The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1901-07-26

trembled with great fear, all except the
monarch, who drew his bolo and shook
it in the strangers face.
NO, miserable magicianw he shouted ::
man of air and noise like foolish wind
Every bankiva shall die, even though
they turn to Goals and ashes through your
witchcraftr'
The old man looked down upon him
and then broke into 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 wherewth 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
tains. a terror came upon all. even on
the sultan. because they knew that they
The catapuSan was closed. and there
was stiffness over the land. The bankivas
had gone away, and no song birds had
come 10 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
nave been moved, because he sent prahu
to the Chinese country TO buy singing
birds of every kind. The prahu returned
with thousands of little sungsters. some
of which We're set free and the rest dis
tubuicd among the people. They made
much music, and ALL from children to old
folks. We're delighted.
Several months passed. and the SUM-
mer was upon the land. One hot day
when the men and women We're inside
their houses and the children were at
play the voice of the hankiya was heard.
The grown people laughed ana said,
They tired of the forest and have come
back, and the little ones clappcd 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 We're lighted and through
the night the search continued but all
they ever discovered was 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 hoy of g. had gone away with
the children. The rains and big winds
came, and 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 merrily in the sun.
Late in the afternoon the voices of many
bankiyas were heard They were harsh
er 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
Il chId 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 durino
the evening and night. and all that they
could find was n line of little footmarl,s
across the fields into the Jungle and the
marsh The mad woman who had loxt a
son declared that there were heaps of
gray ashes along the path Again they
made a count, and again they found that
onc-thrd of all the children had gone
away with the bankiyas. ue who suf.
fered most of all was the sultan. Again
n son had been taken away, but this time
it left him childless.
There was an old woman. weu nicb
helpless with rheumatism. who lived ba-
tween the village and the deep forest
On this day she had crawled ONT of tho
house and got into hammock slung in
the shadow of molavp 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 bankiyas, some walking and 9TH
ers dancing, some leaping and others fly
ing. All were singing the sweetest songs,
and on all the pumage shonc 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 rustled the leaves
and flowers and played about the birds
and the little ones. The old woman