ce at the seal upon
the mouth, uttering at the same time certain Hebrew words, the water
turned a mysterious colour, and the spirits showed their faces, very
small at first, but growing in size till they attained that of a human
countenance. And this countenance was horrible and fiendish.'

Haddo spoke in a low voice that was hardly steady, and it was plain that
he was much moved. It appeared as if his story affected him so that he
could scarcely preserve his composure. He went on.

'These beings were fed every three days by the Count with a rose-coloured
substance which was kept in a silver box. Once a week the bottles were
emptied and filled again with pure rain-water. The change had to be made
rapidly, because while the _homunculi_ were exposed to the air they
closed their eyes and seemed to grow weak and unconscious, as though they
were about to die. But with the spirits that were invisible, at certain
intervals blood was poured into the water; and it disappeared at once,
inexplicably, without colouring or troubling it. By some accident one of
the bottles fell one day and was broken. The _homunculus_ within died
after a few painful respirations in spite of all efforts to save him, and
the body was buried in the garden. An attempt to generate another, made
by the Count without the assistance of the Abbe, who had left, failed; it
produced only a small thing like a leech, which had little vitality and
soon died.'

Haddo ceased speaking, and Arthur looked at him with amazement. 'But
taking for granted that the thing is possible, what on earth is the use
of manufacturing these strange beasts?' he exclaimed.

'Use!' cried Haddo passionately. 'What do you think would be man's
sensations when he had solved the great mystery of existence, when he saw
living before him the substance which was dead? These _homunculi_ were
seen by historical persons, by Count Max Lemberg, by Count Franz-Josef
von Thun, and by many others. I have no doubt that they were actually
generated. But with our modern appliances, with our greater skill, what
might it not be possible to do now if we had the courage? There are
chemists toiling away in their laboratories to create the primitive
protoplasm from matter which is dead, the organic from the inorganic. I
have studied their experiments. I know all that they know. Why shouldn't
one work on a larger scale, joining to the knowledge of the old adepts
the scientific discovery of the moderns? I don't