I’ll stick a label on him one of these days. Here’s something more harmless.”

“What’s in that?” said Frank.

“Supposed to be the most beautiful girl in the world,” said the old man. “All right, if you like that sort of thing. Myself, I’ve never troubled to undo her. I’ll find something more interesting.”

“Well, from a scientific point of view,” said Frank, “I—”

“Science isn’t everything,” said the old man. “Look at this.” He held up one which contained a tiny, mummified, insect-looking object, just visible through the grime. “Put your ear to it,” he said.

Frank did so. He heard, in a sort of whistling nothing of a voice, the words, “Louisiana Lad, Saratoga, four-fifteen. Louisiana Lad, Saratoga, four-fifteen,” repeated over and over again.

“What on earth is that?” said he.

“That,” said the old man, “is the original Cumaean Sibyl. Very interesting. She’s taken up racing.”

“Very interesting,” said Frank. “All the same, I’d just like to see that other. I adore beauty.”

“A bit of an artist, eh?” said the old man. “Believe me, what you really want is a good, all-around, serviceable type. Here’s one, for example. I recommend this little fellow from personal experience. He’s practical. He can fix you anything.”

“Well, if that’s so,” said Frank, “why haven’t you got a palace, tiger-skins, and all that?”

“I had all that,” said the old man. “And he fixed it. Yes, this was my first bottle. All the rest came from him. First of all I had a palace, pictures, marbles, slaves. And, as you say, tiger-skins. I had him put Cleopatra on one of them.”

“What was she like?” cried Frank.

“All right,” said old man, “if you like that sort of thing. I got bored with it. I thought to myself, ‘What I’d like, really, is a little shop, with all sorts of things in bottles.’ So I had him fix it. He got me the sibyl. He got me the ferocious fellow there. In fact, he got me all of them.”

“And now he’s in there?” said Frank.

“Yes. He’s in there,” said the old man. “Listen to him.”

Frank put his ear to the bottle. He heard, uttered in the most plaintive tones, “Let me out. Do let me out. Please let me out. I’ll do anything. Let me out.