imperceptible to any known method of autopsy."

Throughout the story the old man makes allusions to this colorless liquid. He calls it a "glove cleaner" and a "life cleaner." He is not much interested in selling Alan the love potion which the young man so urgently desires. The profit the dealer expects to make will all come from the poison when, as he fully anticipates, Alan gets bored with marriage and wants his freedom. The love potion costs just one dollar, but the "glove cleaner" or "life cleaner" will cost

". . . five thousand dollars, never a penny less. One has to be older than you are, to indulge in that sort of thing. One has to save up for it."

He obviously expects the love between Alan and the girl named Diana to last for some years, during which time Alan will move up in the world financially and will be able to afford the expensive poison when, as the old man predicts, he becomes tired of his wife's possessiveness and togetherness.

Characteristically, John Collier treats his subject with a strong touch of humor. Also characteristically, he shows a very cynical attitude about love and marriage, probably based on his own experience. In this respect he resembles Ambrose Bierce, who defined marriage in his book The Devil’s Dictionary (1906) as:

The state or condition of a community consisting of a master, a mistress and two slaves, making in all, two, and defined love as A temporary insanity curable by marriage or the removal of the patient from the influences under which he incurred the disorder.

When Alan thanks the old man for the love potion and says "Good-by," the old man replies, "Au revoir," which literally means "Until we meet again." He fully expects his new customer to make a return visit in the future and to pay him the five thousand dollars for "the chaser." The words "Au revoir" can be regarded as yet another allusion to the poison as well as an allusion to marriage.

The mood of the story, as well as being surrealistic, is humorous and sardonic. Collier does not expect his story to be taken seriously. Men do not normally poison their wives if they get tired of marriage, but Collier makes it seem as if this is the natural thing to do. Why not just get a divorce? Well, if Alan became prosperous during the honeymoon years of marriage, it might be cheaper to pay five thousand dollars for the poison--as Collier and the old man imply--than to pay attorney fees, split the community property, and pay alimony indefinitely.

I believe that this question is asking for a bit of explanation as to how the title of this great short story applies to the events being narrated. I'm actually always pleased to find out that most of my students are ignorant of what a chaser beverage actually is. A lot of strong liquors don't necessarily taste all that great, so after taking a shot of something particularly strong and foul tasting, it is common to follow up with something that washes the taste away. The second drink "chases" the first drink. Beer is often a common chaser, but the first drink and/or the chaser don't have to be alcoholic. I use the chaser concept with my elementary aged children when they have to drink a little "shot" of cough medicine. They usually chase it down with milk or apple juice.

The drink-chaser concept applies to this story because the salesman is quite confident that Alan will be back some day to purchase the relationship-ending potion. Diana will drink the first drink and be obsessed with Alan, and he will eventually give her a chaser beverage to end her life and obsession. The chaser-drink connotation and how it applies to the story is always an eye opener for my students. They usually have a different connotation for what "the chaser" means. Students often explain that they thought the chaser refers to a person. "The chaser" is someone that chases. This thinking actually works for this story too. Alan is the chaser that is chasing Diana, and he is willing to drug her in order to catch her.

The title of John Collier's short story has probably confused some contemporary readers because the term "chaser" is not nearly as familiar today as it was when Collier published "The Chaser" in 1951. A chaser is a small drink of water, beer, or soda which is typically drunk after a straight shot of a strong liquor, usually whiskey or gin or perhaps tequila. Probably the most common such combination today is a shot of straight bourbon followed by a chaser of beer, which is called a "boilermaker." In Collier's day it was common to drink a straight whiskey followed by a little plain water. The title of the story has nothing to do with chasing or being chased. In the story the second potion bought by Alan Austen is undoubtedly a poison, but neither Austen nor the old man uses such a literal and potential incriminating term. The old man refers to it as a "glove cleaner" and with other cryptic euphemisms, but it is obvious to the reader that he knows that Austen will be using it to murder his wife.