grasp. Again and again the ant descended and made a fresh start, holding the grain with its strong jaws and tugging it upward as best it could.

6. Timur counted the times that the ant thus returned for its load. He counted sixty-nine, and expected presently to say, "Seventy!"

7. But the seventieth time the ant, having got a better hold of the corn, and being more determined than ever by reason of its many failures, actually succeeded in its effort. The corn was carried successfully to the ant's home in the wall, and fell down

no more.

8. "Wonderful little creature!" thought Timur, "not to be discouraged though the task was so difficult. Neither will I be discouraged. I will see no obstacle and fear no danger. I will conquer, whatever the odds may be against me!"

9. And he went forth so full of courage that all gave way before him. In time he vanquished all

his enemies.

- Retold.

There is no American boy, however poor, however humble, orphan though he may be, that, if he have a clear head, a true heart, a strong arm, may not rise through all the grades of society and become the crown, the glory, the pillar of the state.

-JAMES A. GARFIELD.

LXVIII. THE PLANTING OF THE

I.

2.

3.

APPLE TREE

Come, let us plant the apple tree!
Cleave the tough greensward with the spade;
Wide let its hollow bed be made;
There gently lay the roots, and there
Sift the dark mold with kindly care,
And press it o'er them tenderly,
As round the sleeping infant's feet
We softly fold the cradle sheet;
So plant we the apple tree.

What plant we in this apple tree?
Buds, which the breath of summer days

Shall lengthen into leafy sprays;

Boughs, where the thrush, with crimson breast,

Shall haunt and sing and hide her nest;

We plant upon the sunny lea

A shadow for the noontide hour,
A shelter from the summer shower,

When we plant the apple tree.

What plant we in this apple tree?
Sweets for a hundred flowery springs
To load the May wind's restless wings,
When from the orchard row he pours
Its fragrance through our open doors;

4.

5.

6.

A world of blossoms for the bee,
Flowers for the sick girl's silent room,
For the glad infant sprigs of bloom,
We plant with the apple tree.

What plant we in this apple tree?
Fruits that shall swell in sunny June,
And redden in the August noon,
And drop when the gentle airs come by,
That fan the blue September sky,

While children come, with cries of glee,
And seek them where the fragrant grass
Betrays their bed to those who pass
At the foot of the apple tree.

And when above this apple tree, The winter stars are quivering bright, And winds go howling through the night, Girls, whose young eyes o'erflow with mirth, Shall peel its fruit by cottage hearth;

And guests in prouder homes shall see, Heaped with the grape of Cintra's vine, And golden orange of the line,

The fruit of the apple tree.

The fruitage of this apple tree Winds and our flag of stripe and star Shall bear to coasts that lie afar,

7.

8.

Where men shall wonder at the view
And ask in what fair groves they grew;
And sojourners beyond the sea
Shall think of childhood's careless day,
And long, long hours of summer play,
In the shade of the apple tree.

Each year shall give this apple tree
A broader flush of roseate bloom,
A deeper maze of verdurous gloom,
And loosen, when the frost clouds lower,
The crisp brown leaves in thicker shower.
The years shall come and pass, but we
Shall hear no longer, where we lie,
The summer's song, the autumn's sigh,
In the boughs of the apple tree.

And time shall waste this apple tree.
Oh! when its aged branches throw
Their shadows on the world below,
Shall fraud and force and iron will
Oppress the weak and helpless still?

What shall the task of mercy be,
Amid the toils, the strifes, the tears
Of those who live when length of years
Is wasting this apple tree?

9.

Who planted this old apple tree?"
The children of that distant day