The Progressive Road to Reading (Volume 4) (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos, missing text or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1919. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... A FOOT-RACE This is the story of the beautiful, swift-running girl Atalanta, as told by the ancient Greek poets. The father of Atalanta was bitterly disappointed when he learned that, instead of a son, a daughter had been born to him. He said he had more need of a son than of a daughter, and commanded that the infant girl should be taken out to the mountain near by and left there to die. It was a wicked custom of many ancient people to expose unwelcome children in the woods, and leave them there to die of hunger and thirst, or to be destroyed by wild beasts. It often happened, however, that a child thus left to die was discovered and rescued by some kind-hearted person, who thereafter cared for the unfortunate waif until he grew up to be able to care for himself. The servant to whom the father gave the babe to be carried away took the infant to the side of a rugged mountain, where he laid her down near a spring of water that bubbled up out of the ground. Near by this spring, in the rocky sides of the mountain, there was a deep cave, the opening oi which was darkly overhung by a thicket of small oak trees. A huge she-bear had taken possession of this cave as a place of shelter for herself and her litter of cubs. That same morning this bear had left her cave to hunt food for herself and family, leaving the little cubs snuggled together among the dry leaves in the cave. She thought they were safely hidden from all harm and danger. When she returned to the cave her little ones were gone, for a party of hunters had discovered them and taken them away. The loss of her cubs gave the mother bear great grief. She wandered about in distraction, searching in vain for her young ones. Soon she perceived the little child lying on a bed of moss near the entrance to her cave, a...