MING

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 25, 29 July 1933, Page 20

MING

(Original toy "Cuban Girl," aged 13.)

IT was evening. The stars were shining and winking as they looked af the moonlit earth. Tho moon seemed to change from yellow to orange, and from orange to red. Between the glittering stars the sky greii; blacker and blacker, and the whole scene was a picturo of beauty. Underneath stood a wood, which reigned over the surrounding countryside with a majestic silence. On this wonderful summer night roamed * beautiful maiden named Fairiel. She had big violet eyes that looked at .on* from under a thick, long, dark fringe of lashes; her hair, which was black as a raven's wing, hung down her back in a mass of curls, she had a smallj oval face, sweet red lips, and a pair of tiny feet that skipped happily over the moss carpet of tho wood. It was her birthday, and she wondered what the night would give her for a present. Presently a little whimper of pain interrupted her thoughts, so, running to where the sound came fron., she discovered a baby monkey. Greatly, astonished at finding a monkey, Fairiel picked it up, and to her sorrow sue found the poor little animal had broken one of its legs. ; "Ming! Ming! Where are you? Mi— oh, Ming, whatever is wrong? * voice quite near said anxiously. Fairiel turnc-1 round hastily, and found herself face to face with a tall, handsome young man dressed in rich clothes and costly jewels. "Oh, I think his leg is broken," Fairiel said as she bound up his leg gently. , ~ „. , ' As the young man took Ming from her arms he said: "1 am tne mug ■ son, and as soon as I find a wife to be my Queen, I will be crowned King. Will you marry me, for I love you in spite of tho fact that this is our hrss meeFafricl decided that she liked him, and shyly accepted. A week later both were married, and who do you think held the train of Fairiel^ wedding dress? Well, nobody but Ming, for it was through him that the Prince and Fairiel had met. There is no need to say that Fairiel was a popular Queen, because every, one loved her. Wasn't her present unusual, for whoever heard of a persom having a husband for » birthday present.'