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hope would be gone. At this moment cry was heard on board the ship, that reached every heart,-the boys had discovered their enemy.

The cry startled the old gunner, and, quicker than thought, he sprang from the quarter-deck. The guns were all loaded and shotted, fore and aft, and none knew their temper better than he.

With steady hand, made strong by sudden hope, the old gunner pricked the cartridge of one of the quarter guns; then he took from from his pocket a percussion cap, fixed it on its place, and set back the hammer of the gun-lock.

With great exertions, the old man turned the heavy gun to its bearing, and then seizing the string of the lock, he stood back and watched for the next swell that would bring the shark in range. He had aimed the piece some distance ahead of his mark; but yet a moment would settle his hopes and fears.

Every breath was hushed, and every heart in that old ship beat painfully. The boat was yet some distance from the boys, while the horrid sea-monster was fearfully near.

was gone, he covered his face with his hands, as if afraid to see the result. If he had failed, he knew that his boy was lost.

For a moment after the report of the gun had died away upon the air, there was an unbroken silence, but, as the thick smoke arose from the surface of the water, there was, at first, a low murmur breaking from the lips of the men,-that murmur grew louder and stronger, till it swelled to a joyous deafening shout.

The old gunner sprang to his feet, and gazed off on the water, and the first thing that met his sight was the huge body of the shark floating on his back, the shot aimed by him having instantly killed it.

In a few moments the boat reached the daring swimmers, and, greatly frightened, they were brought on board. The old man clasped his boy in his arms, and then, overcome by the powerful excitement, he leaned upon a gun for support.

Directions for Reading.-What paragraphs should be read rapidly? Does the feeling require it?

Use calling tones for the words, "A shark! A shark!"

Language Lesson.-Syllabify, accent, and mark sounds of letters in the following words: Tangiers, Sahara, percussion, excitement, support.

Tell the story in your own words, using the points in the following

Analysis.-1. Where the ship was. 2. The race. 3. The shark. 4. The gunner's trial. 5. The result.

Away, away in the Northland,

Where the hours of the day are few, And the nights are so long in winter, They can not sleep them through;

Where they harness the swift reindeer
To the sledges when it snows;

And the children look like bear's cubs,
In their funny, furry clothes:

They tell them a curious story-
I don't believe 'tis true;
And yet you may learn a lesson
If I tell the tale to you.

Once, when the good Saint Peter
Lived in the world below,

And walked about it, preaching,
Just as he did, you know;

He came to the door of a cottage,

In traveling round the earth,

Where a little woman was making cakes, In the ashes on the hearth.

And being faint with fasting

For the day was almost done

He asked her, from her store of cakes,

To give him a single one.

So she made a very little cake,

But as it baking lay,

She looked at it, and thought it seemed

Too large to give away.

Therefore she kneaded another,

And still a smaller one;

But it looked, when she turned it over, As large as the first had done.

Then she took a tiny scrap of dough,
And rolled and rolled it flat;

And baked it thin as a wafer

But she couldn't part with that.

For she said, "My cakes that seem so small When I eat of them myself,

Are yet too large to give away."

So she put them on a shelf.