ore, but lost
the art. Now we shall see; hey, hey."

Slowly and cautiously the canister was replaced; the requisite powder
was carefully measured and inserted, and after many an examination had
been made, Edmund declared that everything was in readiness for the
wheels to be set in motion.

"Stand back, venture not too near," he commanded, and placing a heavy
piece of loose rock upon the case, he set the wheels in motion and
stepped back proudly behind his handiwork.

"Thou shalt be convinced shortly, Master Manners," he exclaimed. "Ha,
ha, I shall have many friends soon. None know the power I have at my
command, and princes and queens will court me to possess it. I can
either kill or keep alive, my elixir--"

His voice was lost in the din of a great explosion. Bottles and jars
were rattled together and smashed. The chamber was full of smoke and
flame. Everything was suddenly thrown into frightful disorder, all was
in confusion. Solid masses of rock were detached from the walls and
roof, and went crashing across the room, destroying everything with
which they came into contact, or else burst through the wall and
bounded down the steep rock outside. The very room seemed to spin
around, and Sir Ronald and Manners were thrown headlong upon the
pavement of the passage outside.

What could it all mean?

Simply that the engine had done its work. Edmund had overcharged it,
and it had exploded. The angel of death had slain its creator, and the
wonderful elixir of life was lost to the world for ever.

CHAPTER XXX.

STOLEN SWEETS.

All close they met again, before the dusk
Had taken from the stars its pleasant veil;
Close in a bower of hyacinth and musk,
Unknown of any, from whispering tale.
Ah! better had it been for ever so,
Than idle ears should pleasure in their woe.

KEATS.

It was within a week off Christmas, and at Haddon all was in confusion
and disorder amid the preparations for the forthcoming wedding.
Manners had now relinquished all hope of Sir George ever relenting,
and he waited with feverish impatience the time when, once more, he
might clasp his darling to his heart, and pour again into her ears the
oft-told story of his undiminished love.

He longed to see her again, or to be seen by her, even though no words
were spoken; for he had been away awhile, and though he had bidden
Roger send Dorothy word of his absence through Lettice, yet he feared
lest the message had not