home as fast as I could. I found all the people wild with alarm and ready to set out in search of little Arthur. But they were glad to see me, I'm sure.

I turned round at once, and limped back all the way to the old mill to show them where my master was. How happy they were when they saw him! They lifted him tenderly out from among the rubbish, and carried him home. His mother wept for joy, and everybody petted and fondled me as though I had done something wonderful.

When Arthur was quite well again, which was not very soon, he was sent to school in town. I was never so lonely in my life; but when he came back, as he did in the vacations, I made up for it by following him everywhere.

"Don, you are my dog - and you shall always be my dog," he would say.

That made me very happy, and I tried my best to thank him.

EXPRESSION: What was the name of the dog? of the horse? of the boy? What is a castle? a dungeon? Talk with your teacher about knights and castles. Tell some

story that you have heard about them.

WORD STUDY: Speak clearly and correctly: Arthur; kept, slept; shared, whinnied, trudged, charged, scrambled.

The lion was dead, and all the other beasts had met to choose some one to succeed him as king.

"I have the best right to the throne," said the tiger; "for no other animal looks so nearly like our former ruler."

To this the bear objected. He said, "I am as strong and quite as brave as the lion ever was. Besides this, I can climb a tree, which is more than any lion can do. I have the best right to the throne."

"You may all boast as you please," said the elephant, "but which of you can say that I am not the largest, the strongest, and the bravest of animals? I have the best right to the throne."

Then the horse made his plea. "I am the most useful, and some say that I am the most beautiful, of fourfooted creatures. Surely, usefulness and beauty should count for something."

"Cunning should also count for something," said the fox; "and where will you find a sharper animal than I?"

"I am neither strong nor beautiful," said the monkey, “but I am clever. Choose me for your king, and I will amuse you every day of your lives. And remember that I look very much like a man.”

"Ha! I can also boast of being like a man,” said the parrot. "You resemble him only in your face, which is ugly enough. I resemble him in speech. I can talk, talk, talk.”

"Hold your tongue!" cried the monkey. "You talk, to be sure, but not as man talks. You say the same thing over and over, and you don't understand the meaning of a word. More than this, you have no right here, for you are a bird and no beast.'

"Every one can tell of his own fine qualities," said the dog; "but actions speak louder than words."

Then the beasts voted to give the crown to the elephant, for they said that he was both strong and wise, and he was neither cruel like the tiger and bear, nor vain like the horse, nor silly like the monkey.

EXPRESSION: Read carefully what each animal said. Notice these marks (""). What do they mean? How do they help you to read correctly?

HERO AND HIS FRIEND

In a large menagerie there was once a lion named Hero, who was said to be very ill-natured and even dangerous. His keeper never ventured to go near him without carrying a whip or an iron bar or something with which to defend himself.

"Hero," he would say, "you are so cross and ugly that I hate you ;" and then with his iron bar he would drive the poor beast into a corner of the cage.

"The only way to govern such beasts," he said, "is to make them afraid of you. You must make them think that you are stronger than they, and then they will not harm you."

FOURTH READER 5

One day a party of sailors came to the menagerie to look at the animals.

"Don't go near that lion," said the keeper. "He is so dangerous that we have stretched a rope in front of the cage to prevent visitors from getting within his reach. Just see how angry he is!"

"He looks like an old friend of mine," said one of the sailors; and without heeding the keeper's warning he leaped over the rope and ran to the cage.

"Hello, old shipmate!" he cried. "Don't you know me? What cheer, good Hero, my lad?"

The lion stopped his growling, sprang up to the bars of the cage, and put his nose between them. The sailor stroked the animal's head, and then took hold of one of his huge paws and shook it.

"Good morning, my friend! And how have you been since we saw each other last?" said the sailor.

The lion rubbed his hand gently with his whiskers, like a cat, and seemed very much pleased. Then the sailor spoke to him kindly again, and the two fondled each other and played together for some time.

The keeper was much astonished. "How is it that the beast is so gentle with you, and always so cross to me?" he asked.

"Oh, we are old friends," answered the sailor. "Five years ago, when Hero was brought from Africa, he