on sure and stable truth, not on dreams and fantasies. I have
learned to look for the real and the true."

My guide next showed me Prospero's magic wand, broken into three
fragments by the hand of its mighty master. On the same shelf lay
the gold ring of ancient Gyges, which enabled the wearer to walk
invisible. On the other side of the alcove was a tall looking-glass
in a frame of ebony, but veiled with a curtain of purple silk,
through the rents of which the gleam of the mirror was perceptible.

"This is Cornelius Agrippa's magic glass," observed the virtuoso.
"Draw aside the curtain, and picture any human form within your
mind, and it will be reflected in the mirror."

"It is enough if I can picture it within my mind," answered I. "Why
should I wish it to be repeated in the mirror? But, indeed, these
works of magic have grown wearisome to me. There are so many
greater wonders in the world, to those who keep their eyes open and
their sight undimmed by custom, that all the delusions of the old
sorcerers seem flat and stale. Unless you can show me something
really curious, I care not to look further into your museum."

"Ah, well, then," said the virtuoso, composedly, "perhaps you may
deem some of my antiquarian rarities deserving of a glance."

He pointed out the iron mask, now corroded with rust; and my heart
grew sick at the sight of this dreadful relic, which had shut out a
human being from sympathy with his race. There was nothing half so
terrible in the axe that beheaded King Charles, nor in the dagger
that slew Henry of Navarre, nor in the arrow that pierced the heart