The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1904-03-20


visit to his friend the cobbler.
AS he was about to turn out Of the
main street he ran suddenly into the
arms OF a man coming from the shop
of a clothier, who made costumes for
the court.
.Ha, Davie." cried the king, 'it's
surely late in the day to choose the
eoiors for a new Jacket
Indeed, Your Majesty is in the
right" replied Sir David, but I was
not selecting cloth; 1 was merely en-
acting the part Of an honest man, and
liquldating a reckoning Of long stand
ing"
What. a poet With money!" ex-
Claimed the king. WHO ever heard Of
sUch a thing2 Man Davie. you might
share the knowledge of your treasure
house with a friend. Kings are al
ways IN want of money. Is your gold
mine rich enough for two?"
The king spoke jocularly, placing no
particular meaning upon his words,
and II Sir David had answered in kind
james would doubtless have thought
TO more about the matter but the poet
stsmmered and showed such evident
confusion that his majesty's quick
suspicious were at once aroused.
"Davie." cried James, you make a
very poor conspirator."
Indeed, Your Majesty" replied the
poet earnestly, no one is less Of a con-
spirator than l."
"Davie, you are hiding something
fr'm me-"
The knight was visibly perturbed,
but at last he answered:
IN this matter l am sworn TO
secrecy
''AI secrets reveal themselves at the
Kings command" replied James
sternly. Speak out; speak fully, and
speak quickly"
Wei, there came some time since to
Stirling an Italian chemist. who took
UP his abode and set up his shop in
the abandoned refectOry of the old
monastery He is the author of many
wonderful inventions. but none inter
eSts the court SO much as the COM
pounding Of pure gold in a crucible
from the ordinary earth of the fields"
Il can well believe that" cried the
King. 4 have some stout fighters in
my court who fear neither man nor
devil in battle. yet who would stand
with mouth agape before a juggler's
tent But surely, Davie, you, who
have been to the colleges. and have
read much from learned books. are not
such fool as to be deluded by that
ancient fallacy. the transmutation Of
any other metals into gold?"
Sir David laughed uneasily.
Il did not say ! believed It. Your
Majesty. still a man must place some
crcdence I'm what his eye sees done. as
well as in what he reads from books:
and after all the proof of the cudgel
is the rap on the head have beheId
the contest. beginning with an empty
pot and ending with "A bar of gold"
Doubtless. / have seen a juggler
swallow hot iron. but have never be-
lieved it went down his throttle. al
though it appeared to have done so
Did You get any share of the trans
muted gold? That's the practical test
my Davie.'
That is exactly the test your barons
applied J doubt il their nobilities
would take much interest in a scientific
experiment were there no profit at the
end of il. Each man entering the
laboratory pays what he pleases to the
money taker at the table but it must
not be less than one gold bonnet-piece
When all have entered the doors are
closed and locked. The amount OF
money collected is weighed against
small bars of gold which the aIchem-
list places in the opposite scale until
the two are equally balanced This
bar of gold he then throws into the
crUcible.'
"Oh, he puts gold into the crucible
does he? Where, then, is the profit:
I thought these necromancers made
gold from iron"
'Signor Farinis method is different
Your Majesty. He asserts that like at
tracts like and that the gold I'm the
crucible win take TO itself the minute
unseen particles which he believes ex-
% hn me-
ing away the dross and leaving the
refined gOld.i
I see; and how ends THIS expert
nent2"
The residue is cooled and weighed
sometimes IL is double the amount OF
gold put in, sometimes treble: and
nave known him upon occasion take
from the cricubie quadruple the golC
or The bar, but never have I known
melting fall below double the amount
collected by the man at the table A
the final act each noble has returned {,
him double or treble the gold he re
linqUished on entering"
Where, then, arises the profit Z,
Your italian? I never knew these for
eigners to work for nothing
He saws he does It for love Of Scot
land and hatred OF England: an ancien
enemy. Were but the Scottish natior
rich ne thinks they could the bette
withstand incursions from the south"
Well, Davie, that seems to me ;
most unsubstantial reason. Scotland
protection has been her poverty in al
except hard knocks. Were she a
wealthy rs France il would be tn
greater temptation for Englishers {,
oVcrrUn the country. NV grandfather
James the Third. had a black chest full
~ gold and Jewels. yet he was MUIR
dered, flying from defeat in battle
When does this golden wizard fire hi
caldron. Davie2"
Tonight, your majesty That is tn
reason the mobiles of your court wer,
making sly haste 10 his domiciie."
All and Sir David LINDSAY was hur
ryins 90 the same spot so blindly tina
lie nearly Overran his monarch"
lit is even so. your majesty"
Then am / hindering you from muc1
profit. and you must even blame your
self for being so long in the telling
However, it is never too late TO tur1
one bOnnet-piece into two. So. Davie
lead The way, for / would see this al
chemist turn out gold from a pot as
housewife boils potatoes"
4 fear. your majesty, that the door
viii be shut"
If they are. Davie. the kings nam
viii open them. Lead the way; lead tn
way"
The doors were not shut. but wer
just on the point OF closing When Si
David put his shoulder TO them an
forced his way in. followed closely b.
his companion. The king and his bench
man found themselves in a small ante
room. furnished only with a bench an