The next day at noon his parents sent a messenger to him, bidding him return.  But the love of his golden stones was paramount to the wishes of kindred, and the unnumbered comforts of a happy home; and his reply to the messenger was, “I will return, when I have enough of these,” pointing to a large collection which was already higher than his head.  At nightfall hunger seized him.  He felt too weary to go in search of food, but the demand of nature asserted its claim, and he dragged himself to a field near by, where grew berries and fruits in abundance.  His spirits rose after the cravings of hunger were satisfied, and he lay down again by his precious pile of stones.

The days glided into weeks, and still he fed upon the berries and gathered the golden pebbles.  His father had ceased to send messengers to him, knowing that nothing but a long experience would teach his child the value of life’s many blessings, and that gold alone has no power to bless us.  The father suffered much in knowing and realizing that his son must learn the truths of life through such severe lessons; but wisdom told him it could not be otherwise.

The chill air of autumn came, and no longer could the fruits and berries ripen for him.  He saw some laborers one day in a field near by, eating their meal which they had brought from their homes.  Oh; what would he not now give for some of their meat and bread!  “I will go to them,” he said, “and offer some of my golden stores in exchange for just a few morsels.”

He did so; and they only smiled at his offer, saying, “What would then refresh and fit us for the rest of our day’s labor?  Surely your gold would not.”

“But it would help you to buy more,” he replied.

“Yes, to-morrow:  but we cannot spare a morsel to-day, for we need all our supply to strengthen us for our work.”

He turned away in deep thought.  Was he not losing all of life’s joys and comforts in living thus alone only to amass such quantities of gold?  But as he looked again on the shining treasures his ambition arose with increased power; and he forgot, for a time, his hunger in his toil.  Then a new thought came to him.  “Now that the fruits are gone I can go to the forest and gather nuts.  They will be better food, too, for these chilly autumn days.  Surely I am provided for, at least till winter,” and he left his labor and repaired to the woods, where he feasted and gathered enough for many days.

The household mourned much for their absent brother.  They missed him in their daily joys, and every hour they watched, waited, and hoped to see him return.  They almost rejoiced when the bleak winds of autumn swept the foliage from the trees, because they could look farther down the road for their brother.

“I shall soon be able to travel and see the world,” said the youth to himself every day as the pile of gold grew higher; but, alas for human calculation! he awoke one morning to find his huge mountain of gold one solid mass.  The action of the light, heat, and atmosphere had fused them together, and no exertion of his could break off even the smallest atom.