He sings how through the billows
He rose to earth again,

And sought a priest to sign the cross,
That Neckan heaven might gain.

He sings how, on an evening,
Beneath the birch trees cool,
He sate and play'd his harp of gold,
Beside the river pool.

Beside the pool sate Neckan

Tears filled his mild blue eye. On his white mule, across the bridge, A cassock'd priest rode by.

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Why sitt'st thou here, O Neckan, And-play'st thy harp of gold?

Sooner shall this my staff bear leaves, Than thou shalt heaven behold."

But, lo, the staff, it budded!

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It green'd, it branch'd, it waved.

"O ruth of God," the priest cried out,
"This lost sea creature saved!"

The cassock'd priest rode onwards,
And vanished with his mule ;
But Neckan in the twilight gray
Wept by the river pool.

He wept: "The earth hath kindness,
The sea, the starry poles;

Earth, sea, and sky, and God above-
But, ah, not human souls!"

In summer, on the headlands,
The Baltic Sea along,

Sits Neckan with his harp of gold,

And sings this plaintive song.

THE VOICE OF SPRING

I come, I come! ye have called me long,
I come o'er the mountains, with light and song.
Ye may trace my step o'er the waking earth,
By the winds which tell of the violets birth,
By the primrose stars in the shadowy grass,
By the green leaves opening as I pass.

- FELICIA HEMANS.

In the beginning, according to Norse mythology, there were three races on the earth. There were giants, who lived in the far north; the gods, who lived in the east; and men, who were scattered about over the face of the earth.

The giants hated both the gods and men, and made war upon them to destroy them utterly.

Finally a great battle took place, and the giants were overthrown, and all were slain with the exception of one, who fled far into the foreign north, and there built him a stronghold, which was called Jotunheim.

After this great victory Odin, the Allfather and king of the gods, called around him all the other gods.

"Heroic ones," he said, "we have won a great victory; all are enemies except him who has fled in desolation. We have put evil from us here. We must therefore go elsewhere to destroy evil from the earth; for we live only as long as we fight evil.”

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The other gods looked about them. North, south, east, and west evil had vanished.

"It is well, Allfather," they said; "lead and we follow." "To the north," replied Odin, "cold binds the earth; to the south, the heat has established a great desert; in the east the sun rises, and he travels over westward. We will follow his course."

"Then westward ho!" all the gods shouted. And with one accord they set out on their westward journey.

In the midst rode Father Odin clad in a gray mantle. On his head rested his eagle helmet, and in his hand he carried his wonderful spear Gungnir. On his right rode Thor the thunderer and war god, and on his left his beloved Balder, the god of beauty and light.

Frigga, the queen of the gods, rode behind Odin in a chariot of shells, surrounded by her maidens and the other goddesses. It was a wonderful procession, and it was a long journey on which they had set.

Eleven months they traveled westward, over mountain and valley, over forest and fen, until at last they came to a great sea. Here they encamped, but were disturbed by mysterious whisperings. At last a hurricane broke upon them, and Odin knew that the whisperings had come from the spirits of the winds. The storm blew down. several of the tents and did great mischief to the possessions of the gods. But Odin was undisturbed.

"Cease your wild pranks, O Vanir," he said, stretching forth his mighty arms to the tempestuous elements. "In

what wise have we offended you that you treat us so harshly?"

Suddenly the winds died down, and Niord, the chief of the Vanir or wind spirits, spoke unto Odin.

"We have heard, O mighty Odin, how you overthrew the giants, and we know that you are truly the great gods. We hoped therefore to stir your wrath, and thus to battle with you. But since you will not have it so, we would be friends, and work your will upon the earth."

"Then tell us, gentle Niord," said Odin, "for thou travelest the whole earth; what has become of that one giant who escaped the battle and fled?"

"Yonder to the far north, beyond this sea, he lives," said Niord; "and there he builds his castles and rears his offspring, who are a worse brood than those that ye have slain. He calls his realm Jotunheim."

"This is ill news," said Frigga, "for this hideous race will come again and lay waste the earth, and man will perish."

"To prevent that," answered Odin, "we will build here a great city, and it shall stand between the earth and Jotunheim, and no giant shall be able to pass over our ramparts. So man and his children will be safe. And they shall increase and cultivate the earth, and it shall prosper.'

A great shout went up from all the gods, so that the mountains trembled, and the sound of it was heard even in Jotunheim, and the giants trembled. On earth men

said that it had thundered.