But the old man said never a word. First of all he drew a great circle with strange figures, marking it with his finger upon the ground. Then out from under his red gown he brought a tinder-box and steel, and a little silver casket covered all over with strange figures of serpents and dragons and what not. He brought some sticks of spice-wood from his pouch, and then he struck a light and made a fire. Out of the box he took a gray powder, which he flung upon the little blaze. Puff! flash! A vivid flame went up into the moonlight, and then a dense smoke as black as ink, which spread out wider and wider, far and near, till all below was darker than the darkest midnight. Then the old man began to utter strange spells and words. Presently there began a rumbling that sounded louder and louder and nearer and nearer, until it roared and bellowed like thunder. The earth rocked and swayed, and the poor fisherman shook and trembled with fear till his teeth clattered in his head. Then suddenly the roaring and bellowing ceased, and all was as still as death, though the darkness was as thick and black as ever. “Now,” said the old magician--for such he was--“now we are about to take a journey such as no one ever travelled before. Heed well what I tell you. Speak not a single word, for if you do, misfortune will be sure to happen.” [Illustration] “Ain’t I to say anything?” said the fisherman. “No.” “Not even ‘boo’ to a goose?” “No.” “Well, that is pretty hard upon a man who likes to say his say,” said the fisherman. “And moreover,” said the old man, “I must blindfold you as well.” Thereupon he took from his pocket a handkerchief, and made ready to tie it about the fisherman’s eyes. “And ain’t I to see anything at all?” said the fisherman. “No.” “Not even so much as a single feather?” “No.” “Well, then,” said the fisherman, “I wish I’d not come.” But the old man tied the handkerchief tightly around his eyes, and then he was as blind as a bat. “Now,” said the old man, “throw your leg over what you feel and hold fast.” The fisherman reached down his hand, and there felt the back of something rough and hairy. He flung his leg over it, and whisk! whizz! off he shot through the air like a sky-rocket. Nothing was left for him to do but grip tightly with hands and feet and to hold fast. On they went, and on they went, until, after a great while, whatever it was that was carrying him lit upon the ground, and there the fisherman found himself standing, for that which had brought him had gone. [Illustration] The old man whipped the handkerchief off his eyes, and there the fisherman found himself on the shores of the sea, where there was nothing to be seen but water upon one side and rocks and naked sand upon the other. “This is the place for you to cast your nets,” said the old magician; “for if we catch nothing here we catch nothing at all.”