The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1872-05-31
Young Folks.
The First Wife's Wedding Ring.
(CONCLUDED).

"Thus to thee, but how to me 2"
said the soldier; and when the giant
departed, he set to work. But although
he was so strong, and worked willing
| ly, the trees seemed almost as hard as
stone, and he made little progress.
When he returned at night the giant
asked him how he got on. 1.-THE trees
are very hard" said he. $50 they al
ways have been since / have had idle
servants
"I will not be called idle a second
Time" thought the soldier, and next
day he went early and worked his ut.
most. But the result was very small /;
and when he came home looking sad
and weary, he could not fail to sec
that this gave great satisfaction to the
giant.
Matters had gone on thus for some
time, when one morning, as he went
to his work, he found the little old
woman gathering sticks as before.
"Listen," said she; she shall not
treat you as he treated others. Count
seventy to the left from where you
are working, and begin again. But
do not let him know that you have
made fresh start; and do little at
the old place from time to time, as Il
blind"
And before he could thank her, the
old woman was gone. Without more
ado, however, he counted seventy
from the old place, and hit the seven
tieth tree such a blow with his axe,
that it came crashing down then and
there And he found that, one after
another, the trees yielded to his blows,
as if they were touchwood. lie did
good days work, gave a few stokes
in the old place, and came home TAX
ing care to look as gloomy and sad as
before.
Day by day he got deeper and
deeper into the woods, the trees fall
ing before him like dry elder twigs
and now the hardest part of his work
was walking, backwards and forwards
to the giants house, for the forest
seemed almost without end. But on
the three hundred and sixty sixth
day from his first meeting the giant,
he cut fairly through into an open
plain, and as the light streamed in.
magpie flew away, and on searching
her nest, the soldier found his mothers
wedding ring. He also found many
precious stones of priceless value, which
were evidently the lost crown jewels
And as his term of service with the
giant was now ended and his work
done, he did not trouble himself to re-
turn, but with the ring and jewels in
his pockets, set off to'find his way to the
kings palace. He soon fell in with
good humored fellow, who showed him
the way and pointed out everything of
interest on the way. AS they drew
near the great city, one of the royal
carriages was driving out of the city
gates, in which sat three beautiful
ladies, who were the kings daughters.
"See the kings daughters" said
the man; "the two eldest are engaged
to marry two neighboring princes"
"And whom is the younges to mar
ry?' asked the soldier, "for the is by
far the most beautiful"
"She will never marry" answered
the man, "for she is pledged to the
man who shall find the lost crown
jewels, and cut path through the
stone.wood forest that borders the
kings domain; and that is as much
as if she was pledged to the man who
should fetch down the moon for her
to play with-for the jewels are lost
beyond all recall, and the wood is an
enchanted Forest"
Nevertheless, she shall be wed with
my mothers wedding ring" thought
the soldier. But he kept his own coun-
ell, and only waited till he smartened
himself up before he sought an audience
with the King, for he rightly thought
there is a great deal in the first impress
sion you make.
When he saw the King and showed
the crown jewels, and told how he had
cut through the forest and found the
jewels in the magpie's nest, his claim
to the Princess was clearly proved,
and the King heaped riches and hon
ors upon him and the soldier being
handsome, and clearly showing that
he had been brave, good man, he
made himself so acceptable to the
bride elect, that the wedding was fixed
for an early day.
"May / bring my old father,
Madam ?" he asked of the Princess.
"That you certainly may" said she /;
'a good son will certainly make a good
husband and vOur father shall ba NV