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LESSON LIX.- PICTURESQUE EFFECT BY SUGGESTION.

EXERCISE I. MODEL FOR STUDY.

THE EXECUTION OF SIDNEY CARTON.

She kisses his lips, he kisses hers, they solemnly bless each other. The spare hand does not tremble as he releases it, nothing worse than a sweet, bright constancy is in the patient face. She goes next before him, — is gone, the knitting women count Twenty-two.

“I am the Resurrection and the Life, saith the Lord; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die."

The murmuring of many voices, the upturning of many faces, the pressing-on of many footsteps in the outskirts of the crowd, so that it swells forward in a mass like one great heave of water, all flashes away; Twenty-three.

They said of him about the city that night, that it was the peacefullest man's face ever beheld there. Many added that he looked sublime and prophetic.

Charles Dickens.

NOTE. This example is from Dickens's Tale of Two Cities. The scene is laid in Paris, at the time of the Terror. It is a fact that groups of women, who brought their knitting with them, sat about the foot of the guillotine and counted the number of the victims.

Dickens has utilized this well-known fact in order to suggest the picture of the execution without describing it. The words Twentytwo and Twenty-three tell the story completely – -no further words are needed the imagination of the reader can be relied upon to fill in all details.

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The introduction of the beginning of the Burial Service is perhaps the only thing that could add to the impressive character of the description.

LIST OF SUBJECTS FOR SIMILAR TREATMENT.

Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots.

Limit the time to the morning of the execution. Give the climax by suggestion only. A pathetic ending may be made by relating the incident of finding her little dog under her skirts after she was dead. Her famous Latin prayer, said to have been composed in the gray of the morning of her execution, may be used with effect:"O Domine deus, speravi in te,

O care mi Jesu, nunc libera me.
In dura catena, in misera pœna,
Desidero te.

Gemendo, lugendo, et genu flectendo,
Adoro, imploro ut liberes me."

Leonidas at Thermopylæ.

Limit the scene from the time the Persians came up in the rear and discovered the Spartans combing their long yellow hair, — to the end of the battle. Its result may be indicated by the fate of the one deserter who escaped to tell the news. of Simonides upon the tomb of the heroes:

"Go, stranger, and to Lacedemon tell

Quote the lines

That here obedient to her laws we fell."

General Wolfe at Quebec.

Limit the time to the events of a single day. Picture the boats gliding down to the landing in the darkness. - the hasty climb up the rocky heights-the quick defeat of the picket-guard- the position on the Plains of Abraham - the battle-its result.

To indicate Wolfe's fate, use the well-known incident of his quoting from the Elegy written in a Country Church-yard:

"The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power,
And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave,

Await alike the inevitable hour:

The paths of glory lead but to the grave.".

followed by reference to the monument raised to the memory of Wolfe and Montcalm, bearing the following inscription:

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CHAPTER XV.

STUDIES IN SHORT STORIES FOR CHILDREN.

So many short stories are now written that it seems better to suggest some that should be read, rather than attempt to give any as examples. In St. Nicholas, Harper's Round Table, and The Youth's Companion can be found excellent models in great variety.

The Story of a Short Life and Jackanapes by Mrs. Juliana Horatia Ewing, The Story of Patsy and The Birds' Christmas Carol by Kate Douglas Wiggin, and Wee Willie Winkie by Rudyard Kipling, are stories almost perfect of their kind.

The charm of many short stories lies not so much in the incident upon which they are based as upon the way they are told. The power of telling things pleasantly can be attained: it comes with practice, based upon a careful study of models, and is within the reach of any one who really and intelligently tries to acquire it.

The tendency of inexperienced writers to use the third person instead of the first, to tell what the characters say, rather than allow them to say it themselves, should be carefully avoided. Keep to the direct discourse as much as possible; care in this particular alone will often give life and spirit to an otherwise dull story.

In the following lesson full outlines of three stories are given for trial practice in this kind of writing.

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Little girl — Mary-lived on canal boat with father, mother, and baby brother. Describe a canal boat-size, shape, cabins, etc. Mode of life on a canal boat-modes of locomotion. This canal boat travelled from Buffalo along Erie Canal and Hudson River to New York during the summer months—laid up in winter at Jersey City, where Mary, with other little boat-dwellers, went to school. Once, when in tow with twenty other boats on the river, the Betsey Jane happened to be last in line. The families on the different boats used to visit back and forth. One night when her father and mother are away, and Mary is alone, absorbed in a book, the tow-line breaks, and before she realizes what has happened, she finds herself adrift on the Betsey Jane. The boat may drift ashore and sink, or may be run down by a steamboat she tries to steer the boat wind is ahead - rigs a muttonleg sail (find out and describe) with a sheet, some rope, and a boat-hook-keeps from drifting ashore and makes good time down the river. Picture consternation of father and mother search - finally, delight of all to see the Betsey Jane sail into the little bay at Peekskill, where all had anchored to wait and to search.

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The Runaway Train.

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Jake Handy, the engineer on the night freight, lives at Brownsville, where his train lays by for the passenger-train every night for two hours, giving him time to go home and get a hot supper. He leaves the "Nestor," his engine, in charge of his fifteen-yearold son Dave. Dave has often ridden with his father and he knows the engine well-knows how to start, slow up, reverse, stop, etc.

One night, after his father had gone as usual, a terrific windstorm comes up. Dave is getting very nervous and frightened, when he sees rush by on the main line a runaway train of heavily loaded cars, going down grade. It flashes across Dave's mind that the passenger express is soon due, coming up the same track. The thought of the terrible disaster imminent, nerves him to

supreme effort. He uncouples the "Nestor," puts on full steam, and starts after the runaway. At length he overtakes it, and returns, barely reaching the side track when the express dashes past.

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Describe Dave and how he watches the engine — describe the storm and his nervous fears. Narrate the transition of feeling from fear for self on account of storm, to fear for others on account of collision. Narrate incidents of the chase of finally getting in sight of the train-of extreme difficulty in coupling— of stopping speed of heavy train of final success in reversing— of frantic terror on hearing the express in the distance, — return, etc. “The true hero is he who realizes a danger and yet faces it bravely."

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How the Cat caught a Mouse.

Told by herself and adapted for children about seven years of age. Heard her Mistress say that the mice did a great deal of harm - decided to help all that she could waited until after dark-hid - heard the little mouse's teeth making a hole through the floor saw its little head come through-then its body—it looks about -sees no one- comes out-cat gives one great leap and catches it—it cries—cat plays with it - tosses it up- once third time it falls very near the hole- - before cat can

- twice

catch it, is gone.

The Mouse's Story of the Same Adventure.

Story of the Violets that went to Sleep under the Oak-Tree.

Picture their spring, summer, and autumn life.

A City without a Name.

A field full of spider webs, as is often seen in the country in midits inhabitants - their occupations, etc.

summer

The Little Old Man of the Forest.

There are among the German Folk-lore stories many different ones based upon the belief that there once lived in the forest, a

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