where was the shell which when held to the ear whispered all the words
that were being spoken by anyone the master desired to know about. The
lad tried in vain with the crucibles to turn copper and lead into gold
and silver--he looked long and vainly into the mirror; smoke and
clouds passed over it, but he saw nothing plain, and the shell to his
ear produced only indistinct murmurings, like the breaking of distant
seas on an unknown shore. "I can do nothing," he said; "as I don't
know the right words to utter, and they are locked up in yon book."

He looked round, and, see! the book was unfastened; the master had
forgotten to lock it before he went out. The boy rushed to it, and
unclosed the volume. It was written with red and black ink, and much
of it he could not understand; but he put his finger on a line and
spelled it through.

At once the room was darkened, and the house trembled; a clap of
thunder rolled through the passage and the old room, and there stood
before him a horrible, horrible form, breathing fire, and with eyes
like burning lamps. It was the demon Beelzebub, whom he had called up
to serve him.

"Set me a task!" said he, with a voice like the roaring of an iron
furnace.

The boy only trembled, and his hair stood up.

"Set me a task, or I shall strangle thee!"

But the lad could not speak. Then the evil spirit stepped towards him,
and putting forth his hands touched his throat. The fingers burned his