Why, sir,
I've always drawn my best philosophy out of a spigot-hole. The very
sight of a spigot inspires me, and drives away my troubles. But, man
alive! We must keep this thing secret. The fellow with an exhaustless
stock of _elixir vitae_ isn't half worked out in fiction yet--and
besides, how can a person reread his 'Wandering Jew,' and his 'Last Days
of Pompeii,' and his 'Zanoni,' with such an outlandish picture as a
mystic under a lamp-warmed vase in mind? Why didn't Bainbridge take a
not unusual historical license, and say that the aged philosopher was
found warming himself before a crystal vase filled with magically
glowing rubies?"
After we had laughed a little over this, he said:
"And I suppose Bainbridge tried--in fact I know by what you say that he
did try--to air his knowledge on the subject of animal heat? No doubt
talked for half an hour about the effects of cold on the animal economy?
Oh, he's a rapid man! You heard, sir, how idiotically he talked that
day, just before I cured old man Peters? If Bainbridge had had his way,
Peters' story would have been a short one. I suppose his remedy for a
frozen Hili-lite would be to send him to the North Pole! Now, sir, I
instantly grasped the whole idea of the necessary effect of that cold
wave on those Hili-lites, for I now have data in abundance for reading
those people through and through.
Pages:
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276