“Bless the girl!” said old McIntyre to his son; “she speaks about it as if she were born to millions. Maybe, when once she is married, she won't be so ready to chuck her money into every mad scheme that her husband can think of.”
“Laura is greatly changed,” Robert answered; “she has grown much more serious in her ideas.”
“You wait a bit!” sniggered his father. “She is a good girl, is Laura, and she knows what she is about. She's not a girl to let her old dad go to the wall if she can set him right. It's a pretty state of things,” he added bitterly: “here's my daughter going to marry a man who thinks no more of gold than I used to of gun-metal; and here's my son going about with all the money he cares to ask for to help every ne'er-do-well in Staffordshire; and here's their father, who loved them and cared for them, and brought them both up, without money enough very often to buy a bottle of brandy. I don't know what your poor dear mother would have thought of it.”
“You have only to ask for what you want.”
“Yes, as if I were a five-year-old child. But I tell you, Robert, I'll have my rights, and if I can't get them one way I will another. I won't be treated as if I were no one. And there's one thing: if I am to be this man's pa-in-law, I'll want to know something about him and his money first. We may be poor, but we are honest. I'll up to the Hall now, and have it out with him.” He seized his hat and stick and made for the door.
“No, no, father,” cried Robert, catching6 him by the sleeve. “You had better leave the matter alone. Mr. Haw is a very sensitive man. He would not like to be examined upon such a point. It might lead to a serious quarrel. I beg that you will not go.”
“I am not to be put off for ever,” snarled7 the old man, who had been drinking heavily. “I'll put my foot down now, once and for ever.” He tugged8 at his sleeve to free himself from his son's grasp.
“At least you shall not go without Laura knowing. I will call her down, and we shall have her opinion.”
“Oh, I don't want to have any scenes,” said McIntyre sulkily, relaxing his efforts. He lived in dread9 of his daughter, and at his worst moments the mention of her name would serve to restrain him.
“Besides,” said Robert, “I have not the slightest doubt that Raffles Haw will see the necessity for giving us some sort of explanation before matters go further. He must understand that we have some claim now to be taken into his confidence.”
He had hardly spoken when there was a tap at the door, and the man of whom they were speaking walked in.
“Good-morning, Mr. McIntyre,” said he. “Robert, would you mind stepping up to the Hall with me? I want to have a little business chat.” He looked serious, like a man who is carrying out something which he has well weighed.
They walked up together with hardly a word on either side. Raffles Haw was absorbed in his own thoughts. Robert felt expectant and nervous, for he knew that something of importance lay before him. The winter had almost passed now, and the first young shoots were beginning to peep out timidly in the face of the wind and the rain of an English March. The snows were gone, but the countryside looked bleaker11 and drearier12, all shrouded13 in the haze14 from the damp, sodden15 meadows.
“By the way, Robert,” said Raffles Haw suddenly, as they walked up the Avenue. “Has your great Roman picture gone to London?”
“I have not finished it yet.”
“But I know that you are a quick worker. You must be nearly at the end of it.”
“No, I am afraid that it has not advanced much since you saw it. For one thing, the light has not been very good.”
Raffles Haw said nothing, but a pained expression flashed over his face. When they reached the house he led the way through the museum. Two great metal cases were lying on the floor.
“I have a small addition there to the gem2 collection,” he remarked as he passed. “They only arrived last night, and I have not opened them yet, but I am given to understand from the letters and invoices16 that there are some fine specimens17. We might arrange them this afternoon, if you care to assist me. Let us go into the smoking-room now.”
He threw himself down into a settee, and motioned Robert into the armchair in front of him.
“Light a cigar,” he said. “Press the spring if there is any refreshment18 which you would like. Now, my dear Robert, confess to me in the first place that you have often thought me mad.”
The charge was so direct and so true that the young artist hesitated, hardly knowing how to answer.
“My dear boy, I do not blame you. It was the most natural thing in the world. I should have looked upon anyone as a madman who had talked to me as I have talked to you. But for all that, Robert, you were wrong, and I have never yet in our conversations proposed any scheme which it was not well within my power to carry out. I tell you in all sober earnest that the amount of my income is limited only by my desire, and that all the bankers and financiers combined could not furnish the sums which I can put forward without an effort.”
“I have had ample proof of your immense wealth,” said Robert.
“And you are very naturally curious as to how that wealth was obtained. Well, I can tell you one thing. The money is perfectly19 clean. I have robbed no one, cheated no one, sweated no one, ground no one down in the gaining of it. I can read your father's eye, Robert. I can see that he has done me an injustice20 in this matter. Well, perhaps he is not to be blamed. Perhaps I also might think uncharitable things if I were In his place. But that is why I now give an explanation to you, Robert, and not to him. You, at least, have trusted me, and you have a right, before I become one of your family, to know all that I can tell you. Laura also has trusted me, but I know well that she is content still to trust me.”
“I would not intrude21 upon your secrets, Mr. Haw,” said Robert, “but of course I cannot deny that I should be very proud and pleased if you cared to confide10 them to me.”
“And I will. Not all. I do not think that I shall ever, while I live, tell all. But I shall leave directions behind me so that when I die you may be able to carry on my unfinished work. I shall tell you where those directions are to be found. In the meantime, you must be content to learn the effects which I produce without knowing every detail as to the means.”
Robert settled himself down in his chair and concentrated his attention upon his companion's words, while Haw bent22 forward his eager, earnest face, like a man who knows the value of the words which he is saying.
“You are already aware,” he remarked, “that I have devoted23 a great deal of energy and of time to the study of chemistry.”
“So you told me.”
“I commenced my studies under a famous English chemist, I continued them under the best man in France, and I completed them in the most celebrated24 laboratory of Germany. I was not rich, but my father had left me enough to keep me comfortably, and by living economically I had a sum at my command which enabled me to carry out my studies in a very complete way. When I returned to England I built myself a laboratory in a quiet country place where I could work without distraction25 or interruption. There I began a series of investigations26 which soon took me into regions of science to which none of the three famous men who taught me had ever penetrated27.
“You say, Robert, that you have some slight knowledge of chemistry, and you will find it easier to follow what I say. Chemistry is to a large extent an empirical science, and the chance experiment may lead to greater results than could, with our present data, be derived28 from the closest study or the keenest reasoning. The most important chemical discoveries from the first manufacture of glass to the whitening and refining of sugar have all been due to some happy chance which might have befallen a mere29 dabbler30 as easily as a deep student.
“Well, it was to such a chance that my own great discovery—perhaps the greatest that the world has seen—was due, though I may claim the credit of having originated the line of thought which led up to it. I had frequently speculated as to the effect which powerful currents of electricity exercise upon any substance through which they are poured for a considerable time. I did not here mean such feeble currents as are passed along a telegraph wire, but I mean the very highest possible developments. Well, I tried a series of experiments upon this point. I found that in liquids, and in compounds, the force had a disintegrating31 effect. The well-known experiment of the electrolysis of water will, of course, occur to you. But I found that in the case of elemental solids the effect was a remarkable32 one. The element slowly decreased in weight, without perceptibly altering in composition. I hope that I make myself clear to you?”
“I tried upon several elements, and always with the same result. In every case an hour's current would produce a perceptible loss of weight. My theory at that stage was that there was a loosening of the molecules35 caused by the electric fluid, and that a certain number of these molecules were shed off like an impalpable dust, all round the lump of earth or of metal, which remained, of course, the lighter36 by their loss. I had entirely accepted this theory, when a very remarkable chance led me to completely alter my opinions.
“I had one Saturday night fastened a bar of bismuth in a clamp, and had attached it on either side to an electric wire, in order to observe what effect the current would have upon it. I had been testing each metal in turn, exposing them to the influence for from one to two hours. I had just got everything in position, and had completed my connection, when I received a telegram to say that John Stillingfleet, an old chemist in London with whom I had been on terms of intimacy37, was dangerously ill, and had expressed a wish to see me. The last train was due to leave in twenty minutes, and I lived a good mile from the station, I thrust a few things into a bag, locked my laboratory, and ran as hard as I could to catch it.
“It was not until I was in London that it suddenly occurred to me that I had neglected to shut off the current, and that it would continue to pass through the bar of bismuth until the batteries were exhausted38. The fact, however, seemed to be of small importance, and I dismissed it from my mind. I was detained in London until the Tuesday night, and it was Wednesday morning before I got back to my work. As I unlocked the laboratory door my mind reverted39 to the uncompleted experiment, and it struck me that in all probability my piece of bismuth would have been entirely disintegrated40 and reduced to its primitive41 molecules. I was utterly42 unprepared for the truth.
“When I approached the table I found, sure enough, that the bar of metal had vanished, and that the clamp was empty. Having noted43 the fact, I was about to turn away to something else, when my attention was attracted to the fact that the table upon which the clamp stood was starred over with little patches of some liquid silvery matter, which lay in single drops or coalesced44 into little pools. I had a very distinct recollection of having thoroughly45 cleared the table before beginning my experiment, so that this substance had been deposited there since I had left for London. Much interested, I very carefully collected it all into one vessel46, and examined it minutely. There could be no question as to what it was. It was the purest mercury, and gave no response to any test for bismuth.
“I at once grasped the fact that chance had placed in my hands a chemical discovery of the very first importance. If bismuth were, under certain conditions, to be subjected to the action of electricity, it would begin by losing weight, and would finally be transformed into mercury. I had broken down the partition which separated two elements.
“But the process would be a constant one. It would presumably prove to be a general law, and not an isolated47 fact. If bismuth turned into mercury, what would mercury turn into? There would be no rest for me until I had solved the question. I renewed the exhausted batteries and passed the current through the bowl of quicksilver. For sixteen hours I sat watching the metal, marking how it slowly seemed to curdle48, to grow firmer, to lose its silvery glitter and to take a dull yellow hue49. When I at last picked it up in a forceps, and threw it upon the table, it had lost every characteristic of mercury, and had obviously become another metal. A few simple tests were enough to show me that this other metal was platinum50.
“Now, to a chemist, there was something very suggestive in the order in which these changes had been effected. Perhaps you can see the relation, Robert, which they bear to each other?”
“No, I cannot say that I do.”
Robert had sat listening to this strange statement with parted lips and staring eyes.
“I will show you. Speaking atomically, bismuth is the heaviest of the metals. Its atomic weight is 210. The next in weight is lead, 207, and then comes mercury at 200. Possibly the long period during which the current had acted in my absence had reduced the bismuth to lead and the lead in turn to mercury. Now platinum stands at 197.5, and it was accordingly the next metal to be produced by the continued current. Do you see now?”
“It is quite clear.”
“And then there came the inference, which sent my heart into my mouth and caused my head to swim round. Gold is the next in the series. Its atomic weight is 197. I remembered now, and for the first time understood why it was always lead and mercury winch were mentioned by the old alchemists as being the two metals which might be used in their calling. With fingers which trembled with excitement I adjusted the wires again, and in little more than an hour—for the length of the process was always in proportion to the difference in the metals—I had before me a knob of ruddy crinkled metal, which answered to every reaction for gold.
“Well, Robert, this is a long story, but I think that you will agree with me that its importance justifies51 me in going into detail. When I had satisfied myself that I had really manufactured gold I cut the nugget in two. One half I sent to a jeweller and worker in precious metals, with whom I had some slight acquaintance, asking him to report upon the quality of the metal. With the other half I continued my series of experiments, and reduced it in successive stages through all the long series of metals, through silver and zinc52 and manganese, until I brought it to lithium, which is the lightest of all.”
“And what did it turn to then?” asked Robert.
“Then came what to chemists is likely to be the most interesting portion of my discovery. It turned to a greyish fine powder, which powder gave no further results, however much I might treat it with electricity. And that powder is the base of all things; it is the mother of all the elements; it is, in short, the substance whose existence has been recently surmised53 by a leading chemist, and which has been christened protyle by him. I am the discoverer of the great law of the electrical transposition of the metals, and I am the first to demonstrate protyle, so that, I think, Robert, if all my schemes in other directions come to nothing, my name is at least likely to live in the chemical world.
“There is not very much more for me to tell you. I had my nugget back from my friend the jeweller, confirming my opinion as to its nature and its quality. I soon found several methods by which the process might be simplified, and especially a modification54 of the ordinary electric current, which was very much more effective. Having made a certain amount of gold, I disposed of it for a sum which enabled me to buy improved materials and stronger batteries. In this way I enlarged my operations until at last I was in a position to build this house and to have a laboratory where I could carry out my work on a much larger scale. As I said before, I can now state with all truth that the amount of my income is only limited by my desires.”
“It is wonderful!” gasped55 Robert. “It is like a fairy tale. But with this great discovery in your mind you must have been sorely tempted56 to confide it to others.”
“I thought well over it. I gave it every consideration. It was obvious to me that if my invention were made public, its immediate57 result would be to deprive the present precious metals of all their special value. Some other substance—amber, we will say, or ivory—would be chosen as a medium for barter58, and gold would be inferior to brass59, as being heavier and yet not so hard. No one would be the better for such a consummation as that. Now, if I retained my secret, and used it with wisdom, I might make myself the greatest benefactor60 to mankind that has ever lived. Those were the chief reasons, and I trust that they are not dishonourable ones, which led me to form the resolution, which I have today for the first time broken.”
“But your secret is safe with me,” cried Robert. “My lips shall be sealed until I have your permission to speak.”
“If I had not known that I could trust you I should have withheld61 it from your knowledge. And now, my dear Robert, theory is very weak work, and practice is infinitely62 more interesting. I have given you more than enough of the first. If you will be good enough to accompany me to the laboratory I shall give you a little of the latter.”
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1
raffles
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| n.抽彩售物( raffle的名词复数 )v.以抽彩方式售（物）( raffle的第三人称单数 ) | |
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2
gem
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| n.宝石，珠宝；受爱戴的人 [同]jewel | |
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bulging
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| 膨胀； 凸出（部）； 打气； 折皱 | |
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colossal
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| adj.异常的，庞大的 | |
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hover
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| vi.翱翔，盘旋；徘徊；彷徨，犹豫 | |
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catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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snarled
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| v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的过去式和过去分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说 | |
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tugged
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| v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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confide
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| v.向某人吐露秘密 | |
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bleaker
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| 阴冷的( bleak的比较级 )； （状况）无望的； 没有希望的； 光秃的 | |
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drearier
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| 使人闷闷不乐或沮丧的( dreary的比较级 )； 阴沉的； 令人厌烦的； 单调的 | |
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shrouded
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| v.隐瞒( shroud的过去式和过去分词 )；保密 | |
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haze
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| n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊 | |
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sodden
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| adj.浑身湿透的；v.使浸透；使呆头呆脑 | |
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invoices
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| 发票( invoice的名词复数 )； （发货或服务）费用清单； 清单上货物的装运； 货物的托运 | |
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specimens
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| n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人 | |
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refreshment
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| n.恢复，精神爽快，提神之事物；（复数）refreshments:点心，茶点 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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injustice
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| n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利 | |
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intrude
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| vi.闯入；侵入；打扰，侵扰 | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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distraction
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| n.精神涣散，精神不集中，消遣，娱乐 | |
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investigations
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| （正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究 | |
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penetrated
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| adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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derived
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| vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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dabbler
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| n. 戏水者, 业余家, 半玩半认真做的人 | |
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disintegrating
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| v.（使）破裂[分裂，粉碎]，（使）崩溃( disintegrate的现在分词 ) | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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narrative
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| n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的 | |
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molecules
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| 分子( molecule的名词复数 ) | |
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36
lighter
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| n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级 | |
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37
intimacy
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| n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行 | |
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exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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39
reverted
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| 恢复( revert的过去式和过去分词 )； 重提； 回到…上； 归还 | |
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40
disintegrated
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| v.（使）破裂[分裂，粉碎]，（使）崩溃( disintegrate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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41
primitive
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| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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coalesced
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| v.联合，合并( coalesce的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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curdle
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| v.使凝结，变稠 | |
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hue
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| n.色度；色调；样子 | |
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50
platinum
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| n.白金 | |
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51
justifies
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| 证明…有理( justify的第三人称单数 )； 为…辩护； 对…作出解释； 为…辩解（或辩护） | |
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zinc
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| n.锌；vt.在...上镀锌 | |
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surmised
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| v.臆测，推断( surmise的过去式和过去分词 )；揣测；猜想 | |
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54
modification
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| n.修改，改进，缓和，减轻 | |
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55
gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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56
tempted
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| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
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immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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barter
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| n.物物交换，以货易货，实物交易 | |
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brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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60
benefactor
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| n. 恩人，行善的人，捐助人 | |
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61
withheld
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| withhold过去式及过去分词 | |
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62
infinitely
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| adv.无限地，无穷地 | |
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