Joel Chandler Harris

Wally Wanderoon and His Story-telling Machine Joel Chandler Harris

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1903. Excerpt: ... VIII THE MOUSE PRINCESS (t £ NCE upon a time, in a country far away, but not so far that the people were out of the world, there was a great forest of which the nobles who owned it, and the peasants who lived near by, were very proud. It was a wonderful forest, stretching across the country for miles and miles. It afforded a fine hunting ground for the nobles, and gave to the peasants a plentiful supply of faggots at all times of the year. "But during one season, some of the finest trees in this forest began to wither and die. The tender branches turned brown, so much so that a passer-by would have said that a scorching flame had passed over the forest. Such havoc was created that the lords and nobles who owned the forest felt compelled to take measures to find out the cause of the damage. It was generally agreed that the peasants living near were the cause of the trouble; it was supposed that they had killed the trees for the purpose of adding to their supply of fuel. "So the proprietors of the forest, the lords and nobles, went to inquire into the matter, carrying with them their magistrates, their lawyers, and their foresters. The peasants were called together, and they assembled with fear and trembling, not knowing what was to be the outcome of it all. The magistrates went ahead with their examinations in the high and mighty way that is common to those who have charge of courts, and by their questionings succeeded in frightening some of the peasants nearly to death; but as the poor creatures knew no more of the matter than did the magistrates themselves, they could give no information on the subject. So far as their supplies of fuel were concerned, they one and all declared that the natural decay of the trees and shrubbery in a forest so vast ga...