Page:The Mystery of Madeline Le Blanc (1900).djvu/60

60 "The smell nearly choked me when I went below. What was it?"

"A fume that will produce a catalepsy like death," answered the doctor, cautiously opening the door. "I tried it on myself last night. So strong was the fume that I felt myself going down into a deadly sleep before I could do more than ascend the stairs. My tongue cleaved stiffly to the roof of my mouth, I felt my jaws lock, and consciousness dwindled to nothing save a sense of terror that I had gone a step too far with myself, and a kind of joy that I had at last found that for which I had searched so long. You should have dragged me to the air; it was air that I was gasping for. You say my face was distorted?"

"Yes, Monsieur."

"Do not move from this door, and be ready to answer my call," said Satiani, descending into the cellar. "It remains now to be seen whether or not I can restore life from the effect of my discovery, or whether death must follow." The door closed cautiously behind him, and there was absolute silence.

The light shone again through the