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GEORGE WASHINGTON AND HIS HATCHET . When George Washington was quite a little boy , his father gave him a hatchet . It was bright and new , and George took great delight in going about and chopping things with it . He ran into the garden , and there he saw a tree which seemed to say to him , " Come and cut me down ! " George had often seen his father's men chop down the great trees in the forest , and he thought that it would be fine sport to see this tree fall with a crash to the ground . So he set to work with his little hatchet , and , as the tree was a very small one , it did not take long to lay it low . Soon after that , his father came home . " Who has been cutting my fine young cherry tree ? " he cried . " It was the only tree of its kind in this country , and it cost me a great deal of money . " He was very angry when he came into the house . " If I only knew who killed that cherry tree , " he cried , " I would — yes , I would " — " Father ! " cried little George . " I will tell you the truth about it . I chopped the tree down with my hatchet . " His father forgot his anger . " George , " he said , and he took the little fellow in his arms , " George , I am glad that you told me about it . I would rather lose a dozen cherry trees than that you should tell one falsehood . " GRACE DARLING . It was a dark September morning . There was a storm at sea . A ship had been driven on a low rock off the shores of the Farne Islands . It had been broken in two by the waves , and half of it had been washed away . The other half lay yet on the rock , and those of the crew who were still alive were clinging to it . But the waves were dashing over it , and in a little while it too would be carried to the bottom . Could any one save the poor , half - drowned men who were there ? On one of the islands was a lighthouse ; and there , all through that stormy night , Grace Darling had listened to the storm . Grace was the daughter of the lighthouse keeper , and she had lived by the sea as long as she could remember . In the darkness of the night , above the noise of the winds and waves , she heard screams and wild cries . When daylight came , she could see the wreck , a mile away , with the angry waters all around it . She could see the men clinging to the masts . " We must try to save them ! " she cried . " Let us go out in the boat at once ! " " It is of no use , Grace , " said her father . " We cannot reach them . " He was an old man , and he knew the force of the mighty waves . " We cannot stay here and see them die , " said Grace . " We must at least try to save them . " Her father could not say , " No . " In a few minutes they were ready . They set off in the heavy lighthouse boat . Grace pulled one oar , and her father the other , and they made straight toward the wreck . But it was hard rowing against such a sea , and it seemed as though they would never reach the place .
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