Of course she couldn't drink the coffee; so she
called in the family, for she was sitting at a late breakfast all
alone. The family came in; they all tasted, and looked, and wondered
what should be done, and all sat down to think.

At last Agamemnon, who had been to college, said, "Why don't we go
over and ask the advice of the chemist?" (For the chemist lived over
the way, and was a very wise man.)

Mrs. Peterkin said, "Yes," and Mr. Peterkin said, "Very well," and all
the children said they would go too. So the little boys put on their
india-rubber boots, and over they went.

Now the chemist was just trying to find out something which should
turn everything it touched into gold; and he had a large glass bottle
into which he put all kinds of gold and silver, and many other
valuable things, and melted them all up over the fire, till he had
almost found what he wanted. He could turn things into almost gold.
But just now he had used up all the gold that he had round the house,
and gold was high. He had used up his wife's gold thimble and his
great-grandfather's gold-bowed spectacles; and he had melted up the
gold head of his great-great-grandfather's cane; and, just as the
Peterkin family came in, he was down on his knees before his wife,
asking her to let him have her wedding-ring to melt up with all the
rest, because this time he knew he should succeed, and should be able
to turn everything into gold; and then she could have a new
wedding-ring of diamonds, all set in emeralds and rubies and topazes,
and all the furniture could be turned into the finest of gold.

Now his wife was just consenting when the Peterkin family burst in.
You can imagine how mad the chemist was! He came near throwing his
crucible--that was the name of his melting-pot--at their heads. But he
didn't. He listened as calmly as he could to the story of how Mrs.
Peterkin had put salt in her coffee.

At first he said he couldn't do anything about it; but when Agamemnon
said they would pay in gold if he would only go, he packed up his
bottles in a leather case, and went back with them all.

[Illustration]

First he looked at the coffee, and then stirred it. Then he put in a
little chlorate of potassium, and the family tried it all round; but
it tasted no better. Then he stirred in a little bichlorate of
magnesia. But Mrs. Peterkin didn't like that. Then he added some
tartaric acid and some hypersulphate of lime. But no; it was no
better. "I hav