Los Angeles herald., 1907-04-14

smiling mother handed her bundle, wrapped In
"a mans brought him for you," said the old
woman.
Racheis heart sank as she took the package.
The Prince had come and had not found her dream
ing in the corner Of the shop.
What for a looking mans, mooder7" she stam-
mers
"An awful tall mans, NIT gold buttons on his
clothes and got aces on his hat, liebchen," the
with bitter cry Of disappointment the girl
seized the bundle in her arms and ran through the
shop to her room upstairs. It the Prince and
he had not found her waiting! It was already
dusk and there was still dim light in the little
room, and Rachel sat down and began hurrledly to
open the package, heartbroken as she was.
AS the paper folded back little pasteboard box
fell to the floor She lifted its cover and disclosed
q little gold wire ring, set with three tiny pearls
with an exclamation of delight she seized the
trnket and slipped It her finger. So much
grander was It than any of the chewing gum prem
tums! In the next box string of red glass
beads. with carved ivory bird pendant. Rachel
clasped it about her neck. Wrapped in red tissue
joy They fitted the feet of Cinderella to an exact
ness! And in the largest bundle of all were some
red silk ribbons and piece of thin cotton dress
goods.
These were the gifts OF the Prnce-of the Prince
who had come and gone and had not found her!
Would he come back again?
With the white cotton spread out in her lap
and the other treasures close beside she leaned back
in her chair. and into her dreamy mind came the
words of the little book: "From the far corners Of
seven seas. black slaves and brown, white and red
mren-servants and handmaidens were summoned to
the service OF the great Princess Griselda-"
Into the little room over the bake-shop came
thick darkness like fog. It wrapped itself about
the girl fold fold Her heavy head dropped
back against the cushions of her chair. Her hands
lay in her Lap, motonless with curled, white fin
gers Her big black eyes we're tightly closed. To
her ears came the far-of sound of far-off, faint
voices. She saw strange, distant visions-real they
seemed, yet thin and shadowy.
Black men In faded blue shirts, open at the
throat. and black women with red handkerchief
tied about their heads worked in the cotton fields
under the blazing sun. Rhvthmicaly their backs
n fall fhn1yG sv 30 k,ol.
moving fingers Down the rows rode white man.
on great white horse. He carried whip, with
carved wooden handle and many lashes. Over
their bent backs he cracked his whip and cried in
hrash voice: Ye are the black slaves Of all men.
whether princesses crowned. or poor maidens
sleeuing in the Of their fathers shops
With unkDowing hands ye pick for wedding gown
and shroud and shift for newborn babe Hurry!
Hurry! For while the world spins you must TOLL"
In the great mills huge machines clicked and
ratified. In front of them stood thin, gaunt
women and nale-faced ragged little children,
they toled until of the smallest fell backward
to the foor gasping piteousy for breath with thin
purple lips.
"Take it from my sight cried sharp-faced
man, with burning wolfsh eyes, "The rest of you
must work the harder "No stopping. no delay.
Somewhere princess may wait FOR wedding-gown
or coffin cerements. Ye are the bond-slaves of all
the world"
over the fat desolate pampas stretching unbro-
ken to the horizon band of dark men. wearing
great. wide-brimmed sombreros, bound with gold
and silver braid rode their ponies into the setting
sun. Before them SLOWLY moved a nero OIL Wliu
eyed longhorned cattle. At night they camped by
a spring. and over the cards arose quarrel swirl
curses followed hot words. Then knife hashed
and sideways into the grass, fell shuddering life
less thing. all awkward legs and arms. With the
red sash from the waist of the leader they tied the
arms of the murderer and fastened him to the PACK
of tho same pony which bore the corpse of the man
he had killed.
Come" said the chief vaquero at the first break
of dawn 1--WE must saddle and start. We are not
freemen We, too. bound to the wheel. II
stop for this dead thing here some princess may
go forth from palace or howell unshod to her wed
ding or to her funeral"
women hopelessly plodded heavy yokes about their
necks, bearing the tusks of elephants. Some OF
them dropped and died along the trail, but Portu-
guese slave drivers relentlessly whipped on the
tangled web of things. Ye serve million un..
known mistEesses. waiting over seas for the spoil
ye bear"
fiat boat with square sail of mating, rose
and fell in the long slow swell from the China
Sea- Over its side dropped almost naked man,
his feet big rock, his hands clutching the rope
to which it was tied. His queue was tightly ras-
tened about the top of his head and in his mouth he
carried open clasp knife. In front OF him
shoulders. Down he sank into the steel blue
water. down and down. until his feet rested on the
sand of the bottom There with long yellow nm
gers he swiftly pulled and cut the great shell-fsh
from their beds until his basket was filed. Sud
denly he glanced upward and caught sight OF the
huge black body of great fish, approaching noise
iessly Instantly he released his hold on the rope
and shot upward like cork. But before he gained
the surface the shark had reached HIM Only few
air bubbles through the clear blue water. dis
colored now with bloody stain.
zone yellow slave the less" said the captain OF
the boat carelessy overheard with another. The
little Princess Rachel wishes pearls for her wedding
ring"
AS the girl sat up in her chair and opened her
eyes she saw, first of ALL the cotton dress goods IN
her lap, the slippers and the slender glistenlng
thread of the ring They were real Then her
still drowsy eyes caught the CLEAN OF something
white on the floor. She picked 1t up and ran 10
the window, through which came last faint CLEAN
of light 1t was little card. which had shppea
unnoticed from the opened bundle, and across II
written in a labored serawl "For Rachel lcn
liebe dich. Yakob."
A sudden rush of Joy hlled her as she read. out
of her dim dream she had brought an instinct or
truth that tha Rrinca Is he who rules