pick out the finest. You might also go to the
Nuremberg shop and let him choose the most beautiful horse, and whatever
else among the toys that he wishes for, no matter how expensive it may
be; for I owe it in part to my boy that I have attained my object, and I
must hurt him a bit more. But don't be afraid! He will hardly feel it."

What did that remarkable man have in mind? Certainly, no good!

As Frau Schimmel felt that she stood in the place of a mother to her
darling, she demanded respectfully what the doctor meant to do to the
child.

He answered in some embarrassment, and without looking at the old lady;
"It is because I have need of a larger quantity of the elixir. If I were
to bleed another child--and bleeding is good for every one, big or
little--they would accuse me of practising the black arts and perhaps,
after their fashion of making a mountain out of a molehill, would
denounce me as an infanticide. Therefore the boy must spare a few more
drops of his blood, and he will do so gladly if he receives something
pretty as a reward. I am very skilful and can draw the blood without
hurting him."

When, however, Frau Schimmel clasped her hands, and Zeno, whimpering, hid
his face in her skirts, the doctor hastened to add: "There, there, I am
not going to do it at once, and perhaps it is just as well that I should
experiment with my own blood first. So take the boy out and buy him the
finest plaything you can find, and leave a message at Herr Winckler's; he
is to come to-day to The Three Kings, for I have something very important
to communicate to him."

The old lady was very glad to get the child beyond the reach of his
father. His happiness was as incomprehensible to her, as his design on
the blood of his child was dreadful, and she led the boy forth quickly.
The doctor, however, went into the laboratory with wavering steps, and in
the next half hour prepared more of the elixir into which he mixed some
of his own blood.

The effect was the same as if he had used the blood of his child.

This delighted him so much that he fairly beamed with pleasure. But even
then he gave himself no rest. He took the elixir which he had made the
day before into the library, and there he wrote and wrote.

At noon he allowed a morsel of food to be brought to him, and ate it
seated at his desk. When he had finished he continued his work with his
pen, sealing-wax and seal, until the notary, Herr Winckler, called
towards evenin