THE SEAL. 157 



close to the sea-shore, obtained a young seal for the amuse- 

 ment of his children, who soon became exceedingly fond 

 of it. Some time after, the farmer, having had a bad year 

 for his crops, was told by an old woman in the village that 

 he would never prosper as long as he kept that seal on his 

 ground. The foolish man giving heed to the superstition sent 

 away the seal in a boat some distance from land. Towards 

 evening, as the children were sitting on the sea-shore, what 

 was their joy on beholding their seal rising out of the water, 

 and meiking its way straight back to them again. For some 

 months they were allowed to retain their pet; but as the 

 farmer's prospects did not brighten, he again determined to 

 get rid of it, and for that purpose, hearing of a ship that 

 was soon to sail for the Baltic, took the little seal, and gave 

 it in charge to some sailors, begging them to keep it in the 

 hold of the ship till they arrived at their destination, and 

 then to throw it into the sea. This was accordingly done, 

 but the faithful seal was not to be daunted; ere long, it 

 reappeared, to the great delight of the children, who begged 

 their father never to send it away again. The farmer gave 

 a doubtful assent, for a suspicion still lurked in his mind, 

 owing to the superstitious words of the old woman, that the 

 presence of the seal had an evil effect upon his crops ; and 

 with these ideas preying upon his mind, the farmer conceived 

 the cruel thought of putting out the seal's eyes with a view 

 of preventing it from finding its way back, and again sending 

 it away to sea. Unknown to his children, he carried this 

 barbarous plan into execution ; and they only discovered the 

 loss of their favourite too late to aid in its recall, as the ship 

 in which it had been placed had already sailed for Norway. 

 Some days after the departure of the vessel, a fearful stonn 

 arose. The farmer and his family were glad enough to close 

 up their shutters, and shut out as much as possible the 

 wailings of the wind, as it swept in furious gusts round the 

 house. They had scarcely retired to rest, when a faint and 



Digitized by Microsoft® 



