There surely
never was another man who looked just like Dr. Syx. And, besides, was
it not demonstrable that he must have perished in the awful
destruction of his mill?
Soon after came a report that Dr. Syx had been seen again; this time
at Ekaterinburg, in the Urals. Next he was said to have paid a visit
to Batang, in the mountainous district of southwestern China, and
finally, according to rumor, he was seen in Sicily, at Nicolosi, among
the volcanic pimples on the southern slope of Mount Etna.
Next followed something of more curious and even startling interest. A
chemist at Budapest, where the first rumors of Syx's reappearance had
placed the mysterious doctor, announced that he could produce
artemisium, and proved it, although he kept his process secret. Hardly
had the sensation caused by this news partially subsided when a
similar report arrived from Ekaterinburg; then another from Batang;
after that a fourth from Nicolosi!
Nobody could fail to notice the coincidence; wherever the doctor--or
was it his ghost?--appeared, there, shortly afterwards, somebody
discovered the much-sought secret.
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