A girl, beautiful but heartless and ambitious, was the daughter of a poor miner and was devotedly loved by a man in her own station of life. She accepted his attentions willingly until a young engineer came along and paid court to her. She then dismissed her first suitor. Her father made a lucky strike, and they moved to the city to enjoy their wealth. This sealed the fate of the second suitor for a rich man became smitten with the girl and she accepted his advances. Perhaps she would have married him in time had it not been that she aroused the enmity of an old witch, deeply skilled in magic. The witch, to have revenge, brought a scarecrow to life, supplied him with a title and seeming great wealth, and ordered him to win the girl for his bride. He did this easily, for the idea of being a noblewoman appealed to the heartless girl. Her triumph was complete until the wedding day, when the witch appeared just as the ceremony was completed. She jeered at her victim, then transformed the "nobleman" back into a scarecrow again, so the girl was stricken down in what she had believed to be her hour of success. The story is allegorical.
