. St. Nicholas [serial] . open his box,draw forth a strange contrivance from which came a flat light-colored shell, four-cornered,and thin like scraped horn. This was droppedinto an earthen dish which held some most ill-smelling compound. And he rocked the dish,to and fro, smiling a ghastly smile,— such as isthe grin of the long shark in the water of thedeep. But behold, the dark and the light tookshape and became an image! And if all theprophets and if all the counselors of the tribewere to prophesy till the hair of all was grayupon their shoulders, they could not havedivined what was the ima
. St. Nicholas [serial] . open his box,draw forth a strange contrivance from which came a flat light-colored shell, four-cornered,and thin like scraped horn. This was droppedinto an earthen dish which held some most ill-smelling compound. And he rocked the dish,to and fro, smiling a ghastly smile,— such as isthe grin of the long shark in the water of thedeep. But behold, the dark and the light tookshape and became an image! And if all theprophets and if all the counselors of the tribewere to prophesy till the hair of all was grayupon their shoulders, they could not havedivined what was the image which came forthto mock me! It was my soul. For as I leaped in the airto catch my hood, the wizard had caught mysoul from me and fixed it there within theawful black-box-which-has-an-eye! But I waschanged so that my own dear mother wouldnot have known me. My face, paler than thatof the sun-burned warriors, was black like thoseof the men of the far south whose hair dark tunic was like the snow that flies in. THE RED LIGHT the sky when menwalk upon rivers andthe flowers die. Allwas like nothing I ever did the wizard wash the flat piece in aspring that came from the rock near at hand,and he did wash and wash again, until even theweariness of the rocking was not so long. Thendid he soak the piece in another liquor in yetanother dish, while I was faint with the longdarkness. 488 PREHISTORIC PHOTOGRAPHY. [May, Gladly I saw the sunlight again, and heardthe birds chirp as if black caves were not. More washing ? I asked ; for it seemed thatthere would never be an end of the plashing ofwater. Only a little, said the wizard. He did fixthe flat piece next in a four-sided frame, andcooked it in the sunshine, while I wondered ifhe would desire me to eat my soul, baked inthe sun, for dinner! But after he had baked the frame, he didbreak it open, and then came more thought that the wizard would wear out hisfingers with much plashing in the water. I think that
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, bookidstnicholasserial192dodg
