He was on the platform of the Albert Hall addressing a great meeting at which the Prime Minister was the principal speaker.

His speech was a brilliant one, and the applause had been vociferous.

Full of satisfaction, he drove home that night to Park Street; but next morning the report spread that his brilliant political career had ended.
He had suddenly been stricken by blindness.
In political circles and in the clubs the greatest consternation was caused, and some strange gossip became rife.
It was whispered in certain quarters that the affliction was not produced by natural causes.

In fact, it was a mystery, and one that had never been solved.

The first oculists of Europe had peered into and tested his eyes, but all to no purpose.