The inventor had hidden himself for a time, only in order to reappear more startlingly in some new light.

Instead of having perished in an accident, he had concealed himself in some retreat where the police were unable to discover him.

Then to assert positively his attitude toward all governments he had written this letter.

But instead of dropping it in the post in any one locality, which might have resulted in its being traced to him, he had come to Washington and deposited it himself in the very spot suggested by the government's official notice, the bureau of police.
Well! If this remarkable personage had reckoned that this new proof of his existence would make some noise in two worlds, he certainly figured rightly.

That day, the millions of good folk who read and re-read their daily paper could to employ a well-known phrase, scarcely believe their eyes.
As for myself, I studied carefully every phrase of the defiant document.