Page:Inside Canton.djvu/107

106 "Oh, it little matters what cousin John has told you," interrupted I; "although I hold him to be a very truthful lad, I will believe my own testimony rather than his, and there is a very simple mode of convincing me. Call the man, and tell him that I wish him to extract one of my finest molars."

"What folly! You expose yourself to the loss of a tooth to put to the proof a fact which everyone affirms."

"Don't be uneasy. Never will a loss be better paid than that, if the experiment succeeds. I shall then buy this secret of the man, who does not seem to be in a position to refuse my brilliant offers; I shall sell it again for many millions to the carious jaws of my dear country. But call this quack, otherwise we shall lose him in the crowd."

The cousin of Master John told the Chinese that I desired him to ease me of a molar. The rival of Fattet bade me open my mouth, and declared that on that very evening I should have in my hand the tooth which I proposed to sacrifice. He took from his box a little packet, which he sold me for thirty sapecs. He directed me to put a few particles of the contents in contact with the tooth I wished to lose, and to renew the application every hour three times consecutively. He then asked for my address, that he might visit me the next day, and took his leave.

As soon as the man was gone, I examined the