An inkling of the true state of the case began to dawn upon him, and he
was on the verge of entering--indeed, his hand already touched the
door-knob--when his eye, still glued to the spy-hole, detected a slight
movement. Directly opposite, between him and the fireplace, something
stirred. He watched very attentively and made certain that he was not
mistaken. An object on the mantelpiece--it was a blue vase--disappeared
from view. It passed out of sight together with the portion of the
marble mantelpiece on which it rested. Next, that part of the fire and
grate and brass fender immediately below it vanished entirely, as though
a slice had been taken clean out of them.
Dr. Silence then understood that something between him and these objects
was slowly coming into being, something that concealed them and
obstructed his vision by inserting itself in the line of sight between
them and himself.
He quietly awaited further results before going in.
First he saw a thin perpendicular line tracing itself from just above
the height of the clock and continuing downwards till it reached the
woolly fire-mat.
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