yourself. If you had plenty of money, ten chances to one it would spoil you for all useful purposes. Do you lack education? Remember that education, like some other things, does not consist in the multitude of things a man 5 possesses. What can you do? That is the question that settles the business for you. MARCO POLO NINA MOORE TIFFANY MRS. NINA MOORE TIFFANY is an American writer. Her historical stories for children are very popular. More than six hundred years ago Marco Polo, then 10 only a young boy, set out on a long and dangerous journey with his father and his father's brother. Venice was the home of the Polos. The city for which they were bound was one which no other Venetian had ever seen; it was Peking, the city of the Great Khan, in 15 the Far East. Marco Polo became a great favorite at the court of the Khan. As he grew older he was sent to many parts of the empire to attend to important matters; and he made notes of what he saw, that he might report everything 20 aright on his return. He went to the southern part of China, which had been conquered by the Khan, and found it a country studded with cities, and having gold, silver, silks, sugar, spices, and perfumes in plenty. The city of the Great Khan, that in which he held 5 his court in winter, was itself a very splendid one. The palace, or rather group of palaces, was four miles in circuit. Within, it shone with silver and with gold. In its spacious rooms were guarded precious jewels. Pearls, perfumes, and rich stuffs for garments filled the 10 shops of the Peking merchants. Scarce a day passed that there did not arrive hundreds of bales of silk for the making of satin, damask, and velvets. For seventeen years the three Venetians lived at the court of the Great Khan; he loaded them with favors, and 15 they gathered to themselves much wealth. There came a day, however, when they wished to return to Italy. The Khan was loath to have them go, but at last consented. On parting with his guests he gave them rich jewels and also tablets of gold on which were written orders that would 20 secure them food and shelter in all parts of his domain. The ships which carried the travelers swept along the coast of China, crossed the Bay of Bengal, touched at the island of Ceylon, and arrived at Ormuz after eighteen months on Indian seas. 25 25 The Polos then left their ships and prepared for a long journey through countries overrun by robber bands of savage men. In order that they might seem too humble to be attacked they dressed themselves as Tartars of the 5 poorest sort, but sewn into the seams and folds of their coarse Tartar garments were countless gems of untold worth. All the wealth which they had brought with them from the court of the Khan was hidden away thus beneath the rough robes which they put on for their journey. 10 In this same guise of wandering Tartars they arrived at Venice. They went to their old home, but the members of the family received them coldly. These bronzed, wild-looking strangers, claiming to be the Nicholas, Maffeo, and Marco, who had not been seen for seventeen 15 years, found scant welcome among their friends. But the three travelers knew how to alter that. They invited their kinsfolk and friends to a feast. The guests found their hosts no longer the ragged adventurers they had at first seemed to be. Each was dressed in garments 20 of crimson satin, such as he had worn in the East. When water had been served for the washing of hands, and the company were summoned to table, the travelers, who had retired, appeared again in still richer robes of crimson damask. The first dresses were then cut up and 25 given to the servants. After the first course was served the hosts again retired, and came in dressed in crimson velvet. Then the damask dresses were given away. The same was done at the end of the feast with their velvet robes, and then they appeared in the Venetian dress of the day. 5 Marco Polo now brought forth the coarse Tartar dresses in which the three travelers had arrived. Slashing them in several places with a knife, and ripping open the seams and linings, he displayed the rubies, sapphires, emeralds, diamonds, and other precious stones, which had been car- 10 ried in this manner through the perils of their long journey. The company were out of their wits with amazement, and now saw that these in truth were those honored gentlemen, the Polos, and paid them great respect and reverence. Some months after their return, Marco Polo, in a battle 15 with some Genoese, was taken prisoner, thrown in irons, and carried to Genoa. While waiting for his liberty he wrote a history of his travels, which set the whole world talking of the marvels he had seen. He was at last set free and returned to Venice. Adapted from Irving. Kublai Khan (koo'bli kän): the founder of the Mongol dynasty in China; died in 1296. Orʼmuz: an island in the Persian Gulf, small and barren, but famous in ancient times as a commercial center.—Tartars: the Ta-ta Mongols of the ninth and tenth centuries moved westward toward the plains of Russia. The name Tartar finds its derivation here, though the modern Tartars of Russia show little trace of Mongolian blood. 20 THE DIVER MRS. HEMANS MRS. FELICIA DOROTHEA HEMANS was born in England in 1793, and died in 1835. She was a popular writer of poetry, and her work is marked by unusual taste and feeling. "The Landing of the Pilgrim Fathers” is one of her best-known poems. Thou hast been where the rocks of coral grow, Thou hast looked on the gleaming wealth of old, And wrecks where the brave have striven: The deep is a strong and fearful hold, But thou its bar hast riven! A wild and weary life is thine: A wasting task and lone, Though treasure grots for thee may shine Woe for the wealth thus dearly bought! And are not those like thee, Who win for earth the gems of thought? O wrestler with the sea! |