The clock struck twice.  If the man had run for it, he could still have reached the castle, but, instead, he sat still and shouted for a horse.

“A beast, a beast!” he wailed, “any kind of a beast that will take me to the castle!”

The clock struck three times.  And as it struck the third note, something came rustling and rattling out of the darkness, something that sounded like a horse with harness.  The lazy man jumped on its back, a very queer, low back.  As he mounted, he saw the doors of the castle open, and saw his friend standing on the threshold, waving his cap and beckoning to him.

The clock struck four times, and the new steed began to stir; as it struck five, he moved a pace forward; as it struck six, he stopped; as it struck seven, he turned himself about; as it struck eight, he began to move backward, away from the castle!

The lazy man shouted, and beat him, but the beast went slowly backward.  And the clock struck nine.  The man tried to slide off, then, but from all sides of his strange animal great arms came reaching up and held him fast.  And in the next ray of moonlight that broke the dark clouds, he saw that he was mounted on a monster crab!

One by one, the lights went out, in the castle windows.  The clock struck ten.  Backward went the crab.  Eleven!  Still the crab went backward.  The clock struck twelve!  Then the great doors shut with a clang, and the castle of fortune was closed forever to the lazy man.

What became of him and his crab no one knows to this day, and no one cares.  But the industrious man was received by the Fairy of Fortune, and made happy in the castle as long as he wanted to stay.  And ever afterward she was his friend, helping him not only to happiness for himself, but also showing him how to help others, wherever he went.

DAVID AND GOLIATH[1]

[1] From the text of the King James version of the Old Testament, with introduction and slight interpolations, changes of order, and omissions.

A long time ago, there was a boy named David, who lived in a country far east of this.  He was good to look upon, for he had fair hair and a ruddy skin; and he was very strong and brave and modest.  He was shepherd-boy for his father, and all day—­often all night—­he was out in the fields, far from home, watching over the sheep.  He had to guard them from wild animals, and lead them to the right pastures, and care for them.

By and by, war broke out between the people of David’s country and a people that lived near at hand; these men were called Philistines, and the people of David’s country were named Israel.  All the strong men of Israel went up to the battle, to fight for their king.  David’s three older brothers went, but he was only a boy, so he was left behind to care for the sheep.