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HEROES EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW

TALES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE OF THE WORLD'S HEROES IN ALL AGES

——EDITED BY——

HAMILTON WRIGHT MABIE

ILLUSTRATED AND DECORATED BY BLANCHE OSTERTAG

INTRODUCTORY NOTE TO "HEROES EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW"

The endeavour has been made in this volume to bring together the heroic men of different races, periods and types; and in the selection of material the most attractive, intelligent and authoritative literature has been drawn upon. In cases in which the material selected belongs distinctively to the best literature, no changes have been made, although narratives have been abbreviated; in cases in which the material has a historical rather than a distinctively literary quality, the text has been treated for "substance of doctrine," and omissions have been freely made, and connecting words, phrases and even sentences have been introduced to give the narrative clear connection and completeness. In the preparation of the material for the volume the intelligence and skill of Miss Kate Stephens have been so freely used that she is entitled to the fullest recognition as associate editor.

H. W. M.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS TO "HEROES EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW"

The editor and publishers wish to extend their thanks and acknowledgment to the firms who have kindly permitted the use of material in this volume:

To The Macmillan Co. for selections from "Heroes of Chivalry and
Romance," "Stories of Charlemagne and the Peers of France," "Old
English History," "The Crusaders," "Father Damien: A Journey from
Cashmere to His Home in Hawaii"; to Thomas Nelson & Son for material
from "Martyrs and Saints of the First Twelve Centuries"; to J. M.
Dent & Co. for selections from "Stories from Le Morte d'Arthur and
The Mabinogion" in the Temple Classics for Young People; to E. P.
Dutton & Co. for material from "Chronicle of the Cid"; to Longmans,
Green & Co. for material from "The Book of Romance"; to John C.
Winston Co. for material from "Stories from History"; to Lothrop,
Lee & Shepard for material from "The True Story of Abraham Lincoln."

CONTENTS TO "HEROES EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW"

CHAPTER

INTRODUCTION

I. PERSEUS. Adapted from "The Heroes," by Charles Kingsley

II. HERCULES. By Kate Stephens

III. DANIEL. From Book of Daniel, Chapter vi., Verses 1 to 24

IV. DAVID. From I. Book of Samuel, Chapter xvii

    V. ST. GEORGE. Adapted from "Martyrs and Saints of the First
                   Twelve Centuries," by Mrs. E. Rundle Charles

   VI. KING ARTHUR. Adapted from "Stories from Le Morte d'Arthur and
                    the Mabinogion," by Beatrice Clay

  VII. SIR GALAHAD. Adapted from "Stories from Le Morte d'Arthur and
                    the Mabinogion," by Beatrice Clay; followed by
                    "Sir Galahad," by Alfred Tennyson

 VIII. SIEGFRIED. Adapted from "Heroes of Chivalry and Romance," by
                  A. J. Church

   IX. ROLAND. Adapted from "Stories of Charlemagne and the Peers of
               France," by A. J. Church

    X. KING ALFRED. Adapted from "Old English History," by E. A.
                    Freeman

   XI. THE CID. Adapted from "Chronicle of the Cid," from the Spanish,
                by Robert Southey

  XII. ROBIN HOOD. Adapted from "Book of Romance," edited by Andrew
                   Lang; including a version of the popular ballad,
                   "Robin Hood and the Butcher"

 XIII. RICHARD THE LION-HEARTED. Adapted from "The Crusaders," by A.
                                 J. Church

XIV. SAINT Louis. Adapted from "The Crusaders," by A. J. Church

   XV. WILLIAM TELL. Adapted from "Stories from History," by Agnes
                     Strickland

  XVI. ROBERT BRUCE. Adapted from "Tales of a Grandfather from
                     Scottish History," by Sir Walter Scott

 XVII. GEORGE WASHINGTON. Adapted from "Recollections and Private
                          Memoirs of Washington," by G. W. Parke Custis

XVIII. ROBERT E. LEE. From "Letters and Recollections of General
                      Lee," by Captain Robert E. Lee

  XIX. ABRAHAM: LINCOLN. Adapted from "The True Story of Abraham
                         Lincoln," by Elbridge S. Brooks

   XX. FATHER DAMIEN. Adapted from "Father Damien: A Journey from
                      Cashmere to His Home in Hawaii," by Edward
                      Clifford

INTRODUCTION TO "HEROES EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW"

If there had been no real heroes there would have been created imaginary ones, for men cannot live without them. The hero is just as necessary as the farmer, the sailor, the carpenter and the doctor; society could not get on without him. There have been a great many different kinds of heroes, for in every age and among every people the hero has stood for the qualities that were most admired and sought after by the bravest and best; and all ages and peoples have imagined or produced heroes as inevitably as they have made ploughs for turning the soil or ships for getting through the water or weapons with which to fight their enemies. To be some kind of a hero has been the ambition of spirited boys from the beginning of history; and if you want to know what the men and women of a country care for most, you must study their heroes. To the boy the hero stands for the highest success: to the grown man and woman he stands for the deepest and richest life.

Men have always worked with their hands, but they have never been content with that kind of work; they have looked up from the fields and watched the sun and stars; they have cut wood for their fires in the forest, but they have noticed the life which goes on among the trees and they have heard the mysterious sounds which often fill the air in the remotest places. From the beginning men have not only used their hands but their intellect and their imagination; they have had to work or starve, but they have seen the world, thought about it and dreamed about it.

They had worked and thought and dreamed only a little time before they began to explain the marvelous earth on which they found themselves and the strange things that happened in it; the vastness and beauty of the fields, woods, sky and