People don't find it worth their while to kidnap a girl and flog her
with a cat-o'-nine-tails. A turn of a die, and I'd have been in
Jack's shoes to-night; while, as it is--"
As it was, however, he seemed hardly to enjoy his good fortune, for
he added, still looking up:
"Plague seize it! I shan't sleep a wink--I know I shan't. What a
magnificent show of stars! Let me see, how long is it before
daybreak? One-two-three-five hours only. I won't go to bed at all--
I'll have a turn at the telescope."
He stole into the house softly and climbed up the spiral staircase.
A faint light shone out on the first landing from the half-open door
of his workroom. He entered and turned up the lamp.
Its light revealed a scene of amazing disorder. The walls were
covered with books and charts; the floor was littered with
manuscripts, mathematical instruments, huge folios, piled
higgledy-piggledy, carpenter's tools, retorts, bottles of chemicals.
In one corner, beside a door leading to his bedroom, stood a
turning-lathe three inches deep in sawdust and shavings; in another,
a human skeleton hung against the wall, its feet concealed by the
model of a pumping-engine. Hard by was nailed a rack containing a
couple of antique swords, a walking-cane and a large telescope.
Pages:
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120