of old, and in this condition, sometimes momentary only, whole scenes
were flashed before him, the faces of friends leagues away became
visible, and he seemed to touch their hands. At these times nothing
was hidden from him; it was necessary only that he should desire
fervently to see any particular person or place, and that the intent
of the wish should be innocent, and he became straightway clairvoyant.
To the blind man, deprived in early childhood of physical sight,
this miraculous power was an inestimable consolation, and Christmas
Eve became to him a festival of illumination whose annual reminiscences
and anticipations brightened the whole round of the year. And when
at length he died, the faculty remained a family heritage, of which
all his descendants partook in some degree, his two grandsons, as
his nearest kin, possessing the gift in its completest development.
And--most strange of all--the two hounds which lay couched before
us by the hearth, appeared to enjoy a share of the sorcerer's benison!
These dogs, Fritz and Bruno, directly descended from Hans, had often
displayed strong evidence of lucidity, and under its influence they
had been known to act with acumen and sagacity wholly beyond the
reach of ordinary dogs. Their immediate sire, Gluck, was the property
of a community of monks living fourteen miles distant in the Arblen
valley; and though the Raouls were not aware that he had yet
distinguished himself by any remarkable exploit of a clairvoyant
character, he was commonly credited with a goodly share of the
family gift.

"And the mule?" I asked thoughtlessly.

"The mule, monsieur," replied the younger Raoul, with a smile, "
has been dead many long years. Naturally he left no posterity."