The Saint Paul globe., 1904-05-22

INV ~ 10 l4O Ad1A0 l14db
everybody knows, although everybody
knows it by name of his or her own
1t lies just behind the Day Before
Yesterday; and magic thing about il
is that all the signboards in all the
roads of the world seem to point di-
rectly away from it when we first set
out on our travels, but when we have
travelled far and are old, they all point
backward toward it.
Except for the Golden Witch, every
thing would have been so happy
there that even the most energetic
gossip would have found it necessary
to go out of business The sun rose
and set respectfully, according to the
almanac. The moon conducted her
self exactly according to the pictures
of quarter moons and half moons and
dark moons, in the same moral publ
cation. And it rained so regularly on
the days that the weather bureau said
would be sunny and it was fair so
regularly on the days that were to be
rainy that everybody could regulate
his life absolutely according to the
weather predictions.
The King and his wife were nice,
comfortable persons, inclined to stout
ness. They used to walk hand in
hand through the streets and nod at
everybody; and all the tradesmen
would stand outside of their shop
doors, rubbing their hands, to nod
back
On such occasions the King would
prod the candy maker or the clock
maker or the druggist and ask with a
chuckle: "How's business? Eh, how's
business?" And the prodded person
would rub the spot with every sign of
qualification and respond Very
good" or $50, So" as the case might
be, adding politely, And how is bus
mess with you, Sire?"
Then the King invariably burst out
laughing like anything and stamped
his feet and cried: Royal! Royal! My
boyw
Everybody within hearing always
laughed almost, though not fully as
hard as the King; for it was his very
own joke, perfected after many years
of patient reflection He often mar
rated to his court how the first faint
thought had come to him originally
and how, gradually, it had developed
through months and months until one
day it had become the excellent joke
that it now was.
The Court was very much inter
ested and the Royal Chamberlain said
that a book should be written about
it.
All this was very happy; and no.
body had to work hard, for, naturally,
since the King and the Queen were
saving and simple, the subjects were
Tailor never had to miss his nightly
game of landsknecht on account of a
rush order for festive garments; the
candy maker never had to worry for
fear of being out of goods before he
could bake a fresh supply; and the
Court Blacksmith, lucky dog, used to
potter for months over a single suit
of clothes for knight; most Of his
work, indeed, was putting new rivetS
and plates into old suits, for even the
King himself was not above having
his armor patched up a bit and thus
making it last through another season.
But all at once everything was
changed; for the Golden Witch came
to town.
The Golden Witch was, and is still
for that matter, the greatest mischief
maker of them ALL And the worst of
it is that instead of being withered
and horrible old hag, she is so beau
tiful that all men worship her when
they see her face. She takes good
care to wear long silken garments so
they shall not discover that instead
of lily-white feet she has talons of
brass and that her body is covered
with bright golden snake-scales.
Now the Golden Witch, to tell the
truth, had become powerful and dan
gerous as much through her superior
intellect as her magic; for she really
knew only one charm. This was how
to open all the treasure houses of the
earth and reach their hidden gold
The Golden Witch knew very well,
indeed, that most persons will go
quite mad over gold, although it is
not nearly so nice to eat as honey or
to play with as waves on the seashore
or to see as the stars. But to make
quite sure, she would look into a mans
eyes when she showed him the gold;
and at once he would imagine that
there was no way in the world to get
anything that he cared for unless he
got the gold first.