THE ORDEAL

In the morning the shepherd opened the barn door and stood at its threshold. The old man’s body and hands were stiff, and the bread beside him stood intact. The Turk had died at night.

Panayot pulled the horse into the barn, put some hay in the manger, and went to fetch its saddle. As he held the inside of the saddle with one hand, he felt something solid and moving under the leather. He noticed that under one of the wooden barriers there was a slit cut with a knife. He put his hand in it. He pulled it as quickly as he could, and his handful shone with gold.

“There is a God’intervention in this job!” thought Panayot. He left the gold coins next to the saddle, turned to the east, and made a cross sign.