"The magician is ready; it is I, but unless you give me five hundred
sequins cash down we cannot agree."

"I have no money."

"Then sell me the knife:"

"No."

"You are wrong, for now that I have seen it I can easily take it from
you. But I am honest enough not to wish to play such a trick upon you."

"You could take my knife from me? I should like to be convinced of that,
but I do not believe it."

"You do not? Very well, to-morrow the knife will be in my possession, but
when it is once in my hands you need not hope to see it again. A spirit
which is under my orders will bring it to me at midnight, and the same
spirit will tell me where the treasure is buried:"

"Let the spirit tell you that, and I shall be convinced."

"Give me a pen, ink and paper."

I asked a question from my oracle, and the answer I had was that the
treasure was to be found not far from the Rubicon.

"That is," I said, "a torrent which was once a river:"

They consulted a dictionary, and found that the Rubicon flowed through