Year: 1861

pered in her ear that she must not forget the
spindle when she left home for the wedding
feast. Of course she could not forget so i'm
portant matter as that. Upon reaching the
cottage she could not find her sister anywhere,
OF which she was very glad, for she wanted to
take the spindle away without the knowledge
of its owner. So when she had packed up all
she wished, and taken the spindle from under
Crstels pillow, she set out for the city to spend
the remaining days before her marriage, where
she could make ample preparation for it. The
wedding was followed by a series of festivities,
| In which all the great personages of the king
dom took part. 1t lasted many days, and the
new Queen who could spin golden thread was
| an object Of great adulation and attention She
expected nothing but happiness in future.
Three months having passed by. and Martha
having spun no golden thread Of her own ac-
count, the King requested her to give him a
specimen of her wonderful powers. That was
sorrOwful moment for her, for it was almost
impossible to spin as many as nine skeins a
day-the ninth alone being of gold. She
made the trial of all her attendants and
not one of them could spin that number The
king was greatly enraged, and threatened to
discard his wife because she had deceived him
But he was determined, if possible, to have a
golden skein So he had her put in strong
castle, and locked up there with her wheel and
spindle. Thus many days passed by, and Mar





spinning, she would throw the spindle into the
ire But it would not burn, and the servants
always found ii in the ashes. and brought it
back by the king 8 order. Sometimes she would
cast 1t out of the window into the river, but it
would always shine on the bottom, and skill
ful divers were stationed near by to recover it,
After while Martha succeeded in spinning
some golden skeins, but the king would spend
them in a single nights debauch, and the next
day his passion for more was stronger than
ever. Martha was suffering hard fate That
old castle was her only home She was watched
oy three hard-hearted spies, and many a day
did she have to live on crackers and water tha
she might lose no time from her work. She
often sighed for the little cottage by the old
mill. Io be que cen was no pleasure to her


Ii Is almost unnecessary to show how anx-
lous Crlstel was for her sister g return She had
not the slightest knowledge of anything that
had occurred, and was grieving night and day
over her lonely lot She had, Of course, heard
that her sister was aqueen. She missed her
spindle, but she did not complain, for as il
came so mysteriously and without any labor of
her own, she thought she had no real claim
upon 1t. The time passed slowly by, and as she
was naturally fond of the forest, she spent
many an hour along its winding paths. One
day, while walking near the place where she
and her sister found the manned squirrel, she
saw her long absent Freddy running just ahead
OF her.


90 Freddy, o Freddy" she exclaimed. and
ran on after him. But he was too quick for her,
and often as she put out her hand to catch him
she missed him. Ali at once she felt the ground
open before her, and she went down, down.
know not how far. She was deprived of con-
sciousness, but had no pain.


When she recovered, she looked around upon
a scene Of splendor that she had never dream
ed Of She was sitting on golden throne, be-
side king Of noble bearing, and great Justice
and wisdom Fredhv SAT ar her feeI ard
looked in her mild blue eyes. The palace was
built of crystal, and you could look through
its walls upon gardens Of surprising lowell
ness. The courtiers around the throne came
up and bowed before Cristel, and then they
sang a most melodious song entitled The
Lame Squirrels Friend" The music of the
ha:ps, In addition to the voices Of the singers,
almost made her think she was dreaming. But
'he was not-she knew that she could not be.
When the music was over, the king asked her
If she would not be his queen. When she re-
membered that her father was dead, that Mar
tina had forssken her, and that a lonely life
was before hn if she returned to her old home,
she replied a. II Freddy will lead me once a
week to the old mill-wherever it is-and will
conduct me to this palace again, 1 will be your
queen"


The king bowed his consent. The air was
again filed with melodeous strains Of music,
after which came the wedding feast. So Cris-
tel WAS happy queen