Unearned Luck

The cabin boy babbled of fairies laughing and singing, and a puckish sprite that flew through the air and kept the coin from him.

"An exchange they wanted," he said. "The fay queen demanded one kiss before she'd give up the gold."

"Aye, and did you dance the night with John Barleycorn as well?" they laughed.

But he was insistent in his story, and knew it to be true. For besides the coin he had regained, all the gold Titania gave him had disappeared when he touched it to iron. All save the coin, and the faint glimmer on his lips.