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Show M 1 Jewel Mysteries From a Dealer's Notebook f" My II A photoKrapli of My Lady of tho Eap- I phlrcs Is hung' Immediately opposite to It , the writing tabic In my private office. It I, L i Is thcro much on tho princlpto which I VI compels a monk lo set a skull upon hla I v 1 praying stool, or a son of Mohammed to I j. ejaculate pious phrases at ihe call of I, ,A the muezzin. "Nemo solus saplt." wrote ti Plautus. J-Iad Fate cast him In the mold j1 of a Jeweler, rather than that of a play- ij wrlght. he would have set down a s-trong- ', Jj er phmac. - I first saw my lady two years ago. I though It was only upon the day of my Introduction thatl learned her iinmo. She 1 4 had then, though I know It not, been bo- i ' fore tho town for mnny wocks as a , II physiognomist, a mistress of the stars, a ' J reader of faces, and In many other ca- ' ui pacltles Interesting to the Idle nnd Inc credulous. Society, which laughed at hor predictions, paid innumerable guineas for 4 the possession of them; great dames sat In her boudoir and discussed amatory 1 possibilities: even the youth of tho city. . j drawn by tho prcttlncss of her manner ir' and her unquestionable good looks, came t J cheerfully to hear that they would have 1' "money from two sources," or had .' passed through the uninteresting complaints com-plaints of Infancy without harm. In her , way. she was the event of tho season. y 1 1 Dowagers scolded her, but came again V to nrobe family secrets, and learn tho 1 hidden things about their husbands; men 'J flocked to her to know what possibility there was of an early return to the bliss ' I of slnglo life: mere boys ventured upon 4 (! the hazard of a little mild flirtation and ; were at once shown the doer by a formld- t 1 able lackey. Throughout her career scan- r. dal never lifted Its volco against her. She ' Si was insasod ultimately to Jack Lucas, t; and her marriage was as brilliant as her . w! career had been fortunate. Ill Jj When a curious chance and combina- H j tion of events first brought mc. to nc- I quaintancc with her she was In tho very J height of her practice. Carriages jj 'l crowded daily In Dover street where. I 4r with her mother, she had rooms and it ; was the thing to consult her. Yet. until 1 w dined casually one night with Colonel t J Oldfleld. the collector of cat's eyes, and I 4 I Brncobrldge. at tho Bohemian club, hard I c ' , by her house. I had never heard of her. I J ij The conversation turned during the soup I I when talk Is always watery upon the I '.; press of broughams In the street wlth- I V J out, and Oldfleld mentioned her history 1 . ! to me, and the surprising nature of many I " things she had told him. I' "It Is easy enough." said he, "to look I 1i at a man's hand and deduce scarlet fe- 'Hi ver and measles somewhere between two I tJ li and twelve years of age: but when a wo- R , :! man tells you calmly that you wore ready I ' l to die for two other women at tho age I " ,1 of onc-and-twenty. It's a thing to make I .;! you pause." "Which I hope you did." exclaimed I , Braccbridge. "Love is distinctly a mat- I -' j! ter for specialization." . "I did pause, sir," said the colonel I , , severely, "and that's where her elcvcr- ness came In. She told mc that neither J 534,' of the women cared the snap of a linger I ". 1 for me. and -I have really come to the I O conclusion that she was right. Years put ' a glamor upon most things, but It Is .1 hard, even at 50, lo recall a woman's 'no' J of thirty years ago. i "Memory Is a dangerous vice which Fhould be controlled." said Bracebrldgc: , j.- .j "If vou want pence you must learn to i'. forget There should be no yesterday for ;;') the man of the world. But I know the ; . V' morbid mind of recollection you spealc 2 about. There was a follow here only PS, ; the other night who kept" a proposal book. ? . -f He" put the 'noes' on on, side, and the L j ' j 'aves' on the other, and balanced the 2 ' columns ever' Christmas. One day he ' 1- Wt the book in a cab. and has spent his y, time, since going to Scotland Yard for it. '.' That comes of reminiscences!" rf': i "I agre with you In tho main." said ' the colonel. "There is very little in any , . i1 man's private life which Is of concern 'i to any one but himself. The lady we are speaking of Knows this, and makes ' 3' her fortune by her knowledge. The truth Is that we all love a little plain- 'ii spokenness. There Is far too much praise 3! ( about. Tell a fool that he Is not. a 'j clever man discreetly, and you Hatter I, him: inform him that he Is a brainless f.s ass. and he. will kick you. But when rjvjj vou nut a black cap on your head, and m -A takc a wand In vour hand, and charge a IM'td i guinea for the spectacle, the fool will '.if-?;-., hear of his folly cheerfully." tie "Then the girl you mention is a mere ';f! vulgar fortune-teller." said I. Interven-B Interven-B IS for the first lime. "It's astonishing ;.y how little difference there is. when you IM'"i,yi come to reckon it up. between tho tastes H .;'Uj of a grand dame and the tastes of her HI took. The one goes in at the front door tHf i'Sh to get her hand read for a guinea: the HVitf' other goes out of the back to have an 1 ' ! equallv plausible delineation for sixpence. Credulity does not know any distinction I of class; In the case I mention rank Is IM'?' represented by one pound odd. Those Bl3ri of us wn0 liavc 110 particular objection Ifwi lo sP,t sa,l sli'vcr to sco the now moon through glass. That man alone who H-ffC fft"s you frankly that he believes In all M.ftMTi superstitions Is fro from the blemish. Htt)fKJi common fortune-telling. I confess, iVenft leaves me unmoved." MivflE "M lt began and ended In the mere H&uSt vulgar allotment of tragedy and of mar- ffifSni riage. I should agee with you," said BtfiiRi Braccbridge. speaking with unusual tmj' seriousness; "but I am Inclined to think HSQkI' lnat lnls Is a caso of noteworthy clcver- S3, ness. or at least of uncommon wit.Thc HaJKllr 'rl possibly. I? a charlatan; but If one- Miclf lia said of nor be r,ie' S,1C ,s tI,e H'sli C5t at tn4 profession we have known. iljtfjr And. after all. It's an achievement to jM1 be the best at some oecupatlon, if Jt's only Srag: that of picking pockets." MjH' "Speaking of that." said Oldfleld. "I wlljwi onco knew a man In the 'Sixtieth' who HStTNi was ProUfl becaiise a society paper dc-Hwfjn dc-Hwfjn scribed him as the finest Idler in Europe. MI Th8t was a negative distinction of sur-HSiwI sur-HSiwI passing beauty, you must admit. In the BffrJlSI lady's cane, however, there Is something J substantial to praise. She can talk of tjSiI things of which I would not attempt to H&ffil Kpell the name, with a fluency which Is are Si charming, if It Is not accurate; she lias JtiKM' a room f unreadable books.' and I HhBtt believe there are a dozen men In town HjS?4jT who will swear that sho has made dla-Ijiii dla-Ijiii monds before their very eyes. That HsIr' should interest j'ou. Sutton. A woman BiiS-ttl' "v,n0 'B tne possessor of what sho calls Hwifii 'alkahe6t or universal solvent, is not H?ul ',0 lnl-er-lcwed for a guinea every day. Jv Besides, she might give you come useful ifl ! "And "who knows." said Braccbridge, Hfff'Jli "what might come of it? I presume you Wmb; pay three pounds odd an ounce for the ujut genuine metal today. Under certain con-BtoiF. con-BtoiF. it' tlngencles. you might get It for three.-HsjUi three.-HsjUi I pence and a wife into the bargain." HlSfl t: listened to their banter with amuse-lifti!' amuse-lifti!' ment for Borne minutes, and then cut In a 1"-tl seriously. BlLil 1 not Bflid I. "that physl- fl Ti ognomy and alchemy usually ran well In Krlnl double harness, but I must take your rflill word for It. Anything of this sort is al- otLH ways amusing to a Jeweler, though he Js TbS anl 10 peL a l'lt'e 'oo much of. it. The Ml l88t gold maker who came to mo began IfSrU' v Premising to make a million In six fltmii months, and ended by wanting to borrow loir nn" a crown' I ve Reen scores of that ISuinf' "You may laugh at her as much hh iWW you please." said Oldfleld; "but of one IJfl thing he assured. If I am any Judge Mfeih precious stones at nil, she can make lEIjJh rubles, and good ones, too. She cast one IKfj for me when I was last at her place, and IHfPn 7 offered her 50 upon the npot for It. IMtlr quack would have taken t lie money, Imrl1 but she refused It; you couldn't want any flnj better proof of .her bona fides than that." BflMBi "Pardon me." I Interrupted, "but I Ij can't accept the conclunlon. Probably B1 the ruby you thought she made was the IjKli only one In the place. It was like the iBn stock knife of the Cheap Jack, You KflH couldn't expect her to part with it." HK ."Certainly T did. If she had made only n one stone, I should have Jumped to your BBH opinion; but she turned them out by j the dozen. Mont of them wore small; BHM some were altogether too insignificant to MBflJ notice. One 'only, as I say. was substan- Apn tlnl. and in explanation of that, sho ad- mlttcd her want of control over the nc- tion of the rrvslals In the crucible. Some- jV times they will prove worth money; more HHHV often they are quite without value. But BjSJ she has hopes that the day will come BDjnJ when she will complete a discovery which nftl will astonish the universe " "They all hope that." said I; "but the J universe remnlns unmoved." HBJ "And. of course, you don't believe a 81 Si wprl of it." cried Braccbridge, as hu 39fj helped himself lo salad. "Well, It's part jj of your business, I suppose, to believe only In what you see, and not altogether In that. But the colonel's right about tho girl, and I can second every word lie says. She made a piece of gold as big as your thumbnail before my very eyes. There was no pretense or humbug about It; and I may toll you that she'll only do this sort of thing for those sho knows well. If you went to her tomorrow, and said, 'I want to r.ce your experiments,' she'd laugh at you and send you away feeling like a fool." "And seriously." said I, beginning to experience a glimmer of Interest, "you believe that she has discovered something of Importance V" "Seriously I do; nnd if you went to her house you would swear by her for the next month possibly for two." "You don t convince me at all." I replied, re-plied, trying to look utterly unconcerned. "I havo known too many gold makers for that. Sonic of them ore now In workhouses; work-houses; others aro In prison. One of the last got three months for stealing an overcoat, which was ridiculously unro-mantlc." unro-mantlc." "Not at all." said the colonel: "theft is a complex subject capable of analysis. A thief Is a man who buys In the cheapest market. We all try to do that In our own way. There Is no earthly reason why a savant, who Is near to possessing tho philosopher's stone, should not be charged before a magistrate with .stealing a red herring; Life Is all contrast and the contrast we speak of Is a very pretty one. Go and see her at your carllost opportunity." oppor-tunity." "That's my advice too." said Bracebrldgc: Brace-brldgc: "and If you've a fancy to watch her at tho crucible. I'll speak for you. What's more, I'll hot you an ovon hundred hun-dred pounds that, you admit my conclusions." I Which arc" I asked. "That she has come nearer to tho solution so-lution of the diamond problem than any man or woman living or dead." "I don't hot on certainties." said I; "but If you care to trouble the lady to burn her doubtlessly pretty hands on my account, well, let's have tho Interview by all means. If she convinces mo that she can make any sort of precious stone "worth selling In the market. I'll give a hundred pounds to a children's hospital the colonel can name it." "Is It a serious offer?" asked tho colonel, col-onel, looking as I thought, a little meaningly mean-ingly at Braeehrldgo. but 1 said "I was never more serious, and town will bo quite dismal enough after this week" (It wa3 tho week of Goodwood). "Ilx it up as early as you can; and conjure tho lady, whose name I have not yet had tho pleasure of hearing, to take care of your reputation. If she can cast mc a ruby or a sapphire worth looking at, I will set it In diamonds and make her a present of it. You may tell hor so from mc." "I'll give her your message undiluted." undi-luted." said Braccbridge. with a groat deal of content, "but I'll warrant that she'll have the laugh on you, and so shall we." They said no more upon the matter until the end of the dinner, and It was not referred to in the smoking room after. We quitted the club at an early hour to hear a song nt a music hall which the colonel raved about; and after that I left them and returned to Bavs-water. Bavs-water. with the recollection of my rash promise gone clean out of my head. 1 did not even recall It on the following morning, and It was some thrco days after that I received a note from the colonel saying that he had. during Bracc-brldge's Bracc-brldge's absence from town, made an appointment ap-pointment for mc with Miss Jessie Flem-nilng Flem-nilng for such was tho fair alchemist's name and that sho would be glad to tell me anything she could about her work on the following afternoon at 2:30 o'clock. The letter at once brought to my mind the wholo of the conversation at the club. I remembered with a smile of contempt that the lady was to show me. during a short Interview, how the whole of a jeweler's occupation was soon to be done with; how diamonds and sapphires sap-phires and even the precious metal itself it-self were presently to be as common as pebhlcs in a brook; and 1 concluded with easy assurance that If any chll- j dren's hospital depended upon my be- '"( tuiniiui.'u 11 ivuuiu nuve iu viusu us doors at an early date. I had seen so much of this sort of thing: so many stories of fortunes lying in a metal pot had been whispered Into my ear; this could bo put as an addition to the list; It remained to see If It would be an amusing amus-ing addition. I will, confess readily that If the pretender pre-tender had been a man. I would havo declined de-clined curtly to see him. The whole of those who had come to me hitherto with a prelcnded Insight Into the arcana of metals were men mostly half-pay officerswhose offi-cerswhose wits were half gone with their money. Here, however, was. by all accounts, a charming professor of the lost art. The season was beginning to be dull; there were no more "at homes:" possibly she would amuse me. 1 had given my promise to the men and to put It briefly I found myself at Miss Jessie Fleming's door on the following day. not a little expectant, disdainfully Incredulous, Incredul-ous, nnd exceedingly anxious to prove for myself If the physiognomist's personal attractions were even a tithe of those which had been claimed for her bv so many long-headed and usually sensible men. My knock at the modest looking portal was answered by a formidable flunky, who did not wait to hear my name, but conducted me up a staircase draped almost al-most to darkness with heay curtains, and ho lo a well furnished waiting room on the fltst floor. Here three women, ah well known In society, ere engaged in an heroic effort to appear absorbed In the iflii3trated papers, but they were obviously ob-viously uncomfortable at my presence, and cast furtive looks over the pages as though In appeal to mc to make no mention men-tion of anything I had seen. I had no opportunity, however, to abate their fear of publicity; for scarce was I come Into the room when the flunky appeared again at the folding doors which cut It off from the sanctum of my lady, and beckoned me to "follow him. I had come out on this expedition purely, pure-ly, as. I Jiave said, to be amused. When I found myself at last before the new I'ythia of London, enthroned ns she was for the Immediate interpretation of tho oracle, I confess that I did not foresee any disappointment of the venture. The room was half in darkness, but there was light enough by which to observe manv fine pieces of china and delicate sketches upon its gold and green walls; and lo note the quaint conceits of the whole scheme of decoration. A. lamp of eastern shnpe spread a soft, red glow upon sofas and seductive lounges: a conservatory, heaped up with shade suggesting palms, gavo off at one end of It. through doors or exquisitely colored .glass: there was a strange tripod of brass before the flre-I-lace. and flowers everywhere, seeming to grow from the very grate, to flourish In all crannies, to cover tables nnd bookcases, book-cases, and even to decorate the dress of the young girl who now stood to receive inc. and welcomed me with cordiality. My flrst Impression of the phveiog-nomist phveiog-nomist an Impression which remains with me was the outcome of her extremely ex-tremely youthful appearance. I am certain cer-tain that whatever age she might have been she did not look It. Youth In rich generosity was stamped upon her slightest slight-est action and her most serious word. It flashed from her eyes, was soon In the unsurpassable freshness of hor complexion, com-plexion, In the golden sheen or her hnlr, In the rotundity of her arms, and the development of her slight but well-formed flgure. If she had any serious mood, it was -not apparent when first I spoko lo her: nor did a rapid analysis of her face tell of any uncommon mental power. Her chin was a firm one. It Is true: but I noticed that sho had little height of hoad above her ears, and that there wu.s even something of weakness In hor forehead. fore-head. At the same time there could not pc two opinions of the general charm of her manner; and she possessed In a very large degree that magnetic power of attracting at-tracting sympathy and admiration which is peculiarly tho attribute of women. Directly I had come Into the pretentious preten-tious chamber of audience, and th flunky had closed the folding doors behind be-hind me, this fascinating, little prophetess bogan to talk, her wortlH rippling over one another like tho waves of a river her natural excitement betraying itsolf in the obvious restraint of her gestures. "I'm so glad it's you!" she exclaimed, clasping hor hnndB together, ns though In ccntney. "Those old women bother me to d;ath, and there have been twelve of them here this morning. Colonel Old- , field told mo nboul you ycGtorday, and I was Interested at onco We must have a good, long tulk. Oh, do llston to thnt dreadful crenlure; she talks In scales beginning at the lower C and going up to no possible note In the music of heaven or earth. 1 suppose nhe won't go away." Her remarks and the clnpplng of her little hands to equally little cars followed fol-lowed upon tho sound of altercation bo-tweon bo-tweon one of the ladleH In tho waiting ' cShe began fo 2usy heizs-elf ihe fXirncice " room and the flunky of formidable mien. Apparently the lady would not depart without a seance, and tho footman was compelling her. Tn the end she wont, declaring the wholo thing a cheat, and "that chit of a girl" a particular Imposture. Im-posture. When the sound of her voice had died away upon the stairs my lody took up the thread of her remarks. "Now," said she. "I want to havo a good look at you, nnd you must have a good look at me. Teople like ourselves should know each other to begin with. Don't think I'm going to bore you with the nonsenfio I trade Jn you-are far too clever for that, and would And mo out In a minute. You see, I'm like a man with a good cellar; I keep the old wine for the old birds who are not caught with chaff. That's a delightfully mixed metaphor, Isn't It? and not very polite, when I think of It. But come and sit down near the light, where I can see you." She spoke so quickly lhal. I did not pretend to hear hnlf or that which sho said, or to answer her: but I seated myself my-self upon tho ottoman near the entrance to the conservatory: and when she had thrown opon the glass doors, she herself took tho low nrmchalr facing mc. I saw then that she wore a strange dress In the Egyptian fashion, and that her breast was all covered with Jtngling gold mednls. while her hair was similarly ornamented. "Come." she said, resting her head upon her hand. "I want to know from you why you are here. It Is not for mo" to tell yon about your life. Is 117" "I will be frank." I replied; "It Is not. My life has already spoken a good deal for Itself. What I did come here to see was the making of diamonds. They tell me you possess the philosopher's stone, or something near to It." She looked at me with a penetrating gaze, and then laughed .1 little hnrdlv. "And you believed It?" she asked, presently. pres-ently. "Not for a moment."' said I; "but I thought It was not unlikely that you had some amusing trick which you would not mind showing me. 1 am vory much Interested In-terested In Jewels, yon know." "So am r. she exclaimed, but with the air of one whose mind is away from the words "there Is nothing more beautiful beau-tiful or more mvsterlous on earth than a diamond. It just seems to ho a prison for lovely things of which It gives us tho lights when wo treat It well. And vou thought I might amuse you with a trick? That was a poor compliment, wasn't It?" The thing was snld with a swift reversion re-version of her mind to the subject, as I could see. and there was a world of humor In her eyes when she turned them on me. "If. was no poor compliment." said T, "since you have convinced such a man as Colonel Oldfleld that 'you can make rubles. He Is a judge of Jewels, too." "And a very good one." she replied: "but really, there was nothing Jn mv experiment- AVhat I do has been done by French chemists for twenty years pnst. The colonel came hero with an open mind but you, you closed the doors of yours as you came upstairs." I protested feebly, but she did not listen lis-ten to my answer. "Yes," she exclaimed, speaking very rapidly, "I have been thinking about you as you sat there, and I am sure thnt I know you now You are a. man so well accustomed to steer In the shallows of your business that you never look beyond be-yond them. You mako a gosjl of distrust, dis-trust, and you consider confidence the sign of a weak Intellect. You have been often deceived, for your breadth of view Is not large: and you will be often de-clev;d de-clev;d again. It Is Impossible for you to conceive beauty which Is not saleable; and for romance you have no place In your heart. You have come here, saying all the -way, 'I am going to Interview an Imposter; she will not amuse me most possibly she will bore 1110. It Is ton thousand to one thai, hor experiments are all rubbish, hut 1 will take the ton thousandth chance, In tho hope thai, sho might have found out something which I can sell sell soil.' Yet you are honest In a. measure, since you ask me for a trick, knowing well lliat a trick Is all you can reasonably expect from me You are. In short, not very far removed from that dreadful person, 'the pure mnn of business'; and you feel wofully strange already In the presence of one whose oc cupallon Is romance, nnd whoso profession profes-sion Is nndisgulsediy practiced In the oN tllrcs of mystery. Do I speak tho truth?" She boni forward so lhal I could look straight Into hor eyes ns she finished this o.vcltcd sketch of charactor; and while with any other speaker my vanity had been sore wounded. I listened to her with no othor feollngs than tliOBn of growing admiration. The potency of her personality person-ality was beyond description; I have never met a woman who could rnmmiinU catc her own magnetism so quickly when she choso to talk seriously. And beyond this. I nnd already corrected my assumption assump-tion that she was not clever. She had, Indeed, one of the quickest brains I have ever dealt With. "You are very hard on me." said I. as sho waited for me to speak, "but I cannot can-not say thai you do not get to the bottom of the affair. You do me an injustice, howevor, when you say that my visit Is purely commercial. No one in London would bo more unselfishly Interested than myself if any progress were mnde with the thousand attempts to manufacture Jewels. If you have succeeded, ovon In a small degree, your fortune Is made." "Do you think that?" sho cried. "Well, a word from Mr. Bernard Sutton Is a word Indeed; but we shall see. Meanwhile, Mean-while, we are going to havo some fruit nnd wine. Don't you find it fearfully close In here? that's the heat from my furnace in the conservatory there. I've hod a little one put up especially for my experiments. As you were coming, we had to get the metal melted; and we've had a firo since last night." "You will experiment for me. then?" said I. with considerable Interest. "If you ore very good." sho replied, "1 may show you something: but first you must taste my sherbet, and tell me all ubout the diamonds which I have bought nnd not made. You've heard, perhaps, per-haps, that 1 waste all my money on Jewelry." I told her lhat 1 had not. bul Ihe flunky appearing at that moment, she did not pursue the subject, occupying herself in mixing mo an effervescing draught In a great crystal goblet. Tho drink was gratifying on the hot dny; and when I had taken It there was a warm coursing of blood through mv veins ns though I had drunk of rich Burgundy "Now," paid she, when the man had gone, but had left the little table piled up with fruit "now we can talk seriously. seri-ously. Let us carry tho liquid with us that's what Jack Lucas always calls it; ho gets me that sherbet from some plnco In the east with an unpronounceable name. 7 nni going to put you Into an armchair and you are not to ask a single, sin-gle, question until I have finished. Have you got any clgarels with you? you may smoke If you arc very good." We wont. Into the conservatory, which wns ridiculously smnll. and close almost to suffocation, and there 1 saw many ovldonccs of her attempt to fathom the unfathomable mysteries. There were racks with bottles round three sides of the apartment, nnd In the corner of tho other side tliefc stood a common little furnace such as smiths use. These, with a number of brass plates covered with hieroglyphics, some presses In steel, a baskot containing strips of metal and a quantity of crystals, were her whole equipment, for the business before her; but thore was a low armchair In the shape of those used In dental horrors; and there she asked me to sit while she herself prepared for the undertaking. "The first thing for you to do." said she. "Is to make yourself comfortable. A man who is 111 at ease is In tho worst possible mental state, for he cannot concentrate con-centrate himself. Just, at present I want you to concentrate yourself on that clg-arol. clg-arol. and the fizzing stuff. When everything every-thing Is ready I shall call out." With this, sho set. the fruit and the cup nt the side of my chair, and then rolled up the sleeves of her dress quickly, quick-ly, putting on an apron which covered her finery; and she looked for all tho world like an unusually pretty housemaid. house-maid. I watched her with even a larger Interest than I had done; and I remember remem-ber thinking, as I settled In the great lounge, that whatever her mental claims might be upon tho admiration of the city, her personal qualities were undeniable. These were especially to bo observed when she began to busy herself with the furnace and the tiny crucibles upon It, the glow of soft light socniing to emphasize em-phasize the youthfulness of hor perfect face, and to converge upon It as light focused fo-cused upon a picture. She had now fallen fall-en Into a very serious mood, nnd after she had used the bellows vigorously at her fire and placed the smnllcst of the crucibles upon It again, she sat herself upon a stool at the side of my chnlr, and resting her head upon her open hand her favorite attitude sho spoko with evident earnestness. j "Tho mysteries of jewels," sho ex claimed, "nnd tho mysteries of gold have eaten the heart out. of many a clever mnn, from Geblr to Sir Isaac Newton. If you will rend tho history of the philosophers, phil-osophers, even of jmnie In the story of that which we call tho modern nges. you will find amongst tho greatest nnmes of those who sought for an 'alkahest' or universal uni-versal solvent. Even tho wisest of men havo lmp'id for a full knowledgo of the arcana of metals. Paracelsus himself believed In the faith or the quintessence of creation. Roger Bacon, to whom death came out of neglect, prescribed as the elixir of life gold dissolved In nltro-hydrochlorlc nltro-hydrochlorlc acid. Why should I tell you how science now laughs at those old philosophers and lumps them together as little better than mnnlacs? Yet does she laugh at them with good reason? Is It not Just possible that she will be ultl-mately ultl-mately the means of turning the 1 a u gh upon herself? In our day she has come verv near to knowing of the transmuta-hllliv transmuta-hllliv of metals. Allotrophy has turned tho eyes of many back to the remoter past. The chemist. Is beginning to nsk himself. Were these men such fools? The near future may cast, a light upon long centuries of darkness. But those only will reap who come to the work with opon minds, with tho certain conviction that In all pertaining to this vast science we are mill children. Do you follow mo In this?" "Perfectly," I replied; and assuredly a prettier lecture was never given. Tho girl's eyes socmed to flash lurnts ns she warmed to her subject: her enthusiasm was so contagious that I found myself softening before It. She was earnest, at any rate; and most or her kind wore fjim cits "If you grant this long premiss, and do not consider that all Inquiry is ncces-sarllv ncces-sarllv useless," she continued, "you solvo the "greater difficulties which, surround my conceptions. It remains to nsk: What steps must the chemist follow who would seek to turn from his crucible the perfect Jewel? Let us take the sapphire as an Instance. It Is my favorite stone, one compelling, as the ancients declare, the wearer lo all good works. Well, the sapphire In all Us beautiful tints Is only a variety of corundum, colored by metallic metal-lic oxide. It Is a common crj'tfU. a sided prism terminated In a six-sldod pyramid. Tt is taken from gneiss, and we know today that alumina Is tho basis of It. ns It Is the basis of so many precious stones. Granted this, what Is Ihe work before the chemlnt? Is It not simply to cast In his cruclblo the crystals of tho base, to color them with tho metallic me-tallic oxide. If he can. and to harden them eo that they will bear the test? Tho process Is a long one It needs days lo bring It to perfection: the annealing, the polishing, the sotting these are not work for an hour. What I have to show you now are but the stages of It These you shall sec and judge for yourself; but I ask you very sincerely to weigh up this great question for yourself, not to be led by the Incredulity of the fanatic, and to believe with me thnt wo are on the brink of a discovery which shall pour Jewels on the world ns the sea casts pebbles upon a beach." I said nothing In answer to this remarkable re-markable delivery, for tho truth was that I watched the girl rather than heard hor words. Her earnestness, nay, her enthusiasm, was so pretty to soe that all my Interest seemed absorbed In her; nnd now, when sho rose swiftly and drew the curtains over the windows, leaving the place Illuminated only by one rose-colored lamp. I followed all her actions ac-tions ns ono follows the change of a plrture. "Let us keep away the daylight." said she. "nnd then wo can see the crystals forming. By and by T will show you the perfect Jewel. Now look." What she did In the next few minutes I nm quite unable to say, so swift were her movements and so hurried her talk. But I remember that she opened the furnace fur-nace door, allowing soft rays of deep yellow light to flood the room, and then quickly she cast a dozen crystals upon the table from the glowing crucible; and from a press near to her hand she took three more and laid them on the plate. Tho largest of the crystals, -which was blue as a sapphire, and possessed little light at a distance, she presently picked up with tiny tongs, and coming over to me. she knelt at my side, holding the jewel before my eyes, and clasping my left hand In hers. And then sho cried, with the wildest excitement In her volco, and her breast heaving with her emotion: emo-tion: "Oh, look at it! is there anything more beautiful on earth than a perfect sapphire? sap-phire? and I made It. It Is all my work, all my own!" While she cried thus she held my hand firmly, and the pressure of her own was hot as fire, but this I only remembered afterwards, for gradually, as I looked at the Jewel critically. It took the color nnd the shape of a perfect gem- It was not n large stone, perhaps one of three carats, but tho longer T looked upon It the more brilliant and beautiful did It appear to be. Never had I seen more perfect shape or promise of light when set; and with the realization of the discovery my head reeled as the possibility that this mere girl had succeeded whore so many had I failed loomed at last before me. It was true, then, as Oldfleld said, that she could manufacture a perfect jewel before his eyes. Here was one which. If well cut, I could sell for a hundred pounds. She had made that, as I could swear; why should she not make a nundred, a thou- y lion ? Ml' hnrL ,eapod at lh8(f "Toll mc." said I, "ym, haA $ In tills work?" ou bad 1 "You saw that. I had none" J "Look nt tho other crvnHii. 8?' live of them. YoirhavTeL8 straight from the credwliS1 know that I have .Micxccfled?i buy my sapphire? Buy ltTn' I havo conquered you, WhrJ, Jr tomorrow J will tell you evH am exhausted now. The worfc7t " cites ino terribly. My no strung; 1 can do no more t0f$ " f you will sell me the stonS In those tongs. I will iHva v7 It." I sAld. concluding That been tricked, a real Vwoi; 55 good one. was before my eyeii this promise sho cried out with 1 putting the stone In a llttl t3 lightning speed, she handed It t "Pay mc tomorrow, anv tuSt said. "It was good of you toTSS and to listen lo me. I am very? When you come again you shifi' With this sho led the way miti her own room, and tho lacker 2 In nnswer to hor ring. The Int at an end. abruptly as.it had M me. and I left her wlthV alran of dizziness, and my haad hnrn! exc tement but her sapphire pocket. ' ' When I mot Bracohridge waiting in my room for me hZ ugly leer upon his face. - "Well," said he. "I fancw drcd's all right?" ncy "What hundred?" "With Oldfleld," said he "r! a rjundrcd she'd sell you a slectf for a sapphire; nnd I don't suddo! deny tliat she did It?" "I'm not going to deny anythln sort." said I; "she did sell me'S and of the commonest kind r seeking an undiscovered aunerlai biggest fool In London Is nVdfii for me." "Ah." said he. "you should quietly. She's done a complete us at the game. That parai which Jnck Lucas rigged up for servatory for her Is the medlumV, Lucas, you know. Is a professor thing at Emmanuel, Cambrld taught her all that Jargon aba tals." "But." said I. as I pitched Into the fireplace, "what I want is. how did I come to think tlutj was real? 1 could have sworn "So could we all." he replied great burst of laughter: "but VU In a word she hypnotized yon. said you were a grand subject I looked him in the face toft during which ho made a heroic, be serious. But it was too muci Presently he gave ono great' hilarity, which you could hal half-way down the street, and tr about in his chair uncontrollawj "You seem to find It amusing "but I fail to catch the polnL'Xi "You'll be seeing by and by.'t and at that he went off to tiit be first with It. , (The End.) ? |