y,
so she pulled out a shining ducat from her pocket, stepped up to the
priest, and pressed it into his hand.

The priest blinked his eyes in amazement, looking first at the ducat
and then at the shabby old woman who had given it. He stuffed the
ducat into his pocket, whispered hurriedly to the sexton to bring him
the font, and then christened the child of poor Lukas with as much
ceremony as the child of the richest townsman. The little girl
received the name Marishka.

After the christening the priest accompanied the godmother to the door
of the chapel and the sexton went even farther until he, too, received
the reward for which he was hoping.

When Lukas and the old woman came to the crossroads where they had
met, she handed him the child. Then she reached into her pocket, drew
out another golden ducat which she stuck into a fold of the child's
clothes, and said: "From this ducat with which I endow my godchild,
you will have enough to bring her up properly. She will always be a
joy and a comfort to you, and when she grows up she will make a happy
marriage. Now good-by."

She drew a green wand from her bosom and touched the earth. Instantly
a lovely rosebush appeared, covered with blooms. At the same moment
the old woman vanished.

In bewilderment Lukas looked this way and that but she was gone. He
was so surprised that he didn't know what had happened. I really think
he would be standing on that same spot to this day if little Marishka
had not begun to cry and by this reminded him of home.

His wife, meantime, was anxiously awaiting him. She, poor soul, was
suffering the pangs of hunger, thirst, and bodily pain. There wasn't a
mouthful of bread in the house, nor a cent of money.

As Lukas entered the room, he said: "Weep no more, dear wife. Here is
your little Marishka. But before you kiss the child, take out the
christening gift that you will find tucked away in her clothes. From
it you will know what an excellent godmother she has."

The wife reached into the clothes and pulled out not one ducat but a
whole handful of ducats!

"Oh!" she gasped and in her surprise she dropped the ducats and they
rolled about in the straw that littered the wretched floor.

"Husband! Husband! Who gave you so much money? Just look!"

"I have already looked and at first when I saw them I was more
surprised than you are. Now let me tell you where they come from."

So Lukas related to his wife all that had happened at the ch