The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1913-03-03
In League With
the Devil
BY F. A. mitchell.

r"lnch and fore;rlnner of the science
we now call chemistry While bend
Ing over erucibe containing COM
pound 1t exploded and. striking him
In the left eye. burned 1t so badly that
he was obliged to have 1t removed,
HIS face and ais other eye we're saved
from injury. being protected by an iron
rpask. FOR he was working upon mix
ture to produce gunpowder and pro-
tected himself against an explosion all
except one eve.
The name of this young man was
Berthold Schwartz. The loss Of his
eye was the greater misfortune to him
because he was In love with Gretchen
Becker. whose father. already prejn-
diced against him. had now the more
cause to refuse him his daughter.
That was an age before glass eyes
Were made so Berthod Schwartz In
selecting a substance for an artificial
eve chose gold. Gretchen did not de-
keit him OH this account. Indeed, she
was all file more drawn to him on ac-
coun. oe his misfortune. But she said |
nothing about the toss Of his eye to |
her father. shrinking from giving him
this additional lever against her lover. |
One day old Becker met Schwartz on
the street and noticed his golden eye.
What means this. Berthold?" he
paid. astonished. Are you turning to
gold? | have been aware of your ex-
periments in alchemy and fancied that
you. like the rest of your craft. were
hunting for process for producing the
precious metals. but / did not suppose
tpu would work upon your own per-
son"
THAT was accidental" replied
Schwartz.
Accidental. Have you really discov-
cred a process by which you can turn
flesh into gold? ?"
MY inventions are a secret" an.
swered the chemist. wishing to evade
direct reply. and to avoid being fur.
Their questioned he passed on II
When Becker went home he said ex- '
citedly to his wife and daughter: ''Gott l
In himmel. Berthold Schwartz has dis '
covered the secret of turning objects Z
into the precious metals But be has
been unlucky. for accidentally he turn.
ed one of his eyes into gold"
How was that" asked his wife.
throwing up her hands In astonlsh-
ment
II don't know. | suppose that any :
object exposed TO his process is turned !
to gold. and don't understand it, !
That evening Gretchen heard her !
father and mother discussing whether :
since Berthold had discovered this Sc :.
r-et that SO many at that period were =
hunting for. they had not better give :,
him their daughter after all The re. !,
suit OF their conference was that they
would wait and see If he really har :
made such discovery The next day =
the girl went to her lover and reported =
what had occurred. BcrthoId laughed :,
but. cnspii +. Gretchen in his arms. :
said to her: :.
You may go back and tell your par. :
ents. and that with truth. that have .
discovered method by which | can :
turn Ease materials into gold. for can !.
produce n mixture that will explode !,
with great force aud am experimenting :
how to use it
Gretchen told her mother that 1t was
indeed true that Berthold had discover
I'd the art OF turning objects into gold. "
md there was another conference be =
Ween Becker and his wife. after d
which Gretchen was told that III Ber- ~
bold would turn some ordinary object =
nto gold before them they would give -,
Ter 10 him 10 wife When Gretchen ~
lore the message to her lover he bnde .
Ter say that his secret was his own -
md be would not give II to any one =
Use. But he suggested that she say -
o her parents that If lie chose he could =.
urn their eyes into gold as he had =.
lone his own -.
When Gretchen spoke of this to her 10
'arents they turned pale Suppose -,
should turn the eyes OF ei. y,
her one or both of them into geld:
hey would be stone blind. They did M
" neIleve Una, any one could 90 SO be
a thing without the aid OF ,
he devil. and they shrank from giving ev
heir daughter to such person So m,
hey concluded to charge Berthold with
'itchcraft.
Unfortunately for this plan. Gretchen
verheard II and went ut once with II
} Berthold who told her that be had -
the idea of putting his mix ~
IRE into an iron tube closed at enc -
nd and lump OF metal against the -
fixture. BY heating the closed end he -
,uld send the lump with such force as
, kill man. The inventor was go
g to show this implement to the King .
I'd asked Gretchen TO marry him and -
, with him. She consented and the -
80 departed without a goodby to old -.
ecker and his wife. ~
A year later the couple returned to
re:chen's home clad in rich garments
III with every appearance OF wealth. !.
"Ach. II II then true that you can
AXE gold?" asked Frau Becker. INA
Yes. but not as you suppose re We
led Schwartz. Il have invented a WI
mpound which will send a ball Ne'
rough a man and kill him"
Then you are IN league with the p
vii" hat
In one way. yes: in another. no -
le king has given ne orders for all ne
n make Of my compound and pays VI