Richberta was astonished and delighted to see that he had achieved his
purpose so soon, and bade him tell her of what the treasure consisted
which he had brought with him. The commander thereupon recounted his
adventures--the storm, the throwing overboard of their store of bread,
and the consequent sufferings of the crew--and told how he at length
discovered what was the greatest treasure on earth, the priceless
possession which the stranger had looked for in vain at her rich board.
It was bread, he said simply, and the cargo he had brought home was
corn.

Richberta was beside herself with passion. When she had recovered
herself sufficiently to speak she asked him:

“At which side of the ship did you take in the cargo?”

“At the right side,” he replied.

“Then,” she exclaimed angrily, “I order you to cast it into the sea from
the left side.”

It was a cruel decision. Stavoren, like every other city, had its quota
of poor families, and these were in much distress at the time, many of
them dying from sheer starvation. The cargo of corn would have provided
bread for them throughout the whole winter, and the commander urged
Richberta to reconsider her decision. As a last resort he sent the
barefooted children of the city to her, thinking that their mute misery
would move her to alleviate their distress and give them the shipload
of corn. But all was in vain. Richberta remained adamantine, and in full
view of the starving multitude she had the precious cargo cast into the