(The last words to be spoken slowly and sadly.)
“I notice that some of you ladies are weeping. It is an affecting story, no doubt, and I used to shed a tear over it myself. But after all, you didn’t know my Uncle James. Neither did I, for the matter of that, and if we had known him we might not have liked him. So we won’t stop to grieve about him.[15]
“One of the most striking experiments with the Alkahest is the dissolving of a paving stone, particularly if you lay a bunch of violets on it and dissolve them both together, when you get a scuttleful of best Violet Powder. Unfortunately I haven’t a paving stone handy, and I don’t suppose any gentleman present is likely to have one about him. No? I feared not! Another pretty experiment is the dissolving of a diamond ring, but I have no diamond rings myself, and I find that if I borrow other people’s and don’t return them I get myself disliked. So I must try to show the power of the Alkahest in a less expensive way.”
Returning to his table, the performer with his right hand picks up the prepared wand (holding it so as to conceal the ribbon coiled upon it), and with the left hand the mass of loose ribbon.
“I have here a piece of ribbon: just ordinary ribbon. Will some lady oblige me by tying a knot in it, about three inches from the end. Thank you! Now will some other lady tie another knot about three inches from the first one.”
This is repeated till five or six knots have been tied, taking up about half the ribbon.
“I am not sure how many knots have been tied. Please count them for me as I roll the ribbon round my wand.”
So saying, he winds the ribbon, beginning with the knotted end, on to the free portion of the wand, counting the knots as he does so, and continuing the winding till the whole has been taken up. In so doing he takes care to cover up the knots, and to make the appearance of the rolled ribbon correspond as nearly as possible with the hidden coil upon the other end, finally securing it with the rubber ring from his pocket.
We will suppose that five knots are found to have been tied. The performer returns to the table to fetch the bottle; and during the transit passes the wand to the opposite hand, in so doing drawing off the knotted ribbon (to be dropped a moment later into the profonde), and exposes the opposite end. He removes stopper from bottle, leaving it on the table.
“Now comes the most critical part of the operation. I am going by means of the Alkahest to dissolve these knots. How many did we say there were? Five? Then I must use five drops and no more. If I were to overdo it in the smallest degree the consequences would be serious. I should destroy the ribbon altogether, and in these hard times ribbon is ribbon, even if it is only six-three a yard.”