"But the tortures which ensue, miserable fool!"
The notary did not finish. He uttered a sharp cry of pain, throwing himself backward on the bed.
"What is the matter?" asked Polidori, with astonishment.
"Put out that light; its glare is too vivid. I cannot support it; it blinds me!"
"How?" said Polidori, more and more surprised.
"There is but one lamp with a shade, and its light is very feeble."
"I tell you that the light increases here. Hold! more! more! Oh! it is too much! it becomes intolerable!" raved on Jacques Ferrand, shutting his eyes with an expression of increasing pain.
"You are mad! This chamber is hardly light, I tell you. I have just turned down the lamps; open your eyes, you will see."
"Open my eyes! But I shall be blinded by the torrents of dazzling light which flood this apartment. Here, there, everywhere, sheets of fire—thousands of shining atoms," cried the notary, raising himself; then, uttering a cry of pain, he placed his hands on his eyes. "But I am blinded! the burning light pierces my eyelids! it consumes me! Put out that light! it casts an infernal flame."
"No more doubt," said Polidori; "his sight is stricken in the same manner as his hearing was just now. He is lost! To bleed him anew in this state would be fatal. He is lost!"