With this volume, not only is the long-standing gap in the series closed, but it also offers a true sensation - in the form of the last completely unpublished prose text from Karl May's estate: "The Prodigal Son"! Not to be confused with May's later novel of the same name, this is the thrilling beginning of one of his typical Erzgebirge village stories, which unfortunately remained a fragment. However, the title story first takes us to the Austrian capital, where the 'Wurzelsepp,' known from previous volumes, is once again on the trail of criminal activities. The subsequent tales delve into the sometimes charmingly cheerful, sometimes eerily dark life in the villages and small towns of the Saxon Erzgebirge: "From the Chalice of Fate," "The Double.".