The first old man said: 'There was a man one time went to the market to sell a cow; and he sold her, and he took a drop of drink after; and instead of going home, he went into a sort of a barn where there was straw stored, and he fell asleep there.
'And in the night some men came in, and he heard them talking. And they had a lot of silver plate with them, they were after stealing from some house in the town, and they were hiding it in the straw till they would come and bring it away again.
'And he said nothing, and kept quiet till morning; and then he went out; and the people in the town were talking of nothing else but the great robbery of silver plate in the night. And no one knew who had done it; and the man came forward, and told them where the silver plate was, and who the men were that stole it; and the things were found, and the men convicted. But he did not let on how he had come to know it, or that he had slept in the barn.
'So he got a great name; and when he went home, his landlord heard of it; and he sent for him, and he said: "I am missing things this good while, and the last thing I lost was a diamond ring. Tell me who was it stole that," he said. "I can't tell you," said the man. "Well," said the landlord, "I will lock you up in a room for three days; and if you can't tell me by the end of that time who stole the ring, I'll put you to death."
'So he was locked up; and in the evening the butler brought him in his supper. And when he saw evening was come, he said: "There's one of them," meaning there was one of the three days gone.
'But the butler went down stairs in a great fright; for he was one of the servants that had stolen the ring, and he said to the others: "He knew me, and he said, 'There's one of them.' And I won't go near him again," he said; "but let one of you go."
'So the next evening the cook went up with the supper, and when she came in, he said the same way as before: "There's two of them," meaning there was another day gone. And the cook went down like the butler had gone, making sure he knew that she had a share in the robbery.
'The next day the third of the servants—that was the housemaid—brought him his supper; and he gave a great sigh, and said: "There's the third of them." So she went down and told the others; and they agreed it was best to make a confession to him; and they went and told him of their robberies; and they brought him the diamond ring; and they asked him to try and screen them some way; so he said he would do his best for them, and he said: "I see a big turkey-gobbler out in the yard; and what you had best do is to open his mouth," he said, "and to force the ring down it."
'So they did that. And then the landlord came up and asked could he tell him where the thief was to be found. "Kill that turkey-gobbler in the yard," he said, "and see what can you find in him." So they killed the turkey-gobbler, and cut him open, and there they found the diamond ring.