as a man's nose wrinkles and twitches
and--in spite of the most desperate attempts at repression--the
betraying sound forces its way out! How many men have lost their lives
because of that insistent soft nasal explosion which can be smothered,
but not entirely hushed!

Thorn had felt the sneeze coming on for seconds. He had fought it
frantically, with life itself at stake. But he could not hold it back.
In his naked body, beginning to burn with fever from the long-clogged
pores and insulated not at all by the film from the coolness of the
room, the seeds of that soft explosion had been planted--and they
_would_ bear fruit!

So he had sneezed!

Instantly there was chaos. Men looked at each other, and back at the
blank wall from which had come the painfully muffled sound. Then all
sprang to their feet.

"Champagne, is it!" Kori exulted savagely. "Did I not say my eyes were
those of a hawk?"

"Double guard all doors!" roared the Arvanian leader, to the guards
outside. "Someone is in the house! And you in here," he went on in a
lower tone, "see that this unseen one dies!"

Soyo and several other men whipped out automatics and pointed them at
the wall. Thorn dropped to the floor. But with his quick action came
Kori's voice.

"No, no! The sword, gentlemen. It is not so noisy, and covers a wider
sweep."

Thorn shivered. Far rather would he have had bullets as his lot than
cold steel. The prospect of being hacked to pieces, of gradually
emerging from invisibility as a lump of gashed and bleeding flesh,
turned him faint.

* * * * *

The Arvanians split up into orderly formation. Two went to guard the
door to the butler's pantry, and two to cover the closed sliding doors
to the outer hall. Six, with drawn swords sweeping back and forth before
them, walked slowly toward the wall from which the sneeze had come.

Thorn set his jaws--only just catching himself in time to prevent his
lips from opening in the half-snarl instinctive to the most civilized of
men when danger is threatening. That lip motion would have revealed his
teeth for an instant!

The sensation of perspiring heavily flamed over him again. There were so
many trifling things to keep in mind! And each, if neglected, meaning
certain death!

The nearest of the marching six stopped with his foot almost touching
Thorn's hand. The dancing sword the man carried almost grazed the
scientist's shoulder on its down sweep.

Thor