om the Justice that no man by the name of Schrimbs or
Peppel was known anywhere around in that vicinity. The farm-hands and
maids, who sat apart from the seats of honor at the other end of the
long table, kept absolutely silent and looked only at the dishes out of
which they spooned their food into their mouths. After they had
finished eating, however, and had wiped their mouths, they stepped up to
the Justice, one after the other, and said: "Master, my motto;"
whereupon the Justice addressed to each one a proverbial phrase or a
biblical passage. Thus to the first man, a red-haired fellow, he said:
"Proneness to dispute lights a fire, and proneness to fight sheds
blood;" to the second, a slow, fat man: "Go to the ant, thou sluggard,
consider her ways and be wise;" to the third, a small, black-eyed,
bold-looking customer: "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush."
The first maid received the motto: "If you have cattle, take care of
them, and if they bring you profit, keep it;" and to the second he said:
"Nothing's ever locked so tight but it will some day come to light."

After each one had been remembered in this way, they all went off to
their work, some looking unconcerned, others embarrassed. The second
girl blushed a deep crimson when she heard her motto. The Hunter, who
was gradually learning to understand the local dialect, listened to this
lesson with astonishment, and after it was over he asked what the
purpose of it was.

"To give them something to think about," said the Justice. "When they
come together here again tonight, each one of them will tell me what he
or she has been thinking relative to the motto. Most of the work in the
country is of such a kind that, in doing it, the people are liable to
think all sorts of things, and they get a lot of bad notions in their
heads, which afterwards break out in the form of wantonness, lies, and
deception. But when a man has such a motto to ponder over, he will not
rest until he has extracted the moral from it, and meanwhile the time
has elapsed without any evil thoughts having entered his mind."

"You are a true philosopher and priest," cried the Hunter, whose
amazement was increasing with every minute.

"One can accomplish a great deal with a person when one brings morality
home to him," said the Justice thoughtfully. "But morality sticks in
short sayings better than in long speeches and sermons. My people keep
straight much longer since I hit upon the morali