In the quiet that followed, the boys and girls began to sing “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Their voices were high and thin at first, but as the grownups joined in, the notes swelled until they carried as far as the little community of Westdale, named for Benjamin West.
Long seconds after the last note had been sung, the crowd stood still. They had journeyed so far back into America that they were a long time returning. Slowly the sun umbrellas clicked shut. Slowly the people walked back to their horses. They still seemed part of the long ago and the far away. They had struggled with the boy Benjamin, as he overcame great odds. They had watched the boy grow until he became the father of American painting.
It was not easy for them to begin talking in their everyday voices, as if nothing had happened to them. Something had happened to them. They had gone a-leafing and found a page of American history.
* * *
1. The house is still standing. It may be seen on the campus of Swarthmore College, at Swarthmore, Pennsylvania.
A Note of Acknowledgment
FOR THEIR HELP THE AUTHOR IS GRATEFUL TO
Elsie M. Jones, Curator, Delaware County Historical Society, Chester, Pennsylvania
Theodore Sizer, Director, Yale University Art Gallery
Richard D. Buck, Acting Head, Department of Conservation, Harvard University, Fogg Museum of Art
Meyric R. Rogers, Curator of Decorative Arts and Industrial Arts, Chicago Art Institute
Ruth Butler, Custodian, Edward E. Ayer Collection of North and South American Indians, Newberry Library, Chicago, Illinois
Sykes Hartin, Reference Department, The Library of Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania
H. H. Hewitt and Roberta Sutton, Chicago Public Library
Marjorie G. Wright, Aurora Public Library
Grace Luenzmann, Wayne, Illinois
MARGUERITE HENRY is the beloved author of such classic horse stories as KING OF THE WIND, MISTY OF CHINCOTEAGUE, and STORMY, MISTY’S FOAL, all of which are available in Aladdin paperback editions.
ALADDIN
Simon & Schuster, New York
Meet the author, watch videos, and get extras at
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authors.simonandschuster.com/Marguerite-Henry
OTHER BOOKS BY MARGUERITE HENRY
Album of Horses
Black Gold
Born to Trot
Brighty of the Grand Canyon
Brown Sunshine of Sawdust Valley
Gaudenzia, Pride of the Palio
Justin Morgan Had a Horse
King of the Wind
Misty of Chincoteague
Misty’s Twilight
Mustang, Wild Spirit of the West
San Domingo, the Medicine Hat Stallion
Sea Star
Stormy, Misty’s Foal
White Stallion of Lipizza
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division
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www.SimonandSchuster.com
This Aladdin paperback edition March 2014
Text copyright © 1947 by The Bobbs-Merrill Company
Text renewal copyright © 1947 by Marguerite Henry
Illustrations copyright © 1947 by Wesley Dennis
Cover illustration copyright © 2014 by John Rowe
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.
ALADDIN is a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc., and related logo is a registered trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Interior designed by Ellice M. Lee
Cover designed by Jeanine Henderson
The text of this book was set in Garamond
Library of Congress Control Number 86028658
ISBN 978-1-4814-0394-8
ISBN 978-1-4814-0396-2 (eBook)
Benjamin West and His Cat Grimalkin Page 9
