The Professor: Avignon 



where rang a peal of bells proclaiming the de- 

 lights of my approaching emancipation. Little by 

 little, the factory that was to set me free rose sky- 

 wards, full of promises. Yes, I should possess the 

 modest income which would crown my ambition 

 by allowing me to descant on animals and plants 

 in a university chair. 



" Well, no," said Fate, " you shall not acquire 

 the freedman's peculium; you shall remain a slave, 

 dragging your chain behind you; your peal of bells 

 rings false ! " 



Hardly was the factory in full swing, when a 

 piece of news was bruited, at first a vague rumour, 

 an echo of probabilities rather than certainties, and 

 then a positive statement leaving no room for doubt. 

 Chemistry had obtained the madder-dye by arti- 

 ficial means; thanks to a laboratory concoction, it 

 was utterly overthrowing the agriculture and indus- 

 tries of my district. This result, while destroying 

 my work and my hopes, did not surprise me un- 

 duly. I myself had toyed with the problem of 

 artificial alizarin; and I knew enough about it to 

 foresee that, in no very distant future, the product 

 of the chemist's retort would take the place of 

 the product of the fields. 1 



It was only a step from the Capitol to the 

 Tarpeian Rock. He who but now had dis- 

 covered Peru was about to feel more keenly 

 than ever the sharp pangs of poverty; he 



1 Souvenirs, x., p. 353. The Life of the Fly, chap, xx., 

 " Industrial Chemistry." 



193 



