Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-10-06
THE DRAGONS S TONGUE.
ERNEST H. HEINRICHS.
WRITTEN FOR THE DIsPATCH.l

from being insulted BY the other young
courtiers, who happened to be better grown
than he was. The second reason was that
the hunchback was honestly in love with
the beautiful Princess, and he thought i
he should kill the dragon he would have 8
right to ask her to marry him, something
which he would otherwise never have
dreamed of doing
The troupe of noblemen had to travel fol
many miles before they arrived in the
jungle, and the farther they went the more
pronounced became their feeling against the
hunchback. At last-they had Just arrived
at the entrance to the forest-their aversion
against the poor, deformed young man broke
ceedingly brave and fearless, and they
had an idea that he might kill the
dragon before they would. So they
suddenly stopped, and surrounding him,
they demanded of him to return
at once to the court or they would kill him.
But the hunchback was not to be fright
ened by their threats, and there would prob
ably have been a bloody fight among the
young men had it not been that the crippled
old wise woman from the wilderness sud-
denly appeared on the scene.
"What is the matter here?" she asked.
For a moment all the young fellows were
aghast at her unexpected appearance, but
at last they remarked:
What business is it of yours; nobody
has called your
But the hunchback, who respected age at
any time, told the old lady what the cause
of the trouble was, and she at once became
furious.
snow look here, young men," she said,
''you shall all have an equal chance to fight
the dragon, if you promise to be friendly
among yourselves, but if you don't nobody
shall find the dragon, and your King must
die"
When the young fellows heard that they
promised to leave the hunchback alone,
and they all continued on their road. Not
long after, they heard terrible noise, like
the roaring of distant thunder. Presently
the sound of the noise came nearer and
nearer, and in few minutes they saw the
monstrous dragon before them.
1t was an enormous beast Huge eyes
glared out of his many heads like large,
fiery globes, and from his many eyes and
nostrils he blew a breath of flame and
venom. The majority of the young men
flew at the first view they got of the ami
NAL, and there were only a few who ad-
vanced toward the dragon. But Hunch-
back was ahead of all of them. He at
once drew his sword and began his attack
upon the fendish-looking monster before
him. The dragon did not seem to notice
his approach at first, but when he did, and
he opened his nine mouths all at once, the
rest of the young noblemen fled too, and
Hunchback was left alone to fight the
battle. But he was undaunted, and he Wig
orously commenced his attack. Adroitly he
kept out of the animals reach, to prevent
the poison and fire to reach him. When
ever an opportunity occurred. however, he
advanced, and using his sword in the best
possible manner, he succeeded in chopping
off several of the monsters heads. The
fight was long and bitter one, and the
young hunchback would probably have
suecumbed at last had it not been for the
crippled old woman again, who came to his
assistance. She used her crutches as we'll
as Hunchback his sword, and after a battle