"Yes," he said, "I _must_ go. It will be necessary for me to make one or two inquiries and get a pair of glasses made for Miss McLeod." "I shall be very sorry to lose you, Garnesk," I said earnestly. "Don't you think you could write or wire for the glasses? You see, if we have come to the conclusion that this green ray is some chemical production of Nature unassisted there isn't the same reason for you to leave us." "No, that's true," he agreed, "but we were both a bit scared yesterday, old chap, and the more I think of this dog business the less I like it. It was mere conceit on my part that made me say it was bound to be some natural phenomenon merely because I couldn't understand how the effect could have been humanly produced." "Perhaps," I suggested, "our best course would be to keep an open mind about the whole thing." "Yes," he replied, "I'm with you entirely. And in that case my going away is not going to aggravate the effects of a natural phenomenon, while it may restrain the human agency by removing the necessity for further activity." "Well, that's sound enough," I acquiesced; "but I shall hear from you, I hope?" "Of course, my dear fellow," he laughed, "we're in this thing together. You'll hear from me as often as you want, and who knows what else besides. I have no intention of dropping this for a minute, Ewart. But I think I can do more if I am not on the spot. We're agreed that my presence here may be a source of danger to you all." "Yes," I said, "I think yours is the best plan. What do you propose to do?" "Well, to begin with, I shall devote an hour or two to knocking our panic theory on the head." "You mean the natural phenomenon idea?" "Precisely," said he. "I don't think that it will be able to exist very long in the light of physical knowledge--not that that is a very powerful light, but it should be strong enough for our purpose. As soon as I have convinced myself that our enemy is a mere human being I shall take such steps as I may think necessary at the time. Then, of course, I shall acquaint you with the steps that I have taken, and we shall work together and round up our man, and, figuratively speaking, make him swallow his hideous green ray." "What sort of steps do you mean?" I asked. "Well, that all depends," my friend answered, "on what sort of man we have to deal with. But it will certainly include providing ourselves with the necessary means of self-defence, and may run to calling in the assistance of the authorities." "I'm not sure that the presence of the police in a quiet spot like this might not have a disastrous effect on our plans," I pointed out. "I shouldn't worry about the police," he laughed. "I should make for the naval chaps. I'm rather pally with them just now; I'm booked up to do some work of various descriptions for the period of the war, and I think if I can give them the promise of a little fun and excitement they would be willing to help."