more
inevitable, was sufficient to account for my constant and extreme
anxiety.

Brande joined none of our excursions. He was always at work in his
improvised laboratory. The boxes of material which had been brought from
the ship nearly filled it from floor to roof, and from the speed with
which these were emptied, it was evident that their contents had been
systematised before shipment. In place of the varied collection of
substances there grew up within the room a cone of compound matter in
which all were blended. This cone was smaller, Brande admitted, than
what he had intended. The supply of subordinate fulminates, though
several times greater than what was required, proved to be considerably
short. But as he had allowed himself a large margin--everything being
on a scale far exceeding the minimum which his calculations had pointed
to as sufficient--this deficiency did not cause him more than a
temporary annoyance. So he worked on.

When we had been three weeks on the island I found the suspense greater
than I could bear. The crisis was at hand, and my heart failed me. I
determined to make a last appeal to Natalie, to fly with me to the ship.
Edith Metford would accompany us. The rest might take the risk to which
they had consented.

I found Natalie standing on the high rock whence the most lovely view of
the dell could be obtained, and as I approached her silently she was not
aware of my presence until I laid my hand on her shoulder.

"Natalie," I said wistfully, for the girl's eyes were full of tears, "do
you mind if I withdraw now from this enterprise, in which I cannot be of
the slightest use, and of which I most heartily disapprove?"

"The Society would not allow you to withdraw. You cannot do so without
its permission, and hope to live within a thousand miles of it," she
answered gravely.

"I should not care to live within ten thousand miles of it. I should try
to get and keep the earth's diameter between myself and it."

She looked up with an expression of such pain that my heart smote me.
"How about me? I cannot live without you now," she said softly.

"Don't live without me. Come with me. Get rid of this infamous
association of lunatics, whose object they themselves cannot really
appreciate, and whose means are murder--"

But there she stopped me. "My brother could find me out at the uttermost
ends of the earth if I forsook him, and you know I do not mean to
forsake him. For yourself--do not try