WHEN THE GREAT BELL RANG

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 18, 20 July 1935, Page 20

WHEN THE GREAT BELL RANG

AS many years ago as there are flowers- oiv a May.bush, there lived in a far distant land a wicked old tyrant who reigned as king while his nephew, who was the rightful heir to the-throne, was-driven into exile. Indeed, had he not been befriepded by a woodcutter, the poor boy might have perished in the forest, where he was left by his uncle to be devoured by wild beasts. All hated the usurper, but they feared him even more than they hated him, so that they did not even dare to speak of the exiled though they longed desperately for his return.: r ■ Near the Royal Palace was a belfry where lived an old man and his only childj ia ; daughter named Rosemary Her father was the, custodian of the great bell which was rung only once in the reign of a king—to announce his deatli "Rosemary was 'a virtuous and beautiful,girl with eyes as blue as a wiUow-patternplate and hair that hung in thick flaxed plaits to her very kneeS.;:s- .-.,■• ■'. .. ~ , ■ : . ■",.-■ ' . '

Orie flay the old bell warden became very ill, and, although his daughter nursed,hiin'tenderly |it soon became evident that he would die. But his last moments y/ere troubled by the thought that his life mission.—to ring the bell^Hkdinotbeen fulfllled; *he more so because the ringing of the bell woultl/have, announced the death of the wicked old tyrant and the return of tlie^jybuiigiprince'whom everybody loved. The room wb%re the old man lay': bgened on to the bell tower and from his bed he could see the long bell rope, as thick as a man's arm. 'SThe bell! The bell!" he cried with failing voice. "Ring the bell, little daughter,or; I shall not die iv peace." ' , Now Rosemary knew that to ring the bell before the death of the king was to c'pmmit a serious crime known as high treason,' but she desired only to cpnifort;her,father,l,:so' she hastened from his.side and pulled the bell rope with: all her young .strength. The great bell was so heavy that at first she could not get-it to move,'"and when it began to swing it carried her .right off her feet,vso'ttiat sheswung back and forth like the pendulum of a clock, her ftaxe'n plaits 'floatirig behind her The .belfry Was very old and dim and cobwebs as'big.:as cartrwheels hung from the ceiling. As the voice of the bell broke the;long-stillness, <t startled a hundred bats .which swept and whirled like leaves in' a hurricane. \ While'it was yet tolling'the old bell warden breathed his last. On discovering- that her father was already, dead, Rosemary remembered that by ringing the'bell Without authority she bad offended the king, and. would probably-be beheaded were she caught. She therefore fled with all hasta into the forest, carrying with her,only a currant bun and a square inch of cheese, On her feet.she wore grass sandals, so light that they left no footprinf;after her to show which way she had gone. ■ to the meantime the ringing of the bell had caused-an uproar, throughout the Palace. ; "The .king is dead! The king is dead!" they cried. "So may all tyrants perish."' ■ ;. ; . '■'..,' The king\himself lay.in his state chamber in a .bed as large as an ordiriafy-sized room. Five mattresses separated him, from the springs, and the bedspread and hangings were woven out of a million golden cocoons and shonevlilce^he beams-of the setting sun. The wicked: old king was asleep, but he awoke suddenly to hear tht^ ominous knell and the cries of the people rejoicing bverHis1 death. A dreadful fear seized him, and with the continued ringing he did actually die of fright. When the courtiers rushed into his bed-chamber they saw that the king was dead indeed. The glad news spread to every corner, of the kingdom,.and a great welcome was prepared for the home-coming of the exiled prince. But the first problem was t where to • find him. Ten thousand pigeons were released from the windows of the Palace, each bearing a message on- its leg. Then ten thousand kites were flown so that he might.read the glad tidings in,the sky, and lastly te^n'" thousand arrows bearing, instead of the wounding dart, a holkw quill containing'a roll of paper with; the message on it, were, shot by the royal archers in every direction.. Now, whether the pigeon alighted on -the young prince's shoulder, or whether he saw the kites in the sky, or whether one of the'arrows found its mark in the wood-cutter's door, I leave it to you to guess. However that may be, he started for\home exactly .three, days after his wicked uncle's death. He rode On a stag arid carried; a staff of blackthorn/ : \ Now as it happened, on the border of 'the forest he came upon a beautiful girL resting by a stream. Beside her on a; napkin was half, a currant bun and half a square inch of cheese, and a pair of sandals lay on the grass nearcy as she bathed her tired feel in the water. Yes—it was none other than little Rosemary, who, once.she had lost her fear olthe:haridsbme young stranger, told him her whole {story, amid renewed tears'at-her father's death and her present idanger. The young man kissed bway her tears, and mounted her on his tarne v , stag. "If you will-only marry me," he said, "I can promise you that no harm will come to you, for even the king himself is, not stronger than Love." What' was Rosemary's surprise to find later that her companion was reall" the king and she his queen. Her joy and excitement knew no. bounds. But the belfry with everything in it, including the great bell, disappeared" magically; on the day of their marriage and coronation, and no trace of : it was ever seen again. -.■■/..<