"What will happen if Pythias does not return?"

"I will die for him," said Damon.

This surprised Dionysius very much. He put Damon in prison and Pythias
went home. Weeks went by and Pythias did not return. At last the day
of execution came, and Damon was led out to be put to death. He said:
"Pythias will come if he is alive. I can trust him absolutely."

Just then soldiers ran up shouting: "Here he comes! Here he comes!"

Yes, there was Pythias, breathless with haste. He had been shipwrecked
on his journey and had been cast ashore many miles away.

Dionysius was greatly moved. "You are both free," said he. "I would
give all I have for one such friend. Will you let me become a friend
to you both?"

_Lincoln's Unvarying Kindness_

FANNY E. COE

Abraham Lincoln, the great President of the United States, loved not
only men, women and children, but animals as well. If he saw an animal
in trouble of any sort he always stopped to aid it. Even in the most
crowded day he found time to be merciful.

When Abraham was twenty-one he helped his father to move to the West.
Other friends went, too. They packed their goods in large waggons
drawn by oxen. It was quite a little company.

They started on their journey in February. The roads were heavy with
frost and mud. There were no bridges, and so the streams must be
forded. Again and again they had to break the ice to let the wheels
pass.

At one of these fords a little dog was left behind on the farther
shore. He ran up and down the bank and howled pitifully, but no one
seemed to notice him. At last tall, bony Abe Lincoln turned.

The dog looked pleadingly at him. "Am I to be left behind to die in
this wilderness?" his soft dark eyes seemed to say.

Lincoln hesitated. The water of the river was icy cold. However, he
took off his shoes, turned up his trousers, and waded across. He
caught up the shivering little animal, which licked his hands and face
in a very passion of gratitude.

When Lincoln set him down on the right side of the river, the little
dog showed his gladness by leaping upon everyone and barking wildly.

"His frantic leaps of joy repaid me for what I had done," said
Lincoln.

Years afterward, when Lincoln was a busy lawyer, he was one day riding
to court on horseback. With him were some friends of his who were also
lawyers.

The small party had some distance to go. The day was warm and the
roadsides were soft with spring mud.

Suddenly th