nant went round rattling their money, and wanted to buy some
food; but they saw no people nor could they find a crumb of anything
in the house, so the soldier offered them some food from his wallet,
which they were not too proud to accept, nor did they want any
pressing. They helped themselves of what he had as if they had never
tasted food before.

The next day the captain said they would have to go out shooting and
try to get something to live upon. Close to the house was a large
forest where there were plenty of hares and birds. The lieutenant was
to remain at home and cook the remainder of the food in the soldier's
wallet. In the meantime the captain and the soldier shot so much game
that they were hardly able to carry it home. When they came to the
door they found the lieutenant in such a terrible plight that he was
scarcely able to open the door to them.

"What is the matter with you?" said the captain. The lieutenant then
told them that as soon as they were gone a tiny, little man, with a
long beard, who went on crutches, came in and asked so plaintively for
a penny; but no sooner had he got it than he let it fall on the
floor, and for all he raked and scraped with his crutch he was not
able to get hold of it, so stiff and stark was he.

"I pitied the poor, old body," said the lieutenant, "and so I bent
down to pick up the penny, but then he was neither stiff nor stark any
longer. He began to belabour me with his crutches till very soon I was
unable to move a limb."

"You ought to be ashamed of yourself! you, one of the king's officers,
to let an old cripple give you a thrashing, and then tell people of it
into the bargain!" said the captain. "Pshaw! to-morrow I'll stop at
home, and then you'll hear another story."

The next day the lieutenant and the soldier went out shooting and the
captain remained at home to do the cooking and look after the house.
But if he fared no worse, he certainly fared no better than the
lieutenant. In a little while the old man came in and asked for a
penny. He let it fall as soon as he got it; gone it was and could not
be found. So he asked the captain to help him to find it, and the
captain, without giving a thought, bent down to look for it. But no
sooner was he on his knees than the cripple began belabouring him with
his crutches, and every time the captain tried to rise, he got a blow
which sent him reeling. When the others came home in the evening, he
still lay on the same