ed the man.

'Thankfully,' said she, and he led her down, down, under the earth, till
they reached a great city. Then he married her, and in course of time
she had a son. And the baby was known throughout the city as 'Mohammed
with the magic finger,' because, whenever he stuck out his little
finger, he was able to see anything that was happening for as far as two
days' distance.

By-and-by, as the boy was growing bigger, his uncle returned from his
long journey, and went straight to his wife.

'Where are my mother and sister?' he asked; but his wife answered: 'Have
something to eat first, and then I will tell you.'

But he replied: 'How can I eat till I know what has become of them?'

Then she fetched, from the upper chamber, a box full of money, which
she laid before him, saying, 'That is the price of your mother. She sold
well.'

'What do you mean?' he gasped.

'Oh, your mother complained one day that her head was aching, so I got
in two butchers and they agreed to take her. However, I have got her
lungs and liver hidden, till you came back, in a safe place.'

'And my sister?'

'Well, while the people were chopping up your mother she ran away, and I
heard no more of her.'

'Give me my mother's liver and lungs,' said the young man. And she gave
them to him. Then he put them in his pocket, and went away, saying: 'I
can stay no longer in this horrible town. I go to seek my sister.'

Now, one day, the little boy stretched out his finger and said to his
mother, 'My uncle is coming!'

'Where is he?' she asked.

'He is still two days' journey off: looking for us; but he will soon be
here.' And in two days, as the boy had foretold, the uncle had found the
hole in the earth, and arrived at the gate of the city. All his money
was spent, and not knowing where his sister lived, he began to beg of
all the people he saw.

'Here comes my uncle,' called out the little boy. 'Where?' asked his
mother. 'Here at the house door;' and the woman ran out and embraced
him, and wept over him. When they could both speak, he said: 'My sister,
were you by when they killed my mother?'

'I was absent when they slew her,' replied she, 'and as I could do
nothing, I ran away. But you, my brother, how did you get here?'

'By chance,' he said, 'after I had wandered far; but I did not know
I should find you!' 'My little boy told me you were coming,' she
explained, 'when you were yet two days distant; he alone of all men has
that grea