some way might be
created or destroyed, at least transformed in a manner that no one had
ever understood before. To him, radioactivity which had overthrown or
amplified many of the old ideas was only a beginning.

"Here is the machine," he pointed out at last, still talking, leading us
proudly across the littered floor of his laboratory.

It seemed, at first glance, to consist of a circular iron frame, about a
foot and a half in diameter, firmly bolted to the floor.

"I have it fastened down because, as you will see, it develops such a
tremendous power," explained the inventor, adding, as he pointed above
it, "That is all the power is developed from, too."

On a shelf was a Daniell battery of four cells. In the porous cup was
bichromate of potash and in the outer vessel dilute sulphuric acid.

"Let me show you how I get two and a half horsepower out of three ounces
of zinc for nine hours," went on Creighton proudly. "As you doubtless
know, the usual thing is one horsepower per pound of zinc per hour.
Ultimately, I expect to perfect the process until I get a thousand
horsepower from an ounce in this vibrodyne motor."

He started the engine by attaching the wires from the comparatively weak
Daniell cells. Slowly it began to move, gaining speed, until finally the
very floor shook from the great power and the rapidity of the motion.

It seemed incredible that the small current from the battery should
develop such apparent power and I looked at Kennedy in amazement.

"There's a carelessly--or purposely--ill-balanced flywheel, I suspect,"
whispered Craig to me surreptitiously.

"Yes, but the power," I persisted.

He shook his head. Evidently he was not convinced, but had no theory,
yet.

Adele Laidlaw looked at Craig questioningly, as though to read what he
thought of it. Before her he betrayed nothing. Now and then she would
look earnestly at Creighton. It was evident that she admired him very
much, yet there seemed to be something about him that she did not quite
understand.

Just then the telephone rang. Creighton stopped his machine and left us
for a moment to answer the call, while the engine slowed down and came
to rest.

Quickly Kennedy pulled out his watch and pried the crystal off the face.
He walked over to a basin and filled the crystal with a few drops of
water. Then he set it down on the table.

I looked at it closely. As nearly as I could make out, there seemed to
be a slight agitation on the su