Before Hilty, there was spread a table, crowded with every sort of good things to eat, except, that there was no fish or meat in sight. The dwarf explained to his guest that all the cookies, goodies, and eatables were made from things in the vegetable kingdom.
After Hilty had enjoyed a good dinner, the dwarf told his guest that he would reveal to him one of the secrets of his skill, but he must not ask to be told more. He would be shown how to make delicious sweets, and valuable confectionery, from a common weed, which the chamois fed on every day. But this done, he repeated, Hilty must, on no account, ask for any other secret. Nor must he try to learn any receipt about any other delicacy, or even watch, while the cooking was going on. If he did, the [[60]]dwarf would be angry, and cut off the shepherd from his friendship. He might even punish him, by causing him to lose his way, when returning home.
Hilty gave his promise, making also the sign of the cross on his breast. He swore an oath, that he would not see, hear, touch, taste, or try, even, to feel, any further than was permitted and clearly commanded him.
Trusting his guest fully, the dwarf first took a basketful of what we call “Iceland moss,” which grows so plentifully in the high Alpine pastures. Then he showed how, with water and fire, he could make the delicacy known among us as “Iceland Moss Paste.”
At once, after tasting a morsel of the confection, with gusto, Hilty smacked his lips and began to dream of getting rich. He resolved to open a shop and make the new confection in his own village.
But this Hilty was a greedy and covetous fellow and often made a glutton of himself. Seeing that the dwarf had everything ready, to make more confectionery, of other kinds, he made up his mind to learn all the secrets. “This time,” he said to himself, “I shall set up, not a village shop, but a big confectionery store in Lucerne, the great city.” He never thought more, of [[61]]keeping the solemn promise, which he had just given to the dwarf.
So, pretending to be very sleepy, he asked the dwarf to let him lie down at length on the moss sofa and take a nap. The kind host at once agreed, and made his guest comfortable. In a few minutes, pretending to be asleep, Hilty, who was a gawk and a bumpkin, in manners, let his nose and open mouth give vent to snores, long and loud.
This, in itself, was bad enough, and the dwarf was disgusted at such manners and much irritated by the noise. But, worse than this was to come. This ill mannered dairyman, who kept peeping between his eyelids, got very much excited, as he saw the dwarf doing the most wonderful things, with common weeds and flowers. Out of these he drew juices, flavors, coloring matter, aromatic liquids, and sugars, either in crystal, or in the form of gum or candy. Out of his pots, pans and kettles, he poured what looked like the most tempting things to eat. They smelled so delightful that Hilty forgot himself and, with his eyes wide open, stared at the dwarf and what he was doing.
By this time, Hilty was building great air castles. He saw himself in a great candy store in Lucerne employing fifty pretty girls, in attractive uniform, to allure the public, wait at the [[62]]counters on the crowd of customers, who came with plenty of money and all eager to get waited on. They stood in lines, four deep, in front of the show cases, eyeing what they were to choose; while those nearest the girls were eagerly buying bonbons, chocolates, caramels, all-day suckers, mint drops and Iceland moss paste, in boxes tied up in dainty, gay colored ribbons. Each box was wrapped, not in common paper, but in dotted Swiss muslin, or fine cambric. No one seemed to care how much the cost might be.
Back of the counters, were scores of lovely Swiss maidens, in white bodices, with silver chains, ornamented girdles, and brilliant head-dresses. These were tied, so as to show they were not yet married. There were dozens of waiter boys and serving maids, scurrying around with trays, attending to the people at the tables, who called for ices and sweets, or drinks, to be sipped. His chief customers were among the fashionable folks of Lucerne. For, in Hilty’s vision, his was the resort of the most stylish people in the city.