"Neither would I, " said Mabel, just as solemnly, and of course the little sisters echoed her words.
The fire was made, the billy boiled, and tea and egg sandwiches were eaten on the wooden steps, with the mountains rolling out before them. It was the sweetest breakfast they had ever known. They were all ravenously hungry. The billy-tea was as nice as billy-tea always is, the sandwiches were delicious, and, above all, it was five o"clock in the morning, and they were miles away from home, in the heart of the Blue Mountains.
Louise Mack, in Teens
Author.-Louise Mack is one of a clever Sydney family, sister of Amy Mack. Both of them have written charming stories of Australian life forchildren. Louise Mack"s published books include Teens and Girls Together.
General.-Govett"s Leap is a steep cliff in the Blue Mountains (look up on the map), fabled as the scene of a bushranger"s leap, but really called after the surveyor who discovered it. Who are the characters in this story? Recount the incidents. What do you like in the description of the sunrise? Tell of a sunrise you have seen. Pick out the metaphors- "a great red ship, " " spikes of light, " " a fall of jewels, " etc. What birds are mentioned? Would you like to read the whole book? Why?
Lesson 5
HAPPY CREEK
The little creek goes winding Through gums of white and blue;A silver arm, Around the farm
It flings, a lover true;
And softly, where the rushes lean, It sings (oh, sweet and low!)A lover"s song, And winds along,
How happy-lovers know ! The little creek goes singing By maidenhair and moss;Along its banks, In rosy ranks,
The wild flowers wave and toss;
And ever, where the ferns dip down, It sings (oh, sweet and low !)A lover"s song, And winds along,
How happy-lovers know!
The little creek takes colour
From summer skies above; Now blue, now gold,
Its waters fold
The clouds in closest love;
But loudly, when the thunders roll, It sings (nor sweet nor low)No lover"s song, But sweeps along,
How angry-lovers know!
The little creek for ever
Goes winding, winding down, Away, away,
By night, by day,
Where dark the ranges frown; But ever as it glides it sings, It sings (oh, sweet and low!)A lover"s song, And winds along,
How happy-lovers know !
John Bernabd O"Hara
Author.-John Bernard O"Hara was born at Bendigo in 1862, and he died at Melbourne in 1927. He was for many years principal of the South Melbourne College. His published books of verse include Songs of the South, Lyrics of Nature, A Book of Sonnets, Odes and Lyrics, Calypso, At Evendtide, Sonnets and Rondels, and Collected Poems.
General.-What a happy little poem! Do you know any creeks like this? Does the rhythm dance like rippling water? What word in each stanzagives the keynote? Name all the things the creek sees.
Lesson 6
THE WHITE SHIP
When all was ready, there came to the King, Fitz- Stephen, a sea-captain, and said :- "My liege, my father served your father all his life, upon the sea. He steered the ship with the golden boy upon the prow, in which your father sailed to conquer England. I beseech you to grant me the same office. I have a fair vessel in the harbour here, called the White Ship, manned by fifty sailors of renown. I pray you, sire, to let your servant have the honour of steering you in the White Ship to England. ""I am sorry, friend, " replied the King, "that my vessel is already chosen, and that I cannot, therefore, sail with the son of the man who served my father. But the Prince, with all his company, shall go along with you, in the fair White Ship, manned by the fifty sailors of renown. "An hour or two afterwards, the King set sail in the vessel he had chosen, accompanied by other vessels, and, sailing all night with a fair and gentle wind, arrived upon the coast of England in the morning. While it was yet night, the people in some of the ships heard a faint, wild cry come over the sea, and wondered what it was.
The Prince went aboard the White Ship with one hundredand forty youthful nobles like himself, among whom wereeighteen noble ladies of the highest rank. All this gay company, with their servants and the fifty sailors, made three hundred souls aboard the fair White Ship.
" Give three casks of wine, Fitz-Stephen, " said the Prince, "to the fifty sailors of renown. My father, the King, has sailed out of the harbour. What time is there to make merry here, and yet reach England with the rest? "" Prince, " said Fitz-Stephen, " before morning, my fifty and the White Ship shall overtake the swiftest vessel in your father"s fleet, if we sail at midnight. "Then the Prince commanded to make merry; and the sailors drank out the three casks of wine; and the prince and all the noble company danced in the moonlight on the deck of the White Ship.
When at last she shot out of the harbour, there was not a sober seaman on board. But the sails were all set, and the oars all going merrily, Fitz-Stephen at the helm.
The gay young nobles and the beautiful ladies, wrapped up in mantles of various bright colours to protect them from the cold, talked, laughed, and sang. The Prince encouraged the fifty sailors to row harder yet, for the honour of the White Ship.
Crash!-a terrific cry broke from three hundred hearts. It was the cry that the people in the distant vessels of the King heard faintly on the water. The White Ship had struck upon a rock, and was going down.
Fitz-Stephen hurried the Prince into a boat with some fewnobles. "Push off, " he whispered, "and row to the land. It isnot far, and the sea is smooth. The rest of us must die. "But, as they rowed away fast from the sinking ship, the Prince heard the voice of his half-sister, Marie, calling for help. He never in his life had been so good as he was then. He cried, in an agony, " Row back at any risk! I cannot bear to leave her! "They rowed back. As the Prince held out his arms to catch his sister, such numbers leaped in that the boat was overset. And, in the same instant, the White Ship went down.