called, but nothing stirred within but the house
cat, and at last the blacksmith had to be fetched to open the door. Then
the house was searched from garret to cellar, but no Master Peter was to
be found.

'Who knows?' cried Dame Ilse at last, 'the wretch may have been idling
in some tavern since early morning.'

Then a sudden thought startled her, and she felt for her keys. Suppose
they had fallen into her good-for-nothing husband's hands and he had
helped himself to her treasure! But no, the keys were safe in their
usual place, and the cupboard looked quite untouched. Mid-day came,
then evening, then midnight, and still no Master Peter appeared, and the
matter became really serious. Dame Ilse knew right well what a torment
she had been to her husband, and remorse caused her the gloomiest
forebodings.

'Ah! Lucia,' she cried, 'I greatly fear that your father has done
himself a mischief.' And they sat till morning weeping over their own
fancies.

As soon as it was light they searched every corner of the house again,
and examined every nail in the wall and every beam; but, luckily, Master
Peter was not hanging from any of them. After that the neighbours went
out with long poles to fish in every ditch and pond, but they found
nothing, and then Dame Ilse gave up the idea of ever seeing her husband
again and very soon consoled herself, only wondering how the sacks of
corn were to be carried to the mill in future. She decided to buy
a strong ass to do the work, and having chosen one, and after some
bargaining with the owner as to its price, she went to the cupboard
in the wall to fetch the money. But what were her feelings when she
perceived that every shelf lay empty and bare before her! For a moment
she stood bewildered, then broke into such frightful ravings that Lucia
ran to her in alarm; but as soon as she heard of the disappearance of
the money she was heartily glad, and no longer feared that her father
had come to any harm, but understood that he must have gone out into the
world to seek his fortune in some new way.

About a month after this, someone knocked at Dame Ilse's door one day,
and she went to see if it was a customer for meal; but in stepped
a handsome young man, dressed like a duke's son, who greeted her
respectfully, and asked after her pretty daughter as if he were an old
friend, though she could not remember having ever set eyes upon him
before.

However, she invited him to step into the house an