There were scales on the table; he laid one phial in each, and the old one was by far the heavier.

He had to put a number of pennyweights into the scale with his own before the two were balanced.
His heart almost stood still, and he could not believe his good fortune.
He took the sheet of rough paper on which he had written down the precise contents of the three crucibles, and he carefully went over the proportions of the ingredients in the one from which he had just taken his specimen.

He made a strong effort of memory, trying to recall whether he had been careless and inexact in weighing any of the materials, but he knew that he had been most precise.

He had also noted the hour at which he had put the mixture into the crucible on Saturday, and he now glanced at the sand-glass and made another note.

But he did not lay the paper upon the table, where it had been lying for two days, kept in place by a little glass weight.