gold vanish in a dense
alder copse.

But very little good did that do him, when he could not fix the vision,
talk with it face to face, and extort the fulfilment of the three
regulation wishes.

"I am probably not good enough," thought Nils. "I know I am a selfish
fellow, and cruel, too, some-times, to birds and beasts. I suppose she
won't have anything to do with me, as long as she isn't satisfied with
my behavior."

Then he tried hard to be kind and considerate; smiled at his little
sister when she pulled his hair, patted Sultan, the dog, instead of
kicking him, when he was in his way, and never complained or sulked when
he was sent on errands late at night or in bad weather.

But, strange to say, though the Nixy's mysterious melody still sounded
vaguely through the water's roar, and the Hulder seemed to titter behind
the tree-trunks and vanish in the underbrush, a real, unmistakable view
was never vouchsafed to Nils, and the three wishes which were to make
his fortune he had no chance of propounding.

He had fully made up his mind what his wishes were to be, for he was
determined not to be taken by surprise. He knew well the fate of
those foolish persons in the fairy tales who offend their benevolent
protectors by bouncing against them head foremost, as it were, with a
greedy cry for wealth.

Nils was not going to be caught that way. He would ask first for
wisdom--that was what all right-minded heroes did--then for good repute
among men, and lastly--and here was the rub--lastly he was inclined to
ask for a five-bladed knife, like the one the parson's Thorwald had got
for a Christmas present.

But he had considerable misgiving about the expediency of this last
wish. If he had a fair renown and wisdom, might he not be able to get
along without a five-bladed pocket-knife? But no; there was no help for
it. Without that five-bladed pocket-knife neither wisdom nor fame would
satisfy him. It would be the drop of gall in his cup of joy.

After many days' pondering, it occurred to him, as a way out of the
difficulty, that it would, perhaps, not offend the Hulder if he asked,
not for wealth, but for a moderate prosperity. If he were blessed with a
moderate prosperity, he could, of course, buy a five-bladed pocket-knife
with corkscrew and all other appurtenances, and still have something
left over.

He had a dreadful struggle with this question, for he was well aware
that the proper things to wish were long life an