ked away at last as
casually as if he had come out of a bath. It was perfectly astonishing
stuff to watch.

"If this isn't superstition, or mesmerism, or deception of some kind,
why do you insist on all this mummery of soot and ashes for my friend
and me?" King demanded. "Why do you use a temple full of Hindu idols to
conceal your science, if it is a natural science and not trickery?"

The Gray Mahatma smiled tolerantly.

"Can you suggest a better way of keeping the secret?" he answered. "We
are protected by the superstition. Not even the Government of India
would dare arouse the superstitious wrath of a people by inquiring too
closely into what goes on beneath a temple. If we were to admit that
what we know is science, just as wireless telegraphy is a science, we
would not be safe for an hour; the military, the kings of commerce, the
merely curious, and all the enemies of mankind would invent ten thousand
excuses of investigating us."

"Where did you learn English?" King demanded.

"I am a Ph.D. of Johns Hopkins," the Gray Mahatma answered. "I have
traveled all over the United States seeking for one man who might be
trusted with the rudiments of our science. But I found none."

"Suppose you had found the wrong man--and trusted him?" King suggested.

"My friend," said the Gray Mahatma, "you are better known to us than we
to you. You are a man incapable of treachery. You love India, and all
your life you have striven to act always and in all things like a man.
You have been watched for years. Your character has been studied. If our
purpose had been to conquer the world, or to destroy the world, we would
never have selected you. There is no need to speak to you of what would
happen if you should commit treachery. There is no risk of your
explaining the secret of our science to the wrong individual, for you
are not going to be taught it."

"Well, what of my friend Ramsden?" King asked him.

"Your friend Mr. Ramsden, I think, will never again see the United
States."

"Why?"

"He has seen too much for his own good. He lacks your mentality. He has
bravery of a kind, and honesty of a kind; but he is--not--the
right--man--for--our--purpose. He made a mistake when he came with you."

King looked straight into the eyes of the Gray Mahatma.

"You think you know me?" he asked.

"I know you better than you know yourself!"

"That's possible," said King. "Do you suppose I would tell you the
truth?"

"I know it. I