Atthethirdglasshiseyesgotbrighter， andhebegantotalk， thelittlefamilycircleregardingwitheagerinterestthisvisitorfromdistantparts， ashesquaredhisbroadshouldersinthechairandspokeofstrangescenesanddoughtydeeds； ofwarsandplaguesandstrangepeoples.
"Twenty-oneyearsofit， " ， noddingathiswifeandson."."
"Hedon' tlooktohavetakenmuchharm， " ， politely.
"I' dliketogotoIndiamyself， " saidtheoldman， "justtolookroundabit， youknow."
"Betterwhereyouare， " saidthesergeant-major， ， andsighingsoftly， shookitagain.
"Ishouldliketoseethoseoldtemplesandfakirsandjugglers， " saidtheoldman."Whatwasthatyoustartedtellingmetheotherdayaboutamonkey' spaworsomething， Morris？"
"Nothing， " saidthesoldierhastily."Leastways， nothingworthhearing."
"Monkey' spaw？" .
"Well， it' sjustabitofwhatyoumightcallmagic， perhaps，" saidthesergeant-majoroff-handedly.
.
"Tolookat， " saidthesergeant-major， fumblinginhispocket， "it' sjustanordinarylittlepaw， driedtoamummy."
， butherson， takingit， examineditcuriously.
"Andwhatistherespecialaboutit？" ， ashetookitfromhissonand， havingexaminedit， placedituponthetable.
"Ithadaspellputonitbyanoldfakir， " saidthesergeant-major， "' slives， ."
Hismannerwassoimpressivethathishearerswereconsciousthattheirlightlaughterjarredsomewhat.
"Well， whydon' tyouhavethree， sir？" saidHerbertWhitecleverly.
Thesoldierregardedhiminthewaythatmiddleageiswonttoregardpresumptuousyouth."Ihave， " hesaidquietly， andhisblotchyfacewhitened.
"Anddidyoureallyhavethethreewishesgranted？" .
"Idid， " saidthesergeant-major， andhisglasstappedagainsthisstrongteeth.
"Andhasanybodyelsewished？" inquiredtheoldlady.
"Thefirstmanhadhisthreewishes， yes， " wasthereply."Idon' tknowwhatthefirsttwowere， ' showIgotthepaw."
Histonesweresogravethatahushfelluponthegroup.
"Ifyou' vehadyourthreewishes， it' snogoodtoyounow， then， Morris， " saidtheoldmanatlast."Whatdoyoukeepitfor？"
Thesoldiershookhishead."Fancy， Isuppose， " hesaidslowly.
