"He was dazed, and looked from the parchment to the rope, and from
the rope to the parchment, saying to himself: 'Well, I have come to
that, I must follow my father's wish.'

"So he got the stool and put it under the noose, and standing upon
it, adjusted the rope with trembling fingers round his neck, when he
said, hoarsely: 'Father, I do thy bidding,' and he kicked the stool
from under him.

"Immediately he heard a crash, and found himself lying upon the
leaves, with a feeling that his neck had been jerked off. However,
he soon recovered, and, taking the noose from his neck, he looked
up and saw an open trap-door in the ceiling. Placing the stool
beneath the opening, he got on to it, and lifted himself through the
trap-door, when he found himself in a loft, a parchment nailed to the
wall facing him, and on the parchment was written, 'This has been
prepared, for your end was foreseen, and your foolish father buried
three chests of gold one foot below the surface of the floor of the
hut. Go and take it and buy back your estate: marry, and beget an
heir.'

"'Good God! is this a ghastly joke?' said the prodigal. But the
words looked truthful; so he tore down the parchment, dropped
through the trap-door, shut it, and readjusted the rope. He left the
hut and borrowed a pick and shovel, and returning to the hut, he
began to dig, and found one chest full of gold. When he made this
discovery he closed the chest, filled in the hole, and spread leaves
over the spot. He then ran off to his father's best friend, and told
him of his good luck. They then called in two other friends, and
consulted together how the old lord's wish was best to be carried