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6 HOW THE KING'S YOUNGEST SON CAME INTO HIS OWN np/roi.n prom tiir hitncjaiiian ny i.oi'isi; sou vax WHEnrc was It? Where wns It not? Beyond the Operenz sea and even beyond my grandmother's- house. Well, now, there was somewhere in' the world living a Icing. This king had three sons. He was already very old; indeed, so old that Iron poles had to be put up to keep his eyelids open. Once he said to his sons: "My sons, if you'd bring me the water of everlasting youth and the water of death, and, besides, if you were able to get me the finch with the golden voice, . I'd l be willing to glveoyou my whole realm!". 1 • More the princes needed not. Im mediately they saddled their horses. The two oldest ones had magnificent stallions, while 1 * the youngest rode an ugly old gray mare. As you may well Imagine, they rallied him about his mis erable mare and asked him hdw;.he dared to start out -upon a horse that might break down at any minute. Yet \u25a0the king's little son did not care, but kept riding where - Ills nose led the way. , He rode and rode and thus finally went through seven times seven king doms. His brothers invited him to join them, but as they had made fun ' of; him at the start he preferred to go •alone. "\u25a0: On the ; way he found. a miser 'able^hut,; Inhabited by. an old .woman. . "Good, morning, grandmother!" said the king's son. : • ';. '."Thank you, sonny! : \u25a0 What brought . you here?" v • /\. . • * He: told her. all, from beginning to end," and why he had gone into the world.'. "' ' , : "I,;do not know a thing about it," said the old woman; "but on; the other side of the wood 'another old woman Is living; perhaps, she can ' tell you something." . ' - . . Thus .saying she fetched a jug and handed it : to the "king's son. . ."My dear -son, fill me this jug with Ihe water of life.'V she begged, "and bring It to ;me In: passing; for your . good deed expect good." / s . . Then the ? lad -went - on. .On the other side of the wood he really; found the , old woman, but she, -too, understood »s much of his affair ; as 'the' hen does of the; A B 'C. She, also., handed hima jug and informed ' him that not far -from: there .'lived* a woman); who., was : older, still than, herself; '•'\u25a0-if l'; he would, seek her; all^ would be straightened out. Aftor.a while he \truly found this an ; ciont- woinan \u25a0 also.''and: She,".. I tell you, ' was/older^than the star vSirius. The .king's son' greeted her/ , v > -\u25a0\u25a0 \ "Good, day ,;! grandmother !V^"- : - .• . m • ' "Thank you,^my, dear son,'.' the old .woman;, tried *to say,.; but could' not, so she just stammered. "What brought -you ; here?" ; \u25a0:-. ;•;;"-'.>•'. •'••''\u25a0.••'..\u25a0': \u25a0\u25a0\u25a0,•-. :\u25a0' \u25a0;\u25a0 Again: he told her the ;.whole story ' S from -beginning \ to- end, ; how : he' was ; to . fetchHhe; water, of life;and; death and, if possible.iget the finch wlthjthe gold en- volce'i which; his, .father,;: desired to ; have, r But'slnce^hehad had no 'success ;.. so far, and!dldnot:knoWvWhat to do, -he begged .; for: her advice! The ancient '„'.\u25a0' ..woman fsalJ : ' r ~ j :_^\u25a0 ', ... ;• ; . : , . : : ' ' "You /drove your hatchet into a big tree, my son ! But just go on . trying; " perhaps i you ;.wiir yet !\u25a0' Bucceed. '\u25a0*.' After leaving. my house you'll: soon come to a " huge w00d., ; In the middle. of It you'll find \u25a0". a ' gold castle; one; window Is always open. : Now,; mind: well- what I am' going to tell; you. Tie your horse's , tail . up very • carefully—lndeed,; not a* Single; hair may.;, remain uhtled-f-and. { then ' jump* through t' the - window.' " As 'soon as 'you are ; inside you "will find the charmingly; beautiful Ilona; but- do - notbetempted to'kiss her," for then you, aro surely; lost; rather tear, out a hair from "her: head and with It bind up the beak r of. tho. golden finch, which is kept' closo to Ilona's sldo in a cage. At the right sldeof the room, thewater of life" is flowing, and to'the left the water.of \ death; fill your Jugs and then take, to your heels. Look at this brush, this towel, this egg;. they can be of heir* to you In time of> need."... v,: ; Upon that she fetched a jug, and, together with, the brush, the towel and the egg, she gave it to the: king's son. The klng'B son started right ~ away, and soon he 'reached the middle of the wood where the castle: stood.; It s was , just .noon. The sun shone upon the castle. How beautiful it was In Ub pure gold radiance! Tho king's .son Jumped from, his' horse's back, and the first thing. he did was to tie up his horse's tail; then he mounted again and valuted through the open window, In the 'castle ho opened not only his eyes but also his mouth, for anything like it he never had seen in all his life] In a chair sat the wonderfully beautiful Ilona, sound asleep, and beside her In a cage was the finch with the golden voice. Overwhelmed ..with so much beauty, the lad was just .bending down to kiss her when the ' old woman's warning came to his mind, So he only took a golden hair from her head, and v with it tied up the golden ttnch'ti beak; he then drew the water of life and THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, AUGUST 28. 1910.— TTTK JUNIOR CALL. Jo a Chair Sat the Wondroysly Beautiful Dona Sound Asleep death,* and, taking the cage with the finch upon his saddle, he went through the window. , " All would, have been very well If he - had not :forgotten =to tie up the horse's tall' again; a hair hung down and . touched , the castle and instantly there was an awful,. a~ terrible noise! All the, fairies, in/the castle woke'up at once and of course knew; right away that, somebody hao" been there. As many as there were, all chased after the king's son and had almost caught him, when suddenly he cast away the old woman's brush, which turned into a dense forest. / ..Well,, even the fairies could ..not fly over a handicap of thatrSort..- Instead, they ; had .to; work their way- through It. In the meantime the king's son , had been hurrying on: and on. But of course fairies are \ fairies, : and, It did not take them long to come out, of 'th^ wood : indeed, : In no time' they were on the fugitive's track. Suddenly the ground under the horse's hoofs .com- menced:to burn, .which meant that the fairies were near, and without losing a moment's time* the lad hurled; away the old' woman's .egg. which Instantly be came a large mountain/which the fairies had to cross on foot If they wanted to see the finch with the golden voice again. : m L ,4 . But fairies travel very fast, and the third time the fairies were close behind' It Is not often that a thing is literal ly "sold for a: song,"; but Mme. Sem brich, in the New. Idea Woman's Maga zine, relates that; this was the,*. price which she once paid a little dress, maker in Dresden, for a gown."; 1 -In Germany it was the custom on the operatic stage to furnish the men with their costumes,, and oblige ,the , women to provide their own. Mmo. Sembrich, then at the beginning of her career, could hardly afford to pay for a cer tain gown called : f or by her part "Bravely, however, I began my bar gain hunting. The prices were, beyond my fears. I was forced to resign, my self to do the best I could with my own Bcant wardrobe. But no ingenuity could compass a suitable ball gown for the third act of 'Travlata.' 1 \u25a0 "I started on another round of the shops. Good fortune bore me this time to a smart looking littlo place. The proprietress recognized me and was most courteous. The first dress she produced was Just the gown I wanted. My voice trembled as I asked the price. "She named a figure that put it as effectually beyond my reach as the top of Mont Blanc. "What cun you pay. madame?" she asked, gently, us she read the disap pointment in my face. "Hesitatingly I named a sum less than half the price she demanded, "'On one condition the gown is yours,' she said, "And what ia that?" I asked breath lessly. " 'I have a father who is bedridden.' she said. 'Never was there a greater the king's son," when he threw the old woman's towel at them. The towel \u25a0 turned Into; an immense ocean,, which not even fairies could wade through. Soon afterward he reached the hut of; the old woman who gave him the good advice. He gave her the Jug, filled with the water of youth, and then went: on to the other women and also returned, them their Jugs. On his way home the young king's son met his brothers who had gone into the world, also,, but all In vain. Their eyes almost fell out of their heads'- when "they saw* the two jugs hanging around his neck and in his hand the cage with the golden voiced finch. ' Immediately they took every single thing from" him, . ordered him to dis-' guise himself as a servant and take.a position .as coachman in his father's, house/and warned him not to utter a word about what -had happened, if life was dear to him. What else could, the , king's son do? Nothing. He did what the brothers ordered him to do and .promised to say nothing. Thus: they all thrae , went home. At home the old king rejoiced that his two elder sons; were such brave "men'and readily gave each a third of his realm. The youngest, son, whom he did not know in his disguise, ha employed as coachman. The two older sons never- touched work again,; while "FOR A SONG" lover of music. Only last night he was fretting because he might never hear the little Sembrich, iof whom I have told him so, much since your debut here. Come and sing an aria for him and the gown is yours at your own price." • "I kissed her with brimming- eyes and the bargain was struck. That night, with my husband as accompan ist, I went to* the home of the old gentleman and sang for him, not one but many arias. That was the first and only time I ever got a stage gown for a song." , Joseph Plnkham, a fltsherman of Bath, Me., has taken under his pro tection a baby seal with which he got acquainted while fishing In Hockomock bay. The seal evidently strayed away from his parents and sought companionship by playing around Plnkham's fishing boat. Pinkham fed it and the seal would not be driven away, and Plnk ham brought it home. The seal Is now enjoying .life in a large tub of water, and is as affection ate as a chllr* Auntie Lou had Just returned from a ride on her new pony, Dick. She re moved the girth and threw it on the ground, then removed the saddle and started to hang it up, when little 3 year old Lulu picked up the girth and fol lowed her. saying: "I'll carry Dick's corset." A Maine Man's Pet the youngest had to do .everything and also , attend to the horses and plow the fields. i One morning, In awakening, they suddenly noticed a golden bridge In front- of the palace, and upon it the L wonderfully beautiful Ilona Btood. call- Ing: "King, king, old king! Send me the son who robbed me In my castle!" At first they marveled what the meaning of all. this could be, but then it struck- them who It was and what she came for. The eldest went out on horseback l*e th.3 wonderfully beau tiful Ilona and rode up to her on the bridge, and the girl asked: "King's son. tell me where flows the water of -death, to my right or to my left?" Of course he knew not. • "If you don't know It send me your • second brother. Perhaps he'll bo able to tell." The second brother then went out and was also asked about the water of death. Like his brother, he could not answer. ' Again the wonderfully beautiful Ilona said: . • "King, king, old king! Since nobody in your house Is able to tell me, I'll war against you!" * ' , - Whereupon the coachman went to the king and said: "Excellent king, grace to my head! Allow me to go out upon the bridge; perhaps I can spare you a war." The king grasped for the rescuing straw, and replied: • "Just go and try your 'best; speak wisely." \u0084 . , Then the young prince mounted the old gray mare and without delay rodo upon the bridge to the wonderfully beautiful Ilona. "Tell me, O king's son, Is the water • of death flowing to my left or to my right?" "To your right the water of lifo Is flowing, and to your left tho water of death."*, \u25a0. v "That's true!" cried the wonderfully beautiful Ilona; "and what happened to tho finch with the golden voice?" "I took a hair from your head and with it tied up his beak; thus I car ried him away in his cage." Tho old king almost fell from his chair in sheer surprise, and the broth ers' eyes got bigger and bigger, for they knew tha£ their stolen glory had come to an' end. Again the wonderfully beautiful Ilona asked: "And myself, who am I?" "You are the charmingly beautiful Ilona. Out of your castle I got the* water of youth and of death and the finch with tho golden voice." "Well, now, If I am the one, then 'you are my sweetheart, and only spade and hatchet shall part us!" , They embraced and kissed one an other and went Into the palace. The old king immediately took back the - portions of his kingdom he had given to the older brothers and gave all of it to the young couple. At the wedding feast thu guests made such a noise that it was heard over seven times seven kingdoms. Maybe they are liv ing still; who can toll?"