IX.  Roland.  Adapted from “Stories of Charlemagne and the Peers of
France,” by A. J. Church

X. King Alfred. Adapted from “Old English History,” by E. A.
Freeman

XI.  The Cid.  Adapted from “Chronicle of the Cid,” from the Spanish,
by Robert Southey

XII.  Robin hood.  Adapted from “Book of Romance,” edited by Andrew
Lang; including a version of the popular ballad,
“Robin Hood and the Butcher”

XIII.  Richard the lion-hearted. Adapted from “The Crusaders,” by A.
J. Church

XIV.  Saint Louis.  Adapted from “The Crusaders,” by A. J. Church

XV.  William tell.  Adapted from “Stories from History,” by Agnes
Strickland

XVI.  Robert Bruce.  Adapted from “Tales of a Grandfather from
Scottish History,” by Sir Walter Scott

XVII.  George Washington.  Adapted from “Recollections and Private
Memoirs of Washington,” by G. W. Parke Custis

XVIII.  Robert E. Lee.  From “Letters and Recollections of General
                      Lee,” by Captain Robert E. Lee

XIX.  Abraham:  Lincoln.  Adapted from “The True Story of Abraham
Lincoln,” by Elbridge S. Brooks

XX.  Father Damien.  Adapted from “Father Damien:  A Journey from
Cashmere to His Home in Hawaii,” by Edward
Clifford

INTRODUCTION TO “HEROES EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW”

If there had been no real heroes there would have been created imaginary ones, for men cannot live without them.  The hero is just as necessary as the farmer, the sailor, the carpenter and the doctor; society could not get on without him.  There have been a great many different kinds of heroes, for in every age and among every people the hero has stood for the qualities that were most admired and sought after by the bravest and best; and all ages and peoples have imagined or produced heroes as inevitably as they have made ploughs for turning the soil or ships for getting through the water or weapons with which to fight their enemies.  To be some kind of a hero has been the ambition of spirited boys from the beginning of history; and if you want to know what the men and women of a country care for most, you must study their heroes.  To the boy the hero stands for the highest success:  to the grown man and woman he stands for the deepest and richest life.

Men have always worked with their hands, but they have never been content with that kind of work; they have looked up from the fields and watched the sun and stars; they have cut wood for their fires in the forest, but they have noticed the life which goes on among the trees and they have heard the mysterious sounds which often fill the air in the remotest places.  From the beginning men have not only used their hands but their intellect and their imagination; they have had to work or starve, but they have seen the world, thought about it and dreamed about it.