ovements were different from the slow, precise
work of the professor, and more and more, she realized that her son
inhabited the shell before her.

For a moment, the mother thought of attempting to dissuade her son from
making the final change; was it not better thus, than to chance the
disintegration of the bodies? Suppose something went wrong, and the
exchange did not take place, and her son, that is, his spirit, went back
to the death house?

Midnight struck as he worked feverishly at the apparatus, the long face
corrugated as he checked the dials and tubes. He worked swiftly, but
evidently was following a procedure which he had committed to memory,
for he was forced to pause often to make sure of himself.

"Everything is O. K.," said the strange voice at last. He consulted his
watch. "Twelve-thirty," he said.

She bit her lip in terror, as he cried, "Now!" and sprang to the table
to take his place on the metallic platform, which oscillated to and fro
under his weight. The delicate grayish metal antenna, which, she knew,
would form a glittering halo of blue and gray threads of fire, rested
quiescent above his head.

"This is the last thing," he said calmly, as he reached for the big
ebony handled switch. "I'll be myself in a few minutes, mother."

"Yes, son, yes."

The switch connected, and Allen Baker, in the form of Ramsey Burr,
suddenly cried out in pain. His mother leaped up to run to his side, but
he waved her away. She stood, wringing her hands, as he began to twist
and turn, as though torn by some invisible force. Eery screams came
from the throat of the man on the platform, and Mrs. Baker's cries of
sympathy mingled with them.

* * * * *

The mighty motors hummed in a high-pitched, unnatural whine, and
suddenly Mrs. Baker saw the tortured face before her grow dim. The
countenance of the professor seemed to melt, and then there came a dull,
muffled thud, a burst of white-blue flame, the odor of burning rubber
and the tinkle of broken glass.

Back to the face came the clarity of outline, and still it was Professor
Ramsey Burr's body she stared at.

Her son, in the professor's shape, climbed from the platform, and looked
about him as though dazed. An acrid smoke filled the room, and burning
insulation assailed the nostrils.

Desperately, without looking at her, his lips set in a determined line,
the man went hurriedly over the apparatus again.

"Have I forgotten, d