The American sailors lifted the Chinaman on board their ship and hurried to get warm clothes and hot tea for him. But to their surprise he would not drink. He put up his hands to push away the cup, and seemed terribly afraid.

At last one of the officers said, "I believe the poor fellow thinks we are Germans; he thinks we are giving him poison!"

So the officer said to the Chinaman, "I am an American. We are all Americans." He said it over and over. And after a moment the Chinaman's eyes grew bright. He reached out for the hot tea, and drank it eagerly.

He was no longer afraid when he heard the words, "I am an American."

Just before America entered the Great War in 1917, we had an American Ambassador in Germany named James Gerard. Because England and France were at war with Germany, it was his duty to take care of all the English and French people in Germany. He had to do what the English and French Ambassadors would have done if they had been there.

One day Mr. Gerard was riding in a motor out in the country with two German officers, and he saw some women working in the fields. He said to a

German officer, "Those women do not look like peasants."

The German officer said that all the women in that part of the country dressed very well. He wanted to drive on.

But Mr. Gerard thought the women might be French prisoners, so he got out of the motor and started toward the nearest one.

When she saw a man coming toward her, the young girl rose from her knees where she had been working and started to run away.

Mr. Gerard called out, "Do not be afraid. I am an American."

The girl stood still, and when Mr. Gerard came nearer she came to him, weeping. She told him she was a slave in the hands of the German Army. She begged Mr. Gerard to get help from America. She was very happy to talk to him. She knew that no American would hurt her.

To the poor young French girl, and to the halfdead Chinaman, those words, "I am an American, meant that here was some one who could be trusted, some one who would be kind.

What do these words mean to us?

When we say, "I am an American," we are proud

and glad and thankful. But not many of us know how much reason we have to be proud and glad and thankful. In all the world to-day there are no people so fortunate as the people who can say, "I am an American."

Why this is so we shall find out more and more as we study our own history and the history of other countries. We shall find out still more when we grow up and travel to other countries. And now, while we are boys and girls, we can begin to learn about it.

Every little boy who goes to the Primary School can tell people what his name is, what street and town his home is in, and what his father's name is. He can say, "I am Johnnie Jones. I live at 2 A Street, Chicago, Illinois."

Now that we are bigger boys and girls we ought to be able to tell people what our National name is, and something about our larger home, our country.

That is what this book is for. Suppose we start right here, and say the rest of this chapter. We can study it carefully and then read it out loud:

I am an American. My country is the United States of America. My flag is the Stars and Stripes.

The Stars and Stripes fly over the school I go to, because it is an American public school. It was built

with public money, it is kept warm and clean with public money, and the teacher is paid with public money. "Public" means belonging to the people.

Every one in my school is protected by the laws of the United States of America, and by the American Army and Navy.

I go to school to learn to be a good citizen. All the people who belong to a country, either by birth or by choice, are citizens of that country. I am an American citizen.

It is an important thing to be an American citizen, because the American citizens govern the United States of America.

In some countries the citizens do not govern, but a King or a Queen governs. These countries are called monarchies, or kingdoms. "Monarchy" is just an other word for "kingdom." Spain is a kingdom, Prussia is a kingdom, Portugal is a kingdom. They are all monarchies.

A country where the citizens govern is called a republic. France is a republic, Switzerland is a republic, Argentina is a republic.

The United States of America was the first republic, and it is the greatest republic in the world. When I grow up I shall help govern the greatest republic in the world. I must study well now, so that I may be one of the best citizens in the world.

T

II

HE Stars and Stripes fly over the White House

in Washington because the President of the United States lives there, and the President is the head of our Government. The Stars and Stripes fly over the Post-Office in this town, too, because the Post-Office belongs to the Government.

What is "government"? Let us see.

Ten families move away into a new place, where there are no buildings, no laws, no police. In the ten families there are thirty children.