jump of joy. 'Oh, how stupid of me not to think of that before!'
said he, and he wished with all his might that the Bad One should
become very hungry--so hungry that he could not wait a moment for
fresh food to be brought to him. And sure enough at that instant
the Bad One called out to his servant, 'You did not bring food
that would satisfy a sparrow Fetch some more at once, for I am
perfectly starving.' Then, without giving the woman time to go
to the larder, he got up from his chair, and rolled, staggering
from hunger, towards the kitchen.

Directly the door had closed on the Bad One the boy ran in,
pulled down a bag of gold from the beam, and tucked it under his
left arm. Next he unhooked the little bridge and put it under
his right. He did not try to escape, as most boys of his age
would have done, for the wisdom put into his mind by the good
spirits taught him that before he could reach the river and make
use of the bridge the Bad One would have tracked him by his
footsteps and been upon him. So, making himself very small and
thin, he hid himself behind a pile of buffalo skins in the
corner, first tearing a slit through one of them, so that he
could see what was going on.

He had hardly settled himself when the servant entered the room,
and, as she did so, the last bag of gold on the beam fell to the
ground--for they had begun to fall directly the boy had taken the
first one. She cried to her master that someone had stolen both
the bag and the bridge, and the Bad One rushed in, mad with
anger, and bade her go and seek for footsteps outside, that they
might find out where the thief had gone. In a few minutes she
returned, saying that he must be in the house, as she could not