncle Freeman came creeping 
 back to his young master's tent. 
 
 " Where have you been, Uncle Freeman ? " 
 cried James. 
 
 " Now you hush, honey ! " whispered the old 
 slave. " See what dis ol' nigger brought his 
 young Massa! " 
 
 The faithful servant had walked all the way 
 to Richmond, and there he had been "doing 
 errands " till he had earned some bread and 
 ham. And he now brought this food to the 
 half-starved soldier boy. How good the bread 
 and ham tasted : for never was there a hungrier 
 boy than this young cadet. 
 
 By and by the old slave died. Camp life 
 was too hard for him ; but he died happy that 
 he was able to be with his " young Massa " 
 to the end. 
 
 And what of James ? Well, he served in the 
 
126 
 
 AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 army till the war was 
 over, and he now lives in 
 one of the cities of the 
 South. He is always 
 ready to tell stories of 
 the war and of old Uncle 
 Freeman. But if you 
 should ever happen to 
 meet this hero, you must 
 be sure to call him Lieu- 
 tenant Dinkins ! For 
 though he was only a 
 boy, he earned that 
 honor before the war 
 was over. 
 
 Here is a picture of 
 him in his lieutenant's 
 uniform, taken in Sep- 
 tember, 1864. 
 
 He is more proud of 
 his uniform now than 
 when he first won it. 
 
The American Flag. 
 
 XIII. THE BOY IN BLUE 
 (a northern story) 
 
 Harry Barton was just six- 
 teen years old, and was a cadet 
 in a Northern military school. 
 Like all ' Northern boys 
 Harry longed to enlist ; for 
 every battle he read about 
 made him more restless and 
 eager to go to the war. A 
 new company was being 
 formed. Harry could not 
 study, he could not train, he 
 could not work. He could 
 think of nothing but the war. 
 
128 AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 One day he wrote a letter to his father : 
 
 Dear Father, — Do please let me go 
 to the war ! There is no one left in the 
 school now but little boys. I can't study. 
 Please let me <ro. 
 
 Your boy, Harry. 
 
 CD 
 
 Harry's father was very sad when he read 
 this letter. He knew what a cruel thing war is. 
 
 Still he wrote, " Yes, you may go." And 
 Harry rushed to the recruiting office with the 
 letter. 
 
 " See, see, I may go ! " he cried. 
 
 But the recruiting officer only shook his 
 head. 
 
 " You are too young ! " he said. 
 
 " But I am large for my age ! " Harry 
 pleaded. 
 
 The officer only shook his head again. 
 
 Poor Harry, it was a bitter disappointment. 
 But by and by another company was formed. 
 
 " We need a drummer boy," said the re- 
 cruiting officer. 
 
THE BOY IN BLUE 129 
 
 " If you would only take me! " said Harry. 
 
 " Can you drum ? " 
 
 " I think I can." Then Harry beat the 
 drum while the fifer played the fife. 
 
 " Good, good ! " said the fifer. 
 
 "All right, then," said the officer. "We 
 will take you along as drummer boy ! " 
 
 Harry threw up his hat. " Hurrah for the 
 Star Spangled Banner! " he shouted. 
 
 On the next day there was a great pro- 
 cession. The new company marched up and 
 down the streets of the village, and Harry 
 drummed. How proud he was of his drum 
 and of his uniform and his brass buttons ! 
 
 By and by the company was ordered out, 
 and the soldiers marched all day long under 
 the hot July sun. It was a hard march for 
 the new recruits ; and at the end of it Harry 
 dropped in the ranks. 
 
 " He has a sunstroke ! " said the surgeon. 
 " He must be taken to the hospital." 
 
 For many weeks Harry lay on his cot in 
 
 9 
 
130 AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 the hospital, waiting to be well again. At last 
 the surgeon said, " Well, my lad, do you want 
 to go back to your company to-day ? " 
 
 "Oh, may I go?" Harry cried. 
 
 " Your company is five miles from here. 
 Do you think you can walk so far ? " 
 
 " I can walk ten miles ! " Harry said eagerly. 
 " But do you mean that I may go to-day ? " 
 
 " Yes, you may go," the surgeon answered. 
 " And you are a brave soldier, my boy ! " 
 
 Then off Harry started, his drum on his back. 
 
 " Who goes there ? " called the sentinel, as 
 Harry reached the lines. 
 
 " Hallo, Elias, is that you ? " he answered. 
 
 But Elias would make no answer. " Give 
 the countersign ! " he called again. 
 
 " Now, Elias, you know who I am, and you 
 know I don't know the countersign. Are n't 
 you going to let me in?" laughed Harry, for 
 Elias and Harry were old boy friends. 
 
 "Countersign, or you are a dead man!" 
 answered Elias, coolly. 
 
THE BOY IN BLUE 131 
 
 " But I don't know the countersign ! " 
 
 " Corporal of the guard ! Post number 
 four 1 " shouted Elias. 
 
 The corporal came hurrying to the post. 
 " What is the matter ? " he said. 
 
 "Man trying to break my guard, sir!'' 
 was the sentinel's answer. 
 
 When the corporal saw Harry, he said, 
 " Well, well ! Here is our drummer boy again ! " 
 
 Harry tumbled into his straw bed that night 
 a very tired, but a very happy boy. At day- 
 break, the company was called out for battle. 
 
 Company D! Fall in! The enemy is upon us!" 
 
 Then Company D fell in ; and most bravely it 
 fought. It was Harry's first battle. Many of 
 his boy comrades were killed ; but he drummed 
 bravely on, though bullets whizzed about him. 
 
 In a few months Company D went into 
 winter quarters. It was a hard, bitter winter. 
 Harry had never known before what it was 
 to be cold and hungry. Then, too, the company 
 had to drill, drill, drill, day in and day out. 
 
132 AMERICA'S STORY 
 
 How tired the boys were ; and how glad they 
 were when the sun went down, and they could 
 rest till morning. 
 
 At last word came that there would be 
 no more fighting. The war was ended, and 
 the company might go back to their homes. 
 
 Alas, there were few in Harry's company left 
 alive ; for many of the brave boys had been 
 killed in battle. 
 
 But it was a happy day for Harry when the 
 train rolled into his own little town. The depot 
 was crowded with people to welcome the sol- 
 diers, and Harry's father was there. "Are you 
 there, Harry?" he called. 
 
 "Here, father!" Harry shouted back. 
 
 "Thank God!" was all the father could say 
 when his boy leaped from the train. 
 
 " Thank God ! " And the happy tears rolled 
 down his cheeks. " War is a cruel thing, my 
 boy," he said. " A cruel thing ; and may there 
 never be another in this fair land of ours."