ght if you will listen to reason."

He turned to me with the most appealing look which I had ever seen in
human eyes save once before--when Natalie pleaded with me.

"I had forgotten," he said, "the issue now lies in your hands. Choose
rightly. Choose mercy."

"I will," I answered shortly, for his request brought me back with a
jerk to his motive.

"Then you will get me well as soon as your skill can do it?"

"I will keep you in your present condition until I have your most solemn
assurance that you will neither go farther yourself nor instigate others
to go farther with this preposterous scheme of yours."

"Bah!" Brande ejaculated contemptuously, and lay back with a sudden
content. "My brain is certainly out of order, else I should not have
forgotten--until your words recalled it--the Labrador expedition."

"The Labrador expedition?"

"Yes. On the day we sailed for the Arafura Sea, Grey started with
another party for Labrador. If we fail to act before the 31st December,
in the year 1900, he will proceed. And the end of the century will be
the date of the end of the earth. I will signal to him now."

His face changed suddenly. For a moment I thought he was dead. Then the
dreadful fact came home to me. He was telegraphing telepathically to
Grey. So the murder that was upon my soul had been done in vain. Then
another life must be taken. Better a double crime than one resultless
tragedy. I was spared this.

Brande opened his eyes wearily, and sighed as if fatigued. The effort,
short as it was, must have been intense. He was prostrated. His voice
was low, almost a whisper, as he said:

"You have succeeded beyond belief. I cannot even signal him, much less
exchange ideas." With that he turned his face from me, and instantly
fell into a deep sleep.

I left the cabin and went on deck. As usual, it was fairly sprinkled
over with the passengers, but owing to the strong head-wind caused by
the speed of the steamer, there was a little nook in the bow where there
was no one to trouble me with unwelcome company.

I sat down on an arm of the starboard anchor and tried to think. The
game which seemed so nearly won had all to be played over again from the
first move. If I had killed Brande--which surely would have been
justifiable--the other expedition would go on from where he left off.
And how should I find them? And who would believe my story when I got
back to England?

Brande must go on. His attempt to wreck the e