Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1874-02-04
Youths Column.

The DARK DARNsFoREsr.- hun
dred years before the birth of our Lore
and Savior, there lived in England
queen by the name of Garheven. Sh,
hated the king of Denmark, and de
termined to inundate his dominions
At those times England and Franc,
were united by strip of land sever
miles long, with high ridge of noun
tains, called by an old German, word
''Hoeveden." And it took seve-- nun
dred men seven years to dig through
the "Hoeveden." Where, on the ives
tern coast of Sleswic, now is the Risum
moor, there was then mighty forest
called the ozark Darnsforest." Great
wild bears and wolves had their dens il
it 1; and if any one went into its depths
he never returned, for the wild beasts
had torn him to pieces
Now, there was little boy, who lived
with his mother in miserable hut close
to the Dark Qarnsforest. The mother
said,
''Pick me this little mug full of ber-
ries, then will cook a soup for dinner,
and put honey in it, too."
-AH-s tAC AAbtlC DOl Idu lulO luc iOftst
for he thought there surely he would
find plenty of berries. He had never
been here before, and did not know who
lived in the forest. Up in the twigs OF
the dark frs sat the little birds, and
sang of the grand trees, and the little
flowers, and of the white eggs in their
nests. When they saw the boy their
voices sounded mournfully, and they
sang, go back go back | Here live
bear and wolff You have no wings to
fly away, no nest high up in the
branches to hide yourself !"
But the little boy did not understand
them. He only said, "Oh, 1 can sing
like bird !" And then he sang loudly,
and went farther into the forest. On
the ground, on the withered leaves, lay
a little spotted snake, with a small
golden crown on her head and as the
boy went by, she said, "Return home
return home In this forest no human
being can live"
The boy was delighted to see the
snake, with her beautiful little crown ;
but her language he did not understand,
and so he went on singing merrily. And
the bright little bugs that flew around
him, the twigs that grazed his garments,
and the flowers in the moss, with their
nodding heads, all cried to him, 'Flee,
flee here lives the wolf here lives the
bear
The boy had now gone far, and not
found any berries yet His singing he
had stopped long ago. He was hungry
and frightened. The farther he went
the darker the forest, and the rougher
and colder the air grew. And there
wolf and bear lived. There they came
running, clothed in their thick furs,
with eyes like Goals, and long red
tongues. The boy screamed, and his
mug fell, and fear made him unable to
move a step. Suddenly it became dark
around him-darker than at midnight
the roaring of the wild beasts ceased,
and the boy saw nothing more. The
trees crashed so strangely, and the air
grew dull and heavy, as in deep cellar.
Then the child closed his eyees, and
sleep came and took him into his arms.
When the Hoeveden had been cut
through, terrible floods submerged the
western coast of Denmark, and from
Iceland came swimming great moor
(Risummoor), and covered the dark
Darnsforest.
Many hundred years had passed since.
On Risummoor lived people in villages !;
but they knew not that q forest was
buried under them. One day a man
dug peat in the moor, and when he came
to a considerable depth, he found trees
with mouldering branches and deeper
yet he found big bones of wild beasts.
And the people, when they heard of it,
became excited, and talked only about
the strange news; and hoped they might
find gold and silver, too. So three men
began to dig lii the moor, and when
they had come so deep as sixteen feet,
they saw glimmering something white
through the black branches of a fir tree.
And they saw that the branches had
twisted themselves into basket, and in
it lay-untouched by the black moor
a child as delicate as wax, in strange
looking clothes, and beside him little
broken mug. His eyes were closed, and
no breadth heaved his bosom. The
men carried him to the light, and as the
sunbeams fell upon him his heart began
to beat again, and his breath returned.
he opened his eyes and looked around
him astonished, and finally he began to
speak.
But nobody understood his language,
for it had become extinct long ago. The
little boy looked on the land, now SO
level at the houses standing on their
wharves at the high church steeples
rising up agaist the sky and far off he
saw the water of the ocean glittering In
the sunlight. All this was strange to
him, and he cried and walled loudly,
but no one understood his sorrow.
They sent for a wise woman by the
name Of Hertje, and she told them they
must carry the child to "Allmensdoor"
(Allemannsthuer, an old name for church
door, and there God would give them
a sign how to act.
Now a number of old women made a
great cry, and said the church yard
would be profaned by bringing heather
child thither, and the people ought to
burn him to death. But 10 suddenly
two other children, in white robes, with
wings on their shoulders, and a shining
nimbus around their head, appeared,
and they said,
1--WE will take him up to heaven,
where his home is"
And so they flew away, carrying the
strange child with them /; and no human
eye ever saw him again.
WORD SoUARE.-An animal living in
water.
An island.