e; whispered; and I
hoped Migul, who was ten feet away, could not hear us. But there was
nothing we could say or plan.

Mary slept a little. I had not thought that I could sleep, but I did
too; and was awakened by Tugh's entrance. I was lying on the couch;
Mary had left hers and was sitting now beside me.

Tugh slid the door closed after him and came toward us, and I sat up
beside Mary. Migul was standing motionless in the corner, exactly
where he had been hours before.

"Well enough, Migul," Tugh greeted the Robot. "You obey well."

"Master, yes. Always I obey you; no one else."

I saw Tugh glance at the mechanism keenly. "Stand aside, Migul. Or no,
I think you had better leave us. Just for a moment, wait outside."

"Yes, Master."

It left, and Tugh confronted us. "Sit where you are," he said. "I
assume you are not injured. You have been fed? And slept, perhaps! I
wish to treat you kindly."

"Thanks," I said. "Will you not tell us what you are going to do with
us?"

* * * * *

He stood with folded arms. The light was dim, but such as it was it
shone full upon him. His face was, as always, a mask of
imperturbability.

"Mistress Mary knows that I love her."

He said it with a startlingly calm abruptness. Mary shuddered against
me, but she did not speak. I thought possibly Tugh was not armed; I
could leap upon him. Doubtless I was stronger than he. But outside the
door Migul was armed with a white-ray.

"I love her as I have always loved her.... But this is no time to talk
of love. I have much on my mind; much to do."

He seemed willing to talk now, but he was talking more for Mary than
for me. As I watched him and listened, I was struck with a queerness
in his manner and in his words. Was he irrational, this exile of Time
who had impressed his sinister personality upon so many different
eras? I suddenly thought so. Demented, or obsessed with some strange
purpose? His acts as well as his words, were strange. He had
devastated the New York of 1935 because its officials had mistreated
him. He had done many strange, sinister, murderous things.

He said, with his gaze upon Mary, "I am going to conquer this city
here. There will follow the rule of the Robots--and I will be their
sole master. Do you want me to tell you a secret? It is I who have
actuated these mechanisms to revolt." His eyes held a cunning gleam.
Surely this was a madman leering before me.

"When the revolt i