necks, and kissed them tenderly, and went away with them down avenues of light, and were so happy in their company, that, lying in his bed, he wept for joy.

But there were many angels who did not go with them, and among them one he knew. The patient face that once had lain upon the bed was glorified and radiant, but his heart found out his sister among all the host.

His sister's angel lingered near the entrance of the star, and said to the leader among those who had brought the people thither, "Is my brother come?" And he said, "No."

She was turning hopefully away, when the child stretched out his arms, and cried, "Oh, sister, I am here! Take me!" and then she turned her beaming eyes upon him. And it was night; and the star was shining into the room, making long rays down toward him as he saw it through his tears.

From that hour forth the child looked out upon the star as on the home he was to go to, when his time should come; and he thought that he did not belong to the earth alone, but to the star too, because of his sister's angel gone before.

There was a baby born to be a brother of the child; and while he was so little that he never yet had spoken a word, he stretched his tiny form out on his bed and died.

Again the child dreamed of the opened star, and of the company of angels, and the train of people,

and the rows of angels with their beaming eyes all turned upon those people's faces.

Said his sister's angel to the leader, "Is my brother come?"

And he said, "Not that one, but another."

As the child saw his brother's angel in her arms, he cried: “Oh, sister, I am here! Take me!" She turned and smiled upon him.

And the star was shining.

He grew to be a young man, and was busy at his books when an old servant came to him and said: "Thy mother is no more. I bring her blessing on her darling son!"

Again at night he saw the star, and all that former company. Said his sister's angel to the leader, "Is my brother come?”

And he said, "Thy mother!"

A mighty cry of joy went forth through all the star, because the mother was reunited to her two children. And he stretched out his arms, and cried, “Oh, mother, sister, and brother, I am here! Take me!" And they answered him, "Not yet."

And the star was shining.

He grew to be a man whose hair was turning gray, and he was sitting in his chair by the fireside, heavy with grief, and his face bedewed with tears, when the star opened once again.

Said his sister's angel to the leader, "Is my brother come?"

And he said, "Nay, but his maiden daughter." And the man who had been the child saw his

daughter, newly lost to him, a celestial creature among those three, and said, "My daughter's head is on my sister's bosom, and her arm is round my mother's neck, and at her feet there is the baby of old time. I can bear the parting from her. God be praised!" And the star was shining.

Thus the child came to be an old man. His once smooth face was wrinkled, his steps were slow and feeble, his back was bent. One night as he lay upon his bed, his children standing round him, he cried as he had cried so long ago, "I see the star!"

They whispered one to another, "He is dying." And he said: "I am. My age is falling from me like a garment, and I move toward the star as a child. And oh, my Father, now I thank Thee that it has so often opened to receive those dear ones who await me."

And the star was shining; and it shines upon his grave. Charles Dickens.

NOTES

1. Tell what you can of the stars. How many stars or groups of stars can you name?

2. What new meaning do you now get from the little poem "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star"?

3. Be prepared to give the meanings of the following words and expressions: strolled, wondered, gambol, drooped, solitary, sparkling road, avenues of light, glorified, radiant, reunited, bedewed, celestial creature.

EXERCISES

1. Do most children have the kind of thoughts mentioned in paragraph 1?

2. Do they indulge in such fancies as those of paragraph 2?

3. How does the mention of the church spire and the graves cause us to feel?

4. How had they come to think of the star at the close of paragraph 3? 5. At the end of paragraph 4?

6. What is told you in paragraph 5?

7. Why should he dream that the rays of the star were the path to

Heaven?

8. What kind of person weeps for joy at seeing others happy?

9. What had the star become to the child after he had seen the vision

of his sister there?

10. Does it seem strange that he should dream of the star at his mother's

death?

11. How does the author cause us to feel toward the star when he says after each vision, "And the star was shining"?

12. What kind of an agency has the star become by the time of the death of the daughter?

66

13. Why did he say he moved toward the star as a child"?

14. What was the star to him at his death?

ADDITIONAL READINGS

DICKENS: Death of Paul Dombey, in Dombey and Son. Death of Little Nell, in Old Curiosity Shop.

THACKERAY: Death of Colonel Newcome, in The Newcomes.

WHITTIER: The Star of Bethlehem.

HAWTHORNE: The Star of Calvary.

LONGFELLOW: Footsteps of Angels, The Light of Stars.

WHITTIER: Telling the Bees. The Eternal Goodness.

MRS. BROWNING: The Sleep.

MRS. HEMANS: The Stars.

LOWELL: Longing.

LANIER: Power of Prayer.

KING BRUCE AND THE SPIDER

ONE

NE of the most fascinating traditions in Scottish life has been handed down from generation to generation among all the families of the name of Bruce. Whatever else may be said, the story is certainly typical of what actually happened to Robert Bruce in his campaign to save his people from the rule of England.

The cruel wars in Scotland arose out of the debate between the great lords who claimed the throne after the death of King Alexander the Third. These wars were cruel and decided nothing. The Scottish nobility determined to allow King Edward of England to decide who should be king of Scotland. Scotland at this time was virtually under English rule, and there were only two principal candidates for the throne. The first was Robert Bruce and the other was John Comyn,1 both powerful leaders. These two great and powerful leaders had earlier taken part with Sir William Wallace in the wars against England, but fearful of losing their great estates, and thinking that the freedom of Scotland could not be recovered, both Bruce

1 Pronounced kŭm'in.