Fifty Famous Stories Retold
The king was already quite tired, and he did not like to walk back so
far. But he did not wish to lose the book. What should he do?
If there was only some one to send for it!
While he was thinking, he happened to see a little bare-foot-ed boy in
the open field near the road. He was tending a large flock of geese
that were picking the short grass, and wading in a shallow brook.
The king went toward the boy. He held a gold piece in his hand.
"My boy," he said, "how would you like to have this piece of money?"
"I would like it," said the boy; "but I never hope to have so much."
"You shall have it if you will run back to the oak tree at the second
turning of the road, and fetch me the book that I left there."
The king thought that the boy would be pleased. But not so. He turned
away, and said, "I am not so silly as you think."
"What do you mean?" said the king. "Who says that you are silly?"
"Well," said the boy, "you think that I am silly enough to believe
that you will give me that gold piece for running a mile, and
fetch-ing you a book. You can't catch me."
"But if I give it to you now, perhaps you will believe me," said the
king; and he put the gold piece into the little fellow's hand.
The boy's eyes spar-kled; but he did not move.
"What is the matter now?" said the king. "Won't you go?"
The boy said, "I would like to go; but I can't leave the geese. They
will stray away, and then I shall be blamed for it."
"Oh, I will tend them while you are away," said the king.
The boy laughed. "I should like to see you tending them!" he said.
"Why, they would run away from you in a minute."
"Only let me try," said the king.
At last the boy gave the king his whip, and started off. He had gone
but a little way, when he turned and came back.
"What is the matter now?" said Max-i-mil-ian.
"Crack the whip!"
The king tried to do as he was bidden, but he could not make a sound.
"I thought as much," said the boy. "You don't know how to do
anything."
Then he took the whip, and gave the king lessons in whip cracking.
"Now you see how it is done," he said, as he handed it back. "If the
geese try to run away, crack it loud."
The king laughed. He did his best to learn his lesson; and soon the
boy again started off on his errand.
Maximilian sat down on a stone, and laughed at the thought of being a
goose-herd. But the geese missed their master at once. With a great
cac-kling and hissing they went, half flying, half running, across the
meadow.
The king ran after them, but he could not run fast. He tried to crack
the whip, but it was of no use. The geese were soon far away. What was
worse, they had gotten into a garden, and were feeding on the tender
veg-e-ta-bles.
A few minutes after-ward, the goose boy came back with the book.
"Just as I thought," he said. "I have found the book, and you have
lost the geese."
"Never mind," said the king, "I will help you get them again."
"Well, then, run around that way, and stand by the brook while I drive
them out of the garden."
The king did as he was told. The boy ran forward with his whip, and
after a great deal of shouting and scolding, the geese were driven
back into the meadow.
"I hope you will pardon me for not being a better goose-herd," said
Maximilian; "but, as I am a king, I am not used to such work."
"A king, indeed!" said the boy. "I was very silly to leave the geese
with you. But I am not so silly as to believe that you are a king."
"Very well," said Maximilian, with a smile; "here is another gold
piece, and now let us be friends."
The boy took the gold, and thanked the giver. He looked up into the
king's face and said,--
"You are a very kind man, and I think you might be a good king; but if
you were to try all your life, you would never be a good gooseherd."
THE INCHCAPE ROCK.
In the North Sea there is a great rock called the Inch-cape Rock. It
is twelve miles from any land, and is covered most of the time with
water.
Many boats and ships have been wrecked on that rock; for it is so near
the top of the water that no vessel can sail over it without striking
it.
More than a hundred years ago there lived not far away a kind-heart-ed
man who was called the Abbot of Ab-er-broth-ock.
"It is a pity," he said, "that so many brave sailors should lose their
lives on that hidden rock."
So the abbot caused a buoy to be fastened to the rock. The buoy
floated back and forth in the shallow water. A strong chain kept it
from floating away.
On the top of the buoy the abbot placed a bell; and when the waves
dashed against it, the bell would ring out loud and clear.
Sailors, now, were no longer afraid to cross the sea at that place.
When they heard the bell ringing, they knew just where the rock was,
and they steered their vessels around it.
"God bless the good Abbot of Ab-er-broth-ock!" they all said.
One calm summer day, a ship with a black flag happened to sail not far
from the Inch-cape Rock. The ship belonged to a sea robber called
Ralph the Rover; and she was a terror to all honest people both on sea
and shore.
There was but little wind that day, and the sea was as smooth as
glass. The ship stood almost still; there was hardly a breath of air
to fill her sails.
Ralph the Rover was walking on the deck. He looked out upon the glassy
sea. He saw the buoy floating above the Inchcape Rock. It looked like
a big black speck upon the water. But the bell was not ringing that
day. There were no waves to set it in motion.
"Boys!" cried Ralph the Rover; "put out the boat, and row me to the
Inchcape Rock. We will play a trick on the old abbot."
The boat was low-ered. Strong arms soon rowed it to the Inchcape Rock.
Then the robber, with a heavy ax, broke the chain that held the buoy.
He cut the fas-ten-ings of the bell. It fell into the water. There
was a gur-gling sound as it sank out of sight.
"The next one that comes this way will not bless the abbot," said
Ralph the Rover.
Soon a breeze sprang up, and the black ship sailed away. The sea
robber laughed as he looked back and saw that there was nothing to
mark the place of the hidden rock.
For many days, Ralph the Rover scoured the seas, and many were the
ships that he plun-dered. At last he chanced to sail back toward the
place from which he had started.
The wind had blown hard all day. The waves rolled high. The ship was
moving swiftly. But in the evening the wind died away, and a thick fog
came on.
Ralph the Rover walked the deck. He could not see where the ship was
going. "If the fog would only clear away!" he said.
"I thought I heard the roar of breakers," said the pilot. "We must be
near the shore."
"I cannot tell," said Ralph the Rover; "but I think we are not far
from the Inchcape Rock. I wish we could hear the good abbot's bell."
The next moment there was a great crash. "It is the Inchcape Rock!"
the sailors cried, as the ship gave a lurch to one side, and began to
sink.
"Oh, what a wretch am I!" cried Ralph the Rover. "This is what comes
of the joke that I played on the good abbot!"
What was it that he heard as the waves rushed over him? Was it the
abbot's bell, ringing for him far down at the bottom of the sea?
WHITTINGTON AND HIS CAT.
I. THE CITY.
There was once a little boy whose name was Richard Whit'ting-ton; but
everybody called him Dick. His father and mother had died when he was
only a babe, and the people who had the care of him were very poor.
Dick was not old enough to work, and so he had a hard time of it
indeed. Sometimes he had no break-fast, and sometimes he had no
dinner; and he was glad at any time to get a crust of bread or a drop
of milk.
Now, in the town where Dick lived, the people liked to talk about
London. None of them had ever been to the great city, but they seemed
to know all about the wonderful things which were to be seen there.
They said that all the folks who lived in London were fine gen-tle-men
and ladies; that there was singing and music there all day long; that
nobody was ever hungry there, and nobody had to work; and that the
streets were all paved with gold.
Dick listened to these stories, and wished that he could go to London.
One day a big wagon drawn by eight horses, all with bells on their
heads, drove into the little town. Dick saw the wagon standing by the
inn, and he thought that it must be going to the fine city of London.
When the driver came out and was ready to start, the lad ran up and
asked him if he might walk by the side of the wagon. The driver asked
him some questions; and when he learned how poor Dick was, and that he
had neither father nor mother, he told him that he might do as he
liked.
It was a long walk for the little lad; but by and by he came to the
city of London. He was in such a hurry to see the wonderful sights,
that he forgot to thank the driver of the wagon. He ran as fast as he
could, from one street to another, trying to find those that were
paved with gold. He had once seen a piece of money that was gold, and
he knew that it would buy a great, great many things; and now he
thought that if he could get only a little bit of the pave-ment, he
would have everything that he wanted.
Poor Dick ran till he was so tired that he could run no farther. It
was growing dark, and in every street there was only dirt instead of
gold. He sat down in a dark corner, and cried himself to sleep.
When he woke up the next morning, he was very hungry; but there was
not even a crust of bread for him to eat. He forgot all about the
golden pavements, and thought only of food. He walked about from one
street to another, and at last grew so hungry that he began to ask
those whom he met to give him a penny to buy something to eat.
"Go to work, you idle fellow," said some of them; and the rest passed
him by without even looking at him.
"I wish I could go to work!" said Dick.
II. THE KITCHEN.
By and by Dick grew so faint and tired that he could go no farther. He
sat down by the door of a fine house, and wished that he was back
again in the little town where he was born. The cook-maid, who was
just getting dinner, saw him, and called out,--
"What are you doing there, you little beggar? If you don't get away
quick, I'll throw a panful of hot dish-water over you. Then I guess
you will jump."
Just at that time the master of the house, whose name was Mr.
Fitz-war'ren, came home to dinner. When he saw the ragged little
fellow at his door, he said,--
"My lad, what are you doing here? I am afraid you are a lazy fellow,
and that you want to live without work."
"No, indeed!" said Dick. "I would like to work, if I could find
anything to do. But I do not know anybody in this town, and I have not
had anything to eat for a long time."
"Poor little fellow!" said Mr. Fitz-war-ren. "Come in, and I will see
what I can do for you." And he ordered the cook to give the lad a good
dinner, and then to find some light work for him to do.
Little Dick would have been very happy in the new home which he had
thus found, if it had not been for the cross cook. She would often
say,--
"You are my boy now, and so you must do as I tell you. Look sharp
there! Make the fires, carry out the ashes, wash these dishes, sweep
the floor, bring in the wood! Oh, what a lazy fellow you are!" And
then she would box his ears, or beat him with the broom-stick.
At last, little Alice, his master's daughter, saw how he was treated,
and she told the cook she would be turned off if she was not kinder to
the lad. After that, Dick had an eas-i-er time of it; but his
troubles were not over yet, by any means.
His bed was in a garret at the top of the house, far away from the