The Delaware ledger. (Newark, Del.) 1879-19??, 1885-10-10

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So to the old house she went, with
her one daughter, Kathrine-a girl
eff eighteen, blue-eyed, golden-hair-
ed and bonny.
The widow had heard the story
of the disappearance of the girls but
had scarcely believed it, and had
never repeated it to her daughter.
Katherine was in utter ignorance of
it, and of the well. She ran about
the garden, discovering new beau
ties at every turn, and at last actu-
ally danced with delight before the
old stone well.
Like a well in an old fairy story
mamma" she exclaimed as she
described it. at makes me feel as
though we really ought to find an
old castle somewhere to match it.
Just the well for trysting-place."
"If l remember rightly, it has
been an unlucky well enough for
the Doren women" said the widow.
"Tell me the story, mother" cried
Katherine.
"No; idle tales like that are best
untold" said the widow. mo
doubt it is very good cold water !;
but when you meet your sweet
heart, 1 hope it won't be at the well
but under your mothers eyes, in
the house here"
Kathrine laughed.
"The sweetheart must come first, "
she said and began to help her
mother to do the housework.
But she kept thinking of the well
and that evening, at dark, she took
from the shelf in the kitchen
pitcher, quaint as the house itself,
and without saying anything to her
mother, ran down the garden path.
1t was two hundred years from the
day on which her ancestress, the
first lost Kathrine, had thus gone to
the old stone well-two hundred
years to the day and the hour, if
this, the eighth Kathrine, had but
known it. But she did not.
She tripped along TO the well,
swinging the old pitcher in her
hand. She reached it, and bent
over the curb. A dim reflection of
her own face greeted her.
"How high the water is l can
reach it with the pitcher" and bent
lower still.
But, failing to reach the water,
she set the pitcher on the curb, and
caught the chain which held the
bucket.
On the instant it seemed to her
that the stone satyr behind the
fountain darted his head forward,
and rolled his great eyes, and at
the same instant great hands siezed
her arms and dragged her down
wards.
The poor girl struggled and tried
to scream. The water was in her
eyes, he ears, and her mouth the
blood rushed to her head. Still the
great hands held her, until sudden
ly she found herself leaving the wa
ter. She stood in a great cave of
white stone, with stalatites hang
ing from the roof and the thing
that held her she could not see, for
it was behind her.
The stalatites glittered like dia-
monds-they draped the entrance
to another. cave. This, however, as
she was still pushed forward, she
saw to be gorgeous with pearls and
opals and sea gems of all sorts. In
its midst under sparkling canopy
lay a beautiful young being, like a
man, but more radiant, more splen-
did man whose eyes were jewels,
whose teeth were pearls, whose lips
were coral. He looked at her and
smiled. And now for the first time
the strange being who held her,
spoke.
"My prince" he said, II bring
you an eighth Kathrine."
And the girl, looking round, saw
the stone features of the sculptured
satyr behind the well.
"Kathrine," repeated the being he
addressed. "A pretty Kathrine,
too-young, fresh, lovely, Katie,
mine, welcome to my palace. All
that you can ask for shall be yours,
and you my queen"
There was subtle power in his
eyes. A strange mesmeric influ-
ence seemed to draw her towards
him. 1t was like that with which
the snake charms the bird.
But at the moment she heard a
strange tiuttering chorus of sighs,
and, looking about her saw the fig
ures of seven spinning-wheels.
Thep seemed to be of stone but a,
she looked they sighed again, and
each turned into a white dove, that
came tluttering towards her.