were healed and their bodies
and clothes were free of slime and filth. All but one of the crippled
men--for so in their own minds they termed the odd individuals--had
gone away. That one was the man who had first addressed them.

"Do not be alarmed," he said. "In our own fashion we have given you
food and rest and attended to your comfort."

Ward smiled, though a trifle uncertainly. "We are not easily
frightened," he replied.

"So! That is good. But now listen: my name is Zoro and I am Chief of
the Heads of Apex. Ages ago we Heads lived on a continent of your
Earth now known to scholars as Atlantis. When Atlantis sank below the
waves--in your sacred book that tragedy is known as the Flood--all but
a scattered few of its people perished. I and my companions were among
the survivors."

The Americans stared at him unbelievingly. "But that was a hundred
thousand years ago!" exclaimed Ward.

"Three hundred thousand," corrected Zoro.

They stared at him dumbly.

"Yes," said Zoro; "it sounds incredible to your ears, but it is true.
Mighty as is the industrial civilization of your day, that of Atlantis
was mightier. Of course, the country wasn't then called Atlantis; its
real name was A-zooma. A-zooma ruled the world. Its ships with sails
of copper and engines of brass covered the many seas which now are
lands. Its airships clove the air with a safety and speed your own
have still to attain. The wealth of the world poured into A-zooma, and
its rulers waxed vain-glorious and proud. Time after time the
enslaved masses of A-zooma and of conquered countries rose in great
rebellions. Then against them marched the "iron baylas" breathing
death and destruction, and from the air mighty ships poured down the
yellow fog...."

Zoro paused, but presently went on: "So we ruled--for ten thousand
years; until the scientists who begot those engines of destruction
became afraid, because the serfs themselves began to build secret
laboratories. We of the priesthood of science saw the inevitable
disaster. Long ago we had put off our bodies--"

* * * * *

Zoro smiled at the Americans' amazement. "No," he said, "I am not a
cripple in a wheelchair. This tubular container holds no fleshly body.
Inside of it is a mechanical heart which pumps artificial blood--blood
purified by a process I will not describe--through my head. It also
contains certain inner devices under my mental control, devices that
take th