"And this is real electric light? And is it perfectly harmless?"
Heliobas smilingly assured her of the safety of his table decorations. "Electricity," he said, "though the most powerful of masters, is the most docile of slaves. It is capable of the smallest as well as of the greatest uses. It can give with equal certainty life or death; in fact, it is the key-note of creation."
"Is that your theory, sir?" asked Colonel Everard.
"It is not only my theory," answered Heliobas, "it is a truth, indisputable and unalterable, to those who have studied the mysteries of electric science."
"And do you base all your medical treatment on this principle?" pursued the Colonel.
"Certainly. Your young friend here, who came to me from Cannes, looking as if she had but a few months to live, can bear witness to the efficacy of my method."
Every eye was now turned upon me, and I looked up and laughed.
"Do you remember, Amy," I said, addressing Mrs. Everard, "how you told me I looked like a sick nun at Cannes? What do I look like now?"
"You look as if you had never been ill in your life," she replied.
"I was going to say," remarked Mr. Challoner in his deliberate manner, "that you remind me very much of a small painting of Diana that I saw in the Louvre the other day. You have the same sort of elasticity in your movements, and the same bright healthy eyes."