In Story-land

  _THE FAIR WHITE CITY; OR, A STORY OF THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE._

  Many of you will remember the story I told you of Little Blessed-Eyesand the wonderful power his fairy god-mother gave him of seeinginstantly the best that was in everybody. To-day I want to tell you ofsome of the remarkable things which happened after Blessed-Eyes hadbecome chief counsellor to the King, for, of course, the King was gladto keep near him a man with such power as that.

  Long years have passed since our last story and Blessed-Eyes had beenthe King's Chief Counsellor for ten years, or more, and the capital hadbecome the most renowned city on earth. One day Blessed-Eyes was walkingthrough its streets when he heard a deep sigh as of some one in greattrouble. He turned, and looking around saw a poor laboring man with hishead bent forward upon his hands, as he sat on the doorstep of a housenear by.

  "What is the matter?" said Blessed-Eyes gently, stopping in front of theman.

  "Ah," replied the poor man, "I can find nothing to do in this greatcity. All the places in the shops and stores are already taken and mychildren are starving for want of bread."

  "What large, strong arms you have!" said Blessed-Eyes.

  "Yes," replied the man, "but of what use are they to me. One can measuretape or weigh sugar with much smaller arms than mine."

  "Why do you not seek the King?" continued Blessed-Eyes, "and offer to goto yonder mountain range and quarry the beautiful white marble whichlies there. I have heard that it is the most beautiful marble in thewhole world. Those great strong arms of yours could do a grand work inthe King's quarry."

  The man's face softened at once. "I will go," he said.

  The King gladly accepted the strong man's offer and the next day startedhim out with crow-bars and drills to the mountain district, and soonthere came a wagon load of beautiful white marble, and then another andthen another. The King was so pleased with the marble that he sent tenmen to help the strong man in his work, and then twenty and then ahundred, until the mountain tops rang with the sturdy blows of thequarrymen. And soon a vast pile of the glistening, white marble had beencollected in the King's stoneyard, and the poor and discouraged man withthe strong arms had become the most famous stonemason in the world.

  Not long after this, Blessed-Eyes and the King walked one fine eveningto look at the shining white marble and to plan how best it could beused to make beautiful the city. As they reached the tall white pile,they noticed a man standing beside it, evidently measuring it carefullywith his eye.

  "It is a fine sight," said Blessed-Eyes, "is it not?"

  The man turned and looked sadly at him for a moment, then taking atablet from his pocket he wrote on it: "I cannot hear a word that yousay; I am totally deaf, and therefore I am the loneliest man in all theKing's realm."

  Blessed-Eyes' heart was stirred with pity for the lonely man. He tookthe pencil and wrote on the tablet: "You evidently have a very correcteye for measurements."

  "Yes," replied the man, as soon as he had read these words, "I can tellthe difference of a hair's breath in the height of any two lines, and Ithink I could estimate the weight of any one of these great stoneswithin half an ounce."

  At this Blessed-Eyes seized the tablet and wrote rapidly on it thesewords: "You have such good eyes for measurements and weights you wouldsurely be a good builder. This is the King. Why do you not offer to makefor him some beautiful buildings out of this white marble?"

  The lonely man's face brightened; he turned to the King. A shortconsultation showed the King that he had found a treasure, and the newarchitect was set to work at once drawing plans for several buildingswhich were to surround a charming lake that was in the King's park.

  In a few months the quiet park became the scene of busy activity. Scoresof men were laying foundations; others were hewing the white marble intoshapely blocks; others were polishing portions of it into tall andshining white pillars, and others still, were carving beautiful capitalsfor the same. All were working under the direction of the new architectwhose wonderful designs had so inspired the King that he decided tobuild the grandest and handsomest group of buildings which the nationsof the earth had ever seen. When all was done and the buildings stood intheir full majestic beauty with their long colonnades shining in thesunlight and their graceful towers rising airily in the upper air andtheir beautiful gilded domes crowning all, the scene resembledfairyland. The people could hardly believe their eyes as they wanderedthrough the place. They came from the farthest ends of the earth toenjoy its beauty, for the sad and lonely deaf man had now become themost famous architect in the whole world, and was surrounded by friendsand admirers, who rejoiced in his power to create such bewilderingscenes of beauty. His face lost its sad expression and each time that hemet Blessed-Eyes there came a joyful smile upon it.

  Handsome and attractive as were the outsides of these buildings, withinthey were cold and bare, and Blessed-Eyes and the King often consultedas to how the inner walls might be made as beautiful as were the outerones. It chanced one day that as Blessed-Eyes was walking alone throughthe "Court of Honor," (this was the name now given to that part of thelake which was surrounded by the white marble buildings), he observed agroup of boys and young men, evidently having great sport with someobject in their midst. When he came near he saw it was an embarrassedand harassed looking stranger whom they were tormenting.

  With a feeling of indignation he pressed forward into their midst.

  "What is your difficulty, sir?" he said quietly and respectfully.

  The stranger blushed and faltered, then he stammeringly said:--

  "I-I-I ca-ca-canno-no-not sp-speak your language wi-wi-withou-ou-outst--st-stammering."

  At this the men roared with laughter. Again Blessed-Eyes turned an angrylook upon them, and quietly slipping his arm through the stranger's hesaid: "Will you walk with me? I have something to say to you." And thetwo walked off together, leaving the crowd rather abashed and ashamed ofits rudeness. When they had gone some distance in silence, Blessed-Eyessaid: "As soon as I saw you I noticed you had strong, shapely andartistic hands. Surely you must be able to draw and paint." Thestranger's face lighted up with a radiant smile.

  "How very odd," he stammered, "th-th-that you should see I was anartist, I had hoped to get work here."

  Blessed-Eyes took him at once to the King, and soon the three were deepin plans for decorating and making beautiful the inner walls of thewonderful white buildings which surrounded the "Court of Honor." It wasnot long before the stammering stranger had proved that he was not onlyan artist but a master artist. Lesser artists and new pupils flocked tohim from all parts of the land and soon the interior of the handsomebuildings presented scenes as busy as the outside had before shown. Inless than a year the walls of all the buildings had been decorated insoft, beautiful colors, and on many of them were wonderful pictures offar-away landscapes; of beautiful sunset clouds; of fair, floating angelforms, and, best of all, true and lifelike portraits of the noblest menand women of the nation. Long before this was accomplished thestammering stranger had become recognized as the greatest artist of theage.

  The next question which arose in the mind of the King and his everfaithful counsellor, Blessed-Eyes, was as to the best way to use thenow truly magnificent buildings, so that all the people might enjoythem. While still full of these thoughts, Blessed-Eyes one day noticed aman wearily pacing up and down the court with bowed head, and handsclasped behind his body. On coming nearer Blessed-Eyes saw that he wasblind. At the sound of his approaching foot-steps the man stopped andsaid:--

  "Ah! that is the step of Blessed-Eyes! Much as he has been able to helphis fellow men, there is nothing that he can do for me!"

  "Indeed," said Blessed-Eyes, cheerily, "I am not so sure of that. If youcan tell a man by his step you must certainly have very good hearing."

  "Ah!" said the man, "I can hear a leaf fall to the ground a block away."

  "Indeed!" exclaimed Blessed-Eyes gladly, "You are just the man for whomI have been looking. Surely a man
whose hearing is so acute must be agood musician."

  "Yes, yes!" said the man impatiently, "I am the finest conductor of anorchestra in the whole world, but that avails me but little in thesedays. Nobody cares for good music now!" With these words he shrugged hisshoulders and was about to pass on.

  "Come with me to the King," cried Blessed-Eyes, "I think he has need ofyou."

  After a long talk with the King, and some experiments by which theytested the man's fine sense of hearing, the King felt quite sure that hewas exactly the man needed as leader for the great orchestra which hegenerously supported that the people might learn to love good music, sohe was at once put in charge of the same. The new musician proved to besuch a wonderful leader that no man in the whole orchestra dared play afalse note, and soon their music under this remarkable director, wasfamed throughout the land, until thousands upon thousands came to hearthe afternoon concerts which were given each day in the largest of thebeautiful, white marble buildings.

  One bright, spring morning Blessed-Eyes started out to enjoy thesunshine and the perfume of the flowers and the glad song of the birds."Ah," thought he, as he walked along, drinking in great draughts of thefine, fresh air, "no human being can possibly be sad on such a morningas this." But while he was yet speaking, his eyes fell upon thetear-stained face of a woman. As it was impossible for Blessed-Eyes topass any one who was in trouble, he stopped and said gently, "DearMadam, is there anything I can do for you?"

  "Alas, alas!" said the poor woman, "What can you, or anyone else, do fora broken-hearted mother whose four little children have been taken bydeath from her arms. Unless I have children to love, life has nobrightness for me."

  "Surely," said Blessed-Eyes softly and compassionately, "there are yetmany children who need your love. Will you not come with me to thepalace of the King?"

  The woman looked puzzled and perplexed, but so sweet and gentle had beenthe tone of his voice that she instinctively followed him. I do not knowjust what happened in the consultation with the King, but this I doknow, that only a few days elapsed before the "Court of Honor" rang eachday with the voices of happy children as they followed the no longersad-faced woman around to the concert hall to hear the sweet music, oroff to the buildings whose walls were covered with beautiful pictures,or back again to their own handsome building, set apart for theirparticular use by the King.

  Here she told them stories and taught them songs and led them incharming games and plays, and trained their little hands into skillfulwork until throughout the kingdom there was no happier band of childrenthan those who had once been the waifs of the city, wandering throughits streets. So full of motherly love was the woman's work with her newchildren that other beautiful and noble women came, in time, and joinedher in it, until at last there was no child in the whole city who hadnot learned how to use his hands skillfully, how to love sweet music,how to enjoy beautiful pictures and how to be kind and thoughtfultowards others.

  In time many of these children grew into manhood and womanhood andbecame musicians, artists, authors, physicians, clergymen, andwonderfully skilled workmen of all sorts. Many of the women married andbecame loving and wise mothers because of the training they had receivedfrom the pale-faced, childless woman in the King's "Court of Honor."

  At last the good King died, and the question arose, "Who shall be ournext King." The counsellors of the nation met together to decide thematter. They sent to the stonemasons far away in the back country andthe great master-mason cried, "Let Blessed-Eyes be our King! Did he notteach me how to use my strong arms? Has he not furnished bread for usand our families?" And the hundreds of stone-cutters and miners anddiggers round about shouted aloud, "Long live King Blessed-Eyes!"

  Then they sent to the various villages and towns of the Kingdom and thearchitects said "Let Blessed-Eyes be King! Has he not created the greatCourt of Honor from which we have all learned to make beautiful whateverwe build!" And the carpenters and joiners and plasterers and paintersall cried out, "Long live King Blessed-Eyes!"

  Then they sent to the mills and the factories of the great cities andthe masterworkmen and designers answered and said, "Why not makeBlessed-Eyes our King? It was he who first introduced Art into our landand showed us how to make as beautiful as pictures our carpets andcurtains and walls. Have not these things made our merchandise soughtfor all over the world." Then the spinners and weavers and dyers allshouted aloud, "Long live King Blessed-Eyes!"

  Then they sent to all the colleges and schools in the land and the gravepresidents and superintendents said, "We know of no better man thanBlessed-Eyes. He first taught us that a love of the beautiful should bepart of each child's education." Then the youths and the maidens, theboys and the girls, and even the little children shouted until they werehoarse, "Long live King Blessed-Eyes!"

  Then the whole nation seemed to cry out, "Blessed-Eyes, Blessed-Eyes,Long live King Blessed-Eyes!" There is none among us whom he has nothelped. When the news was brought to Blessed-Eyes that all the peopledesired him to rule over them, he smiled gently and said, "I had hopedto rest now, but if I can serve my country I must do it." So he was madeKing and the nation became wise and great and powerful under his reign.For the little children grew up learning to love the beautiful and tosee it everywhere until at last there was a whole nation ofblessed-eyes, and every city in the land became as beautiful as was theWhite City by the Lake.