Fiction > Book editions > London, 1885 - Dynamiter

36 i^EW ARABIAN NIGHTS.
continued, addressing my mother, ' that has often
strangely tempted me. The two extremes : all, or else
nothing ; never, or this very hour upon the clock — •
these have been my incongruous desires. But to ac-
cept the middle term, to be content with a half -gift, to
flicker awhile and to burn out — never for an hour, never
since I was born, has satisfied the appetite of my
ambition.' He looked upon my mother fixedly, much
of admiration and some touch of envy in his eyes ; then,
with a profound sigh, he led the way into the inner room.
It was very long. From end to end it was lit up by
many lamps, which by the changeful colour of their
light, and by the incessant snapping sounds with which
they burned, I have since divined to be electric. At the
extreme end an open door gave us a glimpse into what
must have been a lean-to shed beside the chimney ; and
this, in strong contrast to the room, was painted with a
red reverberation as from furnace-doors. The walls
were lined with books and glazed cases, the tables crowded
with the implements of chemical research ; great glass
accumulators glittered in the light ; and through a hole
in the gable near the shed door, a heavy driving belt
entered the apartment and ran overhead upon steel pul-
leys, with clumsy activity and many ghostly and flutter-
ing sounds. In one corner I perceived a chair resting
upon crystal feet, and curiously wreathed with wire.
To this my mother advanced with a decisive swiftness.
' Is this it ? ' she asked.
The doctor bowed in silence.
' Asenath,' said my mother, ' in this sad end of my
life I have found one helper. Look upon him : it is
Doctor Grierson. Be not, O my daughter, be not un-
grateful to that friend ! '
She sate upon the chair, and took in her hands the
globes that terminated the arms.
' Am I right ? ' she asked, and looked upon the doctor
with such a radiancy of face that I trembled for her reason.
Once more the doctor bowed, but this time leaning hard
against the wall. He must have touched a spring. The
least shock agitated my mother where she sat ; the least