With a quick motion of the head to escape the full force of the pungent odor of ammonia which issued, the Sepoy returned to the unfortunate Gratz, and wetting the tip of his handkerchief with a few drops from the vial, he passed it gently to and fro under the nostrils of the detective.
Repeating these maneuvers several times, the Sepoy believed that he remarked a faint twitching of the eyelids.
At this manifestation he seized a sheet of paper and directed a mimic breeze upon the drawn face.
Again he attempted an enforced inhalation of the strong odor, this time from the bottle itself.
The result was startling.
There was a scarcely perceptible attempt to turn the head; a spasmodic throb in the throat.
Renewing his efforts with the paper, the Sepoy, encouraged by what he saw, placed his arms beneath the body and lifted it to a semi-reclining attitude, so that it rested, with a tilt forward, against a chair-arm.
From the table the evilly-smiling man took the handcuffs, and grasping the unresisting arms of the unfortunate Gratz, bent them with cruel force until the hands met behind the gradually stiffening back.
There was a sharp click, and the next instant the manacles embraced the wrists of the detective.
Again the Sepoy placed the bottle so that a concentration of the stinging odor, which by now permeated the atmosphere of the entire room, could attack the sensitive nasal membranes more directly, and unmistakable evidences of imminent reanimation quickened the twitching features.