16 FOR THE FLAG

described the marvellous qualities of his Fulgurator, and
the truly extraordinary effects which would result from it.
But, upon the nature of the explosive, and of the deflag-
rator, the elements that composed it and their fabrication,
and the manipulation it required, he maintained invincible
reserve. Once or twice at the height of a paroxysm it
was thought that the secret of his invention was about to
escape him, and every precaution was taken. .. . All was
in vain; though Thomas Roch no longer possessed the
instinct of self-preservation, he took good care to preserve
his secret.

Pavilion 17, in the park of Healthful House, stood in a
garden surrounded by quickset hedges, where the patient
might take exercise under the supervision of his keeper.
This attendant lived in the same pavilion with him, slept
in the same room, watched him night and day, and never
left him for an hour. He watched his least words during
the ravings which generally occurred in the intermediary
state between waking and sleeping, and he even listened to
his muttering in his dreams.

The man’s name was Gaydon. Shortly after the inven-
tor’s sequestration, having learned that an attendant who
spoke French was wanted, he had presented himself at
Healthful House and was accepted in the capacity of
keeper to the new patient.

In reality the so-called Gaydon was a French engineer,
named Simon Hart, who had been for several years in the
employ of a firm of manufacturing chemists in New Jersey.
He was forty years old, his forehead was large and marked