m of four strong horses, for I
shall load them heavily--and hear'st, Godson Klaus? they shall drive
nice and slowly round about the springlet, and then away again at a good
gallop back to thy farm-yard. As to thyself, mark me, Klaus! upon thy
wedding-day thou shalt stick a yew-leaf in thy left ear, and, as soon as
I sign to thee, throw some handfuls of the like upon all the tables.
Now, at once, good-night!'

"The shoes were already delivered up. There was a hissing in the air,
the water in the well moved in luminous circles, and a hearty laughter
seemed to force its way out of all the fissures of the earth. All was
then still. The moon burst forth, and shone so brightly that one might
have looked for a pin. Klaus felt his good gold in his pockets, and
returned gleesome, and in ease of heart, back to his ruinous house.

"After a night spent in pleasant dreams, Klaus reckoned up his cash, and
found it sufficient to procure some horses, a few cows, waggon, and
gearing. As to the repairs of the mansion, his notion was to do at first
only the indispensable, clearly discerning that, in order to live
comfortably in future, an entire pulling down and rebuilding was
inevitable. He was much more bent upon reappearing as a man of money and
estate in the eyes of his fellow farmers. His first care, accordingly,
was to hire domestics, male and female, to rig himself out a little, and
then, without delay, to push on the preparations for his marriage.

"In less than a fortnight, every thing requisite was done, and the
neighbours opened their eyes to thrice their usual size as they suddenly
saw life moving again in Nicholas's farmhouse--active labourers once
more in his fields. Their astonishment increased upon hearing, next
Sunday, the banns published from the pulpit. But when, a week
afterwards, the functionary whose office it was, with silver-headed
cane, velvet waistcoat and frill, to bid the guests to the approaching
wedding, appeared upon the farms of those who, a little before, were
Klaus's most memorable calumniators, and invited all, without exception,
to the merry-making, then indeed, as if by magic, did the despised Lying
Klaus become 'a worthy creature after all,' 'a capital fellow at last,'
and have his praises echoed from every beer-bench in the parish. Nobody
ever thought of asking how Klaus got possessed of his new money. He had
it; that fact was all-sufficient for the multitude. One or two might
itch to make their co