They were now quite sobered. Their feet were unbound, but their arms were still securely tied. We marched them into the woods off the road, and having used them as Regulators were wont to use such delinquents, we set fire to the cabin, gave all the skins and implements to the young Indian warrior, and proceeded, well pleased, towards the settlements.

During upwards of twenty-five years, when my wanderings extended to all parts of our country, this was the only time at which my life was in danger from my fellow creatures. Indeed, so little risk do travelers run in the United States that no one born there ever dreams of any to be encountered on the road.

Will you believe, good-natured reader, that not many miles from the place1 where this adventure happened, and where fifteen years ago no habitation belonging to civilized man was expected, and very few ever seen, large roads are now laid out, cultivation has converted the woods into fertile fields, taverns have been erected, and much of what we Americans call comfort is to be met with? So fast does improvement proceed in our abundant and free country.

JOHN JAMES AUDUBON: Episodes.

1The incident spoken of in the foregoing narrative took place when Audubon was making a return trip to St. Genevieve (then part of Louisiana, but now in the state of Missouri), in the early spring of 1812.

AIDS TO STUDY

affirmative (ă fûr'må tĭv), a word or phrase expressing assent. apathy (ǎp'à thĩ), want of feeling, lack of emotion, indiffer

ence.

priming (prīm'ing), the powder

or other material used to fire a charge.

purport (pûr'port), meaning. raccoon (rǎ kōon'), an animal. vociferation (vo sif'er a'shun), outcry, clamor.

1. Locate the prairies referred to in this extract. 2. In what season of the year did Audubon take this journey? 3. What did he carry with him? 4. Did he anticipate any danger? 5. Describe the log cabin to which he came. 6. In what language did he speak to the young Indian? 7. How was his appetite satisfied? 8. What aroused the curiosity of the Indian woman? 9. How did he manage to load his gun? 10. Tell about the two athletic youths who came into the cabin. 11. Why did they not attack Audubon and the wounded Indian? 12. Describe the feelings of Audubon before the arrival of the two travelers. 13. How did the strangers treat the Indian woman and her sons? 14. Compare that section of the country in those days with its present condition.

Locate the following phrases in the text, and change them into a single word:

at that moment

at the same instant

full of confidence

in the affirmative

of long duration

on my return
to all appearance
with joy

1. Have you lived for a few weeks or more in a forest? 2. Are you familiar with the sights and sounds of the forest? 3. Are you acquainted with people who live in deep forests? 4. Write a short story about your experience in the woods.

GIVE ME THREE GRAINS OF CORN

This pathetic narrative introduces the reader to one of the most appalling events of the past few centuries, - the famine in Ireland. In the past, many of the Irish people depended chiefly on potatoes as an article of food. In 1846, the potato crop failed, and a terrible famine took hold of the entire country. Men, women, and children died of hunger and fever. Some of them were fortunate enough to have a decent burial, but the bodies of many wasted away in the hills, in the glens, and in the forests of Ireland.

It is true that many charitable persons in this country and in England sent the starving people money and provisions. But they were not sufficient to cope with such widespread want. The English government, too, started public works. But these were inadequate to counteract the misery and distress of the Irish people.

But the strangest thing about this great calamity is that during the two years of the famine, when one-fourth of the people of Ireland died from hunger and its consequences, there was sufficient corn raised in the country to feed the starving; but day after day it was exported by shiploads.

Give me three grains of corn, mother,

Only three grains of corn;

It will keep the little life I have,

Till the coming of the morn.

I am dying of hunger and cold, mother,
Dying of hunger and cold,

And half the agony of such a death

My lips have never told,

It has gnawed like a wolf at my heart, mother,

A wolf that is fierce for blood,

All the livelong day, and the night beside,

Gnawing for lack of food.

I dreamed of bread in my sleep, mother,
And the sight was heaven to see
I awoke with an eager, famishing lip,
But you had no bread for me.

How could I look to you, mother,
How could I look to you,

For bread to give to your starving boy,
When you were starving, too?
For I read the famine in your cheek,
And in your eye, so wild.

And I felt it in your bony hand,
As you laid it on your child.

The queen has lands and gold, mother,
The queen has lands and gold,

While you are forced to your empty breast

A skeleton babe to hold,

A babe that is dying of want, mother,

As I am dying now,

With a ghastly look in its sunken eye,

And famine upon its brow.

What has poor Ireland done, mother,
What has poor Ireland done,

That the world looks on, and sees us starve,

Perishing, one by one?

Do the men of England care not, mother,
The great men and the high,

For the suffering sons of Erin's isle,

Whether they live or die?,

There is many a brave heart here, mother,
Dying of want and cold,

While only across the channel, mother,

Are many that roll in gold.

There are rich and proud men there, mother,
With wondrous wealth to view,

And the bread they fling to their dogs to-night
Would give life to me and you.

Come nearer to my side, mother,
Come nearer to my side,
And hold me fondly, as you held
My father when he died.

Quick, for I cannot see you, mother,
My breath is almost gone;
Mother! dear mother! ere I die,

Give me three grains of corn.

AMELIA B. EDWARDS.