boy is drowning, and they will not let me go!" "It would be madness; she will jump into the river,” said one," and the rapids would dash her to pieces in a moment!"

The child, a little boy of four years old, had been accustomed to play in the little inclosure before the cabin, but the gate having been left open, he had stolen out, reached the edge of the bank, and was in the act of looking over, when he lost his balance and fell into the stream.

In an instant the young man threw off his coat, and sprang to the edge of the bank. Here he stood for a moment, when he saw in the water a white object, which he knew to be the boy's dress, and he plunged into the roaring rapids.

At times the current bore him under, and he would be lost to sight; then he would appear, though far from where he vanished, still buffeting amid the vortex.

The youth now appeared to redouble his exertions, for they were approaching the most dangerous part of the river, where the rapids shot almost perpendicularly down a declivity of fifteen feet. The rush of the waters at this spot was tremendous, and no one ventured to approach its vicinity, even in a canoe, lest he should be dashed in pieces.

Three times he was on the point of grasping the child, when the waters whirled the prize from him.

And now, both shot to the brink of the precipice, and vanished into the abyss below!

A moment elapsed before a word was spoken. The mother ran forward, and then stood gazing with fixed eyes at the foot of the cataract.

Suddenly she gave the glad cry, "There they are!

See! they are safe !-Great God, I thank thee!" And, sure enough, there was the youth still unharmed, and still buffeting the water; he had been swept into an eddy. With one hand he

held up the child, and with the other he was making for the shore.

Those on the river bank ran, they shouted, they scarcely knew what they did, until they reached his side, just as he was struggling to the bank. The boy was senseless; but his mother declared that he still lived. The youth could scarcely stand, so faint was he from his exertions.

"God will reward you," said the mother, "as I can not. He will do great things for you in return for this day's work, and the blessings of thousands besides mine will attend you." And so it was; for, to the hero of that hour, were subsequently confided the destinies of a mighty nation. But, throughout his long career, what tended to make him more honoured and respected than all men, was the self-sacrificing spirit which, in the rescue of that mother's child, as in the more august events of his life, characterised GEORGE WASHINGTON.

George Washington." The child is father to the man ;" and the incident recorded in our lesson is quite in keeping with all we read of this great man, who brought about the independence of the United States of America, and was unanimously elected their first President. His name is a household word in every American home. QUESTIONS:-1. Describe the scene where this accident took place. 2. What did the woman say to the young man? 3. Why would not the men release the woman? 4. What did the young man do? 5. Did he finally succeed in saving the child? 6. What did the mother say to him? 7. Who did this youth prove to be? 8. Who was George Washington? 9. How did he become famous? 10. What place in America is called after him?

LESSON XXXVI.

The Inchcape Rock.

ab'-bot, the priest who presides over an abbey.

buoy, a floating body to support the bell.

ex-cess', too great, beyond bounds.

fiends, evil spirits.

joy'-ance, gladness, rejoicing.
o'er-spreads', covers over.
per'-il-ous, dangerous.
scour'-ed, roved over as a
pirate.

speck, a small object.
surges, waves.

No stir in the air, no stir in the sea,
The ship was as still as she could be,
Her sails from heaven received no motion,
Her keel was steady in the ocean.

Without either sign or sound of their shock
The waves flow'd over the Inchcape Rock;
So little they rose, so little they fell,
They did not move the Inchcape Bell.

The good old Abbot of Aberbrothock
Had placed that bell on the Inchcape Rock;
On a buoy in the storm it floated and swung,
And over the waves its warning rung.

When the Rock was hid by the surges' swell,
The mariners heard the warning bell;
And then they knew the perilous Rock,
And blest the Abbot of Aberbrothock.

The sun in heaven was shining gay,
All things were joyful on that day;
The sea-birds scream'd as they wheel'd round,
And there was joyance in their sound.

The buoy of the Inchcape Bell was seen
A darker speck on the ocean green;
Sir Ralph the Rover walk'd his deck,
And he fixed his eye on the darker speck.

He felt the cheering power of spring,
It made him whistle, it made him sing;
His heart was mirthful to excess,

But the Rover's mirth was wickedness.

His eye was on the Inchcape float;
Quoth he, "My men, put out the boat,
And row me to the Inchcape Rock,
And I'll plague the priest of Aberbrothock."

The boat is lower'd, the boatmen row,
And to the Inchcape Rock they go;
Sir Ralph bent over from the boat,
And he cut the bell from the Inchcape float.

Down sunk the bell, with a gurgling sound,
The bubbles rose and burst around;

Quoth Sir Ralph, “The next who comes to the

Rock

Won't bless the Abbot of Aberbrothock."

K