Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-04-08
"STIEFMUETTERCHEN."
"a capital Fairy Story written for THE EVENING STAR
by Miss Brown-"I

had driven the fairies from hill and glen and
steamboats, had been the death of sprites and
mikes, there lived in q fishing village, near the
Baltic, q young man who was the pride and
boast of all that coast. No eye was so bright,
no hair SO curly as Erich's; where kind heart
and willing hands and feet were wanted there
was he gentle and tender "a girl; but let q
comrade be in danger, or ship lie at the mercy
of the wrathfnl waves, then, where was there
courage and endurance like his What wonder
that ALL from the old crone mending nets In the
chimney corner. to the wee fodder building
huts of sand on the shore, loved and were proud
Of him. and that many sun-browned maiden
looked at him with a blush aud a sigh and
wished she were mistress of the little house
near the ocean. But Erich neither blushed nor
sighed. and when he returned one day from an
unusually long voyage there came with him
sweet. pale woman, whose gentle presence
theneeiorward made the little house paradise.
Many were, of course the regrets that a
stranger should have been brought to take pos
session Of the coveted treasure; but the sweet
temper OF the new neghbOr soon oyercame those
feelings. and when her blue ewes looked at them
from her baby daughters face even the last
remnant of the old jealousy was drowned in
the little ones cry. Soon little bow came to
share his sisters lullaby and increase the
mothers cares; and then, while they daily grew
u.
paler TILL when dark-eyed baby pair had
looked their first upon the world in her arms
she succumbed to her old enemy, the north
wind. and was laid 10 rest on the bleak hillside
nom which her wistful eyes had so often gazed
toward the land of her childhood.
And now came dark days for Erich The soul
OF his house was gone and only its cares re-
manned. falling with leaden weight upon
shoulders which. however strong. were oh! SO
unused TO such burdens. True, some kindly
bring order out OF chaos but alasl their ways
were not the ways of her who was gone and
things grew from bad to worse till at home or
On the sea, there was nowhere 30 sad aud des-
pairing man as Erich. Full of gloomy thoughts
he was out in his boat one day. listIessly letting
1T float whittier it would when he seemed to
hear voice singing:
"oh! cease now thy MORNINGS, thou sorrowful
man;
The ocean brings comfort: rely on It's plan,
And ere yet another full moon shall have waned,
Your life all its former content will have gained u
He was reused from his reYerie and gaZed
around, but could not discern any possible source
of the song; vet he heard il again and AGAIN
ana hnaily remembered that close to this spot.
deep down among the reefs, the sea-king's
palace was said TO be- OF course the gray
haired minister, back there in the hamlet had
tired TO reason him out Of that belief: but, then
Wbat could minister know about such things?
Surely. ETich's own father and grandfather
and all the brave fellows who had sooner or
later gone down to old Oceanus' dominion had
q better Tight 10 know the truth Of the matter
than he; and since they had believed it why
should not ne! Therefore, the comforting voice
could only come from there and he must heed
It, And he did, and felt less unhaDpy than
usual when. upon his return home. he found
everything in confusion and the twins in open
rebellion
Early that day there had been an unwonted
eonmotiOn among the old sea kings daughters
Zephyrine, the most lovely and eOmnassiOuate
OF all, had declared to her sisters that she would
take charge OF the fOrsaken little mortaIs in the
iouse near the sea- In vain they had begged
nef not 10 leave them, reminding her of the fact
that she must forfeit her Immortality. and be
snejeet TO suffering and death like any earth
born being, II she renounced her present state.
10 all she had but the one reply that she could
not bear to see their fayorite Erich. in his sor-
row and the children in their NEGLECTED condi-
tlOn' they needed her aud she would 90 to
them, no matter what the penalty she had to
pay And the next morning when Erich landed
al nus ray0rite haunt, in search of some peculiar
smells, which had been ordered by grand Iady
from some far away town. he found sjtting
upon the sand beautiful woman in sea-aTeen
garments, which fOated around her splendid
form nAe mists around the mountain-top. In
rePiy 10 ms questions she told him tilst she had
been shipwreeked. and seemed to be the ouly
one surviving; and that account of herself she
also gave TO the minister Who when Erich had
o|ught her TO the village and offered her the
Shetssi vi ms IoOi, came 20 comfort and aid her
as Best he could. No storm had r~srefi the dav
before, no signal Of distress had been beard
however and the villagers shook their heads
ana wondered how vessel could have been
WFecAed so near their shore, wfthnut their know
ing anything whatever about it.
The stately woman seemed perfacfIy content
though. Her quiet. identifying touch was uuon
al ana everything, and son there was no house
SO Weu-Ordered. no children SO clean obedient
ana happy as those belonging to Erich But
GlNZ had
bringing anyone TO claim the lady, then the
minister suggested that she should 90 with him
10 the great capital. and from thence institute
inquiry concerning her people; and then the
cniofen discovered that they could not be happy
WITHOUT her, ana Erich saw that she was indeed
the comfort the ocean had promised him. and
thar ne could not let her go. And thus it ham
pend that there was quiet wedding. and the
pride We q ain strange woman: aye far more
strange q al the broken lily had been. which
they nad oedded with tears on the hillside but
two short years before. Why, no one knew
even where this one had come from: and surely
tnere could never be any luck in a house where
the orde acted IN so mysterious manner az
tnis one had done. When the Oh Idren had come
running home, screaming with delight at having
iOund, on the shore, string OF pearls. so large
ana pure as had never been seen there before
GIdH she just smile in shadOwy way and put
t .Ieh on, Win a murmured something about
their oeing present from her sisterss Ali il
was all very strange, very And whea dav after
day these very children were SO lucky i'm finding
the rarest, most beautiful shells and amber in
such quantities as Others could not hone To
gather IN lifetime. then it became aDparept To
even the most incredulOus that some other
power than mere chance befrienCed them. And
the inmates or the little stone house also held
this oeiei, aud were happy in the endowment of
many comforts which had never been known
there before, while Erich often wondered what
would have become of him and his little ones
had not the ocean brought this blessing to his
lonely home. ~
mus time passed on and the fisherman's wife
hoped that the wrath Of her kin had taken the
form OF forgetfulness. Often while walking
Win the children along the shore in the even
ing she saw the mist-like forms of her sisters
moving 10 the rhythmic measures of their dance
and thought, with sigh. of the time when She
too, had e n of their number; but a glance AZ
the merry. happy faces of the little ones han
lsheo all regret and she returned to her homo
more fully convinced than ever that she had
done what WAS kiniest and best One evening
though, while Erich was absent she heard tine
voices oil her sisters s0bbing mournfuIly around
the mouse, and knew that the hast hour or her
stay had come Calmly and lovingly she gath
ereu the children around her and waited. The
TWO eioer ones chung closely-to either side.
ana the babies. the twins mara o.. ,,.,,., -