Old Floyd Ireson, for his hard heart,
Tarred and feathered and carried in a cart
By the women of Marblehead !

5. Fathoms deep in dark Chaleur
That wreck shall lie for evermore.
Mother and sister, wife and maid,
Looked from the rocks of Marblehead
Over the moaning and rainy sea-
Looked for the coming that might not be!
What did the winds and the sea birds say
Of the cruel captain who sailed away?
Old Floyd Ireson, for his hard heart,
Tarred and feathered and carried in a cart
By the women of Marblehead !

6. Through the street, on either side,
Up flew windows, doors swung wide,
Sharp-tongued spinsters, old wives gray,
Treble lent the fish-horn's bray.
Sea-worn grandsires, cripple-bound,
Hulks of old sailors run aground,
Shook head and fist and hat and cane,
And cracked with curses the hoarse refrain:
"Here's Flud Oirson, fur his horrd horrt,
Torr'd an' futherr'd an' corr'd in a corrt
By the women o' Morble'ead!"

7. Sweetly along the Salem road
Bloom of orchard and lilac showed.
Little the wicked skipper knew

Of the fields so green and the sky so blue.
Riding there in his sorry trim,

Like an Indian idol glum and grim,

Scarcely he seemed the sound to hear
Of voices shouting far and near:

"Here's Flud Oirson, fur his horrd horrt,
Torr'd an' futherr'd an' corr'd in a corrt
By the women o' Morble'ead!"

8. "Hear me, neighbors!" at last he cried -
"What to me is this noisy ride?

What is the shame that clothes the skin
To the nameless horror that lives within?
Waking or sleeping, I see a wreck,
And hear a cry from a reeling deck!
Hate me and curse me I only dread

The hand of God and the face of the dead!"
Said old Floyd Ireson, for his hard heart,
Tarred and feathered and carried in a cart
By the women of Marblehead!

9. Then the wife of the skipper lost at sea
Said, "God has touched him! why should we?"
Said an old wife mourning her only son,
"Cut the rogue's tether, and let him run!"
So with soft relentings and rude excuse,
Half scorn, half pity, they cut him loose,
And gave him a cloak to hide him in,
And left him alone with his shame and sin.
Poor Floyd Ireson, for his hard heart,
Tarred and feathered and carried in a cart
By the women of Marblehead !

What

At what season of the year did this event occur? What difference in emotion is expressed in stanzas 3 and 5? Find a picture of an antique vase in a history of Greece or Rome, or look at a piece of old Wedgwood pottery. You will then understand stanza 3 better. makes the skipper seem so glum? Was he moved by his disgrace? Why? Who were the first to suggest that he be set free? Would you have set him free? Can you find any reason for the changes in the refrain?

SUGGESTIONS FOR ADDITIONAL READINGS

Mabel Martin. John Greenleaf Whittier.

The Barefoot Boy. John Greenleaf Whittier.
Maud Muller. John Greenleaf Whittier.

The Inchcape Rock. Robert Southey.

The Wreck of the Hesperus. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
Alec Yeaton's Son. Thomas Bailey Aldrich.

Goody Blake and Harry Gill. William Wordsworth.

THE TWO MATCHES

ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. From early boyhood he was so interested in learning to write that he carried two books in his pocket, one to read, the other for writing. This strong love for writing forced him to drop all other forms of work and to adopt the profession of letters. After seeking health in many places he settled in Samoa, where his talent won from the natives the name Tusitala, "teller of tales." The road to his home was constructed by the natives, who, to show their love for him, named it, “The Road of the Loving Heart." He died in Samoa and lies buried on the top of a mountain in the village of Apia. No one who reads his books, Treasure Island, for example, would think that the author had to struggle against illness every day for fourteen years. His writings are full of courage and joyousness. See also:

Halleck's New English Literature, pp. 516-523, 583.

Balfour's The Life of Robert Louis Stevenson.

ONE day there was a traveler in the woods in California, in the dry season, when the trades were blowing strong. He had ridden a long way, and he was tired and hungry, and dismounted from his horse to smoke a pipe. But when he felt in his pocket, he found but two matches. He struck the first, and it would not light.

"Here is a pretty state of things," said the traveler. "Dying for a smoke; only one match left; and that certain to miss fire! Was there ever a creature so unfortunate? And yet," thought the traveler, "suppose I light this match, and smoke my pipe, and shake out the dottle here in the grass -the grass might catch on fire, for it is dry like tinder; and while I snatch out the flames in front, they might evade

1 From Fables (1887).

and run behind me, and seize upon yon bush of poison oak; before I could reach it, that would have blazed up; over the bush I see a pine tree hung with moss; that too would fly in fire upon the instant to its topmost bough; and the flame of that long torch - how would the trade wind take and brandish that through the inflammable forest! I hear this dell roar in a moment with the joint voice of wind and fire, I see myself gallop for my soul, and the flying conflagration chase and outflank me through the hills; I see this pleasant forest burn for days, and the cattle roasted, and the springs dried up, and the farmer ruined, and his children cast upon the world. What a world hangs upon this moment!"

With that he struck the match, and it missed fire. "Thank God," said the traveler, and put his pipe in his pocket.

What is the situation at the opening of this story? Could a single match have started all the trouble that the traveler feared? What was certain to result if he did not try to strike the match? Was he too much exercised over the matter?

SUGGESTIONS FOR ORAL AND WRITTEN ENGLISH

THEME SUBJECTS

The Two Matches is a fable. Look up "fable" in a dictionary and see if you can understand why this is one. Read one of Æsop's fables, and tell it to the class. Explain the difference between a fable and other short stories. Write a fable on a subject of your own selection, or on one of these:

No Cloud Without a Silver Lining.

All is Not Gold That Glisters.
Nothing Venture, Nothing Have.

A Stitch in Time Saves Nine.

H. & B. READINGS-8