Peer had a godfather who usually came there every Sunday during the winter and got a good warm meal.
Things had gone wrong for him， said the mother and the grandmother. He had begun as a coachman.He had been drinking and had fallen asleep at his post， and that neither a soldier nor a coachman should do. He then had become acabman and driven a cab， or sometimes a carriage， and of-ten for very elegant people.But now he drove a garbage wagon and went from door to door， swinging his rattle， "snurre-rurre-ud!"and from all the houses came the ser- vantgirls and housewives with their buckets full， and turned these into the wagon;rubbish and junk， ashes and sweep-ings， were all thrown in.
One day Peer came down from the garret after his mother had gone to town. He stood at the open gate， andthere outside was Godfather with his wagon."Would you like to take a drive?" he asked. Yes， Peer was willing to indeed，but only as far as the corner. His eyes shone as he sat on the seat with Codfather and was allowed to hold the whip.Peer drove with real live horses，drove right to the corner. Then his mother came along; she looked rather du- bious， for it was not very nice to see her own little son rid-ing on a garbage wagon.She told him to get down at once.
Still，she thanked Godfather;but at home she forbade Peer to drive with him again.
One day he again went down to the gate. There was no Codfather there to tempt him with a drive， but therewere other temptations. Three or four small street urchinswere down in the gutter，poking about to see what they could find that had been lost or had hidden itself there.Frequently they had found a button or a copper coin，but frequently， too， they had cut themselves on a broken bot- tle， or pricked themselves with a pin， which just now was the case.Peer simply had to join them， and when he got down among the gutter stones he found a silver coin.
Another day he was again down digging with the other boys; they only got dirty fingers ; he found a gold ring， andthen，with sparkling eyes， showed off his lucky find;whereupon the others threw dirt at him and called himLucky Peer.They wouldn't permit him to be with them any more when they poked in the gutter.
Back of the merchant's yard there was some low ground that was to be filled up for building lots;graveland ashes were carted and dumped out there，great heaps of it. Godfather helped deliver it in his wagon， but Peerwas not allowed to drive with him. The street urchins dug in the heaps， dug with a stick and with their bare hands;they always found one thing or another that seemed worth Picking up.
Then little Peer came along. They saw him and cried，"Get away from here，Lucky Peer!"And when， despite this， he came closer， they threw lumps of dirt athim. One of these struck against his wooden shoe and crumbled to pieces. Something shining rolled out， and Peer picked it up; it was a little heart made of amber. Heran home with it. The other boys did not notice that even when they threw dirt at him he was a child of luck.
The silver coin he had found was put away in his savings bank. The ring and the amber heart were shown to the merchant's wife downstairs， because the mother want-ed to know if they were lost articles that should be returned to the police.
How the eyes of the merchant's wife shone on see-ing the ring! It was her own engagement ring， one that she bad lost three years before! That's how long it hadlain in the gutter. Peer was well rewarded， and the money rattled in his little box. The amber heart was a cheap thing， the lady said;Peer might just as well keep that.
At night the amber heart lay on the bureau，and the grandmother lay in bed.
"My， what is it that burns so!" she said."It looksas if a small candle is lighted there."She got up to see，and it was the little heart of amber—yes，Grandmother， with her weak sight，frequently saw more than anyone else could see.She had her own thoughts about it.The next morning she took a narrow，strong ribbon，drew it through the opening at the top of the heart， and put it around her little grandson's neck.
"You must never take it off， except to put a new ribbon into it， and you must not show it to the other boys， either， for then they would take it from you， andyou would get a stomachache!"That was the only painful sickness little Peer had known so far. There was a strange power， too， in that heart. Grandmother showed him that when she rubbed it with her hand， and a little straw wasput next to it， the straw seemed to be alive and was drawn to the heart of amber and would not let go.