hoose; and the Fathers bid you come at once and go out against our
enemies, the fierce men of the mountains."

[Illustration]

So Cincinnatus left his plow standing where it was, and hurried to the
city. When he passed through the streets, and gave orders as to what
should be done, some of the people were afraid, for they knew that he
had all power in Rome to do what he pleased. But he armed the guards
and the boys, and went out at their head to fight the fierce mountain
men, and free the Roman army from the trap into which it had fallen.

A few days afterward there was great joy in Rome. There was good news
from Cincinnatus. The men of the mountains had been beaten with great
loss. They had been driven back into their own place.

And now the Roman army, with the boys and the guards, was coming home
with banners flying, and shouts of vic-to-ry; and at their head rode
Cincinnatus. He had saved Rome.

Cincinnatus might then have made himself king; for his word was law,
and no man dared lift a finger against him. But, before the people
could thank him enough for what he had done, he gave back the power to
the white-haired Roman Fathers, and went again to his little farm and
his plow.

He had been the ruler of Rome for sixteen days.

THE STORY OF REGULUS.

On the other side of the sea from Rome there was once a great city
named Car-thage. The Roman people were never very friendly to the
people of Car-thage, and at last a war began between them. For a long
time it was hard to tell which would prove the stronger. First the
Romans would gain a battle, and then the men of Car-thage would gain a
battle; and so the war went on for many years.

Among the Romans there was a brave gen-er-al named Reg'u-lus,--a man
of whom it was said that he never broke his word. It so happened after
a while, that Reg-u-lus was taken pris-on-er and carried to Carthage.
Ill and very lonely, he dreamed of his wife and little children so far
away beyond the sea; and he had but little hope of ever seeing them
again. He loved his home dearly, but he believed that his first duty
was to his country; and so he had left all, to fight in this cruel
war.

He had lost a battle, it is true, and had been taken prisoner. Yet he
knew that the Romans were gaining ground, and the people of Carthage
were afraid of being beaten in the end. They had sent into other
countries to hire soldiers to help them; but even with these they
would not be able t