rtain cavern
that I wot of, and there, grasping it in my arms, lie down and die, and
keep it buried with me forever.'

'O wretch, regardless of the interests of science!' cried Doctor
Cacaphodel, with philosophic indignation. 'Thou art not worthy to
behold, even from afar off, the lustre of this most precious gem that
ever was concocted in the laboratory of Nature. Mine is the sole purpose
for which a wise man may desire the possession of the Great Carbuncle.

'Immediately on obtaining it--for I have a presentiment, good people,
that the prize is reserved to crown my scientific reputation--I shall
return to Europe, and employ my remaining years in reducing it to
its first elements. A portion of the stone will I grind to impalpable
powder; other parts shall be dissolved in acids, or whatever solvents
will act upon so admirable a composition; and the remainder I design
to melt in the crucible, or set on fire with the blow-pipe. By these
various methods I shall gain an accurate analysis, and finally bestow
the result of my labors upon the world in a folio volume.'

'Excellent!' quoth the man with the spectacles. 'Nor need you hesitate,
learned sir, on account of the necessary destruction of the gem; since
the perusal of your folio may teach every mother's son of us to concoct
a Great Carbuncle of his own.'

'But, verily,' said Master Ichabod Pigsnort, 'for mine own part I object
to the making of these counterfeits, as being calculated to reduce the
marketable value of the true gem. I tell ye frankly, sirs, I have
an interest in keeping up the price. Here have I quitted my regular
traffic, leaving my warehouse in the care of my clerks, and putting my
credit to great hazard, and, furthermore, have put myself in peril of
death or captivity by the accursed heathen savages--and all this without
daring to ask the prayers of the congregation, because the quest for
the Great Carbuncle is deemed little better than a traffic with the Evil
One. Now think ye that I would have done this grievous wrong to my soul,
body, reputation, and estate, without a reasonable chance of profit?'

'Not I, pious Master Pigsnort,' said the man with the spectacles. 'I
never laid such a great folly to thy charge.'

'Truly, I hope not,' said the merchant. 'Now, as touching this Great
Carbuncle, I am free to own that I have never had a glimpse of it; but
be it only the hundredth part so bright as people tell, it will
surely outvalue the Great Mogul's