Chapter XXXVIII: Part TWO (2)

The noise was heard again. This time it was louder and nearer. The boys crept to the edge of the wall and looked down. There stood the army of Linto placing ladders against the wall. Hans and Fritz were frightened and at first started to run, but they saw that it was too late. In an instant Fritz thought of the hives. He knew the little bees were not asleep if the people were. Each boy took a hive, carried it to the edge of the wall and let it fall on the heads of the enemy. Out flew the bees, mad as they could be, and began to sting right and left.

The bees won the battle. They buzzed and stung the enemy so badly that their loud cries of pain awoke the sleeping city. Hans and Fritz were delighted to see the bees so busy and called loudly for help. The watchman woke up and began to ring the bell. The men rushed to the city gates. It was too late for the soldiers had already fled. The bees had stung them so painfully they could scarcely see where to run. And so the bees and the boys saved Andernach.

A DOG’S GRATITUDE

_Kindness to helpless animals, especially those in distress, is the mark of a generous nature._

A Newfoundland dog was once hurt by a wagon that crushed his foot. The driver of the wagon did not stop to help the poor dog, but went on leaving him in the road.

The poor dog was limping painfully along when a blacksmith saw him. He felt sorry for the dog and said:

“Poor dog! what is the matter? Let me see your foot.”

The dog at once seemed to know what was said to him and held up his foot for the blacksmith to see. The blacksmith led him to his shop near by, where he carefully washed and bound the foot. The next day the dog returned to the shop to have his foot dressed by the blacksmith, and kept coming every day. Even after he was cured he kept up his visits to his friend and came every day to play around the shop. He seemed to know who his friends were, and when the blacksmith would tell how he had helped him the dog would wag his tail in a very knowing way.

On one of the dog’s visits he saw the blacksmith’s little boy, Ned. Ned was only six years old, but he was a fine little fellow, and loved to play. The dog and the boy became fast friends and had many romps together. The blacksmith named the dog Rover, and told Rover to be careful to look after Ned. After that, Rover was careful that nothing should happen to his little friend.

One day the dog was walking near the river bank when he spied little Ned who had run away from his older brother. Ned was running near the bank and every now and then turned to look back to see if his brother was in sight. Once, just as Ned turned to look, his foot slipped as he struck against a rock and at once he was in the water.

It took Rover only a second to spring in after his little friend. He seized Ned by his jacket and swam to the bank.

By this time a crowd had collected. Willing hands took Ned from the dog, and he was none the worse for his ducking. Rover shook the water from his shaggy hair, and looked for all the world as if he had done nothing to be proud of.

You can imagine how Ned’s father felt when he heard of Rover’s brave deed. He put his arm around the dog’s neck and said:

“How glad I am that I helped to cure your foot!”

After that nothing was too good for Rover. He slept in the room with Ned, and went with him everywhere.

THE MIGHTY MEN

_He who would succeed in great things must bring all forces and influences to his aid._

Once there was a soldier who resolved to marry the king’s daughter. He started out for the king’s palace. As he was going through the forest he saw a man pulling up trees by the roots. “Come along with me, I need you,” said the soldier. So the man took one of the trees and wrapped it around the others and then shouldered the bundle. The two then went on together.

Before long they came to a hunter aiming a gun. “What are you aiming at?” asked the soldier. The hunter said: “Two miles off there is a fly sitting on a fence. I am going to shoot out his left eye.” The soldier told the hunter: “Come along with me; I need you.” The hunter took up his gun and all three went along together.

After a while they came to a man sitting on a fence whistling. “My good fellow, what are you doing there?” asked the soldier. The man answered: “Do you not see those seven wind-mills over yonder with their sails going around? I am furnishing the wind to turn them.” The soldier said: “Come along with me. I need you.” So the man climbed down from the fence and all four went along together.

Shortly they came to a man who was unbuckling his leg and taking it off. “Why do you take your leg off, my friend?” asked the soldier. “Oh,” replied the man, “if I use two legs I go so fast that nobody can see me. One leg takes me as fast as the wind.” “Come along with me, I need you,” said the soldier. So the man took up his leg and all five went along together.

About dark they saw a funny fellow with his hat down on the side of his head. “Why do you wear your hat so crooked, young fellow?” asked the soldier. The fellow replied: “If I wear it straight a frost will come and freeze everything stiff and still.” The soldier said: “Come along with me; I need your help, too.” And so all six went along together and came to the king’s palace.

“I must marry your daughter,” said the soldier to the king. “Oh, no, you cannot,” said the king, and sent fifty men to drive the soldier away. But see what happened! The first man caught all fifty and tied them together with their own buckles and hung them up on the church steeple. The second man took his gun and shot the whiskers off the king’s chin. The third man began to whistle and blew down the tall tower of the palace. The fourth man put on both legs and ran to get the princess and take her away. The funny fellow put his hat on straight and it blew so cold that the queen sneezed herself into a fit. It was an awful situation, so the king cried out:

“You can have the princess if you want her, but give me back my men and my whiskers, and turn on the heat for I am about to freeze to death.” The soldier set everything straight and went off with the princess, who gladly married so wonderful a man.

THE FAIRY FISH QUEEN

_Wherein a little girl has some strange adventures under the sea._

Eriline lived on an island. Her father made his living by fishing. One morning she asked her mother to let her go in her row boat to fish. Her mother told her that she might go but she must not go out of sight. Eriline carried her fishing tackle to the boat and started off very happily. After a while she dropped anchor and commenced fishing.

Soon she heard a splash and saw a huge fish rise above the water. Eriline had never before seen such a big fish! She tried her best to haul in the line, but the fish got tangled and began to pull and fight to get away. All of a sudden it gave a terrific jerk and Eriline fell into the water!

She was very much frightened. Just then she heard a soft voice say: “Don’t cry, little girl; nothing shall hurt you. I am queen of the fish fairies, and I’ll take care of you.”

Eriline was so surprised to hear a fish talk that she looked up quickly and saw a beautiful golden fish, with diamond eyes and a ruby mouth, swimming beside her.

The queen led her into a pearl palace built by the oysters. The floors were of tiny coral, while the furniture was of all kinds of shells. The queen swam until she reached her golden throne.

After a while they swam into the dining-room where supper was spread upon a shell table. When they finished eating they went into a bedroom. The queen put Eriline into a golden bed and covered her with sea-weed.

When she woke up she had on a scaly dress, too, that the queen had put on her so that she could play with all the fish fairies.

“Am I to stay a fish all my life?” she asked the fish queen.

“Yes, but if you ever get out of the water to dry land you will turn back into a little girl,” said the queen.

Eriline grew to be a beautiful fish. One day she was out swimming when she heard her father’s voice and looking out she saw him in his boat with his fish net spread in the water. Then Eriline began to want her mother. She remembered what the queen had said about dry land. So she went near the boat and swam right into her father’s net. He pulled it up quickly and put Eriline into his fishbasket. “What a fine fish,” he said.

When dark came her father went home, and threw his nets out of the fish basket on to the shore. He took the fish out and laid them on the sand. Eriline turned again into his beautiful daughter and threw her arms around his neck.

“Oh, father, here I am, your little Eriline!” she cried. The mother came running to greet her child again, and they were all happy and thankful to be together again.

SNOWFLAKE

_One must be on the lookout for deception, and not be misled by the words of pretended friends._

Once there was a little goat with white hair all over him like his mother. That was why he was called Snowflake. His mother stayed at home when he was a baby and taught him many things a little goat should know. But one night his mother had to go off on a visit. She barred all the doors and windows, and said:

“Now, Snowflake, if any one comes to the door and knocks be sure not to open it unless he says, ‘Little bird, little bird, up in a tree; little goat, little goat, open to me.’”

The mother then went away.

All this time Mr. Wolf was hiding just outside, and when the mother was well out of sight he thought he would like a nice supper of fat young goat. So he went to the door and knocked.

“Who’s there?” said Snowflake. The old wolf said:

“Little bird, little bird, up in a tree; little goat, little goat, open to me.” But the wolf’s voice was not like his mother’s voice, and so Snowflake, to be sure, said:

“Let me see your foot.” Then the wolf put his foot through a crack in the door. But Snowflake said:

“Go away! my mother’s foot is white and yours is black.” So the wolf went away growling. Then the wolf got some flour and put it on his foot and came back and knocked at the door.

“Who’s there?” asked Snowflake. The old wolf said:

“Little bird, little bird, up in a tree; little goat, little goat, open to me.” But Snowflake did not like the voice and again said:

“Let me see your foot,” and the wolf put his flour covered foot through the crack in the door.

Snowflake looked at it and said:

“My mother’s foot is hard and yours is soft like paws. Go away from here!” The old wolf went away growling. He was getting very hungry by this time. At last he went back to the door and knocked. Again Snowflake asked: “Who’s there?” And the wolf said the same words.

“Let me see your foot,” said Snowflake. This time the wolf stuck his soft tail through the crack. Snowflake saw it was not his mother’s foot, so he grabbed the wolf’s tail and tied a knot in it. Now the old wolf was caught and could not pull his tail out nor get away.

When the mother came back she butted the old wolf so hard that she split the door so that his tail untied, and he was glad to go away from that goat’s house, and never come back.

RAGS

_In which we find out that a dog refuses to be separated from its little mistress._

Rags was a dear little snow-white poodle with such soft curly wool that he looked more like a lamb than a dog. The man who gave him to Mary called him “Rags,” but no one could understand why such a beautiful woolly dog should be called “Rags.”

Mary was a little lame girl and could not run about and play like other little girls, for she had to hop about on a crutch. Rags was her very best friend, and they were always together. Mary’s father was dead, and her mother worked out all day leaving Mary alone with Rags. They were never lonesome, however, for they were always happy when they were together.

One morning Mary and Rags were sitting on the doorstep watching the people when a black-eyed man came by.

“That’s a very fine poodle,” said he.

“Indeed, he is,” cried Mary. “He’s my very own and I love him more than anything else.”

“Can he do any tricks?” asked the man.

“I should say so,” said Mary, for she had taught the dog all he knew. “Just watch him.”

Rags stood on his head and danced, and even tried to speak by little barks. The man asked Mary if she would sell him.

“No, indeed, I won’t,” answered Mary, “he is my own Rags and I cannot let you have him.”

The man seemed to be very angry, and went away.

The next morning the black-eyed man came back and again asked Mary to sell him the dog. Mary again refused. Suddenly he glanced hastily up and down the street, and seeing no one, grabbed Rags from Mary’s arms and fled. Mary screamed and tried to follow, but her poor little crutch would not let her. She sobbed and cried until she grew white and cold, and her mother found her in a little heap on the floor with her little crutch beside her.

All night long she tossed to and fro calling for Rags, and when morning came she had a high fever.

One afternoon when everything was so still in the room that you could hear Mary’s faint breathing, there was a pattering of feet and a little white poodle dashed into the room and jumped on the bed. It was Rags! But you would never have known him for he was thin and dirty, and his little feet were bleeding as if he had traveled a long way. He licked Mary’s face and tried to tell her how he got away from the man, but Mary could not understand dog language, and so she never knew.

From that day Mary grew better, and though she never could understand how Rags came back to her, she just smiled and said he found his way because he loved her so much.

THE MAGIC POT

_In which a little girl gets into trouble by meddling._

There was once a little girl who lived alone with her mother. They were so poor that often they had nothing to eat. One day they had eaten the very last thing they had in the house, and were very hungry. So the mother went out to try to find some food for her little girl.

As she went along the road she met a very old woman. The old woman seemed very cold and so the mother said, “Take my cloak, for you need it more than I do.” The old woman took the cloak and then gave her a little iron pot, which she had been carrying under her apron.

“You must say to it, ‘Little pot, boil,’” said the old woman, “and it will boil for you, and when you say to it, ‘Little pot, stop,’ then it will stop boiling.” So the mother took the pot home with her and put it on the table.

Then she said to it, “Little pot, boil.” It began boiling at once, and they had all the beans they needed for many days.

But one day when the mother had gone out, the little girl thought she would say, “Little pot, boil,” just to see how it would act. And so she said, “Little pot, boil.”

Well, the little pot boiled and bubbled away until it was full of beans, and then the little girl wished it to stop boiling, but she had forgotten what to say. So the pot boiled and boiled and kept bubbling and spilling over until the kitchen table was covered, until the kitchen was full, and next the whole house was full.

The little girl had to run out of the house, and the beans poured out of the door and down the road, and into other people’s houses, until there were enough to feed the whole town. And still no one was able to stop it.

The mother saw a stream of beans pouring down the road and ran home as fast as she could. She had to wade through boiled beans to get into her yard. She called out loudly: “Little pot, stop!” And of course, the little pot stopped boiling at once; but all the people had to eat their way back to their houses again.

Transcriber’s Notes:

“Thesus” changed to “Theseus” on page 94. (After Theseus had killed the giant robber)

“dragon’s” changed to “Dragon’s” page 195. (Dragon’s poison)

“aud” changed to “and” on page 304. (by enterprise and good fortune)

Inconsistent hyphenation retained as printed. Obvious mis-printed punctuation repaired.

End of Project Gutenberg's Worth While Stories for Every Day, by Various