. We have
no unwilling recruits."

"Stop your accursed talk. I have heard enough."

But the metallic voice continued smoothly:

"I appreciate the difficulty which you must experience in grasping the
true significance of this movement. You have seen mighty nations,
armed with every known resource of science, at a deadlock on the
battlefield. You naturally fail to perceive how a group of Oriental
philosophers can achieve what the might of Europe failed to achieve.
You will remember, in favour of my claims, that we command the
service of the world's genius, and have a financial backing which
could settle the national loans of the world! In other words,
exhumation of a large percentage of the great men who have died in
recent years would be impossible. Their tombs are empty."

"I have heard enough. Drug me, kill me; but spare me your confidences."

"In the crowded foyer of a hotel," continued Fo-Hi imperturbably, "of
a theatre, of a concert-room; in the privacy of their home, of their
office; wherever opportunity offered, I caused them to be touched
with the point of a hypodermic needle such as this." He held up a
small hypodermic syringe.

"It contained a minute quantity of the serum which I am now
preparing--the serum whose discovery was the crowning achievement of
a great scientist's career (I refer, Dr. Stuart, to my brilliant
predecessor). They were buried alive; but no surgeon in Europe or
America would have hesitated to certify them dead. Aided by a group
of six Hindu fanatics, trained as _Lughais_ (grave-diggers), it was
easy to gain access to their resting-places. One had the misfortune to
be cremated by his family--a great loss to my Council. But the others
are now in China, at our headquarters. They are labouring day and
night to bring this war-scarred world under the sceptre of an Eastern
Emperor."

"Faugh!" cried Stuart. "The whole of that war-scarred world will stand
armed before you!"

"We realise that, doctor; therefore we are prepared for it. We spoke
of the Norwegian Henrick Ericksen. This is his most recent
contribution to our armament."

Fo-Hi rested on long yellow hand upon a kind of model searchlight.

"I nearly committed the clumsy indiscretion of removing you with this
little instrument," he said. "You recall the episode? Ericksen's
Disintegrating Ray, Dr. Stuart. The model, here, possesses a limited
range, of course, but the actual instrument has a compass of seven and
a half miles. I