spend the money he had found, and his friends
soon gathered around him again.

The vessel of silver money lasted a week, and then it was all gone; not
a single piece was left.

Then the young man bethought himself again of the Talisman of Solomon.
"What shall I do now," said he, "to save myself from ruin?"

"Earn thy bread with honest labor," said the Talisman, "and I will teach
thee how to prosper; but do not dig beneath the fig-tree that stands by
the fountain in the garden."

The young man did not tarry long after he heard what the Talisman had
said. He seized a spade and hurried away to the fig-tree in the garden
as fast as he could run. He dug and dug, and by-and-by his spade struck
something hard. It was a copper vessel, and it was filled with gold
money. Upon the lid of the vessel was engraved these words in the
handwriting of the old man who had gone: "My son, my son," they said,
"thou hast been warned once; be warned again. The gold money in this
vessel has been brought from the treasure-house of the ancient kings
of Egypt. Take it; be advised by the Talisman of Solomon; be wise and
prosper."

"And to think that if I had listened to the Talisman, I would never have
found this," said the young man.

The gold in the vessel lasted maybe for a month of jollity and
merrymaking, but at the end of that time there was nothing left--not a
copper farthing.

"Tell me," said the young man to the Talisman, "what shall I do now?"

"Thou fool," said the Talisman, "go sweat and toil, but do not go down
into the vault beneath this house. There in the vault is a red stone
built into the wall. The red stone turns upon a pivot. Behind the stone
is a hollow space. As thou wouldst save thy life from peril, go not near
it!"

"Hear that now," says the young man, "first, this Talisman told me not
to go, and I found silver. Then it told me not to go, and I found gold;
now it tells me not to go--perhaps I shall find precious stones enough
for a king's ransom."

He lit a lantern and went down into the vault beneath the house. There,
as the Talisman had said, was the red stone built into the wall. He
pressed the stone, and it turned upon its pivot as the Talisman had said
it would turn. Within was a hollow space, as the Talisman said there
would be. In the hollow space there was a casket of silver. The young
man snatched it up, and his hands trembled for joy.

Upon the lid of the box were these words in the father's handwriti