The last layer of gauze came off. Nothing happened. The world to me was all a pinkish-red blurring.
"I can't see," I said. "John! I can't see!"
"Neither can I when my eyes are closed," said Marion, with a nervous choked laugh.
So I opened my eyes.
I saw a tall straight old man, a one-armed chap, a young fellow in dark glasses, a rather stuffy-looking retired colonel, a middle-aged physician with a worried face, and a girl as radiant as a spring morning.
"Greetings," I said unsteadily. "Greetings, little army. Don't look so scared."
Alec Talbot grinned and Marion gulped with relief, Colonel Bedford clapped me hard on the shoulder, muttering something that was probably "Stout fella!" Geoff Exeter said, "You can see, Will? Your eyes are all right?"
"I think so. Yes, there isn't anything but a little fuzziness around the edges."
"That may be the result of the long spell of darkness," said John Baringer, fussing about professionally.
"Well, let's get out and test the old orbs," said I, throwing off the covers. John pushed me back into the pillow.