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Famous StoriesKing Canute On The SeashoreA hundred years or more after the time of Alfred the Great ... The Sons Of William The Conqueror There was once a great king of England who was called Wil-l... The Black Douglas In Scotland, in the time of King Robert Bruce, there lived ... Antonio Canova A good many years ago there lived in Italy a little boy who... The Blind Men And The Elephant There were once six blind men who stood by the road-side ev... Damon And Pythias A young man whose name was Pyth'i-as had done something whi... Diogenes The Wise Man At Cor-inth, in Greece, there lived a very wise man whose n... The Ungrateful Soldier Here is another story of the bat-tle-field, and it is much ... Pocahontas There was once a very brave man whose name was John Smith. ... Other Wise Men Of Gotham One day, news was brought to Gotham that the king was comin... Sir Philip Sidney A cruel battle was being fought. The ground was covered wit... How Napoleon Crossed The Alps About a hundred years ago there lived a great gen-er-al who... Sir Humphrey Gilbert More than three hundred years ago there lived in England a ... Three Men Of Gotham There is a town in England called Go-tham, and many merry s... The Story Of Cincinnatus There was a man named Cin-cin-na'tus who lived on a little ... Julius Caesar Nearly two thousand years ago there lived in Rome a man who... A Story Of Robin Hood In the rude days of King Rich-ard and King John there were ... The Inchcape Rock In the North Sea there is a great rock called the Inch-cape... The Barmecide Feast There was once a rich old man who was called the Bar-me-cid... The Kingdoms There was once a king of Prussia whose name was Frederick W... |
BRUCE AND THE SPIDERThere was once a king of Scot-land whose name was Robert Bruce. He had need to be both brave and wise, for the times in which he lived were wild and rude. The King of England was at war with him, and had led a great army into Scotland to drive him out of the land. Battle after battle had been fought. Six times had Bruce led his brave little army against his foes; and six times had his men been beaten, and driven into flight. At last his army was scat-tered, and he was forced to hide himself in the woods and in lonely places among the moun-tains. One rainy day, Bruce lay on the ground under a rude shed, lis-ten-ing to the patter of the drops on the roof above him. He was tired and sick at heart, and ready to give up all hope. It seemed to him that there was no use for him to try to do anything more. As he lay thinking, he saw a spider over his head, making ready to weave her web. He watched her as she toiled slowly and with great care. Six times she tried to throw her frail thread from one beam to another, and six times it fell short. "Poor thing!" said Bruce: "you, too, know what it is to fail." But the spider did not lose hope with the sixth failure. With still more care, she made ready to try for the seventh time. Bruce almost forgot his own troubles as he watched her swing herself out upon the slender line. Would she fail again? No! The thread was carried safely to the beam, and fas-tened there. "I, too, will try a seventh time!" cried Bruce. He arose and called his men together. He told them of his plans, and sent them out with mes-sa-ges of cheer to his dis-heart-ened people. Soon there was an army of brave Scotch-men around him. Another battle was fought, and the King of England was glad to go back into his own country. I have heard it said, that, after that day, no one by the name of Bruce would ever hurt a spider. The lesson which the little crea-ture had taught the king was never for-got-ten. Next: THE BLACK DOUGLAS Previous: A STORY OF ROBIN HOOD
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