said they, "this day we went to fish in the
brook; twelve of us came together, and one is
drowned." Said the stranger, "Tell how many
there be of you." One of them, counting, said,
"Eleven," and again he did not count himself.
"Well," said the stranger, "what will you give
me if I find the twelfth man?" "Sir," said
they, "all the money we have got." "Give me the
money," said the stranger, and began with the
first, and gave him a stroke over the shoulders
with his whip, which made him groan, saying,
"Here is one," and so he served them all, and
they all groaned at the matter. When he came to
the last he paid him well, saying, "Here is the
twelfth man." "God's blessing on thy heart,"
said they, "for thus finding our dear brother."

4. COURSES OF STUDY

As an aid to inexperienced teachers, it seems well to suggest in a
summary how a selection of material suitable for each grade might be
made from the material of this book. The summary, however, should be
regarded as suggestive in a general way only. No detailed outline of a
course of study in literature for the grades can be ideal for all
schools because the pupils of a given grade in one school may be much
more advanced in the knowledge of literature and the ability to
understand and appreciate it than are the pupils of the same grade in
another school. Many literary selections, too, might appropriately be
taught in almost any grade if the method of presentation in each case
were suited to the understanding of the pupils. _Robinson Crusoe_, for
example, may appropriately be told to second-grade pupils, or it may be
read by fourth- or fifth-grade pupils, or it may be studied as fiction
by eighth-grade pupils or university students. All poems of remarkable
excellence that are suitable for primary pupils are also suitable for
pupils in the higher grades and for adults, and the same is true of many
prose selections.

The summary that follows, then, is to be regarded as "first aid" to the
untrained, inexperienced teacher. The teacher's own personal likes and
dislikes and her success in presenting various literary selections
should eventually lead her to modify any prescribed course of study. If
a teacher of the sixth grade discovers that her pupils should rank only
second grade in knowledge and appreciation of literature, she may very
properly begi