Page:Libussa, Duchess of Bohemia; also, The Man Without a Name.djvu/28

hatchet or an axe, they came to Krokus for advice, who told them where to look for the lost things. When a wicked neighbour had stolen something from the common property, or had broken into a neighbour’s house and robbed or killed the landlord, and nobody could guess who was the criminal, they went for counsel to the sage Krokus. He assembled them in an open field, made them form a circle, then stepping into the middle, bowled the never-missing sieve,^[7] which invariably detected the culprit. Thus his reputation spread all over Bohemia; and whoever had a case or business of consequence, went to the wise man to ask his opinion about the issue. The invalid and the sick also came to him to be cured; even diseased cattle were brought to him, for he understood as well how to cure them by his own shadow as did the famous St. Martin of Schierbach.^[8] The concourse of people which came to visit him augmented daily, as if Apollo’s tripod^[9] had been transplanted into the Bohemian forest; and although Krokus gave advice gratis to the sick, the diseased, and the care-worn, still the treasure of his secret wisdom brought him large interest and great gain, for the people came with presents and donations, and overwhelmed him with proofs