XLII.-SWIMMING FOR LIFE.

fac-ul-ty, ability; Fähigkeit.

as-sault', attack; Angriff.

in'-ci-dent, a fact; Vorfall.

shark, a large fish; Haifisch.

in-con-sid'-er-ate, incautious; unbedachtsam.

loath, unwilling; unwillig.

ri'-val-ry, competition; Wetteifer.

strain, to exert to the utmost; anspannen.
in-cen'-tive, spur; encouragement; Anreizung.

re-lin'-quish, to give up; aufgeben.

lag'-gard, a loiterer; Nachzügler.

com-pet'-i-tor, one who strives for a thing with another; Mitbewerber.

com-pre-hend', to understand; einsehen.

im'-mi-nent, threatening; drohend.

1. Presence of mind is the power of maintaining one's faculty of reason and calculation in the midst of danger, and against the assaults of fear and surprise.

2. I will relate an incident illustrative of the advantage of presence of mind in times of peril. A wealthy gentleman, of the name of Manning, was at a port in the West Indies. With two friends, he went down to the beach to bathe. While he remained upon the shore, and his companions were sporting in the waves at a considerable distance, he espied an enormous shark making straight for the unconscious swimmers.

3. The first impulse of a hasty and inconsiderate person would have been to alarm the bathers by a loud outcry of danger. But Manning knew that such a course would, by frightening them, deprive them of all power of escape. He, therefore, preserved his unconcerned appearance, and playfully shouted to them, holding up his watch, "Now for a swimming match! This watch shall be awarded to him who first touches the shore."

4. Nothing loath to try their powers of speed, the two swimmers struck out for the shore with all the swiftness of which they were capable. All this while the shark had been silently nearing his prey; and as they turned for the shore, he shot through the waves with increased velocity. The race for life, unconsciously on the part of the pursued, was now fairly begun. The swimmers, in their friendly rivalry, strained every nerve; but the shark gained rapidly upon them.

5. Manning, though inwardly tortured with anxiety, still preserved his calm and smiling appearance, as he continued to utter incentives to increase the speed of his unfortunate friends. "Look at it, gentlemen!" he exclaimed; "a watch that cost me a hundred pounds in London. Think of the glory of winning it! Faster! faster! Don't give up!"

6. They were still a long way from the shore, when one of them showed some signs of fatigue, and was apparently about to relinquish the race. That was a moment of agony to Manning. "What, Farnum!" he exclaimed to this friend, "do you grow a laggard so soon? Fie, man! fie! A few more good strokes, and you will be the conqueror! Bravo! That's it! that's it!"

7. The tired competitor, thus encouraged, struck out his arms with new vigor. On came the shark behind the still unconscious swimmers, nearer and nearer, his enormous fins flashing in the sunlight. The swimmers approached the shore; the shark was so near them that he turned upon his side to make the final plunge at them, and begin the work of death.

8. At this moment, Manning rushed into the water with his cane, by which he frightened the shark, and then dragging his amazed and exhausted friends upon the bank, pointed to the baffled sea-monster, now angrily lashing the waves with his fins.

9. Then the swimmers comprehended the imminent

danger from which they had escaped, and one of them fell fainting to the earth. They never forgot the unconscious match with the shark, nor the admirable presence of mind of their friend Manning, to which they were indebted for their lives.

Selected.

XLIII. THE BLUEBIRD.

so'-cia-ble, companionable; gesellig.
dis-po-si'-tion, inclination; Hang; Neigung.
an'-ces-tor, forefather; Vorfahre.
fa-mil-iar'-i-ty, intimacy; Vertraulichkeit.
plaint ́-ive, sad; klagend.

de-plore', to lament; beklagen.

dev-as-ta'-tion, waste; Verwüstung.

1. The pleasing manners and sociable disposition of this little bird entitle him to particular notice. As one of the first messengers of spring, bringing the charming tidings to our very doors, he bears his own recommendation always along with him, and meets with a hearty welcome from every body.

2. Though generally accounted a bird of passage, yet so early as the middle of February, if the weather be mild, he usually makes his appearance about his old haunts, the barn, orchard, and fence posts. Storms and deep snows sometimes succeeding, he disappears for a time, but about the middle of March is again seen, accompanied by his mate, visiting the box in the garden, or the hole in the old apple tree, the cradle of some generations of his ancestors.

3. The usual spring and summer song of the bluebird is a soft, agreeable, and oft-repeated warble, uttered with open, quivering wings, and is extremely pleasing. In his motions and general character he has great resemblance to the robin redbreast of Britain; and had he the brown olive of that bird, instead of his own blue, he could hardly be distinguished from him. Like him, he is known to almost

every child, and shows as much confidence in man by associating with him in summer, as the other by his familiarity in winter.

4. He is also of a mild and pleasing disposition, seldom fighting or quarreling with other birds. His society is courted by the inhabitants of the country, and few farmers neglect to provide for him, in some suitable place, a snug little summer house, ready fitted and rent free. For this he more than sufficiently repays them by the cheerfulness of his song, and the multitude of injurious insects which he daily destroys. Towards fall, that is, in the month of October, his song changes to a single plaintive note, as he passes over the many-colored woods; and its melancholy air recalls to our minds the approaching decay of the face of nature.

5. Even after the trees are stripped of their leaves, he still lingers over his native fields, as if loath to leave them. About the middle or end of November, few or none of them are seen; but with every return of mild and open weather, we hear his plaintive note amid the fields, or in the air, seeming to deplore the devastations of winter. Indeed, he appears scarcely ever to forsake us, but to follow fair weather through all its journeyings till the return of spring.

Alexander Wilson.

XLIV. EXPLOSION IN A COAL-MINE.

pit'-men, those who work in a pit; Grubenleute.

shaft, an opening leading to a mine; Schacht.

trap'-per, one who has to open and close a trap-door in a mine; Fallthürhüter im Bergwerk.

crush, ruin; Einsturz.

in-volve', to contain; in sich schließen.

husk'-y, hoarse; heiser.

suf'-fo-cate, to choke; ersticken.

gal'-ler-y, a passage in a coal-mine; Minengang.

1. One morning, while the pitmen were at work in a coal-mine, they heard a noise louder than thunder. In a moment every lamp was out, and men and boys threw down their tools and ran.

2. It is Tuesday morning. The men reach the bottom of the shaft, and count their number. Five are missing, four men and one little trapper, Robert Lester. People above hear the noise, and rush to the pit's mouth. The workmen are taken up. Oh, the agony of the wives and mothers of those who are left behind!

3. Brave men go back to their rescue. They light their lamps, and reach the crush. There is nothing but a heap of ruins. They shout, but there is no answer. Up go pickaxes and shovels to clear the way. It is great labor, and it involves great risk. Men flock from all quarters to offer their services. How they work!

4. Towards night they hear something. It is not a voice, but a tapping. It can just be heard. Clink, clink, clink, clink, clink! five times, and then it stopped. Clink, clink, five times again, and then it stopped. Five more, and then a stop.

5. What does it mean? One man guessed. There were five missing, and the five clinks showed that all the five were alive, waiting for deliverance. A shout of joy went

up in and above the pit.

6. How does it fare with the poor prisoners? They were frightened like the rest by that sudden and awful noise. Little Robert left his door, and ran to the men, who well knew what it meant. Waiting till everything was quiet, they went forward to examine the passage-way Robert had left. It was blocked up. They tried another; that also was blocked up. Oh, fearful thought, they were buried alive!

7. The men went back to the boy. "I want to go home; please, do let me go home," said little Robert.