Mr. Haswell sat under those invisible rays, Prescott, never
knowing how deadly they might be to him, an old man.
"You knew that they would not take effect for hours, and hence you
ventured the prediction that he would be stricken at about midnight.
Even if it was partial or temporary, still you would be safe in your
prophecy. You succeeded better than you hoped in that part of your
scheme. You had already prepared the way by means of a letter sent to
Mr. Haswell through Dr. Burnham. But Mr. Haswell's credulity and fear
worked the wrong way. Instead of appealing to you he hated you. In
his predicament he thought only of his banished daughter and turned
instinctively to her for help. That made necessary a quick change of
plans."
Prescott, far from losing his nerve, turned on us bitterly. "I knew
you two were spies the moment I saw you," he shouted. "It seemed as if
in some way I knew you for what you were, as if I knew you had seen
Mr. Haswell before you came to me. You, too, would have robbed an
inventor as I am sure he would. But have a care, both of you. You may
be punished also by blindness for your duplicity. Who knows?"
A shudder passed over me at the horrible thought contained in his
mocking laugh. Were we doomed to blindness, too? I looked at the
sightless man on the bed in alarm.
"I knew that you would know us," retorted Kennedy calmly. "Therefore
we came provided with spectacles of Euphos glass, precisely like those
you wear. No, Prescott, we are safe, though perhaps we may have some
burns like those red blotches on Mr.
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