id I do anything wrong?" she heard his anguished
cry.

Two tubes were burned out, and these he replaced as swiftly as possible.
But he was forced to go all over the wiring, and cut out whatever had
been short-circuited so that it could be hooked up anew with uninjured
wire.

Before he was ready to resume his seat on the platform, after half an
hour of feverish haste, a knock came on the door.

The person outside was imperative, and Mrs. Baker ran over and opened
the portal. Jared, the whites of his eyes shining in the dim light,
stood there. "De professah--tell him dat de wahden wishes to talk with
him. It is very important, ma'am."

The body of Burr, inhabited by Allen's soul, pushed by her, and she
followed falteringly, wringing her hands. She saw the tall figure snatch
at the receiver and listen.

"Oh, God," he cried.

At last, he put the receiver back on the hook, automatically, and sank
down in a chair, his face in his hands.

* * * * *

Mrs. Baker went to him quickly. "What is it, Allen?" she cried.

"Mother," he said hoarsely, "it was the warden of the prison. He told me
that Allen Baker had gone temporarily insane, and claimed to be
Professor Ramsey Burr in my body."

"But--but what is the matter?" she asked. "Cannot you finish the
experiment, Allen? Can't you change the two bodies now?"

He shook his head. "Mother--they electrocuted Ramsey Burr in my body at
twelve forty-five to-night!"

She screamed. She was faint, but she controlled herself with a great
effort.

"But the electrocution was not to be until morning," she said.

Allen shook his head. "They are allowed a certain latitude, about twelve
hours," he said. "Burr protested up to the last moment, and begged for
time."

"Then--then they must have come for him and dragged him forth to die in
the electric chair while you were attempting the second part of the
change," she said.

"Yes. That was why it failed. That's why the tubes and wires burned out
and why we couldn't exchange bodies. It began to succeed, then I could
feel something terrible had happened. It was impossible to complete the
Beta circuit, which short-circuited. They took him from the cell, do you
see, while I was starting the exchange of the atoms."

* * * * *

For a time, the mother and her boy sat staring at one another. She saw
the tall, eccentric figure of Ramsey Burr before her, yet she saw also
the so