on load of house plenishings with which the rich
bridegroom was to make such a stir in the little town where the bride
lived. As they parted, father Peter's last commands to Friedlin were to
guard well their secret, and not even to tell it to Lucia till she was
his wife.

Master Peter long enjoyed the profits of his journey to the mountain,
and no rumour of it ever got abroad. In his old age his prosperity was
so great that he himself did not know how rich he was; but it was always
supposed that the money was Friedlin's. He and his beloved wife lived in
the greatest happiness and peace, and rose to great honour in the town.
And to this day, when the citizens wish to describe a wealthy man, they
say: 'As rich as Peter Bloch's son-in-law!'

The Cottager And His Cat

Once upon a time there lived an old man and his wife in a dirty,
tumble-down cottage, not very far from the splendid palace where the
king and queen dwelt. In spite of the wretched state of the hut, which
many people declared was too bad even for a pig to live in, the old man
was very rich, for he was a great miser, and lucky besides, and would
often go without food all day sooner than change one of his beloved gold
pieces.

But after a while he found that he had starved himself once too often.
He fell ill, and had no strength to get well again, and in a few days he
died, leaving his wife and one son behind him.

The night following his death, the son dreamed that an unknown man
appeared to him and said: 'Listen to me; your father is dead and your
mother will soon die, and all their riches will belong to you. Half of
his wealth is ill-gotten, and this you must give back to the poor from
whom he squeezed it. The other half you must throw into the sea. Watch,
however, as the money sinks into the water, and if anything should swim,
catch it and keep it, even if it is nothing more than a bit of paper.'

Then the man vanished, and the youth awoke.

The remembrance of his dream troubled him greatly. He did not want to
part with the riches that his father had left him, for he had known all
his life what it was to be cold and hungry, and now he had hoped for a
little comfort and pleasure. Still, he was honest and good-hearted, and
if his father had come wrongfully by his wealth he felt he could never
enjoy it, and at last he made up his mind to do as he had been bidden.
He found out who were the people who were poorest in the village, and
spent half of h