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The Emperor laughed so heartily that if he has not stopped laughing he is laughing still.

John Twist and the Witches

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His friends warned him that they were both witches, and that he ought to be very cautious, but he refused to believe them. One day, however, he determined to discover if it were true.

That day when he visited his fiancée, he pretended to be very tired, and after having chatted a while with the two women, he tipped his chair against the wall, drew down the peak of his cap over his eyes, in order to see what took place without appearing to do so, and feigned sleep.

“I think he is sleeping soundly,” the mother said to her daughter.

“I will make certain,” said the girl. She called him softly by name. The young man apparently heard nothing, and never moved a muscle.

The two women were quite reassured. The mother put on a beautiful red dress, and her daughter dressed herself in her best clothes. They then removed two bricks from the back of the stove, took out a little jar of pomade and rubbed it on their faces and hands.