assistance and, at least, give him the pleasure of seeing the royal apartments.

John put on his best clothes, as you may suppose, and, appearing at a postern gate of the palace, inquired for the Goodman of Ballengiech. The king had given orders that he should be admitted; and John found his friend, the goodman, in the same disguise which he had formerly worn. The king, still preserving the character of an inferior officer of the household, conducted John Howieson from one apartment of the palace to another, and was amused with his wonder and his remarks. At length James asked his visitor if he should like to see the king; to which John replied that nothing would delight him so much, if he could do so without giving offense. The Goodman of Ballengiech, of course, undertook that the king would not be angry. "But," said John, "how am I to know his grace from all the nobles who will be all about him?"

"Easily,” replied his companion; "all the others will be uncovered—the king alone will wear his hat or bonnet."

So speaking, King James introduced the countryman into a great hall, which was filled by the nobility and officers of the crown. John was a little frightened and drew close to his attendant, but was still unable to distinguish the king. "I told you that you should know him by his wearing his hat," said the conductor.

"Then," said John, after he had again looked around the room, "it must be either you or me, for all but us two are bareheaded."

The king laughed at John's fancy; and, that the good yeoman might have occasion for mirth also, he made him

a present of the farm of Braehead, which he had wished so much to possess, on condition that John Howieson or his successors should be ready to present a ewer and basin for the king to wash his hands when his majesty should come to Holyrood Palace or should pass the bridge of Cramond.

Cra'mond (Krā'mund), a village a few miles from Edinburgh, Scotland; flail, an instrument for beating out the grain of wheat; How'ie son (hou'ĭ sun); bonds'man, one bound to work for another without pay; Brāe'head; pōs'tērn, a rear or side entrance; ew'er (ū'ēr), a pitcher; Ho'ly rood Pal'ace (Păl'as), an ancient royal palace of Scotland at Edinburgh.

STUDY HELPS

Give an account of James's adventure with the gypsies.

What did "honest John" think would make him the happiest man in Scotland?

What did James tell him to do?

How was John received at the palace?

How was he told that he could identify the king?

"The king laughed at John's fancy": What was his fancy?

On what condition did John receive the farm? Do you think he deserved it?

THE SONG OF THE BROOK

ALFRED, LORD TENNYSON

I come from haunts of coot and hern,
I make a sudden sally,
And sparkle out among the fern,
To bicker down a valley.

By thirty hills I hurry down,
Or slip between the ridges,
By twenty thorps, a little town,
And half a hundred bridges.

Till last by Philip's farm I flow
To join the brimming river,

For men may come and men may go,
But I go on forever.

I chatter over stony ways,
In little sharps and trebles,
I bubble into eddying bays,
I babble on the pebbles.

With many a curve my banks I fret
By many a field and fallow,
And many a fairy foreland set
With willow-weed and mallow.

I chatter, chatter, as I flow,
To join the brimming river,
For men may come and men may go,
But I go on forever.

I wind about, and in and out,
With here a blossom sailing,
And here and there a lusty trout,
And here and there a grayling.

And here and there a foamy flake
Upon me, as I travel

With many a silvery waterbreak
Above the golden gravel,

And draw them all along, and flow
To join the brimming river,

For men may come and men may go,
But I go on forever.

I steal by lawns and grassy plots,
I slide by hazel covers;
I move the sweet forget-me-nots
That grow for happy lovers.

I slip, I slide, I gloom, I glance,
Among my skimming swallows;
I make the netted sunbeam dance
Against my sandy shallows.

I murmur under moon and stars
In brambly wildernesses;
I linger by my shingly bars;
I loiter round my cresses;

And out again I curve and flow

To join the brimming river,

For men may come and men may go,

But I go on forever.

Coot and hern (koot ǎnd hûrn), kinds of waterfowl; săl'ly, dart forth; bick'er, here refers to the tremulous movement of the stream; thôrps, clusters of houses; fal'low, untilled plowed land; fōre'land, a small projection of land; măl'low, a kind of plant which grows in marshy places; gray'ling, a kind of fish; wa'ter (wô'ter) break, ripple; nět'těd, forming a network as it shines through the branches; bram'bly, full of briers; shing'ly, of coarse gravel.

STUDY HELPS

Who is meant by "I"?

What two lines are four times repeated in the poem?

These lines divide the stanzas into four groups: how many stanzas in each group?

Where does the brook rise? Through what kind of country does it flow? What becomes of it finally?

Do you suppose there are just thirty hills? or twenty thorps? or half a hundred bridges?

Read two stanzas that tell of the noises made by the brook. "With many a curve my banks I fret." Explain.

"And drew them all along." Read the stanzas that explain "all." Read the expressions in the last four stanzas that tell what the brook does. What causes it to "murmur" and "linger" and "loiter"? In what kind of humor does the brook seem all the way through its song?

WRITTEN IN MARCH

WHILE RESTING ON THE BRIDGE AT THE
FOOT OF BROTHERS' WATER

WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

The cock is crowing,

The stream is flowing,

The small birds twitter.

The lake doth glitter,

The green field sleeps in the sun;
The oldest and youngest

Are at work with the strongest;
The cattle are grazing,

Their heads never raising;
There are forty feeding like one!

Like an army defeated

The snow hath retreated,
And now doth fare ill

On the top of the bare hill;

The Plowboy is whooping.

-anon-anon: