The Bee-Man of Orn | Page 7

a pleasant one to look at. It had a large head, with
enormous open mouth and savage teeth; from its back arose great
wings, armed with sharp hooks and prongs; it had stout legs in front,
with projecting claws; but there were no legs behind,--the body running
out into a long and powerful tail, finished off at the end with a barbed
point. This tail was coiled up under him, the end sticking up just back
of his wings.
The sculptor, or the people who had ordered this stone figure, had
evidently been very much pleased with it, for little copies of it, also in
stone, had been placed here and there along the sides of the church, not
very far from the ground, so that people could easily look at them, and
ponder on their curious forms. There were a great many other
sculptures on the outside of this church,--saints, martyrs, grotesque
heads of men, beasts, and birds, as well as those of other creatures
which cannot be named, because nobody knows exactly what they were;
but none were so curious and interesting as the great griffin over the
door, and the little griffins on the sides of the church.
A long, long distance from the town, in the midst of dreadful wilds
scarcely known to man, there dwelt the Griffin whose image had been
put up over the church-door. In some way or other, the old-time
sculptor had seen him, and afterward, to the best of his memory, had
copied his figure in stone. The Griffin had never known this, until,
hundreds of years afterward, he heard from a bird, from a wild animal,
or in some manner which it is not now easy to find out, that there was a
likeness of him on the old church in the distant town. Now, this Griffin
had no idea how he looked. He had never seen a mirror, and the
streams where he lived were so turbulent and violent that a quiet piece

of water, which would reflect the image of any thing looking into it,
could not be found. Being, as far as could be ascertained, the very last
of his race, he had never seen another griffin. Therefore it was, that,
when he heard of this stone image of himself, he became very anxious
to know what he looked like, and at last he determined to go to the old
church, and see for himself what manner of being he was. So he started
off from the dreadful wilds, and flew on and on until he came to the
countries inhabited by men, where his appearance in the air created
great consternation; but he alighted nowhere, keeping up a steady flight
until he reached the suburbs of the town which had his image on its
church. Here, late in the afternoon, he alighted in a green meadow by
the side of a brook, and stretched himself on the grass to rest. His great
wings were tired, for he had not made such a long flight in a century, or
more.
The news of his coming spread quickly over the town, and the people,
frightened nearly out of their wits by the arrival of so extraordinary a
visitor, fled into their houses, and shut themselves up. The Griffin
called loudly for some one to come to him, but the more he called, the
more afraid the people were to show themselves. At length he saw two
laborers hurrying to their homes through the fields, and in a terrible
voice he commanded them to stop. Not daring to disobey, the men
stood, trembling.
"What is the matter with you all?" cried the Griffin. "Is there not a man
in your town who is brave enough to speak to me?"
"I think," said one of the laborers, his voice shaking so that his words
could hardly be understood, "that--perhaps--the Minor Canon--would
come."
"Go, call him, then!" said the Griffin; "I want to see him."
The Minor Canon, who filled a subordinate position in the old church,
had just finished the afternoon services, and was coming out of a side
door, with three aged women who had formed the week-day
congregation. He was a young man of a kind disposition, and very
anxious to do good to the people of the town. Apart from his duties in

the church, where he conducted services every week-day, he visited the
sick and the poor, counselled and assisted persons who were in trouble,
and taught a school composed entirely of the bad children in the town
with whom nobody else would have any thing to do. Whenever the
people wanted something difficult done for them, they always went to
the Minor Canon. Thus it was that the laborer thought of the young
priest when he found