he had hesitated too long, for soon would come the dawn and
possible discovery of his crime. But the invention of his victim would
save him from the long arm of the law, for, with youth restored, Old
Crompton would cease to exist and a new life would open its doors to the
starved soul of the hermit. Hermit, indeed! He would begin life anew, an
active man with youthful vigor and ambition. Under an assumed name he
would travel abroad, would enjoy life, and would later become a
successful man of affairs. He had enough money, he told himself. And the
police would never find Old Crompton, the murderer of Tom Forsythe! He
deposited his small traveling bag on the floor and fingered the controls
of Tom's apparatus.

He threw the starting switch confidently and grinned in satisfaction as
the answering whine of the motor-generator came to his ears. One by one
he carefully made the adjustments in exactly the manner followed by the
now silenced discoverer of the process. Everything operated precisely as
it had during the preceding experiments. Odd that he should have
anticipated some such necessity! But something had told him to observe
Tom's movements carefully, and now he rejoiced in the fact that his
intuition had led him aright. Painfully he climbed to the table top and
stretched his aching body in the warm light of the four huge tubes. His
exertions during the struggle with Tom were beginning to tell on him.
But the soreness and stiffness of feeble muscles and stubborn joints
would soon be but a memory. His pulses quickened at the thought and he
breathed deep in a sudden feeling of unaccustomed well-being.

* * * * *

The dog growled continuously from his position at the head of his
master, but did not move to interfere with the intruder. And Old
Crompton, in the excitement of the momentous experience, paid him not
the slightest attention.

His body tingled from head to foot with a not unpleasant sensation that
conveyed the assurance of radical changes taking place under the
influence of the vital rays. The tingling sensation increased in
intensity until it seemed that every corpuscle in his veins danced to
the tune of the vibration from those glowing tubes that bathed him in an
ever-spreading radiance. Aches and pains vanished from his body, but he
soon experienced a sharp stab of new pain in his lower jaw. With an
experimental forefinger he rubbed the gum. He laughed aloud as the
realizatio