yes, he had seen none of his activities,
except to note that several of the little vessels had been taken from
their resting places.

When the two had finished disrobing him, and had replaced him upon his
back, the leader appeared. He looked down at Parkinson, a queer
expression in his hard, blue eyes. He seemed to hesitate a moment:
then he spoke.

"Earthling," he said in his toneless voice, "I have decided to tell
you of our intentions. You are going to play a very important part in
our scheme, and it is only fitting that you should know. You can do
nothing to hinder our plans: you are giving us incalculable aid: and
it affords me some degree of satisfaction to tell you this.

"As you know, Earthling, we purpose to have the people of Acor to come
to Earth to live, to relieve the congested conditions of our own
world. Obviously, there is no room for two types of intelligent
beings on one planet--your race must go! It is our intention to
destroy all human life on Earth!

"We intend accomplishing this with Venerian microbes. From the record
of your knowledge, I've learned that diseases of various kinds are
common on Earth. We expected that such would be the case, and thus,
you would not be immune to germs, so we came prepared. Each of the
small compartments in that case that you may have seen, contains a
culture of a different germ. After we have determined which Venerian
bacilli will be the most effective, we will develop them in great
quantities, and loose them upon your world.

"In the selecting process, you will play your part. Since our germs
may have a different effect upon your bodies than they do upon
Venerians, we will inoculate you with different diseases, and watch
their effects upon you.

"Of course, you yourself will be in no great danger, for we will have
the diseases under our constant control. On Acor we have abolished
disease entirely, having a reagent or an antitoxin for every malady;
we will use our cures upon you immediately after we have seen how you
react to each disease.

"What we desire is a bacillus that will take effect when it is
breathed in through the lungs. If the disease is of such a nature as
to instill fear in the minds of observers, so much the better; but
that is unnecessary. When we discover a microbe of that nature, we
will be ready to act.

"By the way, our work has been lessened to a great degree by the fact
that you are a bacteriologist. The knowledge we gain from you ha