rty would have: been a
very serious loss to them. They looked dolefully into their glasses.
The young gentleman wished himself on the back of his horse, trotting
through a safe open valley. The compass-maker wished for twelve of his
sturdy comrades, armed with clubs, for a body-guard. Felix, the
goldsmith, was more anxious for the safety of the ornament designed for
his benefactress, than for his own life. But the wagoner, who had been
blowing clouds of smoke before him, said softly: "Gentlemen, at least
they shall not surprise us asleep. I, for my part, will remain awake
the whole night, if one other will keep watch with me."

"I will"--"I too," cried the three others. "And I could not go to
sleep," added the young gentleman.

"Well we had better contrive some means of keeping awake," said the
wagoner. "I think while we number just four people, we might play
cards, that would keep us awake and while away the time."

"I never play cards," said the young gentleman, "therefore you would
have to count me out."

"Nor do I know any thing about cards," added Felix.

"What can we do, then, if we don't play cards," asked the
compass-maker. "Sing? That wouldn't do, for it would only attract the
attention of the robbers. Give one another riddles to guess? That would
not last very long. How would it do if we were to tell stories?
Humorous or pathetic, true or imaginative, they would keep us awake and
pass away the time as well as cards."

"I am agreed, if you will begin," said the young gentleman, smiling.
"You gentlemen of trades visit all countries, and have something to
tell; for every town has its own legends and tales."

"Yes, certainly, one hears a great deal," replied the compass-maker.
"But, on the other hand, gentlemen like you study diligently in books,
where really wonderful things are written; therefore, you would know
how to tell a wiser and more entertaining story than a plain
journeyman, such as one of us, could pretend to--for unless I am much
mistaken you are a student, a scholar."

"A scholar, no," laughed the young gentleman; "but certainly a student,
and am now on my way home for the vacation. But what one reads in books
does not answer for the purpose of a story nearly as well as what one
hears. Therefore begin, if the other gentlemen are inclined to listen."

"Still more than with cards," responded the wagoner, "am I pleased when
I hear a good story told. I often keep my team down to a miserably slo