Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1901-09-07

lhl stl IMAM tNtls 81 luISt llldl lHe Slbui-
est warrior seemed child beside him.
He did not beg mercy, but demanded it,
speaking in n voice which rolled like
thunder far away All who heard him
tremblcd with great fear, all except the
monarch. who drew his bolo and shook
it in the strangers face.
mo, miserable magician" he shouted;
IMAM of air and noise like n foolish wind.
Every bankiva shall die, even though
they turn to Goals and ashes through your
witChcraft"'
The old man looked down upon him
and then broke into q song which sound
ed like the music the wind makes in the
forest or in the masts in nighttime on the
sea. 1t rose above all other sounds and
brought every one from house and pal
ace. As the people looked and listened
they saw the imprisoned bankivas COM
ing from the places where they had been
shut in and the tethered ones leaving be-
hind them the cords wherewith they had
been bound. They swept toward the old
man. who, still singing, extended his
arms to them. Then the stranger rose
into air, and the birds, opening their
wings, followed him. Over the houses
and fields they flew, filling the earth and
heavens with their voices and at last
were lost to sight in the distant noun
tnns. a terror came upon all, even on
the sultan. because they knew that they
had looked upon the Lord of the Winds.
The catapusan was closed, and there
was stiffness over the land. The bankivns
had gone away, and no song birds had
come to take their places. The men and
women noticed it, but said nothing. The
children cried for their lost playmates.
The cruel sultan said nothing, but must
have been moved, because he sent prahu
to the Chinese country to buy singing
birds of every kind. The prahu returned
with thousands of little songsters, some
Of which were set free and the rest dis
tributed among the people. They made
much music, and ALL from children to old
| folks. were delighted.
Several months passed, and the sum
mer was upon the land. One hot day
| when the men and women were inside
their houses and the children were at
| play the voice of the bankiva was heard.
The grown people laughed and said,
| They tired of the forest and have come
back" and the little ones clapped their
hands with joy and fastened to play with
| their old friends. The day passed, and
in the cool of the afternoon the mothers
went out to call the children. Look
| where they would they found none. Soon
| every man and every woman was search
| ing the fields and rivers. When daylight
died, torches were lighted, and through
| the night the search continued, but all
| they ever discovered was a line of little
footmarks that ran across the fields and
then lost itself in the jungle and the
marsh. When they had made a count
they found that one-third of the children
had gone away with the bankivas. One
| mother went mad and cried that she had
seen many pieces Of black coal along the
| line of the footmarks.
The summer passed, and there was no
| joy in the land. Sorrow was In the sui
tan's palace because his oldest son, a
handsome boy of 8, had gone away with
the children. The rains and big winds
came, md nearly every one staid within
| doors. One day the rains ceased and the
skies cleared, but the wind sang more
| loudly than ever. Long afterward people
said that it sounded the same as the
strong voice of the old man when he rose
into the air. The children, who had
grown weary of the storms, dashed out
of doors and played merriy in the sun.
Late in the afternoon the voices of many
| bankivas were heard. They were harsh
| err than ever before and alarmed both
mothers and fathers, who ran out to pre-
vent their little ones from accompanying
| the bankivas, but it was too late. Not
| a child was to be seen. They had caught
sight Of the wonderful plumage and had
| wandered away with the fascinating
birds.
The people searched as before during
| the evening and night, and all that they
could find was n line OF little footmarks
across the fields into the jungle and the
| marsh. The mad woman who had lost a
son declared that there were heaps Of
gray ashes along the path. Again they
made a count. and again they found that
one-third of all the children had gone
away with the bankivas. He who suf-
fered most OF all was the sultan. Again
a son had been taken away, but this time
| it left him childless.
There was an old woman, we'll nigh
| helpless with rheumatism, who lived be-
tween the village and the deep forest.
On this day she had crawled out OF the
house and got into n hammock slung in
| the shadow of Il mOlave tree. Once there
| she was too weak to leave it in the after
noon and so remained to rest. She said
| that while half asleep she was aroused
by happy laughter and beautiful music.
| Looking from her hammock, she saw an
| army OF DaDklNaS, some walking ana Otn
ers dancing. some leaping and others fly
| ing. All were singing the sweetest songs
and on all the plumage shone like bur
| nished metal set with brilliant gems. Be
| hind came the children, laughing. singing
and dancing, as if to keep time with the
| birds. A cool breeze rusted the leaves
and flowers and played about the birds
and the little ones. The old woman
laughed at the pretty picture and waved
her hands to the procession, although
they did not notice her Not until they
had gone beyond her sight and hearing
did she think of danger. Then, and not
before, she recalled how the first throng
of children had been led away by the
bankivas, and she wept, heartbroken.
The little Chinese birds sang, but there
was sorrow throughout the land. Women
whispered together and men met in soil
tary places and held council. One morn
ing there WAS waiting in the sultans pal
ace because the monarch was dead. When
they came to carry his body to the bury
ing ground. they found on the breast a
bunch of bankiva plumes. which had not
been there when the mourncrs laid it on
The bier.
All this happened many years ago. The
bankiva still lives in the heart of the for
est and the jungle and never is seen near
human habitationS. Nevertheless, when
careless mothers forget to watch over
their little ones and permit them to play
less bankiva, who sees them from afar,
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