“Well, Sam eventually finishes his work and puts his tools away. The old man studies his work, praises his handicraft, and then hands Sam a leather pouch. Sam opens it and finds it empty.

He asks the old man what it is.

“‘You may fill this pouch with whatever gemstones you wish from the pile,’ the old man answers. ‘But do not put anything of value in your shirt, tool satchel, or anywhere on your person, else the knights will wake up and surely kill you. Fill it as much as you can but make sure that you are able to draw the strings shut, for if you leave with it open the knights will wake up and surely kill you and I won’t stop them.’

“So Sam goes over to the pile as the old man leads the horse away and he starts cramming the bag full of precious stones. He’s sufficiently scared of the old man’s tale about the knights killing him to not put anything on his person. But also he’s thinking that he’ll make a return trip here the next morning with the same pouch and carry even more away.

“Sam packs the pouch tight enough to just be able to pull the strings together, and the old man leads him out of the cave.

“Once outside the old man turns to him and says that he may return to his forge, but he is not to tell anyone of what he has done this evening. The old man then goes back into the cave and Sam walks home.

“Now anyone who knows Sam knows that it only takes a prod to start his tongue wagging and scarce has he crossed his own door’s threshold then he’s gabbing to his wife about all that’s just happened to him. She finds this all hard to believe-”

“She’s not the only one,” Coll Dawson said to the man sitting next to him.

“But,” continued Addison, “he’s got the bag full of gemstones that he carried out with him. He throws this on the table and says, ‘Here’s the proof.’

“The wife opens the bag and sticks her hand in and pulls out something small and hard and then lets go of both it and the bag. ‘What is this? A joke?’ she asks, angry.