THE OREGON DAILY JOURNAL PORTLAND.. SATURDAY EVENING AUGUST 15, 1903
GOOD STORIES FOR CHILDRElSBy $!ait
,7 m .
-
The Story of a Magic IVreath
JVhich a Boy Found Hid
den in His Lonely Castle.
The Undoing of a Witch, ihe
Rescue of a Princess . and
the Finding ofRictiel
MoD
T
MILTOX A L IE UN ON" HOY, Earl of Chit
tenden, sat in the lonely and almost
ruined castle that had belonged to his
family for eight hundred years. Tho
oactlo was, as might hnvo been expected, overrun"
with rata, mice, cockroaches, spiders ond other aorta
of bugs too numerous to mention, and needed re-
, tQftjaar.Ja spend mvu.0R.uxmmS imi..i'Z.
and doirs for several centuries, therefore every
Earl Milton was only thirteen years old, but
these years had been passed in the gloomy old oas
tin, and ho seemed, by reoson of a sad and n'
cast air, to be some years older, for, indeed, he had
rarely had any fun since he was born. The lands
jll about the place were his, but they were so cover
ed with mortgages that you couldn't tell what the
oil was composed of.
He could, however, hunt the wild game that
ran through the forest, and this was his sole oc
cupation. . But he took no pleasure in what most
toys would call sport; merely hunting to obtain
food for his two feeble old servants. Perhaps most
of his real delight waa in the companionship of hia
dog Sandy, a little yellow and white beagle hound
who waa never so happy as when running, nose
down chose to the earth, after a frightened rabbit
through the tall grass.
Sandy spent all of his time smelling around.
Every clump of verdure, every hole, each pile of
brush or heap of rock was carefully inspected, and
every nook and cranny in the ancient castle which,
you may be sure, was full them was daily examin
ed lest something had visited it in the meantime.
.When he struck the trail of the rabbit, ah, then
you ahould have heard the full ringing, musical
bark that sounded I With his long ears sweeping
the ground hj dashed away, and from time to time
s tittered that joyful bay as he chased the bunny scur
txing through the underbrush. It was great sport
for Sandy, but perhaps the rabbit had a different
notion about it
1 1 i 1
Because he had no money with which to buy
powder Milton was obliged to hunt with a bow and
arrow, implements of the chase which had for agee
hung, on the walls of the great, musty halL and he
became very skillful in the jse of these old-f ashion
ed weapons, so that he could bring down a deer
or a' rabbit from a great distance. Ho went steal
ing through the misty forest aisles under the
ancient oaks that had seen the archers of Robin
Hood's time perhaps, creeping softly so that not a
'twig broke beneath his cautious footfall, and he
rorely failed to return to the castle with a burden
of game. Often he sat in the underbrush and shot
the pheasants as they darted across a sunny open
ing or secreted himself in a sedgy clump by the
lonely lake and sent his arrows across the dark
water at a duck winging its way along the shore.
He became as ekilled in the way of the woods
and its inhabitants as an Indian, and he could tread
through the forest mazes in the dark like a weasel
or a fox and quite as silently. He knew every tree,
every rock, even, I think, every plant, for miles
around the castle; each footprint in the soil was
read by him as you would read a book, and he knew
the call of each bird and the droning of every in
sect. While the sun shone Milton never remained
indoors, but when the snows fell and the lakes froze
he was compelled to spend many hours in the weary
old castle through which the winter winds swept,
making both boy and dog to shiver before the great
fire on the open hearth.
It was on one of these winter days that he
roamed through all tho rooms of his dwelling look
ing into many a closet and chest, hoping to discover
some fragments of fur or woolen clothing that had
escaped the search of old Sarah and Peter, and this
day he continued his investigations until at last Jie
penetrate, to a room under the very roof, a vast
apartment, where all sorts of antique rubbish had
been dumped for centuries, broken, useless weapons,
armor, books and pictures.
There in a dark recess he found an iron-bound
chest studded with nails and covered with dust,
showing that it had remained undisturbed for a
long time. Milton eagerly attacked it, and after
much effort managed to raise its ponderous lid,
when he saw, lying upon a folded garment of pale
blue satin of ancient style, a wreath of flowers so
fresh and fragrant that they looked as if they hod
been placed in the chest but yesterday I
1111
The perfume of the white blossoms poured up
Into the dust-laden air and filled bis nostrils as be
gazed into the chest in amazement, for it was a
most astonishing spectacle. It was certain that no
i body had opened the chest for a very long time; that
was proved by the thick layer of dust upon the lid;
but it was also quite as certain that no ordinary
flowers could remain thus for even one day in such
B place.
Milton was puzzled, but as he could think of
too solution to the mystery he took up the flowers
end laid tRem asido while he explored the chest.
He took out several garments of a fashion so
old that he could not remember seeing any pictures
like them garments that told of the days when the
Chittendens were rich ond could afford to buy
dresses from France and Spain for their pretty
daughters; for the first he took out were women's
clothes; then he came to men's attire, rich velvet
coats and surtouts of brocade, fur-lined and warm,
03 well as gay in color; thick woolen clothing, rich
ly embroidered with the Chittenden coat-of-arms
and silken panties of a remote epoch, each leg of a
different color, and other queer vestments that made
him stare in wonder.
There was a piece of parchment there written
over in faded letters, also, which he managed to
read with some difficulty, which explained the mys
tery of the ancient chest. It related that in a past
bo distant that one can scarcely manage to remem
ber the date, there was a wedding in tho captle when
the sith Earl Chittenden, then a young man,
placed this wreath upon the brow of his lovely
b.ide. She died the same day, and all her belong
ings, her bridal array as well as his, had been placed
in this chest, there to lie undisturbed while carl
after earl came and went in the castle below, until
even the memory of the tragedy was forgotten.
It-did not explain the wonder of the fragrant,
redolent, fresh' wreath of flowers, however, and
when Milton had carried all the nice warm clothes
to ins own room, chuckling with 'the prospect ef
vg tbwa ia tJjfll fci&ex JEgteJifl bung .1VJ mjwUeUoujijhjap
wreath upon a nail in the wall and read the story all
over again. Strangely enough, the name of tho
earl whose bride had died was Milton, too, and this
made him feel sad, but soon, when he had donned
the heavy woolen clothes and tho fur-lined coat,
ana was plowing inrougn wo oeep snow xo m
woods followed by Sandy, ho forgot all about the
ancestor so long turned to dust whose clothes ho
. was wearing, and ho whistled merrily.
All that winter he roamed the woods, clad in
the clothes of (he sixth Earl Chittenden, wandering
far outside of his own lands and seeking game in
ice-clad forests which he had never explored before.
Here, far from home, he camo upon a little hut,
from the chimney of which issued a thin spiral of
smoke that told of living occupants, but when Mil
ton knocked on tho door it was not opened. Turn
ing at last to leave, he suddenly spied a large gray
wolf slinking along in tho pale bluish shadow cast
on the .snow by the trees. Ho raised his bow and
fitted an arrow to the string, but the wolf darted
away into the dark evergreen growth and vanished.
Sandy was on his trail in a moment, but Milton
had no desire to see his little hound mangled by a
ravenous wolf, so ho whistled him back at once,
much against Sandy's will, you may be sure.
1 i 1 1
J 1,1 1 2" '' U
He returned home, but early the next morning
went again to the little hut, and, finding its door still
closed and receiving no answer to his knock, he hid
himself in the forest near-by to watch. Soon ho
saw the same shaggy, gaunt wolf sneak across the
fields and disappear behind the hut. It reappeared
in a moment, and while it stood at the door ho sent
an arrow singing across the snow and into its body,
but although his aim was good, the wind carried
the shaft slightly to one side, and it struck the ani
mal in the flank. Springing into the air, it uttered
a loud, pained howl and dashed away.
He sat still, and in a few minutes saw an old
and very ugly woman limping toward the hut.
Blood stained the footprints in the snow behind
her, and her dress was crimson with blood, also.
Milton, seeing that she had been hurt, rose and ran
to her. She started in surprise when she saw the
handsome boy in the fur coat, but when she saw. his
bow and arrows a sudden anger seemed to possess
her. But he did not notice how she glared it him,
for his eyes were upon her bloody skirt.
"You are hurt wounded 1" he cried. "What
has happened?"
"Nothing, nothing at all," she snapped, cross
ly. "I fell against a sharp broken branch of a tree,
that's all. I'll be all right in a few minutes. Go
away and mind your busifbs !"
A sudden thought smote Milton.
"Was it tho wolf?" he asked eagerly. "Did it
attack you in the forest?"
"There are no wolves here!" replied the old
woman. "At least I have never seen any."
"I shot one just now, but did not kill him P re
plied Milton. "He ran away before I could try
again."
The old hag glared savagely at him as she open
ed her door. When it was opened, Milton saw a
beautiful girl standing within, a girl with golden
hair and violet eyes, who was looking out at him
with a pleading as well as a surprised expression.
He had seen but few girls, mostly children of
peasants on the farms in the neighborhood, and
such a wondrously lovely vision as thia in such a
tumbledown hovel was very startling, therefore he
6tyred with, all his eyes until the old woman slam
med the door and shut it all out.
A A A Jk
Then he returned home to dream about her
until little Sandy grew worried at his master's
silent and thoughtful air.
Every day, until spring came and released the
streams and flowers and painted all the woods with
a mingling of tender greens and faint pinks and
blues, he haunted the forest's edge, hoping again to
see the beautiful girL Once or twice he knocked on
the door, ond when it was opened asked the old
woman how she was getting on with her wound, but
tho angry responso which he received soon taught
him how unwelcome he was, and he never saw the
gin, euner, so ne gave xnai up ana waitea lor
chance to visit her during tho hag's absence.
Hidden in a thick clumf of shrubbery he wait
ed day after day until the summer came, but the
old woman was as watchful cs he' and he never
caught her going out or coming in, and, the door
was alwavs closed.
MILTON TOSSED THE WREATH TO THE WITCH'S HEAD
the girl. The bag was a famous witch whose name
was Peggotty Swonkers, and sho was perhaps the
oldest person in all the world, for she had lived
since tho days of William the Conqueror, days
when a witch was an important woman indeed, but
. 1 . 1
of course', since witches went out of fashion many
years ago, she never advertised tho fact that she
was in that business now, but pretended to be an
herb doctor. She was in demand to cure pigs of the
colic, cows of the shivors, horses of the staggers
and chickens of the pip, but no ono ever called upon
her to attend to a dog's ills, for, as it is well known,
all self-respecting dogs know a witch as soon as
they set eyes on one, and every dog immediately
flew at Peggotty when she appeared in tho streets
of the town.
Of courso, some people were aware of her aw
ful trade, but as they often had dealings with her
they never revealed her secret; but even these peo
ple never suspected that she kept a young girl a
prisoner in her hut, for when she had callers the
girl was put into the cellar. A great black cat kept
constant watch at all times, warning her when any
body approached the hut, and guarding the impris
oned girl during her absence a cat apparently as
old as and even more hideous and cross than she was
herself, a fit companion indeed for the old crone,
but a terrible one for a young maiden.
The girl was the daughter of King Chronus, a
monarch who ruled a land far in the south, and she
had been stolen when a child from the court by Peg
gotty because the King had issued an order for
bidding witches to live in his realms.
She fled with tho child, and, although tho King
had offered an immense reward, she had never been
found, and to make her capture more difficult the
witch hod given her an herb which had deprived her
of speech, so that she could answer no questions re
garding herself if such happened to be asked by
curious visitors. The dumb child had grown to be
a beauty of such surpassing loveliness that Peggotty
had been obliged to hide her in this remote spot for
fear of lovers coming and carrying her awaypbut
when the summer camo she often allowed her to
roam in the dense forest, where only the deer and
the rabbits were ever seen, and, in order to keep the
forest as secluded as possible and to frighten off
any stray wanderers, the witch often assumed tho
6hape of a big gray timber wolf, whose red eyes and
awful teeth were well calculated to frighten the
woodeboppers and artists who sometimes pene
trated tho deep glades.
1 & 3. 1
But in Milton she recognized a boy who was
afraid of nothing and did not hesitate to attack
even a wolf. He was resolved to see the girl again.
Peggotty was quite sure of that, and yet she was
afraid of getting another arrow in her, for the
wound she had received in her leg was still very
Bore, and every time it smarted she groaned and
thought of Jlilton with an awful wolfish growl.
She had forgotten many of her witch spells, or
else would have turned into, a lion or a bear and
made an end of him at once; and certainly, had ho
suspected her of being a witch, he would have been
more cautious.
Finally, seeing that the girl was growing pale
from confinement, and fearing that she would die
and deprive the witch of the pleasure of tormenting
her, which was almost her 6ole pastime. Peggotty
decided to rid herself of the watchful lad by play
ing a trick upon him. Knowing that a boy is al
ways hungry, she made a charmed cake that, if
eaten, would promptly change him into a pig, and
she laid this cake upon her window sill, hoping and
expecting that he would see it ond think the girl
had made it for him.
But she had never thought of Sandy, whose ap
peftte was far keener than his master's, and who
scented the cake in a minute and soon swallowed it
with great satisfaction. Instead, however, of turning
the dog into a pig, as one might have expected, it
merely gave him the power of speech, for it was a
spell designed not for dogs, but men, and he ran back
to Milton laughing just like a boy. When Milton
heard him coming he thought another vlad was in
the woods, but on seeing Sandy appear he almost
fell over in amazement.
"She's a witch," cried Sandy, "and I've eaten
some kind of a witch cake that was left on her win
dow silL probably fixed up for you!'1' I can talk I
Ha, ha! What a jokoP -
After a while Milton recovered from his sur
prise,' and then they had a Jong talk. You cannot
imagine how queer it seemed at first to hear a. dog
tfii&ips XiS like .WPthfir lad, and what fan it was
too. Sandy, of course, was delighted with his new
accomplishment, and rattled away like a mill wheel
just to hear his own voice, but, after all, he told
Milton many things that he was very glad to hear.
In the first place, he was informed that Peggotty
was a genuine witch and fully as dangerous as any
witch ever seen ; and, besides that, he was told just
what she had done in the past.
Srndy told him that all witches were very fond
of eels, which, however, ' they rarely can catch, as
they fear the water so much that they nevor ap
proach it, not even in a bath tub. So the first thing
to do was to procure somo eels.
This is what he aid : First he dug a lot of big
worms, regular "night walkers," which he tied to
gether with thread in a bunch as large as his fist,
and this he fastened to a long string, and when
darkness fell he went to the moat which encircled
the castle a deep, stagnant ditch full of eels and
sat down on the bank. Then ho threw in his worms,
and in a minute a big eel seized the bait, and before
he could release his hold on the bunch of thread
and worms, Milton jerked him high and dry on the
grass. Soon he hud a couple of dozen tremendous
eels in his basket, and then he went to bed quito
satisfied.
Jk A &
It was a warm night, and Milton wished sincere
ly that his dwelling had been built like modern
houses, where one can throw the windows wide open
and admit every breath of air ; but had this been the
cae this story might have ended in a vastly differ
ent manner, for when he awoke in the morning
Sandy revealed a strange fact. The dog was wait
ing outside of the door when Milton appeared ready
to start to Peggotty's hut with the eels.
"Hello," said Milton. "Have you been out all
night?".
"Yes, indeed," replied Sandy, with a grin which
revealed his glittering white teeth. "I was out all
night, and I made a discovery. I caught the old
witch peeping in at your window about midnight.
She is up to some mischief, I am certain."
"In at my window!" exclaimed Milton in sur-
rise. "My window is thirty feet from the ground 1
low could she peep in ?"
"She was riding a broomstick," replied Sandy,
"as I have often seen her doing, although I have
never seen her around the castle before. I' cannot
imagine what she wanted at that hour, but she flew
away, with a diabolical grin of pleasure upon her
face, which revealed the fact that she also had made
a discovery which gratified her exceedingly."
"We must discover what it was," said Milton.
"I cannot imagine what she could have seen to in
terest her in my rooms, I am sure, but whatever it .
was we can only learn from the witch herself. We
will go at once to her hut."
He ran into the castle and got, his basket pf
eels, and, with the smiling dog following, hurried
away to Peggotty's hovel, where" the witch was
found smiling, a fact that surprised Milton. She
was in very good humor, and when he gave her tho
eels she asked him to enter her house, where he
found the dumb girl spinning at a wheel.
'1 1 1 1
In this old-fashioned occupation she seemed
more beautiful than ever, and his heart went out
to her. Peggotty said she was her daughter, but
that Milton found hard to believe; but as she was
speechless the truth could not be learned from her."
The witch, delighted at the prospect of a meal,
bustled about her hut in hasty preparation for the
feast, and after a while Milton asked her to allow
him to take the dumb girl for a walk in the forest,
The ' witch reflected for a moment, and then gave
permission with a somewhat cloudy brow, but Mil
ton asked no more. They wandered far in the shady
woods, and he told her all about himself. Bnt, alas,
she could tell him nothing in return..
Then he conceived the notion of teaching her
the deaf and dumb alphabet, and promptly proceed
ed to instruct her. They spent'the whole day in wan
dering, and never thought of the time, although the
watchful Sandy bad long ago felt the pangs of hun
ger but was too polite to mention the fact.
Un their return tne old witcn appeared much re
Jieved. Milton asked permission to come again, which
Peggotty cheerfully granted, and on the following
day he was' there early in the morning. Again he
walked with Amine, which was the girl's name, but t
this time they returned early fdr he feared to offend
the witch. Peggotty was as pleased 4s before, and
asked him many questions about the ancient.castle: ,1Lb
aud ita history, aud.'ell-these, ho answered ralily, -
hopon to learn her objoci Finally shi asked him
if ha i ever heard fttrange, old tale about a brid
who had died on he? wedding day.. " C i
"Yes," replied Milton. ."I read all, 'about it
l??1?)'- ,?l'oun4 Ptrchment ia an old
chest that told it alLf t- . '
. "What. --v" i 'jtt.M .
ner eyes glowimr with ftacArnftM. tKo l.a
-been something . ...'.i -
-y Milton told
UB "fBiU n aoujfng more was discovered
- " jvunuuucreu idoui xna wrea
at nnmni that V. haJ v; n . ,
. t uiui va mi wan. ana w
always remained perfectly fresh. Her face cha
,v , f,1?0 OI "tense relief came over it
,0h "wUwj much to see such a won
derl she acied. "Will you bring it to m and let me
inspect ltf -
"Certainly. I w$l bring it to-morrow," replied
by- Tti t ifl farewell and returned home.
1 Ubet Mid Bandy. he trotted beside his
master, "that the wreath is what she is after. All
this politeness suTely means something t Watch her
carefully and don't 1st her gain any advantage!"
"She is surely up to some mischief," replied the
boy. "I can see that in her green eyes every time
I look at her; but I think you and I are a match
for her, Sandy."
Sandy opened bis jaws in a dog's pleased grin
and hung out his long pink tongue in a wayhat
snowoa now ne would liko to take just one nipit
ot tno old hag", lie added: X
"I have been sneaking around her hut for hours
at night trying to disopver something, but she never
talks even to her old cat. She was so' tickled to
hear you say that you would bring her the wreath
of flowers that she betrayed undue anxiety to see it.
Yes, we will surely defeat her wicked purpose if
we can only learn what it is."
1' 1 1 1
The puzzle was too much for either of them,
and they went to bed without thinking of anything
that Peggotty could do with the wreath; but all
night Sandy slept with one eye open and fixed on
the window. In the morning they hastened to her
with the flowers.
' They found, her with Amine, outside of the hut,
where a - big black pot, full of a strange-smelling
mixture, was standing over a small fire in the grass.
This was some mysterious potion prepared for no
good purpose thought the sagacious Sandy, so he
kept to windward of its fumes and he cautioned
Milton to remember to keep his fingers constantly
crossed, lest the witch put a spell upon him. Milton
handed the fragrant wreath to Peggotty, and then
he' noticed, that Amine had a somewhat similar
wreath upon her golden head. This was so un
usual that' he looked curiously at her, and the
witch said hastily : -
"She feared that you would not bring the flow
ers, so I made a wreath -for her. Is it not pretty ?"
This. uncalled-for explanation caused Milton to
be even more cautious, for he was quite sure that
Amino had expressed no such desire at all, and he
was aware that the witch never did anything to
please the girl.
"Yours is a beautiful wreath!' said Peggotty,
examining it with great, apparent, interest "I have)
never seen anything like it, and what a wonder it ia
that it remained so fresh and perfect all thoso
ages ! No such flowers exist nowadays !"
She was about to return it to Milton, but, aa
if a sudden thought had occurred to her, she added:
"Amine has a wreath upon her headl You
must wear this!" She motioned the girl to come
to her, and, placing the wreath in her hand, said :
"Crown him with the flowers, my child. Ha
loves youl"
The girl was about to place the wreath upon
Milton's head, and the witch was trembling with
eagerness, bending over them as Milton kneeled to
receive it, when the boy glanced up and caught the
awful gleam in the 0I4 hag's eyes! A shiver ran
through him, and then, seizing the wreath, he threw
it upon Peggotty's own head with a motion so sud
den that she could not evade it.
When she felt the flowers about her brow she
uttered a frightful yell and tried to tear the wreath
away, but it clung like a coiled serpent to her head.
Tn anntViAV mnmpnt wViiTn Iiat vplla rnnir iVi rnn trVt th
forest and alarmed its wild denizens, she fell toJ
the sward in convulsions of rage and distress. Thjf
spectacle was so awful that neither Milton ijfi
Amine could move hand or foot, but stood ff t
spellbound staring at her.
i 1 1 1
"I am dying!" she groaned finally. "It's all
over! The fatal flowers at last have done for mo
as they have for others !"
"Then this is what you designed for me!" ex
claimed Milton. She groaned again.
"I sent it to your ancestress 800 years ago, and
it killed her, and thus it has returned to me I Yes,
I meant it for you! Thus I would have destroyed
you and regained my poison wreath! I am pun
ished rightly 1".
bho soon became unable to move, and it waa
plainthat the end was near. Before she diejhe
Chronus. and asked Milton to take the Princev
bock to ner nome. one aiso revealed mat there s
. 1 r a. - : 11 .u.i. i 1 1
Was B lltsnp ox treasure) 111 iict ccuar, uiiiu Bile HUH
gathered during her long life, and said that it was
theirs if they could drive the black cat away from
It. Then she shuddered and died, and in a few,
minutes there was nothing remaining of her but her
clothing, for she had simply turned to dust.
Before they could think of what to do there
was a dreadful outcry from the collar. It was
caused by Sandy, who was engaged in dismissing the
cat, and so pleasant was the task he became so ab
sorbed in it that he finished the cat ' before he1
ceased. Then they went down and carried out the
treasure and took it to the castle .
In a few days Milton had purchased everything
they needed, and they went to iiing Chronus. How
he received his long-lost daughter you perhaps may
hare read in the papers, but you may never have
heard that he gave half his kingdom, as well as
Amine, to Earl Chittenden; but such was the fact,
and now there is no greater nobleman in all that
country. - .
Principally the people admire him because M
- 1 J 1 .! H . i '
is the only man in all the world who possesses a
talking" dog, and as there is a grear story to be
told about Sandy, Til atop right here and leave
Test, fpr another time.
; v JVALX HcDOUGAIi: .
' -
-