“Humor him,” advised the professor in a whisper. “He is probably a harmless lunatic. Let him have his way, and pretend to agree with all he says.”
“Will you come in?” went on the old man. “I must proceed with my work.”
“We’ll be glad to,” went on the scientist. “That is, if we will not disturb you at your labors.”
“My labors are now ended,” the man said. “I have worked for twenty years on the secret of making gold from the baser metals. At last I have the correct method. I will be a millionaire in another month. But come in! Come in!”
The boys, obeying Mr. Snodgrass’s advice, went in, the scientist following them. They saw that the cabin, though small, was neat and clean. Nearly all of the first of two rooms was occupied by a large, rudely made furnace, while on a table near it stood all sorts of chemical apparatus. On the furnace a pot was boiling furiously.
“Now for the last act in the drama of life,” said the aged man. “See, I place in the pot these pieces of brass,” and he showed the travelers some chunks of the yellow stuff. He put them in the pot, from which arose a cloud of steam.
“Next I throw in this powder, which I have labored on for years. It is the secret that men would give their lives for.”
He threw the powder into the pot, which boiled more furiously than before, and a white cloud of steam arose. Then it died away, and the pot seemed to cool off.
“Now for the gold!” exclaimed the chemist.
He lifted the pot from the furnace, and, holding it with some thick cloths poured the water off into a hole in the ground floor of the cabin. Out toppled the pieces of brass which had been thrown in, but while they had been dull before, they now glittered with the yellow gleam of gold.