"Have you the touchstone of truth?" asked the elder son; and when the
man had wagged his head, "I might have known that," cried the elder
son; "I have here a wallet full of them!" And with that he laughed,
although his heart was weary.

And with that the man laughed too, and with the fuff of his laughter
the candle went out.

"Sleep," said the man, "for now I think you have come far enough; and
your quest is ended, and my candle is out."

Now, when the morning came, the man gave him a clear pebble in his
hand, and it had no beauty and no color, and the elder son looked upon
it scornfully and shook his head, and he went away, for it seemed a
small affair to him.

All that day he rode, and his mind was quiet, and the desire of the
chase allayed. "How if this poor pebble be the touchstone, after all?"
said he; and he got down from his horse, and emptied forth his wallet
by the side of the way. Now, in the light of each other, all the
touchstones lost their hue and fire, and withered like stars at
morning; but in the light of the pebble, their beauty remained, only
the pebble was the most bright. And the elder son smote upon his brow.
"How if this be the truth," he cried, "that all are a little true?"
And he took the pebble, and turned its light upon the heavens, and
they deepened above him like the pit; and he turned it on the hills,
and the hills were cold and rugged, but life ran in their sides so
that his own life bounded; and he turned it on the dust, and he beheld
the dust with joy and terror; and he turned it on himself, and kneeled
down and prayed.

"Now thanks be to God," said the elder son, "I have found the
touchstone; and now I may turn my reins, and ride home to the King
and to the maid of the dun that makes my mouth to sing and my heart
enlarge."

Now, when he came to the dun, he saw children playing by the gate
where the King had met him in the old days, and this stayed his
pleasure; for he thought in his heart, "It is here my children should
be playing." And when he came into the hall, there was his brother on
the high seat, and the maid beside him; and at that his anger rose,
for he thought in his heart, "It is I that should be sitting there,
and the maid beside me."

"Who are you?" said his brother. "And what make you in the dun?"

"I am your elder brother," he replied. "And I am come to marry the
maid, for I have brought the touchstone of truth."

[Illustration: "ALL THAT DAY HE RODE, AND