same yellow light flash into his eyes, and the sudden change of expression that I saw in the eyes of our friend Sing. It was gone in a moment, however, and he was again smiling sweetly.
"'I understand he found it to consist principally of common salt.'
"'Quite so,' answered Sing; 'but he must have discovered that it also contained something else?'
"'That is true,' I answered, 'there was a small amount of vegetable matter which gave it a yellow color.'
"'That is the true Elixir,' said Sing; 'salt is merely necessary for the results. You, as a scientific man, know that the poison which kills so quickly from the fang of a cobra and the ordinary white of an egg can hardly be distinguished by the chemist. He finds them both to be albumen.'
"'Why, then, should one kill and the other be harmless?' I asked.
"'Simply the minute "something else" which is contained in the snake poison and which is held in solution by the albumen.'
"'Have you any other proof of the power of this Elixir?' I inquired.
"'My dear sir, I trust you do not question the truth of my statement regarding my own age.'