The Red Cloud chief., 1880-05-13

"'rI ten you. let 10 all carry him
down on q shoulders.' suggested Lii
tie Pink.
$50 we win shouted the clouds in
8 chorus. Acd jostling and laughing
they all crowded into the narrow pas
sage. bearing Fritz in their midst As
the door swung open in swept fresh
visitors. q crowd of tiny scurryinS
shapes, and some one behind, whipping
them along with . LASH n ra~sry-colored
air.
"swss. where are you all eoingr
; demanded the new conner, In . breezy
voice. I've collected these stray
lambs from hither and yon. and now
I'm in for the day. wha. takes you
out; pray,
only going TO carry this boy home an
s~ered the rest; while Little Pink
whispered in Fritz's ear, That's the
West Wind. He's ag.eat favorite with
us ALL
".Hallo! A boy! Why. so it is
cried West Wind. He bounced on
Fritz as he spoke. kissed him. rufied his
hair, boxed his ears softly. all in q min.
ute. Then, with = gay, w~hoopins laugh
he vanished into The passage, while the
clouds. raising Fritz, fioatsd downward
like a flock Of white-~inged birds. Little
Pink lay Under his cheek like q pillow.
Softly as thistle-down touches earth
they landed on the valley floor. laid
Fritz on q bed Of soft grass. and rose
again, leaving him there. He looked
up TO watch them rise. bright and smil-
ing. Little Pink waved a rosy hand.
Higher and higher sailed the clouds,
then they vanished into the door. and
the door was shut"
l am telling the story. a You see,
rather in my words than in those Of
the old shepherd. but you won't mind
that. The truth is, l cannot remember
the exact language he used, but so long
as l keep to the main points Of the his
tory it doesn't much matter, does il ?
In a few minutes Fritz recovered his
wits and made haste home, for he feared
his mother might be alarmed at his long
absence. She was not, however, for she
supposed that he had risen early. as he
sometimes did. and taking a piece Of
bread in his hand, had followed the goats
up the valley, breakfasting by the way.
She mel him, full Of wonder ut a strange
thing that had happened.
Such a queer mist filled the valley
Just now" she said. IL could not see
the sun at all. / feared a storm was
coming. but presently it rolled away all
in a minute, and left the day as fine as
vcr Did you notice it? / never saw
anything like it before"
Fritz let his mother wonder, and
held his peace. She would think that
he had fallen asleep and dreamed it
all. he was sure, in fact, after a little.
he himself began to believe that it wa
q dream.
But dream or no dream, the strange
thing was that it came true! From
that time on the climate of the I'm
lucky Valley seemed to change. Years
passed by without a single drought or
inundatiOn. When the pastures below
were parched with thirst, rain fell on
Fritz's fields, keeping them green as
emerald. All his crops succeeded
his goats and sheep gave double share
of milk, and little by little he grew
rich.
"The Lucky Valley" people now
called the once unlucky spot. while to
Fritz they gave the name of "The Fa-
| vOred of the Saints" Year after year
his gains went on increasing. Grad
ually all the land in the valley became
his, except n tiny strip, there at the
upper end, which belonged to a widow,
poor as Fritz's mother was used to be.
This strip Fritz desired to buy, but the
widow refused to sell. though he Of
fered a large price. She had come
there a bride, she declared, with the
myrtle-crown on her head, and there
she wished to die and be buried when
her time should come. The memory
of his own poor mother, who had died
some time before, might have made
Fritz pitiful to this lonely woman, but
his heart had grown hard with con-
tinued prosperity. and it angered him
to be opposed. So when after many
attempts she persisted in her rcsolu-
ton, he tried harsher means. The
widow had debts. These he bought up.
and when she could not pay he brought
the pressure of the law to bear, and
turned her from her home.
1.-The very night after he had watched
her depart. weeping and broken
hearted, as he lay on his bed, feeling at
last that the valley was all his own, the
Little White Door opened on the cliffs
far above. and out came the clouds.
mot pink and purple now, smiling
and full of good will, but black and
wrathful Like a flock of dark vultures
they swooped at the sleeping valley.
Floods of rain fell. fierce winds tore and
raved, the river rose and burst its
bounds carrying all before it. and Fritz.
awakened by the fearful roar, had just
time to escape from his bed and gain
| the nearer hillside. when the waters
| struck the chalet and bore it away in
| ruins down the valley, as though it were
no more than q bubble of foam. The
crops were swept of, the fiocks drowned
in the fields. Fritz chung to a tree
trunk through that fearful night. listen
and the bleatings of the drowning
sheep; and g and mon it seemed as
if shapes, dimly seen through the
darkness, swOoped at and buffeted him,
| while voices cried in his ear, Promise
breaker! Widow-spoiler! Is this the way
you keep faith with the clouds?'
"When morning dawned it revealed
a scene of ruin. Not a blade of barley
remained in the meadows, not q blade
of grass in the fields. The labor Of
| years had vanished in q single night.
1T served him right" said 1.
"Ah. my lady," replied the old
shepherd, "GOd is more merciful to
sinners than we men can be. Fritz was
not wicked at heart. He saw his fault
now in the light of his misfortune, and
was sorry for it. Gladly would he have
made amends, but he was poor now as
the poorest, for the waters lay over the
earth. and did not run of, as waters
generally do. The fertile valley was
become q lake, into which points of
land, fringed with broken and battered
trees, pushed themselves. 1t was . sad
sight
News of the disaster reached the
lower valleys, and the kindly peasants
flocked to help. But what could they
do till the water receded? Nothing.
They could only say comforting words
and return to their homes, leaving Fritz
to his fate.