The minister stopped a moment as if uncertain whether the King had heard him. The King, however, moved his little finger as a sign that he was still awake.
"As the hunters were talking of their ill fortune, the minister noticed something glittering where he had overturned a bit of moss with his boot. 'This is a remarkable mountain,' he thought. Overturning more of the moss and picking up a piece of stone that clung to it, he exclaimed, 'Can it be possible that this is lead ore!'
"The others came eagerly over to the speaker and began uncovering the rock with their rifle stocks. They thus exposed a broad mineral vein on the side of the mountain.
"'What do you suppose this is?' asked the minister.
"Each man broke loose a piece of the rock and, biting it as a crude test, said he thought it should be at least zinc or lead.
"'And the whole mountain is full of it,' eagerly ventured the landlord."
When the minister had reached this stage of the story, the King slightly raised his head and partly opened one eye.
"Do you know if any of these persons had any knowledge of minerals or geology?"
"No, they did not," answered the minister. Whereupon the King's head sank and both eyes closed.
"The minister and those with him were highly pleased," continued the pastor, undisturbed by the King's indifference. "They believed that they had found something which would enrich not only themselves, but their posterity as well.