Indiana American. [volume] (Brookville, Ind.) 1833-1861, 1854-03-31
MissIlanp.
AN EASTERN TALE.

s'a'hto VI OAauSte W bitt NJ SUI itNktts
Prosperity and happiness were the lot
ofhissubjcets. such Us were not equAlled
throughout the East. Famine was un-
known in that land, and treason was an
unheard of crime. The fountain OF
youth was said TO flow in It's eastern
forests, and the city Of III Dorado stood
on It's western shore.
He was wise and prudent monarch
wilhal. Each Of his thirty one sons,
soysrigns though they were, were bred
up to some useful handierafi. One
wrought in iron aud coal, another piled
the loom, another made and guided
boats upon the river. aud another ten.
ded flocks and herds upon the noun
tains. There was one region in the
kingdom that was fruitful aud fair to
look upon, beyond the rest. IL lay at
the head of Valley Of the Fathers Of
Rivers. and stretched far away west
ward to the mountains Of perpetual
snow. IL was a land for the culture of
corn and wine and oil, and it WAS called
III Nebraska, or The Refuge. This
he king had set apart for an inherit
ance TO his children. when they should
arrive ut mans estate. a lii, of senti-
rels was stationed along its q fines, 10
Keep OFF marauders. The sentinels
we're SO sol number and stirred not
fiom their posts night nor day.
As the king was sleeping one day in
his council chamber, he had a, strange
and perplexing vision. He dreamed
thata beggar came knelt before him,
whose aspect was like the aspect Of the
most hideous of the Jim lie was
deiormed. and Scared, ana iame, and
had hut single eye. In IS hand he
held whip OF bulls hijr which he
vaink endeayored to conceai among his
tat,eed garments. Humbling himself
befoe the king, he said 20 King live
fore,erl 1t is not | who am to blame
for hing here to curse thy dominions,
but my father, wicked Englishman,
who brought me and laid me at thy
gate while l was yet an infant, and
deserted me. Lam nearly dead with
hunger andcold Give me pray thee.
u SPIT of ground whereupon | may
worl and earn my livelihood, so that
| my be no more trouble to thee"
Sc the king took compassion on him
and babe him go down into the fields
of .obacco and rice and work there
Will his sons. And the beggar went.
But no sooner was he out OF the kings
sight tban he despoiled the kings sons
OF their lands, and squandered their
substance in idlenessand prohigacy.-
Finally he came again and stood before
th king, in amore pitiable plight than
ever.
30 King" said he, 'live forever!-
HE tobacco fields thou gayest me are
worthless and Improbable, and the rice
ptch is nothing butan infected swamp.
Give me, ] pray thee, another spot Of
lround, whereupon may work and
iarn my livelihood. SO that may be no
more trouble TO thee"
Again the king took compassion on
him and gave him the cane brakes and
the fields Of cotton. And he departed
again. But he wasted their substance
also, and lived riotly. He took the
women and the children that lived there
and sold them for silver TO certain mer-
chants who were going with caravans
to the city Of the Crescent. AT last,
when the silver was spent, he came
and stood before the king a third
time.
Nay the king" said he alive for
eyerl But the cane brakes thou gavest
me are small and well nigh exhausted;
and as for the cotton fields | cannot
pick from enough even to make my
own clothes. Moreover. my neighbor,
Mcjico OF the Mines, has fallen upon
me without provocalion and maltreat-
ed me, therefore, | pray thee. tomovc
out Of hi reach and | will
promise that will be no morea trouble
to thee"
Then the king distrusted him. But
to avoid controversy. he did as he de-
siren lie beat Mejico Of the Mines,
aud took his house and lands and gave
them 10 the bcggar. And he gave
him also all the vineyards Of the sea
cost, and all the plains of the buf.
Ialoes, away TO tho Great Lake OF
Salt.
All this while the kings sons were
toiling in the workshops, and on the
rivers, and In the fields, earning their
bread, and the beggnr's too, by the
sweat OF their brows. But as for the
bcggar, he went down and fcOsted and
made merry at their expense. Worse
than all, he actually accused them Of
eonspiring 10 destroy their father, and
pretended that what he received was "A
reward for saving the kings life from
them, IN u certain garden called the
Garden OF the Casllel
Three years passed. and then tho
beggar came again and stood before the
king, but this time hla manner was
changed. lis ugly form was clothed
In the purple Of Kings, and he spoke as
one having authority overall the earth,
"Fellow." said be. 81 am come TO do
mand my rights. Thou hast kept me
out OF my territories too long already,
will not insist upon the division Of
the kingdom as might, but will rule
overit in common with thee, But
esp pecially. and first Of all, thou shalt
give me The region called III Nebraska,
that lies At the head Of the Valley OF
tho Father OF Rivers. aud At the
foot of the Mountains OF Perpetual
Snow.
Then the king arose in his anger
"Ungratciul wretchl" said he "hpve
not preserved thee, and nourishcd thee,
and kept the breath In thy miserable