aimed irrelevantly. "And--and I believe I'm
going to cry." She turned away and raced for the shelter of the gloomy
old house without another word.

Eddie turned inquiring eyes on his unwilling host.

"Just like her mother before her," Shelton muttered softly. Then he
faced the younger man squarely and his shoulders straightened. "Mr.
Vail," he said sheepishly, "I've been a fool and I ask your pardon.
But Lina doesn't know. There's something tremendous behind all this,
something that's gotten beyond me. I'll send her away for her own
safety, but I must stay on. If--if only there was someone I could
trust--"

"You can trust me, sir," Eddie stated simply.

The older man paced the ground nervously, and Eddie could see that he
was under a most severe mental strain. Several times he halted in his
tracks and peered anxiously at his guest. Then he seemed to make a
sudden decision.

"Vail," he said sharply, "I need help badly. I want you to stay, if
you will. You swear you'll not reveal what I am about to show you?"

"I swear it, sir."

"You'll not report to Universal?"

"Never."

* * * * *

They surveyed each other appraisingly. Eddie was mystified by the
happenings of the day and was curious to learn more concerning these
mythical invisible creations. It was inconceivable that the scientist
had spoken truly of his accomplishment. Yet, he had done some
marvelous things with Universal and, maybe--well, anyway, there was
the girl.

"Come with me," Shelton was saying: "I believe you're a square
shooter, Vail." He was leading the way along the gravel path at the
side of the house. Before them loomed the squat brick building that
was the laboratory.

The door crashed open before Shelton's hand had reached the knob, and
one of those buzzing, unseen, monstrosities rushed clanking by,
knocking the scientist from his feet in its passage. Ponderous,
speeding footsteps crunched the gravel of the path, and then, with a
wild thrashing of the underbrush alongside, the thing was gone.

Eddie bent over the prostrate man and saw that he was unconscious. A
thin trickle of blood ran from a cut in the side of his head.

"Lina! Lina!" called Eddie frantically. For the first time in his life
he was genuinely frightened.

* * * * *

He half carried, half dragged the limp body through the door of the
laboratory and propped it in a chair. It required but a moment for hi