There once was a witch who had told a little girl, Carey, that she owned an invisibility ring. So she lured the girl back to her cabin deep in the woods with the intent of kidnapping her and making her a slave. But Carey tricked the witch, stole the magic ring, and escaped (which is another story for another time).

Carey was found in the woods by a man named Marley. He tricked Carey, returned her to her family, and now has the invisibility ring in his pocket.

In the meantime, Marley was using the ring as a game. He would sneak around and listen to people’s private conversations. He would sneak into the pub to steal a free mug of beer, and walk up behind people and tap them on the shoulder to confuse or scare them. One day, the baker looked up from his counter to see a loaf of bread floating out his front door. People began talk of a town ghost.

Marley began to notice, however, that the longer he wore the ring, the more tired he became. It seemed, the ring was draining his energy. One day when Marley passed by a mirror, he thought he saw an old man. On second look, he saw it was himself. Apparently, the ring was draining his youth and he was getting old really fast.

“I can’t go on like this,” Marley thought. “I have to get rid of this ring.” So Marley decided he would use the ring one last time to rob the bank. Then he would have enough money to last the rest of his life.

Marley knew what time the bank manager opened the safe every morning, so he waited until that time, then he put the ring on. He walked right past the bank manager and into the vault, then, as expected, the bank manager locked Marley inside.

Marley took off the ring and lit a candle that he had brought with him. He began to load a bag with very expensive items. The bag was small so that he could easily carry it when he made his escape. He found a few special gold coins, some of Mrs. Reed’s jewelry, and of course, he grabbed some cash. But best of all, he found a small bag of diamonds.

Marley had a good sleep while waiting for the manager to open the door the next morning. When he did, Marley slipped around the manager’s backside with his bag of stolen items. But Marley hadn’t gone far before old Mrs. Pennington yelled out, “Look at that bag floating out the door. It’s the town-ghost!” The bank manager ran out screaming “We’ve been robbed. Follow that bag!”

Everyone in the whole town began chasing the bag. Marley was beside himself, he didn’t know what to do. He knew the ring was making him older by the minute. This was probably the last time he could use it. But he surely did not want to drop the bag full of riches.

Marley was just far enough ahead of everyone that he made out for the woods. When he ran into the woods, not far along, he saw a hollow tree trunk and he tossed the bag inside of it and sat down to take a rest.

After all the people finally left. Marley took off his ring. He was now a 70-year-old man. But he was a rich old man.