t, giving sudden
radiance to the pallor of her features--then they closed again as in
utter weariness.

"Magnificent!" said Ardini, under his breath--"And full of the vital
light,--she will live!"

"And she will love!" added Morgana, softly.

The Professor looked at her enquiringly.

"The man she loves is in the next room"--she continued--"We rescued him
with her--if it can be called a rescue. He is the worst case. Only you
may be able to bring him back to consciousness,--I have done my best in
vain. If YOU fail then we must give up hope."

She preceded him into the adjoining chamber; as he entered it after her
he paused--almost intimidated, despite his long medical and surgical
experience, by the stone-like figure of man that lay before him. It was
as if one should have unearthed a statue, grey with time--a statue
nobly formed, with a powerful head and severe features sternly
set,--the growth of beard revealing, rather than concealing, the
somewhat cruel contour of mouth and chin. The Professor walked slowly
up to the bed and looked at this strange effigy of a human being for
many minutes in silence,--Morgana watching him with strained but quiet
suspense. Presently he touched the forehead--it was stone-cold--then
the throat, stone-cold and rigid--he bent down and listened for the
heart's pulsations,--not a flutter--not a beat! Drawing back from this
examination he looked at Morgana,--she met his eyes with the query in
her own which she emphasised by the spoken word--

"Dead?"

"No!"--he answered--"I think not. It is very difficult for a man of
this type to die at all. Granted favourable conditions--and barring
accidents caused by the carelessness of others--he ought to be one of
those destined to live for ever. But"--here he hesitated--"if I am
right in my surmise,--of course it is only a first opinion--death would
be the very best thing for him."

"Oh, why do you say that?" she asked, pitifully.

"Because the brain is damaged--hopelessly! This man--whoever he is--has
been tampering with some chemical force he does not entirely
understand,--his whole body is charged with its influence, and this it
is that gives his form its unnatural appearance which, though
death-like, is not death. If I leave him alone and untouched he will
probably expire unconsciously in a few days,--but if--after what I have
just told you--you wish me to set the life atoms going again,--even as
a clock is wound up,--I can relax the ten