"The red ash is very much like the white, but the wood is less valuable.
It is a spreading, broad-headed tree, and the trunk is erect and
branching. It is not so tall as the black ash, yet its trunk is three
times as thick.
"A species of ash grows in Sicily that yields a substance called _manna_
which used to be valuable as a medicine, and this manna is obtained in
the same way as maple-sap--by making holes or incisions in the bark of
the tree. At the proper season the persons whose business it is to
collect manna begin to make incisions, one after the other, up the stem.
The manna flows out like clear water, but it soon congeals and becomes
a solid substance. It has a sweet taste, and while in a liquid state
runs into a leaf of the tree that has been inserted in the wound.
Afterward it flows into a vessel placed below, from which it is carried
away and shipped off to other countries."
"Is there any story about the ash?" asked Malcolm.
"Not much of a story, dear," was the reply--"only a little legend of the
manna trees; but, such as it is, you shall have it:
"The king of Naples, it is said, fenced a number of trees round and
forbade any to collect the store they yielded unless they paid a
tribute. By this means the royal revenue would be largely increased.
But, according to the story, the manna trees, as if they disapproved of
this ungenerous arrangement, refused to yield any manna, and suddenly
became bare and barren. Upon this the king, finding his scheme a
failure, revoked the tax and took away the fence.
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