However, finally, the excitement of the possibilities overcame all fear of death or life. I had already prepared my tincture, and late one accursed night, I compounded the elements, watched them boil and smoke together in the glass, and when the ebullition had subsided, with a strong glow of courage, drank off the potion.

Pains racked my body of muscle and sinew stretching and contorting. I could hear the grind of my bones as surely as I felt them, and with them came the darkness, stealing over and blotting out my vision.