Weekly Chillicothe crisis. (Chillicothe, Livingston Co., Mo.) 1878-19??, 1879-08-21
Hlsrenanr!.
THE PRINCE OF TORFA.

Many, many, many years ago there
lived at Skalkolt, in Iceland, a simple.
minded old peasant who was not over.
burdened with money or wits. One Sun
day morning this old peasant happened
to hear very beautiful sermon upon the
duty Of almsgiving. Give, my brethren, "
said the old priest, Give freely, and God
will restore to you n hundred fold"
These words, which were often repeated
in the course Of the sermon, made an ex-
traOrdnary impression upon the old
peasant. That same evening he set off to-
ward the priests house, leading his only
COW by long rope.
The priest, who was buslly engaged in
conversation with two strangers when the
peasant approached, looked somewhat as
tonished at the interruption. He was
still more astonished when he heard the
cause of it.
"My good mani" he exclaimed, "God
never meant material reward. Give
aims Of what you possess, and your heart
will grow more tender. generous and lib
eral. That will be your reward"
But it vas all in vain he spoke.
The obstinate old man would not be
convinced.
"a hundred fold you said, sir; you said
u hundred fold"
at length, weary OF the argument, the
priest turned the peasant and his COW out
into the road, and shut the door behind
them.
The thought Of returning home to bear
his wite's reproaches and his neighbOrs
ridicule was by no means pleasant. The
poor peasant trudged along, bemoanlng
his i'll luck at every stop he took.
The way was long, the roads were bad,
it was bitterly cold, the ruts in the paths
were full of ice, and the winds kept rails
ing great clouds of snow, that nearly
blinded poor Fritz and his COW. Present.
ly he lost his way, and to lose ones way
in such weather in Iceland means to lose
your life. Fritz began to weep bitterly.
Suddenly he heard some one calling him.
He looked around, and saw a man with a
huge sack on his back.
"My good fellow" cried the latter,
what are you dong out here with COW
in this weather."
Fritz related what had lately happened
to him.
"Humph!" said thestranger. "Tll tell
you what you'd better do. Make an ex-
change with me. Give me the cow-you II
never take her home alive, and live close
by-and I'll give you this sack. 1t con-
tains a rare treasure; meat to last you for
many a long day to come-solid flesh and
bone"
Fritz hesitated, but finally agreed to the
strangers proposition. He did not like
parting with his COW, but on the other
hand he expected her to die of cold every
minute. And then wouldn't he get a
scolding from his wife!
"What have you got there?" cried that
lady, as soon as he entered the hut. "And
where Is the cowp"
He told her.
Goose! idiot" she exclaimed in per-
feet fury: "Do you wish to ruin us with
your follyp I'm starving, and there's
nothing in the house for supper"
Ism tthereP" SAID Fritz, triumphantly.
"Just you wait and see. This sack con-
tains real, good meat-selid flesh and
bone."
And so saying, he united the sack.
Judge OF his surpr SO when out of il
jumped little man, clad in mouse-color-
cd garments.
"Good morning, good people," said the
stranger in a condescending, patronizing
tone. 81 must beg of you not to think OF
cooking me, although hope you mean to
cook something or other pretty soon, as !
am as hungry as a hunter"
Fritz fell back on the bench, overwhelm-
ed with terror whilst his wife, fairly be.
side herself with rage, hurled upon him
every abusive epithet she knew.
"Well, if there is no food in the house
and if nobody has any intention of pro.
viding any, the best thing | can do is to
go out and see what can procure"
And without saying another word, the
little man marched out, leaving Fritz to
defend himself as best he could against
his wite's wrath.
AT the end Of an hour, the stranger re-
turned, bringing With him q magnificent
sheep, the head and neck of which Mrs.
Fritz cooked for supper. -4
And this same thing happened for many
days.
The Kings herdsmcn now began to
complain that in spite of all their care and
vigilance, the finest animals had disap.
peared, and were continuing to disappear
from the grazing ground.
There must be q thief in our neighbor-
hood," they all declared.
Presently it was rumored that strnn-
ger, Of whose arrival and antecedents
nothing was known, had lately taken up
his abode in Fritz's cottage.
The King ordered his arrest, and he at
once confessed he was the thief.
The King, who had never heard such
candor, remained for some minutes loo as
tonished TO reply. Then with frown
that boded no good to the poor little man,
aid coldly:
1T strikes me- from your showing, |
that your principal slleut iafor thieviug"