3. A bird flew down the chimney into the room. 4. The dog ran from me toward the baby.

5. That violet grew in the garden among the daisies. 6. The ducks flew above the hunters across the river. 7. He came out before the curtain near the end of the

program.

8. The man walked up the hill through the woods. b. Draw one line under each preposition (17); two lines under the object of each preposition.

c. Diagram the following sentences:

1. The famous hunter shot a grizzly bear.
2. The boy accidentally hurt me.

3. Immediately that bad boy ran away.

60. THE PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE AS A MODIFIER Find the prepositional phrases in this sentence:

A big boy in my class swam quickly across the river. In the sentence above, "big" modifies the noun "boy" and hence is an adjective. A prepositional phrase may also modify a noun, and is, therefore, like an adjective in use. The prepositional phrase "in my class" modifies the noun "boy."

What does "quickly" modify and what part of speech is it? The prepositional phrase "across the river" modifies the verb "swam" and hence is like an adverb in its use.

a. In the following sentences select the modifiers of the nouns and the verbs and tell whether they are word or phrase modifiers.

1. The little children in our school went to the woods

yesterday for a picnic.

2. The big oak tree stands near the well.

3. My father built his house of brick.

4. The path by the brook wound pleasantly along.
5. The beauty of the sunset still lingers in my

memory.

Prepositional phrases are diagrammed below the words they modify, as:

Cortés, with a band of four hundred and fifty men, landed at Yucatan. They had six small cannon and fifteen horses. The men were clad in Spanish armor. They marched across the country, making friends with some of the native tribes, and fighting others, as they went. There had been a legend in the land of Mexico that some day a great white god would land on the eastern shores and drive out the evil god that ruled the country. So as Cortés drew near the golden city of Mexico the natives welcomed him as the long-promised god. They fell on their faces, and worshiped him.

But Montezuma feared this stranger, and sent him gifts, hoping that he would turn back. He made him presents of shields and helmets decorated with gold. He gave him collars and bracelets of pure gold, and head ornaments

of different colored feathers in which were wound gold and silver threads. He sent pearls and precious stones, imitations of birds and animals cast in silver and gold of finest workmanship, beautiful curtains, robes, and silks. But, of course, when Cortés saw all these treasures he became all the more determined to make Montezuma's rich kingdom his own. That was the way with most of the explorers and adventurers of that time.

Cortés and his followers pushed on to Mexico and entered the city. At first he tried to make the people believe he was the god for whom they had been looking. His plan was to fool them in this way until he was in a good position to capture the city. But soon the Aztecs began to distrust the greedy strangers, and made a plot against them. Hearing of this, Cortés managed to capture Montezuma and hold him as a hostage. He thought if he did this the people would not rise against him.

But Cortés was mistaken. His sly plan failed to work. The people chose Montezuma's brother for their king, and it was not long before a terrific battle broke out.

The Aztecs were terrible fighters. They swarmed about the Spaniards, hurling stones and arrows into their midst, killing scores of them. The Spaniards fought bravely and stubbornly, but were finally forced to withdraw from the city, leaving hundreds of their dead behind.

Cortés led away what was left of his little army. But his mind was still set on capturing the city and its wealth. He was greedy for gold, and cared not for human life. He sent to Cuba for more Spanish soldiers and horses, and gathered together a great army of natives who were enemies of the Aztecs. Then he made one last and successful attack on the City of Mexico.

The story of the final siege and capture is a terrible and bloody one. The Aztecs fought like wild beasts. All

the Spaniards that they took in battle they dragged to the top of the great pyramid and killed on the altar. The Aztecs were fighting for their homes and their very existence. The Spaniards were fighting for gold and for a new kingdom. For a long time it could not have been said which would win. But at last the Spaniards succeeded in cutting off the supply of fresh water from the city. The Aztecs were forced to give way, and the great capital of Mexico fell into the hands of the conquerors. In this way Spain got control of the land of Mexico, which she held for three hundred years.

From Difficulties of History Texts Simply Explained, by

P. F. VALENTINE

Prepare to tell the account in class. Read first to find how the story ends, then read again carefully to fix the facts in mind. Lay aside the book, and, using the following outline, tell the story to yourself, sentence by sentence. Refer to the book to confirm any fact about which you are in doubt. The advance on Mexico.

The number of men; equipment.

The legend concerning the white god.

The gifts sent by Montezuma.

The conqueror in the city.

His plans; the people distrust him.

Montezuma held; uprising of people.

Defeat of the Spaniards.

The final capture.

Cortés' army reinforced; bloody battle; capture of city. Using the first sentence of each paragraph as an outline, tell the whole story once more.

Find appropriate words and expressions that will help you give an interesting account.

While the story is being told, listen to see if the principal facts are related in good order, and if any errors in speech occur. Give special attention to the verbs. Be ready to correct any errors noticed.

62. A LANGUAGE LESSON

You will learn the correct use of many prepositions through reading good books. Some prepositions, however, may be definitely studied, as their use does not vary.

Read carefully:

1. The woman divided her fortune between Mary and John.

2. She brought enough candy to divide among the children in every class.

Sentence I shows a correct use of the preposition between. How many persons are mentioned? Sentence 2 shows that among is used when more than two persons are mentioned.

In which of the following sentences is motion toward something indicated by the preposition? 1. She jumped into the carriage.

2. Mary was sitting in the carriage. Notice the preposition following different:

1. This book is quite different from that one. The following sentence shows that wait on means to attend, as:

1. The girls waited on their parents at the luncheon. but,

2. They waited for their playmates to go with them.