Suddenly, towards evening, a band of robbers swooped down upon them. The merchants were not fighting men. They could do nothing but give up all their goods and money.
"Well, boy, what have you got?" asked one of the robbers, as he pulled
Otanes from his horse.
"Forty pieces of gold" answered the lad.
The robber laughed. He had never heard of a boy with so much money as that.
"That is a good story" he said. "Where do you carry your gold?"
"It is in my hat, underneath the lining," answered Otanes.
"Oh, well! You can't make me believe that," said the robber; and he hurried away to rob one of the rich merchants.
Soon another came up and said, "My boy, do you happen to have any gold about you?"
"Yes! Forty pieces, in my hat, said Otanes.
"You are a brave lad to be joking with robbers" said the man; and he also hurried on to a more promising field.