anxious search for just such individuals. Anything such a man asks shall be granted. His kind is so rare that no employer can afford to let him go.

He is wanted in every city, town, and

village-in every office, shop, store, and factory.

The world cries out for such; he is needed, and needed badly -the man who can carry A MESSAGE TO GARCIA.

NOTES AND QUESTIONS

Biography. Elbert Hubbard (1859-1915), a native of Bloomington, Illinois, was one of the ill-fated passengers on board the Lusitania when it was sunk. He was an author and lecturer, his message being the joy of work well done. He founded the Roycroft Shop, in East Aurora, New York, which is devoted to the making of fine editions of books.

The author tells us that this "literary trifle,” “A Message to Garcia," was written February 22, 1899, after supper, in a single hour, and after a particularly trying day. It was suggested to him by a discussion, over the teacups, of the Spanish-American war, his son maintaining that Rowan was the real hero of the war. The day after "A Message to Garcia” was published, the New York Central Railway ordered reprints of it, distributing over a million copies among its employees. The story has been translated into all written languages, and the author estimated that during his lifetime, "Thanks to a series of lucky accidents," forty million copies had been printed.

Garcia (1836-1898) was a Cuban patriot who gave valuable aid to the American forces during the Spanish-American war. At the close of the war he was made chief of a commission to discuss with President McKinley the future of Cuba. Andrew Rowan (1857-), a West Point graduate, was promoted to the office of lieutenant-colonel of the United States army for the service described in this sketch.

Discussion. 1. Read the selection through silently, testing by the following outline how much you have retained: (a) what Rowan did; (b) what young men need; (c) testing a group of clerks; (d) the probable result of the test; (e) the stenographer, the bookkeeper; (f) the case of the employer; (g) the man who succeeds. 2. Discuss whether or not, in your opinion, the author is too hard on "help." 3. Why did the New York Central Railway distribute copies among its employees? What resolve did you make after reading "A Message to Garcia"? 4. Who are the "Rowans" in your school? 5. Compare the devotion of Rowan with that of the hero of the "Incident of the French Camp." 6. Which is the greater, devotion to a cause or to a leader? 7. Find in the Glossary the meaning of: Insurgents; coöperation; traversed; vertebrae; concentrate; appalled; imbecility; memorandum; accountant; maudlin; denizens; incompetent; rapacious; missive. 8. Pronounce: horizon; encyclopedia; Correggio; civilization.

THE BUILDING OF THE SHIP

HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW.

"Build me straight, O worthy Master!
Stanch and strong, a goodly vessel,
That shall laugh at all disaster,

And with wave and whirlwind wrestle!"

The merchant's word

Delighted the Master heard;

For his heart was in his work, and the heart
Giveth grace unto every Art.

A quiet smile played round his lips,
10 As the eddies and dimples of the tide
Play round the bows of ships

That steadily at anchor ride.

And with a voice that was full of glee,
He answered, "Ere long we will launch
15 A vessel as goodly, and strong, and stanch,
As ever weathered a wintry sea!"

And first with nicest skill and art,
Perfect and finished in every part,
A little model the Master wrought,
20 Which should be to the larger plan.
What the child is to the man,

Its counterpart in miniature;

That with a hand more swift and sure
The greater labor might be brought

25 To answer to his inward thought.
And as he labored, his mind ran o'er
The various ships that were built of yore,
And above them all, and strangest of all,
Towered the Great Harry, crank and tall,
30 Whose picture was hanging on the wall,
With bows and stern raised high in air,

And balconies hanging here and there,
And signal lanterns and flags afloat,

And eight round towers, like those that frown
From some old castle, looking down

Upon the drawbridge and the moat;

And he said, with a smile, "Our ship, I wis,
Shall be of another form than this!"

It was of another form, indeed;

Built for freight, and yet for speed,

10 A beautiful and gallant craft;

Broad in the beam, that the stress of the blast,

Pressing down upon sail and mast,

Might not the sharp bows overwhelm;
Broad in the beam, but sloping aft
15 With graceful curve and slow degrees,
That she might be docile to the helm,
And that the currents of parted seas,
Closing behind, with mighty force,
Might aid and not impede her course.

20 In the shipyard stood the Master, With the model of the vessel,

That should laugh at all disaster,

And with wave and whirlwind wrestle!

Covering many a rood of ground,

25 Lay the timber piled around;

Timber of chestnut, and elm, and oak,
And scattered here and there, with these,
The knarred and crooked cedar knees;
Brought from regions far away,

30 From Pascagoula's sunny bay,

And the banks of the roaring Roanoke!
Ah! what a wondrous thing it is

To note how many wheels of toil

One thought, one word, can set in motion!

There's not a ship that sails the ocean,
But every climate, every soil,

Must bring its tribute, great or small,
And help to build the wooden wall!

The sun was rising o'er the sea,
And long the level shadows lay,
As if they, too, the beams would be
Of some great, airy argosy,

Framed and launched in a single day; 10 That silent architect, the sun,

Had hewn and laid them every one,
Ere the work of man was yet begun.
Beside the Master, when he spoke,
A youth, against an anchor leaning,
15 Listened, to catch his slightest meaning.
Only the long waves, as they broke
In ripples on the pebbly beach,
Interrupted the old man's speech.

Beautiful they were, in sooth,

20 The old man and the fiery youth!
The old man, in whose busy brain
Many a ship that sailed the main
Was modeled o'er and o'er again;
The fiery youth, who was to be
25 The heir of his dexterity,

The heir of his house and his daughter's hand
When he had built and launched from land

What the elder head had planned.

"Thus," said he, "will we build this ship! 80 Lay square the blocks upon the slip, And follow well this plan of mine. Choose the timbers with greatest care; Of all that is unsound beware; For only what is sound and strong

To this vessel shall belong.

Cedar of Maine and Georgia pine
Here together shall combine.

A goodly frame, and a goodly fame,
And the UNION be her name!

For the day that gives her to the sea
Shall give my daughter unto thee!"

The Master's word

Enraptured the young man heard;
10 And as he turned his face aside,
With a look of joy and a thrill of pride,
Standing before

Her father's door,

He saw the form of his promised bride.

15 The sun shone on her golden hair,

And her cheek was glowing fresh and fair, With the breath of morn and the soft sea air. Like a beauteous barge was she,

Still at rest on the sandy beach,

20 Just beyond the billow's reach;
But he

Was the restless, seething, stormy sea!
Ah, how skillful grows the hand
That obeyeth Love's command!

25 It is the heart, and not the brain,
That to the highest doth attain,
And he who followeth Love's behest
Far exceedeth all the rest!

Thus with the rising of the sun

80 Was the noble task begun,

And soon throughout the shipyard's bounds

Were heard the intermingled sounds

Of axes and of mallets, plied

With vigorous arms on every side;

30 Plied so deftly and so well