13.-THE FROST stǎt'u (stăť'yu), something solid SPIRIT. Nor wē'ġi an, relating to Norway. glāz'ing, rendering smooth like glass. ē' vil, not good; bad. He comes,-he comes,-the Frost Spirit comes ! On the naked woods and the blasted fields He comes, he comes,-the Frost Spirit comes ! From the icy bridge of the Northern seas, In the sunless cold of the lingering night He comes, he comes,-the Frost Spirit comes!- And the dark Norwegian pines have bowed With an unscorched wing he has hurried on, On the darkly beautiful sky above And the ancient ice below, He comes, he comes,-the Frost Spirit comes! And the quiet lake shall feel The torpid touch of his glazing breath, And ring to the skater's heel; And the streams which danced on the broken rocks, Or sang to the leaning grass, Shall bow again to their winter's chain, And in mournful silence pass. He comes,-he comes,-the Frost Spirit comes !— And turn with the light of the parlor fire His evil power away; And gather closer the circle round, When that firelight dances high, And laugh at the shriek of the baffled Fiend JOHN G. WHITTIER. Biography.-John Greenleaf Whittier, the author and poet, was born at Haverhill, Massachusetts, in 1808. His parents were. members of the Society of Friends. Whittier worked on a farm and at the trade of shoemaking until eighteen years of age. After that he studied for two years in the Haverhill Academy. In 1829, he became the editor of a paper in Boston; and since that time has been engaged in various kinds of literary work. His poems are of a vigorous and picturesque order; and the adaptation of form to thought, as well as the lofty purity and simplicity of his style, has procured for his writings a host of readers on both sides of the Atlantic. Among his best known works may be mentioned the following: "Voices of Freedom," "Songs of Labor," "Home Ballads," 'Snow Bound," and "Among the Hills." Notes. - The pine trees of Norway are tall, straight, and strong; and these qualities make them desirable for masts of ships. Mt. Hecla is an active volcano on the Island of Iceland. Language. What is meant by The Frost Spirit? Mention another epithet applied to intense cold in the lesson. What figures of comparison occur throughout the lesson? 14. ELEPHANT HUNTING IN AFRICA. ae com'pa nied, went with. spěc'u lāt ing, considering. im pliç'it, perfect; very great. eon front'ed, stood facing. in vā'ri a bly, without change. terms. In ter vẽn'ing, coming between. Tracking was very difficult, as there was a total absence of rain; it was next to impossible to distinguish the tracks of two days' date, from those most recent, upon the hard and parched soil. The greater part of the day passed in useless toil, and, after fording the river backward and forward several times, we at length arrived at a large area of sand in a bend of the stream, that was evidently overflowed when the river was full; this surface of many acres was backed by a large forest. Upon arrival at this spot, the aggageers, who appeared to know every inch of the country, declared that, unless the elephants had gone far away, they must be close at hand, within the forest. We were speculating upon the direction of the wind, when we were surprised by the sudden trumpeting of an elephant, that proceeded from the forest, already declared to be the hiding-place of the herd. In a few minutes, a fine, large elephant marched majestically from the jungle upon the large area of sand, and proudly stalked directly toward the river. At that time we were stationed under cover of a high bank of sand that had been left by the re tiring river in sweeping round an angle. We immediately dismounted and remained well concealed. The question of attack was quickly settled; the elephant was quietly approaching the water, which was about a hundred paces distant from the jungle; this intervening space was covered with heavy, dry sand, that had been thrown up by the stream in the sudden bend of the river. I proposed that we should endeavor to stalk the elephant, by creeping along the edge of the river, under cover of a sand-bank about three feet high; and that, should the rifles fail, the aggageers should come on at full gallop, and cut off his retreat to the jungle. Accordingly I led the way, followed by my head man with a rifle, while I carried my large elephant gun, which I called "Baby." Florian accompanied us. Having the wind fair, we advanced quickly for about half the distance, at which time we were within a hundred and fifty yards of the elephant, which had just arrived at the water and commenced drinking. We now crept cautiously toward him, as the sandbank had decreased to a height of about two feet, and afforded very little shelter. Not a tree nor bush grew upon the surface of the barren sand, which was so deep that we sank nearly to the ankles at every footstep. Still we crept forward, as the elephant alternately drank and then spouted the water in a shower over his colossal form; but just as we had arrived within about fifty yards, he happened to turn his head in our direction, and immediately perceived us. He lifted his enormous ears, gave a short trumpet, and for an instant he wavered in his determination whether to attack or fly; but as I rushed toward him with a shout, he turned toward the jungle, and I immediately fired a steady shot at his shoulder with the "Baby." The only effect of the shot was to send him off at a great speed to the jungle; but at the same time the three aggageers came galloping across the sand like grey-hounds in a course, and wisely keeping on a line with the jungle, they cut off his retreat. Then turning toward the elephant, they confronted him, sword in hand. At once the furious beast charged straight at the enemy; but now came the very gallant but foolish part of the hunt. Instead of leading the elephant by the flight of one man and horse, according to their usual method, all the aggageers at the same moment sprung from their saddles, and upon foot, in the heavy sand, they attacked the elephant with their swords. In the way of sport, I never saw anything so magnificent, or so absurdly dangerous. The elephant was in a great rage, and, nevertheless, he seemed to know that the object of the hunters was to get behind him. This he avoided with great dexterity, turning with extreme quickness, and charging headlong, first at one, and then at another of his assailants, while he blew clouds of sand in the air with his trunk and trumpeted with fury. Nimble as monkeys, nevertheless, the aggageers could not get behind him. In the folly of excitement, they had forsaken their horses, which had escaped from the spot. |