The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-06-02

i
| upon the old man. This time he did mot
! fade away, but turned and walked awav
| The bolos and creeses struck. but wen.
| through him as if he had been air or
water. Those who threw themselves mon
| him fell down as If he had not been
| there.
! Another third of the Banktvas were
killed and cooked. and fine sight thew
/ made when placed before the diners. Yst
| when the people attempted to eat them
| they turned to gray ashes. Those who
saw it wondered, and one@noW. rem en-
! bered what the grandmothers had sal
about the 'Banikva. He told it to MS
neighbor, and soon all knew that the
| bird was sacred to the Lord OF the Wines.
and that sorrow and suffering were
! bound to follow. None dared to tell
! the sultan, who grew more angry every
| moment. He swOre vengeance on the
! white-haired wretch and vowed that he
would kill every Eankiva in Luzon The
| feast that night was not joyous, and
many people crept away to their homes
i in the darkness.
| On the morning of the third day as the
! cooks were rebuilding the fires and the
! sultan was talking to mis- captains, theI
| old man appeared again. He was larger
than ever, so large that the sfoutest war
| rior seemed a child beside I'M He did
| not beg mercy, but demanded it, Speaking
in voice which rolled l. Ike thunder far
away. All who heard i'm trambled with
great fearAall except the monarch, who
drew his bolo and shook it in the Gtran-
/ gers face f9
mo, miserable Magician he shouted
! man of air and noise like foolish
wind. Every Bahkiva shall die, even
though they turn to Goals and ashes
+ through your witchcraft!t 'l-ha ~ an Il
The old man looked down upon him and
4 then broke into aTsong which sounaed like
| the music the wind makes in the forest
or in the masts in night time or the sea.
/ 1t rose above all other sounds, and
! brought everyone from house and palace.
! AS the people looked and listened they
| saw the imprisoned BankiVas coming
| from the places where they had been shut
| in and the tetheFed ones leaving behind
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, fol-
! lowed him. Over the houses and fields
| they flew, filing the earth and heafens
| with their voices, and at last were lost
to sight in the distant mountains. A ter
ror came upon all, even on the sultan,
| because they knew that they had looked
upon the lord of the winds, s- ~
The catapusan was closed, and there
was stiffness over the land The Banxivas
had gone away, and no song-bird had
come ten tTkev their places Fhei men
| and women noticed it, but said nothing
! The, childT en-, cried for their lost play
| mates. The cruel sultan said nothing,
| but must have been moved because he
sent a prahu to the Chinese country to
! buy singing-birds of every kind. The
| pIahu returned with thousands of little
Il -songsterS,- some of which were set free
and the rest distributed among the peo-
/ pie. They made much music, and ALL
/ lighted. ~ 80 10 '-'> s,'.'=- ''-
! Several months passed and the summer
1 was .uponGthe la1ldIi 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, t"They
tired of the forest and have come back
I 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
i. out to- call their children Look where
! they would they found none. Soon every
man and every WomantaweRe searching
the fields and rivers. When daylight
d died torches were lighted and through
/ the night the search continued. But all
/ they ever discovered was "a line of little
i footmarks that ran across the fields and
then lost itself in the jungle and the
marsh. When they had made 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.
Inc summer passed and there was no
Joy in the sultan's palace, because his
/ oldest son, a handsome boy of nine had
gone away with the children. The rains
| and big winds came and nearly every
! one stayed within DOORS One day the
rains ceased and the skies cleared, but
the wind sang more loudly than ever.
Long afterwards people said that 1t
| sounded the same as the strong voice Of
the Old man when he rose into the air.
LIhe' children, who had grown weary Of
the storms, dashed out Of doors and play
ed merrily in 1.-The sun Late in the, after
noon the voices Of many Bani5ivas were
They We're harsher than ever before
and cadarmed both mothers and fathers.a
VINO ran out to prevent their little ones
! Prom accompanying the gBankivas. But
II was LOO late Not a child was to be
I seen. ihey had caught. sight of tho
wonderful plumage, and had wandered
away with the fascinating, birds. The
! people searched as before during the
1 evening and night, and all that they
could ind was a line of little footmarks
1 across the 9, fields into the7jungle and the.
marsh. The mad woman who had lost
/ son declared that there were heaps OF
| gray ashes along the path. Again they
| Inaqe q count, and again they found that
ohe-thlrd OF all the children had gone
! away With the BankyaS. He who suf-
Tered most of all was the sultan. AgI3n
son had been taken away, but this tine
: it left him childess.
| There was an old woman Well-nigh
| helpless with rheumatism, who lived be-
| tween the village and the deep forest. OF
inns Gay she had crawled out of the
mouse, and got into a hammock sIung
| IN the shadow of q mOlaYe tree. Once
! there, she was too weak to leave it in
| the afternoon, and so remained to rest
| she sad that while half asleep she was
! aroused by happy laughter and beautiful
music. Looking from her hammock, she
saw an army of Rankivas, some walking
and others dancing; some leaping and
others T1ylng. All were singing the
sweetest songs, and on all the plumage
Shone IKE Furnished metal set with bril-
nant gems. Behind them came the chill
dreI, laughing, singing and dancing as
II 10 Keep time with the birds A cool
breeze ruStled the leaves Asads flowers
ana pIaEed about the birds and the little
cIes fhe old woman laughed at the
pretty picture, and waved her hands to
the procession although they did not no.
tice her, Not until they had gone be-
yonq .her sight and hearing did she think
OF Danger. L hen, and not before, she re-
gained, now the. first throng of children
mac been led away by the Bankivas, and
sire Wept: heart-broken. r..-- a---~-
Inc little Chinese birds sang, but there
was sorrow throughout the land. Women
whispered together, and men met in soil
iafy places. and held council. One morn
ing there was wailing in the Sultans
paiace, because the monarch was dead |
When they came to carry his body to the
purylng ground they found on the breast
not peen there when the mourners laid it
on the bier
All this, happened many years ago. The
Bank1Va still lives in the heart of the
forest and the Jungle, and is never seen
near human habitations. Nevertheless,
Wnen careless mothers forget to watch
over their little Ones and permit them to
play or wander at will unattended the
relentless Bankivaa who sees them from
| afar lies and alights before them. He
spreads his bright wings and ruffies his
cleaning feathers until he seems to be