1 files changed, 5840 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/35458.txt b/35458.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8742ebe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/35458.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,5840 @@
+Project Gutenberg's The Green Forest Fairy Book, by Loretta Ellen Brady
+
+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 Green Forest Fairy Book
+
+Author: Loretta Ellen Brady
+
+Illustrator: Alice B. Preston
+
+Release Date: March 2, 2011 [EBook #35458]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GREEN FOREST FAIRY BOOK ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Edwards and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was
+produced from images generously made available by The
+Internet Archive)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+  [Illustration: "And now, Yvonne, to set your mind at rest, gaze into
+  the pool at your feet."
+                                     _Frontispiece._--_See Page 168._]
+
+
+
+
+  THE GREEN FOREST FAIRY BOOK
+
+
+
+
+  THE
+  GREEN FOREST
+  FAIRY BOOK
+
+  BY
+  LORETTA ELLEN BRADY
+
+  WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY
+  ALICE B PRESTON
+
+  [Illustration]
+
+  LITTLE, BROWN AND COMPANY
+  BOSTON
+
+
+
+  _Copyright, 1920_,
+  BY LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY.
+
+  _All rights reserved_
+
+
+
+
+  TO THE BOYS AND GIRLS
+  OF LITTLE JIM WARDS
+  SAN FRANCISCO CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL
+  IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE OF
+  OUR TWILIGHT STORY-HOURS
+  THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+  CHAPTER                                               PAGE
+       PROLOGUE                                            1
+     I DAME GRUMBLE AND HER CURIOUS APPLE-TREE             6
+    II A TALE OF THE NORTHLAND KINGDOM                    61
+   III THE LITTLE TREE THAT NEVER GREW UP                 92
+    IV THE TALE OF PUNCHINELLO                           109
+     V THE STRANGE TALE OF THE BROWN BEAR                125
+    VI THE BEGGAR PRINCESS                               132
+   VII SWEEP AND LITTLE SWEEP                            170
+  VIII KINGS AND QUEENS AND PEASANT FOLK                 216
+    IX THE GOOSE GIRL AND THE BLUE GANDER                231
+     X THE LITTLE BROWN MAN                              239
+    XI A TALE FOR HALLOWEEN                              248
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+                                                                  PAGE
+
+  "And now, Yvonne, to set your mind at rest
+  gaze into the pool at your feet"                      _Frontispiece_
+
+  "Oh, you wicked creature!" Dame Grumble would
+  exclaim when he began to shake the Apple Tree                      9
+
+  For many days these three companions journeyed
+  on through soft white clouds                                      86
+
+  From this bag the Night Wind begged a dream
+  for the Little Tree                                               96
+
+  "Look, look, dear Punchinello!" little Beppo
+  cried. "I am no longer lame"                                     116
+
+  "Hide me, Little Sweep," cried Red Cap.
+  "My brother is after me"                                         175
+
+  So at last, after much thought, the goose girl
+  did as the blue gander bade                                      237
+
+  It was the gayest company one ever could
+  imagine, as they marched along                                   262
+
+
+
+
+THE GREEN FOREST FAIRY BOOK
+
+
+
+
+PROLOGUE
+
+
+Long, long ago, when all the world was young and there were but few
+people dwelling on it, the strangest things could often come to pass.
+Then fairyfolk still lived in the greenwoods and elves sang and danced
+in the soft summer dawns. Then trees could sing and flowers speak and
+birds would carry messages about the world; wild beasts were often loyal
+friends to men and helped them in their difficulties. In these old days,
+most noble dukes and earls would fall in love with dairymaids whose
+gentle ways and manners charmed their hearts. Sometimes great kings grew
+weary of the splendor of their courts and left their thrones to live as
+simple peasants. Each princess had a fairy godmother who showered her
+with magic gifts. Then wise men read the stars and seers would gaze in
+crystal bowls to tell the coming good or ill they saw.
+
+In those old days, the housewives left a bit of bread and cheese upon
+the pantry shelf each evening, that the brownie who was said to dwell in
+every kitchen might have a midnight feast. These brownies, 'twas said
+also, would make much mischief if they were not treated very well. In
+early dawns, when fields of flowers were asparkle in the sun, the
+milkmaids used to bathe their eyes and ears with dew that they might see
+the fairyfolk forever afterward and hear them sing at midnight in the
+glen. The farmers' boys would search among the hedges in hopes of
+meeting The Red Caps who were said to bring much luck. These Red Caps
+too were said to give a magic purse of gold to those they fancied,--a
+purse that was always brimful no matter what was spent from it. The
+witches still rode broomsticks through the skies and there were wishing
+wells and magic charms and spells.
+
+In those delightful days of which I tell, there were not scores and
+scores of books as there are now. Travelers journeying about the world
+told tales of the wonders that they saw and heard. It was not then
+thought strange that kings and queens or royal counselors and such wise
+folk should love to hear these wonder tales. In those dear days, indeed,
+the grown folk all loved wonder tales as well as children love them now
+and were not worse because of it. Sometimes these wonder tales were told
+by magic chairs or chests; sometimes by birds or beasts that were
+enchanted and had power of speech.
+
+It has been related that in those olden days there was a lovely bird
+with plumage all of the purest gold and it was called The Golden Bird.
+The Golden Bird had a voice so rare and sweet that when it sang the
+nightingales stopped midway in their songs to listen. The Golden Bird
+likewise possessed the gift of speech and could tell wonder tales the
+like of which were never heard before or since. When it began to sing in
+any land, news that The Golden Bird had come spread swiftly everywhere.
+The king would then declare a holiday which lasted all the time The
+Golden Bird was in the land. The people hastened to the greenwood and
+there beneath the trees would listen while The Golden Bird told wonder
+tales and sang for their delight. And thus, The Golden Bird flew all
+about the world, to every land and clime, beloved by all folk
+everywhere.
+
+But sad to tell, at last there came a time when The Golden Bird was seen
+no more. The folk of every land looked anxiously for its return and
+thought it stayed too long in other places. But years passed by and
+still The Golden Bird came not. Then travelers journeying about the
+world declared The Golden Bird was nowhere to be found and all the
+people mourned at these sad tidings. Some thought the lovely bird had
+perished at some greedy hunter's hand; others said the world had grown
+too wicked for The Golden Bird to dwell here any longer. However, what
+had happened to the lovely creature, no one ever knew.
+
+But sadder still to tell is this: When The Golden Bird was seen to fly
+about the earth no more, the people did not hold its memory dear. As
+time passed on and it came not, they thought about it less and less and
+very few recalled the wonder tales The Golden Bird had told. Then as the
+world grew older and all folk began to doubt about the fairies and to
+scoff at wishing wells, The Golden Bird was quite forgot by all save
+one. This one, a little girl who tended flocks upon a mountain, gazed in
+the clouds at dawn each day in hopes to see The Golden Bird come
+soaring. Sometimes she wept because The Golden Bird came not. At last,
+to please the child, her aged grandame, who had heard The Golden Bird
+tell wonder tales when she had been a child, took pen and ink and wrote
+them down as she remembered them. She wrote, 't is said, a hundred tales
+or more but through the ages that have passed between they have been
+lost, until there are but eleven; these are the eleven that I have set
+down in The Green Forest Fairy Book.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+DAME GRUMBLE AND HER CURIOUS APPLE TREE
+
+
+I
+
+Long, long ago, in a country quite close to the top of the earth, where
+the North Wind blew fiercely each spring, there lived a woman called
+Dame Grumble. Now Dame Grumble had an Apple Tree which she loved
+exceedingly, although it vexed her beyond all compare. It was a very
+fine large tree, and well shaped for shade, just the sort of tree that
+should have yielded a bushel or two of fruit each autumn; but it did
+not. Each year when the cuckoo flew over the earth, calling the trees
+and flowers to waken because spring was come again, the Apple Tree would
+be covered with clouds upon clouds of fragrant, pinky-white blossoms.
+Then Dame Grumble's heart would rejoice. But no sooner was the Apple
+Tree thus bedecked than the North Wind would blow furiously, tearing
+off the blossoms and carrying them off in clouds. The curious part of it
+all was this: When a few of the blossoms chanced to fall to the ground,
+they made a chinking sound like that of small coins in children's banks.
+Then when these blossoms had withered, Dame Grumble would find nice, new
+shining pennies where they had lain. From this she supposed the Apple
+Tree would one day bear apples of gold.
+
+Now Dame Grumble, it must be confessed, was not very amiable. Indeed, it
+was from her nature that she drew her name. Some said Dame Grumble
+complained from the time she rose in the morning until she sought her
+bed at night. Even then she complained of her hard pillow or thin
+coverlets until she fell asleep. Her poor son, Freyo, thought his mother
+must surely grumble all night in her dreams, for on waking each day she
+began directly where she had left off the night before. Many a time this
+poor lad wished that he were not lame, but could go out in the world to
+seek his way for himself. Dame Grumble led him a dreadful life.
+
+If the day were hot, Dame Grumble thought longingly of the days when the
+snow lay on the ground and she sat in comfort before the blazing logs.
+But when the winter came again, she complained bitterly because she had
+to break the ice on the well each morning. She declared it was a shame,
+since she had but one son, that he should be lame, and thus be a burden
+instead of a staff. Her ceaseless scolding and carping often made poor
+Freyo so miserable that he would put aside his wood carving, for he had
+no heart to work. If the East Wind blew ever so lightly, Dame Grumble
+complained that it gave her strange pains in her face, and would wish
+instead for the West Wind, which she thought mild and gentle. But when
+the West Wind blew over the forest and fields and dried the linen she
+spread on the hedges, Dame Grumble cried out that he was a thieving
+creature. She would hasten to gather her dried linens, vowing all the
+while that the West Wind would steal them if he dared. Oh, there was no
+pleasing Dame Grumble! Freyo, her son, was well aware of that.
+
+Now seeing that Dame Grumble was of a disposition to grumble and
+complain when there was no cause at all, you may have some idea of her
+bitter feeling when the North Wind robbed her of her apple blossoms each
+spring.
+
+  [Illustration: "Oh, you wicked creature!" Dame Grumble would exclaim
+  when he began to shake the Apple Tree.--_Page 9._]
+
+"Oh, you wicked creature!" Dame Grumble would exclaim when he began to
+shake the Apple Tree. "Just wait, and some day I will catch you and shut
+you up in some dark place where you shall remain forever. No one would
+miss you. The North Wind is the most hated wind that blows!"
+
+"Indeed, Dame Grumble!" the North Wind would reply. "How would the boys
+and girls ever skate if I did not blow in winter time? How would the
+forest and orchards ever have time to make their new green leaves and
+flowers for the springtime, if I did not lock the earth tight each
+winter? You make a mistake, Madam. The North Wind would be keenly
+mourned and missed. But beware! Some day I will catch you and carry you
+off to a certain desert island in the middle of the sea, and there you
+may complain for all your days."
+
+Then the North Wind would roar and blow his hardest, and Dame Grumble's
+petticoats would spread out like sails, until she feared she might be
+blown away, and would seek refuge in the cottage. There in anger she
+would watch the clouds of blossoms blown from her favorite tree. When
+the North Wind had gone off again, she would rush out and scold the
+Apple Tree severely.
+
+"Oh! Such a tree!" Dame Grumble would exclaim in vexation. "If you would
+but cling more firmly to your blossoms, at least a few would remain on
+your branches, and then I should have a golden harvest. From the pennies
+I find where your blossoms have withered, I am quite sure that you would
+bear apples of gold, if you bore apples at all. Then I could sell these
+golden apples and make a fortune for myself."
+
+"But, Dame Grumble," the Apple Tree would protest, "you cannot withstand
+the North Wind, either. Your petticoats spread out like sails, and you
+can scarcely keep your feet on the ground."
+
+"And what of that?" Dame Grumble would answer crossly. "I have but two
+feet, while you have roots as numerous as your branches. Moreover, they
+reach far down beneath the earth, and there spread far and wide as your
+topmost boughs. You are stronger than I. You should fight the North
+Wind, who is naught but a wicked robber in disguise. I am sure that he
+has stored up a fortune in pennies from my blossoms that he has stolen
+this many a long year." Then Dame Grumble would shake the Apple Tree
+until Freyo would beg her to stop.
+
+It must not be supposed that Dame Grumble did not contrive various ways
+to save her blossoms from her enemy. Indeed, she spent many hours every
+day thinking of plans to defeat the North Wind, but she had never
+succeeded. All one winter she worked in the cold and snow, chopping tall
+thorn branches to make a barrier about the Apple Tree. "Thorn branches
+are very strong, and will protect the Apple Tree," thought she. Freyo
+told his mother this was useless work, but she would pay no heed to what
+he said.
+
+"Then, Mother," pleaded the poor lad, "since you will not stay indoors
+this bitter weather, please bring me a branch of walnut from the
+forest. I would like to carve a clock-case in a certain design I have in
+mind. If I had but proper tools for wood carving and a store of oak and
+walnut, I might one day make a fortune for you. Then you would have no
+longer need to quarrel with the North Wind about the blossoms."
+
+"Oh, hold your silly tongue!" cried Dame Grumble. "A great simpleton I
+would be to sit here quietly and wait for you to make a fortune with
+your bits of woods! Each year the North Wind steals a fortune in pennies
+from me, and I mean to try to stop him if I can. Should I find a bit of
+walnut that will fit into my pocket, you may have it; otherwise you must
+do without."
+
+Poor Freyo had but few tools, and those few were very poor;
+nevertheless, he had skillful fingers and could carve lovely pictures in
+wood. Dame Grumble always laughed scornfully when the lad spoke of the
+fortune he hoped one day to make. To her mind, wood carving and clumsy
+chests and clock-cases were naught but folly. She rarely remembered to
+bring Freyo a branch of wood from the forest. Dame Grumble was always
+thinking of her blossoms and her enemy, the North Wind, and had no time
+to think of Freyo. So the poor lad had to content himself with bits of
+wood he found in the chimney corner, and he carved frames and treasure
+boxes from these.
+
+Now, as we have told, all one winter Dame Grumble worked diligently
+dragging thorn branches from the forest, until she had a great heap.
+When the snow began to melt, she planted these branches of thorn about
+her favorite tree. Then when the Apple Tree was decked once more in
+clouds upon clouds of fragrant, pinky-white blossoms, the North Wind
+came roaring over the fields and lanes. He laughed loudly when he saw
+the barrier of thorn branches.
+
+"And so, Dame Grumble," cried the North Wind, "you do not know my
+strength better than this!" Seizing a branch of the thorn, he tore it
+from the ground as though it had been a twig and hurled it in the air.
+Then he did likewise to the rest, and in half an hour he had torn up
+every vestige of Dame Grumble's barrier.
+
+"Many times I have left you a few blossoms, Dame Grumble," he cried, as
+he blew on his way, "but you have never thanked me for the pennies, so
+this time you shall have none."
+
+Naturally Dame Grumble was more vexed than ever before. She shook the
+Apple Tree with fury and left off only when she was too weary to shake
+it longer. All evening she scolded so bitterly that Freyo wished himself
+far away. Life with this scolding dame was far from pleasant for the
+poor lame lad. Still he never complained. "Mother complains enough for
+both," thought he.
+
+When Dame Grumble arose next morning, she had another plan in mind. "My
+son," said she, "I am going on a journey to seek in all places for the
+fortune in pennies which my wicked enemy, the North Wind, has stolen
+from me. When I have found it, I shall return, and all things will be
+well. I shall buy you a fine coach and build a noble house where we
+shall live like kings and queens, and there we shall be very happy, I
+daresay."
+
+"But, Mother!" cried Freyo in dismay, "the North Wind travels all over
+the earth, and that you cannot do. When winter comes what will you do
+for shelter? Besides, I do not long for a coach, but for a crutch
+instead; and as for happiness--it is to be found in kind hearts rather
+than in noble houses. In our little cottage we could be as happy as
+kings and queens, if you would but leave off scolding and be content."
+
+"That shows how little you know!" replied Dame Grumble. "I cannot be
+content without a fortune, and a fortune I mean to have. If I have not
+found the hollow that I seek before winter comes again, I shall return.
+But I have a feeling that my search will not be all in vain." Then,
+bidding Freyo take good care of the cottage, Dame Grumble tied on her
+bonnet and shawl and set out on her journey.
+
+When Dame Grumble had gone, Freyo was greatly puzzled. He was not sure
+that he was really lonely. He missed his mother's presence about the
+cottage because she was a famous housewife, always busy with some savory
+broth, or baking great loaves of brown bread. However, he was relieved
+that he did not hear her sharp tongue scolding all day long. He
+carefully tidied the kitchen until it looked spotless and shining, as
+though Dame Grumble herself had done it. Then he sat down before his
+bench. While he was working, Freyo paused; he thought he heard his name
+called softly.
+
+"Freyo, Freyo!" spoke a gentle voice. "Only come to the door, and you
+can see me. I have something to tell you that will make you happy.
+Please do come!" Freyo set down his work and hobbled to the door.
+
+"It is I, the Apple Tree," spoke the voice again; "come nearer that I
+may talk to you. You have always been kind to me, when Dame Grumble has
+abused me, Freyo, and now I shall reward you."
+
+Freyo made his way to the Apple Tree, and she continued: "Do you see my
+two stoutest branches quite close to the ground? These I mean to give
+you for crutches."
+
+"Oh, Apple Tree!" cried Freyo. "I would not cut off your branches! I
+would not give you such pain."
+
+"But cutting off these two branches of mine will cause me no great
+pain," the Apple Tree insisted. "They are over-heavy, and next spring
+when the North Wind blows, I fear that he will snap them off. What the
+North Wind cannot bend he will break, as well you know. When you have
+made your crutches, you may go to the forest and gather more wood for
+your work of wood carving, until you have the store that you desire."
+
+At last Freyo was persuaded. The branches were cut, and all day long he
+sat beneath the Apple Tree, while he fashioned a pair of crutches. By
+evening they were finished, and when he slept that night, Freyo dreamed
+of wandering in the greenwood; he had never yet been so far from the
+cottage door.
+
+"How well you have done!" exclaimed the Apple Tree next morning, when
+Freyo stepped out briskly on his crutches.
+
+"And you too have done well," replied the lad. "I see two tufts of green
+leaves already at work to cover the places where I cut your branches."
+He waved farewell to the Apple Tree and set upon his way. Freyo was gone
+the whole day long. When the sun set that evening, he had not returned,
+and even when the moon rose slowly, still he did not come. The Apple
+Tree began to worry and to fret lest her branches had not proved strong
+enough for crutches. Then presently she saw Freyo with a heavy pannier
+strapped upon his back; but not one bit of oak or walnut wood had he.
+
+"Ah, Apple Tree!" cried he, "never in my life have I been happy as I was
+to-day. Only to wander beneath the trees and see the blue forget-me-nots
+that make a lovely carpet underfoot, or to hear the birds sing sweetly
+was like paradise. I wished the whole world were one great forest, and
+that the time were always spring. I could not bear to come away!"
+
+"But Freyo," said the Apple Tree, "you have brought nothing for your
+work! How will you make chests and clock-cases?"
+
+"I could not find it in my heart to cut the smallest twig," confessed
+the lad. "The trees looked all so beautiful and stately that it seemed
+to me a shame. Instead I gathered brown bells and forget-me-nots to
+plant about your roots. I am sure you must be lonely in this bare
+wind-swept spot, and they will serve for company."
+
+"Now that was kind," replied the Apple Tree, "but you must now give heed
+to what I say. In the forest there are many trees that will gladly give
+you a fine branch or two. When next you go there, tell them that you are
+the friend of the Apple Tree whose blossoms fall to earth with a
+chinking sound, like small coins in children's banks. Then they will
+know you and will be generous as I have been. Besides, I warn you that
+at the first approach of winter, Dame Grumble will return. She will be
+crosser than ever, for she will never find the fortune in pennies that
+she seeks. Now be advised, Freyo, and gather a goodly store of oak and
+walnut while you may."
+
+When Freyo went again to the forest, he told the message of the Apple
+Tree to the tall pines and low bending oaks, and to shady maples too.
+These trees all gave him such a bounteous supply of boughs and branches
+that Freyo soon had store to last him for his carving a whole year or
+more.
+
+'T was well he had. One day as he sat working beneath the Apple Tree, he
+noticed that the leaves fell fast and that the wind blew chill. Another
+morning, when the maples on the hillsides flamed like fire, Freyo heard
+a shrill familiar voice borne on the air, and presently Dame Grumble
+herself appeared before the cottage door.
+
+Now, as the Apple Tree had foretold, Dame Grumble was crosser than ever.
+She had not found the fortune in pennies she had sought, and she was out
+of humor with her journey. She vowed she had not had one pleasant moment
+from the time she had set out; she said that she had longed unceasingly
+for her little cottage. Dame Grumble solemnly declared that she had done
+with journeys forevermore and looked forward to great happiness, now
+that she was home at last. She praised Freyo's housekeeping and said the
+cottage looked as tidy as a pin. When she had laid aside her bonnet and
+shawl, she began to make a fine supper for him.
+
+"How nice that you have crutches, my son, and can get about so well!"
+she cried with pleasure.
+
+"Are they not a blessing, Mother?" asked Freyo. "They are not bad for a
+poor lad who never before had seen a crutch, but made them just as best
+he knew."
+
+Dame Grumble continued to praise the crutches and to admire them until
+she learned that they were made from branches of the Apple Tree. Then
+she was furious; her anger knew no bounds. She rushed out to the Apple
+Tree and shook it with all her might. Then she ran in to throw the
+crutches in the fire, but this Freyo would not permit.
+
+"The Apple Tree herself gave me her branches, Mother," said he, "and the
+crutches are mine."
+
+"Give them to me at once, I say!" stormed Dame Grumble. "The Apple Tree
+is mine, and consequently her branches are mine also. I must punish you
+for this disobedience. Do you not know that I prize the Apple Tree above
+all else on earth? Do I not expect a harvest of golden apples from it
+some day? Now when that day is come, I shall not have nearly so many,
+because of your wickedness. Why did you cut as much as a twig from the
+Apple Tree?"
+
+"Mother," answered Freyo, "if there be any harm done, it is done. To
+burn the crutches will not make the branches grow upon the Apple Tree
+again." Dame Grumble first commanded and then entreated that her son
+give her the crutches to burn, but Freyo was firm. At last she burst
+into tears.
+
+"Oh! Oh!" she sobbed. "It is not enough that I have had many troubles
+and cares in the past; each year my wicked enemy, the North Wind, steals
+a fortune in pennies from me! And now added to this I must suffer
+disobedience from my own ungrateful son." She sobbed and wailed until
+Freyo was nearly distracted.
+
+"Oh, Mother!" he begged. "If you would only cease your weeping and look
+at these wonderful things I have made in your absence. Here is a
+clock-case with the four seasons carved upon it. The hours are told by
+twelve lovely nymphs dancing through the forest; it is a treasure worthy
+of a king. Some day a duke may come a-riding by and fancy it--then, who
+knows--my fortune may be made, and I would give it all to you, Mother."
+
+In spite of all his pleadings, however, Dame Grumble would not look at
+his treasures. She was so deep in her woes that she could think of
+nothing else. She would not touch a crumb of supper but said mournfully
+that she had no heart for either food or drink.
+
+Freyo sat before the fire, sad and desolate. With the scolding dame's
+return, the quiet and contentment of the little cottage had fled. "Ah,"
+sighed the poor lad, "I have no doubt that Mother is right; perhaps I am
+wicked and ungrateful after all."
+
+
+II
+
+During the winter that followed, Dame Grumble led her son a dreadful
+life. He could no longer talk to his good friend, the Apple Tree, for
+she was sleeping her deep winter's sleep and would not waken until the
+spring. So while the snow whirled high without and piled itself in
+drifts at door and chimney, Freyo sat patiently carving his great oaken
+chests and settles. When he carved fields of wheat with wild fowl flying
+over, the poor lad fancied himself afield once more; when he carved
+forest scenes, he lived again the memories of his happy summer. If Dame
+Grumble spoke to her son, it was but to call him wicked and ungrateful.
+She often vowed she would forgive him if he would but give her the
+crutches to burn. But Freyo had a plan in mind. With the first sign of
+spring, he meant to be off and seek his own way in the world, and this
+he could never do without his precious crutches. The poor lad had no
+desire to spend another winter with this cross, fault-finding dame.
+
+Now, as was her usual fashion, Dame Grumble spent much time in planning
+means to spare the blossoms of the Apple Tree. It happened that on her
+journey she had found a book which told of orchard trees and how to care
+for them. So in this book Dame Grumble now began to study diligently.
+She found a picture of an apple tree encased with strong, coarse
+netting. This strong, coarse netting, so the book said, would protect
+the fruit and blossoms from all harm. Accordingly, Dame Grumble sat her
+down before her wheel and spun endless miles of heavy thread. From this
+she next wove yards upon yards of strong, coarse netting. Often and
+often Freyo begged his mother to cease this useless labor. The North
+Wind would soon tear the whole thing into shreds, said he. You may be
+sure Dame Grumble always had a sharp retort for him.
+
+"Had I a son who was a comfort and a blessing, I have no doubt that he
+would long ago have found a way to save my precious blossoms from the
+North Wind," she would say. "I daresay, too, that I would have had a
+harvest of golden apples long since. Even now I might be dwelling in
+some noble mansion with slaves to do my bidding and a different carriage
+for every day in the week!"
+
+So the winter dragged on wearily. At last the snow began to melt, and
+the sunbeams to make bright spots on the kitchen floor. The hedges here
+and there showed patches of green leaves; the birds returned from the
+southland whither they had gone for the winter. Forget-me-nots and brown
+bells blossomed about the Apple Tree, and the green grass for miles
+about was thick with yellow buttercups. It was then the Apple Tree awoke
+from her winter's sleep and decked herself in clouds of fragrant,
+pinky-white blossoms. Then it was that Dame Grumble went forth from her
+cottage with yards upon yards of strong, coarse netting with which she
+covered her favorite tree. Seeing the bare places that marked the two
+missing branches, she cried out afresh that she was a sad, sorrowful
+woman and had too many cares.
+
+While Dame Grumble was thus occupied, Freyo unlocked the cupboard where
+he had hidden his precious crutches. But, alas! The wood of the Apple
+Tree was not suitable for such use, and the crutches fell to pieces when
+he touched them. Freyo tried to mend them here and join them there, but
+it was in vain. They broke again in other places. Now when Dame Grumble
+learned this, she vowed it was a just punishment for Freyo's
+disobedience. However, with her usual perverseness, she took no more
+interest in the crutches. She did not trouble to burn them, and there
+they lay in the cupboard for many a long day.
+
+"You will obey your mother when she commands, another time, I daresay,"
+she would often remark, and point to the useless, broken things.
+
+Now that spring was come, it was not long before Dame Grumble's old
+enemy, the North Wind, came also. Shouting and hallooing he blew over
+the fields and forests one sunshiny day, and when he reached the Apple
+Tree, he stopped still in amazement.
+
+"Ho! Ho! Ho!" laughed the North Wind, "who has thus cleverly covered the
+Apple Tree?"
+
+"I have!" shouted Dame Grumble from within her cottage, where she had
+run to hide. "Now you had best be off, for you can never undo this
+strong, coarse netting I have woven; it is tied in a thousand tight
+knots!"
+
+"Ah! is it indeed, Dame Grumble?" inquired the North Wind with mock
+politeness. "Will you kindly have patience for a little until I try my
+skill?" With that he blew a blast that unloosed all the yards upon yards
+of strong, coarse netting and bore them off like puffs of thistledown.
+Dame Grumble's heart sank; but, strange to say, the North Wind did not
+blow away the blossoms of the Apple Tree. Instead, he lingered about the
+cottage until night fell and played all manner of tricks to bring Dame
+Grumble running out. He blew soot down the chimney and blackened the
+clean-scrubbed kitchen floor; he put out her candle when she had lighted
+it for evening; and whisked her linen from the hedges into the fields
+and far away. Not one word of anger or reproach would Dame Grumble
+utter, even so. If the North Wind would but spare the blossoms of the
+Apple Tree, nothing else mattered. At last the North Wind grew weary of
+his teasing and departed.
+
+"Just you wait, Dame Grumble!" he called in farewell. "Some day I shall
+catch you unaware, and I will carry you off to that desert island that
+waits to welcome you as Queen of Grumblers!" Then he blew on his way.
+
+Dame Grumble waited, fearful lest perhaps he would return, but the North
+Wind returned no more that spring. The blossoms on the Apple Tree began
+to wither, and presently tiny fruit began to form on its branches. It
+seemed at last as though Dame Grumble would gather the harvest of golden
+apples for which she had so longed; but even so, this cross,
+fault-finding dame was not content.
+
+"Alack!" she often mourned, "if I had had this strong, coarse netting
+years ago, I would have had many a golden harvest long ere this. Without
+doubt this covering hath a charm above the power of the North Wind. Had
+I a son to assist me, I daresay he would have thought about it long
+since."
+
+"But, Mother, I cannot help it that I am lame and do not assist you,"
+sighed Freyo.
+
+"But you can help it when you are wicked and disobedient; and wicked and
+disobedient you were when you cut the two stout branches of the Apple
+Tree. For now, though I shall gather golden apples, there will not be
+nearly so many because of your rash act."
+
+So the springtime passed and the summertime came. Day by day the fruit
+on the Apple Tree grew larger, and day by day Dame Grumble took pencil
+and paper to count the number of apples that hung upon each branch. She
+tried each day to reckon just how many more she would have had but for
+the branches Freyo had cut off, and every day she grew vexed afresh.
+Dame Grumble would not permit Freyo to go near the Apple Tree. She vowed
+he might take a notion to cut down the whole tree, for all she knew.
+
+The summer grew older; the meadows turned brown, and the fields grew
+bare. Dame Grumble watched eagerly for a sign which would show that the
+apples were turning to gold; but no sign she saw. The apples turned
+bright red instead. The summer began to wane, and a sharp chill in the
+air warned Dame Grumble that winter was not far away. The maples on the
+hillsides flamed crimson and scarlet once again, and yellow leaves fell
+from the poplar trees like rain.
+
+"Now can it be that you are going to disappoint me!" exclaimed Dame
+Grumble to the Apple Tree. "Why, pray, do not your apples turn to gold?"
+
+"How you talk, Dame Grumble!" replied the Apple Tree. "You will be
+disappointed no matter what happens! Though I gave you a thousand golden
+apples, you would never cease to mourn that you might have had a hundred
+more had not Freyo cut off my two branches. Then you would make the poor
+lad's life more miserable than ever. I sometimes wonder that you are not
+ashamed to plague and torment him as you do. You do not deserve golden
+apples, and I will not give you golden apples. So you had best make
+haste and gather these red apples of mine before the frost will nip
+them."
+
+But this Dame Grumble would not do. She was assured that the red apples
+would turn to gold, in spite of the Apple Tree. For if young and tender
+blossoms yielded bright new shining pennies, did it not follow that the
+ripened fruit would be of purest gold? Dame Grumble so believed. "The
+Apple Tree does not love me and never did," she thought within herself;
+"it is but a plan to make me angry."
+
+By and by the leaves fell from the Apple Tree itself, until its branches
+were quite bare and brown. The apples shone tantalizingly red, and then
+Dame Grumble realized at last that they would never change to golden, as
+she hoped. Now this new disappointment, you may be sure, did not tend to
+sweeten her disposition. All day she sat gazing mournfully at her
+favorite tree and wept bitter tears at her new loss.
+
+"Oh, Mother, pray do not weep so!" begged Freyo. "You will make yourself
+ill. My store of wood is gone; but if you would bring me two stout
+branches from the forest, I would fashion another pair of crutches for
+myself. Then I would set off to make a fortune to take the place of this
+fortune you fancy you have lost."
+
+"Fancy I have lost!" repeated Dame Grumble scornfully. "The fortune I
+_fancy_ I have lost! I do not fancy I have lost a fortune; I know full
+well I have lost a fortune. Besides, who would give a copper farthing
+for your clumsy chests and boxes!"
+
+So all day long Dame Grumble dwelt on her woes. At night she sat sighing
+in the chimney corner until the little cottage quite close to the top of
+the earth was as dull and gloomy as though a thousand crows had settled
+suddenly upon it.
+
+
+III
+
+Now it happened at this time, when all Dame Grumble's troubles seemed
+too many to be borne, that the good dame and her son enjoyed a visitor.
+Visitors in that country quite close to the top of the earth were very
+rare, you may be sure. This visitor was not an ordinary sort of person;
+far from that was he, indeed. Because he journeyed ceaselessly about the
+earth and was well known to folk of many lands, he was called the
+Traveler. But though he roamed thus everywhere, the Traveler seemed
+never bound for any certain land or country but went his ways just as
+the winds of heaven went theirs. The Traveler never remained long in
+any city or village, nevertheless he stayed long enough to do a kindness
+for some sad one, or to help some poor one on his way. Few people ever
+could agree about his age; the old thought him young, and the young
+thought him old. However, young and old alike agreed that the Traveler
+seemed possessed of magic powers to banish cares and troubles. Wherever
+he found quarrels and spites, he left love and kindliness; where he
+found envy, he left content; where he went once, the Traveler always
+found a warm welcome awaiting him on his return.
+
+What was the secret source of the Traveler's noble qualities was a
+mystery to all folk. Some said the Traveler kept his cheerful spirit
+because of a certain great cloak that he always wore. This cloak, they
+said, was made of wool woven from the fleece of fairy sheep and had
+great powers of happiness. Others said that in a far-off country the
+Traveler had drunk deeply of a certain magic well, the waters of which
+were said to bless one with a kindly heart forevermore. Still others
+thought the Traveler's power over cares and sorrow lay in the plain
+wood staff he always carried. But though the secret of his soothing
+charm was thus uncertain, certain it was that the Traveler paid a visit
+to Dame Grumble and her son one chill autumn evening, and the story of
+it all is this:
+
+It happened one day, as the Traveler was walking along the road that led
+up to the country quite close to the top of the earth, he chanced to
+meet the North Wind. Now the North Wind loved to tease and play his
+tricks on every one, and so he seized the Traveler's hat and blew it
+five fields off; he swept stinging dust into his eyes and wrapped his
+cloak so tightly around him that but for his staff the Traveler would
+have stumbled. Though he was so bothered and annoyed, the Traveler did
+not complain. He loosed his cloak and wiped his eyes of the dust, then
+once again he set upon his way.
+
+"Ah," said the Traveler, "it is a strong wind that blows here; but how
+clean the road is swept in consequence! It is also a good wind."
+
+The North Wind had expected blame instead of praise and was abashed. So
+straightway he brought back the hat, and then he blew gently in the
+direction which would best suit the Traveler's footsteps. So it was that
+this visitor knocked at Dame Grumble's cottage one evening just at
+candlelight. The Traveler begged her hospitality, and Dame Grumble bade
+him enter. She placed a chair before the hearth and began to prepare a
+supper for him. All the while she complained most bitterly that she
+should thus receive a guest in her kitchen. When she set forth the
+supper, Dame Grumble sighed because the bread was brown instead of
+white.
+
+"Never sigh, Dame Grumble!" urged the Traveler with his kindly smile.
+"Seldom have I seen a pleasanter kitchen, and never have I eaten better
+fare. Your brown bread is fit for a king, and your broth would give
+courage to a weary army!"
+
+"That is all very well for you to say, good sir," replied Dame Grumble
+sulkily, "but you do not know all my troubles." She did not often find
+one to give ear to her tale of sorrow, and if the Traveler would, Dame
+Grumble meant that he should hear her. Above all else in the world,
+Dame Grumble loved to talk about her woes.
+
+"Then perhaps after supper, when you sit before the fire, you will tell
+me of your troubles, good dame," said the Traveler. You may be sure Dame
+Grumble agreed. Indeed, so eager was she to begin that she hummed a
+lively tune to hasten her work. At the unusual sound of his mother's
+singing, Freyo left his bench to learn the cause of it. When he saw the
+Traveler, he greeted him with warmth.
+
+"We do not often have a visitor, good sir," said he, "so I shall leave
+my work and join you by the fireside."
+
+"But first," exclaimed the Traveler, "you must let me see this work of
+yours; you must dearly love it, thus to be about it after darkness has
+fallen and all men sit to take their ease."
+
+"Good sir," replied Freyo, "my work is wood carving, and I do love it
+better than the whole world!"
+
+The Traveler regarded the great chests and clock-cases with deep
+admiration and begged Freyo to tell him of his work; of whom he had
+learned his skill; and whence his designs had come. To these questions
+Freyo replied that he did not know, he supposed he had taught himself.
+
+"Good sir," said he, "some folk make pictures on a canvas with bright
+colored oils and brilliant paints, and other folk make pictures with
+fair words, as they tell wonder tales. I have not skill like those, but
+I have dreamed bright dreams and have loved to sit and carve my dreams
+upon my chests of oak and walnut wood. Think you that my skill is fair
+or that my pictures would please aught beside myself, who carved them?"
+
+"I have no words to tell you how high I hold your skill," declared the
+Traveler, "and as for the pictures you have carved in wood, they would
+delight a queen or please a king as well. They are truly lovely."
+
+"Then, good sir," replied Freyo, "to the Apple Tree that stands before
+our door you must give all this praise. The summer before the summer
+that has just passed, this good tree of her own accord did give me her
+two stoutest branches, from which I made a pair of crutches. Then I
+could wander in the woods from dawn till dark, and hear the birds sing
+songs the whole day long. 'T was then I learned to dream my finest
+dreams; it was like heaven, sir!" The poor lad sighed in memory of the
+happy time, and before he could say more, Dame Grumble interrupted. The
+good dame could no longer restrain her tongue or her impatience, it
+seemed.
+
+"Now, good sir!" cried she, "you have heard my son; you must hear me.
+The Apple Tree was not an ordinary tree, as my son knew very well! He
+did wrong to cut the smallest twig whilst I was gone.
+
+"Each year, when the cuckoo came calling in the spring, there was no
+finer sight in all the world than the Apple Tree. So thick was it with
+blossoms that scarce a branch or twig could be seen. Its fragrance
+floated on the breeze, drawing every bee and butterfly for leagues and
+leagues about. Surely with such a tree I might look for a bounteous
+harvest, one would think. But, alas! No sooner was the Apple Tree thus
+decked like a bride than my wicked enemy, the North Wind, would come and
+blow these blossoms far away. But mark you now the wonder of my tale: a
+few blossoms would sometimes fall beneath the tree, and when they fell
+they made a chinking sound like that of small coins in children's banks.
+When they had withered, I always found bright, new shining pennies where
+they had lain.
+
+"Now from this curious fact I have believed that when the Apple Tree
+would bear fruit, the apples would be of gold. If young and tender
+blossoms yield bright, new shining pennies, does it not follow that the
+ripened fruit should be of purest gold?"
+
+"It would seem so, good dame," agreed the Traveler. "What then were the
+apples--silver, perhaps?"
+
+"Indeed sir, no!" replied Dame Grumble with deep feeling. "For all I
+know, in cutting off the branches of my favorite tree, my wicked son
+bewitched it. For though the Apple Tree bore fruit this year, it bore
+naught but red apples of a common sort; I scorn to gather them!
+
+"Oh, Oh!" wept Dame Grumble, bursting into tears once again at the
+memory of her loss. "Thus to have my own son so wicked and disobedient,
+whilst I, footsore and weary, was seeking for the fortune in pennies
+which the North Wind had stolen from me these many years! It is too
+much! I am sure, good sir, you will agree that I have many troubles, and
+that it is not right to call me Dame Grumble because I sometimes speak
+of them."
+
+"I had rather agree that you have also many blessings, good dame,"
+returned the Traveler, with his kindly smile. "Come, let us draw our
+chairs before the hearth, and perhaps you may learn to see them too.
+There is nothing that does so help us see our blessings as the bright
+flames dancing up the chimney when all the world without is dark and
+cold."
+
+But ere she sat down, Dame Grumble recollected yet another grievance.
+"And added to my other troubles," she complained, "I have a son who is
+lame and must be always a burden instead of a staff."
+
+The Traveler nodded gravely. "That is a sorrow, I agree," said he, "and
+I have no doubt, good dame, that your motherly heart must often ache
+with the pity of it all."
+
+To this Dame Grumble made no reply; she began to think instead. For
+years her mind had been so busy with the plans for her blossoms and her
+golden harvest that it had quite forgotten how to think of aught else.
+As for her heart, it ached only when she thought of the fortune in
+pennies that the North Wind had stolen from her, and that she had not
+found.
+
+"Then too, Dame Grumble," continued the Traveler, "I must tell you that
+I think the North Wind no more than a rough playful fellow, and not
+wicked as you say. Only this afternoon he stole my hat and ran away with
+it, but before I had gone twenty yards, the amiable fellow had brought
+it back to me again. And since he blew me to your cottage door, I will
+henceforth claim the North Wind for my friend."
+
+"Then since it was the North Wind that brought you to our door, I will
+no longer call him my enemy, but instead will call him my friend also,"
+declared Dame Grumble with a smile. In the firelight her face suddenly
+looked so sweet and gentle that Freyo sighed deeply. Dame Grumble heard
+the sigh, and asked her son the cause of it.
+
+"I sighed because I wished you would smile often, Mother," replied the
+lad. "You looked so sweet and pleasant."
+
+"And now," began the Traveler, "since we are all so happy, let us begin
+to think about the good dame's difficulties,--the fortune in pennies
+which she sought and could not find, the precious blossoms which the
+North Wind blows away each spring, and the Apple Tree which should have
+borne apples of gold, but which bore red apples instead. For these three
+evils we must find a remedy without delay."
+
+Now all the while she had been sitting with the Traveler by the
+fireside, because of his magic power, Dame Grumble had been thinking
+busily. Not of fortunes or of golden apples, or yet of red apples
+either; instead, quite to her own surprise, she was thinking of how
+wearied she had grown of all these things. She wished suddenly that she
+would never hear of them again. Judge then of her son's astonishment
+when she answered the Traveler in the following fashion:
+
+"Good sir, although I sat me down to talk about my troubles, now that I
+have told them, they seem light and trifling; I am indeed amazed that I
+have heeded them at all! Though for years and years I have quarreled
+with the North Wind because he robbed me of a fortune, I seem suddenly
+to care no longer for fortunes or gold or riches, or any such.
+
+"For as I peer into the flames, it comes to my mind that there are many
+in this world not so blessed as I. Many a one is hungry and has naught
+to eat, while my larder is filled; some are cold whilst I sit in comfort
+before a fire of pine knots that sputter and glow. I see now that I have
+many blessings." Dame Grumble did not know she had these thoughts
+because of the Traveler.
+
+"Ah!" cried the Traveler, "did I not say the blazing logs helped one to
+see one's blessings, and was I not right?"
+
+"I have often fancied that was so, good sir," agreed Freyo, "and now,
+since my mother no longer wishes to talk about her troubles, perhaps you
+will tell us tales of your journeys; you are a traveler and have seen
+far distant lands."
+
+"Pray do, good sir!" begged Dame Grumble too. "It is long since my son
+and I have heard tales of any sort. Also from your great wisdom I have
+a notion that we shall be highly entertained."
+
+So the Traveler told them tales of other lands. He told of strange birds
+with bright-hued feathers of such great length that they swept upon the
+ground like queens' trains. He told of burning mountains and of fiery
+lakes, of lovely flowers blooming in the snow, and gardens that grew
+underneath the sea. The wind without howled dismally; within, the flames
+leaped high and made queer elfin shadows to dance on the walls; the
+clock ticked off the minutes into hours, but still Dame Grumble and her
+son sat listening, wrapt in wonder. At last the candles snuffed out, and
+naught but the back log smoldered and glowed in the darkness.
+
+"Now good sir," cried Dame Grumble, "I am sure you must be weary." She
+bade him take the best room, but the Traveler refused. The comfortable
+chair in which he sat was all he needed, he declared, and he bade the
+good dame and her son good night.
+
+When they awakened next morning, he had gone; but on the chair they
+found his staff. Fastened to the staff there was a note which bade Freyo
+use it in place of the crutches, and said when he had no longer need for
+it to give it to some other one that had.
+
+"Mother," said Freyo, when he had read the note over and over again,
+"would this not seem to say that I might one day walk without the aid of
+either crutch or staff? What think you of it?"
+
+"It would seem so, my son," replied the dame, "and then how happy I
+would be!"
+
+A knock at the door startled them both. Dame Grumble, thinking it was
+the Traveler returned, hastened to open; but it was not he. It was a
+king's herald dressed in scarlet satin and silver laces.
+
+"I am the herald of King Silversword," said he. He bowed low to Dame
+Grumble as though she were a duchess.
+
+"And I am Dame Grumble, at His Majesty's service," answered Dame
+Grumble, with a bow equally fine.
+
+"Then hearken to my message," began the herald. He unrolled a scroll of
+parchment, set thick with king's seals and written all in silver
+letters, and read the following proclamation:
+
+"Know ye that the apple crop of the whole world has failed. From north
+to south, from east to west, there is not one apple to be found, nay not
+for a king's ransom. Now that of itself could be borne, none the less,
+for apples be great luxuries. However, the little Princess Silverstar,
+the only daughter of King Silversword and Queen Silverland, has fallen
+ill and craves constantly for red apples. The doctors and the medical
+men hold no hope for her recovery unless she has to eat the fruit she
+craves. Wherefore, if good Dame Grumble will sell a dozen or more red
+apples to His Majesty, King Silversword, she may name any sum of gold or
+portions of rich jewels in payment; nay, whether she demand both gold
+and jewels, or even His Majesty's entire fortune, it shall be hers in
+exchange for her red apples."
+
+"Come now, good dame, what do you say?" asked the herald, as he rolled
+up the scroll once more.
+
+"I say, good Master Herald, that my red apples are not for sale," the
+dame replied, "but if they have a power to restore the little Princess
+Silverstar, she may have them all. They shall be a gift from me and my
+son Freyo."
+
+Now the herald was amazed at this. From the humble surroundings, he knew
+the good dame and her son were naught but worthy peasants, and he
+reasoned wisely that riches would not be amiss. Accordingly, he tried to
+persuade Dame Grumble to accept some gift, a tract of fertile land, a
+noble mansion, or at least a bag or two of gold; but Dame Grumble was
+firm in her intention and would not be persuaded.
+
+"If my red apples have a power to heal," she declared, "they will have
+thrice that power if given with a good heart instead of in barter or
+exchange." So the herald besought her no more. He called the servants
+and bade them strip the tree, and then, with many thanks, he hastened on
+his way.
+
+"Oh, Mother!" cried Freyo, as they watched the royal coach depart. "How
+fine of you to refuse such riches! All your life you have so longed for
+a fortune, too!"
+
+"Indeed, my son," replied the good dame earnestly, "the only fortune I
+desire now is the fortune that you will one day make for me. However, I
+must confess that all the while I spoke with the king's herald, it
+seemed that the Traveler was close beside to tell me what to say, and
+that the words were not my own. Now, was that not a strange thing--and
+he gone these many hours?"
+
+As she went about her daily tasks, the good dame seemed to have
+forgotten her old woes and troubles and Freyo whistled like a thrush as
+he sat working at his bench. The little cottage had never known such a
+happy day. Freyo's tools seemed to fly as though by magic, and the gloom
+that had been slowly settling down upon the little cottage quite close
+to the top of the earth now seemed to take wings and fly off. It was
+just at sunset when they heard the blowing of horns and trumpets, and
+again the coach of King Silversword drew up before their door.
+
+Freyo, wishing to hear news of the Princess Silverstar, seized the
+Traveler's staff and hobbled toward the door. But wonder of wonders! No
+sooner had he leaned his weight upon it than he grew tall and straight
+as a young poplar tree. Like an arrow he sped from the cottage door, and
+Dame Grumble rubbed her eyes lest she should wake and find herself
+a-dreaming.
+
+"Now look you, good Master Herald!" she cried in amazement. "You saw my
+son only this morning, and he was lame as lame could be; and now,
+behold, he walks as well as you or I! Truly, say I, it is a day of
+miracles!"
+
+"Thou sayest right, good dame!" declared the herald. "It is to tell you
+of another miracle that I have come hither. Only this morn the little
+Princess Silverstar did eat but one of the red apples, and to the
+delight and wonder of the court, she began to grow stronger. When she
+had eaten three or four, the doctors and medical men pronounced her
+cured; they believed that the red apples coming as a gift, rather than
+for barter or exchange, had worked an important part in this miraculous
+recovery. To-night there is great feasting and rejoicing in the land of
+King Silversword, and the praises of Dame Grumble and her son are sung
+by rich and poor and high and low alike." The herald then unrolled
+another scroll and read the following proclamation:
+
+"Wherefore His Majesty, King Silversword, to show his gratitude, doth
+now create Freyo the First Wood Carver of his kingdom and master of all
+other wood carvers in the land."
+
+Freyo could scarcely believe his good fortune and begged the herald to
+read the scroll once more. Then he began to shout with joy. "And only to
+think, Mother!" he cried, "I am no longer lame, but can walk about like
+all the youths whom I shall meet at court."
+
+"I am rejoiced!" declared Dame Grumble, "but if there be feasting in all
+the lands of King Silversword, there should likewise be feasting in our
+little cottage. You are whole and strong, and the Princess Silverstar is
+restored to health through our gift. Let us be merry too!
+
+"And you, good Master Herald," continued the good Dame, "though our food
+be plain, if happy hearts alone be needed, there will be no merrier
+household in all the world than ours to-night. Will you not sup with
+us?" The herald vowed he would be honored, and so Dame Grumble popped
+another pudding in the steaming pot, and they all sat down. While the
+three ate and drank, the good dame and her son recalled the wonder of
+their visitor the evening before.
+
+"One could scarce believe the change the Traveler wrought upon my mind
+and heart," said the good dame. "Before he came, I was scolding and
+complaining always from morning until night. Yet since he entered into
+my door, I have had scarce a vexatious thought."
+
+"It would seem, good dame, that the Traveler was some gentle spirit come
+from afar," agreed the herald. "I do not doubt that he and his magic
+arts are the secret cause of these miracles we have seen to-day."
+
+When he departed with the herald the next day, Freyo left behind the
+Traveler's staff; the good dame fancied it would be a guard against the
+return of her low spirits. She leaned on it as she stood by the cottage
+door and waved her son a farewell and thought with pride how handsome he
+was now that he was tall and straight. Thus we must leave Dame Grumble
+in the country quite close to the top of the earth, and journey off
+with Freyo on the way to seek his fortune.
+
+
+IV
+
+At the court of King Silversword, Freyo was welcomed with much honor and
+ceremony. Dame Grumble's gift to the little princess had made a thousand
+good friends for him, it seemed. King Silversword looked at him with
+eyes of gratitude; Queen Silverland could not praise him enough. The
+Little Princess Silverstar took much pleasure in the tales that Freyo
+told her of the North Wind and the Apple Tree. Before many days had
+passed, Freyo had become the child's favorite courtier, and was a
+favorite of the whole Court likewise. The noble lords vowed that Freyo
+had wisdom beyond his years and vied with one another to do him
+kindnesses. The noble ladies declared that Freyo had a kindly heart as
+well as handsome features. They said his gentle manners were worthy of a
+duke's son. King Silversword gave orders that a fine workroom be built
+at the top of the royal palace and fitted with every sort of tool that a
+wood carver might fancy. He also sent great ships a-sailing off to
+distant lands to bring rare woods for Freyo's work.
+
+When all things were in order, Freyo began his first task for the great
+King Silversword: it was to carve seven great chests which would be used
+as dower chests for the little princess by and by. So fine was the
+design upon each chest, and so delicate and intricate the carving and
+the traceries, that seven long years passed before the seven chests were
+finished. In all that time, although the princess grew to be a lovely
+maiden, tall and stately, she still took pleasure in the tales that
+Freyo told her of the Apple Tree that grew up in the country quite close
+to the top of the earth. Now when these seven chests were shown at
+court, it was the opinion of wise men and artists from far and near that
+their equal could not be found in all the world. King Silversword was
+greatly pleased, and in reward he commanded that Freyo be made Duke of
+Freyoland. Ten thousand leagues of land in the country quite close to
+the top of the earth were given him for his domain, and a noble castle
+was likewise built there for him.
+
+The seven dower chests were next filled full of gold and jewels, and
+orders for a splendid ball were given. Princes and dukes as well as
+lords and marquises from every court on earth were bidden to attend, and
+from this assemblage of noble youths, the Princess Silverstar would
+choose her husband. Some gossips at the court declared it was assured
+that Princess Silverstar would choose Prince Goldenmines, the richest
+prince in all the world. Others thought that she would surely favor
+Prince Palmire, because he was so handsome. Judge then of the surprise
+of all when Princess Silverstar chose Freyo for her prince and begged
+her royal parents to consent.
+
+"Is it not to Freyo's noble gift, so long ago, that we do owe our
+daughter's life!" exclaimed these grateful monarchs. "How then shall we
+deny him for our daughter's husband? Announce the betrothal, heralds!"
+
+Then straightway the wedding day was set. Dame Grumble journeyed down
+from the country quite close to the top of the earth and was made
+welcome by Queen Silverland and her noble ladies. (To be quite formal,
+we should now call the good dame Duchess Freyoland, for as mother of a
+duke, she had likewise become ennobled. However, as the good dame liked
+her old name best, perhaps we had best call her just Dame Grumble after
+all.)
+
+In order that all folk might rejoice in goodly earnest at her wedding
+feast, the Princess Silverstar besought her father two favors. First,
+that he would forgive all debts and moneys that his people owed the
+crown, and second, that he would take no taxes for a whole year and a
+day. She then commanded that every subject be given fine new holiday
+attire and a well-filled purse, according to his rank and station. In
+all the history of the kingdom there was not known a finer feast than
+this. The noble lords and ladies rode and drove or danced at splendid
+balls. The common people sang or played games on the highways and
+feasted on the village greens. Then when the seven days of fun and
+feasting passed at last, and Freyo with his lovely bride drove off to
+their castle, Dame Grumble sat beside them in the royal chariot. But not
+for long could the good dame content herself in their splendid castle.
+Her heart began to yearn, and she began to pine most sadly for her
+home. Though Freyo and his lovely bride begged her to stay and dwell
+with them forever, the good dame would not hear of it.
+
+"Ah, no, my children!" cried Dame Grumble. "Long, long ago, 'tis true, I
+wished for a noble house and fancied I would be happy as a queen if I
+might live in one. Since the visit of the Traveler, I have grown much
+wiser. I know that I can be happy as a queen if I am but content. So in
+my little cottage with the North Wind and the Apple Tree for friends, I
+shall dwell all my days."
+
+So saying, Dame Grumble bade Freyo and his lovely bride farewell, and
+leaning on the Traveler's staff she set off for home. She reached her
+little cottage on a bright spring day, just when the Apple Tree was
+decked in clouds of fragrant, pinky-white blossoms, and looked as lovely
+as a fairy tree. Dame Grumble gazed with satisfaction on her favorite
+tree, and as she gazed it came to her mind that in all the noble sights
+she saw at court, she had seen nothing half so lovely as the Apple Tree
+in spring.
+
+It was not long now before the North Wind came roaring over field and
+forest in his usual fashion, but when he saw Dame Grumble he ceased
+suddenly. He asked most civilly how the good dame did and whether she
+had liked the life at court. To all his questions Dame Grumble made most
+amiable reply and hoped the North Wind's health was fair. For, if you
+will believe me, these two old enemies were now good friends. They had
+not had a cross word or a quarrel since the evening of the Traveler's
+visit long ago.
+
+"And now, Dame Grumble," said the North Wind, "for seven long years you
+have ceased your scolding and grumbling, and if you will it so, the
+spell that bound the Apple Tree may now be broken. Only command me to
+cease my mischief, and I will touch your blossoms nevermore. Likewise
+command the Apple Tree to bear you golden apples, and you shall have
+them."
+
+"But North Wind!" cried the Apple Tree. "First tell my mistress what you
+have done with all the pennies from my blossoms. My mistress has a heart
+of gold and needs not golden apples."
+
+Dame Grumble smiled with pleasure that the Apple Tree should speak thus
+kindly of her. Well she remembered the olden days when she had often
+been most harsh with her favorite tree, and she hoped the tree had now
+forgiven her. "The Apple Tree praises my heart too highly," said Dame
+Grumble modestly. "Still, North Wind, I must own that I have been most
+curious about the pennies from the blossoms you have blown away."
+
+"The pennies were not stored in some hollow of the earth, as you
+supposed, long, long ago, when you set out to find them," said the North
+Wind. "Each springtime, when I blew the blossoms of the Apple Tree
+around the world, I dropped the pennies at the feet of poor children who
+had none but me to love them. These poor children then ran pell-mell to
+the nearest sweet shop to spend their pennies and were happy as larks in
+consequence."
+
+"The Apple Tree is right!" declared Dame Grumble. "For all the golden
+apples in the world, I would not rob a single poor child of its penny.
+So blow your fiercest, North Wind; and Apple Tree, see to it that there
+be a penny for every orphan child on earth." The North Wind obeyed, and
+Dame Grumble smiled to see the lovely blossoms flying through the air
+like April snow.
+
+And so the good dame settled down to dwell in peace and happiness.
+Kings' palaces and dukes' castles were all very well, said she, but
+after all, there was no place like home. As for climate and a clear blue
+sky in summer, there was no place to equal the country quite close to
+the top of the earth, Dame Grumble thought. Often and often, just at
+candlelight, Dame Grumble peered into the dusk and gloom in hopes of
+seeing the Traveler coming toward her door; but he came not. Sometimes
+she asked the North Wind for news of him, but he could tell her little.
+
+"I think," said the North Wind, "that the Traveler still journeys round
+the earth, but always in advance of me. Sometimes I travel over cities
+where all folk are content, and where there are no strifes nor quarrels.
+I hear folk speaking of a noble traveler who has lingered with them, and
+I have often thought it is the Traveler whom we seek. If I should ever
+meet him, I shall tell him that Dame Grumble waits each evening to
+welcome him."
+
+"But my mistress, and you too, North Wind," said the Apple Tree, "have
+you not heard it said the Traveler visits only those who are sad and
+sorrowful, or who are afflicted with cold, selfish hearts? If that be
+true, he will return to our little cottage no more; there is no need for
+him."
+
+Now it would seem that the Apple Tree was right, for the Traveler
+returned no more. And in all the world there was not such another place
+for comfort and good cheer as Dame Grumble's little cottage quite close
+to the top of the earth where the North Wind blew fiercely each spring.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+A TALE OF THE NORTHLAND KINGDOM
+
+
+I
+
+Long, long ago, in a certain far-off region of the world, there was a
+land of ice and snow, and this land was called the Northland Kingdom.
+There each year the ice broke on the rivers and flowed out to the sea,
+and the snow melted in the valleys. Then corn and rye and other good
+grains would grow; but these mild seasons were short, and for the most
+part ice and snow abounded everywhere.
+
+Added to this, in the time of my tale there was no light in the
+Northland Kingdom. All time was deep gray twilight or inky darkness, and
+there was no day. Neither Moon nor Stars had ever pierced the
+overhanging gloom and mists, and the sun had never shone upon the
+Northland Kingdom. Reindeer flitted silently through this land of
+shadows, and great white bears made their homes in icy caves by the sea.
+When birds of passage reached this land of darkness, they trilled their
+softest songs and went to rest, and when they waked, they soared away in
+search of brighter lands. But knowing nothing of the light of day, the
+folk of this dark land mourned not its lack and were content to dwell
+ever in shadow. A thousand silver lamps and myriads of waxen tapers
+gleamed always in the palace of the king; and in the fields the workers
+sowed and reaped by light of flaming torches. The herders built great
+fires on the hillsides, and in their light and warmth told their flocks.
+The housewives spun by firelight.
+
+Now in the time of which I tell, the good king Tamna ruled the Northland
+Kingdom. He was a wealthy sovereign even as the wealth of kings is
+reckoned. King Tamna owned a thousand mountains of gold and silver and
+the fish of ten thousand streams. Herds of reindeer and caribou beyond
+all counting were also his, as well as the forests and plains over which
+they roamed. Beside all this, King Tamna was sovereign lord of one
+hundred princes of the Northland Kingdom. These hundred princes paid
+King Tamna tribute; that is to say, they brought him yearly certain
+portions of their flocks and herds and of their grain and gold and of
+all that was theirs, for such was the law of the Northland Kingdom.
+
+Now good King Tamna had a daughter, Maiden Matanuska, Princess of the
+Silver Birches. She was so called because her marriage portion was a
+forest of silver birch that lay between two swift-flowing streams and
+reached from sea to sea. Some folk thought Maiden Matanuska was part
+wood sprite, for in spite of dark and shadows she would roam for hours
+in the paths and lanes among the birches and was not afraid. The Maiden
+Matanuska understood the language of the trees and learned from them
+just when the ice and snow would melt.
+
+The silver foxes that roamed this forest were her pets. They frisked and
+followed her about like faithful dogs; and though their furs were worth
+a king's fortune, Maiden Matanuska would not consent to have them slain.
+For this the silver fox were grateful and loved her dearly. They taught
+her secrets never known before by men, and from their wisdom Maiden
+Matanuska learned to tell when icy winds would blow and snow begin to
+fall and when the grain would grow again. Maiden Matanuska understood
+the songs of birds as well, and when the birds of passage sang of other
+lands, where there was light of day, she listened eagerly. But when she
+begged these birds to sing her more, they answered her with sleepy
+chirps, for birds would not sing long in that dark land.
+
+It was from these sweet songs the birds of passage sang that Maiden
+Matanuska came to know that there was such a thing as light of day. The
+more she heard, the more she longed to see this marvel. While she
+wandered in her birchen forest, she would dream bright dreams of other
+lands, she knew not where,--lands where ice and snow were not, but where
+gay flowers bloomed instead, and there was day as well as night.
+
+"Oh, my father," said she with a sigh, "how pleasant our land would be
+if all the shadows and the gloom departed for a time and we had light of
+day as well as night."
+
+"Ah, yes, my daughter," said King Tamna, with an answering sigh, "but
+how to brighten this dark land I know not. For your sake I would that I
+could; but for myself, I care not. Now I am growing old and soon must
+journey all alone to lands where light or darkness matters not."
+
+"Oh, my father! Speak not of that time," cried Maiden Matanuska,
+bursting into tears. She loved her father tenderly and knew he spoke of
+the time when he must die. "If you were not here with me, neither light
+nor darkness would matter to me, and I should be desolate and lonely."
+
+"Then speak no more of your longing for light," replied the king. "It
+grieves me that I cannot give you what you most desire. But before I
+have departed from this life, I hope to see you wedded to some brave
+prince who will love you and protect you in my place."
+
+And though Maiden Matanuska vowed she wished no prince at all, her
+father gave her protests no heed. "There is a handsome youth who wears a
+feather mantle with whom I see you wandering in the forest. Who is he?"
+King Tamna asked.
+
+"He is Prince Kenai of the burning mountain," said the maiden. "He, too,
+has dreams of light and tells me wonder tales which I do love to hear."
+
+"Prince Kenai is the poorest prince in all the Northland Kingdom," said
+the king; "but if his wonder tales please you, I shall say nothing."
+
+Now, as may be supposed, there was no lack of suitors for the maiden's
+hand. Indeed these hundred princes of the Northland Kingdom each longed
+to marry her. She was the fairest maiden in the land, and moreover, she
+was as lovely of mind and manner as she was fair of face.
+
+There came at last a certain night when good King Tamna sat in state to
+greet his tribute-bearing princes, and Maiden Matanuska sat beside her
+father. In robes of purple velvet bordered deep with ermine and thickly
+sewn with threads of beaten gold, with golden crown and sceptre too,
+King Tamna looked a very king of kings,--a monarch of great state and
+dignity. The Maiden Matanuska, robed in shimmering gossamer white, her
+golden hair, that fell about her like a cloak, crowned with a wreath of
+leaves, and in her hand a holly branch, looked like some angel newly
+come from paradise. She seemed some lovely maiden in a dream, who would
+perhaps take flight and float away in the encircling gloom and mists.
+These hundred princes knelt before the throne and begged the lovely
+maiden's hand in marriage.
+
+At this the king was troubled, for clearly Maiden Matanuska could not
+wed them all, and how to choose among them he knew not. At last the
+royal counselors advised him in the following way:
+
+"Now since these hundred youths be princes all, and therefore suitable
+in rank to wed your daughter, let Maiden Matanuska for herself decide
+which one she'll wed."
+
+When this was told, the Maiden Matanuska sat some time in thought and
+then she spoke. "I'll wed the prince who brings to me the thing which I
+have never seen before, for which I long with all my heart, and which I
+shall love well."
+
+The hundred princes then departed to their various lands and began to
+seek among their treasures to find the thing they thought would please
+the maiden. Some princes brought her toys of ivory wrought in wondrous
+ways, and some brought robes of doeskin, soft as satin, white as milk,
+embroidered all in beads of many colors. But these proved not the thing
+for which the maiden longed. Some princes brought her great carved
+silver chests, and some brought chains and bracelets made of purest
+gold; but none of these were what the Maiden Matanuska wished, and all
+these princes failed to win their suit. So fared they all until at last
+there were but three to try their fate,--Prince Kathalan, Prince Katala,
+and Prince Kenai.
+
+Now Prince Kathalan was the greatest warrior of all the Northland
+Kingdom. He had won a hundred battles and boasted that he would win a
+hundred more. He gloried in his warlike fame and doubted not that Maiden
+Matanuska would favor him above all others.
+
+Katala, who was wealthiest prince of all, rejoiced because his slaves
+had lately found a diamond mine, the like of which was never known
+before in all the Northland Kingdom. Prince Katala had great faith in
+the power of his riches and was full sure that Maiden Matanuska would
+smile upon his suit.
+
+Prince Kenai dwelt in the land of a burning mountain whose fires
+destroyed his forests and laid waste his lands, and the land itself,
+moreover, was not enriched with gold or silver or with any other metal.
+Because of this, Prince Kenai was called poorest prince of all; but
+because in all the Northland Kingdom none other dared venture near this
+burning mountain, he was counted bravest prince of all.
+
+Of these three, Prince Kathalan spoke first. "Oh, Maiden Matanuska,
+Princess of the Silver Birch," cried he, "I bring to you this magic bird
+of battle, my raven. Black as its wings are, wise is the bird, and
+moreover it hath the gift of speech and prophecy. With this magic raven
+as my omen, no warrior can worst me in battle, and I can conquer
+legions. So marry me, O Maiden, and I will make you the most powerful
+queen the world has ever known."
+
+The Maiden Matanuska shook her head. "You have not guessed my meaning
+rightly," answered she. "I care not to be a queen of power, for such
+queens are unhappy, I have often heard; and I hate the thought of
+battle. So keep your magic raven, warrior prince. I love far better the
+gentle doves that flutter around me in my forest."
+
+Prince Kathalan departed in a rage, and Prince Katala stood before the
+throne.
+
+"Oh, Maiden Matanuska, Princess of the Silver Birch," cried he, "I bring
+to you a golden casket filled full of gems called diamonds which you
+have never seen before, and which you will love well, for they are truly
+lovely. And these are not a thousandth part of all my wealth; so marry
+me, O Maiden, and I will make you the richest queen the world has ever
+known."
+
+The gems within the casket flashed forth purple fire and shone like
+brilliant stars; but Maiden Matanuska sighed again.
+
+"I care not for great riches, Prince Katala," answered she, "for I have
+riches of my own in goodly store. As for thy diamonds,--though they be
+truly lovely, as you say, I should as soon love the icicles that cluster
+round my casement in the storm. They are as hard and cold."
+
+Prince Katala departed likewise in a rage, and Prince Kenai bowed low
+before the throne.
+
+"And now what treasure do you bring to win my hand, brave prince?"
+asked Maiden Matanuska.
+
+To which the prince replied, "I bring you none, and neither do I seek to
+win your hand. Your heart is what I do desire, O Maiden, for I do love
+you truly and would die to serve you.
+
+"Now in your father's halls are treasures and all riches in great store.
+Fair silken banners hang the walls to shut the cold drafts out; a
+thousand gleaming silver lamps light the way; great chests are filled
+full of ornaments of beaten gold, as well as many other things my eyes
+have not discovered. With all this wealth heaped high on every hand, if
+you still long for that which you have never seen, think you that in my
+barren land it will be found? In my land so poor that even crows forsake
+it?"
+
+"Well said, brave prince," the king replied, "and if you have not
+treasures such as men hold dear, you have indeed a noble gift of speech.
+But even so, some gift or token you must surely bring, or otherwise you
+had not come at all but stayed within your barren land. Come, tell us
+what it is."
+
+"I bring no treasure save the treasure of a wonder tale which you will
+hear," said Prince Kenai, and then began to tell.
+
+"Within my land, as well you know, there lies a burning mountain from
+which men flee in fear, but which I love. Now when my mountain has burst
+forth in flames, and tongues of fire that reach to heaven light the sky
+of all the world, I have seen wondrous things. I have seen other lands
+far distant, where ice and snow are not, but where the green grass
+clothes the hills and plains; where poppies shaped like golden chalices
+grow thick, and birds sing hour after hour. And in these pleasant lands
+of which I tell, there is a time of light as well as dark. This time of
+light lasts many hours long and is called day."
+
+"Then tell me this, Prince Kenai," cried the king. "How comes this light
+of day to other lands? It comes not to this dreary realm of ours, where
+it would be most welcome."
+
+"I'll tell you that," replied the prince. "There is a wondrous traveler
+called the Sun who high up in the clouds does journey ceaselessly about
+the world. He has great power over night and causes darkness to break
+forth in light wherever he does turn his face toward any land.
+
+"And now farewell, good king and Maiden Matanuska, whom I love. I go to
+seek the Sun and beg him to return with me and shine upon the Northland
+Kingdom as he does on other lands upon the earth. Then will we have the
+light of day as well as night, and Maiden Matanuska will have that which
+she has never seen, for which she longs with all her heart, and which
+she will love well. Farewell."
+
+Prince Kenai wrapped his flowing feather mantle around him and took
+leave of the king. The Maiden Matanuska walked with him through her
+forest where the silver birches grew down to the borders of the sea, and
+there they parted.
+
+"Oh, my brave prince," wept Maiden Matanuska, "my heart cries out
+against your going, for since the day I met you I have loved you dearly;
+but I was always fearful lest my father bid me wed another because you
+had no fortune. Therefore I set the riddle which only you did guess. And
+now, may all good powers guard you on your quest and bring you safely
+back to me. While you are gone, the waking hours will often find me
+standing on this shore, awaiting the glad sight of your return."
+
+"My beloved maiden!" sighed the prince. "With such sweet faith and love
+to bless me, I cannot fail." He rent his flowing feather mantle in two
+parts and wrapped a portion of it around the maiden. "I would I had a
+richer token for you, love," said he. "But even so; this feather mantle
+is no mean gift. Who wears it will be ever safe from icy blasts and snow
+and cold and will be ever young and fair as on the day they wore it
+first. Now kiss me in farewell and promise me that when I do return and
+bring the Sun, you'll marry me."
+
+The Maiden Matanuska kissed him thrice and promised, and springing into
+his boat, Prince Kenai sailed away. She stood upon the shore and blew
+him kisses and caresses, but soon his form was lost in darkness and the
+mists, and Maiden Matanuska was left forlorn.
+
+
+II
+
+Now in those olden days, when princes journeyed around the world on
+errands for the maidens whom they loved, the space of time they usually
+were gone was a year and a day. So when a year and a day had passed, the
+Maiden Matanuska often wandered through the birch wood and stood upon
+the border of the sea. She strained her gaze far to the south to see the
+sight of any sail; but Prince Kenai came not.
+
+She asked the birds of passage if they had seen her prince, and
+sometimes they had news of him. "Oh, tell me, ye wild Gulls, of the wild
+skies," she asked, "do you know aught of my brave Prince Kenai? He wears
+a feather robe like mine and seeks in lands afar to find the Sun for
+me."
+
+"Ah, yes," replied the Gulls. "We've seen a prince so dressed, and he
+was sailing westward on the sea and seemed to seek the Sun."
+
+"And found he what he sought?" cried Maiden Matanuska eagerly.
+
+"Alas!" the Gulls replied. "The truth is, he did not. For many evenings
+when the day was done, we saw this prince sail westward. He hoped to
+meet the sun just where the sky bends down to meet the sea, but though
+he sailed for days and days, the place he sought seemed sailing too,
+and so he reached it not."
+
+"That is sad news," the maiden sighed. "But when again you see my
+prince, tell him that all my thoughts are his, and I am sure he cannot
+fail."
+
+Another time she asked a Kite-bird had he seen Prince Kenai.
+
+"Oh, yes, dear maiden," the Kite-bird made reply. "And he was in the
+Southland, whither he had gone to seek the Sun. But he was worn and
+wearied with much wandering, and the road was long; and by the time he
+reached there, the Sun had long departed on his journey to the
+Eastland."
+
+"That is sad news, good Kite-bird," said the maiden, "but when you see
+my prince again, pray tell him that my hopes are his, and I am sure he
+cannot fail to win his quest."
+
+And still another time did Maiden Matanuska ask an Auk to tell her of
+Prince Kenai.
+
+"I saw him," said the Auk, "and from the feather robe he wore I judged
+him first to be some bird. In lands where scarlet poppies lull the weary
+travelers to deep sleep, and waterfalls make thunder down the mountain
+sides, Prince Kenai I saw toiling up a rocky slope where it is said the
+Sun does rise."
+
+"And did he reach the top of this steep slope?" asked Maiden Matanuska.
+
+"Now that I could not say," the Auk replied, "for I was flying swiftly
+and paused not at all. But this I know; the Sun's a mighty, glowing
+being and is like to burn all those who venture near his presence.
+Unless Prince Kenai have some magic charm, I doubt if the Sun will heed
+him."
+
+"That is the saddest news of all," sighed Maiden Matanuska. "But even
+so, I shall not weep but pray for him instead. When you next see my
+prince, good Auk, tell him that all my love is his, and I'll await his
+coming though he remain a thousand years."
+
+"I shall," replied the Auk, and soared away.
+
+And so the Maiden Matanuska waited while the time sped on. Wrapped in
+her feather mantle, she wandered through the birches like a lonely
+spirit, and the trees were grieved for her. She still dreamed dreams and
+loved to think about the time when she would greet her prince; when the
+light of day would banish all the gloom and shadows of the Northland
+Kingdom. Still years passed on, and still Prince Kenai came not. King
+Tamna feared him dead or that perhaps he had lost his way and was a
+wanderer forlorn; but Maiden Matanuska knew no fears.
+
+"The journey to the Sun is long, my father," she would say, "and my
+brave prince no magic hath to make it short. He will return and bring
+with him this wondrous traveler whom he seeks, and what a pleasant place
+the Northland Kingdom then will be!"
+
+But as the time went by there came great sadness in the Northland
+Kingdom. The good King Tamna laid him down to sleep one night and never
+waked again. All folk both high and low mourned deeply, for good King
+Tamna had been like a kindly father rather than a king. When at last the
+time of mourning passed, Lord Boreas, cousin to King Tamna, came to rule
+the Northland Kingdom.
+
+Now Lord Boreas was a cruel sovereign, a tyrant, and the people were
+unhappy under his rule. He made harsh laws, and if these laws were not
+obeyed, he punished with severity. Lord Boreas, it was whispered, had
+an evil power over the icy winds and rivers in the Northland Kingdom,
+and few dared resist his will. His anger, it was said, had caused many a
+village to be blown into the sea and noble cities to be flooded with a
+rush of waters. But while the rule of this harsh king fell hard on all
+alike, on Maiden Matanuska it fell hardest. Lord Boreas was her
+guardian. He scorned the simple customs of the good King Tamna and
+straightway ordered all things to his liking. He planned to fell the
+Maiden Matanuska's forest and build a city in its place.
+
+"However, my sweet cousin," said Lord Boreas, "I'll wait until the next
+mild season is at hand. Then when the silver foxes come from their
+winter's sleep, my hunters shall lay traps for them and slay them every
+one. Their skins will sell for gold, and for your marriage portion you
+shall have a noble city and ten thousand chests of gold, and I myself
+will marry you and make you queen."
+
+Though Maiden Matanuska's heart was sad, and she wept bitter tears for
+her loved trees and pets, she made no protest at her cousin's words.
+She feared his wrath, and so she bowed her head submissively. But when
+the palace slept and all was still, wrapped in her feather mantle, she
+stole softly out. Down through the shadowy lanes and misty isles among
+the silver birches she sped, until she reached the border of the sea.
+Then through the gloom she peered to see the sight of any sail; but no
+sail she saw.
+
+"Oh, my beloved prince," she wept, "I fear that when you come 'twill be
+too late. For rather than to wed my cruel cousin, I'll fling myself into
+the sea and die!"
+
+"Now, Maiden Matanuska, what grave sorrow can this be?" a gruff voice
+spoke beside her. It was old Reynard, chief of all the silver foxes. He
+had stolen from the burrow to learn how went the season and to know when
+he might waken all his sleeping tribe.
+
+"Oh, Reynard, my good friend!" exclaimed the maiden. "Since first you
+did begin your winter's sleep, I have had many sorrows. My father, good
+King Tamna, is no more, and now my cruel cousin Boreas rules the
+Northland Kingdom." She told her tale of sorrows, and old Reynard
+listened, all alert.
+
+"Without a doubt, your cruel cousin Boreas hath an evil power over the
+winds and streams," said he, when she had finished, "but he shall learn
+it is not simple to outwit the cunning fox. Now in the past, as you,
+dear maiden, have protected me and all my tribe from harm, so will we
+now protect you in your need. Come, follow me; do as I bid, and all will
+yet be well." So saying, old Reynard then led the maiden down beneath
+the earth to where the silver foxes still slept their winter's sleep,
+and birch roots wound about in and out.
+
+"Now, Maiden Matanuska," said Reynard, "if you will place a feather from
+your mantle at the root of every tree, they will be safe from cold and
+icy blasts, in spite of all Lord Boreas in his wrath may do. Then when
+that's done, wrap you all warmly in what's left of it and rest you
+safely with my people. When Prince Kenai comes I'll waken you."
+
+The Maiden Matanuska did as Reynard bid, and far beneath the earth she
+hid herself from cruel Boreas. 'Twas well she did, for when her cousin
+found her fled, his anger knew no bounds. He sent great parties out to
+search the land, and he himself, with flaming torch in hand, set out to
+seek her in the forest. Among the birch trees he found traces, showing
+that the Maiden Matanuska passed that way. Upon a branch he found a
+scarlet ribbon she had worn, and in the thorn-bush was caught a silken
+scarf; but though he sought for hours and called her name, Lord Boreas
+could not find the maiden.
+
+"Because I do not know the winding paths among the trees as well as you,
+you think to trick me, Maiden Matanuska," he cried at last, in fury,
+"but you shall know my vengeance now." Then climbing up the steep slopes
+of a near-by mountain, and summoning all his powers of evil, he
+commanded thus:
+
+"Rise, rise, ye rivers that flow swiftly to the sea, until the birchen
+forest in the valley be all flooded with a mighty rush of waters! Then
+blow, ye chill winds, from the east and north until these waters to a
+solid wall of ice are all transformed."
+
+The rivers, obedient at his command, then rose swiftly and overran their
+banks so that soon the tallest trees were all submerged, and nothing
+but a lake was seen. The winds began to blow their wildest, and the lake
+became a solid bank of ice that threw off chilling mists.
+
+Then Boreas called the people of the Northland Kingdom and addressed
+them thus: "Behold the fate of Maiden Matanuska and beware! For so shall
+perish all who dare defy me."
+
+The people wept and mourned in secret for the maiden whom they dearly
+loved, but there were none who dared cry out against the cruel Boreas.
+
+
+III
+
+Meanwhile Prince Kenai, bent upon his quest, was wandering still in
+lands afar. Each morning in the dawn he saw the wondrous traveler that
+he sought rise in the eastern sky and scatter clouds of darkness; and
+each evening, when the day was done, he saw the wondrous traveler set
+far in the west and take with him the day. But though Prince Kenai
+journeyed all around the earth and halfway back again, he found no road
+to reach the Sun, and he was sad. Still he continued on his way with
+hope and courage.
+
+It happened once, while he lay sleeping on a mountain, an eagle wounded
+by a poison dart dropped down beside him.
+
+"Ah!" cried the eagle bitterly, "from the great cloak of feathers which
+you wear, I thought you to be one of my own race. But since you are a
+man and I am wounded and can fly no more, I must prepare to die. You'll
+take my beak and claws to show your fellow men your skill at hunting and
+stuff my body to adorn your walls. Alas! That I, a prince of air, should
+come to this!" the great bird moaned.
+
+"Fear not that I shall take your life, good eagle prince," said Prince
+Kenai. "For though I am not of your race, I am a prince of earth, and to
+my mind all princes, whether of the earth or air, should be as
+brothers."
+
+Prince Kenai fetched water from a near-by spring and dressed the eagle's
+wound with healing herbs. For many days he did the same until the pain
+grew less, and by and by the great bird's wound was healed.
+
+"Now, brother," said the eagle, when he could fly once more, "you've
+served me nobly, and in my turn I shall serve you to prove my gratitude.
+You told me of your quest to reach the Sun, and I will tell you this.
+There is no road to reach the Sun that mortal man may tread. The way
+lies through the clouds, and indeed, 'tis only I and all my brother
+eagles that have strength to travel there. So get you on my back without
+delay, good Prince Kenai, and we shall start."
+
+Straight upward soared the eagle through the clouds, and when the day
+was nearly done they reached the splendid mansion of the Sun. Good luck
+was theirs, because the wondrous traveler had returned from his day's
+journey round the world and was well pleased to see them. He bade them
+welcome and asked the reason of their visit.
+
+"Oh, Golden Sun," said Prince Kenai, "far in my land which is the
+Northland Kingdom, I learned that you had power over night and brought
+the light of day to lands wheresoever you did turn your face. Therefore
+I set out to seek you and entreat you to return with me and shine upon
+the Northland Kingdom, which is a land of night and darkness. All around
+the world I've followed you in vain, and never would have met you had
+not this good eagle borne me thither on his wings."
+
+"Prince Kenai does not tell the reason why," exclaimed the eagle. "He
+saved my life when it was in his power to slay me, and, therefore, I
+have brought him hither, as was his wish." The eagle told his tale, and
+when the Sun had heard, he praised Prince Kenai.
+
+"Now see," the Sun declared, "the mighty power of a kindly deed. Had
+you, Prince Kenai, slain this noble bird, as most men would have done,
+he had not brought you to my mansion, and you could not have begged this
+boon of me. For your reward, I'll go with you. To-morrow morning when I
+rise, we'll start for this dark land, and thou, my eagle, bear Prince
+Kenai on thy wings that he may all the faster lead the way."
+
+For many days these three companions journeyed on through soft white
+clouds and summer skies until thick, gloomy mists came into view. The
+wind blew chill as though from fields of ice and snow, and the dull
+skies were leaden gray. From this, Prince Kenai knew the Northland
+Kingdom was at hand, although a pall of darkness overhung the landscape,
+and nothing could be seen.
+
+  [Illustration: For many days these three companions journeyed
+  on through soft white clouds.--_Page 86._]
+
+"I'll soon change this!" exclaimed the Sun, and then began to shine full
+on the Northland Kingdom. Straightway all the scene began to change as
+though by magic. The lowering mists dissolved and rolled away in rosy
+clouds or formed gay-colored rainbows in the skies; the skies themselves
+changed to bright blue, all flecked with white instead of leaden gray.
+The birds of passage wakened from their sleep and sang their sweetest
+songs. Upon the mountain side the snow began to melt away, and
+many-colored flowers bloomed where it had been. No bank of ice or snow,
+however high or deep, was able to withstand the genial warmth of all the
+beams the Sun poured down. The wall of ice that bound the birchen forest
+broke and with a roar plunged down into the sea. Then upon the waves
+were seen a thousand glittering banks of ice that seemed like noble
+palaces afloat. The birch trees all began to bud and bloom with silvery
+leaves that rustled softly; and green grass, thick with violets, went
+creeping underfoot.
+
+On learning what had come to pass, old Reynard wakened Maiden Matanuska
+and led her from the burrows until she stood once more upon the border
+of the sea.
+
+"Oh, my beloved Prince Kenai!" she cried, as she beheld him. "Though in
+your absence I have suffered many sorrows, now that you are returned,
+I'll soon forget them all. How marvelous is the light of day! And how
+divine the Sun!"
+
+"And tell me, maiden," said Prince Kenai, "now that you see all around
+the light of day, dost love it still as well as in the old dark days
+when you did dream of it?"
+
+"Indeed, I find the light which you bring more lovely than my wildest
+dreams," she answered. "To see the smiling skies, the blue sea all
+a-sparkle with great glittering banks of ice, the green grass thick with
+flowers everywhere, and over all the Sun shine down in wealth of golden
+beams--I knew not how to dream a dream so fair; and next to thee, my
+prince, I love the light of day above all else."
+
+Here they heard shouts of cheer and praise, and soon great multitudes of
+folk went running through the forest. "A miracle! A marvel 'tis," cried
+they, "that Maiden Matanuska is alive!" And then, in deep amazement,
+they listened to the tales the Maiden Matanuska and Prince Kenai told.
+Such tales were rare, even in those olden days of wonders. When both
+were done, the Chief Counselor of the Northland Kingdom spoke.
+
+"Now listen, all good folk," said he, "and learn that in this very hour
+the cruel Boreas, fearing the great power of the Sun, has fled the
+Northland Kingdom, and we are now without a king. Whom shall we choose?"
+
+"Prince Kenai! Prince Kenai!" cried the people. "'Twas he who gave our
+Maiden Matanuska the magic robe that saved her life; and he it was who
+brought the Sun to brighten our dark land. He was our benefactor; let
+him be our king!"
+
+"Wilt be our king, Prince Kenai?" asked the counselor.
+
+"If Maiden Matanuska marry me and be your queen, I shall be king," said
+Prince Kenai. "What say you, my loved one?"
+
+"I'll marry you, my prince," she answered, "for I do love you truly. Our
+feather mantles which have so nobly served us in the past shall be our
+wedding robes; the birds our royal choristers; the birches tall our
+stately chapel walls, and the blue sky above all, glowing with the
+Golden Sun, shall be our ceiling. Your good eagle and my good Reynard
+shall stand beside us and let all folk both high and low be bidden to
+our feast to wish us joy and happiness."
+
+All things were done as Maiden Matanuska ordered, and they were married
+on that very day. A royal feast was made, and sports and games were set;
+indeed there was a holiday that lasted forty days. The Sun was bidden to
+attend, and so well pleased was he that he stayed in the sky above the
+Northland Kingdom and set not once until the forty days had passed, and
+all that time was burning daylight.
+
+Then, when the holiday was done at last, the Sun took leave. "Farewell,
+all folk, and you good king and queen," said he. "And though night come
+when I have turned my face from you, fear not. For in the morning I will
+come again and bring with me the light of day." Which thing he did.
+
+And from that time the Northland Kingdom was no more a land of darkness
+and of gloom. The overhanging mists returned no more, and when 't was
+night, the Moon and Stars shone softly down. The Sun his face turned
+toward there every day, and though his beams were pale and wan when he
+was in the Southland, he stayed each summer forty days and nights and
+set not once; which custom he continues to this very day.
+
+Prince Kenai and the Maiden Matanuska reigned many years and were
+beloved by all their subjects. Though scores of years passed, by virtue
+of their feather mantles they were always young and fair as on the day
+they wore them first. Indeed, 'tis said they never died, though folk who
+dwell still in the Northland Kingdom differ as to what became of them.
+Some say that when Prince Kenai and Maiden Matanuska grew weary of this
+life at last, they wrapped their feather mantles round them, and borne
+upon the eagle's wings, set off to visit at the mansion of the Sun. But
+other folk declare that on dark misty nights a pair resembling them are
+often seen to wander through the dim aisles of a certain birchen forest
+where the silver foxes are found.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+THE LITTLE TREE THAT NEVER GREW UP
+
+
+Long, long ago, when the world was very young, so young that the flowers
+and trees and grasses had voices and talked with each other, or sang
+with the breezes that blew softly around them, there lived in the midst
+of a forest a very little tree.
+
+Now, though the Little Tree was straight as an arrow and had glossy
+green leaves, she was the most unhappy little tree in all the world. She
+could not sing with the winds, and neither could she speak to the other
+trees around her. These other trees often spoke to the Little Tree and
+asked her questions. When she did not answer, they thought the Little
+Tree stupid and sulky. These other trees that could sing and speak began
+to grow tall, and after a time they grew so high their topmost branches
+seemed to touch the sky. Then, even though the Little Tree had spoken,
+they could never have heard her. These other trees grew tall as giants.
+The Little Tree grew each year, it is true; but she grew so slightly
+that it could scarcely be noticed. She was greatly ashamed of her small
+stature.
+
+As the seasons went on, the branches of the tall trees grew so very
+thick that they shut out the light down in the forest. Then the Little
+Tree could not see the sun at all, and one by one the ferns and flowers
+at her roots died from the dampness, and the Little Tree was all alone!
+Nothing broke the silence of the dark, still forest save the calls of
+the birds when they returned each year to build their nests, or the
+sound of the branches swaying in the breeze. Then there came at last one
+soft spring day when the Little Tree waked from her winter's sleep and
+began to sing. She was so happy that she sang for hours; but alas! there
+was no other tree to hear her or to answer her song. So the Little Tree,
+though she now possessed the voice for which she had longed, was more
+lonely than ever before.
+
+At night, when all the world was sleeping, and while the Night Wind
+roamed the forest, the Little Tree would weep softly to herself because
+she was so sad. Then, after a time, her lament grew to be a song, a very
+sad song, it is true; but oh, so very beautiful! The Night Wind, who was
+fond of singing, came to listen each evening for the Little Tree's
+lament, and as he blew upon his way, he carried her song to the Stars.
+Now it happened one night the Little Tree was so sad and lonely that she
+could not sing; instead, she wept until her tiny branches shook with
+sobbing.
+
+"Oh," mourned the Little Tree, "I am so lonely here! I wish I could die.
+If only I might burn on some cottager's hearth or warm poor children's
+hands; but alas, I am the most useless tree that grows!"
+
+The Night Wind heard the Little Tree sobbing, and going close, whispered
+softly to her:
+
+"Oh, Little Tree, please do not be so sad. What does it matter that your
+singing voice came after all the other trees had grown too tall to hear
+you, or that you are such a very little tree? Your voice is so sweet and
+lovely that the birds of this forest now model their choicest songs on
+yours. Each night I carry your songs to the Stars, and they too have
+sung your lovely music."
+
+"Oh, Night Wind, do you tell me true?" begged the Little Tree. "For I am
+such a little tree, how can the Stars hear me?"
+
+"They hear you thus, my Little Tree," replied the Night Wind, and
+brushed aside the branches of the tallest trees.
+
+Then looking up, the Little Tree beheld the Stars high up in the heavens
+shining down on her. They seemed to smile and beckon as she watched, and
+so she sang her sweetest songs to please them. The Night Wind and the
+Stars themselves sang with the Little Tree, and made such lovely music
+that had any one been listening, they would have thought they heard
+sweet strains from paradise. But all this happened when the world was
+very young, and there were but few people dwelling on it.
+
+"And now, my Little Tree," the Night Wind said, when he had dropped the
+branches of the tall trees once again, "pray do not wish for some
+woodman to cut you down. I would miss you sadly, if you were to go away
+from the forest."
+
+Farther on in the forest, the Night Wind met the Spirits of the Woods.
+They were two sister spirits robed in floating garments made of mists.
+They roamed the forest and cared for all the trees. They knew how long
+each tree would dwell in the forest and when the woodman's ax would fell
+it. The Spirits of the Woods possessed a magic bag of dreams, and from
+this bag the Night Wind begged a dream for the Little Tree.
+
+"Ah," he pleaded, "the Little Tree is so sad and lonely, the other trees
+have grown so far away they cannot hear her sing, and neither can she
+talk with them. She would dearly love a beautiful dream from this dream
+bag of yours, Spirit."
+
+"Ah, Night Wind," replied the Spirit doubtfully, "there is but one dream
+left, and that is the Little Tree's dream of the future. If we give it
+to her, you must promise that you will not answer her questions
+concerning it. For it is a strange dream and will puzzle her greatly.
+Will you promise?"
+
+"I promise," said the Night Wind, and blew upon his way.
+
+  [Illustration: From this bag the Night Wind begged a dream for the
+  Little Tree.--_Page 96._]
+
+And after that night, the Little Tree was not lonely or sad. She never
+became a joyous tree--her youth had been too sorrowful for that--but she
+was content. Each night, when all the forest filled with creeping
+shadows, she sang her songs to the Stars, and she came to love the Night
+Wind dearly. Each night the Little Tree dreamed the dream the Spirits of
+the Woods had given her, and strange to tell, it was always the same
+dream. It was such a pleasant, lovely dream that sometimes the Little
+Tree was puzzled, and wondered whether she really lived in her beautiful
+dream, and only dreamed that she lived in the forest.
+
+Each night the Little Tree dreamed she floated far away, until she
+reached a palace which was set on a high hill. Within the palace was a
+great hall richly hung with silken tapestries and gleaming softly with
+light that shone from carved crystal bowls. Within this palace hall a
+great king and his court were seated, and sweet strains of music floated
+on the breeze. But the strangest thing of all was this: the Little Tree
+often thought she heard her own songs in this palace hall. She was not
+sure, but she was greatly puzzled. She knew that she had dwelled always
+in the forest, and how could she know the music of noble lords and
+ladies? Then one night in her dream the Little Tree was startled to hear
+the sound of her own voice singing the songs she had so often sung to
+the Stars. She pressed eagerly to the palace window to see within, but
+because of her branches she could not go very near, and she could not
+see. Then came the dawn, and her dream floated far away.
+
+All through the day, the Little Tree called again and again to the tall
+trees and asked them of her curious dream; but, of course, they could
+not hear her. She waited eagerly to see the daylight fade, and when the
+Night Wind came, she questioned him:
+
+"Oh, Night Wind," cried the Little Tree, "will you tell me of my dream?
+I am sure I heard my own voice singing; but how could it be that noble
+lords and ladies within that palace hall would listen to me? For am I
+not the least of little trees?"
+
+But the Night Wind did not tell her truly. He had given his promise that
+he would not, and so he answered her, saying:
+
+"Now that I do not know, my dear, but though you are indeed the least of
+little trees, you are the only Little Tree in all this world to me. Of
+noble lords and ladies and their ways I know nothing, for do they not
+shut me from their homes and hearths when I would enter and warm myself?
+But now, Little Tree, it grows late; will you not sing for me?"
+
+Thus with the Night Wind and the Stars for company, the Little Tree
+lived on for many years. From them she learned much wisdom and came to
+know about the great world which lay beyond the forest, and that all
+trees would one day go there. And all this time the world was growing
+older, and the forest was not so silent as it had been in the time when
+the Little Tree first dwelled there. Sometimes the woodcutter's ax rang
+out, and the Little Tree would hear a great tree come crashing down to
+earth.
+
+"Oh, why must I leave the freedom of the forest and be torn limb from
+limb in some wretched mill!" cried one of the tall trees, as he fell
+close by the Little Tree one day.
+
+"Ah," replied the Little Tree softly, "you would not wish to dwell
+forever in this forest, would you? In the world there is much that a
+great tree may do to bring happiness."
+
+"Who is it that speaks to me thus gently?" asked the Fallen Tree. "I do
+not know the voice, although I thought I knew all trees growing in this
+forest, for I was among the first trees to grow here."
+
+"And so was I," replied the Little Tree. "Do you not remember the Little
+Tree that could neither speak nor sing? I am she. For though I am ages
+and ages old, I am scarcely taller than yonder little fir of ten
+seasons."
+
+"In those days we thought you stupid and sulky, Little Tree," replied
+the Fallen Tree, "but by your speech I now can see that we were wrong.
+Who has taught you all your wisdom, and have you not been lonely all
+these years?"
+
+"Indeed, I was very lonely," said the Little Tree. "Even after I could
+sing, it was no better. The flowers and ferns had died, and there was
+none to hear me or talk to me. One night I wept and wished to die, and
+the Night Wind, who is of a kind heart, cheered me with words of praise.
+Since then I have never been sad, for I have had a lovely dream each
+night, and I have sung to the Stars."
+
+But this the Fallen Tree could not believe, and so he answered sharply:
+
+"Now, Little Tree, how can that be? Tall as I was, and high as I stood
+when I was monarch of this forest, never once could I send my songs to
+the Stars, although I tried to do so many times. Now surely such a
+little tree as you could not accomplish what a monarch failed to do! You
+have learned wisdom without doubt, and you sing very sweetly, I daresay;
+but take care lest your dreaming lead you in untruthful ways."
+
+"Oh, pray believe me!" cried the Little Tree. "Wait only until the
+twilight comes, and the Night Wind himself will tell you so."
+
+"More foolish talk!" scoffed the Fallen Tree. "The Night Wind is but a
+feeble creature to a monarch of the forest, such as I. When I stood
+aloft in all my glory, the Night Wind could not bend the smallest twig
+of mine unless I willed it so."
+
+"That is true, my friends," spoke a gentle voice beside them. It was the
+voice of the Night Wind, for all unknown to them, darkness had fallen.
+"Because you were so proud and held your branches firm against my gentle
+breezes, never once did I carry your songs to the Stars; but I have done
+so for the Little Tree." Then he brushed aside the branches of the tall
+trees, and the Little Tree sang to her shining audience so far above in
+heaven. She sang until the Fallen Tree slept, and then the Night Wind
+gently dropped the branches until the forest was all dark once more.
+Then he kissed the Little Tree farewell and blew upon his way.
+
+Now, as more people came to dwell upon the earth, more trees were needed
+every year to shelter them. The forest was no longer dark and silent.
+The woodman's ax rang out, and here and there the sun shone down where
+groves of noble trees had once stood. But even so, the ferns and flowers
+and grasses did not bloom again. The woodcutters made dusty roads and
+trails, and heaps of dead leaves eddied in the breeze. At last one day a
+certain king gave orders that all remaining trees of this forest should
+be cut down. He planned to build a noble city where the forest stood.
+Now charcoal fires flared all night, and herds of oxen tramped the whole
+day through, and soon a dreary waste of withering branches whose brown
+leaves crackled dismally was all that remained of the noble forest.
+
+"Ah, Little Tree," the Night Wind mourned, "there is no longer any need
+for me. When the forest stood, it was my work and pleasure to brush the
+fallen leaves and lull the trees to sleep. Indeed, were it not for you,
+I would be desolate. Each night I tremble lest I shall not find you
+awaiting me."
+
+"Ah, Night Wind," replied the Little Tree softly, "it is because you
+love me that you fear to lose me; but do not be troubled. I have seen
+great trees fall to my right and to my left, and small trees likewise,
+yet no one seems to want me. I am such a little tree; I am sure that you
+will find me here forever. That does not grieve me, even so, for I have
+come to love you dearly, and it would break my heart to be parted from
+you."
+
+Then one dull winter's day, the Little Tree felt a human hand laid on
+her slender trunk, and she knew her fate had come. She was such a little
+tree that it took but two blows to fell her. When the Night Wind came
+again, he found the Little Tree moaning with the pain of her wounds. He
+caressed her tenderly and begged her to say her pain was better.
+
+"Oh, Night Wind, the pain is truly better since you have come,"
+whispered the Little Tree bravely, and died in his arms.
+
+When the Night Wind knew the Little Tree was gone, he flung himself down
+on the earth beside her, and wept and wailed so bitterly that the
+Spirits of the Woods came from the ends of the world to see what
+troubled him.
+
+"Ah," sighed the first Spirit. "How sad it is the Night Wind should be
+parted from the Little Tree. Could we not make him a mortal, so that he
+may meet her again in the world?"
+
+"Agreed," replied the second Spirit. So while the Night Wind slept, the
+Spirits of the Woods changed him to a mortal and called him Robello.
+
+Thus it was that some time later a youth called Robello came to dwell on
+the outskirts of the noble city which stood in place of the great
+forest. Now this Robello did not till the soil, and neither did he herd
+flocks on the hillsides. Instead, at evenings, he played his violin so
+sweetly and so sadly that some folk could not tell his music from the
+wailing of the winds. People from that region, as they passed his
+cottage at nightfall, paused to listen to Robello's playing, and many a
+one wiped a tear from his eye at the memories it stirred. Robello's fame
+began to go abroad, and wise men learned in the arts of song declared
+that if Robello but possessed a fine violin, the world could hear no
+better music.
+
+Now, at this time it happened that the king (the same who had ordered
+the great forest cut down) received the gift of a rare violin. The maker
+of this violin vowed that its like was not to be found the whole world
+over, for when 'twas touched with the bow, it sent forth a sobbing sound
+like the cry of a broken heart. The maker of this rare violin besought
+the king and begged that no mere fiddler be allowed to touch it, and
+that a music master should play it always. The king agreed and
+accordingly commanded that all who played the violin should appear at
+the palace. Robello went in company of a thousand other players.
+
+The palace of the king was set on a high hill, and as Robello entered,
+he seemed dimly to remember it, although he knew well that he had never
+been within its gates before. The king and court sat waiting within a
+great hall richly hung with silken tapestries and gleaming with lights
+that shone softly through carved crystal bowls. The violin players were
+gathered together, and to Robello fell the lot of playing first.
+
+The king himself placed the violin in Robello's arms, and slowly, as
+though in a dream, Robello drew the bow across the strings. With the
+first notes wakened memories that had long been slumbering. Then as he
+played, Robello felt the great hall grow dim, until at last it seemed to
+fade away, and he saw naught but a vision: the deep dark forest just at
+dusk, and he was once more the Night Wind caressing the Little Tree.
+
+"Ah, my Little Tree," he whispered, as he bent lovingly above the
+violin. "This is the dream that you did love so dearly. Do you remember
+me?"
+
+"Ah, Night Wind," sang the Little Tree, "although they call thee by
+another name, to me thou wilt be the Night Wind forever. He who
+fashioned me thus spoke truly when he said I sobbed like a broken heart,
+for my heart has been broken with longing for thee. Let us sing the
+songs we sang to the Stars so long ago."
+
+Then Robello played as he had never played before, and the violin sang
+as never violin had sung before. When the last notes died away, there
+were tears in the eyes of the noble lords and ladies, and the king sat
+silent for a time. At last he spoke, and ordered that all other players
+be sent away, and declared that none save Robello should ever touch this
+rare violin.
+
+So Robello remained in the palace of the king and was made chief
+musician to his majesty, and never had the Little Tree sung so sweetly
+in the forest as she sang now at Robello's magic touch. Robello played
+at all court festivals, and nothing had such power to soothe the king as
+had Robello's music when he played his violin at nightfall.
+
+Then came a sad day when his servants went to waken him and found
+Robello dead, his beloved violin clasped closely in his arms. The king
+and all his court mourned the passing of Robello for many days. Then one
+evening, just at dusk, they buried him with his beloved violin still
+clasped closely in his arms, and strewed his grave with boughs of trees.
+And in that region, to this day, there are some folk who say that when
+night falls Robello can still be heard playing his violin within the
+palace hall; but others say this is not right; it is the Night Wind
+calling softly to the Little Tree that never grew up.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+THE TALE OF PUNCHINELLO
+
+
+There lived once long ago, in days of jesters and court fools and
+harlequins, a certain clown called Punchinello. This Punchinello, like
+all others of his trade, whitened his face and painted it in grotesque
+fashion. He wore gay satin robes of many colors all hung with silver
+bells that jingled when he danced, and pom-pom slippers turned up at the
+toes. This Punchinello was a clown of clowns, and his droll dances and
+his merry tricks and songs had made thousands laugh.
+
+Punchinello traveled around the world in company with a circus. Whenever
+this circus reached a city, it formed a great parade before it entered.
+Then would the people throng the streets and highways, eager for the
+show. They clapped their hands when lions roaring in their cages and
+elephants led by their keepers passed along; but when this famous
+Punchinello, prancing and twirling, came in view, the crowds cheered
+wildly with applause.
+
+"Oh, welcome! Welcome, Punchinello!" they would shout.
+
+The ladies threw him flowers and children blew him kisses. Kings and
+queens had often hailed him thus, for Punchinello pleased all folk.
+Those who were sad and those who sorrowed often sent for Punchinello
+when the circus show was done, and he would dance and sing to cheer
+them. But for this service he would take no gold or present. So though
+he grew to fame, this Punchinello grew not rich.
+
+"It is enough that I can make sad faces glad," said Punchinello, and
+wrapping his great cloak about him, he would steal away, leaving
+happiness behind him.
+
+"My store of wealth lies in the golden smiles my antics bring," he often
+said, "and when my merry songs and dances please the world no more, I
+shall be poor indeed." But with his light, fantastic dancing, and his
+songs and jests, with his twirlings and his leapings,--was it likely
+that the world would ever cease to smile on Punchinello? The world is
+always fond of fun and laughter.
+
+"Punchinello is the greatest man in all the world," some folk said when
+they had seen him dance and heard him sing.
+
+"That is not right," said others. "He would be emperor if that were
+true; but Punchinello is the greatest man in all the circus."
+
+"But neither is that right," still others said. "For if he were, he
+would be owner of the circus. But Punchinello is the greatest clown in
+all the world." And on this all folk agreed.
+
+Now on its way about the world, the circus chanced to journey to a city
+where a king and queen held court. These royal folk and all their court
+watched the gay procession from their balconies and were delighted. The
+king and queen sent heralds, saying on a certain night that they would
+grace the show and to be sure that Master Punchinello played before the
+royal box. Then as the pageant wound upon its way, with banners flying
+and with music of the fife and drum, they passed a building where the
+sick were tended. It was a hospital. No eager faces gave them welcome
+here, and lest they should disturb the sick, the fife and drum ceased
+playing. Punchinello fell to walking soberly along. Suddenly he chanced
+to spy a tiny, wistful face pressed to the window pane. Then Punchinello
+bounded lightly up the ladder, and leaping into the room, began to dance
+and twirl about to please this little child.
+
+"And does my dancing please you, little one?" asked Punchinello when he
+paused.
+
+"Oh, yes, sir!" cried the child. His name was Beppo. "Please dance again
+for me. It makes my pain grow better."
+
+"Alas! I cannot, little one," said Punchinello, pointing to the circus
+that was passing. "I must make haste to join my friends again."
+
+"Then would you come to-night when it is dark and dance for me?" begged
+little Beppo. "The pain is always worse when it is dark, you know."
+
+"Indeed, I'll come, my little one," said kindly Punchinello, and his
+gayly painted face grew sad. "Just leave your window open, little one,
+and I'll steal in and dance for you and sing you to the land of happy
+dreams."
+
+And that night, when the circus show was done and all the lights were
+out, while other tired players slept, this kindly Punchinello wrapped
+his cloak about him and stole out underneath the stars to visit little
+Beppo. The little lame child was delighted with his songs and dances, so
+kindly Punchinello vowed that he would come each night and do the same,
+while the circus remained in the city. Each night the child lay waiting
+for him eagerly, and how he hugged and kissed this Punchinello when at
+last he came!
+
+"Last night I dreamed of running through the woods," cried little Beppo
+to him one night. "I saw tall trees that seemed to touch the sky and
+heard the birds sing in their nests. I never had a dream like this
+before, and your sweet songs did give it to me, Punchinello. Come, dance
+and sing for me."
+
+Then Punchinello danced his best. His slippered feet like lightning
+flew; the bells upon his robes rang out, and he would twirl upon his
+toes until his many-colored baggy robes stood out and he seemed like a
+brilliant human top. He jumped, he twirled, he leaped high in the air
+and bowed before the little cot as though it were a royal throne. When
+he at last grew weary, he would stop, but then the child would beg for
+more.
+
+"Oh, please, dear Punchinello," he would say, "just once again. It makes
+my pain grow less to see you whirl." Then Punchinello could not refuse,
+and he would whirl and twirl again until he was too weary to do more.
+Folding little Beppo in his arms, he sang him lullabies until the child
+fell fast asleep. And so the nights went on.
+
+The nurses noticed that little Beppo's cheeks grew plump and that his
+eyes grew bright. He said his pain was better, and they thought it was
+the medicine. They knew nothing of this Punchinello. He entered each
+night through the window and departed the same way. The circus folk said
+Punchinello was not well and told him he must rest.
+
+"Our show would be as nothing if it were not for you, Punchinello," they
+declared. "To-morrow the king and queen will come to see us play, so
+rest you well to-night that you may dance your gayest for them." Though
+Punchinello promised, late that night, when all the world lay sleeping,
+he stole away to dance for little Beppo.
+
+"Oh, Punchinello!" cried the little lame child. "I'll tell you of my
+dream. I dreamed I wore a spotted satin robe like yours and pom-pom
+slippers turned up at the toes. I dreamed I danced and twirled as
+lightly as you do yourself. Now is that not a pleasant dream for one who
+cannot even walk?"
+
+"It is, my little one," said Punchinello. "Come sit upon my knee and
+wind your arms about my neck. Now tell me, has your pain been less
+to-day?"
+
+"Much less, much less, good Punchinello," said the child. "Indeed, I
+think your dances and your songs have charmed it all away. I think about
+my lovely dreams by day, and lie and wait for you by night, and have no
+time for pain, it seems. Come dance for me, my Punchinello."
+
+"To-night I'll sing instead, my little Beppo," answered Punchinello. He
+was weary, and when he whirled his head grew dizzy. "I'll sing you a
+song of ships that sail through seas of clouds; and trees as sing the
+world to slow sleep when winds do blow."
+
+But little Beppo wished to see him dance. "See, Punchinello," said he
+softly, "around your neck I tie my locket. It is my only treasure. They
+say my mother placed it on me when she died. It has a bluebird painted
+on it which is the only bird I've ever seen. Now wilt thou dance for me,
+dear Punchinello?" He kissed the clown's queer painted face, and
+Punchinello danced.
+
+And never had he danced so well before. As though he heard afar the
+music that the fairies make at midnight, he waltzed and twirled faster
+and yet faster, pausing not at all. He pranced, he leaped and spun upon
+his toe as though he were a dancing doll wound up to dance so long. The
+little lame child watched him eagerly, and as he watched, as though he
+too heard magic strains from fairyland, he sprung up from his cot and
+straightway danced and whirled about in Punchinello's footsteps.
+
+"Look, look, dear Punchinello!" little Beppo cried. "I am no longer lame
+but dance as well as you yourself."
+
+  [Illustration: "Look, look, dear Punchinello!" little Beppo cried.
+  "I am no longer lame."--_Page 116._]
+
+But Punchinello, whirling like a leaf, made no reply. He sang his gayest
+songs and leaped so lightly in the air, there seemed to be a thousand
+harlequins, and little Beppo followed lightly after. Suddenly the child
+stopped, for Punchinello was no longer dancing.
+
+"Oh, my good Punchinello!" he exclaimed. "Why did you run away? I'll
+follow after you," and down the ladder he swiftly sped. He saw the white
+tents shining in the moonlight. "Indeed, I'll join the circus with my
+Punchinello," said he to himself, "and travel around the world with
+him."
+
+But alas! Poor Punchinello had not stolen off, as little Beppo thought.
+For while in his wild dance that charmed the lame child's pain away,
+poor Punchinello felt himself grow ill. His head grew giddy, and at last
+he fell upon the floor, and there the nurses found him in the morning.
+They placed poor Punchinello on the bed where little Beppo had lain for
+so many years, and wondered whence the clown had come.
+
+And so it was the king and queen who went next day to see the show were
+displeased because the famous Punchinello was not there to dance and
+jest for them. No other clowns or harlequins would please their royal
+majesties, and so they left in anger. They bade the circus owner strip
+his tents and in that very hour depart, and when another morning came,
+our little Beppo found himself in a strange city with the circus folk.
+At first these circus folk were puzzled what to do with him, but as the
+child could dance and cut droll capers, they made for him a spotted
+satin suit and gave him pom-pom slippers turned up at the toes. They
+would have called him Little Punchinello, but this the child would not
+allow.
+
+"Good Punchinello was my friend," said little Beppo. "And 'twas from him
+I learned to dance before I ever walked. I will not take his name, but I
+will seek him everywhere until I find him."
+
+Some circus folk thought Punchinello had run off to join a show of
+traveling jugglers, and others thought perhaps he had grown tired of
+dancing and grimacing. Then by and by they ceased to talk of him, and
+all forgot him, save little Beppo.
+
+Meanwhile poor Punchinello lay in a raging fever. The nurses thought
+that he would die, for he was very ill. But after a long time the fever
+left him, and then they knew he would grow better. He asked one day for
+little Beppo, but they could tell him nothing of the child.
+
+"We came to waken him one morning, but the child was gone and you were
+lying ill," said they. "We could not see how this could be, for little
+Beppo was too lame to walk; but though we searched the city, he could
+not be found."
+
+Another day poor Punchinello asked about the circus, and again the
+nurses shook their heads.
+
+"The circus folk have gone long since," said they. "The king was angry
+with them and bade them go in haste, 'tis said. We cannot say which way
+they went."
+
+When Punchinello was all well at last; he rose and donned his
+many-colored robes that jingled when he walked. He had grown thin and
+pale, and they became him poorly, but he had not money to buy others. He
+wrapped his great cloak all about him and started out to earn his bread.
+Poor Punchinello was too weak to dance; he could not plow or dig; he
+had not been so trained. And so at last this famous Punchinello stood
+upon the highways and sang for pennies that good-natured people threw to
+him.
+
+"I am the famous Punchinello," he would sometimes say. "Have you not
+heard of famous Punchinello of the circus?"
+
+But those who heard him laughed in scorn. "If you be famous Punchinello
+of the circus," they would say, "why sing you then for coppers like a
+beggar, and where is the circus? You are not Punchinello, but a fraud."
+
+Thus poor and friendless, Punchinello started out to seek the circus.
+His wanderings led him into many lands, and often he met folk who told
+him that the circus had passed there. But Punchinello, journeying afoot,
+could never travel fast enough to overtake the circus. His pom-pom
+slippers soon were torn by stones along the highway, and he went
+barefoot. His satin robe of many colors faded and grew worn. Punchinello
+patched here with yarn and there with bits of leather cloth or sacking,
+until the colors had all fled, and it was naught but rags sewn all
+together. Poor Punchinello danced no more, for ragged robes and dancing
+do not fit; but even so, his voice was sweet and clear as ever.
+
+"So I am not yet poor, despite my rags," he would say bravely to
+himself. "For yesterday I caught a golden smile from one who flung a
+copper; and who knows? Perhaps to-day I may again be favored."
+
+Then one day in his wanderings Punchinello awakened to the music of the
+fife and drum. He saw gay banners flying and hurried to the highway with
+the crowds. It was the circus he had sought so long, and as he saw his
+old friends marching by, poor Punchinello's eyes filled with tears of
+joy. The lion tamers with their roaring beasts strode by, the elephants
+in scarlet blankets decked, the jugglers next, and then a little dancing
+clown who stepped and pranced in drollest fashion.
+
+"Oh, welcome, Beppo! Welcome!" cried the crowds, and Punchinello saw it
+was the lame child he had known.
+
+He darted from the crowd and cried, "Oh, little Beppo, dost remember me?
+I am good Punchinello."
+
+But here the circus folk protested. "Be off! Be off! You bunch of
+rags!" cried they. "Our Punchinello was no beggar, and you are not he."
+
+"I swear I am!" cried Punchinello. "Do you not know me, little Beppo?"
+
+"When I was ill and could not walk," the child replied, "a clown called
+Punchinello cured me of my lameness by his merry songs and ways; but his
+face I know not. He came always in the night. When he danced, he danced
+so swiftly that a million harlequins there seemed to be about me: and
+when he held me in his arms, I hid my head against his shoulder, because
+I loved him dearly."
+
+"Do you remember this, then, little one?" asked poor Punchinello, and
+showed the bluebird locket, "the only treasure you did own, and which
+you gave to me?"
+
+"I do, and you are my good Punchinello!" little Beppo cried, and flung
+his arms about him. He kissed the shabby creature and wrapped him in his
+own fine scarlet cloak to hide the rags. "How I have sought the world
+for you, dear Punchinello, to tell you of my gratitude; but I could
+never find you."
+
+The circus folk went running and crowded round the pair. "Oh, welcome!
+Welcome, Punchinello!" they exclaimed and shook his hand. "A thousand
+welcomes. We have missed you sadly and now you will be our clown again."
+
+"But little Beppo is your clown. What of him?" asked Punchinello.
+
+"Oh, we shall both be clowns!" declared the child, "like father and like
+son. Together we shall dance those dances that you taught me and sing
+those songs with which you charmed the world."
+
+And so this Punchinello found himself once more in satin robes of many
+colors, all jingling merrily with bells, and pom-pom slippers turned up
+at the toes. His face he whitened and then painted it in grotesque
+fashion, and with his little Beppo he danced that night and made his
+old-time capers and grimaces.
+
+"Well done! Well done! Good Punchinello!" cried the people. "We have
+missed you sorely, but enjoy you all the more for missing you." They
+laughed and cheered him wildly until the show was done.
+
+"And now," said Punchinello, as he laid him down to rest that night, "I
+am the richest man in all the world. A thousand golden smiles were mine
+to-night, and better still I have the love and gratitude of little Beppo
+whom I dearly love. What more than that could Punchinello ask? And so
+good night!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+THE STRANGE TALE OF BROWN BEAR
+
+
+Long, long ago, in the very far north, there lived a mammoth Brown Bear.
+Never in all the world was seen such a gigantic creature. Brown Bear was
+so tall his eyes looked over tops of trees, and his footprints were so
+deep that a grown man could stand full height in them. They were great
+pits.
+
+Now Brown Bear owned a gold mine so rich that the king envied it. Also
+Brown Bear loved gold exceedingly, but as he had no hands he could not
+dig for it. Therefore he lay in wait for travelers journeying through
+the forest, and seizing them, he would carry them off to be his slaves
+and dig his gold. All folk suffered from this cruel custom,--the rich
+and poor, the high and low, the young and old. The king of that land
+offered rich rewards to the hunter who would slay this monster or to
+the trapper who would snare him. But no arrow was made strong enough to
+pierce the hide of Brown Bear and no trap could hold him. So he
+continued to carry off all captured folk to his gold mine underneath the
+mountain side. 'Twas said that Brown Bear had as many slaves as there
+were subjects left in the kingdom. 'Twas also said, the walls of Brown
+Bear's cave were lined so thick with gold that they outshone the sun.
+
+It happened one evening that a poor peasant returning to his hut missed
+his little child. His wife had lately died, and there was no one at home
+to tend the little one. He asked the neighbors of the child and learned
+that it had last been seen running toward the forest. In deep anxiety,
+the peasant hurried to the forest, but though he searched all night and
+called, he could not find his little one. When morning came at last and
+it was light, he saw the child's bright scarlet cloak beneath a tree and
+not far off the mighty footprints of Brown Bear.
+
+"Alas!" the peasant wept, "my little one is carried off by this great
+monster. I do not wish to live!" He seized the little scarlet cloak,
+and weeping and lamenting pressed it to his heart. Then when he could
+weep no more, he rose and began to follow in the path of Brown Bear's
+footprints.
+
+"I'll seek this Brown Bear in his cave," thought he, "and if he make a
+slave of me, I shall at least be with my little one, and if he kill me,
+I care not."
+
+For many hours then the peasant toiled through brush and bramble, and
+when night came, from weariness he stumbled and fell headlong into one
+of the mighty footprints of Brown Bear. He broke no bones, but for a
+long time he knew nothing. When he awoke at last, he found beside him a
+tiny baby bear that wept and shivered with the cold.
+
+"You, little one, are not yet wicked," said the peasant; "and though
+your race has done me injury, still if I warm and comfort you, so may
+some good soul warm and comfort my own little one whom I have lost."
+
+He wrapped the baby bear all in the scarlet cloak and fed it bread. Then
+when it slept he took it in his arms and climbed out of the pit and set
+upon his way once more. He had not gone far when he reached a cave all
+lined with gold, and this he knew to be the home of Brown Bear. Caring
+nothing for his life, the peasant boldly entered. When he was within, he
+saw the wife of Brown Bear weeping bitterly.
+
+"Why come you here, O Peasant?" cried the wife of Brown Bear. "Do you
+not know that my husband makes slaves of all men? Hasten away before he
+returns lest he do you greater harm than even that."
+
+"I care not if Brown Bear make a slave of me," the peasant answered.
+"Where is thy husband now, and why do you weep?"
+
+"My husband, Brown Bear, is out seeking in the forest to find our little
+one, who wandered off and who, alas, I fear is dead. Therefore I do
+weep," she answered sobbingly, "and lest you know it not, O Peasant, let
+me tell you this; the loss of children is the greatest grief that ever
+parents suffer."
+
+"Indeed! I know too well what grief is that!" the peasant cried, and
+bursting into tears, he told the tale of his own woes. Now as he told,
+the wife of Brown Bear fixed her great eyes on the bundle wrapped in
+scarlet that he carried.
+
+"What have you there, O Peasant?" she asked eagerly.
+
+"A tiny baby bear I found when I fell headlong into one of Brown Bear's
+footprints," he replied. "The little one did weep from cold and hunger,
+and so I fed and warmed him. And as I could not find it in my heart to
+let him die, I took him from the pit with me."
+
+"It is my little one! It is my little one!" the wife of Brown Bear
+cried. She seized the baby bear and hugged and fondled it with joy. "But
+for your kind heart, Peasant, he must have died down in the pit; so wait
+you till my husband comes for your reward."
+
+She raised her great voice in a mighty roar, and presently Brown Bear
+came crashing through the trees. He seized the baby bear and hugged it
+as his wife had done, and when he heard the story thanked the peasant
+warmly.
+
+"Now for this service you have rendered me, I'll give you all my gold, O
+Peasant," cried Brown Bear. "For though I do love gold beyond compare, I
+love my little one far more."
+
+"And just as dearly do I love my little one whom you did steal, O Brown
+Bear," the peasant cried. "And likewise do all parents love their
+little ones. Therefore if you will free all those you hold as slaves,
+ten thousand homes will be made happy as this home of yours to-night. I
+ask this boon, and you may keep your gold which you do love so dearly."
+
+But Brown Bear would not have it so. "You shall have what you ask and
+all my gold beside," said he. "For while I mourned because my little one
+was lost, my gold brought me no gladness, but instead did mock me with
+its brightness." So saying, he flung open wide the door that led beneath
+the mountain side and bade his slaves go free. With shouts of joy these
+folk ran to their homes, and all the forest rang with their rejoicing.
+The peasant found his little one and held him to his heart.
+
+"My little one! My little one!" he cried. "I wish no more reward than
+this, O Brown Bear."
+
+"But you shall have more, even so," said Brown Bear, and gave to him the
+key of the gold mine. "Now you are richer than the king himself, and
+indeed, 'tis right that you should be. For what his thousand hunters
+with their poisoned barbs and cruel traps could never do, with your
+kind heart you have accomplished, Peasant. Go tell the king and all his
+subjects that they need fear me nevermore. Through mine own grief I know
+the sorrows I have caused, and from henceforth I'll live in peace with
+man."
+
+The peasant thanked him and with his little one departed for his home,
+and there a multitude of grateful folk were gathered to greet him. And
+from that day the peasant was no longer poor. As owner of the rich gold
+mine, he now became a man of wealth. The king respected him and made him
+noble because he had done noble service for the kingdom. His title was
+Duke Kindlyheart.
+
+In closing this strange tale, I too must say that Brown Bear kept his
+word and nevermore molested travelers journeying through the forest.
+Indeed, he grew so friendly with the king and court that he fought all
+their wars for them and brought them many victories. When Brown Bear
+died at last, as creatures all must do, the people wept for him, and all
+the kingdom put on mourning.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+THE BEGGAR PRINCESS
+
+
+Once upon a time there lived a king who had great wealth and also many
+daughters, among whom he divided his kingdom before he died. That is, he
+gave lands and estates to all but his fourth daughter, the Princess
+Yvonne, who from her lack of fortune was forced to seek her living in
+the world. Having not a copper piece for her pocket and no gold save the
+gold of her hair, which, though it was very beautiful, nevertheless
+would not feed or clothe her, she was forced to beg her bread from door
+to door and became known as Yvonne, the Beggar Princess. And the reason
+of it all was this.
+
+The king, being very wise, wished his daughters to wed none but princes
+from the most powerful thrones in the world. As soon as each daughter
+reached the age to marry, the king invited to his court the suitors for
+her hand. The first and second daughters married the princes of their
+father's choice and went off to their palaces rejoicing, and so likewise
+did the third daughter. Because of their obedience, the king was pleased
+and gave them land and great riches for their marriage portions. He then
+turned his attention to find a husband for his fourth daughter, the
+Princess Yvonne, the fairest and most charming of them all.
+
+Now all unknown to her father, Yvonne, loved Prince Godfrey of the
+Westland Kingdom. They had often met in the forest, and there they had
+vowed their love to one another. Prince Godfrey had wished to ask for
+the hand of Yvonne, but she, knowing her father's iron will, begged him
+to delay.
+
+"My father is a stern king and rules his daughters in all things," said
+the princess. "He would part us forever should it come to him that we
+had dared to do aught without his consent. Return, I pray you, to your
+kingdom and there await my father's summons, for I have heard him say
+that you would be bidden to his court as suitor for my hand."
+
+Prince Godfrey, much against his will, consented to do as Yvonne asked.
+He kissed her farewell and departed that very evening for the Westland
+Kingdom. What befell him on the homeward journey, Princess Yvonne never
+knew, but she saw him no more. She carried his image in her heart and
+could love no other prince, though her father sent far and near for
+suitors to please her. Knowing nothing of her love for Prince Godfrey,
+at last the king placed her refusals to a stubborn spirit.
+
+"My daughter, Yvonne," said he, after she had refused five princes in as
+many days, "how do you know whom you love or whom you love not? You, my
+fourth daughter, cannot pretend to know as much as I, your father. Where
+have you been to learn of this nonsense that you call love?"
+
+To which the princess made reply: "That I cannot tell, my father, except
+that my heart bids me marry only the prince whom I shall love well, and
+of these princes you have brought hither I love none at all. I pray you
+now, turn your attention to the affairs of my younger sisters, who are
+anxious to wed, and leave me for a little longer in peace." She was so
+gentle in her speech and so winning in her manner that the king forgot
+his vexation and busied himself with seeking suitors for his younger
+daughters.
+
+They married according to his wishes and pleased him exceedingly. With
+each marriage, the king gave portions of his kingdom, until at length
+there remained but two estates, and of his nine daughters there were but
+two unmarried. Again he sent for the Princess Yvonne, and this time he
+spoke sharply to her.
+
+"Now, Yvonne, my fourth daughter, I have listened to your entreaties and
+given you your will in all things, and still you are not wed. I cannot
+compel you to marry if you do not wish to please me; but this I tell
+you. To-morrow there comes to this castle a prince who has both gold and
+lands, and who moreover is handsome and possessed of a sweet temper. If
+you wed not him, I will give the remainder of my kingdom to your
+youngest sister. Then you will be left portionless, and what disgrace
+that will be! A princess without a fortune is a sad creature, and I
+advise you to try my patience no longer."
+
+Yvonne listened with tears in her eyes. She dearly loved her father and
+wished to please him, but her heart still treasured the image of the
+absent Godfrey.
+
+The following day, at her father's commands, she dressed herself in her
+finest robes and bound her hair with the royal jewels. Thus attired, she
+went forth to the throne room to greet the suitor who awaited her. The
+king was well pleased with her appearance and smiled encouragement to
+her, but alas for his hopes! The Princess Yvonne burst into tears before
+the court, thereby offending the suitor and bringing down her father's
+wrath. He bade the weeping Yvonne withdraw and commanded his youngest
+daughter to appear in her place. So agreeable was this youngest daughter
+that the prince forgot his anger and fell in love with her before a
+single day had passed. They were married with great splendor and the
+king, as he had declared, gave them the remainder of his kingdom as a
+wedding gift.
+
+Thus it was that the Princess Yvonne went forth from her father's castle
+without his blessing, without a fortune, without even a copper piece
+for her pocket, and without riches of any sort save the bright yellow
+gold of her hair. She had been raised in a castle and therefore knew not
+how to spin or to weave or even to embroider, which three occupations
+were considered suitable for young serving women in that day, so she was
+forced to beg her bread from door to door; hence her title, Yvonne, the
+Beggar Princess.
+
+She left her father's kingdom and by and by found service at a farm. The
+people were very poor, and she did the work of three, but they treated
+her kindly, and Yvonne worked cheerfully. Early in the morning she drew
+water from the well, and many a ewer she had carried to the kitchen
+before the sun rose. She served the table for the plowmen and took her
+own meal in the pantry while she tidied up after they had gone to the
+fields. All day long she baked and brewed, or scoured pots and pans
+until they shone like silver. In spite of her changed fortunes, the
+princess remained as sweet-tempered as in the days when she lived in her
+father's castle and had naught to vex her from morning until night. If
+the butter would not churn, she would sing instead of scolding as the
+other maids did, and presently the butter would come, and such butter as
+it was too! When the loaves burned, she did not cry out against the
+Brownies, who were said to play tricks with the oven, but received the
+scolding from her mistress with humility. At night, no matter how weary
+she might be from her long day, the princess went willingly to fetch the
+cattle, for the walk through the fields and forest cheered her.
+
+It was in the forest she had first met Godfrey, and it was in the forest
+he had vowed to love her always. So as she sang her shepherd's song and
+called softly to the straying herds, she was with her absent prince in
+memory.
+
+"He will come for me by and by," she would whisper to herself sometimes,
+when she waked suddenly from a dream in which Godfrey had seemed very
+near. Other times she would be frightened lest perhaps he might some day
+pass her on the highway. "In my peasant's dress, there is but little to
+remind him of the princess whom he bade farewell in my father's hunting
+forest," she would say. She had no mirror and quite forgot her lovely
+face and her golden hair, which a queen might well have envied.
+
+One evening in autumn, when the night falls early and the darkness
+creeps on swiftly, the princess wandered through the forest in search of
+the cattle. She was tired, but as she walked among the trees she grew
+rested, and presently she began to sing. In the open spaces she called
+softly, but no creatures came to follow her. The wind sighed through the
+pines, and once she started, thinking she heard some one call her name.
+She stood quite still and listened, but the wind died away and the
+forest was silent. She wandered farther, and the trees grew more dense.
+There was no moon to guide her, and after a time, the princess perceived
+she had lost her way.
+
+"For myself, it does not matter," said she, "I can find shelter in the
+hollow of some tree and there be very comfortable until morning." Never
+before had the cattle strayed so far but that at the sound of her voice
+they would come slowly down the paths and crashing through the brush.
+They followed her like pets. She resolved to call them once more and
+began to sing:
+
+  "Oh, tell me, shepherds, have you ever heard,
+  A wee white lamb that cries at eve--"
+
+but she broke off her song and caught her breath sharply. An old mill
+stood before her in the spot where a great oak had spread its branches
+when she began her song! The mill sails turned and creaked in the forest
+breeze, but there was not a sound of life about the place. There were no
+doors, and though the princess walked all around the walls, she found no
+opening save a sort of window heavily barred and crossbarred. On the top
+of the walls glistened jagged lumps of glass.
+
+"It looks more like a prison than a mill," thought she, and then as she
+peered into the opening, a voice from the dungeon beneath began to sing.
+Yvonne's heart leaped for joy; it was the voice of Godfrey, her beloved!
+
+  "Yvonne, Yvonne, my heart has ached with longing
+  Since I bade you farewell in the forest.
+  Each night my spirit has stolen forth
+  To kiss you in your dreams
+  Lest you forget me, because I came not.
+  A cruel king has stolen my throne and enslaved my land,
+  And until he is driven from it,
+  I must remain in this dungeon, bound by his evil spell.
+  Oh, Yvonne, fly to your father,
+  Beg him send an army to help my people,
+  For they suffer greatly and I am powerless.
+  But before all, Yvonne, unbind your golden hair
+  That its brightness may shine within these prison walls,
+  And sing to me that your heart is still mine."
+
+The princess unbound her hair, and in the forest about the mill all
+became bright as day. Then through her tears she sang of her life, for
+she was deeply grieved to find Godfrey in such a plight.
+
+"To think that I who love you should be the cause of all your woes!"
+cried Godfrey, when he had heard her story. "Return to your father,
+Yvonne. Tell him that you will wed whom he wishes and forget me, for I
+have brought you naught but tears and sorrows."
+
+"Ah, my beloved," replied the princess, "though I cannot see you and you
+be but a voice, you are the voice of one who loves me, and that to me is
+dearer than all the world. I cannot return to my father, for now he is
+dead, and my sisters have cast me off because I was portionless; but I
+myself shall seek this cruel king and beg him to set you free."
+
+"Seek this cruel King Ironheart!" exclaimed Godfrey in dismay. "Surely,
+Yvonne, you know not what you say, for never in all the world before was
+known such a tyrant! Men he casts into prison, nor does he ever release
+them, but condemns them to dig beneath the earth that he may fill his
+treasury with gold; women must toil all day in the fields and for a few
+coppers; while their children die of hunger, this King Ironheart has
+granaries filled full of good grains. King Ironheart has vast armies,
+each soldier of which is as cruel as his master, and were you to go to
+the Westland Kingdom, these same soldiers would seek you out and enslave
+you with the rest of my people. You must not go, Yvonne; as you love me,
+promise me that you will not."
+
+"The more you tell me of the sorrows of the Westland Kingdom, the more I
+am resolved to seek this cruel Ironheart. If I fail, I fail, but what is
+my life to me unless you be set free, Godfrey?"
+
+"But, Yvonne," pleaded Godfrey from his dungeon, "think of my suffering,
+should you do this for my sake. What powerful weapon have you to use
+against this wicked Ironheart?"
+
+"None but courage and a good heart," replied the princess. "In the past
+they have worked miracles, and so may they work miracles now. Deny me no
+more, Godfrey, but tell me the way to your kingdom, that I may all the
+sooner return to free you, for I will not fail."
+
+No words could move her, and at last Godfrey gave her her will.
+
+"Dress your feet in the slippers of bark which you will find beneath a
+pine tree close to the mill. They will serve you for your travels until
+you return again to this forest," said he. "Then watch closely in the
+east, and when the sun rises, start at once to follow him as he journeys
+across the sky, neither stopping nor staying, and at sunset you will
+find yourself on the borders of the Westland Kingdom. Should you grow
+weary or should your courage fail you, Yvonne, sing, and my spirit will
+fly to cheer you."
+
+So with the coming of the dawn, Yvonne bound her golden hair and dressed
+her feet in the slippers of bark. She looked toward the east for the
+first beam of the sun, and when she turned once more to the mill it had
+disappeared. In its place stood a great oak with green grass smooth as a
+carpet growing beneath it. But Yvonne had no time to marvel at this new
+wonder, for the sun rose from the clouds and straightway began its
+journey above the world. All day long Yvonne followed after, now wading
+shallow mountain brooks, now fording rivers wide as any sea. Now she
+walked through cool green forests and again over hot, sandy desert
+plains. She grew weary and longed to rest, but remembering Godfrey's
+words, she sang instead. And so it was at sunset she found herself upon
+the borders of the Westland Kingdom, and too weary for aught else, she
+begged shelter of a peasant woman and slept soundly until morning.
+
+The Westland Kingdom, in the days of Prince Godfrey, had been the
+pleasantest place in all the world, but now there was not a sadder spot
+on earth. From his desert throne, King Ironheart had long coveted its
+great forests and fertile fields, its rich mines of silver and gold
+beneath the earth. He had not dared meet Prince Godfrey in open battle,
+for Godfrey was a fierce warrior and his nobles were brave soldiers. So
+it was secretly and in the dead of night, when Prince Godfrey was away
+from his land on a journey, that King Ironheart entered the Westland
+Kingdom and conquered it by force of arms. At the same time he caused
+Godfrey to be imprisoned in the mill which sank beneath the forest by
+day. Then having done thus much, he offered riches and high honors to
+all Westland subjects who would swear allegiance to him as their
+sovereign lord. The people with one accord refused to listen to his
+ministers and remained faithful to Godfrey.
+
+King Ironheart was furious, but he gave them seven days in which to
+change their minds. At the end of the seventh day, he called a council
+of the Westland people and was gracious in his bearing toward them; but
+from the highest noble to the lowest peasant, there was not one in all
+the kingdom who would bow the knee to King Ironheart. From that day, the
+reign of cruelty began. King Ironheart bade his army drive the men to
+the mines beneath the earth, and when this was done, he rewarded his
+generals and soldiers with the palaces and houses of the Westland
+people. Driven thus from their homes, there was nothing left for the
+women and children but to seek shelter where they could find it. Some
+lived in wretched huts; others toiled at cutting logs to build rude
+cabins, and all were forced to work like slaves. King Ironheart meant to
+punish the Westland Kingdom and spared no one.
+
+Though the castle of this cruel king lay but a short distance from the
+entrance of the Westland Kingdom, the road that stretched between was
+filled with such sadness and sorrow that it was many a day before the
+princess stood at its gates. Little children struggled with heavy
+burdens, and when she had helped these, other little children with heavy
+burdens passed sadly down the same road. Women toiled unceasingly in the
+forest or drove the plow from dawn until dark; King Ironheart's soldiers
+saw to it that none idled. Yvonne had no coins to buy bread, and again
+she was forced to beg from door to door, but so willingly did she help
+those who labored that the sad-faced women were glad to share with her
+their scant store. A Westland woman, noting the slippers of bark, asked
+her who she might be and from whence she came; to which the princess
+made the following reply:
+
+"In my country I am called Yvonne, the Beggar Princess. My father cast
+me off portionless because I would not wed to please him; and I seek the
+tyrant Ironheart, to beg him quit the Westland Kingdom and to free from
+his dungeon Prince Godfrey, whom I love with all my heart."
+
+When the Westland women heard her reply, they marveled at her courage,
+but shook their heads and advised her to give up her quest.
+
+"You seek to move with pity one whose heart is cold as his name would
+say!" they cried. "King Ironheart laughs at mothers' tears and takes
+pleasure in the wails of hungry children; return to your home, Oh
+Yvonne, or this wicked king will enslave you with this sad land."
+
+"That I will not do," replied the princess firmly. "With courage and a
+good heart, I have come hither to beg mercy of King Ironheart. If I
+fail, I fail, and here in bondage I shall remain with you who mourn
+Prince Godfrey, for he is lord of my heart."
+
+The princess delayed her errand no longer, but rose with the dawn the
+following day and was waiting early at the castle gates. On being
+questioned by the soldiers, she said she had come to seek King
+Ironheart. They asked who she was, and she answered them truthfully that
+she was Yvonne, the Beggar Princess.
+
+"A Beggar Princess!" exclaimed the soldiers in derision. "Who ever
+before heard of a princess without gold?"
+
+"This gold I have about me," replied the princess, and she unbound her
+golden hair. In the morning sun it shone brilliantly and dazzled the
+eyes of King Ironheart, who leaned from his balcony to learn the cause
+of the sudden bright light. He saw the princess standing at the gate and
+commanded that she be brought before him.
+
+As she entered the throne room, though she had not feared her father's
+wrath and was not afraid to walk alone at midnight in the forest, the
+princess was seized with a sudden fear that left her almost speechless.
+It was not that King Ironheart was hideous as monsters are often
+hideous, nor was he misshapen; but beneath his smile there lurked such
+cruelty and malice that she feared her cause was lost before she had
+begun to plead it. The thought of Godfrey lying in his dungeon stirred
+her, and she asked leave of his majesty to sing. King Ironheart was
+pleased with her request and graciously ordered his chief harpist to
+play the airs for Yvonne. At the end of the entertainment, the king's
+servants brought handsome robes and gifts of gold for the singer whom
+the king mistook for some peasant maiden.
+
+The princess refused his gifts with dignity.
+
+"My lord," said she, "I may not receive gifts from you, for my rank is
+equal to your own. I am Yvonne, the Beggar Princess."
+
+"Then so much the better," replied the king in a hearty tone. "I have
+long wished for a princess whom my heart could love, and who would not
+fall a-trembling at the very sight of me. We shall be married at once,
+and I will make war on your sisters this very day, to recover the
+marriage portion which is yours by all rights." He sent then for the
+coronation robes and the crown of pearls, but again the princess waved
+away the bearer of his gifts. With her singing, courage had returned,
+and she now faced the tyrant king bravely.
+
+"My lord," said she, "I have come hither not to wed you, but to beg you
+to leave the Westland Kingdom, for the people suffer greatly because of
+your harsh rule; and to implore you to free from his dungeon Prince
+Godfrey, whom I love with all my heart."
+
+King Ironheart was amazed that she should dare to oppose his wishes, but
+secretly he admired her courage and fearless spirit and determined to
+win her for himself. He promised her great riches and vowed to make her
+the most powerful queen in all the world, but Yvonne was firm. When he
+saw it was useless to urge her, King Ironheart grew angry.
+
+"And what powerful weapon or armed force do you bring against me that I
+should thus do your bidding, O Yvonne, Beggar Princess?" he asked at
+length in sneering tones.
+
+"None but courage and a good heart, my lord, and those can work
+miracles," replied the princess.
+
+"Then," said King Ironheart, "if by miracles you hope to accomplish
+your quest, perform to my liking the task I now set for you, and when it
+is finished I shall leave this kingdom and free Godfrey from his
+dungeon."
+
+He called a servant and directed him to bring from the pantry a handful
+of corn, and when it was brought he gave it to the princess.
+
+"When it is spring, plant these kernels, and in harvest time, if from
+your planting I do not gather corn to fill to the overflowing every
+granary in the Westland Kingdom, I will enslave you with the rest of
+this land, and Prince Godfrey shall remain in his dungeon until death
+come to free him. Now go," commanded King Ironheart, "and return no more
+until your task be done."
+
+The women who awaited the princess in the market place sighed when they
+learned the task King Ironheart had set. From one scant handful of corn
+to fill every granary in the Westland Kingdom! It was impossible. Even
+Yvonne found it hard to keep a good heart with the thought of the task
+before her. If she failed, Prince Godfrey would remain forever in his
+dungeon, and yet from one handful of corn how should she reap a harvest
+for a nation?
+
+She tied the corn in a kerchief and carried it next her heart lest some
+of the precious grains should slip away. Each night she counted them,
+and each night she rejoiced to find she had still one hundred, the exact
+number King Ironheart had given her. From her work at the farm, the
+princess knew well the labor of the fields and dairy, so she toiled the
+winter through with the other women. One evening, as she sat in the
+moonlight counting her precious grains, she heard voices near by, but a
+hedge hid the speakers.
+
+"Ah," said the first voice sadly, "that one hundred provinces, the
+fairest this side of Paradise, should be so crushed beneath this cruel
+King Ironheart! I would that he were driven away, and that the good
+Prince Godfrey would return to his own once again."
+
+"Have patience," answered a second voice which was exceedingly sweet and
+gentle. "Know that for the space of the winter months the Princess
+Yvonne hath carried next her heart one hundred grains of corn from which
+the cruel Ironheart hath commanded her to reap a harvest for the
+nation. Now such is the power of a good heart that when she hath planted
+these grains, there will spring from them such a harvest as never before
+was gathered in any country. Then, according to his promise, King
+Ironheart will free Prince Godfrey and quit the Westland Kingdom
+forever."
+
+The voices ceased suddenly as they had begun, but on looking over the
+hedge, the princess could see no one. She treasured the words she had
+heard, and with a song in her heart, waited until the winter should be
+gone. When spring was come at last, she traveled with it through the
+Westland Kingdom and planted a single grain in the center of each
+province, until her kerchief was empty. It seemed that the land itself
+was weary of the cruel Ironheart and longed once more for peace and
+happiness, for such a supply of corn was never known in the Westland
+Kingdom. In autumn, when it was gathered into the granaries, there was
+more than they could hold, and the king's servants built storehouses to
+contain the surplus. Then the princess went to King Ironheart to tell
+him that her task was done. He had heard of the wonder from his
+ministers and had waiting for her another task. The first he now
+declared had been but child's play, and he vowed to free Prince Godfrey
+when she should accomplish the second.
+
+"But, my lord, how can I believe you?" cried the princess in dismay.
+"Even should I accomplish the second task, when it is done will you not
+set for me another and another, and so on until the end of time?"
+
+"Never fear, Yvonne, Beggar Princess," replied King Ironheart with his
+cruel smile. "This time I will keep my word right gladly. Though I set
+Godfrey free a thousand times, he will never marry you, for should you
+accomplish this second task, you will be the ugliest woman in all the
+world. Think twice before you set about it," he warned. "If you fail,
+you will be enslaved for the rest of your life; and if you succeed, you
+will be hideous.
+
+"Now you had best marry me and give up this silly thing you call true
+love. It hath brought you naught but tears and sorrow in the past and
+will bring you no better in the future." He smiled and looked
+graciously at Yvonne, but she was unmoved.
+
+"Because I loved Prince Godfrey, I defied my father and became the
+Beggar Princess, Yvonne," she answered scornfully, "and because I loved
+Prince Godfrey, I came to his land to beg his freedom of you who hold
+him in cruel captivity. How then should I wed you? Tell me what it is
+that you would have me do; I care not whether I return from my task the
+ugliest woman in all the world!"
+
+"Then listen well to what I say," replied the king, "for I shall not
+tell you twice. My kingdom, which lies just beyond the borders of the
+Westland Kingdom, is naught but a great desert plain. There are on this
+plain neither rivers nor springs, but instead the wind blows the sand in
+clouds above it all day long, and nothing will grow in such a place.
+
+"Seek this plain, and when you have found it, cause springs and rivers
+to water it, the better to nourish a forest which you must plant there
+to please me. In the heart of this forest build for me a splendid
+palace, the outer walls of whitest marble and the inner walls of purest
+gold. Thousands of red roses must climb to the towers of the palace.
+When you have done thus much, trouble not yourself to furnish it for me,
+but return to me, and I promise that I shall betake myself and my court
+to my own kingdom and quit this land forever and ever. I am weary of a
+people who smile never but weep from sun to sun for their absent lord."
+
+"But Prince Godfrey; what of him?" asked the princess.
+
+"Ah," laughed King Ironheart, "I shall tell you also the secret charm
+that will cause his chains to fall from him and his dungeon doors to
+open wide." He bade the princess farewell, and his smile was more cruel
+than she had yet seen it. Nevertheless she departed from his presence
+full of courage.
+
+The women were again waiting her in the market place, and when they
+heard the second task, they despaired of seeing again their rightful
+lord and sadly resigned themselves to their fate. They followed the
+princess to the gates of the kingdom, and as she was about to depart, an
+old wise woman gave her a bag, saying:
+
+"Within this bag are pine cones and acorns of marvelous power. When you
+have caused the first springs to water the desert plain, at nightfall
+dip these into the waters, plant them and by morning a forest of oak and
+pine will spring from them."
+
+The princess took the bag and thanked the wise woman. Strange to say,
+she was hopeful about her task.
+
+"Who can tell?" thought she. "One task that seemed at first impossible I
+have already finished." So she sang cheerfully as she went her way. In
+her mind she pictured the delight and joy of Prince Godfrey when she
+should go again to the mill in the forest to tell him that he was free.
+For three days and three nights she traveled, and on the morning of the
+fourth day she reached the great desert plain. It was even more desolate
+than King Ironheart had said. Great stretches of burning hot sands
+spread far and wide, and the sky, where it bent down at the horizon,
+seemed copper-colored. The blazing sun beat fiercely over all, and there
+was neither bush nor tree for shade. When the sun set, darkness came
+swiftly and without the gray softening shades of twilight.
+
+The princess sat sadly and watched the stars come out. In the deep blue
+sky above the desert they shone like gold.
+
+"Their happy gleaming seems to mock the heart of one as sad as I,"
+sighed she. Now that she was upon the desert plain she wondered how or
+where she was to begin King Ironheart's task.
+
+"The gleaming stars mock no one," said a voice close beside her, "but
+instead they shine brightly to cheer all those who sorrow."
+
+The princess turned to see the speaker, but she was alone on the plain.
+
+"I am the Spirit you heard by the hedge one moonlight night," spoke the
+voice again. "Do you remember?"
+
+"I remember well," replied Yvonne, "and oh, Spirit, had the cruel
+Ironheart kept his promise, Godfrey would even now be free of his
+dungeon; but alas! The wicked king hath set me still another task."
+
+"It is to help you with that task that I have come," said the Spirit.
+"Each night when the stars begin to shine in the heavens, expect me,
+until your task be done; and now to begin as the king commanded, I must
+have the blue from your eyes to make the rivers and lakes."
+
+"The blue from my eyes!" cried the princess in dismay. "Truly the cruel
+Ironheart hath said it rightly. I shall be the ugliest woman alive! But
+it is to free my beloved Godfrey, so take it, Spirit!" She felt a
+movement of the air close beside her and an invisible hand was drawn
+across her eyelids. At the same moment she heard the singing of a brook
+near by and in the distance the roaring of a waterfall.
+
+Remembering the wise woman's advice, Yvonne dipped the acorns and pine
+cones in the brook and planted them in the desert sand before she slept.
+In the morning she awoke in a wilderness of forest, and the plain, no
+longer barren and desolate, was alive with birds that sang, and wild
+deer that ran among the trees. The princess sought the heart of this
+forest, and there when night had come she awaited the Spirit. When the
+stars began to shine, it came as it had promised.
+
+"The outer walls of the palace must be of whitest marble," said the
+Spirit, "and for that I must have the whiteness of your neck and
+throat." Though the princess shuddered, she consented, and the invisible
+hand was passed over her neck and throat. No sooner had it done so than
+in the open space among the trees she could see the outlines of a great
+building whose walls gleamed in the moonlight.
+
+"And now," continued the Spirit, "if you have no wish to wander through
+this forest of oak and pine, but long instead to have done with your
+task, give me at once the gold of your hair and the red from your lips,
+that I may finish the inner walls of the palace and cause thousands of
+red roses to climb to the towers."
+
+"The sooner I finish my task, the sooner will King Ironheart free
+Godfrey from his dungeon," replied the princess. "While he lies in
+chains, the red of my lips and the gold of my hair bring me no pleasure;
+so take them quickly, Spirit." The same hand was passed over her hair
+and her lips and the Spirit spoke again.
+
+"Now look at the palace to see that it is all King Ironheart desired,"
+it said. "Then when you are satisfied we shall start at once to tell him
+that your task is done. I shall remain with you to cheer you until you
+go again to the mill in the forest."
+
+Yvonne did as the Spirit bid. She found the palace of great splendor,
+and myriads of red roses blossomed over its white marble walls. Within
+all was bright as day; the golden walls glittered like a thousand suns.
+
+"Even the tyrant Ironheart could ask no more," said she. "Lead the way,
+Spirit, and I shall tell him that I have finished my task."
+
+Traveling by a short road known only to the Spirit, the princess reached
+the Westland Kingdom the next day, and was on her way to the castle when
+the women went down to the fields to work. They regarded Yvonne as one
+they had never seen before, and she was puzzled for the reason.
+
+"Alas!" cried the Spirit sadly. "You are fair of face no longer, Yvonne.
+They do not know that they have ever seen you before." Then straight
+past the guards and into the presence of King Ironheart the Spirit led
+her.
+
+King Ironheart cried out in fury as the princess entered the throne
+room. "Old crone!" he exclaimed. "How dare you to come into my
+presence? Do you not know I cannot abide old age or ugliness? You shall
+be punished."
+
+"Old age," echoed the princess. "I am not old. I am Yvonne, the Beggar
+Princess, whom you bid turn the desert plain into a wilderness of forest
+and build therein a splendid palace for you."
+
+Then the cruel king laughed heartily. "Never," cried he, "have I been so
+diverted. Go at once to the mill in the forest where the sun rises, O
+Yvonne, Beggar Princess, and at the very sight of you the walls will
+fall. Tell Prince Godfrey that I have departed his land and have betaken
+myself and soldiers to the splendid palace which you so kindly built for
+me. However, let me first reward you with this gift." Before the
+princess was aware, he had flashed a mirror before her face.
+
+Yvonne gazed spell-bound as she beheld her changed image.
+
+"Oh!" cried she, "you are more cruel than I had even supposed. But for
+you I had never known how hideous I have become. Truly I am the ugliest
+woman in all the world!" She wept and covered her face that she might
+look no more in the mirror which King Ironheart continued to hold
+before her gaze. The Spirit, with pitying words, led her from the castle
+and tried to comfort her; but at the sight of her changed image,
+Yvonne's courage had fled. Even when the glad shouts of the Westland
+people told her that Ironheart was departing the kingdom, she did not
+smile. She wept all the way as she journeyed sadly to the forest where
+the sun rose. She now longed only to free Godfrey and then to die.
+
+"For," thought she, "though he be gallant enough to wed me in pity for
+my hideous countenance, I love him too dearly, and I could not bear that
+all the world should look with loathing on his queen."
+
+Late one night the princess entered the forest where she had gone so
+often to seek the herds, and at midnight she stood before the mill. It
+was dark and dreary looking as ever, and no sign nor sound of life could
+be seen about it. Standing close to the window-like opening she began to
+sing:
+
+  "Prince Godfrey, my beloved,
+  I have come to set you free.
+  The wicked Ironheart hath at last departed your land
+  And the Westland people await your return with all joy."
+
+She heard his voice from the dungeon beneath and listened eagerly for
+his reply.
+
+"Oh, Yvonne," cried Prince Godfrey, "your voice is sad when it should be
+glad. For even now my chains have fallen from me and I am hastening to
+the door of my prison unhindered." The mill sank into the ground, and
+Yvonne trembled with joy as she saw Prince Godfrey coming toward her. He
+passed her without a glance and then returned to ask eagerly:
+
+"Old crone, hast seen aught of a beautiful princess who sang from this
+spot not a moment since?"
+
+Yvonne, seeing that he knew her not, pointed silently down a path, and
+away sped Godfrey. Then away sped Yvonne down another path and ran until
+she found a hollow tree. There she crept in and laid her down to sleep.
+"Though Godfrey search the whole night, he can never find me here," said
+Yvonne to herself. "Then in the morning I shall go to the farmer's wife
+and herd cows once again. None will be there to mock my ugly features,
+and since my beloved prince is freed at last, I am content." But though
+she spoke so to herself, it would seem otherwise, for Yvonne wept
+bitterly until at last she fell fast asleep.
+
+Meanwhile Prince Godfrey shouted her name and searched the forest in
+vain. At last he sat to rest and a voice beside him spoke.
+
+"You seek Yvonne, the Beggar Princess," said the voice. "I can take you
+to her if you so wish."
+
+"But I see no one!" cried Godfrey in amazement. "Who is it that knows my
+secret thoughts thus?"
+
+"I am the Spirit with which Yvonne set out to rid your land of the
+tyrant Ironheart, and with which she gave her beauty that you might be
+freed of your prison. The old crone whom you passed in this forest was
+none other than Yvonne." Then the Spirit recounted the tale of the
+trials and sufferings that Yvonne had borne. Godfrey listened with
+dismay.
+
+"And now," concluded the Spirit, "fearing that you would feel bound to
+wed her in spite of her changed face and hideous features, Yvonne has
+hidden herself in the hollow of a tree not far from this spot. Shall I
+lead you thither, Godfrey, or will you journey to the Westland Kingdom
+alone?"
+
+"Ah, Spirit!" cried Godfrey sadly, "I would have died within my dungeon
+rather than gain my freedom at such price. However, what is done is
+done, and no regret or vain repining may undo it. So lead me quickly,
+Spirit, that I may tell Yvonne how I do honor and love her for her noble
+heart and courage."
+
+Now the Spirit was pleased that Godfrey should speak so. Then, because
+it was a good spirit, and had no wish to see folk sad or unhappy, it
+resolved that these two mortals had suffered trials sufficient. So while
+the Spirit guided Godfrey through the shadowy aisles of dusky cedars, it
+caused the earth to tremble mightily three times. Great crashes like
+those of thunder accompanied each tremor; Yvonne fled frightened from
+her hiding place and found herself face to face with Godfrey. At the
+sight of his beloved one, Godfrey knew no fears and cried out in delight
+and joy.
+
+"Oh, Yvonne! The Spirit did but try me," he exclaimed. "Thou art thrice
+as lovely as the dawn itself which now appears in yonder sky!"
+
+But Yvonne would not heed his words, and covered her face with her
+hands. Weeping and lamenting, she begged him to leave her. "Pray do not
+mock me, Godfrey," she cried, "I cannot bear that you should see my
+face. Indeed I am become the ugliest woman in all the world. Let me go,
+as you love me. But for my fright at the violent trembling of the earth
+I had remained safe hidden until you had departed for the Westland
+Kingdom."
+
+"Then but for the violent trembling of the earth, I had lost you
+forever!" cried Godfrey. "So I bless the one who sent the earthquake."
+
+"Then you bless me and I am free at last to fly to paradise," said the
+Spirit. "I caused the earth to tremble. I wished the tyrant Ironheart to
+cumber it no more. At the first tremor, in the forest of oak and pine,
+the ground opened wide in a great chasm. At the second tremor, the
+forest as well as the palace of King Ironheart were swallowed up in this
+great chasm. At the third tremor, the chasm closed itself and there now
+is nothing in that spot but a hot arid desert plain where the wind blows
+the sands about in clouds the whole day long."
+
+"Then King Ironheart is no more?" asked Prince Godfrey.
+
+"King Ironheart and all his wicked followers lie deep beneath this arid
+desert plain of which I tell," declared the Spirit. "And now, Yvonne, to
+set your mind at rest gaze into the pool at your feet."
+
+Yvonne gazed downward and there beheld an image, so beautiful that she
+turned to see the fair maiden whom she fancied had peeped over her
+shoulder. The image of Godfrey smiling beside her assured her at last
+that it was her own face she saw, and Yvonne's joy knew no bounds.
+
+"Oh, Spirit!" she cried. "You have done many kind things for me, but
+this gift of beauty thou hast given me surpasses all! I am the happiest
+woman alive, for now I know I am worthy to be Godfrey's queen."
+
+"I did but give you what was yours, Yvonne," returned the Spirit, "and
+now farewell, for soon the sun will rise and I am off to paradise."
+
+"But, Spirit, will you not come with us to the Westland Kingdom?" begged
+Yvonne. "What shall we do without you to help us with our trials? Pray
+stay."
+
+"Nay, Yvonne," replied the Spirit. "Continue in the way you have begun;
+remember always, courage and a good heart can work miracles and there
+will be no need of me. Farewell!"
+
+"Farewell, farewell, Spirit!" called Godfrey and Yvonne together. Then
+as the sun rose from the clouds they heard an answering echo of
+farewell. So singing for joy, hand in hand, Prince Godfrey and Yvonne
+the Beggar Princess followed the sun on his journey to the Westland
+Kingdom, where they lived forever after, and where to this very day 'tis
+said by some that their descendants reign.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+SWEEP AND LITTLE SWEEP
+
+
+I
+
+Once upon a time, in days long ago, there lived a Chimney Sweep and a
+little Crossing Sweeper. This Chimney Sweep was called "Sweep." He had a
+very black face, from the soot he swept down tall chimneys, but he had a
+kind heart and dearly loved this little Crossing Sweeper, whose name was
+Little Sweep. Little Sweep had a grimy, gray face from the ashes she
+threw on her muddy crossings, and as for her heart,--I suppose it was
+kind. Sweep thought it kind, and Little Sweep vowed she loved Sweep
+tenderly.
+
+Now Sweep was his own master and owned a smart little donkey cart, all
+filled with brooms and brushes; but Little Sweep had a dreadful master,
+who beat her often and gave her scarcely enough to eat. Sweep lived in
+a snug little garret, and Little Sweep lived in a cold bare attic just
+across the way. The street was so narrow that the two could chat quite
+easily with one another. On holidays, when Sweep, so black and sooty,
+and Little Sweep, so gray and grimy, rode forth in the smart little
+donkey cart, the people all stared and vowed it was seldom one could see
+a couple so well matched.
+
+Every morning Little Sweep was out with her broom, before the sun was
+up. Her master would beat her if she dared lie late abed. Now Sweep had
+no need to rise so early. His trade of sweeping down tall chimneys did
+not begin until later in the day. Nevertheless this amiable fellow
+bought himself a clock with a loud ringing bell, and when this clock
+rang out at five each morning, he would throw bread and buns to Little
+Sweep just over the way. Little Sweep would eat the bread and buns most
+eagerly, for she was always very hungry. Sweep bought her red mittens to
+warm her poor hands, and wept when he learned that her cruel master had
+taken them from her and sold them.
+
+"Ah, Little Sweep," he would say, "when my golden dollars fill the
+stocking, we shall be married, and you will sweep crossings no longer.
+Instead, you will sit at home in a neat little cottage and brew me soups
+and make strong soaps to wash my black face. Then on holidays we shall
+both ride forth, all clean and shining."
+
+"Oh, please hurry then, and sweep ever so many chimneys, that the
+stocking may very soon fill with golden dollars!" Little Sweep would
+reply. "My master grows crosser every day, and I cannot bear my life."
+
+"But you forget me," answered Sweep. "Is not my garret window just
+across from yours, and do I not throw you bread and buns each day?"
+
+"Indeed, if it were not for your bread and buns, I know that I would
+die," declared Little Sweep. "My master does not give me food enough to
+feed a robin."
+
+"And I would buy you more bread and buns," sighed Sweep, "except that
+bread and buns cost pennies, and if I spend too many pennies, the
+stocking will never fill with golden dollars."
+
+Now in those olden days, as no doubt you know, kings and queens and
+noble folk stored all their gold in great carved chests of oak and
+walnut; but humble folk like Sweep hid their savings in a stocking.
+
+One day when Sweep swept down the chimneys of a rich baker, the rich
+baker gave him seven tarts and a plum cake, for a present. You may be
+sure that Little Sweep enjoyed a feast that night. Her cruel master had
+gone off for the day and had locked her in her room with only bread and
+water. When Sweep learned that, his kindly heart was touched; he gave
+Little Sweep the whole plum cake and kept but one tart for himself. That
+was the manner of man Sweep was. Everything for Little Sweep and nothing
+for himself. When he swept tall chimneys in the shops of merchants,
+Sweep would buy some bits of linen or some ends of lace for Little
+Sweep. These Little Sweep would fashion into curtains and tidies for the
+little cottage of their dreams.
+
+Now it is a curious thing to tell, but nevertheless quite true, that
+though Sweep's stocking filled at last, and there were even two golden
+dollars more than it could hold, still Little Sweep lived in her cold
+bare attic. And still her master beat her. The reason of it all was
+this. Sweep and Little Sweep could not agree upon a cottage. Sweep
+wished a cottage with many chimneys, in order that he might work at his
+trade. Little Sweep, on the other hand, who hated ashes and everything
+to do with chimneys, wished for a house with all glass doors and windows
+and no chimneys at all! Plainly the cottage to suit these two could not
+be found. Then Sweep decided on a sage plan.
+
+"Now do you be content with a house of fewer glass doors and windows,
+Little Sweep," said he, "and likewise I shall content myself with fewer
+chimneys." So again they set out, and this time soon found a cottage to
+please them. Little Sweep swept the crossings before it; Sweep swept
+down the chimneys. Then at the doors and windows Little Sweep hung up
+the curtains she had made, and pinned the tidies to the backs of the
+chairs. Sweep bought a ham and a bacon, and likewise a loaf of white
+bread, and behold, they were ready to be married!
+
+  [Illustration: "Hide me, Little Sweep," cried Red Cap.
+  "My brother is after me."--_Page 175._]
+
+Sweep was very happy because his darling would sweep no crossings, and
+neither would her cruel master beat her any more. Little Sweep rejoiced
+because she did not like her trade; she was sure that she would never
+again be hungry, for Sweep would buy her all the bread and buns she
+could desire. Sweep took the two extra golden dollars and spent them
+both on finery for Little Sweep. He bought her a little gray wedding
+frock (to match her grimy, gray face, you know), some blue cotton
+stockings, and a red ribbon for her hair. For himself he bought only a
+gay green feather to wear in his hat and a bottle of oil to polish his
+holiday shoes. Always, you will notice, he gave everything to Little
+Sweep.
+
+Then the day before their wedding day, some very strange things came to
+pass. Little Sweep was standing at her crossing when a tiny little man,
+dressed out in green and wearing a bright red cap, flew through the air
+and perched upon her broomstick.
+
+"Hide me, Little Sweep," cried Red Cap. "My brother is after me."
+
+"Hide in my pocket," replied Little Sweep, and no sooner had the first
+Red Cap crawled into her pocket than a second little creature, larger
+than the first, flew through the air and perched upon her broomstick.
+
+"Tell me, Little Sweep," cried the second little creature angrily, "have
+you seen my brother flying north or east or south or west?"
+
+Now as Little Sweep had heard that Red Caps often did great things for
+those who befriended them, she stood silent.
+
+"Stupid!" cried the second little creature, when she did not speak. Then
+off he flew as suddenly as he had appeared, and out from Little Sweep's
+pocket crawled the first Red Cap.
+
+"Ugh!" exclaimed Red Cap, brushing his tiny beard and dusting his green
+satin suit. "How comes it that your pocket is so very dusty?"
+
+"I must keep ashes in it for my trade of sweeping crossings," replied
+Little Sweep. "I hate it."
+
+"Then perhaps I might find you a better trade," said Red Cap, gazing
+thoughtfully at Little Sweep's gray grimy face and raggedy garments. "We
+Red Caps, although we be very little folk, be very powerful folk, you
+know."
+
+"Yes, I have heard that you grant wishes to poor folk sometimes,"
+replied Little Sweep; "is that true?"
+
+"It is," said Red Cap, nodding gravely. "Make three wishes now, and I
+will grant them for you."
+
+Now fairy lore is filled with tales of folk who had three wishes given
+them, and, as you have perhaps remarked, these folk have often wished
+too hastily and consequently wished unwisely. The old woman who wished
+for black puddings is one, and the man who wished his mill to always
+grind salt is another. And there are scores and scores of these unwise
+folk that I could name. But Little Sweep was not like one of these. She
+leaned upon her broom and paused some time in deepest thought. At last
+she spoke.
+
+"First," said she, "I wish to be a beautiful princess, dressed in robes
+of satin sewn with gold, my face all clean and shining, and on my head a
+coronet of pearls."
+
+"Second, I wish to dwell within a splendid castle by the sea and have a
+hundred rooms all filled full of gold and treasures, and a thousand
+slaves to do my bidding.
+
+"Third, I wish my old master to sweep crossings in my place. That is
+all."
+
+"It is enough!" cried Red Cap in amazement. "To look at you, who would
+ever think you would even know enough to wish such powerful wishes! My
+store of magic power will be quite gone when all you wish is done; but
+even so, I have promised, and we Red Caps always keep our promises. Go
+home and wait quietly."
+
+So Little Sweep flung down her broom, although it was but two o'clock in
+the afternoon and she had yet to work until sundown, unless she wished a
+beating. Her old master was seated in the kitchen, stirring up a bowl of
+porridge, when she entered.
+
+"Lazy one! Idle one!" he cried out in anger as she entered. "Is it thus
+you leave your work at midday? But I have something to make you lively."
+He seized the rope. But for once in her life Little Sweep was not
+afraid.
+
+"You had better not," said she boldly. The old master heeded her not,
+however, and raised the rope to strike. Before it fell, he screamed in
+amazement! Little Sweep's rags fell from her suddenly, and she stood
+before him, a beautiful princess robed in satin, and on her haughty
+brow a coronet of pearls.
+
+"Oh! Oh!" cried the old master in dismay. "Had I known you were a
+beautiful princess in disguise, never, never would I have beaten you;
+neither would I have starved you, you may be sure."
+
+"That makes no difference now," replied the haughty princess with
+spirit; "why did you beat me at all?" As she spoke, the old master
+screamed again, this time in wildest terror. His garments changed
+suddenly to sweeper's rags, and into his hands flew the very broom that
+Little Sweep had just flung down! In this poor guise the old master fell
+upon his knees and humbly begged a penny of the haughty princess. But
+again she would not heed him.
+
+"Out of my way, simpleton!" she exclaimed. "Now go and sweep crossings
+in my place, and may your new master beat you even as you beat me!"
+
+With that the new master entered the kitchen, and finding there the old
+master dressed in sweeper's rags, sent him off with a cuff to go about
+his work. A coach of pearl with silver trimmings drew up before the
+door, and away went the haughty princess to her castle by the sea.
+
+There, as she had wished, she found a hundred rooms filled full of gold
+and treasures, and likewise found a thousand slaves to do her bidding.
+But in the midst of all her glory and magnificence, the beautiful
+princess was greatly worried. Can you think what troubled her? It was
+exactly this. She had not a name suitable for her fine situation.
+"Little Sweep" would never do for a beautiful princess, dwelling in a
+splendid castle by the sea; also she was vexed lest her thousand slaves
+should perchance learn that she had once swept crossings, and so despise
+her. While she sat thinking thus, and greatly troubled, she heard soft
+chimes sounding through the castle halls. Presently a servant dressed in
+crimson plush and golden lace entered and bowed low before her.
+
+"Will the Princess Cendre be pleased to dine?" asked the servant humbly,
+and so it was that the haughty princess learned her new name. From that
+time forth she quite forgot that she had ever been called "Little
+Sweep."
+
+"Lead the way, slave," she commanded haughtily, "and the Princess Cendre
+will follow."
+
+Then down to a great dining hall she went. Upon the walls were many
+mirrors, and the table was laid with dishes of beaten gold. The Princess
+Cendre (for we may never again call her Little Sweep, unless we wish to
+make her very angry) gazed with delight at her image reflected in the
+mirrors and ate with greatest satisfaction from the golden dishes. When
+at last the meal was done, musicians played sweet airs for her pleasure.
+Princess Cendre enjoyed the music, but oh, much more did she enjoy
+gazing about the splendid hall wherein she sat! A thousand tapers made
+all as bright as day; the walls were hung with silken tapestries, and
+curtains made of lace as fine as cobwebs covered all the windows. It was
+while she sat gazing thus that Princess Cendre suddenly bethought her of
+the little cottage Sweep had furnished for her. Then it came also to her
+mind that to-morrow was her wedding day.
+
+"Well, to be sure," thought she, "if all these wondrous things had
+never happened, I would have married Sweep. But now that would never do.
+Sweep could not expect it. His black face would ill become my splendid
+castle by the sea."
+
+The musicians then sang good-night songs, and Princess Cendre sought her
+room once more. There on a table she found several books with her title,
+"Princess Cendre," stamped in golden letters on the covers. She was more
+than pleased to see how it was written; she had been wondering how she
+would even manage to spell this fine new name of hers. Before she slept
+that night, she took pen and paper and practiced writing "Princess
+Cendre" a hundred times, that she might do it gracefully forever after.
+(While she had been a wretched little Crossing Sweeper, she had not
+learned much in books, you know. So it was that she did not know that
+"Princess Cendre" meant naught but "Princess Sweep" in a foreign
+language.)
+
+
+II
+
+Now we must leave this selfish Princess Cendre sweetly sleeping in her
+castle by the sea and make our way back to Sweep's snug little garret
+once again. On the night of this eventful day Sweep returned home from
+his labors very late. There was no light in the attic just across the
+way, but he was quite content. He thought, of course, his Little Sweep
+was safely tucked up there. Before he ate his bread and cheese, he
+tossed three sugar cookies in at her window, and then set about
+polishing his shoes and making himself extra smart for the morrow.
+Sweep's candle burned very late; but even so, when he lay down to sleep
+at last, he dreamed such dreadful dreams that he was glad when morning
+came. He dreamed that he had lost his Little Sweep, and that he married
+in her stead her broomstick dressed up in the little gray wedding frock.
+The clock with the loud ringing bell wakened him at last, and Sweep
+dressed himself in all his holiday attire. Then he called softly to the
+attic just across the way.
+
+"Wake up, my Little Sweep," said he; "this is your wedding day." He
+tossed in a bright red apple, and presently a head was thrust forth from
+the attic window opposite. Not Little Sweep's, as of course he had
+expected, but the shocking, tousled head of the old master.
+
+"Ah, kind Sweep!" exclaimed the old master, "I do most greatly thank
+thee for the sugar cookies and the red apple."
+
+"But those sugar cookies and red apple were not for you, old villain!"
+cried Sweep. "They were for my darling Little Sweep. Give them to her at
+once, I say."
+
+"Oh, pray, good Sweep! I cannot give the sugar cookies or the red apple
+to Little Sweep, because I have already eaten them myself; besides, she
+is no longer here, you know," replied the old master, and then began to
+tell the tale of wonders he had seen the day before.
+
+Sweep listened in amazement. "Now if I find you have not told me true,"
+cried he, "I will surely do you a mischief!" Then down the stairs he
+sped, and over across the way. There, as the old master had declared,
+Sweep found the new master in the kitchen. The new master was a pleasant
+youth, and of amiable manners. He invited Sweep to stay and eat
+breakfast with him, but Sweep, as you may suppose, was of no mind to
+eat. Instead, he begged for news of Little Sweep.
+
+"Indeed, I have seen no such person here," replied Master Jasper, "but
+this I did see, which did most greatly astonish me. Yesterday, as I came
+into this kitchen, a beautiful princess robed in shining satin swept
+past me, and stepping into a coach of pearl was whirled from sight. That
+old villain yonder began to mumble that this lovely princess had once
+been his slave. Of course, I heeded him not, but fetched him a sharp
+cuff on the ear and bade him go about his work."
+
+Sweep now begged leave to look up in the attic, if the new master would
+permit. Master Jasper gave him leave and led the way himself. Sweep
+followed him with lagging tread. He now began to fear that this strange
+tale might be true after all. Sadly he gazed about the cold, bare little
+room. There in one corner he saw the bright-colored pasteboard box that
+he had made for Little Sweep's poor treasures, and close by, on a peg,
+hung the little gray wedding frock and the red ribbon he had bought
+her.
+
+"Alas!" mourned Sweep, "it is all my fault! If my heart had not been
+thus so stubbornly set upon a cottage with many chimneys, Little Sweep
+and I would have been married long since, and then, of course, all this
+magic would never have happened." The honest fellow wept bitter tears
+that left great tracks all down his sooty face and made him look the
+very picture of woe. Young Master Jasper felt sorry for him. He too had
+lost his love, it seemed, and so he sought to comfort Sweep as best he
+could.
+
+"Come, Sweep!" cried Master Jasper when he had heard. "All is not yet
+lost. If Little Sweep loved you as dearly as you say, then she will only
+love you ten times more, now that she is a princess! The thing for you
+to do is this. Go seek until you find the castle or the palace wherein
+she dwells. Who knows--why, even at this very moment she may be crying
+her eyes out, because it is her wedding day, and yet Sweep has not
+come!"
+
+These words cheered Sweep. His spirits rose, and so he dried his tears
+at once and then set out to seek the castle where his Little Sweep in
+the guise of some fair princess might be dwelling. But though he sought
+the whole day through, he sought in vain. When it was growing late, he
+left the crowded city streets and ways and found himself among the open
+fields and lanes. Then by and by, at twilight time, Sweep walked beside
+the borders of the sea. There he sat down to rest, for he was very
+weary. He tossed aside his cap and sighed to think how happy he had been
+but last night, when he thrust the gay green feather in it. Then he
+became aware of a voice speaking to him.
+
+"I know where Little Sweep is dwelling," said the voice, and peering
+down, Sweep saw a tiny Red Cap perched upon his knee. (It was the very
+Red Cap that had hidden in Little Sweep's pocket the day before.) "If
+you wish, I can take you there," continued Red Cap in a friendly
+fashion.
+
+"Ah, Red Cap, if you only would!" cried Sweep. "My heart is broken
+because I cannot find my darling."
+
+"Then close your eyes and do not open them until I say," commanded Red
+Cap.
+
+Sweep closed his eyes and felt himself a-sailing through the air. He
+sailed so fast that he had scarcely time to draw a breath before he felt
+himself set down upon the earth once more.
+
+"Now look about you," commanded Red Cap.
+
+Sweep obeyed. He found himself within a stately hall of marble; the
+walls were carved with gold and coral, all in intricate designs, and
+there, upon a throne of ivory set with gleaming sapphires, was seated
+Princess Cendre. Her flowing robes of shimmering white seemed made of
+moonbeams sewn together, so soft and luminous were they. Her hair, black
+as a raven's wing, was bound with ropes of pearls and diamonds. The
+Princess Cendre sat so still that Sweep at first believed she was some
+lovely carven image he beheld. There was little to make one think of
+Little Sweep, save that when the Princess Cendre spoke, her voice was
+Little Sweep's.
+
+"What brings you hither, Sweep?" cried Princess Cendre angrily, when she
+became aware of him.
+
+Sweep was astonished, but answered mildly, even so.
+
+"Ah, Little Sweep," said he, "now who would think that fine new raiment
+and a face all clean and shining would make this wondrous change in you?
+But perchance, if you had ever worn the new gray frock I bought you for
+our wedding, I would have known about your beauty."
+
+"My name is Little Sweep no longer, but Princess Cendre, I would have
+you know," she answered coldly. "And what have I to do with gray wedding
+frocks, I should like to know?"
+
+"Why, Little Sweep," began Sweep in great surprise, but she interrupted
+him.
+
+"Princess Cendre, if you please!" cried she.
+
+"Well, Princess Cendre, then," said Sweep. "Have you forgot that this is
+our wedding day? I thought perhaps you would be grieved as I that we
+were parted, and so I came hither to marry thee."
+
+"To marry me!" exclaimed the Princess Cendre in astonishment. "With your
+black face, do you suppose that I would marry you? I am the Princess
+Cendre, you must not forget. And Sweep, if this be your wedding day, as
+you say it is, my advice to you is this: Marry the Crossing Sweeper of
+your choice, and if you cannot find her, choose another. The city is
+full of such poor wretches; there are two or three at every corner."
+
+Sweep could scarcely believe that he had heard aright. He had not
+dreamed his Little Sweep would treat him thus. He was surprised and
+pained to hear her use so many harsh words all at once. He had not
+thought she knew any. In the old days when she had swept crossings for a
+penny she had always been a gentle little creature.
+
+"Surely you are joking, just to try me," cried poor Sweep. "If you had
+loved truly, as you did often say, then though you did become empress of
+all the world, you would love me still. My face is no blacker to-day
+than it was yesterday or the day before that. Do not treat me thus
+coldly, Little Sweep, or you will break my heart."
+
+"And if you call me by that name again, I will have my servants cast you
+from my topmost turret and break your head," replied the Princess Cendre
+in a towering rage.
+
+"When I was naught but a Crossing Sweeper, beaten always and half
+starved, you gave me bread and buns and bade me love you. To be sure, I
+ate the bread and buns because I was hungry. But now that I am become a
+princess and no longer need your gifts, my heart bids me to marry none
+but a prince. Moreover, the prince whom I shall wed must be handsome and
+charming, and his lands and wealth must be greater than my lands and
+wealth, which are very great indeed. So get you gone, now, Sweep. You
+see how foolish was your errand."
+
+Poor Sweep stood gazing silently at the haughty princess, so fair to see
+and yet so hard of heart. Presently Red Cap bade him close his eyes
+again. Sweep closed his eyes and found himself a-sailing through the
+air, and once again he found himself upon the borders of the sea.
+
+"Ah, Sweep, I am the cause of all thy misfortune," said Red Cap sadly.
+
+"How so, my little friend?" asked Sweep.
+
+"It is this way," said Red Cap. "If I had not vexed my brother
+yesterday, he would not have chased me so fiercely, and I would never
+have sought shelter in Little Sweep's pocket. Now, if I had not sought
+shelter in Little Sweep's pocket, I would never have given her three
+wishes, and she would never have become the Princess Cendre, but would
+have married you upon her wedding day."
+
+"But even so, Red Cap," sighed Sweep sadly, "you are not at fault. Had
+Little Sweep desired, she might have wished me to be something high
+along with her. But though she has been ungrateful and selfish, too, I
+love her dearly and cannot bear to say a harsh word of her."
+
+Red Cap was surprised at Sweep's gentle speech. He had expected him to
+abuse Little Sweep and say unkind things of the haughty Princess Cendre.
+In all his dealings with mortals (and he had many, for Red Cap was
+nearly, if not quite, a thousand years of age), he had noticed that
+mortals were prone to speak ill of those who had injured them. "Without
+doubt this black-faced Sweep is of noble heart," thought Red Cap, "but I
+shall try him even further."
+
+Aloud he spoke: "Now, Sweep," said Red Cap, "I have no more magic of the
+sort that can raise folk to wealth or high rank and noble station; but
+I have still great power to destroy. Say but a word, and in an instant I
+will destroy the castle by the sea. The Princess Cendre in a flash will
+turn to Little Sweep; the old master will be back in the kitchen, and
+young Master Jasper will be in his uncle's house once more. What do you
+say to this plan?"
+
+"To that I must say no," said Sweep. "I think it most unworthy."
+
+"Then, Sweep, since you will have none of my plan, I must be off," said
+Red Cap. "But hark you; although I have not magic power in great store,
+if you desire aid at any time, make but a simple wish, and I will
+instantly appear to help you. Now farewell!" he cried, and darted off.
+
+
+III
+
+Poor Sweep! Now that his Little Sweep had treated him so cruelly, he
+became the saddest man that one could ever know. For days and days he
+did nothing, but would sit with his head in his hands, staring at the
+wall, thinking only of his Little Sweep. Nothing could arouse him, until
+at last Master Jasper stepped across the way and scolded him roundly.
+
+"Now, Sweep, this will not do!" cried Master Jasper. "The bread and
+cakes and pies will burn in the ovens all over the land, if the chimneys
+be not neatly swept down. Then how the housewives will scold, to be
+sure! Likewise will the merchants say that Sweep is become a lazy
+fellow, who sits idling all day long." Master Jasper, it will be seen,
+was a sensible youth, as well as amiable and agreeable.
+
+So once again Sweep set out with his smart little donkey cart all filled
+with brooms and brushes. He found many a housewife angry because he had
+delayed her spring house-cleaning; but when these angry housewives
+looked at Sweep's black face, so sad and sorrowful, they had not the
+heart to upbraid him. Now, strange to say, though Sweep was thus so dull
+and disconsolate, his trade of sweeping down tall chimneys thrived as it
+never had thrived before. He swept tall chimneys in the north of the
+kingdom, and in the south also. Likewise he could often be seen driving
+his smart little donkey cart to the east or to the west to sweep tall
+chimneys there. The fame of Sweep's skill began to grow; he swept the
+chimneys in the halls of dukes and earls. Indeed, the king and queen
+commanded Sweep to bring his brooms and brushes and set to work about
+the palace. Their majesties, it seemed, had been greatly troubled
+because the royal kitchen chimney sent the smoke down instead of up and
+made the royal cooks and maidens sneeze and sputter all day long. So
+skillfully did Sweep deal with this stubborn chimney that ever afterward
+it sent the smoke sky-high, as proper chimneys should. The royal cooks
+and maidens sneezed and sputtered no more, and their royal majesties
+were grateful as could be. The king with his own hands pinned a royal
+decoration on Sweep's sooty sleeve. (But if I am to tell the truth, I
+must tell too that from much soot and grime and dust this royal
+decoration soon became as black as Sweep's own sooty sleeve and could
+not be seen unless one looked quite closely.)
+
+Now that his trade was thriving thus excellently and he had no longer
+need to buy bread and buns for Little Sweep, Sweep's pennies grew to
+golden dollars very rapidly. The golden dollars in their turn soon
+filled the second stocking full, and even filled a third before Sweep
+was well aware of it. But even so, he took no pleasure in his wealth;
+he sighed instead because he had no longer Little Sweep to share it with
+him. Then, lest he become a miser hoarding gold and spending it not,
+Sweep at last bethought him of a kindly plan. Throughout the kingdom
+there were thousands and thousands of other little Crossing Sweepers,
+two or three at every corner waiting for a penny. These wretches, Sweep
+knew well, were just as poor and miserable as his own Little Sweep had
+been in days gone by. According to his kindly plan, Sweep now began to
+change his store of golden dollars back to pennies once again. Then when
+he met a little Crossing Sweeper standing broom in hand, Sweep would
+fling a handful of pennies to the little creature. Sometimes he filled
+his donkey cart with bread and buns and bright red apples to feed these
+little Crossing Sweepers, in memory of his own lost Little Sweep. Until
+at last from these good practices Sweep became known as the friend of
+all Crossing Sweepers, and was greatly loved throughout the land.
+
+So seven years passed by. Meanwhile Sweep and Master Jasper continued
+friends. Sometimes Sweep stayed to supper in Master Jasper's comfortable
+kitchen; other times Sweep would bid Master Jasper step across and smoke
+a pipe or two with him. Then, one evening just at dusk, Sweep returned
+from his labors and found young Master Jasper packed and ready for a
+journey.
+
+"Where are you off?" asked Sweep, and pointed to a musket flung beside a
+knapsack.
+
+"Have you not heard the news?" cried Master Jasper eagerly. "A whole
+year since, a savage tribe invaded Yelvaland and carried off as prisoner
+the young and lovely Empress Yelva. Now as this lovely empress has
+neither father nor husband nor brothers to protect her, and her people
+cry for aid, all youths who long for noble adventure are urged to fight
+beneath her banners. Come join me, Sweep."
+
+But Sweep shook his head. "It is not suitable that I should fight for
+Empress Yelva," he replied. "My black face fits me for naught but my
+trade of sweeping down tall chimneys."
+
+"But you are wrong, Sweep," argued Master Jasper; "a black face in
+battle is no great matter. Stout hearts and strong arms are sorely
+needed. Come, and we shall march and fight together as brothers."
+
+Again Sweep shook his head. "Indeed, good Master Jasper," answered he,
+"I wish with all my heart that I might fight with thee against this
+savage tribe and aid the lovely Empress Yelva; but alas! Who, save thee,
+would care to march and fight beside a black-faced sweep?"
+
+"A thousand would! Two thousand would--Nay! ten thousand would be glad
+to march with thee, Sweep!" exclaimed a shrill small voice beside them.
+On peering down, Sweep beheld a tiny Red Cap perched upon the poker; it
+was the same that had befriended him so long ago.
+
+"Ah, Sweep!" continued Red Cap briskly, "I took a fancy to you when we
+first met, seven years ago, and had a notion then that I would like to
+know you better. However, since in all these years you have not wished a
+wish of me, I could not have the joy of your acquaintance. We Red Caps,"
+he explained, "although we be such powerful folk, cannot appear to
+mortals without they wish for us, you know."
+
+"I had not known that," answered Sweep politely, "or I would have wished
+some simple thing just for the pleasure of a chat with thee. But tell
+me, how is it that you thus appear before me now?"
+
+"Have you so soon forgot your wish?" asked Red Cap. "Did I not hear you
+wish a moment since to fight beneath the banners of the Empress Yelva?
+It is to grant that wish that I now come. And mark, since in seven years
+you have wished no wish of me, my magic now has grown to power
+tremendous. Behold thine army!"
+
+Sweep heard the measured tramp of many feet, and looking through the
+gathering gloom, beheld a line of forms that marched by, four and four,
+and all were singing gayly as they went. At first Sweep could not tell
+what manner of soldiers these might be, but presently his eyes became
+accustomed to the dusk, and he perceived that this vast army was
+composed of Crossing Sweepers armed with brooms instead of muskets.
+Perched atop of every broomstick he could see a tiny creature similar in
+looks and dress to the Red Cap perched upon the poker.
+
+"My brothers and my cousins and likewise all my friends and uncles have
+come to help thee too, Sweep," said Red Cap. "And thou, good Master
+Jasper, throw aside thy musket, for in Sweep's army, muskets and such
+like will be useless things."
+
+Good Master Jasper quickly did as Red Cap had commanded and followed
+after Sweep. Sweep shouldered his long brush and marched proudly at the
+head of his strange army. And thus began the journey into Yelvaland.
+
+Now of that journey there is not much to tell. To be sure, whenever it
+was time for breakfast, dinner, or supper, the Red Caps clapped their
+hands and there appeared a thousand tables spread with all good fare.
+When night fell, or when storms arose, the Red Caps likewise caused a
+city of ten thousand tents to spring up on the plains. The Crossing
+Sweepers enjoyed the whole march as a holiday. In all their wretched
+lives before they had not had such good things to eat. Their hollow
+cheeks grew plump and rosy with the winds and sun, and Sweep's heart
+rejoiced to see the happy changes that came upon his friends. At night
+when they sat grouped about their campfires, the Crossing Sweepers sang
+songs loud in praise of Sweep, whom they declared had always been their
+friend and who now was the cause of their pleasant holiday.
+
+Now while Sweep and his strange army were marching thus toward
+Yelvaland, the people there were plunged in deep despair. The savage
+troops had given their soldiers so many drubbings and such bitter
+punishments in battle that they had quite lost heart. Judge then of
+their great joy when they beheld a friendly force marching to their aid.
+But as this horde drew near, and they perceived what manner of army it
+really was, their hearts sank again.
+
+"Alas!" sighed these discouraged folk of Yelvaland, "of what avail
+against the savage troops will be this ragged rabble that approaches?"
+
+But when Sweep's army entered into Yelvaland and began to lay about them
+with their broomsticks, that was another story. Aided by the magic power
+of the Red Caps, each broomstick fell with the force of fifty giant
+fists and resounded loud as thunder on the mountain tops. The savage
+troops stood their ground but a short time and then fled in terror
+before these strange and powerful weapons which they had never seen
+before. (Savages do not sweep their houses, you know, and so they knew
+nothing of the useful broomstick.) Sweep, gallantly leading his vast
+army, pursued the flying savages and gave them battle all the while. So
+dextrously and well did the little Crossing Sweepers wield their brooms
+that on the third night, when both armies had agreed to rest, these
+savage troops rose up and stole off. Over the hills and far away they
+fled and never again were heard or seen from that day to this. The
+glorious part of Sweep's great victory was that he had not lost a single
+follower in battle!
+
+"And now to free the young and lovely Empress Yelva," said Sweep to Red
+Cap, "and then our work is done."
+
+"In all good time that too will be accomplished," answered Red Cap. "The
+Empress Yelva lies hidden deep down in a well of her own tears. This
+well lies close beside the gates of Yelvaland, and so you had best face
+your army right about and march there."
+
+Then once again the Crossing Sweepers shouldered their brooms and
+marched gayly off to Yelvaland. They reached the gates of the kingdom
+just as the moon was sinking slowly in the sky, and Sweep gave orders
+that they wait until the dawn to enter.
+
+"Come with me, Sweep," whispered Red Cap; "the time has come to seek the
+Empress Yelva," and led him to a well within a grove of trees.
+
+"Now, Sweep, attend me closely," warned Red Cap, "for if you do not as I
+say, all will be lost. When the moon's last ray will light the waters of
+this well, plunge down into its depths and bring the Empress Yelva up
+with you. Lose not a second's time, for if the moonbeam leave the well
+before you, the lovely Empress Yelva must forever remain prisoner and
+yourself likewise. Do you think that you are nimble enough to try?"
+
+"I know not of my nimbleness, but I will try," said Sweep, and plunged
+down headlong, as a pale moonbeam shone down and silvered the dark
+waters. Before the winking of an eye, it seemed, he rose again, clasping
+the Empress Yelva by the hand. The moonbeam tarried long enough for
+Sweep to see the lovely maiden he had rescued. Her eyes like two blue
+violets shone with kindliness, her golden hair fell rippling like a
+cloak about her, and when she spoke her voice was like the chime of
+silver bells.
+
+"Ah, sir!" exclaimed the lovely Empress Yelva. "Although from your poor
+dress I know that you are naught but a humble Sweep, I honor you for
+your brave deed, and I shall wed you."
+
+At this poor Sweep was covered with confusion. He had not dreamed the
+lovely Empress Yelva would so much as deign to thank him; had not the
+haughty Princess Cendre scorned him? But even so his heart still longed
+for his first love, and knowing nothing better to do, the honest fellow
+told his sad tale to the empress, as they stood beside the well. She
+listened closely all the while.
+
+"You have a noble heart, good Sweep," said she when he had done, "and
+though you do not choose to wed me, I bear you no malice, but instead
+shall help you win your Little Sweep, who has become the Princess
+Cendre."
+
+"Alas, your worship!" said Sweep sadly, "that can never be. The
+Princess Cendre would scorn my black face, no matter what my fame or
+fortune."
+
+"Why as to that, Sweep," cried Red Cap, "have no more concern. The
+Empress Yelva's tears, it would seem, are magic, for since you have
+plunged down the well, your face is become clean and white as though
+'twere scrubbed a dozen times. You are now a handsome fellow."
+
+"And when I have rewarded you suitably, the Princess Cendre will be more
+than glad to wed you, rest assured, good Sweep," said Empress Yelva.
+"But now the dawn is here, so let us hasten that I may see my people and
+my own dear Yelvaland once more."
+
+You may imagine that there was wild rejoicing when Sweep and his vast
+strange army knocked upon the gates of the kingdom and demanded that
+they open wide for Empress Yelva. A holiday that lasted seven days was
+set, and there were games and sports and pleasures. The people sang and
+danced upon the highways, and oxen were roasted whole upon great
+bonfires. Sweep and all the Crossing Sweepers were praised and honored
+throughout the length and breadth of Yelvaland, and all was merry as
+could be.
+
+When this great holiday was passed, as holidays all do, the business of
+the court began again. The Empress Yelva ordered that a cottage and a
+piece of ground, as well as two bags filled with gold, be given to each
+Crossing Sweeper in reward for their brave deeds. The Crossing Sweepers
+were so delighted with their gifts that they never again returned to
+their own land but dwelled in Yelvaland for all their days. The Red Caps
+likewise were so pleased with lovely Empress Yelva and so admired her
+kind heart and sense of gratitude that they decided from that day to
+make their home among the forests of her realm.
+
+"And now, Sweep," said the Empress Yelva, when all this was done, "I
+have not forgot the promise that I made thee." Accordingly she made him
+prince. His title was Prince Sweepmore and his domain of Sweepmost was
+twice as great and twice as rich as was the domain of haughty Princess
+Cendre. Sweep now was dressed in crimson velvet. The Empress Yelva from
+her treasure store gave him a golden sword all set with rubies that
+flashed forth flame and fire in the sun. A hundred horses laden all with
+bags of gold and pearls were also given him, as well as a like number of
+servants to attend him. Then once again Sweep set forth to marry
+Princess Cendre.
+
+"I grieve to see thee go, good Sweep," sighed Empress Yelva as they
+parted, "but even so I do admire thy faithful heart that bids thee go."
+
+"And I likewise do grieve to go; and I thank thee for thy gifts," Sweep
+answered. He bade young Master Jasper farewell too. Young Master Jasper
+had fallen deep in love with a noble maiden of the Empress Yelva's court
+and was about to marry her.
+
+A royal messenger had been sent before to tell these tidings to the
+Princess Cendre. Now, strange to say, though the haughty Princess was
+thus beautiful and wealthy, she was still unwed. To be sure, many
+princes of small fortunes had sought her hand, but of these the haughty
+creature would have none. However, her selfish ways had not pleased
+princes whom she had desired to please, and so it was she sat alone
+within her splendid castle by the sea. You may be sure that she
+rejoiced when she learned that Sweep was now a prince with land and
+riches in good store.
+
+"Ah!" she exclaimed, "his face is clean and shining too, I hear, which
+is excellent. I could not tolerate him otherwise; but as it is, I shall
+delight to wed him." And so the haughty princess sent for milliners and
+jewelers and for bootmakers and dressmakers too. She bought such silken
+hose and high-heeled shoes as must have cost a fortune, and had her
+wedding dress sewn thick with diamonds. When word was brought that the
+new prince was come, she donned this sparkling robe and received him
+with great courtesy.
+
+"Ah, Sweep!" cried she, "although I know full well that Empress Yelva
+hath given thee a fine new title, I love to call thee by the dear old
+name I used to know. Tell me of thy life since last we parted. I have
+heard the Empress Yelva desired to marry thee herself. The forward
+creature! I blush for her that she should be so bold. She must be very
+plain of face indeed if she must go a-seeking for a husband."
+
+To these sharp words Sweep made reply: "Indeed, the Empress Yelva is so
+fair of face that neither tongue nor pen can well describe her beauty.
+Moreover, she is so kind of heart and gentle of manner that though she
+were as plain as plain, I still would think her lovely!"
+
+"Indeed!" returned the haughty Princess Cendre and gazed with
+satisfaction in her mirror. "However, it is not to chat about this
+forward creature that you have come hither; it is to wed me. Come, my
+bishops are in readiness; my guests are waiting."
+
+Now, when Sweep at last beheld this haughty Princess after seven years
+of longing, he found a curious change had come upon him. He became aware
+that he no longer loved her, and that her haughty manner and her
+spiteful speech distressed him. At last he saw her as she really was, an
+ungrateful, cold-hearted creature who thought of no one but herself.
+(Although Sweep knew it not, the waters of the well had wrought this
+change in him. You may be sure that Red Cap was aware of it!) So though
+his heart was grieved to give another pain, Sweep determined to speak
+his mind quite plainly.
+
+"Ah, Princess Cendre," said he, "I fear me you must tell your guests
+that you have changed your mind and bid your bishops go. For since my
+black face has been changed as though by magic, it would seem my heart
+and mind by magic were changed too. I know now that thou art too cold
+and proud to be my princess; a princess should delight to make folk
+happy, and that I fear me you would never do."
+
+The Princess Cendre was enraged at this talk. We well know that she had
+a dreadful temper when it was aroused, and she chose to rouse it now.
+She stormed and she scolded; she threatened Sweep and she denounced him;
+but she could not move his resolution.
+
+"You have come hither to wed me. This is my wedding day, and you shall
+not ride away!" cried she.
+
+"Nay, but I will," returned Sweep. "Once before I came hither to wed
+thee on thy wedding day, and once before I rode away. And so farewell!"
+
+Away rode Sweep with all his train, and stopped nor stayed until he
+reached the gates of Yelvaland. A herald told the news of his approach,
+and Empress Yelva with her noble lords and ladies went forth to welcome
+him. Sweep fell upon his knee and humbly begged the lovely maiden's hand
+in marriage, and Empress Yelva smilingly consented.
+
+"Indeed, dear Sweep!" declared the Empress Yelva, "I had a notion all
+the while that you would soon return, and had our wedding feast
+prepared!" (Now could it have been that the Red Caps whispered of the
+magic change the well of her own tears had caused?)
+
+Then straightway Sweep and Empress Yelva were married. Young Master
+Jasper and the noble maiden were married too; it was a double wedding.
+Another feast was held, so bounteous and so magnificent that all
+previous feasts seemed poor and mean by comparison. Sports and games
+were set, and prizes of great value were awarded. Each nobleman received
+a bag of diamonds as a gift, each noble lady a rope of pearls. The
+common people, one and all, were given each a bag of golden coins that
+they too might make merry. The lords and dukes danced on the highways
+with the dairymaids; the Empress Yelva and her ladies trod minuets with
+shepherd lads and farmer boys, and all was merry as a marriage feast
+should be.
+
+Sweep now was Emperor. He wore a robe of purple bordered deep with
+ermine, and held a sceptre clustered thick with diamonds when he sat at
+court. With Empress Yelva by his side, he now rode forth in a splendid
+chariot of gold and royal enamels. But though he was thus raised to high
+rank and great wealth, Sweep was as amiable and as kind of heart as he
+had been when he swept down tall chimneys for his living and drove his
+donkey cart all filled with brooms and brushes. To tell the truth,
+however, Sweep had little opportunity to do kind deeds. There were no
+poor folk to be found in Yelvaland. The Empress Yelva governed her realm
+too well and wisely for that. Now it happened on one winter's day, when
+all the ground was white, Sweep noticed that the frost hung thick and
+glistened on the branches of the firs and cedars.
+
+"It seems to me, my dear," said Sweep to Empress Yelva, "that it would
+be most suitable if we should build some houses for our little friends,
+the Red Caps, who are dwelling in our forest. I fear me that they
+suffer greatly from the cold."
+
+The Empress Yelva thought this plan most excellent, and soon the royal
+carpenters and joiners were set to making tiny little houses. When these
+were made, the royal painters colored them bright green with bright red
+roofs, which was quite like the costume of the Red Caps, if you will
+remark. The Empress Yelva and her noble lords and ladies then hung these
+tiny houses in the branches of the firs and cedars, and they looked like
+so many brightly colored bird-houses. When the Red Caps flew home that
+night, they were delighted; they guessed at once for whom these tiny
+houses were meant. They praised Sweep and complimented him on his kind
+heart and his thoughtful ways.
+
+"We Red Caps do many kind things for mortals," they remarked most sagely
+to each other, "but it is seldom mortals ever think to do kind things
+for us. It is quite fitting that Sweep should be Emperor; he hath a
+noble heart, as sovereigns all should have."
+
+It happened then upon another day, while still the snow lay thick upon
+the ground, that Princess Cendre and her servants went a-riding through
+this forest. The haughty princess marked the tiny brightly colored
+houses, and asked what they might be. A forester near by made answer
+thus:
+
+"Now if your royal highness please," said he, "Sweep, our good Emperor,
+hath caused these to be made for our little friends, the Red Caps. They
+suffered greatly with the cold, he thought."
+
+"Indeed!" exclaimed the Princess Cendre. "Then your little friends, the
+Red Caps, must suffer from the cold again, I fear. I have taken a great
+fancy to these pretty toys and mean to hang them in my own forests, that
+my goldfinches and nightingales may dwell therein in winter, instead of
+flying to the southland." She then desired her servants to cut down the
+tiny, brightly colored houses and rode off, little thinking of the
+mischief she had done.
+
+That night, when the Red Caps flew home, they were agitated and buzzed
+about like so many angry little bees. They missed their tiny comfortable
+houses and shivered with the cold. They knew, of course, who had done
+this. They knew all things--these Red Caps of the olden days.
+
+"Now this haughty Princess Cendre is impossible!" they declared most
+wrathfully. "She cares not though we freeze to death; although we have
+done noble things for her, she has quite forgot them. She has been
+princess long enough!" they cried. "Let her be Little Sweep again," and
+they clapped their hands in anger.
+
+Then in that instant vanished the splendid castle by the sea, and
+Princess Cendre's robes of satin fell from her. She found herself
+dressed out in sweeper's rags, and once more, broom in hand, standing on
+her corner. The old master, back within his comfortable kitchen again,
+was disposed to treat her no better than he had before; and so, for all
+her days, Little Sweep was forced to dwell within her cold, bare attic.
+But there was no kind Sweep to toss her bread and buns each day nor buy
+her bright red apples or plum cake.
+
+Sweep, on the other hand, lived long and happily as Emperor. He and the
+lovely Empress Yelva, it is said, were blessed with twenty children, all
+of whom inherited Sweep's noble nature and his kindly heart.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+KINGS AND QUEENS AND PEASANT FOLK
+
+
+Once upon a time, in a splendid palace on the top of a high hill, there
+dwelled a very old king and his wife, who was likewise a very old queen.
+Now this royal old couple lived in great state and luxury. Their diamond
+crowns glittered and sparkled like the sunbeams on a summer sea; and
+their trailing velvet robes were so thickly embroidered with gold that
+they stood alone. This very old king and his wife, the very old queen,
+had a coach of gold and glass drawn by eight white horses in silver
+harness. But with all this splendor and magnificence, this royal old
+couple were not happy or contented. Indeed they were called Queen Grumpy
+and King Crosspatch, which names were most suitable, for they were
+discontented and disagreeable as the day was long.
+
+Queen Grumpy fretted because she had a hundred ladies-in-waiting. She
+said they bothered her. King Crosspatch scolded and sulked because Lord
+High Chancellor would not permit him to smoke a briarwood pipe. They
+both declared their diamond crowns gave them a headache, and they were
+tired of their trailing velvet robes. Queen Grumpy and King Crosspatch
+refused to ride in their royal coach of gold and glass. The eight white
+horses trotted too swiftly and shook their old bones about. So this very
+old king and this very old queen went afoot; but even so, they
+complained and scolded because all the roads about the palace led either
+up a hill or down, and they puffed and panted for breath before their
+walk was done.
+
+Now often and often at sunset, as they rested on their way up the high
+hill, Queen Grumpy and King Crosspatch looked with longing on a certain
+snug little cottage down in the valley. Within this snug little cottage
+lived a very old man and his very old wife. They were peasants. There
+were rows and rows of sunflowers and hollyhocks before this snug little
+cottage and behind, while to the left and right stretched green pastures
+thick with blackberry vines.
+
+"Ah, my dear!" King Crosspatch would sigh, as he watched the old man at
+work. "How pleasant it must be to live in such a snug little cottage.
+That old man goes every evening to fetch the cows. How I wish I were
+that old man!"
+
+"Indeed, yes!" Queen Grumpy would reply with an answering sigh. "How I
+wish I were that old woman. She goes about from morning until night, so
+brisk and blithe. She can bake bread and churn butter herself; she is
+not bothered with a hundred ladies-in-waiting as I am."
+
+Now most remarkable to tell, often as Queen Grumpy and King Crosspatch
+gazed thus longingly at the little cottage so snug, and wished
+themselves the old man and the old woman, the old man and the old woman
+gazed just as longingly on the splendid palace and wished themselves
+King Crosspatch and Queen Grumpy. For if you will believe me, this old
+man and his old wife were a most discontented couple too!
+
+So it happened one evening, when Queen Grumpy and King Crosspatch were
+walking down the hill, they met the old man and his old wife climbing
+up. So while they sat to rest on a stone stile, these four discontented
+old folk fell to talking.
+
+"Ah!" exclaimed King Crosspatch to the old man, "I have often watched
+you fetch the cows home from pasture in the evening, and what fun it
+seems, to be sure! Then you often go a-berrying too. You should be very
+happy."
+
+"Indeed, Your Royal Highness, I am not!" replied the old man with bitter
+feeling. "I am tired of fetching cows, and I would like to sit still all
+day with folded hands. I often wish I were you. As for going a-berrying;
+I go only because I am so fond of blackberry pie. There's one for my
+supper to-night," he added, and smacked his lips with relish. And then,
+oh, how King Crosspatch envied the old man! King Crosspatch had longed
+to eat blackberry pie all his life, but the court physician would not
+permit such ordinary food on the royal table. So the poor old king had
+never had even a taste of a blackberry pie.
+
+"And you too," said Queen Grumpy to the old woman, "you should be very
+happy. You loop your dress above your red flannel petticoat and trot
+round all day, baking bread and churning butter. You have nothing ever
+to vex or worry you."
+
+"Nothing to vex or worry me!" repeated the old woman in astonishment.
+"Why, I am vexed that I must churn my butter, and at this very minute I
+am worried lest the loaves I left baking in the oven may burn before I
+am home again. And indeed, Your Royal Highness, I loop my dress above my
+red flannel petticoat only because I must. A hundred times a day I wish
+I were you and could wear trailing velvet robes sewn thick with gold!"
+
+Now as these four discontented old folk talked on, a curious plan popped
+into their heads. They decided to change places. Accordingly, Queen
+Grumpy took the old woman's dress and looped it above the red flannel
+petticoat; the old woman buttoned herself into Queen Grumpy's trailing
+velvet robes. King Crosspatch put on the old man's battered hat; the old
+man set the sparkling diamond crown above his sunburned brow, and all
+was done. Then singing and laughing, these four old folk went on their
+separate ways. All four felt assured that they were really walking on
+the road to happiness at last, and all were very pleased and jolly in
+consequence.
+
+  "Oh, there's no place like a palace,
+  A palace, a palace!
+  Oh, there's no place like a palace
+  Upon a hill so high!"
+
+sang the old man and his old wife as they climbed up the steep hill.
+
+  "Oh, there's no place like a cottage,
+  A cottage, a cottage!
+  Oh, there's no place like a cottage
+  Down in a valley green!"
+
+sang King Crosspatch and Queen Grumpy, and they went trudging down. Then
+when they reached the snug little cottage, how pleased they were to be
+sure! Everything was so cozy and comfortable to behold. The kettle on
+the hearth was boiling, and the loaves in the oven were browning; the
+bird in the cage was singing, and the cat on the cushion was purring.
+The table was laid with all manner of good things for tea.
+
+"The blackberry pie! The blackberry pie! My dear, let's have it at
+once!" cried King Crosspatch, and went searching through cupboard and
+larder to find it.
+
+"Wait just a moment until I have made the tea," answered Queen Grumpy,
+busily bustling about the kitchen. She made the tea, and he found the
+blackberry pie, and then they both sat down to supper. There were ever
+and ever so many good things on the table. There were cold roast fowls
+and quince preserves; there were strawberry tarts and plum as well;
+there was fresh new butter, and there was thick sweet cream. Queen
+Grumpy and King Crosspatch ate them all and then began to think about
+dessert!
+
+"Now would you mind, my dear, if I should eat all the blackberry pie
+myself?" asked King Crosspatch of Queen Grumpy. "You see, I have only
+read about blackberry pie in books and have never tasted one in all my
+life before."
+
+"Not at all, my dear!" replied Queen Grumpy most amiably. "I intend to
+eat all this ginger cake which I have never seen or tasted before." And
+so this royal old couple continued to eat until both larder and cupboard
+were bare.
+
+"How fine this little cottage is and how very snug!" said Queen Grumpy,
+seating herself in a rocker before the blazing logs. She began to knit
+on a gray wool sock she found. "I think we shall be very happy here."
+
+"And I think so too," agreed King Crosspatch. "We have eaten a fine
+supper in a very few minutes and without any fuss of footmen or
+ladies-in-waiting either." He found a briarwood pipe and began to doze
+peacefully in deep contentment. Queen Grumpy knitted busily until the
+logs burned low, when she began to nod and doze also. Then they both
+went to bed.
+
+But the beds in the snug little cottage were not of the excellent
+quality of its cold roasted fowls and new butter and jam. The mattresses
+were rough affairs. They were stuffed here with corn husks and there
+with straw and yet again with goose feathers, which pricked Queen Grumpy
+and King Crosspatch like so many pins. On these rough husky beds the
+royal old couple tossed restlessly until morning. They vowed they did
+not sleep a wink. (Perhaps they had eaten too much blackberry pie and
+ginger cake; what do you think about it?) When it was daylight at last,
+King Crosspatch clapped his hands to call his servants to attend.
+
+"Ah, my dear!" said Queen Grumpy, "have you forgotten that we are no
+longer royal folk but simple cottagers instead?"
+
+"Indeed, I had quite forgotten all about it," replied King Crosspatch.
+"Well, I am glad we are," and he began to dress.
+
+Together they set about making breakfast; but again the breakfast proved
+a different matter from supper. You will remember that they had eaten
+everything in the cupboard and larder the night before. There was no
+milk, for they had forgotten to milk the cow, and neither were there
+eggs. They had neglected to search the nests. Moreover, the wood box was
+empty, and the fire was out.
+
+"Now do you go out and chop some wood for the fire, my dear," said Queen
+Grumpy. "I shall milk the cow. I have always liked to look at pictures
+of milkmaids." She took the pail on her arm and went in search of the
+three-legged stool. Then she seated herself beside Bossy-Cow and began
+to milk. But sad to tell, Bossy-Cow, who herself was rather
+disagreeable, waited until the pail was nearly filled, and then she
+gave a sudden kick. Such a vicious kick it was, too! It upset the
+milk-pail, three-legged stool, Queen Grumpy and all, and frightened the
+poor old queen half out of her wits. She began to scream so loudly that
+she quite frightened King Crosspatch, and the hatchet slipped and
+chopped a bit of his little finger.
+
+"Oh! Oh! Oh!" wailed King Crosspatch at the very top of his voice. "I
+think this hatchet is bewitched! Oh! Oh! Oh!" he wept, holding up his
+little finger. (It was not much of a cut; just a little scratch; but he
+was a great crosspatch, you know.) "Oh, what shall I do? What shall I
+do?" he wailed. "With this terrible cut on my little finger, I can't do
+anything at all!"
+
+"There now, there now," petted Queen Grumpy soothingly. "Don't chop any
+more wood. There are still a few drops of milk left in my pail, and we
+shall drink that and eat bread for our breakfast." She led her weeping
+husband within the snug little cottage, but when she looked in the oven
+she found another disappointment. Queen Grumpy had forgotten to take
+the loaves out of the oven the night before, and they were burned to a
+crisp.
+
+"Oh, this plagued cottage!" exclaimed Queen Grumpy, thoroughly vexed.
+"Everything goes wrong here. I wish I were back in my own palace once
+more! I would never sigh again to leave it."
+
+"Neither would I," agreed King Crosspatch, drying his tears suddenly.
+"Let's go back!"
+
+They made up their minds in an instant, and slamming the door of the
+snug little cottage, they began to climb the steep hill to their
+splendid palace. Every step of the way they were in a perfect torment of
+fear lest the old man and the old woman would refuse to change places
+again.
+
+"That old woman will never want to give me my trailing velvet robes,"
+said Queen Grumpy, as they sat to rest on the stone stile.
+
+"And I have been thinking that the old man will fight to keep my diamond
+crown," said King Crosspatch anxiously. But at that very minute they
+heard voices, and behold! around the turn in the road came the old man
+and old woman, hurrying as though an army were after them. The old man
+was thumping his stick, and the old woman was making angry gestures with
+her hands; and both the old man and the old woman looked very cross and
+ill-humored.
+
+"Ah, here you are!" exclaimed the old man, stopping short before the
+stone stile. "Now give me my hat and take back your hateful crown
+without any further nonsense! I could not sleep a wink last night,
+because it was so heavy on my head. Such a hateful palace too! I never
+saw the like! I could not smoke my briarwood pipe which I brought along
+for company, and this morning two villains were like to drown me in a
+pool before I was fully awake."
+
+"They did not try to drown you," replied King Crosspatch haughtily.
+"That pool was a bath. Here is your hat; give me my crown."
+
+"You may call it a bath or not, just as you choose," declared the old
+man warmly, "but let those two villains drown you instead of me, is what
+I say! I was never so disappointed in all my life as I was with your
+palace. The royal throne was hard as stone; the royal beds were soft as
+dough; everything was wrong."
+
+Meanwhile Queen Grumpy and the old woman were having a time of it.
+
+"Your cow has no manners," complained Queen Grumpy. "She kicked me, and
+she spilled the milk. I should behead her if she were mine."
+
+"Would you, indeed?" asked the old woman scornfully, "and drink water
+and eat bread without butter all the rest of your life, I suppose? Let
+me tell you, Your Royal Highness, that your servants are lazy and
+good-for-nothing! I saw dust on the tops of all the doors and windows,
+and the silver flagon was not polished as brightly as my old pewter
+pots. Your royal cooks make griddlecakes heavy as lead; you had best
+behead them instead of my good Bossy-Cow." Then she added, "Did you feed
+my bird and give him water?"
+
+"I could hardly feed myself in that awkward cottage of yours!" retorted
+Queen Grumpy.
+
+"Oh, my poor bird!" exclaimed the old woman. "Here, hurry and give me
+back my own dress that I may loop it above my red flannel petticoat and
+be comfortable once more. I suppose you took the bread out of the oven
+in time--did you?"
+
+"I forgot it, and it burned," sulkily replied Queen Grumpy, buttoning
+herself into her trailing velvet robes.
+
+"Oh, what stupid folk are kings and queens!" cried the old woman in a
+passion. "Come along, husband," she called, and down the hill they went.
+
+"And what stupid folk are cottagers!" called King Crosspatch after them.
+"Come along, wife," said he, and up the hill they went.
+
+And so these four old folk again went on their separate ways. All four
+were sure that they were walking on the road to happiness at last, and
+so all were very jolly and smiling in consequence.
+
+  "Oh, there's no place like home!
+  Oh, there's no place like home!"
+
+sang the old man and his old wife, as they went trudging down to the
+little cottage so snug.
+
+  "Oh, there's no place like home!
+  Oh, there's no place like home!"
+
+sang Queen Grumpy and King Crosspatch, as they went climbing to their
+splendid palace on the top of a high hill; and there we will bid them
+all adieu!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+THE GOOSE GIRL AND THE BLUE GANDER
+
+
+Once upon a time there was a goose girl who tended her flock in a green
+meadow. The meadow was dotted with forget-me-nots and yellow buttercups,
+and the sun shone down on it; her geese were fine blue geese and
+uncommonly knowing. She should have been the happiest goose girl in all
+the world, but she was not. She thought not of the beautiful meadow nor
+of her geese that were a pleasure to tend, for they were so wise and
+always did her bidding; but instead this goose girl wept every day
+because she longed to marry a certain lord who lived in a gray stone
+castle at the top of a high hill. All day long she sat looking at this
+castle, and her eyes could see nothing else for admiration of it. She
+dreamed dreams a hundred times a day, in which she married the lord,
+and was cross with her geese because she had to tend them.
+
+Now when the lord of the castle went riding by the green meadow, this
+silly goose girl would run after the carriage, shouting his name and
+throwing bouquets of wild flowers to him. But alas! The carriage always
+whirled by so quickly that the lord heard her not, and the bouquets of
+wild flowers fell in the dust by the roadside. Each time the goose girl
+wept and threw sticks at her geese because she had been disappointed,
+until they fled to shelter.
+
+"It is the stupid coachman's fault," said the goose girl to herself one
+day, after she had chased the carriage for a long distance. "My lord is
+within, of course, and cannot hear me, for the windows of glass shut out
+all sound." She knew that maidens often wrote letters when they were
+unable to obtain speech with those whom they fancied, and she resolved
+to write to the lord of the gray stone castle.
+
+She spent her year's earnings on some pink paper with red hearts
+lovingly entwined on the border, and that her letter might be colorful
+and splendid, she bought also some purple ink. Then the goose girl sat
+before a flat rock and strove to compose such a letter to the lord that
+he would stop his carriage the next time he rode by the meadow.
+
+"The first day he will ask me to ride with him, and the second day he
+will ask me to wed him," thought the goose girl, as she sat gazing at
+the gray stone castle. "The third day I shall ride with him a bride to
+yonder castle, where I shall dwell forevermore and have naught to do
+with geese but to eat them roasted!"
+
+Her geese, thinking perhaps she had spread on the rock something fine to
+eat, crowded about her, but she drove them off. They bothered her, and
+she wished to give her mind to the letter. One large blue gander
+remained near, in spite of her angry motions and cross words. The goose
+girl was about to begin her letter when she remembered that she had
+brought no pen.
+
+"Ah me! What shall I do?" she cried. "I shall have no more earnings for
+another year, and by that time my lord may be wed to some fair maiden,
+and I will surely die of a broken heart!" She covered her face and wept
+aloud at her misfortune. Suddenly she began to laugh instead.
+
+"Oh, that I should be so foolish!" she exclaimed. "Here waiting my hand
+I have a hundred pens." She seized the large blue gander and plucked a
+fine quill from under his wing, but no sooner had she done so than the
+bird began to speak.
+
+"That is not right," declared the gander. "You have taken what belongs
+not to you but to me. Put back my quill, or I shall be vexed."
+
+"And who is there to care?" replied the goose girl rudely. "When I have
+written a letter to my lord of the gray stone castle, you shall have
+your quill and not before."
+
+She began to speak her thoughts aloud, as goose girls often do, and
+started once more to compose the letter. "To my dearest lord of the gray
+stone castle, whom I love with all my heart, but who whirls past me as I
+sit tending geese in the meadow," she planned to write, and dipped the
+quill in the purple ink. To her dismay the pen wrote not at all as she
+planned, but seemed possessed of a spirit to go of itself. It wrote
+with a remarkable flourish:
+
+"Dear gander!"
+
+But the goose girl pulled it from the paper before it could write more.
+
+"What manner of pen is this?" she cried in vexation.
+
+"It is not your quill," said the blue gander. "I am its master, and it
+will write letters to none but me."
+
+"Well, upon my word!" declared the goose girl. "You are the most forward
+creature I have yet seen, and this is what you will get." She took a
+long branch and beat the gander until he hid from sight in the bushes.
+Then again she strove to write her letter, but again the pen was
+possessed of a spirit of mischief.
+
+"Oh! Oh!" wept the goose girl, "I have spent all my earnings on splendid
+pink paper with red hearts lovingly entwined on the border, and purple
+ink I bought also that my letter might be fine as a valentine. But,
+alas! I am bothered with a stubborn quill that will not write as I
+think. If I write not my letter to my lord, he will never know of me.
+Then he will never marry me, and I shall dwell forever in my wretched
+hut instead of the gray stone castle, as I have desired."
+
+"You weep because you cannot marry the lord who lives in yonder gray
+stone castle," said the blue gander, poking his long neck from the
+bushes where he had fled. "Let me give you some advice. A wretched hut
+is not a pleasant place, 'tis true, but your manners suit it better than
+the castle of your dreams."
+
+"Hold your tongue, forward bird!" screamed the goose girl in anger. She
+seized a clod of earth and hurled it with such force that had it struck
+the gander, he would have fallen flat in his tracks; but luck was with
+him, and he dodged.
+
+The next day and the next day after that the goose girl sat down to
+write before the flat rock in the meadow; but the quill was stubborn as
+ever. She spoiled all but one sheet of the precious pink paper. Then
+once more the blue gander spoke to the goose girl.
+
+"You have spoiled many sheets of your precious pink paper," said the
+gander, nodding his head and cocking his eye in the wisest sort of way.
+"Why will you not let the quill write a letter to me,--if only to see
+what will happen?"
+
+  [Illustration: So at last, after much thought, the goose girl did as
+  the blue gander bade.--_Page 237._]
+
+"But then I shall have no more paper on which to write to my lord, and I
+shall dwell forever in my wretched hut instead of the castle of my
+dreams," answered the goose girl.
+
+"Mayhap there might be a betwixt and between," remarked the gander
+sagely. "Write the letter and hand it to me with a bow."
+
+So at last, after much thought, the goose girl did as the blue gander
+bade. She dipped the quill in the purple ink, and immediately it touched
+the paper it began to write such a marvelous letter as never before was
+seen or read! It called the blue gander all manner of tender names and
+vowed he was handsome and knowing. At the end, this remarkable quill
+wrote the goose girl's name with a flourish so fine that she was pleased
+in spite of herself. She folded the letter and handed it to the gander
+with a bow.
+
+No sooner had she done this than the blue gander spread his wings and
+flew away in the clouds, and in his place stood a handsome shepherd lad
+dressed in blue corduroys. He had a hundred sheep in the fold that
+followed him, and in his hand a bag of silver.
+
+"Dearest Goose Girl, wilt be mine?" asked he. "Yonder is my cottage,
+where I am sure we shall be very happy."
+
+The goose girl was amazed at the change. But so handsome was this young
+shepherd lad, and so winning of speech and manner, that all thoughts of
+the gray stone castle and the lord tumbled out of her head. She gazed
+with delight at the little cottage to which the shepherd lad pointed.
+Blue smoke was curling from its chimney, and a bluebird was singing in a
+cage beside the kitchen door.
+
+"We shall be married at once, shepherd lad of my heart," she answered
+him sweetly, "and I shall make you griddlecakes for your supper."
+
+So the goose girl and the shepherd were married and went to live in the
+little cottage. Indeed, for all that I know, there they may be living to
+this day, for I have met no one who has ever told me of the death of
+either.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+THE LITTLE BROWN MAN
+
+
+Once upon a time, there lived at the top of a very tall tree a little
+magic sprite. Now this magic sprite was called the Little Brown Man, and
+the tree was called the Tall Pine Tree. The Little Brown Man was so very
+small that had you ever seen him skipping and hopping about in his tree,
+you would have thought him some lively little brown squirrel. The Little
+Brown Man was always busy as a bee and twice as cheerful. He spent his
+days sweeping away the withered pine needles so that fresh new green
+needles might grow. With his cunning hands and powers of magic he mended
+broken places in the bark with healing herbs. At night the Little Brown
+Man rested from his labors. He curled himself up in the topmost boughs
+of the Tall Pine Tree, and the tree would rock him gently and sing him
+songs about the sea.
+
+Thus the Little Brown Man, scarce bigger than my hand, and the Tall Pine
+Tree so high lived on in peace and happiness until an evil time befell
+them. It happened on a black winter's night, when the Storm Wind in a
+rage went crashing through the forest. Lashing the heavy branches of the
+tallest trees, he tore them loose and flung them to the ground as though
+they had been but so many twigs. Uprooting tiny trees and saplings by
+the score, the Storm Wind tore his way along until he reached the Tall
+Pine Tree. There he saw the Little Brown Man asleep in its topmost
+boughs.
+
+"Ha, Little Brown Man!" laughed the Storm Wind wickedly. "At last I've
+caught you unaware, and I will do you mischief!" So saying, he blew a
+furious blast and flung the Little Brown Man to the ground beneath.
+Then, in a wailing voice, the Storm Wind wove a spell of deep
+enchantment round the Little Brown Man, singing thus:
+
+  "Flaming eye and hand like claw,
+  You'll dwell at your tree top no more;
+  No child at your approach will stay,
+  Your face will scare them all away.
+  But 'til some child bids you good-day,
+  You'll dwell down on the ground so low,
+  And to the Tall Pine cannot go!"
+
+And then the Storm Wind blew away.
+
+For a long time, the Little Brown Man lay still as one dead, for the
+fall had hurt him cruelly. The Tall Pine Tree wept bitterly at the
+little sprite's misfortune, and by and by its tears, falling like rain,
+wakened the Little Brown Man. But alas! The Storm Wind's wicked spell
+had changed him, and the Little Brown Man with flaming eye and clawlike
+hand was very fierce and terrible to look upon.
+
+"Oh, tell me, my Pine Tree!" cried the Little Brown Man in dismay, "how
+am I changed thus? My hands are hands no longer, but claws like those of
+wild beasts; my eye flames redder than the wicked wolf's! I cannot hop
+or skip; indeed, I scarce can hobble, so bent and twisted have I grown."
+
+"Alas, my Little Brown Man!" the Tall Pine Tree replied. "While you did
+sleep, the Storm Wind tore you from my topmost bough, and wove this
+wicked spell around you. Until some child will speak to you a kindly
+word, you must remain thus bound by this evil spell."
+
+In spite of his twisted back, the Little Brown Man tried again and again
+to climb into the Tall Pine Tree, but all his efforts were in vain.
+Wearied and tired out at last, he made himself a nest among the withered
+pine needles and began to wait for the magic word to break the Storm
+Wind's evil spell.
+
+At last the winter passed. The snow began to melt; the brook, freed of
+its coat of ice, began to sing and chatter as it splashed along; the
+birds built nests; the sun shone down; the pussy willows, gray and
+brown, began to bud and bloom. Then boys and girls came out to play
+beneath the trees and gather buttercups and bluebells. The Little Brown
+Man's heart rejoiced, for he was sure the evil spell that bound him soon
+would end. Whenever happy children played beside the Tall Pine Tree, he
+would hobble toward them, saying:
+
+"Good day to you! Good day to you, my children!"
+
+But alas! The boys and girls were frightened of his clawlike hands and
+flaming eye, and so they screamed and ran away. Thus springtime went,
+and summer followed after; the maple leaves flamed red and gold in
+autumn, and winter came again to wrap the forest in its cloak of snowy
+white. Still the magic words to break the Storm Wind's spell remained
+unspoken. Thus years and years rolled on. In winter now the Storm Wind
+tore the branches of the Tall Pine Tree and flung them to the ground.
+The Little Brown Man, with his cunning hands and powers of magic, could
+no longer bind them fast. The Tall Pine Tree, once so green, grew old
+and rusty looking, because the Little Brown Man could no longer sweep
+the withered needles from its boughs. The Little Brown Man, down upon
+the ground, was in despair. It seemed the wicked spell would never be
+broken. No children ever lingered near the Tall Pine Tree. Indeed, when
+once they passed that way, they never came again. They thought the
+Little Brown Man was a wicked pixie who would do them harm.
+
+Then at last the Little Brown Man peered from his nest one bright
+morning and saw a little girl walking slowly toward the Tall Pine Tree.
+Little Nannie always walked very slowly, because she was quite lame, and
+leaned upon a crutch. Sometimes she paused to watch a bee or butterfly;
+sometimes she leaned against a tree to rest, and all the while the
+Little Brown Man watched her eagerly. At last she reached the Tall Pine
+Tree, and then he hobbled forward, saying:
+
+"Good day to you! Good day to you, my child!"
+
+His flaming eye and clawlike hand so startled Little Nannie that she
+dropped her crutch; but when she saw that the Little Brown Man was also
+very lame, she was sorry for him, and so she answered bravely:
+
+"Good day to you, good sir! I hope your health is fine," and so the
+magic words were spoken.
+
+The Little Brown Man could scarcely believe his ears and began to caper
+about and prance with glee. Then presto! In a twinkling vanished all his
+ugly features, his back grew straight, and he was once more kindly-eyed.
+
+"Oh, Tall Pine Tree! Oh, Tall Pine Tree!" he cried in joy. "Behold now
+I am free to climb up to your topmost boughs once more!" But in his joy
+the Little Brown Man did not forget Little Nannie, who stood staring,
+wide-eyed, at the wonders she had seen.
+
+"And now, my child!" cried he, "what can I do to serve you?"
+
+"Oh, please, sir," answered Little Nannie timidly, "if you would give me
+my crutch, I would be most grateful. I am so lame that I cannot stoop to
+pick it up myself."
+
+"Your crutch!" screamed the Little Brown Man in a passion of rage. "It
+is a wicked stick that holds you back when you would run and play, and
+so I treat it thus!" He seized the crutch and flung it in the brook, and
+there it floated swiftly in the current.
+
+"Oh, Little Brown Man, what have you done!" wept Little Nannie. "Now I
+can never wander in the forest any more, but must sit always in my
+chair. I cannot walk without my crutch, and my mother is too poor to buy
+me another." She leaned against the Tall Pine Tree and sobbed aloud.
+
+"Stop, stop, Little Nannie!" cried the Little Brown Man, "I meant you
+no harm, as you will see. Now tell me this: Is it your wish to walk
+always with a crutch? If so, say but a word, and I will bring it back
+again, for now my powers of magic are returned."
+
+"Oh, Little Brown Man!" answered Little Nannie through her tears, "I do
+not wish to walk always with a crutch; indeed, I often weep because I
+wish to run and play like other boys and girls."
+
+"Then try and see if your wish come true, Little Nannie," commanded the
+Little Brown Man.
+
+Little Nannie took a step forward, and then another and another, and
+found her feet like wings. So, singing and laughing, she danced home
+through the forest, the happiest child in all the world. When she
+reached her gate, she cried out:
+
+"Oh, Mother! Mother! Come quickly and see! I can run and play like other
+boys and girls! The Little Brown Man has granted my wish to me!"
+
+"My child!" cried her mother in amazement, "this is the work of a good
+fairy without doubt! And what did you say to thank the Little Brown
+Man?"
+
+"Oh, mother, I was so happy I forgot," replied Little Nannie, hanging
+her head.
+
+"Then let us go in search of him at once," said her mother.
+
+So hand in hand they sought the Little Brown Man, but though they called
+loud and long at the foot of the Tall Pine Tree, they could not find the
+Little Brown Man. For at the magic of a kindly word, he had flown to the
+topmost boughs, and there he dwelled for evermore.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+A TALE FOR HALLOWEEN
+
+
+Babette and Antone were the children of a very poor woodcutter. They
+lived in a little cottage on the side of a steep mountain, and the
+mountain looked upon a great forest. Now though their father toiled in
+this forest from dawn until dark, he could earn but little. Wood in that
+region was plentiful, and woodcutters were numerous. Their mother made
+fine laces which Antone carried to the market to sell; but in spite of
+all their efforts, the poor parents seldom could give their children
+more than bread and broth to eat. Often indeed the broth was lacking if
+the woodcutter found no hare in the traps he set. Babette and Antone,
+however, were happy little children and never thought of their poverty.
+But it worried the woodcutter that Antone was ten years old and had not
+yet gone to school. Antone's mother taught him to read and write, that
+the other boys and girls would not be too far beyond him, and Antone
+studied his lessons diligently. Often as he sat doing his sums on the
+hearthstone, with a bit of charcoal for a pencil, his mother would sigh
+sadly. Antone did not like his mother to be sad, and so he always
+laughed to cheer her.
+
+"Never fear, Mother," he would say. "Soon I shall send myself to school.
+My vegetable patch does finely. Then, when I am a great scholar, you
+shall be poor no longer. My father shall have a team of oxen and you a
+fine satin gown; Babette shall have a dozen real dollies instead of the
+turnip dollies she now rocks in her dolly cradle."
+
+"Ah, Antone, my son," his mother would answer with a sigh, "unless you
+make your fortune as a maker of toys, I fear you will have no fortune at
+all. Your fingers are as clever as a wizard's even now; and though you
+are past ten, we cannot spare you to go to school."
+
+It was true, as she said. Antone made boats from bits of cedar wood, and
+when he had fitted them with sails you could not tell them from any
+that had come out of a shop. He carved a doll's cradle from a pine knot,
+and for a dolly painted the white face of a turnip until one would think
+it was the face of some fair maiden,--so blue were this turnip dolly's
+eyes and so pink her cheeks, her hair of golden corn silk fell in such
+waves and her robe of young cabbage leaves was so green and beautiful.
+Then as often as this turnip dolly faded and began to shrivel, Antone
+made another, which Babette declared was always more beautiful than the
+one before. Babette had never been to the village and therefore knew
+nothing of real dollies. She loved her turnip babies tenderly indeed;
+she always carried them in her arm when she went with Antone to meet
+their father and sang them little songs as she rocked them to sleep.
+
+Now it happened one night in the season of Halloween that Antone sat
+carving jack-o'-lanterns to sell in the village. Babette, who was
+rocking her dolly to sleep, sat watching him. Being but six, she knew
+nothing about the fun which comes with Halloween, and so she listened
+round-eyed with wonder to Antone, who knew all things about
+jack-o'-lanterns. When she heard that boys and girls dressed like
+goblins and witches frolicked in the village streets, Babette made up
+her mind to frolic too.
+
+"How fine it must be!" she cried, clapping her hands. "Halloween must be
+quite like Christmas!"
+
+"Not quite so fine as Christmas, Babette," answered Antone, as he carved
+the teeth in the last jack-o'-lantern, "but Halloween is very fine
+nevertheless. It is comical to see the jack-o'-lanterns bobbing up and
+down with their faces grinning in the candle light. And on Halloween the
+boys and girls play pranks on their elders that they would be well
+switched for at any other time; but every one laughs and is gay on that
+night." Antone finished the jack-o'-lantern and piled it with a dozen
+more in his little cart. He would sell them all in the village when he
+took his vegetables to market the next day; no one else could carve such
+splendid pumpkin faces as Antone.
+
+"Then let us go and play pranks in the village too, Antone," cried
+Babette. "Mother will make us goblin dresses, and there is still one
+great pumpkin in your garden for a jack-o'-lantern. Oh, what a frolic we
+shall have!"
+
+"Babette!" exclaimed Antone in astonishment. "Wherever did you get such
+a notion? The frolic in the village is not for us. Mother has no time to
+make us goblin dresses, and if she did, she has no goods; besides, how
+should we find our way home through the forest?"
+
+"You know the way through the forest, Antone," insisted Babette, "and if
+Mother cannot make us goblin dresses, we can go without. It will be dark
+and our jack-o'-lantern will be as fine as any. Do come," she begged, "I
+have never been to a Halloween frolic."
+
+"Now, Babette, I tell you we cannot go to the village to-morrow night,"
+answered Antone. "I could not find my way home through the forest after
+dark, and we would both be lost. Be a good girl and do not tease any
+more."
+
+Antone spoke sternly, and Babette burst into tears. She was very fond of
+her own way, and when she could not have it, sometimes she was a very
+naughty little girl. She sobbed and wept so piteously that Antone found
+it hard to refuse her. However, he dared not go to the village at
+night, as he feared to lose his way in the forest. So Antone trotted
+Babette on his knee and whispered that he would buy her chocolate; but
+she only wept the harder.
+
+"Now, Babette!" cried Antone at last, when Babette showed no signs of
+stopping, "I cannot take you to the village; but if you are a good girl
+and stop crying at once, I will make a little Halloween frolic just for
+you and me. Now promise me you will not cry any more."
+
+Babette dried her eyes and promised. She wished a Halloween frolic, but
+whether she frolicked at home or in the village mattered not at all.
+
+"Will we wear goblin dresses or ghost dresses, Antone?" she asked.
+
+Antone puzzled a moment before he answered. "Oh, ghost dresses, I
+think," said he.
+
+The next day Babette was very good. She helped Antone gather his
+vegetables for market, and when he returned sat beside him quietly while
+he carved the last pumpkin from his garden. When the jack-o'-lantern was
+finished, Antone lighted the candle just for one second so that she
+might see it grinning in the light. Babette clapped her hands; but he
+held up a warning finger. The Halloween frolic was to be a secret. After
+supper the children went to bed as usual, but instead of undressing,
+they pulled their white nightdresses over their heavy coats.
+
+"They will do for ghost dresses," whispered Antone when all was still,
+and they crept softly out. In the moonlight the jack-o'-lantern was
+grinning broadly to greet them.
+
+"Pumpkin is smiling at us," laughed Babette. She was very happy, for her
+frolic was about to begin.
+
+Antone struck a match to light the candle, but there was no candle in
+the jack-o'-lantern.
+
+"I put the candle in; I know I did," said he in surprise. He searched in
+the dark, and Babette stopped her laughing. Antone looked about, and
+there beneath the bench lay the remainder of his precious candle. It was
+chewed to bits, and the wick was in shreds.
+
+"Oh, Babette!" cried he. "A wicked rat has stolen our candle, and I paid
+a whole penny for it too!"
+
+"Oh, the bad rats!" cried Babette, bursting into tears. She stamped her
+foot and sent the jack-o'-lantern rolling off the bench. It struck the
+earth with a bump and dented its nose a trifle.
+
+"Now, Babette, what a baby you are! See what you have done!" cried
+Antone. He stooped to pick up the pumpkin, but the pumpkin was too quick
+for him.
+
+"Oh, no, you don't," laughed Pumpkin in a thick throaty sort of voice.
+"Babette smashed my nose a little, but that's no matter on a Halloween
+night. Good-by, boys and girls," he called airily and rolled swiftly
+down the hill.
+
+"You come back here; you're my pumpkin," cried Antone and started after
+the runaway. Babette followed, weeping and crying aloud.
+
+"Oh, my Halloween frolic! Oh, my Halloween frolic!" she mourned. "Now we
+have no jack-o'-lantern and no candle either."
+
+"But just you wait until he rolls down into the vegetable garden,"
+shouted Antone, as he chased the swiftly rolling pumpkin. "He'll have to
+stop at the hedge." He took his little sister's hand that she might run
+faster. Pumpkin rolled along just in front of them but always just out
+of their reach. When he reached the hedge, he gave a great leap and
+landed directly in the vegetable patch.
+
+"Come on, you Turnips! Come on, you Carrots!" called Pumpkin, as he
+rolled along. At his words the Carrots and Turnips tore themselves from
+their beds and followed after him, shouting.
+
+"Come on! Come on!" called Pumpkin, and Parsnips and Beets followed the
+Carrots and Turnips.
+
+"Look at Antone following us," yelled Pumpkin, and all his vegetable
+followers turned and laughed in derision.
+
+"Ordinary nights you may be master, Antone," cried they, "but not on
+Halloween. This is our night."
+
+"Well, you wait until I catch you and then see how hard you'll laugh,"
+called Antone angrily. To see his vegetable patch laid waste made him
+furious.
+
+"But you'll wait until you catch us before you punish us, won't you,
+Antone?" they answered mockingly.
+
+"Oh, it's Halloween! It's Halloween!" sang Pumpkin, turning handsprings
+as he rolled along, and the rest of the vegetables did cartwheels as
+they went careering after him. They looked like a dozen market stalls
+upset on the hillside, and poor Antone nearly wept when he thought of
+his loss. He followed them with determination. Antone was not a lad to
+give up easily.
+
+"Follow me! Follow me!" sang Pumpkin, as he led the way to a tiny door
+that opened beneath the forest. Turnips and Carrots squeezed through,
+and Antone, fearing to be left behind, caught up Babette and ran faster.
+Just as he reached the little door, a rough Potato tried to slam it in
+his face. But Antone was too quick for him. He ran through and climbed
+down the hole into the underground forest. There he continued the chase,
+but the ground here was springy and elastic, and with each step Antone
+began to gain on the vegetables. Babette's fatigue left her, and she
+shook herself free of Antone's hand.
+
+"We'll catch up to them," declared Antone as they ran along. Even as he
+spoke, Potato stubbed his toe, and Babette caught him. She held him
+firmly, although he squirmed and tried his best to get free.
+
+"Help! Help!" bawled Potato, when he saw he was a prisoner. "Oh,
+Pumpkin, wait for me!" he cried. The tears streamed from every one of
+his eyes, and he looked truly sad. At his cries Pumpkin turned around,
+and all the vegetables followed their leader.
+
+"Come now, Antone," began Pumpkin in a persuasive voice. "You might let
+us have one night off, you know. Halloween is our night." Somewhere on
+his run, Pumpkin had picked up two twigs, and on these he now balanced
+himself rather unsteadily and thrust his leaves in the place where his
+pockets would have been if he had had pockets. He looked so very jolly
+and his grin was so very broad that Antone was inclined to give up the
+prisoner; but just then he thought of the ruined vegetable garden and
+grew angry again.
+
+"It is all very well for you to be polite, Pumpkin, and try to beg off
+your friend," said Antone, "but this is the very fellow that tried to
+slam the door in my face not two seconds ago."
+
+"Oh, Antone," cried Potato, "that's wrong. It was three seconds ago as
+true as I live. I looked at my watch just as I was trying to pinch your
+nose in the underground door, and it's quite three seconds ago; maybe
+it's four."
+
+"Oh, hush up!" cried Pumpkin. "That's no way to talk when you are trying
+to beg off. Let him off for my sake, Antone," he continued in a most
+winning voice. "You'd get everlastingly tired of being in bed yourself;
+you know you would. See if you wouldn't take the first chance to kick up
+your heels if you could get it."
+
+"But, Pumpkin," replied Antone, "think of my vegetable garden; it is
+ruined. I was saving all my vegetable money to go to school, and now I
+cannot go for ever and ever so long. Besides, how could I know you got
+tired of being in a bed? You never spoke to me before."
+
+"Well, I speak to you now," replied Pumpkin, "and as for your vegetable
+patch, we'll all make that up to you, won't we, boys?"
+
+"We will! We will!" called the vegetables in chorus, and the Potato in
+Babette's little fist yelled the loudest of all.
+
+"There, now, you see we mean no harm," declared Pumpkin, "so let Potato
+go. Then you can both join us in our Halloween frolic."
+
+At the magic words "Halloween frolic," Babette put Potato down at once.
+She was bound to have her fun, and, after all, the vegetables seemed to
+be a jolly lot. So peace was made, and the children followed the bobbing
+Turnips and Onions. Then shouts were heard, and Pumpkin ordered a halt.
+Presently they were joined by a dozen or more Cabbages.
+
+"You're nice ones!" panted the Cabbages. "There we sat in the storeroom
+waiting for you to call us, and the first thing we knew we saw you
+pelting off down the hill like mad things."
+
+"My gracious!" said a very stout Cabbage, who was terribly out of
+breath, "I'll have to take off my outer leaves before I go another step.
+I feel as though I were boiled."
+
+Antone recognized the Cabbages at once. "You are Father Minette's
+cabbages, are you not?" he inquired politely as they marched along.
+
+"Why, if it isn't little Antone, the woodcutter's son!" exclaimed the
+very stout Cabbage. "Yes, we come from Minette's farm. Mother Minette
+saved us for pickle, but we fooled her and slipped out of the storeroom
+when she was not looking. Oh, we Cabbages are not so green as we look!"
+The Cabbages all laughed, and Antone was surprised to find that he
+laughed too.
+
+As they went marching on, Pumpkin sang and danced in the lead, and
+Onions and Carrots echoed his hearty songs. Presently great black cats
+with shining yellow eyes stepped from behind the trees, and each cat was
+soon joined by its mistress, who was no other than a real witch in tall
+peaked hat and carrying a broomstick. The Cabbages, who were a friendly
+lot, introduced Antone and Babette to these witches, and the witches
+seemed pleased to meet the children.
+
+"They do not seem to be wicked witches, do they, Antone?" whispered
+Babette.
+
+"Oh, my dear," replied a witch who overheard, "we are not a bit wicked
+on Halloween, you know. Any other night, I would probably do you a
+mischief. It is my nature, you know." She reached in her bag and handed
+Babette a peppermint. Babette, who was very fond of peppermint, ate it
+up with all haste.
+
+"You shouldn't do that, my dear," reproved the witch. "It is seldom
+witches give peppermints, and when they do the peppermints should be
+treasured. Here is another to keep for your pocket, and then you will
+never be without a peppermint when you want one." And she handed Babette
+another. Babette curtseyed so prettily that the witch was charmed and
+took her to ride on her broomstick.
+
+It was the gayest company one ever could imagine, as they marched along.
+Every vegetable was singing a different Halloween song in a different
+key, and they all had voices that sang out of tune by nature. Babette,
+her little white nightdress flying in the breeze, was riding on the
+witch's broomstick and singing loudly as the rest. When they reached the
+dancing-floor it was lighted with millions and millions of glowworms,
+and an orchestra of ten thousand frogs hummed lively tunes in their
+throats. Pumpkin seized a handful of glowworms and put them in his head.
+Then with his features all aglow he cried out:
+
+"Ready for the dance!"
+
+  [Illustration: It was the gayest company one ever could imagine,
+  as they marched along.--_Page 262._]
+
+Instead of taking partners, the vegetables just plunged on to the floor
+and began to jump about like mad. If they fell down they did not jump up
+at once but rolled around the floor most good-naturedly. They looked so
+like vegetables boiling about in a great soup kettle that Antone thought
+he should die of laughing. The witches took their brooms and began a
+sort of "ladies-change" figure while they chased their cats around the
+edge of the circle. Babette danced hardest of all. She knew no more of
+dancing than any Carrot or Parsnip, but she capered wildly, singing at
+the top of her voice.
+
+"Come and dance too, Antone," called Babette, as she went jumping past
+her brother, but he shook his head and laughed.
+
+"I am too big for such nonsense," said he. "I am ten, you know."
+
+"What nonsense!" cried a witch who was chasing her cat close by. "Ten is
+exactly the right age to have fun." She raised her broom playfully, and
+before he knew it, she swept Antone into the middle of the dance.
+Pumpkin, his grinning features all aglow, went flying past and made
+Antone feel proud. Pumpkin was certainly the handsomest vegetable of the
+lot. As the night grew later, the frogs hummed faster, but hum as fast
+as they would, they could not keep up with the frisky vegetables. Beets
+and Cauliflowers continued to bob up and down like mad; Cabbages from
+Minette's farm lost leaf after leaf; Carrots and Onions grew battered
+from much tumbling about, and the merry din of song and laughter grew
+louder and louder.
+
+"Let's play Blind Man's Buff," called Antone. "I'll be 'it' and show you
+how to play." He tied the handkerchief over his eyes, and the witches
+and their black cats went darting hither and thither. The vegetables
+were so pleased with this new game that they would play nothing else.
+They might have been playing it yet had not a cock crowed suddenly.
+
+"Good gracious me!" cried a witch. "The glowworms are all gone out. It's
+nearly morning. All who are going back to the vegetable patch had best
+be on their way."
+
+"Not I!" cried Pumpkin. "I've done with vegetable patches forevermore."
+
+"Not we," exclaimed the Cabbages. "We're going to turn savage and be
+wild cabbages for the rest of our days! We shan't go back to Mother
+Minette's pickle jars." Straightway every vegetable began to raise its
+voice and declare it would not go back to Antone's patch.
+
+"Oh, hush, all of you!" cried the witch. "Stay in the woods for the rest
+of your life if you like. It is nothing to me; but what of Antone and
+Babette? Who is to take them home?"
+
+"Well, ma'am," replied Pumpkin with a low bow, "we thought that you
+might be good enough to give them a ride home on your broomstick."
+
+"But Pumpkin!" cried Antone in dismay, "you promised to make it up to me
+if I let Potato go, and I think you should all return with me. I shall
+not have any vegetables if you all remain in the woods."
+
+"Never worry about that, Antone," replied Pumpkin with a lordly air.
+"Here is a purse for each of you, and if you take good care never to
+lose them, you will have plenty of gold forever. Isn't that true, boys?"
+
+"True as we're not going back to the farm," cried the Cabbages. "You had
+best hurry and plant yourself before it grows daylight, Pumpkin," they
+warned and began to dig holes in the earth. Before Antone and Babette
+had mounted the witch's broomstick, all the Carrots and Turnips and even
+Pumpkin were all tucked up in their sandy beds. They called a faint
+good-by as the children sailed off with the witch.
+
+"Oh, what a beautiful Halloween frolic," sighed Babette as she leaned
+her head on Antone's shoulder and fell fast asleep.
+
+The broomstick flew with the swiftness of an eagle, and the witch warned
+Antone to hold Babette with a firm grasp. One by one the stars went out
+as they sped across the sky. The black cat steered and seemed to know
+the exact way to the woodcutter's cottage, for just as the dawn was
+breaking the broomstick glided down to Babette's window. The witch shook
+hands with Antone, and the black cat politely jumped off to help Antone
+with his little sister. Before the good creature could mount again, the
+broomstick was off like whirlwind, and it was left behind.
+
+"This broomstick is so wild I cannot stop it," called the witch from
+the clouds. "Keep good care of my cat until next Halloween."
+
+Antone put Babette in her little crib and made the black cat a
+comfortable bed in the kitchen. Then he lay down to sleep and dreamed of
+the Halloween frolic until he was wakened by his mother.
+
+"Come, Antone!" she cried. "I have good news for you. Only look from the
+window and see the great black cat without a single white hair that sits
+washing his face in the sun. Such a cat coming to us on Halloween will
+surely bring us good luck! But come, my child, get up, for the sun is
+high, and it is time for you to dig your vegetables for market."
+
+"My vegetables have gone wild in the forest," muttered Antone, "but it
+is no matter, for here is a bag of gold which they gave me. The cat is
+the black cat of the witch who brought us home on her broomstick; so let
+me sleep, Mother, for I am weary with dancing at the Halloween frolic."
+He closed his eyes and slept again, while his mother examined the
+leather bag.
+
+"Antone, my son!" she screamed. "Here is gold yellow as a pumpkin! Where
+have you been to gather such wealth?" She shook him and gave him no
+peace until he waked fully and told the story. Even then his mother did
+not believe it, but threw up her hands and wept that her son should thus
+rave with fever.
+
+The woodcutter and Babette came running to see what had happened, and at
+the sight of the second bag of gold the poor woman grew calmer. Babette
+showed the peppermint which the witch had given her, and the mother
+doubted no more.
+
+"To receive a peppermint from a witch is surely a mark of great favor,"
+said she, and began to laugh through her tears. "I thought I was
+dreaming or that Antone raved of fever, for never in my life had I seen
+so much gold."
+
+"It is like the fairies to bless the children of the poor," said the
+woodcutter. "Now Antone will go to school, and Mother will have a
+handsome dress and shawl."
+
+"And is it not as I said?" cried his wife. "A black cat coming on
+Halloween would bring us good luck, and here is the luck already!"
+
+It would have been hard to find a happier family than the woodcutter's
+as they set out for the village that day. When it was told that the
+woodcutter was looking for a pair of oxen, some folk laughed outright.
+The woodcutter was too poor to feed a pair of canaries, they declared;
+but when it became known that the woodcutter's wife had bought a new
+dress and a golden ring, they began to wonder who had died and left the
+woodcutter a fortune. Antone told the tale of their wealth to those who
+questioned him, and straightway the village children ran to throw their
+jack-o'-lanterns from the roofs and high places. But their pumpkins
+broke or stayed on the ground below where they had fallen (it was no
+longer Halloween, remember). At noon, when the woodcutter and his family
+sat down to dinner in the village inn, the landlord threatened to charge
+a penny from all who stood gazing through the windows. Some folk scoffed
+openly and declared it was a tale to tell children and dullards; but
+there were the two leather bags filled with gold. The greatest marvel of
+all was, that no matter how much the woodcutter or his wife spent from
+these, the bags always remained brimful of gold!
+
+Antone chose a pair of steel skates in the village shop and bought an
+armful of books for which he had longed. Babette, however, with her
+usual perverse ways, would have none of the dollies in the village toy
+shop. They were ugly, she declared, and their cheeks were not pink and
+beautiful as were the turnip dollies Antone made for her.
+
+And ever after that the woodcutter and his wife were no longer poor
+folk. They had white bread and even butter every day of their lives, and
+on Sundays and holidays they had roasted fowl for their dinner. Antone
+went to school, and Babette had an embroidered frock which was the envy
+of every child in the village. Their mother no longer sighed as she went
+about her household tasks, and neither did she strain her eyes making
+fine laces for market. Instead she rode proudly on the seat of her
+husband's ox cart when he delivered wood in the village; sometimes she
+even drank tea with the mayor's wife! Visitors from far and near went to
+see the famous spot where Antone's vegetables all ran away one Halloween
+night; and to this day there lives not a man who can make grow on that
+land cabbages or turnips or any other vegetable, although in a spot in
+the forest, not far off, cabbages and pumpkins and all such vegetables
+grow wild.
+
+Each year, as regularly as Halloween came to mark the harvest time,
+Antone and Babette mounted the broomstick with the witch and rode off to
+the Halloween frolic. There they always found Pumpkin grown rounder and
+jollier than the year before, and they always rode home across the sky
+just as the dawn was breaking. The black cat became so fond of Babette
+that it never again rejoined its rightful mistress, but remained with
+the woodcutter and his family and brought them good luck for the rest of
+their days.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Green Forest Fairy Book, by Loretta Ellen Brady
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GREEN FOREST FAIRY BOOK ***
+
+***** This file should be named 35458.txt or 35458.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        http://www.gutenberg.org/3/5/4/5/35458/
+
+Produced by David Edwards and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was
+produced from images generously made available by The
+Internet Archive)
+
+
+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.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+http://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+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
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need, are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+http://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at http://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit http://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations.
+To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  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.