takes no notice of me, and makes no movement. His eyes, which sparkle
brightly, wander over the ocean, and he draws in deep breaths of the
salt, vivifying atmosphere. Added to the air surcharged with oxygen is
a magnificent sunset in a cloudless sky. Does he perceive the change
in his situation? Has he already forgotten about Healthful House, the
pavilion in which he was a prisoner, and Gaydon, his keeper? It is
highly probable. The past has presumably been effaced from his memory
and he lives solely in the present.

In my opinion, even on the deck of the _Ebba_, in the middle of the
sea, Thomas Roch is still the helpless, irresponsible man whom I
tended for fifteen months. His intellectual condition has undergone no
change, and his reason will return only when he is spoken to about
his inventions. The Count d'Artigas is perfectly aware of this mental
disposition, having had a proof of it during his visit, and he
evidently relies thereon to surprise sooner or later the inventor's
secret. But with what object?

"Thomas Roch!" I exclaim.

My voice seems to strike him, and after gazing at me fixedly for an
instant he averts his eyes quickly.

I take his hand and press it. He withdraws it brusquely and walks
away, without having recognized me, in the direction of Captain Spade
and Engineer Serko.

Does he think of speaking to one or other of these men, and if they
speak to him will he be more reasonable than he was with me, and reply
to them?