[Illustration] Stories of Great Americans for Little Americans by Edward Eggleston AUTHOR OF “TRUE STORIES OF AMERICAN LIFE AND ADVENTURE” “A FIRST BOOK IN AMERICAN HISTORY” AND “A HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES AND ITS PEOPLE FOR THE USE OF SCHOOLS” 1895 Contents PREFACE The First Governor in Boston Marquette in Iowa Indian Pictures William Penn and the Indians One Little Bag of Rice The Story of a Wise Woman Franklin his own Teacher How Franklin found out Things Franklin asks the Sunshine something Franklin and the Kite Franklin’s Whistle Too much for the Whistle John Stark and the Indians A Great Good Man Putnam and the Wolf Washington and his Hatchet How Benny West learned to be a Painter Washington’s Christmas Gift How Washington got out of a Trap Washington’s Last Battle Marion’s Tower Clark and his Men Daniel Boone and his Grapevine Swing Daniel Boone’s Daughter and her Friends Decatur and the Pirates Stories about Jefferson A Long Journey Captain Clark’s Burning Glass Quicksilver Bob The First Steamboat Washington Irving as a Boy Don’t give up the Ship Grandfather’s Rhyme The Star-spangled Banner How Audubon came to know about Birds Audubon in the Wild Woods Hunting a Panther Some Boys who became Authors Daniel Webster and his Brother Webster and the Poor Woman The India-rubber Man Doctor Kane in the Frozen Sea A Dinner on the Ice Doctor Kane gets out of the Frozen Sea Longfellow as a Boy Kit Carson and the Bears Horace Greeley as a Boy Horace Greeley learning to Print A Wonderful Woman The Author of “Little Women” My Kingdom A Song from the Suds PREFACE. The primary aim of this book is to furnish the little learner reading matter that will excite his attention and give him pleasure, and thus make lighter the difficult task of learning to read. The ruggedness of this task has often been increased by the use of disconnected sentences, or lessons as dry and uninteresting as finger exercises on the piano. It is a sign of promise that the demand for reading matter of interest to the child has come from teachers. I have endeavored to meet this requirement in the following stories. As far as possible the words chosen have been such as are not difficult to the little reader, either from their length or their unfamiliarity. The sentences and paragraphs are short. Learning to read is like climbing a steep hill, and it is a great relief to the panting child to find frequent breathing places.