The Irish standard., 1892-12-10
But / saw it. It was gold. Does
gold grow IL the sand or on the rocks"

III sgOlO gIOWs III JlN SttQu OI SOu tA0 AOCaAloSs
and he laughed coarsely.
I Caspar hesitated. He knew it would
be useless to attempt any denial, SO he
replied ndifferently: 81 sold some fish
to a lady and she paid me for them.
Now are you satisfied" and he frowned
darkly. .
.sWhat luckl' exclaimed the other.
/ 81 wish she'd bought of me-" Then he
added, with tinge of suspicion, did
she carry them HERSELF
t.No, she had servant" answered
Caspar angri1y. He did not wish to pro-
long the conversation, so he turned
away, remarking, ''Good night" in a
surly accent.
.'But you'll treat frst?' called the
other after him. 'sI'm chilled to the
bone"
s'No, let me alone; I've something to
do at home, " and he strobe on.
"You'll give all the lads drop at The
Bull tonight, anyway cried the man.
"When one has such luck as that he
doesn't forget his friends. I'll tell the
lads to expect YOU
Lame Caspar's anger arose. He NUT
tered an oath as he imped on in the
.darkening twilight. Treat! Not he!
He meant to keep the gold piece for him
self. 1t was hard, indeed, if man
couldn't keep what belonged to him.
"But it doesn't belong to you," voice
seemed to cry within him. ''It belongs
to the golden haired boy" Caspar
turned to see if any one was following
him. He saw nobody, yet peculiar
dread possessed him. When he reached
his hut, on the outskirts of the settle
ment, he carefully bolted the door be-
fore he lighted the candle that he stuck
into the neck of bottle. He sat down
| by the rickety old table and examined
the gold piece leisurely. 1t scintillated
in the dim, red candle light like living
thing. He was afraid to sit there hold
| ing it in his hand for any length Of time.
It had already been discovered in his
possession and soon the whole village
would know of it. Possibly the news
might spread to the little boys ears, and
| then
AS this thought occurred to him his
| fingers trembled so violently that the
gold piece fell gathering ON the table.
He began to regret that he had not given
it to the boy, but it was too late now,
and besides he wanted it. He loved to
| look at it.. 1t was the most beautiful
thing he had ever seen; but he must hide
it away so1lewhere-hide it until he
made up bis mind to spend it, He there
| fore placed it in a cup and locked the
cup in a closet. After this he cooked
his supper and went to bed.
/, Through his feverish dreams all night
long brilliant showers of gold danced
and twined themselves into fantastic
shapes. Sometimes they seemed to fall
from AN immense height and threaten to
crush him beneath their weight, and he
cried out in desperate terror. His rest
was broken and frightful visions as
sailed him. Once or twice the face Of a
golden haired boy rose before him alter
natelv wreathed in smiles and bathed in
| tears.
With the advent of the dawn Lame
| Caspar awoke, troubled and unretreshed.
AS he walked to his boat, that was
nloored some distance away, It womans
| fresh voice called to him from a window:
Good morning, Caspar. l hear that
| you have Il gold piece that lady gave
you for few fish What luckv'
He stopped short and scowled back at
her. ''Wen, what of it?' he snapped.
Give right to my own, suppose"
'sNobody said you hadn't, but the lads
seemed to think you might treat for
once. They waited for you at The Bull
last night and were vexed because you
didn't come. Are you going to treat to-
night
''Nor' he answered and passed on out
of sight into the dull tinted morning.
All day, sitting among his nets and
tackle. he reflected upon what he had
done and the possible result. 1t would
be silly in the extreme to keep the gold
piece forever in the cupboard when he
stood in need of so many things. Still
he did not feel like spending it i1nme-
.diately. A superstitious dread overcame
him whenever he contemplated parting
with it.
Generally speaking, he was a success
full fisherman, but today he got scarcely
| 1I;yLulllS, IuI 1e Ctiul0 uO1AAS IA Glc CVCA1
ing tired and out Of temper Upon one
point his mind was made up. He would
not go near the tavern. He resented be-
ing pressed to spend the money in drink.
But the other fishermen, when they
found he did not come, sent a delegation
to his house. About six men raped
loudly on the door, more in spirit of
mischief than downright vexation, but
it was sufficient to rouse Lame Caspar
to furious opposition.
''What do you WANT he shouted,
1 fiinging the door wide open and con-
fronting them with fierce hostility
depicted on every line of his counte-
nance.
'.We want you to treat. Aren't you
coming to The Bull?''
ssNo: I'm sick Go away and let me
alone And he tried to shut the door.
But the men resisted the action.
Sick, nonsense!" cried one. Whats
come over you, man? Have you turned
miser?''
'.Let's see your gold piece anyway, :
y