dantly repay the labors of industry, and satisfy the most extensive desires, if no part of it be suffered to be wasted by negligence, to be overrun with noxious plants, or laid out for show, rather than for use." LESSON XLIII. THE INDIAN GIRL. 1. In the heart of one of those deep palm forests of Peru where the beams of the glad sun rarely pierce far from its persecuted brethren dwelt one of that unhappy race of Indians he was a fatherb five children had brightened his eye four proud noble boys and one a tender girl resembling most the fawn that roved wildly amid the woods and she alone remained to share his solitude. 2. Pizarro's followers had winged the shaftsa that bore death into the hearts of three, and one son watched the bright sun rise and set from a grated prison window. How did his heart yearn, that noble boy's, to tread once more the green savannahs, and to chase yet once again the wild deer amid the forests, and more, far more, to braid his sister's raven hair, with flowers; for it was hard, oh very hard,d for one who had lived under the blue sky, and ever breathed the breath of freedom, to be fettered there. 3. Alone the Indian dwelt, save with that young girl; the names of his children were strangers to his lips; but they were fixed for ever in his heart. Revenge, revenge, filled his whole soul; glared in his eye, that had never shed a tear, save one, one burning drop that had rolled down his swarthy cheek when he heard his youngest son lay in Pizarro's dungeon; yes, then the old man wept, but it was in the forest solitude, where no eye, not even his Meloé's, might gaze on his sorrow. 4. He had left his tribe, to seek in the deep recesses of the mountains, some refuge, where he might await the long prayed for moments, and drink the heart's blood of those who had drank so greedily of his. It was only when he gazed on his young child, as she returned home laden with the fruits she had rifled from tree and bush for her father, that his knitted brows relaxed, and his stern features softened into something like a smile. 5. She came like a ray of light when it pierces the stormshrouded sky, or like a spirit to soothe the struggle that dwelt in the old man's heart.g Every day he went out to hunt, and when the hour approached for his return, she trod the well known paths to meet him. Many a time she would sit down by the edge of some cool spring and wash her weary feet, and weave garlands of the water lilies that trembled on the water's bosom, and then the thoughtsh of those who had so often woven them for her in the sunny hours of her infancy, rushed across her memory, and the lone Indian girl wouldm weep; but her tears fell most when she thought of her Orozimbo, her younger brother, the Spaniard's prisoner. 6. "Oh my brother, my brother," she murmured, “thou, whose smile was bright as the rising sun, and gentle as the moon, who wert brave as the tiger, and yet tender as the fawn, whose foot was as the arrow in its fleetness, and whose eye was so keen !g they have chained thee,-they have torn thee from thy home,-never wilt thou smile again, or chase the wild deer along the gay savannah; better would it have been for thee, if thou wert cold with thy brothers."s 7. For two long years the Indian girl had lived in the palm forest, and every day her father had gone forth to hunt. But once the sun had set in rosy clouds below the trees, and the evening shadows were dark and gloomy. Meloé had listened long and anxiously for his home-turned footsteps; twice she had trod the path that led to the deep ravine,P beyond which her father had forbidden her to go;b and now she sat beneath the tall tree that shaded their little hut, and waited, with a heavy heart, his coming. 8. At last he came, but not alone; there was a stranger with him, and he was fettered; the stranger was a Spaniard, and very young; Meloé's heart beat fast, for she knew well that when a Spaniard crossed her father's threshold, he came for no good. Once she gazed with a pitying eye on the young stranger, for his step was weary and his limbs were tightly bound; and her heart whispered, “that was my brother ;" and then she looked on her father, but his face was stern, and on it sat a look of triumph. 9. "Rejoice, Meloé," he said, "thou shalt drink of the white man's blood; the hand that killed thy brother shall perish. To day the Indian shall be revenged." But Meloé could not smile, and her heart sickened within her. The Indian led his captive into the hut, and placed him in a little room; then he twisted the bamboo fetters round his arms and legs still tighter, and smiled to hear him groan. Sleep," said he, "for thou shalt not sleep again; to-morrow the tiger shall lap thy blood!"s 10. Then he left him; but ordered his child to give him food, lest the victim should expire before he had experienced sufficient torment. Meloé took the cocoa-nut full of cool milk and the tamarind to quench his thirst, and when she knelt down beside the young stranger, there was no hate in her heart. He murmured," mother, mother,"d and Meloé, who knew the words, felt the big tears on her cheeks. 11. She left him, and her father bade her sleep; she laid herself down upon her bed, but it was in vain that she closed her eyes, for the image of the captive floated ever before them. "And he has a mother in a far land," thought she," and sisters, perhaps, who are watching for him. Alas!d that one so young should die. No one will weep over his grave in the stranger's land! Could it be a sin to give him life!o perchance he might save my brother's. No! he shall not die, if Meloé can save him." 12. The Indian girl looked round: her father lay stretched upon the rushes that formed his couch, and was asleep; trembling, she arose and walked with a light step towards the room where the prisoner lay; she listened and heard his groans; she seized the tomahawk that lay on the floor and entered the chamber. The Spaniard raised himself up, but immediately sank again to the floor d 13. "Fear not," whispered the maiden. "I am an Indian, yet I will save thee; thou hast a mother; for her sake Meloé will save thee. But speak not, move not, for my father sleeps." Brightly beamed the eye of the captive, as she loosened his fetters; and lightly he sprang up from the ground. "Follow me," said the Indian girl, and she opened a door that led into the forest; silently she guided his footsteps, till they came to the dark ravine. 14. " Now listen, stranger," said she; "had I not saved thee this night, never would thy mother have smiled again on her son. I had four brothers; three have the white man's fire killed; but one, the youngest, pines a captive, even as thouhad not Meloé freed thee-in the Spaniard's dungeon; he was born in the forest, and was like a wild deers-wilt thou not save him for Meloé's sake? 15. "I will, I will;d by the life thou hast given me, I will," said the stranger. "Then speed thee; Orozimbo is the captive's name; Pizarro guards him.”—As the Indian girl said this, she saw that the stranger's feet were bleeding, and she knelt down and tied on them her own moccasons; the stranger kissed the hand that had saved him, and then plunged into the chasmn below, and was lost in a moment to the eye of the young Indian. 16. Alone, Meloé returned to her couch; her father still slept; and she hastily fastened the door that led into the chamber where the Spaniard had lain. When the morning sun rose, the Indian woke, but his captive was gone. Oh, how dark grew his brow, when he found he was no longer there. For a whole day he searched the forest through ;d but saw him not, and Meloé was glad. Many a time the sun rose and set, but the stranger came not, nor were tidings heard of Orozimbo. 17. Meloé's heart grew desolate; as a flower that has been crushed, she faded away, and her father bent over his only child in sorrow; she grew weaker and weaker, till at last she said, "Father, I shall soon die; take me out that I may see the blue sky once more, and feel the breath of the summer wind on my hot cheek; and, father, weave me a garland of flowers for my hair, yet once again." 18. The Indian bore his child into the air, and laid her down on the grass, and then he set beside her; he had not watched her long, when he heard suddenly a rustling amid the trees, as he raised his eyes from his child, and the stranger stood once more before them; there was another from behind, a tall, dark Indian. Meloé uttered a cry, "It is he; it is Orozimbo, father!d it is he !"o 19. The old man gazed on the Indian, who had sprung to his knees, and once again the burning tears flowed swiftly down his furrowed cheek. "I have fulfilled my trust," said the Spaniard. "Indian, I have saved thy son; wilt thou slay me? Meloé," said he, in a softer voice, "I was not ungrateful. My mother has blessed the Indian girl.". 20. Meloé gazed once, long and fondly, on her brother, and then on the stranger, and said, "Father, thou wilt not harm him whom thy child has loved." She sighed, fell back on the grass, and Meloé was no more. a Is it a figure of speech? b§ 12. 2. c Sound of o? d What inflection? f Sound of k? g§ 19. 1. h§ 43. 3. m Sound of ou? n How many syllables? o What figure? pSound of i? s What figure of speech? z § 43.7. No. 1. Where is Peru? What was the situation of the Indian's dwelling? How many children had he? How many had Pizarro killed? What were the feelings of the father? Who was with him? What filled his soul? What is revenge ? What can you say of his tears? What had he left his bribe-for? What influence did his daughter have upon him? What did he do every day? How long did they live in the forest? What then happened? Who came with him? How did it effect Meloé? What did her father say? What did he next do? What did she do? What were her feelings? Describe the manner of his release. Did the Spaniard fulfill his promise? What effect did it have upon Meloé ? acter did Meloé exhibit ? What trait of char No. 2. Fondly, stronger, ungrateful, desolate, immediately, perchance, anxiously, tightly, infancy, approach, persecuted, solitude, freedom, return. No. 4. O'vercharge and overcharge', prod'uce and produce', di'gest and digest', invalid and invalid', fer'ment and ferment'. No. 6. Punctuate the first verse. No. 7. Different meanings of box, low, row, mow, abuse, close, diffuse, excuse, house, lease, misuse, mouse, noose, refuse, resign, rise, use. No. 8. § 3. 7. 11. 6. No. 10. What kind of a sentence in verse third? Mention all subjects, predicates, and objects, with their modifiers. No. 12. Let the teacher require some one of the pupils to write, on a black board, one or more sentences that he shall give out, and then require them to punctuate it. LESSON XLIV. ONE THING AT A TIME. 1. Once on a time, when the snow was deep on the ground, and the wintry winds howled among the old oak and elm trees, a party were sitting round the blazing hearth of a farm-house. It was Christmas; the farmer and a few friends sat nearest the fire, and the men servants, some with clean frocks on, and others with red waistcoats and blue jackets, sat at a little dis tance. 2. They had all had their supper, for in those days men went to bed earlier than they now do; aye, and got up earlier too. The bright pewter plates and dishes above the large dresser, and the bacon and hams, and hung beef, looked as though those men did not live without eating. It was a merry night with them all, and Farmer Bloomfield was telling them how things went on in the world when he was young. |