"To know thyself," said Braun, "is a virtue."
"That's why this Caldwell crest is interesting, because it has got the mark of the sword. Do you know what the sword means? It means that for some reason they were cut off from alchemy. They could have cut the ties themselves or some king might have done it for them. Who knows?"
"I know," said Braun. "I know that I do not care. Send the receipt to Mr. Caldwell. Thank you, good-bye."
"Wait a minute. It isn't his receipt," said the old man, who had worked at the gold exchange more years than anyone wanted to count. "This isn't Caldwell's gold. It's only minted by the Caldwells. It belongs to you. Mr. Caldwell has set up an account for you here at the gold exchange."
"You mean all of that is mine?"
"Absolutely. As good as gold."
"Ah," said Braun, who suddenly was most interested in the Caldwells, a fine old house among many fine old houses. The Caldwells had been dealing in gold in New York since it was called New Amsterdam, said the old man, and Francisco Braun told him to take his time and not leave out any of the details about these wonderful people.
Harrison Caldwell left his throne and allowed his new manservant to dress him in a dark business suit. He put on a neat striped tie and removed the large ring. Polished black shoes replaced the slippers that had been kissed repeatedly that day.
He could have assigned this task coming upon him now to an underling. But he knew that there were some things one assigned and some one did not. One never allowed someone else to be one's alchemist, nor did one allow someone else to be one's foreign minister. Of course, he was not a country yet, but what was Saudi Arabia but a family? A very rich one.
All he needed was some land. That would be easy. Because he was who he was, Harrison Caldwell knew what money could buy. Also because he was who he was, Caldwell understood clearly why no minister or alchemist could be trusted to help him fulfill his destiny. The Spanish throne had trusted, and the story of that transgression was much more than just history to Harrison Caldwell. It was his history.
It had almost worked. The minister had been the sword of the king. The alchemist could make gold. Unfortunately, the alchemist's feat was so expensive that it defeated its own purpose-getting the substance known as owl's teeth was so costly that to make one gold coin would cost three.
"Does the king know you can do that?" the minister asked.
"No. Not the king. I only showed it to you because you saved my daughter."
"Why not the king? He is our lord," said the minister. "Because when the kings know you can make some gold, they always want more. And that has gotten many alchemists killed. You see, kings think they can find owl's teeth. But they can't. And then they insist you use something else, and then, of course, you die."
"What if I told you that if you will make a few coins for our king, I can make sure you will never be harmed?"
"In our lore you can find many accounts of kings who have promised that, but none who has kept it. Kings just do not know their own limits."
"What if I told you I would set those limits? If you make me a few coins for the king, I will make you rich and assure you no king will ever ask you to do what you cannot do."
"How can you assure me that?"
"I will be king," said the king's minister. "I will use his greed to take his throne."
"No. Don't you see? My life is in danger already. Lords are forgiven by other lords, but alchemists are killed like useless dogs when they've fulfilled their purpose."
"I will marry your daughter. Is that enough proof? She will be my queen. Would a king kill his father-in-law? You will be noble too."
"It is a great risk."
"Life is risk," said the minister. "But your daughter could be queen."
"Marry her first," said the alchemist.
"Done," said the minister.
What happened then would be passed throughout the ages from each Caldwell family elder to each Caldwell son.
Harrison Caldwell remembered his father telling him the story in their bullionist's shop late one night on his thirteenth birthday when everyone else was gone. His father had been teaching him gold, and he was old enough, his father said, to understand where the family came from.
The minister married the alchemist's daughter and they produced a son. Upon the birth of that child, the alchemist made a purchase, investing in the very expensive ingredient that was so rare it took three years to find and five times the amount of gold it could make to buy. But buy it they did, from a place deep within the land where the Negro lived, the land now known as Africa.
And before the king's eyes, Harrison Caldwell's ancestor made the gold from lead. The king was so impressed he wanted to see more. And this time, the special alchemist's ingredient cost only four times what the gold was worth. And the alchemist found the source within one year.
The king was sure he saw a pattern. The secret alchemist's ingredient cost five times gold at first and took three years to get. The second batch cost four times as much and took only one year to get. Eventually, like all commodities that start out expensive in their acquisition, the more one bought, the less it would cost. So thought the king who looked forward to the day that the price of owl's teeth became much less than that of gold itself.
Indeed, he was right. The next batch cost three times the price of gold and was there in six months. And the next shipment, far larger still, cost twice as much and was ready in a month.
But what the king did not know was that only the first time, under the instruction of the foreign minister, did his alchemist make gold from lead.
The other times he only melted and recast part of the gold. Only the first time was he able to obtain the magic ingredient. Only the first time did the king watch the lead transform. His foreign minister had convinced him it would be unseemly to look so greedy, to actually stand over the alchemist like some merchant.
Ultimately, the king came to believe that if he made enough gold it would be cheaper to produce than the gold itself. For every coin paid, he would get three in return.
"We have turned the corner. We now can be the richest kingdom in all Europe. With all this gold we will rule the world, as we should," said the monarch, who promptly emptied almost the entire treasury to buy massive amounts of the rare ingredient that made gold. Harrison Caldwell remembered his father pointing out that this was where everything went wrong. Now the king, expecting to be the richest man in the world, hired a famous murderer to sit by his side, a man from a foreign land. The king feared that his great wealth would draw more enemies to him than ever before. He wanted to be ready for them. This murderer was especially sly and followed the alchemist by some magic which did not let the alchemist see him. And he observed that the alchemist did not make gold at all.
The minister got word of this and fled with his wife and son and as much gold as he could. The alchemist took the philosopher's stone. They sailed free of the Spanish coast, but almost as soon as they were out of sight of land, a storm struck the ship. The weight of the stone and the weight of the gold provided too much ballast, and the ship sank. The alchemist and his daughter were lost. But the minister and son escaped with a small chest of gold.
Eventually they made it to New Amsterdam, which later became New York City, and there, with the meager gold they had saved, they established their house. And they took the name Caldwell. And so Harrison Caldwell learned, on his thirteenth birthday, where the gold was, where the stone was, and to whom the gold and stone belonged. He learned, as had every male heir throughout the family's history, how the Caldwells had almost become kings, and what their bullionist's mark of the apothecary jar and the sword meant.
Perhaps it was because Harrison was a daydreamer, perhaps because he was sickly and did not get along well with other boys, but it was he who vowed to make the legend a reality. He would find the stone and make gold again.
"What makes you think you can succeed where the rest of us only hoped?"
"Because ninety percent of the scientists who ever lived are alive today. Today is different."
"The world doesn't change, Harrison."
"When it comes to people, I'm counting on that, Dad," said Harrison.
He was sure that with the advantage of modern equipment and access to so many great thinkers, the time had come to use the old family map and get the formula for the stone.
It was a godsend that the missing ingredient turned out to be uranium. The world was loaded with it now. And because people hadn't changed, Harrison Caldwell had found a way to make sure that he would never get caught while stealing it.
In his business suit with the photographs of the two men his sword had given him, Harrison Caldwell, who was more and more understanding his destiny, met in one of his business offices a gentleman from Washington.
The man thanked him for helping him buy his house. Caldwell said that was nothing. Anyone would help a friend.
The man thanked him for making sure his daughter got into an exclusive school even though her grades were not good enough.
A mere nothing, answered Harrison Caldwell.
The man said, however, he was not sure that it was totally ethical for Caldwell to open up an account for him at the gold exchange.