atal day, seeing his funds almost exhausted
by his generosity, Muck crept forth, with his spade, into the
castle-garden, to bring new supplies from his secret treasury, the
watch followed him in the distance, led by Ahuli and Archaz; and, at
the moment when he was removing the gold from the pot to his cloak,
they fell upon him, bound him, and immediately led him before the
king. The latter, whom, independently of any thing else, this
interruption of his sleep would have enraged, received his poor dwarf
very ungraciously, and ordered an immediate trial. Meanwhile they had
dug the full pot out of the ground, and with the spade and cloak full
of gold had placed it before the king. The treasurer said that he had
surprised Muck with his guard, just as he had buried this vessel of
gold in the earth.

The king thereupon inquired of the accused, whether it was true, and
whence the gold had come.

Little Muck, conscious of innocence, answered that he had discovered
this pot in the garden; that he had not buried it, but had brought it
to light.

All present laughed aloud at this defence; the king, however, provoked
in the highest degree by the supposed impudence of the dwarf,
exclaimed, "How, wretch! wilt thou so stupidly and shamelessly lie to
thy king, after having stolen from him? Treasurer Archaz, I command
thee to say whether thou knowest this sum of gold to be the same that
is missing from my treasury."

The treasurer thereupon answered that he was sure of the thing; that
so much and even more had been missing from the royal treasures; and
he could take his oath that this was the stolen money. Then the king
commanded them to place Little Muck in galling chains, and convey him
to prison: to Archaz, however, he gave the gold, that he might restore
it to the treasury. Delighted at the fortunate issue of the matter,
the officer took it, and counted out, at home, the glittering gold
pieces; but the bad man never disclosed that down in the pot lay a
letter, to the following purport:--

"The enemy has overrun my land; therefore I here conceal
a portion of my treasure. Whoever may find it, the curse
of his king fall upon him, if he do not immediately
deliver it to my son!

KING SADI."

In his dungeon, poor Muck gave way to sorrowful reflections; he knew
that for taking royal property death was the penalty; and yet--he
could not betray the secret of his staff unto the king, because, in
that case, h