answered. One could see that he was very carefully weighing his
words.

"What was the last news when you left London?" he asked.

"I was at the Gazette office about ten," said I. "There was a
Reuter just come in from Singapore to the effect that the
sickness seemed to be universal in Sumatra and that the
lighthouses had not been lit in consequence."

"Events have been moving somewhat rapidly since then," said
Challenger, picking up his pile of telegrams. "I am in close
touch both with the authorities and with the press, so that news
is converging upon me from all parts. There is, in fact, a
general and very insistent demand that I should come to London;
but I see no good end to be served. From the accounts the
poisonous effect begins with mental excitement; the rioting in
Paris this morning is said to have been very violent, and the
Welsh colliers are in a state of uproar. So far as the evidence
to hand can be trusted, this stimulative stage, which varies
much in races and in individuals, is succeeded by a certain
exaltation and mental lucidity--I seem to discern some signs of
it in our young friend here--which, after an appreciable
interval, turns to coma, deepening rapidly into death. I fancy,
so far as my toxicology carries me, that there are some
vegetable nerve poisons----"

"Datura," suggested Summerlee.

"Excellent!" cried Challenger. "It would make for scientific