the precious, coveted, yellow metal, that withstood the tests 

 of the Cracow goldsmiths. 



Enormous sums of money were drawn out of the coffers ; 

 of the Count, who was obliged to sell a portion of his estates ' 

 "to find aliment for the hungry crucibles of Dee and Kelley i 

 and the no less hungry stomachs of their wives and families." ; 

 When Laski showed signs of discouragement Kelley arranged 

 a new imposture, and thus the clever swindlers prolonged : 

 their stay in Poland. After many months, however, the 

 Count realized that the alchemists consumed far more gold 

 than they produced, and he urged them to make a visit to 

 Prague, where the wealthy patron of alchemists, astrologers 

 and artists, the Emperor Rudolph II, held his. court. Furnished 

 with letters of introduction and a safe-conduct, Dee, Kelley, 

 his brother, and a servant named Hilton, bid their host fare- 

 well and proceeded through Cracow to the Capital of 

 Bohemia, which they reached, after an eight da3 r s journey in 

 carriages, on August ninth, 1584. 



