"'It is the landlord himself.' Then he told the minister that for a week past the landlord had been drinking ever and ever so much liquor, until he was drunk all the time.
"'How can that be?' asked the pastor. 'The landlord never before drank to excess.'
"'Well, you see,' said the boy, 'he drank because he was possessed with the idea that he had found a mine. He was so rich, he said, that he would never need to do anything now but drink. Last night he drove out, drunk as he was, and fell out of the carriage and was killed.'
"After the minister had heard all this, he started homeward, grieving over what he had learned. And only a moment before he had been so elated over the good news he had to tell his friends.
"When the minister had gone a short distance, he met Isræls Pers Persson walking along the road. He appeared as usual and the minister was glad that their good fortune had not turned his head. He would immediately gladden him with the news that he was now a rich man.
"'Good-day!' said the minister.
"'Do you come now from Falun?'
"'Yes, and I can tell you that things turned out better than we thought. The mineralogist said that it was silver ore.'
"Pers Persson looked as if the earth had opened to engulf him. 'What is it you say? Is it silver?'
"'Yes, we shall all be rich men now and able to live as royalty.'