San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1889-01-30

him that this country wouId commune ~ IT'S
deplorable condition until king succeeded
who could by kindness and justice command
the love and admiration of his subjects to
such an extent that his word would rule as
supreme law among them, even in the most
distant portions of his domain. When hel
had kept his kingdom free from war and
dissension for ten years, it said, a fairy
would visit him in the night and give him a
present, the possession of which would per-
petuate his race of kings in happiness and
fame, and so, by rulers like himself, make
the kin ydom paradise forever
The king called THE Wise" was master
whose rod never fell, and whose simple word
Of command bore with it a feeling of love
that went TO the hearts of even the most de-
graded.
He was truly wise king and plainly saw
the effecG he had upon his subjects, so when
his father had been dead a sufficient time to
allow it with respect, he gave orders that all
his palaces be opened upon certain days of
each week, and that his people be invited to
come on those days and receive the hospi-
tally and blessing of their new king. Diff
, ferent plO,..,es we're called on different
days until every person in the land had seen
his king and had been elevated by his bene
diction and his love. Such good effect had
this wise action Of the monarch that there
after not q soul would quarrel with another
or do any wrong action lest it should offend
his majesty the beloved king.
So it went in this country for nearly ten
years-peace bringing prosperity to the peo
pie and praise to the good king. The king
seldom thought upon the tradition of what
continued peace was to bring him, and his
people rarely spoke of it until, finally, the
st ~ was forgotten by nearly all. The king,
however, never remembered it so forcibly as
when nine years of his peaceful reign had
gone and the tenth was almost past. Then,
lying upon his royal bed, he would often say
to himself
so many nights must pass in this couch
ere the good fairy breaks my slumbers with
the priceless gift But what could this gift
be, even should it comet The tradition goes
that my line of kings shall descend in pros
perity, and yet have no son to follow me.
Ny precious daughter, although she soon will
be of All age to marry, declares that she will
never do So because she can love no one as
she does her sire. Her mother is dead, and
there can be no son to succeed me, unless
these mysterious fairies can make il So"
At last the final night of the tenth year
came and the king retired to his rest. He
Immediately fell asleep and slept soundly
until the midnight had come, when he softly
awOko and saw standing beside his bed, clad
in radiance, and with halo of pleasing light
about her, fairy Of greater beauty than he
had ever before seen. Even his daughter,
the princess, whose spotlesS beauty was world
reno"ned, could in no way be compared with
the l3veineSS of this vision. When the king
had sufficiently recovered from his amaze
ment to understand her, the spirit spoke
thus:
Thou are a great and illustrious king; and
thy good deeds shall be rewarded, even to
thy farthest posterity. Thou hast made a
paradise of a pandemonium; thou hast
brought by peace the prosperity the gods
could not bestow, for thou hast reached the
hearts of thy people, which they could not.
Receive, then, thy due For thyself thou
needeSt no reward, for thy happiness is
thine, but for thy children and all who
shall come after thee, bestow upon thy
daughter, through thee, this priceless pearl"
The fairy put into the kings hand a pearl
of wondrous beauty and rare size, telling
him its virtues and the happiness it must in
evitably bring upon all his descendants and
their country for all time. She told him that
the pearl was the companion to a rich dia
mond and that both stones had many years
before been given to a mighty prince for a
| good deed he had done for the fairy world
| These gems had the rare charm of always
| being in the possession Of the two persons
most worthy of favor in the world, and no
matter into whose hands they came, their
owners would surely be brought together in
! marriage. The diamond could never be-
| long to any one but male, while the pearl
woul always be the reward Of females
! worth.
With this the fairy disappeared, and the
king at once returned to sleep. In the morn
ing be awoke and looked quickly about him
for the mysterious pearl, but he could not
find it; and, thinking his experience of the
night had been no more than a passing
dream, he resolved to proclaim 10 his people
that the tradition had come false, and that
no one should ever again believe in such a
thing But ere he could do so his daughter
came to him and said she had had a vision
during the night, and in it fairy had given
her wonderful pearl that was to keep her
and her descendants from all unhappiness;
and that it would soon bring to her hus-
band possessed Of every virtue man can hold
But, father" she cried, al wish for no hus-
band; | can never love a man but thee, dear
sire, and | am very happy as am"
"Ly precious daughter" replied the mon
arch, CHOOSE not your life, lest you choose
wrong. |, also, had vision last night, and
| am certain all Till go we'll with you. /
think, daughter, il you wed not there will
be no king for our country when die, and
one must be appointed, who may prove a bad
one; but, if you love and marry, you can