The Beacon Second Reader

Once upon a time a good and wise king ruled in the city of Atri.

He wished all his people to be happy.

In order that justice might be done to every one, he ordered a great bell to be hung in a tower.

"I have placed the bell in the center of my city," said the king, "so that it will be near all the people. The rope I have made long, so that even a little child can reach it."

Then the king gave out this order:

"If there be any one among my people who feels that he has not been justly treated, let him ring this bell.

Then, whether he be old or young, rich or poor, his story shall be heard."

The bell of justice had hung in its place for many years.

Many times it had been rung by the poor and needy, and justice had been done.

At length the old rope became worn with use and age.

When it was taken down, another rope, long enough and strong enough, could not be found. So the king had to send away for one.

So one of the men cut a long grapevine and fastened it to the great bell.

It was in the springtime, and green shoots and leaves hung from the grapevine rope.

Near Atri, there lived a rich old soldier.

This soldier owned a horse that had been with him through many battles.

The horse had grown old and lame, and was no longer able to work.

So his cruel master turned him out into the streets to get his living as best he could.

"If you cannot find enough to eat, then you may die," said the miser; "you are of no use to me."

The old horse went limping along; he grew thinner and thinner.

At length he limped up to the tower where the bell of justice hung.

Thinking they were good to eat, he gave a pull at the vine.

"Ding-dong! ding-dong!" said the great bell. The people came running from all sides.

"Who is calling for justice?" they cried.

There stood the old horse, chewing on the grapevine.

"Ding-dong! ding-dong!" rang the great bell.

"Whose horse is this?" asked the judges, as they came running up.

Then the story of the old horse was told.

The judges sent for his cruel master.

They ordered that he should build a warm barn, and that the faithful horse should have the best of hay and grain as long as he lived.

The people shouted for joy at this act of justice, but the miser hung his head in shame and led the old horse away.

German Folk Tale

HUGH MILLER

Robert Bruce, King of Scotland, was hiding in a hut in the forest. His enemies were seeking him far and wide.

Six times he had met them in battle, and six times he had failed. Hope and courage were gone.

Full of sorrow, he lay stretched on a pile of straw in the poor woodchopper's hut. While he lay thinking, he noticed a spider spinning her web.

The spider was trying to spin a thread from one beam of the cottage to another. It was a long way between the beams, and Bruce saw how hard a thing it was for her to do.

"She can never do it," thought the king.

The little spider tried it once and failed She tried it twice and failed. The king counted each time. At length she had tried it six times and had failed each time.

"She is like me," thought the king. "I have tried six battles and failed. She has tried six times to reach the beam and failed."

Then starting up from the straw, he cried, "I will hang my fate upon that little spider.

The spider tried the seventh time, letting herself down upon her slender thread. She swung out bravely.

"Look! look!" shouted the king. "She has reached it. The thread hangs between the two beams. If the spider can do it, I can do it."

Bruce got up from the straw with new strength and sent his men from village to village, calling the people to arms.

The brave soldiers answered his call and came trooping in.

At length his army was ready to fight, and when the king led them in a great battle against the enemy, this time, like the spider, Bruce won.

Scottish Tradition

ANONYMOUS

Many years ago two boys lived on a farm in New England.

It was so long ago that there were few white people in this country.

The farms were scattered, and around them were great forests.

The houses were made of logs, with strong, heavy doors.

Far away in the woods lived many Indians.

They even dared to attack, and often burned, the scattered log cabins.

The white prisoners would be taken to the Indian villages and would be held there as captives.

One cold winter morning the two brothers, John and William, were going skating on the river.

In order to reach the river, they had to pass through some woods.

John, the older brother, started first.

He threw his skates over his back and ran off whistling toward the river.

William, the younger brother, had to stay behind to fill with wood the huge box beside the fireplace.

Indians had not been seen near the farm for many years, so John was not in the least afraid.

Before John could run he was caught, and his hands were tied behind his back.

Then they heard William shout as he ran down the path after his brother.

John knew that the Indians might kill him if he warned his brother.

But he was brave, and before they could stop him, he cried out, "Indians! Indians!"

The Indians were angry and struck at John with their tomahawks.

But he was not afraid; he faced the Indians bravely.

William heard the shout of warning, and ran like a deer back to the log cabin.

The heavy door was shut with a slam, and John's father, with his rifle, waited for the Indian attack.

Dragging John after them, they started up the river bank toward their Indian town, many, many miles away.

All day long they traveled, and at night they built a small fire.

Over this fire they roasted a partridge which one of them had shot. John was given his share of the bird and a handful of parched Indian corn.

The Indians looked at John's skates, which still hung over his shoulder.

They did not know what skates were. They thought they must be some of the white man's magic.

On and on they traveled for many days, following an old Indian path.

All through the long march John still carried his skates.

At length they came to the Indian village.

The Indian houses were long huts covered with strips of birch bark.

Four or five families lived in each of these houses.

John was given to an Indian woman who had lost her own boy the year before.

John's Indian mother was good to him, and treated him as if he were her own son.

One time the Indian boys thought they would test John's courage, so they formed in two lines, while each boy held a stout stick.

Then they ordered John to run down between the two long lines.

They had their sticks all ready to beat him.

They thought John would be afraid and so would do as they told him.

But John was a strong lad, and jumping upon the first Indian boy, he took his stick away from him.

Armed with this stick, John struck right and left at the heads of the boys until they were all glad to run away.

The Indian men liked to see John's courage, and laughed long and loud when the Indian boys ran away.

After this the boys were glad to have John play with them.

They swam in the river and played games of tag, hide and seek, and ball.

In the spring the Indian women planted the yellow corn.

When the corn was up, the squaws went into the fields to hoe out the weeds. For a hoe they used a flat piece of stone tied to a wooden handle.

As John was a white boy the squaws tried to make him help hoe the corn.

When John took the hoe, he hoed up the corn and left the weeds.

The angry squaws made signs to him that he must not do so.

Then John threw the hoe far from him.

"Hoeing is fit for squaws, not for warriors," he shouted. He had learned this from the Indian boys.

The old men were pleased. They thought John would make a fine warrior.

John had lived with the Indians a year.

He had learned to speak their tongue, but they did not trust him.

Some of them were always with him, for they were afraid he would run away.

All this time John had kept his skates carefully hidden.

One day the ice froze clear and smooth. John brought his skates down to the river bank.

Many of the Indians followed to see what he was going to do.

They crowded around him on the ice.

John thought he would play a trick on them.

He strapped the skates upon the feet of an Indian boy.

The boy tried to stand up, but his feet slipped out from under him, and down he bumped upon the ice.

They thought it was a great joke.

Each of them in turn tried on the skates.

How they sprawled and fell upon the ice!

What fun it was for the other Indians!

When they were tired of the sport they held out the skates to John and asked him to put them on.

John strapped on the skates with great care. He was a good skater, but he made believe that he could not skate at all.

He fell down and bumped his head.

He tripped over his toes and made great fun for the Indians.

They did not see that each time he fell he was a little farther out on the ice.

All at once John jumped up.

Away he flew, skating for his life.

Down the river he went, swift as a bird.

The Indians rushed after him, but he had too great a start.

The Indians were swift runners, but John, on his skates, was swifter still.

He knew that the river must flow toward the ocean, and that near the ocean lived the white people.

On and on he skated.

Two days later he saw the smoke of a white man's cabin and knew that he was safe.

John soon found his father and mother.

How glad they were to see him!

ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON

Dick Whittington was a poor little boy who lived in the country.

His father and mother were both dead.

Poor little Dick was always willing to work, but sometimes there was no work for him to do, so he often had nothing to eat.

Now Dick was a bright boy.

He had heard many times about the great city of London.

Men said that in this great city the people were rich.

Dick had even heard that the streets were paved with gold.

"How I should like to visit that great city," thought Dick, "for I could pick up gold from the streets!"

Dick had earned a little money, so one day he set out to walk to London.

He walked and walked and walked, but London was a long way from his home.

At last a man with a wagon came along. He was a kind man, and he gave Dick a ride.

"Where are you going?" asked Dick.

"I'm going to London," said the man.

"You are very good to give me a ride. I am going there, too," said Dick.

That night Dick slept in a barn with the horses.

The next morning he looked for the golden stones in the streets.

He looked and looked, but he could find only dust and dirt.

There were many, many people in London, and Dick thought that he could soon find something to do.

He wandered around the streets, seeking for work.

He asked many people, but no one wanted the poor little country boy.

As Dick had no money for food, he soon became very, very hungry.

At last he grew so weak that he fell down before the door of a great house.

Here the cook found him and began to beat him with a stick.

"Run away, you lazy boy!" she cried.

Just then the owner of the house, Mr. Fitzwarren, came up. He took pity on the poor boy and ordered the cook to give him some food.

Then he turned to Dick and said:

"If you wish to work, you may help the cook in the kitchen. You will find a bed in the attic."

Dick thanked Mr. Fitzwarren again and again for his kindness.

The cook was very cross to Dick and whipped him almost every day.

His bed in the attic was only a pile of old rags.

He soon found that there were many rats and mice in the attic.

They ran over his bed and made so much noise every night that he could not sleep.

"I wish I had a cat," thought Dick, "for she could eat up these rats and mice."

One day Dick earned a penny by blacking a man's shoes.

"I will try to buy a cat with this penny," thought Dick.

So he started out and soon met a woman with a large cat.

"Will you sell me that cat?" said Dick. "I will give you this penny for her."

"You are a good boy," said the woman, "and you may have the cat for a penny, for I know you will treat her kindly."

That night Dick's bed was free from rats, and Miss Puss had a good supper.

Dick began to love his cat dearly.

Now Mr. Fitzwarren had many ships which sailed to distant lands.

When a ship sailed Mr. Fitzwarren let every one in his house send something on it.

The things were sold, and when the ship came back, each person had the money for what he had sent.

One of the ships was ready to sail.

Every one in the house except Dick had sent something.

"What is Dick going to send in the ship?" said Mr. Fitzwarren.

"Oh, that boy has nothing to send," said the cross cook.

"It is true," said poor Dick; "I have nothing but my dear cat."

"Well, then you must send your cat," said Mr. Fitzwarren.

How lonely poor Dick was without Puss!

The cook made fun of him for sending a cat on the ship.

At last Dick became so unhappy that he made up his mind to run away.

He started early in the morning, before any one in the house was up.

He had gone but a short way when he heard the sound of the six great bells of Bow.

As they rang, "Ding-dong, ding-dong!" they seemed to say:

So he ran back to the house of Mr. Fitzwarren.

"I hope they have not missed me," said Dick, as he gently opened the door and stole softly in.

DICK WHITTINGTON—III

Dick's cat was taken across the ocean. The ship sailed and sailed, until at last it came to a distant country.

Now the king and queen of this country were very rich. When the captain was asked to show his goods before them he was very glad indeed to do so.

The king and queen first gave the captain a great feast.

Gold and silver dishes filled with food were brought in.

When these dishes were placed upon the table an army of rats came out.

There were white rats, and black rats, and brown rats, and big rats, and little rats.

At once they fell upon the food and ate it nearly all up.

"Why do you let the rats do this?" asked the captain.

Then the captain thought of Dick Whittington's cat.

"I have an animal which will rid you of them," said the captain.

"Pray bring it in at once," said the queen.

What fun Dick's cat had killing the rats and mice in the king's palace!

"We must buy that little animal," said the queen. "I do not care how much she may cost."

The captain could hardly carry all the jewels and gold that the king gave him for the cat.

Then the ship with Dick's money came back to London, and the captain told the story to Mr. Fitzwarren.

"We must take these jewels and all this gold at once to Mr. Whittington," said the honest man. "He is no longer a poor boy, for this has made him rich."

They found Dick in the kitchen blacking the stove.

"Come with me at once into the parlor," said Mr. Fitzwarren.

Then the bags of gold and jewels were piled at Dick's feet.

"See what your cat has brought you," said Mr. Fitzwarren. "You are now a rich man and may yet be Lord Mayor of London."

And it is true that after Dick Whittington became a man, he was made Lord Mayor of London.

English Folk Tale

ELIZA LEE FOLLEN

A long time ago there lived a king and queen who were very, very sad because they had no children.

One day, when the queen was resting near a spring, a frog crept out of the water and said to her:

What the frog said came true.

The queen had a little child who was so beautiful that the king gave a party in her honor.

He wished to invite all the wise women in the land, for these wise women could grant fairy gifts to his little child.

There were thirteen of them, but only twelve were invited, as the king had only twelve golden plates.

After the dinner was over, the wise women in turn arose from the table and named their fairy gifts to the little princess.

The first gave to her goodness; the second, beauty; the third, riches; and so on, up to the last.

Before the twelfth wise woman could speak, in walked the thirteenth.

This woman was in a great rage because she had not been invited.

At these words every one turned pale with fright.

The twelfth wise woman, who had not yet spoken, now came up and said:

"I could not stop this woman's evil words, I can only make them less harsh.

The king's child shall not die, but a deep sleep shall fall upon her, in which she shall stay one hundred years."

BRIAR ROSE—II

The little princess was so beautiful, so kind; and so good that no one who knew her could help loving her.

As she grew older the king and queen began to feel very unhappy, for they could not help thinking of what was to happen to their dear little daughter.

Now, as it happened, on the very day that the princess was fifteen years old the king and queen were away from home.

The princess was quite alone in the castle, and she rain about over the palace, looking in at rooms and halls, just as her fancy led her.

At last she came to an old tower at the top of a winding stair.

She saw a little door.

In the lock was a rusty key.

When she turned it, the door flew open.

There, in a small room, sat an old woman with her spindle, spinning flax.

"Good Morning," said the princess. "Do tell me what that funny thing is that jumps about so."

And then she held out her hand to take the spindle.

It came about just as the fairy had foretold.

At once she fell upon a bed which was near, and lay in a deep sleep as if dead.

This sleep came not only upon the princess, but spread over the whole castle.

The king and queen, who had just come home, fell asleep, and all their lords and ladies with them.

The horses went to sleep in the stable; the dogs in the yard; the doves on the roof; the flies on the wall; yes, even the fire that burned in the fireplace grew still and slept.

The meat stopped roasting before the fire.

The cook in the kitchen was just going to box the ears of the kitchen boy, but her hand dropped and she sank to sleep.

Outside the castle the wind was still, and upon the trees not a leaf stirred.

In a short time there sprung up around the castle a hedge of thorn bushes.

BRIAR ROSE—III

As years went by the story of the sleeping beauty was told all over the kingdom.

Many kings' sons came and tried to get through the hedge of thorns, but this they could not do.

The sharp thorns seemed to have hands which held the young men fast.

After many, many years a prince came from a far-off kingdom.

He heard the story of the castle and its sleeping beauty.

He knew what danger lay in the great hedge of thorn bushes.

But the young prince was brave, and he was not to be turned back.

It happened that the hundred years of the magic spell had just ended.

The day had come when the sleeping princess was to wake up again.

As the prince came to the hedge of thorn bushes, it was in full bloom and covered with beautiful red flowers. There, through the thorn bushes, lay a wide road.

Soon the prince came to the gates of the castle.

He found the horses and dogs lying asleep on the ground.

The doves sat on the roof with their heads under their wings.

He went into the castle.

Even the flies on the wall still slept.

Near the throne lay the king and queen, while all around were the sleeping lords and ladies.

The whole castle was so still that he could hear his heart beat.

The prince went on from room to room until he came to the old tower.

Going up the winding stair he saw the little door.

A rusty key was in the lock, and the door was half open.

There before him lay the sleeping princess.

As he did so the sleeping beauty opened her eyes. With her the whole castle awoke.

The king waked up, and the queen, and all the lords and ladies.

The horses in the stable stood up and shook themselves.

The dogs jumped about and wagged their tails.

The doves on the roof lifted their heads and flew into the fields.

The flies on the wall began to buzz.

The fire in the kitchen began to burn.

The meat began to roast.

The cook boxed the ears of the kitchen boy, so that he ran off crying.

The hedge of thorn bushes around the castle dried up and blew away.

Then the prince married the beautiful princess, and they lived happily ever after.

WILLIAM AND JACOB GRIMM

MRS. C.F. ALEXANDER

Long years ago many cities had great stone walls around them.

The city of Andernach had around it one of these great walls.

There was only one gateway into the city, and this gateway was guarded by strong iron doors.

Just behind the doors lived a gatekeeper, who did nothing but open and shut the gates.

He watched them well.

No one could come in who was not friendly to the city.

The gates were not opened very often. Some days they were not opened at all. So the gatekeeper had much spare time.

"I am very fond of honey," thought he. "I think I will buy a few hives of bees. I can place the hives on the top of the wall. There nobody will trouble them."

Soon there were rows of beehives on the top of the wall over the gate.

The people of Lintz were the enemies of the people of Andernach.

They were always watching each other, and fought when they could get a chance.

Now the people of Lintz planned to attack and capture the city of Andernach.

They called their wisest men together to see how the attack should be made.

Many plans were talked over.

At length an old man said, "Men of Lintz, you know that the men of Andernach are lazy. They like to lie late in their beds. If we attack the city at sunrise, we shall capture it before they can get their eyes open."

This plan seemed wise to the people of Lintz, and in army was soon ready to march against the city of Andernach.

One dark night the army crept softly toward the walls of the sleeping city.

The only people who rose early in Andernach were the bakers. They had to have fresh bread ready for breakfast.

After their work was done the bakers used to have a morning nap, but the baker boys had to stay awake and watch the loaves of bread.

Two of these boys, named Hans and Fritz, were fast friends and were always together.

One morning, just at sunrise, Hans said to Fritz, "Let us creep upon the wall over the gatekeeper's house. I think we can find some honey. The old gatekeeper is asleep; he will not hear us."

The two boys crept softly up the stairs.

They soon reached the top of the wall.

"Did you hear that noise?" whispered Fritz.

"Yes, it must be the old gatekeeper," said Hans, in a low voice.

The two boys crawled to the edge of the wall and carefully looked over.

There stood the army of Lintz.

A ladder was placed against the wall.

The soldiers would soon mount over the gate into the city.

What was to be done?

There was no time to wake the people.

What could two boys do against an army?

In an instant Fritz thought of the beehives.

Ah, the bees were awake if the people were not!

Each boy seized a hive and bore it carefully to the edge of the wall.

Then with a strong push down tumbled hives, honey, and bees upon the heads of the enemy.

Such buzzing, such stinging, such shouting as arose!

The boys ran down the stairs to the city hall.

The old bell ringer was aroused by the cries.

Soon the wild clang of the bell awoke the people of Andernach.

Armed men ran to the city gate, but the bees had done their work well. There was no need for soldiers.

The army of Lintz was running away.

Over the great gate the people of Andernach placed a statue of the two baker boys whose quick wit had saved the city.

German Folk Tale