Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1908-10-07


ntghtfall they arrived at the palace
and the prince was to go to the king
the next morning to learn What his
duties were to be.
So the next morning there was the
prince before the king.
Prince. \ began the king, In gruff
but kindly voice. you have taken
upon yourself three tasks, which, Il
you cannot perform rightly, your
head will answer for 1t. Are you pre-
pared for anything?" II am, sir
answered the prince. not at all
daunted. Very we'll. Take this axe
and hew down yonder tree in the
garden. Every time you take a
stroke the tree will grow twice as
quick. Il will try" said the prince
seeing Nakomia in the garden be
yond.
AS soon as he had gotten out Of
the kings sight he went up to the
princess, and she seeing him I'm.
mediately, said: II see you are. or
think you are. prepared for your
task" Fair princess, thou judgest
wrong. for know am not pre-.
pared. This axe is but common
one. you have a, magic one which
I hope you will consent to give to
me-" Right" she said. "A good
guess, prince. Here 1t is. Now go
to work You have but an hour"
The prince started and just at the
last minute the tree fell with great
crash, and the prince thrust away
the magic axe into the bushes close
by. where the princess picked it
up and carried It OF. The prince
took up the common axe and await.
ed the kings arrival. The king
came up. saw the remains of the
tree. examined the axe, then turned
to the prince and said: Thou hast
done we'll Tomorrow i VIII have
another task for thee"
The next morning, as before. the
prince was there at the. appointed
hour and received this command:
'.Dost see yonder apple tree. prince?
In one hour thou must pick bushel
Of apples. Thou wilt have to shake
the tree first The prince bowed
and went to the apple tree. There
he was met by the princess who gave
him small gold ring telling him to
slip 1t on his finger and he then would
be able to shake the tree. With the
ring on he gave one great shake,
and the apples came tumbling down:
He gave the ring to the princess and
picked up the apples until the bas-
ket was full. He then took the APP
pies to the king. who made the same
remark as on the first day, and the
prince turned away.
On the following morning the prince
appeared for the last time and the
king said: To-day the last and hard
est task is here. Thou canst not
accomplish this fear However.
try" So saying. he led forth a
mighty warrior. the greatest in the
land, and said: Thou shalt fight
him with the sword. Take thy choice
from these" opening a cabinet full
Of swords. The prince took the strong
est one he could find and the king
said Now go say farewell to the
princess and then come forth" The
prince went sadly into the garden for
this time he thought his hour was
surely come. He met the princess,
who slipped upon his finger the same
ring as the day before, and said:
Thou knowest. my prince, the use
of this ring. and now good-by. and
God be with thee" Then she turned
and walked away u .,ll g.
The prince lost no time. but went
straight where the warrior awaited
him.
OF course. with the magic ring on
the prince won the fight and married
the princess, and they lived happily
ever after. katharine Holway. In the
Brooklyn Eagle.
s RECKONING AND GUESSING. :;
It is satisfying to the soul occa-
sionally to return a favor in the same
coin. In the following incident, told
by Mr.. Putnam in his History of
the 25th Massachusetts, Regiment"
such an exchange took place. the
Yankees guessing getting the bet
ter OF the Southerner's reckoning 2
Private Anderson was tall Yam
kee recruit. On one occasion he was
taken prisoner in thick fog It
was his habit to carry small hat
Chef In his belt, and one of the f3rst
things his captors said to him was,
We'll, Yank. I reckon we'll take
that Ratchet"
Il suppose you will. Johnny" said
Anderson. giving up the weapon.
3 AS Anderson was being marched
on in order to Join the captors' com.
pany. he noticed that they had com.
pletely lost their way in the fog.
Look here. Johnnles,. he remark;
ed. coolly. 81 was over this ground
this very morning. know where
We are and where your men are. I'll
show you. Come on" and he led
or
The Confederates followed, and In
less than two minutes Anderson had
led them into the hands Of the Fed
erals. They saw the joke. but did not
enjoy 1t.
Nov. Johnny said Anderson, Il
guess III take the Ratchet" Youths
Companion.
ROBERTS WISH.
It was very hot day in August.
sYou could see the perspiratlon run
ming down little Roberts face. He
could hardly stand the heat. as he
lay on the couch, and said: Il wish
II were a cold winters day, and
not so hot as this
"All Of sudden little fairy stood
beside him, and said: you shall
have your wish. Robert did not
think that his wish could come true.
n u .