he shut himself in his laboratory. He was flushed with triumph;
another victory would be his. He would also conquer the demon that had
hitherto resisted his will. He had the proud feeling of a victorious
general who demands the last stronghold to surrender.

"I have already conquered," he said. "You are the next to submit. God
sometimes lends to his creature immortal gifts, moments of creative
power, when the infinite takes, as it were, shape, and the finite
cries to the infinite, 'Eureka!'"

Ivan poured out ten drops of the water he had brought from the well.
There was not more than would be held in the point of a pen. The
laboratory became suddenly dark. The strong heat of the burning coal
in the oven went out as if by magic. All was dark; black as night.
This darkness was the light for which Ivan had been seeking.

"I have found it!" he cried aloud. "I have found it!" he cried to his
workmen, among whom he rushed, half undressed, with his hat off, like
a lunatic.

They did not know what he had found, but they felt certain the
discovery which was considered so important by their guide and master
must be a matter of rejoicing, in proof of which the miners cheered
lustily.

CHAPTER XXXVIII

AT PAR

The devil's comedy was being played daily on the stock-exchange. The
Bondavara Company's shares, the Bondavara Railway shares were tossed
here and there, from one hand to another. The tragedy had turned to
comedy--that is, for some people, who found the game very humorous.
The very word Bondavara made the stockbrokers laugh. When it happened
that some fool bought a share, no one could help laughing. The shares,
in fact, were given in exchange for anything of little value--for
instance, as make-weight with an old umbrella for a new one. They were
also presented to charitable institutions.

One witty man went to a fancy ball in a coat made of the shares. This
conceit was thought diverting. The exchange, however, was still the
field where a desultory fight was kept up by the shareholders. These
poor wretches fought for the last flicker of the lamp, which the bears
wanted to extinguish altogether.

Prince Waldemar, the leader of the conspiracy, forced the shares day
by day lower and lower. At last they fell to one and a half per cent.,
then to one and a quarter, and this quarter was to go lower, the
prince wanting to banish the shares from the quotation list. The
owners were making a fight to prevent this--an