Harper's Young People, December 20, 1881 An Illustrated Weekly

HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE, 4 cents a week; $1.50 per year.

SHAMRUCK; OR, THE CHRISTMAS PANNIERS.

BY FRANK R. STOCKTON.

There was once a gloomy old giant named Shamruck. His castle was on a hill not far from a great city, in which dwelt the King of the country. Everybody knew Shamruck. He was not a dangerous giant, and no one feared him; but it may also be said that he never cared to do any one the slightest service. About Christmas-time Shamruck always seemed more quiet and melancholy than usual, and more anxious to be alone. Nothing could ever induce him to remain in his castle during the holiday-time. He did not wish to see nor hear the happiness and gayety of the people, and always went away a day or two before Christmas, and did not return until all the festivities were over.

At the time of this story, Christmas was drawing near, and the King had been thinking a great deal about Shamruck. It disturbed him that any one in his kingdom, especially the very largest person in it, should not be cheerful and happy at the joyous Christmas-time. He therefore determined to make a grand effort to induce Shamruck to stay at home and join in the general festivities. "If he does it once, he will do it always," said the old King to himself. "He hasn't the least idea how happy we are. I will go and see him myself."

The way up the hill to Shamruck's castle was very steep and rugged, and so the court engineers made a road up to the castle door, and along this road the sixteen royal piebald horses easily drew the royal carriage. The King went in to see Shamruck. He had a long talk with him, but it was of no use. The giant would not consent to remain in the neighborhood during Christmas. He was not even willing to stay long enough for any one to wish him "Merry Christmas." "If I did that," said the grim old fellow, "I wouldn't go away at all."

Quite disappointed, the King came out, and rode back to his palace. But this monarch did not give up his plan. He thought that although he had not succeeded, some other person might; and so he ordered a proclamation to be made that whoever should prevail upon Shamruck to remain at home until some of the citizens wished him "Merry Christmas" should be allowed to give away the Christmas panniers.

The Christmas panniers were two great wicker baskets, filled with valuable presents, and given by the King every Christmas to the most deserving person in his dominions. The panniers were put on the back of a mule, and driven on Christmas morning to the door of the deserving person. The King proposed this year, as the greatest prize he could set before any of his subjects, to forego his delightful privilege of giving away the panniers in favor of that person who should make Shamruck hear, for the first time in his life, a "Merry Christmas."

This proclamation set all the people in a ferment. Everybody wished to gain the prize, and everybody began to devise some plan by which to do it. It was now Monday, and as Christmas came on the following Saturday, there was no time to be lost. All day Tuesday great people and common people thronged to the giant's castle to try to persuade him to change his mind about going away at Christmas-time. Some of these the giant listened to, some he laughed at, and some he told to go home. About noon he put up a placard in front of his castle, and shut the great door. The placard read thus:

"Any person coming up here to disturb me with propositions about Christmas, shall be thrown back to his home, wherever that may be.

"SHAMRUCK."

After this nobody knocked at the giant's door.

About a dozen miles from Shamruck's castle there lived two young giants. They had heard of the King's proclamation. They laughed when they heard of the placard on Shamruck's castle. "He can't throw us anywhere," they said. "We are nearly as powerful as he is. If we want to make him stay at home, all we have to do is to do it. If he attempts to go away, we will just take hold of him, and show him that two giants are better than one."

The next day the two young giants met Shamruck taking a walk by a river-bank not far from his castle. They went up to him and spoke to him very civilly.

"Shamruck," they said, "the King desires that you will stay at home this Christmas, and we have undertaken to carry out his wishes. So you must go back to your castle, and stay there until Saturday morning."

"Suppose I don't do it?" said Shamruck.

"Then we will take you back," said the young giants.

"Very well, then, I don't do it," remarked Shamruck.

Upon this, one of the young giants took hold of Shamruck by the right shoulder, while the other took him by the left, and they endeavored to turn him around. If you have ever tried to twist a lamp-post, you will know how hard it was to turn Shamruck around. The two young giants could not do it. Shamruck let them try for a little while, and then turning suddenly, he took one of them by his belt and the back of his neck and hurled him heels over head into the middle of the river. He then caught the other fellow by his collar. The young giant, very much frightened, seized hold of a small tree, to which he held with all his might and main. Shamruck paid no attention to this, but gave him such a tremendous jerk that the tree came up by the roots, and both it and the giant went splash into the river.

Shamruck then continued his walk, and the two young giants came out of the river, and went home, with their minds firmly made up that they would never again try to make Shamruck do anything he did not wish to.

There was a little shoemaker in the city who thought he had a very good idea. He went boldly up to the castle, and found Shamruck sitting in his front door.

"You needn't throw me back to my home. I have come only to ask you to let me make you a pair of new boots. You will want them if you are going on a journey."

The giant looked at his boots, which were very old and worn. "Yes," he said, "I do want a new pair. How long will it take you to make them?"

"They can be done Friday night," said the shoemaker.

"That won't do," said Shamruck, "for I shall want to wear them at least a day, so as to make them easy before I begin my journey."

"Very well, you shall have them to-morrow night."

At the appointed time the boots were done, and each was carried by four shoemakers up to the giant's castle. Shamruck thought they were very well made boots.

"There is a good deal of iron about the heels," he said.

"Yes," replied the shoemaker; "you won't want them to wear out very soon, if you are going to travel in them."

The giant went into his great hall and put the boots on; and then the shoemaker told him to stand up while he and his assistants buckled the boots around the ankles. While the seven assistants were buckling the boots very tightly, the wily shoemaker went behind the giant, and putting great screws in plates of iron he had set in the heels of the boots, he screwed them firmly to the oaken floor.

When all this was done, the shoemakers retired to some distance, and the giant attempted to take a step.

"What is the matter?--what is the matter?" he roared. "I can not move my feet."

"You needn't try to do it," said the shoemaker, who stood by the open door. "Your heels are screwed fast to the floor, and those buckles are all padlocked. You can't get loose."

"And what do you expect me to do?" shouted Shamruck.

"I intend you to stay there until Saturday morning," said the shoemaker, "when the people can come and wish you a 'Merry Christmas.' Then, if you'll promise not to hurt me, I'll unlock your buckles and unscrew your heels."

"I must stay here, must I?" roared Shamruck. And with that he jerked up his right foot with such force that the great oaken plank to which the heel was screwed came crashing and splintering with it. At this the eight shoemakers dashed out of the front door and ran down the hill. The giant now pulled up the other foot, plank and all. Then he sat down and cut the straps of his boots, and taking them off he unscrewed the heels from the planks.

"With new buckles and straps," he said, "these will be good boots, and if ever I catch that shoemaker, I will pay him for them."

The shoemaker was very much frightened, but he was a stubborn little fellow, and would not easily give up his purpose of winning the Christmas panniers. "There is no use of trying force on that giant," he said, "and everybody knows by this time that he can't be persuaded to do what he don't want to do. There is nothing left but to have him enchanted or bewitched. This very night I will go to see the fairies."

In a wood not very far from the city there lived a colony of fairies. The shoemaker knew the grassy glade, and he went directly to it. He had scarcely reached it when he met a fairy tripping along quietly by herself.

"How now, poor man?" exclaimed the fairy. "What brought you here?"