unt on bended knee:
'Sire, for just a little season set my toiling brethren free!
Let them leave awhile their labour, let them roam the country fair,
Quit the close and crowded city for a breath of purer air;
Or, perchance, their faithful service you will graciously repay,
And a piece of ground assign them from your gardens vast and gay?'

Frowned the Count, and answered, mocking: 'Not a little do you ask!
Well! your prayer shall find a champion, and I'll set him just one task:
He shall march from dawn to sunset, pacing my fair gardens round;
All his footsteps can encircle shall be then the people's ground.'

Morning came, the folk assembled, full of hopefulness and glee,
But their eager eyes no other than the Count himself can see.
Stay! there standeth one beside him, Hans the cripple, small and weak!
'This is he,' the Count cries, scoffing, 'who shall give you what
you seek.
Fly! Hans, fly! Around my pleasaunce speed as quickly as you may!'
And the cripple, smiling bravely, starts forthwith upon his way.

All that day, from morn to even, Hans the cripple did his best,
Walking on without cessation, pausing not for food or rest.
Miracle both Count and people deemed the prowess he displayed,
And the tyrant scowled in anger as he saw the progress made.
Faint and weary, for his brethren Hans toiled on till eventide,
Then, amid the people's cheering, knelt, and breathed a prayer, and died.

Feudal days are gone for ever, but in Bremen's ancient town
Tell they still of Hans the hero, who for them his life laid down.

THE GIANT OF THE TREASURE CAVES.

(_Continued from page 95._)

The children were all eager to hear the story, and a sad one it was.
They had become accustomed to see Dick half asleep in his armchair in
the garden, or before the fire at the Bridge House. They knew him to be
almost helpless, for it was only with assistance he could move, even on
his crutches. They had thought very little about his condition, however,
except for that feeling of pity which even a child experiences in the
presence of suffering. Mrs. Peet's words had roused their interest in
her son, and Lady Coke saw an opportunity for deepening the impression
she had made. It would be good in many ways for these young people to
hear that sad story. It had its lessons, and these she trusted would
sink into their young minds; they might make it more possible to feel
patient and to show