So he went in， and seated himself; then he folded his hands， and offered up his eveningprayer， and was soon fast asleep and dreaming， while the thunder rolled and the lightningFLASHed without. When he awoke， it was still night; but the storm had ceased， and themoon shone in upon him through the windows. Then he saw an open coffin standing in thecentre of the church， which contained a dead man， waiting for burial. John was not at alltimid; he had a good conscience， and he knew also that the dead can never injure any one.It is living wicked men who do harm to others. Two such wicked persons stood now by thedead man， who had been brought to the church to be buried. Their evil intentions were tothrow the poor dead body outside the church door， and not leave him to rest in his coffin.
“Why do you do this?” asked John， when he saw what they were going to do; “it is verywicked. Leave him to rest in peace， in Christ's name.”
“Nonsense，” replied the two dreadful men. “He has cheated us; he owed us money whichhe could not pay， and now he is dead we shall not get a penny; so we mean to have ourrevenge， and let him lie like a dog outside the church door.”
“I have only fifty dollars，” said John， “it is all I possess in the world， but I will give it toyou if you will promise me faithfully to leave the dead man in peace. I shall be able to get onwithout the money; I have strong and healthy limbs， and God will always help me.”
“Why， of course，” said the horrid men， “if you will pay his debt we will both promise notto touch him. You may depend upon that;” and then they took the money he offered them，laughed at him for his good nature， and went their way.
then he laid the dead body back in the coffin， folded the hands， and took leave of it; andwent away contentedly through the GREat forest. All around him he could see the prettiest littleelves dancing in the moonlight， which shone through the trees. They were not disturbed byhis appearance， for they knew he was good and harmless among men. They are wickedpeople only who can never obtain a glimpse of fairies. Some of them were not taller than thebreadth of a finger， and they wore golden combs in their long， yellow hair. They were rockingthemselves two together on the large dew-drops with which the leaves and the high grass weresprinkled. Sometimes the dew-drops would roll away， and then they fell down between thestems of the long grass， and caused a great deal of laughing and noise among the other littlepeople. It was quite charming to watch them at play. Then they sang songs， and Johnremembered that he had learnt those pretty songs when he was a little boy. Large speckledspiders， with silver crowns on their heads， were employed to spin suspension bridges andpalaces from one hedge to another， and when the tiny drops fell upon them， they glitteredin the moonlight like shining glass. This continued till sunrise. Then the little elves crept into theflower-buds， and the wind seized the bridges and palaces， and fluttered them in the air likecobwebs.
As John left the wood， a strong man's voice called after him， “Hallo， comrade， whereare you travelling?”
“Into the wide world，” he replied; “I am only a poor lad， I have neither father normother， but God will help me.”
“I am going into the wide world also，” replied the stranger; “shall we keep each othercompany?”
“With all my heart，” he said， and so they went on together. Soon they began to like eachother very much， for they were both good; but John found out that the stranger was muchmore clever than himself. He had travelled all over the world， and could describe almosteverything. The sun was high in the heavens when they seated themselves under a large tree toeat their breakfast， and at the same moment an old woman came towards them. She was veryold and almost bent double. She leaned upon a stick and carried on her back a bundle offirewood， which she had collected in the forest; her apron was tied round it， and John sawthree GREat stems of fern and some willow twigs peeping out. just as she came close up tothem， her foot slipped and she fell to the ground screaming loudly; poor old woman， shehad broken her leg! John proposed directly that they should carry the old woman home to hercottage; but the stranger opened his knapsack and took out a box， in which he said he had asalve that would quickly make her leg well and strong again， so that she would be able to walkhome herself， as if her leg had never been broken. And all that he would ask in return was thethree fern stems which she carried in her apron.
“That is rather too high a price，” said the old woman， nodding her head quite strangely.She did not seem at all inclined to part with the fern stems. However， it was not veryaGREeable to lie there with a broken leg， so she gave them to him; and such was the powerof the ointment， that no sooner had he rubbed her leg with it than the old mother rose up andwalked even better than she had done before. But then this wonderful ointment could not bebought at a chemist's.
“What can you want with those three fern rods?” asked John of his fellow-traveller.
“Oh， they will make capital brooms，” said he; “and I like them because I have strangewhims sometimes.” Then they walked on together for a long distance.
“How dark the sky is becoming，” said John; “and look at those thick， heavy clouds.”