wooden peg
off the stump of his leg.

First, from the interior of the stump he pulled out an assortment of
rags used for stuffing, and to cushion the weight of his stump. Then,
after spreading a torn bandanna handkerchief near him, he tipped up
the stump and from its hollow peg, out rained a shower of coins!

Chris looked, and looked again. Gold and silver money flashed on the
crumpled handkerchief, and adding to it the last silver piece he had
held in his teeth, the loathsome cripple stirred the heap around and
around with one dirty forefinger, his mouth stretched in a cackle of
greed.

After a while he caught up the coins, counting them over not once but
many times, and at last let them fall slowly one by one into the
hollow peg of his stump, strapping it back securely. Finally, after
looking about with his face close to the ground to make sure that no
smallest coin had escaped him, the cripple replaced his eye patches
and heaved himself up with his crutch under his arm, turning to make
his way once more toward the docks and the ships. His wailing cry
lagged behind him like a cur dog: "Pity the blind! Pity the pore
crippled blind!" Yet Chris now noticed that his head was tilted back
to enable him to see under the patches as he went.

The boy was straining to see him out of sight when a resounding bellow
from Becky Boozer let him know that dinner was ready. Hastily shutting
the window and running downstairs, Chris could think of only one
thing.

"Becky!" he cried, bursting out at the bottom of the stairs, "Who is
the blind man that just went by--the hunchback?"

Becky never even turned from the plate she was preparing. "Oh, him?
That would be Simon Gosler, one of Claggett Chew's men. How he can be
a sailor beats me, but Claggett Chew has hired him for years, plague
take him! Now," and she came toward the sunny table with a beaming
smile, "eat up, young man, or I shall think my cooking does not please
you!"

Chris hurriedly set about proving his appreciation.

CHAPTER 10

The learning of magic was by no means easy. The days went by with
Chris's mornings and afternoons spent in Mr. Wicker's study, reading
books too heavy for him to lift, learning incantations by heart, and
how to blend simple formulae over the fire. He had told his master at
once about Simon Gosler, his horde of money and his hiding places for
it. Mr. Wicker though interested and attentive, gave Chris the
impression that what he had