The Washington herald., 1911-10-15

NHop' he thought. "I viii tear this
of and see what lies behindp'
low, the strangest thing about ths
world at this far of time was that the
air was always completely still There
was no wind to blow the children's hair
when they were at play, and the leaves
upon the trees never stirred, and even
the ocean lay quiet, except for the swell.
ing of the tides. So you can guess IN.
childs astonishment when, as he pulled
away the strip of skin and stood aside
from the hole. a fearful1y strong blast
blew past him, so swift and powerful
tnat 1t bore with it great branches Of
trees and now and then even a reindeer.
Wisely o~lcluding that there was no wav
OF plugging up the hole he had opened
the child wandered on. And thus was
the East Wind set loose upon the earth
Inc seaskin boots that the hunters
Wlte had made him stood the child in
such good stead that before long he- found
himself at the very southernmost mart ~
the sky vail, where there was a bola nra.
eiSeV IKE the one he had uncovered At
the east 1t had been so exciting to
see me east wind blow through that he
ueclded to try the experiment once mora
ihls tlme 1t was less fearsome, for though
the wind blew fast, it was rather soft
ana warm, and brought gentle rain and
spray with it, completely wettinp +bs
enliu eager face, so that he laughed and
! turned away and ran on toward the west
ana ever since that time the warm Soutb
wind has blown upon the earth.
Setting the winds free was a mucb
more interesting pastime than the child
nad dreamed of, so he found himself in
hurry to uncover the western wall. But
when he got there he hesitated a little
because the sound that he heard was far
louder and more terrifying than any Won
may have heard on a stormy winter even
ing IN the country, when you were almost
afraid to go to bed. And. indeed, when
he did let the wind through it bore with
1t heavy rainstorm, with thick, stingiua
sleet, and he well knew, as he ran SWIFTLY
away, that the fishermen wouId navar
thank him for having loosed upon the
earth; for all time, the storm winds of the
uAuOt eApIuln why arter this he
sought the northern wall. But if Won had
been IN his place you might have done the
same. And, after all, the world would
have been much less interesting if he had
not, for the North Wind, when il tore
through the wall, was icy cold, freezing
stiff everything that it touched and bring
ing with it mighty drifts of snow. The
child stood we'll out of the way of this
wind, but shiyered at the mere sight of il.
and drawing his sealskin cap more closely
about his ears. he set about finding a path
that should lead him back to the village
where the hunter lived. And ever since
that time the earth has stiffened and
grown icy at the touch of the North Wind.
This excursion had taken a good deal Of
time, so when the child stood again at
the hunters threshold he found the
hunters wife weeping and mourning him
for lost. She had not realized that 8
child coming to life in such a way would
have magic power, but she was as de-
lighted to see him again as though he
were an ordinary child and her own. So
after confessing to her his exploits in the
four quarters of the earth he stayed al
ways under her roof, and her days after
this were long and happy.