Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-09-21
SANDMAN STORY.
BY Mrs. F. A. Walker.
Co,vr,ubt. 1915. by Mcclure Newspaper
Syndicate. New York CITY.
JOEL AND THE LITTLE PRINCESS
PART H.


When the bad King beheld the beautl-
full Virgin he at first thought 1T was the
Princess. the face was so beautiful and
lifelike but. of course, he quickly dis
covered it was only an image, ana MS
wrath was terrible.
How dare YOU bring back an image
when | commanded you to bring me
the pretty Princess?" he said, beating
the table beside him with his sword.
And then strange thing happened.
The image moved its lips or tn hing
thought il did, and its eyes seemed to
look straight into his heart.
He stopped speaking and dropped
his sword The bad King. for the first
time in his life, was frightened. Take
it awayr' he managed To say ut last,
but when the soldiers laid hold OF the
image the King suddenly changed his
mind "No; do not touch 1t. Leave IL
and be gone, all of you.
The soldiers thought their l>lng must
he mad, and they quickly lett hlm alone
with the image. which now seemed 10
be looking through and through nm
On his knees the King ieii before the
image of the Virgin. ''Oh, speak to me-
he said Il want to be good.
The lips again moved, and TINS 'iine
| But the bad King could not pray,
| He had never done such a thing. ana
now all he could do was To cry out p:
| "SDcak to me ! want to toe good.
| And then he fell on his face at the
| feet of the image and wcpt how long
| he did not know, but when the morning
sun came in through the palace window
! he was still before the Virgin and not
| n wicked King any longer; he had learned
| TO pray.
He called for his wise men and asked
| 10 be told who the Virgin was and All
about the wonderful Christ child who
was her son. He wanted to hc told. :,
Then he told his soldiers to take all
the gold and treasures that had been
| taken away from the palace OF the ilttie
Princess father and tho image too
and carry them back.
1T is only an image and she co,ud
| not have spoken to me. nc said II
| must have been the voice OF the hfis'
Child who speaks to all who need hun
and thought II was the beautiful image
and that her lips moved
When the soldiers started on their
Journey the King went with them. tor
hc wished TO see the people whom he
had so wrongcd and ask their forgive
ness. When they came to the palace
where the little Princess lived the hing
made his soldiers repair all the damage
they had done and place the gold back
where il had been and the image IN the
room Of the littN Princess.
When the King saw the lttle frln-
ce-s he thought It was the bcautiiu'
image come to life, il was 50 Ike hcr
hut she quickly told him the story OF
loci who had made tho image OF the
Virgin. and how every one said u was
like her
There was no trace Of the bad King
left. now that his heart had been changed
and when he told the little Princess
father he wanted to marry her. that
he had fallen in love with his daughter
the King gave his consent
Then the Princess took the hing
TO sec Joel and he told Joel how the
beautiful face of the Virgin had changed
him and made him wish to be good.
The Princess gave Joel her hand e
kiss when she was leaving, and Joe
asked. tmidly Arc you happy. my
Princess" "Whv ycs. OF course.
am happy. Joel There is nothing II
the world | can wish for, replied thC
little Princess, her face all bright with
happiness.
"Shc Is happy that is all ask,
said Joel when he was alone w ha
ioy IS minc, Once saved her life whcr
ihcv took the image for the Princess
and now | have brought her a gooC
husband because Of the beautiful face
Of the Virgin. which changed his wickeC
heart to a good one,
Joel loved the little Princess. hu
his love was So great and noble tha
it knew no JOY other than her happiness
and 50 he lived and worked always 70
the little Princess, although she nevc
knew he loved her.
And when, long years after, he be
came a great sculptor, he looked bac
upon the figure or the beautiful Nirgi
as his greatest piece of work becaus
it had brought happiness 10 the lttl
Princess.