Bob, and had a long and confidential talk with him; and it was noticed that when the little fellow left his father's presence, his face was wet with tears. OUTLINE.-1. A young midshipman climbs to the top-mast head. 2. He was the captain's son. 3. The part on which he was standing was only sufficient for his feet; it is called the truck. 4. Made one's head dizzy to look at him; nothing around him but air. 5. Ship's crew come crowding on deck. 6. Pale faces seen all around; every eye fixed aloft; fatal termination expected. 7. First lieutenant seizes his speaking trumpet; useless to hail him he thinks; lets it drop again. 8. Bob's father comes on board; no one had noticed him. 9. Why. 10. He asked not a question; he was a harsh, crabbed man, severe in discipline; seemed to have little affection for his boy. 11. At his order a loaded musket is handed to the captain; he steps back; thunders out to his son, "Jump overboard, or you'll be shot." 12. The boy is seen to spring into the air. 13. With the rush of a cannon ball the body cleaves the water. 14. All eyes bent upon the place; the boy rises to top of the water; strikes out for the ship; loud hurrahs of the crew. 15. Captain assisted to his cabin, almost fainting; Bob sent for; long conversation between father and son. PHRASEOLOGY.v.-1. Lounging, sauntering; idling. 2. Actually, really; truly. 3. Swarming, crowded. 4. Appalling, terrible. 5. Suspense, uncertainty. 6. Intended, meant; had a mind to. 7. Uttered, said; spoke. 8. Retained, kept. 9. Unmoved, unimpressed; without feeling. Ex. 11.-ESCAPE FROM A FRENCH PRISON. PART I. IN 1794, soon after the declaration of war between Britain and the French Republic, an English 18-gun sloop was cruising1 in the Channel, and every now and then stretching across to the French coast to look out for prizes and to reconnoitre. On one of these visits to the enemy's shores, a large merchant ship was sighted at anchor in a small bay, about a quarter of a mile distant from a heavily-armed fort. Immediately a strong desire arose in the officers and men on board the sloop to cut her out. The fact that she was protected by the fort made the service more dangerous, and the sailors all the more eager. The water was too shallow to admit of the sloop-of-war's entering the bay, but it was resolved to stand off till evening, then run in, and under cover of a dark night, to despatch a boat with two officers and twelve men to cut out the French vessel; or, if that were not practicable, to scuttle and set fire to her. Accordingly one of our cutters shoved off for a pull of nearly five miles. The night was pitch dark, the oars were of course muffled, and the strictest e me mult & suggestion, Lepantor sazed the Trumpet, I MẺ KH Towed in his lips, Smel Kal mi sme betless down beside uselessness of 1011 11150 TELUS I viar le monded s At dus nmax the Vis 152 EDT The new, and directly de unde ire vis added or those in the ruter deck-it me die aan. But shahr Ex had come Lungsode in a shore a vom living ten noted by a size ere, so intense LOTERS Vis dem that had fastened every gaze upon the spot where pour Bit stood renting on the awful verge dae The act asked for a gestion mered not a syllable. He was a dak-drei stare mu klime drught by some of The midshipma du be semained bar file afection for his Some who ier im better, afirmed that he loved his boy too well to spot mai that intending him for his own' profession, he thought in would be of service to him to go through some of its privations and bardships at the outset. All eyes were tamed upon him for a momeni bas by no outward sign did Le show what was passing within. His eye still retained its wevere expression. Immediately on reaching the deck he had ordered a marine to hand him a musket, and, stepping back a few paces, raised it to his shoulder, calling out at the same time to his son in a voice of thunder: "Robert, jump; jump overboard, or I'll shoot you!" The words were scarcely out of the captain's mouth, when the boy was seen to leave the truck and spring out into the air. With a rush like that of a cannon ball the body dropped into the water; but, before the waves closed over it, twenty stout fellows, among them several officers, had dived from the bulwarks. After a couple of seconds, which seemed to us like hours, he rose to the surface, and struck out stoutly for the ship. Despite the stern discipline of a man-of-war, three loud huzzas rang from the lips of five hundred men. Till this moment the captain had stood seemingly unmoved. The eyes that now, glistening with pleasure, sought his face, saw that it was ashy pale. He had to be assisted down to his cabin. As soon as he recovered from the dreadful shock, he sent for 9 Bob, and had a long and confidential talk with him; and it was noticed that when the little fellow left his father's presence, his face was wet with tears. OUTLINE.-1. A young midshipman climbs to the top-mast head. 2. He was the captain's son. 3. The part on which he was standing was only sufficient for his feet; it is called the truck. 4. Made one's head dizzy to look at him; nothing around him but air. 5. Ship's crew come crowding on deck. 6. Pale faces seen all around; every eye fixed aloft; fatal termination expected. 7. First lieutenant seizes his speaking trumpet; useless to hail him he thinks; lets it drop again. 8. Bob's father comes on board; no one had noticed him. 9. Why. 10. He asked not a question; he was a harsh, crabbed man, severe in discipline; seemed to have little affection for his boy. 11. At his order a loaded musket is handed to the captain; he steps back; thunders out to his son, "Jump overboard, or you'll be shot." 12. The boy is seen to spring into the air. 13. With the rush of a cannon ball the body cleaves the water. 14. All eyes bent upon the place; the boy rises to top of the water; strikes out for the ship; loud hurrahs of the crew. 15. Captain assisted to his cabin, almost fainting; Bob sent for; long conversation between father and son. PHRASEOLOGY.-1. Lounging, sauntering; idling. 2. Actually, really; truly. 3. Swarming, crowded. 4. Appalling, terrible. 5. Suspense, uncertainty. 6. Intended, meant; had a mind to. 7. Uttered, said; spoke. 8. Retained, kept. 9. Unmoved, unimpressed; without feeling. Ex. 11.-ESCAPE FROM A FRENCH PRISON. IN 1794, soon after the declaration of war between Britain and the French Republic, an English 18-gun sloop was cruising1 in the Channel, and every now and then stretching across to the French coast to look out for prizes and to reconnoitre. On one of these visits to the enemy's shores, a large merchant ship was sighted at anchor in a small bay, about a quarter of a mile distant from a heavily-armed fort. Immediately a strong desire arose in the officers and men on board the sloop to cut her out. The fact that she was protected by the fort made the service more dangerous, and the sailors all the more eager. The water was too shallow to admit of the sloop-of-war's entering the bay, but it was resolved to stand off till evening, then run in, and under cover of a dark night, to despatch a boat with two officers and twelve men to cut out the French vessel; or, if that were not practicable, to scuttle and set fire to her. Accordingly one of our cutters shoved off for a pull of nearly five miles. The night was pitch dark, the oars were of course muffled, and the strictest 3 silence observed as the boat crept cautiously under the outside of the headland inside of which the prize was lying. Here the men rested awhile to refresh themselves. They then crept quietly round the promontory, and entered the bay. Scarcely, however, had the boat come full in view, than the French opened a fearful fire of round-shot and canister upon her. The effect was terrific; in a moment nine out of the fourteen were either killed or desperately wounded, the boat was shattered to pieces, and the five survivors found themselves floundering in the water. The two officers, both excellent swimmers, rid themselves of their sword-belts and pistols, and struck out very quietly for the stern of the merchantman, where they knew a boat was moored. But they had not gone more than fifty yards, when a volley of grape and canister whistled over them, killing the three seamen who accompanied them. The officers got into the boat, in which they remained all night. In the morning they were discovered, were made prisoners, and, no parole having been granted them, they were sent off to Valenciennes, more than eighty miles from the spot where their disaster 5 had happened. Ex. 12.-PART II. The room in which they were confined had an iron-barred window which commanded a view of the main street. The door opened upon a stone platform, and before their door a sentry was constantly pacing up and down with a loaded musket and bayonet fixed, with orders to kill the prisoners if they should make the slightest attempt to escape. But the two friends, whose names were Ramsay and Morton, determined come what might, and at all hazards, to give their gaolers the slip, and that as soon as possible. 6 One sultry summer's night, the captives were looking through their grilled window at the lights in the town, when they suddenly heard the strains of a military band, and perceived a body of soldiers, followed by a dense crowd shouting and hallooing in the street below. Tapping at the window to attract the attention of the sentinel, as if to inquire what the matter was, the door was opened for a couple of inches; and the two friends, exerting all their force, burst it wide open, while Ramsay, seizing the soldier by his belt, hurled him from the platform into a courtyard many feet below. In a few bounds they reached the enclosure, where the man lay insensible, divested him of his cap and great coat, slipped to the outer gate, and mingled with the crowd that was hurrying by. After proceeding some distance, they turned down a back street. Here Morton, after motioning his companion to remain where he was, walked into a dimly lighted shop, kept by an old woman, and bought a bagful of provisions, a few bottles of wine, and some other useful articles. These they stowed away about their persons, and, leaving the cap and great coat of the French soldier lying in the street, pushed on 9 at a rapid pace till nightfall. Next day they determined to remain till dusk in separate trees, so that in case one were taken, the other might escape, and to proceed on their journey only when darkness had set in. From their leafy retreat they could see bodies of troops, both horse and foot, scouring the country in all directions. Dropping from the trees at sunset, they made their way over fields, through woods, bogs, and morasses, till they came to the brink of a broad and rapid river. Bridge there was none; so they stripped, tied their clothes in a bundle, plunged into the water, and struck out for the opposite shore. Morton, after being carried down by the current a considerable distance, got to land in rather an exhausted state. He looked about for his companion, shouted, called him by his name, but to no purpose; he was nowhere to be seen, nor was he ever heard of afterwards. Morton, sick at heart and almost sinking under his loss, after recovering himself a little, struck into a bye-path, which conducted him to a farmyard, in which there was a hayrick, and against it a ladder was leaning. He climbed up, lay down, covered himself with the hay, and slept soundly for several hours. After this, seeing a woman of a benevolent 10 expression of countenance crossing the farmyard, he got down, showed her some gold and silver coins, and requested her to get him some breakfast if she could. She not only did so, but supplied him with some provisions for his journey, and gave him information as to the route11 he should take to reach Dunkirk, from whence he might be conveyed to England. He reached that town a few hours after, and remained hidden for five days in the cottage of a noted smuggler, who, for a consideration of twenty guineas, conveyed him across in safety to England. OUTLINE. 1.-1. A boat's crew of twelve men and two officers attempt to cut out a French merchantman. 2. Boat is smashed to pieces by shot; all the men are either killed or drowned. 3. Officers are taken prisoners. 4. They are sent off to Valenciennes, more than eighty miles off. 5. No parole granted them. |