About this time the merchant who bought the wife of the poor king that was carried away by the rapid river visited that country for purposes of trade.  He obtained an interview with the king, and displayed before him all his precious stones and stuffs.  The king was much pleased to see such treasures, and asked many questions about them and the countries whence they had been brought.  The merchant satisfied the king’s curiosity, and then begged permission to trade in that country, under his majesty’s protection, which the king readily granted, and ordered that some soldiers should be placed on guard in the merchant’s courtyard, and sent the fisherman’s two sons to sleep in the premises.

One night those two youths not being able to sleep, the younger asked his brother to tell him a story to pass the time, so he replied, “I will tell you one out of our own experience:  Once upon a time there lived a great and wealthy king, who was very proud, and his pride led him to utter ruin and caused him the sorest afflictions..  One day when going about with his army, challenging other kings to fight with him, a great and powerful king appeared and conquered him.  He escaped with his wife and two sons to the sea, hoping to find a vessel, by which he and his family might reach a foreign land.  After walking several miles they reached the sea-shore and found a ship ready to sail.  The master of the vessel took the queen, but the king and his two sons were held back by some men, who had been hired by the master for this purpose, until the ship was under way.  The poor king after this walked long and far till he came to a rapid river.  As there was no bridge or boat near, he was obliged to wade across.  He took one of his boys and got over safely, and was returning for the other when he stumbled over a stone, lost his footing, and was carried down the stream; and he has not been heard of since.  A fisherman came along, and, seeing the two boys crying, took them into his boat, and afterwards to his house, and became very fond of them, as did also his wife, and they were like father and mother to them.  All this happened a few years ago, and the two boys are generally believed to be the fisherman’s own sons.  O brother, we are these two boys!  And there you have my story.”

The tale was so interesting and its conclusion so wonderful that the younger brother was more awake than before.  It had also attracted the attention of another.  The merchant’s promised wife, who happened to be lying awake at the time, and whose room was separated from the warehouse by a very thin partition, overheard all that had been said, and she thought within herself, “Surely these two boys must be my own sons.”  Presently she was sitting beside them and asking them many questions.  Two years or more had made great difference in the persons of both the boys, but there were certain signs which a hundred years could not efface from a mother’s memory.  These, together with the answers which