ed. This strange behaviour led
me to try other experiments with him, and all succeeded. I gradually
led him up to the point I desired--that is, _I_ FORCED HIM TO RECEIVE
MY THOUGHT AND ACT UPON IT, as far as his canine capabilities could do,
and he has never once failed. It is sufficient for me to strongly WILL
him to do a certain thing, and I can convey that command of mine to his
brain without uttering a single word, and he will obey me."

I suppose I showed surprise and incredulity in my face, for Heliobas
smiled at me and continued:

"I will put him to the proof at any time you like. If you wish him to
fetch anything that he is physically able to carry, and will write the
name of whatever it is on a slip of paper, just for me to know what you
require, I guarantee Leo's obedience."

I looked at Zara, and she laughed.

"It seems like magic to you, does it not?" she said; "but I assure you
it is quite true."

"I am bound to admit," said Prince Ivan, "that I once doubted both Leo
and his master, but I am quite converted. Here, mademoiselle," he
continued, handing me a leaf from his pocket-book and a pencil--"write
down something that you want; only don't send the dog to Italy on an
errand just now, as we want him back before we adjourn to the
drawing-room."

I remembered that I had left an embroidered handkerchief on the couch
in Zara's room, and I wrote this down on the paper, which I passed to
Heliobas. He glanced at it and tore it up. Leo was indulging himself
with a bone under the table, but came instantly to his master's call.
Heliobas took the dog's head between his two hands, and gazed steadily
into the grave brown eyes that regarded him with equal steadiness. This
interchange of looks lasted but a few seconds. Leo left the room,
walking with an unruffled and dignified pace, while we awaited his
return--Heliobas and Zara with indifference, Prince Ivan with
amusement, and I with interest and expectancy. Two or three minutes
elapsed, and the dog returned with the same majestic demeanour,
carrying between his teeth my handkerchief. He came straight to me and
placed it in my hand; shook himself, wagged his tail, and conveying a
perfectly human expression of satisfaction into his face, went under
the table again to his bone. I was utterly amazed, but at the same time
convinced. I had not seen the dog since my arrival in Paris, and it was
impossible for him to have known where to find my handkerchief, or to
rec