This selection adapted from The Great Stone Face

Situation: "One afternoon, when the sun was going down, a mother and her little boy sat at the door of their cottage, talking about the Great Stone Face. . . . . The child's name was Ernest. Transition: "And what was the story of the Great Stone Face which the mother was telling ? Retrospective Narrative: "It was a story so very old, that even the Indians, who formerly inhabited this valley, had heard it from their forefathers, to whom, as they affirmed, it had been murmured by the mountain streams, and whispered by the wind among the tree-tops. The purport was, that, at some future day, a child should be born hereabouts, who was destined to become the greatest and noblest person¬age of his time, and whose countenance, in manhood, should have an exact resemblance to the Great Stone Face. Not a few old-fashioned people, and young ones likewise, in the ardor of their hopes, still cherished an enduring faith in this old prophecy. But others, who had seen more of the world, had watched and waited till they were weary, and had beheld no man with such a face, . . . . consid¬ered it to be nothing but an idle tale. At all events, the great man of prophecy had not yet appeared. Conclusion: "Ernest was one of those who hoped that this prophecy would be fulfilled, and his mother, an affectionate and thoughtful woman, felt that it was wisest not to discourage the generous hopes of her little son."