The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1907-11-27
Two Prisoners.
~
BY RlnsVa Spencer Handy.


No matter what trouble Katherine
got into she was sure to find some
way to get out of 1t. From the time
she had been wee bit of girl, her
mother reached the conclusion that
there was no use worrying over Kath-
crime. The child seemed to have the
faculty of always landing on her
feet" And this was true, except
"once upon a time" when she did
not.
One afternoon Katherine was left
alone in the house. That is, no one
was nearer than the kitchen, where
Della was busily ironing. RATHER
ines mother had gone to pay some
calls in the neighborhood She had
wanted her daughter to go with her,
but this young lady had refused.
What is there for child to do?"
she argued. 'She can't play about,
because it isn't ladylike. She can't
talk because it is ladylike Cat least
ladies do good deal of talking). /
get very tired sitting on stiff, high,
uncomfortable chair and being told
that have grown a great deal and
am getting to look more like some-
body every day / live"
Mother laughed and said she
thought there was good deal of
truth in what Katherine said. She
advised her to stay at home and
finish the story book she had gotten
a week before on her birthday.
Katherine was delighted. The
story was fascinating. 1t was about
little boy named Charles, whose
father was the King of England.
Two parties were fighting for the
possession of the throne, Charles IA
ther and his uncle. During the con-
test the king hid his son away at
friends house, fearing that his en-
emies might steal the boy. The prince
was very lonesome. He was not al
lowed to talk to anyone or see any
person but an old servant who
brought him his meals.
He had already been three weeks
In this prison room when one day
something happened. He had grown
tired of watching the sun as it poured
through the high latticed windows,
and of hearing the happy voices of
the harvesters singing outside. They
were happy because they were free
and this thought made the prince
more miserable than ever.
The room in which the boy was i'm
w ha II
1t was paneled chair-high with wood,
while above this were carved figures.
These represented the gods and god
desses which the ancient Greeks and
Romans worshiped long ago. Some
OF them amused the little boy, while
others annoyed him equally. Among
the first class was Jupiter, who was
hurling lightning from his throne.
Vulcan, too, was interesting, for he
was hammering away on his anvil
looking like very giant in his mas
sive strength.
Charles took the greatest dislike to
the goddess Minerva. This famous
person had a remarkably ugly nose.
When the artist first carved her out
OF the precious marble her nose was
a thing of the greatest beauty,
straight and prominent. This promi-
nent feature had no doubt brought it
to its final state of ugliness, for be-
cause 1t was so prominent it had
gotten chipped off and was now
worn off as fiat as the nose of some
princess of Ethiopia.
Every time Charles looked at Ma
dam Minerva he grew very angry.
When he had decided that the most
offending portion of Minerva was her
nose, the Prince of Wales made I'D
his royal mind what he would do.
Seizing his toy bow and setting his
lips tight, he said: II won't put up
with her nose any longer; I'll see If
can't hit it,"
Whizz!" went the string. Charles
saw that he had hit the nose and the
panel began of its own accord to
slowly turn as If it were swung on a
pivot. 1t only took a minute more
for Charles to discover that behind
this panel a secret passage was re-
vealed, and following 1t the young
prince was son on his way out of his
bondage.
Katherine had just gotten this far
in her book when she heard the voice
OF her chum beneath her window.
She opened the sash, thrust out her
curly head and pleasant chat fol-
lowed between the two girls. Kath-
crimes curls were her most pleasant
feature, just as Minerva's nose had
been her most unpleasant. They were
long and yellow, and no doubt looked
SO pretty In the golden sunshine that
some mischievous fairy could not re-
sist the temptation to play a trick.
What this was Katherine, did not dis
cover until the good by" of her
friend had died away in the distance.
Down came the window and Kath-
crime turned to pick up her book and