friends soon gathered around him again.

The vessel of silver money lasted a week, and then it was all
gone; not a single piece was left.

Then the young man bethought himself again of the Talisman of
Solomon. "What shall I do now," said he, "to save myself from
ruin?"

"Earn thy bread with honest labor," said the Talisman, "and I
will teach thee how to prosper; but do not dig beneath the
fig-tree that stands by the fountain in the garden."

The young man did not tarry long after he heard what the Talisman
had said. He seized a spade and hurried away to the fig-tree in
the garden as fast as he could run. He dug and dug, and by-and-by
his spade struck something hard. It was a copper vessel, and it
was filled with gold money. Upon the lid of the vessel was
engraved these words in the handwriting of the old man who had
gone: "My son, my son," they said, "thou hast been warned once;
be warned again. The gold money in this vessel has been brought
from the treasure-house of the ancient kings of Egypt. Take it;
be advised by the Talisman of Solomon; be wise and prosper."

"And to think that if I had listened to the Talisman, I would
never have found this," said the young man.

The gold in the vessel lasted maybe for a month of jollity and
merrymaking, but at the end of that time there was nothing
left--not a copper farthing.