OUR LITTLE FOLKS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2299, 24 March 1898, Page 57

OUR LITTLE FOLKS.

By Dot.

Dot -win be pleased to receive tbort letters from juvenile corre • pondents on any mmtera of interest to themselves— short «oric« of pet animals, descriotioixa of their favourite toys, their oarcics amusements, &0. The letters to be written by the children them •eWes and addresseii " Dot, eire of the tdltor," ami to be pub lshed in the page aevoted to " Our Little Follcs. THE PHCENIX'S EGO. 'A FAIRY TALE FOR LITTLE FOLKS. By Fbdoha. Chapter 111. The next day the old woman came, and •was taken to the Queen's private boudoir. When she showed her the jewels the Queen's breath was nearly taken away. " What do you want for them ? " she ask6d. The old hag grinned evilly. " A very simple thing, your Majesty," Bhe replied — " only your daughter the Princess Averna's soul." Tbe Queen started and looked troubled. The King had told ber to get rid of that troublesome thing, but the great doctor had expressly forbidden ber to do so. She had anidea.that it was not right to disobey the doctor after all; bat she had never been accustomed to think for herself, and now tha exertion -was too much for her. Besides, the jewels dazzled her. - "But how can you take Averna's soul with- • cut her knowledge 1 " asked tha Queen. "Qaita- easily," replied- the- crone. "Ju3t Ist me go into her bedroom while the young lady is asleep, and I will take it and she will never know. You can easily sell me that, as you are her mother." So the bargain was mads, and the old hag in some way or another stole Averna's i eautiful scul aad disappeared, leaving the dazzling jewels ftr tb.e Qaeen and an pkpecially large diamond for the Lord Chancellor's wife. When the Princess awoke the next morning the felt very strange. She seemed to have a lump of lead inside her, and it didn't sennx as though (here was niucbvreason for her to get up. However, she decided to rise, and having done so she rang for her maid. Averna had not usually required a maid to »Io anything for ber, and the servant did not answer the bellimmediately. When she did co her astonishment was great when the Princess threw fir&t a comb and then a brush - ivt her for not comir gin time. She made her servant wait on her to the very least tbirg, and she never even took the trouble t-> thank herl When • she went down to breakfast ihe seemed to have forgotten her brothers and si&ters, and even her mother. The Qaeen, who was very anxiously waiting to see her, after what had happened, offered to kiss her : daughter and say **Good morning"; but j : Averna pushed her &way. Her eldest brother, ] , aaid something to tessa her, and she just j went behind birn and stuck a large bodkin | into his arm, which made bini scream with i - pain. " ! . The King, wfco bad been away hunting i for several days, returned that morning, and I " she bad usually run away from 'Him on ' such I occasions, as she could not bear to see the j dead animals be brought home. j This lime, howevar, she went up to him and looked at him curiously. --" You're a funny old father," she said. " You've got such an ugly red face and bristly hair. I don't Lk3 ugiy people." So j saying she turned away. Then she trod | on the tail oE one of the doga. He whined and looked up, expecting to be comforted, but she gave him a contemptuous kick. I can't tell you all the dreadful things Princess Averca did after that. She who had been so fond of every living thing now was so cruel and unkind that all animals fled from her. She no longer understood th&ir language. She cared no more for flowers except for one thing, and that was the strangest of all. Sbe took to admiring herself greatly, and would spend hours in front of the glass decorating herself with flowers. She was very beautiful, and growing taller afad fairer every day. And everybody whosaw her thought her very, ' very lovely. All bufc Conrad. He knew there ■was acifferecce in his Princess, and he was sorry f.nd dreadfully disappointed. For Coarad now saw Princess Averna very Icf ren. The youeg girl, since the old. bag had taken her soul, was no longer obedient to anybody. She did not seem to cave in the .least for Conrad, whom Ebe had formerly -been * so fond of, but she took every opportunity Of going to talk to him as he was working in the palace gardens merely because she bad been forbidden to do so. Strange to say it was found that nothing ever made her sorry or happy. She never cried : she didn't seem to be able to do so. When she laughed it wasn't the pretty rippling laugh that she bad once had. Bufc she would laugh wickedly whenever she succeeded in doing something mischievous to annoy somebody. Averna became cruel and hard and unlovicg. So cruel and so miEchievou3 was she that at last even the King was sorry he had commanded that her eoul should be.got rid of, and Tie didn't often own that he had made a mistake. Besides, the Queen was so very miserable about Averna that she quite made herself ill. Chapter IV. One day Conrad told Averna she had lost her beautiful eyea. She tossed her head proudly. II People say I am more lovely than ever," she declared. Conrad shook his head. 11 You are no longer my dear little Averna with eyes like the deep sea," said he. 11 There's nothing in your eyes now but their colour." A strange discovery was made one day. The King had been very proud of his jewels that his wife had bought at the price of Averna's soul, though now the Queen qould cot bear the sight of them. One day, however, he insisted that these beautiful gems should be brought out in order to be set into a new crown which he had ordered. Ifc was ■ the full moon, just a month after the dreadful bargain had been made. The case containing thestones was brought before the King 30,3 Q^§a as they w^re re^ooicg ttogmeiyep

' after a grand banquet, at which there were some foreign princes. Whan the casket was opened a ray of moonlight fell through the large pillars of the banqueting hall across the open casket in which the jewels lay. They glittered and shook and then seemed to fall together. The King started forward with an exclamation of dismay. The lovely gems — diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and pearls — had suddenly turned to drops of water — white, red, and green, while on the hair of the Lord Chancellor's wife, where for four weeks past a splendid diamond had glittered, a large drop of water shivered for a moment, and then, with a sudden lurch, ran down her forehead and hung gracefully on the tip of her nose 1 Great was the King's anger. Ha sent out proclamations that whoever could find the dreadful old witch who bad so cheated his wife should have a very big reward. At length he actually issued another proclamation, which ha cent round to all the neighbouring countries. lfc was to the effect that any prince who would ficd Lhe Princess Averna'3 soul and bring it to ber should be allowed to have her hand in marriage." Several princes were in love with Averna, for she had grown very lovely, and didn't care a pin for anybody in the world, and wonldn'fc look at them at all, but only laughed at them. Sa many princes set out to try to find- Averna's lost soul ; but as none of them knew where to go or what to do, ofcourse nobody succeeded. They all mounted their horses and went, sword in hand, charging through the woild ; but though they found a great many other thing :, they never saw a soul wandering about fty itself, and they wouldn't bare known ifc if thsy had seen one. At last the King got tired of waiting for a prince to come and marry Averna under the conditions he had laid down. So he i«sued another proclamation. Anybody who was not a prince, even a peasant, might try and find Averna'a sou?, he said, and then should have ber hand in marriage, only those who tried and did not succeed were to have their heads cut off. Conrad, of course, -was one of the first to hear this proclamation, and when he heard it he was almost beside himzelf with joy. Here was a chance for him to try and save bis dear Princess, and becoald at any rate only die in the attempt. He thought and thought about how he was going to save her, and for a long time he could not i magic c what should be done. He could not sleep nor eat i for thinking of a way, but none seemed to ! occur to him. I One night he got up and sat at his window thinking. He always sat there when he could, for from there hs could saa the King's palace, and even the window where Averna slept. He felt very sad. Suddenly he heard a nightingale singing near him. He could understand what the bird 3 said, but for a long time he had been so sorrowful and so dis^ heartened about Averna that he had had no eyes or ears for in 3 old friends the birds and bees. But cow this nightingale seemed to be frying to say something to him, only he w;uld not bring Mb ears to hear it. • At last, however, the sonads fell on bis eats, and oeemed to be something like this : " Foolish Conrad, foolish Conrad ! Find out. find out, find out I " Conrad suddenly listened, and then said I earnestly : ! " Ob, nightingale ! tsll me ! Pray, how I can I help my Lady Averna ? " i Tha nightingale said no more to Conrad for some time, but continued singing most sweetly, as if to tease Conrad, or to pay him out for not having listened to her before. Bufc at las!; she said with a trill t " Ssek the doctor, the great doctor — he will tell you, he will tell you." She couldn't help repeating what aba said for very mischief, but her voice was sweet to Conrad, for at length he had a clue, and could cow set about saving Averna. He wasted no time, but as morning dawned he set out for the next country [ where vhe great doctor lived who had been coHsulted about Averna. Conrad bad no money, so he had to go on foot, bi3 trusty stout stick on his shoulder, and carrying coma food in a bundle. He went through many hardship', but at length he reached the city in which the great; doctor lived, and he obtained audience of him. The doctor was vary grave when he heard from Gosrad about the Queen having sold Averna's soul to an old hag. But when Conrad told him that he was going to' find it again or die is the attempt he locked kindly and encouragingly at the youth. ■ " There is only one creature that I know of," said the doctor, when he had thought about it for a long time, "to whom the Princess's soul would ba of any tue, and thafc is the great Phoenix." Now Conrad knew about many birds, bufc he had never bad a classical education, and so that is probably why he had never heard of the Phoenix. So the doctor had to explain to him who the Phosnix was. " This creature," said he, "ia a bird who ia doomed to live all her life by herself. She never ba3 another bird of her own kind for a companion. After living for many centurieH until she gets tired of life, and of everything, she makes a nest of spiceß, and upon this sweet-scented bed she burins herself to ashes. And lo 1 when she is burnt, another Phoenix springs from the burnt ashes and lives again. Well, tha present Phoenix was one day wandering by the Bide of a very clear and beautiful lake. Feeling thirsty, she bent over the water to j drink, when she was suddenly struck with j admiration for the beautiful creature reflected there. Ever after that she began to pine for one of her own kind. She made a nest, and sat upon her eggs until her patience was exhausted. She could never have a little Phoenix as the other birds had their sweet young ones. She could never feed ifc, and sorrow and rejoice over it, for, as I said before, another Phoenix would only be born when she should bum herself to ashes. But at last she took a strange idea into her head* She thought that i£ she could only steal a soul belonging to some other creature she might be able to hatch one of her eggs, Not very long ago she flew into this city to consult me about the matter. It was one moonlight night that she came, for she did not want to be seen by anybody. She carae to my window and tapped on the pane. " When I oge«s4 tho. window she flw into

the room, and asked me where was the most j beautiful soul that I knew of. I told her of j the Princees Averna, because I did not know that the Phoenix had any wicked ideas about her. But when she begged me to get tbe soul for ber, then I told her to begone. She must have found some one else to undertake the cruel deed for her. She has lived for so many hundreds of years and she has seen so many wonderful things that she ha 3 become very wise and very cunning." Chapter V. "But can thiß creature harm Averna 7' inquired Conrad anxiously. " Not really," replied the doctor. " That is, she can do no harm to the Princess's soul. Bufc no one can get it back but Averna herself. She will have to seek out the bird, which ia now always sitting on her nest. She haa the soul with her, and immediately Averna goes for ifc she will have to give ifc up. Only it is a long aarl difficult journey to the place whore the Pboaiix is ; also it will now be difficult to get Averna to wish to have her sonl back. Sha has no soul to desire it." " I will make her go," said Conrad earnestly, bis face lighting up with eagerness and determination. "TheD, brave youfcb," said tbe doctor kindly, "I will help ycu. See, here is a feather which the Proenix dropped the day she cameAo vie it me. To no other person but so braye 7 a fellow as you are would I give it, for it ia of untold value. Whenever you wish to find the way to the place where the bird dwells you have only to blow ifc ia the air— it will take the direction towards tbe Garden of Dream?, where thg Phoenix bas her nest." " The Garden of Dreams ! " escJaimed Conrad. "Why, I have often heard my father speak of it. He says that ia where the most beautiful flowers grow, and v/ißbes ha bad only a few seeds from that glace to grow in the King's gardens." " Perhaps you may be able to bring him seme," «aid the doctor. Conrad thanked the kind and clever man heartily for his goodness to him, and set out on bis long journey back to bis own country with a light heart, carry icg the precious feather carefull7 hidden in his besom LETTERS FROM LITTLE FOLKS. Dfab Dot, — We ».':e having our harvest holidays jusi; now. My s-stor and I went to Anderson's Bay for two weeks, and our cousin took ns through a part of Duuedin to see wfa*t was fco be seen. Another day(our uucle drove us a loDg drive along tlie beach. We went down to Broad Buy in the steamer, and earne j up iv the coach. I think 13 a long enough j letter as ifc is the fiwt time. — Yor.ra tculv, I Bessik Grey. Fort Hill, MubnrD, March 12. ; [I have no doubt you had a very enjoyable holiday, Bessie, though you hare gone home • too soon <o see the Jubilee fe&fcivitie*. — Dot.'J ; D-EATt Dot, — I am writing to tell you I | have five dolls, wkozc names are Hhuda, Atmie, j Fairy, Eva, and Dinah, and I have a calf called Suuffie. I live a long way through the bush ab a plica called-Taufcuku Bay.- There is a lady here who gives me iss&one, and I like it very much. I havo a brother called Fred, who is Sour years old, while I em six past, so I cannot write very good yefe. 1 play on the beach when the ride fs out. I must stop now, dear Dob, bufc I will write again if you think 1 can a<> ifc j good enough. — Yours truly, j i Tautuku, March 8. Winnie Coorgß. [You write very wtl\ indeed tor your age, j Winnie, and I shall be pleased to hear from you again. When you get a little older you will ba j able to tell us all about the birds in the busb, and the flowern and ferns which b.re so planti- i ful at Tautuku. — Dot.] Dear Dot, — I wrjle to ttll ycu about my ; accidents. About three yeara ago we weve burning come bushes by the bank of the river. ! I lit a bush, and in a moment I was surrounded by smoke. I made a rush through the smoke with a shear blade ia my hand. All at once I j tripped on some stones and fell, head first, | [ down the sfceep bank, and the shear blade stuck j in and broke a rib, going in nearly an inch in ! the neighbourhood of the hear!;. If it had gone between my ribs I should have been killed. My mother took me home, and I was kept in bed for about three days, and then I got up and j was all right again. 5 hive a little gun just j bow, which will kill birds, and would perhaps I hill me too if I used it carelessly. Mr Flaherty j fonud a kerosene spring, and I believe ifc is first rate. They say thafc all you have to do is to j dip your can into the oil and then put it into youu lamp, aud it burns grand. They have got ! no water afc the factory, aud I think they will never get water. They are building an addition to the school in M'Kenzie township. I have a white cmlf, bub my elder brothers have five big bullocks aud three calves. We have a fine little ,dog for going into tha rabbifc holes, bufc she is very ill to-day. She must have eaten a poisoned mouse. - There are not many rabbits about here now. I nearly forgot to tell you that one morning I was getting out a plate of thick porridge. I was in a hurry, and it was not cooked enough, and I let it slip on my bare foot. I hopped about with it sticking on till one of my brothers teok it off. The akin was all burnt: off. Ifc waa a long time getting better, for I could not bear anything on i 6. Powdered charcoal made it feel better, and healed it. Mother used to keep ib in soft linseed poultices, bufc I did not like to keep a till, and very often hopped about and got them off. Ifc was too lonely staying iv all day. — Your truly, William Mowat Cheviot;, March 10. (aged 11 years). [You have evidently had some narrow escapee, William, but have come out all right bo far, and I hope you will take cure to avoid ail risks in future. What a big thing it will be for Cheviot should there be large supplies of petroleum ! M'Kenzio township would indeed have •' struck oil." And Port Kobinson will become a large exporting centre. I only hope thafc the most sanguine anticipations in this respect may be realised. — Dot.] Dear Dot, — His Excellency the Governor of New Zealand came to ouc town to-day. The town was nicely decorated with flags and evergreens. There was a nice arch across tbe street, and the word "Welcome" was written across it." A large number of cyclists went along the road lo meet him. Most of the school children marched from the school down to the town h\ll, and after waiting for % little while the Governor came to the hall in a buggy and pair, with a trooper in front on horseback. The Governor then got out of the buggy and went into the hall. An address was read to the Governor, and after the address was read the children sang " God save the Queen," and Mrs Lothian played the piano. In the afternoon the Governor waa driven out to see the dredges and orchards. He came to our church on Suuuay morning, aud the. cUwch. was aicsiv decorated

with flowers, vine leaves, and lovely bunches of grapes. In the affcernoon the Governor drove away. The people 311 say he ia a very nica gentleman. — Yours truiy, i Jean Closs (aged 10 years). Alexandra, March 13. [The Governor will, I should thinSr, h*ve pleasant recollections cf Alexandra in after years, Jean, for you evidently made his stay among you a very agreeable one. What * b*ppy day all you children must have had. — Dot.]