much good with his money, he
was so stingy and so hard, that the people did not love him at all. But
his bags of silver and gold did not buy him water; and at last the
thought came to him, "Why! I will dig a well, as people used to do in my
country. I will dig it on my own land, and no one shall have a drop of
the water but myself."

So he hired men to come and dig the well; but he paid them only a little
money, and was very unkind to them. They dug and they dug; but no water
came. At last they said they would work no longer unless their master
would promise them some of the water, and he promised them the use of
the well for half of every day.

[Illustration]

Now they dug with more patience; and one morning, as early as six
o'clock, they suddenly found water. They claimed the privilege of using
the well for the first six hours; and the master dared not refuse. As
they were drawing the water, they noticed that it began to grow lower
and lower in the well; and at twelve o'clock, the master's hour, none
was left.

He was very, very angry, and said he would never give the men any work
again. However, at six o'clock that night, they again demanded the use
of the well. He mockingly asked them if they expected the water would
come for them, and not for him. Nevertheless they went to the well; and,
to the master's awe and wonder, it was full of water.

At midnight, the master again tried to get water from the well, and, as
before, found it empty. He now felt afraid, believing that some divine
power controlled the action of the water. He went to the church and
vowed, before God, that if the water should come again next morning, he
would dedicate it to the poor forever.

In the morning, when the men visited the well, there was the fresh water
awaiting them. The master kept his vow, and thus the well became "The
Poor Man's Well." To this day the water rises and falls in it twice in
every twenty-four hours. I give you here a picture of the well, and
should you ever go to Fayal you may see the original.

K. H. S.

[Illustration]

SPITFIRE.

CAN you guess what she was? She was a little black kitten; and I must
tell you all about her, and why we gave her such a funny name. Teddikins
had a great mouse-colored cat called Maltie, and she had three little
kitties,--Spitfire, Miss Tittens, and Cuddle. Spitfire was all black,
just as black as a lump of coal, while