''XXT*'^*'lis tnenty years ince vv*n Winlcle--,'T't '\u25a0 lefthere. He went *way from home with

his gun. and has never bejen heard of since.His dog came home without him, but whether he shothimself or wajcarried away by the Indians, no one cantell. His wifehas been dead these tea years back. Why,

.oldman, youmust be dreaming.'*'

**No,lamnot dreaming,*! said Rip. **Iwas youngRip Van Winkle once. ;Nowlam oldRip Van Winkle.;Dow nobody know me r*

-Just at this moment a woman, tottering out among

them,' put her hand to her brow, and, peering into his

"Sure enough, itis RipV«nWinklehimself. Why,where have you been these twenty years f*-

; RipVstory was soon told. He had slept on the

To this day, when the people in the Catskill moun-tains hear thunder, they say; itis Httle mouaUin meaj

Paying ninepins. •" •'

IVyTV DOG has forgotten me," thought Rip. s

He went up to the house, but it wa>

empty. He called ialoiid for his wife andchildren, but all was silence. He then, with fear in his >

heart, turned his poor,' totteiing steps to the village

street again. :?%MsmHe hadijust strength" enough I%ft to get to the old

tavern, and here some men, hearing the noise of the chil-

dren whu followed him;.came out to see what was the

matter. To their surprise, they saw}a' ragged old man, v

with a long, white beard, carrying a rusty old gun inhis

"^Tio are you, and whence came yoiji?" they asked '

liirr \u25a0-.'.;. . , -;;^^^»

-"IamRip Van Winkle,"he said.

.-. At.lhis thej' alllaughed, and onejnan saW?

:'- '• ;• \u25a0 --"v • 6: t

\u25a0 .\u25a0--., \u25a0 .. . •\u25a0

TT-E*FELT very hungry, \ too, and weak, and,

, though he dreaded to meet his wife, he felthe

must go" on or starve among, the •mountains.

When he reached the- village, he saw many people, but

none he had ever seen before. iThey all stared at him

withsurprise, and th?children pointed at his long, white

beard. ; • *

Everything seemed strange," and, strangest ol all,

, he appeared like an oldman. ,

Poor Rip was very much womebYand said to him*-self,

"That drink last night has addled mypoor head."

\u25a0 \ \u25a0

' " ' . - 'f

'

With difficulty,he found his way tohis own house, \X . --.'.\u25a0' -',

(expecting every, moment to hear the voice of his scolding;avife. » But no, allwas quiet.

-\u25a0

-/

A poor, half-starved dog lay,by the house. It

'looked like Wolf, and Rip called him bv-na'me, but he;

(only showed his teeth and passed by..

W'

:'si.i>'

HEN Rip awoke, the sun was shining bright.

He rubbed his eyes and said to himself. "I

must have slept allnight." Slowly the mem-oryof the strange littlemen and the winekeg came back

"Oh! mat trine! That wicked wineP cried Rip.**What shallIsay to my wife?**

He looked around for his gun, but there inits place

"was an old one, allrusty and falling apart. *He tlibughtthat the queer little men had stolen his good gun\ and,

. ts * joke, bad put the old one in its place:'Wolf, too,

had gone. He whistled for Wolfand shouted his name,

but stillhe did not come. He rose to walk, but "Oh!

oh!"liecried, withpain inhis limbs. "This sleeping out

of doors does not agree withme. Iseem tobe old."

He was so stifF that he could hardly get-th rough the

/\u25a0""VNEof thcrnvwho seemed to.be the commander,

was old and fat He was dressed in green, and

he wore a high-crowned hat,'red stockings and

black shoes, withrosettes on them*

As Rip and his companioncame upon them, they

all stopped playingiand* stared -at<Rip. His "knees

knocked togetherlwith? fright. They;ran to-Rip, took

the keg, and all began to'drfnk in turn' from it..-They

then offered ittoRip, who,'infear and trembling, took a

drink. Allthis time not a word.was spoken*.

Byand by,Ripgrew bolder and took another," and

stillanother, drink from thekeg, forhe found it the very

best thing he had ever.tasted. But soon- bis eyes began

toswim and hishead fellforward indeep sleep

T™^ IP saw down in the glen a strange little figure,

slowlytoilingup the rocks. \u25a0 The figure was that

of a strange littleman, with thick, bushy hairn

and grizzled beard. <Ashe'eame nearer, Rip saw that he

carried on his shoulder a keg. When he saw Rip, he

asked him to help him with his load. JRip, always will-

ing tohelpany one. took thekeg and followed lifequeer''

littlefigure up a narrow gully*

During all their longclimb,Rip and His companion

spoke not a word. Atlast they reached the top of the

mountains, and there, on a level spot, were a number of ;,•

these odd-looking men playing ninepins. No two were

Pressed alike,but every one had a knife inhis belt.*dhe

had a long head, witha broad face, and small, piggish '7;

eyes. Another seemed to be all nose, and wore a big,'

.white hat, withalong, red cock's tailcoming out of it.

H WOULDoften say to Wolf:

S "Poor old man, Mrs. Van Winkle"leads yon

truly,a dog's life at home ;but never mind, I

wulalways stand by you."

Wolf would wag his tail and look into his master'sface as ifhe understood.

Orie day Rip took his gun md started off withWolfinto the mountains. He thought ifhe shot some squir-

rels and took them home to his wife they would put her

in a good humor. After walking a long way, he lay

down to rest, and while he lay musing he heard afar offVoices calling, "RipVan Winkle1 Rip Van Winkle!"

He sat up and looked around, but seeing nethingv

he thought he was dreamuig. He had hardly startedhomeward when he heard again:

"Rip Van Winkle! Rip Van *WinkleP Wolf

wrinkled up his back, srrowled and skulked uu to his*master. } .. .

TiftANYyears ago, ina small village in the Catskill >• *

mountains, there lived a simple, good-natured

fellow,named Rip Van Winkle. Allthe chil-

dren of the village loved Rip, and nothing pleased himv \u25a0

more than to flykitesand shoot marbles withthem. Rip

loved to fish and hunt, too..He would tramp miles

through the woods withagun onhis shoulder. But while

Rip spent his days in this way, the fences on his farm

were all falling down, his place was going to rack and

ruinand hischildren were dressed inrags.

He was happy. In fact, he would rather starve

than work. his wifetold him how idle and care-

less he was, Rip shrugged his shoulders, shook his head,

cast up his eyes and said nothing.

Riphad a dog, called Wolf, whomhe loved dearly,

but Mrs.Van Winkledisliked Wolf, for she said lie was

lazy and good fornothing, too.

THE:,SAN FRANCISCO SUNDAY CALL