ge chest which stands
in the corner, and you will see the evil one crouching down inside;
but you must hold the lid firmly, that he may not slip out."

"Will you come and help me hold it?" said the farmer, going
towards the chest in which his wife had hidden the sexton, who now lay
inside, very much frightened. The farmer opened the lid a very
little way, and peeped in.

"Oh," cried he, springing backwards, "I saw him, and he is exactly
like our sexton. How dreadful it is!" So after that he was obliged
to drink again, and they sat and drank till far into the night.

"You must sell your conjuror to me," said the farmer; "ask as much
as you like, I will pay it; indeed I would give you directly a whole
bushel of gold."

"No, indeed, I cannot," said Little Claus; "only think how much
profit I could make out of this conjuror."

"But I should like to have him," said the fanner, still continuing
his entreaties.

"Well," said Little Claus at length, "you have been so good as
to give me a night's lodging, I will not refuse you; you shall have
the conjuror for a bushel of money, but I will have quite full
measure."

"So you shall," said the farmer; "but you must take away the chest
as well. I would not have it in the house another hour; there is no
knowing if he may not be still there."

So Little Claus gave the farmer the sack containing the dried
horse's skin, and received in exchange a bushel of money--full
measure. The farmer also gave him a wheelbarrow on which to carry away
the chest and the gold.

"Farewell," said Little Claus, as he went off with his money and
the great chest, in which the sexton lay still concealed. On one
side of the forest was a broad, deep river, the water flowed so
rapidly that very few were able to swim against the stream. A new
bridge had lately been built across it, and in the middle of this
bridge Little Claus stopped, and said, loud enough to be heard by
the sexton, "Now what shall I do with this stupid chest; it is as
heavy as if it were full of stones: I shall be tired if I roll it
any farther, so I may as well throw it in the river; if it swims after
me to my house, well and good, and if not, it will not much matter."

So he seized the chest in his hand and lifted it up a little, as
if he were going to throw it into the water.

"No, leave it alone," cried the sexton from within the chest; "let
me out first."

"Oh," exclaimed Little Claus, pretending to be frightened, "he
is