one the worse, brother,' said the charcoal-burner,
with a curious smile. 'Look and see!'

"And, sure enough, the fire lay quietly in the hollow of the coat, and
never singed a thread of it! Stepka was so startled, that for a moment
he thought he had to do, not with charcoal-burners, but with something
worse; but, remembering how they had greeted him in the Holy Name, he
became easy again.

"'Good luck to you, my lad,' said the strange man, as the Cossack took
up his load. 'You'll get it home all right, never fear.'

"Away went Stepka like one in a dream, and never stopped till he got to
his own house. He lighted all his candles, and then awoke his children
(who had cried themselves to sleep) that they might enjoy the bonny
light; and, when they saw it they clapped their hands and shouted for
joy.

"Just then Stepka happened to look toward his coat, which he had laid
down on the table, with the burning wood still in it, and started as if
he had been stung. It was choke-full of _gold_--good, solid ducats[D]
as ever were coined, more than he could have counted in a whole hour.
Then he knew that his strange companions were no charcoal-burners, but
God's own angels sent to help him in his need; and he kneeled down and
gave thanks to God for his mercy.

"Now, just at that moment one of the neighbors happened to be passing,
and, hearing the children hurrahing and clapping their hands, he peeped
through the window, wondering what _they_ could find to be merry about.
But, when he saw the heap of gold on the table, everything else went
clean out of his head, and he opened the door and burst in, like a wolf
flying from the dogs.

"'I say,' cried he, without even stopping to give Stepka the greeting
of the day, 'where did you get this fine legacy from? It makes one's
eyes blink to look at it!'

"Now, Stepka was a good-hearted fellow, as I've said, and he never
thought of remembering how badly this very man had treated him an hour
or two before, but just told him the whole story right out, exactly as
I tell it you now. The other hardly waited to hear the end of it, but
set off full speed to find these wonderful charcoal-burners and try if
_he_ couldn't get some gold out of them, too. And, as there had been
more than a few listeners at the door while the tale was being told, it
ended with the whole village running like mad in the same direction.

"When they got to the burners' camp, the charcoal men looked at them
rather qu