When he broke the stone in the street, over which the baker fell, its appearance led him to pocket a fragment for further examination; and since then he had satisfied himself that it was the kind of stone in which gold is found, and that the yellow particles in it were pure metal.

If such stone existed here in any plenty, he could soon make the king rich and independent of his ill-conditioned subjects.

He was therefore now bent on an examination of the rock; nor had he been at it long before he was persuaded that there were large quantities of gold in the half-crystalline white stone, with its veins of opaque white and of green, of which the rock, so far as he had been able to inspect it, seemed almost entirely to consist.

Every piece he broke was spotted with particles and little lumps of a lovely greenish yellow--and that was gold.

Hitherto he had worked only in silver, but he had read, and heard talk, and knew, therefore, about gold.