Karg mulled it over.  In fact he could not help but consider this, as he was driven to wonder what was coming next.  Kittlen also considered it, and it seemed to both men that, so far at least, there could have been no trick. There had been no sleight of hand, that was certain; they both had seen with their own eyes the stein slowly coming down over the coin.
        "Aye, I agree to that," said Karg finally, with a perplexed frown.
        "And would you agree that if I were to attempt to retreive the coin, I would need to lift the stein, or at least in some way touch it?"
        "Aye," Karg said easily.  The suggestion seemed to simply follow from the last. "There ain't no way around that, I think!"
        "Then I propose a small wager - say, a plate of Bixie Crunchies and a round of Ol' Tujim's to wash it down?" Karg was a sucker for the hard stuff, Rumple knew, and Ol' Tujim's Fierce Brew was a temptation to be reckoned with on this account.
        Karg, stroking his thick red beard, thought about the coin under the stein.  He tried to place himself in Rumple's shoes. Could a napkin perhaps be slipped under the stien to retreive the coin?  No, the stein was too heavy, and the coin too thick.   Could Rumple have some magic with which to transport the coin?  No, that would be the same as cheating - Rumple was never known to cheat anyone outright, though one might accuse him of it in jest.
        But then a possibility occured to him, and Karg stood up out of his barstool, and said loudly, "right here on this bar is a coin under a mug.  I'm puttin' a bet up with Rumple that says he can't get that coin without liftin' up that stein.   This is between me and him, so I don't wants to be seein' no one else touching this here mug, got it?"   Karg gave a serious look to all of 5 patrons who were present.  "Is that going to be agreeable to you, Mr. Rumple?"  Karg's grin was smug.
        Rumple appeared to think hard for a moment or two.   "Let me get this straight: this is between me and you, and no one else is to touch this Stein, yes?"
        "Them's my conditions.  Also...leave out the bixie crunchies.   I knows you like 'em, but I got no use for 'em whatever.  How you folks can eat that muck is beyond me."
        Rumple thought a moment more and said, "It's a deal."
        Karg sat back in his chair, and waited for Rumple's "solution."
        He didn't wait long, for in a moment Rumple's hand was under the bar, 3 full inches of wood below the stein.
        "What are ye..."   Karg trailed off, watching in consternation as Rumple's fingers seemed to be fumbling for something on the underside of the bar.
        Gradually there came a faint scratching sound...the sound of metal on wood.  The sound grew louder, until the sratching became a very odd, but very pronounced scraping sound. Karg's eyebrows furrowed in disbelief as he watched the Halfling's wrist turn and twist, working at something under the bar.  He turned to the face of Rumple and saw that he wore the smile of a tradesman enjoying his craft.  Then, after the crescendo of metal on wood had grown to a frenzied scraping, it stopped. Rumple's hand came out from under the bar, his fist closed.
        Karg stared down at the fist in sheer consternation and anticipation.  Then, slowly, the fist began to open, and as it did Karg thought he caught a glimpse of silver between the knuckles, and he held back a gasp.   Then the fingers opened fully in a quick flash, and there it was: a perfectly round platinum coin.
        Karg looked up in pure amazement at Rumple's face, which was simple and only faintly smiling.  Then Karg turned to the Stein, and the solution came to him in a flash.   Rumple had had two coins, and the one true coin still lay under the Stein.
        "Ha!"
        Karg jumped out of his seat and lifted the Stein.  There it was!   He had been right!  The coin was still there.  Karg beamed a smile of victory.
        "Ah, poor Rumple, I'm sorry yer little trick didn't--"
        Just then Rumple reached over and grabbed the coin off the bartop.   He tossed it in the air with a whimsical spin, caught it, and tucked both coins into his pocket so that they made a little clinking sound as they rattled against each other.  "'Ol Tujim's, Karg?   Or would ye maybe settle for a couple Pints of Grand Lager?  I prefer Grand Lager myself, and it is a wee bit cheaper."
        "wha..."
        "Throw in some bixie crunchies, and we'll call it even."
        "But..."
        "'Just between you and me.' Those were your words, yes? - no one else was to touch the Stein...and no one else did, I believe."
        "Bah! Darn you, you swaggler!" A look of anger crossed Karg's face, but it melted away after only a moment as he began to laugh. "Kittlen fetch me a pint of Lendel's, and one for me friend here, too. Rumple, yer a wonder if I ever did see one."
        Rumple began to laugh, and the whole bar with him. 
        As Kittlen poured out 2 pints of Lendel's finest, he chuckled heartily, "Be fairly warned, Karg, for the only 'wonder' about Rumple is him wondering how he's going to squeeze another pint out of ye when this Lager's run out!"

Edited by: Slyy Daugg at: 6/22/01 7:29:34 am

aye!

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Joonling Gutseeker<BR>
54th lvl Half-elf Rake<br> </font>
<font color="purple">Geraldine Lvl 21 Gnome Warrior <br>
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"It's all fun and games until someone gets their eye poked out; then it's just fun"<br>
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