o you not feel happier? Yesterday I heard you playing beautifully on
your pipes."

"Yes, yes," cried he. "I did not understand it before, but I see it all
now. I have really grown younger. I thank you, I thank you, good Dryad,
from the bottom of my heart. It was the finding of the money in my
pocket that made me think it was a dream."

"Oh, I put it in when you were asleep," she said, laughing, "because I
thought you ought to keep it. Good-by, kind, honest man. May you live
long, and be as happy as I am now."

Old Pipes was greatly delighted when he understood that he was really a
younger man; but that made no difference about the money, and he kept on
his way to the village. As soon as he reached it, he was eagerly
questioned as to who had been playing his pipes the evening before, and
when the people heard that it was himself they were very much surprised.
Thereupon Old Pipes told what had happened to him, and then there was
greater wonder, with hearty congratulations and hand-shakes; for Old
Pipes was liked by everyone. The Chief Villager refused to take his
money; and although Old Pipes said that he had not earned it, everyone
present insisted that, as he would now play on his pipes as before, he
should lose nothing because, for a time, he was unable to perform his
duty.

So Old Pipes was obliged to keep his money, and after an hour or two
spent in conversation with his friends he returned to his cottage.

There was one person, however, who was not pleased with what had
happened to Old Pipes. This was an Echo-dwarf who lived on the hills
across the valley. It was his work to echo back the notes of the pipes
whenever they could be heard.

A great many other Echo-dwarfs lived on these hills. They all worked,
but in different ways. Some echoed back the songs of maidens, some the
shouts of children, and others the music that was often heard in the
village. But there was only one who could send back the strong notes of
the pipes of Old Pipes, and this had been his sole duty for many years.
But when the old man grew feeble, and the notes of his pipes could not
be heard on the opposite hills, this Echo-dwarf had nothing to do, and
he spent his time in delightful idleness; and he slept so much and grew
so fat that it made his companions laugh to see him walk.

On the afternoon on which, after so long an interval, the sound of the
pipes was heard on the echo hills, this dwarf was fast asleep behind a
rock. As soon as