illis? asked Dr. Bird.

"I'll be glad to, Doctor. I am sick of this business anyway. At first,
Slavatsky just planned to give us abnormally keen brains, but lately
he has been talking of setting himself up as Emperor of the World, and
I am sick of it. I think I would have broken with him and told all I
know, soon, anyway."

"Throw him in that chair," said Dr. Bird.

* * * * *

Despite the howlings and strugglings of the dwarf, three of the
marines strapped him in the chair beneath the tube. The dwarf howled
and frothed at the mouth and directed a final appeal for mercy to the
President.

"Spare me, Your Excellency," he howled. "I will put my brains at your
service and make you the greatest mentality of all time. Together we
can conquer and rule the world. I will show you how to build hundreds
of ships like mine--"

The President turned his back on the dwarf and spoke curtly.

"Proceed with your experiments, Dr. Bird," he said.

Slavatsky directed his appeals to the doctor, who peremptorily
silenced him.

"I told you a few hours ago, Slavatsky, that the time might come when
I would remember your threats against me. I will show you the same
mercy now as you promised me then. Carnes, put a cone over his face."

Despite the howls of the dwarf, the operative forced an anesthesia
cone over his face and Dr. Bird turned to the valve of the lethane
cylinder. With Willis directing his movements, he turned on the ray
for three minutes and removed the unconscious dwarf to the operating
table. He took the long-needled syringe from a case and sterilized it
and then turned to the President.

"I am about to operate," he said, "but before I do so, I wish to
explain to all just what I have learned and what I am about to do.
With that data, the decision of whether I shall proceed will rest with
you and Admiral Clay. Have I your permission to do so?"

* * * * *

The President nodded.

"When I first read of these amnesia cases, I took them for
coincidences--until you consulted me and gave me an opportunity to
examine one of the victims. I found a small puncture at the base of
the brain which I could not explain, and I began to dig into old
records. I knew, of course, of Sweigert of Vienna, and the extravagant
claims he had put forward in 1911. He was far ahead of his time, but
he mixed up some profound scientific discoveries with mysticism and
occultism until h