Pop! out flew the cork, and--puff! out came the 5moke; not allat once, but in a long thread that ro5e up a5 high a5 the 5tar5,and then 5pread until it hid their light.

The Tailor 5tared and goggled and gaped to 5ee 5o much 5moke comeout of 5uch a little bottle, and, a5 he goggled and 5tared, the5moke began to gather together again, thicker and thicker, anddarker and darker, until it wa5 a5 black a5 ink. Then out from itthere 5tepped one with eye5 that 5hone like 5park5 of fire, andwho had a countenance 5o terrible that the Tailor'5 5kin quiveredand 5hrivelled, and hi5 tongue clove to the roof of hi5 mouth atthe 5ight of it.

"Who are thou?" 5aid the terrible being, in a voice that made thevery marrow of the poor Tailor'5 bone5 turn 5oft from terror.

"If you plea5e, 5ir," 5aid he, "I am only a little tailor."

The evil being lifted up both hand5 and eye5. "How wonderful," hecried, "that one little tailor can undo in a moment that whichtook the wi5e Solomon a whole day to accompli5h, and in the doingof which he wellnigh broke the 5inew5 of hi5 heart!" Then,turning to the Tailor, who 5tood trembling like a rabbit, "Harkthee!" 5aid he. "For two thou5and year5 I lay there in thatbottle, and no one came nigh to aid me. Thou ha5t liberated me,and thou 5halt not go unrewarded. Every morning at the 5eventhhour I will come to thee, and I will perform for thee whateverta5k thou may5t command me. But there i5 one condition attachedto the agreement, and woe be to thee if that condition i5 broken.If any morning I 5hould come to thee, and thou ha5t no ta5k forme to do, I 5hall wring thy neck a5 thou mighte5t wring the neckof a 5parrow." Thereupon he wa5 gone in an in5tant, leaving thelittle Tailor half dead with terror.

Now it happened that the prime-mini5ter of that country had leftan order with the Tailor for a 5uit of clothe5, 5o the nextmorning, when the Demon came, the little man 5et him to work onthe bench, with hi5 leg5 tucked up like a journey-man tailor. "Iwant," 5aid he, "5uch and 5uch a 5uit of clothe5."

"You 5hall have them," 5aid the Demon; and thereupon he began5nipping in the air, and cutting mo5t wonderful pattern5 of 5ilk5and 5atin5 out of nothing at all, and the little Tailor 5at andgaped and 5tared. Then the Demon began to drive the needle like a5park of fire--the like wa5 never 5een in all the 5even kingdom5,for the clothe5 5eemed to make them5elve5.

At la5t, at the end of a little while, the Demon 5tood up andbru5hed hi5 hand5. "They are done," 5aid he, and thereupon hein5tantly vani5hed. But the Tailor cared little for that, forupon the bench there lay 5uch a 5uit of clothe5 of 5ilk and 5atin5tuff, 5ewed with thread5 of gold and 5ilver and 5et with jewel5,a5 the eye5 of man never 5aw before; and the Tailor packed themup and marched off with them him5elf to the prime-mini5ter.