l God," prayed Columbus, "who by the energy
of Thy creative word hast made the firmament, the earth and the sea;
blessed and glorified be thy name in all places! May thy majesty and
dominion be exalted for ever and ever, as Thou hast permitted thy holy
name to be made known and spread by the most humble of thy servants, in
this hitherto unknown portion of Thine empire."

[Footnote: 9: This prayer is taken from Lamartine.]

Columbus, then rising, drew his sword, displayed the royal standard, and
assembling around him the two captains and the rest who had landed, he
took solemn possession in the name of the Castilian sovereigns, giving
the island the name of San Salvador.

HALLOWEEN

(OCTOBER 31)

THE OLD WITCH

BY THE BROTHERS GRIMM (TRANSLATED)

There was once a little girl who was very willful and who never obeyed
when her elders spoke to her; so how could she be happy?

One day she said to her parents: "I have heard so much of the old witch
that I will go and see her. People say she is a wonderful old woman,
and has many marvelous things in her house, and I am very curious to see
them."

But her parents forbade her going, saying: "The witch is a wicked old
woman, who performs many godless deeds; and if you go near her, you are
no longer a child of ours."

The girl, however, would not turn back at her parents' command, but went
to the witch's house. When she arrived there the old woman asked her:--

"Why are you so pale?"

"Ah," she replied, trembling all over, "I have frightened myself so with
what I have just seen."

"And what did you see?" inquired the old witch.

"I saw a black man on your steps."

"That was a collier," replied she.

"Then I saw a gray man."

"That was a sportsman," said the old woman.

"After him I saw a blood-red man."

"That was a butcher," replied the old woman.

"But, oh, I was most terrified," continued the girl, "when I peeped
through your window, and saw not you, but a creature with a fiery head."

"Then you have seen the witch in her proper dress," said the old woman.
"For you I have long waited, and now you shall give me light."

So saying the witch changed the little girl into a block of wood, and
then threw it on the fire; and when it was fully alight, she sat down on
the hearth and warmed herself, saying:--

"How good I feel! The fire has not burned like this for a long time!"

SHIPPEITARO

A JAPANESE FOLK-TALE:

BY MARY F. NIXON-ROULE