"Hui!" said he, "that is good! I have bought more for my penny than I
had in my bargain."

As for the hazel staff, he was not going to leave that behind, you may
be sure. So he sneaked about the place till he laid hand on it again;
then he stepped away, right foot foremost, for he did not know what the
master of black-arts might do to him if he should catch him.

Well, after he had left the town, he went along, tramp! tramp! tramp!
until, by-and-by, he grew tired and sat down beneath an oak-tree to rest
himself.

[Illustration: Claus listens to the talk of the two ravens]

Now, as he sat there, looking up through the leaves, thinking of nothing
at all, two ravens came flying and lit in the tree above him. After a
while the ravens began talking together, and this was what they said:

The one raven said, "Yonder is poor Claus sitting below us."

And the other raven said, "_Poor_ Claus, did you say, brother? Do you
not see the witch-hazel lying on the ground beside him?"

The one raven said, "Oh yes; I see that, but what good does it do him?"

And the other raven said, "It does him no good now, but if he were to go
home again and strike on the great stone on the top of the hill back of
Herr Axel's house, then it would do him good; for in it lies a great
treasure of silver and gold."