Definitions.—­Em-u-la’tion, rivalry, contest. 1.  Com-pe-ti’tion, rivalry. 2.  Ex-celled’, surpassed, exceeded in good qualities.  Ri’vals, those who pursue the same thing. 3.  An’ec-dote, a short story. 8.  Tu-i’tion, payment for teaching.

Exercises.—­What is the subject of this lesson?  What do you mean by emulation?  What is envy?  What story is told about the two rivals?  Is it right to envy any person?

XLIX.  THE SANDPIPER. (134) By CELIA THAXTER.

1.  Across the lonely beach we flit,
     One little sandpiper and I,
   And fast I gather, bit by bit,
     The scattered driftwood, bleached and dry. 
   The wild waves reach their hands for it,
     The wild wind raves, the tide runs high,
   As up and down the beach we flit,
     One little sandpiper and I.

2.  Above our heads the sullen clouds
     Scud, black and swift, across the sky;
   Like silent ghosts in misty shrouds
     Stand out the white lighthouses high. 
   Almost as far as eye can reach
     I see the close-reefed vessels fly,
   As fast we flit across the beach,
     One little sandpiper and I.

3.  I watch him as he skims along,
     Uttering his sweet and mournful cry;
   He starts not at my fitful song,
     Nor flash of fluttering drapery. 
   He has no thought of any wrong,
     He scans me with a fearless eye;
   Stanch friends are we, well-tried and strong,
     The little sandpiper and I.

4.  Comrade, where wilt thou be to-night,
     When the loosed storm breaks furiously? 
   My driftwood fire will burn so bright! 
     To what warm shelter canst thou fly? 
   I do not fear for thee, though wroth
     The tempest rushes through the sky;
   For are we not God’s children both,
     Thou, little sandpiper, and I?

Definitions.—­l.  Sand’pi-per, a bird of the snipe family, found along the seacoast.  Drift’wood. wood tossed on shore by the waves.  Bleached, whitened.  Tide, the regular rise and fall of the ocean which occurs twice in a little over twenty-four hours. 2.  Scud, fly hastily.  Shrouds, Winding sheets, dresses of the dead.  Close’reefed, with sails contracted as much as possible. 3.  Fit’ful, irregularly variable.  Draper-y, garments.  Scans, looks at care-fully.  Stanch, firm. 4.  Wroth, angry.

L. THE RIGHT WAY. (136)

Adapted from a story by Frank H. Stockton.  He was born at Philadelphia, April 5, 1834, and when quite a young boy used to write stories for his own pleasure.  He was once a designer and engraver on wood, and afterwards an editor; but he now devotes himself entirely to writing, not only for young but also for grown people.

1.  “O Andy!” said little Jenny Murdock, “I’m so glad you came along this way.  I can’t get over.”