L'S GIFT.

One morning, as he was sitting with his book open upon his knees, the
page at which he looked seemed suddenly to be overspread with a grey
cloud. At first he could not see through the cloud, but after a while
lights and shadows began to stir duskily within it, and presently he
saw, as through a mist, some one walking along a lonely pathway in a
forest. The mist gradually cleared away, but the face of the person
was turned from him, so that it could not be known who he was. The
person came to an opening amidst the trees, overspread with soft green
grass and flowers of many hues. In the centre of this grass-plot was a
fountain, bubbling up like living crystal from a basin of sparkling
sand. Around the margin were the golden smile of buttercups and the
blue glance of forget-me-nots. The wanderer drew near and bent over
the fountain. Then, out of the pure water, an arm was stretched
upwards, holding in its hand a radiant pearl. The wanderer took the
pearl, and then the mysterious hand and arm were drawn under the water
again and disappeared. The wanderer looked at the pearl and seemed to
rejoice in it, as well he might; for it was the most precious of all
pearls. But while he was rejoicing, a man came up to him who, though
he had eyes and a tongue, was both dumb and blind; but he talked very
rapidly with his fingers, as most dumb persons can do; and he used his
nose instead of eyes, for he judged whether or not a thing were
beautiful or valuable by smelling of it. The wanderer spoke to this
odd person, and bade him look at the pearl and rejoice with him. But
the other shook his head contemptuously, and said with his fingers
that his eyes were not made to see, and that seeing was all folly and
deception; and that a good nose was worth all the eyesight in the
world. So, instead of looking at the pearl he smelt of it, and after
doing so again shook his head contemptuously, and pulled out of his
pocket a raw onion. 'Smell of that,' he said with his fingers; 'that
is worth all the pearls in the world!' and then he began to try to
persuade the owner of the pearl, by many clever and cunning
arguments, to throw the pearl away, and take an onion in its stead.
Oscar bent forward in great eagerness to see whether the owner of the
pearl could possibly be so foolish as to let himself believe that the
most precious pearl in the world could be exchanged for an onion; but
just then the mist arose once more, and rapidly deepene