"'I say,' cried he, without even stopping to give Stepka the greeting
of the day, 'where did you get this fine legacy from? It makes one's
eyes blink to look at it!'
"Now, Stepka was a good-hearted fellow, as I've said, and he never
thought of remembering how badly this very man had treated him an hour
or two before, but just told him the whole story right out, exactly as
I tell it you now. The other hardly waited to hear the end of it, but
set off full speed to find these wonderful charcoal-burners and try if
_he_ couldn't get some gold out of them, too. And, as there had been
more than a few listeners at the door while the tale was being told, it
ended with the whole village running like mad in the same direction.
"When they got to the burners' camp, the charcoal men looked at them
rather queerly, as well they might, to see such a procession come to
ask for a light all at once. However, they said nothing, but signed to
them to lay their coats on the ground, and served out two shovelfuls of
burning wood to each; and away went the roguish villagers, chuckling at
the thought of getting rich so easily, and thinking what they would do
with their money.
"But they had hardly gone a quarter of the way home, when the foremost
suddenly gave a terrible howl and let fall his load; and in another
moment all the rest joined in, till there was a chorus that you might
have heard a mile off.
Pages:
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121