Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1904-11-11
THE ANGELS GOLDEN LILIES.


So long ago. there lived a rich manda-
rim. who had two sons, Foo Sing and
Iii Wing They lived in part Of
China where the land is low and
swampy.
Now, Ii Wing had a horrid dispO-
sition and was as jealous as he could
b. of his sunnny-tempered younger
brother. Foo Sing was popular with
everybody because of his pleasant dis
position and the reverse-could be said
of his sullen-tempered brother. Ii
Wing managed to influence his ia
II or so that when he thought to divide
his property between his two sons h
was led by the willy Ii Wing to think
so much of his superior wisdom tha
he left it to him TO divide the prop
arty after his death
No sooner had the days Of mousn-
ing passed for the old man than II
Wing fastened to divide the large
estate. giving to Foo Sing the part
that he deemed entirly worthless
a low, swanpy stretch of land. This
/ he gave to Foo Sing With a great air
of condescans;on and as little money
as he possibly could Poor Foo Sings
heart was heavy within him at the
depressing poverty that he sa" him
self doomed to. with this waste Of
useless land as his heritage. Foo
Sing knew that his money would no
last long, and he had neither prof as-
sion nor occupation With which to
earn money.
He finally made up his mind to
come to America. He came, and
while travelling through he country
doing little odd jobs, he always gave
particular attention to the methods
used in cultivating swampy lands in
made to yield rich crops of rice. Then
he said to himself:
81 will return home and use the
knowledge | have CLEANED for the
benefit of my marshy land if my
grasping brother has not already ap
appropriated even that poor SOIL"
When he returned to his native
province it was within two weeks Of
New Years. 1t was an utterly dis
ccuraging prospect, that first view of
his ancestral acres. Pools of stae-
nant water covered it, with rank
coarse grass. and rushes rose in d.
clumps, and rustled in the bloa;,: win
try winds like the dry bones of his
vanished hopes His stock o. money
vas entirely too small for him to
think of undertaking the herculean
task with it. AS he lay sleepless that
night in his trouble, turning over in
his mind what he should do now, an
angel appeared to him and dropped
package of seed on the bed.
"Take these seeds" said the angel.
"and sprinkle them over every par
of your marsh. There lies fortune
for you in that swampy place. DO
not be discouraged, for you shall reap
golden harvest from it.
With these words the angel vanish
ed. and Foo Sing would have thought
tho whole incident a dream were it
not that in his hand lay the package
OF seed.
Early in the morning Foo Sing set
ont to SOW the seed before any one
else was up to see what he was about
and laugh at his folly, ssplanting seed
in a worthless marsh.
Day after day he visited the bleak
waste of land and was as often dlsap-
POINTED. Everything still seemed the
same. and his heart sank within him.
Then it rained-how it did pour!
Steady, continuously, as if il never
meant to cease until his marshy lana
vas completely flooded. Foo Sing
could see the specks of seed floating
on the water. "And that" said ne
mournfully, g is the end of the last
shred of hope
When the flood had subsidized some,
what he visited the meadows again.
He could not keep away from the spot
hut all he saw was the same brown
rushes and the dead grass.
81 will not go near the place again, :
ha said.
The night before Chinese New Year
the angel appeared again to Foo Sing.
'Now," said he, "go early tomor-
row morning and gather in your mar
vest of gold, for it's ripe"
Before the sun rose, Foo Sing has
tened to his treasure land aho
there. scattered all over the dreary
la..ou.. of tho marsh wore small green