nly
waited till he was out of sight of the cave before he stooped down and
whispered: 'Little basket, little basket, do your duty.'

Now the basket had a lid, so that he could not see what was inside, but
he heard quite clearly strange noises, as if a sort of scuffling was
going on. Then the lid burst open, and a quantity of delicious little
white rolls came tumbling out one after the other, followed by a stream
of small fishes all ready cooked. What a quantity there were to be sure!
The whole road was covered with them, and the banks on each side were
beginning to disappear. Father Grumbler felt quite frightened at the
torrent, but at last he remembered what the Holy Man had told him,
and cried at the top of his voice: 'Enough! enough! That will do for
to-day!' And the lid of the basket closed with a snap.

Father Grumbler sighed with relief and happiness as he looked around
him, and sitting down on a heap of stones, he ate till he could eat no
more. Trout, salmon, turbot, soles, and a hundred other fishes whose
names he did not know, lay boiled, fried, and grilled within reach of
his hands. As the Holy Man had said, he had never eaten such a dinner;
still, when he had done, he shook his head, and grumbled; 'Yes, there is
plenty to eat, of course, but it only makes me thirsty, and there is not
a drop to drink anywhere.'

Yet, somehow, he could never tell why, he looked up and saw the tavern
in front of him, which he thought was miles, and miles, and miles away.

'Bring the best wine you have got, and two glasses, good mother,' he
said as he entered, 'and if you are fond of fish there is enough here to
feed the house. Only there is no need to chatter about it all over
the place. You understand? Eh?' And without waiting for an answer he
whispered to the basket: 'Little basket, little basket, do your duty.'
The innkeeper and his wife thought that their customer had gone suddenly
mad, and watched him closely, ready to spring on him if he became
violent; but both instinctively jumped backwards, nearly into the fire,
as rolls and fishes of every kind came tumbling out of the basket,
covering the tables and chairs and the floor, and even overflowing into
the street.

'Be quick, be quick, and pick them up,' cried the man. 'And if these are
not enough, there are plenty more to be had for the asking.'

The innkeeper and his wife did not need telling twice. Down they went on
their knees and gathered up everything they could