But I have no time to lose ; to-morrow I must begin to hunt for the precious plants . ' He did not dare to seek too near Plouhinec , lest somebody who knew the story might guess what he was doing , so he went away further towards the south , where the air was softer and the plants are always green . From the instant it was light , till the last rays had faded out of the sky , he searched every inch of ground where the magic plants might grow ; he scarcely gave himself a minute to eat and drink , but at length he found the crowsfoot in a little hollow ! Well , that was certainly a great deal , but after all , the crowsfoot was of no use without the trefoil , and there was so little time left . He had almost give up hope , when on the very last day before it was necessary that he should start of Plouhinec , he came upon a little clump of trefoil , half hidden under a rock . Hardly able to breathe from excitement , he sat down and hunted eagerly through the plant which he had torn up . Leaf after leaf he threw aside in disgust , and he had nearly reached the end when he gave a cry of joy -- the five-leaved trefoil was in his hand . The beggar scrambled to his feet , and without a pause walked quickly down the road that led northwards . The moon was bright , and for some hours he kept steadily on , not knowing how many miles he had gone , nor even feeling tired . By and bye the sun rose , and the world began to stir , and stopping at a farmhouse door , he asked for a cup of milk and slice of bread and permission to rest for a while in the porch . Then he continued his journey , and so , towards sunset on New Year 's Eve , he came back to Plouhinec . As he was passing the long line of stones , he saw Bernez working with a chisel on the tallest of them all . ` What are you doing there ? ' called the wizard , ` do you mean to hollow out for yourself a bed in that huge column ? ' ` No , ' replied Bernez quietly , ` but as I happened to have no work to do to-day , I thought I would just carve a cross on this stone . The holy sign can never come amiss . ' ' I believe you think it will help you to win Rozennik , ' laughed the old man . Bernez ceased his task for a moment to look at him . ` Ah , so you know about that , ' replied he ; ` unluckily Marzinne wants a brother-in-law who has more pounds than I have pence . ' ` And suppose I were to give you more pounds than Marzinne ever dreamed of ? '
whispered the sorcerer glancing round to make sure XXXXX no one overheard him .
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