How June Found Massa Linkum _Elizabeth S. Phelps_ The Story of a Forest Fire _Raymond S. Spears_ ILLUSTRATIONS CATHERINE DOUGLAS THRUST HER ARM THROUGH THE EMPTY STAPLES How Catherine Douglas Tried to Save King James of Scotland _Frontispiece illustration in color from the painting by J. R. Skelton_ HE SHOOK HIS CLENCHED FIST AT THE OBSTRUCTED SEA-STRAIT The Boy Viking--Olaf II of Norway _From the drawing by Gertrude Demain Hammond_ "FIGHT ON!" CRIED THE MAID; "THE PLACE IS OURS" The Story of Joan of Arc _From the painting by William Rainey_ THEN HE OFFERED A FERVENT PRAYER OF THANKS A Story of Christopher Columbus PREFACE The stories in this volume are true stories, and have been arranged in chronological order, an arrangement that will aid the reader to remember the times to which the stories relate. Almost any encyclopedia can be consulted for general details of the life stories of the interesting people whose names crowd the volume except perhaps in the cases of Peter Williamson and John Tanner, "The True Story of a Kidnapped Boy," and "A White Boy Among the Indians." Peter Williamson was kidnapped in Glasgow, Scotland, when he was eight years old, was captured by the Cherokee Indians in 1745, and (though the story does not tell this) he returned to England and became a prominent citizen. He first made the British Government pay damages for his kidnapping, gave the first exhibition in England of Indian war dances, and was the first Englishman to publish a street directory. He was finally pensioned by the Government for his services in establishing a penny post. John Tanner, the son of a clergyman, was stolen by the Indians some years later. His mother died when he was very young, his father treated him harshly, and so when the Indians kidnapped him he made no effort to escape. John remained among them until he was an old man, and the story of his life, which he was obliged to dictate to others as he could neither read nor write, was first published about 1830. The stories of these boys are considered to be two of the most reliable early accounts we possess of life among the Indians. Acknowledgment for permission to include several stories included in this volume is made in Volume X. WILLIAM PATTEN. HOW PHIDIAS HELPED THE IMAGE-MAKER By Beatrice Harraden During the time when Pericles was at the head of the state at Athens he spared no pains and no money to make the city beautiful. He himself was a lover and patron of the arts, and he was determined that Athens should become the very centre of art and refinement, and that she should have splendid public buildings and splendid sculptures and paintings. So he gathered round him all the great sculptors and painters, and set them to work to carry out his ambitious plans; and some of you know that the "Age of Pericles" is still spoken of as an age in which art advanced towards and attained to a marvellous perfection.