Stranica 128 [128]
LABOULAYE’S FAIRY BOOK
with pale and hollow cheeks, and eyes that glittered like
carbuncles.
“Where are you going so late, friend Piper?" asked he,
in a soft voice.
“To Drazic, Mr. Black Coat,” answered the intrepid
Swanda.
“Would you like to earn something by your music?"
“T am tired of blowing,” returned Swanda. “I have
some silver in my pocket, and wish to amuse myself.”
‘Who talks to you of silver? It is with gold that we
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pay.
Saying this, the stranger flashed before his eyes a hand¬
ful of shining ducats. The piper was the son of a thrifty
mother; he knew not how to resist such an invitation, and
followed the black man and his gold.
How the time passed he never could remember. It is
true that his head was a little heavy. The only thing
that he recollected was that the black man warned him to
accept whatever was offered him, whether gold or wine,
but never to return thanks except by saying “‘Good luck,
brother!”
Without knowing how he had entered, he found himself
in a dark room where three men, dressed in black like his
guide, were playing at strajak by no other light than their
glittering eyes. On the table were piles of gold, and a
jug from which each one drank in his turn.
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