howling of dogs, sounded through the open
windows. All were feasting and carousing. Wine and strong ale foamed in
the jugs and glasses; even the dogs ate and drank with their masters.
The peddler was sent for, but only to make fun for them. The wine had
mounted to their heads, and the sense had flown out. They poured wine
into a stocking for him to drink with them--quickly, of course--and this
was considered a rare jest and occasioned fresh bursts of laughter. At
cards, whole farms, with their stock of peasants and cattle, were staked
on a card and lost.

"Everything in its right place," said the peddler, when he at last
escaped from what he called the Sodom and Gomorrah up there. "The open
highroad is my right place; that house did not suit me at all." As he
stepped along, he saw the little maiden keeping watch over the geese,
and she nodded to him in a friendly way.

Days and weeks passed, and it soon became evident that the willow branch
which had been stuck in the ground by the peddler, near to the castle
moat, had taken root, for it remained fresh and green and put forth new
twigs.

The little girl saw that the branch must have taken root, and she was
quite joyful about it. "This tree," she said, "must be my tree now."

The tree certainly flourished, but at the castle, what with feasting and
gambling, everything went to ruin; for these two things are like
rollers, upon which no man can possibly stand securely. Six years had
not passed away before the noble baron wandered out of the castle gate a
poor man, and the mansion was bought by a rich dealer. This dealer was
no other than the man of whom he had made fun and for whom he had poured
wine into a stocking to drink. But honesty and industry are like
favorable winds to a ship, and they had brought the peddler to be master
of the baron's estates. From that hour no more card playing was
permitted there.

The new proprietor took to himself a wife, and who should it be but the
little goose-watcher, who had always remained faithful and good, and who
looked as beautiful and fine in her new clothes as if she had been a
highly born lady. It would be too long a story in these busy times to
explain how all this came about, but it really did happen, and the most
important part is to come.

It was pleasant to live in the old court now. The mistress herself
managed the housekeeping within, and the master superintended the
estate. Their home overflowed with blessings, fo