Northwest enterprise. [volume] (Anacortes, Wash. Ter.) 1882-1887, 1883-11-10
ANACORTES, w.. T. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 1883.

ing in the middle of the room, ht
turned the ring and cried: 81 wisl
instantly to possess million gold
pieces"
No sooner said than the great, shin
ing gold pieces came pouring down upor
him in golden torrent, over his head
shoulders and arms. Pitifully he cried
for mercy, and tried to reach and unbal
the door; but before he succeeded, he
stumbled and fell bleeding to the ground
AS for the golden rain, it never stopped
till the weight of the metal crushed the
floor, and the jeweler and his money
sank through to the cellar. The gold
still poured down till the million was
complete, and the jeweler lay dead in
the cellar beneath his treasure.
The noise, however, alarmed the
neighbors, who came rushing over tc
see what the matter was; when they
saw the man dead under his gold, they
exclaimed: ."Doubly unfortunate he
whom bless ngs kill" Afterward, the
heirs came and divided the property.
In the meantime, the farmer reached
home in high spirits and showed the
ring to his wife.
"Henceforth we shall never be in
want, dear wife," he said. "Our for.
tune is made. Only we must be very
careful to consider well just what We
ought to wish"
The farmers wife, of course, proffered
advice. "Suppose," said she, "that
we wish for that bit of land that lies
between our two fields?"
"That isn't worth WHILE" her hus.
band replied. "If we work hard for q
year, we'll earn enough money to buy
it,"
So the two worked very hard, and al
harvest time they had never raised such
crop before. They had earned money
enough to buy the coveted strip of land
and still have a bit to spare. "See,'
said the man, "we have the land and
the wish as WELL"
The farmers wife then suggested that
they had better wish for a COW and
horse. But the man replied 4:
"Wife, why waste our wish on such
trifies? The horse and cow we'll get
anyway"
Sure enough, in years time the
money for the horse and cow had been
earned. Joyfully the man rubbed his
hands. "The wish is saved again this
year, and yet we have what We desire.
How lucky We are"
But now his wife seriously adjured
him to wish for something at last.
"Now that you have wish to be
granted" she said, "you slave and toll,
and are content with everything. You
might be king, emperor, baron, even a
gentleman farmer, with chests overflow
ing with gold; but you don't know what
you want"
.'We are young and life is long" he
answered. "There is only one wish in
the ring, and that is easily said. Who
knows but sometime We may sorely need
this wish? Are we in want of any.
thing? Have we not prospered, to all
peoples astonishment, since we pos
sessed this ring? Be reasonable, and
patient for awhile. In the meantime
consider what we really ought to wish
| for"
And that was the end of tho matter
/ It really seemed as if the ring had
brought a blessing into the house
Granaries and barns were full to over
| flowing, and in the course of few years
the poor farmer became rich and port.
ly person, who worked with his men
atield during the day, as if he, too, had
to earn his daily bread; but after sup
per he liked to sit in his porch, con-
tented and comfortable, and return the
kindly greeting of the folk who passed
and who wished him respectful good
evening.
So the years went by. Sometimes,
when they were alone, the farmers wife
would remind her husband of the magic
ring, and suggest many plans. But as
he always answered that they had
plenty of time, and that the best
thoughts come last, she more and more
rarely mentioned the ring, and at last
the good woman ceased speaking of it
altogether.
To be sure, the farmer looked at the
ring, and twirled it about as many as
twenty times day; but he was very
careful never to wish.
After thirty or forty years had passed
away, and the farmer and his wife had
grown old and white-haired, and their
wish was unasked, then was God very
good, and on the same night they died
peacefully and happily.
Weeping children and grandchildren
surrounded the cofiins; and as one
wished to remove the ring from the still
hand as a remembrance, the oldest son
said: "Let our father take his ring
into the grave. There was always a
mystery about it; perhaps it was some
dear remembrance. Our mother, too,
so often looked at the ring-she may
have given it to him when they were
young"
So the old farmer was buried with the
ring, which had been supposed to be a
wish-ring, and was not; yet it brought
as much good fortune into the house as
heart could desire.-[ Anna Eichberg,
in st. Nicholas.
~ want to get pair of driving
Gloves" said n conseuuential-lOOking