Page:Scribner's Monthly, Volume 12 (May–October 1876).djvu/616

He watched the clear Rhine, a vine garland on his head, hastening restlessly along, and thought he could hear in the distance the jubilee with which he greeted his beloved, the Mosel, as, her locks also entwined with vines, she blushingly stepped forward to meet him. Further and further the waters receded, the splashing and murmuring died away in the distance, and the solitary angel on the Alpine peak found his ear suddenly assailed by another sound.

It was a low, sorrowful cry, close at hand, and rising, he stepped behind the rock from whence the noise came. There, wrapped in a white veil, he found a little stream lying upon the ground and weeping bitterly. He stooped over it compassionately, and lifted it up and, pushing aside the veil, he recognized the little Ilse, for whom a green bed stood prepared down in the Hartz valley.

"Poor child," said the kind angel, "hast thou been obliged to stay here all alone on this bleak mountain? have all the others gone, and has no one thought to take thee with him?"

The little Ilse tossed up her head, and answered pertly,

"Forgotten? Indeed I'm not! The old Weser waited long enough, and beckoned and called me to come with him, and Ecker and Ocker wanted to take me; but I was by no means obliged to go if I chose to linger here. Why should I descend into the valley, and, like a common brook, run through the plain, and give drink to cows and sheep, and wash their clumsy feet,—I, the Princess Ilse? Only see if I am not of noble birth. The ray of light is my father, and the soft breeze my mother; my brother is the diamond, and the dew-drops in the little rose-leaf beds are my dear little sisters. The waves of the Flood have carried me up high. I have ventured to run round the snow-clad top of the Argebrige, and the first sunbeam that pierced the clouds has covered my dress with spangles. I am a princess of the purest water, and certainly shall not go down into the valley. I had much rather hide myself and pretend to be asleep, and the old Weser, with the stupid streams that know no better than to run into his arms, has at last been obliged to go scolding away."

The angel sadly shook his head at the long speech of little Ilse, and as he gazed earnestly and searchingly at the smiling face, into the open, childish blue eyes, he perceived, behind the angry sparks which beamed from them then, dark spots in their clear depth, and knew that a naughty spirit had entered Ilse's head.

The imp Pride had forced himself in there, and had driven out all the good thoughts, and looked out nodding to the kind angel from the eyes of poor Ilse. But the little imp Pride has filled the head of many a silly child besides this little princess of the purest water, and the sorrowful angel, who knew the danger of the poor stream, wished to save her at any price.

In his far-seeing eyes, the Princess Ilse was nothing more than a naughty child, and therefore he did not say to her, "Your Highness," or "Your Grace." He began quite differently,—"Dear Ilse."

"Dear Ilse," said the angel, "if thou remainest here from thine own choice, and holdest it beneath thy dignity to run with the other waters through the plain, thou shouldst be quite contented up here, and I do not understand why thou weepest and lamentest so."

"Ah!" said the Ilse child, "when the water had gone away, dear angel, then came the Wind to dry up the mountain, and when he found me here he became quite furious; he scolded and raged at me, fought and pushed me, and wanted to throw me down from the crag into a deep, black abyss, where never a ray of daylight enters. I begged and wept, and held on trembling to the rock, till at last I succeeded in escaping from his powerful arms, and concealed myself in this hollow."

"And thou wouldst not always succeed," said the angel, "for the Wind has great power up here; so thou art convinced, dear Ilse, that it was foolish in thee to have stayed here alone, and will gladly follow the good old Weser and thy young companions if I call them back."

"Not on any account," cried Ilse. "I wish to remain up here. I am the princess."

"Ilse," said the angel, with his sweet, mild voice, "dear little Ilse, I am kind to thee, and thou must love me a little too, and be a good child. Dost thou see that white morning cloud sailing overhead in the blue sky? I will bid it land here, and then we will both get upon it, thou shalt lie on its white cushions and I will sit beside thee, and the cloud will carry us swiftly to the valley where the other brooks are. Then I will put thee in thy green bed, and I will stay with thee and send thee bright dreams, and tell thee stories."

But Princess Ilse was more obstinate than