When Pincher reached the garden, he met Mr. Lett, who was searching for his missing children.
"Good old Pincher," said Mr. Lett, " where are Tom and Mary?""Bow-wow!" replied Pincher, wagging his tail. "Good dog, show me them," replied Mr. Lett.
"Bow-wow, bow-wow!" was Pincher"s answer as heturned towards the river.
In a few minutes Mr. Lett, following the dog, had reached the flooded river. Then he saw the children on the island waving their hands and shouting-although he could not hear them-for help.
It was nearly two hours later before they were rescued. Mr. Lett had to go a mile up stream, borrow a boat, and then, with the help of two other men, row to the island. It was a hard and dangerous task. Before the children were rescued they had climbed to the lower branches of a tree near the shed, to be out of the rising water.
That evening, the children sat near the fire in the dining- room. They were well wrapped up in warm rugs, and were sipping warm milk. Mrs. Lett was bustling about, and, as she stepped over Pincher asleep near the fire, she was heard to say, " You blessed old dog, you"ve saved my children."Then the two children glanced at each other andwhispered, "Mother will find room for Pincher now. He willnot be sent away to-morrow."
From The Children"s Hour, South Australia
Author.-The Children"s Hour of South Australia was the first State- school paper to appear in Australia. The next was The School Paper of Victoria.
General Notes.-With a map in front of you, trace the course of the River Murray. Its floods are caused every year by the melting of snows in the mountains near its source. What persons are mentioned in this story, not forgetting the dog? The islands along the Murray are enclosed between the main stream and anabranches or billabongs. Write or tell any other story you know of life-saving by dogs.
Lesson 50
my HEART"S IN THE HIGHLANDS
My heart"s in the Highlands, my heart is not here, My heart"s in the Highlands, a-chasing the deer, Chasing the wild deer, and following the roe- My heart"s in the Highlands wherever I go. Farewell to the Highlands, farewell to the North, The birthplace of valour, the country of worth; Wherever I wander, wherever I rove,The hills of the Highlands for ever I love.
Farewell to the mountains high covered with snow; Farewell to the straths and green valleys below; Farewell to the forests and wild hanging woods; Farewell to the torrents and loud pouring floods. My heart"s in the Highlands, my heart is not here; My heart"s in the Highlands, a-chasing the deer; Chasing the wild deer, and following the roe-My heart"s in the Highlands, wherever I go.
- Robert Burns
Drawn by W. S. Wemyss
"My heart"s in the Highlands, a-chasing the deer."Author.-Robert Burns (1759-1796), the national poet of Scotland, was born in Ayrshire on the 25th of January. He went to school at the age of six, and was afterwards taught by a village tutor named Murdoch. At the age of fifteen he went to work on his father"s farm and most of his life was passed in this occupation. In 1788 he married Jean Armour, and he died comparatively young. Like Shakespeare, Burns borrowed largely from many writers in matter, phrase, and metre, but his natural brilliancy, truth, sympathy, and sincerity made what he wrote his own and each poem a work of genius. He was honest, proud, friendly, and warm-hearted, full of feeling, and able to make others feel. So he struck the human note, the universal note, and endeared himself to his countrymen and the world.
General Notes.-Justify "birthplace of valour," "the country of worth"(think of those who would not betray Prince Charlie for gold). What are straths?
Suggestions for Verse-speaking.-What lines are repeated? Let thewhole class speak these lines. The remaining lines can be divided singly or in pairs between groups of the class.
Lesson 51
LEARNING TO RIDE
Though the first days of the young koala"s life were passed in his mother"s pouch, he was not carried there very long. He was only a little fellow, no bigger than an active kitten when his mother hoisted him on to the back of her shoulders and gave him to understand that he had to stop there and hold tight, as she could not climb and reach for gum leaves and hold him at the same time.
At first he thought " piggy-back" was fine fun, but, when she crept out of the big hollow that was her home, and walked along a slender limb a hundred feet from the ground, he dug his sharp nails in with fear.
It was a cold starlit night. Possums were feeding in the same tree, and squirrels, uttering peculiar cries, darted through the air a little way off. He glanced timidly at them from time to time, but was so much taken up with the riskiness of his position that he could give little attention to anything else. The mother moved with slow, deliberate steps; nevertheless, every movement made him fancy he was going to fall. Learning to ride in such a situation as that seemed a foolhardy undertaking; it was absolutelydangerous.
His mother ran no risk of falling; the great grasping power of her claws prevented it. Numbers of her kind, when shot, had cheated their slayers by hanging on to the limb, upside down, even in death.
Drawn by Allan T. Bernaldo
"He dug his sharp nails in with fear."
Perching herself in a fork, the mother koala grasped a branch in her hand, and for some minutes sat munching the juicy leaves. Then she retraced her steps and started down the perpendicular trunk of the tree, descending backwards all the way. The youngster felt mightily uncomfortable; clinging tightly to the dense fur of his mother, and looking anxiously from side to side as she dropped lower and lower, he scarcely breathed until the long, slow descent was accomplished.
On the ground he could ride with ease and confidence. Like a little boy who had got over his first fears on the back of a pony, he even wanted to " show off." While she dug forDrawn by Allan T. Bernaldo
Bandicoots and Wallabies