-steel door of Barter's laboratory swung open.

"Morton and Cleve, my master," announced Naka Machi, bowing low and
sucking in his breath with a hissing sound.

Barter's own puppets entered with the ape between them.

Barter walked fearlessly forward. He had slipped the key from the
orifice atop his head. Morton and Cleve now stood listlessly, dumbly,
looking with dead eyes at their master. Barter tossed them several
walnuts each.

Then he turned his attention to the ape, rubbing his hands together
with pleasure.

But the ape was behaving strangely. His eyes were staring past Barter.
His hands sought to lift as though he would hold them out to someone;
but the ropes prevented him. Barter turned to look. Ellen Estabrook
stood beyond him, white of face, motionless as a statue. The ape was
straining toward her.

Caleb Barter chuckled with understanding.

"Good evening, Lee," he said gently. "I've been expecting you!"

CHAPTER XIII

_Where the Bodies Went_

Bentley had been bound carelessly. Who could expect ape brains to
devise clever bonds, even when controlled by Caleb Barter? And now it
seemed that Caleb Barter had known all along; he said he had been
expecting Bentley. No, that wasn't it. Barter had seen him yearning
toward Ellen Estabrook, statuesque and wide-eyed on the other side of
the room. If it hadn't been for the presence of Ellen he might have
been accepted as an ape. Now it made little difference.

But his bonds were not tightly drawn. He found himself fighting them
fiercely, trying to get his hands on Caleb Barter. He could see the
scrawny Adam's apple of the mad scientist, and his fingers itched to
press themselves into the flesh.

Caleb Barter stood his ground calmly. "Naka Machi," he said softly.

Suddenly Bentley felt a dull, paralyzing blow on his skull. He knew it
had been intended to render him utterly unconscious. But Naka Machi
hadn't taken into consideration that his skull was protected by the
hide of an ape. He remembered, as he stumbled and fell forward, that
the Japanese were wizards with their hands. That's why Naka Machi
could knock him down, render him helpless, yet leave his brain as
clearly active as before. Perhaps clearer, even, for now his brain did
not act on his legs and arms, which were helpless.

Bentley felt as he imagined a patient on the operating table might
feel when not given sufficient anesthetic, yet given enough to make
him incapable of speech or mo