When the people went by the house to church the next day, they could hardly believe their eyes.  There was glass in the windows instead of wooden shutters, and the poor man and his wife, dressed in new clothes, were seen devoutly kneeling in the church.

“There is something very strange in all this,” said every one.

“Something very strange indeed,” said the rich man, when three days afterwards he received an invitation from his once poor brother to a grand feast.  And what a feast it was!  The table was covered with a cloth as white as snow, and the dishes were all of silver or gold.  The rich man could not in his great house, and with all his wealth, set out such a table, or serve such food.

“Where did you get all these things?” exclaimed he.  His brother told him all about the bargain he had made with the dwarfs, and putting the mill on the table, ground out boots and shoes, coats and cloaks, stockings, gowns, and blankets, and bade his wife give them to the poor people that had gathered about the house to get a sight of the grand feast the poor brother had made for the rich one, and to sniff the delightful odors that came from the kitchen.

The rich man was very envious of his brother’s good fortune, and wanted to borrow the mill, intending—­for he was not an honest man—­never to return it again.  His brother would not lend it, for the old man with the white beard had told him never to sell or lend it to any one, no matter what inducements might be offered.

Some years went by, and at last the possessor of the mill built himself a grand castle on a rock by the sea, facing west.  Its windows, reflecting the golden sunset, could be seen far out from the shore, and it became a noted landmark for sailors.  Strangers from foreign parts often came to see this castle and the wonderful mill, of which the most extraordinary tales were told.

At length a great foreign merchant came, and when he had seen the mill, inquired whether it would grind salt.  Being told that it would, he wanted to buy it, for he traded in salt, and thought that if he owned the mill he could supply all his customers without taking long and dangerous voyages.

The man would not sell it, of course.  He was so rich now that he did not want to use it for himself; but every Christmas he ground out food and clothes and coal for the poor, and nice presents for the little children.  So he rejected all the offers of the rich merchant, who, however, determined to have it.  He bribed one of the man’s servants to let him go into the castle at night, and he stole the mill and sailed away in triumph, feeling certain that his fortune was made.

He had scarcely got out to sea before he determined to set the mill to work.  “Now, mill, grind salt,” said he; “grind salt with all your might!—­Salt, salt, and nothing but salt!” The mill began to grind, and the sailors to fill the sacks; but these were soon full, and in spite of all that could be done, it began to fill the ship.