The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1872-05-18
From Our Young Folks.1
LIT EE EE Il Es o e s.
JACQUES FORREsTIER, JOSEPH BARRA, AND
PIETRO DA CORTONA.

AS you are all OLD enough to be school
children, you have probably read in your
histories something about Alexander;
who was, without doubt, the greatest
curQueriug hero of ancient times. To>
day If war is declared, men try to have
reason or at least pretext for ii but
In ancient times men conquered country
s.mply for the sake of proving that they
could do it. They r,.vaged kingdoms,
destroyed the people, RACED the cities, and
fred the country, in order to have the
noble pleasure Of saying that no one was
able to prevent their doing all these grand
things.
Now, although Alexander was very
generous and had a great many very noble
and luvablc traits about him, and al
though many Of his acts would attract
any high spirited boy (the tanning of the
wild horse BucephAlus, for instance) and
fill him with a spirit akin to that which
actua;ed Alexander, yet his is not The
kind Of heroism that | should wish you TO
emulate. Accordingly l will tell you one
or two stories of other kinds of heroisIn.
There is fable that Lysimachus, Lav-
ing offended the Emperor Alexander, was
thrown into the arena 10 struggle with "a
iamished lion, which was way they
had of punishiEg offenders in those times.
When the inturiaIed animal rushed upon
him, Lysimachus suddenly wrapped his
arm III bis mantle, spraug forward, seized
the lions tongue aud tore It out, which
so wounded The beast that he died. De-
fore passing Judgment upon the probabili
~ of this story, l wish you to hear
another which l believe, because dates
and localities are given which seem 10 be
in some measure a guaranty Of its truth.
About the beginning Of the last Gems
tuIy, in a certain village in France near
Fitry, in Champagne, there lived a peas
ant, the fuher of boy very small for
his aye, who was called Jacques Forres-
tier. In that couutry the very name Of
wolf is IL terror to all childien and 10 most
grown people. In the winter when the
ground - covered with SNOW, an encouu-
ter with wolves is anything but pleasant,
for, urged by famine, they do not hesitate
to attack even men. Now Jacques, who
haG :; horror of these cruel beasts, and
who, being gifted with a valiant heart,
desired 10 exierminaie them all, demanded
Of his father one day how lie could best
tight them ''for, added lie, Iii | meet
one | mean to Kill it."
Considering tins question as dictated
by the simple curiosity of The little fell
low, or by his childish vanity, the father
answered by repeating pleasantly which
b.a h..H I.ti, 10 T,.la nv
jugsIer trying 10 amuse the slmpie villa
gers. Il viii tell you the surest way TO
kill a wolf, Jacques. As he always
comes upon you with his mouth wide
open, thrust Your arm down his throat,
until you reach the tail then pulling at
his tail, you turn your wolf, Ike d stock
ing, inside out"
But, said Jacques, who took 1t all
seriously, Il am SMALL my arm would
not reach to the tail OF the wolf p
In that case" answered the father,
Il think that in thrusting the fist We IL
down the throat you will succeed in chok-
ing him y
Good Thank you - said the child,
who went away thoughtful on one side
While the fNther went away smiling on
the other.
That year Q789) The winter was very
/ severe. The country was covered wiki
snow and the wolves pushed their ex>
/ ploraiions, III open day, INTO the middle
| of the villages aud even into the very
! farm yards. One morning The parents OF
Jacques, having gone Out, had left him in
the house 10 take care Of his little sister,
yet in Tie cradle, fhe door, which was
left uulatched, opened suddenly, and a
young wolf appeared. 1t had doubtless
/ smelt the tender flesh and without cere-
mony it sprang directly towards the Sleep
ing Child.
But the famished creature had count
ed without the lesson given to little
Jacques, who had taken it very seriously
and had thought it over many times
Without hesitating a moment, he threw
himself before the wolf, which turned
/ fu:iously against him; and, closing his
fist, the brave boy thrust i: into the
mouth of the animal. The wolf s;rug-
gled, but Jacques, pressing his other hand
upon his meek, pushed it to ihe angle OF
the wall, where lie hold il tightly squeezed,
with his fist crammed down lis throat,
] until the beast rolled suffocaied upon the
flags. His excitement and the effort that
he was obliged to make had exhausted
the little vanquisher, and he fell fainting
beside the vanquished. When the parents
returned. imagine their surprise and terror
at seeing the wolf and the child crouched
side by side When Jacques came to
/ himself his first words were, "MY little
sister! The wolf has not eaten her 2
Joseph Barra, at the age Of twelve
wears, was drummer boy in the army
of The Republic. One day, by the for
times Of war, he fell into the hands o.
the enemy, who supported the cause o
IL L;n The fierce soldiers surrounded