7. Be prepared to pronounce the following and give their meanings as here used: abated, swelling of the tide, tide ebbed, entirely destitute, to extremity, fore-chains, bulged, stern, quarter, spare yards, spars, spare topmast, mortification, rummaging, ammunition, fowling-pieces, cargo, cove, innumerable, confused screaming.

EXERCISES

1. Tell briefly the story of Alexander Selkirk.

2. When was Robinson Crusoe written and how generally is it read?

3. Relate the events leading up to the story here given.

4. What pleasant surprise came to Crusoe the morning after the shipwreck?

5. What important fact did he learn regarding the wreck?

6. What effect had this discovery upon him?

7. How did he succeed in getting on board the ship?

8. Why had he "no time to lose"?

9. Describe the construction of the raft.

10. With what did he first load the raft?

11. What made him think to get clothing such hot weather?

12. Why did he desire arms and ammunition?

13. Tell briefly Crusoe's experience in getting his raft ashore.

14. In what sort of place did Crusoe find he had landed?

15. Why did he believe that he fired "the first gun that had been fired there since the creation of the world"?

16. From what you know, tell other adventures of Robinson Crusoe.

ADDITIONAL READINGS

SWIFT: Gulliver's Travels.

VERNE: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.

COOPER: The Spy. Deerslayer. Last of the Mohicans.

LONGFELLOW: The Wreck of the Hesperus.

BROWNING: Hervé Riel.

ROSSETTI: The White Ship.

WHITTIER: The Wreck of Rivermouth.

PROCTER: The Sea.

COLERIDGE: The Ancient Mariner.

COWPER: The Loss of the Royal George. The Solitude of Alexander

Selkirk.

SOUTHEY: The Inchcape Rock.

THE LOST CAMEL

ANY of us have

MAN

66

The

eyes that see not.” Even when we see things about us, we often fail to do any clear thinking about the things observed. The following tale has all the charm and interest of a first-class detective story. The detective must observe closely. He must be able to draw the proper inferences from facts observed. In this story, a dervish meets two merchants who have lost their camel. dervish not only tells them what they have lost, but describes the animal so accurately that they cannot believe that he had not seen the camel. They instantly seize him and take him before a magistrate. When the dervish was taken before the judge and accused of having stolen the camel, he explained just how he had drawn such careful conclusions. At the close of the trial the judge pronounced the dervish not guilty. The following story explains how the dervish cleared himself to the satisfaction of both judge and

accusers.

THE LOST CAMEL

SCENE I. IN THE DESERT

Persons: Two Merchants; A Dervish.

DERVISH. Good day, my friends. You seem to be much worried about something.

FIRST MERCHANT. Indeed, we are greatly troubled, most holy man!

DERVISH. I think I can tell you what the matter is. You have lost a camel.

MERCHANTS. We have! we have!

DERVISH. Your camel was blind in the right eye, I believe.

SECOND MERCHANT. He was. You saw him? DERVISH. And he was lame in the left fore leg. FIRST MERCHANT. Yes, yes! You are right! (To companion.) We have found our beast at last! DERVISH. Had he not lost a front tooth?

FIRST MERCHANT. He had. Where is he? DERVISH. He was loaded with wheat on one

side

MERCHANTS. True, O dervish. Show us

beast.

DERVISH. And with honey on the other side.
FIRST MERCHANT. Most certainly he was!

our

SECOND MERCHANT. And now, good dervish, pray lead us to our camel. We are grateful to you! FIRST MERCHANT. How glad we are you have found him!

MERCHANTS (with outstretched hands). Accept our best thanks!

DERVISH. My friends, I have never seen your camel.

MERCHANTS (looking at each other in consternation). Never seen our camel!

FIRST MERCHANT. Then how do you know so much about him?

SECOND MERCHANT. Who told you all this about him?

DERVISH. Upon my honor, I have never seen your camel, nor has any one spoken of him to me except yourselves.

FIRST MERCHANT (with contempt). A pretty story, truly! But where are the jewels that formed part of his burden?

DERVISH. I have seen neither your camel nor your jewels.

SECOND MERCHANT (to companion quietly). He means to rob us of our treasure!

FIRST MERCHANT. That he shall never do. We will take him before the judge and demand justice.

SECOND MERCHANT (louder so Dervish can hear). Yes, let us drag him before the judge. He shall either return to us our treasure or be punished for its theft. Come with us, O dervish, and you shall be punished for this! (Merchants arrest the Dervish.)

SCENE II. A HALL OF JUSTICE

Persons: The Judge; Two Merchants; The Dervish.

JUDGE. Merchants, you bring me a strange prisoner. Of what do you accuse this holy man? FIRST MERCHANT. O learned Judge, we accuse this man of stealing our camel.

JUDGE. Tell your story.

SECOND MERCHANT. My friend and I saved some money and invested it in jewels. These we

sought to carry to Bagdad to sell in the bazaar. That no one might suspect we carried such treasures, we loaded our camel with wheat and honey. In the wheat we hid our bag of jewels.

FIRST MERCHANT. We rested at midday under some palms by a well, and being very tired, fell asleep. When we awoke, our camel was gone. Thinking it had wandered into the desert we sought it diligently. In the desert we met this dervish. He at once informed us that we had lost a camel! He also

SECOND MERCHANT. Yes, and he described our camel exactly. He told of his blind eye, his lame leg, and his missing tooth!

FIRST MERCHANT. He even told us that the camel was loaded with wheat and honey.

SECOND MERCHANT. And now, O Judge, have we not proved that he is the thief?

JUDGE. You certainly have shown that the dervish knows a great deal about your missing camel. Dervish, either confess that you have stolen the camel and restore it and its load to the owners at once, or explain how you know so much about the

matter.

DERVISH. O learned Judge, I can easily prove that I know no more about the lost camel than any one might know by going through the desert with his eyes open. As I walked along I saw some footprints in the sand. These I knew at once were camel's tracks. As no human footmarks were seen, I knew the animal had strayed away.