It will be remembered that of all the inmates of the house, Dr. Hansen
was the only one who had a personal acquaintance with Watson. One year
before the doctor had seen him a shadow--wasted, worn, exhausted. He had
talked with him on that memorable night in the cafe. Well he remembered
the incident, and the subject of that strange conversation--the secret
of life that had been discovered by the missing Dr. Holcomb. And Dr.
Hansen had pondered it often since.
What was the force that was pulsing through the Blind Spot? It had
reached out on the earth, and had plucked up youth as well as wisdom.
THIS was the first time it had ever given up that which it had taken!
It was Watson, sure enough; but it was not the man he had known one year
before. Except for the basic features Hansen would not have recognized
him; the shadow was gone, the pallor, the touch of death. He was hale
and radiant; his skin had the pink glow of alert fitness; except for
being dazed, he appeared perfectly natural. In the tense moment of his
arrival the little group waited in silence. What had he to tell them?
But he did not see them at first. He groped about blindly, moving slowly
and holding his hands before him. His face was calm and settled; its
lines told decision. There was not a question in any mind present but
that the man had come for a purpose.
Why could he not see? Perhaps the light was too dim. Some one thought to
turn on the extra lights.
It brought the first word from Watson. He threw up both arms before his
face; like one shutting out the lightning.
“Don't!” he begged. “Don't! Shut off the lights; you will blind me!
Please; please! Darken the room!”
Sir Henry sprang to the switch. Instantly the place went to shadow;
there was just enough light from the moon to distinguish the several
forms grouped in the middle of the room. Dr. Hansen proffered a chair.
“Thank you! Ah! Dr. Hansen! You are here--I had thought--This is much
better! I can see fairly well now. You came very near to blinding me
permanently! You didn't know. It's the transition.” Then: “And yet--of
course! It's the moon! THE MOON!”
He stopped. There was a strange wistfulness in the last word. And
suddenly he rose to his feet. He turned in gladness, as though to drink
in the mellow flow of the radiance.
“The moon! Gentlemen--doctor--who are these people? This is the house
of the Blind Spot! And it is the moon--the good old earth! And San
Francisco!”
He stopped again. There was a bit of indecision and of wonder mixed
with his gladness. The stillness was only broken by the scarcely audible
voice of Mme. Le Fabre.
“Now we KNOW! It is proven. The sceptics have always asked why the
spirits work only in the half light. We know now.”
Watson looked to Dr. Hansen. “Who is this lady? Who are these others?”
“Can you see them?”
“Perfectly. It is the lady in the corner; she thinks--”
“That you are a spirit!”
Watson laughed. “I a spirit? Try me and see!”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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