Tell me, dear prince, of what nature was the intercourse of the evil dwarf with man ?" "You know," answered the prince, "that to every species of living thing there is something in common; the vast chain of sympathy runs through all creation.

By that which they have in common with the beast of the field or the bird of the air, men govern the inferior tribes; they appeal to the common passions of fear and emulation when they tame the wild steed, to the common desire of greed and gain when they snare the fishes of the stream, or allure the wolves to the pitfall by the bleating of the lamb.

In their turn, in the older ages of the world, it was by the passions which men had in common with the demon race that the fiends commanded or allured them.

The dwarf whom you saw, being of that race which is characterized by the ambition of power and the desire of hoarding, appealed then in his intercourse with men to the same characteristics in their own bosoms,--to ambition or to avarice.

And thus were his victims made! But, not now, dearest Nymphalin," continued the prince, with a more lively air,--"not now will we speak of those gloomy beings.