11. Just then the shadowy object of alarm put itself in motion, and with a scramble and a bound stood at once in the middle of the road. Though the night was dark and dismal, yet the form of the unknown might now in some degree be ascertained. He appeared to be a horseman of large dimensions, and mounted on a black horse of powerful frame. He made no offer of molestation or sociability, but kept aloof on one side of the road, jogging along on the blind side of old Gunpowder, who had now got over his fright and waywardness.

12. Ichabod, who had no relish for this strange midnight companion, and bethought himself of the adventure of Brom Bones with the Galloping Hessian, now quickened his steed in hopes of leaving him behind. The stranger, however, quickened his horse to an equal pace. Ichabod pulled up, and fell into a walk, thinking to lag behind: the other did the same. His heart began to sink within him; he endeavored to resume his psalmtune, but his parched tongue clave to the roof of his mouth, and he could not utter a stave. There was something in the moody and dogged silence of his pertinacious companion that was mysterious and appalling.

13. It was soon fearfully accounted for. On mounting a rising ground, which brought the figure of his fellowtraveler in relief against the sky, gigantic in height, and muffled in a cloak, Ichabod was horror-struck on perceiving that he was headless! But his horror was still more increased on observing that the head, which should have rested on his shoulders, was carried before him on the pommel of the saddle: his terror rose to desperation; he rained a shower of kicks and blows upon Gunpowder, hoping by a sudden movement to give his companion the slip, but the specter started full jump with him. Away then they dashed, through thick and thin, stones flying and sparks flashing at every bound. Ichabod's flimsy garments fluttered in the air, as he

stretched his long, lank body away over his horse's head, in the eagerness of his flight.

14. They had now reached the road which turns off to Sleepy Hollow; but Gunpowder, who seemed possessed with a demon, instead of keeping upon it, made an opposite turn, and plunged headlong down the hill to the left. This road leads through a sandy hollow, shaded by trees for about a quarter of a mile, where it crosses the bridge famous in goblin story; and just beyond swells the green knoll on which stands the whitewashed church.

15. As yet the panic of the steed had given his unskillful rider an apparent advantage in the chase; but just as he had got half-way through the hollow, the girths of the saddle gave way, and he felt it slipping from under him. He seized it by the pommel, and endeavored to hold it firm, but in vain; and had just time to save himself by clasping old Gunpowder round the neck, when the saddle fell to the earth, and he heard it trampled under foot by his pursuer.

16. For a moment the terror of Hans Van Ripper's wrath passed across his mind, for it was his Sunday saddle; but this was no time for petty fears; the goblin was hard on his haunches, and (unskillful rider that he was!) he had much ado to maintain his seat, sometimes slipping on one side, sometimes on the other, and sometimes jolted on the high ridge of his horse's backbone with a violence that he verily feared would cleave him asunder.

17. An opening in the trees now cheered him with the hopes that the church bridge was at hand. The wavering reflection of a silver star in the bosom of the brook told him that he was not mistaken. He saw the walls of the church dimly glaring under the trees beyond. He recollected the place where Brom Bones's ghostly competitor had disappeared. "If I can but reach that bridge," thought Ichabod, "I am safe."

18. Just then he heard the black steed panting and blowing close behind him: he even fancied that he felt his hot breath. Another convulsive kick in the ribs, and old Gunpowder sprang upon the bridge; he thundered over the resounding planks; he gained the opposite side: and now Ichabold cast a look behind, to see if his pursuer should vanish, according to rule, in a flash of fire and brimstone. Just then he saw the goblin rising in his stirrups, and in the very act of hurling his head at him. Ichabod endeavored to dodge the horrible missile, but too late. It encountered his cranium with a tremendous crash: he was tumbled headlong into the dust, and Gunpowder, the black steed, and the goblin rider passed by like a whirlwind.

WASHINGTON IRVING.

55.

ARNOLD WINKELRIED.

This extract is an example of impassioned narrative and description, requiring strong force, radical stress, and, in general, quick movement. Let the boys memorize it for declamation.

"Make way for Liberty!" he cried-
Máde way for liberty and died!
In arms the Austrian Phalanx stood,
A living wall, a human wòod;
Impregnable their front appears,
All horrent with projected spears.
Opposed to these, a hovering band
Contending for their father-land,

Péasants, whose new-found strength had broke
From manly necks the ignoble yòke:

Marshaled once more at freedom's call,

They came to conquer-or to fàll.
And now the work of life and death

Hung on the passing of a brèath;

The fire of conflict burned within;
The battle trembled to begin.

Yet, while the Austrians held their ground,
Point for assault was nowhere found;
Where'er the impatient Switzers gazed,
The unbroken line of lances blazed;
That line 't were suicide to meet,
And perish at their tyrants' feet;

How could they rest within their graves,
And leave their homes the haunts of slàves?
Would they not feel their children tread,
With clanking chains, above their head?
It must not bè: this day, this hour,
Annihilates the invader's power!
All Switzerland is in the field-
She will not fly; she cannot yièld;
She must not fall; her better fate
Here gives her an immortal date.
Few were the numbers she could boast,
But every fréeman was a hòst,

And felt as 't were a secret known
That one should turn the scale alone,
While each unto himself was he
On whose sole arm hung victory:
It did depend on óne indèed;
Behold him-Arnold Winkelried.
There sounds not to the trump of fáme
The echo of a nobler name.

Unmarked, he stood amid the throng
In rumination déep and lòng,

Till you might see, with sudden grace,
The very thought come o'er his face;
And, by the motion of his form,
Anticipate the bursting storm;
And, by the uplifting of his brow,

Tell where the bolt would strike, and how.

But 't was no sooner thought than done
The field was in a móment won!
"Make way for Liberty!" he cried,
Then rán, with arms extended wide,
As if his dearest friend to clasp;
Tén spears he swept within his grasp.
"Make way for Liberty!" he cried;
Their keen points crossed from side to side;

He bowed among them like a trèe,

And thus made way for Liberty.

Swift to the breach his comrades fly-
"Make way for Liberty!" they cry,

And through the Austrian phalanx dart,
As rushed the spears through Arnold's heart;
While, instantaneous as his fall,
Ròut, rùin, pànic seized them all;
An earthquake could not overthrow
A city with a surer blow.

Thus Switzerland again was free-
Thus Death made way for Liberty.

JAMES MONTGOMERY.

DICTIONARY LESSON. Find the definitions of the following words: phalanx, impregnable, ignoble, annihilates, anticipates, panic, rumination. Write each word in a sentence of your own.

ESQUIMAU DOG TEAMS.

1. Every school-boy knows that the hardy Esquimaux, warmly clad in furs, take long journeys, during the Arctic winters, on sledges, drawn by dog teams. Dr. Kane gives the following account of a meeting with a party of Esquimaux.

2. "I went up from the cabin, followed by as many as could mount the gangway; and there they were, on all sides of the rocky harbor, dotting the snow shores