TWILIGHT LAND

To be sure, until now they had always shared and shared
alike, but here was the first great lump of good luck that
had ever fallen in his way, and he was not for spoiling it
by cutting it in two to give half to a poor beggar-man such
as his brother. Not he; he would hide it and keep it all
for his very own.
_ Now, not far from where he lived, and beside the river,
stood a willow-tree, and thither the lucky beggar took his
purse of money and stuffed it into a knot-hole of a
withered branch, then went his way, certain that nobody
would think of looking for money in such.a hiding-place.
Then all the rest of the day he sat thinking and thinking
of the ways he would spend what had been given him,
and what he would do to get the most good out of it. At
last came evening, and his brother, who had been begging
in another part of the town, came home again.

“T nearly lost my hat to-day,” said the second beggar
so soon as he had come into the house.

“Did you?” said the first beggar. ‘How was
that ?”

“Oh! the wind blew it off into the water, but I got it
again.”

“How did you get it?” said the first beggar.

“T just broke a dead branch off of the willow-tree and
drew my hat ashore,” said the second beggar.

“ A dead branch !!”

“ A dead branch.”

“Off of the willow-tree |!”

“ Off of the willow-tree.”

The first beggar could hardly breathe.

“And what did you do with the dead branch after
that?”

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