not for me to follow you, because
mine is the lordship. The time will come when none of you shall remain in
his dark corner who will not be an object of contempt to the world,
because I shall be the King, and the Monarchy will be mine.'

Dr Porhoet closed the book.

'Did you ever hear such gibberish in your life? Yet he did a bold thing.
He wrote in German instead of in Latin, and so, by weakening the old
belief in authority, brought about the beginning of free thought in
science. He continued to travel from place to place, followed by a crowd
of disciples, some times attracted to a wealthy city by hope of gain,
sometimes journeying to a petty court at the invitation of a prince. His
folly and the malice of his rivals prevented him from remaining anywhere
for long. He wrought many wonderful cures. The physicians of Nuremberg
denounced him as a quack, a charlatan, and an impostor. To refute them he
asked the city council to put under his care patients that had been
pronounced incurable. They sent him several cases of elephantiasis,
and he cured them: testimonials to that effect may still be found in the
archives of Nuremberg. He died as the result of a tavern brawl and was
buried at Salzburg. Tradition says that, his astral body having already
during physical existence become self-conscious, he is now a living
adept, residing with others of his sort in a certain place in Asia. From
there he still influences the minds of his followers and at times even
appears to them in visible and tangible substance.'

'But look here,' said Arthur, 'didn't Paracelsus, like most of these old
fellows, in the course of his researches make any practical discoveries?'

'I prefer those which were not practical,' confessed the doctor, with
a smile. 'Consider for example the _Tinctura Physicorum_, which neither
Pope nor Emperor could buy with all his wealth. It was one of the
greatest alchemical mysteries, and, though mentioned under the name
of _The Red Lion_ in many occult works, was actually known to few
before Paracelsus, except Hermes Trismegistus and Albertus Magnus. Its
preparation was extremely difficult, for the presence was needed of two
perfectly harmonious persons whose skill was equal. It was said to be a
red ethereal fluid. The least wonderful of its many properties was its
power to transmute all inferior metals into gold. There is an old church
in the south of Bavaria where the tincture is said to be still buried in
the groun