then the workers would come
and take a drink. The master no longer wore the white garments of the
day before, but a black jerkin, held in its place by a leathern girdle
with huge clasps.

From time to time he would give his workmen a sign with his staff, for
it was useless to speak amid such a noise.

If any of them had noticed that there was a stranger present they took
no heed of him, but went on with what they were doing. After some hours'
hard labour came the time for rest, and they all flung their hammers to
the ground and trooped out of the cave.

Then the master got down from his seat and said to Hans:

'I saw you come in, but the work was pressing, and I could not stop to
speak to you. To-day you must be my guest, and I will show you something
of the way in which I live. Wait here for a moment, while I lay aside
these dirty clothes.' With these words he unlocked a door in the cave,
and bade Hans pass in before him.

Oh, what riches and treasures met Hans' astonished eyes! Gold and silver
bars lay piled on the floor, and glittered so that you could not look at
them! Hans thought he would count them for fun, and had already reached
the five hundred and seventieth when his host returned and cried,
laughing:

'Do not try to count them, it would take too long; choose some of the
bars from the heap, as I should like to make you a present of them.'

Hans did not wait to be asked twice, and stooped to pick up a bar of
gold, but though he put forth all his strength he could not even move it
with both hands, still less lift it off the ground.

'Why, you have no more power than a flea,' laughed the host; 'you will
have to content yourself with feasting your eyes upon them!'

So he bade Hans follow him through other rooms, till they entered one
bigger than a church, filled, like the rest, with gold and silver.
Hans wondered to see these vast riches, which might have bought all the
kingdoms of the world, and lay buried, useless, he thought, to anyone.

'What is the reason,' he asked of his guide, 'that you gather up these
treasures here, where they can do good to nobody? If they fell into
the hands of men, everyone would be rich, and none need work or suffer
hunger.'

'And it is exactly for that reason,' answered he, 'that I must keep
these riches out of their way. The whole world would sink to idleness if
men were not forced to earn their daily bread. It is only through work
and care that man can ever hope to b