The woodland rings with laugh and shout As if a hunt were up, And woodland flowers are gathered To crown the soldier's cup. On beds of oaken leaves. Grave men there are by broad Santee, General Francis Marion, a native of South Carolina, was one of the most popular heroes of the Revolutionary War. He won fame as the leader of a handful of dashing adventurers, whom he succeeded in gathering about him, although he could provide neither pay nor the assurance of provisions. He held them by the force of his personality and his intense spirit of patriotism. Like Robin Hood and his band, Marion lived with his men in the woods and swamps which they had known well from childhood, dashing out upon the British troops when least expected, with such suddenness and vigor that the enemy mistook them for the vanguard of a larger force and fled before them. The British set a heavy sum on the head of General Marion, but officer after officer returned with the word that the "Swamp Fox" was not to be found. One British captain, after being captured by Marion and his men, returned to headquarters with the report: "Sir, I have seen an American general and his officers without pay and almost without clothes, living on roots and drinking water; and all for LIBERTY! What chance have we against such men!" 1. Read the poem aloud to yourself to get the vigor and swing of its lines. 2. Who is supposed to be singing this song? Can you imagine in what circumstances it might be sung? 3. What picture of the life of Marion's men do you get from stanzas I and 3? 4. Which stanzas give you the best picture of their attacks upon the enemy? What were some of their methods? 5. Why do you think they considered the moon "friendly"? 6. What picture do you get of Marion's men in "the hour that brings release from danger "? 7. What new idea do you get of the adventurers in stanza 5? EXPLANATORY NOTES Barb (page 118), a Barbary horse, the choicest of the Arabian steeds. Broad Santee (page 118), the chief river of South Carolina; it flows through the middle of the state. NOTEBOOK 1. For your notebook, make a list of the five best stories you have ever read. Compare this list with those made by other members of your class. Which book or story is named most frequently? Is any story named by all? 2. Write the titles of five stories you have heard about and would like to read. 3. Measure the interest of the eight selections in this section on LEGEND AND ADVENTURE, using the method described on page 61. WHICH IS THE MOST WORTH-WHILE STORY? Here is a scale that will aid you in judging which is the most worth-while selection among those you have read in this section on LEGEND AND ADVENTURE (pages 63–119). Think of this line as a yardstick with which to measure the value of what you read. If the selection appears to you to be very useful, as much so as any which you have read, you may place a cross above the plus 3 at the right end of the line. If you think the story is not useful and of no importance, the cross should be placed above the minus 3 at the left end of the line. If think the story is only moderately useful, place the cross above the zero at the middle of the line. The plus 1 means that the selection is of some use but not a great deal. The plus 2 means that it is of much value, but that you have read selections which appear to you of greater value. you DIRECTIONS 1. In your notebook draw a measurement line for each of the selections you have read in this section of READING AND LITERATURE. After you have drawn these lines, mark the first line indicating how you regard the story of "Robin Hood and Allin-a-Dale. " 2. Mark the second line for "The Old Buccaneer" and continue with the other selections. 3. Which selection have you marked as of most value? Which of least value? 4. If you will now connect the crosses you have made by drawing a straight line from each one to the one next below it, you will have a curve of value. 5. Compare your curve with those made by your classmates. SPORT AND SPORTSMEN TOM BROWN'S FIRST FOOTBALL GAME THOMAS HUGHES Tom Brown, a twelve-year-old boy, arrives at Rugby just in time to take part in a football game. The School-house, where Tom lives, is to play a game against all the boys in the other houses, called "the School" in this story. Football was then a very different game from what it is now. Many boys even two hundred — could take part in the game. "To the goals!" is the cry, and the whole mass of boys moves up towards the two goals, dividing as they go into three bodies. That little band on the left, consisting of from fifteen to twenty boys, Tom among them, who are making for the goal under the School-house wall, are the School-house boys who are not to play-up and have to stay in goal. The larger body moving to the island goal are the School boys in like predicament. The great mass in the middle are the players-up. Both sides mingle together; they are hanging their jackets - and all who mean real work their hats, waistcoats, neckhandkerchiefs, and braces on the railings around the small trees. There they go by twos and threes up to their respective grounds. There is none of the color and tastiness of get-up, you will perceive, which lends such a life to the present game at Rugby, making the dullest and worst-fought match a pretty sight. Now each house has its own uniform of cap and jersey, of some lively color: but at the time we are speaking of, plush caps have not yet come in, or uniforms of any sort, except the School-house white trousers, which are abominably cold today. Let us get to work, bareheaded and girded with our plain leather straps - but we mean business, gentlemen. Now that the two sides have fairly sundered, each occupying its own ground, and we get a good look at them, what absurdity |