Connecticut western news., 1900-07-05

so you had better go forth and seek
 your fortune, and, as you are going, it were well to go at once."
 Tt is good; am nothing loath," the younger brother said. So he departed, and to the end of his days the elder
 brother remained in his poor estate, which was good enough for his hard heart and his low mind.
 But the young adventurer journeyed far away, and all his days were filled with dreamings of the future. T shall be a great hunter" was the burden of his thoughts, and he hum med gay airs that he composed him. self, and a hunters life was the one of which he sung.
 He fell asleep by a hillside one soft summer night as the moon rose over the fields of rye, waving in the mellow light. The sun had gone down not long before, and In the dying day he
 had dreamed again of glory. So lightly
 he slept all night that the changing light of the moon, as 1t rose higher and 1 higher, had affected his slumber, and fitting shadows moved over him and
 seemed to touch him with tangible fin
 gers. It was a night full of mystery and of light and elfish sounds, and just before morning he suddenly started out
 of his sleep with all his senses alert.
 He listened, and sure enough he heard
 a weak voice crying:
 Help me! Oh, help mep' Where and who are youY he an swered.
 "Oh, help mev the voice repeated, | and, starting up, the youth beheld at
 his side a dwarf, but so small that a | mans hand might have covered him from view.
 He was a queer looking creature, with the body of child and head three times too big for his height. When he saw that he had attracted the
 strangers attention, he said: 'I live under this hill, but COW Is
 standing before the door, and I dare
 not pass her. Will you drive her away l for me?'
 ITO be sure wlll," the boy replied,
 ''but let me take look at you first, you queer creature"
 "No, nor the gnome replied. Day | light will soon be here. and if I stay to see 1t shall be changed into a spiders
 web or into nights dew! Oh. be quickr' The lad followed the fleeing dwarf around the foot of the hill, and when he had chased the COW away he sud- denly beheld the hill lifted up on four great pillars, red as blood, and under | the portal thus formed he saw, stretch | Ing away, gorgeous caverns glistening with gems and precious metals. "Comew the gnome said. "I am the son of the king of the elves. You may | have three wishes, and we shall grant
 them. But enter with me, that my
 father may thank you"
 AS he followed, the youth beheld a | countless number of little creatures | weaving golden veins into the rock or | packing it with other metal ore. Here
 he saw some picking out diamonds and | other gems, while other little workmen piled them into barrows that were
 wheeled away to the great under | ground storehouses. Again, he saw
 vast numbers busy at the forges, shap- | ing beautiful begemmed swords and | scabbards, and here he saw guns and | horns and coats of mail such as yet the | world scarcely knew, for the time was yet far back beyond that that history
 can touch upon, and only the tales of the great old fathers can tell of the
 wonders of those days.
 So past all these beautiful treasures
 he was led from hall to hall until the | aI | And here was a splendor that words
 cannot describe, in the midst of which was the little monarch, master of all | the forces of the underworld, com.
 mander of the countless little workers
 that dug and delved for him. | The king thanked the youth for his
 sons timely deliverance and asked him
 to make known his three wishes.
 ''They are easily made" the boy said
 All my life have longed to be a hunt CT. So pray give me shotgun, bu | gle and horAe-"
 ''They are yours," the king of ths
 dwarfs answered. And the lad wa. | glad to be led from his presence, fol
 his great head on his little body, his
 blood red eyes and long nose, which | looked like a stick, made him want tS
 laugh, so that he feared to offend. He was now conducted Into q hal | filled with all kinds of weapons used | hy hunters. There were guns as biz as cannons and some as small as 8
 mans finger; some were of pure gold
 set with gems, but all these the lad | passed by and took a rusty old gun
 that hung upon the wall.
 | This suits me-" he said, and his | guide smiled assent.
 Next he was led to a great hall full of horns and bugles. They, too
 were of all sizes and metals, set with | gems. But the boy took an old horn that matched the gun. Then he was conducted to the stables. Here were | thousands of steeds-white, red, black
 and gray-from every cline. Here was
 the steed of Odin, the eight footed | Sleipnir, and even the one footed horse
 that flies past the window in the dark
 when one Is about to die was there, | with war steeds and knights palfreys
 and horses of labor. The lad took a | little shaggy gray mare and led her
 away, saying. This gentle creature ] suits my estate"