Page:The Enchanted Knights; or The Chronicle of the Three Sisters.djvu/30

18 which she did not perceive at first, because of her surprise, and which when touched seemed to be filled with dried peas. Her sorrow did not then allow her a closer inspection. The good mother abandoned herself entirely to despair, and wept continually till the evening, when her husband returned and beheld her in the utmost wretchedness. She could not conceal from him the event of the day, although she would fain have done so, dreading to incur his anger for having allowed a strange knight to enter the castle, and rob them of their beloved daughter. The count consoled her affectionately, and only asked for the sacks of peas, of which she had spoken, and went with her to look at them. Opening them in her presence, what was the surprize of the afflicted countess on seeing real pearls, large as garden peas, finely drilled, of beautiful form, and of the finest grain rolling out. She saw that the robber of her daughter had paid her each tear with a real pearl, conceived a very high idea of his riches and station, and consoled herself by thinking that this son-in-law was not a monster, but a stately knight—an opinion which the count took good care not to shake.

Now the parents had lost all their daughters, but in lieu they possessed an immense treasure. The