The pedlar laid his half-open pack on the grass. "Dip in your hand and take one, if you will." The young man dipped in his hand at a venture, and drew out one--the soul of an ape. "Not that! I will not have that!" cried he. "Then you will have none," said the pedlar, dropping the soul in his pack again. "If the great Soul Maker, who manufactures them by the million, allows neither picking nor choosing, beyond the casual dip of chance, do you think that a mere pedlar in souls, like myself, can do business on a basis which _he_ has found unprofitable? Pooh, man, get back your soul _if you can_, or else you may do without one, as far as I am concerned." And off strolled the pedlar, whistling as he went. The young man leaned his head dejectedly on his hand. "How can I get back my soul?" he moaned. "Why not live without one?" croaked a voice above his shoulder. He looked up, and saw a sooty old raven peering down at him. "Live without a soul! You'll never miss it," croaked the raven. "Can I?" cried the young man: amazed, yet hopeful. "_Can I?_" croaked the raven, mockingly echoing him. "_Can I?_ Of course you can, young fool!" "Then I will!" exclaimed the young man, starting to his feet. "That's right," croaked the raven. "You're the right sort--_you_ are!" "A capital idea that!" quoth the young man, cheerfully. He looked up, but the raven had hopped away among the branches. "Well, at any rate, his hint was well meant, and I'll follow it!" quoth the young man, striding out boldly towards the houses which he could just see glimmering beyond the edge of the wood. * * * * * "Ugh! How ugly and dirty it has become!" quoth the maiden, gazing in the crystal at the soul which she had coveted and stolen. "I will throw it away, it no longer amuses me!" And she threw it from her into the mire of the city: and the wheels and the feet rapidly buried it in the mud. * * * * * The grey-haired Bishop looked "so beautiful" in his coffin, that the deaconesses and the dear good sisters longed to kiss him. "None of 'em ever found out that you wanted a soul," croaked the raven, who sat perched on the window-sill, blinking in the sunshine. But there was no response to this: for how can a dead man talk? THE END. _Henderson & Spalding, Ltd., Marylebone Lane, London, W._ * * * * * Transcriber's Notes: Obvious punctuation errors repaired. Page 46, "her" changed to "Her" to fit context (secured for Her) Both hillside and hill-side were used in this book and were retained. In the original text, each story began with the title on a page alone, then a blank page, then the title was repeated at the start of the story itself. These repeated titles were removed to avoid redundancy. Text uses both Belovèd and Beloved once.