Page:Tales from the Fjeld.djvu/383

Rh Not long after came a smith with a horse-pack of smith's work, and wanted to cross; but it was still the same.

"You mustn't cross till you've paid the toll," said the lad. But he, too, had no money either; so he gave the lad a gimlet, and then he had leave to cross.

So when the lad got home to his mother, the toll was the first thing she asked about.

"What did you take for toll to-day?"

"Oh, there came a man from the mill with a sack of meal, and he gave me a pound of meal; and then came a smith, with a horse-load of smith's-work, and he gave me a gimlet."

"And pray, what did you do with the gimlet?" asked the goody.

"I did as you bade me, mother," said the lad; "I stuck it in and out of my cap."

"Oh, but that was silly," said the goody; "you oughtn't to have stuck it out and in your cap; but you should have stuck it up your shirt-sleeve."

"Ay, ay! only be still, mother, and I'll be sure to do it next time."

"And what did you do with the meal, I'd like to know?" said the goody.

"Oh, I did as you bade me, mother; I spread it over the byre-floor."

"Never heard anything so silly in my born days," said the goody. "Why, you ought to have gone home for a pail and put it into it."

"Well, well! only be still, mother," said the lad, "and I'll be sure to do it next time."