The Dalles times-mountaineer. [volume] (The Dalles, Or.) 1882-1904, 1894-12-01
give them the form of any being thy
heart daCirac ,,

heart desires"
So saying he wisely left the prin
cess to herself, and she lost no time il
availlng herself of the gift. Touching
one of the ears with the rod, she cried
"Visula, dear playmate, appear" and
instantly Visula lay at her feet, kiss
ing her hands, and in her joy laugh.
ing and weeping at once. The illu.
sion was SO perfect that the princess
knew not whether she held in her
arms the real Visula or merely her
shadow. But this gave her no con-
Germ. She surrendered herself Who'll
ly to the delight of having her dear
est friend with her, and the two
wandered arm in arm about the gar
dens and grottoes and groves with
which the gnome had adorned the
valley to make it a pleasant abiding
place for his fair prisoner.
The beautiful princess soon con-
verted all her supply of maize ears
into the girl friends she was accus-
toned to. She was now far less lone
ly and seemed to grow brighter and
more content, SO that Hal -Walla con-
graduated himself on his penetation
ard the progress he was making in
the knowledge of human kind.
But as the weeks slipped by the
princess began to notice that her
companions were growing pale and
sickly. She alone among them all
bloomed fresh and fair as rose.
One morning when she stepped
from her wigwam what horror
was hers when she saw that they
had all turned old and haggard and
were SO weak that they could scarce
ly move! In her terror she called
loudly for Hal -Walla, who imme-
diately appeared.
Base spirit" she cried, sis it not
enough that thou hast deprived me
of my freedom9 Why take from me
my only solace, the companionship
of these dear maids9 What has hap
pened to thema Why do they look
SO old and stranger"
Blame me not, fair maid, replied
the spirit. "They are, if you re-
member, but ears of maize. As long
as they we're fresh the magic rod
lent life and youth to the forms they
borrowed. But now the juices of
nature are dried up within them, and
soon they must return to dust. Do
but touch them once again with your
rod"
She did as she was hidden, and as
she touched them the shadows van
shed and only handful of dried up
maize ears remained.
Weep not, fair one," continued |
he spirit. What our bounteous
Mother Nature gave us once she will |
rive again. In a flash 1 will return
With new supply"
So saying he vanished, shot through |
pace and arrived at the maizefeld. |
But much to his embarrassment he
ound that the maize had all been
.arnered and not one ear remained.
When h5 returned to the princess,
he saw by his manner that some.
hing had gone wrong,
Thou hast deceived me-" cried
he. Where is the maize2"
Maiden" he answered, wilt thou
orgive my want of foreslght9 Inex-
'erienced in the ways of mankind,
7holly forgot that the maize had
cen garuered, and there is none left
4 the fields. Have patience with me
ut one short week, and thou shalt
ave maize ears in abundance"
The spirit thereupon, with the
clip of his gnomes, quickly plowed
nd planted an acre of ground thick
nth the precious corn. The under
round fires were made to heat the
oil, while he poured rain in abun-
ance from above. Quickly the
reen shoots poked their heads above
he ground and throve and grew
pace.
But with all his thoughtfulness
nd anxiety to please not a smile OF
look could he win from
ne fair princess. Patiently he an
cipated her every wish, hoping for
ne time when his devotion would
e rewarded. But in this he reck-
ned without his host. He was.
fter all, but a novice in his
:udy of the human heart and had
,ken it for granted that the maids
fections were disengaged. Poor
brit! He knew not that the princess
ad no heart to give him, since for
lore than year she had loved Idan-
a, a young chief of the tribe of the
hoshones, whom she was to have
edded at the period of the next new
loon. But so closely had she kept
lie secret guarded in her bosom that
le gnome even now had no suspicion
the truth. While he worked by
ight and day to hasten the growth
the maize, which he fondly hoped
ould restore the maid to her wonted
leerfulness, her thoughts were busy
it'll plan of escape.
In weeks time, as the spirit had
the maize was ripe. Each
ny the princess went to the field,
ucked few ears and once more
i've them forms of life. But to one
the ears shesecretly gave the form
a magpie. Fly, talking bird,
i'd she. It'll thou comest to the
ibe of the Shoshones and tell the !
oung chief Idanha that his beloved
foully held prisoner by the Spirit !
al-Walla, but is planning to escape.
id him wait for me in the valley of
mes the third sleep from now with
,rses and men. Begonel Away"
ne bird obediently arose in the air.
Id her eyes followed it longingly