“_Done!_” exclaimed the first brother; “what do you mean? I haven’t made a penny or seen anybody I think as well of as myself. There is nothing to be got by giving oneself all this trouble. The world is an overrated place, I can tell you. What have _you_ got out of it?” “Nothing,” said the second; “and I agree heartily with every word you have said.” At this moment they looked up and saw the third brother coming over a hillock. He did not look much more prosperous than themselves. “We won’t tell him,” they said; “we will pretend we have done wonders and made our mark, and then we’ll get a pretext to be rid of him before he finds out the truth. It would never do for him to lose his respect for us.” “Hi!” cried the youngest brother, “this is luck indeed!” And when he had greeted them he sat down beside them in the sand. “Hullo! how are you?” said the eldest. “Oh, well enough,” replied he. “And how have you got on, and how much money have you made?” “Oh, no money,” replied the young man, “but I think I have picked up a little experience.” “Pooh!” cried the others in a breath. “That’s all very well, but it isn’t good enough for _us_.” “Are you rich, then?” asked the youngest. “Rich?” cried the eldest, “did you say rich? I am rolling in gold. I have a great shop in which the merchandise of four kingdoms changes hands, and my counting-house is so fine that two Emperors drove up last Sunday and asked if they might be allowed to go over it. I said yes, of course. There was a Bishop in the carriage, too.” The youngest brother’s eyes grew round. “Well, that’s grand indeed,” he said. “And I,” broke in the middle brother—“I have no taste for buying and selling; in fact, I think it rather low. But a lady fell in love with me, so I married her. She inherited money from a Duke, who is her uncle, and she asks nothing better than I should spend it.” “Well, well, well!” exclaimed the youngest. Then he looked curiously at his companions. “And how is it,” said he, “that such great people as you have come here on foot? I should have imagined you would have arrived on horseback or in carriages.” “Oh, we live so close by that it was not worth while disturbing the servants,” they replied quickly. “Then you live in the nearest town and in the same house?” continued he. “Yes, yes,” answered the second. “My wife cherishes me so that she insisted upon my brother living with us, for fear I should feel homesick. It was very good of her, but what an idea to be homesick for such a hole as our mother’s farm, when I live in the finest house in the market-square!”