"Why did you spare the life of the Swede after he had tried to kill
you?" asked the king.
"Because, sir," said the soldier, "I could never kill a wounded
enemy."
"Then you deserve to be a no-ble-man," said the king. And he
re-ward-ed him by making him a knight, and giving him a noble title.
SIR HUMPHREY GILBERT.
More than three hundred years ago there lived in England a brave man
whose name was Sir Humphrey Gil-bert. At that time there were no white
people in this country of ours. The land was covered with forests; and
where there are now great cities and fine farms there were only trees
and swamps among which roamed wild In-di-ans and wild beasts.
Sir Hum-phrey Gilbert was one of the first men who tried to make a
set-tle-ment in A-mer-i-ca. Twice did he bring men and ships over the
sea, and twice did he fail, and sail back for England. The second
time, he was on a little ship called the "Squirrel." Another ship,
called the "Golden Hind," was not far away. When they were three days
from land, the wind failed, and the ships lay floating on the waves.
Then at night the air grew very cold. A breeze sprang up from the
east. Great white ice-bergs came drifting around them. In the morning
the little ships were almost lost among the floating mountains of ice.
Pages:
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51