Runoia had never heard before, for it was the music
of the gods. "It is really true," he said to himself softly. "My harp is
giving me music to drive away my sadness."

[Illustration]

He listened, and the harp played more and more sweetly. "He who has a
harp has one true friend. He who loves music is loved by the gods," so
the harp sang to him.

Tears came into Runoia's eyes, but they were tears of happiness, not of
sadness, for he was no longer lonely. A gentle voice called, "Runoia,
come to the home of the gods."

As darkness fell over the sea, Runoia's friends went to look for him. He
was gone, but where he had stood listening happily to the music of the
gods, there on the fair white sand was the harp, and all around it lay
beautiful pearls, shining softly in the moonlight, for every tear of
happiness was now a pearl.

THE STORY OF THE FIRST EMERALDS.

In the days of long ago there was a time when there were no emeralds on
the earth. Men knew where to find other precious stones. They could get
pearls and diamonds, but no one had ever seen an emerald, because the
emeralds were hidden away in the bed of the sea, far down below the
waves.

The king of India had many precious things, and he was always eager to
get others. One day a stranger stood before his door, and when the king
came out he cried, "O king, you have much that is precious. Do you wish
to have the most beautiful thing in earth, air, or water?"

"Yes, in truth," said the king. "What is it?"

"It is a vase made of an emerald stone," answered the stranger.

"And what is an emerald stone?" asked the king.

"It is a stone that no one on earth has ever seen," said the stranger.
"It is greener than the waves of the sea or the leaves of the forest."

"Where is the wonderful vase?" cried the king eagerly.

"Where the waves of the sea never roll," was the answer, but when the
king was about to ask where that was, the stranger had gone.

The king asked his three wise men where it was that the waves of the sea
never rolled. One said, "In the forest;" another said, "On the
mountain;" and the last said, "In the sea where the water is deepest."

The king thought a long time about these answers of the wise men. At
last he said: "If the emerald vase had been in the forest or on the
mountain, it would have been found long before now. I think it is in the
deepest water of the sea."

This king of India was a great magician. He went to the sea, an