The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1895-05-31
Something 10 Burn,

Ona's gate, but the guards drove her
away, crying: Get out, YOU old witch,
the earl will have no begging at his
door" : j -, (.
But" said the old woman, 1T is bitter
cold-I shall freeze in these great woods. =
eco and freeze. then" '.
''But am starving"
''That is not our lookout"
II want q bed to rest my poor old
1T isn't Earl Ona's business to provide
you with beds"
Here the noise grew so great that Earl
Ona himself came down to see what was
the matter.
This miserable old woman wants to
get in, your lordship, and insists that she
won't 80 away" cried the guard.
Get QUIT! said the earl, angrily, for the
began to entreat him to have compassion
on her. On which he grew so angry that
he struck her with his cane and threw
her down the stone steps, where she lay,
to all appearance, dead. 49,
Now, this old woman was fairy, who
had journeyed hither on purpose to find
out if the earl was as cruel and hard
sooner We're they all gone in than up she
jumped as we'll rs ever, and she turned
to the east, and turned to the west, and
turned to the north, and a little carriage
made Of Il walnut and lined with moss
came flying through the air drawn by
away went the fairy to the Cave of the
Winds.
brothers" said the fairy, II want one
of you to come with me-"
"Whither?" asked the Wind.
'"To the castle of Earl Ona. Which of
you will go?''
II VIM said the North Wind; mot in
that shell of yours, however"
And putting his hands to his mouth,
he roared out to Jack Frost, who just at
that moment was busy OH the other side
of the ocean.
II say, Jack, how soon are you coming
home? l want the horses"
presently" answered a voice far off,
and in a moment Jack made his appear
ance in his chariot of cloud, drawn by the
lightning.
+ You made good time; you're a capital
fellow" quoth the North Wind, at which
Jack, who is exceedingly modest, got very
red, specially about the nose; but the
fairy, who was in a hurry, declared that
there was no greater waste Of breath than
compliments, and getting into the cloud
charged with the North Wind, whiz; then
they were at Earl Ona's gate quicker
Wind began to walk round and round the
castle, singing as he went; and he sang
ghostly and dreadful stories of the icy
north, and men dying there; and Wild
waves and ships laundering; till every
body in the castle shuddered and said:
What dismal wind there is tonight!'
And he shook the windows and doors
till the castle ratified as if it had an
ague; and he hid at the corners and
III fhOf
out, and yelled and shreked down the
chimncys in way to curdIe your blood
and crept in at cracks and under the
doors, and at last he put out every fire
in the castle. Then the fairy turned to
the south, and turned to the east, and
said:
Gold be that hearth as it's owners
heart, and let no fire burn on it from
henceforth till it is first warmed by the
blessings Of the poor"
And though every man ran to and fro,
not a spark of fire could they kindle; or,
rather, it would fare up as if in fury,
and burn up everything in the shape of
wood or coal in a moment, and then 80
suddenly out. At last they had used up
all the wood and the: coal, and then they
bought all the fuel in the neighborhood,
but still no fire could be made to burn,
and everybody went about shivering and
crying out: "Oh. in what case are
we!' and amid all the hubbub and up
roar, nobody saw that the earrs only
daughter, Zita, had slipped away out of
the castle gate, for though she was but. a
little thing, Zita had much wit; and she
said to herself:
Il will go out into the world and see
if there is any one who has something to
burn, and what is: the matter with our
hearths at home"
Zita's way lay at first through the
woods; and on every side were tall trees
and a thick growth of underbrush, and
boughs and dead limbs lying in the snow;
but she hardly looked at these flor they
had burned up cords of wood to no pur
pose at the CASTLE, but travelled on till
she came to the city.
And there, people seeing lovely little
girl in velvet dress and satin slippers,
with a little coronet of pearls on hef
long golden hair, wandering about and
looking as if in search of something,
would stop to say:
To which she always answered:
"Something to burnt!
Some stared, some laughed, and one
sent her to the coal yard, but
"Nov' said Zita; 1--WE have tried tons
of coal, and it was all of no USE
And she Journeyed on.
At last she came to the house of one
Wiseacre, the wisest man in the world,
and the one to whom came everybody
that was in perpleXity; and seeing writ
ten on the door: Here lives the man
who knows everything said:
Perhaps he can tell me where to find
something to burn,'' and went in.
wise men, despised nothing, not even
little children; and seeing this lovely little
girl, asked her what she wanted so gently
that Zita was not in the least afraid,
and told him all the story in few min,
ut af;;n n,+ ,,,nn =, y, so;, u;aooono
scratching Ugh his head. .singu gull phenom,
enon. I must refer to my library"
So saying, he began to tumble over his
folios, and at last came to great
musty, dusty volume, out of which he
read:
"Cold hearths are apt to be conse-
quence of selfshness, and there is moth
ing in the world so. warming as a little
benevolencc, taken daily, with the bless
ings of the poor"
"Little girl, do you have any of those
blessings of the poor at homer
* don't know what the poor are said
Zita.
why, the poor are the unfortunates
who come to ask for food and shelter at
your gate"
ooh! father never let's them in," said
away"
"Exactly! Precisely! thought so!'
said Wiscacre, nodding his head.
So he copied out the words he had read
from the book OH a slip of paper and
gave it to Zita.
"Take that to your father, and you'll
soon be warm enough" said the old man.
So Zita went back as fast as she tonld
to the castle, and by that time the whole
household were 50 nearly frozen that they
were willing to listen to anything, and 50
the grim old Earl Ona took the paper and
read it through.
Blessings Of the poor! Stuff!' said he
IL never believe in such trash. Who cares
for them or their blessings? | don't be-
lieve in being poor! Poor people have no
business to live"
1T is very cold!' said zita, with a
SILVER; ''and the man must know. 1t
was written on the door-plate. Here
lives the man who knows everything So
he must be right"
"There is no harm in trying, any
way" said the earl. I'VE are freezing,
anyway, and if blessings will warm us,
We'll have them by the ton"
So he sent to the butcher and baker