day. It was horrible, diabolical, like a wild beast's in triumph.

"'You fool!' he said, with a sneer. 'And you come here to tell me
that! You infernal idiot! You come here to put yourself in my power
like this! Courtenay Ivor, I always knew you were an ass, but I
didn't ever know you were quite such a born idiot of a fellow as
that. Hold back there, you image!' With a rapid dart, before you
could see what he was doing, he passed a wire round your body and
thrust two knobs into your hands. 'You're in my power now!' he
exclaimed. 'You can't move or stir!'

"I saw at once what he'd done. He'd pinned you to the spot with the
handles of his powerful electric apparatus. It was so strong that it
would hold one riveted to the spot in pain. You couldn't let go. You
could hardly even speak or cry aloud for help. He had pinned you
down irresistibly. I thought he meant to murder you.

"Yet I was too terrified, even so, to scream aloud for the servants.
I only crouched there, rooted, and wondered what next would happen.

"He went across to the door and turned the key in it. Then he opened
the cabinet and took out some things there. It was growing quite
dusk, and I could hardly see them. He returned with them where you
stood, struggling in vain to set yourself free. His voice was as
hard as adamant now. He spoke slowly and distinctly, in a voice like
a fiend's. Oh, Jack, no wonder that scene took away my reason!"

"And you can remember what he said next, Una?" Jack asked, following
me eagerly.