ARBOR DA Y MANUAL. 
135 
HISTORICAL TREES—Told in Rhyme. 
FOR A CLASS EXERCISE. 
All: 
O NE by one we are turning 
The leaves of Time’s dusty book, 
And wonderful legends are written 
On each storied page we look. 
Legends of Indian warfare, 
Of crossing a trackless sea. 
Of hunger and cold endured by all. 
For the sake of being free. 
Far back when the world was younger 
The Romans, the stories say, 
When some wonderful thing had happened 
With a white stone marked the day. 
But instead of a stone for remembrance, 
We mark by a tall green tree, 
Full many a great event that’s passed 
Since the Mayflower crossed the sea. 
First Child : 
So looking adown the centuries 
To those early frontier days, 
And ancient Philadelphia 
With its quaint old Quaker ways. 
I see ’neath the sachem’s elm-tree, 
Penn and his fearless band. 
And the plumed and painted warriors 
Around him on ev’ry hand. 
Second Child : 
Here he called the Indian brothers 
And treated them like men, 
And none of the Indians ever broke 
That treaty made with Penn. 
Third Child : 
And even the British foemen 
Respected that ancient tree, 
And placed a guard to protect it 
From their hireling soldiery. 
Fourth Child : 
But ere another century 
Had been told above its head, 
A strong wind swept above it, 
And the ancient elm lay dead. 
