WHAT THE OLD MAN DOES IS ALWAYS RIGHT. 107

fowl. A fowl can always find a grain or two, and can almost
keep itself. Ithink it would be a good exchange if I could get
that for my goose.

“ Shall we exchange?” he asked the toll-taker.

“Exchange !” repeated the man; “well, that would not be a
bad thing.”

And so they exchanged : the toll-taker at the barrier kept the
goose, and the peasant carried away the fowl.

Now, he had done a good deal of business on his way to the
fair, and he was hot and tired. He wanted something to eat, and
a glass of brandy to drink ; and soon he was in front of the inn
He was just about to step in, when the hostler came out, so they
met at the door. The hostler was carrying a sack.

“What have you in that sack?” asked the peasant.

“ Rotten apples,” answered the hostler ; “a whole sack-full of
them—enough to feed the pigs with.”

“Why, that’s terrible waste! I should like to take them to
my old woman at home. Last year the old tree by the turf-hole
only bore a single apple, and we kept it in the cupboard till it was
quite rotten and spoiled. ‘ It was always property,’ my old woman
said ; but here she could see a quantity of property—a whole sack-
full. Yes, I shall be glad to show them to her.”

“What will you give me for the sack-full ?” asked the hostler.

“What will I give? I will give my fowl in exchange.”

And hegave the fowl accordingly, and received theapples, which
he carried into the guest-room. He leaned the sack carefully by
the stove, and then went to thetable, But the stove was hot: he
had not thought of that. Many guests were present—horse dealers,
ox-herds, and two Englishmen—and the two Englishmen were so
rich that their pockets bulged out with gold coins, and almost
burst ; and they could bet too, as you shall hear.

Hiss-s-s ! hiss-s-s ! What was that by the stove? The apples
were beginning to roast.

“ What is that?”

“Why, do you know—” said our peasant.

And he told the whole story of the horse that he had ee
for a cow, and all the rest of it down to the apples.

“ Well, your old woman will give it you wellwhen you get home,”
said one of the Englishmen. “ There will be a disturbance.”

“What ?—give me what?” said the peasant. “She will kiss
me, and say, ‘ What the old man does is always right.’”

“ Shall we wager?” said the Englishman. ‘“We’ll wager coined
gold by the ton——a hundred pounds to the hundredweight !”

“ A bushel will be enough,” replied the peasant. “I can only
set the bushel of apples against it ; and I’ll throw myselfand my
old woman into the bargain—and I fancy that’s piling up the
measure.”

“ Done—taken !”