Why Sir Bleoberis did not Leap to the Rescue.
But why did not Sir Bleoberis leap to the rescue?
Sir Bleoberis tried with all his might to do so; but he had on a full suit of steel armor, and the Professor’s battery, by some means even yet unexplained, so charged the cover of the box with magnetism that it held the Knight close down. He could not move a muscle of his legs. He writhed and twisted and expressed his fury in language that was vehement and scandalous; but the Professor’s infamous machine held him fast; and he was compelled to sit by, imbecile and raging, while the wind bore to his ears the heart-rending screams of his sweetheart as she cried to him to come and save her from an awful fate.
The shrieks of the unhappy Ysolt penetrated to the castle, and at once the Baron ran out, followed by Sir Dinadan, Professor Baffin, and a host of the Baron’s retainers, all of them armed and ready for war. The first act of the Professor was to capture his expanded umbrella, which was being blown about wildly by the wind. Furling it, he proceeded to the place where Sir Bleoberis sat, trying to explain to the infuriated Baron what had happened.
“There!” said Sir Bleoberis, savagely, pointing to the Professor, “is the vile wretch that did it all! Seize him! He, he alone is to blame.”
The Professor was amazed.
“Yes!” exclaimed Sir Bleoberis, “it was he who persuaded the fair Ysolt to leap from the window; it was he who notified Sir Dagonet, and it is his wicked enchantment that held me here so that I could not fly to her succor. I cannot even get up now.”
“The man,” said the Professor to the Baron, “appears to be suffering from intellectual aberration. I can’t imagine what he means. Why don’t you rise?”
“You, foul wizard, know that I am held here by your infernal power!”
“Try to be calm,” said the Professor, soothingly. “Your expressions are too strong. Let me see—. Why, bless my soul, the electrical current has magnetized the box. There, now,” said the Professor as he snipped a couple of the wires, “try it again.”