FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   >>  
at each other. The next bridge was the loveliest of them all for it was built of white gleaming silver. The rich man climbed down from his wagon and examined it closely. "It would be worth a man's while to carry home a piece of this bridge!" he muttered to himself. He tried the rivets, he shook the railing. At last he found four loose bolts which he was able to pull out. The four together were so heavy that he was scarcely able to lift them. He looked cautiously about and when he saw that no one was looking, he slipped them one by one into the bottom of his wagon and covered them with straw. Then he turned his horse's head and drove home as fast as he could. It was midnight when he got there and nobody about to spy on him as he hid the silver bolts in the hay. The next day when he went out alone to gloat over his treasure he found instead of four heavy silver bolts four pieces of wood! So that's what the rich brother got for following the silver tracks. A day or two later without saying a word to any one, the second brother decided that he would follow the silver tracks and have a look at the strange Beggar whose cart had silver bolts and whose wheezy horse had golden shoes. "Perhaps if I keep my wits about me I'll be able to pick up a few golden horse-shoes. Not many boys inherit golden horse-shoes from their fathers!" [Illustration: _The Beggar's Garden_] Well, the second brother went over exactly the same route and saw exactly the same things. He crossed all those wonderful bridges that his brother had crossed--the wooden bridge, the stone bridge, the iron bridge, the copper bridge, the silver bridge, and he saw all those angry animals still trying to gore each other to death. He didn't stop at the silver bridge for he thought to himself: "Perhaps the next bridge will be golden and if it is I may be able to break off a piece of it!" Beyond the silver bridge was another broad valley and the second brother saw many strange sights as he drove through. There was a man standing alone in a field and trying to beat off a flock of ravens that were swooping down and pecking at his eyes. Near him was an old man with snow-white hair who was making loud outcries to heaven praying to be delivered from the two oxen who were munching at his white hair as though it were so much hay. They ate great wisps of it and the more they ate the more grew out. There was an apple-tree heavily laden with ripe fru
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   >>  



Top keywords:
bridge
 

silver

 

brother

 

golden

 

Beggar

 
strange
 
tracks
 

crossed

 
Perhaps
 

Garden


Illustration

 

wonderful

 
bridges
 

thought

 
copper
 

animals

 
wooden
 
things
 

fathers

 

munching


delivered

 

outcries

 

heaven

 

praying

 

heavily

 

making

 

valley

 

sights

 

standing

 

Beyond


pecking

 
ravens
 

swooping

 

cautiously

 

looked

 
scarcely
 

slipped

 
turned
 

bottom

 
covered

closely
 

examined

 
climbed
 
loveliest
 

gleaming

 

railing

 
rivets
 

muttered

 
midnight
 

wheezy