It is to this last class that most of the fifty stories contained in the present volume belong.  As a matter of course, some of these stories are better known, and therefore more famous, than others.  Some have a slight historical value; some are useful as giving point to certain great moral truths; others are products solely of the fancy, and are intended only to amuse.  Some are derived from very ancient sources, and are current in the literature of many lands; some have come to us through the ballads and folk tales of the English people; a few are of quite recent origin; nearly all are the subjects of frequent allusions in poetry and prose and in the conversation of educated people.  Care has been taken to exclude everything that is not strictly within the limits of probability; hence there is here no trespassing upon the domain of the fairy tale, the fable, or the myth.

That children naturally take a deep interest in such stories, no person can deny; that the reading of them will not only give pleasure, but will help to lay the foundation for broader literary studies, can scarcely be doubted.  It is believed, therefore, that the present collection will be found to possess an educative value which will commend it as a supplementary reader in the middle primary grades at school.  It is also hoped that the book will prove so attractive that it will be in demand out of school as well as in.

Acknowledgments are due to Mrs. Charles A. Lane, by whom eight or ten of the stories were suggested.

FIFTY FAMOUS STORIES RETOLD.

King Alfred and the cakes.

[Illustration:]

Many years ago there lived in Eng-land a wise and good king whose name was Al-fred.  No other man ever did so much for his country as he; and people now, all over the world, speak of him as Alfred the Great.

In those days a king did not have a very easy life.  There was war almost all the time, and no one else could lead his army into battle so well as he.  And so, between ruling and fighting, he had a busy time of it indeed.

A fierce, rude people, called the Danes, had come from over the sea, and were fighting the Eng-lish.  There were so many of them, and they were so bold and strong, that for a long time they gained every battle.  If they kept on, they would soon be the masters of the whole country.

At last, after a great battle, the English army was broken up and scat-tered.  Every man had to save himself in the best way he could.  King Alfred fled alone, in great haste, through the woods and swamps.

Late in the day the king came to the hut of a wood-cut-ter.  He was very tired and hungry, and he begged the wood-cut-ter’s wife to give him something to eat and a place to sleep in her hut.

The wom-an was baking some cakes upon the hearth, and she looked with pity upon the poor, ragged fellow who seemed so hungry.  She had no thought that he was the king.