among the rocks and sunken cannon. In a few mo ments one of them rose above the water with a heavy lump of silver in his arms. The single lump was worth more than a thousand dollars. 15. The sailors took it into the boat, and then rowed back as speedily as they could to inform Captain Phipps of their good luck. "Thanks be to God!" cries Captain Phipps. "We shall every man of us make our fortunes!" 16. Hereupon the captain and all the crew set to work, with iron rakes and great hooks and lines, fishing for gold and silver at the bottom of the sea. Up came the treasure in abundance. Now they beheld a table of solid silver, once the property of an old Spanish grandee. Now they drew up a golden cup, fit for the King of Spain to drink his wine out of. Now their rakes or fishing-lines were loaded with masses of silver bullion. There were also precious stones among the treasure, glittering and sparkling. 17. After a day or two Captain Phipps and his crew lighted on another part of the wreck, where they found a great many bags of silver dollars. But nobody could have guessed that these were money-bags. By remaining so long in the salt water, they had become covered over with a crust which had the appearance of stone, so that it was necessary to break them in pieces with hammers and axes. When this was done, a stream of silver dollars gushed out upon the deck of the vessel. 18. The whole value of the recovered treasure, plate, bullion, precious stones, and all, was estimated at more than two millions of dollars. Captain Phipps and his men continued to fish up plate, bullion, and dollars, as plentifully as ever, till their provisions grew short. Then, as they could not feed upon gold and silver, Phipps resolved to return to England, where he was received with great joy by the Duke of Albemarle and other English lords who had fitted out the vessel. 19. The captain's share was enough to make him comfortable for the rest of his days. It also enabled him to fulfill his promise to his wife, by building a "fair brick house" in the Green Lane of Boston. 20. Before Captain Phipps left London, King James made him a knight; so that, instead of the obscure ship-carpenter who had formerly dwelt among them, the inhabitants of Boston welcomed him on his return as the rich and famous Sir William Phipps. HEADS FOR COMPOSITION. I. HERO OF THE NARRATIVE: where and when William Phipps his boyhood- becomes a ship-carpenter- his marhis varied fortunes. was born riage II. FIRST SEA ADVENTURES: when he hears of the castaway ship—his visit to the spot-what he hears of his determination. III. THE NEW SEARCH: Phipps's visit to London - his story to the king-the result - the cruise in the Rose Algier-the failure and mutiny - return to England. IV. THE SUNKEN TREASURE: what Phipps learned from the old Spaniard-by whom the new ship was fitted out-arrival at Porto Plata-the boat- the Indian divers -failure. V. SUCCESS AT LAST: the request of the English sailor — what the Indian diver brought up - the search amid the wreck of the Spanish galleon—the treasure brought up-value of the recovered treasure. VI. AFTER-CAREER OF PHIPPS: return to England-his reception-share of the spoil-the fair brick house-his knighthood. 4.-The Children's Hour. ban-dĭt'ti (plural of Italian ban- | low'er, descend darkly. ditto), bandits, outlaws. fast, secure, safe. sealed, climbed over. PREPARATORY NOTES. This is one of the sweet poems of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882), one of the four classic American poets of the first rank; the three others being Whittier, Bryant, and Lowell. Mr. Longfellow's poetry has been described as like "a walk in the open air on a Sabbath morning." (3) Allegra (al-lā'gra): feminine form of Italian allegro, mirth, cheerfulness.—(7) Bishop of Bingen... Mouse-Tower: refers to a legend of the German Bishop Hatto. He was said to have stored away great quantities of grain in a tower on an island in the Rhine, at a time of famine, in order to get high prices for it from the people. Compelled by the popular fury to take refuge in this very tower, it is said that while there shut up he was devoured by the swarms of mice that had been attracted thither by the stores of grain he had accumulated. (8) "old mustache" (French vieux moustache), a veteran, - hence, an experienced old fellow.—(9) dungeon (or donjon), that part of the tower or keep of an ancient castle in which prisoners were confined. 1. Between the dark and the daylight, When the night is beginning to lower, 2. I hear in the chamber above me The patter of little feet, The sound of a door that is opened, 3. From my study I see in the lamplight, 4. A whisper, and then a silence; 5. A sudden rush from the stairway, 6. They climb up into my turret O'er the arms and back of my chair; If I try to escape they surround me; They seem to be everywhere. 7. They almost devour me with kisses, In his Mouse-Tower on the Rhine! |