his leg a little while ago, and his spirit of prophecy did not enable
him to foresee that, therefore I doubt his knowing about the weather."

"There have always been those who dealt in lying signs and wonders,"
said I, "from the days of Moses, when the magicians feigned to change
their rods into serpents, which of course they could not do really."

"They were clever at sleight-of-hand, I suppose," said La Croissette.
"So is Doctor Jameray. He can do many wonderful things. I can do some
of them myself. You see, some of his conjuring tricks require a second
person, who must not be known for his assistant; so that when he sets
out on his tours through the provinces, I generally do the same, and
contrive to cross his path, as if by accident. Then we play off on a
new set of people the tricks we have played twenty times before in
other places."

"Then needle-selling is only a blind?" said I.

"I turn a little money by it; the more, that I am careful always to sell
the best needles and pins. Thus I have acquired a name--the housewives
trust me; I have a character to support. And my character supports me."

"A good character always does so in the long run," said I.

"Well, I don't know what to say about that. You are too young to have
any authority of weight. It must be your father's wisdom, and I am not
sure it will stand the test."

"I feel sure of it," said I.