ng the road a little old man, who was carrying
a great heavy sack, and she could hear him panting from a long way off.
Dame Elspeth regarded him sympathetically, thinking the while that such
a little old man should not have to carry so heavy a burden.

Meanwhile the little man, panting and staggering, drew near, and as he
passed Elspeth, he nearly broke down under the weight of the sack. "Ah,
have mercy, good lady, and give me a drink of water!" said the little
man; "I can go no further, and feel ready to perish."

"But at your age you ought not to carry such a heavy load," said
Elspeth.

[Illustration: Oh, have mercy, good lady and give a drink of water.]

"But I must run errands; I am so poor, and I have to earn my living
somehow," he replied. "Surely so rich a lady as yourself can never know
how hard it is to be poor, and how welcome would be a fresh drink on
such a hot day."

Hearing this, she hurried indoors, took down a jug and filled it with
water; but as she was returning, and was only a few paces away from
him, she noticed how wretched and miserable the little man looked, and
how he had sunk in exhaustion on his sack. This filled her with pity
for him, and, the thought occurring to her that her husband was not at
home, she put down the jug of water, took a goblet and filled it with
wine, and carried it, with a loaf of good rye-bread, out to the old
man. "There!" she said, "as you are so very old a draught of wine will
do you much more good than water. But don't drink it so quickly, and
eat a little of the bread with it."

The little man looked at her in astonishment, then great tears gathered
in his eyes, and he spoke: "I am very old, but I have seen few people
who were so compassionate and who have known so well how to dispense
charity as you, Dame Elspeth. And therefore it will go well with you on
this earth, such a heart as yours shall not lack its reward."

"Nay, and her reward she shall have on this very spot," cried a
terrible voice. Both turned, and there stood Peter, his face crimson
with rage.

"Not only do you offer my best wine to beggars, but you bring it out in
my own goblet so that it may be contaminated by the lips of vagabonds!
There--take your reward!" Elspeth fell at his feet, imploring pardon;
but the stony heart knew no mercy; he swung the whip which he held in
his hand, and with the ebony handle of it struck the beautiful forehead
uplifted to him. Elspeth sank lifeless into the old