ful, then, when you are speaking, to modulate your voice. Be careful, too, to make the beginning of your speeches so interesting, so suggestive, that your audience will be anxious to have you go on; and the endings so strong, so impressive, that they will drive home what you have said, and make it stay with your hearers. Do not let your voice weaken at the end.

It is an excellent idea to stand looking at your audience for about two seconds before you begin and after you finish your speech.

Learn the poem given at the end of this chapter, Abou Ben Adhem; and, taking note of the suggestions that have just been given, stand up before the class and recite it.

LESSON IV

Write a short theme, taking as your subject one of the following:

1. A moving-picture story.

2. My baby brother (or sister).

3. A dream.

4. A trip to

5. A midnight adventure.

[Do the pictures facing pages 30, 44, 104, and 219 offer you any suggestions for the fourth subject ?]

LESSON V

Penmanship, dictation, or memorizing exercise.

ABOU BEN ADHEM

ABOU BEN ADHEM (may his tribe increase!)
Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace;
And saw, within the moonlight in his room,

A RAILWAY STATION - FRITH

From The Master Painters of Britain. By Courtesy of John Lane Co.

Making it rich, and like a lily in bloom,
An angel, writing in a book of gold:-
Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold,
And to the presence in the room he said,

"What writest thou?" - The vision raised its head,
And, with a look made of all sweet accord,

Answered, "The names of those who love the Lord!"
"And is mine one?" said Abou. "Nay, not so,"
Replied the angel. Abou spake more low,
But cheerily still; and said, "I pray thee, then,
Write me as one that loves his fellow-men."

The angel wrote, and vanished. The next night
It came again with a great wakening light,
And showed the names whom love of God had blest,
And lo! Ben Adhem's name led all the rest.

Leigh Hunt (1784-1859)

CHAPTER V

VERBS (Continued)

LESSON I

Modes. The action or condition asserted by a verb may take place in different manners. The distinctions between these we note in the modes or moods. The indicative is the mode of simple declaration; the subjunctive, of doubtful or conditional assertion; the imperative, of command.

To this list we might add the infinitive and the participle, though these two forms are not now usually classified as modes. The former names the action or condition; the latter partakes of the nature of a verb and of an adjective.

[The indicative and the imperative are easily recognized and understood; the infinitive and the participle will be more fully discussed later in connection with phrases. The subjunctive mode is the one that perplexes more than any other; moreover, it is gradually going out of use in English, so no further discussion of it will be taken up in this book.]