Year: 1871




on the mantlepiece. This he immedi-
| ately put IN his pocket, fully determin-
ed that he would place it in savings
: bank as soon as possible.


} But when he began to inquire of the
} retainers and others in his fathers cas-


tie where he wonld find savings bank,
3 they laughed at him so much, and
| made things so unpleasant for him,
, that he resolved to run away at once,
> and find out savings bank for himself.


So he put some food in sachel, and
, went upon his travels As he took his
crossbow with him, so that he could


bring down bird now and then, he
was not likely to come to very bad hun
ger; and,- indeed, he made himself so
: usefHl to cottagers and laborers, as he
went on his way, that he had no diff
refreshed and lodged. Whenever he


saw weak person doing hard job, he


went up gaily and lent a helping hand,
and so everybody thanked him, and
j liked him, and made him welcome.
; They used to be very much surprised,
for he was beautifully dressed, all


green and gold, and SO on, and the wo-


men often said they were sure he was q


real nODloman'S 8 son.


Being very light of heart, he was in


the habit of singing any words that


happened to be running in his mind !;


and he had not gone far on his travels


before he began singing to a melody


which his mother had taught him (his


father, I should have told you, was


widower), the words, (Which is the


way to the savings-bank2 Which is


the way to the savings bank 2"


Just at this moment he came in sight


of the stream of which we have been


speaking, but it was then only mere


thread of sparkling water, gurgling


over silver sand, among forget-me-nots,


and rushes, and flag flowers. AS the


young count drew nearer, to take


drink of the water, the little shining


stream said, as plainly as possible-I
mean he thought it did" I know the


way to the savings bank! I know the


way to the savings bank ~ This pleased
him very much, and he said out loud,
as he ran along ahead-keeping the


course of the little river, "Oh, hol


then [ will follow you, follow you, lit
tie stream, follow you! !" By this time
, the flow of the water was broken by
some small boulders, and just there it
} spoke again-you know what I mean
, and said, short and sweet, "Follow
me- follow me follow me ~ and went
scuttling forward between the banks,


one little wave treading on the heels of
, another, and making ups and downs,
, and whirligigs, and bubbles of the
most beautiful description. That night
the count slept in the open air, on the
lTo Of fho Ia
ess did; for / must now repeat to you
that it was really the same river; and
when he awoke at day dawn the stream
was still saying, " Follow me! !" louder
than ever So he washed his hands
, and face, and went forward, still keep
t ing to the bank of the stream.


Y.


, He had not proceeded far before he


came to sight which very much sur
prised him. Lying on the banks of
this little river was young maiden,


fast asleep She was dressed in very,


very poor attire, but her beautiful hai1


came down nearly to her feet, and her
, face was SO lovely with her eyes shut


that the youthful count felt as if he
, really must wake her, in order to see
how pretty she would look with them
open. This, you must know, is a cir
cumstance which has occurred great
many times when youths have been
looking at pretty girls asleep. He could


not help noticing that this maiden's
hands and feet were delicate and well
made, though she had evidently done
) hard work, and walked hard also :;


and he Immediately said to him
self, she must be of noble


birth, for her hands and feet are so


small. This was very curious, for
though he himself was of noble birth,
his hands and feet were large for his
age. But as he was gazing on Countess


asleep, and thinking in his heart, "I
will ask her to be my wife, and we will


go on our travels together" his eye fell
) upon the savings-bank. This made
, him give great Jump into the air,-I
mean with excitement, you know, and


he very nearly called out, so as to wake


Countess. However, he did not, but


whispering to himself, "The river
) spoke true F." he put his hand into his


pocket, took out the silver penny, and
dropped it into the slit of the little
money box savings-bank that lay by


the side of Countess.


The tinkle of the silver penny against


the copper penny disturbed Countess,


and her limbs tegan to stir. "Ah !
she is going to awake" thought the


little count; 'she will want to make
her morning toilet, and [ must not


look Sc [ will get behind the hedge


where [ cannot see her." This he ac-


cordingly did, but of course it was not


very far off.


Almost the first thing Countess did
upon rouslng up was to look into her


savings bank, and great was her Joy to


find that at last the copper penny had


grown. With great alacrity she leapt


up, and went away few steps behind


some ferns, to make her little toilet,


leaving her savings-baRk on the grass,


by the side of her shoes and stockings.


While she was gone, an unfortunate


circumstance occurred, She was too
innocent TO fear any harm, either to


herself or to her treasure and the
young count did not dare to peep


through the hedge II the direction


where she lay, and thus there was no


one to prevent the crime that was now


perpetrated.


} SO little do we know what may be
taking place at our own right hand
that, close to the very spot where
} Countess had been sleeping so inno-
Gently, with her sav1ngs-bank at her
} side, there had also been sleeping-if
he could sleep, but, at all events he
had been lying down and doing some
, thing very like sleeping-one of the
} very wickedest and most greedy men
l on the face of the earth. He was a
+ very ugly man, black in complexion,


and very greedy, and he used to go on a


tramp, thinking of nothing but making
: money. just when Countess was MAX
> ing her morning toilet, this nasty old
y man crept out of his hiding place, and
a IN moment, for his cruel little eyes
: were very keen, caught sight of the
a savings-bank. Now, nothing pleased
2 him SO much as to steal from the young
! people, for he said he thought