"What, sir?" I asked, interested. "Those magic spectacles not impossible?"
"Quite so, my son. It is not at all impossible to see into other planes of life through er-er magic glasses."
"I've never heard of anyone ever doing it except in this book, sir," I protested. "And the experiences set down here sound more like fiction than actual fact. Who was this Dr. Valenev, anyhow?"
"Valenev?" Dr. Korsakoff said, brows arching. "Have I neglected to recount his life to you?"
"Rather I have neglected reading his works, sir," I replied.
"Vladimir Valenev, Arnoldi, was one of the very first Russians to take up the practice and study of optometry in the early days. He was actually the father of the profession in Russia. But his startling discoveries branded him as a fool and he was discredited by the church and state. He was eventually strung up by the thumbs in old St. Petersburg for an exhibition to black magic.
"Most of his statements were without concrete foundation, and they led him presently to his death. Yet for all that, Arnoldi, have you ever thought it might be possible to create a pair of spectacles through which one could see into the beyond?"
I stiffened in the chair and the heavy book thumped on the floor. I surveyed his serious features for a sign that he was jesting.
"I've never thought of such a thing, sir," I said, shaking my head. "In fact I do think it is quite impossible with any glass or series of glasses which we have today."
"Naturally, Arnoldi," he said, "it could not be done with our present chromatic glasses. Yet it is possible to penetrate the beyond—the planes of existence beyond our own."