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 her. She showed him through the various rooms of her house and down into great cellars. They went a long way underground through cellar after cellar to a place where thousands upon thousands of candles were burning. There were tall candles just lighted, candles burned halfway down, and little short ones nearly burned out. At one end of the place there was a heap of fresh candles that had not yet been lighted.

“These,” Death said, “are the candles of all the people in the world. When a man’s candle burns out, then it is time for me to go for him.”

“Godmother,” Martin said, pointing to a candle that was burning low, “whose may that be?”

“That, my friend, is your candle.”

Martin was frightened and begged Death to lengthen his candle, but Death shook her head.

“No, my friend,” she said, “I can’t do that.”

She reached for a fresh candle to light it for the baby just christened. While her back was turned, Martin snatched a tall candle, lighted it, and then pressed it on the stub of his own candle that was nearly burned out.

When Death turned and saw what he had done, she frowned reprovingly.

“That, my friend, was an unworthy trick. However,