So four hundred of the bravest Saracens went as near to Roland as they dared and hurled their spears at him. Then they fled from the field.

Again the trumpets rang out, and this time the sound was near at hand. But Roland knew that Charlemagne's army had come too late. Oliver was dead, and all the other faithful friends who had followed him so often had fallen in the battle. Roland himself was so badly wounded that he knew he could not live.

He climbed a little hill and lay down under a pine tree, with his face toward the land of Spain. Praying God to forgive him for all the wrong he had ever done, he closed his eyes as if to sleep. When Charlemagne and his army came, they found him lying there, and they knew that France had lost her greatest warrior and her noblest knight.

Clara E. Lynch.

A BACKWARD LOOK

Hundreds of years have gone by since the time of Beowulf and Sigurd and Roland, yet all the world still loves to honor these great heroes. Why has their fame lasted through all these centuries? Thousands of men, whose names have long since been forgotten, were as brave as they. You will know the answer, if you have followed your book-comrade closely. For you saw that these men were not only brave, but truthful, faithful, unselfish. You saw, too, that they thought little of gold

or fame, and much of helping their fellow-men. Mention some incidents which proved that these things were true of Beowulf. Of Sigurd. Of Roland. What heroes of our own country do we love to honor because they showed the same great qualities? In what ways were the early settlers and pioneers you met in Part I, like Beowulf and Sigurd and Roland?

It is good to read of noble heroes who lived in bygone days. Perhaps, as you read, you felt that you, too, would like to win fame and honor when you grow older. But you can never battle against a monster at the bottom of a lake, as did Beowulf, or slay a fiery dragon, as did Sigurd.

Yet our own world of today is full of wrongs to be righted, and evils to be overcome. Only a few years ago, Panama with its swamps and jungles was a country where the dreaded yellow fever killed more people each year than ever did Grendel in the days of Beowulf. Then a wise, brave American doctor went to live in that dangerous land. Risking his life as he studied the terrible disease, at last he learned the great secret and rid the country of its enemy. Was not he as great a hero as even Beowulf? For after all, to be the noblest kind of hero means only to be a helper of our fellow-men, to be a good citizen of our country. Can a boy or girl earn the name "Good Citizen" by helping to rid his city or yillage of pests like flies and disease-carrying mosquitoes? What other evils are there in your community or home that can be driven out if all the citizens, young and old, will work together? We, too, if we really try to help those who live about us, may earn the name "Good Citizen," even though we may not win the fame of Beowulf.

A FORWARD LOOK

Splendid heroes are those we have just been watching together you and I, your book-comrade. Little wonder that Beowulf and Sigurd and Roland were loved by all their countrymen for their mighty deeds of battle. But not all of the world's great men have won their glory with the sword. Come with me, away from the olden days of kings and dragons and battles under the water, back to our own America. There let us seek out great men of quite a different kind, men who made America proud of them because they had the power of writing poems and stories so true to life that we fairly see the incidents and scenes they are describing. We have time to visit only four of these famous American writers Benjamin Franklin, John Greenleaf Whittier, Henry

Wadsworth Longfellow, and Nathaniel Hawthorne. Each of them is waiting eagerly for your visit, and beckons you on to join the great circle of his friends. Real friends they will prove, too, always ready to charm you with some exciting story, or to open your eyes to the beauty of the great outdoors with some beautiful poem, or to give you a stronger love for your country by some tale of the brave men who fought to win freedom for America. The picture on page 273 shows you the Library of Congress at Washington, the home of all the books these wise men ever wrote. It is a beautiful building, but a far better home for their stories and poems is in the hearts and minds of American boys and girls.

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) was born in Boston, Massachusetts. As his father was very poor, Franklin had to go to work at the early age of ten years. When he was seventeen, he went to Philadelphia to become a printer. Here he succeeded so well that he became editor of the city's leading newspaper. He was so much interested in the improvement of Philadelphia that he organized a fire company and a public library.

When the Revolutionary War began, Franklin was sent to France, where he gained the help of the French for the American Colonies. Because of this and other public services, he is known as one of our greatest statesmen.

Franklin was also a noted writer. His Autobiography, from which "The Wharf," on page 276, is taken, tells the story of his life. Poor Richard's Almanac, another of his famous writings, gives many useful proverbs, some of which you will find on page 277.