"Perfectly. It is the lady in the corner; she thinks--"

"That you are a spirit!"

Watson laughed. "I a spirit? Try me and see!"

"Certainly," asserted Mme. Le Fabre. "You are out of the Blind Spot. I know; it will prove everything!"

"Ah, yes; the Spot." Watson hesitated. Again the indecision. There was something latent that he could not recall; though conscious, part of his mind was still in the apparent fog that lingers back into slumber.

"I don't understand," he spoke. "Who are you?"

It was Sir Henry this time. "Mr. Watson, we are a sort of committee.

This is the house at 288 Chatterton Place. We are after the great secret that was discovered by Dr. Holcomb. We were summoned by Hobart Fenton."

Consciousness is an enigma. Hitherto Watson had been almost inert; his actions and manner of speech had been mechanical. That it was the natural result of the strange force that had thrown him out, no one doubted. The mention of Hobart Fenton jerked him into the full vigour of wide-awake thinking; he straightened himself.

"Hobart! Hobart Fenton! Where is he?"

"That we do not know," answered Sir Henry. "He was here a moment ago. It is almost too impossible for belief. Perhaps you can tell us."

"You mean--"

"Exactly. Into the Blind Spot. One and the other; your coming was coincident with his going!"

Chick raised up. Even in that faint light they could appreciate the full vigour of his splendid form. He was even more of an athlete than in his college days, before the Blind Spot took him. And when he realised what Sir Henry had said he held up one magnificent arm, almost in the manner of benediction:

"Hobart has gone through? Thank Heaven for that!"

It was a puzzle. True, in that little group there was represented the accumulated wisdom of human effort. With the possible exception of the general, there was not a sceptic among them. They were ready to explain almost anything--but this.

In the natural weakness of futility they had come to associate the aspect of death or terror with the Blind Spot. Yet, here was Watson!

Watson, alive and strong; he was the reverse of what they had subconsciously expected.

"What is this Blind Spot?" inquired Sir Henry evenly. "And what do you mean by giving thanks that Fenton has gone into it?"

"Not now. Not one word of explanation until--What time is it?" Watson broke off to demand.

They told him. He began to talk rapidly, with amazing force and decision, and in a manner whose sincerity left no chance for doubt.

"Then we have five hours! Not one second to lose. Do what I say, and answer my questions!" Then: "We must not fail; one slip, and the whole world will be engulfed--in the unknown! Turn on the lights."

There was that in the personality and the vehemence of the man that precluded opposition. Out of the Blind Spot had come a dynamic quality, along with the man; a quickening influence that made Watson swift, sure, and positive. Somehow they knew it was a moment of Destiny.

Watson went on:

"First, did Hobart Fenton open the Spot? Or was it a period? By 'period'

I mean, did it open by chance, as it did when it caught Harry and me?

Just what did Hobart do? Tell me!"

It was a singular question. How could they answer it? However, Dr.

Malloy related as much as he knew of what Hobart had done; his wires and apparatus were now merely a tangled mass of fused metals. Nothing remained intact but the blue gem and the red pebble.

"I see. And this pebble: you found it by digging in the cellar, I suppose."

How did he know that? Dr. Hansen brought that curiously heavy little stone and laid it in Watson's hand. The newcomer touched it with his finger, and for a brief moment he studied it. Then he looked up.

"It's the small one," he stated. "And you found it in the cellar. It was very fortunate; the opening of the Spot was perhaps a little more than half chance. But it was wonderfully lucky. It let me out. And with the help of God and our own courage we may open it again, long enough to rescue Hobart, Harry, and Dr. Holcomb. Then--we must break the chain--we must destroy the revelation; we must close the Spot forever!"

Small wonder that they couldn't understand what he meant. Dr. Hansen thought to cut in with a practical question:

"My dear Chick, what's inside the Spot? We want to know!"

But it was not Watson who answered. It was Mme. Le Fabre.

"Spirits, of course."

Watson gave a sudden laugh. This time he answered:

"My dear lady, if you know what I know, and what Dr. Holcomb has discovered, you would ask YOURSELF a question or so. Possibly you yourself are a spirit!"

"What!" she gasped. "I--a spirit!"

"Exactly. But there is no time for questions. Afterwards--not now. Five hours, and we must--"

Someone came to the door. It was Jerome. At the sight of Watson he stopped, clutching the stub of his cigar between his teeth. His grey eyes took in the other's form from head to shoe leather.

"Back?" he inquired. "What did you find out, Watson? They must have fed you well over yonder!"

And Jerome pointed toward the ceiling with his thumb. It wasn't in his dour nature to give way to enthusiasm; this was merely his manner of welcome. Watson smiled.

"The eats were all right, Jerome, but not all the company. You're just the man I want. We have little time; none to spare for talk. Are you in touch with Bertha Holcomb?"

The detective nodded.

Watson took the chair that Fenton had so strangely vacated and reached for paper and pencil. Once or twice he stopped to draw a line, but mostly he was calculating. He referred constantly to a paper he took from his pocket. When he was through he spread his palm over what he had written.

"Jerome!"

"Yes."

"You are no longer connected with headquarters, I presume. But--can you get men?"

"If need be."

"You will need them!" Just then Watson noticed the uniform of General Hume. "Jerome, can you give this officer a bodyguard?"

It was both unusual and lightning-sudden. Nevertheless, there was something in Watson's manner that called for no challenge; something that would have brooked no refusal. And the general, although a sceptic, was acting solely from force of habit when he objected: