Daily Republican. [volume] ([Wilmington, Del.]) 1874-1890, 1886-06-05
"FIDDLER'S BRIDGE. "
A Legend Of 81. Georges Hundred.
BY RYE RoSSE.
CONCLUDED FROM YESTERDAY. |


CONCLUDED FROM YESTERDAY |
"a descendant Of the one i am talk
ing about, suppose" continued the old
man, somewhat CURLY. "There was 9
big crowd at the house, and my old fid-
die fairly talked. could always PLAY
30 much better when tho company was
large one and the dancing lively.
Well, sometime between ~ O'Clock and
morning the party broke up, and 1,
having drank only ten glasses of Apple
Jack, and some of them not uuite full
and was just as sober as | am now.
started for my cabin. To 90 BY the
road was nearly four miles, to cut across
the woods, less than two, 80 concluded
to go by the woods. 1t was a lovely
moonlight night, and when 1 entered
the woods portion Of my journey, I
could not help stopping to look at the
patches OF moonlight, scattered here and
there over the grounds, just as the moon
poured them through riftsin the foliage,
and by This means, reckon, got kind
OF turned around, and the first thing /
knew, was not to know where / was. l
wandered here and there, as lost people
will, and despite me could make moth
ing Of my whereabouts. 1t seemed az
a. = "Ab Ah q Pnhb VI tuo WOUuo L Udu
never seen before, although thought !
knew every nook and Granny in ali the
woods in this particularly thickly
wooded country. The trees about me
appeared to be larger, higher and thicker
in tn g ground, than any / had ever be-
fore seen in this section. I must have
walked for nearly an hour in my
partially dazsd condition, when sud
denly, from part of the woods that In
the moonlight seemed still larger and
thicker, l heard sounds of the funniest
and sweetest music, and voices and
laughter that excelled the sweetness
OF the music. / cautiously approached
the spot from whence the sweet sounds
came, and being concealed by tho
shadow of an immense tree, approached
near enough to have full view OF the
merry goings on.
Stranger, you may not believe me,
but in an immense open circle, all
around which grew the biggest trees [
ever saw, were thousands upon thou
sands of the funniest and incest look
ing little people ever seen by me, and
every one of them was dressed entirely
in green. They were evidently having
merrie dance and frolic, and their
actions indicated that they knew full
well how to extract all the pleasure pos.
sible from such amusements.
"Thcy had more musicians than I
had ever seen, altogether, and the
music, though not over loud, was as
sweet aud o!ear as that of birds. You
ought 10 have seen these pretty little
people dance, stranger. l thought l
had seen elegant dancing before, but,
pshaw! our people didn't know the irst
principle OF this amusement, when
compared with these little folks.
"Seated on a seat higher than any of
the rest, and over which was suspended
beautiful canopy, and surrounding
which were thousands upon thousands
OF little soldiers, in their smart green
uniforms, all armed with little swords
and spears, was the prettiest little
woman imaginable. 1 never saw any
one half SO lovely as was this little one,
whom should call baby woman. HI
the rest paid her the utmost respect;
and her slightest nod was understood
and obeyed unquestioned. l don't
know how long l looked at the pretty
little people aud listened to their music
and merriment. All at once desire to
given them taste of my old fiddle's
music stole over me. AT first | resisted
the temptation, but an uncomfortable
something impelled me, and unfortu-
nately yielded to the temptation. Turn
ing tbs thumb screw to put her in tune,
| had just given the 4 string little
flick, when, almost before could think,
l was surrounded by the many thou
sands of the little green peoples sol.
diers. They attacked me savagely, and
proddsd me with their swords and
spears on all sides. If L brushed any
Of them aside, thousands were ready to
take their places. An angry swarm of
bees were as nothing, either in mum ers
OF persistence, in their attacks on inter-
lopera, when compared with these little
folks. They soon overcome me, and Sc
curely binding my hands and feet,
dragged me into the presence of the
little lady, seated higher than the rest.
She'looked at me sternly and thus ad.
dressed me:
mortal, do you know the penalty if
one Of your people wilfully enters my
domain and obtrudes his presence on
my people?"
"No, Madam, or Miss replied, 81
do not, and to tell the simple truth do
not know any thing about your domain.
am only q poor old fiddler, who got
lost in this woods, and was attracted by
your merriment. did not intend any
harm, and if | have offended in any
manner, most hunbly beg your lady.
ships pardon"
without appearing to notice my
words, she said"
"The penalty for entering my do.
main, wilfully, is death, and without
mercy, TO the mortal guilty OF the Of
tense. You, from your own statement,
it appears, did this thing unwittingly.
We have a milder punishment, when
the offense 10 not premeditated, and we
give you the benefit of it. Your pun.
| ish ment will be to be thrown into the
| stream that skirts my kingdom, and to
remain there with the inhabitants until
l marry. Ny marriage Is the only
| thing that can relieve you. II con-
clude never 20 marry, your confinement
will be eternal, for i or my people
never die. If l marry 1t will be duly
made known to you, and you can then
| at once leave the stream and return to
your former habitation. To further
mitigate yoHr punishment, If at any
time during your confinement In this
stream, on the three nights Immediate
ly preceding and following that on
| which the moon is full, at precisely
midnight, any mortal, accidentally or
otherwise, shall drop a piece Of silver,
be 1t ever 30 small, in these waters, you
will at once be able to SO up to the sur
face, look around at your old sur
roundings, and play three tunes on
your musica! instrument, that will be
left with you. 1t will be- useless for you
to attempt to leave the water, and be
careful never to remain at the surface
until daylight. II you faithfully OBJ.
serve these instructions, the water, or