But at last he came in. The night was far advanced. He put down his hat and sat down. For a long while he looked silently at Dr. Porhoët.
“What is it, my friend?” asked the good doctor at length.
“Do you remember that you told us once of an experiment you made in Alexandria?” he said, after some hesitation.
He spoke in a curious voice.
“You told us that you took a boy, and when he looked in a magic mirror, he saw things which he could not possibly have known.”
“I remember very well,” said the doctor.
“I was much inclined to laugh at you at the time. I was convinced that the boy was a knave who deceived you.”
“Yes?”
“Of late I’ve thought of that story often. Some hidden recess of my memory has been opened, and I seem to remember strange things. Was I the boy who looked in the ink?”
“Yes,” said the doctor quietly.