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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/18146-8.txt b/18146-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..cb62be7 --- /dev/null +++ b/18146-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6705 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Children's Portion, by Various, Edited by +Robert W. Shoppell + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: The Children's Portion + Entertaining, Instructive, and Elevating Stories: The Golden Age -- The Merchant of Venice -- The Afflicted Prince -- "His Ludship" -- Pious Constance -- The Doctor's Revenge -- The Woodcutter's Child -- Show Your Colors -- Her Danger Signal -- A Knight's Dilemma -- "His Royal Highness" -- Patient Griselda -- Let It Alone -- The Man Who Lost His Memory -- The Story of a Wedge -- Prince Edwin and His Page -- Cissy's Amendment -- The Winter's Tale -- A Gracious Deed -- "Tom" -- Steven Lawrence, American + + +Author: Various + +Editor: Robert W. Shoppell + +Release Date: April 10, 2006 [eBook #18146] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CHILDREN'S PORTION*** + + +E-text prepared by Al Haines + + + +THE CHILDREN'S PORTION. + +Entertaining, Instructive, and Elevating Stories. + +Selected and Edited by + +ROBERT W. SHOPPELL. + + + + + + + +Published by +The Christian Herald, +Louis Klopsch, Proprietor, +Bible House, New York. +Copyright 1895, +By Louis Klopsch. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + The Golden Age. Rev. Alexander McLeod, D. D. + The Merchant of Venice. Mary Seymour + The Afflicted Prince. Agnes Strickland + "His Ludship." Barbara Yechton + Pious Constance. Chaucer + The Doctor's Revenge. ALOE + The Woodcutter's Child. Grimm Brothers + Show Your Colors. C. H. Mead + Her Danger Signal + A Knight's Dilemma. Chaucer + "His Royal Highness." C. H. Mead + Patient Griselda. Chaucer + Let It Alone. Mary C. Bamford + The Man Who Lost His Memory. Savinien Lapointe + The Story of a Wedge. C. H. Mead + Prince Edwin and His Page. Agnes Strickland + Cissy's Amendment + The Winter's Tale. Mary Seymour + A Gracious Deed + "Tom." C. H. Mead + Steven Lawrence, American. Barbara Yechton + + + + +THE CHILDREN'S PORTION. + + +THE GOLDEN AGE. + +REV. ALEXANDER MACLEOD, D. D. + + +I. + +THE KING'S CHILDREN. + +There was once, in Christendom, a little kingdom where the people were +pious and simple-hearted. In their simplicity they held for true many +things at which people of great kingdoms smile. One of these things +was what is called the "Golden Age." + +There was not a peasant in the villages, nor a citizen in the cities, +who did not believe in the Golden Age. If they happened to hear of +anything great that had been done in former times, they would say, +"That was in the Golden Age." If anybody spoke to them of a good thing +he was looking for in years to come, they would say, "Then shall be the +Golden Age." And if they should be speaking of something happy or good +which was going on under their eyes, they always said, "Yes, the Golden +Age is there." + +Now, words like these do not come to people in a day. And these words +about the Golden Age did not come to the people of that ancient kingdom +in a day. More than a hundred years before, there was reigning over +the kingdom a very wise king, whose name was Pakronus. And to him one +day came the thought, and grew from little to more in his mind, that +some time or other there must have been, and some time or other there +would be again, for his people and for all people a "Golden Age." + +"Other ages," he said, "are silver, or brass, or iron; but one is a +Golden Age." And I suppose he was thinking of that Age when he gave +names to his three sons, for he called them YESTERGOLD, GOLDENDAY, and +GOLDMORROW. Sometimes when he talked about them, he would say, "They +are my three captains of the Golden Age." He had also a little +daughter whom he greatly loved. Her name was FAITH. + +These children were very good. And they were clever as well as good. +But like all the children of that old time, they remained children +longer than the children of now-a-days. It was many years before their +school days came to an end, and when they ended they did not altogether +cease to be children. They had simple thoughts and simple ways, just +like the people of the kingdom. Their father used to take them up and +down through the country, to make them acquainted with the lives of the +people. "You shall some day be called to high and difficult tasks in +the kingdom," he said to them, "and you should prepare yourselves all +you can." Almost every day he set their minds a-thinking, how the +lives of the people could be made happier, and hardly a day passed on +which he did not say to them, that people would be happier the nearer +they got to the Golden Age. In this way the children came early to the +thought that, one way or other, happiness would come into the world +along with the Golden Age. + +But always there was one thing they could not understand: that was the +time when the Golden Age should be. + +About the Age itself they were entirely at one. They could not +remember a year in their lives when they were not at one in this. As +far back as the days when, in the long winter evenings, they sat +listening to the ballads and stories of their old nurse, they had been +lovers and admirers of that Age. "It was the happy Age of the world," +the nurse used to say. "The fields were greener, the skies bluer, the +rainbows brighter than in other Ages. It was the Age when heaven was +near, and good angels present in every home. Back in that Age, away on +the lonely pastures, the shepherds watching their flocks by night heard +angels' songs in the sky. And the children in the cities, as they were +going to sleep, felt the waving of angel wings in the dark. It was a +time of wonders. The very birds and beasts could speak and understand +what was said. And in the poorest children in the streets might be +found princes and princesses in disguise." + +They remembered also how often, in the mornings, when they went down to +school, their teacher chose lessons which seemed to tell of a Golden +Age. They recalled the lessons about the city of pure gold that was +one day to come down from heaven for men to dwell in; and other lessons +that told of happy times, when nations should learn the art of war no +more, and there should be nothing to hurt or destroy in all the earth. + +"Yes, my dear children," their mother would say, in the afternoon, when +they told her of the teacher's lessons and the nurse's stories. "Yes, +there is indeed a happy age for the children of men, which is all that +your nurse and teacher say. It is a happy time and a time of wonders. +In that time wars cease and there is nothing to hurt or destroy. +Princes and princesses in poor clothing are met in the streets, because +in that Age the poorest child who is good is a child of the King of +Heaven. And heaven and good angels are near because Christ is near. +It is Christ's presence that works the wonders. When He is living on +the earth, and His life is in the lives of men, everything is changed +for the better. There is a new heaven and a new earth. And the Golden +Age has come." + + +II. + +DIFFERENT VIEWS. + +It was a great loss to these children that this holy and beautiful +mother died when they were still very young. But her good teaching did +not die. Her words about the Golden Age never passed out of their +minds. Whatever else they thought concerning it in after years, they +always came back to this--in this they were all agreed--that it is the +presence of Christ that makes the Gold of the Golden Age. + +But at this point their agreement came to an end. They could never +agree respecting the time of the Golden Age. + +Yestergold believed that it lay in the past. In his esteem the former +times were better than the present. People were simpler then, and +truer to each other and happier. There was more honesty in trade, more +love in society, more religion in life. Many an afternoon he went +alone into the old abbey, where the tombs of saintly ladies, of holy +men, and of brave fighters lay, and as he wandered up and down looking +at their marble images, the gates of the Golden Age seemed to open up +before him. There was one figure, especially, before which he often +stood. It was the figure of a Crusader, his sword by his side, his +hands folded across his breast, and his feet resting on a lion. "Ay," +he would say, "in that Age the souls of brave men really trod the lion +and the dragon under foot." But when the light of the setting sun came +streaming through the great window in the west, and kindling up the +picture of Christ healing the sick, his soul would leap up for joy, a +new light would come into his eyes, and this thought would rise within +him like a song--"The Golden Age itself--the Age into which all other +Ages open and look back--is pictured there." + +But on such occasions, as he came out of the abbey and went along the +streets, if he met the people hastening soiled and weary from their +daily toils, the joy would go out of his heart. He would begin to +think of the poor lives they were leading. And he would cry within +himself, "Oh that the lot of these toiling crowds had fallen on that +happy Age! It would have been easy then to be good. Goodness was in +the very air blessed by His presence. The people had but to see Him to +be glad." And sometimes his sorrow would be for himself. Sometimes, +remembering his own struggles to be good, and the difficulties in his +way, and how far he was from being as good as he ought to be, he would +say, "Would that I myself had been living when Jesus was on the earth." +More or less this wish was always in his heart. It had been in his +heart from his earliest years. Indeed, it is just a speech of his, +made when he was a little boy, which has been turned into the hymn we +so often sing:-- + + "I think when I read that sweet story of old, + When Jesus was here among men, + How He called little children, as lambs, to His fold, + I should like to have been with Him then. + + "I wish that His hands had been placed on my head, + That His arms had been thrown around me, + That I might have seen His kind looks when He said, + 'Let the little ones come unto Me.'" + + +Goldmorrow's thoughts were different. They went forward into the +future. He had hardly any of Yestergold's difficulties about being +good. He did not think much about his own state. What took up all his +thoughts was the state of the world in which his brothers and he were +living. How was that to be made better? As he went up and down in his +father's kingdom, he beheld hovels in which poor people had to live, +and drink-shops, and gambling-houses, and prisons. He was always +asking himself, how are evils like these to be put away? Whatever good +any Age of the past had had, these things had never been cast out. He +did not think poorly of the Age when Christ was on the earth. He was +as pious as his brother. He loved the Lord as much as his brother. +But his love went more into the future than into the past. It was the +Lord who was coming, rather than the Lord who had come, in whom he had +joy. "The Golden Age would come when Christ returned to the earth," he +said. The verses in the Bible where this coming was foretold shone +like light for Goldmorrow. And often, as he read them aloud to his +brothers and his sister, his eyes would kindle and he would burst out +with speeches like this: "I see that happy time approaching. I hear +its footsteps. My ears catch its songs. It is coming. It is on the +way. My Lord will burst those heavens and come in clouds of glory, +with thousands and tens of thousands in His train. And things evil +shall be cast out of the kingdom. And things that are wrong shall be +put right. There shall be neither squalor, nor wretched poverty, nor +crime, nor intemperance, nor ignorance, nor hatred, nor war. All men +shall be brothers. Each shall be not for himself but for the kingdom. +And Christ shall be Lord of all." + +In these discussions Goldenday was always the last to speak. And +always he had least to say. I have been told that he was no great +speaker. But my impression is that he got so little attention from his +brothers when he spoke, that he got into the way of keeping his +thoughts to himself. But everybody knew that he did not agree with +either of his brothers. His belief was that the present Age, with all +its faults, was the Golden Age for the people living in it. And there +is no doubt that that was the view of his sister Faith. For when at +any time he happened to let out even the tiniest word with that view in +it, she would come closer to him, lean up against his side, and give +him a hidden pressure of the hand. + + +III. + +SEARCH FOR THE GOLDEN AGE. + +When these views of the young Princes came to be known, the people took +sides, some with one Prince, some with another. The greatest number +sided with Yestergold, a number not so great with Goldmorrow, and a +few, and these for the most part of humble rank, with Goldenday. In a +short time nothing else was talked about, from one end of the kingdom +to the other, but the time of the Golden Age. And this became a +trouble to the King. + +Now there happened to be living at that time in the palace a wise man, +a high Councillor of State, whom the King greatly esteemed, and whose +counsel he had often sought. To him in his trouble the King turned for +advice. + +"Let not this trouble thee, O King," the Councillor said. "Both for +the Princes and the people it is good that thoughts on this subject +should come out into talk. But let the thoughts be put to the test. +Let the Princes, with suitable companions, be sent forth to search for +this Age of Gold. Although the Age itself, in its very substance, is +hid with God, there is a country in which shadows of all the Ages are +to be seen. In that country, the very clouds in the sky, the air which +men breathe, and the hills and woods and streams shape themselves into +images of the life that has been, or is to be among men. And whosoever +reaches that country and looks with honest, earnest eyes, shall see the +Age he looks for, just as it was or is to be, and shall know concerning +it whether it be his Age of Gold. At the end of a year, let the +travelers return, and tell before your Majesty and an assembly of the +people the story of their search." To this counsel the King gave his +assent. And he directed his sons to make the choice of their +companions and prepare for their journey. + +Yestergold, for his companions, chose a painter and a poet. Goldmorrow +preferred two brothers of the Order of Watchers of the Sky. But +Goldenday said, "I shall be glad if my sister Faith will be companion +to me." And so it was arranged. + +Just at that time the King was living in a palace among the hills. And +it was from thence the travelers were to leave. It was like a morning +in Wonderland. The great valley on which the palace looked down, and +along which the Princes were to travel, was that morning filled with +vapor. And the vapor lay, as far as the eye could reach, without a +break on its surface, or a ruffled edge, in the light of the rising +sun, like a sea of liquid silver. The hills that surrounded the palace +looked like so many giants sitting on the shores of a mighty sea. It +was into this sea the travelers had to descend. One by one, with their +companions, they bade the old King farewell. And then, stepping forth +from the palace gates and descending toward the valley, they +disappeared from view. + +The country to which they were going lay many days' distance between +the Purple Mountains and the Green Sea. The road to it lay through +woods and stretches of corn and pasture land. It was Autumn. In every +field were reapers cutting or binding the corn. At every turn of the +road were wagons laden with sheaves. Then the scene changed. The land +became poor. The fields were covered with crops that were thin and +unripe. The people who passed on the road had a look of want on their +faces. The travelers passed on. Every eye was searching the horizon +for the first glimpse of the mountain peaks. In every heart was the +joyful hope of finding the Golden Age. Can you think what the joy of a +young student going for the first time to a university is? It was a +joy like his. While this joy was in their hearts, the road passed into +a mighty forest. And suddenly among the shadows of the trees a +miserable spectacle crossed their path. It was a crowd of peasants of +the very poorest class. A plague had fallen on their homes, and they +were fleeing from their village, which lay among the trees a mile or +two to the right. + +Yestergold was the first to meet them. He was filled with anguish. +His sensitive nature could not bear to see suffering in others. He +shrank from the very sight of misery. Turning to his companions, he +said, "If the Lord of Life had been traveling on this road as He was on +that other, long ago, when the widow of Nain met Him with her dead son, +He would have destroyed the plague by a word." "Oh, holy and beautiful +Age!" exclaimed the poet, "why dost thou lie in thy soft swathings of +light, and power to do mighty deeds, so far behind us in the past?" +"But let us use it as a golden background," said the painter. "That is +the beautiful Age on which Art is called to portray the Divine form of +the Great Physician!" Saying these fine words, the party rode swiftly +past. + +The terrified villagers were still streaming across the road when +Goldmorrow came up. Nothing could exceed the pity which the spectacle +stirred in his breast. Tears streamed from his eyes. The bareness, +the poverty, the misery of the present time seemed to come into view +and gather into a point in what he saw. "Oh!" he cried to his +companions, "if Christ were only come! Only He could deal with evils +so great as these!" Then, withdrawing his thoughts into himself, and +still moved with his humane pity, he breathed this prayer to Christ: +"Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly, and lay thy healing hand on the wounds +and sorrows of the world." His companions were also touched with what +they saw. And in earnest and reverent words one of them exclaimed: +"Blessed hope! Light of the pilgrim! Star of the weary! The earth +has waited long thy absent light to see." But, by the time the words +were spoken, the villagers were behind them, and, spurring their +horses, the travelers hastened forward on their way. + + +IV. + +A PLAGUE-STRICKEN VILLAGE. + +The dust raised by their horses' hoofs was still floating over the +highway when Goldenday, with his sister and their attendants, rode up +to the spot. Two or three groups of the fugitives had made a temporary +home for the night under the shelter of the trees on the left. Others +were still arriving. The pale faces, the terrified looks of the +villagers, filled the Prince with concern. "It is the pestilence," +they said, in answer to his inquiries. "The pestilence, good sir, and +it is striking us dead in the very streets of our village." The Prince +turned to his sister. She was already dismounted. A light was in her +eye which at once went to his heart. The two understood each other. +They knew that it was Christ and not merely a crowd of terrified +peasants who had met them. They were His eyes that looked out at them +through the tear-filled eyes of the peasantry. It was His voice that +appealed to them in their cries and anguish. He seemed to be saying to +them: "Inasmuch as ye do it to one of the least of these, ye do it unto +Me." In a few moments the Prince had halted his party and unpacked his +stores, and was supplying the wants of the groups on the left. Before +an hour was past he had brought light into their faces by his words of +cheer, and, with his sister and his servants, was on his way to the +plague-stricken village. + +Most pitiable was the scene which awaited him there. People were +really dying in the streets, as he had been told. Some were already +dead. A mother had died in front of her cottage, and her little +children sat crying beside her body. Another, with a look of despair +in her eyes, sat rocking the dead body of the child. The men seemed to +have fled. + +The Prince's plans were soon formed. He had stores enough to last his +party and himself for a year. He would share these with the villagers +as far as they would go. He had tents also for the journey. He would +use these for a home to his own party and for hospitals for the sick. +Before the sun had set, the tents for his own party were erected on a +breezy height outside the village. And, ere the sun had arisen the +next morning, the largest tent of all had been set in a place by +itself, ready to receive the sick. + +Goldenday and his sister never reached the country where the images of +all the Ages are to be found. A chance of doing good met them on their +journey, and they said to each other, "It has been sent to us by God." +They turned aside that they might make it their own. They spent the +year in the deeds of mercy to which it called them among the +plague-stricken villagers. + +It would take too long to tell all that this good Prince and his sister +achieved in that year. The village lay in a hollow among dense woods +and on the edge of a stagnant marsh. The Prince had the marsh drained +and the woods thinned. Every house in the village was thoroughly +repaired and cleaned. The sick people were taken up to the +tent-hospital and cared for until they got well. The men who had fled +returned. The terrified mothers ventured back. The sickness began to +slacken. In a few months it disappeared. Then the Prince caused wells +to be dug to supply water for drinking. Then he built airy schools for +the children. Last of all he repaired the church, which had fallen +into ruin, and trained a choir of boys to sing thanks to God. But when +all these things had been accomplished, the year during which he was to +have searched for the Golden Age was within a few weeks of its close. +And, what was worse, it was too plain to his sister that the Prince's +health had suffered by his toils. Night and day he had labored in his +service of love. Night and day he had carried the burden of the +sickness and infirmities of the village in his heart. It had proved a +burden greater than he could bear. He had toiled on till he saw health +restored to every home. He toiled until he saw the village itself +protected from a second visitation of the plague. But his own strength +was meanwhile ebbing away. The grateful villagers observed with grief +how heavily their deliverer had to lean on his sister's arm in walking. +And tears, which they strove in vain to conceal, would gather in their +eyes as they watched the voice that had so often cheered them sinking +into a whisper, and the pale face becoming paler every day. + + +V. + +RETURN OF THE SEARCHERS. + +The year granted to the Princes by the King had now come to a close. +And he and his nobles and the chief men of his people assembled on the +appointed day to welcome the Princes on their return and to hear their +reports concerning the time of the Golden Age. + +The first to arrive was Prince Yestergold. He was accompanied to the +platform on which the throne was set by the painter and poet, who had +been his companions during the year. Having embraced his father, he +stepped to the front and said:-- + +"Most high King and father beloved, and you, the honorable nobles and +people of his realm, on some future occasion my two companions will, +the one recite the songs in which the Age which we went to search for +is celebrated, and the other exhibit the pictures in which its life is +portrayed. On this occasion it belongs to me to tell the story of our +search, and of what we found and of what we failed to find. We went +forth to discover the time of the Golden Age. We went in the belief +that it was the time when our Lord was on the earth. How often have I +exclaimed in your hearing, 'Oh that I had been born in that age! How +much easier to have been a Christian then!' I have this day, with +humbleness of heart, to declare that I have found myself entirely in +the wrong. I have been in the country where images of the Ages are +stored. I have seen the very copy of the Age of our Lord. I was in it +as if I had been born in it. I saw the scenes which those who then +lived saw. I saw the crowds who moved in those scenes. I beheld the +very person of the Divine Lord. And oh! my father, and oh! neighbors +and friends, shall I shrink from saying to you, 'Be thankful it is in +this Age and not in that you have been born, and that you know the Lord +as this Age knows Him, and not as He was seen and known in His own.' + +"We arrived at Bethany on the day when Lazarus was raised. I mingled +with the crowd around the grave. I saw the sisters. I was amazed to +find that nothing looked to me as I had expected it to do. Even the +Lord had not the appearance of One who could raise the dead. And when +the dead man came forth, I could not but mark that some who had seen +the mighty miracle turned away from the spot, jeering and scoffing at +the Lord, its worker. + +"When I next saw the Lord He was in the hands of the scoffers who had +turned away from the grave of Lazarus. He was being led along the +streets of Jerusalem to Calvary. The streets on both sides were +crowded with stalls, and with people buying and selling as at a fair. +Nobody except a few women seemed to care that so great a sufferer was +passing by. He was bending under the weight of the Cross. His face +was pale and all streaked with blood. I said to myself: 'Can this be +He who is more beautiful than ten thousand?' My eyes filled with +tears. Sickness came over my heart. I was like one about to die. I +hurried away from the pitiless crowd, from the terrible spectacle, from +the city accursed. And straightway I turned my face toward my home. +And as I came within sight of my father's kingdom, I gave thanks to God +that my lot had been cast in this favored Age, and that the horrors +through which the Lord had to pass are behind us; and that we see Him +now in the story of the Gospels, as the Son of God, clothed with the +glory of God, seated on the throne of heaven and making all things work +together for good." + +As the Prince was bringing his speech to a close, a distant rolling of +drums announced that one of his brothers had arrived at the gates of +the city. It was Goldmorrow. And in a little while he entered the +hall, embraced his father, and was telling the story of his travel. + +"My companions and I," he said, "have been where the Golden Age of my +dreams is displayed. We have been in that far future where there is to +be neither ignorance nor poverty, neither sickness nor pain, and where +cruelty and oppression and war are to be no more. It is greater than +my dreams. It is greater than I have words to tell. It is greater +than I had eyes to see. We were not able to endure the sight of it. +We felt ourselves to be strangers in a strange land. The people we met +looked upon us as we look upon barbarians. Our hearts sickened. We +said to each other: 'It is too high, we cannot reach up to it.' The +very blessings we had come to see did not look to us like the blessings +of which we had dreamed. + +"But our greatest trial was still to come. The Lord had come back to +the earth and was living among the people of that Age. We made our way +to the palace in which He lived. It was like no palace we had ever +seen. It was like great clouds piled up among the hills. We were +present when the doors were thrown open. We beheld Him coming forth. +But the vision of that glory smote our eyes like fire. We were not +able to gaze upon it. Our hearts failed within us. This was not the +Christ we had known. We shrank back from the light of that awful +presence. We fell on the ground before Him. 'God be merciful to us +sinners,' we cried, 'we are not worthy to look upon thy face.' And +when we could open our eyes again the vision had passed. + +"Then, O father! then, O friends beloved, I knew that I had sinned. In +that moment of my humiliation and shame I recalled a sight which I had +seen in the first days of my journey. I remembered some peasants +fleeing from a plague-stricken village, whom we had passed. I said to +myself, I say this day to you, we were that day at the gates of the +real Golden Age and we did not know it. We might that day have turned +aside to the help of these peasants, but we missed the golden chance +sent to us by God." + + +VI. + +THE FINDER OF THE AGE. + +When Goldmorrow had finished, a strain of the most heavenly music was +heard. It sounded as if it were coming toward the assembly hall from +the gates of the city. It was like the chanting of a choir of angels, +and the sounds rose and fell as they came near, as if they were blown +hither and thither by the evening wind. In a little while the singing +was at the doorway of the hall, and every eye was turned in that +direction. A procession of white-robed children entered first. Behind +them came a coffin, carried on men's shoulders, and covered with +wreaths of flowers. Then, holding the pall of the coffin, came in the +Princess Faith, behind her the attendants who had accompanied her +brother and herself, and last of all a long line of bare-headed +peasants walking two and two. It was the coffin of the Prince +Goldenday. His strength had never come back to him. He had laid down +his life for the poor villagers. Having fulfilled his task in their +desolate home, the brave young helper sickened and died. + +When this was known, the old King lifted up his voice and wept, and the +Princes, and the nobles, and all the people present joined in his +sorrow. Then it seemed to be found out, that the dead Prince had been +of the three brothers the most beloved. Then, when the weeping had +continued for a long time, the Princess Faith stepped forward, and in +few words told the story of the year. Then silence, only broken by +bursts of sorrow, fell upon all. And then the Councillor rose up from +his seat at the right hand of the King, and said: + +"We have heard, O King, the words of the Princes who searched the Past +and the Future for the Age of Gold. The lips that should have spoken +for the Age we are living in are forever closed; but in the beautiful +statement of our Princess we have heard the story they had to tell. + +"Can there be even one in this great assembly, who has listened to the +story of the Princess, and does not know that the Age of Gold is found, +and that it was found by the Prince whose dead body is here? + +"O King, and ye Princes and peers and people, it was the daily teaching +of the Sainted Lady, our Queen, that the Golden Age is the time when +Christ is present in our life. In every form in which Christ's +presence can be felt, it was felt in the village for whose helping the +dear Prince laid down his life. + +"A time of great misery had come to that village. The harvest, year +after year, had failed. Poverty fell upon the people. Then, last and +worst of all, came the pestilence. Through the story told by the +beloved Princess we can see that faith in God began to fail. The +people cried out in their agony: 'Has God forgotten?' And some, 'Is +there a God at all?' + +"It was in the thick darkness of that time the Prince visited them. He +met them fleeing from their home. He gave up his own plans that he +might help them. His coming into the village, into the very thick of +its misery, was like the morning dawn. He was summer heat and summer +cheer to the people. The clouds of anxiety and of terror began to +lift. The shadow of death was changed for them into the morning. He +made himself one with them. He went from house to house with cheer and +help. The burden seemed less heavy, the future less dark, that this +helper was by their side. Best of all, faith came back to them. It +was as if the Lord had come back. In a real sense He had come back. +He was present in His servant the Prince. The people beheld the form +of the Son of God going about their streets doing good. They saw the +old miracles. The blind saw, the deaf heard God, as in the days when +Jesus was in the flesh. Even death was conquered before their eyes. A +real gleam of heaven is falling this evening on the once-darkened +village. The evil things that infested its life have been cast out and +a new heaven and a new earth have come to it. It is the Golden Age +come down to them from God. + +"In his great task the dear Prince died. Our hearts are heavy for that +we shall see his face no more. But count it not strange that he died, +or that this trial should have descended on our King and us. It is the +rule in the kingdom of the Lord. Whoever will bring the Golden Age +where sin is, must himself lay down his life. For those peasants, as +Christ for all mankind, the Prince laid down his life." + +The people listened till the Councillor reached these words, then, as +by one impulse, they rose and burst into a grand doxology. Then a +company of torch-bearers entered. Then, the children took up their +place at the head of the coffin and began again to sing. The bearers +lifted the coffin. The King and Faith and the two Princes followed; +after them the peasants from the village, then the chief nobles and the +people, and in this order the coffin was carried to the place of the +dead. + +In the course of years the wise Pakronus died, and Yestergold became +King. He made his brother Prime Minister. And the two brothers became +really what their father called them when boys--"Captains of the Golden +Age." In everything that was for the good of the people, they took the +lead. They were Captains in every battle with sin and misery. What +Goldenday did for the plague-stricken village, they strove to do for +the whole kingdom. Their Sister Faith gave herself to the building and +care of schools and hospitals. And the time in which those three lived +is described in all the histories of that kingdom as a Golden Age. + +It is told by travelers who have visited the Royal city, that a statue +of the Prince Goldenday stands above the old gateway of the Abbey, and +that there are written below it the words: + +"TO-DAY IF YE WILL HEAR HIS VOICE." + + + + +THE MERCHANT OF VENICE. + +AS TOLD BY MARY SEYMOUR. + +In the beautiful Italian city of Venice there dwelt in former times a +Jew, by name Shylock, who had grown rich by lending money at high +interest to Christian merchants. No one liked Shylock, he was so hard +and so cruel in his dealings; but perhaps none felt such an abhorrence +of his character as a young man of Venice named Antonio. + +This hatred was amply returned by the Jew; for Antonio was so kind to +people in distress that he would lend them money without taking +interest. Besides, he used to reproach Shylock for his hard dealings, +when they chanced to meet. Apparently the Jew bore such reproaches +with wonderful patience; but could you have looked into his heart, you +would have seen it filled with longing for revenge. + +It is not strange to find that Antonio was greatly loved by his +fellow-countrymen; but dearest of all his friends was Bassanio, a young +man of high rank, though possessed of but small fortune. + +One day Bassanio came to tell Antonio that he was about to marry a +wealthy lady, but to meet the expense of wedding such an heiress, he +needed the loan of three thousand ducats. + +Just at that time Antonio had not the money to lend his friend, but he +was expecting home some ships laden with merchandise; and he offered to +borrow the required sum of Shylock upon the security of these vessels. + +Together they repaired to the Jewish money-lender; and Antonio asked +for three thousand ducats, to be repaid from the merchandise contained +in his ships. Shylock remembered now all that Antonio had done to +offend him. For a few moments he remained silent; then he said: + +"Signor, you have called me a dog, and an unbeliever. Is it for these +courtesies I am to lend you money?" + +"Lend it not as a friend," said Antonio; "rather lend it to me as an +enemy, so that you may the better exact the penalty if I fail." + +Then Shylock thought he would pretend to feel more kindly. + +"I would be friends with you," he said. "I will forget your treatment +of me, and supply your wants without taking interest for my money." + +Antonio was, of course, very much surprised at such words. But Shylock +repeated them; only requiring that they should go to some lawyer, +before whom--as a jest--Antonio should swear, that if by a certain day +he did not repay the money, he would forfeit a pound of flesh, cut from +any part of his body which the Jew might choose. + +"I will sign to this bond," said Antonio; "and will say there is much +kindness in a Jew." + +But Bassanio now interfered, declaring that never should Antonio put +his name to such a bond for his sake. Yet the young merchant insisted; +for he said he was quite sure of his ships returning long before the +day of payment. + +Meanwhile Shylock was listening eagerly; and feigning surprise, he +exclaimed: "Oh, what suspicious people are these Christians! It is +because of their own hard dealings that they doubt the truth of +others.--Look here, my lord Bassanio. Suppose Antonio fail in his +bond, what profit would it be to me to exact the penalty? A pound of +man's flesh is not of the value of a pound of beef or mutton! I offer +friendship, that I may buy his favor. If he will take it, so; if not, +adieu." + +But still Bassanio mistrusted the Jew. However, he could not persuade +his friend against the agreement, and Antonio signed the bond, thinking +it was only a jest, as Shylock said. + +The fair and beautiful lady whom Bassanio hoped to marry lived near +Venice; and when her lover confessed that,--though of high birth,--he +had no fortune to lay at her feet, Portia prettily said that she wished +herself a thousand times more fair, and ten thousand times more rich, +so that she might be less unworthy of him. Then, declaring that she +gave herself to be in all things directed and governed by him, she +presented Bassanio with a ring. + +Overpowered with joy at her gracious answer to his suit, the young lord +took the gift, vowing that he would never part with it. + +Gratiano was in attendance upon his master during this interview; and +after wishing Bassanio and his lovely lady joy, he begged leave to be +married also; saying that Nerissa, the maid of Portia, had promised to +be his wife, should her mistress wed Bassanio. + +At this moment a messenger entered, bringing tidings from Antonio; +which Bassanio reading, turned so pale that his lady asked him what was +amiss. + +"Oh, sweet Portia, here are a few of the most unpleasant words that +ever blotted paper," he said. "When I spoke of my love, I freely told +you I had no wealth, save the pure blood that runs in my veins; but I +should have told you that I had less than nothing, being in debt." + +And then Bassanio gave the history of Antonio's agreement with Shylock, +the Jew. He next read the letter which had been brought: "Sweet +Bassanio--My ships are lost: my bond to the Jew is forfeited; and since +in paying it, it is impossible I should live, I could wish to see you +at my death. Notwithstanding, use your pleasure: if your love for me +do not persuade you to come, let not my letter." + +Then Portia said such a friend should not lose so much as a hair of his +head by the fault of Bassanio, and that gold must be found to pay the +money; and in order to make all her possessions his, she would even +marry her lover that day, so that he might start at once to the help of +Antonio. + +So in all haste the young couple were wedded, and also their +attendants, Gratiano and Nerissa. Bassanio immediately set out for +Venice, where he found his friend in prison. + +The time of payment was past, and the Jew would not accept the money +offered him: nothing would do now, he said, but the pound of flesh! So +a day was appointed for the case to be tried before the Duke of Venice; +and meanwhile the two friends must wait in anxiety and fear. + +Portia had spoken cheeringly to her husband when he left her, but her +own heart began to sink when she was alone; and so strong was her +desire to save one who bad been so true a friend to her Bassanio, that +she determined to go to Venice and speak in defence of Antonio. + +There was a gentleman dwelling in the city named Bellario, a +counsellor, who was related to Portia; and to him she wrote telling the +case, and begging that he would send her the dress which she must wear +when she appeared to defend the prisoner at his trial. The messenger +returned, bringing her the robes of the counsellor, and also much +advice as to how she should act; and, in company of her maid Nerissa, +Portia started upon her errand, arriving at Venice on the day of the +trial. + +The duke and the senators were already in court, when a note was handed +from Bellario saying that, by illness, he was prevented pleading for +Antonio; but he begged that the young and learned Doctor Balthasar (for +so he called Portia) might be allowed to take his place. + +The duke marveled at the extremely youthful appearance of this +stranger, but granted Bellario's request; and Portia, disguised in +flowing robes and large wig, gazed round the court, where she saw +Bassanio standing beside his friend. + +The importance of her work gave Portia courage; and she began her +address to Shylock, the Jew, telling him of mercy: + + "The quality of mercy is not strained; + It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven + Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest; + It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes: + 'Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes + The throned monarch better than his crown." + + +But Shylock's only answer was, that he would insist upon the penalty: +upon which Portia asked if Antonio could not pay the sum. Bassanio +then publicly offered the payment of the three thousand ducats; the +hard Jew still refusing it, and declaring that he would take nothing +but the promised pound of flesh. + +Bassanio was now terribly grieved, and asked the learned young +counsellor to "wrest the law a little." + +"It must not be--there is no power in Venice can alter a decree +established," said Portia. Shylock, hearing her say this, believed she +would now favor him, and exclaimed: "A Daniel come to judgment! O wise +young judge, how do I honor thee!" + +He never guessed what was coming, when the young counsellor gravely +asked to look at the bond. She read it, and declared that the Jew was +lawfully entitled to the pound of flesh, but once more she begged him +to take the offered money, and be merciful. + +It was in vain to talk to Shylock of mercy. He began to sharpen a +knife; and then Portia asked Antonio if he had anything to say. He +replied that he could say but little; and prepared to take leave of his +well-beloved Bassanio, bidding him tell his wife how he had died for +friendship. + +In his grief, Bassanio cried out that, dearly as he loved his wife, +even she could not be more precious to him than Antonio's life; and +that he would lose her and all he had, could it avail to satisfy the +Jew. + +"Your wife would give you little thanks for that, if she were by to +hear you make that offer," said Portia; not at all angry, however, with +her husband for loving such a noble friend well enough to say this. + +Then Bassanio's servant exclaimed that _he_ had a wife whom he loved, +but he wished she were in heaven, if, by being there, she could soften +the heart of Shylock. + +At this, Nerissa--who, in her clerk's dress, was by Portia's +side--said, "It is well you wish this behind her back." + +But Shylock was impatient to be revenged on his victim, and cried out +that time was being lost. So Portia asked if the scales were in +readiness; and if some surgeon were near, lest Antonio should bleed to +death. + +"It is not so named in the bond," said Shylock. + +"It were good you did so much for charity," returned Portia. + +But charity and mercy were nothing to the Jew, who sharpened his knife, +and called upon Antonio to prepare. But Portia bade him tarry; there +was something more to hear. Though the law, indeed, gave him a pound +of flesh, it did not give him one single drop of blood; and if, in +cutting off the flesh, he shed one drop of Antonio's blood, his +possessions were confiscated by the law to the State of Venice! + +A murmur of applause ran through the court at the wise thought of the +young counsellor; for it was clearly impossible for the flesh to be cut +without the shedding of blood, and therefore Antonio was safe. + +Shylock then said he would take the money Bassanio had offered; and +Bassanio cried out gladly, "Here it is!" at which Portia stopped him, +saying that the Jew should have nothing but the penalty named in the +bond. + +"Give me my money and I will go!" cried Shylock once more; and once +more Bassanio would have given it, had not Portia again interfered. +"Tarry, Jew," she said; "the law hath yet another hold on you." Then +she stated that, for conspiring against the life of a citizen of +Venice, the law compelled him to forfeit all his wealth, and his own +life was at the mercy of the duke. + +The duke said he would grant him his life before he asked it; one-half +of his riches only should go to the State, the other half should be +Antonio's. + +More merciful of heart than his enemy could expect, Antonio declared +that he did not desire the Jew's property, if he would make it over at +his death to his own daughter, whom he had discarded for marrying a +Christian, to which Shylock reluctantly agreed. + + + + +THE AFFLICTED PRINCE. + +A TALE OF THE ANCIENT BRITONS. + + +I. + +It is said by some ancient historians, and by those who have bestowed +much pains in examining and comparing old conditions, that several +kings reigned over Britain before Julius Caesar landed in the country. +Lud Hurdebras is supposed to have been the eighth king from Brute, whom +the Bards, and after them, the monkish historians, report to have been +the first monarch of Britain. I am going to tell you a story of Prince +Bladud, the son of this Lud Hurdebras, which, there is reason to +believe, is founded on fact. + +Bladud was the only child of the king and queen, and he was not only +tenderly beloved by his parents, but was also considered as a child of +great beauty and promise by the chiefs and the people. It, however, +unfortunately happened that he was attacked with that loathsome +disease, so frequently mentioned in Scripture by the name of leprosy. +The dirty habits and gross feeding of the early natives of Britain, as +well as of all other uncivilized people, rendered this malady common; +but at the time in which Prince Bladud lived, no cure for it was known +to the Britons. Being highly infectious, therefore, all persons +afflicted with it were not only held in disgust and abhorrence, but, by +the barbarous laws of the times, were doomed to be driven from the +abodes of their fellow-creatures, and to take their chance of life or +death in the forests and the deserts, exposed alike to hunger and to +beasts of prey. + +So great was the horror of this disease among the heathen Britons, and +so strictly was the law for preventing its extension observed, that +even the rank of the young prince caused no exception to be made in his +favor. Neither was his tender youth suffered to plead for sympathy; +and the king himself was unable to protect his own son from the cruel +treatment accorded to the lepers of those days. No sooner was the +report whispered abroad, that Prince Bladud was afflicted with leprosy, +than the chiefs and elders of the council assembled together, and +insisted that Lud Hurdebras should expel his son from the royal city, +and drive him forth into the wilderness, in order to prevent the +dreaded infection from spreading. + +The fond mother of the unfortunate Bladud vainly endeavored to prevail +on her royal husband to resist this barbarous injunction. All that +maternal love and female tenderness could urge, she pleaded in behalf +of her only child, whose bodily sufferings rendered him but the dearer +object of affection to her fond bosom. + +The distressed father, however deeply and painfully he felt the queen's +passionate appeal, could not act in contradiction to the general voice +of his subjects; he was compelled to stifle all emotions of natural +compassion for his innocent son, and to doom him to perpetual +banishment. + +Bladud awaited his father's decision, in tears and silence, without +offering a single word of supplication, lest he should increase the +anguish of his parent's hearts. But, when the cruel sentence of +banishment was confirmed by the voice of his hitherto doating sire, he +uttered a cry of bitter sorrow, and covering his disfigured visage with +both hands, turned about to leave the haunts of his childhood forever, +exclaiming, "Who will have compassion upon me, now that I am abandoned +by my parents?" + +How sweet, how consoling, would have been the answer of a Christian +parent to this agonizing question; but on Bladud's mother the heavenly +light of Revelation had never shone. She knew not how to speak comfort +to the breaking heart of her son, in those cheering words of Holy Writ, +which would have been so applicable to his case in that hour of +desertion: _When thy father and thy mother forsake thee, I will take +thee up_. She could only weep with her son, and try to soothe his +sorrow by whispering a hope, which she was far from feeling, that the +day might come, when he could return to his father's court, cured of +the malady which was the cause of his banishment. + +"But years may pass away before that happy day, if it ever should +come," replied the weeping boy; "and I shall be altered in stature and +in features; the tones of my voice will have become strange to your +ears, my mother! Toil and sorrow will have set their hard marks upon +my brow. These garments, now so brightly stained with figures that +denote my royal birth and princely station, will be worn bare, or +exchanged for the sheep-skin vest of indigence. How, then, will you +know that I am indeed your son, should I ever present myself before you +cleansed of this dreadful leprosy?" + +"My son," replied the queen, taking a royal ring of carved agate from +her finger, and placing it on a stand before him, for so great was the +terror of contagion from those afflicted with leprosy, that even the +affectionate mother of Bladud avoided the touch of her child,--"this +ring was wrought by the master-hand of a Druid, a skillful worker in +precious stones, within the sacred circle of Stonehenge. It was placed +upon my finger before the mystic altar, when I became the wife of the +king, your father, and was saluted by the Arch-Druid as Queen of +Britain. In the whole world, there is not another like unto it; and, +should you bring it back to me, by that token shall I know you to be my +son, even though the lapse of thrice ten years shall have passed away, +and the golden locks of my princely boy shall be darkened with toil and +time, and no longer wave over a smooth, unfurrowed brow." + + +II. + +The unfortunate Bladud, having carefully suspended his mother's ring +about his neck, bade her a tearful farewell, and slowly and sorrowfully +pursued his lonely way across the hills and downs of that part of +England which is now called Somersetshire. + +Evening was closing in before Bladud met with a single creature to show +him the slightest compassion. At length, he was so fortunate as to +encounter a shepherd-boy, who appeared in scarcely less distress than +himself; for one of the sheep belonging to his flock had fallen into a +ditch, the sides of which were so steep that he was unable to pull it +out without assistance. + +"Stranger," said he, addressing the outcast prince, "if ever you hope +to obtain pity from others, I beseech you to lend me your aid, or I +shall be severely punished by my master, for suffering this sheep to +fall into the ditch." + +Bladud required no second entreaty, but hastily divesting himself of +his princely garments, assisted the boy in extricating the sheep from +the water. The grateful youth bestowed upon him, in return, a share of +his coarse supper of oaten cakes. Bladud, who had not broken his fast +since the morning, ate this with greater relish than he had often felt +for the dainties of which he had been accustomed to partake at his +father's board. + +It was a fine and lovely evening; the birds were singing their evening +song; and a delicious fragrance was diffused from the purple heath and +the blooming wild flowers. The sheep gathered round their youthful +keeper; and he took up a rustic pipe, made from the reeds that overhung +the margin of a neighboring rivulet, and played a merry tune, quite +forgetful of his past trouble. + +Bladud saw that a peasant boy, while engaged in the performance of his +duties, might be as happy as a prince. Contentment and industry +sweeten every lot, while useless repining only tends to aggravate the +hardships to which it is the will of God that the human family should +be exposed. + +"You appear very happy," said Bladud to his new friend. + +"How should I be otherwise?" replied the shepherd-boy: "I have +wherewithal to eat and to drink; I have strength to labor, and health +to enjoy my food. I sleep soundly on my bed of rushes after the toils +of the day; and my master never punishes me except for carelessness or +disobedience." + +"I wish I were a shepherd-boy, also," said the prince: "can you tell me +of some kind master, who would employ me to feed his flocks on these +downs?" + +The shepherd-boy shook his head, and replied, "You are a stranger lad +from some distant town; most probably, by your fine painted dress, the +runaway son of some great person, and unacquainted with any sort of +useful occupation. Let me hear what you can do to get an honest +living." + +Bladud blushed deeply. He had been accustomed to spend his time in +idle sports with the sons of the chieftains, and had not acquired the +knowledge of anything likely to be of service in his present situation. +He was silent for some minutes, but at length replied, "I can brighten +arrows, string bows, and shoot at a mark." + +Math, the shepherd-boy, advised his new companion, in his rustic +language, not to mention these accomplishments to the peaceful herdsmen +of Caynsham, (as the spot where this conference took place is now +called,) lest it should create a prejudice against him; "neither," +continued he, "would I counsel you to sue for service in a suit of this +fashion." He laid his sunburnt hand, as he spoke, on Bladud's painted +vest, lined with the fur of squirrels, which was only worn by persons +of royal rank. + +"Will you, for charity's sake, then, exchange your sheep-skin coat for +my costly garments?" asked Bladud. + +"Had you not so kindly helped me to pull my sheep out of the ditch, I +would have said to you nay," replied Math; "but as one good turn +deserves another, I will even give you my true shepherd's suit for your +finery." So saying, he exchanged suits with the young prince. + +"And now," said Bladud, "do you think I may venture to ask one of the +herdsmen of the valley to trust me with the care of a flock?" + +"Trust you with the care of a flock, forsooth!" cried Math, laughing; +"I wonder at your presumption in thinking of such a thing, when you +confess yourself ignorant of all the duties of a shepherd-boy!" + +"They are very simple, and can easily be learned, I should think," said +Bladud. + +"Ay," replied Math, "or you had not seen them practiced by so simple a +lad as Math, the son of Goff. But as all learners must have a +beginning, I would not have you aspire at first to a higher office than +that of a swineherd's boy; for remember, as no one knows who you are, +or whence you come, you must not expect to obtain much notice from +those who are the possessors of flocks and herds." + +Bladud sighed deeply at this remark; but as he felt the truth of what +Math said, he did not evince any displeasure at his plain speaking. +He, therefore, mildly requested Math to recommend him to some master +who would give him employment. + +Math happened to know an aged swineherd who was in want of a lad of +Bladud's age to attend on his pigs. He accordingly introduced his new +friend, Bladud, as a candidate for that office; and his mild and sedate +manners so well pleased the old man, that he immediately took him into +his service. + +Bladud at first felt the change of his fortunes very keenly, for he had +been delicately fed and nurtured, and surrounded by friends, servants, +and busy flatterers. He was now far separated from all who knew and +loved him; exposed to wind and weather, heat and cold, and compelled to +endure every species of hardship. He had no other bed than straw or +rushes; his food was far worse than that which is now eaten by the +poorest peasants, who deem their lot so hard; and he was clothed in +undressed sheep-skins, from which the wool had been shorn. His drink +was only water from the brook, and his whole time was occupied in his +attendance on the swine. + +At the earliest peep of dawn he was forced to rise, and lead forth into +the fields and woods a numerous herd of grunting swine in quest of +food, and there to remain till the shades of evening compelled him to +drive them to the shelter of the rude sheds built for their +accommodation, round the wretched hovel wherein his master dwelt. +Bladud was sure to return weary and hungry, and often wet and +sorrowful, to his forlorn home. Yet he did not murmur, though +suffering at the same time under a most painful, and, as he supposed, +an incurable disease. + +He endeavored to bear the hardships of his lot with patience, and he +derived satisfaction from the faithful performance of the duties which +he had undertaken, irksome as they were. The greatest pain he endured, +next to his separation from his parents, was the discovery that several +of his master's pigs were infected with the same loathsome disease +under which he was laboring; and this he feared would draw upon him the +displeasure of the old herdsman. + +But the leprosy, and its contagious nature, were evils unknown to the +herdsmen of Caynsham, or Bladud would never have been able to obtain +employment there. His master was an aged man, nearly blind, who, being +convinced of the faithful disposition of his careful attendant, left +the swine entirely to his management; so the circumstance of several of +the most valuable of them being infected with leprosy, was never +suspected by him. Bladud continued to lead them into the fields and +forests in quest of their daily food, without incurring either question +or reproach from him, or, indeed, from any one, for it was a +thinly-inhabited district, and there were no gossiping neighbors to +bring the tale of trouble to the old herdsman. + +But though Bladud's misfortune remained undetected, he was seriously +unhappy, for he felt himself to be the innocent cause of bringing the +infection of a sore disease among his master's swine. He would have +revealed the whole matter to him, only that he feared the evil could +not now be cured. + +From day to day he led his herd deeper into the forests, and further +a-field; for he wished to escape the observation of every eye. +Sometimes, indeed, he did not bring them back to the herdsmen's +enclosure above once in a week. In the meantime he slept at night, +surrounded by his uncouth companions, under the shade of some +wide-spreading oak of the forest, living like them, upon acorns, or the +roots of the pig-nuts, which grew in the woods and marshes, and were, +when roasted, sweet and mealy, like potatoes, with the flavor of the +chestnut. These were dainties in comparison to the coarse, black +unleavened cakes on which poor Bladud had been used to feed ever since +his unhappy banishment. + +The old herdsman was perfectly satisfied with Bladud's management of +the swine, and glad to find that he took the trouble of leading them +into fresh districts for change of food, of which swine are always +desirous. + +So Bladud continued to penetrate into new and untrodden solitudes with +his grunting charge, till one day he saw the bright waters of the river +Avon sparkling before him in the early beams of the morning sun. He +felt a sudden desire of crossing this pleasant stream. It was the +fruitful season of autumn, and the reddening acorns, with which the +rich oaken groves that crowned the noble hills on the opposite side +were laden, promised an abundant feast for his master's swine, of whose +wants he was always mindful. + +He would not, however, venture to lead them across the river without +first returning to acquaint his master, for he had already been abroad +more than a week. So he journeyed homeward, and reached his master's +hovel, with his whole herd, in safety. He then reported to the good +old man, that he had wandered to the side of a beautiful river, and +beheld from its grassy banks a rich and smiling country, wherein, he +doubted not, that the swine would find food of the best kind, and in +great abundance. "Prithee, master," quoth he, "suffer me to drive the +herd across that fair stream, and if aught amiss befall them, it shall +not be for want of due care and caution on the part of your faithful +boy." + +"Thou art free to lead the herd across the fair stream of which thou +speakest, my son," replied the herdsman, "and may the blessing of an +old man go with them and thee; for surely thou hast been faithful and +wise in all thy doings since thou hast been my servant." + +That very day he set out once more to the shores of the silvery Avon, +and crossed it with the delighted pigs, at a shallow spot, which has +ever since that time, in memory thereof, been called Swinford, or +Swine's-ford. + +No sooner, however, had they reached the opposite shore, than the whole +herd set off, galloping and scampering, one over the other, as if they +had one and all been seized with a sudden frenzy. No less alarmed than +astonished at their sudden flight, Bladud followed them at his quickest +speed, and beheld them rapidly descending into a valley, towards some +springs of water, that seemed to ooze out of the boggy land in its +bottom, amidst rushes, weeds, and long rank grass. Into this swamp the +pigs rushed headlong, and here they rolled and reveled, tumbling, +grunting, and squeaking, and knocking each other head over heels, with +evident delight, but to the utter astonishment of Bladud, who was +altogether unconscious of the instinct by which the gratified animals +had been impelled. + +All the attempts which Bladud made to, drive or entice them from this +spot were entirely useless. They continued to wallow in their miry +bed, until at length the calls of hunger induced them to seek the woods +for food; but after they had eaten a hearty meal of acorns, they +returned to the swamp, to the increasing surprise of Bladud. As for +his part, having taken a supper of coarse black bread and roasted +acorns, he sought shelter for the night in the thick branches of a +large oak-tree. + +Now poor Bladud was not aware that, guided by superior Wisdom, he had, +unknown to himself, approached a spot wherein there existed a +remarkable natural peculiarity. This was no other than some warm, +springs of salt water, which ooze out of the earth, and possess certain +medicinal properties which have the effect of curing various diseases, +and on which account they are sought by afflicted persons even to the +present day. + + +III. + +Bladud awoke with the first beams of morning, and discovered his +grunting charge still actively wallowing in the oozy bed in which they +had taken such unaccountable delight on the preceding day. + +Bladud, however, who was accustomed to reason and to reflect on +everything he saw, had often observed that the natural instinct of +animals prompted them to do such things as were most beneficial to +them. He had noticed that cats and dogs, when sick, had recourse to +certain herbs and grasses, which proved effectual remedies for the +malady under which they labored; and he thought it possible that pigs +might be endowed with a similar faculty of discovering an antidote for +disease. At all events he resolved to watch the result of their +revelings in the warm ooze bath, wherein they continued to wallow, +between whiles, for several days. + +The wisdom of this proceeding was shortly manifested; for Bladud soon +observed that a gradual improvement was taking place in the appearance +of the swine. + +The leprous scales fell off by degrees, and in the course of a few +weeks the leprosy gradually disappeared, and the whole herd being +cleansed, was restored to a sound and healthy state. + +The heart of the outcast prince was buoyant with hope and joy when the +idea first presented itself to his mind, that the same simple remedy +which had restored the infected swine might be equally efficacious in +his own case. Divesting himself of his humble clothing and elate with +joy and hope, he plunged into the warm salt ooze bed, wherein his pigs +had reveled with so much advantage. + +He was soon sensible of an abatement of the irritable and painful +symptoms of his loathsome malady; and, in a short time, by persevering +in the use of the remedy which the natural sagacity of his humble +companions had suggested, he became wholly cured of the leprosy and was +delighted to find himself restored to health and vigor. + +After bathing, and washing away in the river the stains of the ooze, he +first beheld the reflection of his own features in the clear mirror of +the stream. He perceived that his skin, which had been so lately +disfigured by foul blotches and frightful scales, so as to render him +an object of abhorrance to his nearest and dearest friends, was now +smooth, fair, and clear. + +"Oh, my mother!" he exclaimed, in the overpowering rapture of his +feelings on this discovery, "I may then hope to behold thy face once +more! and thou wilt no longer shrink from the embrace of thy son, as in +the sad, sad hour of our sorrowful parting!" + +He pressed the agate ring which she had given him as her farewell token +of remembrance, to his lips and to his bosom, as he spoke; then +quitting the water, he once more arrayed himself in the miserable garb +of his lowly fortunes, and guided his master's herd homeward. + +The old man, who was beginning to grow uneasy at the unwonted length of +Bladud's absence, and fearing that some accident had befallen the +swine, was about to set forth in search of him, when he heard the +approach of the noisy herd, and perceived Bladud advancing toward him. + +"Is all well with thyself and with the herd my son?" inquired the old +man. + +"All is well, my father," replied Bladud, bowing himself before his +lowly master, "yea, more than well; for the blessing of the great +Disposer of all that befalleth the children of men, hath been with me. +I left you as a poor destitute, afflicted with a sore disease, that had +rendered me loathsome to my own house, and despised and shunned by all +men. I was driven forth from the dwellings of health and gladness, and +forced to seek shelter in the wilderness. From being the son of a +king, I was reduced to become the servant of one of the humblest of his +subjects, and esteemed myself fortunate in obtaining the care of a herd +of swine, that I might obtain even a morsel of coarse food, and a place +wherein to lay my head at night. But, behold, through this very thing +have I been healed of my leprosy!" + +"And who art thou, my son?" demanded the old herdsman, in whose ears +the words of his youthful servant sounded like the language of a dream. + +"I am Bladud, the son of Lud Hurdebras, thy king," replied the youth. +"Up--let us be going, for the time seemeth long to me, till I once more +look upon his face, and that of the queen, my mother." + +"Thou hast never yet in aught deceived me, my son," observed the +herdsman, "else should I say thou wert mocking me with some wild fable; +so passing all belief doth it seem, that the son of my lord the king +should have been contented to dwell with so poor and humble a man as +myself in the capacity of a servant." + +"In truth, the trial was a hard one," replied Bladud; "but I knew that +it was my duty to submit to the direction of that heavenly Guardian who +has thus shaped my lot after His good pleasure; and now do I perceive +that it was in love and mercy, as well as in wisdom, that I have been +afflicted." Bladud then proposed to his master that he should +accompany him to his father's court; to which the old herdsman, who +scarcely yet credited the assertion of his young attendant, at length +consented; and they journeyed together to the royal city. + +In these days, many a mean village is in appearance a more important +place than were the royal cities wherein the ancient British kings kept +court; for these were merely large straggling enclosures, surrounded +with trenches and hedge-rows, containing a few groups of wattled huts, +plastered over with clay. The huts were built round the king's palace, +which was not itself a more commodious building than a modern barn, and +having neither chimneys nor glazed windows, must have been but a +miserable abode in the winter season. + +At the period to which our story has now conducted us, it was, however, +a fine warm autumn day. King Hurdebras and his queen were therefore +dwelling in an open pavilion, formed of the trunks of trees, which were +covered over with boughs, and garlanded with wreaths of wild flowers. + +Bladud and his master arrived during the celebration of a great +festival, held to commemorate the acorn-gathering, which was then +completed. All ranks and conditions of people were assembled in their +holiday attire, which varied from simple sheep-skins to the fur of +wolves, cats, and rabbits. + +Among all this concourse of people, Bladud was remarked for the poverty +of his garments, which were of the rude fashion and coarse material of +those of the humblest peasant. As for the old herdsman, his master, +when he observed the little respect with which Bladud was treated by +the rude crowds who were thronging to the royal city, he began to +suspect either that the youth himself had been deluded by some strange +dream respecting his royal birth and breeding, or that for knavish +purposes he had practiced on his credulity, in inducing him to +undertake so long a journey. + +These reflections put the old man into an ill humor, which was greatly +increased when, on entering the city, he became an object of boisterous +mirth and rude jest to the populace. On endeavoring to ascertain the +cause of this annoyance, he discovered that one of his most valuable +pigs, that had formed a very powerful attachment to Prince Bladud, had +followed them on their journey, and was now grunting at their very +heels. + +The herdsman's anger at length broke out in words, and he bitterly +upbraided Bladud for having beguiled him into such a wild-goose +expedition. "And, as if that were not enough," quoth he, "thou couldst +not be contented without bringing thy pet pig hither, to make a fool +both of thyself and me. Why, verily, we are the laughing-stock of the +whole city." + +Bladud mildly assured his master that it was through no act of his that +the pig had followed them to his father's court. + +"Thy father's court, forsooth!" retorted the old man, angrily; "I do +verily believe it is all a trick which thou hast cunningly planned, for +the sake of stealing my best pig. Else why shouldst thou have +permitted it to follow thee thither?" + +Bladud was prevented from replying to this unjust accusation by a +rabble of rude boys, who had gathered round them, and began to assail +the poor pig with sticks and stones. Bladud at first mildly requested +them to desist from such cruel sport; but finding that they paid no +attention to his remonstrances, he began to deal out blows, right and +left, with his stout quarter-staff, by which he kept the foremost at +bay, calling at the same time on his master to assist him in defending +the pig. + +But Bladud and his master together were very unequally matched against +this lawless band of young aggressors. They certainly would have been +very roughly handled, had it not been for the unexpected aid of a +shepherd-lad who came to their assistance, and, with the help of his +faithful dog, succeeded in driving away the most troublesome of their +assailants. + +In this brave and generous ally, Bladud had the satisfaction of +discovering his old friend Math of the Downs. So completely, however, +was Bladud's appearance changed in consequence of his being cleansed of +the leprosy, that it was some time before he could convince Math that +he was the wretched and forlorn outcast with whom he had changed +clothes, nearly a twelvemonth before on the Somersetshire Downs. + +Math, however, presently remembered his old clothes, in the sorry +remains of which Bladud was still dressed; and Bladud also pointed with +a smile to the painted vest of a British prince, in which the young +shepherd had arrayed himself to attend the festival of the +acorn-gathering. Strange to say, the generous boy had altogether +escaped infection from the clothes of his diseased prince. + +Bladud now briefly explained his situation to the astonished Math, whom +he invited to join himself and his master in their visit to the royal +pavilion, in order that he might be a witness of his restoration to the +arms of his parents, and the honors of his father's court. + +Math, though still more incredulous than even the old herdsman, was +strongly moved by curiosity to witness the interview. He stoutly +assisted Bladud in making his way through the crowd, who appeared +resolutely bent on impeding their progress to the royal pavilion, +which, however, they at length approached, still followed by the +persevering pig. + + +IV. + +The last load of acorns, adorned with the faded branches of the noble +oak, and crowned with the mistletoe, a plant which the Druids taught +the ancient Britons to hold in superstitious reverence, was now borne +into the city, preceded by a band of Druids in their long white robes, +and a company of minstrels, singing songs, and dancing before the wain. +The king and queen came forth to meet the procession, and, after +addressing suitable speeches to the Druids and the people, re-entered +the pavilion, where they sat down to regale themselves. + +Bladud, who had continued to press forward, now availed himself of an +opportunity of entering the pavilion behind one of the queen's favorite +ladies, whose office it was to fill her royal mistress' goblet with +mead. This lady had been Bladud's nurse, which rendered her very dear +to the queen, whom nothing could console for the loss of her son. + +Bladud, concealed from observation by one of the rude pillars that +supported the roof of the building, contemplated the scene in silence, +which was broken only by the agitated beating of his swelling heart. +He observed that the queen, his mother, looked sad and pale, and that +she scarcely tasted of the cheer before her. She sighed deeply from +time to time, and kept her eyes fixed on the vacant place which, in +former happy days used to be occupied by her only son! + +King Hurdebras endeavored to prevail upon her to partake of some of the +dainties with which the board was spread. + +"How can I partake of costly food," she replied, "when my only child is +a wanderer on the face of the earth, and, perchance, lacketh bread?" + +Bladud, unable longer to restrain the emotions under which he labored, +now softly stole from behind the pillar, and, unperceived, dropped the +agate ring into his mother's goblet. + +"Nay," replied the king, "but this is useless sorrow, my lady queen. +Thinkest thou that I have borne the loss of our only son without grief +and sorrow? Deeply have I also suffered; but we must not forget that +it is our duty to bow with humility to the wise decrees of the great +Disposer of all human events?" + +"But canst thou feel our loss in like degree with me?" she exclaimed, +bursting into tears; "what shall equal a mother's love, or the grief of +her who sorroweth for her only one?" + +"Fill high the goblet, Hetha," said the king, turning to the favorite +of his royal consort; "and implore the queen, thy mistress, to taste of +the sweet mead, and, for the happiness of those around her, to subdue +her sorrow." + +The queen, after some persuasion, took the wine-cup, and raised it with +a reluctant hand; but, ere the sparkling liquor reached her lips, she +perceived the ring at the bottom of the goblet, and hastily pouring the +mead upon the ground, seized the precious token, and holding it up, +with a cry of joy, exclaimed, "My son! my son!" + +Bladud sprang forward, and bowed his knee to the earth before her. +"Hast thou forgotten me, oh! my mother?" he exclaimed, in a faltering +voice; for the queen, accustomed to see her princely son attired in +robes befitting his royal birth, looked with a doubtful eye on the +ragged garb of abject indigence in which the youth was arrayed. +Moreover, he was sun-burnt and weather-beaten; had grown tall and +robust; and was, withal, attended by his strange friend, the pig, who, +in the untaught warmth of his affection, had intruded himself into the +presence of royalty, in the train of his master. + +A second glance convinced the queen, the king, and the delightful +Hetha, that it was indeed the long-lost Bladud upon whom they looked; +and it scarcely required the testimony of the old herdsman, his master, +and that of his friend Math, the shepherd, to certify the fact, and +bear witness to the truth of his simple tale. + +Touching was the scene when the king, recovering from the surprise into +which the first shock of recognition had plunged him, rushed forward +and clasped his long-lost son to his bosom. The big tear-drops rolled +down his manly cheeks, and, relaxing the dignity of the king, and the +sternness of the warrior, all the energies of his nature were embodied +in the one single feeling, that he was a happy and a beloved father! + +The news of the return of their prince spread throughout the assembled +multitudes, on wings of joy. Loud and long were the shouts and +acclamations which burst forth in every direction, as the distant +groups became apprised of the event. The Druids and the Minstrels +formed themselves into processions, in which the people joined; and the +harpers, sounding their loudest strains, struck up their songs of joy +and triumph. The oxen, loosened from the wains, and decked with +garlands of flowers, were led forward in the train; and the dancers and +revelers followed, performing with energy and delight their rude sports +and pastimes around the king's pavilion. + +Night at length closed upon the happy scene, and the king and queen +retired to their tent, accompanied by their son, to learn from his lips +the course of events by which his life had been preserved, and his +health restored. They joined in humble thanks to the Great Author of +all happiness, for the special blessings that had been bestowed upon +them; and the king marked his sense of gratitude by gifts and benefits +extended to the helpless and the deserving among his subjects. The +good old herdsman was among the most favored, and the worthy Math was +put in a path of honor and promotion, of which he proved himself well +deserving. + + + + +"HIS LUDSHIP." + +BARBARA YECHTON. + + +You could not have found anywhere two happier boys than were Charlie +and Selwyn Kingsley one Saturday morning early in June. In their +delight they threw their arms around each other and danced up and down +the piazza, they tossed their hats in the air and hurrahed, they sprang +down the stone steps two at a time, dashed about the grounds in a wild +fashion that excited their dog Fritz, and set him barking in the +expectation of a frolic, then raced across to their special chum and +playmate, Ned Petry. They arrived there almost out of breath, but with +such beaming faces that before they reached the hammock where he lay +swinging Ned called out, "Halloa! what's happened? Something good, I +know." + +"We're going--" panted Charlie, dropping down on the grass beside him. + +"To Europe!" supplemented Selwyn. + +"No!" cried Ned, springing up. "Isn't that just jolly! When do you +sail, and who all are going? Let's sit in the hammock together. Now +tell me all about it." The three boys crowded into the hammock, and +for a few minutes questions and answers flew thick and fast. + +"You know we've always wanted to go." said Charlie. Ned nodded. "And +the last time papa went he promised he'd take us the next trip, but we +didn't dream he was going this summer." + +"Though we suspected something was up," broke in Selwyn, "because for +about a week past whenever Charlie and I would come into the room papa +and mamma'd stop talking; but we never thought of Europe." + +"Until this morning," continued Charlie, "after breakfast, when papa +said, 'Boys, how would you like a trip to Europe with your mother and +me?'" + +"At first we thought he was joking," again interrupted eager little +Selwyn, "because his eyes twinkled just as they do when he is telling a +joke." + +"But he wasn't," resumed his brother, "and the long and short of the +matter is that we are all--papa, mamma, sister Agatha, Selwyn, and +I--to sail in the Majestic, June 17, so we've only about a week more to +wait." + +"Oh! oh! it's too splendid for anything!" cried Selwyn, clapping his +hands in delight and giving the hammock a sudden impetus, which set it +swaying rapidly. "We're to spend some time with Uncle Geoffrey +Barrington--you know, Ned, Rex's father--and we're to see all the +sights of 'famous London town'--the Houses of Parliament, the Zoo, +Westminster Abbey, and the dear old Tower! Just think of it, Ned, +papa's going to show us the very cells in which Lady Jane Grey and Sir +Walter Raleigh were shut up! Oh, don't I wish you were going, too!" + +"Wouldn't it be splendid!" said Charlie, throwing his arm across Ned's +shoulders. + +"Wouldn't it!" echoed Ned, ruefully. "I wonder when our turn will +come; soon, I hope. I shall miss you fellows awfully." + +"Never mind, Ned, we'll write to you," cried both boys, warmly, "and +tell you all about everything." + +The next week was full of pleasant excitement for Charlie and Selwyn. +They left school a few days before it closed that they might help mamma +and sister Agatha, who were very busy getting things into what papa +called "leaving order." There was a great deal to do, but at last +everything was accomplished, the steamer trunks had been packed, and +some last good-byes spoken. Fritz and the rabbits had been given into +Ned's keeping with many injunctions and cautions. Carefully wrapped in +cloths, the boys had placed their bicycles in the seclusion which a +garret granted. Balls, tennis rackets, boxes of pet tools, favorite +books, everything, in fact, had been thought of and cared for, and at +last the eventful day of sailing arrived. + +A number of friends came to the city to see the Kingsleys off. They +sat in the saloon of the big steamer with Mrs. Kingsley and her +daughter, while the boys, under papa's care, remained on the dock for a +while, deeply interested in their unusual surroundings. They were +almost wild with excitement, which not even the prospect of parting +with Ned could quiet, and it is not much to be wondered at, there was +so much going on. + +The long covered dock was crowded with men, women, and children, nearly +all of whom were talking at the same time. Large wagons were +unloading; trunks, boxes and steamer-chairs stood about, which the +steamer "hands" were carrying up the gangway as rapidly as possible; +huge cases, burlap-covered bundles, barrels and boxes were being +lowered into the hold by means of a derrick; men were shouting, +children crying, horses champing, and in the midst of the confusion +loving last words were being spoken. + +When papa joined the grown people in the saloon, Charlie, Selwyn, and +Ned made a tour of the steamer. Of course they were careful not to get +in the way of the busy sailors, but they found lots to see without +doing that. First, wraps and hand-satchels were deposited in their +state-rooms, which were directly opposite each other, and the +state-rooms thoroughly investigated, each boy climbing into the upper +berths "to see how it felt." Then they visited the kitchen, saw the +enormous tea and coffee pots, and the deep, round shining pans in which +the food was cooked. But they did not stay here long, as it was nearly +dinner time, and everybody was very busy. Next came the engine-room, +which completely fascinated them with its many wheels and rods and +bolts, all shining like new silver and gold. + +From there they went on deck, clambered up little flights of steps as +steep as ladders and as slippery as glass; walked about the upper deck, +and managed to see a great deal in fifteen or twenty minutes. By the +time they returned to the gangway all the baggage and merchandise had +been taken on board. A man in a blue coat with brass buttons, and a +cap with a gilt band around it, called out in a loud voice, "All on +shore!" and then came last good-byes. Smiles and laughter vanished, +tears and sobs took their places. "Good-bye!" "God bless you!" "Bon +voyage!" "Don't forget to write!" was heard on every side. Mamma and +sister Agatha shed a few tears; even papa was seen to take off his +glasses several times to wipe the moisture which would collect on them. + +Of course, Charlie, Selwyn, and Ned wouldn't cry, that was "too +babyish;" but they had to wink very hard at one time to avert such a +disgrace, and just at the last, when no one was looking, they threw +dignity to the winds, and heartily kissed each other good-bye. + +"Write just as soon as you get over," cried Ned, as he ran down the +gangway. + +"We will, indeed we will!" the boys answered, eagerly. Then the +gangway was drawn on board, the engine began to move, and the big ship +steamed away from the pier in fine style, with flags flying and +handkerchiefs fluttering. + +Mrs. Kingsley was confined to her berth for nearly all of the voyage, +but the rest of the family remained in excellent health and spirits, +and the boys thoroughly enjoyed themselves. + +When about three days out the ship passed near enough to an iceberg for +the passengers to distinguish distinctly its castle-like outline, and +to feel the chill it gave to the air. + +Our two boys were such courteous, kindly little gentlemen that all who +came in contact with them liked them, and returned to them the same +measure that they gave. The captain even took them on the "bridge," a +favor which was not accorded to any other boy or girl on board. And +what with visiting the engine-room, waiting on mamma and sister Agatha, +walking and talking with papa, sitting in their steamer-chairs, and +paying proper attention to the good things which were served four or +five times a day, Charlie and Selwyn found that the time fairly flew +away. Selwyn had brought "An American Boy in London" to read aloud to +Charlie, but there were so many other interesting things to occupy +their attention that only one chapter was accomplished. + +On the afternoon of the seventh day after leaving New York, the +Majestic steamed up to the Liverpool dock, and a few hours later the +Kingsleys found themselves comfortably settled in a railroad carriage +en route for London. It was late when they arrived in the great +metropolis, and every one was glad enough to get to the hotel and to +rest as quickly as possible. + +Early the next morning Uncle Geoffrey Barrington came to carry off the +entire family to his big house in Portland Place. Here he declared +they should remain during their stay in London, and as he had a +charming wife and grown-up daughter, who devoted themselves to Mrs. +Kingsley and sister Agatha, and a son about Charlie's age, who was full +of fun and friendliness, all parties found themselves well satisfied +with the arrangement. + +Uncle Geof was one of the judges of the Queen's Bench, and a very busy +man, so he could not always go about with his American relatives; but +Dr. Kingsley was well acquainted with London, and therefore able to +escort his party to all the places of interest. I only wish I had time +to tell you of all the delightful trips they took, and all the +interesting things they saw in this fascinating old city. Visits to +the Tower, the Houses of Parliament, where they heard "Big Ben" strike +the hour--and Westminster Abbey with its illustrious dead; excursions +to Windsor and the Crystal Palace; sails down the Thames, and dinners +and teas at Richmond and Kew Gardens, driving home by moonlight! How +the boys did enjoy it all, and what long letters went home to America +addressed to Master Edward Petry! + +All this sight-seeing took up many days; three weeks slipped by before +anybody realized it, and Dr. Kingsley was talking of a trip to the +Continent, when a little incident occurred of which I must tell you. + +Rex and his American cousins had become the best of friends. He knew +all about their pretty home in Orange, about Ned and the rabbits, +Fritz, the bicycling, and the tennis playing, while they in their turn +took the deepest interest in his country and Eton experiences. They +took "bus" rides together, and played jokes on the pompous footman, +whom Charlie had nicknamed the "S. C." (Superb Creature). + +One morning Rex and our two boys went to Justice Barrington's chambers. +There they expected to find Dr. Kingsley, but when they arrived only +Jarvis, the solemn-faced old servitor, met them. He showed them into +the inner room and left them to their own devices, saying that "his +ludship and the reverend doctor" would, no doubt, soon be in. + +The room was very dark; three sides were covered with +uninteresting-looking law books, and after gazing out of the window, +which overlooked a quiet little church-yard where the monuments and +headstones were falling into decay, the three boys were at a loss what +to do with themselves. Charlie and Selwyn would have liked a walk +about the neighborhood, but Reginald demurred. "It's a horrid bore +being shut up here," he admitted frankly, "but papa might return while +we were out, and I'm not sure that he would like to find us away. I +wish I could think of some way to amuse you. Oh, I know--we were +talking about barristers' robes the other day; I'll show you papa's +gown and wig. I know where Jarvis keeps them. Wouldn't you like to +see them?" + +"Indeed we should," responded the American boys. So, after hunting for +the key, Rex opened what he called a "cupboard" (though Charlie and +Selwyn thought it a closet), where hung a long black silk robe, very +similar in style to those worn by our bishops in America. This he +brought out; next, from a flat wooden box, which looked very old and +black, he drew a large, white, curly wig. The boys looked at these +with eager interest. "These are like what are worn in the Houses of +Parliament," said Charlie. "What a funny idea to wear such a dress." + +"I think it's a very nice idea," Rex answered, quickly. "I assure you +the judges and the barristers look very imposing in their robes and +wigs." + +"I expect to be a lawyer one of these days; wouldn't I astonish the +American public if I appeared in such a costume?" said Charlie, +laughing. "I wonder how I'd look in it?" + +"Try it on and see," suggested Rex. + +"Oh, do, do, Charlie! it'll be such fun!" pleaded Selwyn. So, nothing +loth, Charlie slipped on the long black silk robe, then Rex and Selwyn +arranged the thin white muslin bands at his throat, and settled the big +white wig on his head. His soft, dark hair was brushed well off his +face so that not a lock escaped from beneath the wig, and when he put +on a pair of Uncle Geof's spectacles, which lay conveniently near, the +boys were convulsed with laughter at his appearance. + +"Good-day, your 'ludship,'" said Rex, with a mocking bow; "will your +'ludship' hold court to-day?" + +"Yes, let's have court and try a prisoner," cried Charlie, who began to +feel rather proud of his unusual appearance. "You don't mind, do you, +Rex?" + +"Why, no! I think it'll be no end of fun," was the merry reply. "One +of us could be the prisoner, and the other the barrister who defends +him. I'd better be the barrister, because I know more about English +law than Selwyn does. And the furniture'll have to be the other +counsel and the gentlemen of the jury. Sit over there, Charlie, near +that railing, and we'll make believe it's the bar. The only trouble is +the barrister will have no gown and wig. Isn't it a pity?" + +"Let's take the table cover," suggested Selwyn, which was immediately +acted upon. With their combined efforts, amid much laughter, it was +draped about Rex's shoulders in a fashion very nearly approaching the +graceful style of a North American Indian's blanket. A Russian bath +towel, which they also found in the closet, was arranged on his head +for a wig; then Selwyn was placed behind a chair which was supposed to +be the prisoner's box, the judge took his place, and court opened. + +The ceremony differed from any previously known in judicial experience, +and bursts of merry laughter disturbed the dignity of the learned judge +and counsel, to say nothing of the prisoner. + +"The prisoner at the bar, your 'ludship,'" began the counsel, striving +to steady his voice, "has stolen a--a--a--what shall I say you have +stolen?" addressing Selwyn in a stage whisper. + + "Tom, Tom, the piper's son, + Stole a pig, + And away did run; + The pig was eat, + And Tom was beat, + And Tom went roaring + Down the street," + +sang the prisoner, in a sweet little voice. + +"Your 'ludship,' singing is contempt of court; you will please fine the +prisoner at the bar," said the counsel, regardless of the fact that the +prisoner was supposed to be his client. + +"Silence, both of you!" cried the judge, with impartial justice, +rapping his desk sharply with a brass paper-cutter. "Now, Mr. +Barrister, state the case." Then, in an aside, "Wasn't that well said?" + +"The prisoner has stolen a pig, your 'ludship,'" said the counsel. "He +admits it, but as the animal has been eaten--" + +"And the prisoner has been beaten," put in the incorrigible Selwyn. + +"And the prisoner is a stranger in a strange land," continued Rex, +ignoring the irrelevant remark, "a most noble and learned +American--ahem!--what sentence, your 'ludship,' shall be passed upon +him?" + +"Hum, hum!" said his "ludship," resting his cheek on his hand +meditatively, trying to assume the expression which he had seen +sometimes on papa's face when he and Selwyn were under consideration +for some childish offence. + +"The court waits, your 'ludship,'" remarked the counsel, throwing a +paper ball at the judge. + +"Silence!" again shouted the judge, rapping vigorously. "The sentence +is this: the prisoner shall stand on his head for two seconds, then +recite a piece of poetry, and then--in the course of a week--leave the +country." + +"Your 'ludship' will please sign the sentence and we will submit it to +the jury," suggested the learned counsel, who, as you will perceive, +had rather peculiar ideas about court formula. + +"What shall I sign?" asked his "ludship." + +"Anything," said Rex. "Those papers all look like old things--quick! +I think I hear Jarvis coming. Sign the one in your hand. Just write +Geoffrey Addison Barrington. It's only for fun, you know." + +He caught up a dingy-looking document, opened it, and, thrusting the +pen which was in his "ludship's" hand into the ink, he and the prisoner +at the bar crowded up to see the signature which Charlie wrote as he +had been told to do, in a distinct schoolboy's hand. He had barely +crossed the "t" and dotted the last "i" when they heard a step, and +scurrying into the cupboard, they saw Jarvis come in, take something +from the desk, and go out without a glance in their direction. As the +door closed behind him it opened again to admit Justice Barrington and +Dr. Kingsley. + +"Where are they?" asked Uncle Geof, peering about the dark room as if +the boys might be hidden behind some table or chair. + +"Boys," called the doctor, "where are you?" + +Then they walked out--such a funny-looking trio! Rex's table-cover +robe floated behind him, and the style of his wig was certainly unique. +Selwyn had brought away on his coat a goodly share of the dust of the +cupboard. His brown hair stood on end, and his blue eyes were shining +with excitement. But his "ludship" brought down the house. He came +forth holding up his long gown on each side, his bands were almost +under his left ear, his wig was on one side, and his glasses awry! The +contrast between his magisterial garb and his round young face and +merry hazel eyes was too much for the gravity of the two gentlemen. +With a glance at each other they burst into a long, hearty laugh, in +which the boys joined. + +A little later, the gown and wig having been restored to their proper +places by the much scandalized Jarvis, the party returned to Portland +Square. And none of the boys thought of mentioning that Charlie had +signed a document with his uncle's name, which he had not read. + +A few days after this Dr. Kingsley and his family left England for the +Continent, taking Rex with them, and not until September did they +return to London for a short visit before sailing for America. + +"I have an account to settle with you, Master Charlie," said Uncle +Geoffrey, the first evening, when they were all assembled in the +drawing-room. "Do you recollect a certain visit to my chambers when +you represented a judge of the Queen's Bench?" + +Charlie, Selwyn and Rex looked at each other, laughed, and nodded. + +"Do you remember signing a paper?" asked the justice. + +"Yes," said Charlie; "but it was an old dingy-looking one--we didn't +read it--I just signed it for fun." + +"I told Charlie to put your name to it," broke in Rex, eagerly. "Is +anything wrong, papa?" + +"I will tell you the story and you shall judge for yourself," said the +justice, smiling. "As it happened, the paper Charlie signed was not an +old one. It was in reference to removing an orphan boy from one +guardianship to another. He is about as old as Charlie, and it appears +that the first guardian ill-treated the little fellow under the guise +of kindness, being only intent on gain. When the paper which 'his +ludship,'" with a deep bow in Charlie's direction--"signed arrived, the +boy was delighted, and he thoroughly enjoys the excellent home he is +now in. Imagine my surprise when a letter reached me thanking me for +my wise decision. I could not understand it, as I thought I knew the +paper in reference to it was lying on my desk waiting its turn. You +may well laugh, you young rogues." + +"How did you find out?" asked Charlie, divided between contrition and a +desire to enjoy the joke. + +"Jarvis and I traced it out. I paid a visit to Wales and put the +signature of the original Barrington to the document. The present +guardian of the boy declares the little fellow's disposition would have +been completely ruined if he had remained much longer under his former +guardian's care, and I am afraid, in the ordinary course of the law, +which moves slowly, it would have been some time before the matter +could have been attended to. So you have done that much good to a +fellow-boy. Only be careful in the future, dear lad, to read a +document before signing it, for carelessness in that direction might +not always end as well as it has in this instance. What puzzles me is +how you came to take that particular paper when so many others lay +about; it was but one chance in a million." + +"'A chance--the eternal God that chance did guide,'" quoted Dr. +Kingsley, in his quiet, gentle voice. + +"What lots we'll have to tell Ned! O boys, do let's cheer!" cried +Selwyn eagerly, springing to his feet. "Here goes--three cheers for +Uncle Geof and dear papa, and a big, big 'tiger' for his 'ludship!'" + + + + +THE PIOUS CONSTANCE. + +Once upon a time the Emperor of Rome had a beautiful daughter named +Constance. She was so fair to look on, that far and wide, she was +spoken of as "the beautiful princess." But, better than that, she was +so good and so saintly that everybody in her father's dominions loved +her, and often they forgot to call her "the beautiful princess," but +called her instead, "Constance the good." + +All the merchants who came thither to buy and sell goods, carried away +to other countries accounts of Constance, her beauty, and her holiness. +One day there came to Rome some merchants from Syria, with shiploads of +cloths of gold, and satins rich in hue, and all kinds of spicery, which +they would sell in the Roman markets. While they abode here, the fame +of Constance came to their ears, and they sometimes saw her lovely face +as she went about the city among the poor and suffering, and were so +pleased with the sight that they could talk of nothing else when they +returned home; so that, after a while, their reports came to the ear of +the Soldan of Syria, their ruler, and he sent to the merchants to hear +from their lips all about the fair Roman maiden. + +As soon as he heard this story, this Soldan began secretly to love the +fair picture which his fancy painted of the good Constance, and he shut +himself up to think off her, and to study how he could gain her for his +own. + +At length he sent to all his wise men, and called them together in +council. + +"You have heard," he said to them, "of the beauty and goodness of the +Roman princess. I desire her for my wife. So cast about quickly for +some way by which I may win her." + +Then all the wise men were horrified; because Constance was a +Christian, while the Syrians believed in Mohammed as their sacred +prophet. One wise man thought the Soldan had been bewitched by some +fatal love-charm brought from Rome. Another explained that some of the +stars in the heavens were out of place, and had been making great +mischief among the planets which governed the life of the Soldan. One +had one explanation and one another, but to all the Soldan only +answered,--"All these words avail nothing. I shall die if I may not +have Constance for my wife." + +One of the wise men then said plainly,--"But the Emperor of Rome will +not give his daughter to any but a Christian." + +When the Soldan heard that he cried joyfully: "O, if that is all, I +will straight-way turn Christian, and all my kingdom with me." + +So they sent an ambassador to the Emperor to know if he would give his +daughter to the Soldan of Syria, if he and all his people would turn +Christian. And the Emperor, who was very devout, and thought he ought +to use all means to spread his religion, answered that he would. + +So poor little Constance, like a white lamb chosen for a sacrifice, was +made ready to go to Syria. A fine ship was prepared, and with a +treasure for her dowry, beautiful clothes, and hosts of attendants, she +was put on board. + +She herself was pale with grief and weeping at parting from her home +and her own dear mother. But she was so pious and devoted that she was +willing to go if it would make Syria a good Christian land. So, as +cheerfully as she could, she set sail. + +Now the Soldan had a very wicked mother, who was all the time angry in +her heart that the Soldan had become a Christian. Before Constance +arrived in Syria she called together all the lords in the kingdom whom +she knew to be friendly to him. She told them of a plot she had made +to kill the Soldan and all those who changed their religion with him, +as soon as the bride bad come. They all agreed to this dreadful plot, +and then the old Soldaness went smiling and bland, to the Soldan's +palace. + +"My dear son," she said, "at last I am resolved to become a Christian; +I am surprised I have been blind so long to the beauty of this new +faith. And, in token of our agreement about it, I pray you will honor +me by attending with your bride at a great feast which I shall make for +you." + +The Soldan was overjoyed to see his mother so amiable. He knelt at her +feet and kissed her hand, saying,--"Now, my dear mother, my happiness +is full, since you are reconciled to this marriage. And Constance and +I will gladly come to your feast." + +Then the hideous old hag went away, nodding and mumbling,--"Aha! +Mistress Constance, white as they call you, you shall be dyed so red +that all the water in your church font shall not wash you clean again!" + +Constance came soon after, and there was great feasting and +merry-making, and the Soldan was very happy. + +Then the Soldaness gave her great feast, and while they sat at the +table, her soldiers came in and killed the Soldan and all the lords who +were friendly to him, and slaughtered so many that the banquet hall +swam ankle deep in blood. + +But they did not slay Constance. Instead, they bore her to the sea and +put her on board her ship all alone, with provisions for a long +journey, and then set her adrift on the wide waters. + +So she sailed on, drifting past many shores, out into the limitless +ocean, borne on by the billows, seeing the day dawn and the sun set, +and never meeting living creature. All alone on a wide ocean! drifting +down into soft southern seas where the warm winds always blew, then +driving up into frozen waters where green, glittering icebergs sailed +solemnly past the ship, so near, it seemed as if they would crush the +frail bark to atoms. + +So for three long years, day and night, winter and summer, this lonely +ship went on, till at length the winds cast it on the English shores. + +As soon as the ship stranded, the governor of the town, with his wife +and a great crowd of people, came to see this strange vessel. They +were all charmed with the sweet face of Constance, and Dame Hennegilde, +the governor's wife, on the instant loved her as her life. So this +noble couple took her home and made much of her. But Constance was so +mazed with the peril she had passed that she could scarcely remember +who she was or whence she came, and could answer naught to all their +questionings. + +While she lived with the good Hennegilde, a young knight began to love +her, and sued for her love in return. But he was so wicked that +Constance would not heed him. This made him very angry. He swore in +his heart that he would have revenge. He waited until one night when +the governor was absent, and going into the room where Dame Hennegilde +lay, with Constance sleeping in the same chamber, this wicked knight +killed the good lady. Then he put the dripping knife into the hand of +Constance, and smeared her face and clothes with blood, that it might +appear she had done the deed. + +When the governor returned and saw this dreadful sight, he knew not +what to think. Yet, even then, he could not believe Constance was +guilty. He carried her before the king to be judged. This king, Alla, +was very tender and good, and when he saw Constance standing in the +midst of the people, with her frightened eyes looking appealing from +one to another like a wounded deer who is chased to its death, his +heart was moved with pity. + +The governor and all his people told how Constance had loved the +murdered lady, and what holy words she had taught. All except the real +murderer, who kept declaring she was the guilty one, believed her +innocent. + +The king asked her, "Have you any champion who could fight for you?" + +At this Constance, falling on her knees, cried out that she had no +champion but God, and prayed that He would defend her innocence. + +"Now," cried the king, "bring the holy book which was brought from +Brittany by my fathers, and let the knight swear upon it that the +maiden is guilty." + +So they brought the book of the Gospels, and the knight kissed it, but +as soon as he began to take the oath he was felled down as by a +terrible blow, and his neck was found broken and his eyes burst from +his head. Before them all, in great agony, he died, confessing his +guilt and the innocence of Constance. + +King Alla had been much moved by the beauty of Constance and her +innocent looks, and now she was proved guiltless, all his heart went +out to her. And when he asked her to become his queen she gladly +consented, for she loved him because he had pitied and helped her. +They were soon married amidst the great rejoicing of the people, and +the king and all the land became converted to the Christian faith. + +This king also had a mother, named Donegilde, an old heatheness, no +less cruel than the mother of the Soldan. She hated Constance because +she had been made queen though for fear of her son's wrath she dared +not molest her. + +After his honeymoon, King Alla went northward to do battle with the +Scots, who were his foemen, leaving his wife in charge of a bishop and +the good governor, the husband of the murdered Hennegilde. While he +was absent heaven sent Constance a beautiful little son, whom she named +Maurice. + +As soon as the babe was born, the governor sent a messenger to the king +with a letter telling him of his good fortune. Now it happened this +messenger was a courtier, who wished to keep on good terms with all the +royal family. So, as soon as he got the letter, he went to Donegilde, +the king's mother, and asked her if she had any message to send her son. + +Donegilde was very courteous and begged him to wait till next morning, +while she got her message ready. She plied the man with wine and +strong liquor till evening, when he slept so fast that nothing could +wake him. While he was asleep she opened his letters and read all that +the governor had written. Then this wicked old woman wrote to Alla +that his wife Constance was a witch who had bewitched him and all his +people, but now her true character became plain, and she had given +birth to a horrible, fiend-like creature, who, she said, was his son. +This she put in place of the governor's letter, and dispatched the +messenger at dawn. + +King Alla was nearly heart-broken when he read these bad tidings, but +he wrote back to wait all things till he returned, and to harm neither +Constance nor her son. Back rode the messenger to Donegilde once +again. She played her tricks over again and got him sound asleep. +Then she took the king's letter and put one in its place commanding the +governor to put Constance and her child aboard the ship in which she +came to these shores and set her afloat. + +The good governor could hardly believe his eyes when he read these +orders, and the tears ran over his cheeks for grief. But he dared not +disobey what he supposed was the command of his king and master, so he +made the vessel ready and went and told Constance what he must do. + +She, poor soul, was almost struck dumb with grief. Then, kneeling +before the governor, she cried, with many tears,-- + +"If I must go again on the cruel seas, at least this poor little +innocent, who has done no evil, may be spared. Keep my poor baby till +his father comes back, and perchance he will take pity on him." + +But the governor dared not consent, and Constance must go to the ship, +carrying her babe in her arms. Through the street she walked, the +people following her with tears, she with eyes fixed on heaven and the +infant sobbing on her bosom. Thus she went on board ship and drifted +away again. + +Now, for another season, she went about at the mercy of winds and +waves, in icy waters where winds whistled through the frozen rigging, +and down into tropical seas where she lay becalmed for months in the +glassy water. Then fresh breezes would spring up and drive her this +way or that, as they listed. But this time she had her babe for +comfort, and he grew to be a child near five years old before she was +rescued. And this is the way it happened. When the Emperor of Rome +heard of the deeds the cruel Soldaness had done, and how his daughter's +husband had been slain, he sent an army to Syria, and all these years +they had besieged the royal city till it was burnt and destroyed. Now +the fleet, returning to Rome, met the ship in which Constance sailed, +and they fetched her and her child to her native country. The senator +who commanded the fleet was her uncle, but he knew her not, and she did +not make herself known. He took her into his own house, and her aunt, +the senator's wife, loved her greatly, never guessing she was her own +princess and kinswoman. + +When King Alla got back from his war with the Scots and heard how +Constance had been sent away, he was very angry; but when he questioned +and found the letter which had been sent him was false, and that +Constance had borne him a beautiful boy, he knew not what to think. +When the governor showed him the letter with his own seal which +directed that his wife and child should be sent away, he knew there was +some hidden wickedness in all this. He forced the messenger to tell +where he had carried the letters, and he confessed he had slept two +nights at the castle of Donegilde. + +So it all came out, and the king, in a passion of rage, slew his +mother, and then shut himself up in his castle to give way to grief. + +After a time he began to repent his deed, because he remembered it was +contrary to the gentle teachings of the faith Constance had taught him. +In his penitence he resolved to go to Rome on a pilgrimage to atone for +his sin. So in his pilgrim dress he set out for the great empire. + +Now when it was heard in Rome that the great Alla from the North-land +had come thither on a Christian pilgrimage, all the noble Romans vied +to do him honor. Among others, the senator with whom Constance abode +invited him to a great banquet which he made for him. While Alla sat +at this feast, his eyes were constantly fixed upon a beautiful boy, one +of the senator's pages, who stood near and filled their goblets with +wine. At length he said to his host,--"Pray tell me, whence came the +boy who serves you? Who is he, and do his father and mother live in +the country?" + +"A mother he has," answered the senator: "so holy a woman never was +seen. But if he has a father I cannot tell you." Then he went on and +told the king of Constance, and how she was found with this bey, her +child, on the pathless sea. + +Alla was overjoyed in his heart, for he knew then that this child was +his own son. Immediately they sent for Constance to come thither. As +soon as she saw her husband, she uttered a cry and fell into a deep +swoon. When she was recovered she looked reproachfully at Alla, for +she supposed it was by his order she had been so ruthlessly sent from +his kingdom. But when, with many tears of pity for her misfortunes, +King Alla told her how he had grieved for her, and how long he had +suffered thus, she was convinced. + +Then they embraced each other, and were so happy that no other +happiness, except that of heavenly spirits, could ever equal theirs. + +After this, she made herself known to the Emperor, her father, who had +great rejoicing over his long-lost daughter, whom he had thought dead. +For many weeks Rome was full of feasting, and merry-making, and +happiness. These being over, King Alla, with his dear wife, returned +to his kingdom of England, where they lived in great happiness all the +rest of their days. + + + + +THE DOCTOR'S REVENGE. + +BY ALOE. + +Painfully toiled the camels over the burning sands of Arabia. Weary +and thirsty were they, for they had not for days had herbage to crop, +or water to drink, as they trod, mile after mile, the barren waste, +where the sands glowed red like a fiery sea. And weary were the +riders, exhausted with toil and heat, for they dared not stop to rest. +The water which they carried with them was almost spent; some of the +skins which had held it flapped empty against the sides of the camels, +and too well the travelers knew that if they loitered on their way, all +must perish of thirst. + +Amongst the travelers in that caravan was a Persian, Sadi by name, a +tall, strong man, with black beard, and fierce, dark eye. He urged his +tired camel to the side of that of the foremost Arab, the leader and +guide of the rest, and after pointing fiercely toward one of the +travelers a little behind him, thus he spake: + +"Dost thou know that yon Syrian Yusef is a dog of a Christian, a +kaffir?" (Kaffir--unbeliever--is a name of contempt given by Moslems, +the followers of the false Prophet, to those who worship our Lord.) + +"I know that the hakeem (doctor) never calls on the name of the +Prophet," was the stern reply. + +"Dost thou know," continued Sadi, "that Yusef rides the best camel in +the caravan, and has the fullest water-skin, and has shawls and +merchandise with him?" + +The leader cast a covetous glance toward the poor Syrian traveler, who +was generally called the hakeem because of the medicines which he gave, +and the many cures which he wrought. + +"He has no friends here," said the wicked Sadi; "if he were cast from +his camel and left here to die, there would be none to inquire after +his fate; for who cares what becomes of a dog of a kaffir?" + +I will not further repeat the cruel counsels of this bad man, but I +will give the reason for the deadly hatred which he bore toward the +poor hakeem. Yusef had defended the cause of a widow whom Sadi had +tried to defraud; and Sadi's dishonesty being found out, he had been +punished with stripes, which he had but too well deserved. Therefore +did he seek to ruin the man who had brought just punishment on him, +therefore he resolved to destroy Yusef by inducing his Arab comrades to +leave him to die in the desert. + +Sadi had, alas! little difficulty in persuading the Arabs that it was +no great sin to rob and desert a Christian. Just as the fiery sun was +sinking over the sands, Yusef, who was suspecting treachery, but knew +not how to escape from it, was rudely dragged off his camel, stripped +of the best part of his clothes, and, in spite of his earnest +entreaties, left to die in the terrible waste. It would have been less +cruel to slay him at once. + +"Oh! leave me at least water--water!" exclaimed the poor victim of +malice and hatred. + +"We'll leave you nothing but your own worthless drugs, hakeem!--take +that!" cried Sadi, as he flung at Yusef's head a tin case containing a +few of his medicines. + +Then bending down from Yusef's camel, which he himself had mounted, +Sadi hissed out between his clenched teeth, "Thou hast wronged me--I +have repaid thee, Christian! this is a Moslem's revenge!" + +They had gone, the last camel had disappeared from the view of Yusef; +darkness was falling around, and he remained to suffer alone, to die +alone, amidst those scorching-sands! The Syrian's first feeling was +that of despair, as he stood gazing in the direction of the caravan +which he could no longer see. Then Yusef lifted up his eyes to the sky +above him: in its now darkened expanse shone the calm evening star, +like a drop of pure light. + +Yusef, in thinking over his situation, felt thankful that he had not +been deprived of his camel in an earlier part of his journey, when he +was in the midst of the desert. He hoped that he was not very far from +its border, and resolved, guided by the stars, to walk as far as his +strength would permit, in the faint hope of reaching a well, and the +habitations of men. It was a great relief to him that the burning +glare of day was over: had the sun been still blazing over his head, he +must soon have sunk and fainted by the way. Yusef picked up the small +case of medicines which Sadi in mockery had flung at him; he doubted +whether to burden himself with it, yet was unwilling to leave it +behind. "I am not likely to live to make use of this, and yet--who +knows?" said Yusef to himself, as, with the case in his hand, he +painfully struggled on over the wide expanse of dreary desert. "I will +make what efforts I can to preserve the life which God has given." + +Struggling against extreme exhaustion, his limbs almost sinking under +his weight, Yusef pressed on his way, till a glowing red line in the +east showed where the blazing sun would soon rise. What was his eager +hope and joy on seeing that red line broken by some dark pointed +objects that appeared rise out of the sand. New strength seemed given +to the weary man, for now his ear caught the welcome sound of the bark +of a dog, and then the bleating of sheep. + +"God be praised!" exclaimed Yusef, "I, am near the abodes of men!" + +Exerting all his powers, the Syrian, made one great effort to reach the +black tents which he now saw distinctly in broad daylight, and which he +knew must belong to some tribe of wandering Bedouin Arabs: he tottered +on for a hundred yards, and then sank exhausted on the sand. + +But the Bedouins had seen the poor, solitary stranger, and as +hospitality is one of their leading virtues, some of these wild sons of +the desert now hastened toward Yusef. They raised him, they held to +his parched lips a most delicious draught of rich camel's milk. The +Syrian felt as if he were drinking in new life, and was so much revived +by what he had taken, that he was able to accompany his preservers to +the black goat's-hair tent of their Sheik or chief, an elderly man of +noble aspect, who welcomed the stranger kindly. + +Yusef had not been long in that tent before he found that he had not +only been guided to a place of safety, but to the very place where his +presence was needed. The sound of low moans made him turn his eyes +toward a dark corner of the tent. There lay the only son of the Sheik, +dangerously ill, and, as the Bedouins believed, dying. Already all +their rough, simple remedies had been tried on the youth, but tried in +vain. With stern grief the Sheik listened to the moans of pain that +burst from the suffering lad and wrung the heart of the father. + +The Syrian asked leave to examine the youth, and was soon at his side. +Yusef very soon perceived that the Bedouin's case was not +hopeless,--that God's blessing on the hakeem's skill might in a few +days effect a wonderful change. He offered to try what his art and +medicines could do. The Sheik caught at the last hope held out to him +of preserving the life of his son. The Bedouins gathered round, and +watched with keen interest the measures which were at once taken by the +stranger hakeem to effect the cure of the lad. + +Yusef's success was beyond his hopes. The medicine which he gave +afforded speedy relief from pain, and within an hour the young Bedouin +had sunk into a deep and refreshing sleep. His slumber lasted long, +and he awoke quite free from fever, though of course some days elapsed +before his strength was fully restored. + +Great was the gratitude of Azim, the Sheik, for the cure of his only +son; and great was the admiration of the simple Bedouins for the skill +of the wondrous hakeem. Yusef soon had plenty of patients. The sons +of the desert now looked upon the poor deserted stranger as one sent to +them by heaven; and Yusef himself felt that his own plans had been +defeated, his own course changed by wisdom and love. He had intended, +as a medical missionary, to fix his abode in some Arabian town: he had +been directed instead to the tents of the Bedouin Arabs. The wild +tribe soon learned to reverence and love him, and listen to his words. +Azim supplied him with a tent, a horse, a rich striped mantle, and all +that the Syrian's wants required. Yusef found that he could be happy +as well as useful in his wild desert home. + +One day, after months had elapsed, Yusef rode forth with Azim and two +of his Bedouins, to visit a distant encampment of part of the tribe. +They carried with them spear and gun, water, and a small supply of +provisions. The party had not proceeded far when Azim pointed to a +train of camels that were disappearing in the distance. "Yonder go +pilgrims to Mecca," he said: "long and weary is the journey before +them; the path which they take will be marked by the bones of camels +that fall and perish by the way." + +"Methinks by yon sand-mound," observed Yusef, "I see an object that +looks at this distance like a pilgrim stretched on the waste." + +"Some traveler may have fallen sick," said the Sheik, "and be left on +the sand to die." + +The words made Yusef at once set spurs to his horse: having himself so +narrowly escaped a dreadful death in the desert, he naturally felt +strong pity for any one in danger of meeting so terrible a fate. Azim +galloped after Yusef, and having the fleeter horse outstripped him, as +they approached the spot on which lay stretched the form of a man, +apparently dead. + +As soon as Azim reached the pilgrim he sprang from his horse, laid his +gun down on the sand, and, taking a skin-bottle of water which hung at +his saddle bow, proceeded to pour some down the throat of the man, who +gave signs of returning life. + +Yusef almost instantly joined him; but what were the feelings of the +Syrian when in the pale, wasted features of the sufferer before him he +recognized those of Sadi, his deadly, merciless foe! + +"Let me hold the skin-bottle, Sheik!" exclaimed Yusef; "let the draught +of cold water be from my hand." The Syrian remembered the command, "If +thine enemy thirst, give him drink." + +Sadi was too ill to be conscious of anything passing around him; but he +drank with feverish eagerness, as if his thirst could never be slaked. + +"How shall we bear him hence?" said the Sheik; "my journey cannot be +delayed." + +"Go on thy journey, O Sheik," replied Yusef; "I will return to the +tents with this man, if thou but help me to place him on my horse. He +shall share my tent and my cup,--he shall be to me as a brother." + +"Dost thou know him?" inquired the Sheik. + +"Ay, well I know him," the Syrian replied. + +Sadi was gently placed on the horse, for it would have been death to +remain long unsheltered on the sand. Yusef walked beside the horse, +with difficulty supporting the drooping form of Sadi, which would +otherwise soon have fallen to the ground. The journey on foot was very +exhausting to Yusef, who could scarcely sustain the weight of the +helpless Sadi. Thankful was the Syrian hakeem when they reached the +Bedouin tents. + +Then Sadi was placed on the mat which had served Yusef for a bed. +Yusef himself passed the night without rest, watching at the sufferer's +side. Most carefully did the hakeem nurse his enemy through a raging +fever. Yusef spared no effort of skill, shrank from no painful +exertion, to save the life of the man who had nearly destroyed his own! + +On the third day the fever abated; on the evening of that day Sadi +suddenly opened his eyes, and, for the first time since his illness, +recognized Yusef, who had, as he believed, perished months before in +the desert. + +"Has the dead come to life?" exclaimed the trembling Sadi, fixing upon +Yusef a wild and terrified gaze; "has the injured returned for +vengeance?" + +"Nay, my brother," replied Yusef soothingly; "let us not recall the +past, or recall it but to bless Him who has preserved us both from +death." + +Tears dimmed the dark eyes of Sadi; he grasped the kind hand which +Yusef held out. "I have deeply wronged thee," he faltered forth; "how +can I receive all this kindness at thy hand?" + +A gentle smile passed over the lips of Yusef; he remembered the cruel +words once uttered by Sadi, and made reply: "If thou hast wronged me, +thus I repay thee: Moslem, this is a Christian's revenge!" + + + + +THE WOODCUTTER'S CHILD. + +Once upon a time, near a large wood, there lived a woodcutter and his +wife, who had only one child, a little girl three years old; but they +were so poor that they had scarcely food sufficient for every day in +the week, and often they were puzzled to know what they should get to +eat. One morning the woodcutter went into the wood to work, full of +care, and, as he chopped the trees, there stood before him a tall and +beautiful woman, having a crown of shining stars upon her head, who +thus addressed him: + +"I am the Guardian Angel of every Christian child; thou art poor and +needy; bring me thy child, and I will take her with me. I will be her +mother, and henceforth she shall be under my care." The woodcutter +consented, and calling his child gave her to the Angel, who carried her +to the land of Happiness. There everything went happily; she ate sweet +bread and drank pure milk; her clothes were gold, and her playfellows +were beautiful children. When she became fourteen years old, the +Guardian Angel called her to her side and said, "My dear child, I have +a long journey for thee. Take these keys of the thirteen doors of the +land of Happiness; twelve of them thou mayest open, and behold the +glories therein; but the thirteenth, to which this little key belongs, +thou art forbidden to open. Beware! if thou dost disobey, harm will +befall thee." + +The maiden promised to be obedient, and, when the Guardian Angel was +gone, began her visits to the mansions of Happiness. Every day one +door was unclosed, until she had seen all the twelve. In each mansion +there sat an angel, surrounded by a bright light. The maiden rejoiced +at the glory, and the child who accompanied her rejoiced with her. Now +the forbidden door alone remained. A great desire possessed the maiden +to know what was hidden there; and she said to the child, "I will not +quite open it, nor will I go in, but I will only unlock the door so +that we may peep through the chink." "No, no," said the child; "that +will be a sin. The Guardian Angel has forbidden it, and misfortune +would soon fall upon us." + +At this the maiden was silent, but the desire still remained in her +heart, and tormented her continually, so that she had no peace. One +day, however, all the children were away, and she thought, "Now I am +alone and can peep in, no one will know what I do;" so she found the +keys, and, taking them in her hand, placed the right one in the lock +and turned it round. Then the door sprang open, and she saw three +angels sitting on a throne, surrounded by a great light. The maiden +remained a little while standing in astonishment; and then, putting her +finger in the light, she drew it back and it was turned into gold. +Then great alarm seized her, and, shutting the door hastily, she ran +away. But her fear only increased more and more, and her heart beat so +violently that she thought it would burst; the gold also on her finger +would not come off, although she washed it and rubbed it with all her +strength. + +Not long afterward the Guardian Angel came, back from her journey, and +calling the maiden to her, demanded the keys of the mansion. As she +delivered them up, the Angel looked in her face and asked, "Hast thou +opened the thirteenth door?"--"No," answered the maiden. + +Then the Angel laid her hand upon the maiden's heart, and felt how +violently it was beating; and she knew that her command had been +disregarded, and that the child had opened the door. Then she asked +again, "Hast thou opened the thirteenth door?"--"No," said the maiden, +for the second time. + +Then the Angel perceived that the child's finger had become golden from +touching the light, and she knew that the child was guilty; and she +asked her for the third time, "Hast thou opened the thirteenth +door?"--"No," said the maiden again. + +Then the Guardian Angel replied, "Thou hast not obeyed me, nor done my +bidding; therefore thou art no longer worthy to remain among good +children." + +And the maiden sank down in a deep sleep, and when she awoke she found +herself in the midst of a wilderness. She wished to call out, but she +had lost her voice. Then she sprang up, and tried to run away; but +wherever she turned thick bushes held her back, so that she could not +escape. In the deserted spot in which she was now enclosed, there +stood an old hollow tree; this was her dwelling-place. In this place +she slept by night, and when it rained and blew she found shelter +within it. Roots and wild berries were her food, and she sought for +them as far as she could reach. In the autumn she collected the leaves +of the trees, and laid them in her hole; and when the frost and snow of +the winter came, she clothed herself with them, for her clothes had +dropped into rags. But during the sunshine she sat outside the tree, +and her long hair fell down on all sides and covered her like a mantle. +Thus she remained a long time experiencing the misery and poverty of +the world. + +But, once, when the trees had become green again, the King of the +country was hunting in the forest, and as a bird flew into the bushes +which surrounded the wood, he dismounted, and, tearing the brushwood +aside, cut a path for himself with his sword. When he had at last made +his way through, he saw a beautiful maiden, who was clothed from head +to foot with her own golden locks, sitting under the tree. He stood in +silence, and looked at her for some time in astonishment; at last he +said, "Child, how came you into this wilderness?" But the maiden +answered not, for she had become dumb. Then the King asked, "Will you +go with me to my castle?" At that she nodded her head, and the King, +taking her in his arms, put her on his horse and rode away home. Then +he gave her beautiful clothing, and everything in abundance. Still she +could not speak; but her beauty was so great, and so won upon the +King's heart, that after a little while he married her. + +When about a year had passed away, the Queen brought a son into the +world, and in that night, while lying alone in her bed the Guardian +Angel appeared to her and said: + +"Wilt thou tell the truth and confess that thou didst unlock the +forbidden door? For then will I open thy mouth and give thee again the +power of speech; but if thou remainest obstinate in thy sin then will I +take from thee thy new-born babe." + +And the power to answer was given to her, but she remained hardened, +and said, "No, I did not open the door;" and at those words the +Guardian Angel took the child out of her arms and disappeared with him. + +The next morning, when the child was not to be seen, a murmur arose +among the people, that their Queen was a murderess, who had destroyed +her only son; but, although she heard everything, she could say +nothing. But the King did not believe the ill report because of his +great love for her. + +About a year afterward another son was born, and on the night of his +birth the Guardian Angel again appeared, and asked, "Wilt thou confess +that thou didst open the forbidden door? Then will I restore to thee +thy son, and give thee the power of speech; but if thou hardenest +thyself in thy sin, then will I take this new-born babe also with me." + +Then the Queen answered again, "No, I did not open the door;" so the +Angel took the second child out of her arms and bore him away. On the +morrow, when the infant could not be found, the people said openly that +the Queen had slain him, and the King's councillors advised that she +should be brought to trial. But the King's affection was still so +great that he would not believe it, and he commanded his councillors +never again to mention the report on pain of death. + +The next year a beautiful little girl was born, and for the third time +the Guardian Angel appeared and said to the Queen, "Follow me;" and, +taking her by the hand, she led her to the kingdom of Happiness, and +showed to her the two other children, who were playing merrily. The +Queen rejoiced at the sight, and the Angel said, "Is thy heart not yet +softened? If thou wilt confess that thou didst unlock the forbidden +door, then will I restore to thee both thy sons." But the Queen again +answered, "No, I did not open it;" and at these words she sank upon the +earth, and her third child was taken from her. + +When this was rumored abroad the next day, all the people exclaimed, +"The Queen is a murderess; she must be condemned;" and the King could +not this time repulse his councillors. Thereupon a trial was held, and +since the Queen could make no good answer or defence, she was condemned +to die upon a funeral pile. The wood was collected; she was bound to +the stake, and the fire was lighted all around her. Then the iron +pride of her heart began to soften, and she was moved to repentance; +and she thought, "Could I but now, before my death, confess that I +opened the door!" And her tongue was loosened, and she cried aloud, +"Thou good Angel, I confess." At these words the rain descended from +heaven and extinguished the fire; then a great light shone above, and +the Angel appeared and descended upon the earth, and by her side were +the Queen's two sons, one on her right hand and the other on her left, +and in her arms she bore the new-born babe. Then the Angel restored to +the Queen her three children, and loosening her tongue promised her +great happiness and said, "Whoeverwill repent and confess their sins, +they shall be forgiven." + + + + +SHOW YOUR COLORS. + +BY REV. C. H. MEAD. + +I was riding on the train through the eastern section of North +Carolina. Nothing can be flatter than that portion of the country, +unless it be the religious experience of some people. The rain was +pouring down fast, and, for a person so inclined, not a better day and +place for the blues could be found. Looking out of the car windows +brought nothing more interesting to view than pine trees, bony mules +and razor-back hogs. Groups of men, white and black, gathered at each +station to see the train arrive and depart. Each passenger that +entered brought in more damp, moisture and blues. + +Two men at last came in and took the seat in front of me. Shortly +after, one of them took a bottle from his pocket, pulled the cork, and +handed the bottle to his companion. He took a drink, and the smell of +liquor filled the car. Then the first one took a drink, and back and +forth the bottle passed, until at last it was empty and they were full. +Then one of them commenced swearing, and such blasphemy I never heard +in all my life. It made the very air blue--women shrank back, while +the heads of men were uplifted to see where the stream of profanity +came from. It went on for some time, until I began talking to myself. +I always did like to talk to a sensible man. + +"Henry, that man belongs to the devil." + +"There is no doubt about that," I replied. + +"He is not ashamed of it." + +"Not a bit ashamed." + +"Whom do you belong to?" + +"I belong to the Lord Jesus Christ." + +"Are you glad or sorry?" + +"I am glad--very glad." + +"Who in the car knows that man belongs to the devil?" + +"Everybody knows that, for he has not kept it a secret." + +"Who in the car knows you belong to the Lord Jesus?" + +"Why, no one knows it, for you see I am a stranger around here." + +"Are you willing they should know whom you belong to?" + +"Yes; I am willing." + +"Very well, will you let them know it?" + +I thought a moment and then said, "By the help of my Master I will." + +Then straightening up and taking a good breath, I began singing in a +voice that could be heard by all in the car: + + There is a fountain filled with blood, + Drawn from Immanuel's veins; + And sinners plunged beneath that flood, + Lose all their guilty stains. + +Before I had finished the first verse and chorus, the passengers had +crowded down around me, and the blasphemer had turned round and looked +at me with a face resembling a thunder cloud. As I finished the +chorus, he said: + +"What are you doing?" + +"I am singing," I replied. + +"Well," said he, "any fool can understand that." + +"I am glad you understand it." + +"What are you singing?" + +"I am singing the religion of the Lord Jesus." + +"Well, you quit." + +"Quit what?" + +"Quit singing your religion on the cars." + +"I guess not," I replied, "I don't belong to the Quit family; my name +is Mead. For the last half hour you have been standing by your master; +now for the next half hour I am going to stand up for my Master." + +"Who is my master?" + +"The devil is your master--while Christ is mine. I am as proud of my +Master as you are of yours. Now I am going to have my turn, if the +passengers don't object." + +A chorus of voices cried out: "Sing on, stranger, we like that." + +I sung on, and as the next verse was finished, the blasphemer turned +his face away, and I saw nothing of him after that but the back of his +head, and that was the handsomest part of him. He left the train soon +after, and I am glad to say I've never seen him since. Song after song +followed, and I soon had other voices to help me. When the song +service ended, an old man came to me, put out his hand, and said, "Sir, +I owe you thanks and a confession." + +"Thanks for what?" + +"Thanks for rebuking that blasphemer." + +"Don't thank me for that, but give thanks to my Master. I try to stand +up for Him wherever I am. What about the confession?" + +"I am in my eighty-third year. I have been a preacher of the Gospel +for over sixty years. When I heard that man swearing so, I wanted to +rebuke him. I rose from my seat two or three times, to do so, but my +courage failed. I have not much longer to live, but never again will I +refuse to show my colors anywhere." + + + + +HER DANGER SIGNAL. + +BY EMMA C. HEWITT. + +She did--I am sorry to record it, but she did--Letty Bascombe salted +her pie-crust with a great, big tear. + +Not that she had none of the other salt, nor that she intended to do +it, but, all of a sudden, a big tear, oh, as big as the end of your +thumb, if you are a little, little girl, ran zigzag across her cheek +down to her chin, and, before she could wipe it off, a sudden, sharp +sob took her unawares and, plump, right into the pastry, went this big +fat tear. Of course, if you are even a little girl you must know that +it is as useless to hunt for tears in pie-crust as it is to "hunt for a +needle in a hay-stack." So Letty did not even try to recover her lost +property. But it had one good effect, it made her laugh, and, between +you and me (I tell this to you as a secret), Letty, like every other +girl, little or big, fat or thin, was much pleasanter to look upon when +she smiled than when she cried. But she didn't smile for that. Oh, +dear, no. She smiled because she couldn't help it. She was a +good-natured, sweet-tempered little puss, most times, and possessed of +a very sunny disposition. "Why did she salt her pie-crust with tears, +then?" I hear you ask. Ah, "Why?" And wait till I tell you. The most +curious part of it all was that it was a Thanksgiving crust. There, +now. The worst is out. A common, every-day, week-a-day pie, or even a +Sunday pie, would be bad enough, but a Thanksgiving pie of all things. +Why, everybody is happy at Thanksgiving. + +Well, not quite everybody, it seems, because if that was so Letty +wouldn't be crying. + +Now let me tell you why poor Letty Bascombe, with her sunny temper, +cried on this day while she was making pies. + +You see, she was only fifteen, and when one is fifteen, and there is +fun going on that one can't be in, it is very trying, to say the least. +Not that tears help it the least in the world, no, indeed. In fact, +tears at such times always make matters worse. + +Well, she was only fifteen, as I was saying, and, instead of going with +the family into town, she had to stay home and make pies. + +Now the family were no relation to her. She was only Mrs. Mason's +"help." Eighteen months ago Letty's mother (a widow) had died. Her +brother had gone away off to a large city, and she had come to Mrs. +Mason's to live. Mrs. Mason was as kind as she could be to her, but +you know one must feel "blue" at times when one has lost all but one +relative in the world, and that one is a dear brother who is way, way +off, even if one is surrounded by the kindest friends. + +So now, tell me, don't you think Letty had something to shed tears +about? + +"I j-just c-can't help it. I'm not one bit 'thankful' this +Thanksgiving, and I'm not going to pretend I am. So there. And here I +am making nasty pies, when everybody else has gone to town having a +good time. No, I'm not one bit thankful, so there, and I feel as if +turkey and cranberries and pumpkin pie would choke me." + +But after Letty "had her cry out" she felt better, and in a little +while her nimble fingers had finished her work and she was ready for a +little amusement. This amusement she concluded to find by taking a +little walk to the end of the garden. The garden ended abruptly in a +ravine, and it was a source of unfailing delight to go down there and, +from a secure position, see the trains go thundering by. + +In fifteen minutes the train would be along and then she would go back. +Idly gazing down from her secure height, her eye was suddenly caught by +something creeping along the ground. Letty's keen sight at once +decided this to be a man--a man with a log in his hand. This log he +carefully adjusted across the track. + +"What a very curious--" began Letty. But her exclamation was cut short +by the awful intuition that the man meant to wreck the on-coming train. + +All thought of private sorrow fled in an instant. What could she do? +What must she do, for save the train she must, of course. Who else was +there to do it? And oh, such a little time to do it in. To go around +by the path would take a half-hour. To climb down the side of the +ravine would be madness. Suddenly her mind was illuminated. Yes, she +could do that, and like the wind she was up at the house and back +again, only this time she steered for a spot a hundred rods up, just +the other side of the curve. + +In a trice she had whipped off her scarlet balmoral, the balmoral she +hated so, and had attached to it one end of the hundred feet of rope +she had brought from the house. + +Could she do it? Could she crawl out on that branch there and hold +that danger signal down in front of the train? + +She shuddered and covered her face with her hands. O, no, no, she +never could do it. Suppose she should fall off or the limb break. But +she wouldn't fall, she mustn't fall. Hark! There is the engine. If +she is going to save the train there is no time for further delay. +With a prayer for guidance and protection, slowly, oh so slowly, that +it seemed hours before she got there, Letty crawled out to the branch +and dangled below her, across the track, her flag of danger. She could +not see what was going on, because she dared not look down. So, +looking constantly up (and, children, believe me, "looking up" is one +of the best things you can do when in danger or trouble), and sending a +silent wordless petition for the safety of the train, Letty held her +precarious post. Hark, it is slowing up. Her balmoral has been seen +and the train is saved. The tension over, she cautiously turned and +crawled slowly back to land, and then dropped in a dead faint. +Recovering, however, she went slowly up to the house, trembling and +sick and shivering with the cold from the loss of the warm skirt +hanging on the clothes-line down in the ravine. + +Relaxed and limp she sat down in the big rocker before the kitchen +stove, a confused mass of thoughts racing through her head. Dazed and +excited, she hardly knew how time was passing until she heard the sound +of wheels. + +"O, Letty, the funniest thing--" shouted Laura, bursting into the +kitchen. + +"Wait, let me tell," interrupted Jamie. "Why, Letty, somebody's hung--" + +"Somebody hung," exclaimed Letty, in horror. "Why, Laura Mason, how +dare you say that was funny?" + +"I didn't--" began Laura, indignantly, but here Mrs. Mason interfered +with a "Sh-sh-sh, children, mercy, goodness, you nearly drive me wild. +Here. Laura, take mother's bonnet and shawl up-stairs. + +"Here, Jamie, take my boots and bring me my slippers. I'm that tired I +don't know what to do with myself. Goodness, but it feels good to get +home. The strangest thing's happened, Letty. The afternoon express +was coming into town this afternoon, and, when it was about two miles +out, all of a sudden the engineer saw a red flannel petticoat hanging +right down in the middle of the track, hanging by a clothes-line, mind, +from the limb of a tree. He thought at first it was a joke, but +changed his mind and thought he'd look further, and would you believe +it, he found a great, big log across the track. If the train had come +on that I guess there'd been more grief than Thanksgiving in this +neighborhood to-morrow." + +Mrs. Mason had said all this along in one steady strain, while she was +walking round the room putting away her parcels. + +Getting no response, she turned to look at Letty for the first time. +"Why goodness! The girl has fainted. What on earth do you suppose is +the matter with her? + +"Jamie, come quick. Get me some water. + +"There," when the restorative had had the desired effect. "Why, what +ailed you, Letty? You weren't sick when I went away. Bless me! I +hope you ain't going to be sick, and such a surprise as we've got for +you, too, out in the barn. But there. If that isn't just like me. I +didn't mean to tell you yet." + +"Why, mother, mother," exclaimed Father Mason excitedly as he rushed +into the room. "Somebody's just come from the village with this," +flourishing Letty's skirt wildly around, "and they say the train was +stopped right back of our house." + +"For the land's sake, Job! Well, if that ain't our Letty's red +balmoral. How did it--is that the--Letty, was it you?" she finished up +rather disjointedly. + +Letty nodded, unable to speak just then. + +"Well, who'd 'a' thought it. So you saved the train! Do tell us all +about it." + +"Mother, don't you think we'd better wait a bit till she looks a mite +stronger," suggested kind-hearted Job Mason. + +"Well, I don't know but you're right, but I'm clean beat out. Don't +you think, Job, that we might bring Letty's surprise--but there's the +surprise walking in from the barn of itself. Tired of waiting, likely +as not." + +"Yes, Letty," broke in Laurie. "Did you know your brother had come +home and that you saved his life this afternoon with that old red skirt +of yours?" So the mischief was out at last, and though the excitement +and everything nearly killed Letty, it didn't quite, or I don't think I +would have undertaken to tell this story. I don't like sad +Thanksgiving stories. Not that there aren't any; I only say I don't +like them, that's all. + +Well, sitting in her brother's lap--(what, fifteen years old?)--yes, +sitting in her brother's lap, she had to tell over and over again all +she thought and felt that afternoon, and to hear over and over again +what a dreadful time they had keeping the secret from her. How they +were so afraid that she would find out that they expected to meet her +brother--how he had been so anxious that she should not be told lest by +some accident he shouldn't arrive, and then she would be bitterly +disappointed and her Thanksgiving spoiled. + +Accident! Letty shuddered each time that they reached that part of the +story, for she thought how nearly the accident had happened, and as she +knelt to say her prayers that night it was with a penitent heart that +she remembered how she had felt in the morning, and she had added +fervently, "Dear Lord, I thank Thee for this beautiful Thanksgiving." + + + + +THE KNIGHT'S DILEMMA. + +(FROM CHAUCER.) + +One of the nobles of King Arthur's court had grievously transgressed +the laws of chivalry and knightly honor, and for this cause had he been +condemned to suffer death. Great sorrow reigned among all the lords +and dames, and Queen Guinevere, on bent knees, had sued the king's +pardon for the recreant knight. At length, after many entreaties, +Arthur's generous heart relented, and he gave the doomed life into the +queen's hands to do with it as she willed. + +Then Guinevere, delighted at the success of her suit with her royal +husband, sent for the knight to appear before her, in her own bower, +where she sat among the ladies of her chamber. + +When the knight, who was called Sir Ulric, had reached the royal lady's +presence, he would have thrown himself at her feet with many thanks for +the dear boon which she had caused the king to grant him. But she +motioned him to listen to what she had to say, before she would receive +his gratitude. + +"Defer all thanks, Sir Knight," said the queen, "until first I state to +thee the conditions on which thou yet holdest thy life. It is granted +thee to be free of death, if within one year and a day from this +present thou art able to declare to me what of earthly things all women +like the best. If in that time thou canst tell, past all dispute, what +this thing be, thou shalt have thy life and freedom. Otherwise, on my +queenly honor, thou diest, as the king had first decreed." + +When the knight heard this he was filled with consternation and dismay +too great for words. At once in his heart he accused the king of +cruelty in permitting him to drag out a miserable existence for a whole +year in endeavoring to fulfill a condition which in his thoughts he at +once resolved to be impossible. For who could decide upon what would +please all ladies best, when it was agreed by all wise men that no two +of the uncertain sex would ever fix upon one and the same thing? + +With these desponding thoughts Sir Ulric went out of the queen's +presence, and prepared to travel abroad over the country, if perchance +by inquiring far and wide he might find out the answer which would save +his life. + +From house to house and from town to town traveled Sir Ulric, asking +maid and matron, young or old, the same question. But never, from any +two, did he receive a like answer. Some told him that women best loved +fine clothes; some that they loved rich living; some loved their +children best; others desired most to be loved; and some loved best to +be considered free from curiosity, which, since Eve, had been said to +be a woman's chief vice. But among all, no answers were alike, and at +each the knight's heart sank in despair, and he seemed as if he +followed and ignis fatuus which each day led him farther and farther +from the truth. + +One day, as he rode through a pleasant wood, the knight alighted and +sat himself down under a tree to rest, and bewail his unhappy lot. +Sitting here, in a loud voice he accused his unfriendly stars that they +had brought him into so sad a state. While he spoke thus, he looked up +and beheld an old woman, wrapped in a heavy mantle, standing beside +him. Sir Ulric thought he had never seen so hideous a hag as she who +now stood gazing at him. She was wrinkled and toothless, and bent with +age. One eye was shut, and in the other was a leer so horrible that he +feared her some uncanny creature of the wood, and crossed himself as he +looked on her. + +"Good knight," said the old crone, before he could arise to leave her +sight, "tell me, I pray thee, what hard thing ye seek. I am old, and +have had much wisdom. It may happen that I can help you out of the +great trouble into which you have come." + +The knight, in spite of her loathsomeness, felt a ray of hope at this +offer, and in a few words told her what he was seeking. + +As soon as she had heard, the old creature burst into so loud a laugh +that between laughing and mumbling Sir Ulric feared she would choke +herself before she found breath to answer him. + +"You are but a poor hand at riddles," she said at length, "if you +cannot guess what is so simple. Let me but whisper two words in your +ear, and you shall be able to tell the queen what neither she nor her +ladies nor any woman in all the kingdom shall be able to deny. But I +give my aid on one condition,--that if I be right in what I tell, you +shall grant me one boon, whatever I ask, if the same be in your power." + +The knight gladly consented, and on this the old hag whispered in his +ear two little words, which caused him to leap upon his horse with +great joy and set out directly for the queen's court. + +When he had arrived there, and given notice of his readiness to answer +her, Guinevere held a great meeting in her chief hall, of all the +ladies in the kingdom. Thither came old and young, wife, maid and +widow, to decide if Sir Ulric answered aright. + +The queen was placed on a high throne as judge if what he said be the +truth, and all present waited eagerly for his time to speak. When, +therefore, it was demanded of him what he had to say, all ears +stretched to hear his answer. + +"Noble lady," said the knight, when he saw all eyes and ears intent +upon him, "I have sought far and wide the answer you desired. And I +find that the thing of all the world which pleaseth women best, is to +have their own way in all things." + +When the knight had made this answer in a clear and manly voice, which +was heard all over the audience chamber, there was much flutter and +commotion among all the women present, and many were at first inclined +to gainsay him. But Queen Guinevere questioned all thoroughly, and +gave fair judgment, and at the end declared that the knight had solved +the question, and there was no woman there who did not confess that he +spoke aright. + +On this Ulric received his life freely, and was preparing to go out in +great joy, when suddenly as he turned to go, he saw in his way the +little old woman to whom he owed the answer which had bought his life. +At sight of her, more hideous than ever, among the beauty of the court +ladies, who looked at her in horror of her ugliness, the knight's heart +sank again. Before he could speak she demanded of him her boon. + +"What would you ask of me?" said Ulric, fearfully. + +"My boon is only this," answered the hag, "that in return for thy life, +which my wit has preserved to thee, thou shalt make me thy true and +loving wife." + +Sir Ulric was filled with horror, and would gladly have given all his +goods and his lands to escape such a union. But not anything would the +old crone take in exchange for his fair self; and the queen and all the +court agreeing that she had the right to enforce her request, which he +had promised on his knightly honor, he was at last obliged to yield and +make her his wife. + +Never in all King Arthur's court were sadder nuptials than these. No +feasting, no joy, but only gloom and heaviness, which, spreading itself +from the wretched Sir Ulric, infected all the court. Many a fair dame +pitied him sorely, and not a knight but thanked his gracious stars that +he did not stand in the like ill fortune. + +After the wedding ceremonies, as Ulric sat alone in his chamber, very +heavy-hearted and sad, his aged bride entered and sat down hear him. +But he turned his back upon her, resolving that now she was his wife, +he would have no more speech with her. + +While he sat thus inattentive, she began to speak with him, and in +spite of his indifference, Sir Ulric could but confess that her voice +was passing sweet, and her words full of wit and sense. In a long +discourse she painted to him the advantage of having a bride who from +very gratitude would always be most faithful and loving. She instanced +from history and song all those who by beauty had been betrayed, and by +youth had been led into folly. At last she said:-- + +"Now, my sweet lord, I pray thee tell me this. Would you rather I +should be as I am, and be to you a true and humble wife, wise in +judgment, subject in all things to your will, or young and foolish, and +apt to betray your counsels. Choose now betwixt the two." + +Then the knight, who had listened in much wonder to the wisdom with +which she spoke, and had pondered over her words while speaking, could +not help being moved by the beauty of her conversation, which surpassed +the beauty of any woman's face which he had ever seen. Under this +spell he answered her:-- + +"Indeed I am content to choose you even as you are. Be as you will. A +man could have no better guidance than the will of so sensible a wife." + +On this his bride uttered a glad cry. + +"Look around upon me, my good lord," she said; "since you are willing +to yield to my will in this, behold that I am not only wise, but young +and fair also. The enchantment, which held me thus aged and deformed, +till I could find a knight who in spite of my ugliness would marry me, +and would be content to yield to my will, is forever removed. Now, I +am your fair, as well as your loving wife." + +Turning around, the knight beheld a lady sweet and young, more lovely +in her looks than Guinevere herself. With happy tears she related how +the enchantments had been wrought which held her in the form of an +ancient hag until he had helped to remove the spell. And from that +time forth they lived in great content, each happy to yield equally to +each other in all things. + + + + +HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS. + +BY REV. C. H. MEAD. + +"Black yer boots, mister? Shine 'em up--only a nickel." Such were the +cries that greeted me from half a dozen boot-blacks as I came through +the ferry gates with my boots loaded down with New Jersey mud. Never +did barnacles stick to the bottom of a vessel more tenaciously, or +politician hold on to office with a tighter grip, than did that mud +cling to my boots. And never did flies scent a barrel of sugar more +quickly than that horde of boot-blacks discovered my mud-laden +extremities. They swooped down upon me with their piercing cries, +until many of my fellow-passengers gazed on my boots with looks that +seemed to rebuke me for my temerity in daring to bring such a large +amount of soil to add to the already over-stocked supply of the city. +My very boots seemed to plead with me to let one of those boys relieve +them of the load that weighed them down. But, behold my dilemma--six +persistent, lusty, vociferous boys clamoring for one job, while I, as +arbiter, must deal out elation to one boy, and dejection to the five. + +"Silence! Fall into line for inspection!" Behold my brigade, standing +in line, and no two of them alike in size, feature or dress. All +looked eager, and five of them looked at my boots and pointed their +index fingers at the same objects. The sixth boy held up his head in a +manly way and looked me in the eye. I looked him over and was affected +in two ways. His clothes touched my funny bone and made me laugh +before I knew it. If those pants had been made for that boy, then +since that time there had been a great growth in that boy or a great +shrinkage in the pants. But, if the pants were several sizes too small +and fit him too little, the coat was several sizes too large and fit +him too much, so that his garments gave him the appearance of being a +small child from his waist down, and an old man from his waist up. The +laugh that came as my sense of humor was touched, instantly ceased as I +saw the flush that came to the boy's face. The other five boys wanted +to get at my boots, but this one had got at my heart, and I made up my +mind he should get at my boots as well, and straightway made known my +decision. This at once brought forth a volley of jibes and jeers and +cutting remarks. "Oh, 'His Royal Highness' gets the job, and he will +be prouder and meaner than ever, he will. Say, mister, he's too proud +to live, he is. He thinks he owns the earth, he does." + +The flush deepened on the boy's face, and I drove his assailants away +ere I let him begin his work. + +"Now, my boy, take your time, and you shall have extra pay for the job; +pardon me for laughing at you; don't mind those boys, but tell me why +they call you 'His Royal Highness?'" + +He gazed up in my face a moment with a hungry look, and I said, "You +can trust me." + +"Well, sir, they thinks I'm proud and stuck-up, 'cause I won't pitch +pennies and play 'craps' with 'em, and they says I'm stingy and trying +to own the earth, 'cause I won't chew tobacco and drink beer, or buy +the stuff for 'em. They says my father must be a king, for I wears +such fashionable clothes, and puts on so many airs, but that I run away +from home 'cause I wanted to boss my father and be king myself. So +they calls me 'His Royal Highness.'" + +There was a tremble in his voice as he paused a moment, and then he +continued: + +"If I ever had a father, I never seen him, and if, I had a mother, I +wish someone would tell me who she was. How can a feller be proud and +stuck-up who ain't got no father and no mother, and no name only Joe? +They calls me stingy 'cause I'm saving all the money I can, but I ain't +saving it for myself--I'm saving it for Jessie." + +"Is Jessie your sister?" I asked. + +"No, sir; I ain't got no relatives." + +"Perhaps, then, she is your sweetheart," I said. + +Again he looked up in my face and said very earnestly, "Did you ever +know a boot-black without any name to have an angel for a sweetheart?" + +His eyes were full of tears, and I made no answer, though I might have +told him I had found a boot-black who had a big, warm heart even if he +had no sweetheart. Very abruptly he said: + +"You came over on the boat; what kind of a land is it over across the +river?" + +"It is very pleasant in the country," I replied. + +"Is it a land of pure delight, where saints immortal reign?" + +Having just come from New Jersey where the infamous race track, and the +more infamous rum-traffic legalized by law, would sink the whole State +in the Atlantic Ocean, if it were not that it had a life preserver in +Ocean Grove, I was hardly prepared to vouch for it being that kind of a +land. + +"Why do you ask that?" I said. + +"Because I hear Jessie sing about it so much, and when I asked her +about it, she said it's a land where there's green fields, and flowers +that don't wither, and rivers of delight, and where the sun always +shines, and she wants to go there so much. I hasn't told anybody about +it before, but I eats as little as I can and gets along with these +clothes what made you laugh at me, and I'm saving up my money to take +Jessie to that land of pure delight just as soon as I gets enough. +Does yer know where that land is?" + +"I think I do, my boy, but you haven't told me yet who Jessie is." + +"Jessie's an angel, but she's sick. She, lives up in a room in the +tenement, and I lives in the garret near by. She ain't got no father, +and her mother don't get much work, for she can't go out to work and +take care of Jessie, too. She cries a good deal when Jessie don't see +her, 'cause she thinks she is going to lose Jessie, but over in that +land of pure delight, Jessie says nobody is sick, and everybody who +goes there gets well right away, and, oh sir, I wants to take Jessie +there just as soon as I can. I takes her a flower every night, and +then I just sits and looks at her face, until my heart gets warmer and +warmer, and do yer think I could come out of such a place and then +swear and drink, and chew tobacco, and pitch pennies, and tell lies? I +tells Jessie how the boys calls me 'His Royal Highness,' and she tells +me I musn't mind it, and I musn't get mad, but just attend to my work. +And--and--and, oh sir, I wanted to tell somebody all this, for I always +tries to look bright when I goes in to see Jessie, and not let her know +I am fretting about anything; but I does want to take Jessie to the +land where flowers always bloom and people are always well. That's so +little for me to do after all the good that's come to me from knowing +Jessie. But, I begs yer pardon for keeping yer so long, and I thanks +yer for letting me tell yer about Jessie." + +Ah, the boys named him better than they knew, for here was a prince in +truth, and despite his rags "His Royal Highness" was a more befitting +name than Joe. + +"Where does Jessie live, my boy?" + +"Oh, sir, yer isn't going to take Jessie to that land of pure delight, +and spoil all my pleasure. I does want to do it myself. Yer won't be +so mean as that, after listening to what I've been telling yer, will +yer?" + +"Not I, my boy, not I. Just let me go and see Jessie and her mother, +and whatever I can do for them, I'll do it through you." + +A little persuasion, and then "His Royal Highness" and I made our way +to the tenement and began climbing the stairs. We had gone up five +flights and were mounting the sixth, when the boy stopped suddenly and +motioned for me to listen. The voice of a woman reached my ear--a +voice with deep grief in every tone--saying, "God is our refuge and +strength, a very present help in time of trouble." A pause--then a +sob--and the voice wailing rather than singing: + + Other refuge have I none, + Hangs my helpless soul on Thee; + Leave, oh, leave me not alone, + Still support and comfort me. + All my trust on Thee is stayed, + All my help from Thee I bring, + Cover my defenceless head, + With the shadow of Thy wing. + + +The boy grasped my hand a moment--gasped out "That's Jessie's mother, +something's happened"--and then bounded up the stairs and into the +room. I followed him and found sure enough something had happened, for +Jessie had gone to the land of pure delight, and the mother stood +weeping beside her dead. On the face of Jessie lingered a smile, for +she was well at last. In her hand was a pure white rosebud, the last +flower Joe had carried to her the evening before. Her last message to +him was that she had gone to the land of pure delight, and for him to +be sure and follow her there. + +I draw the curtain over the boy's grief. His savings bought the coffin +in which Jessie was laid under the green sod. Where "His Royal +Highness" is, must for the present remain a secret between Joe and +myself. His face and his feet are turned toward the land of pure +delight. His heart is there already. You have his story, and it may +help you to remember that some paupers wear fine linen and broadcloth, +while here and there a prince is to be found clothed in rags. + + + + +PATIENT GRISELDA. + +Many years ago, in a lovely country of Italy, shut in by Alpine +mountains, there lived a noble young duke, who was lord over all the +land. He was one of a long line of good princes, and his people loved +him dearly. They had only one fault to find with him, for he made good +laws, and ruled them tenderly; but alas! he would not marry. So his +people feared he would not leave any son to inherit his dukedom. Every +morning his wise counsellors asked him if he had made up his mind on +the subject of marriage, and every morning the young duke heard them +patiently; and as soon as they had spoken, he answered, "I am thinking +of marriage, my lords; but this is a matter which requires much +thought." + +Then he called for his black hunting-steed and held up his gloved hand +for his white falcon to come and alight upon his wrist, and off he +galloped to the hunt, of which he was passionately fond, and which +absorbed all the time that was not occupied with the cares of his +government. + +But after a while, his counsellors insisted on being answered more +fully. + +"Most dear prince," urged they, "only fancy what a dreadful thing it +would be if you should be taken from your loving people, and leave no +one in your place. What fighting, and confusion, and anarchy there +would be over your grave! All this could never happen, if you had a +sweet wife, who would bring you, from God, a noble son, to grow up to +be your successor." + +The morning on which they urged this so strongly, Duke Walter stood on +the steps of his palace, in his hunting-suit of green velvet, with his +beautiful falcon perched on his wrist, while a page in waiting stood by +holding his horse. Suddenly he faced about, and looked full at his +advisers. + +"What you say is very wise," he answered. "To-day I am going to follow +your advice. This is my wedding-day." + +Here all the counsellors stared at each other with round eyes. + +"Only you must promise me one thing," continued the duke. "Whoever I +marry, be she duchess or beggar, old or young, ugly or handsome, not +one of you must find fault with her, but welcome her as my wife, and +your honored lady." + +All the courtiers, recovering from their surprise, cried out, "We will; +we promise." + +Thereupon, all the court who were standing about gave a loud cheer; and +the little page, who held the horse's bridle, tossed up his cap, and +turned two double somersaults on the pavement of the court-yard. Then +the duke leaped into his saddle, humming a song of how King Cophetua +wooed a beggar maid; tootle-te-tootle went the huntsmens' bugles; +clampety-clamp went the horses' hoofs on the stones, and out into the +green forest galloped the royal hunt. + +Now, in the farther border of the wood was a little hut which the +hunting-train passed by daily. In this little cottage lived an old +basketmaker named Janiculo, with his only daughter Griselda, the child +of his old age. He had also a son Laureo, who was a poor scholar in +Padua, studying hard to get money enough to make himself a priest. But +Laureo was nearly always away, and Griselda took care of her father, +kept the house, and wove baskets with her slender, nimble fingers, to +sell in the town close by. + +I cannot tell you in words of the loveliness of Griselda. She was as +pure as the dew which gemmed the forest, as sweet-voiced as the birds, +as light-footed and timid as the deer which started at the hunters' +coming. Then her heart was so tender and good, she was so meek and +gentle, that to love her was of itself a blessing; and to be in her +presence was like basking in the beams of the May sun. + +This morning she and her father sat under the tree by their cottage +door, as the hunting-train passed by. They were weaving baskets; and, +as they worked, they sang together. + +As the hunting party swept by, Griselda looked up, and noted again, as +had happened several mornings before, that the penetrating eyes of the +handsome duke were fixed on her. + +"I fear he is angry that we sit so near his path," mused Griselda. +"How his eyes look into one's soul. His gaze really makes me tremble. +I will not sit here on his return, lest it be displeasing to him." + +Before the hunt was fairly out of sight, a gossiping neighbor came to +the hut of Janiculo, to tell the good news. Now, indeed, the duke was +really going to wed. He had promised to bring a wife with him when he +came back from the hunt. People said he had ridden into the next +province, to ask the hand of the duke's beautiful daughter in marriage. +And it might be depended on he would bring the bride home on the +milk-white palfrey, which one of his squires had led by a silver bridle. + +It was almost sunset when the trampling of hoofs told Griselda that the +hunting party were coming back; and remembering what the talkative +neighbor had said, she thought she would like to take a peep at the +young bride when they passed on their way to the palace. She had just +been to the well for some water, and she stood in the doorway, with her +bare, round arm poising the earthen pitcher on her head, and the rosy +toes of her little bare feet peeping from beneath her brown gown, to +watch the hunt go by. + +Nearer and nearer came the train; louder and louder sounded the +clatter, and full in sight came the duke, with the white palfrey, led +by its silver bridle, close beside him. But the saddle was empty, and +no bride was among the huntsmen. + +"Can it be possible the lady would refuse him,--so handsome and noble +as he looks?" thought Griselda. + +How astonished she was when the duke, riding up to the hut, asked for +her father. She was pale with fright, lest their humble presence had +in some way offended the prince; and, all in a tremble, ran in to call +old Janiculo. He came out, as much puzzled and frightened as his +daughter. "Look up, Janiculo," said the duke, graciously. "You have +heard, perhaps, that to-day is my wedding-day. With your good will, I +propose to take to wife your daughter Griselda. Will you give her to +me in marriage?" + +If a thunder-bolt had struck the earth at old Janiculo's feet, he could +not have been more stunned. He gazed at the earth, the sky, and into +his lord's face, who had to repeat his question three times, before the +old man could speak. + +"I crave your lordship's pardon," he stammered at length. "It is not +for me to give anything to your lordship. All that is in your kingdom +belongs to yourself. And my daughter is only a part of your kingdom." + +And when he had said this, he did not know whether he was dreaming or +awake. + +Griselda had modestly stayed in-doors; but now they called her out, and +told her she was to be the duke's bride. All amazed, she suffered them +to mount her on the snow-white steed, and lead her beside the duke, to +the royal palace. All along the road the people had gathered, and +shouts rent the air; and at the palace gates the horses' feet sank to +the fetlocks in roses, which had been strewn in their pathway. +Everywhere the people's joy burst bounds, that now their prince had +taken a bride. As for Griselda, she rode along, still clad in her +russet gown, her large eyes looking downward, while slow tears, unseen +by the crowd, ran over her cheeks, caused half by fear and half by +wonder at what had happened. Not once did she look into her lord's +face, till the moment when they reached the palace steps; and leaping +lightly from his horse, Duke Walter took her from the palfrey in his +own royal arms. Then he said, "How say'st thou, Griselda? Wilt be my +true wife, subject to my will, as a dutiful wife should be?" + +And looking in his face, she said solemnly, as if it were her marriage +vow, "I will be my lord's faithful servant, obedient in all things." + +Then they brought rich robes to put on Griselda, and the priest +pronounced the wedding ceremony, and the bridal feast was eaten, and +patient Griselda became a great duchess. + +For a time all went on happily in the country of Saluzzo, where Duke +Walter held reign. The people loved the meek duchess no less that she +was lowly born; and when two beautiful twin babes were born to the +duke, a boy and girl, the joy was unbounded all over the kingdom. +Walter, too, was very joyful; or, he would have been very happy, if a +demon of distrust had not been growing up in his heart ever since he +had married the beautiful Griselda. He saw how gentle she was, and how +obedient to him in all things, and he was all the time uncertain +whether this yielding spirit was caused by love of him, or by gratitude +at the high place to which he had lifted her, and the grandeur with +which he had surrounded her. He remembered the vow she had taken when +she looked into his eyes and said, "I will be my lord's faithful +servant, obedient in all things," and thinking of it, day by day, there +arose in his heart a desire to put her love and faith to the test. + +The resolution to which he came was so cruel, that we can scarcely +believe he could have loved Griselda, and had the heart to attempt to +carry out his design. He took into his counsel only an old servant +named Furio, and to him he gave the execution of his plan. + +One day Griselda sat in her chamber, caressing and playing with her two +babes. She had never intrusted their care and rearing to any but +herself, and her chief delight had been to tend them, to note their +pretty ways, to rock them asleep, and to watch their rosy slumbers. At +this moment, tired out with play, her noble boy, the younger Walter, +lay in his cradle at her foot; and the sweet girl, with her father's +dark eyes, lay on the mother's bosom, while she sang softly this cradle +song, to lull them to sleep: + + "Golden slumbers kiss your eyes, + Smiles awake when you do rise; + Sleep, pretty wantons, do not cry, + And I will sing a lullaby; + Rock them, rock them, lullaby. + + "Care is heavy, therefore sleep you, + You are care, and care must keep you; + Sleep, pretty wantons, do not cry, + And I will sing a lullaby; + Rock them, rock them, lullaby." + + +While the young duchess sang the last notes of her song, Furio appeared +on the threshold. Some remorse for what he was to do, made the water +for an instant dim his eyes, as he watched the group. But he had sworn +to do his lord's bidding, and he only hesitated for a moment, looking +up, Griselda saw him, and greeted him with a smile. + +"Enter, good Furio," she said. "See, they are both asleep. When he +sleeps, my boy is most like his father; but awake, my girl's dark eyes +recall him most. Have you any message from my lord, Furio?" + +"My lady," answered the old man, hesitatingly, "I have a message. It +is somewhat hard to deliver, but the duke must have his own will. My +lord fears you are too much with the babes; that you are not quite a +fitting nurse for them. Not that he fears your low birth will taint +the manners of his children, but he fears the people might fancy it was +so, and he must consult the wishes of his people." + +"If my lord thinks so," answered Griselda, "he may find nurses for his +babes. It seems as if no love could be so dear as mine. But perchance +he is right. My ways are uncouth beside those of royal blood. I will +give my babes a better teacher. Only I may see them often, and love +them still as dear, can I not, Furio?" + +"That is not my lord's wish, madam," said Furio, not daring to look +full at the duchess, and keeping his eyes fixed on the ground. "The +duke fears that even now the people murmur that an heir of base origin +shall grow up to rule over them. And he is forced to study the will of +his people. So he has sent me to take away the babes, and dispose of +them according to his royal orders." + +When he had said this, Griselda looked at him as one who did not +understand the language which he spake. All the blood forsook her +cheek, her strength gave way, and falling at the feet of the old +servant, still holding her baby clasped to her breast, she looked up in +his face imploringly, like the deer who lies under the knife of the +hunter. + +But when Furio began to take up the babes, the boy from his nest among +his cradle pillows, the girl from her soft refuge in the mother's +bosom,--then the sorrow of Griselda would have melted the tough flint +to tears. She prayed with moving words, she shed such floods of tears, +she gave such piteous cries of agony, that Furio, tearing the children +away with one strong effort, ran from the room with the screaming +infants, his own face drenched with weeping. When the duke heard of +all this, though it did not move him from his obstinacy of purpose, he +yet grieved in secret, and wondered if Griselda's love could outlast +this trial. + +The twin babes, torn so rudely from their mother, were sent to a noble +sister of the duke, who dwelt in Pavia; but no word was told to +Griselda of their fate; and she, poor mother, submissive to her +husband's will, because she believed it supreme, like God's, dared not +ask after them, lest she should hear that they were slain. + +When the duke saw how Griselda had no reproaches, nothing but grief, to +oppose to his will, even his jealousy was forced to confess that her +faith had stood the test. Whenever he looked on her, her gentle +patience moved his heart to pity, and many times he half repented his +cruelty. + +Month after month, and year after year went by, and again and again did +this demon of suspicion stir the duke to some trial of his wife's +obedience and patience. He drove out the aged Janiculo from the +comfortable lodgment in the palace in which Griselda had bestowed him, +and forced him to return to the hut where he had lived before his +daughter's greatness. And though Griselda's paling face and sad eye +told her sorrow, she uttered no word of complaint or anger against the +duke. + +"Is he not my liege lord?" she said to her own heart, when it sometimes +rose in bitter complainings, "and did I not swear to obey his will in +all things?" + +At last the day came when they had been wedded twelve years. Long ago +had Griselda won the hearts of the people by her gentle manners, her +sweet, sad face, her patient ways. If Walter's heart had not been made +of senseless stone, he would now have been content. But in his +scheming brain he had conceived one final test, one trial more, from +which, if Griselda's patience came out unmoved, it would place her as +the pearl of women, high above compare. + +On this wedding morn, then, he came into her bower, and in cold speech, +thus spoke to her,--"Griselda, thou must have guessed that for many +years I have bewailed the caprice which led me to take thee, low-born, +and rude in manners, as my wife. At last my people's discontent, and +my own heart, have told me that I must take a bride who can share fitly +my state, and bring me a noble heir. Even now from Pavia, my sister's +court, my young bride, surpassing beautiful, is on her way hither. +Canst though be content to go back to thy father, and leave me free to +marry her?" + +"My dear lord," answered Griselda, meekly, "in all things I have kept +my vow. I should have been most happy if love for me had brought thy +heart to forget my low station. But in all things I am content. Only +one last favor I ask of thee. Thy new wife will be young, high-bred, +impatient of restraint, tender to rude sorrow. Do not put on her faith +such trials as I have borne, lest her heart bend not under them, but +break at once." + +When she had done speaking, she turned to her closet, where all these +years she had kept the simple russet gown which she had worn on the day +Duke Walter wooed her, and laying aside her velvet robes, her laces, +and jewels, she put it on, went before the duke again, ready to depart +from the palace forever. But he had one request to make of her. It +was that she would stay to superintend the bride's coming, to see that +the feast was prepared, the wedding chamber ready, and the guests made +welcome, because none so well as she knew the management of the affairs +in the palace. + +Then Griselda went among the servants and saw that the feast was made, +and all things were in order, concealing her aching heart under a face +which tried to smile. When at evening she heard the fickle people +shouting in the streets, and saw the roses strewn as they had been on +her wedding-day, then the tears began to fall, and her soul sank within +her. But at that moment the duke called, "Griselda, where is Griselda?" + +On this, she came forth into the great feast chamber from whence he +called. At the head of the room stood the duke, still handsome and +youthful; and on each side of him a noble youth and maiden, both fresh, +blooming and beautiful. + +A sudden faintness overcame Griselda at the sight. She grew dizzy, and +would have fallen, if Duke Walter had not quickly caught her in his +arms. + +"Look up, Griselda, dear wife," he cried, "for thou art my dear wife, +and all I shall ever claim. I have tried enough thy faith and +patience. Know, truly, that I love thee most dear; and these are thy +children returned to thee, whom for so many years I have cruelly kept +hid from thee." + +When Griselda heard these words, as one who hears in a dream, she fell +into a deep swoon, from which for a time neither the voice of her +husband, nor the tears and kisses of her children, could rouse her. +But when she was brought back to life, to find herself in the arms of +her lord, and meet the loving looks of her children, she was speedily +her calm and gentle self again. + +Then they led her to her chamber, and put on her richest robes, and a +crown of jewels on her head; and, radiant with happiness, all the +beauty of her girlhood seemed to come back to her face. Nay, a greater +beauty than that of girlhood; for, softened by heavenly patience, her +face was sweet as an angel's. From that time forth the duke strove, by +every look and deed, and tender word, to make amends for her hard +trials. And to all ages will her story be known, and in all poetry +will she be enshrined as the sweet image of wifely patience, the +incomparable Griselda. + + + + +LET IT ALONE. + +BY MARY E. BAMFORD. + +"Hold him tight, Sid!" + +"I'm a-holding, Dave!" + +The two-year colt, Rix, lay on the ground. Sid was holding tightly to +the lasso, while Dave was trying to put the points of a pair of small +nippers into Rix's right eye. Rix had objected very much, but Dave was +determined; he knew something was wrong with that eye. + +"There!" said Dave at last, holding up the nippers. "See? Fox-tail, +just's I thought. Got it in his eye." + +Dave jumped up, holding the piece of fox-tail grass yet in the nippers. +Sid relaxed the lasso, and Rix rose slowly to his feet. The colt shut +his eyes, and shook his head, as if wondering whether the agonizing +fox-tail was really out at last. + +"Poor fellow!" said Sid. + +"I knowed that was it," asserted Dave. "I see something was the matter +with his eye when he come in this noon." + +Rix, released, trotted away. + +"Guess he'll stay out of fox-tail after this," said Sid. + +"I dunno," said Dave. "Critters walk right into trouble with their +eyes wide open. I'm going to make bread now." + +Sid followed into the shanty, and watched Dave stir together sour milk +and soda for bread. The ranch was away in the hills, much too far from +any town for visits from the baker's wagon. The treeless hills were +the ranging-place of cattle and horses. Far away in the valley Sid +could see the river-bed. It was dry now, but Dave said that if one dug +down anywhere in the sand, one could find a current of water a few feet +below the surface. Dave always knew things. Sid liked to hear him +talk. All this country was new to Sid. + +"Does your bread always rise?" he asked. + +"If it don't I give it to the chickens," said Dave, putting in some +more soda. "Tried yeast-cakes, but I couldn't make them work." + +"Is fox-tail grass much bother to folks?" questioned Sid, seeing Rix +from the door. + +"Awful!" said Dave. "Gets in the hogs' eyes, and the sheep's too. +Sheep-men try to burn the fox-tail off the pasture land, and the fire +runs into the farmers' grain, lots of times. That's what makes farmers +hate sheep-men so. Folks down 'n the valley round up the hogs every +June to pick fox-tail out of their eyes. If they didn't, half the +hogs'd go blind." + +"Round up?" questioned Sid. + +"Drive 'em together," explained Dave. "You'll see a round-up of my +cattle 'fore long. Got to go out and hunt the hills for 'em, and drive +'em away down to the railroad. The other men are going to do it on +their ranches too. Takes about a day for us little cattle-men to round +up, and then about two days more to drive them down to the railroad. +Big cattle-men it takes longer." + +"You like it?" asked Sid. + +Dave laughed. + +"Well 'nough," he said. "We stop, you know, and have a good time on +the road every little while." + +"What do you do?" questioned Sid. + +"Oh! drink--some," answered Dave. + +"You don't though--do you?" asked Sid. + +"Oh! well--some," said Dave slowly, as he poked the fire. "Have to +drink with other men, you know. They wouldn't think I was friendly if +I didn't." + +Sid looked troubled. Dave never used to drink when he worked for Sid's +father two or three years before, on the fruit ranch up country. + +Dave's bread was done. There were yellow streaks in it, but Sid ate it. + +"The principal thing's to get something to eat when your [Transcriber's +note: you're?] ranching," apologized Dave. + +About a week after this the round-up began. + +"You take Rix," said Dave. "I'll take another horse, and we'll hunt +the cattle up." + +In and out of the gullies they rode, here and there through the hills. +Late in the afternoon all the cattle that were to be shipped were +together. The moon rose full and bright, making the hills almost as +light as day. Sid and Dave stood by the shanty, looking back at the +corral, where the cattle were. + +"We'll start early to-morrow morning, Sid," said Dave. "Guess we'll +meet some of the other ranchers on the road, most likely. You tired? +Musn't let one day's riding use you up. We'll be two days going down, +and one coming back. We can ride nights some, maybe. It'll be +pleasant." + +Next night they were part way down the hills, far enough so that they +were leaving the bare portions behind, and entering the live-oak +districts. Sid stood in the moonlight by an oak, and watched some of +the men. They sat around a little fire, and played cards and drank. +Out in the moonlight were other men, taking charge of the droves of +cattle. Sid could see horns and heads, and once in a while a man would +come to the fire and drink and joke with the others. Dave came after a +time. He saw Sid with Rix by the tree. Sid had tied the horse there. + +"Come over to the fire, and get warm," said Dave. + +Sid went. One of the men held out a bottle to Dave. He took it, and +drank. + +"Give some to the youngster," said the man good-naturedly. "He's tired +driving cattle, I reckon." + +Dave looked at Sid, but Sid shook his head. + +"Too fine to drink with us cowboys?" asked the man by the fire. + +"Let him alone," said Dave. "He ain't going to drink if he don't want +to." + +Sid went back to his tree. He put an old gray quilt around him, and +lay down. Then he remembered. He rose again, and knelt in the dark by +the tree trunk. He asked God to keep the cattle from injuring anybody, +and to keep the men and Dave from becoming very drunk. Sid was afraid. + +He lay down again. Once in a while he looked over toward the fire. +Dave came to it sometimes, and always one or the other of the men +offered him a bottle. Sometimes Dave acted as though he were going to +refuse; but the other men always joked, and then Dave drank. + +"Why doesn't he stay away from the fire if he doesn't want to drink?" +thought Sid. "Maybe he's cold. I wonder if mother--" + +He went to sleep. + +Next day they drove the cattle again a long, long way. At last they +came to a town. There was the railroad, and there were the stock cars. +When the cattle were on board, Dave and Sid jumped on their horses. + +"Want to stay in town over night?" asked Dave. "Like a little change +from the hills?" + +"Let's go and get something to eat," said one of the other men, who +rode up. "I want somethin' different from ranch cookin'. Ain't a +first-class cook myself." + +Sid was glad to eat bread that did not have yellow streaks in it. He +was glad to have some meat, too. But, after eating, the other man said +to Dave: + +"Come take a drink." + +They were on the sidewalk, untying their horses. Sid pulled Dave by +the sleeve. + +"Don't," whispered Sid. + +Dave stopped and smiled. + +"Come on!" said the other man. + +"I don't get down to town only once in a while," said Dave. "Never +drink other times, Sid." + +He went with the man. Sid waited; it seemed to him that he had to wait +a long time. + +"Round-ups are bad things for Dave," thought he. "Mother'd be sorry." + +There was a great noise from the saloon on the corner. Pretty soon +Dave came out. He looked very white as he came to the place where the +boy waited. Dave leaned against Rix, and groaned. + +"What's the matter?" asked Sid in alarm. + +"It's my arm," said Dave, growing whiter. "There was a fight--in that +place--somehow. They knocked against me. I fell. One man fell on top +of me and my arm was sort of doubled up under me. It hurts--awful. I +don't know whether it's sprained--or broken--or--" + +They had to stay in town a week before they could go back to the ranch. +When they went back Dave had his arm in a sling. + +"It's a good thing the twenty-three tons of hay are in," said Sid. +"You couldn't do much with that arm." + +Dave did not say anything. + +Next Sunday night Sid sat in the door of the shanty on the ranch. He +was singing to himself a little. "Safely through another week," he +hummed. His mother always sang that Sundays at home. Sid was a bit +homesick Sundays in the hills. + +Dave came and sat down by Sid, and looked out at the sunset and the dry +river away down in the valley. Rix came trotting up near the shanty. + +"He's a smart colt--ain't he?" said Sid. "He hasn't been bothered with +fox-tail since that day you'n and I took that piece out of his eye. +He's kept his eyes away from the stuff, whether he's meant to or not. +Do you suppose he has as much sense as that?" + +"Critters ain't the only things that walk into trouble with their eyes +open," said Dave. "I ain't goin' to let Rix be smarter than I be. I'm +goin' to keep out of trouble, too, Sid. I ain't goin' to drink no +more, ever." + +"Not round-up times?" asked Sid. + +"Not round-up times, nor other times, if God will help me," said Dave, +soberly. + +"He will," said Sid. "Oh, I'm so glad!" + + + + +THE MAN WHO LOST HIS MEMORY. + +It was on a morning of May, 1613, that a lady, still young, might be +seen, followed by her two children, going toward the cemetery of a +village near Haerlem. The pale cheeks of this lady, her eyes red with +weeping, her very melancholy face, bespoke one of those deep sorrows over +which Time might fling its flowers, but it would be all in vain. Her +children, the elder of whom was barely four years old, accompanied her, +with the carelessness natural to their age. Indeed, they were astonished +to see their noble mansion still in mourning, and their mother and +themselves in mourning also, though a melancholy voice had said to them +one day, when they were shown a bier covered with funereal pall, +"Children, you have no more a father." + +A month after this they were playing as gaily as ever. Can it be that +the griefs of our early years are so terrible that heaven will not permit +them to dwell in remembrance? It may be so; but at all events those +children forgot for whom they had been put into mourning. + +As that lady arrived at the little cemetery gate, the passers-by asked +aloud (for curiosity respects neither modesty nor grief) who might be +that lady who passed on so sadly, and who it seemed had good cause for +her sadness. + +And an old beggar-woman said, "That lady passing by is the widow of John +Durer, who died this three months gone, and who was in his time Minister +to his Majesty the Emperor." + + +II. + +John Durer belonged to the family of a poor shepherd. He worked hard as +a scholar, but even when he was at play he showed a violent disposition +to domineer over the rest. He seemed to be devoured with ambition: at +all events he carried off every prize at school. By the time he was +fifteen he was the admiration, he was the pride, of all his masters. But +John was not loved by his schoolmates; he displayed a vanity which +repelled them, which sometimes provoked them. He made few friendships, +spoke freely with few, and looked haughtily down on such of his little +companions as were less happily gifted than he was. His words were +short, his look was cold, and the pride in which he shut himself up on +purpose, made him unapproachable. He lived by himself. + +One evening this young Durer, feeling, even more than usually, the +necessity of solitude and meditation, went out into the country, +dreaming, no doubt, of the grandeur to which his pride aspired, and which +he was hopeless of ever reaching; for his face was sad, and he walked +with a slow step, as does some discouraged traveler on a road without +end, toward something in the distance that perpetually escapes him. At +last he stopped in a hollow, called the Valley of Bushes, on account of +the gigantic white-thorn trees that grew there. He sat down in their +shadow: a small bird was fluttering about, and singing blithely overhead; +but he did not hear her. + +When the storm is loud, all natural sounds are silenced. Thus it was +with Durer; the throbbing of ambition in every vein with him absorbed all +the sweeter melodies which should charm the heart and fancy of youth. + +He was dreaming of fame and fortune. How to rise was his sole thought; +and it was not probable, except by some very rare circumstance and +chance, that his dream should be realized; for in those days of the +world, at least, it was thought that a shepherd's son should have a +shepherd's tastes. The young man did not see a single path open in which +he could plant his foot--one was barred by wealth, another by position, +another by birth. All that he could dream of was some blest chance that +should break down for him one of these barriers. He was sullen, +afflicted, ashamed, indignant, and alarmed,--above all, when he thought +of one thing--that thing was his poverty. + +For this had the shepherd of the village near Haerlem labored twenty +years; for this had he spent the savings of those twenty years, in giving +an education to this young nobleman. + +John was buried deep in these reveries--too deep for his age--when some +one came up smiling to him. This was a little, fat, chubby-faced man, as +round as a barrel, with a low brown hat on his head. He had on a large +brown cloak, a handsome yellow doublet, black breeches in the old +fashion, and square-toed glossy shoes, with large roses of purple ribbon. +The glance of this man, whose hair was already becoming gray, was keen +and penetrating. Though his lips were thick, there was an open, honest +expression about his mouth; while his clear eyes and sharply-cut eyebrows +seemed to belong to a man of strict uprightness. + +"I do not like to see youth melancholy," said the little man, coming +close to John Durer, and examining him--"it is a sign of the disease too +common among young people--which is a desire to be something and somebody +before they are well born into the world. I would bet my fortune against +this boy's dreams that he is already an old scholar. Plague take those +parents who fill their children's heads with learning ere they have made +men of them! who neglect all care to form a character, and think only how +to bring forward the understanding!--Vanity kills right feeling!" + +Mumbling thus to himself, the little man went up to John, and began to +question him. The dreamer started as if a thunderbolt had fallen close +to his elbow. + +"Young man, how far is it from the earth to the sun?" + +"Thirty-three millions of leagues," replied John, without the least +hesitation. + +"As if I did not know that he would know," said the little man to +himself, with a smile. + +"And how long would it take a humming-bird who could fly a league in a +minute to get there!" + +"Twenty-eight years, sir," was Durer's answer. + +"When one calculates so well, and so rapidly, no wonder one is +melancholy," said the little man to himself. Then going on--"Who was the +greatest man of antiquity?" asked he. + +"Alexander." + +"Who was the wisest?" + +"Socrates." + +"Who was the proudest?" + +"Diogenes." + +"Which of these do you like the best?" + +"Alexander." + +"What do you think of the neighbor who obliges his neighbor?" + +"I think that the first has the advantage of the second." + +The little gentleman considered a moment, and began again-- + +"What is your father's trade, young man?" + +This simple question made Durer blush. He did not say a word in answer. +The little man, who was very clear-sighted, said--"This young fellow is +ashamed to own that he belongs to a poor shepherd in the village hard by. +Bad heart--strong head--detestable nature! This boy will never make +anything but a diplomatist." Then, after a moment's reflection, he said +to himself--"But it's of no consequence." + +The end was, that young Durer went back to the cottage wild with joy. He +took leave of his father and his mother, who shed torrents of tears at +his leaving them. John was turning his back on the shepherd's cabin for +ever: he was to go to Vienna, to finish his studies there. For the +little man had put into his hand three purses full of gold, and had said, +"I am Counsellor Werter, favorite of his Majesty the Emperor. Your +assiduity in study has become known to me. Work on--for aught you know, +you may be on the high road." + +Three years afterward, Durer entered the office of the Emperor's +secretary. Later, he became, himself, private secretary. Later still, +he received a barony and a handsome estate.--So much for the prophecies, +so much for the secret influence of the Counsellor Werter! + +Durer was on the highway paved with gold;--but he forgot his father, and +he forgot his mother, too. + +One day, when Counsellor Werter was going to court, he met Durer on the +staircase of the palace. He said to him,-- + +"Baron Durer, I sent yesterday, in your name, twelve thousand crowns to a +certain old shepherd in a village not far from Haerlem." + +The Counsellor said this in rather a scornful voice; and he saw that +Baron Durer turned as red as the boy had done in the Valley of the +Bushes, on the evening when he was asked what his father's trade was. +The two men looked steadily at each other: the Baron with that hatred +which is never to be appeased--the Counsellor with bitter indignation. + +On the evening of that very day, the Emperor received his faithful old +friend, the incorruptible Counsellor, coldly. On the morrow, Werter was +not summoned to the palace--nor the day after. Disgrace had fallen on +him. He had nourished a serpent in his bosom. He left court, and +retired far away, to a small estate which he, too, chanced to possess in +the neighborhood of Haerlem. + + +III. + +As to John Durer, he rose to higher and higher dignities. The Emperor, +after having made him minister, married him to a noble heiress. About +that self-same time, the old shepherd and his wife died. Their village +neighbors accompanied them in silence to the humble churchyard. A little +man, whose hair was now white as snow, followed the dead with his head +uncovered. When the priest had cast on their coffins that handful of +dust which sounds so drearily, the old man murmured-- + +"There are bad sons, who, when they become fortunate, forget the aged +parents who cherished them when they were children. May they be +requited! for of such is not the kingdom of heaven."--Then he knelt down +by the side of the grave and prayed. + +This old man was Counsellor Werter. Wearied of the world, he had retired +into obscurity, after having divided the larger part of his splendid +fortune among the poor. He was gay, nimble--in the enjoyment of robust +health; and many a time would he thank heaven that no children had been +born to him, when he thought of the hard-heartedness of John Durer. + +Not long after this, on the spot where the shepherd's cabin had stood was +seen a magnificent château. It had been built so quickly, that it seemed +like an enchanted palace. Toward the middle of summer, a fine young +lord, a fair noble lady of the castle, and two lovely children, entered +the village near to Haerlem in pride and triumph, escorted by the +peasants, who had assembled in their honor. That fine young lord was +John Durer, first Minister to his Majesty the Emperor of Germany. + +It had chanced that heavy losses had befallen Counsellor Werter, which +brought him within an inch of ruin. Had it not been for a sister left +him who took care of him, the poor old gentleman would have been, indeed, +in a miserable plight. A single word spoken by John Durer would have +restored his ancient benefactor to court, and replaced him in the +Emperor's favor. But vanity is without a heart; and wounded pride never +forgives him who has wounded it. + + +IV. + +One day the fine young lord took a fancy to go and visit all the spots in +which, once on a time, he had dreamed away so many anxious hours. But he +would go alone, not choosing that any should witness his meeting with +those old friends, the haunts which might reveal to a companion the +poverty of his early life. He set forth without attendants, mounted on a +magnificent courser. He rode here, he rode there, not feeling even +surprised to see everything so much as it was when he had quitted the +country. The day began to go down--it was evening--when at last he came +to the Valley of Bushes. There was a small bird singing there, just as +it sang on that evening long ago. The sight of the white-thorn trees +awakened painful recollections in his mind,--no doubt, perhaps, even a +pang of remorse; and he spurred his courser in order to get clear of the +place. But the animal trembled, snorted, and refused to move a step. He +spurred his courser: the animal began to neigh violently. + +"Is it some serpent that he sees?" said the fine young lord. + +It was a little old man, who stepped out from among the bushes. He was +dressed in a black mantle. Out he came, right into the middle of the +road, closed his arms on his breast, and said in a dull voice, "Baron +Durer, can you tell me what is the distance from a shepherd's hovel to a +king's palace?" + +"That which there is betwixt the earth and the sun," was the reply of the +haughty upstart. + +At this, the old man threw his cloak open, and showed himself to the +Minister, as he had shown himself twenty years before, on that very spot, +to the scholar John Durer. The Counsellor was little changed in +appearance, except in his hair, which had been black, and was now white +as the snow of winter. + +John Durer's visage was mostly pale; but when he recognized that old man, +it became as red as blood. It was the third time that he had blushed +face to face with his former patron. Then the old man cried in a louder +voice,-- + +"Does the scholar of the village remember one Counsellor Werter?" + +"The Minister remembers nothing of the scholar," was the cold and +arrogant answer. + +"What, then, does he remember?" said the old man, pressing a little +nearer. + +"NOTHING!" cried the fine young lord, and he buried his spurs in the +sides of his courser. They went off at a fierce gallop. + + +V. + +But the fine young lord had only answered the truth. Whether it was from +that sudden struggle of pride, and his hard-hearted resolution not to +remember the Counsellor who had befriended him formerly or whether the +labor of many years had caused it, from that evening, from that moment, +the memory of the Emperor's great Minister began to decay. The ambitious +designs of the shepherd boy of twenty years ago came back to him; but of +all that had befallen him since, John Durer remembered nothing. The hour +of requital was begun! + + +VI. + +Thanks to his good courser, Baron Durer, the Minister, got home in safety +to his château. The first person that he met was the baroness. He +turned abruptly away from her. + +"Whither are you hurrying so fast, my dear baron?" said she, seeing her +husband running away from her, which was not his custom, for he was fond +of his wife. + +"Baron!" was his reply; "to what baron were you calling? I am no baron, +madame--though one day, perhaps, I may be. Let us hope I may." + +The tone in which he spoke these words terrified the baroness. Her +husband immediately afterward left the château, and began running as fast +as his legs could carry him, neither stopping nor slackening his pace. +His head was bent down, like the head of a miser who is seeking about +everywhere for the treasure which some one has stolen from him. From +that day forward his face assumed a gloomy expression, his color became +sallow, his eye haggard; and he began bitterly to complain that heaven +had thought fit to send him on earth in a shepherd's form and a +shepherd's dress. + +Some days later, a messenger from the Emperor's court arrived at the +château: "May it please my lord Minister," he began-- + +"I am no Minister," replied Durer, impatiently; "but have patience, sir, +have patience; I may be Minister one day." Then he began to walk up and +down hastily in the gallery of the château, perpetually saying, "I might +have been a Minister by this time, sir, if your great ones did not leave +men of strong intellect, and ability, and purpose, in the jaws of a +misery which eats away the very brain as rust eats away the steel. +Why--why, I ask, debar these men from high offices--these men who have +nothing--merely out of a prejudice, which is as fatal to the individual +as it is deadly to the state?" Then turning sharply on the Emperor's +emissary, "Go, and tell your master, sir," said he, "that yesterday I +was--I was--I was"--pressing his hand, as he spoke, above his forehead, +as though he was trying to find a coronet which had belonged to it. Then +rushing away distractedly--"Minister!" cried he, "I am--I was--No, no--I +was not--but I soon will be!--Leave me, sir! leave me! leave me!" + +Another day, his wretched family, who watched him with terror, overheard +him talking to his gardener: "What a magnificent piece of work you are +laying out, my good boy," said Durer; "a garden admirably designed, if +there ever was such a thing." Then casting a disturbed glance toward the +château, "'Tis a grand place, this," said he; "rich and elegant, and +capitally situated--to whom does it belong, Joseph?" + +"My lord baron knows right well that park, gardens, and château, belong +to his noble self," said the gardener, leaning on his spade, and raising +his cap. + +Durer began to laugh to himself--but it was a piteous laugh--"Belong to +me, my good boy!" said he; "not yet--not yet--and yet it seems to me as +if I had owned--as if I had owned"--and he passed his hand over his +forehead, as if he could call back some recollection which had drifted +away out of his reach--murmuring, after a pause, "Is it to be this +shepherd's hovel--for ever?--for ever?--for ever?" He fell on a turf +seat, sobbing bitterly; then raising his head, he saw his two fair little +children, who were at play in one of the alleys of the park. + +"What lovely children!" sighed he; "ah!--he must, at least, be happy, +whoever he be, that is father to such a pair of angels!" + +The children came and flung themselves, laughing, into the Minister's +arms, and hung about him with all manner of tender caresses. In return, +he could but press their tiny hands in his, or let his lean, feverish +fingers play with their golden curls. They kept calling him "Father." + +"What are they saying!" murmured the Baron; "the blessing of being called +father I shall never know! What is life--without a home, without a +family round me! But these gifts only belong to fortune, and come with +it." Then looking from one lovely little creature to another, with his +dim and bloodshot eyes, he said, "And yet these children--these +children--" He could not finish his sentence, but again passed his hand +over his forehead; and the children became silent and awe-stricken, for +they saw that he was weeping to himself. + +Not long after this, he ceased to know his wife, whom he called for +without ceasing; then he would bury himself deep in reading, without +recollecting a word of what he had read when he had ended. All that was +left to him was the memory of his young desires; the power of retaining +anything had passed away utterly. His ardor began to change into frenzy; +he was devoured with fever, and haunted with dream after dream that +tempted him to pursue them, and mocked him at the very moment when he +thought that he had reached them. The struggle wore him out, life and +limb. He was seen day by day to wither, and grow weaker. The end was +not far. On the last day of his illness, a strange fancy seized him: he +would get up--rushed out of the château, and began to run wildly across +the country, as if he were chasing something before him that no one, save +himself could see. "Sire!" cried he, hoarsely, "deliver me from the +obscurity of this shepherd's life! Sire! do listen to me! I am John +Durer! I have studied everything! I have learned everything! I have +fathomed everything! Raise me from my lowly condition, sire! Who knows? +one day you may have no one among your servants more devoted, more +enlightened, than your poor John Durer!" + +The thing that he pursued, fled--fled. Durer ran after it more wildly as +he grew weaker, trying to raise his voice higher and higher, and +stretching out his arms more and more eagerly. They were now at the +Valley of Bushes. "Sire!" cried he once again. + +"John Durer, scholar, of the village near Haerlem," replied a voice from +the shadows of the wood, "his Majesty the Emperor does not love people +who have lost their memory." + +The whole past--the long, long, years of his ambitious and glorious and +ungrateful life--seemed in one instant to come back, as in a flash of +lightning, before the weary, distracted man; and with this, too, the +consciousness of his present state. He uttered one terrible cry, and +fell down dead. + + +VII. + +Three months later, when his orphans were led by their mother a second +time to visit the humble cemetery of the village near Haerlem, they found +a little old man writing rapidly, with a piece of charcoal, a few strange +words on the stone under which the body of their father, the Minister, +had been laid. When they came close to the spot, the old man ceased, and +pointed out to them, with an awful look, that which he had written. +After the inscription, "John Durer, formerly Minister to his Majesty the +Emperor of Germany," the old man had written-- + +"Heaven requites ingratitude." + + + + +THE STORY OF A WEDGE. + +BY REV. C. H. MEAD. + +For more than a hundred miles, I had traveled, having the entire seat to +myself. + +Aside from the selfishness of the average traveler, who, while unwilling +to pay for more sitting, is more than willing to monopolize the whole +seat, I was glad of plenty of elbow room to enable me to answer some +pressing letters. + +But as the car began to fill up, I knew the bag at my side must soon give +way to another kind of neighbor, and presently down the aisle he came. +From a perpendicular standpoint he was small, but horizontally, he was +immense, and I viewed his approach with some alarm. + +There was a merry twinkle in his eye, and his face beamed with good +nature as he said, "Ah, I see you have room for a wedge at your side; +allow me to put it in place." With considerable effort and a good deal +of tight squeezing, he at last settled down in the seat, remarking, with +a merry laugh, "Here I am at last;" and there I was too, and there I was +likely to remain, if that wedge did not fly out, or the side of the car +give way. + +"Have you room enough?" I slyly inquired. + +"Plenty of room, thank you," he replied; "I trust you are nice and snug." + +"Never more snug in my life." + +"That's right; the loose way in which most people travel is a continual +menace to life and limb. I believe in keeping things snug, spiritually, +physically, socially, financially and politically snug. And if things +are spiritually snug, all the others must be so, as a matter of course. +I learned that fact years ago in England." + +"Are you an Englishman," I inquired. + +"No, sir; I'm a Presbyterian" he laughingly replied; "my father was born +in England, my mother was born in Ohio, and I was born the first time in +New Jersey. Then on a visit to England I was 'born again.' My father +was a Methodist; my mother was a Quaker, so of course I had to be a +Presbyterian." + +His unctuous laughter made the seat tremble. "Not a blue one, mind you. +Blue? Not a bit of it. Why, bless you, when I became a Christian, all +the blue went out of my heart and went into my sky. + +"My father was physically large--I take after him. My mother--" he +stopped abruptly and lifted his hat reverently; the tears filled his eyes +and coursed down his cheeks, and presently, with choking voice he +continued: + +"My mother, God bless her memory, was the best woman and the grandest +Christian I ever knew. She lives in heaven, and she lives in my heart. +I would that I were as much like mother spiritually as I resemble father +physically." + +The tender pathos of his voice, as he said this, made me feel that his +sainted mother, were she present, would have no reason to feel ashamed of +her son. + +As he was about to replace his hat on his head, I noticed in large +letters pasted on the lining, these words, "Hinder nobody--help +everybody." + +"Excuse me, sir;" I said, as I pointed to the words, "what is the meaning +of that?" + +Quickly the tears on his cheeks, were illuminated by a smile as he +said--"That's my watchword; I carry it in my hat, have it hung up on my +wall at home, and since I went into my present business, I've tried to +make it the daily practice of my life." + +"May I inquire what your business is?" + +"Certainly, sir, my business is serving the Lord, and there is no +business like it in the universe. It pays good dividends, brings me no +worry, insures me a good standing in the best society; feeds me on the +fat of the land, fills my heart with peace and makes me an heir to a +kingdom, a robe and a crown. Bankruptcy and bad debts never stare me in +the face, and every draft I draw is honored at the bank. Thus, I 'hinder +nobody,' and am able to 'help every body.'" + +"Where do you reside?" I asked. + +"On Pisgah's top"--and his face fairly shone as he repeated it--"on +Pisgah's top. At first I lived down in the valley among Ezekiel's dry +bones, and used to help the multitudes sing-- + + "'Could we but climb where Moses stood, + And view the landscape o'er: + Not Jordan's stream nor death's cold flood, + Should fright us from the shore.' + + +"But I moved on and up to my present residence, and now I sing-- + + "'From Pisgah's top, the promised land, + I now exult to see: + My hope is full, oh, glorious hope, + Of immortality.' + + +"But I beg your pardon, sir; am I crowding you?" + +"Crowding me? not a bit of it. I trust I shall always have room for +company like you." + +"Thank you, sir, thank you. I'm only a wedge"--with a merry laugh--"but +I try to fill every opening the Lord shows me. Excuse me but how far are +you going?" + +"I get off at Albany," I replied. He looked at me as if taking my +measure, and, after a moment he said: + +"I hope you are not a member of the legislature." + +"No, sir," I said, "I'm a Methodist." + +"Give me your hand. I am so glad to know you are going in the opposite +direction. A man may go to heaven by way of the legislature, but I would +as soon think of going where I could get cholera in order to secure good +health, as expect to serve God by becoming a member of the legislature. +Ah, here is Albany! Good day, sir; don't forget the wedge. And if you +will, I wish you would remember the watchword--'Hinder nobody--Help +everybody.'" + + + + +PRINCE EDWIN AND HIS PAGE. + +A TALE OF THE ANGLO-SAXONS. + + +CHAPTER I. + +On a certain high festival, which was set apart by Saxon monarchs for +receiving the petitions of the poor, and the appeals of such of their +subjects as had any cause of complaint, the great King Athelstane sat +enthroned in royal state, to listen to the applications of all who came +to prefer their suits to him. + +In one corner of the hall stood a noble-looking Saxon lady dressed in +deep mourning, and holding a little boy by the hand. The lady was +evidently a widow, and of high rank, for she wore a widow's hood and +barb--the barb, a piece of white lawn, that covered the lower part of +the face, being worn only by widows of high degree. The little boy, +too, was also arrayed in black attire; his youthful countenance bore an +expression of the utmost grief, and his large blue eyes were full of +tears. This sorrowful pair did not press forward like the other +petitioners, but kept at a modest distance from the throne, evidently +waiting for the king to give them some encouraging signal before they +ventured to approach him. + +The royal Athelstane's attention was at length attracted by the anxious +glances which both mother and son bent upon him; and as he perceived +that they were in distress, he waved his hand for them to draw near. + +"Who are ye?" said the king, when the mournful widow and her son, in +obedience to his encouraging sign, advanced, and bowed the knee before +him. + +"Will my royal lord be graciously pleased to answer me one question +before I reply to that which he has asked of me?" said the Saxon lady. + +"Speak on," replied King Athelstane. + +"Is it just that the innocent should suffer for the guilty, O King?" +said she. + +"Assuredly not," replied the king. + +"Then, wherefore," said the Saxon lady, "hast thou deprived my son, +Wilfrid, of his inheritance, for the fault of his father? Cendric has +already paid the forfeit of his life for having unhappily leagued +himself with a traitor who plotted against thy royal life; but this +boy, his guiltless orphan, did never offend thee! Why, then, should he +be doomed to poverty and contempt?" + +"It was the crime of the traitor Cendric, not my will, that deprived +his son of his inheritance," said the king. + +"I acknowledge it with grief, my royal lord," said Ermengarde, for that +was the name of the Saxon widow; "but it rests with thy good pleasure +to restore to his innocent child the forfeit lands of the unhappy +Cendric." + +"Is this boy the son of the traitor Cendric?" asked the king, placing +his hand on the head of the weeping Wilfrid. + +"He is, my gracious lord," replied Ermengarde. "He has been carefully +brought up in the fear of God, and I, his widowed mother, will be +surety to thee, that the boy shall serve thee truly and faithfully all +the days of his life if thou wilt but restore him to his inheritance." + +"Widow of Cendric, listen to me," said the king. "Thy husband plotted +with traitors to deprive me of my crown and my life; and the laws of +his country, which he had broken, doomed him to death, and confiscated +his lands and castles to my use. I might retain them in my own hands, +if it were my pleasure so to do; but I will only hold them in trust for +thy son, whom I will make my ward, and place in the college at Oxford. +If he there conducts himself to my satisfaction, I will, when he comes +of age, restore to him the forfeited lands of his father, Cendric." + +Ermengarde and Wilfrid threw themselves at the feet of the gracious +Athelstane, and returned their tearful thanks for his goodness. + +"Wilfrid," said the king, "your fortunes are now in your own hands; and +it depends on your own conduct whether you become a mighty thane or a +landless outcast. Remember, it is always in the power of a virtuous +son to blot out the reproach which the crimes of a wicked parent may +have cast upon his name." + +The words of King Athelstane were as balm to the broken spirit of the +boy, and they were never forgotten by him in all the trials, many of +them grievous ones, which awaited him in after-life. + +King Athelstane, and his brother, Prince Edwin, were sons of King +Edward, surnamed the Elder, the son and successor of Alfred the Great. +After a glorious reign, Edward died in the year of our Lord 925, and at +his death a great dispute arose among the nobles as to which of his +sons should succeed him in the royal dignity. + +Athelstane had early distinguished himself by his valor in battle, his +wisdom in council, and by so many princely actions, that he was the +darling of the people. His grandfather, the great Alfred, had, +therefore, on his death-bed adjudged Athelstane to be the most suitable +of all Edward's sons to reign over England. There were, however, some +of the Saxon lords who objected to Athelstane being made king, because +he was born before King Edward's royal marriage with the reigning +queen; Athelstane's mother, Egwina, having been only a poor shepherd's +daughter. They wished, therefore, that Prince Edwin, the eldest son of +King Edward's queen, should be declared king; but as Edwin was very +young, the people decided on crowning Athelstane, he being of a proper +age to govern. + +This election was very displeasing to some of the proud Saxon lords; +and Cendric, the father of Wilfrid, had been among those who conspired +with a wicked traitor of the name of Alfred, to take away the life of +Athelstane. The conspiracy was discovered, and all who were engaged in +it were punished with death. + +The college in which Wilfrid was placed at Oxford, had been founded by +Alfred the Great, for the education of the youthful nobles and gentles +of the land. It had been deemed the most proper place for the +education of the king's younger brother, Prince Edwin, and some other +royal wards, for the most part sons of Anglo-Saxon and Danish nobles, +whose persons and estates had been committed to the guardianship of the +king during their minority. King Athelstane, who, like his +grandfather, Alfred the Great, was very desirous of promoting learning, +had provided suitable masters for their instruction in every branch of +knowledge, leaving, therefore, men of distinguished learning and of +great wisdom to conduct the education, and form the minds and morals of +this youthful community; and being himself engaged in the cares of +government, and in repelling the attacks of the Danes, the king limited +his further attention to occasional inquiries after the health and +improvement of his brother and the rest of the royal wards. + +He had, indeed, taken the pains to draw up the rules which he deemed +proper to be observed in this juvenile society. One of the most +important of these, namely, that a system of perfect equality should be +observed toward all the individuals of whom it was composed, was, +however, soon violated in favor of Prince Edwin, who, because he was +the Atheling, as the heir apparent to the throne was called in those +days, was honored with peculiar marks of distinction. Every person in +the college, from the masters to the humblest servitor, appeared +desirous of winning the favor of the future sovereign, and of this +Edwin too soon became aware. + +Prince Edwin was the leader of the sports, and no amusement was adopted +unless his approbation had previously been asked and obtained. All +disputed matters were referred to his decision, and no appeal from his +judgment was permitted. + +It would have afforded subject of serious reflection, perhaps of +jealous alarm, to the king had he been aware of the injudicious courses +which were pursued by those around Prince Edwin; but Athelstane was +engaged in bloody wars with the Danes and the insurgent Welsh princes, +which kept him far remote from Oxford. His brother, meanwhile, +continued to receive the most pernicious flattery from every creature +around him, except Wilfrid, the son of Cendric, who, by order of King +Athelstane, had been appointed his page of honor. + +When Wilfrid was first admitted into the college he was treated with +great scorn by the royal wards. Among them were many who, in the pride +of circumstance and the vanity of youth, were so unkind as to cherish +disdainful feelings against the unfortunate Wilfrid, and to murmur at +his introduction into their society. + +Prince Edwin was, however, of a more generous disposition, and by +extending his favor and protection to the forlorn youth, rendered his +residence in the college less irksome than it otherwise would have +been. But the very affection with which Wilfrid was regarded by his +young lord had the effect of increasing the hostile feeling of the +others against him; and in the absence of the Atheling, he had to +endure a thousand bitter taunts and cruel insults respecting his +father's crime and the ignominious death he had suffered. + +Wilfrid was too noble-minded to complain to his young lord of this +treatment, although he felt it deeply. It required all his firmness +and forbearance to endure it patiently; but he remembered the words of +King Athelstane--"that his future fortunes depended upon his own +conduct;" and he resolved, under all circumstances, to persevere in the +path of duty; and, if possible, by his own virtues to blot out the +remembrance of his father's fault. He was also duly impressed with a +grateful sense of the king's goodness in extending to him the +advantages of a liberal and courtly education; of which he wisely +determined to make the most he could. By unremitting exertions, he +soon made so rapid a progress in his studies that he outstripped all +his fellow-students; and, though the youngest boy in the college, he +obtained the highest place of all, except the seat of honor, which his +partial preceptors allowed Prince Edwin to retain. + +Prince Edwin loved Wilfrid, and took real pleasure in witnessing his +repeated triumphs over those who regarded him with such unkindly +feelings. But Prince Edwin himself was proud and capricious--his +naturally frank and noble disposition having been spoiled by the +adulation of those about him; and Wilfrid was, perhaps, more than any +other person, exposed to suffer from his occasional fits of passion. +Yet Wilfrid was the only person who ventured to represent to him the +folly and impropriety of conduct so unbecoming in any one, but +peculiarly unwise in a prince, who, on account of his elevated rank, +and the respect with which he was treated, is required to practice +universal courtesy, and to avoid, if possible, giving offence to any +one. + +Prince Edwin, though often piqued at the plain dealing of his page, +knew how to value his sincerity and attachment. However he might at +times give way to petulance toward him, he treated him, on the whole, +with greater consideration, and paid more attention to his opinions +than to those of any other person. The regard of Prince Edwin for his +page was, however, soon observed with jealous displeasure by one of the +royal wards, named Brithric, who was older by two or three years than +any of the other young companions of the prince. + + +CHAPTER II. + +Brithric was a youth of a specious and deceitful character: it was his +practice to dissemble his real sentiments, and to recommend himself by +flattering speeches to the favor of his superiors. By constantly +addressing Prince Edwin in the language of adulation, he succeeded in +rendering his company very agreeable to him; for the prince's besetting +sin was vanity, and the artful Brithric was only too well skilled in +perceiving and taking advantage of the weak points of others. + +Wilfrid beheld this growing intimacy with pain; nor did he attempt to +conceal his uneasiness whenever the prince spoke to him on the subject +of his evident dislike of the society of Brithric. "I do not respect +Brithric, my lord," replied Wilfrid; "and where esteem is wanting, +there can be no true grounds for forming friendships." + +"And what are your reasons, Wilfrid, for denying your esteem to +Brithric?" said the prince. "He is obliging, and often says very +agreeable things to you." + +"It costs more to win my esteem than a few unmeaning compliments, which +Brithric is accustomed to pay to every one with whom he is desirous of +carrying his point," said Wilfrid. + +"And what should Brithric, who is the heir of the richest thane in my +brother's court, want to gain of a poor, landless orphan who owes his +sustenance and education to the compassion of King Athelstane?" +retorted the prince, angrily. + +The pale cheek of Wilfrid flushed with unwonted crimson at this +unexpected taunt from the lips of his young lord. It was with +difficulty that he restrained the tears which filled his eyes from +overflowing, but turning meekly away, he said-- + +"It is the first time the Atheling has condescended to upbraid his page +with the bounty of his royal brother, the generous Athelstane, whom may +heaven long preserve and bless." + +"It is good policy, methinks, for the son of a traitor to speak loudly +of his loyalty to the mighty Athelstane," said Brithric, who, having +entered unperceived, was listening to this conversation. + +"Nay, Brithric," said the prince, "Wilfrid could not help his father's +fault; though the remembrance of his crime and punishment ought to +restrain him from offering his opinion too boldly, when speaking of the +friends of his lord." + +"Let every one be judged by his own deeds," replied Wilfrid. "My +unfortunate parent offended against the laws of his country, and has +suffered the penalty decreed to those who do so by the loss of life and +forfeiture of lands. As a further punishment, I, his only child, who +was born the heir of a fair patrimony, am reared in a state of +servitude and sorrow, and am doomed not only to mourn my early +bereavement of a father's care and my hard reverse of fortune, but to +endure the taunts of those who are unkind enough to reproach me with +the sore calamities which, without any fault of mine, have fallen upon +my youthful head." + +The voice of Wilfrid failed him as he concluded, and he burst into a +flood of tears. + +The heart of Prince Edwin smote him for the pain he had inflicted upon +his faithful page; but he was too proud to acknowledge his fault. He +could not, however, bear to look upon his tears; so he left him to +indulge them in solitude, and, taking the ready arm of Brithric, +strolled into the archery ground to amuse himself by shooting at a mark. + +His hand was unsteady and his aim uncertain that day, yet Brithric's +voice was louder than ever in praising the skill of the Atheling. The +rest of the royal wards took their cue from the bold flatterer, and +addressed to the prince the most extravagant compliments every time his +arrow came near the mark, which they all purposely abstained from +hitting. + +At that moment the pale, sorrowful Wilfrid crossed the ground; but, +wishing to escape the attention of the joyous group, he kept at a +distance. The prince, however, observed him, and willing to obliterate +the remembrance of his late unkindness, called to him in a lively +voice: "Come hither, Wilfrid," said he, "and tell me if you think you +could send an arrow nearer to yonder mark than I have done." + +"Certainly," replied Wilfrid, "or I should prove myself but a bad +archer." + +The group of youthful flatterers, who surrounded the heir of the +throne, smiled contemptuously at the unguarded sincerity of the page in +speaking the truth thus openly and plainly to his lord. + +"Wilfrid, if we may believe his own testimony, is not only wiser and +better than any of the servants of the Atheling," said Brithric +scornfully, "but excels even the royal Atheling himself, in all the +exercises of princely skill." + +"He has yet to prove his boast," replied the prince, coloring with +suppressed anger; "but give him his bow, Brithric," continued he, "that +we may all have the advantage of taking a lesson from so peerless an +archer." + +"It is far from my wish presumptuously to compete with my lord," +replied Wilfrid, calmly rejecting the bow. + +"He has boasted that which he cannot perform," said Brithric, with an +insulting laugh. + +"You are welcome to that opinion, Brithric, if it so please you," said +Wilfrid, turning about to quit the ground. + +"Nay," cried the prince, "you go not till you have made good your +boast, young sir, by sending an arrow nearer to the mark than mine." + +"Ay, royal Atheling," shouted the company, "compel the vaunter to show +us a sample of his skill." + +"Rather, let my lord, the Atheling, try his own skill once more," said +Wilfrid; "he can hit the mark himself, if he will." + +Prince Edwin bent his bow, and this time the arrow entered the centre +of the target. The ground rang with the plaudits of the spectators. + +"Let us see now if Wilfrid, the son of Cendric, the traitor, can equal +the Atheling's shot," shouted Brithric. + +"Shoot, Wilfrid, shoot!" cried more than twenty voices among the royal +wards. + +"I have no wish to bend the bow to-day," said Wilfrid. + +"Because you know that you must expose yourself to contempt by failing +to make your vaunt good," said Brithric; "but you shall not escape thus +lightly." + +"Nothing but the express command of the prince, my master, will induce +me to bend my bow to-day," said Wilfrid. + +"Wilfrid, son of Cendric, I, Edwin Atheling, command thee to shoot at +yonder mark," said the prince. + +Wilfrid bowed his head in obedience to the mandate. He fitted the +arrow to the string, and stepping a pace backward, took his aim and +bent the bow. The arrow flew unerringly, and cleft in twain that of +Prince Edwin which already remained fixed in the centre of the mark. + +This feat of skillful archery on the part of the page called forth no +shout, nor even a word of applause, from the partial group of +flatterers, who had so loudly commended the Atheling's less successful +shots. Their silence, however, was best pleasing to the modest +Wilfrid, who, without so much as casting a single triumphant glance +upon those who had insulted and reviled him, dropped his bow upon the +earth, and, bowing to his royal master, retired from the scene without +uttering a syllable. + +From that day there was a visible change in the manners of the Atheling +toward his page, for his vanity had been piqued by this trifling +circumstance, of which the artful Brithric took advantage to irritate +his mind against Wilfrid. He now addressed him only in the language of +imperious command, and not unfrequently treated him with personal +indignity. + +Wilfrid felt these things very acutely, and the more so because the +former kindness of his youthful lord had won his earliest affections. +But he now bore all his capricious changes of temper with meekness. It +was only in his unrestrained confidence with his widowed mother that he +ever uttered a complaint of the young Atheling, and then he spoke of +him in sorrow, not in anger; for he rightly attributed much of Prince +Edwin's unamiable conduct to the pernicious influence which the artful +Brithric had, through flattery, obtained over his mind. + +"Patience, my son," would the widowed Ermengarde say in those moments +when Wilfrid sought relief by venting his anguish in tears on the bosom +of his tender mother, "patience, my son; true greatness is shown most +especially in enduring with magnanimity the crosses and trials which +are of every-day occurence. Let sorrow, sickness, or any other +adversity touch Prince Edwin, and he will learn the difference between +a true friend and a false flatterer. In due time, your worth will be +proved, and your victory will be a glorious one: for it will be the +triumph of virtue!" + + +CHAPTER III. + +The day which Ermengarde had predicted was close at hand. An +infectious fever broke out in the college, which, in several instances, +proved fatal to those who were attacked by it, and spread such terror +throughout the college that when Prince Edwin fell sick he was forsaken +by almost every living creature. His faithful page, Wilfrid, however, +watched him day and night, and supplied him with drink and nourishment, +which were brought to him by the widow Ermengarde. + +For six days the young Atheling was insensible of everything but his +own sufferings, and gave no indications of consciousness. On the night +of the seventh, as Wilfrid was supporting upon his bosom the head of +his afflicted master, and holding a cup of cooling drink to his parched +lips, he murmured, "Is it you, my faithful Brithric?" + +"No," replied the page, "Brithric is not present, neither hath he +entered this chamber, my lord, since the term of your sore sickness +commenced." + +"Surely, then, he must himself be sick, perhaps dead," said the prince. + +"No," replied Wilfrid, with a smile; "he is only fearful of exposing +himself to the contagion of the fever." + +"Who, then, hath nursed and attended upon me so kindly during these +many days of suffering while I have lain here unconscious of everything +around me?" + +"Your servant Wilfrid," replied the page. + +"And where then are my chamberlains and attendants, by whom I ought to +be surrounded?" asked the prince, raising his languid head from the +bosom of Wilfrid, and looking round the spacious but deserted room of +state, in which he lay. + +"They are all overcome by the terrors of the contagion," said Wilfrid. + +"And why did you not flee from it also, Wilfrid?" asked the prince. + +"Because, my lord," said Wilfrid, "I knew that you must perish if I +abandoned you." + +"Ah! Wilfrid," said the prince, bursting into tears, "I deserve not +this goodness from you, for of late I have treated you very unkindly; I +know and feel that I have: can you forgive me?" + +"Think no more of it, my lord, I pray you," replied Wilfrid, pressing +the burning hand of the prince to his lips. "I freely forgive all that +has passed, and only wish you to remember it, whenever you feel +disposed to yield to the impulses of a defective temper, which, for +your own sake, rather than mine, I earnestly hope you will correct." + +Prince Edwin bowed his face on the bosom of his faithful page, and wept +long and passionately, promising, at the same time, amendment of his +faults if ever it should please his Heavenly Father to raise him up +from the bed of sickness on which he then lay. + +How careful should young people be to perform the resolutions of +correcting their evil habits which they make at moments when sickness +or adversity brings them to a recollection of their evil propensities. +Yet, alas! how often is it that such promises are forgotten, as soon as +they find themselves in a condition to repeat their faults. + +Thus it was with Prince Edwin. Instead of seeking the assistance of a +higher power than his own weak will to strengthen and support him in +the right path, he contented himself with saying, "I am determined to +begin a fresh course; to correct my hasty, imperious temper; to pursue +my studies steadily and perseveringly; and to shun the society of those +who, by flattery and false speaking, seek to increase my foolish +vanity, and impede my improvement!" + +Now it was easy to say all this, but very difficult to put these good +resolutions into practice. Prince Edwin, neglecting to implore the +Divine aid to strengthen him in their performance, soon yielded to +temptation, and in a little time, listened to the pernicious flatteries +of Brithric with as much pleasure as he had done before the period of +his sickness. + +It was to no purpose that the faithful Wilfrid remonstrated with him, +and pointed out the fatal consequences that result from listening to +the false commendations of those who pay no regard to truth. Prince +Edwin loved to hear himself praised, even for those very qualities in +which he was most deficient. He grew weary of Wilfrid's admonitions, +and frequently reproved him when he ventured to reason with him, or +attempted to offer the counsel of a true friend. + +Brithric was, as I said before, much older than the prince or any of +the royal wards. He was artful and ambitious, and had formed in his +heart a wicked project for his own advancement, which was too likely to +plunge the country into the horrors of a civil war. This project was +no less than that of attempting to induce Prince Edwin to set himself +up for king, and to claim the throne as the eldest legitimate son of +the late King Edward. + +In all this, Brithric was very ungrateful to King Athelstane, who had +been very kind to him, and had recently appointed him to the honorable +office of his cup-bearer. That employment, however, was not sufficient +to content Brithric, who perceived that King Athelstane was too wise a +prince to listen to artful flattery or to allow any person of his court +to obtain an undue influence over his mind. + +"Ah!" said Brithric to himself, "if Edwin were king, I should be his +chief favorite. Wealth and honors would be at my disposal; and as he +believes everything I say to him I should be able to govern him, and +persuade him to do whatever I wished." + +Brithric had soon an opportunity of introducing this treasonable +project to Prince Edwin; for King Athelstane sent him with a letter to +the head of the college; and as soon as he had delivered it he paid a +visit to Prince Edwin, whom he found in his own chamber, engaged with +Wilfrid in brightening his arrows. + +"So, Brithric," said the prince, "do you bring me an invitation to the +court of the king, my brother?" + +Brithric shook his head, and replied, "No, my prince; King Athelstane +has no wish to see you there. Take my word for it, he will never give +you an invitation to his court." + +"Why not?" asked Prince Edwin, reddening with sudden anger. + +"King Athelstane knows that you have a better title to the throne than +himself," replied Brithric. "He knows, also, that were his valiant +Thames and Ealdormen to see you, they would be very likely to make you +king; for you are possessed of far more princely qualities than the +base-born Athelstane." + +The eyes of Prince Edwin brightened at the words of Brithric, and he +grasped the arrow which he had in his hand with the air of one who +holds a sceptre. "Fie, Brithric," said Wilfrid, "how can you be so +treacherous to your royal master as to speak of him with such +disrespect, and to put such dangerous and criminal ideas into the mind +of Prince Edwin?" + +"Peace, meddling brat," cried Edwin, angrily; "who asked counsel of +thee in this matter?" + +"There are some things which it would be a crime to hear in silence," +replied Wilfrid; "and I implore you, my dear, dear lord, by all the +love that once united you and your faithful page in the bonds of +friendship, not to listen to the fatal suggestions of the false +Brithric." + +"False Brithric!" echoed the wily tempter; "I will prove myself the +true friend of the Atheling, if he will only give consent to the deed +by which I will make him this very day the lord of England." + +"Impossible," cried the prince; "you have no power to raise me to the +throne of my father Edward, albeit it is my lawful inheritance." + +"The usurper Athelstane knows that full well," observed Brithric. +"Therefore it is that you are kept here, like a bird in a cage, leading +a life of monkish seclusion in an obscure college, instead of learning +to wield the battleaxe, to hurl the spear, and rein the war-horse, like +a royal Saxon prince." + +"The wily tyrant shall find that Edwin the Atheling is not to be so +treated," exclaimed the prince, yielding to a burst of passion. + +"You have no remedy, my lord," said Brithric; "for the people love the +usurper, and know nothing of his imprisoned brother, Edwin, the +rightful king of England." + +"And shall I always be immured, like a captived thrush?" asked Edwin, +indignantly. + +"Yes, while Athelstane lives, you must expect no other fate," said +Brithric. "But what if Athelstane should die?" continued he, fixing +his eyes on the face of the prince. + +"Oh! hear him not, my lord," cried Wilfrid, flinging himself at the +Atheling's feet; "he would tempt you to a crime as deadly as that of +Cain." + +"Peace, son of Cendric, the traitor!" exclaimed Prince Edwin, leveling +at the same time a blow at his faithful page, which felled him to the +earth, where he lay covered with blood, and apparently without sense or +motion. + +"And now speak on, my loving Brithric," continued the Atheling, without +paying the slightest regard to the condition of poor Wilfrid, who was, +however, perfectly aware of all that was passing, though, to all +appearance, insensible. + +"My lord," said Brithric, drawing nearer to the Atheling, "I will now +speak plainly. I am the cup-bearer of King Athelstane, and the next +time I present the red wine to him at the banquet it shall be drugged +with such a draught as shall make Prince Edwin lord of England within +an hour after the usurper has swallowed it." + +"Traitor, begone!" exclaimed the prince, filled with horror at this +dreadful proposal. "I would not stain my soul with the crime of +murder, if by such means I could obtain the empire of the world." + +Brithric used many wicked arguments to induce Prince Edwin to consent +to the murder of his royal brother; but Edwin commanded him to leave +his presence, and never to presume to enter it again. The vile wretch, +however, alarmed lest the prince should inform the king of the crime he +had meditated against him, went to his royal master and accused the +Atheling of having endeavored to persuade him to mix poison in the wine +cup of his sovereign. + +Athelstane, justly indignant at the crime laid to the charge of his +royal brother, came with a party of guards to the college. Here, +before his preceptors and all the royal wards, his companions, he +charged Edwin with having meditated the crime of treason and fratricide. + +You may imagine the consternation of the prince on hearing this +dreadful accusation. It was to no purpose that he protested his +innocence, and called on all his faithful associates to witness for him +that he had never uttered an injurious thought against the king. Those +who had been most ready to flatter him were silent on this occasion, +for they perceived that King Athelstane was persuaded of his brother's +guilt; and some of them said, "They remembered that Prince Edwin had +often said that he had a better title to the throne than King +Athelstane." + +Prince Edwin could not deny that he had used these words; but it seemed +to him very hard that they should be repeated to the king in the hour +of his sore distress. Looking around, with a countenance expressive of +mingled sorrow and indignation, he said,-- + +"Unhappy that I am! they that were my most familiar friends are they +that speak against me! Is there no one that can bear me witness that I +am guiltless of the crime of plotting to take away my brother's life?" + +"I will, though I die for it!" cried a voice, feeble from bodily +suffering, but firm in the courageous utterance of truth. It was that +of Wilfrid, the page, who, with his countenance still pale and +disfigured from the effects of the blow received from Prince Edwin, +stood boldly forward to bear witness of the scene which had taken place +in his presence between Brithric and the prince. + +"Oh, Wilfrid, generous Wilfrid," cried Edwin, bursting into tears, "how +nobly do you fulfill the precepts of your heavenly Master by returning +good for evil!" + +Now Athelstane had been so deeply prejudiced against his unfortunate +brother by the wicked Brithric, that he would not listen to Wilfrid's +honest evidence. When, therefore, he heard that he was the son of the +traitor Cendric, who had been so deeply implicated in Alfred's plot, he +was so unjust as to believe all that Brithric said against him. +Accordingly, he took Wilfrid, as well as the young Atheling, and +carried them prisoners to London. He there put them on board a ship +that was lying in the river Thames, and when night came, set sail with +them and went out to sea. + + +CHAPTER IV. + +Prince Edwin was not greatly alarmed, for he thought the king, his +brother, was only going to banish him to some foreign country, where he +fondly thought that Wilfrid and himself might live together very +happily. But when they were out of sight of land, and the moon had +risen over a wild waste of stormy billows, the king had both the +prisoners brought upon deck, and he then ordered the captain to put +them into a small boat and set them adrift at the mercy of the winds +and waves. + +It was to no purpose that the wretched Edwin threw himself at his +brother's feet, and entreated for mercy. Athelstane only replied, "You +tried to persuade my faithful cup-bearer to take my life--your own +life, therefore, is forfeited; but, as you are the son of my royal +father, I will not shed your blood upon the scaffold. I commit you and +your guilty companion, the son of the traitor Cendric, to the mercy of +God, who can and will preserve the innocent if it be his good pleasure +so to do." + +"And to His mercy, not thine, O king! do I, in full confidence of +innocence, commend both myself and my unfortunate master," said +Wilfrid, as the seamen hurried him, with the weeping Atheling, over the +side of the vessel into the little boat that lay tossing and rocking +among the tempestuous billows. + +When the unhappy youths found themselves alone, without sails or +rudder, on the pathless ocean, they sank into each other's arms and +wept long and passionately. + +At length Wilfrid lifted up his voice and heart in fervent prayer to +that Almighty and merciful God, who had delivered Daniel from the +lions' den, and preserved his faithful servants, Meshach, Shadrach and +Abednego, unharmed in the fiery furnace. Prince Edwin, on the +contrary, gave himself up to despair, and when he saw the king's ship +spreading her canvas to the gale, and fast receding from his sight, he +uttered a cry that was heard above the uproar of the winds and waves. +Starting up in the boat, and extending his arms toward the disappearing +vessel, he unwittingly lost his balance, and was in a moment ingulfed +in the stormy billows. + +We may imagine the anguish and terror of Wilfrid on witnessing the sad +fate of his young lord, which he had no power to prevent. Thoughts of +his widowed mother's grief for himself, too, came over his mind and +filled his eyes with tears, for her, as well as for his ill-fated lord. +For himself, however, he felt no fears, even in this dreadful hour, +when left companionless on the tempestuous ocean, for his trust was +firm and steadfast in the mercies of his Heavenly Father. + +That night the winds roared, and the waves raged mightily. Many a +gallant bark foundered in the storm, and many a skillful seaman found a +watery grave before the morning dawned in the cloudy horizon. But the +frail vessel into which the unfortunate Atheling and his page had been +thrust, weathered the gale and, with her lonely tenant, Wilfrid, was +driven ashore at a place called Whitesande, on the coast of Picardy, in +France. + +When Wilfrid landed, he was drenched through and through. He was +hungry, too, and sorrowful and weary. He knew not where he was, but he +failed not to return thanks to that gracious God who had preserved him +from the perils of the raging seas to which he had been so awfully +exposed, and whose merciful providence, he doubted not, would guide and +sustain him in the strange land whither he had been conducted. + +Thus meekly, thus nobly, did the young page support himself under this +fresh trial. But when the remembrance of the unfortunate Atheling, his +royal master, came over him, his heart melted within him; he bowed his +face on his knees as he sat all lonely on the sea beach, and he wept +aloud, exclaiming-- + +"Oh, Edwin! royal Edwin! hadst thou patiently trusted in the mercy of +God thou slightest, notwithstanding thy late adversity, have lived to +wear the crown of thy father Edward." Overpowered by his emotions, he +again sank upon the ground. + +"Is it of Edwin of England that thou speakest, young Saxon?" asked a +soft voice in the sweet familiar language of his own native land. + +He raised his head and found that he was surrounded by a party of +ladies, one of whom questioned him with an air of eager interest +respecting the expressions he had used touching the unfortunate Prince +Edwin. + +Now this lady was no other than Ogina, Queen of France, the sister of +Prince Edwin. Being on a visit at the house of a great lord on the +coast of Picardy, she had come down to the beach that morning, with her +ladies of honor, to bathe: a custom among ladies, even of the highest +rank, in those days. Hearing that a Saxon bark had been driven on +shore by the storm, and seeing the disconsolate figure of Wilfrid on +the beach, she had drawn near, and, unperceived by the suffering youth, +had overheard his melancholy soliloquy. + +While Wilfrid related the sad story of his master's untimely fate, the +royal lady wept aloud. After he had concluded his melancholy tale, she +took him to the castle of which she was herself an inmate, and +commended him to the care of her noble host, who quickly attended to +all his wants, and furnished him with dry garments. + +When Wilfrid had taken due rest and refreshment, the queen requested +that he should be brought into her presence. He was, accordingly, +ushered into a stately apartment, where Ogina was seated under a +crimson canopy, fringed with gold. She bade him draw near, and +extended her hand toward him. Being well acquainted with courtly +customs, the youth respectfully bowed his knee and humbly kissed the +hand of the royal lady, who proceeded to say,-- + +"Thou hast been found true when the only reward thou didst expect for +thy faithfulness was a cruel death. But surely thou hast been +conducted by a kind Providence into the presence of one who has both +the will and the power to requite thee for thy fidelity to the +unfortunate Atheling; for I am his sister, the Queen of France." + +"And I have then the honor to stand before the royal Ogina, daughter of +my late lord, King Edward, and Queen of King Charles of France?" said +Wilfrid, again bowing himself. + +"The same," replied the queen, taking a ring of great value from her +finger and placing it on that of the page. + +"Take this ring," continued she, "in token of my favor; and if thou +wilt serve me in one thing, I will make thee the greatest lord in my +husband's court." + +"Royal lady," said Wilfrid, "I have a widowed mother in my own land +whom I cannot forsake; neither would I desert my native country to +become a peer of France. But tell me wherein I can be of service to +thee, and if it be in my power it shall be done." + +"Darest thou," said the queen, "return to England and presenting +thyself before my brother Athelstane, thy king, declare to him the +innocence and the sad fate of Edwin, the Atheling, his father's son?" + +"Lady, I not only dare, but I desire so to do," replied Wilfrid; "for I +fear my God, and I have no other fear." + +Then the Queen of France loaded Wilfrid with rich presents, and sent +him over to England in a gallant ship to bear the mournful tidings of +poor Prince Edwin's death to England's king. She thought that when +Athelstane should hear the sad tale told in the pathetic language of +the faithful page, his heart would be touched with remorse for what he +had done. + +Now King Athelstane was already conscience-stricken for his conduct +toward his brother Edwin. His ship, during the same night that he had +compelled him to enter the boat with Wilfrid, was terribly tossed by +the tempest, and he felt that the vengeance of God was upon him for his +hardness of heart. The crew of the royal vessel had toiled and labored +all night, and it was with great difficulty that the ship was at length +got into port. Every individual on board, as well as the king himself, +felt convinced that the storm was a visitation upon them for what they +had done. + +King Athelstane had become very melancholy and offered large rewards to +any one who would bring him news of his unfortunate brother; and he +looked with horror upon Brithric as the cause of his having dealt so +hardly with Edwin. One day, when Brithric was waiting at table with +the king's cup, it happened that his foot slipped, and he would have +fallen if he had not dexterously saved himself with the other foot: +observing some of the courtiers smile, he cried out jestingly, "See +you, my lords, how one brother helps the other." + +"It is thus that brother should aid brother," said the king; "but it +was thee, false traitor, that did set me against mine! for the which +thou shalt surely pay the forfeit of thy life in the same hour that +tidings are brought me of his death." + +At that moment Wilfrid, presenting himself before the king, said, "King +Athelstane, I bring thee tidings of Edwin the Atheling!" + +"The fairest earldom in my kingdom shall be the reward of him who will +tell me that my brother liveth," exclaimed the king eagerly. + +"If thou wouldst give the royal crown of England from off thine head it +would not bribe the deep sea to give up its dead!" replied the page. + +"Who art thou that speakest such woeful words?" demanded Athelstane, +fixing his eyes with a doubting and fearful scrutiny on the face of the +page. + +"Hast thou forgotten Wilfrid, the son of Cendric?" replied the youth; +"he who commended himself to the mercy of the King of kings, in that +dark hour when thy brother Edwin implored for thine in vain." + +"Ha!" cried the king, "I remember thee now; thou art the pale stripling +who bore witness of my brother's innocence of the crime with which the +false-tongued Brithric charged him!" + +"The same, my lord," said Wilfrid; "and God hath witnessed for my truth +by preserving me from the waters of the great deep, to which thou didst +commit me with my lord, Prince Edwin." + +"But Edwin--my brother Edwin! tell me of him!" cried Athelstane, +grasping the shoulder of the page. + +"Did not his drowning cry reach thine ear, royal Athelstane?" asked +Wilfrid, bursting into tears. "Ere thy tall vessel had disappeared +from our sight the fair-haired Atheling was ingulfed in the stormy +billows that swelled round our frail bark, and I, only I, am, by the +especial mercy of God, preserved to tell thee the sad fate of thy +father's son, whom thou wert, in an evil hour, moved by a treacherous +villain to destroy." + +"Traitor," said the king, turning to Brithric, "thy false tongue hath +not only slain my brother, but thyself! Thou shalt die for having +wickedly induced me to become his murderer!" + +"And thou wilt live, O king, to suffer the pangs of an upbraiding +conscience," replied the culprit. "Where was thy wisdom, where thy +discrimination, where thy sense of justice, when thou lent so ready an +ear to my false and improbable accusations against thy boyish brother? +I sought my own aggrandizement--and to have achieved that I would have +destroyed thee and placed him upon the throne. I made him my tool--you +became my dupe--and I now myself fall a victim to my own machinations." + +The guards then removed Brithric from the royal presence, and the next +day he met with his deserts in a public execution. + +As for the faithful Wilfrid, King Athelstane not only caused the lands +and titles of which his father, Cendric, had been deprived, to be +restored to him, but also conferred upon him great honors and rewards. +He lived to be the pride and comfort of his widowed mother, Ermengarde, +and ever afterward enjoyed the full confidence of the king. + +The royal Athelstane never ceased to lament the death of his +unfortunate brother, Edwin. He gained many great victories, and +reigned long and gloriously over England, but he was evermore tormented +by remorse of conscience for his conduct toward his youthful brother, +Prince Edwin. + + + + +CISSY'S AMENDMENT. + +BY ANNA L. PARKER. + +She was a dainty, blue-eyed, golden-haired darling, who had ruled her +kingdom but four short years when the events in our history occurred. +Very short the four years had seemed, for the baby princess brought +into the quiet old house such a wealth of love, with its golden +sunshine, that time had passed rapidly since her arrival, as time +always does when we are happy and contented. + +Our little princess did not owe her title to royal birth, but to her +unquestioned sway over those around her; a rule in which was so happily +blended entreaty and command that her willing subjects were never quite +sure to which they were yielding. But of one thing they were sure, +which was that the winning grace of the little sovereign equaled their +pleasures in obeying her small commands, and the added fact--a very +important one--that this queen of hearts never abused her power. + +No little brothers nor sisters were numbered among the princess' +retainers, but she had had from her babyhood an inseparable companion +and playfellow in Moses. Now Moses was a big brown dog who, like his +namesake of old, had been rescued from a watery grave, and it chanced +that baby-girl and baby-dog became inmates of the quiet old house about +the same time. But the dog grew much faster than the little girl, as +dogs are wont to do, and was quite a responsible person by the time +Cissy could toddle around. When she was old enough to play under the +old elm tree Moses assumed the place of protector of her little +highness, and was all the bodyguard the princess needed, for he was +wise and unwearied in his endeavors to guard her from all mishaps. +But, although Moses felt the responsibility of his position, he did not +consider it beneath his dignity to amuse his mistress, and so they +played together, baby and dog, shared their lunch together, and +frequently took their nap together of a warm afternoon, the golden +curls of the little princess tumbled over Moses' broad, shaggy shoulder. + +One day when Cissy was about four years old an event occurred in her +life that seemed for a time to endanger the intimacy between the little +girl and her four-footed friend, and caused Moses considerable anxiety. +It was a rainy morning and she could not play under the trees as usual, +so she took her little chair and climbed up to the window to see if the +trees were lonesome without her. Something unusual going on in the +house next door attracted her attention, and her disappointment was +soon forgotten. No one had lived in the house since the little girl +could remember. Now the long closed doors and windows were thrown wide +open, and men were running up and down the steps. She was puzzled to +know what it could all mean, and kept her little face close to the +window, and was so unmindful of Moses that he felt quite neglected and +lonely. + +The following morning was warm and bright, and the little princess and +her attendant were playing under the trees again. Moses was so +delighted in having won the sole attention of his little mistress and +played so many droll pranks that Cissy shouted with laughter. In the +midst of her merriment she chanced to look up, and saw through the +paling a pair of eyes as bright as her own, dancing with fun and +evidently enjoying Moses' frolic quite as much as the little girl +herself. The bright eyes belonged to a little boy about Cissy's age, +whose name was Jamie, and who had moved into the house that had +interested her so much the day before. + +Now our little princess in her winning way claimed the allegiance of +all that came within her circle, and so confidently ran over to the +fence to make the acquaintance of her new subject. Jamie was quite +willing to be one of her servitors, and although they were separated by +the high palings they visited through the openings all the morning, and +for many mornings after, exchanging dolls, books, balls, and strings, +and becoming the best of friends. This new order of things was not +quite satisfactory to Moses, who felt he was no longer necessary to +Cissy's happiness. He still kept his place close beside her, and tried +to be as entertaining as possible. But do what he would he could not +coax her away from her new-found friend, and all the merry plays under +the old elm tree seemed to have come to an end, but Cissy was not +really ungrateful to her old playfellow. She was deeply interested in +her new companion and for the time somewhat forgetful of Moses, which +is not much to be wondered at when we remember what great advantage +over Moses Jamie had in one thing. He could talk with Cissy and Moses +could not. But although the dog's faithful heart ached at the neglect +of his little mistress, he did not desert his place of protector, but +watched and guarded the princess while she and her friend prattled on +all the long, bright days, quite unconscious of his trouble. + +One afternoon Cissy's happiness reached its highest point. Her mother +had been watching the visiting going on through the fence, and saw +Cissy's delight in her new companion, so, unknown to her, she wrote a +note asking that Jamie be permitted to come into the yard and play +under the elm tree. When Cissy saw Jamie coming up the walk in her own +yard, her delight knew no bounds. She ran to meet him, and dolls and +buggies and carts and everything she prized was generously turned over +to her visitor. How quickly the afternoon passed. + +Moses was as happy as the children themselves--for if he could not talk +he could at least bark, and now they were altogether under the tree, +his troubles were forgotten and which were the happier, children or +dog, it were hard to say. So with merry play the beautiful day came to +a close. The sun was sending up his long golden beams in the west. +Jamie was called home, and Cissy came into the house. The tired little +eyes were growing drowsy and the soft curls drooped over the nodding +head when mamma undressed her little girl to make her ready for bed. +Then Cissy knelt beside her little bed and repeated the prayer she had +been taught: "Now, I lay me down to sleep," and "God bless papa and +mamma and everybody, and make Cissy a good girl." But when she had +done she did not rise as usual; looking up earnestly at her mother, she +said: "Please, mamma, I want to pray my own prayer now." Then folding +her little hands, the sweet childish voice took on an earnestness it +had not shown before, as she said: "Dear Father in heaven, I thank you +for making Jamie, and 'cause his mamma let him come in my yard to play. +Please make lots more Jamies," and with this sincere expression of her +grateful heart, and her loving recognition that all our blessings come +from the Father above, the tired, happy little girl was ready for bed, +and soon asleep. + +Moses lay sleeping contentedly on the rug beside the princess' little +bed. He too had had a happy day. I wonder if he had any way to +express his thankfulness to his Creator, the same Father in heaven to +which Cissy prayed, for the love and companionship of his little +playfellows, and for the bright, happy day he had spent? I believe he +had. What do you think about it? + + + + +THE WINTER'S TALE. + +AS TOLD BY MARY SEYMOUR. + +Leontes of Sicily, and Hermione, his lovely queen, lived together in +the greatest harmony--a harmony and happiness so perfect that the king +said he had no wish left to gratify excepting the desire to see his old +companion Polixenes, and present him to the friendship of his wife. + +Polixenes was king of Bohemia; and it was not until he had received +many invitations that he came to visit his friend Leontes of Sicily. + +At first this was the cause of great joy. It seemed that Leontes never +tired of talking over the scenes of bygone days with his early friend, +while Hermione listened well pleased. But when Polixenes wished to +depart, and both the king and the queen entreated him to remain yet +longer, it was the gentle persuasion of Hermione which overcame his +resistance, rather than the desire of his friend Leontes, who upon this +grew both angry and jealous, and began to hate Polixenes as much as he +had loved him. + +At length his feelings became so violent that he gave an order for the +King of Bohemia to be killed. But fortunately he intrusted the +execution of this command to Camillo--a good man, who helped his +intended victim to escape to his own dominions. At this, Leontes was +still more angry and, rushing to the room where his wife was engaged +with her little son Mamillius took the child away, and ordered poor +Hermione to prison. + +While she was there, a little daughter was born to her; and a lady who +heard of this, told the queen's maid Emilia, that she would carry the +infant into the presence of its father if she might be intrusted with +it, and perhaps his heart would soften toward his wife and the innocent +babe. + +Hermione very willingly gave up her little daughter into the arms of +the lady Paulina, who forced herself into the king's presence, and laid +her precious burden at his feet, boldly reproaching him with his +cruelty to the queen. But Paulina's services were of no avail: the +king ordered her away, so she left the little child before him, +believing, when she retired, that his proud, angry heart would relent. + +But she was mistaken. Leontes bade one of his courtiers take the +infant to some desert isle to perish; and Antigonus, the husband of +Paulina, was the one chosen to execute this cruel purpose. + +The next action of the king was to summon Hermione to be tried for +having loved Polixenes too well. Already he had had recourse to an +oracle; and the answer, sealed up, was brought into court and opened in +the presence of the much-injured queen: + +"Hermione is innocent; Polixenes blameless; Camillo a true subject; +Leontes a jealous tyrant; and the king shall live without an heir, if +that which is lost be not found." + +Thus it ran; but the angry king said it was all a falsehood, made up by +the queen's friends, and he bade them go on with the trial. Yet even +as he spoke, a messenger entered to say that the king's son Mamillius +had died suddenly, grieving for his mother. Hermione, overcome by such +sad tidings, fainted; and then Leontes, feeling some pity for her, bade +her ladies remove her, and do all that was possible for her recovery. + +Very soon Paulina returned, saying that Hermione, the queen, was also +dead. Now Leontes repented of his harshness; now he readily believed +she was all that was good and pure; and, beginning to have faith in the +words of the oracle which spoke of that which was lost being found, +declared he would give up his kingdom could he but recover the lost +baby he had sent to perish. + +The ship which had conveyed Antigonus with the infant princess away +from her father's kingdom, was driven onshore upon the Bohemian +territory, over which Polixenes reigned. Leaving the child there, +Antigonus started to return to his ship; but a savage bear met and +destroyed him, so that Leontes never heard how his commands had been +fulfilled. + +When poor Hermione had sent her baby in Paulina's care to be shown to +her royal father, she had dressed it in its richest robes, and thus it +remained when Antigonus left it. Besides, he pinned a paper to its +mantle upon which the name Perdita was written. + +Happily, a kind-hearted shepherd found the deserted infant, and took it +home to his wife, who cherished it as her own. But they concealed the +fact from every one; and lest the tale of the jewels upon Perdita's +little neck should be noised abroad, he sold some of them, and leaving +that part of the country, bought herds of sheep, and became a wealthy +shepherd. + +Little Perdita grew up as sweet and lovely as her unknown mother; yet +she was supposed to be only a shepherd's child. + +Polixenes of Bohemia had one only son--Florizel by name; who, hunting +near the shepherd's dwelling, saw the fair maiden, whose beauty and +modesty soon won his love. Disguising himself as a private gentleman, +instead of appearing as the king's son, Florizel took the name of +Doricles, and came visiting at the shepherd's dwelling. So often was +he there, and thus so frequently missed at court, that people began to +watch his movements, and soon discovered that he loved the pretty +maiden Perdita. + +When this news was carried to Polixenes, he called upon his faithful +servant Camillo to go with him to the shepherd's house; and they +arrived there in disguise just at the feast of sheep-shearing, when +there was a welcome for every visitor. + +It was a busy scene. There was dancing on the green, young lads and +lassies were chaffering with a peddler for his goods, sports were going +on everywhere; yet Florizel and Perdita sat apart, talking happily to +each other. + +No one could have recognized the king; even Florizel did not observe +him as he drew near enough to listen to the conversation of the young +people. Perdita's way of speaking charmed him much--it seemed +something very different to the speech of a shepherd's daughter; and, +turning to Camillo, Polixenes said: + + "Nothing she does or seems + But tastes of something greater than her self, + Too noble for this place." + + +Then he spoke to the old shepherd, asking the name of the youth who +talked to his daughter. + +"They call him Doricles," said the man; adding, too, that if he indeed +loved Perdita, he would receive with her something he did not reckon +on. By this the shepherd meant a part of her rich jewels which he had +not sold, but kept carefully until such time as she should marry. +Polixenes turned to his son, telling him jestingly that he should have +bought some gift for his fair maid--not let the peddler go without +seeking anything for her. + +Florizel little imagined it was his father talking to him, and he +replied that the gifts Perdita prized were those contained within his +heart; and then he begged the "old man" to be a witness of their +marriage. + +Still keeping up his disguise, Polixenes asked Florizel if he had no +father to bid as a guest to his wedding. But the young man said there +were reasons why he should not speak of the matter to his father. + +Polixenes chose this for the moment in which to make himself known; and +reproaching his son bitterly for giving his love to a low-born maiden, +bade him accompany Camillo back to court. + +As the king retired thus angry, Perdita said, "I was not much afraid; +for once or twice I was about to speak, to tell him plainly,-- + + "The self-same sun that shines upon his court + Hides not his visage from our cottage, but + Looks on alike." + + +Then she sorrowfully bade Florizel leave her. + +Camillo felt sorry for the two, and thought of a way in which he could +stand their friend. Having known a long time that his former master, +Leontes, repented of all his cruelty, he proposed that Florizel and +Perdita should accompany him to Sicily to beg the king to win for them +the consent of Polixenes to their marriage. + +The old shepherd was allowed to be of the party, and he took with him +the clothes and jewels which had been found with Perdita, and also the +paper on which her name had been written. + +On their arrival, Leontes received Camillo with kindness, and welcomed +Prince Florizel; but it was Perdita who engrossed all his thoughts. +She seemed to remind him of his fair queen Hermione, and he broke out +into bitter self-accusation, saying that he might have had just such +another lovely maiden to call him father, but for his own cruelty. + +The shepherd, listening to the king's lamentations, began to compare +the time when he had lost the royal infant with the time when Perdita +was found, and he came to the conclusion that she and the daughter of +Leontes were one and the same person. When he felt assured of this he +told his tale, showed the rich mantle which had been wrapped round the +infant, and her remaining jewels; and Leontes knew that his daughter +was brought back to him once more. Joyful as such tidings were, his +sorrow at the thought of Hermione, who had not lived to behold her +child thus grown into a fair maiden, almost exceeded his happiness, so +that he kept exclaiming, "Oh, thy mother! thy mother!" + +Paulina now appeared, begging Leontes to go to her house and look at a +statue she possessed which greatly resembled Hermione. Anxious to see +anything like his much-lamented wife, the king agreed; and when the +curtain was drawn back his sorrow was stirred afresh. At last he said +that the statue gave Hermione a more aged, wrinkled look than when he +last beheld her; but Paulina replied, that if so, it was a proof of the +sculptor's art, who represented the queen as she would appear after the +sixteen years which had passed. She would have drawn the curtain +again, but Leontes begged her to wait a while, and again he appealed to +those about him to say if it was not indeed a marvelous likeness. + +Perdita had all the while been kneeling, admiring in silence her +beautiful mother. Paulina presently said that she possessed the power +to make the statue move, if such were the king's pleasure; and as some +soft music was heard, the figure stirred. Ah! it was no sculptured +marble, but Hermione, living and breathing, who hung upon her husband +and her long-lost child! + +It is needless to tell that Paulina's story of her royal mistress' +death was an invention to save her life, and that for all those years +she had kept the queen secluded, so that Leontes should not hear that +she was living until Perdita was found. + +All was happiness; but none was greater than that of Camillo and +Paulina, who saw the reward of their long faithfulness. One more +person was to arrive upon the scene; even Polixenes, who came in search +of Florizel, and was thus in time to bless the union of the young +people, and take a share in the general joy. + + + + +A GRACIOUS DEED. + +In an humble room in one of the poorest streets in London, Pierre, a +faithful French boy, sat humming by the bedside of his sick mother. +There was no bread in the closet, and for the whole day he had not +tasted food. Yet he sat humming to keep up his spirits. Still at +times he thought of his loneliness and hunger, and he could scarcely +keep the tears from his eyes, for he knew that nothing would be so +grateful to his poor mother as a good, sweet orange, and yet he had not +a penny in the world. + +The little song he was singing was his own; one he had composed, both +air and words--for the child was a genius. + +He went to the window, and looking out, he saw a man putting up a great +bill with yellow letters announcing that Mme. Malibran would sing that +night in public. + +"Oh, if I could only go," thought little Pierre; and then pausing a +moment he clasped his hands, his eyes lighting with new hope. Running +to the little stand, he smoothed his yellow curls, and taking from a +little box some old stained paper, gave one eager glance at his mother, +who slept, and ran speedily from the house. + +"Who did you say was waiting for me?" said madame to her servant. "I +am already worn with company." + +"It's only a very pretty little boy with yellow curls, who said if he +can just see you he is sure you will not be sorry, and he will not keep +you a moment." + +"Oh, well, let him come," said the beautiful singer, with a smile. "I +can never refuse children." + +Little Pierre came in, his hat under his arm, and in his hand a little +roll of paper. With manliness unusual for a child he walked straight +to the lady and, bowing, said: "I came to see you because my mother is +very sick, and we are too poor to get food and medicine. I thought, +perhaps, that if you would sing my little song at some of your grand +concerts, maybe some publisher would buy it for a small sum and so I +could get food and medicine for my mother." + +The beautiful woman arose from her seat. Very tall and stately she +was. She took the roll from his hand and lightly hummed the air. + +"Did you compose it?" she asked; "you a child! And the words? Would +you like to come to my concert?" she asked. + +"Oh, yes!" and the boy's eyes grew bright with happiness; "but I +couldn't leave my mother." + +"I will send somebody to take care of your mother for the evening, and +there is a crown with which you may go and get food and medicine. Here +is also one of my tickets. Come to-night; that will admit you to a +seat near me." + +Almost beside himself with joy, Pierre bought some oranges, and many a +little luxury besides, and carried them home to the poor invalid, +telling her, not without tears, of his good fortune. + +When evening came and Pierre was admitted to the concert hall he felt +that never in his life had he been in such a place. The music, the +myriad lights, the beauty, the flashing of diamonds and rustling of +silk, bewildered his eyes and brain. + +At last she came, and the child sat with his glance riveted on her +glorious face. Could he believe that the grand lady, all blazing with +jewels, and whom everybody seemed to worship, would really sing his +little song? + +Breathlessly he waited--the band, the whole band, struck up a plaintive +little melody. He knew it, and clasped his hands for joy. And oh, how +she sang it! It was so simple, so mournful. Many a bright eye dimmed +with tears, and naught could be heard but the touching words of that +little song. + +Pierre walked home as if moving on air. What cared he for money now? +The greatest singer in all Europe had sung his little song, and +thousands had wept at his grief. + +The next day he was frightened at a visit from Madame Malibran. She +laid her hands on his yellow curls, and talking to the sick woman said: +"Your little boy, madame, has brought you a fortune. I was offered +this morning, by the best publisher in London, 300 pounds for his +little song, and after he has realized a certain amount from the sale, +little Pierre, here, is to share the profits. Madame, thank God that +your son has a gift from heaven." + +The noble-hearted singer and the poor woman wept together. As to +Pierre, always mindful of Him who watches over the tired and tempted, +he knelt down by his mother's bedside and offered a simple but eloquent +prayer, asking God's blessing on the kind lady who had deigned to +notice their affliction. + +The memory of that prayer made the singer more tender-hearted, and she, +who was the idol of England's nobility, went about doing good. And in +her early, happy death, he who stood beside her bed and smoothed her +pillow and lightened her last moments by his undying affection, was +little Pierre of former days, now rich, accomplished, and the most +talented composer of his day. + + + + +TOM. + +BY REV. C. H. MEAD. + +Never did any one have a better start in life than Tom. Born of +Christian parents, he inherited from them no bad defects, moral or +physical. He was built on a liberal plan, having a large head, large +hands, large feet, large body, and within all, a heart big with +generosity. His face was the embodiment of good nature, and his laugh +was musical and infectious. Being an only child there was no one to +share with him the lavish love of his parents. They saw in him nothing +less than a future President of the United States, and they made every +sacrifice to fit him for his coming position. He was a prime favorite +with all, and being a born leader, he was ungrudgingly accorded that +position by his playmates at school and his fellows at the university. +He wrestled with rhetoric, and logic, and political economy, and +geometry, and came off an easy victor; he put new life into the dead +languages, dug among the Greek roots by day and soared up among the +stars by night. None could outstrip him as a student, and he easily +held his place at the head of his class. The dullest scholar found in +him a friend and a helper, while the brighter ones found in his +example, an incentive to do their best. + +In athletic sports, too, he was excelled by none. He could run faster, +jump higher, lift a dumb-bell easier, strike a ball harder, and pull as +strong an oar as the best of them. He was the point of the flying +wedge in the game of foot-ball, and woe be to the opponent against whom +that point struck. To sum it all up, Tom was a mental and physical +giant, as well as a superb specimen of what that college could make out +of a young man. But unfortunately, it was one of those institutions +that developed the mental, trained the physical, and starved the +spiritual, and so it came to pass ere his college days were ended, Tom +had an enemy, and that enemy was the bottle. + +The more respectable you make sin, the more dangerous it is. An old +black bottle in the rough hand of the keeper of a low dive, would have +no power to cause a clean young man to swerve from the right course, +but he is a hero ten times over, who can withstand the temptation of a +wine glass in the jeweled fingers of a beautiful young lady. Tom's +tempter came in the latter form, and she who might have spurred him on +to the highest goal, and whispered in his ear, "look not thou upon the +wine when it is red, when it giveth its color in the cup, when it +moveth itself aright," started him down a course which made him learn +from a terrible experience that "at the last it biteth like a serpent, +and stingeth like an adder." Does any one call a glass of wine a small +thing? Read Tom's story and then call it small, if you dare! Whatever +he did was done with his might, drinking not excepted. He boasted of +his power to drink much and keep sober, while he laughed at the +companions who imbibed far less and went to bed drunk. At first Tom +was the master and the bottle his slave, but in three years' time they +changed places. When too late, his parents discovered that the college +had sent back to them a ripe scholar, a trained athlete and a drunkard. +The mother tried to save her son, but failing in every effort, her +heart broke and she died with Tom's name on her lips. The father, +weighed down under the dead sorrow and the living trouble, vainly +strove to rescue his son, and was found one night in the attitude of +prayer, kneeling by the side of the bed where his wife's broken heart a +few months before had ceased to beat. He died praying for his boy! + +One evening as the sun was setting, a man stood leaning against the +fence along one of the streets of a certain city. His clothes were +ragged, his hands and face unwashed, his hair uncombed and his eyes +bleared; he looked more like a wild beast hunted and hungry, than a +human being. It was Tom. The boys gathered about him, and made him +the object of their fun and ridicule. At first he seemed not to notice +them, but suddenly he cried out: "Cease your laughter until you know +what you are laughing at. Let me talk to my master while you listen." + +He pulled a bottle from his pocket, held it up, and looking at it with +deep hatred flashing from his reddened eyes, he said: + +"I was once your master; now I am your slave. In my strength you +deceived me; in my weakness you mock me. You have burned my brain, +blistered my body, blasted my hopes, bitten my soul and broken my will. +You have taken my money, destroyed my home, stolen my good name, and +robbed me of every friend I ever had. You killed my mother, slew my +father, sent me out into the world a worthless vagabond, until I find +myself a son without parents, a man without friends, a wanderer without +a home, a human being without sympathy, and a pauper without bread. +Deceiver, mocker, robber, murderer--I hate you! Oh, for one hour of my +old-time strength, that I might slay you! Oh, for one friend and some +power to free me from this slavery!" + +The laugh had ceased and the boys stood gazing on him with awe. A +young lady and gentleman had joined the company just as Tom began this +terrible arraignment of his master, and as he ceased, the young lady +stepped up to him and earnestly said: "You have one friend and there is +one power that can break your chains and set you free." + +Tom gazed at her a moment and then said: + +"Who is my friend?" + +"The King is your friend," she answered. + +"And pray, who are you?" said Tom. + +"One of the King's Daughters," was the reply "and 'In His Name' I tell +you He has power to set you free." + +"Free, free did you say? But, you mock me. A girl with as white a +hand and as fair a face as yours, delivered me to my master." + +"Then, in the name of the King whose daughter am I, even Jesus Christ +the Lord, let the hand of another girl lead you to Him who came to +break the chains of the captive and set the prisoner free." + +Tom looked at the earnest face of the pleading girl, hesitated awhile, +as his lip quivered and the big tears filled his eyes, and then +suddenly lifting the bottle high above his head, he dashed it down on +the pavement, and as it broke into a thousand pieces, he said: + +"I'll trust you, I'll trust you, lead me to the King!" + +And lead him she did, as always a King's Daughter will lead one who +sorely needs help. His chains were broken, and at twenty-nine years of +age Tom began life over again. He is not the man he might have been, +but no one doubts his loyalty to the King. His place in the prayer +circle is never vacant, and you can always find, him in the ranks of +those whose sworn purpose it is to slay Tom's old master, King Alcohol! + + + + +STEVEN LAWRENCE, AMERICAN. + +BY BARBARA YECHTON. + +Stevie's papa usually wrote his name in the hotel registers as "Edward +H. Lawrence, New York City, U. S. A.," but Stevie always entered +his--and he wouldn't have missed doing it for anything--as "Steven +Lawrence, American." + +When Kate and Eva teased him about it, he would say: "Why, anybody +could come from New York--an Englishman or a German or a +Frenchman--without being born there, don't you see? but I'm a real +out-and-out American, born there, and a citizen and everything, and I +just want all these foreigners to know it, 'cause I think America's the +greatest country in the world." Then the little boy would straighten +his slender figure and toss back his curly hair with a great air of +pride, which highly amused his two sisters. But their teasing and +laughter did not trouble Stevie in the least. "Laugh all you like I +don't care," he retorted, one day. "It's my way, and I like it," which +amused the little girls all the more, for, as Eva said, "Everybody knew +Stevie liked his own way, only he never had owned up to it before." + +There was something, however, that did trouble the little boy a good +deal: though he was born in New York City, he had no recollection of it +or any other place in America, as his mamma's health had failed, and +the whole family had gone to Europe for her benefit, when Stevie was +little more than a year old. They had traveled about a good deal in +the eight years since then, and Stevie had lived in some famous and +beautiful old cities; but in his estimation no place was equal to his +beloved America, of which Mehitabel Higginson had told him so much, and +to which he longed to get back. I fancy that most American boys and +girls would have enjoyed being where Stevie was at this time, for he +and his papa and mamma, and Kate and Eva, and Mehitabel Higginson, were +living in a large and quite grand-looking house in Venice. The +entrance hall and the wide staircase leading to the next story were +very imposing, the rooms were large, and the walls and high ceilings +covered with elaborate carvings and frescoes; and when Stevie looked +out of the windows or the front door lo! instead of an ordinary street +with paved sidewalks, there were the blue shining waters of the lagoon, +and quaint-shaped gondolas floating at the door-step or gliding swiftly +and gracefully by. + +The children thought it great fun to go sight-seeing in a gondola: they +visited the beautiful old Cathedral of St. Mark, and admired the famous +bronze horses which surmount Sansovino's exquisitely carved gates, +sailed up and down the double curved Grand Canal, walked through the +Ducal Palace and across the narrow, ill-lighted Bridge of Sighs--over +which so many unfortunate prisoners had passed never to return--and +peeped into the dark, dismal prison on the other side of the canal. + +It was all very novel and interesting, but Stevie told Mehitabel, in +confidence, that he would rather, any day, listen to her reminiscences +of her long-ago school days in her little New England village home, or, +better still, to her stories of George Washington, and the other great +spirits of the Revolutionary period, and of Abraham Lincoln and the men +of his time. Stevie never tired of these stories. He knew Mehitabel's +leisure hour, and curling himself up among the cushions on the settee +beside her tea table, he would say, with his most engaging smile: +"Now's just the time for a story, Hitty; don't you think so? And +please begin right away, won't you, 'cause, you know, I'll have to be +going to bed pretty soon." + +He knew most of the stories by heart, corrected Miss Higginson if she +left out or added anything in the telling, and always joined in when +she ended the entertainment with her two stock pieces--"Barbara +Freitchie" and "Paul Revere's Ride," which were great favorites with +him. "Oh, how I would like to be a hero!" he said with a sigh, one +afternoon, just after they had finished reciting "Paul Revere's Ride" +in fine style. Presently he added, thoughtfully: "Do you think, Hitty, +that any one could be a hero and not know it? I suppose Washington and +Paul Revere and all those others just knew every time they did anything +brave." + +Hitty wore her hair in short gray curls, on each side of her rather +severe-looking face, and now they bobbed up and down as, she nodded her +head emphatically. "Of course they did," she answered, with +conviction. "You see my grandfather fought in the Revolution, so I +ought to know. But," with an entire change of conversation, "bravery +isn't the only thing in the world for a little boy to think of. He +should try to be nice and polite to everybody; obedient to his mamma +and gentle to his sisters; he shouldn't love to have his own way and go +ordering people about. I don't think," with sudden assurance, "you'd +have found Washington or Paul Revere or Lincoln behaving that way." + +"Pooh! that's all you know about it," cried Stevie, ungratefully, +slipping down from his nest among the cushions; he did not relish the +personal tone the conversation had taken. "Didn't Washington order his +troops about? And anyway, Kate's just as 'ordering' as I am, and you +never speak to her about it." Then, before the old housekeeper could +answer, he ran out of the room. + +You see that was Stevie's great fault; he was a dear, warm-hearted +little fellow, but he did love to have his own way, and often this made +him very rude and impatient--what they called "ordering"--to his +sisters, and Hitty and the servants, and even disobedient to his mamma. + +Stevie's mamma was very much troubled about this, for she dearly loved +her little son, and she saw plainly that as the days went on instead of +Stevie's getting the upper hand of his fault, his fault was getting the +upper hand of him. So one day she and papa had a long, serious talk +about Stevie, and then papa and Stevie had a long, serious talk about +the fault. I shall not tell all that passed between them, for papa had +to do some plain speaking that hurt Stevie's feelings very much, and +his little pocket-handkerchief was quite damp long before the interview +was over. + +Papa so seldom found fault that what he said now made a great +impression on the little boy. "I didn't know I was so horrid, papa," +he said, earnestly; "I really don't mean to be, but you see people are +so trying sometimes, and then it seems as if I just have to say things. +You don't know how hard it is to keep from saying them." + +"Oh, yes, I do," said Mr. Lawrence, with a nod of his head; "but you +are getting to be a big boy now, Stevie, and if you expect to be a +soldier one of these days--as you say you do--you must begin to control +yourself now, or you'll never be able to control your men by and by. +And besides, you are bringing discredit on your beloved country by such +behavior." + +Stevie looked up with wide-open, astonished eyes. "Why, papa!" he said. + +"I heard you tell Guiseppi the other day," went on his papa, "that all +Americans were nice. Do you expect him to believe that, when you, the +only little American boy he knows, speak so rudely to him, and he hears +you ordering your sisters about as you do?" + +Stevie hung his head without a word, but his cheeks got very red. + +"You know, Stevie," said Mr. Lawrence, "great honors always bring great +responsibilities with them. You are a Christian and an American--two +great honors; and you mustn't shirk the responsibility to be courteous +and noble and kind, which they entail. Even our dear Lord Christ +pleased not Himself, you know; don't you suppose it grieves Him to see +His little follower flying into rages because he can't have his own +way? And can you possibly imagine Washington or Lincoln ordering +people about as you like to do?" + +There was a moment's silence; then Stevie straightened himself up and +poked his hands deep down in his pockets. "Papa," he said, tossing +back his yellow curls, a look of determination on his little fair face, +"I'll not shirk my 'sponsibilities. I'm just going to try with all my +might to be a better boy." + +"Good for you, Stevie!" cried papa, kissing him warmly. "I know +mamma'll be glad, and I'm sure you'll be a much pleasanter boy to live +with. But you must ask God to help you, or you'll never succeed, son; +and besides, you've got to keep a tight watch on yourself all the time, +you know." + +"Yes, I s'pose so," agreed Stevie, with a little sigh, "'cause feelings +are such hard things to manage; and, papa, please don't tell Kate and +Eva, or Hitty." Papa nodded, and then they went to tell mamma the +result of the talk. + +Stevie did "try with all his might" for the next few days, and with +such good results as to astonish all but his papa and mamma, who, as +you know, were in the secret. Eva confided to Kate that she thought +Stevie was certainly like "the little girl with the curl," for if when +he was "bad he was horrid," "when he was good he was very, very good;" +and Mehitabel watched him closely, and hoped "he wasn't sickening for +measles or Italian fever." + +How long this unusual state of affairs would have lasted under usual +circumstances is uncertain; but about a week after Stevie's talk with +his papa, Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence were called suddenly to Naples on +urgent business, and the children were left in Venice in the +housekeeper's care. Mamma impressed upon her little son and daughters +that they must be very good children and obey Mehitabel just as they +would her; and when they were going, papa said to Stevie: "Son, I want +you to look after the girls and Mehitabel, and take care of them while +I am away. If anything happens, try to act as you think I would if I +were here." + +"All right, I'll take good care of 'em," Stevie answered, feeling very +proud to have papa say this before everybody, and winked hard to +prevent the tears, that would come, from falling. Then, as the gondola +glided from the door, papa leaned over the side and waved his hand. +"Don't forget the responsibilities, Steve," he called out. + +"I won't forget--sure," returned Stevie, waving back; but when Kate +asked what papa meant, he answered: "It's just something between papa +and me--nothing 'bout you," with such a mysterious air that of course +Kate immediately suspected a secret and entreated to be told. This +Stevie flatly refused to do, and they were on the verge of a quarrel +when Mehitabel's voice was heard calling them to come help her choose a +dessert for their five-o'clock dinner. + +Stevie found the next few days what he called "very trying." You see, +by virtue of what his papa had said he considered himself the head of +the family, and his feelings were continually ruffled by Mehitabel's +decided way of settling things without regard to his opinion. The +mornings were the hardest of all, when, in their mother's absence, the +children recited their lessons to Miss Higginson. Mehitabel had her +own ideas about the law and order that should be maintained, and +Stevie's indignant protests were quite wasted on her. + +"You may do as you please when your pa and ma are home"--she said very +decidedly one morning, when Kate and Stevie told her that their mamma +never expected them to stand through all the lessons nor to repeat +every word as it was in the book--"but when I'm head of the family +you've got to do things my way, and I want every word of that lesson." + +"You're just as cross as you can be," fumed Kate, flouncing herself +into a chair. + +"And anyway you're not the head of the family one bit," commenced +Stevie, warmly tossing back his curls and getting very red in the face. +"Papa said I--" + +"Oh, here's a gondola stopped at our door," broke in Eva, who, taking +advantage of Miss Higginson's attention being occupied elsewhere, was +looking out of the window. "There's a boy in it lying down--a big boy. +Oh, a man's just got out and--yes, they're bringing the boy in here! + +"Sakes alive!" cried Mehitabel, dropping Stevie's book on the floor and +starting for the door. "Can it possibly be Mr. Joseph and Dave?" + +"Uncle Joe and Dave!" "Hurrah!" exclaimed Kate and Stevie in the same +breath; and Eva having scrambled down from the window, the three +children collected at the head of the stairs to watch, with breathless +interest, the procession which came slowly up. + +The tall man on the right was their Uncle Joe Lawrence--Kate and Eva +and Stevie remembered him at once, for he had visited their parents +several times since they had been in Europe; and the bright-eyed, +pale-faced boy who lay huddled up in the chair which he and Guiseppi +carried between them must be their Cousin Dave, of whom they had heard +so much. Poor Dave! he had fallen from a tree last summer, and struck +his back, and the concussion had caused paralysis of the lower part of +the spine, so that he could not walk a step, and might not for years, +though the doctors gave hope that he would eventually recover the use +of his legs. The children gazed at him with the deepest interest and +sympathy, and they were perfectly astonished when, as the chair passed +them, Dave turned his head, and, in answer to their smiling greetings, +deliberately made a frightful face at them! + +"Isn't he the rudest!" gasped Eva, as the procession--Miss Higginson +bringing up the rear--disappeared behind the doors of the guest room; +while Kate and Stevie were, for once in their lives, too amazed to be +able to express their feelings. + +After what seemed a long time to the children, Mehitabel rejoined them. +"I am in a pucker," she said, sinking into a chair. Her curls were +disarranged, and her spectacles were pushed up on her forehead; she +looked worried. "And there isn't a creature to turn to for advice; +that Italian in the kitchen doesn't speak a blessed word of English, +and Guiseppi's not much better. He keeps saying, 'Si signorina,' and +wagging his head like a Chinese mandarin, until he fairly makes me +dizzy, and I know all the time he doesn't understand half I'm saying." + +Miss Higginson paused to take breath, then, feeling the positive +necessity of unburdening herself further, continued her tale of woe: +"Here's your Uncle Joseph obliged to go right on to Paris within the +hour, and here's Dave to remain here till his pa returns, which mayn't +be for weeks. And he requires constant care, mansage (she meant +massage) treatment and everything--and just as domineering and +imperdent; Stevie's bad enough, but Dave goes ahead of him. And, to +make matters worse, here comes a letter from your pa saying he and your +ma have met with old friends at Naples, and not to expect 'em home +until we see them. Anyway, I'd made up my mind not to shorten their +holiday, 'less it was a matter of life and death. + +"Now, what I want to know is this: who is going to wait on that sick +boy from morning to night? And that's what he'll have to have for he +can't stir off his couch, can't even sit up, and wanting something +every five minutes. I'm sure I can't keep the house, and see to the +servants, and take care of you children, and besides wait on that +exacting young one. 'Tain't in human nature to do it--anyway, 'tain't +in me. And Dave's temper's at the bottom of the whole thing; he won't +have Guiseppi or any other Italian I could get, and he's just worn out +the patience of his French vally till he got disgusted and wouldn't put +up with it any longer for love nor money. His father's got to go, and +who is to take care of that boy?" + +Mehitabel's voice actually quivered. The children had never seen her +so moved; the differences of the morning were all forgotten, and they +crowded about her, their little faces full of loving sympathy. "I wish +I could help you, Hitty," said Kate, patting the old housekeeper's +hand. "Is mansage treatment a kind of medicine 'cause if it is I might +give it to Dave--you know I drop mamma's medicine for her sometimes." + +"No, child, mansage is a certain way of rubbing the body, and it needs +more strength and skill than you've got. But that I can manage, I +think; Guiseppi knows a man that we can get to come and mansage Dave +every morning. And I could sleep in the room next to him, and look +after him during the night; but it's some one to be with him in the day +that I want most." + +Stevie had listened to Mehitabel's story with a very thoughtful +expression on his face; now he said suddenly, and very persuasively: "I +could take care of Dave through the day, Hitty--I wish you'd let me." + +"You!" cried Miss Higginson, in surprise. "Why, you wouldn't be in +that room five minutes before you two would be squabbling." + +"No, we wouldn't; I'm sure we wouldn't," persisted the little boy. +"Just you try me." + +"But, Stevie, you'd get very tired being shut up in the room with that +ill-tempered boy, all day long--I know him of old--he'd try the +patience of a saint. You'd have no gondola rides, no fun with your +sisters, no play time at all, and no thanks for your pains either. And +I'm not sure your pa'd like to have you do it." + +"I don't mind one bit about the fun and all that," said Stevie, +decidedly; "and indeed, Hitty, I don't think papa'd object. You see, +he told me the last thing, if anything happened while he was away I was +to act just as he would do if he were here; now, you know, if he were +here he'd just take care of Dave, himself--wouldn't he? Well, then, as +he isn't here, I ought to do it--see? And really I'd like to." + +"Why not let him try it anyhow, Hitty?" pleaded the little girls. And +as she really saw no other way out of the difficulty, Mehitabel +reluctantly consented, with the proviso that she should sit with Dave +for an hour every afternoon while Stevie went for a gondola sail. +Finally matters were arranged, and after a very short visit Mr. Joseph +Lawrence started for Paris, leaving Dave in Venice, and the children +went in to make their cousin's acquaintance. + +What Mehitabel said was certainly true--Dave was a very trying boy. +Though possessing naturally some good qualities, he had been so humored +and indulged that his own will had become his law; he loved to tease, +and hated to be thwarted in the slightest degree, and this made him +often very exacting and tyrannical. Miss Higginson called him a "most +exasperating boy," and she wasn't far wrong. He teased Kate and Eva so +much that they hated to go into his room, or even in the gondola when +he took, now and then, an airing. But, to everybody's surprise, he and +Stevie got on better than was expected. Part of the secret of this lay +in the fact that Dave had lived in America all his life--had just come +from there, and was able to give Stevie long and glowing accounts of +that country and everything in it--as seen from the other boy's +standpoint. Stevie's rapt attention and implicit faith in him +flattered Dave, and beside, though he wouldn't have acknowledged it for +the world, he found the little fellow's willing ministrations very much +pleasanter than those of the French valet, whose patience he had soon +exhausted. And Stevie felt so sorry for the boy who had dearly loved +to run and leap and climb, and who now lay so helpless that he could +not even sit up for five minutes. Dave's heart was very sore over it +sometimes--once or twice he had let Stevie see it; and then he had no +dear loving mother as Stevie had, and his papa had never talked to him +as Stevie's papa did to his little boy. So Stevie tried with all the +strength of his brave, tender little heart to be patient with his +cousin. + +But, as Mehitabel would say, "human nature is human nature;" they both +had quick tempers and strong wills; and for all Stevie's good +intentions, many a lively quarrel took place in the guest room, of +which they both fancied the old housekeeper knew nothing. She had +threatened that if Dave "abused" Stevie she would separate the boys at +once, even if she had to mount guard over the invalid herself; so with +Spartan-like fortitude both kept their grievances to themselves--Dave +because he disliked and was a little afraid of Miss Higginson, whom he +had nicknamed the "dragon," and Stevie because he had really grown very +fond of Dave, and knew how utterly dependent he was on him. But one +day Stevie completely lost his temper and got so angry that he declared +to himself he'd "just give up the whole thing." + +Stevie had felt a little cross himself that morning, and Dave had been +unbearable; the consequence was the most serious quarrel they had ever +had. In a fit of violent rage Dave threw everything he could lay hands +on at Stevie--books, cushions, and last a pretty paper-weight. The +books and cushions Stevie dodged, but the paper-weight hit him on the +shin, a sharp enough blow to bring tears to his eyes and the angry +blood to his cheeks. Catching up a cushion that lay near, he sent it +whizzing at Dave, and had the satisfaction of seeing it hit his cousin +full in the face; then, before Dave could retaliate, he slipped into +the hall and slammed the door of the guest room. + +Out in the hall he almost danced with rage. "I'll tell Hitty," he +stormed; "I won't wait on him and do things for him any longer. He's +the worst-tempered boy in the whole world. I just won't have another +thing to do with him! I'll go and tell her so." + +Before he got half way to Mehitabel, however, he changed his mind, and +stealing softly back, sat on the top step of the stairs, just outside +Dave's room, to wait till Dave should call him, to make up, as had +happened more than once before. Stevie determined he wouldn't go in +of his own accord--he said Dave had been "too contemptibly mean." So +he sat there with a very obstinate look on his little face, his elbows +on his knees and his chin in his palms, staring at the patch of blue +sky which was visible through the hall window nearest him. + +But somehow, after a while Stevie's anger began to cool, and he began +to feel sorry for Dave, and to wonder if the cushion had hurt him--a +corner of it might have struck his eye! The paper-weight had hurt +quite a good deal; but then he could get out of the way of such things, +while Dave couldn't dodge, he had to lie there and take what Stevie +threw. Poor Dave! and he might lie in that helpless way for years +yet--the doctors had said perhaps by the time he was twenty-one he +might be able to walk. What a long time to have to wait! Poor Dave! +Stevie wondered if he would behave better than Dave if he were twelve +years old and as helpless as his cousin. Mehitabel said they were both +fond of their own way and loved to order people about; he guessed all +boys loved their own way, whether they were nine or twelve years old. + +And then suddenly there came to Stevie the remembrance of a picture +that hung in his mamma's room. It was a print of a famous painting, +and it represented a Boy of twelve, with a bright, eager, beautiful +face, standing among grave, dark-browed, white-robed men. Mamma and +Stevie had often talked about the Boy there pictured, and Stevie knew +that He had not loved His own way, for He "pleased not Himself." He +wouldn't have quarreled with Dave! He had been a real Boy, too; He +knew just what other boys had to go through, all their trials and +temptations, and mamma had said over and over that she knew He just +loved to help those other boys to be good and unselfish and patient. + +Then He must know all about poor Dave's having to lie helpless all the +time. A wistful look came into Stevie's eyes. Oh, if Jesus were only +on earth now, he thought, how quickly they would all take Dave to Him +to be healed! Or perhaps He would come to the sick boy, as He did to +some of those others in the Bible. Stevie pictured to himself the +tall, gracious figure, clad in long, trailing robes, the holy face, the +tender eyes. He would lay His hand on Dave and say: "Son"--Stevie +thought that was such a beautiful word--"Son, rise up and walk." And +immediately Dave would spring to his feet, well and strong. And then +after that, of course, they--for he, too, would be present--would be so +good and kind and patient that they wouldn't think of quarreling and +throwing things at each other. + +Well, that was out of the question--Stevie sighed heavily--Jesus was in +heaven now, and He didn't do those miracles any more; but--since He had +been a Boy Himself He must know just how hard it was for some +boys--like Dave and himself, for instance--to be good; perhaps He would +help them if they asked Him. Stevie had his doubts whether Dave would +ask; he made fun of Stevie whenever he said anything of that +kind--which wasn't often; but he (Stevie) could ask for both, and +particularly that Jesus would put it into Dave's heart to make up this +quarrel--he did so hate to be the first to give in. + +Then, all at once, the eyes that were staring so steadily up at the +blue sky grew very tender, and Stevie's lips moved. + +What he said I do not know; but after that he sprang up and ran quickly +into Dave's room, up to his couch. "Say, Dave," he remarked, in the +most off-hand way, "I'll fix up your pillows, then you tell me all +about that base-ball team you used to belong to; you said you +would--you know, the one that knocked spots out of those other fellers." + +Dave lay with his head turned to the wall, his eyes closed; but as +Stevie spoke he opened them and looked up, a bright smile flashing over +his pale face. "All right, sir, I'm your man," he answered, readily. +"Pick up the things round the room first, so the 'dragon' won't know +we've had a fight, and then I'll begin. And--I say, Stevie--I--I'm +going to turn over a new leaf--sure, and the next time I act as I did +this morning just hit me on the head, will you? I'll deserve it." +Which from Dave was a full, ample, and most honorable apology, and as +such Stevie took it. + +A few days later Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence returned home, much to the +satisfaction and happiness of the children, who had, as Eva said, "lots +and lots" to tell them. Then when the three older folks were alone +together, Miss Higginson told her story. "I've watched 'em close, and +seen and heard more than those boys ever dreamed I did," she finished +up, "and I say that our Stevie's a hero--though he doesn't know it. +What he's stood with that Dave can't be told, and never a word of +complaint out of him. And, do you know, I really think he's improved +Dave as well as himself in the matter of temper." + +"A Christian and an American," Mr. Lawrence said, with a glad thrill in +his voice, smiling over at Stevie's mamma, whose shining eyes smiled +back at him. "Thank God, our boy is rising to his responsibilities. +But don't let him know he's done anything wonderful, Hitty." + +"I'll not tell him," promised the old housekeeper. "But the good Book +tells us, 'He that ruleth his spirit is greater than he that taketh a +city;' and seeing that's so, America's got no call to be ashamed of +Stevie, for though he's not an angel by any means, yet in his way he's +a hero as sure as was ever George Washington or Paul Revere, or my +name's not Mehitabel Higginson!" + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CHILDREN'S PORTION*** + + +******* This file should be named 18146-8.txt or 18146-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/8/1/4/18146 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + diff --git a/18146-8.zip b/18146-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..37e11e1 --- /dev/null +++ b/18146-8.zip diff --git a/18146.txt b/18146.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f8f0405 --- /dev/null +++ b/18146.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6705 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Children's Portion, by Various, Edited by +Robert W. Shoppell + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: The Children's Portion + Entertaining, Instructive, and Elevating Stories: The Golden Age -- The Merchant of Venice -- The Afflicted Prince -- "His Ludship" -- Pious Constance -- The Doctor's Revenge -- The Woodcutter's Child -- Show Your Colors -- Her Danger Signal -- A Knight's Dilemma -- "His Royal Highness" -- Patient Griselda -- Let It Alone -- The Man Who Lost His Memory -- The Story of a Wedge -- Prince Edwin and His Page -- Cissy's Amendment -- The Winter's Tale -- A Gracious Deed -- "Tom" -- Steven Lawrence, American + + +Author: Various + +Editor: Robert W. Shoppell + +Release Date: April 10, 2006 [eBook #18146] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CHILDREN'S PORTION*** + + +E-text prepared by Al Haines + + + +THE CHILDREN'S PORTION. + +Entertaining, Instructive, and Elevating Stories. + +Selected and Edited by + +ROBERT W. SHOPPELL. + + + + + + + +Published by +The Christian Herald, +Louis Klopsch, Proprietor, +Bible House, New York. +Copyright 1895, +By Louis Klopsch. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + The Golden Age. Rev. Alexander McLeod, D. D. + The Merchant of Venice. Mary Seymour + The Afflicted Prince. Agnes Strickland + "His Ludship." Barbara Yechton + Pious Constance. Chaucer + The Doctor's Revenge. ALOE + The Woodcutter's Child. Grimm Brothers + Show Your Colors. C. H. Mead + Her Danger Signal + A Knight's Dilemma. Chaucer + "His Royal Highness." C. H. Mead + Patient Griselda. Chaucer + Let It Alone. Mary C. Bamford + The Man Who Lost His Memory. Savinien Lapointe + The Story of a Wedge. C. H. Mead + Prince Edwin and His Page. Agnes Strickland + Cissy's Amendment + The Winter's Tale. Mary Seymour + A Gracious Deed + "Tom." C. H. Mead + Steven Lawrence, American. Barbara Yechton + + + + +THE CHILDREN'S PORTION. + + +THE GOLDEN AGE. + +REV. ALEXANDER MACLEOD, D. D. + + +I. + +THE KING'S CHILDREN. + +There was once, in Christendom, a little kingdom where the people were +pious and simple-hearted. In their simplicity they held for true many +things at which people of great kingdoms smile. One of these things +was what is called the "Golden Age." + +There was not a peasant in the villages, nor a citizen in the cities, +who did not believe in the Golden Age. If they happened to hear of +anything great that had been done in former times, they would say, +"That was in the Golden Age." If anybody spoke to them of a good thing +he was looking for in years to come, they would say, "Then shall be the +Golden Age." And if they should be speaking of something happy or good +which was going on under their eyes, they always said, "Yes, the Golden +Age is there." + +Now, words like these do not come to people in a day. And these words +about the Golden Age did not come to the people of that ancient kingdom +in a day. More than a hundred years before, there was reigning over +the kingdom a very wise king, whose name was Pakronus. And to him one +day came the thought, and grew from little to more in his mind, that +some time or other there must have been, and some time or other there +would be again, for his people and for all people a "Golden Age." + +"Other ages," he said, "are silver, or brass, or iron; but one is a +Golden Age." And I suppose he was thinking of that Age when he gave +names to his three sons, for he called them YESTERGOLD, GOLDENDAY, and +GOLDMORROW. Sometimes when he talked about them, he would say, "They +are my three captains of the Golden Age." He had also a little +daughter whom he greatly loved. Her name was FAITH. + +These children were very good. And they were clever as well as good. +But like all the children of that old time, they remained children +longer than the children of now-a-days. It was many years before their +school days came to an end, and when they ended they did not altogether +cease to be children. They had simple thoughts and simple ways, just +like the people of the kingdom. Their father used to take them up and +down through the country, to make them acquainted with the lives of the +people. "You shall some day be called to high and difficult tasks in +the kingdom," he said to them, "and you should prepare yourselves all +you can." Almost every day he set their minds a-thinking, how the +lives of the people could be made happier, and hardly a day passed on +which he did not say to them, that people would be happier the nearer +they got to the Golden Age. In this way the children came early to the +thought that, one way or other, happiness would come into the world +along with the Golden Age. + +But always there was one thing they could not understand: that was the +time when the Golden Age should be. + +About the Age itself they were entirely at one. They could not +remember a year in their lives when they were not at one in this. As +far back as the days when, in the long winter evenings, they sat +listening to the ballads and stories of their old nurse, they had been +lovers and admirers of that Age. "It was the happy Age of the world," +the nurse used to say. "The fields were greener, the skies bluer, the +rainbows brighter than in other Ages. It was the Age when heaven was +near, and good angels present in every home. Back in that Age, away on +the lonely pastures, the shepherds watching their flocks by night heard +angels' songs in the sky. And the children in the cities, as they were +going to sleep, felt the waving of angel wings in the dark. It was a +time of wonders. The very birds and beasts could speak and understand +what was said. And in the poorest children in the streets might be +found princes and princesses in disguise." + +They remembered also how often, in the mornings, when they went down to +school, their teacher chose lessons which seemed to tell of a Golden +Age. They recalled the lessons about the city of pure gold that was +one day to come down from heaven for men to dwell in; and other lessons +that told of happy times, when nations should learn the art of war no +more, and there should be nothing to hurt or destroy in all the earth. + +"Yes, my dear children," their mother would say, in the afternoon, when +they told her of the teacher's lessons and the nurse's stories. "Yes, +there is indeed a happy age for the children of men, which is all that +your nurse and teacher say. It is a happy time and a time of wonders. +In that time wars cease and there is nothing to hurt or destroy. +Princes and princesses in poor clothing are met in the streets, because +in that Age the poorest child who is good is a child of the King of +Heaven. And heaven and good angels are near because Christ is near. +It is Christ's presence that works the wonders. When He is living on +the earth, and His life is in the lives of men, everything is changed +for the better. There is a new heaven and a new earth. And the Golden +Age has come." + + +II. + +DIFFERENT VIEWS. + +It was a great loss to these children that this holy and beautiful +mother died when they were still very young. But her good teaching did +not die. Her words about the Golden Age never passed out of their +minds. Whatever else they thought concerning it in after years, they +always came back to this--in this they were all agreed--that it is the +presence of Christ that makes the Gold of the Golden Age. + +But at this point their agreement came to an end. They could never +agree respecting the time of the Golden Age. + +Yestergold believed that it lay in the past. In his esteem the former +times were better than the present. People were simpler then, and +truer to each other and happier. There was more honesty in trade, more +love in society, more religion in life. Many an afternoon he went +alone into the old abbey, where the tombs of saintly ladies, of holy +men, and of brave fighters lay, and as he wandered up and down looking +at their marble images, the gates of the Golden Age seemed to open up +before him. There was one figure, especially, before which he often +stood. It was the figure of a Crusader, his sword by his side, his +hands folded across his breast, and his feet resting on a lion. "Ay," +he would say, "in that Age the souls of brave men really trod the lion +and the dragon under foot." But when the light of the setting sun came +streaming through the great window in the west, and kindling up the +picture of Christ healing the sick, his soul would leap up for joy, a +new light would come into his eyes, and this thought would rise within +him like a song--"The Golden Age itself--the Age into which all other +Ages open and look back--is pictured there." + +But on such occasions, as he came out of the abbey and went along the +streets, if he met the people hastening soiled and weary from their +daily toils, the joy would go out of his heart. He would begin to +think of the poor lives they were leading. And he would cry within +himself, "Oh that the lot of these toiling crowds had fallen on that +happy Age! It would have been easy then to be good. Goodness was in +the very air blessed by His presence. The people had but to see Him to +be glad." And sometimes his sorrow would be for himself. Sometimes, +remembering his own struggles to be good, and the difficulties in his +way, and how far he was from being as good as he ought to be, he would +say, "Would that I myself had been living when Jesus was on the earth." +More or less this wish was always in his heart. It had been in his +heart from his earliest years. Indeed, it is just a speech of his, +made when he was a little boy, which has been turned into the hymn we +so often sing:-- + + "I think when I read that sweet story of old, + When Jesus was here among men, + How He called little children, as lambs, to His fold, + I should like to have been with Him then. + + "I wish that His hands had been placed on my head, + That His arms had been thrown around me, + That I might have seen His kind looks when He said, + 'Let the little ones come unto Me.'" + + +Goldmorrow's thoughts were different. They went forward into the +future. He had hardly any of Yestergold's difficulties about being +good. He did not think much about his own state. What took up all his +thoughts was the state of the world in which his brothers and he were +living. How was that to be made better? As he went up and down in his +father's kingdom, he beheld hovels in which poor people had to live, +and drink-shops, and gambling-houses, and prisons. He was always +asking himself, how are evils like these to be put away? Whatever good +any Age of the past had had, these things had never been cast out. He +did not think poorly of the Age when Christ was on the earth. He was +as pious as his brother. He loved the Lord as much as his brother. +But his love went more into the future than into the past. It was the +Lord who was coming, rather than the Lord who had come, in whom he had +joy. "The Golden Age would come when Christ returned to the earth," he +said. The verses in the Bible where this coming was foretold shone +like light for Goldmorrow. And often, as he read them aloud to his +brothers and his sister, his eyes would kindle and he would burst out +with speeches like this: "I see that happy time approaching. I hear +its footsteps. My ears catch its songs. It is coming. It is on the +way. My Lord will burst those heavens and come in clouds of glory, +with thousands and tens of thousands in His train. And things evil +shall be cast out of the kingdom. And things that are wrong shall be +put right. There shall be neither squalor, nor wretched poverty, nor +crime, nor intemperance, nor ignorance, nor hatred, nor war. All men +shall be brothers. Each shall be not for himself but for the kingdom. +And Christ shall be Lord of all." + +In these discussions Goldenday was always the last to speak. And +always he had least to say. I have been told that he was no great +speaker. But my impression is that he got so little attention from his +brothers when he spoke, that he got into the way of keeping his +thoughts to himself. But everybody knew that he did not agree with +either of his brothers. His belief was that the present Age, with all +its faults, was the Golden Age for the people living in it. And there +is no doubt that that was the view of his sister Faith. For when at +any time he happened to let out even the tiniest word with that view in +it, she would come closer to him, lean up against his side, and give +him a hidden pressure of the hand. + + +III. + +SEARCH FOR THE GOLDEN AGE. + +When these views of the young Princes came to be known, the people took +sides, some with one Prince, some with another. The greatest number +sided with Yestergold, a number not so great with Goldmorrow, and a +few, and these for the most part of humble rank, with Goldenday. In a +short time nothing else was talked about, from one end of the kingdom +to the other, but the time of the Golden Age. And this became a +trouble to the King. + +Now there happened to be living at that time in the palace a wise man, +a high Councillor of State, whom the King greatly esteemed, and whose +counsel he had often sought. To him in his trouble the King turned for +advice. + +"Let not this trouble thee, O King," the Councillor said. "Both for +the Princes and the people it is good that thoughts on this subject +should come out into talk. But let the thoughts be put to the test. +Let the Princes, with suitable companions, be sent forth to search for +this Age of Gold. Although the Age itself, in its very substance, is +hid with God, there is a country in which shadows of all the Ages are +to be seen. In that country, the very clouds in the sky, the air which +men breathe, and the hills and woods and streams shape themselves into +images of the life that has been, or is to be among men. And whosoever +reaches that country and looks with honest, earnest eyes, shall see the +Age he looks for, just as it was or is to be, and shall know concerning +it whether it be his Age of Gold. At the end of a year, let the +travelers return, and tell before your Majesty and an assembly of the +people the story of their search." To this counsel the King gave his +assent. And he directed his sons to make the choice of their +companions and prepare for their journey. + +Yestergold, for his companions, chose a painter and a poet. Goldmorrow +preferred two brothers of the Order of Watchers of the Sky. But +Goldenday said, "I shall be glad if my sister Faith will be companion +to me." And so it was arranged. + +Just at that time the King was living in a palace among the hills. And +it was from thence the travelers were to leave. It was like a morning +in Wonderland. The great valley on which the palace looked down, and +along which the Princes were to travel, was that morning filled with +vapor. And the vapor lay, as far as the eye could reach, without a +break on its surface, or a ruffled edge, in the light of the rising +sun, like a sea of liquid silver. The hills that surrounded the palace +looked like so many giants sitting on the shores of a mighty sea. It +was into this sea the travelers had to descend. One by one, with their +companions, they bade the old King farewell. And then, stepping forth +from the palace gates and descending toward the valley, they +disappeared from view. + +The country to which they were going lay many days' distance between +the Purple Mountains and the Green Sea. The road to it lay through +woods and stretches of corn and pasture land. It was Autumn. In every +field were reapers cutting or binding the corn. At every turn of the +road were wagons laden with sheaves. Then the scene changed. The land +became poor. The fields were covered with crops that were thin and +unripe. The people who passed on the road had a look of want on their +faces. The travelers passed on. Every eye was searching the horizon +for the first glimpse of the mountain peaks. In every heart was the +joyful hope of finding the Golden Age. Can you think what the joy of a +young student going for the first time to a university is? It was a +joy like his. While this joy was in their hearts, the road passed into +a mighty forest. And suddenly among the shadows of the trees a +miserable spectacle crossed their path. It was a crowd of peasants of +the very poorest class. A plague had fallen on their homes, and they +were fleeing from their village, which lay among the trees a mile or +two to the right. + +Yestergold was the first to meet them. He was filled with anguish. +His sensitive nature could not bear to see suffering in others. He +shrank from the very sight of misery. Turning to his companions, he +said, "If the Lord of Life had been traveling on this road as He was on +that other, long ago, when the widow of Nain met Him with her dead son, +He would have destroyed the plague by a word." "Oh, holy and beautiful +Age!" exclaimed the poet, "why dost thou lie in thy soft swathings of +light, and power to do mighty deeds, so far behind us in the past?" +"But let us use it as a golden background," said the painter. "That is +the beautiful Age on which Art is called to portray the Divine form of +the Great Physician!" Saying these fine words, the party rode swiftly +past. + +The terrified villagers were still streaming across the road when +Goldmorrow came up. Nothing could exceed the pity which the spectacle +stirred in his breast. Tears streamed from his eyes. The bareness, +the poverty, the misery of the present time seemed to come into view +and gather into a point in what he saw. "Oh!" he cried to his +companions, "if Christ were only come! Only He could deal with evils +so great as these!" Then, withdrawing his thoughts into himself, and +still moved with his humane pity, he breathed this prayer to Christ: +"Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly, and lay thy healing hand on the wounds +and sorrows of the world." His companions were also touched with what +they saw. And in earnest and reverent words one of them exclaimed: +"Blessed hope! Light of the pilgrim! Star of the weary! The earth +has waited long thy absent light to see." But, by the time the words +were spoken, the villagers were behind them, and, spurring their +horses, the travelers hastened forward on their way. + + +IV. + +A PLAGUE-STRICKEN VILLAGE. + +The dust raised by their horses' hoofs was still floating over the +highway when Goldenday, with his sister and their attendants, rode up +to the spot. Two or three groups of the fugitives had made a temporary +home for the night under the shelter of the trees on the left. Others +were still arriving. The pale faces, the terrified looks of the +villagers, filled the Prince with concern. "It is the pestilence," +they said, in answer to his inquiries. "The pestilence, good sir, and +it is striking us dead in the very streets of our village." The Prince +turned to his sister. She was already dismounted. A light was in her +eye which at once went to his heart. The two understood each other. +They knew that it was Christ and not merely a crowd of terrified +peasants who had met them. They were His eyes that looked out at them +through the tear-filled eyes of the peasantry. It was His voice that +appealed to them in their cries and anguish. He seemed to be saying to +them: "Inasmuch as ye do it to one of the least of these, ye do it unto +Me." In a few moments the Prince had halted his party and unpacked his +stores, and was supplying the wants of the groups on the left. Before +an hour was past he had brought light into their faces by his words of +cheer, and, with his sister and his servants, was on his way to the +plague-stricken village. + +Most pitiable was the scene which awaited him there. People were +really dying in the streets, as he had been told. Some were already +dead. A mother had died in front of her cottage, and her little +children sat crying beside her body. Another, with a look of despair +in her eyes, sat rocking the dead body of the child. The men seemed to +have fled. + +The Prince's plans were soon formed. He had stores enough to last his +party and himself for a year. He would share these with the villagers +as far as they would go. He had tents also for the journey. He would +use these for a home to his own party and for hospitals for the sick. +Before the sun had set, the tents for his own party were erected on a +breezy height outside the village. And, ere the sun had arisen the +next morning, the largest tent of all had been set in a place by +itself, ready to receive the sick. + +Goldenday and his sister never reached the country where the images of +all the Ages are to be found. A chance of doing good met them on their +journey, and they said to each other, "It has been sent to us by God." +They turned aside that they might make it their own. They spent the +year in the deeds of mercy to which it called them among the +plague-stricken villagers. + +It would take too long to tell all that this good Prince and his sister +achieved in that year. The village lay in a hollow among dense woods +and on the edge of a stagnant marsh. The Prince had the marsh drained +and the woods thinned. Every house in the village was thoroughly +repaired and cleaned. The sick people were taken up to the +tent-hospital and cared for until they got well. The men who had fled +returned. The terrified mothers ventured back. The sickness began to +slacken. In a few months it disappeared. Then the Prince caused wells +to be dug to supply water for drinking. Then he built airy schools for +the children. Last of all he repaired the church, which had fallen +into ruin, and trained a choir of boys to sing thanks to God. But when +all these things had been accomplished, the year during which he was to +have searched for the Golden Age was within a few weeks of its close. +And, what was worse, it was too plain to his sister that the Prince's +health had suffered by his toils. Night and day he had labored in his +service of love. Night and day he had carried the burden of the +sickness and infirmities of the village in his heart. It had proved a +burden greater than he could bear. He had toiled on till he saw health +restored to every home. He toiled until he saw the village itself +protected from a second visitation of the plague. But his own strength +was meanwhile ebbing away. The grateful villagers observed with grief +how heavily their deliverer had to lean on his sister's arm in walking. +And tears, which they strove in vain to conceal, would gather in their +eyes as they watched the voice that had so often cheered them sinking +into a whisper, and the pale face becoming paler every day. + + +V. + +RETURN OF THE SEARCHERS. + +The year granted to the Princes by the King had now come to a close. +And he and his nobles and the chief men of his people assembled on the +appointed day to welcome the Princes on their return and to hear their +reports concerning the time of the Golden Age. + +The first to arrive was Prince Yestergold. He was accompanied to the +platform on which the throne was set by the painter and poet, who had +been his companions during the year. Having embraced his father, he +stepped to the front and said:-- + +"Most high King and father beloved, and you, the honorable nobles and +people of his realm, on some future occasion my two companions will, +the one recite the songs in which the Age which we went to search for +is celebrated, and the other exhibit the pictures in which its life is +portrayed. On this occasion it belongs to me to tell the story of our +search, and of what we found and of what we failed to find. We went +forth to discover the time of the Golden Age. We went in the belief +that it was the time when our Lord was on the earth. How often have I +exclaimed in your hearing, 'Oh that I had been born in that age! How +much easier to have been a Christian then!' I have this day, with +humbleness of heart, to declare that I have found myself entirely in +the wrong. I have been in the country where images of the Ages are +stored. I have seen the very copy of the Age of our Lord. I was in it +as if I had been born in it. I saw the scenes which those who then +lived saw. I saw the crowds who moved in those scenes. I beheld the +very person of the Divine Lord. And oh! my father, and oh! neighbors +and friends, shall I shrink from saying to you, 'Be thankful it is in +this Age and not in that you have been born, and that you know the Lord +as this Age knows Him, and not as He was seen and known in His own.' + +"We arrived at Bethany on the day when Lazarus was raised. I mingled +with the crowd around the grave. I saw the sisters. I was amazed to +find that nothing looked to me as I had expected it to do. Even the +Lord had not the appearance of One who could raise the dead. And when +the dead man came forth, I could not but mark that some who had seen +the mighty miracle turned away from the spot, jeering and scoffing at +the Lord, its worker. + +"When I next saw the Lord He was in the hands of the scoffers who had +turned away from the grave of Lazarus. He was being led along the +streets of Jerusalem to Calvary. The streets on both sides were +crowded with stalls, and with people buying and selling as at a fair. +Nobody except a few women seemed to care that so great a sufferer was +passing by. He was bending under the weight of the Cross. His face +was pale and all streaked with blood. I said to myself: 'Can this be +He who is more beautiful than ten thousand?' My eyes filled with +tears. Sickness came over my heart. I was like one about to die. I +hurried away from the pitiless crowd, from the terrible spectacle, from +the city accursed. And straightway I turned my face toward my home. +And as I came within sight of my father's kingdom, I gave thanks to God +that my lot had been cast in this favored Age, and that the horrors +through which the Lord had to pass are behind us; and that we see Him +now in the story of the Gospels, as the Son of God, clothed with the +glory of God, seated on the throne of heaven and making all things work +together for good." + +As the Prince was bringing his speech to a close, a distant rolling of +drums announced that one of his brothers had arrived at the gates of +the city. It was Goldmorrow. And in a little while he entered the +hall, embraced his father, and was telling the story of his travel. + +"My companions and I," he said, "have been where the Golden Age of my +dreams is displayed. We have been in that far future where there is to +be neither ignorance nor poverty, neither sickness nor pain, and where +cruelty and oppression and war are to be no more. It is greater than +my dreams. It is greater than I have words to tell. It is greater +than I had eyes to see. We were not able to endure the sight of it. +We felt ourselves to be strangers in a strange land. The people we met +looked upon us as we look upon barbarians. Our hearts sickened. We +said to each other: 'It is too high, we cannot reach up to it.' The +very blessings we had come to see did not look to us like the blessings +of which we had dreamed. + +"But our greatest trial was still to come. The Lord had come back to +the earth and was living among the people of that Age. We made our way +to the palace in which He lived. It was like no palace we had ever +seen. It was like great clouds piled up among the hills. We were +present when the doors were thrown open. We beheld Him coming forth. +But the vision of that glory smote our eyes like fire. We were not +able to gaze upon it. Our hearts failed within us. This was not the +Christ we had known. We shrank back from the light of that awful +presence. We fell on the ground before Him. 'God be merciful to us +sinners,' we cried, 'we are not worthy to look upon thy face.' And +when we could open our eyes again the vision had passed. + +"Then, O father! then, O friends beloved, I knew that I had sinned. In +that moment of my humiliation and shame I recalled a sight which I had +seen in the first days of my journey. I remembered some peasants +fleeing from a plague-stricken village, whom we had passed. I said to +myself, I say this day to you, we were that day at the gates of the +real Golden Age and we did not know it. We might that day have turned +aside to the help of these peasants, but we missed the golden chance +sent to us by God." + + +VI. + +THE FINDER OF THE AGE. + +When Goldmorrow had finished, a strain of the most heavenly music was +heard. It sounded as if it were coming toward the assembly hall from +the gates of the city. It was like the chanting of a choir of angels, +and the sounds rose and fell as they came near, as if they were blown +hither and thither by the evening wind. In a little while the singing +was at the doorway of the hall, and every eye was turned in that +direction. A procession of white-robed children entered first. Behind +them came a coffin, carried on men's shoulders, and covered with +wreaths of flowers. Then, holding the pall of the coffin, came in the +Princess Faith, behind her the attendants who had accompanied her +brother and herself, and last of all a long line of bare-headed +peasants walking two and two. It was the coffin of the Prince +Goldenday. His strength had never come back to him. He had laid down +his life for the poor villagers. Having fulfilled his task in their +desolate home, the brave young helper sickened and died. + +When this was known, the old King lifted up his voice and wept, and the +Princes, and the nobles, and all the people present joined in his +sorrow. Then it seemed to be found out, that the dead Prince had been +of the three brothers the most beloved. Then, when the weeping had +continued for a long time, the Princess Faith stepped forward, and in +few words told the story of the year. Then silence, only broken by +bursts of sorrow, fell upon all. And then the Councillor rose up from +his seat at the right hand of the King, and said: + +"We have heard, O King, the words of the Princes who searched the Past +and the Future for the Age of Gold. The lips that should have spoken +for the Age we are living in are forever closed; but in the beautiful +statement of our Princess we have heard the story they had to tell. + +"Can there be even one in this great assembly, who has listened to the +story of the Princess, and does not know that the Age of Gold is found, +and that it was found by the Prince whose dead body is here? + +"O King, and ye Princes and peers and people, it was the daily teaching +of the Sainted Lady, our Queen, that the Golden Age is the time when +Christ is present in our life. In every form in which Christ's +presence can be felt, it was felt in the village for whose helping the +dear Prince laid down his life. + +"A time of great misery had come to that village. The harvest, year +after year, had failed. Poverty fell upon the people. Then, last and +worst of all, came the pestilence. Through the story told by the +beloved Princess we can see that faith in God began to fail. The +people cried out in their agony: 'Has God forgotten?' And some, 'Is +there a God at all?' + +"It was in the thick darkness of that time the Prince visited them. He +met them fleeing from their home. He gave up his own plans that he +might help them. His coming into the village, into the very thick of +its misery, was like the morning dawn. He was summer heat and summer +cheer to the people. The clouds of anxiety and of terror began to +lift. The shadow of death was changed for them into the morning. He +made himself one with them. He went from house to house with cheer and +help. The burden seemed less heavy, the future less dark, that this +helper was by their side. Best of all, faith came back to them. It +was as if the Lord had come back. In a real sense He had come back. +He was present in His servant the Prince. The people beheld the form +of the Son of God going about their streets doing good. They saw the +old miracles. The blind saw, the deaf heard God, as in the days when +Jesus was in the flesh. Even death was conquered before their eyes. A +real gleam of heaven is falling this evening on the once-darkened +village. The evil things that infested its life have been cast out and +a new heaven and a new earth have come to it. It is the Golden Age +come down to them from God. + +"In his great task the dear Prince died. Our hearts are heavy for that +we shall see his face no more. But count it not strange that he died, +or that this trial should have descended on our King and us. It is the +rule in the kingdom of the Lord. Whoever will bring the Golden Age +where sin is, must himself lay down his life. For those peasants, as +Christ for all mankind, the Prince laid down his life." + +The people listened till the Councillor reached these words, then, as +by one impulse, they rose and burst into a grand doxology. Then a +company of torch-bearers entered. Then, the children took up their +place at the head of the coffin and began again to sing. The bearers +lifted the coffin. The King and Faith and the two Princes followed; +after them the peasants from the village, then the chief nobles and the +people, and in this order the coffin was carried to the place of the +dead. + +In the course of years the wise Pakronus died, and Yestergold became +King. He made his brother Prime Minister. And the two brothers became +really what their father called them when boys--"Captains of the Golden +Age." In everything that was for the good of the people, they took the +lead. They were Captains in every battle with sin and misery. What +Goldenday did for the plague-stricken village, they strove to do for +the whole kingdom. Their Sister Faith gave herself to the building and +care of schools and hospitals. And the time in which those three lived +is described in all the histories of that kingdom as a Golden Age. + +It is told by travelers who have visited the Royal city, that a statue +of the Prince Goldenday stands above the old gateway of the Abbey, and +that there are written below it the words: + +"TO-DAY IF YE WILL HEAR HIS VOICE." + + + + +THE MERCHANT OF VENICE. + +AS TOLD BY MARY SEYMOUR. + +In the beautiful Italian city of Venice there dwelt in former times a +Jew, by name Shylock, who had grown rich by lending money at high +interest to Christian merchants. No one liked Shylock, he was so hard +and so cruel in his dealings; but perhaps none felt such an abhorrence +of his character as a young man of Venice named Antonio. + +This hatred was amply returned by the Jew; for Antonio was so kind to +people in distress that he would lend them money without taking +interest. Besides, he used to reproach Shylock for his hard dealings, +when they chanced to meet. Apparently the Jew bore such reproaches +with wonderful patience; but could you have looked into his heart, you +would have seen it filled with longing for revenge. + +It is not strange to find that Antonio was greatly loved by his +fellow-countrymen; but dearest of all his friends was Bassanio, a young +man of high rank, though possessed of but small fortune. + +One day Bassanio came to tell Antonio that he was about to marry a +wealthy lady, but to meet the expense of wedding such an heiress, he +needed the loan of three thousand ducats. + +Just at that time Antonio had not the money to lend his friend, but he +was expecting home some ships laden with merchandise; and he offered to +borrow the required sum of Shylock upon the security of these vessels. + +Together they repaired to the Jewish money-lender; and Antonio asked +for three thousand ducats, to be repaid from the merchandise contained +in his ships. Shylock remembered now all that Antonio had done to +offend him. For a few moments he remained silent; then he said: + +"Signor, you have called me a dog, and an unbeliever. Is it for these +courtesies I am to lend you money?" + +"Lend it not as a friend," said Antonio; "rather lend it to me as an +enemy, so that you may the better exact the penalty if I fail." + +Then Shylock thought he would pretend to feel more kindly. + +"I would be friends with you," he said. "I will forget your treatment +of me, and supply your wants without taking interest for my money." + +Antonio was, of course, very much surprised at such words. But Shylock +repeated them; only requiring that they should go to some lawyer, +before whom--as a jest--Antonio should swear, that if by a certain day +he did not repay the money, he would forfeit a pound of flesh, cut from +any part of his body which the Jew might choose. + +"I will sign to this bond," said Antonio; "and will say there is much +kindness in a Jew." + +But Bassanio now interfered, declaring that never should Antonio put +his name to such a bond for his sake. Yet the young merchant insisted; +for he said he was quite sure of his ships returning long before the +day of payment. + +Meanwhile Shylock was listening eagerly; and feigning surprise, he +exclaimed: "Oh, what suspicious people are these Christians! It is +because of their own hard dealings that they doubt the truth of +others.--Look here, my lord Bassanio. Suppose Antonio fail in his +bond, what profit would it be to me to exact the penalty? A pound of +man's flesh is not of the value of a pound of beef or mutton! I offer +friendship, that I may buy his favor. If he will take it, so; if not, +adieu." + +But still Bassanio mistrusted the Jew. However, he could not persuade +his friend against the agreement, and Antonio signed the bond, thinking +it was only a jest, as Shylock said. + +The fair and beautiful lady whom Bassanio hoped to marry lived near +Venice; and when her lover confessed that,--though of high birth,--he +had no fortune to lay at her feet, Portia prettily said that she wished +herself a thousand times more fair, and ten thousand times more rich, +so that she might be less unworthy of him. Then, declaring that she +gave herself to be in all things directed and governed by him, she +presented Bassanio with a ring. + +Overpowered with joy at her gracious answer to his suit, the young lord +took the gift, vowing that he would never part with it. + +Gratiano was in attendance upon his master during this interview; and +after wishing Bassanio and his lovely lady joy, he begged leave to be +married also; saying that Nerissa, the maid of Portia, had promised to +be his wife, should her mistress wed Bassanio. + +At this moment a messenger entered, bringing tidings from Antonio; +which Bassanio reading, turned so pale that his lady asked him what was +amiss. + +"Oh, sweet Portia, here are a few of the most unpleasant words that +ever blotted paper," he said. "When I spoke of my love, I freely told +you I had no wealth, save the pure blood that runs in my veins; but I +should have told you that I had less than nothing, being in debt." + +And then Bassanio gave the history of Antonio's agreement with Shylock, +the Jew. He next read the letter which had been brought: "Sweet +Bassanio--My ships are lost: my bond to the Jew is forfeited; and since +in paying it, it is impossible I should live, I could wish to see you +at my death. Notwithstanding, use your pleasure: if your love for me +do not persuade you to come, let not my letter." + +Then Portia said such a friend should not lose so much as a hair of his +head by the fault of Bassanio, and that gold must be found to pay the +money; and in order to make all her possessions his, she would even +marry her lover that day, so that he might start at once to the help of +Antonio. + +So in all haste the young couple were wedded, and also their +attendants, Gratiano and Nerissa. Bassanio immediately set out for +Venice, where he found his friend in prison. + +The time of payment was past, and the Jew would not accept the money +offered him: nothing would do now, he said, but the pound of flesh! So +a day was appointed for the case to be tried before the Duke of Venice; +and meanwhile the two friends must wait in anxiety and fear. + +Portia had spoken cheeringly to her husband when he left her, but her +own heart began to sink when she was alone; and so strong was her +desire to save one who bad been so true a friend to her Bassanio, that +she determined to go to Venice and speak in defence of Antonio. + +There was a gentleman dwelling in the city named Bellario, a +counsellor, who was related to Portia; and to him she wrote telling the +case, and begging that he would send her the dress which she must wear +when she appeared to defend the prisoner at his trial. The messenger +returned, bringing her the robes of the counsellor, and also much +advice as to how she should act; and, in company of her maid Nerissa, +Portia started upon her errand, arriving at Venice on the day of the +trial. + +The duke and the senators were already in court, when a note was handed +from Bellario saying that, by illness, he was prevented pleading for +Antonio; but he begged that the young and learned Doctor Balthasar (for +so he called Portia) might be allowed to take his place. + +The duke marveled at the extremely youthful appearance of this +stranger, but granted Bellario's request; and Portia, disguised in +flowing robes and large wig, gazed round the court, where she saw +Bassanio standing beside his friend. + +The importance of her work gave Portia courage; and she began her +address to Shylock, the Jew, telling him of mercy: + + "The quality of mercy is not strained; + It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven + Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest; + It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes: + 'Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes + The throned monarch better than his crown." + + +But Shylock's only answer was, that he would insist upon the penalty: +upon which Portia asked if Antonio could not pay the sum. Bassanio +then publicly offered the payment of the three thousand ducats; the +hard Jew still refusing it, and declaring that he would take nothing +but the promised pound of flesh. + +Bassanio was now terribly grieved, and asked the learned young +counsellor to "wrest the law a little." + +"It must not be--there is no power in Venice can alter a decree +established," said Portia. Shylock, hearing her say this, believed she +would now favor him, and exclaimed: "A Daniel come to judgment! O wise +young judge, how do I honor thee!" + +He never guessed what was coming, when the young counsellor gravely +asked to look at the bond. She read it, and declared that the Jew was +lawfully entitled to the pound of flesh, but once more she begged him +to take the offered money, and be merciful. + +It was in vain to talk to Shylock of mercy. He began to sharpen a +knife; and then Portia asked Antonio if he had anything to say. He +replied that he could say but little; and prepared to take leave of his +well-beloved Bassanio, bidding him tell his wife how he had died for +friendship. + +In his grief, Bassanio cried out that, dearly as he loved his wife, +even she could not be more precious to him than Antonio's life; and +that he would lose her and all he had, could it avail to satisfy the +Jew. + +"Your wife would give you little thanks for that, if she were by to +hear you make that offer," said Portia; not at all angry, however, with +her husband for loving such a noble friend well enough to say this. + +Then Bassanio's servant exclaimed that _he_ had a wife whom he loved, +but he wished she were in heaven, if, by being there, she could soften +the heart of Shylock. + +At this, Nerissa--who, in her clerk's dress, was by Portia's +side--said, "It is well you wish this behind her back." + +But Shylock was impatient to be revenged on his victim, and cried out +that time was being lost. So Portia asked if the scales were in +readiness; and if some surgeon were near, lest Antonio should bleed to +death. + +"It is not so named in the bond," said Shylock. + +"It were good you did so much for charity," returned Portia. + +But charity and mercy were nothing to the Jew, who sharpened his knife, +and called upon Antonio to prepare. But Portia bade him tarry; there +was something more to hear. Though the law, indeed, gave him a pound +of flesh, it did not give him one single drop of blood; and if, in +cutting off the flesh, he shed one drop of Antonio's blood, his +possessions were confiscated by the law to the State of Venice! + +A murmur of applause ran through the court at the wise thought of the +young counsellor; for it was clearly impossible for the flesh to be cut +without the shedding of blood, and therefore Antonio was safe. + +Shylock then said he would take the money Bassanio had offered; and +Bassanio cried out gladly, "Here it is!" at which Portia stopped him, +saying that the Jew should have nothing but the penalty named in the +bond. + +"Give me my money and I will go!" cried Shylock once more; and once +more Bassanio would have given it, had not Portia again interfered. +"Tarry, Jew," she said; "the law hath yet another hold on you." Then +she stated that, for conspiring against the life of a citizen of +Venice, the law compelled him to forfeit all his wealth, and his own +life was at the mercy of the duke. + +The duke said he would grant him his life before he asked it; one-half +of his riches only should go to the State, the other half should be +Antonio's. + +More merciful of heart than his enemy could expect, Antonio declared +that he did not desire the Jew's property, if he would make it over at +his death to his own daughter, whom he had discarded for marrying a +Christian, to which Shylock reluctantly agreed. + + + + +THE AFFLICTED PRINCE. + +A TALE OF THE ANCIENT BRITONS. + + +I. + +It is said by some ancient historians, and by those who have bestowed +much pains in examining and comparing old conditions, that several +kings reigned over Britain before Julius Caesar landed in the country. +Lud Hurdebras is supposed to have been the eighth king from Brute, whom +the Bards, and after them, the monkish historians, report to have been +the first monarch of Britain. I am going to tell you a story of Prince +Bladud, the son of this Lud Hurdebras, which, there is reason to +believe, is founded on fact. + +Bladud was the only child of the king and queen, and he was not only +tenderly beloved by his parents, but was also considered as a child of +great beauty and promise by the chiefs and the people. It, however, +unfortunately happened that he was attacked with that loathsome +disease, so frequently mentioned in Scripture by the name of leprosy. +The dirty habits and gross feeding of the early natives of Britain, as +well as of all other uncivilized people, rendered this malady common; +but at the time in which Prince Bladud lived, no cure for it was known +to the Britons. Being highly infectious, therefore, all persons +afflicted with it were not only held in disgust and abhorrence, but, by +the barbarous laws of the times, were doomed to be driven from the +abodes of their fellow-creatures, and to take their chance of life or +death in the forests and the deserts, exposed alike to hunger and to +beasts of prey. + +So great was the horror of this disease among the heathen Britons, and +so strictly was the law for preventing its extension observed, that +even the rank of the young prince caused no exception to be made in his +favor. Neither was his tender youth suffered to plead for sympathy; +and the king himself was unable to protect his own son from the cruel +treatment accorded to the lepers of those days. No sooner was the +report whispered abroad, that Prince Bladud was afflicted with leprosy, +than the chiefs and elders of the council assembled together, and +insisted that Lud Hurdebras should expel his son from the royal city, +and drive him forth into the wilderness, in order to prevent the +dreaded infection from spreading. + +The fond mother of the unfortunate Bladud vainly endeavored to prevail +on her royal husband to resist this barbarous injunction. All that +maternal love and female tenderness could urge, she pleaded in behalf +of her only child, whose bodily sufferings rendered him but the dearer +object of affection to her fond bosom. + +The distressed father, however deeply and painfully he felt the queen's +passionate appeal, could not act in contradiction to the general voice +of his subjects; he was compelled to stifle all emotions of natural +compassion for his innocent son, and to doom him to perpetual +banishment. + +Bladud awaited his father's decision, in tears and silence, without +offering a single word of supplication, lest he should increase the +anguish of his parent's hearts. But, when the cruel sentence of +banishment was confirmed by the voice of his hitherto doating sire, he +uttered a cry of bitter sorrow, and covering his disfigured visage with +both hands, turned about to leave the haunts of his childhood forever, +exclaiming, "Who will have compassion upon me, now that I am abandoned +by my parents?" + +How sweet, how consoling, would have been the answer of a Christian +parent to this agonizing question; but on Bladud's mother the heavenly +light of Revelation had never shone. She knew not how to speak comfort +to the breaking heart of her son, in those cheering words of Holy Writ, +which would have been so applicable to his case in that hour of +desertion: _When thy father and thy mother forsake thee, I will take +thee up_. She could only weep with her son, and try to soothe his +sorrow by whispering a hope, which she was far from feeling, that the +day might come, when he could return to his father's court, cured of +the malady which was the cause of his banishment. + +"But years may pass away before that happy day, if it ever should +come," replied the weeping boy; "and I shall be altered in stature and +in features; the tones of my voice will have become strange to your +ears, my mother! Toil and sorrow will have set their hard marks upon +my brow. These garments, now so brightly stained with figures that +denote my royal birth and princely station, will be worn bare, or +exchanged for the sheep-skin vest of indigence. How, then, will you +know that I am indeed your son, should I ever present myself before you +cleansed of this dreadful leprosy?" + +"My son," replied the queen, taking a royal ring of carved agate from +her finger, and placing it on a stand before him, for so great was the +terror of contagion from those afflicted with leprosy, that even the +affectionate mother of Bladud avoided the touch of her child,--"this +ring was wrought by the master-hand of a Druid, a skillful worker in +precious stones, within the sacred circle of Stonehenge. It was placed +upon my finger before the mystic altar, when I became the wife of the +king, your father, and was saluted by the Arch-Druid as Queen of +Britain. In the whole world, there is not another like unto it; and, +should you bring it back to me, by that token shall I know you to be my +son, even though the lapse of thrice ten years shall have passed away, +and the golden locks of my princely boy shall be darkened with toil and +time, and no longer wave over a smooth, unfurrowed brow." + + +II. + +The unfortunate Bladud, having carefully suspended his mother's ring +about his neck, bade her a tearful farewell, and slowly and sorrowfully +pursued his lonely way across the hills and downs of that part of +England which is now called Somersetshire. + +Evening was closing in before Bladud met with a single creature to show +him the slightest compassion. At length, he was so fortunate as to +encounter a shepherd-boy, who appeared in scarcely less distress than +himself; for one of the sheep belonging to his flock had fallen into a +ditch, the sides of which were so steep that he was unable to pull it +out without assistance. + +"Stranger," said he, addressing the outcast prince, "if ever you hope +to obtain pity from others, I beseech you to lend me your aid, or I +shall be severely punished by my master, for suffering this sheep to +fall into the ditch." + +Bladud required no second entreaty, but hastily divesting himself of +his princely garments, assisted the boy in extricating the sheep from +the water. The grateful youth bestowed upon him, in return, a share of +his coarse supper of oaten cakes. Bladud, who had not broken his fast +since the morning, ate this with greater relish than he had often felt +for the dainties of which he had been accustomed to partake at his +father's board. + +It was a fine and lovely evening; the birds were singing their evening +song; and a delicious fragrance was diffused from the purple heath and +the blooming wild flowers. The sheep gathered round their youthful +keeper; and he took up a rustic pipe, made from the reeds that overhung +the margin of a neighboring rivulet, and played a merry tune, quite +forgetful of his past trouble. + +Bladud saw that a peasant boy, while engaged in the performance of his +duties, might be as happy as a prince. Contentment and industry +sweeten every lot, while useless repining only tends to aggravate the +hardships to which it is the will of God that the human family should +be exposed. + +"You appear very happy," said Bladud to his new friend. + +"How should I be otherwise?" replied the shepherd-boy: "I have +wherewithal to eat and to drink; I have strength to labor, and health +to enjoy my food. I sleep soundly on my bed of rushes after the toils +of the day; and my master never punishes me except for carelessness or +disobedience." + +"I wish I were a shepherd-boy, also," said the prince: "can you tell me +of some kind master, who would employ me to feed his flocks on these +downs?" + +The shepherd-boy shook his head, and replied, "You are a stranger lad +from some distant town; most probably, by your fine painted dress, the +runaway son of some great person, and unacquainted with any sort of +useful occupation. Let me hear what you can do to get an honest +living." + +Bladud blushed deeply. He had been accustomed to spend his time in +idle sports with the sons of the chieftains, and had not acquired the +knowledge of anything likely to be of service in his present situation. +He was silent for some minutes, but at length replied, "I can brighten +arrows, string bows, and shoot at a mark." + +Math, the shepherd-boy, advised his new companion, in his rustic +language, not to mention these accomplishments to the peaceful herdsmen +of Caynsham, (as the spot where this conference took place is now +called,) lest it should create a prejudice against him; "neither," +continued he, "would I counsel you to sue for service in a suit of this +fashion." He laid his sunburnt hand, as he spoke, on Bladud's painted +vest, lined with the fur of squirrels, which was only worn by persons +of royal rank. + +"Will you, for charity's sake, then, exchange your sheep-skin coat for +my costly garments?" asked Bladud. + +"Had you not so kindly helped me to pull my sheep out of the ditch, I +would have said to you nay," replied Math; "but as one good turn +deserves another, I will even give you my true shepherd's suit for your +finery." So saying, he exchanged suits with the young prince. + +"And now," said Bladud, "do you think I may venture to ask one of the +herdsmen of the valley to trust me with the care of a flock?" + +"Trust you with the care of a flock, forsooth!" cried Math, laughing; +"I wonder at your presumption in thinking of such a thing, when you +confess yourself ignorant of all the duties of a shepherd-boy!" + +"They are very simple, and can easily be learned, I should think," said +Bladud. + +"Ay," replied Math, "or you had not seen them practiced by so simple a +lad as Math, the son of Goff. But as all learners must have a +beginning, I would not have you aspire at first to a higher office than +that of a swineherd's boy; for remember, as no one knows who you are, +or whence you come, you must not expect to obtain much notice from +those who are the possessors of flocks and herds." + +Bladud sighed deeply at this remark; but as he felt the truth of what +Math said, he did not evince any displeasure at his plain speaking. +He, therefore, mildly requested Math to recommend him to some master +who would give him employment. + +Math happened to know an aged swineherd who was in want of a lad of +Bladud's age to attend on his pigs. He accordingly introduced his new +friend, Bladud, as a candidate for that office; and his mild and sedate +manners so well pleased the old man, that he immediately took him into +his service. + +Bladud at first felt the change of his fortunes very keenly, for he had +been delicately fed and nurtured, and surrounded by friends, servants, +and busy flatterers. He was now far separated from all who knew and +loved him; exposed to wind and weather, heat and cold, and compelled to +endure every species of hardship. He had no other bed than straw or +rushes; his food was far worse than that which is now eaten by the +poorest peasants, who deem their lot so hard; and he was clothed in +undressed sheep-skins, from which the wool had been shorn. His drink +was only water from the brook, and his whole time was occupied in his +attendance on the swine. + +At the earliest peep of dawn he was forced to rise, and lead forth into +the fields and woods a numerous herd of grunting swine in quest of +food, and there to remain till the shades of evening compelled him to +drive them to the shelter of the rude sheds built for their +accommodation, round the wretched hovel wherein his master dwelt. +Bladud was sure to return weary and hungry, and often wet and +sorrowful, to his forlorn home. Yet he did not murmur, though +suffering at the same time under a most painful, and, as he supposed, +an incurable disease. + +He endeavored to bear the hardships of his lot with patience, and he +derived satisfaction from the faithful performance of the duties which +he had undertaken, irksome as they were. The greatest pain he endured, +next to his separation from his parents, was the discovery that several +of his master's pigs were infected with the same loathsome disease +under which he was laboring; and this he feared would draw upon him the +displeasure of the old herdsman. + +But the leprosy, and its contagious nature, were evils unknown to the +herdsmen of Caynsham, or Bladud would never have been able to obtain +employment there. His master was an aged man, nearly blind, who, being +convinced of the faithful disposition of his careful attendant, left +the swine entirely to his management; so the circumstance of several of +the most valuable of them being infected with leprosy, was never +suspected by him. Bladud continued to lead them into the fields and +forests in quest of their daily food, without incurring either question +or reproach from him, or, indeed, from any one, for it was a +thinly-inhabited district, and there were no gossiping neighbors to +bring the tale of trouble to the old herdsman. + +But though Bladud's misfortune remained undetected, he was seriously +unhappy, for he felt himself to be the innocent cause of bringing the +infection of a sore disease among his master's swine. He would have +revealed the whole matter to him, only that he feared the evil could +not now be cured. + +From day to day he led his herd deeper into the forests, and further +a-field; for he wished to escape the observation of every eye. +Sometimes, indeed, he did not bring them back to the herdsmen's +enclosure above once in a week. In the meantime he slept at night, +surrounded by his uncouth companions, under the shade of some +wide-spreading oak of the forest, living like them, upon acorns, or the +roots of the pig-nuts, which grew in the woods and marshes, and were, +when roasted, sweet and mealy, like potatoes, with the flavor of the +chestnut. These were dainties in comparison to the coarse, black +unleavened cakes on which poor Bladud had been used to feed ever since +his unhappy banishment. + +The old herdsman was perfectly satisfied with Bladud's management of +the swine, and glad to find that he took the trouble of leading them +into fresh districts for change of food, of which swine are always +desirous. + +So Bladud continued to penetrate into new and untrodden solitudes with +his grunting charge, till one day he saw the bright waters of the river +Avon sparkling before him in the early beams of the morning sun. He +felt a sudden desire of crossing this pleasant stream. It was the +fruitful season of autumn, and the reddening acorns, with which the +rich oaken groves that crowned the noble hills on the opposite side +were laden, promised an abundant feast for his master's swine, of whose +wants he was always mindful. + +He would not, however, venture to lead them across the river without +first returning to acquaint his master, for he had already been abroad +more than a week. So he journeyed homeward, and reached his master's +hovel, with his whole herd, in safety. He then reported to the good +old man, that he had wandered to the side of a beautiful river, and +beheld from its grassy banks a rich and smiling country, wherein, he +doubted not, that the swine would find food of the best kind, and in +great abundance. "Prithee, master," quoth he, "suffer me to drive the +herd across that fair stream, and if aught amiss befall them, it shall +not be for want of due care and caution on the part of your faithful +boy." + +"Thou art free to lead the herd across the fair stream of which thou +speakest, my son," replied the herdsman, "and may the blessing of an +old man go with them and thee; for surely thou hast been faithful and +wise in all thy doings since thou hast been my servant." + +That very day he set out once more to the shores of the silvery Avon, +and crossed it with the delighted pigs, at a shallow spot, which has +ever since that time, in memory thereof, been called Swinford, or +Swine's-ford. + +No sooner, however, had they reached the opposite shore, than the whole +herd set off, galloping and scampering, one over the other, as if they +had one and all been seized with a sudden frenzy. No less alarmed than +astonished at their sudden flight, Bladud followed them at his quickest +speed, and beheld them rapidly descending into a valley, towards some +springs of water, that seemed to ooze out of the boggy land in its +bottom, amidst rushes, weeds, and long rank grass. Into this swamp the +pigs rushed headlong, and here they rolled and reveled, tumbling, +grunting, and squeaking, and knocking each other head over heels, with +evident delight, but to the utter astonishment of Bladud, who was +altogether unconscious of the instinct by which the gratified animals +had been impelled. + +All the attempts which Bladud made to, drive or entice them from this +spot were entirely useless. They continued to wallow in their miry +bed, until at length the calls of hunger induced them to seek the woods +for food; but after they had eaten a hearty meal of acorns, they +returned to the swamp, to the increasing surprise of Bladud. As for +his part, having taken a supper of coarse black bread and roasted +acorns, he sought shelter for the night in the thick branches of a +large oak-tree. + +Now poor Bladud was not aware that, guided by superior Wisdom, he had, +unknown to himself, approached a spot wherein there existed a +remarkable natural peculiarity. This was no other than some warm, +springs of salt water, which ooze out of the earth, and possess certain +medicinal properties which have the effect of curing various diseases, +and on which account they are sought by afflicted persons even to the +present day. + + +III. + +Bladud awoke with the first beams of morning, and discovered his +grunting charge still actively wallowing in the oozy bed in which they +had taken such unaccountable delight on the preceding day. + +Bladud, however, who was accustomed to reason and to reflect on +everything he saw, had often observed that the natural instinct of +animals prompted them to do such things as were most beneficial to +them. He had noticed that cats and dogs, when sick, had recourse to +certain herbs and grasses, which proved effectual remedies for the +malady under which they labored; and he thought it possible that pigs +might be endowed with a similar faculty of discovering an antidote for +disease. At all events he resolved to watch the result of their +revelings in the warm ooze bath, wherein they continued to wallow, +between whiles, for several days. + +The wisdom of this proceeding was shortly manifested; for Bladud soon +observed that a gradual improvement was taking place in the appearance +of the swine. + +The leprous scales fell off by degrees, and in the course of a few +weeks the leprosy gradually disappeared, and the whole herd being +cleansed, was restored to a sound and healthy state. + +The heart of the outcast prince was buoyant with hope and joy when the +idea first presented itself to his mind, that the same simple remedy +which had restored the infected swine might be equally efficacious in +his own case. Divesting himself of his humble clothing and elate with +joy and hope, he plunged into the warm salt ooze bed, wherein his pigs +had reveled with so much advantage. + +He was soon sensible of an abatement of the irritable and painful +symptoms of his loathsome malady; and, in a short time, by persevering +in the use of the remedy which the natural sagacity of his humble +companions had suggested, he became wholly cured of the leprosy and was +delighted to find himself restored to health and vigor. + +After bathing, and washing away in the river the stains of the ooze, he +first beheld the reflection of his own features in the clear mirror of +the stream. He perceived that his skin, which had been so lately +disfigured by foul blotches and frightful scales, so as to render him +an object of abhorrance to his nearest and dearest friends, was now +smooth, fair, and clear. + +"Oh, my mother!" he exclaimed, in the overpowering rapture of his +feelings on this discovery, "I may then hope to behold thy face once +more! and thou wilt no longer shrink from the embrace of thy son, as in +the sad, sad hour of our sorrowful parting!" + +He pressed the agate ring which she had given him as her farewell token +of remembrance, to his lips and to his bosom, as he spoke; then +quitting the water, he once more arrayed himself in the miserable garb +of his lowly fortunes, and guided his master's herd homeward. + +The old man, who was beginning to grow uneasy at the unwonted length of +Bladud's absence, and fearing that some accident had befallen the +swine, was about to set forth in search of him, when he heard the +approach of the noisy herd, and perceived Bladud advancing toward him. + +"Is all well with thyself and with the herd my son?" inquired the old +man. + +"All is well, my father," replied Bladud, bowing himself before his +lowly master, "yea, more than well; for the blessing of the great +Disposer of all that befalleth the children of men, hath been with me. +I left you as a poor destitute, afflicted with a sore disease, that had +rendered me loathsome to my own house, and despised and shunned by all +men. I was driven forth from the dwellings of health and gladness, and +forced to seek shelter in the wilderness. From being the son of a +king, I was reduced to become the servant of one of the humblest of his +subjects, and esteemed myself fortunate in obtaining the care of a herd +of swine, that I might obtain even a morsel of coarse food, and a place +wherein to lay my head at night. But, behold, through this very thing +have I been healed of my leprosy!" + +"And who art thou, my son?" demanded the old herdsman, in whose ears +the words of his youthful servant sounded like the language of a dream. + +"I am Bladud, the son of Lud Hurdebras, thy king," replied the youth. +"Up--let us be going, for the time seemeth long to me, till I once more +look upon his face, and that of the queen, my mother." + +"Thou hast never yet in aught deceived me, my son," observed the +herdsman, "else should I say thou wert mocking me with some wild fable; +so passing all belief doth it seem, that the son of my lord the king +should have been contented to dwell with so poor and humble a man as +myself in the capacity of a servant." + +"In truth, the trial was a hard one," replied Bladud; "but I knew that +it was my duty to submit to the direction of that heavenly Guardian who +has thus shaped my lot after His good pleasure; and now do I perceive +that it was in love and mercy, as well as in wisdom, that I have been +afflicted." Bladud then proposed to his master that he should +accompany him to his father's court; to which the old herdsman, who +scarcely yet credited the assertion of his young attendant, at length +consented; and they journeyed together to the royal city. + +In these days, many a mean village is in appearance a more important +place than were the royal cities wherein the ancient British kings kept +court; for these were merely large straggling enclosures, surrounded +with trenches and hedge-rows, containing a few groups of wattled huts, +plastered over with clay. The huts were built round the king's palace, +which was not itself a more commodious building than a modern barn, and +having neither chimneys nor glazed windows, must have been but a +miserable abode in the winter season. + +At the period to which our story has now conducted us, it was, however, +a fine warm autumn day. King Hurdebras and his queen were therefore +dwelling in an open pavilion, formed of the trunks of trees, which were +covered over with boughs, and garlanded with wreaths of wild flowers. + +Bladud and his master arrived during the celebration of a great +festival, held to commemorate the acorn-gathering, which was then +completed. All ranks and conditions of people were assembled in their +holiday attire, which varied from simple sheep-skins to the fur of +wolves, cats, and rabbits. + +Among all this concourse of people, Bladud was remarked for the poverty +of his garments, which were of the rude fashion and coarse material of +those of the humblest peasant. As for the old herdsman, his master, +when he observed the little respect with which Bladud was treated by +the rude crowds who were thronging to the royal city, he began to +suspect either that the youth himself had been deluded by some strange +dream respecting his royal birth and breeding, or that for knavish +purposes he had practiced on his credulity, in inducing him to +undertake so long a journey. + +These reflections put the old man into an ill humor, which was greatly +increased when, on entering the city, he became an object of boisterous +mirth and rude jest to the populace. On endeavoring to ascertain the +cause of this annoyance, he discovered that one of his most valuable +pigs, that had formed a very powerful attachment to Prince Bladud, had +followed them on their journey, and was now grunting at their very +heels. + +The herdsman's anger at length broke out in words, and he bitterly +upbraided Bladud for having beguiled him into such a wild-goose +expedition. "And, as if that were not enough," quoth he, "thou couldst +not be contented without bringing thy pet pig hither, to make a fool +both of thyself and me. Why, verily, we are the laughing-stock of the +whole city." + +Bladud mildly assured his master that it was through no act of his that +the pig had followed them to his father's court. + +"Thy father's court, forsooth!" retorted the old man, angrily; "I do +verily believe it is all a trick which thou hast cunningly planned, for +the sake of stealing my best pig. Else why shouldst thou have +permitted it to follow thee thither?" + +Bladud was prevented from replying to this unjust accusation by a +rabble of rude boys, who had gathered round them, and began to assail +the poor pig with sticks and stones. Bladud at first mildly requested +them to desist from such cruel sport; but finding that they paid no +attention to his remonstrances, he began to deal out blows, right and +left, with his stout quarter-staff, by which he kept the foremost at +bay, calling at the same time on his master to assist him in defending +the pig. + +But Bladud and his master together were very unequally matched against +this lawless band of young aggressors. They certainly would have been +very roughly handled, had it not been for the unexpected aid of a +shepherd-lad who came to their assistance, and, with the help of his +faithful dog, succeeded in driving away the most troublesome of their +assailants. + +In this brave and generous ally, Bladud had the satisfaction of +discovering his old friend Math of the Downs. So completely, however, +was Bladud's appearance changed in consequence of his being cleansed of +the leprosy, that it was some time before he could convince Math that +he was the wretched and forlorn outcast with whom he had changed +clothes, nearly a twelvemonth before on the Somersetshire Downs. + +Math, however, presently remembered his old clothes, in the sorry +remains of which Bladud was still dressed; and Bladud also pointed with +a smile to the painted vest of a British prince, in which the young +shepherd had arrayed himself to attend the festival of the +acorn-gathering. Strange to say, the generous boy had altogether +escaped infection from the clothes of his diseased prince. + +Bladud now briefly explained his situation to the astonished Math, whom +he invited to join himself and his master in their visit to the royal +pavilion, in order that he might be a witness of his restoration to the +arms of his parents, and the honors of his father's court. + +Math, though still more incredulous than even the old herdsman, was +strongly moved by curiosity to witness the interview. He stoutly +assisted Bladud in making his way through the crowd, who appeared +resolutely bent on impeding their progress to the royal pavilion, +which, however, they at length approached, still followed by the +persevering pig. + + +IV. + +The last load of acorns, adorned with the faded branches of the noble +oak, and crowned with the mistletoe, a plant which the Druids taught +the ancient Britons to hold in superstitious reverence, was now borne +into the city, preceded by a band of Druids in their long white robes, +and a company of minstrels, singing songs, and dancing before the wain. +The king and queen came forth to meet the procession, and, after +addressing suitable speeches to the Druids and the people, re-entered +the pavilion, where they sat down to regale themselves. + +Bladud, who had continued to press forward, now availed himself of an +opportunity of entering the pavilion behind one of the queen's favorite +ladies, whose office it was to fill her royal mistress' goblet with +mead. This lady had been Bladud's nurse, which rendered her very dear +to the queen, whom nothing could console for the loss of her son. + +Bladud, concealed from observation by one of the rude pillars that +supported the roof of the building, contemplated the scene in silence, +which was broken only by the agitated beating of his swelling heart. +He observed that the queen, his mother, looked sad and pale, and that +she scarcely tasted of the cheer before her. She sighed deeply from +time to time, and kept her eyes fixed on the vacant place which, in +former happy days used to be occupied by her only son! + +King Hurdebras endeavored to prevail upon her to partake of some of the +dainties with which the board was spread. + +"How can I partake of costly food," she replied, "when my only child is +a wanderer on the face of the earth, and, perchance, lacketh bread?" + +Bladud, unable longer to restrain the emotions under which he labored, +now softly stole from behind the pillar, and, unperceived, dropped the +agate ring into his mother's goblet. + +"Nay," replied the king, "but this is useless sorrow, my lady queen. +Thinkest thou that I have borne the loss of our only son without grief +and sorrow? Deeply have I also suffered; but we must not forget that +it is our duty to bow with humility to the wise decrees of the great +Disposer of all human events?" + +"But canst thou feel our loss in like degree with me?" she exclaimed, +bursting into tears; "what shall equal a mother's love, or the grief of +her who sorroweth for her only one?" + +"Fill high the goblet, Hetha," said the king, turning to the favorite +of his royal consort; "and implore the queen, thy mistress, to taste of +the sweet mead, and, for the happiness of those around her, to subdue +her sorrow." + +The queen, after some persuasion, took the wine-cup, and raised it with +a reluctant hand; but, ere the sparkling liquor reached her lips, she +perceived the ring at the bottom of the goblet, and hastily pouring the +mead upon the ground, seized the precious token, and holding it up, +with a cry of joy, exclaimed, "My son! my son!" + +Bladud sprang forward, and bowed his knee to the earth before her. +"Hast thou forgotten me, oh! my mother?" he exclaimed, in a faltering +voice; for the queen, accustomed to see her princely son attired in +robes befitting his royal birth, looked with a doubtful eye on the +ragged garb of abject indigence in which the youth was arrayed. +Moreover, he was sun-burnt and weather-beaten; had grown tall and +robust; and was, withal, attended by his strange friend, the pig, who, +in the untaught warmth of his affection, had intruded himself into the +presence of royalty, in the train of his master. + +A second glance convinced the queen, the king, and the delightful +Hetha, that it was indeed the long-lost Bladud upon whom they looked; +and it scarcely required the testimony of the old herdsman, his master, +and that of his friend Math, the shepherd, to certify the fact, and +bear witness to the truth of his simple tale. + +Touching was the scene when the king, recovering from the surprise into +which the first shock of recognition had plunged him, rushed forward +and clasped his long-lost son to his bosom. The big tear-drops rolled +down his manly cheeks, and, relaxing the dignity of the king, and the +sternness of the warrior, all the energies of his nature were embodied +in the one single feeling, that he was a happy and a beloved father! + +The news of the return of their prince spread throughout the assembled +multitudes, on wings of joy. Loud and long were the shouts and +acclamations which burst forth in every direction, as the distant +groups became apprised of the event. The Druids and the Minstrels +formed themselves into processions, in which the people joined; and the +harpers, sounding their loudest strains, struck up their songs of joy +and triumph. The oxen, loosened from the wains, and decked with +garlands of flowers, were led forward in the train; and the dancers and +revelers followed, performing with energy and delight their rude sports +and pastimes around the king's pavilion. + +Night at length closed upon the happy scene, and the king and queen +retired to their tent, accompanied by their son, to learn from his lips +the course of events by which his life had been preserved, and his +health restored. They joined in humble thanks to the Great Author of +all happiness, for the special blessings that had been bestowed upon +them; and the king marked his sense of gratitude by gifts and benefits +extended to the helpless and the deserving among his subjects. The +good old herdsman was among the most favored, and the worthy Math was +put in a path of honor and promotion, of which he proved himself well +deserving. + + + + +"HIS LUDSHIP." + +BARBARA YECHTON. + + +You could not have found anywhere two happier boys than were Charlie +and Selwyn Kingsley one Saturday morning early in June. In their +delight they threw their arms around each other and danced up and down +the piazza, they tossed their hats in the air and hurrahed, they sprang +down the stone steps two at a time, dashed about the grounds in a wild +fashion that excited their dog Fritz, and set him barking in the +expectation of a frolic, then raced across to their special chum and +playmate, Ned Petry. They arrived there almost out of breath, but with +such beaming faces that before they reached the hammock where he lay +swinging Ned called out, "Halloa! what's happened? Something good, I +know." + +"We're going--" panted Charlie, dropping down on the grass beside him. + +"To Europe!" supplemented Selwyn. + +"No!" cried Ned, springing up. "Isn't that just jolly! When do you +sail, and who all are going? Let's sit in the hammock together. Now +tell me all about it." The three boys crowded into the hammock, and +for a few minutes questions and answers flew thick and fast. + +"You know we've always wanted to go." said Charlie. Ned nodded. "And +the last time papa went he promised he'd take us the next trip, but we +didn't dream he was going this summer." + +"Though we suspected something was up," broke in Selwyn, "because for +about a week past whenever Charlie and I would come into the room papa +and mamma'd stop talking; but we never thought of Europe." + +"Until this morning," continued Charlie, "after breakfast, when papa +said, 'Boys, how would you like a trip to Europe with your mother and +me?'" + +"At first we thought he was joking," again interrupted eager little +Selwyn, "because his eyes twinkled just as they do when he is telling a +joke." + +"But he wasn't," resumed his brother, "and the long and short of the +matter is that we are all--papa, mamma, sister Agatha, Selwyn, and +I--to sail in the Majestic, June 17, so we've only about a week more to +wait." + +"Oh! oh! it's too splendid for anything!" cried Selwyn, clapping his +hands in delight and giving the hammock a sudden impetus, which set it +swaying rapidly. "We're to spend some time with Uncle Geoffrey +Barrington--you know, Ned, Rex's father--and we're to see all the +sights of 'famous London town'--the Houses of Parliament, the Zoo, +Westminster Abbey, and the dear old Tower! Just think of it, Ned, +papa's going to show us the very cells in which Lady Jane Grey and Sir +Walter Raleigh were shut up! Oh, don't I wish you were going, too!" + +"Wouldn't it be splendid!" said Charlie, throwing his arm across Ned's +shoulders. + +"Wouldn't it!" echoed Ned, ruefully. "I wonder when our turn will +come; soon, I hope. I shall miss you fellows awfully." + +"Never mind, Ned, we'll write to you," cried both boys, warmly, "and +tell you all about everything." + +The next week was full of pleasant excitement for Charlie and Selwyn. +They left school a few days before it closed that they might help mamma +and sister Agatha, who were very busy getting things into what papa +called "leaving order." There was a great deal to do, but at last +everything was accomplished, the steamer trunks had been packed, and +some last good-byes spoken. Fritz and the rabbits had been given into +Ned's keeping with many injunctions and cautions. Carefully wrapped in +cloths, the boys had placed their bicycles in the seclusion which a +garret granted. Balls, tennis rackets, boxes of pet tools, favorite +books, everything, in fact, had been thought of and cared for, and at +last the eventful day of sailing arrived. + +A number of friends came to the city to see the Kingsleys off. They +sat in the saloon of the big steamer with Mrs. Kingsley and her +daughter, while the boys, under papa's care, remained on the dock for a +while, deeply interested in their unusual surroundings. They were +almost wild with excitement, which not even the prospect of parting +with Ned could quiet, and it is not much to be wondered at, there was +so much going on. + +The long covered dock was crowded with men, women, and children, nearly +all of whom were talking at the same time. Large wagons were +unloading; trunks, boxes and steamer-chairs stood about, which the +steamer "hands" were carrying up the gangway as rapidly as possible; +huge cases, burlap-covered bundles, barrels and boxes were being +lowered into the hold by means of a derrick; men were shouting, +children crying, horses champing, and in the midst of the confusion +loving last words were being spoken. + +When papa joined the grown people in the saloon, Charlie, Selwyn, and +Ned made a tour of the steamer. Of course they were careful not to get +in the way of the busy sailors, but they found lots to see without +doing that. First, wraps and hand-satchels were deposited in their +state-rooms, which were directly opposite each other, and the +state-rooms thoroughly investigated, each boy climbing into the upper +berths "to see how it felt." Then they visited the kitchen, saw the +enormous tea and coffee pots, and the deep, round shining pans in which +the food was cooked. But they did not stay here long, as it was nearly +dinner time, and everybody was very busy. Next came the engine-room, +which completely fascinated them with its many wheels and rods and +bolts, all shining like new silver and gold. + +From there they went on deck, clambered up little flights of steps as +steep as ladders and as slippery as glass; walked about the upper deck, +and managed to see a great deal in fifteen or twenty minutes. By the +time they returned to the gangway all the baggage and merchandise had +been taken on board. A man in a blue coat with brass buttons, and a +cap with a gilt band around it, called out in a loud voice, "All on +shore!" and then came last good-byes. Smiles and laughter vanished, +tears and sobs took their places. "Good-bye!" "God bless you!" "Bon +voyage!" "Don't forget to write!" was heard on every side. Mamma and +sister Agatha shed a few tears; even papa was seen to take off his +glasses several times to wipe the moisture which would collect on them. + +Of course, Charlie, Selwyn, and Ned wouldn't cry, that was "too +babyish;" but they had to wink very hard at one time to avert such a +disgrace, and just at the last, when no one was looking, they threw +dignity to the winds, and heartily kissed each other good-bye. + +"Write just as soon as you get over," cried Ned, as he ran down the +gangway. + +"We will, indeed we will!" the boys answered, eagerly. Then the +gangway was drawn on board, the engine began to move, and the big ship +steamed away from the pier in fine style, with flags flying and +handkerchiefs fluttering. + +Mrs. Kingsley was confined to her berth for nearly all of the voyage, +but the rest of the family remained in excellent health and spirits, +and the boys thoroughly enjoyed themselves. + +When about three days out the ship passed near enough to an iceberg for +the passengers to distinguish distinctly its castle-like outline, and +to feel the chill it gave to the air. + +Our two boys were such courteous, kindly little gentlemen that all who +came in contact with them liked them, and returned to them the same +measure that they gave. The captain even took them on the "bridge," a +favor which was not accorded to any other boy or girl on board. And +what with visiting the engine-room, waiting on mamma and sister Agatha, +walking and talking with papa, sitting in their steamer-chairs, and +paying proper attention to the good things which were served four or +five times a day, Charlie and Selwyn found that the time fairly flew +away. Selwyn had brought "An American Boy in London" to read aloud to +Charlie, but there were so many other interesting things to occupy +their attention that only one chapter was accomplished. + +On the afternoon of the seventh day after leaving New York, the +Majestic steamed up to the Liverpool dock, and a few hours later the +Kingsleys found themselves comfortably settled in a railroad carriage +en route for London. It was late when they arrived in the great +metropolis, and every one was glad enough to get to the hotel and to +rest as quickly as possible. + +Early the next morning Uncle Geoffrey Barrington came to carry off the +entire family to his big house in Portland Place. Here he declared +they should remain during their stay in London, and as he had a +charming wife and grown-up daughter, who devoted themselves to Mrs. +Kingsley and sister Agatha, and a son about Charlie's age, who was full +of fun and friendliness, all parties found themselves well satisfied +with the arrangement. + +Uncle Geof was one of the judges of the Queen's Bench, and a very busy +man, so he could not always go about with his American relatives; but +Dr. Kingsley was well acquainted with London, and therefore able to +escort his party to all the places of interest. I only wish I had time +to tell you of all the delightful trips they took, and all the +interesting things they saw in this fascinating old city. Visits to +the Tower, the Houses of Parliament, where they heard "Big Ben" strike +the hour--and Westminster Abbey with its illustrious dead; excursions +to Windsor and the Crystal Palace; sails down the Thames, and dinners +and teas at Richmond and Kew Gardens, driving home by moonlight! How +the boys did enjoy it all, and what long letters went home to America +addressed to Master Edward Petry! + +All this sight-seeing took up many days; three weeks slipped by before +anybody realized it, and Dr. Kingsley was talking of a trip to the +Continent, when a little incident occurred of which I must tell you. + +Rex and his American cousins had become the best of friends. He knew +all about their pretty home in Orange, about Ned and the rabbits, +Fritz, the bicycling, and the tennis playing, while they in their turn +took the deepest interest in his country and Eton experiences. They +took "bus" rides together, and played jokes on the pompous footman, +whom Charlie had nicknamed the "S. C." (Superb Creature). + +One morning Rex and our two boys went to Justice Barrington's chambers. +There they expected to find Dr. Kingsley, but when they arrived only +Jarvis, the solemn-faced old servitor, met them. He showed them into +the inner room and left them to their own devices, saying that "his +ludship and the reverend doctor" would, no doubt, soon be in. + +The room was very dark; three sides were covered with +uninteresting-looking law books, and after gazing out of the window, +which overlooked a quiet little church-yard where the monuments and +headstones were falling into decay, the three boys were at a loss what +to do with themselves. Charlie and Selwyn would have liked a walk +about the neighborhood, but Reginald demurred. "It's a horrid bore +being shut up here," he admitted frankly, "but papa might return while +we were out, and I'm not sure that he would like to find us away. I +wish I could think of some way to amuse you. Oh, I know--we were +talking about barristers' robes the other day; I'll show you papa's +gown and wig. I know where Jarvis keeps them. Wouldn't you like to +see them?" + +"Indeed we should," responded the American boys. So, after hunting for +the key, Rex opened what he called a "cupboard" (though Charlie and +Selwyn thought it a closet), where hung a long black silk robe, very +similar in style to those worn by our bishops in America. This he +brought out; next, from a flat wooden box, which looked very old and +black, he drew a large, white, curly wig. The boys looked at these +with eager interest. "These are like what are worn in the Houses of +Parliament," said Charlie. "What a funny idea to wear such a dress." + +"I think it's a very nice idea," Rex answered, quickly. "I assure you +the judges and the barristers look very imposing in their robes and +wigs." + +"I expect to be a lawyer one of these days; wouldn't I astonish the +American public if I appeared in such a costume?" said Charlie, +laughing. "I wonder how I'd look in it?" + +"Try it on and see," suggested Rex. + +"Oh, do, do, Charlie! it'll be such fun!" pleaded Selwyn. So, nothing +loth, Charlie slipped on the long black silk robe, then Rex and Selwyn +arranged the thin white muslin bands at his throat, and settled the big +white wig on his head. His soft, dark hair was brushed well off his +face so that not a lock escaped from beneath the wig, and when he put +on a pair of Uncle Geof's spectacles, which lay conveniently near, the +boys were convulsed with laughter at his appearance. + +"Good-day, your 'ludship,'" said Rex, with a mocking bow; "will your +'ludship' hold court to-day?" + +"Yes, let's have court and try a prisoner," cried Charlie, who began to +feel rather proud of his unusual appearance. "You don't mind, do you, +Rex?" + +"Why, no! I think it'll be no end of fun," was the merry reply. "One +of us could be the prisoner, and the other the barrister who defends +him. I'd better be the barrister, because I know more about English +law than Selwyn does. And the furniture'll have to be the other +counsel and the gentlemen of the jury. Sit over there, Charlie, near +that railing, and we'll make believe it's the bar. The only trouble is +the barrister will have no gown and wig. Isn't it a pity?" + +"Let's take the table cover," suggested Selwyn, which was immediately +acted upon. With their combined efforts, amid much laughter, it was +draped about Rex's shoulders in a fashion very nearly approaching the +graceful style of a North American Indian's blanket. A Russian bath +towel, which they also found in the closet, was arranged on his head +for a wig; then Selwyn was placed behind a chair which was supposed to +be the prisoner's box, the judge took his place, and court opened. + +The ceremony differed from any previously known in judicial experience, +and bursts of merry laughter disturbed the dignity of the learned judge +and counsel, to say nothing of the prisoner. + +"The prisoner at the bar, your 'ludship,'" began the counsel, striving +to steady his voice, "has stolen a--a--a--what shall I say you have +stolen?" addressing Selwyn in a stage whisper. + + "Tom, Tom, the piper's son, + Stole a pig, + And away did run; + The pig was eat, + And Tom was beat, + And Tom went roaring + Down the street," + +sang the prisoner, in a sweet little voice. + +"Your 'ludship,' singing is contempt of court; you will please fine the +prisoner at the bar," said the counsel, regardless of the fact that the +prisoner was supposed to be his client. + +"Silence, both of you!" cried the judge, with impartial justice, +rapping his desk sharply with a brass paper-cutter. "Now, Mr. +Barrister, state the case." Then, in an aside, "Wasn't that well said?" + +"The prisoner has stolen a pig, your 'ludship,'" said the counsel. "He +admits it, but as the animal has been eaten--" + +"And the prisoner has been beaten," put in the incorrigible Selwyn. + +"And the prisoner is a stranger in a strange land," continued Rex, +ignoring the irrelevant remark, "a most noble and learned +American--ahem!--what sentence, your 'ludship,' shall be passed upon +him?" + +"Hum, hum!" said his "ludship," resting his cheek on his hand +meditatively, trying to assume the expression which he had seen +sometimes on papa's face when he and Selwyn were under consideration +for some childish offence. + +"The court waits, your 'ludship,'" remarked the counsel, throwing a +paper ball at the judge. + +"Silence!" again shouted the judge, rapping vigorously. "The sentence +is this: the prisoner shall stand on his head for two seconds, then +recite a piece of poetry, and then--in the course of a week--leave the +country." + +"Your 'ludship' will please sign the sentence and we will submit it to +the jury," suggested the learned counsel, who, as you will perceive, +had rather peculiar ideas about court formula. + +"What shall I sign?" asked his "ludship." + +"Anything," said Rex. "Those papers all look like old things--quick! +I think I hear Jarvis coming. Sign the one in your hand. Just write +Geoffrey Addison Barrington. It's only for fun, you know." + +He caught up a dingy-looking document, opened it, and, thrusting the +pen which was in his "ludship's" hand into the ink, he and the prisoner +at the bar crowded up to see the signature which Charlie wrote as he +had been told to do, in a distinct schoolboy's hand. He had barely +crossed the "t" and dotted the last "i" when they heard a step, and +scurrying into the cupboard, they saw Jarvis come in, take something +from the desk, and go out without a glance in their direction. As the +door closed behind him it opened again to admit Justice Barrington and +Dr. Kingsley. + +"Where are they?" asked Uncle Geof, peering about the dark room as if +the boys might be hidden behind some table or chair. + +"Boys," called the doctor, "where are you?" + +Then they walked out--such a funny-looking trio! Rex's table-cover +robe floated behind him, and the style of his wig was certainly unique. +Selwyn had brought away on his coat a goodly share of the dust of the +cupboard. His brown hair stood on end, and his blue eyes were shining +with excitement. But his "ludship" brought down the house. He came +forth holding up his long gown on each side, his bands were almost +under his left ear, his wig was on one side, and his glasses awry! The +contrast between his magisterial garb and his round young face and +merry hazel eyes was too much for the gravity of the two gentlemen. +With a glance at each other they burst into a long, hearty laugh, in +which the boys joined. + +A little later, the gown and wig having been restored to their proper +places by the much scandalized Jarvis, the party returned to Portland +Square. And none of the boys thought of mentioning that Charlie had +signed a document with his uncle's name, which he had not read. + +A few days after this Dr. Kingsley and his family left England for the +Continent, taking Rex with them, and not until September did they +return to London for a short visit before sailing for America. + +"I have an account to settle with you, Master Charlie," said Uncle +Geoffrey, the first evening, when they were all assembled in the +drawing-room. "Do you recollect a certain visit to my chambers when +you represented a judge of the Queen's Bench?" + +Charlie, Selwyn and Rex looked at each other, laughed, and nodded. + +"Do you remember signing a paper?" asked the justice. + +"Yes," said Charlie; "but it was an old dingy-looking one--we didn't +read it--I just signed it for fun." + +"I told Charlie to put your name to it," broke in Rex, eagerly. "Is +anything wrong, papa?" + +"I will tell you the story and you shall judge for yourself," said the +justice, smiling. "As it happened, the paper Charlie signed was not an +old one. It was in reference to removing an orphan boy from one +guardianship to another. He is about as old as Charlie, and it appears +that the first guardian ill-treated the little fellow under the guise +of kindness, being only intent on gain. When the paper which 'his +ludship,'" with a deep bow in Charlie's direction--"signed arrived, the +boy was delighted, and he thoroughly enjoys the excellent home he is +now in. Imagine my surprise when a letter reached me thanking me for +my wise decision. I could not understand it, as I thought I knew the +paper in reference to it was lying on my desk waiting its turn. You +may well laugh, you young rogues." + +"How did you find out?" asked Charlie, divided between contrition and a +desire to enjoy the joke. + +"Jarvis and I traced it out. I paid a visit to Wales and put the +signature of the original Barrington to the document. The present +guardian of the boy declares the little fellow's disposition would have +been completely ruined if he had remained much longer under his former +guardian's care, and I am afraid, in the ordinary course of the law, +which moves slowly, it would have been some time before the matter +could have been attended to. So you have done that much good to a +fellow-boy. Only be careful in the future, dear lad, to read a +document before signing it, for carelessness in that direction might +not always end as well as it has in this instance. What puzzles me is +how you came to take that particular paper when so many others lay +about; it was but one chance in a million." + +"'A chance--the eternal God that chance did guide,'" quoted Dr. +Kingsley, in his quiet, gentle voice. + +"What lots we'll have to tell Ned! O boys, do let's cheer!" cried +Selwyn eagerly, springing to his feet. "Here goes--three cheers for +Uncle Geof and dear papa, and a big, big 'tiger' for his 'ludship!'" + + + + +THE PIOUS CONSTANCE. + +Once upon a time the Emperor of Rome had a beautiful daughter named +Constance. She was so fair to look on, that far and wide, she was +spoken of as "the beautiful princess." But, better than that, she was +so good and so saintly that everybody in her father's dominions loved +her, and often they forgot to call her "the beautiful princess," but +called her instead, "Constance the good." + +All the merchants who came thither to buy and sell goods, carried away +to other countries accounts of Constance, her beauty, and her holiness. +One day there came to Rome some merchants from Syria, with shiploads of +cloths of gold, and satins rich in hue, and all kinds of spicery, which +they would sell in the Roman markets. While they abode here, the fame +of Constance came to their ears, and they sometimes saw her lovely face +as she went about the city among the poor and suffering, and were so +pleased with the sight that they could talk of nothing else when they +returned home; so that, after a while, their reports came to the ear of +the Soldan of Syria, their ruler, and he sent to the merchants to hear +from their lips all about the fair Roman maiden. + +As soon as he heard this story, this Soldan began secretly to love the +fair picture which his fancy painted of the good Constance, and he shut +himself up to think off her, and to study how he could gain her for his +own. + +At length he sent to all his wise men, and called them together in +council. + +"You have heard," he said to them, "of the beauty and goodness of the +Roman princess. I desire her for my wife. So cast about quickly for +some way by which I may win her." + +Then all the wise men were horrified; because Constance was a +Christian, while the Syrians believed in Mohammed as their sacred +prophet. One wise man thought the Soldan had been bewitched by some +fatal love-charm brought from Rome. Another explained that some of the +stars in the heavens were out of place, and had been making great +mischief among the planets which governed the life of the Soldan. One +had one explanation and one another, but to all the Soldan only +answered,--"All these words avail nothing. I shall die if I may not +have Constance for my wife." + +One of the wise men then said plainly,--"But the Emperor of Rome will +not give his daughter to any but a Christian." + +When the Soldan heard that he cried joyfully: "O, if that is all, I +will straight-way turn Christian, and all my kingdom with me." + +So they sent an ambassador to the Emperor to know if he would give his +daughter to the Soldan of Syria, if he and all his people would turn +Christian. And the Emperor, who was very devout, and thought he ought +to use all means to spread his religion, answered that he would. + +So poor little Constance, like a white lamb chosen for a sacrifice, was +made ready to go to Syria. A fine ship was prepared, and with a +treasure for her dowry, beautiful clothes, and hosts of attendants, she +was put on board. + +She herself was pale with grief and weeping at parting from her home +and her own dear mother. But she was so pious and devoted that she was +willing to go if it would make Syria a good Christian land. So, as +cheerfully as she could, she set sail. + +Now the Soldan had a very wicked mother, who was all the time angry in +her heart that the Soldan had become a Christian. Before Constance +arrived in Syria she called together all the lords in the kingdom whom +she knew to be friendly to him. She told them of a plot she had made +to kill the Soldan and all those who changed their religion with him, +as soon as the bride bad come. They all agreed to this dreadful plot, +and then the old Soldaness went smiling and bland, to the Soldan's +palace. + +"My dear son," she said, "at last I am resolved to become a Christian; +I am surprised I have been blind so long to the beauty of this new +faith. And, in token of our agreement about it, I pray you will honor +me by attending with your bride at a great feast which I shall make for +you." + +The Soldan was overjoyed to see his mother so amiable. He knelt at her +feet and kissed her hand, saying,--"Now, my dear mother, my happiness +is full, since you are reconciled to this marriage. And Constance and +I will gladly come to your feast." + +Then the hideous old hag went away, nodding and mumbling,--"Aha! +Mistress Constance, white as they call you, you shall be dyed so red +that all the water in your church font shall not wash you clean again!" + +Constance came soon after, and there was great feasting and +merry-making, and the Soldan was very happy. + +Then the Soldaness gave her great feast, and while they sat at the +table, her soldiers came in and killed the Soldan and all the lords who +were friendly to him, and slaughtered so many that the banquet hall +swam ankle deep in blood. + +But they did not slay Constance. Instead, they bore her to the sea and +put her on board her ship all alone, with provisions for a long +journey, and then set her adrift on the wide waters. + +So she sailed on, drifting past many shores, out into the limitless +ocean, borne on by the billows, seeing the day dawn and the sun set, +and never meeting living creature. All alone on a wide ocean! drifting +down into soft southern seas where the warm winds always blew, then +driving up into frozen waters where green, glittering icebergs sailed +solemnly past the ship, so near, it seemed as if they would crush the +frail bark to atoms. + +So for three long years, day and night, winter and summer, this lonely +ship went on, till at length the winds cast it on the English shores. + +As soon as the ship stranded, the governor of the town, with his wife +and a great crowd of people, came to see this strange vessel. They +were all charmed with the sweet face of Constance, and Dame Hennegilde, +the governor's wife, on the instant loved her as her life. So this +noble couple took her home and made much of her. But Constance was so +mazed with the peril she had passed that she could scarcely remember +who she was or whence she came, and could answer naught to all their +questionings. + +While she lived with the good Hennegilde, a young knight began to love +her, and sued for her love in return. But he was so wicked that +Constance would not heed him. This made him very angry. He swore in +his heart that he would have revenge. He waited until one night when +the governor was absent, and going into the room where Dame Hennegilde +lay, with Constance sleeping in the same chamber, this wicked knight +killed the good lady. Then he put the dripping knife into the hand of +Constance, and smeared her face and clothes with blood, that it might +appear she had done the deed. + +When the governor returned and saw this dreadful sight, he knew not +what to think. Yet, even then, he could not believe Constance was +guilty. He carried her before the king to be judged. This king, Alla, +was very tender and good, and when he saw Constance standing in the +midst of the people, with her frightened eyes looking appealing from +one to another like a wounded deer who is chased to its death, his +heart was moved with pity. + +The governor and all his people told how Constance had loved the +murdered lady, and what holy words she had taught. All except the real +murderer, who kept declaring she was the guilty one, believed her +innocent. + +The king asked her, "Have you any champion who could fight for you?" + +At this Constance, falling on her knees, cried out that she had no +champion but God, and prayed that He would defend her innocence. + +"Now," cried the king, "bring the holy book which was brought from +Brittany by my fathers, and let the knight swear upon it that the +maiden is guilty." + +So they brought the book of the Gospels, and the knight kissed it, but +as soon as he began to take the oath he was felled down as by a +terrible blow, and his neck was found broken and his eyes burst from +his head. Before them all, in great agony, he died, confessing his +guilt and the innocence of Constance. + +King Alla had been much moved by the beauty of Constance and her +innocent looks, and now she was proved guiltless, all his heart went +out to her. And when he asked her to become his queen she gladly +consented, for she loved him because he had pitied and helped her. +They were soon married amidst the great rejoicing of the people, and +the king and all the land became converted to the Christian faith. + +This king also had a mother, named Donegilde, an old heatheness, no +less cruel than the mother of the Soldan. She hated Constance because +she had been made queen though for fear of her son's wrath she dared +not molest her. + +After his honeymoon, King Alla went northward to do battle with the +Scots, who were his foemen, leaving his wife in charge of a bishop and +the good governor, the husband of the murdered Hennegilde. While he +was absent heaven sent Constance a beautiful little son, whom she named +Maurice. + +As soon as the babe was born, the governor sent a messenger to the king +with a letter telling him of his good fortune. Now it happened this +messenger was a courtier, who wished to keep on good terms with all the +royal family. So, as soon as he got the letter, he went to Donegilde, +the king's mother, and asked her if she had any message to send her son. + +Donegilde was very courteous and begged him to wait till next morning, +while she got her message ready. She plied the man with wine and +strong liquor till evening, when he slept so fast that nothing could +wake him. While he was asleep she opened his letters and read all that +the governor had written. Then this wicked old woman wrote to Alla +that his wife Constance was a witch who had bewitched him and all his +people, but now her true character became plain, and she had given +birth to a horrible, fiend-like creature, who, she said, was his son. +This she put in place of the governor's letter, and dispatched the +messenger at dawn. + +King Alla was nearly heart-broken when he read these bad tidings, but +he wrote back to wait all things till he returned, and to harm neither +Constance nor her son. Back rode the messenger to Donegilde once +again. She played her tricks over again and got him sound asleep. +Then she took the king's letter and put one in its place commanding the +governor to put Constance and her child aboard the ship in which she +came to these shores and set her afloat. + +The good governor could hardly believe his eyes when he read these +orders, and the tears ran over his cheeks for grief. But he dared not +disobey what he supposed was the command of his king and master, so he +made the vessel ready and went and told Constance what he must do. + +She, poor soul, was almost struck dumb with grief. Then, kneeling +before the governor, she cried, with many tears,-- + +"If I must go again on the cruel seas, at least this poor little +innocent, who has done no evil, may be spared. Keep my poor baby till +his father comes back, and perchance he will take pity on him." + +But the governor dared not consent, and Constance must go to the ship, +carrying her babe in her arms. Through the street she walked, the +people following her with tears, she with eyes fixed on heaven and the +infant sobbing on her bosom. Thus she went on board ship and drifted +away again. + +Now, for another season, she went about at the mercy of winds and +waves, in icy waters where winds whistled through the frozen rigging, +and down into tropical seas where she lay becalmed for months in the +glassy water. Then fresh breezes would spring up and drive her this +way or that, as they listed. But this time she had her babe for +comfort, and he grew to be a child near five years old before she was +rescued. And this is the way it happened. When the Emperor of Rome +heard of the deeds the cruel Soldaness had done, and how his daughter's +husband had been slain, he sent an army to Syria, and all these years +they had besieged the royal city till it was burnt and destroyed. Now +the fleet, returning to Rome, met the ship in which Constance sailed, +and they fetched her and her child to her native country. The senator +who commanded the fleet was her uncle, but he knew her not, and she did +not make herself known. He took her into his own house, and her aunt, +the senator's wife, loved her greatly, never guessing she was her own +princess and kinswoman. + +When King Alla got back from his war with the Scots and heard how +Constance had been sent away, he was very angry; but when he questioned +and found the letter which had been sent him was false, and that +Constance had borne him a beautiful boy, he knew not what to think. +When the governor showed him the letter with his own seal which +directed that his wife and child should be sent away, he knew there was +some hidden wickedness in all this. He forced the messenger to tell +where he had carried the letters, and he confessed he had slept two +nights at the castle of Donegilde. + +So it all came out, and the king, in a passion of rage, slew his +mother, and then shut himself up in his castle to give way to grief. + +After a time he began to repent his deed, because he remembered it was +contrary to the gentle teachings of the faith Constance had taught him. +In his penitence he resolved to go to Rome on a pilgrimage to atone for +his sin. So in his pilgrim dress he set out for the great empire. + +Now when it was heard in Rome that the great Alla from the North-land +had come thither on a Christian pilgrimage, all the noble Romans vied +to do him honor. Among others, the senator with whom Constance abode +invited him to a great banquet which he made for him. While Alla sat +at this feast, his eyes were constantly fixed upon a beautiful boy, one +of the senator's pages, who stood near and filled their goblets with +wine. At length he said to his host,--"Pray tell me, whence came the +boy who serves you? Who is he, and do his father and mother live in +the country?" + +"A mother he has," answered the senator: "so holy a woman never was +seen. But if he has a father I cannot tell you." Then he went on and +told the king of Constance, and how she was found with this bey, her +child, on the pathless sea. + +Alla was overjoyed in his heart, for he knew then that this child was +his own son. Immediately they sent for Constance to come thither. As +soon as she saw her husband, she uttered a cry and fell into a deep +swoon. When she was recovered she looked reproachfully at Alla, for +she supposed it was by his order she had been so ruthlessly sent from +his kingdom. But when, with many tears of pity for her misfortunes, +King Alla told her how he had grieved for her, and how long he had +suffered thus, she was convinced. + +Then they embraced each other, and were so happy that no other +happiness, except that of heavenly spirits, could ever equal theirs. + +After this, she made herself known to the Emperor, her father, who had +great rejoicing over his long-lost daughter, whom he had thought dead. +For many weeks Rome was full of feasting, and merry-making, and +happiness. These being over, King Alla, with his dear wife, returned +to his kingdom of England, where they lived in great happiness all the +rest of their days. + + + + +THE DOCTOR'S REVENGE. + +BY ALOE. + +Painfully toiled the camels over the burning sands of Arabia. Weary +and thirsty were they, for they had not for days had herbage to crop, +or water to drink, as they trod, mile after mile, the barren waste, +where the sands glowed red like a fiery sea. And weary were the +riders, exhausted with toil and heat, for they dared not stop to rest. +The water which they carried with them was almost spent; some of the +skins which had held it flapped empty against the sides of the camels, +and too well the travelers knew that if they loitered on their way, all +must perish of thirst. + +Amongst the travelers in that caravan was a Persian, Sadi by name, a +tall, strong man, with black beard, and fierce, dark eye. He urged his +tired camel to the side of that of the foremost Arab, the leader and +guide of the rest, and after pointing fiercely toward one of the +travelers a little behind him, thus he spake: + +"Dost thou know that yon Syrian Yusef is a dog of a Christian, a +kaffir?" (Kaffir--unbeliever--is a name of contempt given by Moslems, +the followers of the false Prophet, to those who worship our Lord.) + +"I know that the hakeem (doctor) never calls on the name of the +Prophet," was the stern reply. + +"Dost thou know," continued Sadi, "that Yusef rides the best camel in +the caravan, and has the fullest water-skin, and has shawls and +merchandise with him?" + +The leader cast a covetous glance toward the poor Syrian traveler, who +was generally called the hakeem because of the medicines which he gave, +and the many cures which he wrought. + +"He has no friends here," said the wicked Sadi; "if he were cast from +his camel and left here to die, there would be none to inquire after +his fate; for who cares what becomes of a dog of a kaffir?" + +I will not further repeat the cruel counsels of this bad man, but I +will give the reason for the deadly hatred which he bore toward the +poor hakeem. Yusef had defended the cause of a widow whom Sadi had +tried to defraud; and Sadi's dishonesty being found out, he had been +punished with stripes, which he had but too well deserved. Therefore +did he seek to ruin the man who had brought just punishment on him, +therefore he resolved to destroy Yusef by inducing his Arab comrades to +leave him to die in the desert. + +Sadi had, alas! little difficulty in persuading the Arabs that it was +no great sin to rob and desert a Christian. Just as the fiery sun was +sinking over the sands, Yusef, who was suspecting treachery, but knew +not how to escape from it, was rudely dragged off his camel, stripped +of the best part of his clothes, and, in spite of his earnest +entreaties, left to die in the terrible waste. It would have been less +cruel to slay him at once. + +"Oh! leave me at least water--water!" exclaimed the poor victim of +malice and hatred. + +"We'll leave you nothing but your own worthless drugs, hakeem!--take +that!" cried Sadi, as he flung at Yusef's head a tin case containing a +few of his medicines. + +Then bending down from Yusef's camel, which he himself had mounted, +Sadi hissed out between his clenched teeth, "Thou hast wronged me--I +have repaid thee, Christian! this is a Moslem's revenge!" + +They had gone, the last camel had disappeared from the view of Yusef; +darkness was falling around, and he remained to suffer alone, to die +alone, amidst those scorching-sands! The Syrian's first feeling was +that of despair, as he stood gazing in the direction of the caravan +which he could no longer see. Then Yusef lifted up his eyes to the sky +above him: in its now darkened expanse shone the calm evening star, +like a drop of pure light. + +Yusef, in thinking over his situation, felt thankful that he had not +been deprived of his camel in an earlier part of his journey, when he +was in the midst of the desert. He hoped that he was not very far from +its border, and resolved, guided by the stars, to walk as far as his +strength would permit, in the faint hope of reaching a well, and the +habitations of men. It was a great relief to him that the burning +glare of day was over: had the sun been still blazing over his head, he +must soon have sunk and fainted by the way. Yusef picked up the small +case of medicines which Sadi in mockery had flung at him; he doubted +whether to burden himself with it, yet was unwilling to leave it +behind. "I am not likely to live to make use of this, and yet--who +knows?" said Yusef to himself, as, with the case in his hand, he +painfully struggled on over the wide expanse of dreary desert. "I will +make what efforts I can to preserve the life which God has given." + +Struggling against extreme exhaustion, his limbs almost sinking under +his weight, Yusef pressed on his way, till a glowing red line in the +east showed where the blazing sun would soon rise. What was his eager +hope and joy on seeing that red line broken by some dark pointed +objects that appeared rise out of the sand. New strength seemed given +to the weary man, for now his ear caught the welcome sound of the bark +of a dog, and then the bleating of sheep. + +"God be praised!" exclaimed Yusef, "I, am near the abodes of men!" + +Exerting all his powers, the Syrian, made one great effort to reach the +black tents which he now saw distinctly in broad daylight, and which he +knew must belong to some tribe of wandering Bedouin Arabs: he tottered +on for a hundred yards, and then sank exhausted on the sand. + +But the Bedouins had seen the poor, solitary stranger, and as +hospitality is one of their leading virtues, some of these wild sons of +the desert now hastened toward Yusef. They raised him, they held to +his parched lips a most delicious draught of rich camel's milk. The +Syrian felt as if he were drinking in new life, and was so much revived +by what he had taken, that he was able to accompany his preservers to +the black goat's-hair tent of their Sheik or chief, an elderly man of +noble aspect, who welcomed the stranger kindly. + +Yusef had not been long in that tent before he found that he had not +only been guided to a place of safety, but to the very place where his +presence was needed. The sound of low moans made him turn his eyes +toward a dark corner of the tent. There lay the only son of the Sheik, +dangerously ill, and, as the Bedouins believed, dying. Already all +their rough, simple remedies had been tried on the youth, but tried in +vain. With stern grief the Sheik listened to the moans of pain that +burst from the suffering lad and wrung the heart of the father. + +The Syrian asked leave to examine the youth, and was soon at his side. +Yusef very soon perceived that the Bedouin's case was not +hopeless,--that God's blessing on the hakeem's skill might in a few +days effect a wonderful change. He offered to try what his art and +medicines could do. The Sheik caught at the last hope held out to him +of preserving the life of his son. The Bedouins gathered round, and +watched with keen interest the measures which were at once taken by the +stranger hakeem to effect the cure of the lad. + +Yusef's success was beyond his hopes. The medicine which he gave +afforded speedy relief from pain, and within an hour the young Bedouin +had sunk into a deep and refreshing sleep. His slumber lasted long, +and he awoke quite free from fever, though of course some days elapsed +before his strength was fully restored. + +Great was the gratitude of Azim, the Sheik, for the cure of his only +son; and great was the admiration of the simple Bedouins for the skill +of the wondrous hakeem. Yusef soon had plenty of patients. The sons +of the desert now looked upon the poor deserted stranger as one sent to +them by heaven; and Yusef himself felt that his own plans had been +defeated, his own course changed by wisdom and love. He had intended, +as a medical missionary, to fix his abode in some Arabian town: he had +been directed instead to the tents of the Bedouin Arabs. The wild +tribe soon learned to reverence and love him, and listen to his words. +Azim supplied him with a tent, a horse, a rich striped mantle, and all +that the Syrian's wants required. Yusef found that he could be happy +as well as useful in his wild desert home. + +One day, after months had elapsed, Yusef rode forth with Azim and two +of his Bedouins, to visit a distant encampment of part of the tribe. +They carried with them spear and gun, water, and a small supply of +provisions. The party had not proceeded far when Azim pointed to a +train of camels that were disappearing in the distance. "Yonder go +pilgrims to Mecca," he said: "long and weary is the journey before +them; the path which they take will be marked by the bones of camels +that fall and perish by the way." + +"Methinks by yon sand-mound," observed Yusef, "I see an object that +looks at this distance like a pilgrim stretched on the waste." + +"Some traveler may have fallen sick," said the Sheik, "and be left on +the sand to die." + +The words made Yusef at once set spurs to his horse: having himself so +narrowly escaped a dreadful death in the desert, he naturally felt +strong pity for any one in danger of meeting so terrible a fate. Azim +galloped after Yusef, and having the fleeter horse outstripped him, as +they approached the spot on which lay stretched the form of a man, +apparently dead. + +As soon as Azim reached the pilgrim he sprang from his horse, laid his +gun down on the sand, and, taking a skin-bottle of water which hung at +his saddle bow, proceeded to pour some down the throat of the man, who +gave signs of returning life. + +Yusef almost instantly joined him; but what were the feelings of the +Syrian when in the pale, wasted features of the sufferer before him he +recognized those of Sadi, his deadly, merciless foe! + +"Let me hold the skin-bottle, Sheik!" exclaimed Yusef; "let the draught +of cold water be from my hand." The Syrian remembered the command, "If +thine enemy thirst, give him drink." + +Sadi was too ill to be conscious of anything passing around him; but he +drank with feverish eagerness, as if his thirst could never be slaked. + +"How shall we bear him hence?" said the Sheik; "my journey cannot be +delayed." + +"Go on thy journey, O Sheik," replied Yusef; "I will return to the +tents with this man, if thou but help me to place him on my horse. He +shall share my tent and my cup,--he shall be to me as a brother." + +"Dost thou know him?" inquired the Sheik. + +"Ay, well I know him," the Syrian replied. + +Sadi was gently placed on the horse, for it would have been death to +remain long unsheltered on the sand. Yusef walked beside the horse, +with difficulty supporting the drooping form of Sadi, which would +otherwise soon have fallen to the ground. The journey on foot was very +exhausting to Yusef, who could scarcely sustain the weight of the +helpless Sadi. Thankful was the Syrian hakeem when they reached the +Bedouin tents. + +Then Sadi was placed on the mat which had served Yusef for a bed. +Yusef himself passed the night without rest, watching at the sufferer's +side. Most carefully did the hakeem nurse his enemy through a raging +fever. Yusef spared no effort of skill, shrank from no painful +exertion, to save the life of the man who had nearly destroyed his own! + +On the third day the fever abated; on the evening of that day Sadi +suddenly opened his eyes, and, for the first time since his illness, +recognized Yusef, who had, as he believed, perished months before in +the desert. + +"Has the dead come to life?" exclaimed the trembling Sadi, fixing upon +Yusef a wild and terrified gaze; "has the injured returned for +vengeance?" + +"Nay, my brother," replied Yusef soothingly; "let us not recall the +past, or recall it but to bless Him who has preserved us both from +death." + +Tears dimmed the dark eyes of Sadi; he grasped the kind hand which +Yusef held out. "I have deeply wronged thee," he faltered forth; "how +can I receive all this kindness at thy hand?" + +A gentle smile passed over the lips of Yusef; he remembered the cruel +words once uttered by Sadi, and made reply: "If thou hast wronged me, +thus I repay thee: Moslem, this is a Christian's revenge!" + + + + +THE WOODCUTTER'S CHILD. + +Once upon a time, near a large wood, there lived a woodcutter and his +wife, who had only one child, a little girl three years old; but they +were so poor that they had scarcely food sufficient for every day in +the week, and often they were puzzled to know what they should get to +eat. One morning the woodcutter went into the wood to work, full of +care, and, as he chopped the trees, there stood before him a tall and +beautiful woman, having a crown of shining stars upon her head, who +thus addressed him: + +"I am the Guardian Angel of every Christian child; thou art poor and +needy; bring me thy child, and I will take her with me. I will be her +mother, and henceforth she shall be under my care." The woodcutter +consented, and calling his child gave her to the Angel, who carried her +to the land of Happiness. There everything went happily; she ate sweet +bread and drank pure milk; her clothes were gold, and her playfellows +were beautiful children. When she became fourteen years old, the +Guardian Angel called her to her side and said, "My dear child, I have +a long journey for thee. Take these keys of the thirteen doors of the +land of Happiness; twelve of them thou mayest open, and behold the +glories therein; but the thirteenth, to which this little key belongs, +thou art forbidden to open. Beware! if thou dost disobey, harm will +befall thee." + +The maiden promised to be obedient, and, when the Guardian Angel was +gone, began her visits to the mansions of Happiness. Every day one +door was unclosed, until she had seen all the twelve. In each mansion +there sat an angel, surrounded by a bright light. The maiden rejoiced +at the glory, and the child who accompanied her rejoiced with her. Now +the forbidden door alone remained. A great desire possessed the maiden +to know what was hidden there; and she said to the child, "I will not +quite open it, nor will I go in, but I will only unlock the door so +that we may peep through the chink." "No, no," said the child; "that +will be a sin. The Guardian Angel has forbidden it, and misfortune +would soon fall upon us." + +At this the maiden was silent, but the desire still remained in her +heart, and tormented her continually, so that she had no peace. One +day, however, all the children were away, and she thought, "Now I am +alone and can peep in, no one will know what I do;" so she found the +keys, and, taking them in her hand, placed the right one in the lock +and turned it round. Then the door sprang open, and she saw three +angels sitting on a throne, surrounded by a great light. The maiden +remained a little while standing in astonishment; and then, putting her +finger in the light, she drew it back and it was turned into gold. +Then great alarm seized her, and, shutting the door hastily, she ran +away. But her fear only increased more and more, and her heart beat so +violently that she thought it would burst; the gold also on her finger +would not come off, although she washed it and rubbed it with all her +strength. + +Not long afterward the Guardian Angel came, back from her journey, and +calling the maiden to her, demanded the keys of the mansion. As she +delivered them up, the Angel looked in her face and asked, "Hast thou +opened the thirteenth door?"--"No," answered the maiden. + +Then the Angel laid her hand upon the maiden's heart, and felt how +violently it was beating; and she knew that her command had been +disregarded, and that the child had opened the door. Then she asked +again, "Hast thou opened the thirteenth door?"--"No," said the maiden, +for the second time. + +Then the Angel perceived that the child's finger had become golden from +touching the light, and she knew that the child was guilty; and she +asked her for the third time, "Hast thou opened the thirteenth +door?"--"No," said the maiden again. + +Then the Guardian Angel replied, "Thou hast not obeyed me, nor done my +bidding; therefore thou art no longer worthy to remain among good +children." + +And the maiden sank down in a deep sleep, and when she awoke she found +herself in the midst of a wilderness. She wished to call out, but she +had lost her voice. Then she sprang up, and tried to run away; but +wherever she turned thick bushes held her back, so that she could not +escape. In the deserted spot in which she was now enclosed, there +stood an old hollow tree; this was her dwelling-place. In this place +she slept by night, and when it rained and blew she found shelter +within it. Roots and wild berries were her food, and she sought for +them as far as she could reach. In the autumn she collected the leaves +of the trees, and laid them in her hole; and when the frost and snow of +the winter came, she clothed herself with them, for her clothes had +dropped into rags. But during the sunshine she sat outside the tree, +and her long hair fell down on all sides and covered her like a mantle. +Thus she remained a long time experiencing the misery and poverty of +the world. + +But, once, when the trees had become green again, the King of the +country was hunting in the forest, and as a bird flew into the bushes +which surrounded the wood, he dismounted, and, tearing the brushwood +aside, cut a path for himself with his sword. When he had at last made +his way through, he saw a beautiful maiden, who was clothed from head +to foot with her own golden locks, sitting under the tree. He stood in +silence, and looked at her for some time in astonishment; at last he +said, "Child, how came you into this wilderness?" But the maiden +answered not, for she had become dumb. Then the King asked, "Will you +go with me to my castle?" At that she nodded her head, and the King, +taking her in his arms, put her on his horse and rode away home. Then +he gave her beautiful clothing, and everything in abundance. Still she +could not speak; but her beauty was so great, and so won upon the +King's heart, that after a little while he married her. + +When about a year had passed away, the Queen brought a son into the +world, and in that night, while lying alone in her bed the Guardian +Angel appeared to her and said: + +"Wilt thou tell the truth and confess that thou didst unlock the +forbidden door? For then will I open thy mouth and give thee again the +power of speech; but if thou remainest obstinate in thy sin then will I +take from thee thy new-born babe." + +And the power to answer was given to her, but she remained hardened, +and said, "No, I did not open the door;" and at those words the +Guardian Angel took the child out of her arms and disappeared with him. + +The next morning, when the child was not to be seen, a murmur arose +among the people, that their Queen was a murderess, who had destroyed +her only son; but, although she heard everything, she could say +nothing. But the King did not believe the ill report because of his +great love for her. + +About a year afterward another son was born, and on the night of his +birth the Guardian Angel again appeared, and asked, "Wilt thou confess +that thou didst open the forbidden door? Then will I restore to thee +thy son, and give thee the power of speech; but if thou hardenest +thyself in thy sin, then will I take this new-born babe also with me." + +Then the Queen answered again, "No, I did not open the door;" so the +Angel took the second child out of her arms and bore him away. On the +morrow, when the infant could not be found, the people said openly that +the Queen had slain him, and the King's councillors advised that she +should be brought to trial. But the King's affection was still so +great that he would not believe it, and he commanded his councillors +never again to mention the report on pain of death. + +The next year a beautiful little girl was born, and for the third time +the Guardian Angel appeared and said to the Queen, "Follow me;" and, +taking her by the hand, she led her to the kingdom of Happiness, and +showed to her the two other children, who were playing merrily. The +Queen rejoiced at the sight, and the Angel said, "Is thy heart not yet +softened? If thou wilt confess that thou didst unlock the forbidden +door, then will I restore to thee both thy sons." But the Queen again +answered, "No, I did not open it;" and at these words she sank upon the +earth, and her third child was taken from her. + +When this was rumored abroad the next day, all the people exclaimed, +"The Queen is a murderess; she must be condemned;" and the King could +not this time repulse his councillors. Thereupon a trial was held, and +since the Queen could make no good answer or defence, she was condemned +to die upon a funeral pile. The wood was collected; she was bound to +the stake, and the fire was lighted all around her. Then the iron +pride of her heart began to soften, and she was moved to repentance; +and she thought, "Could I but now, before my death, confess that I +opened the door!" And her tongue was loosened, and she cried aloud, +"Thou good Angel, I confess." At these words the rain descended from +heaven and extinguished the fire; then a great light shone above, and +the Angel appeared and descended upon the earth, and by her side were +the Queen's two sons, one on her right hand and the other on her left, +and in her arms she bore the new-born babe. Then the Angel restored to +the Queen her three children, and loosening her tongue promised her +great happiness and said, "Whoeverwill repent and confess their sins, +they shall be forgiven." + + + + +SHOW YOUR COLORS. + +BY REV. C. H. MEAD. + +I was riding on the train through the eastern section of North +Carolina. Nothing can be flatter than that portion of the country, +unless it be the religious experience of some people. The rain was +pouring down fast, and, for a person so inclined, not a better day and +place for the blues could be found. Looking out of the car windows +brought nothing more interesting to view than pine trees, bony mules +and razor-back hogs. Groups of men, white and black, gathered at each +station to see the train arrive and depart. Each passenger that +entered brought in more damp, moisture and blues. + +Two men at last came in and took the seat in front of me. Shortly +after, one of them took a bottle from his pocket, pulled the cork, and +handed the bottle to his companion. He took a drink, and the smell of +liquor filled the car. Then the first one took a drink, and back and +forth the bottle passed, until at last it was empty and they were full. +Then one of them commenced swearing, and such blasphemy I never heard +in all my life. It made the very air blue--women shrank back, while +the heads of men were uplifted to see where the stream of profanity +came from. It went on for some time, until I began talking to myself. +I always did like to talk to a sensible man. + +"Henry, that man belongs to the devil." + +"There is no doubt about that," I replied. + +"He is not ashamed of it." + +"Not a bit ashamed." + +"Whom do you belong to?" + +"I belong to the Lord Jesus Christ." + +"Are you glad or sorry?" + +"I am glad--very glad." + +"Who in the car knows that man belongs to the devil?" + +"Everybody knows that, for he has not kept it a secret." + +"Who in the car knows you belong to the Lord Jesus?" + +"Why, no one knows it, for you see I am a stranger around here." + +"Are you willing they should know whom you belong to?" + +"Yes; I am willing." + +"Very well, will you let them know it?" + +I thought a moment and then said, "By the help of my Master I will." + +Then straightening up and taking a good breath, I began singing in a +voice that could be heard by all in the car: + + There is a fountain filled with blood, + Drawn from Immanuel's veins; + And sinners plunged beneath that flood, + Lose all their guilty stains. + +Before I had finished the first verse and chorus, the passengers had +crowded down around me, and the blasphemer had turned round and looked +at me with a face resembling a thunder cloud. As I finished the +chorus, he said: + +"What are you doing?" + +"I am singing," I replied. + +"Well," said he, "any fool can understand that." + +"I am glad you understand it." + +"What are you singing?" + +"I am singing the religion of the Lord Jesus." + +"Well, you quit." + +"Quit what?" + +"Quit singing your religion on the cars." + +"I guess not," I replied, "I don't belong to the Quit family; my name +is Mead. For the last half hour you have been standing by your master; +now for the next half hour I am going to stand up for my Master." + +"Who is my master?" + +"The devil is your master--while Christ is mine. I am as proud of my +Master as you are of yours. Now I am going to have my turn, if the +passengers don't object." + +A chorus of voices cried out: "Sing on, stranger, we like that." + +I sung on, and as the next verse was finished, the blasphemer turned +his face away, and I saw nothing of him after that but the back of his +head, and that was the handsomest part of him. He left the train soon +after, and I am glad to say I've never seen him since. Song after song +followed, and I soon had other voices to help me. When the song +service ended, an old man came to me, put out his hand, and said, "Sir, +I owe you thanks and a confession." + +"Thanks for what?" + +"Thanks for rebuking that blasphemer." + +"Don't thank me for that, but give thanks to my Master. I try to stand +up for Him wherever I am. What about the confession?" + +"I am in my eighty-third year. I have been a preacher of the Gospel +for over sixty years. When I heard that man swearing so, I wanted to +rebuke him. I rose from my seat two or three times, to do so, but my +courage failed. I have not much longer to live, but never again will I +refuse to show my colors anywhere." + + + + +HER DANGER SIGNAL. + +BY EMMA C. HEWITT. + +She did--I am sorry to record it, but she did--Letty Bascombe salted +her pie-crust with a great, big tear. + +Not that she had none of the other salt, nor that she intended to do +it, but, all of a sudden, a big tear, oh, as big as the end of your +thumb, if you are a little, little girl, ran zigzag across her cheek +down to her chin, and, before she could wipe it off, a sudden, sharp +sob took her unawares and, plump, right into the pastry, went this big +fat tear. Of course, if you are even a little girl you must know that +it is as useless to hunt for tears in pie-crust as it is to "hunt for a +needle in a hay-stack." So Letty did not even try to recover her lost +property. But it had one good effect, it made her laugh, and, between +you and me (I tell this to you as a secret), Letty, like every other +girl, little or big, fat or thin, was much pleasanter to look upon when +she smiled than when she cried. But she didn't smile for that. Oh, +dear, no. She smiled because she couldn't help it. She was a +good-natured, sweet-tempered little puss, most times, and possessed of +a very sunny disposition. "Why did she salt her pie-crust with tears, +then?" I hear you ask. Ah, "Why?" And wait till I tell you. The most +curious part of it all was that it was a Thanksgiving crust. There, +now. The worst is out. A common, every-day, week-a-day pie, or even a +Sunday pie, would be bad enough, but a Thanksgiving pie of all things. +Why, everybody is happy at Thanksgiving. + +Well, not quite everybody, it seems, because if that was so Letty +wouldn't be crying. + +Now let me tell you why poor Letty Bascombe, with her sunny temper, +cried on this day while she was making pies. + +You see, she was only fifteen, and when one is fifteen, and there is +fun going on that one can't be in, it is very trying, to say the least. +Not that tears help it the least in the world, no, indeed. In fact, +tears at such times always make matters worse. + +Well, she was only fifteen, as I was saying, and, instead of going with +the family into town, she had to stay home and make pies. + +Now the family were no relation to her. She was only Mrs. Mason's +"help." Eighteen months ago Letty's mother (a widow) had died. Her +brother had gone away off to a large city, and she had come to Mrs. +Mason's to live. Mrs. Mason was as kind as she could be to her, but +you know one must feel "blue" at times when one has lost all but one +relative in the world, and that one is a dear brother who is way, way +off, even if one is surrounded by the kindest friends. + +So now, tell me, don't you think Letty had something to shed tears +about? + +"I j-just c-can't help it. I'm not one bit 'thankful' this +Thanksgiving, and I'm not going to pretend I am. So there. And here I +am making nasty pies, when everybody else has gone to town having a +good time. No, I'm not one bit thankful, so there, and I feel as if +turkey and cranberries and pumpkin pie would choke me." + +But after Letty "had her cry out" she felt better, and in a little +while her nimble fingers had finished her work and she was ready for a +little amusement. This amusement she concluded to find by taking a +little walk to the end of the garden. The garden ended abruptly in a +ravine, and it was a source of unfailing delight to go down there and, +from a secure position, see the trains go thundering by. + +In fifteen minutes the train would be along and then she would go back. +Idly gazing down from her secure height, her eye was suddenly caught by +something creeping along the ground. Letty's keen sight at once +decided this to be a man--a man with a log in his hand. This log he +carefully adjusted across the track. + +"What a very curious--" began Letty. But her exclamation was cut short +by the awful intuition that the man meant to wreck the on-coming train. + +All thought of private sorrow fled in an instant. What could she do? +What must she do, for save the train she must, of course. Who else was +there to do it? And oh, such a little time to do it in. To go around +by the path would take a half-hour. To climb down the side of the +ravine would be madness. Suddenly her mind was illuminated. Yes, she +could do that, and like the wind she was up at the house and back +again, only this time she steered for a spot a hundred rods up, just +the other side of the curve. + +In a trice she had whipped off her scarlet balmoral, the balmoral she +hated so, and had attached to it one end of the hundred feet of rope +she had brought from the house. + +Could she do it? Could she crawl out on that branch there and hold +that danger signal down in front of the train? + +She shuddered and covered her face with her hands. O, no, no, she +never could do it. Suppose she should fall off or the limb break. But +she wouldn't fall, she mustn't fall. Hark! There is the engine. If +she is going to save the train there is no time for further delay. +With a prayer for guidance and protection, slowly, oh so slowly, that +it seemed hours before she got there, Letty crawled out to the branch +and dangled below her, across the track, her flag of danger. She could +not see what was going on, because she dared not look down. So, +looking constantly up (and, children, believe me, "looking up" is one +of the best things you can do when in danger or trouble), and sending a +silent wordless petition for the safety of the train, Letty held her +precarious post. Hark, it is slowing up. Her balmoral has been seen +and the train is saved. The tension over, she cautiously turned and +crawled slowly back to land, and then dropped in a dead faint. +Recovering, however, she went slowly up to the house, trembling and +sick and shivering with the cold from the loss of the warm skirt +hanging on the clothes-line down in the ravine. + +Relaxed and limp she sat down in the big rocker before the kitchen +stove, a confused mass of thoughts racing through her head. Dazed and +excited, she hardly knew how time was passing until she heard the sound +of wheels. + +"O, Letty, the funniest thing--" shouted Laura, bursting into the +kitchen. + +"Wait, let me tell," interrupted Jamie. "Why, Letty, somebody's hung--" + +"Somebody hung," exclaimed Letty, in horror. "Why, Laura Mason, how +dare you say that was funny?" + +"I didn't--" began Laura, indignantly, but here Mrs. Mason interfered +with a "Sh-sh-sh, children, mercy, goodness, you nearly drive me wild. +Here. Laura, take mother's bonnet and shawl up-stairs. + +"Here, Jamie, take my boots and bring me my slippers. I'm that tired I +don't know what to do with myself. Goodness, but it feels good to get +home. The strangest thing's happened, Letty. The afternoon express +was coming into town this afternoon, and, when it was about two miles +out, all of a sudden the engineer saw a red flannel petticoat hanging +right down in the middle of the track, hanging by a clothes-line, mind, +from the limb of a tree. He thought at first it was a joke, but +changed his mind and thought he'd look further, and would you believe +it, he found a great, big log across the track. If the train had come +on that I guess there'd been more grief than Thanksgiving in this +neighborhood to-morrow." + +Mrs. Mason had said all this along in one steady strain, while she was +walking round the room putting away her parcels. + +Getting no response, she turned to look at Letty for the first time. +"Why goodness! The girl has fainted. What on earth do you suppose is +the matter with her? + +"Jamie, come quick. Get me some water. + +"There," when the restorative had had the desired effect. "Why, what +ailed you, Letty? You weren't sick when I went away. Bless me! I +hope you ain't going to be sick, and such a surprise as we've got for +you, too, out in the barn. But there. If that isn't just like me. I +didn't mean to tell you yet." + +"Why, mother, mother," exclaimed Father Mason excitedly as he rushed +into the room. "Somebody's just come from the village with this," +flourishing Letty's skirt wildly around, "and they say the train was +stopped right back of our house." + +"For the land's sake, Job! Well, if that ain't our Letty's red +balmoral. How did it--is that the--Letty, was it you?" she finished up +rather disjointedly. + +Letty nodded, unable to speak just then. + +"Well, who'd 'a' thought it. So you saved the train! Do tell us all +about it." + +"Mother, don't you think we'd better wait a bit till she looks a mite +stronger," suggested kind-hearted Job Mason. + +"Well, I don't know but you're right, but I'm clean beat out. Don't +you think, Job, that we might bring Letty's surprise--but there's the +surprise walking in from the barn of itself. Tired of waiting, likely +as not." + +"Yes, Letty," broke in Laurie. "Did you know your brother had come +home and that you saved his life this afternoon with that old red skirt +of yours?" So the mischief was out at last, and though the excitement +and everything nearly killed Letty, it didn't quite, or I don't think I +would have undertaken to tell this story. I don't like sad +Thanksgiving stories. Not that there aren't any; I only say I don't +like them, that's all. + +Well, sitting in her brother's lap--(what, fifteen years old?)--yes, +sitting in her brother's lap, she had to tell over and over again all +she thought and felt that afternoon, and to hear over and over again +what a dreadful time they had keeping the secret from her. How they +were so afraid that she would find out that they expected to meet her +brother--how he had been so anxious that she should not be told lest by +some accident he shouldn't arrive, and then she would be bitterly +disappointed and her Thanksgiving spoiled. + +Accident! Letty shuddered each time that they reached that part of the +story, for she thought how nearly the accident had happened, and as she +knelt to say her prayers that night it was with a penitent heart that +she remembered how she had felt in the morning, and she had added +fervently, "Dear Lord, I thank Thee for this beautiful Thanksgiving." + + + + +THE KNIGHT'S DILEMMA. + +(FROM CHAUCER.) + +One of the nobles of King Arthur's court had grievously transgressed +the laws of chivalry and knightly honor, and for this cause had he been +condemned to suffer death. Great sorrow reigned among all the lords +and dames, and Queen Guinevere, on bent knees, had sued the king's +pardon for the recreant knight. At length, after many entreaties, +Arthur's generous heart relented, and he gave the doomed life into the +queen's hands to do with it as she willed. + +Then Guinevere, delighted at the success of her suit with her royal +husband, sent for the knight to appear before her, in her own bower, +where she sat among the ladies of her chamber. + +When the knight, who was called Sir Ulric, had reached the royal lady's +presence, he would have thrown himself at her feet with many thanks for +the dear boon which she had caused the king to grant him. But she +motioned him to listen to what she had to say, before she would receive +his gratitude. + +"Defer all thanks, Sir Knight," said the queen, "until first I state to +thee the conditions on which thou yet holdest thy life. It is granted +thee to be free of death, if within one year and a day from this +present thou art able to declare to me what of earthly things all women +like the best. If in that time thou canst tell, past all dispute, what +this thing be, thou shalt have thy life and freedom. Otherwise, on my +queenly honor, thou diest, as the king had first decreed." + +When the knight heard this he was filled with consternation and dismay +too great for words. At once in his heart he accused the king of +cruelty in permitting him to drag out a miserable existence for a whole +year in endeavoring to fulfill a condition which in his thoughts he at +once resolved to be impossible. For who could decide upon what would +please all ladies best, when it was agreed by all wise men that no two +of the uncertain sex would ever fix upon one and the same thing? + +With these desponding thoughts Sir Ulric went out of the queen's +presence, and prepared to travel abroad over the country, if perchance +by inquiring far and wide he might find out the answer which would save +his life. + +From house to house and from town to town traveled Sir Ulric, asking +maid and matron, young or old, the same question. But never, from any +two, did he receive a like answer. Some told him that women best loved +fine clothes; some that they loved rich living; some loved their +children best; others desired most to be loved; and some loved best to +be considered free from curiosity, which, since Eve, had been said to +be a woman's chief vice. But among all, no answers were alike, and at +each the knight's heart sank in despair, and he seemed as if he +followed and ignis fatuus which each day led him farther and farther +from the truth. + +One day, as he rode through a pleasant wood, the knight alighted and +sat himself down under a tree to rest, and bewail his unhappy lot. +Sitting here, in a loud voice he accused his unfriendly stars that they +had brought him into so sad a state. While he spoke thus, he looked up +and beheld an old woman, wrapped in a heavy mantle, standing beside +him. Sir Ulric thought he had never seen so hideous a hag as she who +now stood gazing at him. She was wrinkled and toothless, and bent with +age. One eye was shut, and in the other was a leer so horrible that he +feared her some uncanny creature of the wood, and crossed himself as he +looked on her. + +"Good knight," said the old crone, before he could arise to leave her +sight, "tell me, I pray thee, what hard thing ye seek. I am old, and +have had much wisdom. It may happen that I can help you out of the +great trouble into which you have come." + +The knight, in spite of her loathsomeness, felt a ray of hope at this +offer, and in a few words told her what he was seeking. + +As soon as she had heard, the old creature burst into so loud a laugh +that between laughing and mumbling Sir Ulric feared she would choke +herself before she found breath to answer him. + +"You are but a poor hand at riddles," she said at length, "if you +cannot guess what is so simple. Let me but whisper two words in your +ear, and you shall be able to tell the queen what neither she nor her +ladies nor any woman in all the kingdom shall be able to deny. But I +give my aid on one condition,--that if I be right in what I tell, you +shall grant me one boon, whatever I ask, if the same be in your power." + +The knight gladly consented, and on this the old hag whispered in his +ear two little words, which caused him to leap upon his horse with +great joy and set out directly for the queen's court. + +When he had arrived there, and given notice of his readiness to answer +her, Guinevere held a great meeting in her chief hall, of all the +ladies in the kingdom. Thither came old and young, wife, maid and +widow, to decide if Sir Ulric answered aright. + +The queen was placed on a high throne as judge if what he said be the +truth, and all present waited eagerly for his time to speak. When, +therefore, it was demanded of him what he had to say, all ears +stretched to hear his answer. + +"Noble lady," said the knight, when he saw all eyes and ears intent +upon him, "I have sought far and wide the answer you desired. And I +find that the thing of all the world which pleaseth women best, is to +have their own way in all things." + +When the knight had made this answer in a clear and manly voice, which +was heard all over the audience chamber, there was much flutter and +commotion among all the women present, and many were at first inclined +to gainsay him. But Queen Guinevere questioned all thoroughly, and +gave fair judgment, and at the end declared that the knight had solved +the question, and there was no woman there who did not confess that he +spoke aright. + +On this Ulric received his life freely, and was preparing to go out in +great joy, when suddenly as he turned to go, he saw in his way the +little old woman to whom he owed the answer which had bought his life. +At sight of her, more hideous than ever, among the beauty of the court +ladies, who looked at her in horror of her ugliness, the knight's heart +sank again. Before he could speak she demanded of him her boon. + +"What would you ask of me?" said Ulric, fearfully. + +"My boon is only this," answered the hag, "that in return for thy life, +which my wit has preserved to thee, thou shalt make me thy true and +loving wife." + +Sir Ulric was filled with horror, and would gladly have given all his +goods and his lands to escape such a union. But not anything would the +old crone take in exchange for his fair self; and the queen and all the +court agreeing that she had the right to enforce her request, which he +had promised on his knightly honor, he was at last obliged to yield and +make her his wife. + +Never in all King Arthur's court were sadder nuptials than these. No +feasting, no joy, but only gloom and heaviness, which, spreading itself +from the wretched Sir Ulric, infected all the court. Many a fair dame +pitied him sorely, and not a knight but thanked his gracious stars that +he did not stand in the like ill fortune. + +After the wedding ceremonies, as Ulric sat alone in his chamber, very +heavy-hearted and sad, his aged bride entered and sat down hear him. +But he turned his back upon her, resolving that now she was his wife, +he would have no more speech with her. + +While he sat thus inattentive, she began to speak with him, and in +spite of his indifference, Sir Ulric could but confess that her voice +was passing sweet, and her words full of wit and sense. In a long +discourse she painted to him the advantage of having a bride who from +very gratitude would always be most faithful and loving. She instanced +from history and song all those who by beauty had been betrayed, and by +youth had been led into folly. At last she said:-- + +"Now, my sweet lord, I pray thee tell me this. Would you rather I +should be as I am, and be to you a true and humble wife, wise in +judgment, subject in all things to your will, or young and foolish, and +apt to betray your counsels. Choose now betwixt the two." + +Then the knight, who had listened in much wonder to the wisdom with +which she spoke, and had pondered over her words while speaking, could +not help being moved by the beauty of her conversation, which surpassed +the beauty of any woman's face which he had ever seen. Under this +spell he answered her:-- + +"Indeed I am content to choose you even as you are. Be as you will. A +man could have no better guidance than the will of so sensible a wife." + +On this his bride uttered a glad cry. + +"Look around upon me, my good lord," she said; "since you are willing +to yield to my will in this, behold that I am not only wise, but young +and fair also. The enchantment, which held me thus aged and deformed, +till I could find a knight who in spite of my ugliness would marry me, +and would be content to yield to my will, is forever removed. Now, I +am your fair, as well as your loving wife." + +Turning around, the knight beheld a lady sweet and young, more lovely +in her looks than Guinevere herself. With happy tears she related how +the enchantments had been wrought which held her in the form of an +ancient hag until he had helped to remove the spell. And from that +time forth they lived in great content, each happy to yield equally to +each other in all things. + + + + +HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS. + +BY REV. C. H. MEAD. + +"Black yer boots, mister? Shine 'em up--only a nickel." Such were the +cries that greeted me from half a dozen boot-blacks as I came through +the ferry gates with my boots loaded down with New Jersey mud. Never +did barnacles stick to the bottom of a vessel more tenaciously, or +politician hold on to office with a tighter grip, than did that mud +cling to my boots. And never did flies scent a barrel of sugar more +quickly than that horde of boot-blacks discovered my mud-laden +extremities. They swooped down upon me with their piercing cries, +until many of my fellow-passengers gazed on my boots with looks that +seemed to rebuke me for my temerity in daring to bring such a large +amount of soil to add to the already over-stocked supply of the city. +My very boots seemed to plead with me to let one of those boys relieve +them of the load that weighed them down. But, behold my dilemma--six +persistent, lusty, vociferous boys clamoring for one job, while I, as +arbiter, must deal out elation to one boy, and dejection to the five. + +"Silence! Fall into line for inspection!" Behold my brigade, standing +in line, and no two of them alike in size, feature or dress. All +looked eager, and five of them looked at my boots and pointed their +index fingers at the same objects. The sixth boy held up his head in a +manly way and looked me in the eye. I looked him over and was affected +in two ways. His clothes touched my funny bone and made me laugh +before I knew it. If those pants had been made for that boy, then +since that time there had been a great growth in that boy or a great +shrinkage in the pants. But, if the pants were several sizes too small +and fit him too little, the coat was several sizes too large and fit +him too much, so that his garments gave him the appearance of being a +small child from his waist down, and an old man from his waist up. The +laugh that came as my sense of humor was touched, instantly ceased as I +saw the flush that came to the boy's face. The other five boys wanted +to get at my boots, but this one had got at my heart, and I made up my +mind he should get at my boots as well, and straightway made known my +decision. This at once brought forth a volley of jibes and jeers and +cutting remarks. "Oh, 'His Royal Highness' gets the job, and he will +be prouder and meaner than ever, he will. Say, mister, he's too proud +to live, he is. He thinks he owns the earth, he does." + +The flush deepened on the boy's face, and I drove his assailants away +ere I let him begin his work. + +"Now, my boy, take your time, and you shall have extra pay for the job; +pardon me for laughing at you; don't mind those boys, but tell me why +they call you 'His Royal Highness?'" + +He gazed up in my face a moment with a hungry look, and I said, "You +can trust me." + +"Well, sir, they thinks I'm proud and stuck-up, 'cause I won't pitch +pennies and play 'craps' with 'em, and they says I'm stingy and trying +to own the earth, 'cause I won't chew tobacco and drink beer, or buy +the stuff for 'em. They says my father must be a king, for I wears +such fashionable clothes, and puts on so many airs, but that I run away +from home 'cause I wanted to boss my father and be king myself. So +they calls me 'His Royal Highness.'" + +There was a tremble in his voice as he paused a moment, and then he +continued: + +"If I ever had a father, I never seen him, and if, I had a mother, I +wish someone would tell me who she was. How can a feller be proud and +stuck-up who ain't got no father and no mother, and no name only Joe? +They calls me stingy 'cause I'm saving all the money I can, but I ain't +saving it for myself--I'm saving it for Jessie." + +"Is Jessie your sister?" I asked. + +"No, sir; I ain't got no relatives." + +"Perhaps, then, she is your sweetheart," I said. + +Again he looked up in my face and said very earnestly, "Did you ever +know a boot-black without any name to have an angel for a sweetheart?" + +His eyes were full of tears, and I made no answer, though I might have +told him I had found a boot-black who had a big, warm heart even if he +had no sweetheart. Very abruptly he said: + +"You came over on the boat; what kind of a land is it over across the +river?" + +"It is very pleasant in the country," I replied. + +"Is it a land of pure delight, where saints immortal reign?" + +Having just come from New Jersey where the infamous race track, and the +more infamous rum-traffic legalized by law, would sink the whole State +in the Atlantic Ocean, if it were not that it had a life preserver in +Ocean Grove, I was hardly prepared to vouch for it being that kind of a +land. + +"Why do you ask that?" I said. + +"Because I hear Jessie sing about it so much, and when I asked her +about it, she said it's a land where there's green fields, and flowers +that don't wither, and rivers of delight, and where the sun always +shines, and she wants to go there so much. I hasn't told anybody about +it before, but I eats as little as I can and gets along with these +clothes what made you laugh at me, and I'm saving up my money to take +Jessie to that land of pure delight just as soon as I gets enough. +Does yer know where that land is?" + +"I think I do, my boy, but you haven't told me yet who Jessie is." + +"Jessie's an angel, but she's sick. She, lives up in a room in the +tenement, and I lives in the garret near by. She ain't got no father, +and her mother don't get much work, for she can't go out to work and +take care of Jessie, too. She cries a good deal when Jessie don't see +her, 'cause she thinks she is going to lose Jessie, but over in that +land of pure delight, Jessie says nobody is sick, and everybody who +goes there gets well right away, and, oh sir, I wants to take Jessie +there just as soon as I can. I takes her a flower every night, and +then I just sits and looks at her face, until my heart gets warmer and +warmer, and do yer think I could come out of such a place and then +swear and drink, and chew tobacco, and pitch pennies, and tell lies? I +tells Jessie how the boys calls me 'His Royal Highness,' and she tells +me I musn't mind it, and I musn't get mad, but just attend to my work. +And--and--and, oh sir, I wanted to tell somebody all this, for I always +tries to look bright when I goes in to see Jessie, and not let her know +I am fretting about anything; but I does want to take Jessie to the +land where flowers always bloom and people are always well. That's so +little for me to do after all the good that's come to me from knowing +Jessie. But, I begs yer pardon for keeping yer so long, and I thanks +yer for letting me tell yer about Jessie." + +Ah, the boys named him better than they knew, for here was a prince in +truth, and despite his rags "His Royal Highness" was a more befitting +name than Joe. + +"Where does Jessie live, my boy?" + +"Oh, sir, yer isn't going to take Jessie to that land of pure delight, +and spoil all my pleasure. I does want to do it myself. Yer won't be +so mean as that, after listening to what I've been telling yer, will +yer?" + +"Not I, my boy, not I. Just let me go and see Jessie and her mother, +and whatever I can do for them, I'll do it through you." + +A little persuasion, and then "His Royal Highness" and I made our way +to the tenement and began climbing the stairs. We had gone up five +flights and were mounting the sixth, when the boy stopped suddenly and +motioned for me to listen. The voice of a woman reached my ear--a +voice with deep grief in every tone--saying, "God is our refuge and +strength, a very present help in time of trouble." A pause--then a +sob--and the voice wailing rather than singing: + + Other refuge have I none, + Hangs my helpless soul on Thee; + Leave, oh, leave me not alone, + Still support and comfort me. + All my trust on Thee is stayed, + All my help from Thee I bring, + Cover my defenceless head, + With the shadow of Thy wing. + + +The boy grasped my hand a moment--gasped out "That's Jessie's mother, +something's happened"--and then bounded up the stairs and into the +room. I followed him and found sure enough something had happened, for +Jessie had gone to the land of pure delight, and the mother stood +weeping beside her dead. On the face of Jessie lingered a smile, for +she was well at last. In her hand was a pure white rosebud, the last +flower Joe had carried to her the evening before. Her last message to +him was that she had gone to the land of pure delight, and for him to +be sure and follow her there. + +I draw the curtain over the boy's grief. His savings bought the coffin +in which Jessie was laid under the green sod. Where "His Royal +Highness" is, must for the present remain a secret between Joe and +myself. His face and his feet are turned toward the land of pure +delight. His heart is there already. You have his story, and it may +help you to remember that some paupers wear fine linen and broadcloth, +while here and there a prince is to be found clothed in rags. + + + + +PATIENT GRISELDA. + +Many years ago, in a lovely country of Italy, shut in by Alpine +mountains, there lived a noble young duke, who was lord over all the +land. He was one of a long line of good princes, and his people loved +him dearly. They had only one fault to find with him, for he made good +laws, and ruled them tenderly; but alas! he would not marry. So his +people feared he would not leave any son to inherit his dukedom. Every +morning his wise counsellors asked him if he had made up his mind on +the subject of marriage, and every morning the young duke heard them +patiently; and as soon as they had spoken, he answered, "I am thinking +of marriage, my lords; but this is a matter which requires much +thought." + +Then he called for his black hunting-steed and held up his gloved hand +for his white falcon to come and alight upon his wrist, and off he +galloped to the hunt, of which he was passionately fond, and which +absorbed all the time that was not occupied with the cares of his +government. + +But after a while, his counsellors insisted on being answered more +fully. + +"Most dear prince," urged they, "only fancy what a dreadful thing it +would be if you should be taken from your loving people, and leave no +one in your place. What fighting, and confusion, and anarchy there +would be over your grave! All this could never happen, if you had a +sweet wife, who would bring you, from God, a noble son, to grow up to +be your successor." + +The morning on which they urged this so strongly, Duke Walter stood on +the steps of his palace, in his hunting-suit of green velvet, with his +beautiful falcon perched on his wrist, while a page in waiting stood by +holding his horse. Suddenly he faced about, and looked full at his +advisers. + +"What you say is very wise," he answered. "To-day I am going to follow +your advice. This is my wedding-day." + +Here all the counsellors stared at each other with round eyes. + +"Only you must promise me one thing," continued the duke. "Whoever I +marry, be she duchess or beggar, old or young, ugly or handsome, not +one of you must find fault with her, but welcome her as my wife, and +your honored lady." + +All the courtiers, recovering from their surprise, cried out, "We will; +we promise." + +Thereupon, all the court who were standing about gave a loud cheer; and +the little page, who held the horse's bridle, tossed up his cap, and +turned two double somersaults on the pavement of the court-yard. Then +the duke leaped into his saddle, humming a song of how King Cophetua +wooed a beggar maid; tootle-te-tootle went the huntsmens' bugles; +clampety-clamp went the horses' hoofs on the stones, and out into the +green forest galloped the royal hunt. + +Now, in the farther border of the wood was a little hut which the +hunting-train passed by daily. In this little cottage lived an old +basketmaker named Janiculo, with his only daughter Griselda, the child +of his old age. He had also a son Laureo, who was a poor scholar in +Padua, studying hard to get money enough to make himself a priest. But +Laureo was nearly always away, and Griselda took care of her father, +kept the house, and wove baskets with her slender, nimble fingers, to +sell in the town close by. + +I cannot tell you in words of the loveliness of Griselda. She was as +pure as the dew which gemmed the forest, as sweet-voiced as the birds, +as light-footed and timid as the deer which started at the hunters' +coming. Then her heart was so tender and good, she was so meek and +gentle, that to love her was of itself a blessing; and to be in her +presence was like basking in the beams of the May sun. + +This morning she and her father sat under the tree by their cottage +door, as the hunting-train passed by. They were weaving baskets; and, +as they worked, they sang together. + +As the hunting party swept by, Griselda looked up, and noted again, as +had happened several mornings before, that the penetrating eyes of the +handsome duke were fixed on her. + +"I fear he is angry that we sit so near his path," mused Griselda. +"How his eyes look into one's soul. His gaze really makes me tremble. +I will not sit here on his return, lest it be displeasing to him." + +Before the hunt was fairly out of sight, a gossiping neighbor came to +the hut of Janiculo, to tell the good news. Now, indeed, the duke was +really going to wed. He had promised to bring a wife with him when he +came back from the hunt. People said he had ridden into the next +province, to ask the hand of the duke's beautiful daughter in marriage. +And it might be depended on he would bring the bride home on the +milk-white palfrey, which one of his squires had led by a silver bridle. + +It was almost sunset when the trampling of hoofs told Griselda that the +hunting party were coming back; and remembering what the talkative +neighbor had said, she thought she would like to take a peep at the +young bride when they passed on their way to the palace. She had just +been to the well for some water, and she stood in the doorway, with her +bare, round arm poising the earthen pitcher on her head, and the rosy +toes of her little bare feet peeping from beneath her brown gown, to +watch the hunt go by. + +Nearer and nearer came the train; louder and louder sounded the +clatter, and full in sight came the duke, with the white palfrey, led +by its silver bridle, close beside him. But the saddle was empty, and +no bride was among the huntsmen. + +"Can it be possible the lady would refuse him,--so handsome and noble +as he looks?" thought Griselda. + +How astonished she was when the duke, riding up to the hut, asked for +her father. She was pale with fright, lest their humble presence had +in some way offended the prince; and, all in a tremble, ran in to call +old Janiculo. He came out, as much puzzled and frightened as his +daughter. "Look up, Janiculo," said the duke, graciously. "You have +heard, perhaps, that to-day is my wedding-day. With your good will, I +propose to take to wife your daughter Griselda. Will you give her to +me in marriage?" + +If a thunder-bolt had struck the earth at old Janiculo's feet, he could +not have been more stunned. He gazed at the earth, the sky, and into +his lord's face, who had to repeat his question three times, before the +old man could speak. + +"I crave your lordship's pardon," he stammered at length. "It is not +for me to give anything to your lordship. All that is in your kingdom +belongs to yourself. And my daughter is only a part of your kingdom." + +And when he had said this, he did not know whether he was dreaming or +awake. + +Griselda had modestly stayed in-doors; but now they called her out, and +told her she was to be the duke's bride. All amazed, she suffered them +to mount her on the snow-white steed, and lead her beside the duke, to +the royal palace. All along the road the people had gathered, and +shouts rent the air; and at the palace gates the horses' feet sank to +the fetlocks in roses, which had been strewn in their pathway. +Everywhere the people's joy burst bounds, that now their prince had +taken a bride. As for Griselda, she rode along, still clad in her +russet gown, her large eyes looking downward, while slow tears, unseen +by the crowd, ran over her cheeks, caused half by fear and half by +wonder at what had happened. Not once did she look into her lord's +face, till the moment when they reached the palace steps; and leaping +lightly from his horse, Duke Walter took her from the palfrey in his +own royal arms. Then he said, "How say'st thou, Griselda? Wilt be my +true wife, subject to my will, as a dutiful wife should be?" + +And looking in his face, she said solemnly, as if it were her marriage +vow, "I will be my lord's faithful servant, obedient in all things." + +Then they brought rich robes to put on Griselda, and the priest +pronounced the wedding ceremony, and the bridal feast was eaten, and +patient Griselda became a great duchess. + +For a time all went on happily in the country of Saluzzo, where Duke +Walter held reign. The people loved the meek duchess no less that she +was lowly born; and when two beautiful twin babes were born to the +duke, a boy and girl, the joy was unbounded all over the kingdom. +Walter, too, was very joyful; or, he would have been very happy, if a +demon of distrust had not been growing up in his heart ever since he +had married the beautiful Griselda. He saw how gentle she was, and how +obedient to him in all things, and he was all the time uncertain +whether this yielding spirit was caused by love of him, or by gratitude +at the high place to which he had lifted her, and the grandeur with +which he had surrounded her. He remembered the vow she had taken when +she looked into his eyes and said, "I will be my lord's faithful +servant, obedient in all things," and thinking of it, day by day, there +arose in his heart a desire to put her love and faith to the test. + +The resolution to which he came was so cruel, that we can scarcely +believe he could have loved Griselda, and had the heart to attempt to +carry out his design. He took into his counsel only an old servant +named Furio, and to him he gave the execution of his plan. + +One day Griselda sat in her chamber, caressing and playing with her two +babes. She had never intrusted their care and rearing to any but +herself, and her chief delight had been to tend them, to note their +pretty ways, to rock them asleep, and to watch their rosy slumbers. At +this moment, tired out with play, her noble boy, the younger Walter, +lay in his cradle at her foot; and the sweet girl, with her father's +dark eyes, lay on the mother's bosom, while she sang softly this cradle +song, to lull them to sleep: + + "Golden slumbers kiss your eyes, + Smiles awake when you do rise; + Sleep, pretty wantons, do not cry, + And I will sing a lullaby; + Rock them, rock them, lullaby. + + "Care is heavy, therefore sleep you, + You are care, and care must keep you; + Sleep, pretty wantons, do not cry, + And I will sing a lullaby; + Rock them, rock them, lullaby." + + +While the young duchess sang the last notes of her song, Furio appeared +on the threshold. Some remorse for what he was to do, made the water +for an instant dim his eyes, as he watched the group. But he had sworn +to do his lord's bidding, and he only hesitated for a moment, looking +up, Griselda saw him, and greeted him with a smile. + +"Enter, good Furio," she said. "See, they are both asleep. When he +sleeps, my boy is most like his father; but awake, my girl's dark eyes +recall him most. Have you any message from my lord, Furio?" + +"My lady," answered the old man, hesitatingly, "I have a message. It +is somewhat hard to deliver, but the duke must have his own will. My +lord fears you are too much with the babes; that you are not quite a +fitting nurse for them. Not that he fears your low birth will taint +the manners of his children, but he fears the people might fancy it was +so, and he must consult the wishes of his people." + +"If my lord thinks so," answered Griselda, "he may find nurses for his +babes. It seems as if no love could be so dear as mine. But perchance +he is right. My ways are uncouth beside those of royal blood. I will +give my babes a better teacher. Only I may see them often, and love +them still as dear, can I not, Furio?" + +"That is not my lord's wish, madam," said Furio, not daring to look +full at the duchess, and keeping his eyes fixed on the ground. "The +duke fears that even now the people murmur that an heir of base origin +shall grow up to rule over them. And he is forced to study the will of +his people. So he has sent me to take away the babes, and dispose of +them according to his royal orders." + +When he had said this, Griselda looked at him as one who did not +understand the language which he spake. All the blood forsook her +cheek, her strength gave way, and falling at the feet of the old +servant, still holding her baby clasped to her breast, she looked up in +his face imploringly, like the deer who lies under the knife of the +hunter. + +But when Furio began to take up the babes, the boy from his nest among +his cradle pillows, the girl from her soft refuge in the mother's +bosom,--then the sorrow of Griselda would have melted the tough flint +to tears. She prayed with moving words, she shed such floods of tears, +she gave such piteous cries of agony, that Furio, tearing the children +away with one strong effort, ran from the room with the screaming +infants, his own face drenched with weeping. When the duke heard of +all this, though it did not move him from his obstinacy of purpose, he +yet grieved in secret, and wondered if Griselda's love could outlast +this trial. + +The twin babes, torn so rudely from their mother, were sent to a noble +sister of the duke, who dwelt in Pavia; but no word was told to +Griselda of their fate; and she, poor mother, submissive to her +husband's will, because she believed it supreme, like God's, dared not +ask after them, lest she should hear that they were slain. + +When the duke saw how Griselda had no reproaches, nothing but grief, to +oppose to his will, even his jealousy was forced to confess that her +faith had stood the test. Whenever he looked on her, her gentle +patience moved his heart to pity, and many times he half repented his +cruelty. + +Month after month, and year after year went by, and again and again did +this demon of suspicion stir the duke to some trial of his wife's +obedience and patience. He drove out the aged Janiculo from the +comfortable lodgment in the palace in which Griselda had bestowed him, +and forced him to return to the hut where he had lived before his +daughter's greatness. And though Griselda's paling face and sad eye +told her sorrow, she uttered no word of complaint or anger against the +duke. + +"Is he not my liege lord?" she said to her own heart, when it sometimes +rose in bitter complainings, "and did I not swear to obey his will in +all things?" + +At last the day came when they had been wedded twelve years. Long ago +had Griselda won the hearts of the people by her gentle manners, her +sweet, sad face, her patient ways. If Walter's heart had not been made +of senseless stone, he would now have been content. But in his +scheming brain he had conceived one final test, one trial more, from +which, if Griselda's patience came out unmoved, it would place her as +the pearl of women, high above compare. + +On this wedding morn, then, he came into her bower, and in cold speech, +thus spoke to her,--"Griselda, thou must have guessed that for many +years I have bewailed the caprice which led me to take thee, low-born, +and rude in manners, as my wife. At last my people's discontent, and +my own heart, have told me that I must take a bride who can share fitly +my state, and bring me a noble heir. Even now from Pavia, my sister's +court, my young bride, surpassing beautiful, is on her way hither. +Canst though be content to go back to thy father, and leave me free to +marry her?" + +"My dear lord," answered Griselda, meekly, "in all things I have kept +my vow. I should have been most happy if love for me had brought thy +heart to forget my low station. But in all things I am content. Only +one last favor I ask of thee. Thy new wife will be young, high-bred, +impatient of restraint, tender to rude sorrow. Do not put on her faith +such trials as I have borne, lest her heart bend not under them, but +break at once." + +When she had done speaking, she turned to her closet, where all these +years she had kept the simple russet gown which she had worn on the day +Duke Walter wooed her, and laying aside her velvet robes, her laces, +and jewels, she put it on, went before the duke again, ready to depart +from the palace forever. But he had one request to make of her. It +was that she would stay to superintend the bride's coming, to see that +the feast was prepared, the wedding chamber ready, and the guests made +welcome, because none so well as she knew the management of the affairs +in the palace. + +Then Griselda went among the servants and saw that the feast was made, +and all things were in order, concealing her aching heart under a face +which tried to smile. When at evening she heard the fickle people +shouting in the streets, and saw the roses strewn as they had been on +her wedding-day, then the tears began to fall, and her soul sank within +her. But at that moment the duke called, "Griselda, where is Griselda?" + +On this, she came forth into the great feast chamber from whence he +called. At the head of the room stood the duke, still handsome and +youthful; and on each side of him a noble youth and maiden, both fresh, +blooming and beautiful. + +A sudden faintness overcame Griselda at the sight. She grew dizzy, and +would have fallen, if Duke Walter had not quickly caught her in his +arms. + +"Look up, Griselda, dear wife," he cried, "for thou art my dear wife, +and all I shall ever claim. I have tried enough thy faith and +patience. Know, truly, that I love thee most dear; and these are thy +children returned to thee, whom for so many years I have cruelly kept +hid from thee." + +When Griselda heard these words, as one who hears in a dream, she fell +into a deep swoon, from which for a time neither the voice of her +husband, nor the tears and kisses of her children, could rouse her. +But when she was brought back to life, to find herself in the arms of +her lord, and meet the loving looks of her children, she was speedily +her calm and gentle self again. + +Then they led her to her chamber, and put on her richest robes, and a +crown of jewels on her head; and, radiant with happiness, all the +beauty of her girlhood seemed to come back to her face. Nay, a greater +beauty than that of girlhood; for, softened by heavenly patience, her +face was sweet as an angel's. From that time forth the duke strove, by +every look and deed, and tender word, to make amends for her hard +trials. And to all ages will her story be known, and in all poetry +will she be enshrined as the sweet image of wifely patience, the +incomparable Griselda. + + + + +LET IT ALONE. + +BY MARY E. BAMFORD. + +"Hold him tight, Sid!" + +"I'm a-holding, Dave!" + +The two-year colt, Rix, lay on the ground. Sid was holding tightly to +the lasso, while Dave was trying to put the points of a pair of small +nippers into Rix's right eye. Rix had objected very much, but Dave was +determined; he knew something was wrong with that eye. + +"There!" said Dave at last, holding up the nippers. "See? Fox-tail, +just's I thought. Got it in his eye." + +Dave jumped up, holding the piece of fox-tail grass yet in the nippers. +Sid relaxed the lasso, and Rix rose slowly to his feet. The colt shut +his eyes, and shook his head, as if wondering whether the agonizing +fox-tail was really out at last. + +"Poor fellow!" said Sid. + +"I knowed that was it," asserted Dave. "I see something was the matter +with his eye when he come in this noon." + +Rix, released, trotted away. + +"Guess he'll stay out of fox-tail after this," said Sid. + +"I dunno," said Dave. "Critters walk right into trouble with their +eyes wide open. I'm going to make bread now." + +Sid followed into the shanty, and watched Dave stir together sour milk +and soda for bread. The ranch was away in the hills, much too far from +any town for visits from the baker's wagon. The treeless hills were +the ranging-place of cattle and horses. Far away in the valley Sid +could see the river-bed. It was dry now, but Dave said that if one dug +down anywhere in the sand, one could find a current of water a few feet +below the surface. Dave always knew things. Sid liked to hear him +talk. All this country was new to Sid. + +"Does your bread always rise?" he asked. + +"If it don't I give it to the chickens," said Dave, putting in some +more soda. "Tried yeast-cakes, but I couldn't make them work." + +"Is fox-tail grass much bother to folks?" questioned Sid, seeing Rix +from the door. + +"Awful!" said Dave. "Gets in the hogs' eyes, and the sheep's too. +Sheep-men try to burn the fox-tail off the pasture land, and the fire +runs into the farmers' grain, lots of times. That's what makes farmers +hate sheep-men so. Folks down 'n the valley round up the hogs every +June to pick fox-tail out of their eyes. If they didn't, half the +hogs'd go blind." + +"Round up?" questioned Sid. + +"Drive 'em together," explained Dave. "You'll see a round-up of my +cattle 'fore long. Got to go out and hunt the hills for 'em, and drive +'em away down to the railroad. The other men are going to do it on +their ranches too. Takes about a day for us little cattle-men to round +up, and then about two days more to drive them down to the railroad. +Big cattle-men it takes longer." + +"You like it?" asked Sid. + +Dave laughed. + +"Well 'nough," he said. "We stop, you know, and have a good time on +the road every little while." + +"What do you do?" questioned Sid. + +"Oh! drink--some," answered Dave. + +"You don't though--do you?" asked Sid. + +"Oh! well--some," said Dave slowly, as he poked the fire. "Have to +drink with other men, you know. They wouldn't think I was friendly if +I didn't." + +Sid looked troubled. Dave never used to drink when he worked for Sid's +father two or three years before, on the fruit ranch up country. + +Dave's bread was done. There were yellow streaks in it, but Sid ate it. + +"The principal thing's to get something to eat when your [Transcriber's +note: you're?] ranching," apologized Dave. + +About a week after this the round-up began. + +"You take Rix," said Dave. "I'll take another horse, and we'll hunt +the cattle up." + +In and out of the gullies they rode, here and there through the hills. +Late in the afternoon all the cattle that were to be shipped were +together. The moon rose full and bright, making the hills almost as +light as day. Sid and Dave stood by the shanty, looking back at the +corral, where the cattle were. + +"We'll start early to-morrow morning, Sid," said Dave. "Guess we'll +meet some of the other ranchers on the road, most likely. You tired? +Musn't let one day's riding use you up. We'll be two days going down, +and one coming back. We can ride nights some, maybe. It'll be +pleasant." + +Next night they were part way down the hills, far enough so that they +were leaving the bare portions behind, and entering the live-oak +districts. Sid stood in the moonlight by an oak, and watched some of +the men. They sat around a little fire, and played cards and drank. +Out in the moonlight were other men, taking charge of the droves of +cattle. Sid could see horns and heads, and once in a while a man would +come to the fire and drink and joke with the others. Dave came after a +time. He saw Sid with Rix by the tree. Sid had tied the horse there. + +"Come over to the fire, and get warm," said Dave. + +Sid went. One of the men held out a bottle to Dave. He took it, and +drank. + +"Give some to the youngster," said the man good-naturedly. "He's tired +driving cattle, I reckon." + +Dave looked at Sid, but Sid shook his head. + +"Too fine to drink with us cowboys?" asked the man by the fire. + +"Let him alone," said Dave. "He ain't going to drink if he don't want +to." + +Sid went back to his tree. He put an old gray quilt around him, and +lay down. Then he remembered. He rose again, and knelt in the dark by +the tree trunk. He asked God to keep the cattle from injuring anybody, +and to keep the men and Dave from becoming very drunk. Sid was afraid. + +He lay down again. Once in a while he looked over toward the fire. +Dave came to it sometimes, and always one or the other of the men +offered him a bottle. Sometimes Dave acted as though he were going to +refuse; but the other men always joked, and then Dave drank. + +"Why doesn't he stay away from the fire if he doesn't want to drink?" +thought Sid. "Maybe he's cold. I wonder if mother--" + +He went to sleep. + +Next day they drove the cattle again a long, long way. At last they +came to a town. There was the railroad, and there were the stock cars. +When the cattle were on board, Dave and Sid jumped on their horses. + +"Want to stay in town over night?" asked Dave. "Like a little change +from the hills?" + +"Let's go and get something to eat," said one of the other men, who +rode up. "I want somethin' different from ranch cookin'. Ain't a +first-class cook myself." + +Sid was glad to eat bread that did not have yellow streaks in it. He +was glad to have some meat, too. But, after eating, the other man said +to Dave: + +"Come take a drink." + +They were on the sidewalk, untying their horses. Sid pulled Dave by +the sleeve. + +"Don't," whispered Sid. + +Dave stopped and smiled. + +"Come on!" said the other man. + +"I don't get down to town only once in a while," said Dave. "Never +drink other times, Sid." + +He went with the man. Sid waited; it seemed to him that he had to wait +a long time. + +"Round-ups are bad things for Dave," thought he. "Mother'd be sorry." + +There was a great noise from the saloon on the corner. Pretty soon +Dave came out. He looked very white as he came to the place where the +boy waited. Dave leaned against Rix, and groaned. + +"What's the matter?" asked Sid in alarm. + +"It's my arm," said Dave, growing whiter. "There was a fight--in that +place--somehow. They knocked against me. I fell. One man fell on top +of me and my arm was sort of doubled up under me. It hurts--awful. I +don't know whether it's sprained--or broken--or--" + +They had to stay in town a week before they could go back to the ranch. +When they went back Dave had his arm in a sling. + +"It's a good thing the twenty-three tons of hay are in," said Sid. +"You couldn't do much with that arm." + +Dave did not say anything. + +Next Sunday night Sid sat in the door of the shanty on the ranch. He +was singing to himself a little. "Safely through another week," he +hummed. His mother always sang that Sundays at home. Sid was a bit +homesick Sundays in the hills. + +Dave came and sat down by Sid, and looked out at the sunset and the dry +river away down in the valley. Rix came trotting up near the shanty. + +"He's a smart colt--ain't he?" said Sid. "He hasn't been bothered with +fox-tail since that day you'n and I took that piece out of his eye. +He's kept his eyes away from the stuff, whether he's meant to or not. +Do you suppose he has as much sense as that?" + +"Critters ain't the only things that walk into trouble with their eyes +open," said Dave. "I ain't goin' to let Rix be smarter than I be. I'm +goin' to keep out of trouble, too, Sid. I ain't goin' to drink no +more, ever." + +"Not round-up times?" asked Sid. + +"Not round-up times, nor other times, if God will help me," said Dave, +soberly. + +"He will," said Sid. "Oh, I'm so glad!" + + + + +THE MAN WHO LOST HIS MEMORY. + +It was on a morning of May, 1613, that a lady, still young, might be +seen, followed by her two children, going toward the cemetery of a +village near Haerlem. The pale cheeks of this lady, her eyes red with +weeping, her very melancholy face, bespoke one of those deep sorrows over +which Time might fling its flowers, but it would be all in vain. Her +children, the elder of whom was barely four years old, accompanied her, +with the carelessness natural to their age. Indeed, they were astonished +to see their noble mansion still in mourning, and their mother and +themselves in mourning also, though a melancholy voice had said to them +one day, when they were shown a bier covered with funereal pall, +"Children, you have no more a father." + +A month after this they were playing as gaily as ever. Can it be that +the griefs of our early years are so terrible that heaven will not permit +them to dwell in remembrance? It may be so; but at all events those +children forgot for whom they had been put into mourning. + +As that lady arrived at the little cemetery gate, the passers-by asked +aloud (for curiosity respects neither modesty nor grief) who might be +that lady who passed on so sadly, and who it seemed had good cause for +her sadness. + +And an old beggar-woman said, "That lady passing by is the widow of John +Durer, who died this three months gone, and who was in his time Minister +to his Majesty the Emperor." + + +II. + +John Durer belonged to the family of a poor shepherd. He worked hard as +a scholar, but even when he was at play he showed a violent disposition +to domineer over the rest. He seemed to be devoured with ambition: at +all events he carried off every prize at school. By the time he was +fifteen he was the admiration, he was the pride, of all his masters. But +John was not loved by his schoolmates; he displayed a vanity which +repelled them, which sometimes provoked them. He made few friendships, +spoke freely with few, and looked haughtily down on such of his little +companions as were less happily gifted than he was. His words were +short, his look was cold, and the pride in which he shut himself up on +purpose, made him unapproachable. He lived by himself. + +One evening this young Durer, feeling, even more than usually, the +necessity of solitude and meditation, went out into the country, +dreaming, no doubt, of the grandeur to which his pride aspired, and which +he was hopeless of ever reaching; for his face was sad, and he walked +with a slow step, as does some discouraged traveler on a road without +end, toward something in the distance that perpetually escapes him. At +last he stopped in a hollow, called the Valley of Bushes, on account of +the gigantic white-thorn trees that grew there. He sat down in their +shadow: a small bird was fluttering about, and singing blithely overhead; +but he did not hear her. + +When the storm is loud, all natural sounds are silenced. Thus it was +with Durer; the throbbing of ambition in every vein with him absorbed all +the sweeter melodies which should charm the heart and fancy of youth. + +He was dreaming of fame and fortune. How to rise was his sole thought; +and it was not probable, except by some very rare circumstance and +chance, that his dream should be realized; for in those days of the +world, at least, it was thought that a shepherd's son should have a +shepherd's tastes. The young man did not see a single path open in which +he could plant his foot--one was barred by wealth, another by position, +another by birth. All that he could dream of was some blest chance that +should break down for him one of these barriers. He was sullen, +afflicted, ashamed, indignant, and alarmed,--above all, when he thought +of one thing--that thing was his poverty. + +For this had the shepherd of the village near Haerlem labored twenty +years; for this had he spent the savings of those twenty years, in giving +an education to this young nobleman. + +John was buried deep in these reveries--too deep for his age--when some +one came up smiling to him. This was a little, fat, chubby-faced man, as +round as a barrel, with a low brown hat on his head. He had on a large +brown cloak, a handsome yellow doublet, black breeches in the old +fashion, and square-toed glossy shoes, with large roses of purple ribbon. +The glance of this man, whose hair was already becoming gray, was keen +and penetrating. Though his lips were thick, there was an open, honest +expression about his mouth; while his clear eyes and sharply-cut eyebrows +seemed to belong to a man of strict uprightness. + +"I do not like to see youth melancholy," said the little man, coming +close to John Durer, and examining him--"it is a sign of the disease too +common among young people--which is a desire to be something and somebody +before they are well born into the world. I would bet my fortune against +this boy's dreams that he is already an old scholar. Plague take those +parents who fill their children's heads with learning ere they have made +men of them! who neglect all care to form a character, and think only how +to bring forward the understanding!--Vanity kills right feeling!" + +Mumbling thus to himself, the little man went up to John, and began to +question him. The dreamer started as if a thunderbolt had fallen close +to his elbow. + +"Young man, how far is it from the earth to the sun?" + +"Thirty-three millions of leagues," replied John, without the least +hesitation. + +"As if I did not know that he would know," said the little man to +himself, with a smile. + +"And how long would it take a humming-bird who could fly a league in a +minute to get there!" + +"Twenty-eight years, sir," was Durer's answer. + +"When one calculates so well, and so rapidly, no wonder one is +melancholy," said the little man to himself. Then going on--"Who was the +greatest man of antiquity?" asked he. + +"Alexander." + +"Who was the wisest?" + +"Socrates." + +"Who was the proudest?" + +"Diogenes." + +"Which of these do you like the best?" + +"Alexander." + +"What do you think of the neighbor who obliges his neighbor?" + +"I think that the first has the advantage of the second." + +The little gentleman considered a moment, and began again-- + +"What is your father's trade, young man?" + +This simple question made Durer blush. He did not say a word in answer. +The little man, who was very clear-sighted, said--"This young fellow is +ashamed to own that he belongs to a poor shepherd in the village hard by. +Bad heart--strong head--detestable nature! This boy will never make +anything but a diplomatist." Then, after a moment's reflection, he said +to himself--"But it's of no consequence." + +The end was, that young Durer went back to the cottage wild with joy. He +took leave of his father and his mother, who shed torrents of tears at +his leaving them. John was turning his back on the shepherd's cabin for +ever: he was to go to Vienna, to finish his studies there. For the +little man had put into his hand three purses full of gold, and had said, +"I am Counsellor Werter, favorite of his Majesty the Emperor. Your +assiduity in study has become known to me. Work on--for aught you know, +you may be on the high road." + +Three years afterward, Durer entered the office of the Emperor's +secretary. Later, he became, himself, private secretary. Later still, +he received a barony and a handsome estate.--So much for the prophecies, +so much for the secret influence of the Counsellor Werter! + +Durer was on the highway paved with gold;--but he forgot his father, and +he forgot his mother, too. + +One day, when Counsellor Werter was going to court, he met Durer on the +staircase of the palace. He said to him,-- + +"Baron Durer, I sent yesterday, in your name, twelve thousand crowns to a +certain old shepherd in a village not far from Haerlem." + +The Counsellor said this in rather a scornful voice; and he saw that +Baron Durer turned as red as the boy had done in the Valley of the +Bushes, on the evening when he was asked what his father's trade was. +The two men looked steadily at each other: the Baron with that hatred +which is never to be appeased--the Counsellor with bitter indignation. + +On the evening of that very day, the Emperor received his faithful old +friend, the incorruptible Counsellor, coldly. On the morrow, Werter was +not summoned to the palace--nor the day after. Disgrace had fallen on +him. He had nourished a serpent in his bosom. He left court, and +retired far away, to a small estate which he, too, chanced to possess in +the neighborhood of Haerlem. + + +III. + +As to John Durer, he rose to higher and higher dignities. The Emperor, +after having made him minister, married him to a noble heiress. About +that self-same time, the old shepherd and his wife died. Their village +neighbors accompanied them in silence to the humble churchyard. A little +man, whose hair was now white as snow, followed the dead with his head +uncovered. When the priest had cast on their coffins that handful of +dust which sounds so drearily, the old man murmured-- + +"There are bad sons, who, when they become fortunate, forget the aged +parents who cherished them when they were children. May they be +requited! for of such is not the kingdom of heaven."--Then he knelt down +by the side of the grave and prayed. + +This old man was Counsellor Werter. Wearied of the world, he had retired +into obscurity, after having divided the larger part of his splendid +fortune among the poor. He was gay, nimble--in the enjoyment of robust +health; and many a time would he thank heaven that no children had been +born to him, when he thought of the hard-heartedness of John Durer. + +Not long after this, on the spot where the shepherd's cabin had stood was +seen a magnificent chateau. It had been built so quickly, that it seemed +like an enchanted palace. Toward the middle of summer, a fine young +lord, a fair noble lady of the castle, and two lovely children, entered +the village near to Haerlem in pride and triumph, escorted by the +peasants, who had assembled in their honor. That fine young lord was +John Durer, first Minister to his Majesty the Emperor of Germany. + +It had chanced that heavy losses had befallen Counsellor Werter, which +brought him within an inch of ruin. Had it not been for a sister left +him who took care of him, the poor old gentleman would have been, indeed, +in a miserable plight. A single word spoken by John Durer would have +restored his ancient benefactor to court, and replaced him in the +Emperor's favor. But vanity is without a heart; and wounded pride never +forgives him who has wounded it. + + +IV. + +One day the fine young lord took a fancy to go and visit all the spots in +which, once on a time, he had dreamed away so many anxious hours. But he +would go alone, not choosing that any should witness his meeting with +those old friends, the haunts which might reveal to a companion the +poverty of his early life. He set forth without attendants, mounted on a +magnificent courser. He rode here, he rode there, not feeling even +surprised to see everything so much as it was when he had quitted the +country. The day began to go down--it was evening--when at last he came +to the Valley of Bushes. There was a small bird singing there, just as +it sang on that evening long ago. The sight of the white-thorn trees +awakened painful recollections in his mind,--no doubt, perhaps, even a +pang of remorse; and he spurred his courser in order to get clear of the +place. But the animal trembled, snorted, and refused to move a step. He +spurred his courser: the animal began to neigh violently. + +"Is it some serpent that he sees?" said the fine young lord. + +It was a little old man, who stepped out from among the bushes. He was +dressed in a black mantle. Out he came, right into the middle of the +road, closed his arms on his breast, and said in a dull voice, "Baron +Durer, can you tell me what is the distance from a shepherd's hovel to a +king's palace?" + +"That which there is betwixt the earth and the sun," was the reply of the +haughty upstart. + +At this, the old man threw his cloak open, and showed himself to the +Minister, as he had shown himself twenty years before, on that very spot, +to the scholar John Durer. The Counsellor was little changed in +appearance, except in his hair, which had been black, and was now white +as the snow of winter. + +John Durer's visage was mostly pale; but when he recognized that old man, +it became as red as blood. It was the third time that he had blushed +face to face with his former patron. Then the old man cried in a louder +voice,-- + +"Does the scholar of the village remember one Counsellor Werter?" + +"The Minister remembers nothing of the scholar," was the cold and +arrogant answer. + +"What, then, does he remember?" said the old man, pressing a little +nearer. + +"NOTHING!" cried the fine young lord, and he buried his spurs in the +sides of his courser. They went off at a fierce gallop. + + +V. + +But the fine young lord had only answered the truth. Whether it was from +that sudden struggle of pride, and his hard-hearted resolution not to +remember the Counsellor who had befriended him formerly or whether the +labor of many years had caused it, from that evening, from that moment, +the memory of the Emperor's great Minister began to decay. The ambitious +designs of the shepherd boy of twenty years ago came back to him; but of +all that had befallen him since, John Durer remembered nothing. The hour +of requital was begun! + + +VI. + +Thanks to his good courser, Baron Durer, the Minister, got home in safety +to his chateau. The first person that he met was the baroness. He +turned abruptly away from her. + +"Whither are you hurrying so fast, my dear baron?" said she, seeing her +husband running away from her, which was not his custom, for he was fond +of his wife. + +"Baron!" was his reply; "to what baron were you calling? I am no baron, +madame--though one day, perhaps, I may be. Let us hope I may." + +The tone in which he spoke these words terrified the baroness. Her +husband immediately afterward left the chateau, and began running as fast +as his legs could carry him, neither stopping nor slackening his pace. +His head was bent down, like the head of a miser who is seeking about +everywhere for the treasure which some one has stolen from him. From +that day forward his face assumed a gloomy expression, his color became +sallow, his eye haggard; and he began bitterly to complain that heaven +had thought fit to send him on earth in a shepherd's form and a +shepherd's dress. + +Some days later, a messenger from the Emperor's court arrived at the +chateau: "May it please my lord Minister," he began-- + +"I am no Minister," replied Durer, impatiently; "but have patience, sir, +have patience; I may be Minister one day." Then he began to walk up and +down hastily in the gallery of the chateau, perpetually saying, "I might +have been a Minister by this time, sir, if your great ones did not leave +men of strong intellect, and ability, and purpose, in the jaws of a +misery which eats away the very brain as rust eats away the steel. +Why--why, I ask, debar these men from high offices--these men who have +nothing--merely out of a prejudice, which is as fatal to the individual +as it is deadly to the state?" Then turning sharply on the Emperor's +emissary, "Go, and tell your master, sir," said he, "that yesterday I +was--I was--I was"--pressing his hand, as he spoke, above his forehead, +as though he was trying to find a coronet which had belonged to it. Then +rushing away distractedly--"Minister!" cried he, "I am--I was--No, no--I +was not--but I soon will be!--Leave me, sir! leave me! leave me!" + +Another day, his wretched family, who watched him with terror, overheard +him talking to his gardener: "What a magnificent piece of work you are +laying out, my good boy," said Durer; "a garden admirably designed, if +there ever was such a thing." Then casting a disturbed glance toward the +chateau, "'Tis a grand place, this," said he; "rich and elegant, and +capitally situated--to whom does it belong, Joseph?" + +"My lord baron knows right well that park, gardens, and chateau, belong +to his noble self," said the gardener, leaning on his spade, and raising +his cap. + +Durer began to laugh to himself--but it was a piteous laugh--"Belong to +me, my good boy!" said he; "not yet--not yet--and yet it seems to me as +if I had owned--as if I had owned"--and he passed his hand over his +forehead, as if he could call back some recollection which had drifted +away out of his reach--murmuring, after a pause, "Is it to be this +shepherd's hovel--for ever?--for ever?--for ever?" He fell on a turf +seat, sobbing bitterly; then raising his head, he saw his two fair little +children, who were at play in one of the alleys of the park. + +"What lovely children!" sighed he; "ah!--he must, at least, be happy, +whoever he be, that is father to such a pair of angels!" + +The children came and flung themselves, laughing, into the Minister's +arms, and hung about him with all manner of tender caresses. In return, +he could but press their tiny hands in his, or let his lean, feverish +fingers play with their golden curls. They kept calling him "Father." + +"What are they saying!" murmured the Baron; "the blessing of being called +father I shall never know! What is life--without a home, without a +family round me! But these gifts only belong to fortune, and come with +it." Then looking from one lovely little creature to another, with his +dim and bloodshot eyes, he said, "And yet these children--these +children--" He could not finish his sentence, but again passed his hand +over his forehead; and the children became silent and awe-stricken, for +they saw that he was weeping to himself. + +Not long after this, he ceased to know his wife, whom he called for +without ceasing; then he would bury himself deep in reading, without +recollecting a word of what he had read when he had ended. All that was +left to him was the memory of his young desires; the power of retaining +anything had passed away utterly. His ardor began to change into frenzy; +he was devoured with fever, and haunted with dream after dream that +tempted him to pursue them, and mocked him at the very moment when he +thought that he had reached them. The struggle wore him out, life and +limb. He was seen day by day to wither, and grow weaker. The end was +not far. On the last day of his illness, a strange fancy seized him: he +would get up--rushed out of the chateau, and began to run wildly across +the country, as if he were chasing something before him that no one, save +himself could see. "Sire!" cried he, hoarsely, "deliver me from the +obscurity of this shepherd's life! Sire! do listen to me! I am John +Durer! I have studied everything! I have learned everything! I have +fathomed everything! Raise me from my lowly condition, sire! Who knows? +one day you may have no one among your servants more devoted, more +enlightened, than your poor John Durer!" + +The thing that he pursued, fled--fled. Durer ran after it more wildly as +he grew weaker, trying to raise his voice higher and higher, and +stretching out his arms more and more eagerly. They were now at the +Valley of Bushes. "Sire!" cried he once again. + +"John Durer, scholar, of the village near Haerlem," replied a voice from +the shadows of the wood, "his Majesty the Emperor does not love people +who have lost their memory." + +The whole past--the long, long, years of his ambitious and glorious and +ungrateful life--seemed in one instant to come back, as in a flash of +lightning, before the weary, distracted man; and with this, too, the +consciousness of his present state. He uttered one terrible cry, and +fell down dead. + + +VII. + +Three months later, when his orphans were led by their mother a second +time to visit the humble cemetery of the village near Haerlem, they found +a little old man writing rapidly, with a piece of charcoal, a few strange +words on the stone under which the body of their father, the Minister, +had been laid. When they came close to the spot, the old man ceased, and +pointed out to them, with an awful look, that which he had written. +After the inscription, "John Durer, formerly Minister to his Majesty the +Emperor of Germany," the old man had written-- + +"Heaven requites ingratitude." + + + + +THE STORY OF A WEDGE. + +BY REV. C. H. MEAD. + +For more than a hundred miles, I had traveled, having the entire seat to +myself. + +Aside from the selfishness of the average traveler, who, while unwilling +to pay for more sitting, is more than willing to monopolize the whole +seat, I was glad of plenty of elbow room to enable me to answer some +pressing letters. + +But as the car began to fill up, I knew the bag at my side must soon give +way to another kind of neighbor, and presently down the aisle he came. +From a perpendicular standpoint he was small, but horizontally, he was +immense, and I viewed his approach with some alarm. + +There was a merry twinkle in his eye, and his face beamed with good +nature as he said, "Ah, I see you have room for a wedge at your side; +allow me to put it in place." With considerable effort and a good deal +of tight squeezing, he at last settled down in the seat, remarking, with +a merry laugh, "Here I am at last;" and there I was too, and there I was +likely to remain, if that wedge did not fly out, or the side of the car +give way. + +"Have you room enough?" I slyly inquired. + +"Plenty of room, thank you," he replied; "I trust you are nice and snug." + +"Never more snug in my life." + +"That's right; the loose way in which most people travel is a continual +menace to life and limb. I believe in keeping things snug, spiritually, +physically, socially, financially and politically snug. And if things +are spiritually snug, all the others must be so, as a matter of course. +I learned that fact years ago in England." + +"Are you an Englishman," I inquired. + +"No, sir; I'm a Presbyterian" he laughingly replied; "my father was born +in England, my mother was born in Ohio, and I was born the first time in +New Jersey. Then on a visit to England I was 'born again.' My father +was a Methodist; my mother was a Quaker, so of course I had to be a +Presbyterian." + +His unctuous laughter made the seat tremble. "Not a blue one, mind you. +Blue? Not a bit of it. Why, bless you, when I became a Christian, all +the blue went out of my heart and went into my sky. + +"My father was physically large--I take after him. My mother--" he +stopped abruptly and lifted his hat reverently; the tears filled his eyes +and coursed down his cheeks, and presently, with choking voice he +continued: + +"My mother, God bless her memory, was the best woman and the grandest +Christian I ever knew. She lives in heaven, and she lives in my heart. +I would that I were as much like mother spiritually as I resemble father +physically." + +The tender pathos of his voice, as he said this, made me feel that his +sainted mother, were she present, would have no reason to feel ashamed of +her son. + +As he was about to replace his hat on his head, I noticed in large +letters pasted on the lining, these words, "Hinder nobody--help +everybody." + +"Excuse me, sir;" I said, as I pointed to the words, "what is the meaning +of that?" + +Quickly the tears on his cheeks, were illuminated by a smile as he +said--"That's my watchword; I carry it in my hat, have it hung up on my +wall at home, and since I went into my present business, I've tried to +make it the daily practice of my life." + +"May I inquire what your business is?" + +"Certainly, sir, my business is serving the Lord, and there is no +business like it in the universe. It pays good dividends, brings me no +worry, insures me a good standing in the best society; feeds me on the +fat of the land, fills my heart with peace and makes me an heir to a +kingdom, a robe and a crown. Bankruptcy and bad debts never stare me in +the face, and every draft I draw is honored at the bank. Thus, I 'hinder +nobody,' and am able to 'help every body.'" + +"Where do you reside?" I asked. + +"On Pisgah's top"--and his face fairly shone as he repeated it--"on +Pisgah's top. At first I lived down in the valley among Ezekiel's dry +bones, and used to help the multitudes sing-- + + "'Could we but climb where Moses stood, + And view the landscape o'er: + Not Jordan's stream nor death's cold flood, + Should fright us from the shore.' + + +"But I moved on and up to my present residence, and now I sing-- + + "'From Pisgah's top, the promised land, + I now exult to see: + My hope is full, oh, glorious hope, + Of immortality.' + + +"But I beg your pardon, sir; am I crowding you?" + +"Crowding me? not a bit of it. I trust I shall always have room for +company like you." + +"Thank you, sir, thank you. I'm only a wedge"--with a merry laugh--"but +I try to fill every opening the Lord shows me. Excuse me but how far are +you going?" + +"I get off at Albany," I replied. He looked at me as if taking my +measure, and, after a moment he said: + +"I hope you are not a member of the legislature." + +"No, sir," I said, "I'm a Methodist." + +"Give me your hand. I am so glad to know you are going in the opposite +direction. A man may go to heaven by way of the legislature, but I would +as soon think of going where I could get cholera in order to secure good +health, as expect to serve God by becoming a member of the legislature. +Ah, here is Albany! Good day, sir; don't forget the wedge. And if you +will, I wish you would remember the watchword--'Hinder nobody--Help +everybody.'" + + + + +PRINCE EDWIN AND HIS PAGE. + +A TALE OF THE ANGLO-SAXONS. + + +CHAPTER I. + +On a certain high festival, which was set apart by Saxon monarchs for +receiving the petitions of the poor, and the appeals of such of their +subjects as had any cause of complaint, the great King Athelstane sat +enthroned in royal state, to listen to the applications of all who came +to prefer their suits to him. + +In one corner of the hall stood a noble-looking Saxon lady dressed in +deep mourning, and holding a little boy by the hand. The lady was +evidently a widow, and of high rank, for she wore a widow's hood and +barb--the barb, a piece of white lawn, that covered the lower part of +the face, being worn only by widows of high degree. The little boy, +too, was also arrayed in black attire; his youthful countenance bore an +expression of the utmost grief, and his large blue eyes were full of +tears. This sorrowful pair did not press forward like the other +petitioners, but kept at a modest distance from the throne, evidently +waiting for the king to give them some encouraging signal before they +ventured to approach him. + +The royal Athelstane's attention was at length attracted by the anxious +glances which both mother and son bent upon him; and as he perceived +that they were in distress, he waved his hand for them to draw near. + +"Who are ye?" said the king, when the mournful widow and her son, in +obedience to his encouraging sign, advanced, and bowed the knee before +him. + +"Will my royal lord be graciously pleased to answer me one question +before I reply to that which he has asked of me?" said the Saxon lady. + +"Speak on," replied King Athelstane. + +"Is it just that the innocent should suffer for the guilty, O King?" +said she. + +"Assuredly not," replied the king. + +"Then, wherefore," said the Saxon lady, "hast thou deprived my son, +Wilfrid, of his inheritance, for the fault of his father? Cendric has +already paid the forfeit of his life for having unhappily leagued +himself with a traitor who plotted against thy royal life; but this +boy, his guiltless orphan, did never offend thee! Why, then, should he +be doomed to poverty and contempt?" + +"It was the crime of the traitor Cendric, not my will, that deprived +his son of his inheritance," said the king. + +"I acknowledge it with grief, my royal lord," said Ermengarde, for that +was the name of the Saxon widow; "but it rests with thy good pleasure +to restore to his innocent child the forfeit lands of the unhappy +Cendric." + +"Is this boy the son of the traitor Cendric?" asked the king, placing +his hand on the head of the weeping Wilfrid. + +"He is, my gracious lord," replied Ermengarde. "He has been carefully +brought up in the fear of God, and I, his widowed mother, will be +surety to thee, that the boy shall serve thee truly and faithfully all +the days of his life if thou wilt but restore him to his inheritance." + +"Widow of Cendric, listen to me," said the king. "Thy husband plotted +with traitors to deprive me of my crown and my life; and the laws of +his country, which he had broken, doomed him to death, and confiscated +his lands and castles to my use. I might retain them in my own hands, +if it were my pleasure so to do; but I will only hold them in trust for +thy son, whom I will make my ward, and place in the college at Oxford. +If he there conducts himself to my satisfaction, I will, when he comes +of age, restore to him the forfeited lands of his father, Cendric." + +Ermengarde and Wilfrid threw themselves at the feet of the gracious +Athelstane, and returned their tearful thanks for his goodness. + +"Wilfrid," said the king, "your fortunes are now in your own hands; and +it depends on your own conduct whether you become a mighty thane or a +landless outcast. Remember, it is always in the power of a virtuous +son to blot out the reproach which the crimes of a wicked parent may +have cast upon his name." + +The words of King Athelstane were as balm to the broken spirit of the +boy, and they were never forgotten by him in all the trials, many of +them grievous ones, which awaited him in after-life. + +King Athelstane, and his brother, Prince Edwin, were sons of King +Edward, surnamed the Elder, the son and successor of Alfred the Great. +After a glorious reign, Edward died in the year of our Lord 925, and at +his death a great dispute arose among the nobles as to which of his +sons should succeed him in the royal dignity. + +Athelstane had early distinguished himself by his valor in battle, his +wisdom in council, and by so many princely actions, that he was the +darling of the people. His grandfather, the great Alfred, had, +therefore, on his death-bed adjudged Athelstane to be the most suitable +of all Edward's sons to reign over England. There were, however, some +of the Saxon lords who objected to Athelstane being made king, because +he was born before King Edward's royal marriage with the reigning +queen; Athelstane's mother, Egwina, having been only a poor shepherd's +daughter. They wished, therefore, that Prince Edwin, the eldest son of +King Edward's queen, should be declared king; but as Edwin was very +young, the people decided on crowning Athelstane, he being of a proper +age to govern. + +This election was very displeasing to some of the proud Saxon lords; +and Cendric, the father of Wilfrid, had been among those who conspired +with a wicked traitor of the name of Alfred, to take away the life of +Athelstane. The conspiracy was discovered, and all who were engaged in +it were punished with death. + +The college in which Wilfrid was placed at Oxford, had been founded by +Alfred the Great, for the education of the youthful nobles and gentles +of the land. It had been deemed the most proper place for the +education of the king's younger brother, Prince Edwin, and some other +royal wards, for the most part sons of Anglo-Saxon and Danish nobles, +whose persons and estates had been committed to the guardianship of the +king during their minority. King Athelstane, who, like his +grandfather, Alfred the Great, was very desirous of promoting learning, +had provided suitable masters for their instruction in every branch of +knowledge, leaving, therefore, men of distinguished learning and of +great wisdom to conduct the education, and form the minds and morals of +this youthful community; and being himself engaged in the cares of +government, and in repelling the attacks of the Danes, the king limited +his further attention to occasional inquiries after the health and +improvement of his brother and the rest of the royal wards. + +He had, indeed, taken the pains to draw up the rules which he deemed +proper to be observed in this juvenile society. One of the most +important of these, namely, that a system of perfect equality should be +observed toward all the individuals of whom it was composed, was, +however, soon violated in favor of Prince Edwin, who, because he was +the Atheling, as the heir apparent to the throne was called in those +days, was honored with peculiar marks of distinction. Every person in +the college, from the masters to the humblest servitor, appeared +desirous of winning the favor of the future sovereign, and of this +Edwin too soon became aware. + +Prince Edwin was the leader of the sports, and no amusement was adopted +unless his approbation had previously been asked and obtained. All +disputed matters were referred to his decision, and no appeal from his +judgment was permitted. + +It would have afforded subject of serious reflection, perhaps of +jealous alarm, to the king had he been aware of the injudicious courses +which were pursued by those around Prince Edwin; but Athelstane was +engaged in bloody wars with the Danes and the insurgent Welsh princes, +which kept him far remote from Oxford. His brother, meanwhile, +continued to receive the most pernicious flattery from every creature +around him, except Wilfrid, the son of Cendric, who, by order of King +Athelstane, had been appointed his page of honor. + +When Wilfrid was first admitted into the college he was treated with +great scorn by the royal wards. Among them were many who, in the pride +of circumstance and the vanity of youth, were so unkind as to cherish +disdainful feelings against the unfortunate Wilfrid, and to murmur at +his introduction into their society. + +Prince Edwin was, however, of a more generous disposition, and by +extending his favor and protection to the forlorn youth, rendered his +residence in the college less irksome than it otherwise would have +been. But the very affection with which Wilfrid was regarded by his +young lord had the effect of increasing the hostile feeling of the +others against him; and in the absence of the Atheling, he had to +endure a thousand bitter taunts and cruel insults respecting his +father's crime and the ignominious death he had suffered. + +Wilfrid was too noble-minded to complain to his young lord of this +treatment, although he felt it deeply. It required all his firmness +and forbearance to endure it patiently; but he remembered the words of +King Athelstane--"that his future fortunes depended upon his own +conduct;" and he resolved, under all circumstances, to persevere in the +path of duty; and, if possible, by his own virtues to blot out the +remembrance of his father's fault. He was also duly impressed with a +grateful sense of the king's goodness in extending to him the +advantages of a liberal and courtly education; of which he wisely +determined to make the most he could. By unremitting exertions, he +soon made so rapid a progress in his studies that he outstripped all +his fellow-students; and, though the youngest boy in the college, he +obtained the highest place of all, except the seat of honor, which his +partial preceptors allowed Prince Edwin to retain. + +Prince Edwin loved Wilfrid, and took real pleasure in witnessing his +repeated triumphs over those who regarded him with such unkindly +feelings. But Prince Edwin himself was proud and capricious--his +naturally frank and noble disposition having been spoiled by the +adulation of those about him; and Wilfrid was, perhaps, more than any +other person, exposed to suffer from his occasional fits of passion. +Yet Wilfrid was the only person who ventured to represent to him the +folly and impropriety of conduct so unbecoming in any one, but +peculiarly unwise in a prince, who, on account of his elevated rank, +and the respect with which he was treated, is required to practice +universal courtesy, and to avoid, if possible, giving offence to any +one. + +Prince Edwin, though often piqued at the plain dealing of his page, +knew how to value his sincerity and attachment. However he might at +times give way to petulance toward him, he treated him, on the whole, +with greater consideration, and paid more attention to his opinions +than to those of any other person. The regard of Prince Edwin for his +page was, however, soon observed with jealous displeasure by one of the +royal wards, named Brithric, who was older by two or three years than +any of the other young companions of the prince. + + +CHAPTER II. + +Brithric was a youth of a specious and deceitful character: it was his +practice to dissemble his real sentiments, and to recommend himself by +flattering speeches to the favor of his superiors. By constantly +addressing Prince Edwin in the language of adulation, he succeeded in +rendering his company very agreeable to him; for the prince's besetting +sin was vanity, and the artful Brithric was only too well skilled in +perceiving and taking advantage of the weak points of others. + +Wilfrid beheld this growing intimacy with pain; nor did he attempt to +conceal his uneasiness whenever the prince spoke to him on the subject +of his evident dislike of the society of Brithric. "I do not respect +Brithric, my lord," replied Wilfrid; "and where esteem is wanting, +there can be no true grounds for forming friendships." + +"And what are your reasons, Wilfrid, for denying your esteem to +Brithric?" said the prince. "He is obliging, and often says very +agreeable things to you." + +"It costs more to win my esteem than a few unmeaning compliments, which +Brithric is accustomed to pay to every one with whom he is desirous of +carrying his point," said Wilfrid. + +"And what should Brithric, who is the heir of the richest thane in my +brother's court, want to gain of a poor, landless orphan who owes his +sustenance and education to the compassion of King Athelstane?" +retorted the prince, angrily. + +The pale cheek of Wilfrid flushed with unwonted crimson at this +unexpected taunt from the lips of his young lord. It was with +difficulty that he restrained the tears which filled his eyes from +overflowing, but turning meekly away, he said-- + +"It is the first time the Atheling has condescended to upbraid his page +with the bounty of his royal brother, the generous Athelstane, whom may +heaven long preserve and bless." + +"It is good policy, methinks, for the son of a traitor to speak loudly +of his loyalty to the mighty Athelstane," said Brithric, who, having +entered unperceived, was listening to this conversation. + +"Nay, Brithric," said the prince, "Wilfrid could not help his father's +fault; though the remembrance of his crime and punishment ought to +restrain him from offering his opinion too boldly, when speaking of the +friends of his lord." + +"Let every one be judged by his own deeds," replied Wilfrid. "My +unfortunate parent offended against the laws of his country, and has +suffered the penalty decreed to those who do so by the loss of life and +forfeiture of lands. As a further punishment, I, his only child, who +was born the heir of a fair patrimony, am reared in a state of +servitude and sorrow, and am doomed not only to mourn my early +bereavement of a father's care and my hard reverse of fortune, but to +endure the taunts of those who are unkind enough to reproach me with +the sore calamities which, without any fault of mine, have fallen upon +my youthful head." + +The voice of Wilfrid failed him as he concluded, and he burst into a +flood of tears. + +The heart of Prince Edwin smote him for the pain he had inflicted upon +his faithful page; but he was too proud to acknowledge his fault. He +could not, however, bear to look upon his tears; so he left him to +indulge them in solitude, and, taking the ready arm of Brithric, +strolled into the archery ground to amuse himself by shooting at a mark. + +His hand was unsteady and his aim uncertain that day, yet Brithric's +voice was louder than ever in praising the skill of the Atheling. The +rest of the royal wards took their cue from the bold flatterer, and +addressed to the prince the most extravagant compliments every time his +arrow came near the mark, which they all purposely abstained from +hitting. + +At that moment the pale, sorrowful Wilfrid crossed the ground; but, +wishing to escape the attention of the joyous group, he kept at a +distance. The prince, however, observed him, and willing to obliterate +the remembrance of his late unkindness, called to him in a lively +voice: "Come hither, Wilfrid," said he, "and tell me if you think you +could send an arrow nearer to yonder mark than I have done." + +"Certainly," replied Wilfrid, "or I should prove myself but a bad +archer." + +The group of youthful flatterers, who surrounded the heir of the +throne, smiled contemptuously at the unguarded sincerity of the page in +speaking the truth thus openly and plainly to his lord. + +"Wilfrid, if we may believe his own testimony, is not only wiser and +better than any of the servants of the Atheling," said Brithric +scornfully, "but excels even the royal Atheling himself, in all the +exercises of princely skill." + +"He has yet to prove his boast," replied the prince, coloring with +suppressed anger; "but give him his bow, Brithric," continued he, "that +we may all have the advantage of taking a lesson from so peerless an +archer." + +"It is far from my wish presumptuously to compete with my lord," +replied Wilfrid, calmly rejecting the bow. + +"He has boasted that which he cannot perform," said Brithric, with an +insulting laugh. + +"You are welcome to that opinion, Brithric, if it so please you," said +Wilfrid, turning about to quit the ground. + +"Nay," cried the prince, "you go not till you have made good your +boast, young sir, by sending an arrow nearer to the mark than mine." + +"Ay, royal Atheling," shouted the company, "compel the vaunter to show +us a sample of his skill." + +"Rather, let my lord, the Atheling, try his own skill once more," said +Wilfrid; "he can hit the mark himself, if he will." + +Prince Edwin bent his bow, and this time the arrow entered the centre +of the target. The ground rang with the plaudits of the spectators. + +"Let us see now if Wilfrid, the son of Cendric, the traitor, can equal +the Atheling's shot," shouted Brithric. + +"Shoot, Wilfrid, shoot!" cried more than twenty voices among the royal +wards. + +"I have no wish to bend the bow to-day," said Wilfrid. + +"Because you know that you must expose yourself to contempt by failing +to make your vaunt good," said Brithric; "but you shall not escape thus +lightly." + +"Nothing but the express command of the prince, my master, will induce +me to bend my bow to-day," said Wilfrid. + +"Wilfrid, son of Cendric, I, Edwin Atheling, command thee to shoot at +yonder mark," said the prince. + +Wilfrid bowed his head in obedience to the mandate. He fitted the +arrow to the string, and stepping a pace backward, took his aim and +bent the bow. The arrow flew unerringly, and cleft in twain that of +Prince Edwin which already remained fixed in the centre of the mark. + +This feat of skillful archery on the part of the page called forth no +shout, nor even a word of applause, from the partial group of +flatterers, who had so loudly commended the Atheling's less successful +shots. Their silence, however, was best pleasing to the modest +Wilfrid, who, without so much as casting a single triumphant glance +upon those who had insulted and reviled him, dropped his bow upon the +earth, and, bowing to his royal master, retired from the scene without +uttering a syllable. + +From that day there was a visible change in the manners of the Atheling +toward his page, for his vanity had been piqued by this trifling +circumstance, of which the artful Brithric took advantage to irritate +his mind against Wilfrid. He now addressed him only in the language of +imperious command, and not unfrequently treated him with personal +indignity. + +Wilfrid felt these things very acutely, and the more so because the +former kindness of his youthful lord had won his earliest affections. +But he now bore all his capricious changes of temper with meekness. It +was only in his unrestrained confidence with his widowed mother that he +ever uttered a complaint of the young Atheling, and then he spoke of +him in sorrow, not in anger; for he rightly attributed much of Prince +Edwin's unamiable conduct to the pernicious influence which the artful +Brithric had, through flattery, obtained over his mind. + +"Patience, my son," would the widowed Ermengarde say in those moments +when Wilfrid sought relief by venting his anguish in tears on the bosom +of his tender mother, "patience, my son; true greatness is shown most +especially in enduring with magnanimity the crosses and trials which +are of every-day occurence. Let sorrow, sickness, or any other +adversity touch Prince Edwin, and he will learn the difference between +a true friend and a false flatterer. In due time, your worth will be +proved, and your victory will be a glorious one: for it will be the +triumph of virtue!" + + +CHAPTER III. + +The day which Ermengarde had predicted was close at hand. An +infectious fever broke out in the college, which, in several instances, +proved fatal to those who were attacked by it, and spread such terror +throughout the college that when Prince Edwin fell sick he was forsaken +by almost every living creature. His faithful page, Wilfrid, however, +watched him day and night, and supplied him with drink and nourishment, +which were brought to him by the widow Ermengarde. + +For six days the young Atheling was insensible of everything but his +own sufferings, and gave no indications of consciousness. On the night +of the seventh, as Wilfrid was supporting upon his bosom the head of +his afflicted master, and holding a cup of cooling drink to his parched +lips, he murmured, "Is it you, my faithful Brithric?" + +"No," replied the page, "Brithric is not present, neither hath he +entered this chamber, my lord, since the term of your sore sickness +commenced." + +"Surely, then, he must himself be sick, perhaps dead," said the prince. + +"No," replied Wilfrid, with a smile; "he is only fearful of exposing +himself to the contagion of the fever." + +"Who, then, hath nursed and attended upon me so kindly during these +many days of suffering while I have lain here unconscious of everything +around me?" + +"Your servant Wilfrid," replied the page. + +"And where then are my chamberlains and attendants, by whom I ought to +be surrounded?" asked the prince, raising his languid head from the +bosom of Wilfrid, and looking round the spacious but deserted room of +state, in which he lay. + +"They are all overcome by the terrors of the contagion," said Wilfrid. + +"And why did you not flee from it also, Wilfrid?" asked the prince. + +"Because, my lord," said Wilfrid, "I knew that you must perish if I +abandoned you." + +"Ah! Wilfrid," said the prince, bursting into tears, "I deserve not +this goodness from you, for of late I have treated you very unkindly; I +know and feel that I have: can you forgive me?" + +"Think no more of it, my lord, I pray you," replied Wilfrid, pressing +the burning hand of the prince to his lips. "I freely forgive all that +has passed, and only wish you to remember it, whenever you feel +disposed to yield to the impulses of a defective temper, which, for +your own sake, rather than mine, I earnestly hope you will correct." + +Prince Edwin bowed his face on the bosom of his faithful page, and wept +long and passionately, promising, at the same time, amendment of his +faults if ever it should please his Heavenly Father to raise him up +from the bed of sickness on which he then lay. + +How careful should young people be to perform the resolutions of +correcting their evil habits which they make at moments when sickness +or adversity brings them to a recollection of their evil propensities. +Yet, alas! how often is it that such promises are forgotten, as soon as +they find themselves in a condition to repeat their faults. + +Thus it was with Prince Edwin. Instead of seeking the assistance of a +higher power than his own weak will to strengthen and support him in +the right path, he contented himself with saying, "I am determined to +begin a fresh course; to correct my hasty, imperious temper; to pursue +my studies steadily and perseveringly; and to shun the society of those +who, by flattery and false speaking, seek to increase my foolish +vanity, and impede my improvement!" + +Now it was easy to say all this, but very difficult to put these good +resolutions into practice. Prince Edwin, neglecting to implore the +Divine aid to strengthen him in their performance, soon yielded to +temptation, and in a little time, listened to the pernicious flatteries +of Brithric with as much pleasure as he had done before the period of +his sickness. + +It was to no purpose that the faithful Wilfrid remonstrated with him, +and pointed out the fatal consequences that result from listening to +the false commendations of those who pay no regard to truth. Prince +Edwin loved to hear himself praised, even for those very qualities in +which he was most deficient. He grew weary of Wilfrid's admonitions, +and frequently reproved him when he ventured to reason with him, or +attempted to offer the counsel of a true friend. + +Brithric was, as I said before, much older than the prince or any of +the royal wards. He was artful and ambitious, and had formed in his +heart a wicked project for his own advancement, which was too likely to +plunge the country into the horrors of a civil war. This project was +no less than that of attempting to induce Prince Edwin to set himself +up for king, and to claim the throne as the eldest legitimate son of +the late King Edward. + +In all this, Brithric was very ungrateful to King Athelstane, who had +been very kind to him, and had recently appointed him to the honorable +office of his cup-bearer. That employment, however, was not sufficient +to content Brithric, who perceived that King Athelstane was too wise a +prince to listen to artful flattery or to allow any person of his court +to obtain an undue influence over his mind. + +"Ah!" said Brithric to himself, "if Edwin were king, I should be his +chief favorite. Wealth and honors would be at my disposal; and as he +believes everything I say to him I should be able to govern him, and +persuade him to do whatever I wished." + +Brithric had soon an opportunity of introducing this treasonable +project to Prince Edwin; for King Athelstane sent him with a letter to +the head of the college; and as soon as he had delivered it he paid a +visit to Prince Edwin, whom he found in his own chamber, engaged with +Wilfrid in brightening his arrows. + +"So, Brithric," said the prince, "do you bring me an invitation to the +court of the king, my brother?" + +Brithric shook his head, and replied, "No, my prince; King Athelstane +has no wish to see you there. Take my word for it, he will never give +you an invitation to his court." + +"Why not?" asked Prince Edwin, reddening with sudden anger. + +"King Athelstane knows that you have a better title to the throne than +himself," replied Brithric. "He knows, also, that were his valiant +Thames and Ealdormen to see you, they would be very likely to make you +king; for you are possessed of far more princely qualities than the +base-born Athelstane." + +The eyes of Prince Edwin brightened at the words of Brithric, and he +grasped the arrow which he had in his hand with the air of one who +holds a sceptre. "Fie, Brithric," said Wilfrid, "how can you be so +treacherous to your royal master as to speak of him with such +disrespect, and to put such dangerous and criminal ideas into the mind +of Prince Edwin?" + +"Peace, meddling brat," cried Edwin, angrily; "who asked counsel of +thee in this matter?" + +"There are some things which it would be a crime to hear in silence," +replied Wilfrid; "and I implore you, my dear, dear lord, by all the +love that once united you and your faithful page in the bonds of +friendship, not to listen to the fatal suggestions of the false +Brithric." + +"False Brithric!" echoed the wily tempter; "I will prove myself the +true friend of the Atheling, if he will only give consent to the deed +by which I will make him this very day the lord of England." + +"Impossible," cried the prince; "you have no power to raise me to the +throne of my father Edward, albeit it is my lawful inheritance." + +"The usurper Athelstane knows that full well," observed Brithric. +"Therefore it is that you are kept here, like a bird in a cage, leading +a life of monkish seclusion in an obscure college, instead of learning +to wield the battleaxe, to hurl the spear, and rein the war-horse, like +a royal Saxon prince." + +"The wily tyrant shall find that Edwin the Atheling is not to be so +treated," exclaimed the prince, yielding to a burst of passion. + +"You have no remedy, my lord," said Brithric; "for the people love the +usurper, and know nothing of his imprisoned brother, Edwin, the +rightful king of England." + +"And shall I always be immured, like a captived thrush?" asked Edwin, +indignantly. + +"Yes, while Athelstane lives, you must expect no other fate," said +Brithric. "But what if Athelstane should die?" continued he, fixing +his eyes on the face of the prince. + +"Oh! hear him not, my lord," cried Wilfrid, flinging himself at the +Atheling's feet; "he would tempt you to a crime as deadly as that of +Cain." + +"Peace, son of Cendric, the traitor!" exclaimed Prince Edwin, leveling +at the same time a blow at his faithful page, which felled him to the +earth, where he lay covered with blood, and apparently without sense or +motion. + +"And now speak on, my loving Brithric," continued the Atheling, without +paying the slightest regard to the condition of poor Wilfrid, who was, +however, perfectly aware of all that was passing, though, to all +appearance, insensible. + +"My lord," said Brithric, drawing nearer to the Atheling, "I will now +speak plainly. I am the cup-bearer of King Athelstane, and the next +time I present the red wine to him at the banquet it shall be drugged +with such a draught as shall make Prince Edwin lord of England within +an hour after the usurper has swallowed it." + +"Traitor, begone!" exclaimed the prince, filled with horror at this +dreadful proposal. "I would not stain my soul with the crime of +murder, if by such means I could obtain the empire of the world." + +Brithric used many wicked arguments to induce Prince Edwin to consent +to the murder of his royal brother; but Edwin commanded him to leave +his presence, and never to presume to enter it again. The vile wretch, +however, alarmed lest the prince should inform the king of the crime he +had meditated against him, went to his royal master and accused the +Atheling of having endeavored to persuade him to mix poison in the wine +cup of his sovereign. + +Athelstane, justly indignant at the crime laid to the charge of his +royal brother, came with a party of guards to the college. Here, +before his preceptors and all the royal wards, his companions, he +charged Edwin with having meditated the crime of treason and fratricide. + +You may imagine the consternation of the prince on hearing this +dreadful accusation. It was to no purpose that he protested his +innocence, and called on all his faithful associates to witness for him +that he had never uttered an injurious thought against the king. Those +who had been most ready to flatter him were silent on this occasion, +for they perceived that King Athelstane was persuaded of his brother's +guilt; and some of them said, "They remembered that Prince Edwin had +often said that he had a better title to the throne than King +Athelstane." + +Prince Edwin could not deny that he had used these words; but it seemed +to him very hard that they should be repeated to the king in the hour +of his sore distress. Looking around, with a countenance expressive of +mingled sorrow and indignation, he said,-- + +"Unhappy that I am! they that were my most familiar friends are they +that speak against me! Is there no one that can bear me witness that I +am guiltless of the crime of plotting to take away my brother's life?" + +"I will, though I die for it!" cried a voice, feeble from bodily +suffering, but firm in the courageous utterance of truth. It was that +of Wilfrid, the page, who, with his countenance still pale and +disfigured from the effects of the blow received from Prince Edwin, +stood boldly forward to bear witness of the scene which had taken place +in his presence between Brithric and the prince. + +"Oh, Wilfrid, generous Wilfrid," cried Edwin, bursting into tears, "how +nobly do you fulfill the precepts of your heavenly Master by returning +good for evil!" + +Now Athelstane had been so deeply prejudiced against his unfortunate +brother by the wicked Brithric, that he would not listen to Wilfrid's +honest evidence. When, therefore, he heard that he was the son of the +traitor Cendric, who had been so deeply implicated in Alfred's plot, he +was so unjust as to believe all that Brithric said against him. +Accordingly, he took Wilfrid, as well as the young Atheling, and +carried them prisoners to London. He there put them on board a ship +that was lying in the river Thames, and when night came, set sail with +them and went out to sea. + + +CHAPTER IV. + +Prince Edwin was not greatly alarmed, for he thought the king, his +brother, was only going to banish him to some foreign country, where he +fondly thought that Wilfrid and himself might live together very +happily. But when they were out of sight of land, and the moon had +risen over a wild waste of stormy billows, the king had both the +prisoners brought upon deck, and he then ordered the captain to put +them into a small boat and set them adrift at the mercy of the winds +and waves. + +It was to no purpose that the wretched Edwin threw himself at his +brother's feet, and entreated for mercy. Athelstane only replied, "You +tried to persuade my faithful cup-bearer to take my life--your own +life, therefore, is forfeited; but, as you are the son of my royal +father, I will not shed your blood upon the scaffold. I commit you and +your guilty companion, the son of the traitor Cendric, to the mercy of +God, who can and will preserve the innocent if it be his good pleasure +so to do." + +"And to His mercy, not thine, O king! do I, in full confidence of +innocence, commend both myself and my unfortunate master," said +Wilfrid, as the seamen hurried him, with the weeping Atheling, over the +side of the vessel into the little boat that lay tossing and rocking +among the tempestuous billows. + +When the unhappy youths found themselves alone, without sails or +rudder, on the pathless ocean, they sank into each other's arms and +wept long and passionately. + +At length Wilfrid lifted up his voice and heart in fervent prayer to +that Almighty and merciful God, who had delivered Daniel from the +lions' den, and preserved his faithful servants, Meshach, Shadrach and +Abednego, unharmed in the fiery furnace. Prince Edwin, on the +contrary, gave himself up to despair, and when he saw the king's ship +spreading her canvas to the gale, and fast receding from his sight, he +uttered a cry that was heard above the uproar of the winds and waves. +Starting up in the boat, and extending his arms toward the disappearing +vessel, he unwittingly lost his balance, and was in a moment ingulfed +in the stormy billows. + +We may imagine the anguish and terror of Wilfrid on witnessing the sad +fate of his young lord, which he had no power to prevent. Thoughts of +his widowed mother's grief for himself, too, came over his mind and +filled his eyes with tears, for her, as well as for his ill-fated lord. +For himself, however, he felt no fears, even in this dreadful hour, +when left companionless on the tempestuous ocean, for his trust was +firm and steadfast in the mercies of his Heavenly Father. + +That night the winds roared, and the waves raged mightily. Many a +gallant bark foundered in the storm, and many a skillful seaman found a +watery grave before the morning dawned in the cloudy horizon. But the +frail vessel into which the unfortunate Atheling and his page had been +thrust, weathered the gale and, with her lonely tenant, Wilfrid, was +driven ashore at a place called Whitesande, on the coast of Picardy, in +France. + +When Wilfrid landed, he was drenched through and through. He was +hungry, too, and sorrowful and weary. He knew not where he was, but he +failed not to return thanks to that gracious God who had preserved him +from the perils of the raging seas to which he had been so awfully +exposed, and whose merciful providence, he doubted not, would guide and +sustain him in the strange land whither he had been conducted. + +Thus meekly, thus nobly, did the young page support himself under this +fresh trial. But when the remembrance of the unfortunate Atheling, his +royal master, came over him, his heart melted within him; he bowed his +face on his knees as he sat all lonely on the sea beach, and he wept +aloud, exclaiming-- + +"Oh, Edwin! royal Edwin! hadst thou patiently trusted in the mercy of +God thou slightest, notwithstanding thy late adversity, have lived to +wear the crown of thy father Edward." Overpowered by his emotions, he +again sank upon the ground. + +"Is it of Edwin of England that thou speakest, young Saxon?" asked a +soft voice in the sweet familiar language of his own native land. + +He raised his head and found that he was surrounded by a party of +ladies, one of whom questioned him with an air of eager interest +respecting the expressions he had used touching the unfortunate Prince +Edwin. + +Now this lady was no other than Ogina, Queen of France, the sister of +Prince Edwin. Being on a visit at the house of a great lord on the +coast of Picardy, she had come down to the beach that morning, with her +ladies of honor, to bathe: a custom among ladies, even of the highest +rank, in those days. Hearing that a Saxon bark had been driven on +shore by the storm, and seeing the disconsolate figure of Wilfrid on +the beach, she had drawn near, and, unperceived by the suffering youth, +had overheard his melancholy soliloquy. + +While Wilfrid related the sad story of his master's untimely fate, the +royal lady wept aloud. After he had concluded his melancholy tale, she +took him to the castle of which she was herself an inmate, and +commended him to the care of her noble host, who quickly attended to +all his wants, and furnished him with dry garments. + +When Wilfrid had taken due rest and refreshment, the queen requested +that he should be brought into her presence. He was, accordingly, +ushered into a stately apartment, where Ogina was seated under a +crimson canopy, fringed with gold. She bade him draw near, and +extended her hand toward him. Being well acquainted with courtly +customs, the youth respectfully bowed his knee and humbly kissed the +hand of the royal lady, who proceeded to say,-- + +"Thou hast been found true when the only reward thou didst expect for +thy faithfulness was a cruel death. But surely thou hast been +conducted by a kind Providence into the presence of one who has both +the will and the power to requite thee for thy fidelity to the +unfortunate Atheling; for I am his sister, the Queen of France." + +"And I have then the honor to stand before the royal Ogina, daughter of +my late lord, King Edward, and Queen of King Charles of France?" said +Wilfrid, again bowing himself. + +"The same," replied the queen, taking a ring of great value from her +finger and placing it on that of the page. + +"Take this ring," continued she, "in token of my favor; and if thou +wilt serve me in one thing, I will make thee the greatest lord in my +husband's court." + +"Royal lady," said Wilfrid, "I have a widowed mother in my own land +whom I cannot forsake; neither would I desert my native country to +become a peer of France. But tell me wherein I can be of service to +thee, and if it be in my power it shall be done." + +"Darest thou," said the queen, "return to England and presenting +thyself before my brother Athelstane, thy king, declare to him the +innocence and the sad fate of Edwin, the Atheling, his father's son?" + +"Lady, I not only dare, but I desire so to do," replied Wilfrid; "for I +fear my God, and I have no other fear." + +Then the Queen of France loaded Wilfrid with rich presents, and sent +him over to England in a gallant ship to bear the mournful tidings of +poor Prince Edwin's death to England's king. She thought that when +Athelstane should hear the sad tale told in the pathetic language of +the faithful page, his heart would be touched with remorse for what he +had done. + +Now King Athelstane was already conscience-stricken for his conduct +toward his brother Edwin. His ship, during the same night that he had +compelled him to enter the boat with Wilfrid, was terribly tossed by +the tempest, and he felt that the vengeance of God was upon him for his +hardness of heart. The crew of the royal vessel had toiled and labored +all night, and it was with great difficulty that the ship was at length +got into port. Every individual on board, as well as the king himself, +felt convinced that the storm was a visitation upon them for what they +had done. + +King Athelstane had become very melancholy and offered large rewards to +any one who would bring him news of his unfortunate brother; and he +looked with horror upon Brithric as the cause of his having dealt so +hardly with Edwin. One day, when Brithric was waiting at table with +the king's cup, it happened that his foot slipped, and he would have +fallen if he had not dexterously saved himself with the other foot: +observing some of the courtiers smile, he cried out jestingly, "See +you, my lords, how one brother helps the other." + +"It is thus that brother should aid brother," said the king; "but it +was thee, false traitor, that did set me against mine! for the which +thou shalt surely pay the forfeit of thy life in the same hour that +tidings are brought me of his death." + +At that moment Wilfrid, presenting himself before the king, said, "King +Athelstane, I bring thee tidings of Edwin the Atheling!" + +"The fairest earldom in my kingdom shall be the reward of him who will +tell me that my brother liveth," exclaimed the king eagerly. + +"If thou wouldst give the royal crown of England from off thine head it +would not bribe the deep sea to give up its dead!" replied the page. + +"Who art thou that speakest such woeful words?" demanded Athelstane, +fixing his eyes with a doubting and fearful scrutiny on the face of the +page. + +"Hast thou forgotten Wilfrid, the son of Cendric?" replied the youth; +"he who commended himself to the mercy of the King of kings, in that +dark hour when thy brother Edwin implored for thine in vain." + +"Ha!" cried the king, "I remember thee now; thou art the pale stripling +who bore witness of my brother's innocence of the crime with which the +false-tongued Brithric charged him!" + +"The same, my lord," said Wilfrid; "and God hath witnessed for my truth +by preserving me from the waters of the great deep, to which thou didst +commit me with my lord, Prince Edwin." + +"But Edwin--my brother Edwin! tell me of him!" cried Athelstane, +grasping the shoulder of the page. + +"Did not his drowning cry reach thine ear, royal Athelstane?" asked +Wilfrid, bursting into tears. "Ere thy tall vessel had disappeared +from our sight the fair-haired Atheling was ingulfed in the stormy +billows that swelled round our frail bark, and I, only I, am, by the +especial mercy of God, preserved to tell thee the sad fate of thy +father's son, whom thou wert, in an evil hour, moved by a treacherous +villain to destroy." + +"Traitor," said the king, turning to Brithric, "thy false tongue hath +not only slain my brother, but thyself! Thou shalt die for having +wickedly induced me to become his murderer!" + +"And thou wilt live, O king, to suffer the pangs of an upbraiding +conscience," replied the culprit. "Where was thy wisdom, where thy +discrimination, where thy sense of justice, when thou lent so ready an +ear to my false and improbable accusations against thy boyish brother? +I sought my own aggrandizement--and to have achieved that I would have +destroyed thee and placed him upon the throne. I made him my tool--you +became my dupe--and I now myself fall a victim to my own machinations." + +The guards then removed Brithric from the royal presence, and the next +day he met with his deserts in a public execution. + +As for the faithful Wilfrid, King Athelstane not only caused the lands +and titles of which his father, Cendric, had been deprived, to be +restored to him, but also conferred upon him great honors and rewards. +He lived to be the pride and comfort of his widowed mother, Ermengarde, +and ever afterward enjoyed the full confidence of the king. + +The royal Athelstane never ceased to lament the death of his +unfortunate brother, Edwin. He gained many great victories, and +reigned long and gloriously over England, but he was evermore tormented +by remorse of conscience for his conduct toward his youthful brother, +Prince Edwin. + + + + +CISSY'S AMENDMENT. + +BY ANNA L. PARKER. + +She was a dainty, blue-eyed, golden-haired darling, who had ruled her +kingdom but four short years when the events in our history occurred. +Very short the four years had seemed, for the baby princess brought +into the quiet old house such a wealth of love, with its golden +sunshine, that time had passed rapidly since her arrival, as time +always does when we are happy and contented. + +Our little princess did not owe her title to royal birth, but to her +unquestioned sway over those around her; a rule in which was so happily +blended entreaty and command that her willing subjects were never quite +sure to which they were yielding. But of one thing they were sure, +which was that the winning grace of the little sovereign equaled their +pleasures in obeying her small commands, and the added fact--a very +important one--that this queen of hearts never abused her power. + +No little brothers nor sisters were numbered among the princess' +retainers, but she had had from her babyhood an inseparable companion +and playfellow in Moses. Now Moses was a big brown dog who, like his +namesake of old, had been rescued from a watery grave, and it chanced +that baby-girl and baby-dog became inmates of the quiet old house about +the same time. But the dog grew much faster than the little girl, as +dogs are wont to do, and was quite a responsible person by the time +Cissy could toddle around. When she was old enough to play under the +old elm tree Moses assumed the place of protector of her little +highness, and was all the bodyguard the princess needed, for he was +wise and unwearied in his endeavors to guard her from all mishaps. +But, although Moses felt the responsibility of his position, he did not +consider it beneath his dignity to amuse his mistress, and so they +played together, baby and dog, shared their lunch together, and +frequently took their nap together of a warm afternoon, the golden +curls of the little princess tumbled over Moses' broad, shaggy shoulder. + +One day when Cissy was about four years old an event occurred in her +life that seemed for a time to endanger the intimacy between the little +girl and her four-footed friend, and caused Moses considerable anxiety. +It was a rainy morning and she could not play under the trees as usual, +so she took her little chair and climbed up to the window to see if the +trees were lonesome without her. Something unusual going on in the +house next door attracted her attention, and her disappointment was +soon forgotten. No one had lived in the house since the little girl +could remember. Now the long closed doors and windows were thrown wide +open, and men were running up and down the steps. She was puzzled to +know what it could all mean, and kept her little face close to the +window, and was so unmindful of Moses that he felt quite neglected and +lonely. + +The following morning was warm and bright, and the little princess and +her attendant were playing under the trees again. Moses was so +delighted in having won the sole attention of his little mistress and +played so many droll pranks that Cissy shouted with laughter. In the +midst of her merriment she chanced to look up, and saw through the +paling a pair of eyes as bright as her own, dancing with fun and +evidently enjoying Moses' frolic quite as much as the little girl +herself. The bright eyes belonged to a little boy about Cissy's age, +whose name was Jamie, and who had moved into the house that had +interested her so much the day before. + +Now our little princess in her winning way claimed the allegiance of +all that came within her circle, and so confidently ran over to the +fence to make the acquaintance of her new subject. Jamie was quite +willing to be one of her servitors, and although they were separated by +the high palings they visited through the openings all the morning, and +for many mornings after, exchanging dolls, books, balls, and strings, +and becoming the best of friends. This new order of things was not +quite satisfactory to Moses, who felt he was no longer necessary to +Cissy's happiness. He still kept his place close beside her, and tried +to be as entertaining as possible. But do what he would he could not +coax her away from her new-found friend, and all the merry plays under +the old elm tree seemed to have come to an end, but Cissy was not +really ungrateful to her old playfellow. She was deeply interested in +her new companion and for the time somewhat forgetful of Moses, which +is not much to be wondered at when we remember what great advantage +over Moses Jamie had in one thing. He could talk with Cissy and Moses +could not. But although the dog's faithful heart ached at the neglect +of his little mistress, he did not desert his place of protector, but +watched and guarded the princess while she and her friend prattled on +all the long, bright days, quite unconscious of his trouble. + +One afternoon Cissy's happiness reached its highest point. Her mother +had been watching the visiting going on through the fence, and saw +Cissy's delight in her new companion, so, unknown to her, she wrote a +note asking that Jamie be permitted to come into the yard and play +under the elm tree. When Cissy saw Jamie coming up the walk in her own +yard, her delight knew no bounds. She ran to meet him, and dolls and +buggies and carts and everything she prized was generously turned over +to her visitor. How quickly the afternoon passed. + +Moses was as happy as the children themselves--for if he could not talk +he could at least bark, and now they were altogether under the tree, +his troubles were forgotten and which were the happier, children or +dog, it were hard to say. So with merry play the beautiful day came to +a close. The sun was sending up his long golden beams in the west. +Jamie was called home, and Cissy came into the house. The tired little +eyes were growing drowsy and the soft curls drooped over the nodding +head when mamma undressed her little girl to make her ready for bed. +Then Cissy knelt beside her little bed and repeated the prayer she had +been taught: "Now, I lay me down to sleep," and "God bless papa and +mamma and everybody, and make Cissy a good girl." But when she had +done she did not rise as usual; looking up earnestly at her mother, she +said: "Please, mamma, I want to pray my own prayer now." Then folding +her little hands, the sweet childish voice took on an earnestness it +had not shown before, as she said: "Dear Father in heaven, I thank you +for making Jamie, and 'cause his mamma let him come in my yard to play. +Please make lots more Jamies," and with this sincere expression of her +grateful heart, and her loving recognition that all our blessings come +from the Father above, the tired, happy little girl was ready for bed, +and soon asleep. + +Moses lay sleeping contentedly on the rug beside the princess' little +bed. He too had had a happy day. I wonder if he had any way to +express his thankfulness to his Creator, the same Father in heaven to +which Cissy prayed, for the love and companionship of his little +playfellows, and for the bright, happy day he had spent? I believe he +had. What do you think about it? + + + + +THE WINTER'S TALE. + +AS TOLD BY MARY SEYMOUR. + +Leontes of Sicily, and Hermione, his lovely queen, lived together in +the greatest harmony--a harmony and happiness so perfect that the king +said he had no wish left to gratify excepting the desire to see his old +companion Polixenes, and present him to the friendship of his wife. + +Polixenes was king of Bohemia; and it was not until he had received +many invitations that he came to visit his friend Leontes of Sicily. + +At first this was the cause of great joy. It seemed that Leontes never +tired of talking over the scenes of bygone days with his early friend, +while Hermione listened well pleased. But when Polixenes wished to +depart, and both the king and the queen entreated him to remain yet +longer, it was the gentle persuasion of Hermione which overcame his +resistance, rather than the desire of his friend Leontes, who upon this +grew both angry and jealous, and began to hate Polixenes as much as he +had loved him. + +At length his feelings became so violent that he gave an order for the +King of Bohemia to be killed. But fortunately he intrusted the +execution of this command to Camillo--a good man, who helped his +intended victim to escape to his own dominions. At this, Leontes was +still more angry and, rushing to the room where his wife was engaged +with her little son Mamillius took the child away, and ordered poor +Hermione to prison. + +While she was there, a little daughter was born to her; and a lady who +heard of this, told the queen's maid Emilia, that she would carry the +infant into the presence of its father if she might be intrusted with +it, and perhaps his heart would soften toward his wife and the innocent +babe. + +Hermione very willingly gave up her little daughter into the arms of +the lady Paulina, who forced herself into the king's presence, and laid +her precious burden at his feet, boldly reproaching him with his +cruelty to the queen. But Paulina's services were of no avail: the +king ordered her away, so she left the little child before him, +believing, when she retired, that his proud, angry heart would relent. + +But she was mistaken. Leontes bade one of his courtiers take the +infant to some desert isle to perish; and Antigonus, the husband of +Paulina, was the one chosen to execute this cruel purpose. + +The next action of the king was to summon Hermione to be tried for +having loved Polixenes too well. Already he had had recourse to an +oracle; and the answer, sealed up, was brought into court and opened in +the presence of the much-injured queen: + +"Hermione is innocent; Polixenes blameless; Camillo a true subject; +Leontes a jealous tyrant; and the king shall live without an heir, if +that which is lost be not found." + +Thus it ran; but the angry king said it was all a falsehood, made up by +the queen's friends, and he bade them go on with the trial. Yet even +as he spoke, a messenger entered to say that the king's son Mamillius +had died suddenly, grieving for his mother. Hermione, overcome by such +sad tidings, fainted; and then Leontes, feeling some pity for her, bade +her ladies remove her, and do all that was possible for her recovery. + +Very soon Paulina returned, saying that Hermione, the queen, was also +dead. Now Leontes repented of his harshness; now he readily believed +she was all that was good and pure; and, beginning to have faith in the +words of the oracle which spoke of that which was lost being found, +declared he would give up his kingdom could he but recover the lost +baby he had sent to perish. + +The ship which had conveyed Antigonus with the infant princess away +from her father's kingdom, was driven onshore upon the Bohemian +territory, over which Polixenes reigned. Leaving the child there, +Antigonus started to return to his ship; but a savage bear met and +destroyed him, so that Leontes never heard how his commands had been +fulfilled. + +When poor Hermione had sent her baby in Paulina's care to be shown to +her royal father, she had dressed it in its richest robes, and thus it +remained when Antigonus left it. Besides, he pinned a paper to its +mantle upon which the name Perdita was written. + +Happily, a kind-hearted shepherd found the deserted infant, and took it +home to his wife, who cherished it as her own. But they concealed the +fact from every one; and lest the tale of the jewels upon Perdita's +little neck should be noised abroad, he sold some of them, and leaving +that part of the country, bought herds of sheep, and became a wealthy +shepherd. + +Little Perdita grew up as sweet and lovely as her unknown mother; yet +she was supposed to be only a shepherd's child. + +Polixenes of Bohemia had one only son--Florizel by name; who, hunting +near the shepherd's dwelling, saw the fair maiden, whose beauty and +modesty soon won his love. Disguising himself as a private gentleman, +instead of appearing as the king's son, Florizel took the name of +Doricles, and came visiting at the shepherd's dwelling. So often was +he there, and thus so frequently missed at court, that people began to +watch his movements, and soon discovered that he loved the pretty +maiden Perdita. + +When this news was carried to Polixenes, he called upon his faithful +servant Camillo to go with him to the shepherd's house; and they +arrived there in disguise just at the feast of sheep-shearing, when +there was a welcome for every visitor. + +It was a busy scene. There was dancing on the green, young lads and +lassies were chaffering with a peddler for his goods, sports were going +on everywhere; yet Florizel and Perdita sat apart, talking happily to +each other. + +No one could have recognized the king; even Florizel did not observe +him as he drew near enough to listen to the conversation of the young +people. Perdita's way of speaking charmed him much--it seemed +something very different to the speech of a shepherd's daughter; and, +turning to Camillo, Polixenes said: + + "Nothing she does or seems + But tastes of something greater than her self, + Too noble for this place." + + +Then he spoke to the old shepherd, asking the name of the youth who +talked to his daughter. + +"They call him Doricles," said the man; adding, too, that if he indeed +loved Perdita, he would receive with her something he did not reckon +on. By this the shepherd meant a part of her rich jewels which he had +not sold, but kept carefully until such time as she should marry. +Polixenes turned to his son, telling him jestingly that he should have +bought some gift for his fair maid--not let the peddler go without +seeking anything for her. + +Florizel little imagined it was his father talking to him, and he +replied that the gifts Perdita prized were those contained within his +heart; and then he begged the "old man" to be a witness of their +marriage. + +Still keeping up his disguise, Polixenes asked Florizel if he had no +father to bid as a guest to his wedding. But the young man said there +were reasons why he should not speak of the matter to his father. + +Polixenes chose this for the moment in which to make himself known; and +reproaching his son bitterly for giving his love to a low-born maiden, +bade him accompany Camillo back to court. + +As the king retired thus angry, Perdita said, "I was not much afraid; +for once or twice I was about to speak, to tell him plainly,-- + + "The self-same sun that shines upon his court + Hides not his visage from our cottage, but + Looks on alike." + + +Then she sorrowfully bade Florizel leave her. + +Camillo felt sorry for the two, and thought of a way in which he could +stand their friend. Having known a long time that his former master, +Leontes, repented of all his cruelty, he proposed that Florizel and +Perdita should accompany him to Sicily to beg the king to win for them +the consent of Polixenes to their marriage. + +The old shepherd was allowed to be of the party, and he took with him +the clothes and jewels which had been found with Perdita, and also the +paper on which her name had been written. + +On their arrival, Leontes received Camillo with kindness, and welcomed +Prince Florizel; but it was Perdita who engrossed all his thoughts. +She seemed to remind him of his fair queen Hermione, and he broke out +into bitter self-accusation, saying that he might have had just such +another lovely maiden to call him father, but for his own cruelty. + +The shepherd, listening to the king's lamentations, began to compare +the time when he had lost the royal infant with the time when Perdita +was found, and he came to the conclusion that she and the daughter of +Leontes were one and the same person. When he felt assured of this he +told his tale, showed the rich mantle which had been wrapped round the +infant, and her remaining jewels; and Leontes knew that his daughter +was brought back to him once more. Joyful as such tidings were, his +sorrow at the thought of Hermione, who had not lived to behold her +child thus grown into a fair maiden, almost exceeded his happiness, so +that he kept exclaiming, "Oh, thy mother! thy mother!" + +Paulina now appeared, begging Leontes to go to her house and look at a +statue she possessed which greatly resembled Hermione. Anxious to see +anything like his much-lamented wife, the king agreed; and when the +curtain was drawn back his sorrow was stirred afresh. At last he said +that the statue gave Hermione a more aged, wrinkled look than when he +last beheld her; but Paulina replied, that if so, it was a proof of the +sculptor's art, who represented the queen as she would appear after the +sixteen years which had passed. She would have drawn the curtain +again, but Leontes begged her to wait a while, and again he appealed to +those about him to say if it was not indeed a marvelous likeness. + +Perdita had all the while been kneeling, admiring in silence her +beautiful mother. Paulina presently said that she possessed the power +to make the statue move, if such were the king's pleasure; and as some +soft music was heard, the figure stirred. Ah! it was no sculptured +marble, but Hermione, living and breathing, who hung upon her husband +and her long-lost child! + +It is needless to tell that Paulina's story of her royal mistress' +death was an invention to save her life, and that for all those years +she had kept the queen secluded, so that Leontes should not hear that +she was living until Perdita was found. + +All was happiness; but none was greater than that of Camillo and +Paulina, who saw the reward of their long faithfulness. One more +person was to arrive upon the scene; even Polixenes, who came in search +of Florizel, and was thus in time to bless the union of the young +people, and take a share in the general joy. + + + + +A GRACIOUS DEED. + +In an humble room in one of the poorest streets in London, Pierre, a +faithful French boy, sat humming by the bedside of his sick mother. +There was no bread in the closet, and for the whole day he had not +tasted food. Yet he sat humming to keep up his spirits. Still at +times he thought of his loneliness and hunger, and he could scarcely +keep the tears from his eyes, for he knew that nothing would be so +grateful to his poor mother as a good, sweet orange, and yet he had not +a penny in the world. + +The little song he was singing was his own; one he had composed, both +air and words--for the child was a genius. + +He went to the window, and looking out, he saw a man putting up a great +bill with yellow letters announcing that Mme. Malibran would sing that +night in public. + +"Oh, if I could only go," thought little Pierre; and then pausing a +moment he clasped his hands, his eyes lighting with new hope. Running +to the little stand, he smoothed his yellow curls, and taking from a +little box some old stained paper, gave one eager glance at his mother, +who slept, and ran speedily from the house. + +"Who did you say was waiting for me?" said madame to her servant. "I +am already worn with company." + +"It's only a very pretty little boy with yellow curls, who said if he +can just see you he is sure you will not be sorry, and he will not keep +you a moment." + +"Oh, well, let him come," said the beautiful singer, with a smile. "I +can never refuse children." + +Little Pierre came in, his hat under his arm, and in his hand a little +roll of paper. With manliness unusual for a child he walked straight +to the lady and, bowing, said: "I came to see you because my mother is +very sick, and we are too poor to get food and medicine. I thought, +perhaps, that if you would sing my little song at some of your grand +concerts, maybe some publisher would buy it for a small sum and so I +could get food and medicine for my mother." + +The beautiful woman arose from her seat. Very tall and stately she +was. She took the roll from his hand and lightly hummed the air. + +"Did you compose it?" she asked; "you a child! And the words? Would +you like to come to my concert?" she asked. + +"Oh, yes!" and the boy's eyes grew bright with happiness; "but I +couldn't leave my mother." + +"I will send somebody to take care of your mother for the evening, and +there is a crown with which you may go and get food and medicine. Here +is also one of my tickets. Come to-night; that will admit you to a +seat near me." + +Almost beside himself with joy, Pierre bought some oranges, and many a +little luxury besides, and carried them home to the poor invalid, +telling her, not without tears, of his good fortune. + +When evening came and Pierre was admitted to the concert hall he felt +that never in his life had he been in such a place. The music, the +myriad lights, the beauty, the flashing of diamonds and rustling of +silk, bewildered his eyes and brain. + +At last she came, and the child sat with his glance riveted on her +glorious face. Could he believe that the grand lady, all blazing with +jewels, and whom everybody seemed to worship, would really sing his +little song? + +Breathlessly he waited--the band, the whole band, struck up a plaintive +little melody. He knew it, and clasped his hands for joy. And oh, how +she sang it! It was so simple, so mournful. Many a bright eye dimmed +with tears, and naught could be heard but the touching words of that +little song. + +Pierre walked home as if moving on air. What cared he for money now? +The greatest singer in all Europe had sung his little song, and +thousands had wept at his grief. + +The next day he was frightened at a visit from Madame Malibran. She +laid her hands on his yellow curls, and talking to the sick woman said: +"Your little boy, madame, has brought you a fortune. I was offered +this morning, by the best publisher in London, 300 pounds for his +little song, and after he has realized a certain amount from the sale, +little Pierre, here, is to share the profits. Madame, thank God that +your son has a gift from heaven." + +The noble-hearted singer and the poor woman wept together. As to +Pierre, always mindful of Him who watches over the tired and tempted, +he knelt down by his mother's bedside and offered a simple but eloquent +prayer, asking God's blessing on the kind lady who had deigned to +notice their affliction. + +The memory of that prayer made the singer more tender-hearted, and she, +who was the idol of England's nobility, went about doing good. And in +her early, happy death, he who stood beside her bed and smoothed her +pillow and lightened her last moments by his undying affection, was +little Pierre of former days, now rich, accomplished, and the most +talented composer of his day. + + + + +TOM. + +BY REV. C. H. MEAD. + +Never did any one have a better start in life than Tom. Born of +Christian parents, he inherited from them no bad defects, moral or +physical. He was built on a liberal plan, having a large head, large +hands, large feet, large body, and within all, a heart big with +generosity. His face was the embodiment of good nature, and his laugh +was musical and infectious. Being an only child there was no one to +share with him the lavish love of his parents. They saw in him nothing +less than a future President of the United States, and they made every +sacrifice to fit him for his coming position. He was a prime favorite +with all, and being a born leader, he was ungrudgingly accorded that +position by his playmates at school and his fellows at the university. +He wrestled with rhetoric, and logic, and political economy, and +geometry, and came off an easy victor; he put new life into the dead +languages, dug among the Greek roots by day and soared up among the +stars by night. None could outstrip him as a student, and he easily +held his place at the head of his class. The dullest scholar found in +him a friend and a helper, while the brighter ones found in his +example, an incentive to do their best. + +In athletic sports, too, he was excelled by none. He could run faster, +jump higher, lift a dumb-bell easier, strike a ball harder, and pull as +strong an oar as the best of them. He was the point of the flying +wedge in the game of foot-ball, and woe be to the opponent against whom +that point struck. To sum it all up, Tom was a mental and physical +giant, as well as a superb specimen of what that college could make out +of a young man. But unfortunately, it was one of those institutions +that developed the mental, trained the physical, and starved the +spiritual, and so it came to pass ere his college days were ended, Tom +had an enemy, and that enemy was the bottle. + +The more respectable you make sin, the more dangerous it is. An old +black bottle in the rough hand of the keeper of a low dive, would have +no power to cause a clean young man to swerve from the right course, +but he is a hero ten times over, who can withstand the temptation of a +wine glass in the jeweled fingers of a beautiful young lady. Tom's +tempter came in the latter form, and she who might have spurred him on +to the highest goal, and whispered in his ear, "look not thou upon the +wine when it is red, when it giveth its color in the cup, when it +moveth itself aright," started him down a course which made him learn +from a terrible experience that "at the last it biteth like a serpent, +and stingeth like an adder." Does any one call a glass of wine a small +thing? Read Tom's story and then call it small, if you dare! Whatever +he did was done with his might, drinking not excepted. He boasted of +his power to drink much and keep sober, while he laughed at the +companions who imbibed far less and went to bed drunk. At first Tom +was the master and the bottle his slave, but in three years' time they +changed places. When too late, his parents discovered that the college +had sent back to them a ripe scholar, a trained athlete and a drunkard. +The mother tried to save her son, but failing in every effort, her +heart broke and she died with Tom's name on her lips. The father, +weighed down under the dead sorrow and the living trouble, vainly +strove to rescue his son, and was found one night in the attitude of +prayer, kneeling by the side of the bed where his wife's broken heart a +few months before had ceased to beat. He died praying for his boy! + +One evening as the sun was setting, a man stood leaning against the +fence along one of the streets of a certain city. His clothes were +ragged, his hands and face unwashed, his hair uncombed and his eyes +bleared; he looked more like a wild beast hunted and hungry, than a +human being. It was Tom. The boys gathered about him, and made him +the object of their fun and ridicule. At first he seemed not to notice +them, but suddenly he cried out: "Cease your laughter until you know +what you are laughing at. Let me talk to my master while you listen." + +He pulled a bottle from his pocket, held it up, and looking at it with +deep hatred flashing from his reddened eyes, he said: + +"I was once your master; now I am your slave. In my strength you +deceived me; in my weakness you mock me. You have burned my brain, +blistered my body, blasted my hopes, bitten my soul and broken my will. +You have taken my money, destroyed my home, stolen my good name, and +robbed me of every friend I ever had. You killed my mother, slew my +father, sent me out into the world a worthless vagabond, until I find +myself a son without parents, a man without friends, a wanderer without +a home, a human being without sympathy, and a pauper without bread. +Deceiver, mocker, robber, murderer--I hate you! Oh, for one hour of my +old-time strength, that I might slay you! Oh, for one friend and some +power to free me from this slavery!" + +The laugh had ceased and the boys stood gazing on him with awe. A +young lady and gentleman had joined the company just as Tom began this +terrible arraignment of his master, and as he ceased, the young lady +stepped up to him and earnestly said: "You have one friend and there is +one power that can break your chains and set you free." + +Tom gazed at her a moment and then said: + +"Who is my friend?" + +"The King is your friend," she answered. + +"And pray, who are you?" said Tom. + +"One of the King's Daughters," was the reply "and 'In His Name' I tell +you He has power to set you free." + +"Free, free did you say? But, you mock me. A girl with as white a +hand and as fair a face as yours, delivered me to my master." + +"Then, in the name of the King whose daughter am I, even Jesus Christ +the Lord, let the hand of another girl lead you to Him who came to +break the chains of the captive and set the prisoner free." + +Tom looked at the earnest face of the pleading girl, hesitated awhile, +as his lip quivered and the big tears filled his eyes, and then +suddenly lifting the bottle high above his head, he dashed it down on +the pavement, and as it broke into a thousand pieces, he said: + +"I'll trust you, I'll trust you, lead me to the King!" + +And lead him she did, as always a King's Daughter will lead one who +sorely needs help. His chains were broken, and at twenty-nine years of +age Tom began life over again. He is not the man he might have been, +but no one doubts his loyalty to the King. His place in the prayer +circle is never vacant, and you can always find, him in the ranks of +those whose sworn purpose it is to slay Tom's old master, King Alcohol! + + + + +STEVEN LAWRENCE, AMERICAN. + +BY BARBARA YECHTON. + +Stevie's papa usually wrote his name in the hotel registers as "Edward +H. Lawrence, New York City, U. S. A.," but Stevie always entered +his--and he wouldn't have missed doing it for anything--as "Steven +Lawrence, American." + +When Kate and Eva teased him about it, he would say: "Why, anybody +could come from New York--an Englishman or a German or a +Frenchman--without being born there, don't you see? but I'm a real +out-and-out American, born there, and a citizen and everything, and I +just want all these foreigners to know it, 'cause I think America's the +greatest country in the world." Then the little boy would straighten +his slender figure and toss back his curly hair with a great air of +pride, which highly amused his two sisters. But their teasing and +laughter did not trouble Stevie in the least. "Laugh all you like I +don't care," he retorted, one day. "It's my way, and I like it," which +amused the little girls all the more, for, as Eva said, "Everybody knew +Stevie liked his own way, only he never had owned up to it before." + +There was something, however, that did trouble the little boy a good +deal: though he was born in New York City, he had no recollection of it +or any other place in America, as his mamma's health had failed, and +the whole family had gone to Europe for her benefit, when Stevie was +little more than a year old. They had traveled about a good deal in +the eight years since then, and Stevie had lived in some famous and +beautiful old cities; but in his estimation no place was equal to his +beloved America, of which Mehitabel Higginson had told him so much, and +to which he longed to get back. I fancy that most American boys and +girls would have enjoyed being where Stevie was at this time, for he +and his papa and mamma, and Kate and Eva, and Mehitabel Higginson, were +living in a large and quite grand-looking house in Venice. The +entrance hall and the wide staircase leading to the next story were +very imposing, the rooms were large, and the walls and high ceilings +covered with elaborate carvings and frescoes; and when Stevie looked +out of the windows or the front door lo! instead of an ordinary street +with paved sidewalks, there were the blue shining waters of the lagoon, +and quaint-shaped gondolas floating at the door-step or gliding swiftly +and gracefully by. + +The children thought it great fun to go sight-seeing in a gondola: they +visited the beautiful old Cathedral of St. Mark, and admired the famous +bronze horses which surmount Sansovino's exquisitely carved gates, +sailed up and down the double curved Grand Canal, walked through the +Ducal Palace and across the narrow, ill-lighted Bridge of Sighs--over +which so many unfortunate prisoners had passed never to return--and +peeped into the dark, dismal prison on the other side of the canal. + +It was all very novel and interesting, but Stevie told Mehitabel, in +confidence, that he would rather, any day, listen to her reminiscences +of her long-ago school days in her little New England village home, or, +better still, to her stories of George Washington, and the other great +spirits of the Revolutionary period, and of Abraham Lincoln and the men +of his time. Stevie never tired of these stories. He knew Mehitabel's +leisure hour, and curling himself up among the cushions on the settee +beside her tea table, he would say, with his most engaging smile: +"Now's just the time for a story, Hitty; don't you think so? And +please begin right away, won't you, 'cause, you know, I'll have to be +going to bed pretty soon." + +He knew most of the stories by heart, corrected Miss Higginson if she +left out or added anything in the telling, and always joined in when +she ended the entertainment with her two stock pieces--"Barbara +Freitchie" and "Paul Revere's Ride," which were great favorites with +him. "Oh, how I would like to be a hero!" he said with a sigh, one +afternoon, just after they had finished reciting "Paul Revere's Ride" +in fine style. Presently he added, thoughtfully: "Do you think, Hitty, +that any one could be a hero and not know it? I suppose Washington and +Paul Revere and all those others just knew every time they did anything +brave." + +Hitty wore her hair in short gray curls, on each side of her rather +severe-looking face, and now they bobbed up and down as, she nodded her +head emphatically. "Of course they did," she answered, with +conviction. "You see my grandfather fought in the Revolution, so I +ought to know. But," with an entire change of conversation, "bravery +isn't the only thing in the world for a little boy to think of. He +should try to be nice and polite to everybody; obedient to his mamma +and gentle to his sisters; he shouldn't love to have his own way and go +ordering people about. I don't think," with sudden assurance, "you'd +have found Washington or Paul Revere or Lincoln behaving that way." + +"Pooh! that's all you know about it," cried Stevie, ungratefully, +slipping down from his nest among the cushions; he did not relish the +personal tone the conversation had taken. "Didn't Washington order his +troops about? And anyway, Kate's just as 'ordering' as I am, and you +never speak to her about it." Then, before the old housekeeper could +answer, he ran out of the room. + +You see that was Stevie's great fault; he was a dear, warm-hearted +little fellow, but he did love to have his own way, and often this made +him very rude and impatient--what they called "ordering"--to his +sisters, and Hitty and the servants, and even disobedient to his mamma. + +Stevie's mamma was very much troubled about this, for she dearly loved +her little son, and she saw plainly that as the days went on instead of +Stevie's getting the upper hand of his fault, his fault was getting the +upper hand of him. So one day she and papa had a long, serious talk +about Stevie, and then papa and Stevie had a long, serious talk about +the fault. I shall not tell all that passed between them, for papa had +to do some plain speaking that hurt Stevie's feelings very much, and +his little pocket-handkerchief was quite damp long before the interview +was over. + +Papa so seldom found fault that what he said now made a great +impression on the little boy. "I didn't know I was so horrid, papa," +he said, earnestly; "I really don't mean to be, but you see people are +so trying sometimes, and then it seems as if I just have to say things. +You don't know how hard it is to keep from saying them." + +"Oh, yes, I do," said Mr. Lawrence, with a nod of his head; "but you +are getting to be a big boy now, Stevie, and if you expect to be a +soldier one of these days--as you say you do--you must begin to control +yourself now, or you'll never be able to control your men by and by. +And besides, you are bringing discredit on your beloved country by such +behavior." + +Stevie looked up with wide-open, astonished eyes. "Why, papa!" he said. + +"I heard you tell Guiseppi the other day," went on his papa, "that all +Americans were nice. Do you expect him to believe that, when you, the +only little American boy he knows, speak so rudely to him, and he hears +you ordering your sisters about as you do?" + +Stevie hung his head without a word, but his cheeks got very red. + +"You know, Stevie," said Mr. Lawrence, "great honors always bring great +responsibilities with them. You are a Christian and an American--two +great honors; and you mustn't shirk the responsibility to be courteous +and noble and kind, which they entail. Even our dear Lord Christ +pleased not Himself, you know; don't you suppose it grieves Him to see +His little follower flying into rages because he can't have his own +way? And can you possibly imagine Washington or Lincoln ordering +people about as you like to do?" + +There was a moment's silence; then Stevie straightened himself up and +poked his hands deep down in his pockets. "Papa," he said, tossing +back his yellow curls, a look of determination on his little fair face, +"I'll not shirk my 'sponsibilities. I'm just going to try with all my +might to be a better boy." + +"Good for you, Stevie!" cried papa, kissing him warmly. "I know +mamma'll be glad, and I'm sure you'll be a much pleasanter boy to live +with. But you must ask God to help you, or you'll never succeed, son; +and besides, you've got to keep a tight watch on yourself all the time, +you know." + +"Yes, I s'pose so," agreed Stevie, with a little sigh, "'cause feelings +are such hard things to manage; and, papa, please don't tell Kate and +Eva, or Hitty." Papa nodded, and then they went to tell mamma the +result of the talk. + +Stevie did "try with all his might" for the next few days, and with +such good results as to astonish all but his papa and mamma, who, as +you know, were in the secret. Eva confided to Kate that she thought +Stevie was certainly like "the little girl with the curl," for if when +he was "bad he was horrid," "when he was good he was very, very good;" +and Mehitabel watched him closely, and hoped "he wasn't sickening for +measles or Italian fever." + +How long this unusual state of affairs would have lasted under usual +circumstances is uncertain; but about a week after Stevie's talk with +his papa, Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence were called suddenly to Naples on +urgent business, and the children were left in Venice in the +housekeeper's care. Mamma impressed upon her little son and daughters +that they must be very good children and obey Mehitabel just as they +would her; and when they were going, papa said to Stevie: "Son, I want +you to look after the girls and Mehitabel, and take care of them while +I am away. If anything happens, try to act as you think I would if I +were here." + +"All right, I'll take good care of 'em," Stevie answered, feeling very +proud to have papa say this before everybody, and winked hard to +prevent the tears, that would come, from falling. Then, as the gondola +glided from the door, papa leaned over the side and waved his hand. +"Don't forget the responsibilities, Steve," he called out. + +"I won't forget--sure," returned Stevie, waving back; but when Kate +asked what papa meant, he answered: "It's just something between papa +and me--nothing 'bout you," with such a mysterious air that of course +Kate immediately suspected a secret and entreated to be told. This +Stevie flatly refused to do, and they were on the verge of a quarrel +when Mehitabel's voice was heard calling them to come help her choose a +dessert for their five-o'clock dinner. + +Stevie found the next few days what he called "very trying." You see, +by virtue of what his papa had said he considered himself the head of +the family, and his feelings were continually ruffled by Mehitabel's +decided way of settling things without regard to his opinion. The +mornings were the hardest of all, when, in their mother's absence, the +children recited their lessons to Miss Higginson. Mehitabel had her +own ideas about the law and order that should be maintained, and +Stevie's indignant protests were quite wasted on her. + +"You may do as you please when your pa and ma are home"--she said very +decidedly one morning, when Kate and Stevie told her that their mamma +never expected them to stand through all the lessons nor to repeat +every word as it was in the book--"but when I'm head of the family +you've got to do things my way, and I want every word of that lesson." + +"You're just as cross as you can be," fumed Kate, flouncing herself +into a chair. + +"And anyway you're not the head of the family one bit," commenced +Stevie, warmly tossing back his curls and getting very red in the face. +"Papa said I--" + +"Oh, here's a gondola stopped at our door," broke in Eva, who, taking +advantage of Miss Higginson's attention being occupied elsewhere, was +looking out of the window. "There's a boy in it lying down--a big boy. +Oh, a man's just got out and--yes, they're bringing the boy in here! + +"Sakes alive!" cried Mehitabel, dropping Stevie's book on the floor and +starting for the door. "Can it possibly be Mr. Joseph and Dave?" + +"Uncle Joe and Dave!" "Hurrah!" exclaimed Kate and Stevie in the same +breath; and Eva having scrambled down from the window, the three +children collected at the head of the stairs to watch, with breathless +interest, the procession which came slowly up. + +The tall man on the right was their Uncle Joe Lawrence--Kate and Eva +and Stevie remembered him at once, for he had visited their parents +several times since they had been in Europe; and the bright-eyed, +pale-faced boy who lay huddled up in the chair which he and Guiseppi +carried between them must be their Cousin Dave, of whom they had heard +so much. Poor Dave! he had fallen from a tree last summer, and struck +his back, and the concussion had caused paralysis of the lower part of +the spine, so that he could not walk a step, and might not for years, +though the doctors gave hope that he would eventually recover the use +of his legs. The children gazed at him with the deepest interest and +sympathy, and they were perfectly astonished when, as the chair passed +them, Dave turned his head, and, in answer to their smiling greetings, +deliberately made a frightful face at them! + +"Isn't he the rudest!" gasped Eva, as the procession--Miss Higginson +bringing up the rear--disappeared behind the doors of the guest room; +while Kate and Stevie were, for once in their lives, too amazed to be +able to express their feelings. + +After what seemed a long time to the children, Mehitabel rejoined them. +"I am in a pucker," she said, sinking into a chair. Her curls were +disarranged, and her spectacles were pushed up on her forehead; she +looked worried. "And there isn't a creature to turn to for advice; +that Italian in the kitchen doesn't speak a blessed word of English, +and Guiseppi's not much better. He keeps saying, 'Si signorina,' and +wagging his head like a Chinese mandarin, until he fairly makes me +dizzy, and I know all the time he doesn't understand half I'm saying." + +Miss Higginson paused to take breath, then, feeling the positive +necessity of unburdening herself further, continued her tale of woe: +"Here's your Uncle Joseph obliged to go right on to Paris within the +hour, and here's Dave to remain here till his pa returns, which mayn't +be for weeks. And he requires constant care, mansage (she meant +massage) treatment and everything--and just as domineering and +imperdent; Stevie's bad enough, but Dave goes ahead of him. And, to +make matters worse, here comes a letter from your pa saying he and your +ma have met with old friends at Naples, and not to expect 'em home +until we see them. Anyway, I'd made up my mind not to shorten their +holiday, 'less it was a matter of life and death. + +"Now, what I want to know is this: who is going to wait on that sick +boy from morning to night? And that's what he'll have to have for he +can't stir off his couch, can't even sit up, and wanting something +every five minutes. I'm sure I can't keep the house, and see to the +servants, and take care of you children, and besides wait on that +exacting young one. 'Tain't in human nature to do it--anyway, 'tain't +in me. And Dave's temper's at the bottom of the whole thing; he won't +have Guiseppi or any other Italian I could get, and he's just worn out +the patience of his French vally till he got disgusted and wouldn't put +up with it any longer for love nor money. His father's got to go, and +who is to take care of that boy?" + +Mehitabel's voice actually quivered. The children had never seen her +so moved; the differences of the morning were all forgotten, and they +crowded about her, their little faces full of loving sympathy. "I wish +I could help you, Hitty," said Kate, patting the old housekeeper's +hand. "Is mansage treatment a kind of medicine 'cause if it is I might +give it to Dave--you know I drop mamma's medicine for her sometimes." + +"No, child, mansage is a certain way of rubbing the body, and it needs +more strength and skill than you've got. But that I can manage, I +think; Guiseppi knows a man that we can get to come and mansage Dave +every morning. And I could sleep in the room next to him, and look +after him during the night; but it's some one to be with him in the day +that I want most." + +Stevie had listened to Mehitabel's story with a very thoughtful +expression on his face; now he said suddenly, and very persuasively: "I +could take care of Dave through the day, Hitty--I wish you'd let me." + +"You!" cried Miss Higginson, in surprise. "Why, you wouldn't be in +that room five minutes before you two would be squabbling." + +"No, we wouldn't; I'm sure we wouldn't," persisted the little boy. +"Just you try me." + +"But, Stevie, you'd get very tired being shut up in the room with that +ill-tempered boy, all day long--I know him of old--he'd try the +patience of a saint. You'd have no gondola rides, no fun with your +sisters, no play time at all, and no thanks for your pains either. And +I'm not sure your pa'd like to have you do it." + +"I don't mind one bit about the fun and all that," said Stevie, +decidedly; "and indeed, Hitty, I don't think papa'd object. You see, +he told me the last thing, if anything happened while he was away I was +to act just as he would do if he were here; now, you know, if he were +here he'd just take care of Dave, himself--wouldn't he? Well, then, as +he isn't here, I ought to do it--see? And really I'd like to." + +"Why not let him try it anyhow, Hitty?" pleaded the little girls. And +as she really saw no other way out of the difficulty, Mehitabel +reluctantly consented, with the proviso that she should sit with Dave +for an hour every afternoon while Stevie went for a gondola sail. +Finally matters were arranged, and after a very short visit Mr. Joseph +Lawrence started for Paris, leaving Dave in Venice, and the children +went in to make their cousin's acquaintance. + +What Mehitabel said was certainly true--Dave was a very trying boy. +Though possessing naturally some good qualities, he had been so humored +and indulged that his own will had become his law; he loved to tease, +and hated to be thwarted in the slightest degree, and this made him +often very exacting and tyrannical. Miss Higginson called him a "most +exasperating boy," and she wasn't far wrong. He teased Kate and Eva so +much that they hated to go into his room, or even in the gondola when +he took, now and then, an airing. But, to everybody's surprise, he and +Stevie got on better than was expected. Part of the secret of this lay +in the fact that Dave had lived in America all his life--had just come +from there, and was able to give Stevie long and glowing accounts of +that country and everything in it--as seen from the other boy's +standpoint. Stevie's rapt attention and implicit faith in him +flattered Dave, and beside, though he wouldn't have acknowledged it for +the world, he found the little fellow's willing ministrations very much +pleasanter than those of the French valet, whose patience he had soon +exhausted. And Stevie felt so sorry for the boy who had dearly loved +to run and leap and climb, and who now lay so helpless that he could +not even sit up for five minutes. Dave's heart was very sore over it +sometimes--once or twice he had let Stevie see it; and then he had no +dear loving mother as Stevie had, and his papa had never talked to him +as Stevie's papa did to his little boy. So Stevie tried with all the +strength of his brave, tender little heart to be patient with his +cousin. + +But, as Mehitabel would say, "human nature is human nature;" they both +had quick tempers and strong wills; and for all Stevie's good +intentions, many a lively quarrel took place in the guest room, of +which they both fancied the old housekeeper knew nothing. She had +threatened that if Dave "abused" Stevie she would separate the boys at +once, even if she had to mount guard over the invalid herself; so with +Spartan-like fortitude both kept their grievances to themselves--Dave +because he disliked and was a little afraid of Miss Higginson, whom he +had nicknamed the "dragon," and Stevie because he had really grown very +fond of Dave, and knew how utterly dependent he was on him. But one +day Stevie completely lost his temper and got so angry that he declared +to himself he'd "just give up the whole thing." + +Stevie had felt a little cross himself that morning, and Dave had been +unbearable; the consequence was the most serious quarrel they had ever +had. In a fit of violent rage Dave threw everything he could lay hands +on at Stevie--books, cushions, and last a pretty paper-weight. The +books and cushions Stevie dodged, but the paper-weight hit him on the +shin, a sharp enough blow to bring tears to his eyes and the angry +blood to his cheeks. Catching up a cushion that lay near, he sent it +whizzing at Dave, and had the satisfaction of seeing it hit his cousin +full in the face; then, before Dave could retaliate, he slipped into +the hall and slammed the door of the guest room. + +Out in the hall he almost danced with rage. "I'll tell Hitty," he +stormed; "I won't wait on him and do things for him any longer. He's +the worst-tempered boy in the whole world. I just won't have another +thing to do with him! I'll go and tell her so." + +Before he got half way to Mehitabel, however, he changed his mind, and +stealing softly back, sat on the top step of the stairs, just outside +Dave's room, to wait till Dave should call him, to make up, as had +happened more than once before. Stevie determined he wouldn't go in +of his own accord--he said Dave had been "too contemptibly mean." So +he sat there with a very obstinate look on his little face, his elbows +on his knees and his chin in his palms, staring at the patch of blue +sky which was visible through the hall window nearest him. + +But somehow, after a while Stevie's anger began to cool, and he began +to feel sorry for Dave, and to wonder if the cushion had hurt him--a +corner of it might have struck his eye! The paper-weight had hurt +quite a good deal; but then he could get out of the way of such things, +while Dave couldn't dodge, he had to lie there and take what Stevie +threw. Poor Dave! and he might lie in that helpless way for years +yet--the doctors had said perhaps by the time he was twenty-one he +might be able to walk. What a long time to have to wait! Poor Dave! +Stevie wondered if he would behave better than Dave if he were twelve +years old and as helpless as his cousin. Mehitabel said they were both +fond of their own way and loved to order people about; he guessed all +boys loved their own way, whether they were nine or twelve years old. + +And then suddenly there came to Stevie the remembrance of a picture +that hung in his mamma's room. It was a print of a famous painting, +and it represented a Boy of twelve, with a bright, eager, beautiful +face, standing among grave, dark-browed, white-robed men. Mamma and +Stevie had often talked about the Boy there pictured, and Stevie knew +that He had not loved His own way, for He "pleased not Himself." He +wouldn't have quarreled with Dave! He had been a real Boy, too; He +knew just what other boys had to go through, all their trials and +temptations, and mamma had said over and over that she knew He just +loved to help those other boys to be good and unselfish and patient. + +Then He must know all about poor Dave's having to lie helpless all the +time. A wistful look came into Stevie's eyes. Oh, if Jesus were only +on earth now, he thought, how quickly they would all take Dave to Him +to be healed! Or perhaps He would come to the sick boy, as He did to +some of those others in the Bible. Stevie pictured to himself the +tall, gracious figure, clad in long, trailing robes, the holy face, the +tender eyes. He would lay His hand on Dave and say: "Son"--Stevie +thought that was such a beautiful word--"Son, rise up and walk." And +immediately Dave would spring to his feet, well and strong. And then +after that, of course, they--for he, too, would be present--would be so +good and kind and patient that they wouldn't think of quarreling and +throwing things at each other. + +Well, that was out of the question--Stevie sighed heavily--Jesus was in +heaven now, and He didn't do those miracles any more; but--since He had +been a Boy Himself He must know just how hard it was for some +boys--like Dave and himself, for instance--to be good; perhaps He would +help them if they asked Him. Stevie had his doubts whether Dave would +ask; he made fun of Stevie whenever he said anything of that +kind--which wasn't often; but he (Stevie) could ask for both, and +particularly that Jesus would put it into Dave's heart to make up this +quarrel--he did so hate to be the first to give in. + +Then, all at once, the eyes that were staring so steadily up at the +blue sky grew very tender, and Stevie's lips moved. + +What he said I do not know; but after that he sprang up and ran quickly +into Dave's room, up to his couch. "Say, Dave," he remarked, in the +most off-hand way, "I'll fix up your pillows, then you tell me all +about that base-ball team you used to belong to; you said you +would--you know, the one that knocked spots out of those other fellers." + +Dave lay with his head turned to the wall, his eyes closed; but as +Stevie spoke he opened them and looked up, a bright smile flashing over +his pale face. "All right, sir, I'm your man," he answered, readily. +"Pick up the things round the room first, so the 'dragon' won't know +we've had a fight, and then I'll begin. And--I say, Stevie--I--I'm +going to turn over a new leaf--sure, and the next time I act as I did +this morning just hit me on the head, will you? I'll deserve it." +Which from Dave was a full, ample, and most honorable apology, and as +such Stevie took it. + +A few days later Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence returned home, much to the +satisfaction and happiness of the children, who had, as Eva said, "lots +and lots" to tell them. Then when the three older folks were alone +together, Miss Higginson told her story. "I've watched 'em close, and +seen and heard more than those boys ever dreamed I did," she finished +up, "and I say that our Stevie's a hero--though he doesn't know it. +What he's stood with that Dave can't be told, and never a word of +complaint out of him. And, do you know, I really think he's improved +Dave as well as himself in the matter of temper." + +"A Christian and an American," Mr. Lawrence said, with a glad thrill in +his voice, smiling over at Stevie's mamma, whose shining eyes smiled +back at him. "Thank God, our boy is rising to his responsibilities. +But don't let him know he's done anything wonderful, Hitty." + +"I'll not tell him," promised the old housekeeper. "But the good Book +tells us, 'He that ruleth his spirit is greater than he that taketh a +city;' and seeing that's so, America's got no call to be ashamed of +Stevie, for though he's not an angel by any means, yet in his way he's +a hero as sure as was ever George Washington or Paul Revere, or my +name's not Mehitabel Higginson!" + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CHILDREN'S PORTION*** + + +******* This file should be named 18146.txt or 18146.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/8/1/4/18146 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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