Page:Artabanzanus (Ferrar, 1896).djvu/110

102 beautiful city, your gold, your castles, your kindness; have I not, Mr. —— But I believe I have forgotten to ask him his name,' said the Doctor with animation.

'His name is Ubertus,' said the Demon loftily, and with the air of a patron. 'He is the owner of the mountain on which lies the Great Lake of Tasmania, and the proprietor of all the fish.' (It need not be said that this was wholly untrue.)

'Mr. Ubertus,' continued the Doctor, 'has been giving me an account of an extraordinary luxurious couch, which he had the pleasure of lying upon at the corner of a street, and in consequence thereof I expected you to come every moment with Astoragus.'

'Oh, did you?' said the Demon sharply.

'Yes, sir, I did,' answered the unabashed Doctor, 'and I have the irons hot; shall I operate on his eyes?'

'No!' roared the Demon; 'I have sworn by the fire-tipped spear of my favourite minister Giovanni Maria, who used to course the streets of Milan at midnight with bloodhounds, that I'll boil him in the venom of crotalus horridus' (rattlesnake) 'and rackarock, and I'll get you to do it.'

'Very well, sir,' said the Doctor coolly; 'I'll do it.'

'And you won't mind his howls?'

'Not at all, sir; they'll be music to my very soul.'

Then here he is—hold him fast; if he escapes you will have some trouble to find him again. He has a particular talent, or genius, for turning himself into a flea, and I shall not wonder if he eludes even a clever man like you, while you are looking for him as a flea, by quietly slipping away from you. Put your spell upon him at once.'

'It is done already, sir; he is fixed. May I ask you, my gracious Sovereign, why, in the plenitude of your wisdom, you ever thought of appointing a fellow like him to be the General of your Larrikin Brigade?'