of making voices proceed from
any person present."

He said no more. The little man looked up at him approvingly, and said,
modestly: "You are indeed wise, Serapion, and I will do my best to help
you. The next thing to be done is to seek representatives of the
great Alexander, of Apollonius of Tyana, and of Caesar's brother,
father-in-law, and wife."

"Not forgetting Papinian, the noblest of his victims," added the Magian.
"Back again already, Castor?"

These words were addressed to a tall and apparently elderly man in a
long white robe, who had slipped in without a sound. His demeanor was
so grave and dignified that he looked precisely like a Christian priest
impressed with the sanctity of his office; but hardly had he got into
the room, and greeted the Magian with much unction, than he pulled the
white garment off over his head, rubbed from his cheeks the lines which
gave him twenty added years, stretched his lithe limbs, and exclaimed
with delight:

"I have got her! Old Dorothea will bring her to your theatre!"--and the
young fellow's mobile face beamed with the happy radiance of success.

It almost seemed as though fermenting wine flowed in the man's veins
instead of blood; for, when he had made his report to the Magian, and
had been rewarded with a handful of gold-pieces, he tossed the coins
in the air, caught them like flies in the hollow of his hand, and then
pitched wheel fashion over head and heels from one end of the room
to the other. Then, when he stood on his feet once more, he went on,
without a sign of breathlessness:

"Forgive me, my lord! Nature asserts her rights. To play the pious for
three whole hours! Eternal gods, that is a hard task, and a man must--"

"I know all about it," Serapion broke in with a smile and a threatening
finger. "Now go and stretch your limbs, and then share your lightly
earned gains with some pretty flute-player. But I want you again this
evening; so, if you feel weak, I shall lock you up."

"Do," said Castor, as earnestly as if he had been promised some
pleasure. "What a merry, good-for-nothing set they are!-Dorothea will
bring the girl at the appointed hour. Everything is arranged."

Whereupon he danced out of the room, singing a tune.

"An invaluable creature!" said the Syrian, with an admiring glance.

"A better one spoiled," said Serapion. "He has the very highest gifts,
but is utterly devoid of conscience to set a limit to his excesses.
How should he have on