The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1868-09-01
LITTLE wH1FE-THoRN.
BY BRETON LEGEND.

| III those DeautlIuI Olu tlultS WIFI
wrong never prevailed long over right,
| when the good prospered and the wick
| ed were COMMUNICATING is to say, in
the times before the world was turned
upside down, there lived in Finisterre
pious widow, who had an only
daughter, a child of thirteeni with hair
like spun silk, and blue eyes, and a
parency that the country people called
her White-thorn. The Widows father
was q large farmer owing land of his
own, and feeding on the moors large
tioCks of Sheep and pasturing in the
water-meadows numerous cattle. a
sparkling brook that Slid down the pur-
| pie moor-sideS was conducted by him
10 "a mill he had built in depression
on the Tell slope among some green ash
trees and Towering elders, and there
the stream rushed foaminG over the big
water:wheel, looking, from distance,
in the sun, like a large wavering white
tuIt OF cotion-grass, He had also built
was made into delicious white
cakes, and his barley lOaves were
baked brown, and where,als his great
buckwheat pancakes were prepared for
the laborers who titled the soil.
Alas even in those good old times,
before the world was turned upside
down, people died. The old farmer fell
ill, deceased, and his property WAS di-
yided among his children. He had
three sons; his only daughter was the
widow, the mother of White.thorn. The
eldest look the house, the land and the
mich kline; the second took the mill
and the horses; and the third took the
bake-hpuse and the sheep. Nothing re-
maine6to the widow Elizabeth but an
old hovel on the moors, far away from
the village, where, occasionally, in bad
weather, tho shepherd had wont TO
take shelter. When the poor woman
beWailed the Injustice of her brothers,
the eldest said TO her nttfr
"Eow, Elizabeth, / will prove to you
how full OF affection am. a dear, good
sister you have always been to me, and
when I was i'll in fever you nursed me
with the utmost care; therefore / will
now make you handsome present.
have an old black COW, which yields
scarcely cup-full of milk you are
weIcorn to it. Let White-thorn put a
halter round its neck, and lead it to
your howell"
So Elizabeth took stick and beat the
COW behind, and White thorn pulled
the halter in front; and thus, after
much trouble, the old black COW was
brought to the hut on the moors
which was all that belonged to the
widow. Every day, little white-thorn
took the COW out of the stable and pas
tured 1t on the moors; there WAS little
food for it there except yOung gorse
tops, and fern shoots, and the thin grey
grass that sprouted about the marshy
spots. Whilst the cow suffered after
heritage, the girl picked flowers, lille
deep blue genLians, marsh marlgolds,
the delicate wagering tufts of cotton
grass, the sparkling sun-dew, and the
turquoise blue forget.me.not; and these
she made into nosegays, which she
brought TO her mother at sundowD,
/ IN adOrn the cottage table, aA
| One day, as White-thOrn was making
a chaplet of daisies, she noticed beau
tirul bird perched on whin-bnsh,
singing sweetly. The little creature
! turned its brilliant eyes on the child
and twittered to her, exactly as If 1t
were speaking. "What do you wish
to saY?" asked White. thorn, leaning
towards it. The bird fluttered its
| wings, hoped nearer to her, turned its
head on one side. and began to prattle
| once more. al cannot understand
YOU" said the girl, with II sigh. Then
| the bird jumped on her shoulder, and
| chIrped louder. at is all in vain, -
said White-thorn. "You must speak
Breton ii you would mike me compre.
hend." But, as the little bird could
not do this, it spread its wings, smote
the air with them, once, twice, thrice,
and was gone. q
The sun had now set; White.thorn
looked round. In. the still, green sky
hung the silver speck OF the evening
star, like gem dropped on sunlit
lawn. And there, flying in the soft
air, WAS the bird, like tiny dark spot,
becoming smaller and smaller, till IL
had quite disappeared. And all the
while the star became brighter and
brighter, till it burned like lamp OF
fire. Now White.thorn called the black
COW. She could not see the dear ami
NAL anywhere. She ran hither and
thither, but perceived no traces Oft /;
and the darkness fell, and she would
have lost her way had not she heard
her mother's voice calling loudly,
"White-thorn, White-thornl" Here
am, mother. But where Is the cow ~
1.-The COW is here, my child" White
thorn FASTENED to her mother, and
found the old woman standing by the
mAngled remains OF the black COW.
The wolves had fallen ON it and de-
voured 1t, leaving only the bones, the
horns, and the black tail, with the black
tuft OF hair at the extremity. White
thorn uttered cry of sorrow, and
i flung herself on the grass beside the
bones of the cow. rDo not lament over
a beast as over a Christian said the
widow. "Come within, White.thorn,
we will have our supper and then go TO
bed" =.
The little girl was hardly able to
sleep all night, her heart ached for the
cow, and as soon as the sun rose Sne
starred from her bed, and ran forth in
her night-dress, with bare feet and
i arms, upon the moor. The morning
light glistened in the gossamer that
was dung over the gorse bushes, and
4 the long 5pider-threads strung with
u dew, were like rosafies OF diamonds
4 which the sun told, winking and fash
I ing in each. And there, perched on q
bush OF yellow broom, was the sweet
bird who had sung to WhIte-thorn the
day before. The girl ran towards IL
Il and kneelfng beside the broom, listen
ed attentiveIy 10 Its tWitterihg. The
little creature seemed to speak earnest.
ly toher, but not word could she
understand. Then, heedlesslyJ she put
her naked foot on celandine that lay
like a cup of gold in the grass. Now,
be 1t known to all good children, that
whoever touches that flower with bare
feet, and with conscience undefled, &C
quires the knowledge of the Languages
of birds, beasts, and fishes. The soul
Of White-thorn was transparent and
unstained as mountain burn; So nc
sooner had she touched the little gold
en- blossom, than all at once, what the
bird said became Ineligible to her.
"Whits-thorn, dear White-thornsH
we're its words, ~ love you well, SC
ssWho ARE you ~ asked the child
astonished at her newly acq nired
power. s.5Ilu
'1 am Robin Redbreast," answered
the bird. "And i have the power Of
leyery year making one good, poor child