, and the others were content to do as he
advised--some because they had a desire to see Holland, and others on
account of the money they would pocket. Only one of the men was honest,
and tried to dissuade his companions from exposing their master's
property to further risks, or to cheat him out of the higher price they
might receive; but they would not listen to him, and forgot his words.
Dutch Michel, however, did not forget them. They continued on down the
Rhine, and Michel conducted the raft and soon brought it to Rotterdam.
There they were offered four times the former price, and the enormous
logs that Michel had brought sold for a large sum. When these raftsmen
found themselves the possessors of so much money, they could hardly
contain themselves for joy. Michel made the division, one part for the
timber merchant and the three others among the men. And now they
frequented the taverns with sailors and other low associates, gambled
and threw away their money; but the brave man who had advised against
their going to Holland was sold to a slave-dealer by Dutch Michel, and
was never again heard of. From that time forth Holland was the paradise
of the raftsmen of the Black Forest, and Dutch Michel was their king.
The timber merchants did not learn of the swindle practiced on them for
some time; and money, oaths, bad manners, drunkenness and gambling were
gradually imported from Holland unnoticed.

"When the story of these doings came out, Dutch Michel was nowhere to
be found. But he is not by any means dead. For a hundred years he has
carried on his ghostly deeds in the forest, and it is said that he has
been the means of enriching many; but at the cost of their souls. How
that may be, I will not say; but this much is certain: that on these
stormy nights he picks out the finest trees in the Tannenbuehl, where
none dare to chop, and my father once saw him break off a tree four
feet thick as easily as if it had been a reed. He makes a present of
these trees to those who will turn from the right and follow him; then
at midnight they bring down these logs to the river, and he goes with
his followers down to Holland. But if I were the King of Holland, I
would have him blown to pieces with grape-shot; for every ship that has
in it any of Dutch Michel's timber, even if it be only a single stick,
must go to the bottom. This is the cause of all the shipwrecks we hear
of; for how else could a fine strong ship, as large as a church