would never have more than a gram of copper on hand at once in the whole
laboratory."

"Well ... I'll ... be ... damned!" Slowly turning to the telephone,
Brookings called a number and asked for Doctor DuQuesne, then called
another.

"Brookings speaking. I would like to see you this afternoon. Will you be
at home?... I'll be there in about an hour. Good bye."

* * * * *

When Brookings arrived he was shown into DuQuesne's study. The two men
shook hands perfunctorily and sat down, the scientist waiting for the
other to speak.

"Well, DuQuesne, you were right. Our man couldn't handle it. But of
course you didn't mean the terms you mentioned before?"

DuQuesne's lips smiled; a hard, cold smile.

"You know what I said, Brookings. Those terms are now doubled, twenty
thousand and ten million. Nothing else goes."

"I expected it, since you never back down. The Corporation expects to
pay for its mistakes. We accept your terms and I have contracts here for
your services as research director, at a salary of two hundred and forty
thousand dollars per annum, with the bonus and royalties you demand."

DuQuesne glanced over the documents and thrust them into his pocket.

"I'll go over these with my attorney to-night, and mail one back to you
if he approves the contract. In the meantime, we may as well get down to
business."

"What would you suggest?" asked Brookings.

"You people stole the solution, I see...."

"Don't use such harsh language, Doctor, it's...."

"Why not? I'm for direct action, first, last and all the time. This
thing is too important to permit of mincing words or actions, it's a
waste of time. Have you the solution here?"

"Yes, here it is," drawing the bottle from his pocket.

"Where's the rest of it?" asked DuQuesne as he noted the size of the
bottle.

"All that we found is here, except about a teaspoonful which the expert
had to work on," replied Brookings. "We didn't get it all, only half of
it. The rest of it was diluted with water, so that it wouldn't be
missed. After we get started, if you find it works out satisfactorily,
we can procure the rest of it. That will certainly cause a disturbance,
but it may be necessary...."

"Half of it!" interrupted DuQuesne. "You haven't one-twentieth of it
here. When I saw it in the Bureau, Seaton had about five hundred
milliliters--over a pint--of it. I wonder if you're double-crossing me
again?"

"No, you're not," he c