wind may war, nor how they may be 

 tossed about, scarcely a breeze will be 

 felt below ; and the snow may fall and 

 lie heavily upon them and none be on 

 the ground beneath." 



Again he paused. The sun was set- 

 ting in the far-off west; the birds were 

 flying homewards; a gentle, calm peace 

 was upon the air. The maiden roused 

 herself from her reverie and lovingly 

 stroked the trunk of the White Pine. 

 Still there was silence. A gust of wind 

 shook the tree and it seemed to rouse 

 from sleep. 



"I recall another old legend which I 

 think will please you. When this coun- 

 try was young and coins were scarce, 

 the people were often forced to barter 

 their commodities instead of selling them. 

 The Indians had a sort of money called 

 wampum, which was made of clam 

 shells ; and this strange sort of specie 

 was likewise taken in payment of debt 

 by the English settlers. Bank bills had 

 never been heard of. 



"As people grew more numerous and 

 their trade with one another increased, 

 the want of current money was felt. To 

 supply the demand, the general court 

 passed a law for establishing a coinage 

 for shillings, sixpences and threepences. 

 Captain Hull, of Massachusetts, was ap- 

 pointed to manufacture this money, and 

 was to have one shilling out of every 

 twenty to pay him for his trouble. As a 

 result there was an immense amount of 

 splendid new sixpences, shillings and 

 threepences. Each had the date 1652 on 

 one side and the figure of a pine-tree on 

 the other and were called pine-tree shill- 

 ings. 



'The magistrates soon began to feel 

 that the mint-master was having the best 

 of the bargain. They offered him a large 

 sum of money if he would give up that 

 twentieth shilling; but he declared that 

 he was perfectly satisfied, and well he 

 might be, for in a few years his pockets, 

 his money-bag and his strong-box were 

 overflowing with pine-tree shillings. This 

 was the case when he came into posses- 

 sion of his grandfather's arm chair, in 

 which he used to sit and rest himself. 



''Now it chanced that this mint-master 

 had an only daughter, a fine, hearty dam- 

 sel, and a young man named Samuel 

 Sewell came courting her. This young 

 man being of a good character, indus- 

 trious in business, and a member of the 

 Church, the mint-master very readily con- 

 sented to the match. Especially was he 

 pleased as the young man had said noth- 

 ing at all about the daughter's portion. 



"The wedding day arrived and honest 

 John Hull arrayed himself in a plain 

 coat, with buttons of pine-tree shillings, 

 his waistcoat buttons were of sixpences, 

 and the knees of his small-clothes were 

 buttoned with silver threepences. When 

 the marriage ceremony was over, the 

 mint-master whispered to two of his men- 

 servants, who immediately went out, and 

 soon entered with a large pair of scales. 

 The mint-master told his daughter to go 

 into one side of the scales, which she did 

 wonderingly, but without a question. 

 Then the servants were bidden to bring 

 a huge, square, iron-bound oaken chest, 

 which, with great difficulty, they man- 

 aged to drag over the floor. The mint- 

 master took a key from his girdle and 

 unlocked the chest ; the ponderous lid 

 was lifted, disclosing it filled to the brim 

 with bright, new pine-tree shillings — his 

 honest portion. 



"The servants, as bidden, heaped hand- 

 ful after handful of shining silver coins 

 into the other side of the scales, until, 

 plump as his daughter was, she was 

 lifted from the floor. 'There, son Sew- 

 ell,' said the mint-master, as he seated 

 himself in his grandfather's chair, 'Take 

 this money for my daughter's portion. 

 Use her kindly, -and thank Heaven for 

 her, as it is not every wife who is worth 

 her weight in silver.' " 



"Now," said the Pine Tree, "My old 

 friend the Oak, has been quivering in 

 every leaf, and pelting me with acorns, 

 since I mentioned him in connection with 

 the strong box. He no doubt thinks he 

 has a share in this legend, and so he has ; 

 his is a great family, too, and perhaps 

 if you come again and bring the 'ears of 

 imagination' with you, he will tell you 

 his family history." 



Evelyn Singer. ^ 1 



