lies far less in implements
than in the use we make of them. What one man throws away as useless,
another man seizes as the best means of victory at hand. For every one
of us the materials for achievement are sufficient. The spirit that
prompts us is what ultimately counts.

This I beheld, or dreamed it in a dream:--
There spread a cloud of dust along a plain;
And underneath the cloud, or in it, raged
A furious battle, and men yelled, and swords
Shocked upon swords and shields. A prince's banner
Wavered, then staggered backward, hemmed by foes.
A craven hung along the battle's edge,
And thought, "Had I a sword of keener steel--
That blue blade that the king's son bears,--but this
Blunt thing--!" he snapt and flung it from his hand,
And lowering crept away and left the field.
Then came the king's son, wounded, sore bestead,
And weaponless, and saw the broken sword,
Hilt-buried in the dry and trodden sand,
And ran and snatched it, and with battle-shout
Lifted afresh he hewed his enemy down,
And saved a great cause that heroic day.

_Edward Rowland Sill._

From "Poems."

[Illustration: JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY]

MY PHILOSOPHY

Though dogs persist in barking at the moon, the moon's business is not
to answer the dogs or to waste strength placating them, but simply to
shine. The man who strives or succeeds is sure to be criticized. Is he
therefore to abstain from all effort? We are responsible for our own
lives and cannot regulate them according to other people's ideas. "Whoso
would be a man," says Emerson, "must be a nonconformist."

I allus argy that a man
Who does about the best he can
Is plenty good enugh to suit
This lower mundane institute--
No matter ef his daily walk
Is subject fer his neghbor's talk,
And critic-minds of ev'ry whim
Jest all git up and go fer him!

* * * * *

It's natchurl enugh, I guess,
When some gits more and some gits less,
Fer them-uns on the slimmest side
To claim it ain't a fare divide;
And I've knowed some to lay and wait,
And git up soon, and set up late,
To ketch some feller they could hate
For goin' at a faster gait.

* * * * *

My doctern is to lay aside
Contensions, and be satisfied:
Jest do your best, and praise er blame
That follers that, counts jest the same.
I've allus noticed grate success
Is mixed with