Gelstraphadoftenponderedoverthisbottle。IthadbeenplacedtherebyMrPontifexhimselfaboutadozenyearspreviously，onhisreturnfromavisittohisfriendthecelebratedtravellerDrJones——
buttherewasnotabletabovethebinwhichmightgiveacluetothenatureofitscontents。Onmorethanoneoccasionwhenhismasterhadgoneoutandlefthiskeysaccidentallybehindhim，ashesometimesdid，Gelstraphadsubmittedthebottletoallthetestshecouldventureupon，butitwassocarefullysealedthatwisdomremainedquiteshutoutfromthatentranceatwhichhewouldhavewelcomedhermostgladly——andindeedfromallotherentrances，forhecouldmakeoutnothingatall。
Andnowthemysterywastobesolved。Butalas！itseemedasthoughthelastchanceofsecuringevenasipofthecontentswastoberemovedforever，forMrPontifextookthebottleintohisownhandsandheldituptothelightaftercarefullyexaminingtheseal。Hesmiledandleftthebinwiththebottleinhishands。
Thencameacatastrophe。Hestumbledoveranemptyhamper；therewasthesoundofafall——asmashofbrokenglass，andinaninstantthecellarfloorwascoveredwiththeliquidthathadbeenpreservedsocarefullyforsomanyyears。
WithhisusualpresenceofmindMrPontifexgaspedoutamonth’swarningtoGelstrap。Thenhegotup，andstampedasTheobaldhaddonewhenChristinahadwantednottoorderhisdinner。