you brought--more gold?"

"Yes," replied Vanslyperken, laying down the one hundred and fifty
guineas which he had received.

"Bless thee, my son--bless thee!" said the old woman, laying her palsied
hand upon Vanslyperken's head. "It is not often I bless--I never did
bless, as I can recollect--I like cursing better. My blessing must be
worth something, if it's only for its scarcity; and do you know why I
bless thee, my Cornelius? Because--ha, ha, ha! because you are a
murderer and a traitor, and you love gold."

Even Vanslyperken shuddered at the hag's address.

"What do you ever gain by doing good in this world? Nothing but
laughter and contempt. I began the world like a fool, but I shall go
out of it like a wise woman, hating, despising everything but gold. And
I have had my revenge in my time--yes--yes--the world, my son, is
divided into only two parts, those who cheat, and those who are
cheated--those who master, and those who are mastered--those who are
shackled by superstitions and priests, and those who, like me, fear
neither God nor devil. We must all die; yes, but I shan't die yet, no,
no."

And Vanslyperken almost wished that he could gain the unbelief of the
decrepit woman whom he called mother, and who, on the verge of eternity,
held fast to such a creed.

"Well, mother, perhaps it may be you are right--I never gained anything
by a good action yet."

_Query_. Had he ever done a good action?

"You're my own child, I see, after all; you have my blessing, Cornelius,
my son--go and prosper. Get gold--get gold," replied the old hag,
taking up the money, and locking it up in the oak chest.

Vanslyperken then narrated to his mother the unexpected interview with
Smallbones, and his surmise that the lad was supernaturally gifted.
"Ah, well," replied she, "those who are born to be hung will die by no
other death; but still it does not follow that they will not die. You
shall have your revenge, my child. The lad shall die. Try again;
water, you say, rejects him? Fire will not harm him. There is that
which is of the earth and of the air left. Try again, my son; revenge
is sweet--next to gold."

After two hours' conversation, it grew dark, and Vanslyperken departed,
revolving in his mind, as he walked away, the sublime principles of
religion and piety, in the excellent advice given by his aged mother.
"I wish I could only think as she does," muttered Vanslyperken at last;
and as he concluded t