Riding
in among the fugitives he endeavored to rally and
restore them to order. All in vain. At the first
appearance of sixty or seventy redcoats, they
broke again without firing a shot, and fled in
headlong terror.
Losing all self-command at the sight of such
dastardly conduct, Washington dashed his hat
upon the ground in a transport of rage.
``Are these the men,'' exclaimed he, ``with
whom I am to defend America!''
In a paroxysm of passion and despair he
snapped his pistols at some of them, threatened
others with his sword, and was so heedless of his
own danger that he might have fallen into the
hands of the enemy, who were not eighty yards
distant, had not an aide-de-camp seized the
bridle of his horse, and absolutely hurried him
away.
It was one of the rare moments of his life when
the vehement element of his nature was stirred
up from its deep recesses. He soon recovered his
self-possession, and took measures against the
general peril.
LABOR DAY
(FIRST MONDAY IN SEPTEMBER)
THE SMITHY
A HINDU FABLE
BY P. V. RAMASWAMI RAJU (ADAPTED)
Once words ran high in a smithy.
The furnace said: ``If I cease to burn, the
smithy must close.''
The bellows said: ``If I cease to blow, no fire,
no smithy.''
The hammer and anvil, also, each claimed the
sole credit for keeping up the smithy.
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