Lost and Found

1916

Ralph was kicking up the dust along the road on the way home from the little corner store. Then he came upon a bundle lying in the road, where perhaps it had been dropped from a passing automobile. It was a long, knobby, interesting bundle, and he picked it up and ran the rest of the way home.

He gave mother the spool of thread, and then took the bundle out to the barn without saying anything about it. Then when he opened it he found a bow and a dozen arrows. Now for a month Ralph had been wanting a bow and arrows, and hinting to the family that they would be an acceptable gift. So far no one had taken the hint.

Yet here they were, almost as if they had dropped out of the sky. He handled them lovingly. He felt there was nothing else in the world he wanted so badly. He fitted an arrow in, and shot at the old straw hat that hung on the barn door. The arrow pierced the hat. It was a fine bow. He wanted to take it to the orchard and put up a mark to shoot at. But suppose the boy that really owned it should see him!

Then Ralph was ashamed. The bow was not his. He was hiding in the barn because he didn't dare let anybody see it. And the real owner probably was wishing for it very much. Ralph hushed that voice that said, "Finders, keepers."

"Things that you find don't belong to you unless you've tried to find the real owner and can't do it," said Ralph stoutly. And he knew that was right. He went outside. Nearly all the boys of that end of town were at the ball game over in Singer's pasture. Ralph went to one group after another. "I found a package in the road," he said. "Whoever lost it can have it if they describe it so I know it is theirs."

In the third group Jamie Rainess jumped up and ran to Ralph. "Say," he whispered, "was it a bow and arrows? I lost one today."

"Yes," said Ralph; "come over to the barn and I'll give it to you."

"That's the one," said Jamie as soon as he saw it. "My! but I felt awful to lose it. I'm glad to get it back. I just didn't know what to do about it."

But such an astonishing thing happened two days later. When Ralph came home from grandma's there was a shout of "Surprise!" and the house was full of boys and girls who had come for his birthday. And the present from Jamie was the same bow and arrows!

Just suppose Ralph hadn't given it back! — Christian Standard.

Long Bow Stories — Old Legends, Maybe Some Fact

1907

Legends of the Famous Archers of the Remote Past

Many "long bow" stories may be cited in the literature of the world, and by far the greater part of them had their origin in the remote past.

Vergil, in the "Aeneid," tells of four archers who were shooting for a prize, the mark being a pigeon tied by a cord to the mast of a ship. The first man hit the mast, the second cut the cord, and the third shot the pigeon as it flew away. The fourth archer, having nothing left at which to shoot, drew his bow and sent his arrow flying toward the sky with such speed that the friction of the air set the feathers on fire, and it swept on like a meteor to disappear in the clouds. That is a bow and arrow story that tests the strongest powers of credulity.

The stories of Robin Hood's archery, illustrated by his wonderful performance as Locksley in Scott's "Ivanhoe," are also a decided strain on one's power of belief.

The famous legend of William Tell is believed by some to have a foundation in fact. There was a Dane named Foke of whom the same story was told, and William of Cloudesley, an Englishman, is said to have shot an apple from his son's head merely to show his skill.

The majority of bow and arrow stories relate to the accurate aim of the archers, but a Frenchman, Blaise de Vigenere, tells one in which the main point is the tremendous force with which an arrow may be propelled if the bow is strong and long enough. According to his own account of the matter, he saw Barbarossa, a Turk, admiral of a ship called the Grand Solyman, send an arrow from his bow clean through a cannon ball. Whether the cannon ball had a hole in it or not he neglects to inform us.

Perhaps the most astounding of all stories about arrow shooting is that of the Indians who used to inhabit Florida. It is said that a group of them would form a circle; one would throw an ear of corn into the air; the rest would shoot at it and shell it of every grain before it fell to the ground. Sometimes the arrows would strike the ear of corn so hard and fast that it would remain suspended in the air several minutes, and the cob never fell until the last grain had been shot away. — Chicago Record-Herald.