Page:Tales of old Lusitania.djvu/161

Rh by means of lines, dots, and points, and also how to practise legerdemain. He had books from which he gathered much of his information, and therefore it was absolutely necessary that his servant should not be able to understand them, and so become as clever as himself. But our lad read in the morning what his master wrote at night, and on one occasion, when his master was away from home for a few days, he read all his books and writings on magic, by which he learnt the science, and being now satisfied that he could work at this mysterious art as cleverly as his master, he left his situation and returned home to his parents.

When his mother saw him coming in she said,

"My son, how thin you have grown!"

"Never mind, mother, I have learnt an art by the practice of which we shall become very rich, and then I shall have time to grow stout again with better food and less work. You must know that I am going to transform myself into a greyhound, and my father must take me to the fair and sell me; but he must be careful not to sell the leash, as there is a charm in it, and it would be a great misfortune to me were it to fall into the possession of another person."

The lad, transformed into a dog, was accordingly taken to the fair by his father, and it soon attracted much attention on account of its remarkable appearance; and as it possessed all the points necessary