Wichita eagle., 1889-06-14

could accomplish anything one Of the cars
men caught him by the neck, threw him into
the bottom OF the boat and tied him to one
OF the seats He realized now that he had
better keep quiet and resign himself to his
tate. About half an hour elapsed, when sud-
denly the boat stopped The three men pulled
their oars into the boat One Of them IN
loosened Robert then the three took hold OF
him and lifted him out of the boat on tc
shore The next minute they pushed Of
again and Robert was left alone
He looked around md found that he was
standing on solid gold At first be could
hardly believe his eyes He stopped down
and examined the ground True enough
he exclaimed IAN pure goldI"
Then he went along to see whether it was
everywhere the same. The result of his in.
vestigation proved this: Robert WIS on an
island about two miles square, composed O!
solid gold The surface WIS as smooth as q
table. Not tree grew anywhere. In fact
Robert saw nothing but the sky above him,
gold beneath him He walked somewha:
farther into the island when he came to a
house, which was built Of golden coins Of al
the countries Of the world He noticed the
corner beams were ell made out of $50 gold
pieces The walls were made Of English SOW
ereigns, the window sills of German % mark
pieces and the sashes of 10 and 20 francs The
roof consisted Of golden shingles and the
panes in the windows were of transparent
gold Robert was amazed He opened the
door Of the house. In the first room he found
a table, chairs and sofa, all made out Of gol.
den coins from Russia, Spain and Italy.
Then he walked into another room Here
was table Of gold again, covered with the
most delicious viands venison, vegetables, In
fact anything to please the most dainty pal
etc. Wines and other liquors Of various
kinds and brands were there, from ginger ale
TO the best champagne AL these things
were real There was no gold on them, al
though they were on golden dishes
well, now" cried Robert, this Is not 50
bad guess viii try these things"
Then he sat down and enjoyed himself In
true epicurean style When he was thor
cughly satisfied he got up and examined the
rest Of the house. he found gold every
where; in every room and cupboard nothing
but gold Even the bed was golden, and he
found it pretty hard to lie on.
Robert, for day or two thought he was
in paradise, he had plenty to eat-and good
things to eat-end he had loads of money.
What else did he wantl
After a week, however, he became already
tired of his life. He had nobody to talk to.
He had nothing TO spend the time with, and
eating he could not always be at To occupy
himself he began one day to walk around the
island and see how many steps it would take.
But that soon became monotonous, too Then
be remained in lis house He now counted
-
ner beam of the house But that did not take
him long, and again be had nothing to do.
He racked his brains to think of something to
occupy himself with. At night, while lying
on the hard bed, he could not sleep because
he had eaten too much In the morning he
got up wretched and miserable After q
month he was almost crazy, and he resolved
to jump into the water which surrounded the
island So he did But as soon as be made a
jump into the water the waves receded, and
Robert lit with his back on the hard bottom
OF the sea He hurt himself awfully, and as
he could not drown himself he went hmping
back TO his golden house.
oh that | were back homo again." he
cried one day II would work with nv
father on the farm as hard as any laboring
man"
No sooner had he said so than the boatman
Of the lake stood before him.
well, how do you like life OF ease with
lots of money! / suppose you are happy
nowT'
NO; not at ALL" replied Robert. II wish
l had something to do to spend my time
DO not care a fig for all the gold in the
world
"An right, my fine man; come along with
me and | will give you job"
lie took the young man back to the river,
where boat awaited them They rowed
back to the country where the boatman lived
Arrived there be said to Robert:
Now, | will see whether you are really
fond Of work II you are viii reward you
here, and there are 1000 bodies lying near
TO bury them all, viii make you not only o
rich but also happy man"
Robert promised, and he went at once 70
work on the battlefield to dig graves for the
fallen warriors 1t took him a long time TO
do it, and it was hard work, but still be was
more satisfied with himself now than he was
when he lived on the golden island.
When his task was accomplished, the old
boatman shook Robert joyfuly by the bnai
"All right, my boy, now come with me and
receive your reward" he led him to the
boat in which they first rowed together on
the lake, and in few seconds they were back
again on the smooth waters Robert did not
know how it happened, and he did not care.
When the boat got ashore the boatman gave
Robert three trees
When you get home plant them in your
fathers garden They will ell bloom and
bear fruit. One viii give you happiness, the
other long life, and the third competency.
That is all a man wants In this life"
Then the boatlnan disappeared, and Robert
went home, where he planted the three trees,
and found everything as he had been prom
iSed.-Globe-Dem