Contents ▼▲
Front Matter "Partners" A Modest Lad The Boiler Cleaners Tom Flynn of Virginia Peter Woodland A Quick-Witted Mountain Girl A Lad of the Docks Patrick McCormick's Holiday Little Boy Blue and Golyer's Ben The Red Skirt The Bootblack from Ann Street The Race with the Flood Heroic Madelon The Heroine of Fort Henry Thomas Hovendon—Artist "Are you there, my Lad?" A Hero of Valley Forge The Wilderness Preacher A Patriotic Quakeress Ezekiel and Daniel Through Smoke and Fire Heroes of the Storm The Life Savers of Lone Hill The School Children's Friend "A Knight without Reproach" The Story of Mary Lyon The Apostle of the Indians An Unappreciated Patriot A Princely Merchant In Arctic Seas Five Scenes in a Noble Life "An Angel of Mercy" The Sympathy of Abraham Lincoln The Sanitary Commission "The Tombs Angel" The Red Cross The Little Mother The Object of the Commission The Youngest of the Heroes A Race to the Death The Dynamite Hero A Rare Act of Courage Saving One's Enemy A Schoolgirl's Heroism

American Book of Golden Deeds - James Baldwin




The Youngest of the Heroes

Willie Stillwell is only thirteen years old, and he lives in Bellaire, Michigan. One day he was playing with other children on the banks of the little river which flows by his home.

Suddenly there was a cry of alarm. Ruth Schoolcraft, who was a head taller than Willie, had become too venturesome, and had fallen into the water. The strong current bore her quickly from the shore; but Willie Stillwell, without stopping to think, leaped bravely to the rescue. Many of the boys were stronger swimmers than he, but there were few who equaled him in courage and determination. He knew that unless he was very careful the struggling girl would carry him down with her. So he approached her warily, and seizing her by the hair, held her face above the water. Then, with his other hand, he swam safely to the shore bringing the half-drowned girl with him.

When the commissioners heard of Willie Stillwell's brave deed, they sent him a bronze medal. They also set aside two thousand dollars to provide for giving him a course in electric engineering at college.