Business was so brisk, that it was as much as he could do to get out his stuff and measure what they wanted.

[Pg 155]

In order to get some share of the business they had to sell their goods to him, and no sooner were they on his stall than they were sold there and then.

But a pedlar is also a human being, if not exactly one of the best sort; and although he was doing a brisk business he was obliged to leave his stall for a short time, and so he asked one of his mates to attend to his customers in his absence.

While he was away, a man came and asked how much the whole lot would cost, for he wanted to buy it all, and the horse and cart and the bags as well.

"Six hundred crowns," said the pedlar, for you see he thought he might be beaten down. But the man did not even try to bargain by as much as a penny; he put the money at once on the stall.

"And now it's all mine, you understand," he said; and then he laughed. "Tell your mate I shall come to-night to fetch the goods, and then we shall have a drink together on the strength of the bargain," he said; and then he laughed once more, and to such an extent that it sounded like thunder, and the next moment he was gone. It was easy to guess who the person was, for the whole market-place smelt of sulphur.

When the pedlar came back, he asked: "Have you sold anything?"

"Yes, of course I have," said his mate. "I have done a grand business, too! I have sold the whole lot, and the horse and cart, and the bags as well, for four hundred crowns; and here they are," he said,[Pg 156] and gave them to him. But the other two hundred crowns he put in his own pocket, for he wasn't a pedlar for nothing, you see.

"The Lord have pity on me then, poor wretch that I am!" moaned the pedlar. "Now I am completely undone."

"Have you gone out of your senses?" said his mate. "He was one of the right sort, I can tell you. He did not even beat me down a stiver, and to-night he is coming to have a drink with you on the strength of the bargain."

"Oh dear, oh dear!" cried the pedlar; and he wailed and moaned so terribly that everybody pitied him, for they thought he had gone out of his mind.

Just then a woman came by.

"What is it you are crying and groaning about?" she asked. But the pedlar went on moaning, for now he felt there was no help for him.

"Be quiet!" said the woman; "don't go on like that, my man! It can never be so bad but it can be bettered, I say; for I am Katie Grey, [3] and I can always help people out of their trouble, even if it be Old Nick himself you have fallen out with," she said. "Come, let me only hear what's the matter, and we'll find a way out of it."

The pedlar then told her all about his trouble.

"If that was all," she said, "she would be able to help him, if he only did what she told him; which he, of course, was willing to do, as long as he could save his skin."

[Pg 157]

Дата добавления: 2015-10-31