en
many pictures of them. Jeter wondered whether their adherence to Sitsumi
were voluntary or forced. But it was voluntary, of course. The three
brains of these brilliant men could easily have outwitted Sitsumi had
they been unwilling to associate themselves with him. The three
Orientals bowed.

Jeter and Eyer were bidden to take chairs side by side. The guards drew
back a little but never took their eyes off the two. Sitsumi ranged
himself beside his colleagues at the table.

"I'll answer your questions now, gentlemen, in the presence of my
colleagues so that you shall know that we are together in what we
propose. We wish you to join us. The only alternative is ... well, you
recall what happened to your countryman, Kress? The same, or a similar
fate, will be yours if you don't ally yourselves with us."

Jeter and Eyer exchanged glances.

"Just what _are_ you doing?" asked Jeter. "I've seen some of the results
of your activities, but I can see no reason for them. I would pronounce
everything you have done so far to be the acts of madmen."

"We are not mad," said Sitsumi. "We are simply a group of people of
mixed blood who deplore the barriers of racial prejudice, for one thing.
We are advocates of a deliberately contrived super-race, produced by the
amalgamation of the best minds and the best bodies of all races. We
ourselves are what the world calls Eurasians. In our youth people
patronised us. In Asia we were shunned. We were shunned everywhere by
both races from which we trace our ancestry. We are not trying to be
avenged upon the world because we have been pariahs. We are not so
petty. But by striving until we have become the world's four greatest
scientists we have proved to our own satisfaction that a mixture of
blood is a wholesome thing. This expedition of ours, and its effect so
far on New York City, is the result of our years of planning."

"I see no need for wholesale murder. Lecture platforms are open to all
creeds, all races...."

Something suggestive of a sneer creased Sitsumi's lips. The Three did
not change expression in the least.

* * * * *

"People do not listen to reason. They listen to force. We will use force
to make them listen, in the end, to reason--backed in turn by force, if
you like. We have settled on New York from which to begin our conquest
of the world because it is the world's largest, richest, most
representative city. If we control New York we