Master and man looked at each other sadly as they entered the garret they were about to leave, perhaps forever.

Balthazar gazed at the various instruments over which his thoughts so long had brooded; each was connected with some experiment or some research.

He sadly ordered Lemulquinier to evaporate the gases and the dangerous acids, and to separate all substances which might produce explosions.

While taking these precautions, he gave way to bitter regrets, like those uttered by a condemned man before going to the scaffold.
"Here," he said, stopping before a china capsule in which two wires of a voltaic pile were dipped, "is an experiment whose results ought to be watched.

If it succeeds--dreadful thought!--my children will have driven from their home a father who could fling diamonds at their feet.