The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1878-06-15

woodhouSe full of wood, the cupboard
| full of bread? Wilt thou have riches
! Wilt thou have honors? Wilt thou be
a Duchessp Wiltthou be a Queen?
Misery shook her head.
/ A saint who has any self-respect
ought not to be under any obligation to a
poor woman" returned Saint Wanon,
with an air of pique. "Speak, or !
shall think thou refusest me from
PRIDE
"Since you insist upon it, great
Saint Wanon, | will obey. l have there
in my garden pear tree which gives
me most beautiful pears; unfortunately,
the young rogues in the village come to
rob me of them, and [ am forced to
leave poor Faro at home to mount
guard. Grant that whoever climbs my
pear tree may not come down without
my permission.
"Amenr replied Saint Wanon,
smiling at her simplicity, and, after nav
ing given her his blessing, he set out
upon his journey.
The blessing of Saint Wanon brought
good luck to Misery, and from that
time forth she never returned home
with an empty sack. Spring followed
winter: summer spring, and autumn
summer. The little boys, seeing Mis-
cry 90 off with Faro, climbed up the
pear tree and stuffed their pockets; but,
when they undertook to come down,
they found they We're caught fast in
trap.
Misery, on her return, beheld them
perched up in a tree, left them there
good while, and when in the kindness
OF her heart, she let them 90 set Faro
barking at their heels. They did not
dare to come again; the villagers them
selves avoided passing the enchanted
tree, and Misery and Faro lived as hap
Ply as one can live here below.
Toward the end of the autumn, Mis-
cry was enjoying herself in her garden
in the sun, when she heard voice cry
ing: Misery! Misery! Miseryr' The
voice was so mournful that the good
woman began to tremble in every limb
and Faro howled as though there had
been a corpse in the house
She turned around and saw man,
tall, lean, yellow and old, old as pa
triarch. This man carried q scythe as
long as hop pole,
Misery recognized Death.
"What do you want, man of God?"
said she, in an altered voice; land
what have you come for with that
scythe?'
q come to do my work. Come, my
good Misery, thine hour hath struck;
thou must follow me''
" Already?n
"Already! But thou shouldst thank
me, thou who art so poor, SO old and so
crippled
mot so poor nor so old as you think
for, master | have bread in the cup
board and wood in the pile; l shall be
only ninety-five come Candlemas, and |
as for being crippled, am as straight
as you on my legs, without offense be it
said"
go to! Thou wilt be much better
off in Paradise
eve know what we lose, what we
gain by change we know not" said
Misery, philosopically. Besides, it
would grieve Faro so much.n
Faro shall follow thee. Come, make
up thy mind"
Misery sighed. "Grant me at least
a few moments, till tidy up bit. |
should not like to make the people in
the other world ashamed of me-
Death consented.
Misery put on her best gown of flow
cred Indian muslin which she had had |
for more than thirty years, her white
bonnet and her old Silesian mantle, all |
worn but without a hole or a spot,
which she never wore except on the
great Saints days.
While dressing herself, she cast last |
glance upon her cabin and called to
mind her peartree. A strange thought |
came into her head, and she could |
hardly keep back smile.
"While | am getting ready, will you
kindly do me a service, man of God?''
said she to Death. :" If you will get up
into my pear tree and pluck me the
them on my journey"
BE it So" said Death, and he got
up into the pear tree.
He plucked the three pears, and at
to come down, but, to his
great surprise, he was unable to stir
from the tree.
"Ho! Miseryr' cried he, "help me
to get down. believe this cursed tree
is bewitched."
Misery came to the doorway. Death
was making superhuman efforts with
his long arms and long legs, but every
time that he got himself free from the
tree, the tree, as if it were a living
creature, took hold of him again and
folded him in its long branches.
my soulr' said she, - am not at
all in a hurry to 90 to Paradise. Thou
art very well off. Stay where thou art,
my good fellow. The human race will
owe me a debt of gratitude"
And Misery shut her door and left
Death perched up in her pear tree.
At the end of a month, as Death no
longer did his work, everybody was as
tonished to find that there had not been
a single loss of life at Vicq, at Fresnes
and at Condo. The establishment was
redoubled at the end of the next month,
especially when it was learned that it |
was the same at Valenciennes, at Douai,
at Lille and throughout all Flanders.
A like thing had never been heard of,
and when the new year came in it was
known by the almanac that the same
thing had happened in France, in Bel
gium, in Holland, as well AS with the |