I was still arguing it back and forth and getting no great clearness, when I came into the round-house and saw the Jacobite eating his supper under the lamp; and at that my mind was made up all in a moment. I have no credit by me; it was by no choice of mine, but as if by compulsion, that I walked right up to the table and put my hand on his shoulder. Do you want to be killed? said I. He sprang to his feet and looked a question at me as clear as if he had spoken. Oh! cried I, they're all murderers here; it's a ship full of them! They've murdered a boy already, now it's you. Ay, ay, said he; but they haven't got me yet. And then looking at me curiously, Will ye stand with me? That will I said I. I am no thief nor yet murderer. I'll stand by you. Why, then, said he, what's your name? David Balfour, said I; and then thinking that a man with so fine a coat must like fine people, I added for the first time of Shaws. It never occurred to him to doubt me, for a Highlander is used to see great gentle folk in great poverty; but as he had no estate of his own, my words nettled a very childish vanity he had. My name is Stewart, he said, drawing himself up. Alan Breck, they call me. A king's name is good enough for me, though I bear it plain and, have the name of no farm midden to clap to the hind-end of it. And having administered this rebuke as though it were something of a chief importance, he turned to examine our defenses. The roundhouse was built strong, to support the breachings of the seas. Of its five apertures, only the skylight and the two doors were large enough for the passage of a man. The doors, besides, could be drawn close; they were of stout oak, and ran in grooves, and were fitted with hooks to keep them either shut or open, as the need arose. The one that was already shut I secured in this fashion; but when I was proceeding to slide to the other, Alan stopped David, said he, for I cannot bring to mind the name of your landed estate, and so will make so bold as to call you David-that door, being open, is the best part of my defenses. It would be yet better shut says I. Not so, David, says he. Ye see, I have but one face; but so long as that door is open and my face to it, the best part of my me. enemies will be in front of me, where I would aye wish to find them. 2. Rewrite the following story, putting into dialogue form the parts printed in italics. Introduce descriptive details where they are necessary to make us see the speakers clearly: A beautiful damsel named Lynette came to King Arthur's court, and told him that her sister, Lyonors, was kept a prisoner in her castle Perilous. A river circled three times around the castle, and across the three passing-places, three brother knights kept guard. The damsel Lynette asked for a knight who would rescue her sister from these men who wanted her to marry one of them that they might have her great wealth. Gareth, a knight who was serving in disguise as a kitchen-boy, asked that the adventure be given to him. The king agreed, but Lynette, who was very angry, cried out on Arthur and hurried from the court. Gareth, putting on armor, and mounting a horse, followed her, and catching up to her, told her to lead, and he would follow. But she ordered him to go back, saying that she smelt kitchen grease. Nevertheless he followed her, and after a time they approached the first circle of the river. Lynette told Gareth that he had better return as he would be overthrown, but he refused to give up the adventure. On the other side of the river was a silkdraped pavilion in front of which passed a tall warrior without armor. Lynette called to him that Arthur so despised him that he was sending a kitchen knave to fight with him. While the knight put on his armor, Lynette asked Gareth if he were afraid. He said no, and that he would rather fight with twenty men than hear her unkind words. The warrior rode forth and taunted him, and Gareth, answering, rode at him fiercely, and soon overthrew him and sent him back to Arthur's court. As they rode on, Lynette, smiling, said that she did not smell the kitchen grease so much as she had. When they reached the second circle of the river she again bade Gareth go back, since a kitchen knave should not fight with knights, and when he would not return, she called to the second knight that she was bringing a kitchen-boy who had overthrown his brother. The warrior shouted, and rode fiercely at Gareth. It was a long time before Gareth overthrew him, and sent him back to King Arthur's court. As Gareth rode on, following Lynette, she looked back and said the warrior's horse had slipped or Gareth could never have been the victor, but that he could not overthrow the third warrior, who was by far the greatest of the three brothers. When they reached the third warrior, a huge man, he rode forward fiercely, and for a long time he and Gareth fought. Gareth grew very tired, and began to fear that he should be conquered. But when his strokes were becoming feeble, Lynette called out that he was doing bravely, that he was not a kitchen-knave, but a noble lord, the greatest she knew. This so encouraged Gareth that he conquered the knight. Then he turned to Lynette, telling her to lead that he might follow. But she replied that they must now ride side by side, and that she was sorry she had treated him unkindly. Then they rode on together to the castle of Lyonors. 3. Choose one incident in the story of Robin Hood and write it out in dramatic form. The scene should be one which would "act" well; that is, something interesting should happen, which could be "acted out" on a stage. 4. Write out in dramatic form some incident from real life, such as "The Last Fifteen Minutes Before Our Football Team Goes Into Play"; "Catching the 8:05 Train"; "A Rehearsal for the School Entertainment." PART II TELLING YOUR OWN EXPERIENCES SECTION I. FINDING AN INTERESTING SUBJECT We now come to the second large source of material— your own experience. Something is always happening to you, your senses are always reporting to you from the outside world, and you are always thinking about these intelligences. So the difficulty here is that there is so much to choose from. The best way is to choose what interests you more than anything else. Perhaps today it is the game of ball to be played tomorrow, or the party you attended last night. Or possibly you want to know how the serial story is coming out that you are reading in a magazine. Whatever it may be, the subject you are thinking about most today is the one you can write about best. Exercises I. Make a list of ten subjects in which you are interested. 2. What subjects in the following list interest you? I. The Boy Next Door. How to Elect a Mayor. II. 12. A New Picture. Why I Like Alan Breck Stewart. My Favorite Historical Character. 13. A Day with Huckleberry Finn. Abraham Lincoln. 14. 15. Making a Summer Camp. How I Used to Get the Oysters for Breakfast. 17. Our Swimming Pond. 18. My First Diary. 19. The Advantage of Having an Allowance. How to Preserve Rose Leaves. 20. 24. 25. The New Minister. A Straw Ride. 26. A Surprise Party. 27. My Birthday Experiences. 28. My Adventure in the Old House. 29. Digging for Treasure. 30. How to Draw a Map of North America. 31. What I Found in an Old Trunk. 32. Starved Rock. 33. In a Haying Field. 34. A Country Store. 35. How the Streets are Cleaned. 36. Washing Day. 37. The Captain's Barometer. 38. The Story of My Uncle's Sword. 39. The Madonna of the Chair. |