b92-277-32008329

xt7ht7279w6g https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7ht7279w6g/data/mets.xml Johnston, Annie F. (Annie Fellows), 1863-1931. 1907 books b92-277-32008329 English L.C. Page, : Boston : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Legend of the bleeding-heart / by Annie Fellows Johnston. text Legend of the bleeding-heart / by Annie Fellows Johnston. 1907 2002 true xt7ht7279w6g section xt7ht7279w6g

tt:LEGE ND ac

BLEEDING HEART

tE'FFELLOWS2
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srThe LEGEND
OF THE

62BLEEDING-

0, HEART

2 ANNIE FELLOWS JOHNSTON
A uthor of " The Little Colonel Series," "Big
Brother," "Joel: A Boy of Galilee,"
"Keefing Tryst," etc.

L. C BOSTON u
L. C PAGE & COMPANY

iota .a190

Afl rights reserved F

First Impression, July, b9oq

W61 COLON1A L PRESS
AID Electrotyped and Printed by C. H. Simonds 6 Co.
Boston, U. S. A.

IN MEMORY
OF THE ONES THAT GREW
SO LONG AGO,
IN OLD "runt Ian fip' GARDEN.

Qy II'N a N

This page in the original text is blank.

The Legend of the

Bleeding-heart e

hN days of old, when all
things in the Wood had
speech, there lived within its
depths a lone Flax-spinner.
She was a bent old creature,
and ill to look upon, but all
the tongues of all the forest
leaves were ever kept a-wag-
ging with the story of her
ae Q

THE LEGEND OF THE

kindly deeds. And even to
this day they sometimes
whisper low among them-
selves (because they fain
would h o l d in mind so I
sweet a tale) the story of
her kindness to the little e
g orphan, Olga. '
'Twas no slight task the
old Flax-spinner took upon
herself, the day she brought
the helpless child to share
the shelter of her thatch.
2

BLEEDING- HEART

00 The Oak outside her door
r1 held up his arms in solemn
OFCD protest.
i ,4 Thou dost but waste
r1 thyself," he said. "Thy
benefits will be forgot, thy
labours unrequited. F o r
Youth is ever but another
g title for Ingratitude."
"Nay, friend," the old.
Flax-spinner said. "Mylittle
Olga will not be ungrateful w
g and forgetful."
or

THE LEGEND OF THE

All hedged about with
loving care, the orphan grew
to gracious maidenhood, and
felt n o lack of f a t h e r,
mother, brother or sister.
In every way the old Flax-
spinner took their places.
AW But many were the sacri-
Ole fices that she made to keep
g her fed and warmly clad,
and every time she went
without herself that Olga
might receive a greater
n t

BLEEDING- HEART

share, Wiseacre Oak looked
9g down and frowned a nd
shook his head.
Then would the old dame
hasten to her inner room,
and there she pricked her-
self with her spindle, until a g
A great red drop of her heart's
blood fell into her trembling
hand. Wi t h witchery of
words she blew upon it,
and rolled it in her palm,
and muttering, turned and

eeNsa

THE LEGEND OF THE

turned and turned it. And i
as the spell was laid upon it,
it shrivelled into a tiny
round ball like a seed, and
she strung it on a thread .
where were many others like
it, saying, "1 By this she will
X/, remember. She will not be
,r, ungrateful and forgetful."
So years went by, and
g Olga grew in goodness and t
in beauty, and helped the
Id Flax-spinner in her tasks g

a BLEEDING- HEART

as blithely and as willingly
as if she were indeed her
daughter. Every morning
she brought water from the
spring, gathered the wild
fruits of the woods, and
2 spread t he linen on the
By grass to bleach. At such 2
times would the bent old A
i foster-mother hold herself
erect, and call up to the
Oak, "m Dost see Thou'rt
Q wrong! Youth is not an-
7

THE LEGEND OF THE

other title for Ingrati-
tude."
"Thou hast not lived as Oa
f2 long as I," would be the c6
only answer.
One day as Olga was
wandering by the spring,
searching for watercresses,
the young Prince of the
castle rode by on his pran-
cing charger. A snow-white
plume warred in his hat, and
a shining silverbuglehung
Ri 8

BLEEDING- HEART

from his shoulder, for he
had been following the
r,'W chase.
He was thirsty and tired,
Or and asked for a drink, buth
F t h e r e was no cup withe
which to dip the water
from the spring. But Olga
caught the drops as they
bubbled out from the spring,
holding them in the hollow
g of her beautiful white hands,
and reaching up to where
9i

ADIO
THE LEGEND OF THE

he sat, offered h im the
sparkling water. So grace-
fully was it done, that the
Prince was charmed by her
modest manner as well as
her lovely face, and baring g
his head when he had 0
g slaked his thirst, he touched
the white hands with his C
lips. C-N
Before he rode away he c
asked her name and where na
she lived. The next day a
2 IO ffi1
age- Andrb

BLEEDING- HEART

courier in scarlet and gold g
stopped at the door of the g
cottage and invited Olga to
r/. the castle. Princesses and
royal ladies from all over
the realm were to be enter-
9' tained there, seven days and
l. seven nights. Every night
rl a grand ball was to be
given, and Olga was sum-
moned to each of the balls.
Q It was because of her pleas-
ing manner and her great

aeaa9QQI

THE LEGEND OF THE

W0 beauty that she had been
1a bidden.
The old Flax-spinner
103 courtesied low to the courier
and promised that Olga
should b e at the castle
g without fail.
"But, good dame," cried
Olga, when the courier had
gone, "prithee tell me why g
thou didst make such a
n promise, knowing full well
this gown of tow is all I
i I2g

BLEEDING - HEART

own. Wouldst have me
stand before the Prince in
beggar's garb Better to
bide at home for aye than
be put to shame before such
guests."-
te Have done, my child! "
the old dame said. " Thou
shalt wear a court robe of
the finest. Years have I
toiled to have it ready, but
that is naught. I loved
thee as my own."

asaaaI

THE LEGEND OF THE

Then once more the old
the Flax-spinner went into her
inner room, and pricked her-
self with her spindle till
another great red drop of
her heart's blood fell into
71 her trembling hand. With
witchery of words she blew
it= upon it, and rolled it in her
g' palm, and muttering, turned l
and turned and turned it. A
And as the spell was laid g
upon it, it shrivelled into a
'4

BLEEDING- HEART

tiny round ball like a seed,
lo and she strung it on to a
e- thread, where were many
others like i t. Seventy
times seven was the number
of beads on this strange
rosary. the o
When the night of the
first ball rolled around, Olga
combed her long golden hair
and twined it with a wreath
of snowy water-lilies, and
then she stood before the
'5

THE LEGEND OF THE

old dame in her dress of
tow. To her wonderment
and grief she saw there was
no silken robe in waiting,
only a string of beads to clasp
around her white throat.
Each bead in the necklace
was like a little shrivelled
eed, and Olga's eyes filled
with tears of disappoint-
ment.
"Obey me and all will be
well," said the old woman.

Nct9Qeei

BLEEDING - HEART

5g Ad"When thou reachest the

r1 castle gate clasp one bead in
9e thy fingers and say:

"'For love's sweet sake, in my hour of
Blossm need,
4S Blossom and deck me, little seed.'

Straightway r i g h t royally
shalt thou be clad. But re-
member carefully the charm.
Only to the magic words, g
s For love's sweet sake' will
the necklace give up its
treasures. If thou shouldst
'7

THE LEGEND OF THE

forget, then thou must be
doomed always to wear thy g
gown of tow."
So Olga s p e d on her
moon-lighted way through
the forest until she came to
Ir & the castle gate. There she
rv- paused, and grasping a bead
Z2 of the strange necklace be-
tween her fingers, repeated M
im the old dame's charm:
h For love's sweet sake, in my hour of
need,
Zo/ Blossom and deck me, little seed."
9j i8

BLEEDING - HEAR T

Immediately the bead
burst with a little puff as if
a seed pod had snapped
asunder. A faint perfume
surrounded her, rare and
subtle as if it had been
blown across from some
flower of Eden. Olga
looked down and found her..
self enveloped in a robe of
such delicate texture, that W
2 it seemed soft as a rose-leaf
and as airy as pink clouds
'9

THE LEGEND OF THE

that sometimes float across
It l the sunset. The water-lilies
in her hair had become a
coronal of opals.
When she entered the
great ball-room, the. Prince
of the castle started up from
his throne in amazement.
Never before had he seen
I, such a vision of loveliness.
Surely," said hel nssome
rose of Paradise hath found
2 a soul and drifted earthward 1
20

BLEEDING - HEAR T

r1 to blossom here." And all
that night he had eyes for
none but her.
F A.S The next night Olga
,r. started again to the castle
in her dress of tow, and at
the gate she grasped the
second bead in her fingers,
repeating the charm. This
time the pale yellow of the
g daffodils seemed to have
woven itself into a cloth of
gold for her adorning. It

iaega2

THE LEGEND OF THE

was like a shimmer of
moon-beams, and her hair
too held the diamond flashings
of a hundred tiny stars. et
That night the Prince paid
her so many compliments
and singled her out so often
to bestow his favours, that
r1 Olga's head wa s turned..
She tossed it proudly, and
quite scorned the thought of g
the humble cottage which
A had given her shelter so
ad given 22

BLEEDING- HEART

long. The next day when
she had returned to her
gown of tow and was no
longer a haughty court lady,
but only Olga, t he Flax-
spinner's maiden, she re-
C11 pined at her lot. Frowning,
she carried the water from
the spring. Frowning, she
gathered the cresses and
plucked the woodland fruit.
i And then she sat all day by
the spring, r e f u s i n g to

WSWa

THE LEGEND OF THE

spread the linen o n the
grass to bleach.
She was discontented
with the old life of toil,
and pouted crossly because
duties called her when she
wanted to do nothing but
sit idly dreaming of the gay g
court scenes in which she
A, had taken a bright brief
part. The old Flax-spinner's
f fingers trembled as she
spun, when she saw the

in QaQstaQ24

BLEEDING - HEAR T

frowns, for she had given
of her heart's blood to buy
happiness for this maiden
AW she loved, and well she
knew there can be no hap-
piness where frowns abide.
She felt that her years of
sacrifice had been in vain,
but when the Oak wagged
his head she called back
waveringly, " My little Olga
will not be ungrateful and
L forgetful! "C
6 25

THE LEGEND OF THE

That night outside the
castle gate, Olga paused.
She had forgotten the
charm. The day's discon-
tent had darkened her
memory as storm-clouds
darken the sky. But she
grasped her necklace imperi- 3
ously.
",Deck me at once!" she g
cried in a haughty tone.
AClothe me more beauti-
fully than mortal maid was i
fully than 26

BLEEDING- HEAR T

ever clad before, so that I
may find favour in the
Ir A Prince's sight and become
rn the bride of the castle! I
A-owould that Iwere done for
gX ever with the spindle and
the distaff!"Y)
But the moon went under
a cloud and the wind begants
to moan around the turrets.
The black night hawks in
the forest flapped their
wings warningly, and their
27

THE LEGEND OF THE

black bats flitted low around
her head.
"Obey me at once!" she
cried angrily, stamping her
foot and jerking a t the
necklace. But the string
broke, and the beads went
It, rolling away in the darkness
in every direction and were
lost -all but one, which
she held clasped in her
hand.
Then Olga wept at the
28

BLEEDING- HEART

castle gate; wept outside in
the night and the darkness,
in her peasant's garb of tow.
But after awhile through
her sobbing, stole the an-
g swering sob of the night
g wind.
"Hush-sh! " it seemed to
Flo say. "Sh-sh! Never a heart
can come to harm, if the lips
but speak the old dame's
g charm."
The voice of the night
29

THE LEGEND OF THE

wind sounded so much like
the voice of the old Flax-
spinner, that Olga was
startled and looked around
wonderingly. The n sud-
denly she seemed to see the
thatched cottage and the
bent form of the lonely old
woman at the wheel. All
the years in which the good
r- dame had befriended her
seemed to rise up in a row,
Q and out of each one called
30

BLEEDING- HEART

a thousand kindnesses as
with one voice: " How canst
thou forget us, Olga We
were done for love's sweet
sake, and that alone!"
Then was Olga sorry and
ashamed that she had been
ir h so proud and forgetful, and
she wept again. The tears
seemed to clear her vision,
r1 for now s h e saw plainly
that through no power of
g her own could she wrest
3'

THE LEGEND OF THE

strange favours from for-
tune. Only the power of
the old charm could make
them hers. S he remem-
bered it then, and hold-
ing fast the one bead in
her hand, she repeated O
g humbly:
"For love's sweet sake, in my hour of
need,
Blossom and deck me, little seed."
Lo, as the words left her
lips, the moon shone out
from behind the clouds
32

BLEEDING - HEAR T -

g above the dark f o r e s t.
There was a fragrance of
lilies all about, and a gos-
samer gown floated around
her, whiter than the white-
ness of the fairest lily. It
was fine like the finest lace
the frost-elves weave, and
softer than the softest er-
mine of the snow. On her g
long golden hair gleamed a -
coronet of pearls. g
So beautiful, so dazzling mw
33

THE LEGEND OF THE

was she as she entered the
castle door, that the Prince
came down to meet her, and
kneeling, kissed her hand
an d claimed her as his
bride. Then came the
bishop in his mitre, and led
her to the throne, and before
g them all the Flax-spinner's
maiden was married to the
Prince, and made the Prin-
A, cess Olga.
Then until the seven days
34

BLEEDING- HEART

and seven nights were done,
the revels lasted in t h e
castle. And in the merri-
ment the old Flax-spinner
was again forgotten. Her
kindness of the past, her
loneliness in the present had
no part in the thoughts of
the Princess Olga.
All night the old Oak, tap-
ping on the thatch, called
down, Thou'rt forgotten I
2 Thou'rt forgotten!
35

THE LEGEND OF THE

But the beads that had
rolled away in the darkness,
0C0 buried themselves in the
ir & earth, and took root, and
sprang up, as the o l d
woman knew they would
do. There a t the castle
g a t e t h e y bloomed, a
strange, strange flower, for
on every stem hung a row
g of little bleeding hearts.
One d ay the Princess
Olga, seeing them from her
36

A-o BLEEDING - HEART

91 N window, went down to them
in wonderment.
1 A "What do you here"
she cried, for in her forest
tol life she'd learned all speech
of bird and beast and
r/1 plant.
r/ ,We bloom for love's
IC/ sweet sake," they answered.
g 4" We have sprung from the g
g old Flax-spinner's gift- the
necklace thou didst break
and scatter. From her

aeawa3

THE LEGEND OF THE

MA heart's best blood s h e
gave it, and her heart still
bleeds to think she is for-
gotten."
Then they began to tell g
the story of the old dame's
sacrifices, all the seventy
times seven that she had
made for the sake of the -
maiden, and Olga grieved as
she listened, that she could
have been so ungrateful. x
Then she brought the
38

BLEEDING - HEAR T

Prince to hear the story of
the strange, strange flowers,
and when he had heard,
together they went to the
are lowly cottage and fetched
rd the old Flax-spinner to the
castle, there to live out all
tll her days in ease and con-
tentment.
4 "See now," she whispered
to the Oak at parting, but
rl sturdily he held his ground,
00 persisting, "Thou wouldst
39

i THE LEGEND OF THE

have been forgotten, save
for that miracle of
bloom."
A Snd still the flower
we call BLEEDING- Q
HEAI R T blooms on by
cot/age walls and castle
gardens, /o waken all
the world to grateful mem-
orAes. .4nd ever i do/h
obring to mind the lonely
hearts that bleed because
they are forgotten, and
they40

BLEEDING- HEART

X
&1 all they sacriftced for g
love's sweet sake, to give us
happiness.

Xlm THE END.

4'
an 4 iI1RI- i"I R cin! 0 grt

b92-277-32008329
Electronic reproduction. 2002. (Beyond the shelf, serving historic Kentuckiana through virtual access (IMLS LG-03-02-0012-02) ; These pages may be freely searched and displayed. Permission must be received for subsequent distribution in print or electronically.

Legend of the bleeding-heart / by Annie Fellows Johnston.
Johnston, Annie F. (Annie Fellows), 1863-1931.

L.C. Page,
Boston :
1907.

[6], 41 p. : ill. ; 17 cm.
Coleman
Within ornamental borders.
Microfilm. Atlanta, Ga. : SOLINET, 1995. 1 microfilm reel ; 35 mm. (SOLINET/ASERL Cooperative Microfilming Project (NEH PS-20317) ; SOL MN05122.06 KUK)
Printing Master B92-277.

IMLS

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tt:LEGE ND ac

BLEEDING HEART

tE'FFELLOWS2
ilz iOM I

This page in the original text is blank.

itz,

Eo0 At EE1Z
a ofther
(2b,EDNGH +
.R
:r/

cartel. `Ctz-ZA '

K/I,0

erbi wttrf",I

srThe LEGEND
OF THE

62BLEEDING-

0, HEART

2 ANNIE FELLOWS JOHNSTON
A uthor of " The Little Colonel Series," "Big
Brother," "Joel: A Boy of Galilee,"
"Keefing Tryst," etc.

L. C BOSTON u
L. C PAGE & COMPANY

iota .a190

Afl rights reserved F

First Impression, July, b9oq

W61 COLON1A L PRESS
AID Electrotyped and Printed by C. H. Simonds 6 Co.
Boston, U. S. A.

IN MEMORY
OF THE ONES THAT GREW
SO LONG AGO,
IN OLD "runt Ian fip' GARDEN.

Qy II'N a N

This page in the original text is blank.

The Legend of the

Bleeding-heart e

THE LEGEND OF THE

BLEEDING- HEART

THE LEGEND OF THE

BLEEDING- HEART

eeNsa

THE LEGEND OF THE

a BLEEDING- HEART

THE LEGEND OF THE

BLEEDING- HEART

ADIO
THE LEGEND OF THE

BLEEDING- HEART

aeaa9QQI

THE LEGEND OF THE

BLEEDING - HEART

asaaaI

THE LEGEND OF THE

BLEEDING- HEART

THE LEGEND OF THE

Nct9Qeei

BLEEDING - HEART

5g Ad"When thou reachest the

r1 castle gate clasp one bead in
9e thy fingers and say:

"'For love's sweet sake, in my hour of
Blossm need,
4S Blossom and deck me, little seed.'

Straightway r i g h t royally
shalt thou be clad. But re-
member carefully the charm.
Only to the magic words, g
s For love's sweet sake' will
the necklace give up its
treasures. If thou shouldst
'7

THE LEGEND OF THE

forget, then thou must be
doomed always to wear thy g
gown of tow."
So Olga s p e d on her
moon-lighted way through
the forest until she came to
Ir & the castle gate. Th