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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Story-teller, by Maud Lindsay
+
+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 Story-teller
+
+Author: Maud Lindsay
+
+Illustrator: Florence Liley Young
+
+Release Date: December 4, 2007 [EBook #23735]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY-TELLER ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Sankar Viswanathan, Chris Curnow, Joseph Cooper
+and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
+http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+[Transcriber's Note:  Lines 1712-1716 do not appear to be properly
+formatted but are a facsimile of the printed page.]
+
+
+
+
+
+       [Illustration: EACH SAW THAT THE OTHER WAS HIS BROTHER.]
+
+
+
+                           THE STORY-TELLER
+
+
+                           by MAUD LINDSAY
+
+
+
+                 ILLUSTRATED BY FLORENCE LILEY YOUNG
+
+
+
+
+
+                                BOSTON
+
+                      LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO.
+
+
+
+
+                       Published, August, 1915
+
+                           Copyright, 1915,
+
+                    BY LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+_To my cousin
+
+Judith Winston Sherrod
+
+in whose joyous company I journeyed
+
+through the wonderland of youth_
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+
+It was a glad day in the olden time when the Story-Teller came to
+cottage or hall. At Christmas, or New Year; when the May-pole stood on
+the village green; or the chestnuts were roasting in the coals on
+All-hallows eve; come when he would, he was always welcome; and if,
+when he was least expected, he knocked at the door, what joy there
+was!
+
+Many were the miles that the Story-Teller had traveled, and many were
+the places where he had been; and many were the tales he had to tell
+of what he had seen and what he had heard in the wide world.
+
+Sometimes his voice was deep and sweet as the organ in church on
+Sunday; and sometimes it rang out clear as a bugle; and sometimes as
+the tale went on he would take the harp which was ever by his side,
+and touching it with skilful fingers, would weave a gay little song or
+a tender strain of music into his story, like a jeweled thread in a
+golden web.
+
+All the children gathered around him, sturdy Gilbert and rosy Jocelyn,
+roguish Giles and slender Rosalind, eager for a story. Mother and
+father drew near, and in the background stood the servants, smiling
+but silent. Oh, everything was still as the house at midnight as the
+Story-Teller began his magic words: "Once upon a time."
+
+Perhaps the story brought with it laughter, or perhaps a tear, but
+Life, said the Story-Teller, is made up of smiles and tears; and the
+little ones, listening to him, learned to rejoice with those whose joy
+was great, and to mourn with the sorrowful; and were the better and
+not the worse for it. And so in due time grew into noble men and good
+women.
+
+It is many and many a year since they lived and died; but
+still--knock, knock, knock--the Story-Teller comes with his harp and
+his story to every child's heart to-day.
+
+Open the door and let him come in, give him a seat by the fire and
+gather close about him. And then you shall hear!
+
+MAUD LINDSAY.
+
+_Sheffield, Alabama._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+THE STORIES
+
+THE TWO BROTHERS
+
+THE JAR OF ROSEMARY
+
+THE PROMISE
+
+THE PLATE OF PANCAKES
+
+LITTLE MAID HILDEGARDE
+
+THE APPLE DUMPLING
+
+THE KING'S SERVANT
+
+THE GREAT WHITE BEAR
+
+THE SONG THAT TRAVELED
+
+THE QUEST FOR THE NIGHTINGALE
+
+THE MAGIC FLOWER
+
+THE LIONS IN THE WAY
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+Each saw that the other was his brother _Frontispiece_
+
+She took the little prince in her arms and kissed him
+
+The harper was happier than a king as he sat by his own fireside
+
+Something seemed to whisper to him: "Stop, Karl, and eat"
+
+Yes, there they came!
+
+She saw an apple-tree as full of apples as her plum-tree was full of
+    plums
+
+One of them took it in his mouth, and so brought it safely to Hans
+
+"A bear!" cried the tailor
+
+She leaned on the fence that divided the two
+
+Straight to the Enchanted Wood they went
+
+While she was watching and waiting, the flower burst into bloom
+
+When he had come to the lions he found that they were chained
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+THE STORY-TELLER
+
+THE TWO BROTHERS
+
+
+Once upon a time there lived two brothers, who, when they were
+children, were so seldom apart that those who saw one always looked
+for the other at his heels.
+
+But when they had grown to manhood, and the time had come when they
+must make their own fortunes, the elder brother said to the younger:
+
+"Choose as you will what you shall do, and God bless your choice; but
+as for me I shall make haste to the court of the king, for nothing
+will satisfy me but to serve him and my country."
+
+"Good fortune and a blessing go with you," said the younger brother.
+"I, too, should like to serve my country and the king, but I have
+neither words nor wit for a king's court. To hammer a shoe from the
+glowing iron while the red fire roars and the anvil rings--this is the
+work that I do best, and I shall be a blacksmith, even as my father
+was before me."
+
+So when he had spoken the two brothers embraced and bade each other
+good-bye and went on their ways; nor did they meet again till many a
+year had come and gone.
+
+The elder brother rode to the king's court just as he had said he
+would; and as time went on he won great honor there and was made one
+of the king's counselors.
+
+And the younger brother built himself a blacksmith's shop by the side
+of a road and worked there merrily from early morn till the stars
+shone at night. He was called the Mighty Blacksmith because of his
+strength, and the Honest Blacksmith because he charged no more than
+his work was worth, and the Master Blacksmith because no other smith
+in the countryside could shoe a horse so well and speedily as he. And
+he was envious of nobody, for always as he worked his hammer seemed to
+sing to him:
+
+    "Cling, clang, cling! Cling, clang, cling!
+    He who does his very best,
+    Is fit to serve the king."
+
+Now in those days news came to the king of the country where the two
+brothers lived that the duke of the next kingdom had made threats
+against him, and against his people; and there was great excitement in
+the land.
+
+Some of the king's counselors wanted him to gather his armies and
+march at once into the duke's kingdom.
+
+"If we do not make war upon him, he will make war upon us," they said.
+
+But some of the king's counselors loved peace, and among these was the
+elder brother, in whom the king had great trust.
+
+"Let me, I pray you, ride to the duke's castle," he said to the king,
+"that we may learn from his own lips if he is friend or foe, for much
+is told that is not true; and it is easier to begin a fight than it is
+to end one."
+
+The king was well pleased with all the elder brother said, and bade
+him go.
+
+"But if by the peal of the noon bells on the day before Christmas you
+have neither brought nor sent a message of good will from the duke to
+me, then shall those who want war have their way," he said, and with
+this the elder brother had to be content.
+
+Day and night he rode to the duke's castle, and day and night, when
+his errand was done, he hastened home again. But the way was long and
+a strong wind had blown away the sign-posts which guided travelers,
+so, though he stopped neither to sleep in a bed or eat at a table the
+whole journey through, the early hours of the day before Christmas
+found him still far from the king's palace.
+
+And to make matters worse, in the loneliest part of the road, the good
+horse, that had carried him so well, lost a shoe.
+
+    "Alack and alas! for the want of a nail
+    The horseshoe is lost; and my good horse will fail
+    For the want of the shoe; and I shall be late
+    For want of a steed; and my message must wait
+    For want of a bearer; and woe is our plight,
+    For want of the message the king needs must fight!"[1]
+
+cried the elder brother then; and he bowed his head upon his saddle
+and wept, for where to turn for help he did not know.
+
+The sun had not yet risen and no other traveler was on the road, nor
+could he see through the dim light of dawn a house or watch-tower
+where he might ask aid. But as he wept he heard a distant sound that
+was sweeter than music to his ears:
+
+    "Cling, clang, cling! Cling, clang, cling!"
+
+[Footnote 1: Adapted from the old proverb, "For want of a nail, the
+shoe was lost," etc.]
+
+"Only a blacksmith plays that tune!" he cried; and he urged his horse
+on joyfully, calling as he went:
+
+"Smith, smith, if you love country and king, shoe my horse, and shoe
+him speedily."
+
+It was not long before he spied the fire of a roadside smithy glaring
+out upon him like a great red eye, and when he reached the door of the
+shop he found the smith ready and waiting for his task.
+
+Cling, clang, cling! How the iron rang beneath his mighty stroke! And
+cling, clang, cling, how the hammer sang as the shoe was pounded into
+shape!
+
+By the time the sun was over the hill the horse was shod, and the
+rider was in his saddle again.
+
+But the blacksmith would take no money for his work.
+
+"To serve my country and the king is pay enough for me," he said; and
+he stood up straight and tall and looked the king's counselor in the
+eyes.
+
+And lo! and behold, as the morning light fell on their faces, each saw
+that the other was his brother.
+
+"God bless you, brother," and "God speed you, brother," was all that
+they had time to say, but that was enough to show that love was still
+warm in their hearts.
+
+Then away, and away, and away, through the sun and the dew rode the
+elder brother--away and away over hill and dale toward the king's
+palace.
+
+The king and his counselors were watching and waiting there, and as
+the sun climbed high and the message did not come, those who wanted
+war said:
+
+"Shall we not saddle our horses, and call up our men?"
+
+"The bells in the steeple have yet to ring for noon," said the
+peace-lovers; "and we see a dust on the king's highway."
+
+"Dust flies before wind," said the warriors, "and it is likelier that
+our messenger lies in the duke's prison than rides on the king's
+highway."
+
+But with the dust came the sound of flying hoofs. Faster, faster,
+faster, they came. When the first stroke of the noon hour pealed from
+the church steeple the king's messenger was in sight, and the last
+bell had not rung when he stood before the palace gate to deliver the
+duke's message:
+
+    "Peace and good will to you and yours;
+    And to all a Merry Christmas."
+
+Then the king sent for fine robes and a golden chain to be brought for
+the elder brother, and put a purse of gold in his hand, for he was
+well pleased with what he had done.
+
+But the elder brother would have none of these things for himself
+alone.
+
+"Try as I would, I must have failed had it not been for my brother,
+the blacksmith, who shod my horse on the road to-day," he said; "and,
+if it please your majesty, half of all you give to me I will give to
+him."
+
+"Two good servants are better than one," said the king, and he sent
+for the younger brother that he might thank him also.
+
+Then the two brothers were clothed alike and feasted alike, and each
+had a purse of gold; and whenever one was praised, so was the other.
+
+And they lived happily, each in his own work, all the days of their
+lives.
+
+
+
+
+THE JAR OF ROSEMARY
+
+
+There was once a little prince whose mother, the queen, was sick. All
+summer she lay in bed, and everything was kept quiet in the palace;
+but when the autumn came she grew better. Every day brought color to
+her cheeks, and strength to her limbs, and by and by the little prince
+was allowed to go into her room and stand beside her bed to talk to
+her.
+
+He was very glad of this for he wanted to ask her what she would like
+for a Christmas present; and as soon as he had kissed her, and laid
+his cheek against hers, he whispered his question in her ear.
+
+"What should I like for a Christmas present?" said the queen. "A smile
+and a kiss and a hug around the neck; these are the dearest gifts I
+know."
+
+But the prince was not satisfied with this answer. "Smiles and kisses
+and hugs you can have every day," he said, "but think, mother, think,
+if you could choose the thing you wanted most in all the world what
+would you take?"
+
+So the queen thought and thought, and at last she said:
+
+"If I might take my choice of all the world I believe a little jar of
+rosemary like that which bloomed in my mother's window when I was a
+little girl would please me better than anything else."
+
+The little prince was delighted to hear this, and as soon as he had
+gone out of the queen's room he sent a servant to his father's
+greenhouses to inquire for a rosemary plant.
+
+But the servant came back with disappointing news. There were
+carnation pinks in the king's greenhouses, and roses with golden
+hearts, and lovely lilies; but there was no rosemary. Rosemary was a
+common herb and grew, mostly, in country gardens, so the king's
+gardeners said.
+
+"Then go into the country for it," said the little prince. "No matter
+where it grows, my mother must have it for a Christmas present."
+
+So messengers went into the country here, there, and everywhere to
+seek the plant, but each one came back with the same story to tell;
+there was rosemary, enough and to spare, in the spring, but the frost
+had been in the country and there was not a green sprig left to bring
+to the little prince for his mother's Christmas present.
+
+Two days before Christmas, however, news was brought that rosemary had
+been found, a lovely green plant growing in a jar, right in the very
+city where the prince himself lived.
+
+"But where is it?" said he. "Why have you not brought it with you? Go
+and get it at once."
+
+"Well, as for that," said the servant who had found the plant, "there
+is a little difficulty. The old woman to whom the rosemary belongs did
+not want to sell it even though I offered her a handful of silver for
+it."
+
+"Then give her a purse of gold," said the little prince.
+
+So a purse filled so full of gold that it could not hold another piece
+was taken to the old woman; but presently it was brought back. She
+would not sell her rosemary; no, not even for a purse of gold.
+
+"Perhaps if your little highness would go yourself and ask her, she
+might change her mind," said the prince's nurse. So the royal carriage
+drawn by six white horses was brought, and the little prince and his
+servants rode away to the old woman's house, and when they got there
+the first thing they spied was the little green plant in a jar
+standing in the old woman's window.
+
+The old woman, herself, came to the door, and she was glad to see the
+little prince. She invited him in, and bade him warm his hands by the
+fire, and gave him a cooky from her cupboard to eat.
+
+She had a little grandson no older than the prince, but he was sick
+and could not run about and play like other children. He lay in a
+little white bed in the old woman's room, and the little prince, after
+he had eaten the cooky, spoke to him, and took out his favorite
+plaything, which he always carried in his pocket, and showed it to
+him.
+
+The prince's favorite plaything was a ball which was like no other
+ball that had ever been made. It was woven of magic stuff as bright as
+the sunlight, as sparkling as the starlight, and as golden as the moon
+at harvest time. And when the little prince threw it into the air, or
+bounced it on the floor or turned it in his hands it rang like a chime
+of silver bells.
+
+The sick child laughed to hear it, and held out his hands for it, and
+the prince let him hold it, which pleased the grandmother as much as
+the child.
+
+But pleased though she was she would not sell the rosemary. She had
+brought it from the home where she had lived when her little
+grandson's father was a boy, she said, and she hoped to keep it till
+she died. So the prince and his servants had to go home without it.
+
+No sooner had they gone than the sick child began to talk of the
+wonderfull ball.
+
+"If I had such a ball to hold in my hand," he said, "I should be
+contented all the day."
+
+"You may as well wish for the moon in the sky," said his grandmother;
+but she thought of what he said, and in the evening when he was asleep
+she put her shawl around her, and taking the jar of rosemary with her
+she hastened to the king's palace.
+
+When she got there the servants asked her errand but she would answer
+nothing till they had taken her to the little prince.
+
+"Silver and gold would not buy the rosemary," she said when she saw
+him; "but if you will give me your golden ball for my little
+grandchild you may have the plant."
+
+"But my ball is the most wonderful ball that was ever made!" cried the
+little prince; "and it is my favorite plaything. I would not give it
+away for anything."
+
+And so the old woman had to go home with her jar of rosemary under her
+shawl.
+
+The next day was the day before Christmas and there was a great stir
+and bustle in the palace. The queen's physician had said that she
+might sit up to see the Christmas Tree that night, and have her
+presents with the rest of the family; and every one was running to and
+fro to get things in readiness for her.
+
+The queen had so many presents, and very fine they were, too, that the
+Christmas Tree could not hold them all, so they were put on a table
+before the throne and wreathed around with holly and with pine. The
+little prince went in with his nurse to see them, and to put his gift,
+which was a jewel, among them.
+
+"She wanted a jar of rosemary," he said as he looked at the glittering
+heap.
+
+"She will never think of it again when she sees these things. You may
+be sure of that," said the nurse.
+
+But the little prince was not sure. He thought of it himself many
+times that day, and once, when he was playing with his ball, he said
+to the nurse:
+
+"If I had a rosemary plant I'd be willing to sell it for a purse full
+of gold. Wouldn't you?"
+
+"Indeed, yes," said the nurse; "and so would any one else in his right
+senses. You may be sure of that."
+
+The little boy was not satisfied, though, and presently when he had
+put his ball up and stood at the window watching the snow which had
+come to whiten the earth for Christ's birthday, he said to the nurse:
+
+"I wish it were spring. It is easy to get rosemary then, is it not?"
+
+"Your little highness is like the king's parrot that knows but one
+word with your rosemary, rosemary, rosemary," said the nurse who was a
+little out of patience by that time. "Her majesty, the queen, only
+asked for it to please you. You may be sure of that."
+
+But the little prince was not sure; and when the nurse had gone to her
+supper and he was left by chance for a moment alone, he put on his
+coat of fur, and taking the ball with him he slipped away from the
+palace, and hastened toward the old woman's house.
+
+He had never been out at night by himself before, and he might have
+felt a little afraid had it not been for the friendly stars that
+twinkled in the sky above him.
+
+"We will show you the way," they seemed to say; and he trudged on
+bravely in their light, till, by and by, he came to the house and
+knocked at the door.
+
+[Illustration: SHE TOOK THE LITTLE PRINCE IN HER ARMS AND KISSED HIM.]
+
+Now the little sick child had been talking of the wonderful ball
+all the evening. "Did you see how it shone, grandmother? And did you
+hear how the little bells rang?" he said; and it was just then that
+the little prince knocked at the door.
+
+The old woman made haste to answer the knock and when she saw the
+prince she was too astonished to speak.
+
+"Here is the ball," he cried, putting it into her hands. "Please give
+me the rosemary for my mother."
+
+And so it happened that when the queen sat down before her great table
+of gifts the first thing she spied was a jar of sweet rosemary like
+that which had bloomed in her mother's window when she was a little
+girl.
+
+"I should rather have it than all the other gifts in the world," she
+said; and she took the little prince in her arms and kissed him.
+
+
+
+
+THE PROMISE[2]
+
+A Christmas Wonder Story for Older Children
+
+
+There was once a harper who played such beautiful music and sang such
+beautiful songs that his fame spread throughout the whole land; and at
+last the king heard of him and sent messengers to bring him to the
+palace.
+
+[Footnote 2: This story was suggested by an old poem, told to me by
+Miss Harriette Mills, which recounted the adventures of a father who
+braved the snows of an Alpine pass to reach his home on Christmas
+day.]
+
+"I will neither eat nor sleep till I have seen your face and heard the
+sound of your harp." This was the message the king sent to the harper.
+
+The messengers said it over and over until they knew it by heart, and
+when they reached the harper's house they called:
+
+"Hail, harper! Come out and listen, for we have something to tell
+you that will make you glad."
+
+But when the harper heard the king's message he was sad, for he had a
+wife and a child and a little brown dog; and he was sorry to leave
+them and they were sorry to have him go.
+
+"Stay with us," they begged; but the harper said:
+
+"I _must_ go, for it would be discourtesy to disappoint the king; but
+as sure as holly berries are red and pine is green, I will come back
+by Christmas day to eat my share of the Christmas pudding, and sing
+the Christmas songs by my own fireside."
+
+And when he had promised this he hung his harp upon his back and went
+away with the messengers to the king's palace.
+
+When he got there the king welcomed him with joy, and many things were
+done in his honor. He slept on a bed of softest down, and ate from a
+plate of gold at the king's own table; and when he sang everybody and
+everything, from the king himself to the mouse in the palace pantry,
+stood still to listen.
+
+No matter what he was doing, however, feasting or resting, singing or
+listening to praises, he never forgot the promise that he had made to
+his wife and his child and his little brown dog; and when the day
+before Christmas came, he took his harp in his hand and went to bid
+the king good-bye.
+
+Now the king was loath to have the harper leave him, and he said to
+him:
+
+"I will give you a horse that is white as milk, as glossy as satin,
+and fleet as a deer, if you will stay to play and sing before my
+throne on Christmas day."
+
+But the harper answered, "I cannot stay, for I have a wife and a child
+and a little brown dog; and I have promised them to be at home by
+Christmas day to eat my share of the Christmas pudding and sing the
+Christmas songs by my own fireside."
+
+Then the king said, "If you will stay to play and sing before my
+throne on Christmas day I will give to you a wonderful tree that
+summer or winter is never bare; and silver and gold will fall for you
+whenever you shake this little tree."
+
+But the harper said, "I must not stay, for my wife and my child and my
+little brown dog are waiting for me, and I have promised them to be at
+home by Christmas day to eat my share of the Christmas pudding and
+sing the Christmas songs by my own fireside."
+
+Then the king said, "If you will stay on Christmas day one tune to
+play and one song to sing, I will give you a velvet robe to wear, and
+you may sit beside me here with a ring on your finger and a crown on
+your head."
+
+But the harper answered, "I _will_ not stay, for my wife and my child
+and my little brown dog are watching for me; and I have promised them
+to be at home by Christmas day to eat my share of the Christmas
+pudding and sing the Christmas songs by my own fireside." And he
+wrapped his old cloak about him, and hung his harp upon his back, and
+went out from the king's palace without another word.
+
+He had not gone far when the little white snow-flakes came fluttering
+down from the skies.
+
+    "Harper, stay," they seemed to say,
+    "Do not venture out to-day."
+
+But the harper said, "The snow may fall, but I must go, for I have a
+wife and a child and a little brown dog; and I have promised them to
+be at home by Christmas day to eat my share of the Christmas pudding
+and sing the Christmas songs by my own fireside."
+
+Then the snow fell thick, and the snow fell fast. The hills and the
+valleys, the hedges and hollows were white. The paths were all hidden,
+and there were drifts like mountains on the king's highway. The
+harper stumbled and the harper fell, but he would not turn back; and
+as he traveled he met the wind.
+
+    "Brother Harper, turn, I pray;
+    Do not journey on to-day,"
+
+sang the wind, but the harper would not heed.
+
+"Snows may fall and winds may blow, but I must go on," he said, "for I
+have a wife and a child and a little brown dog; and I have promised
+them to be at home by Christmas day to eat my share of the Christmas
+pudding and sing the Christmas songs by my own fireside."
+
+Then the wind blew an icy blast. The snow froze on the ground and the
+water froze in the rivers. The harper's breath froze in the air, and
+icicles as long as the king's sword hung from the rocks on the king's
+highway. The harper shivered and the harper shook, but he would not
+turn back; and by and by he came to the forest that lay between him
+and his home.
+
+The trees of the forest were creaking and bending in the wind, and
+every one of them seemed to say:
+
+    "Darkness gathers, night is near;
+    Harper, stop! Don't venture here."
+
+But the harper would not stop. "Snows may fall, winds may blow, and
+night may come, but I have promised to be at home by Christmas day to
+eat my share of the Christmas pudding and sing the Christmas songs by
+my own fireside. I must go on."
+
+And on he went till the last glimmer of daylight faded, and there was
+darkness everywhere. But the harper was not afraid of the dark.
+
+"If I cannot see I can sing," said he, and he sang in the forest
+joyously:
+
+    "Sing glory, glory, glory!
+      And bless God's holy name;
+    For 'twas on Christmas morning,
+      The little Jesus came.
+
+    "He wore no robes; no crown of gold
+      Was on His head that morn;
+    But herald angels sang for joy,
+      To tell a King was born."
+
+[Illustration: THE HARPER WAS HAPPIER THAN A KING AS HE SAT BY HIS OWN
+FIRESIDE.]
+
+The snow ceased its falling, the wind ceased its blowing, the trees of
+the forest bowed down to listen, and, lo! dear children, as he sang
+the darkness turned to wondrous light, and close at hand the harper
+saw the open doorway of his home.
+
+The wife and the child and the little brown dog were watching and
+waiting, and they welcomed the harper with great joy. The holly
+berries were red in the Christmas wreaths; their Christmas tree was a
+young green pine; the Christmas pudding was full of plums; and the
+harper was happier than a king as he sat by his own fireside to sing:
+
+    "O glory, glory, glory!
+      We praise God's holy name;
+    For 'twas to bring His wondrous love,
+      The little Jesus came.
+
+    "And in our hearts it shines anew,
+      While at His throne we pray,
+    God bless us all for Jesus' sake,
+      This happy Christmas day."
+
+[Illustration: Music]
+
+THE HARPER'S SONG
+
+Words, MAUD LINDSAY
+
+Music, ELSIE A. MERRIMAN
+
+1. Sing glo-ry, glo-ry, glo-ry! And bless God's ho-ly name;
+2. O glo-ry, glo-ry,  glo-ry! We praise God's ho-ly name;
+
+For 'twas on Christmas morn-ing, The lit-tle Je-sus came.
+For 'twas to bring His wondrous love, The lit-tle Je-sus came.
+
+He wore no robes; no crown of gold Was on His head that morn; But
+And in our hearts it shines a-new, While at His throne we pray, God
+
+her-ald an-gels sang for joy, To tell a King was born.
+bless us all for Je-sus' sake, This hap-py Christ-mas day.
+
+
+
+
+THE PLATE OF PANCAKES
+
+
+Once upon a time a woman was frying some pancakes, and as she turned
+the last cake in the pan she said to her little boy:
+
+"If you were a little older I should send you with some of these fine
+cakes for your father's dinner, but as it is, he must wait till supper
+for them."
+
+"Oh, do let me take them," said the little boy, whose name was Karl.
+"Just see how tall I am. And only yesterday my grandmother said I was
+old enough to learn my letters. Do let me go!"
+
+And he begged and begged till at last she selected the brownest and
+crispest cakes, and putting them in a plate with a white napkin over
+them she bade him take them.
+
+Now the path that led from Karl's home to the saw-mill where his
+father worked was straight enough, and plain enough, but it ran
+through the wood that was called Enchanted. Fairies lived there, so
+some people thought, and goblins that liked to work mischief; and
+never before had the little boy been allowed to go there alone.
+
+As he hurried along with the plate of pancakes in his hand he glanced
+into every green thicket that he passed, half hopeful, and half
+fearful that he might find a tiny creature hidden in the leaves. Not a
+glimpse of fairy or goblin did he see, but when he came to the
+blackberry bushes where the sweetest berries grow something seemed to
+whisper to him: "Stop, Karl, and eat."
+
+"But I am taking a plate of pancakes for my father's dinner," said
+Karl speaking aloud.
+
+"A moment or two will make no difference. You can run fast," came the
+whisper again.
+
+[Illustration: SOMETHING SEEMED TO WHISPER TO HIM: "STOP, KARL, AND
+EAT."]
+
+"Oh, yes, I can run fast," said Karl; and he put the plate down under
+the bushes and began to pick the berries. They were as ripe and
+sweet as they had looked and every one that the little boy put into
+his mouth made him wish for another; and if he turned away from the
+bushes the whisper was sure to come: "One more and then go."
+
+The pancakes grew cold in the plate, and the sun which had been high
+in the sky when Karl started from home slipped farther and farther
+into the west; but still he lingered, till suddenly the evening
+whistle of the mill sounded sharp and shrill in his ears.
+
+"Why, it is time for my father to come home," he cried. "Dear me, dear
+me, what shall I do?"
+
+There was nothing for him to do but to go home, so home he went with
+the plate of cold pancakes in his hand and the tears rolling down his
+cheeks.
+
+When he told his mother and grandmother what had happened they looked
+at each other wisely as if they thought more about it than they would
+say; but they bade him dry his tears.
+
+"You will be more careful another time," they said; and so the matter
+ended.
+
+But Karl did not forget it. It was many a month before his mother
+fried pancakes again, but no sooner did he see her turning the cakes
+in the pan than he said:
+
+"I wish my father had some of these fine cakes for his dinner, don't
+you, mother?"
+
+"Indeed I do," said she, smiling at his grandmother as she spoke; and
+as soon as the cakes were done she selected the brownest and crispest,
+and putting them in a plate with a white napkin over them, she bade
+him take them.
+
+"I'll get there in time for my father's dinner to-day," he said as he
+started out; but in a very short while he was back with an empty plate
+in his hand, and the tears rolling down his cheeks.
+
+"I only put the plate down for a minute while I chased a rabbit that
+said, 'If you catch me you may have me;' and when I came back every
+pancake was gone," he sobbed.
+
+His mother and grandmother looked at each other wisely when they heard
+this.
+
+"It is just as I thought the first time," said his mother. "The
+goblins are at work in the wood. He must never go there again."
+
+But to this the grandmother would not agree.
+
+"Leave it to me," she said, and the very next day she fried pancakes,
+and selecting the brownest and crispest she put them in a plate with a
+white napkin over them and bade Karl take them to his father.
+
+"And if any bid you stop or stay, or turn your feet from out your way,
+say but the word that is spelled with the fourteenth and fifteenth
+letters of the alphabet three times in a loud voice, and all will go
+well with you," she said.
+
+"All right," said Karl, nodding his head proudly, for he knew all his
+letters by this time and could spell hard words like c-a-t, cat,
+m-a-t, mat. "All right," but he did not stop to count the letters then
+for he was in a great hurry to be off.
+
+"I guess my father will be glad to get such fine pancakes for his
+dinner," he said; and he ran so fast that he was half-way to the mill
+before he knew it.
+
+There was no whispering voice in the wood that day and no talking
+rabbit to tempt him to a chase; but as he came to a place where
+another path crossed his own, a bird called out from the heart of the
+wood:
+
+"Quick, quick, come here, here, here----"
+
+"Where, where?" cried Karl; and he was just about to start in search
+of the bird when he remembered what his grandmother had said:
+
+"If any bid you stop or stay, or turn your feet from out your way, say
+but the word that is spelled with the fourteenth and fifteenth letters
+of the alphabet three times in a loud voice, and all will go well with
+you."
+
+"A, B, C, D, E, F, G," he chanted, counting the letters on his fingers
+as he said them, "H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O:" N was the fourteenth letter
+and O was the fifteenth. N-O; that was easy.
+
+"No! No! No!" he shouted; and--do you believe it?--in less time than
+it takes to tell it he was at the mill door with every pancake safe
+and hot.
+
+And the story goes that though he came and went through the Enchanted
+Wood all the days of his life he was never hindered by anything there
+again; and he never saw a goblin though he lived to be as old as his
+grandmother had been when he was a little boy.
+
+
+
+
+LITTLE MAID HILDEGARDE
+
+
+One evening Little Maid Hildegarde's father came home with wonderful
+news; the knights were coming to town. He had heard it as he came from
+the forest where he cut wood all day and he hurried every step of the
+way home to tell Hildegarde and her mother.
+
+"They are on the king's business and will be at the Church Square
+to-morrow morning at the hour of ten. Everybody in town will be there
+to see them. Old Grandmother Grey is going to ask them to ride in
+search of her little lamb that has gone astray; and the mayor will
+tell them of the wolves that come in the winter. The good knights are
+always glad to help," he said.
+
+Little Maid Hildegarde knew all about the knights. Her father was
+never tired of telling, or she of hearing, how they fought and killed
+the fierce dragon that had troubled the people of the border; and put
+out the forest fires in the time of the great drought and fed the
+hungry when the famine was in the land. And yet with all of their
+great deeds they were merry men, not too proud to sing at a feast or
+play with a child.
+
+And many an evening, though Hildegarde was growing to be a great girl,
+her mother sat by her bed to sing a song that she had sung to her when
+she was a babe in the cradle:
+
+    "Hush, my baby, do not cry,
+    Five brave knights go riding by.
+    One is dressed in bonny blue;
+    He's the leader, strong and true.
+    One is clad from head to toe
+    In an armor white as snow.
+
+    "One in crimson bright is drest,
+    With a star upon his breast.
+    One in gold and one in green,
+    Cloth of gold and satin sheen.
+    Hush, my baby, do not cry,
+    Five brave knights go riding by."
+
+Oh, how Hildegarde had longed to see those splendid riders! And now at
+last she was to have her heart's desire. It seemed almost too good to
+be true.
+
+"Shall we start to town as soon as the new day comes?" she asked.
+
+"Just as soon as the cows are taken to the pasture, and the little
+chicks are fed," said her mother; and the little maid went to bed well
+satisfied.
+
+But alas, for Hildegarde and her hopes! The morning sun had scarcely
+shone when her mother awoke with a terrible pain in her head, and her
+father slipped on his way to the barn and sprained his foot so he
+could not walk. And there was no one to take the child to the Church
+Square. No, not even a neighbor, for Hildegarde and her mother and
+father lived apart from every one else, and the wood that is called
+Enchanted lay between them and the town.
+
+There was no help for it. Hildegarde knew herself, without a word from
+any one, that she could not go; but as she ran about the house to wait
+on them, she heard her mother and father talking.
+
+"It is not for the pain in my face that I grieve," said the good
+mother; "but for the disappointment of our little maid."
+
+"Aye," said the father, "I would bear my hurt, and more too,
+willingly, if only she might see the gallant knights."
+
+And when Hildegarde heard what they said she made haste to wipe away
+the tears that threatened to roll down her cheeks, and went about her
+work with a pleasant face.
+
+All day long she was busy for there were the cows to take to the
+pasture, and the little chicks to feed, and the eggs to gather; but at
+sunset her tasks were done, and with her doll in her arms she sat in
+the doorway of the house and looked away toward the town, the towers
+of which just showed above the Enchanted Wood.
+
+Highest of all was the spire of the church that stood in the square
+where the knights had been; and as Hildegarde watched it change from
+grey to gold in the sunset glow, she thought of them and wondered
+where they had gone when their business was done.
+
+Some day they would come again and then she should surely see them,
+her father said; and already she had begun to look forward to that
+time.
+
+"Perhaps they will come when the wolves do in the winter," she said to
+herself; but scarcely had she spoken when through an opening in the
+wood she spied a horseman riding at a stately pace. Behind him came
+another, and another till she had counted five--five brave knights!
+Yes, there they came with prancing steeds and shining shields, and
+splendid clothes!
+
+One bore a banner blue as the sky on a summer's day, and the next held
+a wee lamb close within his arms. A dragon's head hung from another's
+saddle, and two had bugles by their sides.
+
+Not a word was spoken. As silently as the stars shine out at evening
+they passed the door where the child sat wonder-struck; and as quietly
+as the sun goes down at the day's end they vanished into the wood
+again before she could move or call. But just as the green of the last
+one's coat faded away into the green of the trees, Hildegarde thought
+she heard a strain of sweetest music!
+
+Now there were those, and Hildegarde's mother and father were among
+them, who believed that the little maid, tired from her long busy day,
+had fallen asleep, and dreamed a beautiful dream.
+
+But as for Hildegarde, she kept the vision in her heart alway; and
+when as the years went by she had little ones of her own to rock to
+sleep, she told them of it, and sang to them as her mother had sung to
+her:
+
+[Illustration: Music]
+
+FIVE BRAVE KNIGHTS
+
+Words, MAUD LINDSAY
+
+Air, Old Song
+
+Hush, my ba-by, do not cry, Five brave knights go rid-ing by.
+
+One is dressed in bon-ny blue; He's the lead-er, strong and true.
+
+One is  clad from head to toe  In an ar-mor white as snow.
+
+One in crim-son bright is drest, With a star up-on his breast.
+
+One in gold and one in green, Cloth of gold and sat-in  sheen.
+
+Hush, my ba-by, do not cry, Five brave knights go rid-ing by.
+
+[Illustration: YES, THERE THEY CAME!]
+
+
+
+
+THE APPLE DUMPLING
+
+
+There was once upon a time an old woman who wanted an apple dumpling
+for supper. She had plenty of flour and plenty of butter, plenty of
+sugar and plenty of spice for a dozen dumplings, but there was one
+thing she did not have; and that was an apple.
+
+She had plums, a tree full of them, the roundest and reddest that you
+can imagine; but, though you can make butter from cream and raisins of
+grapes, you cannot make an apple dumpling with plums, and there is no
+use trying.
+
+The more the old woman thought of the dumpling the more she wanted it,
+and at last she dressed herself in her Sunday best and started out to
+seek an apple.
+
+Before she left home, however, she filled a basket with plums from
+her plum-tree and, covering it over with a white cloth, hung it on her
+arm, for she said to herself: "There may be those in the world who
+have apples, and need plums."
+
+She had not gone very far when she came to a poultry yard filled with
+fine hens and geese and guineas. Ca-ca, quawk, quawk, poterack! What a
+noise they made; and in the midst of them stood a young woman who was
+feeding them with yellow corn. She nodded pleasantly to the old woman,
+and the old woman nodded to her; and soon the two were talking as if
+they had known each other always.
+
+The young woman told the old woman about her fowls and the old woman
+told the young woman about the dumpling and the basket of plums for
+which she hoped to get apples.
+
+"Dear me," said the young woman when she heard this, "there is nothing
+my husband likes better than plum jelly with goose for his Sunday
+dinner, but unless you will take a bag of feathers for your plums he
+must do without, for that is the best I can offer you."
+
+"One pleased is better than two disappointed," said the old woman
+then; and she emptied the plums into the young woman's apron and
+putting the bag of feathers into her basket trudged on as merrily as
+before; for she said to herself:
+
+"If I am no nearer the dumpling than when I left home, I am at least
+no farther from it; and that feathers are lighter to carry than plums
+nobody can deny."
+
+Trudge, trudge, up hill and down she went, and presently she came to a
+garden of sweet flowers; lilies, lilacs, violets, roses--oh, never was
+there a lovelier garden!
+
+The old woman stopped at the gate to look at the flowers; and as she
+looked she heard a man and a woman, who sat on the door-step of a
+house that stood in the garden, quarreling.
+
+"Cotton," said the woman.
+
+"Straw," said the man.
+
+"'Tis not--"
+
+"It is," they cried, and so it went between them, till they spied the
+old woman at the gate.
+
+"Here is one who will settle the matter," said the woman then; and she
+called to the old woman:
+
+"Good mother, answer me this: If you were making a cushion for your
+grandfather's chair would you not stuff it with cotton?"
+
+"No," said the old woman.
+
+"I told you so," cried the man. "Straw is the thing, and no need to go
+farther than the barn for it;" but the old woman shook her head.
+
+"I would not stuff the cushion with straw," said she; and it would
+have been hard to tell which one was the more cast down by her
+answers, the man or the woman.
+
+But the old woman made haste to take the bag of feathers out of her
+basket, and give it to them.
+
+"A feather cushion is fit for a king," she said, "and as for me, an
+apple for a dumpling, or a nosegay from your garden will serve me as
+well as what I give."
+
+The man and the woman had no apples, but they were glad to exchange a
+nosegay from their garden for a bag of fine feathers, you may be sure.
+
+"There is nothing nicer for a cushion than feathers," said the woman.
+
+"My mother had one made of them," said the man; and they laughed like
+children as they hurried into the garden to fill the old woman's
+basket with the loveliest posies; lilies, lilacs, violets, roses--oh!
+never was there a sweeter nosegay.
+
+"A good bargain, and not all of it in the basket," said the old woman,
+for she was pleased to have stopped the quarrel, and when she had
+wished the two good fortune and a long life, she went upon her way
+again.
+
+Now her way was the king's highway, and as she walked there she met a
+young lord who was dressed in his finest clothes, for he was going to
+see his lady love. He would have been as handsome a young man as ever
+the sun shone on had it not been that his forehead was wrinkled into a
+terrible frown, and the corners of his mouth drawn down as if he had
+not a friend left in the whole world.
+
+"A fair day and a good road," said the old woman, stopping to drop him
+a courtesy.
+
+"Fair or foul, good or bad, 'tis all one to me," said he, "when the
+court jeweler has forgotten to send the ring he promised, and I must
+go to my lady with empty hands."
+
+"Empty hands are better than an empty heart," said the old woman; "but
+then we are young only once; so you shall have a gift for your lady
+though I may never have an apple dumpling." And she took the nosegay
+from her basket and gave it to the young lord which pleased him so
+much that the frown smoothed away from his forehead, and his mouth
+spread itself in a smile, and he was as handsome a young man as ever
+the sun shone on.
+
+"Fair exchange is no robbery,"[3] said he, and he unfastened a golden
+chain from round his neck and gave it to the old woman, and went away
+holding his nosegay with great care.
+
+[Footnote 3: An old saying.]
+
+The old woman was delighted.
+
+"With this golden chain I might buy all the apples in the king's
+market, and then have something to spare," she said to herself, as she
+hurried away toward town as fast as her feet could carry her.
+
+But she had gone no farther than the turn of the road when she came
+upon a mother and children, standing in a doorway, whose faces were as
+sorrowful as her own was happy.
+
+"What is the matter?" she asked as soon as she reached them.
+
+"Matter enough," answered the mother, "when the last crust of bread
+is eaten and not a farthing in the house to buy more."
+
+"Well-a-day," cried the old woman when this was told her. "Never shall
+it be said of me that I eat apple dumpling for supper while my
+neighbors lack bread;" and she put the golden chain into the mother's
+hands and hurried on without waiting for thanks.
+
+She was not out of sight of the house, though, when the mother and
+children, every one of them laughing and talking as if it were
+Christmas or Candlemas day, overtook her.
+
+"Little have we to give you," said the mother who was the happiest of
+all, "for that you have done for us, but here is a little dog, whose
+barking will keep loneliness from your house, and a blessing goes with
+it."
+
+The old woman did not have the heart to say them nay, so into the
+basket went the little dog, and very snugly he lay there.
+
+[Illustration: SHE SAW AN APPLE-TREE AS FULL OF APPLES AS HER
+PLUM-TREE WAS FULL OF PLUMS.]
+
+"A bag of feathers for a basket of plums; a nosegay of flowers for a
+bag of feathers; a golden chain for a nosegay of flowers; a dog and a
+blessing for a golden chain; all the world is give and take, and who
+knows but that I may have my apple yet," said the old woman as she
+hurried on.
+
+And sure enough she had not gone a half dozen yards when, right before
+her, she saw an apple-tree as full of apples as her plum-tree was full
+of plums. It grew in front of a house as much like her own as if the
+two were peas in the same pod; and on the porch of the house sat a
+little old man.
+
+"A fine tree of apples!" called the old woman as soon as she was in
+speaking distance of him.
+
+"Aye, but apple-trees and apples are poor company when a man is
+growing old," said the old man; "and I would give them all if I had
+even so much as a little dog to bark on my door-step."
+
+"Bow-wow!" called the dog in the old woman's basket, and in less time
+than it takes to read this story he was barking on the old man's
+door-step, and the old woman was on her way home with a basket of
+apples on her arm.
+
+She got there in plenty of time to make the dumpling for supper, and
+it was as sweet and brown a dumpling as heart could desire.
+
+"If you try long enough and hard enough you can always have an apple
+dumpling for supper," said the old woman; and she ate the dumpling to
+the very last crumb; and enjoyed it, too.
+
+
+
+
+THE KING'S SERVANT[4]
+
+
+There was once upon a time a faithful servant whose name was Hans. He
+served the king his master so long and so well that one day the king
+said to him:
+
+"Speak, Hans, and tell me what three things do you most desire that I
+may give them to you as a reward for your faithfulness."
+
+[Footnote 4: Adapted with a free hand from Grimm's "White Snake."]
+
+It did not take Hans long to answer the king.
+
+"If you please, your majesty," he said, "I should like best in all the
+world to go to see my mother; to have a horse on which to ride upon my
+journey; and to taste the food that lies hidden in the silver dish
+that comes each day to your majesty's table."
+
+And when the king heard this he made haste to send for the silver
+dish and lifting the lid with his own hand he bade Hans taste of the
+food inside. What this food was, neither I nor anybody else can tell
+you, but no sooner had Hans tasted it than he understood what
+everything in the world was saying, from the birds in the tree-tops to
+the hens in the king's poultry yard.
+
+"Good-bye, Hans," they called as Hans mounted the horse which the king
+gave him and rode away through the gate.
+
+"Good-bye," said Hans, and he cantered off in fine style down the
+king's highway.
+
+Before he had ridden far, however, he heard such a moaning and
+complaining by the roadside that he stopped his horse to see what the
+matter was; and--do you believe it?--it was the ant people whose
+ant-hill stood in the way, right where Hans was about to ride.
+
+"See, see!" they cried, running to and fro in great alarm. "This giant
+of a man on his terrible horse will ride over our new house and crush
+us to death."
+
+"Not I," said Hans. "If so much as one of you gets under my horse's
+hoofs it will be your fault and not mine;" and getting down from his
+horse he led him around the ant-hill and into the road on the other
+side.
+
+"One good turn deserves another," cried the ant people running to and
+fro in great joy. "You have helped us, and we will help you some day;"
+and they were still saying this when Hans mounted his horse and rode
+away.
+
+Now before long Hans came to a great forest and as he rode under the
+spreading branches of the trees he heard a cry for help in the woods.
+
+"What can this be?" said Hans; but the very next minute he saw two
+young birds lying beneath a tree, beating their wings upon the ground
+and crying aloud:
+
+"Alas! Alas! Who will put us into the nest again?"
+
+"I, the king's servant and my mother's son; I will put you into the
+nest again," said Hans, and he was as good as his word.
+
+"One good turn deserves another," called the birds when they were safe
+in their nest once more. "You have helped us, and we will help you
+some day."
+
+Hans laughed to hear them, for though it was easy for him to help them
+he could not think what they might do for him.
+
+Trot, trot, and gallop, gallop he rode through the forest till he came
+to a stream of water beside which lay three panting fishes.
+
+"We shall surely die unless we can get into the water," they cried.
+
+Their breath was almost gone and their voices were no louder than the
+faintest whisper, but Hans understood every word that they said; and
+he jumped from his horse and threw them into the stream.
+
+"One good turn deserves another," they cried as they swam merrily
+away. "You have helped us, and we will help you some day."
+
+Now it so happened that Hans came by and by to the land of a very
+wicked king who broke his promises as easily as if they were made of
+spun glass and who never thought of anybody but himself.
+
+No sooner had Hans come into the land than the king stopped him and
+would not let him go on.
+
+"No one shall pass through my kingdom," he said, "till he has done one
+piece of work for me."
+
+Hans was not afraid of work. "Show it to me that I may do it at once,"
+he said; "for I am hastening to see my mother."
+
+Then the king took Hans into a room as large as a meadow where some of
+all the seeds in the world was stored. There were lettuce-seeds, and
+radish-seeds, flax-seeds and grains of rice, fine seeds of flowers and
+small seeds of grass, all mixed and mingled till no two alike lay
+together.
+
+Hans had never seen so many seeds in all his life before; and when he
+had looked at them the king bade him sort them, each kind to itself.
+
+"The lettuce-seed must be here, and the radish-seed there; the
+flax-seed in this corner and the grains of rice in another; the fine
+seeds of flowers must be in their place, and the small seeds of grass
+all ready for planting before you can pass through my kingdom and go
+on your way," he said; and when he had spoken he went out of the room
+and locked the door behind him.
+
+Poor Hans! He sat down on the floor and cried--the tears rolled down
+his cheeks I do assure you--for he said to himself:
+
+"If I live to be a hundred years old I can never do this thing that
+the king requires. I shall never see my mother or the good king, my
+master, again."
+
+How long he sat there, neither I nor anybody else can tell you, but by
+and by he saw a little black ant creeping in through a crack in the
+floor. Behind it came another and another, like soldiers marching; one
+by one they came, till the whole floor was black with hundreds and
+hundreds of the ant people.
+
+"You helped us, and we have come to help you," they said; and they set
+to work at once to sort the seed as the king required.
+
+By the next day when the king came in to inquire how Hans was getting
+on, the work was done. The lettuce-seed was here and the radish-seed
+was there, the flax-seed in one corner, and the grains of rice in
+another; the fine seeds of flowers were in their place and the small
+seeds of grass were all ready for planting.
+
+The king was astonished. He could scarcely believe his eyes; but he
+would not let Hans go.
+
+"Such a fine workman must do one other piece of work before he passes
+through my kingdom," he said; and he took Hans out in the open country
+and pointed to an orchard far away.
+
+"Bring me one golden apple that grows in that orchard and you shall go
+free," he said.
+
+"Ah, what an easy task is this," said Hans, and he set off at once to
+the orchard.
+
+But, alack, when he had come to the orchard gate it was guarded by a
+fiery dragon, the like of which he had never seen in all his life!
+"Come and be devoured!" it cried, as Hans came into sight.
+
+Poor Hans! He sat down by the roadside and held his head between his
+hands and cried--the tears rolled down his cheeks I do assure you--for
+he said to himself:
+
+"If I go into the orchard I shall be eaten alive by the dragon, and if
+I do not go I shall never see my mother or the good king, my master,
+again."
+
+How long he sat there, neither I nor anybody else can tell you, but by
+and by he saw two birds flying through the air. Nearer and nearer they
+came till at last they reached the spot where Hans sat and lighted at
+his feet. And they were the very birds that Hans had helped. Their
+wings had grown strong enough by this time to carry them wherever they
+wanted to go and they flapped them joyfully as they cried:
+
+"One good turn deserves another. You helped us, and we have come to
+help you."
+
+It was no trouble for them to fly into the orchard high above the
+dragon's head; and almost before Hans knew they were gone they were
+back again bringing with them the golden apple that the king desired.
+
+He was astonished when Hans took it to him. He could scarcely believe
+his eyes; but he would not let Hans go.
+
+Instead he took a ring from his finger and threw it to the very bottom
+of the sea.
+
+"Go and fetch me that ring," he said, "and you shall be free as the
+birds and the bees; but until it is upon my finger again you shall not
+pass through my kingdom."
+
+Poor Hans! He sat down on the seashore and cried--the tears rolled
+down his cheeks I do assure you--for he said to himself:
+
+"Who can do a task like this? I must either drown or stay here all the
+days of my life. I shall never see my mother or the good king, my
+master, again."
+
+How long he sat there, neither I nor anybody else can tell you, but by
+and by three little fishes came swimming to the shore.
+
+"One good turn deserves another," they called, for they were the very
+fish that Hans had thrown into the stream. "You helped us, and we have
+come to help you."
+
+Then down they went to the very bottom of the sea where the king's
+ring lay. One of them took it in his mouth and so brought it safely to
+Hans who ran with it to the king.
+
+[Illustration: ONE OF THEM TOOK IT IN HIS MOUTH, AND SO BROUGHT IT
+SAFELY TO HANS.]
+
+And when the king saw the ring he knew that he must let Hans go; he
+did not dare to keep him any longer.
+
+So Hans mounted his horse and rode joyfully to his mother's home where
+he stayed till the time came when he must return to the good king, his
+master, which he did by another road.
+
+He worked well and was happy serving his master faithfully, and making
+friends with birds and beasts, all the days of his life; but never
+again did he go to the wicked king's country. And I for one think he
+showed his good sense by that.
+
+
+
+
+THE GREAT WHITE BEAR
+
+
+Once upon a time the tailor of Wraye and the tinker of Wraye went to
+the king's fair together; and when they had seen all the sights that
+were there they started home together well pleased with their day's
+outing.
+
+The sun was going down when they left the fair and when they came to
+the Enchanted Wood through which they had to pass the moon was rising
+over the hill. And a fine full moon it was, so bright that the night
+was almost as light as day.
+
+"There are some people who would not venture in this wood at night
+even when the moon is shining," said the tinker; "but as for me I do
+not know what fear is."
+
+"Nor I," said the tailor. "I would that every one had as stout a heart
+as mine."
+
+And it was just then that Grandmother Grey's old white sheep that had
+wandered into the wood that eve came plodding through the bushes.
+
+"Goodness me! What is that?" said the tinker clutching his companion's
+arm.
+
+"A bear!" cried the tailor casting one frightened glance toward the
+bushes. "A great white bear! Run, run for your life."
+
+And run they did! The tailor was small and the tinker was tall, but it
+was a close race between them, up hill and down hill, and into the
+town.
+
+"A bear, a great white bear!" they called as they ran; and everybody
+they met took up the cry: "A bear, a bear!" till the whole town was
+roused.
+
+The mayor and his wife, the shoemaker and his daughter, the butcher,
+the baker, the candlestick-maker, the blacksmith and the miller's
+son--indeed, to make a long story short, everybody who was awake in
+the town of Wraye--came hurrying out of their houses to hear what the
+matter was. There was soon as large a crowd as went to church on
+Sunday gathered about the two friends; and the tailor and the tinker
+talked as fast as they had run, to tell their thrilling tale.
+
+"We were just coming through the wood," said the tailor, "when there,
+as close to us as the shoemaker is to the blacksmith, we saw----"
+
+"A terrible creature," interrupted the tinker. "'Tis as large as a
+calf, I assure you----"
+
+"And white as the mayor's shirt," cried the tailor. "It is a marvel
+that we escaped and if it had not been that I----"
+
+"I saw it first," said the tinker; "but I stood my ground. I did not
+run till the tailor did."
+
+The two would have been willing to talk till morning had not all the
+others determined to go to the wood at once and kill the bear.
+
+[Illustration: "A BEAR!" CRIED THE TAILOR.]
+
+"I cannot answer for the safety of the town till it is done," said the
+mayor; so every one ran for a weapon as fast as his feet could carry
+him.
+
+The mayor brought his long sword that the king had given him, and the
+carpenter a hatchet, the blacksmith took his hammer, and the miller's
+son a gun; and the rest of the men whatever they could put their hands
+on.
+
+The women went, too, with mops and brooms to drive the bear away
+should he run toward the town; and one little boy who had waked up in
+the stir followed after them with stones in his hands.
+
+They very soon came to the wood, and then the question was who should
+go first.
+
+"Let the tinker and the tailor lead the way," said the mayor, "and we
+will come close after."
+
+"Oh, no, if you please, your honor," said the tinker and the tailor
+speaking at the very same time. "That will never do. We cannot think
+of going before you."
+
+"I will go first if the mayor will lend me his sword," said the
+shoemaker.
+
+"Aye, aye, let the shoemaker go," cried some.
+
+"No, no, 'tis the mayor's place. The king gave the sword to him," said
+others.
+
+"I could kill the bear while you are talking about it," said the
+miller's son.
+
+Every one had something to say, but at last it was all settled and the
+miller's son with the mayor's sword by his side and his own gun in his
+hand was just slipping into the wood when out walked the old white
+sheep!
+
+"Baa, baa," she cried, as if to ask, "Pray tell me what the stir's
+about. Baa, baa!"
+
+"A sheep, a sheep, a great white sheep!" cried the miller's son; and
+then how the people of Wraye did laugh!
+
+They laughed and they laughed and they laughed, so loud and so long
+that their laughter was heard all the way to the king's fair and set
+the people to laughing there.
+
+But whether the tailor and the tinker laughed or not, I do not know.
+
+
+
+
+THE SONG THAT TRAVELED
+
+
+One day when all the world was gay with spring a king stood at a
+window of his palace and looked far out over his kingdom. And because
+his land was fair to see, and he was a young king, and his heart was
+happy, he made a song for himself and sang it loud and merrily:
+
+    "The hawthorn's white, the sun is bright,
+    And blue the cloudless sky;
+    And not a bird that sings in spring
+    Is happier than I, than I,
+    Is happier than I."
+
+Now it chanced that a ploughboy at work in a field hard by the palace
+heard the king's song and caught the words and the air of it.
+
+He was young and happy and as he followed his plough across the dewy
+field, and thought of the corn that would grow, by and by, in the
+furrows it made, and of his little black and white pig that would
+feed and grow fat on the corn, he sang:
+
+    "The hawthorn's white, the sun is bright,
+    And blue the cloudless sky;
+    And not a bird that sings in spring
+    Is happier than I, than I,
+    Is happier than I."
+
+"A right merry song, Robin Ploughboy," called the goose-girl who
+tended the farmer's geese in the next field; and she leaned on the
+fence that divided the two, and sang with him, for she was as happy a
+lass as ever lived in the king's country.
+
+The farmer's wife had given her a goose for her very own that day, and
+the goose had made a nest in the alder bushes. There was already one
+egg in it and soon there would be more. Then she would send them to
+market; and when they were sold she would buy a ribbon for her hair.
+It was no wonder that she felt like singing:
+
+    "The hawthorn's white, the sun is bright,
+    And blue the cloudless sky;
+    And not a bird that sings in spring
+    Is happier than I, than I,
+    Is happier than I."
+
+The chapman,[5] from whom she bought her ribbon in all good time,
+learned the king's song from her; and as he trudged along the king's
+highway with his pack upon his back he, too, sang it; for there is no
+better weather for peddling or singing, either, than that which comes
+in the spring.
+
+[Footnote 5: A peddler.]
+
+A soldier just home from the wars, and glad enough to be there, had
+the song from the chapman; and in turn he taught it to a sailor who
+took it to sea with him.
+
+The sailor was going to the far countries, but if all went well with
+his ship, and with him, he would be at home in time to see the
+hawthorn bloom in his mother's yard another year and another spring.
+
+[Illustration: SHE LEANED ON THE FENCE THAT DIVIDED THE TWO.]
+
+He kept the song in his heart for a year and a day, and then, because
+nothing had gone amiss and he was homeward bound, he sang it, too:
+
+    "The hawthorn's white, the sun is bright,
+    And blue the cloudless sky;
+    And not a bird that sings in spring
+    Is happier than I, than I,
+    Is happier than I."
+
+On the sailor's ship there was a minstrel bound for the king's court
+to sing on May Day; and the minstrel learned the song from the sailor.
+
+He was a young minstrel and very proud to sing at the king's festival,
+so when it was his turn and he stood before the throne he could think
+of no better song to sing than:
+
+    "The hawthorn's white, the sun is bright,
+    And blue the cloudless sky;
+    And not a bird that sings in spring
+    Is happier than I, than I,
+    Is happier than I."
+
+Now the king had been so busy about the affairs of his kingdom
+deciding this question and that, sending messengers here and there,
+and listening to one and another, as all kings must do, that he had
+forgotten the song which he had made. But when he heard the minstrel
+it all came back to him; and then he was puzzled.
+
+"Good minstrel," said he, "ten golden guineas I will give you for your
+song, and to the ten will add ten more if you will tell me where you
+learned it."
+
+"An easy matter that," said the minstrel. "The sailor who rides in yon
+white ship in your harbor taught it to me."
+
+"The soldier who even now stands guard at your majesty's gate gave me
+the song," said the sailor when he was asked.
+
+"I had it from the chapman who travels on the king's highway," said
+the soldier.
+
+"I heard the little goose-girl sing it," said the chapman when they
+found him.
+
+"'Tis Robin Ploughboy's song," laughed the goose-girl. "Go ask him
+about it."
+
+"The king sang it first and I next," said the ploughboy.
+
+Then the king knew that he had made a good song that everybody with a
+happy heart might sing; and because he was glad of this, he stood at
+his window and sang again:
+
+[Illustration: Music]
+
+THE SONG THAT TRAVELED
+
+Words, MAUD LINDSAY
+
+Music, ELSIE A. MERRIMAN
+
+_Allegretto_
+
+The hawthorn's white, the sun is bright, And blue the cloud-less
+
+sky; .   And not a bird that sings in spring Is
+
+hap-pi-er than I, than I, Is hap-pi-er than I. . .
+
+
+
+THE QUEST FOR THE NIGHTINGALE[6]
+
+
+    Oh, who would go to fairyland?
+    The moon is shining bright, oh,
+    And who would go to fairyland
+    Upon a summer's night, oh!
+
+    Across a field of fragrant fern
+    All sparkling with the dew, oh!
+    Come trip it light to fairyland
+    And I will go with you, oh!
+
+    To fairyland, to fairyland,
+    Who seeks may find the way, oh,
+    And we shall see the fairies dance
+    Before the break of day, oh!
+
+[Footnote 6: I am indebted to one William Shakespeare, whose intimate
+acquaintance with fairyland none can dispute, for the name
+"Pease-Blossom"; to Joseph Rodman Drake for the idea of my story; and
+to some of the folk tales which suggested to me one or two of
+Pease-Blossom's adventures.]
+
+In the deepest dell of the Enchanted Wood, where the moss grew the
+greenest and the violets bloomed the sweetest, the fairies lived.
+It was they who kept the brooks and the springs free from dirt or
+clog, and tended the wild flowers and watched over the young trees.
+And they were friends with all the harmless birds and beasts from
+wood's end to wood's end.
+
+But for those creatures that work harm to others, and for the goblins
+who delight in mischief they had no love, and every day and every
+night a watch was set to drive them from the fairy dell.
+
+Each fay in turn kept guard and all went well till one evening when
+Pease-Blossom, the best-loved fairy in the dell, fell asleep at his
+post and the goblins stole away the nightingale that sang each night
+at the queen's court.
+
+Great was the sorrow in fairyland when this was known.
+
+"I will fly to catch them before they have had time to hide her away,"
+cried a fay whose name was Quick-As-Lightning.
+
+"I will go, too," said little Twinkle-Toes.
+
+"And I, three," said Spice-of-Life; "and my good thorn sword with me,
+which will make four against them."
+
+But the fairy queen would not consent to this.
+
+    "Pease-Blossom in his trust did fail;
+    And he must seek the nightingale,"
+
+she said; and no sooner had she spoken than the little fay bade his
+companions good-bye and hastened out upon his quest alone.
+
+The goblins had left no trace behind them and Pease-Blossom wandered
+hither and thither over dewy fells and fields asking of every piping
+cricket and brown winged bat he met: "Passed the goblins this way?"
+
+No one could aid him, and he was ready to drop from weariness and
+sorrow when the moon came over the hill and called:
+
+"Whither away, Pease-Blossom? Whither away?"
+
+"In quest of the nightingale that the goblins have stolen; but where
+they have taken her I cannot find," answered the little fay sadly.
+
+Then said the moon: "Many a nightingale there is in the wide world,
+both free and caged, and how may I know yours from any other? But this
+I can tell you: through a window in the castle of the Great Giant,
+which stands upon a high hill beside the Silver Sea, I spy a
+nightingale in a golden cage which was not there when I shone through
+that same window yester eve; and moreover, at the World's End, which
+is beyond the Giant's castle, I see a band of goblins counting money."
+
+"A thousand thanks to you, oh moon," cried Pease-Blossom joyfully when
+he heard this; for he could put two and two together as well as any
+fay in fairyland, and he did not doubt that the goblins had sold the
+nightingale to the Great Giant.
+
+"I shall be at the castle before you shine in the dell," he called to
+the moon as he flew swift as a humming bird through the air.
+
+But when he reached the hedge of thorns that guarded the palace of a
+lovely princess who was next neighbor to the Giant, he tripped against
+a candle-fly that was hurrying to an illumination in the palace, and
+tumbled headlong into the thorns.
+
+"Help! help!" he cried as he struggled to get free, and a night-hawk
+that was out in a search of a supper flew down to see what the matter
+was.
+
+"Oh, ho!" said he when he saw who it was. "Fairy folk like to have all
+things their way, but 'tis my turn now to have a little fun."
+
+And he plucked Pease-Blossom from out the thorns and flew away with
+him in his bill.
+
+Up and down, so high that the trees below looked no taller than corn
+stalks, and so low that their branches brushed his wings, he flew,
+till Pease-Blossom was faint from dizziness.
+
+"See what a great moth the hawk has in his bill," cried an owl that
+they passed.
+
+"'Tis no moth but a bug," said a whip-poor-will.
+
+"Such an enormous gnat should make a meal for two," whispered a
+brother hawk, flying close.
+
+"Simpleton! Do you not know a fairy when you see one?" said the
+night-hawk who could keep quiet no longer.
+
+But no sooner had he opened his bill to speak his very first word than
+out tumbled Pease-Blossom.
+
+The other hawk made haste to catch the fay but before he could reach
+him a fine breeze came blowing by.
+
+"Is this not my little playmate, Pease-Blossom, who likes so well to
+ride on the grasses and rock in the flowers?" asked the breeze; and it
+whisked the little fairy away and bore him along so fast that no bird
+could keep up with him.
+
+They were at the Silver Sea in the twinkling of a star, and
+Pease-Blossom was just beginning to think that his troubles were
+ended, when the breeze died away as quickly as it had come, and the
+little fay found himself in the sea before he knew what was happening.
+
+Fortunately for him a great tarpon fish came swimming by just then.
+
+"Catch fast hold of my tail, and I will take you safely to shore,"
+said he; and Pease-Blossom lost no time in doing as he was bid.
+
+Ugh! How salty the water was and how the billows roared as the fish
+plunged through them, sending the white spray far above his head!
+
+Poor Pease-Blossom was more dead than alive when they reached the
+shore, but as soon as he had gotten his breath again he said to his
+new friend:
+
+"If you will come with me to fairyland you may swim in a stream as
+clear as glass. There is no salt in it, and no rough waves and every
+fairy in the dell will guard you from harm."
+
+"Water without salt! I cannot imagine it," said the great tarpon. "And
+no waves! Why, I should die of homesickness there."
+
+So when Pease-Blossom saw that there was nothing he could do for him,
+he thanked him kindly, and turned his steps to the Giant's castle
+which stood on a high hill close beside the sea just as the moon had
+said.
+
+But Pease-Blossom's wings were so wet and so weary that though he
+tried once, twice, and thrice he could not fly to the lowest window
+ledge of the castle; and what he would have done nobody knows had not
+a chimney-swift who was out late from home flown by just then.
+
+She lived in the castle chimney and when she heard what the little fay
+wanted she offered to carry him to her nest.
+
+"Once there all will be easy," she said; "for there is no better way
+to get into the castle than through the chimney."
+
+So Pease-Blossom seated himself between the swift's wings, and up they
+went to the top of the chimney and then down through the opening to
+the swift's home, which looked as if it were only half of a nest
+fastened against the wall.
+
+"If you will come with me to fairyland," said Pease-Blossom when he
+saw this, "you shall have the greenest tree in the wood for your home.
+And the fairies will help you to build a whole nest there."
+
+But the swift only laughed at him. "There is no better place than a
+chimney to raise young birds. I should be uneasy about them every
+minute in a tree. And as for a whole nest, I don't know what you
+mean," said she.
+
+And when Pease-Blossom saw that she was well content with her home, he
+thanked her and bade her good-bye, and began his climb down the
+chimney.
+
+There was no light to show him the way except the little that the moon
+sent through the opening high above the swift's nest; and on all
+sides of the little fay were the straight narrow walls of the chimney,
+covered with black soot. He clung to them as closely as a lichen to a
+rock, putting his little toes into every crack and holding fast to the
+bits of cement that jutted out here and there from the bricks. If he
+rustled a wing he brought down a shower of soot upon himself, and when
+at last he stood in the Giant's room, he was as black as any goblin.
+
+He had no time to think of himself though, for there asleep in the
+golden cage which the moon had seen was the queen's nightingale. There
+was no mistaking her, for there was a tiny feather missing from the
+tip of her right wing, and that missing feather was in Pease-Blossom's
+Sunday cap hanging in an alder bush in the fairy dell that very
+minute.
+
+The Giant was asleep, too, but the golden cage was on a table close
+beside him, so close that poor Pease-Blossom, whose wings were not
+improved by the soot from the chimney, could not reach it without
+climbing upon the Giant's bed.
+
+He was as careful as he could be, but no sooner had he stepped upon
+the bed than he touched one of the Giant's toes; and the Giant gave a
+great start.
+
+"What is the matter?" called his wife.
+
+"Oh, nothing," said he; "I only dreamed that a little mouse was
+tickling my toes;" and he fell asleep again.
+
+Pease-Blossom did not dare to move till he heard him breathing
+heavily. Then, tiptoe across the counterpane he went, taking care at
+every step; but in spite of his care his wings brushed against one of
+the Giant's hands; and the Giant gave a great start.
+
+"What is the matter?" called his wife.
+
+"Oh, nothing," said he; "I only dreamed that a little leaf fell on my
+hand;" and he closed his eyes, and turned over on his side and was
+soon asleep.
+
+Pease-Blossom was close under the cage by this time, but so tall was
+the table on which it was, and so small was he that, to reach the
+door, he was forced to stand on the Giant's head.
+
+Light as thistle-down were his feet, but no sooner had the Giant felt
+their tread than he gave a great start, and lifting his hand struck
+himself a tremendous blow upon his forehead. Pease-Blossom would have
+been crushed to death had he not managed to spring, just at that
+instant, to the edge of the cage, where he stood trembling.
+
+"What is the matter?" called the Giant's wife.
+
+"Oh, nothing," said he; "I only dreamed that a fly lighted on my
+forehead," and he was soon breathing heavily again.
+
+The nightingale, who was not used to sleeping at night, anyway, was
+wide awake by this time, but when she saw Pease-Blossom she did not
+know him, so black was he.
+
+"Do you not remember the fairy dell and the little fay to whom you
+gave a feather for his cap?" said Pease-Blossom then; and when the
+nightingale heard that, she was so overjoyed that she could scarcely
+keep from bursting into song.
+
+To open the cage door was only a minute's work and the nightingale was
+soon as free as air. Pease-Blossom seated himself upon her back and
+she was just ready to fly through an open window near by when the
+giant waked up in real earnest and saw the open cage.
+
+"Thieves! Robbers!" he called in such a terrible voice that the
+chimney-swift shook in her nest, and the big fish in the Silver Sea
+jumped out of the water.
+
+If the Giant had spied Pease-Blossom and the nightingale it would have
+gone hard with them; but luckily for them his wife, who was a
+kind-hearted woman, saw them before he did, and upset the golden cage
+right in his way.
+
+[Illustration: STRAIGHT TO THE ENCHANTED WOOD THEY WENT.]
+
+"The whole place is bewitched," thundered he, stumbling over the
+cage; and in the stir which followed the nightingale slipped away
+unseen.
+
+Over the Silver Sea where the fish swam, over the hedge of thorns
+which guarded the palace of the lovely princess, over the fields and
+the fells where the dew sparkled, straight to the Enchanted Wood they
+went.
+
+"Who comes here?" called the fairy warder of the dell.
+
+"Pease-Blossom and the nightingale," answered the fay; and great was
+the joy in fairyland at their return.
+
+"How long you have been!" said Quick-As-Lightning.
+
+"How fast you have come!" said little Twinkle-Toes.
+
+But as for Spice-of-Life he could not speak at all for laughing at
+sooty Pease-Blossom.
+
+Then Pease-Blossom made haste to bathe himself in the brook, and put
+on his finest court suit of pink satin rose-petals trimmed with lace
+from a spider's web; for the fairy queen had ordered a grand court
+ball in his honor, and there was no time to lose.
+
+A cricket band played merrily, the nightingale sang from a thicket
+close at hand, and tripping and twirling the little folks went till
+the cock crowed and the sun came up; and it was fairy bedtime.
+
+    In light of sun and light of moon
+    How different all things seem, oh!
+    Wake up, wake up, dear Sleepy Head,
+    'Twas nothing but a dream, oh.
+
+    But who can tell? Some other night
+    When mellow shines the moon, oh,
+    Perhaps we'll dream the dream again
+    And may that night come soon, oh!
+
+
+
+
+THE MAGIC FLOWER
+
+
+Once upon a time there lived a wee woman whose bit of a garden was a
+delight to all eyes.
+
+Such flowers as she had! And in the midst of them, green as an emerald
+and smooth as velvet, was a grass plot with never a weed upon it. And
+through the grass ran a garden walk as white as snow. Every one who
+saw it declared there was no prettier garden in the king's country and
+what they said was no more than what was true.
+
+Early and late the wee woman worked to keep her garden fair and lovely
+but in spite of all her care whenever the east wind blew it brought
+with it a whirl of trash from her neighbor's dooryard, and scattered
+it among her flowers.
+
+Alack and alas, what a dooryard was that! Except for the trash that
+was always upon it, it was as bare as the palm of your hand; and there
+was a heap of dirt and ashes as high as a hillock in front of the
+door. Everybody who passed it turned their eyes away from it, for
+there was no uglier spot in the king's country; and that is nothing
+but the truth of it.
+
+Whenever the wee woman looked from her windows or walked in her garden
+she saw the dooryard and many was the day when she said to herself:
+
+"I wish I were a thousand miles away from it;" and if she made up her
+mind, as sometimes she did, that she would trouble no more about it,
+the east wind was sure to come with a whirl of its trash. Oh, it
+seemed as if she were always cleaning because of that dooryard!
+
+And what to do about it she did not know. She puzzled and planned, she
+wished and she worked, but she had come to the end of her wits when,
+one day, her fairy godmother came to see her.
+
+"Never fret," said the godmother when she had heard the trouble. "In
+your own garden grows a magic flower that can set things right; and if
+you will only tend it and watch it and wait long enough you shall see
+what you shall see."
+
+And when she had pointed out the flower she went on her way, leaving
+the wee woman much comforted.
+
+She tended the flower and watched it and waited to see what she should
+see; and while she was watching and waiting, the flower burst into
+bloom. The loveliest bloom! Every blossom was as rosy as the little
+clouds at sunrise; and the wee woman's garden was more beautiful than
+before because of them.
+
+"'Tis the prettiest garden in the king's country," said every one who
+passed; and what they said was no more than what was true.
+
+But as for the neighbor's dooryard it was as bare and ugly as ever.
+The heap of dirt and ashes grew larger every day; and whenever the
+wind blew from the east it brought a whirl of its trash into the wee
+woman's garden just as it had always done.
+
+The wee woman looked each morning to see if the magic of the flower
+had begun to work but morning after morning nothing changed.
+
+"It is long waiting and weary watching for magic things to work," said
+she to herself; but because of what her fairy godmother had told her,
+she tended the flower from day to day, and hoped in her heart that
+something might come of it yet.
+
+By and by the blossoms of the flower faded and fell and after them
+came the seed. Hundreds and hundreds of feathery seed there were, and
+one day the wind from the west came by, and blew them away in a whirl
+over the fence and into the neighbor's dooryard. No one saw them go,
+not even the wee woman knew what had become of them; and as for the
+dooryard, it was as ugly as ever with its ash heap and its trash.
+Everybody who passed it turned their eyes away from it.
+
+[Illustration: WHILE SHE WAS WATCHING AND WAITING, THE FLOWER BURST
+INTO BLOOM.]
+
+The wee woman herself would look at it no longer.
+
+"I will look at the magic flower instead," she said to herself, and so
+she did. Early and late she tended the plant and worked to make her
+garden fair and lovely; but she kept her eyes from the dooryard. And
+if the wind from the east blew trash among her flowers she raked it
+away and burned it up and troubled no more about it.
+
+Summer slipped into autumn and autumn to winter and the flowers slept;
+but at the first peep of spring the wee woman's garden budded and
+bloomed once more; and one day as she worked there, with her back to
+the dooryard, she heard passers-by call out in delight:
+
+"Of all the gardens in the king's country there are none so pretty as these
+two," and when she looked around in surprise to see what they meant she saw
+that the neighbor's dooryard was full of flowers--hundreds and hundreds of
+lovely blossoms, every one as rosy as the little clouds at sunrise. They
+covered the heap of dirt and ashes, they clustered about the door stone;
+they filled the corners; and in the midst of them was the neighbor, raking
+and cleaning as busily as if she were the wee woman herself.
+
+"'Tis fine weather for flowers," said she, nodding and smiling at the
+wee woman.
+
+"The finest in the world," said the wee woman; and she nodded and
+smiled too, for she knew that the magic flower had done its work.
+
+
+
+
+THE LIONS IN THE WAY[7]
+
+
+Once upon a time three friends set out to go to the palace of the
+king, which was known as the House Beautiful.
+
+[Footnote 7: Founded upon the incident of the Lions in the Way in
+Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress."]
+
+The king himself had invited them there, and that they might have no
+trouble in finding the way he sent to them a scroll upon which the
+path was marked so plainly that it would have been a hard matter to
+have missed it. And to make assurance doubly sure he wrote upon the
+scroll with his own hand, bidding them to keep to the path.
+
+"Turn neither to the right nor to the left," his message said; "but
+follow the path and it will lead you safely to the House Beautiful,
+where I have prepared a place for you."
+
+All their lives the three friends had heard of the wonders of the
+king's house. Some people said that it was built of gold bright as the
+sun itself, and others that it was made of gleaming pearl. Its windows
+were said to overlook the whole world, and its towers to reach higher
+than the sky. And every one agreed that there was naught within its
+gates but peace and joy.
+
+So eager were the friends to see it that they could not journey fast
+enough to satisfy themselves, and from morning until night they urged
+each other on.
+
+The path by which they were to go was a narrow path, with a rough
+place now and then, and now and then a briar or sharp stone upon it,
+but for the most part it was a pleasant way. The travelers hastened
+joyfully along it and all went well with them until, one day, they met
+a man whose face was turned toward the land from which they had just
+come.
+
+"Good neighbors," he cried, "why travel you so fast? Is a house afire
+or a friend ill; or does a feast wait till you come? Tell me, I pray
+you, that I may sorrow with you, or rejoice, as your need may be."
+
+"Rejoice, rejoice!" cried the three; "for we journey to the king's
+House Beautiful, where a place is prepared for us."
+
+But when the man heard this he shook his head sorrowfully as if what
+they told him was grievous news indeed.
+
+"I, too, had thought of going there," he said; "but that was before I
+knew of the lions in the way."
+
+"Lions in the way!" cried the travelers, looking at each other with
+startled eyes.
+
+"Aye, lions," repeated the man solemnly, "the fiercest and largest
+that ever man saw. Their very roaring shakes the ground, and many a
+traveler has been devoured by them, so people say. As for myself, I
+have not seen them. To hear of them is enough for me."
+
+"And for me," said one of the travelers; and in spite of all his
+companions might do or say to persuade him, he would go no farther.
+
+"The king's house may be beautiful as the morning and as full of
+wonders as the sky is full of stars, but what good will it be to me if
+I am eaten by the lions?" said he.
+
+And his friends were forced to journey on without him.
+
+As they went they talked of the lions in the way and the one said to
+the other:
+
+"Think you it is true, or but an idle tale?"
+
+"True or not we shall pass in safety. Have we not the king's own word
+for it?" said the other; and he led the way with such great strides
+that his friend could scarcely keep pace with him.
+
+On and on they traveled without stop or hindrance, till all at once
+the air was filled with a great noise that shook the earth beneath
+their feet and set their knees to trembling.
+
+There was no mistaking what it was. Even though they had never heard
+the sound before, they knew it was the roaring of the lions.
+
+And the second traveler began to grow afraid.
+
+"Let us go around by another way," he said. "Surely there are more
+paths than one to the king's house."
+
+And though the other spread out before him the scroll on which the
+path was marked and read once more the message of the king: "Turn
+neither to the right nor to the left but follow the path and it will
+lead you safely to the House Beautiful, where a place is prepared for
+you," he would pay no heed to it but turned away into a by-path and
+followed it out of sight.
+
+The other traveler was forced to journey on the path alone, with the
+roaring of the lions in his ears and the shaking of the earth beneath
+his feet. Nor had he gone a furlong more when just ahead he spied the
+lions themselves. One on each side of the path they stood with flaming
+eyes and yawning mouths; and at the very sight of them the traveler's
+heart beat quick and sharp and his feet faltered upon the way.
+
+But his faith in the king's word was greater than his fear. "Falter
+not, oh, feet! Fear not, oh, heart! There is safety in the path. The
+king himself has said it," he cried as he pressed on.
+
+And lo! and behold, when he had come to the lions he found that they
+were chained. Roar as they might and strive as they would, they could
+not touch those who walked in the path that the king had marked; and
+the traveler passed in safety.
+
+[Illustration: WHEN HE HAD COME TO THE LIONS HE FOUND THAT THEY WERE
+CHAINED.]
+
+Beyond the lions stood the House Beautiful, with walls of gold bright
+as the sun itself and gates of gleaming pearl. Its windows overlooked
+the world, its towers reached above the sky, and of its wonders not
+the half had ever been told him.
+
+The traveler's place was prepared for him, and the king was waiting to
+welcome him to his house; and he lived there in peace and joy forever
+after.
+
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Story-teller, by Maud Lindsay
+
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