The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-04-03

from one estate to another until. at length, he was far into the country. and they sat down to rest upon the slope Of a great hill. Then the magician ordered
 Aladdin to gather some wood and build
 little fire His manner was changing.
 The fire was built and the African. after
 uttering over 1t some mystic words, cried
 out that Aladdin must look behind him
 and open the door of the Garden of
 Wealth. At once there came a great
 tremor of the earth and an opening of the
 ground. and as Aladdin looked around, he
 saw-where the earth had opened-a great
 stone, and in it an iron ring. Take hold
 of the ring said the magician to the
 terrified boy, "and lift up the stone 'It
 Is too heavy-it is not possible cried out
 Aladdin.
 But he tried it nevertheless, and to his
 surprise the great stone rose under his
 hand. He had learned one lesson-that
 endeavor, however seemingly impossible,
 will accomplish wonders. Under the place
 where the stone had been Aladdin saw
 stairway leading down 10 a closed door.
 Descend" said the magician, and the
 door will open to your knock. It is not
 given to me to do these things-my crimes
 are too many-but you may do them. De- scend and pass through the three rooms filled with gold and silver which you will
 see. Go on to the garden where the trees
 grow which bear precious stones. At the
 back of the garden you will see a wall.
 In niche of that wall you will see
 lamp burning. Blow out the lamp, empty
 the oil and bring the lamp to me-
 Aladdin did as he was directed. But as
 he passed through the beautiful garden and saw the trees heavy with fruitase
 which was composed of rubies. emeralds, diamonds, sapphires and turquoses, he could not help stopping to pick some from the branches. In fact, he filled all his pockets and the waist of his robe with this shining fruit so that when he had accomplished the magician's orders and came back to the opening in the ground he cried out: Help me to come up; am heavy with the fruit of the trees and cannot ascend; give me your hand.' "Give me first the lamp" cried the magician When I am on top of the earth I will give you the lamp replied Aladdin. Give me the lamp, cried the magician Aladdin became obstinate. The ma glcian became furious.
 At last, seeing that the youth was inn the African uttered some words of incantation and the earth closed over the head of Aladdin He was now seated in utter darkness at the foot of the stairs and his fate seemed sealed. He began to pray, and. as he crossed his hands in prayer, he rubbed a ring-a ring he had snatched up as he passed through the rooms and had put upon his finger. Sud- denly, as he touched the ring, there came great sound as of wings, and genie stood before him. What dost thou re- quire?" said the genie. T am the slave of the ring. Your will is my law, mine and that of the other slaves of the ring The startled youth said that his idea now was to get home. He would like to be above ground and out of that darkness The door before him would not open, and he was in sad straits.
 In a flash Aladdin found himself in the streets of the city, not far from his mothers house. His mother was over loved to see again her son, and when he had told her of all the adventures which had befallen him. she. like a shrewd wom- an asked him what he had brought back from these strange proceedings. Aladdin, entirely forgetting the jewels, of the value of which he was, in fact, ignorant. mem tioned the lamp "Give it to me- said his mother If it is cleaned up it may | sell for enough to give us meal-for I am now utterly without money"
 The widow took the lamp and began scrubbing it. At once great genie ap- | peared. saving: What woudst thou have? I am ready to obey thee as thy slave | and the slave of all those who possess the lamp and hold it in their hands-l and the | other slaves of the lamp" The poor | woman tainted at the sight of the genie, | but Aladdin. who had seen such figure | before, when he was imprisoned under ground ran into the room, saying: T am | hungry; bring me something to eat
 The genie disappeared immediately, and in an instant reappeared bearing large, silver tray. in which were 12 silver dishes, with covers of the same metal Each | dish was filled with delicious food and a crystal fiagon was filled with rare wine. The genie deposited the tray before Alad- din and disappeared Aladdin's mother, recovering from her swoon, saw the tray and it's contents with surprise. and ex- claimed: ''Child, who has brought us these good things?' Tt does not matter, replied Aladdin, "sit down and let us eat. am hungry. and so must you be.
 So they ate heartily, the widow all the while marveling at the rich service and the good food. When they had fin- ished Aladdin told his mother of all tn at had occurred and that, in his opinion, the mere rubbing of the lamp would at
 any time bring to their service the genie.
 The widow was frightened and said:
 Take the lamp out of my sight. I do
 not believe In such things. l would
 rather die of starvation than be fright
 ened to death, as I nearly was just now
 by such a frightful monster. Has not
 the Prophet told us that the genii are
 devils? Sell the lamp, if you will, but
 let me see it no more.'' "Mother." re-
 piled Aladdin, that lamp may be of
 use to us. The wicked magician would
 not have made such long Journey un-
 less he had known the value of the
 lamp. We have honestly come hy it, let us make good use of it. As to the ring, had l not had it I never should have seen you again. will keep both. But I win keep the lamp out of your sight