led the King, as he shifted
his head a bit.

"The men were good hunters and usually had good luck, but this day they
traveled far without getting any game. At last they gave up the hunt
and sat down on the ground to talk. They remarked upon the strange fact
that so large a section of the country should be unsuitable for
cultivation. All was rocks, hills, or morass.

"'Our Lord has not done right by us, when he has given us such poor
land to live in,' said one of them. 'In other sections people have
riches and plenty, but here in spite of all our efforts we can hardly
get sufficient for our daily needs.'"

The minister stopped a moment as if uncertain whether the King had
heard him. The King, however, moved his little finger as a sign that he
was still awake.

"As the hunters were talking of their ill fortune, the minister noticed
something glittering where he had overturned a bit of moss with his
boot. 'This is a remarkable mountain,' he thought. Overturning more of
the moss and picking up a piece of stone that clung to it, he
exclaimed, 'Can it be possible that this is lead ore!'

"The others came eagerly over to the speaker and began uncovering the
rock with their rifle stocks. They thus exposed a broad mineral vein on
the side of the mountain.

"'What do you suppose this is?' asked the minister.

"Each man broke loose a piece of the rock and, biting it as a crude
test, said he thought it should be at least zinc or lead.

"'And the whole mountain is full of it,' eagerly ventured the
landlord."

When the minister had reached this stage of the story, the King
slightly raised his head and partly opened one eye.

"Do you know if any of these persons had any knowledge of minerals or
geology?"

"No, they did not," answered the minister. Whereupon the King's head
sank and both eyes closed.

"The minister and those with him were highly pleased," continued the
pastor, undisturbed by the King's indifference. "They believed that
they had found something which would enrich not only themselves, but
their posterity as well.

"'Nevermore shall I need to work,' said one of them. 'I can do nothing
the whole week through and on Sunday I shall ride to church in a gold
chariot.'

"These were usually men of good sense, but their great discovery had
gone to their heads, so that now they spoke like children. They had
enough presence of mind, however, to lay the moss carefully back in
place so as to hide the mineral vein.