Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-06-08

knife from its place in the drawer, and
with it steal into the forest, and there, to
her hearts content cut at sticks and twigs.
Although she had often been severely pun
ished for her disobedience, the little girl
still continued to enjoy her forbidden pleas
ure One day it really happened that the
knife slipped and cut great cash in her
finger, from which the red blood flowed in
large drops. As she entered the cottage
door her mother cried, "What is the matter
with your hand that it is SO red?"
Fearing an outburst of wrath, Meta
answered: 81 have been in the garden pick
ing Strawberries"
But her falsehood was soon discovered, for
the blood poured thicker and faster from the
wound, and no effort of the mother or neigh
bors was of any avail in stopping the flow.
Finally the mother went to the village to
consult physician, and during her absence
Meta sat pale, trembling, holding the still
bleeding hand over basin of water.
Suddenly there stood before her tiny
creature with smiling face and long golden
hair, who said: $50 you have cut your fin
ger at last. thought you would, and am
not the least surprised to see you looking SO
pale"
The little girl was too astonished to speak,
and the stranger continued: I'VE do not
usually help naughty children, but as this
is your only fault and you have tried in
every other way to be good, 1 shall give you
a remedy. Here is costly pearl ring.
Place this on your finger and the blood shall
cease to flow. As soon as you remove 1t the
wound shall again open, but every drop of
blood that flows shall become q shining
gold piece"
The fairy then disappeared and Meta was
very happy over her new treasure. She at
IL. !
when she placed 1t upon her finger the
wound was healed, but when she drew it off
the blood began to flow, and as the drops
fell they became pieces OF gold Just as the
fairy had said. When the mother returned
Meta eagerly told of her visitor and showed
the ring. And now a wicked thought came
into the stepmother's heart, and she waited
for the night to carry out ner evil
plans. When the little girl had
fallen asleep and was dreaming of
the fairy whom she had seen that
afternoon, her mother stole softly into the
room, and, gently drawing the ring from her
finger, placed it carefully in the drawer.
And now the gold pieces tell almost faster
than they could be picked up, and soon sey-
eral large bags were filled, and yet the
avarIcious woman was not content and still
continued to gather her gold without a
thought of her daughter. Suddenly the
falling of the gold pieces ceased, and the
mother glanced at Meta, and seeing how
still and white she lay, thought she must be
dead. Fearing lest the neighbors would
discover her wickedness, she carried the
little girl into the forest and dropped her
into deep we'll. She then put the gold
into coarse sacks, and, having loaded them
on a cart, told her neighbors that she was
going to drive to the city with load of po-
tatoes. The pearl ring she placed upon her
finger and was very careful not to lose it. As
she never returned to her home, the village
people, busy with their own affairs, soon
forgot the widow and her stepdaughter.
When Meta awoke she found herself in
one of the loveliest sleeping rooms imsgina-
bic. The bedstesd was OF pure silver and
gold, while the covers and curtains were OF
finely spun silk, and were as white as
freshly fallen snow. The little girl sat up
and looked curiously around. Through q
glass door opposite crystal hall bright
with many lights were seen. In the midst
was a table, around which sat hundreds of
little elves drinking wine and eating dainty
fruits, Near the bed stood her friend of the
day before, who greeted her kindly and told
her of her stepmother's actions. Now"
she said, "you must go to our King. His
commands are that you come to him as soon
as you are able.
Meta arose at once ana IolloWeu ner guloe
to the fairy throne. The King had many
kind words for the little girl; but he was so
small that Meta was obliged to kneel before
b him in order to hear him speak. He told
her she should never return to her cruel
stepmother, and that they would care for
her as long as she wished to remain with
them. But Meta was much grieved when
she learned that from having lost so much
blood she must always remain pale.
In the meantime the stepmother jour-
neyed away to large city. There she
bought houses and lands and pretended to
be great Countess. She gave great feasts
and banquets at which even the King was
sometimes present. But one day she dis
covered that all her gold had been con-
sumed, and she knew not how to procure
more. Finally she allured poor beggar
child into her house, and, having put her
asleep, cut her finger and then placed upon
it the pearl ring. When she removed the
ring she was rejolced to hear the gold pieces
fall to the floor. In this way several inno-
cent children perished, until at last none
would approach near the house, although
nhe tried many ways to gain their conf
dence.
When for the second time her supply of
gold was exhausted she tried the charm
upon herself, and her desire for wealth was