shoulder with it, saying at
the same time, "Rise, Sir Cedric of Altholstane." And Cedric knew then
that he was, at last, a knight!

In time he had a beautiful castle of his own, and splendid armor, the
most beautiful black horse that you ever saw. The handsome horse used to
prance and toss his head proudly in the air as if he knew what a noble
young knight he was carrying. After a while Cedric had a lovely wife and
two or three sweet little children of his own, and as he rode abroad
over the country, many a time the peasants standing in their cottage
doors, would say to each other, "There goes the brave Sir Cedric of
Altholstane. God bless him! May he live long to help protect our
country." And all the people loved him.

_STORY OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS FOR LITTLE CHILDREN._

Once upon a time, far across the great ocean there lived a little boy
named Christopher. The city in which he lived was called Genoa. It was
on the coast of the great sea, and from the time that little Christopher
could first remember he had seen boats come and go across the water. I
doubt not that he had little boats of his own which he tried to sail, or
paddle about on the small pools near his home.

Soon after he was old enough to read books, which in those days were
very scarce and very much valued, he got hold of an account of the
wonderful travels of a man named Marco Polo. Over and over again little
Christopher read the marvelous stories told by this old traveler, of the
strange cities which he had seen and of the dark-colored people whom he
had met; of the queer houses; of the wild and beautiful animals he had
encountered; of the jewels and perfumes and flowers which he had come
across.

All day long the thoughts of little Christopher were busy with this
strange far-away land which Marco Polo described. All night long he
dreamed of the marvelous sights to be seen on those distant shores. Many
a time he went down to the water's edge to watch the queer ships as they
slowly disappeared in the dim distance, where the sea and sky seemed to
meet. He listened eagerly to everything about the sea and the voyages of
adventure, or of trade which were told by the sailors near.

When he was fourteen years old he went to sea with an uncle, who was
commander of one of the vessels that came and went from the port of
Genoa. For a number of years he thus lived on a vessel, learning
everything that he could about the sea. At one time the ship on w