Aunt Jane's Nieces Abroad
Our travellers breathed again, and prepared to enjoy once more the
wonderful vistas that were unfolded at every turn of the winding way.
Sometimes they skirted a little cove where, hundreds of feet below, the
fishermen sat before their tiny huts busily mending their nets. From
that distance the boats drawn upon the sheltered beach seemed like mere
toys. Then they would span a chasm on a narrow stone bridge, or plunge
through an arch dividing the solid mountain. But ever the road returned
in a brief space to the edge of the sea-cliff, and everywhere it was
solid as the hills themselves, and seemingly as secure.
They had just sighted the ancient town of Positano and were circling a
gigantic point of rock, when the great adventure of the day overtook
them. Without warning the wind came whistling around them in a great
gale, which speedily increased in fury until it drove the blinded horses
reeling against the low parapet and pushed upon the carriage as if
determined to dash it over the precipice.
As it collided against the stone wall the vehicle tipped dangerously,
hurling the driver from his seat to dive headforemost into the space
beneath. But the man clung to the reins desperately, and they arrested
his fall, leaving him dangling at the end of them while the maddened
horses, jerked at the bits by the weight of the man, reared and plunged
as if they would in any instant tumble themselves and the carriage over
the cliff.
At this critical moment a mounted horseman, who unobserved had been
following the party, dashed to their rescue. The rider caught the
plunging steeds by their heads and tried to restrain their terror, at
his own eminent peril, while the carriage lay wedged against the wall
and the driver screamed pitifully from his dangerous position midway
between sea and sky.
Then Beth slipped from her seat to the flat top of the parapet, stepped
boldly to where the reins were pulling upon the terrified horses, and
seized them in her strong grasp.
"Hold fast," she called calmly to the driver, and began dragging him
upward, inch by inch.
- Page:
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
- 14
- 15
- 16
- 17
- 18
- 19
- 20
- 21
- 22
- 23
- 24
- 25
- 26
- 27
- 28
- 29
- 30
- 31
- 32
- 33
- 34
- 35
- 36
- 37
- 38
- 39
- 40
- 41
- 42
- 43
- 44
- 45
- 46
- 47
- 48
- 49
- 50
- 51
- 52
- 53
- 54
- 55
- 56
- 57
- 58
- 59
- 60
- 61
- 62
- 63
- 64
- 65
- 66
- 67
- 68
- 69
- 70
- 71
- 72
- 73
- 74
- 75
- 76
- 77
- 78
- 79
- 80
- 81
- 82
- 83
- 84
- 85
- 86
- 87
- 88
- 89
- 90
- 91
- 92
- 93
- 94
- 95
- 96
- 97
- 98
- 99
- 100
- 101
- 102
- 103
- 104
- 105
- 106
- 107
- 108
- 109
- 110
- 111
- 112
- 113
- 114
- 115
- 116
- 117
- 118
- 119
- 120
- 121
- 122
- 123
- 124
- 125
- 126
- 127
- 128
- 129
- 130
- 131
- 132
- 133
- 134
- 135
- 136
- 137
- 138
- 139
- 140
- 141
- 142
- 143
- 144
- 145
- 146
- 147
- 148
- 149
- 150
- 151
- 152
- 153
- 154
- 155
- 156
- 157
There was once a king who was very powerful. He had great influence over the wild beasts and animals. Now the tortoise was looked upon as the wisest of all beasts and men. This king had a son named Ekpenyon, to whom he gave fifty young girls as wives, but the prince did not like any of them. The king was very angry at this, and made a law that if any man had a daughter who was finer than the prince's wives, and who found favour in his son's eyes, the girl herself and her father and mother should be killed.
© 2013-2019 FairyTales
Almost all texts on this website are from the Public Domain.