She stumbled slightly as she made her way to the ground-glass window and pulled down the upper sash.
The current of air revived her at once.
She stood there for a few moments inhaling the pure sea atmosphere luxuriously.
“This shows it is a success,â€� she murmured. “I was so careful that hardly a whiff of the gas could escape. Yet, even after spraying the room as I did, it almost overcame me. It is better than the other stuff I used, I am sure. I’ll put this to the proof to-night, if I get a chance—and I think I shall.â€�
Opening the window wider, she stood there, ruminating, a curious smile on her beautiful young face.
“Nicholas Carter! As if it would be possible for me not to know him because he chooses to call himself Colonel Pearson and assumes an indolent manner that is not his own at all! And I have been playing golf and dining with him! Well, it is all in the game! He says himself he does not know how our next game is to come out. We shall see.�
She went out of the bathroom and told Florine to put everything away.
This order was obeyed so thoroughly and swiftly, that in about five minutes nothing was to be seen in the bathroom to suggest the experiment just carried on.
The open window had allowed the last breath of the noxious vapor to escape, and none of the paraphernalia was in sight.
The glass experimenting table had been folded up and put away, and the electric stove, crucible, and retorts had gone with it, each being packed away into its own particular recess in the trunks.[Pg 19]