dead.

‘Where have you buried him?' asked the liar.

‘In the hay-loft,' answered the wife.

‘Then I will go there, and take away some hay in payment of his
debt,' said the liar. And proceeding to the hay-loft, he began to
toss about the hay with a pitchfork, prodding it into the trusses
of hay, till, in terror of his life, the thief crept out and
promised his partner to pay him the three florins on the
following Saturday.

When the day came he got up at sunrise, and going down into the
crypt of a neighbouring chapel, stretched himself out quite still
and stiff in an old stone coffin. But the liar, who was quite as
clever as his partner, very soon bethought him of the crypt, and
set out for the chapel, confident that he would shortly discover
the hiding-place of his friend. He had just entered the crypt,
and his eyes were not yet accustomed to the darkness, when he
heard the sound of whispering at the grated windows. Listening
intently, he overheard the plotting of a band of robbers, who had
brought their treasure to the crypt, meaning to hide it there,
while they set out on fresh adventures. All the time they were
speaking they were removing the bars from the window, and in
another minute they would all have entered the crypt, and
discovered the liar. Quick as thought he wound his mantle round
him and placed himself, standing stiff and erect, in a niche in
the wall, so that in the dim light he looked just like an old
stone statue. As soon as the robbers entered the crypt, they set