“I’m blind and you can see. That’s admitted. The advantage is with you. But supposing we were both in the dark—eh? Where’s your advantage then?”
He struck the match.
The “Duke” laughed contemptuously.
“Thinking of shooting at the switch of the lights? Plunging the room into darkness? It can’t be done.”
“Just so,” said Tommy. “I can’t give you darkness. But extremes meet, you know. What about light ?”
As he spoke, he touched the match to something he held in his hand, and threw it down upon the table.
A blinding glare filled the room.
Just for a minute, blinded by the intense white light, the “Duke” blinked and fell back, his pistol hand lowered.
He opened his eyes again to feel something sharp pricking his breast.
“Drop that pistol,” ordered Tommy. “Drop it quick. I agree with you that a hollow cane is a pretty rotten affair. So I didn’t get one. A good sword stick is a very useful weapon, though. Don’t you think so? Almost as useful as magnesium wire. Drop that pistol. ”
Obedient to the necessity of that sharp point, the man dropped it. Then, with a laugh, he sprang back.
“But I still have the advantage,” he mocked. “For I can see, and you cannot.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” said Tommy. “I can see perfectly. This eyeshade’s a fake. I was going to put one over on Tuppence. Make one or