Manasseh held the briers aside with two of them and laid the third as a
bridge for Blanka to pass over unharmed. In a corner of the stone wall
lay a pile of hay, and behind it a supply of pitch-pine torches, one of
which Aaron now lighted. Then, like a lord in his own castle, he issued
his orders to his companions. Manasseh was to lead the horses up, one at
a time, and stable them in the rude courtyard, while Blanka was
instructed to sit on a stone and arrange her flowers and feed her
poultry. Meantime the master of ceremonies made everything ready for the
other two within the cave.

The cock and hen were soon picking the barley from their mistress's lap,
while she busied her fingers with the manufacture of a red necklace of
the hips that grew on the wild rosebush. That other necklace, the
dandelion chain, was treasured by Manasseh among his most precious
possessions. Soon the horses were led up, stalled and fed, and then
their groom drew in the wooden planks, according to his brother's
instructions, and carried them into the cave, leaving the wild rosebush
to resume its guardianship of the doorway. After this Aaron came out and
offered his arm, like a courteous host, to escort Blanka into the
cavern. She was no little surprised, on entering, to find herself in a
stately hall, clean and comfortable, and lighted and warmed by a
cheerful fire of fagots in its centre. Near the fire stood a table,
neatly spread with a white cloth, on which were placed glasses and a
pitcher of fresh spring-water. Beside the table a couch, rude but
comfortable, had been prepared for her repose.

"Aaron, you are a magician!" cried the young girl. "Where did you get
all these things?"

At this question the good man nearly let the cat out of the bag by
explaining that everything had long since been in readiness for their
coming. But he checked himself and considered his answer a moment. To
say that he had brought all this outfit in his knapsack would have been
too obviously a falsehood, so he sought another way out of the
difficulty.

"I told the miller," he replied, with a jerk of his thumb over one
shoulder, "that we should stay the night here, and he sent these things
forward by a short cut over the mountain."

Thus it was only the speaker's thumb, and not his tongue, that lied, by
pointing backward to the mill just passed, instead of forward to the
other mill at the upper end of Torda Gap.

Aaron now offered to show the wonders of t