moment he had laid his heavy paw on the boy's shoulders.

The weight was too much for Billy. Down he went, freed himself, and struggled to the surface,

gasping for breath. It appeared to him now that he had but a moment to live. He felt his self-possession going from him, and at that moment his ears caught the sound of a voice.

"Put your arm

The voice seemed to come from far away. Before the sentence was completed, the dog's paws were again on Billy's shoulders and the water stopped the boy's hearing. What were they calling to him? The thought that some helping hand was near encouraged him. With this new thought to aid, he dived for the third

time. The voice was nearer and clearer when he came up, and he heard every word.

"Put your arm around his neck!" one man cried. "Catch him by the back of the neck!" cried an

other.

may

Billy's self-possession returned. He would follow this direction. Skipper swam anxiously to him. It be that he wondered what this new attitude meant. It may be that he hoped reason had returned to the boy, that at last he would allow himself to be saved. Billy caught the dog by the back of the neck when he was within arm's length. Skipper wagged his tail and turned about.

There was a brief pause, during which the faithful old dog determined upon the direction he would take. He saw the punts, which had borne down with all speed. Toward them he swam, and there was something of pride in his mighty strokes, something of exultation in his whine. Billy struck out with his free hand, and soon boy and dog were pulled over the side of the nearest punt.

Through it all, as Billy now knew, the dog had only wanted to save him.

-NORMAN DUNCAN.

forged: moved ahead.—sustain' : bear, or hold up.―elud'ed: escaped. -exulta'tion: joy at success or victory.

THE CLOUD

I bring fresh showers for the thirsting flowers
From the seas and the streams;

I bear light shade for the leaves when laid
In their noonday dreams.

From my wings are shaken the dews that waken
The sweet buds, every one,

When rocked to rest on their mother's breast,
As she dances about the sun.

I wield the flail of the lashing hail,
And whiten the green plains under;
And then again I dissolve it in rain,
And laugh as I pass in thunder.

I am the daughter of Earth and Water,
And the nursling of the Sky;

I pass through the pores of the ocean and shores;
I change, but I cannot die.

-PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY (Abridged).

wield to handle, use.-flail: an instrument for beating grain from the ear by hand. It consists of a wooden handle to which is fastened a shorter and heavier wooden club so hung as to swing freely.

EARLY ADVENTURES IN THE COLONIES

A LETTER WRITTEN AT PLYMOUTH BY JOHN BILLINGTON TO HIS GRANDMOTHER IN ENGLAND

PLYMOUTH, March 24, 1621.

promised to write you a letter, and now I am doing it. We did not go to Virginia, for the wind was wrong and we came to Cape Cod. Mr. William Bradford went out to see what kind of place it was. Some other men went with him. They came to a trap that the Indians had set for deer. He walked into it, and the tree sprang up and caught him by the leg. Nobody said he ought not to have walked into it, and nobody blamed him. They would have blamed me.

I don't think anybody here cares much about me. They call me the Billington boy. When we were in the Mayflower and the men were looking for a place to settle, I fired off my father's gun one day in the cabin. Everybody was talking about the dreadful things the Indians had done in Virginia, and I wanted to know how to shoot. Don't you think I ought to? I didn't remember that the barrel of powder was so near, and I didn't think the gun would make such a noise or scare the people so.

I was a little scared, too, but it was funny to see how they all jumped. Honestly, grandma, I did not

really mean to do it. I only meant to pull the trigger just the least bit, only enough to see how it would go-and it went. The babies screamed and the women all ran out of the cabin. The men scolded me and said I was foolish and wicked.

But, grandma, it is only the other day that a man fired at a whale, and his musket burst and went to pieces; and all they said was that they thanked God that no one was hurt. The whale was not hurt either. It just snorted and swam away. Father said it didn't like New England laws and wouldn't stay to be ruled by the Compact.

The Compact is a paper that the men had to sign before they landed. It said that they were going to make some laws and everybody had to promise to obey them. I heard a man say to father that King James' laws were for Virginia, and now that we were not going to be in Virginia at all, we could do what we liked. That's why they made a Compact. Father signed it, but I don't believe he wanted to very

much.

After the Compact was done, some men went ashore. They brought back their boat full of juniper, and when we burned it, it smelled good. The women went ashore to do some washing. I am strong and I would have brought them water, but they would not let me go. The carpenters were working on the shallop, and Captain Standish went ashore to see what