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 two bloomers to begin with, and then put in some perfectly marvellous stuff towards the end of the lunch. Why, bless you, I could have walked to the door and avoided all the knobs with perfect ease. But I didn’t trust you to play a sporting game. You’d never have let me get out of this alive. Careful now—”
For, with his face distorted with rage, the “Duke” sprang forward, forgetting in his fury to look where he put his feet.
There was a sudden blue crackle of