5 From one place to another Stevenson was taken to improve his health. When he grew up he spent a great deal of time in France, which is a near neighbor of England and Scotland, as you know. One of his most interesting journeys was in the south of France, in the company of a little donkey, which carried his food and his sleeping-bag. Some day you will read about his adventures in a book called Travels with a Donkey. He wrote another 10 travel-book about a journey in a canoe, partly in France and partly in Belgium. neys he came to America, the first time to California and the second time to the Adirondacks, where he hoped to find good health. 15 In two of his jour Stevenson's longest journey was in the South Sea, where for more than three years he sailed about from one beautiful island to another. At last he built a house on a mountain side in Samoa, where the weather is always warm, and the birds 20 sing and the flowers blossom all the year round. He died there in 1894, only forty-six years old, and he was buried on the top of the mountain, by the dark-skinned natives who loved him. In one of his poems, carved on his tombstone, he said, "glad did I live and gladly die." Stevenson was tall and thin, his brown eyes were large and very bright, and all his movements were graceful. His hair was allowed to grow long 5 and he usually wore a velvet jacket. Although he was ill nearly all his life, no one was ever more cheerful and gay or enjoyed life more. He was kindly and sympathetic and could talk delightfully so that every one loved him. Once his wash-10 woman's little son brought his pet canary "to amuse the sick gentleman." Stevenson is still loved and always will be, for he put himself into his books. He liked to work. When he was so ill that he 15 could not read or even speak aloud, he wrote some of the poems in A Child's Garden of Verses. Besides poems and books of travel, he wrote many stories, long and short. One of the most interesting is Treasure Island, a pirate story full of ad-20 venture written for boys. Girls enjoy it too. 5 10 15 20 TRAVEL I should like to rise and go Parrot Islands anchored lie, And, watched by cockatoos and goats, Lonely Crusoes building boats; Where in sunshine reaching out Eastern cities, miles about, Are with mosque and minaret Among sandy gardens set, And the rich goods from near and far Hang for sale in the bazaar; — Where the Great Wall round China goes, And on one side the desert blows, And with bell and voice and drum, Cities on the other hum; Where are forests, hot as fire, Wide as England, tall as a spire, And the negro hunter's huts; |