Year: 1875

Down where great river Joined the
sea lived an old fisherman and his wife,
in small house; and their only family,
besides themselves, was a cat and tame
seabird. The old fisherman was very
pleasant man, except when he was i'll
natured, which happened too often, be-
cause he was a man who loved strong
drink, and when he was drunk tso much
he was cross and fretful The cat and
bird knew when he had been drinking
and got out of the way; but his po0r old
wife, not being as spry as the cat and
bird, had to stay and be scolded at. She
used to pray that some angel might come
and save him from his habit of drinking,
for from that fault his other faults
sprung.


Of course they were very poor, and
what they lived on, for tine most part, was
the fish that he caught in the sea, which
he called his garden. He used to say to
his wife, when he was pleasant, that he
had the biggest garden of any man in the
world, and he knew that some time he
should get treasure cut of it. She would
say that she hoped he might, and so it
grew frequent joke with them, at which
they both laughed, and perhaps the cat
and seabird did too.


One day, when the fisherman was down
by the shore, preparing to 60 out and
catch some fish, he heard a queer sound
on the water, that seemed like the cry of
child. He held his hand up to his eyes,
to shade them from the sun, and saw out
in the middle of the river, floating with
the tide, a strange-lOoking box Now he
often found floating down the river boxes
and barrels and all sorts of things, many
or which he got for frewood but this
box was not like anything he had ever
seen before. 1t seemed more like small
boat than box, and it moved in the wa
ter as if there was something heavy in it.


As he looked at it, wondering what it
could be, he heard the cry which he had
heard before and this time he knew it
came from the box, which swung around
with the tide. He therefore got into his
boat and rowed off to see what it was.
As soon as he reached the box and looked
into it he gave loud shout.


"Wife wife y he cried.


She heard him and ran down to the
shore, followed by the cat and the seabird,
thinking that something had happened
him. He had tied a rope to the box and
was towing it ashore. As soon as the boat
touched the land he turned to his wife,
and with a face all smiles, said,
as he lifted the box carefully on shore !:


"Wife, | told you that some day
should get treasure on nv farm. Look
at that p W ASS


She looked at the box with face of great
surprise, and cried out :


Gas / live. babyl Sure, it is an an
] gel from heaven, come by water.


Sure enough, there was the sweetest
little baby that ever was seen lying there,
smiling on the fisherman and his wife


who took it out, greatly pleased witt


their prize Then they found clothes ii


the box, and knew that the dear littl'


thing had been cast upon the water b,


cruel parents to drift into home or per


ish. sx


''It is not ours to keep, said the fisher


mans wife.


.Yes it is, said the fisherman. 'Pv
found it on my farm, and what | fin


there is mine. / should like to see an
one try to takeit away"
And he took hold of an oar, as if b


would do harm to any one who shout
think of such thing.


Then they carried the baby home, an
it was from that time the pet of all-th
, fisherman and his wife, the cat and bird
! ! 1t was little girl. and they named he
Ripple fancy of the old fisherman:
though he called her Water-lilly,
, s'Coral-branch," Sea-foam, or any prett


name that came FIRST first She was yer
I dear to him, and after little while gre,
! change took place in his conduct. III
money he used to spend for drink mu
be laid out for Baby. The house WI
. cheerful all the time. He never scolde
! bis wife, and the cat and bird knew thi


some wonderful change had taken pla'


iu him. Ripple and the cat and bird we


great friends and played together all Il
,. time. The fsherman's wife knew how Il
!. change came about, and would say
: herself, .'6he is an angel from Heave
: come by water / said so, and it is so
Ripple grew very beautiful, with viii
2 complexion, long golden hair, blue eye
II anu A1u tAAC SWECtCeb ctAA&C NO0 CNCA 50
y AL who saw her loved her; but mo
E than all the fisherman and his wife. II
!, !, fisherman would hold her hours at a tim
y telling her tales of the sea, the home
e the mermaids, who lived beneath Al
: !, drove about in beautiful dolphins
u sat on the rocks and combed their ha
d She would listen to this til she wish
n that she could go doWn under the sea q
y be with them; though she was sorry s
Is had wished 50, because her friends EoV
- - be 50 sad to part with her. She w0S
= roam along the shore and sing songs abC
1e the sea and hsen to hear If any Of |
ns mermaids would answer her.


oi One bright day she took her usual "


along the beaeh, singing her prettiest sol


calling upon the sen maidens to come
IL, her, when she saw change come over
he water. II seemed all purple and 20
he Great fishes came swimming past, I
er- then she heard the faint sound of mT
ast coming up out Of the sea. She
the alarmed at first but when right out I
on great wave came some Of the most Be
nd tiful little maidens she had ever q
er. co4ered with jewels, with great branc
the Of c0rals IN their hands, she vas full
aw delight.


They came to her and kissed her,