10. I entered ǎlone. Presently he began performing at his own free will. It was magnificent to see him as he circled about me, fire in his eye-pride in his nostril, power and grace from tip to tip. He trotted powerfully; he galloped gracefully; he thundered at full speed; he lifted his fore-legs to welcome; he flung out his hind-legs to repel; he leaped as if he were springing over bayonets; he prånced and cûrveted as if he were the pretty plaything of a girl. Then, when he had amused himself, and delighted me sufficiently, he trotted up and snuffed about me, just out of reach. 11. Finally, instinetively knowing me for a friend, the black came forward and made the best speech he could of welcomea neigh, and no more. Then he approached nearer, and, not without shying and starts, of which I took no notice, at last licked my hand, put his head upon my shoulder, suffered me to put my arm round his neck, and in fact lavished upon me ěvèry mark of confidence. At låst, åfter a good hour's work, I persuaded him to accept a halter. Then, by gentle persuasions,1 I induced him to start and accompany me homeward. 12. The black would tolerate no one but me. With me he established as close a brotherhood as can be between man and beast. I named him, åfter the gold mine, my shâre of which I had given in exchange, DON FULANO.2 He represented to me my whole profit for the sternèst and roughèst work of my life. I looked at him, and looked at the mine that pile of pretty pebbles, that pile of bogus ore and I did not regret my bargain. I never have regretted it. "MY KINGDOM FOR A HORSE -so much of a kingdom as I had, I had given. WINTHROP.3 1 Per suā'sion, act of influencing by means of any thing that moves the will or the passions. 2 Fulano (fo läʼno). 3 Theodore Winthrop, an American soldier and author, was born in New Haven, Conn., Sept. 22, 1828. He was graduated at Yale College in 1848, and for the sake of his health visited England, Scot land, France, Germany, Italy, and Greece. He also traveled extensively in this country. He was killed at the battle of Great Bethel, Va., June 10, 1861. He left in manuscript a number of magazine articles, on a variety of subjects, all written in spirited style, which have been published since his death. THE III. 28. THE CID AND BAVIECA. 1. HE king looked on him kindly, as on a vassal' true; Then to the king Ruy Diaz' spake, after reverence due, "O King! the thing is shameful, that any man beside The liege lord of Castile 3 himself, should Bavieca ride : 2. "For neither Spain nor Araby could another charger bring So good as he, and certes1 the best befits my king. But, that you may behold him, and know him to the core, 5 I'll make him go as he was wont 3 when his nostrils smelt the Moor.” 3. With that, the Cid, clad as he was, in mantle furred and wide, On Bavieca vaulting, put the rowel in his side; And up and down, and round and round, so fierce was his career, 4. And all that saw them praised them—they lauded man and horse, Ne'er had they looked on horseman might to this knight come near, 5. Thus, to and fro a-rushing, the fierce and furious steed, He snapped in twain his nether rein :-" God pity now the Cid !— 6. And so he led him foaming and panting to the king, But, "No," said Don Alphonso, "it were a shameful thing, By any other mortal but Bivar-mount, mount again, my Cid!” 1 Vǎs'sal, one who holds lands of a superior, and who vows fidelity and homage to him; a tenant. 2 Ruy Diaz (de'äth), Count of Bivar (be vär'), an illustrious champion of Christianity and of the old Spanish royalty, in the 11th century. 3 Castile (käs tēl′), a former king. dom of Spain. 4 Cer'tēs, certainly; in truth. 5 Wont (wǎnt), uşed; accustomed. "Cid, chief or commander-a name given to Ruy Diaz. 'Nĕth'er, lower. SECTION IX. I. 29. MARTYRS IN THE NEW WORLD. led apart, mōre concerned for his captive converts1 than for himself, and addressed them in a loud voice, exhôrting them to suffer patiently, and promising Heaven as their reward. The Iroquois, incensed, scorched him from head to foot, to silence him; whereupon, in the tone of a måster, he threatened them with everlasting flames for persecuting the worshippers of Gŏd. 2. As he continued to speak with voice and countenance unchanged, they cut away his lower lip, and thrust a red-hot iron down his throat. He still held his tali form erect and defiant, with no sign nor sound of pain; and they tried another means to overcome him. They led out Lallemant, that Brébeuf might see him tortured. They had tied strips of bark, smeared with pitch, about his naked body. When he saw the condition of his superior, he could not hide his agitation, and called out to him, with a broken voice, in the words of St. Paul, "We are made a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men." 3. Then he threw himself at Brébeuf's feet; upon which the Iroquois seized him, made him fast to a stake, and set fire to the bark that enveloped him. As the flames arose, he threw his arms upward with a shriek of supplication to Heaven. Next they hung around Brébeuf's neck a collar made of hatchets heated red-hot, but the indomitable priest stood like a rock. 4. A Huron in the crowd, who had been a convert of the mission, but was now an Iroquois by adoption, called out, with the malice of a renegade,9 to pour hot water on their heads, 8 since they had poured so much cold water on those of others. The kettle was accordingly slung, and the water boiled and poured slowly on the heads of the two missionaries. "We bap tize you," they cried, "that you may be happy in Heaven; for nobody can be saved without a good baptism." Brébeuf would not flinch,1 and in a rage they cut strips of flesh from his limbs, and devoured them before his eyes. 5. Other renegade Hurons called out to him, "You told us that the more one suffers on earth, the happier he is in Heaven. We wish to make you happy; we torment you because we love you, and you ought to thank us for it." After a succession of other revōlting2 tortures, they scalped him; when, seeing him nearly dead, they laid open his breast, and came in a crowd to drink the blood of so valiant an enemy, thinking to imbibe 4 with it some portion of his courage. A chief then tore out his heart and devoured it. 6. Thus died Jean de Brébeuf, the founder of the Huron mission, its truest hero and its greatest martyr. He came of a noble race-the same, it is said, from which sprang the English Earls of Arundel; but never had the mailed barons of his line confronted a fate so appalling with so prodigious a constancy. To the last he refused to flinch, and "his death was the astonishment of his murderers." In him an enthusiastic 5 devotion was grafted on a heroic nature. 7. His bodily endowments were as remarkable as the temper of his mind. His manly proportions, his strength, and his endurance, which incessant fåsts and penances could not undermine, had always won for him the respect of the Indians, no less than a courage, unconscious of fear, and yet redeemed from rashness by a cool and vigorous judgment. 8. Lallemant, physically weak from childhood, and slender almost to emaciation, was constitutionally unequal to a display 9 1 Flinch, to shrink; to withdraw from. 2 Re võlt ́ing, disgusting; horrible. 3 Valiant (văl'yant), brave. 4 Im bibe', to receive into; to absorb. 5 En thu'si ǎst'ic, devoted; warm; ardent; zealous. 6 He rō'ic, bold; dâring; intrepid. In cěs' sant, unceasing; con tinual. 8 Un der mine', to remove the support of a thing. 9 Emaciation (ē mā'shi a'shun). extreme leanness; want of flesh. of fortitude like that of his colleague.1 When Brébeuf died, he was led back to the house whence he had been taken, and tortured there all night, until, in the morning, one of the Iroquois, growing tired of the protracted entertainment, killed him with a hatchet. It was said that at times he seemed beside himself; then, rallying, with hands uplifted, he offered his sufferings to Heaven as a sacrifice. His robust companion had lived less than four hours under the torture, while he survived it for nearly seventeen. II. 30. THE SANCTUARY LAMP A SPECK of flame, a pulse of fire, In twilight church aflâre, Is it a star let down from heaven, 2. Above, below, the shadows creep, A soft and sunny aureōle It sheddèth round, sweet lamp! 3. The slender rays, like fingers, touch 3 The tabernacle 3 white; Wouldst fain unlock the little door A swinging shadow on the floor, 4. Would I could catch thy glittering chains, 4 And draw thee through the gloom! Thy precious oils my sinful hands 1 Cŏl'lēague, an associate in duty. 2 Sǎnc'tu a ry, that part of the church in which the altar is enclosed. 3 Tăb' er na cle, the enclosure on the altar wherein are kept the ciborium and pyx, containing the Blessed Sacrament. 4 Through (thrg). |