Leonora seemed extraordinarily apathetic. She leaned back in the car and seemed uninterested in the passing scene. Sarakoff, wrapped up in a fur rug, stared dreamily in front of him. As far as I can recall them, my feelings during that swift tour of London were vague. The buildings, the people, the familiar signs in the streets, the shop windows, all seemed to have lost in some degree the quality of reality. I was detached from them; and whenever I made an effort to rouse myself, the ugliness and meaninglessness of everything I saw seemed strangely emphasized. When we reached Harley Street we found my house little damaged, save for a broken panel in the green front door and a few panes of glass smashed in the lower windows. The house was empty. The servants had vanished. Leonora said she wished to go home and she drove off in the car. Sarakoff did not even wave farewell to her, but went straight up to his room and lay down on the bed. I went into the study and sat in my chair by the fireplace. I was roused by the opening of the door, and looking up I saw a face that I recognized, but for the moment I could not fit a name to it. My visitor came in calmly, and sat down opposite me. "My name is Thornduck," he said. "I came to consult you about my health a few days ago." "I remember," I said. "Your front door was open so I walked in." I nodded. His eyes, stained with blue, rested on me. "I have been thinking," he said. "It struck me that there was something you forgot to tell me the other day." I nodded again. "You began, if you remember, by asking me if I believed in miracles. That set me thinking, and as I saw your name in the paper, connected with the Blue Disease, I knew you were a miracle-monger. How did you do it?" "I don't know. It was all due to my black cat. Tripped over it, got concussion and regained my senses with the idea that led up to the germ." He smiled. "A black cat," he mused. "I wonder if it's all black magic?" "That's what Hammer suggested. I don't know what kind of magic it is." "Of course it _is_ magic," said Thornduck. "Magic?" "Of course. Have you even thought what kind of magic it is?" "No." "A big magic, such as you have worked, is just bringing the distant future into the present with a rush." "Sarakoff had some such idea," I murmured. "He spoke of anticipating our evolution by centuries at one stroke." "Exactly. That's magic. The question remains--is it black magic?" He crossed his thin legs and leaned back in the chair. "I got the Blue Disease the day before yesterday and since then I've thought more than I have ever done in all my life. When I read in the paper this morning that you said the Blue Disease conferred immortality on people I was not surprised. I had come to the same conclusion in a roundabout way. But I want to ask you one question. Did you know beforehand that _it killed desire_?" "No. Neither Sarakoff nor I foresaw that."