piles of gold, and
allowing his now uncurbed fancy to change the one single room of the
wretched hovel into a splendid saloon, surrounded by resplendent mirrors
and costly hangings, while the untasted fare for the stranger on the
rude fir-table, became transformed, in his idea, into a magnificent
banquet laid out, on a board glittering with plate, lustrous with
innumerable lamps, and surrounded by an atmosphere fragrant with the
most exquisite perfumes.

The return of the stranger awoke the old man from his charming dream,
during which he had never once thought of the conditions whereby he was
to purchase the complete realization of the vision.

"Oh! what a glorious reverie you have dissipated!" exclaimed Wagner.
"Fulfill but one tenth part of that delightful dream----"

"I will fulfill it all!" interrupted the stranger: then, producing a
small vial from the bosom of his doublet, he said, "Drink!"

The old man seized the bottle, and speedily drained it to the dregs.

He immediately fell back upon the seat, in a state of complete lethargy.

But it lasted not for many minutes; and when he awoke again, he
experienced new and extraordinary sensations. His limbs were vigorous,
his form was upright as an arrow; his eyes, for many years dim and
failing, seemed gifted with the sight of an eagle, his head was warm
with a natural covering; not a wrinkle remained upon his brow nor on his
cheeks; and, as he smiled with mingled wonderment and delight, the
parting lips revealed a set of brilliant teeth. And it seemed, too, as
if by one magic touch the long fading tree of his intellect had suddenly
burst into full foliage, and every cell of his brain was instantaneously
stored with an amount of knowledge, the accumulation of which stunned
him for an instant, and in the next appeared as familiar to him as if he
had never been without it.

"Oh! great and powerful being, whomsoever thou art," exclaimed Wagner,
in the full, melodious voice of a young man of twenty-one, "how can I
manifest to thee my deep, my boundless gratitude for this boon which
thou hast conferred upon me!"

"By thinking no more of thy lost grand-child Agnes, but by preparing to
follow me whither I shall now lead thee," replied the stranger.

"Command me: I am ready to obey in all things," cried Wagner. "But one
word ere we set forth--who art thou, wondrous man?"

"Henceforth I have no secrets from thee, Wagner," was the answer, while
the stranger's eyes gle