snatched him up and flew away with him swifter than the wind. On and on
he flew until he had come to the farthest part of the desert, and
there sat the king and Jacob Stuck still thinking about things. Down he
dropped the prime-minister, up he picked the king and Jacob Stuck,
and away he flew swifter than the wind. On and on he flew until he had
brought the two back to the palace again; and there sat the princess
waiting for them, with the piece of blue crystal in her hand.

"You have saved us!" cried the king.

"You have saved us!" cried Jacob Stuck. "Yes, you have saved us, and you
have my piece of good luck into the bargain. Give it to me again."

"I will do nothing of the sort," said the princess. "If the men folk
think no more of a piece of good luck than to hand it round like a bit
of broken glass, it is better for the women folk to keep it for them."

And there, to my mind, she brewed good common-sense, that needed no
skimming to make it fit for Jacob Stuck, or for any other man, for the
matter of that.

And now for the end of this story. Jacob Stuck lived with his princess
in his fine palace as grand as a king, and when the old king died he
became the king after him.

One day there came two men travelling along, and they were footsore and
weary. They stopped at Jacob Stuck's palace and asked for something to
eat. Jacob Stuck did not know them at first, and then he did. One was
Joseph and the other was John.

This is what had happened to them:

Joseph had sat and sat where John and Jacob Stuck had left him on his
box of silver money, until a band of thieves had come along and robbed
him of it all. John had carried away his pockets and his hat full of
gold, and had lived like a prince as long as it had lasted. Then he had
gone back for more, but in the meantime some rogue had come along and
had stolen it all. Yes; that was what had happened, and now they were as
poor as ever.

Jacob Stuck welcomed them and brought them in and made much of them.

Well, the truth is truth, and this is it: It is better to have a little
bit of good luck to help one in what one undertakes than to have a chest
of silver or a chest of gold.

"And now for your story, holy knight," said Fortunatus to St. George
"for twas your turn, only for this fair lady who came in before you."

"Aye, aye," said the saint; "I suppose it was, in sooth, my turn.
Ne'th'less, it gives me joy to follow so close so fair and lovely a
lady." And