There may be plenty of it only waiting to be found. That,
however, doesn't trouble me. The great point is that nobody except
myself knows how to extract the metal."
Mr. Boon closely examined the chunk of rock which he had taken from
the car. Then he pulled a lens from his pocket, with a deprecatory
glance at Dr. Syx.
"Oh, that's all right," said the latter, with a laugh, the first that
these gentlemen had ever heard from his lips, and it almost made them
shudder; "put it to every test, examine it with the microscope, with
fire, with electricity, with the spectroscope--in every way you can
think of! I assure you it is worth your while!"
Again Dr. Syx uttered his freezing laugh, passing into the familiar
smile, which had now become an undisguised mock.
"Upon my word," said Mr. Boon, taking his eye from the lens, "I see no
sign of any metal here!"
"Look at the green specks!" cried the doctor, snatching the specimen
from the president's hand. "That's it! That's artemisium! But it's of
no use unless you can get it out and purify it, which is my secret!"
For the third time Dr.
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