in by the English power that he could not succeed, and was fain to leave the place. Upon this they hoisted the English flag, and surrendered to King Edward. "Tell your general," said he to the humble messengers that came out of the town, “that I require to have sent here six of the most distinguished citizens, with ropes about their necks; and let those six men bring with them the keys of the castle and of the town.”

When the governor of Calais related this to the people in the market-place, there was great weeping and distress; in the midst of which one worthy citizen, named Eustace de Saint Pierre, rose up and said that if the six men were not sacrificed the whole population would be; therefore he offered himself as the first. Encouraged by this bright example, five other worthy citizens rose up one after another, and offered themselves to save the rest. The governor, who was too badly wounded to be able to walk, mounted a poor old horse, and conducted these good men to the gate, while all the people cried and mourned.

Edward received them wrathfully, and ordered the heads of the whole six to be struck off. However, the good Queen Philippa fell upon her knees, and besought the king to give them up to her. The king replied, "I wish that you had been somewhere else; but I can not refuse you." So she had them properly dressed, made a feast for them, and sent them back with a handsome present, to the great rejoicing of the whole camp.

CHARLES DICKENS.

cross'-bow'men, men who shoot
with a crossbow, a weapon
made by placing a bow cross-
wise on a wooden support.
fain, constrained; forced.

CHARLES DICKENS (1812-70), the celebrated English novelist, was the son of parents too poor to give him a good education. What knowledge he acquired, as a boy, he gleaned through reading at home and by his keen observation of life about him. He early became a journalist and writer, signing many of his articles "Boz." These were afterward collected under the title of Sketches by Boz." His first great success was his "Pickwick Papers," which to the present time remains unsurpassed for rollicking good humor. The titles of Dickens' books, as well as many of the books themselves, are no doubt already familiar to many of you girls and boys:-"The Old Curiosity Shop," "Barnaby Rudge," "A Tale of Two Cities," "Christmas Stories," "Dombey and Son," "Oliver Twist," and others. "Crécy and Calais" is taken from “A Child's History of England."

In the world's broad field of battle,

In the bivouac of Life,

Be not like dumb, driven cattle!

Be a hero in the strife!

-HENRY W. LONGFELLOW (Selected).

Number is the form or use of a word that denotes one, or more than

one.

There are two numbers in the English language.

The singular number of a word is the form or use of the word that denotes one. Examples: year, man, army, he, his, was.

The plural number of a word is the form or use of the word that denotes more than one. Examples: years, men, armies, they, their,

were.

Most nouns form their plural by adding s or es to the singular. Examples: town, towns; bush, bushes.

In "Crécy and Calais," find and make a list of ten plural nouns that have formed their plural by adding "s" to the singular.

On pages 45, 49, 50, 51 and 54, find and make a list of five plural nouns that have formed their plural by adding "es" to the singular.

ODYSSEUS AND POLYPHEMOS

I

When the blue hills of the Lotos-land had faded away in the far distance, the ships of Odysseus went on merrily with a fresh breeze and the men thought that they would soon come to rocky Ithaca, where their homes were. But Athene was angry with Odysseus, and she asked Poseidon, the lord of the sea, to send a great storm and scatter his ships. So the wind arose, and the waters of the sea began to heave and swell, and the sky was black with clouds and rain.

Many days and many nights the storm raged fiercely; and when it was over, Odysseus could see only four or five of all the ships which had sailed with him from Troy. The ships were drenched with the waves which had broken over them, and the men were wet and cold and tired; and they were glad indeed when they saw an island far away. So they sat down on the benches, and took the great oars and rowed the ships towards the shore; and as they came near, they saw that the island was very beautiful with cliffs and rocks, and bays for ships to take shelter from the sea.

Then they rowed into one of these quiet bays, where the water was always calm, and where there was no need to let down an anchor, or to tie the ship by ropes to the seashore, for the ship lay there quite still of itself. At the head of the bay a stream of fresh water trickled down from the cliffs, and ran close to the opening of a large cave, and near the cave some willow trees drooped their branches over the stream which ran down towards the sea.

So they made haste to go on shore; and when they had landed, they saw fine large plains on which the corn might grow, but no one had taken the trouble to sow the seed; and sloping hills for the grapes to ripen on the vines, but none were planted on them. And Odysseus marveled at the people who lived there, because they had no corn and no vines, and he could see no houses, but only sheep and goats feeding on the hill-sides. So he took his bows and arrows, and shot many of the goats, and he and his men lay down on the ground and had a merry meal, and drank the rich red wine which they had brought with them from the ship. And when they had finished eating and drinking they fell asleep, and did not wake up till the morning showed its rosy light in the eastern sky.

Then Odysseus said that he would take some of his men and go to see who lived on the island, while the others remained in the ship close to the sea-shore. So they set out, and at last they came to the mouth of a great cave, where many sheep and goats were penned up in large folds; but they could see no one in the cave or anywhere near it; and they waited a long while, but no one came. So they lit a fire, and made themselves merry, as they ate the cheese and drank the milk which was stored up round the sides of the cave.

Presently they heard a great noise of heavy feet stamping on the ground, and they were so frightened that they ran inside the cave, and crouched down at the end of it. Nearer and nearer came the Cyclops, and his tread almost made the earth shake. At last in he came, with many dry logs of wood on his back; and in came all the sheep, which he milked every evening; but the rams and the goats stayed outside.

But if Odysseus and his men were afraid when they saw Polyphemos the Cyclops come in, they were much more afraid

when he took up a great stone, which was almost as big as the mouth of the cave, and set it up against it for a door. Then the men whispered to Odysseus and said, "Did we not beg and pray you not to come into the cave? but you would not listen to us; and now how are we to get out again? Why, two-and-twenty wagons would not be able to take away that huge stone from the mouth of the cave." But they were shut in now, and there was no use in thinking of their folly for coming in.

So there they lay, crouching in the corner of the cave, and trembling with fear lest Polyphemos should see them. But the Cyclops went on milking all the sheep, and then he put the milk into the bowls around the sides of the cave, and lit the fire to cook his meal. As the flames shot up from the burning wood to the roof of the cave, it showed him the forms of Odysseus and his companions, where they lay huddled together in the corner; and he cried out to them with a loud voice, "Who are you that dare to come into the cave of Polyphemos? Are you come to rob me of my sheep, or my cheese and milk that I keep here?"

Then Odysseus said, "No; we are not come to do you harm: we are Achaians who have been fighting at Troy to bring back Helen, whom Paris stole away from Sparta, and we went there with the great king Agamemnon, whom everybody knows. We are on our way home to Ithaca; but Poseidon sent a great storm, because Athene was angry with me; and almost all our ships have been sunk in the sea, or broken to pieces on the rocks."

When he had finished speaking, Polyphemos frowned savagely and said, "I know nothing of Agamemnon, or Paris, or Helen "; and he seized two of the men, and broke their heads against the stones, and cooked them for his dinner. That day