THE by Stephen rane

This is a war story. It is

ERO
about the Civil War.
PART I
The army had been
were hungry and thirsty.fighting
Their
all day. The men were
tired. They
Fred Collins turned to someuniforms were covered with earth.
men nearby. Collins was
mouth was dry. Collins said, "I wish Ihad a drink. Is thirsty. His
5
around here?" there any water
Nobody answered. Then someone yelled,
There goes Turner!" "Look over there!
They saw a horse with a soldier on its
rushed forward. Then something exploded'back. near
The horse suddenly
10
soldier threw up his hands. He tried to cover his the horse. The
late. Smoke filled the air. There face. But it was too
were flames all around.
The horse fell forward. The soldier fell to
was filled with a terrible burning smell.
the ground. The air
Collins shook his head and turned away. No one
said a word.
15
Everyone was quiet.
Collins looked across the field. He saw grass at
field. He saw an old house that had been hit by the end of the
house was falling down. Only one wall of the houseshells. The old
was still
standing.
20
Collins saw a barn. He saw that the roof of the barn
Near the barn was a well. was burning.
Collins said, "I wish I had a drink." He
turnedto a soldier at his
side. Collins said, "There's a well up there at the
bet there's water in that end of the field. I
well."

l. exploded: burst or blew up with a loud noise.

12 TiHL HERO
 you get it? You can't go
25 "Yes," said the soldier. "But how can
across the field."
exploded here and there.
Collins looked at the field again. Shells Bullets
the air. Grass rained down.
Pieces of earth were thrown up in
flew.
soldier said.
"It's getting worse out there," the last
There was a loud crash and the
30
A shell struck the old house.
old house was gone.
wall fell down. When the smoke cleared, the
There's water in that well. I
Collins said, "The well is still there.
drink."
sure wish I hada
much, why don't you go
The soldier said, "If you want a drink so
soldier laughed. Soon all the
35

get it?" He laughed. Then another

soldiers were laughing.
laughing. "l will go!" he
Collins got angry when he saw them
shut up!"
said. "Ilgo in a minute if you don't
soldier said.
40 The soldiers laughed again."Yousay you'll go," a
those
"But will you run through that field? Willyou run past
bullets?"
"I'm not afraid to go!" Collins said. "Itell you, I'll go!"
Then one of the men said, "Idare you to go!"
45 Collins stared at the man and shook his fist. *You'll see!" Collins
said. Then he went to find the captain.

THE HERO 113

 YoU CAN ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS
Put an x in the bOx next to the correct answer.

Reading Comprehension Vocabulary

1. The army had been fighting 7. The men's uniforms were
O a. for just a few minutes. covered with earth. What are
O b. for only an hour. uniforms?
O c. allday. O a. guns
O b. clothing
2. Which sentence is true? O c. food
O a. The men were not tired.
O b. The men were not
8. The horse suddenly rushed
hungry. forward. The word rushed
Oc. The men were hungry means
and thirsty. Oa. moved quickly.
O b. turned back.
3. Collins said that he wanted Oc. stopped.
O a. a good meal.
O b. a drink. 9. There were flames, and the air
O c.to rest. was filled with a burning smell.
You find flames in a
4. Near the barn was a O a. barn.
O a. horse. O b. field.
b. river. O c. fire.
Oc. well.
Idioms
5. Collins got angry because the 10. Collins said he would go
soldiers across the field if the soldiers
Oa. laughed at him. didn't shut up. The idiom shut
Ob. pushed him. up means
O c. began to fight with him. O a. be quiet.
O b. close a door.
6. At the end of Part One, Collins O c. leave for home.
U a. ran across the field.
O b. went to find the captain.
O c. hit one of the soldiers.

How many questions did you answer correctly? Circle your score. Then
fill in your score on the Score Chart on page 168.
Number Correct 1 3 4 5 6 7 9 10
Score 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

|14 THE HERO

EXERCISES TO HELP YOU
Exercise A
Understanding the story. Answer each question by writing a complete
sentence. Begin each sentence with a capital letter. End each sentence
with a period. You may use the line numbers in parentheses to find the
answers.

1. How long had the army been fighting? (1)

2. How did the men feel? (1)

3. What did Fred Collins want? (4)

(12)
4. What happened to the soldier on the horse?

5. Where was the well? (21)

6. Why did Collins get angry? (38)

7. Who did Collins go to find? (46)

THE HERO 115

 ExerciseB
Building sentences. Make sentences by adding the correct letter.
1. They saw a horse with a. was falling down.
2 The soldier tried b. a soldier on its back.
3. The old house C. and turned away.
4 Fred Collins shook his head d. to cover his face.

Now write the sentences on the lines below. Remember to begin each
sentence with a capital letter and to end each sentence with a period.

3.

4.

Now do questions 5-8 the same way.

5. Collins thought there a. were thrown in the air.

was water

6 Pieces of earth b. afraid to go.

All the soldiers c. in the well.
8 Collins said he wasn't d. laughed at Collins.

5.

6.

7.

8.

J]6 THE HERO

Exercise C
Adding vocabulary. On the left are 6 words from the story. Complete
each sentence by adding the correct word.
soldiers 1. The air was filled with

Worse
2. Soon all the were

laughing at Collins.
captain
3. The horse suddenly forward.
smoke
4. "It's geting out there," a
dared
soldier said.
rushed Collins to
5. Then one of the men
go.
6. Collins went to find the

Exercise D
tense of the
Using verbs correctly. Fill in each blank using the past
irregular verb in parentheses.
up his hands and tried to cover his
1. The soldier
face. (throw)
2. Bullets
across the field. (fly)

3. Fred Collins said, "I wish I

a drink." (have)

4. Ashell the old house and the wall fell down. (strike)

5. Collins stared at the man and his fist. (shake)

 Exercise E
Picking a preposition. Fillin the
preposition. Each sentence tells blanks by adding the correct
preposition once. something about the story. Use each
of with around at by
1. The men across
were covered
earth.
2. Collins asked, "Is there any
water here?"
3. Collins shook his fist and
stared the man.
4. The
soldier said, "How can you get the water if
you
can't go the field?"
5. The roof
the barn was
6. The old
burning.
house had been hit
a shell.

Exercise F
Vocabulary review. Write a complete sentence for each word or
of words. group
1. soldier

2. captain

3. WOrse

4. dare

118 THE HERO

5. rushed

6. flames

7. uniforms

8. shut up
 PART 2
Collins saluted and said, "Excuse mne, Captain."
"Yes?" said the captain.
"Sir," said Collis. "There is water in that well over there."
Collins pointed toward the well. "I would like to get some water."
5 The captain was surprised. He said, "You want water from that
well? You must be very thirsty."
"Yes, sir," said Collins.
The captain thought for a moment. Then he said, "Can't you
wait?"
10 "No, sir," Collins said.
The captain looked at Collins. "Son," the captain said, "are you
Sure yOuwant to do that?"
"Yes,sir," said Collins.
"Think about it," said the captain. "Think about the danger. Are
15 you sure you want to go?"
"Iwant to go," said Collins.
"Well, then," the captain said, "if you want to go, you can go."
Collins saluted. "Thank you," he said.
Collins walked away. The captain shouted to him, "Collins! Bring
20 back some water for the men and hurry back!"
The captain watched Collins. He saw him talking to the men. A
soldier slapped Collins on the back. Some of the men called out.
"Good luck."
The captain shook his head. "Iguess he's going." the captain
25 said to himself.
Suddenly Collins felt strange. For a moment he thought he was in
a dream. But the soldiers were excited. They asked over and over,
"Are you sure you're going?"
Collins looked at them. "Of course I'm going," he said.
30 Collins pulled his cap down over his head. He threw back his
shoulders. Then he walked quickly away.

120 THE HERO

 Everybody watched. Nobody spoke.
at that! Ididn't
Finally somebody said, "I don't believe it! Look
think he would do it!"
35 Another soldier asked, "What is Collins doing?"
that well over there. He's
A soldier answered, "He's going to
going to get some water."
"We're not dying of thirst.
The soldier was surprised. He said,
He's crazy!"
Now he's doing it."
40 "Well, somebody dared him to go.
field. He looked back at the
Collins stopped at the edge of the didn't want
was danger ahead, but he
men. He was allalone. There field!
back. He said he would do it! Now he had tocross the
to turn
face death! Then, suddenly, he didn't feel afraid.
He had to
field. He knew that the men
Collins walked thirty feet into the
45
across the field. Suddenly he saw
were watching him. He looked the
soldiers. They lifted their rifles. They fired. Collins heard
enemy
head.
shots. Bullets flew by his
He threw himself down on the
Collinsran wildly toward the well. he
and began to crawl. He crawled closer to the well. At last
50 ground in the well, but he saw
well. It was dark
was there! He stared into the
water at the bottom.
had brought with
Collins took the cap off the water bottle he
the bottle. Collins held on to the
him. There was a cord at the end of
flowed slowly into
55 cord. He dropped the bottle into the well. Water
the bottle.
Collins lay there on the ground. Then suddenly he felt very
with
weak. He said to himself, "What am Idoing here?" He was filled
thought, "I'm
fear. He was filled with terror. He could not move. He
60 going to die! I'm dead! I'm dead!"

THE HERO 121

 YoU CANANSWER THESE QUESTIONS
Put an x in the box next to the correct answer.
Reading Comprehension Vocabulary
1. Collins told the captain that he 6. The soldiers lifted their rifles
wanted to and fired. What are rifles?
a. go home. O a. guns
Ob. get some water. O b. hands
C. rest for a while. D c. hats

2.. The captain told Collins to 7. He got down and began to

D a. stay with the other men.
crawl. When you crawl, you
O b. leave in an hour. move
O c. hurry back. U a. as fast as you can.
O b.up and down.
3. What did Collins see at the C. on your hands and knees.
bottom of the well?
O a. mud 8. Collins held on to the cord at
O b. water the end of the bottle. A cord is a
C. nothing O a. piece of rope.
O b. piece of paper.
4. What did Collins drop into the O c. piece of glass.
well?
D a. a stone 9. Collins could not move because
Ob. his cap he was filled with terror, The
O c. an empty water bottle Word terror means
O a. much food.
5. At the end of Part Two, Collins D b. much fear.
felt O c. much joy.
O a. afraid.
O b. happy. Idioms
O c. brave. 10. The soldiers asked over and
Over, "Are you going?" The
idiom over and over means
O a. high above.
O b. very softly.
OC. again and again.
How many questions did you answer correctly? Circle your score. Then
fill in your score on the Score Chart on page 168.

Number Correct 1 2 4 5 6 78 10
Score 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

122 THE HERO

ExERCISES TO HELP YOU
Exercise A
Understanding the story. Answer each question by writing a complete
sentence. Begin each sentence with a capital letter. End each sentence
with a period. Youmay use the line numbers in parentheses to find the
answers.

1. What did Collins want to get? (4)

2. What did the captain tell Collins to bring back? (20)

3. Why didn't Collins want to turn back? (43)

the well? (52)

4. What did he see at the bottom of

water bottle? (53)

5. What did Collins take off the

well? (55)
6. What did he drop into the

himself? (58)
7. What did Collins ask

(60)
8. What did he think would happen to him?

THE HERO 123

 Exercise B
Building sentences. Make sentences by adding the correct letter.

1 Collins said there was a. walked quickly away.

2. The captain asked Collins to b. water in the well.
3. For a moment Collins thought c. think about the danger.
he
4 He pulled down his cap and d. was in adream.

Now write the sentences on the lines below. Remember to begin each
sentence with a capital letter and to end each sentence with a period.

1.

2.

3.

4.

Now do questions 5-8 the same way.

5. Collins walked thirty feet a. very weak.

6. He knew that the men
7. He ran wildly toward the
well and threw
Then suddenly he felt
b. himself down on the
ground.
C. were watching him.
d. into the field.

5.

7.

8.

124 THE HERO

Exercise C
are 6 words from the story. Complete
the left
Adding vocabulary. On
adding the correct word.
each sentence by
captain, Collins
crazy' 1, When he saw the
back.
Collins on the
slapped 2. A soldier
of the field.
the
saluted 3. Collins stopped at to

4. A soldier thought that Collins was

edge well.
go to the soldiers in
thirst
the
5. Suddenly he saw
enemy the distance.

"We're not dying of

6. Someone said,

Exercise D
writing the
Part A
Fill in each blank in the paragraph by The first
Using verbs correctly. parentheses. Use will plus the
verb.
verb in
future tense of the
for you.
one has been done
(go) across the
Fred Collins thought to
himself, "I will go
the well.Then I
(get) some water from
field. I
2
men. Everybody
(bring) the water back to the
3
they (feel) much
(drink) the water. Then 5
4
better."

Part B verbs.
lines below write sentences using the future tense of these
On the
work call write
speak

1.

2.

3.

4.

THE HERO 125

 Exercise E
Part A
Changing adjectives to adverbs. Change adjectives to adverbs by adding
v. Complete the sentence by writing in the correct adverb. The first one
has been done for you.

1. The captain spoke to Collins in a loud voice. The captain

spoke loudy
2. Collins answered in a soft voice. Collins spoke

3. Some soldiers thought that Collins was a brave man.

He acted

4. Collins moved in a very quiet way. He moved

5. Willthis story have a sad ending? Will it end

Part B
Add ly to the following adjectives to make adverbs. Use each adverb in a
sentence.

slow quick neat nice careful

1.

3.

4.

5.

Exercise F
Vocabulary review. Write a complete sentence for each word or group
of words.

1. slapped

2. crazy

126 THE HERO

3. enemy

4. thirst

5. saluted

6. rifles

7. crawl

8. cord

9. terror

10, over and Over

SHARING WITHOTHERS
with your
with others. Discuss these questionsquestions.
ideas
t isfui to share Write your answer to
one of the
group,
partner o with the

you have let Collins go to the

Suppose you were the captain. Would
Collins was crazy,
well? Why?
Collins was crazy. Do youthink
that
A soldier said
brave, or foolish? Why?

THE HERO 127

 |10

PART 3

Collins took a deep breath.Then he looked

He saw that the bottle was half down into the well.
full. He began to feel a little
Suddenly something exploded near him. Collins saw a flash stronger.
fire and then flames and smoke. He of
quickly pulled up the bottle.
5
Collins jumped up and looked around. He didn't know
do. Then he saw a wooden bucket on the what to
ground. It was the bucket
for the well.
Collins grabbed the bucket by its chain. He lowered the bucket
into the well. When the bucket was full, he pulled it up.
10 Collins held the bucket of water and began to run. He ran as fast
as he could. He was filled with fear. He was afraid that a
bullet
would hit him. He was afraid that he would be shot dead.
Collins ran pasta wounded man. "Young man," the soldier
called. "Give me a drink of water, please."
15 Collins was afraid to stop. "Ican't!" he screamed.
Collins kept running. His cap fell off. His hair flew wildly.
Then Collins stopped running, He turned and ran back to the
wounded man.
"Here's your drink!" Collins yelled. "Here it is! Here it is!"
20 But the man could not lift his arm to take the water. He was
falling slowiy to the ground.
Collins grabbed the wounded soldier. "Here it is!" Collins said.
"Here's your drink! Take it, man!"
The man did not move.
25 "IIl help you," Collinssaid. But Collins's hands were shaking. He
could not keep the bucket from moving. Water splashed all over the
face of the dying man.
Collins pulled the bucket away. Then he began to run again.

128 THE HERO

 A few minutes later Collins was back with the men. When they
saw him they cheered.
Collins offered the bucket of water to the captain.
"No," the captain said. "Let the men drink first."
Two young soldiers were the first to get the bucket. They were
soldier tried to
very happy and began to fool around. When one
35 drink, the other soldier pulled his arm.
"Don'tdo that," said the first man. "You'll make me spillthe
water."
triend's arm again.
The other man laughed. He pulled his
bucket crashed to the
Suddenly there was a loud yell. The
two soldiers stared at each
40 ground! Everyone was shocked! The
ground empty.
other. The bucket was lying on the
 Vo CANANSWER THESE QUESTIONS
Put an x in the box next to the correct answer.
6. At the end of the story,
Reading Comprehension O a. the bucket fell to the
1. When Collins looked into the
well, he saw that the bottle was ground.
O a. empty. Ob. the captain drank from
O b. half full. the bucket.
O c. full. O c. allthe soldiers drank
from the bucket.
2. Collins was afraid that he would
O a. fall down. Vocabulary
7. Collins saw the wooden bucket
Ob. lose his cap.
C. be shot. for the well. A bucket is
a. a large hammer.
3. The wounded soldier asked for O b.a pail for carrying things.
a. some food. O c. a heavy bOx.
O b. warm clothing.
C. a drink of water. 8. Collins lowered the bucket into
the well. The word lowered
means
4. Which sentence is true?
O a. broke.
D a. Collins splashed water all
over the face of the dying O b. pulled.
man.
O c. let down.
O b. The dying man lifted the
bucket to hismouth. 9. The wounded soldier fell down.
The word wounded means
O c. The dying man tooka
O a. hurt.
long drink.
O b. old.
5. The captain told Collins to O c. tall.
O a. take the first drink.
O b.be careful not to spill the Idioms
water. 10. The two soldiers were happy
Oc. let the men drink first. and began to fool around. The
jdiom fool around means
O a. to play and joke.
O b. to be sorry.
O c. to be angry.

How many questions did you answer correctly? Circle your score. Then
fill in your score on the Score Chart on page 168.
Number Correct 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 10
Score 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

130 THE HERO

ExERCISES TO HELP YOU
Exercise A
Inderstanding the story. Answer each question by writinga complete
centence. Begin each sentence with a capital letter. End each sentence
with a period. You may use the line numbers in parentheses to find the
answers.

1. What did Collins see on the ground? (6)

2. When did Collins pull up the bucket? (9)

(12)
3. What was Colins afraid of?

wounded man ask for? (14)

4. What did the

wounded man take the water? (20)

5. Why couldn't the

men do when they saw Collins? (30)

6. What did the

bucket first? (33)

7. Who got the

to the bucket? (39)

6. What happened
 Exercise B
Building sentences. Make sentences by adding the correct
letter.
1. Collins looked down a. back to the
2. When the bucket was wounded man.
b. into the well.
full, he
3. Collins's cap fell off and C. pulled it up.
4. He turned and ran d. his hair flew wildly.

Now write the sentences on the lines below. Remember to begin

each
sentence with a capital letter and to end each sentence with a period.
1.

2.

4.

Now do questions 5-8 the same way.

5. The man could not lift his a. the other soldier pulled
arm his arm.
6. A few minutes later Collins b. to take the water.
7. When one soldier tried C. stared at each other.
to drink,
8. The two soldiers d. was back with the men.

5.

6.

7.

8.

2 THE HERO
Exercise C
each
Adding vocabulary. On the left are 6 words from the story. Complete
sentence by adding the correct word.

splashed 1. Collins saw a of fire and then flames

and smoke.
chain
2. There was a hanging from
cheered
the bucket.
offered 3. Water allover the face of the dying man.
flash 4. When the men saw Collins they
spill the
5. When he got back, Collins
bucket of water to the captain.
the water."
6. "You'll make me
the soldier said.

Exercise D
each statementto a question
Changing statements to questions. Change the end of each question. The
with How. Put a question mark at
that begins
first one has been done for you.

half full.
1. The bottle was

water was inthe bottlea or How full was the bottlee

Hour much
feel a little better.
2. Collins began to

bucket by its chain.

3. Collins grabbed the

could.
4. He ran as fast as he

soldiers were very happy.

D. The two young

THE HERO 133