Susie
felt that he who worked there was in the midst of his labours, and might
return at any moment; he could have only gone for an instant into another
chamber in order to see the progress of some experiment. It was quite
silent. Whatever had made those vague, unearthly noises was hushed by
their approach.
The door was closed between this room and the next. Arthur opened it, and
they found themselves in a long, low attic, ceiled with great rafters, as
brilliantly lit and as hot as the first. Here too were broad tables laden
with retorts, instruments for heating, huge test-tubes, and all manner of
vessels. The furnace that warmed it gave a steady heat. Arthur's gaze
travelled slowly from table to table, and he wondered what Haddo's
experiments had really been. The air was heavy with an extraordinary
odour: it was not musty, like that of the closed rooms through which they
had passed, but singularly pungent, disagreeable and sickly. He asked
himself what it could spring from. Then his eyes fell upon a huge
receptacle that stood on the table nearest to the furnace.
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