St. Paul daily globe., 1889-05-15
THE FORTUNES OF KARL.
BY S. M. b.

THE FORTUNES OF KARL.
BY S. NJ. b.
Once upon time. there lived in the
little village of Hoheim an old man,
with his wife and son. The old man
worked very hard to make his living
and got along pretty well; but one day
he fell sick and died; and short time
after his wife followed him to the grave.
So Karl was left all alone in the world.
But he was brave young fellow Of
eighteen, and did not stop to cry long !;
wiping away his tears, he closed the
eyes of his parents. had them decently
buried, sold all that belonged to them,
paid all their debts, and found that
then just enough was left to buy a good
stout stick and pair of strong shoes.
So he went forth to make his fortune.
On the way he met great many
friends, and they all asked him where
he was going to.
"Where am I going to?" he said.
''Oh. am going to make my fortune" :"
When they heard this they laughed
and told him he was fool; that he
should go back and work for living,
and that he would then always have
something to eat.
To this he would give no answer, bu5
would walk on with his stout stick and
his strong shoes, out into the world.
He went on, up hill and down hill for
several hours, until, on turning bend
in the road, he saw two geese waddling
along in front of him. He followed
them, wondering where they had come
from, for he had never seen such geese
before, with such beautiful scarlet
and golden color, and wondering still
! more at their actions, for they talked
and cackled and gobbled without stop
ping for minute.
While he was watching them he saw
man coming down another road to meet
him.
ssGood day." said the stranger.
''Good day." replied Karl.
.YOu seem to be watching those
geese?' said the man. after while.
eyes, they are making such nOise."
< ssDo YOU know what they are saying"'
'sNO'' answered Karl; IL wish l
could.''
.;;Well, then Lean tell you,'' said the
stranger. sMy father was a great
; wizard, and that is the way learned
the language of ANIMALS. Now listen.
One of these geese is the beautiful Prin-
cess Armadala, and the other is her sis
ter, Floretta. They were the daughters
of the old king of Timbuctoo, ana an
ugly magician wanted to marry one Of
them. but when both refused he turned
them into geese"
IA bad man that was." remarked
Karl. s
.Yes,'' said the stranger, ''but when
the king heard of it he had him put to
death and then called to all his fairies
70 ha1 in,
But they could not aid him; they could
only say that at some future time GER
tain young man named Karl would
marry one of them and would thus
bring them back to their former shape"
.'Karlv ~ cried one young hero. ''Why,
that is my name!'
No sooner had he said this than, to
his great surprise the two geese turned
round, clapped their wings with JOY
and fell down before his feet.
s'Oh, our deliverer." they cried, while
tears of happiness poured down from
their eyes. cat length, then. do we see
you! Aid us now, and quickly, for we
have been wandering about already two
long years in search for YOU"
"What!" exclaimed Karl. in astonish-
ment, ''can you speak our human Ian
guage?"
"that good fairies have helped us, and
that they said whenever we first heard
your name pronounced by your lips we
should regain our human speech: and
should you be willing to marry me. the
oldest, we would regain our human
form. Know that you are lucky, for
we are very beautiful, though say it;
and we know secret which will make
you richer than the king"
When Karl heard this he threw up his
cap with joy and said:
'sThe good fairies have told you, and
so let it be. / will marry you"
The words had barely left his lips be-
fore the geese were gone. and in their
place there stood before him two beau
tiful maidens, who threw their arms
about his neck and gratefully and low
ingly kissed him, for he was a hand
some young fellow.
s.And what am to get?" asked the
stranger, who had been looking on.
"Am I to get nOthing?
ssYou are right" said Karl. Had it
not been for you ] should never have
known what was in store for me. You
shall have Floretta and half OF all l
get y. ~.
Arm-in-arm they proceeded to the
next village church, and there were
married.
ssAnd the secret?" asked the stranger.
cat midnight all shall be explained"
replied Armadala.
So they sat down beneath spreading
oak and waited, without eating a single
morsel to break their fast. until dark
ness had gathered around them aud the
village clock struck IL. Then they
arose and walked slowly up a grassy
hill, at the top Of which there was a
great, majestic elm tree. Here they
stopped, and the two maidens, advanc-
ing to the foot of the tree, turned with
their faces to the east, and murmured:
'.Oh, though, who hast been the pro-
tector of our race, forget us not now,
but appear, as thou hast promised"
When they had said these words
slight rushing was heard. like the wind
through the trees, and before them
stood a fairy, radiant with light and
splendor and beauty.
81 have not forgotten you," she said,
and, approaching the maidens, she
placed in the hands of each little sill
yer, casket. '.These," she said, "giye
your husbands, Karl and Ernst" for so
was the stranger called. ''Let them
preserve them we'll; and should they
ever wish for anything they need but
touch these silver sides and they will
have it,
With kind smile she vanished.
The next morning they felt some
what hungry, so Karl took his silver
q o;sket and pressed the sides with all his
strength. TO the great surprise of the
whole party the cover flew open and a
little man, about the size of ones
thumb, appeared, and, bowling low. de-
manded to know their wish.
For several minutes Karl was SO
astonished that he could give no reply.
At length he managed to inform him
that he wished for something to eat.
The figure answered him not, but,
bowling low once more, knelt down in