-radium
that would convey me to the far world of my dreams. Minutes seemed like
hours, as I sat in the darkness, with every nerve strained to its
uttermost, awaiting Death. What if Death should refuse to release me!
Millions have been wrapped in Death's cold arms, but no mortal has
returned to give accounting.

What was that!--A blinding flash made me instantly shield my eyes. Ah!
The glow at last! But such was its dazzling brilliancy that I could not
stand the glare. I had been accustomed to see the glow gradually creep
up the surface of the instrument, slowly growing brighter as the rim of
the star appeared above the window casement, but this time Mars had
risen to full view before the current was turned on by the clockwork.
This was ample proof that everything had happened as Almos had planned.
It was now my turn to act and I must not hesitate. Stretching myself on
the couch so that I came into full contact with the current of
super-radium, I seized the cone saturated with chloroform, and fastened
it securely over my mouth and nose.

A few moments of a slightly suffocating sensation, then a long, long
fall, gradual at first, then quicker, quicker--

* * * * *

With a feeling of exhilaration, such as I had never before experienced,
I opened my eyes and sprang to my feet. My brain was perfectly clear,
and so active that my mind utterly failed to keep pace with the
multitude of thoughts that were crowded upon it--thoughts that were
strange to my mind, yet perfectly familiar to my brain, if this
paradoxical statement may stand. It seemed as if my mind stood, apart
and marveled at the remarkable activity and knowledge possessed by the
brain--of which knowledge my mind was entirely ignorant.

I was in another world, millions of miles away from Earth. My mind
realized that something little short of a miracle had happened, and yet
I felt absolutely familiar with all the objects about me. The glass-like
walls that surrounded me, reaching up and forming a dome several feet
above my head; the narrow passage in the center of the dome (just as the
neck of a bottle would appear if viewed from inside), through which the
spirit of Almos had passed to the chamber above; all these were
wonderfully familiar to me.

I was in the virator, but it was uncomfortable to remain inside, as the
air was oppressively warm. Moreover, dictated my brain, I must prepare
the virator for my return within five hours