with a coat of mail.

I cannot go with these . . and David put them off him. And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine. And the Philistine came on and drew near unto David; and the man that bare the shield went before him. And when the Philistine looked about and saw David, he disdained him: for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance. And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? . . . Then David said to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield; but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied; . . . and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee. . . . And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hands. . . . And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sank into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth. David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David. . . . And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled. And the men of Israel and of Judah arose, and shouted, and pursued the Philistines. . . even unto Gath.

So

Cubit, about 18 inches: the length from the elbow to the end of the middle finger.

Shekel, a weight used by the ancient Hebrews.

Ephah (e'fa), about a bushel.

212

TALKING AND WRITING ABOUT THE STORY

Read the story aloud, paragraph by paragraph. Probably most of you knew the story of David and Goliath before you read it in this book.

Who were the Philistines?

Where did they live?

Who were the Israelites?

Where did they live?

Why were these two tribes at war?

Where were the armies when the story opens?

Tell about the challenge of Goliath.

What did the men of Israel do when they heard the

words of the mighty giant Goliath?

What did David ask when he heard the challenge? Tell about the meeting between Saul and David. What did David promise Saul to do?

Why did he think he could win the fight?

How was David armed?

Tell about the fight.

Write a short paragraph, making up the story of David's fight with the lion.

213

PLAYING THE STORY OF DAVID AND GOLIATH

Act the story in five scenes.

The first paragraph gives you the setting of the story or the place where it occurred.

How will you represent this in the classroom?

The first scene presents the challenge of Goliath.
Who are the characters in this scene?

Make up the conversation of two or three of the Israelites, showing their fear of Goliath.

Get the second scene from the third paragraph.

Let the third scene present David's arrival at the camp, and Goliath's second challenge.

The fourth scene is between Saul and David.

The fifth scene presents the contest between David and Goliath, resulting in David's triumph.

214

A POEM

IT COULDN'T BE DONE

Somebody said that it couldn't be done,
But he with a chuckle replied

That maybe "It couldn't," but he would be one
Who wouldn't say so till he'd tried.

So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin
On his face. If he worried, he hid it.

He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn't be done, and he did it.

Somebody scoffed: "Oh, you'll never do that;
At least no one ever has done it."

But he took off his coat and he took off his hat,
And the first thing we knew he'd begun it.
With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin,
Without any doubting or quiddit,

He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn't be done, and he did it.

There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done; There are thousands to prophesy failure;

There are thousands to point out to you one by one The dangers that wait to assail you.

But just buckle in with a bit of a grin;

Just take off your coat and go to it;
Just start in to sing as you tackle the thing
That "cannot be done," and you'll do it.

-Edgar A. Guest. From The Path to Home, copyrighted 1919, by The Reilly & Lee Co.

Read the poem aloud in turn, stanza by stanza. What is the advice the poet gives you? Read again the last two lines of each stanza of the poem.

Learn the entire poem by heart. Why is it worth committing to memory?

215

SPEAKING ENDINGS CORRECTLY

HEIGHT

With what letter does the word height end?

In the following sentences what words end with the same letter?

1. The boys saw a large airplane hovering at a great height over the city.

2. The aviator fell at night within the enemy's lines. 3. When a searchlight is thrown upon the American flag, the colors seem wonderfully bright and clear.

Write these words on paper.

Now read them aloud, pairing each one with height,

thus:

height.. . night

Write down as many words that rime with height as you can think of in five minutes.

must end with t or the sound of t.

All the words

Read the lists aloud in turn, listening carefully for the ending of each word.

216

REVIEWING VERBS

Make two lists of the verbs in the following selection.

In the first list put the verbs which express action. In the second list put the verbs which do not express action.

THE ESCAPE

It was very cold. As the tide ran out, the schooner settled more and more on her beam ends. I scrambled forward and looked over. Then I held the hawser in both hands for security, and dropped softly overboard. The water scarcely reached my waist. The sand was firm. I waded ashore in great spirits. Then I looked back and saw the Hispaniola lie over on her side, and her mainsail trail wide upon the surface of the bay. About the same time the sun went fairly down, and the breeze whistled low in the dusk among the tossing pines. At last, I was off the sea.

-R. L. Stevenson-Adapted.