oice. "You must pretend the coil
and the cups are things you desire for your own amusement. You know,
they have allowed you a great deal of latitude, since you are educated
and need diversion."

"Yes, yes. There may be some difficulty, but I will overcome that. Tell
Burr to come. I'll talk with him and he can instruct me in the final
details. It is better than waiting here like a rat in a trap. I have
been afraid of going mad, mother, but this buoys me up."

He smiled at her, and her heart sang in the joy of relief.

How did the intervening days pass? Mrs. Baker could not sleep, could
scarcely eat, she could do nothing but wait, wait, wait. She watched the
meeting of her son and Ramsey Burr, on the day preceding the date set
for the execution.

"Well, Baker," said Burr nonchalantly, nodding to his former assistant.
"How are you?"

"You see how I am," said Allen, coldly.

"Yes, yes. Well, listen to what I have to say and note it carefully.
There must be no slip. You have the suit, the cups and the director
coil? You must keep the suit on, the cups go under the legs of the cot
you lie on. The director under your tongue."

The professor spoke further with Allen, instructing him in scientific
terms which the woman scarcely comprehended.

"To-night, then at eleven-thirty," said Burr, finally. "Be ready."

* * * * *

Allen nodded. Mrs. Baker accompanied Burr from the prison.

"You--you will let me be with you?" she begged.

"It is hardly necessary," said the professor.

"But I must. I must see Allen the moment he is free, to make sure he is
all right. Then, I want to be able to take him away. I have a place in
which we can hide, and as soon as he is rescued he must be taken out of
sight."

"Very well," said Burr, shrugging. "It is immaterial to me, so long as
you do not interfere with the course of the experiment. You must sit
perfectly still, you must not speak until Allen stands before you and
addresses you."

"Yes, I will obey you," she promised.

Mrs. Baker watched Professor Ramsey Burr eat his supper. Burr himself
was not in the least perturbed; it was wonderful, she thought, that he
could be so calm. To her, it was the great moment, the moment when her
son would be saved from the jaws of death.

Jared carried a comfortable chair into the laboratory and she sat in it,
quiet as a mouse, in one corner of the room.

It was nine o'clock, and Professor Burr was busy with h