The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1869-02-06

died, taking the old man with him t,
carry the books. But the monk ha,
not proceeded far on his journey befor,
he fell sick and died.
! In his dying hour he committed thu
two volumes to the old man, directing
him to go to the royal castle and delivc
to the little king the one intended fo
him, and then to sell the other, charg
ing him. however, to be careful to make
no mistake.
and now" continued the OLD man
in closing his story, Il am in grea
trouble. do not know which of thu
two books | am to give to the king
If | give him the wrong one, shall
be dreadfully punished"
Did not the monk give you any
mark by which you might know which
of the books you were to give to his
majesty ?" asked the little king.
Yes" replied the man, sit was the
book beginning with the words, under
the holy guardianship of God anG
when YOU came up | was puzzling my
self to death over the beginnings of the
books to see if | could make out which
of them begins with those words But
now, if You will tell me which of them
it is which begins with those words, ]
shall be safe
SO saying, the old man opened the
two books, placed them ON the little
kings lap.
The little king was much ashamed
at the thought that he was unable to
read a word. He leaned down under
pretence of examining the books, but
really to hide his bushes.
AT length, recovering a little from
confusion, he was struck with the idea
that he might possibly learn to read by
means of this poor man. SO after a
pretcnce Of reading, he shut the books,
and said
No, can't put you right, for it is
not proper for any person to appear be-
fore the king in any business without
full understanding of his commission
SO YOU must yourself learn to read
The old peasant said that he should
like nothing better. But he was old,
and not quick at learning. Besides,
the monk, in giving the commission to
his charge, had furnished him very lit
tie money, and he was without the
means of making long stay, or ofpay-
ing a teacher.
That need not trouble you,' re-
piled the little king Il will take care
of that There is learned man who
lives near the tall stecple YOU see yon-
der, who has pension from the castle,
and YOU shall get your instruction, and
everything YOU need, from him. His
name is Jean Gauticr Go to him and
and tell him that little Charles thut
was the kings name, from the castle,
sent you, and that he is to lodge you
at his house, and teach YOU to read
| will send a message that will make it
all right. Then, to make it certain that
You get on we'll, you shall come to me
every day and tell me what you have
learned, and recitc your lessons. |
will send YOU word when You are to
come To the castle and at what door
one there to lead you to me..''---' -------
The little king spoke with SO COM
handing an air, and had borne himself
nobly during the interview, that the
old man did not think of questioning
his authority He, therefore, made no
objection but only asked if he was to
show the two books to the teacher.
Not on any account" replied the
little king. You are to show them
to nobody but me, until you have learn
ed to read thcm'
So the old man took the lesson every
dav from his teacher, and then went to
the castle, where he was conducted into
the presence of the king, who sat upon
Il seat of state. with a whip in his hand,
the old peasant kneeling before him to be
examined in his lesson. He brought
with him, according to the directions
which he had received, thin board, on
which were written the letters of the
alphabet, and she nine figures of arith-
mctic. These he showed the king, and
pointed out to him each day, with fear
and trembling, what he had learned.
Thus the little king learned the let
tiers, pretending to be the master all the
time, while he really was the scholar.
When the letters had all been learned,
then short syllables, and, finally, words
and sentences, We're written on the
board: both the old peasant and the
little king had learned to read. All
this while, nobody in the castle, except
the domestic who met the old peasant
at the door, knew what was going on.
When, at length, the proper time had
come, the little king said to the old
man, that as he could now read, and
could distinguish one book from the
other, the presentation might be made.
81 will arrange for yn.. an audience,
he said, and you shall present to the
king the book Which is meant for him.
As for the other, / will purchase it my
SELF -,
Accordingly, the king gave notice to
his courtiers, and to all the grandees OF
the castle, that book was be presented
to him by a messenger from the great
monastery, and appointed a day for the
ceremony. When the time came, the
king took his seat upon his throne
with the officers of his court standing
around him, and the old peasant, with
the book in his hands, was ushered in
! The courtiers were all surprised that
/ the grand monastery should have com
mitted a present for the king to the
hands of so plain and humble a mes
sengcr, but the poor peasant was ever
more surprised than they; for as he ap
preached the steps of the throne to of
fer his book, he at once discovered that
the examiner, who had been so sterr
and severe with him in keeping him al
his work, was no other than the king
himself He was so COMPOUNDED by
this discovery that he could not speal
word. He dropped upon his knees
and would, perhaps, have let the bocl
fall from his hands if the king had no
taken it from him just in time to save
it.
The king having taken the volume
into his own hands, opened it, turned
over the leaves. and to the utter amaze