GRIFFEN THE HIGH FLIER 75 



covery of the philosopher's stone, which would 

 transmute all the baser metals into gold, and 

 hence the most of his studies were directed to that 

 end. He thought that, if he could only get the 

 smallest vialful of the fluid called lightning, and 

 mix it with some other ingredients which he 

 had at hand, the secret would be within his 

 grasp. But how to obtain the lightning-fluid 

 was the puzzle — and having obtained it, how 

 could he control it until the mixture should be 

 effected ? 



One night, when a great storm was raging in 

 the mountains, and the thunder was rolling from 

 peak to peak, and flashes of lightning filled the 

 air with terror, he tried a very odd experiment 

 which he had been thinking of for a long time. 

 He understood very well the terrible nature of 

 the lightning-fluid in its free state, and hence he 

 was wise enough not to risk bringing it into his 

 laboratory until it was properly confined. He 

 had arranged, therefore, for trying the experi- 

 ment at some distance from his tower. There 

 he had hewn a deep cavity in the rock, within 

 which he now placed a huge jar and several pots 

 containing some objects the names of which he 

 would never disclose. I think that among them 

 there were several strips of copper and zinc, a 



