at the opposite side of the room jerked open and a man
dashed through.

"Get out of here! The man's _insane_!"

Two of the men followed, but the man who remained on the bench glanced
at Dick, grinned, shrugged his shoulders and entered the door. A moment
later his booming voice could be heard through the thin partition,
although his words were not clear.

An hour passed while Dick waited. When the man came out, with a smile on
his face, he wished Dick luck and headed for the stairway.

Barrow felt a queer sensation as he stepped through the inner doorway. A
man faced him in a huge leather chair across the room. At least Dick
thought he was a man. Grotesque in every way, his body was small while
his head was twice as large as normal. He was light complexioned, with
almost white hair thinly covering the top of his enormous head. His
features were finely cut, with large aquiline nose. He was not
repulsive, and smiled in welcome as Dick hesitated at the threshold.
When he spoke his tone was soft and musical.

"Welcome, stranger. You have come in answer to my advertisement and I
will explain without wasting time. But first tell me about yourself."

Going over his complete life history, including the two years in
college, Dick came to the lean years when his father died. He hesitated
slightly not proud of this period.

"Go on, Mr. Barrow. It is not important to have been a success in
business, and I will not consider that in your applications. It isn't
what you _have_ done, but what you _want_ to do, that interests me."

He spoke with a strange accent, that Dick didn't recognize. But he was
pleasant and made it easy to talk.

When Barrow finished, by relating the finding of the newspaper and the
long walk to the office, the queer man was smiling.

"I like your frankness and will tell you about the position, although I
can't reveal the location of your work. It is not on any map, and you
will work among a race such as myself, with no opportunity of leaving
after reaching the destination.

"You will be given every comfort and advantage among my people, and be
required to work hard in return. There are several machines out of
commission which must be repaired and put to work again. After a few
months your work will be easier, although you must constantly watch all
machinery to see that it is in perfect condition, and does not stop work
for even a moment.

"My people use mechanics of greater size and development th