After two hours it stopped raining and in the same moment the spell broke, which Peroquet and the Admiral and Captain Jumeau knew by a curious twist of their senses, as if they had tasted a string quartet, or been, for a moment, deafened by the sight of colour blue.

Ha!' said the tall man drily. 'He was in high luck. Rich old uncles who die are in shockingly short supply.

I was told once by some country people that a magician should never tell his dreams because the telling will make them come true. But I say that is great nonsense.

And how shall I think of you?' He considered a moment and then laughed. 'Think of me with my nose in a book!

you must learn to live as I do - in the face of constant criticism, opposition and censure. That, sir, is the English way.

Time and I have quarrelled. All hours are midnight now. I had a clock and a watch, but I destroyed them both. I could not bear the way they mocked me.

Strange bent over these things, with a concentration to rival Minervois's own, questioning, criticizing and proposing. Strange and the two engravers spoke French to each other. To Strange's surprize Childermass understood perfectly and even addressed one or twoquestions to Minervois in his own language. Unfortunately, Childermass's French was so strongly accented by his native Yorkshire that Minervois did not understand and asked Strange if Childermass was Dutch.