GILL NABBY AND THE WONDERFUL MARE.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XVI, Issue XIII, 28 March 1896, Page 367

GILL NABBY AND THE WONDERFUL MARE.

(BY

IDA PRESTON NICHOLS.)

upon a time when this country was young, in the days of magic and witchcraft, when all KvJraM sorts of unusual things were really expected to happen, there is said to have lived in the woods bordering a little river not far away an old woman who had a very beautiful daughter. The old woman was supposed to be a witch —a state of affairs, we are told, quite usual in those days. This witch, then, lived far back in the deepest part of the forest with her daughter, and as she was seldom seen by the inhabitants of the village, no one exactly understood how it was she became possessed of the mare-with-a-bell-to-every-bair. But it was well known that those persons who slept lightly during the small hours of the night when the moon was in its last quarter, had often heard the tink ling of the bells above the chirruping of the crickets and the call of the more-pork. In the mountains lived the ctfarcoal-burners, dark, swarthy men with decidedly sooty exteriors. Many strange tales were told of these men, and of the wonderful power they possessed of picking up diamonds from the ashes under the charcoal—tales which we should consider somewhat exaggerated in these days of geological research ; but, as I have told you, strange things were really expected to happen in those early times. Now there was a young man living in the village uamed Gill Nabby, a stalwart, handsome young fellow, fond of fishing, hunting, and all sorts of manly sports. He had heard from childhood of the reputed treasures of the charcoal-burners, how they dug silver and gold out of the mountains by night and hoarded it in vast caves, the walls of which were hung with jewels which gave light like the stars, and as he grew to manhood he determined to possess some of it if possible. One day Gill Nabby was hunting in the deepest part of the forest, and chanced to see a maiden sitting upon the mossy bank of a spring. The maiden was so beautiful and smiled so sweetly upon him that from that day he forgot all about the treasures of the mountains and thought only of her. Unfortunately, Gill Nabby was poor, very poor ; but the maiden, as he could see from her attire was rich. * Possibly,’ thought he, ‘ the daughter of the Governor.’ But, as they met very often by the spring in the days that followed, it happened that in course of time the maiden told him that her rank was no higher than his own : that she was the daughter of an old woman who lived far back in the deep forest, quite at the foot of the mountains.

‘ My mother,’ said she, * always has plenty of gold and silver, although we live in such a shabby little hut. She often goes up among the mountains on a wonderful horse which the charcoal-burners have given her, to do cooking and mending for these strange men, and always returns with a small bag of gold slung to her saddle-bow. Now I am tired of living so far in the dark gloomy forest. I would rather be out in the sunlight, where the flowers bloom and the birds sing, and since I love you quite well enough to be your wife, I will do all I can to help you get some of the treasures from the mountains, and then we will go away together to the Land of Sunshine and be happy.’ Since this plan exactly corresponded with Gill Nabby’s wishes, of course he was quick to agree to all that the beautiful maiden proposed. So he replied, heartily, * Only tell me what to do, and I will defy all the mountain men if necessary.’ ‘ Well,’ returned the maiden, * it seems to be a very simple matter. You have only to catch the mare-with-

a-bell-to-every-hair and mount her, when she will rush away with you as swift as the wind to the caves where the treasures of the charcoal-burners lie. While there you must manage to get whatever you can, then mount the mare again, and whisper the direction which you wish to take in her left ear. lam sure of this, because I overheard the person who gave the mare to my mother tell exactly how to manage her. * And now I have told you all that I know of the matter, and if you are not able to accomplish it I will have nothing more to do with you ; but should you be successful, meet me at this spring as you come down from the mountain, and I will go away with you and become your wife.’

Saying this the maiden left him, and Gill Nabby at once set his wits at work as to how he should gain pos session of the wonderful mare.

As soon as it was night he crossed the river which came tumbling down between the mountains and ran through the forest, and after walking about a mile found himself close by the hut of the witch. He listened, but hearing no sound, concluded that she must be sleeping soundly ; so he went quietly around to the rude stable adjoining where the mare was kept. Stealing up beside her, he gently placed the bridle around her neck, and began to lead her out of the stable, thinking all the while that if the witch’s daughter thought she had set him a difficult task she was greatly mistaken.

As Gill Nabby turned the mare around, one of the tiny bells with which she was covered broke off and fell to the floor with a soft tinkle. Hearing it fall, he groped around in the straw till he found it, and slipped it into his pocket, when all at once his courage rose still higher, and he began to whistle gayly in defiance of the witch. But although everything seemed to go so smoothly at first, no sooner was the mare outside of the stable door than suddenly all the little bells, which had before been silent, began to ring with a will. The sound awoke the witch in a trice. She jumped up and ran to the door, and perceiving that someone was leading her mare away, ran up and whispered in her ear, ‘ Return to the stable.’ Whereupon the mare turned back again in spite of all that Gill Nabby could do, for he had entirely forgotten to whisper anything to her. Of course the old witch was in a towering rage, and, being by her witchcraft possessed of great strength, she threw a rope around Gill Nabby’s waist, let him to the tallest oak tree in the forest, and proceeded to tie him up to it. ‘ I’ll teach you to come stealing my mare,’ she exclaimed, angrily. ‘ You shall stay here tills the crows come and pick your bones. ’ Then she went back to her hut and to bed. Now Gill Nabby soon began to feel hungry, and as he felt in his pockets for a crust that might have been left over from his supper, his fingers accidentally touched the little bell which had dropped off the mare-with-a-bell-to-every-hair. Instantly he felt his muscles increase in size, and as he took the tiny plaything from his pocket and held it in the palm of hts hand, a wonderful strength seemed to pass up his arm and diffuse itself throughout his whole body, so that he soon found himself wondering why he should stand stupidly tied to a tree when he might as well go home and get his breakfast. This he at once proceeded to do On Gill Nabby went without once glancing behind him, and the tree, pulled up by its roots, came dangling and scraping after, hewing down other trees in its path, till a roadway was made through the forest wide enough for a general and his army to ride one hundred abreast. This was all very well so long as he remained in the forest, but as he approached the open fields the reapers began to shout to him in the greatest alarm to stop and not ruin their corn fields. Whereupon Gill Nabby looked behind him, not having once thought of the tree in his eagerness to get home to his breakfast. But now, perceiving the mischief it was doing, he seized the rope with his hands and broke it off as easily as if it had been pack-thread, thus leaving the oak- at the edge of the forest.

The next night Gill Nabby resolved to make another attempt.

When the old witch was fast asleep, as before, he stole softly around to the stable, and succeeded in getting the mare as far as the door, but, as on the preceding night, she had no sooner stepped over the threshold than all the little bells began ringing like mad, which again awoke the witch. This time her rage was even greater. Seizing Gill Nabby, whom she had supposed to be safely tied to the tree, she cried,

* Oho ! so you are at it again, trying to steal my mare !’ And she took some stronger rope than before, and dragging him into the village, tied him up to the church steeple, saying, ‘ You may stay here till the crows come and pick your bones,’ then went back to her bed in the hut.

Now it so happened that Gill Nabby had forgotten all about the little bell. In fact, he did not even know that it was a magic bell, or that it had given him his extraordinary strength of the night before ; but as soon as the witch left him he began to search his pockets for a knife with which to cut the rope, and in doing this he accidentally touched the bell, when, as before, his muscles grew till it seemed that there could be no feat of strength too great for him to accomplish. He could not find his knife, but just then perceiving faint streaks of dawn across the eastern sky, and feeling hungry, he said to himself: ‘ What a goose lam to stand here so idly ! It is morning ; I must go home to my breakfast. ’

So he began to whistle, and started gayly off with his hands in his pockets, still unconsciously grasping the little bell. And so eager and impatient was he that he never noticed that the church steeple fell crashing to the ground and came bumping and ploughing along after him.

Very soon he met some people, who called out : ‘ Stop, stop ! Don’t you see you are tearing down the whole village? What can induce you to be so destructive ?’

But when Gill Nabby looked around and saw the

church steeple trailing along the ground behind him, he only laughed, and replied, good natured'y : ‘ Oh, never mind ! I’ll mend it in a moment, and pay for the damage it has done just as soon as I get some of the gold from the charcoal-burners’caves.' Whereat everybody laughed at him for a boaster. But never heeding, he quietly lifted up the church steeple, placed it carefully in position again upon the steep roof of the church, and marched gayly homeward to his breakfast. This time nobody laughed, but all stood staring after him in speechless astonishment. Now when the witch heard that Gill Nabby was at large again, and when the news of his wonderful strength reached her ears, she exclaimed : ‘ Surely he must have one of the magic bells from off my mare. Next time I catch him he won’t get away so easily.’ So when night came, and Gill Nabby went, as twice before, to the stable to lead out the mare-with-a-bel' toevery hair, she lay in wait, and caught him before he had time even to open the door. ‘Now, my fine fellow,’ said she, ‘I think you will whistle a very different tune before I am through with you this time ;’ and thrusting her hand into his pocket, the witch drew out the little bell, and placed it in her own, so that now Gill Nabby was helpless indeed. Then she dragged him to her hut, and producing a canvas bag, very large and very stout, she pulled it over poor Gill Nabby’s head and down around his feet, and then sewed up the bottom fast and tight. Next she threw the bag down upon the floor, and muttering direful threats, which Gill Nabby could only half understand, muffled as he was in the bag, she left the hut, and went out to a swamp near by to cut some of the stout willow whips which grew there in abundance. ‘ Now is my chance,’ cried Gill Nabby to himself as soon as the sound of the witch’s footsteps died away in the distance. And he took out his knife, which was fortunately in his pocket this time, and making a slit in the bag with it, crawled out. Then he looked around to see what he could find to fill the bag with, so that the old witch should not suspect that he had escaped. First he put in all of her dishes which he saw in the cupboard. Then he went out behind the hut, and found her turkeys and chickens and her little pig, which was fast asleep in its pen. There was exactly room enough in the bag for everything, and after it was quite full Gil Nabby carefully sewed up the opening, so that it looked the same as before. Just as it was ready he heard the witch coming back. He glided quickly in behind the open door, and peeped through the crack to see what would happen.

In her arms the old witch carried a bundle of whips so long and so stout that Gill Nabby trembled to think what he had escaped, and selecting one at a time she began to beat the bag with all her might. Immediately there was an uproar. The chickens began to squawk. ‘Oh, you may squawk !’ cried the witch. ‘l'll teach you not to come stealing my mare '.’ The turkeys began to gobble. ‘ Oh, you may gobble, gobble. I’ll teach vou not to come stealing my mare !’ Then the pig began to squeal. ‘ Oho, then, I’ll make you squeal if you wi/Z come stealing my mare !’

After a while the squawking, gobbling, and squealing were still, and the dishes began to break. ‘ Aha, now I’ll break your bones !’ cried the witch.

Now while all this noise and confusion was going on in the hut, Gill Nabby quietly stepped from behind the door and crept noiselessly out to the stable. In a trice he had bridled the mare and led her out. The old witch could not hear the bells this time, amid all the hubbub she was creating, so he had no difficulty in mounting and riding away as swift as the wind up the mountain.

When she became tired, and the whips were all used up, the witch thought she would open the bag. But when she did so, and found, instead of Gill Nabby, her chickens, her turkeys, and even her dear little pig dead and almost beyond recognition, and her dishes all broken into bits, her anger and chagrin know no bounds.

She rushed to the door, but was only in time to hear the last tinkle of the bells as the mare flew up the maintain side.

On, on rushed the mare, with Gill Nabby on her back till they finally arrived at the caves on the mountain. The charcoal burners were all out of work in the forest, so Gill Nabby looked around and found huge chests full of gold and silver and precious stones—more wealth than one could count in a lifetime. And since there was no one to hinder, he filled a bag with as much of it as he could lift, slung it across the back of the mare, and rode merrily down the mountain.

True to her promise, there sat the witch’s daughter by the spring. Shemounted behind him, and togetherthev crossed the river, and rode triumphantly into the village. Gill Nabby placed a part of the gold and silver into the hands of the village pastor, to be distributed among the poor ; then he whispered softly into the ear of the mare-with-a-bell-to every-hair, and she bore them swiftly and gayly out into the Land of Sunshine, where, I have no doubt, they are still living. ;