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[Pg 44] <h2>The Stone-Maiden.</h2> <hr style="width: 65%;" /> Atven was the son of a fisherman, and lived with his father on a flat sandy coast far away in the North-land. Great rocks strewed the shore about their hut, and the child had often been told how, long, long ago, the giant Thor fought single-handed against a shipload of wild men who attempted to land in the little bay; and drove them off—killing some, and changing others into the wonderful stones that remained there to that day. The country people called them "Thor's balls;" and Atven often wandered about amongst them, trying to find likenesses to the old warriors in their weather-worn surfaces; and peering into every hole and cranny—half dreading, half hoping to see a stone hand stretched out to him from the misty shadows of the past. Here and there, a row of smaller boulders lay half sunk in the sand, with only their rounded tops, covered with long brown seaweed, appearing above the surface. These, Atven decided, must be the heads of the ancient Norsemen, and further on stood their huge mis-shapen[Pg 45] bodies, twisted into every imaginable form, and covered by myriads of shell-fish, that clung to their grey sides like suits of shining armour. Atven was often lonely; for he had no brothers or sisters, and his mother had died many years before. He was a shy, wild boy—more at home with the sea birds that flew about the lonely shore, than with the children he met sometimes as he wandered about the country; but in spite of his shyness he had friends who loved him everywhere he went. The house dogs on every farm knew his step, and ran out to greet him; the horses rubbed their noses softly upon his homespun tunic; the birds clustered on his shoulders; the cats came purring up, and the oxen lowed and shook their bells as soon as they caught sight of him. The very hens cackled loudly for joy—and Atven would caress them all with his brown hand, and had a kind word for every one of them. All the short Northern summer, Atven spent his evenings in searching about amongst "Thor's balls" for traces of the warriors of the old legend; and one night, in the soft clearness of the twilight, he came upon something that rewarded him for all his patient perseverance. Lifting a mass of seaweed that had completely covered one of the larger rocks, he saw before him the graceful form of a little Stone-maiden! There she lay, as though quietly sleeping, her long dress falling in straight folds to her feet, her rippled hair spreading[Pg 46] about her. One small hand grasped a chain upon her neck, the other was embedded in the rock on which she was lying. Atven was so astonished that he stared at the child-figure as if turned into a statue himself. Then he realized that his long search had been rewarded, and he fell on his knees and prayed that the Stone-maiden might be released from her prison, and given to him to be a little playfellow. As soon as it was daylight the next morning, he started off to ask the advice of his one friend, the old Priest of Adgard. The day was fine, with a crisp northern air, and a bright sun that danced on the long stretches of sandy grass, and on the swaying boughs of the fir trees. Atven's heart beat hopefully as he neared the neat wooden house in which the old Priest lived. Father Johannes welcomed him kindly, as he always did; and listened attentively whilst Atven told his story. "It must have consideration, my child," he said. "I will come down to the shore to-morrow—perhaps I may be able to think of something." Atven took up his cap humbly, and started on his homeward journey. As he threaded his way beneath the shadows of the pine-trees, the sun's fingers darted through the branches and drew a golden pattern on the mossy ground under his feet; the mosquitoes hummed drowsily, the air was full of soft[Pg 47] summer warmth and brightness—but Atven's thoughts were far away with the ancient legend and the Stone-maiden. How had she come to be amongst the shipload of "wild-men" in the misty ages when Thor yet walked the earth? Had she a father and mother who loved her, and perhaps brothers and sisters—and how long had she been sleeping so quietly in the arms of the great rock? It was a strange cradle, with only the sea to sing her lullaby, and wash her lovingly, like a tender mother! Atven hurried on; and as he peered before him with sun-dazzled eyes, he thought he saw a figure flitting in and out between the brown tree stems. It was a small, light figure, with a strange kind of loose dress, and long floating hair of a beautiful gold colour. It glided along so rapidly that Atven had some difficulty in keeping pace with it. Every now and again it seemed to be beckoning to him with one little hand; and at last as he ran faster and faster, it suddenly turned its head, and he saw the face of a beautiful young woman. Her brown eyes were soft and clear, and her cheeks tinted with a colour so delicate, it reminded Atven of the little pink shells he sometimes found after a storm upon the sea-shore. "Atven! Atven!" she murmured, "You have found my child. Give her life! Give her life!" "Tell me what I am to do!" cried Atven, and stretched out his hands towards the beautiful young woman; but at[Pg 48] that moment she reached the shore, and gliding between the boulders, disappeared amongst their dark shadows. Atven threw himself down beside the rock on which the Stone-maiden lay sleeping. He grieved for her so much that tears rolled slowly down his cheeks, and as they touched the stone, the great boulder shook and crumbled, and a shudder passed over the figure of the Stone-maiden. She seemed to Atven to sigh gently, and half open her eyes; but in a moment they closed again; the rock settled into its place, and everything was motionless. "To-morrow! To-morrow!" he said to himself, "When Father Johannes comes, he will help me." Early next morning the old Priest knocked at the door of the fisherman's hut. He had started at daybreak, for he knew that Atven would be anxiously awaiting him. They went down together to the shore; and when Father Johannes saw the figure of the sleeping child, he took out of his bark basket, a little jar of water from the Church Well, and sprinkled it over her. The Stone-maiden stirred and opened her eyes. She raised her hands, breathed gently, and lifting her head, gazed at the old Priest and the boy with wistful brown eyes, like those of the figure Atven had met in the forest. "Where is my father? Where am I?" she asked, in a low soft voice, as she rose up from the rock, and shook out the folds of her long dress. Father Johannes took her hand, and gently repeated the[Pg 49] old legend; while the Stone-maiden listened with wide-open eyes. "I remember it all now," she said, as the puzzled look faded from her face. "We had but just landed when the thick cloud came down, and a shower of stones fell upon us. My father was smitten down with all his followers, and I only was left weeping upon the shore. A cold air seemed to breathe upon me, and I fell asleep." She spoke slowly, in the old Norse tongue, but Father Johannes had studied it, and understood her without much questioning. "Where was your mother?" he asked kindly, as Atven with smiles of delight, seized her other hand. "My mother died just before we set sail, and my father would not leave me lonely," answered the Stone-maiden sadly. "But we will all love you now," cried Atven. "I will grow tall and strong to work for you, and you shall never be unhappy any more!" The Stone-maiden smiled, as she stood on the threshold of her new life. She looked up trustingly at her two friends, and the old Priest of Asgard, bending down, laid his hand upon her head with a gentle blessing. <hr style='width: 45%;' /> The Warriors' heads, with their tangled elf-locks, still peer out of the drifting sand—the twisted bodies in their sea[Pg 50] armour, lie half surrounded by the green waters; but the log hut, and Atven have vanished into the misty shadows of the past. They, and the good old priest, have drifted away to Shadow-Land. Only the sea talks of them still; and croons them a lullaby, as soft as the centuries-old song, it sang over the cradle of the enchanted Stone-maiden. <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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