e flames rolled on; he would not go,
Without his father's word;
That father, faint in death below,
His voice no longer heard.

He called aloud--"Say, father, say
'If yet my task is done.'"
He knew not that the chieftain lay
Unconscious of his son.

"Speak, father," once again he cried,
"If I may yet be gone."
And--but the booming shots replied,
And fast the flames rolled on.

Upon his brow he felt their breach,
And in his waving hair;
And looked from that lone post of death,
In still, yet brave despair;

And shouted but once more aloud,
"My father, must I stay?"
While o'er him fast, through sail and shroud,
The wreathing fires made way.

They wrapped the ship in splendor wild,
They caught the flag on high,
And streamed above the gallant child,
Like banners in the sky.

Then came a burst of thunder sound
The boy--oh! where was he?
Ask of the winds that far around
With fragments strewed the sea.

With mast, and helm, and pennon fair,
That well had borne their part,
But the noblest thing that perished there,
Was that young, faithful heart.

O, who would not love to have such a child as that! Is not such a boy
more noble than one who will disobey his parents merely that he may
have a little play, or that he may avoid some unpleasant duty? The
brave little Casablanca would rather die than disobey. He loved his
father. He had confidence in him. And even when death was staring him
in the face, when

"The flames rolled on, he would not go,
Without his father's word."

I have seen some bad boys who thought it looked brave to care nothing
for the wishes of their parents. But do you think that Casabianca
was a coward? No; the boy who is truly brave, and has a noble
spirit, will obey his parents. If others tease him to do
differently, he will dare to tell them, that he means to do his duty;
and if they laugh at him, he will let them laugh, and show them, by
his conduct, that he does not care for the sneers of bad boys. The
fact is, that, in almost all cases, disobedient boys are mean, and
cowardly, and contemptible. They have not one particle of the spirit
of the noble little Casabianca. And when these disobedient boys grow
up to be men, they do not command influence or respect.

If you would be useful and happy when you arrive at mature years,
you must be affectionate and obedient as a child. It is invariably
true that the path of duty is the path of peace. The child who has
established principles