othing mentally or physically or politically imperfect is
permitted inside that wire fence. My eye-glasses bar me out; your shanks
exclude you--also your politics, because you're a democrat."

"That's monstrous!" exclaimed Langdon, indignantly.

"More monstrous still, these disciples of the New Race movement are
militant! Their audacity is unbelievable! Certain ones among them, adepts
in woodcraft, have now begun to range this forest with nets. What do you
think of that! And when they encounter a young fellow who agrees with the
remorseless standard of perfection set up by the University, they stalk
him and net him! They've got four so far. And now it's Amourette's turn
to go out!"

Langdon's teeth chattered.

"W-w-what are they g-going to do with their captures?"

"Marry them!"

"Willett? And Carrick and----"

"Yes. Isn't it awful, Curt?"

"Was she the girl with the net in the photo? I mean, was that her hand?"

"No; that was a friend of her's who bagged Willett. Amourette started out
yesterday for the first time after--well, I suppose you'd call it 'big
game.' She saw me, stalked me, got near enough to see my glasses, and let
me go. And to-day, thinking that she might have been mistaken and that
perhaps I only wore sun-glasses, she came back. But I was ass enough to
take off my cap to her, and she saw my hair--saw where it wasn't--and
that settled it."

"What a mortifying thing to happen to you, William."

"I should think so. There's nothing unusual the matter with me. Caesar was
bald. It's idiotic to bar a man out because he has fewer hairs than the
next man. And the exasperating part of it is that I believe I could win
her if I had half a chance."

"Of course you could. If she's any good as a sport, she'd rather have
you, hairless myopiac that you are, than a tailor's dummy."

Sayre said: "Isn't it a terrible thing, Curtis, to think of that sweet,
lovely young girl pledged to a scientific life like that? P-pledged to
p-p-propagate p-p-perfection?"

"What a mean-spirited creature that fellow Willett must be," observed
Langdon in disgust; "and the other three--Ugh!"

"Why?"

"To tamely submit to being kidnapped and woo'd and wed that way--endure
the degradation of a captivity among all those young girls----"

Sayre said: "Would _you_ call for help if kidnapped?"

Langdon gazed into space: "I wonder," he murmured.

Sayre looked at him searchingly.

"I don't believe you'd make the welkin ring wi